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THE
WORKS OF THOMAS MANTON, D.D.
VOL. XIII.
COUNCIL OF PUBLICATION.
W. LINDSAY ALEXANDER, D.D., Professor of Theology, Congregational
Union, Edinburgh.
JAMES BEGG, D.D., Minister of Newington Free Church, Edinburgh.
THOMAS J. CRAWFORD, D.D., S.T.P., Professor of Divinity, University,
Edinburgh.
D. T. K. DRUMMOND, M.A., Minister of St Thomas's Episcopal Church,
Edinburgh.
WILLIAM H. GOOLD, D.D., Professor of Biblical Literature and Church
History, Reformed Presbyterian Church, Edinburgh.
ANDREW THOMSON, D.D., Minister of Broughton Place United Presby
terian Church, Edinburgh.
45enerat
REV. THOMAS SMITH, D.D., EDINBURGH.
THE COMPLETE WORKS
OF
f THOMAS MANTON, D.D.
VOLUME XIII.
CO STAINING
SEVEKAL SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. ;
AIM
SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL
LONDON:
JAMES NISBET & CO., 21 BEKNERS STREET.
1873.
PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY
EDINBURGH AND LONDON
CONTENTS.
.
SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. continued.
SERMON IX. " Knowing that whilst we are at home in the
body, we are absent," &c., ver. 6, . . 3
X. " For we walk by faith, and not by sight," ver. 7, 11
XI. " "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to
be absent from the body," &c., ver. 8, . 22
XII. " Wherefore we labour, that whether present or
absent, we may be accepted," ver. 9, . 35
XIII. " For we must all appear before the judgment-
seat of Christ," &c., ver. 10, . .44
XIV. " For we must all appear before the judgment-
seat of Christ," &c., ver. 10, . . 51
XV. " For we must all appear before the judgment-
seat of Christ," &c., ver. 10, . .63
XVI. " For we must all appear before the judgment-
seat of Christ," &c., ver. 10, . . 72
XVII. " That every man may receive the things done in
the body, according to what/' &c., ver. 10, . 81
XVHI. " Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we
persuade men," &c., ver. 11, . . 90
XIX. "But we are made manifest unto God; and I
trust also are made," &c., vers. 11, 12, . 100
XX. "For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to
God ; or whether," &c., ver. 13, . .110
XXI. "For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to
God; or whether," &c., ver. 13, . . 121
VI CONTENTS.
PACK
SERMON XXII. " For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to
God; or whether," &c., ver. 13, . . 131
XXIII. " For the love of Christ constraineth us, be
cause we thus judge," &c., ver. 14, . 139
XXIV. " For the love of Christ constraineth us, be
cause we thus judge," &c., ver. 14, . 149
XXV. " For the love of Christ constraineth us, be
cause we thus judge," &c., ver. 14, . 159
XXVI. " For the love of Christ constraineth us, be
cause we thus judge," &c., ver. 14, . 169
XXVII. "For we thus judge, that if one died for all,
then were all dead," &c., ver. 14, . 179
XXVIII. "Then were all dead," ver. 14, . . 189
XXIX. " But to him that died and rose again."
ver. 15, . . . . . /( 198
XXX. " That they which live should not henceforth
live to themselves," &c., ver. 15, . 210
XXXI. " Wherefore henceforth know we no man after
the flesh," &c., ver. 16, . . . 219
XXXII. " Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature," &c., ver. 17, . . 231
XXXIII. " And all things are of God, who hath recon
ciled us to himself," &c., ver. 18, . 241
XXXIV. " To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling
the world to himself," &c., ver. 19, . 252
XXXV. "Not imputing their trespasses unto them,"
&c., ver. 19, . . .262
XXXVI. "Not imputing their trespasses unto them,"
&c, ver. 19, . . . 271
XXXVII. " And hath committed to us the word of re
conciliation," ver. 19, . . 281
XXXVIll. " Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as
though God did," &c., ver. 20, . . 290
XXXIX. " Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as
though God did," &c., ver. 20, . . 295
XL. " For he hath made him to be sin for us who
knew no sin, that we might," &c., ver. 21, 305
CONTENTS. Vii
SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi.
Epistle Dedicatory, . . . . . .318
To the Eeader, . . . . . .321
SERMON I. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped
for," &c., ver. 1, . 323
II. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped
for,"&c., ver. 1, . . . 332
III. " And the evidence of things not seen," ver. 1, . 345
IV. " And the evidence of things not seen," ver. 1, . 353
V. " And the evidence of things not seen," ver. 1, . 363
VI. " For by it the elders obtained a good report,"
ver. 2, . . . . .373
,, VII. " Through faith we understand that the worlds
were framed by the word," &c., ver. 3, . 388
VIII. " Through faith we understand that the worlds
were framed by the word," &c., ver. 3, . 397
IX. " Through faith we understand that the worlds
were framed by the word," &c., ver. 3, . 406
X. " Through faith we understand that the worlds
were framed by the word," &c., ver. 3, . 415
XI. " Through faith we understand that the worlds
were framed by the word," &c., ver. 3, . 424
XII. " By faith Abel offered unto God a more excel
lent sacrifice than Cain," &c., ver. 4, . 435
XIII. " By faith Abel offered unto God a more excel
lent sacrifice than Cain," &c., ver. 4, . 445
XIV. " By faith Abel offered unto God a more excel
lent sacrifice than Cain," &c., ver. 4, . 452
XV. " By faith Abel offered unto God a more excel
lent sacrifice than Cain," &c., ver. 4, . 461
,. XVI. " By faith Abel offered unto God a more excel
lent sacrifice than Cain," &c., ver. 4, . 472
XVII. " By faith Abel offered unto God a more excel
lent sacrifice than Cain," &c., ver. 4, . 483
SERMONS
UPON THE
FIFTH CHAPTER OF 2 CORINTHIANS.
VOL. XIII.
SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V.
SERMON IX.
Knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from
the Lord. 2 COB. v. 6.
FKOM the connection with the former branch, you see a Christian's
condition in the world is mixed ; he is comforted, but not satisfied ;
his faith is satisfied, for he is confident, but his love is not satisfied ;
for ' while he is at home in the body he is absent from the Lord.'
And that not for a little time only, but for his whole course, as long
as his life shall last, all the while that he is at home in the body.
This is added to show the reason, 1. Of groaning. 2. Of confidence.
Of groaning, because we are absent from Christ's presence and full
communion with him in glory. Of confidence ; we must be sometime
present with the Lord. Now we are not ; therefore we have a certain
persuasion, that there shall be granted to us a nearer access after death.
Then we look cheerfully upon death, as that which bringeth us home
to God, from whom these earthly bodies keep us as strangers.
Two points offer themselves to us :
1. That a Christian is not in his own proper home, while he sojourneth
in the body, or liveth here in this present world in an earthly taber
nacle.
2. The main reason why a Christian counteth himself not at home,
is because he is absent from the Lord.
Doct. 1. That a Christian is not in his own proper home, while he
sojourneth in the body, or liveth here in this present world in an
earthly tabernacle. The Greek words run thus : We, indwelling in the
body, dwell forth from the Lord ; that is, from the Lord Jesus, the
beholding of whose glory and presence we must want so long, which is
grievous to a Christian. Instances ; Abraham, who had best right by
God's immediate donation : Heb. xi. 9, ' He sojourned in the land of
promise, as in a strange country ; ' as in a place wherein he was to
stay but a while, and to pass through it to a better country. David,
who had most possession, an opulent and powerful king ; Abraham
inherited or purchased nothing in the land of Canaan, but a burying-
place ; but David counted himself a stranger too : Ps. xxxix. 12, ' I am
a stranger and a pilgrim, as all my fathers were.' He that bore so full
a sway in that land, did not look upon the world as a place of rest and
4 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. IX.
stability. But it may be he spoke this when he was chased like a flea,
or hunted like a partridge upon the mountains. No ; in the midst of
all his wealth and opulency, when he had offered many cart-loads of
gold and silver for the building of the temple. See 1 Chron. xxix. 15,
' For we are strangers and sojourners before thee, as were all our
fathers.' Nay, Jesus Christ, who was lord-paramount, telleth us,
John xvii. 16, ' I am not of this world.' He that was Lord of all, had
neither house nor home ; he passed through the world to sanctify it as
a place of service, but he settled not his constant residence here as in a
place of rest. We do not inhabit, only pass through to a better place.
Reasons
1. Our birth and parentage is from heaven. Everything tendeth to
the place of its original : men love their native soil ; things bred in
the water delight to return thither; inanimate things tend to their
centre ; a stone will fall to the ground, though broken in pieces by
the fall ; air imprisoned in the bowels and caverns of the earth causes
terrible convulsions and earthquakes, till it get up to its own place. All
things seek to return thither from whence they came ; grace that came
from heaven carrieth the heart thither again. Jerusalem from above
is the mother of us all. Heaven is our native country, but the world
is a strange place ; and therefore, though the man be at home, yet the
Christian is not ; he is out of his proper place. Contempt of the world
is usually made the fruit of our regeneration : 1 John v. 4, ' Whosoever
is born of God overcometh the world.' There is something in them
that entitleth itself to God, and worketh towards him, and carrieth the
soul thither where God showeth most of himself. So, 2 Peter i. 4,
' We are made partakers of the divine nature, and escape the corrup
tion which is in the world through lust.' The world will not satisfy
the divine nature ; there is a strong inclination in us, which disposeth
us to look after another world, 1 Peter i. 3. As soon as made children,
we reckon upon a child's portion ; another nature hath another aim and
tendency. There is a double reason why the new creature cannot be
satisfied here. (1.) Here is not enough dispensed to answer God's love
in the covenant. / will be your God, noteth the gift of some better
thing than this world can afford unto us : Heb. xi. 16, ' God is not
ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city.'
That title is not justified till he give us eternal rewards, for to be a
God to any, is to be an infinite, eternal benefactor. Compare Mat.
xxii. 32, with the fore-mentioned place. (2.) Here is not enough to
satisfy the desire, expectation and inclination of the renewed heart.
The aim of it is carried after two things perfect enjoyment of God,
and perfect conformity to God. There is their home, where they may
be with God, and where they may be free from sin. Their love to
Christ is such, that where he is there they must be : Phil. i. 23, ' Having
a desire to depart, and to be with Christ : ' Col. iii. 1, ' If ye be risen
with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at
the right hand of God.' And there is a final, perfect estate, to which
the new creature is tending ; when it shall never dishonour God more,
but be made like him, and completely subject to him ; when never
troubled with sin more.
2. There lieth their treasure and their inheritance. It is said, Eph.
VER. 6.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 5
i. 3, that Christ hath ' blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly
places/ He hath blessed us with spiritual blessings in earthly places,
hath he not ? Here he hath adopted, justified, and sanctified us in
part, but the full accomplishment is reserved for the world to come.
God would not dispense the fulness of our blessedness in the present
world ; that is an unquiet place ; we are not out of gunshot and harm's
way, nor in an earthly paradise. There Adam enjoyed God among
the beasts, but we shall enjoy him in heaven among the angels. In
the world God would show his bounty to all his creatures a common
inn for sons and bastards ; the place of trial, not of recompense ; the
place where God hath set his footstool, not his throne, Isa. Ixvi. ; it is
Satan's walk, the devil's circuit : ' Whence comest thou ? From
compassing the earth to and fro,' Job ii. 2 ; a place defiled with sin,
and beareth the marks of it, given to all mankind in common : Ps.
cxv. 16, ' The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's, but the earth
hath he given to the children of men ; ' the slaughter-house and
shambles of the saints, for they are slain upon earth ; a receptacle for
elect and reprobate.
3. There are all our kindred. There is our home and country,
where our Father is, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and all the holy ones
of God : Ubi pater, ibi patria. We pray to him, ' Our father which
art in heaven.' It is heaven that is our Father's house, and the ever
lasting mansions of the blessed. There is our redeemer and elder
brother, Col. iii. 1 ; ' the heaven of heavens doth contain him.' There
are the best of the family, Mat viii. 12 ; there is Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. It is a misery to be strangers to the commonwealth of Israel,
to be shut out from the society of God's people ; but in heaven there
are other manner of saints there. To be shut out from the company
of the blessed is a dreadful excommunication indeed.
4. There we abide longest. An inn cannot be called our home ;
here we abide but for a night, but there for ever with the Lord. The
world must be surely left ; if we had a certain term of years fixed,
yet it is very short in comparison of eternity. Therefore since we
live longest in the other world, there is our home : Mic. ii. 10, ' Arise,
depart hence, this is not your rest.' God speaketh it of the land of
Canaan, when they had polluted it with sin. It is true of all the
world ; sin hath brought in death, and there must be a riddance.
This life is but a passage to eternity. Israel first dwelt in a wandering
camp, before they came to dwell in cities and walled towns ; and the
mysteries of their religion were first seated in a tabernacle, and then
in a temple; so 'here first in a mortal, frail condition, and then come
to the place of our eternal rest. There is an appointed time for us
all to remove : Job vii. 1, ' There is an appointed time for man upon
earth ; his days are as the days of an hireling.' An hireling when he
hath done his work, then he receiveth his wages, and is gone. Actors
when they have finished their parts, they go within the curtain, and
are seen no more. So when we have served our generation and finished
our course, our place will know us no more, and God will furnish the
world with a new scene, both of acts and actors.
5. The necessary graces that belong to a Christian show that a
Christian is not yet in his proper place ; as faith, hope, and love.
6 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfcR. IX.
[1.] Faith hath another world in prospect and view ; and our great
aim is to come at it. Sense showeth us we have no abiding city upon
earth, but faitli points at one to come, where Christ is, and we shall
one day be. Now this faith were but a fancy, if we should always
abide in this earthly tabernacle, and there were no other life to be
expected when this is at an end. The salvation of- our souls is called
the end of our faith ; 1 Peter i. 9, that is the main blessing we look
for from Christ. So 1 Tim. i. 16, ' We believe on him to life ever
lasting.' So Heb. x. 39, ' We are not of them who draw back to per
dition, but of them that believe to the saving of their souls.' The
great satisfaction that the immortal soul hath by faitli is, that it seeth
a place of eternal abode, and therefore it cannot settle here, it must
look higher than the present world. Faith persuadeth us that the end of
our creation and regeneration was far more noble than a little miserable
abode here. There is no man in the world, but if he follow the light
of reason, much more if Tie be guided by the light of grace, will seek
a place and an estate of rest, wherein he may finally quiet his mind.
Therefore faith cannot be satisfied till we reach our heavenly mansion ;
he is unworthy of an immortal soul that looketh no further than
earthly things.
[2.] Hope was made for things to come, especially for our full and
final happiness. God fits us with grace as well as with happiness ; he
doth not only make a grant of a glorious estate, but hath given us
grace to expect it. Hope would be of no use, if it did not look out
for another condition : Bom. viii. 24, ' Hope that is seen is not hope,
for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for it ? ' No ; there is
something to come ; and therefore because we have it not in possession,
we lift up the head, and look for it with a longing and desirous expec
tation. It is said, Col. i. 5, ' That our hope is laid up for us in heaven.'
A believer's portion is not given him in hand ; he hath it only in hope.
He hath it not, but it is safely kept for his use, and that in a
most sure place in heaven, where ' thieves cannot break through
and steal.'
[3.] Love. The saints have heard much of Christ, read much of
Christ, tasted and felt much of Christ ; they would fain see him, and
be with him : 1 Peter i. 8, ' Whom having not seen ye love.' Many
love Jesus Christ, whom they have not seen in the flesh, or conversed
with him bodily ; but though they have not seen him, they desire to see
him ; for love is an affection of union, it desireth to be with the party
loved. The ' Spirit and the bride saith, Come,' Kev. xxii. 17. The
adulteress saith, Stay away ; but the loving spouse and the bride saith,
Come. Carnal men will not give their vote this way, but the soul
that loveth Christ would have him either come to them, or take
them up to him ; their souls are not at ease till this be accomplished.
Use 1. Let us give in our names among them that profess them
selves to be strangers and sojourners here in the world. This confes
sion must be made, not in word only, but in deed and in truth. We
must carry ourselves as strangers and pilgrims.
1. Let us be drawing home as fast as we can. A traveller would
be passing over his journey as soon as may be ; so should we be
hastening home in our desires and affections. It is but a sorry home
VER. 6.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 7
to be at home in the body, when all that while we are absent from
the Lord. There is a tendency in the new nature to God, a perfect
enjoyment of God, and a perfect subjection to God; therefore our
desires should still draw homewards: Heb. xi. 16, 'They desire a
country, that is, an heavenly.' All that have gotten a new heart and
nature from the Lord, their hearts run upon the expectation of what
God hath promised ; they cannot be satisfied with anything they
enjoy here.
2. By making serious provision for the other world : Mat. vi. 33,
' But first seek the. kingdom of heaven, and the righteousness thereof,
and all these things shall be added unto you.' Men that bestow all
their labour and travail about earthly things, and neglect their precious
and immortal souls, they are contented to be at home in the body,
and look no further ; but when you are furnishing the soul with grace,
and grow more heavenly, strict and mortified, you are more meet:
Col. i. 12, ' Who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light.' They that wallow in the delights and content
ments of the flesh, dislike strictness and holiness. What should they
do with heaven ? they are not fit for it. Every degree of grace is a
step nearer home : Ps. Ixxxiv. 7, ' They shall go on from strength to
strength.' Get clearer evidences of your right to everlasting life :
1 Tim. vi. 19, ' Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation
against the time to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life.' The
comfort of what you have done for God will abide with you ; therefore
let it be your care and great business not so much to live well here,
as to live well hereafter ; our wealth, and honours, and dignities do
not follow us into the other world, but our works do. Consider the
place you are bound for, and what commodities grow current there,
what will stead you when other things fail.
3. Mortify carnal desires : 1 Peter ii. 11, 'As strangers and pilgrims,
abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.' The flesh-pots
of Egypt made Israel despise Canaan. Fleshly lusts do only gratify
the body, as corrupted with sin ; and therefore they must be subdued
and kept under by those who have higher and better things to care for.
If we were to live here for ever, it were no such absurd thing to gratify
the flesh, and please the body ; though even so it were not a practice
so suitable to the rational life, yet not altogether so absurd, as when
we must be gone, and shortly dislodge, and when we have great and
precious promises of happiness in another world : 2 Cor. vii. 1, ' Having
therefore these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness both
of flesh and spirit.' That bindeth it more upon us. These lusts blind
the mind, besot the heart, burden us in our journey homeward, divert
our thoughts and care ; yea, being indulged and allowed, they make
us forfeit heaven, and will prove at length the ruin of our souls.
Sowing to the flesh cuts off the hopes of happiness, Gal. vi. 8. Well
then, bethink yourselves, if you look for heaven, will you cherish the
flesh, which is the enemy of your salvation ? Do you expect a room
among the angels, and will you live as those who are slaves of the
devil ? The world is not your country, and will you wholly be occupied
and taken up about worldly things, what you shall eat and drink, and
what you shall put on ?
8 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [$ER. IX.
4. Patiently endure the inconveniences of your pilgrimage. Strangers
will meet with hard usage. It is no news that all things do not succeed
with the heirs of promise according to their heart's desire here in the
world : ' The world will love its own, but they are chosen out of the
world,' John xv. 19. Christ died not for this, that we should be dandled
upon the world's knees. As long as the end shall be happy, let us bear
the inconveniences of the way with the more patience. A Christian, that
is convinced of a life to come, should not be greatly dismayed at any
temporal accident. The discourse between Modestus, a governor under
Valence and Basil the Great, in Nazianzen's twentieth Oration, is very
notable to this purpose. When he threatened him with banishment,
' I know no banishment that know no abiding-place here in the
world. I cannot say that this place is mine, nor can I say the other
is not mine, wherever God shall cast me ; rather all is the Lord's,
whose stranger and pilgrim I am. Every place is alike near to heaven,
and thither I am tending.' This is to carry ourselves as strangers and
pilgrims. Indeed, to be more indifferent as to the good things of this
life, and to take them as God sendeth them ; but heaven will make
amends for all. Many times the world proveth a step-mother. The
ground that bringeth forth thistles and nettles of its own accord will
not bear choicer plants. But it is your comfort you shall be trans
planted, Heb. x. 34. From whence do you fetch your supports in
any cross ? 1 John iii. 1. A prince that travelleth abroad in disguise,
may be slighted and ill treated, but you have a glorious inheritance
reserved for you; therefore this should be your comfort and sup
port.
5. Beg direction from God, that you may go the shortest way home :
Ps. cxix. 19, ' I am a stranger upon earth, hide not thy commandments
from me.' It concerneth a stranger to look after a better and a more
durable estate ; there is no direction how to attain it but in the word
of God, and there is no saving understanding of it but in the light of
his Spirit. This we must earnestly seek, that in everything we may
understand our duty, that we be not found in a false way : ' Saved as
by fire,' 1 Cor. iii. 13. Make a hard shift to scramble to heaven.
6. Get as much of home as you can in your pilgrimage, in the
earnest and first fruits of the Spirit : Horn. viii. 23, ' And not only they,
but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the
redemption of our bodies.' In ordinances ; Mat. xxvi. 29, ' But I say
unto you, I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine, until
that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.' Medi
tation, word, prayer and communion of saints.
Doct. 2. The main reason why a good Christian counteth himself
not at home, is, because he is absent from the Lord, while he is in the
body.
I shall here inquire,
1. How believers are absent from the Lord.
2. Why this maketh them look upon the world as a strange place,
and heaven as their house.
1. How are believers absent from the Lord, when he dwelleth in
them, as in his temple, and there is a near and close union between
VER. 6.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 9
him and them ? And he hath promised, that where two or three are
gathered together in his name he is in the midst of them?
I answer, Christ is with us indeed, but we are not with him. He
dwelleth in us by his grace, and influenceth us with quickening and
strength, but he is at a distance ; we can have no personal converse
with him, though there be a spiritual commerce between us. But in
heaven we shall be translated to Christ, and enjoy the fulness of his
grace ; here ' we walk by faith, and not by sight,' as it is in the next
verse. In short, our communion with Christ is (1.) not immediate;
(2.) nor full ; (3.) often interrupted.
[1.] It is not immediate. We see him now as covered and veiled in
ordinances and providences, but then we shall see him face to face.
In providences we enjoy him only at the second or third hand : Hos.
ii. 21, 22, ' I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth ; and
the earth shall hear the corn, and wine, and oil ; and they shall hear
Jezreel.' The mercy and goodness of God passeth from creature to
creature before it cometh to us. So in ordinances, all that we have
from him is by the means of the word and sacraments ; there we shall
enjoy him without means, and without these external helps, for there
God will be all in all, 1 Cor. xv. 28. We shall then ever be before
him, in his eye and presence ; and ' in his presence is fulness of joy,'
Ps. xvi. 11. Our communion with him is not a fancy, but indeed:
1 John i. 3, ' Truly our communion is with the Father, and with his
Son Jesus Christ.' But this commerce is maintained at a distance ;
he is in heaven, and we are upon earth ; it is maintained by faith, but
then all is evident to sense.
[2.] Now it is not full. There is a defect both in the pipe and the
vessel ; we cannot contain all that he is able to give out, nor can the
means convey it to us. The means are as narrow conduits from the
fountain, or as creeks from the sea. The fountain could send forth
more water, but the pipe or conduit can convey no more. The sea
could pour a greater flood, but the creek can receive no more. When
God dispenseth himself by means, either in a way of punishment or
blessing, he doth not give out himself in that fulness and latitude as
when he is all in all. In punishing the wicked here, he punisheth us
by a creature. A giant striking with a. straw cannot put forth his
strength with it. So in blessing, no creature nor ordinance can convey
all the goodness of God to us. Therefore now we have an imperfect
power against sin, imperfect peace and comfort in our consciences, an
imperfect love to God ; but when our communion is immediate, then will
it be full. We converse with Christ without let and impediment, and
he maketh out himself to us in a greater latitude and fulness than now.
[3.] Our communion with Christ is often interrupted ; but in glory
we shall enjoy his company for ever, and shall have constant and near
fellowship : 1 Thes. iv. 17, ' We shall be ever with the Lord.' That
day is never darkened with cloud or night ; we shall meet, and never
part more ; all distance is gone, and weakness is gone, and we shall
everlastingly abide before his throne.
2. Why God's children count themselves not at home till they are
admitted into this perpetual society with Christ.
[1.] Because this is the blessedness which is promised to them.
10 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [&ER. IX.
And therefore they expect it, and thirst after it : John xii. 26, ' Where
I am, there shall iny servant be.' It is our duty to follow him where-
ever he leadeth us here, and it is our happiness to be with him for ever
hereafter. We often look upon the happiness of heaven, as it freeth
us from all pains and torments. No, the chiefest part is to be with
Christ. Our glory and happiness consists much in being in his com
pany. So when he maketh his last will and testament : John xvii. 24,
' Father, I will that those whom thou hast given me may be where I
am, and behold my glory.' That is it ; he prayeth they may be brought
safe there, and be happy for evermore.
[2.] This is that which is highly prized by them, to be where Christ
is. Why is this so much prized by true Christians ?
(1.) Out of thankfulness to Christ's delighting in our presence.
Therefore much more should we delight in his. He longed for the
society of men' before the creation of the world: Prov. viii. 31, ' I rejoiced
in the habitable parts of the earth, and my delights were with the sons
of men.' Christ delighted in all the creatures, as they were the effects
of his wisdom, and goodness, and power ; but chiefly in men, as they
were the objects of his grace, capable of Grod's image and favour.
Thus he longed for the company of men before the world was. When
the world was once made, he delighted to appear in human shape
before his incarnation ; as Gen. xviii., a man appeared to Abraham,
and he is called Jehovah ; and Zech. i. 10, 11, ' And the man that
stood among the myrtle- trees, answered and said, These are they whom
the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.' As if he
would try how it would fit him to become bone of our bone, and flesh
of our flesh. When the fulness of time was come, John i. 4, ' the
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us' as* long as it was necessary.
When he departed, he had a mind of returning ; before he went away,
and removed his bodily presence from us, his heart was upon meeting
and fellowship again, and getting his people to him : John xiv. 2, ' In
my Father's house are many mansions ; I go to prepare a place for you ;
I will come again, and receive you to myself, that where I am you ma}'
be also.' Until the time that the meeting cometh, he vouchsafeth his
powerful presence to us : Mat. xxviii. 20, ' Lo, I am with you to the
end of the world.' He would never have gone from us if our necessities
did not require it ; it was necessary that he should die for our sins.
That nothing might hinder our believing and coming to him, it was
necessary that he should go to heaven. If our happiness had lain here,
he would have been with us here ; but it doth not, it is reserved for us
in the heavens; therefore he must go there to prepare a place for us.
Before he went he desired we might be there where he is ; as if he
could not take content in heaven till he hath his faithful with him.
Now he is gone away, he will tarry no longer than our affairs require.
To have our souls with him, that doth not content him, till he come
and fetch our bodies also, that we may follow him in our whole
person, and then we and he shall never part, when all the elect shall
meet in one common rendezvous and congregation. Now shall not all
this breed a reciprocal affection in us ?
(2.) Out of love to Christ. We would fain get near him who is our
great friend: Ps. Ixxiii. 25, 'Whom have I in heaven but thee?'
VER. 7.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 11
And the saints are described to be those that ' love his appearing,' 2
Tim. iv. 8. If we have heard him, if we be Christians indeed, if we
loved him when we saw him not, and delighted in him, and tasted his
grace in truth, and felt his power, we shall long to be near him, and
see him, and converse with him intimately.
(3.) Taste. Communion begun maketh us long for communion per
fected: Ps. Ixiii. 1, 2, '0 God, thou art my God; early will I seek
thee : my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry
and thirsty land where no water is : to see thy power and thy glory,
so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary/
(4.) Their complete happiness dependeth upon it : 1 John iii. 2,
' We shall see him as he is, and be like him : ' John xvii. 24, ' That
they may be where I am, and behold my glory.' Christ cannot be
fully seen on this side time.
Use 1. Is to condemn and disprove them from being true Christians
that cannot abide the presence of Christ. The Gadarenes desired him to
depart out of their coasts, Mat. viii. Yet carnal men have such a spirit,
Job xxii. 17, ' which say unto God, Depart from us ; ' cannot abide Christ
in their neighbourhood, that he should come near their consciences.
Use 2. Is to press us to two things.
1. To prize the communion and fellowship of Christ for the present.
It is constant and habitual ; that ' he may dwell in your hearts by
faith,' Eph. iii. 17. Where Christ taketh up his abode, there his
Spirit is the fountain of life, Gal. ii. 20 ; our defence against tempta
tions: 1 John iv. 4, 'Greater is he that is in us than he that is in
the world ; ' ' The seed and hope of glory,' Col. i. 27. Solemn and
actual in holy duties; there is heaven begun, there we 'behold his
face in righteousness,' Ps. xvii. 15 ; ' And a day in his courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere/ Ps. Ixxxiv. 10.
2. Let us long to be with him, to get out of the pesthouse of the
world, and the prison of corrupt nature. I allude to that, Gen. xxiv.
57, 58, ' And they said, We will call the damsel, and inquire at her
mouth. And they called Eebekah, and said to her, Wilt thou go with
this man ? And she said, I will go.' Wilt thou go to Jesus ? Lord,
I will go with thee. Hindrances are these.
[1.] A surfeit on the sinful pleasures and contentments of this world.
This weakens your desires, and taketh off the edge of your affections.
Lot lingered when he was to go out of Sodom, Gen. xix. 16.
[2.] Do not darken your confidence by your sin and folly. Then
you will as a malefactor fly from him as a judge, rather than rejoice
to be with him as a saviour.
SERMON X.
For we loalk by faith, and not by sight. 2 COR. v. 7.
IN this verse a reason is given why we are said to be absent from
the Lord while we are at home in the body; because all things are
12 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [&ER. X.
transacted between him and us by faith, and not by sight or immediate
vision ' For we walk/ &c.
These words do notably set forth to us both the nature of faith,
and the condition of believers here in the world.
1. They set forth the nature of faith, which mainly goeth upon
things unseen, or not obvious to present sense.
2. The condition of a believer in the world : he doth not now see
God face to face ; he hath only the promise of blessedness, not the
enjoyment.
But that I may draw forth the full scope and sense of the words, I
shall give you six observations or propositions.
1. That faith and sight are opposed and contra-distinguished the
one from the other.
2. That faith is for earth, and sight is for heaven ; the one is of use
to us in this world, the other is reserved for the world to come.
3. That till we have sight it is some advantage that we have faith.
4. Those that have faith are not satisfied and contented till they
have sight. For therefore the apostle groaneth and desireth.
5. That if we have faith, we may be sure that hereafter we shall
have sight, or hereafter enjoy the beatifical vision.
6. That those that have faith must walk by it.
Doct. 1. That faith and sight are opposed and contra-distinguished
the one from the other. Faith is a grace that is conversant about
things unseen, or a dependence upon God for something that lieth
out of sight. That this is the essential property arid nature of faith
appeareth by the definition of it, Heb. xi. 1, ' It is the substance of
things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.' The objects
of faith are things invisible and future. The Lord is absent from us,
who maketh the promise; and heaven, which is the great promise
which he hath promised us, is yet to come. The nature of faith and
hope is destroyed if the object be seen and present, or ready at hand
to be enjoyed : Rom. viii. 24, ' For hope that is seen is not hope ;
for what a man seeth, why doth he hope for it ? ' Vision and posses
sion exclude faith and hope ; there is a constant opposition, you see,
between faith and sight ; so that we may know that we have faith,
when we can believe those things which are promised, though we have
little probability in sense or reason to expect them. And hereby we may
know the measure as well as the nature of our faith, for the excellency
and strength of it is in believing things upon God's word, to which
sense giveth little encouragement, as appeareth by those words of
Christ to Thomas : John xx. 29, ' Thomas, because thou hast seen,
thou hast believed ; but blessed are they that have not seen and yet
believed.' Thomas must have the object of faith under the view of
his senses, which though it did not argue a nullity in his faith, yet a
very great weakness and imbecility. Weak Christians must be
carried in arms, dandled upon knees, fed with sensible pledges and
ocular demonstrations, or else they are ready to faint; but strong
Christians can believe above sense and against sense. As it is said of
the father of the faithful that he believed in hope and against hope :
Rom. iv. 18, 19, 'And considered not his own body, being dead,
being an hundred years old, nor the deadness of Sarah's womb ; he
VER. 7.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 13
staggered not at the promise of God, but was strong in faith, giving
glory to God/ The more faith can live upon the word of God, the
better, though the things believed be neither felt nor seen ; and the
less of sensible demonstration we require, the stronger the faith ever.
This is true in all the objects that faith is conversant about ; I shall
instance in some. The person of Christ. Many believed on him
though they had never seen him in the flesh, and therefore their
faith is commended : 1 Peter i. 8, ' Whom having not seen ye
love, and in whom ye believe, rejoicing with joy unspeakable and
full of glory.' It was an advantage certainly to converse with
Christ personally here upon earth, but faith can embrace him
in the word though it never saw him in the flesh. So for the
threatenings, when we can tremble at the word ; as Josiah did
when he heard the curses of the law, though there were no dangers
nigh ; we do not read of any actual disturbance and trouble at that
time in the nation. So many times when an age is very corrupt, and
things are ripe for judgment, and God giveth warning, alas ! few take
it or lay it to heart ; they are not affected with things till they feel
them. Few can see a storm when the clouds are a-gathering, they
securely build upon their present ease and peace, though God be
angry. But in the eye of faith a sinful estate is always dangerous,
and they humble themselves while the judgment is but in its causes ;
as it is said, Heb. xi. 7, ' By faith Noah, being warned of God of things
not seen as yet, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by the
which he condemned the world, and became the heir of righteousness
which is by faith.' Mark, things not seen are still matter of faith ;
he saw them in the warning of God, though he could not any way
else see a flood a-coming. So for God's aid and succour in a time of
danger : Heb. xi. 27, ' By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath
of the king, for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.' To
appearance he was like to be swallowed up, being pursued by a wrath
ful and puissant king ; but the terrors of sense may be easily van
quished by those invisible succours which faith relieth upon. So in
all matters of practical experience. In prosperity we have but too
much confidence ; but when we are lessened in the world, and cut short,
we are full of diffidence and distrustful fears: Ps. xxx. 6, 'In my
prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.' Even a child of God, when
he gets a carnal pillow to rest upon, lieth down and sleepeth securely,
and dreameth many a pleasant dream, and is full of confidence ; but
when God taketh away his pillow from under his head, then he is as
diffident as formerly confident. God is the same, his promises the
same, his covenant the same, the mediator the same ; but we are much
changed, because we look to things seen, and live upon things seen.
In danger how are we troubled about protection, in deep poverty about
provisions and maintenance ! If sick and nigh unto death, how little
do the promises of pardon and eternal life prevail ! In perplexed affairs
how little can we unravel ourselves, and refer the issue to God 1 Faith
is staggered because we cannot believe in hope against hope. We
must have something in view and sight ; faith yieldeth no relief to us.
Let me instance in a case of spiritual sense in troubles of conscience,
when God's law speaketh him an enemy, and conscience feeleth him
14 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. X.
an enemy. How long is it ere we can bring men to any kind of hope
by Christ, notwithstanding the rich and free offers of his grace, or
engage them, when the curse of the law cleaveth to their consciences,
to take God's way for cure and remedy ? because they prefer sense
before faith, and the feeling of God's law that cleaveth to them maketh
them exclude all hope by the gospel: Isa. 1. 10, ' Who is there among
you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that
walketh in darkness, and hath no light ? Let him trust in the name of
the Lord, and stay upon his God.' The recumbency of such a soul
is a notable act of faith, loving God as a friend, trusting him as an
enemy. So in outward trials and difficulties, to wait for so much as
God hath promised. Many trust God no further than they can see
him, or have probability to expect his help, which is a limiting the
holy one of Israel, Ps. Ixxviii. 41, confining him to a circle of their
own making. If sense be against the promise, the promise doth them
no good. Now to comfort ourselves in God when all faileth : Hab.
iii. 18, 'Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will joy in the God of my
salvation ;' and Ps. xxiii. 4, 'Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear none evil, for thou art with me,
thy rod and thy staff doth comfort me.' To make the promise yield
us that which the creature cannot, health, strength, life, peace, house
and home, and maintenance for ourselves and children. When we
die, and have little or nothing to leave them, and all means of subsist
ence are cut off and blasted, then to live, yea to grow rich by faith,
as ' having nothing, yet possessing all things,' 2 Cor. vi. 10. It is
enough that God carrieth the purse for us. Many talk of living by
faith, but it is when they have something in the world to live upon ;
as those, Isa. iv. 1, ' Only let us be called by thy name.' So in other
cases, why do the vain delights, and dignities, and honours of the
world so prevail with men, that all the promises of the gospel cannot
reclaim them ? yea, sell their birthright for one morsel of meat ? ' Heb.
xii. 16. The life of sense is lifted up above that of faith. The soul
dwelleth in flesh, looketh out by the senses, and knoweth what is com
fortable to sense, that God is unseen, our great hopes are to come,
and the flesh is importunate to be pleased : 2 Peter i. 9, ' They that
want these things (that is, faith and other graces) are blind, and can
not see afar off.'
Doct. 2. That faith is for earth, and sight is for heaven.
So the apostle sorteth these two. Here we believe in God, and there
we see him as he is. As soon as we are reconciled to him, God will
not admit us into his immediate presence ; as Absalom, when he had
leave to return, yet he could not see the king's face, 2 Sam. xiv. 24.
So God causeth us to stay a while in the world ere we come before him
in his heavenly temple.
1. Because now we are in our minority, and all things are by degrees
carried on towards their state of perfection ; as an infant doth not pre
sently commence into the stature of a man. In the course of nature
there is an orderly progress from an imperfect state to a perfect. The
dispensations of God to the church, Gal. iv. And the apostle compareth
our estate in glory and our estate by grace to childhood and manly
age, 1 Cor. xiii. 11, 12. Our words, inclinations, affections, are quite
. 7.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. 15
changed in the compass of a few years, so as we neither say, nor desire,
nor understand anything as some years before we did. So it is with
this and the next life : now our vision is very dark and imperfect,
looking upon things when they are showed us as through a glass, on
purpose to give us a glimpse of them ; but when we come to heaven,
we shall see perfectly, as we see a person or thing that is before our
eyes.
2. We are now upon our trial, but then we are in termino, in our final
state ; now we are in our way, but then we are in our country. There
fore now we walk by faith, but then by sight ; God would not give us
our reward here. A trial cannot be made in a state of sense, but in
a state of faith : we are justified by faith ; we live by faith ; we walk
by faith. This state of faith requireth that the manner of that dispen
sation by which God governeth the world should neither be too sen
sible and clear, nor too obscure and dark, but a middle thing, as the
daybreak or twilight is between the light of the day and the darkness
of the night; that as the world is a middle place between heaven and
hell, so it should have somewhat of either. If all things were too clear
and liable to sense, we should not need faith ; if too obscure, we should
wholly lose faith ; therefore it is neither night nor day, but towards
the evening. If the godly should be presently admitted to their happi
ness, and have all things according to heart's desire, it would make
religion too sensible a thing, not fit for that kind of government which
God will now exercise in the world : Heb. vi. 12, ' But followers of
them who through faith and patience have inherited the promises;'
and James i. 12, ' Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for
when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord
hath promised to them that love him.' Every man must be tried, and
approved faithful upon trial, and then God will admit him into his
presence.
3. There is no congruity between our present state and the beatifi
cal vision ; the place is not fit, nor the persons.
[1.] The place is not fit, because it is full of changes. Here time
and chance happeneth to all, and there is a continual succession of
night and day, calm and tempest, winter and summer. There is neither
all evil nor only evil, not all good nor all blessing, but a mixture of
either. The world to come is either all evil or all good. This is a
fit place for our exercise, but not for our enjoyments. Here is the
patience of the saints, but there is the reward of the saints. It is a
fit place to get an interest in, but not a possession. It is God's foot
stool, but not his throne, Isa. Ixvi. 1. Now he will not immediately
show himself to us till we come before the throne of his glory. He
manifesteth himself to the blessed spirits as a king sitting in his royal
robes upon his throne, but the church is but his foot-stool ; as he fill-
eth the upper part of the world with his glorious presence, so the
lower part with his powerful presence. This is a place wherein God
will show his bounty to all his creatures, a common inn and receptacle
for sons and bastards, a place given to the children of men, but the
heaven of heavens he hath reserved for himself and his people, Ps.
cxv. 16.
[2.] The persons are not fit. Our souls are not yet enough purified
16 SKUMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. X.
to see God, Mat. v. 8 ; 1 John iii. 3. Till sin be done away, which
will not be till death, we are unmeet for his presence. When Christ
will present us to God, he will present us faultless before the presence
of his glory, Jude 28. Our bodies also are not fit till we have passed
the gulf of death. We are not able to bear eternal happiness. Old
bottles will not hold the new wine of glory ; a mortal creature is not
capable of the glorious presence of God, and cannot endure the splen
dour of it : Mat. xii. 6, ' They fell on their faces, and were sore afraid.'
Upon any manifestation of God the saints hide themselves: Elijah
wrapt his face in a mantle ; Moses himself, when God gave the law,
trembled exceedingly.
Doct. 3. That till we have sight, it is some advantage that we have
faith. There is no other way to live spiritually and in holy peace, joy,
and the love of God, but by sight or faith, either by enjoyment or
expectation. Therefore, sight being reserved for the other world, if we
would live holily and comfortably, we must walk by faith ; for our life
is not maintained so much by the things which we enjoy, as the things
we look for from God. If a Christian had no more to look for from
God than he enjoyeth here, he were of all men most miserable not
only equal, but more miserable. God's children have fewer comforts,
more afflictions, and their affections to heavenly things are stronger
than others. Therefore that which we look for must be our solace.
What relief will faith yield us ?
1. Faith hath its sights, though not full and ravishing, as those
which presence and immediate vision will yield to us. By the light
of faith we see the good things which God hath promised and pro
vided for us. We see them in the promise, though not in the per
formance ; there is a spiritual sight which faith seeth by : John vi.
40, 'He that seeth the Son, and believeth on him.' Faith is a
sight of Christ, such a sight as affecteth and engageth the heart, such,
a sight as niaketh us to count all things but dung and dross. Thus
' Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and saw it, and was glad/ The
Lord suspended the exhibition of Christ in the flesh till long after
Abraham ; but he got that which was far better than a bodily sight,
lie got a spiritual sight of him by faith. Faith hath an eagle's eye,
and can see a very far off, and can draw comfort not only from what
is visible for the present, but yet to come for a long time. Through
all that distance of time could Abraham see Christ's day. This will
in part satisfy us: Eph. i. 18, 'That the eyes of your mind being
enlightened, ye may know what is the hope of his calling.' The eye
of the soul or the mind is faith, without which we are blind, and
cannot see afar off, 2 Peter i. 9. It seeth 'things past, present, and to
come. Past : Gal. iii. 1, ' Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been
evidently set forth, crucified among you.' Christ was not crucified in
Oalatia, but in Jerusalem. It is not meant of a picture and crucifix,
for in those early days they did not paint what they worshipped, but
set forth to their faith. So plain and powerful is the apprehension of
faith, as if he had acted his bloody passion before them, as if they had
seen Christ crucified. So not only for present things, but in the other
world. God : Heb. xi. 27, ' As seeing him that is invisible ; ' Christ
at the right hand of God. Stephen saw it in vision and ecstasy, Acts
VER. 7.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 17
vii. 51. But every believer seeth it by faith. Things to come, as
the day of judgment : Kev. xx. 12, ' I saw the dead, small and great,
stand before God.' A believer is certainly persuaded and suitably
affected ; so Abraham saw Christ's day.
2. Faith goeth not upon fallible, but certain and sure grounds.
Enjoyment is more comfortable, but faith is sure ; sight is better than
faith, yet faith is our present strength, comfort, and support. It is our
unhappiness that we walk not by sight, but it is some piece of happi
ness that we walk by faith ; so that a believer is comforted, but not
satisfied. His faith is satisfied, though his love and desire be not.
For faith goeth upon good security, the security of God's promise,
who cannot lie ; nay, we have not only promises, but pledges which
faith worketh. It is of faith, that it may be sure to all the seed.
But the world thinketh nothing sure that is invisible. To carnal men,
what they see not is as nothing ; that the promises are but like a night-
dream of mountains of gold, that all the comforts thence deduced are
but fanatical illusions. Nothing so ridiculous in the world's eye as
trust and dependence upon unseen comforts : Ps. xxii. 7, 8, ' All they
that see me laugh me to scorn, saying, He trusted in the Lord that he
would deliver him.' Ungodly wits make the life of faith a sport, and
a matter of laughter. They are all for the present world ; present
delights and present temptations have the greatest influence upon
them. One little thing in hand is more than the greatest promise of
better things to come : 2 Tim. iv. 10, ' Demas hath forsaken us, and
embraced the present world.'
But are all things future and invisible to be questioned ? Surely
we do not deal equally with God and man. Country people will obey
a king whom they never saw. If a man promise, they reckon much of
that ; they can tarry upon man's security, but count God's nothing
worth. They can trade with a factor beyond seas, and trust all their
estate in a man's hands whom they have never seen. And yet the
word of the infallible God is of little regard and respect with them,
even then when he is willing to give earnest.
3. Faith hath some enjoyment. All is not kept for the world to
come. We are ' partakers of Christ,' Heb. iii. 14 ; partakers of the
benefit, 1 Tim. vi. 2, that is, of salvation by Christ. A Christian hath
here by faith whatever he shall have hereafter by sight or full enjoy
ment. They believe it now, they receive it then ; they have the
beginnings now, the consummation then.
Doct. 4. Those that have faith are not satisfied and contented till
they have sight. For therefore the apostle groaneth after and desireth
a better estate. The reasons of this :
1. The excellency of that better estate which is to come. It is
expressed in the text by sight. Now what sight shall we have ? The
sight of God and Christ. Of God : 1 Cor. xiii. 12, ' We shall see him
face to face, and we shall know as we are known.' And for Christ : 1
John iii. 2, ' We shall see him as he is ; ' and John xvii. 20 : ' That they
may be where I am, and behold my glory.' What is this glory ? The
excellency of his person, the union of the two natures in the person of
Christ : John xiv. 20, ' At that day ye shall know that I am in the
Father, and the Father in me.' The clarity of his human nature.
VOL. XIII. B
18 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. X.
They shall see the Lamb's face, and -be eye-witnesses of the honour
which the Father puts upon him as mediator. In what manner shall
we behold it ? It is either ocular or mental. (1.) Ocular. Our senses
have their happiness as well as our souls ; there is a glorified eye as
well as a glorified mind ' With these eyes shall I behold him,' Job
xix. 26. We shall see that person that redeemed us, that nature
wherein he suffered so much for us. God intendeth good to the body,
and hath intrusted it with the soul, and that soul with so much grace,
that he will not lose the outward cask and vessel. (2.) There is a
mental vision or contemplation. The angels that are not bodily are
said to ' behold the face of our heavenly Father,' Mat. xviii. 10. And
when we are said to see God, it is not meant of the bodily eye ; a
spirit cannot be seen with bodily eyes ; so he is invisible, Col. i. 15.
And seeing face to face is opposed to knowing in part. The mind is
the noblest faculty, and therefore must have its satisfaction. Well
then, this is our happiness, to see God and Christ with eye and mind ;
ocular vision maketh way for mental, mental for fruition, and fruition
for love and joy, and that accompanied with all manner of felicity.
Alas ! now we have dull and low conceptions of God, are little trans
formed by them, or weaned from fleshly and worldly lusts ; could we
see God in all his glory, nothing would be dreadful, nothing would be
snaringly or enticingly amiable to us any more : 1 John ii. 6, ' Who
soever sinneth hath not seen God, nor known him.' We can hardly
get such a sight of God now as to prevent heinous and wilful sins, but
then shall see him, and grow more holy and God-like.
2. The taste which we have by faith draweth on the soul to look
and long for a full enjoyment. They are sweet and ravishing as
apprehended by faith, but what will they be when enjoyed by sight ?
Moses' first request was, Tell me thy name ; afterwards, Show me
thy glory ; now we scarce know his name, but then we shall see his
glory. A little Christ hath told us, who hath seen God, and is with
God, and is God himself, Mat. xi. 27. This little doth not satisfy,
but enkindle our thirst to know more, especially if this knowledge be
joined with experience, 1 Peter ii. 3. ' If we have tasted that the
Lord is gracious.' This sets the soul a-longing for a fuller draught,
and we still follow on to know more of God, Hos. vi. 3.
Doct. 5. If we have faith, we may be sure that hereafter we shall
have sight. For God will not disappoint the soul that looketh and
longeth for what he hath promised ; and not only looketh and longeth,
but laboureth, and sufFereth all manner of inconveniency, and is
willing to do anything and be anything that it may enjoy these
blessed hopes. Would God court the creature into a vain hope, to
his great loss and detriment ? More distinctly
1. It is faith that maketh us mind sight, or regard the things
of another world. When they were persuaded of things afar off, they
embraced them. There is a twofold life commonly spoken of in
scripture as being in man: the animal life and the spiritual life.
The animal life is the life of the soul void of grace, accommodating
itself to the interests of the body : Jude 19, ' Sensual, having not the
Spirit/ as to the power and pomp of the world, height of rank and
place, riches, pleasures, honours, or such things as are grateful to sense.
YER. 7.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 19
Our spiritual life is a principle that enableth us to live unto God, to
act towards him, to make his glory our chief scope, his favour as our
felicity and happiness. These two lives are governed by sense and
faith the animal by sense, the spiritual by faith ; so that reason is
either debased by sense, or sublimated and raised by faith. Sense
carrieth and inclineth the soul to the pleasures, honours, profits of the
present world, faith directeth it to the concernments of the world to
come ; hereunto all cometh, the distinction of the outward man and
inward man. The animal life is cherished by the comforts of this life,
the other by the life to come ; see 1 Cor. ii. 14 ; ' But the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God ; ' so 2 Cor. iv. 16,
' For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish,
yet the inward man is renewed day by day.' Well then, it is faith
that breedeth a heavenly spirit ; so that a man is made heavenly in
his walkings, heavenly in his thoughts, heavenly in his supports,
heavenly in his discourse, heavenly in his expectations. Faith doth
not a little tincture a man, but he is deeply drenched by it, and
baptized into a heavenly spirit.
2. It is faith that prepareth us for sight ; for it is a kind of antici
pation of blessedness, or fore-enjoyment of our everlasting estate.
Therefore called, Heb. xi. 1, ' The substance of things hoped for/ God
by faith traineth us up for sight ; first we live by faith, and then by
sight. Faith now serveth instead of vision, and hope of fruition ; it
maketh our happiness in a manner present ; though it doth not affect
us in the same degree that the life of glory or vision will do, yet
somewhat answerable it worketh. The life of glory is inconsistent
with any misery : but the life of faith enableth us to rest quietly upon
God and his gracious promises as if there were no misery. Where it
hath any efficacy and vigour, no allurement and terror can turn us
aside, but we follow the Lord in all conditions with delight and cheer
fulness. The expectation cannot affect us as the enjoyment doth, but
in some measure it doth : Eom. v. 3, ' We rejoice in hope of the glory
of God.' The beatifical vision transformeth us : 1 John iii. 2, ' We
shall see him as he is, and be like him.' So doth the sight of faith :
2 Cor. iii. 18, ' Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are
changed into his image and likeness.' The one nullifieth sin, the
other mortifieth sin.
3. It is faith giveth a right and title to the things expressed by
sight ; there is a charter, or certain grant of eternal life, written with
Christ's blood, sealed by the Spirit, offered by God, accepted by faith.
Sealing, offered and accepted, standeth valid and ratified. The heirs
of promise are described to be those who run for refuge to take hold
of the hope that is before them, Heb. vi. 18, all that take sanctuary
at his grace, and are resolved to pursue it in God's way ; that is, to
continue patiently in well-doing, Kom. ii. 7. Faith giveth the first
consent, which is after verified by a constant and unwearied pursuit
after this happiness. Those who entertain a king make reckoning of
his train. The winning of the field is ascribed to the general under
whose conduct the battle was fought ; so the promises run upon faith,
which beginneth and governeth the whole business. Well then,
many catch at it by a fond presumption, but have no title till faith,
20 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SEU. X.
and that faith no cold speculation and dead opinion about heaven,
but a lively, working faith. Certainly we do but talk of eternal life, we
do not believe it, if our most industrious care, and serious thoughts,
and constant and active endeavours be not turned into this channel, or
if we do not believe it so as to prize it, and prize it so as to seek after
it, and seek after it in the first place, Mat. vi. 33. This must be our
great scope do all things to eternal ends : 2 Cor. iv. 18, ' While we
look not to the things which are seen, but at the things which are not
seen ; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which
are not seen are eternal/
Doct. 6. Those who have faith must walk by it ; for faith is here
considered as working and putting forth itself. We walk, that is,
we live, for in the dialect of the Hebrews this life is a walk ; vitam
nostram componimus, we must govern and direct our lives by the
power arid influence of faith. It is not enough to have faith, but we
must walk by it ; our whole conversation is carried on and influenced
by faith, and by the Spirit of God on Christ's part : Gal. ii. 20, ' I
live by the faith of the Son of God ; ' a lively faith. There living by
faith is spoken of as it respecteth the principle of the spiritual life ;
here walking by faith as the scope and end of it : there, as we derive
virtue from Christ ; here, as we press on to heaven, in the practice of
holiness. In short, walking noteth a progress, and passing on from
one place to another, through a straight and beaten way which lieth
between both. So we pass on from the earthly state to the heavenly
by the power and influence of our way ; our way is through all condi
tions we are appointed unto, and through all duties required of us.
1. Through all conditions. By honour and dishonour, evil report
and good report, afflictions, prosperities, 2 Cor. vi. 4-8. Whether
despised or countenanced, still minding our great journey to heaven.
Faith is necessary for all, that the evil be not a discouragement, nor
the good a snare. Evil: Horn. viii. 18, 'For I' reckon that the suffer
ings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory
that shall be revealed in us.' Good : 2 Tim. iv. 10, ' For Demas hath
forsaken us, and loved the present world.'
2. All duties required of us. That we still keep a good conscience
towards God and towards man, Acts xxiv. 15, 16, in this faith and
hope.
Reasons
1. Walking by faith maketh a man sincere, because he expecteth
his reward from God only, though no man observe him, no man com
mend him : Mat. vi. 6, ' Thy Father which seeth in secret shall
reward thee openly.' Yea, though all men hate him and condemn
him : Mat. v. 11, 12, ' Blessed are you when men shall revile and per
secute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my
name's sake ; rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward
in heaven.' Now this is true sincerity, when we make God alone our
paymaster, and count his rewards enough to repair our losses and repay
our cost.
2. It maketh a man vigorous and lively. When we consider at
the end of our work there is a life of endless joys to be possessed in
heaven with God, that we shall never repent of the labour and pain
YER. 7.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 21
that we have taken in the spiritual life : 1 Cor. xv. 58, ' Always
abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour shall
not be in vain in the Lord ;' Phil. iii. 14, ' I press towards the mark,
because of the high prize of the calling of God in Jesus Christ/ The
thoughts of the prize and worth of the reward do add spirits to the
runner.
3. It maketh a man watchful, that he be not corrupted with the
delights of sense, which are apt to call back our thoughts, to interrupt
our affections, to divert us from our work, and quench our zeal. Now
one that walks by faith can compare his eternal happiness with these
transitory pleasures which will soon have an end, and everlastingly
forsake those miserable souls who were deluded by them. As Moses :
Heb. xi. 24, 25, 'By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer
affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season.'
4. Walking by faith will make a man self-denying ; for, having
heaven in his eye, he knoweth that he cannot be a loser by God :
Mark x. 21, ' Forsake all that thou hast, and thou shalt have treasure
in heaven ; ' so vers. 29, 30, ' Verily I say unto you, There is no man
that hath left house, or brethren, or sister, or father, or mother, or
children, or lands, for my name's sake, but he shall receive an
hundred-fold.'
5. Walking by faith maketh a man comfortable and confident ; a
believer is encouraged in all his duty, emboldened in his conflicts,
comforted in all his sufferings. The quieting or emboldening the soul
is the great work of faith, or trust in God's fidelity. A promise to him
is more than all the visible things on earth, or sensible objects in the
world; it can do more with him to make him forsake all earthly
pleasures, possessions, and hopes : Ps. Ivi. 4, ' In God I will praise his
word, in God I have put my trust ; I will not fear what flesh can do
unto me ; ' so Paul : Acts xx. 24, ' But none of those things move me,
neither count I my life dear unto me, so I may fulfil my course with
joy. Save the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds
and afflictions abide me ' did wait for him everywhere. I make no
reckoning of these things. It maketh us constant. Have ye fixed
upon these hopes with so great deliberation, and will you draw back,
and slack in the prosecution of them ? Have you gone so far in the
way to heaven, and do you begin to look behind you, as if you were
about to change your mind, Heb. x. 39. The apostle saith, Phil. iii.
13, 'I forget the things which are behind, reaching forth unto the
things which are before.' The world and the flesh are things behind
us; we turned our backs upon them when we first looked after
heavenly things. Heaven and remaining duties are the things before
us ; if we lose our crown, we lose ourselves for ever.
Use, Is to show the advantage the people of God have above the
carnal and unregenerate. The people of God walk by faith, against
the present want of sight. How do the world walk ? Not by faith,
they have it not; nor by the sight of heaven, for they are not there,
and so continuing never shall be there. So they have neither faith
nor sight ; what do they live by, then ? They live by sense and by fancy :
22 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XI.
by sense as to the present world ; and they live by fancy and vain con
ceit as to the world to come. Live in their sins and vain pleasures,
and yet hope to be saved. Here they walk by sight, but not such a
sight as the apostle meaneth ; they must have something in the view
of sense lands, honours, pleasures ; and when these are out of sight,
they are in darkness, and have nothing to live upon. But now a
Christian is never at a loss, let his condition be what it will. Suppose
God should bring him so low and bare that he hath no estate to live
on, no house to dwell in, yet he hath an inheritance in the promises :
Ps. cxix. Ill, ' Thy testimonies I have taken for an heritage for ever ; '
and ' God is his habitation,' Ps. xc. 1. A full heap in his own keeping
is not such a supply to him as God's all- sufficiency, Gen. xvii. 1.
That is his storehouse. But his great happiness is in the other world ;
there is all his hope and his desire, and he looketh upon other promises
only in order to that.
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body,
and present with the Lord. 2 COR. v. 8.
IN this verse the apostle repeateth what he had said verse 6, with
some amplification. Here take notice of two things
1. His confidence of sight, or of a blessed condition to come
6appovfj,v, We are confident, I say.
2. His preference or esteem of sight, or of that blessed condition
before the present estate evSoxov/jiev /j,a\\ov, And willing rather
to be absent from the body, and present with the Lord. Where two
things
[1.] What he was willing to quit 'the body.' We are willing
(eicSr)/j.fj<rai) to travel- out of the body.
[2.] What he did choose and prefer evfyfjifja-ai, to be at home with
the Lord, to dwell in the same house with the Lord Christ j this he
preferred before remaining in the body.
Let us a little explain these circumstances.
First, His confidence of sight to be had at length. 'We are con
fident, I say.' There is a twofold confidence (1.) The confidence of
faith ; (2.) The confidence of assurance, or of our own interest. Both
are of regard here. (1.) Faith in part produceth this willingness to
go out of the body, and enjoy the heavenly life, and comfortably to
leave the time and means thereof to God. Faith, where it is in any
vigour, begets in those that live by it a holy boldness, whereby we
dare undertake anything for God, not fearing the power and greatness
of any creature ; no, not death itself. (2.) assurance of our own inte
rest doth much more heighten this confidence and holy boldness when
we know assuredly that our end shall be glorious, and that when we
depart out of the body, we shall be present with the Lord. The hope
of our salvation is not uncertain.
VER. 8.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 23
Secondly, His preferring and choosing the future estate before the
present ; evSoxovpev pdXXov, we approve it, we like it better : Rom.
xv. 26, ' It hath pleased them of Macedonia ; ' and ver. 27, ' It hath
pleased them verily,' evbo/crjcre ; the same word also, Mat. xvii. 3.
So here we make choice rather, and are infinitely better pleased to
leave this body behind us here, and to go out and die, that by this
means we may come to our home and bliss in heaven. So that faith
doth not only shake off the fear of death, but enkindle in us a holy
desire of it ; for what we render ' and willing/ is, are more pleased or
better pleased.
The points are four
1. That our happiness in the world to come lieth in being present
with the Lord.
2. That we are present with the Lord as soon as the soul flitteth
out of the body.
3. That this state is chosen by the saints as more pleasing to them
than to dwell in the body.
4. This will, desire, and choice cometh from a confidence of the
reality of a better estate, and our own interest in it.
1. That our happiness in the world to come lieth in being present
with the Lord. This hath been in part touched on in ver. 6 ; I
shall only add a few considerations. Surely it must needs be so ;
because this is the felicity denied to wicked men, but promised and
granted to the godly. Denied to wicked men : John vii. 34, ' Where
I am, thither ye cannot come ; ' that is, so living, and so dying, they
have no leave, no grant to be there where Christ is ; paradise is closed
up against them, but it is opened to God's faithful servants by the
promises of the gospel : John xii. 26, ' There where I am, there shall
my servant be.' Christ will not be ever in heaven without us. As
Joseph brought his brethren to Pharaoh, so Christ will bring us to
God. Wicked men desire not Christ's company in this life, and there
fore they are justly secluded from coming where he is ; but the godly
are trained up to look and long and wait for this when they shall
come before God.
Reasons. (1.) Because then we shall have sight and immediate
communion with him, and our happiness floweth from him without
the intervention of any means : Acts iii. 19, ' Days of refreshing shall
come from the presence of the Lord ; ' compare it with 2 Thes. i. 9,
' The wicked shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.' Eternal
happiness is granted to the elect by the full revelation of Christ's face,
Rev. xxii. 4. ' They shall see his face.' And the very look and face of
Christ is the cause of vengeance on the wicked : Rev. vi. 16, ' They
shall say unto the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from
the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and the wrath of the
Lamb.' Christ's face produceth powerful effects, either in a way of
grace or punishment. In the days of his flesh we had a proof of it
both ways. The Lord looked upon Peter, and that melted his heart,
Luke xxii. 61. And when the high priest's servants came to attack
him: John xviii. 6, 'He looked upon him, and said, I am he. And
they went backward, and fell to the ground.' But surely in heaven
24 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XI.
we shall need no more to make us happy than once to see the face of
Christ ' In thy presence' (or in thy face) ' is fulness of joy, and pleasure
for evermore,' Ps. xvi. 11. The fruition of God's immediate presence
is not like the joys of the world, which can neither feed nor fill a man;
Jbut in seeing him we shall have full content and complete felicity.
The children of God long to see God in his ordinances : Ps. 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 Lord, and inquire in his temple.' There is but one
thing David was solicitous about, and importunate for in his prayers ;
what was this one thing ? Not that he might be settled in his regal
throne, which he seemeth not yet to be when that psalm was penned
(for the Septuagint in title add to what appeareth in our Bibles irpo
rov 'xpiadffvai, before he was annointed), but that he might enjoy
the sweet pleasures of daily and frequent converse with God, that he
might behold the beauty of the Lord ; so Ps. xlii. 2, ' My soul thirst-
eth for God, for the living God ; when shall I come and appear before
God ? ' David was impatient of being debarred from the presence of
God. Now, if there be so great and so longing a desire to see God in
these glasses, wherein so little of his glory is seen with any comfort
and satisfaction, how much more to see him immediately, and face to
face ? If that glimpse which God now vouchsafeth be so glorious,
what will it be when he shall fully show himself to his people face to
face.
(2.) Because then we shall converse with him without impediment
and distraction. Here bodily necessities take up the far greatest part
of our time: Luke x. 41, 'Thou art cumbered about many things,
but one thing is necessary.' The present life requireth many ministries
and services at our hands. Besides sinful distractions, there are many
worldly occasions to divert us ; but then it is our work and our wages
to see God, our business and blessedness to study divinity in the
Lamb's face : John xvii. 24, ' That they may be where I am, and
behold my glory.' It is our constant work in heaven to admire and
adore God in Christ. The difficulties and distractions are removed,
and that mass of flesh which we now carry about us will be then no
clog to us : 1 Cor. vi. 13, ' Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats,
but God shall destroy both it and them.' Nature calleth for them, and
in this life there is an absolute necessity of them, but the necessity and
use shall cease ; the spiritual body will need no other supplies, and put
us upon no other employments, than the loving, pleasing, and serving
of God. All the things which we shall see will leave more sweet,
enlivening, and powerful impressions on us than possibly now they
can, because we shall understand them better, and have more leisure
to attend upon them.
(3.) Our presence with him shall be perpetual. We shall meet
never to part more : 1 Thes. iv. 17, ' We shall be for ever present
with the Lord/ Wicked men shall see Christ, for they must appear
before his tribunal ; but they shall see him to their confusion : Rev. i.
7, ' Every eye shall see him, and they that have pierced him shall wail
because of him.' But the godly shall see hirn to their consolation :
Job xix. 26, ' I know that my Redeemer liveth, and with these eyes
VER. 8.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 25
I shall see him.' The one shall see him as their judge, the other as
their saviour ; but the chiefest difference is, the one shall see him for
a while, and then be banished out of his presence : Mat. xxv. 41,
'Depart, ye cursed.' There is a dispute whither pcena damni or pcena
scnsus be the greatest ; I cannot determine such nice points. The
sense of pain is from the wrath of God ; conscience reflecteth upon our
loss ; the agents are not to be compared. Yet on the other side the
object is greater, the thing lost is God himself; it is the creature that
is pained. But I am sure the loss will be much greater than now we
apprehend it to be. For the present we do not value communion with
Christ, we have other things wherewith to entertain our souls ; there
are no pleasures of the flesh to abate and divert the sense of our loss ;
nothing left but the vexing remembrance of our own folly and perverse
choice, which will torment us for ever ; but now to be received into
Christ's presence and ever abide with him, how great is the happiness !
(4.) The person whom we see, and with whom we be present, he is
our best friend. It is with Jesus Christ, who is the life of our lives,
and the whole felicity of his people ; as long as the church is without
him, she cannot take full contentment. What doth the spouse esteem,
when she seeth him not to whom she is espoused ? What can delight
the wife when the husband is absent? What comfort when they
want the presence of Christ, to whom their souls cleave ? When the
church is here upon earth, she heareth much of Christ ; he is evidently
set forth before their eyes in the word and sacraments, but we do not
see him face to face, we do not enjoy his presence nor his immediate
embraces. The church is left upon earth, but Christ is received into
heaven with his Father ; we believe in him now, rejoice in him. now,
when we see him not, 1 Peter i. 8. But how shall we love him when
we see him, and see him glorious in our nature, and enjoy him by
seeing ! Hearsay and report could not convey such a knowledge and
report as this personal experience, as they said, John iv. 42, ' Now we
believe, not because of thy saying, but we have seen him ourselves.'
Here is but a sight at second hand, as the Queen of Sheba : 1 Kings
x. 17, ' It was a true report which I heard in my own land of thine
acts, and thy wisdom, but when I came, and mine eyes had seen it,
the half was not told me.' We believe the report of Christ in the
word ; but when we come to see him, we shall find that prophecy was
but in part, the one half was not told us ; however sight is the more
precious, because faith went before ; we believed him a saviour, and
now we find him to be so. How glad was Simeon when he had
Christ in his arms : Luke ii. 29, 30, ' Now lettest thou thy servant
depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.'
(5.) The place and the company, where we shall be present with
him. The place is glorious; the heaven of heavens must contain him,
Acts iii. 24. The earth is not a fit place for his glorified body, nor
for us to converse with him in his glorified estate. We shall be there
where God dwelleth, and where he hath designed to manifest himself
to his people, and amongst the servants of the Lord shall we ever
remain : Heb. xii. 22, 23, ' To an innumerable company of angels, to
the general assembly and church of the first-born which are written
in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and the spirits of just men
26 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XI.
made perfect.' A choice company, picked and chosen out of the world
to be objects of his grace. In this council of souls we are to abide
for ever.
Use. Let us often think of this blessed estate; what it is to be
present with the Lord, among his holy ones, to be called to heaven as
witnesses of his glory. The Queen of Sheba said of Solomon, 1 Kings
x. 8, ' Happy are the men that stand in thy presence/ They that
stand before the Lord, and see his glory, are much more happy.
Zaccheus, being a little man, pressed to see Christ upon earth, and got
upon a sycamore tree. The wise men came from the east to see him
in his cradle. It is our burden in the world that the veil of the flesh,
and the clouds of heaven, interpose between us and Christ, that there
is a great gulf between us and him, which cannot be passed but by
death. That Christ is at a distance, therefore our enemies so often
ask us, ' Where is your God ? ' But then when we are in his arms,
then we can say, Here he is ; here is he whom we loved ; here is he in
whom we trusted. Then our Redeemer shall be ever before our eyes,
to remember us of the grace purchased for us ; and we are as near
him as possibly we can be ; we dwell in his family, and abide in his
house. David envied the swallows that had their nests about the
tabernacle. He telleth us, Ps. Ixxxiv. 10, ' One day in thy courts is
better than a thousand elsewhere.' Now you shall be always before
the throne, and look upon Jesus so as to live on him. This sight
shall ravish and content your hearts. The three children walked
comfortably in the fiery furnace, because there was a fourth there, one
that was as the Son of God. If a fiery furnace be a comfortable place
when Christ is there, what will heaven be when Christ, and we shall
be there to all eternity ? Again, this presence maketh way for enjoy
ment. It is not a naked sight and speculation ; we are co-heirs with
Christ, Rom. viii. 17. We shall be like him, live in the same state,
participate of the same glory. Servants may stand in the presence of
princes, but they do not make their followers their fellows and consorts
with them in the same glory. Solomon could only show his glory to
the Queen of Sheba, but Christ giveth it us to be enjoyed : Luke xxii.
30, ' Ye shall eat and drink at my table in my kingdom.' The
greatest love that David could show his friends, was to admit them to
his table : 2 Sam. ix. 7, ' Thou shalt eat bread at my table con
tinually,' said he to Mephibosheth ; and so to Barzillai. ' He put him
upon his own mule, and caused him to sit upon his throne,' 1 Kings
i. 33, 35. Thus Christ dealeth with us ; we sit upon his throne, we are
feasted at his table with unmixed delights. In how much better
condition are we than Adam ! Adam was in Paradise, we in heaven ;
Adam was there among the beasts of the earth, we with God and his
holy angels ; Adam was thrown out of Paradise, we never out of heaven.
It is no matter if the world leave us not a room to live in among them ;
they cast us out many times, but Christ will take us to himself. Again,
if this presence of Christ be no small part of our happiness, let us more
delight in it. We enjoy his presence in the ordinances ; this is to begin
heaven upon earth. Therefore let us begin our familiarity here.
Doct. 2. That we are presently with the Lord as soon as the soul
flitteth out of the body.
VER. 8.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 27
This is one of the plainest texts to prove that separated souls, as
soon as they are out of the body, do enjoy bliss and glory. There are
a sort of men in the world who are so drowned in sense that they
cannot believe things to come, either questioning the immortality of
the soul, or else, which is a step to it, asserting the sleep of it ; and
all because they so fancy it to be tied to the body, as that it cannot
exercise its functions and operations without it. Those that deny the
being of the soul, or the abiding of it after the body is dissolved, I
shall not handle that now ; but to those that grant the abiding of the
soul, but in a deep sleep, without any sense and feeling of good or evil,
I must show the falsehood of this opinion, or else all that I shall say
will be to no purpose. Therefore I shall handle these three things
1. That the soul is distinct from the body.
2. That the soul can live and exercise its operations apart from the
body.
3. That the souls of the saints actually do so.
1. That the soul is distinct from the body, and is not merely the
vigour of the blood, appeareth by scripture, reason and experience.
In scripture we read, that when man's body was organised and framed,
' God breathed into him the spirit of life/ Gen. ii. 7.
[1.] The life of man is a distinct thing from this mass of flesh ; that
is proportioned into hands and feet, head and belly, arms and legs, bones
and sinews. And this life of man, whatever it be, it is such a life as
implieth reason, and a faculty of understanding, and willing or opposing :
' In him was life, and that life was the light of men/ John i. 4. It doth
not only enliven this flesh, but discourse and choose things at its own
pleasure a life that hath light in it. It is distinct from the body in
its nature, being a substance immaterial, and not capable of being
divided into parts, as the body is, for it is a spirit, not created of
matter, as the body was. The body was formed out of the dust of the
ground, and therefore it can be resolved into its original, but the spirit
was immediately created by God out of nothing. Therefore the
scripture saith, Eccles. xii. 7, ' Then shall the dust return to the earth
as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it/ Where
the body is dust in its composition, it shall be dust in its dissolution.
There is described the first and last condition of the body, in regard
of its material cause, and the soul is described in the kind of its being.
It is a spirit, or an immaterial substance ; its author, God, gave it ;
he framed the body too, but not so immediately in ordinary generation.
And our natural fathers are distinguished from the Father of our
spirits, Heb. xii. 9. And by its disposal ; when the body returneth to
dust, the soul returneth to God that gave it. When the material and
passive part is separated from that inward and active principle of its
motions, the scripture telleth you what becometh of the one and the
other. The material part is resolved to dust again, but the spirit
returneth to God. So the saints resign it : Acts vii. 59, ' And they
stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit/
[2.] It is distinct in its supports. The body is supported by out
ward means, and the help of the creature, but the soul is supported
without means, by the immediate hand and power of God himself.
28 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [&ER. XI.
The body is patched up with daily supplies from without. As it was
made out of the earth, so is its food brought out of the earth, Ps. civ.
14, and its clothing too ; but the soul needeth not these things.
[3.] It is distinct in its operations. There are certain operations
of the soul wholly independent on matter, as understanding and
willing, for they agree to God and angels, who have no bodies ; and
there is no proper instrument in the body by which they should be
exercised, as sight by the eye, hearing by the ear ; nay, it understands
not only corporeal things, which are received by the ministry of the
senses, but spiritual things, as God and angels, who have no bodies.
And it can reflect upon itself ; therefore it hath operations proper and
peculiar to itself ; so that it doth not depend on the body.
[4.] It is distinct from the body as to weakness and perfection, as
to pleasure and pain.
(1.) As to weakness and perfection. The soul perisheth and
decayeth not with the body ; when the body droopeth and languisheth ;
the soul is well and jocund yea, better than it was before. There
are distinct periods of time, beyond which it is impossible to add a
cubit or hair's-breadth to one's stature. But the soul is ever growing
forward to its perfection ; and multitude of years, though they bring
on much weakness, yet increase wisdom, Job xxxii. 7. Yea, the soul
is strongest when weakest ; dying Christians have manifested the
highest excellency under bodily infirmities, and when least of the life
of nature, most glorious expressions of the life of grace : 2 Cor. iv. 16,
' For though the outward man perish, the inner man is renewed day
by day.'
(2.) As to pleasure and pain, joy and comfort. When all the joys
of the body are gone, the joys of the soul are enlarged ; as when the
bodies of the martyrs were on the rack under torturings, their souls
have been filled with inward triumphings, and their consolation, 2
Cor. i. 5, ' Also aboundeth by Christ.' When their flesh is scorched,
their souls are refreshed.
[5.] They are distinct in the commands God hath given about it.
Christ hath commanded us to take ' no thought for the body,' Mat. vi.
25 ; but he never commanded us to take no thought for the soul :
rather the contrary : Deut. iv. 9, ' Only take heed to thyself, and keep
thy soul diligently.' The great miscarriage of men is because they
pamper their bodies and neglect their souls, all their care is to keep
their bodies in due plight, but never regard their souls, which were
more immediately given them by God, and carry the most lively
character of his image, and are capable of his happiness.
2. The soul is not only distinct from the body, but can live and
exercise its operations apart from the body. There are many argu
ments from reason to prove it, but let us consider scripture, which
should be reason enough to Christians. That it can do so appeareth
by that expression of Paul, 2 Cor. xii. 2, 3, ' I knew a man in Christ,
fourteen years ago, whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot
tell, God knoweth, such an one carried up to the third heaven.' If
Paul had been of this opinion, that the soul being separated from the
body is void of all sense, he must then have known certainly that his
soul remained in his body, during this rapture, because, according to
VER. 8.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 29
this supposition, in that state alone could he see and hear those things
which lie saw and heard. And that argument is not contemptible to
prove the possibility, where among other things it is said, death
cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ. Therefore the
soul liveth in a state to enjoy him, in a sense of his love to us, and our
love to him.
3. That the souls of the saints not only can live apart from the
body, but actually do so, and are presently with the Lord as soon as
they flit out of the body. This I shall prove from these particulars
taken from scripture.
[1.] From Luke xxiii. 43, 'This day shalt thou be with me in
paradise.' This was said to the penitent thief, and what was said to
him, will be accomplished in all the faithful ; for what Christ promiseth
to him, he promiseth it to him as a penitent believer, and what belongeth
to one convert belongeth to all in a like case. Therefore if his soul in
the very day of his death were translated into paradise, ours will be
also. Now paradise is either the earthly or the heavenly ; not the
first, which is nowhere extant, being defaced by the flood. If it were
in being, what have separate souls to do there ? That was a fit place
for Adam in innocency, who had a body and a soul, and was to eat of
the fruit of the trees of the garden. By paradise is meant heaven,
whither Paul was rapt in soul, which he called both paradise and
the third heaven, 2 Cor. xii. 4. And there all the faithful are when
once they have passed the pikes, and have overcome the temptations
of the present world : Kev. ii. 7, ' To him that overcometh will I give
to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.'
Well then, there the thief was not in regard of his body, which was.
disposed of as men pleased, but his soul. And when should he be
there ? This day. It was not a blessedness to commence some fifteen
hundred or two thousand years afterwards. It is an answer to his-
quando. The penitent thief desired when he came into his kingdom
he would remember him ; Christ showeth he would not defer his hope
for so long a time, but his desire should be accomplished that day ; it
is not adjourned to many days, months, or years, but this day. Thou
shalt presently enjoy thy desire.
[2.] The second place is : Phil. i. 23, ' I desire to be dissolved, and
to be with Christ, which is far better.' To be with Christ is to be in
heaven, for there ' Christ is at the right hand of God,' Col. iii. 1. The
apostle speaketh not this in regard of his body, for that could not be
presently upon his dissolution, till it was raised up at the last day,
but in regard of his soul. This state that his soul was admitted into,
was much more better if compared with the estate it enjoyed in this
life, yea, though you take in the end and use of life ; yet his being with
Christ upon his dissolution, was more eligible, and to be preferred
before it. Is it not better, you will say, to remain here and serve God,
than to depart hence ? It were so, if the soul were in a state wherein
we neither know nor love Christ ; what profit would it be to be with
the Lord, and not enjoy his company ? Present knowledge, services,
tastes, experiences, are better than a stupid lethargy and sleepy estate,
without all understanding and will. It is better to a gracious man to
wake than to sleep, to be hard at work for God than to be idle and do
30 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SEB. XL
nothing, to use our powers and faculties than to lie in a senseless con
dition ; it would be far worse with Paul to have his body rotting in
the grave, and his soul without all fruition of God, if this were true.
What is that preponderating happiness which should sway his choice ?
Is it to be eased of present labours and sufferings ? God's people, who
have totally resigned themselves to God, are wont to prefer and value
their present service and enjoyment of God, though accompanied with
great labours and sufferings, before their own ease. Surely Paul would
never be in a strait if he were to be reduced upon his dissolution into a
condition of stupid sleep, without any capacity of glorifying or enjoy
ing God. The most afflicted condition with God's presence is sweeter
to his people than the greatest contentments with his absence ; if thou
art not with us, carry us not hence. Better tarry with God in the
wilderness than live in Canaan without him. Surely it were absurd to
long for a dissolution of that estate where we feel the love of God
and Christ in our souls, which is unspeakable and glorious, for a con
dition wherein there is no taste nor sense.
[3.] The next place is, 1 Peter iii. 19, ' By which also he went and
preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometimes were disobedient,
when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah.'
There are many souls of men and women who once slighted the Lord's
grace, and are now in hell as in a prison. Their souls do not go to
nothing, nor die as their bodies, but as soon as they are separated from
the body, go to their place and state of torment, ev <j)v\aicfj, the place
of their everlasting imprisonment. So Luke xvi. 23, 24, ' And in hell
he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and seeth Abraham afar off,
and Lazarus in his bosom/ God is not more prone to punish than to
reward ; if the wicked be in their final estate as soon as they die, the
saints are in their happiness presently upon their dissolution. On the
other side, Heb. xii, 22, ' The spirits of just men made perfect.' The
souls of men, unclothed, and divested of their bodies, to these come.
How could these things be said if they did lie only in a dull sleep,
without any life, sight, joy, or any act of love to God ? Present sleep
it is a burden to the saints, as it is an interruption to their service,
though a necessary refreshment to their bodies.
[4.] That argument also proves it, Col. i. 20, ' That Christ by the
blood of his cross hath reconciled all things to God, both in heaven
and in earth.' He meaneth the universality of the elect, whether
already glorified or yet upon the earth. It cannot be said of the elect
angels, who never sinned, and therefore were never reconciled, Se nun-
quamcum matre in gratiam rediisse, &c., but only confirmed in grace,
and put beyond all reach and possibility of sinning ; and so the things
in heaven which are reconciled are the souls of the godly, who departed
in the faith.
[5.] That place also proveth it, Luke xx. 37, 38, ' Now that the
dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the
Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living ; for all
live to him.' The Sadducees denied the immortality of the soul as well
as the resurrection of the body, and said that there was no state of life
after this. Christ disproveth both by a notable argument ' I am the
VER. 8.J SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 31
God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For
he is not the God of the dead, but of the living ; for they all live to
him.' The words were spoken by Moses after their deceasing ; not I
was, but lam the God of Abraham. God said after their decease that
he was still their God ; and therefore those that are departed out of
the world live another life. The souls of the just are already in the
hands of God, and their bodies are sure to be raised up and united to
them by the power of God.
[6.] My next place shall be, Luke xvi. 9, 'And I say unto you,
Make to yourselves friends of the unrighteous Mammon, that when ye
fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations.' What is that
time of failing ? It is not meant of condemnation in the judgment,
for there is no escaping or reversing that sentence ; therefore it is
meant of the hour of death : then are we received into everlasting
habitations, and our everlasting habitation is heaven.
[7.] And lastly, from Luke xvi. 22, ' And it came to pass that the
beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.' By
the bosom of Abraham is meant heaven, and hell is opposed to it ; and it
is explained, ' he is comforted, but thou art tormented.' Lying in the
bosom is a feast gesture, as Mat. viii. 11, a greater expression of love,
for the most beloved disciple lay in the bosom of the principal person
at the feast ; and Mat. xiii. 43, ' Then shall the righteous shine forth
as the sun in the kingdom of their father.' Basil telleth us of the forty
martyrs exposed naked in a cold frosty night, and to be burned next
day, that they comforted one another with this consideration : Cold
is the night, but the bosom of Abraham is warm and comfortable ; it
is but a night's enduring, and we shall feel no more cold, but be happy
for evermore. Well then, here is proof such as is fit in the case. In
things future we are doubtful, and of the state of the soul we are in a
great measure ignorant ; therefore God hath discovered these things
to us in his word.
Use 1. Well then, here is great comfort for those that are now
hard at work for God ; the time of your refreshing and ease is at hand.
2. To support us against the terrors of death. In martyrdom, if
you are slain, the sword is but a key to open the door, that you may
presently be with Christ ; if strangled, the animal life is put out that
the heavenly may begin ; if burnt, it is going to heaven in a fiery
chariot. In the general, ' death cannot separate us from the love of
God in Christ,' Eom. viii. 38, 39. Though we die, the soul is capable
of loving God, and being beloved by him.
3. To support us under the pains of sickness. It is but enduring
pain a little longer, and in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, you.
shall be with God. Angels will bring you to Christ, and Christ present
you to God, and then you shall enjoy an eternal rest.
4. Here is comfort to the dying. Commend your souls to God ; as
Stephen', Acts vii. 59, ' Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 3 There is a
redeemer ready to receive you ; heaven will be your residence, and God
will be your happiness and portion for ever.
Doct. 3. This presence with the Lord is earnestly desired and chosen
by the saints, as far more pleasing to them than remaining in the
body.
32 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XI.
1. The thing itself is true, that presence with the Lord is infinitely
much better than remaining in the body; and will abundantly recom
pense the absence from it. God's gracious presence is better than life
bodily: Ps. Ixiii. 3, ' Thy loving-kindness is better than life.' It is
that which giveth a value to life itself, without which it were little
worth. Alas ! what should we do with human nature, or a rational
soul, if it were not capable of loving, knowing, and enjoying God?
What ! employ it only to cater for the body ? That is to act but as
an higher and wiser sort of beast. Life is no life without God ; then
we do live when we live to him, enjoy him and his love. Now if his
gracious presence is more worth than life, what then is his glorious
presence ? Phil. i. 21, ' To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.' A
Christian loseth nothing by death, but he gaineth abundantly more by
his being present with Christ. And ver. 23, ' I am in a strait betwixt
two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far
better.' There is no proportion between the choicest contentments
which we attain unto here, even those which are spiritual, and that
blessed estate which the saints enjoy hereafter. Now there being
such a disproportion in the things themselves, there should be in our
desires and our choice ; for we are to judge and be affected according
to the nature or worth of things, otherwise we act not only irrationally,
but feignedly and hypocritically, shunning that by all means which we
profess to be our happiness.
2. He is not a true Christian that doth not love Christ more than
his own body, and his own life, or any worldly thing whatsoever. It
is one of Christ's conditions, Luke xiv. 26, ' If any man come to me,
and hate not father and mother, brothers and sisters, and wife, and
children, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.' All
things must be trampled upon for Christ's sake, or else his heart is
not sincere with him. A choosing earth before heaven, preferring
present things before Christ, a fixing our happiness here, these things
are contrary to the integrity of our covenanting with God. Our
valuation of the presence of Christ should be so high, and our affection
to it so great, that we should not exchange our title to it, or hopes of
it, for any worldly good whatsoever. If God would give thee thy
health and wealth upon earth, then thou wouldst look for no other
happiness ; this is naught.
3. As he cannot be a true and sound Christian, so neither discharge
the duties of a Christian, who is not of this frame and constitution of
spirit.
[1.] Not venture his life for Christ : Heb. xii. 4, ' Ye have not yet
resisted unto blood, striving against sin ; ' unless willing rather to be
with the Lord than in the body.
[2.] Not employ his life for Christ, nor live in order to eternity,
unless he hath been kept looking and longing for this happy change :
Gen. xlix. 19, ' Lord, 1 have waited for thy salvation.' As if all his
lifetime he had been waiting for this. None live the heavenly life but
those that look upon it as better than the worldly, and accordingly
wait and prepare for it ; it is the end sweeteneth the means.
[3.] Nor lay down nor yield up his life with comfort. The very
fore-thoughts of their change are grievous to most men, because they
VER. 8.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 83
are not willing rather to be with Christ than in the body ; and so they
move from that which they speculatively call their blessedness, and
count themselves undone when they come to enjoy.
[4.] There are many things to invite us to desire presence with
Christ, as there are many things to show us why we are not satisfied
with remaining in the body. While we remain in the body we dwell
in an evil world, Gal. i. 4, which is a place of sins, snares, and troubles.
But of this, see ver. 4 of this chapter.
Use. Let us all be of this temper and frame of spirit, willing rather
to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Almost
all will prefer the life to come, in words, when indeed they utterly
neglect it, and prefer the fleshly pleasures of this life before it, cry out
of the vanity and vexation of the world, and yet set their hearts upon
it, and love it better than God and the world to come. God's children
do not often enough compare the difference between being present
with the body, and being present with the Lord ; they root here too
much. The desire of this life is very natural to us ; but yet if it
withdraweth us from these heavenly good things, and weakeneth our
esteem of the true life, it should be curbed and mortified, and reduced
into its due order and place. Therefore it is- very necessary that we
should often revive these thoughts, and rightly judge of the present and
future life, and use earthly good things piously, as long as it pleaseth
God to keep us here ; but still to be mindful of home, and to keep our
hearts in a constant breathing after heavenly things.
Two things I shall press upon you
1. Use the pleasures of the bodily life more sparingly.
2. Let your love to Christ be more strong and more earnest.
1. Use the pleasures of the bodily life more sparingly. They that
have too great a care and love to the body, neglect their souls, and
disable themselves for these heavenly desires and motions ; they cannot
act them in prayer : 1 Peter iv. 7, ' Be sober, and watch unto prayer.'
And they lie open to Satan's temptations : 1 Peter v. 8, ' For your
adversary, the devil, goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he
may devour/ Therefore, unless there be a great deal of moderation,
and a spare meddling of earthly delights, they are indisposed for the
Christian warfare : 1 Thes. v. 8, ' Let us who are of the day, be sober,
putting on the breast-plate of faith and love.' We cannot exercise
faith and love with any liveliness, nor expect the happiness of the
world to come : 1 Peter i. 13, ' Wherefore gird up the loins of your
mind, be sober, and hope to the end.' Whilst we hire out our reason
to the service of lust and appetite, and glut ourselves with the delights
of the flesh and worldly pomp, as dainty fare, costly apparel, sports,
plays, and gaming, there is 'a strange oblivion and deadness growetli
upon our hearts as to heavenly things. A Christian looketh for days
of refreshing from the presence of the Lord; but these must have
their refreshings here. The drunkard seeketh his refreshing in pleasing
his palate ; the idle man is loth to be put to work, he would have his
rest here ; the vain, they must have their senses tickled and pleased ;
pomp and vanity, and sports and pastimes, are the great business and
pleasure of most men's lives.
2. Let your love to Christ be stronger and more earnest; for
VOL. XIII.
34 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SttR. XI.
where love is, we desire union and presence. It is but a pretence of
love where we aim not at the nearest conjunction that may be. If we
love our friend, his presence is comfortable, his absence troublesome ;
as Delilah said to Samson, ' How canst thou say thou lovest me, when
thy spirit is not with me ? ' Judges xvi. 15. If we love one, we desire
t<? be with him.
Doct. 4. That this will and choice cometh from confidence of a
better estate, and our own interest in it.
For while the soul doubteth of the thing, or of our enjoying it, we
shall desire the continuance of our earthly happiness, rather than to
depart out of the body with fears of going to hell.
1. It is faith that breedeth hope, which is a longing and desirous
expectation. For it is the substance of things hoped for, Heb. xi. 1.
2. It is assurance that doth increase it. It is easy to convince men
that heaven is the only happiness ; but is it thy happiness ? Though
the knowledge of excellency and suitableness may stir up that love
which worketh by degrees, yet there must be the knowledge of our
interest to set a-work our complacency and delight. We cannot so
delightfully and cheerfully expect our change till our title be some
what cleared. It is sad with a man that is uncertain whither he is
a-going.
Use. Let us labour for this confidence, a holy and well-built confi
dence. For he is not in the best condition that hath least trouble
about his everlasting estate, but he that hath least cause. Many that
have been confident of their integrity and safety have miscarried for
ever ; yea, that have had a great name in the church : Mat. vii. 22,
' Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, we have prophesied
in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name
done wonderful things;' yet Christ saith, 'I know you not,'
in the next verse. And Luke xiii. 25, 26, ' When once the
master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door,
and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying,
Lord, Lord, open to us; and he shall say unto you, I know you
not whence ye are : then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten
and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught us in our streets.'
So Prov. xiv. 12, ' There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death.' The foolish virgins, Mat.
xxv., made full account to enter into the nuptial chamber, but were
shut out. Many now in hell little thought of coming thither, those
not only of the brutish multitude, but of great note, that have lived in
the light of the gospel, and heard the difference between the wicked
and the godly.
2. There is no true confidence but what groweth out of a constant,
uniform, self-denying obedience: Mat. vii. 21, 'Not every one that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ;
but he that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven ; ' and 1
John iii. 18, 'My- little -children, let us not love in word, neither in
tongue, but in deed, and in truth;' and Kom. viii. 5 7.
VER. 9.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 35
SEKMON XII.
Wlierefore we labour, that whether present or absent, we may be
accepted of the Lord. 2 COR. y. 9.
THIS verse containeth a practical inference out of the whole foregoing
discourse. That which was before spoken may be reduced to these
three heads
1. A certain knowledge and confidence of a blessed estate ; we know,
and we are always confident.
2. An earnest desire, expressed by groans and vehement longings
after it.
3. A willingness and holy boldness to venture upon death itself upon
this hope. Now these do infer one another. Because we know, we
desire ; because we desire this happy estate, we are willing rather, &c.
So they all infer this effect mentioned in the text. We labour because
we know, we labour because we desire, we labour because we are
willing rather ; yea, this effect feedeth and maintaineth all the former
dispositions in life and vigour, and also evidenceth the sincerity of
them. Surely we know we desire ; we are willing rather if in life ; in
death we study to approve ourselves to God ' Wherefore we labour, that
whether present or absent/ &c.
This verse containeth a Christian's scope and a Christian's work :
1. His scope, To be accepted with God,
2. His work, We labour, that whether present or absent.
1. His scope. The scope of the Christian life is to approve our
selves to God ; while we are present in the body to do things pleasing
in his sight : Col. i. 10, ' That ye might walk worthy of the Lord,
unto all pleasing;' and 1 Thes. iv. 1, 'As ye have learned how to
walk, and how to please God, so abound therein more and more ;' when
absent or gone out of the body, that we may be found in a state of
well-pleasedness and acceptation : 2 Peter iii. 14, 'Be found of him in
peace ; ' Heb. xi. 5, ' He had this testimony, that he pleased God.'
Our great inquiry is whether our state be pleasing or displeasing to
him, and our great aim is that it may be pleasing.
2. A Christian's work, ' We labour, that whether present or absent.'
There take notice of two things ;
[1.] Their earnest and assiduous diligence. In the word, $H\OTI-
fjiovfteQa, we are ambitious of this honour ; the word is used in two
other scriptures : Horn. xv. 20, ' Striving to preach the gospel where
Christ was not named;' and 1 Thes. iv. 11, 'Study to be quiet/
Affect this honour, or pursue after it, as men do after preferment,
honours, and dignities in the world. So that this word is three ways
rendered, labour, strive, study. Ambition mightily prevaileth with
sensual men, and maketh them restless and unwearied in their pur
suits, till they get at top. This is the holy and laudable ambition of
a Christian, to stand right in the favour of God, and be accepted with
him at the last.
[2.] The several states in which this design must be carried on
' Whether present or absent.' Whether we be at home, and continue
36 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SliK. XII.
in this earthly body of ours, or whether we be gone out of the body,
the happiness of this world and the next lieth in our acceptance with
God. Living and dying, a Christian must see that he be in a state of
well-pleasing, Horn. xiv. 7, 8. Our hearts are pretty well at ease
while we are in the body, if we may know that we are accepted of God.
However, that must be our scope ; now it must be the design of our
obedience, and hereafter it will be the grounds of our reward ; it will
be our solace in our pilgrimage, and it will be our happiness when we
die and go out of the body, if Christ will own us at the last.
Doct. The great ambition, design and endeavour of a true Christian
is, that, living and dying, he may be such as God may like and well
approve of.
1. I shall give you the emphasis of this point as it lieth in the text
2. Some reasons of the point.
First, Let me illustrate this point as it lieth in this scripture. Mark,
this must be our great design and scope, we must not only do things
which are Deo grata, acceptable to God for the matter, but this must
be our fixed end and scope which we must propound to ourselves.
Christianity and true godliness are set forth in scripture by three things.
Sometimes by the internal principle of it the Spirit of God, or ' the
divine nature,' 2 Peter i. 4, or the ' seed of God abiding in us/ 1 John
iii. 9. Sometimes by the intention of the true end, which is the pleas
ing of God, and the fruition of God with Christ and his blessed ones
for ever in heaven, when the heart is set upon that: Mat. 'vi. 20, 21,
' But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal,
for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also ;' and 2 Cor.
iv. 18, 'While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the
things which are not seen : for the things which are seen are temporal,
but the things which are not seen are eternal.' Sometimes by the
reception of the true rule, when that is engrafted in our hearts, and so
impressed upon our hearts that it cannot be defaced : Heb. viii. 10,
' I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts ;'
and Ps. xxxvii. 31, ' The law of God is in my heart.' I now am to
speak of the second, which is the true aim, scope and tendency of the
life of godliness, or of those who profess faith in Christ, namely, that
we may be so approved of God that we may enjoy him for ever among
his blessed ones. I shall prove it by three arguments, that this must
be our constant scope, taken from the many advantages which redound
to us thereby.
1. We cannot be sincere unless this be our great aim and scope,
that we may approve ourselves to God. One main difference between
the sincere and the hypocrite is in the end and scope. The one seeketh
the approbation of men, and the other the approbation of God ; the
one is fleshly wisdom, the other godly simplicity and sincerity, 2 Cor.
i. 12; the one acts to be seen of men, the other maketh God his
witness, approver and judge. So elsewhere the spiritual life is nega
tively a not living to ourselves, and positively a living to God, and
both carried on by the power and influence of a holy and sincere love
to God : 2 Cor. v; 14, 15, ' For the love of Christ constraineth us,
because we thus judge, that if one died for all, theu were all dead.
VEK. 9.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 87
And that he^ died for all, that they which live should not henceforth
live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose
again.' Love acteth most purely for God whilst it designeth him as
the end of all things ; our study to please, desire to enjoy him, keepeth
us upright. The more fixed our end is, and the more we renew the
intention of it, and daily prosecute it, the more sincere we are. If we
keep the right mark in our eye it maketh us level right, but he that
mistaketh his end, is out of the way in the first step he taketh, and all
his acts are but acts of sin, error and folly, how splendid soever the
matter or manner of the action may represent it to vulgar appearance ;
suppose praying or preaching out of envy, or alms for vain.-glory : Phil,
i. 15, ' Some preach Christ out of envy and strife, and some of good
will.' They may preach to others, who are but hollow-hearted men
themselves ; and a man's most excellent gifts, and the duties of God's
own worship, may be prostituted to so base an end as to hide and feed
our lusts. So Christ speaketh of the hypocrites giving alms ' to be
seen of men/ Mat. vi. 1 ; and praying to be ' seen of men/ ver. 5.
These things are incident to the corrupt heart of man, even sometimes
when it is in part renewed ; by ends and motives interposing them
selves ; but good Christians had need to resist the very first motions of
these things, for where they are once rooted in the heart, and prevail,
our duties are not a worship of God, but a service of sin, and we our
selves will be found at length but insincere and rotten-hearted hypocrites.
A Christian should content himself with God's approbation ; and needs
no other theatre than his own conscience, nor other spectator than our
Father who ' seeth in secret/ Mat. vi. 4, 6. Besides the sweet testi
mony of the conscience following upon such actions; and in time
this shall be laid open, and found to our praise and honour. It is God
and glory the upright hea.rt aimeth at, and bendeth his study, heart,
and life to seek.
2. It maketh us serious and watchful, and to keep close to our duty.
Finis est mensura mediorum the aptitude and fitness of means is
judged of by the end. Let a man fix upon a right end and scope, and
he will soon understand his way, and will address himself to such,
means as are fitted to that end, and make straight towards it without
miy circuits and wanderings. What is the reason that men fill up
their lives with things that are impertinent to their great end, and
sometimes altogether inconsistent with it? Because they have not
fixed their scope, or do not regard their end. A man that hath resolv
edly determined that this is his end, to be accepted of God and to enjoy
God, he valueth God's favour as his happiness, the being reconciled
to him, and his great care the pleasing of him, his utmost industrious
employment of his life is nothing else but a seeking to please, honour,
and enjoy God, And so by this means (1.) Impertinencies, (2.)
Inconsistencies, are prevented and cut off.
[1.] Do but consider how many impertinencies are cut off if I be true
to my end and great scope ; for instance, when I remember that my busi
ness is to be accepted of God at the last, and am resolved to seek after
that and mind that, can I spend my time in ease and idleness, or carnal
vanities and recreations ? Eccl. ii. 2. ' What doth it ? ' What good and
profit cometh of this ? What respect hath it to my great end ? When
38 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [$ER.
I am gaming and sporting away my precious time, or it may be, but
trifling it away in impertinent chatting and vain censures, is this the way
to heaven ? Shall I get thither sooner by toying or praying ; by sow
ing to the flesh, or the spirit ; by studying the word of God, and medit
ating therein day and night, or by reading romances, filthy plays, and
obscene and scurrilous writings ; by cards and, dice, or by holy con
ference and praising God ? Alas ! if men would but sum up the
employment of every day, they might write at the bottom of the account,
Here is nothing but vanity, a great deal of time spent, and a pudder
made, and little or nothing done to our great end. Christians, what
do you ? Or what have you done ? Jer. viii. 6. That question is to
be answered, not only by reflecting upon your rule, but by reflecting
upon your end.
[2.] It will not only cut off impertinencies, but a far greater mis
chief, and that is, inconsistencies with our great end : Gen. xxxix. 9,
' How can I do this wickedness, and sin against God ? ' Men do not
only forget their end and happiness, but run quite from it, by doing
actions directly contrary ; vanities are impertinent to our great end,
but direct sins are inconsistent. Would men dishonour God, and dis
obey his laws, and grieve his Spirit, if they did remember seriously
that their misery and happiness did depend upon God's pleasure or
displeasure ? Surely then they would avoid God's wrath and dis
pleasure, and sin which is the cause of it, as the greatest misery and
evil that can befall them, and seek after his favour as their great hap
piness.
3. It would solace and comfort us under the difficulties of obedience,
the hardships and inconveniences of our pilgrimage, and that mean
and afflicted state of life wherein perhaps God will employ us and exer
cise us for his jjlory.
[1.] It would sweeten the difficulties of obedience, for the end doth
sweeten the means. It is troublesome to the flesh to limit and confine
our desires and actions within the compass of a strict rule, but it sat-
isfieth a resolved heart to remember that either we must please the
flesh or please the Lord. If now it be troublesome to us, hereafter it
will be comfortable. Wicked men have comfort now when they want
it not, and need it not, but in their greatest extremity they want it.
Look, as in winter-time there are great land floods, when the rain and
season of the year affordeth water enough, and no land needs them ;
but in summer, when there is the greatest drought, then they appear
not. Wicked men have comfort enough in the creature, and too much
for them ; their hearts are merry now, and they are glutted with the
delights of sense, and they are still seeking new comforts; but in
the time of extremity, when they most need comfort, these comforts are
spent, and leave them under anguish and torment. But on the other
side, a child of God, that abridgeth himself of the contentments of the
flesh, and roweth against the current and stream of carnal nature, and
exposeth himself to great losses and inconveniences for Christ's sake,
he had need of some solace to mitigate his sorrows and sweeten pre
sent difficulties. Now, what greater encouragement can there be than
to think how God will welcome us with a Well done, and Well
suffered, good and faithful servant ? Mat. xxv. 21, 23. What comfort
VEK. 9.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 39
and joy and peace will it be unto us when we come to die ! Then we
shall see the labour is not lost, the sufferings for righteousness' sake
were not in vain ; the time we have spent in holy converse with God
will be then sweet to us in the last review ; but the time spent in sin
and vanity and idleness and fleshly designs will be very grievous and
tormenting. And though it be difficult to live in an exact course of
self-denying obedience, yet when we shall have the approbation of God
and conscience, the fore-thought of which is a mighty solace to us now,
carnal ists will then wish, Oh that I had pleased God as I have pleased
men and my own sinful heart ! Oh, would to God I had lived better,
served God and denied myself a little while, that I might have enjoyed
myself and my God for ever !
[2.] It may be God seeth fit to exercise us with a mean or an
afflicted estate ; either he will keep us low and bare, or else weak and
sickly, or in disrepute and obscurity, rejected by the world, as Jesus
Christ was rejected of men, or censured and traduced by men. And
we have no means to help ourselves, and vindicate our innocency. Oh !
but if we may be accepted of the Lord at length, we have no reason
to complain. Man's day is nothing to God's day : 1 Cor. iv. 3. ' But
with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you,' &c.
God will count me faithful, and reward my innocent and sincere, though
imperfect, endeavours. God will be glorified by his servants, sometimes
in a high, sometimes in a low and afflicted condition. Look, as in a choir
or concert of voices he is commended that sings well, whether he sings
the bass, or the mean, or the treble, that is nothing, so he singeth
his part well, but he is despised and disallowed that sings amiss, what
ever voice he useth ; so doth God approve, accept, and reward his
people that serve and glorify him in any state, whether it be high or
low, rich or poor, eminent or obscure. God puts us sometimes in one
condition, sometimes in another ; but those that carry themselves ill
in their estate are rejected by him, and punished. It is not riches or
poverty, wealth or health, that God looketh after, but those that carry
themselves well in either ; which is a great solace to a gracious heart,
and helpeth us to an indifferency for all temporal things, so we may be
approved by God at last ; as the apostle, Phil. i. 20, ' So Christ be
magnified in my body, whether by life or death.' As a resolved tra
veller taketh his way as he findeth it, fair or foul, so it will lead him
to his journey's end.
Secondly, That this must be our work as well as our scope ; and this
design must be carried on with the greatest seriousness, as our great
care and business ; and with unwearied industry, as the main thing
which we attend upon, as a matter of unspeakable importance, which
must not be forgotten and left undone, for it is in the text, 'We
labour.' There is a double notion which is of great use to us in the
spiritual life: making religion our business, and making religion our
recreation. It must be our business in opposition to slightness ; it
must be our recreation in opposition to tediousness and wearisomeness.
The word in the text hath a special signification. We should with
no less earnestness endeavour to please God than they that contend
for honour in the world ; we should make it our constant employment
that God may like us for the present and take us home to him at
40 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XII.
length into his blessed company and presence; What is all the world
to this ? There are a sort of men, whose hearts are upon God and the
life to come, that make it their first care and chiefest business to seek
him and serve him, whose minds and hearts, whose life and love and
cares and labours, are taken up about the everlasting world ; but there
are others who are plotting for preferment, gaping for worldly great
ness, gratifying the desires of the flesh, seeking the favour of great
ones, raising their estate, name, and family ; they look no higher than
this world, and think only of their settlement upon earth, or laying
designs for rising here, arid perpetuating themselves and their names
in their posterity by successive generations. ' The world, morally con
sidered, is divided into two societies : the one of the devil, the other
of God.' Augustine de Givitate Dei. Some seek their happienss upon
earth, others an eternal abode in heaven. By nature we are all of the
earthly society, by grace transplanted, and then we first ' seek the
kingdom of God,' Mat. vi. 33 ; ' Have our conversation in heaven,'
Phil. iii. 20 ; carry ourselves as of a heavenly extraction. All is known
by our business, a constant fidelity to approve ourselves to God, and a
ready obedience in all conditions of life, showeth which sort we are of.
What is it that you have been doing in the world, and the end and
business for and in which you have laboured until now ? What thing
or prize have you had in view and chase ? Have you laboured for
paltry vanities, or the meat that perisheth not ? John vi. 27. A man
is known by his labour. Have you lived for the world, or God ? If
you have spent so many years, and you know not why, or about what,
you have been strangely careless and forgetful. What hath your great
care been ? To please the flesh, or to please God, and be saved by
him ? What have you made provision for, either for earth, or for
heaven ? You do for both, but for which most ?
Thirdly, We must not only take care that we be accepted of God at
last, when we go out of the body, but whilst we are present in the
body it concerneth us to know that we are well-pleasing to him. We
must strive to be accepted of him now. It is a blessed thing at the
close of our pilgrimage that God will receive us into his glory ; but
while we continue in the body, the believing apprehensions of the
favour of God are very comfortable, before we come to enjoy the fruits
of it.
1. How else can we long for the coming of Christ, and expect his
appearance, if before we pass to our judgment we know not whether
we shall be accepted, yea or no ? Now within time it concerneth us
to know how we shall fare hereafter. Man hath a curiosity to know
his destiny, as the king of Babylon stood at the beginning of the ways
to make divination. The good and the evil of the world is of such
light concernment, and of so short continuance, and God is so good,
that we may trust him blindfold for worldly things ; and it-is a wicked,
foolish, and needless curiosity to be so desirous to know our fortune.
But it concerneth us much to know whether we shall be well or ill
for ever how the case will be carried in the last judgment : if it be
evil, that we may prevent it, and correct our error ; in death we
cannot err twice : if good, that we may know our portion, and rejoice
in it ; if it be our happiness, then it must needs be very desirable to
VER. 9.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 41
know it aforeliand. In the next verse to the text, ver. 10, he speaketh
of our judge ; our happiness and final doom dependeth upon his being
pleased with us ; if we apprehend him as an angry judge, or an
adversary, let us agree with him quickly by the way ; if he be a
gracious father, let us have the solace and comfort of it during our
pilgrimage, while we so much need it.
2. Else we cannot comfortably enjoy communion with God for
the present. How can we come before him, if we know not whether
he will accept an offering at our hands ? They who, being in a state
of faith and reconciliation, make it their endeavour to please God,
have God ever with them : John viii. 24, ' He that sent me is with
me. The Father hath not left me alone, for I do always the things
that please him.' They that would have the comfort of God's presence
and company in all conditions, they ought to set themselves to please
God, and observe his will in all things ; and when we have any special
business to do with God : 1 John iii. 22, ' And whatsoever we ask,
we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those
things that are pleasing in his sight.' So that while we are present,
we are accepted of him.
3. We cannot have a cheerful fruition of the creature and
worldly enjoyments till God accepteth us; Eccles. ix. 7, 'Eat thy
bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart, for God
accepteth thy works.' Till we are in a reconciled estate, accepted by
God, all our comforts are but as stolen waters, and bread eaten in
secret, like Damocles' banquet, while a sharp sword hung over his
head by a slender thread. But now when our persons and ways are
pleasing unto God, then all these comforts are sweet and satisfactory ;
we taste God's love in them, and can use them as his blessings, with
cheerfulness and thankfulness.
4. That which maketh us more lively and active in our course
of pleasing God is (1.) The future judgment; (2.) The hope of our
presence with him.
[1.] The future judgment. That I gather from ver. 10, 'For we
must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ.' There will
certainly come a day when every person that ever lived in this world
shall be judged by God, and this day is sure and near. In this life
we are always expecting an end, and carried in a boat that is swiftly
wafting us towards eternity. Now whom should we please, and with
whom should we seek to be accepted ? A vain world, or frail man, or
the God to whom we must strictly give an account ? Surely this
universal, impartial judgment bindeth us to carry it so that we may
be accepted with God.
[2.] The hope of our presence with him, and the beatifical vision
and fruition of him ; for in the context he speaketh of presence and
sight, and then he saith, ' Wherefore we labour.' We are so sluggish
and backward, because we seldom think of the world to come ; earthly
things are the great poise to an earthly mind, but heavenly things to
a heart that is spiritual ; that is their motive. There are many such
wherefores in the scripture : 1 Cor. xv. 58, ' Wherefore, my beloved
brethren, let us be steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in the
work of the Lord ; ' arid Heb. xii. 28, ' Wherefore we, receiving a
42 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XII.
kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, wherehy we may
serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear." There being
sucli an eminent and excellent state of glory, and we being candidates
and suitors for it, how should it quicken us to use all diligence, that
we maybe accepted of God, and admitted into the fruition of it. The
apostle telleth us, Phil. iii. 14, ' I press towards the mark, for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.' Paul had his eye
still upon the mark, that he might steer his whole course in order to
it ; the thoughts of the prize, and worth of the reward, made him press
forward through difficulties and discouragements. The more we have
this glory in our thoughts, the more shall we be heartened against
faintings and failings, which we shall ever and anon be tempted unto.
Secondly, Some reasons of the point.
1. We were made and sent into the world for this end, that by a
constant course of obedience we might approve ourselves to God, and
finally be accepted of with him, and received into his glory. It is
good to consider the end why we were born and sent into the world :
John xviii. 37, ' To this end was I born, and for this cause came I
into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.' Surely
man was made for some end, for the wise God would make nothing in
vain. Now what is man's end ? Not to fill up the number of things,
as stones ; and not to wax bulky, and increase in growth and stature,
as trees ; not to eat and drink, and serve appetite, as the beasts ; not
for the earth ; the end is more noble than the means ; not dig for iron
with mattocks of gold. The earth was made for us to be our habita
tion for a while, not we for it. Surely God made all things for
himself: Prov. xvi. 4; and Horn. xi. 36, 'For of him, and through
him, and to him, are all things ; ' so we especially, who have the
faculties of heart and mind to know him, and love him, and serve him,
and enjoy him for ever. Now we seek after him, our whole life is a
coming to God. We have not enough of God here to satisfy the soul,
only enough to direct and incline us to seek more ; and every one that
seriously mindeth his end, maketh it his trade and daily work : John
vi. 38, ' I came from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of
him that sent me.'
2. We were redeemed to this end ; for we are redeemed unto
God : Kev. v. 9, ' Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.' To
be redeemed unto God is to be redeemed to his service, and admitted
into his favour and friendship and communion with him, to restore
God's right to us, and our happiness in the enjoyment of heaven.
Christ first appeased God's wrath, and restored us to a course of
service, which we should comfortably carry on till we have received
our wages : Luke i. 74, 75, ' That he would grant unto us, that being
delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might serve him without
fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.'
3. Our entering into covenant with God implieth it. In every
covenant there is ratio dati et accepti something given and something
required : Isa. Ivi. 4, ' They choose the things that please me, and
take hold of my covenant.' To take hold of his covenant there, is to
lay claim to the privileges and benefits promised and offered therein.
Now this cannot be done unless we choose the things that please him ;
VER. 9.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 43
that is, voluntarily, deliberately, not by chance, but choice, enter into
a course of obedience, wherein we may be pleasing or acceptable to
him ; this is the fixed determination of our souls. Our faces must be
set heavenward, and the drift, aim, and bent of our lives must be for
God, to walk in his way: Horn. xii. 1, 'I beseech you, therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God.' A man devoteth himself to God,
out of the sense of his love, to serve him and please him in all things.
4. The relations which result from our covenant interest. There
is the relation between us and Christ of husband and spouse, Hos. ii.
19. Now the duty of the wife is to please.the husband, 1 Cor. vii. 34.
The relation of children and father, 2 Cor. vi. 18, ' I will be a father
to you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord.' Now
the duty of children is to please the parents ; and that is said to be
well-pleasing to the Lord, Col. iii. 20, and the rather because it is a
pattern of our own duty to him. Masters and servants : Ezek. xvi. 8,
' Thou enteredst into covenant with me, and becamest mine ; ' Acts
xxvii. 23, 'Whose I am, and whom I serve/ They that please
themselves carry themselves as if they were their own, not God's. All
that we are, and all that we have and can do, must be his, and used
for him in one way or another.
Use 1. Is for reproof of those that study to please men. To approve
themselves to the world, to be accepted in the world, that is their great
end and scope.
1. How can these comply with the great duty of Christians, which is
to please the Lord ? Gal. i. 10, ' If I yet pleased men, I should not be
the servant of Christ.' To hunt after the favour of men, and to gain
the applause of the world, is contrary to the very essential disposition
of the saints, whose great aim is to approve themselves to God, however
men esteem of them. There is a pleasing men to their edification :
Horn. xv. 2, ' Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good, to
edification ; ' and 1 Cor. x. 33, ' Even as I please all men in all things,
not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be
saved.' But to please the sinful humours, dispositions, and affections
of men, to make this our great scope, is contrary to sincerity and fidelity
in Christ's service. Certainly a man ought not to disoblige others,
much less irritate and stir up the corruptions of others, but his great
care must be to approve himself to God.
2. There is no such necessity of the approbation of men, as of God ;
his acceptation, and the testimony of a good conscience concerning our
fidelity in his service, is more than all the favour, countenance, applause,
or any advantage that can come by men. Choose the approbation
of Christ, and you are made for ever ; it is not so if you choose the
approbation of men. Please God, and no matter who is your enemy,
Prov. xvi. 9. Please men, and God may be angry with you, and blast
all your carnal happiness, as well as deny you eternal happiness.
Please the Lord, and that is the best way to be at peace with men.
Use 2. By way of self-reflection. Is this your great scope and end ?
1. Your end will be known by your work. If you labour to approve
yourself to God in every relation, in every condition, in every business,
in every employment, and are still using yourselves and all that you
4 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XIII.
have for God, this is your trade, and this is your study ; you are still
at his work, that if a man should ask you, What are you a-doing ?
Whose work is it that you are employed about ? you may be able truly
to say, it is the Lord's. For whom are you studying, preaching, con
ferring, praying ? What guideth you in all your relations ? To whom
do you approve yourselves ? For whom are you sick or well ? 2 Cor.
v. 15, ' That they which live should not live to themselves, but unto
him which died for them ; * and Rom. xiv. 7-9, ' For none of us liveth
to himself, and no man dieth to himself ; for whether we live, we live
unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord ; whether we
live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.' What moveth you to go on
with any business ? Who supporteth you in your business ? Can
you say to God, What God would have me to do, I do it ?
2. If this be your end, it will be known by your solace. So much
as a man doth attain unto his end, so much doth he attain of content
and satisfaction : 2 Cor. i. 12, ' For our rejoicing is this, the testimony
of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, we have had
our conversations in the world, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the
grace of God, we have had our conversations in the world.' You will
not rejoice so much in the effects of his common bounty as in his special
love : so Ps. iv. 7, ' Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in
the time when their corn and wine increased.'
3. If God's glory be your scope, any condition will be tolerable to
you, so as you may enjoy his favour. Man's displeasure may be the
better borne ; yea, poverty and want. Your great cordial is your ac
ceptation with God ; and losses are the better borne ; as David com
forted himself in the Lord his God, when all was lost at Ziklag ; and
Hab. ii. 1, ' I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower,
and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall
answer when I am reproved.'
SERMON XIII.
For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every
one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he
hath done, ivhethergood or bad. 2 COR. v. 10.
PAUL'S motives to faithfulness in his ministry were three : hope, fear,
and love. Hope of a blessed immortality ; fear, or an holy reverence
wrought in him by the consideration of the last judgment ; love to
Christ, ver. 14. We just now come to the second consideration ; it
fitly falleth in with the close of the former branch, as a reason why it
must be our chiefest care to approve heart and life to God. Not only
the hope of the resurrection breedeth this care to please God, but also
the consideration of the general judgment. We are so cold, careless,
and backward, because we seldom think of these things ; but if we
did oftener think of them, it would make us more aweful and serious ;
we would soon see that though we can approve ourselves to the world,
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 45
yet it will not profit us unless we approve ourselves to God, for all
dependeth upon his doom and sentence, ' For we must all appear,' &c.
In the words observe a description of the day of judgment.
Wherein
1. The necessity of this judgment 0,, We must. Judged we must
be. willing or unwilling.
2. The universality of this judgment ; who must be judged in the
word Traz/ra?, All.
3. The person by whom we shall be judged. The text speaketh of
the judgment-seat of Christ. He is our rightful lord, to whom this
judgment belongeth ; and he hath his judgment- seat and throne of
glory, as it is called : Mat. xxv. 31, ' Then shall he sit upon the throne
of his glory.' What that is, because it is wholly to come, and not
elsewhere explained in .scripture, we know not ; we must rest in the
general expression. The cloud in which he cometh shall possibly be
his throne ; or, if you will have it farther explained, you may take
that description of the prophet Daniel, chap. vii. 9, 10. Of this see
more in sermon on Mat. xxv. 31.
4. The manner We must appear before the judgment-seat of
Christ, <j>avepa)6ijvai. The word signifieth two things
[1.] To stand forth and make our appearance, Eom. xiv. 10. There
it is Trapaa-Trjvcu. ' We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of
Christ.'
[2.] Or else, to be made manifest. And so rendered, ver 11,
' But we are made manifest before God, and I trust are made manifest-
in your consciences.' So here our hearts and ways shall be laid open,
as well as we ; every action of our lives shall be taken into consider
ation. Well then, we must appear so as to be made manifest in our
thoughts, words, and deeds ; we must not only appear in person, but be
laid open, have our whole life ripped up, and have all our thoughts,
words, and works disclosed before men and angels.
5. The matter about which we shall be judged The things done in
the ~body ; that is, during the bodily life. The body is the shop of
action, wherein or whereby everything is done. Mechedius telleth us-
it is (rv^iryov T?}? ^v^q^ the yokefellow or colleague of the soul.
Now whatever is done by it, good or evil, is the cause to be tried.
6. The end that every man may be punished or rewarded accord
ing to his deserts ; the end is, that there may be sentence given, and
after sentence execution, both as to reward and punishment.
[1.] Mark the emphasis of the phrase ' The things done in the
body.' We are said to receive them when we receive the fruits of
them : so, Eph. vi. 8, ' Whatsoever good thing a man doth, the same
shall he receive, whether bond or free.' So here, things done in the
body are the just reward of those things.
[2.] Observe the several kinds of retribution ' Good or bad ; ' both
the godly and the wicked receive a full recompense at that time.
[3.] The proportion according to their several ways ; only the
reward of good is of grace, of evil of desert ; Horn. vi. 23, ' The wages
of sin is death,'
Doct. There will certainly come a day when every person that ever
lived shall be judged by Christ according to his works.
46 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XIII.
I shall examine this point by the circumstances of the text.
First, The necessity. He might have said, We shall appear ; no,
but he saith, We must appear. God hath so appointed.
Here I shall speak
1. Of the certainty of the thing ; there must be a judgment.
2. The infallible certainty of the event: there shall be a judgment.
1. It must be so ; for God hath decreed it, and reason enforceth
it. But why is it necessary ? I answer, not to discover anything to
God, (1.) But partly, that grace may be glorified in and by the
righteous : 1 Peter i. 13, ' Hope unto the end for the grace which is to
be brought unto you, at the revelation of Jesus Christ.' Then is the
largest and fullest manifestation of God's love to his people. We see
his grace now in the pardon of sins, and that measure of sanctification
which now we attain unto, that he is pleased to pass by our offences,
and take us into his family, and give us a taste of his love, and a right
to his heavenly kingdom, and employ us in his service ; but then it
will be another manner of grace and favour indeed, when pardon and
approbation shall be pronounced and ratified by the judge's own mouth,
Acts iii. 19, when he shall not only take us into his family, but into
his immediate presence and palace : John xii. 26, ' Where I am, there
shall my servant be ; ' when he giveth us not only a right, but the pos
session, Mat. xxv. 34, ' Come ye blessed of my father, inherit the king
dom prepared for you ; ' when we shall not only have some remote
service and ministration, but be everlastingly employed in loving,
delighting in, and praising of God, with all those heavenly creatures
who are our eternal companions in the work. The grace of God, or
his favour to his people, is never seen in all its glorious graciousness
till we be glorified. (2.) That the wicked may be convinced of their
sin and defect, they come upon a trial, and the fault of all their mis
carriage is charged on themselves. It is hard to determine which is
the greater torment to them, the righteousness or terribleness of the
sentence. God leaveth them without excuse : Kom. i. 20 ; Ps. 1. 21,
' I will set all thy sins in order before thee.' Sins forgotten, lost in
the crowd by a secure sinner, in the day of God's reckoning shall be
brought to remembrance, with time, place, and other circum stances,
and so presented to conscience as if newly done. (3.) That God's
justice maybe cleared: Ps. li. 4. 'That thou mayest be clear when
thou judgest.' When he giveth to men according to their choice, and
according to the merit of their own works, there lieth no just exception
against God's proceeding. The justice of God requireth that there
should be differing proceeding with them that differ among themselves,
that it should be well with them that do well, and evil with them that
do evil ; that every man should reap according to what he hath sown.
Therefore those whom Christ will receive into everlasting life must
appear faithful and obedient, for then God will judge the world in
righteousness, Acts. xvii. 31 ; now in patience towards the wicked,
now by way of exercise and trial of his people.
2. The certainity of the event ' The hour is coming,' John v. 28.
That there is such a time coming, he ill deserveth the name of a
Christian who maketh any question of it. But because many live as if
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 47
they shall never be called to an account, I shall evidence that certainly
we shall appear, both by natural light and scripture.
[1.] Let the evidence of reason be heard so far as it will go : reason
slioweth that it may be, and argueth
(1.) From the nature of God. There is a God; that God is just:
and it is agreeable to his justice that it should be well with them that
do well, and ill with them that do evil. These are principles out of
dispute, and foundations in the structure and building of the Christian
faith. Here the best suffer most, and are exercised with poverty, dis
grace, scorn, and all manner of persecutions, and the wicked live a life
of pomp and ease ; how shall we reconcile these things with the notions
which we have of God and his providence ? No satisfactory account
can be given but this : the wicked are reserved to future punishment,
and the godly to future reward. Here the goodness of God towards
the good, and the justice of God towards the wicked, is not enough
manifested ; therefore there is a day when his judgment shall be brought
to light, and his different respect to good and bad made more conspicuous.
(2.) From the providence of God. There are many judgments
which are pledges of the general judgment, that at length God will
judge the whole world for sin : as the drowning of the old world, the
burning of Sodom, the destruction of Jerusalem ; these are as a warn
ing to all, for it is said, Jude 7, these are set forth as a ' warning to
all that should live ungodly.' God is the same still : Gal. iii. 20,
' God is one ; ' that is, in one mind of punishing the wicked, without
variation and change. He hateth the sins of one, as well as of another ;
if he would not put up the iniquities of the old world, he will not put
up the iniquities of the new ; if he punished the iniquities of Sodom, he
will punish the iniquities of others who sinned in like manner. God
is not grown more indulgent to sin than he was before ; though it be
not now, there will be a time when he will call them to a reckoning.
In every age he keepeth a petty sessions, but then will be the general
assizes. When man first sinned, God did not immediately execute the
sentence of his law upon him, but giveth him time of repentance till
he dieth. As he giveth every man time and space, so he giveth all the
world ; for he would not have all the world to be born at once and die
tit once, but to live in several successions of ages, from father to son
throughout divers generations, till we come to that period which his
providence hath fixed. Now, as he reckoneth with every man partic
ularly at his death, so with all the world at the end of time. Particular
judgments show that God is not asleep, or unmindful of human affairs,
but the general judgment is deferred till then.
(3.) From the feelings of conscience. After sin men are troubled,
though there be none about them in the world to call them to an
account, or though the fact be done so secretly that it is not liable to
a human tribunal. Nature is sensible that there is a higher judgment,
that divine justice must have a solemn triumph; conscience is afraid
of it. Heathens are sensible of such a thing : Kom. i. 32, ' Who know
ing the judgment of God. that they which commit such things are
worthy of death.' Felix trembled at the mention of it, which showeth
there is an easy reception of such a truth, Acts xxiv. 25. There is a
hidden fear in the consciences of all men, which is soon revived and
48 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XIII.
awakened by the thoughts of this truth. Every guilty person is more
or less held in the chains of darkness, which showeth how easily this
truth can insinuate itself into a rational mind.
[2.] Faith showeth that it shall be. The light of faith is more cer
tain and more distinct. It is more certain, for it buildeth upon a
divine testimony, which is more infallible than the guesses of reason ;
and it is more distinct, for nature could never find out the circumstances
of that day as, by whom this judgment shall be managed, and in what
manner, that God hath appointed one man by whom he will judge the
world in righteousness, that he shall come in the glory of his father,
and all the holy angels with him. Faith concludeth this certainty :
(1.) From that revelation which God hath made in his word, Mat.
xiii. 49, 50, ' So shall it be at the end of the world ; the angels shall
come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast
them into the furnace of fire ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth ; ' John v. 28, 29, ' The hour is coming in the which all that are
in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, they that
have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done
evil unto the resurrection of damnation ; ' Heb. ix. 27, ' And it is
appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment;' Rom.
xiv. 12. ' So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to
God ; ' Mat. xii. 36, 37, ' But I say unto you, that every idle word that
men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment ;
for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt
be condemned ;' Rev. xx. 12, 'And I saw the dead, small and great,
stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was
opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of
those things which were written in the.books, according to their works ; '
and in many other places ; for this being a necessary truth is more
plentifully revealed than others of lesser importance. This was the
great promise ever kept afoot in the church. Scoffers took notice of it,
saying, ' Where is the promise of his coming ? ' The apostle Jude inti-
mateth the ancient promise of it : Jude 14, ' And Enoch also, the
seventh son from Adam, prophesied of these things, saying, Behold
the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.' And it hath been
revived in all ages ; by Moses and David, and Daniel and Joel, Zechariah
and Malachi, and more clearly by Christ himself, and his apostles
everywhere. Now we may reason, that God, who hath been faithful in
all things, he will not fail at last ; he hath ever stood to his word when
more unlikely things have been promised. Were the believers of the
Old Testament deceived, that expected his coming in the flesh ? Surely
Christ never meant to deceive us when he said, John xiv. 2, 3, ' I will
come again ; if it were not so, I would have told you.' See sermon
on Mat. xxv. 6.
(2.) The types show it. I shall instance in one, which is the high
priest's entering with blood into the holy place within the vail ; and
when he had finished his service and ministration there, he came forth
to bless the people, which the apostle explaineth and applieth to
Christ, Heb. ix. 24-28.
(3.) There are ordinances appointed in the church to keep afoot
the remembrance of his promise the Lord's supper : 1 Cor. xi. 26,
VEIL "10.J SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 49
' For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show forth
the Lord's death till he come.' He hath left it as a monument of his
faithfulness, that upon all occasions we may renew our hopes and
expectations of it.
(4.) We have an inward pledge his Spirit, and the visits of his
grace. He hath taken our flesh, and left with us his Spirit. He
went not from us in anger, but in love, to set all things at rights, and
to bring us there where he is.
(5.) Christ's interest is concerned in it
(1st.) That the glory of his person may be seen. His first coming
was obscure and without observation. Then he came in the form of
a servant, but now he will come as the lord and heir, in power and
glory. Then John Baptist was his forerunner, now an archangel.
Then he came with twelve disciples, men of mean condition in the
world, a few poor fishermen; now with legions of angels, Jude 14.
Then as a minister of circumcision, now as the judge of all the
world. Then he invited men to repentance, now he cometh to
render vengeance to the neglecters and despisers of his grace. Then
he offered himself as a mediator between God and man, as a high
priest to God and an apostle to men, Heb. iii. 1, but veiled his
divinity under the infirmities of his flesh ; now he cometh in God's
name to judge men, and in all his glory. Then he wrought some
miracles, which his enemies imputed to diabolical arts and magical
impostures ; at the day of judgment there will be no need of miracles
to assert the divinity of his person, because all will be obvious to sense.
Then he prepared himself to suffer death, now he shall tread death
under his feet. Then he stood before the tribunals of men, and was
condemned to the cursed death of the cross ; now he shall sit upon a
glorious throne, all kings and potentates expecting their doom and
sentence from his mouth. Then he came not to judge, but to save,
now to render unto every one according to their works. Then he was
scorned, buffeted, spit upon, crowned with thorns, but now crowned
with glory and honour. Then he came to bear the sins of many ; now
without sin, not bearing our burden, but our discharge, not as a surety,
but as a paymaster, not as a sufferer, but a conqueror, triumphing over
death, hell, and the devil. He cometh no more to go from us, but to
take us from all misery to himself.
(2d.) That he may possess what he hath purchased. He bought us at
a dear rate, and would he be at all this loss and preparation for nothing ?
Surely he that came to suffer will come to triumph, and he that pur
chased will possess, Heb. ii. 13.
(3d.) With respect to the wicked. It is a part of his office to triumph
over thena in their final overthrow. All things shall be put under his
feet, Isa. xlv. 23, Bom. xiv. 10, 11, Phil. ii. 10.
(4th.) To require an account of things during his absence ; what his
servants have done with their talents, Mat. xxv. ; what his church have
done with his ordinances ; how things have been carried during his
absence in his house : 1 Tim. vi. 14, ' Keep this commandment without
rebuke, unto the appearing of Jesus Christ ; ' whether men have
carried themselves well, or beaten their fellow-servants, and eaten and
drunk with the drunkard ; whether they have strengthened the hands
VOL. XIII. D
50 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [$ER.
of the wicked, oppressed with censures the most serious of his wor
shippers, what disorders in the world, what violation of the law of
nature, 2 Thes. i. 8.
Secondly, The universality. Who must be judged? 'We must all.'
All mankind which ever were, are, and shall be. No age, no sex, no nation,
nor dignity, nor power, nor wealth, nor greatness, can excuse us. In the
world some are too high to be questioned, others too low to be taken
notice of ; but there all are taken notice of by head and poll ; not one of
the godly shall be lost, but will meet in that general assembly. Nor shall
any of the wicked shift the day of his appearance ; as we may obey in
every state and sin in every state, so in every state we must give an
account. All that have lived from the beginning of the world till that
day shall without exception appear, from the least to the greatest,
before the tribunal of Christ.
This will be illustrated by considering the several distinctions of
mankind:
The first and most obvious distinction is into grown persons and
infants.
The second distinction is those whom Christ shall find dead or alive
at his coming.
The third distinction is of good or bad.
The fourth distinction of men whom Christ shall judge are believers
and unbelievers.
Fifth, Men of all conditions, high and low, rich and poor ; of these
see Mat. xxv. 33, ser. iii.
Sixth, Men of all callings in the church, apostles and private Christians,
ministers and people ; for the apostle here in the text joineth himself
with others, and saith, ' We must all appear before the judgment-seat
of Christ.' Besides the law of Christianity, by which all shall be judged,
the officers and guides of the church must give an account of their
faithfulness in their ministration. There is much spoken in scripture
of their account : 1 Cor. iv. 4, 5, ' I know nothing by myself, yet am I
not thereby justified, but he that judgeth me is the Lord ; therefore
judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will
bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and shall make manifest
the counsels of the heart, and then shall every man have praise of
God.' He speaketh there of the execution of his apostolical office;
though he was conscious to himself of no fault in it, yet this was not
the clearing of him, only God that searcheth and seeth all must do
this. It is a great matter to clear a man's fidelity, first as a minister,
then as a private Christian. Paul would not venture it upon the single
testimony of his own conscience ; so again, Heb. xiii. 17, ' They watch
for your souls, as they that must give an account/ Their work is to
watch over souls for their eternal salvation. If souls miscarry through
their negligence, they are answerable to God for it ; but if they miscarry
through their own wilfulness, the loss is the people's ; they have the
crown of faithfulness, if not of fruitfulness. The crown of fruitmlness
is spoken of, 1 Thes. iii. 19, 20, ' What is our hope, or joy, or crown of
rejoicing ? Are not even ye in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ
at his coming? for ye are our glory and joy/ The Thessalonians were
a good people, famous for their proficiency in the faith, and endurance
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 51
of persecutions ; and this was Paul's crown (who had begotten them
to Christ) in the day of doom. Now when they give up their account,
not with joy but grief, that is not unprofitable to the ministers ; but to
the people it is unprofitable. It may be good unto the ministers, who
have been faithful, but not to the people, who have been disobedient.
Seventh, Every individual person, all and every one must appear ;
see Mat. xxv. 33, ser. iii. Well then, since there is such a day, let it
be our care to approve our hearts and lives to God.
SEKMON XIV.
For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ.
2 COR. v. 10.
THIRDLY, I come to speak of the judge. Who shall be the judge ?
And there I shall prove that the judge of the world is the Lord Jesus
Christ ; ' For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ.'
For the evidencing of this, I shall inquire.
1. Why this honour is devolved and put upon the second person.
2. Show in what nature he shall judge the world, whether as God
or man, or both.
First, How Christ comes to be the world's judge, and with what
conveniency and agreeableness to reason this honour is put upon him.
To a judge there belong these four things wisdom, justice, power,
and authority.
1. Wisdom and understanding, by which he is able to judge of all
persons and causes that come before him, according to 'the rules and
laws by which the judgment is to proceed. No man can give sentence
in a cause where he hath not skill as to matter of right, or sufficient
evidence or knowledge as to matter of fact. And therefore, in ordinary^
judicatures, a prudent and discerning person is chosen for judge, one
that knows what is right, and what is law, and that goes upon the
evidence that is brought upon the matter of fact.
2. Justice is required, or a constant and unbiassed will, to determine
and pass sentence ex cequo et bono, according as right and truth shall
require. He that gives wrong judgment because he does not accurately
understand the matter, is imprudent, which in his station is a great
fault ; but he that understands the matter, yet, being biassed by
perverse affections and aims, gives wrong judgment in a cause brought
before him, he is not only imprudent, but unjust, and that is the highest
wickedness, the most impious and flagitious.
3. Power is necessary, that he may compel the parties judged to
stand to his judgment, and the offenders inay receive their due punish
ment, for otherwise all is but precarious and arbitrary, and the judg
ment given will be but a vain and solemn pageantry, a mere person*
ating or acting of a part, if there be not power to back the sentence, and
bring the persons to the tribunal, that accordingly it may be executed
upon them.
52 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [$ER. XIV.
4. There is required authority; for otherwise, if a man should obtrude
himself of his own accord, we may say to him as they to Lot, Who
made thee a judge over us ? If by force he should assume this to
himself, or have a pretence of right, I may decline and shift his
tribunal, and appeal from him. Certainly he that rewards must be
superior, and much more he that punisheth ; for he that punisheth
another brings some notable evil, detriment, and damage upon him,
but to do that to another, unless we have right to it, is a high degree
of injustice.
Now wisdom, and justice, and power, and authority, do all concur
in the case ; for these things, as they are necessary in all judicial
proceedings between man and man, much more in this great and
solemn transaction of the last judgment, which will be the greatest
that ever was, both in respect of the persons judged, high and low,
rich and poor, prince and subject ; in respect of the causes to be
judged, the whole business of the world for 6000 years, or thereabouts ;
and in respect of the retributions that shall ensue, this judgment, the
punishments and rewards in the highest degree, the highest punishment
that ever was inflicted, and the highest reward that ever was
distributed, and that infinite and everlasting. Therefore there must
be a judge that hath an exact knowledge, knowing not only the laws,
but all persons and causes that all things should be 'naked, and
open, to him with whom we have to do,' Heb. iv. 13 ; such a judge
who knows the thoughts of our hearts, 1 John iii. 20, and can proceed
upon sufficient evidence against every one that comes before him.
Again, he must be exceeding just, without the least spot and blemish
of wrong-dealing, for otherwise he cannot sustain his office, if he be not
immutably just. See how the judge of the world is described, Gen.
xviii. 25, ' Shall not the judge of all the world do right ? ' So when
something was spoken which seemed to blemish the justice of God,
the apostle saith, Horn. iii. 5, 6, 'Is God unrighteous? How then
shall he judge the world ? ' That were impossible. Judgment may
be put into a person's hands that possibly may be unrighteous, but it
cannot be that the universal and final judgment of all the world should
be committed to him that hath, or can do, anything that is unlawful
or amiss. Again, power is necessary to summon the offenders, to
gather up the dead from all places of their dispersion, to give every
dust its own body, and to make them appear and stand to the judg
ment which he will award, without hope of escaping or resisting.
That power is very necessary will easily appear, because the offenders
are so many, and are scattered to and fro, some in the sea, some in the
earth, some buried in the bodies of wild beasts, multitudes in the maws
of fishes. It must be a mighty power that can give every one his own
body again. If it were possible, they would fain decline the tribunal,
and hide themselves from the throne of the Lamb, Kev. vi. 16 ; but it
cannot be. And authority is necessary also, which is a right to govern
and to dispose of the persons judged, which being all the world, it
belongs only to the universal king ; it must be such a person that
made all things, that preserves all things, that governs and disposes of
all things to his own glory. Legislation and execution both belong to
the same power. Judgment is part of government. Laws are but
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 53
shadows, if no execution follow. And therefore let us come particularly,
and see how all this belongs to Christ ; that he is the only wise God ;
and he is the just God, that cannot err; that he is the mighty God,
whose hand none can escape ; and he is the universal king, that hath
an absolute and supreme authority ; therefore he must be the judge
of the world.
1. For wisdom and understanding, it is in Christ twofold divine
and human (for each nature hath its proper wisdom belonging to it).
As Christ is God, his wisdom and his understanding are infinite, as it
is said in the Psalms ; and so by one act of understanding he knows
all things that are, have been, yea, that shall be, or may be. He knows
all things that shall be in his own decree, and all things that may be
by his divine power and all-sufficiency ; they are all before him naked,
as the apostle infers, Heb. iv. 13, cut down as it were by the chine-bone.
As when we cut down a beast by the chine-bone, and divide his body,
we may see all things within him ; so all things are naked and open,
to God. We know things successively, God knows them all at once.
If a man were to read a book, he must go from line to line, or from
page to page ; but God's knowledge is just such a thing as if a man
should see through a book by one act of his mind, by one view, could
know all that was contained in that book by one glance of his eye.
Well, this is his divine wisdom. For his human wisdom, that cannot
be equal to this, for a finite nature is not capable of an infinite under
standing. But yet his human wisdom is such as doth far exceed the
knowledge of all men and angels. When Christ was upon earth,
though the forms of things could not but successively come into his
mind (as a man, he must understand as men do in understanding,
because of the limited nature of the mind and understanding), yet then
he could know whatever he would. To whatsoever thing he did apply
his mind he did presently understand it, and that in a moment all
things were presented to him ; so that he accurately knew the nature
of things he had a mind to know. You find upon all occasions he
was not ignorant of the thoughts and hearts of men, and when done
ever so secretly, yet Christ knew them ; as when the woman came
behind him, and touched the hem of his garment undiscernibly (as she
thought) by a secret touch, then saith Christ, ' Who touched me ? for
virtue is passed from me,' Luke viii. 45. Christ knew the touch of faith,
knew the woman that came behind him, and would not be seen. And
Mat. ix. 3, 4, ' When certain Pharisees said within themselves, This
man blasphemes ; ' within their hearts, though they durst not say it
publicly ; and Christ discovers their inward thoughts, and turns
out the very inside of their souls ; so Mat. xii., Jesus knew their
thoughts, when they imagined that by Beelzebub, the prince of devils,
he cast out devils. But more fully see that notable place which will
set forth that no subtle devices we can use are sufficient to escape his
knowledge : John ii. 23-25, ' When he was at Jerusalem at the
passover, on the feast-day, many believed in his name when they saw
the miracles which tie did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto
them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify
of man ; for he knew what was in man/ Mark, they are said to believe
in Christ. Certainly their faith was not pretended only, but real.
54 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XIV.
though not a thorough faith, not rooted in their souls, though as yet
they did not betray their insincerity. But ' Jesus knew what was in
man.' We cannot infallibly discern the truth and falsehood of a profes
sion before men discover themselves ; but all hypocrites are known to
him long before they show their hypocrisy. And known, how ? Not
by 'a conjectural, but by a certain knowledge, as being that knowledge
that is from and by himself. As God he doth infallibly know what is
most secret in man. Even then, when for the present we have but a
moral sincerity, and do not dissemble, the Lord knows whether this is
a true, real and supernatural work, for there may be a moral where
there is not a supernatural sincerity. Now, if the Lord Jesus was
endowed with such an admirable wisdom and understanding even in
the days of his flesh, when he was capable of growing in wisdom as
well as in stature, Luke ii, as his human capacity was enlarged by
degrees (for he would in all things be like us except in sin), what shall
we think of Christ glorified, when he comes in that state in which he
is now glorious in heaven? When he comes to exercise this judg
ment, certainly he shall bring an incomparable knowledge, so far
exceeding the manner and measure of all creatures, men or angels,
even as he is man. But his infinite knowledge as he is God, that
chiefly shines forth in this work ; and therefore he is fit to judge ; . for
he can bring forth the secret things of darkness, and the hidden
counsels of the heart, 1 Cor. iv. 5, and shall despoil sinners of all their
pretences and excuses, and plainly and undeniably pluck off their
disguises from them. He knows all the springs, motions, hidden
counsels of the heart, and secret things that move you and set you
a-work.
2. For justice and righteousness. An incorrupt judge he is that
neither hath, doth, or can err in the judgment. As there is a double
knowledge in Christ, so there is also a double righteousness ; the one
that belongs to him as God, the other as man ; and both are exact
and immutably perfect. His divine nature is holiness itself ' In him
there is light, and no darkness at all,' 1 John i. 5. The least shadow
of injustice cannot be imagined in God ; for God's holiness is his being,
it is not a superadded quality, as it is in us ; the quality may be lost,
yet the being remain ; as in angels, holiness was a superadded quality ;
they had their angelical being, but lost their holiness ; and when Adam
fell, he lost that holiness and righteousness in which he was created,
but yet he had his being. But God's holiness is his very nature and
essence. The holiness of God may be compared to a vessel that is all of
pure gold ; but the holiness of the creature may be compared to a
vessel of wood and earth, that is only gilded ; the outside is gold, but
the substance of the vessel is another thing. Now, in a vessel of pure
gold, there the lustre and the substance is the same. Our holiness is
but gilding, it may be worn out ; but God's holiness is gold, he is
holiness itself. We cannot call a wise man wisdom. We use the con
crete when we speak of men we say they are wise, good, holy ; but we
use the abstract of God God is love, light, holiness, purity and mercy
itself, which notes the inseparability of the attribute from his nature.
God is himself, and God cannot deny himself. Peter Martyr sets forth
the holiness of God by this comparison ' Take a carpenter when he
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 55
hath chalked and drawn his line, then he goes and chops the timber.
Sometimes he chops right, and sometimes amiss. Why ? because he
hath an outward rule without him a line according to which he cuts
the timber. But if you could suppose a carpenter that could never
chop amiss, but his hand should be his line and rule, if he had such
an equal poise and touch of his hand, that his very stroke is a rule to
itself, he cannot err.' By this plain and homely comparison he did set
forth the holiness of God and the creature. The holiness of the
creature is a rule without us, therefore sometimes we chop and miss ;
but God's holiness is his rule, it is his nature, he can do nothing
amiss.
Now let us consider his human nature ; it was so sanctified since it
dwelt with God in a personal union, that it was impossible that he
could sin in the days of his flesh, much more now glorified in heaven ;
and there will be use of both in the last judgment ; but chiefly the
righteousness that belongs to the divine nature ; for all the operations
of Christ, his mediatorial actions, they are all done by God-man,
neither nature ceaseth in him. Look, as in the works of man, all the
external actions he doth, they are done by the body and soul the
body works, the soul works, according to their several natures, yet
both conspire and concur in that way that is proper to either ; only in
some actions there is more of the soul discovered, as in a brutish
action, or action that requires strength, more of the body is discovered ;
yet the body and the soul concurs, so the two natures all concur in
Christ's actions, only in some works his human, in others his divine
nature more appears. Look, as in the works of his humiliation his
human nature did more appear, but still his divine nature manifested
itself, also he offered up himself as God-man ; but in the works that
belong to his exaltation and glorified estate his divine nature appeared
most; so in this solemn transaction, wherein Christ is to discover
himself to the world in the greatest majesty and glory, he acts as God-
man, only the divine nature more appears and discovers itself, because
it belongs to his exaltation.
3. For power. A divine power is also plainly necessary, that
none may withdraw themselves from this judgment, or resist and
hinder the execution of his sentence, for otherwise it would be passed in
vain, Titus ii. 13. Christ then comes to show himself as the great
and powerful God. His power is seen in raising the dead, in bringing
them into one place, in opening their consciences that they may have
a review and sense of all their actions, and afterward in binding the
wicked, hands and feet, and casting them into hell : Mat. xxiv. 13,
* The Son of man shall come from heaven with power and great glory.'
4. His authority. I shall the longer insist upon this, because the
main hinge of all lieth here ; and this will bring the matter home to
the second person, to prove that Jesus Christ, and no other but Christ,
he is to be the world's judge, and it is his tribunal before whom ' we
must all appear/ By the law of nature, the wronged party and the
supreme power hath a right to require satisfaction for any wrong that
is done. Let us consider Christ's authority a little, and weigh it in
the balance of reason. I say, by the law of nature, where there is no
power publicly constituted, where people live without law and govern-
56 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XIV.
ment, possibly there the wronged party hath power to require it, he is
the avenger ; but where things are better ordered, where there is law
and government, lest the wronged party should indulge his revenge
and passion for his own interest, therefore the supreme power takes
vengeance to itself, and doth right, and will challenge the parties that
offend, judge the matter that is in hand, will make amends to those
that are wronged, either in body, goods, or good name.
Well, both these things concur : God is the wronged party, and the
supreme judge, and therefore the judgment is devolved upon the Lord
Jesus Christ.
[1.] He is the wronged party, that is offended with the sins of men ;
for it is his law that is broken, his authority that is despised, his glory
that is trampled under foot. It is true, we cannot lessen God's happi
ness by anything that we can do ; all that we do, it is but as a man
that strikes at the light that shines upon a tree; he may cause his
axe to fasten in the tree, but he hurts not the light. God is not really
hurt, there is no loss or happiness by anything the creature can do ;
our good and evil extends not to him ; his essential glory is still the
same ; whether we obey or disobey, please or displease, honour or dis
honour him that is eternally immutable ; he is neither lessened nor
increased by anything that we can do ; he is out of the reach of all
darts we cast at him. We may fling up darts to heaven; hurt us
they may, not him. But how is sin a wrong to God ? It is a wrong
to his declarative glory, as he is the sovereign lord and law-giver, as
a breach to his law and contempt of his authority. Look, as David,
when he sinned in the matter of Bathsheba, he wronged Uriah, but
yet he says, Ps. li. 4, ' Against thee, thee only have I sinned/ The sin
was properly against God. God is the author of the light of nature,
and the order of things, which begets a sense of good and evil in our
hearts ; and therefore, whoever sins against the light of nature is-
responsible to God. Conscience within him tells him he hath done
something against God. If a man be poor, or sick, his conscience is
not troubled for that ; but if he hath done something disorderly, con
science being God's deputy, his mind may be troubled about it ; if he
hath committed adultery, or done anything that is contrary to the
light of nature, his heart will be upon him, and summons him to-
appear before God to answer for the wrong done to God. I speak
this because of the Gentiles. But now for Christians. God certainly
gave the law by Moses, and gave the law by Christ in the gospel ; and
therefore every sin of ours is an offence to God, as being a breach of
that order he hath established, and the way of government under which
he hath put us : 1 John iii. 4, ' Sin is a transgression of the law/
Laws cannot be despised ; but the majesty of the law-giver is also
violated, and therefore as God is the wronged party, God comes in to
be our judge, to require satisfaction for the wrong we have done.
There is something indeed in this, but God does not barely as an-
offended party, or as a private man would revenge himself, where
there is no public power constituted to do him right. No ; he properly
judgeth us as the supreme and sovereign lord and governor of the
world, to whom it belongs, as the universal king, to secure the ends of
government for common good, to see that it be well with them that
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 57
do well, and ill with them that do ill ; and there is no compassion,
shown to any creature, but where the case is compassionable.
Bat more plainly to show how this right accrues to God, how he
comes to be the supreme governor of the world. Several ways : either
because of the excellency of his being, or because of the relation
wherein we stand to him for all the benefits he bestows upon us ; we
have all from him.
[I.] For the excellency of his being. This is according to the light
of nature, that those that excel others should be chief and supreme, as-
it is clear in man above brute-beasts. Man was made to have
dominion over them, having a more excellent nature than they, as in
the first of Genesis. When God said, ' Let us make man/ presently
God puts the government upon him, and gives him dominion over the
beasts of the field, the fowls in the air, and fish in the sea. So God
being infinite, and far above all chief beings, hath power over all his
creatures, angels and men, who are as nothing'to him, therefore to be
governed by him.
[2.] The title comes by virtue of- the benefits that he hath bestowed
upon us ; we have life, being, and all things from God ; therefore,
certainly, the power and authority is in him. Look, as parents have
power and authority over their children, who are a means under God
to give them life and education, and the most barbarous people would
acknowledge this ; how much more then hath God, who gives us life,
breath, being, and well-being, and all things ? He hath created us
out of nothing, and being once created, he preserves us, and gives us
all the good things we enjoy ; and therefore we are obliged to be
subject to him, and obey his holy laws, and to be accountable to him;
for the breach of them. And therefore let us state it thus : if that the
excellency of his nature gives him a sufficiency for the government of
mankind, his creation, preservation, and other benefits, they give him
a full right to dispose of man, to make what laws he pleaseth, to call
man to account whether he keep them, yea or no. Surely the right
of God is greater than that which parents can have over their children ;
for in natural generation parents are but only the instruments of his
providence, acting only the power God gives them ; they propagate
nothing to their children, but the matter of their being, and those
things that belong to the body, Heb. xii. 9. Nay, God hath a greater
hand in forming the child than the parents ; still they act as guided
by God, and as influenced by his providence, for they cannot tell
whether the child will be male or female, beautiful or deformed, they
know not the number and posture of the bones, nerves, veins, sinews ;
but God orders all these things by his own wisdom, and wonderfully
frames us in the secret parts of the belly ; therefore the sovereignty
certainly belongs to God, for it is he that forms the spirit of man
within him, Zech. xii. 1. The soul is of God's immediate formation,
and all the care and providence of our parents come to nothing, unless
God direct it, and second it with his blessing. God is the judge of all
creatures, visible and invisible, and from his empire and jurisdiction,
they neither can nor ought to exempt themselves. So that to be
God and judge of the world is one and the same thing, only expressed
by divers terms.
58 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [&ER. XIV.
To gather up this argument. This is a certain rule : the owner of
anything is necessarily a governor to it, if it be governable, if it be a
creature that is capable of government, and hath an aptitude to be
governed, for certainly an absolute propriety in a governable creature
gives a plenary title. Now God made us out of nothing, and he made
us capable of government, being rational and free agents, and there
fore he must needs be our lord and governor. ' All souls are mine,'
saith he, Ezek. xviii. 4. And it is devolved upon Christ our redeemer
by a new right, for he died, rose again, and revived to this end ; he
hath purchased this authority to be Lord of quick and dead.
And it is as certain a rule that our governor must be our judge,
for government consists of three parts : legislation, judgment, and exe
cution giving laws, and j udging, and executing. God doth all these
things by an authoritative constitution ; he makes laws for . man to
oblige him to obedience. And in God's laws there is a precept and a
sanction ; that is, there are rewards and penalties. The precept shows
what we must do, the sanction shows what God will do ; the precept
shows what is due from the creature, the sanction shows what is due
to the creature that is, if he break this law, he shall be punished ;
if he keep this law, he shall be rewarded. Thus you see, God, being
our governor, may make laws for man that is capable of laws. Now
this sanction would be but a shadow and vain scarecrow if there were
no judgment; for would God say, Do, and thou shalt live, believe,
and thou shalt be saved, and never look after this, whether we do or
believe ? Therefore, as there is legislation, so there must be judging :
but then this judgment must necessarily infer a thing, that is, the
execution otherwise judgment would be but a solemn pageantry. But
why is Christ judge of the world rather than the Father and Spirit, who
also made us, and gave a law to us, and invested it with such a sanc
tion, who are offended and grieved with our sins ? I answer
(1.) Consider, we have gone a great step to prove that it is the
peculiar right of God, common to the three persons, Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, and this in effect proves that Christ may execute it, for
' they are one/ 1 John v. 7. They have one common nature ; and as
to the operations that are without, the divine essence is common to
them all. So that as the creation of all things is equally attributed
to all, so also this act of judging the world. So that it belongs to all,
for they are all equal in being, power, and glory. But as yet the thing
is not explained enough, unless we grant it shall be exercised by all,
or else prove out of scripture that one person is ordained by mutual
consent, chosen out by the rest to exercise it for himself and for the
other. But this I have proved already, God is the judge. And at
first, when the doctrine of the Trinity was but sparingly revealed to
the church, and not openly, it was not needful to inquire more nicely
after it, but this general truth was sufficient. And Enoch, when he
prophesied, doth not tell us of Christ the judge, but tells us, Jude 14,
' Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute
judgment upon all,' &c. And David speaks to God, Ps. xciv. 2, 'Lift
up thyself, thou judge of the earth ; ' and Ps. 1. 6, ' God is judge him
self.' It was enough to understand it so, without any distinction of
the persons ; but when once this mystery was most certainly mani-
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 50
festcd by God manifest in our flesh, now we must inquire a little
further.
(2.) I answer, There is an order in the persons of the blessed
Trinity ; as in the manner of subsisting, so also there is a certain order
and economy according to which all their operations are produced and
brought forth to the creature, according to which order the power of
judging doth belong partly to the Father and partly to the Son.
(1st.) In the business of redemption. There the act of judging was
exercised upon our surety, he was substituted into our room and place,
and offered himself not only for our good, but in our room and stead,
to bear our punishment, and to procure the favour of God to us.
There the act of judging belonged to the Father, to whom the satis
faction was tendered, and before whom our advocate and surety must
plead and present himself ; therefore it is said, in 1 John ii. 1, ' We
have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous.'
Thus our advocate pleads before the Father as before the judge.
(2c%.) As to the judgment to be exercised upon us. Whoever
partakes of that salvation which was purchased by the surety, or have
lost it by their negligence, impenitency, and unbelief, there the second
person is to be judge. In the former the Son could not be our judge,
for then he would be our judge and party too, and then the plea of
those heretics would have more countenance of reason. In the busi
ness of redemption the Son could not judge, because he made himself
a party for our good, and stood in our room and place, and the same
party cannot give and take the satisfaction, that cannot be ; therefore
this order is constituted in this glorious mystery of the Godhead, that
the satisfaction is tendered to the Father, he pleads and represents
himself to the Father in our behalf. And the Holy Ghost cannot be
the judge, for in this mystery he hath another part and function and
office, he being the third person in order of subsisting.
(3c%.) In the Son there is a double relation or consideration ; one
as he is God, and the other as he is mediator ; the one natural and
eternal, which shall endure for ever, the other which he took upon
himself in time, and which in the consummation of time he shall at
length lay aside. In the former respect, as God, so Christ is judge
with the Father and Spirit, as by original authority ; but in this latter
respect, as Christ is mediator, he is judge by deputation. The prim
itive sovereignty belongs to God as supreme king, and the judge by
derivation and deputation is the Lord Jesus Christ, as mediator, in
his manhood united to the second person of the godhead ; so the judg
ment of the world is put upon him. In regard of the creature, as to
us, his authority is absolute and supreme ; but in regard of God it is
deputed ; so he is ordained and appointed to be judge. The scripture
delights much in this notion, John v. 27. He hath power of life and
death, to condemn and absolve ; the Father hath given him authority,
as he is the Son of man, Acts x. 42. The apostles, when they were
to preach, thought it not enough for them to say, God is judge ; no,
but, ' He is ordained of God to be judge of quick and dead ;' so Acts
xvii. 31, ' He hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world
in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.' In all which
Christ acts as the Father's vicegerent. And after he hath thus judged
60 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [$ER. XIV.
the world, as the Father's deputy, then he shall give up the kingdom
to God, even the Father, 1 Cor. xv. 25. So that the right Christ hath
as mediator is not .merely by creation, nor his essential kingdom
common to the Father ; but a derivative, subordinate right as mediator,
by virtue of his purchase, as he died, rose again, and revived.
(4thly.) This power which belongs to Christ as mediator, is given
to him upon these accounts. Partly as a recompense of his hum
iliation ; but chiefly, because it belongs to the fulness of his mediatory
office ; it is tte last act. The kingdom of the mediator is subordinate
to the kingdom of God. Now he being appointed by the Father, the
last act of his kingly office was to judge the world. This mediator
was not only to pay a price to divine justice, not only to separate the
redeemed from the world by converting them to God, but he is also
to judge devils, and those enemies of his that would riot submit to his
mediatory kingdom, to judge those enemies out of whose hands he is
to free the church. While the world lasts, he is to fight against our
enemies, but then to judge them, and cast them into eternal torments,
and so to deliver up the kingdom to the Father, 1 Cor. xv. 24. His
office is not full till he hath executed and judged all his enemies.
Secondly. In what nature doth he act and exercise the judgment,
either as God, or man, or both ? I answer, In both. Christ is the
person, not the Father nor the Spirit, and Christ acts it as God-man ;
the judgment is acted visibly by him in the human nature, seated
upon a visible throne, that he may be s.een of all and heard of all ;
therefore Christ is so often, with respect to the judgment, called the
Son of man, Mat. xvi. 27, Acts xvii. 31, Mat. xxvi. 64, John v. 27.
The judgment must be visible, therefore the judge must be so; and
that the world may see him. with these eyes, that we may see our
Redeemer come in the last day, and see him to our comfort, he that
is withdrawn into the curtain of the heavens, he that is gone about
his ministration before God, must come out and bless the people ; and
therefore, that he may be seen and heard of all, though the divine
power be mightily seen, yet he is to act it in the human nature.
Use of all. (1.) This speaks terror to the wicked. (2.) Comfort
to the godly.
1. Terror to the wicked. Here let us see
[1.] Who are those wicked ones, to whom this terror belongeth.
[2.] What is it that maketh it so terrible to them, and will breed
horror and trembling in their hearts, if they repent not.
(1.) AH those that have opposed his kingdom in the world: Luke
xix. 27, ' Those mine enemies, that would not that I should reign over
them, bring them forth, and slay them before me.' These oppose the
great design of the gospel, which is to set up the Lord Jesus as king.
(2.) All that set light by his person in the day of his grace : and
though they do not oppose his government, yet refuse it : Ps. Ixxxi.
11, 'My people would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would none
of me.'
(3.) All that despise his benefits, and neglect to seek after them : Heb.
ii. 3, ' How shall we escape, if we neglect so grea't salvation ? ' Christ's
benefits are God's favour and image. To have low thoughts of these
is to have low thoughts of the blood of Christ : 1 Peter i. 18, ' Ye were
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 61
not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your
vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers ; but with
the precious blood of Christ, as of a larnb without blemish and without
spot ; ' and Heb. x. 29, ' Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye,
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 ? '
(4.) All that abuse his grace, and turn it to wantonness : Jude 4,
' For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old
ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our
God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord
Jesus Christ/ Those that grow less humble, less holy, less careful,
upon the account of grace.
(5.) All that break his commandments : John xv. 10, ' If ye keep my
commandments, ye shall abide in my love.' Others are reckoned for
enemies : Col. i. 21, ' Enemies in your mind by wicked works;' and
Ps. Ixviii. 21, ' God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy
scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his trespasses.'
(6.) Those that question the truth of his promises : 2 Peter 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?' And they shall know the truth of them to their bitter
cost ; that Christ will come, and come as judge.
(7.) Those that have perverted his ordinances : Mat. xxiv. 48 51,
' But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth
his coming, and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat
and drink with the drunken : the lord of that servant shall come in
a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not
aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion
with the hypocrites : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
He that maligneth, envieth, traduceth, and injureth, to his power, his
most painful, faithful followers and servants, that strengtheneth the
hands of the wicked, and encourageth them against the most serious,
whom he seeketh to oppress, shall be most severely punished.
[2.] What is it that is so terrible ?
(1.) He is such a judge as the power of the most powerful cannot
daunt; but they shall be all daunted by him: Rev. vi. 15, 16, 'The
kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief
captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman
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, and who shall be able to stand ? '
(2.) Such a judge as the wealth of the wealthiest cannot bribe.
What compensation can they bring Christ for the breach of his laws ?
Mat, xvi. 26, ' What shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? '
(3.) He is such a judge as the wit and subtlety of the wisest and
most subtle cannot delude : 1 Cor. iv. 5, ' Judge nothing before the
time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden
things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart,'
G'2 SKRMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XIV.
&c. ; and Jade 15, ' To execute judgment upon all, and to convince
all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, which
they have ungodlily committed, and of all their hard speeches which
ungodly sinners have spoken against him ;' and Ps. 1. 21, ' These things
hast thou done, and I kept silence ; thou thoughtest that I was alto
gether such an one as thyself : But I will reprove thee, and set them
in order before thine eyes.'
(4.) Such a judge that there is no appealing from his sentence, or
hope of repealing of it : his doom shall stand for ever. In the world
there is liberty of appeal from one court to another, where there may
be a violent perverting of judgment ; as Eccles. v. 8, ' If thou seest the
oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice
in a province, marvel not at the matter. For he that is higher than
the highest regardeth, and there be higher than they.' But this
sentence is definitive.
(>.) He is a judge whose wrath is very terrible: Ps. ii. 12, ' Kiss
the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath/
is kindled but a little : Blessed are all they that put their trust in
him/
Well then, the wicked that oppose his kingdom, and all that stand
by as unconcerned, and do not enter into his covenant, they shall be
judged by him, in whom they have not believed; by him, whom they
have slighted ; by him, whose grace and mercy they have despised ;
by him, of whom they have said in their hearts, We will not have this
man to reign over us.
2. Here is comfort to the godly. Here I shall show
[1.] Who may take comfort. Or to whom this comfort belongeth.
[2.] What comfort there is.
(1.) Who ? Believers, that believe his doctrine : John xi. 25, ' He
that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live/ That
receive his person : John i. 12, ' As many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God : even to them that believe
on his name/ That enter into covenant with him, and so become
members of his mystical body, who, feeling their misery under sin
and Satan and the wrath of God, and do believe what Christ hath
done and suffered for man's restoration and salvation, thankfully
accept him as their only Saviour and Lord, on the terms offered'in the
gospel, and to those ends ; even to justify, sanctify, and bring them to
everlasting glory, these are owned and accepted by him.
(2.) As by their faith, so by their love : Eph. vi. 24, ' Grace be
with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity : ' and 1
Cor. xvi. 22, ' If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be
Anathema Maranatha/ They love him above their lives ; he is the
desire and delight of their souls : Ps. Ixxiii. 25, ' Whom have I in
heaven but thee ? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides
thee/ They have longed for this day, 2 Tim. iv. 8, They love his
appearing. The thoughts of it was their solace in their afflictions.
(3.) Those that war against his enemies, the devil, the world, and
the flesh : Rev. iii. 21, ' To him that overcometh will I grant to sit
with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with
my Father in his throne/
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 63
(4.) Those that obey his laws and imitate his example : 1 John ii.
28, ' And now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall appeal',
we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.'
And 1 John iv. 17, ' Herein is our love made perfect, that we may
have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in
this world.'
[2.] What is the comfort that they have ?
. (1.) The judge is their friend, their kinsman, their brother, their
high priest, to make atonement for them, the propitiation for their
sins, their advocate and intercessor, one that died for them.
(2.) He cometh to lead them to their everlasting mansions. Christ
is a pattern of what shall be done to them. He rose from the dead,
and is become ' the first fruits of them that slept.' He now ' sitteth at
the right hand of God, making intercession for them.' And ' he will
come again, and receive them to himself. That they may be where
he is, and behold his glory.'
SERMON XV.
For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Cliyist.
2 COR. v. 10.
WE have handled 1. The necessity ; 2. The universality ; 3.
The judge ; 4. The manner of judging. This last we are now upon.
The word fyavepoidrjvai signifieth both to appear and to be made
manifest. We may conjoin the senses ; we must so appear, as to be
made manifest.
First. To appear ; that we must all appear, every individual person.
Four things evince that,
1. The wisdom and the justice of the judge.
2. The power, impartiality and faithfulness of his ministers.
3. The nature of the business requireth an appearance.
4. The ends of the judgment.
1. The wisdom and justice of the judge. Such is his wisdom and
perspicuity, that not one sinner or sin can escape him : Heb. iv. 13,
' There is not any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all
things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have
to do.' This scripture informeth us of the perfect knowledge of God,
as lie is a judge, without which his judgment cannot be just and
perfect ; he knoweth all ' the persons and causes of men that are
brought before him. All things in general, and every thing in
particular, are manifest to him, fully, clearly, and evidently discovered
to him : Ps. Ixix. 5, ' God, thou knowest my foolishness, and my
sins are not hid from thee.' He is neither ignorant of man, nor any
thing in- man, who must have to do with him, that is to be judged by
him. So Jer. xvii. 10, ' I, the Lord, search the heart and try the reins,
even to give every man according to his ways, and the fruit of his own
doing.' The force of the reason is this: that seeing we must be
64 SERMONS UPON 2 CORIXTHIANS V. [StiR. XV.
judged by a most exact, impartial and all-knowing judge, there can
be no hope of lying hid in the throng, or escaping and avoiding the
judgment. It concerneth the judge of the "world to do right, which
he cannot do, unless all sins and persons be manifest to him, that he
may render to every one according to his deeds.
2. The power, impartiality and faithfulness of his ministers, who
are the holy angels. Much of the work of that day is despatched by
the ministry of angels: Mat. xxiv. 31, 'They shall gather the elect
from the four winds.' In the particular judgment they have a
ministry ; they convey the souls of men to Christ : Luke xvi. 22,
'Carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.' They that carried
their souls to heaven, shall be employed in bringing their bodies out
of their graves. Now this ministry is not confined to the elect only ;
they do not only carry the corn into the barn, but the tares into the
furnace: Mat. xiii. 39-41, 'And the reapers are the angels. As
therefore the tares are gathered together, and burnt in the fire, so shall
it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his
angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that do
offend, and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace
of fire ; there shall be weeping and. gnashing of teeth.' It is the angels'
work to separate the wicked from the godly, to bind up the tares in
bundles, that they may be burnt in the fire. They force and present
wicked men before the judge, be they never so unwilling and obstinate.
So in the parable of the drag-net, Mat. xiii. 49, 50, ' So shall it be at
the end of the world. The angels shall come forth, and sever the
wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire,
where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' There is a mixture
unavoidable of good and bad in the church, but then a perfect separa
tion by the ministry of angels.
3. The nature of the business requireth our appearance. Partly,
because in a regular judgment no man can be judged in his absence.
Therefore in this great and solemn judgment we must stand as persons
impleaded to hear what is alleged, and what we can say in our defence.
David saith, Ps. cxxx. 3, 'If thou shouldest mark our iniquities,
Lord, who shall stand?' that is, appear in the judgment, so as to be
able to make a defence. So, Ps. i. 5, ' The ungodly shall not stand
in the judgment ; ' that is, the wicked shall not be able to abide the
trial, have nothing to plead for themselves in the day of their final
-doom. And yet it is said, Horn. xiv. 10, ' We must all stand before
the judgment-seat of Christ.' We shall stand and not stand; stand,
that is, make an appearance ; and not stand, not able to make any
just defence. Festus saith, Acts xxv. 16, 'It is not the manner of
the Romans to deliver any man to die before that he which is accused
have the accusers face to face, and have license to answer for himself
concerning the crime laid against him.' This was jus gentium, not to
give sentence of capital punishment against any man till he were fully
heard. Their rule was, they condemned no man unheard. Surely
there is all right in this solemn judgment ; he that is to be judged is
to be brought into the judgment. When God arraigned our first
parents (which is a type of the general judgment), he called Adam
coram ; Gen. iii. 9, 10, 'Adam, where art thou? ' He brought him
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 65
out of his lurking-hole where he had hid himself ; he must come into
his presence and answer. And partly, because we cannot appear by a
proctor. The sentence is a sentence of life and death, and there is no
reason or cause of absence: Rom. xiv. 12, 'Every one must give an
account of himself to God.' Now in the day of God's patience we
have an advocate who appeareth for us, Heb. ix. 21. He doth prevent
wrath, represent our wants, and recommend our affairs. But now the
judge cometh to deal with every one in person.
4. The ends of the judgment require our appearance. They are
two: (1.) The conviction of the parties judged. God will go upon
clear evidence, and they shall have a fair hearing. When there was
but one that came without a wedding garment, and he was examined,
the man was speechless, Mat. xxii. 12. When every one is particularly
observed and tried, there is nothing to reply, but glorifying God, Jude
15. (2.) Satisfaction of the world in the righteousness and justice of
God's proceeding. When every person is arraigned and every work
is manifest, it cleareth God's justice in rewarding his own, and in
punishing the wicked-and ungodly ; it cleareth his justice in reward
ing the faithful ; they undergo the trial, and though they have failings,
yet for the main their faith is found to ' praise, and honour, and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ,' 1 Peter i. 7. When his people come
to be judged, and have been found obedient to his commands, faithful
under trials, patient under all sufferings and inconveniences, it is a
faith that may be owned before men and angels. Christ will confess
them before God, men and angels, Rev. iii. 5. So in punishing the
wicked: Josh. vii. 19. God is glorified by the creature's conviction
and acknowledgment : Ps. li. 4, ' I acknowledge mine iniquity, that
thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, and clear when thou
judgest.' God is justified when the creature is rewarded according to
his own deservings. God overcometh, and we are cast in the plea
and suit.
Secondly. The word signifieth to be made manifest ; and so
importeth that we must all be manifested or laid open before the
judgment-seat of Christ ; our persons must not only appear, but our
hearts and ways be tried. It is said, Luke xii. 2, ' There is nothing
covered that shall not be revealed, nor hid, which shall not be made
known.' It is brought as a reason against hypocrisy ; the innocency
of God's servants is beclouded for a while, and the sin of men lieth
hid for a while, but at length all shall be open, hypocrisy shall be
disclosed, and sincerity shall be rewarded. So 1 Cor. iii. 13, ' Every
man's work shall be manifested/ All the ways and works of wicked
ness, though acted in ever so secret a manner, shall be laid open. The
scripture telleth us, at the judgment, Eccles. xii. 14, ' God shall bring
every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good
or whether it be evil.' The final doom shall repeal all the judgments
of this life, and repair them abundantly; many things that are
varnished with a fair gloss and pretence here, shall then be found
filthy and abominable ; and many things disguised with an ill appear
ance to the world, shall be found to be of God, approved and allowed
by him. So it is said, 1 Cor. iv. 5, ' That Christ will bring to light
the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the
VOL. XIII. E
66 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XV.
heart ; and then shall every man have praise of God.' When every
man's intentions and purposes, actions and spring of actions shall be
displayed, then they that deserve blame shall be discovered, and the
sincere and upright justified and commended. Well then, the
scripture shows they shall be made manifest, and when made mani
fest. In the general there are two places demonstrate it ; one is Ps. 1.
21, ' I will reprove thee, and set thy sins in order before thine eyes.'
All the ways and circumstances of sin shall be so represented to the
conscience, that the sinner shall not be able to deny or excuse, evade
or forget, but ever be vexed with the remembrance of his past folly,
and ever see his sins before him as if fresh committed. The other
place is Kev. xii. 12, ' And I saw the dead, small and great, stand
before the Lord, and the books were opened, and another book was
opened, which is the book of life ; and the dead were judged out of
those things which were written in the books, according to their works/
There are books, and another book ; there is the book of conscience
and the book of God's remembrance, Mai. iii. 16. In these books all
things are written which belong to the government and judgment of
the rational creature, our good and evil is all upon record, our means
and mercies, and our unthankf ulness and unprofitableness under them :
Jer. xvii. 1, ' The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron and the
point of a diamond ; ' not only in their consciences, but before God :
Isa. Ixv. 6, ' Behold it is written before me.' God doth not forget, or
pass over, but note and remember. Now these books are opened at
the last day ; there is not one book, but books ; the book of scripture
is opened as a rule, the book of conscience as a witness, and the book
of God's remembrance as the notice, or judge's knowing both persons
and facts. But, more particularly, how are we manifested ?
1. By the knowledge of the judge. We may hide our sins from
men, but not from God ; from the world, arid from ourselves, but Christ
shall perfectly discover them, and bring them forth unto the light, and
show themselves to themselves, and to the world, and all their shifts
will not serve the turn. God observeth men now, and observeth them
in order to judgment : Ps. xxxiii. 13-16, ' The Lord looketh from
heaven ; he beholdeth all the sons of men from the place of his habi
tation ; he beholdeth all the inhabitants of the earth ; he fashioneth
their hearts alike ; he considereth all their thoughts.' Though God
resides in heaven, yet he beholdeth all and every of their actions, yea,
their most secret thoughts ; he fashioneth their hearts alike (Sept.,
one by one) ; he is the former of their souls as well as their bodies, and
knoweth the operations of their hearts as well as their outward actions.
Men think otherwise : Ezek. ix. 9, ' They say, The Lord hath forsaken
the earth ; the Lord seeth not.' When he came to mark the mourners,
and to distinguish them from the sinners. Ps. xciv. 7, ' They say, the
Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it/ These
are men's brutish, atheistical thoughts, and so go on and are regardless
of the judgment. But then your judge shall convince you upon his
own knowledge. A judge is not disabled from being a witness. The
woman of Samaria said, John. iv. 29, ' Come and see a man that told
me all things that ever I did ; is not this the Christ ? ' Christ knoweth
all that men do, and is able to produce their lives by tale and number,
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 67
even those passages which were most secret ; there needeth no proof
to our judge ; for all is open and naked before him.
2. The good angels may be produced as witnesses ; they have an
inspection over this lower world, are conversant about us in all our ways,
and are conscious to our conversations : Ps. xci. 11, ' He shall give his
angels charge over thee ; they shall keep thee in all thy ways.'
Reverence is pressed upon -us in scripture in this respect: Eccles. v. 6,
' Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin ; neither say thou before
the angel, It was an error.' All the business is, what is meant by
the angel. There, some understand it of the angel of the covenant,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the searcher of hearts, who will not be
mocked, who cannot be deceived. But why not of the angels in
heaven, who are sent forth for the good of the elect, and observe
our behaviour, and who stop us in our sins, as the angel did Balaam,
who said, It is an error? See Numb. xxii. 34; so 1 Tim. v. 21, 'I
charge thee before the elect angels.' Surely the angels observe our
actions ; they are sent abroad in the world as the spies and intelli
gencers of heaven. So they attend upon congregations : 1 Cor. xi. 10,
' For this cause ought a woman to have power on her head, because
of the angels.' In assemblies for worship more company meeteth
than is visible. Devils and angels meet there : devils, to divert your
minds as soon as you begin to be serious, to snatch the good word out
of your hearts ; angels, to observe you ; therefore there should be
no indecency.
3. Devils may accuse men in that day. The devil is called the ac
cuser of the brethren. The fathers bring him in pleading thus against
the sinner, Domine, sit meus per culpam, qui tuus esse noluit per
gratiam ; I never died for him, could promise him no heavenly king
dom, but a little sensitive pleasure ; Ostende tuos tales numerarios,
Christe, &c.
4. Sometimes the word of God is made to be our accuser : John v.
45, ' Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father ; there is one
that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust ; ' that is, Moses'
law would accuse and condemn them ; Christ needeth not to bring
his complaint and indictment against them. And it teacheth us this
truth, that where men remain in their impenitency and unbelief, both
law and gospel, God's justice and mercy, our own consciences, the
Spirit resisted by them in his moral suasions, messengers, means, pains
taken on them, will all contribute to make up an accusation against a
sinner before the tribunal of Christ. So John xii. 48, 'He that
rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him ;
the word that I have spoken shall judge him at the last day.' The
word of the gospel delivered by Christ, that will judge them. Though
there were no other witnesses, yet the grace of God in the word will
show their condemnation to be just, because of their contempt and
neglect. Believers or unbelievers may know their doom aforehand by
the word. So Mat. xii. 41, 42, 'The men of Nineveh shall rise in
judgment against this generation, and condemn it, because they re
pented at the preaching of Jonas ; and behold a greater than Jonas
is here. So, the queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment
with this generation, and shall condemn it, for she came from the
68 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XV.
uttermost parts of the earth, to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and
behold, a greater than Solomon is here.' The means that we have
enjoyed shall be produced, and aggravate the judgment against the
neglecters and despisers of the Lord's grace. There was a greater
manifestation of God in Christ than Solomon ; a greater confirmation
in Christ's resurrection and infusion of the Spirit, than in Jonah's
being delivered out of the whale's belly.
5. The ministers of the gospel. Their diligence and faithful incul
cation of the doctrine of life maketh up a part of the evidence which
is produced to convince sinners : Mat. xxiv. 14, ' And this gospel of
the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations ; ' first to them, and then against them, compared with Mark,
xiii. 9. The preaching of the word will be a witness that men had
warning, enough, but that they unthankfully neglected their oppor
tunity, and did cast away their own mercies : so Mark. vi. 11, ' Shake
off the dust of your feet for a testimony against them.' That signified
what a crying sin, and what a punishment, did attend them that con
temned the messages of salvation sent them by God. It is not only
a testimony before God for the present ; but compare Mat. x. 14, 15,
'Shake off the dust of your feet/ and 'it shall be more tolerable
for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment.' This showeth you
are free of their blood, and if there be no other witnesses, this dust
shall witness it.
6. Conscience itself shall witness against them, and God will dis
cover ourselves to ourselves, that we shall see the judgment is just.
As long as men have any tenderness, conscience speaketh now, but by
custom in sinning men stop the mouth of it. But when it speaketh
not, it writeth many times ; for the present it is silent, and seemeth to
take no notice of the sins we commit, but they are all registered, and
they appear legible. The sad story of our lives is all engraven upon
the heart, and when God awakeneth the conscience, it is all sin. God
will open our eyes, not by a holy illumination, but by a forced con
viction : Rev. xx. 12, ' The books were opened,' and one of these books
is conscience, and though it be in the sinner's keeping, yet it cannot be
so blurred and defaced, but our story will be legible enough, and for
gotten sins will stare us in the face : Num. xxxii. 23, ' And be sure
your sins shall find you out.' We forget them now, think we shall
never hear of them more ; but God can make all occur to memory
as fresh as if newly committed, and in an instant represent the story
of an ill-spent life, and show us all the thoughts, words, and actions,
that ever we have been guilty of. The paper goeth white into the
printing-house, but within one instant it is marked within and without,
and cometh forth stamped with words, and lines, and sentences, which
were no way legible there before.
7. It will be made evident by the confession of offenders themselves.
As their consciences will convince them, so their own tongues will accuse
them then ; as men now in the ravings of despair will vomit up their
own shame : as Judas, Mat. xxvii. 4, ' I have sinned, in that I have
betrayed the innocent blood ; ' arid Jer. xvii. 9, ' At his latter end he
shall be a fool;' crying out, Oh, fool! Oh, madman! So much
more then God can easily, and without other evidence, convince men
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 69
by themselves, and make them accuse themselves ; he can judge them
out of their own mouths, Luke. xix. 12 ; produce evidence against
them out of their own thoughts, and pronounce sentence against them
out of their own consciences, Rom. ii. 15 ; make men's tongues to fall
upon them, Ps. Ixiv. 8. He can indeed make use of us, and all that is
in us, for his own glory, as having power to do with us what he will ;
and it is much for his honour when he maketh us witnesses against
ourselves.
8. Wicked men shall accuse one another. In the arraignment of
Adam and Eve, which I take for a notable presignification of the
general judgment, they transfer it upon one another ; the man upon
the woman : Gen. iii. 12, ' The woman whom thou gavest to be with
me ; ' and the woman upon the serpent : ' The serpent beguiled me/
ver. 13. So those that draw one another into sin, or are drawn by
4hem, will impeach one another.
9. The godly will be brought in as one evidence, to make them,
manifest, partly as they endeavoured to do them good : Heb. xi. 7,
' Noah condemned the world ;' and 'the saints shall judge the world/
1 Cor. vi. 2 ; now by their conversations, hereafter by their vote and suf
frage. And partly as they might receive good from them ; as the godly
relieved ; Luke xvi. 9, and neglected, Mat. xxv. ; as they might have
been visited, and clothed ; the loins of the poor blessed Job, chap. xxxi. 29.
10. The circumstances of their evil actions : James v. 3, ' Your gold
and silver is cankered ; the rust of them shall be a witness against
you.' The circumstances of your sinful actions shall be brought forth
as arguments of conviction : Hab. ii. 11, ' The stone shall cry out of
the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it/ Though
none durst complain of oppressors, yet the materials of their buildings
shall witness against them kind of antiphony heard by God's justice.
The stones of the wall shall cry, ' Lord, we were built by rapine and
violence ;' the beam shall answer, ' True, Lord, even so it is ;' the stones
shall cry, ' Vengeance, Lord, upon our ungodly owner ; ' and the beam,
shall answer, ' Woe to him, because his house was built with blood ; '
though all should be silent, yet the stones will not hold their peace.
Use 1. If we must appear so as to be made manifest, oh, then, let us
take heed of secret sin, and make conscience of avoiding it, as well as
that which is open, for in time it will be laid open. Achan was found
out in his sacrilege, how secretly soever he carried it, Josh, viii.; Ananias
and Sapphira's sacrilege in keeping back part of what was dedicated
to God, Acts v ; Gehazi in affecting a bribe : 1 Kings v. 26, ' Went
not my spirit with thee ? ' meaning his prophetic spirit. Doth not
God see, and will not he require it? Alas, we many times make con
science of acts, but not of thoughts ; and yet, according to Christ's
theology, malice is heart-murder, lustful inclinations are heart- adultery,
proud imaginations are heart-idolatry, and there may be a great deal
of evil in discontented thoughts, and repinings against providence, Ps.
Ixxiii. 22. Shall we repent of nothing but what man seeth ? Eph. v.
12, ' It is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of
them in secret/ A serious Christian is ashamed to speak of what
secure persons are not ashamed to practise ; if they can hide it from
men, the all seeing-eye of God layeth no restraint upon them ; unclean-
70 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XV.
iiess usually affecteth a veil of secresy, 'but whoremongers and
adulterers God will judge,' Heb. xiii. 4. It is said God will judge
them, because usually this sin is carried so closely and craftily, that
none but God can find them out ; but certainly God will find them
out ; none can escape God's discovery, all things are naked in his sight.
Let no man then embolden himself to have his hand in any sin, in
hopes to hide his ' counsel deep from the Lord, and his works in the
dark/ Isa. xxix. 15. God knoweth the thoughts of the heart afar off;
and Ps. cxxxix. 2, ' Whither shall I go from thy presence, and whither
shall I fly from thy Spirit?' God knew what the king of Assyria
spake in his secret chamber, 2 Kings vL 12 ; knew the secret thoughts
of Herod's heart, which it is probable he never uttered to his nearest
friends, concerning the murdering of Christ, Mat. ii. 13. But to end
this, consider the aggravations of these sins that are secret and hidden,
although to be an open and bold sinner is in some respects more than
to be a close, private sinner, because of the dishonour done to God,
and scandal to others, and impudency in the sinner himself, yet also
in other respects secret sins have their aggravations.
1. The man is conscious to himself that he doth evil ; therefore
seeketh a veil and covering, would not have the world know it. If
open sins be of greater infamy, yet secret sins are more against know
ledge and conviction. To sin with a consciousness that we do sin is a
dreadful thing, James iv. 17. You live in secret wickedness, envy,
pride, sensuality, and would fain keep it close ; this is to rebel against
the light, and to stop the mouth of conscience, which is awakened
within thee.
2. This secret sinning puts far more respect and fear upon men than
God, and is palliated atheism. What, unjust in secret ! unclean in secret !
envious in secret ! disclaim against God's children in secret ! neglect
duties in secret ! sensual in secret ! Oh, then, wicked wretch, thou art
afraid men should know it, and art not afraid God should know it.
What, afraid of the eyes of man ; and not afraid of the great God ?
Thou wouldest not have a child see thee do that which God seeth thee
to do. A thief is ashamed when he is found, Jer. ii. Can man damn
thee ? can man fill thy conscience with terrors ? can man bid thee depart
into everlasting burnings ? why then, art thou afraid of man, and not
of God?
3. The more secret any wickedness is, it argueth the heart is more
studious and industrious about it, how to contrive it, and bring it
about; as David plotted Uriah's death. And Joshua vii. 11, 'They
have stolen and dissembled also, and even put it among their own stuff.'
And, Acts v. 9, ' How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the
Spirit of God ? ' In secret sins there is much premeditation and craft
and dissimulation used.
Use 2. Is to show the folly of them who rather take care to hide
their sins than get them pardoned.
1. God hath promised pardon to an open confession of sin: Prov.
xxviii. 13, ' He that hideth his sin shall not prosper, but he that con-
fesseth and forsaketh his sin shall find mercy.' He hath promised it
in mercy, but bound himself to perform it in righteousness : 1 John i.
9, ' If we confess and forsake our sins, he is just and faithful to forgive
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 71
them.' David pleadeth it : Ps. li. 3, ' Cleanse me from my secret sin,
for I acknowledge my transgression.' And God doth certainly perform
it to his children. When David said, ' I have sinned/ 2 Sam. xii. 13,
' against the Lord, Nathan said, the Lord hath put away thy sin, thou
shalt not die/ And this he acknowledged with thankfulness: Ps.
xxxii. 5, ' I said I would confess, and thou forgavest.' This is the
right course which men should take, confess their sin with grief and
shame and reformation ; we have not our quietus est till this be done.
2. Notwithstanding all this, man naturally loveth to hide and cover
his sin : Job xxxi. 33, ' If I have covered my transgression, as did
Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom.' More hominum so
Junius : Hos. vi. 7, ' They like men have transgressed the covenant.'
It is in the Hebrew ' like Adam,' or Adam's name is mentioned, because
we show ourselves to be like Adam's race by hiding and excusing our
sin. First, from men we hide them, as Saul dealeth with Samuel,
1 Sam. xv. 13-15, Gehazi with Elisha, Ananias and Sapphira with
Peter, Acts v. 8. They heap up sin upon sin to hide former sins ; this
cometh from their pride, joined with some degree of atheism ; they care
not how deep they run into guilt, so they may avoid shame and infamy.
Or else, secondly, from ourselves. A man seeketh to hide his sin from
himself out of self-love, lest their carnal peace should be disturbed, and
Satan letteth them alone that they may not discover the right way, how
they may recover themselves out of his snares ; and out of love and
affection to sin we ' roll it as a sweet morsel in our mouth, and hide it
under our tongue,' Job xx. 12, 13. They are willing to retain it still ;
as Abraham was unwilling to put away Ishmael, whom he loved, Gen.
xxi. 11 ; and therefore see not what we do see, loath to find them
selves in a state of wrath, or obnoxious to eternal death. Therefore
we all need to pray, Ps. xix. 12, ' Keep back thy servant from pre
sumptuous sins.' There are many secret sins through ignorance,
inadvertency, partiality or self-love, not taken notice of. Thirdly,
from God, which is worst of all. We all desire to hide our sins, and
could wish they might be unknown unto him, yea, endeavour it. Thus
Adam hid himself when God came into the garden ; when he could
shift no longer he transferreth his fault upon Eve, and obliquely upon
God himself, Gen. iii. ; and Cain, Gen. iv., beareth it out to God, first
with a plain lie, afterwards with a bold answer, ' Am I my brother's
keeper ? '
But is there any such disposition in the children of God ? Yes ;
David kept silence, Ps. xxxii. 3. Moses pleadeth not the main till
God toucheth his privy sore ; he pleadeth other excuses, but the fear
of his life was the main thing. It is a hard thing to bring the soul
to deal openly and ingenuously with God, to draw forth the sin with
its circumstances, and lay it before the Lord, who knoweth it already.
3. This is folly, and a degree of atheism. We can never hide our
sins nor our persons, for we must be made manifest at the last day.
God cannot be resisted, nor escaped, nor entreated, nor endured, nor
resisted : Isa. xxvii. 4, ' Who would set the briers and thorns against me
in battle ? I would go through them, and would burn them together,'
no more than briers and thorns can resist a devouring flame. Nor
escaped : Jer. xxv. 35, ' And the shepherd shall have no way to flee,
72 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [^ER. XVI.
nor the principal of the flock to escape : ' so Ps. cxxxix. 7, c Whither
shall I flee from thy presence?' You flee from God as a friend, to
God as an enemy. Nor entreat him : 1 Sam. ii. 25, ' If one man sin
against another, the judge must judge him ; but if a man sin against
God, who shall entreat for him ? ' Nor endured, Isa. xxxiii. 14, ' The
sinners in Zion are afraid ; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites ;
who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire, who among us shall
dwell with everlasting burning?' And Ezek. xxii. 14, 'Can thine
heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall
deal with thee ? ' Well then, if men will not now draw nigh unto
God, God will find them out in their sins, and bring them into judg
ment before him. Since he cannot be blinded, nor resisted, our best
way is to take hold of his strength, and make our peace with him,
Isa. xxvii. 5. 'Agree with thine adversary while he is in the way.'
Better come in voluntarily than be dragged by force come humbl}",
as Benhadad's servants, with ropes about their necks, 1 Kings xx.
32. David found more comfort in submission to God, than in stand
ing out against him.
SEEMON XVI.
For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of OJirist
2 COR. v. 10.
I COME now to the fifth circumstance in the text, and that is the cause
or matter to be tried, and about which we must be judged.
1. Generally expressed, TO, Bia TOV o-o>/zaro9 the things done in the
body.
2. Distributed into their several kinds ; whether we have done good
or evil.
Doct. That every man's judgment shall proceed according to what
he hath done in the flesh, whether it be good or bad.
This is confirmed by other scriptures : Mat. xvi. 27, ' The Son of
man shall come in the glory of the Father, with his angels ; and men
shall be rewarded every man according to his works ; ' so Kev. xx. 12,
'And they were judged out of the things which were written in the
books, according to their works.'
Here I shall inquire
1. Why works are produced.
2. How they are considered in the sentence and doom that passetk
upon every man.
3. What room and place they have with respect to punishment and
reward.
First, Why works are produced and whenever the judgment is
spoken of some clause is inserted which mentioneth works, or relateth
to them.
I answer, this is the fittest way to glorify God, and convince the
creature, which are the two ends of the judgment, and are most pro
moted by giving them the fruit of their doings, whether good or evil.
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 73
1. For the glory of God. At that day God will glorify his holiness,
justice and truth, yea also his free love and mercy ; the veil is to be
taken away, and all this at that day is to be made matter of sense.
[1.] The holiness of God. The holy God delighteth in holiness and
holy persons, and hateth sin and the workers of iniquity. Both parts of
his holiness are spoken of in scripture, his delight in holy things and
persons, Prov. ii. 20. The upright are his delight, and their services,
Prov. x. 8. Can we imagine that God should bid the saints love one
another, and count them the excellent ones upon earth, Ps. xvi. 3, how
poor soever and despicable they be as to their outward condition, and
that he himself should not love them the more, and delight in the reflect-
tion of his own image upon them ? On the other side, his detestation
of sin and sinners: Hab. i. 13, ' Thou art of purer eyes than to behold
iniquity ; ' and Ps. v. 4, ' Thou art not a God that hast pleasure in
wickedness.' We that have but a drop of the divine nature, hate not
only sin, but sinners : 2 Peter ii. 8, ' Lot, his righteous soul was vexed
with their impure conversations.' Well then, can we imagine without a
manifest reproach to the divine nature, that God should be indifferent
to good and evil, and the saints should not be more lovely in his sight
for their holiness, and the wicked hateful for their sins ? Therefore now,
when all is to be discovered and made obvious to sense, it is a delight to
him to reward the graces and services of his people, and to show how-
pleasing and acceptable they are to him ; the more holy, the more
lovely objects of his sight. And on the other side, he will show his
hatred against sin and sinners, in their sentence and punishment ; and
so by necessary consequence, their different works must come into con
sideration, that the holy may have their due praise and commendation,
and the wicked, their just reproof from the judge of the world.
[2.] His remunerative justice. There is a threefold justice in Cod;
his general justice, his strict justice, his justice of benignity or fidelity,
according to his gospel-law. (1.) His general justice requireth that
there should be a different proceeding among them that differ among
themselves ; that every man should reap according to what he hath
sown, whether he hath been sowing to the flesh or to the spirit, that
the fruit of his doings should be given into his bosom. And therefore,
though this be not evident in this life, where good and evil is promis
cuously dispensed, because now is the time of God's patience and our
trial, yet in the life to come, when God will 'judge the world in
righteousness/ Acts xvii. 31, it is necessary that it should go well with
the good, and ill with the bad. And as the apostle saith, 2 Thes. i. 6, 7,
'It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them
that trouble you, and to you that are troubled rest with us, when the
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.'
There is generalis ratio justi, in the difference of the recompenses,
and therefore the different actions of the persons to be judged, must
come into the discussion, whether good or evil. (2.) There is God's
strict justice declared in the covenant of works, whereby he rewardeth
man according to his perfect obedience, or else punisheth him for his
failings and coming short. This also is in part to be declared at the
day of judgment, on the wicked at least ; for the apostle declareth that
there will be a different proceeding with men, according to the divers
74 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XVI.
covenants which they are under; some shall be judged by the law of
liberty, according to which God will accept their sincere though imper
fect obedience; others shall have judgment, without any temperament
of mercy, James ii. 12, 13 ; and justly, because they never changed
copy and tenure. When God made man he gave him a law, suitable
to that perfection and innocency wherein he made him. Our act did
not make void his right to require the obedience due by that law,
nor our obligation to perform it ; but yet because man '.vas incapable
of performing this law or obtaining righteousness by it, having once
broken it, he was pleased to cast out a plank to us after shipwreck, to
offer us the remedy of a new law of grace, wherein he required of us
' repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ,' Acts xx.
21 ; that we should return to our duty to our creator, depending
upon the merit, satisfaction, and power of the mediator. Now we
are all sinners, and have deserved death according to the law of nature,
and woe and wrath a hundred times over ; and if through our impeni-
tency and unbelief, we will not accept of God's remedy, we are justly
left to the old covenant, under which we were born, and so undergo
judgment without mercy. (3.) There is his justice of bounty and
free beneficence, as judging according to his gospel-law, which accepteth
of sincere obedience ; and so God is just, when he rewardeth a man
capable of reward upon terms of grace ; so it is said, Heb. vi. 10,
* God is not unrighteous to forget your work of faith, and labour of love,
which ye have showed to his name.' His promises take notice of works,
and the fruits of faith and love, as one part of our qualification, which
make us capable of the blessings promised.
[3.] His veracity and faithfulness. God hath promised life and
glory to the penitent and obedient, and the faithful. And God will
make good his promises, and reward all the labours, and patience, and
faithfulness of his servants, according to his promises to them. To
whom hath he promised salvation ? To the obedient, to the patient, to the
pure in heart, to the diligent and studious, everywhere in the word of
God: John xii. 26, 'There shall my servant be;' James i. 12, and
Rom. ii. 6, 7, 'He will render to every one according to his deeds : to
them, who by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, honour,
immortality, eternal life.' On the contrary he hath interrninated and
threatened : vers. 8, 9, ' To them that are contentious, and obey not the
the truth,' who wrangle and dispute away duty. See promises mixed
with threatenings, to the carnal and the mortified : Bom. 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 ; ' and Gal, vi. 8, ' If ye sow
to the flesh, of the flesh ye shall reap corruption ; but if ye sow to the
spirit, ye shall reap life everlasting.' Now that God's truth may fully
appear, men's works must be brought into the trial.
[4.] His free grace. The business of that day is not only to glorify
his justice, but to glorify his free love and mercy : 1 Peter i. 13, ' Hope
unto the end for the grace that is to be brought to you, at the revel
ation of our Lord Jesus Christ.' And this grace is no way infringed,
but the rather exalted, when what we have done in the body, whether
it be good or evil, is brought into the judgment.
(1.) The evil works of the faithful show that every one is worthy of
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 75
death for sinning, though we do not die and perish everlastingly for it
as others do. God's best saints have need to deprecate his strict judg
ment: Ps. cxliii. 2, 'Enter not into judgment with thy servant;' he
doth not say with thine enemy, but thy servant. They that can con
tinue with most patience in well-doing, have nothing to look for at last
but mercy, Jude21. It is their best plea : Rev. ii. 10, ' Be thou faith
ful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.' When we have
done and suffered ever so much for God, we must at length take eternal
life as a gift out of the hands of our Redeemer ; but for the grace of
the new covenant, we might have perished as others do. In some
measure we see grace here, but never so fully and perfectly as then.
Partly, because now we have not so full a view of our unworthiness
as when our actions are scanned and all brought to light. And partly,
because there is not so full and large manifestation of God's favour
now, as there is in our full and final reward. It is grace now, that he
is pleased to pass by our offences, and to take us into his family, and
give us some taste of his love, and a right to the heavenly kingdom ;
but then it is another manner of grace and favour ; then our pardon
shall be pronounced by our judge's own mouth, and he shall not only
take us into his family, but into his immediate presence and heavenly
palace ; not only give us right, but possession, ' Come, ye blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you ; ' and shall have not
only some remote service and ministration, but be everlastingly employed
in loving and delighting in, and praising of God ; this is grace indeed.
The grace of God, or his free favour to sinners, is never seen in all its
glory or graciousness till then.
(2.) The good which the faithful do is very imperfect, and mixed
with many weaknesses and infirmities ; it may endure the touchstone,
but it cannot endure the balance, as we shall find then, when our right
eous judge shall compare our best actions with his holy law. After
we repented and believed, and returned to the obedience of God, the
Lord knoweth our righteousness is as filthy rags, and our best robes
need to be washed in the blood of the Lamb. Sin is our nakedness,
and graces are our garments.
(3.) Though it were never so perfect, yet it merits nothing by its
own intrinsic worth at God's hands : ' When we have done all, we are
but unprofitable servants,' Luke xvii. 10. And paying a due debt
deserveth no reward ; it is a grace bestowed upon us, that we can do
anything for God, 2 Cor. viii. 1 ; and services and sufferings bear no
equality with the reward, Rom. viii. 18 ; and all is done by those that
did once deserve eternal death, Rom. vi. 17, 18 ; and were redeemed
and recovered out of that misery by an infinite grace, 1 Peter i. 18, 19 ;
and already appointed heirs of eternal life before we serve him, Rom.
viii. 17, by his precedent elective love. In short, they that continu
ally need to implore the mercy of God for the pardon of sin, and can
not oblige God by any work of theirs, must needs admire grace ; and
the more grace is discovered to them, and they discovered to them
selves, the more they will do so.
2. The other end of the judgment is to convince the creature, and
that is best done by bringing our works, whether good or evil, into
the judgment. If only the purposes of God were manifested, the con-
76 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [&ER. XVI.
demned would bave a just exception, and their cavils would be justified,
tbat it was long of God they were not saved. Man is apt to charge
God wrongfully : Prov. ix. 3, ' The foolishness of man perverteth his
way, and his heart fretteth against the Lord.' Whatever exceptions
men have against God now, then all is clear, their works are produced,
their own evil choice and course. If the grace of the Redeemer were
only produced, those who are excluded from the benefit might seem
to tax the proceeding as arbitrary, and the whole business would seem
to be a matter of favour, and not of justice. But when their destruc
tion is of themselves, there is no cause of complaint ; if only the good
estate of men were considered, there would not be such an open vindica
tion of God's righteous dealing. In any judgment, all things are
rightly and convincingly carried, when the judge doth proceed secun-
dum regulas juris, et secundum allegata et probata according to the
law as a rule, and according to the things alleged and proved, as to
the application of the rule to the parties j udged. Now the producing
of the things done in the body, whether good or evil, suiteth with both
these, and so in the day of judgment there is a right course taken for
convincing the creature.
[1.] The judge must keep close to the law as his rule, for the absolv
ing or acquitting of the parties impleaded. So it belongeth to Christ,
as a judge, to determine our case according to the law which we are
under. We Christians are under a double law, of nature and grace.
The law of nature bindeth us to love and serve our creator ; but because
of man's apostasy, the law of grace findeth out a remedy, of repentance^
or returning to our duty after the breach, and faith, or suing out the
mercy of God in the name of 'Jesus Christ. Now those who will not
accept of the second covenant, remain under the bond of the first,
which exacteth perfect obedience from them, and the judge doth them
no wrong, if he judge them according to their works. But now those
who have accepted the second covenant, and devoted themselves to
God, taking sanctuary at the mercy of their Redeemer, they indeed
have a plea against the first covenant ; they are sinners, but they are
repenting sinners, and believing in Christ. Now their claim must be
examined by the judge, whether this penitence and acceptance of grace
be sincere and real, whether true penitents and sound believers ; that
must be seen by our works ; and the judge must examine, whether our
repentance, and returning to our duty, be verified by our after obedi
ence, and our thankful acceptance of Christ, and doth engage us to
constancy and cheerfulness in that obedience. A double accusation
may be brought against man before the tribunal of God : that he is a
sinner, and so guilty of the breach of the first covenant ; or that he
is no sound believer, having not fulfilled the condition of the second.
As to the first accusation we are justified by faith, as to the second
by works ; and so James and Paul are reconciled : Rom. iii. 24, ' A
man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law ;' James ii. 24,
'A man is justified by works, and not by faith only.' Every one of us
may be considered as a man that liveth in the world, or as a sinner
in the state of nature, or as a man called to the grace of God in Christ,
or as a Christian professing faith in the Redeemer. According to this
double relation, there is a double judgment passed upon us, according
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 77
to the law, so condemned already ; according to the gospel, so accept
ed in the beloved. To this double judgment there answereth a double
justification : of a sinner, by virtue of the satisfaction of Christ, appre
hended by faith, without the works of the law ; of a believer, or one
in the state of grace, so justified by works ; for here it is not inquired
whether he have satisfied the law, that he may have life by, it but
whether, professing himself to be a Christian, he be a true believer and
that must be tried by his works ; for as God in the covenant of grace
giveth us two benefits, remission of sins and sanctification by the Spirit,
so he requireth two duties from us a thankful acceptance of his grace
by faith, and also new obedience, as the fruit of love. Well then, this
being so to wit, that Christ's commission and charge is to give eternal
life to true believers, and them only, the only sound mark of true
believers is their works of new obedience. These must be tried in
the judgment.
[2.] A judge must proceed secundum alligata et probata, not to
give sentence by guess, but upon the evidence of the fact ; therefore
Christ, to convince men that they are sinners by the first covenant, or
hypocrites, or sincere, by the second, must consider their works. Men's
profession must not be taken in the case, but their lives must be con
sidered, for there are Christians in the letter, and Christians in the spirit,
some that have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof, 2 Tim.
iii. 5 ; and God doth not respect the outward profession, 1 Peter i.
17. There may be a carnal Christian, as well as a carnal heathen ; a
man may talk well from his convictions, or a mere disciplinary know
ledge; but to do well there needeth a living principle of grace. The
scriptures still set forth graces by their operations, works, or fruits ;
for a dead sleepy habit is worth nothing. The working faith car-
rieth away the prize of justification, Gal. v. 6 ; honoureth Christ, 2
Thes. i. 11, 12. The labouring love is that which God will regard
and reward, Heb. vi. 10. The lively hope is the fruit of regeneration,
1 Peter i. 5 ; that which sets a-doing, Acts xxiv. 15, 16 ; and Acts
xxvi. 7, 8. Grace otherwise cannot appear in the view of conscience.
The apples appear when the sap is not seen. It is the operative and
lively graces that will discover themselves. A man may think well,
or speak well, but that grace which governeth his conversation showeth
itself. God knoweth what is in man, whether faith be sound in the
first planting, before any fruit appear. But this judgment is to pro
ceed, not only by the knowledge of the judge, but the evidence of our
own consciences, the observation of others, and what openly appeareth
in our lives.
Secondly, How these works are considered, with respect to our sen
tence and doom.
1. Our actions are considered here with respect to the principle from
whence they flow, a renewed heart ; God doth not look to the bare
work, but to the spring, and motives, and ends, Prov. xvi. 2. He
weigheth the spirits, quo animo, not only the matter and bulk of the
action, but with what spirit, and from what principle it is done : Eph.
v. 9, ' For the fruit of the Spirit is all goodness, righteousness and truth;'
whether we act from a principle of grace in the heart. A violent
motion differeth from that which floweth from an inward principle.
78 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XVL
Christ first giveth a disposition to obey, before there is an actual sin
cere obedience. And living in the Spirit goeth before walking in the
Spirit, Gal. v. 25. The principles are infused, and then the action
follows. It is said, John iii. 21, 'He that doth truth cometh to the
light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in
God.' A godly man cannot satisfy himself in some external conform
ity to the law, but he must know that the actions come from God,
from his grace and Spirit in us, and tend to him, that is, to his glory
and honour, and are directed according to his will. A little outside
holiness will not content Christ.
2. With respect to the state in which they are done. A justified
estate, and a state of reconciliation to God ; for the sacrifices of the
wicked are an abomination to the Lord : Gal. ii. 19, ' I through the
law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God ; ' and Bom. vii.
4, ' Married to Christ, that I may bring forth fruit unto God.' The
children born before marriage are not legitimate: 2 Peter iii. 11, .
' What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and
godliness?' We ought to look to the qualification of our persons,
that we be reconciled with God through Christ, daily renewing our
friendship with him by sorrow for sin, by suing out our pardon and
acceptance in the mediator. The apostle doth not say, How holy ought
our conversation to be, but What manner of persons ought we to be.
3. They are considered with respect to their correspondency. No
man is judged by one single act ; we cannot pass judgment upon our
estate before God, whether good or evil, by a few particulars, but by
our way, or the ordinary strain of our life and conversation, and our
course: Rom. viii. 1, 'Who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit/ A man may occasionally set his foot in a path which he
meaneth not to walk in. God in reviewing his work considered every
day's work ; apart it was good, and considered altogether, Gen. i. 31 ;
the whole frame, and all very good ; all the work together was cor
respondent, and .all suitable to the rest in a due proportion ; so should
we endeavour to imitate God, that all our works, every one of them,
and our whole course considered together, may all appear to be good,
answerable to one another in order and proportion, that our whole
conversations may be a perfect frame of unblamable holiness. There
are some amongst men which do some things well, to which their
order and carriage is not suitable. The difference between a godly
man's work and a hypocrite's lieth in this, a hypocrite's work is best
considered apart, a good man's works are best, and most approved,
when they are laid together.
4. These works are considered with respect to their aim and scope :
Phil. i. 11, 12, ' That we may be sincere and without offence unto the
day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are
by Jesus Christ unto the praise and glory of God.' As it is not the
doing one good work, or some few, which will qualify a man for the
day of judgment, but being filled with the fruits of righteousness ; so
it is necessary also that our aim be every way as good as our action,
and God's glory be propounded as our great scope. An action in
itself good and lawful may be reckoned unto the worker as sin or duty,
as the end is, and the scope which he propoundeth unto himself.
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 79
5. That none of our actions are lost, but stand upon record, that we
may hear of them another day, and tend to increase the general sum,
whether good or evil. An impenitent man's account riseth : Bom.
ii. 5, ' He treasureth up wrath against the day of wrath,' like Jehoiada's
chest, the longer it stood the more treasure was in it. Sins that seem
inconsiderable in themselvdfc, yet are the acts of one that hatli sinned
greatly before. A cipher put to a sum that is fixed increaseth it,
every drop helpeth to fill the cup. So in the sincere: Phil. iv. 17,
'Fruit abounding to your account.' Every sincere action makes it
abound more ; some actions are more inconsiderable than others, yet if
done for Christ's sake, shall be taken notice of, though small in them
selves : Mat. x. 42, ' And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of
these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple,
verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.'
Thirdly, What room and place these works have, with respect to
punishment and reward. There is a plain difference, as appeareth,
Horn. vi. 23, ' The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life.' The works of the wicked have a proper, meritorious influence
upon their ruin and destruction ; wicked men stand upon their own
bottom, and are left to themselves. We do evil of our own accord, and
by our own strength ; but the good we do is neither our own, nor is it
purely good. Besides, there is this difference between sin and
obedience, that the heinousness of sin is always aggravated and height
ened by the proportion of its object, but the merit and value of
obedience is still lessened ; thereby sin and offence is aggravated ; as,
for an instance, to strike an officer is more than to strike a private
man, a king more than an ordinary officer. Thence it cometh to pass
that a sin committed against God doth deserve an infinite punishment,
because the majesty of God is infinite, and therefore eternal death,
is the wages of sin. But on the other side, the greater God is, and
the more glorious, the greater obligation lieth upon us to love him,
and serve him, and so that good which we do for his sake is the more
due, and God is not bound by any right or justice from the merit of
the action itself to reward it, for here the greatness of the object
lesseneth the action ; for be the creature what he will, he oweth his
whole self to God, who is placed in such a degree of eminence, that we
can lay no obligation upon him ; so that he is not bound by his natural
justice to reward us, but only inclined so to do by his own goodness,
and bound so to do by his free promise and covenant of grace.
Aristotle said well, that children could not merit of their parents, and
all their kindness and duty they performed, is but a just recompense
to them from whom under God they have received their being ; for
right and merit, strictly taken, is only between those who in a manner
are equals. If not between children and parents, certainly not between
God and man. Well then, though sin deserveth punishment, yet our
good works deserve not their reward. That grace which first accepted
us with all our faults, doth still crown us, and bestow all that honour
and glory which we expect at Christ's coming.
But what respect then have our works to our reward ?
Ansiuer 1. They render us a more capable object of God's delight
and approbation. For surely the holy God delighteth in his faithful
SO SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XVI.
servants : Mat. xxv. 21, ' Eucje, bone serve.' Conformity to'liis nature
and will siiiteth more with his holiness than sin and disobedience.
2. They qualify us, and make us more capable of the rewards of his
gospel covenant, which requireth that we should accept of our
Redeemer's mercy, and return to our obedience,, and continue in that
obedience, that the righteous judge may put the crown upon our heads
in that day, 2 Tim. iv. 7. 8.
3. Works are' produced as the undoubted evidence of a sound faith;
they are a demonstration, a signis notioribus, as most conspicuous,
and so fit to justify believers before all the world ; the sprinkling of
the blood on the door-posts signifieth there dwell Israelites So such
an uniform course of holiness shows that faith is rooted in them.
4. They are a measure of the degree of the reward ; for, 2 Cor. ix.
6, 'He that soweth sparingly, shall reap sparingly, and he that soweth
bountifully, shall reap bountifully,' not only glory, but great glory
with great measure. So far we may go safely, and less we cannot,
unless we would infringe a care of holiness.
Use. Oh then, let us take heed what we do in the body, whether we
ow to the flesh or the spirit. Let us be sure that our seed be good,
if we would expect a good crop. Now it is seed time, but then is the
harvest, works will be inquired after. It is not our voice, but hands;
like as Isaac, ' The voice is Jacob's, but the hands are the hands of
ESHU.' Nothing will evidence our sincerity, but a uniform, constant
course of self-denying obedience.
1. An uniform course it must be. A man may force himself into
an act, or two ; Saul in a rapture may be among the prophets. A
man is judged by his course and walk. A child of God may be under
a strange appearance for an act or so; you can no more judge of them
l)y that, than you can judge of the glory of a street by a sink or
kennel. Ou the other side, men may take on religion at set times, as
men in an ague have their well days, the fit of lust or sin is not
always upon them : Ps. cvi. 3, ' Blessed are they that keep judgment,
and he that doth righteousness at all times.' When a man's conversa
tion is all of a piece, his course is to please God in all places, and in
all things, not by starts, and in good moods: 1 John iii. 9, 'Whoso
ever is born of God, doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in
him, and he cannot sin, for he is born of God.'
An act of voluntary sin is as monstrous as a hen to lay the egg of
a crow ; many men's lives speak contradictions. Saul at one time
puts all the witches to death, at another time, hath recourse with a
witch himself. Jehu showeth his zeal against Ahab's idolatry, but
not against Jeroboam's.
2. Constant. There is a strait gate, and a narrow way ; we must
enter one, and walk in the other; there is making covenant, and
keeping covenant: Ps. ciii. 18, 'To such as keep his covenant, and to
those that remember his commandments to do them;' Gal. vi. 16,
'As many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy shall be
upon them, and upon the whole Israel of God.' Faith and obedience
are conditions of pardon, and constant obedience is a condition of
salvation.
3. Seif-denyingly acted. Good works are not dear ; ' Be warmed, be
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 81
clothed.' In 1 John iii. 16, the apostle speaketh of laying down our
life for the brethren, of opening our hands and bowels for refreshing
the hungry, and clothing the naked. So proportionably when we
take pains to instruct the ignorant, exhort the obstinate, confirm the
weak, comfort the afflicted. Do you think that religion lieth only in
hearing sermons, in singing psalms, reading a chapter, or in a few
drowsy prayers, or cursory devotions ? There are the means, but where
is the fruit ? No ; it lieth in self-denying obedience. These are the
acts about which we shall be questioned at the day of judgment, Mat.
xxv., Have you visited, have you clothed, do you own the servants of
God when the times frown upon them? Do you relieve them and
comfort them in their distresses ? Lip-labour and tongue-service is a
cheap thing, and that religion is worth nothing which costs nothing,
1 Sam. xxiv. 24. When we deny ourselves, and apparently value
God's interest above our own, then our sincerity is most evidenced, and
every one of us is to consider what interest God calleth him to deny
upon the hopes of glory, and, whatever it costeth us, to be faithful with
God. A cheap course of serving God bringeth you none or little
comfort. Certainly a man cannot be thorough in religion, but he will
be put upon many occasions of denying himself, his ease, profit, honour,
and acting contrary to his natural inclinations, or worldly interests.
Those that regard only the safe, cheap and easy part, do not set up
Christ's religion, but their own a Christianity of their own making :
Mat. xvi. 24, ' Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow
me.'
SERMON XVII.
That every man may receive the things done in the body, according to
ivhat lie hath done, good or bad. 2 COR. v. 10.
THIS receiving relateth either to the sentence or the execution, princi
pally the latter.
Doct. The end of the last judgment is, that every man, according
to what he hath done, may receive reward and punishment.
Without this, the whole process of that day would be but a solemn
and useless pageantry, and therefore the end bindeth all upon us.
And as we have considered the other circumstances we must consider
this also. This receiving the things done in the body relateth either
to the doom and sentence, or else to the execution. For the sentence,
see Serm. Mat. xxv., vers. 34 and 41. I shall here speak of the
execution ; it is set forth emphatically, Mat. xxv. 46, ' These shall go
away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal.'
In which scripture,
1. There is a distribution of the persons these and the righteous,
the goats and the sheep, the workers of iniquity and the godly, the
righteous and the wicked. This is the most material distinction, and
VOL. XIII. F
82 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiK. XVII.
an everlasting distinction. It is the most material and important dis
tinction. There is a distinction of nations ; some lie nearer to the
sun, others more remote or farther off ; some in a southerly, some in
a northerly climate, but they are all alike near to the Sun of righteous
ness. Jew, or Greek, or barbarian, are all one in Christ, Gal. iii. 28.
There is a distinction of endowments ; some are learned and some
unlearned. Yet the gospel looketh equally upon both, and Christ's
disciples owe the equal debt of love to both, Rom. i. 14. There is a
distinction of ranks and degrees in the world ; some are noble, and
others ignoble, but before God omnis sanguis concolor all blood is of
a colour ; and the true spiritual nobility is to be born of God, John i.
13. The gospel puts the rich and poor on the same level, James i. 9,
10. They differ in worldly estate ; but all have the same redeemer ; as
under the law, the rich and the poor paid the same ransom, Exod. xxx.
15. There is a distinction between bond and free, but the bond are
Christ's freemen, 1 Cor. vii. 22 ; and the free is Christ's servant,
Eph. vi. 7. All these are not material to our acceptance with God.
There is a distinction between opinions, and petty sects and parties in
the church, but this is not the grand distinction, which will hold
weight at the day of doom. There were different parties at Corinth,
and they were apt to band one against another, but yet they had but
one common Christ : 1 Cor. i. 2, ' Jesus Christ, theirs and ours.' We
inclose and impale the common salvation, unchristian and unminister
one another, cast one another out of God's favour, but God's appro
bation doth not go by our vote and suffrage ; there lieth an appeal
from man's censure, lingua Petilliani non est ventilabrum" Ghristi.
It is well that every angry brother's tongue is not Christ's fan where
with he will purge his floor. God in his judgment taketh notice of
another distinction, whether we be righteous or wicked, holy or unholy :
' The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his face is against
them that do evil/ 1 Peter iii. 12. That is the distinction which doth
bear weight before Christ's tribunal. And this is the everlasting dis
tinction. Other distinctions do not outlive time, they cease at the
grave's mouth ; within a while it will not be a pin to choose what part
we have acted in the world, whether we have been high or low, rich or
poor ; but much will lie upon it, whether we have been godly or ungodly,
whether we have sowed to the flesh or to the spirit. This distinction
will last for ever, and the one of them will fill heaven and the other
hell. The whole world is comprised in one of these two ranks ; there
is no neutral or middle estate.
2. As there are different persons, so there are different recompenses,
and a different doom and sentence which is executed upon either ; the
conclusion is dreadful to the wicked but comfortable to the godly, for
everlasting life shall be the portion of the godly, and everlasting
punishment the portion of the ungodly. This one scripture well
improved should be enough to make us shun all sin, and embrace and
pursue after all good. Wisdom lieth in considering the end of things,
not what profit and pleasure it bringeth me now, and flattereth me
with now, but what it will bring me in the end : Rom. vi. 21, ' What
fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? For
the end of those things is death ; but being made free from sin, and
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 83
become the servants of God, ye have your fruit to holiness, and the
end everlasting life.' Alas ! sin bringeth little pleasure or satisfaction
in the time of enjoying it ; and in the remembrance of it, it bringeth
shame ; and in the conclusion, where it is not repented of, it bringeth
death. Whereas, on the other side, the service of Christ will be matter
of joy and pleasure at the present ; matter of comfort and confidence
afterward ; and in the end, salvation and eternal life. There is a
curiosity in man ; he would fain know his own destiny, what shall
become of him, or what lieth hid in the womb of futurity concerning
his estate ; as the king of Babylon stood upon the parting of the ways
to make divination. No destiny deserveth to be known so much as
this, Shall I be saved, or shall I be damned ; live everlastingly in
heaven or hell ? If the question were, Shall I be rich, or shall I be
poor, happy or miserable in the present world ? shall I have a long
life, or shall I have a short ? that is not of such great moment. We
cannot meet with such troubles and difficulties here, but they will have
a speedy end ; so will persecutions, and disgraces, and sorrows ; but
this is a matter of greater moment than so, whether I shall be eternally
miserable. It is foolish curiosity to inquire into other things ; they
are not of such importance that we should know them aforehand ; and
it may do us more hurt than' good to know our worldly estate, the
misery of which cannot be prevented by any prudence and foresight of
ours. And it is better to trust ourselves with the providence of God
than to anticipate future cares ; but it concerneth us much to know
whether we are in a damnable or a saveable condition, whether we are
of the number of those that shall go into everlasting punishment, or
of the righteous who shall go into everlasting life ; if we be in the way
to everlasting punishment, it is good to know it whilst we have time to
remedy it. If heirs of salvation, the assurance of our interest is a
pre-occupation of everlasting blessedness. This is that about which we
should busy our thoughts and spend our time.
3. Observe the notions by which this different estate is expressed
life and punishment.
[1.] The happy condition of the godly is called life, and well
deserveth it. This life is but a continued death, it runneth from us
as fast as it floweth to us, and it is burdened with a thousand mis
eries ; but that life which is the portion of the faithful, it is a good and
happy life, and it is endless, it hath a beginning, but it hath no end.
One moment of immortality is worth a full age of all the health and
happiness that can be had upon earth. What will you call life ? the
vegetative life, or the life of a plant ? Alas, if that may be called life,
it is not a happy life, for the plants have no sense of that kind of life
they have. The sensitive life, or the life of the beasts, will you call
that life ? They are indeed capable of pain and pleasure, but this is
beneath the dignity of man ; and those that affect this kind of happi
ness, to enjoy sensual pleasure without remorse, degrade themselves
from that dignity of nature wherein God hath placed them, and make
themselves but a wiser sort of beasts, as they are able only to purvey
for the flesh more than the brutes can. Wherein then will you place
life ? Surely in reason ; man's life is a kind of light given us : John
i. 4, ' In him was life, and the life was the light of men.' Reason and
84 SEKMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XVII.
understanding was man's perfection. Well then, this is the life which
we must inquire after. Now when is this life of light in its full per
fection ? While the soul dwelleth in flesh, and looketh out by the
senses to things near at hand,- the proper contentments of the body
are the poor, paltry vanities of this deceitful world. Now, this is not
the life which we were made for, but when it seeth God, and enjoyeth
God in the highest manner that we are capable of. Our true life lieth
in the vision of God, 1 Cor. xiii. 12 ; and Mat. v. 8, for he is only
that universal and infinite object which can satiate the heart of man,
and our proper and peculiar blessedness : ' Whom have I in heaven
but thee?' Ps. Ixxiii. 25. This is our full and continued happiness.
Alas ! the present life hath more gall than honey ; its enjoyments are
low and base, and short and fading, and its troubles and miseries are
many : Gen. xlix. 9, ' Few and evil are the days and years of my
pilgrimage/ But in the other world, there is nothing but glory and
blessedness. A glorified soul in a glorified body doth for ever behold
God, and delight itself in God.
[2.] The other notion is punishment, the word signifieth not only
punishment, but torment ; so we render it, 1 John. iv. 18, ' Because
fear hath torment.' Annihilation were a favour to the wicked ; they
have a being, but it is a being under punishment and torment.
Divines usually distinguish of pcena damni and pcena sensus ; the loss
and the pain. Both are included, Mat. xxv. 41, in Christ's sentence,
' Depart, and go into everlasting fire.' God doth not take away the
being of a sinner, but he taketh away the comfort of his being ; he is
banished out of his sight for evermore, and deprived of his favour, and
all the joys and blessedness which are bestowed on the godly ; and
that is enough to make him miserable. It is true a wicked man now
careth not for the light of God's countenance, because looking to
visible things he hath no sound faith of those things which are in
visible ; but now he coineth to understand the reality of what he hath
lost, and besides hath no natural comforts to divert his mind, no plays,
or balls, or pleasures, or meat and drink, and company, which now do
draw off his heart from better things, and solace him in the want of
them. Secondly, the pain of sense, that is double, ' the worm that never
dies, and the fire that shall never be quenched,' Mark. ix. 44. The
worm is the worm of conscience, reflecting upon his evil choice and
past folly, which hath brought him to this sad and doleful estate, When
he considereth for what base things he sold his birthright, Heb. xii. 15 ;
he parted with felicity and the life to come, this will be a continual
torment and vexation to them ; and being under despair of ever coming
out of this condition, his torment is the more increased. If there were
no more than this conscience reflecting upon the sense of his loss, with
the cause and consequences of it, surely this will fill him with anguish ;
and the body, united to such a miserable, self-vexing and self-
tormenting soul, can have no rest. Besides this, there is the ' fire that
shall never be quenched,' which is the wrath which bringeth on un
speakable torments on the body ; for, ' Woe, wrath, tribulation and
anguish is the portion of every soul that doth evil,' Korn. ii. 9, 10.
What kind of punishments they are we know not, but such as are
grievous, and come not only from the reflection of their own consciences,
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 85
but the power of God : Eom. ix. 22, ' God will show his wrath, and
make his power known.'
4. Eternity is affixed to both everlasting punishment and eternal life.
[1.] The joys of the blessed are everlasting. There shall never be
change of and intermission in. their happiness, but after millions and
millions of imaginary years, they are to continue in this life, as if it
were the first moment. Paul telleth you, 1 Thes. iv. 17, ' That we
shall for ever be with the Lord.' And what can we desire more. In
this life, if we had the confluence of all manner of comforts, yet the
fear of losing them is some infringement of our happiness. But there,
whatever glory we partake of, we shall never lose it ; it will be thy
crown for ever, thy kingdom for ever, thy glory for ever, thy God and
thy Christ for ever. Oh, why do we no more think of this ? This
life, that scarce deserveth the name of a life, yet we would fain con
tinue it, though in pain and misery : ' Skin for skin, all that a
man hath, would he give for his life.' Oh, then, how welcome should
eternal life be, which, compared with this life, is like the ocean to a
drop ! When we lay both of these lives together, this fading moment
and that enduring eternity, how much more valuable doth the one
appear than the other ? Our sorrows will soon end, but these joys,
when they once begin, will never end : 2 Cor. iv. 17, ' This light afflic
tion, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory.' Cannot we suffer with him for one hour,
deny ourselves a little contentment in the world ? Shall we begrudge
the labours of a few duties, when, as soon as the veil and curtain of
the flesh is drawn, we shall enter into eternal life and joy.
[2.] The punishment is everlasting. The wicked are everlastingly
deprived of the favour of God, and of the light of his countenance.
When Absalom could not see his father's face, Kill me, saith he, rather
than let it be always thus, 2 Sam. xiv. 32. The wicked are never more
to be admitted into the presence of God, who is the fountain of all
peace and joy. And therefore how miserable will their condition be !
Besides, the pain will be eternal, as well as the loss ; not one kind of
misery only shall light upon wicked men. The scripture representeth
it by everything which is terrible ; sometimes by death, which is so
much feared ; sometimes by fire and brimstone, which are so terrible
in burning ; sometimes by chains and darkness, and prisons and
dungeons ; because men in extremity of pain and misery do use to
weep and wail, and gnash their teeth, sometimes by that. All these
dreadful expressions give us some crevice light into the state of the
other world. Now these things shall be without ceasing, for neither
heaven nor hell have any period ; there is no time set when the fire
shall go out, or these chains be loosed, or these wailings cease.
But how can it stand with the justice of God, for a momentary
action to cast men into everlasting torment ? I answer
1. God will govern the world by his own reasons, and not by our
fancies ; for we are told, he giveth no account of his matters ; he hath
made a holy law, and that law hath a sanction, it is established by
penalties and rewards. Now if God make good his threatenings, and
bring the misery upon the creature, which he hath foretold, where lieth
the injustice ? What part of the punishment would you have relaxed ?
86 SEKMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XVII.
the loss or the pain ? The loss is double, of God's favour, and of his
natural comforts. Would you have God admit those to the sight and
fruition of himself who never cared for him ? or to return to their
natural comforts, that they may again run riot with them, and abuse
them to an occasion of the flesh, and to quiet and beguile his conscience
with the enjoyments of the world, that he may the better bear the loss
of these, or to lessen the pain, when the sin and impenitency obsti
nately doth still continue ?
2. It is meet for the government of the world, that the penalties
should be thus stated, to give us the more powerful argument against
fleshly lusts, which, being more pleasing and suitable to corrupt nature,
need to be checked by a severe commination. Man is a very slave to
sensitive pleasure ; which, being born and bred with him, is not easily
renounced ; therefore God hath told us aforehand, that if ' we live
after the flesh, we shall die/ The pleasing of the flesh will cost us
dear ; the sinner's paradise is guarded with a flaming sword, and
delight balanced with fear, that by setting eternal pains against mo
mentary pleasures, we may the better escape the temptation. ' The
pleasures of sin, which are for a season,' Heb. xi. 25, bring torments
which are everlasting. The fearful end of this delightful course may
deter us from it : Kom. viii. 13, ' If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die/
God hath so proportioned the dispensation of joy and sorrow, pleasure
and pain, that it is left to our own choice, whether we will have it
here or hereafter ; whether we will enjoy pleasure as the fruit of sin,
or as the reward of obedience ; both we cannot have. And it is agree
able to the wisdom of our law-giver, that things to come should have
some advantage in the proposal, above things present, that the joy and
pain of the other world, which is a matter of faith, should be greater
than the joy and pain of this world, which is a matter of sense. Things
at hand will certainly more prevail with us than things to come, if they
be not considerably greater ; therefore here the pain is short, and so
is the pleasure, but there it is eternal. Well then, it becometh the
wisdom of God, that those who would have their pleasure here, should
have their pain hereafter, and that eternally. And those that will
work out their salvation with fear and trembling, and pass through
the difficulties of religion, should have pleasures at his right hand for
evermore : James, v. 5, ' Ye have lived in pleasure upon earth ; ' and
Luke. xvi. 25, ' Kemember that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy
good things.' You must not think to pass from Delilah's lap to Abra
ham's bosom.
3. No law observeth this, that the mora pccnce, the continuance of
the punishment, should be no longer than the mora culpce, than the
time of acting the offence. Amongst all the punishments which human
laws inflict, there is no punishment but is longer. Loss, shame, exile,
bondage, imprisonment, may be for life, for a fact done in a day or
hour ; punishment doth not repair so easily, as offence doth pervert,
public right and good. Therefore the punishment may continue
longer than the time wherein the crime was committed.
There are many reasons in the cheap commission of sin which justify
this appointment, as
[1.] A majestate Dei, against whom the sin is committed, and who
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 87
is depreciated, and contemned by the creature's offence. What base
things are preferred before God, and the felicity we might have in
the enjoyment of him ! at how vile a price is his favour sold!
[2.] A natura peccati, which is a preference of a sensitive good
before that which is spiritual and eternal. Men refuse an eternal
kingdom offered to them, for a little carnal satisfaction, Heb. xi. 25 ;
and if they be eternally miserable they have but their own choice.
[3.] A voluntate peccatoris, he would continue his sin everlastingly
if he could. They are never weary of sinning, nor ever would have
been, if they had lived eternally upon earth ; they desire always to
enjoy the delights and pleasures of this life, and are rather left by their
sins than leave them. Well then, since they break the laws of the
eternal God, and the very nature of the sin is a despising his favour
for some temporal pleasure or profit, and this they would do everlast
ingly, if they could subsist here so long, this doth sufficiently justify
this appointment.
5. Both are the result of a foregoing judgment, wherein the cause
had been sufficiently tried and cleared, and sentence passed. In all
regular judgment, after the trial of the cause, there is sentence, and
upon sentence, execution. So it is here, there is a discussion of the
cause, and .then a sentence of , absolution to the godly: Mat. xxv. 34,
' Come, ye blessed of my Father ; inherit the kingdom prepared for
you ' of condemnation on the wicked: ver. 41, ' Depart, ye cursed into
everlasting fire.' Then what remaineth but that the sentence should
be executed ? This being the final sentence which shall be given upon
all men and all their works, the end of this judgment is to do justice,
and to fulfil the will and truth of the law-giver. Now the execution
is certain, speedy, and unavoidable.
[1.] Certain ; when the matter is once tried, there will be sentence ;
and sentence once past, there will be execution. We often break up
court before things come to a full hearing, and so delay the sentence;
if we cannot delay the sentence, we seek to delay the execution ; but
sentence once past here, it must needs be executed. Partly, because
there will be no change of mind in the judge; he is inflexible and
inexorable, because there is no error in his sentence, but it is every
way righteous, and the truth of God is now to be manifested. God
would not affright us with that he never intended to do ; grant
this judgment and execution is uncertain, and all his threatenings will
be but a vain scarecrow. In the days of his patience and grace his
sentence may be repealed : Mutat sententiam, sed non decretum ; as
Jer. viii. 7, 8, ' At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and
a kingdom, to pluck it up, and pull it down, and to destroy it, if that
nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from the evil, I will
repent of the evil, which I thought to do.' Here God revoketh the
doom ; conviction now maketh way for conversion, but then for con
fusion. And partly, because there is no change of state in the persons
judged j they are in termino, as the apostate angels. While man is in
the way, his case is compassionable ; God allowed a change of state
to man after the fall, which must not last always, 2 Peter iii. 9. He
waiteth long for our repentance, but he will not wait ever ; here we
may get the sentence reversed, if we repent, but then it is final and
88 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [$ER. XVII.
peremptory, excluding all further hopes and possibility of remedy.
And partly, because there can be no change of the heart, they may
have some relentings, when matters of faith become matter of sense.
For if they would not love God inviting by his mercies and offering
pardon, then they will not love him condemning and punishing, and
shutting them out from all hope. These three infer one another ;
because no change of heart, no change of state ; because no change
of state, no change of sentence.
[2.] It is speedy. There was no delay, they were presently trans
mitted, and put into their everlasting estate ; here is sententia lata,
sed dilata sentence is past but not executed : Eccles. viii. 11,' Because
sentence is not speedily executed upon an evil doer.' But here it is
otherwise, they must depart, and be gone speedily out of God's
presence : Esther vii. 8, ' As soon as the word was gone out of the
king's mouth/ they had him away to execution.
[3.] It is unavoidable. It is in vain to look about for help, all the
world cannot rescue one such soul. In short, there is no avoiding by
appeal, because this is the last judgment ; nor by rescue, they shall go
away, not of their own accord, but compelled ; it is said, Mat. xiii. 42,
' The angels shall gather them, and cast them into a furnace of fire.'
So again cast them, they shall be dragged away. Not by flight,
for there is no escaping ; nor entreaty, for the judge is inexorable.
6. The sentence is executed upon the wicked first ; it beginneth with
them, for it is said ' These shall go away into everlasting punishment, and
the righteous into life eternal.' Now this is not merely because the
order of the narration did so require it, the wicked being spoken of last ;
but there is a material truth in it, sentence beginneth with the godly,
and execution with the wicked. Sentence with the godly, because they
are not only to be judged, but to judge the world together with Christ,
1 Cor. vi. 2. Now they must be first acquitted and absolved themselves
before that honour can be put upon them. But execution with the wicked :
Mat. xiii. 30, ' Let both grow together until the harvest. I will say to
the reapers, gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles,
to burn them, gather ye the wheat into my barn.' First the wicked are
cast into hell-fire, Christ and all the godly with him looking on ; which
worketh more upon the envy and grief of the wicked, that they are
thrust out, while the godly remain with Christ, seeing execution done
upon them. And the godly have the deeper sense of their own happi
ness by seeing from what wrath they are delivered ; as the Israelites when
they saw the Egyptians dead upon the shore, Exod. xiv. 30, 31, with xv. 1,
4 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord.'
So when the wicked in the sight of the godly are driven into their
torments, they have a greater apprehension of their Redeemer's mercy.
Use 1. To press us to believe these things. Most men's faith about
the eternal recompenses is but pretended ; at best too cold, and a
speculative opinion rather than a sound belief, as appeareth by the
little fruit and effect that it hath upon us ; for if we had such a sight of
them as we have of other things, we should be other manner of persons
than we are, in ' all holy conversation and godliness.' We see how
cautious man is in tasting meat in which he doth suspect harm, that
it will breed in him the pain and torments of the stone and gout or
VER. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 89
colic ; I say, though it be but probable the things will do us any hurt.
We know certainly that the wages of sin is death, yet we will be tast
ing forbidden fruit. If a man did but suspect a house were falling,
he would not stay in it an hour ; we know for certain that continuance
in a carnal state will be our eternal ruin ; yet who doth flee from wrath
to come ? If we have but a little hope of gain we will take pains to
obtain it. We know that ' our labour is not in vain in the Lord.'
Why do we not abound in his work ? 1 Cor. xv. 58. Surely we would
do more to prevent this misery, to obtain this happiness, when we may
do it upon such easy terms, and have so fair an opportunity in our
hands ; if we were not so strangely stupified, we would not go to hell
to save ourselves a labour. There are two things which are very
wondrous ; that any man should reject the Christian faith, or that
having embraced it, should live sinfully and carelessly.
Use 2. Seriously consider of these things. The scripture everywhere
calleth for consideration.
Think of this double motive, that every man must be judged to ever
lasting joy or everlasting torment. These things are propounded afore-
hand for our benefit and instruction ; we are guarded on both sides ; we
have the bridle of fear and the spur of hope. If God had only terrified
us from sin, by mentioning inexpressible pains and horrors, we might
be frighted and stand at a distance from it ; but when we have such
encouragements to good, and God propoundeth such unspeakable joys,
this should quicken our diligence. If he had only promised heaven,
and threatened no hell, wicked men would count it no great matter to
lose heaven, provided that they might be annihilated ; but when there-
is both, and both for ever, shall we be cold and dead ? We are undone
for ever if wicked, blessed for ever if godly ; let us hold the edge of this
truth to our hearts ; what should we not do that we may be ever
lastingly blessed, and avoid everlasting misery ? It is no matter what
we suffer in time, and endure in time.
Use 3. Improve it, first, to seek a reconciliation with God in the way
of faith and repentance. A man that is under the sentence of death,
and in danger to be executed every moment, would not be quiet till he
get a pardon. All men by nature are children of wrath, as a son of
death is one condemned to die ; so it is an Hebraism. Now ' run for
refuge, to take hold of the hope that is set before you,' Heb. vi. 18 ;
' Make peace upon earth,' Luke ii. 14 ; ' Agree with thine adversary
quickly, while he is in the way,' Luke xii. 58, 59 ; ' Now God
calleth to repentance/ Acts xvii. 30, 31 ; ' Oh, labour to be found of
him in peace,' 2 Peter iii. 14. How can a man be at rest till his great
work be over ?
Improve it to holiness and watchfulness, and to bridle licentiousness
and boldness in sinning : Eccl. xi. 9, ' Rejoice, O young man, in thy
youth, and let thine heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth ; walk
in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes, but know
thou, for all these things God will bring thee to judgment,' as cold water
cast into a boiling pot stops its fury; 1 Peter i. 17, ' And if ye call on the
Father, who, without respect of persons, judgeth every man, according
to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.'
Say as the town-clerk of Ephesus : Acts ix. 40, ' We are in danger to
90 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XVIII.
be called in question for this day's uproar.' I must give an account
for idle words, careless praying, and unprofitable mis-spending of
time.
3. Improve it to patience under ignominy and reproaches. Thy
innocency will appear on thy trial ; if in an abject condition, the upright
shall have dominion in the morning ; afflictions and persecutions will
then end, and thou shalt have thy reward : 1 Thes. i. 6, 7, ' And ye
became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in
much affliction, with joy in the Holy Ghost, so that ye were examples
of all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia ; ' and, 1 Cor. xv. 58,
'Wherefore, my beloved, be stedfast and unmoveable, always abounding
in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know your labour shall not
be in vain in the Lord.'
SEKMON XVIII.
Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men ; but we
are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are made mani
fest in your consciences 2 COR. v. 11.
THE apostle is giving an account of his sincerity, zeal, and faithfulness
in his ministry. Three things moved him to it ; hope, fear and love.
Here he asserteth the influence of the second principle.
In the words take notice of two things.
1. The motive and reason of his fidelity in his ministry, knowing,
therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.
2. The witnesses to whom he appealeth for the proof of his fidelity
and diligence, (1.) God the searcher of hearts ; (2.) The consciences
of his auditors, who had felt the benefit and force of the word.
[1.] To God, as the supreme witness, approver, and judge; but we
are made manifest unto God, he seeth our principles and aims, and
with what hearts we go about our work.
[2.] To the Corinthians as secondary witnesses ; and I trust also
are made manifest in your consciences. He was confident that he had
a witness of his sincerity and uprightness in their consciences. The
greatest approbation that we can have from men, is to have an appro
bation in their consciences. Mark the order ; our first desire should
be to approve ourselves to God, who is our judge, and then to men ;
and in doing that, to approve ourselves to their consciences, which is
the faculty which is most apt to take God's part, rather than to their
humours, that we may gain their respect and applause ; next to God
the testimony of conscience, next to our own conscience the consciences
of others.
1. I begin with the motive and reason of his fidelity : knowing the
terror of the Lord we persuade men, rov <f>oftov TOV KvpLov the Vulgar,
timorem Domini, knowing the fear of the Lord ; Erasmus, Beza and
our translation, terrorem Domini; Grotius, according to the former
reading, knowing the fear of the Lord, i.e., the true way of religion,
VER. 11.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. 91
we persuade men to embrace it. Rather, the apostle understandeth
the terror of this judgment ; being certain that these things are so,
and that such a terrible judgment of Christ will come, we persuade
men to become Christians, or to live as such as shall speed well then,
when others shall be destroyed. He saith plurally, 7rei#oyu,ei>, we per
suade, as comprising his colleagues, suppose Timotheus and Sylvanus;
he and they persuaded men to embrace the faith, and to live as those
who are to be judged. For it is to be looked upon,
[1.] As an argument and motive to persuade himself, and his
colleagues, to sincerity in their ministry, who were to give an account
of their dispensation.
[2.] As an argument and motive to the people for their obedience
to the faith.
Doct. That the certain knowledge of the terrible judgment of God
should move us to persuade, and you that hear to be persuaded, to a
careful and serious preparation for it. In managing which point,
1. I shall consider the object. Here is terror or matter of fear
offered in the judgment mentioned.
2. The subject, or persons fearing Paul and his colleagues, together
with all the parties who are to be judged.
3. The means. How this fear cometh to be raised in us, or to work
on us : ' Knowing.'
4. The effect. Here is persuasion grounded thereon ; ' Knowing the
terror of the Lord, we persuade men.'
First, That there is terror, and matter of fear offered in the day of
judgment, upon several accounts.
1. As it is an impartial judgment, that shall pass upon all, heathens,
Christians, apostles, ministers, private persons. This ground is urged,
1 Pet. i. 17, ' If ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons
judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning
here in fear.' Those who take the Lord to be their father, and them
selves for his children, must consider him also as an exact and an
impartial judge of all their actions ; and therefore with the more care
and solicitude carry on the work of holiness. What is respecting or
accepting persons in the judgment? It is to esteem one person rather
than another for outward advantages, not regarding the merits of the
cause which cometh to discussion and trial, as in man's courts, when
men are spared for their greatness, dignity, or worldly pre-eminence.
But what person may God be supposed to respect, or accept in
judgment ? Surely none can be so irrational as to think the great or
rich can have any pretension to his favour, or merciful dealing, rather
than others. No ; noble or ignoble, poor or rich, prince or beggar, they
all stand upon the same level before God. Well then, the persons who
may be supposed to presume upon the indulgence of that day, are such
who make a fair profession, enjoy many outward privileges ; as suppose
the Jew above the Gentile, the Christian above the Jew, the officer, or
one employed in the church, above the common Christian. The
privilege of the Jew was his circumcision, the knowledge of the law
and outward obedience thereunto, or submission to the rituals of
Moses ; because they were exact in these things, they hoped to be
accepted with God, and to be more favourably dealt with than others.
92 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XVIII.
The privilege of the Christian is baptism, the knowledge of Christ,
being of his party, and visibly owning' his interest in the world ; they
have eaten and drunk in his presence, he hath taught in their streets,
and tKey have frequented the assembly where he is ordinarily present,
and more powerfully present, Luke xiii. 26. It is possible they have
put themselves in a stricter garb of religion, forborne disgraceful sins,
been much in external ways of duty, given God all the cheap and
plausible obedience which the flesh can spare. But if all this be
without solid godliness, or that sound constitution of heart or course
of life which the principles of our profession would breed, and call for,
these privileges will be no advantage to him. Well then, let the
officer come, the apostle, prophet, pastor or teacher, by what names or
titles soever they be distinguished, who have borne rule in the church,
been much in exercising their gifts for his glory, have taught others
the way of salvation ; this is their privilege : Mat. vii. 22, ' Lord, have
we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and
in thy name done many wondrous works ? Then will I profess unto
them, 1 never knew you ; depart from me, ye workers of iniquity.'
Well now, if no man's person shall be accepted, if not for his profession,
if not for his office, if riot for his external ministrations, surely we ought
to be strict and diligent, and seriously godly, as well as others. And
if we shall all appear before this holy, just, and impartial judge, we
should all pass the time of our sojourning here in fear.
2. It is a strict and a just judgment : Acts xvii. 30, 31, ' He corn-
mandeth now all men everywhere to repent : because he hath appointed
a day, wherein he will judge the world in righteousness.' Now God
winketh at every man's faults, and doth not take vengeance on them,
judgeth the world in patience ; but then all men must give an account,
those who have refused the remedy offered to lapsed mankind, shall
have judgment without mercy. And how terrible will that judgment
be, when the least sin rendereth us obnoxious to the severity of his
revenging justice ! But those who have heard the gospel, and accepted
the Redeemer's mercy, shall also be judged according to their works,
in the manner formerly explained. There is a remunerative justice
observed to them ; we must give an account of all our actions, thoughts,
speeches, affections, and intentions, that it may be seen whether they
will amount to sincerity, or a sound belief of the truths of the gospel,
and therefore we should be the more careful to walk uprightly before
him : Mat. xii. 36, 37. ' But I say unto you, that for every idle word that
men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the judgment;
for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words shalt thou
be condemned.' Words must be accounted for, especially false, blas
phemous words, and such as flow out of the evil treasure of the heart ;
and sadly accounted for. For in conferring rewards and punishments,
God taketh notice of words, as well as actions, they make up a part
of the evidence ; certainly in this just judgment we shall find that it
is a serious business to be a Christian. But those who have owned the
Redeemer, must esteem him in their hearts above all worldly things,
and value his grace above the allurements of sense, and count all things
but dung and dross for the excellency of the knowledge of their Lord,
PhiL iii. 7-9; and glorify him in their lives, 1 Thes. i. 11, 12; and
. 11.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. 93
pass through the pikes : ' To him that overcometh,' Eev. ii. 26 ; and
resist the devil, and subdue the flesh, and vanquish the world. There
must be doing, and there must be suffering ; there must be giving, and
forgiving, giving out of our estates, and forgiving wrongs and injuries ;
visiting the sick, and clothing the naked, and feeding the hungry ;
there must be believing, and loving, mortifying sin and perfecting
holiness. And this is the trial of those who come under the gospel-
covenant ; which might be easily proved, if the thing were not evident
of itself. Now judge you whether all this should not beget the fear
of reverence, or caution at least ; which fear of God should always,
reign in the hearts of the faithful.
God's final sentence is to be passed upon us, upon which our eternal
estate dependeth. Therefore the great weight and consequence of
that day maketh it matter of terror to us. We are to be happy for
ever, or undone for ever ; our estate will be then irrevocable. Where
a man cannot err twice, there he cannot use too much solicitude.
According to our last account, so shall the condition of every man be
for ever. What is a matter of greater moment than to be judged to
everlasting joy or everlasting torment ? Matters of profit or disprofit,
credit or discredit, temporal life and death, are nothing to it. If a
man lose in one bargain, he may recover himself in another; credit
may be wounded by one action, and healed in another, though the
scar remain, the wound may be cured. If a man die, there is hope of
life in another world ; but if sentenced to eternal death, there is no
reversing of it. Therefore, now, we, knowing the terror of the Lord,,
sue out our own pardon, and persuade others to sue out their pardon,
in the name of Christ, to make all sure for the present.
4. The execution, in case of failing in our duty, is terrible beyond
expression. Because this is the main circumstance, and is at the
bottom of all, I shall a little dilate upon it, not to Affright you with
needless perplexities, but in compassion to your souls, God knoweth.
I shall take the rise thus : the object of all fear is some evil approach
ing ; now the greater the evil is, the nearer it approacheth, the more
certain and inevitable it is, and the more it concerneth ourselves,
the more cause of fear there is ; all these concur in the business in-
hand.
[1.] The execution bringeth on the greatest evil ; the evil of punish
ment, and the greatest punishment, the wrath of God, the wrath of the
eternal judge, who can and will cast body and soul into eternal fire.
This was due to all by the first covenant, and will be the portion of
impenitent sinners by the second: Heb. x. 31, ' It is a fearful thing to
fall into the hands of the living God.' Mark, first, obstinate and
impenitent sinners do immediately fall into the hands of, God ; a
metaphor taken from one that is fallen into the hands of an enemy
who lieth in wait for him, to take full revenge upon him ; if he catch
him, he is sure to pay for it. Now we are let alone, but then we fall'
into his hands, and he will be righted for all the wrongs which we
have done him. Now, when God shall have an immediate hand in the
punishment of the wicked, it will make it terrible indeed. When
God punisheth by the creature, he can put a great deal of strength
into the creature, to overwhelm us, by hail, locusts, flies, frogs ; if they
94 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XVIII.
come of God's errand they are terrible ; but a bucket cannot contain
an ocean ; as a giant striking with a straw in his hand, he cannot put
forth all his strength; when God punisheth by creatures, it is like a
giant's striking with a straw in his hand. But now by himself, we
fall into his own hands. Again observe, it is the living God. God
liveth himself, and continueth the life of the creature. God liveth for
ever to reward his friends, and punish his adversaries. A mortal man
cannot extend punishment beyond death ; when they have killed the
body they can do no more, Mat. x. 28. We are mortal, and they that
persecute and hate us are mortal. But since he liveth to all eternity,
he can punish to all eternity. So long as God is God, so long will hell
be hell. It is tedious to think of a short fit of pain. In a feverish
distemper we count not only hours but minutes ; when in such a dis
temper we cannot sleep in the night, how tedious and grievous is it to
us ! But what will it be to fall into the hands of the living God ?
Thirdly, The apostle saith, et? %et/?a? Qeov. The wrath of God is
no vain scare-crow, and if anything be matter of terror, the terror of
the Lord is so. But, alas, who consider it, or mind this ? Ps. xc. 11,
* Who knoweth the power of his anger ? According to his fear, so is
his wrath.' Who layeth it to heart, so as to be sensible of his own
danger, while he is permitted to live? We divert our thoughts by
vain pleasures, as Saul cured the evil spirit by music. The delights
of the flesh benumb the conscience, and exclude all thoughts of
eternity. Again it is called wrath to come, Mat. iii. 7 ; and, 1 Thes.
i. 10. It is so called to denote the certainty, and the terribleness of it.
The certainty of it ; it will most certainly come upon the wicked ; the
day is not foretold, but it is a-coming ; wrath hovereth over our heads,
it is every day nearer, as the salvation of the elect is, Rom. xiii. 4.
A pari, whether we sleep or wake, we are all a step nearer, a day
nearer, a night nearer, to eternity. They that are in a ship are
swiftly carried on to their port by the wind, though they know it not ;
security showeth it is coming on apace : ' Whose judgment now of a
long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not/ 2 Peter
ii. 3. They sleep, but their damnation sleepeth not. But, secondly,
it is called wrath to come in regard of the terribleness of it. There is
a present wrath that men suffer, and there is a wrath to come ; this is
such a wrath, as never was before ; present wrath may be slighted, but
wrath to come will stick close: Jer. v. 3, 'I have stricken them, but
they have not grieved.' There is a senseless stupidness under judg
ments now, but then men cannot have hard or insensible hearts if they
would. Present wrath may be reversed, but men are then in their
final estate, and God will deal with them upon terms of grace no more.
Present wrath seizeth not upon the whole man, the body suffereth that
the soul may be saved, but there body and soul are cast into hell.
Present wrath is executed by the creatures, but in the other world God
is all in all. Present wrath is mixed with comforts, but there it is an
evil, and only an evil, Ezek. vii. 5. There is no wicked man in the
clay of God's patience but hath somewhat left him, but there they
shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out with
out mixture, Rev. xiv. 10. It is not allayed and tempered with any
mercies. There is a difference in duration ; present wrath endeth
VSR. 11.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. 95
with death. The drowning of the world, the burning of Sodom, was
a sad thing, if a man had been by, and seen the poor miserable
creatures running from valleys to hills, from hills to mountains, from
the mountains to the tops of trees, and still the floods increasing upon
them ; or had heard the screechings, when God rained hell out of
heaven, and seen the scalded Sodomities wallowing up and down in a
deluge of fire and brimstone ; but all ended with death. But this fire
is never quenched, and the worm never dieth. Now should man know
this, and not persuade, or be persuaded, and take warning to flee from
wrath to come ? Surely the thoughts of falling into the hands of God
should shake the stoutest heart, and awaken the dullest sinner, rouse
up the most careless, to use all possible means to prevent it.
[2.] The nearer it approacheth, it should the more affect us. It is
but a short time to the general assizes; we live in that age of the
world upon which the ends of the world are come, 1 Cor. x. 11 ; ' Little
children, it is the last hour,' 1 John ii. 18. And let us stir up one
another, so much the rather as ye see the day approacheth, Heb. x. 25.
It cannot be long to the end of time, if we compare the remainder with
what is past, or the whole with eternity ; but for our particular doom
and judgment, every man must die, and be brought to his last account.
Now the day of death approacheth apace ; the more of our life is past,
the less is yet to come ; every week, day, hour, minute, we approach
nearer to death, and death to us. But, alas ! we little think of- these
things ; every soul of us within less than an hundred years, it may be
but ten, or five, or one, shall be in heaven or hell. The judge is at
the door, James v. 9. We shall quickly be in another world. Now
should we hold our peace, and let men go on sleepily to their own
destruction, or to suffer men to waste away more of their precious
time, before they get ready ? It is said, Amos vi. 3, ' They put far
away the evil day ; ' and therefore it did not work upon them that
is, they put off the thoughts of it ; for as to the day itself, they can
neither put it on, nor off.
[3.] The more certain and unavoidable any evil is, the greater
matter of terror. Now it is as certain as if it were begun, and there
is no way to escape either trial, sentence, or execution. Solomon saith,
Prov. xvi. 14, ' The wrath of a king is as the messengers of death ; '
because they have long hands, and power to reach us. The wrinkles
of their angry brow are as graves and furrows ; yet some have escaped
the wrath of kings and worldly potentates, as Elijah escaped the
vengeance of Jezebel : 1 Kings xix. 2, 3, 'The gods do so to me, and
more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them to-morrow
by this time. And when he heard that, he rose and fled to Beersheba
for his life.' But there is no escaping God's wrath, Kev. vi. 16 ; no
avoiding his sight, or escaping the stroke of his justice, Ps. cxxxix. 7.
[4.] If it particularly concern every one of us. A clap of thunder in our
own zenith doth more affright us, than when it is at a distance. This did
once belong to all, and it doth still belong to the impenitent ; and there
fore we should take the more care, that we be not of that number ; and
while we are in the state of trial, we cannot be over confident. I am
sure it is a sinful confidence, that is joined with the neglect of the
means to shun it. The dreadful consequence of that day to the wicked,
96 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XVIII.
it is in itself a matter of terror to all ; and to slight this terror is to
turn the grace of God into wantonness ; and it cometh either from
unbelief, or from a dull, stupid, senseless spirit. And if it produceth
not caution and watchfulness, and serious and diligent preparation, it
is not a fruit of the assurance of the love of God, but of the security
of the flesh. I confess it is a case of conscience, how to make the day
of judgment matter of joy and confidence, and matter of terror and
caution ; sometimes we are bidden to reflect upon it with joy and con
fidence, so as we may love his appearing, 2 Tim. iv. 8 ; to lift up our
heads, because our redemption draweth nigh, Luke xvii. 28 ; to rejoice
because we shall be partakers of the blessedness promised, 1 Peter iv.
14 ; at other times matter of fear and terror. These are not contrary ;
the one is to prevent slight thoughts, which are very familiar with us,
the other future perplexities and dejection of spirit ; the strictness of
our account, the dreadful consequence to those that shall be found
faulty, should not discourage us in the way of duty ; eternal wrath
should not be feared farther than to stir us up to renew our flight to
Christ, and to quicken us in his service, who hath delivered us from
wrath to come.
Secondly, The persons fearing, Paul and his colleagues, together
with all the parties who are to be judged. That the unspeakable terror
of the Lord is a rational, just and equitable ground of fear, we have
seen already ; but the doubt is how this could be so to Paul and his
colleagues, especially if we consider it mainly, as we ought, with res
pect to the execution of punishment, or the wrath of God, that shall
abide on the impenitent. I answer,
1. To be only moved with terror is slavish. The wicked may out
of fear of hell be frighted into a little religiousness, but Paul was
moved by other principles, hope and love as well as fear ; see the 14th
ver., ' The love of Christ constraineth us/ But this among the rest
is allowable ; it is one of the Spirit's motives to quicken us to fly to
Christ, and to take sanctuary at his grace, Heb. vi. 18 ; to engage us
to thankfulness for our deliverance, 1 Thes. i. 10 : yea, to stir us up
to more holy diligence and solicitude in pleasing God. Heb. xiii. 28,
29. The eternal wrath of God, among other things, doth rouse us
up to serve him with godly fear.
2. Though Paul and his colleagues had the love of God shed abroad
in their hearts, and were assured of his favour, and their everlasting
salvation, yet knowing the terror of the Lord, they had a deeper rever
ence of his majesty, and so afraid to displease him, or to be unfaithful
in their charge and trust, and could not endure that any others should
do so. Reverence of God, as one able to destroy us and cast body and
soul into hell-fire, is always necessary. The fear of reverence remaineth
in heaven, in the glorified saints and angels, and Christ presseth us to
this fear, Luke xii. 3, 4.
3. We must distinguish between a perplexing, distrustful fear, and
an aweful, preventive, eschewing fear. A distracting, tormenting fear
of hell, or the wrath of God, would weaken our delight in God, and
therefore the love of God casts out this fear, 1 John. iv. 18. But now
the aweful fear, fleeing from wrath to come, this doth not destroy peace
of conscience, or joy in the Holy Ghost, but guard it rather. This
VER. 11.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. 97
only quickeneth us to use those means by which we may avoid so
great an evil. Instances we have in scripture. Job, that was sure
that his Redeemer lived, Job xix., yet destruction from the Lord was a
terror to him, chap. xxxi. ; that is, he thought himself obliged to use all
those means by which he might shun so great an evil. So Paul ;
1 We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved,
we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in
the heavens ; ' yet, ' knowing the terror of the Lord.'
4. There are great reasons why this terror should have an influence
upon us, while we dwell in flesh.
(1.) Because it was once our due, Eph. iii. 2. And though we are
delivered from it by God's grace, yet still it is a fearful state, which
we cannot sufficiently shun and avoid. (2.) We still deserve it, after
grace hath made a change in our condition. There is no condemnation
to them that are in Christ, Bom. viii. 1, yet many things are con-
demnable. We now and then do those things for which the wrath of
God cometh upon the children of disobedience ; we deserve that God
should say to us, Depart, ye cursed. (3.) It is certainly a great and
extreme difficulty to get free from so great an evil, 1 Peter iv. 18.
We cannot get to the harbour but by encountering many a terrible
storm ; and God is fain to discipline us, that we may not be condemned
with the world, 1 Cor. xi. 32. I know I shall be saved, but it is a
difficult thing to save me.
Thirdly, The means ; how this fear cometh to be raised in us, ' know
ing.' This implieth three things : (1.) A clear and explicit apprehen
sion ; (2.) A firm assent ; (3.) Serious consideration.
1. A distinct knowledge of this article of Christ's coming to judg
ment : 1 Thes. v. 2, ' You yourselves know perfectly, that the day of
the Lord so cometh, as a thief in the night.' It is good not only to
know things, but to know them perfectly ; for though a man may be
saved by an implicit faith, as he knoweth things in their common
principle, yet explicit faith and plenitude of knowledge, or seeing
round about the compass of any truth, conduceth much to the practical
improvement of it ; instance in the creation of the world. To know
the general truth may make me safe, but a distinct explication thereof
maketh us more admire the wisdom, goodness, and power of God. So
for providence ; it engageth my dependence to know there is a pro
vidence, but it helpeth my dependence to know how it is managed for
the good of God's children : ' They that know thy name, will put their
trust in thee,' Ps. ix. 10. So the doctrine of justification by Christ.
The thing is plain in all points.
2. Firm assent : John xvii. 8, ' They have known surely,' aX^co?,
indeed or in truth; and Acts ii. 36, do-^aX&i?, assuredly, safely,
without danger of error. The certainty of faith mightily enlivens
our apprehensions of any truth, and makes them more forcible and
operative. But usually there is a defect in our assent ; hated truths
are usually suspected ; ministers speak of it coldly, and in jest, as if not
persuaded of what they say ; and we hearers learn it by rote. Yet this
I must say, God hath not only warned the world of wrath in the Old
Testament and the New ; but also natural light doth so far evidence
this truth, that in their serious and sober moods, men cannot get rid
VOL. XIII. G
98 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XVIII.
of the apprehensions of immortality and punishment after death. Reason
will tell us that God perfectly hateth sin, will terribly punish it ; we
cannot easily lay aside these fears, nor stifle them in our bosoms, nor
sport them away, nor jest them away ; when we are alone, or when
we are serious, or when we come to die, they will revive and haunt us.
But oh, that we were oftener alone, and would resuscitate and blow up
these sentiments which lie hid in the heart, and revive our faith
about them !
3. It implieth serious consideration ; knowing, that is, considering,
acting our thoughts upon it ; for next to sound belief, to make truths
active, there is required serious consideration. Thoughts of hell may
keep many out of hell. It is a moral means, which God may bless :
it will be no loss to Christians to think of their danger before they
incur it. They that cannot endure to think of it, or hear of it, dis
cover their guilt, and the security of their own hearts : presumption is
a coward, and a run-away, but faith meeteth its enemy in open field :
Ps. xxiii. 4, ' Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me/ It supposeth the
worst : suppose God should reject me ; consider with thyself aforehand,
as the unjust steward, Luke xvi., what to do when turned out of doors ;
how shall I make my defence 'when God shall rise up, what shall I
answer him ? ' Job xxxi. 14 ; what shall I then do ?
Fourthly. Here is persuasion as to the effect 1 and fruit of all ; which
implieth three things.
1. The thing to which they were persuaded. That is not mentioned,
but the matter in hand showeth it to be such things as would bear
weight in the judgment, and exempt them from wrath to come ; such
as faith, repentance, and new obedience. Faith in the Redeemer, 2
Thes. i. 10, Heb. vi. 18 ; repentance, Mat. iii. 19, and Acts iii. 19 ; new
obedience, Heb. v. 9, 2 Thes. i. 8 ; or a serious coming to Christ, and
hearty subjection to him, is the only way to escape that wrath. To
these we exhort and persuade you again and again ; without these you
are obnoxious to the severity of his revenging justice.
2. Earnest zeal and endeavours on the part of Paul and his col
leagues, and all that are like-minded with them ; they must not only
teach and instruct, but persuade : Col. i. 28, ' Warning every man,
and teaching every man, in all wisdom, that we may present every man
perfect in Christ Jesus.' He addeth, ver. 29, ' Whereunto I also labour,
striving according to his working.' The understanding is dark and
blind in the things of God, and needeth teaching. The will and affec
tions are perverse and backward, and they need warning. And there
fore we must warn, and teach ; warn, and that not in a cold or flaunting
manner, as if we were in jest, and did not believe the things we speak
of, but with such vigour, and labour, and striving, as becometh those
who would present them to Christ, as the travail of our souls, at the
last day, and as those who are sensible of the terror of the Lord our
selves.
3. It implieth a being persuaded on the people's part. For all that
mind their own welfare will take this warning, and since we must
shortly appear before the bar of the dreadful God to give an account
1 Qu. ' as the effect ' ? ED.
VKU. 11.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. ( J3
what use we have made of these persuasions. When God giveth
warning, and God giveth time, our condemnation is the more aggra
vated : Kev. ii. 21, ' I gave her space to repent, and she repented not.'
Warning and persuasion, as Reuben ; did not I warn you ? 2 Cor. vi.
1, 'We beseech you receive not this grace in vain.' God keepeth an
account of these warnings, Luke xiii. 7. And the importunity of
these pressing convictions which we have had ; every request and
exhortation made for God will be as a fiery dart in your souls. How
fresh will every sermon come into your minds ! the melting words of
exhortation which you were wont to hear, will be as so many hot
burning coals in your hearts, to torment you. It will be easier for the
people of Sodom and Gomorrah than for you, Mat. x. 15.
Use is, to teach us all to apply this truth. What Paul had spoken
in general concerning the last judgment, he applieth to himself. It
is not enough to have a general knowledge of truth, but we must
improve and apply them to our own use. Men of all ranks must do so.
1. It presseth preachers to persuade men. Oh, how diligently
should we study, how earnestly should we persuade, with, what love
and tender compassion should we beseech men, to escape this wrath to
come ! How unweariedly should we bear all opposition, and mocks,
and scorns, and unthankful returns ! How plainly should we rip up
men's sores, and open their very hearts to them ! How carefully
should we watch over every particular soul ! How importunate should
we be with all sinners, for their conversion, considering that shortly
they must be judged! 'Cry aloud, spare not/ Isa. Iviii. 1. It is a
notable help against a sleepy ministry to consider that those souls to
whom we speak, must within a while receive their everlasting doom.
When you find a deadness, rouse up yourselves by these thoughts, this
will put a life into your exhortations ; a sense of what we speak, zeal
for the glory of God, and compassion over souls, will not suffer us to
do the work of the Lord negligently.
2. To all Christians.
[1.] Persuade yourselves, commune with your own souls, Do I know
the terror of the Lord ? What have I done to escape it ? If you
would not fall into the hands of a living God, cast yourselves into the
arms of a dying Saviour. Hide yourselves before the storm cometh :
' If his anger be but kindled a little, blessed are all those that put
their trust in him,' Ps. ii. 12. Seek conditions of peace, while a great
way off, Luke xiv. A powerful enemy marcheth against us, especially
when you begin to grow negligent, dead-hearted, and apt to content
yourselves with a sleepy profession. Paul counted this terror, or
matter of fear, to be an help to him ; and should not we, who are so
much beneath him in holiness? Will you, that must shortly be in
another world, will you be careless, and please the flesh, and give up
the boat to the stream ?
[2.] Do you persuade your family, servants, friends, and neighbours,
with your children about it ; tell them what a dreadful thing it is ;
they have a conscience, apt to fear. Dives, in the parable, is repre
sented as desirous of his -brethren's welfare, lest they should come into
that place of torment: Luke xvi. 27, 28, 'Then he said, I pray thee
therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house, for
100 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XIX
1 have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come
into this place of torment.' Shall we be less charitable than a man in
hell is represented to be ? If we have a friend or a child falling into
the fire, we save him by violence, though we break an arm or a leg.
Your children by nature are children of wrath ; pluck them as brands
out of the burning.
SERMON XIX.
But we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest
in your consciences. For ice commend not ourselves again to you,
l)ut give you an occasion to glory on our behalf, that you may
have somewhat to answer them who glory in appearance, and not
in heart. 2 COR. v. 11, 12.
THE apostle having proved his sincerity and fidelity in his ministry,
now asserts it with confidence; (1.) By an appeal; (2.) An
apology.
1. An appeal to God, as the supreme judge ; and to the Corinthians,
as inferior witnesses. And he appealeth to the most impartial and
discerning faculty in them, their consciences, who are most apt to
give infallible judgment, and to take God's part, and own what is of
God.
2. By an apology, or answer to an objection, which might be framed
against him, by his adversaries, ver. 12 ; where, first, the objections
were intimated We commend not ourselves again to you. Secondly,
His vindication, from the end, the reason why he spake so much of his
fidelity and integrity But give you occasion to glory in our behalf,
that you may have somewhat to answer them. Thirdly, A description
of the false apostles at Corinth, or those vain-glorious teachers who
went about to lessen the apostle's authority : They glory in appearance,
and not in heart. Let me explain these passages.
[1.] The intimation of the objection ; ' For we commend not our
selves again to you.' The adversaries were wont to say upon all
occasions, he runneth out into his own praises ; which doth not become
a modest and a sober man, for boasting is the froth of pride ; and how
can Paul be excused from pride? This was the objection against
Paul, that he did commend himself too much.
[2.] Paul's answer and vindication was from his end. It was not
to set forth his own praise, but to arm them with an argument and an
answer against the false teachers, whereby they might defend his
ministry, and the doctrine they had heard from him ; it was not pride
and ostentation in Paul, but a necessary defence of the credit of his
ministry, their faith and obedience to the gospel depending thereupon.
[3.] The false apostles are described by their hypocrisy and ambi
tion : ' They glory in appearance, and not in heart/ For the opening
of this clause, observe, First, That there were false apostles at Corinth,
who sought to depreciate Paul, and to lessen the authority of his
VERS. 11, 12.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 101
doctrine: 2 Cor. xi. 13-15, 'For such are false apostles, deceitful
workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no
marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing, if his ministers also be transformed as
the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their
works.' Secondly, These false apostles were great boasters, and apt
to glory ; whenever they are spoken of, we hear of this glorying ;
' that wherein they glory, we may be even as they.' Thirdly, Their
glorying (as that of all hypocrites) was in some external thing. Called
a glorying h a-aprd, 2 Cor. xi. 18, ' Seeing that many glory after the
flesh, I will glory also ; ' and here ev irpocraiTro), OVK ev KapSla. But
what fleshly and external thing they gloried in, is not expressly
mentioned. Some leave it in the general, that they boasted before
men, otherwise than their conscience, and the truth of the thing did
permit: Omne id quod inter homines humana sapientes, maximi fieri
solet, Grot. Others instance in particular, birth, wealth, abilities of
speech, frothy eloquence, 1 Cor. ii ; in a coloured show of man's wisdom
and eloquence, and not in true godliness. Some think in the multitude
of their followers, or in the applause of their hearers ; some a show of
zeal, holiness and fidelity, when they were destitute of the truth of
godliness, and that sincerity which is truly a comfort ; some in their
taking no maintenance, to gain credit and advantage ; that appeareth
by 2 Cor. xi. 9. Of all the churches planted by the apostles, Corinth
was the richest, and Macedonia the poorest, yet Paul's preaching at
Corinth was maintained from Macedonia, 2 Cor. xi. 9. Wherefore ?
as he himself puts the question , ' That I may cut off occasion from
them that desire occasion, that wherein they glory, we may be found
even as they,' 2 Cor. xi. 12. But what if it be such things as had a
nearer connection with and respect to religion ; as their acquaintance
with Christ, that they had known him in the flesh, and owned him,
while yet alive, which is supposed to be intended in that expression ?
1 Cor. i. 12, ' I am of Christ ; ' others received the doctrine of life from
Peter, Paul, Apollos, they immediately from Christ himself. This
boasting these Corinthian doctors used, to keep up their own fame
among the people, and to weaken the credit and esteem of Paul's
apostleship ; for this objection lay against him, that he had not, as
other disciples, conversed with our Lord Jesus Christ, while he was
upon earth. Now Paul, that he might give the Corinthians occasion
to glory in his behalf, and furnish them with an answer to those
that gloried, eV TrpoawTrq) KCU ov /capSia, in external privileges, when
their consciences could give little testimony of their sincerity, Paul
had more valuable things to boast of, namely, that he was much in
spirit, much in labours, much in afflictions, for the honour of the
gospel. To all which he was carried out by the hopes of eternal life,
the terror of the Lord at the day of judgment, and the love of Christ;
these were more valuable considerations, whereupon to esteem any one,
than bare external privileges could possibly be ; nay, in their outward
privileges, he could vie with them, for though he was none of Christ's
followers, whilst he was here upon earth, yet herein he was equal to
them, if not exceeded them, by having seen Christ, and being spoken
to by him out 'of heaven ; therefore he saith, 1 Cor. ix. 1, ' Am not I
102 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XIX.
an apostle ? Have not I seen Jesus Christ the Lord ? ' But Paul
did not seek his esteem merely for his vision of Christ, and that
ecstasy which befell' him at his first conversion, but for his faithful
discharge of his work, on the grounds fore-mentioned, for he would
not glory, ev TrpoacoTrw as others did, but eV icapBia. Mortified
Christians, that have given up themselves to the Lord's use, should
more mind that, and esteem themselves and others for true and real
worth, more than the advantage of external privileges. I am con
firmed in this exposition by what is said, ver. 6, 'Wherefore, hence
forth know we no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known
Christ after the flesh, yet henceforth know we him no more ; ' that is,
we should not esteem and judge of persons by their conversing with
him in the flesh, but by their loyalty and obedience to him. If they be
zealous for his kingdom, and can upon the hopes which he hath
offered, run all hazards and encounters of temptations, and upon the
confidence of his coming to judgment be faithful to him, and out of
love to his person, and gratitude for the work of redemption, deny
themselves, and live to his glory, they have cause to glory in heart ;
whereas others, who boast only of personal acquaintance with him, but
are not sound in doctrine and the practice of religion, do only glory in
a mere appearance, or outward show before men, but can have no true,
solid confidence in their hearts. Well then, here lay the case between
Paul and his opposites ; they gloried in some external thing, which
could give no solid peace to the conscience ; but Paul could glory in
his perseverance, diligence, patience, and self-denial for the gospel ;
the sense of which made his heart rejoice. And by the way, the same
glorying may be taken up by all the faithful, painful preachers of the
gospel, against their opposites, who are the popish clergy ; who glory
in their pomp and their great revenues, and that they are the suc
cessors of the apostles, and can pretend an external title to this
inheritance, and sit in their chair, as Pope Alexander VI., Hcec
est bona persuasio, quia per lianc nos regnamus. Now you are to
judge, who are they that glory in heart or in appearance. They that
glory in their riches, or outward possession ? or they that glory in their
labours, sufferings, and converting of souls to God?
Doct. That then a man hath the full comfort of his sincerity, when
he hath the approbation of God, and of his own conscience, and hath
also a testimony in the consciences of others.
First, All these had Paul.
1. The approbation of God. For he saith, ' We are made manifest
unto God.' God knew both his actions and his aims, for the Lord
considereth both, Prov. xvi. 2. Now the Lord knew his labour, his
patience, his travelling up and down to promote the kingdom of his
Son, as also that he did this out of hope, fear and love. Paul's main
care was to approve himself to God, and to be accepted with God.
2. He had the testimony of a good conscience. Ho telleth them so
now, and told them so before: 2 Cor. i. 12, 'This is our rejoicing,
the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity, and godly sincerity,
not in fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we had our conversa
tion in the world, but more abundantly to you-ward.' Not by violent
or fraudulent means did he seek to promote the gospel, not his self-
VERS. 11, 12.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 103
opinions, not self-ends ; they had more experience than others, for
whereas he was maintained by the poorer towns, yet with them he
laboured with his hands, and still preached the gospel. As usually,
it falleth out often that handicraft people are more liberal for the
support of the ministry, than the gentry or nobles upon the account of
the gospel ; nay, though he could speak of seeing Christ, by extra
ordinary dispensation, yet he would glory rather in the real and general
evidences of grace than in any external privilege and advantage what
soever. If Paul had never seen Christ, yet he had wherein to glory.
3. And he had a testimony in their consciences, as well as his own :
' I trust also we are made manifest in your consciences.' He was con
fident that he had a witness in their bosoms of his sincere and upright
dealing. The greatest approbation that we can have from men, is to
have an approbation in their consciences, for conscience is the faculty
which is most apt to take God's part. We may easily gain their respect
and applause by complying with their humours, but that is not lasting ;
that will not do God's work and the gospel's. Our greatest advantage,
if we be faithful servants to God, will be to have a witness in their
consciences. Thus did Paul ; he wanted not opposers at Corinth ;
some questioned his apostleship, some slighted his abilities, some saw
no such evidence and excellency in his doctrine ; what should the poor
man do ? He courted not their affections by arts of insinuation, but
approved himself to their consciences.
But how did Paul commend himself to the Corinthians? By
three means.
[1.] By the evidence of his doctrine, which he managed with such
power and authority, that it was manifestly seen by all who had not a
mind to lose their souls, and were not prejudiced by their worldly in
terest, that it was not calculated for the lusts and interests of men,
but their salvation : 1. Cor. iv. 2, ' By the manifestation of the truth,
commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.'
Paul preached such necessary truths, as, if men were not strangely
perverted, they might see he aimed at their spiritual and eternal
benefit.
[2.] By the success of his doctrine : 2 Cor. iii. 1-3, ' Do we begin
again to commend ourselves, or need we, as some others, epistles of
commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you ? Ye are
our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men, foras
much as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, minis
tered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God ;
not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart.' The con
versions which he had wrought among them, gave a sufficient testimony
to their consciences, that he was not a vagrant self-seeker ; he had been
the instrument of transcribing the doctrine of Christ upon their hearts.
Paul prevailed with many at Corinth, and had converted many. God
himself assured him of this success : Acts, xviii. 9, 10, ' Then spake
the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak,
and hold not thy peace ; for I have much people in this city.' It was
an opulent, but a wanton town, but God would be with him, and had
much people ; therefore Paul ventured, and prevailed.
[3.] By the purity, holiness and self-denial which were seen in his
104 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XIX.
conversation : 2 Cor. vi. 4-6, ' But in all things approving ourselves
as ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities,
in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in
watchings, in fastings : By pureness, by knowledge, by long-sufferings-,
by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth,
by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness, on the right hand
and on the left,' &c. These were the evidences which he had in their
consciences the faithful discharge of his office in all sort of pressures,
wants, and exigencies ; as also by the constant study of the mind of
God, and purity of life, and abundance of Spirit, and sincere charity
and love to souls. By these things should a people choose a minister ;
and by these things did Paul approve himself to their consciences.
Secondly, All these may others have bating for the publicness of
his office and the extraordinary assistance of the Holy Ghost. All
ministers and all Christians may have an approbation of God, and the
testimony of their own consciences, and a witness in the consciences
of others.
1. They may have the approbation of God ; who certainly will not
be wanting to the comfort of his faithful servants. Partly, because he
hath promised not only to reward their sincerity at last, but to give
them the comfort of it for the present : John xiv. 21, ' He that hath
my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he
that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father : and I will love him, and
will manifest myself to him/ Let a man but love Christ, and be
faithful to him, and he is capable of this promise : God will love him,
and Christ will love him, and in testimony thereof, he will manifest
himself to him. Christ knoweth the burden of believers, and what
it costs them in the world to be faithful to him, and what sad
hours many times they have, who make conscience of obedience.
Now, to encourage them, the more seriously they engage in it, the
more evidences and confirmations they shall have of his love to them,
yea, sensible manifestations, and comfortable proofs thereof, shall still
be given out to them, in their course of a constant, uniform, diligent,
and self-denying obedience. Hidden love is as no love : Prov. xxvii.
5, ' Open rebuke is better than secret love.' As in our love to God, if
it be not manifested, it is but a compliment and vain pretence ; so in
God's love to us, though he hath not absolutely engaged for our com
fort, yet he hath his times of allowing special manifestations of himself
to his people, and lifting up the light of his countenance upon them.
Surely God will not be 'altogether strange, reserved, and hidden to a
loving, faithful, and obedient soul. They need more testimonies of his
favour than others do, and they shall not be without them. Partly,
because the Spirit of God is given us for this end, not only as a spirit
of sanctification, but of revelation, to witness God's acceptance of our
persons and services, and the great things which he hath promised for
us : 1 Cor. ii. 11, 12, ' What man knoweth the things of a man, save the
spirit of man which is in him ? even so the things of God knoweth
no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit
of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the
things that are freely given us of God.' None but the Holy Ghost
can know God's secrets, and reveal thereof to believers as much as
VERS. 11, 12.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 105
is needful for their salvation. For as man's own understanding can
only know man's secrets, so none can know God's secret thoughts, but
God's own Spirit. Now we have received not the spirit of the world,
which only carrieth a proportion with worldly things, but the Spirit
of God, which is given us to know the mind of God concerning us in
Christ. He doth not only reveal the mysteries of salvation in general,
but our own interest therein : Kom. viii. 16, ' The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.' The infinite
mercies of God being bestowed on us, God would not have them con
cealed from us ; thus we may have the approbation of God.
2. We may have the testimony of conscience concerning our
sincerity. For conscience is that secret spy which is privy to all our
designs and actions, and taketh notice of all that we are and do ;
therefore a man should or may know the acts of grace which he puts
forth. It is hard to think that the soul should be a stranger to its own
operations; the spirit in man knoweth the things of a man, much
more acts of grace ; partly, because they are the most serious and
important actions of our live. Many acts may escape us for want of
advertency, they not being of such moment ; but things that concern
our eternal interests, and done with the most advisedness and serious
ness, surely the man that is thus conversant about them, he will mind
what he doth, and how he doth it : 1 John ii. 3, ' Hereby we know
that we know him, if we keep his commandments : ' 1 Cor. ix. 26, ' I
therefore so run, not as uncertainly.' And partly, because acts of
grace are put forth with difficulty, and with some strife and wrestling ;
a man cannot believe, but he feeleth oppositions of unbelief : Mark
ix. 24, ' Lord, I believe, help my unbelief/ A man cannot love God,
and attend upon holy things, but he feeleth drowsiness and deadness
in his heatt, which must be overcome, though with difficulty : Cant.
v. 2, ' I sleep, but my heart waketh.' A man cannot obey God, or
do any serious good action, but the flesh will be opposing : Gal. v. 17,
' For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the
flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other ; ' and Rom. vii. 21,
' I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with
me.' Now things difficult, and carried on with opposition, must needs
leave a notice and impression of themselves upon the conscience. And
partly, because there is a special delight which accompanieth acts of
grace, by reason of the excellency of the object they are conversant
about, and by reason of the greatness and excellency of the power they
are assisted withal, and the excellency and nobleness of the faculties
they are acted by. Faith can hardly be exercised about the pardon
of sin, or the hopes of glory, but a man findeth some peace and joy
in believing, Rom. xv. 13. Acts of love and hope are pleasant ; a
prospect of eternity is delightful. Now any notable pleasure and
delight of mind notifieth itself to the soul ; and therefore, upon the
whole, we may have glorying if we love and fear God, and hope for
eternal life from him, and thereupon study to approve ourselves to
to him ; conscience, which is privy to these things, will witness them
to us.
3. We may leave a testimony in the consciences of others, if we keep
up the majesty of our conversations ; for such is the excellency and honour
106 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XIX.
of religion and godliness, that when it shineth in its strength it dazzleth
the eyes of beholders, even of wicked men, and maketh them wonder
at it, and stand in awe of it. And where it is evident and eminent
it will do so indeed ; where Christians are Christians in a riddle, and
show forth more of the flesh than of the spirit, there is no such thing ;
but where religion is in life and vigour it will discover itself : as
John's sanctity extorted reverence and regard from Herod, Mark vi.
20, ' Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and strict man.'
Holiness is the image of God, and so far cominendeth its reverence
and esteem ; as the image of God in Adam was a terror to the beasts,
and when nothing but the natural image was left, Gen. ix. 2, ' The
fear and dread of you shall be upon every beast of the field;' so
much more the spiritual image of God. Ahab stood in fear of Elijah.
Certainly a godly life is convincing, and darts awe into the conscience.
It is convincing either potentially or actually. Potentially, such as
is apt to convince, and of its own nature tendeth thereunto, as Christ
saith, John vii. 7, ' The world hateth me because I testify of it, that
their works were evil.' Not only by reproofs, but conversation;
the world would not acknowledge it, but they felt it ; so those that
bear witness against the evil courses of the world, either by the holi
ness of their doctrine or innocency of life, do convince others ; they
have a testimony in their consciences, though they will not acknow
ledge it. Or actually, which doth so convince, that it draweth out
an acknowledgment. The former may be without the latter, as the
sun is apt to enlighten, but it cannot make a blind man, or one that
winketh hard, see. But, however, Christians should live convincing
lives, as pure streams run, though none drink of them. They may
convert others, for conversion is facilitated by good conversation;
yet religion is honoured by the testimony in their consciences, though
they will not acknowledge it, at least it will be a testimony at the
day of judgment against impenitent sinners.
Thirdly, All these we should look after the approbation of God,
the testimony of conscience, and a testimony in the consciences of
others. In a moral consideration there are three beings God, neigh
bour, self ; and therefore we should approve ourselves to God, and
look after this threefold approbation.
1. The approbation of God must be chiefly sought after first. We
cannot be sincere without it. For sincerity is a straight and right
purpose to please God in all things ; and this should be our aim, to
approve ourselves to God in all that we do, and therefore should do
all things as in his eye and presence : Gen. xvii. 1, ' Walk before me,
and be thou upright ; ' and Luke i. 75, ' In holiness and righteous
ness before him, all the days of our lives.' This is it which maketh
men conscientious in all their actions, when they remember that the)'
are now acting a part before the great God, who looketh on, either to
reward or punish ; it checketh sin, though never so secret, and though
it might be carried on with security enough from men ; yea when
we may sin not only securely, but with advantage and profit : Gen.
xxxix. 9, ' How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God ? '
So, Job xxxi. 4, ' Doth he not see my ways, and count all my steps ? '
therefore he durst not give way to any sin. So, Ps. xliv. 21,
VERS. 11, 12.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 107
' Shall not God search this out, for he knoweth the secrets of the
heart ? ' Secondly, it maketh us faithful in all our duties and services,
when we strive to approve ourselves to God, and do all as in his
presence, to the praise and glory of his name, and can appeal for our
fidelity to no other judge but the great searcher of hearts, from whom
we cannot be concealed. The apostle instanceth in two callings;
one of the highest, and one of the meanest. One of the highest and
of most importance to the other world, that of a minister : 2 Cor.
iv. 2, 'Commending ourselves to every man's conscience, as in the
sight of God ; ' and 1 Thes. ii. 4, ' So we preach the gospel, not as
pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.' A minister will
never be faithful unless he first study to approve himself to God, and
behaveth himself as in God's eye and presence, and one that is to
give an account to God. So in the lowest, a Christian servant, Eph.
vi. 6, 7, ' Not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but as the servants of
Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good-will doing
service, as to the Lord, not to men.' So, Col. iii. 22, ' Not with eye-
service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God.' So,
Titus ii. 10, ' Not purloining, but showing all good fidelity, that they
may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.' A Christian
servant useth all diligence in his master's business, whether he be
absent or present, and fidelity in all things committed to his trust,
though he might be false with secrecy enough ; because he fears God,
and would approve himself to him. Well, then, we must study to
approve ourselves to God, and be alike in all places and companies,
for all things are manifest to him.
2. The testimony of conscience must be regarded. First, because
it is matter of true joy and comfort to a Christian : 2 Cor. i. 12, ' This
is our rejoicing, the testimony of our conscience.' I prove it from the
office of conscience; it is both judge, witness, and executioner. Con
science is the judgment that every man maketh upon his actions,
morally considered. As a man acteth or doth anything, so lie is a
party ; as he loveth to view or censure it, so he is a judge ; the
morality considered as to their good or evil, rectitude or obliquity, in
them, with respect to praise or dispraise, reward or punishment. Now
joy is one part of executing the sentence of conscience, as fear is the
other. Conscience is usually more felt after the act is over, than
before or in it. For during the action the judgment of reason is not
so clear and strong, the affections raising mists and clouds to darken
the mind. In the act we feel the difficulties, or the pleasure of sin ;
but after the act, the violence of the affection ceaseth, and then reason
taketh the throne, and doth affect the mind with joy or grief, according
as a man hath done good or evil with grief and terror, if the sensual
appetite have been obeyed before itself; with delight, if he hath denied
himself, and been faithful with God. Rewards and punishments are
not altogether kept for the life to come. Hell is begun in an ill
conscience, and a good conscience is heaven upon earth. Secondly,
this joy that cometh from the testimony of conscience is very strong ;
it will fortify us against false imputations, when Christians can say,
We are not the men you make us to be by your false reports. Job
saith, ' You shall not take away mine integrity, nor will I let my
108 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SEE. XIX.
innocency go till I die,' Job xxvii. 5. Paul would not pass for man's
sentence, 1 Cor. iv. 3. Yea, it will fortify us against accusations
internal, arising from defects and failings : ' I sleep, but my heart
waketh,' Cant. v. 2. A gospel conscience will acquit us, yea, it com
forts in sickness : Isa. xxxviii. 3, ' Kemember, Lord, I have walked
before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart.' A sick man when his
appetite is gone, then he can eat nothing; a good conscience is a
continual feast.
3. The latter testimony in the consciences of others is to be regarded.
Here let me show you, (1.) That it is to be regarded ; (2.) How far.
[1.] That it is to be regarded.
(1.) Partly, because the safety and credit of our service dependeth
upon it. When we have a testimony in the consciences of men, it is
a restraint to violence: Mark vi. 19, 20, 'Herodias would have killed
John, but she could not, for Herod feared John, because he was a
just man.' So Paulinus was spared by Valens. Wicked men fear
the good, but hate them. When their hatred is greater than their
fear, then no mercy ; now it is grievous, when their fear is lessened
by our scandals.
(2.) This is not affectation of praise, but doing things praise-worthy.
Our care must be to do our duty, and trust God with our credit.
Most men do otherwise ; they would have honour from men, but
neglect their duty to God : ' Yet honour me before the people,' 1 Sam.
xv. 30. We are careless of service, and yet hunt for praise. Austin's
rule is good : Laus humana non appeti debet, sed sequi it is not a
thing to be desired, but it must follow of its own accord ; if it be the
event of the action, let it not be the aim. So Aquinas : Gloria bene
contemnitur, nihil male agenda propter ipsam, et bene appetitur, nihil
male agenda contra ipsam a good fame is well contemned by doing
nothing evil for it ; well desired by doing nothing evil against it.
(3.) Complying with the humours of men is dangerous, but leaving
a witness in their consciences is safe ; for conscience is God's deputy,
the most serious faculty in us. Let us convince others, though we aim
not at their applause : 1 Pet. iii. 16, ' Having a good conscience, that
whereas they speak evil of you, as of evil-doers, they may be ashamed,
that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.'
[2.] How far it may be regarded.
(1.) Surely so far as that we should not forfeit it by any sin, or
imprudent action, or indiscretion of ours : 2 Cor. vi. 3, ' Giving no
offence in anything, that the ministry be not blamed ; ' so that the
profession be not blamed, that the way of truth be not evil spoken of.
(2) So far as to make a just apology, or vindication of our credit
from aspersions. As Paul in the text, wherein he doth not intend his
own apology, so much as the apology of the gospel. A holy life ia
the best apology : 1 Peter ii. 15, ' With well-doing we put to silence
the ignorance of foolish men.' Muzzle or stop the mouths of gain-
sayers ; yet we may make apologies, that the truth suffer not.
(3.) The utmost end must be the glory of God and the honour of
the gospel : Mat. v. 16, ' Let your light so shine before men, that they
may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven ;'
1 Peter ii. 12, ' That they may by your good works which they shall
VERS. 11, 12.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 109
behold, glorify God in the day of visitation/ They do not glorify you,
but God, that entertain a good opinion of the Christian religion.
(4.) That though this threefold approbation must be looked after,
yet every branch of it in its proper place. The order is, that we should
first look to God, and then our own consciences, and afterwards a
testimony in the consciences of others ; for thus downward, the one
succeeding the other, then a man hath the full comfort of his sincerity,
but if upward, and singly, or apart, it will not hold ; as if a man had
the approbation of others, but not of his own conscience ; or if of his
own conscience, but not of God ; if of others, a man cannot rejoice in
the testimony of another man's conscience, because another man saith
I am a good man ; for another man knoweth not the springs and
motives of my actions. Or if I had the bare testimony of mine own
conscience, that would not be sufficient for my comfort : 1 Cor. iv. 4,
' For I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified ; ' there
is a higher judge, for I am blind, partial, and unadvised; till the
Spirit concurreth with the witness of conscience, I cannot have a firm
and solid peace : Horn. ix. 1, ' I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my
conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost ;' and Kom. viii.
16, 'The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God.' There are two witnesses, God's Spirit and our
conscience. But now descendendo, it holdeth good, and many times
one inferreth all the rest. If I have the approbation of God, his
Spirit beareth witness with my conscience, and he hath also the hearts
and tongues of men in his own hand, or if that be not, the approbation
of God is absolutely necessary for my salvation; the testimony of
conscience is very comfortable, and the third conduceth much to our
safety, and service in the world. My salvation dependeth upon the
approbation of God ; my inward comfort upon the witness of his
Spirit in my conscience ; my outward peace and service upon a
testimony in the consciences of others. I observe this to a double
end.
(1st.) To direct us in point of duty. A good man should look more
to God than to conscience ; and to conscience more than to fame and
report ; to a good name in the last place. First he looketh to God,
\vho is above conscience, and who is an infallible judge ; and then he
looketh to conscience, which is God's deputy ; and then to good report
among men. Invert this order, and great inconvenience will follow.
Look to men above God, and it maketh a breach upon sincerity, John
v. 44, and John xii. 42. Therefore it is not man, or glory and praise
from him, but God alone, that the sincere heart is fixed upon ; as
those that run in a race (as the Scripture often compareth our Christian
course) did not regard the acclamations of the spectators, but the
opinion of the qucestor palestrce, or the judge of the sports, who was
to determine on whose side the victory was. So again, if the last be
set before the second, it will be almost as bad. A Christian cannot be
safe, if he doth not value and prize the witness of a good conscience
before the opinion of men. for then by humouring men a man dis-
pleaseth conscience, which is his best friend of all things, and above
all persons ; next to God, a man should reverence his own conscience
most So again, if the second be set in the first place, if the judgment
110 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XX.
of conscience be preferred before that of God, what will be the issue
but the hardening of the wicked, whose blind conscience is set in the
place of God ? Prov. xvi. 2, ' All the ways of a man are clean in his
own eyes : but the Lord weigheth the spirit.'
(2c%.) To fortify our patience. A man must be approved of God,
though his own heart speaketh bitter things to him ; the sentence of
God is to be sought in his word. If he mindeth his duty, seeketh after
grace more than peace, is resolved to approve himself to God, though
he cannot yet assure his heart -before him, let the general comforts of
Christianity encourage him to wait. Duty thoroughly followed will
bring peace in time. We must absolutely endeavour to seek the first.
Again, if we have first and second, we must be thankful, though we
want the third ; and well satisfied, if approved of God, though dis-
esteemed of the world. We must submit to God's providence, and bear
our burden of reproach, if we cannot overcome prejudices, however we
must do nothing to feed it, nothing to procure it.
Use of all.
1. Let us study to approve ourselves to God, before whom we, and
all that we do, are manifest ; sincerity beginneth there, seeketh the
approbation of God: 'He is commended whom God commendeth,'
1 Cor. x. 18. Our final sentence must come out of his mouth. Next
let us look to this, that we glory not in appearance, but in heart, that
we may have the solid rejoicing of conscience : Job xxvii. 6, ' My heart
shall not reproach me till I die.' Faith, love and hope will only give
us that ; not external privileges. Oh, then, let us keep up the majesty
of our profession, that so we may have a testimony in the consciences
of men : it will be our safety. In the primitive, times they invested
Christians with bears' skins, and then baited them as bears. So Satan
is first a liar, and then a murderer, 1 John ii. 4.
Use 2. Here is something to defend the poor ministers of Christ
Jesus. I trust you. desire to glorify God, and save souls, and that out
of hope, fear and love. Some glory in outward advantages only, their
church privileges ; but I trust we can glory in heart. They burden
us with imputations. No enemies, next the devil, are like minister to
minister : Ab implacabilibus odiis theologorum libera nos,Dominef We
all own the same bible, believe the same creed, are baptized into the
same profession ; if any be more serious in it than others, should they
therefore be discountenanced ? If it be their desire to save souls, and
guide them to their eternal rest, it is ours also. So far as they glory in
heart, we do even as they.
SERMON XX.
For whether ive be beside ourselves, it is to God ; or whether we be
sober, it is for your cause 2 COR. v. 13.
PAUL, glorying in his fidelity, was charged by the false apostles with
two things : (1.) That he was proud ; (2.) Mad. The first objection
VER. 13.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. Ill
is answered, ver. 12 ; the second in the text. As to the charge of
emotion of mind, or madness, (1.) There is a seeming concession, or
taking their charge for granted : if it be madness, it is for God. His
reply is, that he had spoken these things for God's glory, and their
salvation : if I extol my ministry, which you count madness, it is for
the glory of God, that the gospel be not brought into contempt ; if I
speak humbly of myself, as becometh sober men, it is for your profit.
(2.) By way of correction, he showeth the true cause of it, which was
a high constraining love to Christ, ver. 14.
Observe in the text two points
1. That carnal men count the holy servants of God to be a sort of
mad folks.
2. That a Christian in all postures of spirit aimeth at the glory of
God.
For the first point
1. I shall show you, that it is so.
2. I shall inquire what it is in Christianity that is usually counted
madness.
3. The reasons of it.
4. To show how justly this may be retorted to show that it is a
perverse judgment and censure, which rather belongeth to themselves
than those that fear God.
First, That it is so, the scriptures evidence, 2 Kings ix. 11. When
God sent a prophet to anoint Jehu, the captain said, ' Wherefore came
this mad fellow to thee ? ' God's messengers have been so accounted
from time to time. So Jeremiah by Shemaiah, ' This man is mad, and
maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldst put him in prison, and
in the stocks/ The same thought Festus of Paul : Acts xxvi. 24, ' Too
much learning hath made thee mad. I am not mad, most noble Festus,
but speak the words of truth and soberness.' Yea, the Lord Jesus
himself could not escape this imputation, no, not from his own kinsmen,
for when he was abroad doing good, and promoting the affairs of his
kingdom, and constituting apostles, it is said, Mark iii. 21, 'When
his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold of him ; for they said,
' He is beside himself/ e'^ecrr?;, as here the false teachers e^eo-r^/zey, ' if
we be beside ourselves.' Another time his enemies : John x. 20, ' Many ,
of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad ; why hear ye him ? ' And
still in all ages the zealous are counted frantic, fanatical, heady,' rash,
furious, and men beside themselves, because they have entirely
given up themselves to do the will of God, whatever it costs them.
Secondly, What is that in Christianity which is usually counted mad
ness ? What it was in Paul, interpreters agree not. Grotius thinketh his
enemies did upbraid him with his ecstasies; he was converted by a trance
and rapture, whereof he giveth an account, 2 Cor. xii. 1-4, &c. Others,
his self- denial. Paul had no regard to himself ; his great purpose was
to serve God and the church ; as here he professeth he was ready to
be accounted mad or sober, so God might be glorified, and their profit
promoted. Some, his acting or speaking in zeal, above that which. is
ordinarily called temper and sobriety, which is indeed the dull pace of
the world. Certainly Paul was an extraordinary person, and had a
deep sense of the other world, and therefore the carnal will be no fit
112 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XX.
judges of bis spirit; but most simply and agreeable to the context,
to speak thus largely of himself, seemed to them to be the work of a
distracted, or foolish person. And so, 2 Cor. xi., ' 1 would to God you
could bear with me ;' and vers. 16', 17, ' I say again, let no man think
me a fool ; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast
myself a little.' If it had been for his own honour, the objection would
have force. But what he did herein, he meant for the glory of God
and the gospel.
But that which is counted madness ordinarily in Christians, is either
seriousness in religion ; when men will not flaunt, and rant, and please
the flesh, as others do, but take time for meditation, and prayer, and
other holy duties, they that choose a larger sort of life, think them
mopish and melancholy ; or else self-denial ; when they are upon the
hopes of the world to come, dead to present interests, and can forsake
all for a naked Christ, the world thinks this folly and madness. In
the judgment of the flesh it seemeth to be a mad and foolish thing to
do all things by the prescript of the word, and to live upon the hope of
an unseen world. Or else zeal in a good cause. It is in itself a good
thing : Gal. iv. 18, ' It is good to be zealously affected always in a good
thing.' But the world is wont to call good evil ; as astronomers call
the glorious stars by horrid names, as the serpent, the greater and
lesser bear, and the dog-star, and the like. God will not be served in
a cold and careless fashion : Horn. xii. 11, ' Fervent in spirit,
serving the Lord/ This will not suit with that lazy pace which
pleaseth the world, therefore they speak evil of it. Another is a holy
singularity, as Noah was an upright man in a corrupt age, Gen. vi. 9.
And we are bidden, Eom. xii. 2, not to conform ourselves to this
world. Now to walk contrary to the course of this world, and the
stream of common examples, and to draw hatred upon ourselves, and
hazarding our interests, for cleaving close to God and his ways, is
counted foolish by them who wholly accommodate themselves to their
interests : John xv. 19, ' The world will love his own ; but because ye
are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, there
fore the world hateth you.' Once more, fervours of devotion, or an
earnest conversing with God in humble prayer ; the world,- who are
sunk in flesh and matter, are, little acquainted with the elevations, and
enlargements of the spirit, think all to be imposture and enthusiasm.
And though praying by the Spirit be a great privilege, Jude 20, Rom.
viii. 26, Zee. xii. 10, yet it is not relished by them ; a flat, dead vra,y
of praying suiteth their gust better. Christ compareth the gospel to
new wine, which will break old bottles, Mat. ix. 17 ; as fasting in
spirit, praying in spirit. A little dead, insipid taplash, or spiritless
worship, is more for the world's turn. Missa non mordet.
Thirdly, The reasons why it is so.
1. Natural blindness: 2 Cor. ii. 14, ' 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.'
They are incompetent judges : Prov. xxiv. 7, ' Wisdom is too high for
a fool.' For though by nature we have lost our light, we have not lost
our pride : Prov. xxvi. 16, ' The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit
than seven men that can render a reason.' Though men's way be but
VER. 13.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 113
a sluggish, lazy, dead way, yet they have an high conceit of it, and
censure all that is contrary, or but a degree removed above it. And
therefore is it that worldly and carnal men judge perversely and
unrighteously of God's servants, and count zeal and forwardness in
religious duties to be but madness ; which is a notable instance of the
miserable blindness of our corrupt nature.
2. Prejudicate malice, which keepeth them from a nearer inspection
of the beauty of God's ways, and the reasons and motives which his
children are governed by. Their eyes are blinded by the god of this
world, 2 Cor iv. 4, and their own forestalled prejudices ; and then who
is so blind as they that will not see ? In the ancient apologies of
Christians, they complained that they were condemned unheard, and
without any particular inquiry into their principles and practices:
Nolentes audire, quod auditum damnare non possunt, Tertull. They
would not inquire, because they had a mind to hate. And Ccelius
Secundus Curio hath a notable passage in the Life of Galeacius
Caracciolas, which was the occasion of his conversion. The story is
thus. One John Francis Casarta, who was enlightened with the
knowledge of the gospel, was very urgent with this nobleman, his
cousin, to come and hear Peter Martyr, who then preached at Naples.
One day, by much entreaty, he was drawn to hear him, not so much
with a desire to learn and profit, as out of curiosity. Peter Martyr
was then opening the first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, and
showing how blind and perverse the judgment of the natural under
standing is in things spiritual ; and also the efficacy of the word of
God on those in whom the Spirit worketh. Among other things he
useth this similitude, that if a man riding in an open country should
see afar off men and women dancing together, and should not hear
the music according to which they dance and tread out their measures,
he would think them to be fools and madmen, because they appear in
such various motions, and antic gestures and postures-. But if he
come nearer, so as to hear the musical notes, according to which they
dance, and observe the regularity of the exercise, he will change his
opinion of them, and will not only be delighted with the exactness
thereof, but find a motion in his mind to stand still and behold them,
and to join with them in the exercise. The same, saith he, happeneth to
them who when they see a change of life, company, fashions, conver
sation in others, at their first sight impute it to their folly and mad
ness, but when they begin more intimately to weigh the thing, and to
hear the harmony of the Spirit of God and his word, by which rule this
change and strictness is directed and required, that which they judged
to be madness and folly they see to be wisdom and reason, and are
moved to join themselves with them, and imitate them in their course
of life, and forsake the world and the vanities thereof, that they may
be sanctified in order to a better life. This similitude stuck in the
mind of this noble marquis (as he was wont to relate it to his familiar
friends), that ever afterward he 'wholly applied his mind to the search
of the truth and the practice of holiness, and left all his honours and
vast possessions for a poor life, in the profession of the gospel at
Geneva. Well then, it is because prejudice condemneth things at a
VOL. XIII. H
114 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiU. XX.
distance, and men will not take a nearer view of the regularity of the
ways of godliness.
3. Because they live contrary to that life which they affect, and do by
their practice condemn it. This reason is given by the apostle, 1 Peter
iv. 4, ' Wherein they think it strange, that you run not with them into
the same excess of riot : speaking evil of you.' Worldly men think
there is a kind of happiness in their sort of life, which is so plausible
and pleasing to the flesh, they cannot but wonder at it ; and as long
as they are carnal, they cannot discern those spiritual reasons which
make believers abhor their kinds of conversation, and therefore censure
and judge them as a sort of crazy brains, that do not know what is
good for them. Men that live in any sinful course are unwilling that
any should part company with them in their way wherein they will
go, that there may be none to make them ashamed, which testify that
their deeds are evil, John vii. 7, or to condemn by their practice what
they allow, Heb. xi. 7 ; and the sweetness of Christ's service is wholly
hid from them, and therefore are never more furiously confident than
when most deceived and most blind, and others appear in a real con
tradiction to their humours.
Fourthly, Let us see how justly this crimination may be retorted,
and that their way is properly madness. And in this sense bedlam is
everywhere : the whole world is a dreaming, distracted world, a mere
incurable bedlam.
1. If you will stand to the judgment of God, the case is determined,
that every carnal man is a fool, and out of his wits. There is all the
reason in the world, that he should be counted a fool, and one beside
himself, whom God calleth fool, for he is best able to judge, because
he is the fountain of wisdom: Ps. xlix. 13, the Holy Ghost hath
determined the case, ' This their way is their folly.' Job's hypocrites,
and Solomon's fools, and those whom John calleth the world, and
Paul the carnal, they are all the same company, only diversified in
the notion.
2. We will give them as partial a judge as can be. First, In the
judgment of their own hearts, they are fools and madmen when they
are serious. As when a man is convinced by the Spirit of God, he
cometh to himself; as it is said of the prodigal, Luke xv. 17, 'He
came to himself.' The first thing that he is convinced of is the folly
and madness of his carnal course. Therefore every one of us must
become a fool that he may be wise, 1 Cor. iii. 18 ; a child of God,
when he cometh out of a temptation, Ps. Ixxiii. 22, ' I was as a beast
before thee;' Titus iii. 3, 'We were sometimes foolish," madmen, or
men out of our wits, in regard of our perverse choice ; and till we
repent, we are never ourselves ; then we are in our wits again. The
prodigal grew in his folly, till he came to his father ; and he went not
to his father, till he came to himself. We then come to ourselves when
we know our folly, mourn for it, and seriously amend it. The first
degree of wisdom is to know our folly ; the second to turn from it, and
betake ourselves to a wiser course. Secondly, When he cometh to die :
Luke xii. 20, ' Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.'
Why fool ? Because everything was provided for but that which should
be most provided for, his precious and immortal soul. He that pro-
VER. 13.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 115
videth but for half, and that the worser half, and that but for a short
time, is a fool. In his greatest extremity his eyes are opened : Jer.
xvii. 11, 'At his latter end, he shall be a fool.' In the conviction of
his own conscience, his heart will rave at him. fool ! vain mad
man ! death bloweth away all vain conceits and fancies, when all our
vain pursuits and projects will leave us in the dirt. Thirdly, Plain
reason will evidence carnal men to be beside themselves. I prove it
thus. There is in madness two things, amentia et furor, folly and
fury. That there are both these in a carnal man, I shall prove by
these demonstrations, for a taste.
[1.] There is in them the folly of a distracted man, or one bereft of
his senses, even in the wisest worldlings and sensualists.
(1.) Though they acknowledge a God, by whom and for whom they
were made, and from whom they are fallen by sin, and cannot be happy
but in returning to him, yet the worldly man knoweth no misery but
in bodily and worldly things, no happiness but in pleasing his senses.
The beginning, progress, and end of his course is all from himself, in
himself, and to himself, looking only to things near at hand ; every toy
that pleaseth his humour is good to him, poureth out his heart upon
it and loseth himself for it, and will neither admit information of his
error, nor reformation of his practice, till death destroy him, and the
God that made him is forgotten days without number : Horn. iii. 10,
' There is none that understandeth, and seeketh after God.'
(2.) They that neglect their main business, and leave it undone,
and run up and down, they know not why, nor wherefore, surely they
act like mad and distracted, not like wise and rational men. Now,
alas ! worldly and carnal men spend their time and cares for nothing,
like children and boys that follow a bubble blown out of a shell of soap,
till it break and dissolve. This is the most serious business of worldly
wise men, they court a vain world, which they seem to count religion ;
and though they believe eternal life and death, yet they make no great
matter of it. And though ail their life should be spent in fleeing from
wrath to come, and seeking after heaven in the first place, yet they
never seriously inquire whether they shall be in heaven or in hell.
They know they must shortly die, and be in one of them, either endless
joy or misery ; yet they have not the wit to avoid damnation, or to pre
fer heaven above inconsiderable vanities ; but, like busy ants, run up
and down their molehill, lay out their time and thoughts upon imper
tinences ; and some of them are blaspheming of God, and scoffing at
the religion they do profess ; others whoring and debauching ; others
flying in the face of them that would curb their folly ; others running
after preferment, and so eager in the pursuit of some worldly honour,
which they know to be slippery ; but they run after it, as if it were
their only felicity, over-running one another like boys at foot-ball, and
contending so earnestly, as if it were some great, desirable prize ; others
grasping after the world with both hands, though within a little while
it must fall to they know not who, and be spent they know not how.
Come to any of those and interpose a few sober and serious words
about eternity, they will answer as Antigonus, when one presented him
with a treatise of summum bonum, or true happiness, he answered ' I
am not at leisure/ Or as Felix, when his conscience wambled, said to
116 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XX.
Paul, I will send for thee at a more convenient season. Now what
are all these but a company of madmen ? Their great business lieth
by, and trifles take up their time and care and thoughts. Men are sun
dry ways out of their wits, and only one way in them, that is, when
the true fear of God and the sense of the other world ruleth in their
hearts. But every one is so wedded to his lusts, that they will not con
sider and repent, or suffer admonition. Oh, the folly and madness of
the world ! Oftentimes it is seen that men are counted mad, who are
bound in fetters, when madder men are walking at liberty.
(3.) Another instance of their madness is their perverse choice.
He is a wise merchant that selleth all for the pearl of price, Mat. xiii.
46. A child will prefer an apple, or a nut, before a precious pearl ;
and a madman will part with things of value for a trifle. Is that man
wise that selleth his birthright for a morsel of meat? Heb. xii. 15 ; that
damneth his soul, and selleth his salvation, for so small a pleasure as
sin affordeth ? that to gratify a lump of flesh, that was dust in its
composition, and will be dust again in its dissolution, with a little
temporary vain pleasure, hazards his immortal soul, with all the interests
and concernments thereof, and changes his part in God and glory for
a little carnal satisfaction ?
(4.) They that are the worst enemies to themselves, certainly they
act as mad and distracted men ; as you would count those deservedly
mad who are ready to cut their own throats, and gash and wound them
selves, and rend and tear themselves, and do themselves a mischief.
Now, who is a worse enemy to himself than a carnal person ? Prov. viii.
36, ' He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul : and all they
that hate me love death.' They are self-destroyers and self-murderers
in the worst sense, for they destroy their own souls ; they make it their
business to bar up the gates of heaven against themselves, and kindle
and blow up the unquenchable fire, wherewith they shall be tormented
for evermore ; and with a great deal of cost and stir and care, do labour
for damnation ; it is not their intent, but is the necessary result of their
actions ; it is finis operis, but not finis operantis ; it tends to this :
Kom. vi. 21, ' The end of these things is death.'
(5.) In their confidence and presumption. As the madman at
Athens challenged all the ships that came into the harbour for his
own ; so they believe they are running to heaven when they are post
ing to hell ; like rowers in a boat, they look one way and go contrary.
He is called a foolish builder who would raise a stately building upon
a sandy foundation, Mat. vii. 24 ; so to lay on such a structure of con
fidence upon such slender grounds as they have, to hope for anything
from God, is an instance of their madness.
(6.) In boasting of their folly and madness. Nature is much dis
torted ; man fallen is but the anagram of man in innocency ; shame is
translated ; we are confident where we should be ashamed, and are
ashamed where we should be confident. We should own God and
religion with an holy boldness, but we conceal it, and sneak pitifully ;
but glory in our shame, Phil. iii. 19, as if a man besmeared with dung-
should cry it up for an ornament. We are conceited of our carnal
practices. ' The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,' saith Solomon,
Prov. xii. 15 ; and so we glory in that which should be matter of
VER. 13.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 117
mourning and confusion of face to us : Eccles. x. 3, ' When he also that
is a fool, walketh in the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to
every one that he is a fool.' If it be meant of the wicked fool, it is
meant of his glorying in his shame, and his boasting of his sins as
ornaments.
[2.] Now for the other property, fury. It is also the madness that
is in carnal and worldly men : Eccles. ix. 3, ' The heart of the sons of
men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart.' There is a violent,
heady, pertinacious pressing to evil and sin. How fierce and furious
are men in a way of sin, under the passionateness of any lust ! The
slaves of sin are as a man possessed with a legion of devils in the
Gospel, who rent and tore his clothes, and all the cords wherewith they
bound him ; nay, they are worse than he, for in his fury he broke his
bonds, but they double and strengthen theirs. When a man is given
over to the rage and madness of his own nature, how is the soul over
borne by boisterous and filthy lusts ! They go on furiously and fro-
wardly, nothing can put a stop to their raging lusts, but they cast off
all restraints of reason, and conscience and grace. The prophet said,
Jer. 1. 38, ' They are mad upon their idols,' blind with fury against the
ways of God, and the church : Ps. cii. 9, ' Mine enemies reproach me
all the day, they are ms^d against me.' Now this madness of nature is
seen in that all respects of danger and loss, fear of death, judgment,
and hell, will not contain them within their duty; they run upon God
himself, and the thick bosses of his buckler, Job. xvi. 21. Every sin
is a contest with God, an holding war with the almighty, 1 Cor. x. 22 ;
and wilful sin an open and a plain contest, as if we could make our
party good against him ; and when we remain under the power of a
carnal mind, we are in a state of enmity against God, Kom. viii. 7.
And this is such a piece of madness as if a private man could by the
help of his family, his private house, prevail against all the forces of
the kingdom. This madness showeth itself too by raging at reproofs ;
the mad world cannot endure those that would stop them in the way
to hell. Therefore the seriously godly, whose lives are a standing re
proof, are most hated by them : Prov. xxix. 27 ; and Isa. lix. 15, 'He
that departeth from evil, maketh himself a prey.' Now you see where
madness is to be charged ; either upon the servants of God, who make
it their business to please him, or upon the worldly and the carnal.
Let them wash themselves from this imputation as well as they can,
it will stick to them ; and the only sober people in the world are the
strict and religious.
Use 1. Let us bear it with patience, if we be esteemed madmen for
.God's service, and our strictness and fidelity to him. Think it not
strange, nor be offended at the matter, though ye be thus censured of
the carnal men of the world ; they can no more judge of these things
than blind men of colours, and their dislike is many times a token of
God's approbation. No wise man going into bedlam will be offended
to be railed at and spit upon ; he looketh for no other, and so will not
be moved at their madness. If we be not thus minded, the least
offences will draw us from our duty. Let us not then forbear these
practices, which are thought vanity and folly by carnal men, if they
be for God's glory, and the good of our own and other souls ; nor be
118 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XX.
disheartened with them ; we must be contented to be accounted mad
for God, in that which the world judgeth madness or discretion.
2. Let us vindicate religion from this imputation. ' Wisdom is
justified of her children,' Mat. xi. 19. Those who have received
wisdom, true wisdom from God, and are obedient disciples of it, they
will defend true wisdom as often as it is condemned by the world.
But how shall wisdom be justified by us?
Ans. 1. By disclaiming and renouncing them who adopt fooleries
into their religion, and betray it to the scorn of all considering men.
In this class and rank I put the Papists and the Quakers. The first,
by a pageantry of many ridiculous ceremonies, have so disguised the
Christian religion, that it is made contemptible. Therefore is it
that where this religion hath most absolutely commanded, atheism
aboundeth ; for the heart of a rational man can find no satisfaction in
these things, nothing of the majesty of God and the power of his
ordinances, where they are made so sense-pleasing, and accommodated
with such worldly pomp and silly rudiments, which can only prevail
upon the weaker sort of spirits. The more knowing and searching
wits cannot but secretly scorn those things in their hearts ; and there
fore no other religion being allowed and countenanced, they lie under
a dangerous temptation to atheism and unbelief. The other sort are
the Quakers, a sort of people, whose principles are not yet fixed, but
in the forming; being of a vertiginous spirit, are a ready prey for
Satan, and fit instruments for him to work by, to the great disturbance
of religion, or to disgrace and shame it, and betray it to scorn. Now
the main of what their religion hitherto hath been is to teach men to
cast away their bands, and their cuffs, and the trimmings of their
garments, and to deny civilities, and to teach men to say, Thou : these
make religion ridiculous, and prostitute scripture phrase to scorn, and
by them the way of truth is evil spoken of.
2. By pleading for it. Surely godliness is not madness, but the
highest wisdom. This argument will clear it : wisdom lieth in the
fixing of a right end, and the choice of apt and good means, and a
dexterous pursuit of these means. These things are evident to reason.
Now in all these respects, there is not a wiser man than a godly man ;
and the more godly he is, the more he excelleth in wisdom; and
therefore folly and madness can no more be ascribed to godliness, than
heat to the snow, or cold to the fire.
[1.] He fixeth upon an higher end than all the rest of the world
doth, which is the pleasing, glorifying and enjoying God. Alas ! what is
the neaping up of wealth, the getting of a little honour, or designing
to wallow in ease and pleasure as to these things ? He is wiser, that*
is wise to salvation, 2 Tim. iii. 16; that chooseth God for his portion ;
God hath given him counsel in his reins. All the wisdom of the world
is earthly, sensual and devilish, James i. 3. Others are foolish and
madmen. Who are wiser ? They that run after painted butterflies,
or spend their time in making clay-pies, like children, or sucking at
the dry breast of the creature ? or those who are able to govern com
monwealths, or do things for public good ? Who are wiser ? They
that can pass by their worldly designs, to carry on their heavenly ?
or they that are wise for the present, and fools to all eternity ?
VER. 13.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 119
[2.] He chooseth apt and fit means. He takes not an uncertain
course in the world, but goeth by the certain rule of God's word : Deut.
iv. 6, ' Keep them, and do them, for this is your wisdom ; ' Jer. viii. 9,
' They have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in
them ? ' ' And the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the-
simple,' Ps. xix. 7. The more a man keepeth to the word of the
Lord, the more wise ; and as far as he abateth, he showeth folly and
madness, as others do.
[3.] For diligent pursuit, being heedful ; Eph. v. 15, ' See then that
ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.' Avoiding what may
be a snare, they are true to their end by being serious and diligent :
Eccles. x. 2, 'A wise man's heart is at his right hand/ By self-denial,
spareth no cost, selleth all for the pearl of great price, Mat. xiii.,
though to despise the delights and honours and pleasures of the world
seemeth the greatest folly and madness to carnal men nothing
venture, nothing have : Horn. viii. 6, ' To be carnally minded is death,
and to be spiritually minded is life, and peace ; ' he loseth something,
but getteth much better. If a man should keep his money by him,
and neglect a gainful purchase, that would yield him an hundred-fold,
this would be accounted folly among worldly- wise men. What is their
course who venture death and eternal destruction, rather than be at
the pains to save their souls ?
3. Let us wipe off this reproach by our conversations ; not by
abating our zeal and diligence in the heavenly life, but by a prudent
behaviour, giving no occasion, by any ridiculous actions of ours, to
blemish the holy profession. I will urge but this one argument, that
a Christian is to show forth the virtues of God, or the d/aera?,
praises of God, 1 Peter ii. 9, as an image is to represent the party.
Now the virtues of God are chiefly three wisdom, power, and good
ness. A Christian is to show forth God's power, by his reverence and
awefulness, not daring to do anything that God hath forbidden ; his
goodness of benignity by his delight and readiness of obedience ; as
his beneficial goodness, so his moral goodness by our holiness : 1 Peter
i. 16, ' Be ye holy, for I am holy.' So also his wisdom ; we show he is
wise by whose counsel we are guided, and wait on God for the
direction of his word, and the Spirit will help you to do it : Jam. i. 5,
' If any man lack wisdom, let him ask it of God, who giveth liberally,
and upbraideth no man.'
Use 3. Is caution to carnal men. Let them forbear the censures of
the godly, and study their own case. We charge them with madness
and folly, not to upbraid them, but to convince them ; not out of
malice, as they do, but compassion, that they may repent, and grow
wise to salvation. Repentance is called perdvoia, a returning to our
wits again. What is that ?
[1.] When you begin to be serious. When the conversion of the
Gentiles to the Christian faith is prophesied of, it is said, Ps. xxii. 27,
' All the ends of the earth shall remember, and turn to the Lord.' As
long as men are thoughtless, and mindless of heavenly things, they
know not what they do, but are as men sleeping and distracted, not
making use of the common light of reason, or those principles which
are ingrafted into the hearts of all men. What am I ? Who made
120 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XX.
me ? What do all these creatures proclaim, all that I can see and feel,
but an eternal power ? Have I any interest in him ? Alas, they
went on madly before, sleeping in the lap of carnal pleasures, when
the Philistines were upon them ; or else plunging themselves in a gulf
of business and worldly distractions, and there they lie in the deep
waters, till they be ready to sink to the bottom. Oh, remember, and
return; you are undone for ever, if you do not escape out of this
estate.
[2.] When you make a business of it to seek God's favour by Christ.
This must be TO epyov, your main work : John vi. 29, ' This is the
work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent ; ' not a
matter by the by, but your chief work, your first care, Mat. vi. 33.
When our chiefest care is about our souls, and settling our eternal
interests, then we begin to act like men again. Otherwise, when we
only cleave to earthly things, we live like beasts, and madmen ; all
his care is to maintain his animal life, so do the beasts. But when
we begin to seek after spiritual and eternal things, immortal food,
garments that shall never wax old, laying up treasure in heaven, then
we act as those that have an immortal soul. Solomon putteth the
question, Eccles. iii. 21, ' Who knoweth the spirit of a man that goeth
upward, or the spirit of a beast that goeth downward to the earth ? '
The words may bear a double sense : Who knoweth ? That is, who
can collect and gather from the courses and practices of men, that
they have a soul distinct from the beasts ? they are as greedy upon
bodily things, and the sustentation of the present life only, as the
beasts are. Now who knoweth it ? Who doth acknowledge it, and
consider it, so as to look out for food for the immortal soul, to get it
adorned with saving grace, sanctified by the Spirit of God ? Who,
till he be enlightened by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, and is
soundly convinced of heavenly things? Eph. i. 17, 18. But now
when a man rnaketh it his first and main care, then he doth know, or
practically acknowledge, he hath a soul which doth go upward, distinct
from the beast's, which doth go downward. The man is come to him
self again, when he maketh it his business to obtain pardon and
eternal life by Christ.
[3.] When they stand in awe of God, and are afraid to disobey his
laws : Job xx. 28, ' Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and
to depart from evil is understanding ; ' and Prov. ix. 10, ' The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.' It is the first point and the
chiefest point, first both in time and dignity. Now what is the fear
of God but to be sensible of God's majesty and presence, that we dare
not sin against him and affront him to his face ? Wicked men, that
can break through a commandment when it standeth full in their
way, are simple and witless, for they enter into a plain contest with
God, which none but a madman would do: Prov. xiii. 13, 'Whoso
despiseth the word shall be destroyed ; but he that feareth the
commandment shall be rewarded;' and Ps. cxix. 161, 'My heart
standeth in awe of thy word.' A choice frame of heart ! more than if
a thousand dangers stood in the way. He dareth not, whatever profit
or pleasure might ensue upon the breach, or danger for not breaking
through.
VER. 13.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 121
[4.] When they delight to do his will and promote his glory. For
they have entirely devoted themselves to God : Horn. xiv. 7, 8, ' For
none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself; for whether
we live, we live unto the Lord, or whether we die, we die unto the
Lord : whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's ; ' and 1 Cor.
vi. 19, 20, ' What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the
Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God ? And ye are not
your own, for ye are bought with a price : therefore glorify God in
your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.' He owneth God's
interests in him. Carnal policy and spiritual wisdom differ mainly in
the end and scope ; the one hath a care to please and glorify God ; the
other to advance himself and his own natural interests.
[5.] When he is ever getting more fitness for heaven, and clearer
evidences for heaven. Providing for the time to come is wisdom, Luke
xvi. When he would die wisely, his heart is more taken up about his
everlasting estate, what he shall do when his soul is turned out of
doors. Thus have I showed you how carnal men may know when
they are in their wits again.
SERMON XXI.
For ivhether we be beside ourselves, it is to God ; or whether we be
sober, it is for your cause. 2 COB. v. 13.
THE text containeth the answer to the second imputation : ' Thou art
beside thyself/ Paul answers,
1. By way of concession. He may be, as to appearance and to their
judgment, sometimes mad, and sometimes sober.
2. By way of exception and vindication.
[1.] From his end : If mad, it is T> @ey ; if sober, it is vfuv.
[2.] From his principle the love of God: and so bringeth in his
third motive, ver. 14. Paul, whether beside himself (as they thought)
or sober, he still sought the glory of God and the good of the church.
Doct A Christian in all his speeches and actions, and all postures
of spirit, should still aim at the glory of God.
1. We shall consider this truth with some observations, as it lieth
in this place.
2. Some reasons of the point in general.
First, The observations are these :
1. Observe what a change and difference the power of the Lord's
grace worketh in a man. Paul confesseth of himself, Acts xxvi. 11,
that he was, when a Pharisee, mad against God : ' I was exceeding
mad against this way.' And now the text representeth him as one
(in the judgment of the Corinthians at least) beside himself; but he
telleth you it was for God. As formerly he was an instance of the
cursed vigour of nature, so now of the sacred power of grace. It is
but reason that we should do as much for God as we did before for
Satan: Kom. vi. 19, ' I speak after the manner of men, because of the
122 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXI.
infirmity of your flesh ; that, as you have yielded your members
servants to uncleanness, and to iniquity unto iniquity : even so now
yield your members servants to righteousness, unto holiness.' That is,
this is a moderate proposal, and in condescension to their infirmity,
requiring the least that in any reason could be required of them : that
they should have the same care of holiness now, and be as diligent to
obey the precepts of Christ, as before they were industrious, and
earnest to serve their lusts and vile affections. In strict justice, he
might require a greater care to secure their life and salvation, than
ever they had expressed in ruining and damning themselves ; but he
would deal with them in the modest and most easy and equitable
manner, because the flesh cannot bear too much severity, or too high
expressions of duty. 'Av0pa>7ri.vov Xeyeo signifieth, that which hath
nothing extraordinary in it, or which is common among men a
modest human proposal, that they should serve God as earnestly as
they had served the devil ; that, at least, they should do as much for
him, now they had better work, better wages, and the best master, as
before they had done for sin.
2. That the love of Christ is the root and principle of this sincere
aim at the glory of God in all that we do ; for when the apostle giveth
an account of it, he presently addeth, in the next verse, ' for the love of
Christ constraineth us.' To seek God's glory and the good of the
church is the fruit of love to God. There is a twofold love the love
of desire and the love of delight. The love of desire is a seeking love ;
it is ever running after God, that we may enjoy more of him. The
love of delight is a pleasing love ; it maketh us study to honour and
please God in all things. Once love God sincerely, and his honour will
be dearer to you than your own interests ; then you will be referring
anything to him and studying to advance his glory. Men's aims are
as their affections are. Self-love maketh us mind ourselves and please
ourselves ; and carnal lusts do pervert and crook and bend the soul
to inferior things, which will bias and poise in every action. There
is nothing but the difference of a notion between the chief good and
last end ; what is apprehended as our chief good and felicity will cer
tainly be our last end and aim.
3. How nearly the glory of God and the good of the church are con
joined ; for when the apostle asserteth the sincerity of his aims, he
inentioneth both @eaj and V/MV for God, and for the good of the
church. And in the method of the Lord's prayer, this is evident:
next to the hallowing of God's name, we beg the coming of his kingdom.
First we desire the glorifying and hallowing of the name of God, that
he may be known, loved and honoured in the world, and well pleased
in us, and we may delight in him as our ultimate end ; then that his
kingdom of grace may be enlarged, that the kingdom of glory, as to
the perfected church of the sanctified, may come ; that mankind may
more perfectly submit themselves to God, and be saved by him. His
glory is the great end, and the coming of his kingdom is the first and
primary means ; for God's glory is more manifest in his kingdom than
in any other of his works. His wisdom and power and goodness is
more seen and acknowledged in you than in all the world besides.
All God's providences tend first to God's glory, next to the good of the
VER. 13.] SERMONS urox 2 CORINTHIANS v. 123
church. In vain therefore do men think they seek the glory of God,
if they do not seek the church's welfare : the lessening, troubling, dis
ordering of the kingdom of God is the crossing his glory. If we would
aim at God's glory, we must seek the good of his people, and to our
power promote the church's welfare.
4. Here are different actions mentioned if we be beside ourselves,
or if we be sober ; but both designed by Paul for God's glory and their
good. So it holdeth good in all other things : if sublime and profound
in opening the deep mysteries of the gospel ; if perspicuous and plain
in obvious truths, still for God ; if deep and profound, not to set up
our worth, but to help the growth of the saints, that they may not
always keep to their ABC in religion : Heb. v. 14, ' But strong meat
belongeth unto them that are of full age, even those who by reason of
use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.' If facile
and plain, be sure it be not the fruit of our laziness, contenting our
selves with obvious notions, because they cost us little labour and pains ;
but a sincere aim at profit, and in condescension to the meanest : Rom.
i. 14, ' I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both
to the wise and unwise.' So in other actions civil or sacred ; whether
we eat or drink, or pray, or worship, still to the glory of God, 1 Cor.
x. 31. Look, as the lines of a circle come from the several parts of
the circumference, but they all end in the centre ; so whatever we do,
we must do it all for God. There may be different ways to the same
scope ; Paul that circumcised Timothy, that he might not give scandal
to the Jews, Gal. vi, 3, rebuketh Peter sorely for complying with the
Jews, to the offence of the Gentiles, Gal. ii. 11-14 ; which reproof Peter
took in good part, as being in an error. The use and unseasonable
use of Christian liberty are distinct things ; so of different persons :
Eom. xiv. 6, ' One eateth, and another eateth not : but both to the
Lord.' An house that is on fire, some are for quenching, others are
for pulling down ; here is difference in opinion, but an agreement in
scope, that the fire do no further mischief ; so for reforming the church,
some are for a total withdrawing, others hope to mend the cause, as
not remediless. But for the same person, as Paul, in the different
postures of spirit, if a man be sober for God, he will the better be
beside himself for God, that is, in the judgment of the world; so, e con
tra, the prophet proveth they did not fast for God, because they did
not eat for God, Zech. vii. 5, 6.
5. That when we are most in danger to seek our own glory and
honour, then we must be most careful to fix our intention aright.
Paul, when he spake modestly of himself and ministry, or did simply
evangelise without any commendation of himself or his ministry, then
it is vfjJlv we use all means to bring you to Christ ; if we be sober,
it is for your sakes. But when he was forced to assert the sincerity of
it against the calumnies of the false teachers, then it is TO> @ew. I
speak not this for myself, but for God, for the credit of the gospel.
Certain it is that in all things we should seek the glory of God, whether
full or fasting, mad in the world's account, or sober ; but the question
is, whether in every action a Christian is always bound to think of the
glory of God ?
I answer ; God's glory may be intended habitually and virtually, or
121 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [$ER. XXI.
else explicitly and actually ; that is, either by a formal, noted, observed
thought, or by the impression of a powerful habit ; as a man that
maketh it his scope to go to such a place, doth not always think of it,
though he is travelling thither, and the end of his journey, though it
be not always in his mind, yet it directeth his motions. This purpose
must be rooted in our hearts to refer all that we do to the glory of
God, though in every particular action we do not think of it. But
then here a case of conscience ariseth : When the virtual intention
sufficeth not without formal noted thoughts ? The answer to it is
[1.] That the purpose of promoting God's glory should be often
renewed, because it is the description of wicked men, that ' God is not
in all their thoughts,' Ps. x. 4. They have a multitude of thoughts,
but they have nothing of God in them. And the wicked are described
by this, that they forget God, Ps. ix. 17 ; they seldom or never think
with themselves, whether they please or displease, honour or dishonour
him. But the godly will be often directing, fixing, elevating the
intention of their minds : ' God, I lift my heart to thee/ Ps. xxv. 1.
The end is our measure. Now an expert carpenter that worketh by
line, though he doth not in every stroke, yet very often will be trying
his work by the line and square. Besides the end is our motive, as
well as our measure ; it addeth strength and vigour to the 'soul in act
ing. Therefore to excite my drooping and languishing heart, I should
often think for whom I am working, and for what end.
[2.] In all momentous actions I must actually intend the glory of
God. In lesser things the general frame and bent of my heart to
please God in all things sufficeth. There are certain actions of moment,
and such as we make a business of, we need there explicitly to call in
the help of Christ, and expressly to aim at the glory of God. There
are some actions to the performance of which we go forth in a general
confidence ; others which are not undertaken without deliberation and
invocation. There must be special direction of the intention of the
soul. Suppose a minister in preaching the gospel : 2 Cor. i. 20, ' For
all the promises of God in him, are yea, and in him amen, to the glory
of God, by us.' Suppose any hazardous voyage, the disposing ourselves
into any course of life, or abiding relation, we must be sure to aim at
God's glory.
[3.] Weak habits and inclinations need express, formal, observed
thoughts, for without them Christians cannot do their work : but to
powerful and strong habits, where men have in a manner naturalised
themselves to a godly course, the strength of the general inclination
sufficeth. A weak Christian needs often to consider, that he is acting
for God, and approving himself to God, that he may keep more close
and faithfully to his work, and be true to his end. Now the habits
of grace being weak in most, they cannot easily keep afoot God's interest
in their souls, if they should seldom think of him, and their obligation
to him.
[4.] And lastly, tempted Christians, and when they are in danger
to seek themselves, must renew and revive the actual intention. As
when we do any public action for God, which hath somewhat of pomp
and glory in it, that our eyes may look right on, and we may not squint
a little upon any by-motive ; or when we feel the ticklings of vain-glory.
VER. 13.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 125
i
Divines suppose that double ' Not unto us, not unto us ' to be the re
buke of a temptation, Ps. cxv. 1 . This is a re-enkindling of our purpose,
when it seemeth to be quenched ; as Bernard, when the devil tempted
him to vain-glory, propter te non ccepi, non finiam propter te I
neither began for thee, nor will I make an end for thee. And this
cometh home to the instance of the text. Paul was forced to commend
himself, unless he would have the gospel trampled upon. Now to
assure them it was not vain-glory, and to guard his own heart, he
saith, ' If we be beside ourselves, it is to God ; or whether we be sober,
it is for your cause.'
6. Observe again, when actions are likely to be misinterpreted, and
do tend to our dishonour, yet if the glory of God call for them, they
should not be omitted ; for we must be contented to be nothing, so
God be glorified. As here it seemed to be the act of an imprudent
person, or of one beside himself, to speak so largely of himself, yet it
was necessary, that the false apostles might not draw them from the
gospel which he had preached. And therefore Paul would run the
hazard of the imputation of folly and imprudence, rather than
unfaithfulness to God and their souls ; thereby teaching us all fo
value the honour of God above our own interest, and to approve our
selves to men no farther than will stand with the approbation of God.
There are some actions which our duty calleth for, which are
disgustful to the world, and may seem to expose the reputation of
our wisdom and reason ; yet better be counted a fool and a madman
for God, than one of this world's wise men, with the neglect of our
duty. Nay, there are some actions which are against the gust of the
strictest professors, so that not only the reputation of our wisdom and
reason, but of our conscience and integrity, is put to hazard. But he
that is not contented with the glory which cometh from God only,
will never be a thorough Christian, John v. 44. And we must be
content not only to deny our own reason and reputation for wisdom,
but also our reputation for sincerity in religion, our own everything,
but our own God and our own Christ.
7. Observe again from that, ' if we be sober, it is for your cause,'
Paul's madness, in their eye, was his asserting the credit of his ministry,
his sobriety, when he spake humbly of himself. Now he was as sincere
in the one as in the other. In our most sober moods, we must be
sure that we glorify God, as well as when we are apt to be misjudged
by the world ; when we refuse praise, as well as when we own God's
gifts and graces in us. For some men will beat back honour, when it
cometh to them at the first hop, that they may catch it at the rebound ;
and so seek that which they seem to deny ; as if they held the stealth
and underhand receipt of it more lawful than the purchase in the open
market. No, we must be sure to be as sincere in our professions of
humility, where men are least apt to suspect our pride, as there where
they are most ready to charge us with it ; as the apostle doth assert
that he was beside himself for God, so sober for their sakes, for God's
glory and their profit.
8. The end is either ultimate or subordinate. The ultimate end
is that which terminateth the action, and wherein our thoughts rest ;
the subordinate end is that which we aim at, but yet look further ; as
126 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXI.
here the ultimate end is God's glory, the subordinate end was their
profit. So, take that other place, 1 Cor. x. 31, ' Whether ye eat or
drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' In eating and
drinking, the subordinate end is health, strength, and cheerfulness ;
the ultimate and supreme end, God's glory. It is a failing in our
subordinate end, if we mind only carnal pleasure, and not service :
Eccles. x. 7, ' Blessed art thou, land, when thy princes eat in due
season, for strength and not for drunkenness.' When our meals are a
meat-offering or a drink-offering to lust and appetite, it is a perversion
of God's bounty. They were ordained to be a refection after business,
and to repair that strength which hath been weakened in the work of
our callings. But now the ultimate end is God's glory ; it is not
strength for our lusts, strength for our worldly ends, but for the
Lord's honour ; we must please appetite no farther than the pleasing
of it fits us for the service to God. In many cases, nextly we may
aim at some other thing beneath God, but ultimately and terminatively,
all must be directed to God : as the apostle here considered them,
their spiritual profit as his next aim, but, lastly and finally the glory
of God.
Secondly. The reasons of the general point.
1. The interest God hath in us obligeth us to live to his glory :
Rom. xiv. 8, ' For whether we live, we live unto the Lord: or whether
we die, we die unto the Lord : for whether we live, or die, we are the
Lord's.' The apostle's reasoning is built upon this supposition, that
those who are the Lord's, should live as for the Lord : but the case is
so with us, we are his, and therefore must live to him. How are we
the Lord's ?
[1.] By creation : Prov. xvi. 4, ' God made all things for himself.'
In the creation of the world, God could have no higher end than
himself, than his own glory; for the end is more noble than the
means ; therefore when he made the world, made beasts, made man,
made angels, he did all for himself. God is independent, and self-
sufficient of himself and for himself. Self-seeking in the creature is
absurd and unbeseeming, because we depend upon another for life,
and breath, and all things. Therefore to seek our own glory,
contentment, and satisfaction apart from God, it is to arrogate a
self-being to ourselves apart from him ; we were made by God, and
were not made for ourselves.
[2.] By preservation : Rom. xi. 36, ' For of him, and through him,
and to him, are all things.' As our being is from him, so our moving
and doing is through him, through his providential influence and
supportation ; therefore all must be for him and to him. The
motion of all creatures is circular ; they end where they began, as the
rivers return to the place from whence they came. All that issueth
from God in a way of creation, and is sustained and preserved by
God in a way of providence, must be to him in the tendency and
final end of their motions. As we must deduce all things from God
as their first cause, and continual conserving cause, so we must reduce
all things to God as their last end.
[3.] By redemption. That is pleaded, 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20, ' Ye are
not your own, ye are bought with a price ; therefore glorify God with
. 13.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. 127
your bodies, and your souls, which are God's.' You are twice bound,
as creatures and as redeemed ; and a double obligation will infer a
double condemnation, if we answer it not. The bought belong to
the buyer ; so we to Christ.
[4.] By dedication. We are dedicated and set apart for the Lord's
use: Rom. vi. 13, 'Yield yourselves to God, as those that are alive
from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God.' So Rom. xii. 1, ' I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.' Now to live to
ourselves, and speak for ourselves, is practically to retract our own
vows, and the dedication which we have made of ourselves to his use
and service.
2. We are above all creatures fitted for his glory ; as men, and as
new creatures.
[1.] As men. Man above all other creatures should glorify God.
Partly, because by the design of his creation he is placed nearer God
as the end than other creatures are. Man is both proxime et ultime,
nextly and lastly, for God ; and so return immediately to the fountain
of our being. There is nothing intervening between God and us,
towards which our use and service should be directed. Other creatures,
though they were made ultimately and terminatively for God, yet
immediately for man ; lastly for God, nextly for us ; so that man
standeth in the middle between God and all other creatures, to receive
the benefit of them, that God may have the glory. Oh, then, how
much is man, as man, obliged to glorify God. for whom this inferior
world was made! All things are subjected to our dominion, or
created for our use ; not only fowls, and fishes, and beasts of the
field, to be enjoyed by him, but sun, moon, stars, rain, weather, and
all the seasons of the year : Ps. viii. 3-6, ' When I consider thy
heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and stars which thou hast
ordained ; what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of
man, that thou visitest him ? Thou hast made him little lower than
the angels; thou crownest him with glory, and honour ;^ thou hast
made him to have dominion over the work of thine hands ; thou hast
put all things under his feet.' When we look up and behold those
glorious creatures, the out- work and visible parts of heaven, which
display their radiant beauties to our wonder and astonishment ; and
withal consider how much they serve for our comfort and use, and
with them the sovereign power wherewith thou didst invest man over
all sublunary and inferior creatures, beasts, fowls, fishes, plants, we
cannot sufficiently admire that this vile clod of earth, man, should be
so much in the eye of God, to take care of him above the whole
creation. The sun doth not shine, nor winds blow, nor rain fall at
our pleasure, but it is for our use. Heaven is for us, the airy heaven
to give us breath and motion, the starry heaven to give us heat, light,
and influence, the third heaven, or the heaven of heavens, to be our
dwelling-place ; so that man is strangely stupid and oblivious, if he
should forget the God by whose bounty he enjoys all these things.
And partly, because man is more fitted, as being furnished with higher
capacities ; ' he teacheth us more than the beasts of the field.' We
128 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXL
have faculties suited to this purpose ; we have an understanding that
we may know him. Surely such an understanding nature, such an
immortal soul, was never made for corruptible things. God was
pleased to stamp man with the character of his own image ; he
beareth his superscription ; ' Now give unto Cassar the things that are
Ceesar's, and unto God the things that are God's.' We may find out
his track and foot-print in the creatures, but man had his image.
Other creatures glorify God necessarily, we voluntarily and by
choice ; they know not the first cause, but are over-ruled by the
government of providence, but we have, or should have, an under
standing to know him, and an heart to love him ; therefore the duty
properly belongeth to us. Other creatures glorify God passively, we
actively; they are the harp, man makes the music, Ps. cxlv. 18, 'All
thy works praise thee, thy saints bless thee.' Man is the mouth of
the creatures ; the creatures by us glorify God.
[2.] As new creatures. The people of God are most bound of all
men to seek the glory of God ; you are ' created again in Christ Jesus/
Eph. ii. 10. It concerns you to ask, Why am I made ? to what use
and purpose do I serve, but to glorify God, and admire his grace, and
to live answerable to his love, and in a thankful obedience to his pre
cepts, and to promote his kingdom and interest in this world ? By
regeneration we have new faculties and dispositions. The great effect
of grace is to beget a tendency towards God, to restore and incline
the heart of man to his proper end. To know the end distinguisheth
a man from a beast, but to choose the end, and seek the end, distin
guisheth one man from another ; to make. God's glory the chief scope
and end of all our lives and actions is the great fruit and effect of
grace. Naturally we are either ignorant or mindless of our great end,
and the way that leadeth to it : ' All of us are gone astray like lost
sheep,' Isa. liii. 6; and Ps. xiv. 2, 'They are all gone out of the
way ; ' or that path which will lead us to the end for which we were
created. And naturally we spend our time in serving our lusts, and
are taken up with other business, have no heart or leisure to live unto
God and for God, but employ our souls only to please our bodies, and
to serve and please the senses, and are slaves to all the creatures, who
by original institution were put under man's feet. But now ' Christ
died to bring us to God/ 1 Peter iii. 18, and by his Spirit doth change
the heart, that we may be to the praise of his glorious grace, Eph. i.
13, not only as passive objects, but as active instruments. Indeed
there is objectively a greater impression of God upon the new creature,
than there is upon anything else, which hath passed God's hand. This
work sets forth more of his attributes, of his goodness, wisdom, and
power, than all things else. The very being of the new creature sets
forth more of the praise of God to all beholders ; though the man
himself were silent, yet the work would speak for itself. But we are
not speaking of that now, how the new creature objectively and
passively sets forth the praise of God, but how as active instruments
they should glorify God both in word and deed ; not only as the praise
of his glory is to be manifested in them, but as it is to be manifested
and intended by them, having renewed faculties to enable them how
they should live unto God and bring forth fruit unto God. Yea,
VER. 13.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 129
besides the renewing of their natures, they have the actual influences
of his grace ; and therefore since they have all from God, they should
use all for him, and live to the glory of God, whose grace enableth
them to do everything. It is by the grace of God they are what they
are, and therefore it is for the glory of God that they do what they
do :" ' All the fruits of righteousness wrought in them, are by Jesus
Christ, to the praise and glory of God,' Phil. i. 11. God's glory, and
not any by-respect, must be the main scope and end of the new
creature; otherwise he perverts the influences of grace, and would
serve himself of the supply of the Spirit.
[3.] We by the providence of God are disposed in all our relations
for this end, that we might have some sphere wherein to glorify God ;
some as magistrates, some as ministers, some as masters, some as
servants ; so that the glorifying of God concerneth every man in all
that he doth, in all that relation wherein God hath placed him. Every
man is sent into the world for some end ; for no wise agent worketh
at random. God hath made nothing in vain, but hath assigned to
every creature its own use and operation. To do a thing to no
purpose will not agree with the wisdom of a considering man. There
fore God, who is a God of judgment, hath certainly in every work of
his some scope and end ; therefore every man hath his service and
employment ; if he were made for nothing, then hath he nothing to do
in the world. Surely life and reason was given us for something, not
merely to furnish and fill up the number of things in the world, as
stones and rubbish do ; nor merely to grow in stature, as life was given
to the plants to grow bulky or increase in length and breadth ; nor
merely to taste sensitive pleasures, as that is the happiness of the
beasts, to enjoy pleasures without remorse. God gave man those
higher faculties of reason and conscience, to manage some profitable
work and business for the glory of his creator, and his own eternal
happiness ; and by some honest labour and vocation, as instruments
of God's providence, to serve their generation, Acts xiii. 26. The
world was never made to be a hive for drones and idle ones ; if any
man might be allowed to be idle and serve for no use, then God would
make one rational creature in vain ; and one member would be useless
in the body politic. We see in the body natural, there is no member
but hath its function and use, whereby it becometh serviceable to the
whole ; all have not the same office ; that would make confusion ; but
all have their use, either as an eye, or as a hand, or as a foot, or as a
sinew, or as a vein, or as an artery. So in human society, no member
may be useless ; they must have one function or another wherein to
employ themselves, otherwise they are unprofitable burdens of the
earth. Every man more or less hath some relation, which he is to
improve for the glory of God and the good of others. Every one hath
his talent, which must not be hid in a napkin ; he is accountable to
' God for that state of life wherein God hath set him. The Mediator
hath his work, and he giveth up his account to God : John xvii. 4,
' I have finished the work thou gavest me to do.' The courtier hath
his work : Neh. i. 11, ' The Lord show me favour in the sight of this
man ; for I was the king's cupbearer ; ' he useth this as an argument,
that he had improved his place for God. The minister hath his work :
VOL. XIII. I
130 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [&ER. XXI.
2 Cor. i. 20, ' For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him
amen, to the glory of God by us ; ' and Heb. xiii. 17, ' Obey them
that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for
your souls, as they that must give an account.' The master and
parent his work, and he is to glorify God as a master and parent ; the
parent is to bring up his children in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord, Eph. iv. 6 ; the master hath a master in heaven, Eph. vi. 9.
The servant his work, Titus ii. 10. It was well said of Epictetus the
heathen, If I were a nightingale, I would sing as a nightingale ; or
if I were a lark, I would peer as a lark ; but now I am a man,
I will glorify God as a man, and praise him without ceasing.
If a poor man, I will glorify him by my patient, innocent content-
edness and humble submission; if rich, by liberality and public
usefulness; when well, I will glorify God by my health, being-
hard at work for him ; when sick, by meekness and patience ;
if a magistrate, by my zeal and activity ; if a minister, by diligence
and faithfulness: if a tradesman, by my righteous and conscionable
dealing. So that from Christ to the meanest Christian, from the king
to the meanest scullion, all should be at work for God ; for every man
is sent into the world for some cause, and born for some end or other,
to act that patt upon the stage of the world which the great master
of the scenes appointeth.
[4.] All our sufficiencies, gifts and abilities were given us for this
end. Every man hath some gift, more or less, as well as some relation,
as Mat. xxv., every man received his talent ; and he that had but
one talent, was to give an account of it. Now all these must be
improved for God. As the husbandman, when he scattereth his seed
on the earth, looketh for a crop and increase ; so when God scattered
his gifts, it was not to dispossess himself, but that they might be used
for his glory. Every gift and grace received is not barely donum, a
gift, but talenfum, a talent. We are stewards, and not owners ; not
to act for ourselves, but to honour our master. Therefore what honour
and glory hath God by our gifts and graces ? God hath dominium,
we have but dispensationem. It is ours for use, but not ours for
enjoyment ; as a factor entrusted with his master's goods ; at length
it will be seen how we have improved them.
[5.] The end much varieth the nature of the action. It maketh an
act to be of another kind ; an indifferent action by the end may
become a duty ; a meal is an act of worship ; alms, a sacrifice, Heb.
xiii. 18 ; trading for God an act of religion, as well as prayer. On
the other side, a duty by the end may become a sin ; as prayer is
howling, Hosea vii. 14, when it hath only a natural or a carnal end ;
fasting, the bending of a bulrush, Isa. Iviii. 5 ; obedience, murder,
Hosea i. 4. Jehu did not the Lord's work sincerely, but for his own
base ends and interests. He was anointed at God's command to
execute judgment on Ahab's house, 2 Kings ix. 6, 7, and was tem
porally rewarded for it, 2 Kings x. 30 ; his children to the fourth
generation should sit on the throne of Israel ; yet ' I will avenge the
blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu.' Why ? Because he did it
only to get a kingdom to himself; and though he executed God's
quarrel on Ahab and his house, yet he clave to the idolatry of
VER. 13.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 131
Jeroboam for securing his interest. So reformation may be a covetous
design ; non pietate everterunt idola, sed avaritia. Indeed an act
for the matter sinful is not altered by the end : for I must not do evil
that good may come thereof ; nor use the devil to serve God. But
how vile is it then to make God serve with our iniquities, and use his
worship as a stale to our own ends !
SERMON XXII.
For ivlieiher ive be beside ourselves, it is to God, or ivhether we be
sober, it is for your cause. 2 COR. v. 13.
USE is to press you to make this your great aim, to glorify God. You
must take care, not only negatively, that God be not dishonoured, but
positively, that he be honoured and glorified by you, and that in all
states and conditions, and also in all businesses and employments.
Some have wholly deviated from their great end, and are not yet come
to themselves ; and live unprofitably in the world, and do nothing but
eat, and drink, and play, and sleep ; they live to themselves, and to
their own ease and carnal delights. Alas ! what are these men good
for ? To what end have they reason and conscience ? Some things,
if they be not good for one thing, yet are good for another ; but a
man, if he doth not know God, and love God, and delight in God, and
seek the glory of God, is like the wood of the vine, Ezek. xv. 2-4, good
for nothing ; not so much as to make a pin whereon to hang anything ;
good for nothing but to be cast into the fire, and to reflect upon the
glory of his justice, to be fuel for the Lord's indignation. Another
sort are those who are convinced they should live to God, and do
now and then look after him, but are not so overcome by grace, as
that this should be the overruling principle in their hearts. The last
end is principium universalissimum ; it should have an universal in
fluence upon us, and be minded and regarded in all our desires, pur
poses, actions, enjoyments, relations. God's glory should be at the
utmost end of every business ; nothing is good that is not directed to
the last end ; it is done to the flesh, and not to God. It is impertinent
to our great scope. First, In all our desires, if we desire increase and
estate, it is to honour God with it, James iv. 3. Agur measures every
estate by ends of religion, Prov. xxx. 8, 9. Nay, spiritual things must
be desired, in order to God's glory, Eph. i. 6. We must not please
ourselves merely, in the consideration of our own happiness and per
sonal benefit, but as God's glory is promoted by it. Secondly, Our pur
poses. Dependence is the proper notion of a created being ; man hath
God for principium etfinem. It is no more lawful for a man to abstain
from respecting or seeking his end than it is possible not to depend
on his principle. The creature is from another, and for another. Man
is for God's glory, and for no other end ; as he is from God's power,
132 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiB. XXII.
and no other cause ; and therefore in whatever we deliberately purpose
and resolve upon, the glory of God must have the casting voice : 2
Cor. i. 17, ' The things that I purpose, do I purpose according
to the flesh ? ' that is, am I swayed by carnal motives ? A Christian
should not lightly and rashly resolve upon any course, but con
sider how it may conduce to the glory of God. Thirdly, Our actions
civil and sacred, all the pots in Jerusalem, must have God's impress,
Holiness to the Lord, as well as the utensils of the temple, Zech. xiv.
21. In a king's house there are many officers, but all to serve the
king ; so in a Christian's there are many duties, of several kinds, but
all must have an aspect upon, and a tendency to, the glory of God ; I
must mind it in the closet, mind it in the shop, mind it in the family.
Fourthly ,For enjoyments : I must value them more or less, as they
conduce to the glory of God. In every thing I must ask, What doth it ?
Eccles. ii. 2. How doth it contribute to my great end ? The delight
in an estate is not in the possession but use, for that hath a nearer
connection with the glory of God ; the delight in an ordinance, as it
giveth out more of God, enableth me more to honour him ; the delight
in graces, as they incline me to God ; in Jesus Christ, as he bringeth
me to him, and fits me for him. Now these things being so, I must
rouse up both these, more to regard the glory of God, that it may
influence and govern their actions. Consider these motives :
1. God will have his glory upon you, if not from you, for he is
resolved not to be a loser by the creation of man ; for, ' he made man
for himself, and the wicked for the day of evil,' Prov. xvi. 4 ; and
Levit. x. 3, ' And before all the people I will be glorified.' God will
have his glory, that is certain ; he will have the glory of his justice in
the day of wrath and evil, if not the glory of his grace and holiness
in the day of his patience and mercy : therefore he will be glorified
by you, or upon you. Some give him glory in an active, some in a
passive way ; if he have not the glory due to his command, he will
right himself in the course of his providence. How sad that will be,
judge you. For then we shall serve for no other use, but to set forth
the glory of his vindictive justice.
2. He taketh notice of it, and is well pleased with it, when we
glorify him here in the world. It is one of Christ's pleas for his dis
ciples, John xvii. 10, ' Father, I am glorified in them.' He is an
advocate in heaven for those who are factors for his kingdom here
upon earth ; which is a comfort to all those who sincerely set them
selves to promote the glory of God, and the good of the church. The
more our endeavours are to glorify God and Christ, the more confident
we may be of Christ's mediation, that he is negotiating our cause in
heaven.
3. We shall be called to an account, what we have done with our
time and talents, and interests, and opportunities : Luke xix. 23, he will
' require his own with usury ; ' what honour he hath by our gifts and
graces, estate or esteem, relations and services ; how glorified, as magis
trates, ministers, parents, masters, husbands, wives, children, servants.
Beasts are liable to no account, because they have no reason and con
science ; they are ruled by a rod of iron, to glorify God in their kind
passively. We are left to our own choice ; therefore we should mind
VER. 13.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 133
it seriously. If you do not ask yourselves why you came into the
world, what will you answer at your appearance before God's tribunal ?
Job xxxi. 10, ' When he shall rise up, what shall I answer him ? ' I
beseech you consider what you will say, when the master returneth,
and taketh an account of your dispensation ; you were sent into the
world for this business, to serve the Lord. What will you say, when
you cannot shift and lie ? Will this be an answer, I spent my time
in serving my own lusts ; I was drowned in worldly cares, never
thought of pleasing God, or glorifying God ? As if an ambassador that
is sent abroad to serve his king and country should only return this
account of his negotiation I was busied in courtships, and cards and
dice, and could not mind the employment you sent me about. Or as
if a factor that is sent to a mart or fair, should stay guzzling in an inn,
or ale-house, and there spend all his money, which was to be em
ployed in traffic. Oh, what a dreadful account will poor souls make,
that have spent their time either in doing nothing, or nothing to
purpose, or that which is worse than nothing, that will undo them
for ever !
4. How comfortable it will be at death, when you have minded your
business, and seriously made it your work to live to God ; and can say
as our Lord, John xvii. 4, ' Father, I have glorified thee upon earth ;
I have finished the work thou hast given me to do.' Oh ! the comfort
of a well-spent life to a dying Christian : 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8, 'I have
fought a good fight ; I have finished my course ; I have kept the faith :
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only,
but unto them also that love his appearing;' or as Hezekiah, Isaiah
xxxviii. 3, ' Kemember, Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before
thee in truth and with a perfect heart. 7 I have been careful for mat
ter, manner and end, to glorify God by a constant obedience to his
holy will. Now, on the other side, what thoughts will you have of a
careless and mis-spent life, when you come to die ? Many beguile them
selves, and do not think of the end of their lives, till their life comes to
be ended, and then they howl and make their moan ; usually when they
lie a-dying, they cry out of this world, how it hath deceived them, and
how little they have fulfilled the ends of their creation. Partly, because
their conscience puts off all disguises, and partly because present
things are apt to work upon us ; and when the everlasting estate is at
hand, the soul is troubled that it did no more think of it before. Oh,
it is better to be prepared than to be surprised. Think of your
last end betimes. It is lamentable to begin to learn to live when we
must die. These end their life before they begin to live. You are
in your health and strength now, but we are all hastening apace into
the other world. But when God summoneth by sickness, and you are
immediately to appear before God, what have you to say for your
selves ? The devil will then be busy to tempt and trouble us, and all
other comforts fail, and have spent their allowance, and are as unsavoury
as the white of an egg. Will this comfort you, that you have sported
and gamed away your precious time ? That you have fared of the best,
and lived in pomp and honour ? Ah, no ; but this will be a cordial
to your hearts, that you have made conscience of honouring and
134 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXII.
glorifying God, and have been faithful in your place in promoting
the church's good. Therefore if hitherto you have been pleasing the
flesh, idling and wantoning away your precious time, say, ' The time
past is more than enough,' 1 Peter iv. 3; I have long, too long,
walked contrary to my great end, been dishonouring God, and
destroying mine own soul ; it is high time to remember and seek
after God.
5. Consider what a full reward abideth for those that live unto God,
and in all things regard his glory : 1 Sam. ii. 30, ' Those that honour
me, I will honour ;' and John xii. 26, ' If any man serve me, him will
my Father honour.' In the issue you will find that self-denial is the
truest self-seeking ; that those who are contented to be anything for
the Lord's glory, need not seek another pay-master. God will glorify
you, if you glorify him. God's glorifying is effective and creative ;
ours is but declarative ; he calleth the things that are not as though
they were. We do no more than call things to be what they are, and
far below what they are ; we declare God to be what he is ; we are
but a kind of witnesses to God's glory ; but he is an efficient in our
glory ; he bestoweth upon us what was not before ; and the glory
he bestoweth upon us answereth the greatness of his being : 2 Cor. iv.
17, ' For our light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work for
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.' He will at length
act like himself, as an infinite and eternal power. His gift shall answer
his nature, a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
6. Gratitude bindeth us continually to live unto God. Every
moment God is at work for us, and therefore every moment we should
be at work for God : John v. 17, ' My Father worketh hitherto, and I
work.' In everything we should be mindful of him ; you are upheld
by him every moment, amJhave life and breath, and all things from him.
7. Our great end must fix our minds, which otherwise will be tossed
up and down in several and various uncertainties, and distracted by a
multiplicity of ends and objects, that it cannot continue in any com
posed and settled frame : Ps. Ixxxvi. 11, ' Unite my heart ; ' and
James i. 8, 'A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.' An
uncertain mind breedeth an uncertain life ; not one part of our lives
will agree with another, because the whole is not firmly knit by the
power of their last end running through them. Most men's lives
are but a mere lottery, because they never minded in good earnest why
they came into the world. The fancies they are governed by are
jumbled together by chance; if right, it is but a good hit, a casual
thing ; they live at peradventure, and then no wonder they walk at
random.
Means. 1. Rouse up thyself, and consider often the end for which
you were created, and sent into the world. Our Lord saith, John xviii.
37, ' For this cause was I born, and for this end sent into the world,
that I might bear witness to the truth.' So should every one consider
for what errand God sent him into the world. If these self-communings
were more rife, they would do us a great deal of good. Why do I
live here ? What have I done in pursuance of my great end ? Most
men live as beasts, eat and drink, and trade and die ; and there is all
that can be said of them. Little have they served God, or done good
VER. 13.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 135
in their generation. Certainly you were not made to serve yourselves,
nor any other creatures, but that other creatures might serve you, and
ye serve God. Will ye once sit down in good earnest about this busi
ness, and mind the work for which ye were born ? Many never asked
yet in good earnest for what purpose they came into the world ; and
then no wonder they wander and walk at random, since they have not
as yet proposed any certain scope and aim to themselves. All that we
have to know is, what is our end, and the right way to obtain it ; and
all that we have to do is to seek the end, by those means. Now we
should often consider, whether we do so yea, or no ; for comparing our
ways with our rule, is the way to awake and come to wisdom : Ps. cxix.
59, ' I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.'
I labour, I take pains, I rise early, I go to bed late, but to what end is
all this ? What is it that my soul doth principally aim at in all these
things ? Oh, consider seriously and frequently, for whom are you at
work, for whom are you speaking and spending your time ? For whom
do you use your bodies, your souls, your time, your estate, your labours,
and cares ? Oh, my soul what is thy end in all these things ?
2. Remember thou art not thine own to dispose of. The sense of
God's interest in us should be often renewed upon our hearts, 1 Cor.
vi. 19. ' Ye are not your own ; therefore glorify God.' He hath a full
right in all that we have and do : Rom. xiv. 8, ' For whether we live,
we live unto the Lord ; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord :
whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's/ He hath jus
possidendi, disponendi et utendi a power to possess, dispose, and use
the creature at his own pleasure. And if they alienate themselves from
him, or use themselves to any other purpose than for his service and
glory, they do as much as in them lieth to dispossess him of his right ;
there is nothing doth so strongly bind us, absolutely to resign ourselves
to the will, use and service of our creator, as his right and interest in
us. It is meet that God should be served with his own. Every man
expecteth to receive the fruit of his vineyard, the improvement of his
own money and goods. We think we speak reasonably, when we say
we demand but our own. All the disorder of the creature proceedeth
from the denial, or forgetfulness, of God's propriety in us : Ps. xii. 4,
' Our tongues are our own, who is lord over us ? ' Therefore if we
would live unto God, we must often think of it, and revive it upon our
souls, that we may not dispose of ourselves, or anything that is ours,
but for the glory of God, and prefer his interest before our own.
3. Consider how much we are bound in gratitude to devote ourselves
to God's use and service, for the great mercies of creation, redemption
and daily providence. Certainly if we have a due sense of the Lord's
goodness to us, we will devote the whole man, our whole time and
strength, to his service, will, and honour ; the glorifying of God is the
fruit of love. The context showeth that love is but the reflex of God's?
love, or the beating back of his beam upon himself. Because he hath
loved us, we love him ; and because we love him, we live to him, and
seek his glory and honour. It is gratitude keepeth this resolution afoot,
of being and doing all things for God ; he showed love to us in creation,
when we started out of nothing into the life and being of man. But
he showed more love to us in redemption, when his own Son came to die
136 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SEB. XXII.
for us ; and that is the greater engagement to bind us to live unto God.
And so it is pressed everywhere in the scripture. But yet God re-
neweth his mercies to us every day, that the variety and freshness of
them, producing new delight, may revive the feelings of his love and
goodness, and excite us to renewed zeal for his glory and delight in his
service, and to employ our time and strength to his glory, with a
thankful heart. In short, creation bindeth us ; for to whom should
we live but to him from whom and by whom we live ? Having all
from God, we should in gratitude bring back all to him. Redemption
bindeth us, for we are purchased to God, not to ourselves ; and God
carried it on, in such an astonishing way, the more to oblige us that
we might readily and freely yield up ourselves to live to him ; daily
mercies bind us to sweeten our service, God being so good a master.
4. The new nature is requisite, that we may in all things mind
God's glory. It is more easy to convince us of our obligations to live
unto God, than to get a heart and a disposition to live to God. The
new creature, which is created after God, ever bendeth and tendeth
towards him. As the flower of the sun doth follow the sun, and
openeth and shutteth according to the absence of the sun ; so doth
the heart of a Christian move after God. We say, Aqua in tantum
ascendit, &c.; nature 1 riseth no higher than its spring, head and centre ;
self is our principle and end : Hosea x. 1, ' Israel is an empty vine ; he
bringeth forth fruit to himself.' We live to ourselves, and seek after
our own interests, till God give us another heart ; when the heart is
changed, a man's felicity and last end is changed. And therein the
new nature doth most bewray itself.
5. The more our lusts are mortified, the more sincerely shall we
aim at the glory of God. That which is lame is easily turned out of
the way. And if we have not a command over our affections, they
will be interposing and perverting all our actions ; and when God
should be at the end of all our actions, the idol that our lust hath set
up will be at the end of them. We will subordinate them to our
pleasure, honour, and profit. Any lust is a great engrosser ; the belly
will be God, and honour command us as a God, and mammon will be
God ; our hearts are corrupted, and some created thing is set up instead
of God. Therefore mortification is the guard of sincerity ; otherwise
we shall love the creature for itself alone, or for ourselves alone, and so
be turned from God, whom alone we should honour, please and obey.
Use 2. Is this the temper and disposition of our souls ? do we
make the glory of God our great end and scope ? If it be so, then
1. We will prefer God's honour above our own interests, though
never so dear to us. A notable instance we have in our Lord Jesus-
Christ, who came as God's servant in the work of redemption ; and we
read of him in the general, Rom. xv. 3, ' That he pleased not himself,'
that is, he did not gratify his own natural and human will. More
particularly, Phil. ii. 6-8, ' That he emptied himself, and made
himself of no reputation, and humbled himself to the death of the
cross/ To promote his Father's glory he willingly submitted to all
manner of indignities ; for this end and purpose more expressly we
have the workings of his heart set forth, John. xii. 27, 28, ' Father,
1 Qu. ' water ' ? ED.
VER. 13.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 137
save me from this hour, but for this cause came I to this hour. Father,
glorify thy name. And there came a voice from heaven, saying, I have
glorified it, and will glorify it again.' His desires of his own safety
were moderated, and submitted to the conscience of his duty, and he
preferreth the honour of God, and seeks to advance it above his own
ease ; for Christ endeth all debates with this, ' Father, glorify thy name.'
Now certainly all that have the spirit of Christ will be tender of God's
glory, and account that dearer to them than anything else, and submit
to the bitter cup, so God may have honour thereby. You will think
Christ's example too high, who submitted the sensible consolations of
the godhead to the respects of God's glory ; and this is not possibly
practicable by any creature. It is true every ordinary Christian doth
not come to this height, but the thing is imitable ; witness Paul, who
valued the glory of God above that personal contentment and happi
ness that should come to him by his own salvation : Kom. ix. 3, ' For
I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren,
my kinsmen according to the flesh.' It is not a hasty speech ; he
calleth God to witness that this was the real disposition of his heart ;
he speaketh advisedly and with good deliberation. But how then car*
it be made good ? There is a holy part and a happy part in religion ;
he did not wish less love to Christ, nor to be less beloved of him. But
you will say, A regular love beginneth at home. True, but it is not
his salvation and their salvation that cometh in competition, but his
salvation and the glory of God ; and he was much more affected with
God's glory than his own good. This should shame us that stand upon
our petty interests. We are not called to such self-denial. Surely we
should be contented to do anything, and be anything, so God may be
glorified ; poor or rich, so God may be glorified by our poverty or riches ;
as travellers take the way as they find it, so it will lead to their jour
ney's end. Decline no service nor suffering for God's sake when he
calleth us to it : Phil. i. 20, ' So also now Christ shall be magnified in
my body, whether it be by life or by death ' ; so Christ be glorified in
his body. That is a lower and more moderate interest, the suspension
and delay of salvation, laying it at God's feet ; the glorifying of God
in his calling was more welcome than his present entrance into glory.
So Acts xx. 24, ' I count not my life dear to me, so I may finish my
course with joy.' When they told him of dangers, he went bound in
the spirit to Jerusalem. Well then, a heart that is truly affected
with God's glory standeth upon no temporal interests and concern
ments, and preferreth God's honour before its own ease, honour,
pleasure, esteem, yea, life itself.
2. If tender of receiving honour from men, to God's wrong. The
apostles did not set up a trade for themselves : Acts xiv. 15, ' They
rent their clothes, and said, What do ye do ? we are but men of like
passions.' So Acts iii. 12, ' Why gaze ye upon us, as if by our power
and holiness we had made this man to walk.' Herod received
applauses, and was therefore blasted, Acts xii. The concealer is as
bad as the stealer ; to affect or admit divine honour, or too much
attributing to ourselves any good effected by us, as instruments, as
we must not assume, so we must not receive honour when it is ascribed
to us by others. The apostles would not suffer the admiration and
138 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXII.
praise of the people to rest upon themselves: ' Thy pound hath gained
ten pounds,' Mat xxv. ; and, 1 Cor. xv. 10, ' Not I, but the grace of God
that was with me ; ' ' And I live, but not I/ Gal. ii. 20.
3. If affected deeply with God's dishonour, though done by others :
Ps. Ixix. 9, ' The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, and the
reproaches of them that have reproached thee have fallen upon me.'
Vehement passions waste the body, affected more with God's dishonour
than our own personal injuries. On the other side, when we rejoice in
his glory, though we ourselves be lessened : Phil. i. 18, ' Whether in
pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice, yea,
and will rejoice;' John iii. 30, 'He must increase, but I must decrease.'
4. If it be the principal design that your souls travail with, and
you are still contriving how you may improve your relations, capacities
and particular advantages, for God's honour and glory, Neh. i. 11.
What a man loveth, he will strive to promote it. If a man love the
flesh, he will strive to please it, Bom. viii. If a man love the Lord, he
will contrive how he may honour him ; if a minister, ' study to show
thyself a workman that needs not be ashamed ; ' if a master of a family,
he will endeavour to glorify God in his family, and will consider what
he hath there to do for God.
5. If not solicitous about the opinions and censures of men, 1 Cor.
iv. 3. Not to stand much upon man's day or what men think of us ;
it is no great matter, my business is to approve myself to God ; the
Christians in the spirit were discerned from the Christians in the letter :
Horn. ii. 29, ' Whose praise is not of men, but God.' Sincerity is
much known by considering whom we make our witness, judge,
approver and pay-master ; and the truest magnanimity is a living
above opinions, and slighting what men think and say of us, so we be
found in the way of righteousness and in the discharge of our duty ;
it is more easy to deny wealth and pleasure, than it is to deny
esteem and reputation.
6. When this is the great motive to all honest walking. For our
end is known by our motives ; and the only way and means to glorify
God is by an uniform and constant holiness: Mat. v. 16, 'Let your
light so shine,' &c. ; 1 Peter i. 2 ; 2 Thes. i. 12. Not seeking any
glory to ourselves from men, but honestly aiming at the glory of God,
will bring sufficient encouragement. So John xv. 8, ' Herein is my
Father glorified, if ye bring forth much fruit/ When we seek our
father's glory in all that we do, it is argument enough.
7. If we rejoice that God be glorified by others, and to the utmost
of our power endeavour that it may be so. True grace is cumulative :
Luke xxii. 32, ' When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.'
As fire turneth all into fire about it, so grace will diffuse itself. It is
observed of mules and creatures of a mongrel race, that they never
procreate and bring forth after their kind. There is an enmity goeth
along with a carnal profession ; they would fain impale the common
salvation, appropriate Christ to themselves, shine alone in the reputa
tion of holiness ; but hearts zealously affected with the glory of God
can delight in the gifts and graces of others, and in their actings for
God, as they could do in their own : ' Would to God all the Lord's
people were prophets,' Num. xi. 29. It is a sign we mind the
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 139
end more than the instruments. Self-love and self-seekiug is much
bewrayed by envy ; if at work for God, we should be glad of
company. It is a sign God's glory is our aim, when we can rejoice
that others are equal or superior to us. When a man would fain
have a work despatched, he would be glad of fellow-labourers.
SERMON XXIII.
For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if
one died for all, then were all dead. 2 COR. v. 14.
IN the context the apostle is rendering the reason of his fidelity in
the ministry, which exposed him to hard labour, and sundry calami
ties. His three grand inducements were First, the hope of a blessed
immortality ; secondly, the terror of the judgment ; thirdly, the love
of Christ. This threefold cord is not easily broken. His hopes are
professed in the beginning of the chapter ; his sense of the terror of
the Lord, and the weightiness of his account, vers. 10, 11. With an
answer to objections, thou art proud, mad, or transported, ver. 13.
Now the last from his end and principle, which bringeth in the third
inducement, the love of God. All together is enough to set the most
rusty wheels a-going ; motives strong enough to move the hardest
heart. Here are the strongest arguments to persuade, the greatest
terrors to affright, yet all will not work without the force of love.
Rewards allure and encourage ; terrors keep aweful and serious, but it
is love that must inwardly incline men and constrain the heart, For
the love of Christ constraineth us, &c.
In the words we have
1. The force and operation of love.
2 The reason why, and how it cometh to have such a force, and
operation : Because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then are
all dead. The reason of our love to Christ, is Christ's love to us ;
which is described
[1.] By the special act of his love ; he died for us, one for all.
[2.] The end and aim of it ; ' then were all dead ; and that he died
for all, that they which live, should not henceforth live to themselves,
but to him that died for them,' ver. 15. Christ's end was
(1.) Our dying to sin and worldly interests.
(2.) Our living in a dedicated and consecrated way wholly to the
service and glory of Christ.
1. I begin with the force and operation of love ; ' The love of Christ
constraineth us.' It was love which put bands upon him, and made
him forget himself, and only speak and do those things which concern
the glory of Christ, and the good of the church.
Let us a little explain the words.
The love of Christ. It may be taken passively or actively ; passively,
for that love with which Christ loveth us ; actively, for that love which
we bear to Christ. I take it for this latter. Our love to Christ,
140 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [ER. XXIII.
founded on bis to us, ' constraineth us,' a-we^ei, compresselh the spirit
with a mighty force : as Paul, awei^ero, was ' pressed in spirit,'
Acts xviii. 5, when the spirit within him constrained him to speak.
The same word expresseth that passionateness of desire which Christ
had to die for us : Luke xii. 50, ' I have a baptism to be baptized
with, TTW? crvvexofiai, and how am I straitened till it be ? &c.,' as a
woman in travail striveth to be delivered of her burden. The word is
emphatical, and noteth the sweet violence and force of love, by which
the heart is overswayed and overpowered, that it cannot say nay.
Beza glosseth, totos nos possidet et regit. It doth wholly possess us,
and ruleth us, and hath us in its power, to make us do what it would
have us. Paul was wholly guided and ruled by love, that he forgot
himself for Christ's sake.
Doct. That the love of Christ hath such a great force and efficacy
upon the soul, that it inclineth us to a willing performance of duties
of the greatest difficulty and danger.
To evidence this to you, this scripture sufficeth ; for this is the
account which Paul giveth of his zeal and diligence in his apostleship.
To preach the gospel was a work of much labour and hazard ; they
went abroad to bait the devil and hunt him out of his territories ;
they contended not only with the corruptions and lusts, but the pre
judices of men. The gospel was then a novel doctrine, advancing
itself against the bent of corrupt nature, and the false religion then
received in the world. If they had met with a ready compliance, there
was labour enough in it, to run up and down, and compass sea and
land, to invite men into the kingdom of God ; but the world was their
enemy. The gods of the nations had the countenance and assistance
of worldly powers, and everywhere they kicked against the pricks ; yet
Paul was as earnest in it, as if it were a pleasing and gainful
employment. If you ask, What was the reason the love of Christ
constrained him ?
In the managing of this point I shall inquire,
1. What love to Christ is..
2. What influence it hath upon our duties and actions.
3. Whence it cometh to have such a force upon us.
First, What is love to Christ? I shall consider the peculiar
reference of it to this place.
I must distinguish of the love of God.
1. There is a love of God largely taken for all the duty of the upper
hemisphere in religion, or of the first table, or where Christ divides
the two tables into love to God and love to our neighbour, Mat. xxii.
37-39. So it is confounded with, or compounded of, faith and repent
ance and new obedience ; for all religion is in effect but love acted.
Faith is a loving and thankful acceptance of Christ ; repentance is
mourning love, because of the wrongs done to our beloved ; obedience
is but pleasing love ; hope an earnest waiting for the full and final
fruition of God, whom we love.
2. Strictly, it is taken for our complacency and delight in God.
Divines distinguish of a twofold love ; a love of benevolence and a
love of complacency. The love of benevolence is the desiring of the
felicity of another ; the love of complacency is the well-pleasedness of
. 1-1] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. 141
the soul in a suitable good. God loveth us both these ways ; with the
love of benevolence : ' For so God loved the world/ &c., John iii. 16 ;
with the love of complacency, and so ' The upright in the way are his
delight.' But we love God with but one of these, not with the love of
benevolence; for he is above our injuries and benefits, and needeth
nothing from us to add to his felicity ; therefore we cannot be said to
love him with the love of benevolence, unless very improperly, when
we desire his glory; but we love him with a love of complacenc} r
when the soul is well pleased in God, or delights in him, which is
begun here, and perfected hereafter. This is spoken of, Ps. xxxvii. 4,
' Delight thyself in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine
heart.' And it is seen in this, when we count his favour and presence
our chiefest happiness, and value an interest in him above all the
world, Ps. xvi. 6. 7, and Ps. iv. 6, 7 ; and when we delight in other
things, as they belong to God : Ps. cxix. 14, ' I will delight myself in
thy commandments, which I have loved.'
3. Love is sometimes put in scripture for that which is properly
called a desiring, seeking love. Which is our great duty in this life,
because now we are in via, in the way to home, in an estate of imper
fect fruition, and therefore our love venteth itself most by desires and
by an earnest seeking after God. The river is contented to flow within
its banks till it come into the ocean, and there it expatiateth itself.
It is described by the psalmist, Ps. Ixiii. 8, 'My soul followeth hard
after thee ; ' and, Isa. xxvi. 9, ' With my soul have I desired thee in
the night.' This love we show when the mercy of God is most desired,
valued and sought after, and those mercies most of all which do show
us most of God himself, and do most help up our love to him, as when
we desire spiritual blessings above temporal, wisdom and grace
rather than wealth and honour. For spiritual wisdom is the principal
thing, Prov. iv. 7 ; for it revealeth most of God to us, and is a less
impediment in the ascending of our minds and hearts to him than
wealth, or honour, or secular learning, or whatsoever subserveth the
interest of the flesh. The world is full of allurements to the flesh ; and
since we have separated the creature from God, and love it apart from
God, these temporal mercies, which should raise the mind to him, are
ihe greatest means to keep it from him. Therefore the soul of one
that loveth God, though it doth not despise the bounty of his daily
providence, yet it is mainly bent after those mercies which are the
distinguishing and peculiar testimonies of his favour, and do more
especially direct the soul to him : ' Set your affections on things that
are above, and not on things which are on earth,' Col. iii. 2.
4. To omit other distinctions, the love which we are upon is the
love of gratitude and thankfulness. Not the general love which com-
priseth all religion, either in its own nature or in its means and fruits ;
not the particular love of delight and complacency, by which we
delight in God, and all the manifestations of himself to us. Nor,
thirdly, not the seeking and desiring love, by which we seek to get
more of God into our hearts, and above all do desire and seek the
endless enjoyment of him in glory. These work not so expressly as
this love of gratitude, concerning which observe three things
{!.] The general nature of it. It is a gracious and holy love, which
142 SKUMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXIII.
the soul returneih back to God again, upon the apprehension of his
love to us. Gospel love is properly a returning love, a thankful love.
Love is like a diamond that is not properly wrought upon but by its
own dust. It is love that begetteth love : 1 John iv. 19, ' We love
him because he loved us first ; ' as fire begets fire, or as an echo
returneth what it receiveth. It is a reflection or a reverberation, or
casting back, of God's beam upon himself. As a cold wall sendeth
back a reflection of heat when the sun hath shone upon it, so our cold
hearts, being warmed with a sense of God's love, return love to him
again: Cant. i. 3, 'Thy name is an ointment poured forth; therefore
the virgins love thee.' When the box of spikenard is broken, and the
savour of his good ointments shed abroad, then the virgins love him ;
hearts are attracted to him. The more God's love to us is known and
felt, the more love we have to God.
[2.] The special object of this love is God as revealed in Christ
Partly, because thereby God, who is otherwise terrible to the guilty
soul, is thereby made amiable and a fit object for our love. And
therefore in studying Christ, it should be our principal end to see the
goodness, love, and amiableness of God in him. A condemning God
is not so easily loved as a gracious and reconciled God. Man's fall
was from God unto himself, especially in the point of love ; he loved
himself instead of God, and therefore his real recovery must be by the
bringing up his soul to the love of God again. Now a guilty con
demned sinner can hardly love the God who in justice will condemn
and punish him, no more than a malefactor will love his judge, who
corneth to pronounce sentence upon him. Tell him that he is a grave
and comely person, a just and an upright man ; but the guilty wretch
replieth, He is my judge. Well then, nothing can be more conducing
and essential to man's recovery to God, than that God should be
represented as most amiable, a father of mercies, a God of pardons,
one that is willing to pardon and save him, in and by Jesus Christ:
2 Cor. v. 19, 'God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.'
So he is represented comfortably to us, and inviting the heart to close
with him. And partly, because so we have the highest engagement
to love him. We are bound to love God as a creator and as a pre
server ; to love him as he is the strength of our lives and the length
of our days, Deut. xxx. 20 ; to love him, because he heareth the voice
of our supplications, Ps. cxvi. 1 ; as our deliverer, and the horn of our
salvation, Ps. xviii. 2 ; to love him as one who daily loadeth us with
his benefits. There is a gratitude due for these mercies. But chiefly
as he is our God and Father in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the
great instance of God's love : Horn. v. 8, ' God commended his love
towards us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us ; ' and
1 John iv. 10, ' Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he
loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins.' That was
the astonishing expression of it, a mystery, without controversy, great,
that he was pleased to save us at so dear a rate, and by so blessed and
glorious a person, that we might more admire the glory of his love to
sinners, so wonderfully declared unto us. God made Christ's love so
exemplary, that he might overcome us by kindness.
[3.] The singular effects of this gratitude or returning love. It
VER. 14.] SEKMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 143
causeth us to devote tlie whole man to Christ's service, will, and
honour, and to bring back all his mercies to him, as far as we are able,
to his use and glory. God in Christ, being so great a benefactor, all
that have received the benefit with a due sense and esteem of it, will
resolve to love God again, and to serve him with all their powers, Rom.
xii. 1. Who deserveth our love and obedience more than God ? and
our thankful remembrance, more than Christ ? Therefore if we be
affected with the mercy of our redemption, we will devote ourselves
and our all to him, and use our all for him. Our whole lives will be
employed for him, and all our actions will be but the effects of inward
love streaming forth in thankfulness to God. So Paul here being in
the bonds of love, and under lively apprehensions of this infinite love
of Christ, utterly renounced himself, to dedicate himself wholly to the
service of God and his church. And surely if we are thus affected,
we will be like-minded, perfectly consecrating to him our life and
strength.
Secondly. What influence it hath upon our duties and actions.
1. Love is an ingenuous and thankful grace, that is, thinking of a
recompense, or a return to God, or paying him in kind, love for love.
The reasonableness of this will appear by what is done between man
and man. We expect to be loved by those whom we love, if they
have anything of good nature left in them. The most hard-hearted
men are melted and wrought upon by kindness. Saul wept when
David spared him, when he had him in his power ; and shall God not
only spare us, but Christ come and make a plaster of his own blood to
cure us, and heal us, and shall we have no sense of the Lord's kind
ness ? Usually we are taken more with what men suffer for us than
with what they do for us, and shall Christ do and suffer such great
things, and we be no way affected ? See how men plead one with
another. Consider the words of Jehu to Jonadab the son of Rechab :
2 Kings x. 15, ' Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart ? '
Dost thou in truth affect me, as I do thee ? And Paul to the Corin
thians: 2 Cor. vi. 11-13, ' ye Corinthians, our mouth is open to you,
our heart is enlarged ; ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened
in your own bowels. Now for, a recompense in the same, be ye also
enlarged ' that is, my kindness and affection are great, my whole
soul is open to you and at your service. It would be a just return if
you would be back again as kind and affectionate towards me, as I
have been to you. And again, when we are not loved by those whom
we love, we use to expostulate it with them ; as the same Paul to the
Corinthians: 2 Cor. xii. 15, 'I will very gladly spend myself, and be
spent for you : though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am
beloved of you ; ' or as Joab to David : 2 Chron. xix. 6, ' Thou lovest
thine enemies, and hatest thy friends.' Men think they reason well
when they plead thus, for they presume it of love, that it will be
ingenuous, and make suitable returns. Well then, the like we may
with better reason expect from all those who have a due sense of their
Redeemer's love, that they will return affection for affection, and
accordingly honour and serve him who died for them. God's love
hath more worth and merit in it than man's. No man's love is carried
on in such an astonishing way, nor with such condescension. God
144 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SlSR. XXIII.
had no reason to love us at so clear a rate : but we have all the reason
in the world to love God and serve him. Therefore it' he hath pre
vented us with his love, the thankful soul will think of a return and
recompense, such as creatures can make to God. God's love of bounty
will be requited by a love of duty on our part.
2. Love is a principle that will manifest and show itself. Of all
affections it can least be concealed ; it is a fire that will not be hidden.
Men can concoct their malice, and hide their hatred, but they
cannot hide their love. It will break out and express itself to the
party loved, by the effects and testimony of due respects : Prov. xxv.
5, 'Open rebuke is better than secret love/ When a man beareth
another good-will, but doth nothing for him, how shall he know that
he loveth him ? Can a man love God, and do nothing for him ? No ;
it must show itself by some overt act ; love suffereth a kind of imper
fection till it be discovered, till it break out into its proper fruits : 1
John ii. 5, ' He that keepeth his word, in him is the love of God
perfected ; ' as ' lust is perfected, when it bringeth forth sin/ Jam. i. 15.
at hath produced its consummate act, and discovered itself to the full.
3. It bendeth and inclineth the heart to the thing loved. Amor
meus est pondus meum ; eo feror, quocunque, feror. It is the vigor
ous bent of the soul, and it so bendeth and inclineth the soul to the
thing loved, that it is fastened to it, and cannot easily be separated
from it. We are brought under the power of what we love, as the
apostle speaketh of the creatures : 1 Cor. vi. 12, ' But I will not be
brought under the power of any/ It is deaf to counsel in its measure ;
it is true of our love to Christ, if we love him, we will cleave to him.
A man is dispossessed of himself that hath lost the dominion of him
self, as Samson, like a child led by Delilah: so is a man ruled and
governed by his love to Christ.
4. It is a most kindly principle to do a thing for another out of love.
What is done out of love is not done out of slavish compulsion, but
good- will ; not an act of necessity, but choice : 1 John v. 3, * This is
love, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not
grievous/ That is bad ground that bringeth forth nothing, unless it
be forced. Natural conscience worketh by fear, but faith by love.
Love is not compelled, but it worketh of itself ; sweetly, kindly, it
taketh off all irksomeness, lessens difficulties, facilitates all things, and
maketh them light and easy, so as we serve God cheerfully. Where
love prevaileth, let it be never so difficult, it seemeth light and easy.
Seven years for Rachel seemed to Jacob as nothing, made him bear
the heat of the day and cold of the night, Gen. xxix. 10. But where
love is wanting, all that is done seemeth too much.
5. It is a most forcible, compelling principle ; non persuadet sed
cogit, one glosseth the text so. It cometh with commanding entreaties,
reasoneth in such a powerful, prevailing manner, as it will have no
denial : Titus ii. 11, 12, ' For the grace of God that, bringeth salvation
hath appeared unto all men, teaching us that denying all ungodliness
and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the
present world/ Nothing will hold your hearts to your work so much
as love. Lay what bands you will upon yourselves, if a temptation
ocometh, you will break them, as Samson did his cords, wherewith he
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 145
was bound. Promises, vows, covenants, resolutions, former experiences
of comfort, when put to trial, all is as nothing to love. But now let a
man's love be gained to Christ, that is band enough : quis legem dat
amantibus ? major lex amor sibi est. Love, so far as love, needeth no
penalties, nor laws, nor enforcements, for it is a great law to itself, it
hath within its bosom as deep obligations and engagements to any
thing that may please God, as you can put upon it. Indeed if there
were not an opposite principle of averseness, this were enough ; but I
speak of love as love. Fear and terror are a kind of external impulse,
that may drive a soul to a duty ; but the inward impulse is love ; that
will influence and overrule the soul, and engage it to please Christ, if
it beareth any mastery there.
6. It is laborious ; it requireth great diligence to be faithful with
Christ. Now love is that disposition which puts us upon labours :
this, if anything, will keep a man to his work : Heb. vi. 10, ' God is
not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love ; ' and 1 Thes.
i. 3, ' Remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labour of
love.' It is not an affection that can lie bashful and idle in the soul.
So Rev. ii. 4, ' Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because
thou hast left thy first love/ Till love be lost, our first works are
never left. Our Lord when he had work for Peter to do, gauged his heart,
John xxi. 15, ' Simon Peter, lovest thou me ? ' Love sets all a-going.
7. It dilateth and enlargeth the heart, and so it is liberal to the
thing loved. ' I will praise- him yet more and more ;' ' I will not serve
the Lord with that which cost me nothing.' Other things will not go
to the charge of obedience to God. It will be at seme cost for God
and Christ, and maketh us obey God against our own interest, and
carnal inclination. It was against the hair, but the young man deferred
not to do the thing, because he delighted iu Jacob's daughter, Gen.
xxxiv. 19.
8. It is an invincible and unconquerable affection : Cant. viii. 6, 7,
'Love is strong as death: jealousy is cruel as the grave; the coals
thereof are as the coals of fire, which hath a most vehement 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.' There is a vehemency and an unconquerable
constancy in love, against and above all afflictions, and above all
worldly baits and profits. The business is, of whose love this is to be
interpreted ; of Christ's, or ours. If we understand it of Christ's love,
then it is really verified. Christ's love was as strong as death, for he
suffered death for us, and overcame death for us ; he debased himself
from the height of all glory to the depth of all misery for our sakes,
Phil. ii. 7, 8, and 2 Cor. viii. 9 ; overcame all difficulties by the
fervency of his love, enduring the cross, and despising the shame, on
the one hand, Heb. xii. 2 ; on the other, refusing the offers of prefer
ment : Mat. iv. 9, 10, The devil maketh an offer of all the world to
Christ. Of ease : Mat. xvi. 22, 23, ' And Peter began to rebuke him,
saying, Be it far from thee, Lord.' Of honour ; Mat. xxvii. 40, 43,
' Thou that destroyest the temple, and bulkiest it in three days, save
thyself, if thou be the Son of God. He trusted in God : let him deliver
him now, if he will have him ; for he said, I am the Son of God.' But
VOL. XIII. K
146 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXIII.
it is also verified of Christians in their measure, who love not their
lives to the death, and overcome all difficulties : Acts xxi. 13, ' Willing
to die at Jerusalem ;' endure all afflictions ; Ps. xliv. 17, c All this is
come upon us, yet we have not forsaken thee : ' and suffer the loss of
all worldly comforts ; Mat. xix. 27, ' Behold we have forsaken all, and
followed thee ; ' and Luke xiv. 26, 'If any man come to me, and hate
not father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and
sisters, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.' But rather I
apply it to the latter, for it is rendered as a reason, why they beg a
room in his heart ; the love that presseth us is of such a vehement
nature, that it cannot be resisted, no more than death, or the grave,
or fire can be resisted. Nothing else but Christ can quench it, and
satisfy it; such a 1 constraining power it hath, that the persons that
have it are led captive by it. An ardent affection and love to Christ is
of this nature, and when it is strong and vigorous, it will make strong
and mighty impressions upon the heart ; no opposition will extinguish
it. Waters will quench fire, but nothing will quench this love : Rom.
viii. 37, ' Nay, in all those things we are more than conquerors, through
him that loved us.' There are two sorts of trials that ordinarily carry
away souls from Christ ; the first is from the left hand, from crosses ;
these carry away some, but not all ; though the stony ground could not,
yet the thorny ground could abide the heat of the sun : yet the second
sort of trials, the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and
voluptuous living, which are the temptations of the right hand, will
draw away unmortified souls and choke the word. Pleasures, honours,
riches, are a more strong and subtile sort of temptations than the
other ; but yet these are too weak to prevail with that heart which
hath a sincere love to Christ planted in it. They will not be tempted
and enticed away from Christ. If a man would give all the substance
of his house, such a soul will be faithful to Christ, and these offers and
treaties are in vain. If love be true and powerful, it is not easily
ensnared, but rejects the allurements of the world and the flesh, with
a holy disdain and indignation; all as dung and dross that would
tempt it from Christ, Phil. iii. 9. And these essays to cool it, and
divert it, and draw it away, are to no purpose. Well then, this warm
love to Christ is the hold and bulwark that maintaineth Christ's
interest in the soul. The devil, the world, and the flesh, batter it, and
hope to throw it down, but they cannot ; nothing else will serve the
turn in Christ's room.
Thirdly, Whence love to Christ cometh to have such a force upon
us ; or, which is all one, how so forcible a love is wrought in us ?
I answer, (1.) Partly by the worth of the object ; and (2.) Partly by
the manner how it is considered by us and applied to us.
1. From the worth of the object. [1.] When we consider what Christ
is, what he hath done for us, and what love he hath showed therein,
how can we choose but love with such a constraining, unconquerable
love, as to stick at no difficulty and danger for his sake ? The circum
stances which do most affect our hearts are these, our condition and
necessity. When he came to show this love to us, we were guilty
sinners, in a lost and lapsed estate, and so altogether hopeless, unless
some means were used for our recoverv. Kindness to them that are
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 147
ready to perish doth most affect them. Oh, how should we love Christ,
who are as men fetched up from the gates of hell, under sentence of
condemnation, when we were in our blood ! Ezek. xvi. ; had sold our
selves to Satan, Isa. Ivii. 3 ; cast away the mercies of our creation, and
had all come short of the glory of God, Eom. iii. 23. When sentenced
to death, John iii. 18, and ready for execution, Eph. ii. 3, then did
Christ, by a wonderful act of love, step in to rescue and recover us ;
not staying till we relented, and cried for mercy, but before we were
sensible of our misery, or regarded any remedy, then the Son of God
came to die for us.
[2.] The astonishing way in which our deliverance was brought about
by the incarnation, death, shame, blood and agonies of the Son of God
who was set up in our natures, as a glass and pledge of God's great
love to us : 1 John iii. 16, ' Hereby perceive we the love of God, because
he laid down his life for us. 5 We had never known so much of the
love of God, had it not been for this instance. He showed love to us
in creation, in that he gave us a reasonable nature, when he might
have made us toads and serpents. He showeth love to us in our daily
sustentation, in that he keepeth us at his expense, though we do him
so little service, and do so often offend him ; but herein was love, that
the Son of God himself must hang upon a cross, and become a propiti
ation for our sins. We now come to learn by this instance, that God
is love, 1 John iv. 8. What was Jesus Christ but love incarnate, love
born of a virgin, love hanging upon a cross, laid in the grave, love
made sin, love made a curse for us ?
3. The consequent benefits. I will name three, to which all the
rest may be reduced.
(1.) Justification of our persons: Kom. v. 1, 'Being justified by
faith, we have peace with God ; ' and Eph. i. 7, ' In whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins ; ' and Kom. v. 9,
'Being justified by his blood, we are saved from wrath through him ;'
to be at present upon good terms with God and capable of communion
with him, and access to him, with assurance of welcome and audience,
to have all acts of hostility cease, this is to stop mischief at the fountain-
head for if God be at peace with us, of whom should we be afraid ?
then to have sin pardoned, which is the great ground of our bondage
and terror, that which blasteth all our comforts, and maketh them
unsavoury to us, and is the venom and sting of all our crosses and
miseries, the great make-bate between God and us ; once more, to be
freed from the fear of hell, and the wrath of God, which is so deservedly
terrible to all serious persons that are mindful of their condition, so
that we may live in a holy security and peace. Oh, how should we
love the Lord Jesus, who hath procured these benefits for us !
(2.) To have our natures sanctified, and healed, and freed from the
stain of sin, as well as the guilt of it, and to have God's impress
imprinted upon our souls, this is also consequent of the death of Jesus
Christ : Eph. v. 26, ' That he might sanctify, and cleanse it by the
washing of water ; ' and Titus ii. 14 ; ' Who gave himself for us,
that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a
peculiar people, zealous of good works ;' so that being delivered from
the thraldom of sin, which is a great ease to a burdened soul, and fitted
148 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SiiR. XXIII.
for the service of God, for Christ came to make a people ready for the
Lord, to be cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and have a
nature divine and heavenly. Let diseased souls desire worldly great
ness, swine take pleasure in the mire, and ravenous beasts feed on dung
and carrion, an enlarged soul must have those higher blessings, and
looketh upon holiness not only as a duty, but a great privilege, to be
made like God, and made serviceable to him. This is that which
endears their hearts to Christ, ' He hath loved us, and washed us from
our sins in his own blood, that we might be kings and priests unto
God/ Rev. i. 5.
(3.) Eternal life and glory : 1 John iii. 1, 2, ' Behold what manner of
love the Father hath showed us, that we should be called the sons of
God. It doth not appear what we shall be ; but we know that when
he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.'
This is the end of all ; for this Christ died, and for this we believe,
and hope, and labour, even for that happy estate, when we shall be
brought nigh God, and be companions of the holy angels, and for ever
behold our glorified Redeemer, and see our own nature united to the
Godhead, and have the greatest and nearest intuition and fruition
of God that we are capable of, and live in the fullest love to him, and
delight in him ; and the soul shall for ever dwell in a glorified body, that
shall be no clog, but an help to it ; and be no more troubled with
infirmities, necessities, and diseases, but for ever be at rest with the
Lord, lauding his name to all eternity. Now shall all this be done
for us ? and shall we not love Christ? Certainly if there be faith to
believe this, there will be love ; and if there be love, there will be
obedience, be it never so tedious and irksome to our natural hearts.
2. The strength of love ariseth from the manner, how it is considered
by us and applied to us.
(1.) Partly, by faith ; (2.) Partly, by meditation ; and (3.) Partly,
by the Spirit.
[1.] Faith. Nothing else will enkindle, and blow up this holy fire
of love in our hearts, for affection followeth persuasion. Till we believe
these things, we cannot be affected with them. To a carnal, natural
heart, the gospel is but as a fine speculation, or a well-contrived fable,
or a dream of a shower of rubies falling out of the clouds in a night ;
but faith, or a firm persuasion, that affecteth the heart, and therefore
the apostle speaketh of faith working by love, Gal. v. 6. Faith reporteth
to the soul, and filleth the soul with the apprehensions of God's love
in Christ, and then maketh use of the strength and sweetness of it, to
carry forth all acts of obedience to God.
[2.] By meditation. The most excellent things do not work if they
be not seriously thought of. Affections are stirred up in us by the
inculcation of the thoughts, as by the beating of the steel upon the
flint the sparks fly out : as the apostle persuadeth to this : Eph. iii.
17, 18, ' That ye being rooted and grounded in love, may be able with
all saints to comprehend what is the height, and depth, and length of
the love of God in Christ, and may know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge ! ' This is the blessed employment of the saints,
that they may live in the consideration and admiration of this wonder
ful love, that so they may ever keep themselves in the love of Christ.
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 149
Nothing exciteth us to our duty so much as this ; therefore we should
not content ourselves with a superficial view of it, but dwell upon it
in our thoughts. It is our narrow thoughts, our shallow apprehensions
of God's love in Christ, our cold and unf requent meditation of it, which
maketh us so barren and unfruitful as we are.
[3.] The Spirit maketh all effectual. The gospel containeth the
matter ; meditation is the means to improve it ; but if it be an act of
the human spirit only, it affecteth us not ; the thoughts raised in us
by bare and dry reason are not so lively as those raised in us by faith,
that puts a life into all our notions. Now the acts of faith are not so
forcible as when the Spirit of God sheddeth abroad this love in our
souls, Kom. v. 5. We must use the gospel, must use reason, must use
faith, in meditation on the love of Christ, but we must beg the
effectual operation of the Holy Ghost, who giveth us a taste and feel
ing of this love, and most thankfully to entertain it.
Use. It showeth us how we should excite and rouse up ourselves in
every duty, especially in those that are difficult and displeasing to the
flesh. The apostle Paul endured prisons, stripes, reproaches, disgraces,
yea, death itself, out of the unconquerable force of love. Therefore, if
you have any great thing to do for God, and would work to the pur
pose, let faith by the Spirit set love a-work. Faith is needful, the work
of redemption being long since over, and our Lord is absent, and our
rewards future ; and love is necessary because difficulties are great,
and oppositions many. The flesh would fain be pleased ; but when
faith telleth love, what great things God hath done for us in Christ,
the soul is ashamed when it cannot deny a little ease, pleasure or
profit.
SEEMON XXIV.
.For the love of Christ constrainetli us, because we thus judge, that if
one died for all, then were all dead. 2 COR. v. 14.
I HAVE chosen this scripture to speak of the love of gratitude, or that
thankful return of love which we make to God, because of his great
love to us in Christ. Before I go on further in this discourse, I shall
handle some cases of conscience.
First, About the reason and cause of our love ; whether God be only
to be loved for his beneficial goodness, and not also for his essential and
moral perfections. The cause of doubting is this ; whether true love
iloth not rather respect God as amiable in himself, than beneficial to
us ? The ancient writers in the church seemed to be of this mind.
Lombard, out of Austin, defineth love to be that grace by which
we love God for himself, and our neighbour for God's sake.
Ans. 1. There are several degrees of love.
1. Some love Christ for what is to be had from him, and that he
may be good to us ; there we begin. The first invitation to the
creature is the offer of pardon and life : Mat xi. 28, 29, ' Come unto
150 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXIV.
me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls ; ' and Heb. xi. 6, ' He that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a re warder of
them that diligently seek him.' Self-love, and the natural sense of
our own misery, and the sense of our burden, and the desires of our
happiness, have a marvellous influence npon us, yea, wholly govern us
in our first address to God by Christ. Now this is not altogether to
be blamed and condemned. Partly, because there is mrother dealing
with mankind. Tell a malefactor of the perfections of his judge,
this will never induce him to love him. And partly, because we may
and must love Christ as he hath revealed himself to our love. Now
he hath revealed himself as a saviour, as a pardoner, as a rewarder,
for surely we may make use of God's motives. He suffereth us to
begin in the flesh, that we may end in the spirit ; there is some grace
in this very seeking love. You are affected with the true cause of
misery, not outward necessity, but sin ; you seek after the right
remedy, which is in Christ, and there is some faith in that, in taking
Christ at his word. The defect of this love is, that you mind your
own personal benefit and safety, rather than the pleasing, obeying, and
glorifying of God ; so far there is weakness in this act ; but this is the
only way to bring in the creature ; as when a prince offereth pardon
to his rebels, with a promise that he will restore them to their forfeited
privileges in case they will lay down their arms, and submit to his
mercy. Self-interest moveth them at first, but after love and duty to
their prince holdeth them within the bounds of their duty and allegi
ance. I will ease you, saith Christ, you shall find rest to your souls ;
I will be a rewarder to you, and give you eternal life. As lost
creatures we take him at his word, and afterwards love him and serve
him upon purer motives. Or take the similitude thus ; in a treaty of
marriage, the first proposals are grounded upon estate, suitableness of
age, and parentage, and neighbourhood, and other conveniences of life ;
conjugal affection to the person groweth by society and long converse.
Fire at first kindling casts forth much smoke, but afterwards it is
blown up into a purer flame.
2. Some love him for the good which they have received from him.
Not so much that he may be good, but because he hath been good ; and
indeed the love of gratitude is a true Christian and gospel love, and
hath a greater degree of excellency than the former, because thankful
ness is the great respect of the creature to the creator, and because so
few return to give God the glory of what they have received ; but one
of the healed lepers returned back, and glorified God, Luke xvii. 15-18.
And because gratitude hath in its nature something that is more noble
than self-seeking, and bare expectation ; for common reason tells us
that it is better to give than to receive ; and in this returning love, we
seek to bestow something upon God, in that way we are capable of, of
doing such a thing, or God of receiving it. This returning love is
often spoken of in scripture, as a praiseworthy thing : Ps. cxvi. 1, ' I
will love the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications : '
and Bom. xii. 1, ' I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of
God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 151
Gocl, which is your reasonable service.' God hath the honour of a pre
cedency, but we of a return : 1 John iv. 16, 'Herein is love, not that
we loved God, but that he loved us.' There is the true spirit of the
gospel in such a love, for gospel obedience and service is a life of love,
and praise, and thankfulness.
3. Some love God because he is good in himself. Not only that he
may be good to us, or because he hath been good to us, but because he
is good in himself. God's essential goodness, which is the perfection of
his nature, his infinite and eternal being, and his moral goodness, which
is the perfection of his will, or his holiness and purity, is the object of
love, as Well as his beneficial goodness, or that goodness of his which
promote th our interest. I prove it, partly because God is the object of
love, though we receive no good by it. Love and goodness are as the
iron and the load-stone ; nature hath made them so. Now God, con
sidered in his infinite perfection, is good, as distinguished from his doing
good, Ps. cxix. 68. And partly because God loveth himself first, and
the creature for himself : Prov. xvi. 4, ' The Lord hath made all things
for himself.' The first object of the divine complacency is his own
being, and the last end of all things is his own glory and pleasure : Kev.
iv. 11, ' For thy pleasure they are, and were created.' Now this is a
reason to us, because the perfection of holiness standeth in an exact con
formity to God, and by grace we are made partakers of a divine nature,
2 Peter i. 4 ; which mainly discovereth itself in loving as God loveth, and
hating as God hateth. And therefore we must love him in and for
himself, and ourselves for him. And partly, because if God were only
to be beloved for the effects of his benignity and beneficial goodness,
this great absurdity would follow, that God is for the creature, and not
the creature for Gocl ; for the supreme act of our love would terminate
in our happiness as the highest end, and God would be only regarded in
order thereunto. Now to make God a means is to degrade him from
the dignity and pre-eminence of God. Partly, because we are bound
to love the creatures as good in themselves, though not beneficial to
us ; therefore much more God, as good in himself. If we are to love
the saints as saints, not because kind and helpful to us, but because of
the image of God in them, though they never did us any good turn :
Ps. xvi. 3, ' But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excel
lent, in whom is all my delight ; ' if we are to love the law of God, as
it is pure, then we are to love God, because of the moral goodness of
his nature, Ps. cxix. 140. These things are out of question clear and
beyond all controversy. Why not God then, in whom is more purity
and holiness, if indeed we are persuaded of the reality and excellency
of his being ? Now in this last rank there are degrees also.
[1.] Some love Christ above his benefits. They do not love pardon
and salvation, so much as they love Christ : I Peter ii. 7, ' To them
that believe Christ is precious.' To love the gifts more than the person,
the jointure more than the husband, in a temporal cause, would not
be counted a sincere love. The truth is, at first the benefits do first
lead us to seek after God. Man usually beginneth at the lowest, and
loveth God for his love to us, but he riseth higher upon acquaintance.
First he loveth God for that taste of his goodness which we have in the
creatures ; then for that goodness God exhibiteth in the ordinances,
152 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SEIl. XXI V.
for that help he offereth us there for our greatest necessities ; then as
in graces, justification and sanctification ; then as in Christ, as the
fountain of all ; then God above Christ as mediator, as the ultimate
object of love.
[2.] Possibly some may come to such a degree as to love Christ
without his benefits. The height of Moses and Paul is admirable,
who loved God's glory above their own salvation : Exod. xxxii. 32,
' Blot me out of thy book ; ' and Rom. ix. 3, ' I could even wish myself
accursed from Christ for my brethren and kinsfolk in the flesh ; ' lay
all his personal benefit, or the happy part of his portion at God's feet
in Christ for a greater end, to promote his glory ; but this extra
ordinary zeal is very rare, if attained by any other in this life.
[3.] Some love the benefits for his sake ; heaven the better, because
Christ is there ; pardon the better, because God is so much glorified in
it ; holiness, as it is a conformity to God ; and the work, for the work's
sake. Not but the other considerations tend to this, and have an
influence upon this ; so much obliged to Christ that everything is sweet
as it cometh from him, or relateth to him.
2. Sinful respect to the benefits and rewards of religion bewray eth
itself in four things.
[1.] When Christ is loved for worldly advantages. We must
always distinguish between our spiritual interests and our carnal.
To respect Christ for our temporal advantage is that which God
abhorreth, as those that followed Christ for the loaves, John vi. 28,
to be fed with a miracle without labour and pains. So, vix diligiiur
Jesus propter Jesum scarce is Jesus loved for Jesus' sake. And
still Christ's name is reverenced ; but his office and saving grace are
disregarded, and men are content with his common gifts, not seeking
after his special benefits. It is no great matter to own that which is
publicly esteemed, and now Christ is everywhere received, to make a
general profession of being Christians. Saith Gilbert, Now the doctrine
of Christ is handled in councils, disputed of in the schools, preached
in assemblies, and his religion made the public profession of nations,
it is no great matter of thanks to own the general belief of Christianity.
There are many bastard motives of closing with Christ and his ways,
as fame, and ease, and carnal honour, and the sunshine of worldly
countenance. These are quite another thing than when a poor soul
out of the sense of his lost estate would desire Christ, and would fain
part with anything to gain Christ, Phil. iii. 7-9 ; and a sound convic
tion of our misery, and a sense of his excellency, and our suitableness,
maketh us to close with him. The other followed him for the loaves ;
indeed because his bread was buttered with worldly conveniences. By
a respect to such base motives religion is prostituted to secular interests.
[2.] When we have a carnal notion of the true rewards of godliness.
Carnal men look upon heaven as a place of ease and pleasure. When
Christ had spoken of the bread that will make men live for ever :
John vi. 34, they cried out, ' Evermore give us of this bread of life.'
They thought no more than of an everlasting continuance in the
present earthly estate. Such carnal notions have men of heaven, as of
a Turkish paradise ; but to know God and love God, and have the
soul filled up with God, to be with Christ and to be perfected in
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. 153
holiness, these things work little upon them. The heaven of Christians
is to enjoy an everlasting communion with God. To live in the
belief and hopes of such a heaven, and to delight our souls in the
forethought of the endless sight and love of God, this is a true act of
sincere love to Christ, seeking its full satisfaction. Here we see him
but as in a glass, there face to face. We shall behold the glory of God
in heaven, and the delights of love will then be perfect. But usually
men have a carnal notion of heaven, by a voluptuous life, without
labour, and pain, and trouble, and this tainteth their hearts ; their
apprehensions of benefit by Christ are feculent, earthly, and drossy.
[3.] When our respects to benefits are disorderly, not in the frame
wherein God hath set them. As, for instance, when we desire some
benefits, and not others, or hate his ways and love his benefits : Num.
xxiii. 10, ' Oh that I might die the death of the righteous.' They
love him as a redeemer, but hate him as a law-giver. A carnal man
would sever the benefits from the duties ; as Ephraim is as a heifer
not taught, which would tread out the corn, but not. break the clods,
Hos. x. 11. Their threshing was by the feet of oxen shod with iron.
Now the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn was not to be
muzzled. But harrowing, and breaking the clods, was a mere labour,
and no privilege ; they would do the one, but not the other. If you
love Christ's benefits, you must love them altogether ; not taking one,
and leaving out another ; you shall not have pardon without sanctifi-
cation, nor the comforts of his Spirit without his quickening and
purifying influence ; nor freedom from hell, without freedom from sin.
Christ must guide you and rule you, dwell in you, and bless you, and
justify you, and whatever he is made of God, that he must be to
you, 1 Cor. i. 30. He will not give you any such grace as shall
discharge you from duty, and be a kind of license and privilege to
sin.
[4.] When we rest in the lowest acts of love, and do not go on to
perfection. The first acts have more of self-love in them than love to
God ; you must go on from them to gratitude, and from gratitude to
adoration, an humble adoration of the divine excellences ; for the
divine excellences are lovely in themselves, as well as his benefits are
comfortable to us ; and by an acquaintance with God in Christ, we
must settle into a more entire friendship with him, and delight as
much in praising him for his excellences, as we do in blessing him
for his benefits. The angels and blessed spirits that are above do
admire and adore God, because of the excellences of his nature ; not
only for the benefits they have received from him. They are represented
as crying out, Isa. vi. 3, ' Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts,' by
admiring, and being affected with his holy nature and sovereign
majesty and dominion ; and are we no way concerned in this ? Surely
God must be lauded and served on earth as he is in heaven, and
though we cannot reach to their degree, yet some kind of this respect
belongeth unto us. In the Revelation the four living wights, and
twenty-four elders, are brought in : Rev. iv. 8, ' Saying, Holy, holy,
holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.' Now
by the four beasts, or four living wights, and the twenty-four elders,
the interpreters generally understand the gospel church, who are
SEKMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [j$EU. XXIV.
continually praising God for the unity of his essence, the trinity of
persons, together with his eternity, omnipotency and holiness, to show
we should love these things, and be affected with these things, as well
as his bounty and goodness to us. Indeed a Christian is like a river ;
when it first boileth up out of the fountain, it contenteth itself with a
little hole, but afterwards it seeketh for a larger channel, but is still
pent within banks and bounds ; but when it emptieth itself into the
ocean, it expatiateth and enlargeth itself, and is wholly mingled with
the ocean.
Second case is about the actual persuasion of God's love to us. For
since this love of gratitude ariseth from a sense or apprehension of
God's love to us in Christ ; therefore God's children are troubled when
they cannot make particular application, as Paul, and say, ' He loved
me, and gave himself for me,' Gal. ii. 20.
Ans. 1. A particular persuasion of God's love to us is very com
fortable. Things that do most concern us do most affect us ; as a
man is more pleased with legacies bequeathed to him by name, than
left indefinitely to those who can make friends. If I can discern my
name in God's testament, it is unquestionably more satisfactory and
more engaging than when with much ado I must make out my title,
and enter myself an heir : Eph. i. 13, ' After that ye heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation.' It is not sufficient to know
that the gospel is a doctrine of salvation in general, or to others only,
but every one should labour, by a due application of the promises of
the gospel unto themselves, to find it a doctrine of salvation unto
themselves. Salvation by Christ is a benefit which we need as much
as others, and therefore should give all diligence to understand our
part and interest in it. God's love to us is the great reason of our
love to God ; ours a reflection ; the more direct the beam, the stronger
the reflection. It is the quickening motive to the spiritual life, Gal.
ii. 20. Certainly they are much to blame who can so contentedly sit
down with the want thereof, so they may be well in the world ; if
God will love them with a common love, so as they may live in peace,
and credit, and mirth, and wealth among men. Our joy, comfort, and
peace, much dependeth on the sense of our particular interest : Luke
i. 46, ' My soul doth rejoice in God my saviour ;' and Rom. v. 11, ' We
rejoice in God, as those that have received the atonement.' It is
uncomfortable to live in doubts and fears, or else to live by guess and
uncertain conjectures. Well then, if we would maintain the joy
of faith, the vigour of holiness, we should get our interest more
clear.
2. It is not absolutely necessary ; because love is the fruit of faith,
not of assurance only : Gal. v. 6, ' Faith working by love.' Love is
not so grown indeed where there are fears and doubts of our condi
tion : 1 John iv. 18, ' He that feareth is not made perfect in love ; '
yet a love he hath to God. If love did wholly depend upon an actual
persuasion of God's special love to us, it could never be rooted and
grounded, for this actual persuasion is an uncertain thing, often
interrupted by the failings of God's children, and spiritual desertions,
and frequent temptations. We do not sail to heaven with a like tide
of comforts. Our evidences are many times dark, doubtful, and
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 155
litigious, but the grounds of faith are always clear, fixed, and stable ;
and therefore the serious Christian may make a shift to love Christ,
though he doth not know that he loveth him with a special love, so as
to be absolutely assured of it ; he is not so necessarily a comforter, as
a sanctifier. And though he doth not fill us with joy, yet he may
work a strong and earnest love in our hearts, which is as much seen
in unutterable groans as in unspeakable joys. Love is one of our
greatest evidences, and therefore goeth before assurance, rather than
followeth after it : and assurance is rather the fruit of love, than love
of assurance : see John xiv. 21-23, ' He that hath my commandments,
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth me
shall be loved of my Father ; and I will love him, and manifest myself
unto him. If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father
will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with
him.' It is because we love God so little that we want the fruits of
his manifested love. So that you must not cease to love God, before
you are assured of his love to you ; but you must love him sincerely
and strongly, and then you will know God loveth you. In the love
of benevolence, God beginneth ; but as to complacency, the object
must be qualified. We must have a good measure of grace before we
can so clearly discern it as to be certain of it.
3. There are many considerations which are proper to our state.
Every one of us have cause enough to love God, if we have but hearts
to love him, not only as he created us out of nothing, but as he
redeemed us by Christ. Cannot I bless God for Christ, without reflec
tion on my own particular benefit; his general love in sending a
saviour for mankind ? John iii. 16, ' God so loved the world, that he
sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that whosoever believed in
him, should not perish, but have everlasting life : ' as they reasoned,
Luke vii. 5, ' He loved our nation, and hath built us a synagogue ; ' few
did enjoy the benefit of it, but it was love to the nation of the Jews.
So his philanthropy, his man-kindness, should put that home upon us,
that there is a sufficient foundation for the truth of this proposition,
that whosoever believeth shall be saved ; that Christ is an all-sufficient
saviour, to deliver me from wrath, and to bring me to everlasting life ;
that such a doctrine is published in our borders, wherein God declareth
his pleasure, that he is willing all men should be saved, and come to
the knowledge of the truth, 1 Tim. ii. 3 ; that the door is wide enough,
if you will get in ; and if you have no interest, you may have an interest,
We must not think that general grace is no grace. The life of Chris
tianity lieth in the consideration of these things. In the free offers of
grace all have a like favour ; and none have cause to murmur, but all
to give thanks. All that God looketh for is a thankful acceptance of
the grace made for us in Christ. Surely when we think of God's good
ness and kind-heartedness to miserable and unworthy sinners, and do
often and seriously think what he is in himself, and what he is to you,
what he hath done for you, and what he will more do for you, if you.
will but consent, and accept of his grace, such serious thoughts cannot
but warm your hearts, and through the Lord's blessing, awaken in you
a great love to God. In short, the love of God shed abroad in the
gospel is the great and powerful object that must be meditated upon ;
156 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SflR. XXIV.
and the love of God shed abroad in your hearts, the most effectual
means to keep these objects close to the heart ; and then doubts
will vanish.
4. The mercies of daily providence declare much of the goodness of
God to you, and to make him more amiable. Christians are much
wanting to themselves and to their duty to God, when they do not
increase their sense of God's goodness by their ordinary comforts : Deut.
xxx. 20, ' Thou shalt love him, for he is thy life, and the length of thy
days ;' 1 Tim. vi. 17, 18, it is * the living God, who giveth us richly to
enjoy all things' in this present world ; and Ps. Ixviii. 19, ' The God of
our salvation, who daily loadeth us with his benefits.' Every day's and
hour's experience should endear God to us. It is his sun that shineth
to give thee heat, and influence, and cherishing. It is out of his store
house that provisions are sent to thy table. He furnisheth thy dishes
with meat, and filleth thy cup for thee. He did not only clothe man
at first : Gen. iii. 21, ' Unto Adam and his wife did the Lord God make
coats of skins, and clothed them ; ' when he turned unthankful man
out of paradise, he would not send them away without a garment.
As he performed that office then, so still he causeth the silkworm to
spin for thee, and the sheep to send thee their fleeces ; only there is a
wretched disposition in man, we do not take notice of that invisible
hand, which reacheth out our comforts to us. Acts of kindness in our
fellow-creatures affect us more than all those benefits we receive from
God. What should be the reason ? Water is not sweeter in the dish
than in the fountain. Man needeth himself, never giveth so freely and
purely as God doth, but out of some self-respect. No kindness de-
serveth to be noted but the Lord's, who is so high and glorious, so
much above us, that he should take notice of us. Nothing but our un-
thankfulness is the cause of this disrespect, and forgetting the goodness
of his daily providence, and our looking to the next hand, and to the
ministry of the creature, and not to the supreme cause.
Third case of conscience about love, is about the intenseness and degree
of it. The soul will say, God is to be loved above all things, and to
have the preferment in our affections, choice, and endeavours ; for he
is to be loved with all the heart, and all the soul, Deut. vi. 5 ; and
earthly things are to be loved, as if we loved them not. Now to find
my heart to be more stirred towards the creatures than to God, and
seem to grieve more for a worldly loss than for an offence done to God
by sin ; to be carried out with greater violence and sensible commotion
of spirit to carnal objects than to Jesus Christ, I cannot find these
vigorous motions, or this constraining efficacy of love overruling my
heart.
Ans. 1. Comparison is the best way to discover love, comparing
affection with affection ; our affections to Christ with our affections to
other matters ; for we cannot judge of any affection aright by its single
exercise, what it doth alone as to one object, but by observing the dif
ference and disproportion of our respects to several objects. The scrip
ture doth often put us upon this kind of trial : 2 Tim. iii. 4, ' Lovers
of pleasure more than lovers of God.' Singly and apart a man cannot
be so well tried, either by his love to God or his love to pleasure ; there
being in all some kind of love to God, and a lawful allowance of creature
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 157
delights, provided they do not most take us ; but when the strength of
a man's spirit is carried out to present delights, and God is neglected
or little thought of, the case is clear, that the interest of the flesh pre-
vaileth in his heart above the interests of God ; so Luke xii. 21, 'So
is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God ; '
mindeth the one and neglecteth the other ; namely, to enrich his soul
with spiritual and heavenly treasure ; that followeth after spiritual
things in a formal and careless manner, and earthly things with the
greatest earnestness. The objection proceedeth then upon a right
supposition, that a respect to the world, accompanied with a neglect of
Christ, showeth that the love of Christ is not in us, or doth not bear
rule in us.
2. That God in Christ Jesus is to have the highest measure of our
affections, and such a transcendent superlative degree as is not given
to other things : Luke xiv. 26, ' If any man come to me, and hate not
his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and
sisters, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.' He that loveth
any contentment above Christ, or equal with him, will soon hate Christ ;
so Mat. x. 37, ' He that loveth father, or mother, son, or daughter, more
than me, is not worthy of me.' And the sincere are described, Phil,
iii. 7-10 ; the nearest and dearest relations, and choicest contentments
all trampled upon, all is dung and dross in comparison of the excellency
of the knowledge of our Lord.
3. Love is not to be measured so much by the lively act, or the
sensitive stirring of the affection, as the solid esteem, and the settled
constitution. A thing may be loved intensively, as to the sensitive
discovery of the affection, or appreciated by our deliberate choice, and
constant care to please God. Partly, because the vigorous motion is
hasty and indeliberate, is the fruit of fancy rather than faith. Some
by constitution have a more moveable temper, and are like the sea,
easily stirred. The reading the story of Christ's passions will draw tears
from us, though we regard not God's design in it, nor how far our sins
were accessory to these passions and sufferings. This qualm is stirred
in us by fancy rather than faith ; the story of Joseph in the pit will
work the like effect, as of Jesus on the cross ; yea, the fable of Dido
and ./Eneas. In all passions the settled constitution of the heart
showeth the man more than the sudden stirrings of any of them.
Men laugh most when they are not always best pleased ; we laugh at
a toy, but we joy in some solid benefit. True joy is a secure * thing,'
and is seen in the judgment and estimation, choice and complacency,
rather than in the lively act. So love is not to be measured by these
earnest motions, but by the deliberate purpose of the heart to please
God. And partly, because the act may be more lively where the af
fection is less firm and rooted in the heart. The passions of suitors
are greater than the love of husbands, yet not so deeply rooted, and do
not so intimately affect the heart. Straw is soon enkindled, but fire
is furnished with fit materials, and burneth better, and with an even
and more constant heat. These raptures and transports of soul, fan
atical men feel them oftener than serious Christians, who yet for all the
world would not offend God. And partly, because sensible things do
1 Qu. 'severe,' or 'serious'? ED
158 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SEE. XXIY.
more affect us, and urge us in the present state. While we carry a mass
of flesh about with us, our affections will be more sensibly stirred by
things which agree with our fleshly nature ; our senses, which transmit
all knowledge to us, will be affected with sensible things rather than
spiritual. I confess it is good to keep up a tenderness, and we should
be affected with God's dishonour more than if we had suffered loss :
Ps. cxix. 136, ' Kivers of tears run down mine eyes, because men keep
not thy law ; ' but in some tempers grief cannot always keep the road
and vent itself by the eye. Certainly the constant disposition of the
soul is a surer note to judge by ; sensible stirrings of affection are more
liable to suspicion, and not so certain signs of grace, as the acts of the
understanding and will ; there is a possibility of a greater decay in
them ; you cannot weep for sin, but you would give all that you have
to be rid of sin ; a man may groan more sorely under the pains of the
toothache, which is not mortal, than under the languishings of a con
sumption.
4. The effects of solid esteem are these
[1.] When Christ is counted more precious than all the world, no
affections to the creature can draw us to offend him, 1 Peter ii. 7.
But all our love to them is still in subordination to a higher love.
Love was principally made for God, and it is many ways due to him.
Those excesses and heights which are in the affections will become no
other object: the genius or nature of it showeth for whom it was
made. However, as God hath placed some love and holiness in the
creature, so some allowance of affection there is to them. Worldly
comforts are valuable as they come from God, and lead to him, as
effects of his bounty, and instruments of his glory and service. All
the value we put upon them should be this, that we have something
of value to esteem as nothing for Christ. And when God trieth us,
when Christ and worldly matters come in competition, then to be found
faithful, and despise the riches, pleasures, and honours of the world,
this is a sensible occasion to show the sincerity of our love. Which do
you choose ? the favour of God, or earthly friends ? the light of his
countenance, or the prosperity of the world ?
[2.] When you can for God's sake incur the frowns and displeasure
of the creature : Luke xiv. 26, ' 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.'
[3.] When a man maketh it his main care rather to please God
than to gratify the flesh and promote his carnal interests. Your
great business is to walk worthy of God to all pleasing, Col. i. 10 ;
you labour to get Christ above all, and to live in his love. All cares
and businesses give way to this, and are guided and directed by this.
His favour is the life of thy life, and his love is thy greatest happiness.
And thou darest not put it to hazard, nor obscure the sense of it by
any indulgence to carnal satisfactions ; and the greatest misery is his
displeasure, and thereupon sin, which is the cause of it, is most hateful
to thee. This is our constant trial, and certainly showeth how the
pulse of the soul beateth.
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 159
SEEMON XXV.
For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if
one died for all, then were all dead. 2 COR. v. 14.
THE fourth case of conscience is about the decay of love. The heart
is not so deeply affected as it was wont to be with the love of God in
Christ, nor is there such a strong bent of heart towards him, nor delight
in him, and we grow more remiss in our work, feeble in the resistance
of sin. Some that thus decay in love, are not sensible of it ; others
from the decay infer a nullity of love. Therefore because this is a
disease incident to the new creature, something must be said to this
case, both to warn men, and to direct them in the judging of it. In
answering this doubt, take these propositions
1 . Leaving our first love is a disease not only incident to hypocrites,
but God's own children. To hypocrites : Mat. xxiv. 12, ' The love of
many shall wax cold ; ' to God's own children : Kev. ii. 4, ' Neverthe
less I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.'
They were commended for their labour in the Lord's work, zeal against
hypocrites, patience in adversity, yet I have somewhat against thee ;
what is that ? "On rrjv dyd'Tr'rjv aov rrjv jrpcorrjv a<r):a9. Only
here is this difference, though the disease be common to both, yet with
some difference as to the event and issue. Hypocrites may make a
total defection, and there may be in them an utter extinction of love :
in others there is not a total failing, but only some degrees of their
love abated. The love of hypocrites may utterly miscarry and vanish.
Many seem to be carried on with great fervour and affection in the
ways of God for awhile, yet afterwards fall quite away ; partly, because
it was a love built upon foreign motives, as the favour of the times,
the air of education, the advantage of good company. Christ might
be the object, but the world the ground and reason of all this love.
Jesus is not loved for Jesus ' sake. He must be both object and reason ;
otherwise when the reasons of our love alter, the object will not hold
us. When times grow bad we grow bad with them. It is no wonder
to see hirelings prove changelings; and many that loved a Christ
triumphing, to forsake and hate a Christ crucified. When the grounds
alter, their affections are removed ; their affections to Christ's cause and
servants will cease also ; as artificial motions cease, when the poise
is down by which they are moved. Flying meteors, when the matter
that feedeth them is spent, will vanish and disappear, or fall from
heaven like lightning, when the stars, those constant fires of heaven,
shine forth with a durable light and brightness. What is in one
evangelist, ' take from him that which he hath,' is ' take from him that
which he seemeth to have,' in another, Luke viii. 18. Partly, because
if Jesus were loved for Jesus' sake, yet not with such a prevalent,
radicated love, as could subdue contrary affections. There is a love
of God, and a delight in his ways, which is cherished in us upon right
motives and reasons, such as the offer of pardon, and eternal life by
Christ ; but this did but lightly affect the heart, not change it a
taste of the good word, Heb. vi. 4-6. At first men find a marvellous
160
SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V.
[SER. XXV.
sweetness in the way of godliness, hugely pleased with the possibility
of pardon and happiness ; but these sentiments of religion are after
wards choked by the cares of this world and voluptuous living ; ahd all
that delight and savour which they had is lost, and comes to nothing,
when temptations rise up in any considerable strength. Therefore we
are warned to keep up the confidence and rejoicing of hope, Heb.
iii. 6, 14, that well-pleasedness of mind, that liking, that comfortable
savour which we had in the serious attending upon the business of
religion.
2. God's own children may find their love cold and languishing,
and that they go backward some degrees, and suffer loss in the heat
and vigour of grace ; but though grace do decay, it is not utterly
abolished. The church of Ephesus left her first love, but not utterly
lost it ; the seed of God remaineth in them, 1 John iii. 9 ; there
is some vital grace communicated in regeneration which cannot be lost.
This is more radicated than the former ; it is a deeper sense of God's
love, and doth more affect the heart, that it is not so easily controlled
by contrary affections ; but chiefly because it is preserved by the
influence of God's grace, with respect to his covenant, wherein he hath
undertaken not to depart from us, so to keep afoot that love and fear
in our hearts, that we shall not depart from him, Jer. xxxii. 40. In
the new covenant God giveth what he requireth, donum perseverantice,
as well as pr&ceptum. Well then, though this love may suffer a
shrewd abatement, yet it is not totally extinguished. Gradus remit-
titur, actus intermittitur, sed habitus non amittitur. Not only may
the acts and fruits be few, but the measure of their inward love toward
Christ may be abated, and yet not the habit lost or totally fail.
Secondly, That we may understand this disease the better, let us
consider what is not it.
1. Not every lighter distemper, which the gracious heart observeth
and rectifieth. There are failings and infirmities during the present
state, and nothing is so uncertain as to judge of ourselves by particular
actions ; in every act love doth not put forth itself so strongly as at
other times, but a coldness and deadness seizeth upon us, which we
cannot shake off. Or there may be failings, and we walk in darkness,
Isa. Ixiv. 7, for one act or so, and yet cannot be called a decay of
love ; every act of known sin is not apostasy and defection, nor a degree
of it, as every feverish heat after a meal in the spring is not a fever.
Alas, for the generation of the just, if every vain thought, or idle word,
or distempered passion, were a decay of love ! Some obstruction of love
there may be for the present, which the soul taketh notice of, and
retracts with sorrow and remorse, but still we hold on our course ; yet
it is a stopping in our course : Gal. v. 7, ' Ye did run well ; who did
hinder you ? '
2. Every loss and abatement of those ravishments, and transports
of soul, or love-qualms, which we feel sometimes, is not this decay.
There are some raised operations of love which cannot be constant ; in
two cases especially we find them :
[1.] At first conversion. There are then strong joys and liftings up
of soul upon our first acquaintance with God. Partly, from the new
ness of the thing ; new things strangely affect and transport us, and
VER. 14. j SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 161
no doubt there are greater and more express admirations of grace, when
first called out of darkness into light. And that is the reason why it is
called ' marvellous light/ 1 Peter ii. 9. The change is more admired by
them who are newly plucked out of that woeful condition they were in
before, and possessed of such excellent privileges as they have in their
estate ; it makes them wonder the more at their own happiness ; as a
man in deep thirst hath a more sensible pleasure when he first cometh
to meet with drink ; his taste is more lively then, though he be thankful
to God for the comfort of ordinary meals. Partly, because then our
love wholly showeth itself in sensitive expressions, whilst as yet love
is not dispersed and diffused into the several channels of obedience.
The tide may be high and strong, our only work at first being the
thankful entertainment and welcome of grace ; but when a man cometh
to see how many ways he is to express his love to God, he may have a
true zeal and affection 'to God in his Christian course, a more rooted
and grounded love, though he have not those ravishments and trans
ports of soul, Eph. iii. 17. And partly, because the first edge of our
affections is not yet blunted by change of cases. A young Christian
may be dandled upon the knee, have a more plentiful measure of God's
sensible presence than afterwards is afforded to him, not yet tried with
smiles and frowns, and variety of conditions, and things prosperous
and adverse. And do you think that the seasoned Christian doth not
love God as well as he, who hath been faithful to him in all estates,
and not only passed the pangs of the new birth, but sundry encounters
of temptations ? Surely the tried man hath the stronger love, though
it may be not such stirrings of affections, as he who is under God's
special indulgence, and from whom God for a while restraineth the
violent assaults of furious temptations, till he be a little more confirmed
and engaged in the profession of godliness.
[2.] After great comforts and enlargements. In the days of God's
royalty and magnificence, sometimes a Christian hath high affections
to God, and joys in the sense of his love, when God hath feasted him,
and manifested himself to him : Ps. Ixiii. 6, ' My soul is filled as with
marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.'
There are rich experiences of the love of God in his ordinances, which
are vouchsafed to us, to which all the pleasures of the creature are no
way comparable. Now these are very great mercies, but very doubtful
evidences to try our estate by ; for these overflowings of love are acci
dental things possunt adesse et abesse. They are fitted for special
spiritual occasions. We cannot always bear up under them. A
settled calm, and the peace of the soul, is a greater mercy than these
spiritual suavities or passionate joys; if we have our taste kept
up, and our relish of heaven and spiritual things, or a fixed bent of
heart towards them, it is a more constant and less deceiving experience.
Paul had his raptures, but withal his thorn in the flesh, to keep him
humble, 2 Cor. xii. 7. We cannot expect that God should entertain
us always with a feast ; if he give us the constant diet and allowance
of his family, let us be thankful. And though we are not to rest in a
dull quietness, but raise our hearts often to delight in God in more
than an ordinary manner, yet no wise man can expect this should be
our constant frame.
VOL. XIII. L
162 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXV.
[3.] Though we should not lightly judge ourselves guilty of a decay
of love, yet we should not lightly acquit ourselves of it. For it is a,
great evil, and a common evil, and many that are surprised with it are
little sensible of it.
(1.) It is a great evil. Partly, because the highest degree of love
does not answer to the worthiness of Christ, nor to the duty of the
regenerate, who are called by him from such a depth of misery to
such a height of happiness. And therefore when a man falleth from
his first love, and that measure which he had attained unto, and doth
come short not only of the rule, but of his own practice, it is the more
grievous. To come short of the rule is matter of continual humiliation
to us ; but to come short of our own attainments is matter of double
humiliation ; and the rather, because he that pleaseth himself in such
an estate doth in effect judge the first love to be too much, as if he
had been too hot and earnest, and done more than he needed, when
he had such a strong love to Christ. His former love is really con
demned, and thereby Christ is disesteemed, as if not worthy to be
beloved with all the soul, and all the might, and all the strength.
And partly, because as our love decayeth, so doth our work ; either it is
wholly omitted, or else we put off God with a little constrained, com
pulsory service, which we had rather leave undone than do ; our delight
in our work is lessened. As when the root of a tree perisheth, the
leaves keep t green for a while, but within a while they wither and fall
off; so love, which is the root and heart of all other duties, when that
decayeth, other things decay with it. The first works go off with the
first love, at least, are not carried on with that care, and delight, and
complacency, as they should be. And partly, because of the punishment
which attendeth it. Christ is jealous of his people's affection, and
cannot endure that he should not be loved again by those whom he so
much loveth, and therefore hasteneth to the correction of this dis
temper, and those that allow themselves in it : Kev. ii. 5, ' Behold I
will come against thee quickly/ He threateneth to that church a
removal of their candlestick, when their zeal of Christianity was abated.
When a people grow weary of Christ, they shall know the worth of
him by the want of him. So when particular Christians grow weary
of God, and suffer a coldness and indifferency to creep upon their
hearts, he cometh by some smart judgment to awaken them, and
will make them feel to their bitter cost, what it is to despise or neglect
a loving Saviour, 2 Chron. xii. 8.
(2.) It is a common evil. For it is a hard matter to keep up the
fervency of our love, therefore are there so many exhortations even to
the best. The commended Thessalonians are thus prayed for, 2 Thes.
iii. 5, ' And the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God ; ' and
Jude 21, ' Keep yourselves in the love of God.' The best are apt to
remit something of their delight in God, and their constant study to
please him ; and our watchfulness is mainly to preserve this grace.
There is so much self-love in us, love of our own ease and carnal
satisfaction, so much love of the world, and such a constant working,
warring principle to draw us off from God and heavenly things, that
we cannot sufficiently stand upon our guard, and take heed to ourselves,
that we do not quench this heavenly fire that should always burn in
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 163
our bosoms. The generality of professors have no such care ; if they
do not wholly cast off religion, they are satisfied, though their love to
God be exceeding cold ; and as the hen as long as she hath one or two
of her brood to follow her, doth not mind the loss of the rest, so they,
as long as they do a few things for God, mind not the loss of many
degrees of grace.
(3.) Many that are surprised with it, are little sensible of it ; because
spiritual distempers are not laid to heart, till they openly appear in
their effects and fruits. A man may be much in external duties, and
yet his love may be cold ; the life of his duties may be decayed, though
the duties themselves be not left off; as the Pharisees tithed mint and
cumin, and all manner of herbs, but passed over judgment, and the
love of God, Luke xi. 42. Some small thing the flesh may spare to
God, when as yet the heart is in a great measure withdrawn from
him. There may be a decay in the degree of love, when there is no
total falling from former acts : he may continue his course of outward
duty, though he doth not act so vigorously from love as he was wont
to do ; he is colder in obedience, and his delight in God is not so great
as formerly ; his work is carried on with more difficulty and regret,
and it is more grievous to obey ; the acts and fruits are fewer, though
they do not wholly cease, and are not animated with such a working,
active love ; therefore many times men are so insensible, that they
throw off all ere they mind their distemper. As the glory of God, in
Ezekiel, removed from the temple by degrees, first from the holy place,
then to the altar of burnt-offerings, then to the outer court, then the
city, then rested on one of the hills which encompassed the city, to see
if they would bring him back again ; so in this case men grow cold
towards God. God is first cast out of the heart, then out of the closet,
then out of the family, then more indifferent as to public duties ; then
sin beginneth to hurry us to practices inconvenient ; first we sin freely
in thought, then foully in act, and all because we did not observe the
first declinings.
[4.] The decay of love is seen in two things ; the Remission of
degrees, or the intermission of acts.
(1.) The remission of degrees of our love to Christ, or to God in Christ.
To understand this we must know what is the essential disposition of love.
It is an esteeming, valuing, and prizing God above all things, which is
manifested to us by a constant car-e to please him, a fear to offend him,
a desire to enjoy him, and a constant delight in him. Now when any
of these are abated, or fail, as to any considerable degree, your love is
a-chilling or growing cold. First, Our constant care to please him.
They that love God, and prize his favour, and have a sense of his mercy
in Christ deeply impressed upon their hearts, they are always studying
how they shall appear thankful for so great a benefit : Ps. cxvi, 12,
' What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me ? '
Therefore their business and work is to please God : Col. i. 10, ' Walk
worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing ; ' and Isa. Ivi. 4, ' That choose
the things that please thee, and take hold of thy covenant ; ' and 1
Thes. iv. 1, 'As you have learned how to walk, and how to please God,
so abound therein more and more.' A study to please is the true
fruit of thankfulness. Whilst love is in vigour and strength, this
1 64 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXV.
disposition beareth sway in the heart; but now when it is a more
indifferent thing, whether God be pleased or displeased, or not so
greatly minded, when a man beginueth to please his flesh or men,
and can dispense with his duty to God, and our intention is less
sincere, not so much to please and honour God, as to gratify ourselves,
then love is decayed. Secondly, The next is like it, a fear to offend.
If you can be content to do anything and suffer anything, rather than
displease .God, and lose his favour, God's love is dearer than life, his
displeasure more formidable than death itself, love is strong : Gen.
xxxix. 9, ' How can I do this wickedness and sin against God ? ' But
when this fear to offend is weakened, your love decayeth. Thirdly,
A desire to enjoy him in Christ. A strong bent and tendency of heart
towards God argueth a strong love. When we cannot apprehend
ourselves happy without him, count all things dung and dross, Phil,
iii. 7-9, when we desire a sense of his love, or our reconciliation by
Christ, this vehement desire after Christ cannot endure to want him,
if we are deeply affected with that want, and make hard pursuit after
him : Ps. Ixiii. 8, ' My soul followeth hard after thee/ We desire his
grace, or sanctifying Spirit, are here hungering and thirsting after
righteousness, and the perpetual vision of him hereafter. As our desires
abate, so there is some abatement of the degree of our love. Fourthly,
Delighting in him, or in the testimonies of his favour, more than in
any worldly thing : Ps. iv. 6, ' Thou hast put more gladness into my
heart, than in the time when their corn and wine is increased ; ' and
Ps. cxix. 14, ' I delight in the way of thy testimonies more than in all
riches.' Accordingly there is an observing of his coming and going,
his presence or absence ; we mourn for the one, Mat. ix. 15 ; we rejoice
in the other, when God is favourable and propitious, either manifesting
his love to us, or helping us in our obedience to him.
(2.) Intermission of acts, or effects of love. These more sensibly
declare the former ; for the weakness or strength of the decree l is seen
by the effects ; when the heart grows cold and listless, and loose in our
love to God, the soul is not made fruitful by it. Now the effects of
love do either concern God, sin, or the duties of obedience.
(1st.) With respect to God. Love as to the effects of it is often des
cribed First, By thinking and speaking often of him : Ps. Ixiii. 6, ' I
remember thee on my bed, and meditate of thee in the night watches ; '
and, Ps. civ. 24, ' My meditation of him shall be sweet.' The wicked
are described to be those that forget God, Ps. ix. 17 ; and seldom or
never think of his name : Ps. x. 4, ' God is not in all their thoughts.' It
is the pleasure of the soul to set the thoughts on work upon the object of
our love. Now when our hearts and minds swarm with vain thoughts
and idle imaginations, and thoughts of God are utter strangers to us, if
they rush into our minds, they are entertained as unwelcome guests,
you have no delight in them ; it is to be feared your love is decayed.
For surely a man that loveth him will think often upon him, and speak
reverently of him, and be remembering God both in company and
alone ; upon all occasions his main business lieth with God. He is
still to do his will, to seek his glory, and to live as in his sight and
presence, and subsists by the constant supports he receiveth from him.
^u.' degree'? ED.
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 165
Secondly, As love implieth a desire of nearer communion with him'
so we will be often in his company in duties. Frequency and fervency '
of converse with God in prayer, and other holy duties, is an effect of
love. There cannot a day pass, but they will find some errand or
occasion to confer with God, to implore his help, to ask his leave,
counsel, and blessing, to praise his name : Ps. cxix. 164, ' Seven times
a day will I praise thee.' Now when men can pass over whole days
and weeks, and never give God a visit, it argueth little love : Jer. ii.
32, ' My people have forgotten me days without number.' There is
little love where there is a constant strangeness : Ps. xxvi. 8, ' I have
loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour
dvvelleth ; ' they love ordinances, because there they meet with God ;
and Ps. Ixiii. 2, ' That I may see thee as I have seen thee/ They
cannot let a day pass, nor a duty pass. God is object and end ; they
seek him and serve him. Love is at least cold, if not stark dead, when
God is neglected, when we have no mind to duties, or God is neglected
in them.
(2d.) With respect to sin. When the sense of our obligation to
Christ is warm upon the heart, sin doth not escape so freely ; love will
riot endure it to live and act in the heart. Grace will teach us to war
and strive against it, Titus ii. 12. ' Do we thus requite the Lord ? '
Or is this thy kindness to thy friend ? Sin is more bewailed : as she
wept much, because she loved much,. Luke vii. 47. Now when you
wallow in sin without remorse, have lost your conscientious tenderness,
can sin freely in thought, and sometimes foully in act, spend time vainly,
have not such a lively hatred of evil, Ps. xcvii. 10, let loose the reins
to wrath and anger, the heart is not watched, the tongue is not bridled,
speeches are idle, yea, rotten and profane ; wrath and envy tyrannise
over the soul ; you are become vain and careless, more bold and
.venturous upon temptations and snares, less complaining of sin, or
groaning under the relics of corruption ; surely love decayeth.
(3d.) With respect to the duties of obedience. Love where it re-
maineth in its strength,
First, Breedeth self-denial, so that the impediments of obedience are
more easily overcome, and so we are the more undaunted, notwith
standing dangers ; as Daniel more unwearied in the work of the Lord,
patient under labours, difficulties, and sufferings. Love will be at some
expense for the party beloved, and will serve God whatever it costs us ;
nay, counts that duty worth nothing that costs nothing, 2 Sam. xxiv.
24. Now when every lesser thing is pleaded by way of bar and
hesitancy, and all seemeth too much, and too long, and too grievous
to be borne, love is not kept in vigour ; an unwilling heart is soon
turned out of the way, and everything is hard and toilsome to it.
Secondly, It maketh us act with sweetness and complacency : 1 John
v. 3, ' His commandments are not grievous.' Acts of love are sweet
and pleasing ; therefore when you have left the sweetness and com
placency of your obedience, the fervour of your love is decayed ; other
wise it would be no burden to you to be employed for a good God.
Thirdly, It puts a life into duties, Horn. xii. 11, 'Not slothful in
business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.' Otherwise the worship
of God is performed perfunctorily, and in a careless, stupid manner;
166 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXV.
sin is confessed without remorse, or sense of the wrong done to God ;
prayer for spiritual blessings without any such ardent desire to obtain
them ; returning thanks without any esteem of the benefits, or
affection to God in the remembrance of them ; singing without any
life, or affection, or delight in God, or spiritual melody in our hearts ;
conference of God and heavenly things, either none or very slight, and
careless hearing without attention ; reading, without a desire of profit ;
our whole service like a carcase without a soul. As faith enliveneth
our opinions, so doth love our practices ; and as dry reason is a dead
thing to faith, so without love everything done txod-ward, is done
slightly ; why do we find more life in our recreations, than in our
solemn duties, but because our love is decayed ?
[5.] Having now found the sin, let us consider the causes of it.
(1.) One cause or occasion may be the badness of the times. The
best Christians may decay in bad times. The reason is given, Mat.
xxiv. 12, ' Because iniquity doth abound, the love of many shall wax
cold.' Iniquity beareth a double sense ; either a general or a more
limited sense. When there is a deluge of wickedness, sin by being
common groweth less odious. The limited sense is, taking iniquity
for persecution ; because of the sharpness of persecution many shall fall
off from Christianity. This should not be so ; Christians should shine,
like stars, brightest in the darkest night, Phil. ii. 15, 16 ; or like fire,
or a fountain, hottest in coldest weather; as David, in Ps. cxix. 126,
127, ' It is time for thee, Lord, to work, for they have made void thy
law ; therefore I love thy commandments above gold, above fine gold.'
But it is hard to maintain the fire, when the world keepeth pouring
on water. There is a certain liberty which we are apt to take in
evil times, or a damp and deadness of spirit, which groweth upon us.
(2.) It cometh from a cursed satiety and fulness. Our affections are
deadened to things to which we are accustomed, and we are soon cloyed
with the best things. The Israelites cried out, Nothing but this
manna ! ' A full stomach loatheth a honey-comb.' When first
acquainted with the things of the Spirit, communion with God, and
intercourses with heaven, we are affected with them, but afterwards
glutted ; but this should not be, because in spiritual things there is a
new inviting sweetness to keep our affections fresh and lively, as in
heaven God is always to the blessed spirits new and fresh every moment ;
anti-proportionable in the church, where there is more to be had, still
greater things than these. In carnal things this satiety is justifiable,
because the imperfections of the creature which formerly lay hid are
discovered upon fruition, and all earthly things are less in enjoyment
than they were in expectation ; but it is not so in spiritual things ;
every taste provoketh new appetite, 1 Peter ii. 3.
(3.) From a negligence or sluggish carelessness. We do not take
pains to keep our graces alive ; we do not ava&Trvpeiv, 2 Tim. i. 6,
' rouse up the gift,' that is in us. As the priests in the temple were to
keep in the holy fire, so we by prayer and diligent meditation, con
stantly keeping love a- work, watchfulness against the encroachments of
wordly and fleshly lusts ; and when we neglect these things love
decreaseth.
(4.) Sometimes it cometh from freeness in sinning. Neglect is like
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 167
not blowing the fire hid in the ashes ; sinning is like pouring on water :
1 Thes. v. 19, ' Quench not the Spirit.' Secure dalliance with the
pleasures of sin brings a brawn and deadness upon the heart, and God
is neglected, and our love to him very cold.
[6.] There remaineth nothing more, but the cure and remedy
against this evil ; and that concerneth prevention or recovery.
(1.) The remedy, by way of prevention is,
(1st.) That we should labour to get love more fixed and rooted : Eph.
iii. 17, ' That ye may be rooted and grounded in love.' At first our
affection may hastily put forth itself, like the hasty blossoms of the
spring, which are soon nipped ; but a Christian's business is to get a
solid affection and bent of heart towards God, that love may be as it
were the very constitution of our souls, and the frame of our hearts
may be changed into an addictedness and devotedness to God. Many
content themselves with flashes, and good moods, and meltings at a
sermon, which soon vanish and come to nothing, because they have no
root. The word of grace, which revealeth the love of God, is not
ingrafted in their souls, so as that it may be the very frame and temper
of their hearts. Many receive this wprd with joy : Mat. xiii. 21, ' But
he hath no root in himself.' They were once affected with the offers
of remission of sins and eternal life ; but this affection is not so great,
so deep, as to control contrary affections. Christ doth not dwell in the
heart by faith ; a visit there is, but not an abode ; a transient motion .
of the Spirit, but not a constant habitation : a draught of the running
stream, but they have not the fountain within them, John iv. 14.
(2d.) You must increase and grow in love, if you mean to keep it:
Phil. i. 9, 'I pray, that your love may abound more and more;' 1
Thes. iv. 1, 'As ye learned how to walk and to please God, so abound
in it more and more.' At first love is but weak, but progress of it is
to be endeavoured, otherwise a small measure of it raeeteth with so
many things to extinguish it, that it cannot maintain itself. Nothing
conduceth to a decay more than a contentment with what we have
received ; and there is no such way to keep what we have, as to go on
to perfection. They that row against the stream, if they do not ply
the oar, will be driven back by the force of the tide ; therefore every
day you should hate sin more, and love self less ; the world less, yet
Christ more and more. Love being as it were the heart of the new
creature, he that hath most love hath most grace, and is the best and
strongest Christian.
(3d.) Leve must still be excited, and kept in act or exercise ; not lie
as a sleepy, useless habit in the soul. It must be the principle and
end in every duty that is, we must work from love, and for love ;
from love, for it is not an act of thankful obedience, if love be not acted
in it. Oh, beg that this grace may be more increased in us ! All
graces, ordinances, word, sacraments, tend to keep in this love-fire, and
keep it a-burning. All these institutions serve but till love is perfect,
and then they cease, but love remaineth. Besides all this, if love be
not excited and kept a- work, carnal love will prevail. A corrupt and
base treacherous heart had need be watched and kept from starting
back. The back-bias of corruption will again recover strength, for
love cannot lie idle in the soul ; either it must be directed and carried
1G8 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XXV.
forth to God, or it will look out to worldly things. If our love ceaseth,
concupiscence ceaseth not ; and within a while the world will become
superior in the heart, and mammon be placed in God's room and stead
be respected as our end and happiness for man cannot live, but he
must have some last end of his actions. Nor can he long cease from
owning and respecting that end, but the soul will set up another in
its stead ; therefore the more we desist from loving God, the more we
entangle ourselves with other tilings, which get strength and secure
their interest in our souls, as they are confirmed by multiplied acts.
Therefore the love of God must still be kept a-foot, that no other thing
be practically preferred before him, John iv. 14. It must always be
springing up and flowing forth.
(4th.) Observe the first declinings, for these are the cause of all the
rest : evil is best stopped in the beginning. If when first we began
to grow careless, we had taken heed, it would never have come to that
sad issue it doth afterwards ; a heavy body running downwards gathers
strength by running, and still moveth faster. Look then to your first
breaking off from God, and remitting your watch and spiritual fervour.
It is easier to crush the egg, than kill the serpent : he that keepeth a
house in constant repair prevents the fall and ruin of it. When first
the evil heart beginneth to draw us off from God, and to be hardened
through the deceitfulness of sin, then we must, Heb. iii. 12, 13, humble
our souls betime, that we may stick close to Christ.
(2.) By way of recovery, where there hath been a decay. Take the
advice of the Holy Ghost : Kev. ii. 5, ' Kemember from whence thon
art fallen, and repent, and do thy first works.'
(1st.) A serious consideration of our condition, in those words, ' Re
member from whence thou art fallen/ Recollect and sadly consider, what
a difference there is between thee and thyself; thyself living and acting
in the sense and power of the love of God, and thyself now under the
power of some worldly and fleshly lust. Consider what an advantage
thou hadst against temptations of the devil, the world, and the flesh,
when love was in strength, and how much the case is altered with thee
now ; how feeble and impotent in the resistance of any sin. Say, as
Job, chap. xxix. 2, 3, ' Oh that it were as in the months past, in the
day when God preserved me, when his candle shined upon my head/
or as the church : Hos. ii. 7, ' It wa's better with me then than now/
In our returning we^ should have such thoughts as these ; I was wont
to spend some time every day with God ; it was a delight to me to
think of him, or speak of him, or to him ; now I have no heart to pray
or meditate. It was the joy of my soul to wait upon his ordinances ;
the returns of the Sabbath were welcome unto me : but now what a
weariness is it ! Time was when rny heart did rise up in arms against
sin, when a vain thought was a grief to my soul ; why is it thus with
me now ? Is sin grown less odious, or God less lovely ?
(2d.) The next advice is, Repent ; that is, humble yourselves before
God for your defection. It is not enough to feel yourselves fallen ; many
are convinced of their fallen and lapsed estate, but do not humble and
judge themselves for it in God's presence, bewailing their case, smiting
on the thigh, praying for pardon. It is a great sin to grow weary of
God : Isa. xliii. 22, ' Thou hast not called upon me, Jacob ; thou
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 169
hast been weary of me, Israel ;' and Micah. vi. 3, ' my people, what
have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify
against me.' His honour is concerned in it ; therefore you must the
more feelingly bewail it.
('3d.) Do thy first works. We must not spend the time in idle com
plaints. Many are sensible that do not repent ; many repent, i. e., seena
to bewail their case, but languish in idle complaints for want of love,
but do not recover this loss by serious endeavours. You must not rest
till you recover your former seriousness, and mindfulness of God : it is
one of the deceits of our hearts to complain of negligence, and not redress
it. The Nazarite who had broken his vow, he was to begin all again,
Num. vi. 12. So you that have broken with God, you must do what you
did at first conversion ; let your work be sin-abhorring every day, and
engaging your heart anew to God ; and make no reservation, but so
give up yourselves to the Lord, that his interests may prevail in your
hearts again above all sinful and vile inclinations, or whatever hath
been the cause of the withdrawing your hearts from God, and the decay
of your love to him.
SEKMON XXVI.
For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if
one died for all, then were all dead. 2 COR. v. 14.
WE come now to theffth case of conscience, about loving God with
all the heart, a thing often required in scripture. The original place is,
Deut. vi. 5, ' And thou shalt love the Lo'rd thy God, with all thy
heart, and all thy soul, and all thy might.' It is repeated by our
Lord, Mat. xxii. 37, ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and all thy mind ;' but in Mark x. 30, and
Luke x. 27, ' With all thy heart, and all thy soul, and all thy mind,
and all thy strength.' This sentence was famous ; it was one of the
four paragraphs, which the Jews were wont to write upon their phy
lacteries, and fastened to their door-posts, and read in their houses
twice a-day. Mark, here is variety of words, sometimes three words
are used, and sometimes four. Some go about accurately to distinguish
them by the heart interpreting the will ; by the soul, the appetite and
affections : by the mind, the understanding ; and by might, bodily
strength ; all put together with that intensive particle ' all ' imply great
love to God. Now a doubt ariseth hereupon, how this is reconcilable
with the defects of God's children, and the weaknesses of the present
state. Yea, it seemeth to confine our affections, that there will be love
left for no other things ; for if God have all the heart, and all the soul,
and all the mind, and all the strength, what is there left for husband,
wife, children, Christian friends, and other relations, without which
respect human society cannot be upheld and preserved ? The doubt
may be referred to two heads.
1. The irreconcilableness of the rule with present defects.
170 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXVI.
2. The confinement intimated is destructive of our respect to our
natural comforts and relations.
First, Concerning the first, how it is reconcilable with those many
partibilities and defects of God's children:
I answer First, by distinguishing. This sentence may be considered
as an exaction of the law, or as a rule of the gospel.
1. As an exaction of the law. And so it serveth to show us, what
duty the perfect law of God requireth ; complete love without the least
defect all the heart, all the soul, and all the might ; a grain wanting
maketh the whole unacceptable, as one condition not observed forfeiteth
the whole lease, though all the rest be kept. That this reference is not
to be altogether slighted, appeareth by the occasion ; a lawyer asked
him a question, tempting him, saying, ' Master, which is the great com
mandment of the law ? ' Mat. xxii. 35. Now Christ's aim was to beat
down his confidence by proposing the rigour of the law : Luke x. 28,
' This do, and thou shalt live ; ' the best course to convince self-
justiciaries, such as this lawyer was, thereby to rebate their confidence
and to show the necessity of a better righteousness ; and so it is of use
this way for a double end.
[1.] To convince us of the necessity of looking after the grace of the
Kedeemer.
[2.] To prepare us to entertain it with the more thankfulness.
[1.] Of the impossibility of keeping the law, and so the necessity of
the use of the Redeemer. For to fallen man the duty of the law is
impossible, and the penalty of it intolerable ; therefore all men by this
covenant, according to this covenant, are enclosed within a curse, shut
up, and necessitated to seek the grace of the gospel : Gal. iii. 23, ' But
before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith,
which should afterwards be revealed.' The law cannot be satisfied,
unless the whole man obey wholly in all things, which to corrupt
nature is impossible, and so it inevitably driveth us to Christ, who
accepteth us upon more equitable terms.
[2.] To make us thankful for our deliverance by Christ. When
you read these words, all the heart, all the soul, all the might, all the
strength, bless the Lord Jesus in thy heart, that God doth not deal
with us upon these terms ; that we are rid of this hard bondage, exact
obedience or eternal ruin : ' That the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus hath made us free from the law of sin and death/ Eom. viii. 2,
i.e., of that rigorous covenant, which to man fallen serveth only to
convince of sin, and to bind over to death. If God should sue us
upon the old bond, a straggling thought, a wandering glance, might
make us liable to the curse.
2. As a rule of the gospel. ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,
&c. ' With all,' this is not wholly antiquated, and out of date in
the gospel ; we must distinguish what is required by way of precept,
and what is accepted by way of covenant ; for the rule is as strict as
ever, but the covenant is not so strict to wit, that we must
necessarily perish if we break it in the least jot or tittle. The rule is
as strict as ever, and admitteth of no imperfection, either of parts or
degrees ; but the covenant is not so strict, but accepteth of a perfec
tion of parts, and of such a degree, as is dominating and prevailing,
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 171
or doth infer truth of God's image, or a single-hearted disposition to
love and serve God to the uttermost of our power. Let me prove both
these :
[1.] That the rule is as strict as ever : that is necessary ; partly,
with respect to the lawgiver, for no imperfect thing must come from
God ; and partly, with respect to the time when it was given us, in
innocency ; and partly, with respect to us, who are under the rule of
the law ; for if the rule did not require a perfect love, our defects
were no sins, for ' where there is no law there is no transgression,'
Horn. iv. 15. And that this particular law is still in force appeareth by
that of Christ, Mat. xxii. 37-40, ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself ; on these two hang
the law and the prophets/ Surely that law and prophets include all
known scripture that is binding to us.
[2.] But the covenant is not so strict. For where weaknesses are
bewailed, striven against, and in some measure overcome, they shall
not be prejudicial and hurtful to our salvation ; for in the new cove
nant God requireth perfection, but accepteth sincerity ; and though we
cannot bring our graces to the balance, it is enough that we can bring
them to the touchstone : Gen. xvii. 1, ' Walk before me, and be thou
upright ; ' though not perfect, yet if upright, though there be a double
principle, flesh and spirit, yet if not a double heart. A sincere love,
in the language of the Holy Ghost, is loving God with all the heart
and all the soul ; so it is said of David, 1 Kings xiv. 8, ' He kept
my commandments, and followed me with all his heart, to do only that
which was right in mine eyes.' David had shrewd failings, yet because
of his habitual purpose, so the Lord speaketh of him ; so of Josiah,
2 Kings xxiii. 25, ' Like unto him there was no king, that turned to
the Lord with all his heart, and all his soul, and all his might, accord
ing to all the law of Moses.' Josiah also had his blots and imperfec
tions, yet his heart was prevalently set towards God ; so that all the
heart and all the soul may be reconciled with the saint's infirmities,
though not with a vicious life.
Secondly, I shall show you how far we are obliged to love God with
all the heart, and all the soul, and all the mind, and all the strength,
if we would not forfeit our covenant claim of sincerity.
1. We are bound to strive after perfection, and, as much as may
be, to come up to the exactness of the rule. The endeavour is required,
though as to success, God dealeth graciously with us: Phil. iii. 12, 'Not
as though I were already perfect, or had already attained, but I follow
after, that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of
Christ.' The perfection of our love to God is part of our reward in
lieavea ; but we are striving after it, we cannot arrive to the perfect-
ness of the glorified estate, but we are pressing towards it. Allowed
failings cannot stand with sincerity, for he that is contented with a
little grace hath no grace that is to say, he that careth not how little
God be loved, provided he may be saved, doth not sincerely love God.
A true Christian will endeavour a constant progress, and aim at no less
than perfection. Christians, this is still your rule, all the heart and all
the soul, and all the might. The Lord hath such a full right to your
love, that coldness is a kind of a hatred, and the grace which we
172 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XXVI.
received in conversion will urge us to it ; for tendentia mentis in
Deum is the fruit of conversion, and God is not respected as a
means, but as an end. We do more unlimitedly desire the end
than the means. The whole latitude of understanding, will, and
affections is due to him, without division or derivation to other
things.
2. We are so far obliged as to bewail defects and failings ;. as
Paul groaneth under the relics of corruption: Bom. vii. 24, 'Oh
wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from this body of death? '
A true Christian would love God more perfectly, delight in him more
abundantly, bring every thought and practice into subjection to his
will ; if not, they are kept humble ; it is a burden and trouble ; they
cannot allow themselves in this imperfect estate ; the same new nature
which checketh sin before it is committed, mourneth for it after it
hath got the start of us. Resistance is the former dislike of the new
nature, and remorse the latter dislike after we are overcome. None
have such cause to bewail failing as the children of God ; they sin
against more light and love; and if conscience be in a right frame, they
will bemoan themselves, and loathe themselves for their sins ; and their
love, which is seen in a care to please, is also seen in sorrow for
offences when they break out, and a trouble at the lower degrees of
love.
3. We are so far obliged as in some measure to get ground upon
them, for a Christian is to grow in grace. There are some sins which
are not so easily or altogether avoidable by the ordinary assistances of
grace vouchsafed, as sins of ignorance, sudden surreption, and daily
incursion ; and there are other sins which may be and are avoided so
far by God's children, so as that they do not frequently, easily, and
constantly lapse into them. There are other grievous evils which
Christians do not ordinarily fall into, unless in some rare cases. A
Christian may lapse into them, as being overborne by the violence of
a temptation, as Noah's drunkenness, Lot's incest, David's adultery ;
foul sins, but there was no habitual aversation from God ; but yet a
foul fall cuts the strength of a Christian resolution, being overborne by
some violent temptations. Now against the first of these, striving
against unavoidable infirmities is conquering ; the second must be
mortified and weakened. In the other it is not enough to strive against
them, but forsake them and grow wiser for the future.
Secondly, As to the second part of the case, the confinement.
Ans. God doth not require that we should love nothing, think of
nothing, but himself. The state of this life will not permit that ; but
God must have all the heart so far (1.) That nothing be loved against
God. A prohibited object is forbidden ; sin must not be loved, as they
loved darkness more than light, John iii. 19. (2.) Nothing above God
with a superior love : Mat. x. 37, ' He that loveth father, or mother,
more than me, is not worthy of me/ (3.) Not equally with God.
Other things are excluded from an equal love, for then our love to God
is but a partial and half love, divided between God and the creature.
No ; Luke xiv. 26, ' We must hate father and mother, and wife and
children,' &c. ; God above all, and our neighbour as ourself. God can
endure no rival ; this love to man is but the second commandment,
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 173
and must give way to the first. (4.) Nothing apart from God, but as
subordinate to him : Ps. Ixxiii. 25, ' Whom have I in heaven but thee ?
and there is none on earth I desire besides thee.' I must love my friends
in him, and my foes for him, his people because of his image, all
because of his command ; God in his creatures, Christ in his members ;
myself, wife, children, natural comforts, in God and for God. To set
up anything as a divided end from God is a great evil, as well as to set
up anything as an opposite end to him. It may be a damnable sin to
love any worldly comfort without subordinating it to God : James iv.
4, ' Ye adulterers, and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of
the world is enmity to God ? whosoever therefore will be a friend of
the world is the enemy of God ; ' 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.' Apart from God is spiritual
adultery.
How shall I do in short to know that I have the love of God in me ?
What is the undoubted evidence, by which I may judge of my state,
or know that my love to God is sincere ?
Ans. 1. It concerneth us more to act grace, than to know that we
have it. Do you set yourselves with all your hearts, and with all
your souls to love God, and you shall soon know that you love him.
Things will discover themselves, when in any good degree of predomi
nancy ; and love, when it is in any strength, cannot well be hidden from
the party that hath it ; as a man burning hot will soon feel himself
warm. But small things are hardly discerned ; a weak pulse seemeth to
be as none at all. Many languish after comforts, and spend their time
in idle complaints, and so continue the mischief they complain of.
Up and be doing ; and bestow more time in getting and increasing,
and acting grace, than in anxious doubtings whether you have any ;
comfort cometh sooner by looking to precepts, which tell us what we
should do, than signs, which tell us what we are, and the acting of love
is the best way to have it manifested ; so Christ telleth us, John xiv.
21, ' He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that
loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I
will love him, and manifest myself to him.' There is the way to get
the manifestation of grace, and of Christ's owning us. Give God his
due obedience, and you shall not want comfort ; it is a purer respect
that we show to God by minding his interest rather than our own ;
and to love him, and wait for the time when we shall know that we
love him.
2. Yet it is our duty to try seriously the sincerity and soundness of
our respects to Christ ; partly, because the heart is very deceitful, and
we must search warily. Christ putteth Peter to the question thrice :
John xxi. 15-19, ' Lovest thou me ? ' It is some conviction to a liar to
make him repeat his tale. A deceitful heart will be apt to reply, that
he is not worthy to live who doth not love Christ ; but urge it again
and again, Do I indeed love Christ ? Yea, leave not till you can appeal
to God himself for the sincerity of your love : ' Lord, thou knowest all
things, and thou knowest that I love thee.' And partly also, because
there is a great deal of counterfeit love ; therefore the apostle saith,
Eph. vi. 24, ' Grace be with all them that love the Lord Jesus Christ
174 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXVI.
iu sincerity.' Many profess love, whose love when it cometh to be
t ried will be found counterfeit and insincere. Our Lord Jesus telleth
the Pharisees, who were quarrelling with him for healing a man upon
the sabbath day, John v. 42, ' But I know you, that you have not the
love of God in you/ They pretended great love and zeal for the sab
bath, and therefore opposed the working of that miracle. Men may
pretend zeal for God's glory and his ordinances, who yet have no true
love to God ; as many pretend great esteem of the memory of Christ,
yet hate his servants and slight his ways.
3. The great standing evidence of love is obedience, or a universal
resolution, and care to please God in all things. I shall prove to you
from scripture first that it is so, then from reason.
[1.] From scripture : John xiv. 15, ' If ye love me, keep my com
mandments.' None truly love Christ but those that make conscience
of obedience; so verse 21, 'He that hath my commandments and
keepeth them, he it is that loveth me;' so verse 23, ' If a man love me,
he will keep my words ; ' so John xv. 14, ' Ye are my friends, if ye do
whatsoever I command you.' Friendship consisteth in a harmony of
mind and will ; there is such a real friendship between Christ and
believers, which maketh them cordial, cheerful, zealous, and constant
in their obedience to him : 1 John ii. 5, ' But whoso keepeth his word,
in him verily is the love of God perfected ; ' that is, hath produced its
consummate effect ; so 1 John v. 3, ' This is love, to keep his command
ments.' Love implieth the doing of those things which are most
grateful and acceptable to the party beloved ; and this is the prime, if
not the only way, of demonstrating our love to God, which the scripture
so much insisteth upon ; so Exod. xx. 6, ' That love me, and keep my
commandments.'
[2.] Now for the reasons. Our love to God is not the love of courtesy
that passeth between equals, but a love of dutiful subjection, such as is
due from an inferior to a superior ; such as is that of servants to their
master, subjects to their prince and governor, creatures to their creator ;
and therefore is not discovered by a fellow-like familiarity, so much as
by obedience. God's love to us is an act of bounty, our love to him
is an act of duty ; and therefore he will see 'that the trial of this love
of gratitude or this returning love be sincere, if it produce an uniform
and constant obedience, or an universal care to please God in all
things ; faith is known by love, and love by obedience, Gal. vi. 15, and
Gal.v.6,
4. This obedience which love produceth must be active, constant,
and pleasant.
[1.] Active and laborious. Love will not rest in word and profession
only, or lie lurking in the heart as an idle habit, but will break out in
sensible proofs and endeavours, and keep us hard at work for God :
Bom. xii. 11, 'Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the
Lord.' So it is where there is love; but for others everything is
tedious to flesh and blood ; and where love is cold, men cannot over
come a little ease and sloth of the flesh. Now how can they know the
love of God, who will do nothing for him, or no great thing for him ?
Till you abound in the work of the Lord, love doth not discover itself ;
love will be working and labouring, and ever bringing forth fruit ;
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 175k
and that is not real and sincere which is not such, which will not be
at the pains and charge of obedience.
[2.] Constant ; for one act or two will not manifest our love to God,
but a course of holiness : John xv. 10, ' If ye keep my commandments,
ye shall abide in my love ; even as I have kept the Father's command
ments, and abide in his love.' And love must show itself, as by obe
dience, so by a constant obedience ; and therefore it requireth some
competent space of time before we can be fully assured of the sincerity
of it. When we find it growing, it is very comfortable, and when we
have rode out so many temptations, it is an encouragement still to go
on with God.
[3.] It must be pleasant : 1 John v. 3, ' For this is the love of God,
that we keep his commamdments, and his commandments are not
grievous ; ' and Ps. cxii. 1, ' Blessed is the man that delighteth greatly
in his commandments.' When we cheerfully practise all that he
requireth of us, love sweeteneth all things ; it is meat and drink to do
his will ; the thing commanded is excellent, but it is sweeter as com
manded by him. A man is never thoroughly converted till he delighteth
in God and his service, and his heart is overpowered by the sweetness
of his love. A slavish kind of religiousness, when we had rather not
do than do our work, is no fruit of grace, and cannot evidence a sincere
love.
5. In the course of our obedience, God ordereth some special seasons
for the discovery of our sincere love to him. As Abraham had his
trial, so we : Heb. xi. 17, ' By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered
up Isaac/ And God trieth, non ut ipse hominem inveniat, sed ut homo
se inveniat ; Gen. xxii. 12, ' For now I know thou fearest God.' That
is a document, a sensible proof of the reality and sincerity of grace, as
under sore trials, God doth most manifest himself to us : upon these
occasions, when put upon great self-denial, we have a sensible occasion
to see which we love most ; it was a nice case before. When faithful
ness to God's interest is dearer to us than our own credit, liberty, life,
then is a special sensible occasion to improve the sincerity of our love.
Such things are pleaded, Ps. xliv. 17, ' All this is come upon us, yet
have we not forsaken thee, nor dealt falsely in thy covenant.' God's
choicest comforts are for them that overcome temptations.
Sixth case of conscience. But how shall we do to get or increase
this love to Christ ? Is there anything that man can do towards it,
since love is of God, and a fruit of his Spirit ?
Ans. 1. It is true that a man in his natural estate cannot by his
own power bring his heart to love God. Partly, because men naturally
are lovers of themselves, that is, of their carnal selves, and so lovers
of pleasure more than God, 2 Tim. iii. 4. So addicted to vain and
sensual delights, the flesh and world have intercepted their love and
delight : John iii. 6, ' That which is born of flesh is flesh.' Will a
nature that is carnal resist and overcome the flesh ? and can men be
brought by their own inclination to abhor the sin they dearly love, and
a worldly mind overcome the world ? Therefore till grace heal our
natures, we cannot love God or Christ. First, the carnal love must be
mortified : Deut. xxx. 6, ' The Lord thy God shall circumcise thy
heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy
176 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SlfiR. XXVI.
heart, and all thy soul, that thou mayest live.' Till God pare away
our foreskin, and mortify our carnal love and inordinate passions, there
can be no love to God or Christ raised or enkindled in our hearts.
And partly, because men are haters of God, Rom. i. 30, enemies to
him, as standing in the way of their desires, and keeping them by his
laws from things which they affect, as forbidden fruit: Col. i. 21,
' And you that were sometimes alienated, and enemies in your minds
by evil works ; ' and Rom. viii. 7, ' Because the carnal mind is enmity
to God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be ;'
and James iv. 4, ' Know ye not that the friendship of the world
is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the
world is the enemy of God.' There is a mixture of love, palpable
and evident by nature, * and though men might be imagined to have
some kind of love to God as a creator, and preserver, and benefactor,
yet they hate him as a law-giver and a judge. Therefore till this
enmity be broken, there is no hope of bringing the heart to love God.
2. Since God worketh it, it must be in the first place begged of him.
As the apostle prayeth for others, so do you for yourselves : Eph. iii.
17, 18, ' That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to
comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth,
and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge,
and be filled with all the fulness of God.' We have but light appre
hension of the love of God in Christ ; it leaveth no impression upon
us : 2 Thes. iii. 5, ' And the Lord direct your hearts to the love of
God,' set straight your hearts, Karopdvvai ; they are fluttered abroad
to all manner of vanities, and therefore the psalmist prayeth, Ps.
Ixxxvi. 11, ' Unite my heart to thy fear.'
3. Though we pray to God, yet we must not neglect to use the
means. For God will meet with us in our way, in a way proportion
able to our reason, and we are to meet with him in his way, in a way
of duty and means. God doth not overrule us by a brutish force, nor
raise an inclination in our wills, but in the way of understanding ; the
ordinary way of working upon man is by the understanding, and so
upon the will. What are the means of raising our love ?
[1.] A knowledge of our necessity, and the excellency and worth of
Christ and his beneficial ness to us : John iv. 10, ' If thou knewest the
gift.' We love little, because we know little ; saints and angels, who
know him most, love him best ; in heaven there is complete love because
there is perfect knowledge ; that the apostle's prayer showeth, how we
are rooted and grounded in love, Eph. iii. 17-19.
[2.] Serious consideration ; the more you lay out your thoughts in
the serious consideration of these things which most tend to feed and
breed love. Objects and moving reasons, kept much upon the mind
by serious thoughts, are the great means and instruments appointed
both by nature and grace to turn about and move the soul of man.
Consideration, frequent and serious, is God's great instrument to con
vert the soul : Ps. cxix. 59, ' I thought on my ways, and turned my
feet unto thy testimonies ;' and to get, keep, and increase grace: witness
this text, ' For we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all
dead.' Therefore the total want of love, or the weakness of love, comes
for want of consideration. Oh then, think often of God's goodness,
VER. 14. J SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 177
amiableness, and kindheartedncss to miserable and unworthy sinners,
what he is in himself, a pardoning God ; none like him, Mic. vii. 18 ;
what he hath done for you from your youth upward. Every one should
be his own historian : Ps. cxxxix. 17, ' How precious are thy thoughts
to me, God ! how great is the sum of them ! ' Every morning come
to a new account and audit- what he is willing yet to do for you in
Christ, to pardon all your sins, to sanctify you by his Spirit, and to
give you eternal life, and a portion among his people.
[3.] You must increase love by a constant familiarity and communion
with God. Strangeness dissolveth friendship, but our hearts settle to
wards them with whom we frequently converse : Job xxii. 21, ' Acquaint
thyself now with him, and be at peace.' When men neglect prayer,
their hearts set loose from God. Therefore upon all occasions main
tain a constant commerce between God and you.
[4.] If there be a breach, be soon reconciled again. If a man was
unclean, he was to wash his clothes before even : Eph. iv. 26, ' Let
not the sun go down upon thy wrath.' As between man and man, so be
tween God and man ; ' forgive us this day,' as well as ' give us this day.'
When discontents settle they are hardly removed : Jer. viii. 4, ' Shall
they fall, and not arise ? turn away, and not return ? ' It is spoken to
backsliding Israel. A candle newly put out sucketh light again, if you
kindle it before it stiffeneth and groweth cold ; so the sooner we recover
ourselves, the less breach is made by it.
[5.] Mortify love to the world. This is baneful to the love of the
Father : 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.' When the soul is filled with one object, it cannot attend
upon another, though more excellent. The love of the world is that
which first kept us from God, and still it dulleth the edge of our
affections, and diverteth us from him ; therefore watch against the
enticements of the flattering world, and love the creature in subordi
nation to God.
Now let me exhort you to the love of Christ.
1. The genius and disposition of love showeth it is fit for nothing
but God. As he that looketh upon an axe will say it is fit to cut, so
he that looketh upon love will say it was made for God. Love is for
that which is good ; it is the motion of the soul to what is good for us ;
good is the object of love. The more good anything is, the more it
must be loved ; this is the disposition of nature, and grace doth direct
it and set it aright. Now who is so good as God, who hath all good
ness in himself ? All that goodness which is in the creature is derived
from him, and dependeth on him ; he hath given us all the good which
we have received, and that out of mere love ; yea, he hath given us love
itself. Now whom will you love, if he that is love itself seem not
lovely to you ? All loveliness is in him and from him ; the creature
hath none of itself nor for itself. Is sin such a thing, that for the love
of it you will fly from God and goodness ?
2. Love is but for one object. The affection is weakened by dis
persion, as a river divided into many channels. In conjugal society,
which is the highest instance of love : Mai. ii. 15, ' And did not he
make one ? Yet had he the residue of the Spirit. And wherefore one ?
VOL. XIII. M
178 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SEU. XXVI.
That he might seek a godly seed.' God in the beginning made but one
man for one woman, and one woman for one man, yet he could, if he
would, have created more persons at once ; it was not out of defect of
power, but wise choice, that their affections might be the stronger.
Conjugal affection would be weakened, if, as they are in the brutes,
they were scattered promiscuously to several objects. The true object
indeed of love is but one, and that is God ; he is loved for himself, and
other things for his sake. All lines end in the centre ; so all the
inclinations of the creature should terminate in God. Love was
planted in us for this purpose, that other things might be loved in
God and for God.
3. The force and vehemency of love showeth it was made for God.
[1.] It is a vehement affection, that swayeth the whole soul. God
only deserveth these heights and excesses which are in love. We
make gods of other things, when we love them without subordination
to him. Samson was led about like a child by Delilah. Men con
temn all things, honour, name, credit, riches, for their love, ease,
pleasure. Turn this to money, covetousness is idolatry, Eph. v. 5 ; to
pleasure, and the belly becometh a god, Phil. iii. 1 9.
[2.] It is love maketh us good or bad men. Men are as their love
is. We are not determined from our knowledge, but our affections ;
a man may know evil, and yet not be evil ; he is a carnal man that
hath carnal desires ; love is the inclination and bias of the will. Such
as a man is, so is his love. A man's heart is where his love is, rather
than where his fear is. It is love transformeth the heart ; it changeth
us into the nature of what is loved. This is the difference between
mind and will ; the mind draweth things to itself, and refineth and
purifieth them ; but the will followeth the things it chooseth, and is
drawn after them, made like them, as the wax receiveth the stamp and
impression of the seal. Carnal objects make it carnal, and earthly
things earthly, and heavenly things heavenly, the love of God godly :
Ps. cxv. 8, ' They that make them are like unto them ; so are all
they that put their trust in them/ stupid, senseless as their idols. Love
transformeth into the things we love; therefore without love all is
nothing, 1 Cor. xiii. 1.
[3.J So much of the Spirit of God as you have, so much love ; for love
to God is the proper gift of the Spirit to all the adopted sons of God,
to cause them with filial affection and dependence to cry, Abba, Father,
Gal. iv. 6 ; not always seen in challenging an interest in him, as
coming in a childlike affection and a spirit of love.
4. The sad consequence of not loving Christ. It is no arbitrary
matter ; the apostle suiteth his threatening to the form of the highest
curse among the Jews : 1 Cor. xvi. 22, ' If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha,' cursed till the Lord
come ; suspension from the congregation, casting out, giving over all
hopes of the party offending, and leaving them till the Lord's coming.
There is no hope for you. Though you do not hate, yet if you love
not, there is a curse that will never be repealed. God made Christ's
love so exemplary, to astonish us with kindness. Anathema is too
good for him, the apostle cannot express it under a double curse ; you
will be cast out of the assembly of the first-born if you repent not.
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 179
5. Consider what advantages we have by love. An interest in all
the promises : Eph. vi. 24, ' Grace be with all them that love our Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity ; ' and Kom. viii. 28, ' All things shall work
together for good to them that love God ;' and James i. 12, 'Blessed
is the man that endureth temptations, for when he is tried, he shall
receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that
love him ; ' James ii. 5, ' Hath not God chosen the poor of the world,
to be rich in faith, arid heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised
to them that love him ? ' Faith giveth a right, but love a sensible
interest. We cannot take comfort in the sense, till sure of the con
dition and qualification ; our faith is not right, till it beget love.
6. It is not only among the graces, but the rewards. Entire love is
a part of our happiness in heaven ; it is our only employment there to
love God, to love what we see, and possess what we love ; so that love
is the end and final happiness of man. Love is the final act, as God
is the final object. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and
love is the perfection of it.
SERMON XXVII.
For we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead.
2 COR. v. 14.
IN the words observe two things: the force and operation of
love ; the reason of it ; ' For we thus judge,' &c. In which two
things,
1. The instance of Christ's love to us ; one died for all.
2. The means of improving it ; ive thus judge.
In the instance or argument which love worketh upon, you have
The act of Christ's love ; he died.
[2.
[3.]
The peculiarity of it to him ; he alone died.
The benefit that redounds to others; one for all.
2. The means of improving ; ' We thus judge/ to wit, after due de
liberation and thinking upon the matter. It implieth First, con
sideration ; and secondly, determination.
[1.] Consideration, 'if one,' if one or since one. It is a suppositional
concession, if. one appointed to die, and accepted in the name of all
the rest.
[2.] Determination ; we so far conclude thence. The determination
of the judgment maketh way for the resolution of the will; the one is
formally expressed, the other implied.
Doct. That Christ's dying one for all is the great instance and argu
ment that should be improved by us to breed and feed love.
Here let me inquire
1. What dying one for all signifieth.
2. How the great love of God therein appeareth.
3. How suited this argument is to breed that love which God
expecteth a thankful return of obedience.
180 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [&ER. XXVII.
4. In what way this must be improved ; ' we thus judge/ by consider
ing and judging upon the case.
First. What dying one for all signifieth, vnep iravrav. It is not
only in bonum omnium, for the good of all ; but loco et vice omnium, in
the room and stead of all, as appeareth by the double notion by winch
Christ's death is set forth, as a ransom and a sacrifice. A ransom : Mat.
xx. 28, \vrpov avTi TroXAeoy, ' and to give his life a ransom for many/ 1
Tim. ii. 6, avri\vTpov VTrep TTUVTCOV, 'who gave himself a ransom for all.'
The ransom was paid in the captive's stead ; therefore if Christ did die
as a ransom for us, it was not only for our good, but in our stead.
The other notion is that of a sacrifice : Eph. v. 2, ' He gave himself as
a sacrifice and an offering to God, a sweet-smelling savour ; ' so Heb.
ix. 26, ' He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself-/ Now
the sacrifice was offered instead of the worshippers ; and therefore if
Christ were our sin-offering, he died not only for our good, but in our
stead. When the ram was taken, Isaac was let go ; so the sinner
escapeth, and Christ was substituted into our room and place ; he
suffered what we should have suffered, and died that we may live :
' Deliver him from going down to the pit, for I have found a ransom/
Job xxxiii. 24. This dying one for all proveth two things
1. The verity of his satisfaction.
2. The sufficiency of his satisfaction.
1. The verity and truth of his satisfaction ; for when all should
have died, Christ died one for all. We were all dead with respect to
the merit of our sins, and the righteous constitution of God's law ; and
Christ came to die one for all, he represented our persons, and took
our burden upon himself, and did enough to ease us.
[1.] He represented our persons as a surety, and so took the person
of a debtor : Heb. vii. .22, ' By so much was Jesus made a surety of a
better testament ; ' or as a common person appeareth in the name of
all that are represented in him. That Christ was a common person
appeareth by Kom. v. 14 ; where Adam is said to be, TUTTO? rov
/ieXXoi>ro9, namely, as Adam was a common person representing all his
posterity, and as his act had a public influence o*n all descended from
him ; one was enough to ruin, and one enough to save ; and Christ
was as powerful to save, as Adam to destroy. Yea, there is a 7roXX&>
[*,a\\ov on Christ. The value of Adam's act depended upon mere-
institution ; and Christ was not only instituted, but had an intrinsic
worth in his person as God ; therefore the apostle saith, ' Not as the
offence, so also is the free gift : ' ver. 15, ' For if through the offence of
one, many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by
grace, which is by one man Christ Jesus, hath abounded unto many ; '
and ver. 16, 'As the judgment was by one to condemnation; so the
free gift is of many offences unto justification ; ' and ver. 18, ' As
by the offence of one the judgment came upon all men to condem
nation ; so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men
to justification of life ; ' and ver. 19, ' As by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one many were made
righteous/ So also, 1 Cor. xv., Adam and Christ are compared, repre
senting both their seeds ; and we read there of the first Adam and the
last Adam, ver. 45, and the first man and the second man, ver. 47 ;
VER. 14.] SERMONS urox 2 CORINTHIANS v. 181
those two men were all mankind in representation. Well then, we
see Christ, sustained our persons, and stood in our place and room as
mediator. We must look upon him as a father carrying all his children
on his back, or lapped up in his garment, through a deep river, through
which they must needs pass, and, as it were, saying to them, Fear not,
I will set you safe on land. So are you to look upon Christ with all
his children wading through the floods of death and hell, and saying,
Fear not, worm Jacob ; fear not, poor souls, I will set you safe.
[2.] As he took our persons, so he took our burden upon himself ;
for we read that he was made sin, and made a curse for us.
(1.) Made sin : 2 Cor. v. 21, ' He who knew no sin was made sin for
us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.' To be
made is to be ordained or appointed, as Christ made twelve disciples,
Mark iii. 14, eTroirjcre, appointed, and Jesus Christ is said to be
made Lord and Christ, Acts ii. 38 ; so Christ was made sin that is,
ordered and appointed to bear the punishment of sin, or to be a
sacrifice for sin. Sometimes the punishment of sin is called sin ; as
Gen. iv. 13, ' My sin is greater than can be borne,' that is, the
punishment ; so ver. 7, ' Sin lieth at the door,' that is, the punishment
is at hand ; so Christ cometh without sin : Heb. ix. 28, 'To bear the
sins of many ; and to them that look for him he shall appear the
second time without sin unto salvation ; ' not liable any more to bear
the punishment of it. Sometimes it is put for a sacrifice for sin ; so
the priests are said to eat the sins of the people, Hos. iv. 8, that is,
the sacrifices ; and Paul saith, Eom. viii. 3, ' That by sin, he con
demned sin in the flesh ; ' that is, by a sin-offering. Well then
Christ, who knew no sin, had no inherent guilt, was made sin, that is,
liable and responsible to God's justice for our sakes. As we are made
the righteousness of God in him, so was he made sin for us ; not by
inhesion, which ariseth from inherent guilt, but by imputation or
voluntary susception ; that is, took upon himself an obligation to
satisfy the demands of justice for our sakes, as if he had said, What
they owe, I will pay.
(2.) Made a curse for us, Gal. iii. 13. Christ as a surety did suffer
our punishment, and endured what we have deserved : Isa. liii. 4,
'Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.' The
sorrows of the sinner were the sorrows of Christ. The law had said,.
' Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written
in the book of the law to do them,' Gal. iii. 10. Now the sentence or
curse of the law must not fall to the ground, for then the end of God's
governing of the world could not be secured ; his law would seem to
be given in jest, and his threatenings would be interpreted to be a
vain scare-crow, and the sin of the creature would not seem so odious
a thing, if the law might be transgressed and broken, and there were
no more ado about it ; therefore Christ must come and bear this curse.
But you will say then, that Christ should have suffered eternal death
and the pains of hell, which were due to us.
Ans. 1. He suffered what was equivalent to the pains of hell ; so
much of the pains of hell as his holy person was capable of. In the
curse of the law we must distinguish the essentials from the accidentals.
The essentials consist in two things, pcena damni and pcena sensus;
182 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XXVII.
the pana damni is the loss of God's presence, and the comfortable and
happy fruition of him ; the pcena sensus lieth in falling into the hands
of the living God, or being tormented with his wrath. Now both
these Christ endured in some measure. He was deserted, Mat. xxvii.
26 ; there was a suspension of all sensible and actual comforts flowing
from the Godhead, and his soul was filled with a bitter sense of wrath ;
and there he was made heavy unto death, Mat. xxvi. 39, and Isa. liii.
10, ' It pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he hath put him to grief,'
which occasioned great agonies. Now for the accidentals the place
we should for ever have suffered in hell, the prison of the damned ;
but that circumstance was abated to Christ ; he suffered upon earth.
One that is bound as a surety for another needeth not go to prison,
provided that he pay the debt ; all that law and justice requireth is,
that the surety pay the debt, which, if he doth not or cannot do, then
he must go to prison ; so here the justice and holiness of God must
be satisfied ; but Christ needed not to go into the place of torment.
2. The time of continuance. The damned must bear the wrath
of God to all eternity, because they can never satisfy the justice
of God, and therefore they must lie by it world without end ; as one
that payeth a thousand pounds by a shilling or a penny a- week, is a
long time in paying the debt ; whereas a rich and able man layeth it
down in cumulo, in one heap all at once : or as a payment in gold
taketh up less room than a payment in pence or brass farthings, yet
the sum is the same. Christ made an infinite satisfaction in a finite
time, and bore that wrath of God in a few hours which would have
overwhelmed the creatures. The eternity of wrath is abundantly
recompensed in the infiniteness of the person, and the greatness of the
sufferings ; his blood was the blood of God, Acts xx. 28.
3. Another circumstance accompanying the pains of the second
death, and unavoidably attending it in reprobates, is desperation,
and a fearful looking for of the fiery indignation of God, Heb. x.
7 ; but this is accidental to the punishment itself, and only occasioned
by the sinner's view of their woful and remediless condition ; but
this neither did nor could possibly befal the Lord Jesus, for he was
able by his divine power both to suffer and satisfy, ~to undergo and
overcome, this dreadful brunt of the wrath of God, and therefore
expected a good issue in his conflict : Ps. xvi. 9, 10, ' My flesh shall
rest in hope, for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, nor suffer thy
holy one to see corruption ; ' it is applied to Christ, Acts ii. A shallow
stream may easily drown a child, whereas a grown man may hope to
escape out of a far deeper place ; yea, a skilful swimmer out of the
ocean. Christ passed through that sea of wrath which would have
drowned all the world ; yea, came safe to shore. Well then, it showeth
the reality and truth of his satisfaction.
2. It showeth the fulness and sufficiency of his satisfaction, and
that Christ undertook no more than he was able to perform ; for,
though but one, yet he is accepted for all, as one sacrifice offered by
the high priest was enough for all the congregation. The burnt-
offering for private men, and for the whole congregation, was the
same a young bullock without blemish. All had but one sacrifice ;
only for private men the burnt-offering was offered by common priests,
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 183
and for the congregation by the high priest; or as the same sun
serveth for every one, and also for all the world, so the same Christ,
the sun of righteousness, serveth for all ; or as one Adam was enough
to ruin all, so one Christ was enough to save all ; yea, much more, as
in Christ the divine power is more effectual. The scripture often
insisteth upon the oneness of the person, and the oneness of the sacri
fice ; as in that oracle which dropped from the mouth of Caiaphas ' It
is expedient for one to die for all the people/ John xi. 51, 52, which
is interpreted of the redemption of the elect, 'He prophesied that
Jesus should die for that nation ; and not for that nation only, but that
he should gather together in one the children of God which were
scattered abroad/ This one Christ is accepted for all ; for it is more
than if all the world had died. God was more pleased with this
sacrifice than he was displeased with -Adam's sin, or the sins of all the
world. 1 Tim. ii. 6, ' There is one mediator between God and man,
the man Christ Jesus ; ' as one mediator, so one sacrifice : Heb. x. 10,
' We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all ; ' and ver. 14, ' For by one offering he hath perfected for
ever them that are sanctified ; ' and Heb. ix. 26, ' He once in the end
of the world appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself ; '
and ver. 28, ' So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.'
The scripture doth so emphatically insist upon this circumstance, to
show that there needeth no more to be done to satisfy God's justice ;
that is sufficiently done already, which is a great comfort to us ; for
you are not left under the care of making satisfaction for your own
sins, but only of accepting the Redeemer who hath satisfied; and if
you perish, it will be for want of faith in you, not for want of satis
faction in Christ : the business is even brought to your doors, and left
upon your hands, whether you will accept of the grace offered.
Secondly. How the great love of God appeareth in this.
1. In that he would not prosecute his right against us, who were
fallen in law and unable to recover ourselves. Noxa sequitur caput
' The soul that sinneth shall die,' Exod. xxxii. 33. He might have
refused any mediation, and all our necks might have gone for it. It was
great love that God would think of a surety ; he might have exacted
the whole debt of us : Thou hast sinned, and thou shalt pay. It is
some relaxing of the rigour of the law that he would take person for
person. Moses was rejected when he interposed as a mediator, but so
was not Christ.
2. That he would take one for all. Justice would not let go the
sinner without a ransom, but it is the wonderful grace of God that
he would take satisfaction from one man in the name of all those for
whom he offered to satisfy, that God would accept of Christ ; Heb. ii.
9, it is said that ' by the grace of God he should taste death for
every man ; ' that which moved God to transfer the punishment of
our sins upon Christ, was his mere grace, and the special favour of
God.
3. This one so dear to him his own son, the son of his love, his
only begotten Son he is the person that must be our surety : John
iii. 16, ' God so loved the world, that he sent his only-begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlast-
184 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXVII.
ing life ; ' and Rom viii. 32, ' He spared not his own Son, but
delivered him up for us all.' Oh, the unspeakable love of God ! We
are fond ; Eli would not let fall one rough word to his children ; God
had but one son, and he was made a sacrifice for sin.
4. This one so worthy in himself : person for person is the hardest
bargain. In some wars captives are redeemed with money, but ' we
are not redeemed with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of
the Son of God,' 1 Peter i. 18, 19. If there be man for man, propor
tion is observed, and men of like quality are exchanged. You never
heard of such a demand, that a king should be given to ransom a
servant. We were slaves, and Christ was the heir of all things ; the
prince was given for slaves, the just for the unjust ; the Lord God
Almighty, who filleth heaven and earth with his glory, was given for
poor worms ; the king of all the 'earth ' came not to be ministered
unto but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many/ Mat.
xx. 28.
5. And he given unto death : one died for all. If Christ had come
on earth to take a view of our misery, it had been another matter.
Captive princes have kingly entertainment, but he came to be sold for
the price of a slave thirty pieces, Exod. xxi, 31 ; the ransomer is not
bound to suffer, and be ruined, if the party be so ; but our redeemer
must die: 1 Peter iii. 18, 'But Christ hath suffered for sin, the just
for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.' Till death there was
no full satisfaction. If ever any had cause to love his life, Christ
had ; his soul dwelt with God in a personal union. It is no great
matter to quench and put out such glimmering candles as we are ; we
are often a burden to our own selves ; Christ had more to lose than
all angels and men. They said of David, 2 Sam. xvii. 3, ' Thou art
better than ten thousand of us/ Every man's life is valuable ; it is the
creature's best inheritance. What was Christ's life, which was
enriched with the continual presence of God !
6. This one to die so willingly : Ps. xl. 7, ' Lo, I come to do thy
will.' You cannot meditate enough on these places: Prov. viii. 31,
' Eejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth, and my delights were
with the sons of men;' and Isa. liii. 11, 'He shall see of the travail
of his soul, and be satisfied/ He hath contentment enough in the
Father, right enough to the creatures, rich in all the glory of the
Godhead ; what need had he to become man and die for sinners, but
only that he loved us, and gave himself for us for me and thee ?
Gal. ii. 20.
7. That he should die such a painful and accursed death : ' He
bore the iniquities of us all,' Isa. liii. 6. The little finger of sin is
heavier than the loins of any other trouble. David, that bore his own
sins, cried out, Ps. xxxviii. 4, ' They are a burden too heavy for me.'
What was it for him to bear the iniquities of us all ? This made his
soul heavy to death, filled up with such bitter agonies that he did
sweat drops of blood. Alas ! sometimes we feel what it is to bear one
sin, what is it to bear many, to bear all ? He did not only bear them
in his body, but in his soul ; this put him upon tears, and fears, and
amazement ' Now is my soul troubled, what shall I say ? ' John xii.
27. As to bodily pains, many of the martyrs suffered more and with
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 185
cheerful minds ; but Christ stood in the place of sinners before God's
tribunal. Well then, you see what a powerful argument this is to breed
and feed love.
Thirdly, How this argument is suited to breed that love which
God expects, even a thankful return of obedience. It is proper for
that purpose.
1. From the end of Christ's death, which was to sanctify us : Eph.
v. 25-27, ' Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, that he
might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water through the
word; that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not
having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be
holy and without blemish ; ' and Titus ii. 14, ' Who gave himself for
us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a
peculiar people ; ' not only redeem us from wrath, but redeem us from
sin, to restore the image of God which we had lost, as well as his
favour. Now unless we would have Christ to be frustrate of his end
and die in vain, we should endeavour to be holy. Did he die for sin
that we might take liberty to practise it ? come to unloose our cords,
that we might tie them the faster ? pay our debt, that we might run
on upon a new score ? make us whole, that presently we might fall
sick ? or give us an antidote, that we might the more freely venture
to poison ourselves ? No ; this is to play the wanton with his
grace.
2. The right which accrueth to our Kedeemer by virtue of the price
paid for us. When a slave was bought with silver and gold, his strength
and life and all belonged to the buyer : Exod. xxi. 21, 'He is his
money.' So we are purchased by Christ, redeemed to God, Rev. v. 9,
and we are bound to him that bought us, to serve him in righteousness
and holiness all our days, Luke i. 74 ; to glorify him in our bodies and
souls, which are his, 1 Cor. vi. 20.
3. The pardon ensuing and depending on his death. It is that God
may be more loved, reverenced, feared, and obeyed : Ps. cxxx. 4, ' But
there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared ; ' Luke vii.
47, ' She loved much, because much was forgiven to her.' They are
bound to love most to whom most is forgiven : Ps. Ixxxv. 8, ' For he
will speak peace to his people, but let them not return to folly.' The
remission of sins past is not for a permission of sin to come, but a great
bridle and restraint to it. His mercy in remitting should not make
us more licentious in committing, otherwise we build again the things
we have destroyed. When we sought for pardon, sin was the greatest
burden which lay upon our consciences, the wound that pained us at
heart, the disease our souls were sick of ; and shall that which we
complained of as a burden become our delight ? shall we tear open
our wounds, which are in a fair way of healing, and run into bonds
and chains again, after we are freed of them ?
4. The greatness of Christ's sufferings showeth the heinousness
and filthiness of sin. It was God's design to make sin hateful to
us by Christ's agonies, blood, shame, and death : Rom. viii. 3, ' By sin
he condemned sin in the flesh,' that is, by a sin-offering. God showed a
great example of his wrath by that punishment which lighted upon our
surety, or the flesh of Christ ; his design was for ever to leave a brand
186 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [&ER. XXVII.
upon it by his sin-offering or ransom for souls. Now shall we make
light of that which cost Christ so dear, and cherish those sins which
put our Redeemer to grief and shame ? It' the stain and filthiness of
sin could not be washed out but by the blood of Christ, shall we think
it no great matter to pollute and defile ourselves therewith ? This
were to crucify Christ afresh, Heb. vi. and to trample the blood of the
covenant under foot, Heb. x. 24*.
5. The terribleness of God's wrath, which can be appeased by no
other sacrifice. And shall not we reverence this wrath, so as not to
dare to kindle it again by our sins ? For ' it is a dreadful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God,' Heb. x. 31 ; Christ's instance
showeth that ; for ' if this be done in the green tree, what shall be done
in the dry ? '
6. But the great argument of all is a grateful sense of our
obligation to God and Christ ; for God so loved the world, that when
nothing else was fit for our turn, he sent his Son, and his Son loved us,
and gave himself to die for us ; where we see the love of God putting
forth itself for our help in the most astonishing way that can be
imagined ; this is such an engaging instance, so much surpassing our
thoughts, that we cannot sufficiently admire it, a mystery without
controversy great. We may find out words to paint out anything that
man can do to us or for us. The garment may be wider than the
body, but things truly great strike us dumb. God, being the chiefest
good, would act in a way suitable to the greatness of his love ; there
fore, let us love him and delight in him, who hath called together all
the depths of his wisdom and counsel to save a company of forlorn
sinners, in such a way whereby his wrath may be appeased, his law
satisfied, and full contentment given to his justice; that his mercy
may have the freer scope, the sinner saved, and the sin branded and
condemned. Oh, what shall we render to the Lord for so great a
benefit ? Let us unboundedly give up ourselves to be governed and
ordered by him at his will and pleasure, not loving our lives to the
death, Rev. xii. 11 ; life must not be excepted out of this resignation,
Luke. xiv. 26.
Fourthly, How this must be improved. First, by consideration ;
secondly, by determination ; for it is said, 'We thus judge/
1. Consideration ; whereby spiritual truths are laid close to the
heart ; the soul and the object are brought together by serious thoughts.
God will not govern us as brutes, and rule us with a rod of iron, by
mere power and force. The heart of man is overpowered by the weight
of reason and serious inculcative thoughts, which God blesseth to the
beginning and increase in our souls ; therefore cast in weight after
weight till the judgment be poised, and you begin to judge and deter
mine how just and equal it is, that you should give up yourselves to
God and to Christ, who have done those great things for you. God
often complaineth for want of consideration : Isa. i. 3, ' But my people
will not consider ; ' and, Deut. xxxii. 29, ' Oh that my people would
be wise, and consider their latter end; ' and, Ps. Ix. 22, '-Consider this,
ye that forget God.' Most of our sin and folly is to be charged upon
our inconsideration ; so also our want of grace. It is God doth renew
and quicken the soul, yet consideration is the means. The greatest
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v, 187
things in the world do not work upon them that do not think of them ;
therefore how shall the power of the word be set on work, but by
serious and pressing thoughts ? The truth lieth by ; reason is asleep
till consideration quicken it. The fault of the highway ground is,
' they hear the word but understand it not.'
The first help of grace is attention : Acts xvi. 14, ' She attended to
the things that were spoken by Paul.' What is this attending but a
deliberate weighing in order to choice, minding, esteem, and pursuit ?
Those invited to the wedding, Mat. xxii. 5, 'They made light of it.'
JSTon-attendency is the bane of the greatest part of the world ; they
will not suffer their minds to dwell upon these things.
2. There is determination, or a practical decree. We thus judge in
all reason; when we have considered of it, we cannot judge otherwise.
The scripture often speaketh of this: Acts xi. 23, ' He exhorted them
all with full purpose of heart to cleave to the Lord ; ' 2 Tim. iii.
This, like a bias in a bowl, carrieth the authority of a principle in
the heart. These decrees enacted in the heart are frequently mentioned
in scripture in the case of religion in general ; as Ps. cxix. 57, ' Thou
art my portion, Lord ; I have said I would keep thy words.' Some
times some particular duty, when the heart is backward : Ps. xxxii.
5, c I said I will confess my transgression unto the Lord ; ' sometimes
in compliance with some divine motion ; Ps. xxvii. 8, ' I said, thy face,
Lord, will I seek ; ' sometimes after a doubtful traverse or conflict with
temptations : Ps. Ixxiii. 28, ' It is good for me to draw near to God ;
I have put my trust in the Lord God ; ' generally it is a great help
against a sluggish and remiss will. Christians are so weak and fickle
and inconstant, because they do not use this help of decreeing or
determining for God, and binding and engaging their souls to live to
him.
Use. It exhorts us
1. To affect our hearts and ravish our thoughts with this great
instance of the love of God. It is the commending circumstance to
set it forth : John xv. 13, ' Greater love hath no man than this, that
a man lay down his life for his friends ; ' and, Rom. v. 8, ' God com
mended his love towards us, that while we were yet sinners Christ died
for us.' God hath not another son to bestow upon us a better Christ
to die for us. Love is gone to the utmost ; nor can we be redeemed
at a dearer rate, that we may be affected with it.
[1.] Let us not look upon it only as an act of heroical friendship, but
in the mediatory notion ; for so it is most penetrating and sinketh into
the very soul and that is the way to draw solid comfort ; whereas
the other only begetteth a little fond admiration. We look upon it
as an act of generosity and gallantry, and that begets an ill impression
in our minds ; but to look upon it as a mediatorial act, breedeth the
true, broken-hearted sense and thankfulness which God expecteth.
We all stood guilty before the tribunal of divine justice, and he was
surrogated by the covenant of 'redemption, and made sin and a curse
for us ; he was to be responsible for our sins, according to the pact
and agreement between him and his Father, Isa. liii. 10. There is
the covenant of redemption described 'When thou shalt make his
soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days,
188 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XXVII.
and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.' It is not to
be looked upon as a strange history, and so to stir up a little wonder
or a little fond pity, as at a tragical story, but to fill us with a broken
hearted sense and deep thankfulness, that the Son of God should come
to recover our forfeited mercies. When we were sentenced to death
by a righteous law, and had sold ourselves to Satan, and cast away
the mercies of our creation, and by our multiplied rebellions made
ourselves ready for execution, then the Son of God pitied our case,
undertook our ransom, and paid it to the utmost farthing.
[2.] Consider the consequent benefits, both here and hereafter : Isa.
liii. 5, ' But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised
for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon him,
and with his stripes we are healed ; ' and, Rev. i. 5, 6, ' Who hath
loved us, and washed us in his blood, and made us kings and priests
unto God.' In the heavenly priesthood nothing will appear in us dis
pleasing to God ; the love and praise of God will be our whole employ
ment. In expectation of this happy hour we must begin our sacrifices
here.
[3.] Let us not by affected scruples blunt the edge of our comfort.
Christians would know too soon their peculiar interest in God's love,
whether intended to us, and so disoblige ourselves from our duty.
These affected scruples are a sin, because secret things do not belong
to us, but the open declarations of God concerning our duty, Deut.
xxix. 29. It is the part of a deceitful heart to betray a known duty
by a scruple. We would not do so in case of temporal danger. If a.
boat be overturned, we will not make scruples. When any come to
our help, whether they shall be accepted or not, do not refuse your
help and cure, but improve the offer : 1 Tim. i 15, ' This is a true and
faithful saying, Jesus Christ came to save sinners, of whom I am
chief/ If Christ came to save sinners, I am sinner enough for Christ
to save, creeping in at the back-door of a promise. God hath opened
the way for all ; if they perish it is through tlieir own default. He
hath sent messengers into the world : Mark xvi. 1C, ' He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be
damned ;' and if you are within hearing of the gospel, you have more
cause to hope than to scruple : Acts xiii. 26, ' To you is the word of
salvation sent ; ' not brought but sent ; ' Know it for thy good,' Job v.
27 ; and rouse up yourselves. ' What shall we say to these things ? '
Horn. viii. 39, ' If God be for us, who can be against us ? '
[4.] Though weak in faith and love to God, yet Christ died one for all.
The best have not a more worthy redeemer than the worst of sinners.
'Go, preach the gospel to every creature.' Exod. xxx. 15, the rich
and poor have the same ransom ; 1 Cor. i. 2, ' Jesus Christ, theirs and
ours ; ' and, Rom. iii. 22, ' Even the righteousness of God, which is by
faith in Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all that believe ; for there is
no difference ; ' and, 2 Peter i. 1, ' To them who have obtained like
precious faith with us.' A jewel received by a child and a giant, it is
the same jewel ; so strong and weak faith are built upon one and the
same righteousness of Christ.
2. Let us devote ourselves to God in the sense of this love, to walk
before him in all thankful obedience. Christ hath borne our burden,
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 189
and instead thereof offered his burden, which is light and easy ; he
took the curse upon him, but we take his yoke, Mat. xi. 29. He freely
accepted the work of mediator, Heb. x. 7 ; will you as freely return to
his service ?
SERMON XXVIII.
Then were all dead. 2 COR. v. 14.
WE have handled the intensiveness of Christ's love he died ; the
extent how ' for all ' is to be interpreted ; now the fruit, dying to sin
and living to righteousness.
1. The first in this last clause ' Then were all dead,' not carnally
in sin, but mysticallyin Christ ; dead in Christ to sin. In the original the
words run thus on, el? uvrep TTUVTCOV djredavev apa ol Trdvres cnreOavov,
not dead in regard of the merits of sin, but dead in the merits of Christ ;
for the apostle speaketh here of death and life, with reference and cor
respondence to Christ's death and resurrection, as the original pattern
of them ; in which sense we are said to die when Christ died for us,
and to live when he rose again.
2. He speaketh of such a death as is the foundation of the spiritual
life : He died for them, then were all dead ; and he died for them,
that they might live to him that died for them and rose again. Our
translation seemeth to create a prejudice to this exposition, ' were dead'
in the Greek ; it is ol Trdvres aTreQavov, ' all died,' or all are
dead that is, to sin, the world, and self-interests ; and besides, it
seemeth to be difficult to understand how all believers were dead when
Christ died, since most were not then born, and had no actual existence
in the world; and after they are converted, they feel much of the
power of sin in themselves.
Ans. They are comprised in Christ's act done in their name, as if
they were actually in being, and consenting to what he did in short,
they are dead mystically in Christ, because he undertook it ; sacra-
mentally in themselves, because by submitting to baptism they bind
themselves and profess themselves engaged to mortify sin : actually
they are dead, because the work at first conversion is begun, which
will be carried on by degrees, till sin be utterly extinguished.
Doct. That when Christ died, all believers were dead in him to sin
and to the world.
It is the apostle's inference, ' then were all dead.' The expression
should not seem strange to us, for there are like passages scattered
everywhere throughout the word. Therefore I shall show you,
1. That this truth is asserted in scripture.
2. How all can be said to be dead, since all were not then born, and
had no actual existence in the world.
3. How they can be said to be dead to sin and the world, since
after conversion they feel so many carnal motions.
4. What use the death of Christ hath to this effect, to make us die to
sin and the world.
190 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [Sfill. XXVIII.
First, That this truth is asserted in scripture. To this end I shall
propound and explain some places. The first is : Kom. vi. 6, ' Know
ing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should no longer serve sin.'
In that place observe
1. The notions by which sin is set forth. It is called by the names
of the old man, and the body of sin, and simply and nakedly. Possibly
by the old man natural corruption may be intended ; by the body of
sin, the whole mass of our acquired evil customs ; by sin actual trans
gressions ; or, take them for one and the same thing, diversely expressed,
indwelling sin is called an old man. A man it is, because it spreadeth
itself throughout the whole man. The soul ; for Gen. vi. 5, it is said,
' Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart is only evil continually.'
The body : Kom. vi. 19, ' As you have yielded up your members
servants to uncleanness, and to iniquity unto iniquity ;' and it is called
an old man, as grace is called a new man and a new creature, and it
is so called because it is of long standing ; it had its rise at Adam's
fall : Kom. v. 12, ' Whereas by one man sin entered into the world,
and death by sin ; so that death passed upon all, because all had
sinned.' And it hath ever been conveyed since from father to son,
unto all descending from Adam : Ps. li. 5, ' Behold I was shapen in
iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me ; ' so that it is born
and bred with us. And partly, because in the godly it is upon the
declining hand, and draweth towards its final ruin and expiration.
Dejure, it is an old antiquated thing, not to be cherished but subdued ;
de facto, it is upon declining and weakening more and more. And
this old man is afterwards called the body of sin the whole mass of
habitual sins, composed of divers evil qualities, as the body of divers
members ; this is our enemy.
2. Observe in the place, the privilege that we have by Christ's
death, ' That our old man was crucified with him ; ' that is, when
Christ was crucified ; and the apostle would have us know this, and
lay it up as a sure principle in our hearts. The meaning is then,
there was a foundation laid for the destruction of sin when Christ
died ; namely, as there was a merit and a price paid, and if ever our
old man be crucified, it must be by virtue of Christ's death.
3. Observe the way how this merit cometh to be applied to us.
Something there must be done on God's part, in that expression that
1 the body of sin may be destroyed,' which intimateth the communicating
of the Spirit of grace, for weakening the power, love, and life of sin ;
and something done on our part, ' that henceforth we should not serve
sin.' There was a time when we served sin ; but, being converted we
changed masters, as the apostle saith, Kom. vi. 18, ' Being made free
from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.' Now he that hath
been servant to a hard and cruel master is the better trained up to be
diligent and faithful in the service of a gentle, loving, and bountiful
master. Before regeneration every one of us pleased the flesh; but
when our eyes are opened by grace we see the folly, mischief, and
unprofitableness of such a course, and therefore can the better brook
another service which will be more comfortable and profitable to us.
And in this new estate we do as little service for sin as formerly we
. 14.] BERMONS UPON_2 COSINTHIANS V. 191
did for righteousness : Kom. vi. 20', ' When you were the servants of
sin, ye were free from righteousness;' when righteousness had no
power, and dominion over you, had no share in your time, strength,
thoughts, affections, endeavours, you took no care, made no conscience
of doing that which was truly good. You must now as strictly ahstain
from sin as then you did from righteousness; yea, you must do as
much for grace as formerly you did for sin ; ver. 19, 'As you have
yielded your members servants unto uncleanness, and to iniquity unto
iniquity ; so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto
holiness ; ' as watchful, as earnest, as industrious to perfect holiness.
The next place is that, 1 Peter iv. 1, 'Forasmuch then as Christ
hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the
same mind ; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from
sin.' In that place there are three things notable
(1.) The ground and foundation of the apostle's argument ; (2.) The
exhortation built thereon; (3.) The reason connecting and joining
both.
1. The foundation of his argument is, that Christ hath suffered
for us in the flesh, that is, hath in our name and nature suffered the
wrath due to us for sin.
2. The inference of duty built thereon, as that we should 'arm
yourselves with the same mind,' that is, we must follow and imitate
Christ also in suffering in the flesh ; or, which is all one, a dying unto
sin. This should be armour of proof to us against all temptations.
If we had the same mind that he had, or could put on the same
resolution, to wit, to suffer in the flesh, or crucify our carnal nature,
lusts and passions. Strongly resolve to desist from sin, for which
Christ hath suffered, how pleasant soever it be to our flesh.
3. The reason which joineth both the argument and inference of
duty together, ' For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased
from sin/ This last clause cannot be understood of Christ, who never
sinned, but of the believer. How shall we understand it of him ? how
hath he suffered in the flesh, and so ceased from sin ? There are two
expositions of it:
[1.] Thus, one ' that hath suffered in the flesh,' that is, is crucified
in his carnal nature, hath mortified his flesh ; it hath not respect to
suffering afflictions, but mortifying of sin, Treiravrai apaprias ' hath
ceased from sin,' no more to serve it henceforward ; that ' he should
no longer live the rest of his time in the lusts of the flesh, but accord
ing to the will of God/ This exposition inferreth it from Christ's
sufferings for us, that our mortification is in correspondence and con
formity to Christ's death, and as necessarily flowing from the virtue of
his cross, and the obligation left thereby on all believers ; but the
second exposition maketh it clearer ; thus
[2.] The believer is reckoned a sufferer in Christ: he hath
1 suffered in the flesh ' when Christ suffered judicially, in his surety.
Whatever sufferings were inflicted on Christ, the same are reckoned
as inflicted on believers ; and so to have ceased from sin, in regard of
Christ's undertaking to make him cease from it, and the obligation
which Christ suffering in his room, putteth upon him to mortify it,
the matter is as certain as if it were already done.
192 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXVIII.
Another place is that, Gal. ii. 20, ' I am crucified with Christ.' There
are three propositions included in that short speech: that Christ is cruci
fied ; that we are crucified ; that we are crucified with Christ. It doth
not imply any fellowship with him in the act of his mediation : there
he was only taken, but we are spared, as Isaac was dismissed when the
ram was taken for an offering, Gen. xxii. ; and God saith, Job. xxxiii.
24, 'Deliver him from going down to the pit, for I have found a
ransom ; ' or, as Christ told his persecutors, John xviii. 8, ' If there
fore ye seek me, let these go their way.' His offering himself in that
sort was a pledge of his offering himself to the curse of the law and
punishment due to sin, to exempt us from it. What then, doth our
being crucified with Christ signify ? It implieth our participation of
the benefits of his mediation, as if we were crucified in our own
persons.
Four considerations will clear it to you.
[1.] That Christ in dying did not stand as a private, but public
person, in the place and room of all the elect ; for he is their surety.
[2.] That the benefits which are purchased in his cross and
passion are thereby made ours, as if we had been crucified in our own
.persons. We are really made partakers of the fruits of Christ's
death.
[3.] The great benefit of his cross or sacrifice of himself was to put
away sin, Heb. ix. 26.
[4.] Sin is put away, either as to the removal of the guilt of it :
Mat. xxvi. 28, ' This is the blood of the new testament, which was shed
for many, for the remission of sins ; ' or for subduing the strength of
it : 1 Peter ii. 24, ' He bore our sins in his own body upon the tree,
that we, being dead unto sin, might live unto righteousness/ He
died not only to obtain forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with
God, but that we might die unto sin ; so that his redeemed ones are
strictly urged to mortify sin, because the old man of indwelling corrup
tion did receive the stroke of death by his death ; so that either in
point of justification, when justice challengeth us for sins, we may
send it to Christ, who died one for all, and may plead, I am crucified
in Christ, he hath satisfied for me ; or, in point of sanctification, we
may, in the way which God hath appointed, expect the subduing of
sin, as if we had merited this grace ourselves. It is a great advantage
when we can say, ' I am crucified with Christ/
The next place is that ; Col. iii. 3-5, ' Ye are dead, therefore mortify/
It is spoken as a thing done already ; ye are dead ; yet there is a thjng to
be further done, therefore mortify. But how are we dead ? partly in
regard of the certainty, to assure us it shall be done, and partly to oblige
us the more strongly to endeavour it, and partly, because we have con
sented to this obligation in baptism. All the members of the church
have engaged themselves to employ the death and strength of Christ for
the subduing of sin ; they are dead, as they have upon this encourage
ment undertaken its death, and in part already begun it.
Secondly, How all can be said to be dead when Christ died, since
most of the elect were not then born, or yet in being.
Ans. 1. When Christ was upon the cross he sustained the relation of
our head or common person. It was not in his own name that he
VKR. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 193
appeared before God's tribunal, but in ours, not as a private, but as a
public person ; so that when he was crucified all believers were crucified
in him ; for the act of a common person is the act of every particular
person represented by him, as a knight or burgess in parliament serveth
for his whole borough and county. Now that Christ was such a
common person appeareth plainly by this, that Christ was that to us
in grace what Adam was to us in nature or sin. The first Adam was
said to be TUTTO? rov //AAoz/To?, Bom. v. 14, 'The figure of him
that was to come ; ' and Christ is called the second Adam, 1 Cor. xv.
45, the second common person ; so that as we had a death in sin
from the first Adam, so a death to sin from the second ; as we stood
in Adam in paradise, so we stood in Christ upon the cross. Adam's
act in paradise was in effect ours : in Adam, we all died, 1 Cor. xv.
21 ; so Christ's act was in effect ours ; in Christ we all died spiritually,
and mystically. Adam did, as it were, lend his body in paradise : we
saw the forbidden fruit with his eyes, gathered it with his hands, ate
it with his mouth that is, we were ruined by these things, as if we
had been by and actually consented to his sin. So in Christ's repre
sentation on the cross, all believers are concerned as if they had been
by and actually present, and had been crucified in their own persons,
and borne the punishment of their own sins ; for all this was done in
their name and stead, that they might have the benefit.
2. Christ was on the cross, not only as a common person, but as a
surety and undertaker. I say, in his death there was not only a satis
faction for sin, but an obligation to destroy it ; there was an undergoing
and an undertaking. As he is set out in the scripture under the notion
of a second Adam ; so also of a surety : Heb. vii. 22, Christ is called
' the surety of a better testament.' Now he was a surety mutually, on
God's part and ours. First, He was to engage for us to God, and in the
name of God engaged himself to us. The tenor of both engagements
is in Kom. vi. 6, ' That the body of death should be destroyed, that
we should from thenceforth no longer serve sin.' As soon as we con
sent to this stipulation, this taketh effect. On God's part, Christ
undertook to destroy the body of sin by the power of his Spirit, which
should be given to us, to become a principle of life in us, and of death
to our old man, Titus iii. 5. More particularly, we mortify the deeds
of the body by the help of the Spirit, Kom. viii. 13. The Holy Ghost,
when he reneweth the heart, puts into it a principle and seed of enmity
against sin : 1 John iii. 9, ' He cannot sin, because the seed abideth in
him ; ' and as that is cherished and obeyed, sin is resisted and morti
fied ; and he actuateth and quickeneth it yet more and more, that it
may prevail against the sin which dwelleth in us. Secondly, As our
surety he undertook that we should no longer serve sin, that we should
not willingly indulge any presumptuous acts, nor slavishly lie down
in any habit or course of sin, or under the power of any carnal dis
temper, but also should use all godly endeavours for the preventing,
weakening, or subduing it. Christ's act being the act of a surety, he
did oblige all the parties interested ; he purchased grace at God's hands,
and bound us to use all holy means of watching, striving, humiliation, cut
ting off the provisions of the flesh, avoiding occasions, weaning the heart
from earthly things, which are the bait and fuel of sin that keep it alive.
VOL. XIII. N
194 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [$ER. XXVIII.
3. Our consent to this engagement is actually given when we are
converted, and solemnly ratified in baptism.
[1.] It is actually given when we are converted: Rom. vi. 13. 'As
those that are alive from the dead, yield yourselves to God, and your
members as instruments of righteousness to God ; ' oVXa, weapons ;
we then give up ourselves to work, and first as to do his work, so to
war in his warfare against the devil, the world, and the flesh. Till
the merit of Christ's death be applied by faith to the hearts of sinners,
they are alive to sin, but dead to righteousness ; but then they are dead
to sin, and alive to righteousness, and as alive from the dead, and then
yield up themselves to serve and please God in all things.
[2.] That this is solemnly done or implied in baptism ; for when we
were baptized into Christ we were baptized into his death, Rom. vi.
3-5. In baptism we did, by solemn vow and profession, bind ourselves
to look after the effects of Christ's death, to mortify the deeds of the
body, or, which is all one, renounce the devil, the world, and the flesh ;
the devil, as the great architect and principle of all wickedness ; the
world, as the great bait and snare ; the flesh, as the rebelling principle.
Our baptism is certainly an avowed death to sin ; it implieth a renun
ciation by way of vow, for it is the answer of a good conscience towards
God : and the ancient covenants were made by way of question and
answer, 1 Peter iii. 21. The very washing implieth it ; washing is a
purifying, and after purifying we must not return to this mire again ;
2 Peter i. 19, ' He hath forgotten he was purged from his old sins.'
We promised to give over our old sins ; or as it is our first engrafting
and implanting into Christ and his death, if when we are baptized,
we are reckoned to be dead. The death of Christ was mainly to put
away sin, and to take away sin, 1 John iii. 5 ; and Heb. ix. 26. Now
sins were not taken away, that men may resume and take them up
again. The great condemnation of the Christian world is, that when
Christ would take away their sins, they will not part with their sins.
[3.] How they can be dead to sin and the world, since after conver
sion they feel so many carnal motions.
Am. 1. By consenting to Christ's engagement they have bound
themselves to die unto sin. When we gave up our names to Christ,
we promised to cast off sin, and therefore we are to reckon ourselves as
dead to sin by our own vow and obligation, and accordingly to behave
ourselves ; Rom. vi. 2, ' How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any
longer therein ?' It is an argument not so much ab impossibili as ab
incongruo ; ' and ye are dead, therefore mortify your members that are
upon earth/ Col. iii. 3-5. If dead already, why should they mortify ?
Dead, that is, bound to be dead. So a sinner, when he giveth up him
self to God, doth honestly resolve and firmly bind himself to subdue
corruption, root and branch, and to depart from all known sin.
2. When the work is begun, corruption is wounded to the very
heart. And the dominion and reign of sin being shaken off, Rom.
vi. 14, ' Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the
law, but under grace.' Sin is dead where it doth not extinguish the
life of grace, but the life of grace doth more and more extinguish sin ;
there its dominion is taken away, though its life be prolonged for a
season.
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS Y. 195
[3.] The work is carried on by degrees, and the strength of sin is
weakened by the power of grace, though not totally subdued : Gal. v.
17, ' Ye cannot do the things ye would.' They are not so active in
sin, nor delighted in it ; sin dieth when the love of it dieth, and the
pleasure of it is gone. Now the love of sin is weakened in their hearts ;
they hate it, though sometimes they fall into it : Rom. vii. 15, ' What
I hate that I do ; ' it is enabling a Christian to die to sin and the world
every day.
[4.] Christ hath undertaken to subdue it wholly in them ; and at
length the soul shall be without spot, blemish, or wrinkle, Eph. v. 27.
We and corruption die together ; when Christ removeth the veil of the
flesh, and taketh home the soul to heaven, it is without spot ; the
glorified saints have not one fleshly thought or carnal motion, but are
wholly swallowed up in the love of God. Therefore let Christ alone
with his work ; he will not cease till sin be wholly abolished. The
foolish builder began, but was not able to make an end. It cannot
be said so of our Redeemer ; ' He that hath begun a good work will per
fect it,' Phil. i. 6 ; and 1 Thes. v. 23, 24, ' The very God of peace sanctify
you wholly : and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.' When
we come to heaven we shall not complain of hard hearts, or carnal
affections, or. unruly desires ; as Naomi said to Ruth, ' Sit still, my
daughter ; the man will not rest till he have finished.' This thing,
God's work, now is but half done; continue with patience in well
doing, and in time it will come to perfection ; Christ will not cease till
all be tfone.
4. What use the death of Christ hath to this effect, to make us die
unto sin and the world.
[1.] This was Christ's end. He died not only to expiate the guilt
of sin, but also to take away its strength and power, 1 John iii. 8, that
the interest of the devil may be destroyed in us, and the interest of
God set up with more glory and triumph. Now shall we make void
the end of Christ's death, and go about to frustrate his intention,
which was to oppose, weaken, and resist sin ? shall we cherish that
which he came to destroy ? God forbid. There are some that abuse
the death and merits of Christ for a quite contrary end than he
intended, namely, to feed lusts, not to suppress them ; Christ died for
sinners, they say, and they resolve to be sinners still ; these crucify
Christ afresh, Heb. vi. 6 ; they are not crucified with him, that was
his end. Nothing maketh the devil such a triumph, as when he
supposeth God is beaten with his own weapon ; and that which should
prove the destruction of sin proveth the great promotion of it, and the
great hindrance of Christ and the gospel, when poison is conveyed by
this perfume. The apostle never mentioneth this abuse of grace
without abhorrence : Rom. vi. 1, ' Shall we continue in sin that grace
may abound? /u,?; yevoiro ;' and, Rom. vi. 15, ' Shall we sin because
we are not under the law, but under grace ? //,?) yevoiTo : ' and Gal.
ii. 17, 'Shall I make Christ the minister of sin? fiy 7/otTo;' dbsit
a vobis hcec cogitatio, Calvin. Christians should abominate the
thought of it, as blasphemy and absurd. But again others reflect
upon Christ's death only for the comfort of it; that is but half the
196 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXVIII.
end ; you should prize the virtue, as well as the comfort. Paul desired
not his righteousness only, but his power, Phil. iii. 9, 10. Lusts
trouble us as much as guilty fears. This being Christ's end, we
should comply with it. Paul gloried in the cross, as by it crucified
to the world, Gal. vi. 14.
[2.] By way of representation, the death and agonies of Christ do
set forth the heinousness and hatefulness of sin. It is the best glass
to discover it to us ; in its own colours it smileth upon the soul with a
pleasing aspect ; but if you would know the right complexion of it, go
to Golgotha, and as you like the agonies of the garden, and the sorrows
of his cross, so you may continue your dalliance with sin, and indul
gence to carnal pleasures. It is a sport to us to do evil, but it was no
sport to Christ to surfer for it, it made his soul heavy unto death.
Never believe the enticing blandishments whereby it would inveigle
you ; think of the drops of blood, the tears and fears and strong cries
of Jesus Christ, the rending of the rocks, the darkening of the sun,
the frowns of an angry God, Christ's desertion, the burden he felt
when he bore our sins. Christ was the Son of God, knew his sufferings
short, and a prospect of the glory which was to ensue, had no inherent
guilt, knew not what it w r as to commit sin. ' He knew no sin,' 2 Cor.
iv. 21, though he knew what it was to suffer for sin. Cast in the dear
affection that was between God and Christ, and it will make you
tremble, to consider what he endured ; ' it pleased the Father to bruise
him/ Oh ! know what an evil and bitter thing it is, what it will bring
upon you, if you allow it.
[3.] It worketh on love. It should make sin hateful, to consider
what it did to Christ, our dearest Lord and Redeemer. Surely we
should not think it fit to go on in that course which brought such
sufferings upon Christ. By his love manifested in his sufferings, he
hath powerfully constrained us, not to take pleasure in what put him
to such pain and grief. We gush at the sight of one that hath
murdered a friend of ours. When the prophet saw Hazael, he wept,
and said, Thou art the murderer. We hate the Jews, and detest the
memory of Judas ; the worst enemy is in our own bosoms ; it is sin
hath slain the Lord of glory ; the Jews were the instruments, but sin
was the meritorious cause. In this sense we made him serve with our
sins, Isa. xliii. 24.
[4.] By way of merit. Christ shed his blood not only to redeem us
from the displeasure of God and the rigour of the law, but from all
iniquity, Titus ii. 14 ; from a vain conversation, 1 Peter i. 18 ; from
this present evil world, Gal. i. 4. Our dying to sin is a part of
Christ's purchase, as well as pardon ; he purchased a virtue and a
power to mortify sin, bought sanctification as well as other privileges,
paid down a full price to provoked justice, to deliver us from the slavery
of sin, and that the word and sacraments might be sanctified to
convey and apply this grace to us, Eph. v. 26, that we might be
encouraged.
[5.] By way of pattern. Christ hath taught us how to die to sin
by the example of his own death, that is, he denied himself for us,
that we might deny ourselves for him, and suffered pain for us, that
we might the more willingly digest the trouble of mortification.
VER. 14.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 197
When Christ pleased not himself, will you make it your business to
please the flesh and gratify the flesh ? When he loved you, and gave
himself for you, will not you give up your lusts, which are not worth
the keeping ? It is true our sinful nature is not extinguished without
grief, and pain, and trouble ; but was not Christ's death a death of
sorrow and trouble, of all deaths most painful and shameful ? Shall
we wallow in fleshly delights, when Christ was a man of sorrows ?
The world must be crucified, Gal. vi. 14 ; a-nd the flesh crucified,
Gal. v. 24 that is, it is to be put to death. It implieth crucifixion
with grief and shame ; as sin is rooted in self-love, and a love of
pleasure, so it must be mortified by self-denial and godly sorrow. If
nature shrink and cannot brook this discipline, remember Christ's
agonies.
Use 1. To press us to make use of Christ's death for the mortifying
of sin. It is useful two ways especially.
1. By way of obligation and engagement. As Christ dying
bound all those that profess union with him to die also ; to die to sin,
as he died for sin ; which obligation we consented to in baptism ;
therefore unless we mean to disclaim all union with Christ, to rescind
and disannul our baptismal vow, or make it a mere mockery, we are
strongly engaged to oppose, resist, and set about the mortification of
sin, in which the spectacle of Christ's hanging and dying upon a cross
will be a great help to us, and his love showed therein strengthen the
obligation, and his self-denial and not pleasing himself, a notable
pattern for us to write after him. Christ undertook that serious
worshippers should serve him ; it was a part of his stipulation on the
cross. We that are baptized into Christ have put on Christ, consented
to his engagement, and count ourselves dead in his death ; therefore
we should cast away sin with indignation : Hos. xiv. 8, ' What have I
any more to do with idols ? ' But because it is not done in act, as
soon as it is done in vow and resolution, therefore let us every day
grow more sensible of the evil of it, Jer. xxxi. 18 ; more careful to
eschew the occasions of it: Job xxxi. 1, 'I made a covenant with
mine eyes,' Let us use all the means which tend to the subduing of
it by prayer. ' For this I sought the Lord thrice,' 2 Cor. xii. 8 ; and,
Col. iii. 5, 'Mortify your members which are upon earth.' Let us
weaken the root of it, which is an inordinate love of the world, and
hear the word with this end, that sin may be laid aside, and we grow
in mortification, as well as vivification, 1 Peter ii. 1, 2. Let us deal
with it as the Jews served Christ, and let this be our daily task.
2. By way of encouragement. Depend on the virtue and grace
purchased by his blood and sufferings. There is a double encourage
ment in this work.
[1.] Because of the great virtue purchased ; and strength and
assistance vouchsafed : Phil. iv. 13, ' I can do all things through
Christ that strengthens me.'
[2.] The certainty of the event. It is secured to the serious
Christian, and therefore the scripture speaketh of it as done already :
' We are dead, your old man is crucified with Christ.' ' I am crucified
with Christ/ which giveth great strength and courage in our conflicts
with sin ; we may triumph before the victory.
198 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SEU. XXIX.
SERMON XXIX.
But to him that died, and rose again. 2 COR. v. 15.
FROM these words we have the second fruit of Christ's death and
purchase, he died that we might die in conformity unto his death, and
he died that we might live with a respect to his resurrection ; and
therefore, as I have spoken of our dying by the death of Christ, so
must I speak now of our living in the life and in the resurrection of
Christ. His death is the merit of it, but his resurrection is the pattern
and fountain of it. His death is the merit of it, for it is repeated here
again. He did not only die that we might die, but he died that we
might live ' He died for all, that they which live should not hence
forth live unto themselves,' <fcc. But then his resurrection is the
pattern and the fountain of it ; for therefore is the clause inserted,
That they might live to him that died for them, and rose again.'
Now in this verse there are two things.
1. The fruit itself the new life, with respect to the resurrection of
Christ : And he died for all, that they might live.
2. The aim, tendency, and ordination of that life, which is to refer
all our actions to God's glory, and to guide them by God's will: That
they should from henceforth live not to themselves, &c.
Now this end, aim, and tendency of the new life, it is propounded
negatively : ' Not unto themselves.' This is mentioned because a man
cannot live to God till he hath denied himself. Spiritual life is but a
recovery out of self-love. Before the fall there was no such thing as
self, contrary to, or distinct from God, set up either in an opposite or
divided sense from God ; but when man fell from God, self interposed
as the next heir, as an idol, not God ; therefore the great work and
care of religion is to draw us from self to God. ' Not to themselves/
that is, not to their own wills, ends, and interests. But it is positively
expressed too, that they should live according to the will, and for the
glory of God.
For the first of these, the fruit itself. I shall speak of the life itself,
that we have by virtue of Christ's resurrection ; ' That they which
live,' that is, spiritually. Some, indeed, expound it judicially ; they
that live in a law sense, they are freed from death, to which they were
obliged by Adam, and which they deserved by the merit of their own
sins. But though that be included, it is not the full and formal
meaning of the clause ; for as the death mentioned in the former verse
is to be interpreted of the mystical death, so by consequence this living
is to be interpreted of the spiritual life, by bestowing of the Holy
Ghost upon us. Of this I shall speak under this point, namely,'
Doct. That by virtue of Christ's death and resurrection Christians
obtain the grace of a new life.
In opening of this, I shall
1. Show that there is a spiritual life, and what it is.
2. The respect that it hath to the resurrection of Christ, as the
spiritual death hath to his death.
First, That there is a spiritual life. There is a natural and human
VEE. 15.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 199
life, and there is a spiritual and heavenly life. The natural and human
life is nothing but the civil and orderly use of sense and reason ; and
there is a spiritual and heavenly life, which is nothing but supernatural
grace, framing and disposing the whole man to live unto God. It is
supernatural grace, because we have it by virtue of our union with Christ:
John vl 57, ' As I live by the Father, so he that eateth me shall live by
me.' Mark, when we have eaten Christ, when we are united to Christ
(that is, take it out of the metaphor), as our food becomes one with our
substance ; so when we are united to Christ so as to become one spirit,
then we live by the influence and virtue of his Spirit. In the life of
nature we live by the influence of his general providence, but in the
life of grace by the power of the Holy Ghost ; therefore it is called,
' The life of God,' Eph. iv. 18 : ' Being alienated from the life of God ; '
that is to say, that life which God worketh in us by the communica
tion of his Spirit. Now by this supernatural grace, this gift of the
Spirit, we are framed to live unto God. For this life, as it hath
another principle distinct from that of the natural life, so it hath
another end ; the operations of the creature are sublimated and raised
to a higher end. Here, in the text, the apostle shows ! the ordination
and tendency of this life, that it is ' not to ourselves/ but it is ' to him
that died for us, and rose again ; ' and Gal. ii. 19, 'I am dead to the
law, that I might live unto God.' It is a life whereby a man is
enabled to act and move towards God, and for God, as his utmost end
and his chief good. The natural life is to itself, as water riseth not
beyond its fountain ; and that which is born of the flesh can go no
higher than as fleshly inclinations carry it. But the spiritual life is a
power enabling us to live unto God : Bom. xiv. 8, ' Whether we live
\ve live unto God,' &c. When we only mind self-interest, and act for
the conveniences, and interests, and supports of the outward life, then
we do but 'walk as men,' 1 Cor. iii. 3; this is, but according to the
motions and to the bent of a natural principle. But if we would live
as Christians, or as new men, then we must live at a higher rate ; God
must be at the end of every action. Thus you see what it is.
Now because of the term life, I shall show
1. The correspondence,
2. The difference, between it and the common life.
1. The correspondence and likeness that is between the common life
that other men live and this life of grace, that Christ died for us that we
might live, and is wrought in us in conformity to his resurrection, for
therefore they go under the same name. They are alike in many things.
[1.] The natural life supposes generation, so does the spiritual,
which is therefore expressed by regeneration, or by being 'born again,'
John iii. 3, and 1 John ii. 27. Now look, as in natural generation we
are first begotten and then born, so here there is an act qua regene-
ramur, by which we are begotten again, and qua renascimur, by which
we are born again. There is an act of God, by which we are begotten
again viz., by the powerful influence of grace upon our hearts ;
accompanying the word, James i. 18; and there is an act of God, by
which we are born again viz., when the new creature is formed in us,
and begins to discover itself ' Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible.' Effectual calling and sanctification are
200 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XXIX.
these two acts ; by the one we are begotten, by the other born ; the
one may be called our passive, the other our active regeneration. And
as in generation, that which begets produces the same life that is in
himself a beast communicates the life of a beast, and a man of a
man ; so it is the life of God that we receive when we are formed for
his use by the power of his grace. It is called the life of God and the
divine nature, spiritual qualities being infused, whereby we resemble
God. And herein, again, it agrees with common life. Life consists
in the union of the matter with the principle of life ; as when there is
union between the body and soul, then there is life, without which the
body is but a dead and an inactive lump. As Adam's body, when it
was organised and framed, until God infused the breath of life in it,
lay as a dead lump ; so this life is begun by a union between us and
Christ: he lives in us by his Spirit, and we live in him by faith, Gal.
ii. 20. The Spirit is the principle of life, and faith is the means to
receive it ; and therefore we are said, Rom. vi. 5, ' to be planted into
the likeness of Christ's resurrection.' Planting notes a union ; as a
bud that is put into a stock becomes one with the stock, and bears
fruit by virtue of the life of the stock ; we no sooner are planted into
Christ but we feel the power of his life and virtue of his resurrection ;
he begins to live in us, and we in him, as the graft in the stock, and
as the stock in the graft.
[2.] Where there is life, there is Sense and feeling, especially if
wrong and violence be offered to it. A living member is sensible of
the smallest prick and pain ; and so is the spiritual life bewrayed by
the tenderness of the heart, and the sense that we have of the interest
of God. Stupid and insensible spirits show they have no life ; and
therefore those that are ' alienated from the life of God,' are said to
be ' past feeling,' Eph. iv. 18, 19. As long as there is life there is
feeling. We may lose other senses, yet there may be life. The eye
may be closed up, and sight lost ; and the ear may be deaf, and lose
its use, but yet life may remain still. But feeling is dispersed through
out the whole body, and we do not lose our feeling till we are quite
dead ; therefore this is the character of them that are alienated from
the life of God, that they have no feeling. Now the children of God,
the regenerate, are sensible of the injuries done to the spiritual life by
sin, and of the decays of that life they have, and of the comforts of it.
What consciences have they that can live in carnal pleasures, and sin
freely in thought, and foully in act, and yet never groan under it, never
be sensible of it ? Paul was sensible of the first stirrings and risings
of sin : Kom. vii. 24, ' wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver
me from this body of death ? ' Now where there is no sense of this,
it shows such have no life, who are neither sensible of the injuries done
to the life they have, nor of the decays of it by God's absence. When
the bridegroom is gone, sensible hearts will mourn, Mat. ix. 15 ; when
they have lost Christ, when they feel any abatements of the influences
of his grace. Carnal men that sleep in their filthiness, have no sense
of God's favours or frowns, of his absence or presence, because they
are quite dead ; they do not take notice of God's dealings with them
either in mercy or judgment, therefore are touched with no remorse
for the one or thankfulness for the other, but are careless and stupid,
VER. 15.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 201
and past feeling. And can a man be alive and not feel it ? And can
you have the life of grace, and not feel the decays and interruptions
pf it, and neither be sensible of comforts or injuries?
[3.] Where there is life there is an appetite joined with it, an earnest
desire after that which may feed, maintain, and support this life.
What makes the brute-creatures to run to the teats of the dam as
soon as they are born, but instinct of nature ? Appetite is the immediate
effect of life. Where there is life it must have some supports ; it hath
its tastes and relishes ; as 1 Peter ii. 2, ' As new-born babes, desire
the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.' I say, where
there is a new birth there will be an appetite after spiritual unmixed
milk. The new nature hath its proper supports ; and there will be
something relished and savoured besides meats, drinks, and bodily
pleasures, and such things as gratify the animal life. As Jesus Christ
said, John iv. 32, ' I have meat to eat that ye know not of ; ' so spiritual
life hath inward consolations, it hath hidden manna, whereby it is
supported and maintained 'Meat that perisheth not,' John vi. 27.
Painted fire needs no fuel ; those that do not live they have no appetite,
there is no need of nourishment. But where there is life there will
be a desire, an appetite that carrieth us to that which is food to the
soul, to Christ Jesus especially, and to the ordinances in which he is
exhibited to us. And therefore, where there is no desire to meet with
God in these ordinances, where Christ may be food to our souls, it is
to be feared there is no life. Wicked men may desire ordinances some
times, but not to strengthen the spiritual life, but out of carnal ends
and reasons. They are loth to be left out of the worship that is in
esteem in the place where they live ; as the Pharisees submitted to
John's baptism, though they hated the Lord Christ ; it was then in
esteem ; therefore he calls them ' a generation of vipers,' Mat. iii. 7.
And partly because they trust in the work wrought. There is some
what to pacify natural conscience by the bare external performance of
a duty; and carnal men rest in the sacraments or visible ordinances.
It is natural to us to be led by sensible things ; and the external action
being easy, they choke their consciences with these things. How usual
is it in this sense to see many that tear the bond, yet prize the seal :
that is to say, they contemn the bond of the covenant, and the duty of
the covenant, yet dote upon the Lord's supper, which is a seal oif it.
But a true appetite desires these ordinances, that we may meet with
God in them. This is a sign of life.
[4.] Where there is life there will be growth; especially in vegetables,
there life is always growing and increasing till they come to their full
stature ; so do the children of God grow in grace. Our Lord himself,
though he had the Spirit without measure, yet ' he grew in wisdom
and favour with God,' Luke ii. 40 ; not in show, but in reality ; he grew
in wisdom as he grew in stature. Though his human nature in his
infancy was taken into the unity of his divine person, yet the capacity
of his human nature was enlarged by degrees, for his human nature
was still to carry a proportion with ours ; and therefore he grew in
wisdom and in favour with God. And so all that are Christ's, they
grow. ' The trees planted in the courts of God flourish there/ Ps. xcii.
13. There is more room made for the new nature by degrees to exert
and put forth itself. Corruption is still a-dying, and they grow more
202 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXIX.
humble, more holy, more solid, more rational, more wise in the spiritual
life, more resolved for God, more heavenly-minded, that they may be
at more liberty for God. They may lose somewhat in liveliness of gifts
and vigour of affections (for these things come and go), but they are
more spiritual, and more steadfast, and more solid, and seriously set
to seek after God ; as an old tree, that puts forth fewer leaves and
blossoms, but is more deeply rooted. But now hypocrites do not grow
beyond their first blaze ; yea, they wither every day, lose their zeal and
their forwardness, out of carnal ease or affection to'pleasures, honours, or
greatness of the world ; they lose the seeming grace that they had before.
[5.] Where there is life there are vital operations, for life is active
and stirring. So spiritual life hath its operations ; it cannot well be
hid, it will bewray itself in a zealous and in a constant and uniform
practice of godliness. They are idols that have feet, and walk not :
Kev. iii. 1, Some only ' have a name to live, and are dead.' They that
make a naked profession, but are not excited to live, and bring forth
fruit to God, ' they have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof; '
2 Tim. iii. 5, that is, the power that should change their hearts, and
direct and order all their actions. They that are governed by the Spirit,
they feel this power ; they are enabled to bring forth the fruits of
righteousness to the praise and glory of God. Look, as a worldly man,
by virtue of the worldly spirit that is in him, is dexterous in all his
affairs his worldly principle puts a life into him, Luke xvi. 9 ; their
employment is suitable to their life ; so a spiritual man, that hath not
the spirit of the world, or a disposition that makes him eager upon
worldly things, but the Spirit of God dwelling and working in him,
here is not the sphere of his activity ; his cares, thoughts, and endeavours
are turned into another channel ; he is quickened and raised to new
ness of life, Rom. vi. 4. The man is more earnest, more thoroughly
set for heaven, and the worldly life is more overruled and mastered in
him, and the heavenly and divine life prevails in him, and sets him a-
work more and more. Thus I have, by comparing these two lives, a
little showed you what is that life that we have by Christ ; it is a life
that flows from regeneration ; that is begun by union with Christ ; that
begets a sense, so that a Christian feels the annoyances of those
things that are inconvenient and contrary to this life ; and begets an
appetite after the supports that should maintain it, and discovers itself
by growth ; this life is increased in them more and more ; and also it
discovers itself by its activity, by making them fruitful towards God.
Thus you see wherein they agree.
2. Let us a little see wherein they differ.
[1.] They differ in the state of them both ; for this spiritual life is
a life that is consistent with some degree of death. Even then when
we live, we are troubled with a body of death. Paul complains of it,
though grace hath the upper hand in the soul, yet corruption cleaves
to us still. Outwardly a man cannot be .said to be dead and alive
together ; but a Christian yet hath sin dwelling in him, and is dying
to sin every day, that he may live unto God. And as sin decays, so
the spiritual life takes place ; for mortification makes way for vivifica-
tion ; and according to the degrees of the one, so are the degrees of
the other. The more we die to sin, the more we are alive to righteous
ness, 1 Peter ii. 24.
VER. 15.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 203
[2.] There is a difference in the dignity of this life. Natural life,
what is it ? A benefit vouchsafed to us by God, that we may have
time for repentance ; but yet it is but a ' wind ' that is soon blown over,
and passeth away, Job vii. 7 ; and a suitable expression you have,
James iv. 14, for this life is but as a ' vapour.' This life is a little
warm breath turned in and out by the nostrils, soon gone. It is indeed
a continued sicjmess; and our food is as it were constant medicine
to repair and remedy the decays of the natural life. Oh, but this is a
life that flows from God himself, and is a more worthy thing, it is the
life of God ; and as Christ liveth in. the Father, so we in him by the
Spirit. This was a life bought at a dearer rate than the life of nature :
John vi. 51, ' My flesh which I give for the life of the world.' Nothing
less than the death of the Son of God would serve the turn; and
therefore it is more noble than the other life, which is called ' the
life of our hands,' Isa. Ivii. 10, because it costs us hard labour to
maintain it.
[3.] As it differs in the dignity and value, so in the original. The
natural life is traduced and brought down unto us by many successions
of generations from the ' first Adam ; ' he was ' a living soul,' but the
' last Adam was a quickening spirit,' 1 Cor. xv. 45. We have a living
soul by virtue of our .descending from the first Adam ; all that our
parents could do was to make way for the union of soul and body
together. But by this life we and Christ are united together, and he
becomes a life-making spirit unto us.
[4.] There is a difference in the duration. Grace is an immortal
flame, a spark that cannot be quenched. All our labour and toil here
in the world is to maintain a dying life, a lamp that soon goes out, or
to prop up a tabernacle that is always falling ; when we have made
the best provision for it, it is taken away ' Thou fool, this night,' &c.
This life is in the power of every ruffian and assassinate that values
not his own. Oh, but the spiritual life is a life that begins in grace
and ends in glory; the foundation of it was laid in justification, that
took off the sentence of death ; sanctification is the beginning of it, the
which by degrees is carried on till it end in glory, where we shall be
never weary of living it. The outward life, though short, yet we soon
grow weary of it ; the shortest life is long enough to be numbered
with a thousand miseries. If we live to old age, age is a burthen to
itself, Eccles. xii. 1. Life itself may become a burthen, for some have
wished and requested for themselves that they might die. But no
man ever wished for the end of this spiritual life. Who ever cursed
the day of his new birth ? This is life indeed ; then we begin to live
in good earnest, we may reckon from that day forward that we live.
The seed of eternal life was laid as soon as grace was infused into the
soul, and you may ' take hold of eternal life,' 1 Tim. iv. 20, before you
enter into it. Maintain this life, and it will end in eternal glory.
Thus I have despatched my first question, namely, What is this life
that Christ hath purchased for us? A spiritual death, that we
might die to sin, and also a spiritual life, that we might live unto God.
Secondly, We come to speak of the respect that is between this
life and Christ's resurrection.
I Answer, Christ's resurrection is (1.) An example and pattern
of it ; (2.) a pledge of it ; (3.) a cause of it
204 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SEIl. XXIX.
1. An example of it. There is great likeness and correspondence be
tween Christ's rising from the grave, and a Christian's resurrection from
the death of sin.
[1.] Christ died before he rose, and usually God killeth us before he
maketh us alive. First we find the word a killing letter before we find
it a word of life. This is God's method. Paul saith, Bom. vii. 9,
' The commandment came, and sin revived, and I died.' A man is
broken in heart with an apprehension of sin and God's eternal wrath,
before he is made alive by Christ : Gal. ii. 19, ' I through the law am
dead to the law, that I might live unto God/ He must be himself a
dead man. The law must do the law work before the gospel doth the
the gospel work ; so Rom. viii. 2, ' But the spirit of life in Christ Jesus
hath made me free from the law of sin and death.' He is under the
law of death and sin, as it convinceth of sin and bindeth over to
death.
[2.] The same Spirit of holiness, or power of God, that quickened
Christ, quickeneth us. It is said, Rom. vi. 4, ' That as Christ was raised
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so should we be raised
to newness of life ; ' that is, by his glorious power : 2 Cor. xiii. 4, ' For
though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power
of God.' What is there said to be done by the power of God is said
elsewhere to be done by the Spirit of sanctification : Rom. i. 4, ' And
declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of
holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.' So are believers quickened
by the same Spirit : Rom. viii. 11, ' If the Spirit of him that raised
up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Jesus from
the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that
dwelleth in you.' Christ will quicken us by his grace, as he did his
own dead body. The same quickening Spirit that is in Jesus Christ
doth also quicken us.
[3.] Again ; Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more ; as the
apostle telleth you : Rom. vi. 9, ' Knowing that Christ, being raised
from the dead, dieth no more ; death hath no more dominion over
him.' His resurrrection instated him in an eternal life, never more
to come under the power of death again. He might have been said
to be alive after death if he had performed but one single act of life,
or lived only for a while ; but he rose to an immortal, endless life, a
life co-eternal with the Father. So is a Christian put into an
unchangeable state : sin hath no more dominion over him, should
not, shall not, as the apostle proveth there, applying it to the Christian.
When Christ telleth he is the resurrection and the life, he asserts two
things : John xi. 25, 26, ' That he that believeth on him, though he
were dead, yet shall he live, and shall never die ! ' Though formerly
dead in sin, he shall live the life of grace, and when he liveth it once,
shall never die spiritually and eternally ; otherwise how shall we make
good Christ's speech ?
Christ, in that he liveth, he liveth with God, and liveth unto God,
Rom. vi 10, that is, with God, at his right hand ; and to God, that
is, referring all things to his glory ; for, Phil. ii. 10, 11, all that Jesus
Christ doth as mediator is to the glory of God the Father. So a
Christian liveth with God and unto God ; with God, not at his right
hand now, but vet in a state of communion with him : 1 John i. 3.
VER. 15.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 205
'And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and his Son Josus
Christ.' And he liveth to God, as in the text 'Not to our
selves, but to him that died for us, and rose again;' that is, no
longer to our own lusts and desires, nor for our own ease, profit and
honour, but according to the will and for the service and honour of
God ; as more fully hereafter. Well then, that new state, into which
Christ was inaugurated at his resurrection, is a pattern and example
of our new spiritual life.
2. How it is a pledge of it. Christ was our common person, and we
make one mystical body with him ; and therefore his resurrection and
life was not for his own person and single self alone, but for all those
that have interest in him. As he died, so he rose again in our name
and in our stead, as one that had satisfied the justice of God, and pro
cured all manner of grace for us, and as a conqueror over all our
spiritual enemies. And therefore he is called the first-fruits from the
dead, 1 Cor. xv. 20 : as a little handful of the first-fruits blessed the
whole harvest, and sanctified it unto God ; it blessed not the darnel
and the cockle, but blessed and sanctified the corn. Christ's quicken
ing after death was a sure pledge that every one who in time belongeth
to him shall in his time be quickened also ; first Christ, and then they
that are Christ's, every one in their own order. We must not think
that when Christ was raised it was no more than if Lazarus or
any other single person was raised. No ; his resurrection was in our
name ; therefore we are said to be raised with Christ, Col. iii. 1 ;
and not only so, but quickened together with Christ, Col. ii. 13, and
Eph. ii. 4, 5. Though we were quickened a long time after Christ's
resurrection, yet then was the pledge of it. It was agreed between
God and Christ that his resurrection should be in effect ours, and in
the moment of our regeneration the virtue of it should be communi
cated to us. The right was before faith to all the elect ; but when
faith is wrought, the right is applied by virtue of the covenant of
redemption. He rose in the name of all the redeemed, and they are
counted to rise in him, and we are actually instated in this benefit,
when converted to God.
3. It is a cause of it. That Spirit of power by which Christ was
raised out of the grave, is the very efficient cause of our being raised
and quickened, or of our new birth ; for the virtue purchased by
Christ's death is then applied to us by him who is now alive, and
liveth for evermore for that end and purpose. Therefore it is said,
1 Peter i. 3, ' That God hath begotten us to a lively hope, by the
resurrection of Christ ' by virtue of that power which he now hath, as
risen from the dead ; and Eph i. 19 , 20, ' And what is the exceeding
greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the
working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he
raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in
heavenly places.' The same power worketh in believers, which
wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead. The same
power which wrought in and towards Christ's exaltation, is engaged
for believers to work grace, and carry on the work of grace in them.
Christ risen and living in heaven is the fountain of life in all new
creatures. He is the great receptacle of grace, and sendeth it out by
his Spirit, a vital influence to all such as belong to him. And there-
206 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XXIX.
fore our life is made dependent upon his : John xiv. 19, ' Because I live,
ye shall live also.' The life of believers is derived from Christ's life,
who is our quickening head, communicating virtue to all his members.
There is a virtue in his life to quicken us ; so that we do not live so
much as Christ liveth in us : Gal. ii. 20, ' I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me;' as the root in the branches, and the head in the
members.
Use 1. Information. It teacheth us three things in point of
use.
1. The suitableness between Christ and believers. Consider him as
God, or mediator. As God, Christ hath life communicated to him
by eternal generation ; so by regeneration we are made partakers of
the divine nature. As mediator, he subsists in his life as man, by
virtue of the personal union with the Godhead. So do we live by
virtue of the mystical inhabitation or union with Christ by his Spirit ;
for our spiritual life floweth from the gracious presence of God in us
by his Spirit. Christ as man had first a frail life, subject to hunger,
cold, and sufferings ; so have believers a spiritual life, consistent with
many weaknesses and infirmities. But now Christ liveth gloriously
at the Father's right hand ; so we shall one day bear the image of
the heavenly, and be one day freed from all weaknesses. Thus
are we conformed unto Christ, and partake of the same life he
doth.
2. It informeth us in what way this life is conveyed and continued to
us. By virtue of Christ's death and resurrection, by the Spirit
through faith ; his death is at the bottom of it, for he died that we
should live together with him ; 1 Thes. vi. 10, ' Who died for us, that
whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.' His
resurrection is the pattern, pledge, and cause of it ; for, Rom. vi. 10,
'If we were reconciled by his death, much more, being reconciled,
shall we be saved by his life.' After he had rescued us from the power
and danger of our sins by his rising from the dead, he is in a greater
capacity to send out that Spirit by which he was raised to raise us up
to a new life. Then the Spirit is the immediate worker of it, for
Christ maketh his first entry, and dwelleth in the hearts of believers,
by his Spirit; for we are renewed and born again by the Spirit:
John iii. 5. ' That which is born of flesh is flesh ; and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit,' without which we are not capable of it.
The Spirit worketh faith, and then there is a habitation fit for Christ
in the soul : Eph. iii. 17, ' That he may dwell in your hearts by faith.'
Then he liveth in us, as the head in the members, Col. ii 19 ; and the
root in the branches, John xv. 1. It is by faith that the union is
completed : John i. 12, ' To as many as received him, to them gave
he power to become the sons of God.' And then a virtue and power
floweth from this union, to enable us to do those things which are
spiritually good and acceptable to God, which is nothing but that
which we call life. Without him we can do nothing, John xv. 5 ;
with him, and by him, all things: Phil. iv. 13, 'I can do all things
through Christ which .strengthened me,' namely by the influence of
his Spirit received by faith.
3. It informeth us, it is not enough to believe that Christ died for
you, unless also you permit Christ to live in you. It is not enough
VER. 15.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 207
for your faith, it is not enough for your love ; the apostle mentions
both, and we must look after both. As to have our old offences
expiated, so to live a new life in Christ : Rom. vi. 5, ' For if we have
been planted together into the likeness of his death, we shall be also
in the likeness of his resurrection.' We are branches of that tree
whereof Christ is the root. We must have communion with Christ
living, as well as with Christ dying, and not only freed from the
damning power of sin, but quickened to a new life.
Use 2. Is exhortation ; to press you to several duties.
1. To believe that there is such a life. It is matter of faith ; for
when Christ had said, John xi. 26, ' Whosoever liveth, and believeth
in me, shall never die,' he presently addeth, 'Belie vest thou this?'
Few mind and regard it. The general faith concerning life by Christ
must go before the special application. Besides, it is a hidden thing :
' your life is hidden with Christ in God/ Col. iii. 3. It is not visible to
sense ; and invisible things are only seen by faith. It is hidden from
sense, and therefore it must be believed. It is hidden from the carnal
world, as colours are from a blind man, because they have no eyes to
see it. The natural man cannot see things that must be spiritually
discerned, 1 Cor. ii. 14. Besides, the spiritual life' is hidden under
the natural : Gal. ii. 20, ' The life that I live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God.' They live in the flesh, but they do not live
after the flesh. It is a life within a life. The spiritual life is nothing
else but the natural life sublimated and overruled to higher and
nobler ends. Spiritual men eat, and drink, and sleep, and trade, and
marry, and give in marriage, as others do, for they have not divested
themselves of the interests and concernments of flesh and blood ; but
all these things are governed by grace, and are carried on to holy and
eternal ends. Besides, it is hidden, because there is upon it the veil
and covering of afflictions and outward meanness and abasement ; as
it was said of some, ' of whom tlie world was not worthy, that they
wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins/ Heb. xi. 37, 38. Who
would think so much worth should lie under such a base outside ?
Their glory is darkened and obscured by their condition. Besides, too,
this life is often hidden by reproaches, and censures, and calumnies.
The people of God are represented as strange sort of people unto the
world : 2 Cor. VL 8, ' As deceivers, and yet true.' They are reputed
as a company of hypocrites and dissemblers; all their experiences
questioned and scoffed at. Profane and wanton wits will be spitting
out their venom in every age, and God's people will be judged
according to men in the flesh, though they live to God in the spirit,
1 Peter iv. 6. God permitteth it ; reproach is the soil and dung
whereby he maketh, his heritage fruitful. But yet this is a hiding
and disguising the spiritual life. Lastly, it is hidden under manifold
weaknesses and infirmities. The best have their blemishes, and the
most of Christians show forth too much of Adam and too little of
Jesus ; and so the spiritual life is carried on darkly, and in a riddle.
Though the old man of corruption doth not bear sway in their hearts,
to command, direct, and order all their actions, as formerly it did,
yet sin is not wholly gone ; they feel a law warring in their members,
Rom. vii. 33. And it is not only warring, but sometimes prevailing,
20S SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [ER. XXIX.
that they themselves can feel little of the holy life. There are some
question the life of grace, others scorn and scoff at it. Yet believe it,
for it is the great truth revealed in the scriptures, and it is in some
measure felt by sense ; yea, the rays of this hidden and rejected life
are often discovered to the world. For there are some who by their
practices condemn the world, live in counter-motion to the corrupt sort
of men, walk as those that have another spirit than the spirit of the
world, 1 Cor. ii. 12, and as those that look for a happiness elsewhere.
Therefore believe that there is such a life.
2. Value and esteem it according to its worth and excellency ; I
mean, with a practical esteem, as Paul doth, counting all things but
dung and dross in comparison of the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ. What would he know in him ? Phil. iii. 10, ' That I may
know him, and the power of his resurrection ; ' or the virtue of raising
him out of sin to the life of grace. Oh! that is an excellent thing
indeed. It is more to be advanced to this life than to the highest
honour in the world. This is to live in God, to God ; to have miracles
of grace wrought in us every day. It is the divine power that giveth
us ' all things that pertain to life and godliness,' 2 Peter i. 3 ; not
begun nor carried on without a daily miracle, or a work exceeding the
power of nature or the force of the creature. Life ennobleth all
things : a living dog is better than a dead lion ; to be alive to God,
when others are dead in sin, what a great privilege is that ?
3. Deal with Christ about it. Come to him, he purchased it by his
death : John vL 51, ' This is my flesh, which I have given for the life
of the world ' to God in sacrifice, to us for food. Look upon him as
one that is possessed of the fulness of the Spirit, to work it in all those
that come to God by him : Heb. vii. 25, ' He is able to save to the
uttermost all those that come to God by him, for he liveth for ever to
make intercession for them ; ' that is, penitent believers, for by faith
and repentance we come to God by Christ. He is angry that we will
not come to him for this benefit : John v. 40, ' Ye will not come to
me, that ye may have life/ If you have a pressing need, why should
you keep away from him ? That is his quarrel against us, that we
will not make use of him for this benefit. He is best pleased when
we have most of it : John x. 10, ' I am come that they might have
life, and have it more abundantly.' He would have us not only living
Christians, but lively. He hath appointed ordinances to convey it to
us. The word : Isa. Iv. 3, ' Hear, and your souls shall live.' The
sacraments : Ps. xxii. 26, ' The meek shall eat and be satisfied : they
shall praise the Lord that seek him : your heart shall live for ever.'
Prayer : that we cry earnestly, and express our desires of this benefit :
Ps. xxxvi. 9, * For with thee is the fountain of life : in thy light shall
we see light.' David often called upon God as the God of his life.
Well, when we go to God, he remitteth us to Christ, Christ to the
Spirit, and the Spirit to the ordinances ; there we should observe his
drawings, and obey his sanctifying motions, when he saith, ' Arise from
the dead, and Christ shall give thee light/ Eph. v. 14. When more
awakened than at another time.
4. When we have this life, let us improve it, and act grace in all
holy obedience unto God : Eph. v. 25, ' If we live in the Spirit, let us
VER. 15.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 203
walk in the Spirit.' If partakers of the new life of grace, we must show
it in our conversations, for newness of heart is seen in newness of life.
Use 3 is to put us upon self-reflection and self-examination. Have
we a new life communicated to us ?
1. If it be so, then there is a great change wrought in us. It is
said of Christ, ' he was dead, and is alive,' Rev. i. 18. To him we are
conformed : Luke xv. 24, ' This my son was dead, and is alive again ;
he was lost, and is found ; ' so Eph. ii. 1, ' You that were sometimes dead
in trespasses and sins, yet now hath he quickened/ Surely when a man
is translated from death to life, that should be a sensible change, as if
another soul dwelt in the same body ; he is another man to God, hath
holy breathings after him, delights frequently to converse with him in
prayer : Acts ix. 11, 'Arise, and go into the street called Straight, and
inquire in the house of Judas for one Saul of Tarsus, for behold he
prayeth ; ' and Zech. xii. 10, ' I will pour upon the house of David and
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication.'
He hath a childlike love to God as a father : Gal. iv. 6, ' And because
ye are sons, he hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your heart,
crying, Abba, Father.' Have a childlike reverence to him : Eph. v.
1, ' Be ye followers of God, as dear children.' Illustrate it by that,
Jer. xxxv. 6, when they set pots of wine before them to drink, ' We
dare not ; Jonadab, our father, commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink
no wine.' And a childlike dependence upon him : Mat. vi. 32, ' Your
heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.' A
childlike hope from him : 1 Peter i. 3, ' Who hath begotten us to a
lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.' Zeal
for him : 2 Cor. v. 10, ' Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade
men.' He is another man to his neighbour ; he carrieth it justly and
righteously to all, both as to person, name, and estate ; and this not
by compulsion of conscience, but inclination of heart, which the
scripture expresseth by loving our neighbour as ourselves, seeking
their good as our own, rejoicing in their good as our own, mourning
for their evil as our own. Such a justice as groweth out of love :
Eom. xiii. 8, ' Owe no man anything, but to love one another ; for he
that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.' But to our fellow-saints
and everlasting companions a Christ-like love : 2 Pet. i. 7, ' Add to
godliness brotherly-kindness, and to brotherly-kindness charity.'
Another man in his special relations : Philem. 11, ' Which in times
past was unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and me.' That is
the sphere of our activity. In the government of himself he doth
exercise a greater command over his passions and affections : Gal. v.
24, ' They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections
and lusts thereof ; ' alloweth no bosom sin : Ps. xviii. 23, ' I was
upright before thee, and kept myself from mine iniquity ; ' and still
a constant carefulness to please God : Heb. xiii. 18, 'For we trust we
have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.'
2. If so, there will be a solemn dedication of ourselves to God :
Rom. vi. 13, 'But yield yourselves to God, as those that are alive
from the dead.' The reason is, because the great effect of grace is a
tendency towards God, and that tendency produceth a setting apart of
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210 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XXX.
ourselves for God's use and service ; and the reality of this is seen in
using ourselves for God.
3. Where there is life there will be vital operations. For life is
active and stirring ; it cannot be hidden, but will bewray itself in all
that we do, though not at all times in a like measure. Our prayers
will be the prayers of a living man ; our conferences and discourses
such as come from those that have life in them ; our whole service of
God such as hath warmth and zeal in it: James v. 16, ' The fervent,
effectual prayer of a righteous man;' and Kom. xii. 11, 'Not slothful
in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord ; ' our addresses to God,
such as become feeling of wants, an appetite after and savour of
spiritual things. And if Christians do not feel this life (for sometimes
it is weak and obstructed), they cannot be satisfied, nor rest in this
frame. When dull of hearing, or cold in prayer, they rouse up and
stir up themselves : Isa. Ixiv. 7, ' There is none that calleth upon thy
name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee.' What is wanting
in fervour is made up in sense and feeling and bemoaning their con
dition ; so that the heart is alive, because it is sensible of its deadness,
living though not lively. But the chief note is a sincere desire to
please, honour, and glorify God; and that by virtue of Christ's
resurrection Christians obtain the grace of a new life.
SERMON XXX.
That they which live should not henceforth live to themselves, but to
him that died for them, and rose again. 2 COR. v. 15.
WE are still upon the second fruit of Christ's purchase he died
that we might die in a conformity to his death, and he died that we
might live with a respect to his resurrection. His death is the merit
of it, but his resurrection is the pattern, pledge, and fountain of this
new life. I propounded to speak
1. Of the fruit itself ; the grace of the new life wrought in us, in
conformity to Christ's resurrection.
2. The aim and tendency of that life; which is to refer all our
actions to God, ' that they which live should not henceforth live to
themselves, but to him that died for them, and rose again.' The aim
is propounded
[1.] Negatively Not to themselves.
[2.] Affirmatively But to him that died for them, and rose again.
[1.] Negatively ' Not to themselves :' to their own ease, honour,
and profit, their own wills, own interests, and own ends.
[2.] Positively 'To him:' according to his will, for his honour
and glory.
Doct. The duty and property of the spiritual life is to refer all our
actions, not to self, but to God.
1. For proof of the point, take one place for both : Rom. xiv. 7, 8,
' For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For
whether we live, we live unto God ; or whether we die, we die unto the
VER. 15.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 211
Lord ; for whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.' A Christian is
not his own man, and therefore liveth not to himself, but he is the
Lord's in his person, all his relations, enjoyments, conditions, interests ;
he is the Lord's by every kind of right and title, and hath not power
over the least action that he doth, or comfort he enjoyeth : if health,
wealth, uses it for God ; if children, loves them in order to God ; and
therefore referreth all to God. In the text the apostle saith, None of us
none of those that are in Christ. The apostle speaketh of weak and
strong Christians, they all agree in this ; and he shrewdly implieth that
he that liveth to himself is none of Christ's. Now
[1.] Not to self, for self-denial is required as our first lesson :
Mat. xvi. 24, ' If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself.' Christ telleth us the worst at first. So see how per
emptory Christ is : Luke xiv. 26, ' If any man come to me, and
hate not father and mother, wife and children, brethren and
sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.' It
is too late for the vote of man and foolish reason to interpose,
out of hope to get this law repealed. No, it is unalterably
stated that no interest of ours, no, not life itself, which maketh us
capable of enjoying all other worldly interests, can be pleaded in bar
to our duty, or by way of exception or reservation in our subjection to
Christ. Now, if self mast be denied, and all the interests of it renounced,
certainly we must not live to ourselves. God taxeth his people for their
self-seeking and self-aiming : Hos. x. 1, ' Israel is an empty vine, that
bringeth forth fruit to himself ; ' as a vine that only maketh a shift to
live, and to draw sap to itself, but bringeth forth no fruit to the owner.
Certainly, as in the spiritual we receive all from Christ, we use all for
him ; as rivers run into the sea, from whence their channels are filled.
They do not live in Christ that do not live to Christ. Visible, nominal
Christians are as the ivy that closeth about the bark, but bringeth forth
no berries by virtue of its own root ; but these really engrafted into
Christ do bring forth fruit to Christ.
[2.] To God : Gal. ii. 19, ' I through the law am dead to the law,
that I may live to God.' There the apostle showeth the ordination of
the spiritual life. As soon as we are alive by grace, we are alive unto
God, and the stream of our affections, respects, and endeavours, is
turned into a new channel ; so Rom. vii. 4, ' Married to Christ, that we
may bring forth fruit unto God.' This ' unto God,' is explained, Col.
i. 10, ' That we may walk worthy of God unto all pleasing ; ' that is,
agreeable to his will or word, wherein he hath declared his pleasure,
and stated the rule of our actions. So 1 Cor. x. 31, ' Whether ye eat or
drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.' That is the
end and aim of all our actions, sacred or civil, spiritual or natural.
God is the beginning, and must be the end of all things ; he is the ab
solute Lord, and the infinite and inestimable good, in the enjoyment
of whom our happiness lieth.
I shall observe something from the text, and as the point is delivered
in this place.
1. I observe, that this end of the new life is propounded disjunc
tively, for a man cannot do both : he cannot live to himself and God
too. A man cannot live to God till he has denied himself. Before
212 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SflR. XXX.
the fall there was no such thing as self, opposite to God and separate
from him. But when man forsook God as his chief good and last end,
then self was set up as an idol in the place of God ; for, lay aside God,
and self interposeth as the next heir. And what kind of self do we set
up hut carnal self the pleasing of the flesh, or the advancement of a
kind of carnal felicity to ourselves, in opposition to God, and in disjunction
from him ? Thence we are bidden to deny ungodliness and worldly
lusts, before we can give up ourselves to the service of God, Titus ii.
12. Mark the two things to be denied ' ungodliness and worldly lust/
For when we fall from God, we fall to the world, or some inferior good
thing, wherewith we please the flesh, and so make the earthly life, and
the pleasure we expect therein, to be our chief good and ultimate end,
and bestow all our time and care upon it. Thence that dissuasive, Horn,
xiii. 14, ' Make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."
The unrenewedpart of mankind do altogether spend their time in provid
ing for the flesh, and seeking the happiness of the animal and earthly
life, apart from God, or in opposition to him. Now this disposition
must be mortified and cured before we can live unto God. We must
not live to ourselves ; self is only to be regarded in a pure subordina
tion to God, not as opposite to him, not as separated and divided from
him only, as self-respects would tempt us not only to disobey God, but
also to forget and neglect God. Most will grant that we are not to
mind self in opposition to God, but few consider that we are not to
mind self apart from him, but God must be at the end of all our
desires, motions, actions, enjoyments ; though this latter be as evident a
truth as the former. Natural self is to be denied as well as corrupt
self, as appeareth by the example of Christ, who had no corrupt self
to deny, and yet it is said, Kom. xv. 3, ' He pleased not himself.'
Christ had an innocent natural will, by which he loved his natural life
and peace ' Father, let this cup pass ; ' but he submitted it to God
' Not my will, but thine be done,' Mat. xxvi. 39. Therefore we also
must not only deny self as corrupted by sin, but self as separate from
God. How else shall we submit to God in these things wherein he
may lay a restraint upon us, or put us to trial about them, whether we
love them in order to him, they being things which otherwise we may
affect ? And besides, to love anything apart from God, and to seek it
apart from God, and rejoice in it apart from God, without any reverence
and respect to God, is to make the creature the last end in which the
action terminateth, which is an invading of God's prerogative. But if
these things be so, who then can be saved ? For do not all love them
selves, and please themselves, and seek their own things ? If they do not
love the creature so as to fall into gluttony, drunkenness, adultery,
oppression, and the like, yet in the temperate and lawful use of the
creature, who looks to God ? I answer, All the godly should, or else
they are not godly ; for there is no living to God and ourselves in an
equal or violent degree, as a man cannot go two ways at once. But yet
there is self in the faithful in a remiss degree, even self inordinately
affected, that is either in opposition to God or apart from him in some
particular acts, but the main drift and course of their lives is to God
and for God. Living to God or self must be determined by what the
man is principally set to maintain, promote, and gratify ; the end which
VKR. 15.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 213
lie doth principally design and endeavour after ; what his heart is most
set upon, what he seeketh in the first place, Mat vi. 33 ; the pleasing or
glorifying of God, or the pleasing and glorifying of the flesh, in some
inferior good thing. What is it they live for ? So nothing in the
world is so dear to you but you can leave it for God ; nothing you love so
well but you love God better, and can part with it for his sake, and lay
it at his feet ; nothing you would use and do but in order to God. But
on the other side you give God a little respect, such as the flesh can
spare, with the fragments and scraps of the table, when the flesh is full
and is satisfied ; some crumbs of your estate, time, strength, but your
life and love is employed about other things ; not careful to live to God.
to serve him in all your affairs, to eat, and drink, and trade to his glory,
and to redeem your time to attend upon him : this they understand
not, mind not, and therefore still live to themselves.
2. I observe that which is spoken of is living to self and living to
God. Living doth not note one single action, but the trade, course,
and strain of our conversations, whether it be referred to self or God.
Every single act of inordinate self-love is a sin, but living to ourselves
is a state of sin. A man lives to self when self is his principle, his
rule, and his end, the governing principle that sets him on work, or
the spring that sets all the wheels a-going the great end they aim
at, and the rule by which they are guided and measure all things. If
it be for themselves, they have a life in the work ; so the apostle :
Phil. ii. 21, ' All seek their own things, and not the things of Jesus
Christ.' ' Their own things ' are their worldly ease, and profit, and
credit ; when the things wherein Christ's honour and kingdom are
concerned are neglected. Any interest of their own maketh them
ready, industrious, zealous, it may be, for Christ, when there are out
ward encouragements to a duty ; but when no encouragements, rather
the contrary ; then cold and slack. So, on the other side, we live to God
when his grace, or the new nature in us. is our principle, his service
our work, or the business of our lives, and his glory our great end and
scope; when we have nothing, and can do nothing, but as from
God, and by him, and for him: Phil. i. 11, 'Being filled with the
fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the praise and
glory of God.'
3. That love to God is the great principle that draweth us off
from self to God ; for it is said, ' The love of Christ constraineth us.'
That is the beginning of all this discourse: such as a man's love,
inclination, and nature is, such will be the drift of his life. And
therefore self-denial is never powerful and thorough unless it be
caused by the love of God. But when a man once heartily loveth
God, he can lay all things at God's feet, and suffer all things and
endure all things for God's sake. Men will not be frightened from
self-love ; it must be another more powerful love which must draw
them from it ; as one nail driveth out another. Now what can be
more powerful than the love of God, which is as strong as death ?
Many waters cannot quench it, nor will it be bribed, Cant. viii. 7.
This overcometh our natural self-love ; so that not only time, and
strength, and estate, but life and all shall go for his glory : Rev. xii.
11, ' They loved not their lives to the death.' Self-love is so deeply
214 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SEU. XXX.
rooted in us, especially love of life, that it must be something strong
and powerful that must overcome it. What is nearer to us than
ourselves ? This is Christ's love. None deserveth their love so much
as Christ. I know no happiness but to enjoy his love and glory ; this
prevaileth beyond their natural inclination.
4. The great thing which breedeth and feedeth this love is
Christ's dying, that we might be dead to sin and the world, and might
also be alive to God. The object of love is goodness. Now such
goodness as this should beget love to Christ. This may be con
sidered,
[1.] As to the intention of the Kedeemer. Surely if he aimed at
this the love and service of his redeemed ones it is fit that he
should obtain this end. Now this was Christ's end : Rom. xiv. 9,
' For this end Christ died, and rose again, and revived, that he might
be lord of dead and living.' Christ had this in his eye, a power and
dominion over us all, that he might rule us and govern us, and bring
us into a perfect obedience of his will ; that none of us might do what
liketh him best, but what is most acceptable to Christ.
[2.] The grace and help merited. He obtained a new life for us,
that we might be made capable to live, not to ourselves, but unto
him. If he had obliged us only in point of duty to live unto God,
and not obtained necessary grace to enable us to perform it, the love
had not been so great. No, he hath obtained for us the gift of the
Spirit, and the great work of the Holy Ghost is, by sanctifying grace,
to bring off the soul from self to God : John xvi. 14, ' He shall take of
mine, and glorify me.' This grace is not given us to exalt or extol
any other thing but Christ alone, as Christ his Father, John xv. 8.
That grace we have from Christ, and the Spirit inclineth us to make
God our end and scope.
[3.] The obligation left on the creature by this great and won
derful act of mercy and kindness doth persuade us to surrender and
give up ourselves to the Lord's use : Horn. xii. 1, ' I beseech you there
fore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable ser
vice/ Take the argument either from the greatness of his sufferings,
or the greatness of the benefits purchased ; still the argument and
motive is exceeding strong and prevailing. Shall the Son of God
come and die such a painful, shameful death for us, and shall not \ve
give up ourselves to him, and love him and serve him all our days ? t
2. I shall prove it by reasons.
[1.] The title that God hath to us. We are not our own, and
therefore we must not live to ourselves ; but we are God's, and there
fore we must live unto God. This reason is urged : 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20,
' What ! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost,
which is in you, which ye have of God ; and ye are not your own, for
ye are bought with a price ; therefore glorify God in your body, and
in your spirit, which are God's.' How are we God's ? By creation,
redemption, regeneration, and consecration ; in all which respects God is
more truly owner of you than you are of anything you have in the world.
(1.) We are his by creation 'It is he that made us, not we our
selves/ Ps. c. 3. What one member was made at our direction or
VER. 15.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 215
request, much less by our help and assistance ? No, God framed us
in the secret parts of the belly. Now if the husbandman may call the
vine his own which he hath planted, God may much more call the
creature his own which he hath made. God made us out of nothing.
The husbandman cannot make a vine, he doth only set it and dress it ;
but God made us, and not we ourselves. The creature is wholly and
solely of him and from him, and nothing else ; therefore it should be
wholly and solely to him and for him. Self-love is God's prerogative ;
he alone can love himself and seek himself, because he alone is from
himself, and without dependence on any other ; but we that are
creatures, and depend upon God every moment for his providential
assistance and supportation, are under the dominion and rule of him
upon whom we do depend. And every motion and inclination of ours
is under a rule. If we could any moment be exempt from the influ
ence of his providence, we might be supposed to be exempted in that
moment from his jurisdiction and government; but man wholly
depending upon God for being and preservation, cannot lay claim or
title to himself, or anything that is his, no, not for a moment. They
were rebels against God's government who said, Ps. xii. 4, 'Our
tongues are our own ; who is lord over us ? ' By what right can we
call our tongue our own ? We neither made it nor can keep it longer
than God will ; he is the maker of all things, and therefore should be
the governor and end of all things. It is robbery and usurpation of
God's right when you divert your respects from him, and set up self
in his place.
(2.) By redemption. That right is pleaded : 1 Cor. vi. 20, ' Ye
are bought with a price, therefore glorify God with your bodies and
souls, which are God's.' By creation we owe ourselves to God ; but
by redemption we owe ourselves to him by a double and a more com
fortable right and title. A man bought with another's money, if he
died by his stripes, if he continued a day or two, his friends had no
plea against his master. The law giveth this reason, for he is his
money, Exod. xxi. 21 ; that is, his own purchase by money. But God
hath bought us at a higher rate with the blood of his Son : 1 Peter
i. 18, ' The precious blood of Christ/ Therefore the redeemed are
bound to serve him that ransomed them. If a man had bought
another out of captivity, or he had sold himself, all his strength, and
time, and service, belonged to the buyer. Christ hath bought us from
the worst slavery, and with the greatest price. No thraldom so bad as
the bondage of sin and Satan ; no prison so black as hell ; and no
ransom so precious as the blood of the Son of God. And he bought
us to this end, that we might live to God, not to ourselves. And
therefore, unless we mean to defraud Christ of his purchase, we should
mind this more than we do.
(3.) By regeneration. Whereby we are brought actually into
Christ's possession, and fitted for his use ; taken into his possession, for
there is a spiritual union and conjunction between us and Christ ; see
1 Cor. vi. 15-17, ' Know ye not that your bodies are the members of
Christ ? Shall I take the members of Christ and make them the
members of a harlot ? God forbid ! Know ye not that ho that is
joined to a harlot is one body? For two, saith he, shall be
216 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XXX.
one flesh. What! but he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.'
Mark there the grounds of the apostle's reasoning : he that is joined
to a harlot is one flesh, and he that is joined to the Lord is one
spirit. What shall we conclude thence ? That all that is ours
is Christ's: ver. 15, 'Shall I take the members of Christ, and make
them the members of an harlot ? God forbid !' Christ hath a right in
all and everything that is a Christian's. Members belong more to their
head than slaves to their master, because of their near conjunction;
and from thence they receive life, strength, and motion. Being
engrafted into Christ, we must submit to be guided and quickened by
his spirit ; as fitted for his use, the new creature is fitted for the opera
tions which belong to it ; the withered branch is again quickened, that
it may bring forth fruit unto God. God's best gifts would lie idle if
this were not : Kom. vii. 4, ' Married to Christ, that we may bring forth
fruit to God.'
(4.) By voluntary contract and resignation. When we first enter
into covenant with God, God giveth Christ, and all things with him,
and we give up ourselves, and every interest of ours, unto God : Cant,
ii. 16, ' I am my beloved's, and he is mine.' So that to alienate our
selves, and use ourselves for ourselves, it is not only robbery, but
treachery and breach of covenant, because by our own solemn consent
we owned and acknowledged God's right in us, and yielded up our
selves to the Lord, to be employed, ordered, and disposed by him at
his own will and pleasure: Rom. vi. 13, 'But yield yourselves unto
God, as those that are alive from the dead.'
[2.] The danger which will come by it, if we should live to our
selves, and not to God.
(1.) The creature doth not only withdraw itself from God. but sets
up another god ; and so the crown is taken from God's head, and set
upon the object of our own lust. The world is god, Mat. vi. 24 ; or
the belly is god, Phil. iii. 19. We leave the true God but a name, and
set up ourselves as our own end, and the pleasing of ourselves as our
chief good, and use all creatures to this end, and love the present life
and prosperity more than God, and set up our own will in contradic
tion to God's ; all our labour and travail is to please ourselves and
satisfy ourselves, and to break the bonds and cast off the yoke, and
would be lords of ourselves and our own actions, and enjoy honours,
and riches, and pleasures to ourselves.
(2.) There cannot a worse mischief befal us than to l;e given over
to our own selves ; or, this is the sorest plague : Ps. Ixxxi. 12. ' So I
gave them over to their hearts' lusts, and they walked in their own
counsels.' There is nothing maketh us more miserable than to be
given over to our own choices. And he said well that made this
prayer to God Libera me a malo homine, a me ipso. For pride,
sensuality, and worldliness will necessarily bear rule where a man is
given over to himself ; we have not a worse enemy than ourselves. It
is self that depriveth us of heaven, that maketh us neglect and slight
the grace of our Redeemer. Man's own will is the cause of his own
misery, and thou offendest thyself more than all the world can do
besides. Therefore a man hath more cause to hate himself than other
things.
VER. 15.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 217
Use of all is to press us to this weighty duty of living to God, and
not to ourselves. Not to our own will and interest, but according to
the will and for the glory of God.
Motives
1. Christ's self-denial, who came from heaven, not only to expiate
our offences, but to give us an example. And wherein was the example ?
He telleth us he came not to do his own will, but the will of him that
sent him, John vi. 38 ; and to promote his Father's glory: John viii.
50, ' I seek not my own glory.' He was still guided by his Father's will,
and had his orders from heaven, for all that he did. Now how did he
do the will of God, and seek the glory of God ? He did it with delight ;
John iv. 34, ' It was meat and drink to him to do his Father's will.' A
will wedded to itself, and his own honour, and ease, and credit, is most
unlike Christ. And he did it with much patience and self-denial : Bom.
xv. 3, ' He pleased not himself ; ' thatjs, sought not the interests of that
life he had assumed, but contradicted them by his fastings, temptations,
sufferings, through the reproaches and ingratitude of men, and outward
meanness and poverty of his condition. And especially by his death
and passion, there he humbled himself, and made himself of no reputa
tion, Phil. ii. 4-8 ; that the same mind might be in us ; that we might
learn that life, and all the comforts of life, should not be so dear to us
as the love of God and everlasting life ; for Christ loved not his life in
comparison of love to his Father and his church. He preferred the
pleasing of his Father in the work of redemption before his own life.
Christ emptied himself that God might be glorified. How unwilling
are ye to go back two or three degrees in your pomp, or pleasure, or
profit, for God's sake, when the sun of righteousness went back ten
degrees !
2. We cannot be miserable while we are wholly his, and devote our
selves to his service : Ps. cxix. 94, ' I am thine, save me.' Paul's
speech : Acts xxvii. 23,' The God whose I am, and whom I serve.'
Paul was confident of his help, 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23. There is no truer
self-seeking than to deny all for God ; if the happiness of man were in
himself or any other creature, he needed not to have to do with God.
3. What a poor account can men make to God at the last day, that
spend their lives in carnal pursuits ! There is a time coming when
God will take an account : Luke xix. 23, ' That at my coming I might
have required mine own with usury.' A factor that hath embezzled
his estate, what account can he give of it? A workman that hath
loitered all diiy, how can he demand his wages at night ? An ambass
ador that hath neglected his public business, and spent his time in
play or courtships, what account can he give to his prince that sent
him ? How comfortable will it be when you can say, as Christ]: John
xvii. 4, ' I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished the work
thou gavest me to do.'
4. We have lived to ourselves too long already. In the text it is
'henceforth ;' and 1 Peter iv. 3, ' That he should no longer live the
rest of his time to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.' Too
much of our time already is employed in the service of our lusts ; we
may with grief look back upon the time we have spent as very long
too long in pleasing the flesh. We have been long enough dishon-
218 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXX.
curing God and destroying our own souls, having so little time left,
and so small strength and vigour left, to bestow upon God.
Directions
1. Entirely and unreservedly devote yourselves to God. You must
not reserve so much as your very lives, but resolve to resign up all to
God. We have no interest of our own but what is derived from him,
and subservient to him ; own his right by your own consent and free
resignation. If hitherto you have walked contrary to God, and oppo
site to him, come, lay down the bucklers ; say as Paul, Acts ix. 6,
' Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? ' Deliver up the keys of your
heart, that he may come and take possession. If formerly you have
given up yourselves to God, confirm the grant, Horn. xii. 1. Enter
anew into the bond of the holy oath.
2. Being devoted to God in the whole course of your conversations,
you must prefer his interest before your own. And when any interest
of your own riseth up against the interest and will of God, care not
for yourselves ; set light by it, as if it were nothing worth ; and let no
self-respects tempt you to disobey God, though never so powerful.
Let no hire tempt you to the smallest sin, no danger fright you from
your duty : Dan. iii. 17, 18, ' We are not careful to answer thee in
this matter. Our God is able to deliver us ; if not, we will not wor
ship the golden image which thou hast set up ; ' so Acts xx. 24, ' I
count not my life dear to me.' If we can but forget ourselves and
remember God, he will remember us better than if we had remem
bered ourselves. Take care of your duty, and God will take care of
your safety ; we secure our stock by putting it all into God's hands,
and vending it in his service.
3. We are to use all the creatures, and all our enjoyments for
God. Naturally a man useth and loveth the creature only for him
self, but then he liveth to himself ; but when he loves it and useth it
for God, he liveth to God, 1 Cor. x. 31, and 1 Tim. iv. 4, 5. Though
men are speculatively convinced all is God's, yet they love it and use
it as their own.
4. Being given up to God, we must study God's will : Horn. xii. 2,
' That ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect
will of God ; ' Ps. i. 2, ' But his delight is in the law of God.' We
must practise what we know, and still search that we may know more.
Gross negligence and willing ignorance showeth we have a mind to
excuse and exempt ourselves in some kind of subjection from God ;
and his will should be reason enough to persuade us to what he hath
required : 1 Thes. iv. 3, ' This is the will of God, even your sanctifica-
tion ; ' 1 Thes. v. 18, ' For this is the will of God concerning you ; '
1 Peter, ii. 15, ' For this is the will of God, that with well-doing ye
put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.'
5. We must take heed of carnal motives. Many such services we
perform to God. There may be such as they that followed Christ for
the loaves, John vi. 26. Some preached the gospel out of envy, as
others out of good-will, Phil. i. 15. A man may seek himself carnally
in a religious way ; for a selfish man loves God, and all things else,
for his carnal pleasure, and is serving himself in serving of God an
argument of a base and unworthy spirit. This was the devil's allega-
VER. 16.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 219
tion against Job, chaps, i. 9-11, and ii. 4, 5 ; it is not thee they seek, but
themselves ; their own commodity rather than thy glory. There is no
man to seek this accusation, but to be faithful with God when he
crosseth his self-interest, and to be as zealous for him when secular
motives are gone as he was before.
6. In every duty we must come farther home to God ; for all Chris
tianity is a coming to God by Christ. Now we get farther home to
God as the divine nature doth prevail in us, and the carnal, self-
seeking nature is subdued : 2 Cor. v. 16, ' Wherefore henceforth
know we no man after the flesh ; yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.'
SERMON XXXI.
Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh ; yea, though we
have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth ice know
him no more. 2 COR. v. 16.
THERE were false apostles at Corinth, who gloried much in outward
things : not only birth, wealth, abilities of speech, but such outward
things as had a nearer connection with and respect to religion ; as their
acquaintance with Christ, that they had known him in the flesh, and
owned him when yet alive, and therefore are supposed to be intended
in that expression, 'I am of Christ,' 1 Cor. i. 12. As others received
the doctrine of life from Peter, Paul, Apollos, they immediately from
Christ himself. Now this boasting these Corinthian doctors used, as to
keep up their own fame among the people, so to lessen and weaken the
credit of Paul's apostleship; for this objection lay against him, that he
had not, as other disciples, conversed with our Lord Jesus Christ on
earth. Now Paul, that he might give the Corinthians occasion to
glory in his behalf, and furnish them with an answer that gloried, eV
Trpoa-aiTra) Kav^ofievov^, ver. 12, in external privileges, though they
knew in their consciences they had little reason so to do, he had more
valuable things to boast of namely, that he was much in spirit, much
in labours, much in afflictions for the honour of the gospel, and to all
which he was carried out by the hopes of eternal life, the terror of
the Lord at the day of judgment, 'and the love of Christ constraining
him/ This was the threefold cord : hope of reward, fear of punishment,
and the love of Christ; and these were more valuable considerations
whereupon to esteem of any one than external privileges could be. In
their outward privileges he could vie with them; for though he was
none of Christ's followers here upon earth, yet he was equal to them,
by seeing and having been spoken to by Christ out of heaven : 1 Cor.
ix. 1. ' Am not I an apostle ? have not I seen Jesus Christ the Lord ? '
But Paul did not seek his esteem merely for his vision of Christ, and
that ecstasy which befell him at his first conversion, but for the faithful
discharge of his work, upon the ground afore-mentioned, that he would
220 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXI.
not glory ev Trpoa-wTrw, as those others did. Mortified Christians, or
those that have seriously given up themselves to the Lord's use, should
more mind that, and esteem themselves and others for true and real
worth, rather than such an external privilege ' Wherefore know we no
man after the flesh,' &c.
In the words we have
1. A general conclusion inferred against the boasting of the Corin
thian doctors Henceforth we know no man after the flesh: we own
no carnal respect to any man living, and do not value any by outward
acquaintance with Christ, but according to the spiritual power that is
in him, and taught by him.
2. The conclusion restrained unto the instance of Christ Tea,
though ive have known Christ after the flesh. Where there is
[1.] A supposition ' Though we have known Christ after the flesh.'
[2.] An assertion 'Yet henceforth know we him no more;' that
is, as a friend conversing with us upon earth in an outward way; but
as a king and law-giver of the church, that is ascended up to heaven,
there to govern the church by his Spirit and laws, offering and design
ing to us eternal life upon our obedience and fidelity to him. Well
then, to know Christ after the flesh is not forbidden with intent to
deny his humanity, or to exclude the comfort thence resulting, so we
must still know him after the flesh ; his human nature is the ground
of our comfort ; but that we should not esteem and judge of persons by
their outward conversing with him, but their loyalty and obedience to
him. This I think to be the most proper meaning of the words, though
some, with probability, carry them another way, thus ' Henceforth
know we know no man after the flesh ; ' that is, we do not value men for
their wealth, honour, nobility ; and though we have known Christ after
the flesh, alluding to his esteem, when a Pharisee. According to the
humour of that sect, he looked for a pompous Messiah, but now owned
him as a glorified Saviour, sitting at the right hand of God in the
heavens.
First, The general truth ' Henceforth know we no man after the
flesh.' This knowledge is a knowledge of approbation : to know is to
admire and esteem; as we ourselves should not seek our own esteem
thereby, so not esteem others, Kara adptca, for some external thing,
which seemeth glorious in the judgment of the flesh.
Doct. I. A Christian should not religiously value others for external
and carnal things.
Let us state it a little, how far we are to know no man after the
flesh.
1. Negatively; and there
[1.] It is not to deny civil respect and honour to the wicked and
carnal; for that would destroy all government and order in the world:
Horn. xiii. 7, ' Render therefore to all their dues : tribute to whom
tribute is du<?; and custom to whom custom ; fear to whom fear ; and
honour to whom honour.' We are to own parents, magistrates, persons
of rank and eminency, with that respect which is due to their rank and
quality, though they should be carnal ; for the wickedness of the
person doth not discharge us of our duty, or make void civil or natural
differences and respects due to them.
VER. 16.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 221
[2.] Not to deny the gifts bestowed upon them, though common,
gifts ; for your eye should not be evil, because God's is good, Mat. xx.
[3.] You may love them the better when religion is accompanied
with these external advantages : Eccl. vii. 11, ' Wisdom with an inher
itance is good.' Religious and noble, religious and beautiful, religious
and learned, religious and rich ; when grace and outward excellency
meet, it maketh the person more lovely and amiable.
2. Positively.
[1.] We must not gild a potsherd, or esteem them to be the servants
of Christ because of their carnal excellences, and value them religiously,
and prefer them before others who are more useful, and who have the
image of God impressed upon them. This is to know men after the flesh,
and to value men upon carnal respects. We do not judge so of a
horse, by the saddle and trappings, but by his strength and swiftness.
Solomon telleth us, Prov. xii. 26, ' That the righteous is more excel
lent than his neighbour;' and explaineth himself, Prov. xix. 1, ' Bet
ter is the poor that walketh ' in his integrity, than he that is perverse
in his lips, and is a fool.' Grace should make persons more lovely in.
our eyes than carnal honour and glory.
[2.] The cause of God must not be burdened or abandoned because
those of the other side have more outward advantages. This was the
case between the apostle and the Desp. 1 And this is clearly to know
men after the flesh, and such a course will justify the Pharisee's plea,
John vii. 48, 49, 'Have any of the rulers and Pharisees believed
on him ? but this people which knoweth not the law are cursed.' The
truth is not to be forsaken because there is eminency, pomp, worldly
countenance, repute for learning, on the other side. To this head may
be referred the plea between the protestants and the papists about
succession. Suppose it true that there were no gaps in their succes
sion, that ours as to a series of persons cannot be justified, yet the plea
is naught ; for this is to know men after the flesh, and to determine of
truth by external advantages. So if we should contemn the truths of
God because of the persons that bring them to us ; as usually we
regard the man more than the matter, and not the golden treasure so
much as the earthen vessel ; it was the prejudice cast upon Christ,
'Was not this the carpenter's son?' Matheo Langi, Archbishop of
Salzburg, told every one that the reformation of the mass was need
ful, the liberty of meats convenient, to be disburdened of so many
commands of man concerning days just ; but that a poor monk should
reform all was not to be endured meaning Luther.
[3.] We should not prefer these, to the despising and wrong of others :
1 Cor. xi. 22, every one took his own supper, but despised the church of
God, that is, excluded the poor, who were of the church as well as they.
[4.] To value others for carnal advantages, so as it should be a snare
or matter of envy to us : Prov. iii. 31, 32, ' Envy not the oppressor,
and choose none of his ways ; for the froward is an abomination to the
Lord, but his secret is with the righteous.'
[5.] Know no man after the flesh, so as to forbear Christian duties
to them, of admonition or reproof, or to accommodate God's truths to
their liking : Mark xii. 14, ' Master, we know that thou art true, and
1 So in original edition. Probably for 'clesputers.' ED.
222 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [&ER, XXXI.
carcut for no man? for tliou regardest not the person of men, but
teachest the way of God in truth.'
[6.] Not to comply with carnal men for our own gain and advantage,
Jude 16, ' Having men's persons in admiration, because of advan
tage ; ' to soothe people in their errors or sins.
The reason is taken from the posture of the words in the context ;
this disposition, whatever it be, is an effect of the new nature, of the
love of Christ, and a branch of not living to ourselves.
(1.) The new nature: ver. 17, 'If any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature.' A new creature hath a new judgment of things ; when
a man is changed, his judgment of things is altered.
(2.) Of the love of Christ, ver. 14. He that loveth Christ as Christ,
will love Christ in any dress of doctrine, plain and comely, or learned
or eloquent, in any condition of life in the world, high or low ; is not
swayed by external advantages.
(3.) A branch of the spiritual life, ver. 15. The faithful, being born
again of the Spirit, do live a new and spiritual life. Now this is one
part of this life, not to know any man after the flesh ; to be dead to
things of a carnal interest, not moved with what is external and pleas
ing to the flesh. Let the carnal part of the world please themselves
with these vain things pomp of living, external rank, possession of
the power of the church, &c.
Use is that of the apostle ; James iv. 1, 'My brethren, have not the
faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of
persons ; ' that is, do not esteem things that are religious for those
things which have no affinity with or pertinency to religion. His
reason is couched in the exhortation. Christ is the Lord of glory, and
puts an honour upon all things which do belong to him, how despic
able soever otherwise in the world's eye ; not external things, but
religion, should be the reason and ground of our affection.
Secondly, We come to the conclusion restrained to the instance of
Christ ' Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now
henceforth know we him no more.'
Doct. 2. A mere knowing of Christ after the flesh ought to cease
among Christians that have given up themselves to live to him, as
dying and rising again for their sakes.
1. I shall prove to you that knowing Christ after the flesh was not
that respect that he looked for when he was most capable of receiving
love in this kind, namely, during his personal abode in the world.
Even then an outward, ceremonious respect to his person was not so
pleasing to him as a serious attention to his doctrine and counsel, and
ever met with a correction and reproof from Christ, rather than appro
bation and acceptance with him ; at least, Christ aimed at some higher
thing, which was of more value and esteem with him. Search all his
life. You read of some that desired to see him, John xii. 20-23 ;
some Greeks that had a curiosity to see his person, and be more
familiarly acquainted with him. Now Christ teacheth that the true
means to know him to salvation was not to see with the eyes of the
body, but by faith, in the spirit, as lifted up to glory. They impar
tially propound the matter to Philip, and he consults with Andrew,
and both of them present their request to Christ ; but he diverts to
VER. 1G.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 223
the doctrine of the cross, and the glory that should ensue, to teach them
to lay aside doting on his bodily presence, and to think of communion
with him in his sufferings, and the duty that belonged to his exalta
tion. They came to see a man lately cried up by popular applause, and
to gaze on him who was made so famous in the late triumph. So when
some depended upon their hearing of him, and resort to his doctrine,
he telleth them this would not do without other things : Luke xiii. 26,
' Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence,
and thou hast taught in our streets/ Yet if there be no more but
kind converse, or an outward resort to his ministry as to an ordinary
man ' I know you not ; ' this acquaintance is disclaimed. Some that
not only heard, but commended him, as that forward woman : Luke
xi. 27, 28, ' And a certain woman lift up her voice, and said unto him,
Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast
sucked. But he said, Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word
of God, and keep it.' Yea, rather ; it is a reproof. Oh no, woman ;
that is a blesssd thing to hear the word of God, and keep it ; that is
not the use to applaud the person, but obey the doctrine. Still he
calleth for a more spiritual respect. When they told him that his
kindred, his mother and brethren, stood without to speak with him, Mat.
xii. 47-50, Christ saith, ' Whosoever doth the will of my Father which
is in heaven, the same is my brother, sister, and mother.' Believing
in Christ, and obeying God's will, rendereth us more acceptable than
if we did touch him in blood and kindred. Augustine saith of the
Virgin Mary, Beatior Maria percipiendo fidem Christi quam concipi-
endo carnem Christi ; Materna propinquitas, &c. that she was more
happy in carrying Christ in her heart than conceiving of him in her
womb. So Mark v. 18, 19, when Christ had cured a man that was pos
sessed of a whole legion of devils, ' he prayed him that he might be
with him. Howbeit, Jesus suffered him not, but bid him go home to
his friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for
thee, and hath had compassion on thee.' Our love to Christ is better
shown, not in our human and passionate affections to his bodily pre
sence, but in performance of those religious services he requireth of us ;
he lingered after his bodily presence, but Christ expected not the offices
of human conversation, but duty and obedience to his commands from
him. So there is a famous instance of Christ's entertainment at
Bethany, Mark x. 38-52. There were two sisters, severally employed ;
Martha busied in the ministries and services of the outward entertain
ment, ' but Mary sat at Christ's feet (the posture of disciples) and
heard his word ; ' the one careful to entertain Christ in her heart, the
other into her house. Christ, wherever he came, was willing to
improve the opportunity, and to leave some spiritual blessing behind
him. He came not to be feasted, but to refresh souls. Martha com-
plaineth of Mary, as if her devotion had been unseasonable, to leave
the burden of the household affairs to her alone ; but Christ showeth
Mary's respect was more pleasing to him than Martha's, hearkening to
his word rather than making provisions for his person. Many would
seem to gratify Christ with an outward and carnal respect, but do not
hearken to his gracious words. So in other things ; weeping for him
when he went to suffer : Luke xxiii. 28, ' Weep not for me, ye daughters
224 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXI.
of Jerusalem, but weep for yourselves and children.' That would nob
comport with the end of the death of Christ, which was not to be
looked upon as a spectacle of human calamity, but as a mystery of
higher consideration, and God looked for more noble and spiritual
motions than this passionate condoling. So to fight for him ; Peter
was in a rage when they came to attack Christ, and therefore draweth
on a whole troop: John xviii. 11, 'Put up thy sword in thy sheath,
Peter. The cup which my Father hath put into my hand, shall I not
drink of it ? ' Peter's act seemed to express much zeal and affection
to Christ's person, but Christ showeth that he was appointed for a
higher purpose, and checketh Peter for his rashness. Nay, the disciples
languishing for the comforts of his bodily presence, then Christ told
them, John xiv. 15, 'If ye love me, keep my commandments.' When
a man is ready at our command, and willing to do what we would have
him to do, it is a sign of his love ; to be up and be doing is a sure
manifestation of obedience ; so John xx. 27, ' Touch me not, for I am
not yet ascended to my Father ; but go to my brethren, and say unto
them, I ascend.' Mary Magdalene was now fallen at Christ's feet, and
embraced them, Mat. xxviii. 9. They came and held him by the feet,
and worshipped him. In a humble and affectionate devotion, she
hangeth about our Saviour ; but Christ forbids this embracing ' Touch
me not ; ' it comes of human affection, out of a compliment ; but Christ
rejects this testimony of her love, and directs her to a more acceptable
service, to carry tidings to his brethren of his resurrection. And it
is more acceptable and pleasing to him to be about our service, and
doing good in our station, than to be performing these offices of human,
love, and kindness to his person, entertaining him, seeing, hearing him,
weeping for him, defending him. Otherwhiles he bids them come to
him : Luke xxiv. 39, ' Handle, and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and
bones, as ye see me have ; ' for a confirmation of their faith.
2. There is a knowing Christ after the flesh since his ascension into
heaven.
[1.] By a naked profession of his name, without conformity to his
laws. There are disciples in name, and disciples in deed : John viii.
31, 'If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed/
Christ hath some disciples who are so in reality, and others who are
so in show only ; there is no true ground of solid comfort but in being
real disciples. Others are but Christians in the letter, not in tho
spirit. Those that are in the letter have notions of God and Christ,
and heaven and hell ; but they have but names and notions of these
things, but feel nothing of the power and life that accompanieth these
things. A man may profess himself a Christian, and yet perish with
unbelievers ; yea, be as great an enemy to Christ as the Jews that
crucified him, and the heathens that worshipped other gods. A
grieving of his Spirit, a despising the fruits of his purchase, a refusal
of his holy ordinances, and a hatred of his servants, is no less offensive
to him, and may argue as little affection in us, as either the spite of
the Jews or idolatry of the heathens did in them to Christ. I call
this profession of careless, lawless Christians, a knowing Christ after
the flesh, because it is a mere carnal, human, natural respect to Christ's
memory, such as a man beareth to his famous ancestors, or the
VER. 16.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 225
deceased heroes of his country, not befitting him who is our mediator,
and lord of all things, who is best remembered when our hearts are
converted to him, and when his laws are obeyed ; such as the Jews
did bear to Abraham, the founder of their nation, or Moses the law
giver of their country. Surely Abraham and Moses were as dear to
the carnal Jews as Christ can be to us ; but Christ telleth them, ' It'
you were Abraham's seed, you would do the works of Abraham,' John
viii. 39 ; and John v. 46, ' If ye had believed Moses, ye would have
believed me/ They were Abraham's seed after the flesh, not after
the spirit; they were Abraham's seed after the flesh, but that did
avail them nothing, since they did not follow his example, but sought
to kill him, which was far from Abraham's spirit and temper. A
little of men's practice is a surer rule to try by than all their fair
language and complimental respect : John ix. 28, 29, ' Then they
reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple ; we are Moses' disciples.
We know that God spake to Moses : but as for this fellow, we know
not whence he is.' However he, or such as he, were so fully resolved
to become disciples to Christ, yet they would cleave to Moses, John
ix. 28. Thus are the best of men mistaken and abused by their carnal
successors : they made use of Moses' name to excuse their disobedience
to Christ. It is an old trick of degenerate men to cry up the names
of pious ancestors, and externally to adore the memory of saints
departed ; but such motives of love are but carnal, when there is an
apparent inconformity between you and the persons whom you would
magnify. We detest the memory of Annas and Caiaphas, Judas, and
such others as conspired to take away the life of Christ; so did they
of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Ahab was accounted as wicked by
them as Pilate by us; therefore to rest in a naked, historical belief,
and mere profession of the name of Christ, when there is such an
apparent insubjection to his laws, it is but a knowing Christ after the
flesh, owning him as the God of the country upon custom and tradition.
Well then, Christ is never rightly entertained but when his doctrine
is received and entertained by faith ; though there should be a hatred
of his persecutors, a quarrelling for his religion, you put him to more
shame in your conversations, and crucify him afresh every day : Heb.
vi. 6, ' Seeing they have crucified to themselves the Son of God afresh,
and put him to open shame/ A quarrelling ruffian may be ready to
fly in the face of him that shall speak a disgraceful word against his
father, when his own dissolute and ungracious wicked courses grieve his
father's spirit, and shame him more than all their reproaches; so
many will pretend much love to Christ, and in a heat and quarrel
be ready to venture their lives for their religion. No man would have
his religion despised ; but yet he shameth and bringeth it most into
contempt that matcheth it with disproportionate practices; as those
are called enemies to the cross of Christ that preached Christ, but yet
lived in a sensual and earthly manner, Phil. iii. 19.
[2.] By acts of sensitive affection in the reading or meditating on
the story of Christ's sufferings, or when you hear his passion laid open
in a rhetorical fashion. Men, at such occasions, find that there is
stirred up in themselves some fond pity at his sufferings, and indigna
tion at the Jews, and are ready to fly in the face of Judas that betrayed
VOL. XIII. 1'
226 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiU. XXXI.
him, and the rulers and those that put him to death. All this is hut
a human natural respect, such as we will find in ourselves at any
tragical representation, true or false. Let a man but read the sad
preparation of Abraham, when he went to sacrifice his son Isaac ; or
the pitiful words and moans of Jacob, when they told him that some
beast had devoured Joseph, and showed him his coat ; the sacking of
Jerusalem by the Babylonians, or how they handled that miserable
king Zedekiah, when they had first slain his children before his face,
and then put out his eyes ; or the lamentations of Dido for .ZEneas,
when she slew herself. These stories will draw as many tears from our
eyes as the story of Christ's sufferings ; things of small importance,
well represented to the fancy, may thus affect us. And besides, these
light affections do not comply with God's end in the mystery of
redemption. We are not to reflect upon the death of Christ as a
tragical accident or sad story, but as a well-spring of salvation ; and
God looketh for more noble and spiritual motions namely, that we
should be affected with the horror of our sins that crucified the Lord
of glory, and the terror of that dreadful severity which God manifested
on his own Son when he took our burden upon him, and the admira
tion of his incomparable wisdom, which could join his mercy with his
justice, the unspeakable joy of salvation, which is derived thence to
us, and the ardent love which we should bear to the Father, who hath
given his Son to die for us. These are the true resentments of the
death of Christ ; even that we may raise our hopes of mercy upon the
foundation of his merit and satisfaction as the price of our blessings,
and engage ourselves to God in a way of thankfulness for his great
love and mercy, and increase our hatred of sin, having such a glass
wherein to view our hatefulness. Now these are spiritual respects ; the
other are but carnal, such as we would show to man pitifully handled.
[3.] By expressing our respects more in the pomp and pageantry of
outward compliments, rather than serious devotion, or a hearty,
obedience to his laws, or worshipping him in spirit and in truth. This
is also a knowing Christ after the flesh, or a carving out a respect to
him that rather suiteth with our carnal minds than his glorious estate
now in heaven. The whole genius of the popish religion runneth this
way, where the worship of Christ is turned into a theatrical pomp, and
the simplicity of the gospel is changed into weak and silly observances
and beggarly rudiments, which betray it to the contempt and scorn of
all considering men, and is no more pleasing to Christ than the
mockage of the Jews and soldiers that put a purple robe upon Christ,
and cried, Hail, king of the Jews ! when they spit upon him, and
buffeted him. In Christians it is but to compliment Christ, to feast and
make mirth for his memory, and deck our bodies and houses, whilst
we look not after rejoicing in the spirit; to be all for sumptuous
temples, and costly furniture, and rich altar-cloths and vestments,
while bis laws are trampled underfoot; and those that would sincerely
worship Christ, and make it their business to go to heaven, are despised
and maligned, and it may be condemned to the fires. It is not the
pomp of ceremonies, but faith and brokeuness of heart, and diligence
in his service, and living in the Spirit, that Christ mainly looketh after.
Religion looketh more like a worldly thing in a carnal dress, but the
VEB. 16.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 227
king's daughter is glorious within, Ps. xlv. 13. The glory of the true
church, and every member thereof, is in things spiritual, as knowledge,
faith, love, hope, courage, zeal, sobriety, patience, humility ; these are
the true glories of the saints, not golden images, and rich accommoda
tions, and outward triumph, and carnal revellings. And the great thing
Christ hath commended to us in his doctrine is a holy heart and a holy
life : Ps. xciii. 5, ' Holiness become th thy house, Lord, for ever ; '
not pomp and gaudry of worship, but purity and holiness, that is a
standing ornament.
[4 ] By herding with a stricter party, whilst yet our hearts are not,
subdued to God. There are three places prove this : Gal. vi. 15, ' For
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth any
thing, but a new creature ; ' Gal. v. 6, ' For in Christ Jesus neither cir
cumcision nor uncircomcision availeth anything, but faith that worketh
by love;' and 1 Cor. vii. 19, 'Circumcision is nothing, and uncir
cumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God.' Men
hug others because they are of their party and fellowship ; it is religion
enough to be one of them, of such a party and denomination as obtains
the vogue, and is of most esteem among Christians in that age. Yet
how strict soever our party be, if our hearts be not subdued to Christ,
all is as nothing in the sight of God ; till a man be a new creature, it
is but a fleshly knowing of Christ. A man may change his party, as
a piece of lead will receive any impression, either angel or devil, or
what you stamp upon it.
3. This knowing Christ after the flesh will do us no good, be of no
comfort and use to us as to the salvation of our souls.
[1.] Because God is no respecter of persons : 1 Peter i. 17, ' If you
call him father, who without respect of persons judgeth every man
according to his works.' The TrpoacoTroX.Tj-^ria is the outward
appearance, but God is dTrpoatoXT/TTTO)? icpivovTa, one that doth
not judge by outward respects. The prosopon of the Jew was
his knowledge of the law, and enjoying the ordinances of God ; the
prosopon of the Christian is his profession of respect to Christ and
esteem of him. But God judgeth not by the appearance, but by the
internal habit and constitution of the heart, manifested by an uniform
obedience to his whole will ; otherwise circumcision may become
uncircumcision, or Christianity as paganism. Therefore it is not
enough to profess you are for Christ, of his faction and party ; for
there is a faction of cbrustians as well as a religion. They are of the
faction of Christians, whose interest and education leadeth them to
profess love to Christ, without any change of heart, or serious bent of
soul towards him. Now this is the prosopon according to which God
may be supposed to judge ; for you do not think riches or poverty, fear
or love, can so much as be supposed to be in God, but profession or
not profession is that he looks to.
[2.] Because Christ hath put us upon another trial than a fond
affection to his outward person and memory, namely, by our respect to
his commandments: John xiv. 21, 'He that hath my commandments,
and keepeth. them, he it is that loveth me/ There is the main ; other
things will not pass for love, though they be taken for such in the
world. And John xv. 14, 'Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I
228 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SEE. XXXI.
command you.' Perfect friendship consists in harmony, or an
agreement in mind and will. If you have any true love to Christ, it
will make the soul hate everything which it knoweth to be contrary
to his nature and will : Ps. xcvii. 10, ' Ye that love the Lord, hate
evil ; ' and constraineth the soul to set about everything which it
knoweth will please and honour him : 2 Cor. v. 14, ' The love of Christ
constraineth us ; ' if we do but love him, and be sensible of the obliga
tion he hath left upon us. So it will be in a real spiritual love.
[3.] Because they cannot truly challenge the name of Christians
that do only know Christ after the flesh. Christ, being now exalted,
requireth a spiritual converse with him. When Christ hath laid
aside his mortal life, we should lay aside our carnal conceits
and affections. There were some Jewish imposters that Eusebius
writeth of, mongrel Christians, Chocabites and Nazarites, who called
themselves the Lord's kinsmen ; a sort of cozening and heretical
companions they were, who, for their own purposes, foraged the
country up and down, as the gipsies now do, amusing the world
with genealogies, and drawing the vulgar after them, with many vain
fancies, denied the resurrection, interpreting all said about it of the
new creature, pretending belief in Christ, but observing the law of
Moses, against whom the Epistle to the Galatians is supposed to be
written. And there were some that knew Moses after the flesh, and
seemed to pretend much zeal to the law of Moses. Now the apostle
saith they deserved to be called the concision rather than the circum
cision, whereof they gave out themselves to be patrons and defenders.
The true believers had right to that title, because they had the thing
signified by circumcision, worshipping God with the inward and spiritual
affection of a renewed heart, and trusting in Christ alone for salvation,
who was the substance of the shadows, and renouncing confidence in
fleshly privileges, worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus.
So for Christians glorying in externals is scarce worthy the name of
Christianity, if they have the name, not the reality.
[4.] Because this knowing Christ after the flesh is inconsistent with
his glorious estate in heaven. It pleased him not in the days of his
Hesh. A divine spiritual affection doth only befit the state of glory
to which he is exalted. Now he is ascended into heaven, he is to be
known in faith and worshipped in spirit ; his body is above all kind
ness, and his memory is to be respected not as the memory of an hon
ourable man, but as one who is Lord of the church, and governeth it
by his Spirit to the end of the world, Phil. ii. 10, 11 ; not, ' Lord,
Lord,' but obedience, Mat. vii. 22.
Use 1. Is reproof of those that please themselves with that deceit of
heart, that if they had lived in the days of Christ, conversed with our
Saviour, and heard his doctrine, and seen his miracles and holy life,
they would not have used him as the Jews did, but expressed kindness
and love to his person. Now to these let me say
1. That it is an old deceit of heart. We usually translate the scene of
our duty to former times, and lay aside at the present that work and
expression of love which God hath called us to. God knoweth in what
age to cast you, and what means and dispensations are fittest for you ;
he that doth not improve present meang will not improve any :
VEIL 1G.J SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 229
1 Peter, i. 8, ' Whom having not seen, we love ; in whom, though
now you see him not, yet, believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and
full of glory.' If ye receive his doctrine, obey his laws, believe in him,
love him, rejoice in the midst of afflictions, you express your love to
Christ.
2. It is not likely you would do otherwise, having the same temper
and constitution of soul which they had that opposed Christ, the same
root of bitterness in you. You hate those in whom there is the image
of Christ, and some representation of his holiness and meekness. We
read of those, Mat. xxiii. 29, 30, ' Who build the tombs of the prophets,
and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in
the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in
the blood of the prophets,' who yet persecuted Christ ; as many will
condemn the former adversaries of the martyrs, Bonner and Gardiner.
Christ taught no other doctrine than that which the prophets and
martyrs had done ; but dead saints do not exasperate. And what
entertainment would a rude, dissolute sort of people give to such a mean
but holy person as Christ was, that was so free in his reproofs ? ' Ye
are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do/
John viii. 44. He that now showeth a spiteful and malicious mind
against the truth and servants of God shall never make me think other
wise, but if he had lived in Christ's da) 7 s he would have been as ready
and forward to persecute him as the worst. Certainly a Herod and a
Herodias to John Baptist would have been an Ahab and a Jezebel to
Elijah ; ask them what they thought of Ahab and Jezebel, they would
have made many great protestations that they would have done far other
wise, but they did the same things to him that came in the spirit and
power of Elias. No miscreant but will cry out on the treachery of
Judas, the envy and malice of the high priests, the fury of Jews ; yet
the same thing is done by them whilst godliness is persecuted ; they are
still desirous to break this vessel where this treasure lieth ; dead saints
are out of sight, no eyesore to them, no way offensive to their ears.
3. If you should, this would not save you, without conversion to
God. The same laws were in force then that are now; knowing Christ
after the flesh would do you no good, but a spiritual and true affection
to him. The reward was still promised to true disciples : John xii.
26, ' If any man serve me, let him follow me ; and where I am, there
shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my Father
honour.' When some came to see him, he exhorted to imitation of his
example and subjection to his laws. It is but an outside appearance,
unless we humbly engage in his service, and have a desire to please him.
in all things. Oh ! therefore let us make this use of the love of Christ,
and the sense of our engagements to him, as to know Christ, not after
the flesh, but so as to love him and serve him, and subject ourselves to
his laws. , .
Use 2. Have we a better knowledge of Christ ? Do we know him
after the flesh, or after the spirit?
1. The ground of our knowledge, what is it? common tradition,
human credulity, or the illumination of the Holy Ghost ? The same
truths work differently, as represented in a different light. Common
report begets a cold Christianity, Mat. xvi. 16, 17; 1 John v. 4,5;
230 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XXXI.
1 Cor. ii. 4. Hearsay is an advantage, yet not to be rested in. We
stand upon higher ground than heathens, yet are not taller men :
John iv. 42, ' Now we believe, not because of thy saying, for we have
heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the
saviour of the world.' We ourselves should be acquainted with Christ ;
then we know the truth with more efficacy : John viii. 32, ' Ye shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free ;' with more clearness
and certainty : John xvii. 8, 'They have known surely aX^^w? that
I came out from thee'; Acts ii. 36, ' Therefore let all the house of Israel
know assuredly aX^&w? that God hath made that same Jesus, whom
ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.' You may venture safely upon
it, build on it as a sure foundation ; the other is but a dead and
weak thing, it vanquisheth no temptations, subdueth no carnal affec
tions.
2. The fruits and effects of our knowledge.
[1.] It is a transforming knowledge: 2 Cor. iii. 18, 'We all, with
open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed
into the same image from glory to gloiy.' Such a knowledge as begets
union with Christ, and a thorough change, so as to be converted to
him ; for it follows in the next verse to the text ' Therefore, if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature.' Christ liveth a new kind of
life in heaven, so should we upon earth ; he hath laid aside his mortal
life, so should we our carnal life, live to God in the spirit ' Know
him, and the power of his resurrection,' Phil. iii. 10. Christians are
to be esteemed by their profiting in godliness ; that is, knowing him
after the spirit. When we know that spiritual power which is in
him, and feel it in ourselves, renewing and changing the heart, we find
the power of his resurrection raising us from the death of sin to the
life of grace, if we are planted into Christ as living members of his
mystical body.
[2.] It is a knowledge that obscureth the splendour of all outward
excellences in our opinion, estimation, and affecaon : 1 Cor. ii. 2, ' For
I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and
him crucified ; ' 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.' All is nothing to this.
[3.] It weaneth the heart from outward observances and bodily
exercises to solid godliness, or looking after the life and power of them.
The ordinances of the law, though of God's own institution, are called
carnal : Heb. vii. 16, ' Not after the law of a carnal commandment ; ' the
worship of the gospel, spirit and truth : John iv. 23, 24. ' The hour is
coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father
in spirit and in truth ; for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit
and in truth.' The more true knowledge of the gospel the more of
this. As the apostle distinguisheth the "rrepiro^r) from the /caraTo//.?),
Phil. iii. 2, 3 ; and the apostle speaketh of the Jew, Rom. ii. 28, 29, ' For
he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision
which is outward in the flesh ; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly,
and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter.
VER. 17.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 231
whose praise is not of men but of God.' So it is with better reason
true of the Christian, the worship of the gospel consisting little of
externals, but being rational spiritual worship: 1 Peter iii. 21, 'The
like figure whereuuto even baptism doth also now save us (not the
putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good con
science towards God), by the resurrection of Jesus Christ ;' Col. ii. 6,
' As ye have received the Lord Jesus Christ, so walk ye in him ' we
receive his Spirit. That is a sorry zeal, and hath little of a Christian
spirit, that runneth altogether upon outward things. Christianity first
degenerated by this means, and the life and power of it was extinguished
when it began to run out altogether in form, and men out of a natural
devotion grew excessive that way. A Christian, in obedience to God,
is to use his instituted externals, but his heart is upon the spirit and
soul of duties. Multiplying rites and ceremonies has eaten out the
life and heart of religion. The more spiritual and substantial worship
is the better, if there be humble and affectionate reverence, a ready
subjection and submission to him flowing from grace, engaging the
heart to God, and animated by the influence and breathing of his Spirit.
SERMON XXXII.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature ; old things
are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 COR. v. 17.
THIS is an inference out of the former doctrine. Two things the
apostle had said ' Henceforth we no more live to ourselves/ ver. 15,
and, ' Henceforth know we him no more/ ver. 16. There is a change
wrought in us a change of life, and a change of judgment ; a new
life, because there is a new judgment. Now in the text he showeth a
reason why he changed his judgment and life, and lived and judged
otherwise than he did before, because there is such a change wrought
in all that belong to Christ, that they are, as it were, other persons than
they were. As when Saul prophesied : 1 Kings x. 6, ' The Spirit of
the Lord shall come upon thee, and thou shalt be turned into another
man/ not in respect of person, or in regard of substance, but some
gifts and graces. So these should be as other creatures, as new
creatures. Now these things should only be in esteem with Christians
which belong to the new creature or regeneration. ' Therefore if any
man be in Christ/ &c.
In the words we have a proposition (1.) Asserted ; (2) Explained.
1. The proposition asserted is hypothetical, in which there is (1.)
An hypothesis or proposition If any man be in Christ ; (2.) The
assertion built thereon He is a new weature xaivrj KTIO-K;, a new
creation. The act of creation is signified by this form of speech, as
well as the thing created.
2. The proposition explained ; for there is (1.) A destructive work,
or a pulling down of the old house Old things are passed away ;
232 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SKU. XXXII.
(2.) An adstructive work, or raising of the new fabric All things are
become new. The words are originally taken out of Isa. Ixv. 17, and
Isa. Ixvi. 22, where God promiseth a new heaven and a new earth ;
that is, a new world or a new state of things. Which promises had a
threefold accomplishment.
[1.] These promises should have some accomplishment at their
return from Babylon, which was a new world to the ruined and exiled
state of the church of the Jews.
[2.] These promises were fulfilled to all believers in their regenera
tion, which is as a new world to sinners.
[3.] They shall be accomplished most fully in the life to come, for
the apostle telleth us, 2 Peter iii. 19, ' We look for new heavens and
a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.' Here it signifieth then
that all things which belong to the old man shall be abolished, and
the new man, and its interests and inclinations, cherished.
Doct. All those that are united to Christ are, and ought to be, new
creatures.
Here I shall inquire (1.) What it is to be new creatures. (2.) In
what sense we are said to be united to Christ. (3.) How the new
creation floweth from our union with Christ.
First. What it is to be new creatures, It implieth
1. That there must be a change wrought in us, so that we are as it
were other men and women than we were before ; as if another soul
came to dwell in our body. This change is represented in such terms
in scripture as do imply such a broad and sensible difference as is
between light and darkness, Eph. v. 8; life and death, 1 John. iii. 14;
the new man and the old, Eph. iv. 22-24. The vicious qualities must
be subdued and mortified, and contrary qualities and graces planted in
their stead. A man is so changed in his nature as if a lion were turned
into a lamb, as the prophet says when he sets forth the strange effects
of Christ's powerful government over the souls of those who by the
ministry of the word are subdued to him : Isa. xi. 6. 8, ' The wolf also
shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the
kid ; and the calf and the young lion and the falling together ; and a
young child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed ;
their young ones shall lie down together : and the lion shall eat straw
with the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.' They
shall be so inwardly and thoroughly changed that they shall seem new
creatures, transformed out of beasts into men; and instead of a hurtful,
they should have an innocent and harmless disposition. Without a
metaphor this is represented: 1 Cor. vi. 11, 'And such were some of
you ; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.' An instance
we have, Philem. 11, in Onesimus, ' which in time past was unprofitable,
now profitable both to thee and me.'
2. This change must be such as may amount to a new creation.
There are some changes which do not go so far ; as
[1.] A moral change : from profaneness to a more sober course of
life. There are some sins which nature discovereth, which may be pre
vented by such reasons and arguments as nature suggesteth : Rom. ii.
VEK. 17.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 233
14, ' For the Gentiles which have not the law do by nature the things
contained in the law ; these having not the law, are a law unto them
selves.' This may be done by philosophical institution, without an
interest in Christ, or the power of the Holy Ghost, or knowledge of the
scriptures. Men may a little fashion their outward behaviour into an
handsomer mode and dress ; but the new creature signifieth such a
change that not only of vicious he becometh virtuous, but of carnal he
becometh spiritual. I gather that from John iii. 6, ' That which is
born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit is spirit/ A
man by nature is carnal, yea, very flesh itself. He is so when he
inclineth to things pleasing to the flesh, seeketh them only, favoureth
them only, affecteth them only, inclineth to them only. They that are
guided by sense, and not by faith, by the interests and inclinations of
the flesh, and not the spirit, are natural men, whatever change is
wrought in them: Jude 19, 'Sensual, having not the Spirit ; ' and
1 Cor. ii. 14, ' The natural man discerneth not the things of God ; ' he
acteth but as a nobler and better-natured animal or living creature.
The flesh may be pleased in a cleanly as well as in a grosser manner ;
and though men live plausibly, yet still they may live to themselves, and
only live the animal life, not only common to us and other men, but
us and beasts ; their thoughts, ends, cares run that way ; and being
void of spiritual life, are ignorant, mindless of another world, or the
way that leadeth thither, and desire it not. Now these, though they
are not profane, do not wallow in gross sins and wickedness, whereby
others dishonour human nature, yet because they do not look after a
better life, have no desire of better things fixed upon their minds, they
are carnal. That is the true change, and they only are new creatures
who before sought carnal things with the greatest earnestness, breathed
after carnal delights, contented themselves with this lower happiness,
but afterwards desire spiritual and heavenly things, and really en
deavour to get them, which mere human nature can never bring them,
unto ; for flesh riseth no higher than a fleshy inclination can move it.
Others are but as a sow washed ; a sow washed is a sow still. So is a
carnal man well fashioned.
[2.] Not some sudden turn into a religious frame, and as soon worn
off. A man may have some devout pangs and fits, such as Ahab had
in his humiliations, when he went mournfully and softly, 1 Kings xxi.
27 ; or as those that howled upon their beds for corn and wine and oil,
and were frightened into a little religiousness in their straits and neces
sities, Hos. vii. 14 ; or those whom the prophet speaketh of : Jer. xxxiv.
15, ' And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight ; but
ye returned again, and polluted my name/ A people may be changed
from evil to good, but then they may change again from good to evil.
This change doth not amount to the new creature, for that is a durable
thing: 1 John iii. 9, cnrepua pevov, 'Whosoever is born of God
doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin.
because he is born of God/ To be good for a day, a week, or month,
is but a violent enforcing themselves into a religious frame, on some
great judgment, distress, powerful conviction, or solemn covenanting
with God : Deut. v. 29, ' Oh that there were an heart in them, that they
would fear me, and keep my commandments/
234 SEUMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SEU. XXXII.
[3.] A change of outward form without a change of heart ; as when
a man changeth parties in religion, and from an opposer becometh a
professor of a stricter way. No, the scripture opposeth this to the new
cre.-iture : Gal. vi. 15, ' For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth
anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.' A Christian
is not to be esteemed by any prerogative in the flesh, but by a real
regeneration ; if we have not the effect and power of our profession, it
will do us no good to come under the form of it. The new creature
lieth more in a new mind, new will, and new affections, than in a new
tongue, or a new form, or a new name. And usually in the regenerate
there is a change, as from profaneness to profession, so from profes
sion and formality to a deep reality and godly sincerity. Sometimes
they may go together, but that is in those that are religiously bred up.
Commonly it is otherwise; and therefore when converted there is a new
faith and a new repentance, and they serve God after a new manner,
and pray and hear otherwise than they were wont to do. Therefore
certainly it is not being of this or that party or opinion, though some more
strict than others, or doing this or that particular thing, or submitting
to this or that particular ordinance, nor a bare praying or hearing, or
some kind of repenting or believing, that will evidence our being in
Christ, but the doing all these things in a new state and nature, and
with that life and seriousness which becometh new creatures.
[4] Not a partial change. It is not enough to be altered in this or
that particular, but the whole nature must be turned. Men from pas
sionate may grow meek, from negligent they may be more frequent in
duties of religion ; but the old nature still continueth. There may be
some transient acts of holiness which the Holy Ghost worketh in us
as a passenger, not as an inhabitant ; some good inclinations in some
few things, like a new piece in an old garment, there is no suitableness;
and so their returning to sinning is worse than their first sinning, and
for the present one part of their lives is a contradiction and a reproach
to another. In the text ' all old things are passed away, and all things
are become new ; ' not a few only. There are new thoughts, new
affections, new desires, new hopes, new loves, new delights, new pas
sions, new discourses, new conversations. This work new mouldeth
the heart, and stampeth all our actions, so that we drive a new trade
for another world, and set up another work to which we were utter
strangers before, and have new solaces, new comforts, new motives.
The new creature is entire, not half new and half old. This is the
difference between the new birth and the old: in the natural birth a
creature may come forth maimed, wanting an arm, a leg or a hand ;
but in the new creation there is a perfection of parts, though not of
degrees, for a defect of parts cannot be supplied by an after-growth.
A new creature is made all new ; there is a universality in the change.
God worketh not his work by halves ; no man had ever his heart half
new and half old. No, though his work be not perfect, yet it is growing
to its perfection. If any one corruption remain unmortified, or unbroken
or allowed in the soul, it keepeth afoot the devil's interest, and will in
time spoil all the good qualities we have.
3. No change amounteth to the new creature but what introduceth
the life of God and likeness to God.
VER. 17.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 235
[1.] Where the new creation obtaineth, there is life, called sometimes
the life of God, Eph. iv. 18, because it came from God, and tendeth to
him ; sometimes spiritual life, Gal. v. 25, and 1 Peter, iv. 6, because
the Spirit is the author of this change ; sometimes a scriptural life, be
cause the word of God is the rule and food of it, Phil ii. 16, ' Holding
forth the word of life;' sometimes a heavenly life, because of its end
and tendency : Phil. iii. 20, ' But our conversation is in heaven.' But
call it what you will, a life there is : the soul that was dead in sin be-
cometh alive to God, yea, the Spirit itself becometh a principle of life
in us; so that they are really alive to God, and dead to sin and the world.
Now would you know whether a man be alive or dead ? Observe him
in his desires and endeavours after God, and there you shall see by his
actions and earnestness that he is alive. But if you would try whether
a carnal man be alive or dead, you must see by his desires and endea
vours after the flesh that he is alive, for by any that he hath after God
you cannot see it. Sense, motion, and affection are the fruits of life.
Stirrings, and activity, and sensible feelings are uncertain things to
judge by ; but the scope, tendency, and drift of our endeavours will more
certainly discover it. He that is regenerated by the power and Spirit of
Christ doth no more seek his happiness in carnal things , but the bent,
drift and stream of his life and love doth carry his love another way.
[2.] Where the new creation obtaineth there is likeness ; and to be
new creatures is to be made like God, or to have the soul renewed to
God's image : 2 Cor. iii. 18, ' Beholding as in a glass the glory of the
Lord, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory;'
' Christ is formed in you,' Gal. iv. 19 ; made ' partakers of the divine
nature,' 2 Peter, i. 4. It is for the honour of Christ that his people
should bear his image and superscription, that he should do as much for
the renovation of the soul, and the restitution of God's image, as Adam,
did for the deformation of the soul, and the forfeiture of it ; therefore
in the new creation his great work is to make us holy, as God is holy.
The Spirit is sent by him from the Father to stamp God's image upon
the heirs of promise, whereby they are sealed and marked out for God's
peculiar ones ; they are sanctified and cleansed, and made more like
God and Christ, and are in the world such as he was in the world.
Nothing under heaven so like God as a holy soul.
4. This new state of life and likeness to God is fitly called a new
creature ; partly to show that it is God's work, for he only can create,
and therefore in scripture always ascribed to him : Eph. ii. 10, 'We
are his workmanship in Christ Jesus, created unto good works ; ' so,
Eph. iv. 24, 'Put on the new man, which is created after God;' so,
James i. 18, ' He hath begotten us by the word of truth, that we should
be a kind of first-fruits among his creatures.' We are so far dead in
trespasses and sins, that only an almighty, creating power is requisite
to work this change in us , nothing less will serve the turn. And
partly because this change thus wrought in us doth reach the whole
man, the soul and all the faculties thereof, the body and all the
members thereof are also renewed and changed: 1 Thes. v. 23, 'I pray
God sanctify your whole body, spirit and soul.' A man hath a new
judgment, esteeming all things as they tend to promote God's glory
and our eternal happiness ; a new will and affections, inclining to and
236 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXII.
desiring all things to this end, that we may please, glorify, and enjoy
God ; and the body is more ready to be employed to a gracious use
and purpose. There is a change wrought in our whole man, and the
inclination and bent of our lives is turned another way; so that the
good we once hated we now love, and the sin that we loved we now
hate, the duty that was tedious is now delightful.
Secondly. How are we united to Christ ? ' If a man be in Christ/ it
is said in the text. In the scripture Christ is sometimes said to be in
us : Col. i. 27, ' Christ in you, the hope of glory/ Sometimes we are
said to be in him, as here, as he is also said to live in us, and we in
him, Gal. ii. 20. Being in Christ noteth our union with him, and
interest in him. Now a man is united to Christ two ways
1. Externally.
2. Internally.
1. Externally, by baptism and profession: John xv. 2, 'Every
branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away/ These branches
are in him only by external covenanting, and professing relation to
him, and visible communion with him in the ordinances.
2. Internally ; when we are ingrafted into the mystical body of
Christ by his Spirit, and have the real effect of our baptism and pro
fession : 1 Cor. xii. 13, ' By one Spirit we are all baptized into one
body.' These two unions may be resembled by the ivy, that adhereth
to the oak, and the branches of the oak itself, which live in their root ;
the ivy hath a kind of life from the oak by external adhesion, but
bringeth forth fruit of its own ; the branches grow out of the root, and
bear fruit proper to the tree. All that are in Christ by external
adhesion are bound de jure to be new creatures ; but those that are
in Christ by mystical implantation, not only ought to be, but are, new
creatures.
Thirdly. How the new creation floweth from our union with Christ.
1. They that are ingrafted into Christ are made partakers of his
Spirit. And therefore by that Spirit they are renewed, and have
another nature put into them : Titus iii. 5, 6, 'Not by works of right
eousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us,
by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost,
which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour ; ' are
fitted to live a new life. It is not meet the Spirit of Christ should
work no otherwise than the bare spirit of a man. If one had power
to put the spirit of man into a brute beast, that brute beast would
discourse rationally. All that are united to Christ partake of his
divine Spirit, who doth sanctify the souls of his people, and doth mor
tify and master the strongest corruptions, and raise them to those
inclinations and affections to which nature is an utter stranger. The
impressions left upon the soul by the Spirit may be seen in the three
theological graces which constitute the new creature, mentioned 1 Cor.
xiii. 13, ' But now abideth faith, hope, and charity ; ' and 1 Thes.
v. 8, ' Putting on the breast-plate of faith and love, and for an helmet
the hope of salvation ; ' and elsewhere, ' Faith, love, and hope.' Now
the operations of all these graces imply a new and strange nature put
into us.
[1.] Faith, which convinceth us of things unseen, and to live in the
VEIL 17.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 237
delightful forethought of a world to come : 2 Cor. iv. 16-18, ' For this
cause we faint not ; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward
man is renewed day by day. For our light afflictions, which are but
for a moment, work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory ; while we look not to the things which are seen, but at the things
which are not seen ; for the things which are seen are temporal, but
the things which are not seen are eternal.' Now will there not be a
manifest difference between a man that is governed by sense, and one
guided and influenced by faith ? Certainly, more than there is in a
man that delighteth in ordering the affairs of commonwealths, and a
child that delighteth in moulding clay pies. So for love : a child of
God is so affected with the goodness that is in God, and the goodness,
that floweth from God in the wonders of his love by Christ, and the
goodness we hope for when all the promises are fulfilled, that all their
delights, desires, and endeavours are after God ; not to be great in the
world, but to enjoy God : Ps. Ixxiii. 25, ' Whom have I in heaven but
thee ? And there is none upon earth I desire besides thee ; ' and
therefore can easily overcome fleshly and worldly lusts, and such in
clinations as the rest of the world are mastered with. Well then, a
Christian ingrafted into Christ loseth all property in himself, and is
freed from self-love, and that carnal vanity to which it is addicted. Then
for hope, the strong and constant hope of a glorious estate in the other
world will make us deny the flesh, go through all sufferings and
difficulties to attain it : Acts. xxvi. 6, 7, ' And now I stand and am
judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers,
unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and
night, hope to come.' And so by consequence a man acteth like
another kind of creature than the rest of men are, or than he himself
was before.
2. The state of the gospel calleth for it ; for it is a change of
everything from what it was before. All things are new in the
kingdom of Christ, and therefore we should be new creatures also. In
the gospel there is a new Adam, which is Jesus Christ, a new covenant,
a new paradise (not that where Adam enjoyed God among the beasts,
but where the blessed enjoy God among the angels ), a new ministry,
new ordinances ; and therefore we also should be new creatures, and
serve God, ' not in the oldness of the letter, but the newness of the
spirit,' Rom. vii. 6. We are both obliged and fitted by this new state.
Since we have a new lord, a new law, all is new, there must be also a
new creation ; for as the general state of the church is renewed by
Christ, so every particular believer ought to participate of this new
estate.
3. The third argument shall be taken from the necessity of the
new creation :
[1.] In order to our present communion with God. The new crea
ture is necessary to converse with a holy and invisible God, earnestly,
frequently, reverently, and delightfully ; for the effects of the new crea
ture are life and likeness. Those that do not live the life of God are
estranged from him, Eph. iv. 18. Adam was alone, though compassed
about with multitude of creatures, beasts, and plants ; there was none
to converse with him, because they did not live his life. Trees cannot
238 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXII
converse with beasts, nor beasts with men, nor men with God, till they
have somewhat of the same nature and life. Sense fits the plants,
reason the beasts, so grace fits men. So for likeness, conformity is the
ground of communion : Amos iii. 3, ' How can two walk together,
except they are agreed ?' Our old course made the breach between
God and us : 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.' And our new life and likeness qualifieth for communion
with him: 1 John. i. 6, 7, 'If we say we have fellowship with him,
and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth ; but it' we walk in
the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.'
A holy creature may sweetly come and converse with a holy God.
[2.] In order to our service and obedience to God. Man is unfit for
God's use till he be new-moulded and framed again. Observe two
places : Eph. ii. 10, ' We are his workmanship in Christ Jesus, created
unto good works.' Every creature hath faculties suitable to those opera
tions which belong to that creature. So man must be new created and
new formed, that he may be prepared, fitted, and made ready for the
Lord. You cannot expect new operations till there be a new life.
The other place is, 2 Tim. ii. 21, ' If a man purge himself from these,
he shall be a vessel of honour, sanctified and meet for the master's use,
and prepared unto every good work.' There is a mass of corruption
which remaineth as a clog upon us, which maketh us averse and indis
posed for the work of God ; and the soul must be purged from these
lusts and inclinations to the vanities of the world, before it is meet,
prepared, and made ready for the acts of holiness. Here must be our
first care, to get the heart renewed. Many are troubled about this or
that duty, or particular branches of the spiritual life : first get life it
self, for there must be principles before there can be operations, and in
vain do we expect strengthening grace before we have received renew
ing grace. This is like little children, who attempt to run before they
can go. Many complain of this and that corruption, but they do not
groan under the burden of a corrupt nature, as suppose wandering
thoughts in prayer, when at the same time the heart is habitually
averse and estranged from God ; as if a man should complain of an
aching tooth, when a mortal disease hath seized upon his vitals ; of a
cut finger, when at the same time he is wounded at the heart ; of
deadness in duty, and want of quickening grace, when they want
converting grace, as if we would have the Spirit blow to a dead
coal ; complain of infirmities and incident weaknesses, when our
habitual aversation from God is not yet cured, and of our unpre-
paredness for service, when we have not the general and most
necessary preparation, are not yet come out of the carnal estate.
[3.] In order to our future enjoyment of God, and that glory and
blessedness which we expect in his heavenly kingdom. None but new
creatures are fit to enter into the new Jerusalem. It is said, John iii.
3, ' Except a man be born again, he shall not see the kingdom of God.'
Seeing is put for enjoying. He shall not be suffered to look within
the veil, much less to enter. Man neither knoweth his true happi
ness nor careth for it, but followeth after his old lusts till he be new
moulded and framed. By nature men are opposite to the kingdom of
VER. 17.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 239
God, it being invisible, future, spiritual, mostly for the soul. Now
men are for things seen, present, and bodily ; the interest of the flesh
governeth them in all their choices and inclinations; and how unmeet
are those for heaven ! In short, our frail bodies must be changed
before they can be brought to heaven ' We shall not all die, but we
shall all be changed/ saith the apostle. If thy body must be changed,
how much more thy soul ? if that which is frail, much more that
which is filthy. If bare flesh and blood cannot enter into heaven till
it be freed from its corruptible qualities, certainly a guilty soul cannot
enter into heaven till it be freed from its sinful qualities.
Use 1. To inform us
1. How ill they can make out their interest in Christ that are not
sensible of any change wrought in them. They have the old thoughts
and old discourses, and the old passions, and the old affections, and old
conversations still ; the old darkness and blindness which was upon
their minds ; the old stupidity, dullness, deadness, carelessness upon
their hearts, knowing nothing, regarding nothing of God ; the old end
and scope governeth them, to which they formerly referred all things ;
if there be a change there is some hope the Kedeemer hath been
at work in our hearts. You can remember how little favour you
had once for the things of the Spirit ; how little mind to Christ or
holiness ; how wholly given up to the pleasures of the flesh or profits
of the world. What a mastery your lusts had then over you, and
what a hard servitude you then were in : Titus iii. 3, ' Serving divers
lusts and pleasures.' Is the case altered with you now ? If it be, your
gust to fleshly delights is deadened, and your soul will be more taken
up with the affairs of another world. The drift, aim, and bent of your
lives is now for God and your salvation ; and your great business is
now the pleasing of God and the saving of your souls, and now you
are not servants to your fleshly appetites and senses, or things here
below, but masters, lords, and conquerors over them. But in most
that profess and pretend to an interest in Christ, there 1 is no such
change to be seen ; you may find their old sins and their old lusts,
and the old things of ungodliness, are not yet cast off. Such rubbish
and rotten building should not be left standing with the new ; old
leaves in autumn fall off in the spring.
2. It informeth us in what manner we should check sin ; by remem
bering it is an old thing to be done away, and how ill it becometh our
new state by Christ : 2 Peter i. 9, ' Hath forgotten that he was purged
from his old sins.' Former sins ought to be esteemed as rags that are
cast off, or vomit never to be licked up again. If we are and do pro
fess or esteem ourselves to be pardoned, we should never build again
what we have destroyed, and tear open our old wounds ; so 1 Peter i.
14. ' Not fashioning yourselves to the former lusts of your ignorance.'
We should not return to our old bondage and slavery : so 1 Cor. v. 7,
; Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump.' The
unsuitableness of it to our present state stirreth up our indignation :
' What have I any more to do with idols ? ' Hosea xiv. 8. Worldly
things are pleasing to the old man.
Use 2. Have we this evidence of eur being in Christ, that we are
made new creatures ?
240 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXII.
1. Have we a new mind ? A new creature hath a new sight of
things, looketh upon all things with a new eye, seeth more odiousness
in sin, more excellency in Christ, more beauty in holiness, more vanity
in the world than ever before. Knowing things after the flesh bringeth
in this discourse about the new creature in the text. A new value
and esteem of things doth much discover the temper of the heart : if
thou esteemest the reproach of Christ, Heb. xi. 26 ; esteemest the
decay of the outward man, to be abundantly recompensed by the
renewing of the inward, 2 Cor. iv. 16. A new creature is not only
changed himself, but all things about him are changed ; heaven is
another thing, and earth is another thing than it was before; he
looketh upon his body and soul with another eye.
2. As he hath a new mind and judgment, so the heart is new
moulded. The great blessing of the covenant is a new heart. Now
the heart is new when we are inclined to the ways of God, and
enabled to walk in them. There is
[1.] A new inclination, poise or weight upon the soul, bending it
to holy and heavenly things. This David prayeth for: Ps. cxix. 36,
'Incline my heart to thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.' And
is that preparedness and readiness for every good work which the
scripture speaketh of.
[2.] The heart is enabled : Ezek. xxxvi. 27, ' I will put a new spirit
into you, and cause you to walk in my ways.' Wherefore is a new heart
and a new strength of grace given, but to serve God acceptably, with
reverence and godly fear ? Heb. xii. 28, ' For the kingdom of God
standeth not in word, but power.'
[3.] New actions or a new conversation, called ' walking in newness
of life,' Bom. vii. 4. A Christian is another man. There is not only a
difference between him and others, but him and himself. He must
needs be so ; for he hath (1.) A new principle the Spirit of God.
As their own flesh before, John iii. 6, now his heart is suited to the
law of God : Heb. viii. 10, ' I will put my law into their minds, and
write them on their hearts ; ' and Eph. iv. '24, ' And that ye put on the
new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true
holiness.' (2.) A new rule; and therefore there must be a new way
and course : Gal. vi. 15, 16, ' For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as
many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy,
and upon the Israel of God ; ' and Ps. i. 2, ' But his delight is in the
law of God ; and in that law doth he meditate day and night.' As
their internal principle of operation is different, so the external rule of
their conversations is different. Others walk according to the course
of this world, or their own lusts : Bom xii. 2, ' And be not conformed
to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds.'
(3.) A new design and end : are taken off from carnal and earthly
things to spiritual and heavenly things, to seek after God and their
own salvation. The renewed, being called to the hope of eternal
life, look after God and heaven, to serve, please and glorify God.
VER. 18.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 24.1
SERMON XXXIII.
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus
Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.
2 COR. v. 18.
IN this verse the doctrine of the new creature is further prosecuted
with respect to the apostle's scope, which is to assert his fidelity in the
ministry. For here are three things laid down
1. The efficient cause of all is God.
2. The meritorious cause is Jesus Christ.
3. The instrumental cause is the word.
[1.] The original author of all gospel grace ' And all things are of
God ; ' ra Se Trdvra, all these things. He doth not speak of universal
creation, but of the peculiar grace of regeneration. It is God that
maketh all things new in the church, and formeth his people after his
own image.
[2.] The meritorious cause ; how cometh God to be so kind to us ?
We were his enemies. The apostle telleth us here, as elsewhere, he
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ : Rom. v. 10, ' When we
were enemies, we were reconciled by the death of his Son.' So
that we have the new creature by virtue of our reconciliation with God,
as pacified in Christ towards the elect, when our cause was desperate,-
there was no other way to recover us.
[3.] The instrumental cause, or means of application, is the ministry
of reconciliation, which was given to the apostles and other preachers
of the gospel. God is the author of grace, and Christ is the means to
bring us and God together, and the ministers have an office, power,
and commission to bring us and Christ together. And so Paul had
a double obligation to constancy and fidelity in his office : his
personal reconciliation, which was common to him with other
Christians ; and a ministerial delegation and trust to reconcile others
to Christ.
Two points will be discoursed in this verse
1. That God is the original author of the new creature, and all
things which belong thereunto.
2. That God is the author of the new creature, as reconciled to us
by Christ.
First, Let me insist upon the first point, and prove to you that
renovation is the proper work of God, and the sole effect of his Spirit.
That will appear
1. From the state of the person who is to be reconciled and
renewed. The object of this renovation is a sinner lying in a state of
defection from God, and under a loss of original righteousness, averse
from God, yea, an enemy to him, prone to all evil, weak, yea, dead to
all spiritual good ; and how can such an one renew and convert him
self to God ? It is true man hath some reason left, and may have
some confused notions and general apprehensions of things good and
evil, pleasing and displeasing to God, but the very apprehensions are
maimed and imperfect, and they often call good evil, and evil good,
VOL. XIII. Q
242 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XXXIII.
and put light for darkness, and darkness for light, Isa. v. 10. However,
to choose the one and leave the other, that is not in their power.
They may have loose desires of spiritual favours, especially as appre
hended under the quality of a natural good, or as separate from the
means: Num. xxiii. 10, ' Oh that I may die the death of the righteous ! '
They may long for the death of the righteous, though loath to live their
life. That excellency which they discover in spiritual things is appre
hended in a natural way : John vi. 36, ' And they said unto him, Lord,
evermore give us this bread.' But these desires are neither truly
spiritual, nor serious, nor constant, nor laborious. So that to appre
hend or seek after spiritual things in a spiritual manner is above their
reach and power. Neither if we consider what man is in his natural
estate ; this work must needs come of God. Man is blind in his mind,
perverse in his will, rebellious in his affections ; what sound part is
there in us left to mend the rest ? Will a nature that is carnal resist
and overcome flesh ? No ; our Lord telleth you, John iii. 6, ' That
which is born of flesh is flesh ; ' and his apostle, Rom. viii. 5, ' They
that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh/ Can a man
by his own mere strength be brought to abhor what he dearly loveth ?
and he that ' drinketh in iniquity like water,' Job xv. 16, of his own
accord be brought to loathe sin, and expel and drive it from him ? On
the other side, will he be ever brought to love what he abhorreth ?
Rom. viii. 7, ' Because the carnal mind is enmity to God, and is not
subject to the law, neither indeed can be.' There is enmity in an unre-
newed heart, till grace remove it. Can we that are worldly, wholly led
by sense, look for all our happiness in an unseen world, till we receive
another spirit ? The scripture will tell you no : 1 Cor. ii. 14, ' But
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit ; ' and 2 Peter
i. 9, ' He that lacketh these things (viz., faith and other graces) is blind,
and cannot see afar off.' What man of his own accord will deny
present things, and lay up his hopes in heaven ? Let that rare
phoenix be once produced; and then we may think of changing our
opinion, and lay aside the doctrine of supernatural grace. Can a stony
heart of itself become tender ? Ezek. xxxvi. 26 ; or a dead heart
quicken itself ? Eph. ii. 5. Then there were no need of putting our
selves to the pains and trouble of seeking all from above, and waiting
upon God with such seriousness and care.
2: From the nature of this work. It is called a new creation in the
17th verse, and Eph. ii. 10, and elsewhere. Now, creation is a work
of omnipotency, and proper to God. There is a. twofold creation.
In the beginning God made some things out of nothing, and some
things ex mhabiii materia out of foregoing matter ; but such as was
wholly unfit and indisposed for those things which were made of it ;
as when God made Adam out of the dust of the ground, and Eve out
of the rib of man. Now take the notion in the former and latter
sense, and you will see that God only can create. If in the former
sense, something and nothing have an infinite distance, and he only
that calleth the things that are not as though they were, can only
raise the one out of the other, he indeed can speak light out of dark-
n&ss, 2 Cor. iv. 6 ; life out of death, something out of nothing,
2 Peter i. 3. By the divine power all things are given to us, which
VER. 18.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 243
are necessary to life and godliness. He challeugeth this work as his
own, as belonging to his infinite power, to give grace to a graceless
soul. Or, if you will take the latter notion, creation out of unfit
matter ; he maketh those that were wholly indisposed to good, averse
from it, perverse resisters of what would bring them to it, tx_ be lovers
of holiness and godliness, and followers of it. God that made man at
first must renew him, and restore him to that image he lost : Col. iii.
10, ' Eestored to the image of him that created him,' and Eph. iv. 24,
' Created after God/ His work must be acknowledged in it, and
looked upon as a great work, not as a low, natural, or common
thing, otherwise you disparage the great benefit of the new creation.
3. From its connection with reconciliation. We can no more con
vert ourselves than reconcile ourselves to God. Kenewing and recon
ciling grace are often spoken of together, as in the text, and often
folded up in the same expression, as going pari passu : 1 Peter iii. 18.
' Bring us to God/ as being obtained both together ; Acts v. 31, ' Him
hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a saviour, to
give repentance to Israel and remission of sins ;' and 1 Cor. vi. 11,
' And such were some of you ; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified,
but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit
of our God.' And both are received from the same hand by virtue of
the same merit. Well then, there must be a supernatural work upon
us, to cure our unholiness, as well as a supernatural work without us,
to overcome our guiltiness. The same person that merited the one by
the value of his blood and sufferings, must apply the other by the
almighty power of his grace. And we needed the Son of God to be a
fountain of life, as well as the ransom for our souls ; and it is for the
honour of our Kedeemer that our whole and entire recovery should be
ascribed to him, not part only, as the freedom from guilt, but the
whole freedom from the power of sin ; and that he might be a complete
saviour to us. It is not sufficient only that he be a prophet or a
lawgiver, to give sufficient precepts, directions, and rules for the
sanctification and renovation of our natures, and propound sufficient
encouragements and motives in the promise of eternal life ; nor that
he should be priest only to offer a sacrifice for the expiation of our
sin ; but also be a fountain of light and grace, to renew God's image
upon the soul. As none but Christ is able to satisfy God's justice for
us, so none but Christ is able to change the heart of man : Job xiv. 4,
' Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? Not one/ This
work would cease for ever, as well as the other part of the ransom and
redemption of our souls. He had this in his eye when he died for us :
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 Titus ii. 14, 'Who gave himself for us, that he might
redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people
zealous of good works.' And he purchased this power into his own
hands, not into another's, and sendeth forth his conquering and
prevailing Spirit to bring back the souls of men to God. And
therefore, if this part of our salvation be not ascribed to Christ,
you rob him of his choicest glory ; for to sanctify is more than to
pardon.
244 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXIII.
4. From the effect of this renovation, which is the implantation of
the three graces, faith, hope, and love, which are our light, life, and
power. In the new nature faith is our light, because by it we see
things otherwise than we did before. We see God : Heb. xi. 26, ' By
faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king ; he endured
as seeing him who is invisible.' We see Christ: John vi. 40, 'That
every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on him/ They see such
an excellency in him that all other things are but dung and dross in
comparison of him. They see heaven and spiritual things, and things
to come : Heb. xi. 1, ' Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen ;' and Eph. i. 18, ' The eyes of your
understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope
of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in
the saints.' Faith is the eye of the new creature that giveth us
another sight of things than we had before. Without it we can
not see these things, 2 Peter i. 9. We understand what is good
for back and belly ; we see things at hand, but cannot see things afar
off. Then love is as it were the heart of the new creature, the seat of
life, or wherein the new bent and inclination to what is good and
holy doth most discover itself. We are never converted till God hath
our love ; for grace is a victorious suavity or complacency. God in
conversion acteth so powerfully, that his purpose is accomplished. He
nets upon the will of man with so much energy that he mastereth it,
and yet with so much sweetness that his power maketh us a willing
people, Ps. ex. 3. That is, he gaineth our love, and then nothing he
doth or saith is grievous, 1 John v. 3. Healing grace worketh mainly
by shedding abroad the love of God in our hearts, and causing us to
love him again. The sensitive delectation, which formerly captivated
the will, is subdued, and the soul is brought to delight in God as our
chief good ; so that grace, which is light in the understanding, is plea
sure in the will. There is a powerful love which maketh our duty
easy and agreeable to us. Then hope that is our strength, for the sense
of the other world, where we shall have what we believe and desire at
the fullest rate of enjoyment, doth fortify the heart against present temp
tations, the sorrows of the world, and the delights of sense. The soul
is weak when our expectation is cold and languid ; strong, when the
heart is most in heaven ; our moral and spiritual strength lieth in the
heavenly mind. It is our anchor and helmet. Now all these graces
are of God. The scripture is express both for faith, which giveth us a
new sight of things : Eph. ii. 8, ' By grace ye are saved, through faith ;
and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God ; ' and love, which
giveth us a new bent and inclination, or that victorious suavity which
gently mastereth the will by its affectionate allurements, or pleasingly
ravisheth the heart : 1 John iv. 7, ' Let us love one another, for love is
of God.' This holy fire is only kindled by a sunbeam ; and hope is
of the same extract and original : Horn. xv. 13, ' The God of hope fill
you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope,
through the power of the Holy Ghost.' That heavenly frame that
maintaineth comfort in our souls in the midst of the tumults and con
fusions of the present world, it is wrought in us by the Spirit : these
graces, as they are created after God, so created by God. After God ;
VER. 18.1 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 245
after his image. Wisdom, power and goodness are the three great
attributes to which answer light, life and power, or, which is all one,
faith, hope and love ; faith as the eye, and love as the heart. This
life is received by faith, and acted in love. Hope as the strength ; and
reason showeth it as well as scripture. Faith we cannot have of our
selves, for by sense we only see things that are before us. By reason
things future, as they are contained in their causes, may be seen, if
nothing hinder, but things spiritual, invisible, and wholly future, can
not be seen with any certainty, but in God's light, as he revealeth the
object and openeth the faculty. Love we cannot have of ourselves,
for man being a fleshly creature, his love accommodateth itself to the
interests of his flesh. Suppose it to be placed like a needle between
two loadstones, between God and the world, surely it will be drawn
away by what is strongest and nearest. Self-love, being guided by
concupiscence, tendeth towards the creature, till it be mastered by
grace. Those pleasures which enter into the soul by the gate of the
senses will corrupt our love, till an higher pleasure, let in by the un
derstanding divinely enlightened, and into the will, draw it another
way ; for before the understanding is dazzled with false light, or ob
scured by real darkness, that it can hardly discern good from evil.
Such is the treachery of the senses, and revolt of the passions ; and the
will, perverted by concupiscence, hath no inclination but to what is
evil. Hope which floweth from love that cannot be ; for till God be
our chiefest good, how shall we seek and long for the time when we
shall fully enjoy him, with any life, seriousness and comfort ?
5. All things belonging to the new creature the scripture ascribeth
to God. Take that noted place, Phil. ii. 13, ' For God worketh in us
both to will and to do of his good pleasure ; ' all that we will and all
that we do in the spiritual life is of God. Mark here
[1.] He did not only give us the natural faculties at first. God, as
the author of nature, must be distinguished from God as the author of
grace ; that is another sphere and order of beings ; it is one thing to
make us men, another thing to make us saints or Christians. We have
understanding, will, and affections, and senses, as men, but we are
sanctified as Christians : 1 John v. 20, ' He hath given us an under
standing, that we may know him that is true.'
[2.] God doth not only concur to the exercise of these faculties, as a
general cause, as he doth to all the creatures, Acts xvii. 28. We cannot
stir nor move without him ; general providential assistance is necessary
to all things, or else they could not subsist ; as the fire could not burn
the three children, though he did not destroy the being or property of
it, only suspend his influence. So God is said to give the seeing eye
and the hearing ear ; not only the rational faculty, but the exercise ;
but this is not enough ; as the act is from God, so the graciousness of
the act.
[3.] To come more closely to the thing in hand. God doth not
only work merely by helping the will, but giving us the will, not by
curing the weakness of it, but by sanctifying it, and taking away the
sinfulness of it, and sweetly drawing it to himself. If the will were
only in a swoon and languishment, a little excitation, outward or in
ward, would serve the turn ; but it is stark dead ; they do but flatter
246 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [$ER. XXXIII.
nature that say of it as Christ of the damsel ' She is not dead but
sleepeth/ God s grace is not only necessary for facilitation, that we
may more easily choose and pursue that which is good ; as a horse is
requisite, that a man may pass over his journey more easily, which
otherwise he might do on foot with difficulty. No, it is impossible, as
well as difficult, till God giveth us the will and the deed.
[4.] God doth not only give a power to will if we please, or a power
to do if we please, but he giveth to will and to do, the act of willing
and doing. Adam had posse quod vellei, but we have velle quod pos-
simus he had a power to avoid sin if he would, but we have the will
itself ; but he worketh powerfully and efficaciously, that is to say, the
effect succeedeth : Ezek. xxxvi. 27, ' A new heart will I give to you,
and a new spirit will I put into you, and cause you to walk in my
ways.' If this were all the grace given to us for Christ's sake, that
we might be converted if we would, divers absurdities would follow.
(1.) That Christ died at uncertainties, and it is in the power and
pleasure of man's will to ratify and frustrate the end of his death ; for
it is a contingent thing whether a man will turn to God, yea or no.
No, it is not so left ; it doth not depend upon man's mutable will :
John vi. 37, ' All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.'
(2.) Man would be the principal cause of his own conversion, and
so would rob God of the glory of his free grace, and put the honour of
it on the liberty of man's will ; for grace giveth an indifferency, he
may or he may not ; but free will hath the casting voice. A power to
repent or believe he hath from God, but the determining act is from
himself, which is more noble ; for he doth more that doth will and
work, than he that giveth a power to will and work ; as it is a more
perfect thing to understand than to be able to understand ; the act is
more perfect than the power ; actus secundus est nobilior quam primus.
We should then expect from God no other grace but a power to repent
and believe ; but it is left to our wills to make it effectual or frustrate ;
is this all ? No ; God doth not only give a power to believe, but faith ;
a power to repent, but repentance itself ; not such grace as is effectual
only as man's will is pleased to use it, or not to use it, but victorious
grace, such as conquereth the heart of man, and sweetly subdueth it
to God.
(3.) Look to the prayers of the faithful dispersed everywhere in the
holy scriptures, and they understand this of effectual grace : ' Create
in me a clean heart,' saith David, Ps. li. 10 ; and Paul prayed, Heb.
xiii. 21, ' The Lord make you perfect in every good work, to do his
will, working in you that which is pleasing in his sight.' Grace effectual
by itself is prayed for, not a grace that giveth the possibility only, but
the effect ; not only such as doth invite and solicit us to good, but
such as doth incline and determine us to good.
(4.) This grace we give thanks for ; not for a power to repent and
believe, but for repentance and faith itself to be wrought in us. Put
it into the instance of Peter and Judas. For otherwise God would do no
more for Peter than for Judas, if God did only give a power to will, if
we please to do it, so man would difference himself, 1 Cor. iv. 7.
Then Peter no more than Judas, and Judas as much as Peter ; Lord,
I thank thee that thou hast given me some supernatural help, namely,
VER. 18.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 247
a power to return to thee, if I will. And the like help thou hast given
to my fellow disciple Judas, but this I have added of mine own accord,
a will to return and be converted. And though I have received no
more than he, yet I have done more than he, since I have accepted
grace, and he remaineth in sin. I owe no more to thy grace than Judas
did ; but I have done more for thy glory than Judas did.
(5.) Our first choice and willing the things of God, is not only given
us, but our willing and working when we are converted. Grace is no
less necessary to finish than to begin ; and the new state dependeth
absolutely on its influence from first to last 'He worketh all our
works for us.'
There is not one individual act of grace but God is interested in it,
as the soul is in every member ; there is not only a constant union by
virtue of their subsistence in the body, but there is a constant anima
tion and influence, and the members of the body have no power to
move, but as they are moved and acted by the soul. So grace is two
fold ; habitual, which giveth the Christian his supernatural being:
2 Peter i. 4, ' Who hath made us partakers of the divine nature ; ' and
actual, which raiseth and quickeneth them in their operations. To
this sense must these places be interpreted: John xv. 5, ' He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for
without me ye can do nothing ; ' and 2 Cor. iii. 5, ' Not that we are
sufficient of ourselves to think anything, but our sufficiency is of God.'
You will say then, What difference is there between the regenerate
and unregenerate. a natural man and a new creature ?
I answer, there is somewhat in them which may be called a new life,
and a new nature, somewhat distinct from Christ, or the Spirit of Christ
that worketh in them ; there is the habits of grace, or the seed of God,
1 John iii. 9 ; which cannot be Christ, or the Spirit, for it is a created
gift : Ps. li. 10, ' Create in me a clean heart.' This is called some
times the divine nature, sometimes the new creature, sometimes the
inward man, sometimes the good treasure, Mat. xii. 35 ; a stock of
grace which may be increased : 2 Peter iii. 18, ' But grow in grace,
and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.' All
which are not compatible to the Spirit, so that when the Spirit
worketh on us, it is in another manner than on the regenerate. At
first conversion we are mere objects of grace, but afterwards instru
ments of grace ; first upon us, and then by us. He worketh in the
regenerate and unregenerate in a different manner ; he works on the
unregenerate while they do nothing that is good, yea the contrary ;
the regenerate he helpeth not unless working, striving, labouring;
there is an inclination towards God and holy things which he
quickeneth and raiseth up.
(6.) In the same action, unless God continueth his assistance, we
fail and wax faint, for God doth not only give us the will, that is, the
desire and purpose, but the grace by which we do that good which we
will and purpose to do; these two are distinct, to will and to do.
And we may have assistance in one kind, and not in another; willing
and doing are different ; for Paul saith, Eom. vii. 18, ' To will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not'
There needeth grace for that also. To will is more than to think, and
248 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XXXIII.
to exert our will into action is more than both ; in all we need God's
help. We cannot think a good thought, nor conceive a holy purpose,
much less perform a good action; so that we need renewed strength
every moment. The heart of man is very mutable in the same duty,
and we can keep up our affections no longer than God is pleased to
hold them up. While the influence of grace is strong upon us, the
heart is kept in a warm, holy frame ; but as that abateth, the heart
swerveth, and returneth to sin and vanity ; instance in Peter, se posse
putabat quod se velle sentiebat.
Use 1. Let us apply this.
1. Take heed of an abuse of this doctrine. Let it not lull us asleep
in idleness, because God must do all, we must do nothing ; this is an
abuse ; the Spirit of God reasoneth otherwise: Phil. ii. 12, 13, 'Work
out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which
worketh in you both to will and to do.' Work, for God worketh ;
it cannot be a ground of looseness or laziness to the regenerate or
unregenerate.
[l.j Not to the unregenerate ; their impotency doth not dissolve
their obligation. A drunken servant is a servant, and bound to do his
work, though he hath disabled himself; it is no reason the master
should lose his right by the servant's default. Again, God's doing all
is an engagement to us to wait upon him in the use of means, that we
meet with God in his way, and he may meet with us in our way.
(1.) That we may meet with God in his way, God hath appointed
certain duties to convey and apply his grace. We are to lie at the
pool till the waters be stirred, to continue our attendance till God
giveth grace : Mark iv. 24, ' Take heed what ye hear. With what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you.' As you measure to
God in duties, so will God measure to you in blessings.
(2.) That God may meet with us in our way, God influenceth all
things according to their natural inclination. God enlighteneth with
the sun, burneth with the fire, reasoneth with man, acts necessarily
with necessary causes, and freely with free causes ; he doth not oppress
the liberty of the creature, but preserveth the nature and interest of
his workmanship, draweth men with the cords of a man, Hos. xi. 4.
He propoundeth reasons, which we consider, and so betake ourselves to
a godly course. The object of regeneration is a reasonable creature,
upon whom he worketh not as upon a stock or a stone, and maketh
use of the faculties which they have, showing us our lost estate, and
the possibility of salvation by Christ, sweetly inviting us to accept of
Christ's grace, that he may pardon our sins, sanctify our natures, and
lead us in the way of holiness unto eternal life. Now these means we
are to attend upon.
[2.] Not to the regenerate. Partly because they have some princi
ples of operation, there is life in them ; and where there is life, there is
a principle and power to act, or else God's most precious gifts would
be in vain ; and therefore it is their duty to rouse and quicken
themselves: 2 Tim. i. 6. ' That thou stir up the gift of God which is
in thee ;' and Isa. Ixiv. 7, 'No man stirreth up himself to seek after
God.' We have understanding and memory sanctified and planted
with a stock of divine knowledge, to revive truths upon the conscience.
VER. 18.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 249
And partly, because God's children are never so deserted but that there
is some help from God. There are auxilia necessaria. Some liberal
and plentiful aids of grace which may be suspended. But that grace
which is simply and absolutely necessary is still vouchsafed. Therefore
they are more inexcusable. If the wicked man that had but one
talent be taxed for being a lazy and slothful servant, Mat. xxv, much
more the regenerate that hath three talents a reasonable nature,
grace habitual, and such actual help as is absolutely necessary. And
partly, because to neglect duty is to resist grace, and run away from
our strength. God hath promised to be with us whilst we are doing :
1 Chron. xxii. 6, ' Up and be doing, and the Lord be with you.'
David's silence, and keeping off from God, did him no good. When
the eunuch was reading, and knew not what to make of it, God sent
him an interpreter, Acts viii.
2. It is an abuse to think the exhortation in vain, to press people
to become new creatures. It is not in vain :
[1.] That man may own his duty, and be sensible of the necessity
of the change of his estate, who would otherwise be altogether careless
and mindless of such a thing, a duty which must be speedily and
earnestly gone about, if they mean to be saved. The exhortation is a
demanding of God's right, and maketh the creature sensible of his own
obligation, that he may take care of this work as well as he can ; at
least, that he may acknowledge the debt, and confessing our impotency,
beg grace.
[2.] God requireth it of us, that he may work it in us ; he worketb
by requiring, for evangelical exhortations carry their own blessing with
them : John xi. 43, ' Lazarus, come forth ; ' there went a power and
efficacy with the words to raise him from the dead. So Mat. xii. 13,
' Stretch forth thine hand ; ' there was the difficulty, but the man
found help in stretching forth his hand.
[3.] The exhortation is not in vain, because there are some things
to be done before this ; renovation is in order thereunto, as wood is
dried before it is kindled. There are some preparations to conversion,
and we are to be active about them, as that we should rouse up our
selves : Ps. xxii. 27, ' The ends of the world shall remember, and turn
to the Lord ; ' and Ps. cxix. 59, ' I thought on my ways, and turned
my feet unto thy testimonies.' Man is very inconsiderate, his soul is
asleep till consideration awakens it, he is to try his own estate whether
good or bad : Lam. iii. 40, ' Search and try your ways, and turn unto
the Lord.' To set himself to seek after God in the best fashion he
can, Hos. v. 4. They will not frame their doings, nor think of recover
ing themselves, nor bending their course that way.
[4.] The exhortation is not in vain, that men may not hinder God's
work, and obstruct their own mercies, and render themselves more
unapt to be changed. God taketh notice they would not observe his
checks : Prov. i. 23, ' They set at nought my counsel, and would not
turn at my reproofs.' Sometimes conscience boggleth, either as excited
by the word ' Felix trembled,' Acts xxiv. 25 ; or some notable afflic
tion or strait, Gen. xlii. 21. By one means or other the waters are
stirred ; great helps are vouchsafed to us ; not to observe these seasons
is a great loss.
250 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXIIL
Use 2. What is the true use to be made of this doctrine ?
1. To make us sensible that it is a hard task to get the change of
the new creature. If you have mean thoughts of this work, you lessen
your obligation to God for your cure by the grace of your Redeemer ;
believing your disease light, you think your remedy easy, and so
cannot be thankful for your recovery, if you lessen your sickness. And
besides, it will lessen your care, and make you vain and negligent ; you
will not beg it of God so heartily, if you do not think this work to.be
what it is. Therefore, in the first place, you must be convinced of the
difficulty of it.
2. To check despair. Many when they hear they must be new men
in all things, conceit they shall never be able to reach it. Surely
Christ can change thy heart, Mat. xix. 26 ; he can make thee a new
creature ; he that can turn water into wine can also turn lions into
lambs.
3. To keep us humble ' For all things are of God. What have
we that we have not received ? ' 1 Cor. iv. 7. We have all by gift,
and if we be proud, it is that we are more in debt than others. Let us
not intercept God's honour.
4. To make us thankful. Give God the praise of changing thy
nature, if from a bad man thou art become good. He looketh for it,
for his great end is to exalt the glory of his grace. Now let us
ascribe all to him ; it was he at first that gave us those permanent
and fixed habits which constitute the new nature, he fnrnisheth us
with those daily supplies by which the spiritual life is maintained in
us. It is he that exciteth and perfecteth our actions ; therefore put
the crown still upon grace's head : Luke xix. 16, ' Thy pound hath
gained ten pounds ; ' Gal. ii. 20, ' Not I, but Christ that Hveth in me ;'
1 Cor. xv. 10, ' Not I, but the grace of God which was in me/ When
we have done and suffered most, we must say, Of thine own have we
given thee.
5. If all things are from God, let us love God in Christ the more,
and live to him ; it worketh upon our love, when we see how much we
are beholden to him, and our love should direct all things to his glory :
Rom. xi. 36, ' For all things are of him, and through him, and to
him.' What is from him must be used for him. Our new being
should be to the praise of his glorious grace, Eph. i. 12. Glorify
him in deed as well as word.
6. Live in a cheerful and continual dependence upon God for that
grace which is necessary, for our continual dependence doth engage us
to constant communion with God. If we did keep the stock ourselves,
God and we would soon grow strange ; as the prodigal, when he had
his portion in his own hands, goeth away from his father ; the throne
of grace would lie neglected and unfrequented, and God wQuld seldom
hear from us. Therefore God would keep grace in his own hands, to
oblige us to a continual intercourse with him. A cheerful dependence ;
for God is able and ready to help the waiting soul, and hath engaged
his faithfulness to give us necessary and effectual grace to preserve
the new life : 1 Cor. i. 9, ' God is faithful, by whom ye are called to
the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord ; ' 1 Thes. v. 24. I
will conclude with the words of Austin Job in stercore, &c. Job was
VER. 18.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 251
more happy in his miser} 7 than Adam in his innocency ; he was victori
ous on the dunghill, when the other was defeated on the throne ; he
gave no ear to the evil counsel of his wife, when the woman seduced
Adam. He despised the assaults of Satan, when the other suffered
himself to be worsted at the first temptation. He preserved his
righteousness in the midst of his sorrows, when the other lost his inno
cence in the midst of paradise. Therefore let us comfort ourselves in
the grace we have by Christ in the new covenant.
Secondly, That God is the author of the new creature, as reconciled
to us in Christ.
1. He would not give this benefit till justice be satisfied ; not set up
man with a new stock till there was satisfaction made for the breach
of the old. Christ hath pacified God for us, and all grace floweth
from this, that God is become a God of peace to us : Heb. xiii. 20,
' The God of peace make you perfect ; ' so 1 Thes. v. 23, ' The God of
peace sanctify you throughout.' While God is angry, there is no hope
to receive any gift of grace from him. The Holy Spirit is the gift of
his love, the fruit of his peace and reconciliation ; God is only the God
of peace, as satisfied by Christ's death ' The chastisement of our peace
was upon him,' Isa. liii. 5.
2. God is never actually reconciled to us, nor we to him, till he give
us the regenerating Spirit ; that is receiving the atonement, Rom. v.
11. Nothing but the new creature will evidence his special favour.
Therefore it is said, Rom. v. 5, ' Because the love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto us.' Other things may
be given us during his anger, yea, they may be given in anger, but the
regenerating Spirit is never given in anger.
3. We are so far renewed by this reconciliation, that in some respects
we are upon better terms than we were in innocency, before the breach ;
namely, as God giveth us effectual grace, not only such grace to stand
if we will, or obey if we will, but whereby we are effectually enabled
to obey and persevere.
Use. 1. Let us seek after this reconciliation with God by Christ ;
then we may comfortably look to obtain every good thing at his hands.
Sense of guilt is our first motive on our parts, and reconciliation
beginneth all on God's part. Surely God is willing to be reconciled,
because he hath laid such a foundation for it in the death of Christ ;
why else hath he appointed a ministry of reconciliation, but to call
upon us to cast away the weapons of our defiance, and to enter into
his peace?
2. It showeth us how much we are obliged to Jesus Christ, who by
his death hath satisfied God's justice, and merited all the mercies
promised ; the promises themselves ; for he is given for a covenant,
that is, the foundation of it, the terms and conditions, the power to
perform them, the ministry by which this peace is conveyed to us ; he
first preached peace : Eph. ii. 7, ' Having slain enmity by his cross.'
3. Let no breach fall out between God and you, lest it stop grace ;
the continual sanctification and perfection of man once regenerate,
cometh from the God of peace, dependeth upon this reconciliation, as
well as the first renovation, God's sanctifying power, and the abode of
his Spirit, is still necessary to renew us more and more.
252 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XXXIV.
SERMON XXXIV.
To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not
imputing their trespasses to them, and hath committed to us the
word of reconciliation. 2 COR. v. 19.
THE apostle, having mentioned reconciliation in the former verse,
doth now enforce, amplify, and explain it, and insist upon it in this
and the following verses. Here you have three things
1. The sum and substance of the gospel, or the way on God's part
God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.
2. The fruit of this reconciliation Not imputing their trespasses
to them.
3. The means of application, or bringing it about on man's part
s ev rjfjiiv, 'placed in us.'
For the first clause, ' God was in Christ reconciling the world to
himself ; ' this is the sum of the whole gospel. There is more glory in
this one line, than in the great volume of the whole creation ; there we
may read God infinite and glorious in his majesty and power, but here
in his wisdom and grace. A God reconciled should be welcome news
to the fallen creature. Reconciliation is good in any case. The
misery of the world cometh from the differences and disappointments
which are in the world. How happy were we, if all differences were
taken up between man and man, much more between God and man ;
if heaven and earth were once at an agreement. We are at a loss
how to make up our breaches with one another ; it is easy to open the
flood-gates, and let out the waters of strife ; but to set things at rights
again, and to reduce every stream into its proper channel, who hath
the skill to do that ? If we could once compose our own differences
by compromise, yet to take up the quarrel between us and God is not
so easy ; though men and angels had joined in consultation about a
way and project how to bring it to pass, we had still been to seek ; but
when man was at an utter loss, ' God was in Christ reconciling the
world to himself.'
In the words observe
[1.] A privilege Reconciliation, which is a returning to grace and
favour after a breach.
[2.] The author of the design God the Father, who in the mystery
of redemption is the highest judge and wronged party. ' God was iu
Christ reconciling the world to himself.'
[3.] The means In Christ. Reconciliation is considerable either
as to the purchase or application of it. As to the purchase, ' God
was in Christ reconciling ; ' God hath used Christ as a means to make
peace between him and us, Col. i. 20. The application, God is in
Christ reconciling by virtue of our union with him ; in Christ, God
that was formerly far from us is come nigh to us, and in Christ we
draw nigh to God ; in him we meet, and we in him, and he is in us.
[4.] The parties interested on the one hand, the world ; on the
other To himself.
(1.) ' The world.' The expression is used indefinitely, though not
. ID.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. 253
universally First, the world, to show that men, and not angels, 2 Peter
ii. 4 ; the sinning angels had no mediator nor reconciler. Secondly, to
note which is the ground of the gospel tendry ; John iii. 16, ' God so
loved the world, that whosoever believ f eth in him should not perish,
but have eternal life.' Thirdly, to represent the freeness of God's grace :
1 John v. 19, ' And, we know that we are of God, and the whole world
lieth in wickedness ; ' this world, that lay in sin was, God reconciling.
In themselves, God's elect differ nothing from the rest of the world till
grace prevent them ; they were as bad as any in the world, of the same
race of cursed mankind, not only living in the world, but after the
fashions of the world ; ' dead in trespasses and sins/ and obnoxious to
the curse and wrath of God. Fourthly, to show the amplitude of
God's grace, the greater and worse part of the world, the Gentiles as
well as the Jews : Rom. xi. 15, 'If the casting away of them be the
reconciling the world ; ' so 1 John ii. 2, ' And he is the propitiation for
our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.'
Fifthly, to awaken all that are concerned to look after this privilege,
which is common to all nations ; the offer is made indifferently to all
sorts of persons where the gospel cometh ; and this grace is effectually
applied to all the elect of all nations, and all sorts and conditions and
ranks of persons in the world. If thou art a member of the world,
thou shouldst not receive this grace in vain.
(2.) The other party concerned is the great God, ' to himself.' To
be reconciled to one another, when we have smarted sufficiently under
the fruits of our differences, will be found an especial blessing, much
more to be reconciled to God. This is the comfort here propounded,
'to himself/ of whom we stand so much in dread, 1 Sam. ii. 15 : ' If
one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him; but if a man
sin against God, who shall plead for him ? ' A fit umpire and mediator
may be found out in matters of difference and plea between man and
man, but who shall arbitrate and take up the difference between us and
God ? Here, first, the greatness of the privilege, That God will recon
cile us to himself.
Doct. There is a reconciliation made in and by Jesus Christ between
God and man.
First. I shall premise three things in general
First. That to reconcile is to bring into favour and friendship after
some breach made and offence taken ; as Luke xxiii. 12, 'The same
day Herod and Pilate were made friends, for before they were at enmity
between themselves/ So Joseph and his brethren were made friends ;
and the woman faulty is said to be reconciled to her husband, 1 Cor.
vii. 11 ; so Mat. v. 23, 24, ' If thou bringest thy gift to the altar, and
there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, go thy
way and be reconciled to thy brother/ All which places prove the
natural notion of the word ; and so it is fitly used for our recovery and
returning into grace and favour with God after a breach.
Secondly. That the reconciliation is mutual ; God is reconciled to
us, and we to God. Many will not hear that God is reconciled to us,
but only that we are reconciled to God ; but certainly there roust be
both ; God was angry with us, and we hated God ; the alienation was
mutual, and therefore the reconciliation must be so. The scripture
254 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXIV.
speaketh not only of an enmity and hatred on man's part : Rom. v. 10,
' For when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of his Son ; ' but also of wrath on God's part, not only against sin but the
sinner : Eph. ii. 3, ' Being children of wrath by nature.' Certainly
God doth not only hate sin, but is angry with the wicked because of it :
Ps vii. 11, ' God is angry with the wicked every day.' And we must
distinguish between the work of Christ in order to God, and the work
of the minister, and Christ by the ministry, in order to men. The
work of Christ in order to God, which is to appease the wrath of God ;
therefore it is said ; Heb. ii. 17, ' That he is a merciful and faithful high
priest, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people,' i\ua-/cea6ai.
Surely there God's being reconciled to us is intended by Christ's sacrifice
and intercession ; for Christ as an high priest hath to deal with us as
God's apostle with men : Heb. iii. 1, ' We in Christ's stead pray you to
be reconciled,' ver. 20; besides, our reconciliation is made the fruit of
Christ's death, in contradiction to his life, Rom. v. 10. The death of
Christ mainly respected the appeasing of the wrath of God ; whereas,
if it only implied the changing of our natures, it might as well be
ascribed to his life in heaven as his death upon earth. Again, the
scripture maketh this reconciliation to be a great instance of God's love
to us. Now, if it did only consist in laying aside our enmity to God,
it would rather be an instance of our love to God than his love to us.
Once more, the text is plain that God's reconciling the world to him.
self did consist in not imputing our trespasses to us, his laying aside
his suit and just plea he had against us ; so that it relateth to him.
Therefore upon the whole we may pronounce that God is recon
ciled to us, as well as we to God. Indeed, the scriptures do more
generally insist upon our being reconciled to God than God's
being reconciled to us ; for two reasons 1. Because we are in a
fault. It is the usual way of speaking amongst men ; he that
offendeth is said to be reconciled, because he was the cause of the
breach ; he needeth to reconcile himself and to appease him whom
he hath offended, which the innocent party needeth not he needeth
only to forgive, and to lay aside his just anger. We offended God,
not he us; therefore the scripture usually saith, We are reconciled
to God. 2. We have the benefit. It is no profit to God that
the creature enters into his peace ; he is happy within himself with
out our love or service, only we are undone if we are not upon good
terms with him. If any believe not, 'the wrath of God abidelh
upon him/ John iii. 36 ; and that is enough to make us eternally
miserable.
Thirdly, That reconciliation in scripture is sometimes ascribed to
God the Father, sometimes to Christ as mediator, sometimes to
believers themselves
1. To God the Father, as in the text, ' God was in Christ, reconcil
ing the world to himself ;' and in the verse before the text, ' Who hath
reconciled us to himself ; ' and Col. i. 20, ' Having made peace by the
blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself,' to God
the Father, as the primary cause of our reconciliation. He found out
and appointed the means, as he decreed from everlasting to restore
the elect fallen into sin unto grace and favour, and prepared whatever
VER. 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 255
was necessary to compose and take up the difference between him and
sinners.
2. Christ is said to reconcile, Eph. ii. 16 : ' That he might reconcile
both unto God in one body by the cross;' and Col. i. 21, 'Yet now
hath he reconciled ; ' not as the primary, but meritorious cause of
reconciliation, which respects both God and us ; chiefly God, as he was
appeased by the merit of his sacrifice, as he procured the Spirit, that
same Spirit whereby our enmity might be overcome, and we might yield
up ourselves to God, to love and serve and please him, for we by his
blood ' are purged from dead works, that we might serve the living
God/ Heb. ix. 14.
3. Believers are said to reconcile themselves to God : 2 Cor. v. 20,
' We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God ; ' as they
do embrace the offered benefit, and lay aside their enmity, and
love God that loveth them, and devote themselves to his use and
service.
Secondly, More particularly, I shall do three things (1.) State the
foregoing breach. (2.) Show you the nature of this reconciliation.
(3.) Show you how Christ is concerned in it.
1, To state the foregoing breach, take these propositions.
[1.] God and man were once near friends. Adam was the Lord's
favourite. You know till man was made, it is said of every rank and
species of the creature, ' God saw that it was good.' But when man
was made in his day: Gen. i. 31, ' God saw what he had made, and
behold, it was very good.' An object of special love, God expressed
more of his favour to him than to any other creature, except the
angels ' Man was made after his image,' Gen. i. 26. When you
make the image or picture of a man, you do not draw his feet or his
hands, but his face ; his tract or footprint may be found among the
creatures, but his image and express resemblance with man ; and so
he was fitted to live in delightful communion with his creator. Man
was his viceroy, Gen. i. 27. God entrusted him with the care, charge,
and dominion over all the creatures ; yea, he was capable of loving,
knowing, or enjoying God. Other creatures were capable of glorifying
God, of setting forth his power, wisdom, and goodness, objectively
and passively ; but man, of glorifying God actively, as being appointed
to be the mouth of the creation.
[2.] Man gets out of God's favour by conspiring with God's grand
enemy. His condition was happy but mutable, before Satan by
insinuating with him draweth him into rebellion against God ; and
upon this rebellion he forfeiteth all his privileges, God's image, favour,
and fellowship. God would deal with him in the way of a covenant:
Gen. ii. 17, ' In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die ; '
do and live, sin and die. The comminatory part is only expressed,
because that only took place ; so that by this rebellion he lost the
integrity of his nature, and all his happiness; he first ran away from
God, and then God drove him away ; he was first a fugitive, and then
an exile.
[3.] Man fallen draweth all his posterity along with him ; for God
dealt not with him as a single but as a public person : Rom. v. 13,
' Whereas by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin ,
256 SERMONS UPON 2 COK1NTHIANS V. [SfiR. XXXIV.
and so death passed upon all, for that all have sinned ; ' and 1 Cor.
xv. 47, ' The first man is of the earth, earthly ; the second man is the
Lord from heaven.' There is a first man and a second man, nos omnes
eramus in illo unus homo. Adam and Jesus are the two great
institutions, the one consistent with the wisdom and justice of God, as
the other with the wisdom and grace of God ; so that Adtim begets
enemies to God : Gen. v. 3, ' Adam begat a son in his own likeness ; '
and 1 Cor. xv. 49, we read of the image of ' the earthly one.' Every
man is born an enemy to God his nature opposite, his ways contrary
to God ; and so is eternally lost and undone, unless God make some
other provision for him.
[4.] The condition of every man by nature is to be a stranger and an
enemy to God : Col. i. 21, ' And you that were sometimes alienated,
and enemies in your minds/ That double notion is to be considered.
Strangers, there is no communion between God and us, we cannot
delight in God nor God in us, till there be a greater suitableness, or a
divine nature put into us. If that be too soft a notion, the next will
help it we are enemies. There is a perfect contrariety, we are perfectly
opposite to God in nature and ways ; we are enemies directly or for
mally, and in effect or by interpretation. Formally men are enemies,
open or secret ; open are those that bid open defiance to him, as pagans
and infidels, and idolaters ; secret, so are all sinners ; their hopes and
desires are ' that there were no God ; ' they would fain have God out
of their way ; rather than part with their lusts, they would part with
their God : Ps. xiv. 1, ' The fool hath said in his heart, There is no
God.' It is a pleasing thought and supposition that there were no
God. In effect and by interpretation, they do things or leave things
undone, contrary to God's will, and take part with their sins against
him ; as love is a love of duty and subjection, so hatred is a refusal of
obedience 'Love me and keep my commandments/ Exod. xx. 6.
They are angry with those who would plead God's interests with
them. But how can men hate God, who is summum bonum et fons
boni ? The schoolmen put the question. We hate him not as a creator
and preserver, but as a law-giver and judge : as a law-giver, because
we cannot enjoy our lusts with that freedom and security by reason of
his restraint. God hath interposed by his law against our desires:
Horn. viii. 7, ' Because the carnal mind is enmity to God, for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be/ As a judge and
avenger of sin ; not only desire of carnal liberty, but slavish fear is the
oause of this enmity. Men hate those whom they fear. We have
wronged God exceedingly, and we know that he will call us to an
account ; we are his debtors, and cannot answer the demands of his
justice, and therefore we hate him. What comfort is it to a guilty
prisoner to tell him that his judge is a discreet person, or of a staid
judgment? he is one that will condemn him. A condemning God can
never be loved by a guilty creature, as barely apprehended under that
notion.
[5.] God hateth sinners as they hate him ; for we are children of
wrath from the womb, Eph. ii. 3 ; and that wrath abideth on us till we
enter into God's peace, John iii. 36 ; and the more wicked we are, the
more we incur God's wrath : Fs. vii. 11, ' He is angry with the wicked
VEU. 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. 257
every day ; ' ' They are under his curse/ Gal. iii. 10. Whatever be the
secret purposes of his grace, yet so they are by the sentence of his law,
and according to that we must judge of our condition.
Secondly, The nature of this reconciliation.
1. As the enmity is mutual, so is the reconciliation ; God is recon
ciled to us, and we to God. On God's part, his wrath is appeased ; and
our wicked disposition is taken away by regeneration, for there are the
causes of the difference between him and us, his justice and our sin.
His justice is satisfied in Christ, so that he is willing to offer us a new
covenant: Mat. iii. 17, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.' He is satisfied in Christ, that he is willing to forgive the
offences done to him ; for the text saith, ' God was in Christ recon
ciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them.'
And our wicked disposition is done away, and our hearts are converted
and turned to the Lord : Acts ix. 6, ' And he, trembling and astonished,
said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? ' and 2 Chron. xxx. 8,
'But yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary,
which he hath sanctified for ever, and serve the Lord your God, that
the fierceness of his wrath may be turned from you.' And we are
drawn to enter into covenant with the Lord, even that new covenant
which is called the covenant of his peace, Isa. liv. 10 ; and so of enemies
we are made friends, as Abraham, because of his covenant relation, is
called ' The friend of God,' James ii. 23. In the new covenant God
offereth pardon, and requireth repentance. When we accept the offer,
the pardon procured for us by Christ, and submit to the conditions, lay
down the weapons of our defiance, and give the hand to the Lord, to
walk with him in all new obedience, then are we reconciled.
2. This reconciliation is as firm and strong as our estate in inno-
cency, as if there had been no foregoing breach ; and in some consider
ations better, especially when we look to the full effect of it ; as good
as if the first covenant had never been broken ; for God doth not only
put away his anger, but loveth us as if we never had been in hatred ;
he doth not only pardon sinners, but delight in them when they repent.
Men may forgive a fault, but they do not forget it ; the person liveth
in umbrage and suspicion with them still. Absalom was pardoned
' But not to see the king's face,' 2 Sam. xiv. 28. Shimei had a lease
of his life, but lived always as a hated and a suspected man, 1 Kings
ii. 8. But now it is otherwise here ; we find not only mercy with God,
but are as firmly instated into his love as ever ' Our sins are cast
into the depths of the sea,' Hosea vii. 19 ; and Hosea xiv. 4, ' I will
love them freely ; ' and Horn. ix. 25, ' And her beloved, which was not
beloved.' He not only passeth by the injury, but calls her beloved.
Breaches between man and man are like deep wounds ; though healed
the scars remain, something sticketh, or like a vessel soldered, weak in
the crack ; but here, beloved, delighted in ' The Lord delighteth in
thee/ Isa. Ixii. 4, and ' he will rest in his love.' In some sort it is more
sure ; it is not committed to us and the freedom of our wills A bone
well set is strongest where broken. Adam was happy, but not
established.
3. This active reconciliation draweth many blessings along with it.
[1.] Peace with God: Horn. v. 1, ' Being justified by faith, we have
VOL. XIII. B
1258 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [&ER. XXXIV.
peace with God.' To have God an enemy is to have a sharp sword
always hanging over our heads hy a slender thread. How can we look
him in the face, lift up our heads to heaven, think of him without
trembling ? There is a God, but he is our enemy ; how can we eat,
drink, or sleep, while God is our enemy ? Did we know what it is to
have God our enemy, we should soon know that he cannot want instru
ments of revenge ; death may waylay us in every place. If we eat,
our meat may poison or choke us ; if we go abroad, God may cast us
into hell before we come home again ; if we sleep, his wrath may take
us napping ' For our damnation slumbereth not,' 2 Peter ii. 3.
Surely it is such a dreadful thing to be at enmity with God, that we
should not continue in that estate for a moment ; but when once you
are at peace with God, you stop all evil at the fountain-head.
[2.] Access to God with boldness and free trade into heaven: Eom.
v. 2, ' By whom we have access by faith ; ' and Eph. ii. 18, ' For through
him we have both access by one Spirit unto the Father.' When a
peace is made between two warring nations, trading is revived ; when
you have occasion to make use of God, you may go to him as your
reconciled Father; there is no flaming sword to keep you out of
paradise.
[3.] Acceptance both of your persons and performances. Your
persons are accepted : Eph. i. 6, ' He hath accepted us in the beloved,
to the praise of his glorious grace.* You are looked upon as members
of Christ, favourites of heaven ; your duties and actions are accepted :
Heb. xi. 4, ' By faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.'
The sinful failings of our best actions are hid and covered ; they are
not examined by a severe judge, but accepted by a loving Father.
[4.] All the graces of the Spirit are fruits of our reconciliation with
God : Eom. v. 11, ' We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom we have received the atonement ; ' jewels of the covenant,
wherewith the spouse of Christ is decked. Christ prayed, that we
might be loved as he was loved, John xvii., not for degree, but kind,
John iii. 34. These are given as tokens and evidences of his love.
The privilege is so great, that we cannot believe it without some real
demonstration of God's heart towards us. When Jacob heard that
Joseph was alive and governor of Egypt, he would not believe it ; but
when he saw the waggons which Joseph sent to carry him, Gen. xlv.
27, 28, ' Then his spirit revived within him ; ' so here, 1 Thes. i. 5,
' For our gospel came not to you in word only, but in power, and in
the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.'
[5.] All outward blessings are sanctified, especially the enjoyment
of them, which we have by another right and tenure. Surely one that
is reconciled to God cannot be miserable, 'for all things are his,' 1
Cor. iii. 23. Whatsoever falleth to his share, comfort and cross cometh
with a blessing ' And all worketh for good,' Horn. viii. 28. God's
enmity is declared by raining snares, Ps. xi. 6. There is a secret war
against the soul ; but his love, that always worketh for good. Out of
what corner soever the wind bloweth, it always bloweth for good to
his people.
[6.] It is a pledge of heaven : Bom. v. 10, ' For if, when we were
enemies, we were reconciled by his death, much more, being reconciled,
VER. 19.] SKRMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 259
we shall be saved by his life.' The glorifying of a saint is a more easy
thing than the reconciling of a sinner ; suppose the one, and you may
suppose the other. If God would pardon us and take us with all our
faults, he will much more glorify us when we are reconciled and
sanctified.
[7.] Our right to this privilege beginneth as soon as we do believe
in Christ, for upon these terms God hath set forth Christ : Rom. iii.
24, ' Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is
in Jesus Christ.' When our hearts are drawn to receive Christ upon,
these terms, we are legally capable of his favour. Now faith is nothing
else but a broken-hearted and thankful acceptance of Christ, with
a resolution to give up ourselves to God by him. The true notion
of Christ's death is the sacrifice of atonement. Now in the sacrifices
of atonement, they were to come with brokenness of heart, confessing
sin over the head of the beast, Ps. li. 17, owning the Messiah to come,
and a stipulation of obedience : Ps. 1. 5, ' Gather my saints together,
that make a covenant with me by sacrifice.' Well then, when in a
broken-hearted manner we make our claim by Christ, thankfully
acknowledging our Redeemer's grace, and sue out our release and dis
charge in his name, and devote ourselves to God, then our right is
begun. The evidence of this right is when faith is made fruitful in
holiness. God is a holy God, and Christ came not to make God less
holy. He may be reconciled to our persons, but never to our sins. Sin
ever was, and ever, will be, the make-bate between God and us : Isa.
lix. 2, ' Your sins have separated between you and me.' There must
be a zealous renouncing of all things that have bred estrangement
between us and God. Everything in this reconciliation implieth holi
ness ; the party with whom we do reconcile, God ; and he must not
lightly be offended, but pleased : Col. i. 10, ' That ye might walk worthy
of the Lord unto all pleasing ' tender of offending God. The nature
of the reconciliation is mutual ; we with God, as well as God with us.
A real change goeth along with the relative, or else we are taken for
enemies still, Ps. Ixviii. 21. The covenant is a league offensive and
defensive. Pax noslra 'helium . contra Satanam. We cannot be at
peace with God, till, fallen out with sin, we resolve to war against the
devil, the world, and the flesh ; you must not make him a patron and
panderer to your lusts : Exod. xxiii. 20-22, ' Behold, I send an angel be
fore thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which
I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not ;
for he will not pardon your transgressions : for my name is in him.
But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak ; then
I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine
adversaries.' We must carry ourselves with great reverence to the
angel of the covenant, 1 Cor. x. 9. The sanctifying grace of the Spirit ;
for the application of the merit of Christ, and the gift of the Spirit,
are inseparable. God will not pardon our sins while we remain in
them ; we must be sanctified and justified, and then we shall have
peace and comfort. ' What ! peace as long as the whoredom of thy
mother Jezebel remaineth ? ' Men that sin freely know not what peace
with God meaneth. This holy friendship, which resulteth from the
covenant, implieth an indignation against sin : Hosea xiv. 8, ' What
260 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [fc>ER. XXX IV.
have I any more to do with idols ? ' and Isa. xxx. 22, ' Thou shalt cast
them away as a menstruous cloth ; thou shalt say unto it, Get ye hence.'
Thirdly, How far Christ is concerned in it, and why.
1. God was resolved to lose no honour by the fall of man, but to keep
up a sense of his justice, goodness, and truth.
[1.] His justice. It was not fit that anypf his attributes should fall
to the ground, especially his justice, the sense of which is so necessary
for the government of the world : Horn. iii. 5, 6, ' Is God unrighteous
that taketh vengeance ? God forbid. How then shall God judge the
world?' If God be not known for a just God, we cannot know him
for the governor of the world. Well then, there was a condescendency
in it, that mercy should be dispensed, so that justice should be no loser.
Now, God saw that men could not keep up the honour of his justice ;
our prayers, tears, repentance, will not do the deed without something
else. If the devils were supposed to be sorrowful for their sins, they
would not be reconciled, because they had no surety to die for them and
repair the honour of God's justice. In pity, God would not destroy
all mankind, therefore findeth out a surety ; if they had suffered, they
would only be satisfying, rather than to satisfy and have satisfied.
' But now Christ hath declared his righteousness/ Horn. iii. 24, 25, ' for
the remission of sins/
[2.] His holiness, which is the pattern of the creature's perfection.
Such was God's hatred of sin that he would not let it go without a
mark or brand ; he would be known to be an holy God, and that it is
not an easy thing to regain his favour if we yield to sin. People are
apt to look upon it as a matter of nothing. It is an easy matter to sin ;
every fool can do that ; but when the breach is made, it is not easy to
reconcile again ; none but the Son of God can do that. God stood
upon a valuable compensation : 1 Peter, i. 18, 'We are not redeemed
with corruptible things, such as silver and gold ; but by the precious
blood of the Son of God.' The Son of God, by the highest act of obedi
ence and self-denial, must bring it about for a caution to us, that we might
not lightly break the law, or have favourable thoughts of sin any more.
[3.] His truth. God made a covenant with Adam 'In the day
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die/ Adam's sin was mainly the
sin of unbelief, and presumption of impunity is very natural to us all ;
therefore the law must have death to keep up its authority, lest the
threatening should seem a vain scarecrow, either from the sinner him
self, or from his surety.
2. Christ was a fit mediator.
[1.] Because of his mutual interest in God and us, Job ix. 33. He is
beloved of the Father, and hath a brotherly compassion to us. He
did partake of the nature of both parties ; he was man to undertake
it in our name, God to perform it in his own strength.
[2.] He is able to satisfy. All the angels in heaven could not lay
down a valuable consideration, but ' he is able to save to the uttermost/
Heb. vii. 26. Christ undertaketh to pacify God's wrath, and to take
away our enmity also, and so to bring us to God.
Use 1. Let us admire the mercy and grace of God ' God was in
Christ reconciling the world to himself/ To this end consider
1. This is an ancient mercy of an old standing: Eph. i. 4, ' He hath
VEK. 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 261
chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world ; ' and 1 Peter
i. 20, ' Who verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world,
but manifested in these last times for you/ And who are we, that the
thoughts of God should be taken up about us so long ago ? Nothing
went before creation, but mere and naked eternity ; then was this busi
ness transacted between the Father and the Son, the result of God's
eternal thoughts.
2. God is first in the design, he who is the wronged party, the
highest judge, of whose vengeance we stand in dread, of whom we beg
pardon; we were first in the breach, but God in the design of love.
The motion of sending a saviour and redeemer into the world was first
bred in God's heart : 1 John iv. 19, ' We love him, because he loved us
first/
3. This love is the more amplified by the worthlessness of the persons
for whom all this is done ; the world that lay in wickedness and rebel
lion against God, the sinful race of apostatised Adam. At our best, how
little service and honour can we bring to him. But he considered us
as lying in the corrupt mass of polluted mankind ; yet this world would
God reconcile to himself, and not angels. God would not so much as
enter into a parley with them ; as if a king should take rustics and
scullions into his favour, and pass by nobles and princes. There lay no
bond at all to show mercy to us, more than to them ; we had cast him off
and rebelled against him as well as they.
4. And this done by Jesus Christ, that so costly a remedy should be
provided for us : Rom viii. 32, ' God spared not his own Son, but
delivered him up for us all/ God may be said to spare, either in a way
of impartial justice, or in a way of bountiful and condescending love ;
the first hath its use, this latter is the case there. We are sparing of
what is precious, of what we value ; but though Christ was his dear
Son, yet he spared not him : it is the folly of man to part with things of
worth and value for trifles.
5. The benefit itself, that he would reconcile us to himself. (1.) In
laying aside his own just wrath, which is our great terror : Isa. xxvii. 4,
' Fury is not in me,' he being pacified in Christ. (2.) That he would
take away the enmity that is in the hearts of men, by his converting and
healing grace, which is our great burden : Ps. ex. 3, ' Thy people
shall be a willing people in the day of thy power/ (3.) That he will enter
into league and covenant with us, God with us and we with God :
Heb. viii. 10, ' I will put my laws into their minds, and write them upon
their hearts ; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a
people/ (4.) That from hence there floweth an entire friendship : John
xv. 15, ' Henceforth I call you not servants, but friends ; for all that I
have heard of my Father I have made known unto you/ (5.) This
friendship produceth most gracious fruits and effects, especially free
commerce with him here, till we are admitted into his immediate pre
sence : Heb. x. 22, ' Let us draw nigh with a true heart, in full assur
ance .of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and
our bodies washed with pure water/
Use 2. Let us consider seriously the mystery of Christ's death, which
is the sacrifice of our atonement ; it is full of riddles, it is a spectacle
which represents to you the highest mercy in God's sparing sinners, and
2G2 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SEU. XXXV.
calling out his own Son to die in our stead ; and the highest justice in
punishing sin, though transacted upon Christ. ' If this be done to the
green tree, what shall be done to the dry ? ' Here you have Christ made
sin, and yet at the same time the fountain of holiness, 2 Cor. v. 21, and
John i. 16, ' Out of his fulness we receive grace for grace ; ' so again, the
fountain of blessedness made a curse for all the world, Gal. iii. 13. In
man's account, never more weakness and foolishness shown, yet never
more wisdom and power : 1 Cor. i. 25, ' The foolishness of God is wiser
than men, and the weakness of God stronger than men.' He had said
before that Christ was the ' wisdom of God, and the power of God.' The
devil never seemed to triumph more, yet never more foiled, Luke xxii.
53 (compare with Col. ii. 15 ;) Christ is the true Samson, destroyed
more at his death than in all his life. The cross was not a gibbet of
shame and infamy, but a chariot of triumph. This was the holiest
work and the greatest act of obedience that ever was, or can, or will be,
performed, and yet the wickedest work that ever the sun beheld ; on
Christ's part, an high act of obedience and self-denial, Phil. ii. 7 ; on
man's part, the greatest act of villany and wickedness': Acts ii. 23,
' Who by wicked hands have crucified and slain,' the highest act of
meekness and violence ; the truest glass wherein we see the greatness
and smallness of sin. The heinousness of sin is seen in his agonies and
bloody sufferings ; the nothingness of it in the merit of them. Christ's
death is the reason of the great judgment fallen upon the Jews, 1 Thes.
ii. 15, 16, and yet the ground upon which we expect mercy, both for
ourselves and them, Eph. ii. 16. In short, here is life rising out of death,
glory out of ignominy, blessedness out of the curse ; from the abasement
of the Son of God, joy, liberty, and confidence to us.
SERMON XXXV.
Not imputing their trespasses to them. 2 COR. v. 19.
Docl. One great branch or fruit of our reconciliation with God
through Christ is the pardon or non-imputation of sin.
Here I shall show (1.) The nature and worth of the privilege ;
(2.) The manner, how it is brought about ; (3.) That it is a branch
or fruit of our reconciliation with God.
First. The nature and worth of the privilege, not imputing. The
phrase is elsewhere used : Rom. iv. 8, ' Blessed is the man to whom
the Lord will not impute sin ; ' so 2 Tim. iv. 16, /*r; \oyiaOeir), ' All
men forsook me ; I pray God it be not laid to their charge,' or reck
oned to their account. It is a metaphor taken from those who cast
up their accounts ; and so
1. It supposeth that sin is a debt, Mat. vi. 12, !^<e? rjiuv ra
ofaiXrHia-ra rjjjLwv, ' and forgive us our debts.'
2. That God will one day call sinners to an account, and charge such
and such debts upon them : Mat. xxv. 19, ' After a long time the lord
VEIL 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 263
of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.' For a while men
live jollily and in great security, care for nothing ; but a day of reck
oning will come.
3. In this day of accounts, God will not impute the trespasses of
those who are reconciled to him by Christ, and have taken sanctuary
at the grace of the new covenant, to their condemnation, nor use them
as they deserve. Every one deserves wrath and eternal death, and sin
obligeth us thereunto, but God will not lay it to our charge ; and so it
is said : Ps. xxxii. 2, ' Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth
not iniquity.' Now this is an act of great grace on God's part, and of
great privilege and blessedness to the creature.
[1.] An act of great grace and favour on God's part. (1.) Partly
because every one is become ' guilty before God,' and obnoxious to the
process of his righteous judgment : Rom. iii. 19 vTroSucos rS> @e<,
' and all the world may become guilty before God.' There is sin
enough to impute ; and the reason of this non-imputation is not our
innocency, but God's mercy. Among men imputations are often unjust
and slanderous, as David complaineth that they imputed and 'laid
things to his charge that he was not guilty of,' or never did ; but we
are all guilty. (2.) Partly that he would not prosecute his right
against us as a revenging and just judge, calling us to a strict account,
and punishing us according to our demerits, which would have been
our utter undoing : Ps. cxxx. 3, ' If thou shouldest mark iniquity, O
Lord, who could stand ? ' Ps. cxliii. 2, ' Enter not into judgment with
thy servant, for in thy sight shall no flesh be justified.' There is not
a man found which hath not faults and failings enough, and if God
should proceed with him in his just severity, he would be utterly
incapable of any favour. (3.) Partly, because he found out the way
how to recompense the wrong done by sin unto his majesty, and sent
his Son to make this recompense for us, ' who was made sin for us, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him.' ' Our iniquities
were laid on him,' Isa, liii. 4 ; ' and his righteousness imputed to us,'
Rom. iv. 11. (4.) And partly, that he did this out of his mere love,
which seta-work all the causes which concurred in the business of our
redemption : 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.' The external moving cause was only our
misery; the internal moving cause was his own grace and mercy.
And this love was not excited by any love on our parts : Rom. iii. 24.
' Justified freely by his grace ; ' that is, by his grace working of its
own accord. (5.) And partly, that this negative or non-imputation is
heightened by the positive imputation there is a non-imputing of sin
and an acceptance of us as righteous in Christ ; his merits are reck
oned and adjudged to us ; that is, we have the effect of his sufferings
as if we had suffered in person : Christ is become to us ' the end of the
law for righteousness,' Rom. x. 4.
[2.] It is matter of great privilege and blessedness to the creature,
if so be the Lord will not impute our sins to us, and account them to
our score.' This will appear,
(1.) If we consider the evil we are freed from ; guilt is an obligation
to punishment, and pardon is the dissolving and loosening this obliga-
264 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXV.
tion. Now the punishment of sin is exceeding great ; what maketh
hell and damnation, but not-forgiveness ? Hell is not a mere scarecrow,
nor heaven a May-game ; it is eternity maketh everything truly groat,
an everlasting exile and separation from the comfortable presence of
the Lord, which is the pcrna damni: Mat. xxv. 41, ' Go, ye cursed;'
and Luke xiii. 27, ' Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity ; ' they are
shut out, and thrust out from the presence of the Lord. When God
turned Adam out of paradise, his case was very sad, but nothing com
parable to this ; God took care of him in his exile, and made coats of
skins for him. God gave him a day of patience afterwards, promised
the seed of the woman, intimated hopes of a better paradise ; but
instead of all comforts, how sad is it to be sent into an endless state of
misery ! which is the pcena sensus : Mark ix. 44, ' The worm that
never dieth, and the fire that shall never be quenched ' the worm of
conscience, when we think of our folly, imprudence, disobedience to
God. A man may run away from his conscience now, by sleeping,
running, riding, walking, working, drinking, distract his mind by a
clatter of business, but then not a thought free. The soul will be
always thinking of slighted means, abused comforts, wasted time, and
of the course wherein we have involved ourselves. Then our repen
tance will be fruitless. Our sorrows now are curing, then tormenting,
when under the wrath of God ; you coldly now entertain the offer of
a pardon ; then, oh for a little mitigation, a drop to cool your tongue !
(2.) Because of the good depending upon it in this life and the
next.
(1st.) In this life Partly, because~we are not fitted to serve God till
sin be pardoned : Heb. ix. 14, ' How much more shall the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to
God, purge your consciences from dead works, to serve the living
God ? ' God pardoneth, that he may further sanctify us and fit us for
his own use. The end of forgiveness is, that God may have his own
again which was lost, and we might be engaged to love him and live
to him. Forgiveness tends to holiness, as the means to the end ; and
so there is way made for our thankfulness and love to our Kedeemer,
which is the predominant ruling affection in the kingdom of grace,
and the main motive of obedience. Partly, because we cannot please
God till sin be pardoned ; for God will not accept our actual service,
till our guilt be removed till pardoning grace cover our defects.
Whence should we hope for acceptance? From the worth of our
persons ? that is none at all. From the integrity of the work ? Alas,
after grace received, we are maimed in our principles and operations ;
much more before : Heb. xi. 6, ' Without faith no man can please
God : ' Horn. viii. 8, ' They that are in the flesh cannot please God.'
Till we are adopted, reconciled, absolved, neither our persons nor our
actions can find acceptance with him. And partly, because we have no
sound comfort and rejoicing in ourselves till we obtain the pardon of
our sins, and be in such an estate that God will not impute our tres
passes to us ; for while sin remaineth unpardoned, and the sentence of
the law not reversed, the soul is still in doubt or fear ; if riot, it pro-
ceedeth from our security and forgetfulness, -which will do us no good ;
for we do but put off the evil, rather than put it away, and deal as a
VER. 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 265
malefactor that keepeth himself drunk till he cometh to execution.
In scripture a pardon is made the solid ground of comfort : Isa, xl. 1,
2, ' Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God ; speak ye com
fortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accom
plished, that her iniquity is pardoned.' When God's wrath is pacified
and appeased, then there is ground of comfort indeed ; when God for
Christ's sake hath forgiven and forgotten all our transgressions, and
accepted a ransom for us ; so Mat. ix. 2, ' Son, be of good cheer ; thy
sins be forgiven thee.' Aye, then misery is stopped at the fountain-
head, our great trouble is over; but till then all our comforts are
soured by our fears : when the sun by its bright beams appeareth, it
dispel leth. mists and clouds.
(2c%.) In the next life we are not capable of enjoying God, and being
made happy for evermore in his love, till we be in such an estate that
God will not impute our trespasses to us ; for till we escape wrath we
cannot enjoy happiness, nor till his anger be pacified can we have any
interest in his love : Horn. v. 18, ' The free gift came upon all men
unto justification of life.' Now our right beginneth when sin is taken
out of the way ; and hereafter our impunity in heaven is a means to
our perfect enjoying, pleasing, and glorifying of God, Acts xxvi. 18,
when we are made capable of the blessed inheritance.
Secondly. The manner how this privilege is brought about and
applied to us by these steps.
1. The first stone in this building was laid in God's eternal decree
and purpose to reconcile sinners to himself by Christ, not imputing
their trespasses to them. I cannot pass over this consideration,
because it is of principal importance in this place : ' God was in Christ
reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to
them.' Then he was thinking of a sufficient sacrifice, ransom, and
satisfaction for all the world of sinners, and that he would not deal
with them according to the desert of their sin, but in mercy, and
provided a sufficient remedy for the pardon of sin for all those who
would or should accept of it in time. The covenant of grace is
founded upon the covenant of redemption, Isa. liii. 10, 11 ; and the
plot and design for our reconciliation, pardon, and adoption, was then
laid according to the terms agreed upon between the Father and the
Son what the Redeemer should do for the satisfying of his wrath, what
sinners should do that they may have pardon in the method which
God - hath appointed ; and so God should be actually reconciled to us,
and sinners actually pardoned in time when we submit to the terms
2. The second step towards this blessed effect was, when Christ was
actually exhibited in the flesh, and paid our ransom for us ; for then
he came to take away sin : 1 John iii. 5, ' The Son of God was mani
fested to take away sin, and in him was no sin ; ' so John i. 29, ' Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world ; ' and it is
said, Heb. i. 3, ' When he had by himself purged our sins, he sat
down on the right hand of majesty ; ' and Heb. x. 14, ' By one offering
he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.' There needed no
more to be done by way of merit, and satisfaction, and sacrifice. We
must carefully distinguish between impetration and application,
Christ's acquiring and our applying ; as also between God's purposing
266 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXV.
and our enjoying pardon, or actual interest in it. God purposed it
from all eternity, but we are not actually reconciled and pardoned
from all eternity, no more than we were actually created, sanctified,
and glorified from all eternity. So Christ purchased it, when he died ;
and therefore the apostle saith, ' we were reconciled by the death of
his Son/ Horn. v. 10 ; then all was done on Christ's part which was
necessary to our reconciliation and pardon ; by virtue of the satisfac
tion made by Christ, he was pleased to profess to us free and easy
conditions of mercy in the gospel, by which it might be actually
applied to us.
3. The next step was, when Christ rose from the dead ; for then we
had a visible evidence of the sufficiency of the ransom, sacrifice, and
satisfaction which he made for us ; therefore it is said, Kom. v. 25,
4 That he died for our offences, and rose again for our justification.'
As he died for our release and pardon, and to make expiation for our
sins, so he rose again to convince the unbelieving world by that
supreme act of his power, that all was finished which was necessary to
our pardon and reconciliation with God ; for Christ's resurrection was
the acquittance of our surety, Kom. viii. 34, ' Yea rather that is risen
again.' God hath received a sufficient ransom for sins, and all that
believe in him shall find the benefit and comfort of it.
4. We are actually justified, pardoned, and reconciled, when we
repent and believe. Whatever thoughts and purposes of grace God
in Christ may have towards us from all eternity, yet we are under the
fruits of sin, till we become penitent believers ; for we must distinguish
between God's looking upon the elect in the purposes of his grace, and
in the sentence of his law ; in the purposes of his grace, so he loved
the elect with the love of good- will ; in the sentence of his law, so we
were under wrath, Eph. ii. 3, and John iii. 18, ' Condemned already,'
and wrath remaineth on us, till believing and repenting. That these
are conditions which only make us capable of pardon is evident.
[1.] Kepentance: Acts v. 31, 'Him hath God exalted with his
right hand to be a prince and a saviour, to give repentance and
remission of sins.' Christ purchased pardon and absolution into his
own hands, as king and judge, or head of the renewed state, to be
dispensed according to the laws of his mediatorial kingdom ; and so
he giveth both these together. So he grants pardon by his new law,
by which he requireth and giveth repentance and remission of sin ; so
he sent forth his messengers into the world : Luke xxiv. 47, ' And that
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name
among all nations.' Well then, none but the penitent are capable.
[2.] Faith : Acts x. 43, ' To him gave all the prophets witness, that
through his name whosoever believeth on him shall receive remission
of sins ; ' and Acts xiii. 38, 39, 'Be it known unto you, therefore, men
and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the for
giveness of sins ; ' and, 'by him all that believe are justified from all
things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.'
It belongeth to the power and office of our Lord Jesus to forgive sin ;
and it must be forgiven according to the terms of his new covenant or
law; and that is, when men obediently receive his doctrine, and by
their prayers offered in his name, do in a broken-hearted manner sue
VER. 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 267
out their pardon, and remission of their sins, they are justified and
accepted with God, and freed from his wrath and punishment which
attend sin in another world. Well then, none are actually and per
sonally pardoned, but penitent believers. This benefit is bestowed
upon sinners, but sinners repenting and believing ; a person abiding
in his sins and persisting in his rebellion, cannot be made partaker of
this privilege ; repentance qualifieth the subject, faith immediately
receiveth it, as having a special aptitude that way. That I may not
nakedly assert this truth, but explain it for your edification, I shall
suggest two things.
(1.) As to the nature of these graces, that the reference of repentance
is towards God, and faith doth especially respect the mediator ; so I
find them distinguished : Acts xx. 21, ' Eepentance towards God,
and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.' All Christianity is a coming to
God by him, Heb. vii. 25. Eepentance towards God noteth a willing
ness to return to the duty, love, and service, which we owe to our
Creator, from whence we have fallen by our folly and sin. This must
be, for Christ died not to reconcile God to our sins, or, which is all
one, to pardon our sins while we remain in them ; but to bring us back
again to the service, love, and enjoyment of God. Faith respects the
Redeemer ; for by dependence upon his merit, and the sufficiency of
his sacrifice, and the power of his Spirit, we come to God, and by a
thankful sense of his love, we are encouraged and enabled to do our
duty. Well then, when in a broken-hearted manner we confess our
sins, and own our Redeemer, and devote ourselves to God, and resolve
to walk in Christ's prescribed way, then are sins pardoned, and we
accepted with God.
(2.) This faith and repentance is wrought in us by the word, and
mainly acted in prayer. First, It is wrought in us by the word,
wherein God is pleased to propound free and easy conditions of pardon
and mercy, praying us to be reconciled, and to cast away the weapons
of our rebellion, and submit to the law of grace ; for here in verses
18-20, he doth not only reveal the mystery, but beseecheth us to enter
into covenant with him, and to yield up ourselves to his service.
Secondly, Prayer, by which in the name of Christ we sue out this
benefit. This is the means appointed both for regenerate and unre-
generate; the'unregenerate : Acts viii. 22, 'Repent therefore of thy
wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart be
forgiven thee ; ' the regenerate : 1 John i. 9, ' If we confess our sins,
he is just and faithful to forgive us our sins.' Believing, broken
hearted prayer doth notably prevail ; the publican had no other suit
but, 'Lord, be merciful to me a sinner,' Luke xviii. 13. The Lord
describeth the poor sinners that came to him for pardon, Jer. xxxi. 9,
' They shall come with weeping and supplications.'
5. We are sensibly pardoned, as well as actually, when the Lord
giveth peace and joy in believing, ' and sheddeth abroad his love in our
hearts by the Spirit/ We must distinguish between the grant and the
sense ; sometimes a pardon may be granted, when we have not the
sense and comfort of it. We may hold a precious jewel with a
trembling hand, as the waves roll after a storm when the wind is
ceased. God may keep his people humble, a's a prince may grant a
268 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXV.
pardon to a condemned malefactor, but he will not have him know so
much till he come even to the place of execution. David's heart was
to Absalom, yet he would not let him see his face. There are two
courts, the court of heaven and the court of conscience. The pardon
may be passed in the one, and not in the other ; and a man may have
peace with God, when he hath not peace of conscience. To assure
our hearts before him, and know our sincerity, 1 John iii. 9, is a thing
distinct from being sincere ; and a man may be safe, though not com
fortable. Every one that believeth cannot make the bold challenge of
faith, and say, ' Who shall condemn ? ' Horn. viii. 33.
6. The last step is when we have a complete and full absolution of
sin that is, at the day of judgment : Acts iii. 19, ' Your sins shall be
blotted out when days of refreshment shall come from the presence of
the Lord ;' when the judge, pro tribunali, shall sententionally, and in
the audience of all the world, pronounce our pardon. To make title
to pardon by law is comfortable, but then we shall have it from our
Judge's own mouth. Here we are continually subject to new guilt,
and so to new sins, whereby arise new fears ; so till our final absolution
we are not fully perfect, not till the day of redemption, Eph. iv. 30.
When the evils of sin do fully cease, then is our adoption full, Rom.
viii. 23 ; then will our regeneration be full, Mat. xix. 28 ; then all
the effects of sin will cease. Death upon the body will be no inter
ruption of pardon ; we shall be fully acquitted, and never sin more.
Thirdly. That it is a branch and fruit of our reconciliation with
God ; the other is the gift of the Spirit, or all things that belong to
the new nature ; for God giveth sanctifying grace as the God of peace.
But this also is a notable branch and fruit of reconciliation.
1. Because when God releaseth us from the punishment of sin, it is
a sign his anger and wrath is appeased and now over : Isa. xxiv. 7,
' Fury is jiot in me.' God hath been angry for a little moment, but
when he pardoneth sin then he is pacified, for sin is the make-bate
between us and God.
2. That which is the ground of reconciliation is the ground of
pardon of sin : Eph. i. 7, ' In whom we have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace ; ' viz.
the price paid by the mediator to his father's justice ; and therefore a
principal part of our reconciliation and redemption is remission of sins
in justification.
3. That which is the fruit of reconciliation is obtained and promoted
by pardon of sin, and that is fellowship with God and delightful com
munion with him in a course of obedience and subjection to him:
Heb. x. 22, 'Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of
faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our
bodies washed with pure water.' Our general pardon at first is to put
us into a state of new obedience, our particular pardon engageth us to
continue in a course of acceptable obedience, that we may maintain a
holy commerce with God : 1 John i. 7, ' If we walk in the light as he
is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of
Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.'
Use 1. Is to inform us, that all those that seek after reconciliation
with God, or would take themselves to be reconciled to him, should be
VER. 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 269
dealing with God about the pardon of sins, and suing out this privi
lege, which is of such use in their commerce with God.
But here ariseth a doubt ; what need have those that are reconciled
to God to beg pardon ?
Ans. Very great, Mat. vi. 12. Our Lord hath taught us so ; we
pray for daily pardon and daily grace against temptations, as well as
for daily bread. I prove it,
1. From the condition of God's people here in the world. We are
not so fully sanctified here .in the world, but there is some sin found in
us ; original sin remaineth with us to the last, and we have our actual
slips. Paul complaineth of the body of death, Rom. vii. 23 ; and the
apostle telleth us : 1 John i. 8, ' If we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us ; ' and ver. 10, ' If we say,
that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in
us ; ' and Eccl. vii. 20, ' There is not a just man upon earth, that
doeth good, and sinnethnot ;' either omitting good or committing evil.
They do not love God with that purity and fervency, nor serve him
with that liberty, delight, and reverence, that he hath required. It is
the happiness of the church triumphant, that they have no sin ; of the
church militant, that their sin is forgiven. Sometimes we sin out of
ignorance ; sometimes out of imprudence and inconsideration ; some
times we are overtaken, and sometimes overborne ; now these things
must be heartily bewailed to God. While a ship is leaking water we
must use the pump ; and the room that is continually gathering soil
must be daily swept; the stomach that is still breeding ill humours
must have new physic. We still make work for pardoning mercy,
and therefore for repentance and faith.
2. From the several things which we ask in asking a pardon.
[1.] For the grant, that God would accept of the satisfaction of
Christ for our sins, and of us for his sake. Christ was to ask and sue
out the fruits of his mediation, Ps. ii. 8. And we are humbly to sue
out our right ; for notwithstanding the condescensions of his grace,
God dealeth with us as a sovereign, and doth require submission on
our part : Jer. iii. 13, ' Only acknowledge thine iniquities, that thou
hast transgressed against the Lord thy God.' The debt is humbly to
be acknowledged by the creature, though God hath found out a means
to pardon it.
[2.] We beg the continuance of a pardon ; as in daily bread, though
we have it by us, we beg the continuance and use of it ; so in
sanctification, we beg the continuance of sanctification, as well as the
increase, because of the relics of corruption. God may for our exercise
make us feel the smart of old sins, as an old bruise, though it be
healed, yet ever and anon we feel it upon change of weather ; accusa
tions of conscience may return for sins already pardoned : Job. xiii. 26,
* Thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me possess the
sins of my youth.' Sins of youth may trouble a man that is reconciled
to God, and hath obtained pardon of them. God's children may have
their guilt raked out of its grave, and the appearance of it may be as
frightful, as a ghost or one risen from the dead ; the wounds of an
healed conscience may bleed afresh. Therefore we need beg as David :
Ps. xxv. 6, 7, ' Remember thy mercies which have been of old ; re-
270 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiU. XXXV.
member not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions.' When we
are unthankful, unwatchful, or negligent, God may permit it for our
humiliation.
[3.] The sense and manifestation. Few believers have assurance of
their own sincerity ; God may blot sins out of his book, when he doth
not blot them out of our consciences ; God blotteth them out of the
book of his remembrance, as soon as we repent and believe ; but he
blotteth them out of our consciences, when the worm of conscience is
killed by the application of the blood of Christ through the Spirit :
Heb. x. 22, ' Sprinkled from an evil conscience.' David beggeth the
sense, when Nathan had told him of the grant: Ps. li. 12, .'Restore
unto me the joy of thy salvation,' forgive it in our sense and feeling.
[4.] The increase of our sense ; for it is not given out in such a
degree, as to shut out all fear and doubt : 1 John iv. 18, ' There is no
fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath tor
ment ; he that feareth is not made perfect in love.'
[5.] The effects of pardon, or freedom from those evils, which are
the fruits of sin. We would have God to pardon us, as we pardon
others, fully and entirely ; forgive, and forget ; that he would not
execute upon us the temporal punishment, farther than is necessary for
our good ; compare 2 Kings xxiii. 26, with Ezek. xxxiii. 12-14. Either
he will not chastise us, or, if he doth, he will sanctify our afflictions.
When God remits the eternal punishment, yet he inflicteth temporal
evil, not to complete our justification, but to further our sanctification.
If we knew only the sweetness of sin and not the bitterness, we would
not be so shy of it : Jer. ii. 19, ' Know therefore and see that it is an
evil and bitter thing, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and
that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts ; ' 1 Cor. xi. 32,
' Chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned.'
[6.] A renewed pardon for every renewed sin which we commit ,
1 John ii. 1, ' My little children, these things write I unto you, that
ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous ; ' and 1 John i. 9, ' If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.' As soon as we repent and believe there is a
general pardon, the state of the person is changed, he is made a child
of God : John i. 12, ' To as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to as many as believe in his
name ; ' John xiii. 10, ' He that is washed needeth not to wash, save
his feet;' because by going up and down in the world we contract
new defilement. He is translated from a state of wrath to a state of
grace ; all sins past are remitted. God doth not pardon some, and
leave others, though God's pardon be not antedated; Rom. iii. 25,
' Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past.' And such an one hath free leave to sue out pardon for future
sins, and so have a greater holdfast upon God ; they have a present
certain effectual remedy at hand for their pardon, that is, the merit of
Christ's blood, the covenant of grace in which they have an interest,
Christ's intercession and the Spirit to excite them to faith and repent
ance. Well then, let us fly to Christ for daily pardon; as under the
VER. 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 271
law there were daily sacrifices to be offered up, Num. xxviii. 3.
God came to Adam in the cool of the day, Gen. iii. 8. Reconciliation
with man is to be sought speedily : Eph. iv. 26, ' Let not the sun go
down on your wrath.' The unclean person was to wash his clothes
before the evening. Our hearts should be humbled within us to think
that God is displeased.
[7.] We pray for our pardon and acceptance with Christ at the
last day of general judgment: Luke xxi. 36, 'Watch and pray, that
ye may be accounted worthy to stand before the Son of man.' Some
effect of sin remaineth till then, as death on the body ; so that whilst
any penal evil introduced by sin remaineth, .we pray that God will
not repent of his mercy.
Use 2. It showeth how much we should prize pardon, as a special
fruit of the love of God and Christ : Kev. i. 5, ' To him that loved us,
and washed us from our sins in his blood ; ' 1 John iv. 9, 10, ' In this
was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his
only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent
his Son to be the propitiation for our sins/ If we be serious we will
do so. Those that have felt anything of the burden of sin will enter
tain the offer of pardon with great thankfulness; it is a privilege
welcome to distressed consciences. What man in chains would not
be glad of liberty ? what debtor would not be discharged ? how glad is
an honest man to be out of debt ? what guilty malefactor would not
be acquitted ? Oh, let it not seem a light thing in your eye ! we have
lost our spiritual relish if it do. Oh, prize a pardon, apprehend it as
a great benefit, sweeter than the honey and honeycomb.
Use 3. It should engage us to love God : Luke vii. 47, ' Her sins,
which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much ; but to whom little
is forgiven, the same loveth little.'
SEBMON XXXVI.
Not imputing their trespasses unto them ; and hath committed to us
the word of reconciliation. 2 COR. v. 19.
Doct. One great branch and fruit of our reconciliation with God is the
pardon of sins.
Reasons
First. Because reconciliation implieth in its own nature a release of
the punishment of sin, or, on God's part, a laying aside of his wrath
and anger ; as on ours a laying aside of our enmity and disobedience :
Isa. xxvii. 4, ' Fury is not in me.' Anger in God is nothing else but
his justice appointing the punishment of sin ; and he is said to be
reconciled or pacified, when he hath no will to punish, or doth not
purpose to punish, and therefore fitly is this part of the reconciliation
expressed by not imputing our trespasses; especially because our
272 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [Sfill. XXXVI.
reconciliation with God is not the reconciliation of private persons or
of equals, but such as is between superiors and inferiors, a prince and
his rebellious subjects, parents and their disobedient children, the
governor and judge of the world and sinning mankind, and therefore
not to be ended by way of agreement and composition, but by way of
satisfaction, humiliation, and pardon ; satisfaction on Christ's part,
humiliation on our part, pardon on God's. When persons fall out that
are in a private capacity, the difference may be ended by composition ;
they may quit the sense of the wrong done to them, but the case is
different here ; God is not reconciled to us merely as the party offended,
but as the governor of the world. A private man, as the party
offended, may easily remit a wrong done to him without requiring
satisfaction or submission, according to his own pleasure, as Joseph
was reconciled to his brethren ; but here God is not considered as the
party offended merely, but as the supreme judge, who is to proceed
according to law. When the magistrate forgiveth, there must be a
stated pardon ; and so God is to find out a way how the law is to be
satisfied, and the offender saved, by releasing the punishment in such
a way as the law may not fall to the ground, and that is not without
the satisfaction of Christ, and the submission of the sinner, and the
solemn grant of a pardon. A private man may do in his own case as
pleaseth him,but there is a difference in a public person. The right of
passing by a wrong, and the right of releasing a punishment, are dif
ferent things, because punishment is a common interest, and is referred
to the common good, to preserve order and for an example to others.
Secondly. This branch is mentioned, because this was the most
inviting motive to bring the creature to submission, and to comply
with God's other ends. To understand this reason, consider
1. Among the benefits which we have by Christ, some concern our
felicity, others our duty; some concern our privileges, others our
service, qualities, rights. The internal qualities and graces are con
veyed and wrought in us by the sanctifying Spirit ; the rights and
privileges are conveyed to us by deed of gift, by the covenant of
grace, or new testament charter or gospel grant. As the one frees us
from a moral evil, which is sin ; the other from a natural evil, which is
misery. Of the one sort is holiness, and all those divine qualities which
constitute the new nature, inherent graces ; of the other sort are pardon
of sins, adoption, right to glory, adherent rights and privileges. Now God
offereth the one to invite us to the other by the gospel as a deed of gift,
or special act of grace ; God offereth the one upon condition we will
seek after the other, which deed of gift cannot take effect till we fulfil the
condition ; we cannot have remission of sins till we have repentance. It
is true he giveth the qualification as well as the privilege, repentance
as well as remission of sins, Acts v. 31 ; but he giveth it this way ; he
giveth repentance offering remission ; that is the natural way of
God's working, the appointed means to draw man's heart to the per
formance of the condition. As the Spirit doth work powerfully within,
so he useth the word without. Well then, if we would have the
benefits by Christ, we must have all or none repentance as well as
remission, faith as well as adoption, and justification and holiness as
well as a right to glory; for Christ in all the dispensations of his grace
VER. 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 273
iooketh at God's glory, as well as our interest ; therefore if we come
rightly to the covenant, and expect grace by our Redeemer, we must
' come with a true heart, in full assurance of faith,' Heb. x. 22.
2. The one is the first inviting and powerful motive to the other.
Partly, our desires of happiness, which even corrupt nature is not
against, are made use of, and apt to gain upon us to a desire of happi
ness. God would leave some inclination and desires to happiness in
the heart of man, that might direct us in some sort to seek after him
self: Acts xvii. 27, 'That they should seek the Lord, if haply they
might feel after him, and find him.' Nature catcheth at felicity ; we
would have impunity, peace, comfort, glory ; we are willing as to our
own benefit to be pardoned and freed from the curse of the law, and
the flames of hell ; we are naturally willing of justification, but
naturally unwilling to deny the flesh, and to renounce the credit,
profit, or pleasure of sin, and to grow dead to the world and worldly
things ; but these other suit with our desires of happiness ; therefore
God would, in reconciling the creature, go to work this way ; promise
that which we desire, on condition that we will submit to those things
which we are against. As we sweeten pills to children, that they may
swallow them down the better; they love the sugar, though they
loathe the aloes ; so here, God would invite us to our duty by our
interest, and therefore in reconciling the world to himself, he would
first be discovered as not imputing their trespasses to them. Partly,
because of our fears, as well as our desires of happiness, God taketh
this way. The grand scruple which haunteth, the creature is, how
God shall be appeased, and quit his controversy against us by reason
of sin : Micah v. 6, ' Wherewith will he be appeased, and what shall
I give for the sin of my soul ? ' There is a fear of death and punish
ment, which ariseth from these natural sentiments which we have of
God: Rom. i. 32, 'Knowing the judgment of God, that they which
commit such things are worthy of death.' The dread of a God angry
for sin is natural to us, and the ground of all our trouble. Man is
afraid of death, and some misery after death which is likely to come
upon him, Heb. ii. 14; and till the forgiveness of sin be procured
for us, this bondage sticketh close to us, and we know not how to get
off it. God is an holy God, and cannot endure iniquity, and by his law
will not suffer the guilty to go free. The justice of the supreme
governor of all the world requireth that sin should be punished ; all
mankind have a general presumption that death is penal ; these fears
make pardon a very inviting motive to them. These fears may be a
while stifled in men, but they easily return arid can no way be
appeased, but by pardon and reconciliation with God, carried on in
such a way, as they may bo exempted from these fears; therefore
'God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing
their trespasses to them.'
3. Pardon of sins is very necessary to the end of reconciliation, which
is living in a course of holy amity and state of friendship with God
till we live with him for ever in heavenly glory. Here I am to prove
three things : (1.) That the end of reconciliation is walking in a
course of holiness; (2.) That this holiness is carried on in a state of
VOL. XIII. S
274 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXYI.
love and friendship between God and us ; (3.) That pardon is the fittest
way to breed this holiness and increase it.
[1.] That the end of reconciliation is walking in a course of holiness ;
for Christ died not to reconcile God to our sins, but that, reconciling
our persons, we might quit our sins, and walk as those that are at
good accord with him : Amos iii. 3, ' Can two walk together, except
they be agreed ? ' and 1 John ii. 7, ' If we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship one with another.' Now pardon of sin hath
a mighty influence upon holy walking ; justification and sanctification
are distinct privileges, but they always go together, and the one doth
exceedingly suit with the other. These two privileges, pardon and
holiness, the one freeth us from the guilt, the other from the stain of
sin. The one concerneth God's interest, our subjection to him; the
other our own comfort. The one is the end, the other the means ;
pardon is the means to holiness, and holiness is the end of pardon ;
our general pardon is to put us into a state of acceptable obedience,
our particular pardon to encourage us in it, and quicken us and excite
us anew. The conditional and offered pardon is the means to work
regeneration, and regeneration qualifieth for actual pardon : Titus iii.
7, ' That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs accord
ing to the hope of eternal life ; ' and Heb. viii. 10-12, ' For 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 be to them a God, and they shall be to me
a people ; and they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me from
the least to the greatest ; for I will be merciful to their unrighteous
ness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more ; '
and Acts xxvi. 18, 'To open their eyes, and to turn them from dark
ness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may
receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among them which are
sanctified by faith.' And then actual pardon quickeneth us by love,
to carry on that holiness of heart and life which God requireth ; for
this mercy is the powerful motive to persuade us to obedience. Because
he hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his blood, therefore
we must love him and serve him all our days ; Luke i. 74, 75, ' 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 ; ' 2 Cor. v. 14, 15, ' For the love of Christ constraineth us ;
because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead,
that they which live should not henceforth live to themselves, but to-
him that died for them ; ' Titus ii. 11 12, ' For the grace of God that
bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men, teaching us, that,
denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, right
eously, and godly in this present world ; ' Korn. xii. 1, ' I beseech you,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.'
His pardoning mercy and justification by Christ is the great enforc
ing argument. Those who are fetched up even from the gates of hell,
and delivered from under the sentence of the law, and called into the
state of God's children, should thankfully accept the benefit, acknow-
VER. 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 275
ledge the benefactor, live in love to God and holiness, hate that sin they
have repented of, and which hath been pardoned to them, and still hold
on their course in a way of obedience, till their full recovery in the
everlasting estate.
[2.] That this holiness is carried on in a state of love and friendship
between God and us. Love beareth rule in the spiritual life, and
pardon is the great ground of love : Luke vii. 47, ' She loved much,
because much was forgiven her.' The great business of religion is to
love God above all ; and a man that is uncertain whether there be any
such thing as pardon, how can he love God above himself and all
other things ? Self-love is very hardly cured, for what is nearer to us
than ourselves ? Therefore self-love is very deeply rooted in us, especially
love of life, that it must be some very strong and powerful thing which
can subdue it. Now nothing will do it, but the love of God. Propound
the terrors of the Lord ; that will not do it, men will not be frightened
out of self-love. It must be a powerful love that must divert us from
it ; as one nail driveth out another, so doth one love drive out another.
Now what can be more powerful than the love of God ? ' It is as strong
as death ; many waters cannot quench it/ Cant. viii. 7. This prevail-
eth over our natural inclination, so that we shall not only forsake the
sins and vanities which we now love, but also life itself: Rev. xii. 11,
' They loved not their lives unto the death.' This prevaileth over our
natural inclination, so that we can lay all things at God's feet, and
suffer all things, and endure all things for God's sake, yea, even life
itself for his glory.
[3.] Pardoning mercy in Christ is the great argument which
breedeth and feedeth this love. How can I love a God which I think
will damn me, and may propably do it ? Our turning to God must
be by love, and our living to God and for God is carried on by love ;
but how can I come to him who seemeth so unlovely to me ? Therefore
God, to draw us into this amity and holy friendship, will be represented
as willing to pardon and save us, and that in such an astonishing way,
that more cannot be done to express his love : Eom. v. 8, ' Herein God
commended his love to us, that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for the ungodly.' See at what an high rate he is content to pardon
and save us, that he may draw our love and attract our hearts, which,
under the terrors of guilt and condemning justice, would never have
been brought to love him.
4. The forgiveness of sins is that which is most expressly, directly,
and formally eyed in the death of Christ : Eph. i. 7, ' In whom we
have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins ; ' so
Mat. xxvi. 28, ' This is my blood which was shed for the remission of
sins ; ' so Heb. ix. 22, 'Without the shedding of blood there is no remis
sion of sins.' Why is not sanctification mentioned ? it was purchased by
his blood as well as remission. It was guilt made his blood necessary
for our recovery, and the depravation of the heart of man is part of
the punishment, spiritual death as well as temporal and eternal. And
to be polluted is our punishment as well as our sin, and the guilt of
sin stoppeth our mercies, cuts off the intercourse between God and us :
Isa. lix 2, ' Your iniquities have separated between you and your God ; '
and Eom. iii. 23, ' For all have sinned, and are come short of the glory
276 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SEU. XXXVI.
of God.' And when the obstruction is removed, and the offence given
by our sins pardoned, the sanctifying of our nature followeth. If
there had been nothing to do but to renew us by repentance and
sanctification, that might have been done without the blood of the Son
of God, as God at first gave his image freely ; but his governing justice
required, that before man was set up with a new stock of grace, there
should be so great a price paid. Well then, this is mentioned as the
great way of our reconciliation, ' God was in Christ reconciling the
world to himself.'
5. This was the great difficulty, how, when sin was once entered,
it might be remitted. Sin was the great make-bate between God and
us ; and it is not so slightly done away as most do imagine. The great
mystery and design of grace was, how lapsed man, who was under the
guilt of sin and the desert of punishment, should be restored to favour,
the honour of God be safe, and the government of the world secured ;
or to make the pardon of man's sin, a thing convenient for the righteous
and holy God to bestow without any impeachment of the honour of
his wisdom, holiness, and justice ; for there being a sentence of the
law against us, by which we are condemned, John iii. 18, it would not
seem to become the wisdom of God, that he should wholly quit his
law, as if it were made in vain. His servant was loath to be found in
a double mind, that his word should be yea and nay, 2 Cor. i. 18.
Levity is an imputation which he seeketh earnestly to avoid there.
Nor the holiness of God to be too favourable to sinners, Hab. i. 13,
' He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity.' Nor his justice ; laws
must not seem a vain, scarecrow. In short, there must not be yea and
nay with God ; he must be demonstrated to us in his own divine per
fections, and must not permit his laws and government to be despised
or broken by a rebel world, without being executed upon them accord
ing to their true intent and meaning, or some equivalent demonstration
of his justice, such as might vindicate both law and lawgiver from
contempt. Well then, this was the great mystery and wonder of grace,
' that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing
their trespasses to them ; ' that his wisdom found out a way to exer
cise pardoning, saving mercy, without any injury to his governing
justice and truth, or giving any leave to sinners to flatter and embolden
themselves in their sins with the thoughts of impunity, which are so
natural to us. Therefore well might the apostle mention this privilege,
as a special branch of our reconciliation with God.
6. This is the proper privilege of the new covenant, or covenant of
grace, and the difference between it and the law ; the law knew no
way but saving the innocent, but the gospel discovered a way of saving
the penitent. The law was fitted only to our innocency, and required
us to continue as God left us, but the offer of pardon of sins suiteth
with our lapsed, guilty estate; there God revealeth himself to the
apostate world in that way which was fit for their recovery. The law
knew no such thing as the forgiveness of sin ; the fallen creature had
thereby no hope, for the tenor there was, Do, and live ; sin, and die ;
here a way is found out how our trespasses may not be imputed to us,
and the edge of the curse abated, and God represented as pacified ;
and so this privilege was fitly mentioned by the apostle.
VER. 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 277
Use 1. Is to press us to enter into God's peace by looking after the
pardon of sins. I shall only urge three things (1.) The necessity;
(2.) The readiness of God to bestow this benefit; (3.) The excellency
of the privilege.
1. The necessity of obtaining this benefit. There are three notions,
which press it upon sleepy sinners law, judge, conscience : there is the
law broken, the judge to whom we are responsible, conscience which
raiseth fears in us because of the breach.
[1.] Kemember there is a righteous law broken, and the sentence of
it standeth unrepealed against you, till, in a broken-hearted manner,
you sue out your pardon in the name of your mediator ; condemned,
though not executed, John iii. 18; and condemned to what? Bom.
ii. 9, ' Tribulation and anguish, and wrath upon every soul of man that
doth evil ; ' and this will be executed, James ii. 13. The law is in
force against those that refuse the gospel ; therefore you must change
copy, get this sentence reversed, or you are undone for ever. You
have but a little time wherein to make your peace ; there is but the
slender thread of a frail life between you and execution ; it is peace
upon earth, Luke ii. 14. You are but reprieved during pleasure ; that
is the true notion of the present life : better never born, if you do not
get off this curse. Christians, do you know what it is to have God
an enemy ? to be liable to his righteous wrath, to bear the burden of
your own sins, to be answerable for his violated law ?
[2.] The second awakening notion is that of a judge. I observe in
scripture it is usually mentioned to quicken us to seek after repentance,
and the pardon of sins. It is said, Acts x. 42, 43, ' He hath commanded
us to testify and preach to the people, that he it is who was ordained
of God to be the judge of the quick and the dead ; to him gave all the
prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him
shall receive remission of sins ; ' and, Acts xvii. 30, ' He commandeth
all men to repent, because he hath appointed a day wherein he will
judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; '
and Acts iii. 19-21. ' Eepent therefore and be converted, that your sins
may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the
presence of the Lord ; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was
preached unto you, whom the heavens must receive until the times of
restitution of all things.' Why doth the scripture suggest this medi
tation ? Partly, because our pardon is not complete till that day ; now
we have it under his hand in the word, under his seal by the Spirit,
then from his mouth. And partly, because of the strictness of that day,
now to consider that our case must be reviewed, that by our works
and words we must be justified or condemned, Mat. xii. 36, 37.
Surely we should make our peace, and be more watchful and serious
for the future. And partly, considering who is judge, it is a strong
motive to press us to receive his person, embrace his doctrine, and to
put ourselves under the conduct of his Spirit ; and depending upon the
merit of his sacrifice, to use the appointed means in order to our full
recovery and return to God.
[3.] The third working consideration is conscience, which anticipateth
the judgment, and taketh God's part within us, rebuking us for sin
a secret spy that is in our bosoms, which handleth us as we handle it,
278 SERMONS UPON 2 CO1UNTHIANS V. [SfiU. XXXVI.
Kom. ii. 14, 15. Before the action, conscience showeth us what is to
be done ; in the act, it correcteth ; after, alloweth or disalloweth. As
a man acts, so he is a party; as he censureth the action, so a judge.
After the act, the force of conscience is most usually seen, more than
before the fact, or in the fact ; because, before, or in the action, the
judgment of reason is not so clear and strong, the affections raising
mists and clouds to darken the mind, and trouble it, and draw it on
their side by their pleasing violence ; but after the action, the violence
of these things ceaseth, and is by little and little allayed. Guilt flusheth
in the face of conscience ; Judas, Mat. xxvii. 4, said, ' I have sinned
in betraying innocent blood.' Keason hath the greater force, doth
more affect the mind with grief and fear. When a man hath sinned
against his conscience, when the act is over, and the affection satisfied,
and giveth place to reason, that was before contemned, when it recov
ereth the throne, it striketh through the heart of man with a sharp
reproof for obeying appetite before itself, bringeth in terror and contest
unto the mind, and the soul sits uneasy. Now then, because of this
conscience of sin, let us sue out our pardon and discharge. Conscience
may be choked and smothered, but the flame will break forth again ;
it is not quietly settled but by reconciliation with Jesus Christ ; they
shun it all that they can, but cannot get rid of it : 1 John iii. 20, ' For
if our hearts condemn us,' &c. There is a hidden fear in the heart of
man not always felt, but soon awakened ; usually it spftaketh out men's
condition to them, when their hearts are unsound with God: Job
xxvii. 6, ' My heart shall not reproach me all my days.' The heart
hath a reproaching, condemning power against a man when he goeth
wrong. None of us but feel these heart-smitings and checks ; there
fore we should consider of them. Now these should be noted, partly,
because to smother and stifle checks of conscience produceth hardness
of heart, if not downright atheism ; and partly, because conscience, if
it speaketh not, it writeth ; and where it is not a witness, it is a regi
ster : and partly, because it is God's deputy, 1 John iii. 20, 21 ; and
partly, because heaven and hell is often begun in conscience ; heaven,
in our peace and joy, which is unspeakable and glorious, 1 Peter i. 8,
and 2 Cor. i. 12, ' This is our rejoicing, the testimony of our conscience.'
Sometimes hell, in our grief and fears as appeareth in Judas : Mat.
xxvi., 4, 5, ' I have sinned in betraying innocent blood ; and he went
forth and hanged himself.' A good conscience is sweet company, as a
bad is a great wound and burden. Well then, be settled upon sound
terms, if you. will not have your consciences upbraid you. Thus to the
sleepy sinner.
2. To the broken-hearted I shall speak of God's readiness to pardon
and to forgive. It is his name, Neh. ix. 17, ' But thou art a God
ready to pardon/ It is his glory, Exod. xxxiii. 18, compared with
Exod. xxxiv. 7. It is his delight, Micah vii. 18. The case of any sin
ner is not desperate ; a pardon may be had, Isa. Iv. 7, 8, ' Let 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 ; for my thoughts are not
as your thoughts, nor my ways as your ways, saith the Lord.' A
sensible sinner, his condition is hopeful, Mat. ix. 13, with 28, ' Christ
VER. 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 279
came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance ; ' and, ' Come
unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you
rest.' To a repenting sinner it is conditionally certain, 1 John i. 9,
' If we confess and forsake our sins, he is just and faithful to forgive
us our sins.' To those who seriously address themselves to this work,
God sometimes vouchsafeth notable experiences, Ps. xxxii. 5. To those
who have verified the sincerity of their faith and repentance, it is act
ually certain, evident and comfortable : Prov. xxviii. 13, ' He that
confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall have mercy.' If they fulfil
their covenant consent, confess sin so as to hate it and leave it, it is
certain to them in foro cceli, and in foro conscientice ; and the more
they come to God by Christ, and acquaint themselves with him, it
groweth more firm : Job. xxii. 1, ' For I know that my redeemer
liveth; ' and Rom. v. 1, ' Being justified by faith, we have peace with
God.' Then their reconciliation is secured to them by renewed evi
dences and assurances ; habitual and familiar converse with him, as
one friend doth with another, maketh it grow up into an holy security
and peace ; for the good and advantage of waiting upon God is better
discerned when men have persevered in it, than when they first began.
3. The excellency of the privilege. Let me speak to the actually par
doned to admire the privilege, and get their hearts more affected with it.
[1.] In the general : This way of reconciling us by Christ that our
trespasses may not be imputed to us, was the product of God's eternal
wisdom and goodness. As when there was a search for wisdom, ' The
depth saith, It is not in me ; the sea saith, It is not with me,' Job
xxviii. 14 ; so when there is an inquiry for a satisfactory way of recon
ciling the creatures to God, so as may suit with G -I's honour, and
appease our guilty fears, go to the light of nature : i' u ~aith, It is not in
me ; to the law, It is not in me ; only the gospel revealeth it, and there
it is learned and discovered. The light of nature apprehendeth God
placable, for he doth continue many forfeited mercies to us, and doth
not presently put us into our final estate, as the fallen angels are in
termino presently, upon the fall. It apprehendeth that God is to be
appeased by some satisfaction ; hence those many inventions of lancing
and cutting themselves, and offering their children, et solo sanguine
humano iram deorum immorialium placari posse. The law that
discovered our misery, but not our remedy, it showeth us our sin, but
no way of deliverance from sin and acceptance with God. The law
can do nothing for sinners, but only for the innocent ; it doth only
discover sin, but exact obedience, and drive and compel men to seek
after some other thing, that may save them from sin, and afford them
a righteousness unto salvation ; when man was once a sinner, the law
became insufficient for those ends: Eom. viii. 3, 'It became weak
through our flesh/ It was able to continue our acceptance with God
in that condition in which we were first created, but after that man by
sin became flesh, and had a principle of enmity in him against God,
the law stood aside as weakened, and insufficient to help and save such
an one. But then, the gospel yieldeth full relief, propounding such a
way wherein God is glorified and the creature humbled, and due
provision made for our comfort without infringing our duty, that we
might be in a capacity comfortably to serve and enjoy God, who
280 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [$ER. XXXVI.
otherwise had neither had a mind to serve him, nor a heart to love
him. Thus mercy and justice shine with an equal glory; so do also
his wisdom and holiness. Our necessity is thoroughly remedied, and
God's love fully expressed. When we were lost children of wrath,
under the curse, and no hand that could help us, then he set his hand
to that work which none could touch, and put his shoulders under that
burden which none else could bear. If John mourned when none was
found worthy in heaven or earth to open the book of visions, and
unloose the seals thereof, how justly might the whole creation mourn,
because none was found worthy in heaven or in earth to repair this
disorder, till the Son of God undertook it, and made himself an offer
ing for sin. Oh ! Let us give due acceptance and entertainment to
this wonderful love and blessed privilege.-
[2.] The happiness of being actually pardoned is exceeding great.
This is notably set forth by the psalmist : Ps. xxxii. 1, ' Blessed is he
whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered ; blessed is the
man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, in whose spirit there is
no guile.' The privilege of the pardoned sinner is here set forth by
three expressions : forgiving iniquity, covering sin, and not imputing
transgression ; and the manner of delivery is vehement and full of
vigour oh, the blessedness of the man ! And it is repeated over and
over again. Let us a little view the phrase ; the Hebrew is, who is
eased of his transgression. Junius ; qui levatur a defectione. It
compareth sin to a burden too heavy for us to bear. The same meta
phor is used, Mat. xi. 28, ' Come to me, all ye that are weary and
heavy laden.' The second expression relateth to the covering of filth,
or the removing that which is offensive out of sight ; as the Israelites
were to march \villi a paddle tied to their arms, that when they went
to ease themselves, they might dig and cover that that came from
them. Deut. xxiii. 14, you have the law, and the reason of it : ' For
the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of the camp, therefore shall
thy camp be holy, that he see no unclean thing in thee.' The third
expression is, ' To whom the Lord imputeth not sin,' that is, doth not
put sin to their account ; where sin is compared to a debt, as it is also :
Mat. vi. 12, ' Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.' So
that sin is a burden, of which we should seek to be eased ; filthiness,
which we should get to be covered ; debts, which we should get to be
discharged. Oh, blessed we when it is so, when God lifts off from our
shoulders the burden of the guilt of sin, covereth this noisome filthi
ness which maketh us so loathsome to him, and quits the debt and
plea which he had in law against us. This forgiving or lifting of the
burden is with respect to Christ's merit, on whom God laid the
iniquities of us all, Isa. liii. 6 ; this covering is with respect to the
adjudication of Christ's righteousness to us, which is a covering which
is not too short ; this not imputing is with respect to Christ's media
tion or intercession, which in effect speaketh thus, What they owe, I
have paid. Oh, the blessedness of the man ! You will apprehend it
to be so. What a burden sin is when it is not pardoned ! Carnal men
feel it not for the present, but they shall hereafter feel it. Now two
sorts of conscience feel the burden of sin, a tender conscience, and a
wounded conscience. It is grievous to a tender heart, that valueth
VER. 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 281
the love of God, to lie under the guilt of sin: Ps. xxxviii. 4, 'Mine
iniquities are gone over my head, as a burden too heavy for me.'
Broken bones are sensible of the least weight : so Ps. xl. 12, ' Innum
erable evils have compassed me about ; mine iniquities have taken
hold of me.' What kind of hearts have they who can sin freely and
without remorse ? Is it nothing to have grieved the Spirit of God,
and violated his law, and rendered ourselves obnoxious to his wrath ?
A wounded conscience feeleth it also. There is a domestic tribunal
which we carry about with us wherever we go, as the devils carry
their own hell about with them, though not now in the place of
torments : Prov. xviii. 14, ' The spirit of a man will sustain his
infirmity ; but a wounded spirit who can bear ? ' Natural courage
will bear up under common distresses which lie more without us, but
when the spirit itself is wounded, what support under so great a
burden ? Ask Cain and Judas what it is to feel the burden of sin.
All sinners are subject to this, and this bondage may be easily revived
in them ; a close touch of the word will do it, a sad thought, a pressing
misery, a scandalous sin, a grievous sickness, a disappointment in the
world. There needs not much ado to put a sinner in the stocks of
conscience ; as Belshazzar, that saw but a few words written on the
wall, and ' his countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled
him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote
one against the other.' Again, it is filthiness which rendereth you
odious in the sight of God ; we ourselves cannot endure ourselves,
when serious, John iii. 20 ; it maketh us shy of God's presence. Once
more, it is a debt which bindeth us over to everlasting punishment ;
and if we be not pardoned, the judge will give order to the jailer, and
the jailer will cast us into the prison, ' till we have paid the utmost
farthing,' Luke xii., last verse ; and that will never be. How doleful
is their case who are bound hand and foot and cast into hell, there to
remain for ever and ever ! Now put all together : certainly if you had
ever been in bondage, and felt the sting of death, the curse of the law,
or been acquainted with the fiery darts of Satan, or scorched with the
wrath of God, or known the terrors of those, of whom God hath
exacted this debt in hell, surely you would say, Blessed is the man !
happy are those whose sins are pardoned ! Those that mind their
work, that know what it is to look God in the face with comfort, that
have this chain broken, the judge turned into a father, the tribunal of
justice into a throne of grace, and punishment into a pardon, will say,
Blessed is the man !
SERMON XXXVII.
And hath committed to us the word of reconciliation. 2 COR. v. 19.
WE come now to the third thing, the means of application or bringing
about this reconciliation on man's part : 0e/i>o5 eV f]fuv hath placed
in us. In which observe two things
282 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XXXVII.
1. The matter of the charge, trust or thing entrusted The word
of reconciliation ; called also, ver. 18, the ministry of reconciliation,
that is, the gospel which revealeth the way of making peace with
God, and is the charter and grant of Christ, and all his benefits from
God, unto every one that will receive him. Now the gospel may be
considered as written or preached ; as written, so it is properly called
the word of reconciliation ; as preached, so, the ministry of reconcilia
tion. The one serveth to inform, the other to excite ; by the one the door
of mercy is set open by discovering the admirable methods of grace in
reclaiming the world ; by the other, men are called upon, persuaded,
and exhorted, to accept of the remedy offered.
2. The persons to whom he hath committed He hatJi put in us,
the apostles and their successors. (1.) The apostles are of chief
consideration, for these, as master-builders, were to lay the foundation,
1 Cor. iii. 10 ; and Eph. ii. 20, ' And are built upon the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the corner-stone.' They
were infallibly assisted and to be absolutely trusted in what they
wrote : had the power of miracles, to evidence their mission and call ;
they were confined to no certain charge and country ; therefore, this
trust did belong to the apostles in all respects, chiefly in some respects
to them only. (2.) Ordinary ministers are not to be excluded because
they agree with the apostles as to the substance of their commission,
which is to reconcile men to God, or to preach the gospel. The
ordinary ministerial teaching is Christ's institution, as well as that of
the apostles: Bph. iv. 11, ' He gave some apostles, and some prophets,
and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.' He that
appointed prophets and apostles to write scripture, hath also appointed
pastors and teachers to explain and apply scripture. This is done
plenojure: Mat. xxviii. 19,20, 'All power is given me in heaven and
earth ; go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching
them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you ; and lo !
I am with you to the end of the world.' By virtue of that authority
given him by God, they are in the same commission, and have a
promise of the same presence and Spirit. So also 1 Cor. iii. 5, ' Who
then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed ?'
As to the substance of the work, they do the same thing ; as to the
substance of the blessing, they are accompanied with the same Spirit.
In both, as their ministry, for the matter of it, is the ministry of
reconciliation, so for the power of it, it is the ministration of the Spirit
unto life ; only the one are immediately called, miraculously gifted,
infallibly assisted, sent out to all the world ; the other have an ordinary
call, a limited place, but yet do the same work, in the same name, and
are assisted by the same Spirit.
Doct. That much of the wisdom and goodness of God is seen in the
course he hath taken for the applying of reconciliation.
In the merit, or way of^ procuring, in the branches, the restitution of
his favour and image, we have seen already ; now the way of applying
that will appear.
1. God would not do us good without our knowledge, and therefore
first or last he must give us notice ; it is everywhere made as an act of
VER. 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 283
God's goodness to reveal the way of reconciliation. When the psalmist
had discoursed of the pardon of sins, he presently addeth, Ps. ciii., ' He
made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel ; '
and Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20, 'He hath showed his word unto Jacob, and his
judgments unto Israel ; he hath not dealt so with every nation ; as for his
judgments, they have not known him ;' and Micah vi. 8, ' He hath showed
thee, man, what is good ; ' but especially in the new administration of
the covenant, Heb. viii. 10, 11, ' I will put my laws in their minds, and
write them in their hearts, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be
to me a people, and they shall not teach every man his neighbour, nor
every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me from
the least to the greatest ; ' and Isa. liii. 2, ' By his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many.' Those places show, that as it is a great
favour, that the way of reconciliation was found out, so this is a new
favour, that the way is so clearly revealed, that it is not left to our blind
guesses. If God had intended to do us good, but would not tell us how,
there would not have been due provision made for the comfort and duty
of the creature : not for our comfort, for an unknown benefit intended
to us can yield us no comfort. Christ's prophetical office is as neces
sary for our comfort as his sacerdotal : Heb. iii. 1, ' Consider the
apostle and high-priest of our profession, Jesus Christ.' We could take
little comfort in him as an high priest, if he had not been also an apostle.
The highest office in both the testaments was necessary to our comfort
and peace. In the old testament, all the business of that dispensation
was to represent him an high priest ; so in the new, as an apostle, that
was to open the mind and heart of God to us, and show us how to be
happy in the love and enjoyment of God. Nor could we understand our
duty : all parties interested in the reconciliation must be acquainted
with the way of it ; and therefore man must understand, what course
God would take to bring about this peace. How else should he give his
consent, or seek after the benefit, in such a solemn and humble manner,
as is necessary ? And how else can we be sensible of our obligation, and
be thankful, and live in the sense of so great a love ? John iv. 10, ' If
thou knewest the gift,' &c.
2. As God will not do us good without our knowledge, so
not against our will and consent, and force us to be reconciled and saved,
whether we will or no. Man is a reasonable creature, a free agent, and
God governeth all his creatures according to their receptivity. With
necessary agents, he worketh necessarily; with free agents, freely; a will
is required on our parts : Kev. xxii. 17, ' Whosoever will ; ' and Ps. ex. 3,
' His people shall be a willing people in the day of his power.' Their
hearts are effectually inclined to accept of what God offereth. All that
receive the faith of Christ, receive it most willingly, and forsake all to
follow him : Acts ii. 41, ' They gladly received his word ;' then was that
prophecy in part verified.
3. God will not work this will and consent by an imposing force, but
by persuasion, because he will draw us ' with the cords of a man,' Hosea
iv. 14 ; that is, in such a way and upon such terms as are proper and fit
ting for men. God dealeth with beasts by a strong hand of absolute
power, but with man in the way of counsel, entreaties and persuasions,
as he acted the tongue of Balaam's ass, to strike the sound of those words
284 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXVII.
in the air, not infusing discourse and reason : therefore it is said, Num.
xxii. 28, ' He opened the mouth of the ass ; ' but when he dealeth with
man he is said ' to open the heart,' Acts xvi. 14 ; as inwardly by a
secret power, so outwardly by the word so offered, that they attended.
That is a rational way of proceeding, so to mind as to choose, so to
choose as to pursue ; men is drawn to God in a way suitable to his
nature :
.4. To gain this consent the word is a most accommodate instrument.
I prove it by two arguments.
[1.] From the way of God's working, physically, morally, powerfully,
sapientially. The physical operation is by the infusion of life ; the
moral operation is by reason and argument. Both these ways are
necessary in a condescension to our capacities ; fortiter pro te, Domine,
suaviter pro me; God worketh strongly, like himself, and sweetly, that
he may attemper his work to our natures and suit the key to the wards
of the lock. Both these ways are often spoken of in scripture : John vi.
44, 45, ' No man can come unto me except the Father draw him ; as it
is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught of God.' They
are taught and drawn, so taught that they are also drawn and
inclined ; and so drawn, as also taught, as it becometh God to deal with
men. Therefore sometimes God is said to create in us a new heart,
making it a work of power ; Ps. li. 10, ' And we are his workmanship
created to good works,' Eph. ii. 10. Sometimes to persuade and allure ;
Hosea ii. 15, ' I will allure her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably
unto her;' Gen. ix. 27,' The Lord shall persuade Japhet,' by fair and kind
entreaties, draw them to a liking of his ways. The soul of man is deter
mined to God, by an object without and a quality within. The object
is propounded by all its qualifications, that the understanding may be
informed and convinced, and the will and affections persuaded in a
potent and high way of reasoning ; but this is not enough to determine
man's heart without an internal quality or grace infused, which is his
physical work upon the soul. There is not only a propounding of reason
and arguments, but a powerful inclination of the heart, and so we are
by strong hand plucked out of the snares of death. Both are necessary ;
the power, without the word or persuasion, would be a brutish force, and
so offer violence to our faculties. Now God doth not oppress the liberty
of the creature, but preserve the nature and interest of his workmanship;
on the other side, the persuasion, offers of a blessed estate without power,
will not work ; for if the word of God cometh to us in word only, but
not in power, the creature remaineth, as it was, dead and stupid.
[2.] If we consider the impediments on man's part. The word is
suited as a proper cure for the diseases of men's souls. Now these are
ignorance, slightness, and impotency.
(1.) Ignorance is the first disease set forth by the notions of darkness
and blindness, Eph. v. 8 ; 2 Peter, i. 9. We are so to spiritual and
heavenly things. Though men have the natural power of understand
ing, yet no spiritual discerning, so as to be affected with, or transformed
by, what they know, 1 Cor. ii. 14 ; no saving knowledge of the things
which pertain to the kingdom of God, or their everlasting happiness.
This is the great disease of human nature; worse than bodily blindness,
because they are not sensible of it : Kev. iii. 17, ' Thou thoughtest that
thou wast rich, and increased with goods, and knowest not that thou art
VER. 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 285
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked ; ' because they
seek not fit guides to lead them.
(2.) Slightiness. They will not mind these things, nor exercise their
thoughts about them : Mat. xxii. 5, 'And they made light of it/ would not
let it enter into their care and thoughts ; Heb. ii. 3, ' How shall we
escape if we neglect so great salvation ? ' Non-attendency is the great
bane of men's souls ; it is a long time to bring them to ask, ' What shall
I do to be saved ? '
(3.) Impotency and weakness, which lieth in the wilfulness and hard
ness of their hearts ; our non posse is non velle ; Ps. Iviii. 4, 5, ' They
arejlike the deaf adder which stoppeth her ear, and will not hearken to the
voice of the charmer, charm he never 'so wisely;' and Mat. xxiii. 37,
' How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not ? ' and
Luke xix. 14, ' We will not have this man to rule over us ; ' John v. 40,
' They will not come unto me that they may have life; ' Ps. Ixxxi. 11,
' Israel would have none of me ; ' Prov. i. 29, ' But they hated knowledge,
and did not choose the fear of the Lord.' You cannot, because you will
not, the will and affections being engaged to other things. You have
the grant and offer of mercy from God, but you have not an heart to
make a right choice. If you could say, I am willing but cannot, that
were another matter ; but I cannot apply myself to seek reconciliation
with God by Christ, is, in true interpretation, ' I will not,' because your
blinded minds and sensual inclinations have misled and perverted your
will ; your obstinate and carnal wilfulness is your true impotency.
Now what proper cure is there for all these evils but the word of
God ? Teaching is the proper means to cure ignorance, for men have
a natural understanding. Warning us of our danger, and minding us
of our duty, is the proper means to cure slightness, and to remove their
impotency, which lieth in their obstinacy and wilfulness. There is no
such means as to besiege them with constant persuasion, and the
renewed offers of a better estate by Christ, for the impotency is
rather moral than natural ; we do not use to reason men out of their
natural impotency, to bid a lame man walk, or a blind man see, or a
dead man live ; but to make men willing of the good they have neglected
or rejected, we must persuade them to a better choice. In short, to
inform the judgment, to awaken the conscience, to persuade the will,
this is the work and office of the word by its precepts, promises, and
rewards. It is true the bare means will not do it without God's con
currence, the influence and power of his Spirit ; but it is an encourage
ment to use the means, because they are fitted to the end, and God
would not appoint us means which should be altogether vain.
5. That it is not enough that the word be written, but preached by
those who are deputed thereunto for several reason's
[1.] Partly because scripture may possibly lie by, as a neglected
thing. The Lord complaineth, Hos. viii. 12, ' I have written to them
the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.'
Men slighted the word written, as of little importance or concernment
to them, are little conversant in it ; therefore some are appointed that
shall be sure to call upon us, and put us in mind of our eternal con
dition ; that may bring the word nigh to us, lay it at our doors, bring
a special message of God to our souls : Acts xiii. 26, ' To you is the
28() SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V, [Slill. XXXVII.
word of salvation sent.' lie speaketb to all the world by his word, to
you in particular by the special messages his servants bring you. It
is sent to you, there is much of God in it ; the word written hath its
use to prevent delusions and mistakes, and the word preached hath
also its use to excite and stir up every man to look after the remedy
offered, as he will answer it to God another day,
[2.] Partly because the word written may not be so clearly under
stood, therefore God hath left gifts in the church, authorised some to
interpret : as the eunuch was rea ding, and God sent him an inter
preter : ' Philip said unto him, Understandest thou what thou readest ?
And he said, How can I, except somebody guide me ? ' Acts viii. 30, 31.
The scripture is clear in itself, but there is a covering of natural blind
ness upon our eyes, which the guides of the church are appointed and
qualified to remove : Job xxxiii. 23, ' If there be a messenger with
him, an interpreter, one of a thousand, to show a man his uprightness.'
There are messengers from God authorised to speak in his name, to
relieve poor souls, that they may soundly explain, forcibly express, and
closely apply the truths of the word, that what is briefly expressed
there by earnest and copious exhortations may be inculcated upon
them, and the arrow may be drawn to the head, and they may more
effectually deal with sinners, and convince them of their duty, and
rouse them up to seek after the favour of God in Christ. Look, as darts
that are cast forth out of engines by art, and fitted with feathers, are
more apt to fly faster, and pierce deeper, than those that are thrown
casually, and fall by their own weight ; so, though the word of God is
still the word of God, and hath its proper power and force, whether
read or preached, yet when it is well and properly enforced with dis
tinctness of language, vehemency and vigour of spirit, and with prudent
application, it is more conducible to its end.
[3.] Because God would observe a congruity and decency. As death
entered by the ear, so doth life and peace : Horn. x. 14, 15, ' How shall
they call on him in whom they have not believed ? and how shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard ? and how shall they hear
without a preacher ? and how shall they preach except they be sent ? '
By the same sense by which we received our venom and poison, God
will send in our blessings, work faith and repentance in us by the
ministry of reconciliation. Besides, as vision and seeing are exercised
in heaven, so hearing in the church ; it is a more imperfect way of
apprehension, but such as is competent to the present state : Job xlii.
5, ' I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye
seeth thee,' speaking of his extraordinary vision of God, which is a
glimpse of heaven. Now we have a report of God, and his grace ;
satisfying ocular inspection is reserved for heaven ; but now we must
be contented with the one without the other.
G. That to preach the word to us, God hath appointed men of the
same mould with ourselves, and entrusted them with the ministry of
reconciliation. As the fowler catcheth many birds by one decoy, a bird
of the same feather ; so God dealeth with us by men of the same nature
and affections, and subject to the law of the same duties, who are con
cerned in the message they bring to us as much as we are men that
know the heart of man by experience, our prejudices and temptations,
YER. 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 287
for the heart of man answereth to heart as the face in the waters, Prov.
xxvii. 19 ; and so know all the wards of the lock, and what key will
fit them. Now the love and wisdom of God appeareth herein,
[1.] Because God will try the world by his ordinary messengers :
Col. i. 21, ' It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe.' We now live by faith and not by sight, and there
fore he will not discover his own majesty, and send us nuncios and
messengers out of the other world, or deal with us in an extraordinary
way to lead us to faith and repentance, but send mean creatures like
ourselves, in his name, who, by the manifestation of the truth, shall
commend themselves to every man's conscience, to see if they will sub
mit to this ordinary stated course. We would have visions, oracles,
miracles, apparitions, one come from the dead, but Christ referreth us
to ordinary means ; if they work not, extraordinary means will do us
no good : Luke xvi. 30, 31, 'And he said, Nay, father Abraham, but
if one went from the dead, they will repent ; and he said unto him, If
they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded,
though one rose from the dead.' When God used extraordinary ways,
man was man still : Ps. Ixxviii. 22-24, ' Because they believed not in
God, and trusted not in his salvation, though he had commanded the
clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, and had rained
down manna upon them to eat, and had given them the corn of
heaven.' They had their meat and drink from heaven, and yet they
were rebels against God and unbelievers. Their victuals came out of
the clouds, their water out of the rock ; so that miracles will not con
vert, nor beget saving faith in them with whom ordinary means do
not prevail. An oracle ; Samuel thought Eli called him, when it was
the Lord : 2 Peter i. 19. fiefiaiorepov \6yov, ' We have a more sure
word of prophecy.' Or one from the dead. Christianity is the tes
timony of one that came from the dead, Jesus Christ. There can be
no better doctrine, no more powerful persuasion, nor stronger confirm
ation, or greater cooperation. God trieth us now ; but we would have
all things subjected to the view of sense.
[2.] He magnifieth his own power, and useth a weaker instrument,
that we might not look to the next hand, and gaze upon them, as if
they, by their own power and holiness did make the dead live, or the
deaf hear, or convert the sinner to God : 2 Cor. iv. 7, ' We haye this
treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of
God, and not of us ; ' that the efficacy of the gospel may be known to
be from God alone, and not of men. He can blow down the walls of
Jericho by a ram's-horn, by weak men bring mighty things to pass.
Treasure in an earthen vessel is supposed to allude to Gideon's strata
gem of a lamp in a pitcher, Judges vii. 16. What was that to fight
against the numerous host of Midian ? They brake their pitchers, and
cried, ' The sword of the Lord and Gideon ! ' So we have this light in
an earthen vessel ; ' the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through God," 2 Cor. x. 4. God chose TO, yJt] ovra, 1 Cor, i.
28, ' foolish things to confound the wise, and weak things to confound
the mighty, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that
are.' God's ordinances are simple in appearance, but full of power.
[3.] God dealeth more familiarly with us in this way, conveying his
288 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XXXVII.
niind to us by our brethren, who are flesh of our flesh and bone of our
bone ; such with whom we have ordinary and visible commerce. We
read, Exod. xx. 18, 19, that the people when they heard the thunder-
ings, they stood afar off, and said unto Moses, ' Speak thou unto us and
we will hear ; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.' It is a great
mercy to man, that seeing he cannot endure that God should in glori
ous majesty speak to him, that he will depute men in his stead : Deut.
xviii. 15, ' The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from
the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me ; unto him shall ye
hearken ; according to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in
Horeb, in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the
voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more,
that I die not ; ' that is, Christ principally, and all those sent in his
name, and come in his stead. Nay, we are not able to bear the glori
ous ministry of the angels ; they would affright us, rather than draw
to God. As Elihu saith to Job, chap, xxxiii. 6, 7, ' I that am formed
out of the clay, am come to thee in God's stead ; my terror shall not
make thee afraid ; ' so may the ministers of the gospel say, We that are
of the same mould and making, we are ambassadors in God's stead,
come to pray you to be reconciled to God. You need not be afraid of
us nor shy of us.
[4.] There is more certainty this way, because by those whose
fidelity in other things is approved to us, who cannot deceive us but
they must deceive their own souls ; they know the desert of sin, and
the danger by reason of it; those who have had experience of the
grace they preach ; as Paul was an instance of the gospel, as well as a
preacher of it, 1 Tim. i. 17 ; and he saith, ' He did comfort others
with the comforts wherewith he himself was comforted of God,' 2 Cor.
i. 4 ; spake from a sense and taste, commended his apostleship from
his own knowledge ; who come not with a report of a report, who con
firm their doctrines by their practice ; for they are to be examples to
the flock ; and sometimes by their blood and sufferings, if need be, it
is their duty at least would these deceive us? There are more
rational, inducing grounds of probability in this way, than any extra
ordinary course that can be taken.
Use 1. Let us respect God's institution the more. We see the
reason of it, and the love and wisdom which God hath showed in it,
and especially regard the way of reconciliation. Peace and life are
tendered in his name to self-condemning and penitent sinners, through
the mediation of Jesus Christ. This circumstance of the means
teacheth us several things.
1. That it is not enough to look to the purchase, price, and ransom,
that was given for our peace, but also the application of it ; for the
apostle doth not only insist upon the giving of Christ, but also on the
word of reconciliation by which it is offered to us. In the 18th ver.,
this text and the 20 ver., ' God may be in Christ reconciling the world
to himself,' and yet we perish for ever, unless we be reconciled to God ;
and therefore the means of application must be regarded, as well as
the means of impetration ; and as we bless God for Christ, so also
for the ministry and ordinances.
2. It showeth that God hath not only a good will to us, but this
YER. 19.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 289
good will is carried on with great care and solicitude, that it may not
miscarry at last. Here is wisdom mixed with love. As God was
careful in laying a foundation of it by Christ, so you see with what
wisdom the means are appointed, that this peace may be dispensed to
us in the most taking way. Now God hath travailed so much in this
matter, shall the gospel be cast away upon you ? He hath set up an
ordinance on purpose to treat with sinners.
3. That those things which God hath joined must not be separated,
nor any part dispersed Christ, Spirit, ministry. Christ purchaseth
all, the Spirit applieth all, the ministry offereth all by the word. If
we go to God for grace, if it were not for Christ, he would not look
towards us ; he sendeth us therefore to Christ, who is the golden pipe
through which all the fatherly goodness of God passeth out unto us. If
we go to Christ, he accomplisheth all by his Spirit ; it is the Spirit that
by his powerful illumination must enlighten our minds, and open our
hearts, and effectually renew and change the soul, Tit. iii. 5, 6. If we
look to the Spirit, he sendeth us to the ordinances ; there we shall
hear of him in the word written and preached. Despise that course,
and all stoppeth ; therefore you must be meditating on his word, which
is the seed of life ; ' be swift to hear ; ' make more conscience to attend
seriously to the dispensation of it. This last is most likely to be de
spised ; men will pretend a love to Christ and the Spirit, a reverence
to the word written, but despise the ministry, because they are men
of like passions with ourselves. No ; it is God's condescension to our
weakness, which cannot admit of other messengers, to employ such ;
therefore receive them as messengers of Christ : they work together
with God, 1 Cor. iii. 9, they are labourers together with God : 2 Cor.
vi. 1, ' As workers together with God, we beseech you, receive not this
grace in vain ; ' and Christ saith, ' he that despiseth you despiseth me,
and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me,' Luke x. 16.
What is done to a man's apostle is done to himself; and Mat. x. 40,
* He that receiveth you receiveth me.' Christ meant not to stay upon
earth visibly and personally to teach men himself ; therefore he com
mitted this dispensation to others, left it with faithful men, who are to
manage it in his name.
4. Those who are enemies of the ministry of the word are enemies
to the glory of God, and the comfort and salvation of God's people.
The glory of God : 2 Cor. i. 20, ' For all the promises of God in him
are yea and amen, unto the glory of God by us ; ' and the comfort of
God's people, ver. 24, ' Not for that we have dominion over your faith,
but are helpers of your joy.' And their too much preaching is their
too much converting souls to God, and reconciling souls to God.
You hear not the word aright, unless it be a word of reconciliation to
you, a means of bringing God and you nearer together, to humble you
for sin, which is the cause of breach and distance : or to revive thy
wounded spirit, or to make you prize and esteem the grace of the
Redeemer, or more earnestly to seek after God by a uniform and
constant obedience.
VOL. XIII.
290 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXVIII.
SERMON XXXVIII.
Noio then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseecJi
you by us ; we pray you in Christ's stead, be reconciled to God.
2 COR. v. 20.
IN these words you have the practical use and inference of the fore
going clause. Observe here
1. An office put on those to whom the word of reconciliation is
entrusted.
2. The value and authority of this office As if God did beseech
you by us.
3. The manner how this office is to be executed Pray you in
Christ's stead.
4. The matter or message about which they are sent Be ye recon
ciled to God.
Doct. God hath authorised the ministers of the gospel in his own
name and stead affectionately to invite sinners to a reconciliation with
himself.
First, The office ' We are ambassadors for Christ ; ' that is the
nature of our employment ; and sent by God on purpose for this end,
Eph. vi. 20, ' For which I am an ambassador in bonds.'
1. Ambassadors are messengers ; so are the ministry sent : John xvii.
18, 'As thou hast sent me into the world, so also have I sent them
into the world.' 'How can they preach except they be sent?' Kom.
x. 15.
2. There is not only a mission, but a commission ; they are not only
posts, and letter-carriers, but authorised messengers. Ambassadors do
in a singular manner represent the person of the prince who sendeth
them, and are clothed with authority from him ; and so we have an
authority for edification, and not for destruction, 2 Cor. x. 8. They
are sent with great power to bind or loose out of the word, to pass
sentence upon men's eternal condition of damnation on the impenitent,
of life and salvation on them that repent and believe the gospel.
3. They are sent from princes to other princes. On the one side,
it holdeth good ; they come from the greatest prince that ever was,
even from the prince of all the kings of the earth, Eev. i. 3. But to
us poor worms they are sent, unworthy that God should look upon us,
or think a thought of us ; we were revolted from our obedience to him,
but he treateth not, and dealeth not with us as traitors and rebels, but
as persons of dignity and respect, that thereby we may be more in
duced to accept his offers. Ambassadors to obscure and private persons
were never heard of, but such honour would he put upon us.
4. Ambassadors are not sent about trifles, but about matters of the
highest concernment ; so they are sent to treat about the greatest
matters upon earth the making up peace and friendship between God
and sinners : Isa. lii. 7. ' How beautiful are the feet of those that bring
glad tidings of peace ! ' We are to publish the glad tidings of recon
ciliation with God. God might have sent heralds to proclaim war,
but he hath sent ambassadors of peace. He might have sent them as
VER. 20.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 291
he sent Noah to the old world, to warn them of their destruction, or
Jonah to Nineveh, but they came with an olive-branch in their mouths,
to tell the world of God reconciled. Well then, we must regard the
weight of the message ; God's love and hatred are not such inconsider
able things, as that we should not trouble ourselves about them ; it is
his wrath maketh us miserable, and his love happy. Oh, how welcome
to us should a message of love and peace with God be !
5. As to their duty : an ambassador and messenger must be faith
ful, keeping close to their commission as to the matter of their message,
and be sincere and true as to the end of it : 2 Cor. ii. 17, ' For we are
not as many which corrupt the word of God ; but as of sincerity, as of
God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ.' We are for another,
not for ourselves ; our employment is to be proxies and negotiators for
Christ, and this with all diligence, courage, and boldness : Eph. vi. 20,
' For which I am an ambassador in bonds, that I may speak boldly as
I ought to speak ; ' as becometh a zeal for Christ's honour and the
good of souls, the excellency of the message, and the gravity of our
office, owning the truth in the face of dangers.
6. As to their reception and entertainment. Negatively
[1.] They must not be wronged. Ambassadors are inviolable by the
law of nations ; but such is the ingratitude of the world, who are
enemies to their own mercies, that they slight his message, use his
ambassadors disgracefully, as Abner did David's, contrary to the law
and the practice of all nations ; as Paul was an ambassador in bonds,
eV aXycret, in a chain by which he was tied to his keeper ; but God
will not endure this, Ps. cv. 15. He hath given charge, ' Do my
prophets no harm ; ' his judgments in his providence come for wrong
done to his ministers, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 16. They misused his prophets,
and the wrath of the Lord arose against the people, till there was no
remedy. But the negative is not enough, not to wrong them ; you
ought to respect them, and receive them in the name of the Lord :
1 Cor. iv. 1, ' Let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ,
and stewards of the mysteries of God ; ' and Gal. iv. 14, ' They received
him as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.' Surely it is meant
with respect to the truth he preached ; they received it with as much
reverence and obedience as if delivered by Christ himself in person ;
otherwise he would not have mentioned that respect without detesta
tion. Acts xiv. 14, the apostles rent their clothes when they would
have given them divine honour. Well then, attention, credit, and
obedience, is due to their message.
Secondly, The value and authority of this office. They sustain the
person of God, and supply the place of Christ upon earth ' As though
God did beseech you by us, and in Christ's stead.' This is added to
bespeak credit and respect to their message.
1. Credit. Salvation is a weighty thing, and .we had need be upon
sure grounds, and not only have man's word but God's for it. Man's
word breedeth but human credulity, and that is a cold thing ; it is faith
actuateth, and enliveneth our notions and opinions in religion, and
maketh them operative : 1 Thes. ii. 13, ' 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/
292 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXVIII.
The apostles' word, as it concerned them, was evidenced to be of God.
Partly, by the evidence of the doctrine itself, which had God's impress
and stamp upon it ; and to minds unprejudiced did commend itself to
their consciences, 2 Cor. iv. 2-4 ; and partly, by the power and presence
of God with them, Acts v. 31, 32, and 1 Cor. ii. 4, 5 ; per modum effi-
cientis causes et per modum argumenti, enlightening the mind, per
suading the heart, outwardly by miracles, inwardly by the operation
of the Holy Ghost. The objective testimony was made up of both,
the internal sanctifying work and the external confirmation by mir
acles ; for it is said, 2 Cor. iii. 3, ' They were the epistle of Christ
prepared by their ministry, written not with ink, but the Spirit of the
living God.' He writeth the law upon the heart, Heb. viii. 10, and
Jer. xxxi. 33 ; as it was the ministration of the Spirit, and carried a
sanctifying virtue along with it, that their faith might be grounded
upon the authority of God, opening their heart to receive the word,
Acts xvi. 14. Now the ordinary ministers, the truth of their doctrine
is evidenced by its conformity to the direction of the prophets and
apostles : Isa. viii. 20, ' To the law and to the testimony, if they speak
not according to this word, there is no light in them.' That is the
standard and measure by which all doctrines must be tried to prevent
the obstructions of error. Well then, though other doctrine be brought
to us by men, yet our faith standeth not in the wisdom of men, but in
the power of God ; it must be resolved into a divine testimony ;
though men bring it, yet God is the author ; what the ambassador
saith, the king saith, if he be true to his commission ; and therefore
this word of reconciliation must be received as the word of God.
When you come to an ordinance, the awe of God must be upon your
hearts : Acts x. 33, ' We are all here before thee, to hear all things
commanded thee of God.'
2. Eespect. They speak in God's name, and in God's stead, as if
God were beseeching, and Christ calling upon you : Luke x. 16, ' He
that despiseth you despiseth me ; and he that despiseth me despiseth
him that sent me ; ' it is Christ maketh the request for your hearts ;
the Father sent him, and he us. It is a wonder, that after so much
evidence of the Christian faith, and the world hath had such sufficient
trial of its goodness, efficacy, and power, any should suspect the voice
of God speaking in the scriptures ; but it is a greater wonder, that
believing the scriptures to be the voice of God, and the testimony of
God, we should so slight it, and carry ourselves so neglectfully in a
business of such importance ; as if either we suspected what we profess
to believe, or the hatred and love of God were such inconsiderable
things, that we did not much consider the one nor the other. If an
oracle from heaven should warn you of danger, bid you seek the peace
of God, or you are undone for ever, would not you seriously address
yourselves to this business? God doth by us beseech you, we in
Christ's stead pray you to be reconciled. It is God's word that we
hear and God's message that is sent to you. As Peter prescribeth
ministers to speak as the oracles of God, 1 Peter iv. 11 ; so you must
hear as the word of God ought to be heard, with reverence, and atten
tion, and serious regard, as if God and Christ himself had spoken to
you to press you to it. This word which you hear slightly, as it is
VER: 20.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 293
the testimony of God to you, so one day it will be the testimony of
God against you ; this word shall judge you, John xii. 48. It doth
not fall to the ground, but will be produced as a witness against your
negligence and carelessness.
Thirdly, The manner. Here is beseeching and praying in and by
his ministry which God hath instituted ; God cometh down from the
throne of his sovereignty, and speaketh supplications. We must treat
with men after the manner of Christ, when he was here upon earth,
calling sinners to repentance with all the affectionate importunity
imaginable.
1. With love and sweetness ; the manner must suit with the matter.
We have an authority to exhort, yet in regard of the rich grace we
offer, we must beseech and entreat with all gentleness and importunity.
Paul in a like case doth the like elsewhere : Rom. xii. 1, ' I beseech you,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice.' Church power and civil power differ much. They go
altogether by way of injunction and command, we must beseech ; they
compel, we must persuade. The power of Christ's ambassadors is a
ministry not a domination ; we are to deal with the will and the affec
tions of men, which may be moved and inclined, but not constrained.
Again, there is a difference between the law and the gospel ; the law
doth not beseech, but only command and threaten : ' You shall have
no other gods before me : ' Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven
image, &c.' ; but we, as in Christ's stead, pray you to be reconciled. The
law is peremptory, ' I am the Lord ; ' the gospel wooeth before it
winneth, and reasoneth with us. The gospel being a charter of God's
love, we must use a dispensation suitable, invite men to God in a loving
sweet way ; and surely, if men despise God's still voice, their condem
nation will be very just. When Nabal slighted David's kind message,
he marched against him in fury, 1 Sam. xxv. 13, 14, to cut off all that
belonged to him. If we despise the still voice, we must expect the
whirlwind, ' I stretched out my hands, and no man regarded,' Prov. i.
24, ' I will laugh at their calamity.' How can we expect that God
should hear our prayers, if we be deaf to his requests ; and when we in
his stead pray you to be reconciled, and still you refuse to hear ?
2. Meekness and patience. Praying and beseeching doth not only
note meekness in the proposal, but perseverance also, notwithstanding
the many delays and repulses, yea rough entertainment, that we meet
with at the hands of sinners : 2 Tim. ii. 25, ' In meekness instructing
those that oppose themselves, if peradventure God will give them re
pentance to the acknowledgment of the truth, that they may recover
themselves out of the snare of the devil.' One reason why God will
make use of the ministry of men is because they know the heart of
man, how much he is wedded to his folly, how angry he is to be put
out of his fool's paradise, and to be disturbed in his carnal happiness :
Titus iii. 2, 3, ' Showing meekness to all men, for we ourselves were
sometimes foolish and disobedient, serving divers lusts and pleasures.'
And therefore we must wait, exhort, warn, and still behave ourselves
with much love and gentleness, that compassion to souls may bear the
chief rule in our dealing with them.
Fourthly, The matter: 'Be reconciled to God.' We have heard
294 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXVIII.
much of the way of God's reconciliation with us ; now let us speak of
our reconciliation with God, what is to be done on man's part.
1. Let us accept of the reconciliation offered by God. Our great
business is to receive this grace so freely tendered to us : 2 Cor. vi. 1,
' We, as workers together with him, beseech you not to receive this
grace in vain,' that is, by a firm assent, believing the truth of it ; 1
Tim. i. 15, ' This is a true and faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation/ and Eph. i. 13 ; ' For God hath sent forth Christ to be a
propitiation through faith in his blood/ Rom. iii. 25. And thankfully
esteeming and prizing the benefit, for our acceptance is an election and
choice : Phil. iii. 8, 9, ' I count all things to be dung and dross for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord ; ' Mat. xiii. 45,
46, ' And having found one goodly pearl of great price, he sold all and
bought it/ depending upon the merit, worth, and value of it ; 2 Tim. i.
12, ' I know in whom I have believed/ And venturing our souls and
our eternal interests in this bottom, sue out this grace with this con
fidence, Ps. xxvii. 3, ' One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that
I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of God for ever.'
2. We must accept it in the way God hath appointed, by performing
the duties required on our part. What are they ? Repentance is the
general word, as faith is our acceptance. In it there is included
[1.] An humble confession of our former sinfulness and rebellion
against God. I have been a grievous sinner, a rebel, and an enemy to
God, and this to the grief and shame of his heart : Jer. iii. 13, ' I am
merciful, and will not keep anger for ever ; only acknowledge thine
iniquity which thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and
disobeyed my voice, saith the Lord ; ' and 1 John i. 9, ' If we confess
nnd forsake our sins, he is just and faithful to forgive us our sins.'
When they begged the favour of the king of Israel, they came with
ropes about their necks, 1 Kings xx. 31. The creature must return
to his duty to God, in a posture of humiliation and unfeigned sorrow
for former offences.
[2.] We must lay aside our enmity, and resolve to abstain from all
offences which may alienate God from us. If we have any reserve, we
draw nigh to God with a treacherous heart, to live like rebels under a
pretence of a friendship : Heb. x. 22, ' Let us draw nigh with a true
heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an
evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water ; ' and 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 so no more.' Unless you
put away the evil of your doings, the anger continueth ; and it is in
consistent with a gracious estate to continue in any known sin without
serious endeavours against it. ' What peace as long as the whoredoms
of thy mother Jezebel remaineth ? '
[3.] We must enter into covenant with God, and devote ourselves to
become his : 2 Chron. xxx. 8, ' Yield yourselves unto the Lord ; ' and
Rom. vi. 13, ' But yield yourselves unto God.' There must be an
entire resignation and giving up ourselves to be governed and ordered
by him at his will and pleasure : Acts ix. 6, ' Lord, what wilt thou
have me to do ? ' Give up the keys of the heart, renouncing all
VER. 20.] SERMONS TTPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 295
beloved sins. We then, depending upon the merit of his sacrifice, put
ourselves under the conduct of his word and Spirit, and resolve to use
all the appointed means in order to our full recovery and return to
God.
3. Our being reconciled to God implieth our loving God, who loved
us first, 1 John iv. 19. For the reconciliation is never perfect, till
there be a hearty love to God ; there is a grudge still remaining with
us ; faith begets love, Gal. v. 6. Eepentance is the first expression of
our love ; the sorrowing, humbling part of it is mourning love ; the
covenanting part, either in renouncing, is love, abhorring that which is
contrary to our friendship, into which we are entered with God ; the
devoting part is love, aiming at the glory of him who hath been so
good. All our after-carriage is love, endeavouring to please. You
will never have rest for your souls till you submit to this course, and
be in this manner at peace with God: Mat. xi. 28, 29, ' Take my yoke
upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly, and you shall
find rest for your souls ; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.'
God complaineth of his people by the prophet, that ' they forget their
resting-place,' Jer. 1. 6. Men seek peace where it is not to be found,
try this creature and that, but still meet with vanity and vexation of
spirit ; like feverish persons, who seek ease in the change of their
beds.
SERMON XXXIX.
Noiu then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as iliougli God did beseecJi
you by us : we pi-ay you in Christ's stead, be reconciled to God.
2 COR. v. 20.
Doct. The great business of the ministers of the gospel is to persuade
men to reconciliation with God.
Use. Let me enter upon this work now (1.) To sinners. (2.) To
those reconciled already, as these were to whom he wrote ; he presseth
them further to reconcile themselves to God.
First, To sinners.
Will you be reconciled to God, sinners ? Here I shall show you
(1.) The necessity of reconciliation. (2.) God's condescension in this
business. (3.) The value and worth of the privilege. (4.) The great
dishonour we do to God in refusing it.
1. The first motive is the necessity of being reconciled, by reason of
the enmity between God and us : Col. i. 21, ' And you that were some
times alienated, and enemies in your minds by wicked works, yet now
hath he reconciled.' We are enemies to God, and God is an enemy to
us. I shall prove both : the one to convince, the other to excite and
rouse us up. By sin man is an enemy to God, and hateth him. As to
the punishment, God is an enemy to man, and will avenge himself upon
him. What greater sin than to be enemies to God ? What greater
misery than that God should be an enemy to us ? Surely where both
296 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXIX.
these are joined, it should awaken us, and we should get out of this
condition as fast as we can.
[1.] We are enemies and rebels to God. In our natural estate, we
are all so ; we will not own this, and are ready to defy any that should
say we are God's enemies or haters of God ; we count him to be a
most profligate and forlorn wretch, that should profess himself to be
so. That little spark of conscience, that is left in corrupt nature, will
not suffer men openly to own themselves to be so ; they are ready to
say as Hazael, ' Is thy servant a dog, that I should do this thing ? '
Yet the matter is clear ; we are in our natural estate enemies to God.
(1.) It is possible that human nature may be so far forsaken, as that
among men there should be found haters of God and enemies to him :
Bom. i. 30, OeoaTvyeis, ' Haters of God ; ' and Ps. cxxxix. 21,
' Do not I hate them, Lord, that hate thee ? ' There are an opposite
party to God in the world, some that hate him, as well as some that
love him ; some that walk contrary to him, that oppose his interest,
oppress his servants : Ps. Ixxxiii. 2, ' They that hate thee are risen
up against us without a cause.' The thing is possible then ; all the
business is to find who they are.
(2.) There are open enemies to God, and secret enemies. The open
enemies are such as bid defiance to him, blaspheming his name and
breaking his laws, opposing his interests and oppressing his servants.
The open enmity is declared ; the secret is carried on under a pretence
of friendship, by their living in the church, and having a form of
godliness, and a blind zeal, John xvi. 2. Not only Turks, and infidels,
and apostates, but also profane wretches, though they live within the
verge of the church, yet if they go on still in their trespasses, Ps. Ixviii.
21, ' But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp
of all those that go on in their trespasses ; ' if they oppose whatsoever
of God is set a-foot in their days, they are Oeopaxpi, Acts v, 39,
* Fighters against God ; ' and Acts xxiii. 9, ' Let us not fight against
God/ Or if they oppose his servants, if they be not lovers of those
which are good, 2 Tim. iii. 3, a^Ouiyadot,, 'despisers of thoso
which are good.' God and his people have one common interest.
Those that malign his servants hate him ; for they hate his image,
Prov. xxix. 27, ' The upright in his way is an abomination to the
wicked/ There is a secret rising of heart against those that are
stricter, and have more of the image of God, than they ; there is an old
enmity between the seeds, as between the raven and the dove, the
wolf and the lamb ; now this is enmity against God.
(3.) There are enemies to God directly and formally ; and implicitly
and by interpretation. Directly and formally, where there is a positive
enmity against God, whether secret or open. The expressions of the
open enmity against God have been already mentioned, a hatred of his
ways and a rage against his servants ; the secret positive enmity is
seen in the effect of slavish fear, which only apprehended God as an
avenger of sin ; and so men hate those whom they fear. We have
wronged God exceedingly, and know that he will call us to an account ;
and being sensible of a revenge, we hate him. All that are afraid of
God, with such a fear as hath torment in it, aut extinction Deum
cupiunt, aut cxarmatum ; it is a pleasing thought to them if no God,
VER. 20.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 297
Ps. xiv. 1, 'The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.' As the
devils tremble at their own thoughts of God, it would be welcome
news to them, if there were none ; these are enemies directly and for
mally. But now by interpretation, that will make us more work ;
certainly there is such a thing as hatred by interpretation, as appeareth,.
Prov. viii. 36, ' He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul :
all that hate me love death.' So where it is said, ' He that spareth
the rod hateth his son,' Prov. xiii. 24. His fault is fond indulgence r
but a wrong love is an interpretative hatred. Now apply it to the case
between us and God ; and those that pretend no such thing can be
charged upon them, may yet hate God. Three ways we may be guilty
of this interpretative hatred and enmity.
(1st.) If we love not God at all ; for not to love is to hate. In things
worthy to be loved there is no medium ; for he that is not with God
is against him, Mat. xii. 30 ; and he that loveth him not hateth him.
To be a neuter is to be a rebel ; and you speak all manner of misery
to that man of whom you may say, ' that he loveth not God.' So
Christ brandeth his enemies : John v. 42, ' But I know you, that ye
have not the love of God in you.' They pleaded zeal for the sabbath r
and opposed Christ for working a miracle on that day. Men are in a
woful condition if they be void of the true love of God, love being the
fountain of desiring communion with God, and the root of all sound
obedience to him ; and certainly if men love not God, being so deeply
engaged, and God so deserving their love, they hate him and are
enemies to him, there being no neutral or middle estate : 1 Cor. xvi.
22, ' If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema
Maranatha.' It is danger enough not to love him, though we break
not out into open opposition against his ways.
(2c%.) If we love him not so much as we ought to do, or not so much
as we love some other thing ; for a lesser love is hatred in the sacred
dialect, as we see in the law of the hated wife, not that the one was
not loved at all or absolutely hated, but not loved so much as the others,
Deut. xxi. 15, 16 ; so in that proverb, Prov. xiv. 20, ' The poor is
hated even of his own neighbour, but the rich hath many friends.'
There hatred is taken for slighting, or a less degree of love; so in this
case between us and God, Mat. x. 37, ' He that loveth father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me ; ' in Luke it is said, Luke xiv. 26,
' If any man hate not father and mother, and brother and sisters, he
cannot be my disciple.' Here to love less is to hate ; so Mat. vi. 24,
' No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and
love the other, or he will hold to the one, and despise the other ; ye
cannot serve God and mammon/ God is of that excellent nature, that
to esteem anything above him or equal with him is to hate him. Now
because men love the world, and the things of the world as well, yea
more than God, they hate him, and are enemies to him. Now all car
nal men are guilty of this, 2 Tim. iii. 4, ' Lovers of pleasure more than
lovers of God,' <j>t\r)Sovat, pa\\ov rj <f>t\60eoi ; and therefore it is
positively said, James iv. 4, ' That the friendship of the world is enmity
with God ; and whosoever is a friend of the world is an enemy to God.'
Oh ! that men would look upon things as the scripture expresseth
them ; that the love of the world is the highest contempt and affront
298 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXIX.
which can be offered to God. In comparison of our love to him, all the
pleasures and contentments of the world should be hated, rather than
loved. So far as we set our hearts upon these things, so far they are
deadened and estranged from God, and God is easily parted with for
the world's sake. If a father should come to a child and say, If you
love such a young man or woman, you cannot love me, and I shall take
you for my utter enemy, would not any ingenuous child, rather than
be an enemy to his father, part with his vain and enticing company ?
(3c%.) By interpretation still we are said to hate God and to be
enemies to him, if we rebel against his laws, and love what God hateth :
so, ' The carnal mind is said to be enmity to God, because it is not sub
ject to the law of God,' Rom. viii. 7. Love is determined by obedience,
1 John v. 3, and hatred by disobedience : ' That hate me, and keep not
my commandments.' We apprehend God standeth in the way of our
desires, because we cannot enjoy our lusts with that freedom and
security, as we might otherwise, were it not for his law ; we hate God,
because he commandeth that which we cannot and will not do ; there
fore an impenitent^ person and an enemy to God are equivalent
expressions.
(4.) There is a twofold hatred: Odium abominationis and odium
inimicitice, the hatred of abomination and the hatred of enmity ; the
one is opposite to the love of goodwill, the other to the love of com
placency : Prov. xxix. 27, ' The wicked is an abomination to the
righteous.' He hateth not his neighbour with the hatred of enmity, so
as to seek his destruction, but with the hatred of offence, so as not to
delight in him as wicked. In opposition to the love of complacency,
we may hate our sinful neighbour, as we must ourselves much more ;
but in opposition to the love of benevolence, we must neither hate our
neighbour, nor our enemy, nor ourselves. Apply this now to the case
between God and us : it will be hard to excuse any carnal men from
either hatred, certainly not from the hatred of offence or abomination,
there being such an unsuitableness and dissimilitude between God and
them. In pure nature we were created after his image, and then we
delighted in him, but when we lost our first nature, we lost our first
love, for love is grounded upon likeness : $i\ov KaXov^ev OJJLOIOV o/Wo>
/car' aperrjv ; we love those that have like affections, especially in a
good thing. Now there being such a dissimilitude between God and
us, we love what he hateth, and hate what he loveth ; therefore how
can there choose but be hatred between us ? How can we delight in
a holy God, and a God of pure eyes delight in filthy creatures ? What
can carnal man see lovely in God ? Zech. xi. 8, ' My soul loathed them,
and their soul abhorred me.' And therefore from this hatred of loath
ing, offence, and abomination, none can excuse them. Till they come
to hate what God hateth, and love what God loveth, there is still the
hatred of offence : Prov. viii. 13, ' The fear of the Lord is to hate evil,'
<fec. And for the hatred of enmity, which is an endeavour to do mis
chief, and seeketh the destruction of the thing hated, we cannot excuse
the wicked from that neither, for there is a secret positive enmity, as
you have heard before.
(5.) God's enemies carry on a twofold war against God, offensive
and defensive.
VER. 20.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 299
(1st.) The offensive war is when men rebel against God's laws, and
seek to beat down his interest in the world, and employ their faculties,
mercies, and comforts as weapons of unrighteousness against God :
Kom. vi. 13, ' Yield not your members as instruments of unrighteous
ness unto sin, oVXa, or weapons, but yield yourselves unto God, as
those that are alive from the dead, and your members as weapons of
righteousness unto God,' Our faculties, talents, interests, are employed
either as armour of light for God, or as weapons of unrighteousness
against God. And warring Satan's warfare I call the offensive war
against God.
(2dly.) The defensive war is when we slight his word, and resist the
motions of his Spirit, Acts vii. 51 . When God bringeth his spiritual
artillery to batter down all that lifteth up itself against the obedience
of Christ, 2 Cor. x. 4, 5, he layeth siege to their hearts, and battereth
them daily by the rebukes, and the motions of his Spirit ; yet men will
not yield the fortress, but stand it out to the last, and delight to go on
in their natural corruption, and will not have Christ to reign over
them ; and so they increase their enmity, and double their misery, by
a resistance of grace. So that they are rebels not only against the law,
but the gospel, and stand out against their own mercies ; as they are
enemies to an earthly prince, that not only molest him with continual
inroads and incursions, but those also that keep his towns against him.
Well then, all this that is said showeth; that though men do not break
out into open acts of hostility against God, yet they may hate him, be
enemies to him. Though they may not be professed infidels, yet secret
enemies, under a show of respect to his religion, enemies by interpre
tation, as they love him not, or love him less, or impenitently continue
in a course of disobedience. If they seek not the destruction of God's
interest in the world, yet their soul loatheth God ; the thoughts of his
being are a trouble to them ; and they do not walk in his ways, nor will
not be reclaimed from their folly by any of his entreaties.
[2.] Now let me prove, that God is an enemy to a carnal man or
man defiled with sin. He is so, though he doth not stir up all his
wrath, though he bestoweth many favours upon us in the blessings of
this life ; he is so, though he useth much patience towards us ; he is
so, though he vouchsafeth us many tenders of grace to reclaim us.
All these things may consist with the wrath of God ; he is so, what
ever purposes of grace, or secret good-will he may bear to any of us
from everlasting ; for our condition is to be determined by the sentence
of his law, and there we are children of wrath even as others, Eph. vi.
3 ; liable to the stroke of his eternal vengeance : Ps. v. 5, ' Thou hatest
all the workers of iniquity.' They can look upon themselves as only
objects of his wrath and hatred. Now this hatred and enmity of God
is seen, partly as all commerce is cut off between God and them ;
Isa. lix. 2, ' Your iniquities have separated between you and your God,
and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear ; ' so
that he will not hold communion with us in the Spirit. Partly, in
that he doth often declare his displeasure against our sins : 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 ; '
and Heb. ii. 2, ' Every transgression, and every disobedience received
300 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXIX.
a just recompense of reward.' Every commandment hath its trophies,
to show that God hath gotten the best of sinners ; some are smitten
because they love not God, and put not their trust in him ; some, for
false worship ; some, for blaspheming his name, and profaning his
day. Sometimes he maketh inquisition for blood, sometimes for
disobedience to parents and governors ; by these instances God
showeth, that he is at war with sinners. It may be the greatest
expression of God's auger, if he doth not check us and suffer us to go
on in our sins : Hosea iv. 17, ' Ephraim is joined to idols, let him
alone ; ' word, providence, conscience, let him alone : Ps. Ixxxi. 12, ' So
I gave them up to their own hearts' lusts, and they walked in their
own counsels.' It is the greatest misery of all to be left to our own
choices ; but however it be, whether God strike or forbear, the Lord
is already in battle array, proclaiming the war against us : Ps. vii.
11, 12, 'God is angry with the wicked every day; if he turn not, he
will whet his sword ; he hath bent his bow, and will make it ready :
He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death. He hath
ordained his arrows against the persecutors.' God's justice, though it
doth for a while spare the wicked, yet it doth not lie idle; every day
they are a-preparing and a-fatting. As all things work together for
good to them that love God ; so all things are working for the final
perdition of the obstinately impenitent: God can deal with them
eminus, at a distance, he hath his arrows ; cominus, hand to hand,
he hath his sword ; he is bending his bow, whetting his sword. Now
when God falleth upon us, what shall we do ? Can we come and
make good our party against him ? Alas, how soon is a poor creature
overwhelmed, if the Lord of hosts arm the humours of our own
bodies, or our thoughts against us ? If a spark of his wrath light
into the conscience, how soon is a man made a burden and a terror
to himself ? God will surely be too hard for us : Job ix. 4, ' Who
ever hardened his heart against God and prospered ? ' What can we
get by contending with the Lord ? One frown of his is enough to
undo us to all eternity. Can Satan benefit you? The devil that
giveth you counsel against God, can he secure you against the
strokes of his vengeance ? No, he himself is fallen under the weight
of God's displeasure and holden in chains of darkness unto the
judgment of the great day; therefore think of it while God is but
bending his bow, and whetting his sword. The arrows are not yet
shot out of the terrible bow, the sword is but yet a-whetting, it is
not brandished against us ; after these fair and treatable warnings
we are undone for ever, if we turn not speedily ; it is no time to dally
with God. We read, Luke xiv. 31, of a king that had but ten
thousand, and another coming against him with twenty thousand :
what doth he do ? ' While he is yet a great way off, he sendeth an
embassy, and desireth conditions of peace.' You are no match for
God ; it is no time to dally or tarry, till the judgment tread upon our
heels, or the storm and tempest of his wrath break out upon us. The
time of his patience will not always last, and we are every day a step
nearer to eternity. How can a man sleep in his sins, that is upon the
very brink of hell and everlasting destruction ? Certainly a change
must come, and in the ordinary course of nature we have but a little
VER. 20.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 301
time to spend in the world ; therefore since the avenger of blood is at
our heels, let us take sanctuary at the Lord's grace, and run for refuge
to the hope of the gospel, Heb. vi. 18, and make our peace ere it be too
late. Cry, Quarter, as to one that is ready to strike : Isa. xxvii. 5,
' Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me,
and he shall make peace with me.' This is the first motive.
2. God's condescension in this business.
[1.] That he being so glorious, the person offended, who hath no
need of us, should seek reconciliation : it is such a wonder for God to
offer, that it should be the more shame for us to deny. For us to sue
for reconciliation, or ask conditions of peace, that is no wonder, no
more than it is for a condemned malefactor to beg a pardon ; but for
God to begin, there is the wonder. If God hath been in Christ recon
ciling the world to himself, then we may pray you to be reconciled.
And surely you should not refuse the motion ; we did the wrong, and
God is our superior, and hath no need of us. Men will submit, when
their interest leadeth them to it, Acts xii. 20, ' They desired peace,
because their country was nourished by the king's country.' We
should make the motion, for we cannot subsist without him. What
is there in man, that God should regard his enmity, or seek his
friendship? He suffereth no loss by the fallen creature, angels, or
men ; why then is there so much ado about us ? He was happy
enough before there was any creature, and would still be happy with
out them. Surely thy enmity or amity is nothing to God ; surely for
us to be cross, and not to mind this, is a strange obstinacy. Men treat
when their force is broken, when they can carry out their opposition
no longer, but God, who is so powerful, so little concerned in what
we do, he prayeth you to be reconciled.
[2.] In that he would lay the foundation of this treaty in the death
of his Son: Col. i. 21, 'lie hath reconciled us in the body of his
flesh through death ; ' therefore, ' we pray you to be reconciled/ God,
to secure his own honour, to make it more comfortable to us, would
not be appeased without satisfaction. Though his nature inclined him
to mercy, yet he would not hear of it till his justice were answered,
that we might have nothing to perplex our consolation, and that we
might have an incomparable demonstration of his hatred against sin,
and so an help to sanctification. He would have our satisfaction and
debt paid by him who could not but pay it with overplus. Since he
hath not spared his only Son, we know how much he loveth us, and
hateth sin. Oh ! woe unto us if now, after God hath been at such a
great deal of cost, we should slight the motion ; angels wonder at what
you slight, 1 Peter i. 12. Shall the blood of Christ run a-wasting ?
Mind the business I pray you. God hath laid out all his wisdom
upon it, and will not you take it into your thoughts ? God's heart was
much set upon it, or else he would never have given his Son to bring
it about. It is the folly of man to part with things of worth for
trifles ; as Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, Lysimachus
his kingdom for a draught of water. Surely we cannot imagine this
of the wise God ; when he hath been at such expense, it is not for a
matter of nothing ; therefore we should the more regard it.
[3.] In that he hath appointed a ministry of reconciliation, and
302 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XXXIX.
authorised some as solemn messengers to tender this grace to us in
his name ; therefore, ' as ambassadors for Christ, we pray you in
Christ's stead, he ye reconciled to God.' God might have contented
himself with putting his thoughts into scripture, and given us the
word and doctrine of reconciliation only ; and truly that is a great
mercy. Heathens are left to the puzzle and distraction of their own
thoughts, and know not how God shall be appeased ; but because that
blessed book may possibly lie by as a neglected thing, he will have
some that shall put us in mind daily of his design of saving the world
by Christ. If he would send messengers, he might have sent heralds
to proclaim war, but he hath sent ambassadors of peace. Surely upon
this account we should be welcome to you : Isa. Hi. 7, ' How beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that pub-
lisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth ; ' how dirty
soever their feet be with the journey. Our message is not to require
satisfaction for the wrongs done to the crown of heaven or to denounce
war, but a matter of peace ; not only to beg a correspondency of traffic,
but a treaty about marriage, and so to enter into the strictest amity
with God ; ' Even that you may be married unto Christ, to bring
forth fruit unto God/ Bom. vii. 4. Yet farther,
[4.] These messengers are under a charge to manage God's message
with all wisdom and faithfulness, and diligence, Mark xvi. 15, 16, to
preach the gospel to every creature, to rich and poor, learned and un
learned. And woe be to them if they be not diligent, warning every man,
and teaching every man, that they may present every man perfect in
Christ Jesus, Col. i. 28. Christ hath conjured them by all their love to his
person to do it, John xxi. 15, 16, ' Feed my sheep, feed my lambs.' If
we have any respect to our Lord, we must be diligent in offering peace to
all that are willing to repent and believe. This work is seriously
commended to us ; ye profess to be my servants, and therefore by all
the love you have to me, I conjure you, I shall not take it that you
love me, if you have not a care of my sheep and my lambs. You
know the temptations, prejudices, and hatred of those you have to do
with ; therefore pray them to be reconciled. And
[5.] Consider the terms which God requireth, which are only that we
we should render ourselves capable of his favour, by entering into cove
nant with him. On God's part all things are ready ; now we pray you to
be reconciled ; that is, do you enter into covenant with him. God in the
covenant is our friend. Abraham is called the friend of God, James ii.
23 ; 2 Chron. xx. 7, ' Thou gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend
for ever ; ' Isa. xli. 8, ' The seed of Abraham my friend.' Abraham was
God's confederate, and they loved entirely, as one friend doth another.
In the covenant you take God for your God, and God taketh you for
his people ; you enter into a league offensive and defensive, to hate
what God hateth, and to love what God loveth ; God promiseth and
engageth to bless, and you to obey.
3. The value of this privilege ; it is worth the having. What do we
plead with you about, but the favour of God and reconciliation with
him by Christ? God found out the way ; Christ purchased it ; the
angels first published it, Luke ii. 14. There are many privileges
VEK. 20.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 303
depend upon it, as ; (1.) Sanctifying grace. God, being propitiated in
Christ, giveth us the first grace, and causeth us to repent and believe
in Christ ; for on the behalf of Christ, it is given us to believe, Phil,
i. 29, and the regenerating Spirit is shed upon us by Christ. Now
when we repent and believe, we are made capable of more of the
sanctifying Spirit, Acts ii. 38. The Holy Ghost is given to them that
obey : Acts iii. 32, ' And we are witnesses of these things, and so is
also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.' And
a farther measure of grace upon our actual reconciliation : Gal. iv. 6,
' And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into
your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.' (2.) The pardon of sins. When
we are regenerated, our sins are actually pardoned : Acts xxvi. 18, ' To
open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the
power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and
inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me ; '
Heb. viii. 10-12. We are released frcin the eternal punishment, and
God quits his controversy against us. (3.) Communion with God,
favour, image, and fellowship, go still together ; they were lost together.
Before we could not look God in the face, or lift up the head to him, or
think of him without trembling ; there is a God, but he is my enemy ;
every prayer revived our guilt ; but now we have access with boldness, and
confidence of welcome and audience, whenever we have occasion to make
use of God, Heb. iv. 16. When David heard that Saul was pacified
towards him, he was in his presence as in times past, 1 Sam. xix. 7.
The flaming sword, which kept the way to the tree of life, is removed.
In our falls, in our distresses, in our dangers, in our wants, in death
itself we have a God to go to, to move for relief, to whom to commit
our souls. (4.) We have solid consolation, rest, and peace in ourselves,
for the chief cause of our fear and sorrow is done- away ; our sin is
pardoned and subdued, and the eternal punishment released. Till this
be, you can never have any rest for your souls ; till you are at peace
with God, and submit to the course prescribed by him for your recon
ciliation, Mat. xi. 28, 29. One great fanlt of man is that he doth not
take a right course to quiet his soul God cornplaineth of his people
by the prophet, 'That they had forgotten their resting-place,' Jer. 1.
6 ; that is, they had forgotten God, their only trust. Men seek peace
where it is not to be found, in this creature and that, but still meet with
vanity and vexation of spirit, like feverish persons who seek ease in the
change of their beds. (5.) The fruition of God. Be reconciled to him,
and in time you shall be admitted to see his face. This is the end of
all ; for this end Christ died, for this end we are sanctified and justified,
and adopted into God's family, and for this end we believe and hope,
and labour and suffer, and deny ourselves, and renounce the world. It
is Christ's end, Col. i. 21, 22 ; and it is our end, 1 Peter i. 9 ; and will
certainly be the fruit of our reconciliation : Bom. v. 11, ' For if when we
were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much
more being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.'
4. The fourth motive is, the great dishonour we do to God in refus
ing it. You despise two things, which men cannot endure should be
despised, their anger and love. For anger Nebuchadnezzar is an
instance, who commanded to heat the furnace seven times hotter, Dan.
304 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XXXIX.
iii. 19 ; for love David, when Nabal despised his courteous message,
Now you despise the love and wrath of God, as if they were incon
siderable things not to be stood upon.
First, The terror of his wrath, as if not to be stood upon. But do
you know the power of his anger, and what a dreadful thing it is to
fall into the hands of the living God ? Can you think of an eternity
of misery without horror ? One that hath been a little scorched in the
flames of God's wrath dareth not have slight thoughts of it. Oh !
Christians, as you would escape this blackness of darkness, eternal
fire, and the horrible tempest which is reserved for the wicked, flee
from wrath to come. Secondly, His love. Thou despisest his Christ, as if
his purchase were nothing worth ; thou despisest his institutions,
which are ordered with such care for thy good. Oh ! what horrible
contempt of God is this, that thou refusest to be friends with him.
after all his intreaties and condescension ! How will you answer it at
the last day ? In hell thy heart will reproach thee for it.
Secondly, To those that have been reconciled with God before. Be
yet more reconciled to God ; get more testimonies of his favour, lay
aside more of your enmity. I have four things to press upon them.
1. To renew your covenant with God by going over the first work
of faith and repentance again and again, from ' faith to faith,' Horn,
i. 17 ; not questioning your estate, but bewailing your offences, Job
xiii. 10 ; and renewing your dedication to God. The covenant is the
covenant of God's peace, Isa. liv. 10. This covenant needeth to be
renewed, partly because of our frequent breaches. It is not a work
that must be once done and no more, but often. We have hearts that
love to wander, and need tie upon tie ; therefore renew the oath of
your allegiance unto God. We are apt to break with him every day.
Partly, that you may give Christ a new and hearty welcome into your
souls. We are baptized but once, but we receive the Lord's supper
often, oo-a/u9 implieth TroXXa/a?. That is our business there, to make the
bond of our duty more strong, and to tie it the faster upon our souls.
2. To increase your love to God ; that is reconciliation on our part:
Mat. xxii. 37, ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and all thy soul, and all thy mind ; ' Luke x. 27, 'With all thy strength,'
some add, ' might.' Now we grow up into this by degrees ; ' Love with
all thy mind.' The mind and thoughts are more taken up with God.
Of the wicked it is said, Ps. x. 4, ' The wicked, through the pride of
his countenance, will not seek after God ; God is not in all his
thoughts ; ' and Job xxi. 14, ' They say unto God, Depart from us ;
for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.' Now it must be other
wise with you : Ps. civ. 34, ' My meditation of him shall be sweet : I
will be glad in the Lord.' You must still be remembering God ; ' Love
with all the heart' Let will and affections be more carried out to
Ood that your desires may be after him, your delights in him, and
valuing the light of his countenance more than all things, Ps. Ivi. 7.
Prizing communion with him. An hypocrite doth not delight himself
in God, but a sincere Christian will : Ps. 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 Lord, and
to inquire in histemple;' Ps. xxxvii. 4, 'Delight thyself also in the Lord,
VER. 21.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 305
and he shall give thee the desire of thy heart ' and testify it by con
versing much with him and thirsting after him, when they cannot
enjoy him : Ps. Ixiii. 1, 2, ' Lord, thou art my God, early will I seek
thee ; my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry
and thirsty land where no water is ; to see thy power and thy glory, so
as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.' ' With all thy strength,' that is
you are to glorify him and serve him with all the power and capacities
that you have ; with body, time, estate, tongue, pleading for him, acting
for him, not begrudging pains and labours, not serving him without cost.
3. A third thing is keeping covenant. The scriptures that speak
of making covenant speak also of keeping covenant : Ps. xxv. 10, ' All
the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, to such as keep his covenant
and his testimonies : ' and Ps. ciii. 17, 18, ' The mercy of the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness
to children's children, to such as keep his covenant, and to those
that remember his commandments to do them.'
4. A thankful sense of the love of God in our reconciliation, glorying
in grace, admiring of grace ; to preserve this is the great duty of a
Christian. This keepeth alive his love and obedience : 1 John iii. 1,
' Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that
we should be called the sons of God : ' Bom. v. 8, ' God commendeth
his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for
us/
SERMON XL.
For he hath made him to be sin for us, ivho knew no sin, that we might
be the righteousness of God in him. 2 COR. v. 21.
HERE he amplifieth that mystery which was formerly briefly delivered
concerning the way of our reconciliation on God's part namely, ' that
God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their
trespasses to them ; ' by showing what was done by God in Christ,
and the benefit thence resulting to us. Here is factum and finis
facti.
1. Factum ; and there take notice
[1.] What Christ is in himself He knew no sin.
[2.] What by the ordination of God He hath made him to be sin
for its.
2. Finis facti; and there observe
[1 .] The benefit intended to us That we might be the righteousness
of God.
[2.] When we are made partakers of this benefit In him, when
actually united to Christ.
Let us explain these circumstances.
First, What was done in order to our reconciliation ; and there
1. The innocency of Christ as mediator ' He knew no sin,' that is,
practically and experimentally, but was an innocent, pure and sinless
VOL. XIIT. u
306 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SEK. XL.
person ; otherwise theoretic and speculative, he knew what sin was in
its nature, and what it will be in its effects and fruits. The innocency
of Christ is elsewhere asserted : John viii. 46, ' Who convinceth me of
sin ? ' and 1 Peter ii. 22, ' He did no evil, neither was guile found in
his mouth/ Jesus Christ, our mediator, was free of the least trans
gression of the law of God, or any defect or inconforrnity thereunto, for
he was completely obedient to the whole will of God both in heart and
practice ; Mat. iii. 15, ' For thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteous
ness.' By his miraculous conception he was exempted from the con
tagion of original sin ; others are defiled with it : Job xiv. 4, ' Who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? No, not one.' But Christ
was exempted: Luke i. 31, ' The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee ; therefore that
holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called Jesus.' And from
all actual transgressions ; though the strongest of Satan's fiery darts
were shot at him, yet there was nothing to befriend a temptation :
John xiv. 30, ' The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in
me.' And it was needful our Redeemer should be so, that he might be
lovely to God : Ps. xiv 7, ' Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wick
edness ; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of
gladness above thy fellows ; ' and to all the saints, Cant. v. 16, 'His
mouth is most sweet, yea he is altogether lovely/ Christ's innocency
hath a double use. It serveth for satisfaction and for example. For
satisfaction, that we might know that he did not endure these suffer
ings as a punishment of his own sin ; ' he knew no sin,' that is, with an
experimental, approbative knowledge.- To know signifieth in the
Hebrew dialect, to love, to act, to like. He knew what it was to suffer
for sin, but he knew not what it was to commit sin ; he suffered for
sin, 'the just for the unjust, to bring us to God,' 1 Peter iii. '18.
There was a necessity of his holiness, both as priest and sacrifice :
Heb. vii. 26, 27, ' Such an high priest became us, who is holy, harm
less, undefiled, separate from sinners/ And as a sacrifice, that he
might be completely lovely and acceptable to God, as being represented
by all those spotless lambs, which as types of him were offered under
the law : John i. 29, ' Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the
sins of the world ; ' and, 1 Peter i. 19, ' But with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot/ In short our
high priest must be without sin, and he must offer an unspotted
sacrifice, that he may satisfy God's justice, merit his favour, and enter
heaven, and by his intercession procure the actual remission of sins
and our full and everlasting salvation. So, for example, that he
might be a perfect pattern of holiness to all his followers, that they
may purify ' themselves as Christ is pure/ 1 John iii. 3. Not for
example only I confess, for then Christ needed not to be made sin,
that is, a sin-offering, or to bear the punishment of sin ; but yet for
example, as well as expiation, ' For we must be holy, as he that hath
called us was holy,' 1 Peter i. 15 ; and we are to walk as he
walked, 1 John ii. 6. Head and members must be all of a piece,
or else the mystical body of Christ would be monstrous and dispro
portionate.
Secondly, The second thing is the ordination of God 'He hath
VER. 21.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 307
made him to be sin for us.' Two expressions must be explained,
sin and made.
1. Sin. Mark ; it is not said that God made Christ a sinner, but he
hath made him sin ; which I note to prevent bold and daring glosses,
for wit will play the wanton with such expressions. Some have said
that Christ was maximus peccator, because he stood in the room of all
the rest ; but this is harsh, and of an ill sound. Here is enough in the
expression itself; we need not strain it higher. Sin is taken in
scripture, sometimes for the punishment of sin, sometimes for a
sacrifice for sin, or a sin-offering. (1.) By a metonymy of the cause for
the effect, sin is put for the punishment of sin, as Gen. iv. 13, ' My
sin is greater than I can bear/ he meaneth pcena peccati, the
punishment. And ver. 7, ' Sin lieth at the door,' the punishment
is at hand, and will certainly come on. So Heb. ix. 28, ' Christ
will come without sin ; ' not only free from its blot, for so he was ever,
holy, harmless, separate from sinners ; but from its guilt and punish
ment, which he took upon him in our name. (2.) By a metonymy of
the adjunct for the subject, sin is put for a sin-offering, or a sacrifice
for sin ; piaculum in Latin is both a sin and a sacrifice for sin.
So the priests are said to eat the sins of the people, Hos. iv. 8, that is,
the sacrifices for sin, minding nothing but to glut themselves with the
fat of the offerings, a part of which fell to the priests' portion ; and so
it must be understood here; he was made sin for us, that is, an
expiatory sacrifice for our sin. So Paul applieth it in these two
senses to Christ, Eom. viii. 3, ' God by sending his Son in the simili
tude of sinful flesh, by sin hath condemned sin in the flesh ; ' that is,
by the sacrifice, abolished sin or the punishment, put an everlasting
brand upon it to make it hateful to the saints.
2. The word made is to be explained ; for here is no word but
what is emphatical and hath its weight. That signifieth God's solemn
ordination and appointment for to make is to ordain, as Mark iii. 14.
eVoMjo-e, made or 'ordained twelve 'disciples; and Acts ii. 36, 'Made to
be Lord and Christ ; ' which is not referred to his nature and sub
stance, but to his estate and condition ; so God made him, that is,
ordered him to bear the punishment of sin, or to become a sacrifice
for sin. In other places it is said, Isa. liii. 6, ' The Lord laid upon
him the iniquities of us all.' So Isa. liii. 10, ' It pleased the Father to
bruise him ; he put him to grief.' The punishment and curse of sin
was imposed upon him ; so that our Saviour had all the sins' of the elect
upon him by imputation, bearing the punishment of them himself.
Thirdly, The end of what was done about Christ. Where (1.)
The benefit intended ' That we might be made the righteousness of
God,' that is, that we might be just with that righteousness which
God giveth, imputeth, and approveth. Mark here four things.
1. Eighteousness is the word used, and it is here taken in a legal
and judicial sense, not for a disposition of mind or heart, but for a state
of acceptation, or the ground of a plea before the tribunal of God.
So, also it is taken, Eom. v. 19, ' As by one man's disobedience many
were made sinners, so by the obedience of one many shall be made
righteous,' that is, deemed and accounted so, accepted as such. In
short, sanctification is not here intended, but justification. Now this
308 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XL.
forensical or court righteousness may be interpreted either with rela
tion to the precept or sanction.
[!."] With respect to the precept of the law ; so it is said, Kom. ii.
13, ' For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers
of the law shall be justified.' A man that exactly fulfilleth the law of
works is righteous, but so, ' by the deeds of the law no flesh shall be
justified in his sight,' Kom. iii. 20. Let me instance in this kind of
righteousness with respect to the law of grace, 1 John iii. 7, ' He that
doth righteousness is righteous,' that is, evangelically, whilst he doth
it sincerely, though not perfectly. The legal righteousness is opposite
to reatus culpce, to the fault ; if that could be, we might say, he that
fulfilleth the law is righteous, that is, he is not faulty.
[2.] There is a righteousness with respect to the sanction, and so with
respect either to the commination or the promise. (1.) With respect to
the commination so legal righteousness is not dueness of punishment ;
he is righteous who is freed from the obligation to punishment. This
righteousness is opposite to reatus pcence ; and so a man is said to be
justified or made righteous, when he is freed from the eternal punish
ment threatened by God. And thus by the righteouness of Christ we
are 'justified from all things from which we could not be justified by the
law of Moses,' Acts xiii. 39 ; or rather see that place, Rom. i. 17, 18, ' For
therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is
written, the just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who
hold the truth in unrighteousness.' But before I go off in the commina
tion, two things are considerable, sentence and execution. From the
commination, as it importeth a sentence or respects a sentence ; so we are
justified, or made righteous, when we are not liable to condemnation,
as Rom. viii. 1, ' There is no condemnation/ &c ; and Rom. v. 18, ' As
by the offence of one, judgment came upon all to condemnation, so by
the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men, unto justifi
cation of life.' But as the commination respects the execution, so to be
justified or made righteous is not to be liable to punishment. So it is
said. Rom. v. 9, ' Being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from
wrath though him.' Now this exemption is sometimes founded on the
innocency of the person, but that is not our case ; sometimes it cometh
to pass through free pardon, as when the law is suspended, or penalty
remitted by mere bounty, as Joseph forgave his brethren, or David,
Absalom ; but that is not our case neither ; sometimes by satisfaction
made, as Paul would pay Onesimus his debt ; or by free pardon and
satisfaction both together, which was certainly our case, ' For we are
justified freely by his grace through the redemption of Jesus Christ,' Rom.
iii. 24. There is free pardon and a full compensation made to divine
justice, to satisfy for the breaches of the law. And so we are ' made the
righteousness of God in him;' freely, and by God's grace finding out
the remedy, and yet securing the authority of his law, and the honour
of his justice, upon the account of Christ's satisfaction, or his being sin
for us, that is, freed from the sentence and execution of the law, or the
eternal wrath of God. (2.) The other part of the sanction is the
promise. And so our judicial, or legal righteousness, is nothing else but
our right to the reward, gift, or benefits founded, not in any merit of
VEB. 21.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 309
our own, nor yet in the bare gift of another, but in the merit of
another conjoined with his free gift. So by Christ's being made sin for
us, we have not only freedom from the curse, but title to glory, 1 Thes.
v. 9, 10. And our estate in heaven is called redemption: Eph. i.
14, ' Until the redemption of the purchased possession.' Christ's people
are purchased by his blood, and are his possession, and his peculiar
people ; and they shall at length come to their full and final deliverance,
which is there called redemption ; as also, Eph. iv. 16, chiefly because
it is a fruit of Christ's death, and something that accrueth to us by
virtue of his laying down his soul as an offering for sin.
2. The abstract is used concerning our privileges, as well as con
cerning Christ's sufferings. He made sin, we made righteousness, not
only accounted, or accepted as righteous; but made righteousness, which
isiuore emphatical, and doth heighten our thoughts in the apprehension
of the privilege, as Christ's being made sin doth in the greatness of his
sufferings.
3. Observe, this is called the righteousness of God. Why ?
[1.] Because it is the righteousness of that person who is God : Jer.
xxiii. 6, 'The Lord our righteousness.' There is an essential righteous
ness, which Christ as God hath in common with the Father and the
Spirit, and is incommunicable either as to men or angels, no more
than God can communicate to his creatures any other of his essential
attributes, omnipotency and eternity. But the righteousness of Christ,
God-man, is conditionary and surety righteousness, which he performed
in our stead ; his doing and suffering in our stead, this may be com
municated to us, and is the ground of our acceptance with God, and
may be called the righteousness of God, because the person that pro
cured it is God.
[2.] It may be called the righteousness of God, because the only wise
God found it out, and appointed it. It was not the device of man, but
the result of his eternal counsels, Col. i. 19, 20. So when the apostle
had proved that Jews and Gentiles were under a deep guilt, vTroSifcos
Sea, Kom. iii. 19, liable to the challenges of the law, and the process of
his revenging justice, and therefore needed a righteousness to render
them acceptable to God. The light of nature, and the law of Moses,
could give them no remedy, but rather rendered them more miserable,
discovering sin, and affording them no help against it, but left them
under uncertainty, bondage and horrors of conscience ; what should the
fallen creature do ? The Lord in his mercy found out a righteousness,
' Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto
all, and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference,' Kom. iii.
21, 22, &c.
[3.] Because it is accepted by God a righteousness wherein God
acquiesceth, and which he accepteth for our absolution, Mat. iii. 17.
God is satisfied with Christ's obedience, as a perfect ransom for us, and
is well pleased with those who make use of it and apply it in the ap
pointed way by the subordinate new testament righteousness. Now, as
it is the righteousness of God, it is a great comfort, for the righteousness
of God is better than the righteousness of a mere creature. With the
righteousness of God, we may appear before God, with all confidence,
and look for all manner of blessings from him. The law which con-
310 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SER. XL.
dernneth us is the law of God ; the wrath and punishment which we
fear is the wrath of God ; the glory which we expect is the glory of God ;
the presence into which we come is the presence of God ; and to suit,
with it, the righteousness upon which we stand is the righteousness of
God, which is a great support to us.
4. Mark again, how the business is carried on by way of exchange ;
Christ made sin, and we righteousness. Christ is dealt with as the sin
ner in law, and we are pronounced as righteous before God ; our surety
is to bear our punishment, and is to be accepted as pleasing and ac
ceptable to God ; thus by a wonderful exchange he taketh our evil things
upon himself, that he might bestow his good things upon us. He took
from us misery, that he might convey to us mercy ; he was made a curse
for us, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon us by faith, Gal.
iii. 13, 14 ; he suffered death that he might convey life ; took our sin upon
himself, that he might impart to us his righteousness. This exchange
agreeth in this, that, on both sides, something not merited by the person
himself is transferred upon them. What more averse from the holy nature
of Christ than sin ? ' He knew no sin,' and yet is made sin. What more
alien and strange on our part than righteousness, who are so many ways
culpable ? yet we are made the righteousness of God in him. This is
by no error of judgment, but the wise contrivance, ordination, and ap
pointment of God, that by something done by another it should be im
puted and esteemed to that other, as if done in his own person. So, for
our sin was death imposed upon Christ, as if he had been the sinner ;
and for Christ's righteousness, life and the heavenly inheritance is be
stowed upon us, as if we had fulfilled the law, and satisfied it in our own
person. But here is the difference, our sins are imputed to Christ out
of God's justice, he being our surety ; his righteousness is imputed to us
out of God's mercy. Our sin was transferred upon him, that he might
abolish it or take it away ; for he came to take away sin, 1 John iii. 5.
His righteousness was imputed to us, that it might continue as an ever
lasting ground of our acceptance with God, therefore he is said to ' finish
transgression, and to make an end of sin, and to make reconciliation for
iniquity, and to bring in an everlasting righteousness.' The virtue of
his righteousness is never spent, it abideth for ever. He was made a
curse for us, that this curse might be dissolved and swallowed up, but
his blessing is derived to us, that it may abide and continue with us to
all eternity. He took our filthy rags, that he might throw them into
the depth of the sea ; but we have the garment of our elder brother, that
we might put it on, and minister in it before the Lord, and find grace in
his sight. Hence is it, that though we may be said truly to be right
eous, and the children of God, yet Christ cannot be said to be a sinner
or the child of wrath, because he had no sin of his own, and the wrath
of God did not remain on him, but only pass over him.
Fourthly, There is but one thing remaining in the text ' in him : '
ev avro) ; and that noteth the time when, and the manner how, we are
actually interested in this benefit. When we are in him we are by faith
grafted into Christ before this righteousness is made ours upon this union.
This righteousness is adjudged to us : 1 Cor. i. 30, ' But of him, are ye
in Christ Jesus, who of God is made to us wisdom, righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption.' First in him by a lively faith, then it
VER. 21.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 311
is imputed to us. And as we abide in his love by a constant obedience,
so it is continued to us. This righteousness is revealed from faith to
faith, Rom. i. 17 ; and it is by faith unto all and upon all that believe,
Rom. iii. 22. So that we must look to this also, how we come to be
possessed of it, as well as how it is brought about on Christ's part ; as
sin or sins could not be imputed to Christ, but by the common bond of
the same nature, and unless he had been united to us by his voluntary
suretyship and undertaking ; so neither could the righteousness of Christ
have been imputed to us, unless we had become one with him in the
same mystical body; so that we believing in Christ and abiding in him,
are made partakers of his righteousness, and so are pleasing and accept
able to God. The price was paid when Christ died; our actual posses
sion and admission into the privilege is, when we are planted into Christ
by a lively faith.
Doct. That Christ being made sin for us is the meritorious cause and
way of our being the righteousness of God in him : Isa. liii. 11, ' By
his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall
bear their iniquities.' So that his bearing of our iniquities is the cause
of our being accepted as righteous through faith in him. So Rom. v.
18, 19, ' Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men
to condemnation ; even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift
came upon all men unoo justification of life ; for as by one man's diso
bedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous.' On this foundation hath the Lord established
for the saints an unchangeable rule of justification.
I shall give you the sum of this point in these propositions.
1. The first covenant requireth of us perfect obedience upon pain of
eternal death if we perform it not ; for the tenor of it is, do and live, sin
and die. The least sin according to that covenant merits eternal death :
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.'
2. All mankind have sinned, and so are liable to that death : Rom.
iii. 23, ' For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God: ' and,
Rom. v. 12, ' Wherefore 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/
3. Christ became the mediator, and stepped between us and the full
execution of it, and took the penalties upon himself, and became a
sacrifice to offended justice, and a ransom for the sinners. So that
his sufferings were satisfactory to his Father's justice, and expiatory of
our sins. The two solemn notions of Christ's death are ransom and
sacrifice : 1 Tim. ii. 6, ' Who gave himself a ransom for all ; ' and
Eph. v. 2, ' And hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to
God for a sweet smelling savour ; ' and this ransom and sacrifice was
paid with respect to the curse of the law, to free us from the penalty of
the old covenant.
4. Upon this death, Christ hath acquired a new right of dominion and
empire over the world, to be their lord and saviour, to rule them and
save them upon his own terms : Rom. xiv. 9, ' For this end Christ both
died, and rose again, and revived, that he might be lord of dead and
living ; ' so Phil. ii. 8-11, ' He became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross ; wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and
312 SERMONS UPON 2 COKINTHIANS V. [SER. XL.
given him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things
under the earth ; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is lord, to the glory of God the Father.' God hath made this God-man
the supreme prince of his church, and given hini all power in heaven
and earth, that all rational creatures should pay him all manner of sub
jection and acknowledgment, and his doctrine and faith be embraced
by all nations in the world.
5. Our Redeemer, being possessed of this lordship and dominion, hath
made a new law of grace, which is propounded as a remedy for the
recovering and restoring of the lapsed world of mankind, unto the grace
and favour of God by offering, and granting them their free pardon,
justification, adoption, and right to glory, to all that will sincerely repent
and believe in him ; but sentencing them anew to death, that will not.
That this is the sum of the gospel appeareth in many places of scripture :
Mark xvi. 16, 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he
that believeth not shall be damned ; ' and John iii. 16-19, ' God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life ; for God sent not
his Son into the world to condemn the world : but that the world through
him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned : but
he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God/ &c.
6. This repenting and believing is such a hearty assent to the truth
of the gospel as causeth us thankfully, and broken-heartedly and
fiducially, to accept the Lord Jesus as he is offered to us, and to give
up ourselves to God by him. An assent to the truth of the gospel there
must be, for the general faith goeth before the particular ; a belief of
the gospel before our commerce with Christ. This assent must produce
acceptance, because the gospel is an offer of a blessedness suitable to our
necessities and desires, and our great work is receiving Christ : John i.
12, ' But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.' A broken
hearted acceptance it is, because Christ and his benefits are a free gift
to us, and we come to accept this grace as condemned sinners, with
confession of our undeservings and ill deservings ; with confession that
eternal wrath might justly be our portion. For God lets none go out
of the first covenant till they have subscribed to the justice of it, felt
sin, and know what is the smart of it. And then a thankful acceptance
it is. For so great a benefit as pardon and life should not be entertained
but with a grateful consent, and a deep sense of his love who doth so
freely save us. Surely Christ cannot, should not, be received into the
heart without a hearty welcome and cordial embracings. And it is a
fiducial consent, such as is joined with some confidence ; for there is
confidence or trust in the nature of faith, and cannot be separated from
it ; and without it we are not satisfied with the truth of the offer, nor
can depend upon God's word, Eph. i. 13. And this is joined with
a giving up ourselves to him, or to God by him ; for he is our sovereign
and lord as well as our saviour ; Col. ii. 6 ; Acts v. 31, ' Him hath God
exalted to be a prince, and saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and
forgiveness of sins : ' 2 Peter iii. 2, 'The apostles of our Lord and Saviour,'
VEB. 21.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 313
and we must be contented to be conducted to the unseen glory in his
own way. Besides, in this remedying law of grace, he cometh to us as
the physician of our souls, and we must own him as such, and rest upon
his skill, and suffer him to apply his sharpest plasters, and take his bit
terest medicines, which are most ungrateful to flesh and blood. Lastly,
it is a return to God to enjoy, please, and glorify him, which is our main
business, and therefore we must yield up ourselves to the Lord with a
hearty consent of subjection, to be guided, ruled, and ordered by him.
7. All those that repent and believe have remission and justification,
by Christ's satisfaction and merit given to them ; so that they are
become acceptable and pleasing unto God. * For Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness to every one that believeth,' Rom. x. 4. And
God having by a sin-offering condemned sin in the flesh, the righteous
ness of the law is fulfilled in us, that is, such a righteousness as
satisfieth the law, so that we shall be able to stand in the judgment,
without which we could not : Ps. cxxx. 3, 4, ' If thou, Lord, shouldst
mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand ? But there is forgiveness
with thee, that thou mayest be feared ; ' Ps. cxliii. 2, ' Enter not into
judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be
justified.' But why ? Upon a twofold account ; you have a righteous
ness to plead, to exempt you from the penalties of the law ; and you
have the conditions of the new covenant to plead, to entitle you to the
privileges of the gospel, Christ's merits and satisfaction as a sinner
impleaded, and faith and repentance as the condition.
Use 1. Let us propound this to our faith, ' That Christ was made
sin for us, that we might be the righteousness of God in him.' It was
agreed between the Father and the Son, that if he would be sin, or a
sacrifice for sin, we should be made free from sin and death, and live
by him. See Isa. liii. 10, ' When thou shalt make his soul an offering
for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.' By this one offering Christ
hath restored as much honour to God as our sin took from him ; and
therefore now, justice being satisfied, grace hath a free course. There
fore this should comfort us against the guilt of sin ; Christ's sacrifice
is sufficiently expiatory ; Christ hath suffered those punishments which
are due to us, that which is equivalent to what we should have suffered.
He hath suffered all kinds of punishment. In his body, 1 Peter ii. 24,
' Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we,
being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness ; by whose stripes
ye were healed.' In his soul, in his agonies ; ' His soul was heavy to
death,' Mat. xxvi. 38. As a little before the shower falls, there is a
gloominess and blackness, so in Christ's spirit, he suffered privative
evils, or pcena damni, in his desertion ; positive evils, or pcena sensus,
when he sent forth ' tears and strong cries unto him that was able to
save him from death, and was heard in that he feared ; though he
were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered/
Heb. v. 7, 8. He hath suffered from all by whom evil could be
inflicted men,' Jews and Gentiles ; strangers and his own disciples ;
the powers of darkness, who were the authors of all those evils which
Christ suffered from their instruments, Luke xxii. 53. He suffered
from God himself, the full cup of whose wrath he drunk off. Such a
314 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SfiR. XL.
broad foundation hath God laid for our peace. He suffered in every
part, sorrows being poured in upon him by the conduit of every sense,
hunger, thirst, nakedness, spittings, stripes; they pierced his hands
and feet.
2. Propound it to your love.
[1.] How much we are bound to acknowledge the unspeakable
mercy of God, who, knowing our sad condition, pitied us, and resolved
to save us, and to reconcile us to himself, by such a priest and sacri
fice as was convenient for us. But we, unworthy wretches, being
ignorant and senseless of our sin, guilt, and misery, do not understand
what need we have of Christ, nor praise God for his great love in
providing him for us. Our condition was sinful, and so miserable.
We are guilty, polluted with sin, and liable to death, can have no
access to God, nor eternal life ; and, which is worst of all, are senseless
of this sad condition ; and if we once know it, we are hopeless, helpless,
and so should have perished utterly, if the Lord had not found out a
remedy and a ransom for us, Rom. viii. 32.
[2.] How miserable would it have been, if every man should bear
his own burden; how light soever any sins seem, when they are
committed, yet they will not be found light, when they come to
reckon with God for them. Sin to a waking conscience is one of the
heaviest burdens that ever was felt. If God had laid sins upon us, as
he laid them all upon Christ, they would have sunk us all to hell.
The little finger of sin is heavier than the loins of any other sorrow, if
God give but a touch of it: Ps. xxxix. 11, 'When thou with rebukes
dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away
like a moth.' The rod, if it be dipped in guilt, smarts sorely. If a
spark of his wrath light into your consciences, what a combustion doth
it make there ! Ps. xxxviii. 4, 'My iniquities are gone over my head,
they are a burden too heavy for me.' As soon as we do but taste of
this cup, we cry out presently, My heart faileth. You may know what
it is, partly, by what Christ felt. He lost his wonted comforts, he was
putfinto strange agonies and a bloody sweat. Now if this be done in
the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? If his soul were
exceeding sad, how soon shall we be dismayed? Partly, in the saints ;
when they feel the weight of God's little finger, all life and power is
gone, if God set home but one sin upon the conscience : Ps. xl. 12,
' Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, therefore my heart faileth.'
Job saith, 'The arrows of the Lord like poison did drink up his
spirit,' Job. vi. 4. Partly, by your own experience. When the con
science of sin is a little revived in you, what horrors and disquiets do
you feel in yourselves ! Prov. xviii. 15, ' The spirit of a man will
sustain his infirmity, but a wounded spirit who can bear ? ' Then
thousands of rams, and rivers of oil, anything for the sin of the soul.
Partly, by the state of the reprobate in the world to come, and what
the threatenings of the word say concerning those who die in their sins :
Heb. x. 31, ' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God ;' and Mark ix. 44, ' Where their worm dieth not, and their fire is
not quenched.' This is the portion of them that bear their own
burden, and their own transgression.
[3.] The happiness which redoundeth to us by Christ's bearing it
VER. 21.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS v. 315
for us. It is not a thing inconsiderable, or a matter of lesser moment
to be made ' the righteousness of God in him.' Our whole welfare and
happiness dependeth upon it, our freedom from the curse, our title to
glory.
(1) Freedom from the curse ; for this is such a righteousness as
giveth us exemption from the penalty threatened in the law. We
have the comfort of it for the present, a freedom from the sentence of
condemnation : Horn. viii. 1, ' There is no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus,' &c ; so that we may go cheerfully about our
service. But much more shall we have the comfort of it when the
great God of recompenses cometh to execute the threatening. In the
general judgment there is no appearing before God in that great day
with safety and comfort, without some righteousness of one sort or
another, our own or our surety's. Now no righteousness of ours can
secure us from the dint of God's anger, and the just strokes of the
law-covenant. Blessed are they that are found in Christ, not having
their own righteousness.
(2.) Our title to glory, as it qualifieth us for the reward. There
is no getting the blessing but in the garments of our elder brother.
We have holiness given us upon the account of this righteousness,
1 Peter ii. 24 ; we are sanctified, made personally holy and righteous.
We have faith given us by virtue of this righteousness, 2 Peter i. 1.
All progress in grace is given us by virtue of the everlasting covenant,
Heb. xiii. 20, 21 ; and at length glory : Eph. v. 27, ' That he might
present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or
any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.'
3. Let us prize it and desire it, Phil. iii. 8, 9. Every man is prone
to set up a righteousness of his own, Luke xviii. 9. Partly, because
naturally the law is written upon our hearts ; and therefore moral
strains are more welcome than evangelical doctrine. Every man is
born under a covenant of works. Partly, out of pride. Every man
would be avTetyvcrios, all for personal merit. A russet coat of our
own is valued more than a silken one that is borrowed : Kom. x 3,
' For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to
establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the
righteousness of God.' But these do not consider the strictness of the
law-covenant, nor the purity of God, nor themselves, or their own
defects. A broken-hearted sense of sin would make us prize Christ,
1 Cor. iv. 4, ' I know nothing by myself, yet am I not thereby justified,
but he that judge th me is the Lord.'
SERMONS
ELEVENTH CHAPTER OF HEBREWS.
THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY,
To the High and Mighty Prince WILLIAM, By the Grace of God,
King of England, France and Ireland, &c.
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY,
THIS relict of the worthy deceased author was long since intended,
when you were at a greater distance, to be sent abroad under the
patronage of your great name. His own name indeed hath long been,
and still continues, so bright and fragrant in England that your
Majesty's condescending goodness will count it no indignity to yours
to impart some of its more diffused beams and odours to it. However,
if what there was of presumption in that first intention can be par
doned, no reason can be apprehended of altering it upon your nearer
and most happy approach unto us.
The kind design and blessed effect whereof, compared with the
scope and design of this excellent work, do much the more urgently
invite to it ; for as you come to us with the compassionate design of a
deliverer, and the wonderful blessing of heaven hath rendered you also
a victor and a successful deliverer, the design of this book is to repre
sent that faith which is the peculiar and most appropriate principle of
what is (like your own) the most glorious of all victories. You have
overcome, not by the power of your arms, but by the sound of your
name, and by your goodness and kindness, which so effectually first
conquered minds as to leave you no opportunity of using the other
more harsh and rugged means of conquest. Yea, and your success is
owing to a greater name than yours ; our case, and the truth of the
thing, allow and oblige us in a low and humble subordination to apply
those sacred words, ' Blessed is he that cometh to us in the name of
the Lord,' the power of which glorious name is wont to be exerted
according as a trust is placed in it. We acknowledge and adore a
most conspicuous divine presence with you in this undertaking of yours,
which is not otherwise to be engaged than by that faith of which the
apostle and this author do here treat. This faith, we are elsewhere
told, overcomes this world ; and are told here in what way by repre
senting another, with the invisible Lord of both worlds, being the
substance of what we hope for, and the evidence of what we see not,
and whereby we see him who is invisible. This world is not otherwise
to be conquered than as it is an enemy ; it is an enemy by the vanities,
lusts, and impurities of it. That faith which foresees the end of this
world, which beholds it as a vanishing thing, passing away with all
the lusts of it, which looks through all time, and contemplates all
the affairs and events of this temporary state as under the conduct and
management of an all-wise and almighty invisible Ruler, which
penetrates into eternity, and discovers another world and state of things
which shall be unchangeable and of everlasting permanency, and there-
THE EPISTLE DEDICATOR!'. 319
in beholds the same invisible glorious Lord, as a most gracious and
bountiful rewarder of such as serve and obey him with sincere fidelity
in this state of trial and temptation here on earth, such a faith cannot
but be victorious over all the lusts, vanities, impurities, and sensualities
of this present evil world. Such a faith, working by love to God and
good men, and all mankind, and being thereupon fruitful in the good
works of piety, sobriety, righteousness and charity, will be the great
reformer of the world, conquer its malignity, reduce its disorders, and
infer a universal harmony and peace.
Even among us the noblest part of your Majesty's conquest is yet
behind. It cannot but have been observed, that for many years by-past
a, design hath been industriously driven that we might be made papists,
to make us slaves ; and for the enslaving us, to debauch us, and plunge
us into all manner of sensuality, from a true apprehension, that brute
and slave are nearest akin, and that there is a sort of men so vile and
abject (as the ingenious expression of a great man among the Komans
once was) quos non decet esse nisi servos to whom liberty were an
indecency, and who should be treated unbecomingly if they were not
made slaves, that we should be fit to serve the lusts and humours of any
other man, when once we were become servile to our own. And next,
that the religion might easily be wrested away from us which was be
come so weak and impotent as not to be able to govern us ; and that
if humanity were eradicated, the principles and privileges that belong
to our nature torn from us, easy work would be made with our Chris
tianity and religion. What hath been effected among us by so
laboured a design, through a long tract of time, is before you as the
matter of your remaining victory, which, as on our part, will be the
more difficult, where the pernicious humour is inveterate. So your
majesty's part herein will be most easy, your great example being,
under the supreme power, the mover, the potent engine which is to
effect the hoped redress, and your more principal contribution here
unto consisting but in being yourself, in expressing the virtue,
prudence, goodness, and piety, which God hath wrought into your
temper. The design of saying this is not flattery, but excitation.
Give me leave to lay before your Majesty somewhat that occurs in a
book written twenty-seven years ago, not by way of prophecy, but pro
bable conjecture of the way wherein a blessed state of things in these
parts of the world is likely to be brought about :
' God will stir up some happy king or governor, in some country of
Christendom, endued with wisdom and consideration, who shall discern
the true nature of godliness and Christianity, and the necessity and
excellency of serious religion, and shall place his honour and felicity
in pleasing God and doing good, and attaining everlasting happiness,
and shall subject all worldly respects unto these high and glorious
ends; shall know that godliness and justice have the most precious
name on earth, and prepare for the most glorious reward in heaven,' &c.
With how great hopes and joy must it fill every upright heart daily
(as they do) to behold in your Majesty and in your Eoyal Consort,
(whom a divine hand hath so happily placed with you on the same
throne) the same lively characters of this exemplified idea ! It can
not but inspire us with such pleasant thoughts that winter is well-nigh
320 THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY.
gone, and the time of singing of birds approaches ; the night is far
spent and the day is at hand, a bright and glorious morning triumphs
over the darkness of a foul, tempestuous night. The sober, serious
age now commences, when sensuality, falsehood, cruelty, oppression,
the contempt of God and religion are going out of fashion ; to be a
noted debauchee of a vicious life and dishonest mind, capable of being
swayed to serve ill purposes without hesitation, will no longer be
thought a man's praise, or a qualification for trusts. It shall be no
disreputable thing to profess the fear of God and the belief of a life
to come. A scenical, unserious religion, a spurious, adulterated Chris
tianity, made up of doctrines repugnant to the sacred oracles, to sound
reason, and even to common sense, with idolatrous and ludicrous for
malities, and which hates the light, shall vanish before it. There shall
be no more strife about unnecessary circumstances ; grave decencies in
the worship of God that shall be self-recommending, and command a
veneration in every conscience, shall take place. There shall be no con
tention amongst Christians ; but who shall most honour God and our
Redeemer, do most good in the world, and most entirely love and
effectually befriend and serve one another, which are all things most
connatural to that vivid realising, victorious faith here treated of.
Nor are other victories alien to it, over the armed powers of God's
visible enemies in the world, such as he may yet call your Majesty
with glorious success to encounter in his name, and for the sake of it.
In some following verses of this chapter (wherein the line of the
apostle's discourse went beyond that of this worthy author's life) this
is represented as the powerful instrument which those great heroes
employed in their high achievements of subduing kingdoms, working
righteousness, or executing God's just revenges upon his unyielding
enemies, obtaining promises, stopping the mouths of lions, quenching
the violence of fire, escaping the edge of the sword, whereby out of
weakness they were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to
flight the armies of the aliens. By this faith they (in the prophet's
lofty style, Isa. xxxiv. 5), as it were, bathed their sword in heaven,
gave it a celestial tincture, made it resistless and penetrating. This
is the true way, wherein, according to the divinest philosophy, the
spirit of a man may draw into consent with itself the universal
almighty Spirit. And if the glorious Lord of Hosts shall assign to
your Majesty a further part in the employments of this noble kind,
may he gird you with might unto the battle ; may your bow abide in
strength, and the arms of your hands be made strong by the hands of
the mighty God of Jacob, even by the God of your fathers, who shall
help you, and by the Almighty who shall bless you ; and may he most
abundantly bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the
deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. May
he cover your head in fight, and crown it with victory and glory, and
grant you to know, by use and trial, the power of that faith, in all its
operations, which unites God with man, and can render, in a true and
sober sense, and to all his own purposes, an human arm omnipotent.
"Which is the serious prayer of
Your Majesty's most devoted and most humble servant and subject,
JOHN HOWE.
TO THE READEK.
THOU art here presented with a third volume of the works of the late
reverend and learned Dr Thomas Manton, whose great name is suffici
ent to recommend it to thy perusal, when thou art assured it is his
own. These sermons and treatises were either written from his own
notes, or carefully compared verbatim with them, and amended by
them ; and whosoever were acquainted with the spirit and preaching
of the author will find he hath no cause to suspect being imposed on
herein. His copious invention, clear and succinct opening of gospel
mysteries, close application to the conscience, with that admirable
variety of handling the same subject which sometimes occurs, are scarce
imitable by any. It were needless to add anything to the testimonies
that have been given him by those who have published his former
works.
What the author's opinion about publishing posthumous works was
may justify what of this kind hath been already done and is now ten
dered to thee, which I shall give you in his own words in his epistle
before Dr Sibb's ' Comment on the 1st. Chapter of the 2d Epistle to
the Corinthians : ' ' Let it not stumble thee that the work is posthume,
and cometh out so long after the author's death ; it were to be wished
that those that excel in public gifts would during life publish their
own labours, to prevent spurious obtrusions upon the world, and give
them their last hand and polishment ; as the apostle Peter was careful
to write before his decease, 2 Peter i. 12-14 ; but usually the church's
treasure is most increased by legacies. As Elijah let fall his mantle
when he was taken up into heaven ; so God's eminent servants, when
their persons could no longer remain in the world, have left behind
them some worthy pieces as a monument of their graces and zeal for
the public welfare, whether it be out of a modest sense of their own en
deavours, as being loath upon choice, or of their own accord, to venture
abroad into the world, or whether it be that being occupied and taken
up with other labours, or whether it be in a conformity to Christ, who
would not leave his Spirit till his departure, or whether it be out of a
hope that their works would find a more kindly reception after their
death, the living being more liable to envy and reproach ; but when
the author is in heaven, the work is more esteemed upon earth.
Whether for this or that cause, usually it is that not only the life, but
the death, of God's servants hath been profitable to his church, by that
means many useful treatises being freed from that privacy and obscure-
ness to which by the modesty of the author they were formerly con
fined.'
To all this may be added that not many days before the author
VOL. xnr. x
322 TO THE READER.
departed this life he declared his intentions of publishing something
himself but his sudden death prevented him.
And let none wonder that in the author's so constant course of preach
ing the same matter may sometimes recur. In some places thou wilt
find notes of reference ; in others the same matter is handled with
such variety as to prevent tediousness, in which the author had a sin
gular excellency. However, repetitions of the same truths have their
use. 'To write the same things to you,' saith the apostle, ' to me is
not grievous, for you it is safe/ Phil. iii. 1. Our knowledge is imper
fect, and needs a continual increase ; our memories are slippery and
frail, and need to be refreshed ; our attention is dull, and many truths
slip by us at the first hearing without regard ; our hearts are back
ward to our duty, and we need frequently to be excited. We more
blame a dull horse than the rider, who frequently quickens him with
a spur. It savours too much of pride of knowledge, and a curious itch
of novelty, when we cannot endure to hear more than once of the same
truths ; and such a humour is not to be gratified, but mortified. 1 But
though some may quarrel, I doubt not but the serious Christian will
receive benefit by what is here offered, which, that it may be thy lot,
is the earnest prayer of
Thy affectionate servant in the work of the gospel,
WILLIAM TAYLOR.
1 See the Author's Twenty-fifth Sermon on John xvii.
SEBMON I.
Now faith is ilie substance of tilings hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen. HEB. xi. 1.
IN the close of the former chapter the apostle had spoken of living by
faith, and thereupon taketh occasion to show what faith is. He that
would live by faith had need search out the nature of it ; an unknown
instrument is of little use. It is true, a man may act faith that can
not describe it artificially, as an infant may live, that doth not know
what life is ; but however, it is more comfortable when our thoughts
are distinct, explicit, and clear, concerning the nature of those graces
that are so necessary for us, and the Christian life is much more orderly,
and less at random and peradventure. And therefore the apostle, to
teach them this holy art of exercising faith, and living by faith to
more advantage, he gives them here an excellent description of it,
' Now faith is the substance/ &c.
In the words there is the thing described, and the description itself.
The thing described is Faith ; the description is this, ' It is the substance
of things hoped for,' &c. The description is proper, according to the
rules of art, Habitus distinguuntur per actus, et actus per propria
objecta, habits are described by their formal acts, and acts restrained
to their proper objects ; so faith is here described by its primary and
formal acts, which are referred to their distinct objects. The acts of
faith are two ; it is the substance, it is the evidence. Think it not
strange that I call them acts, for that is it the apostle intends, there
fore Beza says, in rendering this place, he had rather paraphrase the
text, than obscure the scope ; and he interpreteth it thus Faith sub
stantiates or gives a subsistence to our hopes, and demonstrates things
not seen. There is a great deal of difference between the acts of faith,
and the effects of faith. The effects of faith are reckoned up throughout
this chapter ; the formal acts of faith are in this verse. These acts are
suited with their objects. As the matters of belief are yet to come,
faith gives them a substance, a being, as they are hidden from the eyes
of sense and carnal reason ; so faith gives them an evidence, and doth
convince men of the worth of them ; so that one of these acts belongs
to the understanding, the other to the will. By the one faith is a con
vincing demonstration, and by the other a practical application. By
the one act it turns hope into some kind of present fruition and by the
324 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SfiR. I.
other things altogether invisible are represented to the soul with clear
ness and certainty. In short, by faith things hoped for have a being ;
things not seen have an evidence.
I shall discuss the parts of the text as they lie in order.
First, I begin with the first act and object, 'Faith is the substance
of things hoped for.'
1. Let me open the phrases. Faith is sometimes taken for the
doctrine of faith, and sometimes for the grace of faith. Some take
liberty to expound it of the former, the doctrine of faith, that is, the
substance of things hoped for. I confess the words agree well, but not
the scope ; the doctrine of faith, Fides quce creditur, is the substance
of things hoped for ; the word and faith do come under one description.
But the apostle's drift here is to show, not what we do believe, but
how we live by faith ; therefore the grace is here understood, not the
doctrine. Now the grace of faith is considered here, not as it justifies
but rather as it sanctifies, as it is an instrument in the spiritual life.
He speaketh of those acts which faith discovereth most in its use and
exercise to baffle temptations, and to make us stand our ground under
sore assaults, troubles, and persecutions.
Now this faith is the ' substance,' vTrocrraa-^ ; that is, the word.
Some difference there is about the rendering of it ; the most usual
significations of it are confidence and substance. Sometimes it is put
for confidence, and for a firm and resolved expectation ; as Heb. iii. 14,
' We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our
confidence firm, or steadfast unto the end,' ap^rjv rrjs viroa-Tdo-ea><;, it
is the same word ; but there we render it confidence ; and it seems to
be parallel with ver. 6, ' If we hold fast the confidence, and the rejoicing
of the hope, firm unto the end.' So 2 Cor. ix. 4, ' In this confident
boasting,' VTroa-rda-ei ravrrj r^ /cav^a-eax;, it is the same word.
And thus the Septuagint translates the Hebrew word, which they
render sometimes by spes, sometimes by hypostasis ; and so in profane
authors, Plutarch calls those that stand out after the field is won,
v<f>i<TTafj.evov<>, because of their great confidence. Polybius calleth
the valorous resistance of Horatius Codes, vTroa-raaiv, which use of
the word is proper to the original of it, vfyicrracrOai, firmiter stare.
. 2. The second explication is the substance. The word signifies sub
stance or subsistence ; because confident expectation gives our hopes a
kind of present or actual being, and apprehends things to come as present
and subsisting, and causes them to work, as if they were already enjoyed ;
therefore our translators, fitly I conceive, render it here substance,
saith the Greek scholist, TO, ev eXTria-iv, &c. Though things in
hope are absent and to come, yet in the certain firm expectation and
persuasion of the believer, they are present and real; so that the
meaning is, faith doth not only look out with cold thoughts about things
to come, but causes them to work as if they had already a being, and
the believer were in the possession and enjoyment of them. And in
this sense it is the substance of things hoped for ; it gives them a
being, while it beholds them in their original fountain, which is the
word of promise ; and while it unites and joins the soul to them by
earnest hope, which is as it were an anticipation of our blessedness,
and a pre-occupation of the joys of the world to come, faith causeth
VER. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 325
such a subsistence and fiducial presence of the things hoped for in the
mind of a believer, as that he concludes not only that they may be, or
shall be, but that they already are. Faith is the substance, and that
' of things hoped for ; ' so he calls all the blessings of the covenant
which are not yet enjoyed. Many things indeed were hoped- for by the
patriarchs, and believers of the old testament, which are now past,
which are matters of mere belief, and not of hope to us, and so come
under the latter description of faith, the evidence of things not seen,
as the incarnation of Christ : yet their faith made those things present
to theni : John viii. 56, ' Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day/
Abraham saw that day, and had a distinct view of it, though they
were to them things hoped for ; yet we believe them, though we do not
see them. But there are other things which are only promised by God,
and not yet enjoyed, that are simple matters of hope as the general
resurrection, the happiness of the glorified estate. Now faith doth as
it were give a real being to them as if they were present. But then,
there are other things that may be enjoyed in this world, though not
for the present, yet in some season ; as the gracious presence of God,
and his favourable returns after absence, and some estrangement, and
deep affliction ; these things may also be comprised in this expression,
being things we hope for according to promise, and though they be
absent, faith gives them a being and presence. You will find faith to
be a kind of prophetic grace ; for to faith, when God is absent, yet then
he is present ; when he hides his face, faith can look behind the veil,
and there see fatherly love, and a God of mercy. And in scripture
upon this account the children of God answer themselves, and antedate
their praises. When they ask anything of God in prayer, faith asks
and answers itself; it makes the help and mercy present which we ask
according to God's will : Ps. vi. 4, ' Keturn, Lord, deliver my soul ; '
then he answers himself, ver. 8, 9, ' The Lord hath heard the voice of
my weeping ; the Lord hath heard my supplication.' But chiefly the
expression reflects upon and is meant of those blessings which are only
in expectation, and never in actual and complete enjoyment in this
world, as heaven and the gtbry of the everlasting state ; faith gives a
being and real subsistence in the soul to the glory that is yet to be
revealed.
Obj. I have done with the exposition, only here is a doubt ; does
not this confound faith and hope, to make things hoped for to be the
object of faith, for graces differ in their objects ?
Sol. I answer, There is a link between the graces, but no confusion ;
they are akin, but not confounded one with another. Blessedness to
come is an object of faith, and an object of hope ; it is an object of
faith as it is present in the promises, or present in our hearts ; and an
object of hope in regard of its futurity, as it is yet to come. Faith is
the ground of hope. Faith believeth, and hope expecteth. Faith
first closeth with verbum Dei, the word of God, that assures us of such
a blessedness ; then hope is carried out towards rem verbi, the thing
promised. Faith makes all things certain, and in a sort already pre
sent ; but hope looks out for a full accomplishment. Faith gives us a
right, and persuades us of the truth of things promised, and hope looks
after the manifestation of them in possession. Faith is the hand, and
320 SERMON'S UPON HEBREWS XL [SER. I.
hope is the eye of the soul. Faith lays hold upon the promise, and
hope looks out after the things promised. Faith awakens hope, and
hope cherishes faith, bringing in constant support to it.
Out of this first clause let me observe
Doct. That a lively faith doth give such a reality, certainty, and
present heing to things hoped for and yet to come, as if they were
already actually enjoyed.
And thus it is said of Abraham, John viii. 56, that ' he saw Christ's
day.' Though there were many successions of ages between Christ and
Abraham, yet faith made it present, represented it as if it were before
his eyes ; ' he saw my day,' not by a naked supposition but by real
prospect, such as wrought upon his heart, and ' he was glad/ and leaped
for joy. And so in this sense a believer is said to have eternal life,
John iii. 36. He is not only sure of it when he dies, but hath it here
in some sense : Heb. xi. 13, ' These all died in faith, not having received
the promises, but having seen them afar off .' Without faith we can
not see things at a distance. Here I shall show
1. How faith doth this.
2. The benefit and advantage of this property of faith in the whole
business of the spiritual life, how this is the great ground of our living
by faith.
First. How does faith give a subsistence or present being to things
hoped for ? How can we be said to have that happiness which we do
but expect ?
I answer : Faith takes possession four ways (1.) Spe, by hope. (2.)
Promissis, in the promises. (3.) Capite, in our head. (4.) Primitiis,
in the first-fruits.
1. Spe. By a lively hope it doth as it were sip of the cup of blessing,
and preoccupy and foretaste those eternal and excellent delights which
God hath prepared for us, and affects the heart with the certain expec
tation of them, as if they were enjoyed. It appears by the effect of this
hope, which is rejoicing with joy unspeakable and full of glory, 1 Peter
i. 8. Joy is proper to fruition and enjoyment. We delight in a thing
when we have it, and we delight in a thing when we hope for it ; for
a Christian's hope being built upon certain and unerring grounds, it
causeth the same effect also. Natural hope is the flower of pleasure
and foretaste of happiness ; so spiritual hope is the harbinger and fore
runner of those eternal and unmixed delights which the Lord hath
prepared for us. Hope must needs make things present ; for mark, it
is more than supposition and conceit. Heaven in the thoughts differs
very much from heaven in our hope, as much as taste doth from sight,
or longing from looking. Hope causeth rejoicing an affection proper
to present possession. Where it is anything strong, it diverts the mind
from present wants and miseries and comforts us, and doth us good
with the evidence of a future blessed estate reserved for us in the
heavens. Hope is not a presumptuous conceit, like the supposition of
a beggar imagining himself to be a king, and how much power and
glory it will bring to him when he is arrived to it ; but like the expec
tation of a prince who is the undoubted heir of a crown, and knows
that one day he shall possess it. There is not only a naked supposal,
but a real certainty and expectation ; therefore it must needs cause
YER. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 327
some present joy. Bare contemplation works a kind of union. There
is a union between the thoughts and the object, as there is between the
star and the eye ; it is present in my eye, though the star be a thousand
miles distant : so there is a kind of union between the thought and
the thing thought of ; but much more a union between hope and the
thing hoped for : for the soul doth as it were sally out by desire, and
the effect of hope is far more real than the effects of naked and fond
imagination. It filleth the soul with lively comfort : ' Kejoice in hope,'
saith the apostle, Rom. xii. 12. Joy or delight is the effect of fruition
or present enjoyment, yet delight is given to hope ; for delighting is
the complacency of the soul in a thing obtained ; now hope, where it
is strong, gives us a sweet contentment and joy from the evidence of a
future blessed estate : Heb. iii. 6, ' Whose house are we, if we hold fast
the confidence and rejoicing of hope firm unto the end ; ' and Rom. v. 2,
' We rejoice in hope of the glory of God.' Hope, by a mystery, and
spiritual kind of magic, fetcheth heaven from heaven, and makes it
exist in the heart of a believer. It doth not only, like the spies, bring
us tidings, and a glorious report of that heaven, but makes heaven to
stoop and earth to ascend, and brings the believer into the company of
the blessed, and brings down the joys of the Spirit into the heart of a
believer. We cannot hope for anything, but we must in part possess
the thing hoped for ; much more in spiritual things. Faith doth not
only unite you to Christ, but puts Christ and heaven into the soul by
hope. There is the Lamb, the white throne, the glorified spirits, the
upper paradise, and the tree of life in the soul, made really present to
us by faith through a lively and watchful hope.
2. Faith takes possession, and gives a being to the things hoped
for promissis, in the promises. There is not only the union of hope,
but a clear right and title ; God hath passed over all those things to us
in the covenant of grace. When we take hold of the promises, we take
hold of the blessing promised by the root of it, until it flows up to full
satisfaction. Hence those expressions, believers are said ' to lay hold
of eternal life,' 1 Tim. vi. 12-19, by which their right is secured to
them ; ' And he that heareth my words, and believeth in me, hath
eternal life,' John v. 24. Christ doth not only say, He shall have
eternal life, but, jus habet, he hath a clear right and title to it, which is
as sure as sense, though not as sweet. Faith gives us heaven, because
in the promise it gives us a title to heaven ; we are sure to have that
to which we have a title ; a right is enough, though there be not
always an actual feeling ; he hath a grant, God's word to assure him
of it. He is said to have an estate that hath the conveyance of it,
but it is not necessary he should carry his land upon his back. The fee
of heaven is made over to us in law though not in deed ; it is ours
before we possess it, because God hath passed his word that we shall
have it. And we hold it by covenant right, though we have it not by
actual possession. It is not only prepared for us in the designment
of God, but given in respect of the indefeasableness of our right and
property : Luke xxii. 29, ' I appoint unto you a kingdom.' Now faith
receives the kingdom. We take hold of the thing promised by the
root of it, and then we are sure of it ; the promise is not a dry root,
and the hand of faith is not a barren soil ; but when once the hand of
328 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. I.
faith takes hold of the promise, your interest will grow up into stalk
and bud, and flower, and bring forth the fruit of full contentment.
Now this contents a believer for the present, because faith considers
what the promises are, and whose they are.
[1.] What are the promises ?
(1.) Partly thus : They are the eruptions and overflows of God's
grace and love. God's heart is so big with love to the saints that he
cannot stay till the accomplishment of things, but he must acquaint
us beforehand what he means to do for us : ' Before they spring forth,'
saith God, ' I tell you of them,' Isa. xlii. 9. God's purposes of
grace are like a sealed fountain, but his promises like a fountain broken
open ; before his purposes be brought to pass, he will tell us of them.
The Lord might have done us good, and given us never a promise ; but
love concealed would not have been so much for our comfort. Now
faith, seeing the testimony of God's love, counts itself bound to rest on
the promise, and doth in effect say to the soul, as Naomi to Ruth, ' Sit
still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall ; for the
man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing,' Ruth iii. 18.
So faith saith to the soul, Sit still, until thou know how the matter will
be ; for God will not be at rest till he hath accomplished all that he
hath spoken to thee. God accounts our purposes to be obedience,
because they are the first issues of our love : Ps. xxxii. 5, ' I said I will
confess my sin unto the Lord, and thou forgavest mine iniquity ; ' and
Heb. XL 17, ' By faith Abraham offered Isaac/ because he did it in
vow and purpose ; much more should we accept promises which are
the declarations of God's purposes as performances : it will in time
come to pass.
(2.) Faith looks upon them as the rule and warrant of our certainty.
They show how far God is to be trusted, even so far as he is engaged ;
promittendo sefacit debiiorem, God hath entered into bonds, and made
himself a debtor to his creatures by his promises. The purposes of
God are unchangeable ; but now when his purposes are declared in
his promises, you have a further holdfast upon him. God will try
our faith, and see what credit he hath with men, whether they will
depend upon him when there is security put into our hands. Well
then, faith takes hold of the blessing, the promise ; why ? God hath
passed his word, the word is gone out of his lips, and he cannot in
honour recall it,' Ps. Ixxxix. 34 ; we may challenge him by his promise.
Saitli Austin of his mother, ' Lord, she was wont to throw thee in thy
hand- writing ; ' ' she was wont to plead promises. God hath entered
into bonds, and you may come and plead, and put those bonds in suit i
Ps. cxix. 49, ' Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou
hast caused me to hope/ An usurer thinks himself rich, though he hath
little money in the house, because he hath bonds and good security.
He that hath a thousand pounds in good security is in a better case
than he that hath only a hundred pounds in ready money. A Christian
accounts God's promises to be his estate and patrimony, to be his sub
stance and inheritance.
(3.) The promise is a pawn of the thing promised, and must be
kept till performance comes. God's truth and holiness are left at
pledge with the creature, and he will set them free ; his honour lies at
VER. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 329
stake, and you may tell him of it : ' Lord, for thy mercy and truth's
sake/ Ps. cxv. 1. God is interested to vindicate his name from
calumny and reproach. Well then, faith, looking upon the promises
as the eruptions of God's love, flowing from God's eternal love, as so
many bonds and holdfasts upon God, and looking upon them as a
pawn left us till the blessing come, upon all these advantages it serves
instead of fruition ; it entertains things to come with like certainty as
if they were .accomplished.
[2.] Faith considers whose the promises are ; they are God's, who
is faithful and able. The faithful and almighty God, he cannot say
and unsay. We have it under assurance enough if we have it under
his word. There is both Sarah's and Abraham's faith commended to
us in scripture; Sarah's, 'because she judged him faithful who had
promised/ Heb. xi. 11. That God who cannot lie, that God who hath
been ever tender of his word, that God who will destroy heaven and
earth rather than one iota of his word shall pass away, he hath left
us promises, and is not this as good as payment ? Then faith looks
upon God's almightiness. This was Abraham's faith : Rom. iv. 21,
' Being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was also able to
perform.' It is a difficult thing to see how we shall be secured from
so many temporal dangers, and brought safe to eternal happiness.
Aye, but God is able, and we have his word ; his saying is doing ; ' God
spake the word, and it was done/ Ps. xxxiii. 9. What can let the all-
sufficient God ? His promises are performances.
3. We have it in capite, in our head. That is a Christian's tenure ;
he holds all in his head by Christ. Though he be not glorified in his
own person, he is glorified in his head, in Jesus Christ. When Christ
was glorified, we were glorified ; he seized upon heaven in our right :
John xiv. 2, ' I go to prepare a place for you.' Christ is gone to hea
ven in our name, to possess it in our stead ; therefore a believer is
assured he shall share therein. Therefore as Christ's glorification is
past, so in a sense a believer's glorification is past ; the head cannot
rise, and ascend, and be glorified without the members : Eph. ii. 6,
1 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus.' The apostle speaks of it as a thing past. He
doth not say, We shall rise, shall sit down with him ; but we are risen,
and are ascended, and are sat down with him in heavenly places. ID.
the right, and by virtue of the head, all of us are already glorified an
expression which implies greater certainty than a single prediction and
promise ; and all this that our comfort might be more abounding, and
our courage more strong against dangers, death, difficulties, and all
that may befal us in the way to heaven. Look, as we say of an old
decrepit man, such an one hath one foot in the grave, a believer hath
more than one foot in heaven ; his head is there ; we have taken pos
session of it in Christ, or rather he hath taken possession of
it in our name ; and as soon as we are united to Christ we are
interested in this comfort, even whilst we lie groaning under pres
sures and miseries. Nothing but faith can unriddle this mystery, that
a believer should be on earth, and yet in heaven ; converse with sinners,
and yet be in the company of glorified saints ; or humbled with the
pressures and inconveniences of the present state, yet be ascended and
sit down with Christ in heavenly places. Faith gives you an actual
330 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [$ER. 1.
right and investiture in regard of your head. As soon as we are
sanctified we are in a manner glorified also, and have not only a title
and right in ourselves, but an actual possession in our head. As the
head is crowned to reflect a glory and honour upon the whole body,
so Jesus Christ is crowned, and we are glorified with him ; and this
makes the right more strong ; for nothing on earth can take that
happiness from me which Christ keeps for me in heaven.
4. Faith gives being inprimitiis, in the first-fruits. The Israelites
had not only a right to Canaan given them by God, but had livery
and seizin of Canaan, where the spies did not only make report of the
goodness of the land, but brought the clusters of grapes with them,
not only to encourage them to conquer, but actually to instate them in
the possession of the land ; so doth God deal with a believing soul,
not only give it a right, but give it some first-fruits ; there is not only
a report and promise, but God hath as it were given us livery and
seizin of heaven. A believing soul hath the beginnings of that estate
which it hopes for ; some clusters of Eschol by way of foretaste in the
midst of present miseries and difficulties. This is the great love of
God to us, that he would give us something of heaven here upon earth,
that he will make us enter upon our happiness by degrees. Saith the
apostle, 1 Cor. xiii. 13, 'Now abideth faith, hope, charity.' Belief in
this life is instead of intuition : by faith we begin our glory, and here
after it is perfected, and made up in sight and vision. We have some
thing by way of advance and foretaste, in our wants and present
dangers. In nature things do not arrive at once to their last perfection ;
so it is in grace, God carrieth us on by degrees to heaven's glory and
happiness. We have something by way of essay and prelibation,
before we possess and enjoy the sovereign good, and those riches and
treasures, and that fulness of eternal glory which God hath provided
for us. But what are these first-fruits ? They are three union with
Christ, the joys of the Spirit, and grace.
[1.] Union with Christ. There is some enjoyment of God in Christ
here, this is the chiefest part of eternal life. What is heaven but the
eternal enjoyment of God in Christ ? And it is in a sort begun here.
Union makes way for presence ; though we are not present with Christ,
yet we are united to Christ ; and faith makes way for fruition. Then
it will be ' God all in all/ 1 Cor. xv. 28 ; now it is ' Christ in us the
hope of glory,' Col. i. 27. Now he comes to dwell in our hearts by
way of pledge, that once the soul shall come to be filled up with God ;
this is an earnest and beginning of our full enjoyment of him. And
when once this is done, then we may be certain of glory. I say, eter
nal life is begun when we are united to Christ. It is the same in
substance, though not in degree, with the life of heaven. When once
we are united to Christ, we can never be separated. Christ is still a
head, he can never leave his old mansion and dwelling-place. Saith
Luther, ' You can as soon separate the leaven from the dough, when
one is wrought into the other, as you may separate Christ and a soul
that is once united to him : ' 1 John v. 12, ' He that hath the Son
hath life/ You have the fairest part of eternal life already when you
have Christ in you.
[2.] The joys of the Holy Ghost. When a man hath received the
consolations of the Spirit, he is in the skirts and suburbs of heaven, he
VER. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. 331
begins to enter upon his country and inheritance. Heaven begins in
us, when the Holy Ghost comes with peace, confidence, and joy, and
doth leave a sweet sense and relish upon the soul. Fulness of joy, that
is the portion of the life to come, and is reserved for God's right hand ;
but here is the beginning of heaven ; and peace of conscience and joy
in the Holy Ghost is but the pledge of that joy which the blessed
spirits have. And therefore the comforts of the Holy Ghost which we
have here in this world are called 'joy unspeakable and full of glory/
1 Peter i. 8, because it tends and works that way towards our glorious
and happy estate in heaven. As the odours and sweet smells of Arabia
are carried by the winds and air into the neighbouring provinces, so
that before travellers come thither they have the scent of that aromatic
country ; so the joys of heaven are by the sweet breathings and gales
of the Holy Ghost blown into the hearts of believers, and the sweet
smells of the upper paradise are conveyed into the gardens of the
churches ; those joys which are stirred up in us by the Spirit before
we get to heaven are a pledge of what we may expect hereafter. God
would not weary our hopes by expecting too much, therefore he hath
not only given us his word, but he gives a taste and earnest here as
part of the sum which shall be paid us in heaven ; by these sweet
refreshments of the Spirit we may conceive of the glory of the ever
lasting state. Look, as before the sun ariseth, there are some forerun
ning beams and streaks of light that usher it in ; so the joys of the
Holy Ghost are but the morning glances of the daylight of glory, and
of the sun of happiness that shall arise upon us in another world.
[3.] There is grace also which is the earnest of glory ; it is the livery
and seizin, the turf that puts us into possession of the whole field.
Grace is the beginning of glory, and glory is but grace perfected.
Grace is glory in the bud, and moulding, and making ; for when the
apostle would express our whole conformity to Christ, he only
expresseth it thus. ' We are changed into his image from glory to glory/
2 Cor iii. 18, that is, from one degree of grace to another. It is called
glory, because the progress of holiness never ceaseth till it comes to
the perfection of glory and life eternal. The first degree of grace is
glory begun, and the final consummation is glory perfected. All the
degrees of our conformity to Christ are so called. It is a bud of that
sinless, pure, immaculate estate which shall be without spot and
wrinkle ; the seed of that perfect holiness which shall be bestowed
upon us hereafter. Thus the spiritual life is described in its whole
flux ; it begins in grace, and ends in glory. See the golden chain :
Rom. viii. 30, ' Whom he hath called, them he also justified ; and
whom he justified, them he also glorified.' There is no mention of
sanctification, for that is included in glory. Grace is but young glory,
and differs from glory as an infant doth from a man ; therefore by
degrees the Lord will have you enter upon your everlasting inheritance.
As the heir receives his estate by parcels, so do we ; first God gives us
a seed, and an initial fruition, then we are drawn on further and
further to a full enjoyment. The new creature, like metal in the
forge, it is heaven in the moulding and framing ; and God gives us the
draught here below, which glory will at length finish above. Upon
all these grounds faith works as if the thing were enjoyed ; while we
332 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SEB. II.
hope and have a certain expectation, it doth as it were taste the bless
ing ; and whilst it looks upon them in the sure promises of God, and
in our head ; or that which Christ hath done for us in the first-fruits ;
so our hopes are made to work upon us as if they were already accom
plished and enjoyed.
SERMON II.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for. HEB. xi. 1.
Secondly, The benefit and advantage of this act, and the use of faith in
the spiritual life.
1. It is very necessary we should have such a faith as should substan
tiate our hopes, to check sensuality, for we find the corrupt heart of
man is all for present satisfaction. And though the pleasures of sin be
short and inconsiderable, yet because they are near at hand, they take
more with us than the joys of heaven, which are future and absent.
A man would wonder at the folly of men that should with Esau sell
his birthright for a morsel of meat, Heb. xii. 16, that they should be
so profane as to sell their Christ and glory, and those excellent things
which the Christian religion discovers, to part with the joys of Chris
tianity for the vilest price. When lust is up and set agog, all consider
ations of eternal glory and blessedness are laid aside to give it satisfac
tion. A little pleasure, a little gain, a little conveniency in the world
will make men part with all that is honest and sacred. A man would
wonder at their folly, but the great reason is, they live by sense :
' Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world/ 2 Tim.
iv. 10 ; there lies the bait, these things are present with us ; we
can taste the delights of the creatures, and feel the pleasures of
the flesh ; but the happiness of the world to come is a thing unseen
and unknown. ' Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die/
1 Cor. xv. 32. This is the language of every carnal heart, let us take
up with present things. Who will venture upon the practice of a duty
difficult and distasteful to his affections, and forego what we see and
enjoy upon the uncertain hopes of things to come ? Present advan
tages, nay vanities, though they be small and very trifles, yet have
more power to pervert us than good things at a distance, nay, than all
the promises of God to allure and draw in our hearts to God. And
here lies the root and strength of all temptations ; the inconveniences
of strictness in religion are present, there is a present distaste and
present trouble to the flesh ; and the rewards are future ; here is the
great snare : therefore how should we do to check this living by sense
that is so natural to us ? Why, faith substantiating our hopes pro
vides a remedy ; for that makes things to come to work as if they were
already enjoyed ; the day of judgment to work upon us, as if we did see
Christ upon his white throne, and the books opened and heaven as if
we were ready now to enter into it. Where faith is lively and strong,
and is the evidence of things not seen, it baffles and defeats all
. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 333
temptations. The war and conflict in men's hearts is carried on under
these two captains, faith and sense. All the forces of the spiritual and
regenerate part are drawn and led up by faith ; sense on the other side
marshals all the temptations of the world and the flesh ; sense is all
for enjoyment and actual possession. Now faith, to vanquish it, gives
a substance, and makes things to come present to us, and makes us
sensible of other satisfactions and contentments, which are far better ;
and there lies the strength of the renewed part ; and the great success
of the spiritual battle is in the liveliness of hope and in the certainty of
faith, that it may make those things work as present which sense
judgeth absent and afar off. That is the reason why faith and sense
are so often opposed in scripture ; faith forestalls the joys of heaven, and
makes them to be in the mind and judgment, and upon the heart of a
believer, that the restraint from present delights may seem less irk
some ; if it be laborious and difficult to serve God, yet it is for heaven.
All that the devil can plead, who works by sense, is the enjoyment of a
little present profit and pleasure ; he cannot promise heaven and glory,
or anything hereafter ; now therein he thinks he hath the start of God
heaven is to come, but the delights and advantages of sin are at hand.
Faith, to baffle the temptation, strongly fixeth the heart of a believer
upon things to come, that in some sort it doth preunite their souls and
their happiness together, and by giving them heaven upon earth con
firms the soul in a belief of better things than the devil or the world
can propose. Thus you see that to defeat the temptation there needs
faith, that it may strongly fix the heart of a believer upon things to
come and put him within the company of the blessed ; that in some
sort he may have heaven upon earth, and such a certain per
suasion of better things, that he may look upon all that the devil,
the world and the flesh do oppose to him as a weak and paltry
thing.
2. It gives strength and support to all the graces of the spiritual
life. The great design of religion is to bring us to a neglect of present
happiness, and to make the soul to look after a felicity yet to come ;
and the great instrument of religion, by which it promoteth this
design, is faith, which is as the scaffold and ladder to the spiritual
building. It is useful to all the other graces, whether they be doing
or suffering graces. We are assaulted on every side, both ' on the right
hand and on the left,' as the apostle saith, 2 Cor. vi. 7 ; on the one
side by the pleasures of the flesh, on the other side by the frowns of
the world ; and therefore the armour of righteousness must be fitted
on both sides, that we may be strengthened on the right hand against
the pleasures, profits, and honours of the world, and on the left hand
against troubles, disgraces, and bitter persecutions. If we would stand
our ground, and be faithful in the business of our heavenly calling, we
must look for these two things, to do for God, and to suffer for
God ; for these two ways a Christian approves himself to God ;
by suffering we declare our loyalty, by doing we perform our
homage.
Ques. Indeed it is a pretty question, In which of these we manifest
most love to God, either mortifying our lusts, er renouncing our
interests to which the chiefest crown of honour is due ? whether to
334 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SfiR. II.
be set upon the head of the suffering faith, or the active or doing
faith ?
Sol It may be pleaded on the one side, that in holiness, or the
active part of duty, we only give away our ill-being for Christ by
crucifying our lusts, which are enemies to our peace as well as to the
crown of heaven ; but by suffering, we lose being and well-being, our
lives and livelihood, and all for Christ ; therefore it seems there should
be more love in that. But on the other side, it may be pleaded thus,
that there are many that suffer for Christ, who sacrifice a stout body
to a stubborn mind ; and because they are engaged they will suffer, yet
are not able to quit a lust for him. And it may be pleaded, the victory
is less over outward inconveniences, than inward lusts which are rooted
in our nature, and so more hard to be overcome ; and the enduring
trouble and hardship is more easy than subduing of sin, and that it is
the sharpest martyrdom a man can endure to tame his flesh, majus in
castitate vivere, quam pro castitate mori it is a harder thingfto be a
holy person than to be a martyr. Thus you see each part indeed hath
its difficulties, which I have mentioned ; partly to satisfy them that
are not called to suffer, yet thou hast employment enough by faith to
mortify thy lusts, and indeed there is the harder work ; it is more easy
to withstand an enemy than a temptation. When we conflict with an
enemy, we do but conflict with an arm of flesh and blood ; but when
the apostle speaks of the inward warfare, he saith, Ephes. vi. 12, ' We
fight not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers.'
And partly to show, that there are inconveniences on both hands, and
a great deal of difficulty, and there is need of all the strength that
possibly we can have, both for doing and suffering. We need faith on
either side, that we might be holy and willing to do for God ; and
that we may be courageous and willing to die for God.
But why should I debate this difference? Let me compound it
rather ; holiness and suffering must both go together, for no one can.
suffer for Christ, but they whose hearts are drawn forth to love him
above all things. The priests under the law were to search the burnt-
offering, and if it were scabby, or had any blemish upon it, it was to
be laid aside and not offered. The Lord doth not desire a scabbed
carnal man should suffer for him. He that keeps the commandments
is best able to suffer for them. In Mat. v., first Christ saith, ' Blessed
are the pure in heart,' ver. 8, then, ' Blessed are they that suffer for
righteousness' sake,' ver. 10. The blessing of martyrdom is put in the
last place, implying that a martyr must have all the precedent graces
of meekness, humility, poverty of spirit, &c. Therefore we must look
for doing the will of God, and suffering the will of God, before these
promises be accomplished, and the things we hope for brought about.
[1.] To suffer for God. It is oftentimes a crime to be faithful to
Christ's interests, and a matter of danger to be a thorough Christian ;
when men are exposed to affronts, and troubles, and disgraces, they
need all the wisdom and grace that possibly they can get together.
Now faith is ' the substance of things hoped for ; ' there will be our
best furniture; why ? for this will teach us to counterbalance our
temptations with our hopes. It puts your hopes in one balance, when
the devil puts the world with all terrors, disgraces and losses in the
VER. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 335
other ; and then the soul triumphs, and says, that our losses are no
more to be compared with our gains, than a feather is to be set
against a talent of lead. ' I reckon/ saith the apostle, Rom. viii. 18,
' that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory that shall be revealed in us ; ' and the bitterness of the
cross is allayed and sweetened by comparing our hopes with it. Thus
Moses sets the recompense of reward against the loss of the pleasures,
treasures, and honours of Egypt, Heb. xi. 24, 25. And those forty
martyrs Basil speaks of that were kept naked in the open air in a cold
frosty night, and to be burnt the next day, they cried out, ' Sharp is the
cold, but sweet is paradise ; troublesome is the way, pleasant is the end
of the journey ; let us endure the cold for the present, and the patri
arch's bosom shall soon warm us/ &c. These passages will truly open
the meaning of the apostle, that 'faith is the substance of things
hoped for/ &c., when we can really set one against the other, and bear
the hardest lot that can befal us upon expectation of our blessed hopes.
And that of the apostle doth notably open it, 2 Cor. iv. 16, ' For this
cause we faint not/ &c., why? ver. 18. 'While we look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen ; for the
things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen
are eternal ; ' that is, when we are supported and fortified by a remem
brance and certain expectation of our blessed hopes. When the Jews
were full of fury against Stephen, Act. vii. 56, 'he saw the heavens
opened ; ' and so he fortified himself against the anger, and shower of
stones from the people. There was somewhat of miracle and ecstasy
in that vision, the glory of heaven being represented not only to his
soul, but possibly to his senses by some external representation. But
as to the substance of the comfort itself, it is that which falls out
ordinarily in a way of believing ; faith opens heaven to a believer, and
brings him to the company of the blessed ; and when the soul is taken
up with the thoughts of another world, it can better digest trouble
here. Faith is the perspective of his soul, he seeth heaven opened
and glory prepared for him, and then the temptation vanisheth. This
is the reason believers can endure plundering ' and spoiling of goods/
Heb. x. 34. ' Faith is the substance of things hoped for.' Let goods
go, saith a believer, so he may keep his interest in the better and more
enduring substance. The Christians in the primitive times were first
exposed to the rapine and malice of the rude people, before actions at
law or any legal process was formed against them by the persecuting
edicts of the Roman emperors for their profession. And the Jews
were most fierce against Christians in that kind ; they would spoil them,
and they could have no advantage against them. Now ' they took joy
fully/ they were willing to part with them as Joseph with his coat to
keep his conscience ; and to quit all worldly possessions, because they
had an assurance of a better and a more enduring substance. So that
it is of great use to support suffering graces, as fortitude and self-
denial.
[2.] To do for God. As to the doing part, those graces serve for
doing the will of God, which is our constant trial. Look to the several
parts of our duty.
(1.) For the destructive part, or the work of mortification. When
336 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. II.
heaven is in the eye and heart of a believer, when it is preoccupied by
his faith, sin hath less power upon the heart. When faith gives sub
stance and being to your hopes, it will appear in your lives ; you will
mortify corruption, and study holiness, while you can set the pleasures
on God's right hand against the pleasures of sin ; and you can reason
thus, Rom. viii. 13, 'If I live after the flesh, I shall die; but if I,
through the Spirit, mortify the deeds of the body, I shall live.' You
will be more able to bear with the difficulties of religion, when you see
you do not act upon an uncertain futurity ; you do not fight as those
that are uncertain ; as the apostle speaks, Heb. x. 36, ' That after ye
have done the will of God ye might receive the promise.' Nay, before
\ve have done the whole will of God, faith receives the promise ; we
have the root, though not the blossom. It is true, Christ calls to suffer
unpleasing austerities ; aye, but heaven makes amends for them all.
Therefore whenever sensitive desires insinuate themselves, faith can
see carnal pleasures are base, and but the happiness of beasts ; and
they are short, ' pleasures of sin for a season,' Heb. xi. 25, and they
issue themselves into unspeakable torments ; ' they shall mourn at last,'
Prov. v. 11. When the devil would make you faint and lazy in the
work of the Lord, faith can represent the short continuance of the
present difficulty ; so when the devil would beget irksome thoughts of
duty, faith can represent endless delights that will follow ; and then the
believer determines, it is better to go to heaven with labour, than to
hell with pleasure. This is that which made Moses, who had an eagle
eye, so victorious : Heb. xi. 26, 'He had respect to the recompense of
the reward/ which made him despise the pleasures, and treasures, and
honours of Egypt. The looking upon the recompenses makes hope to
have such an influence on the life ; for those views and foretastes of
heaven will beget such a strong persuasion in the heart of a believer,
that all the reasons in the world shall not alter, or break the force of
his spiritual purpose. When the devil tempts to filthiness, unclean-
ness, wantonness, faith presents hopes of being consorts and followers
of the unspotted and immaculate Lamb. When we are tempted to
neglect duty for worldly advantages, faith doth oppose the glory of our
inheritance, the riches of the new Jerusalem, and what is the hope of
our high calling, and the good treasure God hath opened to us in the
new covenant. If we are tempted to hunt after worldly honour, faith
proposeth a crown of righteousness which the just and righteous God
will give us at that day. If the fear of disgrace make us loosen and
slacken our duty, faith proposeth the confusion of face wherewith the
wicked shall appear before the throne of the Lamb, and the disgrace
that shall fall upon the wicked at the great day. So when we are
tempted to murmuring and repining under the cross, faith will assure
that though the way be rough, the end of the journey will be sweet.
So that the promises are like cordials next the heart, and keep the
poison from seizing upon the vital spirits, and preserve the soul in a
holy generousness and bravery for God ; they tell us of rivers of pleasure
that stream out of the heart of Jesus Christ, and the sweet content we
ehall enjoy with God for evermore.
(2.) For diligence and seriousness in a holy life. The nearer things
are, the greater and the more they work upon us, and the further off
\ T ER. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. 337
the less. Those never thought of repentance that put far away the
evil day, Amos vi. 3. A star at a distance, though of great magnitude,
seems -like a spark or spangle. We are sensible of things more, the
nearer they are ; distance doth much alter our apprehensions of things ;
we have not the same notions of eternity, living as we shall have when
we come to die. Oh ! when time begins to draw to an end, and we are
going into the other world, what would we give to live over our lives
again ? Oh, how diligent, watchful, serious should we be if we had the
sense of eternity. upon our hearts! Now how shall we do to make
things at a distance to be near to us ? Thus, faith is the perspective
of the soul. As by a perspective glass we see things at a distance as
if they were present and near at hand ; so faith apprehends things at
a distance, and makes them work upon us. Certain expectation pro-
duceth industrious prosecution : Phil. iii. 14, ' I press on to the mark,'
saith Paul, ' for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.'
We make the world believe that heaven and hell are things spoken in
jest, whilst we are so careless about them ; but when we apprehend
them in good earnest, and have a true sense of them, then we fall a-
working out our salvation with fear and trembling ; we see that all
the diligence and holy care we can use is little enough to carry away
this great prize of the eternal enjoyment of God. By faith you look
within the veil, and lift up the heart to the heavenly joys, and this
keeps the heart watchful over the blessed hope. It is the description
of a believer: Jude ver. 21, 'Looking for the mercy of our Lord
Jesus Christ unto eternal life.' Now we have no other eye but faith,
and faith stands you in stead, as it confirms you in the certainty of
your hopes. Heaven is in the heart by faith, and therefore the heart
is in heaven by spiritual meditation ; all their thoughts are about their
country : Phil. iii. 20, ' For our conversation is in heaven ; ' and all the
business of their lives is to approach nearer to their hopes. Paul was
taken up into the third heaven. Faith giveth you a temperate and
deliberate view, though not by such a rapid motion, yet by serious and
solemn thoughts, and so keeps the soul in a heavenly frame and
expectation. It puts your head above the clouds, and in the midst of
the world to come. The apostle biddeth us to lay up in store for our
selves a good foundation against the time to come, ' that we may lay
hold of eternal life/ 1 Tim. vi. 19. Now faith doth not only lay the
first stone, but the whole heap is increased, the work of holiness is
carried on by the help and assistance of faith, which keepeth heaven
and eternal life in the view of the soul, and so ericourageth heavenly
motions and endeavours.
(3.) For contentation, that is a necessary part of the holy life.
This contentation is two-fold; under the difficulties and inconveniences
of the present life, and under the want and distance of our future
comfort.
(1st.) Under the difficulties and inconveniences of the present life.
Faith sweetens all the afflictions of this life by presenting the advan
tages of the future, and balanceth what we feel with what we do
expect. The shortest life is long enough to be sensible of incon
veniences and many calamities. But though the way is rough, faith
seeth heaven at the end of the journey, and so it conveyeth real sup-
VOL. XIII. Y
338 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. II.
port and comfort into the soul and heart of a believer. A Christian
may live in the sweetness of tranquillity in the midst of all outward
disturbances, because the presence of his hopes makes amends for all,
and giveth him a happy dedolency that he feels nothing ; whereas
when faith is weak we soon faint : Ps. cxix. 92, ' Unless thy law had
been my delight, I had perished in my affliction/ There is such a
sweetness in the word, that when faith takes hold of it, the sense of
worldly misery is overwhelmed and quenched. Faith is like a cordial
that keeps off the poison of affliction from the vital spirits, and the
poison of the encumbrances of the present life from the soul : Ps.
xxvii. 13, ' I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of
God in the land of the living,' that is, without the sense of eternal
happiness I, had been utterly lost. Heaven is properly the land of the
living, and that he respecteth. To see God in the land of the living
is as much as to enjoy God in heaven ; and so the Chaldee explaineth
it, in the land of life eternal.
(2dty.) It helps us to contentation under the want and distance of
our future comforts. Let it not seem a paradox, that here the conflict
is hardest. It is easier to bear the evil than wait for the promised
good, for sorrows are better and sooner allayed than desires. Desires are
the vigorous bent of the soul, and they are impatient of check, chiefly
when they are drawn forth upon reasons of religion, and usually after
much mortification. It is very hard to tarry the Lord's leisure for the
enjoyment of their hopes, when their hearts are weaned from the world ;
their pulse then beats strongly towards Christ, and it is a hard matter
to cool and restrain the vehemency of their desires, especially towards
our latter end. The nearer we are to the enjoyment of any good, the
more impatient we are of the want of it ; as a stone moveth faster,
when nearest the centre. All natural motion is swifter in the close ;
so a Christian's motions, though slow in the beginning, are swift in the
close ; therefore their hearts beat with longing desires, ready to break
within them for the enjoyment of Christ. And this burden is the
greater, because faith gives a partial enjoyment ; but the same faith,
which stirs up those desires, also yields the remedy against the vehe
mency of them. Desire is not only the fruit of hope, but patience :
2 Peter iii, 12, ' Looking for,' or waiting for, and yet ' hastening to the
coming of the Lord.' The word in the original, ' looking for,' notes a
patient bearing: now these two words seem contrary, waiting, yet
hastening. This is the disposition of the people of God, they look for,
and they hasten to the Lord's coming. They covet the everlasting
state, and yet wait God's leisure. There is a vehemency and yet a
regularity in their expectations, and both are promoted by this act of
faith : for faith gives certainty, and that quiets the soul, though there
be not present enjoyment. The first effect of faith is a present interest
and title, and ' He that believeth maketh not haste,' Isa. xxviii. 16.
Those prelibations of heaven we have in the world, the scripture gives
us under a double notion ; the first-fruits, and earnest ; the first-fruits
or tastes how good ; and an earnest or pledge, how sure. Under the
quality of the first-fruits, so they do awaken desires and vehement
longings : Kom. viii. 23, ' We that have the first-fruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to
VER. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xr. 339
wit, the redemption of our bodies.' A Christian hath tasted how sweet
God is in Christ, therefore he groans after the full enjoyment of him.
As they are an earnest, 2 Cor. i. 22, ' Who hath sealed us, and given
us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts ; ' so it is a ground of waiting.
We may trust God if he hath given us an earnest. It is not for the
comfort of a man to carry his inheritance at his back, it is enough that
he hath a right and title. Faith is every way as sure, though not as
sweet as sense; and therefore a believer waits as long as God hath
anything for him to do in this world upon this security of faith. It is
true, he is in a strait, his desires press him, yet he will wait. Thus
St. Paul, Phil. i. 23, 24, ' I am in a strait between two, having a desire
to be dissolved, and be with Christ ; but to abide in the flesh is more
needful for you.' A Christian is thus divided between his own profit
and God's will, and God's glory ; but at length faith casts the scales,
and brings him to a holy contentation with the pleasure of God. The
first-fruits beget longings ; and the earnest keeps us from murmuring
and discontent ; so the sureness sweetens the pain which the remote
ness occasions.
Use 1. To examine whether you have this kind of faith or no, which
is the substance of things hoped for. To discover how little of this
faith there is in the world, consider
1. Many men say they believe, but alas, what influence have their
hopes upon them ? Do they affect them ? Do they engage them as
things present and sensible do ? Alas, in the general, things temporal
work more upon us than things eternal, and things visible than things
invisible. A small matter will prove a temptation ; a little pleasure
and profit, how doth it set you a- work? We have not half that
seriousness in spiritual business that we have in earthly. Surely men
do not believe heaven, because they are so little affected with it;
because they mind and care for it and labour for it so little. Alas !
they live as if they never heard of any such thing, or believe not what
they hear ; every toy and trifle is preferred before it. If a poor man
understood that some great inheritance was bequeathed to him, would
not he often think of it, and rejoice in it, and long to go and see it, and
take possession of it ? There is a promise of eternal life left with us
in the gospel, but who puts in for a share ? Who longs for it ? Who
takes hold of it ? Who gives all diligence to make it sure ? Who
desires to go and see it ? Oh, that I might be dissolved, and be with
Christ ! Because these hopes have so little influence on us, it is a sign
we do not make them exist in our hearts.
2. You may discern it by your carriage in any trial and temptation.
When heaven and the world come in competition, can you deny present
carnal advantages upon the hopes of eternity ? do you forsake all as
knowing you shall have a thousand times better in another world ? So
did Moses, Heb. xi. 24, 25 ; the reason is rendered ' For he had respect
to the recompense of reward; 'then is the best time to judge of your
spirit; then God puts you to it; therefore they are called temptations and
trials. Certainly it is of much profit to observe the issue and result of
these deliberate debates arid conflicts that are in the conscience. Now
where faith is the substance of things hoped for, there will be a denial
of present carnal advantages ; heaven will be as present as the temptation,
340 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. II.
and you will see Jesus Christ outbidding the world ; nay, that momen
tary sufferings are not meet to be named the same day with your hopes.
If the world should come in competition with glory, to violate con
science for a present satisfaction, faith comes away from the contest
with an holy disdain and indignation at such a comparison. In vain
is the snare laid before the bird that is of so high and so noble a flight.
The servants of the Lord were tortured, Heb. xi. 35 ; in the original
it is Tv/ji(f)avL(T6ijarav, they were stretched Out as a drum, yet they
would not accept of deliverance, that they might obtain a better
resurrection. Will you be taken off the rack ? No. The world offered
them a release, but faith offered them a resurrection, the raising of the
body out of the grave to the glory of God. The world suggests earthly
enjoyments, present advantages, You may have such and such prefer
ments for the violating of conscience ; then faith comes with the treasures
of the covenant. We are put to our choice many times either to wrong
conscience, or accept of the world's profits ; outward conveniences are
put into one scale, faith puts your hopes into the other ; one is
present, the other is absent. Now observe the workings of your spirits
in such cases. I confess there may be a resistance sometimes out of
stubbornness, but if there be faith, it will work thus, by presenting your
hopes, and casting the balance by an exceeding weight of glory. We
can lose nothing, saith faith, but we shall have better in heaven ; we
can gain nothing, but Christ will be more advantage to us. Upon this
a believer sells all to purchase the pearl of price. ,
3. If faith do substantiate your hopes, though you do not receive pre
sent satisfaction, you may discern it by this, you will entertain the
promises with much respect and delight. Are they dear and precious
to you ? You would embrace the promises if you looked upon them
as the root of the blessing. It is said of the patriarchs, Heb. xi. 13,
that 'they saw the promises afar off, and were persuaded of them,
and embraced them.' When they were to go out of the world, they took
their leave of the promises with embraces ; though they came not to
possession, they were persuaded of the possession ; though they lived
many years before the promises concerning the Messiah took effect, yet
they embraced them. Such ceremonies and compliments pass between
friends; we hug them and commend them to the Lord ; so faith hugs
the promises, and commends them to God's power. Oh ! these are sweet
promises ; these one day will bring a Messiah, and yield a saviour to
the world. Old Jacob, when he took leave of his sons, he blessed them ; he
saith to oner' His bow shaU abide in strength/ Gen. xlix. 24 ; this shall
be a victorious warrior ; to another, so and so. Or, as we do, when we
part with children of great hopes, just so did these holy patriarchs deal
with the promises when God had given them but an obscure significa
tion of heaven and a Christ ; they were embracing these sayings as the
comfort and strength of their souls; when they went down to the grave ;
they could not with Simeon hold Christ in their arms, yet they held the
promises in the arms of their faith. So it will be with you; you will
rejoice in God because of his word, Ps. Ivi. 4. When you take hold
of the promise, you have the blessing by the root, and this should fill
you with holy joy, oh, these are great and precious promises ! 2 Peter i.
4. Here is a promise that will yield me heaven ; this complete holiness,
. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 341
this the fruition of God. By this promise I can expect to meet the
faithful of God in heaven ; by this promise I can expect to sit down
with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ; by this promise I can look for the
abolition of sin ; by this for the bruising of Satan under my feet ; by
this for a freedom from all temptations, desertion and trouble. And
they will cherish a little spark of grace ; here is a bud of glory ; here
are some morning glances, some forerunning beams' of the light that
shall shine upon us in heaven.
4. You may discern it by this, the mind will often run upon your
hopes. Where the thing is strongly expected, the end and aim of your
expectation will still be present with you. Thoughts are the spies and
messengers of the soul. Hope sends them out after the thing expected,
and love after the thing beloved ; therefore it stands upon you to see
how your thoughts and principal desires are fixed. Where the thing
is strongly expected thoughts are wont to spend themselves, and to be
set a-work in creating images and suppositions of the happiness we shall
have in the enjoyment ; and so the future condition will often run in
your mind, and be present with you. For instance, if a poor man were
adopted into the succession of a crown, he would please himself in the
supposition of the honour and splendour of the royal and kingly state
that is set up in his own thoughts. And did we believe we are heirs
of the kingdom of heaven, co-heirs with Christ, we would often think
of the happy time when we shall come to heaven, and see Christ in
the midst of his blessed ones ; when we shall see Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, that are sat down at the feast of God,
and see Paul with his crown of righteousness upon his head. But alas !
it may be said of many, heaven is not in their thoughts, their hearts
dwell in this world, because they do not expect a better : therefore they
are always transported with admiring thoughts of worldly greatness ;
always thinking what it is to enjoy thousands, and to have no complain
ing in their families; thinking of pulling down barns, and raising
greater, and advancing their posterity. We are thinking of our plea
sures, lusts, profits. These are the pleasing thoughts wherewith we
feast our souls. We should still observe what it is we meditate upon
most, which way the contrivances and deliberations of your souls do
tend. Are your thoughts taken up with these carnal projects ? with
those whose character it is, Phil. iii. 19, ' That they are enemies of
the cross of Christ, who mind earthly things ? ' or 2 Peter ii. 14, ' A
heart exercised with covetous practices,' always running upon some
worldly designs, plotting how to get the world into their net ? Christ
describes the worldly person : Luke xii. 17, 18, ' He thought within
himself,' &c. He created images and suppositions in his soul of barns,
possessions, and heritages ; for that is the Holy Ghost's word of the
carnal man, BieXoyi^ero, he dialogised and discoursed with himself.
But on the other side heaven will be more in the eye and mind of a
Christian ; and these provisional thoughts are the spies sent out to wel
come our hopes. I will tell you what such an one is doing ; he is framing
suppositions of the welcome he shall receive of Jesus Christ at his first
coming to glory; he is thinking of the joy between him and his fellow-
saints, when they shall meet in heaven ; there is a stage set up, and a
sweet representation and acting over of heaven in their thoughts.
342 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. II.
5. You may discern it, by your weanedness from the world. They
that know heaven to be their home, reckon the world a strange country.
There is a more excellent glory sealed up to them in Christ, and they
do the less care for worldly advantages ; certainly they do not lay out
their strength and their care upon them. Who would purchase a
rattle with the same price that would buy a jewel ? or dig for iron with
mattocks of gold ? They will not wear out their affections on carnal
things; faith aquainteth them with nobler objects. The woman, when
she knew Christ, left her pitcher, John iv. 28, 29. When Christ told
Zaccheus that ' salvation was come to his house/ then ' Lord, half of my
goods I give to the poor/ &c. Luke xix. 8, 9. But now when men only
relish and favour earthly things, and live as if their hopes were only in
this world, they either have no right to heaven, or believe they have
none.
6. There will not be such a floating and instability in their expecta
tion. You have already blessedness in the root, in the promises ; and
though there be not assurance, there will be an affiance, and repose of
the mind upon God : if there be not rest in your souls, yet there will
be a resting upon God, and a quiet expectation of the things hoped for.
Faith is satisfied with the promise, and quietly hopes for the perfor
mance of it in God's due time : Lam. iii. 26, ' It is good that a man
should both hope, and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.'
Belief is often intermixed with doubtings, yet there will be the patience
of hope, that is the least ; we should not entertain jealousies and sus
picions of God. There is a free promise, though not a certain evidence,
and there will be longing, where there is not comfort.
Use 2. To exhort you to work up faith to such an effect, that it
may be the substance of things hoped for.
1. Work it up in a way of meditation. Let your minds be exercised
in the contemplation of your hopes : Mat. vi. 21, ' Where your treasure
is, there will your heart be.' There is nothing that you prize but
your minds will run upon it. How, freely and frequently can we think
of other things, our lusts, our pleasures, our ordinary occasions! and
shall we have never a thought of that place where our treasure is ? Our
God, our Christ, our happiness is there ; should not our hearts be there
too ? Oh ! take a turn now and then in the land of promise ; see what is
made over to you in Christ, think of the beauty and glory of that hap
piness ; surely if we did believe and esteem it, we would have freer
thoughts of that heaven, and that happiness God hath made over to us.
2. Work it up in a way of argumentation. Faith is a reasoning
grace : Heb. xi. 19, \oyia-dfjievos, ' Accounting that God was able to
raise him even from the dead.' Eeason with yourselves thus : Is there
not a blessed estate reserved in heaven for all that come to God in
Christ? and so for me if come to Christ ? Others have the possession,
and thou hast the grant ; the deed is sealed, and thou hast the convey
ances to show ; hast thou it not under God's hand and seal ? hast thou
not a promise made to all that believe and repent of their sins, and are
willing to walk with God, and are fruitful in good works? Is not
heaven made over to such ? and God's promises were ever made good :
2 Cor. i. 20, ' All the promises of God in him arc yea, and in him amen/
Nay, hath not Christ seized upon heaven in the name of all such as
VER. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 343
come to God by him ? And hast thou not had some first-fruits, my
soul, some foretastes, some earnests of the Spirit ? Hath not God
given thee a little comfort, a little grace, as an earnest to assure thee
of the greater sum ?
3. Work it up in a way of expectation. Look for it, long for it,
wait for it : Tit. ii. 13, ' Looking for the blessed hope : ' and Jude, ver.
21, ' Looking for the mercy of God unto eternal life.' I have a gracious
God, and a tender-hearted Saviour in heaven ; I am therefore looking
and longing till I am called up to the enjoyment of them.
4. Work it up in a way of supplication. Put in thy claim Lord !
I take hold of the grace offered in the gospel ; and desire the Lord to
secure thy claim : Ps. Ixxiii. 24, ' Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel,
and afterwards receive me to glory ; ' and Ps. xliii. 3, ' send out thy
light, and thy truth ; let them lead me, let them bring me unto thy
holy hill, and to thy tabernacle.'
5. Work it up in a way of close and solemn application. In the
Lord's supper, there thou comest by some solemn rites to take possession
of the privileges of the covenant, and by these rites and ceremonies
which God hath appointed, to enter ourselves heirs to all the benefits
purchased by Christ, and conveyed in the covenant, especially to the
glory of heaven : there you come to take the cup of blessing as a pledge
of the ' New wine in your Father's kingdom,' Mat. xxvi. 29. God here
reacheth out to us by deed, or instrument, what was by promise due to
every believing sinner before.
6. Work it up in your conversations by constant spiritual diligence.
Is heaven sure, so sure as if we had it already, and shall I be idle ?
Oh what contriving, carking, striving, fighting, warring is there to get a
step higher in the world ! How insatiable are men in the prosecution
of their lusts ! and shall I do nothing for heaven, and show no diligence
in pursuing my great happiness? Oh, let me ' work out my salvation
with fear and trembling,' Phil. ii. 12. Shall men rise early, and go
to bed late, and all for a little maintenance to support a frail tabernacle
that is ever dropping into the grave, and crumbling to dust ? and shall
I do nothing for my God and everlasting hopes ? Certainly if we did
believe these things, we should be more industrious.
Use 3. To press you to get this faith. There are some means and
duties that have a tendency hereunto.
1. There must be a serious consideration of God's truth, as it is
backed with his absolute power : ' I change not, therefore you are not
consumed,' Mai. iii. 6. If either the counsel or the being of God change,
it must be out of forgetfulness or weakness. It cannot be out of forget-
fulness, for all things past and to come are present to God; it cannot
be out of weakness, for his truth is backed with an absolute power ;
therefore a hope founded upon his promise is not liable to distrust.
Truth cannot deceive, nor be deceived. Princes and potentates may
often break their word out of weakness, lightness, or imprudence, they
cannot foresee inconveniences ; their light is bounded as well as their
power ; but in God there is no error or mistake ; no weakness and
therefore no change : 2 Tim. i. 12, ' I know whom I have believed,
and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day.' I know I have given up my soul to an
344 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. II.
able God ; and I have waited for the accomplishment of the will of
an able God ; and Jude, ver. 24, ' To him that is able to keep you.'
Faith stands upon these two supports, God's truth and power; his
mercy is engaged by his truth, and dispensed by his power; therefore
take this truth and power of God, and cast it into the lap of the soul
by faith ; and then you may be as certain of the event as if it were
already exhibited.
2. You must relieve faith by experiences : by considering what is
past we may more easily believe that which is to come.
[1.] Cast in experiences of what is past. The patriarchs believed
Christ's coming in the flesh, as we believe and own : John viii. 56,
' Your father Abraham saw my day ; ' and one miracle doth facilitate
and prepare belief for another. The belief of our future greatness
is facilitated by the example of his own abasement. When Christ
was apparelled with flesh, we may easily believe we shall be clothed
with glory. Our misery cannot hinder us from being glorified with
God, since Christ's glory did not hinder him from being abased with
men. If Christ could die, then a sinner might live. If he can suffer
upon a cross, then we may reign in glory. If the greatness of promises
raise any doubt, let us look to Christ ; for, lest high promises should
find no credit with our understanding, God clears up faith by this
wonderful instance.
[2.] God hath taken you into an estate of grace and marvellous
light; it is a wonderful thing that God should call poor sinners.
God hath given us not only promises, but assurances ; an earnest as
well as his word. All that is past is but a foundation ; he that spared
you will much more save you; glory and pardon issue out of the
womb of the same grace. Nay, glory is a lesser thing than reconcila-
tion, or the first act of pardon. The apostle puts a much more upon
it: Horn. v. 10, 'For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled
to God by the death of his Son: much more being reconciled, we shall
be saved by his life.' When a sinner comes to be accepted into grace,
there is the greatest conflict, for there is a great conflict between justice
and mercy : therefore it is harder to get the guilty sinner to be
absolved, than a pardoned sinner to be blessed. If he has called me,
will he not glorify me ? As among men it is easier to keep a pardoned
man from execution, than to get a guilty man to be pardoned ; so the
apostle makes it an easier thing to give glory, than it is to give grace
and pardon.
[3.] Compare your hopes with carnal hopes. When you look upon
your own hopes, you may say with David, Ps. xxxi. 19, ' Oh, how great
is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee !'
We may say we have a great deal laid up, and a great deal laid out ;
somewhat in hand, and more in hope. In spiritual matters our expec
tation comes far short of enjoyment, but in carnal matters the hope
is far above the comfort ; therefore they are called vanity and vexation
of spirit ; we expect more, and therefore are vexed with disappoint
ment. Carnal hopes are but like dreams of waking men, that make
way for fear and for sorrow. If you live in the hope of much from
the world you will be but like dreamers, that have an imaginary
content in their sleep, but they meet with real disappointment when.
VER. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 345
they awake ; so when we expect much from the creature, we meet
with nothing but burden, vanity, and vexation.
[4.] Make it the work of your lives to get your own title confirmed,
and assured to the conscience. Christians are to blame for continuing
so long in uncertainties, because they do not get their own title con
firmed : 1 Tim. vi. 20, ' Laying up in store for yourselves a good
foundation against the time to come, that you may lay hold of eternal
life.' If you would make eternal life present to the soul, then lay up
solid evidences. And mark, he speaks ' laying up ' to note this work
is always a doing ; always we must be laying this foundation.
SERMON III.
And the evidence of things not seen. HEB. xi. 1.
I come now to the second part of the description ' And the evidence
of things not seen.' In which you have
1. The act it is the evidence.
2. The object of things not seen.
[1.] The act, which belongs chiefly to the understanding, as the
other doth to the will. By the first act, faith is the hand of the soul
to lay hold of eternal life ; by this act, faith is the eye of the soul to
look towards it, and represent it to us.
[2.] The object ' Things not seen :' it is of a larger extent than
the former. All matters of faith are not future, and the objects of
hope, 'things not seen/ is a term more capacious and comprehensive
than ' things hoped for.' We believe past and present things as well
as future, but we cannot be said to hope for them ; as the creation of
the world, the deluge, the deliverance of the church out of Egypt and
Babylon ; Christ's incarnation and passion, his glorious ascension, the
effusion of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles ; all these things are
past, and cannot be called things hoped for ; but are here in a more
comprehensive expression said to be 'things not seen.' Many present
things we believe, as God's providence, the intercession of Christ, the
influences of his grace upon the hearts of believers, pardoning mercy ;
these, because they could not be comprehended in the former ' things
hoped for,' are delivered to us in this latter expression, ' things not
seen.'
My business mainly is to discourse of the object, ' Things not seen/
But in my way,
First, Concerning the act. Faith is said to be eXey^o^, 'the
evidence.' The word is by some rendered the argument of things not
seen ; by others the demonstration ; by us the evidence, and that not
altogether unfitly. For though the original word hath a special
emphasis, which I shall open by and by ; yet this word ' evidence ' is
of great significancy. Evidence is most proper to objects of sight, and
notes clear, distinct, and full apprehension of objects present ; there-
346 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SER. III.
fore the testimony of eye-witnesses in matters of fact, we call it the
evidence ; and hence it is translated to signify the clear sight of the
mind ; the clear and satisfactory apprehension is called an evidence,
when the object is represented so as the desire of knowledge is fully
satisfied concerning the truth and worth of it ; for this end doth faith
serve in the soul, to give us a satisfactory knowledge of truths delivered
in the word. This doth somewhat clear the text.
But we must a little examine the original word : eXey^o? is a
term of art, and implies a conviction by way of argument and dis
putation. Aristotle saith, it is o-uXXoytoyio? T^? di/THjba<re&>9, a con
vincing argument or dispute, which infers conclusions contradictory
to those which we held before. And in this sense it is said in scrip
ture : John xvi. 8, ' The Spirit e'Xey^et shall convince/ or reprove ;
so that eXey^o? is a confutation of an opinion which men were
possessed of before. So it is used Titus i. 9, where, speaking of
the office of a minister, eXey^ewrov? avTi\eyovra<;, to convince gain-
savers, that is, confute their cavils and prejudices against the truth.
Again, the philosopher describes this conviction to be such an arguing
by which we prove TO fj,rj Svvarov aXXw? e%eiv dyy' ovrcas &>? ^/iet?
\eryojj,ev the thing is impossible to be otherwise than we represent.
Therefore this was a fit and chosen word by the apostle, to show it
was a clear or infallible demonstration of eternal verities delivered in
scripture, that the man to whom it is made cannot think otherwise
than as it is represented to him. Out of all which we may gather
that there is in conviction
1. A representation of clear grounds.
2. These drawn forth in argument and discourse.
2. A confutation of prejudices.
4. A sweet constraint of the mind to assent and subscribe to the
truths delivered. All these are in faith
[I-
[2-]
[3.
[4-]
A clearness and perspicuity of light.
A seriousness of arguing and dispute.
Confuting of prejudices.
A sweet consent, or rational enforcement of the mind, a com
pulsion of the soul by reasons, an answerable assent to the truth of
religion as certain and worthy ; as I shall declare in this following
discourse.
I shall wind up all in this doctrine,
Doct. That true faith is an evidence or convincing light concerning
eternal verities. Or take it thus : It is a grace that representeth the
things of religion with such clearness and perspicuity of argument,
that a believer is compelled to subscribe to the truth and worth of
them ; as a man yieldeth, when he seeth clear evidence to the
contrary.
There are in faith four things :
1. A clear light and apprehension. As soon as God converteth the
soul, he puts light into it. In the old world you know the first thing
that God made was light; so in the new creation, when he comes to
convert sinners he infuseth light, brings in. a stock and frame of
knowledge into the soul ; therefore it is said, Heb. viii. 10, ' I will put
my laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts' the first
VEK. 1.] SKUMOXS ITPOX HEBREWS m. 347
and great privilege of the covenant. There is a double allusion. ' I
will put my law into their minds ; ' that alludes to the ark, as the
tables were kept in the ark ; ' I will write it upon their hearts ; ' as
the law was written upon the tables, so God writes it upon their
hearts ; so doth God do at first conversion ; and therefore wherever
there is faith, there must be light. It is true, this change is not so
sensible ; light enters, like a sunbeam, gently and without violence ;
God opens the window, and draws the curtain. This is a most neces
sary act. Yet there is a sensible difference afterwards : Eph. v. 8,
' Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord/ The
devil carrieth on his kingdom by blindness and darkness, and Christ
governs by light. The devil keeps men in bondage and captivity by
blinding their eyes, by casting a veil of prejudices before their eyes :
2 Cor. iv. 4, ' The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them
which believe not/ And God recovers them out of this captivity by
opening their eyes: Acts xxvi. 18, ' To open their eyes, to turn them
from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God/ There
cannot be any act of a rational soul about an object without knowledge
or light. And therefore when God would draw our consent to his
covenant, he begins with the understanding, and the light of the
glorious gospel shines in upon us. That which is unknown is neither
believed, nor hoped for, nor desired, nor laboured after. When Christ
saith to the blind man, John ix! 35, 36, 'Dost thou believe in the Son
of God ? ' he answered, ' Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him ? '
Certainly that which we believe we must have a thorough sight of.
I say, a man must understand things before he will close with them,
and receive them. And therefore the first thing that God doth is to
give us a mind to know him : 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 the new creature is created in knowledge,
Col. iii. 10, that so it may be able to act with reason and judgment
towards objects proper for it : for, according as things are known, so
they powerfully draw and attract the heart. The understanding is the
great wheel of the soul, and guide of the whole man ; therefore there
must be something done to satisfy that ; grace will begin there, and
there the Lord sets up the light of faith. As sense is the light of
beasts, and reason the light of men, so faith is the light of Christians.
And as there is a distinct light, so there is much argument and dis
course. God lays up principles, and faith lays them out; it is a
prudent steward and dispenser of the knowledge which God hath
treasured up in the heart ; therefore when unbelief makes opposition,
and when the heart is careless, then faith fetcheth the law out of the
ark, and pleadeth and argueth with the soul. As upon the approach
of an enemy against a country they draw out their forces ; so doth
faith bring forth the force of the soul, use reason and discourse, and
draw conclusions out of the principles of the word, that it may beat
its enemy. Keason is the great enemy of faith ; and when it is sancti
fied it is the great servant of faith ; by discourse and disputing it doth
convince the soul : Rom. vi. 11, ' Reckoning yourselves,' or reason
yourselves by argument, 'that you are dead to sin, and alive to God ;'
Rom. viii. 18, 'I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are
SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. III.
not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us ;'
that is, I reason thus. And it is said of Abraham, Heb. xi. 19, ' He
accounted that God was able to raise him ; ' he reasoned the case thus
within himself, There is nothing impossible to God. This is the great
advantage of a believer when he can draw out particular discourses
and arguments, and fortify himself by such conclusions as are opposite
to his particular distrust and trouble, when he can reason from his
happiness to come, his interest in Christ. By this means faith doth
set on either the promise or the threatening ; as suppose, if the heart
be backward, and loath to come to the work of mortification. If
it be given to carnal pleasure, faith comes and reasons thus, Rom.
viii. 13, 'If you live after the flesh, you. shall die/ but you do live
after the flesh, therefore you shall die ; but if you through the Spirit
mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live if you will take pains in
the exercise of religion, though severe for the present, yet it shall be
sweet for the time to come, you shall live. That is the reason why
the word is full of syllogisms and discourses ; they are but copies of
what faith doth in the heart.
2. Faith is a convictive light, that findeth us corrupt and ill-princi
pled, and full of prejudices against the doctrine of the gospel ; and it
is the work of faith to root out of the soul those carnal prejudices,
carnal counsels, carnal reasonings, and carnal excuses which rise up,
and exclude and shut out that doctrine which the gospel offereth to
us.
[1.] Against the truth of the gospel. The heart of man is naturally
full of malice and atheism. Man is not white paper, he is prepossessed
with thoughts ' that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God in
Christ Jesus/ 2 Cor. x. 6. The truths of religion are opposite to corrupt
desires, and these desires have leavened thte soul with carnal prejudices,
and this begets jealousies and suspicious reluctations. Now it is the work
of faith to captivate and subdue those thoughts, to batter down those
prejudices that lift up themselves against the knowledge of God and
obedience of Christ. And therefore one great work of the Spirit is,
to reprove and convince the world not only of sin, but of righteous
ness and judgment, John xvi. 8 ; the Spirit doth it as the author, and
faith as the instrument. We are leavened with these evil maxims,
that sin is not so dangerous as it is represented to be ; that holiness is
not so necessary ; that the doctrines of Christ are but fables ; and
therefore the apostle saith, 2 Peter i. 16. 'We have not followed
cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power
and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ; ' implying that there is such a
thought in the heart of man. Man hath a great many sottish conceits
of all these things, but especially of the gospel ; for conscience will
sooner yield to moral truths than truths evangelical, and the doctrine
which concerns the happiness of another world. We are by nature
sooner convinced of sin than of righteousness, our thoughts being more
presagious of evil than of good, because of the guilt ; conscience seeing
nothing but sin, can infer nothing but punishment ; but we had need
be convinced of all three, sin, righteousness, and judgment. It is not
able that there is no figure so common in scripture as a prolepsis, or
. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 349
anticipation of objections. Divine doctrine findeth us full of prejudices,
and there is an aversion, or bearing off in the intellective faculty, as
well as a dissent. Now faith never leaveth till it bringeth in other
principles.
[2.] Great prejudices there are against the worth of the gospel : 1
Cor. ii. 14, ' 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.' If we be convinced that there
are such things as the scripture sets forth, we are not convinced of
their worth, when we do acknowledge their being ; we think it a folly
to be troubled about things that are to come ; that a man may be
saved without so much ado ; and why should he venture himself upon
the displeasure of the world, and the consequences of it on things that
will fall out we know not when ? These conceits we are leavened
with : but faith is a convincing light that will disprove those corrupt
and carnal principles we drink in.
3. It is an overpowering and certain conviction, that is, such as
dispossesseth us of our corrupt principles and grounds, and argueth us
into a contrary opinion and contrary belief. Men may have some
knowledge of the gospel, and yet not have faith ; they may have some
smitings of heart, and disapprove of the principles wherewith they are
led, and practices wherein they walk, and yet have not faith, but only
a loose and wavering opinion of the things of God. Then is the soul
convinced, when it is rationally, and above all cavil and contradiction,
constrained to consent to the truth and worth of the things propounded
in the covenant ; when there is a subduing and silencing of all those
carnal principles and reasonings which were wont to prevail against
the truth. What the apostle saith of the great truth of the gospel,
the grand article of the Christian faith, Christ's dying for sinners, is
true of the whole frame : 1 Tim. i. 1 5, ' This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save
sinners.' These things are propounded by faith, so as to beget a firm
assent to them as true, and a consent to embrace and pursue them as
good. In these two expressions, ' faithful and worthy of all accepta
tion,' the apostle showeth what faith aims at ; it represents the whole
frame of religion a,s true ; and it representeth religion as worthy of all
acceptation, and then the sanctified will doth embrace it. So that the
first part of the conviction of faith is a subscription to the truth. The
conviction of faith bringeth the soul to a certain assent, how contrary
soever it seem to sense or reason ; though it seeth nothing in sense,
yet it seeth a clear certainty in the word. For though there can no
reason be given of the things believed, yet faith seeth reason enough
why we should believe them, and so close with them upon the authority
of God speaking in the word. Faith, as the substance of things hoped
for, resteth upon the power of God : but as it is the evidence of
things not seen, so it resteth upon the truth of God. By this firm
assent the soul doth so close with truth, that it can never be divorced :
1 Thes. i. 5, 'Ye received the word with much assurance, and with much
affliction,' ver. 6. Though it be contrary to inward dispositions, and
though it expose to outward troubles, yet they had much assurance
and evidence within themselves. Alas ! men may talk of Christ and
350 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. III.
huaveii, and have some cold opinions about things to come ; they may
deliver this to others, but still their evil scent remaineth with them,
and their evil, principles taint their hearts, and sway their practices all
this while ; ' and they do not know the grace of God in truth/ Col. i.
6, and have not any sense of that they seem to know. No, a natural
man cannot be brought to look upon the things of religion as every way
certain, and above all contradiction, and to say with the apostle : Phil,
i, 9, ' That their love abounds yet more and more in knowledge and
in all judgment.' As cooks may dress meat for the master of the
family, and his friends and children, but themselves taste not of it ; so
carnal men may learn things in a disciplinary way ; they may know
the literal meaning and sense of the promises, but are not convinced
of the truth, and of the spiritual real worth of them ; that is, they
have not a thorough sound persuasion and solid apprehension of the
sinfulness of sin, of the beauty of holiness, of the excellency of Christ,
of the preciousness of the covenant, of the rich treasures of grace;
Hcec audiunt quasi somniantes. Carnal men hear them as if they
were in a dream ; they look upon and entertain these things as fancies,
or dreams of golden mountains, or showers of pearl falling out of the
clouds in a night dream.
4. It is a practical conviction. He that believeth is so convinced
of the truth and worth of these things, that he is resolved to pursue
after them, to make preparation for his eternal condition. Answerable
to the discovery of good and evil in the understanding, there is a
prosecution or an aversation in the will ; for the will necessarily
follows the ultimate resolution of the judgment. Now many men have
a partial conviction, but they are not thoroughly possessed of the truth
and worth of heavenly things ; there, is a simple approbation, but not
a comparative approbation, so as to draw off the heart from other
things, and ultimately to incline and bend the heart to look after
them ; that is, by a simple approbation they may apprehend that it is
good to be in covenant with God, but they do not like the terms. But
now the last and practical conviction is, when it draweth the soul to
an actual choice, when it begets not only a simple approbation, but a
practical decree, when the soul saith, ' It is good for me to draw nigh
to God,' Ps. Ixxiii. 28 ; when, all things considered, a man is convinced
that he ought to look after heaven upon God's terms. It is one thing
to desire a commodity simply, another thing to accept of it at such a
rate and price. Many men like pardon of sin, and eternal life, and
come and cheapen the great things of the gospel, but they do not go
through with the bargain. This is the conviction of faith when it
makes us sell all to buy the pearl of great price, and sways the whole
man to pursue and look after those things God hath propounded.
Thus faith brings the soul to a consent ; it convinceth not only of the
truth, but the worth of religion, and proposeth it as fit for choice.
This is the end of all knowledge and understanding : Ps. cxi. 10, ' A
good understanding have all they that keep his commandments.'
Those that know God aright, they love him also ; they know him as
they are known of him. Now God knows us to love us, and to choose
us, and to assume us to himself in Christ ; so we know him, when we
love him, and choose him for our portion. There cannot be a greater
. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 351
despite done to God, than to know God and choose the world ; saith
Christ, John xv. 24, ' You have hoth seen, and hated both me and
my Father.' This is a hatred of God, when we have known God and
yet turned aside to the world. Faith draweth altogether unto choice ;
doth not merely fill the head, but enters into the heart ; it is a prudent
and full consent. And that is the reason why faith is not only opposed
to ignorance but to folly : Luke xxiv. 25, ' O fools, and slow of heart
to believe,' &c, for there may be folly where there is not ignorance.
Every wicked man in Solomon's sense is a fool. Then do we believe
matters of salvation indeed, when we consent to them as good and
worthy to be embraced : Korn. vii. 16, ' I consent to the law, that it is
good.' They see the ways of God are best and most satisfactory, then
the practical judgment is gained.
Use. To put us upon examination and trial, whether we have such
a faith or no, as is an evidence or convincing light ; you may try it by
the parts of it. There is the assent of faith and the consent of faith ;
a clear light and firm assent, and a free consent to the worth of the
things of God.
1. There is a clearness and perspicuity in the light of faith, which
doth not only exclude the grossly ignorant, but those that have no saving
knowledge. All wicked men, though never so knowing, and never so
learned, and never so well accomplished with the furniture of gifts, they
are under the power of darkness. There is ' a form of knowledge/ Bom.
ii. 20, as well as ' a form of godliness ; ' there is but a model of truth
in their brains, a naked speculation ; they may be able to discourse of
the things of God, yet they cannot be said to have the life of God. A
wild plant and a garden plant have the same name and common nature,
yet differ much in their operations and virtues ; so do common know
ledge and the light of faith. There are two differences.
[1.] The light of faith is full of efficacy, the other not. Common
water and strong water are alike in colour, but much differ in their
efficacy, virtue and taste ; so the common knowledge of men, though
for the object it may reach as far as the light of faith, a carnal man
may know all that a believer knows, yet there is not such an efficacy.
This light doth not discharge its office to encourage to confidence, to
quicken to obedience, to fill the heart with gladness ; this light never
enters upon the affections ' Wisdom entereth not upon his heart,' Prov.
ii. 10. Though they have knowledge, yet they are ' barren and unfruitful
in the knowledge of Christ,' 2 Peter i. 8. It is light, but it doth little
good, it is idle and ineffectual, it doth not ascend to the affections or
practice.
[2.] The light of faith is full of practical discourses, always reasoning
and improving the truth. The devil diverteth wicked men ; though
they have eyes, yet there are no holy arguings. The heathens are
described to have ' a vain mind, and a dark heart,' Eph. iv. 17, 18. The
apostle means they are full of vain principles, dark in their understand
ings, corrupt in their inferences. Their heart was blind which should
have directed them in the ordering their conversations. A wicked man
doth not discourse of things in the time and season of them. The
mind of a Christian is stirred up by faith to holy reasonings : This will
be your portion, and the fruit of such doings. It is said of Mary,
352 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SfiR. III.
Luke ii. 19, ' She kept these sayings, and pondered them in her heart;'
she traversed them in her mind by reason and discourse.
2. We may know whether faith be an evidence by the firmness of
our consent. Most flatter themselves in this, they think they do not
doubt of the principles of religion, but surely close with the truth of
the word, yet this evidence is wanting ; for if men were more convinced,
there would be a greater conformity in their practices to the rules of
religion. Our consent is very weak; how does it appear? Partly,
because sense is more believed than the word. We build more upon
assurances of our own devising, than upon that which God hath given
us. Our Saviour impersonates all our thoughts in that speech, Luke xvi.
31, 'If one went unto them from the dead, they will not repent ; ' we
think the prophets have not spoken so feelingly and mournfully, as one
from the dead would, if they should come from the flames. When we
will indent with God, as the Jews, Mat. xxvii. 40, ' If he be the Son of
God, let him come down from the cross, and we will believe in him ; '
or, as the devil himself, who proposed such terms to Christ, Mat. iv. 3,
' If thou be the Son of God, command these stones to be made bread.'
Partly, because temporal things do work far more with us than spiritual ;
we fear temporal death more than spiritual, and will lose spiritual con
tentments for fleshly. And partly, because we are not affected with the
things of religion as we would be, if they were before our eyes ; if we
had with Stephen a sight of heaven, or if we could behold Christ in
his glory, or coming in his majesty, these things would make us more
careful.
But we may know whether the light of the gospel doth shine into
our minds with such a convincing overpowering light ; and our hearts
are possessed of the truth and worth of what God propounds in his
covenant, by three effects of faith ; the mind, the heart, and the life
will be altered.
[1.] The judgment will be altered. Thou wilt have other apprehen
sions of God, Christ, and eternity ; heaven and hell will seem to you
other things than they did. Before they were looked upon but as fancies,
and as things talked of in jest ; but now they will be apprehended as
high and important realities, about which the soul is deeply concerned :
Eph. i. 18, ' The eyes of your understandings being enlightened, that
ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of
the glory of his inheritance in the saints.' When our natural blindness
is removed, there is another manner of discerning things, and a sounder,
belief of them than before ; then a man was in darkness, now he sees
by another light, now he hath eyes indeed. As they say in nature, non
dantur puree tenebrce, there is no such thing as pure darkness ; so it is
true in moral things also. In a state of nature there is not pure dark
ness; there are some glimmerings of an everlasting state, and some super
ficial apprehensions more or less in men according to the advantages of
their education. But now their eyes are opened ; they have another
judgment about these things ; they are clearly discerned, so as to shake
and move the heart, and pierce the soul to the quick.
[2.] The heart will be altered. When faith gives us a sight of things,
the heart is warmed with love to things so seen ; ' Being persuaded,
they embraced,' Heb. xi. 13. Affection follows persuasion. When we
VER. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 353
nre soundly persuaded, then the heart embraceth, closeth with them,
and entertaineth them with the tenderest welcome of our souls ; whereas
before we .talked of heaven and hell in jest, now we mind them in
downright earnestness. The light and knowledge of heaven and hell
that we had by education, tradition, customary talking, reading and
hearing, it never pierceth the soul to the quick, never warmeth the
affections ; but when we have this evidence concerning things to come
and things unseen, then the heart is affected.
[3.] The life will be altered. Art thou taken off from earthly things
and. wordly vanities, and seriously set a-work to make provision for
eternity ? I tell you, the most visible and sensible effect of a sound
conviction is a diligent pursuit, when a man is set a-work by the notions
he hath of God, Christ, and eternity ; 1 Cor. ix. 26, ' Therefore I so run,
not as uncertainly : I so fight, not as one that beats the air.' Oh then,
there is running, striving, righting. The man is certainly persuaded of
things to come, and he will be taken off from those trifles and childish
toys which did engross the former part of his life ; and then all thy
thoughts, and serious cares, and fears will be diverted into another
channel, and taken up about those better things which thou art convinced
of by faith. Faith hath light in it, such a light as finds us corrupted,
but dispossesseth us of those evil affections, and sways our practice.
Therefore, are your judgments, your hearts, and your lives altered ? by
this you may know whether you have been acquainted with this work
of faith namely, as it is ' an evidence of things not seen.'
SERMON IV.
And the evidence of things not seen. HEB. xi. 1.
Secondly, I come to the object, ' Things not seen.' Faith is an evi
dence, but what kind of evidence ? of things that cannot be otherwise
seen, which doth not disparage the evidence, but declare the excellency
of faith. ' Not seen,' that is, not liable to the judgment of sense and
reason.
What are those ' things not seen ' ? Things may either be invisible
in regard of their nature, or of their distance and absence from us.
Some things are invisible in their own nature as God, angels, and
spirits ; and all the way and work of the Holy Ghost in and about the
spiritual life. Other things are invisible in regard of their distance
and absence ; and so things past and to come are invisible ; we cannot
see them with our bodily eyes, but they are discovered to us by faith.
In short, these ' things not seen,' are either matters of constant prac
tical experience, which are not liable to outward sense, or principles of
knowledge, which are not suitable to natural reason.
1. Matters of practical experience. The blessings of religion as the
enduring substance, Heb. x. 34, the benefit of affliction, the rewards
and supplies of the spiritual life, answers of prayer, they are things
VOL. XIII. Z
354 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [S.ER. IV.
not seen in regard of the bodily eye and carnal feeling ; but faith
expects them with as much assurance as if they were corporeally present,
and could be felt and handled, and is assuredly persuaded of them, as
if they were before our eyes.
2. Principles of knowledge. There are many mysteries in religion
above reason ; until nature put on the spectacles of faith, it cannot see
them ; as the incarnation of Christ, the doctrine of the trinity, natural
parts cannot discern the truth or worth of them; they find no sap, or
savour in the truths of the gospel. They are unseen to reason, but
faith makes them clear to the soul.
Doct. That the evidence of faith is conversant about things unseen
by sense or natural reason.
The point admits of much speculative debate, but I shall handle it
only in a practical way.
That faith is conversant about things unseen I shall prove by three
reasons taken from the differences of time.
1. Because much of religion is past, and we have bare testimony and
revelation to warrant it ; as the creation of the world out of nothing,
the incarnation, life, and death of Christ ; these are truths not liable
to sense, and unlikely to reason that the vine should grow upon one
of its own branches, that God should become a man, and die. Now
upon the revelation of the word, the Spirit of God makes all evident
to faith. As the centurion, when he saw the miracles of Christ's death
said, ' Truly this was the Son of God/ Mat. xxvii. 54 ; so by the Spirit
in the hearts of believers, they are convinced, surely this is no other
than the word of God. Faith can see God veiled under a curtain of
flesh, and Christ the Son of God hanging and dying on a cross. Yea
the more impossible the thing is to nature, the fitter object of faith, when
it is accompanied with divine testimony. If carnal reason object
against these things, we must renounce and give it the lie when it
contradicts divine truth ; for though the truths of the gospel are hidden
and strange to reason, they are open and evident to faith. There are
several lights God hath set up in the world, and they must keep their
place; there is sense, which is the light of beasts ; reason, which is the
light of men ; faith, which is the light of saints ; and vision, which is
the light of glory : now all these lights are not contrary, but sub
ordinate. If we should examine all things by sense, we should lay
aside many things evident to reason ; as to sense a star is no bigger
than a spangle, or spark ; but reason knows, because of the distance,
we must much otherwise conceive of them. So if we should lift up
reason against faith we should discard many principles and articles of
religion which are of greatest concernment. It is an old error to oppose
the course of nature to God's word. Those mockers in Peter erred,
because they examined things by senee : 2 Peter iii. 4, ' All things
continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.' When
men will believe nothing above their reason, and above their sense, it
is a sign they want th# light which God hath set up in the church, the
light of faith, Jude 19, ' Sensual, not having the Spirit.' Men that
go according to reason only, go most against reason ; nothing can be
more irrational than to consult with nature about supernatural things,
and to fetch the judgment of spiritual things from sense ; it is all one
VER. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 355
as if we should bring down all rational affairs to the judgment of sense,
and seek a law for man among beasts ; reason must not be captivated
to fancy, but to faith. Much of religion is past, arid consists of articles
unknown.
2. Much of religion is yet to come, and therefore can only be dis
cerned by faith. Fancy and nature cannot outsee time, and look
beyond death : 2 Peter i. 9, ' He that lacketh these things/ that is,
that lacketh. faith, and other graces that do accompany it, ' is blind,
and cannot see afar off;' unless faith hold the candle to hope, we
cannot see heaven at so great a distance. Heaven and the glorious
rewards of religion are yet to come ; faith only can see heaven in the
promises and look upon the gospel as travailing in birth with a great
salvation. Faith must supply the room of sense, and believe heaven
though it see it not, and look for it though we enjoy it not. As reason
must not jostle out faith, so faith must not be uncertain, though it cannot
aspire to the light of glory. The apostle saith, ' We walk by faith,
not by sight,' 2 Cor. v. 7 ; that is our light here. Graceless souls may
be sharp-sighted in all things that concern their temporal interest, and
talk of the affairs of the present world ; but as for the things of the
other world they are stark blind.
3. That of religion which is of actual and present enjoyment, sense
or reason cannot discern the truth or worth of it ; therefore faith is still
the evidence of things Unseen.
[1.] It cannot discern the truth of it. There are few things in
religion but the truth of them is contradicted by carnal sense. Eternal
life is promised to us, but first we must be dead ; the resurrection of
the body, but first we must moulder to dust in the grave. Blessedness
is promised to us at last, but in the meantime we are of all men most
miserable ; a comfortable supply of all things, but in the meantime we
hunger and suffer thirst. God saith he will be a present help in a
time of trouble, but he seems to be deaf to our prayers ; therefore faith
is conversant about things present. The carrying on the work of grace
is a thing invisible : Col. iii. 3, ' Our life is hid with Christ in God.'
I say, the secret power and influence, by which grace is fed and main
tained, is carried on from step to step in despite of devils or men.
Therefore the apostle begs, Eph. i. 18, 'That their eyes might be
opened ; ' why ? what should they discern ? ' that they might know
the hope of their calling, and the riches of the glory of his inheritance
in the saints.' The power that goes to the maintaining of grace, till
we come to the possession of the rich and glorious inheritance which
God hath provided for us, it is a matter of faith not of sense. What
would become of us, if faith did not supply the place of sense, and the
promise did not make amends for enjoyment ? That phrase of ' living
by faith,' is always used in opposition to present feeling. It is men
tioned in four places of scripture, twice in the case of justification,
Kom. i. 17, Gal. iii. 11, when we are dead in law, lost in the sense of
our own consciences ; then when we can cast ourselves upon the mercies
of God in Christ, this is living by faith. And it is used twice in the
case of great troubles and anxiety ; when we have nothing else to live
upon but our own sorrows and tears, when the destroyer in the land
wasted and devoured all they had, then ' the just shall live by faith/
256 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. IV.
Hab. ii. 4. So when their goods were plundered, Heb. x. 34, then ' the
just shall live by faith,' ver. 38, so that the whole life of a Christian is
made up of riddles ; and faith is still opposite to sense. This indeed
is living by faith, to see that in God which is wanting in the creature.
The whole business of Christianity is nothing else, but a contradicting
of sense ; God's dealing seemeth often to make against his promise,
and his way is contrary to the judgment of the carnal mind. Where
would religion be were it not for faith ?
[2 ] As the truth of religion is not always visible to sense, so the
worth of religion is checked by carnal reason : 1 Cor. ii. 14, ' The
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit, neither can he receive
them, because they are spiritually discerned/ Carnal reason judgeth it to
be a foolish thing to renounce present delights and present advantages.
Suffering zeal seemeth peevishness and frowardness to a carnal judgment
and active zeal a fond niceness. Look, as astronomers have invented names
of bears, lions, dragons, for those things which are glorious stars in the
heavens ; so doth carnal reason miscall all the graces of the Holy Spirit.
When a men makes conscience of his ways, carnal reason says that which
carnal men do, We shall have you turn fool now ! So that he that will
be wise to salvation, must become one of the world's fools, that he may
be wise, 1 Cor. iii. 18. Therefore that we may be sincere and strict in
religion, and faithful with God, willing to do and willing to suffer, there
is need of faith, that we may quit visible conveniences for invisible
rewards, and despise things that are seen for things that are not seen :
2 Cor. iv. 18. ' While we look not at the things which are seen, but at
the things which are not seen ; for the things which are seen are
temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.' That made the
apostles renounce worldly interests, and mortify carnal affections. Faith
discovered a worth and beauty in things not seen to reason and sense.
Having showed that faith is an evidence, and such an evidence as
falls upon things that are not seen, I shall show now what is the advantage
of this in the spiritual life ; for to that end doth the apostle bring this
description, that they may live by faith. The use of it is exceeding
great.
(1.) To embolden us against the difficulties and inconveniences of
our pilgrimage. When we look to things seen, we may descry as many
enemies as creatures, and are ready to cry out, as the prophet's man,
' Alas, Master, what shall we do ? ' 1 Kings vi. 15. Now faith presents
invisible supplies in visible dangers. If Satan be at our left hand ready
to resist us, God is at our right hand ready to strengthen us. If men
pursue us with their hatred and displeasure, faith represents God fol
lowing us with his love and kindness. It is said of Moses : Heb. xi.
27, ' By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king ; for
he endured, as seeing him who is invisible/ Moses would run the hazard
of Pharaoh's wrath ,would turn his back upon such a fertile land as
Egypt was, to go with the people of God into the wilderness, and all
because he saw invisible things. Faith sees God assisting in a spiritual
manner, and then all difficulties are reconciled and all terrors that
arise from visible things are mitigated and made more comportable
by invisible supplies.
(2.) To help us to bear afflictions, out of a hope of a comfortable
YER. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 357
issue. Faith can see fruit budding out of the dry rod of affliction.
Ask sense, and it will tell you of nothing but aches and smart : Heb.
xii. 11, ' No affliction for the present seemeth joyous, but grievous.'
For the present it is a grievous thing to lie under the strokes of God's
providence. If we should consult with present feeling, we should be
like children, nothing but howl ; but now faith can prophesy glad tidings
at midnight, and see quietness and pleasantness in the midst of smart.
and rich incomes of grace and purposes of love, when God seems to
deal roughly with us.
(3.) It is of use to unfold the riddles of providence. The dispensa
tions of God are full of mysteries ; the way is shame when the end is
glory. There is a handwriting of providence which is like Belshazzar's,
we cannot read it ; usually like the Hebrew tongue, it must be read quite
backwards. Christ brews the water of life out of gall, wormwood, and
blood. Joseph must be sold, then honoured ; first a slave, then a
favourite ; cast into the dungeon, that he may be preferred at court.
When God meant to bless Jacob, he makes him halt and lame, for he
breaketh his thigh. The empty bucket goes down into the pit that it
may come up full. Now nothing is out of order to providence, there
fore nothing is out of order to faith. In the saddest providences, faith
expects a good issue: Ps. Ixxiii. 1, ' Truly God is good to Israel.' At
the end of the six days God saw all that he had made, and behold it was
very good ; so for these six thousand years all his works of providence
are good, very good. Faith, ploughing with God's heifer, comes to learn
his designs : Job xi. 6, ' And that he would show thee the secrets of
wisdom, that it is double to that which is ; know therefore that God
exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.' Divine providence
hath two faces ; that which is visible and outward is full of rigour, and
God seems to be against us. Ay, but there is that which is not seen,
and there is love, and sweetness, and clemency , like a picture, here the
face of a virgin, there the form of a serpent. That which is not seen to
sense is a thousand times more comely than the surface. . Common light
can discern nothing of this mixture : Eccles. viii. 14, ' In the day of
adversity consider.' Some lessons are easy to sense, but others are hard
enough to faith. Sense judges only of the outside, and bark, and rind
of God's dispensations, and therefore we are perplexed and at a stand ;
but faith goes into the sanctuary, Ps. Ixxiii. 17, and consults with God's
word, and looks within the veil, and engageth us to wait, and teacheth
us how to solve the dark riddles of providence. There are secret and
invisible things which God maketh known to waiting souls.
(4.) To help us in duties of charity, that we may be rich in good
works. The loss and detriment that cometh to our estates by large
distributions, in doing worthily for God in our generation, by helping
the poor, relieving the needy, promoting the ordinances of God ; the
loss is visible ; ay, but faith sees it made up again, and that there is
no such usury as lending to God. This is a duty where faith is most
sensibly acted ; here God proveth faith, and here we prove God. 1.
We prove God ' Prove me, saith the Lord, by riches and offerings ; '
Mai. iii. 10. ' If I will not open you the window of heaven, and pour you
out a blessing/ Here faith maketh sensible experiments, and adven-
turetli upon God's word. God giveth us a bill of exchange ; we have
358 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. IV.
nothing but a promise for what we lay out upon a work of religion :
Prov. xix. 17, ' He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord ;
and that which he hath given will he pay him again/ Charity and alms
is a kind of traffic, and there is a great deal of faith and trust exercised
in it, if he lay out a sum upon his word and bond. A carnal mind thinks
all lost and gone because he will not take God's word ; but now he that
believes can see profit temporal and spiritual to arise out of this. 2.
Here also God trieth us ' Faith is the evidence of things not seen.' You
see no profi^but can you believe it ? Eccles. xi. 1, ' Cast thy bread upon
the waters ; for thou shalt find it after many days.' When a man goes
about doing good, such liberal distributions to a carnal mind are but like
sowing the seed in a moorish ground, or like ploughing the sea; as foolish
and as vain a course as if a man should cast his bread, that is, his bread
corn, upon the waters. The vulgar read it super transeuntes aquas, cast
it upon the running stream. We cannot look for a crop out of the water ;
it is carried down the stream, and a man shall never see it again. Ay,
but faith, which is an evidence of things not seen, will help us in this
case even to distribute our substance, for God will make it up again.
When you can wait upon God contrary to sense and experience, then you
have the true kind of faith.
(5.) In desertion, when God hides himself, faith only can find him
out. When all comforts are lost to sense, they are present to faith.
Faith can see God under his mask and veil : Isa. xlv. 15, 'Verily thou
art a God that hidest thyself, God of Israel, the Saviour.' When
God means to be a saviour, he may hide himself, but faith waiteth
upon him in the deepest and blackest desertion. John ii. 4, Christ
rebukes the Virgin Mary ' Woman, what have I to do with thee ?
mine hour is not yet come ; ' yet ver. 5, ' His mother saith unto the ser
vants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.' She had received a sharp
rebuke from Christ, yet she knew he would do something, and therefore
saith, ' Fill the waterpots.' True faith can pick love out of God's angry
speeches, and draw gracious conclusions from the blackest and hardest
premises. Saith Job, if he shall kill me, and lay more terrors upon
me, ' Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him,' Job xiii. 15 ; and
saith David, Ps. xlii. 11, ' Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him.'
When there are no apparent evidences, all comforts and graces are
spent, there is not a drop of oil in the cruse, nor a dust of meal in the
barrel ; yet hope can hang upon a small thread. They will wait, trust,
and look for something of favour from God.
(6.) This faith is necessary to believe the spiritual mysteries of
religion. So faith sees a virtue in Christ's death : Gal. ii. 20, ' Never
theless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me ; and the life which I
live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me,
and gave himself for me.' This is a mere riddle to sense, so to believe
the salutary and gracious fruits and effects of Christian ordinances,
which are to appearance mean and poor, but the worth and fruit of
them is unseen. Saith Tertullian, Nihil adeo ac offendit hominum
mentes, quam simplicitas divinorum operitm, there is nothing offends
men's minds so much as the simplicity of his ordinances. Plain
preaching seems a poor, useless thing; a vain artifice to catch souls, it
is as much despised by carnal reason in the heart, as it is by vain men
VER. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. 359
in the world, yet this is God's way to convert the soul : 1 Cor. i. 21,
' It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe.' The waters of baptism heathens were offended at, when
Christians talked of such glorious things as to be born again, united to
Christ, possessed of the Spirit, and they could see nothing but going
down into the water. To find spiritual comfort and ravishing joy in
the Lord's supper, when we see nothing but a piece of bread and a
draught of wine ; for ordinances that have no pomp and splendid
appearance in them, yet to be sanctified to the most bigh and mysteri
ous uses of our religion, this is that which is matter of faith.
(7.) That we may look for life in the hour of death. When sense
and understanding is departing, oh ! then to comfort ourselves with the
love of God that shall never depart ; to look for life and resurrection
among dry bones, and to look on the grave as a place not of destruc
tion, but of delivery these are all things unseen, and require faith to
believe them. Who would think such a pale horse as death sjiould be
sent from Christ to carry us to glory ? and that the funerals of the
body shall not be the funerals of the Christian, but only of his sin and
of his frailty ? Miseria moritur, homo non moritur ; it is but a shed
taken down, that it may be raised in a better structure ; that the way
to live for ever is to die first, that we may be killed and not hurt ; to
believe that the morsels for the worms should be parcels of the resur
rection : Job xix. 26. ' Though after my skin worms destroy this body,
yet in my flesh shall I see God ; ' and then to send our flesh in hope
to the grave : Ps. xvi. 9, ' My flesh also shall rest in hope ; ' to go to
the grave as a bed of ease and chamber of rest, of which Christ keeps
the keys ; all this is matter of faith. Our Saviour saith, John xi. 25,
' He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet he shall live ;' he
puts the question, ' Believest thou this ? ' ver. 26 ; nothing else will
assure it you. But have you faith ? David puts the supposition : Ps.
xxiii. 4, ' Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil, for thou art with me ; ' though I walk side by side with
death ; though my bones be cast into a common charnel, and I con
verse with skulls, yet Christ will look after this dust, and those rotten
relics of mortality. Faith must assure and persuade us of all this.
(8.) To believe a change of the greatest flourish and outward pros
perity. When men have such a high mountain as seems to stand
strong, who would think that it can ever be removed ? Wickedness
regnant and triumphant is ruinous and tottering in the eye of faith :
Micah iv. 11, 12, 'Many nations are gathered together against Zion,
that say, let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion ; yet they
know not the thoughts of the Lord, nor understand his counsel.' In
private cases, to look upon unjust gain that comes in plentifully upon
us as a certain loss, and to see God's curse upon great and ill-gotten
revenues ; to determine, that ' better is a little with righteousness, than
great revenues without right,' Prov. xvi. 8. How better ? If we con
sult with sense, there is no such thing ; but faith assures us. Would
men make haste to be rich if they had this rich faith ? it would tell
them, This is the way to bring ruin upon themselves and their posterity :
to see ruin in the midst of abundance, and loss in the midst of gain ;
that righteousness is the only way of gain, and scattering the ready
SCO SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SEE. IV.
way to increase, is the work of faith : Prov. xi. 24, ' There is that
scattereth, and yet increaseth ; and there is that withholdeth more than
is meet, and it tendeth to poverty.' Thus you see this faith runs through
all religion, and hath an influence upon every practical thing almost.
Use 1. Information. I shall draw from hence four practical corollaries.
If the object of faith be things unseen, then,
1. Christians should not murmur if God keep them low and bare,
and they have nothing they can see to live upon. As long as they do
their duty, they are in the hands of God's providence. If God exer
cise them with troubles, humble them with wants, and delay their
hopes, they have a faith which should be instead of vision and enjoy
ment ; and when they want all things, they should be as ' possessing all
things/ 2 Cor. vi. 10. They have an all-sufficient God to trust to, a
God that bears the purse for them. If you are reduced to hard short
allowance, live upon the promise a believer has all things in the
promise, though nothing in possession. This is the happiness of heaven,
that God is all in all without the intervention of means. This life of
faith is heaven antedated and begun, to see all in God in the midst of
greatest wants.
2. In the greatest extremity that can befall us there is work for faith,
but no place for discouragement ; your faith is never tried till then.
The church could bring one contrary out of another : Micah vii. 9.
' Though I fall, I shall arise ; ' and, saith Jonah, chap. ii. 7, ' When my
soul fainted in me, then I remembered God.' In a spiritual death, when
our comforts are spent, and all fail, then is a time for faith. Faith
can traffic with Christ in the dark, and take his word for that of
which we have no appearance at all. As Rom. iv. 18, 'Abraham
believed in hope against hope ; ' that is, in hope according to promise,
though against hope contrary to the course of nature, when all natural
arguments, appearances, and grounds of hope are cut off.
3. That a Christian is not to be valued by his enjoyments, but by
his hopes. ' He hath meat and drink which the world knows not of/
John iv. 32, and can go to the rock when creatures have spent their
allowance. To appearance his life is worse than other men ; ay, but
his better life is hidden with God, he hath invisible things to live upon,
his main portion lieth in things not seen. The whole Christian life is
nothing else but a spiritual riddle full of mysteries and wonders ; he
can see things not seen, fulness in want, special love in common mercies,
grace in a piece of bread. A wicked man's enjoyments are sweet to
sense, ay, but they are salted with a curse : but now in the deepest
expressions of hatred, a child of God by faith can see God's love.
4. Christ may be out of sight, yet you not out of mind. He consults
not with sense, for that makes lies of God ' I said in my haste, I am
cut off from before thine eyes ; nevertheless thou heardest the voice of
my supplications when I cried unto thee/ If God will not look to me,
I will look to him. The dam leaves her nest, but she leaves her heart
behind, and she will return. The sun at midnight seemeth low, but it
will rise again : Ps. xcvii. 11, ' Light is sown for the righteous, and
joy for the upright in heart/
Use 2. Reproof to those that are all for sense and for present appear
ance.
1. Such as do not believe without present feeling.
. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. 361
2. Such as cannot wait upon God without present satisfaction.
[1.] There are some gross sensualists that examine all things by
experience, and will riot take God's word for truth, unless they feel it ;
whereas feeling is left for the life to come ; here God will try us by
faith. There are atheists in the church, but none in hell. The devils
and damned spirits tremble at that which you doubt of. Here we have
the light of conscience, reason and faith ; but there men are left to-
feeling and experience ; and therefore those that measure all things by
present sense, and so disbelieve the world to come, they are hence to
be reproved. Foolish men may go to school and learn of the ant.
Since they will not learn of God, they may learn of the creature : Prov.
vi. 6-8, ' Go to the ant, thou sluggard ; consider her ways, and be wise :
which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the
summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.' There is a natural
providence and instinct in these creatures to provide for their future
state. Oh then, what a sot is he that will not think of his state to come,
nor of any condition beyond that which he now enjoys ? they are worse
than the ant than the meanest and the lowest creature, that because
they see not God or Christ, or heaven or hell, therefore question
whether there be indeed any such thing, yea or no : I say many such
there are in the world that say, as Thomas did out of weakness, John
xx. 25, ' Unless I see in his hand the print of the nails,' &c., ' I will not
believe;' they will not believe that God hath provided such a deplorable
and miserable estate, where the wicked shall be tormented for ever and
ever, and cast out from the presence of the Lord to the devil and his
angels, because they see not these things.
[2.] It reproves those that cannot wait upon God without present
satisfaction, that faint if the appearance of things suit not with their
mind and expectation. We are all apt to be led by sense, and to plead
natural improbabilities ; and when any difficulty ariseth that checketh
our hopes, we question the promises of God, and say with Mary, Luke
i. 34, ' How can these things be ? '
(1.) This is a great dishonour to God, to trust him no further than
we see him. You trust the ground with your corn, and can expect a
crop out of the dry clods, though you do not see how it grows, nor which
way it thrives in order to the harvest. It is a great folly to distrust
the Lord, because the mercies we expect do not presently grow up and
flower in our sight and apprehension. Abraham gave glory to God
' by believing in hope against hope/ Rom. iv. 18. That is an honour
to God indeed, when in defiance of sense, and all outward probabilities,
we can depend upon him for the accomplishment of his promise ;
whereas otherwise, when we confine God to present likelihoods, and
must have satisfaction to our senses, or else we will not believe nor take
things upon God's bare word ; nor stay ourselves upon the name of
God ' Except we see signs and wonders we will not believe,' John iv.
48. It is a great dishonour to God ; ' we limit the holy one of Israel,'
Ps. Ixxviii. 41, confining him to our circle of means.
(2.) It is contrary to all the dispensations of God's providence.
Before he gives in any mercy there are usually some trials. Abraham
had the promise of a numerous issue, but first Sarah's womb was long
barren. Nay, after that God tried him again when he hath a child,
he must sacrifice Isaac, the child of the promise. It was a, hard thing
3G2 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. IV.
for faith to interpret how he should offer Isaac, and yet believe that
' iu Isaac all nations should be blessed.' Their obedience was to con
flict not only with reason but with faith, and to find out an expedient
to reconcile the precept with the promise ; but yet he had a faith to
believe it: Gen. xxii. 5, ' He said to his young men, abide you here
with the ass ; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come
again to you.' It was neither a lie nor equivocation, but words pro
ceeding from the assurance of faith ; for though Abraham knew not
how, yet he tells Isaac, ver. 8, ' God will provide himself a lamb for
a burnt-offering.' And as he used Abraham the father of the faithful,
so he doth all his children. Christ's kingdom is described thus : first
he comes as a root out of a dry ground, Isa. liii. 2. When the tree of
Jesse was withered and dried up, when it was worn down to its root
and stumps, God makes it to scent and bud again ; then comes Jeho
vah the branch ; then afterwards, Luke xvii. 20, ' The kingdom of
God comes notwith observation.' When the kingdom of Christ was to be
set up, what appearance was there ? a crucified man, and a few fisher
men to begin this glorious empire ! What should we have done if we
had lived in Christ's time, and seen the despicable beginnings of his
kingdom we that are so amazed at every difficulty and cross provid
ence ? David was first hunted like a partridge upon the mountains,
that he might be settled upon a throne. Thus God is still wont to try
our faith before he satisfy our sense, and to leave some weakness
upon the means that the mercy may be more glorious. Consult the
whole course of God's providence, and all the experiences of the saints,
and you will find it to be so : Isa. xlviii. 7, ' They are created now,
and not from the beginning, even before the day, when thou heardest
them not, lest thou shouldst say, Behold I knew them.' Things raised
out of the earth, a man could not have thought there had been any
such means and instruments in the whole creation. ' He hath chosen '
ra pr) ovra 'things that are not,'l Cor, i. 27; that is, things that seemed
to have no such use and efficacy, * to confound things that are.' Micah
v. 7, ' And they shall be as the dew from the Lord, as showers upon
the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.'
The herbs of the garden have visible means of supply, they are watered
by hand, they tarry for man, and depend upon man's industry and pro
vidence ; but they shall be as the grass in the wilderness, which
thriveth by dews and showers from heaven, that come without man's
thinking and care. Those that are acquainted with the usual traverses
and ways of providence cannot but trust God. Usually we look on
God's works by halves and pieces, and so distrust. There is a great
deadness upon the means, when God will employ them to the highest
uses and purposes. A painter draweth half a man, and then there is
no beauty. When we look into the fiery furnace, and see nothing but
devouring flames, who would think God could bring forth a vessel of
honour from thence ? God's dispensations have not left their wonted
course, he tries us with such unlikelihoods.
(3.) It is contrary to the nature of faith ' Hope that is seen is not
hope ; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for ? ' Bom. viii. 24.
Faith gives over work when we come to fruition ; the trial of it is in
difficulties. Faith is faith indeed, when it can expect in the midst of
VER. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 363
dissatisfactions, and hath no relief from sense, nor help from outward
things : John xx. 29, ' Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet
believe.' That is true faith, when we can expect blessings upon God's
warrant ; though we cannot discern the way, manner, nor means, yet
we hold fast the conclusion, all will work for good. Instruments mis
carry ; but faith looketh not to instruments, but to the promise : Esther
iv. 14, 'Ifthou altogether hold thy peace at this time, then shall there
enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place/
Her petitioning was the only visible likely way ; but if God would not
use it, he was satisfied with his word. Nay, sometimes the word of
God seems to be tried as well as we : Ps. xii. 6, ' The words of the
Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven
times.' He speaks not only of the purity and excellency of the word,
but of the stability and certainty of it ; when the promise is cast into
the fire, and seems to lie a-burning, it is not consumed, but comes out
with greater brightness and lustre. There are many, if God give them
health, peace, plenty, and all manner of prosperity, then they believe
him to be their God ; but if they see no external evidences of his
favour, they will not believe in him ; this is to live by sense, not by
faith ; for faith is the evidence of things not seen, it can raise us above
sight, and support us against sense.
(4.) It will weaken our hands in duty when we look to every pre
sent discouragement. Solomon saith, Eccles. xi. 4, ' He that observeth
the winds shall not sow ; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not
reap.' He that is deterred from sowing his seed by every wind, and
reaping his corn by every cloud, will never do his business ; so he that
looketh to every discouragement can never act worthily for God, but is
marred by every difficulty ; he is off and on, as outward things succeed
or miscarry : James i. 8, 'A double-minded man is unstable in all his
ways/ full of distractions and faintings, up and down with hopes and
fears, as worldly things ebb arid flow.
SERMON V.
And the evidence of things not seen. HEB. xi. 1.
Use. 3. If faith be such an evidence of things not seen, then let us
examine have we this faith that can believe things not seen ? This
is the nature of true faith. Hope built upon outward probability is
but carnal hope ; but here is the faith and hope we live by, that which
is carried out to things not seen with the bodily eye. Take these
directions to discover it.
1. How doth it work as to Christ now he is out of sight ? His
visible presence is long since removed, and he is withdrawn within the
veil and curtain of the heavens, there to perform his ministration before
the Lord. Can you love Christ, and enjoy Christ, and converse with
him in heaven at the right hand of the Father, as if you did see him,
and converse with him bodily in the days of his flesh ? It was the
364 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SfiR. V,
commendation of their faith : 1 Peter i. 8, ' Whom having not seen,
ye love ; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory.' Though you never saw him,
yet can you repair to him to solve your doubts and answer your scruples,
depend upon the merit of his death, and embolden yourselves in your
addresses to God upon the account of his satisfaction ? Though he
died sixteen hundred years ago, yet can you conceive hope by his blood
as if it were shed afresh, and running before your eyes ? for so should
believers do : Eph. iii. 12, ' In whom we have boldness, and access
with confidence, oy the faith of him.' Alas ! to most Christians Christ
is but a name, a fancy, or an empty conceit, such as the heathens had
of their topical gods, or we of tutelar saints, some for this country and
some for that. Do you pray as seeing him at God's right hand in
heaven pleading your cause, and negotiating with God for you ?
2. How doth it work as to his coming to judgment ? Is the awe of
that day upon your hearts ? and do you live as those that must give
an account even for every idle word, when the great God of recom
penses shall descend from heaven with a shout ? Kev. xx. 12, 'I saw
the dead small and great stand before God,' &c. Have you such a
sight as St John had ? Indeed he saw it by vision, or by the light of
prophecy; but the light of faith differs but little from the light of
prophecy. They agree in many things, as in the common ground.
What is the ground of the light of prophecy ? the foundation of it is
divine revelation, and the same ground hath faith. And they agree
in the evidence. What is prophecy ? a certain foreknowledge of
things to come ; and what is faith ? an evidence of things to come.
Thus they agree. They differ in these things : the light of prophecy
depends upon special grounds, which is extraordinary revelation ; but
the light of faith hath but that common ground, the ordinary revela
tion God hath made of his mind in scripture ; and they differ somewhat
in the degree. Indeed there is more of ecstasy and rapture of mind
that accompanieth the light of prophecy ; but in the light of faith
there is some answerable affection, some impression left upon us.
They differ something too in the duration and continuance with us ;
the light of prophecy is but at times, when God will show such a
sight or vision ; but the light of faith is a constant, steady view. Well
then, what John saw once by the light of prophecy we see constantly,
and are persuaded of it as certainly as if the trumpet were now sound
ing ; as if the throne were set, and the books were already opened, and
the trembling sinners were all summoned before the Lord, expecting
their doom and sentence. Have you a sight of judgment to come?
It is a thing unseen, but as faith gives you an evidence of it, doth it
quicken your desires and your longings after this day? doth it awaken
your diligence ? doth it make you awful and serious in the whole
course of your conversation, both in your outward carriage and secret
practices, as if all were seen ? for you have seen the day of the Lord.
3. How can you comfort yourselves in the midst of all your straits
and sorrows with the unseen glory of another world ? Do not you
faint in your duty, but bear up with that courage and constancy which
becomes Christians : 2 Cor. iv. 16, ' We faint not,' why ? He gives
you the reason of it, ver. 18, 'While we look not at the things that
VER. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 365
are seen, but at the things that are not seen.' This is an evidence of
our looking to things not seen, when we faint not, but go on with
courage and constancy, as it becomes the heirs of the grace of life,
upon sight of the invisible world. So 1 John iii. 2, ' It doth not yet
appear what we shall be ; but this we know, that when he shall appear,
we shall be like him.' And so you are no more affected with the
disgraces and scorns of the world than a prince in disguise, who
travels abroad unknown, if he meets not with respect and reverence
answerable to his quality ; he knows he is his father's heir, and this
comforts him ; and the unseen glory in the world to come puts comfort
and strength into your hearts.
4. How doth it work as to the threatenings of the word ? Can you
mourn for a judgment in its causes, and foresee a storm when the
clouds are but a-gathering ? As Josiah had a tender heart, and
trembled when the curses of the law were read : 2 Chron. xxxiv. 19,
' When the king heard the words of the law, then he rent his clothes/
It is not said when he heard news of Pharaoh Necho's invasion :
no, all was quiet and composed, no trouble then had a foot in his
kingdom ; ' but when he heard the words of the law, he rent his
clothes,' then he is solicitous to get things redressed. This general
description that faith is the evidence of things not seen, the apostle
exemplifies in the instance of Noah : Heb. xi. 7, 'By faith Noah, being
warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an
ark,' when there was no visible preparation towards the deluge ; when
the world was eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage, building,
planting, and all things went on as they were wont to do. Are you
humbling your souls and fighting in secret when anything is done to
bring you or your nation in danger of a threatening ? God describes
a gracious heart thus ' He trembles at my word,' Isa. Ixvi. 2 ; he not
only trembles at my judgment, but at my word, before the smoke or
the flame of judgment breaketh out. Alas ! most men are not moved
with these things till the curse of God seize upon them. They know
not that they which do such things as they do are in danger of the
curse of God. There are threatenings against their practices every
where, yet who lays it to heart? Ps. xc. 11, 'Who knows the power
of thine anger ? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath/ The word
of God moveth us not till we smart in our flesh. This faith, which is
the evidence of things not seen, it is to be referred to the threatenings
as well as to the promises. And all our diligence and caution, our
watchfulness, our humiliation, that we may avert God's judgments,
ariseth from this faith.
5. How doth your heart work upon the promises in difficult cases ?
Thereby God tries you, and thereby you may try yourselves : John vi.
5, 6, ' When Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come
unto him, he said unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these
may eat ? and this he said to prove him/ God often useth the like kind
of dispensation to his people. There are many mouths, and no bread ;
great troubles, and no means of escape ; this he doth to prove you, but
God knows how to order this for your comfort. When we judge by
sense, and reason, and outward probabilities, in such kind of extremities
we are driven to our wits' end. Now faith, which lives above sense,
366 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SER. V.
will be a support and strength to your souls. In such cases reason and
faith, and sense and faith, come in competition. How, which way do the
workings of your spirits incline to reason, or faith? Faith can take
God's word in the midst of all difficulties ; and when sense seeth nothing
but hazards, wants, sorrows, then faith holds with the promise against
these appearances, arid rests on God whatever we feel to the contrary :
Hab. iii. 17, 18, ' Though the fig-tree shall not blossom/ &c., 'yet I will
rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.' Those hopes
which hang upon the life and presence of the creature, when the
creatures fail, they fail ; when bread and outward supplies are gone,
they are lost and undone ; but the children of God have built upon a
promise, and when creatures have spent their allowance, when they
can no longer live upon bread, they can live upon the promise and
word of God. Therefore God will prove him, and exercise him with
straits and troubles ; but then can he depend upon the Lord. A
believer can say yea with a promise, when all the world saith no to
him. The apostle saith : 2 Cor. i. 20, ' All the promises of God are
in him yea, and in him amen.' The promises say yea to our hopes,
and amen to our desires ; and in all difficult changes still the promises
keep their note, they are yea and amen. You desire such a thing
according to the will of God Amen, saith the promise, so it shall be.
May I hope for such a mercy or comfort ? Yea, saith the promise.
Now in straits you will find the comfort of such a truth. You ask of
creatures and present appearances, May I look for good ? and they
answer no, but the promise still saith yea : now a believer is contented
with the promises, yea, though all the world say no. Christians !
there needeth nothing to your comfort but this, first to establish a
regular hope, and then to trust the affirmation of the promise. Now
hereby may you discern your spirits. Can you with certainty depend
upon the promise, and with a quiet and calm expectation wait for the
blessing of the promises in the midst of all pressures whatsoever ?
Carnal men limit God, and give laws to providence: Ps. Ixxviii. 41,
' Yea they turned back, and tempted God, and limited the Holy One
of Israel.' They bind the counsels of God by their outward appear
ances: 1 Peter iv. 19, 'Wherefore let them that suffer according to
the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well
doing, as unto a faithful creator.' They give up their souls to God,
and all their affairs to his disposal. He is faithful, and will be mindful
of them, and he is a creator and hath power to help them, and this
quiets and calms their souls under all providences.
6. You may try your assent to the promises by the adventures you
make upon God's word. The promises are so many bills and bonds
which God hath taken upon himself. Now what will you venture
upon the warrart and encouragement the word gives? Certainly he
that will venture nothing thereupon doth not believe what God hath
said, ' Whoso shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man
confess before the angels of God ; but, he that denieth me before men,
I will deny him before my Father, and before his holy angels,' Luke
xii. 8, 9. Can you adventure upon Christ's word to confess him,
though you should deny your present interest? so Luke ix. 24,
'Whosoever shall save his life shall lose it ; but whosoever will lose his
VfiR. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. 367
life for my sake, the same shall find it.' Now urge the soul with this
promise, Can I be willing to fall a sacrifice upon the interest of religion
upon such a hope, or quit temporal conveniences for the enduring
suhstance ? Now lest your heart should deceive you, because every
one is not called to suffer, and resolution in cold blood may faint
when they come to trial, therefore look to such things as are of
present use and experience. Practise upon that promise : Luke xii.
33, ' Sell all that you have, and give alms : provide yourselves bags
that wax not old, a treasure in the heavens which ftiileth not.' Now
say, What have I ventured upon this promise ? can I look upon no
estate so sure as that which is trusted in Christ's hands ? Do I indeed
count this the best way to entail a blessing upon me and my children
and family afterwards, not to purchase house to house, and field to field,
but to found a covenant interest, and lay up a treasure for them in
Christ's hands, by a large, liberal, and free distribution to the poor?
But if this seems hard though it be a clear precept in the gospel, and
everywhere we are called upon to lend unto the Lord, what lusts can
you renounce upon the security of eternal life ? Practise upon that
promise : Eom. viii. 13, ' If we live after the flesh, we shall die ; but if
we through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, we shall live.'
Now am I willing to undergo the severities and tedious hardships of a
Christian life? to be much in mortifying and subduing my flesh? Can I
yield to this upon these hopes ? do I look upon it as better to take pains
than suffer pains, to be held with cords of duty than chains of darkness,
and run the hazard of being separated for ever from the presence of the
Lord ? Certainly, when you can neither renounce lusts nor quit interest,
nor make any spiritual adventures, you do but look upon the gospel as
a fable. What have we ventured upon those bonds God hath given us,
and those obligations he hath taken upon himself, that he will bless us
if we will yield to these and these conditions ? All promises imply
some duty ; it is improbable we should believe them if we will under
go no hazard for them.
7. You may know whether you have this faith, which evidenceth things
to come, and find out the weakness or strength of it by observing the
great disproportion that is in your affections to things of sense, and
things of faith. It is true, a Christian is not all spirit, and therefore
sensible things work more with the present state of men than things
spiritual. But yet certainly in a child of God, one that believes, that
hath the evidence of things not seen, there will be some suitableness.
We are diverted from looking after things to come as long
as we have carnal comforts to stop the mouth of conscience.
But did we soundly believe the truth and worth of the great mysteries
of salvation, surely we would learn more to despise temporal things in
comparison of eternal. Therefore examine a little the affections and dis
positions of your souls as to things present and things to come, temporal
things and eternal. Examine a carnal man by his esteem ; he is sensible
of the sweetness of outward comforts, but hath no taste and savour of
things that are to corne. The former insinuate themselves into his heart
with a great deal of satisfaction ; he is moved and affected with them
' Who will show us any good ? ' Ps. iv. 6. Carnal pleasures tickle him
with a great deal of delight, but he hath no taste of communion with
368 SEKMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. V.
God. Carnal riches, with him they are the only substance, whereas
spiritual and heavenly things are but as a notion. Whereas the scripture
is quite otherwise ; it speaks of outward things as but a fancy :
Prov. xxiii. 5, 'Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? ' and
of spiritual things, as those which only may be called substance :
Prov. viii. 21, 'That I may cause those that love me to inherit sub
stance, and I will fill their treasures/ Now which dost thou esteem,
thy treasure and thy substance, the world or heaven ? things present, or
the great things God hath promised? which are the things most take
with thy heart, and draw forth thy esteem ? So examine his care and
industry. We toil for matters of the world, and are never weary ;
rise up early, go to bed late, eat the bread of sorrow, and all for a little
pelf ; we make nothing of the hardest labours to accomplish our
worldly delights. But now, to pray, read, meditate, perform acts of
worship to God, how difficult are these ? and how soon do we cry
out, what a weariness is it ? A little time spent in duty is with a great
deal of murmuring ; doth not this bewray too much unbelief ? ' So is
he that layeth up treasures for himself, and is not rich towards God/
Luke xii. 21 ; that is, so earnest and diligent to grow great in the
world, but cares not to furnish himself with grace. When there is such
a disproportion in his care, is he persuaded of these things ? There is
a wide and sensible difference between things temporal and eternal, so
should there be in our pursuit after them. Now when it is not only a
nice debate that prevails most with men, but a plain clear case, it shows
we are not fully persuaded of them. So examine a man by his hopes, and
see whether he hath this evidence of things not seen. Compare your
hopes in God's promises with your hopes in a temporal case;
it is good to put things in a temporal case and instance : Mai.
i. 8, ' Offer it to thy governor, will he accept of it ? ' If a prince or
potentate of the world should make you a promise of a temporal inheri
tance, or pass over the reversion of an earthly estate for thee and thy
heirs, how wouldst thou rest contented, and be satisfied with such a
conveyance ? so hath God done in the covenant ; by a formal compact
he hath demised and made over to us the great blessings of the gospel ;
and yet how little are our hearts satisfied with it, how full of doubt-
ings ! what unstable thoughts have we about these things ! If I had
such great promises from an able and faithful man, would I not be
more cheerful, and bear up upon these hopes ? I have these promises
from God, that cannot lie. So examine his fears : when a man
threatens a little danger, we are careful to abstain from what may dis
please him, yet we can swallow lust without remorse. Adultery is
punished with death in some countries ; but God says : Mat. v. 28,
* That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart/ And God threatens again and
again, not only with temporal but eternal death, torments that shall be
without end and ease ; yet these things do not work upon us. God
aith, Rom. viii. 13, 'If you live after the flesh, you shall die;' that
the delicacies of the fleshly life, if indulged, will be mortal to us.
Alas ! who fears this death ? it is a thing to come and unseen ; God
doth not presently execute his sentence upon evildoers, therefore we are
VEIL 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. 360
not moved with it. It argues either unbelief or very great incogi-
tancy about things of such great concernment.
8. You may know whether you have this faith by your thoughts of
the ways of God, when they are despised or opposed. Faith, which is
the evidence of things not seen, can see a great deal of beauty in a de
spised way of God, and glory in a crucified Christ ; as the good thief
upon the cross could see Christ as a king, when he hung dying on the
cross in disgrace : Luke xxiii. 42, ' Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom.' Religion is often veiled under obscurity, slightings,
disgraces, and contradictions of the vforld. God trieth us, as it were
in a disguise. Now if we can spy out this inward beauty and inward
glory in his ways when they are divested of all outward glory, here is
an act of faith ' Christ came to his own, and his own received him
not/ A carnal heart sees no worth in anything but what is full of
pomp and outward splendour, it knows all things after the flesh ; but
a gracious heart sees a great deal of worth and beauty in the despised
ways of Christ. It is said of Moses, that by faith he ' esteemed the
reproaches of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt,' Heb.
xi. 26 ; that is, when it was a reproachful thing for him, who was so
great and high in favour, to own an afflicted people, who were
so burdened as they were in Egypt. Thus you have seen how
you may find out whether this faith be wrought in your
souls.
Use 4. To press you to get this faith, which is the evidence of
things not seen, that you may believe that which God hath revealed
in his word, and that solely upon God's authority and the account of
his word ; to quicken you to get this faith, which is of such great use
to you.
1. Consider that all the difficulty in assenting to doctrines of scripture
was not only in the first age. You are ready to think this faith was
of use when Christianity was first set up in the world, and when it was
new and despised, and the powers of the world were against it; but
now it is owned by all, there is no such difficulty ; yes, very much still.
I confess, when it was a novel doctrine, hated, oppressed, persecuted,
and the generality of its professors were the poor of this world, there
were mighty prejudices against the ways of God ; but there were then
helps ; there was the sensible evidence of miracles to confirm this faith,
and there was an extraordinary zeal and holiness in those that
promoted it, which was a special means to strike a reverence into the
consciences of men, which sensible evidence now we have not. Ay,
but the articles of religion are still the same, and men are the same,
and every age hath its own prejudices ; so that it is still hard to
believe. (1.) Because the same articles of religion that were pro
pounded to them are propounded to us also. A man that only
hearkens to his own reason, it is hard for him to believe that there is
one God, and yet three that are God ; that by faith a man is united to
Christ, yet he on earth, and Christ in heaven ; that God requires faith
and conviction of all, and binds men to use the means, and yet in his
secret good pleasure determines to give it to a few. These things are
expressly revealed in the word, which are hard to be understood by
carnal reason ; and we cannot see how they can be. There are many
VOL. xiir. 2 A
370 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [$ER. V.
doctrines which must not be chewed, but swallowed ; de re constat,
quamvis dc modo non constat. (2.) Men are the same that they were
before ; still natural men favour not the things that are of the Spirit,
therefore are not apt to believe them that they are true. Still we are
wedded to sense, and therefore not easily persuaded of things to come ;
still men love not holiness, but walk after their own lusts ; therefore
they will not believe God is so unmerciful as to damn all those that are
not holy, and that none shall be saved but those that are born again,
and walk in such a strict way of communion with God, and in the ways
of godliness. (3.) Every age hath its own prejudices. Christianity
was a novel doctrine. Ay, but then they had miracles; but now there
is less holiness, but no miracles ; now men are subject to atheism,
because of scandals : 2 Peter ii. 2, ' Many shall follow their pernicious
ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.'
And now there are many divisions, and variety of thoughts and
opinions about matters of religion, which makes men suspect all.
Therefore Christ prays : John xvii. 21, ' Father, let them be one, as we
are one, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.' So that
if it were a difficult thing to believe then, so it is now. Therefore it
concerns us to be soundly rooted in this faith.
2. Consider the benefit of a sound conviction. A clear evidence of
the mysteries of salvation is a great ground of all reformation of life.
What is the reason that men are so backward to practise, that they
experience so little of what they believe and have received of the
Christian faith ? because the evidence is not clear. I do not say their
interest, but the evidence and certain belief of these things. Usually
Christians think it is their only work to clear up their particular
interest ; that is a great work ' We must give all diligence to make
our calling and election sure/ 2 Peter i. 10. But that is not the
only work ; there is a former work, which is the foundation of all, and
that is, to settle the soul in a sound belief of the things to come, and
have the hopes of Christianity evidenced to us ; if our belief of this
were more steady, there would not be such a deformity in our practice.
Our affections are glued to earthly things, because we are not per
suaded of heavenly things ; there is a privy atheism, which, like a
worm at the root, eats out the strength and vigour of our graces, and
causeth them to languish. When the mind is satisfied, and brought
to a full assent, there will be a greater awe upon the practice : Heb. xi.
6, ' He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek him.' This is the first thing that
we should be persuaded of, that certainly there is a God : and this God
will be good to all that seek after him in Christ. If we had such a
persuasion of this, we could not be so cold and careless in duty, and so
bold in sin ; but we have a wavering trembling assent, and some imper
fect opinions about the things of God, and not a full persuasion:
1 Cor. xv. 58, ' Therefore be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abound
ing in the work of the Lord ; forasmuch as you know that your labour
is not in vain in the Lord.' If we did once know and were persuaded
of this, if we had an evidence of things to come, and things unseen, we
would be more steadfast and unmovable in the work of the Lord.
If our expectations were greater, our observation of God would be
VER. 1.] SEEMONS UPON HEBKEWS XL 371
greater, the business of eternal life would not be so neglected ; con
science would not be so sleepy, nor should we venture upon sin so often
as we do ; this would put life into every exhortation you hear and read.
Alas ! we press and exhort day after day ; it works not, why ? because
it is not ' mingled with faith in them that hear it,' Heb. iv. 2. What
earnest affections of soul would there be towards God and heavenly
things if we did truly believe these things.
3. The more faith depends upon the warrant of God's word, the
better ; and the fewer sensible helps it hath, the more it is prized ;
As Christ saith, John xx. 29, ' Blessed are they who have not seen, and
yet have believed/ It is the weakness of men, they will not believe
unless the object of faith some way or other come under their sense.
The word of God is enough.
4. Sensible things will not work, if we do not believe the word ; those
that think Moses and the prophets are but a cold dispensation in com
parison of this, if one should come from the dead, for then they would
repent and turn to God, let them read Luke xvi. 29-31. There were
miracles heretofore ; faith was confirmed to sense ; God condescended to
the weakness of the first age ; but yet it is said of the people of
Israel, Ps. Ixxviii. 22, 23, ' They believed not in God, and trusted not
in his salvation : though he had commanded the clouds from above,
and opened the door of heaven/ &c. There were ever unbelievers,
and carnal wretches, let God use what dispensation he will, and there
will be so still. There is more in the harmony and correspondency of
scripture to work men to a sense of believing than if one should come
from the dead.
5. We have need now to look after this faith, which is the evidence
of things not seen, because the great reigning and prevailing sin is
infidelity and unbelief ; which is seen by our cavilling at every strict
truth, by our carelessness in the things of God, by the looseness and
profaneness of those that would be accounted Christians. Certainly,
generally men take the great truths of religion for fabulous delusions,
and look upon Christ as an impostor, and the doctrine of the resur
rection from the dead, and eternal life, as so many idle dreams ; else
they could not cavil so at every strict truth and be so careless and
profane as they are ; for these things are irreconcilable.
6. We ought to look to this faith, because none are so resolved in
the great matters of faith but they may be more resolved ; no man
doth so believe but he may believe more : 1 John v. 13, ' These things
have I written to you that believe on the name of the Son of God.'
Our assent to divine truth is not a thing that is in puncio, that consists
in one indivisible point, so as it cannot be more or less ; but it is a
thing that is ever growing and never so perfect as it should be, till we
come to fruition. There is something ' lacking to your faith/ 1 Thes.
iii. 10; ' therefore labour after this faith which is the evidence of things
not seen.'
Obj. While we establish a faith which is the evidence of things
not seen, doth not this make way for every fancy and fond credulity ?
This was the objection that Celsus brought against Origen, that faith
introduced all kind of error into the world, and cast out science. I
answer I
372 SERMONS UPON HEBREWrS XI. [SER. V,
Ans. 1. There is a reason why we believe, though we cannot always
see a reason of what we do believe. Though there can be no reason
given of many things that are to be believed ; yet faith sees reason
enough why they should be believed, and that is the authority and
veracity of God speaking in the scriptures.
2. There is an aptitude or objective evidence in what is revealed in
scripture, to beget faith in those that diligently exercise themselves,
and had eyes to see it. The main truths which are delivered there
are delivered with such reasonableness that they assure us of the rest.
Use 5. Direction to get and increase this faith.
1. Beg the illumination of the Spirit of God to show you the truth
of the word, and the good things offered therein. This evidence is from
the Spirit; therefore Paul prays for the Ephesians: chap. i. 17, 18,
' That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may
give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
him : the eyes of your understandings being enlightened, that ye may
know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints.' You may have literal knowledge
from men, but that is weak and washy, like a gololen dream of rubies ;
saving knowledge is only from the Spirit. They differ as strong water
and running water, which have the same colour, but they differ in
their taste and virtues.
2. Employ your reason, serious consideration, and discourse. The
devil throws the golden ball in our way, of honour, pleasure, and
profit, to divert us from heavenly things ; and the intention of the
mind being diverted, the impressions of religion are weak and faint ;
as when the bird often leaves her nest the eggs are chilled. Inconstancy
is as great an enemy to faith as ignorance. The scattering and vanity
of the thoughts make our assent but weak and trembling : Deut. xxxii.
29, ' Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would
consider their latter end,' not only to know, but to consider it. Men
have not such a deep apprehension of the beauty of holiness, and the
excellency of Christ, because they do not exercise their thoughts more
upon these things. By consideration truths are kept near the heart,
and in the view of the understanding.
3. Labour to get a heart purged from carnal affections. Where
there is more purity there will be more clearness : Mat. v. 8, ' Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God/ Sin doth weaken our
faith. We shall always stagger and waver in an uncertain doubtful
ness concerning supernatural verities while we indulge our lusts. Sin
blinds our eyes : 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, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God, should shine unto them.' We had need
keep that eye clear that shall discern things unseen, and the comforts
and blessedness of another world. By sin you grieve the Spirit, which
should help you in believing : Eph. iv. 30, ' And grieve not the Holy
Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.'
And hereby you provoke God to give you up to natural prejudices :
2 Thes. ii. 11, 'For this cause God shall send them strong delusions
that they shall believe a lie/ Men sin away their faith, wound their
YER. 2.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 373
consciences, put out that light that should guide them. And therefore
get your hearts purged from sin ; for as faith makes way for holiness,
so doth holiness again for faith.
SERMON VI.
For by it the elders obtained a good report. HEB. xi. 2.
THE whole chapter is mainly spent in the praise of sanctifying faith
a necessary grace, and of a universal influence into all the parts of the
spiritual life.
Divers things are attributed to faith, and that several ways : either
as acts or as effects, or as fruits and consequences of faith.
1. As acts, which decipher the essence and formal nature of it, ver.
1, These are the elicite, or formal acts of faith, which substantiates
things hoped for, and convinceth of things that are not seen.
2. Then there are the effects of faith, or, as the schoolmen call them,
imperate acts, which flow from the primary acts, as hope, valour,
patience, Christian self-denial ; all which are the progeny of faith, as
in opening the following verse will appear.
3. Then there are the fruits and consequences of faith, which follow
faith though they do not flow from it ; as the recompenses and
rewards of religion, temporal or eternal, which a believer receives not
from the power and worth of his faith, but from the free grace of God.
Faith is a condition by the ordination and appointment of God, but
not a cause ; that distinction is necessary for the clearing many parts
of the chapter. Such a fruit of faith you have in the text, the appro
bation or testimony which the ancient fathers received from God in the
word, ' For by it the elders received a good report.'
To commend that faith which he had before described, the apostle
brings the experience of the elders, or of the Old Testament saints.
Here you have (1.) The persons^ The elders : (2.) The means
By it; (3.) The blessing They obtained a good report. Or else
(1.) The condition Faith ; (2.) The consequent ejj,aprvp^6r)aav.
they were witnessed to or spoken of with respect in the world ; and
(3.) The subject in which both these do meet and concur.
' The elders ; ' by faith ' the elders obtained a good report.'
' The elders,' Trpea-fivrepoi, the patriarchs, fathers ; the word is
rather proper to the life of man than to the age of the world. The
ancients are called ol TraXatol, homines prisci sceculi, but the words are
confounded. And they might well be called elders, not only for their
antiquity, and living in the first ages of the world, but because most
of them were fjLaKpoftioi, of wonderful long life.
' By it/ eV ravrp. It is not for faith, but by faith, for faith is as
improper as for works ; but having faith, not by the worth and influ
ence of it as a cause, but through faith as a condition appointed and
ordained by God.
374 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER.VI.
' They obtained a good report/ e^aprvp^drjcrav ; the word signifies
they received a testimony; they were attested to, or witnessed of.
Now this testimony which the faithful receive is double : inward,
or the testimony of conscience ; outward, or the testimony of God in
his word. (1.) Inward, or the testimony of conscience : 1 John. v. 10,
* He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.'
(2.) Outward, from God in the word ; they received a testimony. What
is that ? they were chronicled and set out in the scriptures as a pattern
for all future ages. This is most proper, and therefore it is elsewhere
rendered 'of good report:' Acts vi. 3, ' Look you out among you seven
men' fuiprvpovpevovs 'of honest report.' And it suiteth with the
context, for what is spoken here in the general is in particular applied
to Abel and Enoch. To Abel, ver. 4, ' He obtained witness that he
was righteous ; ' it is meant in the scriptures, where his usual title and
appellation is, 'righteous Abel,' as I shall show in that verse. So to
Enoch, ver. 5, 'He had this testimony, that he pleased God' a
testimony from God in his conscience, and it is now recorded in the
word.
After the apostle had laid down the description of faith, he applies it
to the patriarch fathers, or ancient servants of God under the dispensa
tion of the Old Testament. Hence observe
Obs. 1. That the fathers under the law had the same kind of faith that
we have. The} 7 had the same promises, not of Canaan, but of heaven :
Heb. xi. 13, ' And confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on
the earth;' they sojourned here as in a strange country, and counted the
world a strange place, and looked for heaven as their home, as we do.
And the promises were made to them upon the same terms of grace.
The same reason or inducement that moves God to covenant with us
moved God to covenant with the fathers of the Old Testament : Deut. vii.
8, ' Because the Lord loved you,' &c. The merit upon account of which
lie might receive them into favour was the same, the blood of Jesus
Christ : Heb. xiii. 8, ' Jesus Christ the same yesterday, to-day, and for
ever.' It is not meant of his eternal divinity, and the unchangeableness
of his godhead, but of the manifestation of his grace. The ages past
and the ages to come, they are all one in Christ. Though we lived not
in Christ's time, yet we have salvation by him, ' for he is the same for
ever;' and though they lived not in our time, yet they had salvation
by him, ' for he was the same yesterday,' &c. He is called the ' Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world,' Rev. xiii. 8, that is, in God's
decree ; and he was slain in the figures and types of his death. Though
Christ's blood was not as yet shed, yet it was decreed to be shed in the
purpose of God, and so it was as effectual to them as to us.
Use. Free grace is no novel doctrine, it is the old course which God
hath always taken for saving of souls. The curiosity of man is alto
gether for new ways ; but however the new may seem more plausible,
yet the old is more certain and true: Jer. vi. 16, 'Ask for the old
paths, where is the good way,' the ancient way of God's grace, 'and
walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.' Novelty maketh
things liable to suspicion. Verum quod primum, that is true which is
the first. Though error be very ancient, error may be mouldy, as
well as truth greyhaired ; yet that which is oldest is best, and truth is
VEIL 2.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 375
first. Now this is God's old way, to bring in sinners to Christ by free
grace. When we shall come to heaven, and sit down with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, we shall hear the elders of old reading lectures of
free grace, and singing praises to the Lamb, by whose blood they were
redeemed, and by whose merit they were brought to glory. There will
be Abraham, and Moses, and all the worthies of God ; God hath used
several dispensations, but the end of the journey is the same.
Secondly, ' By it the elders obtained a good report.' I observe
again
06s. 2. That the apostle ascribes their renown in the church to
their faith. By it they obtained. They were famous for other graces,
Abel for righteousness and innocence ; Enoch and Noah for walking
with God ; Moses for meekness, and wise conduct ; Abraham for obedi
ence ; others for their valour and resolution ; but mark, the crown is
set upon the head of faith ; ' by it the elders obtained a good report.'
Nay, throughout the whole chapter many effects here spoken of do
more directly and formally belong to other graces, as to self-denial,
and Christian fortitude, rather than to faith ; yet still the apostle saith,
by faith they did this, by faith they did that. Though the private
soldiers do worthily in the high places of the field, yet the general bears
away the honour, he gets the battle and wins the day ; so here, all
graces have their use in the holy life, all do worthily in their order and
place ; love worketh, hope waiteth, patience endureth, zeal sparldeth,
and obedience urgeth to duty ; but faith bears away the prize, this is
the chiefest pin and wheel in the whole frame of salvation. Partly
because it is the grace of reception on our part, by which we receive
all the influences of heaven. On Christ's part it is all ascribed to the
Spirit, on our part to faith ; Christ lives in us by his Spirit, and we
live in him by faith. There is no more intrinsic worth in faith than
in any other grace, but Christ hath appointed it to this office. And
partly because it directs and quickens all other graces ' Faith worketh
by love,' Gal. v. 6. It feeds hope, it teaches patience to wait, it makes
zeal to sparkle, it gives relief to self-denial, and encourageth obedience.
Faith is like a silken string, which runs through the chain of pearl ;
or like the spirits that run with the blood throughout all the veins.
Other graces without faith are but the moral elevations of nature ; this
gives a man acceptance with God ; this conserves his other graces, and
preserves him against assaults. It is called ' the shield of faith,' Eph.
vi. 11, as the shield covereth the whole armour. God hath assigned
this office to faith to quicken and preserve graces, and conquer difficul
ties : 1 John v. 4, ' This is the victory that overcometh the world,
even our faith.'
Use. It shows what should be our principal care to get faith and
to maintain faith.
1. To get faith, in some sense there is as great a necessity of faith as
of Christ. What good would a deep well do us without a bucket ?
John iv. 11, ' The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to
draw with, and the well is deep ; ' so for us to have a deep well and a
fountain of salvation, when we have nothing to fetch water out of these
wells of salvation, what will it stead us ? Faith is the life of our lives,
the soul of our souls ; the primum mobile, that moves all the wheels of
376 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [$>ER. VI.
obedience. He that hath a rnind to work would not be without his
tools. We can do nothing in religion without faith. Oh ! beg faith ;
it is necessary necessitate medii : you may as well want Christ as
faith ; God will not violate his own order. All other graces follow the
proportion of faith.
2. Maintain and keep it lively. Of all graces it is the most excel
lent, and of all graces it is most assaulted. The malice and spite of
Satan is at your faith. Saith Christ to Peter: Luke xxii. 31, 32,
' Satan hath desired to have thee, that he may sift thee as wheat ; but
I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not,' he would undermine
thy faith. Usually there are no defects in the life, but first there is
some decay of faith. You had need keep that grace lively by which
you live. The scripture speaks not only of a living faith, but of a lively
faith and a lively hope, 1 Peter i. 3. The means to keep it lively are
[1.] Meditation ; that is the great fuel of faith, it keeps in the fire
in the soul ; it is both wood and bellows. Now meditation must look
forward and backward ; backward with thankfulness, and forward with
hope. (1.) Backward with thankfulness upon the love of Christ, often
considering the greatness and willingness of his passion. There is not
a greater incentive to obedience than to consider the sufferings of
Christ. A soldier, when his request was denied, showed the emperor
his wounds. Oh ! feed your faith with such a sight, show it the wounds,
and the sufferings and bruises of Christ, then the soul will not be so
sluggish and averse from duty : 2 Cor. v. 14, ' The love of Christ con
strains us.' Meditation helps faith, and faith awakens love, and then
love presseth and urgeth the soul to obedience, and will not let us be
quiet. I have observed that we are more affected with what men
suffer for us than what men do for us, because there is more self-denial
in suffering, but only courtesy in doing. Oh, what hath Jesus Christ
suffered for us? He came from heaven, and when he was to go up to
Golgotha, there was no reluctation in his spirit ; he did not plead, It
will cost me dear, it is a hard work ! but, Lo, I come to do thy will,
Ps. xl. 7, 8 ; here are cheeks for the nippers, a back for the smiters,
here is a body for the cross ; and when faith urgeth this, the soul will
be ashamed to go less cheerfully to the throne of grace than Jesus
Christ went to the cross. (2.) Look forward upon Christ's purchase.
Heaven is a fair field for meditation, and faith hath a pleasant walk
when it can walk through the land of promise ; as God bade
Abraham : Gen. xiii. 17, ' Arise, walk through the land in the length
of it, and in the breadth of it, for I will give it thee.' Meditation
should awaken faith, and encourage it to walk through the land of
promise, All this will the Lord give thee. Moses' faith was the
more resolved because heaven was still in his eye : Heb. xi. 26, ' For
he had respect to the recompense of the reward.' Keep the eye steady
in the view of glory. The transfiguration of Jesus Christ fitted him
for his suffering. The messengers of the cross, they came to him in
shining garments, ' to talk of his decease that he should accomplish at
Jerusalem,' Luke ix. 31. It will not be mercenary for us to use the
same art. Let faith climb up into the high mount by meditation, and
in our thought foretaste the glory of the everlasting state, that we may
be fitted to do and suffer for God.
VER. 2.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xr. 377
[2.] Frequent act and exercise : James ii. 22, ' By works faith was
made perfect.' How could this be ? rather faith makes works perfect.
It is not meant in that sense, as if work did communicate any merit
and value to faith, but only that hereby it is more increased, more
drawn up to the height and perfection. All graces are perfected by
much use and exercise ; so is faith. Look, as the exercise of the mem
bers of the body increaseth their vigour and strength, and therefore the
right arm is biggest, because of much exercise ; so inwardly the soul is
bettered, and faith is much improved by frequent operation. Neglect
of grace is the ground of its decrease and decay. Wells are the sweeter
for the draining ; so graces are the better for this exercise.
3. A careful use of ordinances ; there faith is begotten, and there it
is increased. Look, as the strength of the body increaseth by degrees,
so doth the soul. We grow up to our complete stature and strength
in religion by the constant supplies and ministration of the word ; the
soul must be fed as well as the body. There is no stop in grace, still
we must be growing : ' They that are planted in the house of the Lord,
shall flourish in the courts of our God/ Ps. xcii. 13 ; Luke viii. 18,
'Take heed how you hear, for whosoever hath, to him shall be given.'
How comes this to be the reason of the precept ? Our Saviour hereby
implies, that the more we hear, the more we increase. None want ordi
nances so much as those that think they do not want them. Painted
fire wants no fuel, and counterfeit graces need not constant support
from ordinances ; but true grace languishes in the neglect of them, for
the use of ordinances is God's way and method.
Obs. 3. That the faith of the elders was an active faith, tiiat discovered
itself by good fruits and gracious actions ; otherwise it could not have
brought them into credit with the church. God only knows the heart.
It is actions that discover their faith, and the strength of their assent.
It is but a necessary postulation, James ii. 14, ' Show me thy faith by
thy works ; ' men have no other discovery. A bare profession or fruit
less observation of the ceremonies and rites of religion would never have
continued their memory in the scripture, nor made them famous. A
hidden faith is of no account ; it must be discovered in the life. The
apostles speaks of the Romans : chap. i. 8, ' Your faith is spoken of
throughout the whole world ; ' compare it with chap. xvi. 19, * Your
obedience is come abroad unto all men.' The faith that brings in a
good report must be showed by some visible public actions.
Use. Do not content yourselves with an idle naked faith. There is
more necessary to endear you to the churches of God, than a barren
profession ; there are many qualifications necessary in order to a good
report.
1. Mortification. Men naturally reverence strictness. It is said,
'Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and an holy man/
Mark vi. 20. This will beget a fear and an awe upon worldly men, the
strictness and severity of your lives. Mortified Christians are the world's
wonders : 1 Peter iv. 4, ' Wherein they think it strange that you run
not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you.' They
wonder how they are able to withstand desires so pleasing and so satis
factory. Wicked men will be always speaking evil of the children of
God ; yet they dread those whom they slander ; when they see them
378 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SfiR. VI.
mortified and heavenly, their hearts are convinced when their tongues
revile. There is a majesty and beauty in a mortified life ; some
strictures and beams of the divine power that darts reverence into
man.
2. Self-denial, nothing being a greater reproach unto religion than
self-seeking. The world will be apt to suspect religion, as if it were but
a device to gratify interests ; and where professors are altogether for
worldly greatness, the suspicion is fed. There is no such way to stop
the clamour, as by renouncing interests ; then the world will be con
vinced, that you think a good conscience worth something. We must
overlook concernments, as well as renounce lusts. Trace all the
instances, and you will find, that by this the elders live in the records
of the world. A coward and an epicure are the stains of mankind.
Faith is tried by its fortitude and valour, as well as by its heavenly
progeny. The memory of the martyrs lives now, because of their
spiritual fortitude and valour. When men can for a good conscience
sacrifice their interests, it discovers the glory of religion. This will
put to silence the clamours of the world, and right religion when it is
suspected.
3. Duties of charity. These are visible fruits, and very much endear
ing to men in the world. Jesus Christ would have religion honoured
this way, therefore this was the great rule our Lord taught, ' It is more
blessed to give than to receive/ Acts xx. 35. It is the great principle
of our religion to be giving ; nothing is more taking with the world
than bounty. See what the apostle saith : Rom. v. 7, ! For scarcely for
a righteous man will one die,' that is, for men of rigid innocence a man
would hardly be brought to suffer ; ' but for a good man/ that is, one
that is bountiful and communicative, ' a man would even dare to die.'
This doth exceedingly melt and win upon the hearts of the men of the
world.
4. A holy strict life and conversation : 2 Cor. viii. 21, ' Providing
for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the
sight of men.' Men must not have wherewith to blemish our walking.
The world would fain blemish religion and religious persons, therefore
they pitch upon the least failing. We read of Naaman, 2 Kings v.
1, ' He was a great man with his master, and honourable, but he was a
leper ; ' and that stains all his glory. This is usually the form of
men's commendations, they are thus and thus ; but they will pitch
upon the least failing. Usually the world's commendation is like
Joab's salute to Abner, compliment, and smite him under the fifth
rib ; they commend with many words, but they stab with a but. As
an archer draws back his hand, that the arrow may pierce the deeper ;
therefore we had need be strict. The world is quite contrary to God,
who, in the midst of many failings, takes notice of a little good : 1 Peter
iii. 6, 'Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, and called him lord.' The whole
history is full of unbelief, nothing savoury but that word, and the Spirit
of God takes notice of it. So James v. 11, ' You have heard of the
patience of Job ; ' though a great many murmurings are recorded,
yet the Holy Ghost pitcheth upon this, not the other. But the world
passeth over the good, and pitcheth upon what is evil ; as vultures
flee over many gardens, but pitch upon a dead carcase. You may
VER. 2.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 370
observe how differently the world deals with astrologers and physicians ;
if astrologers fail often, and hit but once, the world cries them up for
cunning men, but in a physician one gross miscarriage stains all his
worthy cures. See the proneness of nature to unworthy arts ; so they
deal with the children of God, observe their failings and sore places,
but overlook their worthy acts.
5. The duties of civil righteousness, these things are precious in
men's eyes, and by these the world is preserved and kept up. The
apostle speaks to subjects, that they should obey their governors,
' That they might put to silence the ignorance of foolish men,' 1 Peter
11. 15 ; these mastiffs will be opening their throats. Now we cannot
muzzle them better but by duties of righteousness to men, which very
much recommend our religion to God. These things draw men to
the truth, and approve of the faith of the gospel. This is that which
men praise most, and therefore hereby we shall remove all occasions of
offence.
Obs. 4. One of the rewards of an active faith is a good report. Here
I shall show
1. The reasons of God's ordination.
2. In what manner the Lord bestows this blessing upon believers.
3. Whether in the exercise of faith we may have an eye to this
recompense, and respect the blessing of a good report.
First, For the reasons of God's ordination and appointment. I
shall touch upon those that are of a chief regard and consideration.
1. That every, necessary blessing may be adopted and taken into the
covenant, and provision made against all inconveniences that may befal
us in the way of religion. As the psalmist saith of Zion, Ps. xlviii.
12, 13, ' Walk about Zion, and go round about her ; tell the towers
thereof : mark ye well her bulwarks ; consider her palaces ; ' that is,
see if any thing be wanting that is necessary for use or ornament ; so
walk through the land of promise, and survey the riches of the
covenant, see if any necessary defence or privilege be wanting to
believers. The world is apt to clamour, and wicked men are ready to
cast reproach upon the servants of the Lord, therefore among other
blessings God hath provided for their repute and honour. Look, as
against outward wants, God hath raised up a bulwark of promises to
assure us of outward sustentation, and a supply of necessary provisions ;
so against reproaches there are frequent, promises of providing for our
renown and esteem in the world : ' That he will bring forth thy
righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday,' Ps.
xxxvii. 6. A believer is secured against all the assaults of the world.
There is balm in the covenant against the wounds that are made by
the fist of wickedness, or the breach that is made by the tongue of
reproach. This is the usual trial of God's people, when they are ex
empted from other sufferings : Ps. Ixiv. 3, 4, ' The wicked whet their
tongue like a sword, and bend their bow, to shoot their arrows, even
bitter words ; that they may shoot in secret at the perfect : suddenly
do they shoot at him and fear not.' Perfection meets with envy ; men
malign what they will not imitate. Eeligious eminency usually is
blasted with slander ; men scorn to see any above them. They that
are at the bottom of the hill curse those that are atop. The world
would have all equal ; therefore when they cannot reach the eminency
380 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. VI.
of religious persons, they blasl it till their repute be stained, and they
are rendered criminal ; they cannot make them like themselves, which
is the revenge that wicked men take. Godly men's lives are a reproach
to their conscience ; so ' Noah by preparing an ark condemned the
world/ Heb. xi. 7 ; and therefore by censure, and reproaches they
stain their credit, that their own sin may be less odious, and avenge the
wounds of their consciences by their reproaches of godly men. Now
God has provided not only against their open assaults of violence, but
against their privy detractions ; as he hath secured our persons against
their injuries, so our names against their reproaches. Every blessing
is adopted and taken into the covenant.
2. Because of the great inconveniences of reproach and infamy, either
to God and religion itself, or to good men. (1.) The great inconveni-
t-ncies which redound to God and religion itself. The credit of religion
depends much upon the credit of the persons that profess it. When
godly men are evil spoken of, the way of truth suffers : Ezek. xxxvi.
20, ' They have profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These
are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land/ that is,
by their scandals. The offences charged upon the worshippers of God
redound to God himself, and prove in effect the disgrace of Jesus
Christ. They are called Christians to the disgrace of Christ. When
David fell, ' he gave the enemies of the Lord occasion to blaspheme/
2 Sam. xii. 14. Men are apt to fly from the person to the profession.
Hatred, saith the philosopher, is TT/OO? ra yevr), to the whole kind ;
therefore wicked men that hate religion do not seek to blast the repute
of particular persons, but even of religion itself : as Hainan thought
scorn to lay hold upon Mordecai alone, therefore he sought to destroy
all the nation of the Jews, Esther iii. 6. Now God will provide for
his own honour in the honour of his servants. It was a credit for
David to have so many famous worthies under him, therefore they are
called David's worthies ; believers are Christ's worthies, he will be
honoured in their renown. It is an honour to Christ, when believers
are unspotted. It was the brag of the King of Assyria : Isa. x. S, ' Are
not my princes altogether kings ? ' When Christ adopts a people to
himself, it is, ' that they may be to him for a name/ Isa. Iv. 13. W'hat
is the reason Christ forms such excellent vessels of mercy out of thorns
and briars, out of crabbed and sour trees, but that they may be to him
for a name? And at the day of judgment, the Lord will be ' glorified
in his saints, and admired in all them that believe/ 2 Thes. i. 10, not
only in his own personal glory, and the brightness of his presence, but
in the social glory that results from the dignities and privileges of his
people : then Christ will be admired in his saints, now he will be hon
oured in his saints. Believers had need to be careful of their lives, for
the credit of Christ lies at stake. (2.) The inconvenience that redounds
to good men. Observe all the passages of providence, and you will see,
that infamy is but the forerunner of greater trouble ; showers of slan
der are but the presages and beginnings of grievous storms ; first it
rains down in slander, then comes a storm of persecution. The devil
is first a liar, and then a murderer ; wicked men take the more liberty
to vex the children of God, when they are represented as criminal. It
was a fashion in the primitive times to invest Christians with bear-
VER. 2.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xr. 381
skins, and then to bait them as bears ; and it is an usual practice of
Satan to put the skin and livery of shame upon Christians, and then
bait them. He first blasts the repute of religious persons, then perse
cutes them as offenders. This is the meaning of that expression, Ps.
v. 9, ' Their throat is an open sepulchre ; ' that is, the slanders of the
wicked are but preparatives to death, an alarm to persecution ; as when
the sepulchre is opened, it is prepared and ready to swallow the dead
carcase. The same expression is used elsewhere of the force of the
Babylonians: Jer. v. 16, 'Their quiver is an open sepulchre ;' that is,
you can expect nothing but death from the force and puissance of their
assaults ; so here, the throat of the wicked is not only a burying-place
for your names, but your persons ; first, men slander, and then molest
the children of God. Certainly we had need look about us ; you do
not know the issue and result of the present reproaches, which we cast
one upon another. Eusebius, lib. viii. chap. 1, showeth that the perse
cutions of the heathens took their rise from the mutual provocations,
and reproaches of the Christians. The devil is afraid to meddle with
unstained innocency. When Valens the Arian emperor raged like a
fierce beast against the orthodox, and the pastors of the churches were
suppressed, he durst not meddle with Paulinus, out of a reverence to
the unspqttedness of his life and fame. And Ignatius in his epistle to
the TraltJans, speaketh of Polybius their bishop, that he was of such
a clear reputation, that the atheists stood in fear of him. Wicked men
cannot with any advantage to their designs meddle with such. A good
report is a great security and protection against violence.
3. That God may retaliate with faith. Believers honour him, there
fore he will honour them : 1 Sam. ii. 30, ' Those that honour me I
will honour.' Never did any lose by a care to honour God. Now
believers do not only honour God, by ascribing to him the glory of his
excellency by internal acts of faith, but by their outward conversation :
Mat. v. 16, ' Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your
good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven ;' 1 Peter ii. 12,
' Having your conversation honest among the gentiles ; that, whereas
they speak against you as evil-doers, they may, by your good works,
which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.' God's returns
of blessings do often carry a proportion and suitableness to our acts of
duty. None ever lose by honouring God ; besides the recompenses of
the world to come, he casts honour upon them in this life. The life
of a believer is a real honouring of God ; for nothing honoureth
God so much as the active faith. Formal professors serve Christ just
as the devil did ; the devil carried him up into an high mountain, but
it was to tempt him to throw himself down again ; so they seem to set
him upon the highest point of eminency in their professions and ex
pressions, but they throw him down again, and deny him in their lives
and conversations. Formal Christians are like an ungracious son, he
will be apt to quarrel for the honour and repute of his father, yet his
courses are far more grievous to his father than other men's reproaches ;
so those that seem to plead for the repute of their religion are a more
real dishonour to Christ than the blasphemer, or Turk, or pagans. The
Lord is not pleased with empty prattle : Ps. 1. 23, ' Whoso offereth
praise glorifieth me ; and to him that ordereth his conversation aright
382 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SfiR. VI
will I show the salvation of God.' No such glory as that which
results to God from the Christian conversation.
4. That this may be a bait to draw in others to a liking of his ways.
The virgins are allured by the smell of his fragrant ointment, Cant. i. 3.
When Christ's name, and the name of religion is fragrant, and yields
sweet perfume in the nostrils of the world, this draws them in. It is
a usual prejudice against the strictness of religion, men think it will
be a debasing to them, and take off from their honours and esteem.
Coguntur esse mali, ne viles hdbeantur. It is much against the hair
and bent of nature to own the despised ways of God, that which brings
nothing but infamy and reproach ; therefore men stand off and are
prejudiced. I confess this is their great sin. They should take up
David's resolution : 2 Sam. vi. 22, ' I will be yet more vile/ But now
God condescends to their infirmities, and casteth honour upon his ser
vants to invite the world, because the temptation of honour is very
taking with ingenuous spirits. Of all possessions, fame comes nearest
to grace ; some providences seem to be like Hainan's proclamation
before Mordecai, ' Thus shall it be done to the man whom God de-
lighteth to honour : ' or to speak in the language of the psalmist, Ps.
cxlix. 9, ' This honour have all his saints.'
Secondly, In what manner doth the Lord dispense this privilege ?
And it is grounded upon an objection, that may be framed thus ; the
servants of God are often clouded with black reproaches, ' They took
away the spouse's veil,' Cant. v. 7 ; that is, her honour and name.
David complains, Ps. xxii. 6, ' He was a reproach of men, and despised
of the people ;' so the apostle, 1 Cor. iv. 13, ' We are made as the filth
of the world, and are the offscouring of all things to this day.' God's
jewels are often counted the world's filth. Therefore how doth God
give in this recompense to the active faith? I answer, in several
propositions.
1. The blessing is not absolutely complete in this life. As long as
there is sin we are liable to shame. A good name is an outward pledge
of eternal glory. When sin is abolished then may we expect perfect
glory. In a mixed estate we must look for mixed dispensations. Here
we pass through honour and dishonour, evil report and good report,
2 Cor. vi. 8. Thus it will be ; there are changes and imperfections in
our outward condition, as well as in the inward frame of our souls.
Here God doth but begin to glorify, and begin to honour us, therefore
it is not absolutely complete.
2. The wicked are not competent judges when they judge of the
faithful : Luke vi. 26, ' Wo unto you when all men shall speak well
of you.' General applause can seldom be had without compliance, and
without some sin ; therefore it is spoken as a cursed thing to gratify
all, and seek to draw respect from all. There is one rare instance in
the third Epistle of John, ver. 12, ' Demetrius hath a good report of all
men, and of the truth itself;' that is, he is generally well-famed,
but usually the world is froward, and will blast those that differ from
them ; John xv. 19, 'If you were of the world, the world would love
its own ; but because you are not of the world, but I have called you
out of the world, therefore the world hates you.' It is suspicious to be
dandled upon the world's knees. These elders obtained a good report ;
VER. 2.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 383
but when ? in the scriptures, in the churches. It is a favour to be the
object of wicked men's reproaches. That of an heathen was notable,
Quid mali fed ? what evil have I done ? when he was entertained
with general applauses. The respects of an enemy makes a man
suspected.
3. We have the approbation of their consciences, though not the
commendation of their lips ; and their hearts approve when their
mouths slander ; and we have their reverence, though not their praise.
Wicked men dread the heavenliness and strictness of the children of
God, though they do not actually honour them ; their malice and
hatred is more against the party, than against their personal failings,
which is sometimes acknowledged ; Caius Sejus vir bonus, nisi quod
christianus. They had nothing against Daniel but only in the matter
of his God, Dan. vi. 5. And Trajan's testimony in Tertullian is full,
' That he could find no fault in them worthy of death or of bonds, only
they were wont to hear sermons, to sing psalms to God and Christ.
Otherwise for their conversation, they were very honest, conformable
to the laws of their princes, and forbade murder, theft, adultery, and
other sins, which were destructive to human societies.' Tertul. Apolog.
adversus gentes. Oh ! if we did not let fall the majesty of our con
versations, we should approve ourselves to the consciences of wicked
men, and our only crime would be our profession.
4. There are some special seasons when God will vindicate his peo
ple from contempt. There is a resurrection of names as well as of
persons. When they seem to be buried in the throat of the wicked,
which is an open sepulchre in obloquy and reproach. God raiseth them
up in honour. The Lord saith, ' that he will establish Zion, and
make Jerusalem a praise upon the earth,' Isa. Ixii. 7; so Zeph. iii. 18-20,
' I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly,
who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden. Behold, at
that time I will undo all that afflict thee, and I will save her that
halteth, and gather her that was driven out ; and I will get them praise
and fame in every land, where they have been put to shame. At that
time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you : for
I will, make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth,
when I turn your captivity before your eye, saith the Lord.' The pre
judices of the world vanish, and the renown of the people of God is
cleared up. Strong prejudices have a strong antidote. 'Christ was
declared to be the son of God with power by the resurrection from the
dead/ Rom. i. 4. There are strong providences which roll away the
reproaches of God's children, Zech. iii. 4, ' Take away the filthy gar
ments from him.'
5. Those that do observe the usual course of God's providence shall
find strange traverses in reference to the good report of the saints.
God is ever ready to confute the reproaches of the wicked, and to clear
up the innocency of his particular servants. It is good to observe
providence herein, how God brandeth the wicked, and discovers the
hypocrite, and vindicates and rolls away contempt from the godly. He
brands the wicked ; that of Solomon is a positive rule : Prov. x. 7, ' The
name of the wicked shall rot.' God leaves them to rottenness and
stench, and pours infamy upon them, that their names have an ill
384 SEUMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. VI.
savour to them that are of their own party. So observe how provid
ence doth discover an hypocrite, God giveth them up to folly and sin,
whereby they contract a blot and blemish to themselves: Prov. xxvi.
26, ' His wickedness shall be showed before the whole congregation/
God will put off his vizard, and expose him to shame and contempt.
There is seldom a hypocrite upon the stage of the world, but his dis
guise falls off one time or the other. Yea, sometimes the very secret
sins of God's children are made manifest : 2 Sam. xii. 12, ' Thou didst
it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.'
God would shame David for his secret sin and wickedness. Observe
again how providence at other times doth vindicate the godly, and cast
shame upon those that do accuse them : 1 Peter iii. 16, ' Having a
good conversation, that whereas they speak evil of you as of evil-doers,
they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in
Christ.' All the reproaches of the wicked are but like the dashing of
the waves against the rock ; the foam returns upon themselves ; but
God's people have the glory ; or as they that spit against the wind, the
drivel is cast upon their own faces. Patience and a good conversation
will soon dispel all those mists and clouds. Hair will grow again
though shaven, as long as the roots remain ; so though the razor of
censure bring on baldness and reproach upon the head of religion and
ways of God, yet while the root doth remain, while there is a good
conversation, it will spring up again. Trust God with your repute,
and good names as well as your estate ; the hearts and tongues of men
are in his hands, and he can overrule them ; nay, you have given some
occasion because of your folly, yet be more circumspect, and so trust
God.
Thirdly, Whether in the exercise of faith we may eye a good report ?
is not this vain-glory ? I answer in four things.
1. Our chief care must be to do the duty, and trust God with the
blessing ; this is the temper of a Christian. Men usually do quite other
wise ; they would enjoy the blessing, and neglect the duty : ' yet honour
me before the people,' said that sly hypocrite, I Sam. xv. 30. We are
careless of service, and yet hunt for praise. Laus liumana non appeti
debet, sedsequi ; outward praise must not be the aim of the action, but
the event. And again, Aquinas ; Gloria bene contemnitur, nihil male
agenda propter ipsam, et bene acquiritur, nihil malo agenda contra
ipsam. We must do well, that we may not miss of -a good report;
and we must not do ill, that we may obtain it. We must do things
that are praiseworthy, though not to that end. Do what may be seen,
though not to that end that it may be seen : Mat. v. 1 6, ' Let your light
so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify
your Father which is in heaven/ It doth not show what is the aim
and chief end of a Christian, but what will follow upon such an innocent,
pure, and holy conversation : Luke xiv. 10, ' Sit at the lowest room,
that when he that bade thee corneth, he may say unto thee/ &c. (that is
taken for then) ; that is, when you are so modestly humble, then the
master of the house will bid you sit higher. When the heart runs out
upon praise more than duty, it is naught. Therefore take heed of such
secret whispers of vanity, and suppositions of applause, hearkening after
the echo, the running out of the spirit or soul by unworthy low aims.
VER. 2.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 385
and carnal reflections. We are commanded to do things that are ' of
good report,' Phil. iv. 8. though not with that aim.
2. If we expect it as a blessing of the covenant, we must rather look for
it from God than from men, expect it as the gift of his grace for our
encouragement in the ways of religion. Usually we do quite otherwise,
and therefore are more careful of credit than of conscience, and are not
careful of pleasing God so much as compliance with men. A man that
expects a good name differs as much from him that hunts after vain
glory, as he that looks after an estate differs from him that would only
please himself in the repute of it, or being accounted rich. You must
prefer the testimony of a good conscience before the applause of men :
2 Cor. i. 12, ' This is our rejoicing, the testimony of our conscience ; '
found all your hopes in the inward witness of the Holy Ghost, and
take more care to be good, than to seem to be good. The people of
God may be described thus ; they perform inward duties cheerfully,
that they may approve their hearts to God ; and outward duties watch
fully, that they may not taint their actions with any unworthy aim.
Others are altogether for pleasing of men, and careless of grieving the
Spirit of God.
3. All the respect that we have to men, is by a greater care of duty,
to prevent undue surmises and suspicion : 2. Cor. viii. 21, 'Providing for
honest things, not only in the sight of God, but in the sight of men.'
To clear up their hearts to God, and clear up their religion to men :
1 Peter iii. 16, ' Having a good conscience, that whereas they speak
evil of you, as of evil-doers ; they may be ashamed, who falsely
accuse your good conversation in Christ.' Thus are you to cut off occa
sion from them that desire occasion to reproach you. This is but a
necessary aim to undeceive the world.
4. The glory of God and the credit of religion must be at the
utmost end of all : Mat. v. 16, ' Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works ' he doth not stop there, ' and
glorify your Father which is in heaven ; ' and 1 Pet. ii. 12, ' That
whereas they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good
works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation/
Still the utmost end must be the glory of God and credit of religion.
Usually men desire a name and repute in the world, on design to pro
mote carnal and secular advantages, but our main end should be God's
glory, and adorning the gospel. All a Christian's actions and aims
terminate in reasons and ends of religion, and they eye self only in
subordination to those great ends.
Use 1. Prize this blessing ; it is a sweet encouragement to you in the
work of God. I observe that usually men first make shipwreck of a
good name, then of a good conscience. He that is tender of his con
science will not be over lavish of his credit. The old testament, which
speaketh sparingly of heaven, speaketh often of the advantage of a good
name: Eccles. vii. 1, 'A good name is better than precious ointment."
Keligion preserves the name from rottenness and putrefaction ; this
will embalm, perpetuate, and preserve your memories in the churches.
Eeligion with a good name is like a comely body in a handsome gar
ment ; a jewel set in iron hath not the lustre as when set in gold.
Grace hath its lustre, though clouded with reproaches, but a good
VOL. XIIL 2 B
386 SIMMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SEU. VI.
name will make you more cheerful ; ' For a good report maketh the
bones fat,' Prov. xv. 30. And it will make you more useful ; a blem
ished instrument is of little use. The priests under the law were to
have no outward blemish or deformity. It is a qualification of a bishop,
1 Tim. iii. 7, ' That he must have a good report of them that are with
out;' not only be known in the churches, but' of unstained life in the
world. Who would drink of a suspected fountain ? or take meat out
of a leprous hand ? Men are prejudiced with the offering of the Lord
when the priests are scandalous : 1 Sam. ii. 17, compared with ver. 25.
Use 2. Be careful how you prejudice the good name of a believer ;
you cross God's ordination. How ought you to tremble, when you go
about to take off the crown which God hath put on their heads !
Num. xii. 8, ' Wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against
my servant Moses ? ' What ! against Moses ! Did not your knees
smite one against another for very fear ? ' Thus shall it be done with
the man whom the king delighteth to honour,' Esther vi. 9. A man
should be afraid to dishonour those whom God will honour. You are
the worst thieves, you rob them of the most precious jewel ; no treasure
like a good name : Prov. xxii. 1, ' A good name is rather to be chosen
than great riches.' This is the very devil's sin ; it is his proper work
to be the accuser of the brethren, Rev. xii. 10 ; to frame mischievons
insinuations against the children of God. The devil doth not commit
adultery, break the sabbath, dishonour parents, but he doth accuse the
brethren. You are but acting the devil's part, while you are scanda
lising those that are eminent for grace : Ps. Ixiv. 3, ' They whet their
tongue like a sword, and bend their bows, to shoot their arrows,
even bitter words.' It is meant of those that speak against religious
eminency ; and see their judgment, ver. 7, 8, ' But God shall shoot at
them with an arrow, suddenly shall they be wounded ; so they shall
make their own tongue to fall upon themselves.' Better a mountain fall
upon you, than when he shall come to visit this sin, the mischief of
your evil tongue should fall upon you. Most odious it is in those that
pretend to be Christians, to do it to one another ; as for one soldier to
defame another, or for a scholar to despise learning. We should rejoice
in the repute of others, that they have a worthy name, and not blemish
it ; as the apostle, Rom. i. 8, { I thank my God through Jesus Christ
for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world,'
that you are eminent believers ; so Col. i 3, 4, ' We give thanks to God,
since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye
have unto all the saints/ That Christ hath worthies abroad, this
should be our joy. We should preserve the repute of others, because
it is a good means to keep our own. Rash censures meet with a
retaliation : Mat. vii. 1, 'Judge not, that ye be not judged.' But you
will say, If the man do but profess religion, must we not speak evil of
him ? no, unless it be done with grief ; that one which belongs to Christ
should dishonour himself and his profession. There may be malice
where there is truth, if we are glad of their failing ; ' Of whom I have
told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of
the cross of Christ,' Phil. iii. 18; he speaks of licentious persons under a
form of godliness, which drive on a secular design. Take heed what
thou sayest of those who in outward profession are more zealous than
VER. 2.] SERMONS UPOX HEBREWS XL 387
them. John Baptist's head in a charger is an ordinary dish at our
meals. When men's hearts are warm with wine and good cheer, then
the children of God are brought in like Samson, to make sport for the
Philistines. When they are full, then they call for a holy person, upon
whom they may vent their malice, as the Babylonians called for an holy
song : Ps. cxxxvii. 3, ' Sing us one of the songs of Zion.'
Use 3. To press you to this active faith. There is great reason for it
upon these grounds.
1. Because there are so many censures abroad. In times of division
men take a liberty to blast opposite parties. Now shine forth in the
lustre of an holy conversation, that envy may find nothing in you :
Neh. v. 9, ' Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, because of
the reproach of the heathen our enemies ? ' Should not we be of more
strict and holy conversations, that we may silence censures arid re-
proachers? Well-doing is the best confutation of slanders : 1 Peter ii.
12, ' Having your conversation honest among the gentiles ; that whereas
they speak against you as evil-doers, they may, by your good works,
which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.' The
apology is soon diffused, though not by your own mouth ; wicked men
become our compurgators. Words are apt to beget strife, and are more
liable to suspicion : by a good life you approve yourselves to their con
sciences. Kevengeful replies lose their majesty. When John's disciples
came to Christ to know whether he were the Messiah or no, saith our
Saviour, Mat. xi. 4, ' Go tell John the things you see and hear.' Christ
doth not plead for himself, but shows his works. So this will be the
best confutation, those real apologies are best ; let the world see what
is in us by the strictness and holiness of our lives and conversations.
2. Because there are so few good works abroad. Man is no further
esteemed than he is useful. Many of the heathens were canonised for
their usefulness. There is no such way to keep your memory savoury
in the church as by public usefulness. For hereby a Christian doth
not only provide for present esteem, but for future. These elders in
the text live in the world to this day. Every age should yield some
honourable instances of the efficacy of faith : how few hath Christ in
this age. whose memory will be fresh and savoury in the church of God ?
God hath still his worthies. Transmit a good example to posterity ;
you may live and do good hereby after you are dead, 'Who being
dead, yet speaketh,' Heb xi. 4; as Elias lived again in John Baptist,
' who came in the spirit and power of Elias,' Luke i. 17. Look, as a
wicked man lives after he is dead in his evil example, and his sin is
perpetuated, as Jeroboam did in the lives of the wicked kings, who
walked in his way ; so do you live in some pious monument of your
faithfulness to God. I have observed why most good works have been
done by superstitious men, who had been men of infamous life, that
they may retrieve the wickedness of their life by some acts of charity.
But good men do few public works, partly because usually God's people
are humbled with wants and poverty, and so have not such advantage
in regard of worldly concernments. Or else they do it in a more secret
way, and retail their charity out in secret by several parcels ; as good
housekeepers are not prodigal in feasting. Or else, that they may abhor
the way of doing good only at their death, when they can keep their
388 SEKMONS LTON HEBUEWS XI. [&ER. VII.
wealth no longer. Worldly men are like the mice, which, they say,
feed iuthe golden mines; they eat the ore, but do not deliver it up again
till they die, and are cut asunder. It is said of wicked men, ' their
bellies are filled with hid treasure,' and when they die they leave their
substance to their children, Ps. xvii. 14 ; but the children of God do
good in their lives.
SERMON VII.
Through faith we understand that the ivorlds were framed ty the
word of God, so that things wliich are seen were not made of
things which do appear. HEB. xi. 3.
IN these words the apostle beginneth the history of faith, and therefore
goeth so high as God's ancient work of creation. His drift is to prove
that faith satisfieth itself in the word of God, though nothing be seen ;
and he proveth it in the first instance and exercise of faith that ever
was in the world the creation.
In the words you may observe (1.) The doctrine of the creation laid
down ; (2.) The means whereby we come to the understanding of it.
1. The doctrine of the creation is delivered in all the necessary cir
cumstances of it.
[1.] The matter framed roy? aiwi/a?, the ages, that is, the world
which hath endured so many ages ; the essence and duration of a thing
being so near akin, they are often taken for one another: Eph. ii. 2,
' Wherein in time past ye walked, /car' alwva, according to the course
of this world : ' which is necessary to note against the Socinians, who
to evade that testimony for the Godhead of Christ: ' Heb. i. 2, ' By whom
also he made the worlds,' understand it of the ages, and the collection
of the church in all times.
[9,.] The manner Kar^pricrOai, he curiously jointed and made it,
and digested it into an exquisite rank and frame.
[3.] The instrument pr/pan 0eov By the word of God. It
may be taken either for his substantial word, or his word of power, by
which all things were produced out of nothing ; ' He spake, and it was
done/ Ps. xxxiii. 9.
[4.] The term from whence God's action took its rise etc pi]
<f>aivo/j,eva)v Of things tvhich do not appear, etc doth not properly note
the matter ; and when we say, God made the world out of nothing, our
meaning is not, that nothing is the matter whereof the world is made,
as if God should bestow a new fashion and shape upon nothing ; but
only that it is the terminus a quo, not materia ex qua, as much
as to say, God made the world when nothing was before ; God had not
any matter to work upon. There are some difficulties attending the
Greek phrase, but I shall consider them hereafter.
2. The means whereby we come to understand this great mystery
vov/j.ev By faith we understand. Reason will give us a
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 389
glimpse, but by faith alone we can unfold the riddle and mystery of
the world's creation.
I begin with the means of knowledge as being first in the words,
' By faith we understand.' Whence observe
1. That it is of great profit and comfort to believers to consider
the creation.
2. That we can only understand the truth and wonders of the crea
tion by faith.
The first point is a preparative to the whole discourse ; it is this
Doct. 1. It is a necessary exercise for the children of God to turn
their minds to the creation.
Reasons :
1. It disco vereth much of God. God hath engraven his name upon
his works ; as those that make watches or any curious pieces write their
names upon them ; or, as he that carved a buckler for Minerva had
so curiously inlaid his own name, that it could not be razed out with
out defacing the whole work ; so hath God. The creatures are but a
draft and portraiture of the divine glory. In the creatures we may
discern (1.) His essence ; (2.) His attributes.
[1.] His essence. Creation is the true note of the true God ; the
first cause is the supreme being ; therefore creation always is avouched
on the behalf of the divine majesty of God: Jer. x. 11, 12, 'Thus
shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and
the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these
heavens. He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established
the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched forth the heavens by his
discretion.' Jonah i. 9, 'I am an Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God
of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.' Isa. xlv. 6, 7,
4 1 am the Lord, and there is none else ; I form the light, and create
darkness,' &c. and ver. 8, ' I the Lord have created it.' So the
apostles : Acts xiv. 15, ' That ye should turn from these vanities unto
the living God, which made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all
things that are therein.' Acts xvii. 24, ' God that made the world,
and all things therein.' Horn. i. 20, ' For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by
the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead.' This
was the heathens' bible, and out of this will they be arraigned at the
day of Christ: the creatures will witness against them they discovered
an eternal essence, but the world discovered it not. God at first spake
to the world not by words but things, and taught them by hieroglyphics.
The scriptures are but a comment upon this book of the creatures.
[2.] His attributes. They are all engraven upon the creatures, but
he that runneth may read these three attributes, goodness, power, and
wisdom, which call for love, reverence, and trust. 'E-noiyaev o>? dyaOos
TO xpfoifiov, o>? <ro<o<? TOKa\\t(TTov, &><? 8vva,TO<; TO fiejiarrov Basil. The
goodness of God is seen in the usefulness of the creatures to man ; the
power of God in the stupendousness and wonderfulness of the works ;
and the wisdom of God in the apt structure, constitution, and order of
all things. First he createth, then distinguisheth, then adorneth. The
first work was to create heaven and earth out of nothing ; there is his
power. God's next work is a wise distribution and ordination, he dis-
tinguisheth night from day, darkness from light, waters above the
390 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. VII.
firmament from waters beneath the firmament ; the sea from the dry
land ; there is his wisdom. Then he decked the earth with plants and
beasts, the sea with fishes, the air with birds, the firmament with stars ;
there is his goodness. Let us explain these a little more particularly.
(1.) His goodness. The creation is nothing else but an effnsiorr of
the goodness of God : Ps. cxv. 3, ' Oar God is in heaven, he hath done
whatsoever he pleased/ He acteth at liberty ; he might have made it
sooner or later ; the only reason is the counsel of his own will : Rev.
iv. 11, ' Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and
were created.' Creatures work out of a servile necessity. The trinity
was not solitary. God was happy enough without us, and had a fulness
and sufficiency of happiness within himself, only he would have us to
participate of his goodness. God's great aim was to communicate his
goodness to creatures ; and therefore in making the world, he did not
only aim at his own glory, but the benefit of man, that man might have
a place for his exercise and a dwelling for his eternal rest. A place
for his exercise : Isa. xlv. 18, ' He created it not in vain, he formed
it to be inhabited;' so Ps. cxv. 16, 'The heaven, even the heavens
are the Lord's, but the earth hath he given to the children of
men.' In heaven God sitteth in his palace, in the midst of his best
creatures ; but the earth, the round world is ours. And heaven was
prepared before the beginning of the world for their place of rest : Mat.
xxv. 34, ' Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world.' His love was towards us
before the world was, and we shall reap the fruits of it, when the world
shall be no more.
(2.) His power. God brought all things out of the womb of nothing;
hisjfta? was enough : Isa. xl. 26, ' Lift up your eyes on high, and behold
who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number ;
he calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that
he is strong in power, not one faileth.' The force of the cause appeareth
in the effects, and God's power in the creatures. This is the most
visible attribute : Bom, i. 20, ' For the invisible things of him from the
creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that are made, even his eternal power and godhead.' Men touched
with no sense or reverence of religion, yet will have this in their mouths,
God Almighty.
(3.) His wisdom. The admirableness and comely variety of God's
works doth easily offer it to our thoughts. In the work you may dis
cern a wise workman : Ps. cxxxvi. 5, ' To him that by wisdom made
the heavens : for his mercy endureth for ever.' So Prov. iii. 19. ' The
Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth ; by understanding hath he
established the heavens.' The wisdom of God appeareth (1.) In the
order of making ; (2 ) In the order of placing all creatUYes.
(1st.) In making of them. In simple things, God began with those
which are most perfect, and came nearest to his own essence. His first
creature is light, which of all qualities is most pure and defecate, and
is not stained by passing through places most impure. The first gar
ment God put on in the creatures' eyes was light ; Ps. civ. 2, ' Who
coverest thyself with light as with a garment.' Then all the elements in
mixt bodies ; God took another method, from imperfect to perfect : first,
things that have a being, as the firmament ; then life, as plants ; then
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPO\ T HEBREWS XL 391
sense, as beasts ; then reason, as man. First, God would provide the
places of heaven and earth, and then the creatures to dwell in them;
first the food, then the beasts. Provision was made for the inhabitants
of the earth, as grass for beasts, and light for all living and moving
creatures. God provided for the necessities of beasts, ere he would
bring them into the world. God made first plants, that have but a
growing life ; then beasts, fishes, fowls, that have a feeling life ; then
man that hath a rational life. God would teach us to go from good to
better. Man was made last, as most excellent ; his palace is furnished
with all things necessary, and then like a prince he is sent into the
world to rule and reign.
(2c%.) In disposing all things into their apt cells for the beauty and
service of the whole. There are not such great beasts in the earth as
in the sea, to avoid a waste of food, which would be consumed by the
beasts of the land, to the prejudice of man. All things are wonderfully
made.
2. It is a wonderful advantage to faith to give us hope and consola
tion in the greatest distresses. The whole creation is a standing monu
ment of God's power ; we see what he can do : Ps. cxxiv. 8, ' Our help
is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.' As long as
heaven and earth is standing, we need not distrust God's power : Jer.
xxxii. .17, 'Ah Lord God, behold, thou hast made the heaven and the
earth by thy great power, and stretched out arm ; and there is nothing
too hard for thee.' So Ps. cxlvi. 5, 6, ' Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help ; whose hope is in the Lord his God, which made
heaven, and earth, and sea, and all that therein is, which keepeth truth
for ever.' The works of creation are but pawns and pledges of the
possibility and certainity of every thing promised. Every promise is
as powerful as God's first creating word, ' let there be light,' let there
be day.
3. It putteth us in mind of our duty.
[1.] To stir up in us a reverence and dread of God above the
creatures. We are used to things of sense, they work with us. Make
much of the creator, and the creatures shall do thee no harm : Acts
iv. 24, ' Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven and earth, and
the sea, and all that in them is.'
[2.] To stir up humility to God: Horn. ix. 20, 'Nay, but man,
who art thou that repliest against God ? Shall the thing formed say
to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?' Isa. xlv. 9, 'Wo
unto him that striveth with his maker ; let the potsherd strive with
the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth
it. What makest thou ; or thy work, He hath no hands ? ' Gen. xviii.
27, ' Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who
am but dust and ashes.'
[3.] To make us humble and kind to men : Acts xvii. 26, ' And hath
made of one blood all nations of men, to dwell on all the face of the
earth/ Omnis sannuis concelor, Isa. Iviii. 7, ' That thou hide not thy
self from thy own flesh.'
Use. It serveth to quicken us to think of the creation. But oh,
how backward, cold and sluggish are we in this work! either we use
the creatures as boasts, without thankfulness, and looking up to the
392 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. VII.
creator ; or else, as philosophers, there is more curiosity than profit in
our researches : but I observe Christians are coldly affected with such
an argument. The causes are these
1. We have an higher light. Sense in beasts is more acute, so
reason in heathens, because it is their only light. But this should not
be, we should not slight the works of God, because of a higher revela
tion. When a man is able to read, he should not lay aside the use of
letters. The creation is a good primer for us to spell in, though not so
good as the grammar of the scriptures. When we have a free use of
reason, we find a good help in books ; in youth, because we have no experi
ence, we are more prone to thoughts of atheism ; therefore, says Solomon,
Eccles. xii. 1, ' Remember thy creator in the days of thy youth.' But
excellent arguments for conviction may be drawn hence, when we have
higher knowledge.
2. Because these objects are familiar and frequent. Homini ingen-
itum est magis nova, quam magna mirari. This is the wretched
disposition of man, to admire things that are new, rather than things
that are great. We give money to see strange beasts ; you may think
with yourselves, when you see people pressing to see a new sight, there
is a greater miracle every day ; we are injurious to God, when we do
not glorify him in his creatures, when we do carelessly pass by such
goodly works.
3. This proceeds from laziness. It is easier to read a chapter in the
word, than the book of the creatures, the act is more outward and
corporeal, the other putteth us to the pains and trouble of discourse :
there is no duty so spiritual as meditation, therefore we withdraw the
shoulder. Though this was pleasant to David, Ps. civ. 34, ' My medi
tation of him shall be sweet ; I will be glad in the Lord/
4. From worldliness. .Our heads and hearts are so taken up about
our own work, that we have little leisure to mind God's ; like a
company of ants, we crawl up and down, and do not regard the great
things about us.
Here I shall (1.) Lay down motives to quicken us to this necessary
work of reflecting upon the creation of the world, that was made by
the power of God out of nothing. ' (2.) Offer directions how to reflect
upon the creature with comfort and profit.
First, for the motives.
1. The creatures are apt to teach us. All the creatures of God, they
have a voice, and read a lecture to us of the glory of the divinity.
The first bible was the book of nature ; God spake to the world, not
by words, but by things, and taught men by what he had written of
his glory upon the creation. As many creatures as there are, so many
letters there are, out of which we may spell God ; the book is written
within with glorious angels, and without with corporeal substances
that discover the glory of God ; it may teach us unspeakable wisdom,
unmeasurable goodness, infinite power. The world is a book, God's
power was the hand with which it was written, and his wisdom was
the pen, and the letters are the creatures ; some are lesser letters, some
greater, but out of the whole there is a volume of praise to the creator.
Nay, the world is not only a book, but a teacher ; not only a dead
letter, but a living voice : Ps. xix. 1, ' The heavens declare the glory
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 393
of God, and the firmament showeth his handy work/ Lesser creatures
have a voice to proclaim the excellency of their creator. An ant and
a gnat may take the pulpit, and preach a God to us. ' Their line is
gone out into all the earth, and their words to the end of the world,'
saith the psalmist, ver. 4. We should so hearken to the creature, as
if we did hear God himself speak to us ; ' and day unto day uttereth
speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge/ ver. 2. Other
preachers are soon spent and tired, but the creatures are constant
preachers, always calling upon us night and day to mind God ; and,
ver. 3, 'There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not
heard/ Though the languages of all nations scattered over the world
be very different, yet there is one book may be read in every country ;
the heavens speak Greek to the Grecians ; they speak English to us ;
so many creatures, so many preachers there are of God's wisdom,
power, and goodness. Nay, the creature that seems most gross, the
dull earth, the heaviest and grossest element, and the mute fishes,
proclaim God : Job xii, 8, ' Speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee,
and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee/ Though the fishes
have no sound, cannot make so much as a rude noise, though they have
no voice, yet they are able to preach God unto us, and teach us, that
there is a sovereign providence by which all things are guided and
governed.
2. God hath made man fit to learn, he hath given us faculties to this
purpose, that we may understand the creatures: Eccles. iii. 11, 'He
hath set the world in their heart/ The great work of God's Spirit is
to pluck the world out of our hearts ; what is the meaning then of it ?
He hath not only given us the creature to contemplate, but an ability,
an earnest desire, to search into the secrets of nature, that we may
understand the voice of the creation. Men are the most considerable, and
the most considering part of the world. The creatures praise God, that
is, they offer matter of praise : Ps. cxlv. 10, ' All thy works shall praise
thee, 6 Lord, and thy saints shall bless thee ; ' they are as a well-tuned
harp, but man rnaketh the music. We should not be silent, when the
creatures proclaim their creator. Man is made to consider all the
rest of the creatures, therefore is placed in the middle of the world,
that he may look round about him. Man hath reason given him ;
and shall man that hath reason make no more use of the stars than
the creatures do, only to see by them ? Man is to discourse of them.
He hath given us a body bored through with five senses to let out
thoughts, and to take in objects ; to taste the goodness of God in the
creatures, and see divinity in them, and hear the voice by which they
proclaim the glory of God. A philosopher, being asked, why he had
eyes ? answered, Ut miracula Dei contemplcr. Creatures are mutes,
when neglected, and vowels, when we consider them.
3. God himself delights in the view of his own works. God observed
every day's work, and said, it was good ; he took a complacency in it :
Prov. viii. 30, ' Rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth/ Ps. civ.
31, The Lord rejoiceth in his works : ' God rejoiceth in the view of
his own works; therefore there is great reason for us to study and
contemplate them.
4. This was God's great aim and end in making man, that he
39 i SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SER. VII.
might have a witness and publisher of his own glory. That this was
the aim of God, to have his works viewed distinctly, may be discovered
by many things ; that he did prolong his work -for six days, when he
might have made all things in one day. And this was the reason why
he made man last, that when he was made he might contemplate all
the rest of the creatures. Deus te quasi testem, laudaioremque tanti
operis sui in hunc mundum induxit, Lactantius. When God had
made the whole world, there wanted one to be a witness of the work,
one to admire the greatness and goodness of it, therefore man is
brought into the world for this purpose ; when God's feast was pre
pared, then man was invited to come and taste. The first sabbath was
appointed for contemplation ; it is the sweetest rest that we can enjoy,
to view the works of God. Now consider what an injury and unthank-
i'ulness will this be to God, to cross the aim of the creation, and to
pass by such a goodly frame with a careless eye. If a father should
build a great house or palace for his son, and he should not so much
as deign to look upon it, what an ingratitude would this be ! So when
God hath furnished his palace with such variety of all creatures, then
not to consider and regard the operation of his hands, what an unkind
return would this be ! If you should make a sumptuous feast, and
your guests will not so much as look upon your table, you would count
this a great affront; so this is a great affront to the divine majesty,
not to look upon his works, since the beauty and order of the creation
is a feast for the mind. The world is not only the house of man,
but the -temple of God. Many came to see Solomon's temple from afar,
and many go to Jerusalem to see the temple of the sepulchre ; you
need not go so far. When the ethnics slandered the primitive
Christians, that they had no temple, they answered, Dei templum esse
universum hoc quod cernitur this world that we behold is God's
temple.
5. The creatures signify nothing to us, if we do not consider them ;
without meditation we receive no good : Ps. cxlv. 10, 'All thy works
praise thee.' The creatures are as a well-tuned instrument, but it is
man that must make the music. The creatures, if they be not
regarded, are but mutes, they make no sound. There we read the
beauty, wisdom, and majesty of God : Job xii. 7, ' Ask now of the
beasts, and they shall teach thee ; and the fowls of the air, and they
shall tell thee.' Ask the creatures questions. Though the creatures have
neither voice nor ears, yet we may consult and confer with them ;
when we think of them, they answer and resolve the questions put to
them, though not to the ear, yet to the conscience. Ask the creatures,
Is there a God ? they answer, Yea. What kind of God is he ? they
will answer, A wise, powerful, and good God. By meditation we may
easily make out these collections. It is great unthankful ness, that the
creatures should proclaim the glory of Clod to no purpose ; that we
should be silent when the creatures speak. Christ said, the stones
would cry if these should hold their peace. Shall the heavens declare
the works of God, and shall man regard them not? Shall we be
deaf, when the creatures don't cease to cry to us.
6. It is a duty that lies upon all reasonable creatures. (1.) The angels
delight in this work ; Job xxxviii. 7, it is said, when the earth was
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 395
founded, ' the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted
for joy ; ' that is, when God first laid the foundations of the heavens, the
angels, like birds at the break of day, welcome the dawning of the crea
tion and the first appearances of the love of God to the creature, and still
they are praising God for his essence and works. It cannot literally and
properly be understood. There is but one morning star, not many ; the
stars were not created when the foundations of the earth were laid, not
till the fourth day, Gen. i. 16. The angels are as it were spiritual stars.
God is the sun and angels the stars. God is the Father of lights, and
those angels are the stars derived from God. (2.) The saints of God,
they make it their work. Much of the scripture is spent in this purpose.
The whole book of Job is interspersed with several passages, chap, xxxvii.
xxxviii. xxxix. David is a professed student in the works of God ;
many psalms are composed to give God the glory of the creation Ps.
viii. and xix., civ., cvi., and cxlvii. Meditation is the most spiritual
part of worship, therefore to the children of God it is wondrous sweet. It
is true Christ crucified is a chief object, Ephes. iii. 10, but the world
created must have a room and place. (3.) The heathens by the light
of nature acknowledge it to be their duty. I might produce many
instances; Tully saith, Animarum, ingeniorumque naturale quoddam
pabulum est contemplatio, consideratioque natures ; consideration of
nature is the food of the soul, the solace and refreshment of the rational
soul. Another saith, ear?)? eyevero TWV epywv Qeov 6 avQpwrro^ ; the
world is a great theatre wherein the creation is acted and drawn forth ;
God is the author, and man is made to be the spectator. Another said, Os
hominum sublime dedit, codumque tuerijussit God has given man an
erect countenance, that he might look up to heaven. Anaxagoras being
asked, why he was born ? answered, Els Oewpiav rj\iov /cat ae\r}vrj<$ KOI
ovpavov For contemplation of sun, moon and heavens. The sun, moon,
and stars are the natural apostles ; though they cannot preach Christ, yet
they preach God. Heathens must be called to account at the last day
for not reading the book of nature : ' He left not himself without a
witness/ Acts xiv. 17 ; and the apostle tells heathens, when justice shall
make a solemn triumph, Acts xvii. 31, ' He hath appointed a day, in
the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom
he hath ordained.' What will become of us, that have not only the book
of nature, but the comment of scripture ? God hath unfolded the mean
ing of the creature in the word. We shall have many witnesses against
us at the day of the Lord.
7. It is a work that is of great profit ; partly to heighten fancy, and
make it fit for meditation. Many find meditation a burden because of
the barrenness and leanness that is in their understandings. Oh ! practise
upon the creation, and you will find fancy to be much elevated and
raised. Anthony the devout hermit, that is so much spoken of in
ecclesiastical story, being asked, how he could profit in knowledge, and
spend his days in the desert without men and books ? answered, I have
one book I am always studying, and turning over day and night ; and
so I find my hours to be both pleasant and profitable ; and it consists of
three leaves and three letters ; the three leaves of it are the heavens,
the earth, and the waters. The letters are the inhabitants of these
houses. If you look into the heavens, there are stars, and angels, and
306 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [. VII.
fowls ; if you walk on the earth, there are living creatures, and chiefly
man, if you look into the seas, there are fishes. Partly because you will
hereby have an excellent advantage to know God, and- keep God present
in your thoughts. Man is much led by sense ; in the benefit of fruitful
seasons, and temperament of the heavens, and plenty of fruits of the
earth, you may be reading the goodness of God ; in thunders, light
nings, tempests, earthquakes, hail, snow, pestilence, comets, you may
read the majesty and the terrors of the Lord ; in the guidance of the
world, and measure of the stars, and all created beings, you may observe
the wisdom of God ; so that religion is as it were made sensible. And
partly, you will have this profit, a sweet opportunity to compare the old
and the new creation together. Eph. ii. 10, We are said to be 'the
workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus to good works.' The old
world and the new heart, they are both God's work : Eph. iv. 24, ' That
ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and
true holiness.' There you may see beauty and order brought out of
nothing. Every man is a lesser world, a model of the universe ; the
globe in the head, the sun and moon in the eyes ; there is the liver like
the ocean, which receivethall the lesser streams, conveyed by the channels
of the veins. But now a new man is a new creature, a new world; in
stead of the sun that shines in the firmament, there is the sun of right
eousness, the ebbings and flowings of the influences of grace, the air
which we receive by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and blow out
again in prayers ; there is the fire, by which the Holy Ghost warm-
eth and inflameth the heart. Many such sweet resemblances might be
made.
8. If there were no profit, yet it is a matter of much spiritual delight
to reflect upon the creature. Man is a creature taken with variety and
beauty. Now what prospect is more various and beautiful than the
works of God ? when we are weary of one object we may go to another.
Unclasp the book of nature, turn over a few leaves of that large volume,
see what delight and contentment reason will find ; when we walk
abroad, these meditations will be best company for us. Look upon the
spangled firmament, bestudded everywhere with stars, like so many
golden nails fixed and struck into it, or like so many little holes in a
thick covering, disclosing the beauty and glory that is within. There
you may see the sun like a giant rejoicing to run his course, or like a
bridegroom corning out of his chamber. There are the influences of
the Pleiades, and the bands of Orion ; there is Mazzaroth in his season,
and Arcturus with his sons. There the moon like a rich diamond shines
out with a foil of darkness and blackness, to set forth the lustre of it ;
and the constellations are as so many several families of stars ; all which
may ravish us with delight and wonder. If you come lower, consider
the fire that burns not, the treasures of snow and hail, meteors as much
feared as wondered at. There are the clouds, which Job calls the bottles
of God, which, like so many tankard-bearers, convey their influences to
all the houses of the earth, or like water-pots, refresh the garden of the
world. Come we lower, and there is the earth interlaid with water,
enamelled and decked with flowers and grass, variety of beasts in the
field, and plentiful fruits of the land. And in the sea, as the papists say
of Aquinas, quot articulos, tot miracnla ; so many fishes, so many
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 397
wonders ! the number, vastness, motion, perfection of all these do loudly
proclaim the praise of God. Look upon yourselves, what delight is it
to contemplate our own nature ! Our generation is wonderful ; we are
poured out as milk into the womb, curdled like cheese, fenced with skin
and bones. In the body there is an admirable structure, all the mem
bers conspiring to the beauty, decency, and use of the whole : Ps. cxxxix.
14, ' I am fearfully and wonderfully made.' Then if we look upon the
soul, there is a sparkle of the divinity, and beam of God. Who can
trace the flights and workings of reason, and the several traverses of the
spirit of a man ? Look on the lesser, the most inconsiderable creatures.
Pauses in music serve to make harmony, as well as the more perfect
notes. Austin in some respects preferred a gnat before the sun, to see
a little animated dust move up and down in such regular motions, with
such handsomeness of body, eyes, feet, and wings ; it mightily delights
and sets out the glory of God.
SERMON VIII.
Through faith ive understand that the worlds ivere framed by the word
of God, so that things ivhich are seen were not made of things
which do appear. HEB. xi. 3.
Secondly, I come to give you some directions how to reflect upon the
creatures with comfort and profit.
1. Be much in occasional meditation. There is nothing within the
whole circumference of nature but will give matter to you. The
creatures that are all round about you, are as the phylacteries that were
worn under the law ; the Jews were to have ' fringes on the borders of
their garments, that they may look upon them, and remember all the
commandments of the Lord to do them,' Numb. xv. 38, 39. The
creatures are as it were those fringes and borders, that wherever we
turn our eyes, we may read God in the creature. Therefore when you
are walking in the fields, or going to your country-houses, consider the
works of the Lord ; look round about upon the beautiful frame before
your eyes ; do but consider what a rich canopy God hath stretched out
over your heads ; you should be full of good highway thoughts, Luke
xxiv. 17; Christ inquires after their highway speeches ; ' What manner
of communications are these that ye have one to another as ye walk ? '
So the Lord looks after your highway thoughts. When you see the sun
glittering and shining forth in his beams like a bridegroom newly
dressed, you should be then forming of some thoughts of the excellency
and glory of God, who is the maker of it. When you pass by the sea,
consider the immensity and dreadfulness of God by the horror of the
waves and his wonderful works : Ps. cvii. 23, 24, ' They that go down
into the sea, see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.'
When you are cast upon storms and tempests, remember by whose
breath all these are blown. When you hear the thunder, this is the
398 SEKMOXS ITON n;:i;uEWH XL [SER. VIII.
voice of the Lord ; look upon it as a trumpet the Lord hath sounded
to call the world together to a dread and reverence of his majesty.
There are day thoughts, and there are night thoughts ; David had his
day meditation, and his night meditation; the 19th psalm seems to be
penned in the day, for there he speaks only of the sun ; when David
in the morning saw the sun breaking out, and enlightening the world,
then lie thinks of the glory of God. And the 8th psalm was a night
meditation : ' Lord, when I consider thy heavens, the work of thy
fingers, the moon and the stars that thou hast ordained, what is man ! '
It is probable that meditation was in the night, because he doth not
mention the sun, but the moon and stars.
2. There must be also set and solemn meditation upon special
occasions. Set meditation brings in profit to the soul. Passant and
transient thoughts are more pleasant, but not so profitable. Meditation
that is deliberate, is of most use. Usually sudden thoughts pass away
from us, and do not return with such advantage ; as children shoot
away their arrows at rovers, and do not look after them ; or as a ball
stricken in the open field goes out from us but a ball stricken
against a wall doth return to our hand again ; so those passant
thoughts go away from us ; but when there is a fixed mark, some
bound set, those thoughts return to our hand again with much comfort
and spiritual advantage ; when we aim at some particular thing and
fix our mark, our thoughts return with advantage. Scattered rays
heat, but burn not. When the beams of the sun are contracted in a
burning-glass, a narrow place, then they fire ; so when our thoughts
are more particular and set, then they warm the heart, and return to
us with advantage. There are several special occasions when we should
propose to ourselves the thoughts of the creation.
[1.] When we are not affected with the majesty and glory of God.
Usually we are moved more with God's benefits than with his glorious
essence. This is our infirmity ; we should rise up to such a height as
this, to love God as he is, diligibilis naturd, lovely in himself, all self-
respects secluded and laid aside. This is pure love without self-love,
when we can love God, and respect God for the greatness and glory of
his essence, though there were no influences and comfort going out from
him to the creature ; for then he is honoured as the chiefest good, and
the utmost end. But how should we get our hearts affected with
God's glorious essence ? Study the perfections of God in the creation,
that you may not only love him for his influences of mercy, but reverence
him for his majesty and glory : Ps. civ. 1, ' Bless the Lord, my soul :
Lord my God, thou art veiy great.' David would praise and bless
God for his greatness ; how doth he do it ? he spends his thoughts upon
the creation throughout the psalm.
[2.] When you are haunted with thoughts of atheism. The best of
God s children are sometimes tried and exercised in the sorest way,
and we are apt to doubt sometimes of the supreme truth, whether there
be a God or no ? Now if your hearts make any question of it, go ask
of the creature, as Job saith, ' Ask now the beasts, and they shall teach
thee, and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee : or speak to the
earth, and it shall teach thee ; ' nay he sends them to the fishes, that are
mute and make no noise, ' And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto
. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 399
thee. Who knowelh not in all these, that the hand of the Lord hath
wrought this?' Job xii. 7-9. The world could not make itself; that
which is supported by another must needs be framed by another. Now
the creatures hanging upon God as a garment upon a nail ; take away
the nail, the garment falls down ; they all proclaim they have an excel
lent, powerful, and a wise creator. If you see a great house, and nothing
in it but mice and vermin, you conclude, surely the mice could not frame
such a glorious palace, neither could the pieces come together by chance.
As the letters of Homer's poem could not come together by chance ;
so survey the creation, all these things could not come together by chance,
they must be made by something ; the very heathens could argue thus.
[3.] When you doubt of the promises of God, because there are
appearances to the contrary. When you look for trouble think of the
creation, that you may trust in the power of God when you see no
means. Tully brings an Epicurean disputing thus against the creation :
If the world were created, where are the tools and instruments? where
are the workmen employed in so great a work as this is ? and because
these could not be assigned, he concludes such a thing could never be,
but all things came together by chance. So we say, If the Lord means
to bless us and do us good, where are the instruments ? and where is
the appearance of any probability in the course of second causes ?
'Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath,' saith
the prophet. Isa. li. 6 ; from whence came all this excellent harmony
that is in the parts of the creation? So Isa. xl. 1, 2, 'Comfort ye,
comfort ye, my people, saith your God; speak ye comfortably to
Jerusalem.' God sends his prophet with glad tidings to afflicted Israel ;
ay, but where is the comforter ? we are under sorrows and bondage.
Consider who made the heavens, ver. 12, ' Who hath measured the
waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with a span,
and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the
mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance ?' See he produceth the
works of the creation for their encouragement. So David, Ps. cxxiv.
8, ' Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth;'
that is, as long as I see such a glorious fabric before mine eyes, heaven
and earth made out of nothing, I will never doubt and distrust God.
[4.J When your hearts faint in regard of outward supplies and
temporal provision, survey the creatures. Who is it that feeds the
beasts of the earth, and makes some of the fowl fattest in winter when
provisions are scarcest ? At whose charge are all the fish of the sea
and the beasts of the forest maintained ? Who spreads a table for all
creatures? The world is but God's great common ; he is landlord, he
looks after all his creatures, Hiat they be all supplied : Mat. vi. 25, ' Take
no thought what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, nor yet for your
body what you shall put on ; is not the life more than meat, and the
body than raiment ? ' As if he had said, God that gave you life out of
nothing, certainly he will give you food ; and he that gave you a body,
he will provide for you raiment. And Christ sends us to the creation,
ver. 26, ' Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they
reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them ;
are ye not much better than they?' So David, Ps. cxlv. 16, 'Thou
openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.'
400 SERMONS UPON IIEBUEWS XI. [SfcR. VIII.
[5.] Greaten the privileges of your covenant interest. Now if you
would know what it is to have God for your God in covenant, consider
the creation, the work of his hand ; the mighty power of that God that
made the world is made over to you in the covenant of grace. See
Jonah i. 9, ' I arn an Hebrew, and 1 fear the Lord, the God of heaven,
which made the sea, and the dry land.' You have the creator to pro
vide for you : 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23, ' All things are yours, for you are
Christ's, and Christ is God's.' Thou hast God himself, and he hath all
creatures at his command and beck, and by possessing God, who is all
in all, we possess all things. This will help us to enlarge our thoughts
according to the extent of the covenant.
3. There are proper objects for God's several and special excellences.
Because one creature could not represent the infinite perfection of God,
therefore he hath multiplied them, and given to every one some special
property, whereby he may be known and discovered. For instance, if
you would meditate of God's purity and holiness among the creatures
you must single out the light, which of all qualities is most pure ;
though it pass through the most impure places, it is not tainted ; it is
some resemblance of the holiness of God : 1 John i. 5, ' God is light,
and in him is no darkness at all.' Look upon the sun, by that means
you may the better consider the purity and holiness of God ; the sun
is but as the black and sutty bottom of a caldron in regard of God.
So for God's immensity and greatness, pitch upon the vastness of the
firmament, or the sea, or upon any other immense or great body. Of
the vast magnitude and huge extension of the firmament, how many
millions of miles do the stars take up in their tract and course ?
Astronomers reckon two hundred thirty-nine thousand miles ; what is
this to God ? 1 Kings viii. 27, ' The heaven of heavens cannot contain
him.' Isa. xl. 12, ' He hath measured the waters in the hollow of
his hand, and meted out heaven with a span,' &c. The sun is reck
oned to be a hundred and sixty-six times bigger than the earth ; what is
this to God ? The psalmist speaks of the ' great and wide sea,' Ps.
civ. 25. Man cannot think of such a vast body as the sea without
some religious horror and dread of God : it represents to us the
infiniteness of God. So for the power of God, think of his upholding
the earth ; there is the great instance of God's power, that so vast a
weight as the body of the earth and waters is together should hang in
the thin air, which of itself will not so much as sustain a tennis bailor
feather, yet this is the only supporter of the earth and the watei-s ; the
immovable dwelling-place of all the living creatures is hung upon
nothing but upon the air. Sometimes it is said that the earth is
founded upon the waters, as Ps. xxiv. 2, ' He hath founded it upon
the seas, and established it upon the floods ; ' at other times, as Job
xxvi. 7, ' He hangeth the earth upon nothing.' This great weight, it
hangs merely upon the power of God, and therefore this discovers the
greatness of the creator. So in bridling the sea, Job xxxvii. 10, ' The
breadth of the waters is straitened.' God handles it as a nurse her
babe, who turns and sways the child by the fire ; so doth God with the
sea: Job xxxviii. 8, 9, 'Who shut up the sea with doors, when it
brake forth as if it had issued out of the womb ? When I made the
cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it.'
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBRKWS XL 401
If you would meditate upon the faithfulness of God, you cannot have a
better object than the constant course of the heavens and recourse of
the seasons ; they still remain as they were from the beginning of the
world, and so they will continue : Ps. cxix. 90, 91, ' Thy faithfulness
is unto all generations : thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
They continue this day according to thine ordinances ; for all are thy
servants.' Ps. Ixxxii. 9, ' Thy faithfulness wilt thou establish in the
very heavens ; ' that is, in the constant motions and courses of the stars
in the heavens, God hath given the world a document of his truth and
faithfulness. How many thousand years hath the sun kept his course
without errors and alterations ? So constant are the courses of the
heavens, that astronomers are able for a great while before to tell when
an eclipse shall be to an hour and minute. Jer. xxxi. 35, 36. ' Thus
saith the Lord, which giveth the sun to be a light by day, and the
ordinances of the moon, and of the stars, for a light by night ; which
divideth the sea, when the waves thereof roar ; the Lord of hosts is his
name : If these ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord,
then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me
for ever.' If you would think of the wisdom of God, then think upon
the multitude of creatures that are in the world, yet they are all mar
shalled and guided in their order and course ; such an innumerable
company of creatures kept like a well-ordered army without any rout
or confusion. Ps. cxlviii. 6, ' He hath established them for ever, he
hath made a decree which shall not pass.' All the creatures, though
so many, they keep their path and their course, and God wisely orders
all for the service of the whole ; and that discovers the wisdom of God.
So for the unweariedness of his mercy and bounty ; the stars go long
journeys, yet are never tired, but continue their beneficent influences :
Job xxxviii. 31, ' Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades ?'
The sun riseth fresh every morning to communicate its influences ; so
the compassions of God come in fresh every morning : Lam. iii. 22, 23,
' It is of the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed, because his com
passions fail not : they are new every morning ; great is thy faithful
ness.'
4. Above all things meditate much upon the heavens, and upon
man. Upon the heavens, that you may know God ; upon man, that
you may know yourselves. The smallest things are of use and profit.
Christ takes notice of the lilies of the field in Mat. vi. 28, 29, the
beauty nature hath bestowed upon the lilies ; 'so that Solomon in all his
glory is not arrayed like one of them ; ' but now the heavens and man
are the chiefest objects. The heavens are God's dwelling-place, and
man is God's image ; therefore here are the chiefest representations of
the deity and godhead.
[1.] Look up to the heavens ; there is God's royal house and pavilion,
and a lively character of the divine perfections. Job and David were
great students in the heavens : Ps. xix. 1, ' The heavens declare the
glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handywork/ Some of
the heathens made gods of the sun and stars for their glory and beauty.
And indeed the Lord speaks to his own people, as if they were in dan
ger, being such glorious bodies, and lively representations of the divine
glory : Deut. iv. 19, ' Take heed, saith God, lest thou lift up thine eyes
VOL. XIII. 2 C
402 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. VIII.
to heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars,
even all the host of heaven, shouldst be driven to worship them, and
serve them.' The sun is a representative of God, so the psalmist sets
him out, Ps. xix. There is the omnipresence of the sun, ver. 6, ' His
going out is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends
of it.' The omniscieucy and ornni-efficiency of it, ' nothing is hid from
the heat thereof ; ' the sun is totus Oculus, one broad eye that looks
over all the world. So is God, ' all things are naked and open to him,'
Heb. iv. 13 ; and his virtue reacheth to the smallest creatures. I have
heard of a philosopher that would lie upon his back all the day, to look
upon the beauty of the sun. Certainly we may stand gazing and
admiring the heavens, and, oh, how many sweet thoughts might it
occasion of the majesty of God, and the glory of the everlasting state !
This is but the canopy, but the outward veil, and the covering of the
beauty and glory that is within ; it is but the outside of the heavenly
palace where we shall reign with Christ for ever. There are some
have gathered all divinity out of the heavens. There is but one heaven
and one sun, to teach us there is but one God. The properties of
heaven, motion, light and heat, are some kind of resemblance of the
mysterious trinity. The vast extension of the heavens shows the
infiniteness of God ; the thinness of the air shows the spiritual essence
of God ; the incorruptibility of the heavens shows the immortality and
immutability of God; the influences of the heavens discover the
sweet emanations of the divine goodness ; the order of heaven, God's
wisdom ; the brightness of heaven, the majesty of God ; the purity of
heaven, the holiness of God ; the subtility and thinness of heaven, the
simplicity of God ; and the spheric form of the heaven discovers to us
the eternity of God, without beginning and without end. The heavens
are the natural catechism out of which you may read all points that
are not mysterious, and do not depend merely upon revelation.
[2.] Think upon man. Man is not only the creature of God, but
the image of God. One calls man the masterpiece of nature ; it is
good to consider ourselves ; there is nothing nearer to ourselves than
ourselves. Man, as he is the image of God, so he is the image of the
world, the short draft and model of all the rest of the world. Look
upon soul and body, all is lull of wonders. In the body to consider the
excellent symmetry and proportion of all the parts, how the joints and
muscles are ordered for the service and beauty of the whole frame, the
outward shape and the inward motion full of wonder. Oh, how excel
lent a painter is the creator, that can draw such an image out of the
dust, and scarce two men alike in face ! to see so many millions in the
world, and everyone known from the other by some notable mark of
difference in the face ; yet the outward part is nothing to the inward
parts. It is reported of Galen, that great physician, when he was
cutting up a man, and saw the wise disposing of all the entrails, cer
tainly, says he, He that made man doth not require the sacrifice of
beasts, but only to admire his wisdom, goodness, and power. The
psalmist saith : Ps. cxxxix. 14, ' I am fearfully and wonderfully made.'
There is much of God in our very bodies. You will say, our bodies
we have them from our parents ; no, you shall see all we had from our
parents was but a title to the first Adam's guilt and sin, and a pledge
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 403
of misen r and of our everlasting unhappiness ; we have nothing else.
Our parents of themselves could not form such an excellent body ;
therefore not only the soul but the body is of God ; they are but lower
servants, God himself was the architect, the wise builder. If thy
parents could form thy body, then they could tell how many muscles
there are, and how they are placed in the body, how many veins and
sinews, how many bones greater and lesser ; but they know not, it is a
thing of chance to their work, therefore it is the exact composure of
God. Besides, if thy parents could make thy body, then they could
repair it when it is wounded, and restore it when sick. He that makes
a watch can mend it when it is broken and discomposed. It is God
alone that made it. Then for the soul, there is the chief part of man.
There is nothing nearer to God than the soul but only the angels,
therefore we can hardly know him by the creature without considering
our own souls. This leaves man without excuse ; he had a rational
soul to know his creator. Thy soul is a spirit as God is, in the same
rank of being. The sun is not a spirit. Those glorious bodies that
shine in the heavens, they are not advanced to the nobleness with thy
soul. Then thy soul is invisible as God is ; you may as well deny your
own soul as deny God is because he cannot be seen. Thy soul is
immortal and incorruptible, as God is. In the very essence of thy
soul there is much of God to be seen, in the operations of the soul, it
is in every part of the body ; iota in toto, et iota in qualibet parte ;
all in all parts, and all in the whole ; so God fills all the world, for he
is everywhere, and yet nowhere in a sense. When a member is
withered or cut off, the soul suffers no loss : so the Lord in all the
changes of the world suffers nothing ; sometimes he lets out his good
ness in the creature, and sometimes the creature is destroyed, yet there
is no alteration in God. And then who can trace the several traverses
and flights of reason ? The soul cannot only hear, see, smell, and taste,
but it can discourse also of things invisible, the essence of God and
angels. If there were nothing to discover God in your souls, and the
impressions of God upon your souls, yet the several arts and crafts that
are abroad in the world, (these inventions are common, therefore less
observed), how could these things be found out? they display the
wisdom of God. For to instance in common things : in the craft of
husbandry, who doth not admire to see the various inventions in
husbandry and gardening, in ordering the corn and fruits of the earth,
Isa. xxviii. from ver. 24 to the end ? He concludes all, ver. 29, ' This
also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts.' And so for the smith's
craft : Isa. liv. 16, ' I have created the smith that bloweth the coals/
&c. It is God that teacheth to cast iron into various shapes and figures.
The inventors of arts among the heathens they counted gods. It is
God teacheth men curious inventions. It is true, other creatures have
their arts, but nothing like man. The birds curiously build their
nests, the foxes dig their holes, and the little spider can make a curious
web to catch flies, but they do these things by instinct of nature, and
therefore do them always in one and the same manner ; but the arts
of man are various and innumerable. Nothing can escape that which
the wit of man cannot take, neither birds by their flight, nor beasts
with their greatness, nor fishes in the depth of the water : James iii. 7,
-104 SEllMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. VIII.
' For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and things in
the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind.' Man is able to
tame all beasts, to bring them to his own use and purpose ; but God
made them. In the art of navigation consider the wonders of the Lord ;
that such great vast burdens should dance upon the tops of the water,
that ships should as it were fly with sails as with wings, and run with
oars as with feet. And then in painting and architecture much of the
wisdom of God is seen. Oh, consider and use this as an argument to
set out the glory of God. Man can build houses, but God built heaven
and earth. The painter is able to paint with colours ; but admire him
that could paint so fairly that had no other pencil but his hand, and
no other paint but a little dirt.
5. You must not only consider what is made, but to what end. In
the works themselves we may consider God's power and wisdom ; but
in the end we may consider God's goodness, and our own duty. Now
the ends of the creation were many, chiefly these three ; man's good,
the creator's praise, the glory of Jesus Christ.
[1.] When thou art thinking of the creation, consider, all this was
made for man's good. The whole world is but the great house and
palace of little man. Oh, how great is the goodness of God to sorry
man ! whole nature is but his servant. The angels were made for
man : Heb. i. 14, ' Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to
minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation ? ' Those courtiers
of heaven, those masterpieces of the creation are man's servants. The
stars were made to give us light and heat, to cherish man and to
cherish the earth ; and the waters were made for man's good. The
whole earth is but, man's garden ; the plants of it for our use for meat
and medicine ; the beasts for our food and clothing ; nay in the bowels
of the earth there are laid up veins of treasure to maintain commerce
between nation and nation ; though men be scattered in the several
climates of the world, yet God will bring them together by traffic.
Nay, all sublunary things were not only created for man's use, but
most of them subjected to man's dominion. See the charter, all is
made over to us : Gen. i. 28, 29, ' Have dominion over the fish of
the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth on the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every
herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every
tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed ; to you it shall be for
meat.' They all serve for the uses of man, and are made over to him.
It is true, the heavens are for the use of man, but they are not under
the dominion of man ; that is reserved to God alone ; therefore it is
said: Ps. cxv. 16, ' The heaven even the heavens are the Lord's, but
the earth he hath given to the children of men.' But though the
heavens be the Lord's, that is, reserved in his power, yet they serve for
the use of man. The air serves to give man breath ; the firmament
serves to give man light and heat ; and the heaven of heavens serves for
his eternal and blessed habitation. Oh, the goodness of God to man !
' Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him ! ' How may we
break out into such a holy wonder and admiration 1
[2.] They were made for God's glory : Bom. xi. 36, ' All things,'
saith the apostle, ' are of him, and through him, and to him :' ' of him*
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPOX HEBREWS xr. 405
in creation ; ' through him ' in the sustentation of his providence ;
and ' to him,' that is, for the uses and purposes of his glory ; all things
return to the worub of their original, out of which they once came. The
Lord deals with us just as Potiphar dealt with Joseph, he gave him
power over all things, but only his wife, that he kept to himself;
therefore by way of meditation we may reason as Joseph, Gen. xxxix.
8, 9, 'Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house:
and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand. There is none
greater in this house than I, neither hath he kept any thing back from
me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great
wickedness, and sin against God?' So do you reason with yourself;
Oh, I have a bounteous creator, God hath given me all things, for my
use and comfort, and all the articles of the lease and grant are only
that I should serve his glory ! Oh, let me not rob him of that ; let me
enjoy the creature, but give God the glory ; let me not pervert the
end of my creation ; all should be to his praise. All the creatures
do as it were proclaim to us, Man ! glorify thy creator ; God hath
given us to thee to serve thee, that thou mightest serve him ; we die for
thy good and support, that thou mayest live ; we are ready to fall down
and perish for thy food. Oh, therefore be thou contented to suffer any
inconvenience, if it be the loss of life, that the glory of God may live.
AVe will give thee food, meat, nourishment, all that thou requirest, if
thou wouldest love him, and praise him, and live to the glory of God.
Saith the sun, I will give thee light and continued influences and rays
every morning, if thou wilt but glorify thy creator. It is said : Prov.
xvi. 4, ' The Lord hath made all things for himself.' In a sort we may
say, God made all things for man, and man for himself ; it follows,
'and the wicked for the day of evil.'
[3.] Therefore doth he create the world to make a fair way for
Jesus Christ, Col. i. 15. The apostle proves the godhead of Christ
by this argument : ' He is the firstborn of every creature ; for by him
all things were created, that are in heaven and in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or
powers ; all things were created by him and for him.' Creation is but
one step to the execution and advancement of God's decrees. We
were first made that we might afterwards be redeemed. Christ gave
us our lives at first, and afterwards he saved our lives. First he created
us, and then prevented our execution. The world was but one step to
heaven. First he gives thee thyself, then all things in the world, then
he would give thee himself. The angels were made ministering spirits,
and the Son of God was made a servant for thy sake. Oh, the wonder
ful love of God ! When he founded the world, then he prepared heaven
for thee that art a member of Christ. All was in a subordination to
his wise decrees.
6. We should specially meditate upon the goodness and beneficence
of God. When we taste the sweetness of the creatures, then is a special
time of devising arguments of praise and studying thanks. It is said,
Acts xiv. 17, 'Nevertheless he left not himself without a witness, in
that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons,
filling our hearts with food and gladness.' Mark, this was God's testi
mony to the gentiles ; this preached God to them. Oh, therefore lift
406 SEUAIOKS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. IX.
up a solemn thought ou these occasions. In the spring-time, when
nature is in its pride, think who it is that milketh out the fruits of
the earth, that ripeneth the apples on the tree, that seasons the grass,
and makes it fit for food for the beasts. Or else when you have had
any liberal or comfortable use of the creature, then the heart should
be raised up to God. Usually when God remembers us most, and
we abound in creature comforts, we forget God and slight the creator.
Oh ! remember this is to despise God in the day of his magnificence.
Look, as when Vashti refused to come, when the king was minded to
show himself to his nobles, it is said, Esther i. 12, ' The king was very
wroth, and his anger burned in him ;' so here, the lord sends to invite
thy soul to come to him in the spring-time, in the time of gladness of
heart ; when you abound in comforts, he sends these messengers that
thou mightest come and solace thyself with him. Should we not come
then, his anger would be raised ; especially when we abuse the creatures
to riot, and our abundance to vanity and excess ; consider what an
injury this is to God, to abuse that which he hath made. If we have
made any thing, and another come and scorn and abuse it, it enrageth
us : consider what it is to abuse the workmanship of God.
SEKMON IX.
TJirough faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the ivord
of God, so that things which are seen were not made of .things
which do appear HEB. xi. 3.
7. COME not off from any meditation, till you have found some sensible
profit. I will show you what are the usual fruits of solemn and serious
thoughts of the creation. If your thoughts be serious, thus it will
be:
[1.] There will be a greater disposition and aptness to praise the
Lord. If you have meditated aright the heart will be more affected
with the lustre of his glory shining forth in the creature : Eev. iv. 11,
' Thou art worthy, Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power ;
for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were
created.' Cold and dead thoughts vanish without use and profit.
When you think of the creation aright, there will be found in you dis
positions to praise God that he should devise all this for man. Who
can touch the harp of the creatures without being ravished with the
music ? who can read that book that is framed with such excellent art,
and not commend the author ? who can hear the creatures preach a
sermon, and not say, Blessed be the God that made them ?
[2.] The soul will be raised into some wonder and admiration at the
goodness and wisdom of God. Pythagoras boasted he had gotten this
advantage by philosophy,. Nihil admirari, to wonder at nothing ; but
certainly when we survey the works of God, we cannot choose but won
der at all things. This is the least respect you owe God to wonder at
VER. 3. ] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 407
his works ; and till your hearts be thus heightened, your thoughts have
not been ponderous and serious, nor sufficiently exercised. It is very
observable the children of God never come off from the meditation of
his works without admiration : Ps. viii. 3, 4, ; When I consider the
heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon, and the stars which thou
hast ordained ; what is man, that thou art mindful of him ! and the
son of man that thou visitest him ! ' So Ps. civ. 24, there is another
meditation of the creation, and see how he concludes: '0 Lord, how
manifold are thy works ! in wisdom hast thou made them all : the
earth is full of thy riches.' We are apt to wonder at the workmanship
of man ; at a curious picture, or at a building fairly contrived, we
wonder at the skill and art of the workman. Certainly you set God
much below a painter and a carver, when you can look upon this goodly
frame of the world, and never wonder at it. Consider, you never
rightly glorify and praise him till there be admiration. Admiration is
that operation of the understanding by which it is carried out to objects
above its reach and perception. Wonder seizeth upon you either by
new things, or by miraculous things. You cannot tell how to compre
hend strange things, they do for a while suspend the act ; but things
that are wonderful indeed, and which after contemplation and search
we cannot apprehend and find out to their perfection, they wholly as
tonish and overwhelm the faculty. Now such are the works of the
Lord ; upon an intimate contemplation of them we shall find them
above the reach of our understanding, and we can only say, ' Lord
how wonderful are thy works ! ' Till there be this admiration, the
affections are not proportionably lifted up to the object. There is no
object within the whole circumference of nature but, so far as we dis
cern God in it, will raise our wonder.
[3.] If you meditate aright, the heart will be more drawn off from
the creature to God. This is the main end either of making the crea
ture, or of meditating upon the creature. Of making the creature: Acts
xvii. 26, 27, ' He hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell
on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before
appointed, and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek
after the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and find him.' We
are apt to stay in the creature, and forget the creator ; this is quite
contrary to the end of God, they are to show us how good and how
sweet the Lord is. This was the reason why God made the world, and
lilled it with inhabitants, that the world might wonder at him ; but
we doat upon shadows, and leave the substance. This is as if a mighty
emperor should gather all his nobles together, that they might come
and admire his royalty ; and when they come, they turn their back and
admire his picture and shadow. Consider, all the creatures are but rude
adumbrations or shadows of the glory of God, to help the memory;
but they must not intercept the affection, and forestall the heart.
Should we be so foolish as go to the shadows, those obscure resemblances,
and leave the creature that is so full of majesty and glory ? Would
we be contented with a painted horse for our use, or painted bread for
our food ? Why are we then contented with those shadows of God ?
Meditation is nothing but a parley and discourse with the creature
about the chiefest good. Job makes hue and cry after wisdom, Where
408 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. IX.
is the chiefest good ? Is it in the earth ? no, that is too gross. Is it
in heaven? no, the heaven of heavens cannot contain him. Is it in
the depth? no, he is a greater depth than can be fathomed. What
is the husk of the creature to the bread of eternal life ? what are the
drossy shadows and obscure resemblances to God, who is the substance
himself ?
[4.] If you have rightly meditated upon the works of creation, there
will be more fear and dread of God, that will arise from the considera
tion of his majesty and power impressed upon the creature. When
we look upon God in his works we see him in his royalty, therefore
there must needs be a great deal of fear upon the heart : Jer. v. 22,
' Fear ye not me, saith the Lord ? will ye not tremble at my presence,
which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual
decree, that it cannot pass it ; and though the waves thereof toss them
selves, yet can they not prevail ; though they roar, yet can they not
pass over it ? ' Mark, he calls for fear, because he hath made the crea
ture, and hath ordered all things with such exact wisdom. Who can
think of the dreadful waves that are bound up by God, and not have
some horror upon his heart ? They that do not thus discourse upon
his works, God saith, they are brutish : ver. 24, ' And say not in their
hearts, Let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth rain, both the
former and latter in its season.' Oh, when we come to take abroad
God's greatness and excellency, how can we but dread and reverence
him?
[5.] If you meditate rightly upon the workmanship of God, there
will be more love to God for all his kindness, and for all those effusions
and communications of his goodness to the creature. Here we come
to see how much we are bound to God. Usually we are far more af
fected with what man doth for us, than with what God doth for us ;
as, for instance, we love him that helps us and delivers us out of straits ;
but we do uot love him that made us out of nothing ; this seems nothing
to us. Every petty courtesy obligeth us to men, and we do not consider
we owe all to God, life, breath, and being, and all. If man should do
half so much for us, how are we obliged to him ? God hath done in
comparably more, and we do not esteem it. What is the reason ? is
it this, man's courtesy seems more, because his abilities are less ? or is
it because he gives from himself? how poor is this ! Doth water lose
its nature, because it is in the sea, and not in the bucket and cistern ?
Are God's benefits the worse because he is the author, whose nature
it is to do good ? Consider, waters are sweeter in the fountain than
in the rivers. There is more condescension in God than in man.
When man loves us, he does but love his equal, and draws out his
bowels to his own flesh, Isa. Iviii. 7. Consider, the earth is full of the
riches of his goodness, therefore love the creator.
Another fruit of meditating upon the works of God will be obedience.
Oh, what an interest hath God in you by making you out of nothing !
what a title hath he to your heart ! If the husbandman counts that
tree his own which he hath planted ; or the carver that image his own
which he has made ; certainly thou art God's, and he may call thee his
<>wn, who hath made. thee out of nothing. There is a difference
between making out of nothing, and making out of something. Men
VEU. 3.J SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. 401)
cannot make any piece of workmanship, but they must have matter to
work upon ; but the Lord made' thee out of nothing, therefore certainly
thou art his ; and therefore the right and dominion of God must be
infinitely greater than that of man ; and what a right hath God by his
providence ! Thou hast a right in thy servant, who hath his well-
being from thee, and therefore surely God hath a right to
thee, who by his providence supplies thee with all things thou
wan test.
[7.] Meditation on the creature will beget trust and dependence on
God ; this is the main thing that God aimeth at, that we be drawn to
trust in God, when we think of the creature. The heathens knew
much of God in the general, they were able to discourse of his eternal
power and godhead ; but when they came to draw practical inferences,
how they should trust in him, then ' they became vain in their imagi-
ations, and their foolish hearts were darkened/ Rom. i. 20, 21. When
we consider the great effect of his mighty power, and yet do not trust
in the Lord, these are but vain imaginations. The chief thing in medi
tation on the creation is, that you should come away with the greater
trust, for in the creation there are all arguments of trust. There you
learn the freeness of God's grace, when God made all things out of
nothing, certainly the creature could merit nothing ; and there you
learn the exactness of his care, because in his wise decrees he had a
care of thee when thou wert not, therefore he will have a care of thee
when thou art : Ps. cxlv. 15, ' The eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou
givest them their meat in due season ; ' therefore he will supply man.
And so then you learn the greatness of his power ; and that is the
reason of the apostle's expression : 1 Peter iv. 19, ' Commit your souls
unto God as unto a faithful creator.' Thence doth the quiet rest and
establishment of spirit arise; he is able to raise means, to create
deliverances, to supply all your wants, and relieve you in all your
distresses.
Doct. 2. We understand the truth and wonders of the creation by
faith, and not by reason.
Take these propositions to clear the point
1. There are three sortsof lights which God hath bestowed upon men ;
the light of nature, the light of grace, and the light of glory. These
are like the three several lights God hath set up in the firmament, the
sun, the moon, and the lesser stars. There is the daylight of glory,
which is the sun when it arises in its strength and brightness ; and
there is the light of faith, which is like the moon, a light which shines
in a dark place ; then there is the weak and feeble ray of reason, which
is like the light of the lesser stars. By the first light, we see God as
he is in himself ; by the second, God as he hath discovered himself in
the word ; by the third, God as he is seen in the creature. By the light
of glory we behold God in himself, ' we see him face to face,' 1 Cor.
xiii. 12. The expression is used in opposition to the veil of the shadows
of the law : here we can only behold God as he is veiled under words
of corporeal and sensible significations ; but there ' we shall see him as
he is/ 1 John iii. 2. By the second light we see God as he is pleased
to reveal himself in his word : and by the light of reason we see God
in his works, as he hath displayed his glory in the whole frame of the
410 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. IX.
world : so that there is vision, faith and reason. The one is the fruit
of our glorification, and the other of our redemption, and the last of
our creation.
2. In this world reason had been enough, if man had continued in
his innocency. His mind then was his only bible, and his heart his
only law and rule ; but he tasted of the tree of knowledge and hereby
he and we got nothing but ignorance. It is true, there are some relics
of reason left for human uses, and to leave us without excuse ; there
fore it is said, John i. 9, ' That Christ is the true light, which enlight-
eneth every one that cometh into the world.' It is by his grant that a
little reason is continued to us. But now in matters of religion, we
had need of external and foreign helps. Man left to himself would
only grope after God. In many things reason is altogether blind ;
in other things the light of it is very faint, weak and ineffectual.
This is the sad state of man since the fall, his reason is blind ; and
that not only out of weakness, but out of prejudice ; there is not only
darkness in our mind, but there is pride and malice too, by which we
are set against the truths of the word.
3. The only remedy and cure for this is faith, and external revelation
from God. The blindness of reason is cured by the word ; the pride
of reason is cured by the grace of faith. Revelation supplies the defect
of it ; and faith takes down the pride of it, and captivates the thoughts
into the obedience of the truths represented in the word ; so that reason
now cannot be a judge ; at best it is but a handmaid to faith. And
though the mysteries of religion transcend reason, yet that is not an
argument of the falsity of the word, but of the imbecility and
weakness of our own reason : and those mysteries, which we cannot
comprehend, do but put us in mind of the sad consequences of the fall
of man.
4. The doctrine of the creation is a mixed principle ; much of it is
liable to reason, but most of it can only be discovered by faith. We must
consider the creation two ways, either exparte rei, or ex parte modi ;
either the thing itself, or the necessary circumstances. For the thing
itself, that was known to the heathens, that there was a creation;
but the manner how was wholly hidden from reason, and can only be
supplied by revelation of the word. Nature doth confess a creation,
but faith must teach us what it is.
More distinctly I shall lay down my sense in these further
propositions
[1.] By the light of nature it may be known that there was a crea
tion. It may be proved by evident reason that there was a first cause,
from whence all propagation begins ; otherwise we shall be left to a
perpetual wandering, and shall not know out of what womb all things
that are in the world issued forth. Plutarch propounds the question ;
whether the hen were before the egg, or the egg before the hen ?
Look upon all creatures ; is the acorn before the oak, or the oak before
the acorn? the spawn before the fish or the fish before the spawn?
therefore at first there must be fishes created, and there must be oaks
created. To this purpose the apostle quoteth Aratus, Acts xvii. 28,
TOV <yap Kal yevoi ea-pev, for we are his offering.
[2.] The heathens discovered that there was also a first mover, a
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 411
first cause of all things in the world. Aristotle, though he held the
eternity of the world, confesseth there was Trpwrav aiTiav Koa-pov /cal
7-779 Ta^eoo? Trao-T?? ; and he saith that Homotiraus and Anaxagoras
were necessitated by the appearance of the truth to acknowledge it ;
and that all perfections which are in other things by participation, are
in the first cause essentially; and that this first cause was of such infinite
power and wisdom, as appeared, because all things are ordered to such
good uses and purposes. The apostle saith, Kom. i. 19, 20, ' That
which may be known of God is manifest in them ; for God hath showed
it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the
world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even his eternal power and godhead.' And he disputes upon it as a
granted principle, that there was a first cause : Acts xvii. 28, ' For in
him we live, and move, and have our being ; ' and Acts xiv. 15, ' He
is the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all
things that are therein/
[3.] This knowledge in the heathens was but faint, and full of hesi
tancy and confusion, of very little profit and comfort. Though they
did acknowledge a God and first cause, yet they multiplied feigned
deities and set up many gods ; they had not any full and saving light,
which might be a comfort and profit to their souls ; they could not see
this first cause, so as to fear him, and trust in him for his power, love
him for his goodness, and honour him and adore him for his wisdom :
Kom. i. 21, 22, ' They become vain in their imaginations, and their
foolish heart was darkened ; professing themselves to be wise, they
became fools.' They could not draw out the necessary consequences
of these truths, to love, trust, fear, worship, and honour this first cause ;
there they were vain in their imaginations. Therefore our Lord pro-
poseth the gentiles as a pattern of unbelievers : Mat. vi. 32, ' After all
these things do the gentiles seek,' when he spoke how we should trust
God. They had but rude and imperfect notions of the power and care
of God, and could not apply them for their profit and benefit, therefore
they are carking and caring, and cannot trust God.
[4.] The manner and the necessary circumstances of the creation
were wholly unknown to the heathens. Effects discover the cause, but
they cannot discover the circumstances of action, because those depend
wholly upon the will of the agent. So because the circumstances of
the creation were not necessary, but did wholly depend upon the will
of God, reason and nature cannot know them, unless God make them
known in the word ; as, for instance, they knew not perfectly who
made the world ; not when, nor how it was made, nor whence it
was made. Not who made the world : though they had some rude
and gross conceits of the first cause, yet they looked upon him as a
servile agent, working out of mere necessity, communicating his influ
ences, because he could not choose to do otherwise. So when the world
was made, the beginning and duration of it, this was wholly hidden
from the heathens! The scripture can only show it to us. Therefore
many of the heathens complained of the great defect that was in their
chronicles, that they had not an ancienter monument than the destruc
tion of Troy ; Cur supra beilum Trojanum, et funera Trojce ; so
Lucretius, Macrobius. The writings of Moses are much more ancient
412 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. IX.
than all the gods of the heathens. The wars of Troy were about the
time of the judges. The youngest prophets of the old testament were
before the oldest philosophers and historians of the gentiles. Then they
knew not whence, from what term, God should begin his work. This
is a maxim of nature, ex nihilo nihil fit, that nothing cnn be made,
out of nothing ; therefore this puzzled them how the creature should
be first made, since it was contrary to that natural maxim, that the
whole world should be framed out of nothing, and that by the mere
word of God ; this never sunk into the heads of the wisest heathens.
Hence proceeded such difference of opinions among them ; some held
the world to be a work of mere chance, as Epicurus and Leucippus ;
others, that it was eternal and coeval with the first cause, as Aristotle ;
and the Platonists, that it was made out of some eternal pre-existent
matter. Then they could not tell how it was made in six days ; nature,
reason, and discourse could never have found out that, which Moses
hath written concerning the distinct originals of all propagation, and
the framing of every creature in its rank and place ; they could see such
things, but not the original of the fowls, of fishes, of man, and of all
the beasts of the field. Nature could propound questions, how were
these made ? but nature could never assoil them. Then they could
not tell the end why the world was made. Aristotle saith, We are not
at all bound to the first cause, whether he did good or evil, because he
did work out of servile necessity, and could do no otherwise. Moses
tells us, God made all things for his glory, that he may be worshipped,
and honoured, and served by the creature ; that the highest heaven
was a place for man ; that the soul might enjoy bliss and eternal com
munion with God. All these circumstances were hidden from them ;
they were not matters of sense, they were not before our eyes ; but faith
makes us to apprehend the six days' works, as if we had seen and stood
by, as the angels did, applauding every day's work. They were not
matters of reason, because transcending those principles that are agree
able to the rules of nature ; and they depend merely on the unlimited-
ness of God's will, and the exuberancy of his power.
Use 1. For information. If by faith only we can understand the
truth and wonders of the creation, then,
1. It informs us, that reason is not the judge of controversies in
religion, and the doubts that do arise about the matters of God are not
to be determined by the dictates of nature. If then we leave the written
word and follow the guidance of our own reason, we shall but puzzle
ourselves with impertinent scruples, and leave ourselves under a dis
satisfaction. Usually men of parts and ingenuous education are liable
to this snare ; for having the highest claim to the exercise of reason,
they are apt to set up reason above the word. Celsus said to his
fellow heathens, that we should follow reason, and that all error was
brought into the world by faith. And Galen, when he read some
passages of Moses, said, Malta dicit, nihil probat he saitli much, but
he proves nothing. In many things we have only the saying of scrip
ture, and it is enough the scripture saith it. If we should believe no
more than the strength of reason and discourse will assure us, we should
soon deny the doctrine of the trinity, the deity of Christ, and the
creation ; reason can never trace these things. This is the inlet of all
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 413
atheism and profaneness, when men set up reason as the highest
tribunal. Indeed there are many uses of reason ; partly to prepare
and induce us to hearken to the word of God ; this is the mind God
hath given us to know him, the stock left in nature, upon which he
would implant faith. Aud partly, it is of great use, that after we have
believed, we may receive an additional confirmation ; when we believe
a thing, reason may judge, if it be not equal and fit we should believe
it. Faith makes advantage of the confessions and acknowledgments
of nature : there is no truth we believe, but afterwards we may find
excellent advantages to confirm us in it by rational searches: These
confirmations of reason are of great use for the quenching those fiery
darts which Satan flings into the soul, by which he would bear down
all principles of religion. And partly, to prevent absurd intrusions upon
our belief and fanatical opinions. Ignorance and error have many
times been veiled under a pretence of mystery, and things hidden from
reason. Though reason must be captivated to faith, yet not to fancy.
Reason is made a judge many times where the word is silent; but for
the truths revealed in the word, though they are above reason, yet they
are not against reason ; though reason cannot comprehend them, yet
they are not repugnant to reason. And partly reason is of great use r
that we may search the scripture, and draw out necessary consequences
from the truths revealed in the word ; this we may do by the warrant
of Christ. The mysteries of salvation must be believed first, that we
may understand them ; we must receive them from God's bare testi
mony, afterwards search them out, that our belief may be the more
distinct and explicit. Thus reason serveth faith. There is a great
use of reason in religion, so it keeps its place, being subordinate to
faith.
2. It informs us that the heathens had never light enough for
salvation. Their charity is too large who think that the heathens may
be taught enough by those natural apostles, sun, moon, and stars.
Certainly they are blind in the work of redemption, since they are so
blind in the work of creation. Though God hath not left himself
without witness, Act xiv. 17, that is, such as may lead them to God
the creator, yet not to lead them to God the Redeemer, there is
enough given to the heathens for conviction, but not for conversion.
Therefore all those that God would call to himself, he gave them a
higher light, even the revelation of the word. Though nature tells us,
there is a God, yet what he is, and how to be worshipped, and how he
came to be displeased with the world, and how he came to be reconciled,
of all this it telleth us nothing. Nature finds itself depraved, but it
knows not the remedy and cure.
3. It shows us the great advantage that we have by faith, and by
the written word. If we had been left to the puzzle and distraction
of our own reason, how should we have known whence the world came,
and how it was made by God ? Reason, as it exerciseth itself in several
ways since the ruin of it in Adam's fall, is of several dimensions,
according to men's natural constitution, moral education, and industry.
But he hath given us the blessed rules of his word. What a puzzle
and distraction were the philosophers left in ? A poor child learneth
more by a catechism, than all the philosophers by their profound
414 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [!$ER. IX.
researches ; those that have the smallest abilities of reason may here
learn. The philosophers, though they spent all their days in painful
studies, and were endowed with rare abilities of learning, yet what
novices were they in spiritual things! they cannot tell what the
happiness of the soul is, nor where it shall be enjoyed, nor the means
to attain it ; they know not how the world was made, nor how it shall
end.
4. It informs us, that religion is not illiterate. Grace doth not make
men simple, but rather perfects human learning. None discern truths
witli more comfort and satisfaction than a believer ; it solves all doubts
and riddles of reason. Quod ratio non capit, fides intelligit. Simple
men despise learning, and carnal men despise grace, both on the same
grounds. Faith and reason must go together, though reason must be
subordinate. We should not despise the help of human learning, neither
should we despise grace, as if it did make men dull, and blunt the edge
of their parts. Reason and faith, when kept in their proper place, are
of excellent advantage. Join faith with your study, and all will be
more clear, otherwise we shall stumble at truths. When these three
lights are in conjunction, the light of parts, the light of refined reason
and the light of grace, they bring forth admirable and happy effects.
But on the other side, the decay of learning hath been the sensible
abatement of religion. Religion hath never lost more than when
outward helps have been despised, which men do to hide their own
ignorance. When the apostle speaks against the vain abuse of learn
ing, he gives God thanks : 1 Cor. xiv. 18, ' I thank God, I speak with
tongues more than you all/ implying that it is the usual course of men
to speak against that which they want. A heated iron pierceth into a
board though blunt, more than edged tools when cold. Holiness and
outward advantages must go together.
5. We learn hence the properties of faith to have knowledge, assent,
and obedience in it ; therefore it is not a blind reliance, but a clear,
distinct persuasion of such truths, concerning which human discourse
can give us no satisfaction. Faith is opposite to three things. The
knowledge of it is opposite to ignorance ; faith brings the soul to the
understanding of the things of salvation. And it is opposite to folly ;
it makes us improve the mysteries of salvation to our spiritual comfort :
Luke xxiv. 25, ' ye fools, and slow of heart to believe ; ' and Eph. i.
18, ' That the eyes of your understanding being enlightened,' &c.
There is the wisdom of believers to apply truths to their spiritual
advantage. And it is opposite to incogitancy and carelessness of spirit,
it makes us turn our minds upon the things of religion.
6. It is the nature of faith to subscribe to a revelation in the word,
though reason give little assistance and aid. The word is enough to
faith, though the thing seem unlikely to reason ; it stands not upon
appearance or probabilities. When we have a doctrine laid down in
the word, we must not mind whether it be probable, otherwise we
should never believe a creation, which is the making of all things out
of nothing.
Use 2. It serves to stir you up to act faith. What is the use of
faith upon the creation ? To answer all the objections of reason, and
settle the truth in the soul, and to improve it for spiritual uses and
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 415
advantages, and to facilitate the belief of other truths upon this ground ;
did he make the world out of nothing ? Many truths are less wonder
ful than this.
SEKMON X.
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed ~by the icord
of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things
ivhich do appear HEB. xi. 3.
Now I come to consider the circumstances of the creation ; and the
first is, ' that the worlds were made,' or framed. In the original, it is,
KarrjpTiaOai, 'set in joint,' a metaphor taken from the perfect frame
of man's body, where every member, vein and artery is aptly disposed,
and in its proper place ; so are all creatures settled in their due pro
portion and order ; there is nothing wanting either for use, or for
ornament ; it is all fitly framed and made up into a complete mass
and body. The note is this, viz.
Doct. That the world was framed in an accurate, orderly, and perfect
manner.
1. I shall illustrate the point by some similitudes out of scripture.
2. I shall show \vherein the harmony and perfect order of the
creation did consist.
3. I shall answer a doubt that may be commenced against the
doctrine.
First, To illustrate the note by some similitudes out of scripture.
The perfection and order of the world is compared to man's body, to
a host or army, and to a house or excellently contrived building.
1. It is compared to the body of a man. The world is set in joint,
and there is a great deal of likeness and similitude : 1 Cor. xii. 12,
' As the body is one, and hath many members ; and all the members
of that one body being many, are one body ; ' that is, though they be of
different shape and different uses, yet they all make up but one body.
So the several ingredients into this great mass and lump are for the
matter, worth, and influence of a diverse nature ; yet all these members
and pieces of the creation are tied to one another by secret bands and
ligaments, as the members of the body are ; such a confederacy and
compliance is there between all the parts of the world, they fall into
one common frame as several joints, by a mutual agreement and
proportion.
2. It is compared to an host or army : Gen. ii. 1, ' Thus the heavens
and the earth were finished, and all the host of them ;' Ps. xxxiii. 6,
' By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of
them, by the breath of his mouth ; he gathereth the waters of the sea
together as an heap, and he layeth up the depth in storehouses.'
Therefore God is called the Lord of hosts upon this reason, because
the creatures were not huddled together in confusion, but stand like
soldiers in their orderly rank, as a well-marshalled host under the
41G SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. X.
conduct of God. This word host doth not only imply their services and
operations under God's command and conduct, but their order and
government. The Septuagint render it by /eooyio?, to signify the
beauty of it. All the parts of the creation are like a well-ordered
army standing in rank and file, the places of their abode as so many
tents. And God hath his magazine and treasury out of which he doth
supply them : Job xxxviii. 22, 23, ' Hast thou entered into the trea
sures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, which
I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle
and war ? '
3. It is compared to a curious house. The universe hath an excel
lent resemblance to a frame of building, Job xxxviii. 4-6. There
you have this notion, where we are told of laying the foundation, and
the corner-stone, and of a line, and measure, and the like; all figura
tive terms which are taken from an outward building. The whole
world is but one great house ; the earth is the floor, the sea is the
watercourse for it ; heaven is the arch and roof of it ; God is the archi
tect of this house, but man is the inhabitant and tenant. And lest he
should want comfort, the sun and stars are like so many windows to
let in light, all to set forth the glory and magnificence of God. There
are several rooms and chambers in this house ; therefore the prophet
speaks, Amos ix. 6, ' He buildeth his stories in the heaven.' The
earth by its own proper weight remains immovable in the centre of
the world, and the spheres one above another are as so many stories
in a house.
Secondly, Wherein this order and beauty of the world doth consist.
It stands in six things.
1. In the wonderful multitude and variety of creatures, distributed into
so many several excellent natures and forms, they all do proclaim the
beauty and order of the whole world. It is no difficult thing with one
seal to make many impressions of the same stamp, or to print many
sheets with the same letters when once set ; but that God should
diversify forms, and that in such an infinite manner, that he should leave
such different impressions from the seal of his power, according to the
platform of his own counsel, this can never sufficiently enough be
admired ; herbs, plants, flowers, fruits, birds, beasts ; and among living
creatures there is a great deal of difference in figure, taste, colour, and
smell ; then such variety of living creatures ; among men, men's faces
though they were all drawn by the same pencil, yet what difference is
there ! Scarce two men alike among so many millions. The stars
the apostle saith, 'one differs from another in glory,' 1 Cor. xv. 41.
The angels are above them, and there is a great deal of difference
among angels ; some are thrones, some dominions, some powers, some
principalities, as the apostle reckons them up, Col. i. 16. So that
when we consider this, the wonderful diversity of forms, we may cry
out, Ps. civ. 24, ' Lord, how manifold are thy works ! in wisdom hast
thou made them all.' The world would not have been so beautiful, if
all had been great, none small ; if all hot, no creature cold ; all moist,
no dry; or all dry, and no moist; as the frame of men's bodies would
not have been half so beautiful, if all were eye, or all head, or all heart,
or all brain ; or, as in outward things, are all not rulers and captains,
YER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 417
but there is a difference. This speaks the beauty and excellency of
the world, the variety of God's works.
2. The beauty and artificial composition of all things. Human wit
cannot reach it ; whether we respect the outward shape or inward
frame, look upon man ; ' He is fearfully and wonderfully made,' saith
the psalmist, Ps. cxxxix. 14. The beauty of women overcomes, be
sots, and takes away the heart of wise men, it is so great ; nothing can
be added or taken away from any creature, but there will be deformity
and ugliness. Do but take away an eye from a man ; or add a mouth
to him ; how deformed would it be, to see a man with one eye, or two
mouths ! Nay, look upon the baser creatures, those that seem to be
the most uncomely parts of the creation, yet there is a beauty in their
make and frame. A man would look upon a swine as a filthy creature,
yet to see a swine without ears, how uncomely ! Nay, go to lower
things ; God hath showed his power in great things, but his wisdom
in small. In a gnat, in a grain of mustard seed, how much of God
may be seen ! What virtue is there in that small seed to grow up
into a tree ! Certainly, nature is nowhere seen so much as in the least
things. Christ sendeth us to the lilies of the field, Mat. vi. 29. What
curious drafts are there in the flowers of the field ! Solomon sends us
to the ant. So we may go to a gnat ; to see such a little creature to
have feet, head, and heart, all the inward senses, and all the outward
senses, all necessary sagacity for its own preservation ; how wonder
fully are these little creatures made ! But now look to man's inward
frame, there is more, all full of riddle. Galen, when he was dissecting
the hand of man, he fell into a great admiration of that God that made
man. It is wonderful to consider the continual motion that is in man's
body, and that without alteration. Men have laboured much to make
a clock that should run by the force of a weight for four and twenty
hours. Oh, how great is the wisdom of God, and the power of God
that made man ! So that there is a clock that still strikes within him
from his birth till he comes to die, and be no more in the world that
the nutritive power should be working perpetually without intermis
sion, that there should be a continual beating of the pulses, that the
lungs and arteries should move without ceasing to seventy or ninety
years, nay, before the flood, nine hundred years. All the creatures are
curiously and wonderfully made and framed.
3. The order and beauty of the world consists as in their composition,
so in their disposition, and in the apt placing of all things. When we
look upon every creature, we shall see it could not have a better place
than God hath bestowed upon it ; the superior and inferior bodies are
all exactly ordered. The earth, of ail bodies the most heavy and pon
derous, is lowest, and the foundation of all the rest. The elements as
they are more pure and simple, so they have an upper place the
waters above the earth, and the air above the waters. Then the stars,
which are most pure and simple, they have the uppermost places of
the world ; and the sun, as king and prince, placed in the middle of
the stars. So that the air and water, which are of a middle purity,
are like so many couples and loops which tie heaven and earth to
gether, and they are between them both. The air conveys the influ
ences of the stars to the earth, and preventeth emptiness and vacuity.
VOL. XIII. 2 D
418 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [&ER. X.
The water that is more impure, though not altogether so gross a body
;is the earth, insinuates itself with the earth, and makes it fruitful.
Living creatures, because they are made up of elements, they are
placed in them, some in the air, some upon the earth, some in the
water, that so from above and beneath they may receive comfort and
profit ; heat and comfort from above, and food from beneath. Then they
are exquisitely and accurately placed : creatures that are hugest and
of the greatest multitude are put into the sea, Leviathan is to sport
there, lest if they should be upon earth, they might be an annoyance to
man, and cause too great a waste of food. And therefore the reason
able creatures, they are in the highest and lowest parts of the world ;
the angels in the highest heavens, and man upon earth ; because in
both ends of the world God would have some to behold his glory, and
to contemplate the whole frame. In short, the earth, the dwelling-
place of man, standeth fixed and unmoved. The sea rolls up and
down to keep it pure and fresh ; the heavens move to convey their
influences ; the clouds are carried hither and thither, God rides up
and down upon them, as princes in their chariots: Isa. xix. 1, 'The
Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt ; ' Ps. xviii.
10, ' And he rode upon a cherub and did fly, yea he did fly upon the
wings of the wind ; ' that so the earth might receive due moisture for
the use of man. Then the distribution of the waters into all the parts
of the earth, as it were by pipes, conveyances, and channels, prepared
on purpose, that all the creatures may have drink and refreshment.
The psalmist takes notice of that, Ps. civ. 10. 11, 'He sendeth the
springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. They give drink
to every beast of the field, the wild asses quench their thirst; he
watereth the hills from his chambers/
4. This accurate frame is seen in the wonderful consent of all the
parts of the world, and the proportion they bear one to another. There
are several steps and degrees in the creature, by which we may go higher
and higher, and climb up till we come to God himself. The proportion
of the creatures leads us up to God. As to instance, in-the general rank
and kind of all things in the world, the lowest creatures have only
being ; others have not only being, but life, as plants ; others have
not only life, but feeling and sense, as beasts ; others have not only life
and sense, but reason and understanding, as men. But now man is in
a lower sphere of understanding, he receives objects by his senses, and
he needs his fancy, therefore there is a higher sphere of understanding
creatures, even angels, and they have a higher manner of reason and
understanding than man. So above the angels, there is a God. Nature
climbs step by step, and leads us to God. A stone hath being, but not
life. A plant grows, but feels not as a beast. A beast hath sense, but
cannot discourse and reason as a man ; and sense is more imperfect, than
reason, because it must have a corporeal organ or instrument. Man's
reason is lower than angels, because man, in all the discourses and tra
verses of his mind, needs the help and ministry of imagination and
fancy, which angels need not. But now an angel is lower than God, but
yet higher than man, he doth not need the outward species and shapes of
things to be received by the senses, but the understanding of an angel
requires either some revelation, or the presence of the object : but now
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 419
God hath a higher manner of understanding he is a pure act ; above all
these, he needs nothing without himself; needs not the presence of the
object, as angels do ; nor an instrument, as the beasts do ; nor imagina
tion, as man doth; for he knows all things that maybe by his own all-suf
ficiency, and all things that shall be by his wise decree. Nature grows
from worse to better, from lower to greater, till it brings us up to the
being of beings and chiefest perfection. In metals there is the same pro
portion ; some baser, others more noble ; first iron, then lead, then tin,
then brass, then silver, then gold. In plants some have only leaves,
others flowers, others fruits, others aromatical gums and sweet spices.
So in sensible creatures there is a wonderful difference in their ranks;
from a gnat till you come to a man : there is a progress in nature, that
still man may go further and further, till he find out the first cause.
The whole world is a poem of praise, in which some verses have long
feet and some short ; there are some small and inconsiderable creatures,
and others higher, and nearer to the great perfection of God, that we
may climb up from the creature until we come to converse with
God.
5. In the mutual ministry and help of the creatures one to another.
They are disposed in such a comely order, that they yield a mutual
supply one to another, such as may best conserve the universe, cherish
man, and glorify God. For instance, the earth is cherished by the heat
of the stars, moistened by water, and by the temperament of heat and
moisture it is made fruitful, and sends forth innumerable plants for the
comfort and use of living creatures, that living creatures may be for the
use of man ; it is wonderful to consider the subordination of all causes,
and the proportion they bear one to another : the heavens work upon
the elements, the elements work upon the earth, the earth yieldeth fruits
and. plants for the use and comfort of man and other living creatures.
The prophet takes notice of this admirable climax and gradation that
is in nature : Hosea ii. 21, 22, ' Saith the Lord, I will bear the heavens,
and they shall bear the earth, and the earth shall bear the corn, and
the wine, and the oil ; and they shall bear Jezreel.' We are always
looking to the next hand ', we call upon the corn, wine, and oil, and
they can do nothing, except the earth send forth sap and influence. The
earth can do nothing without the clouds, unless God unstop the bottle*
of heaven, and let out the rain ; the clouds can do nothing without the
stars, and the stars can do nothing without God ; the creatures are all
beholden one to another, and all to God. There is an excellent knot
and chain of causes in the creation. Look, as the joints of the body are
hollow to take in one another, so there is an established order in the
course of nature, all the causes hang together.
6. In the wise government and conservation of all things according
to the rules and laws of the creation. Divine providence is mightily
seen in this, in the guiding of all things by the laws of nature, as in
the constant course of the stars, by which we have the seasons of day
and night. That man may go forth to labour, the sun gives him light ;
and that man may go to his rest, the sun travels to the other hemisphere ;
and God draws a curtain of darkness round about us, that we may sleep
without disturbance ; so also that we may have winter and summer,
spring and harvest in their seasons, according to God's promise, Gen.
-120 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. X.
viii. 22. The sun hath its period and point in the heaven, according
to which it doth rise and set. David takes notice of the sun's setting :
Ps. civ. 19, ' He appointeth the moon for seasons ; the sun knoweth his
going down ; ' the meaning is, he hath appointed the moon for seasons/
the months being distinguished by the course of the moon. 'The sun
knows his going down,' the days being measured by the motion of the
sun. The length and shortness of days are all measured by God, and
the sun knows when to set at an hour and minute according as God
appointed him. Though there be every day some variety according to
the degrees of the zodiac, yet the sun observes the just points of the
compass : Job xxxviii. 12, ' He causeth the day-spring to know his
place.' The sun knows when to rise at such and such an hour, and
such a point of the heavens, he knows his place. So it is very notable
for the other stars, though they move most swiftly, and though they
never cease ; though some go round in a slower, and some in a swifter
space, yet they always keep their measures and proportions, and their
motions are equally distant. The stars go round in four and twenty
hours, and the planets in various motions, and though there be so many
ten thousand millions of stars, yet they do not interfere and jostle one
another. It is notable when God would express the numerousness of
Abraham's posterity, he useth three expressions to him : Gen. xxii. 17,
' They shall be as the dust of the earth, as the sand of the sea-shore,
and as the stars of heaven.' From this expression, wherein he promiseth
him a multitude of children that should come of his loins, we may con
clude that there must needs be a great company of stars. Now that
in such a crowd and throng of stars that are always moving, there
should be no clashing, no confusion, no interfering with one another,
but still they keep their path, and go on according to the law and decree
which God hath set unto them ; who can admire this sufficiently ? So
in upholding all ranks of all other creatures, and guiding them for the
great purposes and uses of providence. His gathering together the
drops of the air : Job xxvi. 8, ' He binds up the waters in his thick
clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them ; ' that he should keep
up such a quantity of water in the thin clouds, as in so many bottles or
barrels, till they be condensed into rain and then pour them out in drops
for the good and use of man. So the power of God is mightily seen in
bridling the sea. Though it be above the earth, yet it is said : Ps. civ.
9, ' He hath set bounds to the waters, that they may not pass over, that
they turn not again to cover the earth.' Though above the earth, yet
the Lord keeps them up in a heap together, and keeps them back that
they shall not return to drown the world.
Thirdly i I come to answer an objection that might be commenced.
Obj. If God made the world in such harmony and order, whence
came all those disorders that are in the world ? We see some creatures
are ravenous ; other creatures are poisonous ; all are frail, and still
decaying and hasting to their own ruin. Whence come murrains, sick
nesses, and diseases ? whence come such destructive enmities and anti
pathies between beast and beast, yea and beasts of the same kind ?
whence come such dislocations, and unjointings of nature by tempests
and earthquakes ? All elements have been one time or other routed
into confusion ; the air hath been imprisoned in the bowels of the earth,
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 421
from whence come earthquakes ; the sea swelleth above its banks,
from whence come inundations ; the earth rolled hither and thither in
the sea, which rnaketh dangerous shoals and quicksands ; and the fire
reserved for the vastation of that great day, ' When the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat ; the earth also, and all the works that are therein shall be burnt
up/ 2 Peter iii. 10. Whence do these come ?
Ans. I answer. All these confusions and disorders of nature are the
effects of sin. Our sins are as a secret fire that hath melted and burnt
asunder the secret ties and confederations of nature. Thence are there
so many destructions and degenerations, such enmities, cruelties, and
antipathies among the creatures. Man, being the Lord of all things,
was not only punished in his own person, but in the creatures, which
are his servants and retinue. The Lord had given to us the free use of
these things, and dominion over them ; but upon our rebellion, the frame
of nature is much altered and changed : Gen. iii. 17, ' Cursed is the
earth for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy
life.' The word there used is nQ"M, to show that it is cursed in
that regard as it belonged to Adam, and was part of man's possession ;
and by earth he doth not only mean the lower element, but the whole
visible world ; it was made for man, and it was all cursed for man's
sake. So it is taken elsewhere : Ps. cxv. 16, ' The heavens, even the
heavens, are the Lord's ; but the earth hath he given to the children of
men ; ' and where it is said, 2 Peter iii. 7, ' The heavens and the earth
that are now,' &c. that is, the world. Wherever thou seest thorns and
thistles to grow, remember that sin is the root of them. Whenever
thou seest the seas toss, and the confederation of the creature to be dis
turbed, this is the fruit of man's disorder and rebellion against God.
Whenever thou seest a fruitful land grow barren, that is the actual
curse, a fruit of the original curse that is passed upon the earth for
man's sin. So Horn. viii. 28, the apostle saith, 'The creature was made
subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected
the same in hope.' Mark, the creature groans under the burden of vanity
and corruption ; what is the reason ? It is not the fault of the creature,
not willingly, for by the bent and poise of nature they all seek their own
preservation ; they have a constant inclination to their own good ; but
we, that had freewill and abused it, brought misery upon ourselves and
the whole creation ; therefore the apostle saith, ' It was by reason of
him who hath subjected the same in hope.' It noteth both the efficient
and meritorious cause ; by reason of man as a sinner and by reason of
God as a judge ; so the creature is subjected and brought under the bur
den of vanity. God, to show how much he was offended with man,
would discover it by the confusions and disorders of nature. As Moses
in a holy anger broke the tables when he saw the people turn aside t<\
idolatry ; so when man turned unthankful and rebellious to God the
king, it dissolved much of the order and beauty which otherwise would
have been in the creation.
Obj. But because the objection speaks of many things, Whence come
venemous things, &c. therefore take another question, what that is we
may properly look upon to be a fruit and issue of the fall ?
I answer, all corruptive and destructive alterations ; for in entire
422 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [&ER. X.
nature all alterations should have been perfect. So also the dying of
the creature to feed and clothe man is a fruit of the fall, the issue of
sin. It was sin that took away the usefulness of the creature to man ;
for in innocency they were all obedient to man ; the creatures were
ready to fall at his foot, and were at his beck. So all the enmities of
creatures among themselves are the fruit of the curse. All monstrosities
and deformities came in by the fall. Therefore the prophet when he
speaks of our restoration by Christ, it doth imply the restoration of
the creature. The sun, by reason of sin, hath lost much of his light.
When man is fully restored in glory, ' The light of the moon shall be
as the light of the sun ; and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as
the light of seven days/ Isa. xxx. 26, ' then the lamb and the lion
shall lie down together,' Isa. xi. 6, 7, for thus it was in innocency.
Those places decipher the happiness of the creature upon man's full
restoration; and imply how it was before man's fall, God made all
things good,' Gen. i. 31. But now before the fall I suppose there were
some things poisonous, and some things corruptible ; and my reason
is, because God would have the world to be furnished with all kinds of
natures ; therefore there ought to bo> corruptible natures as well as
incorruptible, and poisonous creatures as well as those that are whole
some, though they could do man no harm. If a man comes into an
artificer's shop, and seeth many instruments, he thinks them superfluous ;
at length he takes up a sharp-edged tool which wounds him ; this is
no blame to the artificer but to himself ; it is his own fault, because he
did not know the use of it : so these things were to set forth the glory
of God ; but when man by sin lost his knowledge, they proved obnoxious
and hurtful to him. Now for toads and venomous plants, I believe
most of them were the fruits of the curse of the earth, they being not
so much parts of the world, as plagues of the world ; therefore they
came in by the fall, and so should put us in mind ^of the degeneration
of the creature.
Use 1. It discovers the glory of God.
1. The whole world is but God's shop, where are the masterpieces
of his wisdom and majesty ; these are seen very much in the order of
causes, and admirable contrivance of the world.
[1.] The wisdom of God and his counsel is mightily seen. The
world is not a work of chance, but of counsel and rare contrivance.
All that the Lord did here, he did it by art, and according to the inward
idea and frame that was in his own mind ; therefore the prophet saith,
Isa. xl. 12, ' He hath weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in
a balance.' God did as it were take a balance into his hands and weigh
out all the creatures ; he hath disposed all things by number, weight, and
measure ; he hath done it in exact proportion. Oh, let us admire the
wisdom of God! it is above our search: Eccles. iii. 11, 'No man can find
out the work of the Lord from the beginning to the end ; ' we may
admire it in the general, and say it is all good, but we cannot find it out.
Some little glimpses of his wisdom we have, that we may cry out, He
is a great God, wonderful in counsel, mighty in working. But oh, the
rare and wonderful contrivance ! we cannot discern all the beauty and
all the order of it. Did we but consider the various disposition of light
and darkness, of heat and cold, of moisture and dryness, the artifice that
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 423
is seen in all things that he hath made, we should say, certainly he that
made these things is a wise God, and wonderful in counsel. We know
the power of God by making all things out of nothing ; but we
know the wisdom of God by making all things in such an exquisite
frame and order. Do but compare it with yourselves ; we are soon
tired, it is much to us to promote a petty interest in the world, to spread
our small nets, and extend and reach out our heart to the cares of our
private families ; but how wise is that God that had the model of all.
things within himself, from the elephant to the ant, that disposed of all
things in such a manner, that hath made and formed them with such
apt proportions, that guideth the courses of the heavens, and keepeth
the stars in their paths and order !
[2.] The majesty and greatness of God. Look up to him, that is at
the upper end of all these causes, that are so sweetly subordinate to one
another in the world; and he can turn them as he pleaseth: Job,
speaking of the bright cloud, saith, chap, xxxvii. 12, ' It is turned round
about by his counsels ; that they may do whatsoever he commands.'
Look up to him that is the head of angels. We are dazzled at the
splendour and magnificence of an earthly king or prince ; when we see
him surrounded with dukes, earls and lords, these seem great things to
us. How should we wonder at the majesty of God, that is encompassed
with cherubim and seraphim, principalities, powers, thrones and domi
nions ! How do we wonder at the majesty of kings riding in triumph
in their chariots ! Oh, how should we wonder at him that rides upon
the wings of the wind ! It was the brag of the king of Assyria, Isa.
xix. 8, ' Are not my princes altogether kings ? ' But he hath angels
for his courtiers, and clouds for his chariots, Ps. xviii. 10, 11, and a
golden garment of light for his covering, Ps. civ. 2, whose throne is in
heaven, and footstool is upon earth ; and in heaven he sits in great
majesty, commanding all things ; and hath all creatures ready pressed
for his service ; he can but beckon to them, and they engage in his
quarrel : Judges, v. 20, ' They fought from heaven ; the stars in their
courses fought against Sisera.' He hath the stars in order, and all
causes in order to fight his battles against a wicked man. The fighting
of the stars I believe might be explained out of Josephus, lib. v. cap.
6, who thus relates it: 'When Israel was to engage against the Canaan-
ites, there arose a great storm of hail, which the wind drove violently
in the faces of the Canaanites, and did so benumb their hands with cold,
that carried the targets, darts, and slings, that they could not use them ;
and did so batter their eyes, that it took away their sight, that they
could not look up : but it came on the backs of the Israelites, which
encouraged them to fall upon them, so that they made an utter slaughter
of them.' Certainly the force of the stars is very great upon storms of
hail, thunder, and winds : Job xxxvii. 6, ' He saith to the snow, Be
thou on the earth : likewise to the small raio, and to the great rain of
his strength.' So, ver. 12, ' He turned it about by his counsels, that
they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the
world in the earth/ He can call the winds, and they will make a
ready answer to God : Job. xxxviii. 35, ' Canst thou send lightnings,
that they may go, and say unto thee, Here are we?' All creatures are
ready; he doth but beckon to the creatures, and they presently go
424 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. XI.
upon his errand ; Lord, here are we, send us : whether shall I go ?
saiththe lightning ; where shall I go ? saith the thunder ; where shall
I go ? saith the hail. They are ready to be despatched in an errand
for the punishment of sinners.
Through faith we understand that the ivorlds ivere framed by the ivord
of God, so that things ivhich are seen ivere not made of things
which do appear. HEB. xi. 3.
Use. 2. It showeth us the excellency of order ; how pleasing order and
method is to God : God hath always delighted in it. All his works
are managed and carried on in an accurate order. So in all artificial
works ; God speaks like a wise architect about the ark of Noah ; God
gave directions how it should be framed : Gen. vi. 15, ' The length of
it shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth fifty cubits, the height
thirty cubits.' So for the tabernacle, it was according to the pattern
in the mount, Exod. xxv. ; so for the table of show-bread, the knobs,
bowls, and shafts of the candlestick, God gave special directions about
them. Certainly God is a God of order, and not of confusion, 1 Cor.
xiv. 33. All order is from God ; but all discord and confusion is from
the devil. Order is pleasing to him in the state and civil administra
tions, in the church, and in the course of your private conversations.
1. In civil administrations in the common weal th, there are several
orders and constitutions that God hath made. The beauty of the
world lieth in hills and valleys ; so in the state, some advanced to high
places, others are low and poor. To bring all to one size, pitch and
level, would soon introduce confusion into the world. There is order
in heaven, order in hell, and there should have been order in innocencj'.
There is order in heaven among the good angels. The scripture speaks
of an archangel, 1 Thes. iv. 16 ; though he be not a monarch, there
are others of the same rank and order: Dan. x. 13, 'Michael, one of
the chief princes, came to help me.' And we read in Job of the morn
ing stars,' Jobxxxviii. 7; that is, the archangels that excel the rest in
glory. There are many of them, and God himself presides among
them. Then there are inferior ministering angels, thrones, principal
ities, powers, dominions. Though we cannot define the difference, yet
the scripture plainly intimates one, and lays down an order and sub
ordination among the angels. Nay, there is some kind of order in hell
itself. There is a prince among the infernal spirits ; whence comes
that expression, ' The devil and his angels,' Mat. xxv. 41 ; and Rev.
xii. 7, ' The dragon and his angels/ who is ' called the devil and Satan/
ver. 9. Jesus Christ, though he doth not positively lay it down, yet he
doth not deny the common opinion of the Jews, that Beelzebub was the
prince of evil spirits. The devils are not without their head and prince.
And in innocency there should have been order too, if we had continued
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xr. 425
in that state. There would have been government and some inequality ;
there would have been difference of sex, women and men ; the relation
of fathers and children ; the disparity of age, young men and old ; now
much more is there need of it since the fall. There can be no peace
without it. Pax est tranquillitas ordinis peace is the quiet of every
thing in its proper place : it is a great blessing when all keep their due
subordination, when magistrates keep their place, ministers and trades
men keep their place ; otherwise things will be shamefully brought
into confusion. Thus civil peace is the fruit of order, when every one
keeps their place. When the elements are out of their places, then
there are confusions in nature.
2. The Lord loves order in the church. I have observed the church
is set forth in scripture by the same similitudes and resemblances by
which the frame of the world is ; by an army, and by a house, and by
the body of man. By an army or host : the church is ' terrible as an
army with banners,' Cant. vi. 4 ; when all administrations are regularly
carried according to the mind of God. It is compared to a house:
Eph. ii. 22, ' In whom you also are builded together for an habitation
of God through the Spirit.' And the prophet speaks of the order of
the church : Isa. liv. 12, ' I will make thy windows of agates, and thy
gates of carbuncles.' It is compared to the body of man, which receives
supplies and nourishment from the head : Col. ii. 19, ' And not holding
the head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourish
ment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of
God/ Usually we are very loose and arbitrary in point of order. That
is the great security, the fence and hedge of religion, when some
instruct in the word, some are for inspection of manners, some minister
to the poor ; when there are some to govern, and others to be governed ;
when all keep their place, the church is beautiful, and terrible as an
army with banners. This was the rejoicing of the apostle, Col. ii. 5,
' To behold their order and steadfastness.' The order of the church
doth not consist in idle foppish ceremonies, but in decent administra
tions. But when men set the feet where the head should be, make
every one to be guides to the church, then the beauty of the church is
defaced, and all error and confusion is let into the church. The apostle
complains of ' Some that did walk disorderly/ 2 Thes. iii. 11, ara/crw?
the word signifies out of rank ; this provokes the just suspension of
the influences of his grace.
3. The excellency of order in private conversation. We must be
more orderly in disposing our actions for the conveniency of the spiritual
life. Nothing so fit for a man as order and method in his private con
versation but more especially in the spiritual life. We should not
walk at random and at large. Till there be a settled frame in th
course of our lives, it will never do well ; that we may not live at ad
venture in religion, and do good by flashes. God complains of them
that are only good by fits, Hosea vi. 4. If we do not task ourselves,
and propose a settled course, we shall be fickle and inconstant, off and
on with God : Ps. 1. 23, ' To him that ordereth his conversation aright,
will I show the salvation of God/ We should state all ; he courses
and exercises of religion in the holy life ; that so our duty may not be
a hindrance, but a help to another. We act loosely when we act
426 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SER. XL
arbitrarily, and at random ; and shall be soon taken off by every alle
gation and plea of the flesh, if we do not lay a necessity upon ourselves,
and settle a stated course of religious duties in our lives. You may
do this lawfully: to this end God hath given us spiritual prudence
and Christian discretion. There are precepts in general for giving and
doing, but for measure, number, and order, God would leave that to
Christian discretion. It is said, Ps. cxii. 5, ' A good man guides all
his affairs with discretion.' Do not think such a stated course will be
a snare to you, but it will prove a great advantage, and be a hedge to
duty. All the experiences of the saints seal to it ; they could not else
secure themselves against neglects and omissions, if they did not lay
an engagement upon themselves by their own purposes and constitu
tions. Duties of ordinary recourse may be easily thus disposed. I
confess it requires some wisdom to state it aright, lest we lie bound in
chains of our own making, and watchfulness and resolution that we
may keep it. When the proportions are rational, every idle objection
should not take us off, for it is in the nature of paying a vow. Time
dedicated to God is not in our power, nor revocable upon every slight
occasion, only in case of inviolable necessity, to which duties of a divine
institution do give place.
Use. 3. It discovers the odiousness of sin that disjointed the frame
of nature. When God made the world, ' he saw everything he had
made, and behold it was very good,' Gen. i. 31 ; but Solomon when
he looked upon it, he saw all was ' vanity of vanities,' Eccles. i. 2.
What is the reason ? sin intervened and so the course of nature was
altered. It had been otherwise but for sin ; the creature had continued
in their order, had we continued in our innocence. Let me spread
a few considerations before you.
1. Do but consider what cause God hath to be angry with us. We
are angry with those that break down a curious frame or contrivement
we have made, as if any break curious glasses, pictures, or images, or
a handsome structure. But consider, we have cracked the frame of the
universe. The ties which hold the world are loosened by our sins, and
much of the accurate order of the universe is inverted. There is a
vanity among the creatures themselves, and sin and rebellion to us.
Therefore when thy thoughts are cold and barren in acknowledging sin,
especially in conceiving the evil that is in original sin, consider of this
circumstance ; it turned a paradise into a wilderness and rude common ;
it broke the frame of nature. As Moses, when he was angry with the
Israelites, broke the tables ; so God hath broken the great frame of
nature. Let that break your hearts which hath broken the world ; and
that which hath wrought so much mischief in nature, let it trouble
your souls.
2. Consider what a fit circumstance and consideration this is to
represent the odiousness of sin ; here we have a sensible and constant
memorial of the fruits of our rebellion. Man, being in a lower sphere
of understanding, knows causes by their effects. Oh, see what a cause
sin is; look upon the effects of it in the disorders that are in the
world: Jer. ii. 19, 'Know therefore, and see that it is an evil thing
and bitter, that thoujiast forsaken the Lord thy God.' What would
you think of that gall, a drop of which is enough to embitter an ocean
VER. 3.J SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XT. 427
of sweetness ? Such is sin. One sin poisoned all mankind at once, and
cracked and dissolved the frame of nature. There were indeed presently
upon the fall two dreadful effects of sin's influence, the misery Adam
brought upon his own posterity, and the vanity he brought upon the
creature ; both are sad and continual resemblances. The first I con
fess is a very great representation of the evil of sin ; every child that is
born is a new memorial of the fall. God as it were said to Adam, an
the prophet to Gehazi, 2 Kings v 27, ' The leprosy of Naaman shall
cleave unto thee, and to thy seed for ever ; ' now thou hast sinned,
every child born shall be a leper. So all the children of Adam are as
so many pledges and memorials of the folly and disobedience he had
committed against God. But look without, and the creatures are made
unhappy by man's fall. When we have drawn company with us into
misery, their sight and presence doth but increase our sorrow ; as if a
prodigal should look upon the lean faces of his family, he cannot but
with the more regret own the shame of his own excesses. We may all
go to God, and say with David, 2 Sam. xxiv. 17, ' Lord, I have sinned,
and I have done wickedly; but as for these sheep, what have they
done ?' so, Lord, we and our fore-fathers have all sinned against thee;
but what have the creatures done, that they are destroyed and
devoured ? These memorials are constantly represented ; not a bit we
eat, not a cloth we put on, but may return these thoughts into our minds,
these are the fruits of our sin. In innocency Adam was not ashamed
of his nakedness, and the creatures might not be slain for our food.
3. We have no cause to exempt ourselves from this duty of
mourning by laying the guilt upon Adam ; as if he only were unthank
ful and rebellious against God. Consider, by sin we do as it were con
sent to Adam's act, and so we are accessory post factum to his guilt.
Imitation is an approbation, and an implicit and interpretative consent.
Saith Christ to the Jews, Mat. xxiii. 37, ' Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
thou that killest the prophets;' and ver. 36, 'Whom ye slew between
the temple and the altar.' How did they slay them ? Because they
continued still vexing the servants of God, therefore they are said to
slay Zacharias. They that go on in any sin, do subscribe to the acts
of those that went before them ; we have continued in Adam's course
of rebelling against God, therefore we are justly chargeable with his
act. The father is fore-faulted for rebellion, and the child, continuing
in the same course, doth approve his act, and besides his own personal
guilt, is chargeable with the crimes of his forefathers. So that we
may say, we have unsettled the universe. Ju.de 11, it is said 'these
perished in the gainsaying of Korah.' How could that be, when there
was such a huge distance and space of time between these and Korah ?
The meaning is, by practising the same sins, they came into a fellow
ship of the guilt ; and imitating the fault, they became liable to the
same judgment. Adam's first act brought on the original curse upon
the creature, but our actual sins bring in an actual curse. As there is
original and actual sin, so there is an original and an actual curse. It
is true, Adam alone brought on the original curse: Gen. iii. 17, 'Cursed
be the ground for thy sake : ' but we bring on an actual curse: Ps. cvii.
33, 34, ' He turns rivers into a wilderness, and water-springs into dry
ground ; a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them
428 SERMONS UPON 7 HEBKEWS XI. [SEU. XL
that dwell therein.' Our actual sinning spoils the earth, and makes it
barren and disorders the elements, and makes the rain from heaven
unseasonable. Yea, we are guilty every day of doing that which Adam
did once laying a greater burden upon the creatures by abusing them
to pomp, pride, excess, and carnal trust ; so you need not complain of
Adam, but of your ownselves. The creatures do not say, Lord, avenge
our quarrel upon Adam, but upon these who have abused us : Hab. ii.
11, ' The stone out of the wall shall cry out, and the beam out of the
timber shall answer it.' The stone and timber shall cry, Lord, avenge
us against this oppressor ; the house that is builded by extortion is
crying to God against the unjust possessor. So James v. 3. 4, ' The
rust of the gold and silver shall be a witness against them. Behold,
the hire of the labourers, which have reaped down your fields, which
is of you kept back by fraud, crieth.' The rusty coin out of the coffer
crieth, and requireth vengeance at God's hands ; the creatures that
have been abused to disorder and excess do cry out of the glutton's
belly and drunkard's throat, Lord, avenge us ! The clothes upon
our backs do as it were cry, Lord, we are abused to pride and vanity ;
take notice of our quarrel and plea against man !
4. If we do not bemoan this disorder of nature, the very creatures
will shame us. They groan under this burden of vanity that is
brought upon them ; but we are senseless, slight and careless. It is
even true what Christ said in another case, Luke xix. 40, ' If these
should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.' So, if
we hold our peace, the creatures will speak to our shame. Whither is
man fallen ? The senseless and inanimate creatures are more moved
with the evil of the present state than we are. That is the reason the
prophet doth turn so often to the creatures, and address himself and
speak to them : Jer. xiL 4, ' How long shall the land mourn, and the
herbs of every field wither for the wickedness of them that dwell there
in ? ' And Lam. ii. 18, ' wall of the daughter of Sion, let tears run
down like a river day and night.' The prophet calls upon the wall
because the people were senseless. We go dancing like madmen to
our misery and execution ; and the creatures mourn and groan under
the burden of our sins : Hosea iv. 3, ' The land mourneth,' viz. for oaths,
but where is the swearer that mourns ? The prophets often turn from
men, and speak to the creatures: Deut. xxxii. 1, 'Give ear, ye
heavens, and I will speak ; and hear, earth, the words of my mouth.'
And Micah vi. 2, ' Hear, mountains, the Lord's controversy.' And,
Jer. xxii. 29, ' earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord ;' because
men will take no notice. The prophets may fret out their hearts, and
spend their lungs in vain, before men will be sensible ; therefore he
speaks to them. You hear the ox lowing, and the creatures groaning
under the present vanity, and you do not lay it to heart. When you
see unseasonable weather and barrenness, consider all these are the
fruits of the original curse.
5. We of all the other parts of the creation have most cause to lay
it to heart, because there is none so disordered and shattered by the
fall as man is. There was none so excellent as man, being at first
framed by the counsel and contrivance of God. When the world was
made, it was said, ' Let it be ; ' but man was made by counsel, ' Let
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xr. 429
us make man after our own image/ Gen. i. 26. Man was made at
first after the image of God, now he is scarce the image of himself ;
like a defaced picture, that hath some obscure lineaments of a fail-
draft. Man was a comely, beautiful, orderly creature at first ; but now
there are but some obscure relics of this left. The soul was to be a
good guide to the body, and the body a dexterous instrument of the
soul ; but now both are out of frame ; we have spoiled the temper of
our bodies, and the order of our souls. The rabbis say, when Adam
tasted the forbidden fruit, his head ached ; certainly it is true in a
spiritual sense, then began aches and pains ; how is all shattered and
discomposed ! We read in ecclesiastical story of a famous captain
who triumphed in many battles, but afterward he fell into disgrace
with the emperor, and first his lady was deflowered before his face,
then his eyes bored out, arid he was turned out like a blind beggar
begging, Date obolum Belizario, give one halfpenny for poor Belizarius.
Before the fall, man was the favourite of heaven, but after the fall he
was presently made a slave of hell, his will was deflowered, then his
eyes were pulled out, so that now having little knowledge and little
wisdom even to guide ourselves in a moral course, the passions rebel
against reason, and many times man is not only tempted, but drawn
aside by his own lusts, and enticed, James i. 14. Nay, many times
the body riseth up in arms against the soul. Paul groans because of
a- law in his members, Horn. vii. 23. Oh what a poor disordered routed
creature man is ! body and soul all discomposed and out of order.
6. There is a loss to us by the disorder of nature, and by the dis
tempering of the creature. Man by the fall lost imperium sui, the
command of himself, and imperium suum, his command over the
creatures ; they are enemies to man because he hath rebelled against
God. If ever we find them hurtful and rebellious, we may thank
ourselves, they do but revenge their maker's quarrel. They think it
is their duty to turn off their allegiance from him that hath proved
a traitor to God, therefore they sometimes oppress us with their power
and greatness. It is usual with God to execute his judgments by the
creature : Pharoah and the Egyptians were drowned in the sea ; the
earth opened to swallow up Korah and his company ; the stars fought
against Sisera ; Herod was eaten up with lice ; Egypt devoured with
frogs. Therefore the vanity of the creature is a loss to us ; there is
not only an enmity between them one among another, but they have
lost their allegiance to man. Nay, they are ready to go if the Lord do
but hiss for them. Job xxxviii. 35, ' Canst thou send lightnings, that
they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are ? ' The lightnings say
unto God, Here we are ; the winds say, Shall we go and blast their
fruits and trees ? here we are, Lord, send us. The clouds say, Shall
vve pour out in abundance, and overwhelm the earth ? Isa. vii. 18, ' The
Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of
Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria/ It is an expres
sion that sets forth the power of God over the creatures. If God do
but signify his pleasure, they are very ready to avenge their creator's
quarrel against man.
The second circumstance in the creation is the instrument or means
by which all things were created, and that is, ' By the word of God/
430 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. XI.
Here a question ariseth, what is meant by the word of God ? whether
that which they call God's external imperial word, or whether God's
essential and substantial word ? The reason of the doubt is, because
God made all things by Christ, and Christ is often called the word.
It is his solemn title, and that in reference to the creation : John i. 1,
' In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the
word was God ; ' and ver. 3, ' By him were all things created/ And
Heb. i. 2, ' He hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom
he hath'appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds/
So that Jesus Christ is the eternal word. I shall answer this doubt in
these propositions.
1. It is very true that the second person, the Lord Jesus Christ, had
a great stroke in the creation : Ps. xxxiii. 6, ' By the word of the Lord
were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his
mouth/ There is the whole trinity ; there is the Lord, and the word
of the Lord, and there is the breath of his mouth ; that is, Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost. Prov. viii. 22, ' The Lord possessed me in the
beginning of his way, before his works of old/ There is Christ's
eternity, and his hand and power in the creation : ver. 23, ' I was set up
from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was ;/ that is,
in the first emanation of his power, Christ was then discovered : John
i. 3, ' By him were all things made that were made/ Col. i. 16, ' By
him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in
earth/ Probably this may be held forth in that speech ten times
repeated: ' The Lord said, the Lord spake/ Nay some of the Jews
acknowledge an uncreated word in all those expressions. Philo saith,
o \6yos TOV fcoa-fiov 7roLrj<rev. And it is not to be disregarded, that the
Chaldee paraphrase makes the word to be God himself.
2. Yet, besides this essential word, it is clear that we must under
stand also his imperial word, or the word of his command ; so it is
interpreted, Ps. xxxiii. 9, ' He spake, and it was done ; he commanded,
and it stood fast/ Here was God's imperial word. So Ps. cxlviii. 5,
' He commanded, and they were created/ God did create the world
by his call and imperial word. So Kom. iv. 17, ' He believed in
God, who quickened the dead, and called things that be not, as though
they were,' that is, by a call he maketh them be. Moses bringeth in
God speaking imperially, ' Let it be/
3. This imperial word must not be understood properly as if God
spake ; as if there were an audible voice, ' Let there be light ; ' but it
must be understood avdpwirwTradfa, after the manner of men. It is
an allusion to princes, if they would have anything done, they do but
say, Let it be done, that is enough ; as the centurion in the Gospel, Mark
viii. 9, ' I say to this man, Go, and he goeth ; and to another, Come, and
he cometh ; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it/ When God
said, 'Let it be,' he did but signify his will, and the effect presently
did follow. So that by the word of God you must understand the
effectual decree of his will concerning the making of all the creatures,
and the present execution of it. And this manner of speaking is used
to show with what swiftness and easiness all things were brought to pass
which God willeth, and that it is infinitely more easy with God to do
VER, 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 431
what he pleasefch, than for man to speak a word, or think a thought
of what he would have to he done.
Quest. Here is another question. If nothing is to be understood but
God's will, and willing the creation of all things? then whether the
making of the world in six days be only for our understanding, or
whether it be so really and indeed ; whether all things were not
created in the twinkling of an eye by God's will and pleasure ; or
whether it were done by distinct days, as the history in Genesis seems
to intimate? The doubt hath been moved by divines of the greatest
note. Austin expressly was of this opinion ; so Cajetan, and some
among the reformed ; their reason is, because God is omnipotent, and
could make all things in a moment, therefore why should he make
such a slow progress, and go from day to day ? And the author of
Ecclesiasticus saith, ' He that liveth for ever, made all things at once/
They quote scripture for it : Gen. ii. 4, 5, ' In the day that God made
the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in
earth, and every herb of the field before it grew.' in that very day
say they, when God created the heaven and the earth, he created all
the other creatures. And they say that the mentioning of the six days
was only inserted by Moses, because by so many distinctions and
representations God showed his creatures to the angels, and to declare
the natural dependence of all things upon one another, and also for
our incapacity to conceive distinctly of things at once.
Ans. But all this is but a figment and gross supposition without the
scripture. Though God could make all things in a moment, yet we must
not reason from God's power to God's will, nor instruct him how to
bring forth his work : Kom. xi. 34, ' For who hath known the mind of
the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?' And for that place,
Gen. ii. 4, 5, ' In the day that the Lord made the earth and the heavens/
&c., some answer thus : It is true they were all made, potentia, in
power, though not actu, actually in one day. Or rather the word day
must be twice repeated : in the day that God made the heavens and
the earth ; and in the day that God made the plants, &c, for day there
is taken more largely for time. But to confirm you in the history of
Moses, it is plain that God made the world in that- order ; there are
these apparent reasons for it
[1.] If God made the world all at once, how could Moses with truth
put down such a distinct commendation of every day's work ?
[2.] Moses wrote historically, therefore his words must be properly
understood.
[3.] Why should he say, God made light before the firmament and
stars, if we go to natural dependence and order ? It should be first
the firmament, then the stars, then light. Therefore* it is certain
Moses followed that order in his history, that God observed in the pro
duction of all things.
[4.] If all creatures were thus created together, how could there be
darkness upon the face of the deep ? And how could the earth be said
to be without form and void ? Then it would have plants and beasts,
if all were made together.
[5.] The reason of the sabbath would be to no purpose ; how could
Moses say with truth, Therefore the sabbath must be sanctified, because
432 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. XL
God rested the seventh day ? Therefore we may conclude, that though
the effect followed as soon as God willed it, yet God willed the creation
of all things in order ; such a creature this day, and such a creature
the next day.
Use 1. It helpeth us to conceive of the creation, all things were done
by his word according to his will. The Gnostics feigned the aspectable
world was made by the angels ; but the scripture is plain : 2 Peter iii.
5, ' By the word of the Lord the heavens were of old, and the earth
standing out of the water, and in the water.' He made them all with
out help and without labour ; no creature, no instrument was service
able to him in it ; all was infinitely more easy to God than the conceiv
ing of a thought can be to yourselves.
Use 2. Here is much comfort and profit to you.
1. Much comfort to poor souls that are smitten with remorse, and
touched with a deep sense of their misery and wretched and sinful con
dition by nature. Usually, at first conversion, you may observe men
have such a strong sense of the present evils and distempers of their
spirits, that they are apt to sink under the burden of their discourage
ments, and to say, surely this hard heart will never be softened ! this
blind mind will never be enlightened ! these stubborn affections will
never be subdued and mortified ! Consider the first creation when you
expect the new creation. Think of the power of him that can call the
things that are not, as though they were ; one creating word is enough.
Compare the benefit of the first creation and the second together : 2
Cor. iv. 6, ' God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
hath shined into your hearts,' &c. In the original it is 6 CITTCOV he
that spoke light out of darkness, by his word he could bring it forth
presently ; he can speak light to our souls, though there were nothing
but darkness, confusion and disorder. You may go to God as the
centurion, Mat. viii. 8, ' Speak the word only, and my servant shall be
healed.' So do you say, Lord, speak but the word, then my soul shall
be clean. It is observable that Jesus Christ, when he would discover any
notable effects, he speaketh creating words ; as ' Be thou clean ; ' ' Be
thou made whole ; ' ' Follow me ; ' ' Lazarus, come forth.' How may
a poor soul go to God when he is thus discouraged, and say, Speak light
out of darkness, speak grace, Lord, one word is enough, thou canst
easily reach the bottom of the electing faculty.
2. It is of great use to encourage believers to wait for the accom
plishment of the promises. Every promise rightly understood is a creat
ing word. When God saith that he will make them perfect to every
good work, it is as much as if he said, Be thou perfect, be thou justified,
be thou sanctified, be thou enabled to every work of holiness, be thou
glorified. When he saith, ' It is your Father's pleasure to give you
a kingdom,' to make you able to every good work, to keep you by his
power to salvation, he hath signified his pleasure, and that is enough
to assure us it shall be effected. Look upon the word of God in creation
as a pledge of the accomplishment of the promises. We doubt, because
we are ignorant of the power of God's word. Your unbelief would be
much abated if you would consider his creating the world, how God
could bring all things out of nothing. All the creatures are looking-
glasses, that we may read what God can do by his word ; in them his
YER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 433
sufficiency and efficacy are proposed to us to behold. When we have
nothing left us but a promise, we may see all things in it. If God hath
made heaven by his word, he can give thee heaven, and make good
his promises by his word. God's word is the foundation of the creature's
being, and the foundation of your faith. If heaven could be made and
prepared by the word of his power, certainly the promises will be
accomplished and made good to your souls, and you shall be brought
to heaven by the word of his truth.
The third and last circumstance is the matter, or rather term, from
which God's work began ; there was no prejacent or pre-existent matter.
It is a note of form and order ; ex niliilo, that is, post nihilum ' So
that things that are seen were not made of things that do appear.'
The words have undergone variety of constructions. Calvin, leaving
out the preposition, rendereth it, Ut non apparentium spectaculafierent,
making it parallel with Rom. i. 20, ' For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by
the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead.' But
this is to force the grammatical construction. Some understand by
' things not seen,' the idea or module of all things in the divine mind ;
but this is to bring down the apostle's language to the doctrine of the
school of Plato. Some understand the chaos, and that the apostle
alludeth to the translation of the Septuagint of what is in the original,
' And the earth was without form, and void/ Gen. i. 2, the Septuagint
renders 17 Se 7?) rp> aoparo? KOI aTrapaa-fcevaa-Tos The earth was invisi
ble and unprepared. This may be in part respected here, for ' darkness
was upon the face of the deep ; ' and so it may well be called, ' things
not appearing.' Rather by ra p,r) fyaivopeva you may understand ra
pr) ovra out of nothing. And the word was suited with the apostle's
scope, which is to prove that faith contents itself with the word of God,
though nothing be seen ; that which was not at all could not be seen.
Though these two latter expositions may be compounded, all things
were made either immediately by God out of nothing, or immediately
out of the chaos.
Quest. But here may be a doubt : How did God make all things
out of nothing, since man was made of the dust of the earth ? and all
things were made out of the chaos, the first mass and lump that was
without form ? I answer, There is a double creation : out of nothing,
and out of that which is as good as nothing.
1. There is a creation out of mere nothing; so the Lord framed
many things, as the heaven of heavens, the dwelling-place of God and
angels, and the spirits of blessed men. He could not make that from
the earth and water, for that was not. So the chaos, or the earth that
was void and without form, God made that out of nothing. And God
made light out of nothing ' He commanded light to shine out of dark
ness/ 2 Cor. iv. 6. So the angels, and the souls of men, which were
breathed into them by the breath of God : Gen. ii. 7, ' God breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul/
God made all these out of mere nothing.
2. God made some things out of foregoing matter, which is yet
called a creation, because the matter was altogether indisposed and
unfit for such a use. There was no disposition in the matter to receive
VOL. XIII. 2 E
434 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. XL
such a shape as God bestowed upon it ; the form was merely from the
power of God, as the firmament was made out of the water: Ps. civ.
3, ' He layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters ; ' that is, the
firmament, which was made by the rarefaction and expansion of the
waters. So the sun, moon, and stars were made out of the first light ;
for either it was annihilated or it yet remaineth. Annihilated it could
not be, for the wise God made nothing but for some end, and we do
not read that he abolished anything he had made ; therefore it rcmain-
eth dispersed in the sun, moon, and stars, otherwise what is the use of
it ? Fishes were made out of the waters : Gen. i. 20, ' Let tho waters
bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life.' Birds were
made out of the earth, and so beasts : Gen. ii. 19, ' And out of the ground
the Lord formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air.'
The body of man was made out of the dust of the ground ; Gen. ii. 7,
' And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground ;' and
the woman was taken out of the man : Gen. ii. 22, ' And the rib, which
the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman.'
Use. God by this would teach the world what to think of him. He
created the world out of mere nothing, or out of matter not prepared;
he created them wholly by his word, having no partaker with him.
The great thing that we should learn hence is God's power. That
you may consider it with profit, I shall lay down a few proposi
tions.
1. Power is one of God's greatest perfections ; that serves most for
the comfort of the creature. It is love to make a promise ; truth to
regard his promise ; and it is his power that makes good his promise.
The warrant of our faith is the truth of God ; but the proper ground
of our faith is the power and sufficiency of God. When the apostle
speaks of Abraham that was the father of the faithful, his faith is
bottomed and founded on God's power ; he believed that God was able
to do it : Kom. iv. 21, ' Being fully persuaded that what he had
promised he was able also to perform.' This is the proper ground of
our faith, that God is every way sufficient to make good his promise.
It is the prime perfection of God ; for it is the power of God that
maketh all other the perfections of God valid and effectual for the
comfort of poor creatures. Therefore may we receive comfort from
his mercy, because he is able to show mercy ; therefore may we depend
upon his goodness and truth, because it is seconded with the power
and all-sufficiency of God : Eph. iii. 20, ' He is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that
worketh in us.'
2. In the creation there is no attribute so eminent as God's power.
There was wisdom and goodness shown in the creation, but the main
attribute is power. God's wisdom and his goodness appear in the crea
tion, as they exist in created things ; but God's infinite power is in
himself. Therefore, when the apostle speaks of the knowledge of
heathens, Rom. i. 20, he saith in the creation was manifested ' his
eternal power and godhead.' That was the principal thing discovered
in the work of creation : Rev. v. 12. 'Worthy is the lamb that was
slain to receive power and riches, ' &c.
3. We must not only with a naked, idle speculation reflect upon
VER. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 435
God's power but improve it to the uses of religion, as to fear and to
trust.
[1.] To fear : Ps. xxxiii. 8, ' Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all
the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him ; ' Job xxxvii. 23, 24,
' Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out ; he is excellent in
power . . . men do therefore fear him.' We should have a dread of
God because of such power. Who would not fear to enter into the
lists with him ? By sins committed against God you draw omnipo-
tency about your ears. Would you engage the mighty God against
you ? There are two causes of carnal com liance : we presume of
God's mercy, and fear man's power. To check it, consider God is able
by the rebuke of his countenance to turn us to nothing, that made us
out of nothing.
[2.] Improve it to trust. In all your straits and exigencies, when
nothing appears, then wait upon the Lord ; he can create means when
he finds none ; he can produce all possible things into act, or leave
them still in the womb of nothing. He can do you good by contrary
means ; as Christ cured the blind man's eyes by clay and spittle, by
that which seemed to put them out.
SEKMON XII.
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testify
ing of his gifts ; and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh.
HEB. xi. 4.
THE apostle cometh to illustrate the properties of faith by the special
experiences of the saints. He begins with Abel.
But you will say, Why doth he pass by Adam, the first man,
and the first believer in the world ? For four reasons.
1. Because Abel was the first persecuted man for righteousness, by
Cain professing the same worship : whereas Adam lived a quiet life,
without assault and molestation. And so it suits with the apostle's
scope, which is to embolden believers against troubles and persecutions
for Christ's sake. Here was the first instance of the distinction of
men, Cain and Abel, brothers born of the same womb ; nay, which is
more, supposed to be twins of the same birth ; yet one the seed of the
woman, and the other the seed of the serpent. Therefore Abel is fitly
propounded as the first pattern of faith ; as Cain was the patriarch of
unbelievers, as Tertullian calls him. And the apostle says, Jude 11,
' They have gone in the way of Cam/ This was an early instance of
the enmity between the seeds, and the first pledge of the spite and
malice which carnal men do now manifest against the children of God
because of the old hatred. Adam was the first sinner, but Cain the
first murderer. Therefore the apostle doth well begin with Abel, who
was the first-fruits of the faithful ; in him the envy and malignity of
436 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. XII.
the world began to taste the blood of martyrs, and ever since it is
glutted with it
2. Because Abel was the first person that was never in a possibility
to be saved by any other way than that of faith. Adam had other
means propounded to him at first in the covenant of works, and there
fore he is passed by, and Abel is fitly represented as the first evan
gelical believer.
3. After the fall, Moses speaks nothing notable of Adam. Though
he was received to grace, yet God did not put that honour upon him
which he did upon some of his posterity. And because of his great
unthankfulness, he having received so much, therefore he is passed by,
and not propounded to the church as one of the glorious witnesses and
examples of faith. Observe from hence the scandalous falls of God's
children are of dangerous consequence. Though the wound be cured,
yet there are some scars remain ; and though free grace makes them
vessels of mercy, yet it doth not use and employ them as vessels of
honour. There are more than probabilities of Adam's faith, yet it is
not famous in the church. The apostle beginneth with Abel.
4. Because Abel was a special type of Jesus Christ. He was a type
of him in his temporal calling : Gen. iv. 2, ' Abel was a keeper of sheep.'
TrptoTOTroiprjv the first shepherd ; so Jesus Christ is &pjmroffujp
the chief shepherd of our souls ; Heb. xiii. 10, ' The great shepherd of
the sheep.' And so also he was a type of him in his righteousness and
innocency. It is notable that Abel is seldom spoken of in scripture,
but he is honoured with this appellation, ' righteous Abel.' Moses is
spoken of for meekness, Phinehas for zeal, but Abel for righteousness :
Mat. xxiii. 35, ' From the blood of righteous Abel/ &c. And this the
apostle might intend in part when he saith in the text, ' By which he
obtained witness that he was righteous ; ; that is, he is spoken of in the
scriptures and in the church of God as righteous ; and herein he was a
type of Christ: 1 John ii. 1, ' Jesus Christ the righteous.' Then again, in
his death, Abel came to sacrifice, and solemnly to remember Christ, and
that provoked Cain's envy. The offering of the lamb did not only signify
the shedding of Christ's blood, but Abel himself is made a type of the
death of Jesus Christ. Abel is slain by the envy of Cain ; so was
Jesus Christ by the envy of the priests and his maglignant Jewish
brethren : Mat. xxvii. 18, 'He knew that for envy they had delivered
him.' Envy slew Abel and betrayed Christ. There was only this
difference between the blood of Christ and the blood of Abel : the blood
of Abel called to God for vengeance upon the murderer, and the blood
of Christ for mercy even upon his persecutors mercy for unthankful
men. Therefore the apostle saith, Heb. xii. 24, the blood of Christ
' speaketh better things than the blood of Abel.' Abel's blood crieth
thus to the Lord, Vengeance ! vengeance ! vengeance upon murderous
Cain ! Christ's blood cries, Pardon ! pardon ! Father, be appeased, be
merciful to these poor sinners ! Thus you see from the very cradle of the
world there were presignifications of Christ, not only in things, but in
persons. The sacrifice and sacrificer both represented Christ, who was
both priest and offering : Abel's lamb signified Christ, the 'Lamb of
God, that taketh away the sins of the world.' Now to show that God
would not be appeased with any irrational offering, Abel himself was
to be sacrificed, as well as his sacrifice ; Jesus Christ the priest himself
VEH. 4.] SEUMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 437
is to be slain. God did teach the old church by persons as well as
things, to signify not only the satisfaction of Christ, but the person of
Christ, ' Who by the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God,'
Heb. ix. 14.
We have seen the reasons why the apostle beginneth with Abel ; let
us hear what is said of him ' By faith Abel offered unto God a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain.'
In which words these things are considerable (1.) Abel's action ;
(2.) The consequents, or fruits of it.
1. Abel's action He offered a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.
In that you have three circumstances
[1.] The principle or root of it By faith.
[2.J The nature of it He offered sacrifice.
[3.] The comparative excellency 7r\eiova Ova-lav Trapa Kd'iv ; that
is, He offered a better sacrifice than that which Cain offeerd.
2. You have the consequents of the whole work ; they are
two
[1.] There is a testimony.
[2.] A special privilege.
(1.) A testimony, the inward testimony of his person By it he
obtained witness that he was righteous. The outward testimony of this
performance God testifying of his gift
(2.) The special privilege by it He, being dead, yet speaketk.
I shall begin with the explication of the necessary circumstances of
Abel's action, and inquire (1.) What was the occasion of this sacri
fice ? (2.) What was the warrant of this sacrifice? (3.) Wherein lies
the excellency of it above that of Cain ? (4.) What kind of faith this
is that the apostle intends, when he saith, ' By faith he offered/" &c.
First. What was the special occasion of this sacrifice ? That may
be gathered out of the phrase used : Gen. iv. 3, ' And in process of
time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an
offering unto the Lord/ In process of time, or as it is in the margin,
at the end of days ; in the original it is, Q^QT ypo at the end 'of
the year, or revolution of days. The Hebrews are wont to reckon
their time by days, as being the more natural distinction. Years are
more artificial, and depend upon the institution of man ; and therefore
is the term day so often used for time in scripture. Now God hath
taught Adam by revelation, and he his son by instruction, that men
should at the year's end, in a solemn manner, sacrifice with thanks to
God, when they had gathered in the fruits of the earth. This tradition
Avas afterwards made a written law : Exod. xxii. 29, ' Thou shalt
not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors ; the
first-born of thy sons shalt thou give unto me/ It was an order then
newly inforced, though it had been observed from the beginning of the
world ; so Exod. xxiii. 16, ' And the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of
thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of in
gathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in
thy labours out of the field/ The very heathens themselves did by
tradition derive and propagate this custom one to another, for among;
other things they retained it, even in their darkest ignorance. I re
member, Aristotle in his ' Ethnics ' (lib. viii., chap. 8.) hath such a
passage as this, Al <yap ap-^alai Qvaiai Kal crvvoSai (fraivovrai <yeve<T0at,
438 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SfiR. XII.
/Ltera ra? TWV Kapirwv crt^y/co/uSa? That all the ancient meetings
and sacrifices were wont to be after the gathering in of the first-
fruits, that they might distribute the due portion of the increase
of their fields to the gods; so that at the end of days, when the year
was run round, and the vintage and harvest-time was past, they were
to come in token of thankfulness, and present the first-fruits unto the
Lord. In short, these solemn sacrifices at the end of days had a double
end and use.
1. To be a figure of the expiation promised to Adam in Christ.
2. .To be a solemn acknowledgment of their homage and thankful
ness to God.
[1.] The general use of these sacrifices was to remember the seed of
the woman, or Messiah to come, as the solemn propitiatory sacrifice of
the church. And indeed there was a notable resemblance between
those offerings and Jesus Christ : Abel offered a lamb ; and Christ is
' the Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world/ John i. 29.
And because of these early sacrifices, therefore is that expression used,
Rev. xiii. 8, ' The Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the
world ; ' that is, slain in types, sacrifices, and presignifications. And
he also is the first-fruits : Ps. Ixxxix. 27, ' I will make him to be my
first-born, higher than the kings of the earth/ saith God, speaking of
Christ. Col. i. 15, ' He is the first-born of every creature ; ' and the
first-begotten : Heb. i. 6, ' Again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten
into the world.' Christ is called the first-born and the first-begotten,
partly in regard of the eternity of his person it was without begin
ning, before the world was and partly because of the excellency of
his person, he being more glorious than angels or men. Though God
had other children by creation besides Christ, yet he is the first-born.
What shall we gather from hence ?
Doct. That in all our addresses to God we must solemnly remember
and honour Christ.
In the feast of the first-fruits they were to have an eye to the
Messiah that was to come, though he were but darkly revealed. God
will have men to ' honour the Son as they honour the Father/ John v.
23. We must do duties to God, so as we may honour Christ in
them. It may be you will ask, How do we honour Christ in doing of
duties ?
(1.) When you look for your acceptance in Christ, as Abel comes
with a lamb in faith. Adam hid himself, and durst not come into the
presence of God till he had received the first promise and intimation
of Christ. And truly guilt cannot approach majesty armed with wrath
and power without a mediator. The patriarchs were to profess homage,
but by sacrifices typing Christ : Ephes. iii. 12, ' In him we have bold
ness and access with confidence, by the faith of him/ Oh, you cannot
come with confidence unless you come with a mediator in the arms of
faith ! Thus must all do that would be accepted of God. When shall
we honour Christ in our addresses to God, and lift up a confidence
proportionable to his merit ? at least come not in your own names.
(2.) This is to honour Christ in duties, when you look for your
assistance from the Spirit of Christ. The Lord hath promised to shed
abroad his Spirit upon his ascension. You honour God in Christ when
VEE. 4.J SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 439
you worship God through Christ : Phil. iv. 13, ' I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me/ You draw nigh to God with
more encouragement by expecting the supplies of the Spirit.
(3.) When the aim of the worship is to set up and advance the
mediator. This was the solemn drift of the patriarchs, and the general
intention of all their sacrifices to look to the promised seed ; and
therefore the parts of their worship did exactly resemble the mediatory
actions of Christ. In all the worship of the gospel, in your thoughts
you must not only advance God, but lift up the mediator. When the
apostle compares the worship of the Christian with that of the Gentiles,
he saith, 1 Cor. viii. 5, 6, ' There are gods many, and lords many,
(many mediators) but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom
are all things, and we in him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ/ <fcc. This
is the right frame of a Christian's heart in all his addresses : he looks
up to one Lord as the fountain of mercy, and the ultimate object of
worship, and one mediator. We must look to him as the conveyance
and golden-pipe of mercy, by whom all blessings descend to us, and
through him all our prayers ascend to God. This is to honour the
mediator; to make Christ the means, and God the object and last
end.
[2.] The special use of this worship was to profess their homage
and their thankfulness to God. They were to come as God's tenants,
and pay him their rent. Therefore God puts words into the Israelites'
mouths : Deut. xxvi, 10, ' I have brought the first-fruits of the land,
which thou, Lord, hast given me/ The note from hence is,
Doct. That in the times of our increase and plenty we must
solemnly acknowledge God.
The best way to secure the farm, and keep it in our possession, is to
acknowledge the great landlord of the whole world Lord, I have been
a poor creature, and thou hast blest me wonderfully. There is a rent
of praise and a thank-offering due to God. As Jacob acknowledged
God thus, Gen. xxxii. 10, ' I am not worthy of the least of all thy
mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant ;
for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now am I become
two bands/ Thus we should come with a rent of praise, and with a
thanksgiving to the Lord. But alas ! how few think of this ? We
offer to him our lusts, but do not come with our thanksgiving to God.
Qui majores terras possident, minores census solvunt Those that have
received most blessings from God forget the great landlord of the
world. We are Canistce, as Luther calls such of Cain's sect, because
we do grudge God a little when he hath given us abundance : 1 Cor.
xvi. 2, ' Upon the first day of the week let every man lay by him in
store as God hath prospered him/ These offer according to their
calling ; Cain comes as a husbandman, and Abel as a keeper of the
sheep. Consider, the first fruits sanctified and blessed the whole
lump: Rom. xi. 16, 'For if the first fruits be holy, the lump is also
holy/ When you give God his portion, you can the better take com
fort in what is left.
Secondly, The second question is, What was the warrant of this
worship ? Was it devised according to their own will, or was it com
manded by God ? The reason of the inquiry is because the papists
440 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. XII.
say that before the law the patriarchs did, without any command, out
of their private good intention, offer sacrifice to God ; and they prove
it, because the gentiles that were not acquainted with the institutions
of the church used the same way of worship. But this opinion
seemeth little probable,
1. Because this is above the light of corrupt nature to prescribe an
acceptable worship to God. Corrupt nature will tell us indeed that
God is to be worshipped ; but for the manner, God himself must pre
scribe it ; for the gentiles might take up the way of sacrifice by tra
dition, or by perverse imitation, through the instigation of the devil,
who would be worshipped the same way God was.
2. It was by some appointment ; for no worship is acceptable to him
but that which is of his appointment. You know the solemn profes
sion of God against will- worship in scripture ' Who hath required
this at your hands ?' Isa. i. 12. God will always be his own carver,
and not leave his worship to the allotment of corrupt nature. He
appointeth what he will accept.
3. There could have been else no faith nor obedience in it, if the
institution had been wholly humane ; there is no faith without some
promise of divine grace, no obedience without some command. And
Cain would not have been culpable for any defect in the worship, if it
had been left to his own will ; for where there is no law there is no
transgression.
4. The wonderful agreement that is between this first act of solemn
worship and the solemn constitutions of the Jewish church, doth
wonderfully evince it .(as we shall prove by and by), that there was
some rule and divine institution according to which this worship was
to be regulated, which, probably, God revealed to Adam, and he
taught it, as he did other parts of religion, to his children : therefore
it was done by virtue of an institution. Abel looked to the command
of God, and promise of God, that so he might do it in faith and
obedience.
The note from this
Doct. That whatever is done in worship must be done out of con
science, and with respect to the institution.
Quest. But you will say, What is it to do a thing by virtue of an
institution ? For answer
[1.] I shall show you what an institution is. Every word of in
stitution consists of two parts the word of command, and the word of
promise. To instance in any duty of worship : in hearing the word,
Isa. Iv. 3, ' Hear, and your souls shall live ; ' in the sacrament ' Do
this ; ' there is the word of command ; then ' This is my body and
blood ; ' there is the word of promise. In baptism : Acts ii. 38, ' Be
baptized, every one of you ; ' there is the word of command ; ' For the
remission of sins ; ' there is the word of promise. God doth not require
duty merely out of sovereignty, but in mercy. In the law it is some
times a motive Do thus and thus, for I am the Lord ; God's sove
reignty is pleaded. In other places Do thus, and this shall be your
life ; there is the promise ; and this will do you good. It is the con
descension of God to require no duty but for your profit ' You shall
not seek my face in vain.' Duty is not a task, but a means ; he en-
VER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xr. 441
courageth, when he might transact all things by way of charge and
imperial command. God that requireth worship, doth also reward it ;
precepts and promises go hand in hand. Christianity is famous for
pure precepts and excellent rewards. God's services will not be un
comfortable ; for all his institutions are made up of a word of com
mand and a word of promise.
[2.] What is it to do a duty in respect to the institution ? I answer,
it is to do it in faith and obedience : faith respects the word of promise,
obedience the word of command. Customary approaches bring God no
honour and glory ; therefore first the command must be the reason of
the duty. Then the promise must be the encouragement, the ratio
formalis the formal reason of all duty and obedience, is God's com
mand ; and the ratiomotiva, the moving and persuasive reason, is our
own profit and God's promise. Obedience to the command is my hom
age, and faith one of the purest respects I can yield to God.
Ques. But now how shall I know when I do duty in faith and obedi
ence ? I answer
(1.) You come in obedience when the command is the main motive
find reason upon your spirit to put you upon the duty. It is enough
to a Christian to say, ' This is the will of God/ 1 Thes. v. 18. The
bare sight of God's will is enough. It is custom to do as others do,
but religion to do what God commands, because God hath commanded :
Exod. xii. 26, 27, ' It shall come to pass, when your children shall say
unto you, What mean you by this service ? that ye shall say, It is
the sacrifice of the Lord's passover.' Ask your heart, Why do I pray
and hear ? The Lord our God hath commanded it. Now this will be
evident to you by your continuing in duties, though the success be not
presently visible. The soul is of Peter's temper : Luke v. 4, 5, saith
Christ, ' Let down your net for a draught.' Alas ! ' Master (saith Peter)
we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing ; howbeit at thy word
I will let down the net.' So the soul encourageth itself, I have had
no sensible communion with God, yet I must perform my duty ; I will
do what God hath commanded, let God do what he will ; success is
God's act, duty mine. Then you come in obedience to the performance
of any holy service.
(2.) Would you know when you come in faith ? when you look to the
word of promise ? You may know that by the earnest expectation and con-
siderateness of the soul. Those that come customarily do not look to the
end of the service, nor why God hath appointed it. It is said, Ps. xxxii.
9, 'Be ye not as the horse and mule, which have no understanding ;' that
is, to go on without consideration. Man is to work for an end, to design
somewhat, especially in duties of worship, which are the most serious
and important affairs of our whole lives. Therefore what do you look
for in your worship ? Many look to the work wrought, but not to the
end. God's institutions are under a blessing ; and there must be an
actual waiting, or you do not come in faith. And you will know this by
the importunateness of your souls in pressing God with his word. Ah,
Lord ! thou hast made a promise to those that wait upon thee that
thou wilt bless them ; now ' remember thy word unto thy servant, upon
which thou hast caused me to hope,' Ps. cxix. 49. By this you may
try your hearts.
442 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. XII.
Thirdly, The third question is, Wherein lies the difference between
the two sacrifices ? Some place it only in the acceptation of God as
if the sense were, Abel offered gratiorem, a more acceptable sacrifice,
better in God's esteem; but in the original it is 7r\eiova, more sacrifice;
uberiorem, saith Erasmus, a larger, a more plenteous, majoris pretii,
a more excellent and a more beseeming sacrifice. It was better, not
only in God's esteem, but in its own worth and value.
Briefly, there is a threefold difference between Abel's and Cain's
sacrifice.
1. In the faith of Abel. Abel's principle was faith, Cain's distrust.
The one came in faith, looking to the promised seed, and so the duty
was effectual for his comfort and encouragement, he was accepted
with God ; the other came to it as to a dead ceremony and task against
his will, a superficial rite of no use and comfort. That which is done
in faith pleaseth God, otherwise it is but an idle rite and naked cere
mony. God looks for habitual faith ; but in all that proceed to a justi
fied state he looks for actual faith, without which our sacrifices are
but an abomination to him ; Prov. xxi. 27. ' The sacrifice of the
wicked is abomination,' how much more when he bringeth it with a
wicked mind. Though a wicked man bring it with the most advantage,
with good intentions, yet it is an abomination ; much more if he bring
it with a carnal aim and a grudging spirit and evil mind, as Cain did.
But of this hereafter.
2. The second difference lay in the willing mind of Abel. Abel
came with all his heart, and in a free manner, to perform worship to
God ; and he brought the best, the fattest, and costliest sacrifice he
could, as far as the bounds of God's institution would give him leave.
But Cain came with a sullen, covetous, unthankful, and fleshly spirit ;
he thought whatever he brought was good enough for God. Cain
was envious to God before he was envious to his brother ; he offered
with a grudging mind whatever came first to hand, but kept the first-
fruits to himself. Cain looked upon his sacrifice as a task rather than
a duty ; his fruits were brought to God as a mulct and fine rather than
an offering, as if an act of worship had been an act of penance,
and religion was his punishment. Note from hence the worth of
duties lies much in the willing mind of those that perform them.
[1.] There must be the mind. God doth not require ours, but us.
Abel brought his lamb, and himself too ; but Cain offered not himself,
he brought only his offering. God would have us, when we come to
him, to bring ourselves ; though he need us not, yet we have need of
him. The Lord complains that they did not bring themselves : Jer.
xxix. 13, ' Ye shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for
me with all your heart.' This is right Cain's trick, to bring God our
gift, and not ourselves.
[2.] The mind must be willing and free. Probably that which did
put Cain upon duty was the awe of his parents, or the rack of his own
conscience ; therefore he would do something to satisfy the custom.
He would bring of the fruits, and there was all, but was unmindful of
what God had done for him, and distrustful how God would reward
him. Many are of Cain's spirit ; we think all is loss that is laid out
upon God, and therefore do not come readily : Ps. cxix. 108, ' Accept,
VER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 443
I beseech tbee, the free-will offering of my mouth, Lord.' All your
duties should be free-will offerings. A Christian should have no other
constraint upon him but love : 2 Cor. v. 14, ' The love of Christ con-
straineth us. 5 The devil rules the world by enforcement and a servile
awe, and so captivates the blind nations ; but God will rule by the
sceptre of love. God would have his people a willing people. Their
heart shall be their own law. In all our addresses to God we should
come to him upon the wings of joy and holy delight.
3. The third difference is in the matter offered. It is said of Cain's
offering, Gen. iv. 3, ' That he brought of the fruit of the ground an
offering unto the Lord.' The Holy Ghost purposely omits the descrip
tion of the offering. Being hastily taken, and unthankfully brought,
it is mentioned without any additional expression to set off the worth
of them ; it should have been the first and the fairest. But for Abel,
see how distinct the Spirit of God is in setting forth his offering : ver.
4, ' And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the
fat thereof ; ' not only the firstlings, that the rest might be sanctified,
but he brought the best, the chiefest, the fattest. All these were
afterwards appropriated to God: Lev. iii. 16, 17, 'All the fat is the
Lord's.' Now observe from hence
Doct. That when we serve God, we must serve him faithfully, with
our best.
It is a high dishonour and contempt to God when we bring him a
contemptible offering, and think anything is good enough for God:
Mai. i. 14, ' Cursed is the deceiver, that hath a male in his flock, and
voweth and sacrificeth to the Lord a corrupt thing ; for I am a great
king/ <fcc. When we do not offer God the flower and spirit of our
souls, we reflect a dishonour upon God. Our duties are so to be
ordered that they may argue a proportionable reverence and dread of
God. Alexander would be painted by none but Apelles, and carved
by none but Lysippus. Domitian would not have his statue made but
in gold or silver. God, the great king, will be served with the best of
our affections. When we care not what we offer to God, how will he
accept us ? How shall he esteem that which we do not esteem our
selves ? Cain's offering was not so much an oblation as a refusal, a
casting off; a rejection of that which was not fit to be reserved for
himself, he gives it to God. It must needs displease God, since it could
not please himself : in short, God must have the best of our time, and
the best of our parts.
[1.] God must have the best of our time. Consider, we can afford
many sacrilegious hours to our lusts, and can scarce afford God a little
time without grudging. Is not there too much of Cain's spirit in this ?
We adjourn and put off the work of religion to the aches of old age :
when we have scarce any vigour, any strength of affections left, oh !
then we will worship God. We devote to Satan the flower of our lively
youth, and fresh age, and adjourn to God the rottenness and dregs of our
old age : Eccles. xii. 1, ' Kemember thy Creator in the days of thy
youth.' Why ? because the prints of God's creating power are then
more fresh in our natures, and we have a fairer experience of God's
creating goodness than in age. Then is the fittest season to estimate
444 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [&ER. XII.
the benefits of our creation. Old age are the days in which we have
no pleasure ; these are our fresh, choicest days, full of contentment.
[2.] With your best parts. You come to worship God not only
with your bodies, but your souls, with the refined strength of your reason
and thoughts : Ps cviii. 1, ' I will sing and give praise even with my
glory.' If David had anything he called his glory, God should have it.
Application to the sacrament. You have heard of Cain and Abel,
in what they agreed, and in what they differed. They agreed in the
general action both drew near to God, and worshipped ; in the
general nature of that action they both brought an offering ; in the
general kind of that offering, which was of that which belonged to
each of them ; Cain, a tiller of the ground, brought of the fruit of the
ground ; Abel, a keeper of sheep, brought of his flock, Gen. iv. 3, 4.
They differed thus one offered in faith, the other not : they differed
in the matter of sacrifice Abel brought the first and fattest ; of Cain
it is only said he brought an offering : they differed in acceptance.
Now this showeth you
1. What you are to do in the Lord's supper.
2. What to expect.
1. What you are to do. Offer to God in the most beseeming
manner what will become the majesty of God, the love of Christ, your
faith in him and love to him. If you have anything better than
another, let God have it. But you will say, What is this to the Lord's
supper, where we do not come to offer, but to receive ; not to offer
sacrifice but to receive a sacrament ; not to feast God, but to be feasted
by him ?
Ans. [1.] There is a difference between sacraments and sacrifice,
but they have a mutual relation one to the other. A sacrament
implieth a sacrifice. The only sacrifice to please God was that of
Christ, who offered up himself through the eternal Spirit to God.
Christ offered the sacrifice to please God ; and being appeased by
Christ, he offereth his gifts to us ; as Esau, when reconciled to Jacob,
offered him gifts, Gen. xxxiii. 15.
[2.] Though we do not offer a sacrifice, yet we remember a sacrifice
offered for us ; and therefore it teacheth us how to be rightly con
versant about such a duty. The use of the sacrifices was (1.) To
exercise brokenness of heart : Ps. li. 17, ' The sacrifices of God are a
broken heart.' I deserved to die, tormented by the wrath of God.
(2.) To testify faith in the satisfaction and sacrifice of the messiah that
was to come, and to seek reconciliation with God by him, Lev. i. 3.
(3.) To express their hearty thankfulness to God, and desire to please
him and walk with him in a course of true obedience : Ps. 1. 5, ' Gather
my saints together unto me ; those which have made a covenant with
me by sacrifice.' Now, if we would come as Abel, and not as Cain,
thus must we do : broken-hearted sinners must remember Christ, and
apply him to the comfort of their souls, and make use of this duty to
that end.
[3.] Though it be no sin-offering, yet it is a thank-offering. This
in the text was in part so. There are eucharistical as well as ilas-
tical sacrifices, as most of the sacrifices tinder the law : Heb. xiii. 15,
VER. 4.] SEIOIONS UPON HEBREWS XL 445
' By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,
even the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.' Hereby you
bind yourselves to obedience and thankfulness : Rom. xii. 1, ' I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reason
able service.'
2. What we are to expect a testimony that we are righteous
some witness from God of the acceptance of our persons and gifts, not
extraordinary by fire from heaven, but by the Holy Ghost : Mat, iii. 11,
' He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.' When the
Holy Ghost came down on the apostles, ' there appeared unto them
cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them,' Acts ii. 3.
This spirit we expect : Eom. viii. 16, ' The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit, that we are the children of God.' And in token that
he is pleased with us in Christ, he feedeth us from his own table.
SERMON XIIL
By faith Abel offered unto Godamore excellent sacrifice than Cain, by
which he obtained loitness that he was righteous, God testifying of
his gifts : and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh. HEB. xi. 4.
IN order to the further opening this text, I shall handle three points
1. That carna! 4 men may join with the people of God in external duties
of worship.
2. Though they do join, yet in the performance of them there is a
sensible and manifest difference.
3. This different performance ariseth from the influence and efficacy
of faith.
Doct. 1. That carnal men may join with the people of God in external
duties of worship.
We see in the first worship upon record there is a Cain and an Abel ;
so in Christ's parable : Luke xviii. 10, ' Two men went up into the
temple to pray ; the one a pharisee, and the other a publican.' And our
Lord saith, Mat. xxvi. 41, ' Two women shall be grinding at the mill ;
the one shall be taken, and the other left ; ' meaning, the one shall be
taken by Christ into heaven, and the other left for devils to be carried
into hell. It is wonderfully strange that God should make such a distinc
tion ; but much more strange that two persons shall be praying at the
throne of grace, the one taken, and the other left. The reasons of this
point, why carnal men do join in external duties of worship, may be-
reduced to three heads
1. Natural conscience will put men upon worship.
2. Custom will direct to the worship then in use and fashion.
3. Carnal impulses will add force and vigour to the performances.
Take all together, and then you have full account of a natural man's
devotion.
446 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. XIII.
First, Natural conscience will put men upon worship. There are
some few principles that are escaped out of the ruins of the fall ; as Job's
messengers, ' I only am escaped alone to tell thee,' Job i. 16. There is
a little common light left to tell us that there is a God, and, by conse
quence, that this God must be worshipped by the creature. Therefore
mere natural conscience may suggest worship, and check for the omis
sion of it ; especially when we are serious, and natural light is clear and
undisturbed, and men give their consciences leave to speak out. The
very heathens were sensible of the necessity of worship, and often speak
of beginning all enterprises with God, and say men must be praying to
God if they would have a blessing upon their affairs. The apostle saith,
Rom. ii. 14, the heathens had ' the work of the law written upon their
hearts ; ' that is, the external part of obedience, the outward part of
worship, and avoiding gross sins. And the conscience of every natural
man is like that of the heathens, only somewhat more enlightened by
living in the church. But until they are regenerate they have nothing
but the light of nature to guide them, though improved by custom, edu
cation and literal instruction ; and whatever they do, they do it out of
the dictate of natural conscience. Natural men are loth to be wholly
without worship. Conscience, like the stomach, must be filled, and have
something to pacify it, lest it should bark at us, and reproach us all the
day long. Men must put on the garb of religion, or their own conscience
will not let them be quiet. Thoughts will excuse or accuse, though
blindly, and with much imperfection ; and though carnal men are slight
in their duties, yet duty there must be.
Secondly, Custom will put us upon the worship then in use and
practice. Natural conscience will tell us that God is to be wor
shipped ; but how, it learneth from custom and education : so Ezek.
xxxiii. 31, 'They come unto thee as the people come;' that is accord
ing to the manner of religion then in fashion, according to the
devotion of the times. And therefore carnal men go on coldly in the
run and tract of accustomed and practised duties. Non exploratis
rationibus traditionis, saith Cyprian : they take up duties upon trust,
and they look not so much to the reason and nature of worship, as to
the custom and practice of it. Cain went up with Abel ' in process of
time,' or at the year's end, the stated time of worship ; so do men pray,
hear, keep the sabbath according to their light, and when the laws of
their country and the awe of their education challenge these duties at
their hands : Ephes. ii. 2, ' Ye walked according to the course of this
world (KO.T aiwva, according to the time ; the apostle means in gentile
worship, as well as in the vanity of their conversations ' according to
the doings, or trade, of Israel,' 2 Chron. xvii. 4. So the Geneva trans
lation and the Hebrew word signifieth.) Men do according to the
common trade and rate of duty. All a natural man's religion is but
cold conformity to what others practise ; and their worship riseth higher
and higher according to the rate of their company and education. That
custom hath a main influnce upon their acts of devotion and religion
is clear, because they do not so much look to the nature of ordinances
as to what hath been practised in and about them, and do not regard
the reason and occasion of duties so much as use and custom. This is
clear by the instance of that case so solemnly propounded : Zech. i. 3,
VEB. 4.]
SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL
447
' Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done
these so many years ? ' Mark the reason and impulse ; for the under
standing of which you must know that the Jews in the fifth month kept
a day for the temple ; for you shall see, 2 Kings xxv. 8, 9, the destruc
tion of the temple happened at that time, therefore every seventh day
in the fifth month they kept an anniversary fast in remembrance of the
temple; but now they were returned from their captivity, and the
temple re-edified, and God's service restored, and yet they make it a
solemn case whether they should do it, because they had done it these
many years. Men are loth to quit a custom in religion, though the
reason of it be gone ; for they look more to the practice of men than
the nature of the ordinance. As some of our ceremonies were first
practised upon special occasion in the primitive church, though others
came in afterwards by superstition and corruption, yet when the reason
is gone, men would continue the rite, and are loth to quit their old custom,
and think worship is suppressed with a vain rite because this is the
main principle which puts them upon work, practice, and custom.
Thirdly, Carnal impulses will add force and vigour to the perform
ance. The ordinances of God may conduce to some end that suiteth with
corrupt nature, and upon that account and reason men will be earnest
and busy. .
There are two carnal ends upon which men act in duties of religion
vainglory and secular advantage.
1. Vainglory. Men join with the people of God in actions of wor
ship that they may have occasion to discover their parts with the more
applause. The apostle speaks of some that ' preached the gospel out of
envy,' Phil. i. 15 ; to rival the apostle in his esteem, that they might
set up their own worth. And that is the reason why the apostle would
not have novices or young men called to the office of public teaching :
1 Tim. iii. 6, ' Not a novice, lest, being lifted up with pride, he fall into
the condemnation of the devil/ that is, lest, being unmortified, they
should debauch the ordinances of God to the service of their own pride
and ambitious affectation. That vainglory is a main principle to put
men upon praying, preaching, conference, or any duty wherein there is
some exercise of gifts, is clear, because in public duties that are open,
and liable to the observance of others, men put forth themselves with
the greatest "vigour, quickness, and strength; whereas in private addresses
to God they are more slight and careless. A Christian is best tried and
exercised in private and secret intercourses between God and his soul ;
where they spread their own case before God, there they enjoy most
communion with God, therefore there they find most quickening and
enlargement. A man cannot so well taste his spirit, and discern the
working of it in public addresses, because other men's concernments
and necessities are taken up in prayer, and he cannot be so affected as
in his own case. Besides when the address is directly to God, he should
have our best, for certainly he bids most for our affections. What is
the applause of men to the inward approbation of God, sealed up to
us by the testimony of the Spirit ? What is vainglory to eternal glory ?
2. Another carnal principle is secular aims and advantages. It is
the great wisdom of God to mingle our concernments with his own ;
else few would mind religion, and exercise their gifts for the benefit of
448 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. XIII.
the church. Carnal fuel keeps in the fire of most men's devotions. I
say God hath so coupled our interest with his own, that in duties most
are swayed with a carnal bias and secular respect, and they go of their
own errand, out of a mere carnal respect, to gratify their private interest,
when they pretend most to do God's business ; as those that ' followed
Christ for the loaves/ John vi. 26. Quandoquidem panis Christijam
pinguis factus est, &c. because Christ's bread is buttered with worldly
conveniences, religion hath many to follow it: there are esteem, honour,
countenance, maintenance that follow duties of religion, therefore they
are merely done with respect to those low and base ends. Duties of
the first table are not costly, and most apt to be counterfeited. Christ
speaks of some 'that made long prayers to devour widows' houses,' Mat.
xxiii. 14. The meaning is, that they might be thought godly and con
scientious, and so be intrusted with the estates of widows and orphans,
or draw contributions. Many times in holy duties invocation of the
name of God is made to serve the concernment of the shop, and religion
is pretended to countenance base aims. This is the great difference
between a carnal and godly man : the one performs all his civil duties
with religious aims ; the other performs all his religious duties with
secular aims. Self is the main motive of their respects to God ; and
as they act in their own strength, so to their own ends.
Use 1. It serves to inform us that the bare performance of the duties
of religion is no gracious evidence. Cain may sacrifice as well as Abel.
A Christian is rather tried by his graces than by his duties ; and yet
this is the usual fallacy, the paralogism and false reason that we put
upon our own consciences. We secure ourselves upon no other grounds
but this, because we are conversant in holy duties. All the claim and
title most men have to heaven is only some external acts of duty ; they
pray, and hear, and keep the sabbath, as the people used to do : James
i. 21, 'Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own
souls.' The word is 7rapa\oyi$/j,voi,, ' putting a false reasoning
upon yourselves. We reason thus, He that hears the word shall be ever
lastingly happy : but I am a hearer of the word. Oh ! saith the apostle,
' be not hearers only.' And though the premisses come last in sight, yet
we hold fast the conclusion, and think ourselves to be in a sure estate ;
and this is all the ground of our confidence, an act of duty. Mat. vii.
24, the foolish builder represents those that lay the ground of their con
fidence in bare attendance on religious duties. Foolish men will raise
a high Babel of confidence upon the weakest foundation that may be ;
they are apt to rest upon unwarrantable evidences ; they think they
must needs be saved because they hear the word and pray in the name
of Christ Do but search what are your evidences and foundations
upon which you build. Some live only by guess, and devout aims and
conjectures, and never consider upon what terms they stand with God ;
others content themselves with very slight evidences, and think their
hearts are good merely because they practise some external duties.
Thou prayest, so many a pharisee ; thou worshippest God in the time
of the solemn returns of duty, so did Cain ; and therefore build not
upon these things. But because this is a conceit deeply rooted in our
nature, I shall lay down a few convictive propositions.
1. The bare performance of any outward duty is not enough to endear
YKK. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBKKWS xi. 449
you to God. God doth not look to the outward acts, but to the frame
of the spirit. You may cheat conscience and deceive man by these out
ward acts of duty, but God is not mocked. When he comes to weigh
the action, he doth not consider the fair pretence, but the disposition
of the heart : Prov. xvi. 2, ' The Lord weigheth the spirits ; ' he looks
that the aim should be as good as the action, and the. principle every
way as good as the performance. If we did but go to the balance of
the sanctuary and weigh our spirits, we should not be so carnally confi
dent as usually we are. Heathens did regard epyov vo^ov, Kom. ii.
15, ' Which show the work of the law written in their hearts.'
2. A man may miscarry though he be employed in the highest minis
tries and duties of religion. You shall see among other things that
are pleaded in the day of judgment this is one: Mat. vii. 23, 'We have
prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils ;' consider, a man
may do great service in the church, and yet come short of heaven ; cast
out devils, and yet be cast out among devils ; a man may not only be
a hearer, but a preacher of the word ; they may prophesy in Christ's
name, and yet he will not own them. the sad case of such ! Like
the way-marks set up in high-ways, that direct others to travel, but do
not stir themselves ; after they have taught others, they themselves are
cast-aways : or like those that made Noah's ark to save others, and
were drowned themselves in the water : or like the moon which gives
light to others, but it hath none rooted in its own body ; they may
do much service for Christ, yet be in a bad condition.
3. The heart may be somewhat exercised in duty, and yet it is no
gracious evidence. There may be an exercise of memory, wit, and inven
tion in and about the service of God, yet all this while the heart not right.
Christians are not measured by their gifts, but by their graces. Gifts
are for the body, the church ; therefore they may be bestowed some
times upon carnal men, and poured out in a large measure on them :
1 Cor. xiii. 1, ' Though I speak with the tongue of men and angels, and
have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.'
Parts make but an empty sound. That is not the more excellent
way.
4. There may be some exercise of affection, and yet men may mis
carry ; as there may be an exercise of joy in duties, and grief in the
defect of duties.
[1.] There may be some kind of joy in duties. The stony ground
'received the word with joy,' Mat. xiii. 20. Men, out of a carnal respect,
may delight in the ordinances of God. A judicious man may delight
injudicious preaching, and take pleasure in the gifts of the minister
and the gracefulness of his utterance, when there is no grace in, the
heart : Ezek. xxxiii. 32, ' Thou art unto them as a very lovely song of
one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument.
They take delight in the tunable cadency of expressions, but yet ' they
hear thy words, and do them not.' Men may delight in the carnal part
of ordinances when there is no true, real, and spiritual delight in the
soul. There is a higher delight than all this, which seems spiritual,
but is not, when a man delights and finds contentment in the exercise
of his own gifts rather than in communion with God. There is a secret
complacency, a tickling of the heart at the conceit of our own worth, in
VOL. XIII. 2 F
450 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SttR. XIII.
the carriage of a duty, when wo come off roundly, when parts have their
free course and career; and this not only in public, where we have
an advantage to discover our parts with applause, but many times in
private intercourses between God and our souls, to which no eye is con
scious. When a man is conceited of his gifts and abilities, he may
delight in the exercise of them. Whatever we have, the worth of it is
known in the exercise ; especially gifts, for they are of the nature of
those things that are 7rpo>- aXXo, not for enjoyment, but use. There
fore a man that hath a high conceit of .his gifts for praying, preaching,
and conference may take a carnal delight in the exercise of them.
Nature takes delight in the exercise of its own gifts ; as when parts
are vigorous, the tongue can speak much and well, invention is quick
and fresh. A man feedeth his own pride by the excellency of
speech.
[2.] There may be some grief for the defects of duty which yet is not
right; as when the heart is troubled for outward defects rather than
inward, for weakness and brokenness of expression rather than dead ness
of spirit, and we look more to the liveliness and freshness of parts than
of graces. It is true God should be served with all we have, with the
vigour of parts as well as the exercise of grace ; and therefore it is just
matter of grief to a child of God when he cannot have his senses exer
cised, and nature is not ready to serve grace. But I say when we are
onl v v troubled for outward defects, for deficiency or lameness of parts
and do not look at the exercise of grace, the heart is not right with
God. There may be a great deal of hardness of heart and flatness of
affections when parts are quick and fresh, but then the heart is not
troubled; as a man may be copious in confession, and declaim against
sin with much ornament and passionateness of speech, and yet he is
not touched, though he findeth no acts of spiritual shame and remorse.
Should we but confess half so much to man against ourselves as we do
against God, and should we implead ourselves at the bar of men as we
do at the bar of God, there would be greater exercise of remorse. But
we are not ashamed when we represent our case before 'God. And if a
man should be ashamed of the fillhinoss of his life, it should be rather
in confession before God than man ; for man fs but his guilty fellow-
creature. On the contrary, the heart may be truly affected when the
language is troubled and broken, and there may be much vehemency
of spirit when we cannot find words to give it vent to God. We read
Moses cried to God, and yet of no words he spake, Exod. viii. 12. And
. the Spirit's assistance is not to give us words, but he helps our infirmities
with sighs and groans, Rom. viii. 26. There is a language in sighs
and .groans ; they make the best melody in the ears of God, even when
the speech is troubled and broken.
5. It is not enough to make conscience of the duties that we perform.
Natural men may engage in the acts of worship upon the mere en
forcement of natural conscience ; as the mariners in their distress
'called every one upon his God,' Jonah i. 5 : it is but a carnal principle
and impulse. Now because it is a hard matter to distinguish the
workings of natural conscience from the workings of grace, I shall
give you some notes. When we work out of natural conscience, it may
be discerned several ways.
VER. 4.1 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 451
[1.] It usually smites for total omissions, not for spiritual neglects
and perfunctory performances. There will be restless accusations in
the heart if a man totally omit duty; but the conscience doth not
smite for customariness of spirit in praying and hearing.
[2.] Natural conscience works chiefly by the means of slavish fear,
by the terror and awe that it impresseth upon the spirit. Faith works
by love, hut natural conscience works by fear ; and so the working of
it may be known, because it is altogether from the threatenings in
the word, as faith doth from the promises arid mercies of God: Rom.
xii. 1, 'I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God,' &c. Natural
conscience works from hell, and from our own disquiet. Faith carrieth
a man out of himself, and casts all his actions and affections into the
mould of the word ; but carnal men are forced to it by the rack of
their own thoughts, and considerations taken from hell and torment.
It is true we must believe the threatenings of the word as well as the
promises ; but love hath the greatest stroke in all their duties : 2 Cor.
v. 11, 'Knowing therefore the terrors of the Lord, we persuade men.'
That wae one reason which did engage him to faithfulness in preaching
the word ; compare it with ver. 14, ' The love of Christ constraineth us.'
[3.] Natural conscience doth not do duties out of gratitude or
thankfulness, but the great gospel- principle is gratitude. If there
were no law to bind a regenerate man, yet he would not be ungrateful
to God; but nature is rather prone to a sin-offering than a thank-
offering. When our consciences are troubled, that we may lick
ourselves whole again, then carnal men would perform duties, but not
out of thankfulness to God. Under the law, when they came with
their burnt-offerings, they were to offer to God a thank-offering, Lev.
vi. 12. God will have thankfulness attend all our obedience ; but
nature only performs duties when we are troubled.
[4.] Natural conscience conviuceth us of the duty, but not of the
goodness of the duty ; it shows us the need, but not the worth of
worship; therefore there is a rising of heart, and a great deal of
prejudice against that we perform. It makes a man to do duties,
because he dares not do otherwise. Still the service of God is a burden
and a weariness : they look upon God as an austere and hard master,
Mat. xxv. 24. They think God is too strict, too exact, and deals with
them upon justice ; but where love and grace is the principle, there
' the commandments are not grievous,' 1 John v. 3 ; but we act with a
great deal of delight and complacency in them.
[5.] Natural conscience works but at times, when convictions are
strongest ; it makes us mind duty in a sick qualm. When terror
flashes in the face of a natural man, then he will apply himself to God.
Usually a natural conscience doth use duties just as we take strong
waters, not for a constant drink, then they would mar the stomach,
but only to help us at a pang; so when we are in trouble, then
nature chiefly puts us upon duty, then we are most enlarged and
quickened: Hos. v. 15, 'In their affliction they will seek me early;'
when distress is laid upon them: Jer. ii. 27, 'In the time of their
trouble they will cry, Lord ! save us.' All the duties of natural men
are forced out of them, like water out of a still, by a sense of wrath;
they come not so freely as from a sense of love.
452 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. XIV.
Use 2. If it be so, that carnal men may join with the people of God
in duties of worship, here is direction ; in all your duties put your
hearts to this question, Wherein do I excel a hypocrite ? So far a
natural man may go. As Christ said, Mat. v. 47, ' Do not even the
publicans the same?' When thou art praying and hearing, and thy
heart doth not go out with such delight and complacency to God, say,
May not a carnal man do this ? A Christian should do duties in a
distinguishing manner, that there should be a sensible difference
between them and others.
Ques. But you will say, wherein lies the essential difference between
the performances of carnal men and the children of God ? This must
be the work of the next doctrine.
SERMON XIV.
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
by which he obtained ivitness that he was righteous, God testifying
of his gifts ; and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh HEB. xi. 4.
Doct. 2. That there is a sensible difference between the godly and the
wicked in their several duties and performances.
1. Why it is so ?
2. What is the difference ?
First, Why the children of God act in a different manner than the
wicked ?
Ans. They have another nature, and other assistance.
1. They have another nature than wicked men. Water can rise no
higher than its fountain ; acts are according to their causes ; nature
can but produce a natural act. The children of God have the spirit
of grace bestowed upon them : Zech. xii. 10, ' I will pour upon them
the spirit of grace and of supplication.' First of grace, then of suppli
cation ; therefore their addresses come out of a principle of grace. A
new work requires a new nature. As Christ spake in the matter of
fasting : Mat. ix. 12, ' New wine must not be put into old bottles ; '
new wine and old bottles will never suit. Duties well done will make
natural men either weary of their natural estate, or their natural estate
will make them quite weary of their duty.
2. They have other assistance. The children of God have a mighty
Spirit to help them : Jude 20, ' Praying in the Holy Ghost.' They
pray not merely by the strength of parts, but by the Spirit. Natural
men have only the rigour of natural parts, and some general assistance,
whereby their gifts are heightened for the use of the church and good
of the body, but they have not the special operation of the Holy Ghost ;
therefore, let them do what they can, they can never get up their
worship to that height and latitude unto which godly men are raised.
Look as in Elijah's time, 1 Kings xviii. 38, there was a contest between
him and Baal's priests, the fire came down and devoured Elijah's
VER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 453
sacrifice. But Baal's priests might fetch blood from themselves, but
not fire from heaven ; so carnal men may force nature, beat themselves,
cut their flesh, but their sacrifice will not burn ; there is no holy
liarne by which their hearts are heightened and carried out as Christians ;
they act in their own strength, and to their own ends, therefore there
must need be a difference.
Secondly, Wherein lies the difference between the worship of the
godly and the worship of carnal men that live in the church? I
answer, In three things mainly in the principle, in the manner, and
in the end.
1. In the principle. Natural men do nothing out of the constraints
of love, but out of the enforcement of conscience ; duty is not their
delight, but burden. Cain's sacrifice was tendered rather like a fine,
than an offering ; so are all their services. There are several sorts of
principles of worship: some are altogether false and rotten, some
tolerable, some good, and some are excellent.
[1.] Some are altogether false and rotten ; as custom, and the statutes
of men. Thus it is with wicked men, there is more of conformity
than devotion ; their worship is not so much an act of religion as of
man observance. Men do as they learn of their fathers, or as authority
commands, or as others expect from them.
[2.] Some principles are more tolerable; as enforcement of con-
science, fear of eternal torment, natural desire of welfare and salvation.
Men must pray, and keep up some worship, else they are afraid they
shall be damned. Alas ! this is but a natural act of self-love. Our
salvation is never regularly desired but with subordination to God's
glory. Or else they do it out of hope of temporal mercies. Men pray
that God may bless them in their calling; constant observation of
worship brings in a blessing, therefore they pray out of such a low-
end : Hosea vii. 14, ' They howl upon their beds,' saith the prophet,
' for corn, wine, and oil.' This is but a brutish cry : beasts will howl
for things they stand in need of; so men may pray for outward
conveniences without any grace. Consider, God's worship must not
have an end beneath itself. We act preposterously, and not according
to the laws of reason, when the means are more noble than the end,
and worship is prostituted to such a base end as merely to serve our
outward conveniences ; when self is the end of prayer, it is not worship,
but self-seeking. All gracious actions are to have a reference and
ordination to God, therefore the spiritual life is called 'a living to God,"
Gal. ii. 10 ; much more acts of worship, which are more raised
operations of the spiritual life ; there the addresses are more directly
to God, and therefore must not be prostituted to a common use.
[3.] There are some good and sound principles, though in the lower
form of good things ; that is, when duties are done out of an enlightened
conscience, and with respect to the command, and the general rewards
and compensations of religion. It is true, acts thus done, upon these
principles, are rightly done, because they are done in faith and obedience,
which is that which constitutes and makes up the essence of a religious
act ; and usually these are the first dispositions of the soul after grace
is first received. Therefore the apostle saith, ' He that cometh '
, or is coming on ' to God,' his main work is to ' believe
454 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. XIV.
that God is, and that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him,'
Heb. xi. 6. He is to act his faitli upon the reward God hath promised,
and obedience upon the duty lie hath required.
[4.] There are more excellent and raised principles of worship; and
that is when duties are done out of a grateful remembrance of God's
mercy to us in Christ, to testify our thankfulness to God : Luke i 74,
' That we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve
him without fear ; ' or else when they are done out of a pure love to
God, because we delight in his presence. Job xxvii. 10 makes that
the note of a hypocrite, 'Will he delight himself in the Almighty?
will he always call upon God?' A vile carnal man, natural conscience
will make him call upon God in his straits , but doth he this out of
delight? or else from the excellency and sweetness of the work of
obedience? as, Ps. cxix. 140, 'Thy law is very pure, therefore thy
servant loveth it,' when a man can love pure and holy duties because
they are pure and holy, and for that very reason. Though there were
no heaven nor hell, yet a child of God finds such a privilege in worship,
and such a sweetness in communion with God, that he cannot omit it.
What delight can be more sweet and ravishing to their souls than
communion with God ? God usually carrieth men on from one
sort of principles to another : first from those that are sinful
to those that are tolerable , then to those that are good ; then to
those that are rare and excellent. First he brings them on from custom
to conscience ; then from conscience to obedience ; then from obedience
to delight, to see the beauty of his ordinances and sweetness of his
ways.
2. There is a difference in the manner how these duties are to be
performed ; this is to be regarded as well as the matter. A man may sin
in doing good, but he can never sin in doing well. A man may sin
though the matter be lawful, for the manner is all: Luke viii. 18, ' Take
heed how you hear/ saith Christ ; not only that you hear, but how you
hear. A man must not only make conscience of the very act of worship,
but of the manner how he performs it. There are several dif
ferences between the children of God and others in the manner
of worship; it must be done humbly, reverently, affectionately.
[1.] It must be done humbly. It is not worship without it; they
have a deep sense of their own vileness. In scripture the saints of the
Most High in all their addresses to God, have always low thoughts of
themselves ; as the centurion : Mat. viii, 8, 'Lord, I am not worthy that
thou shouldst come under my roof ;' and the great example of faitli,
Abraham 'C Lord, Iain but dust and ashes,' Gen. xviii. 27. When
we come to converse with God, it will put us in remembrance of our
distance. Rev. v. 8', ' The elders fell down before the Lamb.' There
will be a comparing of ourselves with God. Alas! what is our drop to
his ocean ? What is a candle before the sun ? The children of God
shrink into nothing, whether you respect the benefit they receive, or the
glory of God's presence in worship. Gen. xvii. 3, when God came to
tender his covenant to Abraham, 'he fell upon his face,' in humble
adoration of God, because of the richness of his bounty. So when you
consider the glory and majesty of God, you must humbly adore in the
presence of God.
VER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 455
[2.] Ton must come with reverence: Eccles. v. 1, 'Keep thy foot
when tlion goest to the house of God.' When you goto worship, con
sider what you are about to do. We had need to awaken our drowsy
and careless spirits, that we may have fresh and.awef'ul thoughts of God
in worship. Exod. iii. 5, ' Put off thy shoes from thy feet ; ' hiy aside
the commonness of your spirit, and the ordinary frame of your heart.
God complains of some that were careless, and. brought the sick and
the lame ! Mai. i. 14, 'Cursed be the deceiver, that hath a male in his
flock, and voweth, and sacrificeth to the Lord a corrupt thing ; for I
am a great king, saith the Lord of Hosts.' Wicked men's approaches
are rude and unhallowed, because they do not consider what a great
king (iod is ; therefore they will bring less to their great king than to
an ordinary governor. We are more slight in our addresses to God than.
to an ordinary king. Wicked men, that are given up to vain superstition,
may seem to be reverent in their gestures, and have more of the garb of
religion; but the main thing they have not, fresh and aweful thoughts
of God ; they do not come as into the presence of a great king.
[3.] It must be with affection ; God must be served with the heart.
There are two things notable in the affections, veheinency and com
placency.
[1.] Vehemency : Fs. Ixiii. 8, ' My soul follows hard after thee.' A
man should not faint when he comes to seek God ; our motion should
not be weak, but an earnest travail of the spirit to find God. Wicked
men's prayers are but paper-and-ink devotions ; they do not lay out their
hearts and affections before God. At best, their prayers are but a little
spiritless talk and prattle, and tongue-babbling. The Lord looks after
the reaching forth of the soul: James v. 16, 'The effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much;' Sevens evepyov/jLevT) we
translate it ' effectual fervent ; ' the word signifies prayer possessed of the
Spirit.. Prayer must be full of life and vigour. And ver. 17, it is said,
'Elijah prayed earnestly.' In the original it is, -rrpoaev^r} Trpoarju^aTo,
he pi-ay ed in prayer. It was not only tongue, but heart prayer ; the
spirit prayed while the mouth was praying. The Spirit assists in groans
rather than words, those inward reach ings forth of the soul after God.
(2) Your duties must be managed with complacency and delight:
Ps. Ixxxiv. 10, 'One day in thy courts is better than a thousand' else
where.' The Lord will have the exercise of your joy. Now, that a man
may delight in the worship of God, there seems to be two things neces
sary : spiritual esteem, that we may look upon it as a privilege that
there is more delight in it than in the house of mirth; and a child
like confidence, that we may have some hopes towards God, otherwise
duty will be a sad burden. Carnal affections beget weariness; and
carnal doubts beget fear and trouble. We have to do with God the
fountain of blessing, and with our God. None complain of duties so
much as they that have least cause. Men that are most perfunctory
in God's service find it most irksome ; as those that brought the sick
and the lame came puffing and blowing to the temple as if they were
tired, and cried, ' What a weariness is it! ' Mai. i. 13. Partly because
they have no spiritual esteem, and do not know how to value com
munion with God, what it is for a creature to have such near approach
to him. Partly because they have no child-like confidence. Worship
456 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. XIV.
returns their fears upon them, and puts them to a new penance, and
brings their sorrow to their remembrance ; therefore they cannot act
with any complacency. Isa. Iviii. 13, the prophet bids us ' call the
sabbath a delight.' When we rest in the bosom of God all day, there
are actual emanations of grace and comfort.
3. There is a difference in regard of the end. Now there is a
general and a particular end of worship.
[1.] A general end, and that is twofold ; to glorify God and to enjoy
God ; the one is the work of duty, and the other is the reward of duty.
(1.) The great end of duty is to glorify God. Grace heightens all our
natural actions to a supernatural intention : 1 Cor. x. 31, ' Whether
therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of
God.' Eating and drinking ; therefore especially must duties of wor
ship, and those solemn operations of the new nature. Duties of wor
ship and exercises of grace must be to the glory of God. God is said
' to inhabit the praises of Israel,' Ps. xxii. 3 ; meaning the temple, the
place of worship where God was chiefly honoured and praised. Duties
of worship are chiefly for the honour of God. Now carnal men have
other ends ; either they use duty in design as hypocrites ; or with a
natural end, as to satisfy natural conscience. With a design, which is
hypocrisy. Religion is one of the best commodities in his way of trade
and commerce ; therefore carnal men make ordinances to lacquey upon
their private ends ; they pray and preach for esteem and gain to set off
themselves ; they use the holy things of God for some base ends of
their own : 2 Cor. ii. 7, ' We are not of those that corrupt the word of
God, KcnrrjXevovTes.' This is the true Simony, to buck out the gos
pel, and sell our holy things. Hypocrites look upon religion as a
device fitted for their turns Quantas nobis comparavit divitias, or else
carnal men use worship for a natural end, which is the worship of a
natural conscience, and is prostituted to self-respect. A natural con
science is hearty and real in its worship, but not spiritual, because it
merely aims at self, some temporal commodity, or eternal salvation, as
a mere hire. Christians ! look to your ends. Many look that the
matter be good, that they can raise themselves into any quickness and
smartness of affection ; but the end is all : Col. iii. 23, ' Whatsoever ye
do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.' Let God's glory
be at the end. (2.) The second end of worship is to enjoy God.
Many mind duties as a task, and as the mere homage of the creature,
and look not upon it as a means of communion, by which God will let
out himself to us. This must be your aim, to use duty to further
your joy in the Lord. Duty is expressed by ' drawing nigh to God,' Heb.
x. 22. You must renew in every exercise your access to God by him.
Now carnal men are content with the duty instead of God and satisfy
themselves with the work wrought, though there be no intercourse
between God and their souls. Therefore a godly man looks at this,
what of God he hath found ; how he hath come to Christ as to a living
stone. You must not be content with the duty instead of God.
[2.] There is a particular aim, and that is always suited to the par
ticular part of worship, and that is a right intention. It is a sign you
do not come customarily when you come to seek that for which God
hath instituted that special worship. As in the word, the end of that
VER. 4.J SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xr. 457
is to submit ourselves to Christ as our teacher or to promote our life or
the liveliness of our souls ; therefore when you come to be taught by
Christ, you come aright to hear the word. And in prayer the particu
lar end is that we may make use of Jesus Christ as our advocate to
God the Father, and may solemnly act our graces in opening our case
to God. So in the sacrament, when you come to Christ as the master
of the feast, to refresh your souls with the renewed sense of his bounty ;
as Christ said to those that went to hear John, Mat. xi. 8, ' What went
you out into the wilderness to see ? ' so, for what reason did you put your
selves upon such worship ? Well then, see that you offer a sacrifice more
excellent than carnal men ; look to your principle, manner, and end.
Use. To press you to see that you offer a sacrifice more excellent
than common men. Here I shall speak to three cases, concerning the
principle, the manner, and the end of duty.
1. For the principle, Whether or no it be not a mere natural act to
eye the reward, and in what manner it is lawful ?
2. For the manner, Whether the children of God may not be sur
prised sometimes with perfunctory deadness, and wicked men may not
by some high impulses be raised to some extraordinary quickness and
zeal in duties of worship ?
3. For the end, Whether the children of God may not reflect some
times upon a carnal end in the duties of worship, and how far this is a
note of insincerity ?
Case 1. For the principle, Whether or no it be not a mere natural
act to perform duty with an eye to punishments and rewards ? The
reason of the inquiry is because I pressed before, that duties, for the
principle of them, should be acts of faith, love, and obedience, and not
merely done out of the enforcement of conscience; and many press
men to acts of religion upon conceits abstracted from all respects to
rewards or punishments.
I shall answer this case (1.) By laying down several spiritual
observations ; (2.) By stating the question.
The spiritual observations are these
1. To act in holy duties with respect to terrors and punishments is
a far lower principle than to act with an eye to the recompense of
reward. Why ? because it comes nearer to the rack and enforcement
of natural conscience. Hope is a better principle than fear. Bare
reason will show that fallen man is liable to judgment, and natural
credulity doth more easily suit with the threatenings than the promise;
for guilt sitting heavy upon the conscience makes the soul to be more
presagious of that which is evil than of that which is good ; and the
punishment of sin is far more credible than the reward of grace. The
heathens that had committed sin knew themselves to be worthy of
death ; so the apostle, Rom. i. 32. And we see by common experience
those doctrines that concern the conviction of sin, make a greater
impression upon the soul than gospel promises.
2. I observe, that the consideration of threatenings and punishments
are more proper for the avoiding of sin than for the practising of duty ;
for as nature doth more hearken to threatenings, so nature is more sen
sible of sins of commission than of omission. Duty is an act of life,
and tendeth to life ; and therefore the proper respect that draws on the
458 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SfiR. XI Y.
soul to duty is the reward, and the proper dissuasive from sin is the
threatening and punishment: Rom. viii. 13, ' If you live after the
flesh, you shall die ; but if ye, through the Spirit, mortify the deeds of
the body, ye shall live.' When the apostle would dissuade them from
sin, he lays death before them ; when he would draw them to the prac
tice of holiness, then he propounds encouragements of life and peace.
3. That fear which is culpable is rather an impression than a volun
tary act of the creature. It is not a fear begotten by the exercise of
our faith or thoughts upon the threatening of the word ; but a slavish
terror is enforced upon the soul by the spirit of bondage and the evi
dence of a guilty conscience. When the children of God do make use
of terrors, they act their own thoughts upon them ; as Paul : 2 Cor.
v. 11, ' Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.' The
apostle in his own thoughts graciously considered the severity of the
process Jesus Christ would use at the day of judgment. But now the
thoughts of the curse in wicked men are but involuntary impressions ;
they care not for duty, and they would not willingly fear the threat
ening. Non peccare metuunt, sed ardere, saith Austin, they are not
afraid to sin and offend God, but they are afraid to be damned. There
is impressed upon them, against their will, a fear of damnation, so that
they act out of a mere constraint of terror ; when they dare not do
otherwise, then 'they come with their flocks and with their herds to
seek the Lord,' Hos. v. 6. That they do not willingly fear the threat
ening is plain, because they are so apt to take all advantages to enlarge
themselves, and to get free of this awe ; for their desire is not so much
to please God as to dissolve the bonds of conscience, and allay their
own private fears.
4 When natural men look after the rewards and recompenses of
religion, they have wrong notions and apprehensions both of heaven
and duty: of heaven as the end. and of duty as the means. (1.) Of
heaven ; they have nothing but loose, sudden, indistinct desires of hap
piness. Nature poiseth us to an eternal good, for our own ease and
pleasure ; therefore natural men may have loose desires of happiness :
Num. xxiii. 10, ' Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my bist
end belike his,' and John vi. 34, ' Lord, evermore give us of this bread.'
They look upon heaven as a place of ease and pleasure, and therefore
conceive some loose sudden wishes. There needs some grace to desire
that which is truly the heaven of Christians, which is to enjoy God in
an eternal and gracious communion ; this will require some exercise of
faith, and some spiritual esteem. (2.) They have wrong thoughts of
duty ; they look upon it as a work by which they must earn the wages
of heaven. A natural spirit can never be evangelical. Therefore the
sure notes of undue reflections upon the recompenses and punishments
which God hath propounded are these two merit and slavish fear.
When natural men look upon terror, the spirit is altogether servile, and
vexed with such scruples as do not become the liberty of the gospel, or
haunted with such thoughts as do not become the tenourof the gospel.
Saith Christ, Luke xvii. 10, ' When ye have done all, say, We are unpro
fitable servants.' Though we look to the reward, yet we should not look
for it as a salary from a master, but as a gift from a father. It is mer
cenary to act for hire and wages, and establish merit in our private
thoughts.
VER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 459
(5 ) The acts of the creature are never gracious but when they are
ultimately terminated on God. When natural men act in the duties
of religion, self is always both in the beginning, and end, and middle
of the work ; they act from sell-love, in self-strength, and with self-
respects. But in a godly man all his acts terminate on God ; he makes
God the fountain, the object, and the end of all his duties, and so his
acts come to be gracious. But now for the applying of promises :
there is a great deal of difference between seeking self in God and
seeking self in the creature. A hypocrite always looks to self, hut it
is in the world ; lie looks more to credit or profit than to heaven or
hell. Self-love, which is an innocent disposition in nature, is improved
by grace, for when we seek our welfare in God, that is right ; for this
is one of the ends of religion to enjoy God, as well as to glorify God.
(6.) The children of Gf.nl are sometimes stirred and cheerfully drawn
out in duties of religion, by the lower rewards and conveniences of the
present life, and that without sin. Obedience is their principle, but
the concurrence of outward encouragements may carry them on with
more facility and alacrity ; as, for instance, a diligent servant goes
about his master's business readily, but with more gladness when he
meets with fair weather and good speed. So we must primarily look
at the will of our master, and discharge our work, whatever our enter
tainment be ; but if God give us the advantage of profit and credit, and
a good name, we must be more cheerful in his service. A wicked man
looks altogether to those outward respects ; he is forward when his
own interest and God's are twisted together; he may be then carried
out with zealous earnestness, but the unsoundness of his heart is herein
seen, in that he prefers self before God. When self is severed from the
commandments of God, he lets them alone ; but the children of God
hf.ve learned to pass 'through honour and dishonour,' 2 Cor. vi. 8;
they still keep on in the way of duty, whatever entertainment they find
in the world. Outward conveniences are very useful to encourage us
in our way, and to make our duties more dear and sweet to us. Look,
as ciphers added to figures increase the sum, so these things that are as
ciphers in comparison of graces, yet if they are found in the way of
obedience, they increase the sum : Eccles. xi. 7, ' Wisdom is good with
an inheritance.' It is good without, but then there are more obliga
tions. The main principle is obedience, and this is but their accidental
encouragement.
Quest. These observations premised, I come to state the question,
How far it may be excused from a mere act of self-love for a Christian
to reflect upon the rewards and punishments of religion? Here I
shall show
1. You may make use of them.
2. In what manner.
[1.] You may make use of them. There may be a religious use of
punishments and rewards in the matter of duty by natural reason.
Punishments are the objects of tear, and rewards the objects of desire
mid hope, and the faculties may be exercised about their proper object
without sin. But there is an exercise, not only of nature, but of grace.
It was an argument of Paul's faith when he reflected upon the day of
judgment, 2 Cor. v.ll, ' Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we
460 SEUMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SiiK. XIV.
persuade men/ It was an argument of Moses's faith ' to have an eye
to the recompense of reward,' Heb. xi. 26. It is some glory to God
when we can believe his word, when we trust in him as one wise to
observe, and able and willing to recompense, whatever we do for him.
Besides, as there is an act of faith in it, so there is an act of spiritual
esteem : it is a sign there is grace, when we can prefer the recompenses
of God before present advantages and the allurements of men. And
it is an act of spiritual fear to value the threatenings of God before the
terrors of men. And it is an act of faith to expect and wait for the
accomplishment of these things. It is a prime article to believe ' that
God is a rewarder,' Heb. i. 6 ; and it needs a spiritual eye to see the
riches of our high-calling ; therefore the apostle desires that God would
open their eyes, that ' ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and
what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,' Eph. i.
17 ; that they might be acquainted with the mysteries of the gospel
and the rewards of obedience, to keep them still in sight, that upon
the encouragement of them we may discharge our duty.
[2.] How, and in what manner you may use them right ; for rewards-
are but encouragements of obedience, not the formal reasons of it.
Gratitude, love of God and his honour, these must be the chief incentives,
and have the preferment above all self-respect in our obedience. The
formal reason of every duty must be obedience to God ; but the encour
agements are the promises and recompenses.
(1.) You may use them to encourage and quicken a backward heart.
We look upon duty through carnal prejudices, and count it a sore exac
tion, and so draw back ; in such a.case we may safely use God's arguments
as encouragements. God propoundeth them to us in the word, and
pleads with us upon this advantage, and seeks to whip us into obedience
by the spur of threatenings and hopes. God pleads with his people,
Jer. ii. 31, 'Have I been a land of darkness to you? have I been a
wilderness ? ' Is there no blessing grows there ? no sun-shine ? All
the argumentative part of the word is taken from the recompenses and
threatenings. Surely it is not good to be wise above the scriptures ;
we may use that which the scripture useth. Thus the apostle shows
he presseth onward upon this advantage : Phil. iii. 14, ' 1 press toward
the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ ; '
the glorious recompenses and high prizes God had set before him at
the end of the journey, this made him make progress in the way of
religion.
(2.) In the spiritual conflict, to baffle and defeat a temptation. So
you may use these rewards and punishments ; for herein you do but
declare the high esteem you have of your hopes, more than the bait
that is presented in the temptation. Let us cast our hopes in another
scale : 2 Cor. iv. 18, ' We look not to the things that are seen, but to
the things which are not seen,' &c. When things seen come to stand in
competition with our high hopes, it is not only lawful but necessary to
reflect upon the recompenses. We expect great things from God ; he
hath promised things unseen. So the apostle, when likely to be dis
couraged by the inconveniences of this life : Bom. viii. 18, ' I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory that shall be revealed in us.' Moses counterbalanceth
VER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 4G1
' the pleasures of Egypt, with the recompense of reward,' Heb. xi. 2-6 ;
and Jesus Christ counterbalance^ the shame of the cross with the
glory of his exaltation : Heb. xii. 2, ' Who, for the glory that was set
before him, endured the cross, and despised the shame.' What is car
nal ease to heavenly pleasure ? the fulfilling of a carnal desire to the
filling up of the soul with God ? This is nothing but a holy design to
outweigh a temptation by putting the glory of our hopes in the other
scale ; by opposing the joys of heaven to the pleasures of sin ; and the
sweetness of eternal communion with God to the gratifications of the
flesh.
(3.) To renew the solemn remembrance of your hopes with thank
fulness that your heart may the more admire the riches of free grace.
By this means the great gospel principle will be the better strengthened,
which is gratitude and thankfulness. Now we may be the more thank
ful, and more drawn out in the admiration of grace. Oh, how should
we esteem the Lord's service ! He might enforce duty upon us, but
he is pleased to quicken us by the reward. Oh, that he should reward
such worthless services, and honour our obedience with such recom
penses and privileges ! This is a right reflection when our thoughts
are carried out to the reward, as rather admiring God's bounty than
respecting our own benefit. Gratitude is by this means strengthened,
and hath the greater force upon the soul. Gratitude doth not only
look to mercies in hand, but also look for mercies in hope. The bird
of paradise can sing in winter ; faith can give thanks for our hopes
before enjoyment. You may s#y, as Ps. xiii. 19, ' Oh, how great is thy
goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee ! which thou
hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men.' There
is not only goodness laid out, and thankfulness for that, but for good
ness laid up in hope, those excellences and glorious rewards God hath
provided for us ; this should put us upon admiring grace.
SERMON XV.
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying
of his gifts : and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh HEB. xi. 4.
Case. 2. The second case respects the manner of duties : they must be
done with vehemency and complacency. Now here arise two cases :
1. Whether the children of God may not be surprised sometimes
with perfunctory deadness ? Can their souls go out to God always
with holy fervour and holy ardencies ?
2. Whether wicked men may not by high impulses be raised into
extraordinary quickness in duties of worship ? and whence this comes ?
First, Whether the children of God may not be surprised sometimes
with perfunctory deadness ? &c. I answer
1. It may be so indeed. Sometimes their affections are like the
4G2 SEHMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [&ER. XV.
faint hands of Moses, that flag and hang down : Gal. v. 17, ' The flesh
lusk'th against, the spirit, so that they cannot do the things they would.'
So Paul complains, Rom. vii. 18, ' How to perform that which is good,
I find not ; ' he could not KarepydQiv, go through with his work ; like
a sick man, that cannot do what he would.
2. Though there may such deadness fall upon them, yet still there
is a willing bent of the heart towards God. Graces that live may not
always be lively : there is a living faith and a lively faith ; and there
may be deadness in the children of God, though there be not an utter
death. Look, as our saviour found in his own experience when he was
to suffer for us, just so it is with us when we come to perform duty.
In Christ the manhood sank by a just aversation at the greatness of
his sufferings ; therefore, Mat. xxvi. 41, ' The spirit is willing but the
flesh is weak ; ' the flesh that is, the manhood is not able to bear
such a brunt, though the spirit had freely given it up. So the inward
man goes out to God freely, though there be the outward reluctation
of the carnal man : Rom. vii. 22, ' I delight in the law of God after
the inward man.' Though there were strugglings, yet the bent of his
heart was toward God. This will appear, because the children of God
in such indispositions are riot idle, but seek ; they are seriously dis
pleased with the distempers and uncomfortableness of their souls, as
appears by their strugglings with God and striving with themselves.
By their strugglings with God: Ps. cxix. 28, 'Strengthen thou me
according to thy word ; ' and ver. 32, 'I will run the way of thy com
mandments, when thou shalt enlarge mine heart.' When they have
felt their straits and deadness, they would fain be set free ; and so, by
their striving with themselves, weariness and deadness may seize upon
the heart in prayer, but then a Christian bestirs himself. Always you
shall find when the children of God are calling upon God they are
calling upon themselves; there are resuscitations and awakenings of
their drowsy souls. Therefore it is said, Isa. Ixiv. 7, ' There is none
that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of
thee.' There must not only be a calling upon God, but a stirring up
ourselves: Ps. Ivii. 8, saith David, 'Awake up, my glory; awake,
psaltery and harp : I myself will awake early.' It is not a sign of no
grace to be troubled with indispositions ; but it is a sign of no grace
to rest in them.
Secondly, May not wicked men by high impulses be raised into
extraordinary quickness in duties of worship ? and whence comes this ?
Ans. This may be, and there are many causes of it in a hypocrite.
It may come from the constraints of carnal ends: delight may carry
us on freely in the outward part of worship ; joy is the strength of the
soul. We are more ready in that which we delight in. In supersti
tious men it comes sometimes from fanatic delusions and transporta
tions. False experience may whet the wit, though the heart be not
made the more humble or holy. And sometimes, in carnal men in
distress, it may come from unsound fervour of carnal affections, and
1hey may seek their earthly comforts with a great deal of earnestness.
The motions of lust are always violent and rapid ; and a carnal spring
may send forth a high tide of affection. You know it is said, Hos. vii.
14, ' They howl upon their beds for their corn, wine, and oil ; ' their
VER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xr. 463
prayers may be sharpened to howling when they are pleading for the
concernments of the belly. But most usually it doth arise from the
quickness and vivacity of nature. In youth, where there hath not been
a great waste of spirits, usually there is a kind of natural vehemency.
And some men we see are of temper fierce and earnest; and they may
seem very affectionate and loud in language, vehement in expression,
and all this out of the eagerness of the bodily spirits, and mere heat
and contention of nature ; but all this while they have no spiritual af
fections. As I have read of Graccus, that was so earnest in speech
that one was wont to come to him and sound a retreat to his spirit,
ut revocaret eum a nirnia contentione dicendi that he might call him
from too great a contention of speech. It is with many men now as
with a hell, which is carried by its own sway. Now it is a dangerous
folly to mistake everything for grace. I confess there is a great deal
of use of this vivacity of nature, it serves to deliver and set off vehe
ment affections ; but lungs and sides must not be mistaken for grace,
and the agitations of the bodily spirits for the impressions of the Holy
Gliost. Men may work themselves into a great heat and vehemency
by the mere stirring of their bodily humours ; and it is easy for men
of an affectionate temper to put on a passion, though their hearts be
not affected ; as corrupt lawyers can plead on either side with a like
earnestness. We cheat ourselves with common operations. Parts can
furnish the tongue with matter, and an eager spirit can supply the
room of Christian affections. As a man by overmuch contention of
speech may seem to be mightily transported and raised in declaiming
against sin, when in the meantime he hath no true indignation against
it, and' so is but ' like sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal,' 1 Cor. xiii.
1. There are men that cannot contain themselves in prayer when they
are but a little heated and agitated, and yet have no raisedness of affec
tion, no earnest pursuits and reachings- forth after God in their souls ;
it is the travail of the body only, and not the travail of the soul.
David supposeth that there may be crying to God with the tongue
when the heart regards iniquity ; Ps. Ixvi. 18, ' If I regard iniquity in
my heart, the Lord will not hear rne.' There may be a forcing of
nature into expressions when no serious indignation is kindled in the
heart against sin, and an aversion of heart to holiness. St Austin made
zealous prayers that God would mortify his lusts ; but his heart would
always object, Noli rnodo, &c. Lord, do not hear me just now ; I am
afraid lest God should hear me. At least their hearts do not pray in
prayer, notwithstanding this outward vehemency of their tongue.
Qucs. But you will say, How shall we discern this false vehemency
from that which is true, and that which is holy fervour and going out
of the spirit towards God ? It may be tried by the irreverence of your
souls in prayer, and carelessness of your souls after prayer.
1. By the irreverence of soul in prayer. When there is not a due
consideration of the nature and presence of God, certainly it is a natural
transportation ; when men are drawn out to a great heat of affection
yet no reverence of God. In a distempered heat in prayer or preaching
men are apt to forget themselves ; they do not consider to whom or
before whom they speak, therefore they are ' rash to utter anything
with their mouth,' Eccles. v. 1, 2. Men may be hasty to utter words,
464 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SR. X V.
though there be no due affection and reverence in the spirit. A true
earnestness of spirit makes us remember God the more, because we are
enjoying communion with God ; but a false earnestness is counted but
babbling. Mat. vi. 7, our Saviour speaks of those ' that thought to
be heard for their much speaking.' Carnal worshippers place much
in this, in their vehement pronouncing ; as Baal's priests, Elijah bids
them ' cry aloud/ 1 Kings xviii. 27 ; so they place much in the mere
extension of their voice, and crying aloud.
2. It may be discerned by the carelessness of their souls after prayer;
when men are vehement in worship, and never look after the effects of
worship. Usually men throw away their prayers, as children shoot
away their arrows, and never look after them. True vehemency will
stir up a like earnestness in the expectations and endeavours of the
soul : Ps. Ixxxv. 8, ' I will hear what God the Lord will speak/ There
will be hearkening after the success of such earnest prayers that have
been poured out with height of affection. Now to pray against sin and
not strive against it, and not to look after the return of it, shows a
false heart, and that it was but a feigned and personated heat, like
acting of a part upon a stage, till the task of prayer was over. Desire
is a vigorous bent of the soul ; it is an active affection, that will put
men upon endeavours ; and you will be stirring, waiting, seeing how
your prayers are accomplished ; otherwise it is but a passion put on
for a time. When a man prays vehemently for grace, and then goes
out and sins against his prayers, how can those prayers be right ? It
is but an empty declamation, especially if men confute their own prayers
with their lives ; like those that sacrificed to Esculapius, and prayed
for health, but kept on their riotous feasts.
Case 3. The third case is concerning the end of duties, Whether or
no the children of God may not reflect sometimes upon a carnal end
in duties of worship ? And how far is it a note of insincerity ?
I answer in several propositions
1. The best trial of a Christian is in his duties of worship. If at
any time, there he may discern the effects and operations of the new
nature, and the actings of grace in his own soul ; for there sins are
most checked, there he comes more solemnly to exercise his grace, there
his addresses are immediately to God. It argues much of unmorti-
fiedness to have carnal reflections when we are conversing with God.
It is God's complaint, Jer. xxiii. 11, ' Both the prophet and priest are
profane ; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the
Lord.' To conceive those fleshly motions in God's house is a matter
of high aggravation ; for here we come to set up grace in authority
most solemnly, and act it in the highest way of operation towards God.
2. As a Christian is tried in his duties, so our duties are tried by our
designs and aims. It is not the excellency of the outward address, it
is not the vehemency of the inward affection, but the integrity of the
end and aim towards God. Practice may be overruled by custom ;
excellency of speech may be drawn forth upon carnal impulsions ;
affections may be made violent by lust : but the genuine birth of the
spirit is the end and aim we propose to ourselves. And therefore a
child of God can appear to God's omnisciency for his love to him.
Human infirmities may make us fail in all other parts of duty, but
VEE. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 465
grace will set the end right, which is usually proportioned to the frame
of the heart. As the heart is, so is the end. This is the great dif
ferencing circumstance : Prov. xvi. 2, ' The Lord weighs the spirits,
quo animo ; with what end and aim an action is done. Christ sait^
4 The light of the body is the eye,' Mat. vi. 22. A single aim and intent
towards God is the best discovery of our sincerity in religious duties.
3. Yet notwithstanding the carnal part will be interposing and
vexing the spirit with carnal aims, as the daughters of Heth vexed
Kebecca, Gen. xxvii. 46. In the best duties we ever perform we plough
with an ox and an ass. When we come to do good, evil will be
present : Eom. vii. 21, ' I find then a law, that when I would do good,
evil is present with me.' And as evil, so also evil aims ; I know
no difference. Corruption may cast in vain-glorious glances, or covetous
thoughts and reflections upon external advantages, as well as blas
phemies and sins of another nature.
4. Though the carnal nature may vex the new nature with those
carnal reflections, yet there is a sensible difference still between them
and others, because grace hath the strongest influence. And though
there be carnal reflections, yet there are not carnal principles : these
are but collateral and supervenient glances, not the main motives
and chief reasons of their worship, which are obedience and love to God.
It is hypocrisy to act in design, but this they do not ; though carnal
aims run in their minds too much, yet when they do, they are resisted
there. As when Abraham had divided the sacrifices, ' the fowls came
down; but Abraham drove them away,' Gen. xv. 11 ; so when we come
to pour out our spirits in duties of religion, the fowls may come, carnal
thoughts may rush into our minds ; but they do not rest there, the
soul drives them away. The constant bent and aim of the spirit is to
serve God and enjoy communion with God, though these carnal reflec
tions may encumber their souls. Therefore a Christian is to try himself
by the mainspring of his soul what is the weight, the poise within to
worship ; for a Christian hath a double priniciple, flesh and spirit, but
not a double heart ; a hypocrite hath a double heart ; he doth but
put on a pretence of worship, and useth it in design. It is true, we
cannot come into the presence of God without sin, yet a child of
God will come without guile. He cannot bring a pure heart abso
lutely clean, but he brings a true heart, Heb. x. 22 ; the desire of his
soul is towards God ; and the chief reason that puts him upon worship
is to glorify and enjoy God.
Doct. 3. This sensible difference between the duties of the godly
and the wicked is occasioned by the influence and efficacy of faith.
Here I shall state (1.) What this faith of Abel was ; (2.) I shall
handle the general case.
First, What this faith of Abel was.
1. There was a faith of his being accepted with God when his service
was suited to the institution. He believed that God would by some
visible testimony manifest his acceptation. Such a promise was inti
mated to them, as appears by God's expostulation with Cain : Gen. iv.
7, ' If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted ?' As if God should
have said, Did I promise to accept any other service but what was con
formed to my appointments ? There was a belief of God's essence and
attributes, and a consequent love to him, willing to give God the best.
VOL. XIII. 2 G
466 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [&ER. XV.
2. It was a faith in the general rewards and recompenses of religion.
Abel looked to the good things to come, and so his hopes had an influ
ence upon his practice ; Cain's heart was altogether chained to earthly
things, therefore he looks upon that as lost which was spent in sacrifice.
This may also be probably collected out of Gen. iv. 8, 'And Cain
talked with (or said to) Abel his brother.' Here is mention of some
speech of Cain to Abel, but it is not expressly set down what the
discourse was. Indeed in the Hebrew text there is a pause extraordi
nary, implying some further matter to be added. The Septuagint
adds, ' And he said to Abel, Let us go out together into the field.' The
Targum of Jerusalem reads it thus, ' And Cain said to Abel his brother,
Let us go out into the field. And it came to pass when they were in
the field, Cain said to his brother, There is no judge, no judgment,
no other world, no reward for the just, no vengeance for the wicked;
neither did God make the world in mercy, nor in mercy was thy
sacrifice accepted.' All which when Abel had denied, in the height of
that discourse, Cain rose up and killed him. From whence we may
collect that the faith that had an influence upon his sacrifice was faith
in the general rewards and compensations of religion.
3. It was a faith in the Messiah to come. The first-born of God
was typed out in those first-fruits, and therefore is Christ called ' the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,' Rev. xiii. 8 ; that is,
in those offerings and sacrifices. And this is the apostle's drift in this
place ; they had a promise, ' That the seed of the woman should break
the serpent's head ;' and in those darker times Abel had a faith in
this promise, and this faith bettered his offerings. All the patriarchs
obtained that renown they had in the churches of Christ by faith in
the Messiah. Out of that expectation he brought a well-beseeming
sacrifice to God. In these times of the gospel all is more clear and
open, and therefore God requires more from us ; the persuasions of
faith are greater, therefore the operations of faith must be greater too.
Secondly, For the reasons of thepoint, Why faith makes this difference
between worship and worship, that it makes the duties and worship of
believers to be so different from that of carnal men ?
1. I answer, because it discerneth by a clearer light and apprehension.
Faith is the eye of the soul. A beast liveth by sense, a man by reason,
and a Christian by faith. By sense a beast discerneth what is con
venient and inconvenient to their manner of life ; reason guides ordinary
men in their choice and course of affairs ; but faith is the light of a Chris
tian in the whole business of this life, but chiefly in his worship.
Now the discerning work of faith is conversant both about God as the
object of worship, and about the work itself ; in short, to represent
the truth of God's being and the worth of God's service.
[1.] To represent to us the truth of God's being: faith 'seeth him
that is invisible,' Heb. xi. 27. Every natural man is an inward atheist,
because he wants the light of faith ; he cannot see God, therefore ho
does but serve God as he would serve an idol ; all their worship is cus
tomary, and done in obedience and conformity to the common practice.
As the scoffer said of the worship of God, Eamus ad communem errorem
Let us go to the common error and mistake. Certainly their hearts
are not touched with the sense of God's being ; and therefore the first
and general act of faith in and about duties of worship is wanting.
VER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 467
which is to keep the heart aweful by a clear sight and apprehension of
God : Heb. xi. 6, ' He that coraeth to God must believe that he is/
The great work of faith, and that which is the foundation of all, is to
help us to proper thoughts and conceptions of God a thing which
wicked men can never attain to ; for though they are able to discourse
of God's attributes, though they have a naked model and idea of the
truth of religion, yet in worship they know not how to raise their hearts
into a due apprehension of God. But as the heathens abused their
ryvwa-Tov 0eoO, and their practical thoughts in worship were gross carnal
imaginations, Rom. i. 22; so do these, they never have fresh and
aweful thoughts of God. Now this troubles the children of God when
faith is drowsy, and they are not able to form proper and becoming
thoughts of God in their worship and invocation; so that this first
thing is of great advantage and putteth a difference between worship
and worship. Faith keeps God in the view of the soul.
[2.] Faith discerns the worth of his service. When we look upon
duty with a carnal eye, the soul is prejudiced, and we consider it as a
sour task and rigid exaction, and so the soul drives on very heavily. Now
faith convinceth of the worth of divine service, and representeth more
of privilege than of burden in it. In the eye of faith, service is an honour
and duty a privilege : Ps. Ixxiii. 28, ' It is good for me to draw near
God.' Mark, it is not only meet or just, but good. Faith sees a great
deal of excellency and sweetness and privilege in it : and so it makes
reason and the sanciified judgment to issue forth a practical decree,
' It is good,' which sways and determines all the operations of the soul.
The first inquiry of the creature is, What is lawful ? then, What is
possible ? then, What is profitable ? Do not leave these questions to
the decision of human reason, then you will quickly be discouraged ;
but put the controversy into the hands of faith, and that will judge it
is good, sweet, and easy : Ps. xix. 10, ' Thy testimonies are more to
be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold ; sweeter also than the
honey and honey-comb.' A carnal man may understand the nature
and necessity of duty, but he is not convinced of the worth of it.
Faith is an affective light ; it determines all practical cases on religion's
side, and leaves a spiritual esteem upon the soul : Ps. Ixxxiv. 1, ' Oh !
how amiable are thy tabernacles, Lord ! ' Oh I when shall these be
the workings of our spirits ? Faith seeth that duty is a reward to
itself, that here the noblest faculties are exercised in the noblest work ;
and therefore if there were no other reward, if there were no heaven,
they find such pleasure in the duty that it were allurement enough of
itself ; as a martyr, when he came to die, said he was sorry that being
to receive so much wages, he had done so little work. This makes the
soul bend all its strength and all its power in seeking of God. The
children of God do duties in another manner, because they look upon
God and duty with other eyes.
2. Faith receives a mighty aid and supply from the Spirit of God,
Faith plants the soul into Christ, and so receives influence from him ;
it is the great band of union between us and Christ, and the hand
whereby we receive all the supplies of Jesus Christ. Christ lives in
us by his Spirit, and we live in him by faith. Until faith come, there
can be no vital influence. Wicked men's gifts may be elevated ; God
468 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SfiR. XV.
may work as author natures, the author of nature, though not as fans
gratice, the fountain of grace. Therefore it must needs make a differ
ence. What is the vigour of parts to the efficacy of the spirit ? Faith
draws Christ into the duty, and his Spirit bears a part of the burden :
Kom. viii. 26, 'The Spirit' a-vvavrikafjL^dveTaL 'helpeth our
infirmities.' We tug, and the Spirit helpeth also. This then is the
work of faith, to receive the supplies of grace. An actual faith hath
the promise of an actual assistance ; and when God's power is glorified,
then it is exercised : Ps. Ixxxi. 10, ' Open thy mouth wide, and I will
fill it.' Look, as little birds open their mouths, and then the great
one feeds them ; faith is nothing but an opening of the soul upon God,
then Jesus Christ gives in a supply of grace.
3. As it receives a mighty aid, so it works by a forcible principle,
and that is by love ; for ' Faith works by love,' Gal. v. 6. We live by
faith, and we work by love. Where faith is, there is love ; and where
love is, there is work. Affection follows persuasion, and operation
follows affection. First there is a persuasion of the love of God, then
thankful returns of affection to God, and they are manifested by holy
operations for the glory of God. Faith filleth the soul with the appre
hensions of God's love, and then maketh use of the sweetness of it, to
urge the soul to duty. There is a twofold advantage we have in love :
it will be active and self-denying. (1.) Active : it puts the soul upon
work ; it is a laborious grace, and the spring of all action ; therefore
labour and love are often joined together in scripture : Heb. vi. 10,
' God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love ; ' 1
Thes. i. 3, ' Kemembering your work of faith and labour of love.' Love
will put us upon work for God. Jacob endured much toil for Rachel,
because he loved her. Christ gageth Peter upon this point : John xxi.
15, ' Simon Peter, lovest thou me ? feed my sheep.' The church of
Ephesus, when ' she lost her first love,' she ' left her first-fruits/ Eev.
ii. 4. If love be not faint and languid, the soul will be kept open and
liberal for God. Love will carry a man through, and poiseth the soul
to those holy duties which are tedious and irksome to flesh and blood.
(2.) It acteth with self-denial and complacency against carnal ease and
present advantage, though it be tedious, and put us upon inconveniences
in the world. Inward duties are against carnal affections, outward
duties are against carnal interests ; yet love will carry them through
with delight and complacency : 1 John v. 3, 'This is the love of God,
that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are nob
grievous.' It takes off the natural irksomeness which is in the heart.
Love makes a great change in the heart. While the heart is naturally
corrupt, sin is a delight, and the commandment is a burden ; but when
the love of God is let into the heart, corruption is counted the yoke,
and duty is counted the delight and pleasure of the soul. The children
of God, we hear them complaining, not of the law, but of their own
corruption : Rom. vii. 14, ' The law is spiritual ; but I am carnal, sold
under sin/ Natural men are always quarrelling with their convictions,
their conflict is against the light that shines in their mind; but
spiritual men are always conflicting with their lusts ; and their groans
arise from another principle riot because the la\v requires duty, but
because they cannot perform it, by reason of those reluctations that
VER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 469
are in their evil natures. Love will carry them to duty that is against
the hair and bent of nature. It went much against the heart of Hatnor
and Shechem to be circumcised, and that rite was odious among the
gentiles ; yet it is said, Gen. xxxiv. 19, ' That the young man deferred
uot to do it, because he had a delight in Jacob's daughter.' So though
duty be never so much against the bent of nature and the course of
worldly advantages, yet duty will be sweet to them, for love will carry
them through for the delight they have in Christ : 2 Cor. v. 14, ' The
love of Christ constraineth us.' Though he draws trouble upon himself,
yet love carries the soul away against all reluctations.
4. It discourseth and pleads with the soul with strong reasons and
enforcements. Faith is a notable orator to plead for God ; it pleads
partly from the mercies, and partly from the promises of God.
[1.] From the mercies of God, both special and common. (1.) God's
special love in Jesus Christ. The arguments of faith are dipped in
Christ's blood, therefore they have the greater strength and force in
the soul : Gal. ii. 20, ' I live by the faith of the Son of God ; ' and the
argument of faith is there intimated by the apostle, ' who loved me,
and gave himself for me.' When the soul is backward, faith will say,
He freely gave himself for me, shall I not do something for thee that
hast left so much glory for me ? That hast pardoned so many sins,
conveyed so many blessed privileges, estated me in such large hopes,
shall I think anything too dear for him ? When Christ was to suffer
upon the cross, he did not say, This is hard work, and it will cost me
dear ; I must endure contempt, bitter agonies, and foul ignominy, and
be exercised with the wrath of God. No, but he said, ' I come to do
thy will, God ; ' Heb. x. 7 ; Father, I come to satisfy thy justice ;
sinners, I come to save your souls : Isa. liii. 11, ' He shall see of the
travail of his soul, and be satisfied.' That word implies both the cost
and the gain ; it would cost him much agony of spirit, and the gain is
implied. He shall see that which he hath travailed for ; he shall see
a company of children he hath gained to himself. When Christ saw
all this, he said, It is enough ; so I may rescue these poor souls, I
am contented with the temptations of the wilderness, the sorrows of
the garden, the ignominy of the cross, the wrath of my Father, the sus
pension of the comforts of my godhead. Faith comes and represents
this to the soul ; then the believer cannot say nay : he is overcome, and
brought with cheerfulness into God's presence. There is no oratory
like that of faith. (2.) Then it argues from common mercies. As
Abel, God had blessed his increase, therefore at the year's end he comes
to return the fat and fairest to God. Faith reasons with the soul, Wilt
thou not honour the God of thy mercies ? Thou livest in him, and
movest in him, and hast thy being from him ; what wilt thou do for
God ? Faith gives in a bill of blessings Lo ! thus God hath done for
thee ; he hath given thee life, estate, all kind of comforts ; and what
honour and service hath been done to God for all this ? As that king
said, Esther vi. 3, ' What honour and dignity hath been done to Mor-
decai for this ? ' The apostle urgeth their common enjoyments : 1 Tim.
vi. 17, ' Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-
minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth
us richly all things to enjoy.' The Lord hath enlarged his hand of
470 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [&ER. XV.
bounty ; he hath clothed thee, fed thee, and opened the treasures of
the sea and land to give thee provisions ; what hast thou done for God ?
Nature abhors uuthankfulness. Holy David, 2 Sam. vii. 2, his heart
reasons within him, ' I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God
dwelleth within curtains ; ' as if he had said, Here the Lord hath built
me a stately house, but what have I done for the ark of God ? When you
survey the great plenty and bounty of God, it is a wonder you have
not such inward discourses in your souls. Carnal men are the more
secure and careless of the worship of God for their outward enjoyments ;
as the sun moveth slowest when it is highest in the zodiac ; but
the zeal of God's children is heightened, and their thankfulness is
quickened.
[2.] Faith reasons from the promises of God, which are the common
places and topics of faith from which it gathers arguments. Now the
promises that faith urgeth are promises of assistance, acceptance, and
reward. Faith seeth assistance in the power of God, acceptance in
the grace of God, reward in the bounty and .kindness of God.
(1.) It reasons from the promises of assistance. We hate that which
we cannot perform. Men love an easy religion, and such as is within
the compass of their own strength and power ; therefore the apostle
shows one of the reasons why carnal men are so prejudiced against
the law of God, because they have no power to fulfil 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.' Wickedness takes the advantage
of weakness, and so the soul is prejudiced. Help engageth to actions;
when we know we have no strength, and the burden is heavy, we let
it alone. The great excuse of the creature is for want of power. Now
faith reasons from the promises of divine assistance, Alas! thou art a
weak creature, it is true, but God will enable thee : 2 Cor. iii. 5, ' Our
sufficiency is of God ; ' thou mayest be strong in God when thou art
weak in thyself: 2 Cor. xii. 10, ' For when I am weak, then am I
strong.' An empty bucket may be the sooner filled. To what end
hath God laid help upon Christ ? The soul saith, I can do nothing ;
but faith replies, ' In the strength of Christ I can do all things,' Phil,
iv. 13. Did you ever know a command that requires grace without a
promise that God would give grace ? Do not entertain jealousies of
God without cause. God doth not require work and deny assistance ;
he doth not desire brick and deny straw. Wait on God, and he will
strengthen thee : Ps. xxvii. 14, ' Wait on the Lord ; be of good courage,
and he shall strengthen thy heart.' Faith encourageth the soul to
wait upon God.
(2.) It reasons from the promises of acceptance. Doubts weaken
the soul, and jealousy makes the heart faint and the hands feeble, and
the soul is burdened in holy duties, and drives on heavily. Distrust
will say, Will the Lord regard such a sinner as I am ? accept such
green figs ? regard such weak and spiritless services of such an unworthy
creature ? Now faith argues, Do you endeavour, God will accept you:
2 Cor. viii. 12, ' If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted accord
ing to what a man hath, and not according to what he hath not.'
Faith shows how willing Jesus Christ is to accept the service and par
don the defects of his people : Cant. v. 1, ' I have eaten my honey-
VER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 471
comb with my honey.' Faith reasons, Thou art afraid to come to God,
but to what end serves a mediator? Eph. iii. 12, 'In whom we have
boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.' Faith shows
the mediator to the soul and thus argues Upon whom do you pitch
your hopes of success and acceptance ? on the worthiness of your own
work, or on the worthiness of Christ the mediator? Faith poiriteth at
Christ, Look, soul, there is an angel with a golden censer stands at the
altar ; he is ready to perfume the sacrifice. Though your prayers, as
they come from you, are unsavoury breath in the uostrils of God, yet
there is a mediator to perfume those services ; they do not go immedi
ately to God, but pass through a mediator into the hands of God:
Rev. viii. 3, 4, ' And another angel came and stood at the altar, having
a golden censer ; and there was given unto him much incense, that he
should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar
which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which
came up with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of
the angel's hand.'
(3.) Faith argues from the promises of reward. When the soul is
backward, you do not work for nothing, or for that which is nothing
worth ; there is a reward : 2 Cor. vii. 1, 'Having these promises, dearly
beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and
spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God/ And they are called,
2 Peter i. 4, ' Exceeding great and precious promises.' In the original
it is, ra fieyiara the greatest things. Now faith saith, If the world
can bid more than thy Saviour hath done, choose it. Look, here is the
greatest things; if you suffer loss, if your carnal interest be endarnaged,
it will be abundantly made up in Christ. Faith brings all to the
balance, and weighs every discouragement. As the apostle seems to
stand with a pair of scales, and cast in present inconveniences and
future recompenses: Rom. viii. 18, 'I reckon, that the sufferings of
this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us.' I reckon and find this is too light to be com
pared to my joy. Faith shows there is no recompense to the joys of
heaven, and no inconveniences to the torments of hell. Thus you
see the reasonings of faith upon all these grounds, that it is impossible
but there should be a difference between the service of believers and
of carnal men.
Application. To press you to exercise faith in all your duties of
religion. James ii. 23, it is said, 'Abraham's faith wrought with his
works.' Let us consider God and duty. Here arise some cases
1. Concerning the discerning work of faith, How shall we do to see
him that is invisible ? or to conceive of God in prayer, so as to find an
awe of him upon our spirits ?
2. Concerning the receiving part of faith, How shall we do to in
terest ourselves in the assistance of Jesus Christ, and borrow help
from heaven, when we are employed in duties of worship ?
3. Concerning the reasoning work of faith, how far is assurance
necessary ? How shall we set faith on arguing when our evidences
are dark ?
Case 1. Concerning the discerning work of faith, How we shall do
to see him that is invisible, and rightly to conceive of God in prayer
472 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. XVI.
so far as to find an awe upon our spirits. It is a great trouble to
God's children, that they are not able to form proper apprehensions
and conceits of God in their approaches to him. Moses' curiosity did
in part arise from this ground : Exod. xxxiii. 18, ' Lord, show me thy
glory.' And the disciples were troubled that they were not able to
conceive distinctly of the Father : John xiv. 8, ' Show us the Father,
and it sufficeth us.' I know they intended a corporal sight ; however,
it argues a weakness in the soul that they know not how to conceive
of God as they ought to do.
I shall answer this case in several directions
1. You must renew and revive the act of your faith in God's essence
and presence.
2. You must conceive of him aright, according as he hath revealed
himself.
3. There must be such a representation of God as to make the
spirit aweful, not servile.
4. You must in prayer form proper notions of God, according to
those requests that we put up to him.
5. Frame fit notions concerning the trinity.
See these heads fully handled, ver. 6.
SERMON XVI.
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying
of his gifts : and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh HEB. xi. 4.
CASE. 2. For the receiving part of faith, How shall we do to interest
ourselves in the assistance of Jesus Christ ?
1. We must lie at God's feet in a sense of our own weakness ; as
Jehoshaphat said in another case, 2 Chron. xx. 12, ' Lord, we have no
might.' So, when you come to engage upon any duties, acknowledge
your weakness : 2 Cor. iii. 5, ' Not that we are sufficient of ourselves
to think anything as of ourselves ; but our sufficiency is of God,' ho
speaks of the management of the work of the ministry.
2. You must plead God's promises, wherein he hath engaged to help
you in holy duties. You must come and throw him his handwriting,
show him his promises ; as Tamar dealt with Judah, when she showed
him the ring and staff ' Whose are these ? ' Gen. xxxviii. 25. Urge
God with his promises in a humble plea of faith : Ps. cxix. 49,
' Remember thy word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused
me to hope ; ' Lord, is not this thine own promise ? and didst thou not
by this draw out and invite my hope ? Not as if God needed the
mementoes of his creatures ; but it is the only rational way to make
our confidence arise. Look, as by wrestling we gain a heat to ourselves ;
so we, wrestling with God by prayer, revive the grounds of our hope,
show him his own institution, that there may be greater confidence
in our own souls.
VER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 473
3. Cast yourselves upon the performance of duty in the expectation
of his help. It is true God is not bound to give the arbitrary assistances
of his Spirit ; he doth all things according to his pleasure. But though
God be not bound, you are bound ; you must engage in duty whatso
ever the success be. Say then, I will do what God hath commanded,
let God do what he please. There is much of faith in this. The work
of faith is to bring us to a cheerful engagement. By this means God's
power is glorified, that he is able to help you ; and God's mercy is
glorified, you leave the business with him, and trust to his mercy.
And his sovereignty is much glorified when you can lie at his foot, and
leave him to the working of his own grace ; as David : Ps. Ixxi. 16,
' I will go in the strength of the Lord God ; ' that is, to the duty of
praise ; Eph. vi. 10, ' Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his
might.' The Lord chides his children for this, because they would
neglect duty out of their own discouragement. Thus, Jer. i. 7, when
God sent him in a message ' Say not, I am a child ; for thou shalt
go to all that I shall send thee, and whatever I command thee thou
shalt speak ; ' and Exod. iv. 10-12, when Moses would excuse himself
' I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. The Lord said unto
him, Who hath made man's mouth? . . . Have not I the Lord? Now
therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and will teach thee what
thou shalt say.' Weakness must never be urged to exclude duty;
when there is a clear command, we should cast ourselves upon the
duty, and refer the help to God's good pleasure.
Case 3. The third case respects the reasoning work of faith, How far
is assurance necessary, that so faith may have some strength and
encouragement, that we may be persuaded into acts of obedience by
these arguments of faith ? I answer
1. We live by faith, and not by assurance. The first act of faith is
vital, and unites and implants into Christ : Heb. iii. 14, ' For we are
made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence
steadfast unto the end.' If you can but maintain the first act of faith,
this is enough to make you partakers of Christ, when you can roll and
cast the soul upon Christ.
2. Assurance is very comfortable, and we have a great loss, when we
are upon terms of uncertainty. It is far better to say, Christ died for
me, than barely to say, Christ died for sinners ; then the arguments of
faith are more sharpened, and fall with a more direct stroke upon the
soul, when once you can plead, all this he hath done for me, and this
is for my sake.
3. We may reason from the general acts of Christ's love, when we
are not able particularly to apply them. And that gratitude is very
pure when I can bless God for Christ without reflection upon my own
private benefit, for putting salvation into so possible a way. This is
enough to urge the soul to duties of obedience : Titus ii. 11, 12, 'For
the grace of God that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men,
teaching us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world/ That
general salvation that the grace of God hath brought into the world
ministers holy arguments and discourses to the soul, whereby we may
resist lusts and overcome temptations ' He came into the world to
474 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. XVI.
save sinners, whereof I am chief,' saith Paul, 1 Tim. i. 15. Here is
some kind of application in this, when we t;ike hold of the promises on
the dark side; when we can reason as Paul 'It is a faithful saying,
and worthy of all acceptation,' Christ died for sinners.
Now I come to handle the consequents of Abel's faith.
1. The first is a testimony BIJ which he obtained witness that he
was righteous, God testifying of his gifts.
2. The second a special privilege By it he, being dead, yet
speaketh.
First, The testimony, and that is double (1.) Of his person, ' That
he was righteous ; ' (2.) Of his performance, ' God testifying of his
gifts.' The one proves the other: he proves his person was accepted
of God, because God gave testimony concerning the acceptance of his
gifts. By which, by what? In the original it is 81 979. Some apply
it to faith by which faith he obtained witness ; others apply it to
sacrifice, by which sacrifice he obtained witness.
There are arguments on both sides. Most probably it must
be referred to faith ' By faith he obtained witness that he was
righteous.'
1. Because the apostle had laid down the general proposition ; ver.
2, that ' by faith the elders obtained a good report ;' and now he comes
to make it good by special instances, for by it Abel ' obtained witness
that he was righteous.'
2. If it be referred to offering sacrifice, the apostle would rather
have said 81 ov, by which act of his, in offering sacrifice. However, in
a sound sense, it may be referred to either. His righteousness may be
referred to his faith, and the testimony of his righteousness to his
sacrifice, which was but the witness of his faith. It is one thing to be
righteous, and another thing to obtain witness that we are righteous.
By faith Abel was a righteous person in foro cadi, accepted in the
Messiah in the court of God ; but by his better sacrifice, as a fruit of
faith, he obtained the testimony of his righteousness in. foro conscientice,
in his own feeling, and in foro ecclesice, in the solemn approbation of
the church.
He obtained witness that he was righteous, epaprvpridrj dvai, StVatos,
he had a good report of his righteousness. It is the same word with
/j,apTvprjtir)<rav, ver. 2. How did he obtain this witness ? I answer,
Either in the word of God: Gen. iv. 4, 'The Lord had respect to
Abel, and to his offering' (and everywhere he is spoken of as a holy
and righteous man ; it is his solemn title, 'righteous Abel,' Mat. xxiii.
35) ; or else it may be meant of the respect God bore to his person and
sacrifice, for so the apostle himself proveth it ' God testifying of his
gifts,' viz., by some outward and visible demonstration of acceptance,
to which now is equivalent the inward witness of the Holy Ghost ; for
when graces have their full work and exercise, God there gives in the
light and comfort of them. For a more full clearing of this passage,
you must know this sacrifice was an act for the election and consecra
tion of one of the two brethren as the head of the blessed seed and race.
I say, the trial now was which of them God would choose, in whose
family the line of the church and the blessed generation was to be
continued. As afterwards Moses puts Koran upon the like trial, when
VER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 475
he had a contention with Aaron ahout the succession and line of the
priesthood: Num. xvi. 6, 7, 'This do: Take you censers, Ko^ah. and
all his company ; and put fire therein, and put incense in them before
the Lord to-morrow : and it shall be, that the man whom the Lord doth
choose, he shall be holy' whom God will decide by special testimony
and designation from heaven, he shall be holy and set apart. Upon
such an occasion as this is were the two brothers before God at this
time, as appeureth partly from God's answer to Cnin, when Cain took
it ill that his younger brother should be preferred before him : ver, 7,
'If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And unto thee shall
be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him ;' meaning thus, if he had
rightly offered, he should have been accepted with God, and have had
pre-eminence, and been head of the blessed line and race. As also it
appears by what is said, Gen. iv. 25, when Eve had her third son born,
and she calls his name Seth, ' For God,' saith she, ' hath appointed me
another seed instead of Abel whom Cain slew ;' not only another son,
but another seed ; Cain being, to their knowledge, rejected by God, she
had greater joy from the birth of this son, because now there was one
raised up to continue the holy seed. And it is not of small considera
tion that carnal hypocrites are said by the apostle, Jude 11, 'to walk
in the way of Cain ; ' for he is the patriarch of unbelievers, as Abel
was to be the head of the believing state. This was the occasion of
this solemn sacrifice, whom God would accept as holy and righteous,
and as head of the blessed line. Now this was the type and sign of
the general acceptance of all believers in Jesus Christ ; so that upon
the whole we may pronounce that by faith he was righteous and
accepted with God, and that by faith acting in his sacrifice he received
witness that he was righteous, accepted, and chosen by God. By faith
he was righteous, that is, by faith in the promised seed. He was not
righteous by his own worth and merit ; partly because it is the apostle's
scope to show that the righteousness of all ages did reside in Christ,
which was apprehended by the faith of the patriarchs which made
them famous in the churches; and partly because his own personal
merit and righteousness is actually disclaimed by his sacrifice ; for it
was a sacrifice of propitiation, disclaiming of his own righteousness, and
a solemn protestation of his hopes of acceptance in the promised seed.
' God testifying of his gifts.' How so ? The apostle points to what
was said : Gen. iv. 4, 5, ' The Lord had respect to Abel, and to his
offering ; but unto Cain, and to his offering, he had not respect.' How
was this known ? It must be known by some visible token, for there
upon Cain was angry with Abel, and in his envy and wrath slew his
brother ; therefore there must be some token of the different acceptance
of God. Now what was this visible token ? Divers conceit divers
things. One saith that the smoke of Cain's sacrifice was beaten
downwards towards the earth, which was a testimony of God's
detestation, and the smoke of Abel's sacrifice went up to heaven, as it
were into the nostrils of God ; but this is a groundless conceit, that
cannot be established by the least probability of conjecture. Others
think that it was by some apparition of an angel, or some different
appearance of God to them ; but this also is asserted without warrant
or probable reason. Therefore it is most probable that this visible
47G SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. XVI.
sign that God gave as a token of the accepting of his offering was
this viz., the consuming of Abel's sacrifice to ashes by fire coming
down from heaven. What is inthe Hebrew yw\ God respected Abel,
is rendered by others eveTrvpiaev, God regarded Abel, and set his
sacrifice on fire. And indeed there is much ground for this opinion,
for this is the usual sign in the word of God of favourable acceptance.
Let me name a few places to you : there is a prayer, Ps. xx. 3, ' The
Lord accept thy burnt-sacrifice.' In the margin it is, The Lord turn
thy burnt-offering to ashes, because the devouring of the sacrifice was
a sign from heaven of God's acceptance. So when God accepted
Aaron's sacrifice, Lev. ix. 24, it is said, ' There came a fire out from
the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt-offering and the fat ;
which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.'
When Solomon was accepted, 2 Chron. vii. 1, it is said, that ' fire came
down from heaven and consumed the burnt-offering and the sacrifice ;'
this was a solemn token. When Elijah and Baal's priests would put
it to trial who was the true God, ] Kings xviii. 38, ' The fire of the
Lord fell, and consumed the burnt-sacrifice.' This was a token God
would give to Gideon, Judges vi. 21, ' There arose fire out of the
rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes.' Manaoh,
when Samson was to be born as the deliverer of the church, Judges
xiii. 20, ' The flame went up towards heaven from off the altar ; and
the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar.' And 1 Chron.
xxi. 26, when David offered solemn sacrifice to God, it is said, ' God
answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt-offering/
This was the usual sign of acceptance. Fire upon the sacrifice was a
token of God's favour ; but fire upon the sacrificers was a token of
God's curse and wrath. When Aaron's two sons had displeased the
Lord ' fire came down from the Lord, and devoured them,' Lev. x. 2.
So that out of subsequent experiences we may gather what kind of
testimony it was. And indeed herein also, as in the sacrifice, there
was some type of Christ ; for he who is our sacrifice of propitiation was
to be offered upon the altar of the cross ; as he was to be roasted in
the flames of his own love, so in the fire of divine wrath. Out of the
whole you see the privileges were then more sensible. The head of the
elect family God would decide ; and the testimony is sensible, for fire
came and devoured the sacrifice, which is now supplied us by the
suggestion of the Holy Ghost.
I draw three points from the words thus opened
1. That by faith we are justified and made righteous. It is said,
' By which he obtained witness.'
2. That upon the solemn operation of faith in holy duties we
obtain witness that we are thus righteous, and are accepted with God.
3. That the works only of such righteous persons are accepted with
God.
First Abel's person is accepted in Christ by faith, and the apostle
infers that, because God accepted his gifts.
Doct. 1. By faith we are justified, made righteous, and accepted with
God.
Justification by faith is one of the most cardinal articles of religion ;
and here it is confirmed by the instance of Abel, one of the ancientest
VER. 4.J SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 477
experiences of the church. Therefore I shall not pass it over without
some regard.
Three things I shall inquire into (1.) How we are justified by
faith; (2.) Why faith is deputed to this service of all other graces;
(3.) What kind of faith it is that justifieth.
First, How we are justified by faith?
Ans. 1. Negatively : (1.) Not by faith as a joint cause with works ;
(2.) Not by faith as an act and grace in us ; (3.) Not by faith as ifc
receives the Spirit's witness.
1. Not by faith as a joint cause with works ; as the papists say that
we are justified by faith, as it receives a merit and value by works.
This were to part stakes between God and the creature, and to con
found the covenants, which are altogether inconsistent, as the apostle
reasoneth, Rom. xi. 6, ' If by grace, then it is no more of work ; other
wise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more
grace ; otherwise work is no more work.'
2. Faith doth not justify as it is an act of grace in us, but relatively
and instrumentally ; not as it works by love, but as it apprehends*
Christ ; not as if the act of believing were instead of perfect obedience
to the law, but only with reference to the object as it lays hold of Jesus-
Christ, because of its necessary concurrence as the instrument and con
dition of the covenant. There are different expressions in scripture ;
sometimes God is said to justify, and Christ is said to justify, and faith
is said to justify, but with a different respect.
[1.] God is said to justify, and that two ways ; partly as the first
moving cause. The rise of all is God the Father's mercy in ordaining
Christ : Rom. iii. 24, ' Being justified freely by his grace, through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus.' By the antecedent and free elect
ing love and mercy of the Father, as the first moving cause. Partly, as
the supreme judge : Rom. viii. 33, 'Who shall lay anything to the charge
of God's elect ? It is God that justifieth ; ' that is, how shall the
executioner lay anything to my charge ? God is there spoken of as^
the supreme judge. So Rom. iii. 26, ' The Father is said to justify him
which believeth in Jesus;' 1 John ii. 1, 'If any man sin, we have-
an advocate with the Father,' &c. In the order of the persons he sus-
taineth the person of the highest judge, and all things are authoritatively
ordered by him.
[2.] Christ is said to justify ; as Isa. liii. 11, ' By his knowledge shall
righteous servant justify many ; ' that is, Jesus Christ, as God's
righteous servant of his eternal decrees. Now Christ justifies, partly
by meriting that righteousness for us which will serve for justification.
It is he that hath procured it by his obedience and death, and suffering
in our stead ; and therefore he is said to introduce ' an everlasting
righteousness,' Dan. ix. 24. His obedience is the matter of our justi
fication, being ' the the Lord our righteousness,' Jer. xxiii. 6. And
partly by interceding for us, that we may be interested in this right
eousness, that the Spirit may work faith in us.
[3.] Faith is said to justify, because without it we cannot apprehend
the righteousness of Christ ; as the hand may be said to feed and
nourish the body, but the nutritive virtue is not in the hand, but in the
meat. And therefore when faith is said to justify, it is meant, as it
478 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SER. XVI.
receives the righteousness of Christ, and with reference to its object.
There is nothing more usunl than to apply that to the instrument that
is proper to the object ; and usually in the expressions of the word it
is complicated and folded up together with its object. Faith in Christ,
faith in his blood it receives all its merit and value from thence. As
also the righteousness of faith is spoken of as contradistinct from the
righteousness which is in ourselves ; therefore it cannot be understood
of faith itself, but of the righteousness of Christ : Kom. x. 3, ' They
being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their
own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness
of God ; ' and, Phil. iii. 9, ' And be found in him, not having mine own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.' Yea, there are dis
tinct places which call it ' God's i-ighteousness,' in opposition to any act of
man and make faith only to be the instrument to receive it : Rom. i. 17,
' The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith ; ' that is, in
opposition to the act of man, procured and merited by a person, that is,
God > and accepted by God: Rom. iii. 21, 22, 'The righteousness of
God, which out of the law is manifested.' &c ; ' even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all
them that believe.' We are not said to be justified propter fidem but
per fidem.
3. Again, faith doth not justify in the sense of the Antinomians, as
a receiving witness of the Spirit's testimony. They say there is the
sealing and receiving witness, and make the sealing witness to be the
Spirit of God, and the receiving witness to be faith. They take faith to
be nothing else but assurance ; but that is a thing that follows upon
faith. We may be justified, though we have not received this solemn
testimony and witness by the Holy Ghost. Assurance is spoken of as
a thing consequent to faith : Eph. i. 13, ' After ye believed, ye were
sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise;' first faith, then sealing.
The Spirit's testimony is nothing but the certioration of grace already
wrought, and is subsequent to the testimony of the renewed conscience :
Rom. viii. 16, ' The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit
that we are the children of God.' The Holy Ghost doth not seal
to a blank. First there must be faith, then the Spirit of God puts on
his seal.
Ans. 2. Positively, faith only justifies as an instrument which God
hath deputed to the apprehension and application of Christ's right
eousness. The whole order and process is this : by effectual
calling God begets faith ; by faith there is union wrought with
Christ ; by being united to Christ there is possession of all of Christ ;
upon this possession God looks upon us as righteous ; God looking up
on us as righteous, pronounceth the sentence of justification ; which
sentence is double, an acquitting us from our sins, and accepting of us
in Christ we are absolved from all sin and death by a free and full
pardon, and that is done chiefly by the passive obedience of Christ
and we are accepted as righteous to eternal life, and that is the fruit of
his active obedience, or of his fulfilling the law for us.
1. By effectual calling God begets faith. The immediate end of
effectual calling is to work faith. We are called to holiness and called
VER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 479
to glory ; these are expressions everywhere in the scriptures ; but the
immediate fruit of calling is faith : 2 Tlies. ii. 14, ' Whereunto he called
you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ/
' Whereunto,' meaning faith, mentioned in the words before; there is the
first end of calling to close with Christ ; then the last end, that we may
be glorified. The voice of all the calls and invitations of the word is,
Come unto me, and come unto Christ.
2. By faith there is union wrought with Christ. Faith is the bond
of the spiritual union. We are said to live in him by faith: Gal. ii. 20,
' The life which I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God.'
And he is said to dwell in us by faith : Eph. iii. 17, ' That Christ may
dwell in your hearts by faith.' Now union there must be, for Christ's
garments do only cover the members of his own body.
3. Being united to Christ, we are possessed of all that is in Christ,
so far as is consistent with our capRcity of receiving, and God's ordina
tion and appointment in giving. Union gives us interest in the personal
merits and righteousness of Christ, and the benefit of his mediatory
actions ; they are ours to all effects and purposes, as if we ourselves had
satisfied and obeyed the law. Why ? because it is not in a person,
severed from us ; it is in our head, in one to whom we are united by a
strait bond of union, and therefore they are reputed as ours. It is true,
we are not mediators and redeemers as Christ, because that is not con
sistent with our estate, nor with the will of God ; but it consists with
the will of God, that we shall be made righteous with his righteousness :
1 Cor. i. 30, it is the Father's pleasure, ' In him are ye in Christ Jesus ; '
that is, by virtue of our union, God hath willed this ; ' who of God is
made to us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption ; ' 2
Cor. v. 21, ' He was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him.' There is as real a donation
and as effectual an application of Christ's righteousness to us, as there
was of our sins to Christ. And as by virtue of the latter it pleased the
Father to deal with Christ as a sinner; so by virtue of the former it
pleased the Father so to deal with us, and to accept of us as righteous.
Look, as we may be by the ordination of God made guilty of Adam's
sin, though we be not in his public capacity of being a public person
and representer of all mankind ; so we may be made righteous with
Christ's active obedience, though we are not mediators and redeemers,
for that was his particular capacity and relation fixed in his person.
In short, being united to Christ, we are interested in all his actions as if
they were ours ; for when we are one with him in the spirit, then we
are considered by God as one with him in law. The judicial union
always follows the mystical. As the payment of the debt surely is
imputed and reckoned to the debtor ; so Jesus Christ being our surety,
Heb vii. 22, his righeousness is imputed to us. Therefore by union we
are said, Gal. iii. 27, ' to put on Christ,' with all his personal merits and
righteousness.
4. Upon this God looks upon us as righteous. For mark, though
justification be a judicial act, yet it is not a naked sentence of pardon
without any ground or reason ; it hath a real ground and foundation,
the donation and application of Christ's righteousness to believers.
Therefore when God looks upon a sinner as a sinner, he will never
4SO SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. XVI.
acquit him ; but it is founded upon the donation of a true and perfect
righteousness, proved by Christ, and communicated to believers upon
God the Father's ordination and appointment ; for the apostle saith,
Horn. iii. 26, ' God will be just, and the justifier of them that believe
in Jesus.' When a person is made thus righteous, then God is just in
justifying him. God will pronounce none just but those that by faith
are thus interested in the satisfaction of Christ. There is first a true
donation and effectual application of Christ's righteousness, then is the
sentence passed in the court of God.
5. The sentence of God is twofold (1.) He absolves us from all
sin and death, and he doth that by a free and full pardon ; (2.) He
accepts us as righteous to eternal life. The parts of our justification
are privative and positive : John iii. 16, ' That whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' The one is done
by Christ's passive obedience and the other by Christ's active obedi
ence.
[1.] For the former part ; the form of that is laid down, Job xxxiii.
24, there is the formal sentence of God the Father, ' Deliver him from
going down to the pit, for I have found a ransom.' Let that soul live,
and deliver him from hell and death. Look, as when Abraham found the
ram, he let Isaac go ; so God, receiving a ransom, a satisfaction to his
justice by the sufferings of Christ, the sinner is absolved 'Deliver
him.' And indeed this is that we may plead when our consciences
return upon us and implead us, that we are one in law with Christ, his
ransom is our ransom : Gal. ii. 20, ' I am crucified with Christ ;' that is,
I have satisfied the law in Christ. Faith must look to the surety, and
see justice satisfied, and all for me : Col. ii. 14, ' Blotting out the hand
writing of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.'
[2.] The second part of the sentence is accepting of us as righteous
unto eternal life ; for Christ hath not only satisfied the old covenant by
his death, but ratified the new by his solemn obedience ; not only taken
away the reign of sin, but also established the reign of grace ; therefore
the apostle saith, Horn. v. 21, * As sin hath reigned unto death, so might
grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our
Lord/ Now the form of acceptance to life we have in those words,
Mat. xxv. 34, ' Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre
pared for you from the foundation of the world.' It will be most comfort
able when we shall hear this out of Christ's own mouth at the last day.
Secondly, The reasons why faith is deputed to this service.
1. Because it is the most receptive grace. Other graces are more
operative, but faith is most receptive, so fitly suiting the needy condition
of the creature. It is the empty hand of the soul to take in the ful
ness of Christ. Since the fall man is needy and indigent, and lives by
borrowing ; therefore those graces are most serviceable that are most
receptive. Love gives, but faith takes and borrows. We are beggars
now rather than workers ; therefore the honour is put upon faith rather
than love.
2. Because it is most loyal and true to God. It looks for all from
him, and ascribes all to him. This is the reason the apostle giveth why
faith is made to be the condition of the new covenant : Horn. iii. 27, ' To
VER. 4.] SEKMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 481
exclude boasting ; ' that the creature may look for all from God. God
would humble proud creatures ; whatever they have, it is but bor
rowed.
3. To make the way the more sure: Kom. iv. 16, 'Therefore it is
of faith, that it might be by grace ; to the end the promise might be
sure to all the seed.' Things are not so floating and uncertain as when
built upon works. We have a sure foundation in Jesus Christ, and a
sure tenure by covenant : 2 Sam. xxiii. 5, ' He hath made with me an
everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure.' And we have a
sure holdfast by faith : Heb. vii. 19, ' Which hope we have, as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast.'
Thirdly, The third question is, what this faith is that justifieth ? It
is not a general assent, or loose acknowledgment of the articles of religion.
The apostle shows that the devils may assent to the truth of the word,
and brings the primitive and fundamental truth of all for the confir
mation of it, that there is one God. There is a faith which (to dis
tinguish it from all others) is called justifying, described thus It is a
grace wrought in our hearts by the Spirit of God, by which the soul
doth rest and cast itself upon Christ, tendered to us in the offer of God
for pardon and acceptance. I shall not stand examining every part of
this definition, but shall endeavour to discover the nature of faith in the
acts of it. There are some things implied, and other things more express
and formal in faith.
1. That which is implied in faith is knowledge and feeling.
[1.] There must be a distinct knowledge : Isa. liii. 11, ' By his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many ; ' and therefore
the faith that justified the sinner pre-supposeth knowledge. The first
creature that God made was light; and so it is in the new creation,
the first thing is light. God bringeth into the soul in conversion a
stock of truth as well as a frame of grace. Heathens that are wholly
ignorant of Christ cannot be justified by him, nor Christians that only
know him at random, and by a general tradition, for this begets but a
loose hope. And though none so confident as ignorant men, which make
a full account, that they shall go to heaven, yet when they are anything
serious, we find all their confidence to amount to no more than a bare
conjecture, or a blind and rash presumption. And usually, the more
ignorant the more persuming ; they cherish a blind hope. As Paul
saith, Rom. vii. 9, ' I was alive without the law once ; ' that is, in his
own persuasion and account. It is a long time ere men can get know
ledge enough to be out of conceit with themselves, and to discern their
own delusions. The blind world doth not look after justification by
Christ, but only liveth by guess and devout aims ; some loose hopes they
have conceived, out of common tradition and good meanings, by which
they secure themselves in their fond presumption. There must be
some competent and distinct knowledge of the mysteries of salvation,
that we may not foster a blind and mistaken hope.
[2.] There must be upon this knowledge some feeling and experience,
which the apostle means when he calleth it, Heb. vi. 5, ' Taste of the
good word of God, and the powers of the world to come ; ' some com
mon efficacy and virtue of the spirit. There is a form of knowledge
as well as a form of godliness: Rom. ii. 20, 'Which hast the form of
VOL. xin. 2 n
482 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SfiR. XVI.
knowledge, and of the truth in the law ; ' some unactive light and
speculative contemplation, a naked model of truth, such as scholars
have in the brain, or men may gain by parts and attendance on the
word. But there must be some feeling and experience, which we usually
call conviction ; and to consider it only as it concerns our present pur
pose, it respects two things a sense of our misery, and our own
inability to overcome it. Man is a secure creature, therefore there must
be a sense of misery ; and man is a proud creature, therefore there must
be a sense of our own insufficiency.
(1.) A sense of our misery by sin, and of God's curse due to us.
This justifying faith supposeth ; for why should a man look to be justi
fied till he be condemned? Who would care for balm that is not
wounded ? for a pardon that is not accused in his own conscience ? Man
is a lazy creature, and will not apply himself to the work and care of
religion, till he be spurred on and driven to it by his own need. Christ
saith, Mat. ix. 12, ' They that be whole need not the physician, but they
that are sick/ Men are at ease and heart-whole, and till they are pos
sessed with a deep sense of their own misery they do not care for Christ.
The stung Israelites looked up to the brazen serpent ; and those that
were ' pricked in heart cried, What shall we do ? ' Acts ii. 37. Men
slight mercy till they need it, and are careless of the great salvation
till God affect them with the sight of their own sins and his wrath.
Israel in Egypt was not easily weaned from the flesh-pots till their bur
dens were doubled ; so till wrath presseth to anguish, till it sits heav}*
upon the conscience, we do not groan for a deliverer : Jer. xv. 17, ' I
sat alone because of thy hand, for thou hast filled me with indignation.'
This makes us to sit alone, and ponder seriously upon the matter. It
is true, the degree is various and different : this sense of misery worketh
in some as far as horror ; in all it worketh so far as to make them anxious
and solicitous about a saviour, and about our everlasting condition.
In short, Jesus Christ doth not seek us till we be lost, and we do not
seek him till we be lost.
(2.) There must be a sense of our own inability to help ourselves.
Man is not only apt to be secure, but self-confident ; and therefore till
the soul seeth nothing within itself and nothing without itself but Christ,
who is the only way, we shall never go to him. Man is a proud creature,
loth to be beholden. A borrowed garment, though of silk, doth not
suit with proud nature so well as a russet-coat of our own. So this
full satisfaction of Christ, proud man regards it not ; we go about to
establish our own righteousness. Legal dejection is always accompanied
with pride and self-love. The sinner is cast down, but not humbled ;
doth not come and lie at the feet of Christ, that he may be beholden
to him for mercy ; therefore there must be somewhat more than a sight
of misery. Look, as the Corinthians did not care for Paul because they
thought they were full of gifts : 1 Cor. iv. 8, ' Now ye are full, now ye
are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us ; ' no more do men for
Christ, as long as they have anything of their own. This is the reason
why Paul accounts not only his pharisaical righteousness, but his best
works loss, Phil. iii. 8, because it hindered him from looking after the
righteousness of Christ. We would be sufficient to ourselves, happy
within ourselves. Justifying faith implies that man hath given up all
VER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 483
his own confidences ; for why should we lean upon another when we
have a sufficiency in ourselves ? Flesh and blood would have its own
righteousness ; and as long as we can keep conscience quiet by external
acts of duty, by any care and resolution of ours, we will never seek
after the righteousness of Christ. It is never well till conscience be
brought to say as Peter, * Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou hast the
words of eternal life,' John vi. 68. We must confess that all our own
works are nothing ; Christ only it is that can cure and help us. This
is that which is implied.
SEKMON XVII.
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by
which he obtained ivitness that he ivas righteous, God testifying of
his gifts : and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh. HEB. xi. 4.
2. THAT which is the express and formal in justifying faith is a resting
upon Christ, or a closing with Christ.
Now because here are many acts and degrees, I shall endeavour to open
it to you, and that I cannot do better than in the terms of scripture.
It is usual in scripture to express the tendency of the soul towards
Christ by words that are proper to outward motion. There are four
notions used in scripture (1.) Coming to Christ ; (2.) Kunning to
Christ ; (3.) Seeking of Christ ; and (4.) Keceiving of Christ. All
these must be explained with analogy and proportion to external motions.
Coming to Christ notes the purpose and resolution of the soul ; running
to Christ notes the earnest desire of the soul to enjoy him ; seeking of
Christ notes the diligence of the soul in the use of means ; and receiving
of Christ notes the welcoming of Christ into the soul with complacency,
rest, and delight.
[1.] There is coming to Christ, which notes our first act of faith, our
resolution and purpose to close with him. It implieth the lowest act
and degree of saving faith. While the soul is in the way, it is said to
be coming to Christ, resolved in his heart to be contented with nothing
but Christ ; therefore it is expressed always by such names as imply a
present motion : Phil. iii. 12, ' Not as though I had already attained,
or were already made perfect, but I follow after,' &c ; John vi. 35, ' He
that cometh to me shall never hunger/ &c. o ep^oyttez/o?, he that is com
ing to me ; it implies a motion in its tendency, when we are in the
way. As the prodigal determined in himself, ' I will arise, and go to
my father/ Luke xv. 18 ; when the soul, according to the offer of God,
resolves to cast itself upon Christ for mercy and salvation. Now if this
resolution be full and serious, it gives a just right and title to Christ ;
for, John. vi. 37, Christ saith, ' He that cometh to me/ though he doth
but do that, ' I will in nowise cast him out,' it gives you a title. So
when the prodigal said, ' I will arise, and go to my father,' presently it
is said ' The father ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him/ ver. 20,
484 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [$ER. XVII.
As soon as there was a purpose, he was entertained and embraced by
God. So David, Ps. xxxii. 5, when he issued forth a practical decree, ' I
said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest
the iniquity of my sin.' This gives you safety and a right to Christ,
though the other acts may yield you more comfort : Heb. iii. 14, ' We
are made partakers of Christ,' that is, we have a right to Christ and
all his merits, ' if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast
unto the end ; ' that is, the first act of faith ; if we can but maintain
that, it gives us a right to Christ, if we hold but our resolution to cleave
to Christ, notwithstanding disadvantages. Coming implies a resolved
adventure upon the invitation of God ; the soul will cast itself upon
Christ, and see what God will do for it, which yields you safety, though
not comfort ; when we resolve to cast ourselves upon his grace, what
ever come on it ; and though we cannot lay claim to his righteousness,
yet we will wait and rest upon him, whatever comes of it.
[2.] Running to Christ ; that notes not only the tendency of the
motion, but the fervour and earnestness of desire. The soul cannot be
quiet till it be with Christ : Cant. i. 4, ' Draw me, and we will run after
thee.' When God had put forth the attractive force of his grace upon
the soul, then the motions of the soul are fervent and earnest : Isa. Iv.
5, ' The nations that know not thee shall' not only come, but 'run
to thee.' The soul that thirsteth after Christ with such a desire as
will not be satisfied without an enjoyment this is faith ; therefore it
is called ' a hungering and thirsting after righteousness,' Mat. v. 6.
Hunger and thirst are those appetitions of nature which are most
implacable, that cannot endure check. Venter non hdbet aures the
belly hath no ears ; and hunger and thirst will not be allayed with
words and counsel. So the soul will be satisfied with nothing but
Christ. It edgeth the purpose with desire ; our souls will not be quiet
without him. It is resembled to the panting of the chased hart : Ps.
xlii. 1, ' As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul
after thee, God.' The soul thirsteth after the righteousness of Christ,
and the comforts and refreshments of his grace. The hart of itself is
a thirsty creature, especially when it is chased. The Septuagint hath
it r) e'Xa^o?, the she-hart. Passions in females are most vehement.
Therefore the earnest longing and desire of the soul for Christ is
expressed by the panting and breathing of the chased she-hart after
the waters. And Cant. ii. 5, it is expressed by being ' sick of love.'
Vehement affections, when satisfaction is denied, cause languor and
faintness in the body ; so the soul vehemently longs and is sick for the
love of Christ. Sometimes it is expressed by earnest expectation : Ps.
cxxx. 6. ' My soul waiteth for the Lord, more than they that watch for
the morning ; and the psalmist redoubleth it ' I say, more than
they that watch for the morning.' Look, as the weary sentinel that
is wet and stiff with the dews of the night watcheth for the approach
of the morning, so doth the poor soul wait for the dawning of grace
and first appearances of God's love.
[3.] Seeking of Christ : Isa, Iv. 6, ' Seek ye the Lord, while he may
be found ; ' and Ps. xxvii. 8, ' Seek ye my face.' Seeking implies
diligence in the use of means. Vigorous desires cannot be idle ; where
there hath been running, there will be also seeking : Cant. iii. 2, ' I
VER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 485
will arise now, and go about the city, in the streets and broad ways I
will seek him whom my soul loveth.' The spouse sought her beloved
throughout the city. Jerusalem is a figure of the church ; and in the
ordinances of God Christians go through the city from one ordinance
to another, from meditation to prayer, from prayer to meditation, from
both to the word, that still they may hear of their beloved. The
earnest desire of the soul will bewray itself by the holy use of means
to meet with Christ. Seeking doth not only imply a bare waiting, but
a waiting in the use of means to find him whom their souls love.
They are tracing his foot-steps by the shepherd's tents, and pursuing
him throughout the whole city.
[4.] Receiving of Christ ; this is when faith is grown, and full ripe :
John i. 12, ' To as many as received him, to them gave he power '
egovaiav, the right and honour ' to become the sons of God. Receiv
ing is a considerate act of the soul by which we take Christ out of
God's hand, and apply him to ourselves. And this suiteth with the
formal nature of faith and the ofl'er of God : in the covenant God
offereth him, and we take him by the hand of faith ; in the promises
of the gospel God makes a deed of gift ; and so in the Lord's supper,
when we come to be infeoffed in the covenant ' Take, eat, this is my
body,' 1 Cor. xi. 24. And here we come to take and receive him. Now
this receiving implies an appropriation and more particular application
of Christ to our use ; and though it doth not go so high as assurance
or an adjudging of Christ to. be ours, yet there is a laying hold of
Christ held out in the word of promise, and a desire to draw all things
to application. Now concerning these acts of faith take these rules
(1.) When you cannot comfort yourselves in one act of faith, you
must make use of another ; as, for instance, it is impossible the soul
should be always running, always upon the bent of vigorous and strong
desires ; but do you come to him ? That gives you a right to Christ,
if there be a settled resolution and purpose of the soul to cleave and
rest upon him and no other for acceptance with God. So you cannot
take comfort in receiving of Christ ; a secret suspicion draws back the
hand of faith ; ay, but do you seek him-? You may take comfort in
that. The terms are diversified in scripture lest any of them singly
should trouble believers.
(2.) All the acts of justifying faith respect the person of Christ : it
is coming to Christ, running to Christ, seeking of Christ, and receiving
of Christ. Faith is not merely assent ; in the scripture notion it is
affiance. Usually men content themselves with a naked persuasion or
inactive assent. The act of faith must be immediately terminated
upon the person of Christ. Christ's righteousness is not obtained by
an assent to the truth of any promise merely, or any proposition in the
word, but by a union with Jesus Christ. We must be united before
we can be possessed of his righteousness. We are not united to any
promise, but to Christ. Look, as the imputation of Adam's sin is
charged upon us by our union to him, so is the imputation of Christ's
righteousness when we are united to him, when we take and receive
him. It is not merely because you are of this opinion that Christ
came to die for sinners, but there must be the hand of faith to take
Christ out of the hand of God the Father, and receive him and embrace
486 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. XVII.
him. There must not only be an assent in the judgment, but a
consent in the heart to cleave to Christ. Christ commended Peter for
his confession in saying, ' He was the son of God,' Mat. xvi. 16. And
the devil confessed as much ' Jesus, thou son of God, and thou holy
one of God/ Mark i. 24. Saith Austin, Hoc dicebat Petrus, ut
Christum amplecteretur ; hoc dicebant d&mones, ut Ghristus ab Us
recederet Peter assented to that truth, that Jesus was the son of
God, but how ? that he might embrace Christ ; the devils assented to
this truth, that Christ might depart from them.
(3.) True faith will never rest in any lower act, it is always renewing
its own acts, and perfecting and ripening itself, that from weak begin
nings it may grow up into some confidence before God. It ripens
purposes into desires, desires into waiting, waiting into seeking, seeking
into receiving, and receiving into the fulness of assurance, always
struggling with doubts and fears ; as John wrote his epistle to this
end, that those which had believed might grow up to greater steadfast
ness in faith : 1 John v. 13, ' These things have I written unto you
that believe on the name of the son of God, that ye may know that ye
have eternal life, and that we may believe on the name of the son of
God.' As he that had faith in the Gospel is complaining of the relics
of unbelief: Mark ix. 24, 'Lord, I believe ; help thou mine unbelief.'
False graces do not wrestle with that which is contrary, nor aim at
growth ; but living graces will be always drawing onward to perfection.
(4.) The less of comfort we receive in the exercise of faith, the more
there should be of duty. Christians look too much on sensible con
solation; but when by faith they can't sensibly apply the comfort of
the gospel, they should be more exercised in the duties of it. Two
things are always necessary in faith, and are undoubted evidences of
your gracious estate : an esteem of Christ and diligence in duty.
(ls.) An esteem of Christ. When you cannot have sensible conso
lation, keep up your esteem. Though they cannot say Christ is theirs,
yet they can say Christ is precious to them : 1 Peter ii. 7, ' To them
that believe he is precious.' Therefore the apostle saith, Heb. iii. 6,
' Whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence, and the rejoicing
of the hope firm, unto the end.' In the original it is Kav-^^a TT)?
e\7ri8o9, if 'we can glory in the hopes of Christianity whatsoever they
cost us. The apostle means, when men can make an open profession
that they have a good bargain in Christ, and can glory in their hope,
whatever it cost them in the world. Esteem is far more than sensible
comfort, and a better evidence.
(2e%) Diligence in the use of means. It is said, Prov. viii. 34,
* Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, wait
ing at the posts of my doors.' Though you are not able to apply Christ
with comfort, yet you will watch at his gates for your dole of comfort.
So, Isa. xxvi. 8, the church professeth this, ' In the way of thy judg
ments we have waited for thee ; the desire of our soul is to thee, and
to the remembrance of thy name.' There is more of resolution, though
less of consolation. When there is nothing but angry frowns from
God, no sensible tokens of his love, yet an obstinate faith will not be
discouraged.
Use. If all the righteousness which saints expect reside in Christ,
VEK. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS xi. 487
and we only receive it by faith, then it serves to press us to look after
this righteousness. Take these arguments to quicken you
1. What will you do without it ? All our graces are imperfect and
mixed with sin : your natures are full of sin, and your services are full
of weakness. God can endure no imperfection, because of the holiness
of his nature ; and God will not release his law, because of the severity
of his justice : Ps. cxliii. 2, 'Enter not into judgment with thy servant.'
He doth not say, Lord, enter not into judgment with unbelievers,
but with thy servants, those that study to approve their hearts to him.
There is no obtaining of the blessing, but in the garments of our elder
brother. The creature's fig-leaves will never cover a naked soul from
the sight of God. We can scarce keep up a fair show before a discern
ing man, and what shall we do before the pure eyes of God's glory ?
2. Consider, there is a full righteousness in Christ' We are com
plete in him/ Col. ii. 10. Whatever there is in sin, there is more in
Christ ; for the sin of our nature there is the absolute intregrity of
the human nature of Christ; and for the sin of our lives there is
Christ's perfect obedience, who did what was required, and suffered
what was deserved. Justice can make no further demands. The law
is fulfilled both in the commination and precept ; all is done in our
surety. Here is an infinite treasure that will serve you all : 1 John
ii. 28, ' And now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall
appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his
coming.' When Jesus Christ shall come in majesty and glory, if we
have Christ's righteousness, we may endure Christ's judgment.
3. Consider the readiness of God to give you this righteousness.
This was the very purpose and design of God the Father : Rom. iii.
25, ' Him hath God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood ; ' John vi. 27, ' Him hath God the Father sealed/ He hath
appointed Christ for this very end. It is not a thing of our devising,
but of God's appointment. We read of an emperor that had a great
emerald made in the manner of a looking-glass, in which he was wont
to look upon horrid aspects that by reflection upon the glass might be
pleasing to him, that there he might see the bloody contest with
delight. This God the Father hath done ; he hath set forth Jesus
Christ, that so in him we might be acceptable and pleasing in his
sight.
4. It is as really ours when it is given as if we had merited in our own
persons. God's judicial acts are not grounded upon a fiction, but upon
a truth. Look upon the relation as you are espoused and betrothed to
him. Uxorfulget radiis mariti a wife shares in all the honours of her
husband ; so we are possessed of what is in Christ. The debtor is
acquitted by the payment of the surety. The members share in the
honour of the head. Look, as Christ satisfied for your sins as if he had
committed them, so thou art accepted for his righteousness as if thou
hadst satisfied : 2 Cor. v. 21, ' He was made sin for us that knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him/ It is good
to consider how really Christ was handled ; so real will our acceptance
be with God. Christ lay under the wrath of the Father ; his sufferings
were not a fiction, no more, are thy privileges.
5. Consider the excellency of this righteousness in two respects.
488 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SfiR. XVII.
(1.) It is better than that we had in Adam in innocency ; that would
have been but the righteousness of man, but this is the righteousness
of God ; as Kom. iii. 22, it is called ' the righteousness of God which
is by faith.' We are now in a nearer relation to the Lord than in
Adam, being united to God by Christ. Adam was but God's servant,
but we are made his sons and children ; the union and relation is
nearer. The prodigal after his return hath the best robes, Luke xv. 22.
Nay, in some sense our case is better than that of angels : angels are
confirmed by Christ, but it is in their own righteousness ; but the
righteousness of Christ is ours. (2.) You are as righteous as the most
righteous saints are ; as David that was a man after God's own heart,
Abraham that was the friend of God, men that had such access and
familiarity with God : Rom. iii. 23, ' The righteousness of God, which
is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe ;
for there is no difference.' None of the saints have cleaner linen, nor
are decked with a better vesture. In sanctification there are degrees,
and a great deal of difference; but not in justification. As in the
manna none had over, none under, all alike proportion and measure ;
so in the righteousness of Christ all have a like measure : 2 Peter i. 1,
' To them that have obtained like precious faith with us, through the
righteousness of Christ.' It is a righteousness of the same nature and
property ; the foundation of it being in Christ, it is all one. It is said,
Acts xi. 17, the gentiles had obtained ' a like gift with us ; ' that is,
the same gift that the apostles had. Luther had an apt comparison to
set out this : a giant holds a jewel in his hand, and a child may hold
the same jewel ; but the giant holds it with a stronger hand ; so,
though there be different degrees of faith, yet herein it is all alike
precious ; it is the same righteousness of Christ.
6. Consider the fruits and benefits of this righteousness.
[1.] Access to God. We may minister before the Lord in our priestly
garments, we may worship in the holy place when Christ hath put his
robes upon us. When Joshua the high priest was before the Lord, he
was there in his filthy garments, Zech. iii. 5 ; but he was clothed with
change of raiment to minister before the Lord. So we had filthy gar
ments ; therefore the Lord comes and takes them away, and clothes us
with clean garments : Eph. iii. 2, ' In whom we have boldness and
access with confidence by the faith of him.' Our imperfections need
not encourage us ; Christ's righteousness is not a covering that is too
short. It is said, Eev. i. 13, Christ was clothed 'with a garment down
to his feet.' Christ's righteousness is a long garment ; all our defects
are removed out of the light of God's countenance. When Joseph was
brought out of prison before Pharaoh, his raiment was changed ; so
when we are to appear before God, the king of kings, certainly our
raiment must be changed : Isa. Ixiv. 6, ' Our righteousness is as filthy
rags,' saith the church.' Now, that we might not appear before the
great king with a bundle of rags, Christ hath dyed us a purple robe
in his own blood, that our garments may be changed, and we may
come with boldness.
[2.] We are freed from the guilt and punishment of sin, so that all
afflictions have lost their curse and sting, and are become medicinal.
We may have bitter dispensations many times, but they are not salted
VER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 489
with a curse. We may cry with Luther, Strike, Lord! strike! my sins
are pardoned. When God hath laid up comfort in. the heart before
hand, all our corrections lose their property, and they are federal dispensa
tions ; as David : Ps. cxix. 75, ' I know, Lord, that thy judgments are
right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.' When God
thresheth us, it is but that our husk may come off. They are not acts
of revenge to satisfy justice, but only to free us of a mischievous disease ;
and death is a friend, it is a remedy whereby we may be delivered into
glory : 1 Cor. xv. 55, ' O death, where is thy sting ? grave, where is
thy victory ? '
[3.] This will give us comfort in the hour of death. When the
soul, smitten with the sense of sin, is drawn to the tribunal of God, oh
then, the righteousness of Christ is a comfort. Chemnitius observeth,
Aliter de justificatione sentire homines, quando in disputationibus cum
hominibus sui simillimis rixantur ; aliter in meditationibus, quando
corum Deo sistunt conscientiam. Men dealing with men like them
selves may cry up works ; but when they plead their cause before
God, then who can speak of his own righteousness ? Then they
tremblingly fly to the horns of the altar and to mercy. There is no
screen to draw between us and wrath but Christ, no way to answer
justice but in the satisfaction of Christ, no way to appear before holi
ness but by the obedience of Christ. Let one of those audacious
volume writers come and say, Lord, cast them out of heaven that can
not approve themselves to thee by their own graces.
[4.] Then we are made heirs of eternal glory ; therefore it is called
justification unto life. A pardoned person is made a favourite : Rom.
viii. 30, 'Whom he justified, them he also glorified.' Christ doth not
only prevent the execution, but we are also saved. It is much to be
delivered from wrath to come : Rom. v. 9, ' Much more then, being
justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him ; ' as
if it were a lesser thing to glorify a saint than to justify a sinner.
When God can accept of us out of his free grace, certainly he will give
us heaven.
Ques. You will say, What shall I do ? Here is nothing to do but
to receive and take Christ out of the hands of God. We are not
exhorted to justify ourselves as we are to sanctify ourselves. Justifica
tion is God's act ; yet there must be something done to obtain it ; not
by way of causality, but by way of order. God doth not justify stocks
and stones, but men; neither doth he justify mules and horses, and
those that will kick again, but those that will submit to his righteous
ness. A sick man must yield to take physic, and a poor man must
hold out his hand to receive an alms.
There are two general means (1.) Disclaim your own righteous
ness ; (2.) Apply yourselves to the righteousness of Christ.
First, Disclaim your own righteousness. In the new covenant he-
cometh most worthy that cometh most unworthy ; Christ speaks a ' par
able against those that trusted in themselves that they were righteous,'
Luke xviii. 9. There one comes and pleads his works, as appealing
to justice ; the other comes and pleads his sins, as waiting for mercy.
What is the issue of all ? It is said, ver. 14, ' This man went away
justified to his house rather than the other.' We must come sinners-
490 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SER. XVII.
into his presence ; the sinner is justified rather than the worker. We
must come naked, that he might give us raiment. Take notice of
Paul's solemn renunciation, Phil. iii. 7-9, ' What things were gain to
me, those I counted loss for Christ ; 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.' He had more cause than any
to have confidence in the flesh and glory in himself ; but all this was
so far from being a gain, as they were a loss to him. He thought it
was an advantage and a step to mercy, when it was a dangerous
allurement to hypocrisy and self-confidence. He reckons up his moral
excellences, his natural privileges, and his own righteousness ; but all
this was so far a disadvantage to him as they kept him from being
hungry and more earnest after the righteousness God offered to him
in Christ.
Now because this is a hard matter, a man would fain maintain the
dignity of works, and proud nature is loth to stoop and sue in formd
pauperis ; and men would rather oblige God than come as beggars and
be beholden to him : Rom. x. 3, ' Going about to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of
God.' It is a matter of great difficulty to captivate the pride and pre
judices of reason ; therefore I shall lay down the more effectual con
siderations that are likely to draw us off from our own righteousness,
and bring us to submit and yield to God's terms. I shall lay down
five considerations The exact purity of the law, the holiness of God,
our proneness to sin, the strictness of the last day's account, and the
danger of resting upon anything in ourselves.
1. Consider the exact purity of the law. Usually men are alive in
their own hopes and conceits, because they do not look as they should
into the law of God : Eom. vii. 9, ' I was alive without the law once.'
While Paul looked upon the law through pharisaical spectacles, he
thought he was perfect and alive, that is, in a good condition before
God ; ' but when the commandment came/ that is, with full light
and conviction, ' sin revived, and I died ; ' Paul was struck dead, then
it revived the sentence of death in himself. A short exposition of the
law begets a large opinion of our own righteousness. We are all
Pharisees by nature, and in the private glosses of our own thoughts,
we regard no more of the law than external obedience, epjov vbpov,
the mere work of the law, and therefore we are not driven to seek the
righteousness of Christ. We see it plainly that common people hope
to be saved by their good works and good meanings. The more
ignorant men are, the greater confidence in themselves. That is the
reason the apostle saith, Rom. x. 3, ' Being ignorant of the righteous
ness of God, and going about to establish a righteousness of their own.'
Men do not consider what a righteousness becomes God's presence.
Now when the law comes, it gives sin its due dimensions, and the
sinner his due load and burden. Oh ! look then into the purity of the
prohibition ; for the law condemns not only acts, but thoughts ; not only
sins perfectly formed, but lusts; it reacheth to the little foxes and
Babylon's brats. And in duty it doth not only require the work
wrought, but an exquisite frame of spirit, with the motions and opera-
YER. 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 491
tions of the soul ; all thy heart, all thy soul, all thy might. It is no
matter though our meaning be good ; the law would have us bring our
duties and acts of obedience not only to the touchstone, but to the
balance ; it must hold exact weight, as well as be of a good kind.
2. Consider the holiness of God. The great business of justification
is to give us a righteousness that will endure God's sight, that we may
be able to stand before God ; hence those phrases, 'justified in his sight,'
Ps. cxliii. 2, and Kom. iii. 20 ; and 'glorying before God,' Horn. iv. 2 ;
and ' the answer of a good conscience towards God,' 1 Peter iii. 21.
So that if we would look for a proper righteousness fit for justification,
we are to draw the soul into God's sight, and to think of the pure eyes
of his glory. Now it is said, Job xv. 15, ' The heavens are not clean
in his sight,' that is, the holy ones in heaven, the angels that are con
firmed in their own righteousness, they are not clean in the sight of
God's holiness. They not only cover their feet, that is, that which is
the meanest and lowest of the angelical nature, but their faces, that
which is most glorious in their nature; they were ashamed of that
which was best in their nature, as being abashed at the presence of
God's holiness. Oh ! what will become of us vile worms ? ' What is
man, that he should be clean ? And he which is born of a woman,
that he should be righteous ? ' Job xv. 14. If the court of heaven be
not clean in his presence, how shall we do for a righteousness that
must endure the eyes of God's glory ? ' Who can stand before this
holy God ? ' 1 Sam. vi. 20. Alas ! in the state you are, you can no
more expect that God should delight in you than you can delight in a
toad, because of the contrariety of nature ; yet this is but a finite com
parison. Now in vain is it to think God should act contrary to his
nature, that ever holiness itself should delight in a sinner. Oh ! what
shall I do to come before God's holiness ?
3. Consider our proneness to sin. Men that have low thoughts of
the degeneration and corruption of nature have as low thoughts of the
righteousness of Christ ; therefore consider how corruption is apt to
bewray itself in duty, business, recreation, in all conditions and actions
of life ; all is tainted: ' Innumerable evils have compassed me about,'
Ps. xl. 12. And consider, whoever appears before God must be clothed
with some righteousness. Now go to our duties, ' Our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags,' Isa. Ixv. 5. The better part of our lives are spotted
and defiled. Certainly those works that need pardon themselves can
never justify us. Mala mea pure, mala sunt et mea ; bona autem mea,
nee pure bona sunt, nee mea our evil works, they are merely evil, and
they are ours ; but our good works are neither ours ; nor are they purely
good. Certainly a man cannot merit with that which doth not deserve
acceptance.
4. Consider the strictness of the last day's account. Justification is
principally intended for that time. Christ's righteousness was ap
pointed for Christ's judgment : 1 John ii. 28, ' And now, little children,
abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and
not be ashamed before him at his coming.' This God aimed at, to
establish such a righteousness that we might not be ashamed at Christ's
coming : 1 John iii. 21, ' If our hearts condemn us not, then have we
confidence towards God ; ' and Luke xxi. 36, you have the like expres-
492 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [$ER. XVII.
sion, ' That ye may stand before the Son of man.' Now when every
idle word shall be weighed in God's balance, what will you do then?
Things will not be huddled up at that day, but conscience will be
extended to the recognition of all the sins you have committed ; and
what will you do for a righteousness at that day, when the secret stores
of your thoughts and the hidden things of the heart shall be made
manifest : 1 Cor. iv. 5, ' Until the Lord come, who both will bring to
light the hidden things of darkness ; and will make manifest the
counsels of the hearts.' Light words will weigh heavy in God's balance.
The comfort of justification is never tried till the last judgment.
5. Consider the danger of resting upon anything in ourselves. Alas I
when you go to mix the covenants, you quite undo your hopes in Christ ;
it is plain you hold by the former covenant. If you do but set up
anything of self, it makes the promise of Christ of none effect. Here
you are put to your choice by what covenant you will be judged ; either
the covenant of works, in which there is judgment without mercy, or
by the law of liberty. If you set up yourself, you cast off the new
covenant. Carnal confidence rendereth you obnoxious to the whole
law: Gal. iii. 18. 'For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no
more of promise.' If you hold by the former covenant, you are
quite undone ; you shall not have a drop of grace : Horn. xi. 6, ' If
it be of works, it is no more grace.' You are bound to fulfil the
whole law ; if in any case you set up self, ' Christ shall profit you nothing,'
Gal. v. 2. God will deal with you, either altogether by works, or
altogether by Christ; these things cannot be mixed. When you seek
to piece up the righteousness of Christ by any graces or duties of yours,
by resting in yourselves, you destroy the whole. It must not be a
patched righteousness ; the piece of new cloth maketh the rent the
worse.
END OF VOLUME XIII.
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