PRACTICAL DISCOURSES
ON
REGENERATION.
DISCOURSE I.
OF THE CHARACTER OF THE UNREGENERATE.
Ephes. ii. 1, 2.
And you hath he quickened, who
were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
AMONG all the various trusts which men can repose in each
other, hardly any appears to be more solemn and tremendous, than the direction
of their sacred time, and especially of those hours which they spend in the
exercise of public devotion. These seasons take up so small a part of our lives,
when compared with that which the labors and recreations of them demand; and so
much depends upon their being managed aright,
that we, who are called to assist you in the employment
and improvement of them, can hardly be too solicitous, that we discharge
the trust, in a manner which we may answer to God and to you.
If this
thought dwell upon the mind with due weight, it will have some sensible
influence upon our discourses to you, as well as on the strain of those
addresses which we present to the Throne of Grace in your name, and
on your account. We shall not be over-anxious about the order of words,
the elegance of expression, or the little graces of composition or delivery;
but shall study to speak on the most important subjects, and to handle
them with such gravity and seriousness, with such solemnity and spirit,
as may, through the Divine blessing, be most likely to penetrate the
hearts of our hearers; to awaken those that are entirely unconcerned
about religion, and to animate and assist those, who, being already
acquainted with it, desire to make continual advances—which will be
the case of every truly good man.
It is my earnest prayer for myself,
and for my brethren in the ministry of all denominations, that we may,
in this respect, approve our wisdom and integrity to God, and commend
ourselves to the consciences of all men. 2 Cor. iv. 9. It is
our charge, as we shall answer it
another day to the God of the spirits of all flesh, to use our prudent
and zealous endeavors, to make men truly wise and good, virtuous and
happy: but to this purpose, it is by no means sufficient to content
ourselves, merely with attempting to reform the immoralities and irregularities
of their lives, and to bring them to an external behavior, decent, honorable,
and useful. An undertaking like this, while the inward temper is neglected,
even when it may seem most effectual, will be but like painting the
face of one who is ready to die, or laboring to repair a ruinous house,
by plastering and adorning its walls, while its foundations are decayed.
There is an awful passage in Ezekiel to this purpose, which I hope we
shall often recollect; (Ezek. xiii. 10-14;) "Wo to the foolish prophets--because
they have seduced my people, saying Peace, when there was no peace;
and one built up a wall, and lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar:
say unto them that daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall:—Thus
saith the Lord God, I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury:
and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones
in my fury to consume it: so will I break down the wall that ye have
daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to
the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall
be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst
thereof; and ye shall know that I am the Lord."
If there be any, in
one body of Christians or another, that abet men's natural disposition
to flatter themselves in a way that is not good, by encouraging them
to hope for salvation, because they were baptized in their infancy;
because they have diligently attended on public worship, or merely because
they do nobody any harm, but are rather kind and helpful to others;
or because their faith is orthodox, their transports of affection warm,
or their assurance confident; I pray God to awaken them by the power
of his grace, before they are consumed, with their hearers, in the ruins
of their deceitful-building.
Those of you who are my stated hearers
can witness for me, that in this respect I have delivered my own soul.
Ezek. xxxiii. 9. It has been the steady tenor of my doctrine among you,
that our hope and confidence must be in Christ, and not in ourselves;
and that, if we desire to be interested in the righteousness he has
wrought out, and in the blessings he has purchased by his sacred blood,
we must be experimentally acquainted with the work of God's renewing
grace upon our souls, curing the inward distempers of
our degenerate hearts, and transforming
us into the image of his holiness. That is what we are taught in Scripture
to call by the name of Regeneration; and considering how much the subject
is neglected by some, and I fear I may add, misrepresented and disguised
by others, I apprehend I shall profitably employ an evening hour for
several succeeding Sabbaths, in giving a larger account than I have
yet done, of the scripture doctrine on this important subject and its
various parts.
It shall be my care, in the series of these discourses,
as God shall enable me, to speak the words of truth and soberness; (Acts
xxvi. 27;) and I entreat you to have recourse to the law and to the
testimony, (Isa. viii. 20,) that ye may judge of the truth and weight
of what I say. I desire not to be regarded any farther, than I produce
evidence from reason and scripture; but so far as we are disregarded
while we have the concurrent testimony of both, our hearers must see
to it; and their danger will then be proportionable to the importance
of those truths, which their negligence, or their prejudice, engage
them either to reject, or to overlook.
The plan, on which I intend to proceed in the course of these
lectures, is this: I will endeavor to describe the character of those whom we
may
properly call persons in an unregenerate state.
I will describe the nature of that change, which may properly be called
regeneration, or conversion. I will show at large the absolute necessity
of this change, and the consequent misery of those that are strangers
to it. I shall endeavor to prove the reality and necessity of the Divine
influences on the mind, in the production of such a change. I shall
describe some of those various methods, by which God is pleased to operate
in the production of this holy and important work. I shall propose some
advice to those who are already awakened, as to the method in which
they are to seek renewing and converting grace. After which, I shall
conclude these discourses with an address to those who have experienced
this happy change, as to the manner in which they ought to be affected
with such a series of sermons as this, and the improvement they should
make of what they hear and what they have felt agreeable to it.
I should
be peculiarly inexcusable, if I entered upon such a subject, without
earnest and importunate prayers to the Fountain of light, grace, and
holiness, that while you hear of this important doctrine, you may have
that experimental knowledge of it, without which such discourses will
indeed seem obscure and enthusiastical, according
to the degree in which they
are rational and spiritual. I shall only add that these lectures will
take their rise from a variety of texts, which I shall not, according
to my usual method, largely open and dilate upon, but only touch on
them as so many mottoes to the respective sermons to which they are
prefixed.
As I intend not philosophical essays, but plain, practical,
and popular addresses, I shall begin,
First, With describing the CHARACTER
OF THOSE WHOM WE MAY PROPERLY CALL UNCONVERTED AND UNREGENERATE PERSONS.
It is absolutely necessary that I should do this, that you may respectively
know your own personal concern in what is further to be laid before
you in the process of these lectures.
Now you have the general character
of such, in the words of my text; and a very sad one it is. They are
represented, as dead in trespasses and sins, utterly indisposed both
for the actions and enjoyments of the spiritual and divine life; as
walking according to the course of this world, a sad intimation that
it was the state of the generality of mankind; nay, according to the
prince of the power of the air, that impure and wicked spirit, who works,
or exerts his energy, in the children of disobedience, that is, in those
who reject and despise the gospel; in which it is
implied, and a dreadful implication it is, that
the course and conduct of those, who reject the gospel, is according
to the desire and instigation of the prince of darkness: they are going
on as the devil himself would have them, and choose that path for themselves,
which he chooses for them, as leading them to most certain and most
aggravated ruin.
And who are these unhappy persons? Surely there must
be some of them among us: for who can flatter himself, that in so numerous
an assembly, the course of all is different from that of the world:
and that all have happily triumphed over the artifices of that accursed
spirit, who is, by God's righteous permission, become its prince, while
it continues in its apostate state? I shall however think it a very
happy point gained, if I could convince any of you, who are justly liable
to that conviction, that you are the men; if I could, as it were, render
visible to your eyes those subtile, yet strongly complicated chains,
in which Satan is binding you, and by which he is drawing you on to
eternal ruin; that you might recover yourselves out of the snare of
the devil, who are led captive by him at his will.
I am now to describe
the character of unregenerate men; but I cannot pretend to do it in
all the variety of circumstances which may attend it.
I shall therefore mention only some
particulars which are most important, and which most certainly demonstrate
a person to be of that wretched number. There are a great variety of
countenances in the human species; yet the principal features in all
are the same, though their proportion and lineaments may differ: and
I apprehend, the characters which I am now to lay down, will most of
them suit every unregenerate person, though they may appear in various
persons in different degrees and different instances. I shall chiefly
lay down these characters in negatives, as I apprehend it is the safest
way: and would only observe, what you may easily imagine, that I speak
only of the adult; for I would cautiously avoid entangling this Discourse
with what relates purely to the case of infants, lest Satan should get
an advantage over us, and turn that into an occasion to amuse curiosity,
which I humbly hope, under the influence of the Spirit of God, will
be a means of awakening conviction, and of breaking that delusive peace,
in which, like the strong man armed, he keeps his vassals, till the
fatal hour come which is to complete their ruin.
To waive the formality
of labored demonstrations in a case which admits of such easy evidence,
I shall go upon this obvious principle in the whole of my reasoning:
That to be regenerate,
and to be born of God, are in scripture terms of
the same import; and consequently, that whatever temper and disposition
is in scripture declared to be inconsistent with the character of a
child of God, must necessarily denominate a man an unregenerate person.
And one would think this principle could hardly be disputed, since all
that allow of regeneration at all, in a Christian sense, seem to understand
by it, that change, whatever it is, by which a person is made a child
of God, and by consequence an heir of heaven.
Now on this principle,
you may take the marks of an unregenerate person in such particulars
as these; and let those, whose conscience owns them, hear and tremble.
1. The soul that never seriously inquired into its spiritual state,
is, beyond all doubt, an unregenerate soul.
The Apostle earnestly presses
it upon the Christians to whom he wrote, that they should diligently
examine themselves whether they were in the faith; (2 Cor. xiii. 5;)
and he who has entirely neglected to do it, seems to express, not merely
a forgetfulness of religion, but even a contempt of it too. Nevertheless,
be it known unto you, Sirs, that an humble return to God, and a cordial
dedication of soul to his service, is not so slight an act of a man's
life, that it should pass without any observation
in doing it, or any serious
reflection on having done it. Religion is a deliberate thing; it brings
a man seriously to consider his ways, that he may turn his feet to God's
commandments; (Psal. cxix. 59;) to search and try them, that he may
turn again unto the Lord. Lam. iii. 40. A good man is so impressed with
the thoughts of God, and of eternity, that perhaps he is rather ready
to be over anxiously afraid and suspicious, in a matter of so great
importance: and therefore will review on the one hand, the plan of salvation
that God has laid down in his word, and on the other, the correspondency
to it that he may discover in his own soul; and if there are any of
you that have never been thus employed, any that have never separated
yourselves awhile from other employments, that you might seek and intermeddle
with this Divine wisdom, (Prov. xviii. 1,) you are assuredly strangers
to it. If there are any of you that have never studied God's word, to
learn his will from thence; that have never attended to sermons, that
you might try yourselves by them, and, if possible, carry home something
of the chief of what you hear, to assist your retired, and more diligent
inquiries; you may now come to a very quick conclusion, and before you
leave this place, yea, before I proceed to any further particulars,
you may set it down as
the memorable beginning of these lectures, and of
this discourse, "I am already proved to be an unregenerate creature:
I am in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity." Acts viii.
23. Nay, you may add, that there are perhaps thousands of those that
are unregenerate sinners, who have not been so careless and so insensible
as you. For, indeed, Sirs, a man may begin an examination, and start
back from the prosecution of it, before it is brought to any important
issue; or trying himself by false characters, he may come to a conclusion,
which will be so much the more dangerous, as it has been the more deliberate.
For the sake of such therefore, I add,
2. The soul that is not deeply
convinced of its guilt before God, and desirous to seek deliverance
from it by the Lord Jesus Christ, is still in an unregenerate state.
All the promises of God's paternal favor do certainly imply the promise
of forgiveness; and you well know, that these are appropriated to such
as humble themselves before God: and that humbling which is merely external,
and implies no deep sense of inward guilt can pass for very little with
that God, who searches the heart, and tries the reins of the children
of men. Jer. xvii. 10.
The Scripture assures us, that whosoever believes
that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God; (1 John v.
1;) and nothing can be more certain
from the whole tenor of it, than that he that believes not, shall be
damned, (Mark xvi. 16,) and surely a state of damnation is not, and
cannot be, a state of regeneration. But what is this faith in Christ?
Is it no more than a bare notional persuasion, that he is the Son of
God? If this were all, the devils themselves believe; (Jam. ii. 19;)
and many were the instances, in which you know that they confessed
it, and trembled before him. You cannot then be ignorant, that the faith,
to which the promises of salvation are made, is a faith, which receives
the Lord Jesus Christ in all his offices; which trusts his atonement,
as well as admits his revelation; and flies to him for righteousness
and life. And how can that man seek righteousness from Christ, who is
insensible to his own guilt? or how can he depend on him for life, who
is not aware that he is under a sentence of death and condemnation?
But imagine not you are secure, because you acknowledge yourselves to
be sinners. If that acknowledgment be slight and formal, it shows you
are strangers to the operation of that Spirit, whose office it is to
convince men of sin. John xvi. 8. If you have not been made sensible
of the pollution of your hearts as well as the rebellion of your lives;
if you have not received as it were a sentence of death in yourselves,
and submitted to
that sentence as righteous, though ever so dreadful; if you have not been made to
loathe and abhor yourselves, and to
repent in dust and ashes; (Job xliii. 5;) if you have not laid your
hand on your mouth, (Mich. vii. 16,) and your mouth in the dust, (Lam.
iii. 29,) crying out, Unclean, unclean, (Lev. xiii. 46,) and in this
sense at least, adopted that pathetic complaint, O wretched man that
I am! who shall deliver me? (Rom. vii. 24,) it is a certain sign, that
sin still reigns in your mortal bodies, (Rom. vi. 12,) and is unto this
day bringing forth fruit unto death. Rom. vii. 5.
3. The soul that is
unconcerned about the favor of God, and communion with him, is still
in an unregenerate state.
Common reason may tell you, that a soul destitute
of the love of God, can never be the object of his complacential regards;
and that it is impossible you should love him, while you are unconcerned
about his favor, and habitually indifferent to converse with him. You
believe there is a God; you acknowledge that he is the great benefactor
of the whole world; you know your happiness depends upon his favor;
you wish therefore that you may enjoy it; that is, you wish that some
way or other you may be happy, rather than miserable. But let conscience
say, whether you have ever felt, that in his favor is life; (Psal. xxx.
5;) whether you have ever known what
it is to cry out with intenseness and ardor of soul, Lord lift up the
light of thy countenance upon me. Psal. iv. 6. Alas, Sirs, had you been
sons, God would have sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts; (Gal.
iv. 6;) and if this be not the sincere, if it be not the habitual language
of your soul; if you do not thus earnestly desire to live under the
manifestations of the divine love, and to be able to say, truly our
communion is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ; (1 John
i. 3;) you are spiritually dead, and under the fatal influences of that
carnal mind, which, being enmity against God, (Rom. viii. 7,) engages
men to live contented without God in the world, (Eph. ii. 12,) so long
as their corn and their wine increase. Psal. iv. 7. A heart, thus alienated
from God, was never savingly turned to him, and can have no just reason
to imagine itself the object of his paternal favor.
4. The soul that
is destitute of a sincere love to mankind, has reason to consider itself
as in an unregenerate state.
You may, perhaps, think it unnecessary
to mention this; but the Apostle was undoubtedly a much better judge,
and his own words suggest this particular to me: Beloved, let us love
one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth, is born
of God, and knoweth God; he that
loveth not, knoweth not God, and consequently cannot
be born of him; for God is love. 1 John iv. 7, 8. And our Lord strongly
intimates the same thought, when he exhorts his disciples to the most
universal and unlimited benevolence by this argument, that ye may be
the children of your Father which is in heaven; (Matt. v. 45;) plainly
implying, that otherwise they could not really be born of God, or claim
him for their Father. Regeneration is to form a man for intimate communion
with the general assembly and church of the first born, (Heb. xii. 23,)
and to prepare him for the region of complete and everlasting love;
and the first fruits of it are to appear, and to be manifested here.
It is a faithful saying, that they who believe in God should be careful
to maintain good works; (Tit. iii. 8;) and unfeigned love is to be the
root of them; so that if you cannot stand this trial, your religious
hopes are all delusive and vain.
Let me entreat you therefore, that
you would now look into your lives and hearts. Do any of the malignant
passions harbor there? Ask yourselves, "Is there any of my fellow-creatures,
whom I wish to see miserable; or would make so, if it were in my power
to do it by the secret act of my will, so that no mortal on earth should
ever know me to be the cause of the calamity?" If it be so,
and this be your settled temper, you
hate your brethren and are murderers; (1 John iii. 15;) and therefore
are the children of the devil, who was a murderer from the beginning;
and we may thus say of you in the very words of our Lord, who never
uttered a rash censure: You are of your father the devil, for his passions
you cherish, and his lust you would do. John viii. 44.
But reflect farther,
If you wish others no harm, do you really wish them well? and that so
really, and so sincerely, as to be ready to do them good? For merely
to say unto them, depart in peace, be warmed and filled, (Jam. ii. 16,)
when you have it in your power to help them, is at once to mock the
poor, and to despise him that made him. Prov. xvii. 5. You that are
conscious of a mean selfish temper, and wrap yourselves up, as it were,
in your own separate interests, or in those of your own families, and
can feel a concern for no others; you that devise what you may imagine
shrewd and prudent things, but none that are liberal and compassionate;
you whose eye does not affect your heart, when you see the distresses
of your brethren, while you have this world's good, how dwelleth the
love of God in you? 1 John iii. 17. How can you imagine you are the
children of him, whom you so little resemble?
Nay, permit me to add once more upon this,
that if all your compassion is only moved by men's
temporal calamities, and works not in any degree with respect to their
spiritual and eternal interests, you have reason to fear, that it is
no better than an unsanctified humanity; and indeed, that you never
have learnt the worth of your own souls, while you set so little value
on the souls of others, even of those, to whom you profess and intend
friendship. And this concluding hint is of importance to prevent a dangerous
mistake, in which too many good natured sinners are ready to flatter
themselves, and in which, perhaps, others are too ready to join in flattering
them.
5. He that does not know what it is, to struggle with indwelling
sin, and heartily to resolve against indulging it in any kind or degree,
is undoubtedly still in an unregenerate state.
You will observe, I do
not say, that every one who knows what it is, to feel a struggle in
his own mind, when assaulted by temptations to sin, is a truly good
man: the contrary is dreadfully apparent. A principle of natural conscience
often makes very strong remonstrances against sin, and sends out bitter
cries when subjected to its violence; and this is so far from denominating
a, man a real Christian, that it rather illustrates the power of sin,
and aggravates its guilt. But when a man's inclinations run entirely
one way, and
when he gives a swing to his natural
passions without any guard or restraint; when he is a stranger to any
inward conflict with himself, and any victory over his own lusts, and
his corrupted will; it is a certain sign, he is yet under the dominion
of Satan, and is to be numbered among the tamest of his slaves. For
they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections
and lusts; (Gal. v. 24;) have learnt to deny themselves, (Matt. xvi.
24,) and to mortify their members upon the earth. Col. iii. 5.
It is
also of great importance to add, that there must be a resolution to
oppose sin in every kind, and in every degree; for he that is born of
God sinneth not; (1 John v. 18;) nay, it is elsewhere said,
He cannot
commit sin; (1 John iii. 9;) and though it is too visibly true in fact,
and apparent from several other passages in the very Epistle whence
these words are taken, that this expression is to be interpreted with
some limitation; yet the least that it can be imagined to signify is
this, that he does not wilfully allow himself in the practice of any
sin. He has learnt to hate every false way, and to esteem all God's
precepts, concerning all things to be right; (Psal. cxix. 128;) so that
upon the whole, if he might have his request, and God would grant him
the thing that he longs for, (Job vi. 3,) it would be this, to sin no
more, and get rid of every sentiment, desire, and
affection, in any degree contrary to the purity of God's nature and
law. If, therefore, there be any of you, that spare one accursed thing,
though you should seem eager on destroying all the rest--if it be the
secret language of your soul, "There is but one lust that I will indulge;
there is but one temptation that I will comply with;" I perceive your
hearts are not right in the sight of God; (Acts viii. 21;) for though
you could according to your pretended purpose, keep all the rest of
the law, and yet offend in this one point alone, you would, in effect,
be a transgressor of all. Jam. ii. 10. In short, He that commitetth
sin is of the devil; (1 John iii. 8;) but
he that is begotten of God, keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
1 John v. 18.
6. He that does not know what it is, to overcome this world, and to
place his happiness in another, is yet in an unregenerate state.
This
is another of those certain marks, which God has given us of his own
children. Whatsoever is born of God--as it is very emphatically expressed
in the original--overcometh the world. 1 John v. 4.
(πᾶν τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ του Θεου.)
It is not, you see, the extraordinary attainment of a few
more eminent Christians; but it is an essential branch of every good
man's character;
for he is begotten again unto a lively
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, even to the
hope of an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away. 1 Pet. i. 3, 4.
You have reason, therefore, to judge very
sadly concerning your state, if you are strangers to this lively hope;
which is a very different thing from that hope to be saved, of which
some people talk in so indolent, not to say in so profane a manner,
as to show, that it is the hope of the hypocrite, which will perish,
when God takes away his soul. Job viii. 13; xxvii. 3. If you are conscious
to yourselves, that you mind earthly things, your end will be destruction,
(Phil. iii. 19,) for having your heart on earth, it is plain
your only
treasure is here; (Matt. vi. 21;) and if you govern yourselves by worldly
maxims alone, and your great care be to obtain those riches and honors,
which the children of the world pursue; if the importance of eternity
has never appeared in such a light, as to make you judge everything
trifling that can come in competition with it; nay, whatever your views
of eternity have been, if you are not practically carrying on a scheme
for it: and if you cannot, and do not, deny your worldly interest, when
it cannot be secured without hazarding your eternal hopes; it is plain
you are friends of the world, in such a sense as none can be, but he
must
be an enemy of God. Jam. iv. 4. If indeed you were
dead to the world, and your life hid with Christ in God, you would set
your affections on things above, on those things which are there where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God; (Col. iii. 1, 2, 3;) but the
want of this temper shows that you are carnally minded, which it is
death to be; (Rom. viii. 6;) and that the redeeming love of Christ has
never exerted its influence upon your souls, nor his cross had any due
efficacy upon you; for if it had, the world would have been crucified
to you, and you to the world. Gal. vi. 14.
7. The soul that does not
long for greater improvements in the divine life, is still a stranger
to the first principles of it.
You know, that we are called, as Christians,
with an high and holy calling; (Phil. iii. 14; 2 Tim. i. 9;) and
as
he that is the author of this calling is holy, so are we to be holy
in all manner of conversation, (1 Pet. i. 15,) and to be
perfect, even
as our Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matt. v. 48. Here will
therefore be room for improvement, not only during our continuance in
the present life, but through all the ages of a glorious eternity; and
it is the ardent desire of every good man, that in this sense above
all others, his path may be like the shining light, that
shineth more and more, until the perfect
day. Prov. iv. 18. And this is the one thing that he does, or that in
which all his labors centre; being conscious to himself how far he is
from having already attained, or being already perfect, forgetting the
things that are behind, he reacheth forth unto those things that are
before, and presses toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus. Phil. iii. 12-14. In this view he seriously
considers the circumstances of life in which Providence has placed him;
that he may observe the advantages, which these circumstances give him
for religious improvements; and it is delightful to him to discover
such advantages.
Now if there be any of you, who know nothing of this
temper, you are certainly in an unregenerate state; for none can be
born of God, that do not love him; and none can truly love him, that
do not earnestly desire, more and more to resemble him. So that if your
hearts can indulge such a thought as this, "I wish I knew how much
religion would be just sufficient to save me, and r would go so far,
and stop there;" your conscience must tell you that you secretly hate
religion, and are unwillingly dragged towards the form of it, by an
unnatural and external violence--the fear of misery and ruin in neglecting
it; and that you
are not actuated by the free and liberal principle
of a nature savingly renewed.
8. The soul that does not know what it
is, to live by faith in Christ, and in dependence on his Spirit, is
still in an unregenerate state.
We are all the children of God, by faith
in Christ Jesus, (Gal. iii. 26,) if indeed we are so at all; and
he
that is joined to the Lord, in this sense, is one spirit with him. 1
Cor. vi. 17. But if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none
of his, (Rom. viii. 9,) for as God has predestined us to the adoption
of children, by Jesus Christ, to himself, (Ephes. i. 5,) so
of his
fullness it is, that all believers do receive, even grace for grace,
(John i. 16,) or an abundance and variety of grace, by virtue of their
union with him, who is the head: from whom the whole body being fitly
joined together and strengthened by what every joint supplies, by an
energy proportionable to every part, increases to the edifying of itself
in love. Eph. iv. 15, 18.
These things, as you see, are not only hinted
in Scripture, but are copiously insisted upon, as very material points;
and though I readily acknowledge, good men may apprehend and consider
them very differently, and may express those apprehensions in different
phrases; yet as experience makes it plain, that those souls generally
flourish most, who have the most distinct conceptions
of them, and the most habitual
regard to them; so I think it is plain from these Scriptures, that there
can be no religion at all, where there is a total insensibility of them.
If, therefore there are any of you, that apprehend it is enthusiasm
to talk of the assistances of the Spirit; nay, I will add, if there
are any of you, that do not earnestly desire these assistances, and
do not seek them daily from the hand of Christ as the great covenant
head of his people, you are, I fear, strangers to some of the first
principles of the oracles of God, (Heb. v. 12,) and are
sensual, not
having the Spirit. Jude, verse 9. And though you may now and then form
a hasty, and perhaps a warm resolution in religion, you will quickly,
with the proud youth that are conceited of their own sufficiency,
faint
and be weary, and with the young men you will utterly fail; while
they
only that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength, shall mount up as
on eagles' wings, and, pressing on with an unwearied pace, according
to the different degrees of vigor which the different parts of their
course may require, shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not
faint. Isa. xl. 30, 31. In short, if you do not thirst after the water
of life, that is, (as the Evangelist himself explains it,) the spirit,
which they that believe on Christ shall receive, (John vii.
39,) however bountiful he is, he makes no promise
to impart it to you; and if you never receive it, all your other sources
of comfort will soon be dried up, and the miserable condition of the
creature, that asked in vain for one drop of water to cool his tormented
tongue, (Luke xvi. 24,) will certainly be yours.
Here I apprehend multitudes
will miscarry, who have made a fair show in the eyes of men; and if
you are condemned by this mark, I am sure you will not be acquitted
by any of the preceding. For all the branches of a holy temper have
such connection with this, and such a dependence upon it, that a man,
who is destitute of this, can have only the semblance of the rest.
And
thus, I have with all plainness and faithfulness, as in the sight of
God, and sensible of my account to him, laid before you a variety of
hints, by which I think you may safely and truly judge, whether you
be, or be not, in an unregenerate state: and I shall now beg leave to conclude this Discourse with one plain inference from the whole,
viz:
That BAPTISM IS NOT REGENERATION, in the scriptural and most important
sense of the word.
To prove this as a corollary from the preceding Discourse,
I shall only assume this most reasonable concession, with which you
may remember I
at first set out: that regeneration,
and being born of God, signify the same thing. Now I have shown you
from a variety of scriptures, under the former heads, that every one
whom the Sacred Oracles represent as born of God receiveth Christ, overcometh
the world, and sinneth not. But it is too plain, that these characters
do not agree to every one that is baptized: and consequently it evidently
follows, that every one who is baptized is not of course born of God,
or regenerate; therefore, that baptism is not scriptural regeneration.
I think no mathematical demonstration plainer, and more certain than
this conclusion; and therefore, whatever great and ancient names may
be urged on the other side of the question, I shall rest the matter
here, without leading you into the niceties of a controversy so easily
decided.See Postscript, at the end. I would only further observe, that they who most vigorously
contend for the other manner of speaking, (for after all it is but a
dispute about a word,) acknowledge expressly, that a man may be saved
without what they call regeneration, and that he may perish with it.
And though persons are taught to speak of their state, in consequence of
baptism, in very high, and, I fear, dangerous terms; yet when wise and good men
come to explain those terms, it evidently appears, that many
of whom they are used, are so in a state of salvation
as to be daily obnoxious to damnation! so the children of God, as also
to be the children of the devil! and so inheritors of the kingdom of
heaven, as to be children of wrath, and on the brink of hell!
Where
persons of real piety apprehend themselves under a necessity of using
such phrases with respect to all that are baptized, we cannot blame
them for endeavoring to bring down their signification as low as possible;
but they will, I hope, excuse those who choose to speak, in what they
apprehend to be a more scriptural, rational, and edifying language.
It was matter of conscience with me, to state the matter as you have
heard. I do therefore earnestly entreat you, my dearly beloved, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for the sake of your own immortal
souls, that you deceive not yourselves with vain words; but that where
your eternal salvation is so plainly concerned, you bring the cause,
the important cause, to an immediate trial. And if you are convinced,
as I suppose many of you quickly may be, that you are at present dead
in trespasses and sins, then let me beseech you to reflect on what the
most transient survey of the Scriptures may teach you, as to the danger
of such a case. For though it will
be my business, in the process of
these Discourses, more largely to represent it, when I come to speak
of the necessity of the new birth, God only knows, whether your lives
may be continued, till we advance so far in the subject: and where a
case of this kind is in question, the delay of a week, or even of a
day, may be inevitable and eternal ruin.
DISCOURSE II.
OF THE NATURE OF REGENERATION, AND PARTICULARLY OF THE
CHANGE IT PRODUCES IN MEN'S APPREHENSIONS.
2 COR. v. 17.
If any man be
in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold
all things are become new.
THE knowledge of our true state in religion,
is at once a matter of so great importance, and so great difficulty
that, in order to obtain it, it is necessary we should have line upon
line and precept upon precept. The plain discourse, which you before
heard, was intended to lead you into it; and I question not but I then
said enough to convince many, that they were in an unregenerate condition.
Nevertheless, as there are various approaches towards regeneration and
conversion, which on the whole fall short of it; I think it very expedient
now to give you, what I may properly enough call the counterpart of
this view; which I shall, by Divine assistance, attempt from the words
I have now been reading.
The Apostle, who wrote them, was transported
to such a zeal for Christ, and for the souls of men, that some thought
him beside himself, (verse 13,) and no doubt many would represent him
as the greatest enthusiast upon the face of the earth. But as it was
a very small thing to him to be judged of man's judgment, (1 Cor. iv.
3,) he calmly vindicates himself, by declaring that there was a cause
for all this warmth, as the honor of God, and the Redeemer, and the
eternal salvation of men, were so intimately concerned in the affair.
The love of Christ, says he, constrains us, or, (as the word properly
signifies,) it bears us away with it, like a mighty torrent, which we
are not able to resist; because we thus judge, that if one died for
all, then were all dead, under the sentence of God's righteous law--or
they would not have needed such an atonement as the blood of his Son;
and we farther judge, that he died for all, that they who now live,
only in consequence of his dying love, should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him that died for them.
2 Cor. v. 14, 15. We therefore
live to this Jesus; we consecrate our lives and labors to this purpose;
and in consequence of it, we henceforth know no man after the flesh,
that is, we do not regard our temporal interests, nor consider how we
may
most effectually obtain the favor and friendship
of those who may be useful to us in life; yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh, or have expected a temporal Messiah, who should make
our nation triumphant over the Gentiles, and enrich it with the spoils
of other nations, yet now henceforth we know him no more under such
a character. Verse 16. And in this respect the same temper will prevail
in the heart of every real Christian; and therefore, i. e. in consequence
of what was said before of the Redeemer's love, if any man be in Christ,
if he be really one of his faithful servants, united to him by a lively
faith, and in consequence of that union interested in his salvation,
he is a new creature: his views and sentiments, his affections and pursuits,
are so entirely changed, that he seems, as it were, to be come into
a new world, and to be transformed quite into another person from what
he formerly was; old things are passed away, and, behold the astonishing
transformation! all things are become new. This is the thought that
I am now to illustrate; and you cannot but see, how proper a foundation
it will be for our Discourse on,
The second general head I proposed,
which is, Particularly to describe the nature of that great change,
which passes on every soul, that is truly
regenerate, in the scriptural, and most important
sense of the word.Some choose to call the change here described, renovation rather than
regeneration. I have given my reasons, (in the Postscript,) why I use
the words promiscuously: but I shall endeavor, through the whole of
these Discourses, so to state the nature of this change, as to have
no controversy with good men of any persuasion about anything but the
name of it; concerning which, I hope, they will not contend with me,
as I am sure I will not quarrel with them
And here it may hardly seem necessary to tell you,
that I do not mean to assert, that the substance of the soul, and its
natural faculties, are in a strict and proper sense changed; a man might
as reasonably assert from such a Scripture, that the former body was
annihilated, and a new one produced; and common sense and decency will
not allow us to imagine, that the Apostle meant anything of this nature,
by the general terms he uses here. But the plain meaning is, that when
a man becomes a real Christian, the whole temper and character of his
mind is so changed, as to become different from that of the generality
of mankind, and different from what it formerly was, while in an unenlightened
and unrenewed state. It is not merely a little circumstantial alteration;
it is not assuming a new name, professing new speculative opinions,
or practising some new rites and forms; but it is becoming, as we frequently
say, in our usual forms of speech, a different creature
or a new man.
And thus the sacred writers express themselves in many
other passages, which very happily serve to illustrate this. They, in
particular, represent God as promising, with relation to this work;
(Ezek. xxxvi. 26;) a new heart will give them, and a new spirit will
I put within them; and I will take away the heart of stone, that stubborn,
obstinate, impenetrable disposition they once had, and will give them
an heart of flesh, a tender, compliant temper, which shall incline them
to submit to my will with humility, and to obey it with delight. And
thus, when the apostle had exhorted the Ephesians, (Ephes. iv. 22-24,)
to put off, with respect to their former conversation, the old man,
which is corrupt according to its deceitful lusts, he adds, And be renewed
in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which after God,
or in conformity to his image, is created in righteousness and true
holiness; which is further illustrated by his important exhortation
to the Romans. Rom. xii. 2. Be not conformed to this world; but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind. And on the same principles,
what in one place he calls the new creature, (Gal. vi. 15,) in another
parallel place he expresses, by faith that works by love, (Gal. v. 6,)
and by keeping the commandments
of God; (1 Cor. vii. 19;) for all
these, as equivalent characters, he opposes to circumcision and uncircumcision,
or the mere externals of a religious profession; declaring the utter
insufficiency of the latter, and the absolute necessity of the former.
The general nature of this change may then be understood by an attentive
consideration of such Scriptures as those mentioned above: which indeed
contain what is most essential on this subject. But for the more complete
illustration of the matter, I shall particularly show you, that where
there is reason to speak of a man, as one of those who are in Christ
Jesus, or who are truly regenerate, there will be new apprehensions--new affections--new resolutions--new labors--new enjoyments--and new hopes.
Perhaps there are few important branches of the Christian character,
which may not be introduced as illustrating one or other of these remarks.
The former of them is indeed the foundation of the rest; because, as
religion is a reasonable service, all the change which is made in the
affections and resolutions, in the pursuits, enjoyments, and hopes of
a good man, arises from that different view, in which he is now taught
to look on those objects, the nature of which is to direct his choice,
to determine his conduct, and regulate his passions;
it will therefore be the business of this
Discourse to show you,
I. That wherever there is a real principle of
regeneration, there will be new apprehensions of things.
When God created
the natural world, he said, in the very beginning of his work, Let there
be light, and there was light. Gen. i. 3. And thus he deals in this
new creation, which raises the soul from a chaos, to such a beautiful,
well-ordered, and well-furnished frame. God, says the Apostle, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined into our hearts, to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of
Jesus Christ; (2 Cor. iv. 6;) whereas before,
the understanding was
darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance
that was in them, because of the blindness or perverseness of their
hearts. Ephes. iv. 18.
Now this illumination, of which I am speaking,
does not so much refer to a speculative, as to a practical and heart-impressing
knowledge. It is true, that when a man once comes to be in good earnest
in religion, he generally arrives at a clearer and fuller knowledge,
even of the doctrines of Christianity, than he had before: for he then
sets himself to inquire with greater diligence, and to seek light of
the great Father of Lights with
greater earnestness; he gets clear of many
evil affections, that put a corrupt bias upon his judgment; and he comes
within the reach of those promises, Then shall we know, if we follow
on to know the Lord; (Hos. vi. 3;) and if any man will do his will,
he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God. John vii. 17.
Yet,
I think, I may very properly say, that at various times, when our judgment
of any object is the same, our apprehensions of it are very different.
It is one thing, for instance, to believe that God is the omnipotent,
all-wise, and all-gracious governor of the world; and another, and very
different thing, to have the heart powerfully impressed with an apprehension
of his ability and readiness to help us. I will, therefore, a little
more particularly illustrate those respects, in which the apprehensions
of such as are really regenerate, differ from those which they formerly
had: and I hope you will do yourselves the justice to reflect, as we
go along, how far you have ever felt these apprehensions which you hear
me describe. I have a pleasing persuasion, that many of you have felt
them, in a much livelier manner than they can be described. I would
observe then to you, that a regenerate soul has new apprehensions of
God--of itself--of Christ—of eternity--and of
the way and method that God has marked
out for its being happy there.
1. A regenerate soul has new apprehensions
of the blessed God.
There are very few who pretend so much as to doubt
of the being of a God; and fewer yet, that will venture to deny it.
And, even among those who have denied it, and disputed against it, some,
by their own confession, have felt their hearts give, them the lie,
and upbraid them for using the powers of reason and speech against the
Giver and Preserver of both. I persuade myself at least, there are none
that hear me this day, who would not look upon a professed Atheist as
a monster, unworthy to be a member of human society, and little to be
trusted in any of its relations. Yet after all, while the being of the
blessed God is warmly asserted, his nature is so little understood and
considered, that there are thousands who may still properly be said
to be without God in the world, (Eph. ii. 13,) or in practice and temper,
though not in notion, to be Atheists in it. Wicked men therefore, in
general, are described as those that know not God; (2 Thess. i. 2;)
but where God has determined to glorify his mercy in the salvation of
a sinner, he shines into the heart, for his blessed purpose, to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. 2 Cor. iv. 6.
And thus the glories of the Divine Being
are known to the regenerate soul in such a manner, as they are not to
the most acute metaphysician, or the sublimest philosopher, who is himself
a stranger to the spiritual life.
The person of whom we now speak, has
new apprehensions of the spirituality and omnipresence of God,—-of his
majesty and purity,—-of his power and patience,—-of his
goodness,—-and
his intimate access to men's spirits, with the reality and importance
of his operations upon them. Permit me a little to represent the views
of each, both to direct your inquiries, and also to impress your minds,
and my own, with truths in which we have all so intimate a concern.
The divine spirituality and omnipresence is apprehended by the good
man in a peculiar manner. That there is some immaterial Being, and that
matter is moved by his active power continually impressed upon it, according
to stated laws, is indeed so plain a dictate of reason, that I question
not but the thought influences the minds of some, who have not so much
acquaintance with language as to be able properly to express it: but,
alas I it easily passes through, as if no way important. It is quite
a different thing to feel, as it were, the presence of an infinite,
intelligent and all-observing Deity, actually surrounding us in all
times and
places: to say from the heart, O Lord, thou hast
searched me, and known me, so that thou understandeth my thoughts afar
off: whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall Iflee from
thy presence? Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand
upon me; (Psal. cxxxix. 1-7;) to feel, as it were, the hand of God,
which indeed we may feel, if we duly attend to it, in all the impressions
made on our bodily senses, and on the powers of our mind;—-to feel ourselves
even now supported by it, and to argue from the constant support of
his hand, the never-failing notice of his eye. He reads my present thoughts;
he knows, even now, all the secrets of my soul, and has always known
them; has always observed my conduct in even the minutest particular;
and recorded, in permanent characters, the whole history of my life,
and of my heart; of this depraved, sinful life, of this vain, this treacherous,
this rebellious heart.
With this conception of the divine observance
are closely and intimately connected new apprehensions of the purity of God, and of his infinite
majesty; views which mutually assist and illustrate each other. The irreverence with which the generality of men
behave in the presence of God, and the easiness with which they admit
the slightest temptation to sin against him, plainly
show what low notions they have of him; but
God does, as it were, appear to the eye of a renewed mind, arrayed in
his robes of light and majesty; so that he is ready to cry out, 'I have
heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee;
(Job xiii. 5;) I see the eternal, self-existent, self-sufficient God,
who sits upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are
as grasshoppers; who spreadeth out the heavens as a tent to dwell in,
and looks down on the nations as the drop of a bucket, and counts them
as the small dust of the balance. Isa. xl. 15, 22. Who would not fear
before him? who would not tremble at his presence? (Jer. v. 22,) who
would not revere that God, who is of purer eyes than to behold evil,
and cannot look upon iniquity? (Hab. i. 13,) who cannot be tempted with
evil, (Jam. i. 13,) but must see it, and hate it, even in all its forms?’
And such too are the views it has of his almighty power, that the enlightened
mind will further add, ‘A God of almighty power, who could speak a whole
world into ruin. as he spoke it into existence--who by one single thought, by
one silent volition, could easily abase the proudest creature in the universe,
must have it in his power to bring me in a moment to the dust of death, and to
the flames of hell; to lay me as low in misery, and to hold me as long in it as
he should please. This,
O my soul, this is the God, against whom such feeble
worms as we are daily offending, and whom we madly presume to make our
enemy.’
This gives the regenerate man a further sense of the patience
of God, than ever he had before. Others may look round upon the world,
and wonder there is so much penal evil in it; but the renewed soul wonders
there is not a thousand times more. When he sees, how the world lieth
in wickedness; (1 John v. 19;) when he observes, how poor, impotent
mortals are, many of them perhaps, in words blaspheming the God of Heaven;
many more of them, most presumptously violating all the plainest and
most important precepts of his law; and most of the rest, living in
a perpetual forgetfulness of him, as if he were not at all, or were
not so considerable as to be any way worth their notice; such an one
cannot but wonder, that the Almighty Majesty of Heaven does not in a
moment make himself known by the thunder of his power, and confound
all their madness and folly, by crushing the world, with its inhabitants,
into ruin. He often sees the rising sun, and the descending rain, with
astonishment that it should be sent down on such a world as ours.
He
has also more affecting views than ever of the Divine Goodness. Most
men speculatively believe
it; and they take occasion, even from
that belief, to affront it; but a good man views it at once as a delightful
and a venerable thing: he fears the Lord and his goodness; (Hos. iii.
5;) and while it encourages him, guilty as he is, to repose himself
upon it as his hope, it awakens a generous kind of confusion at the
thought of ever having offended him, and fills his very soul with indignation
at the thought of repeating such offences.
And once more, the regenerate
man has quite different notions than before, of the intimate access
which God has to the spirits of men, and his power of operating upon
them. The greatest part of men indeed consider not, as they ought, how
the whole material world perpetually depends upon a Divine agency, and
is no other than one grand machine, on which the great artificer continually
acts, to make it an instrument of mercy to his sensitive and intelligent
creatures. But there are yet fewer, who seriously consider, how entirely
the hearts of men are in the hand of the Lord, and how much depends
on his influences upon them. Nevertheless, experience teaches the renewed
soul, that he is the God of the spirits of all flesh, (Numb. xxviii.
16,) and he not only views, but manages them as he pleases. "Lord,"
does he say, "this spirit of mine is shaded with thick
darkness, but thou canst illuminate it; it is diseased,
but thou canst cure it; it is unstable as water, (Gen. xlix. 4,) and
lighter than a feather, yet thou canst fix and establish it; and whatever
thou wouldst have me to be, and to do, for thy glory, and mine own happiness,
thou canst work in me both to will and to perform it: (Phil. ii. 13:)
so that all I need, to the rectitude and felicity of my nature, is only
this, that I may have more of thine inward, vital, operative presence."
It is not easy to conceive, what efficacy this thought has, for the
transformation of the soul. But again,
2. New apprehensions are connected
with these sentiments in the regenerate soul, concerning itself, and
its own state.
It is surprising to think, how many run through successive
years in life, without ever turning the eye of the mind inward, that
the soul may survey itself. I speak not of a philosophical survey of
the faculties of the mind; which, though indeed in its place it be useful
and entertaining, is no more necessary in its refinement to a well-ordered
state, than skill in anatomy is to a healthful constitution: but I speak
of those views of the mind, which are in the reach of all, how low soever
their genius, or their education may have been.
As all true happiness
is an internal thing,
wherever God intends to produce it in the
heart of a revolted, corrupted creature, and such, alas! we all naturally
are, he leads it into a view of itself; and shows it, if I may be allowed
the expression, a mixture of grandeur and misery, that lies within;
which yet the greatest part of mankind live and die without ever observing.
"I am here," does the awakened creature say, "an intelligent being;
far superior to this well-wrought frame of flesh and blood, which God
has given me for a little while to command, and which I must quickly
drop in the dust; I am made capable of determining my own choice, of
directing my own actions, of judging concerning the importance of ends,
and the propriety of means in subserviency to them; and while I see
a vast variety of creatures in different forms beneath me, I see no
rank of creatures above me, nothing nobler than man, here on earth,
where I dwell. Yet I see man, in the midst of his glory, a feeble, dependent,
mortal creature, who cannot possibly be his own end, nor can of himself
alone, by any means command or ensure his own happiness. Everything
tells me, that he is the creature of God; and that it is the greatest
honor and felicity, to know, and practically to acknowledge himself
to be so: everything tells me, that it is most reasonable, that God,
who is the great Original of man, should also be the
end of his being; but have I made him the end of
mine? My soul, thou art conscious to thyself, thou hast lived in many
instances without him in the world. Ephes. ii. 12.
He has given thee, even in the system of thine own nature, and of the visible
beings that are round about thee, compared with his providential interposition
in the management of them, the intimations of his holy and righteous will; he
has expressed these dictates far more plainly in his written word: and when thou
comest to examine them, how art thou condemned by them! When thou comest to
think of the spirituality and purity of his being, and his law, how shameful
does thy temper, and thy life appear to have been! what an infinite disproportion is there between that, and its perfect
rule!
"And whom, oh my soul, hast thou offended? whose law hast thou
broken? whose grace hast thou despised? The law, the grace of that eternal
God, of whom I have now been hearing; who is here present with me, who
is even within me, and who sees, O my heart, more distinctly than thou
canst see, all thy guilt, and all its aggravations. Oh Lord! I abhor
myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Job xlii. 6. I have talked of
sin, and of the sentence of God against it, as a thing of course: but
oh, my soul, it is thine own concern! The guilt, the stain of sin is
still upon
thee; the sentence of God is pronounced
against thee; and it must be reversed, or thou art undone forever!
These irregular habits and dispositions that prevail in thee, must be
corrected, or they will prove thy mortal disease, and everlasting torment.
Thou art a poor, weak, irresolute creature; the experience of every
past day of life, since I began to think of religion at all, proves
it; yet thou must, by some means or other, attain to inward strength
and inward purity, or thou art lost: and all these great capacities,
and glorious faculties, will but make thy ruin so much the more distinguished.
Oh how weighty the care! oh how great the charge! What shall I do,
that thought, that reason, that immortality, may not be my destruction?
Where shall I find a rock, that will be firm enough for my support and
safety? Where shall I find the means, to build the fabric of such a
happiness as thine, O my soul, must be, if ever I am happy at all?"
Thus does God teach the mind, by its inward reviews and reflections,
this important lesson of its own impotence and guilt, of its depravity
and ruin; and so prepares it for those new apprehensions of Christ;
which I mentioned as the third particular.
3. The regenerate soul has
new apprehensions concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, considered as
a Mediator in general, and as such a particular
Mediator as he is exhibited in the word of God.
That affecting view
which the regenerate soul has of the majesty, glory, power, and purity
of the blessed God, will undoubtedly convince him how unfit he is in
himself to appear before his awful presence. He is ready to sink down
in the dust at the very thought, and to say, "Who is able to stand
before such a great and holy God, as thou art? 1 Sam. vi. 20. If I were
in all the original rectitude and glory of my nature, I could not do
it: how much less, surrounded as I am, with so much guilt, with so much
pollution! I need, as it were, a daysman betwixt us, who might lay
his hand upon us both, (Job. ix. 33,) who should transact affairs in
my name with God, and bring the peaceful messages of God to me: let
such an one speak with me and I will hear; but let not God speak with
me, lest I die." Exod. xx. 19.
And when he comes to take a more near
and intimate view of this Mediator which GOD has exhibited in the Gospel,
the renewed soul is even charmed and transported with the view: and
that Jesus, whose name he before pronounced with so much coldness, that
the very mention of it was a kind of profanation, now is regarded by
him as the chiefest among ten thousand. Cant. v. 10. He
beholds his
glory, as that of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth. John i.
14. The union of the divine and human nature in the person of Christ,
though it appears indeed a mystery, which he cannot fully explain, is
nevertheless a glorious certainty, which in the general, he most cordially
believes. He sees Emanuel--God dwelling with us in human flesh, and
acquiesces in the sight; while the rays of Divine Glory are attempered
by passing through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. Heb. x. 20.
He considers Christ as made of God unto him wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption; (1 Cor. i. 30:) and each of these
views rejoices him to the very heart. "Ignorant as I am, I shall be
taught and instructed by him, that great Prophet, whom God sent into
the world; by him, who is incarnate wisdom, as well as incarnate love;
whose words resound in the Gospel, and whose Spirit seals the instructions
of his word. Guilty as I am, my crimes shall be expiated; for there
is redemption in his blood; even the forgiveness of sins; (Eph. i. 7;)
there is an everlasting righteousness that he has introduced: and oh,
how richly will it adorn my soul! This pollution of mine shall not forever
exclude me from a comfortable intercourse with the pure majesty of Heaven;
for Christ is come to be my sanctification; and he can cleanse me by
his Spirit, and transform
me into that divine, delightful image which I have
lost. Victorious Lord, how easily canst thou redeem me from that state
of servitude, in which I have been kept so long complaining! How
easily, and how powerfully, canst thou vindicate me into the glorious
liberty of the children of God! Rom. viii. 21. Blessed Jesus, thou art
my light and my strength, my hope and my joy! Thou art just such a Saviour
as my necessity requires; thou fillest up all my wants, and all my wishes;
thou art all in all to me! I would not be ignorant of thee for ten
thousand worlds. I would not live a day, nor an hour, without recollecting
who, and what thou art, and maintaining that intercourse with thee,
which is the life of my soul."
4. The regenerate soul has also new
apprehensions of the importance of eternity, when compared with time
and all its concerns.
It is indeed a most pitiable thing, and awakens
our astonishment, grief,—and indignation, to observe how the things
of this world press down immortal spirits, and reduce them almost indeed
to a state of brutality. Most deplorable it is, to see the power and
energy of those motives, which are taken merely from this earth, and
its little concernments, so that if a man did but know what was the
favorite vanity, he might almost
predict, from the knowledge of circumstances,
how a man's actions would be ordered; and might almost be sure that
he would follow, whithersoever this interest, or that pleasure, this
ambitious, or that mercenary view, called him; though all the prospects
for an eternal world pleaded the contrary way. Such is the folly and
madness that is in men's hearts while they live; and after that they
go down to the dead, (Eccles. ix. 3,) and spend that immortal duration,
which they have despised, in fruitless lamentations. Fatal delusion
I which it is the great design of the Gospel to cure.
But when a soul
becomes wise to salvation, it is taught to look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen; because it has now a
full sense of what before it only notionally confessed, that the things
which are seen, are temporal; but the things that are not seen, are
eternal! 2 Cor. iv. 18. Eternity! it is impossible I should tell you
how much an eye, that is enlightened by God, sees, and reads, as it
were. in that one word; while one scene beyond another is still opening
on the mind, till its sight and its thoughts are swallowed up: and as
the creatures are as nothing with respect to God, so all the interests
of time, with respect to eternity, appear as less than nothing and vanity.
Isa. xl. 17. To
be made for an everlasting existence appears in
so awful a view, that while it has some pleasing hope, it rejoices with
trembling; and every remaining fear, with relation to this great interest,
seems a greater evil, than the certainty of any temporal calamity.
I
might add upon this head, that the regenerate soul has not only new
views of the importance, but likewise of the nature of the invisible
and eternal state; and particularly of the nature of the celestial happiness.
It does not consider it merely, or chiefly, as a state of corporeal
enjoyment, formed to gratify and delight the senses; but as a state
of perfect conformity to God, and most endearing intercourse with him;
of which, as it begins already by Divine Grace to taste the pleasures,
so it most ardently thirsts after them; and would be heartily willing
to lose this body forever, and to bid an eternal adieu to every object
capable of giving it delight; rather than it would consent to lose,
in a perpetual succession of such objects, the sight of the Father of
Spirits, and that sensibility of his love, which adds the most substantial
solidity, and exalted relish, to every inferior good that can be desired
from it.
5. A regenerate man has also new apprehensions of the way which
God has marked out to this happiness.
Nothing is more common than for carnal and
ignorant men to imagine, that it is a very easy thing to get to Heaven;
and upon this presumption, they hew out to themselves cisterns, broken
cisterns, that can hold no water; (Jer. ii. 13;) and often live and
die with a lie in their right hand. Isa. xliv. 20. But the renewed soul,
having such awful conceptions of the blessed God, and such apprehensions
of the excellency and glory of the heavenly state, as you have heard,
deeply feels how absolutely necessary it is, that something of a very
great and important change should pass in the mind of that sinful creature,
that ever hopes to be a partaker of it. He sees, that it is impossible
any external profession, or external rite, should secure so great an
end--impossible, that baptism should be regeneration, in that sense in
which the Scripture uses the word, or that by this alone, though ever
so regularly administered, a man's eternal happiness should be secured.
He sees, that to be associated to this or that party of Christians,
to join with established, or with separate churches, and to be ever
so zealous for their respective order, worship, and discipline, is a
thing quite of foreign consideration here; and that the best, or the
worst of men, may be, and probably are, on one side and on another;
nay, that ignorance, pride, and bigotry may take occasion
from hence to render men farther from the kingdom
of God, than any mistake in judgment or practice, on these disputed
points, could have set them.
No, my brethren, when a man's eyes are
enlightened by God's renewing Spirit, he sees and feels that, in the
language of Scripture, he must be created anew in Christ Jesus; (Ephes.
ii. 10:) he sees, that holiness is a character without which no man
shall see the Lord; (Heb. xii. 14;) and he is perhaps little anxious,
whether this, or the faith that produces it, shall be called a condition,
or a qualification, or an instrument, while he sees he must perish without
it: he sees, that as it is absolutely necessary, so it is very extensive,
as the commandment, which is its rule, is exceeding broad: (Psal. cxix.
96:) he sees, that it must not only effectually regulate the actions
of his life, but control all the sentiments of his heart: nay, he sees
it must not only be submitted to as a necessary, but be chosen as a
most amiable thing: and, accordingly, he does choose it as such. The
unregenerate soul, when he hears of repentance and reformation, though
he understands not half that it means, nor is aware of what will, in
fact, be the greatest difficulty of it, looks upon it at best as a nauseous
medicine, which he must take, or die: but the regenerate man finds his
heart so
wonderfully and so happily changed, that
he regards it for itself, as the food, the health, and the life of his
soul; as that which necessarily brings its own pleasures, and, in a
considerable degree, its own reward along with it; so that now, as David
beautifully expresses it, He openeth his mouth, and panteth, because
he longs for God's commandments. Verse 131.
And I will add once more,
the good man is also made sensible of the place which faith and holiness
hold, in the scheme which God has laid, for our justification before
him, and our acceptance with him. I do not say that all Christians conceive
of this with equal perspicuity, or express their conceptions with equal
exactness: the most candid allowance should here be made for the different
ideas they fix to the same phrases, as they have been used to look upon
them with veneration, or with suspicion. But this I will venture to
say, because I am persuaded the Scripture will bear me out in it--that
the confidence of a regenerate soul is not fixed on his own holiness,
or faith, as the meritorious cause of his acceptance with God. He is
deeply and cordially sensible, that he is made accepted in the Beloved;
(Ephes. i. 6;) and seeing nothing but guilt, and weakness, and ruin
in himself, he ascribes to the blessed Jesus, and to the riches of God's
free grace in him, his
righteousness, his strength, and his salvation.
And where a man is thus persuaded, I think he must, in effect, believe,
even though he might scruple in words expressly to own it, "that Christ
as our great Surety having perfectly obeyed the law of God himself,
and by his blood having fully satisfied the Divine Justice for the breach
of it, we, on our believing in him by a vital faith, are justified before
God by the imputation of his perfect righteousness." This latter way
of stating it, when rightly explained, appears just equivalent to the
former; and it is a manner of conceiving and expressing it, which, when
rightly understood, seems extremely suitable to that deep humility,
and poverty of spirit, to which the renewed soul is brought, when, like
a new-born babe, it desires the sincere milk of the word, that it may
grow thereby. 1 Pet. ii. 2. But as the mind, at such a time, finds little
inclination to contend about words and phrases, it would be much less
proper for me, to enter into any controversy about them here.
Let it
suffice for the present, that I have given you this plain representation
of that change, which is wrought in a man's apprehensions, when he is
made a new creature. When old things are passed away, he has new apprehensions
of God, of himself, of Christ, of eternity, and of
the way to obtain
the happiness of it: and as at this happy time all
things are become new, there are, "new affections,
new resolutions, new labors, new enjoyments, and new hopes," which are
the result of the change already described. But it will be much more
difficult to reduce what I have to offer on these heads, within the
bounds of the next Discourse, than proper to attempt any of them in
this. Go home, my friends, and try yourselves by what you have al. ready
heard; and be assured, that if you are condemned by this part of the
description, it is impossible you should be approved by any that will
follow; since they have all their foundation in this.
DISCOURSE III.
OF THE NATURE OF REGENERATION, WITH RESPECT TO THE CHANGE IT PRODUCES IN MEN'S AFFECTIONS, RESOLUTIONS, LABORS, ENJOYMENTS AND HOPES.
2 Cor. v. 17.
If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature;
old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new.
AMONG
the various subjects, which exercise the thoughts and tongues of men,
few are more talked of than Religion. But it is melancholy to think
how little it is understood; and how much it is mistaken and misrepresented
in the world.
The text before us gives us a very instructive view of
it: such a view, that I am sure, an experimental knowledge of its sense
would be infinitely preferable to the most critical and exact knowledge
of all the most curious passages, both of the Old Testament, and the
New. From it, you know, I have begun to describe that great change,
which the word of God teaches us to represent under the notion of regeneration,
or, according to the language of St. Paul, in this passage of his
writings, by a new creation. I know I am
explaining it to many, who have been much longer acquainted with it
than myself; and it becomes me to believe, to many that have attained
much higher advancement in it: but I fear also at the same time, I speak
of it to many, who are yet strangers to it; and I am laboring, by the
plainest addresses that I can, to give them at least some just ideas
of it. Oh, that to all the descriptions that either have, or shall be
given, God may, by his grace, add that understanding which arises from
feeling correspondent impressions on the mind!
I have already endeavored
to illustrate those new apprehensions, which arise in the regenerate
mind; apprehensions of the blessed God, of itself, of Christ, of the
eternal world, and of the way to obtain the happiness of it. It now
remains, that I consider those "new affections, resolutions, labors,
enjoyments, and hopes," which result from them. I observe, therefore,
II. That these new apprehensions will be attended with new
Affections.
I readily acknowledge, that the degree in which the affections operate,
may, and will be different, in different persons, according to their
natural constitution: but, as in some degree or another, they make an
essential part of our frame, it is impossible
but they must be impressed with a matter of
such infinite importance, as religion will appear. And the apprehensions
described above, must awaken the exercise of correspondent affections,
and direct them to objects very different from those by which they were
before excited, and on which they were fixed. And here now,
1. This
may be especially illustrated in love.
Love is indeed the ruling passion
of the mind, and has all the rest in an avowed and real subjection to
it. And here lies the very root of human misery in our fallen and degenerate
state: we are naturally lovers of ourselves in a very irregular degree--lovers
of pleasures, more than lovers of God. 2 Tim. iii. 4. But, on the contrary,
the first and great commandment of the law is written in the breast
of every regenerate man: thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Matt. xxii. 37,
38. It is true, indeed, that if his soul were perfectly delivered into
this mould, and his attainments in Divine love were complete, there
would be an end of all sin, and almost of all calamity too: for what
evil could assail or impress a mind entirely and unchangeably fixed
upon God?
Yet that the love of God should be the prevailing affection,
is not merely a circumstance, but an essential
part of true religion. While the
good man sees Him who is invisible, (Heb. xi. 26,) as infinitely perfect
in himself, and as the author of being and happiness to the whole creation,
he cannot but acknowledge, that he is, beyond comparison, the most amiable
of all objects. And though it is certain, that nothing can so much induce
and inflame our love to God, as a well-grounded assurance, that he is
become our God, and our Father in Christ; yet before the regenerate
soul has attained to this, a sense of those favors which he received
from God in common with the whole human race, and more especially of
those which are inseparable from a Christian community, together with
the apprehension of his being accessible through the Mediator, and reconcilable
to sinful men, will diffuse some delightful sense of God over the mind;
which will grow sweeter in proportion to the degree in which his own
hopes brighten and settle, while they are growing toward the full assurance
of faith.
And as the real Christian loves him that begat, he loves him
also that is begotten of him. 1 John v. 1. He
loves the Lord Jesus Christ
in sincerity, (Eph. vi. 24,) viewing him not in a cold and insensible
manner, as he once did, but with inflamed affection, as the chiefest
among ten thousand, and altogether lovely. Cant. v. 10, 16.
If
he knows, in any degree, the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, (2 Cor. viii. 9,) in becoming incarnate for the salvation of
his people, in making himself a sacrifice for their sins, and paying
his life for the ransom of their lives; he feels himself drawn toward
Jesus, thus lifted up on the cross; (John xii. 32;)
and the love of
Christ constrains him, (2 Cor. v. 14,) to such a degree, that he longs
to find out some acceptable method to express his inward and overbearing
sense of it. How divided soever true Christians may be in other respects,
they all agree in this, in loving that Jesus whom they have not seen.
1 Pet. i. 8.
We may further recollect on this head, that the Apostle,
in a solemn manner, adjures Christians by the love of the Spirit; (Rom.
xv. 30;) thereby plainly implying, that such a love to him is an important
branch of their character: and it must be so in all those who regard
him, as every regenerate soul does, as the author of divine light and
life, and as the source of love and happiness, by whom this love of
God is shed abroad in the heart, (Rom. v. 5,) while it is
enlarged with
sacred delight to run the way of his commandments: (Psal. cxix. 32:)
as that Spirit, by whom we are sealed to. the day of redemption, (Eph.
ix. 30,) and who brings down the foretastes of Heaven to the heart
in which he dwells, and which, by his presence,
he consecrates as the temple of God. 1 Cor. iii. 16.
And most natural
is it, that a soul filled with these impressions and views should overflow
with unutterable joy, and feeling itself thus happy in an intercourse
with its God, should be enlarged in love to man: for, says the Apostle,
ye are taught of God to love one another. 1 Thess. iv. 9. Those whom
he apprehends as his brethren by regenerating grace, he knows are with
him beloved of the Lord; and as he hopes to dwell with them for ever
in glory, he must love them so far as he knows them now. And though
a narrow education, and that bigotry, which sometimes conceals itself
under very honorable and pious names, may perhaps influence even a sanctified
heart, so far as to entertain unkind suspicions as to those, whose religious
sentiments may differ from his own, and it may be, to pass some rash
censures upon them; yet as his acquaintance with them increases, and
he discerns, under their different forms, the traces of their common
Father, his prejudices wear off, and that sometimes by very sensible
degrees; and Christians receive one another, as Christ has received
them all. Ro. xv. 7.
And where the good man cannot love others with
a love of complacency and esteem, he at least beholds them with a love
of compassion and
pity; and remembers the relation of fellow-creatures,
where he sees no reason to hope that they are fellow-heirs with him.
In a word, the heart is melted down into tenderness; it is warmed with
generous sentiments; it longs for opportunities of diffusing good of
all kinds, both temporal and spiritual, wide as its influence can reach;
it beats with an ardor, which sometimes painfully recoils upon a man's
self, for want of ability to help others in proportion to his desire
to do it; and that God, who knows all the inmost workings of his mind,
hears many an importunate intercession for others in the hour of solemn
devotion, and many a compassionate ejaculation, which he is occasionally
sending up to Heaven from time to time, as he passes through so sinful
and so calamitous a world.
These are the ruling affections in the heart
of a good man; and though it is neither reasonable nor possible, that
he should entirely divest himself of self-love, yet he endeavors to
regulate it so, that it may not interfere with the more important consideration
of general good. Self has the lowest place in his regards, nor does
he limit his affection to a party; but aiming at extensive usefulness,
he guards against those immoderate attachments to particular friendships,
and those extravagant sallies of personal fondness, which
are often no more than self-love under a
specious disguise; which at once alienate the heart from God, and contract
the social affections within very narrow, and those very irregular bounds;
and so prove almost as fatal to the health of the mind, as an excessive
flow of blood into one part would be to that of the body.
I have enlarged
so copiously on this change in the leading affections of the mind, that
I must touch in a more transient manner on the rest. I add, therefore,
2. That a regenerate soul has new aversions.
He once hated knowledge,
and did not choose the fear of the Lord. Prov. i. 29. He
hated the light,
(John iii. 20,) which disclosed to the aching eye of his conscience
the beloved and indulged irregularities of his heart. He hated everything
that laid an embargo upon his lusts; and was ready to count those for
his enemies that plainly admonished him, and secretly to dislike those
whose conduct even silently reproved him. But now all these things are
amiable to him; and those are esteemed his most valuable friends, whose
example may be most edifying, whose instructions may be most useful,
and whose admonitions may be most faithful. For he now hates every false
way; (Psal. cxix. 104;) yea, and every vain thought too. Verse 113.
He looks upon every
irregular desire as an enemy, which he longs utterly
to subdue; and especially strives against that sin which does most easily
beset him, and abhors it more than he ever delighted in it. And though
he rather pities than hates the persons of the most wretched and mischievous
transgressors, yet he can no longer continue an endearing friendship
with those, who were once his seducers to sin, and his companions in
it. In this sense, like David, he hates the congregation of evil-doers,
and will not sit with the wicked; (Psal. xxvi. 5;) and if they will
not be wrought upon by his compassionate endeavors to reclaim them,
he will soon break off the infectious intercourse, and say, Depart from
me ye evil-doers, for I determine that I will keep the commandments of
my God. Psal. cxix. 115.
3. The regenerate man has also new desires.
There was a time, when sinful passions, as the Apostle expresses it,
did work in his members to bring forth fruit unto death. Rom. vii. 5.
He was fulfilling the desires of the flesh, and of the mind, (Eph. ii.
3,) and making provisions to fulfil the lusts of both. Rom. xiii. 14.
But now he earnestly desires a conformity to God, as his highest happiness;
and can look up to him, and say, "O Lord, the desire of my soul is
to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee; (Isa. xxvi. 8;) to
maintain such a sense of thy presence at
all times, as may influence my heart to think, my lips to speak, and
my hands to act, in a manner suitable to that remembrance, and agreeable
to thy wise and holy will." He now hungers and thirsts after righteousness;
(Matt. v. 6;) feels as real an appetite after more advanced degrees
of piety and holiness, as he ever felt toward the gratification of his
senses; and esteems the proper methods of attaining these advanced degrees,
even more than his necessary food. Job xxiii. 12. Instead of desiring
to run through a long course of animal enjoyments, he desires to get
above them; longs to be a pure and triumphant spirit in the refined
regions of immortality; and is willing rather to be absent from the
body, and to be present with the Lord. 2 Cor. v. 8.
But I waive the
farther illustration of this, till I come to consider the new hopes
which inspire him. I therefore add, as a necessary consequence of these
new desires,
4. That the regenerate man has new fears.
Pain and sorrow,
disappointment and affliction, he naturally feared; and the forebodings
of his own mind would sometimes awaken the fears of future punishment,
according to the righteous judgment of an offended God: but now he fears
not merely punishment, but guilt; fears the remonstrance
of an injured conscience; for he reverences
conscience as God's vicegerent in his bosom. He therefore fears the
most secret sins, as well as those which might occasion public disgrace;
yea, he fears, lest by a precipitate and inconsiderate conduct he could
contract guilt before he is aware. He fears, lest he should inadvertently
injure and grieve others, even the weakest and the meanest. Hte fears
using his liberty, in a manner that might ensnare his brethren, or might
occasion any scandal to a Christian profession: for such is the sensibility
of his heart in this respect, that he would be more deeply concerned
for the dishonor brought to God, and the reproach which might be thrown
on religion by any unsuitable conduct of his, than merely for that part
of the shame that might immediately and directly fall upon himself.
But again,
5. The regenerate man has new joys.
These arise chiefly from
an intercourse with God through Jesus Christ; and from a review of himself,
as under the sanctifying influences of his grace, and as brought into
a state of favor with him, in proportion to the degree in which he can
discern himself in this character and state.
You know David, speaking
of God, calls him his exceeding joy; (Psal. xliii. 4;) and declares
the gladness he had put into his heart, by lifting
up the light of his countenance upon
him, to be far beyond what they could have, whose corn and wine increased.
Psal. iv. 6, 7. And the Apostle Paul speaks of Christians, as
joying
in God through Jesus Christ, (Rom. v. 11,) and as rejoicing in Christ
Jesus: (Phil. iii. 3:) and Peter also describes them as those, who,
believing in him, though unseen, rejoice with joy unspeakable, and
full of glory. 1 Pet. i. 8.
Perhaps there was a time, when the good
man censured all pretences of this kind, now at least in these latter
days of Christianity, as an empty, enthusiastic pretence; but since
he has tasted that the Lord is gracious, (1 Pet. ii. 3,) he has that
experimental knowledge of their reality and excellence, which he can
confidently oppose to all the most artful and sophistical cavils; and
could as soon doubt, whether the sun enlightens his eyes, and warms
his body, as he could question, whether God has ways of manifesting
himself to souls, when it is felt with unutterable delight: and when
thus entertained, he can adopt David's words, and say, that his soul
is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, so that with joyful lips he
praises God, (Psal. lxiii. 5,) when his meditation of him is thus
sweet,
(Psal. civ. 34,) and God says unto his soul, I am thy salvation. Psal.
xxxv. 3.
The survey of the Lord Jesus Christ gives him also
unutterable joy; while he reflects on that ample provision, which God
has made by him, for the supply of all his necessities; and that firm
security which is given to his soul by a believing union with Christ;
whereby his life is connected with that of his Saviour. In his constant
presence, in his faithful care, he can boast all the day long; (Psal.
xliv. 8;) and that friendship, which establishes a community of interest
between him and his Lord, engages him to rejoice in that salvation and
happiness, to which he is advanced at the right hand of God, and gives
him, by joyful sympathy, his part with Christ in glory, before he personally
arrives at the full possession of it. John xiv. 28; Ephes. ii. 6.
I
add, that he also rejoices in the consciousness of God's gracious work
upon his own soul, so far as he can discern the traces of it there.
He delights to feel himself, as it were, cured of the mortal disease
with which he once saw himself infected; to find himself in health and
vigor of mind, renewed to a conformity with the Divine Image. He delights
to look inward, and see that transformation of soul, which has made
the wilderness like the garden of the Lord, (Isa. Ii. 3,) so that
instead
of the thorn there shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier,
the myrtle. Isa. lv. 13.
Thus the good man is satisfied from himself:
(Prov. xiv. 14:) and though he humbly refers the ultimate glory of all
to that God, by whose grace he is what he is, (1 Cor. xv. 10,) he enters
with pleasure into his own mind, and reckons it a part of gratitude
to his great Benefactor, to enjoy with as high a relish as he can, the
present workings of divine grace within him, as well as the pleasing
prospect of what it will farther do.
But this head has so near a resemblance
to some that are to follow, that were I to enlarge upon it, as I easily
might, I should leave room for nothing different to be said upon them.
I will only add,
6. That as the counterpart of this, new sorrows will
arise in the mind of a regenerate man.
These are particularly such as
spring--from the withdrawings of God's presence--from the remains of sin
in the soul--and from the prevalence of it in the world about him.
The
regenerate man will mourn, when the reviving manifestations of God's
presence are withdrawn from his soul. It seems very absurd to interpret
the numberless passages in the sacred writers, in which they complain
of the hidings of God's face from them, as if they merely referred to
the want of temporal enjoyments, or to the pressure of temporal calamities.
If the light of
God's countenance, which they so expressly oppose
to temporal blessings, signify a spiritual enjoyment, the want of it
must relate to spiritual desertion. And I believe there are few Christians
in the world, who are entirely unacquainted with this. They have most
of them their seasons, when they walk in darkness, and see little or
no light: (Isa. l. 10:) and this not only when anxious fears arise with
relation to their own spiritual state; but at some other times, when,
though they can in the main call God their father, yet he seems, as
it were, to stand afar off, and to continue them at a distance, which
wears the face of unkindness, especially under temptations and other
afflictions, in which they lose their lively sense of God's presence,
and that endearing freedom of converse with him, which, through the
influence of the Spirit of adoption on their souls, they have sometimes
known. If this be mysterious and unintelligible to some of you, I am
heartily sorry for it; but I do not remember that I was ever intimately
acquainted with any one, who seemed to me a real Christian, that has
not, upon mentioning the case, acknowledged, that he has felt something
of it. At least I will boldly venture to say this, that if you are truly
regenerate, and do not know what I mean by it, it is because you have
hitherto been kept in a continual flow of holy joy, or at
least in a calm and cheerful persuasion of
your interest in the Divine favor: and even such may see the day, when
strong as their mountain seems to stand, God may hide his face to their
trouble: (Psal. xxx. 7:) or, however, they will infer from what they
now feel, that it must be a mournful case whenever it occurs; and that
sorrow, in such circumstance, will soon strike on a truly sanctified
heart, and wound it very deep.
The sorrow of a good man also arises
"from the remains of sin in his soul." Though he is upright before God,
and proves it by keeping himself from his iniquity; (Psal. xviii. 23;)
yet he cries out, Who can understand his errors? Psal. xix. 12.
Who can say I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? Prov. xx.
9. A sense of the sinfulness of his nature humbles him in the dust;
and the first risings of irregular inclinations and passions give him
a tender pain, with which a carnal heart is unacquainted, even when
sin is domineering within him.
And once more, "The prevalence of sin
in the world around him," is a grief to one that is born of God. It
pierces him to the heart to see men dishonoring God, and ruining themselves:
he beholds transgressors, as David well expresses it, with a mixture
of indignation and sorrow; (Psal. cxxxix. 21;)
and when he seriously considers
how common, and yet how sad a case it is, he can
perhaps borrow the words of the same prophet, so far as to say, that
rivers of waters run down his eyes, because men keep not the law of
God. Psal. cxix. 136. Now, as these are sorrows that seldom do at all
affect the heart of an unregenerate man, I thought it the more proper
to mention them, to assist you in your inquiries into your own state.
Such are the affections of love and aversion, of desire and fear, of
joy and sorrow, which fill the breast of the regenerate man, and naturally
arise from those new apprehensions which are described under the former
head. I add,
III. That he has also new RESOLUTIONS.
You will easily
apprehend I speak of those that are formed for the service of God, and
against sin. I readily acknowledge, that there are often, in unregenerate
men, some resolutions of this kind, and perhaps those very warm, and
for the present very sincere; yet there is considerable difference between
them and those we are now to represent; as the resolutions of the truly
good man are more universal, more immediate, and more humble.
1. The
resolutions which he now forms, are more universal than they ever were
before.
He does not now resolve against this or that
sin, but against all; against sin, as sin;
as opposite to the holiness of God, and destructive of the honor and
happiness of the rational creation. He does not say with Naaman, concerning
this or that more convenient iniquity, the Lord pardon thy servant in
this thing; (2 Kings v. 18;) nor does he resolve to excuse himself in
an indulgence, even of that sin which does most easily beset him; (Heb.
xii. 1;) but rather, in his general determination against sin, and in
those solemn engagements, with which such determinations may be attended,
he fixes especially upon those sins which he might before have been
most ready to accept.
2. The resolutions of the regenerate man are more
immediate.
It very frequently happens, that while others are under awakening
impressions, as they see a necessity for parting with their sins, and
engaging in what they may call a religious life, they resolve upon it:
but then they think it may be delayed a little longer; perhaps a few
years, or at least a few weeks or days; or they, perhaps, refer it to
some remarkable period which is approaching, which they flatter themselves
they shall make yet more remarkable, as the era of their reformation:
but, in the mean time, they will take their farewell of their lusts
by a few more indulgences:
and thus they delude themselves, and rivet their
chains faster than before. But the good man, with David, makes haste,
and delays not to keep the commandments of God. Psal. cxix. 60. He is
like the prodigal, who, as soon as ever he said, I will arise and go
to my father, immediately arose and came to him. Luke xv. 18, 20. He
reckons the time he has already spent in the service of sin may suffice,
(1 Pet. v. 3,) and that indeed it is far more than enough: he wishes
he could call back that which is past; but he determines, that he will
not take one step further. in this unhappy path. He fully purposes,
that he will never once more deliberately and presumptuously offend
God, in any matter, great or small; if anything can be called small,
which is a deliberate and apprehended offence; and he determines, that
from this moment he will yield himself to God, as alive from the dead,
and employ his members as instruments of righteousness. Rom. vi. 13.
But then,
3. His resolutions are more modest and humble than they have
ever been before.
And this indeed is the great circumstance that renders
them more effectual. When an awakened sinner feels himself most enslaved
to his vices, he pleases himself with this thought, that there is a
secret kind of spring in his mind, which, when he pleases to exert,
he can break through all at once,
and commence, whenever the necessity comes
upon him, a very religious man in a moment. And when conscience presses
him with the memory of past guilt, and the representation of future danger, he cuts off these remonstrances with a hasty resolve, "I will
do so no more;" but then, perhaps, the effects of this may not last
a day; though possibly it may, at other times, continue a few weeks
or months, where the grosser acts of sin are concerned: and indeed his
resolutions seldom reach farther than these; for the necessity of a
sanctified heart is a mystery which he has never yet learned. But a
truly regenerate man has learned wisdom from this experience of his
own, and the observation of other men's frailty. He feels his own weakness,
and is so thoroughly aware of the treachery of his own heart, that he
is almost afraid to express in words the purpose which his very soul
is forming: he is almost afraid to turn that purpose into a vow before
God, lest the breach of that vow should increase his guilt: but this
he can say, with repenting Ephraim, Lord turn thou me, and I shall be
turned; (Jer. xxxi. 18;) and with David, Hold up my goings in thy paths,
that my footsteps may not slip. Psal. xvii. 5. "I am exceeding frail;
but, Lord, be thou surety for thy servant for good, (Psal. cxix. 122,)
and then I shall be safe! Do thou rescue me
from temptations, and I shall be delivered! Do
thou fill my heart with holy sentiments, and I will breathe them out
before thee! Do thou excite and maintain a zeal for thy service, and
then I will exert myself in it!" And when once a man is come to such
a distrust of himself; when, like a little child, he stretches out his
hand to be led by his heavenly Father, and trusts in his guardian care
alone for his security and comfort; then out of weakness he is made
strong, (Heb. xi. 34,) and goes on safe though trembling; and sees those
that made the loudest boasts, and placed the greatest confidence in
themselves, falling on the right hand and on the left, and their bravery
melting away like snow before the sun.
IV. The regenerate man has new LABORS and
EMPLOYMENTS.
Not that his former employment in secular life
is laid aside: it would ordinarily be a very dangerous snare for a man
to imagine that God requires this. On the contrary, the Apostle gives
it in charge to Christian converts, that in what calling soever a man
is found when he is called into the profession of the Gospel, he should
therein abide with God. 1 Cor. vii. 20, 24. But when he becomes a real
Christian he prosecutes this calling, whatever it be, with a new spirit
and temper, from new principles, and to new purposes.
While his hands are laboring in the world,
his heart is often rising to God; he consecrates his work to the Divine
honor, and to the credit of religion; and desires, that his merchandise
and his gain may, in this sense, be holiness to the Lord, (Isa. xxiii.
18,) by employing it to support the family which Providence has committed
to his charge, (1 Tim. v. 8,) and to relieve the poor whom Christ recommends
to his pity; (Acts xx. 35;) and as he depends upon God to give him wisdom
and success ii. the conduct of his affairs, he ascribes the glory of
that success to him; not sacrificing to his own net, nor burning incense
to his own drag. Hab. i. 16.
And I will further add, that regeneration
introduces a set of new labors, added to the former, with which the
man was before utterly unacquainted. We may consider, as the principal
and chief of these, the great labor of purifying the heart, of conquering
sinful inclinations, and affections, and of approaching God by a more
intimate access and more endeared converse. Now they that imagine this
to be an easy matter, know little of the human heart, little of the
spirituality of God's nature, and his law.
Give me leave to say, that
the labors of the body, in cultivating the earth, are much more
easily performed than this spiritual husbandry.
To weed a soil so luxuriant in evil productions, and to raise a plentiful
harvest of holy affections and actions in a soil so barren of good;
to regulate appetites and passions so exorbitant as those of the human
heart naturally are, and to awaken in it suitable affections; to be
abundant in the fruits of righteousness, and to converse with God in
the exercise of devotion: these are no little things; nor will a little
resolution, watchfulness, and activity suffice, in order to the discharge
of such a business. It is comparatively easy to go through the forms
of prayer and praise, whatever they are: to read, or from present conception
to utter, a few words before God: but to unite the heart in God's service,
to. wrestle with him for a blessing, to pour out the heart before him,
to speak to him as searching the very heart; so that He should say,
"This is prayer:" this, my brethren, is a work indeed; and he that is
conscientious in the discharge of it will find, that it is not to be
dispatched in a few hasty moments, nor without serious reflection, and
a resolute watch maintained over the spirit.
New labors also arise to
the regenerate soul, in consequence of the concern it has to promote
religion in the world. Being possessed, as I formerly showed you the
heart of the good man is,
with an unfeigned love to his fellow-creatures,
and knowing of how great importance religion is to the happiness of
men, he pleads earnestly with God for the propagation and success of
the Gospel: and he endeavors, according to his ability and opportunity,
to promote it; to promote pure and undefiled religion in his family
and his neighborhood, even in all around him. And this requires observation
and application, that this attempt may be prudently conducted, and great
resolution, in order to its being rendered effectual: it requires great
diligence in watching over ourselves, lest our examples prove inconsistent
with our precepts; and no small degree of courage, considering how averse
the generality of mankind are to admonitions and reproofs; in consequence
of which, a person can hardly act the part of a faithful friend, without
exposing himself to the hazard of being accounted an enemy.
Such are
the new labors of the real Christian. Let any man try to perform them,
and he will not find them light; but to encourage the attempt, let me
further add,
V. That the regenerate soul has its new
ENTERTAINMENTS
too.
He has pleasures, which a stranger intermeddles not with, (Prov.
xiv. 10,) and which the world can neither give, nor take away: (John
xvi. 22:)
pleasures, which a thousand times overbalance
the most painful labors, and the most painful sufferings too; and which,
sweetly mingling themselves with the various circumstances of life,
through which the Christian passes, do, as it were, gild all the scene,
and make all the fatigues and self-denial of his life far more agreeable,
than any of those delights the worldling, or the sensualist, can find
in the midst of his unbounded and studied indulgences. But here I shall
be in great danger of repeating what I said under a former head, when
I was speaking of the new joys which the Christian feels, in consequence
of the great change that regeneration makes in his soul: and therefore,
omitting what I then observed, concerning the pleasure of communion
with God through Christ, and of perceiving a work of Divine grace upon
the soul, I shall now touch upon some other sources of exalted entertainment,
which did not so directly fall under that head.
1. The Christian finds
new pleasures in the word of God.
You know with what relish the saints
of old spake of it. Thy words were found, says the Prophet, and I did
eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.
Jer. xv. 16. Thy statutes, says the Psalmist, are more to be desired
than gold, yea, than much fine gold:
they are sweeter also than honey, and the
honeycomb. Psal. xix. 10. The apostle Peter beautifully represents this,
when he exhorts the saints to whom he wrote, as new-born babes to desire
the sincere milk of the word, that they might grow thereby. 1 Pet. ii.
2. And the infant that smiles on the breast, and with such eagerness
and delight draws its nourishment from it, seems an amiable image of
the humble Christian, who receives the kingdom of God, and the word
of that kingdom, as a little child; (Mark x. 15;) who
lays up Scripture
in his heart, (Job xxii. 22,) and draws forth the sweetness of it, with
a firm persuasion, that it is indeed the word of God, and was appointed
by him for the food of his soul.
2. He also finds new pleasures in the
ordinances of Divine worship.
He is glad when it is said unto him, Let
us go into the house of the Lord. Psal. cxxii. 1. He indeed esteems the
tabernacles of the Lord, as amiable, and regards a day in his courts
as better than a thousand elsewhere. Psal. lxxxiv. 1, 10. And this
pleasure arises, not merely from anything peculiar in the administrations
of this or that man who officiates in holy things; but from the nature
of the exercise in general, and from a regard to the Divine authority
of those institutions which are there observed. He feels a sacred delight
in
an intercourse with God in those solemnities; in
comparison of which, all the graces of composition and delivery appear
as little as the harmony of instruments, or the perfume of incense,
to one of the Old Testament saints, when compared with the light of
God's countenance, which was lifted up on the pious worshipers under
the Mosaic forms, when in his temple every one spake of his glory. Psal.
xxix. 9. One thing has he desired of the Lord, and that he seeks after,
that he may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life;
not to amuse his vain imagination, not to gratify his ear, not to indulge
his curiosity with useless inquiries, nor merely to exercise his understanding
with sublime speculations; but to behold the beauty of the Lord, and
to inquire in his temple. Psal. xxxvii. 4.
3. He likewise finds a new
entertainment in the conversation of Christian friends.
He now knows
what it is to have fellowship with those whose communion is with the
Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 1 John i. 3. His delight is now
in them that are truly the excellent of the earth. Psal. xvi. 3. He
delights to dismiss the usual topics of modern conversation, that some
religious subject may be taken up, not as matter of dispute, but as
matter of devout recollection; and loves to hear the plainest Christian
express
his experimental sense of divine things.
Those sentiments of piety and love, which come warm from a gracious
heart, are always pleasing to him; and those appear the dearest bands
of friendship, which may draw him nearer to his heavenly Father, and
unite his soul in ties of more ardent love to his Redeemer. A society
of such friends is indeed a kind of anticipation of heaven; and to choose,
and to delight in such, is no contemptible token, that the soul has
attained to some considerable degree of preparation for it. I only add,
VI. That in consequence of all this, the regenerate soul has
new HOPES
and PROSPECTS.
Men might be very much assisted in judging of their true
state, if they would seriously reflect what it is they hope and wish
for. What are those expectations and desires that most strongly impress
their minds? A vain mortal, untaught and unchanged by Divine grace,
is always dressing up to himself some empty phantom of earthly happiness,
which he looks after and pursues, and foolishly imagines, "Could I grasp
it, and keep it, I should be happy." But Divine grace teaches the
real Christian to give up these empty schemes. "God," he says, "never
intended this world for my happiness: he will make it tolerable to me; he will
give me so much
of it as he sees consistent with my highest interest;
he will enable me to derive instruction, and it may be consolation,
out of its disappointments and distresses: but he reserves my inheritance
for the eternal world. I am begotten again to a lively hope, by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, even to the hope of an inheritance
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away; (1 Pet. i.
3, 4:) and though it be, for the present reserved in heaven, it is so
safe, and so great, that it is well worth my waiting for, though ever
so long; for the things that are not seen, are eternal." 2 Cor. iv. 18.
And this indeed is the true character of a good man. Eternity fills
his thoughts; and growing sensible, in another manner than he ever was
before, of the importance of it, he pants after the enjoyment of eternal
happiness. Assign any limited duration to his enjoyment of God in the
regions of glory, and you would overwhelm him with disappointment: talk
of hundreds, of thousands, of millions of years, the disappointment
is almost equal: periods like these seem scarce distinguishable from
each other, when compared with an eternal hope. To eternity his desires
and expectations are raised; and he can be contented with nothing less
than eternity; perfect holiness, and perfect happiness for ever and
ever, without
any mixture of sin, or any alloy of sorrow;
this he firmly expects, this he ardently breathes after; a felicity
which an immortal soul shall never outlive, and which an eternal God
shall never cease to communicate. This heavenly country he seeks; he
considers himself as a citizen of it, and endeavors to maintain his
conversation there; (Phil. iii. 20;) to carry on, as it were, a daily
trade for heaven, and to lay up a treasure there; (Matt. vi. 20;) in
which he may be rich and great, when all the pomp of this earth is passed
away as a dream, and all its most precious metals and gems are melted
down and consumed among its vilest materials in the last universal burning.
This is the change, the glorious change, which regeneration makes in
a man's character and views; and who shall dare to speak, or to think
contemptibly of it? Were we indeed to represent it as a kind of charm,
depending on an external ceremony, which it was the peculiar prerogative
of a certain order of men to perform, and yet on which eternal life
was suspended; one might easily apprehend, that it would be brought
into much suspicion. Or should we place it in any mechanical transports
of animal nature, in any blind impulse, in any strong feelings, not
to be described, or accounted for, or argued upon, but known by some
inward inexplicable sensation to
be divine; we could not wonder, if calm and prudent
men were slow to admit the pretension to it, and were fearful it might
end in the most dangerous enthusiasm, made impious by excessive appearances
of piety. But when it is delineated by such fair and bright characters
as those that have now been drawn; when these divine lineaments on the
soul, by which it bears the image of its Maker's rectitude and sanctity,
are considered as its necessary consequence, or rather as its very essence;
one would imagine, that every rational creature, instead of caviling
at it, should pay an immediate homage to it, and earnestly desire, and
labor, and pray, to experience the change: especially as it is a change
so desirable for itself--as we acknowledge health to be, though a man
were not to be rewarded for doing well, nor punished, any farther than
with the malady he contracts, for any negligence in this respect.
Where
is there anything can be more ornamental to our natures, than to have
all the powers of the mind thus changed by grace, and our pursuits directed
to such objects as are worthy of the best attention and regard?--to have
our apprehensions of divine and spiritual things enlarged, and to have
right conceptions of the most important matters;—-to have the stream
of our affections turned from empty vanities, to objects that are
proper to excite and fix them;—to have
our resolutions set against all sin, and a full purpose formed within
us of an immediate reformation and return to God, with a dependence
on his grace to help us both to will and to do;—-to have our labors steadfastly
applied to conquer sin, and to promote religion in ourselves and others;
to have our entertainments founded in a religious life, and flowing
in upon us from the sweet intercourse we have with God in his word and
ordinances, and the delightful conversation that we sometimes have with
Christian friends;—and finally, to have our hopes drawn off from earthly
things, and fixed upon eternity?
Where is there anything can be more
honorable to us, than thus to be renewed after the image of him that
created us, (Col. iii. 10,) and to put on the new man, which after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness? Eph. iv. 24. And where
is anything that can be more desirable, than thus to have the darkness
of our understandings cured, and the disorders rectified, that sin had
brought upon our nature? Who is there that is so insensible of his depravity,
as that he would not long for such a happy change? Or who is there that
knows how excellent a work it is, to be transformed by the renewing
of the mind, (Rom. xii. 2,) that would not, with the greatest thankfulness,
adore the riches of Divine grace, if it
appear that he is thus become a new creature; that old things are passed
away, and behold, all things are become new?
But I shall quickly show
you, that regeneration is not only ornamental, honorable, and desirable,
but absolutely necessary, as ever we would hope to share the blessings
of God's heavenly kingdom, and to escape the horror of those that are
finally and irrevocably excluded from it. This argument will employ
several succeeding Discourses.
But I would dismiss you at present with an earnest request,
that you would, in the mean time, renew your inquiries, as to the truth of
regeneration in your own souls; which, after all that I have been saying, it
will be very inexcusable for you to neglect, as probably you will hear few
discourses, in the whole course of your lives, which centre more directly in
this point, or are more industriously calculated to give you the safest and
clearest assistance in it. May God abase the arrogance and presumption of every
self-deceiving sinner; and awaken the confidence and joy of the feeblest soul,
in whom this new creation is begun!
DISCOURSE IV.
THE NECESSITY OF REGENERATION, ARGUED FROM THE IMMUTABLE CONSTITUTION OF GOD.
John III. 3.
Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God.
WHILE the ministers of Christ are discoursing
of such a subject, as I have before me in the course of these Lectures,
and particularly in this branch of them which I am now entering upon,
we may surely, with the utmost reason, address our hearers in those
words of Moses to Israel, in the conclusion of his dying discourse:
Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day,
which ye shall command your children to observe and do, even all the
words of this law; for it is not a vain thing for you, because it is
your life. Deut. xxxii. 46, 47. That must undoubtedly
be your life, concerning which the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the incarnate
wisdom of God, the
faithful and true witness, (Rev. iii. 14,) has
said, and said it with a solemn repeated asseveration, that without
it a man cannot see the kingdom of God.
The occasion of his saying it
deserves our notice; though the niceties of the context must be waived
in such a series of sermons as this. He said it to a Jew of considerable
rank, and, as it appears, one of the grand Sanhedrim, or chief council
of the nation; who came not only for his own private satisfaction, but
in the name of several of his brethren, to discourse with Christ concerning
his doctrine, at the first passover' he attended at Jerusalem, after
he had entered on his public ministry. Our Lord would, to be sure, be peculiarly careful what answer he returned to such an inquiry: and this
is his answer, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God: as if he should have said,
"If the princes of Israel inquire after my character, let them know
that I came to be a preacher of regeneration; and that the blessings
of that kingdom, which I am come to reveal and erect, are to be peculiar
to renewed and sanctified souls; who may, by an easy and natural figure,
be said to be born again." And the figure appears very intelligible,
and very instructive to those that will seriously consider it; and might
well lead us into a variety of pertinent
and useful remarks.
You easily perceive, that to be born again must
intimate a very great change; coming, as it were, into a new world,
as an infant does; when after having lived awhile a kind of vegetative
life in the darkness and confinement of the womb, it is born into open
day; feels the vital air rushing in on its lungs, and light forcing
itself upon the awakened eyes; hears sounds before unknown; opens its
mouth to receive a yet untasted food, and every day becomes acquainted
with new objects, and exerts new powers, till it grows up to the maturity
of a perfect man. Such, and in some respects greater and nobler than
this, is the change which regeneration makes in a heart, before unacquainted
with religion: as you may have seen at large from the preceding discourses.
But I might further observe, that the phrase in the text may also express
the humbling nature of this change, as well as the greatness of it.
Erasmus gives this turn to the words; and it is so edifying, that I
should have mentioned it at least, though I had not thought it so just,
as it appears. To be born again, must signify to become as a little
child; (Matt. xviii. 3;) and our Lord expressly and frequently assures
us, that without this we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mark x. 15; Luke xviii. 17. He has pronounced the
very first of his blessings on poverty of spirit; (Matt. v. 3;) and
where this is wanting, the soul will never be entitled to the rest.
A mild and humble, a docile and tractable temper, a freedom from avarice
and ambition, and an indifference to those great toys of which men are
generally so fond, are all essential parts of the Christian character;
and they have all, in one view or another, been touched upon in the
preceding discourses. Let it be forgiven, however, if considering the
importance of the case, you are told again, that in malice ye must be
children; (1 Cor. xiv. 20;) and that
if any man think himself wise,
he must become a child, and even a fool, that he may be wise indeed.
1 Cor. iii. 18.
I might observe once more, that these words intimate
the divine power, by which this great and humbling change is effected.
Our first formation and birth is the work of God, and no less really
so in the succeeding generations of men, than the first production of
Adam was, when God formed him of the dust of the earth, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life. Gen. ii. 7. We may each of us
say, with respect to the natural birth, and in an accommodated sense
with respect to the spiritual too, thine eyes did see my substance,
being as yet imperfect, and in thy book all
my members, which in continuance of time
were fashioned, were written, when as yet there was none of them. Psal. cxxxix. 16. All the first gracious impressions that were made upon the
mind, and all the gradual advances of them, till Christ was formed in
the heart, and the new creature animated, must, as I shall hereafter
show at large, be ultimately and principally referred into a divine
operation; and in this sense, it is God that brings every good purpose
in the mind to the birth, and God that gives strength to bring forth. Isa. lxvi. 9.
But I omit the farther prosecution of these remarks at
present, because they coincide with what I have said in former discourses,
or what will occur in those which are yet to come: and shall only further
consider the words, as they are a confirmation of, and therefore a proper
introduction to, what I am to lay before you under the third general
head of these discourses; in which--as I have already shown who may be
said to be in an unregenerate state, and how great that change is which
regeneration makes in the soul--I shall now proceed,
Thirdly, to show
the high importance, yea, the absolute NECESSITY of this change.
Our
Lord expresses it in a very lively and awakening manner, in these few
determinate words,
which are here before us.: Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
God. You see how emphatical the words are: he who is himself invariable
truth, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, (Heb. xiii. 8,) repeats
it again and again, with as much solemnity as he ever uses upon any
occasion; repeats it to us, as he did to Nicodemus, "Verily, verily,
I say unto you, that is, I seriously deliver it as a truth of infinite
moment; except a man, i. e. any man, whatever his profession, whatever
his knowledge, or whatever his privileges, may be; though he be a Jew,
though he be a Pharisee, though he be, as thou Nicodemus art, a ruler
or a senator; except he be born again, and have that great change, so
often described in the word of God, wrought by the operation of the
Spirit in his mind, he cannot see the kingdom of God: he cannot by any
means approach it so as to enter into it, or have any share in the important
blessings which it contains."
That we may more fully understand, and
enter into this weighty argument, I shall from these words,
I. Briefly
consider, what it is to see the kingdom of God.
II. Show how absolutely
impossible it is, that any unregenerate man should see it. And,
III. How wretched a thing it is to be
deprived of the sight and enjoyment of it.
And I am well persuaded,
that if you diligently attend to these things, you will be inwardly
and powerfully convinced, that no argument could be more proper to demonstrate
the importance and necessity of regeneration, than this, which our Lord
has suggested in these awful, emphatical, and comprehensive words.
I.
I am to show you what it is to see the kingdom of God.
And for the explication
of it, it will be necessary to consider--what we are to understand by
this kingdom; and what is meant by seeing it.
I will show you now what
we are to understand by the kingdom of God. And you will pardon me if
I state the matter pretty largely; because the phrase is used in scripture
in different senses; and the true interpretation of many passages in
it depends on a proper distinction between them. You may observe then,
for the explication of this phrase, that the kingdom of God in general signifies, 'the
society of those, who profess themselves the servants and subjects of Christ;'
and in consequence of this, that there are some passages, in which it peculiarly
relates to the imperfect dispensation of this kingdom, and the beginning of it
in the world; and others, in which it
relates to the more perfect form, which this society
is to bear in the world of glory.
1. The kingdom of God, or the kingdom
of heaven—for they are synonymous phrases--does in the general signify
the society of those, who profess themselves the servants and subjects
of Christ.
You well know this was a phrase used among the Jews: and
therefore the original of it is to be traced from the Old Testament;
and I apprehend it to be this: Almost every Christian is aware, that
in the early days of the Jewish commonwealth, as Samuel with great propriety
expresses it, God was their king. 1 Sam. xii. 12. Jehovah was not only
the great object of their religious regard, as the creator and supporter
of the whole world; but he was also their supreme civil magistrate,
settling the forms of their political government, and reserving to himself
some of the chief acts of royal authority. They did indeed afterwards
desire another king, like the other nations around about them. 1 Sam.
viii. 5. But still those kings, being appointed by God, were indeed
to be looked upon as no other than his vicegerents, though another kind
of governors than he had originally instituted.
By degrees their peculiar
regard to the civil authority of God among them, as well as to his religious
authority, which was nearly connected
with it, in a great measure wore out;
and their government went through a great many different forms, which
it would be unnecessary here particularly to describe. Nevertheless,
God was pleased to declare by king David, and by many others of his
holy prophets, that he would in due time interpose to erect another,
and a far more extensive kingdom in the world; not indeed upon the same
political principles with that which he exercised over the Jews; which
principles would by no means have suited this extensive design: but
it should be a kingdom in which the authority of the God of heaven should
be acknowledged, and his laws of universal righteousness observed with
greater care, and to nobler purposes, as well as by a vastly greater
number of subjects than ever before. This kingdom he determined to commit
to the government of the Messiah, who, with regard to this was called
the Lord's anointed, his king whom he set upon his holy hill of Zion;
(Psal. ii. 2, 6;) and to whom indeed he would give all power, not only
on earth, but in heaven too; (Matt. xxviii. 18;) so that having trained
up his subjects here, in the discipline of holiness and obedience, he
should at length translate them to another and a better country, that
is, a heavenly, where they should see his glory, and should reign with
him in eternal life.
This plainly appears from the whole tenor of the
Old and New Testament, to have been the grand plan of God, with respect
to the Messiah's kingdom: and you will easily see, that coming from
God as its great author, and referring to him as its end, it may, with
great propriety, be called the kingdom of God; and ultimately terminating
in the heavenly state, it may also properly be called the kingdom of
heaven. These were phrases, which prevailed in the Jewish nation, before
Christ, or his immediate forerunner appeared; and indeed they were used
by Daniel in a very remarkable manner, which probably made them so familiar
to the Jews, who had some peculiar reason for studying his writings,
even more than those of some other prophets. After that prophet had
foretold the rise and fall of several great empires of the world, he
adds, and in the days of these last kings, i. e. of the Romans, shall
the God of Heaven set up a kingdom which shall not be destroyed,—-but
shall stand forever. Dan. ii. 44. And the person whom
the Ancient of
Days, i. e. the eternal and ever blessed God, should fix on the throne
of this kingdom, from his appearing in the human nature, is called the
Son of Man; (Dan. vii. 13, 14;) "I saw in the night visions, and behold,
one like the Son of Man, came with the clouds of heaven, and came to
the Ancient of
Days, and they brought him near before
him; and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that
all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is
an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom
that which shall not be destroyed."
In allusion to this, when our Lord
Jesus Christ appeared, he called himself the Son of Man; and he particularly
used this phrase, and it was exceedingly proper that he should, in this
conference with Nicodemus, again and again. John iii. 13, 14. And all
those who, being convinced of the divine commission he bore, submitted themselves
to him, might in this respect be said, to enter into the kingdom of
God, or of heaven: that is, into the society which had so long been
foretold and expected under that title. This kingdom, as the above mentioned
prophecy declared, was to be raised from very low beginnings, and under
the personal ministry of Christ and his Apostles, till at last it should
extend through very distant regions of the world, and kings and princes
should submit themselves to it, and reckon it their glory to enroll
themselves among his subjects.
Agreeably to this meaning of the phrase,
and to this view with respect to the establishment of his kingdom, our
Lord opened his ministry with
preaching, as John the Baptist had done, the kingdom
of heaven. Matt. iii. 2; iv. 1. And you will see, that in most places
of the Gospel, where the phrase occurs, it is to be taken in this sense.
Thus our Lord says, Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven; (Matt. v. 3;) i. e. they are fit to be members of
this society, and to receive the blessings of it. Seek first the kingdom
of God, and his righteousness; (Matt. vi. 33;) i. e. labor to serve
the interests of this society that I am erecting, and to obtain and
promote that righteousness which it recommends, and is intended to establish
in the world. And again, Suffer little children to come unto me, and
forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God: (Luke xviii. 16;)
persons with such a disposition are most fit to become my subjects,
and to enter into this holy and spiritual society. And when our Lord
says to, the Pharisees, Publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of
God before you; (Mark xxi. 31;) he means, no doubt, they are more ready
than you to join themselves to the society of those who profess themselves
my subjects. And once more, when he speaks of some who chose the severities
of a single life, that with less entanglements they might serve the
interests of his church, he expresses
it, by their making themselves eunuchs,
for the kingdom of heaven's sake. Matt. xiv. 12.
I shall only add, that
the phrase, by a near connection with this sense, sometimes signifies
the character of this society, or the privileges which it affords to
its members; as when our Lord says, Whosoever shall not receive the
kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein. Luke
xviii. 17.
This then is the general sense of this phrase; it signifies
the society of those who should submit themselves to the government
of Christ, as appointed by God to rule over them; who are thereby to
be considered as God's people and subjects. In consequence of this you
will easily apprehend,
2. That it comprehends the more imperfect dispensation,
under which the members of this society are, during their abode in the
present world.
All that passes here is indeed but the opening of Christ's
kingdom: nevertheless, the phrase does sometimes more particularly refer
to this opening; and there are several passages, in which it would be
apparently absurd to suppose it comprehended the glories of the invisible
state, to which Christ intended finally to conduct his faithful servants.
Thus our Lord tells the Pharisees, The kingdom of God is come unto you,
(Matt. xii.
28,) i. e. that gracious dispensation under the
Messiah, by which God is gathering subjects to his Son. And elsewhere
he says to them, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation, i.
e. not with such outward show and grandeur as you expect; but behold
it is within, or, (as it might be rendered,) among you; (Luke xvii.
20, 21;) God has begun to open and establish it, though you know it
not; and has actually brought many poor sinners into it, whom you proudly
deride as ignorant and accursed. Thus also, when our Lord says to Peter,
I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, (Matt. xvi.
19,) it would be most absurd to suppose, he meant to grant to him the
power of admitting into, or excluding from, the world of glory: but
the plain meaning is, that he should bear office in the church on earth,
and be the means of admitting Jews and Gentiles into it. Here, as in
many other instances, the kingdom of God, or of heaven, means much the
same with the professing church of Christ, in this imperfect state;
as it undoubtedly does, when Christ threatens his hearers, that the
kingdom of God should be taken away from them; (Matt. xxi. 43;) and
when he represents it as consisting of good and bad, (Matt. xiii. 48,)
of tares and wheat; (Verse 25,) but declares, that at the last day he
will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend,
and them that do iniquity; (Matt.
xiii. 41;) whereas nothing of that kind shall ever enter into the kingdom
of glory. But yet,
3. It ultimately relates to the more perfect form
and state of this society in the kingdom of glory.
You very well know,
that the design of God in his Gospel was not to establish a temporal
kingdom, as the Jews expected: nor merely to form a body of men, who
should live upon earth with some peculiar forms of worship, under very
excellent rules, and with distinguished privileges of a spiritual nature;
but that all these ultimately referred to the invisible world. Thither
the Son of Man was removed, when he had finished the scenes of his labor
and sufferings upon earth; and thither all the true and faithful members
of the kingdom were sooner or later to be brought, and there were to
have their final settlement and everlasting abode, in a far more splendid
and happy state, than the greatest monarch on earth has ever known:
they shall there, as the Apostle most properly expresses it, reign in
life by Jesus Christ. Rom. v. 17.
Now as the kingdom of God upon earth
is to be considered with a leading view to this, so we sometimes find,
that this glorious state of its members, or which will come much to
the same thing, the society of the faithful in this glorious state,
is,
by way of eminence, called the kingdom of God:
and with regard to this, they whose characters are such that they shall
be excluded from thence, are represented as having no part in the kingdom
of heaven, though they have been by profession members of the church
of Christ on earth. Of this you have a remarkable instance, where our
Lord says, 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: (Matt. vii. 21:) now it was calling Christ, Lord, or professing
a regard to him as a divine teacher and governor, which was the very
circumstance that distinguished the members of his kingdom on earth
from the rest of mankind: yet as they who do this insincerely shall
be excluded from final glory, it is said, they shall not enter into
the kingdom of heaven. So also the Apostle tells us, that flesh and blood,
i. e. such gross machines of animal nature as those in which we now
dwell, cannot inherit the kingdom of God; (2 Cor. xv. 50;) they cannot
dwell in so pure a region; and therefore it is necessary, that before
they enter upon it, those who are found alive at the illustrious day
of Christ's appearance, should undergo a miraculous change to fit them
for such an abode. In reference to this we are likewise told, that then,
i. e. at the great resurrection-day, the
righteous shall shine forth as the sun
in the kingdom of their Father. Matt. xiii. 43. And this is what our
Lord most certainly had in view, when he tells the impenitent Jews,
that there should be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when they should
see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom
of God, and they themselves thrust out; (Luke xiii. 29;) which could
not be meant of the privileges of the Christian church upon earth, in
which the patriarchs had no share; nor did the Jews at all envy those
professing Christians, who most evidently had: it must undoubtedly therefore
be numbered among those passages, in which the kingdom of God chiefly
refers to the state of glory. And I apprehend, the text here before
us may be added to that catalogue which leads us to show,
2. What we
are to understand by seeing the kingdom of God.
Now, in general, you
will easily apprehend, that to see the kingdom is to enjoy the blessings
of it. There is no need of enumerating many passages of Scripture, where
to see properly signifies to enjoy. This is apparently the sense of
it, when Christ declares, Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall
see God: (Matt. v. 8:) for the Deity cannot be the object of sight;
but the promise is, that such souls--Oh, that we may be
in their number!—shall forever enjoy the most
delightful communications from him. And thus again we are to understand
it, where it is said, What man is he that desireth life, and loveth
many days, that he may see, i. e. that he may enjoy, good? Psal. xxxiv.
12. For otherwise, to see it without enjoying it, would be a great aggravation
of misery and distress. And in this sense it is most evident, that seeing
the kingdom of God must here be put, for enjoying the most important
blessings appropriated to this state; because, as I have just been observing,
condemned sinners are represented in another sense, as seeing that kingdom
and the glorified saints in it; but viewing it only at an unapproachable
distance, as a spectacle that fills them with horror and despair.
This
therefore is, upon the whole, the meaning of this passage: That no unregenerate
soul shall finally have any part in the glory and happiness which Christ
has prepared for his faithful subjects; nor can any that appear to be
such, according to the tenor and constitution of the gospel, be admitted
into the number even of professing Christians. It is true, indeed, a
man may appear under such a disguise, that those who are in this sense
the stewards of the mysteries of God, (1 Cor. iv. 1,) may, in the judgment
of charity, be obliged to think well of him, and to
admit him; but Christ, who intimately
knows him, does even now discern him. The present external privileges
he enjoys, are such as he has no just right to; and in a little time,
Christ will root him out of this kingdom with a vengeance, and he shall
be openly declared a rebel, and one whom the Lord of it never knew,
or never approved. Matt. vii. 23. So that upon the whole, it is so little
a part that he had in the kingdom, and that for so short a time, that
it may, in the free language of Scripture, be said, that he has never
seen the kingdom of God at all; that he has neither part nor lot in
this matter, (Acts viii. 21,) has no part with God's chosen,
nor any
lot with his inheritance.
Having thus largely explained the meaning
of this phrase, I now proceed,
II. To show you how CERTAIN this declaration
of our Lord in the text is, or how absolutely impossible it is, that
any unregenerate man should thus see the kingdom of God.
Now this I
shall argue, partly from the immutable constitution of God, whose kingdom
it is: and partly from the nature of its blessings, which are such,
that no unregenerate man, while he continues in that state, can have
any fitness or capacity to enjoy them.
The first of these considerations is copious and
important enough, to furnish out abundant matter
for the remainder of this discourse: and it will be difficult to dispatch
it within these limits.
1. The impossibility there is, that any unregenerate
man should enter into the kingdom of God, appears from the
IMMUTABLE
CONSTITUTION of that God, whose kingdom it is.
This might be sufficiently
argued, from the express and emphatical words of our Lord Jesus Christ
in the text. For he bore his Father's commission to preach the Gospel
of the kingdom, to publish the good news of its erection and success,
and likewise to declare its nature, and the method of admittance into
it. And he is himself the great Sovereign of that kingdom; and consequently
cannot but perfectly, and beyond all comparison with any other, know
the whole of its constitution. But God has repeated the declaration
by him, and by his other messengers to the children of men, in different
ages, and under different dispensations, in such a manner as suited
its infinite importance. And, therefore, for the further illustration
of the argument, I shall enumerate a great variety of scriptures that
speak the same language; not so much aiming therein at the speculative
proof of the point, as attempting to impress the conscience of my hearers
with a sense of its certainty; and humbly hoping that
some of those sharp-pointed arrows, which
I am now drawing out of the quiver of God, may, by the direction of
his Spirit, enter the reins of some against whom they are leveled, (Lam.
iii. 8,) and convince them of the absolute necessity of an entire change
in their hearts, as well as their lives, or of the vanity of all those
hopes which they entertain, while that change is wanting. And let me
bespeak your attention, not to the conjectures or reasoning of a frail
mortal man, but to the solemn admonitions and declarations of the eternal
God; and be assured that in one sense or another, his word shall take
hold on you, as it has done on sinners of former generations, either
for conviction, or condemnation.
That I may not be confounded in the
multiplicity of my proofs, I shall range them under these three distinct
heads. The prophets of the Old Testament were commissioned to make this
declaration:—it was renewed by the preaching of Christ;—and was supported
by the testimony of the Apostles under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
The prophets of the Old Testament were commissioned in effect to make
this declaration, that no unregenerate sinner should enter the kingdom
of God.
Well might our Lord say to Nicodemus, Art thou
a teacher in Israel, and knowest not these things?
For to this in effect all the prophets bear witness, and it might be
learned from almost every page of their writings. It is true the particular
phrase of being born again, or regenerated, does not occur there; nor
is it expressly said, that an unregenerate man shall not be admitted
into God's kingdom. But then the prophets everywhere assert, what is
in effect the same, that no wicked man, who does not heartily repent
of his sins, and turn from them to God, must expect the Divine favor.
Now if you consider what we mean by an unregenerate man, according to
the description I have given before, you will find it is just the same
as an impenitent sinner; and if it be declared that such are not to
expect the Divine favor, nay, that they must certainly prove the object
of his displeasure, this must certainly. imply an exclusion from his
kingdom, and must intend a great deal more than being deprived of everlasting
happiness. And thus you see that all those scriptures, which speak of
the irreconcilable hatred of God against sin, and against all impenitent
sinners, come in to do service here, and are equivalent to the declaration
in the text. And I may hereafter show you, that there are many scriptures
in the Old Testament which lead men to consider that change, said to
be so necessary, as
what must be effected by a Divine operation
on their souls. But as that will more properly come in under a following
head, I shall at present content myself with selecting a few scriptures
as a specimen of many hundred more, in proof of the main point before
us: and I beseech you that you would endeavor to enter, not only into
the sense, but into the spirit of them.
You well know that unregenerate
sinners are wicked men; and of such it is said, God is angry with the
wicked every day; (Psal. vii. 2;) or all the day long, as the original
imports. The sinner lies down and rises up, goes out and comes in, under
the Divine displeasure: and though with great patience God bears with
him for awhile, he is described as preparing his dreadful artillery
against him, to smite him even with a mortal wound: so far will he be
from admitting him into his kingdom, that, as it is there added, if
he turn not he will whet his sword; he has bent his bow and made it
ready; he has also prepared for him the instruments of death. Psal.
vii. 12, 13. And in another place, he describes the dreadful consequence
of that preparation in most lively terms: "If I whet my glittering sword,
and my hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and
will reward them that hate me: I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and
my sword shall devour flesh, from the beginning
of revenges on the enemy;" i. e. as soon as I begin this awful work.
Deut. xxxii. 41, 42. And elsewhere he compares the destruction which
he will bring upon sinners at last, to that which he executed on Sodom
and Gomorrah, when he scattered fire and brimstone on their habitations,
and reduced their pleasant country to a burning lake; Upon the wicked
he will rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this
will be the portion of their cup: (Psal. xi. 6:) and oh, how unlike
the state and abode of those who are the happy subjects of his kingdom!
None of the prophets speak in milder and more gentle language to returning
penitents than Isaiah; yet he declares, there is no peace, saith my
God, to the wicked. Isa. lvii. 21. Yea, he does, as it were, call in
the concurrence of all who feared God, and who loved their country,
to echo back and enforce the admonition: say ye to the righteous, that
it shall be well with him: but on the other hand, wo to the wicked!
it shall be ill with him; for the reward of his hands shall be given
him. Isa. iii. 10, 11.
The enumeration would be endless; and it would
require more than the time of a whole discourse, only to read over,
without any comment or remark one half of the passages which might
properly be introduced on this occasion.
I will therefore only mention two more, which, though some of you may
hear with indifference, I confess I cannot read without a very sensible
inward commotion.
The one is that passage in the Mosaic law, where God
directs his servant to say, "If there be among you a root that beareth
gall and wormwood, (i. e. any unregenerate soul,) who when he hears
the words of this curse, shall bless himself in his heart, saying, I
shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to
add drunkenness to thirst, (i. e. run into one debauchery and sin after
another:) the Lord will not spare him, but the anger of the Lord, and
his jealousy shall smoke against that man;—-and the Lord shall separate
him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the
curses of the covenant, that are written in the book of the law." Deut.
xxix. 18-21. There is a terrible emphasis of which we cannot but take
notice here: God declares, that if among all the thousands of Israel,
there was but one such presumptuous sinner, that thus flattered himself
in the way of his own heart, he would make a terrible example of him,
and separate that one man to evil, out of thousands and ten thousands
of his faithful and obedient servants.
This therefore is a passage full of apparent terror:
the other is indeed a language of mercy; but it contains a most awful
insinuation, which appears, as good Archbishop Tillotson expresses it,
"like a razor set in oil, which wounds with so much the keener edge."
As I live, saith the Lord God, 1 have no pleasure in the death of the
wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn
ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? (Ezek.
xxxiii. 11;) thereby plainly intimating, that notwithstanding all that
gentleness of the Divine nature, which he expresses in a most tender
invitation, which he confirms even with the solemnity of an oath; yet,
if sinners did not turn from their evil ways, there was no remedy, but
they must die for it.
And how, sirs, will any of you that continue in
an unregenerate state, arm yourselves against these terrors? Is it by saying, 'that these are the thunders of Mount Sinai; that these are denunciations
of the Old Testament; whereas the New speaks in milder language?' You
may easily know the contrary.
And to this purpose I am further to show
you, that this declaration was renewed by the preaching of Christ.
It
is true, indeed, that grace and truth came by Jesus Christ: (John i.
17:) yet all the grace and
gentleness of that administration he brought,
did not contradict those awful threatenings; nay, it obliged him to
set them in a stronger light. He presently repeats to Nicodemus what
he had just before asserted in the text, and declares, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God; (John iii. 5;) i. e. 'As he must
be baptized with water, in order to a regular entrance into the society
of my people, so he must also be transformed by the cleansing and renewing
influence of the Spirit, signified by the water there used, or he can
have no part in the blessings which my Gospel brings.'
And that this
must produce a universal change in the life as well as the heart, and
a faithful subjection to the will of God--without which no profession
will stand a man in any stead--our Lord solemnly declares in the conclusion
of his incomparable discourse on the Mount: "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 who is in heaven: many will say to me
in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in
thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew
you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matt.
vii. 21, 22, 23.
And shall you, sirs, merely for having a name and place
in his house, escape; when those that have preached his Gospel, and
wrought miracles in confirmation of it, when those that personally conversed
with Christ, and those that ministered unto him shall perish, if destitute
of a holy temper of heart, and of its solid fruit in their lives? Has
not our Lord expressly said, that he will gather out of his kingdom
all things that offend, and them that do iniquity; and will cast them
into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth? Matt. xiii. 41, 42. Nay, in his infinite compassion, he has given to
sinners, as it were, a copy of the sentence that will another day be
pronounced upon them; that they may meditate upon it, and review it,
and judge whether they can bear the terror of its execution. Hear it
attentively, and then say whether unregenerate sinners shall enter into
his kingdom. The dreadful doom is this: Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Matt. xxv. 41.
And what now will you say to this? Can any soul of you imagine, that
the Lord Jesus Christ did not know what would pass in this day in which
he is appointed to preside? or that knowing it, and knowing it would
be something different from this,
he would, on any consideration whatsoever,
make a false representation, and lay so much stress upon it? Yet one
or other of these things you must secretly imagine; or must own, that
every unregenerate sinner, and you among the rest, must not only be
excluded from his presence, but be condemned to suffer all the fury
of his wrath, in company with devils and damned spirits, in final darkness,
and everlasting burning.
It only remains that I show you, that the same
testimony was renewed by the Apostles, under the influence of the Holy
Spirit.
You know that they were authorised by their Great Master to
declare, in an authentic manner, the constitution of his kingdom; and
that he who despises them, despises Christ. Luke x. 16. Now I would
fain persuade you all, to consider this argument as it lies in Scripture;
to read over the epistolary parts of the New Testament in this view,
to observe what encouragement they any of them give to an unregenerate
sinner, to expect any part in the kingdom of heaven. In the mean time,
permit me to present you with a few texts, as a specimen of the rest.
The apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, does indeed speak of
God's justifying the ungodly; (Rom. iv. 5;) but lest any should vainly
imagine that he encourages the hope of those that continue
so, he expressly tells us, in the very same
epistle, that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men; (Rom. ii. 8;) and that ere long this wrath
shall be executed, even in the day of the more ample revelation of the
righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to
his deeds: To them that do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,
which is the character of every unregenerate sinner, indignation and
wrath: tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil,
of the Jew first, as having had the most signal advantages, though advantages
inferior to yours, and also of the Gentile. Rom. ii. 5, 6, 8, 9. And
farther he assures us, that to be carnally minded is death: and that
the carnal mind, which universally prevails in men, till by regenerating
grace they are made spiritual, is enmity against God; for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Rom. viii. 6, 7.
In
another epistle he mentions it as a first principle, in which it might
rationally be supposed, no Christian was uninstructed. Know ye not,
says he, that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? 1 Cor. vi. 9. And elsewhere he declares, that all external modes of
religion, separate from that entire change of soul which I have described,
are worthless and vain. In Christ
Jesus, says he, or to those that desire
any part in him and his kingdom, neither circumcision availeth anything,
nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. Gal. vi. 15. He likewise tells
us to this purpose in another place, that his grace, which has appeared
unto all men, teaches us to deny "ungodliness and worldly lusts, and
to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world;" (Tit.
ii. 11, 12;) and yet, after all, to acknowledge, that it is "not by
works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy
he saves us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the
Holy Ghost, which he has shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ
our Saviour." Tit. iii. 5, 6. And without holiness, which is the effect
of these sacred operations upon the soul, he expressly tells us in another
place, that no man shall see the Lord. Heb. xii. 14. And to allege but
one more passage from him: as it is evident, that all unregenerate sinners,
and only they are ignorant of God, and disobedient to the Gospel; he
solemnly assures us, that instead of receiving such at last into his
kingdom, the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty
angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God,
and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be
punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory
of his power. (2 Thes. i. 7, 8, 9. This is the testimony of the apostle
Paul in his own emphatical words, zealous as he was for the doctrine
of free grace, which such declarations as these do not in the least
degree contradict.
Let us now hear his brethren, the other apostles
of the Lord. James urges sinners, if they ever desire to draw nigh to
God, and to have him draw nigh to them, to cleanse their hands, and
purify their hearts. James iv. 8. And yet more expressly he says when
he speaks of those who should receive the crown of life, which the Lord
hath promised to them that love him; of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.
Jam. i. 12, 18. The apostle Peter describes Christians, as those whose
souls were purified in obeying the truth through the Spirit-being born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible; (1 Pet. i. 22,
23;) and as those who were made partakers of the Divine Nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Pet. i.
4. Again, John, the beloved disciple, tells us, that every one that
doth righteousness is born of God; (1 John ii. 29;) but he that committeth
sin is of the devil; (1 John iii. 8;) and that every one that has a
well grounded hope of being like Christ,
and seeing him as he is when he appears,
purifies himself, even as he is pure. 1 John iii. 2, 3. And once more,
the apostle Jude, as he describes those who are sensual and have not
the Spirit, as men, that if they were saved at all, must be plucked
out of the fire; (Jude ver. 19, 23;) so he echoes back that awful prophecy,
which Enoch had so long since delivered, that the Lord will come with
ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict
all that are ungodly, of all those ungodly deeds and works, by which
they have violated his law. Jude ver. 14, 15.
This then appears, from
the whole tenor of the Scriptures, to be the positive and immutable
constitution of the great God—that none who are unregenerate shall
be admitted to enjoy the happiness of heaven.
And from the view that
we have taken of the sacred writings it is manifest, that this, in every
age, has been the language of the word of God; and under every dispensation
we have sufficient evidence of this important truth. This is the doctrine
of the Old Testament; and many are the passages that I have offered
from the law of Moses, and from the Prophets, and the Psalms, that show
it is impossible an unrenewed soul should enter into heaven. And the
same also is asserted
in the strongest terms in the New Testament; and
when Christ came to set the Gospel of the kingdom in a clearer light,
the purport of the declaration that he makes to Nicodemus in the text,
was frequently repeated by him in the course of his preaching, and represented
as the rule he would regard at the last day. And the inspired apostles
speak the same thing with a united voice, and testify at large in their
epistles, that it is absolutely necessary we should be born again, if
ever we would hope to see the kingdom of God.
So that now, sirs, I may
say, Call, if there be any that will answer; and to which of the saints
will you turn, (Job v. 1,) to encourage your vain and presumptuous hope,
of finding your lot among God's people in the kingdom of glory, if you
are strangers to that important and universal change, which we before
described as regeneration in the Scripture sense of the word? The prophets
under the Old Testament, and Christ and his apostles under the New,
concur, in all the variety of the most awful language, to expose so
presumptuous a hope. And is it not audacious madness in any to venture
their souls upon it? Thus you would undoubtedly judge of any man who
should strike a dagger into his breast, or discharge a pistol at his
head, on this presumption,
that the almighty power of God could
prevent his death, though the heart or the brain were pierced.
But
it is much greater folly for a man, while he continues in an unregenerate
state, to promise himself a part in the kingdom of heaven. For though
there would be no reason in the world to expect a miraculous interposition,
to save a life which a man was so resolutely bent to destroy; yet none
can say, that such an interposition would contradict any of the express
engagements of God's word; whereas to admit an unregenerate sinner into
the regions of glory, would be violating, not this, or that single
declaration, but the whole series and tenor of it; and we shall farther show, in
the next Discourse, that it would also be, in effect, altering the very nature
of the heavenly kingdom itself, as well as its constitution. Now what hope can
be more desperate, than that which can have no support, but in the subversion of
the Redeemer's kingdom, and even of the eternal throne of God, the foundations
of which are righteousness and truth!
DISCOURSE V.
OF THE INCAPACITY OF AN UNREGENERATE PERSON FOR RELISHING
THE ENJOYMENTS OF THE HEAVENLY WORLD.
John iii. 3.
—Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God.
IN order to demonstrate
the necessity of regeneration, of which I would fain convince not only
your understandings, but your consciences, I am now proving to you,
that without it, it is impossible to enter into the kingdom of God;
and how weighty a consideration that is I am afterwards to represent.
That it is thus impossible, the words in the text do indeed sufficiently
prove: but for the further illustration of the subject, I have proposed
to consider it under two distinct views.
I have already shown it is impossible, because the
constitution of the kingdom of heaven is such, that God has solemnly declared,
and this under different dispensations, and more or less
plainly in all ages of his church,
that no unregenerate person, i. e. no impenitent sinner, shall have
any part in it. And I am now further to show,
That the nature of the
future happiness, which is here chiefly signified by the kingdom of
God, is such, that an unregenerate person would be incapable of relishing
it, even upon a supposition of his being admitted into it.
This is a
thought of so great importance, and so seldom represented in its full
strength, that I shall at present confine my discourse entirely to it.
I know, sinners, it will be one of the most difficult things in the
world, to bring you to a serious persuasion of this truth. You think
heaven is so lovely, and so glorious a place, that if you could possibly
get an admittance there, you should certainly be happy. But I would
now set myself, if possible, to convince you that this is a rash and
ill-grounded persuasion; and that on the contrary, if you were now in
the regions of glory, and in the society of those blessed inhabitants,
that unrenewed nature and unsanctified heart of yours, would give you
a disrelish for all the sublimest entertainments of that blissful place,
and turn heaven itself into a kind of hell to you.
Now for the demonstration
of this, it is only
necessary for you seriously to consider what kind
of happiness that of heaven is, as it is represented to us in the word
of God; for from thence undoubtedly we are to take our notions of it.
You might to be sure sit down and imagine a happiness to yourselves,
which would perfectly suit your degenerate taste; a happiness, which
the more entirely you were enslaved to flesh and sense, the more exquisitely
you would be able to enter into it. If God would assign you a region
in that beautiful world, where you should dwell in fine houses magnificently
furnished, and gaily adorned; where the most harmonious music should
soothe your ear, and the most delicious food and generous wines in a
rich variety should regale your taste: if he should give you a splendid
retinue of people, to caress and attend you, offering you their humblest
services, and acknowledging the most servile dependence upon your favor:
especially if with all this he should furnish you with a set of companions
just of your own temper and disposition, with whom you might spend what
proportion of time you pleased, in gaming and jollity, in riot and debauchery,
without any interruption from the reproof, or even the example of the
children of God, or from indispositions of body, or remorse of conscience:
this you would be ready to call life and happiness indeed: and
if the great Disposer of all things
were but to add perpetuity to such a situation, you would not envy persons
of a more refined taste the heaven you lost, for such a Paradise as
this.
Such indeed was the happiness which Mahomet promised to his followers:
flowery shades and gay dresses, luxurious fare and beautiful women,
are described with all the pomp of language in almost every page of
his Alcoran, as the glorious and charming rewards which were to be bestowed
on the faithful after the resurrection. And if this were the felicity
which the Gospel promised, extortioners and idolators, whoremongers
and drunkards, would be much fitter to inherit the kingdom of God, than
the most pious and mortified saints that ever appeared on earth. But
here, as almost everywhere else, the Bible and the Alcoran speak a very
different language; and far from leading us into such gross and sensual
expectations, our Lord Jesus Christ has told us that the children of
the resurrection neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are like
the angels of God in heaven, (Matt. xxii. 30,) and enjoy such pure and
spiritual delights, as are suited to such holy and excellent creatures.
It is true that in the book of Revelations, stately palaces and shining
habits, delicious fruit and harmonious music are all mentioned, as contributing
to the happiness of those, who have the
honor to inhabit the New Jerusalem. But then the style of that obscure
and prophetical book naturally leads us to consider these merely as
figurative phrases, which are made use of to express the happiness that
Divine wisdom and love has prepared for the righteous, in a manner accommodated
to the weakness of our conceptions; or at least, if in any of these
respects provision be made for the entertainment of a glorified body,
whatever its methods of sensation and perception will be, all will be
temperate and regular; and after all, this is even there represented
but as the least considerable part of our happiness, the height of which
is made to consist in the most elevated strains of devotion, and in
an entire and everlasting devotedness to the service of God and of the
Lamb.
Let us therefore immediately proceed to settle the point in question,
by a more particular survey of the several branches of the celestial
felicity, as represented to us in the word of God; and from thence it
will undeniably appear, that were an unregenerate soul in the same place
with the blessed, and surrounded with the same external circumstances,
the temper of the mind would not by any means allow him to participate
of their happiness. For it is plain the Scripture represents
the happiness of heaven as consisting,—-in
the perfection of our minds in knowledge and holiness;—-in the sight
and service of the ever blessed God,—-in beholding the glory of our exalted
Redeemer;—-and enjoying the society of glorious angels and perfected
saints,—-throughout an endless eternity. Now, sinners, it is impossible
you should enter into any such delights as these, while you continue
in an unregenerate state.
1. One very considerable part of the happiness
of heaven consists in that perfection of knowledge and holiness to which
the blessed shall be there exalted; but in which the unregenerate soul
can have no pleasure.
Thus we are told, that the spirits of just men
shall there be made perfect; (Heb. xiii. 23;) for nothing that defiles,
as every degree of moral imperfection does, shall enter into the New Jerusalem. Rev. xxi. 27. An Old Testament saint conceived of future
happiness, as consisting in being satisfied with the likeness of God:
(Psal. xvii. 15;) a character that is manifestly most agreeable to the
view of it, which the beloved disciple gives us, where he says, that
when Christ shall appear, we shall be tike him, for we shall see him
as he is; (1 John iii. 2;) which must certainly refer to the glories
of the mind, which are of infinitely greater importance than the highest
imaginable beauty
and ornament, that can be put upon the corporeal
part of our nature in its most illustrious state.
Now from this perfection
and holiness, which shall then be wrought in the soul, there will naturally
arise an unspeakable complacency and joy, something resembling that
which the blessed God himself possesses, in the survey of the infinite
and unspotted rectitude of his own most holy nature. And in proportion
to the degree, in which the eyes of our understandings are enlightened
to discern wherein true excellency consists, will the soul be delighted
in the consciousness of such considerable degrees of it in itself.
But
surely it will be superfluous for me to undertake to demonstrate, that
an unregenerate soul can have no part in this divine pleasure, which
implies the complete renewal of the mind as its very foundation. For
to imagine that he might, would be supposing him regenerate and unregenerate
at the same time. As Mr. Baxter very well expresses it, "The happiness
of heaven is holiness; and to talk of being happy without it is as
apparent nonsense, as to talk of being well without health, or being
saved without salvation."
I would only add on this head, that the highest
improvement of our intellectual faculties could not make us happy, without
such a change in the
affections and the will, as I have
before described under the former general head. For the more clear and
distinct the knowledge of true excellence and perfection is, the greater
would be your anguish and horror, to see and feel yourselves entirely
destitute of it; and it is exceedingly probable that spirits of the
most elevated genius have the keenest sensation of that infamy and misery,
which is inseparable from the prevalence of sinful dispositions in such
minds as these.
2. Another very considerable branch of the celestial
happiness, is that which arises, from the contemplation and enjoyment
of the ever blessed God; but of this likewise an unregenerate sinner
is incapable.
As our own reason assures us, that God is the greatest and
best of beings, and the most deserving object of our inquiries and regards, one
would think it would naturally lead us to imagine, that the perfection and
happiness of the human soul consists in the knowledge and enjoyment of him; and
that when it arrives at the seat of complete felicity, it must intimately know
him, and converse with him. And in this view, I have sometimes been surprised,
that men of such distinguished abilities, as some of the heathen poet, and
philosophers appear to have been, should have had no greater regard to the
Supreme Being
in the description which they give us of the future
happiness. That sort of friendship for them, which an acquaintance with
their writings must give to a person of any relish for the beauties
of composition, makes one almost unwilling to expose the low and despicable
ideas, which they often give of the state of their greatest heroes in
the regions of immortality. But the word of God speaks a very different
language. Our Lord represents the rewards to be bestowed on the pure
in heart, by telling us that they shall see, i. e. contemplate and enjoy
God; (Matt. v. 8;) and virtuous souls who overcome the temptations with
which they are here surrounded, shall be made as pillars in the house
of their God, and shall go no more out: (Rev. iii. 12;) and it is elsewhere
said that his servants shall serve him, and shall see his face. Rev.
xxii. 3, 4. And David's views under a darker dispensation rose to such
a degree of refinement, as to say, As for me, I shall behold thy face
in righteousness; (Psal. xvii. 1;) which he mentions as a felicity infinitely
superior to all the delights of the most prosperous sinner.
But now,
sinners, it is utterly impossible that while you continue in an unregenerate
state, you should behold the face of God with pleasure. The unutterable
delight which the blessed inhabitants of heaven find in it, arises not
merely from the
abstract ideas of his essential perfections,
but from a sense of his favor and love to them. It is this that gives
a relish to the whole survey, and rejoices the heart of all the saints,
both in heaven and on earth. He is a God of awful majesty and irresistible
power, of infinite wisdom and unspotted holiness, of unerring justice,
invariable fidelity, and inexhaustible goodness; and this God is our
God; he will be our guide and our portion forever. Psal. xlviii. 14; lxxiii. 26. And were it not for this view, let a creature think of God
with ever so much spirit and propriety, he must think of him, and be
troubled; (Psal. lxxvii. 3;) yea, he must be filled with unutterable
horror and confusion, as the devil is at the thought of an infinitely
perfect Being, in whom he has no interest, from whom he has nothing
friendly to expect; and if nothing friendly, then everything dreadful.
Now it is certain, sinners, that while you continue in an unregenerate
state, under the influence of that carnal mind which is enmity against
God, (Rom. viii. 7,) and full of unconquerable rebellion against his
law, there can be no foundation for a friendship between him and your
souls; nor for any persuasion, or any apprehension of your interest
in his favor and love. Friendship, you know, supposes something of a
similitude of
nature and sentiment; for as God himself argues,
how can two walk together except they be agreed? Amos iii. 3. Now I
have before observed to you at large, that God being of purer eyes than
to behold evil, (Heb. i. 13,) must necessarily hate all the workers
of iniquity; the foolish therefore shall not stand in his sight, (Psal.
v. 5,) or shall not be admitted to such a situation: nor would they
indeed be able to endure it. Let conscience judge what satisfaction
you could find in the presence of a God, that you knew scorned and hated
you, even while he suffered you to continue among the crowd of his children
and servants. The more lively ideas you had of the beauty and perfection
of the Divine nature, the more you must loathe yourselves for being
so unlike him, and so abominable to him: and what pleasure do you think
consistent with such self-contempt and abhorrence? Or rather, would
not the wretched degeneracy of your nature lead you another way; and
a kind of unconquerable self-love, joined even with this consciousness
of deformity and vileness, lead you to hate God himself? It is described
as the fatal effect of prevailing wickedness in the heart, my soul loathed
them, and their soul also abhorred me. Zechariah xi. 8. And thus would
it probably work in you, and produce in your wretched breasts a mortal
hatred against him, and
an envious rage at the thought of
his perfect happiness; a state of mind, of all others that can be imagined,
the most odious, and the most tormenting.
How, sirs, could your hearts,
possessed with these diabolical passions, bear to see the beams of his
glory surrounding you on every side? How could you bear to hear the
songs and adorations, that were continually addressed to his throne;
and to observe the humble attendance of all the hosts of heaven about
it, who perpetually reckon it their honor and happiness to be employed
in obedience to his commands? Such a sight of the glory and felicity
of your Divine Enemy would make you, so far as your limited nature was
capable of it, miserable even in proportion to the degree in which he
is happy. This was, no doubt, the torment of the devils as soon as they
had harbored a thought of hostility against God; and the remembrance
of that glory in which they once saw him, and which they know he still
invariably possesses, is surely an everlasting vexation to them: and
it would be so to you, if you were within the sight of it.
But further,
the blessed in heaven find their everlasting entertainment in the service
of God. They rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord
God Almighty; (Rev. iv. 8;) i. e. they
are continually employed, either in the immediate
acts of devotion, or in other services, in which they still maintain
a devotional temper, and are breathing out their souls in holy affections,
while their active powers are employed in the execution of his commands.
But as I have already shown you, that while in an unregenerate state
you could have no sense of his favor to you, it is very apparent, that
you could have no sentiments of gratitude and love towards him. So that
while angels and glorified saints were breathing out their souls in
the most delightful and rapturous praises, you must keep a sullen silence;
or, if it were possible that your harps and voices should sound as melodiously
as theirs, it would be all ceremony and show; the music of the heart
would be wanting; and you would look on all the external forms of service
but as a tedious task, and count it your misfortune, that the customs
of the place obliged you to attend them.
You may the more easily apprehend
and believe this when you consider what little relish you now have for
those solemnities of Divine worship, in which sincere Christians have
the most lively foretaste of heaven. You know, in your own consciences,
that short and interrupted as our public services are, they are the
burden of your lives. You know that you say, in your hearts at least,
When will the Sabbath be past, and
the new moon be gone? Amos viii. Judge then how insupportable it would
be to you, to spend an everlasting Sabbath thus. I question not, but
to your wretched spirits annihilation would appear vastly preferable
to an eternal existence so employed.
3. Another very considerable branch
of the happiness of heaven, is that which arises from the sight of the
glory of an exalted Redeemer; but for this likewise no unconverted sinner
can have any relish.
This is a view of the future happiness, which our
Lord gives us, when he prays for his people in those memorable words,
engraven, as I hope, upon many of our hearts; Father, I will that they
whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory which thou hast given me. John xvii. 24. And he elsewhere
promises it, as the great reward he would bestow upon his people; If
any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there also shall
my servant be. John xii. 26. And agreeably to this, the apostle Paul
represents it as the transporting view in which he considered the happiness
of the future world; I desire, says he, to depart and be with Christ;
which is far better; (Phil. i. 28;) incomparably beyond any of the enjoyments
of the present world which can come
into competition with it. But for this part of
the happiness of angels, and of the spirits of just men made perfect,
it is also evident, that you, sinners, can have no relish.
The sight
of Christ will afford holy souls a transporting delight, because they
will regard it as the glory of their Redeemer and their Friend, and
as a pledge and security of their own glory. But what foundation can
you, sinners, find for such a joyful sympathy with Christ, and such
a comfortable conclusion with regard to yourselves? Such is the wretched
degeneracy of your nature, that though Christ be indeed the chiefest
among ten thousand, and altogether lovely, (Cant. v. 10, 16.) being
the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person,
(Heb. i. 3,) possessed of every divine perfection and excellence; yet
you now slight and neglect him, and discern in him no form or comeliness,
for which he is to be desired: (Isa. liii. 2:) and were you unregenerate
in heaven, the same principle would prevail. Now where there is no love
to a person, there can be no delight in his converse, nor any pleasure
in his happiness. Nay, the contrariety of your nature to his would rather
occasion aversion and terror. You could not but know, that the blessed
Jesus is holy and undefiled, and separate from sinners; (Heb. vii.
26;) that he
abhors all moral evil to such a degree,
that he laid aside all the glory and entertainments of heaven, that
he might destroy the interest of sin in this world of ours, and might
purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works: (Tit. ii.
14:) and when you should recollect at the same time that sinfulness
that continued to reign in your hearts, and made you to every good work
reprobate, (Tit. i. 16,) you could not but know that you must be hateful
to him; and therefore could not but fear, lest his almighty power should
be exercised for your punishment and destruction: and thus your terror
must rise, in proportion to the sensible evidence you had of his dignity
and authority. In a word, you would stand like guilty rebels in the
presence-chamber of their injured and displeased Sovereign: his throne.
and his sceptre, his robe and his crown, his courtiers and his guards,
though in themselves splendid and magnificent objects, only serve to
terrify and amaze them, while they display the grandeur and power of
their enemy.
4. Another very considerable branch of the celestial happiness
will be the society of angels and glorified saints; but for this likewise
an unregenerate sinner must be unfit.
You know that when the apostle
speaks of our alliance to the heavenly world, he represents it as
a social state; where excellent spirits dwell together,
and converse with each other with mutual esteem and endearment: ye are
come, says he, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company
of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which
are written in heaven, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.
Heb. xii. 22, 23. It is sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
with all the patriarchs and prophets, all the apostles and martyrs in
the kingdom of heaven: (Matt. viii. 11:) and perhaps you
think you shall want nothing more to complete your happiness, than to be
admitted to a place among them. But reflect a little more attentively upon the
circumstances of things, and I am persuaded you will form a different judgment.
There
is no reason to doubt, but that at your first entrance into the regions
of glory you would be agreeably struck with the view of those inhabitants.
As for those beauties of their character, which consist in love to God,
and in zeal for his honor and interest, it is certain, that you would
be insensible of them, and pay but little regard to them: but the humanity
and benevolence of their temper would, no doubt, render them agreeable
to you; and so much the more, as self-love might lead you to expect
some personal
advantage by it. And it is more
than possible, that you would be much prejudiced in their favor by those
resplendent and attractive forms in which they appear; forms, no doubt,
far more beautiful and engaging than any which the children of men ever
saw upon earth. On both these accounts it might be natural enough for
you, at first, to address them with an air of respect, as persons that
you could be glad to be upon good terms with, and in whose friendship
you could desire a share.
But how do you think that any such proposal
of friendship would be received by an angel, or a glorified saint? No
doubt, if there were any prospect of converting you, or any hope you
might be brought to a devout and holy temper, they would immediately
become preachers of righteousness to you; and endeavor by the most rational,
the most pathetic, and the most insinuating address, to awaken and charm
you to a sense of religion, and so to form you to a capacity for happiness.
But they would know, that according to the eternal constitution of God,
there could be no room to entertain such a hope; but that being filthy,
you must be filthy still: (Rev. xxii. 11:) and therefore, as they would
know you to be incorrigible, their love to God, and their concern to
be approved and accepted
by him, would prevent their forming any intimate
friendship with persons whose natures were so contrary to him, and on
whom he looked with such irreconcilable abhorrence. And besides this,
their own personal sanctity of character would give them an aversion
to such corrupt and degenerate creatures: so that how much soever they
might pity your condition, they would turn away from you, as objects
whose presence and converse were not to be endured.
And do you not easily
apprehend, that such a refusal on their part would be both shameful
and very provoking to you? For which way could you bear it, to be thus
rejected and dishonored by the most excellent part of the creation;
by those whom perhaps you once intimately knew, and with whom you conversed
upon equal terms; nay, by many who were once much your inferiors, and
whom, perhaps, in the pride of your hearts, you would not condescend
to regard? The natural effect of this must surely be, that you would
soon be proportionably displeased and enraged with the refusal, as you
were at first charmed at their appearance; and when you saw that transporting
pleasure which they took in the affection and friendship of each other,
and the joy which the Divine favor poured into their souls, while you,
in the very same place, were excluded from
these rich entertainments, your hearts
would soon burn with envy and indignation; and as much as you before
admired them, you, upon this, would come to hate them. And, perhaps,
that hatred would put you upon some attempt to interrupt, or even, if
it were possible, to destroy that happiness which you were not allowed
to share. But, then, when you saw them continually under the Divine
protection, and compassed with his favor as with a shield, (Psalm v.
12,) so that your malice could not reach them, all the keenness and
rancor of your spirit would recoil upon itself; you would fly from their
presence, as insupportable; and would be glad to retire to some meaner
apartment, or to hide yourselves in the shades of darkness; so that
you might but get rid of the sight of so many dazzling objects, whose
lustre, instead of cheering your vitiated eye, would pain and overpower
it.
But if you should not be transported to this diabolical excess--if
it were possible for you to behold the glorified saints, and to live among them,
without these envious and tormenting passions; yet surely you would want a
relish for the most entertaining part of their conversation. Had you indeed a
good natural genius, which to be sure many unconverted sinners have, it might be
very agreeable to hear them discoursing of the
wonders of nature; and that curiosity, which is
in some measure incident even to persons of the meanest capacities,
would make it pleasant to hear them recount the important history relating
to the revolutions of the angelic world, which we on this earth are
entirely strangers to, or at least have been very little acquainted
with them. But surely the most delightful topics of conversation, which
heaven itself can furnish out, must be those which are religious and
divine; the infinite perfections of the ever blessed God; the personal
glories and incomparable love of his condescending, but exalted Son;
and the sanctifying operations of the blessed Spirit on the soul, transforming
it into the Divine Image, and making it meet for eternal glory. Yes,
even when the blessed spirits above are handling philosophical or historical
subjects, they still consider them with a regard to God, as his perfections
are displayed and illustrated in the works of his hands, and in the
conduct of his providence. And here their pleasure flows, not merely
from a set of rational ideas, which arise in their own minds, or are
suggested to them by others: but from the exercise of those devout affections
upon the blessed God, which are correspondent to these several subjects
of discourse.
And can you, sirs, who are alienated from the
divine life, (Eph. iv. 18,) and accustomed
to live in a continual neglect and forgetfulness of the Great Parent
of universal nature, can you relish such subjects as these? You would,
no doubt, be discontented and uneasy in such a scene: the heavenly oratory
of this holy society would have no charms for you; but you would be
longing for some of those vain and worthless companions, whom you were
so fond of here upon earth, to hear a merry story, or a song, or to
join with them in the pleasures of a debauch.
5. Another considerable
branch of the happiness of heaven arises from the assured prospect of
the everlasting continuance of this felicity; but, if an unregenerate
soul could find any entertainment at all in heaven, he certainly could
have no ground for such an expectation of its continuance.
When the
children of God on earth think of the happiness of heaven, the eternity
of it makes a very deep impression on their hearts, and even swallows
up their souls with ardent desire and unutterable joy: it raises their
esteem, and animates their hope, while they reflect on that exceeding
and eternal weight of glory, (2 Cor. iv. 17,) that
house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens, (2 Cor. v. 1,) and that
inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled, and which fadeth not away. 1 Pet. i. 4. And no doubt
that the blessed in
heaven regard it in the same view, and all the
pleasures they enjoy are vastly increased by the prospect of their endless
duration; so that by the anticipation of an eternity still to come,
they do, as it were, every moment enjoy an infinite satisfaction. But
as for you, sinners, while you are so ill attempered to the happiness
of heaven, the prospect of an eternal abode there would not, on the
principles I have laid down above, be a prospect of eternal happiness,
but rather, on the whole, of eternal uneasiness to you.
But suffer me
a little to discourse upon another supposition; and let me now, for
argument sake, waive what I have been so long insisting upon, and suppose,
that you could so far command the turbulent passions of your own heart,
and so unite, as it were, the whole powers of your soul, to attend to
the beauty of place, the harmony of music, and whatever else may be
supposed capable of regaling the senses or the imagination, as upon
the whole, to find heaven a pleasing and delightful abode, and to wish,
that though some of its entertainments were above your taste and capacity,
yet you might be allowed an eternal enjoyment of the rest; could there
be any room for you to expect a perpetual abode in these blissful seats?
No, sinners, you would not be able so much as to hope it. The good itself
is so great,
and perpetual enjoyment, even in any
degree, has such a kind of infinite value, that I know not how the purest
and noblest spirits in heaven could absolutely have been secure of it,
separate from the engagement of a Divine promise.
And what Divine promise
would you be able to have recourse to in such a circumstance as we now
suppose? Where could you find it in all the book of God, that persons
of your character should ever enter into heaven at all, much less that
you should forever continue there? You could have therefore no security
of the continuance of your abode in heaven, if it were possible that
you should enter on the possession of it: but when you should consider
the unsullied holiness of the ever blessed God, the sovereign of this
sacred province, and the spotless purity of that gracious Redeemer,
to whom the government of it is committed, you could not but fear, that you
should quickly be seized by the hand of vengeance, be hurled from the
battlements of heaven, and plunged low into the pit of destruction. You know
this was the condemnation of the rebel angels, and your guilt, compared with
that dreadful event, which makes so considerable a scene of the history of
heaven, would, I doubt not, be sufficient to create everlasting jealousy and
uneasiness, and to turn every pleasurable circumstance into a
source of horror, in the apprehensions of being
deprived eternally of it.
Thus you see, sirs, from a particular survey
of the various lights in which heaven is represented, and of the various
branches of which its happiness consists, an unregenerate sinner is incapable
of it, even though we would suppose that he was actually admitted to
it. Let me entreat you to reflect on all these things, and you will
see the reasonableness of that one remark with which I shall conclude
this discourse, viz.:
How vain are all those hopes of heaven, which
in your present condition you are ready to entertain!
I have been proving
at large, that if God were to admit you to the possession of heaven,
which it is certain he never will, you would be incapable of relishing
the enjoyment of it: nay, that there would be a solid foundation in
your own hearts, for many of the most tumultuous and disquieting passions.
Envy and grief, fear and rage, those roots of bitterness, would spring
up even in the Paradise of God, and turn the fertility of that blessed
soil into their own nourishment. And do you imagine that any external
accommodations or ornaments could make you easy and comfortable, under
the transports of such hellish passions? What if you were to take a
man that was tormented
with a violent fit of the
stone or gout, and to place him in a most delicious garden, or in a
palace of marble and cedar, to set him on a throne of gold under a canopy
of purple, to clothe him with robes of velvet and embroidery, regaling
him with the most delicious fruits and generous wines, and at the same
time soothing his ear with all the harmony of sound, which the most
melodious symphony of instruments and voices could afford? Would all
this magnificence and luxury make him insensible of that anguish which
was racking his very vitals? or would not that inward torture rather
render him insensible of this association of pleasurable impressions
from without? Yea, would it not incline him to suspect, that you intended
all these pompous preparations only to deride and insult him?' As little
would your distempered and unholy souls be capable of relishing the
entertainments of heaven, while these entertainments and these souls
of yours, continue what they are at present.
There must be therefore
a change: and will you consider where that change must be made? If you
continue still in your present character and circumstances, there must
be a vast change in heaven itself, before you can be happy in it. The
whole temper, character, and disposition of every saint and angel there,
must be changed from what
it now is, before they can be capable of any friendly
and complacential conversation with you. Yea, our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, (Heb. xiii. 9,) must
divest himself of those beauties of holiness, which are infinitely dearer
to him than any external grandeur or authority, before he can receive
you into his kingdom. Nay, the very Father of lights, with whom there
is no variableness, neither shadow of turning, (Jam. i. 17,) must be
entirely changed. He must lay aside that holiness which is essential
to his nature, and which is the brightness and glory of it: he must
love that which he now hates, and be indifferent to that which he most
affectionately loves, before he can open his arms to you, and smile
upon your souls. And can you dare to hope for such an unaccountable,
such an inconceivable revolution as this? No, sirs, infinitely sooner
would God change earth into hell, and bury you, and all of your character,
under the ruins of this world, which you inhabit and pollute, than he
would thus tarnish the beauties of heaven, and divest himself of the
brightest glory of his own divinity. "God," says Archbishop Tillotson,
"has condescended to take our nature upon him, that he might make us
capable of happiness; but if this will not do, he will not put off his
own nature to make us happy."
What then do you imagine? Do you think
that God will prepare some separate apartments in heaven, furnished
with a variety of sensual pleasures, for the entertainment of persons
of your character? some apartments from whence the tokens of his presence
shall be withdrawn, from whence the exercise of his worship shall be
banished, from whence saints and angels shall retire to make way for
those inhabitants, who, like you, have sinned themselves beyond a capacity
of enjoying God, or of being fit companions for any of his most excellent
creatures? This were to suppose the Christian religion false, and to
contradict the light of natural reason too, which not only shows such
a disposition of things to be unworthy the Divine sanctity and majesty,
but also shows that if there be a future state, it must be a state of
misery to wicked men, in whose minds those vicious habits prevail, which
are even now the beginnings of hell; which therefore they must carry
along with them wherever they are, in proportion to the degree in which
they are predominant.
Upon the whole then, you must evidently see that
it is absolutely necessary that you, sinners, should be changed, if
ever you expect to have any part or lot in the future happiness. And
when do you expect that change should be wrought?
Do you expect it when death has done its dreadful
office upon you, and your soul arrives at the invisible world? Is the
air of it, if I may be allowed the expression, so refined that it will
immediately purify, and transform every polluted sinner that comes into
it? You cannot but know, that the whole tenor of scripture forbids that
presumptuous destructive hope. It assures us that there is no work,
nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave; (Eccl. ix. 10;)
but that we must be judged according to what we have done in the body,
and not according to what has passed in a separate state, whether the
actions we have done be good, or whether they be evil. 2 Cor. v. 10.
If ever therefore you are regenerate at all, it must be while you are
here below, in this state of education and trial: and if you continue
in your sins till death surprise you, your souls will be forever sealed
up under an irreversible sentence, and by the decree of God, and the
constitution of things, will be excluded from happiness, as by no means
either entitled to it, or prepared for it. So evident is the truth of
this assertion in the text, that Except a man be born again he cannot
see the kingdom of God.
And will you then sit down contentedly under
such conclusion as this, "I shall be excluded from this kingdom, as
accursed and profane?" Alas,
sirs, the conclusion is big with unutterable
terror and death, as I should now proceed to show you at large if my
time would allow: for I am next to represent the infinite importance
of entering into that kingdom, and consequently of that entire change
which has been proved to be necessary to that entrance. But I must reserve
that to the next opportunity of this kind.
In the mean time let me add,
that I doubt not but there are many present, who have heard this description
of the heavenly world with delight, and who are saying in their hearts,
"This is my rest forever: here will I dwell, for I have desired it:
(Psal. cxxxii. 14:) This is the felicity to which my heart aspires with
the most ardent breathing." Such may with the utmost reason regard it
as a token for good, and may go on in a cheerful assurance, that the
grace that has made them meet to be partakers of the inheritance of
the saints in light, (Col. i. 12,) will at length conduct them to it,
in perfect safety and everlasting triumph. Amen.
DISCOURSE VI.
OF THE IMPORTANCE OF ENTERING INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
John iii. 3.
--Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God.
How impossible it is that an unregenerate sinner should see
the kingdom of God, or enjoy that future blessedness to which the Gospel is
intended to lead its professors, I have shown you at large. I have appealed to
the testimony of God's holy prophets, and apostles, in concurrence with that of
his incarnate Son, to prove that persons of such a character are, by the
inviolable constitution of that kingdom, excluded from it. And I have further,
in my last discourse, proved, that if they were actually admitted to it, they
would be incapable of relishing its pleasures: that their vitiated palate would
have a distaste to the choicest fruits of the Paradise of God; yea, that in
these blessed regions thorns and briers would spring up
in their paths, and make them wretched
in the very seat of happiness.
I doubt not, but you are in your consciences
generally convinced, that the truth of these things cannot be contested.
You are inwardly persuaded that it is indeed so; and I fear many of
you have also reason to apprehend, that you are of this unhappy number,
who are hitherto strangers to regenerating grace. But how are your minds
impressed with this apprehension? Do I wrong you, sirs, when I suspect
that some of you are hardly impressed at all? Do I wrong you when I
suspect there are those of you, who have spent the last week with very
little reflection upon what you have heard? The cares and amusements
of life have been pursued as before, and you have not taken one hour
to enter into the thought with self-application, and seriously to consider, 'I
am one of these concerning whom eternal wisdom and truth has pronounced,
that if they continue such as at present they are, they shall not see
the kingdom of heaven.' You have not paused at all upon the awful
thought; you have not offered one lively petition to God, to beg that
you may be recovered from this unhappy state, and brought to a meetness
for his kingdom, and a title to it. For your sakes therefore, and for
the sakes of others in your state, having already explained,
illustrated, and confirmed the proposition in my
text, I proceed,
III. To represent to you the IMPORTANCE of the argument
suggested here; or to show you how much every unregenerate sinner ought
to be alarmed to hear, that while he continues in his present state,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.
And oh! that while I endeavor to illustrate
this, my words might enter into your minds, as goads, and might fix
there as nails fastened in a sure place! The substance of my argument
is given forth by the one great Shepherd; (Eccles. xii. 11;) may the
prosecution of it be blessed, as the means of reducing some wandering
sheep into his fold.
Now in order to illustrate the force of this argument,
I beseech you seriously to consider,—-what this kingdom is, from which you are
in danger of being forever excluded:—and what will be the condition
of all those, who shall be finally cut off from any interest in it.
Consider first what that kingdom is, from which the unregenerate, or
those who are not born again, shall be excluded.
And here you are not
to expect a complete representation of it: for that is an attempt in
which the tongues of angels, as well as men, might fail; or how proper
soever their language
might be in itself, to us it would be
unintelligible: for eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him. 1 Cor. ii. 9. And surely these final and most illustrious
preparations of his love must, beyond all others, exceed our description
and conception. A minister, that, with the apostle Paul, had been caught
up into the third heaven, if he would attempt to speak of the glorious
scenes which were there opened to him, must say, they were unutterable
things: (2 Cor. xii. 2, 4:) and one, that with John, had
lain in the
bosom of Christ himself, must say, as that Apostle did, It does not
yet appear what we shall be. 1 John iii. 2. And indeed, when we go'
about to discourse of it, I doubt not but the blessed angels pity the
weakness of our apprehensions and expressions, and know that we do but
debase the subject, when we attempt the most to exalt and adorn it.
Yet there are just and striking representations of this kingdom made
in the word of God; and we are there often told in general, wherein
it shall consist. You no doubt remember that I was, in the last of these
Lectures, going over several important views of it. I then told you,
it will consist in the perfection of our souls in knowledge and holiness;
in the sight of God and our blessed
Redeemer; in exercising the most delightful affections
towards them, and in being forever employed in rendering them the most
honorable services; in conversing with saints and glorious angels; and
in the assured expectation of the eternal continuance of this blessedness
in all its branches. That this is the scriptural representation of the
matter, I proved to you from many express testimonies in the word of
God; and I doubt not, but you have often heard the excellency of each
of these views represented at large, in distinct discourses on each.
I will not therefore now repeat what has been said upon such occasions;
but will rather direct you to some general considerations, which may
convince you of the excellency of that state and world, from which,
if you continue unregenerate, you must forever be excluded: for I would
fain fix it upon your minds, that it is in this connection, and for
this purpose, that the representation is made. And oh! that you might
so review it, as no longer to neglect so great salvation, (Heb. ii.
3,) nor act as if you judged such everlasting life to be beneath your
attention, and unworthy your care and regard! Acts xiii. 46. You cannot
think it so when you consider,—that it is represented in scripture under
the most magnificent images;—that it is the state which God has prepared
for the display of his glory,
and the entertainment of his most favorite creatures; that it is tile
purchase of the blood of his eternal Son, that it is the main work of
his sacred Spirit to prepare men's hearts for it; and the great business
of our inveterate enemy, the devil, by all possible means, to prevent
our obtaining it. Each of these considerations may much illustrate the
excellency of it and all taken together yield a most convincing demonstration.
1. Consider, by what a variety of beautiful and magnificent images this
happiness is represented in the word of God; and that may convince you
of its excellency.
When the blessed God himself would raise our conceptions of a
state of being, so much superior to anything we have ever seen or known, unless
he intended a personal and miraculous revelation of it, he must borrow our
language, and in painting the glory of heaven must take his colors from earth.
And here the magnificence of a city, the sweetness of a garden, the solemn pomp
of a temple, the lustre of a crown, and the dignity of a kingdom, strike
powerfully on the human mind, and fill it with veneration and delight. But when
such figures as these are borrowed from this lower world of ours, faintly to
shadow out that which is above, there is always the addition of
some important circumstance, to intimate how far
the celestial original: exceeds the brightest earthly glory, by which
the Divine condescension has vouchsafed to describe it.
The enumeration
of a variety of scriptural descriptions will set these remarks in the
strongest light. If therefore heaven be described as a city, it is the
New Jerusalem, the city of our God, that cometh down from God out of
heaven; (Rev. iii. 12, xxi. 2;) the pavement of its
streets is all of
pure gold, its gates are pearl, and its foundations jewels. Rev. xxi.
19, 21. If it be a garden, it is the Paradise of God, (Rev. ii. 7,)
and so far superior to that which he at first prepared and furnished
out for the entertainment of Adam in his state of innocence, that it
is planted on every side with the tree of life, (Rev. xxii. 2,) of which
there was but one alone in the garden of Eden: and is watered, not with
such common rivers as the Tigris and Euphrates, but with that living,
copious, inexhausted stream, the river of the water of life, which proceeds
from the throne of God, (Rev. xxii. 1,) and gently glides along through
all its borders. When it is represented as a temple, we are told that
instead of a golden ark placed in the remotest recess, to which only
the high priest might once a year approach, and on which he might not
be allowed to gaze, the
throne of God is erected there, (Rev.
vii. 15,) perpetually surrounded with myriads of worshipers who see
his face, and like the high priest when clothed in his richest robes,
have his name written in their foreheads: (Rev. xxii. 4:) instead of
the feeble rays of that golden candle. stick, whose lamps shone in the
holy place, the heavenly temple is illuminated in a more glorious manner,
and needs no candle, neither light of the sun, for the glory of God
continually enlightens it, and the Lamb is the light thereof: (Rev.
xxi. 23, xxii. 5:) Nay, we are assured that its sacred ministers are
made kings as well as priests unto God; (Rev. i. 6;) and accordingly
being clothed in white raiment, they have crowns of gold on their heads;
(Rev. iv. 4;) as well as harps and golden vials, or censers
full of
incense in their hands: (Rev. v. 8:) and lest we should think these
pompous services are only the entertainments of some peculiarly sacred
seasons, we are told that they rest not day nor night, (Rev. iv. 8,)
adoring him that sits upon the throne, and are fixed as pillars in his
temple, to go out no more. Rev. iii. 12. Again, if it be spoken of as
a crown, it is represented as incorruptible; (1 Cor. ix. 25;)
a crown
of glory that fadeth not away. 1 Pet. v. 4. And when it is called a
kingdom, the scripture does not only add, as here in the
text, that it is the kingdom of God, which must
certainly exalt the idea of it; but that it is a kingdom which can not
be moved, (Heb. xii. 28,) an everlasting kingdom: (2 Pet. i. 11;) nay,
to carry our thoughts to the highest degree of dignity and glory, it
is spoken of as a sitting down with Christ on his throne. Rev. iii.
21.
But further, the value of these illustrious representations is much
enhanced, if we consider the character of the persons by whom they are
made. They were persons well acquainted with these things, having received
their information from a Divine revelation, and from the immediate visions
of God. They were also persons of such sublime and elevated sentiments,
that they had a sovereign contempt for all the enjoyments of time and
sense, even those which the generality of mankind set the greatest value
upon: and counted all things but loss for the knowledge of Christ, (Phil.
iii. 8,) and the testimony of a good conscience, (2 Cor. i. 12,)
while
they looked not at temporal, but at eternal things. 2 Cor. iv. 18. They
could deliberately, constantly, and even cheerfully, resign all the
riches and honors, and carnal pleasures, which they might have purchased
by their apostacy from religion; and were ready to embrace bonds, imprisonments,
or death itself, when it met them in the way of their duty. Now
certainly a glory, with which such holy,
wise and heroic persons were so passionately enamored, and which they
describe with such pathos of language, and such ecstasy of delight,
while they were trampling with so generous a disdain on everything which
earth calls good and great, must deserve our very attentive regard.
And this it yet more evidently will appear to do, if we consider,
2.
It is the state and world, which God has prepared for the display of
his glory, and the entertainment of the most favored of his creatures.
This argument seems to be hinted at, when it is said, as in the place
I referred to before, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath
entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for
them that love him. 1 Cor. ii. 9. God well knows the capacity of his
creatures, and how much happiness they are able and fit to receive;
and he can fill their capacities to the utmost: nay, he can farther
enlarge them to what degree he pleases, that they may admit superior
degrees of. glory and felicity. A happiness, therefore, which he has
prepared on purpose to display the riches of his magnificence and love,
and to show what he can do to delight his creatures, must certainly
be in some measure proportionable, if I may so express it, to the infinity
of his own sacred perfections. Let us then
seriously consider who God is; and attentively dwell in our meditations
on the extent of his power, and the riches of his bounty; and our conception
of the happiness of heaven must be raised to something more glorious,
than the most emphatical words can perfectly describe.
And here, to
assist our imagination in some degree, let us look round us, and take
a survey of this visible world. This earth, how conveniently has he
furnished it, how beautifully has he disposed it, how richly has he
adorned it! What various and abundant provision has he made for the
subsistence, the accommodation, and the entertainment of the creatures
that inhabit it and especially of man, in whom this scheme and system
of things appears to centre, and to whom it is almost wisely and graciously
referred! Yet earth is the habitation of a race of mean and degenerate
creatures, who are but in a state of trial; nay, it is the habitation
of thousands and ten thousands of God's incorrigible enemies, with whom
he is angry every day. Psa. vii. 11. Already it is marked with some
awful characters of the Divine displeasure: and the scripture assures
us, that it is reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment, and
perdition of ungodly men. 2 Pet. iii. 7. Yet even this
earth is not a spectacle unworthy our
regard; nor can we, if we allow ourselves to survey it with becoming
attention, behold it without an affecting mixture of admiration, of
love, and of joy—passions that will strike us yet more powerfully,
if from this earth of ours we raise our eyes to the visible heavens;
and there behold the glory of the sun, the brightness of the moon, and
all the numerous host of heaven that attend in her train. Who that considers,
with any degree of attention, their magnitude, their lustre, their motion,
and their influence, can forbear crying out, Oh Lord, our Lord, how
excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above
the heavens. Psal. viii. 1.
And when, with even these in our view, we
further reflect, that there is another apartment, as yet invisible,
of which this spangled firmament is but, as it were, the shining vail;
an apartment, where the great Creator and Governor of all has fixed
his stated residence, and erected the throne of his glory; even that
throne which is forever surrounded by all the most holy and excellent
of his creatures; we must be convinced, it is something more beautiful,
and more magnificent than this harmonious system itself. And, methinks,
when we have said more beautiful and more magnificent than this, imagination
is ready to fail
us, and to leave the mind dazzled and overwhelmed
with an effulgency of lustre which it cannot delineate, and can scarce
sustain. Yet will our venerable apprehensions of it be farther assisted
if we consider,
3. That the kingdom of heaven is the great purchase
of the blood of God's only begotten Son; and therefore to be sure it
must be inconceivably valuable.
If you are at all acquainted with your
Bibles, you must know that we are by sin in a state of alienation from
God; (Ephes. iv. 18;) that we had forfeited all our title to his love,
and stood justly exposed to his severe displeasure; and that it is Jesus
who delivered us from the wrath to come. 1 Thess. i. 10. Now if we owe
it to his merit and atonement that we live, (1 John iv. 9,) much more
are we to ascribe it to him, if we are raised to any superior degree
of happiness. If God could not, with honor to his justice, have suffered
us, without such a propitiation, to have passed off with impunity; much
less could he, without it, have received us to his embraces, and have
advanced us to sit with him on his throne. Rev. iii. 21. Accordingly
it is said of the blessed martyrs in the heavenly world, even of those
who had so gloriously distinguished their fidelity and zeal, and loved
not their lives unto the death; (Rev. xii. 11,)
that they had washed their robes, and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb; (Rev. vii. 14;) and they gratefully
acknowledge it in their hymns of praise, that Christ had redeemed them
to God by his blood, and had made them kings and priests unto God.
Rev. v. 9, 10.
Now let us seriously reflect, and consider what this
blood of the Lamb is. The apostle Peter tells us, that silver and gold,
and all the peculiar treasures of kings and princes, are but corruptible
things, (1 Pet. i. 18, 19,) or perishing and worthless trifles, when
compared with it. And no wonder it is represented in such exalted language,
when we consider it was the blood of the only begotten Son of God, who
is the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his
person, (Heb. i. 3,) and indeed one with him, (John x. 30,) being possessed
of a nature truly and properly divine; so that it is called the blood
of God. Acts xx. 28. We may well argue, even from these transient surveys,
that it was some important happiness, which he came to procure at so
expensive a rate. Had an angel been sent down from heaven, we should naturally
have concluded, it must have been upon some momentous errand: surely then, when
the Lord of angels comes down, not only to live on earth, but to expire in
bitter agonies on the cross, to purchase a benefit for us,
we may be well assured, that this benefit must
be very considerable. Our Lord Jesus Christ must certainly set a very
great value upon it, or he would not have purchased it at such a price;
and we are sure, the value that he apprehended in it must be its true
value. He could not be imposed upon by any false appearance of glory
and splendor: he despised, with a just and generous contempt, all the
kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; (Matt. iv. 8, 10;) and
he was also well acquainted with the celestial kingdom, having so long
dwelt in it, and so long presided over it: yet so highly does he esteem
it, that he speaks of it upon all occasions, as the highest possible
gift of Divine bounty, the richest preparation and noblest contrivance
of Divine love: yea, he regards it as a felicity so great, that when
he conducts his people into it, with the last solemn pomp of the judgment
day, it is said, he shall see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied,
(Isa. liv. 11,) allowing it to be a just equivalent for all he has done,
and all he has suffered in so glorious a cause.
4. The excellency of
the heavenly kingdom will further appear, if we consider, that it is
the main work of the Spirit of God upon men's hearts, to prepare them
for an admittance into it.
You well know, that the blessed Spirit of
God
is spoken of as that Divine Agent, by
whom all the hosts of heaven were created, and all God's various works
produced; (Job xxxiii. 4;) and it is he that knows the things of God
even as the human spirit knows the things of a man. 1 Cor. ii. 11. Now
it is his peculiar office in the economy of our redemption, to form
the soul to a meetness for glory. Accordingly, when the apostle Paul
had been reminding the Corinthians, that while they continued in their
sinful state, they were unfit for the kingdom of God, he adds, 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. 1 Cor. vi. 11.
That
the Spirit should condescend to engage at all in such a work, must give
us a very sublime idea of the end at which it aims. But much more will
that idea be raised, when we consider with what a variety, and what
a constancy of operations he begins, continues, and perfects it. He
attempts it, as we shall hereafter more particularly show you, sometimes
by convictions of terror, and sometimes by insinuations of love; and
by one method or another, in the hearts of all the heirs of this glory,
he works so great a change, that it is represented by turning a heart
of stone into a heart of flesh, (Ezek. xxxvi. 26,) by
raising the dead from
their graves, (Ezek. xxxvii. 13. Eph.
ii. 5, 6,) yea, by producing a new creation. 2
Cor. v. 17. Eph. ii. 10. For this does he watch over the soul with the
tenderest care, and continues his friendly offices, to recover it from
relapses, and gradually to form it to advancing degrees of sanctity,
till at length it be enabled to perfect holiness in the fear of God. 2 Cor. vii. 1. Nay, so intent is this Sacred Agent on the important
work, that when sinners most insolently and ungratefully reject him,
and by resisting him oppose their own happiness, he does not immediately
leave them; he strikes them again and again; and waits upon them for
succeeding days and months, and years.
And when, perhaps, the sincere
convert makes the most ungrateful return for the experience of his goodness,
even after he has acknowledged, and at length obeyed it: when under
the fatal transport of some ungoverned passion, and the influence of
some strong temptation, he acts as if he were intent upon tearing down
the work of the Spirit of God upon his soul, and driving him forever
away; yet in how many instances does he return again after all these
injuries, pleading the cause of God with a sweetly prevailing eloquence,
and thus healing the wound, and repairing the breach, and making it
perhaps stronger than before I And all this, for what? That the happy
subject of all these kind operations
may be formed to a fitness for the kingdom of heaven.
And are we to
regard this blessed Spirit as an unmeaning agent, or as incapable of
judging of the importance of this end for which he acts? Is that almighty
energy of his employed in an insignificant manner? Surely Nicodemus,
slow of understanding as he was, must apprehend the importance of entering
into the kingdom of heaven, when he heard, that in order to be admitted
to it, a man must be born of the Spirit. And let me add once more,
5.
That the excellency of the heavenly kingdom may further be argued from
the eagerness with which the enemy of souls is endeavoring to prevent
our entrance into it.
You know the devil is always represented as the
inveterate enemy of our happiness. His rage is expressed by that of
a roaring lion, that walks about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Peter
v. 9:) and with unwearied diligence he is continually employed in
forming and pursuing his temptations. And this is the grand design of all, that
he may exclude us from the promised felicity. While sinners are in their
unregenerate state, he endeavors to engage all their regards to the objects of
time and sense; and for that purpose he continually presents them with a variety
of entertainments and amusements suited to their
respective tempers and circumstances. If they are awakened to any serious
concern about their eternal salvation, he uses his utmost address to
divert their minds from an attendance to it: and for this purpose he
displays before them all the allurements of sin in its most engaging
forms, and if they are not captivated with these, he often puts on a
face of terror, and endeavors to affright them from religion by the
most gloomy representations of it, or by horrible and distracting suggestions,
that it is now forever too late to attain it.
Or, if Divine Grace surmount
all this opposition, and the sinner resolutely chooses his portion in
heaven, and puts his soul into the hands of Christ to be conducted to
it, the malice of Satan pursues him even to that sacred retreat, which
he has sought in the arms of his Saviour: and if he cannot prevent the
soul from entering into heaven, he will at least labor to bring it into
such a state of negligence, and to seduce it into those delays and relapses,
which may divert its regards to that blessed world, which may cloud
its evidences of it, and may at least, as much as possible, diminish
the degree of its glory there.
Now permit me, in this instance, to turn
the artillery of this cunning enemy against himself,
and to argue the excellency of this
kingdom, from the zeal and attachment with which he endeavors to obstruct
your attaining it. Though Satan be now a very degenerate creature, he
was once an angel of light, and still retains much of the knowledge,
though he has lost the rectitude and integrity of the angelic nature.
And he particularly knows what heaven is because he was once an inhabitant
there; and while he is endeavoring to persuade the sinner to prefer
earth before it, he does, by that very endeavor, incontestably prove,
that he himself knows the contrary, and is fully apprized that there
is nothing here to be compared with the felicity of the future state.
And therefore while he seeks the destruction of the soul, he can leave
it in the enjoyment of all its worldly prosperity; nay, he will attempt
to lead him into methods, by which this prosperity may be promoted and
increased.
And thus, sirs, I have endeavored a little to represent to
you, what this kingdom of heaven is from which we are assured that unconverted
sinners shall forever be excluded. I have argued its excellency--from
the representations which are made of it in the word of God--from its
being the preparation of Divine love--from its being the purchase of
a Redeemer's blood--and the end to which, on the one hand, the glorious
operations of the blessed Spirit lead--and of which,
on the other hand, all the stratagems and assaults of the prince of
darkness are intended to deprive us. If, therefore, there be truth in
scripture, if there be wisdom in heaven, or policy in hell, it must
surely be infinitely important. And will any of you be such mean-spirited
creatures, as, when that happiness is proposed to you, basely to relinquish
the pursuit of it, and to sacrifice this blessed hope to any perishing
trifle of mortal life? Surely it would be madness; though nothing more
were to be apprehended than the loss of it; and though, when heaven
were lost, all that earth can give should remain, if not to counterbalance
the loss, yet at least to make you less sensible of it. But the weight
of the argument will much more evidently appear, if you consider,
Secondly,
What will at last become of all those who are excluded from this heavenly
kingdom?
And here I beseech you to ask your own consciences, whether
they be not inwardly persuaded, that those who are excluded from heaven,
will remain in a state of existence, in which they will be ever sensible
of their loss, and will be delivered over by Divine vengeance into that
seat of torment, which God has prepared for the punishment of his implacable
and incorrigible enemies.
This many of you do undoubtedly believe
of such persons in general; believe it, therefore, of yourselves, if
you are, and continue, in an unregenerate state.
1. You will still continue
in a state of existence, in which you will be ever sensible of your
unspeakable loss.
It might afford some wretched kind of consolation
to you, if, as soon as you died out of this world, your being or your
apprehensive powers were immediately to cease. Then the loss of heaven
would only be an affliction to you in your dying moments, when you saw
the enjoyments of earth were come to an end, and that you must have
no part in any future happiness. But, alas! sirs, you cannot but know
that when your bodies are dead, and consumed in their graves, your thinking
faculties will still be continued to you: and, oh, that you would seriously
reflect, how they will then be employed! You will then be thinking what
you have done in life, what you have chosen for your happiness, and
what has been the consequence of that choice. You will look round in
vain for such accommodations and pleasures as you were once most fond
of: but they will be no more. And when you perceive them vanished, like
the visionary amusements of a dream, you will lift up your astonished
eyes
towards the regions of glory. And you indeed will
have a lively view of those happy regions: but to what purpose will
that view serve? Only through the righteous vengeance of God to aggravate
your misery and despair.
"Alas," you will think, "there are millions
of creatures yonder in heaven, who are rejoicing in the sight and favor
of God, and are as full of happiness as their natures can contain, and
shall be so forever; while I am cut off from all share in the Divine
bounty. Rivers of pleasures are flowing in upon them, while not one
drop is sent down to me; nor could I obtain it, though I were to ask
the favor from the least of Christ's servants there. I am cast out as
an accursed wretch, with whom God and his holy and blessed creatures
will have no farther intercourse, or communion. And why am I thus cast
out? and why am I thus cut off from God's favor, and driven from his
presence, while so many that dwell with me on earth are admitted to
it? My nature was originally as capable of happiness as theirs: and
though it was sadly degenerate, it might, like theirs, have been renewed.
God was once offering me that grace, by which my disordered soul might
have been transformed, and I might have been fitted for the regions
of glory: but I despised all these offers, and gave the
preference to those fading vanities,
which, alas I have forever forsaken me. And now they that were ready
are gone in to the delightful banquet, and the door is shut; (Matt.
xxv. 10;) the everlasting gates are shut forever, and barred against
me. And here I must lie at this miserable distance, envying and raging
at their happiness--of which, whatever sight or knowledge I may have
of it, I must never, never, never partake!"
Such reflections, as these,
sirs, will cut deep into your souls; and accordingly our Lord declares
to impenitent sinners in his own days, There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth, when you see others sitting down in the kingdom of God, and
you yourselves thrust out. Luke xiii. 28. And if you would reflect,
you might easily apprehend this. How would you be enraged at yourselves,
if by your folly you had neglected securing a plentiful estate, when
it was offered to you on the most easy terms; and you actually saw others,
once your equals, and perhaps your inferiors, in the possession of it,
in consequence of having taken those methods which you stupidly neglected?
The reflection, I doubt not, would very much impair the pleasure you
might find in other comfortable and agreeable circumstances. How much
more insupportable then will the loss of heaven appear to you, when
you come to see, and know, what it is you have
lost, and have nothing to relieve or support you, under the painful
recollection?
It is to no purpose to object, that upon the principles
of my last discourse, there will be no room to lament your exclusion
from those entertainments, which you would be incapable of relishing
if you were admitted to them: for you will then see, and lament that
incapacity as a very great misery. As if a man, who was naturally fond
of feasting and mirth, should see a great many regaling themselves,
and reveling about him, while he was languishing under some painful
distemper, which made him incapable of joining in the entertainment;
he would yet grieve that he had no part in it: and it would be the increase,
rather than the alleviation of his uneasiness, that it was his sickness
which unfitted him for it; especially if, as in your case, it was a
sickness, which he had brought upon himself by his own folly, and for
which he had been offered an easy, pleasant, and infallible remedy,
which he had refused to use till the malady was grown utterly incurable.
One would imagine, this thought would be enough to impress you; but
if it do not, let me entreat, and even charge you, to consider.
2. That
if you are excluded from the kingdom
of heaven, you will be consigned
over to those regions of darkness, despair, and misery, which God has
prepared for those unhappy criminals, who are the objects of his final
displeasure, and whom he will render everlasting monuments of his wrath.
There is something in human nature, that starts back at the thought
of annihilation with strong reluctance: and yet how many thousands are
there in this miserable world, who would with all their souls fly to
it as a refuge! They shall seek death, as an inspired writer strongly
expresses it, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. Rev. ix. 6. I will not attempt to enter into a
detail of the horrors, attending the place and state, into which all
who are excluded from the glories of the heavenly world shall be cast,
and in which they shall be fixed. Let that one awful scripture suffice
for a specimen of many more; in which we are told, that every one whose
name was not found written in the book of life, or who was not registered
in the number of those, who were to inhabit the New Jerusalem, or the
kingdom of heaven, was cast into the lake of fire, (Rev. xx. 25,) or,
as it is afterwards expressed, into the lake that burns with fire and
brimstone. Rev. xxi. 8. Think of this, and ask your own
hearts, you that are so impatient
of the little evils of mortal life, whether you
can endure to take up your abode forever in devouring fire, or whether
you can dwell with everlasting burnings? Isa. xxxiii. 14. Yet these
are the images by which the word of God represents it; to be plunged
as in a sea of liquid fire, whose flames are exasperated and heightened,
by being fed with brimstone; nay, as the prophet speaks, by a copious
stream of brimstone, so expressly appointed by God himself, that this,
as well as the river of the water of life, is represented as proceeding
immediately from him: he has made Tophet deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood, and the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone,
doth kindle it. Isa. xxx. 33.
It is painful to a tender mind to think
of this, as what its fellow-creatures are obnoxious to: it is grievous
to speak of it in these dreadful terms. But who are we, that we should
be more merciful than God? Or rather, how can we imagine it is mercy,
to avoid speaking of the appointment of infinite wisdom, for the punishment
of impenitent sinners? What mercy were that, sirs, to avoid to mention
these terrors to you, and to neglect to warn you of them, because they
are great? which is indeed the very reason why the scripture thus pathetically
describes them.
Away therefore with this foolish, this treacherous
compassion, which chooses rather
to leave men to be consumed, than to disturb their slumbers. Think,
sirs, of that wretched man, whom Christ describes as lifting up his
eyes in hell, being in torments; seeing the regions of the blessed at
an unapproachable distance, and begging in vain that one drop of water
might be sent to cool his tongue, amidst all the raging thirst with
which he was tormented in this flame. Luke xvi. 23, 24. Regard it attentively;
for as God lives, and as your soul lives, if you continue in an unrenewed
state, you see in that wretch the very image and representation of yourselves.
Yes, sinners, I testify it to you this day, that intolerable as it seems,
it will on that supposition be your own certain fate; or to speak much
more properly, your righteous, but inevitable doom. Heaven and earth
will desert you in that dreadful hour: or if the inhabitants of both
were to join to intercede for you, it would be in vain. Sentence will
be past, and execution done. Hell will open its mouth to receive you,
and shut it again forever to enclose you, with thousands, and ten thousands
more, among whom you will not find one to comfort you, but every one
ready to afflict you. Then shall you know the value which God sets upon
his heavenly kingdom, by the judgments he inflicts upon you for neglecting
and despising it; and then shall
you know the importance of being born again, that
only means by which Hell can be avoided, and Heaven secured.
And let
me farther add, that conviction will quickly come in this terrible way,
if you are not now prevailed upon to consider these things; things which,
if you have the least regard to the word of God, you cannot but notionally
believe. Do not then go about to annihilate, as it were, these prospects
to your mind, by placing them at a long distance. The distance is not
so great as to deserve mention. The patience of God will not wait upon
you for thousands, or even hundreds of years; you have a few mortal
days, in which to consider of the matter; or rather, you have the present
moment to consider of it. And if you improve the opportunity, it is
well; but if not, the just and uniform methods of the divine administration
shall proceed, though it should be to your ruin. God has vindicated
the honors of his violated law, and despised Gospel, upon millions,
who with the rebel-angels, by whom they have been seduced, are even
now reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment
of the great day; (Jude, verse 6;) and he will as surely vindicate them
upon you. If you do not repent, if you are not regenerate, you shall
all
likewise perish, (Luke xiii. 3,) and
not one of you shall escape.
And thus I close this copious and important
argument: this argument, in which life and death, salvation and damnation
are concerned. View it, my friends, in all its connection, and see in
what part of it the chain can be broken. Will you say, that without
regeneration you can secure an interest in the kingdom of heaven, though
the constitution of heaven oppose it, and all the declarations of God's
word stand directly against it; and though nature itself proclaim, and
conscience testify your incapacity to enjoy it? Or will you say, that
being excluded from it, you shall suffer no considerable damage, though
you lose so glorious a state, the noblest preparation of Divine love,
the purchase of redeeming blood, and the end of the Spirit's operation
on the soul; though you ever remain sensible of your loss, and be consigned
over to dwell in that flaming prison, which God has prepared for the
devil and his angels, and where all the terrors of his righteous judgment
are made known?
But if you are indeed inwardly convinced of the truth and
importance of these things, and will go away, and act as before, without any
regard to them, I can say no more The reason
of man, and the word of God can point out no stronger
arguments, than an infinite good on the one hand, and an infinite evil
on the other.
Hear, therefore, O heavens! and give ear O earth! and
let angels and devils join their astonishment; that creatures, who would
strenuously contend, and warmly exert themselves, I will not say merely
for an earthly kingdom, but in an affair where only a few pounds, or
perhaps a few shillings or pence were concerned, are indifferent here,
where, by their own confession, a happy or miserable eternity is in
question. For indifferent, I fear, some of you are and will continue.
I have represented these things in the integrity of my heart, as in
the sight of God, not in artful forms of speech, but in the genuine
language, which the strong emotions of my own soul, in the views of
them, most naturally dictated. Yet I think it not at all improbable,
that some of you, and some perhaps who do not now imagine it, will,
as soon as you return home, divert your thoughts and discourses to other
objects; and may, perhaps, as heretofore, lie down upon your beds without
spending one quarter of an hour, or even one serious minute, in lamenting
your miserable state before God, and seeking that help and deliverance
which his grace alone can give. But if you thus lie down, make, if you
can, a covenant
with death that it may not break
in upon your slumbers; and an agreement with hell, (Isa. xxviii. 15,)
that before the return of the morning, it may not flash in upon your
careless souls another kind of conviction, than they will now receive
from the voice of reason and the word of God.
DISCOURSE VII.
OF THE NECESSITY OF DIVINE INFLUENCES TO PRODUCE REGENERATION IN THE SOUL.
Titus iii. 5, 6.
Not by works of righteousness, which we
have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly,
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
IF my business were to explain and
illustrate this scripture at large, it would yield an ample field for
accurate criticism and useful discourse, and more especially would lead
us into a variety of practical remarks, on which it would be pleasant
to dilate in our meditations. It evidently implies that those, who are
saved of the Lord, are brought to the practice of good works, without
which faith is dead, (James ii. 17,) and all
pretences to a saving change are not only vain, but insolent. Yet it plainly
testifies to us, that our salvation, and acceptance with God, is not to be
ascribed to these, but to the Divine mercy;
which mercy operates by sanctifying
our hearts, through the renewing influence of the Holy Spirit: And that
there is an, abundant effusion of this Spirit under the Gospel, which
is therefore, with great propriety, called the ministration of the Spirit,
(2 Cor. iii. 8,) and the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
Rom. viii. 2.
But I must necessarily, in pursuance of my general scheme,
waive several of these remarks, that I may leave myself room to insist
on the grand topic I intend from the words.
I have already shown you,
who may be said to be in an unregenerate state: I have also described
the change which regeneration makes in the soul; and have largely shown
you, in the three last discourses, the absolute necessity and importance
of it. And now I proceed,
To show the necessity of the Divine power,
in order to produce this great and important change.
This is strongly
implied in the words of the text: in which the apostle, speaking of
the method God has been pleased to take for the display of his goodness
in the salvation and happiness of fallen men, gives us this affecting
view of it, that it is not by works of righteousness which we, i. e.
any of us Christians, have done; but according to his free grace and
mercy that he has
saved us by the washing of regeneration, and the
renewing of the Holy Ghost. . . . . .
Lest any should imagine, that an external
ceremony (baptism) was sufficient, or that it was the chief thing intended,
the apostle takes the matter higher. And as the apostle Peter tells
us, that the baptism which saves us is not merely the putting away the
filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God;
(1 Pet. iii. 21;) so the apostle Paul here adds, that we are saved
by
the renewing of the Holy Ghost: by which I can by no means understand
something entirely distinct from, and subsequent to his regenerating
influences; for according to the view of regeneration stated in our
former discourses, none can be regenerated who are not renewed: but
it seems to explain the former clause, and to refer to the more positive
effect produced by Divine grace on the soul, whereby Christians are
not only purified from sin, but disposed to, and quickened in a course
of holy obedience. And then he further tells us, that this Spirit is
the gift of God, and is plentifully communicated to us in the name,
and through the hands of the blessed Redeemer, being shed on us abundantly
by God, through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Agreeably therefore to the
general design and
purport of these words, I shall go
on to demonstrate the absolute necessity of a Divine agency and operation
in this great work of our regeneration; which I shall do from a variety
of topics. And here I shall studiously waive many controversies, with
which the Christian world has been afflicted, and the soundest part
of it disturbed, with relation to the kind and manner of this influence.
I will not so much as mention them, and much less discuss them; lest
Satan should take an advantage of us, (1 Cor. ii. 11,) to divert our
minds from what is essential in this doctrine, to what is merely circumstantial.
Only let it be observed in general, that I speak of such an agency of
God on our minds, as offers no violence to the rational and active nature
which God has given us, nor does by any means supersede our obligation
to those duties which his word requires; but on the contrary, cures
and perfects our nature, and disposes the soul to a regard to such incumbent
duties, and strengthens it in the discharge of them. With this only
preliminary, which appears to me highly important, I proceed to show
the reasonableness of ascribing this change to a Divine agency, rather
than to anything else, which may be supposed to have any share in producing
it. And we may infer this,
First, from the general and necessary dependence
of the whole created world upon God.
There was a philosophical as well
as Divine truth, in that observation of the apostle Paul at Athens,
which was well worthy the most learned assembly; In him, i. e. in God,
we live, and move, and have our being. Acts xvii. 28. Such is the innate
weakness of created nature, that it continually depends on a Divine
support. The very idea of its being created, supposes that it had no
cause of its existence, but the Divine will in the first moment of it;
and if it could not then subsist without that will, in the first moment
of its existence, it neither could subsist without it in the second,
or in any future moment of it; since to have been dependent for a while,
can never be supposed to render anything for the future independent.
The continued existence then of all the creatures—no less of angels,
than of worms, or trees, or stones-- does properly depend upon the Divine
energy which bears them up; and holds those of them in life, which live,
and those of them in being, which are inanimate, or without life.
And
if their being be dependent, then surely it will follow, that all their
perceptive and active powers, whatsoever they are, must continually
depend upon God: for to exist with such powers
is evidently more than simply to
exist; and if a Divine agency be necessary for the latter, much more
must we allow it to be necessary for the former.
The human mind, therefore,
with all its capacities and improvements, must acknowledge itself perpetually
indebted to God, who is the fountain of truth and wisdom, as well as
of being: accordingly we are told, it is he that teacheth man knowledge.
Psal. xciv. 1. All the skill of the husbandman, in one passage of Scripture,
(Isa. xxviii. 26,) and all the wisdom of the artificer, in another,
(Exod. xxxvi. 1, 2,) is ascribed to his influence: and if
the improvement of the sciences, and any other discovery, which renders human
life in any degree more commodious and agreeable, is to be ascribed to the
Divine illumination and influence, then surely it is from hence this art of
living wisely and well must also be derived. All the views upon which good
resolutions are formed, all the strong impressions upon the mind arising from
these views, and all the steadiness and determination of spirit, which does not
only form such purposes, but carries them into execution, are plainly the effect
of the Divine agency on the mind; without which no secular affairs could be
clearly understood, strenuously pursued, or successfully accomplished. And how
peculiarly reasonable
it is, to apply this remark to the point
now in view, will appear by attending,
Secondly, to the greatness and
excellency of this regenerating change, which speaks it aloud to be
the Divine work.
I must, upon this occasion, desire you to recollect
what I laid before you in several of the former discourses. Think of
the new light that breaks in upon the understanding; of the new affections
that are enkindled in the heart; of the new resolutions, by which the
will is sweetly and powerfully, though most freely influenced; and think
of the degree of vigor attending these resolutions, and introducing
a series of new labors and pursuits; and surely you must confess, that
it is the finger of God; especially when you consider, how beautiful
and excellent, as well as how great the work is.
Do we acknowledge,
that it was the voice of God that first commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, and that it was worthy of a Divine agency to produce
so Beautiful a creature as the sun, to gild the whole face of our world,
and to dress the different objects around us in such a varied and vivid
assemblage of colors? And shall we not allow it to be much more worthy
of him, to lighten up a benighted soul, and reduce its chaos into harmony
and order? Was it worthy
of God to form the first principles
even of the vegetative life, in the lowest plant or herb, and to visit
with refreshing influences of the rain and sun the earth wherein these
seeds are sown? And is it not much more worthy of him to implant the
seed of the divine life, and to nourish it from time to time by the
influence of his Spirit? Did it suit the Divine wisdom and mercy to
provide for sustaining our mortal lives, for healing our wounds, and
recovering us from our diseases? And shall it not much more suit him,
to act as the great Physician of souls, in restoring them to ease, to
health and vigor?
They must be dead indeed to all sense of spiritual
excellence, who do not see how much more illustriously God appears,
when considered as the author of grace, than merely as the author of
nature. For indeed all the works of nature, and all the instances of
Divine interposition to maintain its order and harmony, will chiefly
appear valuable and important, when considered in subserviency to the
gracious design of recovering apostate man from the ruin of his degenerate
state--without which it had been far better for him never to have known
being, and never to have inhabited a world so liberally furnished with
a variety of good. And, therefore, I would appeal to every Christian,
whether he does not find a much more ardent
gratitude glowing in his heart when he considers
God as the author of the religious and divine, than merely of the animal
or the rational life?
And permit me here to remark, that, agreeably
to these reasonings, some of the pagan philosophers have said very serious
and remarkable things concerning the reality and the need of Divine
influences on the mind, for the production of virtue and piety there.
Thus, Seneca, when he is speaking of a resemblance to the Deity in character,
ascribes it to the influence of God upon the mind: "Are you surprised,"
says he, "that man should approach to the gods? It is God that comes
to men; nay, which is yet more, he enters into them; for no mind becomes
virtuous but by his assistance."Senec. Epistol. LXXIII. Simplicius, also, was so sensible
of the necessity of such an influence, that he "prays to God, as the
father and guide of reason, so to co-operate with us, as to purge us
from all carnal and brutish affections, that we may be enabled to act
according to the dictates of reason, and to attain to the true knowledge
of himself."Simplic. in Epictet. ad fin. And Maximus Tyrius
argues, agreeably to what is said above, that "if skill in the professions and
sciences is insinuated into men's minds, by a Divine influence, we can much less
imagine, that a thing so much more excellent, as virtue is, can
be the work of any mortal art; for
strange must be the notion that we have of God, to think that he is
liberal and free in matters of less moment, and sparing in the greatest."Max. Tyr. Dissert. xxii.
And in the same discourse he tells us, "that even the best disposed
minds, as they are seated in the midst, between the highest virtue and
extreme wickedness, need the assistance and the help of God, to incline
and lead them to the better side."Max. Tyr. ibid. I am sensible that all these philosophers,
with many more who speak to the same purpose, living after Christ's
time, may be said to have learned such language from Christians: and
if they did so, I wish all who have since worn the name had been equally
teachable. But some who appeared much earlier, speak much in the same
manner,It is here remarkable, that Xenophon represents Cyrus, with
his dying breath, "as humbly ascribing it to a Divine influence on his
mind, that he had been taught to acknowledge the care of Providence,
and to bear his prosperity with a becoming moderation."--Xen. Cyropæd.
lib. viii. cap. 7, § 1. And Socrates is introduced, by Plato, as declaring,
"that wheresoever virtue comes, it is apparently the fruit of a Divine dispensation."--Plat. Men.
ad. fin. p. 428. And to this purpose Plato
has observed, "that virtue is not to be taught but by Divine assistance."--Epinom.
pag. 1014. And elsewhere he declares, "that if any man escape the temptations
of life, and behave himself as becomes a worthy member of society, as
the laws of it are generally settled"--which, by the way, is something very
far short of religion—"he has reason to own, that it is God that
saves him."--De Repub. lib. vi. pag. 677. edit. Franc. of 1602. as I might easily show
you, if it were not already more than time to observe,
Thirdly. That we may further argue the Divine agency in this blessed
work, from the violent opposition over which it prevails in its rise
and progress.
The awakened soul, when laboring towards God, and aspiring
after further communications of his grace to form it for his service,
may justly say with David, Lord, how are they increased that trouble
me? How many are they that rise up against me? Ps. iii. 1. With how
many threatening dangers are we continually surrounded! And what a numerous
host of enemies are ready to oppose us! The law of sin, that wars in
our members, (Rom. vii. 23,) and concerning whose forces it may well
be said, their name is Legion, for they are many: the evil influence
of a degenerate world, whose corrupt examples press like a torrent,
and require the most vigorous efforts to bear up against them: and in
confederacy with these, and at the head of all, the Prince of Darkness--whose
counsels and efforts, with relation to this world of ours, do as it
were centre in this one thing, to prevent men's regeneration;
because it is by means of
this, that those are recovered out of the snare of the devil, who were
before led captive by him at his will. 2 Tim. ii. 26.
I persuade myself,
that when I am speaking on this head, though some may imagine it to
be mere empty harangue, and common place declamation, the experienced
soul will attest the truth of what I say. It may be s6me of you, who,
by what of these sermons you have already heard, have come under some
serious convictions, and been awakened in go6d earnest to be thoughtful
about being born again, have felt such a struggle in your own minds
that you may say, you never knew before what the flesh, the world, and
the devil were, nor could have imagined that their opposition to this
work was so forcible and violent as you now find it. To reform the irregularities
of the life is comparatively easy; but to root sin out of the soul,
to consecrate the whole heart to God, and demolish those idols that
have been set up, as it were, in the secret chambers of imagery, (Ezek.
viii. 12,) is difficult indeed; all the corruptions of the heart in
such a case are ready to exert themselves, and it is natural for the
lusts of the flesh to unite against that which is set upon destroying
them all; nor did you ever know before, that there was such a
world of sin within you. With violence also does
the strong man armed exert himself, when his goods are about to be
taken
from him by one stronger than himself: as our Lord, with an unerring
propriety and wisdom, represents it; (Luke xi. 21, 22;) and indeed it
seems as if through the violence of his malignity, and the righteous
judgment of God, who, whenever he pleases, can take the wise in his
own craftiness, (1 Cor. iii. 19,) that Satan sometimes overshoots his
mark, and raises so sensible an opposition against the cause of God
in the soul, that an argument might be drawn, even from that very opposition,
to prove the truth and excellency of what he sets himself so directly
against. And you have now perhaps experienced, too, more than you ever
did before, the inveterate opposition of the seed of the Serpent to
that of the Woman: you have found, that since you began to think of
religion in good earnest, some have derided you, others it may be have
reviled you, and enemies have sprung up out of your own house: (Matt.
x. 36;) though the impressions you have felt tend to make you more amiable,
more kind, and more useful, and therefore one would think should conciliate
their friendship: but this is a memorable instance in which self-love
seems to make, as it were, a sacrifice of itself to the hatred of
God. Now, therefore,
to accomplish such a mighty
change in the midst of such opposition, must evidently speak a Divine
interposition. And surely the Christian, when thus recovered and restored,
has reason to declare, as Israel did, if it had not been the Lord who
was on our side when these confederate enemies rose up against us, then
they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against
us; then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our
soul, then the proud waters had gone over our soul, (Psal. cxxiv. 1-5,)
and would have quenched and buried every spark that looked like Divine
life, and have borne away every purpose of reformation and holiness.
The remark will be further illustrated, if we consider,
Fourthly, By
what feeble means this change is accomplished.
The apostle observes,
that in his day they had the treasure of the gospel lodged in earthen
vessels, that the excellency of the power, which rendered it successful,
might appear to be of God and not of man. 2 Cor. iv. 7. And it is still
in a great measure apparent, that the same method is made use of from
the same principle. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal; and if
at any time they are mighty and effectual, it must be only through God.
2 Cor. x. 4. It is not by secular
might or power, (Zech. iv. 6,) that
this
great work is accomplished: no, nor by the refinements
of learning, or the charms of eloquence. These things indeed have their
use; the understanding may sometimes be convinced by the one, and the
affections moved by the other: yet where both these have been done,
the work often drops short: and it may be the plainest addresses, from
a weak and almost trembling tongue, shall perform that which the far
superior talents of many have not been able to effect. A multitude of
such instances has been found, and perhaps seldom in these latter ages
more observable than in the compass of our own observation.
Now whenever
this work is accomplished by the preaching of the gospel in a Christian
country, there is generally some circumstance that shows it is a divine,
and not a human work. It is not the novelty of the doctrine which strikes;
for all the main truths, on which the conviction and impression turns,
have been known even from early infancy. No miracles awaken the attention,
no new doctrines astonish the mind; but what has a thousand times been
heard, and as often neglected, breaks in upon the mind with an almost
irresistible energy, and strikes it as if it never had been heard of
before. They seem as Israel did, when the Lord turned again their captivity,
to awake out of a dream, (Ps. cxxvi. 1,)
and wonder at the influence that
has awakened them. The ministry of the word may seem but feeble, when
compared to such an event: and yet sometimes even less solemn methods
than that shall be effectual. One single text of scripture occurring
to the sight or thought, one serious hint dropped in conversation, shall
strike the mind, and pierce it through with an energy that plainly shows,
that from whatever feeble hand it might seem to come, it was shot out
of the quiver of God, and intended by him that made the heart to reach
it: since there is almost as much disproportion between the cause and
the effect, as between Moses lifting up his rod and the dividing of
the water of the sea before Israel. Exod. xiv. 16. In many instances,
remarkable providences, which one would have thought should have struck
the soul as it were to the centre, have produced no effect: and yet
a word, or a thought, has accomplished it; and after the whirlwind,
the earthquake, and the fire have made their successive efforts in vain,
it has appeared that the Lord has been in the still small voice. 1 Kings
xix. 1, 12. On the whole, a variety of circumstances may illustrate
the matter in different degrees; but, taking it in a general view, the
remark appears to be well founded, that the weakness of the means, by
which the saving change is wrought,
argues plainly that the hand of God is in it: as
when anointing the eyes with spittle gave sight to the blind, (John
ix. 6,) it was evidently the exertion of a miraculous power. But now,
agreeably to what has been advanced under these several heads, I shall
proceed to show at large,
Fifthly, That the Scripture teaches us to
ascribe this great change on the mind to a Divine agency and
operation.
And here you will see, that it does not merely drop here and there an
expression which is capable of such an interpretation, but that the
whole tenor of the word of God leads to such a conclusion: and surely,
if we own the word to be divine, we need no more convincing argument
of the truth of this remark. The only difficulty I shall here find,
will be like that which occurred under the former head, and proceeds
from the variety and multiplicity of texts which offer them selves to
me while reflecting on this subject; however, I will endeavor to rank
them in the plainest and best order I can, under the following particulars.
We find God sometimes promises to produce such a change in men's minds;
and at other times he speaks of it as his own work, when it has been
already produced: the scripture represents even the increase of piety
in a regenerate heart, as the effect of a Divine
power; and how much more must the
first implanting of it be so: nay, it goes yet further than this, and
expresses the necessity as well as the reality of a Divine influence
on the mind to make it truly religious, and resolves the want of true
religion into this, that God withholds his influence. If, therefore,
any one, and much more if all these particulars can be made out, I think
it must force a conviction on your judgment at least, that what we are
endeavoring to confirm in this discourse is the doctrine of scripture.
1. There are various places in scripture, wherein God promises to produce
such a change in men's minds as we have before described; which plainly
shows that it is to be acknowledged as his work.
Thus Moses says to
Israel, without all doubt by the Divine direction, The Lord thy God
will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest
live. Deut. xxx. 6. And this circumcision of the heart must surely be
the removal of some insensibility and pollution adhering to it, and
bringing it to a more orderly, regular, obedient state. It is sometimes
made matter of exhortation, and thus indeed proves that there is a view
in which it may be considered as a DUTY incumbent upon
us (as when Moses said,
circumcise the foreskin of your heart; (Deut. x.
16;) and Jeremiah, in imitation of him, circumcise yourselves to the
Lord, and take away the foreskin of your heart. (Jer. iv. 4.) Here it
is put in the form of a promise, to signify that wherever it was done,
it was in consequence of God's preventing and assisting grace.
On the
same principle, the Father promises to Christ, thy people shall be willing
in the day of thy power. Ps. cx. 3. But if any pretend that these words
may possibly admit of another version, though I know none more just
than this, there are many other parallel places which are not attended
with any ambiguity at all. Such, in particular, is that gracious promise,
which though it was immediately made to the house of Israel, Sis nevertheless
quoted by the apostles as expressive of God's gospel covenant with all
believers; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their
inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people: (Jer. xxxi. 33; Heb. viii. 19:) or, as
it is elsewhere expressed by the same prophet Jeremiah, I will give
them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever; and I will
put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Jer.
xxxiii. 32, 39, 40. And Ezekiel echoes back the same language by the
same Spirit;
I will give them one heart, and I
will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out
of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh; that they may walk
in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances and do them; (Ezek. xi. 19,
20:) which is afterwards repeated again almost in the same words: A
new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you:
and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give
you a heart of flesh; and I will put my Spirit within you, and cause
you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27.
Now such a transformation of the heart and spirit
as may be represented by a thorough renovation, or by changing stone
into flesh, speaks the doctrine I am asserting in as plain terms as
we could contrive or express; and beautifully points out at once the
greatness and excellency of the change, and the Almighty power by which
it is effected; for we may assure ourselves God would never promise
such influences, if he did not really mean to impart them. But again,
2. Agreeably to the tenor of these promises, the scripture also ascribes
this work to a Divine agency, when it is effected.
Thus the apostle
John, when he is speaking of those who, on receiving Christ, become
the sons of
God, declares concerning them that they were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God: (John i. 13:) plainly intimating that it was to him, and
not only or chiefly to themselves or others, that this happy change
was to be ascribed: which is well explained by those words of St. James,
in which he says, of his own will begat he us with the word of truth,
that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures. Jam. i. 18.
Accordingly our Lord, as you have heard at large, insists upon it as
absolutely necessary to a man's entering into the kingdom of God, not
only that he should be born again, but more particularly that he should
be born of the Spirit, (John iii. 3, 5,) i. e. by the sanctifying influence
of the Spirit of God operating upon his soul, to purify and cleanse
it.
And as this great work of regeneration chiefly consists in being
brought to faith and repentance, you may observe, that each of these
are spoken of as a Divine production in the mind, or as the gift of
God to it. Thus the believing Jews, with one consent, expressed their
conviction when they heard the story of Cornelius and declare, then
has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. Acts xi.
18. And so the apostle Paul expresses it, when speaking of the possibility
that some might be recovered out of the snare of the
devil, he says, If God peradventure
will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. 2 Tim.
ii. 25, 26. That very attention to the Gospel, which is the first step
towards the production of faith in the soul, is resolved into this,
when it is said, that the Lord opened Lydia's heart, that she attended
to the things which were spoken by Paul. Acts xvi. 41. And with regard
to the progress of it, it is not only said in general, you hath he quickened,
who were dead in trespasses and sins; but faith is expressly declared
to be the gift of God; (Eph. ii. 1, 8;) and the apostle says to the
Philippians, that it was given to them to believe; (Phil. i. 29;) nay,
it is represented as a most glorious and illustrious effort of Divine
power, and ascribed to the exceeding greatness of his power towards
them that believe, according to the working of his mighty power which
he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead. Eph. i. 19,
20.
And in this view it is, that this change is called a new creation;
(2 Cor. v. 17;) plainly implying, as a celebrated writer well expresses
it, "that something must here be done in us, and for us, which cannot
be done by us." Wherefore it is said, that the new man is renewed in
knowledge after the image of him that created him: (Col. iii. 10:) and
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works: (Eph.
ii. 10:) not
to insist upon the great variety of parallel passages,
in which the same thoughts are expressed almost in the very same words.
But he indeed who would reckon up all the scriptures, both in the Old
and New Testaments, which directly or indirectly refer to this, must
transcribe a larger part of both than would be convenient to read at
one time in a worshiping assembly. But we may further, by a very strong
consequence, infer the doctrine I am now maintaining from those various
passages of the sacred writers, in which,
3. The increase of piety in
a heart already regenerated, is spoken of as the work of God.
Thus David,
even when he felt himself disposed to the most vigorous prosecution
of religion, solemnly declares his dependence upon continued Divine
influences, to enable him to execute the holy purpose he was then most
affectionately forming: I will run the way of thy commandments, says
he, when thou shalt enlarge my heart, (Psal. cxix. 32,) i. e. when thou
shalt influence it with a steady principle of zeal, and with those devout
passions which may make every branch of my duty easy and delightful.
And the apostle Paul declares his persuasion that God would continue
those gracious influences which he had already imparted: He that has
begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Phil. i. 6. And when he speaks of
the ardent desire with which Christians were aspiring towards a better
world, he adds, He that hath wrought us for the self-same things is
God. 2 Cor. v. 5. Thus also he ascribes his continued fidelity in the
ministry to the grace of God that was with him, as being one that had
obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful: (1 Cor. vii. 25:) for
by
the grace of God, says he, I am what I am: and if I have labored more
abundantly than others, it is not I, but the grace of God which was
with me. 1 Cor. xv. 10. On the same principle he acknowledges, that
the success of Apollos in watering, as well as his own in planting,
was to be referred to this, that God gave the increase in the one case
as well as in the other. 1 Cor. iii. 6, 7. And he concludes his Epistle
to the Hebrews with this remarkable prayer: The God of peace make you
perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which
is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ. Heb. iii. 31. But
indeed, as every prayer that the apostles offer for any of their Christian
brethren and friends, that they may grow in grace, might be urged for
the illustration of this head, I choose rather to refer the rest to
your own observation on this general hint, than to enter into a more
particular enumeration.
I shall only add, to complete the argument,
4. That the scripture often declares the necessity as well as the
reality
of such influences, and refers the ruin of man to this circumstance,
that God in his righteous judgment had withheld or withdrawn them.
When
Moses would upbraid the obstinacy of the Israelites, that all the profusion
of wonders wrought for them in Egypt, and in the wilderness, had not
produced any suitable impressions; so much was he accustomed to think
of every thing good, in the moral, as well as in the natural world,
as the gift of God, that he uses this remarkable expression: Yet the
Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears
to hear, unto this day. Deut. xxix. 4. And our Lord, the propriety of
whose expressions surely none can arraign, speaks to the same purpose,
when adoring the Divine conduct with respect to the dispensation of
saving light and gospel blessings, he says, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise
and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for
so it seemed good in thy sight. Matt. xi. 25, 26. If some of the plainest
and lowest of the people, who were in comparison to others but as little
children, understood and received
the gospel, while the learned men and politicians of the age despised
it, God revealed it to the former, while he suffered the vail of prejudice
to remain on the mind of the latter, though his Almighty hand could
easily have removed it.
Those other words of our Lord must not be omitted
here, in which he says, No man can come unto me, except the Father which
hath sent me draw him: (1 John vi. 44:) and what this
drawing of the
Father means, he himself has explained by saying, No man can come unto
me, except it be given him of my Father; (Ver. 65;) and elsewhere he
expresses it by learning of the Father; (Ver. 45;) all which must undoubtedly
signify a Divine agency and influence on the mind. Nay, a more forcible
expression than this is made use of by the evangelist John, where he
takes notice of the unbelief of those that saw the miracles of Christ,
therefore they could not believe, because Esaias said, he has blinded
their eyes, and hardened their hearts: (John xii. 39, 40:) which is
agreeable to that expression of the apostle Paul, he has mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth: (Rom. ix. 18:) a
thought which the apostle pursues at large through the following verses.
These, to be sure, are very emphatical scriptures:
and though it is necessary to understand
them in such a qualified sense as to make them consistent with other
scriptures which charge men's destruction, not on any necessitating
decree of God, but upon themselves and the abuse of their own faculties;
yet still these expressions must stand for something; and in the most
moderate sense that he can put upon them, they directly confirm what
I have here brought them to prove. So that on the whole, the matter
must come to this--That the cause of men's final and everlasting ruin
may be referred in one view of it, to God's withholding those gracious
influences, which if they had been imparted, would indeed have subdued
the greatest perverseness; but his withholding these influences is not
merely an arbitrary act, but the just punishment of men's wickedness;
and of their obstinate folly in trifling with the means of his grace,
and grieving his Spirit till he was provoked to withdraw. This thought,
which I might largely prove to you to be a compendium of the scripture
scheme, reconciles all; and any consequences drawn from one part of
that scheme to the denial of the other, how plausible soever, must certainly
be false.
I hope what I have here said may be sufficient to fix a conviction
in your judgments and consciences, that regeneration is ultimately to
be referred
to a Divine influence upon
the soul: or, as the apostle expresses it in the text, that God saves
us of his mercy, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our
Saviour.
I shall conclude with two or three reflections, which, though
so exceeding obvious, I shall touch upon, in regard to their great importance,
without offering, as I might, to dilate on each of them at large.
1.
Let those who have experienced this divine change in their souls give
God the glory of it.
Perhaps there are many of you who may see peculiar
reason to do it; perhaps you may be conscious to yourselves, that the
arm of the Lord was remarkably revealed in conquering, every sensible
opposition, and getting itself the victory, even when you seemed, as
if you had been resolutely bent upon your own destruction, to struggle
to the utmost against the operation of his grace on your soul. Others
may perhaps have perceived the strength of the Divine agency in the
slightness of the occasion, or in the weakness of the means by which
he wrought; which indeed is often matter of astonishment to those that
seriously reflect upon it. But whatever your inclinations may have appeared,
and whatever
means or instruments were used, give God the glory
of all.
If you have found yourselves, from your early years, inclined
to attend to divine things, and susceptible of tender impressions from
them, that attention and those impressions were to be resolved into
this; that God prevented you with the blessings of his goodness. If
you have enjoyed the most excellent public ordinances, even with all
the concurrent advantages that the most pressing exhortations, and.
the most edifying example of parents, ministers, and companions could
give; it was Divine Providence that furnished you with those advantages,
and Divine grace that added efficacy to them--else they had only served
to display their own weakness, even where they might have appeared most
powerful, and to illustrate that insensibility or obstinacy of heart
which would have rendered you proof against all. You do well indeed
to honor those whom God has blessed as the means of your spiritual edification:
but if they think aright, it would grieve them to the very heart to
have those applauses given, and those acknowledgments made to them,
which are due to God alone. All they have done is so little that it
deserves not the mention; and the greater attainments they have made
in religion, the more cordially will they join with the
holy apostle in saying, Neither is
he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth
the increase. 1 Cor. iii. 7.
2. We may further infer, that they who
attempt the conversion of sinners, should do it with an humble dependence
on the co-operation of Divine grace.
Otherwise they will probably find
themselves fatally disappointed; and after their most skillful or most
laborious attempts, they will complain that they have labored in vain,
and spent their strength for nought; (Isa. xlix. 4;) and find reason
to say, The bellows are burnt, and the lead is consumed of the fire,
yet the dross is not taken away. Jer. vi. 29. A dependence upon God,
in all the common affairs of life, becomes us as we are creatures; and
it is most necessary that we should, in all our ways acknowledge him,
as we expect or desire that he should direct or prosper our paths: (Prov.
iii. 6:) but the greater the undertaking is, the more solemn should
the acknowledgment of God be.
Let me therefore especially recommend
this to those who are coming forth as young officers in the army of
Christ. See to it, my brethren, that in the name of your God you set
up your banners; (Psal. xx. 5;) that you apply from
time to time to your public work with a deep conviction upon
your minds that no strength of reason will effectually
convince, that no eloquence will effectually persuade, unless he that
made men's hearts will plead his own cause, and bow those hearts in
humble subjection. With these views, I have often known the feeblest
attempts successful, and the meek and lowly have out of weakness been
made strong; (Heb. xi. 34;) while for want of this, all the charms of
composition and delivery have been at best but like the lovely song
of one who has a pleasant voice, or the art of one that can play well
on an instrument. Ezek. xxxiii. 32. It is those that honor God by the
most cordial dependence upon him that he delighteth to honor: (1 Sam.
ii. 30:) and I will presume to say, that it is the inward conviction
of this important truth, which I feel upon my soul while I am confirming
it to you, that encourages me to hope, that this labor shall not be
in vain in the Lord, (1 Cor. xv. 58,) but that a Divine blessing shall
evidently attend what has already been delivered, and what shall further
be spoken. Only let me conclude my present Discourse with this one necessary
caution,
3. That you do not abuse this doctrine of the necessity of
Divine influences, which from the word of God, has been so abundantly
confirmed.
God does indeed act upon us, in order to produce this happy
change: but he acts upon us in a
manner suitable to our rational nature,
and not as if we were mere machines. He saves us, as the scripture expresses
it, by awaking us to save ourselves: (Acts ii. 40:)
a new heart does
he give us, and a new spirit does he put within us, (Ezek. xxxvi. 26,)
to stir us up to be solicitous to make ourselves a new heart and a new
spirit: (Ezek. xviii. 31:) he circumcises our heart to love him, (Deut.
xxx. 6,) by engaging us to take away the foreskin of our hearts. Jer.
iv. 4. You see the correspondency of the phrases, and it is of great
importance that you attend to it. If any therefore say, "I will sit
still, and attempt nothing for my own recovery, till God irresistibly
compels me to it:" he seems as like to perish, as that man would be,
who, seeing the house in flames about him, should not attempt to make
his escape, till he felt himself moved by a miracle.
Sirs, the dependence
of the creature on God, though it be especially, yet it is not only,
in spiritual affairs: it runs through all our interests and concerns.
We as really depend upon his influence to stretch out our hands, as
we do to raise our hearts towards him in prayer. Your fields could no
more produce their fruit without his agency, than his word could, without
it, become fruitful in your hearts: yet you plow and sow; and would
look upon him as a madman,
that upon this principle should decline it, urging,
that no crop could be expected if God did not produce it; and that if
he pleased to produce it, it would come up without any human labor.
The argument is just the same in that case, as when men plead for the
neglect of means or endeavors, from the reality and necessity of a divine
concurrence. And if they apply this argument to the concerns of their
souls, when they do not apply it to those of their bodies, it plainly
shows, that they regard their bodies more than their souls; and that
in pretending to make these excuses, they belie their conscience, and
act against the secret conviction of their own heart. Such persons do
not deserve to be disputed with, but rather should be solemnly admonished
of the danger of such egregious trifling, where eternity is at stake.
And sure I am, that it is offering a great affront to the memory of
the blessed Paul, when men pretend to encourage themselves in this perverse
temper from anything he has said. For when he gives us, as it were,
the substance of all I have now been saying, in those comprehensive
words, It is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do, of his
good pleasure, (Phil. ii. 13,) he is so far from mentioning it as an
excuse for remissness and sloth, that he introduces it professedly in
the
very contrary view, as engaging us
to exert ourselves with the utmost vigor in a dependence upon that Divine
operation. And therefore, as he there expresses it, I say with him,
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; and if you will
not do it, you have reason to tremble in the prospect of a final condemnation
from God, aggravated by your having thus irrationally and ungratefully
abused the revelation of his grace.
DISCOURSE VIII
OF THE VARIOUS METHODS OF THE DIVINE OPERATION IN THE
PRODUCTION OF THIS SAVING CHANGE.
1 Cor. xii. 6.
There are diversities
of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
WHATEVER
the original sense of these words was, and how peculiarly soever they
may relate to the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, the whole tenor
of this discourse will show with how much propriety they may, at least,
be accommodated to the operations of his grace. I have proved to you
in the last of these lectures, that wherever regeneration is produced,
it is ultimately to be ascribed to a Divine agency; and though I cannot
say it is equally important, yet I apprehend it may be both agreeable
and useful to proceed,
Fifthly, To survey the VARIETY OF METHODS which
God is pleased to take in producing this happy change: or, to borrow
the language of the text, to consider the diversity of operations, by
which the same God, who worketh all in
all, i. e. who produces all the virtues and graces of the Christian
character, in some degree, in all his people, is pleased, according
to his own wise and gracious purposes, to proceed in his agency, on
those whom he regenerates and saves.
And this survey will not be matter
of mere curiosity, but may probably revive the hearts of some amongst
you by the recollection of your own experience: and it may be a caution
to others, who, for want of due compass and extent of thought and knowledge,
are ready to argue, as if God had but one way to work on the human heart,
and that one the particular manner by which he recovered them. Of this
I shall speak more largely hereafter. In the mean time, I judged it
necessary to premise this hint, to direct us as to the temper with which
this discourse should be heard, as well as to the purpose to which it
is to be improved.
Now what I have to offer on this subject will be
ranged under these three heads. There is a diversity and variety observable—in the
time—the occasion--and the manner, of the Divine operations
on the soul.
I. There is an observable variety, as to the TIME of God's
gracious operations on different persons.
Some are called in their infancy:--others, and these
perhaps the greatest part, are wrought upon in youth:--and some very
few in the advance, and even in the decline of life.
1. Some are wrought
upon by Divine grace in their infancy.
This is often the case; and
I doubt not, but if parents were to do their duty, it would much more
frequently be so. And it is an honor which God is pleased, in some instances,
remarkably to confer on a good education; which is indeed so important
a duty on one side, and so great a privilege on the other, that it is
the less to be wondered at, that he so mercifully encourages Christian
parents in the discharge of it: thus granting, as it were, an immediate
reward for this labor of love. And I must here take the freedom, on
my own observation, to say, that God seems especially to own the faithful
endeavors of pious mothers in this respect. He has wisely and graciously
given that sex a peculiar tenderness of address, and an easy and insinuating
manner, which is admirably adapted to this great end, for which, no
doubt, he especially intended it, that of conveying knowledge to children,
and making tender impressions on their minds: and there is hardly any
view in which the importance of the sex more evidently appears.
We have encouragement to believe, there
are a considerable number who are, as it were, sanctified from the womb,
and in whom the seeds of Divine grace are sown, before they grow up
to a capacity of understanding the public preaching of the word: a remark,
which Mr. Baxter carries so far as to say, that he believes, "if the
duties of religious education were conscientiously discharged, preaching
would not be God's ordinary method of converting souls: but the greater
part would be wrought upon before they were capable of entering into
the design of a sermon." And indeed it seems to me, that children may
early come to have some apprehensions of what is most important in religion.
They may have a reverence for God, and a love for him, as that great
Father who made them, and that kind Friend who gives them everything
that they have: they may have a fear of doing anything that would displease
him; and though it is not so easy for them to understand the doctrines
peculiar to a Redeemer, yet when they hear of Christ as the Son of God,
who came down from heaven to teach men and children the way thither;
who loved them, and did them good every day, and at last died to deliver
them from death and hell; their little hearts may well be impressed
with such thoughts as these, and they may find a growing desire to be
instructed in
what Christ is, and what he taught and did, and
to do what shall appear to be his will. And wherever this is the prevailing
disposition, it seems to me that the seeds of holiness are sown in that
soul, though but small proficiency may be made in knowledge, and though
the capacities for service be very low.
I will add, that some remarkably
pertinent and solid things, which little children have said concerning
religion, seem to me plainly to evidence, that they have been, in many
instances, under some uncommon teachings of the Divine Spirit: and it
seems perfectly suitable to the genius of Christianity, that in this
sense God should ordain strength out of the mouth of babes and sucklings,
(Psal. viii. 2,) and should reveal to them what he has suffered to be
hidden from the wise and prudent. (Matt. xi. 25.) Nor can I suppose
it hard for any, who have been for a considerable time acquainted with
the state of religion in Christian societies, to recollect various instances,
in which persons thus taught of God, who have heard, and known, and
loved the scriptures, and delighted in ordinances and serious discourse
from their childhood, have been, in some measure, like Samuel, Obadiah,
Jeremiah, Josiah, and Timothy, honored with eminent usefulness in the
church, and have happily filled some of its most important
stations of service. Almost every
age has afforded instances of this; and I am persuaded, many are now
growing up amongst us, who will be instances of it in ages yet to come.
2. Others, and these perhaps the greatest part of real Christians, are
wrought upon in their youthful days.
Many parents are very deficient
in a due care to cultivate the infant minds of their little ones; or
the feeble and general impressions then made are, perhaps, worn out
and lost, in the growing vanities of childhood and youth. They begin
to be drawn away by evil inclinations and examples, and by the delusions
of a flattering world, which then puts on its most attractive charms,
to gain upon their inexperienced minds: and hereupon they follow after
vanity, and become vain: (2 Kings xvii. 15:)
of the rock which begat
them, they grow unmindful, and forget the God that formed them. Deut.
xxxii. 18. But by one method or another, God often stops them in this
dangerous career; and awakening ordinances, or more awakening providences,
bring them to a stand, and turn them the contrary way. The terrors of
the Lord set themselves in array against them; (Job. vi. 4;) or his
mercy melts their souls, and they yield themselves its willing captives.
They consecrate their hearts, warm as they are
with youthful vigor, to be the sacrifices of Divine
love, and enter, it may be, very early into the bonds of God's covenant:
and so prove such a seed to serve him, as is accounted to the Lord for
a most honorable and useful generation. Psal. xxii. 30. Blessed be God,
I speak to many who know this by experience! By far the greater part
of those who have been admitted to your communion, since I settled among
you, have been, as I apprehend, under the age of twenty-four years: and
several of those, who were farther advanced in life when they first
approached the table of the Lord, had been brought to real religion
in their much earlier years; though particular circumstances, or some
mistaken apprehensions, might prevent their giving up their names publicly
to the Lord, so soon as they might, and as they ought to have done it.
3. Some few are wrought upon by Divine grace in the advance, and even
in the decline of life.
I confess that the number of these is comparatively
small: and it is not to be wondered at, that it is so. They are not
many who arrive at what can properly be called old age; and of them
but a very inconsiderable part are then brought to anything which looks
like a saving change. Nor shall we be much surprised at this, if we
consider
the inveterate nature of bad habits,
which render it almost as hard for them that are accustomed to do evil,
to learn to do good, as it is for the Ethiopian to Change his skin,
or the leopard his spots. Jer. xiii. 23. To such a degree are prejudices
riveted in the mind, so insensible is it rendered of tender and generous
impressions, so cold are the affections, and the habits, if the phrase
may be allowed, so rigid, that, humanly speaking, there is much less
probability of their being impressed with religion, than there was when
they were in the bloom of life; notwithstanding all the seeming advantages
which might arise from riper reason, deeper experience, and a nearer
prospect of eternity. In all these things, it is in vain to reason against
observation of fact, since we evidently see how uncommon a thing it
is, for persons to be awakened and reformed in old age; especially if
they have been educated in the principles of religion, and have made
a florid profession of it in their youth--from which they have afterwards
apostatized, out of a love to the wealth or honors of the world, or a relish for
sensual delights. Such persons generally live and die monuments of Divine wrath,
bearing, as it were, in characters dreadfully legible, the sad inscription of
those, who having forsaken God, are finally forsaken of him. They appear as
dry
trees, twice dead, and fit for nothing but to be
plucked up by the roots, and cast into the fire. Jude ver. 12; John
xv. 16.
Nevertheless, to prove the infinite energy and sovereignty
of Divine grace, God is sometimes pleased to work even on such. He touches
the rock which has stood for ages unmoved, and the waters flow forth:
he says to the dry bones, Live, and they obey; they are clothed with
beauty, they are animated with life, and stand up as with the vigor
of a renewed youth, to pursue the labors of religion, and to fight the
battles of the Lord. Ezek. xxxviii. 20. Such instances, in which aged
sinners have been thus wrought upon, I have read and heard; though,
I grieve to say it, I can recollect very few, if any, that have occurred
to me within the sphere of my own personal observation and acquaintance.
But besides this variety in the time, there is also,
II. An observable
diversity, in the OCCASION, which Divine grace takes to operate upon
different persons.
The occasions are indeed so various, that it would
be impossible to enumerate them; I shall however just touch on some
of the chief.
And here I might particularly consider a religious education
in this view, and that daily converse with pious friends, which is of
course connected
with it. But though perhaps there
may be no occasion more considerable in itself, and none that has been
more eminently honored of God; yet it is proper to waive it here, as
having been mentioned under the former head.
I proceed therefore further
to observe, that some are wrought upon by the word of God; others by
some remarkable providences; some by little incidents, which, inconsiderable
as they seem in themselves, grow memorable by the noble effects they
are made to produce: and others by secret and immediate impressions
of God upon their spirits, which cannot be resolved into any external
cause, or any visible occasion at all.
1. The administration of Divine
ordinances, and especially the word of God and prayer, is an occasion,
which he most frequently takes to work upon men's hearts by his grace.
I do not mention the administration of the sacraments upon this occasion;
because, though they have so noble and effectual a tendency to improve
men's minds in piety, and to promote Christian edification; yet I do
not remember to have heard of any instance, in which they have been
the means of men's conversion; which is the less to be wondered at,
as they were appointed for a very different end.
There are many, however,
that have been
wrought upon in prayer, as there are many things
concur in this to awaken and impress the mind. The solemn acknowledgments
then made of the Divine perfections, the praises offered to his tremendous
Majesty, the deep and humble confession of our various and aggravated
guilt in his holy presence, the lamentations over it, the importunate
pleadings for a variety of blessings both for time and eternity; in
a word, all the overflowings of pious affections in the breast of him
that leads the devotion, and especially the earnest entreaties then
offered for unconverted sinners, the genuine expressions of an undissembled
apprehension of their danger, and the fervent breathings after Divine
grace, to be communicated to them for their spiritual life: all these
things, I say, and many more, which occur in prayer, when it is managed
aright, may, by the Divine blessing, be singularly useful. And I am
well assured, there have been happy instances, in which, while God's
people have yet been speaking to him on this head, he has graciously
heard, and signally answered them. Isa. lxv. 24.
But the reading, and
especially the preaching of the word of God, is the grand occasion and
instrument in the conversion of souls. Of his own will he begets them
with' the word of truth: (Jam. i. 18:) and it is admirably suited to
those
saving impressions which it is intended
to make on the heart, being quick and powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword. Heb. iv. 12. It was while Paul was preaching that the
Lord opened Lydia's heart, so that she attended to the things which
were spoken by him: (Acts xvi. 14:) and it was while Peter was thus
employed, that such vast multitudes were pricked in their hearts, and
said to him, and to the rest of the apostles present, Men and brethren,
what shall we do? Acts ii. 37? And I am well persuaded, that various
and lamentable as the instances are, in which men stop their ears and
harden their hearts against it, God does not even to this day leave
it without witness: but the terrors of the Lord, as displayed by his
faithful ministers, have subdued their thousands, and the riches of
his grace their ten thousands, when illustrated by those who have not
only heard, but have themselves tasted of their sweetness. The preaching
of the cross may indeed to them that perish be foolishness; but blessed
be his name who died upon it, there is still a happy remnant, to whom
it appears to be the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 1 Cor. i.
18, 24.
Evangelical subjects, when opened with perspicuity, and
enforced with vigor and tenderness, by those that have experienced the
transforming energy of them on their own hearts, and desire
above all things, to be wise to win the souls of
others, (Prov. xi. 30,) are generally the occasion of producing the
most immediate and the most important change; as I doubt not, but many
now present have seen and felt. And the observation of every year of
life convinces me more and more that they who desire to be signally
instrumental in this good work--this work of all others the most benevolent
and important—must, in the account of a vain world, become fools, that
they may be wise. 1 Cor. iii. 18. How contemptuously soever it may be
fashionable to treat such preaching, we must make these subjects familiar
to our hearers, and must treat them with all plainness of speech, and
all seriousness of address, or we shall generally labor in vain, and
spend our strength for nought. Isa. xlix. 4.
Would to God, that the
teachers of our Israel may consider the importance of it, and grow wise
by such experiments as these! that they may act the part of prudent
physicians, who prescribe the medicines they find in fact most useful,
and not those concerning which the finest speculations may be framed.
Till then, whatever their learning, politeness, and parade may be, it
cannot be expected that our health should be generally recovered; but
we are like to continue, what we have long been, a vicious people, amidst
the
finest encomiums of virtue, that are anywhere
to be found: nor will there be much room to wonder, if some of its most
eloquent advocates should appear, even in their own practice, insensible
of those charms which they so gracefully recommend to others, and sink
in their character below those heathen moralists, whom they may choose
to imitate, rather than Christ and his apostles. Nevertheless, I am
persuaded, that if God intend mercy for us as a people, he will support
among us a succession of those who shall dispense his truths in such
a manner, as he has generally chosen to honor with success. But though
the greater part of sincere converts are won by these, I am to add,
2. That remarkable providences, whether merciful or afflictive, are
occasions which God takes to work upon the hearts of many others.
When
ordinary means have long been attended in vain, God perhaps interposes,
by other more peculiar and signal methods, to pluck the trifling and
lethargic sinner as a firebrand out of the burning. Amos iv. 11.
Sometimes
remarkable mercies and deliverances accomplish the work. An appearance
of God in their favor, when they are conscious to themselves that they
are the unworthiest of all his creatures, shall shame and melt them,
and powerfully prevail on their minds to turn unto the
Lord, who daily loads them with his benefits; (Ps.
lxviii. 19;) and thus seems, in more senses than one, to send from heaven
to save them, and to draw them out of many waters, in which they had
otherwise been lost. Ps. xviii. 16.
But we more frequently see, that
afflictions are the means of performing this happy work. By a gracious
severity God is pleased to lay hold on many, and to give them reason
to bless the hand, which, though by a rough motion, delivers them from
the flames that were kindling around them, and shows the Lord to be
merciful to them. Gen. xix. 16. Like Jonah in the ship, they are awakened
by a storm to call upon their God: (John i. 6:) like Manasseh, they
are taken among the thorns, and laid in fetters, that they may be brought
to know the Lord: (2 Chron. xxxiii. 11, 13:) like the jailer, they are
shaken with an earthquake, and trembling and astonished they fall down,
and inquire what they shall do to be saved. Acts xvi. 26-30. The terrifying
fear of the approach of death, or the distressing weight of some calamity,
which threatens every moment to swallow them up in destruction, rouses
their consciences to an attention to those divine truths which they
had long forgotten, and opens those records of guilt which they had
studiously sealed up.
And there seems to be no affliction by
which God more frequently works upon men than by sickness. When he weakens
their capacity for the business of life, and spoils their relish for
its enjoyments; when he confines them to their chambers, or even to
their beds, and makes their chain straight and heavy; (Lam. iii. 7;)
when he threatens to take them away in the midst of their days, (Psal.
xii. 24,) to deprive them of the residue of their years, (Isa. xxiii.
10,) and immediately to bring them before that awful tribunal, for which
they know, in their own consciences, they are so ill prepared: then
do we often see the accomplishment of that observation which Elihu made
so many ages ago; He chasteneth a man with pain upon his bed, and the
multitude of his bones with strong pain, so that his life abhorreth
bread, and his soul dainty meat: his flesh is consumed away that it
cannot be seen: and his bones, that were not seen, stick out; yea, his
soul draweth near to the grave, and his life to the destroyers: but
sending him an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his
uprightness, then he is gracious to him, and saith, in a spiritual as
well as literal sense, Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have
found a ransom. Job xxxiii. 19-24. Blessed be God, instances of this
kind have been known among us, in which the sickness of the
body has wrought the cure of the soul, under the
conduct of the great Physician of both; and so has proved eminently
to the glory of God, and the good of those who, for a while, have been
in heaviness. 1 Pet. i. 6.
Yet it must be acknowledged, that, in other
instances, the remorse which a man expresses upon a sick bed, and in
the near views of eternity, proves but like that of some condemned malefactor,
who, when he has obtained a pardon, throws off all those appearances
of repentance with which he had once deceived himself, and perhaps deceived
others too, and plunges himself anew into capital crime; it may be,
into crimes for which he afterwards suffers death, without those compunctions
of conscience which he before felt, being hardened by a return into
sin, attended with such dreadful aggravations. This has been the case
of many; and I pray God it may not be thus with any of you.
But if there
be any among you that were once under powerful awakenings; and that
have cried out of terrors on every side; (Job xviii. 11;) that have
confessed your sins, it may be, with greater freedom, and a more particular
detail of circumstances, than the minister who attended you could have
desired, and have resolved against them with all the appearances of
the most determined
purpose; and yet, after all,
have returned with the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the
mire: (2 Pet. ii. 22:) such have peculiar reason to be alarmed. and
terrified. Every day of Divine patience toward such is astonishing.
And if to all this have been added the returns of danger, and signal
interposition of Providence for your deliverance, and yet there be no
kindly impressions of penitence and gratitude on your hearts, they who
know the particulars of the case, must surely look upon you with horror
as well as with wonder: for what can one imagine of such, but that they
are given over by God to a darkness, which nothing but the flames of
hell can enlighten, and a hardness, which nothing can penetrate but
the sharpness of unquenchable fire, and the gnawings of the never-dying
worm?
But to return from a digression, into which compassion towards
such a deplorable case has insensibly led me, I would farther observe,
that as these various interpositions of a remarkable Providence are
often the means of working saving impressions on men's minds, so,
3.
God is sometimes pleased to overrule little and inconsiderable incidents
in life, as the occasion of accomplishing this happy change.
As the
treasure of the Gospel was at first put into earthen vessels, that the
excellency of the power
might appear to be of God, and not of man; (2 Cor.
iv. 6;) so God to make his own praise glorious, (Psal. lxvi. 2,) is
sometimes pleased to produce the most important effects, by causes which
seem in themselves least considerable. And it is astonishing to see
from how small and seemingly unpromising a seed this plant of paradise
springs up, and with how little cultivation too in some instances, after
Paul had long attempted in vain to plant, and Apollos to water. 1 Cor.
iii. 6, 7. A few lines in the Bible, or any other good book, perhaps
taken up by chance, shall be the instrument; and a passage, on which
the eye glances without expectation or design, shall strike to the heart,
like an arrow from the bow of God himself--after quivers of the most
pointed and polished shafts have been exhausted in vain, though such
shafts were most skillfully aimed, and most vigorously discharged. In
other instances, a word dropped in conversation, and that perhaps no
way remarkable either for its spirit or propriety, shall do that which
the most solemn ordinances have not been capable of doing: an important
encouragement, by the way, to abound in religious discourse, which God
has sometimes been pleased to honor as the happy means of saving a soul
from death, and laying a
foundation for the delights of an everlasting
friendship with those who have been so recovered.
4. Sometimes this
great work is accomplished by secret and immediate impressions from
God upon the mind, without any visible means, instruments, or occasions
at all.
These things do not frequently happen; nor does it seem fit
they should, lest any should be encouraged to expect them in the neglect
of the appointed means. Nevertheless, it is plain, in fact, that God
is sometimes pleased to go out of the common way; and his mighty hand
is to be acknowledged in it. The reasons are known to himself; and the
praise is humbly to be ascribed to him who giveth not an account of
any of his matters. Job. xxxiii. 13.
It is not, to be sure, so common
now as it was in the days of Elihu, that God should speak to men in
a dream, or seal instruction to them in slumberings on their bed; (Job
xxxiii. 15, 16;) yet I have myself known several who have ascribed
their first religious awakenings to some awful dream, in which the solemnity of
the judgment day, or a view of the invisible world, has been represented to them
with unspeakable terror; and others, to whom, when they have waked in the night,
some words of scripture have occurred with such power, that they have not been
able to divert their thoughts to anything else;
and that when they themselves have not certainly known whether they
were in the Bible or not.
I have known those that, in the circle of
their vain companions, and in the midst of their sensual delights, have
been struck to the very heart with some such scripture as this: to be
carnally minded is death: (Rom. viii. 6:) or such a text as this has,
on a sudden, darted into their minds; The wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Rom. i. 18.
Such passages have seemed to ring and thunder in their ears, till the
sound of their music, and the noise of their mirth have been quite overpowered,
so that they have been driven from their revels to their knees, and
have returned no more into the paths of the destroyer.
Yea, to add no
more instances of this kind, I have known those of distinguished genius,
polite manners, and great experience in human affairs, who, after having
outgrown all the impressions of a religious education; after having
been hardened, rather than subdued, by the most singular mercies, even
various, repeated, and astonishing deliverances, which have appeared
to themselves no less than miraculous; after having lived for years
without God in the world, notoriously corrupt themselves, and laboring
to the utmost to corrupt
others; have been stopped on a sudden
in the full career of their sin, and have felt such rays of the Divine
presence, and of redeeming love, darting in upon their minds, almost
like lightning from heaven, as have at once roused, overpowered, and
transformed them; so that they have come out of their chambers with
an irreconcilable enmity to those vices, to which, when they entered
them, they were the tamest and most abandoned slaves; and have appeared,
from that very hour, the votaries, the patrons, the champions of religion;
and after a course of the most resolute attachment to it, in spite of
all the reasonings, or the railleries, the importunities, or the reproaches
of its enemies, they have continued to this day some of its brightest
ornaments: a change which I behold with equal wonder and delight, and
which, if a nation should join in deriding it, I would adore as the
finger of God.The conversion
of Col. Gardiner is evidently alluded to here, in which Dr. Doddridge
was deeply interested.--J. N. B.
In mentioning these things thus publicly, I do indeed
take an uncommon freedom, which some may perhaps censure; but so far
as human testimony can give an assurance of truth, I may justly say,
that I speak what I know, and testify what, in its genuine and powerful
effects, I have myself seen. John iii. 11. And since the possibility
of abusing such condescensions of Divine
mercy did not prevent their being granted, I can not think it ought
to engage me to be silent, when so natural an opportunity offered of
declaring them, to the glory of him who worketh all things according
to the counsel of his own will. Ephes. i. 11. Yet I must repeat the
caution which I before suggested, that it would be madness for any to
neglect God's appointed means of operation, on presumption that they
shall be added to the small list of those who have been such uncommon
and astonishing trophies of the efficacy and sovereignty of Divine grace.
These remarks must for the present suffice, with regard to the various
occasions by which God works upon men's minds.It is well to notice that the revealed
word of God is in all these different modes of application the powerful
instrument. This is the only safeguard against delusions of all kinds.--J.
N. B. And I hope you will
excuse me, if in illustrating some of them, I have a little anticipated
some things which might have been mentioned under the third head, in
which I proposed,
III. To consider some varieties observable in the
manner in which Divine grace operates on the mind.
And this variety,
by the way, will be observable
in many instances where the occasions
are in general the same. Thus among those that are awakened by the word
of God, or by his providence, some are shaken by strong terrors, some
are melted into deep sorrows; others are astonished, as it were, and
captivated at once, by the discovery of the love of God in Christ, and
others are led on by such gentle and gradual impressions, that they
can hardly recollect any remarkable circumstance at all relating to
the manner in which this blessed work was begun, or conducted in their
souls.
1. Some converts are awakened by strong terrors.
It is obvious,
that conviction of sin, in some degree or other, is absolutely necessary
to make way for the entrance of the gospel into the soul. But the degrees
are various in different persons; and as for those of whom we now speak,
God reproves them aloud and sets their sins in order before them, (Psal.
1. 21,) marshals them in dreadful array, as the expression imports;
so that they seem like defenceless criminals surrounded by a host of
enemies, whose weapons are raised for their destruction. Yea, God himself,
the great, the terrible, the eternal, and omnipotent God, seems to set
them up as a mark for those arrows, (Lam. iii. 12,) the poison of which drinketh
up their
spirits: (Job. vi. 4:) and, as he himself expresses
it, He is unto them as a bear or a lion, ready to tear and rend the
very caul of their heart. Hos. xiii. 8.
They come, as it were, to the
trembling and terrifying Mount Sinai, to blackness, and darkness, and
tempest. Heb. xii. 18. The conviction of guilt is attended with such
a sense of the demerit of sin, as fills them with horror and astonishment,
and engages them to wish in the bitterness of their souls, that they
had never been born. They are left for a time, and that perhaps for
weeks and months, to be, as it were, deafened with the loud thunders
of the law; a dreadful sound, as Eliphaz expresses it, is in their ears,
(Job. xv. 21,) even the sentence of their own damnation; and the awful
curse of an almighty, sin-avenging God comes into their bowels like water,
and like oil into their bones. Psal. cix. 18.
They are filled with such
deep remorse for their past sins, that they verily think no iniquity
was ever like theirs, and that no punishment will be like theirs. They
hardly see a glimmering of hope that they shall obtain deliverance,
but expect, in a very little while, to be sealed up under wrath, if
they are not already so. When they bear the offers and the promises
of the Gospel, they can apply none of them to themselves, and
find comfort in none: but every threatening
and every curse of the book of God seems to have been written as their
intended portion. And thus, perhaps, they continue for weeks or for
months together, expecting every day and every night that destruction
from God, which is now a terror to them. (Job xxxi. 23,) should utterly
swallow them up, and leave them neither root nor branch, neither comfort
nor hope. Mal. iv. 1. The law is a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ,
(Gal. iii. 24,) and it scourges them with the most rigorous discipline;
yea, the infernal lion roars over them, though he is not permitted to
devour them: he particularly terrifies them when they think of approaching
God, as if they were to meet with some peculiar danger there, where
alone they can find their relief: or, if they do in broken accents utter
their prayer before God, it seems to be shut out, (Lam. iii. 8,) and
they are apprehensive that it is turned into sin. Psal. cix. 7. Yet
there is one thing to be observed in the midst of this scene of horror,
and it is a circumstance of great importance, that they justify God
when he seems most inexorable, and subscribe to that sentence as righteous
which dooms them to eternal ruin.
2. Others are melted into deep sorrows.
Their eyes run down with tears; and they are ready to wish that their
head were waters, and
their eyes fountains, that they might continue
to weep day and night. Jer. ix. 1, 18. They see the evil of sin, and
the misery to which it has reduced them, in a most deplorable view;
and it may be, while those described under the former head are ready
to tremble because they can not weep; these are ready to weep because
they cannot tremble. They lament, among other things, the want of those
strong horrors which some have felt: they cry out, "Woe is me! for
l am undone; (Isa. vi. 5;) I have destroyed myself, and in myself my
help is not found." Hos. xiii. 9.
It may be, indeed, a considerable
time before they can persuade themselves there is any help for them
even in God. They know there is help in him through Christ for penitent
and believing sinners: but they cannot easily be convinced that they
believe, because they do not feel that confident trust which some others
have much sooner been brought to; and they are afraid, lest whatever
they experience, which looks like repentance, should be only the false
appearance of it, proceeding from mere self-love and a natural dread
of future misery. They dwell perpetually on the dark side of things:
they read over the catalogue of their iniquities again and again, and
attend to those passages in which the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against every kind
and degree of sin; (Rom. i. 18;) while
they are slow of heart to admit those reviving consolations which the
various rich and precious promises of the Gospel are so admirably well
calculated to administer.
The state of such souls, when they are first savingly enlightened, is like that of the earth, when fogs and mists
have vailed the face of the sun after it is risen. But it very often
happens, with respect to such souls, that when these mists are at length
dispersed, a very bright and cheerful day opens: they are comforted
by the warmer beams of the Sun of Righteousness, according to the hours
in which they have been beclouded, and are made glad according to the
days in which they were afflicted: (Psal. xc. 15:) and going on
to fear
the Lord, and to obey the voice of his servant, though they have long
walked in darkness, and seen no light, they are at length encouraged
by his Spirit enforcing the exhortations of his word, to trust in the
name of the Lord, and stay themselves upon their God. Isa. 1. 10.
3.
Some are captivated with astonishing and delightful views of the love
of God in Christ.
There is always, as we observed before, in the awakened
soul, some conviction of sin and apprehension of danger; nevertheless,
there are instances in which God heals almost as soon as he
wounds, and speaks peace almost as soon as he speaks
trouble. He graciously shortens, to some souls, the pangs of the new
birth, and gives them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Isa. lxi. 3.
The news of salvation by the blood, and righteousness, and grace of
Christ, is received with so thankful a sense, with so joyful a compliance,
that the soul, feeling beyond all doubt the cordial sincerity with which
it embraces the offer, is filled with joy unspeakable, and full of glory:
(1 Pet. i. 8:) the heart does magnify the Lord, and the spirit rejoices
in God the Saviour. Luke i. 46, 47.
This was remarkably the case of
the jailer, who in the very night in which he was converted, that same
night in which the foundation of his house had been shaken, and his
own soul too shaken, by an earthquake, so that he had endeavored to
lay violent hands on himself: yet, I say, that very night, before the
day appeared, having been directed to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
that he might be saved, and been enabled, by Divine grace to comply
with the exhortation, it is added concerning him, that he rejoiced,
believing in God with all his house. Acts xvi. 34. Thus too the Thessalonians,
though they received the word in much affliction, and ran the risk of
losing their
possessions and their lives in adhering
to it, yet received it with joy of the Holy Ghost. 1 Thes. i. 6. And
though I cannot say this is God's most ordinary way of' dealing, and
though I fear the counterfeit appearance of such a, work as this often
leaves men in the number of those whom our Lord represents by stony
ground hearers; (Matt. xiii. 20, 21;) yet it is certain, some instances
of this kind are still to be found. But then I must observe, this is
a joy attended with the deepest humility, and animates the soul to the
most ardent and affectionate resolution of walking worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being strengthened with all might, according to his
glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness.
Col. i. 10, 11.
4. Others--and these perhaps the greatest part of such
as are religiously educated--are led on by such gentle and insensible
degrees, that they can hardly recollect any remarkable circumstances
that have attended their conversion, nor can certainly fix on the particular
time of it.
God is sometimes, in the preceding instances, in the whirlwind,
the earthquake, and the fire; but he is also frequently in the still
small voice. 1 Kings xix. 11, 12. The operations of the Holy Spirit
on the soul are often, and perhaps generally, of such a nature, that
it is difficult exactly to distinguish
them from the rational exercise of our own
thoughts, because the Spirit operates by suggesting rational views of
things, and awakening rational affections. For whatever some have vainly
and dangerously insinuated, nothing is so rational as the sentiments
and temper which prevail in renewed souls, and to which it is the work
of God's regenerating Spirit to bring them.
These operations, where
there is a religious education, often begin very early: but then, in
some degree, the impressions wear off from the weak and flexible mind;
and perhaps there are various instances in which they alternately revive
and decay again. And this vicissitude of affectionate applications to
religion under moving ordinances, afflictions, or deliverances, and
of backslidings and remissness in it, with respect to many, may be permitted
to continue for a long time. At length, under the various methods of
Providence and Grace, the soul attains to greater steadiness, and a
more habitual victory over the remains of indwelling sin: but it may
be exceeding hard, and perhaps absolutely impossible, to determine concerning
some remarkable scenes through which it has passed, whether such a one
in particular, perhaps the last which strikes the memory, were the season
of its new birth; or whether it were merely a recovery from such a
degree of negligence and remissness, as
may possibly be consistent with real religion, and be found in a regenerate
soul.
These balancings of backsliding and recovery often occasion very
great perplexity; and such sort of converts are frequently much discouraged,
because they cannot give the history of their religious experiences
in so clear and distinct a manner as others: and particularly, because
they have not passed through such violent terrors and agitations of
mind as many, who were perhaps once sunk into much deeper degeneracy
have done. Nevertheless, where there is a consciousness of an undissembled
love to God, an unreserved devotedness to his service, a cordial trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and a sincere affection to mankind in general,
and especially to those of the household of faith, a man ought not to
perplex himself on this account. For as every man knows he was born
into the world, by a consciousness that he now lives and acts here,
though it is impossible he should remember anything of the time or circumstances
in which he was first introduced into it; so may a Christian be assured,
that some way or another he was born of the Spirit, if he can trace
its genuine fruits and efficacious influences in a renewed heart and
life.
I have thus laid down several particulars. which
appeared to me important, in order to illustrate
that diversity which is observable in the methods of the Divine operations
on the heart; and they will naturally lead us to these three reflections,
with which I shall conclude my present Discourse. Let us not make our
own experiences a standard for others,—nor the experiences of others
a standard for ourselves;—nor let us be unwilling, in a prudent manner,
to communicate our spiritual experiences to each other.
1. Let us not
make our own experiences a standard for others.
Let us remember that
there is, as we have heard, a diversity of operations; and that many
a person may be a dear child of God, who was not born just with those
circumstances which attended our own regeneration. Others may not so
particularly have discerned the time, the occasion, the progress of
the change; they may not have felt all that we have felt, either in
the way of extraordinary terror or extraordinary comfort; and yet, perhaps,
may equal, or even exceed us in that holy temper, to which it was the
great intention of our Heavenly Father, by one method or another, to
bring all his children. Nay, I will add, that Christians of a very amiable
and honorable character may express themselves but in a dark, and something
of an improper manner,
concerning the doctrine of regeneration,
and may, in conscience, scruple the use of some phrases relating to
it, which we judge to be exceeding suitable; and yet, that very scruple
which displeases us may proceed from a. reverence for God and truth,
and from such a tenderness of heart as is the effect of his renewing
grace. We should therefore be very cautious how we judge each other,
and take upon us to reject those whom perhaps God has received.
I remember
good Dr. Owen, whose candor was, in many respects, very remarkable,
carries this so far, as somewhere to say, "that some may, perhaps, have
experienced the saving influences of the Holy Spirit on their hearts,
who do not in words acknowledge the necessity, or even the reality of
those influences." Judging men's hearts, and judging their states,
is a work for which we are so ill qualified, that we have reason to
be exceeding thankful it is not assigned to us. And when we are entering
into such an examination of their character, as our duty may in some
particular circumstances seem to require, we should be very solicitous
that we do not lay down arbitrary and precarious rules. It seems, indeed,
that so far as we can learn it, we may more safely judge by their present
temper and conduct, than by the history
of anything which has formerly passed in their
minds.
And let me add it as a necessary caution here, that they who
never felt any of the extraordinary emotions of mind, which have been
described under some former heads, but have been brought to religion
by less observable methods, perhaps by calm, rational views of it--of
whom I believe there are great numbers—should be very cautious that
they do not rashly censure such things as I have now been representing,
as if they were mere enthusiasm. I can not but think this a criminal
limiting the Holy One of Israel, (Psal. lxxviii. 41,) and fear it will
be found a boldness highly displeasing to him, and very injurious to
the souls of those who allow themselves in it, and of others too, if
they be such as are employed in the ministerial work: not now to insist
on what, in comparison of this, is but a small matter, the apparent
rudeness and petulance of contradicting facts so well attested as many
of this kind have been, and running counter to the solid effects which
such impressions have produced. The rashness which prevails under different
forms among men of the most opposite sentiments, is too obvious; but
if we would give ourselves leave calmly to weigh and consider matters,
our spirits would be rendered on all sides more moderate, and many
harsh and hasty censures would be suspended,
which at present prove very little more than the ignorance, pride, and
folly of those that pass them.
2. Let us not make the experiences of
others a standard for ourselves.
This is frequently the case, and especially
with those who are naturally of an humble and tender temper; for whose
peace and comfort therefore one can not but be peculiarly solicitous.
Having heard of some extraordinary experiences of others, they are ready
to imagine, because they can trace nothing correspondent to these in
their own minds, that they are utter strangers to real regeneration,
and have nothing more than such religious notions and forms, as natural
men may easily learn of each other.
But what I have now been saying
of the variety of the Divine operations on the heart, affords a solid
answer to such scruples, when they arise in a pious mind. Reflect, on
this occasion, how it is in the works of nature: there we know that
God works in all, so that he is the life and existence of the whole
creation; and yet, as an excellent writer expresses it, "He alone seems not
to work.'' His agency is so invisible and secret, that did not reason and
scripture join to teach it, one might live a great many years in the world
without knowing anything more, than that such
and such effects are produced by correspondent
second causes: though in strict propriety of speech they are no causes
at all, but owe all their efficacy to the Divine presence and operation.
Sense tells us that the sun enlightens the earth, and warms it; that
the rain waters it, the seeds produce vegetables, and the animals continue
their proper race; but that God is the Father of lights, (Jam. i. 17,)
that he has prepared the light and the sun: (Psal. lxxiv. 16;) that
he visits the earth, and causes rain to descend into the furrows thereof,
(Ps. lxv. 9, 10,) so as to make the grass to grow for cattle, and corn
and herb for the service of man; (Psal. civ. 14;) that he
sends forth
his Spirit, and the animal race is created, and the face of the earth
renewed; (Psal. civ. 30;) this, I say, is what multitudes of the human
race are not aware of; because in all these things he acts in a gentle,
stated, and regular manner, and employs inferior agents as the instruments
of his providence. And just thus gentle, silent, and regular are the
influences of his Spirit upon men's souls; and it is often impossible
exactly to distinguish them from the teachings of parents and ministers,
and from those reflections which seem to spring from our own minds,
though it is he that gives us counsel, while our reins instruct us in
our secret musings, (Psal. xvi. 7,) and that
teaches us to profit by the lessons which
others give us.
Be not therefore surprised, and be not dejected, though
you cannot assign the place, the time, the manner, in which your conversion
began; and though you are strangers to the terrors, the sorrows, or
the transports of joy, which you have heard one and another express.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and the Spirit dispenses his influences
where and when, and in what measure and degree he pleases; but while
the way and manner of his operation may be secret and unknown, the effects
of it are sensible and evident; and as with regard to the wind, thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and
whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit. John iii.
8. You may not certainly know when to fix the precise time of your conversion,
or how to trace the particular steps by which it has been brought to
pass; for as thou knowest not what is the way of the Spirit, nor how
the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou
knowest not the works of God who maketh all. Eccl. xi. 5. But though
you cannot trace the process of the operation, the effects of it are
such as you may feel within you, and by its fruits it will be known.
Matt. vii. 20.
It is indeed desirable to be able to give an account
of the beginning and the progress of the
work of God upon your souls, as some that are regenerate can do; but
this is not necessary to evidence the truth of grace. Happy is he who
in this case can say as the blind man in the gospel, One thing I know,
that whereas I was blind, now I see. John ix. 25. For as you know that
there is fire when you see the flame, though you know not how or when
it began; so also it may be discerned, that you have really undergone
a saving change, though you know not how or when it was wrought in your
hearts. If you answer the characters I laid down in the preceding discourses,
as essential to the truly regenerate, which are all comprehended in
repentance and faith, producing an unfeigned love and uniform obedience,
you may trace the cause from the effect, with far greater certainty
than you could have traced such an effect, as what would infallibly
follow from any cause which you could have perceived in your minds previous
to it. There may be great awakenings, violent terrors, and ecstatic
joys, where there is no saving work of God on the soul; but where the
Divine image is produced, and the soul is actually renewed, we are sure,
as was before observed, that grace has been working, though we know
not when, or where, or how.
And therefore, on the whole, guarding
against both these extremes, and to cure them both,
3. Let Christians,
in a prudent and humble manner, be ready to communicate their religious
experiences to each other.
God undoubtedly intended that the variety
of his operations should be observed and owned in the world of grace,
as well as in that of nature; and as these things pass in the secret
recesses of men's hearts, how should they be known, unless they will
themselves communicate and declare them? And let me caution you against
that strange averseness to all freedoms of this kind, which, especially
in persons of a reserved temper, is so ready to prevail.
Let not any
think it beneath them to do it. You well know that David, who was not
only a a man of an admirable genius, but a mighty prince, too, was far
from thinking it so; on the contrary, deeply impressed with the Divine
condescension in all the gracious visits he had received from him, he
calls, as it were, the whole pious world around him, that they might
be edified and comforted by the relation: Come, says he, and hear,
all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he has done for my soul.
Psal. lxvi. 16. He proclaimed it, not with his voice and harp alone,
but with his immortal pen; and
many other noble and excellent persons concurred
with him; and the invaluable treasure of their experiences, in as great
a variety of circumstances as we can well imagine, is transmitted to
us in the book of Psalms. Can any just reason then be assigned, why
they, who live under a nobler dispensation, and a more abundant communication
of the Spirit, should be entirely silent on this subject?
There may
indeed be an over-forwardness, which is the apparent effect of pride
and self-conceit, and which, with thinking people, may bring even the
sincerity of the speaker into question, or put his indiscretion beyond
all possibility of being questioned. But it would be very unreasonable
to argue, that because a thing may be done ill, it cannot possibly be
done well.
Why may not intimate friends open their hearts to each other
on such delightful topics? Why may not they, who have met with anything
peculiar of this kind, communicate it to their minister? And though
I must in conscience declare against making it absolutely and universally
a term of communion, yet I am well assured that in some instances a
prudent and serious communication of these things to a Christian society,
when a person is to be admitted into fellowship with it, has often answered
very valuable ends.
By this means God has the honor of his
own work: and others have the pleasure of sympathizing with the relator,
both in his sorrows and his joys: they derive from hence some additional
satisfaction as to his fitness for an approach to the Lord's table;
they learn with pleasure the Divine blessing which attends the administration
of ordinances among them: and make observations and remarks which may
assist them in offering their addresses to God, and in giving proper
advices to others who are in circumstances like those related. To all
which we may add, that the ministers of Christ do, in particular, learn
what may be a means of forming them to a more experimental manner of
preaching, as well as in many instances discover those, before unknown,
tokens of success which may strengthen their hands in the work of their
great Master.
It is by frequent conversations of this kind, I have learned
many of the particulars on which I have grounded the preceding discourse.
I hope therefore you will excuse me, if, on so natural an occasion,
I have borne my public testimony to what has been so edifying to me,
both as a minister and a Christian. And the tender regard which I have
for young persons training up for the work of the ministry, and my ardent
desire that they may learn the language of Zion, and
have those peculiar advantages which nothing but
an acquaintance with causes, and an observation on facts can give, has
been a further inducement to me to add this reflection, with which I
conclude my discourse; humbly hoping that what you have heard upon this
occasion will, by the Divine blessing, furnish out agreeable matter
for such conversation as I have now recommended, to the glory of God,
and to the advancement of religion among you. Amen.
DISCOURSE IX.
DIRECTIONS TO AWAKENED SINNERS.
Acts ix. 6.
And he, trembling
and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do.
THESE are
the words of Saul, who also is called Paul, (Acts xiii. 9,) when he
was stricken to the ground as he was going to Damascus; and any one
who had looked upon him in his present circumstances and knew nothing
more of him than that view, in comparison with his past life, could
have given, would have imagined him one of the most miserable creatures
that ever lived upon earth, and would have expected that he should very
soon have been numbered among the most miserable of those in hell.
He was engaged in a course of such savage cruelty as can upon
no principle of common morality be vindicated, even though the Christians had
been as much mistaken, as he rashly and foolishly concluded they were. After
having
dragged many of them into prison, and given his
voice against some that were put to death, he persecuted others
into
strange cities; and had now obtained a commission from the Sanhedrim
at Jerusalem to carry this holy, or rather this impious war into Damascus,
(Acts xxvi. 10-12,) and to bring all the disciples of the blessed Jesus
bound from thence to Jerusalem: (Acts ix. 2:) probably that they might
there be animadverted upon with greater severity than could safely have
been attempted by the Jews in so distant a city, under a foreign governor.
But behold, as he was in the way, Jesus interposes, clothed with a lustre
exceeding that of the sun at noon. Acts xxvi. 13. He strikes him down
from the beast on which he rode, and lays him prostrate on the ground,
calling to him with a voice far more dreadful than that of thunder,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Acts ix. 4.
Any one would have
imagined, from the circumstances in which he now beheld Saul, that Divine
vengeance had already begun to seize him, and that full execution would
quickly have been done. But God's ways are not as our ways, nor are
his thoughts as our thoughts. Isa. lv. 8. Christ laid him almost as
low as hell, that he might raise him as high as the third heaven; of
which he afterwards gave him a view in vision, to anticipate
his reception into it. 2 Cor.
xii. 2. This day of his terror and astonishment was, in a nobler sense
than any other, the day of his birth; for he is brought to bow himself
at the foot of an injured Saviour, to offer him, as it were, a blank
upon which to write his own terms of peace; and as soon as he heard
that this glorious person was Jesus, whom, in his members, he had so
long persecuted, he makes his submission in these lively, comprehensive
words, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? This was not a time for
a long speech; but be that discerns all the secret recesses of the spirit,
knew these few words were full of a most important meaning, and expressed
not only a grief of heart for all that he had before been doing against
Christ and his kingdom, but the sincerest resolution for the future
to employ himself in his service, waiting only the intimations of his
wise and gracious will, as to the most proper and acceptable manner
of beginning the attempt.
There is, methinks, a poignant kind of eloquence
in this short expression, far beyond what any paraphrase upon it can
give: and our compassionate Lord accepted this surrender. All his former
rebellions were no more remembered against him; and before he rose from
the ground, to which he fell on so terrible an occasion, Christ gave
him an intimation, not only that his forfeited
life should be spared, so that he should get safe
into the city to which he was bound, but that he should there be instructed
in the service which Jesus, whom he had persecuted, would now condescend
to receive at his hands.
I represent the case thus largely, because
I hope it is a case, which, in some measure, suits the experience of
some that hear me this evening. Paul tells us, it was for this reason,
among others, that he himself obtained mercy, though he was the chief
of sinners, that in him, as the chief, Jesus Christ might show forth
all long-suffering, for a pattern to them who should afterwards believe.
1 Tim. i. 15, 16.
Is there then, in this assembly, any awakened and
convinced sinner; any one that, apprized of his folly, and sensible
of his misery, is desirous to fall at the foot of Christ, and say with
Saul, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? That which I see not, teach
thou me; and wherein I have done iniquity, I will do so no more! Job
xxxiv. 32. Such would I now especially address; and while I put the
question, Is there any such among us? I would fain persuade myself,
there are several. For I humbly hope, that all the labors that have
been bestowed in the preceding discourses are not in vain, nor all the
prayers that have been offered for their success in vain; prayers which,
I doubt not, have been carried by
many of you into your families and your closets, as well as jointly
presented to God in this public assembly. Trusting, therefore, that
it is thus with some, and praying that it may be a more frequent case,
I proceed,
Sixthly, to give some directions to such as are awakened
by Divine grace to a sense of their misery in an unregenerate state,
and are brought to desire recovery from it.
To such I propose to give
directions: and to what purpose would it be to undertake to offer them
to any others? Who would pretend to teach those who are unconcerned
about their salvation, what methods they are to take in order to their
becoming truly regenerate? This, methinks, would be like giving directions
how those might learn to write who do not desire it, and will not take
a pen into their hands. All I could say to such, while they continue
in this character, would vanish into empty air. It would not, probably,
be so much as observed and remembered.
I speak therefore to awakened souls, and it is pleasant to
address such on this head. Ananias undoubtedly undertook his message to Saul
with cheerfulness, to tell him what Christ would have him to do: and I would
with pleasure and cheerfulness
engage in the like work; humbly hoping,
that some will hear with observation and attention--will hear for themselves
and so hear for their good. Job v. 27. And to this purpose let me advise
you--to attend to the impressions that have been made upon you with great
seriousness--to break off everything that is contrary to them--to seek
for further knowledge in religious matters—to pour out your souls before
God in earnest prayer—to communicate the state of your case to some
experienced Christian--to acquaint yourselves with such as are much in
your own circumstances--to fly immediately to Christ, as ready to receive
all that come to him--to dedicate yourselves to him, and to his service,
in the most solemn manner--to arm yourselves to encounter the greatest
difficulties in your Christian course--and finally, to take every step
in this attempt with a deep sense of your own weakness, and an humble
dependence upon Divine grace to be communicated to you as the matter
requires. These are the several directions I would offer to you: and
may they be impressed in such a manner on your souls, that none of you
may lose the things that have been wrought: (2 John ver. 8:) but by
the effectual working of the mighty power of God, (Eph. i. 19,) such
as he graciously has been pleased to bring to the birth, may be brought
forth, (Isa. lxvi. 9,) and such
as are awakened may be savingly renewed!
1. I would advise you to attend
to the impressions made upon you with great seriousness.
They may perhaps
take you a little off the world and its concernments; and some will
blame you for suffering such an interruption: but regard not that censure.
The time will come, if you pursue these things aright, when renewed
diligence, prudence, and the Divine blessing, will amply make amends
for any present hindrance which these impressions may occasion. And
if it should be otherwise, is there not a cause? If a man seized with
a threatening distemper should choose, for a little while, to lay aside
his usual business, that he might attend to the care of his health,
before the symptoms grew incurable would any body blame him for this?
On the contrary, would it not be looked upon as acting a very wise,
prudent, and necessary part? Much more may be said here. It is not a
light thing for you, because it is your life. Deut. xxxii. 47. And if
the life is more than meat, and the body than raiment, (Matt. vi. 25,)
then surely the soul is more to be regarded than either. And therefore
what you do in your worldly affairs, do moderately, and do not grudge
that retirement which is so necessary in such a
tender circumstance as this.
I may apply to you, on this occasion, those
words of Solomon: Through desire a man having separated himself, seeketh
and intermeddleth with all wisdom. Prov. xviii. 1. If you desire to
attain Divine wisdom, you must separate yourself from all other things
to pursue it. And it is the more necessary to attend to this now, because
the Tempter may probably contrive to lay some more than ordinary avocation
in your way, at a time when the interest of his kingdom requires you
should be diverted from prosecuting those views which are presenting
themselves to you, and by which you may so probably be rescued out of
his hands, and put forever out of his power.
2. Let me advise you to
break off everything which is contrary to such impressions as these.
Sin will immediately appear to have been your disease and your ruin:
and therefore, if ever you hope for recovery, you must resolutely break
with that; not merely with this or that particular evil, but with every
sin; and that not only for a little while, but entirely and forever.
A mortal, irreconcilable war must be declared against it. Every fleshly
lust must be denied, every immoral practice, for which your heart may
at any time smite
you, must be reformed; and if ever
you expect to reap mercy and life, you must, as the prophet expresses
it, break up your fallow ground, (Hos. x. 12,) and
not sow among thorns.
Jer. iv. 3. For righteousness has no fellowship with unrighteousness,
and light no communion with darkness. 2 Cor. vi. 14. And you may be
assured, that as all sin grieves the Spirit of God, and strengthens
the heavy fetters which lie upon the soul; so those sins which are committed
after these awakenings and convictions, have a peculiar guilt attending
them, and do greater despite to the Spirit of grace, (Heb. x. 29,)
in proportion to the degree in which his motions on the soul have been
vigorous and warm.
3. Seek further knowledge, especially from the word
and ordinances of God.
The influences of Divine grace are not to be
considered as a blind impulse: but God's Spirit works on the spirit
of man, as one rational being on another. The apostle therefore put
the question with great reason, How shall they believe in him, of whom
they have not heard? Rom. x. 14. And as some knowledge is the foundation
on which the Spirit of God ordinarily operates in men's hearts; so in
proportion to the degree in which you attain further light into the
scheme of the gospel, and of salvation by Christ, it may
be expected you will be more impressed by it. The
mention of this is so much the more necessary, as mistaken notions of
religion often expose people on the one hand, to great perplexities,
and on the other, betray them into a false peace, which one way or another
will be bitterness in the end.
Come, therefore, to the house of God,
and attend spiritual preaching. The question is not about forms, but
things. Be not therefore over-scrupulous about what is merely circumstantial
in religion, on the one hand or the other: but where you find more spiritual
light and improvement, there choose generally to attend: not confining
religion to any particular party, nor judging those who differ from
you in their sentiment or practice; but calmly and humbly seeking your
own edification, leaving others to seek theirs where they are persuaded,
in the sight of God, they may most probably find it.
Above all, remember,
in this circumstance, to make the word of God the man of your counsel,
(Psal. cxix. 24,) and to judge of what you read and hear by the tenor
of that, as the oracle of eternal truth; always attending the reading
of it with earnest prayer to God for the illumination of his Spirit,
as I shall afterwards more particularly direct. No other books are to
be set
up in opposition to this, or in
comparison with it; yet let it be your care, in subordination to scripture,
to study the writings of those faithful servants of God in latter ages,
who themselves manifest a sense of practical religion. Especially endeavor
to find out and peruse those writings which treat of conversion and
regeneration, and which contain advice suited to your case. Blessed
be God, our language abounds with such: and every truly Christian minister
will be glad to direct you to them, and so far as he has a convenient
opportunity to furnish you with them.
4. Pour out your soul before God
in earniest prayer.
You cannot be unacquainted with the many promises
God has made in scripture for the encouragement of those who desire
to pray to him in the sincerity of their hearts. You know into how little
a compass Christ has crowded together three equivalent promises. Ask,
and it shall be given you: seek and ye shall find: knock, and it shall
be opened unto you; (Matt. vii. 7;) and you cannot but remember the
threefold encouragement, from the success of those who have recourse
to this expedient, which he has added in the most express and general
terms: For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth;
and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.
Verse 8. Go, therefore, in a cheerful dependence
upon this promise: go, and try the truth of it. Whither should a creature
in such circumstances go, but to that God, who has the hearts of all
in his hand as the rivers of water, and turns them whithersoever he
will? Prov. xxi. 1. And who should go to him, rather than you? And
in what circumstances should a distressed creature rather think of looking
and crying to him, than in these; where it sees itself surrounded with
so much danger, and yet feels an inward earnest desire, not only of
deliverance, but of holiness, too? Go, therefore, and cast yourself
at the feet of God this very evening: do it as soon as you return to
your habitations; and if you can not put your thoughts and desires into
words, at least sigh and groan before the Lord. Mourn, if you can not
pray; and mourn that you can not; or rather be assured, that unutterable
groanings have sometimes the greatest efficacy, and prove the most prevailing
eloquence.
It will be no wonder at all, if in these circumstances Satan
should endeavor to terrify you. It is his common practice. So many souls
have vanquished him upon their knees, that he dreads and hates the posture:
but draw an argument from that very opposition to make you so much the
more eager and importunate; and when your
heart is overwhelmed within you,
fly unto the rock that is higher than you. Psal. lxi. 2.
I will add,
Be not discouraged, though help be not immediately imparted. Though
you may seem to be cast out of God's sight, yet look again towards his
holy temple: (Jonah ii. 4:) though you may seem to cry from the deep,
and almost from the belly of hell, (Ver. 2,) the bowels of a heavenly
Father will yearn over you as returning prodigals; and I doubt not you
will meet with the reception that Ephraim found, when God saw him bemoaning
and humbling himself, because he had been as a bullock unaccustomed
to the yoke: when he cried, Turn thou me, and I shall be turned: for
thou art the Lord my God; his heavenly Father answers him in these most
affectionate words: attend to them, O thou returning sinner, for thy
comfort in this hour of distress! Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant
child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still;
therefore my bowels are troubled for him, and I will surely have mercy
upon him, saith the Lord. Jer. xxxi. 18, 20.
5. I would advise you farther,
that you immediately communicate the state of your case to some experienced
Christian.
I know there is a backwardness in persons of your
circumstances to do it; and it has been surprising
to me to learn from some, who, in this
respect, have afterwards grown wiser, how long they have been pining
away. in their sorrows before they could be persuaded to consult their
ministers or Christian friends. It is a stratagem of Satan, against
which I would by all means caution you. And one would think your own
reason should suggest some very obvious advantages attending the method
I propose, of opening your case freely to those whom you think to be
more experienced in these things. The impression may be revived upon
your own souls, even by the account you give them: and their advice
may be exceeding useful to you to guard you against the wiles of the
enemy which they have known, though hitherto you have been strangers
to them; and to guide you into such methods as, by the Divine blessing,
may farther promote that good work which seems, in any measure, to have
been begun within you. You may also depend upon it that it will engage
their prayers for you; which, in this case, may have great prevalency.
And it will also naturally lead them to inspect your conduct: and if
they see you afterwards in danger of being drawn aside, they may remind
you of the hopes once entertained, and the impressions once made upon
your mind. In this respect you may hope, that by
walking with wise men you will be
yet wiser; (Prov. xiii. 20;) and will soon find how happy an exchange
you make, when you give up your vain, and perhaps wicked companions,
that you may become the companion of them that fear God, and that keep
his precepts; (Psal. cxix. 63;) and may have your delight in them, who,
in the judgment of God, are the excellent of the earth, (Psal. xvi.
3,) however they may be despised and derided by men.
6. I would also
advise that you endeavor to search out those, if there be any such about
or near you, who are much in your own circumstances.
Observe, especially
among young people, whether there are any that seem of late to have
grown more serious than ordinary; and particularly more constant in
attending the ordinances of God, and more cautious in venturing on occasions
and temptations to sin; and if you can discover such, endeavor to form
an acquaintance with them. Try by proper hints how far their circumstances
resemble yours; and as you find encouragement, enter into a stricter
friendship with them, founded on religion, and intended to promote it
in each other's hearts. Associate yourselves in little bands for Christian
converse and prayer; and by this means you will quicken
and strengthen the hearts of each other. For on
the one hand, what they tell you of their own experience will much confirm
you in a persuasion that what you find in yourselves is not a mere fancy,
but is really a Divine work begun on your hearts, and will give you
encouragement to pursue it as such; for as face answers to face, in
water, so does the heart of man to man. Prov. xxvii. 19. And on the
other hand, the observation of your pious zeal will quicken others,
and may occasion the revival of religion in the hearts of older Christians;
as I bless God, I have found some things of this kind have done, and
hope, and through the Divine blessing expect, to find it more and more.
Therefore exhort one another daily, while it is called to-day, lest
any of you should be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Heb.
iii. 13. Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees;
(Isa. xxxv. 3;) and be assured, that while you are endeavoring to help
others, you will find in yourselves the first fruits of this happy attempt;
and while you water others, you will be watered also yourselves.
7.
It is an advice of the highest importance, that whoever you are, you
should immediately fly to Christ, and repose the confidence of your
souls upon him.
Observe that I urge you, WHOEVER YOU ARE, to
fly immediately to Christ: and this
I do, to guard against a strange notion which some are ready to entertain,
as if we were to bring something of our own righteousness and obedience
to him, to render us worthy of being accepted by him. But this is a
grand mistake. The blessings of the gospel are not to be considered
as matter of bargain and sale: no, if we come to buy wine and milk,
it must be without money and without price; (Isa. lv. 1;) and
whoever
will take of the water of life, must do it freely. Rev. xxii. 17. If
he pretend to offer an equivalent, he forfeits his share in the invitation;
and must be made to know, that the price he offers is a great affront
to the value of the blessings for which he would thus barter.
Let this
then be your language, "Lord, I have undone myself, and in me is no
help; I see nothing in myself which makes me worthy of thy regard; but
this I know, that where sin has abounded, grace does much more abound,
and reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ;
(Rom. v. 20, 21;) through whom thou hast assured me in thy word that
eternal life is the gift of God. Rom. vi. 23. As
such let me receive it: and by how much the more undeserving I have been, by so
much the more will I celebrate the riches of thy grace in
making me a vessel of mercy, and a monument of
love throughout all eternity. Blessed Jesus, thou hast said, that him
who comes unto thee thou wilt in no wise cast out; (John vi. 37;) behold,
I come, and cast myself at thy feet; receive me, and put me among the
children, (Jer. iii. 19,) though I deserve not the very
crumbs that
fall from thy table." Matt. xv. 27.
You will not, I hope, imagine that
when I give such advice as this, I mean to insinuate that a person,
purposing to continue in his sins, may nevertheless come and receive
the blessings of the gospel: for that would be no other than in the
grossest manner to pervert and contradict the whole tenor of it. But
this I say, and repeat it, that when once a sinner finds himself, by
Divine grace, disposed to turn from his sins to God, and made willing
to accept the mercy tendered in the gospel, of which a deliverance from
sin and a renovation of nature are a great, important, and essential
part; he may with cheerfulness apply himself to the great Redeemer,
as one of those whom he came on purpose to deliver; and in proportion
to the degree in which he can discern the sincerity of his sentiments,
he may open his heart to comfort, how great soever his former unworthiness
has been, and how lately
soever such impressions may have
been made upon his heart.
8. Make the dedication of yourselves to Christ
and his service as solemn a thing as you can.
We read in the Acts of
some that were baptized, and publicly received into the church the very
same day in which they were converted. Acts ii. 41, 47. Though a change
of circumstances may at present render it convenient to defer doing
it for some time, because it is proper that the efficacy of your repentance
and conversion should first of all be so far seen, as in the judgment
of charity to approve the sincerity of it: yet I think, when you feel
your hearts absolutely determined for God, you should in a solemn manner
lay hold of his covenant, in secret at least, as soon as possible; and
declare, as before him that searcheth all hearts, the sincerity of that
acceptance. Some have recommended the doing this in a written engagement:
and there are several very affecting forms of this kind in books on
this subject, which may very profitably be used. But I hope the fullness
of your heart will dictate something of this kind, if such helps should
be wanting, or if any peculiar consideration should prevent their being
used.
And surely, if you feel the love of the blessed Jesus glowing
in your hearts as you ought, you
will need no other engagement to yield yourselves
to him: that love will be instead of ten thousand arguments; and you
will see a secret charm in the view of serving him, which will engage
your very soul to spring forward with vigor and eagerness to every proper
instance of it. The dread of future punishment has certainly its use
to restrain from the commission of sin, especially in an hour of pressing
temptation; and the hope of that exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
which the gospel promises, will have a still greater efficacy upon a
generous mind: yet I will venture to say, that a heart powerfully impressed
with the love of Jesus will have a stronger influence than either of
these. Cordial friendship needs not to be hired to perform its proper
office. Love is a law to itself: it adds a delightful relish to every
attempt for the service of its object: and it is most evidently thus
in the present case.
"Lord," will the Christian say, "wilt thou do
me the honor to accept any feeble attempt for thy service which I can
form? I thank thee for it, and bow my head before thee in the most grateful
acknowledgments, that thou favorest me with an ability to discharge,
in any degree, the fullness of my grateful heart in presenting them.
O that my whole soul might daily rise before thee as an acceptable sacrifice
in the flame of love! O that
I might always feel my heart enlarged,
to run the way of thy commandments! Psal. cxix. 32. Were the degree
of my future happiness from this moment invariably fixed, I would still
pursue this delightful business; for there is no other in which my soul
could find a pleasure equal, or comparable to it." If you feel such
thoughts as these rising in your mind, breathe them out before the throne
from day to day; and when you have done it, recollect frequently the
vows of God that are upon you; (Psal. lvi. 12;) and see, that
having
sworn, you perform it, (Ps. cxix. 106,) and maintain in the whole of
your lives a conduct agreeable to such a profession as this.
9. Gird
up the loins of your mind to encounter a great deal of difficulty in
your Christian course.
Many are the difficulties that you must expect;
great, and possibly for a while increasing difficulties. It is commonly
said, indeed, that those difficulties which attend the entrance on a
religious life are the greatest; and in themselves considered, no doubt
but they are so: they arise from many quarters, and unite all together
in the same design of keeping you from a believing application to Christ,
and a resolute closure with him. In this respect, evil sometimes arises
to a man in his own house; (Matt. x. 35, 36;) and those, whose near
relation should rather engage them
to give the young convert the best assistance where
his most important interests are concerned, are on the contrary ready
to lay a stumbling block in his way; and perhaps act as if they had
rather he should have no religion at all, than change a few circumstances
in the outward profession of it. Worldly interest, too, is perhaps to
be sacrificed; and conscience cannot be preserved without giving up
the friendship of those whom at any other expense but conscience a man
would gladly oblige. And it is no wonder if Satan make his utmost efforts,
and those very unwearied, too, that he may prevent the revolt of these
subjects, or rather the escape of his prisoners. The Christian is therefore
called upon by the apostle to arm himself as for a combat, and that
at all points; to put on the whole armor of God, that he may be able
to withstand in the evil day; and having done all, to stand. Ephes.
vi. 11, 13.
Nor must you, my friends, though as soon as you have put
on your harness you gain some important victory, boast as if you might
securely put it off. 1 Kings xx. 11. Your whole life must be a series
of exercise. Through much opposition, as well as much tribulation, you
must enter into the kingdom of God: (Luke ix. 62:) and though your difficulties
may generally be greatest at first,
yet your encouragements then may
perhaps be so peculiarly great, and your spirits under their first religious
impressions so warm, that other difficulties, in themselves smaller,
may afterwards press more sensibly upon you. Endeavor therefore to keep
yourselves in a prepared posture. Put on a steady resolution; and to
support it, sit down and count the cost, lest having begun to build,
you shamefully desist and be not able to finish it; (Luke xiv. 28, 30;)
or lest having put your hand to the plow, you should look back, and
become unfit for the kingdom of God. Luke ix. 62. And therefore,
10.
Let every step in this attempt be taken with a deep sense of your own
weakness, and on humble dependence upon Divine grace to be communicated
to you as the matter requires.
Recollect seriously what I was telling
you in a former discourse, of the necessity of a Divine agency and interposition;
and remember, it depends upon God, not only to begin the good work,
but also to carry it on, and perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Phil. i. 6. If we trust in our hearts, especially after this solemn
admonition, this plain instruction, added to such frequent experience,
we are fools indeed. Prov. xxviii. 26. Let us therefore
trust in the
Lord, and not lean to our own understanding. Prov. iii. 5. And do you,
my friends, who have but just enlisted yourselves
in this holy war, every one of you say, with an humble yet cheerful
heart, in the name of our God will we set up our banners. Psal. xx.
5. And if thus you wait on the Lord, you shall renew your strength;
and even the feeblest soul shall be enabled by Divine grace to mount
up with wings as eagles, and to press on from one degree of religious
improvement to another, while the youths shall faint and be weary, and
the young men shall utterly fall. Isa. xl. 30, 31. The Apostle expresses,
in the liveliest manner, his dependence on the Divine Redeemer to communicate
this grace in a proper degree, when he says, Let us come boldly to the
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in
time of need: (Heb. iv. 16:) plainly implying, that it may be obtained
if we have but hearts to seek for it; which, as on the one hand, it
effectually takes off all idle excuses for the neglect of our duty,
pleaded from our own acknowledged weakness, any further than we are
supported by Divine power; so on the other hand it animates the heart,
that, sensible of its various infirmities, desires nevertheless to go
forth to the work of God, and to consecrate all its faculties to his
service; using them, such as they are, for God, and humbly seeking from
him the enlargement of them.
Go, therefore, my friends, into
the Divine presence; and while under a sense of this be not discouraged,
though mountains of opposition may lie in your way. Those mountains
shall be made low, and spread themselves into a plain before you; (Isa.
xi. 4;) while you go forth under the influences of the Spirit of the
Lord who is able to make all grace abound to his people. 2 Cor. ix.
8. Of this Paul in our text was a most celebrated instance, who not
only received, as was here promised, directions what he should do, but
had strength also given him to perform it; a strength, which was made
perfect and illustrious in his weakness: (2 Cor. xii. 9:) and when,
in consequence of this, he had attained to very distinguished improvements
in religion, and had been enabled to act up, in the most honorable manner,
not only to the Christian character in general, but to that of a minister
and an apostle, he acknowledges, in all his abundant labors, that it
was not he, but the grace of God that was with him. 1 Cor. xv. 10.
If
he be thus with you, my dear friends, you will be established and built
up in your most holy faith. Col. ii 7; Jude ver. 20.
The most agreeable hopes we form concerning you, when we see you under such
serious impressions as this discourse supposes, will be answered; and they
who have
spoken to you the word of God, on such occasions
as these, will have the pleasure to think that they have not run in
vain. Phil. ii. 16.
And now if these directions, which I have offered
to you with great plainness and freedom, but with the sincerest desire
of your edification and establishment in religion, be seriously pursued,
I shall have the satisfaction of thinking, that though I might find
you in the number of the unregenerate when I began these lectures, I
shall carry you on along with me in a new character through the only
head that yet remains to be handled. I shall indeed address myself to
you, as those who were sometimes darkness, but are now light in the
Lord, (Eph. v. 8,) when I proceed to address those who have been renewed
by Divine grace; which I promised as my last general topic, and with
which I shall conclude my discourses on this important subject.
DISCOURSE X.
AN ADDRESS TO THE REGENERATE, FOUNDED ON THE PRECEDING DISCOURSES.
James I. 18.
Of his own will begat he us with the word of
truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
I INTEND the words which I have now been reading, only as an introduction
to that address to the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, with
which I am now to conclude these lectures; and therefore shall not enter
into any critical discussion, either of them, or of the context.
I
hope God has made the series of these discourses, in some measure, useful
to those for whose service they were immediately intended: but if they
have not been so to all, and if with relation to many I have labored
in vain from Sabbath to Sabbath, I cannot be surprised at it. What am
I better than my fathers? 1 Kings xix. 4.
It has, in every age, been their complaint, that they have stretched out
their hands all the day
to a disobedient and gainsaying people; (Isa. 1xv.
2: Rom. x. 21;) that the bellows have been
burnt, and the lead consumed
of the fire, but the dross has not been taken away: such reprobate silver
have multitudes been found. Jer. vi. 29, 30. Yea, the Lord Jesus Christ
himself, who spake with such unequaled eloquence, with such divine energy,
yet met with multitudes, who were like the deaf adder, that would not
hearken to the voice of the wisest charmer: (Ps. lviii. 4, 5:) and surely
the disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
Matt. x. 24.
When indeed we consider the infinite importance of the
message we address to you, O ye perishing sinners I we hardly know how
to give over, or to take a denial. We feel a strong impulse on our hearts
to give line upon line, and precept upon precept: (Isa. xxviii. 10:)
as a physician that loves his patient, when he sees the distemper prevailing,
and has run through the whole range of medicines, is ready, while life
yet remains, not entirely to give over, but to repeat again what he
had prescribed unsuccessfully before. And if God spares our lives,
no doubt many of those things which I have before been urging, must
in substance be repeated. But at present I will desist: I know not what
more or further to say; and if you are utterly unimpressed with what
I
have already laid before you, especially
with regard to the character of the unregenerate--the nature of regeneration--the
absolute necessity of it—and of the Divine agency in producing it,
with the absolute importance of your securing a part in the kingdom
of heaven; I know not what further to urge, and must leave you either
to the grace or the judgment of God.
The time will certainly come, when
you will see and own the importance of these things. The word of God
will, in one sense or another, take hold of every soul that hears it,
and, perhaps on some of you in a very terrible manner, and in a very
little time. But if it do, I may say with the apostle Paul, when in
token of the solemnity with which he spoke, he shook his raiment, and
took leave of his obstinate hearers, I am clean from your blood; (Acts
xviii. 6;) and since you refuse to be instructed, I turn to those who
regard what I say. And thus, according to the method I at first proposed,
I proceed,
Seventhly, To conclude these discourses with an address to
those who, by Divine grace, are experimentally acquainted with this great work
of regeneration; to show them how they ought to be affected with the
consideration of the truths that have been offered, and what improvement
they should make of such a course of sermons as
you have lately been attending.
Out of a general regard to the glory
of God and the good of souls, you have attended on what has hitherto
been spoken to persons of a very different character; and I hope not
altogether without some sensible refreshment and advantage; but now
hear more immediately for yourselves, and suffer a word of exhortation
in such particulars as these: Be thankful to God for what you have experienced;
improve it as an engagement to behave in a suitable manner; study to
promote the work of God upon the hearts of others; and long for that
blessed world where the change that is now begun, and is gradually advancing
in your souls, shall be universal and complete. Your own wisdom and
piety have, no doubt, anticipated me in each of these particulars; but
you will be glad to enter more fully into the reflection than you could
do, while it was intermingling itself with other thoughts.
I. Return
the most affectionate acknowledgments of praise to the God of all mercy
for the experience you have had of a regenerating change.
I would now
address this exhortation and charge to every one of you, who, through
Divine grace, hope you can say, that you are born again;
to all who can say, that God has, of
his own will, begotten you with the word of truth, that you may be a
kind of first fruits of his creatures. To you I would say, Sing unto the
Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his
holiness and goodness. Psal. xxx. 4. Give thanks to the Father, who
has made you meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
light. Col. i. 12. Join your voices and your hearts in the most cheerful
hymns of praise, whatever your different circumstances are. Let the
young and the old, the rich and the poor, the honorable and the mean,
rejoice together; if any may be called poor, who are thus enriched;
if any may be accounted mean, who are thus honored. Bless the Lord at
all times, let his praise be continually in your mouths; (Ps. xxxiv.
1;) and endeavor to carry along with you, through the darkest road
you travel, and the bitterest sorrows you taste, cheerfulness in your
hearts, and praise on your tongues; considering—how important the blessing
is with which the Lord has favored you; how few there are who partake
of it; and in the midst of how much opposition the Divine grace has
taken hold of your souls, and wrought its wonders of love there.
1.
Consider, my Christian friends, how important this favor is which God
has bestowed upon
you, in thus begetting you as a kind of first fruits
of his creatures.
Justly indeed may we say, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that
we should be regenerated by his
grace, and so be called, and that with propriety, the sons of God! 1
John iii. 1. Justly may I say to you, now you are assembled in the courts
of the Lord, in those emphatical words of David, O come, let us worship,
and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; (Psal. xcv. 6;)
for it is he that has made us and not we ourselves, with regard to this
second, as well as the first creation; and we, in consequence of it,
are in the noblest sense, his people, and the sheep of his pasture:
enter, therefore, into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts
with praise; be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Ps. c. 3, 4.
My brethren, it is a favor in which the salvation of your souls is concerned;
and can that be small? or ought it ever to be thought of but with the
highest emotion and enlargedness of heart? The gracious purposes of
God towards his children are to make every one of them higher than
the kings of the earth, (Psal. lxxxix. 27,) to jive them more solid
satisfaction than crowns and kingdoms can afford, and at length to raise
them to a diadem of immortal glory. Oh what reason have
you with the Apostle, to say, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his
abundant mercy, has begotten us again to a lively hope, by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead, even to the hope of an inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us,
who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation! 1 Pet.
i. 3-5. Survey this great privilege which God has already given you,
this high security, these glorious hopes. Has he not brought the beginning
of glory already into your souls? Has he not wrought you to a filial
temper, and taught you to cry, Abba, Father? Gal. iv. 6. Has he not,
in some measure, formed and fashioned your minds to a meetness to dwell
with angels and perfected spirits in heaven? So that you can now say,
even with relation to that which you already feel, that you are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of
the household of God. Eph. ii. 19. You are even now the sons of God,
and it doth not yet appear what you shall be; (1 John iii. 2;) but there
is enough appears, and enough known at present, of what you are, and
what you shall be, to revive, to delight, to transport the heart.
And
is not this too, O thou afflicted soul, who art called to encounter
the most painful difficulties,
enough to be the means of thy support, and to afford
thee matter for thy strong consolation? You that are tossed with tempests,
(Isa. liv. 11,) and obliged to struggle under various and long continued
burdens, have you not here a joy that the world can neither bestow nor
impair, a pleasure in public and in secret duties, and a hope, which
is as the anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast, entering into
that within the vail, (Heb. vi. 19,) and so enabling you to outride
these storms and tempests? How glorious does your lot appear when viewed
in the light of scripture! You are expressly told, All things are yours:
(1 Cor. iii. 21:) the Lord will give grace and glory, and no good thing
will he withhold from you: (Psal. lxxxiv. 11:) all the paths of the
Lord are mercy and truth to you; (Psal. xxv. 10;) and ere long you shall
see how they are so. You have a sight by faith of the inheritance appointed
for his children; but he does not intend merely a distant prospect for
you: you shall go in and possess that good land, (Deut. iv. 22,) and
shall ere long be absent from the body, and present with the Lord: (2
Cor. v. 8:) yea, the Lord Jesus Christ, ere long, shall come to be glorified
in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, (2 Thess.
i. 10,) to be glorified and admired, in and by you in particular; when
bearing the image of your heavenly
Father, you shall rise far beyond this
earth and all its vain anxieties, and vainer amusements, to dwell forever
in his presence. And what is there in this world that you imagine you
want, which is by any means to be compared with these enjoyments and
hopes? Surely, sirs, in such a view, you should be much more than content;
and should feel your inward admiration, love, and joy, bursting the
bonds of silence, and turning your voices, that have been broken by
sighs, into the most cheerful and exalted anthems of praise: especially
when you consider,
2. How few there are who partake of this important
favor, which God has extended to you.
I hope I need not, after all I
have said, remind you at large, that I intend not by any means to speak,
as excluding those of different forms and different experiences; as
if, in consequence of that diversity, they had neither part nor lot
in this matter. Acts viii. 21. I hope. that many who are not so ready,
as it were to be wished, to receive one another, are nevertheless, in
this respect, received by Christ to the glory of God. Rom. xv. 7. Yet
the temper and conduct of the generality of mankind, even under a Christian
profession, too plainly show, that they have the marks of eternal ruin
upon them: and one can form no hope concerning them, consistent with
the tenor of the whole
word of God, any other than this, that possibly
they may hereafter be changed into something contrary to what they are,
and in that change be happy.
Now that you are not left among the wide
extended ruins of mankind, but are set as pillars in the building of
God, is what you have been taught by the preceding discourses to refer
to the grace of God, which has taken and polished you to the form you
now bear. Or, as the Evangelist expresses it, in language more suitable
to the subject before us, the power, or privilege, to become the sons
of God, is what he gives to as many as receive him; and it is manifest
as to your regeneration, that you are born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God: (John i. 12,
13:) for we love him, because he first loved us; (1 John iv. 12;) and
whatsoever our attainments be, there is no true believer but will be
ready, with the Apostle Paul, to say, By the grace of God I am what
I am. 1 Cor. xv. 10.
And now, when these two thoughts are taken in this
comparison with each other, how deeply should they impress our minds!
And how should it excite us to the most lively gratitude, to consider
that when so many of our fellow-creatures perish, even under the sound
of the gospel; that when they live and die under the power of a
corrupt and degenerate nature, despising
all the means which God has given them of becoming better, and turning
them into the occasion of greater mischief; God should graciously incline
our hearts to a wiser and better choice! It is indeed a melancholy
reflection, that the number of those who are made wise to salvation
should be so small; yet it is an endearing circumstance in the Divine
goodness to us, that when it is so small, we should be included in it:
as no doubt it would appear to every truly religious person in the ark,
that when but eight souls were saved from the deluge, he should be one.
There is now a remnant, says the Apostle, according to the election
of grace: (Rom. xi. 5:) to that grace therefore should we render the
praise. We have indeed chosen him; but it is in consequence of his choosing
us. John xv. 16. We have said, The Lord is my portion; but let us remember
to bless him that he has given us that counsel, (Psal. xvi. 5, 7,) in
consequence of which we have been inclined to do it. Again,
3. Consider,
in the midst of how much opposition the grace of God has laid hold on
your souls, and wrought its wonders of love there.
Christians, look into your own hearts; yea, look back upon
your own lives, and see whether many of you have not reason to say, with the
great Apostle, It is a faithful saying, and worthy
of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I am chief: (1 Tim. i. 15:) and yet
to me, who am less than
the least of all saints, is this given, (Eph. iii. 8,) that I should
be a regenerate, adopted child of God, begotten to an inheritance of
eternal glory.
"Oh," may one Christian say, "how obstinately did I
strive against my own happiness! like a poor creature that, having received
some dangerous wound, and being delirious with a fever attending it,
struggles with the hand that is stretched out to heal him. How did I
draw back from the yoke of God! How did I trifle with convictions,
and put them off from one time to another! So that God might most righteously
have awakened any heart rather than mine. He admonished me by his word,
and by his providence; he sent afflictions; he wrought out deliverances
for me; and yet I went on to harden my heart, as if I had been afflicted
and delivered, that I might work greater abominations; (Jer. vii. 10;)
till the Lord being merciful to me, laid hold upon me, and drew me out
of Sodom." Gen. xx. 16.
And here another Christian will be ready to
say within himself, ''If the grace of God wrought sooner upon me, when
my soul was more pliant, when my heart was comparatively tender in
infancy or childhood, or in early youth;
yet what ungrateful returns have I since made for his mercy I How defective
have I been in those fruits of holiness which might reasonably have
been expected from me, who have so long a time been planted in the house
of the Lord! Alas for me! that I have flourished no more in the courts
of my God. Psal. xcii. 13. How often have I forgotten and forsaken him;
how cold and negligent has my spirit been, how inconstant my walk, how
indolent my behavior, for these many years that have passed since I
was first brought into his family! How little have I done in his service
in proportion to the advantages I have enjoyed! All this he foresaw;
all the instances in which my goodness would be as a morning cloud,
and as the early dew; (Hos. vi. 4;) all the instances in which this
perverse heart of mine, so prone to backslide, should turn aside, and
start back from him like a deceitful bow: (Psal. lxxviii. 57:) and yet
he has mercy upon me, I know not why. I cannot pretend to account for
it any otherwise than by saying, Even so, Father, for so it seemed good
in thy sight: (Matt. xi. 26:) thou hast mercy on whom thou wilt have
mercy, and thou hast compassion on whom thou wilt have compassion. Rom.
ix. 15. I have revolted deeply from thee again and again; yet thou sufferest
me not to be lost to this very
day, nor wilt thou ever suffer it: Thou restorest
my soul; thou leadest me in the paths of righteousness for thy name's
sake. Psal. xxiii. 3. Having therefore obtained help from God, I continue
to this day; (Acts xxvi. 2;) and surely goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days of my life; and unworthy as I am so much as to enter
into thine house below, I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever
above. Psal. xxiii. 6. Thus, Lord, thou makest me, as it were, a wonder
to myself; and I hope to express my admiration and my gratitude throughout
eternal ages: and if I can vie with the rest of thy redeemed ones in
nothing else, I will at least do it in bowing low before thy throne,
and acknowledging that I am of the number of the most unworthy, in whom
my Lord has been pleased to glorify the riches of his mercy, and the
freedom of his grace."
In the mean time, Christians, I call you often
to entertain yourselves with such views as these, often to excite your
hearts by such lively considerations; I call you, in the name of your
Father and your Saviour, to a whole life of gratitude and praise. And
this leads me to add,
II. Improve those experiences you have had of
Divine grace, as an engagement to behave in a suitable manner.
Remember
the lively admonition of the text,
that you were begotten by him for this
very purpose, that you should be a kind of frst-fruits of his creatures.
See, therefore, that ye be entirely consecrated to him; and behave as
becomes the children of God, in the midst of a crooked and perverse
generation: being not only harmless and blameless among them, but shining
as lights in the world, and holding forth that word of life, (Phil.
ii. 16,) by which he has begotten you to himself, and quickened you
when you were dead in trespasses and sins. Eph. ii. 1, 5.
God has now
brought you into a most honorable relation: he may therefore well expect
more, much more from you than from others. He has made you as his children,
kings and priests to himself, (Rev. i. 6,) and you are therefore to
offer up spiritual sacrifice, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
1 Pet.
ii. 5. You were once darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk,
therefore, as children of light. Eph. v. 8. Remember
you are not your
own; (1 Cor. vi. 19;) your time, your possessions, and all your capacities
for service, are the property of your heavenly Father. And permit me
to remind you, that if you desire to see this doctrine of regeneration
prevail, you, who profess to be experimentally acquainted with it, must
take great care that your behavior may not only be innocent, but exemplary:
otherwise
many will be ready to blaspheme the holy name of
that God, (2 Sam. xii. 14,) whom you call your Father; and you are like
to bring a reproach upon the household of faith, which probably you
will never be able to roll away.
Christians, the dignity of our birth
and our hopes is too little considered and regarded; and the reason
why the world thinks so meanly of it, is because we ourselves are so
insensible of its excellency. Did we apprehend it more, we should surely
be more solicitous to walk worthy of that calling wherewith we are called,
(Eph. iv. 1,) that high and holy calling. Let me, therefore, exhort
you to endeavor to loosen your affections more from these entanglements
of time and sense, which so much debase our minds, and dishonor our
lives. Yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead:
(Rom. vi. 13:) employ, with a growing zeal, to the honor of God, that
renewed life which he has given you: Be not conformed to this world,
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds: (Rom. xii. 2:)
and let your conversation and behavior be like those who feel the constraining
influences of Divine love, (2 Cor. v. 14;) who are, not in form, but
in reality, devoted to God; and who would be continually waiting for
his salvation, (Gen. xlix. 18,)
with that temper in which you could most
desire that salvation to find you when it comes.
III. Let those who
have experienced the power of Divine grace themselves, study to promote
the work of God upon the hearts of others.
Labor, as much as possible,
to spread this temper which God has wrought in your hearts; for you
cannot but know that with it you spread true happiness, which alone
is to be found in that intercourse with the great Author of our being,
for which this lays the foundation, and in the regular exercise of those
powers which are thus sanctified. No sooner was Paul converted himself,
but he presently set himself to bring others to Christ, and to preach
the faith which once he destroyed. Gal. i. 13. And David speaks of it
as the effects of God's pardoning love to him, Then will I teach transgressors
thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Psal. li. 13.
If,
therefore, God has called us to the office of the ministry, as the experience
of this change on our own hearts will be our best qualification for
our public work, and indeed such a qualification that nothing else can
supply the want of it; so it will surely excite us in a very powerful
manner to apply vigorously to this care. That which we have not only
heard, but seen with our eyes, and looked upon, and handled of the word
of life, let
us declare to others; that their fellowship also
may be with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 1 John i. 1,
3. Let us declare it in our public discourses, and never be ashamed
to bear our testimony to that grace to which we are so much indebted;
to that grace by which we are what we are. 1 Cor. xv. 10. Let us
warn
every man, and teach every man the absolute necessity of regeneration;
and expose the vanity of all those hopes which are built upon any fair
outside, on any moral decency of behavior, or any humane turn of temper,
on any warm flight of imagination or emotion of the passions, while
the soul continues unrenewed and unsanctified. Let us endeavor to save
men with fear, pulling them out of the fire, (Jude ver. 23,) which,
if they are yet unregenerate, is just ready to kindle upon them. And
let us be often reviewing our respective flocks, that we may see who
they are, concerning whom there is reason to entertain this fear; that
proper applications may be made to them in private, as well as in public;
that joining our admonitions to our sermons, and our prayers and examples
to both, we may at least deliver our own souls, (Ez. xxxiii. 9,) if
we cannot deliver theirs. But in proportion to the degree that such
a spirit prevails in us, there is very great encouragement to hope it
will be propagated to them, and that our
labor shall not be in vain in the Lord.
1 Cor. xv. 58.
And let me beseech you, my beloved hearers in other stations
of life, that you would not imagine the work is so entirely ours that
you have nothing to do with it. Are we alone redeemed by the blood of
the Son of God? Are we alone renewed and sanctified by his grace? Are
we alone the brethren and friends of mankind, that the generous care
and endeavor to promote their eternal happiness should be entirely devolved
upon us? We wish so well to the world, and permit us to say, we wish
so well to you, to your own religious consolation and establishment,
to your comfortable account, to your eternal reward, that we can not
but earnestly exhort you all, even as many as have tasted that the Lord
is gracious, (1 Peter ii. 3,) that in this respect you join, not only
as I trust you do, your prayers with ours, but that you also join your
endeavors.
Let me particularly address this exhortation to those of
you who bear any distinguished office in the society, to whom therefore
its religious interests are dear by additional ties Let me address those
of you whose age and experience, in the human and the divine life, give
you something of a natural authority in your application, and command
a distinguished regard. Look round
about you and observe the state of religion in
your neighborhood; and labor to the utmost to propagate, not so much
this or that particular opinion or form of worship, but real vital Christianity
in the world. Bear your testimony to it on all proper occasions: be
not ashamed of it in your familiar discourse; and above all, labor to
adorn it by your actions. And when you see any under serious impressions,
as it is certain they will have a great deal discouraging and difficult
to break through; and as the devil and his instruments, among whom I
must necessarily reckon licentious company, will be doing their utmost
to draw them back into the snare of the fowler; let me exhort and charge
you to be as solicitous to save as others are to destroy. I know how
many excuses our cowardly, and indolent hearts are ready to find out
upon such an occasion: but I think those words of Solomon are a sufficient
answer to all, and I beg you would seriously revolve them; If thou forbear
to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready
to be slain: if thou sayest, Behold we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, thine,
Oh Christian, with such peculiar and gracious care, doth not he know
it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?
Prov. xxiv.
11, 12. He will assuredly remember, and
will abundantly reward, every work of faith, and every labor of love;
(1 Thes. i. 3;) and we are insensible of our own true interest, if we
do not see how much it is concerned here.
Let me especially leave this
exhortation with you who are parents and heads of families. And one
would imagine there should need but little importunity in such a case
as this: one would think your own hearts should speak to you, upon such
an occasion, in very pathetic language. Look upon your dear children,
to whom you have conveyed a nature which you know to be degenerate and
corrupt; and be earnest in your prayers before God, and your endeavors
with them, that it may be renewed. And take care that you do not in
this sense despise the soul of your manservant, or of your maid-servant.
Job xxxi. 13. God has brought them under your care, it may be in those
years of life in which, on the one hand, they are most capable of being
instructed and seriously impressed; and in which, on the other hand,
they are also most in danger of being corrupted. Perhaps their relation
to you, and abode with you, is the most advantageous circumstance which
may occur in their whole lives: see therefore that you seize it with
a holy eagerness; and amidst all the charges you give them
relating to your own business, neglect not that
of the one thing needful; (Luke x. 42;) and labor heartily to bring
them to the honor and happiness which is common to all God's servants,
and peculiar to them alone.
Let me conclude this part of my address
with entreating you all to express your concern for the souls of others,
by your importunate prayers to God for them. Pray for the success of
gospel ordinances: and for a blessing on the labors of all God's faithful
servants throughout our whole land, of one or another denomination in
religion. Yea, pray that throughout the whole world, God would revive
his work in the midst of the years; (Hab. iii. 2;) that the religion
of his Son, by which so many souls have been regenerated, refined and
saved, may be universally propagated; and that all who are vigorously
engaged in so important, though so self-denying a work, may find that
the hand of the Lord is with them, and multitudes believe and turn unto
the Lord; (Acts xi. 21;) so that his sons may be brought from far, and
his daughters from the ends of the earth; (Isaiah xliii. 6;) that
the
barren may rejoice, and she that did not travail with child, may break
forth into singing, and cry aloud; that the children of nations now
strangers to Christ, may be
more than of those that are already espoused
to him. Isa. liv. 1; Gal. iv. 27. And then,
IV. Let all that are born
again, long for that blessed world, where the work of God shall be completed,
and we shall appear with a dignity and glory becoming his children.
As for God, his work is perfect; (Deut. xxxii. 4;) and the time, the
happy time is approaching, when we shall know, and the whole world shall
know, in another manner than we now do, what our heavenly Father has
intended for us in begetting us to himself. Whatever our attainments
here may be, we know at present but in part: (1 Cor. xiii. 9;) and with
whatever integrity of soul we now walk before God, we are sanctified
but in part: and hereupon we find, and must expect to find, the flesh
striving against the Spirit, as well as the Spirit against the flesh:
so that, in many respects, we cannot do the things that we would. Gal.
v. 17. In proportion to the degree in which our nature is refined and
brightened, we are more sensible of the evil of these corruptions that
remain within us; so that though we are not, in a strict propriety of
speech, carnal and sold under sin, but do indeed delight in the law
of God after the inward man, (Rom. vii. 14, 22,) yet in
the humility of our hearts we are often borrowing that pathetic complaint,
Oh, wretched man that I
am! who shall deliver me from the body of this
death? Verse 24.
But let it be remembered, Christians, as the matter
of your joy, that the struggle shall not be perpetual, that it shall
not indeed be long. Look up with pleasure then, and lift up your heads;
for your redemption draweth nigh. Luke xxi. 28. The time is approaching,
when that which is perfect shall come, and that which is in part shall
be done away. 1 Cor. xiii. 10. You are
now the children of GOD; but
it does not appear to every eye that you are so: the world knows us
not. 1 John iii. 1, 2. Nor are we to wonder at it: for even
Christ our
Lord was once unknown, and appeared in so much meanness, and so much
calamity, that an undiscerning and carnal eye could not have discovered
who and what he was. But there is a day appointed for the manifestation
of the sons of GOD, (Rom. viii. 19,) as the apostle Paul most happily
expresses it; when he will manifest them to each other, and manifest
them also to the whole world. They shall not always live thus at a distance
from their Father's house, and under those dispensations of Providence
that look so much like disregard and neglect; but he will take them
home, and gather them to himself. Ere long, Christians, he will call
these heaven-born spirits of yours, that are
now aspiring towards him, to dwell in
his immediate presence: he will receive you to himself; and you shall
stand, where no sinner shall have a place, in the congregation of the
righteous, (Ps. ii. 5,) and shall have an inheritance among the saints
in light, the saints in holiness and glory.
O happy day! when dropping
this body in the grave, we shall ascend pure and joyful spirits to that
triumphant assembly, where there is not one vitiated affection, not
one foolish thought to be found among the thousands and ten thousands
of God's Israel! O blessed period of a regenerate state I Though all
the schemes of the Divine love were to rest here, and these bodies were
forever to be laid aside, and utterly to be lost in the grave; the rejoicing
soul might say, "Lord, it is enough!" And it might be indeed enough
for us; but it is not enough to answer the gracious purposes of God's
paternal love. God will show, in the most conspicuous manner, what a
family he has raised to himself among the children of men; and therefore
he will assemble them all in their complete persons, and will do it
with solemn pomp and magnificent parade. He will for this purpose send
his own Son, with all his holy angels, (Matt. xxv. 31,) and will cause
the bodies of millions of his children, that have long
dwelt in the dust, to spring out of it, at once
in forms of beauty and lustre, worthy their relation to him. This, therefore,
is, with beautiful propriety, called by the apostle the adoption, even
the redemption of our body; (Rom. viii. 23;) alluding to the public
ceremony, with which adoptions among the ancients were solemnly confirmed
and declared, after they had been more privately transacted between
the parties immediately concerned.
O, Christians, how reasonable is
it that our souls should be rising with a secret ardor towards this
blessed hope, this glorious abode!—It is pleasant for the children
of God to meet and converse with one another upon earth; so pleasant,
that I wonder they do not more frequently form themselves into little
societies, in which, under that character, they should join their discourses
and their prayers. It is delightful to address those that, we trust,
through grace are born of God. No discourses are more pleasant than
those that suit them: and could we, that are the ministers of Christ,
reasonably hope, that we had none but such to attend our labors, we
should joyfully confine our discourses to such subjects. Yet while we
are here, we see imperfections in others, we feel them yet more painfully
in ourselves:
and as there is no pure, unmixed
society, no fellowship on earth that is completely holy and without
blemish, so there is now no pure delight, no perfect pleasure to be
met with here. Oh when shall I depart from this mixed society, and reach
that state where all is good, all glorious: where I shall see my heavenly
Father, and all my brethren in the Lord; and shall behold them all
forever acting up to their character! All giving thanks to the Father,
who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light! Col. i. 12. All forever blessing and serving the great Redeemer;
and without one ungenerous action, one reflecting word, one suspicious
thought, forever serving each other in love, rejoicing in each other's
happiness, and with the most prudent and steadfast application forever
studying and laboring to improve it!
With the most earnest desire that
you, my dear brethren and friends, may at length attain to this state
of perfection and glory; and with a cheerful expectation, through Divine
grace, that I shall ere long meet many of you in it, I close this sermon,
and these discourses: not without an humble hope, that when we arrive
at this blessed world, these hours, which we have spent together in
the house of God, in attending them, will come into
a pleasant remembrance; and that the God of all
grace, to whose glory they are faithfully devoted, and to whose blessing
they are humbly committed, will honor them as the means of increasing
his family, as well as of feeding and quickening those who are already
his regenerate children!--Amen.
POSTSCRIPT.
MEANING OP THE WORD REGENERATION.
To what I have said in
the conclusion of the first discourse concerning the proper import of
the word Regeneration, I beg leave to add the following remarks for
the farther satisfaction of some worthy persons, who think it may be
convenient to state the matter a little more particularly.
I ACKNOWLEDGE
that many learned and pious divines have taught and contended, that
Regeneration does, in the strictest propriety of speech, signify
Baptism--so
that no unbaptized person, how well disposed soever, can properly be
said to be regenerated; whereas that title may justly be given to all
who have been baptized, how destitute soever they might have been of
Christian faith and holiness when they received the ordinance, or how
grossly soever they may since have forfeited the final blessings of
a regenerate state. Dr. Waterland has stated this matter at large in his
labored and ingenious treatise on the subject, which
is the best I know on this side of the question. And though this would
be a very improper place to enter on a critical examination of that
piece, I will briefly touch on the chief arguments which he, or others
in his sentiments, have urged in vindication of this favorite notion.
So far as I can recollect, what they say is capable of being reduced
to two heads;—that Christian antiquity uses the word in this sense;—and
that there are passages of Scripture which authorize such an application
of it.
As to the first of these, I readily own that the word has this
sense in the generality of the Christian writers, from about the middle
of the second century, though I think not so universally as some have
concluded:Clemens Alexandrinus, so often, and to be sure reasonably,
quoted on the other side, plainly uses the word for a change of character
by true repentance; (Strom. lib. ii. page 425,) where, speaking of
a
penitent harlot, he says, "that being born again by conversion, or
a change in her temper and behavior, she has the regeneration of life:"
αναγεννηθεισα κατα την
επισστοφην του βιου παλιγγενεσιαν εχει ζωης. but I think it easy to account for such a use of it among
them. For in the earliest ages of the church, persons were generally
baptized as soon as they were converted to the cordial belief of Christianity;
and therefore the
time of their conversion, and that of their baptism,
might naturally enough be spoken of as one: and as this was a period
when they did, as it were, come into a new world, it is no wonder that
the action by which they testified a change so lately made, should be
put for that change itself. Just as illumination also among the ancients
signifies baptism: not to intimate that the grand illumination of the
mind was made by this rite, or at the time of it; for that would be
supposing the person in darkness when he embraced the Gospel, and determined
to be baptized: but because it was taken for granted, and that very
justly in those days, that every one savingly enlightened would soon
be baptized, that so he might be regularly joined to the society of
enlightened or regenerated persons, that is, to the Christian church:
which no doubt had the best right of any body of men in the world to
that title, though in its purest state it contained some ignorant and
wicked members.
In a word, a man by baptism solemnly professed himself
a Christian; and as it was generally the first overt act by which his
believing the Gospel could be publicly and generally known, and was
also supposed to be very near the time of his inward conversion, they
dated his regeneration, that is, his happy change (as that word used
to signify
even among the heathenIt is well
known that Cicero expresses the happy change made in his state, when
restored from his banishment, by this word. (Cic. ad Attic. lib. vi.
Epist. 6.)
The Greeks expressed by it the doctrine of the Brahmans,
in which they affirmed our entering on a new state of being after death.
(Clem. Alex. Strom. lib. iii. pag. 451.) And the Stoics used it to denote
their expected renovation of the world after successive conflagrations.
(Marc. Antonin. Medit. lib. xi. § l. v. 13, x. 7. See Lucian, Oper. pag.
532. Euseb. Præp: Evang. ex numen. lib. xv. chap. 19. Phil. Jud. de
Mundi Immort. pag. 940, 951, and in many other places.) And so the fathers
often use it to signify the resurrection which Christians expect. (See
Euseb. Eccl. Hist. lib. v. chap. 1. in fin.) Compare Matt. xix. 28,
and the Note there: Fam. Expos. Vol. II. pag. 238.
) from that time. We own therefore
that these ancient Christians (of whom I always think and speak with
great respect) had a very good excuse for this method of speaking: but
whether they were perfectly accurate in this, and whether they did not
recede from the scripture use of the word, may be matter of farther
inquiry.
As to the arguments from Scripture in support of the interpretation
I oppose, they are taken partly from particular places; but chiefly,
as I apprehend, from the general tenor of it, in which Christians are
spoken of as regenerated.
The particular texts are John iii. 5, and
Tit. iii. 5, on which much of the stress of this controversy is laid; but on considering them attentively,
I find nothing in either of them to lead us to think baptism the regeneration
spoken of there.
As to the former of them, John iii. 5, when our Lord
says, Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he can not enter
into the kingdom of GOD; it is (after all the contempt with which that
interpretation has been treated) very possible he may mean, by a well-known
figure, to express one idea by both those clauses, that is, the purifying
influences of the Spirit cleansing the mind, as water does the body:
as elsewhere, to be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire, (Matt.
iii. 11,) signifies to be baptized by the Spirit operating like fire.
But if there is indeed a reference to baptism in these words (which
I own I am much inclined to believe) it will by no means follow that
baptism is Regeneration. On that supposition, I still think the sense
of the passage must be that which I have given in my paraphrase on it
(Fam. Expos. vol. I. p. 148-p. 57 Am. Ed.) "Whosoever would become a
regular member of the kingdom of God, must not only be baptized, but
as ever he desires to share in its spiritual and eternal blessings,
must experience the renewing and sanctifying influences of the Holy
Spirit on his soul, to cleanse it from the
power of corruption, and to animate and quicken it to
a spiritual and Divine life." It is granted therefore, that how excellent
soever any man's character is, he must be baptized before he can be
looked upon as completely a member of the church of Christ; and that,
in general, being born of the Spirit, he will also be solicitous that
he may be born of water, and so fulfill all righteousness. But it will
never follow from hence, that being born of water and born of the Spirit
are the same thing. The text rather implies they are different; and
I think every body must own, they may be actually separate.
Nothing
therefore can be more absurd than to infer from this text, that if there
be two persons, one of whom is born of the Spirit, and not of water;
another of water, and not of the Spirit; the latter, that is, the wicked
man, who has perhaps with some iniquitous design been baptized, may
properly be said to be regenerated, or born of GOD, and consequently
to be an heir of GOD, (Rom. viii. 17,) rather than a
truly religious
man who has not yet been baptized, either through want of opportunity,
or through some unhappy mistake, as to the nature and design, or the
perpetuity and obligations of that ordinance. Now this I take to be
precisely the question, and must declare that when a baptized person
is destitute of
true religion, that birth which he had by water, seems
to me as it were an evanescent thing, or a thing which disappears as
unworthy the mention; and that it must be therefore most safe and advisable,
as well as most agreeable to the scripture sense, to appropriate the
title of regenerate persons to those sanctified by Divine grace, rather
than to use it of all who are baptized.
As to the text in Titus (chap.
iii. 5,) where God is said to save us by the washing of regeneration,
or, as some earnestly contend it should be rendered, by the laver of
regeneration: I might answer, that as that interpretation is by no means
necessary,The original is δια λουτρου παλυγγενεσιασ. Now it is certain
the seventy use another word, that is
Λουτηρ, to signify
Laver, Exod.
xxx. 18, 28; xxxi. 9; and I think (so far as I have observed) everywhere
else: and
Λουτρον (St. Paul's word here) is used where it can not signify
laver, for the water in which sheep are washed, Cant. iv. 2, and for
a large quantity of water in which an adult person was washed or
bathed.
Eph. v. 26. And this remark quite overthrows all the argument from
this
text, if any argument would follow from rendering it
laver: but I think
I need not urge this. it cannot be proved that baptism is here designed; though
I acknowledge there may be a graceful allusion to it. The Apostle may
mean, we are saved by GOD'S washing our hearts by his sanctifying
Spirit
(a phrase so often used in the Old Testament) and thereby making us
his children:
and in this sense it might have been used, though
baptism had never been instituted. But granting (as I have done) that
Λουτρον may be rendered
laver, and that baptism may be the
laver referred
to; and that "there is indeed an allusion to the washing new-born children;
(as Mr. Mede in his diatribe on this text contends;) I think this text
will be so far from proving that St. Paul meant to call baptism
Regeneration,
that it will prove the contrary: for regeneration itself, and the laver
of regeneration, can not be the same thing. And whatever Tertullian
and other ancients may fancifully talk of our being generated like fishes
in the water, in a weak allusion to the technical word ΙΧΘΥΣ, (a fish,)
common sense will see how absurd it would be to apply this to a child,
and will teach us rather to argue, that as children must be born before
they can be washed, so they must be regenerated before the washing of
regeneration (that is, the washing which belongs to their new birth,)
can be applied to them. But on the whole, I am more and more inclined
to think there is no reference at all here to a laver, or to the
washing
new-born children; and therefore, that this washing and the renewing
of the Holy Ghost are exegetical, and that the latter clause might be
rendered, even the renewing, &c, which
makes the text decisive for the sense in which I use
the word.
After all, then, if any argument can be deduced from
scripture
in favor of the manner of speaking now in debate, it must be from the
general tenor of it; according to which it seems that all who are members
of the visible church are spoken of as regenerate; from which it may
be inferred, with some plausible probability at least, that baptism,
by which they are admitted into that society, may be called Regeneration.
And I am ready to believe, as I hinted above, that this was the chief
reason why the ancients so often used the word in the sense I am now
opposing.
Now with relation to this, I desire it may be recollected,
that when Christianity first appeared in the world, it was attended
with such discouragements, as made the very profession of it, in a great
measure, a test of men's characters. The Apostles therefore, knowing
the number of hypocrites to be comparatively very small, generally take
no notice of them, but address themselves to whole bodies of Christians,
as if they were truly what they professed to be. Just as our Lord Jesus
Christ, though he knew the wickedness of Judas, often addressed himself
to the whole body of his Apostles, as if they were all his faithful
servants, and makes gracious declarations and promises to
the whole society, which could by no means be applicable
to this one corrupt and wretched member of it; telling them, for instance,
that they should share in his final triumph, and sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Matt. xix. 28.
This is therefore
the true key to all those passages in which Christians are, in the general,
said to be adopted, sanctified, justified, &c., as well as regenerated.
The Apostles had reason, in the judgment of charity, to think thus of
by far the greatest part of them; and therefore they speak to them all,
as in such a happy state. And agreeably to this, we find not only such
privileges, but also such characters, ascribed to Christians in general,
as were only applicable to such of them as were Christians indeed. Thus
all the Corinthians are spoken of by the Apostle Paul, as waiting for
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Cor. i. 7,) and all the
Ephesians,
and all the Colossians, as having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
love to all the saints, (Eph. i. 15; Col. i. 4,) and all the
Philippians,
as having a good work begun in them, which Paul was persuaded
GOD would
perfect, (Phil. i. 6,) and all the Thessalonians, as remarkable for
their work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope; (1 Thess.
i. 3;) though it evidently appears there were persons
in several of these churches who behaved much amiss,
and to whom, had he been particularly addressing each of them alone,
he could not by any means have used such language. On the like principles
Peter, when addressing all the Christians in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, speaks of the whole aggregate of them, (1 Pet. i.
8,) as loving an unseen Saviour, and amidst all their tribulations,
rejoicing in him with joy unspeakable and full of glory; though probably
there were some weak and dejected Christians among them, and undoubtedly
in so large an extent of country, in which there were such a vast number
of churches, not a few, who (as our Lord afterwards expresses it of
some of them) had only a name to live, while they were dead; (Rev. iii.
1:) in which passage, by the way, our Lord uses the same figure, and
describes the whole body by the character of those who made the greater
of it.
I state the matter thus particularly, because I think this obvious
remark is a sufficient answer to what is most peculiar and important
in a late Discourse, consisting of near 130 quarto pages, and entitled
A Key to the Apostolic Writings, &c., prefixed by the Rev. Mr. Taylor,
of Norwich, to his late Paraphrase and Notes on the
Romans.And with singular inconsistency adopted by Dr. Adam
Clarke, in his Commentary on the New Testament, now so widely circulated.--J.
N. B. I think what I have briefly advanced here,
will much more effectually answer the end of fixing the true sense of
the scripture phrases in question. And I cannot forbear saying, that
to determine the sense of the words called, redeemed, sanctified, &c.,
when applied to the Christian church, by that in which they are used
in Moses and the prophets with respect to the whole people of Israel,
seems to me as unreasonable, as it would be to maintain, that the dimensions,
the strength, and the beauty of a body are to be most exactly estimated
by looking on its shadow.
Yet on this evidently weak and mistaken principle,
the learned and ingenious Author referred to above, ventures not only
to attempt an entire alteration in the generally-received strain of
theological Discourses, but to throw out a censure, which, considering
its extent and its severity, must either be very terrible, or very pitiable.
He not only seems to think, if I understand him right, that we were
all regenerated (if at all) as well as justified, in those of our parents
who were first converted from idolatry to Christianity, (Key,
§ 81, 82, and 246,) as indeed he expressly says, "that we are born in a justified,"
and therefore
undoubtedly, (if the word is to be retained,) in a regenerate
"state:" but he presumes to say, that such doctrines as have been almost
universally taught and received among Christians, concerning "Justification,
regeneration, redemption, &c., have quite taken away the very ground
of the Christian life, the grace of God, and have left no object for
the faith of a sinner to work upon." (§ 357.) And hereupon, lest it
should be forgot, he repeats it in the same section, that to represent
it as "the subject of doubtful inquiry, trial, and examination, whether
we have an interest in Christ, whether we are in a state of pardon,
whether we be adopted, (and by consequence, to be sure, whether we be
regenerated,) "is" (as the Antinomians I imagine would also say,) "to
make our justification, as it invests us in those blessings, to be of
works, and not by faith alone;" and (as we just before said in the same
words,) "to take away the very ground of the Christian life, the grace
of God, and to leave no object for the faith of a sinner to act upon."
And this way of stating things, which has so generally prevailed, is
joined with the wickedness and contentions of professing Christians,
as a third cause of that disregard to the Gospel which is so common
in the present day.
Now as no book can fall more directly under
this censure, than this of mine, in which, it is the
business of the first three discourses to direct professing Christians
into an inquiry, whether they be or be not in a regenerate state; I
thought it not improper, in this postscript, briefly to acquaint my
reader with the principles on which I continue to think the view, in
which I have put the matter, to be rational and scriptural,For the full proof of this, that
it is the most scriptural sense, I must desire the reader diligently
to examine, and seriously to consider, the several texts which are quoted
in the foregoing Discourses.
Let it still be remembered, that to be
regenerated, and to be born of GOD, are equivalent phrases: And with
this remark, let any one that can do it paraphrase all the passages
referred to, in two different views; first putting the word baptism
for regeneration, and baptized persons for born of
GOD; and then substituting
our definition of regeneration or of a regenerate person, instead of
the words themselves: and I can not but think he will be struck with
that demonstration, which will (as it were) emerge of itself upon such
a trial. And I must add, that if he looks into the context of many of
these passages, he will at the same time see how utterly ungrounded
it is to assert, as some have done, "that regeneration is only used
when applied to Jewish converts to Christianity, referring to their
former birth from Abraham;" a notion so fully confuted by our Lord's
discourse with Nicodemus, John iii. 3, et seq. by Tit. iii. 5, and by
1 Pet. i. 3, 23; ii. 2, when compered
with 1 Pet. i. 14: iv. 3, (which
proves that the Apostle there wrote to societies, of which the greater
part had before been idolatrous Gentiles.)
and do
still in my conscience judge it far preferable to what the advocates of baptismal regeneration
on the one hand, or Dr. Taylor on the other, would introduce.
It seems to me, that the points in dispute with him are much more important than
our debates with them, as a much greater number of Scriptures are concerned,
and the whole tenor of our ministerial addresses would be much more sensibly affected. Had I leisure to discuss the matter more largely
with this gentleman, I should think it might be an important service
to the Gospel of Christ. I hope it will be undertaken by some abler
hand; and shall, in the mean time, go on preaching and writing in the
manner so solemnly condemned, with no apprehension from the discharge
of all this overloaded artillery, except it be what I feel for the zealous
engineer himself, and a few other friends who may chance to stand nearer
him than in prudence they ought.
P. D.
Northampton, June 13, 1745.