! ^- ~-' LI > /4j . 3* U HUMAN NATURE IN ITS FOURFOLD STATE; OF PRIMITIVE INTEGRITY, ENTIRE DEPRAVITY, BEGUN RECOVERY, AND CONSUMMATE HAPPINESS OR MISERY;/ SUBSISTING IN IN SEVERAL PRACTICAL DISCOURSES. BY THE REV. THOMAS BOSTON, LATE MINISTER Of \ at. GOSPEL AT ETTRICK. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men; and needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. JOHN ii. 34, 25. Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. LUKE ix. 55. As in water, face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man. PROV. xxvii. 19. * PHILADELPHIA: PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. u^> S. IXJir.LA!) WYKPH No. 7 Pear St., Philadelphia. Pr'mled by WM. S. MARTIEN. CONTENTS. r ... -^j^. I. The state of Innocence,- or Primitive integrity t in which Man was created. Man's Original Righteousness - - - - - .. 9 Man's Original Happiness .......13 The doctrine of the State of Innocence applied .... 19 . II. The state of Nature ; or, Entire Depravity. HEAD I. The sinfulness of Man's Natural State ..... 23 The Corruption of Man's Nature proved .... 27 Corruption of the Understanding ...... 38 Will 52 " Affections ..-....--75 " Conscience ........76 " Memory ..... .....77 " Body 78 How Man's Nature became corrupted ..... 78 Doctrine of the Corruption of Nature applied - - - 81 God's specially noticing our Natural Corruption ... 85 Men overlooking their Natural Sin ...... 86 Original Sin specially noticed .......88 Why Original Sin is to be specially noticed .... 89 How to get a View of the Corruption of our Nature - - 91 HEAD II. The Misery of Man's Natural State ...... 92 Man's Natural State is a State of Wrath 94 Doctrine of the State of Wrath confirmed and vindicated - - 102 Doctrine of the Misery of Man's Natural State applied - - 106 Alarm to the Unregenerate ....... 109 Advices how to flee from Wrath - - - - . -114 Duty of those who are delivered from Wrath - - - -115 HEAD HI. Man's utter Inability to recover himself ... - 118 Objections to Man's Inability to recover himself answered - - 126 ill iv CONTENTS. III. The State of Grace / or, Begun Recovery. HEAD I. On Regeneration - - - - - - - 131 Of the Nature of Regeneration - - - - - -134 The Mind illuminated ........ 136 The Will renewed 139 The Affections changed --.--.- 142 The Conscience renewed -------- 144 The Memory bettered - - - - - - - -145 A Change on the Body .--...-. 146 A Change in the Conversation ...... 146 Resemblance between Natural and Spiritual Generation - - 148 The Doctrine of Regeneration applied - - - - -151 Cases of Christians doubting their Regeneration resolved - - 155 Of the Necessity of Regeneration ...... 162 Advices to the Unregenerate - - - - - - 168 HEAD IL Mystical Union between Christ and Believers - - - - 169 General View of the Mystical Union ..... 170 Our Natural and Supernatural Stock ..... 173 Adam our Natural Stock - - - - - - - -174 " A Degenerate Stock 174 " A Dead Stock 176 A Killing Stock 178 Christ our Supernatural Stock As Mediator .... 179 The Elect grafted into Christ 180 How the Branches are cut off from the Natural Stock - - 181 How a Sinner is ingrafted into Christ ..... 190 Christ apprehends the Sinner ....... 190 Inferences ........... 191 Benefits flowing from a Union with Christ Justification - - 194 " Peace with God and Peace of Conscience - -. - 197 " Adoption 200 " Sanctification 201 * Growth in Grace ....... 204 " Fruitfulness 207 " Acceptance ........ 210 " Establishment - - - - - - - -211 " Support .- - - - 214 " Care of the Husbandman 216 Duty of Saints so united 219 Sinners partake not of them - - -221 CONTENTS. ? FV. The Eternal State,- or, State of Consummate Happiness or Misery. HEAD!. Death - 212 Certainty of death 223 Man's life is vanity ......... 225 Death A Glass in which to behold the Vanity of the World - 228 M A Storehouse for Contentment and Patience - - 229 " A Bridle to curb Lust ...... 230 " A Spring to Christian Resolution .... 233 " An Incitement to prepare for death .... 233 HEAD II. Difference between the Righteous and the Wicked in their Death 235 Hopeless State of the Wicked in Death ..... 236 Cautions against False Hopes of Heaven ..... 242 Exhortations to Sinners to forsake their Wickedness ... 243 Hopeful State of the Godly in Death 245 An Objection answered ........ 249 Cases of the Uneasiness of Saints in View of Death answered - 251 Considerations to reconcile Saints to Death - - - 254 Directions how to prepare for Death ..... 256 HEAD III. Of the Resurrection ......... 259 Doctrine of the Resurrection asserted ..... 260 Certainty of the Resurrection ....... 260 Of the nature of the Resurrection ...... 265 Qualities of the raised Bodies of the Saints .... 271 Qualities of the raised Bodies of the Wicked .... 273 Comfort to the People of God ....... 274 Terror to Unregenerate Men ....... 275 HEAD IV. Of the General Judgment ........ 277 Christ descending from Heaven as a Judge .... 281 The Summons to Judgment ....... 282 The Judge on his Throne 283 The Appearance of the Parties ....... 284 The Separation between the Righteous and the Wicked - - 285 Trial of the Parties 287 The Books opened 289 1 * VI CONTENTS. Sentence pronounced on the Saints .... . 293 The Saints shall Judge the World 294 Sentence of Damnation on the Ungodly ... . 294 The General Conflagration ....... 297 Comfort to the Saints ........ 299 Terror to Unbelievers ........ 300 Exhortation to prepare for Judgment 302 HEAD V. The Kingdom of Heaven ........ 303 The Saints made completely happy ...... 305 Nature of the Kingdom of Heaven ...... 305 The Saints' Kingly power ........ 305 " Ensigns of Royalty ....... 306 " Shall be clothed in white Garments .... 306 Heaven represented as a Country - - - - - - 31 't The Royal City 311 The Royal Palace 312 The Palace Garden 313 The Royal Treasures 313 The Temple 313 Society in the Kingdom of Heaven ...... 314 The Presence of God and of the Lamb 317 Full Enjoyment of God and of the Lamb 318 The Eternal Duration of the Kingdom of Heaven ... 326 The Saints' Admission into the Kingdom ..... 326 The Quality in which they are introduced ..... 327 Trial of the Claim to the Kingdom 329 Duty and comfort of the Heirs thereof ..... 330 Exhortation to those who have no Right to the Kingdom - - 332 HEAD VI. Of Hell 333 The Curse under which the Damned are shut up ... 334 The Misery of the Damned in Hell ...... 337 The Punishment of Loss in Hell ...... 337 The Punishment of Sense in Hell ...... 343 Society with Devils ... ..... 350 The Eternity of the Misery of the Damned ..... 351 A Measuring Reed ......... 356 A Balance of the Sanctuary ....... 355 Exhortations to flee from the Wrath to come .... 358 HUMAN NATURE IN ITS FOURFOLD STATE. STATE I. "THE STATE OF INNOCENCE, OR PRIMITIVE INTEGRITY IN WHICH MAN WAS CREATED. Lo! this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. ECCLKS. vii. 29. THERE are four things necessary to be known by all that would see heaven. First, What man was in the state of inno- cence, as God made him. Secondly, What he is in the state of corrupt nature, as he has unmade himself. Thirdly, What he must be in the state of grace, as created in Christ Jesus unto good works, if ever he be made a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. And lastly, What he shall be in his eter- nal state, as made by the Judge of all, either perfectly happy, or completely miserable, and that for ever. These are weighty points, that touch the vitals of practical godliness, from which most men, and even many professors, in these dregs of time, are quite estranged. I design, therefore, under the divine con- duct, to open up these things, and apply them. I begin with the first of them, namely, the STATE OF INNO- CENCE, that, beholding man polished after the similitude of a palace, the ruins may the more affect us ; we may the more prize that matchless Person, whom the Father has appointed the repairer of the breach ; and that we may with fixed resolves, be- take ourselves to that way which leadeth to the city that hath unmovable foundations. In the text we have three things : 1. The state of innocence wherein man was created, "God hath made man upright." By man here we are to understand our first parents ; the original pair, the root of mankind, the compendized world, and the fountain from whence all generations 7 THE EXPLICATION OF THE TEXT. have streamed : as may appear by comparing Gen. v. 1, 2, " In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him, male and female created he them, and blessed them, (as the root of mankind) and called their name Adam." The original word is the same as in our text ; in this sense, man was made right (agreeable to the nature of God, whose work is perfect) without any imperfection, corruption, or principle of corruption in his body or soul. He was made upright, that is, straight with the will and law of God, without any irregularity in his soul. By the set it got in its creation, it directly pointed towards God, as his chief end ; which straight inclination was represented, as in an emblem, by the erect figure of his body, a figure that no other living creature partakes of. What David was in a gospel sense, that was he in a legal sense, one according to God's own heart, altogether righteous, pure and holy. God made him thus : he did not first make him, and then make him righteous: but in the very making of him, he made him righteous. Original righteousness was con-created with him ; so that in the same moment he was a man, he was a righteous man, morally good ; with the same breath that God breathed in him a living soul, he breathed in him a righteous soul. 2. Here is man's fallen state : " But they have sought out many inventions." They fell off from their rest in God and fel" upon seeking inventions of their own, to mend their case ; and they quite marred it. Their ruin was from their own proper motion ; they would not abide as God made them, but they sought out inventions to deform and undo themselves. 3. Observe here the certainty and importance of those things, " Lo ! this only have I found," &c. Believe them, they are the result of a narrow search, and a serious inquiry performed by the wisest of men. In the two preceding verses Solomon re- presents himself as in quest of goodness in the world, but the issue of it was, he could find no satisfying issue of his search after it ; though it was not for want of pains ; for he counted one by one, to find out the account : " Behold, this I have found (saith the Preacher) to wit, that (as the same word is read in our text) yet my soul seeketh, but I find not." He could make no satis- fying discovery of it, which might stay his inquiry. He found good men very rare ; one, as it were, among a thousand ; good women, more rare ; not one good among his thousand wives and concubines, 1 Kings xi. 3. But could that satisfy the grand query, " Where shall Wisdom be found ?" No, it could not ; (and if the experience of others in this point run counter to Solomon's, as it is no reflection on his discerning, it can as little decide the question ; which will remain undetermined till the last day.) But, amidst all this uncertainty, there is one point found out, and fixed : " This have I found.' Ye may depend upon it as most certain truth, and be fully satisfied in it : " Lo OF MAN'S ORIGINAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. 9 this !" fix your eyes upon it, as a matter worthy of most deep and serious regard ; to wit, that man's nature is now depraved, but that depravation was not from God, for " He made man upright ;" but from themselves, " They have sought out many inventions." DOCTRINE. God made man altogetJier righteous. This is that state of innocence in which God set man down in the world. It is described in the Holy Scriptures with a running pen, in comparison of the following states ; for it was of no continuance, but passed as a flying shadow, by man's abusing the freedom of his own will. I shall, FIRST, Inquire into the righteousness of this state wherein man was created. SECONDLY, Lay before you some of the happy concomitants and consequents thereof. LASTLY, Apply the whole. OF MAN'S ORIGINAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. FIRST, As to the righteousness of this state, consider, that as uncreated righteousness, the righteousness of God is the supreme rule j so all created righteousness, whether of man or angels, hath respect to a law as its rule, and a conformity thereunto. A creature can no more be morally independent on God, in its actions and powers, than it can be naturally independent on him. A creature, as a creature, must acknowledge the Creator's will as its supreme law ; for, as it cannot be without him, so it must not be but for him, according to his will : yet no law obliges until it be revealed. And hence it follows, that there was a law which man, as a rational creature, was subjected to in his creation ; and that this law was revealed to him. " God made man upright," says the text. This presupposeth a law to which he was conformed in his creation ; as when any thing is made regular or according to rule, of necessity the rule itself is presupposed. Whence we may gather, that this law was no other than the eternal indispensable law of righteousness, obser- ved in all points by the second Adam, opposed by the carnal mind, some notions of which remain yet among the Pagans, who, " having not the law, are a law unto themselves," Rom. ii. 15. In a word, this law is the very same which was afterwards summed up in the Ten Commandments, and promulgated on mount Sinai to the Israelites, called, by us, the moral law : and man's righteousness consisted in conformity to this law or rule. More particularly, there is a twofold conformity required of a man : a conformity of the powers of his soul to the law, which you may call habitual righteousness ; and a conformity of all his actions to it, which is actual righteousness. Now God made man habitually righteous ; man was to make himself 10 OP MAN'S ORIGINAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. actually righteous ; the former was the stock God put into hie hand ; the latter, the improvement he should have made of it. The sum of what I have said, is, that the righteousness wherein man was created was the conformity of all the faculties and powers of his soul to the moral law. This is what we call original righteousness, which man was originally endued with. We may take it up in these three things. FIRST, Man's understanding was a lamp of light. He had perfect knowledge of the law, and of his duty accordingly : he was made after God's image, and consequently could not want knowledge, which is a part thereof, Col. iii. 10. "The new man is renewed in knowledge, after the image of .him that created him." And indeed this was necessary, to fit him for universal obedience, seeing no obedience can be according to the law, unless it proceed from a sense of the commandment of God re- quiring it. It is true, Adam had not the law written upon tables of stone, but it was written upon his mind, the knowledge thereof being con-created with him. God impressed it upon his soul, and made him a law to himself, as the remains of it among the heathens do testify, Rom. ii. 14, 15. And seeing man was made to be the mouth of the creation, to glorify God in his works, we have ground to believe he had naturally an exquisite knowledge of the works of God. We have a proof of this, in his giving names to the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the air, and these such as express their nature. Whatsoever Adam " called every living creature that was the name thereof," Gen. ii. 19. And the dominion which God gave him over the crea- tures, soberly to use and dispose of them according to his will, (still in subordination to the will of God) seems to require no less than a knowledge of their natures. And besides all this, his perfect knowledge of the law, proves his knowledge in the management of civil affairs, which in respect of the law of God, " a good man will guide with discretion," Psal. cxii. 5. SECONDLY, His will lay straight with the will of God, Eph. iv. 24. There was no corruption in his will, no bent nor incli- nation to evil ; for that is sin properly and truly so called ; hence the apostle says, Rom. viii. 7. " I had not known sin, but by the law ; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." An inclination to evil is really a fountain of sin, and therefore inconsistent with that rectitude and uprightness which the text expressly says he was endued with at his creation. The will of man then was directed and naturally inclined to God and goodness, though mutably. It was disposed, by its original make, to follow the Creator's will, as the shadow does the body ; and was not left in an equal balance to good and evil : for at that rate he had not been upright, nor habitually conformed to the law, which in no mo- ment can allow the creature, not to be inclined towards God as "F MAN'S ORIGINAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. 11 his cnief end, more than it can allow a man to be a God to himself. The law was impressed upon Adam's soul ; now this according to the new covenant, by which the image of God is repaired, consists in two things : 1. Putting the law into the mind, denoting the knowledge of it : 2. Writing it in the heart, denoting inclinations in the will, answerable to the commands of the law, Heb. viii. 10. So that, as the will, when we consider it as renewed by grace, is by that grace natively inclined to the saint's holiness in all its parts which the law requires ; so was the will of man (when we consider him as God made him at first) endued with natural inclinations to every thing commanded by the law. For if the regenerate are partakers of the divine nature, as undoubtedly they are, for so says the Scripture, 2 Pet. i. 4, and if this divine nature can import no less than incli- nations of the heart to holiness, then surely Adam's will could not want this inclination ; for in him the image of God was perfect. It is true, it is said, Rom. ii. 14, 15, that " the gen- tiles show the work of the law written in their hearts ;" but this denotes only their knowledge of that law, such as it is ; but the apostle to the Hebrews, in the text cited, takes the word heart in another sense, distinguishing it plainly from the mind. And it must be granted, that, when God promises in the new covenant, to write his law in the hearts of his people, it imports quite another thing than that which heathens have ; for though they have notions of it in their minds, yet their hearts go another way ; their will has got a set and a bias quite contrary to that law ; and, therefore, the expression suitable to the present pur- pose, must needs import, besides these motions of the mind, inclinations of the will going along therewith ; which inclina- tions, though mixed with corruption in the regenerate, were pure and unmixed in upright Adam. In a word, as Adam knew his Master's pleasure in the matter of duty, so his will stood inclined to what he knew. THIRDLY, His affections were orderly, pure, and holy ; which is a necessary part of that uprightness wherein man was created. The apostle has a petition, 2 Thess. iii. 5. " The Lord direct your hearts, unto the love of God :" that is, " The Lord straight- en your hearts, or make them lie straight to the love of God :" and our text tells us, man was thus made straight. " The new man is created in righteousness and true holiness," Eph. iv. 24. Now this holiness, as it is distinguished from righteousness, may import the purity and orderliness of the affections. And thus the apostle, 1 Tim. ii. 8, will have men to pray, " lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting :" because, as troubled water is unfit to receive the image of the sun, so the heart, filled with impure and disorderly affections, is not fit for divine communica- tions. Man's sensitive appetite was indeed naturally carried out towards objects grateful to the senses. For seeing man was 12 OF MAN'S ORIGINAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. made up of body and soul, and God made this man to glorify and enjoy him, and for this end to use his good creatures in subordination to himself, it is plain that man was naturally inclined both to spiritual and sensible good ; yet to spiritual good, the chief good, as his ultimate end. And, therefore, his sensitive motions and inclinations, were subordinate to his reason and will, which lay straight with the will of God, and were not, in the least, contrary to the same. Otherwise he should have been made up of contradictions ; his soul being naturally inclined to God as the chief end, in the superior part thereof; and the same soul inclined to the creature as the chief end in the inferior part thereof, as they call it ; which is impossible : for man, at the same instant, cannot have two chief ends. Man's affections, then, in his primitive state, were pure from all defile- ment, free from all disorder and distemper, because, in all their motions, they were duly subjected to his clear reason, and his holy will. He had also an executive power answerable to his will ; a power to do the good which he knew should be done, and which he inclined to do, even to fulfil the whole law of God. If it had not been so, God would not have required of him perfect obedience ; for to say that " The Lord gathereth where he hath not strawed," is but the blasphemy of a wicked heart, against a good and bountiful God, Matt. xxv. 24. From what has been said, it may be gathered, that the origi- nal righteousness explained, was universal and natural, yet mutable. FIRST, It was universal ; both with respect to the subject of it, the whole man : and the object of it, the whole law. Universal I say, with respect to the subject of it ; for this righteousness was diffused through the whole man ; it was a blessed leaven that leavened the whole lump. There was not one wrong pin in the tabernacle of human nature, when God set it up, however shat- tered it is now. Man was then holy in soul, body, and spirit : while the soul remained untainted, its lodging was kept pure and undefiled : the members of the body were consecrated vessels, and instruments of righteousness. A combat betwixt flesh and spirit, reason and appetite ; nay the least inclination to sin, lust of the flesh in the inferior part of the soul, was utterly incon sistent with this uprightness, in which man was created : and has been invented to veil the corruption of man's nature, and to obscure the grace of God in Jesus Christ : it looks very like the language of fallen Adam, laying his own sin at his Maker's door, Gen. iii. 12. "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of it, and I did eat." But as this righteousness was universal in respect of the subject, because it spread through the whole man, so also it was universal, in respect of the object, the holy law : There was nothing in the law, but what was agree- able to his reason and will, as God made him : the son has now OF MAN'S ORIGINAL HAPPINESS. 13 set him at odds with it : his soul was shapen out, in length and breadth to the commandment, though exceeding broad : so that this original righteousness was not only perfect in parts, but in degrees. SECONDLY, As it was universal, so it was natural to him and not supernatural in that state. Not that it was essential to man, as man ; for then he could not have lost it, without the loss of his very being ; but it was con-natural to him. He was created with it, and it was necessary to the perfection of man, as he came out of the hand of God: necessary to constitute him in a state of integrity. Yet, THIRDLY, it was mutable : it was a righteousness that might be lost, as is manifested by the doleful event. His will was not absolutely indifferent to good or evil ; God set it towards good only ; yet he did not fix and confirm its inclinations, that it could not alter. No, it was movable to evil : and that only by man himself. God having given him sufficient power to stand in this integrity, if he had pleased, let no man blame God's works in this ; for if Adam had been unchangeably righteous, he behoved to have been so either by nature, or by free gift ; by nature he could not be so, for that is proper to God, and incommunicable to any creature : if by free gift, then no wrong was done him, in withholding of what he could not crave. Confirmation in a righteous state, is a reward of grace, given upon continuing righteous through the state of trial ; and would have been given to Adam, if he had stood out the time appointed for probation by the Creator ; and accordingly is given to the saints, upon the account of the merits of Christ, who was obedient even to the death. And herein believers have the advantage of Adam, that they can never totally or finally fall away from grace. Thus was man made originally righteous, being created in God's own image, Gen. i.' 27, which consists in the positive qualities of knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, Col. iii. 10. Ephes. iv. 24. All that God made was very good, according to their several natures, Gen. i. 31. And so was man morally good, being made after the image of Him who is " good and up- right," Psa. xxv. 8. Without this, he could not have answered the great end of his creation, which was to know, love, and serve his God, according to his will. Nay, he could not be created otherwise ; for he behoved either to be conformed to the law, in his powers, principles, and inclinations, or not : if he was, then he was righteous ; and if not, he was a sinner, which is absurd and horrible to imagine. OF MAN'S ORIGINAL HAPPINESS. SF.CONDLY, I shall lay before you some of those things which did accompany or flow from the righteousness of man's primitive 14 OP MAN'S ORIGINAL HAPPINESS. state. Happiness is the result of holiness : and as it was a holy, so it was a happy state. First, Man was then a very glorious creature. We have reason to suppose, that as Moses' face shone when he came down from the mount ; so man had a very lightsome and pleasant countenance, and beautiful body, while as yet there was no darkness of sin in him at all. But seeing God himself is glorious in holiness, Exod. xv. 11, surely that spiritual comeliness the Lord put upon man at his creation, made him a very glorious creature. O how did light shine in his holy conversation, to the glory of the Creator ! while every action was but the darting forth of a ray and beam of that glorious, unmixed light which God had set up in his soul ; while that lamp of love, lighted from heaven, continued burning in his heart, as in the holy place; and the law of the Lord put in his inward parts by the finger of God, was kept by him there, as in the most holy. There was no im- purity to be seen without ; no squint-look in the eyes, after any unclean thing ; the tongue spoke nothing but the language of Heaven ; and in a word, " The King's son was all glorious within, and his clothing of wrought gold." Secondly, He was the favourite of Heaven : He shone brightly in the image of God, who cannot but love his own image, wherever it appears. While he was alone in the world he was not alone, for God was with him : his communion and fellowship was with his Creator, and that immediately ; for as yet there was nothing to turn away the face of God from the work of his own hands : seeing sin had not as yet entered, which alone could make the breach. By the favour of God, he was advanced to be confederate with Heaven, in the first covenant, called the covenant of works. God reduced the law, which he gave in his creation, into the form of a covenant, whereof perfect obedience was the condition; life was the thing promised, and death the penalty. As for the condition, one great branch of the natural law was, that man should believe whatsoever God should reveal, and do whatsoever he should command : accordingly, God making this covenant with man, extended his duty to the not eating of the tree of know- ledge of good and evil ; and the law thus extended, was the rule of man's covenant-obedience. How easy were these terms to him, who had the natural law written on his heart ; and that inclining him to obey this positive law, revealed to him, it seems, by an audible voice, Gen. ii. 16, the matter whereof was so very easy. And indeed it was highly reasonable that the rule and matter of his covenant-obedience should be thus extended : that which was added, being a thing in itself indifferent, where his obedience was to turn upon the precise point of the will of God, the plainest evidence of true obedience, and it being in an exter- OF MAN'S ORIGINAL HAPPINESS. 15 nal thing, wherein his obedience or disobedience would be most clear and conspicuous. Now, upon this condition, God promised him life ; the con- tinuance of natural life in the union of soul and body ; and of spiritual life in the favour of his Creator ; he promised him also eternal life in heaven, to have been entered into when he should have passed the time of his trial upon earth, and the Lord should see meet to transport him into the upper paradise. This promise of life was included in the threatening of death mentioned, Gen. ii. 17. For while God says, "In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die :" it is in effect, " If thou dost not eat of it, thou shalt surely live :" And this was sacramentally confirmed by another tree in the garden, called therefore the tree of life which he was debarred from, when he had sinned, Gen. iii. 22, 23. " Lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life and eat and live for ever. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden." Yet it ft not to be thought, that man's life and death did hang only on this matter of the forbid- den fruit, but on the whole law ; for so says the apostle, Gal. iii. 10. " It is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." That of the forbidden fruit was a revealed part of Adam's religion; and so behoved expressly to be laid before him : but as to the natural law, he naturally knew death to be the reward of disobedience ; for the very heathens were not ignorant of this : " Knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death," Rom. i. 32. And, moreover, the promise included in the threatening, secured Adam's life according to the covenant, as long as he obeyed the natural law, with the addition of that positive command ; so that he needed nothing to be expressed to him in the covenant, but what concerned the eating of the forbidden fruit. That eternal life in heaven was promised in this covenant, is plain from this that the threatening was of eternal death in hell ; to which when man had made himself liable, Christ was promised, by his death to purchase eternal life : and Christ himself expounds the promise of the covenant of works of eternal life, while he p omises the condition of that covenant to a proud young man, who, though he had not Adam's stock, yet would needs enter into life in the way of working, as Adam was to have done under this covenant, Matt. xix. 17. " If thou wilt enter into life (viz. eternal life by doing, ver. 16,) keep the commandments." The penalty was death, Gen. ii. 27. " In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The death threatened was such as the life promised was ; and that most justly, to wit, tem- poral, spiritual, and eternal death. The event is a commentary on this : for the very day he did eat thereof, he was a dead man in law ; but the execution was stopped, because of his posterity 16 OP MAN'S ORIGINAL HAPPINESS. then in his loins ; and another covenant was prepared ; however, that day his body got its death-wound, and became mortal. Death also seized his soul : he lost his original righteousness and the favour of God ; witness the pangs and throes of conscience, which made him hide himself from God. And he became liable to eternal death, which would have actually followed of course, if a mediator had not been provided, who found him bound with the cords of death, as a malefactor ready to be led to execution. Thus you have a short description of the covenant, into which the Lord brought man, in the estate of innocence. And seemeth it a small thing unto you, that earth was thus confederate with heaven ? This could have been done to none but him whom the King of heaven delighted to honour. It was an act of grace worthy of the gracious God whose fa- vourite he was ; for there was grace and free favour in the first covenant, though " the exceeding riches of grace," (as the apostle calls it, Eph. li. 7.) was reserved for the second. It was certainly an act of grace, favour, an admirable conde- scension in God, to enter into a covenant, and such a covenant with his own creature. Man was not at his own, but God's disposal : nor had he any thing to work with, but. what he had received from God. There was no proportion betwixt the work and the promised reward. Before that covenant, man was bound to perfect obedience, in virtue of his natural de- pendence on God : and death was naturally the wages of sin ; which the justice of God could and would have required, though there had never been any covenant betwixt God and man. But God was free ; man could never have required eternal life as the reward of his work, if there had not been such a covenant. God was free to have disposed of his creature as he saw meet : and if he had stood in his integrity as long as the world should stand, and there had been no covenant promising eternal life to him upon his obedience, God might have withdrawn his sup- porting hand at last, and so made him creep back into the womb of nothing, whence almighty power had drawn him out. And what wrong could there have been in this, while God should have taken back what he freely gave? But now the covenant being made, God becomes debtor to his own faithful- ness : if man will work, he may crave the reward on the ground of the covenant. Well might the angels then, upon his being raised to his dignity, have given him that salutation, " Hail thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee." Thirdly, God made him lord of the world, prince of the in- ferior creatures, universal lord and emperor of the whole earth. His Creator gave him dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, over all the earth, yea, and every living thing that liveth upon the earth : " He put all things under his feet," Psa. viii. 6, 7, 8. He gave him a power soberly OP MAN'S ORIGINAL HAPPINESS. 17 lo use and dispose of the creatures in the earth, sea, and air. Thus man was God's deputed governor in the lower world ; and this his dominion was an image of God's sovereignty. This was common to the man and woman ; but the man had one thing peculiar to him, to wit, that he had dominion over the woman also, 1 Cor. xi. 7. Behold how the creatures came to him to own their subjection, and to do him homage as their lord ; and quietly stood before him, till he put names on them as his own, Gen. ii. 19. Man's face struck an awe upon them; the stoutest creatures stood astonished, tamely and quietly adoring him as their lord and ruler. Thus was man " crowned with glory and honour," Psal. viii. 5. The Lord dealt most liberally and bountifully with him, " put all things under his feet ;" only he kept one thing, one tree in the garden, out of his hands, even the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But you may say, And did he grudge him this 1 I answer, nay ; but when he had made him thus holy and happy, he gra- ciously gave him this restriction, which was in its own nature, a prop and stay to keep him from falling. And this I say upon these three grounds: 1. As it was most proper for the honour of God, who had made man lord of the lower world, to assert his sovereign dominion over all, by some particular visible sign ; so it was most proper for man's safety. Man, being set down in a beautiful paradise, it was an act of infinite wisdom, and of grace too, to keep from him one single tree, as a visible testimony that he must hold all of his Creator, as his great Land- lord ; that so while he saw himself lord of the creature, he might not forget that he was still God's subject. 2. This was a memorial of his mutable state, given to him from Heaven, to be laid up by him for his great caution : for man was created with a free will to do good, which the tree of life was an evidence of; but his will was also free to evil, and the forbidden tree was to him a memorial thereof. It was in a manner, a con- tinual watchword to him against evil, a beacon set up before him, to bid him beware of dashing himself to pieces on the rock of sin. 8. God made man upright, directed towards God as the chief end. He set him like Moses, on the top of the hill, holding up his hands to heaven ; and as Aaron and Hur stayed up Moses' hands, Exod. xvii. 10, 11, 12, so God gave man an erect figure of body, and forbid him the eating of this tree, to keep him in that posture of uprightness wherein he was created. God made the beasts looking down towards the earth, to show that their satisfaction might be brought from thence ; accordingly it does afford them what is commensurable to their appetite ; but the erect figure of man's body, which looketh upward, showed him that his happiness lay above him in God, and that he was to expect it from heaven, and not from earth. Now, this fair tree, of which he was forbidden to eat, taught him the same 2* 18 OF MANS ORIGINAL HAPPINESS. lesson ; that his happiness lay not in the enjoyment of the crea- tures, for there was a want even in Paradise : so that the for- bidden tree was in effect the hand of all creatures, pointing man away from themselves to God for happiness : it was a sign of emptiness hung before the door of the creation, with this inscrip- tion : This is not your rest. Fourthly, As he had a perfect tranquillity within his own breast, so he had a perfect calm without ; his heart had nothing to reproach him with ; conscience then had nothing to do, but to direct, approve, and feast him ; and without, there was no- thing to annoy him ; the happy pair lived in perfect amity ; and though their knowledge was vast, true, and clear, they knew no shame ; though they were naked, there were no blushes in their faces ; for sin, the seed of shame, was not yet sown, Gen. ii. 25, and their beautiful bodies were not capable of in- juries from the air ; so they had no need of clothes, which are originally the badges of our shame ; they were liable to no diseases, nor pains ; and though they were not to live idle, yet toil, weariness, and sweat of the brows, were not known in this state. Fifthly, Man had a life of pure delight, and unmixed plea- sure in this state ; rivers of pure pleasure ran through it ; the earth with the product thereof, was now in its glory ; nothing had yet come in to mar the beauty of the creatures. God set him down, not in a common place of the earth, but in Eden, a place eminent for pleasantness, as the name of it imports ; nay, not only in Eden, but in the Garden of Eden ; the most pleasant spot of that pleasant place : a garden planted by God himself, to be the mansion-house of this his favourite. As, when God made the other living creatures, he said, " Let the water bring forth the moving creature," Gen. i. 20. And, " Let the earth bring forth the living creature," ver. 24. But when man was to be made, he said, " Let us make man," ver. 26. So, when the rest of the earth was to be furnished with herbs and trees, God said, " Let the earth bring forth grass, and the fruit-tree," &c. Gen. i. 11. But of Paradise it is said, God planted it, chap. ii. 8, which cannot but denote a singular excellency in that garden, beyond all other parts of the then beautiful earth. There he wanted neither for neces- ity nor delight ; for there was " every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food," ver. 9. He knew not these delights which luxury has invented for the gratifying of lusts ; but his delights were such as came out of the hand of God, without passing through sinful hands, which readily leave marks of impurity on what they touch. So his delights were pure, his pleasures refined. And yet I may show you a more excellent way ; wisdom had entered into his heart. Surely then knowledge was pleasant unto his soul. What delight do some STATE OF INNOCENCE APPLIED. 19 find in their discoveries of the works of nature, by the scraps of knowledge they have gathered ! but how much more exqui- site pleasure had Adam, while his piercing eyes read the book of God's works ; which God laid before him, to the end he might glorify him in the same ; and therefore he had surely fitted him for the work. But above all, his knowledge of God, and that as his God, and the communion he had with him, could not but afford him the most refined and exquisite pleasure in the innermost recesses of his heart. Great is that delight which the saints find in these views of the glory of God, that their souls are sometimes let into, while they are compassed about with many infirmities ; but much more may well be al- lowed to sinless Adam ; no doubt he relished these pleasures at another rate. Lastly, He was immortal. He would never have died, if he had not sinned ; it was in case of sin that death was threatened, Gen. ii. 17, which shows it to be the consequence of sin, and not of the sinless human nature : the perfect constitution of his body, which came out of God's hand very good, and the right- eousness and holiness of his soul, removed all inward causes of death ; nothing being prepared for the grave's devouring mouth but the vile body, Philip, iii. 21, and "those who have sinned," Job xxiv. 19. And God's special care of his innocent creature, secured him against outward violence. The Apostle's testimony is express, Rom. v. 12. " By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin." Behold the door by which death came in ! Satan wrought with his lies, till he got it opened, and so death entered ; and therefore is he said to have been " a murderer from the beginning." John viii. 44. Thus have I shown you the holiness and happiness of man in this state. If any shall say, What is all this to us, who never tasted of that holy and happy state ? they must know it nearly concerns us, in so far as Adam was the root of all man- kind, our common head and representative ; who received from God our inheritance and stock to keep it for himself and his children, and to convey it to them: the Lord put all mankind's stock (as it were) in one ship : and, as we ourselves should have done, he made our common father the pilot. He put a blessing in the root, to have been, if rightly managed, diffused into all the branches. According to our text, making Adam upright, he made man upright ; and all mankind had that up- rightness in him ; for, " if the root be holy, so are the branches." But more of this afterwards; had Adam stood, none would have quarrelled with the representation. USE I. For information. This shows us, 1. That not God, but man himself was the cause of his ruin : God made him up- right ; his Creator set him up, but he threw himself down. Was the Lord's directing and inclining him to do good, the 20 THE DOCTRINE OF THE reason of his woful choice ? or did heaven deal so sparingly with him, that his pressing wants sent him to hell to seek supply ? Nay, man was, and is, the cause of his own ruin. 2. God may most justly require of men perfect obedience to his law, and condemn them for their not obeying it perfectly, though now they have no ability to keep it ; in so doing, he gathers but where he has strawed. He gave man ability to keep the whole law : man has lost it by his own fault ; but his sin could never take away that right which God has to exact perfect obedience of his creature, and to punish in case of disobedience. 3. Be- hold here the infinite obligation we lie under to Jesus Christ the second Adam, who with his own precious blood has bought our forfeited estate, and freely makes offer of it again to us, Hos. xiii. 9 ; and that with the advantage of everlasting security, that it can never be altogether lost any more, John x. 28, 29. Free grace will fix those whom free will shook down into a gulf of misery. USE II. This reacheth a reproof to three sorts of persons. 1. To those who hate religion in the power of it, wherever it appears ; and can take pleasure in nothing but in the world and their lusts. Surely those men are far from righteousness ; they are haters of God, Rom. i. 30, for they are haters of his image. Upright Adam in Paradise, would have been a great eye-sore to all such persons, as he was to the serpent, whose seed they prove themselves to be, by their malignity. 2. It reproves those who put religion to shame, and those who are ashamed of religion, before a graceless world. There is a generation who make so bold with the God that made them, and can in a mo- ment crush them, that they ridicule piety, and make a mock of seriousness. " Against whom do ye sport yourselves? Against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue 1 Isa. Ivii. 4. Is it not against God himself, whose image, in some measure repaired on some of his creatures, makes them look fools in your eyes 1 Be not mockers, lest your " bands be made strong," Isa. xxviii. 22. Holiness was the glory God put on man, when he made him ; but now the sons of men turn that glory into shame, because they themselves glory in their shame. There are others that secretly approve of religion, and in reli- gious company will profess it ; who, at other times, to be neigh- bour-like, are ashamed to own it ! so weak are they, that they are blown over with the wind of the wicked's mouth. A broad laughter, an impious jest, a silly gibe out of a profane mouth, is to many an unanswerable argument against religion and serious- ness ; for in the cause of religion, they are " as silly doves without heart." O that such would consider that weighty word, Mark viii. 38. " Whosoever, therefore, will be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in STATE OF INNOCENCE APPLIED. 21 the glory of his Father, with the holy angels." 3. It reproves the proud, self-conceited professor, who admires himself ia a garment he had patched together of rags. There are many, who, when once they have gathered some scraps of knowledge of religion, and have attained to some reformation of life, do swell big with conceit of themselves ; a sad sign that the effects of the fall lie so heavy upon them, that they have not as yet come to themselves. Luke xv 17. They have eyes behind, to see their attainments, but no eyes within, no eyes before, to see their wants, which would surely humble them ; for true know- ledge makes men to see both what once they were, and what they are at present ; and so is humbling, and will not suffer them to be content with any measure of grace attained, but puts them on to press forward, " forgetting the things that are be- hind," Philip, iii. 13, 14. But those men are such a spectdde of commiseration, as one would be, that had set his palace on fire, and were glorying in a cottage he had built for himself out of the rubbish, though so very weak that it could not stand against a storm. USE III. Of lamentation. Here was a stately building man carved like a fair palace, but now lying in ashes : let us stand and look on the ruins, and drop a tear. This is a lamen- tation and shall be for a lamentation. Could we choose but to weep if we saw our country ruined, and turned by the en- emy into a wilderness? If we saw our houses on fire, and our households perishing in the flames? But all this comes far short of the dismal sight : man fallen as a star from heaven ! Ah ! may not we now say, " O that we were as in the months past," when there were no stains in our nature, no clouds on our minds, no pollution in our hearts. Had we never been in better case, the matter had been less : but, " they that were brought up in scarlet, do now embrace dunghills." Where is our primitive glory now ! once no darkness in the mind, no re- bellion in the will, no disorder in the affections. But ah! " How is the faithful city become an harlot ! Righteousness lodged in it ; but now murderers. Our silver has become dross, our wine mixed with water." That heart which was once the temple of God, is now turned into a den of thieves. Let our name be Ichabod, for the glory is departed. Happy wast thou, O man ! who was like unto thee ! no pain or sickness could affect thee, no death could approach thee, no sigh was heard from thee, till these bitter fruits were plucked off the forbid- den tree. Heaven shone upon thee, and earth smiled ; thou wast the companion of angels, and the envy of devils. But how low is he now laid, who was created for dominion, and made lord of the world ! " The crown is fallen from our head ; wo unto us that we have sinned !" The creatures, that waited to do him service, are now, since the fall, set in battle array 22 THE DOCTRINE OF THE STATE OF INNOCENCE APPLIED. against him ; and the least of them having commission, proves too hard for him. Waters overflow the old world ; fire con- sumes Sodom ; the stars in their courses fight against Sisera ; frogs, flies, lice, &c. turn executioners to Pharaoh and his Egyp- tians ; worms eat up Herod ; yea, man needs a league with the beasts, yea, with the very stones of the field, Job v. 23, having reason to fear, that every one that findeth him will slay him. Alas, how are we fallen ! how are we plunged into a gulf of misery ! The sun has come down on us ; death has come in at our windows ; our enemies have put out our two eyes and sport themselves with our miseries. Let us then lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us. Nevertheless, there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. Come then, O sinner, look to Jesus Christ the second Adam ; quit the first Adam and his covenant ; -come over to the Mediator and Surety of the new and better covenant ; and let your hearts say, " Be thou our Ruler, and let this breach be under thy hand." And let your " eye trickle down, and cease not, without any inter- mission, till the Lord look down and behold from heaven," Lam. iii. 49, 50. STATE II. THE STATE OF NATURE, OR OF ENTIRE DEPRAVITY. HEAD I. THE SINFULNESS OF MAN'S NATURAL STATE. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. GEN. vi. 5. WE have seen what man was, as God made him, a lovely and happy creature ; let us view him now as he hath unmade himself; and we shall see him a sinful and miserable creature. This is the sad state we were brought into by the fall ; a state as black and doleful, as the former was glorious, and this we commonly call the state of nature, or man's natural state, according to that of the apostle, Eph. ii. 3. " And were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." And herein two things are to be considered: 1. The sinfulness, 2. The misery of this state, in which all the unregenerate do live. I begin with the sinfulness of man's natural state whereof the text gives us a full, though short account ; " And God saw that the wickedness of man was great," &c. The scope and design of these words is, to clear God's jus- tice in bringing the flood on the old world. There are two par- ticular causes of it taken notice of in the preceding verses. 1. Mixed marriages, ver. 2. The sons of God, the posterity of Seth and Enos, professors of the true religion, married with the daughters of men, the profane, cursed race of Cain. They did not carry the matter before the Lord, that he might choose for them, Psa. xlviii. 14. But without any respect to the will of God, they chose ; not according to the rules of their faith, but of their fancy. They saw that they were fair ; and their marriage with them occasioned their divorce from God. This was one of the causes of the deluge, which swept away the old world. Would to God all professors in our day, could plead not guilty : but though that sin brought on the deluge, yet the deluge hath not swept away that sin ; which, as of old, so in our day, may be justly looked upon, as one of the causes of the decay of religion. It was an ordinary thing among the Pagans, to change their Gods, as they changed their condition 23 24 THE EXPLICATION OF THE TEXT. into a married lot ; and many sad instances the Christian world affords of the same, as if people were of Pharaoh's opinion, that religion is only for those that have no other care upon their minds, Exod. v. 17. 2. Great oppression, ver. 4. " There were giants in the earth in those days ;" men of great stature, great strength, and monstrous wickedness, " filling the earth with violence," ver. 11. But neither their strength nor trea- sures of wickedness could profit them in the day of wrath. Yet the gain of oppression still carries many over the terror of this dreadful example. Thus much for the connexion, and what particular crimes that generation was guilty of. But every person that was swept away with the flood, could not be guilty of these things, and " shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Therefore, in my text, there is a general indictment drawn up against them all, " The wickedness of man was great in the earth," &c. And this is well proved, for " God saw it." Two things are laid to their charge here. First. Corruption of life, wickedness, great wickedness. I understand this of the wickedness of their lives ; for it is plainly distinguished from the wickedness of their hearts. The sins of their outward conversation were great in the nature of them and greatly aggravated by their attending circumstances ; and this not only among those of the race of cursed Cain, but those of holy Seth ; " the wickedness of man was great." And then it is added, "in the earth." 1. To vindicate God's severity, in that he not only cut off sinners, but defaced the beauty of the earth ; and swept off the brute-creatures from it by the de- luge, that as men had set the marks of their impiety, God might set the marks of his indignation, on the earth. 2. To show the heinousness of their sin, in making the earth, which God had so adorned for the use of man, a sink of sin, and a stage whereon to act their wickedness, in defiance of Heaven. God saw this corruption of life ; he not only knew it, and took notice of it, but he made them to know, that he did take notice of it ; and that he had not forsaken the earth, though they had forsaken heaven. Secondly. Corruption of nature ; " Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." All their wicked practices are here traced to the fountain and spring- head ; a corrupt heart was the source of all. The soul which was made upright in all its faculties, is now wholly disorder- ed ; the heart, that was made according to God's own heart, is now the reverse of it, a forge of evil imaginations, a sink of inordinate affections, and a store-house of all impiety, Mark vii. 21, 22. Behold the heart of the natural man, as it is opened in our text ; the mind is defiled ; the thoughts of the heart are evil ; the will and affections are defiled ; the imagina- tion of the thoughts of the heart, (i. e. whatsoever the heart THE EXPLICATION OF THE TEXT. 25 frameth within itself by thinking, such as judgment, choice, purposes, devices, desires, every inward motion ;) or rather the frame of the thoughts of the heart (namely, the frame, make, or mould, of these, 1 Chron. xxix. 18,) is evil. Yea, and every imagination, every frame, of his thoughts, is so. The heart is ever framing something, but never one right thing ; the frame of thoughts in the heart of man, is exceeding various ; yet are they never cast into a right frame. But is there not, at least a mixture of good in them ? No, they are only evil, there is nothing in them truly good and acceptable to God ; nor can any thing be so, that comes out of that forge ; where not the Spirit of God, but " the prince of the power of the air work- eth," Eph. ii. 2. Whatever changes may be found in them, are only from evil to evil ; for the imagination of the heart, or frame of thoughts in natural men, is evil continually, or every day ; from the first day, to the last day in this state, they are in midnight darkness ; there is not a glimmering of the light of holiness in them ; not one holy thought can ever be produced by the unholy heart ! O what a vile heart is this ! O what a corrupt nature is this ! the tree that always brings forth fruit, but never good fruit, whatever soil it be set in, whatever pains be taken on it, must naturally be an evil tree ; and what can that heart be, whereof every imagination, every set of thoughts is only evil, and that continually? Surely that corruption is ingrained in our hearts, interwoven with our very natures, has sunk into the marrow of our souls and will never be cured, but by a miracle of grace. Now such is man's heart, such is his nature, till regenerating grace change it ; God that searcheth the heart, saw man's heart was so ; he took special notice of it : and the faithful and true witness cannot mistake our case, though we are most apt to mistake ourselves in this point and generally overlook it. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart saying, What is that to us ? Let that generation of whom the text speaks, see to that. For the Lord has left the case of that generation on record, to be a looking-glass to all after genera- tions, wherein they may see their own corruption of heart, and what their lives would be too, if he restrained them not; for, " as in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man," Prov. xxvii. 19. Adam's fall has framed all men's hearts alike in this matter. Hence the apostle, Rom. iii. 10. proves the corruption of the nature, hearts, and lives of all men, from what the Psalmist says of the wicked in his day, Psa. xiv. 1, 2, 3: v. 9: cxl. 3: x. 7: xxxvi. 1, and from what Jeremiah saith of the wicked in his day, Jer. ix. 3, and from what Isaiah says of those that lived in his time Isa. Ivii. 7, 8, and concludes with that, ver. 19. "Now we know, that what things soever the law saith, it saith 3 26 THE EXPLICATION OF THE TEXT. to them that are under the law ; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." Had the history of the deluge been transmitted unto us without the reason thereof in the text, we might thence have gathered the corruption and total depravity of man's nature, lor what other quarrel could a holy and just God have with the infants that were destroyed by the flood, seeing they had no actual sin? If we saw a wise man, who having made a curious piece of work, and heartily approved of it when he gave it out of his hand, as fit for the use it was designed for, rise up in wrath and break it all in pieces, when he looked on it after- wards ; would we not thence conclude the frame of it had been quite marred, since it went out of his hand, and that it did not serve for that use it was at first designed for ? How much more when we see the holy and wise God destroying the work of his own hands, once solemnly pronounced by him very good, may we conclude that the original frame thereof is utterly marred, that it cannot be mended, but it must needs be new made, or lost altogether ? Gen. vi. 6, 7. " And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man ;" or blot him out as a man doth a sentence out of a book, that cannot be corrected by cutting off some letters, syllables, or words, and interlining others here and there, but must needs be wholly new framed. But did the deluge carry off this corrup- tion of man's nature ? Did it mend the matter ? No, it did not. God, in his holy providence, " that every mouth may be stop- ped, and all the (new) world may become guilty before God," as well as the old, permits that corruption of nature to break out in Noah, the father of the new world, after the deluge was over. Behold him as another Adam, sinning in the fruit of a tree, Gen. ix. 20, 21. " He planted a vineyard, and he dr^nk of the wine, and was drunken, and he was uncovered within his tent." More than that, God gives the same reason against the new deluge, which he gives in our text for bringing that on the old world. " I will not (saith he) again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; Gen. vii. 21, whereby it is inti- mated, that there is no mending of the matter by this means ; and that it he would always take the same course with men that he had done, he would be always sending deluges on the earth, seeing the corruption of man's nature remains still : but though the flood could not carry off the corruption of nature, yet it pointed at the way how it is to be done ; to wit, That men must be born of water and of the Spirit, raised from spiritual death in sin, by the grace of Jesus Christ, who came by water and blood ; out of which a new world of saints arise in regeneration, even as the new world of sinners out of the THAT MAN'S NATURE IS CORRUPTED, PROVED. 27 waters, where they had long lain buried, as it were, in the ark. This we learn from 1 Pet. iii. 20, 21, where the apostle, speaking of Noah's ark, saith, " Wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto, even baptism doth also now save us." Now the waters of the de- luge being a like figure to baptism, it plainly follows, that they signified (as baptism doth) " The washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." To conclude, then, these waters, though now dried up, may serve us for a looking-glass, in which we may see the total corruption of our nature, and the necessity of regeneration. From the text thus explained, ariseth this weighty point of DOCTRINE, which he that runs may read in it, viz. " Man's nature is now wholly corrupted." There is a sad alteration, a wonderful overturn, in the nature of man : where, at first, there was nothing evil, now there is nothing good. In the prosecuting of this DOCTRINE, I shall FIRST, Confirm it. SECONDLY, Represent this corruption of nat ire in its several parts. THIRDLY, Show you how man's nature romes to be thus corrupted. LASTLY, Make application. THAT MAN'S NATURE IS CORRUP1ED. FIRST, I am to confirm the doctrine of the corruption of man's nature ; to hold the glass to your eyes, wherein you may see your sinful nature ; which, though God takes particular no- tice of it, many do quite overlook. And here we shall consult, A. God's word. 2. Man's experience and observation. I. For Scripture-proof let us consider, FIRST, How the Scriptures take particular notice of fallen \dam's communicating his image to his posterity, Gen. v. 3. " Adam begat a son in his own likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth." Compare with this, ver. 1, of that chapter : " In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him." Behold here how the image after which man was made, and the image after which he is begot- ten, are opposed ! Man was made in the likeness of God ; that is, a holy and righteous creature : but fallen Adam begat a son, not in the likeness of God, but in his own likeness; that is, corrupt sinful Adam begat a corrupt sinful son. For, as the image of God bore righteousness and immortality in it, as was shown before, so this image of fallen Adam bore corruption and death in it, 1 Cor. xv. 49, 50 ; compare ver. 22. Moses, in that fifth chapter of Genesis, being to give us the first bill of mortality that ever was in the world, ushers it in with this, that dying Adam begat mortals. Having sinned, he became 28 THAT MAN'S NATURE mortal according to the threatening; and so he begat a son in his own likeness, sinful, and therefore mortal : thus sin and death passed on all. Doubtless he begat both Cain and Abel in his own likeness, as well as Seth. But it is not recorded of Abel, because he left no issue behind him, and his falling the first sacrifice to death in the world, was a sufficient document of it : nor of Cain, to whom it might have been thought pecu- liar, because of his monstrous wickedness ; and, besides, all his posterity was drowned in the flood; but it is recorded of Seth, because he was the father of the holy seed ; and from him all mankind, since the flood, has descended, and fallen Adam's own likeness with them. SECONDLY, It appears from that Scripture-text, Job xiv. 4 " Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? Not one," our first- parents were unclean, how then can we be clean? How could our immediate parents be clean? or, how shall our children be so? The uncleanness here aimed at, is a sinful uncleanness ; for it is such as makes man's days full of trouble; and it is natural, being derived from unclean parents : " Man is born of a woman, ver. 1. And how can he be clean that is born of a woman ?" Job xxv. 4. An omnipotent God, whose power is not here challenged, could bring a clean thing out of an unclean ; and did so, in the case of the Man Christ ; but no other can. Every person that is born according to the course of nature, is born unclean ; if the root be corrupt, so must the branches be ; neither is the matter mended, though the parents be sanctified ones ; for they are but holy in part, and that by grace, not by nature ; and they beget their children as men, not as holy men. Wherefore, as the circumcised parent begets an uncircumcised child, and after the purest grain is sown, we reap corn with the chaff; so the holiest parents beget unholy child- ren, and cannot communicate their grace to them as they do their nature ; which many godly parents find true by their sad experience. THIRDLY, Consider the confession of the Psalmist David, Psa. li. 5. " Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." Here he ascends from his actual sin, to the fountain of it, namely, corrupt nature. He was a man according to God's own heart ; but from the beginning it was not so with him. He was begotten in lawful marriage, but when the lump was shapen in the womb, it was a sinful lump. Hence the corruption of nature is called " The old man ;" being as old as ourselves, older than grace, even in those that ire sanctified from the womb. FOURTHLY, Hear our Lord's determination of the point, john iii. 6. "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh." Behold he universal corruption of mankind all are flesh ; not that all re frail, though that is a sad truth too ; yea, and our natural IS CORRUPTED, PROVEN. 29 frailty is an evidence of our natural corruption ; but that is not the sense of this text ; but here is the meaning of it all are cor- rupt and sinful, and that naturally; hence our Lord argues here, that because they are flesh, therefore they must be born again, or else they " cannot enter into the kingdom of God." ver. 3, 5. And as the corruption of our nature evidenceth the absolute necessity of regeneration, so the absolute necessity of regeneration plainly proves the corruption of our nature ; for why should a man need a second birth, if his nature were not quite marred in his first birth '.' Infants must be born again, for that is an " except," (John iii. 3,) which admits of no exception. And therefore, they were circumcised under the Old Testament, as having " the body of the sins of the flesh, (which is con- veyed to them by natural generation) to put on," Col. ii. 11. And now by the appointment of Jesus Christ, they are to be baptized ; which says they are unclean, and that there is no salvation for them, but by the " washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost," Tit. iii. 5. FIFTHLY, Man is certainly sunk very low now, in compa- rison of what he once was. God made him but a " little lower than the angels ;" but now we find him likened to the beasts that perish; he hearkened to a brute, and is now become like one of them ; like Nebuchadnezzar, his portion (in his natural state) is with the beasts ; " minding only earthly things," Philip, iii. 19. Nay, brutes, in some sort, have the advantage of the natural man, who is sunk a degree below them ; he is more witless, in what concerns him most, than the stork or the turtle, or the crane, or the swallow, in what is for their interest, Jer. viii. 7. He is more stupid than the ox or ass, Isa. i. 3. I find him sent to school, to learn of the ant, or emmet, which having no guide, or leader to go before her ; no overseer or officer to compel or stir her up to work ; no ruler, but may do as she lists, being under the dominion of none, yet " provideth her meat in the summer and harvest." Prov. vi. 6, 7, 8, while the natural man has all these, and yet exposeth himself to eternal starving: nay, more than all this, the Scripture holds out the natural man, not only as wanting the good qualities of those creatures, but as a compound of the evil qualities of the worst of the creatures, in whom concentre the fierceness of the lion, the craft of the fox, the unteachableness of the wild ass, the filthiness of the dog and swine, the poison of the asp, and such like. Truth itself calls them serpents, a generation of vipers: yea more, even children of the devil, Matt, xxiii. 33 : John viii. 44. Surely, then, man's nature is miserably corrupted. LASTLY, " We are by nature children of wrath," Eph. ii. 3. We are worthy of, and are liable to the wrath of God ; and this by nature; and therefore doubtless, we are by nature sinful creatures : we are condemned before we have done good or evil : 3* 30 THAT MAN'S NATURE under the curse, ere we know what it is : " But will a lion roa in the forest when he hath no prey ?" Amos iii. 4, that is, Wil a holy and just God roar in his wrath against man, if he be not, by his sin, made a prey for wrath ? No, he will not, he cannot. Let us conclude then, that, according to the word of God, man's nature is a corrupt nature. II. If we consult experience, and observe the case of the world in these things that are obvious to any person that will not shut his eyes against clear light ; we will quickly perceive such fruits as discover this root of bitterness. I shall propose a few things, that may serve to convince us in this point. FIRST, Who sees not a flood of miseries overflowing the world ? and whither can a man go, where he shall not dip his foot, if he go not over head and ears in it ? Every one, at home and abroad, in city and country, in palaces and cottages, is groaning under some one thing or other, ungrateful to him. Some are oppressed with poverty, some chastened with sickness and pain, some are lamenting their losses ; none wants a cross of one sort or another : no man's condition is so soft, but there is some thorn of uneasiness in it : and at length death, the wages of sin, comes after these its harbingers, and sweeps all away. Now, what but sin has opened the sluice? There is not a complaint nor sigh heard in the world, not a tear that falls from our eyes, but it is an evidence that man is fallen as a star from heaven : for " God distributeth sorrow in his anger," Job xxi. 17. This is a plain proof of the corruption of nature; forasmuch as those that have not yet actually sinned, have their share of these sorrows ; yea, and draw their first breath in the world weeping, as if they knew this world, at first sight, to be a Bochim, the place of weepers. There are graves of the smallest as well as of the largest size, in the church-yard, and there are never wanting some in the world, who, like Rachel, are " weeping for their children because they are not." Matt, ii. 18. SECONDLY, Observe how early this corruption of nature begins to appear in young ones. Solomon observes, that " even a child is known by his doings," Prov. xx. 11. It may soon be discerned what way the bias of the heart lies. Do not the children of fallen Adam, before they can go alone, follow their father's footsteps? What a vast deal of little pride, ambition, curiosity, vanity, wilfulness, and averseness to good, appears in them ; and when they creep out of infancy, there is necessity of using " the rod of correction to drive away the foolishness that is bound in their heart," Prov. xxii. 15. Which shows, that if grace prevail not, the child will be as Ishrnael, " a wild *ss man," as the word is, Gen. xvi. 12. IS CORRUPTED, PROVEN. 31 THIRDLY, Take a view of the manifold gross outbreakings of sin in the world ; " The wickedness of man is yet great in the earth !" Behold the bitter fruits of the corruption of our nature, Hos. iv. 2. " By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, (like the breaking ibrth of water,) and blood toucheth blood." The world is filled with filthiness, and all manner of lewdness, wickedness, and profanity ! Whence is this deluge of sin on the earth, but from the breaking up of the fountains of the great deep, the heart of man ; " out of which proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness," &c. Mark vii. 21, 22. Ye will, it may be, thank God with a whole heart, that ye are not like these other men ; and indeed ye have better reason for it than, I fear, ye are aware of; for, " as in water, face answereth to face ; so the heart of man to man," Prov. xxvii. 19. As looking into clear water, ye see your own face, so looking into your heart, ye may see other men's there : and looking into other men's, in them you may see your own : so that the most vile and profane wretches that are in the world, should serve you for a looking- glass, in which you ought to discern the corruption of your own nature : and if you do so, ye would, with a heart truly touched, thank God, and not yourselves, indeed, that ye are not as other men in your lives : seeing the corruption of nature is the same in you, as in them. FOURTHLY, Cast your eye upon these terrible convulsions the world is thrown into by the lust of men. Lions make not a prey of lions, nor wolves of wolves : but men are turned wolves to one another, " biting and devouring one another !" Upon how slight occasions will men sheath their swords in one another's bowels ! The world is a wilderness, where the clearest fire men can carry about with them, will not fright away the wild beasts that inhabit it, (and that because they are men, and not brutes,) but one way or other they will be wounded ! Since Cain shed the blood of Abel, the earth has been turned into a slaughter-house : and the chase has been continued since Nim- rod began his hunting ; on the earth, as in the sea, the greater still devouring the lesser! When we see the world in such a ferment, every one stabbing another with words or swords, we may conclude there is an evil spirit among them ; these violent heats among Adam's sons, speak the whole body to be distem- pered, the whole head to be sick, and the whole heart faint ; they surely proceed from an inward cause ; James iv. 1. " lusts that war in our members." FIFTHLY, Consider the necessity of human laws, fenced with terrors and severities ; to which we may apply what the Apostle says, 1 Tim. i. 9. " The law is not made for a right- eous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly, 38 THAT MAN S NATURE and for sinners," &c. Man was made for society : and God himself said of the first man, when he had created him, that it was " not meet that he should be alone." Yet the case is such now, that in society he must be hedged in with thorns. And that from hence we may the better see the corruption of man's nature, consider (1.) Every man naturally loves to be at full liberty himself; to have his own will for his law : and if he would follow his natural inclinations, would vote himself out of the reach of all laws, divine and human. And hence some (the power of whose hands has been answerable to their natu- ral inclination,) have indeed made themselves absolute, and above laws : agreeable to man's monstrous design at first, to " be as Gods," Gen. iii. 5. Yet, (2.) There is no man that would willingly adventure to live in a lawless society : and therefore even pirates and robbers have laws among themselves, though the whole society cast off all respect to law and right. Thus men discover themselves to be conscious of the cor- ruption of nature, not daring to trust one another, but upon security. (3.) How dangerous soever it is to break through the hedge, yet the violence of lust makes many adventure daily to run the risk ; they will not only sacrifice their credit and conscience, which last is lightly esteemed in the world, but for the pleasure of a few moments, immediately succeeded with terror from within, they will lay themselves open to a violent death by the laws of the land wherein they live. (4.) The laws are often made to yield to men's lusts ; sometimes whole societies run into such extravagancies, that like a company of prisoners, they break off their fetters, and put their guards to flight ; and the voice of laws cannot be heard for the noise of arms. And seldom is there a time wherein there are not some persons so great and daring, that the laws dare not look their impetuous lusts in the face : which made David say, in the case of Joab, who had murdered Abner, " These men, the sons of Zeruiah, be too hard for me," 2 Sam. iii. 39. Lusts sometimes grow too strong for laws, so that the law is slacked, as the pulse of a dying man, Hab. i. 3, 4. (5.) Consider what neces- sity often appears of amending old laws, and making new ones ; which have their rise from new crimes that man's nature is very fruitful of. There would be no need of mending the hedge, if men were not like unruly beasts, still breaking it down. It is astonishing to see what figure the Israelites, who were separated unto God from among all the nations of the earth, do make in their history ! what horrible confusions were among them, when there was no king in Israel, as you may see in the xviii. xix. xx. and xxi. chapters of Judges ; how hard it was to reform them, when they had the best of magistrates ; and how quickly they turned aside again, when they got wicked rulers. I cannot but think, that one grand design of that IS CORRUPTED, PROVEN. 33 sacred history was to discover the corruption of man's nature, the absolute need of the Messiah and his grace ; and that we ought in the reading of it, to improve it to that end. How cutting is that word the Lord has to Samuel, concerning Saul, 1 Sam. ix. 17, " The same shall reign over (or, as the word is, ' shall restrain') my people." O the corruption of man's nature ! the awe and dread of the God of heaven restrains them not, but they must have gods on the earth to do it, " to put them to shame ! " Judges xviii. 7. SIXTHLY, Consider the remains of that natural corruption in the saints ; though grace has entered, yet corruption is not quite expelled; though they have got the new natuw, yet much of the old corrupt nature remains; and these 8<.'J7gle together within them, as the twins in Rebecca's worj, Gal. v. 17. They find it present with them at all times, tad in all places, even in the most retired corners. If a man have an ill neighbour, he may remove; if he have an ill scr/ant, he may put him away at the term ; if a bad yoke- fellow, lie may some- times leave the house, and be free of molesli.ion that way ; but should the saint go into a wilderness, or set up his tent in some remote rock in the sea, where never foot of man, beast, nor fowl, had touched, there will it be with him : should he be, with Paul, caught up to the third heavens, it shall come back with him, 2 Cor. xii. 7. It follows him as the shadow doth the body ; it makes a blot in the fairest line he can draw. It is like the fig-tree in the wall, which, how nearly soever it was cut, yet still grew till the wall was thrown down : for the roots of it are fixed in the heart, while the saint is in the world, as with bands of iron and brass : it is especially active when he would do good, Rom. vii. 21 ; then the fowls come down upon the carcasses: hence, often in holy duties, the spirit even of a saint (as it were) evaporates, and he is left, ere he is aware, like Michal, with an image in the bed instead of a husband. I need not stand to prove to the godly the remains of the corruption of nature in themselves ; for they groan under it : and to prove it to them, were to hold out a candle to let men see the sun : and as for the wicked, they are ready to account mole-hills in the saint, as big as mountains ; if not to reckon them all hypocrites. But consider these few things on this head. (1.) "If it be thus in the green tree, how must it be in the dry ?" The saints are not born saints ; but made so by the power of regenerating grace : have they got a new nature, and yet so much of the old remains with them? How great must that corruption be in others, where it is altogether unmixed with grace ? (2.) The saints groan under the re- mains of it as a heavy burden ! Hear the apostle, Rom. vii. 24. "O wretched man that I am ! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" What though the carnal man .ives at J4 THAT MAN'S NATURE iase and quiet, and the corruption of nature is not his burden ; e he therefore free of it? No, no; only he is dead, and feelg not the sinking weight ; many a groan is heard from a sick-bed , but never one from a grave. In the saint as in the sick man, there is a mighty struggle, life and death striving for the mastery ; but in the natural man, as in the dead corpse, there is no noise, because death bears full sway. (3.) The godly man resists the old corrupt nature ; he strives to mortify it, yet it remains ; he endeavours to starve it, and by that means to weaken it, yet it is active ; how must it spread then, and strengthen itself in that soul, where it is not starved, but fed? And this is the case of all the unregenerate, who, " make provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." If the garden of the diligent afford him new work daily, in cutting off and root- ing up, surely that of the sluggard must needs be all grown over with thorns. LASTLY, I shall add but one observation more, and that is, That in every man naturally the image of fallen Adam does appear ; some children, by their features and lineaments of their face, do, as it were, father themselves ; and thus we do resemble our first parents ; every one of us bears the image and impress of their fall upon him; and to evince the truth of this, I do appeal to the consciences of all, in these following particulars : First, Is not a sinful curiosity natural to us? And is not this a print of Adam's image? Gen. iii. 6. Is not man naturally much more desirous to know new things, than to practise old Known truths? How like old Adam do we look in this, itch- ing after novelties, and disrelishing old solid doctrines ? We seek after knowledge rather than holiness ; and study most to know those things, which are least edifying; our wild and rov- ing fancies need a bridle to curb them, while good solid affec- tions must be quickened and spurred up. Secondly, If the Lord, by his holy law and wise providence, do put a restraint upon us, to keep us back from any thing ; doth not that restraint whet the edge of our natural inclina- tions, and make us so much the keener in our desires? And in this do we not betray it plainly that we are Adam's children ? Gen. iii. 2, 3, 6. I think this cannot be denied : for daily ob- servation evinceth, that it is a natural principle, that " stolen waters are sweet ; and bread eaten in secret, is pleasant," Prov. ix. 17. The very heathens are convinced that man was pos- sessed with this spirit of contradiction, though they knew not 'he spring of it. How often do men give themselves the loose in these things, in which, if God hath left them at liberty they would have bound up themselves ! but corrupt nature takes a pleasure in the very jumping over the hedge ; and is it not a repeating of our father's folly chat men will rather climb for IS CORRUPTED, PROVEN. 35 forbidden fruit, than gather what is shaken off the tree of good providence to them, when they have God's express allowance for it ? Thirdly, Which of all the children of Adam is not naturally disposed to " hear the instruction that causeth to err ?" And was not this the rock our first parents split upon '( Gen. iii. 4, 6. How apt is weak man, ever since that time, to parley with temptations ! . " God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man per- ceiveth it not," Job xxxiii. 14, but readily doth he listen to Satan. Men might often come fair off, if they would dismiss temptations with abhorrence, when first they appear ; if they would nip them in the bud, they would soon die away ; but alas ! when we see the train laid for us, and the fire put to it, yet we stand till it run along, and we be blown up with its force. Fourthly, Do not the eyes in our head often blind the eyes of the mind 1 And was not this the very case of our first parents 1 Gen. iii. 6. Man is never more blind than when he is looking on the objects that are most pleasant to sense. Since the eyes of our first parents were opened to the forbidden fruit, men's eyes have been the gates of destruction to their souls ; at which im- pure imaginations and sinful desires have entered the heart, to the wounding of the soul, wasting of the conscience, and bringing dismal effects sometimes on whole societies, as in Achan's case, Joshua vii. 21. Holy Job was aware of this danger from these two little rolling bodies, which a very small splinter of wood will make useless ; so that (with the king who durst not, with his ten thousand, meet him that came with twenty thousand against him, Luke xv. 31, 32,) he sendeth and desireth condi- tions of peace, Job xxxi. 1. "I have made a covenant with mine eves," &c. Fifthly, Is it not natural for us to care for the body, even at the expense of the soul ? This was one ingredient in the sin of our first parents, Gen. iii. 6. O how happy might we be if we were but at half the pains about our souls, that we bestow upon our bodies ! If that question, " What must I do to be saved ?" (Acts xvi. 30,) did run but near as oft through our minds, as those questions do, " What shall we eat? what shall we drink? wherewithal shall be clothed?" Matth. vi. 31. many a (now) hopeless case would turn very hopeful. But the truth is, most men live as if they were nothing but a lump of flesh : or, as if their soul served for no other use, but like salt, to keep the body from corrupting. They are flesh, John iii. 6. They mind the things of the flesh, Rom. viii. 5, and they live after the flesh, ver. 13. If the consent of the flesh be got to an action, the consent of the conscience is rarely waited for ; yea, the body is often served, when the conscience has entered a dissent. iG THAT MANS NATURE Sixthly, Is not every one by nature discontent with his pre- sent lot in the world, or with some one thing or other in it 7 This also was Adam's case, Gen. iii. 5, 6. Some one thing is always missing ; so that man is a creature given to changes. And if any doubt of this, let them look over all their enjoy- ments, and after a review of them, listen to their own hearts, and they will hear a secret murmuring for want of something ; though perhaps if they considered the matter aright, they would see that it is better for them to want, than to have that something. Since the hearts of our first parents flew out at their eyes, on the forbidden fruit, and a night of darkness was thereby brought on the world, their posterity have a natural disease, which Solomon calls, "the wandering of the desires," (or, as the word is, the walking of the soul,) Eccl. vi. 9. This is a sort of diabolical trance, wherein the soul traverseth the world : feeds itself with a thousand airy nothings : snatcheth at this and the other created excellency in imagination and desire : goes here and there, and every where, except where it should go: and the soul is never cured of this disease, till overcoming grace bring it back, to take up its everlasting rest in God through Christ ; but till this be, if man were set again in Paradise, the garden of the Lord, all the pleasures there would not keep him from looking, yea, and leaping over the hedge a second time. Seventhly, Are we not far more easily impressed and in- fluenced by evil counsels and examples, than by those that are good ? You will see this was the ruin of Adam, Gen. iii. 6 Evil example, to this day, is one of Satan's master devices to ruin men: and though we have by nature, more of the fox than of the lamb, yet that ill property some observe in this creature, viz. that if one lamb skip into a water, the rest that are near will suddenly follow, may be observed also in the disposition of the children of men, to whom it is very natural to embrace an evil way, because they see others upon it before them : ill example has frequently the force of a violent stream, to carry us over plain duty ; but especially if the example be given by those we bear a great affection to ; our affection, in that case, blinds our judgment ; and what we would abhor in others, is complied with, to humour them; and nothing is more plain, than that generally men choose rather to do what the most do, than what the best do. Eighthly, Who of all Adam's sons need be taught the art of sewing fig-leaves together, to cover their nakedness ? Gen. iii. 7. When we have ruined ourselves, and made ourselves naked, to our shame, we naturally seek to help ourselves by ourselves ; and many poor shifts are fallen upon, as silly and insignificant as Adam's fig leaves. What pains are men at, to cover their sin from their own consciences, and to draw all the IS CORRUPTED, PROVED. 37 lair colours upon it that they can ! and when once convictions are fastened upon them so that they cannot but see themselves naked, it is as natural for them to attempt to spin a cover to it out of their own bowels, as for fishes to swim in the water, or birds to fly in the air ; therefore the first question of the con- vinced is, " What shall we do ?" Acts ii. 27. How shall we qualify ourselves 1 What shall we perform ? not minding tha. the new creature is God's own workmanship, (or deed, Eph. ii. 10,) more than Adam thought of being clothed with the skins of sacrifices, Gen. iii. 21. Ninthly, Do not Adam's children naturally follow his foot- steps, in " hiding themselves from the presence of the Lord ?" Gen. iii. 8. We are every whit as blind in this matter as he was, who thought to hide himself from the presence of God among the shady trees of the garden ; we are very apt to pro- mise ourselves more security in a secret sin, than in one that is openly committed. " The eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me." Job xxiv. 15. And men will freely do that in secret, which they would be ashamed to do in the presence of a child; as if darkness could hide from an all-seeing God ! Are we not naturally careless of commu- nion with God ; aye, and averse to it ? Never was there any communion betwixt God and Adam's children, where the Lord himself had not the first word ; if he would let them alone, they would never inquire after him, Isa. Ivii. 17. " I hid me." Did he seek after a hiding God ? Very far from it " He went on in the way of his heart." Tenthly, How loath men are to confess sin ; to take guilt and shame to themselves ! And was it not thus in the case before us? Gen. iii. 10. Adam confesseth his nakedness, which he could not get denied ; but not one word he says of his sin : here was the reason of it, he would fain have hid it if he could ; it is as natural for us to hide sin, as to commit it ! Many sad instances thereof we have in this world ; but a far clearer proof of it we shall get, at the day of judgment, " the day in which God will judge the secrets of men." Rom. ii. 17. Many a foul mouth will then be seen, which is now wiped, and saith, " I have done no wickedness," Prov. xxx. 20. Lastly, Is it not natural for us to extenuate our sin, and transfer the guilt upon others 1 And when God examined our guilty first parents, did not Adam lay the blame on the woman, and did not the woman lay the blame on the serpent ? Gen. iii. 12, 13. Now Adam's children need not be taught this hellish policy ; for before they can well speak, (if they canno* get the fact denied,) they will cunningly lisp out something to lessen their fault, and lay the blame upon another. Nay, so natural is this to men, that in the greatest of sins they will lay the fault upon God himself; they will blaspheme his holy pro- 4 38 THK CORRUPTION OF vidence under the mistaken name of misfortune, or ill luck, and thereby lay the blame of their sin at Heaven's door ! And was not this one of Adam's tricks after his fall? Gen. iii. 12, " And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest f o be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." Observe the order of the speech ; he makes his apology in the first place, and then comes his confession ! His apology is long, but his confession very short ! it is all comprehended in a word, " And I did eat." How pointed and distinct is his apology, as if he was afraid his meaning should have been mistaken ! " The woman," says he, or " That woman !" as if he would have pointed the Judge to his own work : of which we read, Gen. ii. 22. There was but one woman then in the world ; so that one would think he needed not have been so nice and exact in pointing at her ; yet she is as carefully marked out in his defence, as if there had been ten thousand ! " The woman whom thou gavest me !" Here he speaks as if he had been ruined with God's gift ! And to make the gift look the blacker, it is added to all this, " Thou gavest to be with me :" a constant companion, to stand by me as a helper ! This looks as if Adam would have fathered an ill design upon the Lord, in giving him this gift ! And after all, there is a new demon- strative here, before the sentence is complete : he says not, "The woman gave." But, " The woman she gave me!" em- phatically, as if he had said " She, even she, gave me of the tree." This much for his apology. But his confession is quickly over, in one word, (as he spoke it,) " And I did eat." And there is nothing here to point to himself, and as little to show what he had eaten. How natural is this black art to Adam's posterity ! He that runs may read it. So universally does Solomon's observation hold true, Prov. xix. 3. " The foolish- ness of man perverteth his ways, and his heart fretteth against the Lord." Let us then call fallen Adam, Father ; let us not deny the relation, seeing we bear his image. And now to shut up this point, sufficiently confirmed by con- curring evidence from the Lord's word, our own experience and observation ; let us be persuaded to believe the doctrine of the corruption of our nature; and to look to the second Adam, the blessed Jesus, for the application of his precious blood, to remove the guilt of our sin ; and for the efficacy of his Holy Spirit, to make us new creatures, knowing that ex- cept " we be born again, we cannot enter into the kingdom of God." OF THE CORRUPTION OF THE UNDERSTANDING. SECONDLY, I proceed to inquire into the corruption of nature, in the several parts thereof: but who can comprehend it? THE UNDERSTANDING. 89 Who can take the exact dimensions of it, in its breadth, length, height, and depth? "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jer. xvii. 9. However, we may quickly perceive as much of it, as may be matter of deepest humiliation, and may discover to us the abso- lute necessity of regeneration. Man in his natural state is alto- gether corrupt : both soul and body are polluted, as the apostle proves at large, Rom. iii. 10 18. As for the soul, this natural corruption has spread itself through all the faculties thereof: and is to be found in the understanding, the will, the affections, the conscience, and the memory. 1. The Understanding, that leading faculty, is despoiled of its primitive glory, and covered over with confusion : we have fallen into the hands of our grand adversary, as Samson into the hands of the Philistines, and are deprived of our two eyes : "There is none that understandeth," Rom. iii. 11. Mind and conscience are defiled, Tit. i. 15. The natural man's appre- hension of divine things is corrupt, Psal. 1. 21. "Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself." His judgment is corrupt, and cannot be otherwise, seeing his eye is evil ; and therefore the Scriptures, to show that men did all wrong, say, " Every one did that whirh was right in his own eyes," Judges xvii. 6, and xxi. 25. And his imaginations, or reasonings must be cast down, by the power of the word ; being of a piece with his judgment, 2 Cor. x. 5. But to point out this corruption of the mind or understanding more particularly, let these following things be considered : First, There is a natural weakness in the minds of men, with respect to spiritual things: the apostle determines con- cerning every one that is not endued with the graces of the Spirit, " That he is blind and cannot see afar off," 2 Pet. i. 9. Hence the Spirit of God in the Scripture, clothes, as it were, divine truths with earthly figures, even as parents teach their children, using similitudes, (Hos. xii. 10,) which, though it doth not cure, yet doth evidence this natural weakness in the minds of men : but we want not plain proofs of it from ex- perience: As, (1,) How hard a task is it to teach many people the common principles of our holy religion ; and to make truths so plain, as they may understand them ! Here there must be " Precept upon precept, precept upon precept : Line upon line, line upon line," Isa. xxviii. 10. Try the same persons in other things, they shall be found " wiser in their generation than the children of light." They understand their work and ousi- ness in the world, as well as their neighbours ; though they be very stupid and unteachable in the matters of God ! Tell them how they may advance their worldly wealth, or how they may gratify their lusts, and they will quickly understand these nings ; though it is very hard to make them know how their 40 THE CORRUPTION OF souls may be saved ; or how their hearts may find rest in Jesus Christ. 2. Consider these who have many advantages beyond the generality of mankind ; who have had the benefit of good education and instruction ; yea, and are blessed with the light of grace in that measure wherein it is ascribed to the saints on earth ; yet how small a portion have they of the knowledge of divine things ! What ignorance and confusion still remain in their minds ! How often are they mired even in the matter of practical truths, and speak as a child in these things ! It is a pitiful weakness that we cannot perceive the things which God has revealed to us ; and it must needs be a sinful weakness, since the law of God requires us to know and believe them. 3. What dangerous mistakes are to be found amongst men, in concerns of greatest weight ! What woeful delusions prevail over them ! Do we not often see those, who, in other things are the wisest of men, the most notorious fools with respect to their soul's interest 1 Matt. xi. 25. " Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent." Many that are eagle-eyed in the trifles of time, are like owls and bats in the light of life. Nay, truly, the life of every natural man is but one continued dream and delusion out of which he never awakes, till either, by a new light darted from heaven into his soul, he comes to him- self, Luke xv. 17 ; or in hell he lift up his eyes, chap. xvi. 23. Therefore, in scripture account, though he be ever so wise, he is a fool, and a simple one. Secondly, Man's understanding is naturally overwhelmed with gross darkness in spiritual things. Man, at the instigation of the devil, attempting to break out a new light in his mind. Gen. iii. 5, instead of that, broke up the doors of the bottomless pit ; so as, by the smoke thereof, to be buried in darkness. When God first made man, his mind was a lamp of light ; but now, when he comes to make him over again, in regeneration, he finds it darkness, Eph. v. 8, " Ye were sometimes darkness.'' Sin has closed the windows of the soul, darkness is over all the region : it is the land of darkness and shadow of death, where the light is as darkness. The prince of darkness reigns there, and nothing but the works of darkness are framed there. We are born spiritually blind, and cannot be restored without a miracle of grace. This is thy case, whoever thou art, that art not born again. That you may be convinced in this matter, take the following evidences of it : Evidence 1. The darkness that was upon the face of the world, before, and at the time when Christ came, arising as the Sun of Righteousness upon the earth. When Adam by his sin had lost that primitive light with which he was endued at his creation, it pleased God to make a glorious revelation of his tiind and will to him, touching the way of salvation, Gen. iii. 15. This was handed down by him, and other godly fathers, before THE UNDERSTANDING. 41 the flood : yet the natural darkness of the mind of man prevailed so far against that revelation, as to carry off all sense of true religion from the old world, except what remained in Noah's family, which was preserved in the ark. After the flood, as men multiplied on the earth, the natural darkness of the mind prevailed again, and the light decayed, till it died away among the generality of mankind, and was preserved only among the posterity of Shem. And even with them it had nearly set, when God called Abraham from serving other gods, Josh. xxiv. 15. God gives Abraham a more clear and full revelation, which he communicates to his family, Gen. xviii. 19; yet the natural darkness wears it out at length, save that it was pre- served among the posterity of Jacob. They being carried down into Egypt, that darkness so prevailed, as to leave them very little sense of true religion ; and there was a necessity of a new revelation to be made to them in the wilderness. And many a cloud of darkness got above that, now and then, during the time between Moses and Christ. When Christ came, the world was divided into Jews and gentiles. The Jews, and the true light with them, were within an inclosure, Psa. cxlvii. 19, 20. Between them and the gentile world, there was a partition wall of God's making, namely, the ceremonial law : and upon that there was reared up another of man's own making, namely, a rooted enmity betwixt the parties, Eph. ii. 14, 15. If we look abroad without the inclosure, and except those proselytes of the gentiles, who by means of some rays of light breaking forth upon them from within the inclosure, having renounced idolatry, worshipped the true God, but did not conform to the Mosaical rites, we see nothing but " dark places of the earth, full of the habitations of cruelty," Psa. Ixxiv. 20. Gross darkness covered the face of the gentile world, and the way of salvation was utterly unknown among them. They were 'drowned in superstition and idolatry, and had multiplied their idols to such a vast number that above thirty thousand are reckoned to have been worshipped by those of Europe alone. Whatever wisdom was among their philosophers, "the world by that wisdom knew not God," 1 Cor. i. 21 ; and all their researches in religion were but groping in the dark; Acts xvii. 27. If we look within the inclosure, and except a few that were groaning and " waiting for the consolation of Israel," we will see a gross darkness on the face of that generation. Though " to them were committed the oracles of God ;" yet they were most corrupt in their doctrine. Their traditions were multi- plied ; but the knowledge of those things, wherein the life of religion lies, was lost. Masters of Israel k:;ew not the nature and necessity of regeneration, John iii. 10. Their religion was to build on their birth-privilege, as children of Abraham, Matt, ji. 9 ; to glory in their circumcision, and other external ordi- 4 * 4! THE CORRUPTION OP nances, Phil. Hi. 2, 3; and to rest in the law, Rom. ii. 17, After they had, by their false glosses, cut it so short, that they might outwardly go well nigh to the fulfilling of it, Matt. v. Thus was darkness over the face of the world, when Christ, the true light, came into it ; and so is darkness over every soul, till he, as the day-star, arise in the heart. The latter is an evi- dence of the former. What, but the natural darkness of men's minds, could still thus wear out the light of external revelation, in a matter upon which eternal happiness depends ? Men did not forget the way of preserving their lives : but how quickly they lost the knowledge of the way of salvation of their souls, which are of infinitely more weight and worth ! When patri- archs' and prophets' teaching was ineffectual, it became neces- sary for men to be taught of God himself, who alone can open the eyes of the understanding. But that it might appear, that the corruption of man's mind lay deeper than to be cured by mere external revelation ; there were but very few converted by Christ's preaching, " who spoke as never man spoke," John xii. 37, 38. The great cure remained to be performed, by the Spirit t ccompanying the preaching of the apostles; who, accor- ding to the promise, John xiv. 12, were to do greater works. And if we look to the miracles wrought by our blessed Lord, we shiJl find, that by applying the remedy to the soul, for the cure of bodily distempers, as in the case of " the man sick of the palsy," Matt. ix. 2, he plainly discovered, that his main errand into the world was to cure the diseases of the soul. I find a miracle wrought upon one that was born blind, performed in such a way, as seems to have been designed to let the world Bee in it, as in a glass, their case and cure, John ix. 6, " he made clay, and anointed the eyes of the blind man with clay." What could more fitly represent the blindness of men's minds, than eyes closed up with earth '! Isa. vi. 1 : " shut their eyes ;" shut them up by anointing, or " casting them with mortar," us the word will bear. And chap. xliv. 18, " he hath shut their eyes ;" the word properly signifies, he hath plastered their eyes ; as the house in which the leprosy had been, was to be plastered. Levit. xiv. 42. Thus the Lord's word disco- vers the design of that strange work ; and by it shows us, that the eyes of our understanding are naturally shut. Then the blind man must go and wash off this clay in the pool of Siloam : no other water will serve this purpose. If that pool had not represented him, whom the Father sent into the world to open the blind eyes, Isa. xlii. 7, I think the Evangelist had not given us the interpretation of that name, which he says, signifies sent, John ix. 7. So we may conclude, that the natural darkness of our minds is such, as there is no cure for, but from the blood and Spirit of Jesus Christ, whose eye-salve only can make us see, Rev. iii. 18. THE UNDERSTANDING. 43 Evidence 2. Every natural man's heart and life is a mass of darkness, disorder, and confusion ; how refined soever he ap- pear in the sight of men. " For we ourselves also," saith the apostle Paul, " were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures," Tit. iii. 3 ; and yet, at the time which this text looks to, he was blameless, " touching the righteousness which is in the law," Phil. iii. 6. This is a plain evidence that " the eye being evil, the whole body is full of darkness," Matt. vi. 23. The unrenewed part of mankind is rambling through the world, like so many blind men ; who will neither take a guide, nor can guide themselves ; and therefore are falling over this and the other precipice, into destruction. Some are running after their covetousness, till they be pierced through with many sorrows ; some sticking in the mire of sen- suality ; others dashing themselves on the rock of pride and self- conceit : every one stumbling on some one stone of stumbling or other : all of them are, running themselves upon the sword- point of justice, while they eagerly follow whither their un- mortified passions and affections lead them : and while some are lying along in the way, others are coming up, and falling headlong over them. Therefore, " wo unto the" blind " world, because of offences," Matt, xviii. 7. Errors in judgment swarm in the world because it is " night, wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth." All the unregenerate are utterly mis- taken in the point of true happiness : for though Christianity hath fixed that matter in point of principle, yet nothing less than overcoming grace can fix it in the practical judgment. All men agree in the desire of being happy ; but, among unrenewed men, touching the way to happiness, there are almost as many opinions as there are men ; they being " turned every one to his own way," Isa. liii. 6. They are like the blind Sodomites about Lot's house, all were seeking to find the door ; some grope one part of the wall for it, some another, but none of them could certainly say he had found it ; so the natural man may stumble on any good, but the chief good. Look into thine own unregenerate heart, and there thou wilt see all turned upside down ; heaven lying under, and earth at top. Look into thy life, there thou mayest see, how thou art playing the madman, snatching at shadows, and neglecting the substance : eagerly flying after that which is not, and slighting that which is, and will be for ever. Evidence 3. The natural man is always as a workman left without light ; either trifling or doing mischief. Try to catch thy heart at any time thou wilt, and thou shall find it either weaving the spider's web, or hatching cockatrice eggs, Isa. lix. 5, roving through the world, or digging into the pit ; filled with vanity, or else with vileness ; busy doing nothing, or what is worse than nothing. A sad sign of a dark mind. 44 THE CORRUPTION OF Evidence 4. The natural man is void of the saving know- ledge of spiritual things. He knows not what a God he has to do with ; he is unacquainted with Christ ; and knows not what sin is. The greatest graceless wits are blind as moles in these things. Aye, but some such can speak of them to good pur- pose : so might those Israelites, of the temptations, signs, and miracles, which their eyes had seen, Deut. xxix. 3 ; to whom, nevertheless, the Lord had " not given a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto that day ;" ver. 4. Many a man that bears the name of a Christian, may make Pharaoh's confession of faith, Exod. v. 2, " I know not the Lord," neither will they let go what he commands them to part with. God is with them, as a prince in disguise among his subjects, who meets with no better treatment from them, than if they were his fellows, Psa. 1. 21. Do they know Christ, or see his glory, and any beauty in him, for which he is to be desired ? If they did, they would not slight him as they do : a view of his glory would so darken all created excellency, that they would take him for and instead of all, and gladly close with him, as he offereth himself in the Gospel, John iv. 10; Psa. ix. 10; Matt, xiii. 44 46. Do they know what sin is, who nurse the ser- pent in their bosom, hold fast deceit and refuse to let it go 1 1 own indeed that they may have a natural knowledge of those things, as the unbelieving Jews had of Christ, whom they saw and conversed with : but there was a spiritual glory in him, per- ceived by believers only, John i. 14; and in respect of that glory, "the" unbelieving "world knew him not," ver. 10. The spiritual knowledge of them they cannot have : it is above the reach of the carnal mind, 1 Cor. ii. 14. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him : neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned." He may indeed discourse of them ; but in no other way than one can talk of honey or vinegar, who never tasted the sweetness of the one, nor the sourness of the other. He has some notions of spiritual truths, but sees not the things themselves that are wrapt up in the words of truth, 1 Tim. i. 7, " Understanding neither what they say, nor where- of they affirm." In a word, natural men fear, seek, confess, they know not what. Thus you may see man's understand- ing naturally is overwhelmed with gross darkness in spiritual things. Thirdly, There is in the mind of man a natural bias to evil, whereby it comes to pass, that whatever difficulties it finds while occupied about things truly good, it acts with a great deal of ease in evil ; as being in that case in its own element, Jer. iv. 22. The carnal mind drives heavily on in the thoughts of good ; but furiously in the thoughts of evil. While holiness is before it, fetters are upon it : but when once it has got over THE UNDERSTANDING. 45 the hedge, it is as a bird got out of a cage, and becomes a free- thinker indeed. Let us reflect a little on the apprehension and imagination of the carnal mind, and we shall find incontestable evidence of this woful bias to evil. Evidence 1. As when a man, by a violent stroke on the head, loseth his sight, there ariseth to him a kind of false light whereby he seems to see a thousand airy nothings : so man, being struck blind to aij that is truly good, for his eternal in- terest, has a light of another sort brought into his mind ; his eyes are opened, knowing evil ; and so are the words of the tempter verified, Gen. iii. 5. The words of the prophet are plain, " They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge," Jer. iv. 22. The mind of man has a natural dexterity to devise mischief; there are not any so simple, as to want skill to contrive ways to gratify their lusts, and ruin their souls, though the power of every one's hand cannot reach to put their devices in execution. No one needs to be taught this black art ; but, as weeds grow up of their own accord in the neglected ground, so doth this wisdom, which is earthly, sensual, devilish, James iii. 15, grow up in the minds of men, by virtue of the corruption of their nature. Why should we be surprised with the product of corrupt wits, their cunning devices to affront heaven, to oppose and run down truth and holiness, and to gratify their own and other men's lusts? They row with the stream ; no wonder that they make great pro- gress : their stock is within them, and increaseth by using of it : and the works of darkness are contrived with the greater advantage, that the mind is wholly destitute of spiritual light ; which, if it were in them in any measure, would so far mar the work, 1 John iii. 9, " Whosoever is born of God doth not com mil sin ;" he does it not as by art, wilfully and habitually ; for " his seed remaineth in him." But, on the other hand, " it is as a sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom," Prov. x. 2'3. " To do witty mischief nicely," as the words import, " is as a sport or play to a fool ;" it comes off with him easily ; and why, but because he is a fool, and hath not wisdom, which would mar the contrivances of dark- ness ? The more natural a thing is, the more easily it is done. Evidence 2. Let the corrupt mind have but the advantage of one's being employed in, or present at, some piece of service for God ; that so the device, if not in itself sinful, yet may be- come sinful by its unseasonableness ; it will quickly fall upon some device or expedient, by its starting aside ; which delibera- tion, in season, could not produce. Thus Saul, who wist not what to do before the priest began to consult God, is quickly determined when once the priest's hand was in : his own heart then gave him an answer, and would not allow him to wait an answer from the Lord, 1 Sam. xiv. 18, 19. Such a devilish 46 THE CORRUPTION OF dexterity hath the carnal mind, in devising what may most effectually divert men from their duty to God. Evidence 3. Doth not the carnal mind naturally strive to grasp spiritual things in imagination ; as if the soul were quite immersed in flesh and blood, and would turn every thing into its own shape ? Let men who are used to the forming of the most abstracted notions, look into their own souls, and they will find this bias in their minds ; whereof the idolatry which did of old, and still doth, so much prevail in the world, is an incontes- table evidence : for it plainly discovers, that men naturally would have a visible deity, and see what they worship : and therefore they "changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image," &c., Rom. i. 23. The reformation of these nations, blessed be the Lord for it, hath banished idolatry and images too, out of our churches ; but heart reformation only can break down mental idolatry, and banish the more subtile and refined image worship, and representations of the Deity, out of the minds of men. The world, in the time of its darkness, was never more prone to the former, than the unsanctified mind is to the latter. Hence are horrible, monstrous, and misshapen thoughts of God, Christ, the glory above, and all spiritual things. Evidence 4. What a difficult task it is to detain the carnal mind before the Lord ! how averse is it to the entertaining of good thoughts, and dwelling in the meditation of spiritual things ! If a person be driven at any time, to think of the great concerns of his soul, it is no harder work to hold in an unruly hungry beast than to hedge in the carnal mind, that it get not away to the vanities of the world again. When God is speaking to men by his word, or they are speaking to him in prayer, doth not the mind often leave them before the Lord like so many " idols, that have eyes, but see not ; and ears, but hear not ?" The carcass is laid down before God, but the world gets away the heart ; though the eyes be closed, the man sees a thousand/ vanities ; the mind, in the mean time, is like a bird got loose out of a cage, skipping from bush to bush ; so that, in effect, the man never comes to himself, till he be gone from the pre- sence of the Lord. Say not, it is impossible to get the mind fixed It is hard indeed, but not impossible : grace from the Lord can do it, Psal. cviii. 1 ; agreeable objects will do it A pleasant speculation will arrest the minds of the inquisitive ; the worldly man's mind is in little hazard of wavering, when he is contriv- ing business, casting up his accounts, or telling his money : if he answers you not at first, he tells you he did not hear you, he was busy ; his mind was fixed. Were we admitted into the presence of a king, to petition for our lives, we should be in no nazard of gazing through the chamber of presence. But here THE UNDERSTANDING. 47 lies the case ; the carnal mind, employed about any spiritual good, is out of its element, and therefore cannot fix. Evidence 5. But however hard it is to keep the mind on good thoughts, it sticks as glue to what is evil and corrupt, like itself, 2 Pet. ii. 14, " Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin. Their eyes cannot cease from sin, (so the words are construed) that is, their hearts and minds, vent- ing by the eyes what is within, are like a furious beast, which cannot be held in when once it has got out its head. Let the corrupt imagination once be let loose on its favourite object, it will be found hard work to call it back again, though both reason and will are for its retreat. For then it is in its own element ; and to draw it off from its impurities, is as the drawing of a fish out of the water, or the rending of a limb from a man. It runs like fire set to a train of powder, that resteth not till it can get no farther. Evidence 6. Consider how the carnal imagination supplies the want of real objects to the corrupt heart ; that it may make sinners happy, at least in the imaginary enjoyment of their lusts. Thus the corrupt heart feeds itself with imagination sins ; the unclean person is filled with speculative impurities, " having eyes full of adultery ;" the covetous man fills his heart with the world, though he cannot get his hands full of it; the malicious person, with delight, acts his revenge within his own breast ; the envious man, within his own narrow soul, beholds with satisfaction his neighbour laid low; and every lust finds the corrupt imagination a friend to it in time of need. This it doth, not only when people are awake, but sometimes even when they are asleep ; whereby it comes to pass, that those sins are acted in dreams, which their hearts pant after while they are awake. I am aware that some question the sinfulness of these things ; but can it be thought they are consistent with that holy nature and frame of spirit which was in innocent Adam, and in Jesus Christ, and should be in every one ? It is the corruption of nature, then, that makes filthy dreamers con- demned, Jude, ver. 8. Solomon had experience of the exer- cise of grace in sleep: in a dream he prayed, in a dream he made the best choice ; both were accepted of God, 1 Kings iii. 5 15. And if a man may, in his sleep, do what is good and acceptable to God, why may he not also, when asleep, do that which is evil and displeasing to God ? The same Solomon would have men aware of this ; and prescribes the best remedy against it, namely, " the law upon the heart," Prov. vi. 20, 21. " When thou sleepest," says he, ver. 22, " it shall keep thee," to wit, from sinning in thy sleep ; that is, from sinful dreams : for a man's being kept from sin, not his being kept from afflic- tion, is the immediate proper effect of the law of God impressed upon the heart, Psal. cxix. 11. And thus the whole verse is to 40 THE CORRUPTION OF be understood, as appears from ver. 23, ' For the command- ment is a lamp, and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life." Now, the law is a lamp and light, as it guides in the way of duty ; and instructing reproofs from the law, are the way of life, as they keep from sin : they guide not into the way of peace, but as they lead into the way of duty : nor do they keep a man out of trouble, but as they keep him from sin. Remarkable is the particular in which Solomon in- stanceth the sin of uncleanness, " to keep thee from the evil woman," &c. ver. 24, which is to be joined to ver. 22, inclos- ing the 23d in a parenthesis, as some versions have it. These things may suffice to convince us of the natural bias of the mind to evil. Fourthly, There is in the carnal mind, an opposition to spi- ritual truths, and an aversion to them. It is as little a friend to divine truths, as it is to holiness. The truths of natural reli- gion, which do, as it were, force their entry into the minds of natural men, they hold prisoners in unrighteousness, Rom. i. 18. As for the truths of revealed religion, there is an evil heart of unbelief in them, which opposeth their entry ; and there is an armed force necessary to captivate the mind to the belief of them, 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. God has made a revelation of his mind and will to sinners, touching the way of salvation ; he has given us the doctrine of his holy word : but do natural men believe it indeed ? No, they do not ; " for he that believeth not on the Son of God, believeth not God," as is plain from 1 John v. 10. They believe not the promises of the word : they look on them, in effect, only as fair words ; for those that receive them are thereby made " partakers of the divine nature," 2 Pet. i. 4. The promises are as silver cords let down from heaven to draw sinners unto God, and to waft them over into the promised land ; but they cast them from them. They believe not the threatenings of the word. As men travelling in deserts carry fire about with them, to fright away wild beasts ; so God has made his law a fiery law, Deut. xxxiii. 2, hedging it about with threats of wrath : but men are naturally more brutish thar beasts themselves ; and will needs touch the fiery smoking mountain, though they should be thrust through with a dart. I doubt not but most if not all of you, who are yet in the black state of nature, will here plead, not guilty ; but remember, the carnal Jews in Christ's time were as confident as you are, that they believed Moses, John ix. 28, 29. But he confutes their confidence, roundly telling them, John v. 46, "Had ye believ- ed Moses, ye would have believed me." If you believe the truths of God, you dare not reject, as you do, Him who is truth itself. The very difficulty you find in assenting to this truth, discovers that unbelief which I am charging you with. Has it not proceeded so far with some at this day, that it has THE UNDERSTANDING. 49 Bteeled their foreheads with impudence and impiety, openly to reject all revealed religion ? Surely it is " out of the abundance of the heart their mouth speaketh." But, though ye set not your mouths against the heavens, as they do, the same bitter root of unbelief is in all men by nature, and reigns in you, and will reign, till overcoming grace brings your minds to the be- lief of the truth. To convince you in this point, consider these three things : Evidence 1. How few are there who have been blessed with an inward illumination, by the special operation of the Spirit of Christ, leading them into a view of divine truths in their spiri- tual and heavenly lustre ! How have you learned the truths of religion which you pretend to believe ? You have them merely by the benefit of external revelation, and by education ; so that you are Christians, because you were not born and bred in a Pagan, but in a Christian country. Ye are strangers to the in- ward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the word in your hearts ; and so you cannot have the assurance of faith, with respect to the outward divine revelation made in the word, 1 Cor. ii. 10 12; therefore ye are still unbelievers. " It is written in the Prophets They shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me," says our Lord, John vi. 45. Now, ye have not come to Christ, therefore ye have not been taught of God : ye have not been so taught, and therefore ye have not come ; ye believe not. Behold the revelation from which the faith, even of the fundamental principles in religion, doth spring, Matt. xvi. 16, 17, "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona ; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but rny Father which is in heaven." If ever the Spirit of the Lord take thee in hand to work in thee that faith which is of the operation of God, if may be, that as much time will be spent in razing the old foun- dation, as will make thee find the necessity of the working of his mighty power, to enable thee to believe the very foundation- principles, which now thou thinkest thou makest no doubt of, Eph. i. 19. Evidence 2. How many professors have made shipwreck of their faith, such as it was, in time of temptation and trial ! See how they fall, like stars from heaven, when Antichrist prevails ! 2 Thess. ii. 11, 12, " God shall send them strong de- lusions, that they should believe a lie ; that they all might be damned, who believed not the truth." They fall into damning delusions ; because they never really believed the truth, though they themselves, and others too, thought they did believe it. That house is built on the sand, and that faith is but ill-founded, that cannot stand, but is quite overthrown, when the sto-m comes. 5 i>U THE CORRUPTION OP Evidence 3. Consider the utter inconsistency of most men's lives with the principles of religion which they profess ; you may as soon bring east and west together, as their principles and practice. Men believe that fire will burn them; and there- fore they will not throw themselves into it : but the truth is, most men live as if they thought the gospel a mere fable, and the wrath of God, revealed in his word against their unright- eousness and ungodliness, a mere scarecrow. If you believe the doctrines of the word, how is it that you are so unconcerned about the state of your souls before the Lord '( how is it that you are so little concerned about this weighty point, whether you be born again or not? Many live as they were born, and are likely to die as they live, and yet live in peace. Do such believe the sinfulness and misery of a natural state? Do they believe that they are children of wrath ? Do they believe that there is no salvation without regeneration, and no regeneration but what makes man a new creature ? If you believe the pro- mises of the word, why do you not embrace them, and seek to enter into the promised rest 1 What sluggard would not dig for a hid treasure, if he really believed that he might so obtain it 1 Men will work and sweat for a maintenance, because they believe that by so doing they shall get it ; yet they will be at no tolerable pains for the eternal weight of glory ! Why, but because they do not believe the word of promise? Heb. iv. 1, 2. If ye believe the threatenings, how is it that ye live in your sins, live out of Christ, and yet hope for mercy ? Do such believe God to be the holy and just One, who will by no means clear the guilty ? No, no ; none believe ; none, or next to none, believe what a just God the LORD is, and how severely he punisheth. FifMy, There is in the mind of man a natural proneness to lies and falsehood, which makes for the safety of lusts : " They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies," Psa. Iviii. 3. We have this with the rest of the corruption of our nature, from our first parents. God revealed the truth to them ; but through the solicitation of the tempter, they first doubted, then disbelieved it, and embraced a lie instead of it. For an incon- testable evidence hereof, we may see the first article of the devil's creed, " Ye shall not surely die," Gen. iii. 4, which was obtruded by him on our first parents, and by them received, naturally embraced by their posterity, and held fast, till light from heaven oblige them to quit it. It spreads itself through the lives of natural men ; who. till their consciences be awakened, walk after their own lusts, still retaining the principle, "That they shall not surely die." And this is often improved to such perfection, that the man can say, in the face of the denounced curse, " I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst," Deut. xxix. 19. THE UNDERSTANDING. 51 Whatever advantage the truths of God have over error, by means of education or otherwise, error has always, with the natural man, this advantage against truth, namely, that there is something within him which says, " O that it were true !" so that the mind lies fair for assenting to it. And here is the reason of it : The true doctrine is, " the doctrine that is accor- ding to godliness," 1 Tim. vi. 3 ; and " the truth which is after godliness," Tit. i. 1. Error is the doctrine which is according to ungodliness : for there is never an error in the mind, nor an untruth vented in the world, in matters of religion, but what has an affinity with one corruption of the heart or another : accor- ding to that of the apostle, 2 Thess. ii. 12, " They believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." So that truth and error, being otherwise attended with equal advantages for their reception, error, by this means, has most ready access into the minds of men in their natural state. Wherefore, it is nothing strange that men reject the simplicity of gospel truths and institutions, and greedily embrace error and external pomp in religion ; as they are so agreeable to the lusts of the heart, and the vanity of the mind of the natural man. Hence, also it is, that so many embrace atheistical principles ; for none do it but in compliance with their irregular passions ; none but those, whose advantage it would be, that there were no God. Lastly, Man naturally is high-minded ; for when the gospel comes in power to him, it is employed in " casting down ima- ginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God," 2 Cor. x. 5. Lowliness of mind is not a flower that grows in the field of nature ; but is planted by the finger of God in a renewed heart, and learned of the lowly Jesus. It is natural to man to think highly of himself and what is his own : for the stroke which he has got by his fall in Adam, has produced a false light, whereby molehills about him appear like mountains ; and a thousand airy beauties present themselves to his deluded fancy. " Vain man would be wise," so he ac- counts himself, and so he would be accounted by others, " though man be born like a wild ass's colt," Job xi. 12. His way is right, because it is his own : for " every way of man is right in his own eyes," Prov. xxi. 2. His state is good, be- cause he knows none better; he is alive without the law, Rom. vii. 9, and therefore his hope is strong, and his confidence firm. It is another tower of Babel, reared up against heaven ; and it will not fall, while the power of darkness can hold it up. The word batters it, yet it stands ; one while, breaches are made in it, but they are quickly repaired ; at another time, it is all made to shake, but still it is kept up ; till either God himself by his Spirit raises a heart-quake within the man which tumbles it down, and leaves not one stone upon another, 2 Cor. x. 4, 5, or death batter it down, and raze the foundations of it, Luke 52 THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. xvi. 23. And as the natural man thinks highly of himself, sa ne thinks meanly of God, whatever he pretends, Psa. 1. 21. " Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself." The doctrine of the gospel, and the mystery of Christ are fool- ishness to him, and in his practice he treats them as such, 1 Cor. i. 18, and ii. 14. He brings the word and the works of God, in the government of the world, before the bar of his carnal reason ; and there they are presumptuously censured and con- demned, Hos. xiv. 9. Sometimes the ordinary restraint of Providence is taken off, and Satan is permitted to stir up the carnal mind : and, in that case, it is like an ant's nest, uncov- ered and disturbed; doubts, denials, and hellish reasonings crowd in it, and cannot be laid, by all the arguments brought against them, till power from on high subdue the mind and still the mutiny of the corrupt principles. ^ Thus much of the corruption of the understanding ; which, although the half be not told, may discover to you the absolute necessity of regenerating grace. Call the understanding now, Ichabod ; for the glory is departed from it. Consider this, you hat are yet in the state of nature, and groan out your case be- ibre the Lord, that the Sun of Righteousness may arise upon you, before you be shut up in everlasting darkness. What avails your worldly wisdom 1 What do your attainments in religion avail, while your understanding lies wrapt up in its natural darkness and confusion, utterly void of the light of life? Whatever be the natural man's gifts or attainments, we must, as in the case of the leper, Lev. xiii. 44, " pronounce him utterly unclean, his plague is in his head." But that is not all ; it is in his heart, too ; his will is corrupted, as I shall soon show. OF THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. II. The Will, that commanding faculty, which sometimes was faithful, and ruled with God, is now turned traitor, and rules with and for the devil. God planted it in man " wholly a right seed ;" but now it is " turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine." It was originally placed in due subordina- tion to the will of God, as was shown before; but now it is gone wholly aside. However some magnify the power of free-will, a view of the spirituality of the law, to which acts of moral dis- cipline in no wise answer, and a deep insight into the corruption of nature, given by the inward operation of the Spirit, convinc- ing of sin, righteousness, and judgment, would make men find an absolute need of the power of free grace, to remove the bands of wickedness from off their free-will. To open up this plague of the heart, I offer these following things to be consid- ered : First, There is, in the unrenewed will, an utter inability for THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. 53 what is truly good and acceptable in the sight of God. The natural man's will is in Satan's fetters ; hemmed in within the circle of evil, and cannot move beyond it, any more than a dead man can raise himself out of the grave, Eph. ii. 1. We deny him not a power to choose, pursue, and act, what, as to the matter is good : but though he can will what is good and right, he can will nothing aright and well, John xv. 5, " Without me," i. e. separate from me, as a branch from the stock, as both the word and context carry it, " ye can do nothing ;" to wit, no- thing truly and spiritually good. His very choice and desire of spiritual things, is carnal and selfish, John vi. 26, " Ye seek me because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled." He not only comes not to Christ, but " he cannot come," ver. 44. And what can he do acceptable to God, who believeth not on him whom the Father hath sent ? To evidence this inability for good in the unregenerate, consider these two things : Evidence 1. How often does the light so shine before men's eyes, that they cannot but see the good which they should choose, and the evil which they should refuse; and yet their hearts have no more power to comply with that light, than if they were arrested by some invisible hand ? They see what is right, yet they follow, and cannot but follow, what is wrong. Their consciences tell them the right way, and approve of it too, yet their will cannot be brought up to it ; their corruption so chains them, that they cannot embrace it ; so that they sigh and go backward, notwithstanding their light. If it be not thus, how is it that the word and way of holiness meet with such entertainment in the world ? How is it that clear arguments and reason on the side of piety and a holy life, which seem to have weight even with the carnal mind, do not bring men over to that side? Although the existence of a heaven and a hell were but a may-be, it were sufficient to determine the will to the choice of holiness, were it capable of being determined thereto, by mere reason : but men, " knowing the judgment of God," that they who commit such things are worthy of death, " not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them," Rom i. 32. And how is it that those who magnify the power of free-will, do not confirm their opinion before the world, by an ocular demonstration, in a practice as far above others in holiness, as the opinion of their natural ability is above that of others? Or is it maintained only for the protection of lusts, which men may hold fast as long as they please ; and when they have no more use for them, throw them off in a mo- ment, and leap out of Delilah's lap, into Abraham's bosom ? Whatever use some make of that principle, it does of itself, and in its own nature, cast a broad shadow for a shelter to wicked- ness of heart and life. It may be observed, that the generality of the hearers of the gospel, of all denominations are plagued 5* 54 THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. with it ; for it is a root of bitterness, natural to all men ; from whence spring so much fearlessness about the soul's eternal state, so many delays and off-puts in that weighty matter, whereby much work is laid up for a death-bed by some, while others are ruined by a legal walk, and unacquaintedness with the life of faith, and the making use of Christ for sanctification : all flow ing from the persuasion of sufficient natural abilities. So agree- able is it to corrupt nature. Evidence 2. Let those, who, by the power of the spirit of bondage, have had the law opened before them in its spirituality, for their conviction, speak and tell, if they found themselves able to incline their hearts towards it, in that case ; nay, whether the more that light shone into their souls, they did not find their hearts more and more unable to comply with it. There are some, who have been brought unto " the place of the breaking forth," who are yet in the devil's camp, who from their experi- ence can tell, that light let into the mind cannot give life to the will, to enable it to comply therewith; and could give their testi- mony here, if they would. But take Paul's testimony concern- ing it, who, in his unconverted state, was far from believing his utter inability for good ; but learned it by experience, Rom. vii. 8 13. I own, the natural man may have a kind of love to ihe letter of the law : but here lies the stress of the matter ; he looks on the holy law in a carnal dress ; and so, while he hugs a crea- ture of his own fancy, he thinks that he has the law ; but in very deed he is without the law : for as yet he sees it not in its spirit- uality ; if he did, he would find it the very reverse of his own nature, and what his will could not fall in with, till changed by the power of grace. Secondly, There is in the unrenewed will an averseness to good. Sin is the natural man's element ; he is as unwilling to part with it as fish are to come out of the water into dry land. He not only cannot come to Christ, but he will not come, John v. 40. He is polluted, and hates to be washed, Jer. xiii. 27, " Wilt thou not be made clean ? when shall it once be ?" He is sick, yet utterly averse to the remedy ; he loves his disease so, that he loathes the physician. He is a captive, a prisoner, and a slave ; but he loves his conqueror, his jailer, and master ; he is fond of his fetters, prison, and drudgery, and has no liking to his liberty. For evidence of this averseness to good, in the will of man, I will instance in some particulars. Evidence 1 . The untowardness of children. Do we not see- them naturally lovers of sinful liberty ? How unwilling are they to be hedged in ! How averse to restraint ! The world can bear witness, that they are " as bullocks unaccustomed to the yoke :" and more, that it is far easier to bring young bullocks tamely to bear the yoke, thap to bring young children under dis- cipline, and make them tamely submit to be restrained in sinful THE COHRtJPTION OF THE WILL. 55 liberty. Every body may see in this as in a glass, that man is naturally wild and wilful, according to Zophar's observation, Job xi. 12, that " man is born like a wild ass's colt." What can be said more? He is like a colt, the colt of an ass, the colt of a wild ass. Compare Jer. ii. 2"4, " A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure ; in her occasion who can turn her away ?" Evidence 2. What pain and difficulty do men often find in bringing their hearts to religious duties ! and what a task is it to the carnal heart to abide at them ! It is a pain to it, to leave the world but a little, to come before God. It is not easy to borrow time from the many things, to spend it upon the one thing needful. Men often go to God in duties, with their faces towards the world ; and when their bodies are on the mount of ordinances, their hearts will be found at the foot of the hill, "going after their covetousness," Ezek. xxxiii. 31. They are soon wearied of well-doing ; for holy duties are not agreeable to their corrupt nature. Take notice of them at their worldly business, set them down with their carnal company, or let them be sucking the breasts of a lust ; time seems to them to fly, and drive furiously, so that it is gone ere they are aware. But how heavily does it pass, while a prayer, a sermon, or a Sabbath lasts ! The Lord's day is the longest day of all the week with many ; therefore they must sleep longer that morning, and go sooner to bed that night, than ordinarily they do ; that the day may be made of a tolerable length ; for their hearts say within them, ' When will the sabbath be gone?" Amos viii. 5. The nours of worship are the longest hours of that day ; hence, when duty is over, they are like men eased of a burden ; and when sermon is ended, many have neither the grace nor the good manners to stay till the blessing be pronounced, but, like the oeasts, their head is away, as soon as a man puts his hand to loose them ; and why ? because, while they are at ordinan- ces, they are as Doeg, "detained before the Lord?" 1 Sam. xxii. 7. Evidence 3. Consider how the will of the natural man rebel? against the light, Job xxiv. 13. Light sometimes entereth in, because he is not able to keep it out : but he loveth darkness rather than light. Sometimes, by the force of truth, the outei door of the understanding is broken up ; but the inner door of the will remains fast bolted. Then lusts rise against light: cor ruption and conscience encounter, and fight as in the field of battle, till corruption getting the upper hand, conscience is forced to turn its back ; convictions are murdered, and truth is made and held prisoner, so that it can create no more disturbance. While the word is preached or read, or the rod of God is upon the natural man, sometimes convictions are darted in on him, and his spirit is wounded, in greater or lesser measure : bi* 56 THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. *hose convictions not being able to make him fall, he runs away with the arrows sticking in his conscience ; and at length, one way or other, gets them out, and makes himself whole again. Thus, while the light shines, men, naturally averse to it, wil- fully shut their eyes, till God is provoked to blind them judi- cially, and they become proof against his word and providences too : so, go where they will, they can sit at ease ; there is never a word from heaven to them, that goeth deeper than into their ears, Hos. iv. 17, " Ephraim is joined to idols ; let him alone." Evidence 4. Let us observe the resistance made by elect souls, when the Spirit of the Lord is at work, to bring them from " the power of Satan unto God." Zion's King gets n< subjects but by the stroke of sword, " in the day of his power,' Psa. ex. 2, 3. None come to him, but such as are drawn by a divine hand, John vi. 44. When the Lord comes to the soul, he finds the strong man keeping the house, and a deep peace and security there, while the soul is fast asleep in the devil's arms. But " the prey must be taken from the mighty," and the " captive delivered." Therefore the Lord awakens the sinner, opens his eyes, and strikes him with terror, while the clouds are black above his head, and the sword of vengeance is held to his breast. Now he is at no small pains to put a fair face on a black heart : to shake off his fears, to make head against them, and to divert himself from thinking on the un- pleasant and ungrateful subject of his soul's case. If he can- not so rid himself from them, carnal reason is called in to help, and urges, that there is no ground for so great fear ; all may be well enough yet ; and if it be ill with him, it will be ill with many. When the sinner is beat from this, and sees no advan- tage in going to hell with company, he resolves to leave his sins, but cannot think of breaking off so soon ; there is time enough, and he will do it afterwards. Conscience says, " To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts :" but he cries, " To-morrow, Lord ; to-morrow, Lord ; and just now, Lord ;" till that now is never like to come. Thus many times he comes from his prayers and confessions, with nothing but a breast full of sharper convictions ; for the heart does not always cast up the sweet morsel, as soon as confession is made with the mouth, Judges x. 10 16. And when conscience obliges him to part with some lusts, others are kept as right eyes and right hands ; and there are rueful looks after those that are put away ; as it was with the Israelites, who with bitter hearts re- membered " the fish they did eat in Egypt freely," Num. xi. 5. Nay, when he is so pressed, that he must needs say before tho Lord, that he is content to part with all his idols ; the heart will be giving the tongue the lie. In a word, the soul, in this case, will shift from one thing to another ; like a fish with the hook in THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. 57 its jaws, till it can do no more, and power come to make it yield as " the wild ass in her month," Jer. ii. 24. Thirdly, There is in the will of man a natural " proneness to evil," a woful bent towards sin. Men naturally are " bent to backsliding from God," Hos. ii. 7. They hang, as the word is, toward backsliding ; even as a hanging wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant. Set holiness and life upon the one side, sin and death upon the other ; and leave the unrenwed will to itself, it will choose sin and reject holiness. This is no more to be doubted, than that water, poured on the side of a hill, will run downward, and not upward ; or that a flame will as cend, and not descend. Evidence 1. Is not the way of evil the first way which the children of men go? Do not their inclinations plainly appear on the wrong side, while yet they have no cunning to hide them? In the first opening of our eyes in the world, we look asquint, hell-ward, not heaven-ward. As soon as it appears that we are rational creatures, it appears that we are sinful creatures, Psa. Iviii. 3. " The wicked are estranged from the womb ; they go astray, as soon as they be born." Prov. xxii. 15, " Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child : but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." Folly is bound in the heart, it is woven in our very nature. The knot will not unloose ; it must be broken asunder by strokes. Words will not do it, the rod must be taken to drive it away ; and if it be not driven far away, the heart and it will meet and knit again. Not that the rod of itself will do this : the sad experience of many parents testifies to the contrary ; and Solomon himself tells you, Prov. xxvii. 22, " Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar, among wheat, with a pestle, yet will not his fool- ishness depart from him ;" it is so bound in his heart. But the rod is an ordinance of God, appointed for that end ; which, like the word, is made effectual, by the Spirit's accompanying his own ordinance. This, by the way, shows that parents, in administering correction to their children, have need, first of all, to correct their own irregular passions, and look upon it as a matter of awful solemnity, setting about it with much depen- dence on the Lord, and following it with prayer for the blessing, if they would have it effectual. Evidence 2. How easily are men led aside to sin ! The children who are not persuaded to good, are otherwise simple ones, easily wrought upon : those whom the word cannot draw to holiness, are " led by Satan at his pleasure." Profane Esau, that cunning man, Gen. xxv. 27, was as easily cheated of the blessing, as if he had been a fool or an idiot. The more natural a thing is, the more easy it is : so Christ's yoke is easy to the saints, in so far as they are partakers of the divine nature ; and sin is easy to the unrenewed man ; but to learn to do good, is 58 THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. as difficult as for the Ethiopian to change his skin ; because the will naturally hangs towards evil, and is averse to good. A child can cause a round thing to run, when he cannot move a square thing of the same weight ; for the roundness makes it fit for motion, so that it goes with a touch. Even so, men find the heart easily carried towards sin, while it is as a dead weight in the way of holiness ; we must seek for the reason of this from the natural set and disposition of the heart, whereby it is prone and bent to evil. Were man's will, naturally but in equal balance to good and evil, the one might be embraced with as little difficulty as the other ; but experience testifies it is not so. In the sacred history of the Israelites, especially in the book of Judges, how often do we find them forsaking Jehovah, the mighty God, and doting upon the idols of the nations about them ! But did ever any one of these nations grow fond of Israel's God, and forsake their own idols ? No, no ; though man is naturally given to changes, it is but from evil to evil, not from evil to good, Jer. ii. 10, 11, " Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? But my people have changed their glory, for that which doth not profit." Surely the will of man stands not in equal balance, but has a cast to the wrong side. Evidence 3. Consider how men go on still in the way of sin, till they meet with a stop, and that from another hand than their own, Isa. Ivii. 17, " I hid me, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart." If God withdraw his restraining hand, and lay the reins on the sinner's neck, he is under no doubt what way to choose ; for, observe it, the way of sin is the way of his heart ; his heart naturally lies that way ; it hath a natural propensity to sin. As long as God suffers them, they walk in their own way, Acts xiv. 16. The natural man is so fixed in his woful choice, that there needs no more to show he is off from God's way, than to say he is upon his own. Evidence 4. Whatsoever good impressions are made on him, they do not last. Though his heart be firm as a stone, yea harder than the nether-millstone, in point of receiving of them ; it is otherwise unstable as water, and cannot keep them. It works against the receiving of them ; and, when they are made, it works them off, and returns to its natural bias, Hos. vi. 4, "Your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew, it goeth away." The morning cloud promises a hearty shower, but when the sun arises, it vanishes : the sun beats upon the early dew, and it evaporates ; so the husbandman's expectation is disappointed. Such is the goodness of the natural man. Some sharp affliction, or piercing conviction, obliges him, in some sort, to turn from his evil course: but his will not being renewed, religion is still against the grain with him, and therefore this goes off again, Psa. Ixxviii. 34 37. Though a THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. 59 stone thrown up into the air, may abide there a little while, yet its natural heaviness will bring it down again : so do unrenewed men return to the wallowing in the mire ; because, though they washed themselves, yet their swinish nature was not changed. It is hard to cause wet wood to take fire, hard to make it keep fire ; but it is harder than either of these, to make the unrenewed will retain attained goodness ; which is a plain evidence of the natural bent of the will to evil. Evidence 5. Do the saints serve the Lord now, as they were wont to serve sin, in their unconverted state 1 Very far from it, Rom. vi. 20, " When ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness." Sin got all, and admitted no partner ; but now, when they are the servants of Christ, are they free from sin 1 Nay, there are still with them some deeds of the old man, showing that he is but dying in them ; and hence their hearts often misgive them, and slip aside unto evil, " when they would do good," Rom. vii. 21. They need to watch, and keep their hearts with all diligence ; and their sad exj>erience teaches them, " That he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool," Prov. xxviii. 26. If it be thus in the green tree, how must it be in the dry ? Fourthly, There is a natural contrariety, direct opposition, and enmity, in the will of man, to God himself, and his holy will, Rom. viii. 7, " The carnal mind is enmity against God ; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." The will was once God's deputy in the soul, set to command there for him ; but now it is set up against him. If you would have the picture of it in its natural state, the very reverse of the will of God represents it. If the fruit hanging before one's eyes be but forbidden, that is sufficient to draw the heart after it. Let me instance in the sin of profane swearing and cursing, to which some are so abandoned, that they take a pride in it ; belching out horrid oaths and curses, as if hell opened with the opening of their mouths ; or larding their speeches with minced oaths ; and all this without any manner of provocation, though even that would not excuse them. Pray, tell me 1. What profit is there here ? A thief gets something in his hand for his pains ; a drunkard gets a belly-full; but what do you get? Others serve the devil for pay ; but you are volunteers, that expect no reward but your work itself, in affronting of Heaven ; and if you repent not, you will get your reward in full tale ; when you go to hell, your work will follow you. The drunkard shall not have a drop of water to cool his tongue there; nor will the covetous man's wealth follow him into the other world ! Hi may drive on your old trade there; eternity will be long enough to give you your heart's fill of it. 2. What pleasure is Ihere here, but what flows from your trampling on the holy law ? Which of your senses doth swearing and cursing gratify ? If 60 THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. it gratify your ears, it can only be by the noise it makes agains the heavens. Though you had a mind to give up yourselves to all manner of profanity and sensuality, there is so little plea- sure can be strained out of these sins, that we must needs con- clude, your love for them, in this case, is a love to them for themselves ; a devilish unhired love, without any prospect of profit or pleasure from them otherwise. If any shall say, These are monsters of men : be it so ; yet, alas ! the world is fruitful of such monsters ; they are to be found almost every where. Allow rne to say, they must be admitted as the mouth of the whole unregenerate world against Heaven, Rom. iii. 14, " Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness :" ver. 19, " Now we know, that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." I have a charge against every unregenerate man and woman, young and old, to be verified by the testimonies of the scriptures of truth, and the testimony of their own consciences ; namely, that whether they be professors or profane, seeing they are not born again, they are heart enemies to God ; to the Son of God ; to the Spirit of God ; and to the law of God. Hear this, ye careless souls, that live at ease in your natural state. First, Ye are enemies to God in your mind, Col. i. 21. Ye are not as yet reconciled to him ; the natural enmity is not as yet slain, though perhaps it lies hid, and you do not perceive it. 1. You are enemies to the very being of God, Psa. xiv. 1, " The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." The proud man would that none were above himself; the rebel, that there were no king ; and the unrenewed man, who is a mass of pride and rebellion, that there were no God. He saith it in his heart, he wisheth it were so, though he is ashamed and afraid to speak it out. That all natural men are such fools, appears from the apostle's quoting a part of this psalm, " That every mouth may be stopped," Rom. iii. 10 19. I own, indeed, that while the natural man looks upon God as the Creator and Preserver of the world, because he loves his own self, therefore his heart rises not against the being of his benefactor : but his enmity will quickly appear when he looks on God as the rector and judge of the world, binding him, under the pain of the curse, to exact holiness, and girding him with the cords of death, because of his sin. Listen in this case to the voice of the heart, and thou wilt find it to be " no God !" 2. Ye are ene- mies to the nature of God, Job xxi. 14, "They say unto God, depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways." Men set up to themselves an idol of their own fancy, instead of God ; and then fall down and worship it. They love him no other way, than Jacob loved Leah, while he took her for Rachel. Every natural man is an enemy to God, as he is revealed in his THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. 61 word. The infinitely holy, just, powerful, and true being, is not the God whom he loves, but the God whom he loathes. In fact, men naturally are haters of God, Rom. i. 30 ; if they could, they certainly would make him otherwise than what he is. For, consider it is a certain truth, that whatsoever is in God, is God ; therefore his attributes or perfections are not any thing really distinct from himself. If God's attributes be not God himself, he is a compound being, and so not the first being, to say which is blasphemous ; for the parts compounding are before the compound itself; but he is Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. Now, upon this, I would, for your conviction, propose to your consciences a few queries. 1. How stand your hearts affected towards the infinite purity and holiness of God ? Con- science will give an answer to this, which the tongue will not speak out. If you be not partakers of his holiness, you cannot be reconciled to it. The Pagans, finding that they could not be like God in holiness, made their gods like themselves in filthiness ; and thereby discover what sort of a God the natural man would have. God is holy ; can an unholy creature love his unspotted holiness 1 Nay, it is the righteous only that can " give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness," Psa. cxvii. 12. God is light ; can creatures of darkness rejoice therein ? Nay, " every one that doth evil hateth light," John iii. 20. " For what communion hath light with darkness ?" 2 Cor. vi. 14. 2. How stand your hearts affected with the justice of God ? There is not a man, who is wedded to his lusts, as all the unregenerate are, but would be content, with the blood of his body, to blot that letter out of the name of God. Can the malefactor love his condemning judge ? or an unjustified sinner, a just God 1 No, he cannot, Luke vii. 47, " To whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." Hence, as men cannot get the doctrine of his justice blotted out of the Bible, it is such an eye- sore to them, that they strive to blot it out of their minds ; they ruin themselves by presuming on his mercy, while they are not careful to get a righteousness, wherein they may stand before his justice, but " say in their heart, the Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil," Zeph. i. 12. 3. How stand you affected to the omniscience and omnipresence of God ? Men naturally would rather have a blind idol, than the all-seeing God ; therefore they do what they can, as Adam did, to hide themselves from the presence of the Lord. They no more love the all-seeing, every- where present God, than the thief loves to have the judge witness to his evil deeds. If it could be carried by votes, God would be voted out of the world, and closed up in heaven ; for the language of the carnal heart is, " The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth," Ezek. viii. 12. 4. How stand ye affected to the truth and veracity of God ? 6 62 THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. There are but few in the world who can heartily subscribe to this sentence of the apostle, Rom. iii. 4, " Let God be true, but every man a liar." Nay, truly, there are many, who, in effect, hope that God will not be true to his word. There are thousands who hear the gospel, that hope to be saved, and think all safe with them for eternity, who never had any experience of the new birth, nor do at all concern themselves in the question Whether they are born again, or not? a question that is like to wear out from among us at this day. Our Lord's words are plain and peremptory, " Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." What are such hopes then, but real hopes that God with profoundest reverence be it spoken will recall his word, and that Christ will prove a false prophet? What else means the sinner, who " when he heareth the words of the curse, blesseth himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart? Deut. xxix. 19. Lastly, How stand ye affected to the power of God ? None but new creatures will love him for it, on a fair view thereof; though others may slavishly fear him upon the account of it. There is not a natural man, but would contribute, to the utmost of his power, to the building of another tower of Babel, to hem it in. On these grounds 1 declare every unre- newed man an enemy to God. Secondly, You are enemies to the Son of God. That enmity to Christ is in your hearts, which would have made you join the husbandmen who killed the heir, and cast him out of the vineyard, if ye had been beset with their temptations, and no more restrained than they were. " Am I a dog ?" you will say, that I should so treat my sweet Saviour ? So did Hazael ask in another case ; but when he had the temptation, he was a dog to do it. Many call Christ their sweet Saviour, whose consciences can bear witness, that they never sucked as much sweetness from him as from their sweet lusts, which are ten times sweeter to them than their Saviour. He is no other way sweet to them, than as they abuse his death and sufferings, for the peaceable enjoyment of their lusts : that they may live as they please in the world, and when they die be kept out of hell. Alas ! it is but a mistaken Christ that is sweet to you whose souls loathe that Christ, who is " the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person." It is with you as it was with the carnal Jews, who delighted in him, while they mistook his errand into the world, fancying that he would be a temporal deliverer to them, Mai. iii. 1. But when he "sat as a refiner and purifier of silver," ver. 2, 3, and rejected them as reprobate silver, who thought to have had no small honour in the kingdom of the Messiah, his doctrine galled their consciences, and they had no rest till they imbrued their hands in his blood. To oppq your eyes in this point, which are so averse to believe, I will THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. 63 lay before you the enmity of your hearts against Christ in all his offices. First, Every unregenerate man is an enemy to Christ in his prophetical office. He is appointed of the Father the great prophet and teacher ; but not upon the call of the world, who, in their natural state, would have unanimously voted against him : therefore, when he came, he was condemned as a seducer and blasphemer. For evidence of this enmity, I will instance two things. Evidence 1. Consider the entertainment which he meets with, when he comes to teach souls inwardly by his Spirit. Men do what they can to stop their ears, like the deaf adder, that they may not hear his voice. They "always resist the Holy Ghost: they desire not the knowledge of his ways ;" and therefore bid him " depart from them." The old calumny is often raised upon him on that occasion, John x. 20, " He is mad, why hear ye him '?" Soul-exercise, raised by the spirit of bondage, is ac- counted, by many, nothing else but distraction, and melancholy fits : men thus blaspheming the Lord's work, because they them- selves are beside themselves, and cannot judge of those matters. Evidence 2. Consider the entertainment with which he meets, when he comes to teach men outwardly by his word. I. His written word, the Bible, is slighted. Christ hath left it to us, as the book of our instruction, to show us what way we must steer our course, if we would go to Immanuel's land. It is a lamp to light us through a dark world, to eternal light. And he hath enjoined us, to search it with that diligence where- with men dig into mines for silver and gold, John v. 39. But, ah ! how is this sacred treasure profaned by many ! They ridicule that holy word, by which they must be judged at the last day ; and will rather lose their souls than their jest, dressing up the conceits of their wanton wits in scripture phrases ; in which they act as mad a part, as one who would dig into a mine, to procure metal to melt and pour down his own and his neigh- bour's throat. Many exhaust their spirits in reading romances, and their minds pursue them as the flame doth the dry stubble ; while they have no heart for, nor relish to, the holy word ; and therefore seldom take a Bible in their hands. What is agreeable to the vanity of their minds, is pleasant and taking ; but what recommends holiness to their unholy hearts, makes their spirits dull and flat. What pleasure they find in reading a profane ballad, or story-book, to who,n the Bible is tasteless, as the white of an egg ! Many lay by their Bibles with their Sabbath-day's clothes ; and whatever use they have for their clothes, they have none for their Bibles, till the return of the Sabbath. Alas ! the dust or the finery about your Bibles is a witness now, and will, at the last day, be a witness of the enmity of your hearts against Christ as a prophet. Besides all this, among those who usually 64 THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. read the scripture, how few are there who read it as the word of the Lord to their souls, and keep up communion with him in it ! They do not make his statutes their counsellors, nor doth their particular case send them to their Bibles. They are strangers to the solid comfort of the scriptures. And when they are dejected, it is something else than the word that revives them ; as Ahab was cured of his sullen fit, by the securing of Naboth's vineyard for him. 2. Christ's word preached is despised. The entertainment which most of the world, to whom it has come, have always given it, is that which is mentioned, Matt. xxii. 5, " They made light of it :" and for its sake, they are despised whom he employs to preach it ; whatever other face men put upon their contempt of the ministry, John xv. 20, 21. " The servant is not greater than the Lord ; if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you : if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake." That Levi was the son of the hated, seems not to have been without a mystery, which the world in all ages hath unriddled. But though the earthen vessels, wherein God has put the treasure, be turned, with many, into vessels wherein there is no pleasure, yet why is the treasure itself slighted ? But slighted it is, and that with a witness this day. " Lord, who hath believed our report 1" To whom shall we speak ? Men can, without remorse, make to themselves silent Sabbaths, one after another. And, alas ! when they come to ordinances, for the most part, it is but to appear, or as the word is, to be seen before the Lord ; and to tread his courts, namely, as a company of beasts would do, if they were driven into them, Isa. i. 12 ; so little reverence and awe of God appears on their spirits. Many stand like brazen walls before the word, in whose corrupt conversation the preaching of the word makes no breach. Nay, not a few are growing worse and worse, under " precept upon precept ;" and the result of all is, " They go and fall backward, and are broken, and snared, and taken." Isa. xxviii. 13. What tears of blood are sufficient to lament that the gospel, " the grace of God" is thus " received in vain !" We are but the voice of one crying ; the speaker is in heaven, and speaks to you from heaven by men : why do you " refuse him that speaketh 1" Heb. xii. 25. God has made our Master heir of all things, and we are sent to court a spouse for him. There is none so worthy as he ; none more unworthy than they to whom this match is proposed : but the prince of darkness is preferred before the Prince of Peace. A dismal darknes over- clouded the world by Adam's fall, more terrible than if the sun, rnoon, and stars had been for ever wrapt up in blackness of darkness; and there we should have eternally lain, had not this grace of the gospel, as a shining sun, appeared to dispel it, Tit. THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. 65 ii. 11. But yet we fly like night owls from it; and, like the wild beasts lay ourselves down in our dens ; when the sun ariseth, we are struck blind with the light thereof; and, as creatures of darkness, love darkness rather than light. Such is the enmity of the hearts of men against Christ, in his prophetical office. Secondly, The natural man is an enemy to Christ in his priestly office. He is appointed of the Father a priest for ever ; that, by his alone sacrifice and intercession, sinners may have peace with, and access to God ; but Christ crucified is a stumbling block, and foolishness, to the unrenewed part of man- kind, to whom he is preached, 1 Cor. i. 23. They are not for him, as the " new and living way ;" nor is he, by the voice of the world, " an High-priest over the house of God." Corrupt nature goes quite another way to work. Evidence 1. None of Adam's children naturally incline to receive the blessing in borrowed robes ; but would always, according to the spider's motto, " owe all to themselves :" and so climb up to heaven on a thread spun out of their own bowels. For they "desire to be under the law," Gal. iv. 21, and "go about to establish their own righteousness," Rom. x. 3. Man naturally looks on God as a great master; and himself as his servant, that must work and win heaven as his wages. Hence, when conscience is awakened, he thinks that, to the end he may be saved, he must answer to the demands of the law, serve God as well as he can, and pray for mercy wherein he comes short. And thus many come to duties, that never come out of them to Jesus Christ. Evidence 2. As men naturally think highly of their duties, that seem to them to be well done ; so they look for acceptance with God, according as their work is done, not according to the share they have in the blood of Christ. " Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seost not ?" They value themselves on their performances and attainments ; yea, their very opinions in religion, Phil. iii. 4 7, taking to themselves what they rob from Christ the great High-priest. Evidence 3. The natural man, going to God in duties, will always be found either to go without a Mediator, or with more than one only Mediator, Jesus Christ. Nature is blind, and therefore venturesome ; it sets men a-going immediately to God without Christ ; to rush into his presence, and put their petitions in his hand, without being introduced by the Secretary of heaven, or putting their requests into his hand. So fixed is this disposi- tion in the unrenewed heart, that when many hearers of the Gospel are conversed with upon the point of their hopes of salva- tion, the name of Christ will scarcely be heard from their mouths. Ask them how they think to obtain the pardon of in, they will tell you, they beg and look for mercy, because God is a merciful God ; and that is all they have to confide in. 6* 66 THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. Others look for mercy for Christ's sake : but how do they know that Christ will take their plea in hand ? Why, as the papists have their mediators with the Mediator, so have they. They know he cannot but do it ; for they pray, confess, mourn, and have great desires, and the like ; and so have something of their own to commend them unto him : they were never made poor in spirit, and brought empty handed to Christ, to lay the stress of all on his atoning blood. Thirdly, The natural man is an enemy to Christ in his kingly office. The Father hath appointed the Mediator, " King in Zion," Psa. ii. 6. All to whom the gospel comes are com- manded on their highest peril, to " kiss the Son," and submit themselves unto him, ver. 12. But the natural voice of mankind is, " away with him ;" as you may see, ver. 2, 3, " They will not have him to reign over them," Luke xix. 14. Evidence 1. The workings of corrupt nature, to wrest the government out of his hands. No sooner was he born, but being born a King, Herod persecuted him, Matt. ii. And when he was crucified, they " set up over his head his accusation written, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews," Matt, xxvii. 37. Though his kingdom be a spiritual kingdom, and not of this world, yet they cannot allow him a kingdom within a kingdom, which acknowledges no other head or supreme, but the royal Mediator. They make bold with his royal prerogatives, chang- ing his laws, institutions, and ordinances ; modelling his worship according to the devices of their own hearts, introducing new offices and officers into his kingdom, not to be found in " the book of the manner of his kingdom ;" disposing of the external government thereof, as may best suit their carnal designs. Such is the enmity of the hearts of men against Zion's King. Evidence 2. How unwilling are men, naturally, to submit unto, and be hedged in by the laws and discipline of his king dom ! As a King, he is a lawgiver, Isa. xxxiii. 22, and has ap- pointed an external government, discipline, and censures to con- trol the unruly and to keep his professed subjects in order, to be exercised by officers of his own appointment, Matt, xviii. 17, 18 ; 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; 1 Tim. v. 17 ; Heb. xiii. 17. But these are the great eye-sores of the carnal world, who love sinful liberty, and therefore cry out, ".Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us," Psa. ii. 3. Hence this work is found to be, in a special manner, a striving against the stream of corrupt nature, which, for the most part, puts such a face on the Church, as if there were no king in Isiael, every one doing that which is right in his own eyes. Evidence 3. However natural men may be brought to feign submission to the King of saints, yet lusts always retain the throne and dominion in their hearts, and they are serving divers lusts and pleasures, Tit. iii. 3. None, but these in whom Christ THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. 6? is formed, do really put the crown on his head, and receive the kingdom of Christ within them. His crown is " the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals." Who are they, whom the power of grace has not subdued, that will allow him to set up, and put down, in their souls, as he will 1 Nay, as for others, any lord shall sooner get the rule over them, than the Lord of glory : they kindly entertain his enemies, but will never absolutely resign themselves to his gov- ernment, till conquered in a day of power. Thus you may see, that the natural man is an enemy to Jesus Christ in all his offices. But O how hard is it to convince men on this point. They are very loath to take it up. And in a special manner, the en- mity of the heart against Christ in his priestly office seems to be hid from the view of most of the hearers of the gospel. There appears to be a peculiar malignity in corrupt nature against that office of his. It may be observed, that the Socinians, those enemies of our blessed Lord, allow him to be properly a Prophet and a King, but deny him to be properly a Priest. And this is agreeable enough to the corruption of our nature : for, under the covenant of works, the Lord was known as a Prophet or Teacher, and also as a King or Ruler ; but not at all as a Priest : so man knows nothing of the mystery of Christ, as the way to the Father, till it be revealed to him : and when it is revealed, the will riseth up against it; for corrupt nature lies cross to the mystery of Christ, and the great contrivance of salvation, through the crucified Saviour, revealed in the gospel. For clearing of which weighty truth, let these four things be con- sidered. First, The soul's falling in with the grand scheme of salva- tion by Jesus Christ, and setting the matters of salvation on that footing before the Lord, is declared by the scriptures of truth to be an undoubted mark of a real saint, who is happy hero, and shall be happy hereafter, Matt. xi. 6, " Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me." 1 Cor. i. 23, 24, "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness ; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." Phil. iii. 3, " For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." Now, how could this be, if nature could comply with that grand device? Secondly, Corrupt nature is the very reverse of the gospel plan. In the gospel, God proposeth Jesus Christ as the great means of re-uniting man to himself; he has named him as the Mediator, one in whom he is well-pleased, and will have none but him, Matt. xvii. 5 ; but nature will have none of him, Psa. Ixxxi. 11. God appointed the place of meeting for the recon- 68 THE CORRUPTION OP THE WILL. ciliation, namely, the flesh of Christ ; accordingly, God was in Christ, 2 Cor. v. 19, as ihe tabernacle of meeting, to make up the peace with sinners : but natural men, although they should die for ever, will not come to Christ, John v. 40, " Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." In the way of the gospel, the sinner must stand before the Lord in an imputed righteousness : but corrupt nature is for an inherent righteous- ness ; and, therefore, so far as natural men follow after right- eousness, they follow after " the law of righteousness," Rom. ix. 31, 32 ; and not after " the Lord our righteousness." Nature is always for building up itself, and to have some ground for boasting : but the great design of the gospel, is to exalt grace, to depress nature, and exclude boasting, Rom. iii. 27. The sum of our natural religion is, to do good from and for ourselves, John v. 44 ; the sum of the gospel religion is, to deny ourselves, and to do good from and for Christ, Phil. i. 21. Thirdly, Every thing in nature is against believing in Jesus Christ. What beauty can the blind mind discern in a crucified Saviour, for which he is to be desired ? How can the will, naturally impotent, yea, and averse to good, make choice of him? Well may the soul then say to him in the day of the spiritual siege, as the Jebusites said to David in another case, " Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither," 2 Sam. v. 6. The way of nature is to go into one's self for all ; according to the fundamental maxim of unsanctified morality, that a man should trust in himself; which, accord- ing to the doctrine of faith, is mere foolishness ; for so it is de- termined, Prov. xviii. 26, " He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool." Now faith is the soul's going out of itself for all ; and this nature on the other hand, determines to be foolishness, 1 Cor. i. 18 23. Wherefore there is need of the working of mighty power, to cause sinners to believe, Eph. i. 19; Isa. liii. 1. We see the promises of welcome to sinners, in the gospel-covenant, are ample, large, and free, clogged with no conditions, Isa. Iv. 1 ; Rev. xxii. 17. If they cannot believe his bare word, he has given them his oath upon it, Ezek. xxxiii. 11 ; and, for their greater assurance, he has annexed seals to his sworn covenant, namely, the holy sacraments : so that no more could be demanded of the most faithless person in the world, to make us believe him, than the Lord hath conde- scended to give us, to make us believe himself. This plainly speaks nature to be against believing, and those who flee to Christ for a refuge, to have need of strong consolation, Heb. vi. 18, to balance their strong doubts, and propensity to unbelief. Further, also, it may be observed, how, in the word sent to a secure, graceless generation, their objections are answered beforehand, and words of grace are heaped one upon another, as you may read, Isa. Iv. 7 9; Joel ii. 13. Why? Because THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. 69 the Lord knows, that when these secure sinners are thoroughly awakened, doubts, fears, and carnal reasonings against believing, will be getting into their breasts, as thick as dust in a house, raised by sweeping a dry floor. Lastly, Corrupt nature is beo* towards the way of the law, or covenant of works : and every natural man, so far as he sets himself to seek after salvation, is engaged in that way ; and will not quit it, till beat from it by divine power. Now the way of salvation by works, and that of free grace in Jesus Christ, are inconsistent. Rom. xi. 6, " And if by grace, then is it no more of works ; otherwise grace is DO more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more graoo ; otherwise work is no more work." Gal. iii. 12, " And the law is not of faith ; but the man that doth them shall live in them." Wherefore, if the will of man naturally incline to the wsy of salvation by the law, it lies cross to the gospel plan. And that such is the natural bent of our hearts, will' appear, if the following things be considered : 1. The law was Adam's covenant; and he knew no other, as he was the head and representative of all mankind, that were brought into it with him, and lert under it by him, though with- out strength to perform the condition thereof. Hence, this covenant is interwoven with our nature ; and though we have lost our father's strength, yet we still incline to the way he was set upon, as our head and representative, in that covenant ; that is, by doing, to live. This is our natural religion, and the principle which men naturally take for granted, Matt. xix. 16, " What good thing shall I do, that 1 may have eternal life 1" 2. Consider the opposition that has always been made ii the world, against the doctrine of free grace in Jesus Christ, by r^eu setting up for the way of works ; thereby discovering the natuiaJ tendency of the heart. It is manifest that the great design of the gospel plan is to exalt the free grace of God in Jesus Christ, Rom. iv. 16, "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace." See Eph. i. 6 ; and chap. ii. 7 9. AH gospel truths centre in Christ ; so that to learn the truth, is to learn Christ. Eph. iv. 20 ; and to be truly taught it, is to be taught as " the truth is in Jesus," ver. 21. All dispensations of grace and favour from heaven, whether to nations or particular persons, have still had something about them proclaiming the freedom of grace ; as in the very first separation made by the divine favour, Cain, the elder brother, is rejected, and Abel, the younger, accepted. This shines through the whole history of the Bible : but, as true it is, this has been the point principally opposed by corrupt nature. One may well say, that, of all errors i religion, since Christ the seed of the woman was preached, this of works, in opposition to free grace in him, was the first thaf lived, and, it is likely, will be the last that dies. There have been vast numbers of errors, which sprung up, one afle 70 THE CORRUPTION OP THE WILL. another; whereof, at length, the world became ashamed and weary, so that they died away : but this has continued, from Cain, the first author of this heresy, unto this day ; and never wanted some that clave to it, even in the times of greatest light. I do not, without ground, call Cain the author of it ; who, when Abel brought a sacrifice of atonement, a bloody of- fering of the firstlings of his flock, like the publican smiting on his breast, and saying, " God be merciful to me a sinner," ad- vanced with his thank-offering of the fruit of the ground, Gen. iv. 3, 4, like the proud Pharisee, with his " God, I thank thee," &c. For what was the cause of Cain's wrath, and of his murdering Abel ? was it not that he was not accepted of God for his work ? Gen. iv. 4, 5. " And wherefore slew he him ? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous," 1 John iii. 12 ; that is, done in faith, and accepted, when his were done without faith, and therefore rejected, as the apostle teaches, Heb. xi. 4. So he wrote his indignation against jus- tification and acceptance with God through faith, in opposition to works, in the blood of his brother, to convey it down to pos- terity. And, since that time, the unbloody sacrifice has often swimmed in the blood of those that rejected it. The promise made to Abraham, of the seed in which all nations should be blessed, was so overclouded among his posterity in Egypt, that the generality of them saw no need of that way of obtaining the blessing, till God himself confuted their error by a fiery law from Mount Sinai, which " was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come." Gal. iii. 19. I need not insist on telling you, how Moses and the prophets had still much to do, to lead the people off the conceit of their own righteousness. The ninth chapter of Deuteronomy is entirely spent on that purpose. They were very gross in that point in our Saviour's time : in the time of the apostles, when the doctrine of free grace was most clearly preached, that error lifted up its head in the face of clearest light ; witness the epistles to the Romans and Galatians. And since that time it has not been wanting ; Po- pery being the common sink of former heresies, and the heart and life of that delusion. And, finally, it may be observed, that always as the Church declined from her purity otherwise, the doctrine of free grace was obscured proportionally. 3. Such is the natural propensity of man's heart to the way of the law, in opposition to Christ, that, as the tainted vessel turns the taste of the purest liquor put into it, so the natural man turns the very gospel into law, and transforms the cove- nant of grace into a covenant of works. The ceremonial law was to the Jews a real gospel ; which held blood, death, and translation of guilt, before their eyes continually, as the only way of salvation : yet their very table, i. e. their altar, with the several ordinances pertaining thereto, Mai. i. 12, was a THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. 71 snare unto them, Rom. ii. 9 ; while they used it to make up the defects in their obedience to the moral law ; and clave to it so, as to reject him, whom the altar and sacrifices pointed them to, as the substance of all ; even as Hagar, whose duty was only to serve, was, by their father, brought into her mistress's bed ; not without a mystery in the purpose of God, " for these are the two covenants," Gal. iv. 24. Thus is the doctrine of the gospel corrupted by Papists, and other enemies to the doctrine of free grace. And indeed, however natural men's heads may be set right in this point, as surely as they are out of Christ, their faith, repentance, and obedience, such as they are, are placed by them in the room of Christ and his righteousness ; and so trusted to, as if by these they fulfilled a new law. 4. Great is the difficulty, in Adam's sons, of their parting with the law as a covenant of works. None part with it, in that respect, but those whom the power of the Spirit of grace separates from it. The law is our first husband, and gets every one's virgin love. When Christ comes to the soul, he finds it married to the law ; so that it neither can nor will be married to another, till it be obliged to part with the first husband, as the apostle teaches, Rom. vii. 1 4. Now, that you may see what sort of a parting this is, consider First, It is a death, Rom. vii. 4; Gal. ii. 19. Entrea- ties will not prevail with the soul here ; it saith to the first husband, as Ruth to Naomi, " The Lord do so to me and more also, if ought but death part thee and me." And here sinners are true to their word ; they die to the law, ere they be married to Christ. Death is hard to every body ; but what difficulty, do you imagine, must a loving wife, on her death bed, find in parting with her husband, the husband of her youth, and with the dear children she has brought forth to him ? The law is that husband ; all the duties performed by the natural man are these children. What a struggle, as for life, will be in the heart ere they be parted? I may have oc- casion to touch upon this afterwards ; in the mean time, take the apostle's short, but pithy description of it, Rom. x. 3, " For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted them- selves to the righteousness of God." They go about to es- tablish their own righteousness like an eager disputant in schools, seeking to establish the point in question ; or, like a tormentor, extorting a confession from one upon the rack. They go about to establish it, to make it stand : their righteousness is like a house built on the sand ; it cannot stand, but they would have it to stand : it falls, they set it up again ; but still it tumbles down on them ; yet they cease not to go about to make it stand. But wherefore all this pains about a tottering righteousness ? Because, such as it is, it is their own. What sets them against 72 THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. Christ's righteousness? Why, that would make them free grace's debtors for all ; and that is what the proud heart can by no means submit to. Here lies the stress of the matter, Psa. x. 4, " The wicked through the pride of his countenance, will not seek," (to read it without the supplement ;) that is, in other terms, " He cannot dig, and to beg he is ashamed." Such is the struggle ere the soul die to the law. But what speaks yet more of this woful disposition of the heart, nature oft-times gets the mastery of the disease ; insomuch that the soul, which was like to have died to the law, while convictions were sharp and piercing, fatally recovers of the happy and promising sickness, and, what is natural, cleaves more closely than ever to the law. even as a wife brought back from the gates of death, woulc cleave to her husband. This is the issue of the exercises of many about their soul's case : they are indeed brought to follow duties more closely ; but they are as far from Christ as ever, if not further. Secondly, It is a violent death, Rom. vii. 4, " Ye are become dead to the law," being killed, slain, or put to death, as the word bears. The law itself has a great hand in this; the husband gives the wound, Gal. ii. 19, " I through the law am dead to the law." The soul that dies this death, is like a loving wife matched with a rigorous husband ; she does what she can to please him, yet he is never pleased ; but tosses, harasses, and beats her, till she breaks her heart, and death sets her free ; as will afterwards more fully appear. Thus it is made evident, that men's hearts are naturally bent to the way of the law, and lie cross to the gospel method ; and the second article of the charge against you that are unregenerate is verified, namely, that you are enemies to the Son of God. Thirdly, You are enemies to the Spirit of God. He is the Spirit of holiness ; the natural man is unholy, and loves to be so, and therefore resists the Holy Ghost, Acts vii. 51. The work of the Spirit is to convince the world of " sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment," John xvi. 8. But O, how do men strive to ward off these convictions, as much as they would ward off a blow, threatening the loss of a right eye, or a right hand ! If the Spirit of the Lord dart them in, so that they cannot avoid them, the heart says, in effect, as Ahab to Elijah, whom he hated and feared, " Hast thou found me, O mine enemy !" And indeed they treat him as an enemy, doing their utmost to stifle convictions, and to murder these harbingers that come to prepare the Lord's way into the soul. Some fill their hands with business, to put their convictions out of their heads, as Cain, who set about building a city ; some put them off with delays and fair promises, as Felix did ; some will sport them away in company, and some sleep them away. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of sanctification ; whose work it is to subdue THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. 73 lusts, and burn up corruption: how then can the natural man, whose lusts are to him as his limbs, yea, as his life, fail of being an enemy to him ? Fourthly, Ye are enemies to the law of God. Though the natural man desires to be under the law, as a covenant of works, choosing that way of salvation, in opposition to the mystery of Christ ; yet, as it is a rule of life to him, requiring universal holiness, and forbidding all manner of impurity, he is an enemy to it ; " is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be," Rom. viii. 7. For, 1. There is no unrenewed man, who is not wedded to some one lust or another, which his heart can by no means part with. Now that he cannot bring up his inclinations to the holy law, he would fain have the law brought down to his inclinations : a plain evidence of the enmity of the heart against it. Therefore, to " delight in the law of God after the inward man," is proposed in the word as a mark of a gracious soul, Rom. vii. 22 ; Psal. i. 2. It is from this natural enmity of the heart against the law, that all the Pharisaical glosses upon it have arisen; whereby the commandment, which is in itself exceeding broad, has been made very narrow, to the intent it might be the more agreeable to the natural disposition of the heart. 2. The law laid home on the natural conscience, in its spirituality, irri- tates corruption. The nearer it comes, nature rises the higher against it. In that case it is as oil to the fire, which, instead of quenching it, makes it flame the more : " When the command- ment came, sin revived," says the apostle, Rom. vii. 9. What reason can be assigned for this, but the natural enmity of the heart against the holy law ? Unmodified corruption, the more it is opposed, the more it rages. Let us conclude then, that the unregenerate are heart enemies to God, his Son, his Spirit and his law ; that there is a natural contrariety, opposition, and enmity in the will of man to God himself, and his holy will. Fifthly, There is in the will of man contumacy against the Lord. Man's will is naturally wilful in an evil course; he will have his will, though it should ruin him : it is with him, as with the leviathan, Job xli. 29, " Darts are counted as stubble he laugheth at the shaking of a spear." The Lord calls to him' by his word ; says to him, as Paul to the jailor, when he was about to kill himself, "Do thyself no harm:" sinners, "why will ye die ?" Ezek. xviii. 31. But they will not hearken, " Every one turneth to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle," Jer. viii. 6. We have a promise of life, in form of a command, Prov. iv. 4, " Keep my commandments, and live :" it speaks impenitent sinners to be self-destroyers, wilful self- murderers. They transgress the command of living: as if one's servant should wilfully starve himself to death, or greedily drink a cup of poison, which his master commands him to forbear : even so do they ; they will not live, they will die, Prov. viii. 39 7 74 THE CORRUPTION OF THE WILL. " All they that hate me, love death." O what a heart is ims ! It is a stony heart, Ezek. xxxvi. 26, hard and inflexible as a stone : mercies melt it not, judgments break it not : yet it will break ere it bow. It is an insensible heart : though there be upon the sinner a weight of sin, which makes the earth to stagger ; although there is a weight of that wrath on him, which makes the devils to tremble, yet he goes lightly under the burden ; he feels not the weight any more than a stone would, till the Spirit of the Lord quicken him so far as to make him feel it. Lastly, The unrenewed will is wholly perverse, in reference to man's chief and highest end. The natural man's chief end is not God, but himself. The being of man is merely relative, dependent, borrowed : he has neither being nor goodness ori- ginally from himself; but all he has is from God, as the first cause and spring of all perfection, natural or moral : dependence is woven into his very nature ; so that if God were totally to withdraw from him, he would dwindle into a mere nothing. Seeing then whatever man is, he is o/"Him ; surely in whatever he is, he should be to Him ; as the waters which came from the sea, do of course return thither again. Thus man was created, directly looking to God, as his chief end : but falling into sin, he fell off from God, and turned into himself; and, like a traitor, usurping the throne, he gathers in the rents of the crown to himself. This infers a total apostasy, and universal corruption in man ; for where the chief and last end is changed, there can be no goodness there. This is the case of all men in their natural state, Psa. xiv. 2, 3, " The Lord looked down to see if there were any that did seek God. They are all gone aside," to wit, from God ; they seek not God, but themselves. Though many fair shreds of morality are to be found amongst them, yet " there is none that doeth good, no, not one ;" for though some of them in appearance run well, yet they are still off the way; they never aim at the right mark. They are " lovers of their own selves," 2 Tim. iii. 2, " more than God," ver. 4. Where- fore Jesus Christ having come into the world to bring men back to God again, came to bring them out of themselves in the first place, Matt. xvi. 24 The godly groan under the remains of this woful disposition of the heart : they acknowledge it, and set them- selves against it, in its subtle and dangerous insinuations. The unregenerate, though most insensible of it, are under the power thereof; and whithersoever they turn themselves, they cannot move beyond the circle of self: they seek for themselves, they act for themselves ; their natural, civil, and religious actions, from whatever springs they come, all run into, and meet in the dead sea of self. Most men are so far from making God their chief end, in their natural and civil actions, that in these matters, God is not THK CORRUPTION OF THE AFFECTIONS. / ) in all their thoughts. Their eating and drinking, and such like natural actions, are for themselves : their own pleasure or ne- cessity, without any higher end, Zech. vii. 6, " did ye not eat for yourselves?" They have no eye to the glory of God in these things, as they ought to have, 1 Cor. x. 31. They do not eat and drink to keep up their bodies for the Lord's service ; they do them not because God has said, " Thou shall not kill ;" neither do those drops of sweetness, which God has put into the creature, raise up their souls towards that ocean of delights that is in the Creator; though they be a sign hung out at heaven's door, to tell men of the fulness of goodness that is in God himself, Acts xiv. 17. But it is self, and not God, that is sought in them, by natural men. And what are the unre- newed man's civil actions, such as buying, selling, working, &c. but fruit to himself? Hos. x. 1. So marrying, and giving in marriage, are reckoned amongst the sins of the old world, Matt. xxiv. 38 : for they had no eye to God therein, to please him ; but all they had in view was to please themselves, Gen. vi. 3. Finally, self is natural men's highest end, in their reli- gious actions. They perform duties for a name, Matt. vi. 1, 2, or some other worldly interest, John vi. 26. Or if they be more refined, it is their peace, and at most their salvation from hell and wrath, or their own eternal happiness, that is their chief and highest end, Matt. xix. 16 22. Their eyes are held, that they see not the glory of God. They seek God indeed, but not for himself, but for themselves. They seek him not at all, but for their own welfare : so their whole life is woven into one web of practical blasphemy ; making God the means, and self their end ; yea, their chief end. Thus I have given you a rude draught of man's will, in his natural state, drawn by Scripture, and men's own experience. Call it no more Naomi, but Marah ; for bitter it is, and a root of bitterness. Call it no more free-will, but slavish lust; free to evil, but free from good, till regenerating grace unloose the bands of wickedness. Now, since all must be wrong, and nothing can be right, where the understanding and will are so corrupt, I shall briefly despatch what remains, as following of course, on the corruption of these prime faculties of the soul. THE CORRUPTION OF THE AFFECTIONS. III. The affections are corrupted. The unrenewed man's affections are wholly disordered and distempered : they are as the unruly horse, that either will not receive, or violently runs away with the rider. So man's heart naturally is a mother of abominations, Mark vii. 21, 22. " For from within, out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, mur- ders, thefts, covetousness," &c. The natural man's affections 76 CORRUPTION OF THE CONSCIENCE. are wretchedly misplaced ; he is a spiritual monster. His heart is, where his feet should be, fixed on the earth ; his heels are lifted up against heaven, which his heart should be set on, Acts ix. 5. His face is towards hell, his back towards heaven : and therefore God calls to him to turn. He loves what he should hate, and hates what he should love ; joys in what he ought to mourn for, and mourns for what he should rejoice in ; glories in his shame, and is ashamed of his glory ; abhors what he should desire, and desires what he should abhor, Prov. ii. 13 15. The Jews hit the point indeed, as Caiaphas did in another case, when they cried out against the apostles, as men that turned the world upside down, Acts xvii. 6 ; for that is the work which the gospel has to do in the world, where sin has put all things so out of order, that heaven lies under, and earth above. If the unrenewed man's affections be set on lawful objects, then they are either excessive or defective. Lawful enjoyments of the world have sometimes too little, but mostly too much of them ; either they get not their due, or, if they do, it is measure pressed down, and running over. Spiritual things have always too little of them. In a word, they are never right; only evil. Now here is a three-fold cord against heaven and holiness, not easily to be broken ; a blind mind, a perverse will, and dis- orderly, distempered affections. The mind, swelled with self conceit, says, the man should not stoop ; the will, opposite to the will of God, says, he will not ; and the corrupt affections, rising against the Lord, in defence of the corrupt will, say, he shall not. Thus the poor creature stands out against God and goodness, till a day of power come, in which he is made a new creature. CORRUPTION OF THE CONSCIENCE. IV. The conscience is corrupt and defiled, Tit. i. 15. It is an evil eye, that fills one's conversation with much darkness and confusion ; being naturally unable to do its office : till the Lord, by letting in new light to the soul, awaken the conscience, it remains sleepy and inactive. Conscience can never do its work, but according to the light it has to work by. Where- fore, seeing the natural man cannot spiritually discern spiritual things, 1 Cor. ii. 14, the conscience naturally is quite useless in that point, being cast into such a deep sleep, that nothing but saving illumination from the Lord can set it on work in that matter. The light of the natural conscience in good and evil, sin and duty, is very defective ; therefore, though it may check for grosser sins, yet, as to the more subtle workings of sin, it cannot check them, because it discerns them not. Thus, con- science will fly in the face of many, if at any time they be drunk, swear, neglect prayer, or be guilty of any gross sin ; CORRUPTION OF THE MEMORY. 77 who otherwise have a profound peace, though they T ive in the sin of unbelief, and are strangers to spiritual worship, and the life of faith. Natural light being but faint and languishing in many things which it does reach, conscience in that case shoots like a stitch in one's side, which quickly goes off: its incitements to duty, and checks for, and struggles against sin, are very remiss, which the natural man easily gets over. But because there is a false light in the dark mind, the natural conscience following the same, will call evil good, and good evil, Isa. v. 20. So it is often found, like a mad and furious horse, which violently runs down himself, his rider, and all that come in his way John xvi. 2. " Whosoever killeth you, will think that he doth God service." When the natural conscience is awakened by the Spirit of conviction, it will indeed rage and roar, and put the whole man in a dreadful consternation ; awfully summon all the powers of the soul to help in a strait ; make the stiff heart to tremble, and the knees to bow : set the eyes a weeping, the tongue a confessing ; and oblige the man to cast out the goods into the sea, which it apprehends are likely to sink the ship of the soul, though the heart still goes after them. Yet it is an evil conscience, which naturally leads to despair, and will do it effectually, as in Judas's case ; unless either lusts prevail over it, to lull it asleep, as in the case of Felix, Acts xxiv. 25 ; or the blood of Christ prevail over it, sprinkling and purging it from dead works, as in the case of all true converts, Heb. ix. 14, and x. 22. CORRUPTION OF THE MEMORY. V. Even the memory bears evident marks of this corruption. What is good and worthy to be remembered, as it makes but slender impression, so that impression easily wears off; the memory, as a leaking vessel, lets it slip, Heb. ii. 1. As a sieve that is full when in the water, lets all go when it is taken out, so is the memory with respect to spiritual things. But how does it retain what ought to be forgotten ? Naughty things so bear in themselves upon it, that though men would fain have them out of mind, yet they stick there like glue. However forgetful men are in other things, it is hard to forget an injury. So the memory often furnishes new fuel to old lusts ; makes men in old age react the sins of their youth, while it presents them again to the mind with delight, which thereupon licks up the former vomit. Thus it is like a riddle, that lets through the pure grain, and keeps the refuse. Thus far of the corruption of the soul. 7* 78 HOW MAN'S NATURE WAS CORRUPTED. CORRUPTION OF THE BODY. VI. The body itself also is partaker of this corruption and defilement, so far as it is capable thereof. Wherefore the Scrip- ture calls it sinful flesh, Rom. viii. 3. We may take this up in two things. 1. The natural temper or rather distemper of the bodies of Adam's children, as it is an effect of original sin, so it has a natural tendency to sin, incites to sin, leads the soul into snares, yea, is itself a snare to the soul. The body is a furious beast of such metal, that if it be not beat down, kept under, and brought into subjection, it will cast the soul into much sin and misery, 1 Cor. ix. 27. There is a vileness in the body, Phil, iii. 21, which as to the saints, will never be removed, until it be melted down in the grave, and cast into a new form at the resurrection, to come forth a spiritual body ; and will never be carried off from the bodies of those who are not partakers of the resurrection to life. 2. It serves the soul in many sins. Its members are instruments or weapons of unrighteousness, where- by men fight against God, Rom. vi. 13. The eyes and ears are open doors, by which impure motions and sinful desires enter the soul ; the tongue is " a world of iniquity," James iii. 6 ; " an unruly evil, lull of deadly poison," ver. 8 ; by it the im- pure heart vents a great deal of its filthiness. " The throat is an open sepulchre," Rom. iii. 13. The feet run the devil's errands, ver. 15. The belly is made a god, Phil. iii. 19, not only by drunkards and riotous livers, but by every natural man, Zech. vii. 6. So the body naturally is an agent for the devil, and a magazine of armour against the Lord. To conclude Man by nature is wholly corrupted : " From the sole of the foot, even unto the head, there is no soundness in him." As in a dunghill, every part contributes to the cor- ruption of the whole ; so the natural man, while in that state, grows still worse and worse : the soul is made worse by the body, and the body by the soul ; and every faculty of the soul serves to corrupt another more and more. Thus much for the second general head. HOW MAN'S NATURE WAS CORRUPTED. THIRDLY, I shall show how man's nature comes to be thus corrupted. The heathens perceived that man's nature was corrupted ; but how sin had entered, they could not tell. But the Scripture is very plain in that point, Rom. v. 12, 19, "By one man sin entered into the world. By one man's disobe- dience, many were made sinners." Adam's sin corrupted man's nature, and leavened the whole lump of mankind. We putrefied in Adam as our root. The root was poisoned, and so the HOW MAN'S NATURE WAS CORRUPTED. 79 branches were envenomed : the vine turned into the vine of Sodom, and so the grapes became grapes of gall. Adam, by his sin, became not only guilty, but corrupt ; and so transmits guilt and corruption to his posterity, Gen. v. 3 ; Job xiv. 4. By his sin he stripped himself of his original righteousness, and corrupted himself; we were in him representatively, being represented by him as our moral head, in the covenant of works : we were in him seminally, as our natural head ; hence we fell in him, and by his disobedience were made sinners, as Levi, in the loins of Abraham, paid tithes, Heb. vii. 9, 10. His first sin is imputed to us ; therefore justly are we left under the want of his original righteousness, which being given to him as a com- mon person, he cast offby his sin : and this is necessarily followed, in him and us, ty the corruption of the whole nature ; righteous- ness and corruption being two contraries, one of which must needs always be in man, as a subject capable thereof. And Adam, our common father, being corrupt, we are so too : for " who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ?" Although it is sufficient to prove the righteousness of this dis- pensation, that it was from the Lord, who doth all things well ; yet, to silence the murmurings of proud nature, let these few things further be considered. 1. In the covenant wherein Adam represented us, eternal happiness was promised to him and his posterity, upon condition of his, that is Adam's, per- fect obedience, as the representative of all mankind: whereas, if there had been no covenant, they could not have pleaded eternal life upon their most perfect obedience, but might have been, after all, reduced to nothing; notwithstanding, by natural justice, they would have been liable to God's eternal wrath, in case of sin. Who in that case would not have consented to thai representation ? 2. Adam had a power to stand given him, being made upright. He was as capable of standing for him- self, and all his posterity, as any after him could be for them- selves. This trial of mankind in their head, would soon have been over, and the crown won for them all, had he stood : whereas, had his posterity been independent of him, and every one left to act for himself, the trial would have been continually carrying on, as men came into the world. 3. He had the strongest natural affection to engage him, being our common father. 4. His own stock was in the ship, his all lay at stake, as well as ours. He had no separate interest from ours ; but if he forgot ours, he must necessarily forget his own. 5. If he had stood, we should have had the light of his mind, the right- eousness of his will, and holiness of his affections, with entire purity, transmitted unto us ; we could not have fallen ; the crown of glory, by his obedience, would have been for ever secured to him and his. This is evident from the nature of a federal re presentation ; and no reason can be given why, seeing we are 80 HOW MAN'S NATURE WAS CORRUPTED. lost by Adam's sin, we should not have been saved by his obe- dience. On the other hand it is reasonable, that he falling, we should with him bear the loss. Lastly, such as quarrel with this dispensation, must renounce their part in Christ ; for we are no otherwise made sinners by Adam, than we are made right- eous by Christ, from whom we have both imputed and inherent righteousness. We no more made choice of the second Adam for our head and representative in the second covenant, than we did of the first Adam in the first covenant. Let none wonder that such a horrible change could be brought on, by one sin of our first parents ; for thereby they turned away from God, as their chief end, which necessarily infers a universal depravation. Their sin was a complication of evils, a total apostasy from God, a violation of the whole law : by it they broke all the ten commands at once. 1. They chose new gods. They made their belly their god, by their sensuality ; self their god, by their ambition ; yea, and the devil their god, by believing him, and disbelieving their Maker. 2. Though they received, yet they observed not that ordinance of God, about the forbidden fruit. They contemned that ordinance so plainly enjoined them, and would needs carve out to them- selves, how to serve the Lord. 3. They took the name of the Lord their God in vain ; despising his attributes, his justice, truth, power, &c. They grossly profaned the sacramental tree; abused his word, by not giving credit to it ; abused that creature of his, which they should not have touched ; and violently mis- construed his providence, as if God, by forbidding them that free, had been standing in the way of their happiness ; therefore he suffered them not to escape his righteous judgment. 4. They remembered not the Sabbath to keep it holy, but put themselves out of a condition to serve God aright on his own day ; neither kept they that state of holy rest wherein God had put them. 5. They cast off their relative duties ; Eve forgets herself, and acts without the advice of her husband, to the ruin of both ; Adam, instead of admonishing her to repent, yields to the temp- tation, and confirms her in her wickedness. They forgot all duty to their posterity. They honoured not their Father in heaven ; and therefore their days were not long in the land which the Lord their God gave them. 6. They ruined them- selves, and all their posterity. 7. Gave themselves up to luxury and sensuality. 8. Took away what was not their own, against the express will of the great Owner. 9. They bore false wit- ness, and lied against the Lord, before angels, devils, and one another ; in effect giving out, that they were hardly dealt by, and that heaven grudged their happiness. 10. They were dis- content with their lot, and " coveted an evil covetousness to their hnuse ;" which ruined both them and theirs. Thus was the image of God on man defaced all at once. DOCTRINE OF THE CORRUPTION OP NATURE APPLIED. 81 DOCTRINE OF THE CORRUPTION OF NATURE APPLIED. USE I. For information. Is man's nature wholly corrupted ? Then, First, No wonder that the grave opens its devouring mouth for us, as soon as the womb has cast us forth ; and that the cradle is turned into a coffin, to receive the corrupt lump : for we are all, in a spiritual sense, dead-born ; yea, and filthy, Psa. xiv. 3, noisome, rank, and stinking as a corrupt thing, as the word imports. Then let us not complain of the miseries we are exposed to at our entrance into the world, nor of the continuance of them while we are in it. Here is the venom that has poi- soned all the springs of earthly enjoyments we have to drink of. It is the corruption of man's nature that brings forth all the mise- ries of human life in churches, states, and families, and in men's souls and bodies. Secondly, Behold here, as in a glass, the spring of all the wickedness, profanity, and formality which is in the world ; the source of all the disorders in thy own heart and life. Every thing acts like itself, agreeably to its own nature ; and so cor- rupt man acts corruptly. You need not wonder at the sinful- ness of your own heart and life, nor at the sinfulness and per- verseness of others; if a man be crooked, he cannot but halt; and if the clock be set wrong, how can it point the hour aright? Thirdly, See here, why sin is so pleasant, and religion such a burden to carnal spirits ; sin is natural, holiness not so. Oxen cannot feed in the sea, nor fishes in the fruitful fields. A swine brought into a palace would soon get away again, to wallow in the mire ; and corrupt nature tends ever to impurity. Lastly, Learn from this the nature and necessity of regene- ration. First, This discovers the nature of regeneration, in these two things: 1. It is not a partial, but a total change, though imperfect in this life. Thy whole nature is corrupted ; therefore the cure must go through every part. Regeneration makes not only a new head, for knowledge, but a new heart, and new affections, for holiness " All things become new," 2 Cor. v. 17. If one having received many wounds, should be cured of them all, save one only, he might bleed to death by that one, as well as by a thousand : so, if the change go not through the whole man, it is naught. 2. It is not a change made by human industry, but by the mighty power of the Spirit of God. A man must be born of the Spirit, John iii. 5. Accidental diseases may be cured by men ; but those which are natural, not without a miracle, John ix. 32. The change brought upon men by good education, or forced upon them by a natura. conscience, though it may pass among men for a saving change, yet it is not so ; for our nature is corrupt, and none but the God of nature can change it. Though a gardener, by ingrafting a pear branch into an apple tree, may make the apple tree bear pears ; yet the art of man cannot change the nature of the apple tree : so a man may pin a new life to his old heart, but he can never change the heart. Secondly, This also shows the necessity of regeneration. It is absolutely necessary in order to salvation, John iii. 3, " Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." No unclean thing can enter the new Jeru- salem ; but thou art wholly unclean while in thy natural state. If every member of thy body were disjointed, each joint must be loosened before the members can be set right again. This is the case of thy soul, as thou hast heard : therefore thou must be born again ; otherwise thou shall never see heaven, unless it be afar off, as the rich man in hell did. Deceive not thyself: no mercy of God, no blood of Christ, will bring thee to heaven in thy unregenerate state : for God will never open a fountain of mercy to wash away his own holiness and truth ; nor did Christ shed his precious blood, to blot out the truths of God, or to overturn God's measures about the salvation of sinners. Heaven ! What would you do there, who are not born again ? you who ars no ways fitted for Christ the head ? That would be a strange sight ! a holy head, and members wholly corrupt ! a head full of treasures of grace, and members wherein is nothing but treasures of wickedness ! a head obedient to the death, and heels kicking against heaven ! You are no better adapted for the society above, than beasts are for converse with men. Thou art a hater of true holiness ; and at the first sight of a saint there, wouldst cry out " Hast thou found me, O mine enemy !" Nay, the unrenewed man, if it were possible he could go to heaven in that state, would go to it no otherwise, than now he comes to the duties of holiness ; that is, leaving his heart behind him. USE II. For lamentation. Well may we lament thy case, O natural man, for it is the saddest case one can be in out of hell. It is time to lament for thee ; for thou art dead already, dead while thou livest ; thou carries! about with thee a- dead soul in a living body ; and because thou art dead, thou canst not lament thine own case. Thou art loathsome in the sight of God ; for thou art altogether corrupt ; thou hast no good in thee. Thy soul is a mass of darkness, rebellion, and vileness, before the Lord. Thou thinkest, perhaps, that thou hast a good heart to God, good inclinations, and good desires ; but God knows there is nothing good in thee ; "every imagination of thine heart is only evil continually." Thou canst do no good ; thou canst do nothing but sin. For, First, Thou art the servant of sin, Rom. vi. 17, and therefore free from righteousness, ver. 20. Whatever righteousness be, poor soul, thou art free from it ; thou dost not, thou canst not OF NATURE APPLIED. 8& meddle with it. Thou art under the dominion of sin ; a dominion where righteousness can have no place. Thou art a child and servant of the devil, though thou be neither wizard nor witch, seeing thou art yet in a state of nature, John viii. 44 " Ye are of your father the devil." And, to prevent any mistake, consider, that sin and Satan have two sorts of servants: 1. There are some employed, as it were, in coarser work ; those bear the devil's mark on their foreheads, having no form of godliness ; but are profane, grossly ignorant, mere moralists, not so much as performing the external duties of religion, but living in the view of the world as sons of earth, only attending to earthly things, Phil. iii. 19. 2. There are some employed in a more refined sort of service to sin, who carry the devil's mark in their right hand ; which they can and do hide from the eyes of the world. These are close hypocrites, who sacrifice as much to the corrupt mind, as the others to the flesh, Eph. ii. 3. These are ruined by a more indiscernible trade of sin : pride, unbelief, self-seeking, and the like, swarm in, and prey upon their cor- rupted, wholly corrupted souls. Both are servants of the same house ; the latter as far as the former from righteousness. Secondly, How is it possible that thou shouldst be able to do any good, thou whose nature is wholly corrupt ? Can fruit grow where there is no root ? or, Can there be an effect without a cause 1 " Can the fig-tree bear olive berries, either a vine figs ?" If thy nature be wholly corrupt, as indeed it is, all thou dost is certainly so too ; for no effect can exceed the virtue of its cause. "Can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit?" Matt. vii. 18. Ah ! what a miserable spectacle is he that can do nothing but sin ! Thou art the man, whoever thou art, that art yet in thy natural state. Hear, O sinner, what is thy case. First, Innumerable sins compass thee about ; mountains of guilt are lying upon thee ; floods of impurities overwhelm thee ; living lusts of all sorts roll up and down in the dead sea of thy soul, where no good can breathe, because of the corruption there. Thy lips are unclean ; the opening of thy mouth, is as the opening of an unripe grave, full of stench and rottenness, Rom. iii. 13, "Their throat is an open sepulchre." Thy natural actions are sin ; for, " when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did ye not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?" Zech. vii. 6. Thy civil actions are sin, Prov. xxi. 4, " The ploughing of the wicked is sin." Thy religious actions are sin, Prov. xv. 8, " The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord." The thoughts and imaginations of thy heart are only evil continually. A deed may be soon done, a word soon spoken, a thought swiftly pass through the heart; but each of these is an item in thy accounts. O sad reckoning ! as many thoughts, words, and actions, so many sins. The longer thou livest, thy accounts swell the more. Should a tear be dropt for 84 DOCTRINE OF THE CORRUPTION OF NATURE APPLIED. every sin, thine head behoved to be waters, and thine eyes a fountain of tears : for nothing but sin comes from thee. Thy heart frames nothing but evil imaginations: there is nothing in thy life, but what is framed by thine heart : and, therefore, there is nothing in thine heart or life but evil. Secondly, All thy religion, if thou hast any, is lost labour, as to acceptance with God, or any saving effect on thyself. Art thou yet in thy natural state? Truly then, thy duties are sins, as was just now hinted. Would not the best wine be loath- some in a vessel wherein there is no pleasure 1 So is the reli- gion of an unregenerate man. Under the law, the garment which the flesh of the sacrifice was carried in, though it touched other things, did not make them holy : but he that was unclean touching any thing, whether common or sacred, made it unclean Even so thy duties cannot make thy corrupt soul holy, though they in themselves be good ; but thy corrupt heart defiles them, and makes them unclean, Hag. ii. 12 11. Thou wast wont to divide thy works into two sorts ; some good, some evil : but thou must count again, and put them all under one head ; for God writes on them all, " only evil." This is lamentable : it will be no wonder to see those beg in harvest, who fold their hands, and sleep in seed time ; but to be labouring with others in the spring, and yet have nothing to reap when the harvest comes, is a very sad case, and will be the case of all professors living and dying in their natural state. Lastly, Thou canst not help thyself. What canst thou do, to take away thy sin, who art wholly corrupt ? Nothing, truly, but sin. If a natural man begin to relent, drop a tear for his sin, and reform, presently the corrupt nature apprehends at least a merit of fitness ; he has done much himself, he thinks, and God cannot but do more for him on that account. In the mean time he does nothing but sin : so that the fitness of the merit is, that the leper be put out of the camp, the dead soul buried out of sight, and the corrupt lump cast into the pit. How canst thou think to recover thyself by any thing which thou canst do? Will mud and filth wash out filthiness? and wilt thou purge out sin by sinning ? Job took a potsherd to scrape himself, because his hands were as full of boils as his body. This is the case of thy corrupt soul ; not to be recovered but by Jesus Christ, " whose strength was dried up like a potsherd," Psal. xxii. 15. Thou art poor indeed, extremely " miserable and poor," Rev. iii. 17. Thou hast no shelter, but a refuge of lies ; no garment for thy soul, but filthy rags; nothing to nourish it, but husks, that cannot satisfy. And more than this, thou didst get such a bruise in the loins of Adam, as is not yet cured, that thou art without strength, Rom. v. 6 ; unable to do, or work for thyself; nay, more than all this, thou canst not so much as think aright, but GOD'S SPECIALLY NOTICING OUR NATURAL CORRUPTION. 85 art lying helpless, as an infant exposed in the open field", Ezek. xv.. 5. USE lit. I exhort you to believe this sad truth. Alas ! it is evident that it is very little believed in the world. Few are concerned to get their corrupt conversation changed ; but fewer, by far, to get their nature changed. Most men know not what they are, nor what spirit they are of: they are as the eye, which seeing many things, never sees itself. But until you know, every one the plague of his own heart, there is no hope of your recovery. Why will you not believe it 1 You have plain Scripture testimony for it ; but you are loth to entertain such an ill opinion of yourselves. Alas ! this is the nature of your disease, Rev. iii. 17, "Thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Lord, open their eyes to see it, before they die of it, and in hell lift up their eyes, and see what they will not see now. I shall shut up this weighty point, of the corruption of man's nature, with a few words as to another doctrine from the text. GOD's SPECIALLY NOTICING OUR NATURAL CORRUPTION. DOCTRINE, God takes special notice of our natural corruption, or the sin-of our nature. This he testifies in two ways : 1. By his word, as in the text, " God saw that every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually," see Psal. xiv. 2, 3. 2. By his works. God marks his particular notice of it, and displeasure with it, as in many of his works, so especially in these two. First, In the death of the infant children of men. Many miseries they have been exposed to : they were drowned in the deluge, consumed in Sodom by fire and brimstone : they have been slain with the sword, dashed against the stones, and are still dying ordinary deaths. What is the true cause of this ? On what ground does a holy God thus pursue them ? Is it the sin of their parents '! That may be the occasion of the Lord's raising the process against them ; but it must be their own sin that is the ground of the sentence passing on them : for " the soul that sinneth, it shall die," says God, Ezek. xviii. 4. Is it their own actual sin ? They have none. But as men do with toads and serpents, which they kill at first sight, before they have done any hurt, because of their venomous nature ; so it is in this case. Secondly, In the birth of the elect children of God. When the Lord is about to change their nature, he makes the sin of their nature lie heavy on their spirits. When he means to let out their corruption, the lance goes deep into their souls, reach- ing to the root of sin, Rom. vii. 7 9. The flesh, or corruption 8 fl6 MEN'S OVERLOOKING THEIR NATURAL SIN. of nature, is pierced, being crucified, as well as the affections and lusts, Gal. v. 24. USE. Let us then have a special eye upon the corruption and sin of our nature. God sees it : O that we saw it too, and that sin were ever before us ! What avails it to notice other sins, while this mother sin is not noticed ? Turn your eyes inward, to the sin of your nature. It is to be feared, that many have this work to begin yet ; that they have shut the door, while the grand thief is yet in the house undiscovered. This is a weighty point ; and in handling of it, I shall notice these four heads : MEN'S OVERLOOKING THEIR NATURAL SIN. I. I shall, for conviction, point at some evidences of men's overlooking the sin of their nature, which yet the Lord take? particular notice of. 1. Men's looking on themselves with sue! confidence, as if they were in no hazard of gross sins. Many would take it very heinously to get such a caution as Christ gave his apostles, Luke xxi. 34, " Take heed of surfeiting and drunkenness." If any should suppose them to break out in gross abominations, each would be ready to say, " Am I a dog ?" It would raise the pride of their hearts, but not their fear and trembling, because they know not the corruption of their nature. 2. Want of tenderness towards those that fall. Many, in that case, cast off all bowels of Christian compassion ; for they do not consider themselves, lest they also be tempted, Gal. vi. 1. Men's passions are often highest against the faults of others, when sin sleeps soundly in their own breasts. Even good David, when he was at his worst, was most violent against the faults of others. While his conscience was asleep under his guilt, in the matter of Uriah, the Spirit of the Lord takes notice, that his anger was greatly kindled against the man in the parable, 2 Sam. xii. 5. And, on good grounds, it is thought, it was at the same time, that he treated the Ammonites so cruelly, as is related, ver. 31, "Putting them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and making them pass through the brick-kiln." Grace makes men zealous against sin in others, as well as in themselves: but eyes turned inward to the corruption of nature, clothe them with pity and compassion , and fill them with thankfulness to the Lord, that they themselves were not the persons left to be such specimens of human frailty. 3. There are not a few, who, if they be kept from afflictions \n worldly things, and from gross out-breakings in their conver- sation, know not what it is to have a sad heart. If they meet with a cross, which their proud hearts cannot stoop to bear, they are ready to say, O to be gone ! but the corruption of their oature never makes them long for heaven. Lusts, scandalously MEN'S OVERLOOKING THEIR NATURAL SIN. 87 breaking out at a time, will mar their peace : but the sin of their nature never makes them a heavy heart. 4. Delaying of re- pentance, in hopes to set about it afterwards. Many have their own appointed time for repentance and reformation : as if they were such complete masters over their lusts, that they can allow them to gather more strength, and yet overcome them. They take up resolutions to amend, without an eye to Jesus Christ, union with him, and strength from him ; a plain evidence that they are strangers to themselves ; so they are left to themselves, and their flourishing resolutions wither ; for, as they see not the necessity, so they get not the benefit of the dew from heaven to water them. 5. Men's venturing freely on temptations, and promising liberally in their own strength. They cast them- selves fearlessly into temptation, in confidence of their coming off fairly : but, were they sensible of the corruption of their nature, they would be cautious of entering on the devil's ground : as one girt about with bags of gunpowder, would be unwilling to walk where sparks of fire are flying, lest he should be blown up. Self jealousy well becomes Christians. " Lord, is it I ?" They that know the deceit of their bow, will not be very confi- dent that they shall hit the mark. 6. Unacquaintedness with heart plagues. The knowledge of the plagues of the heart is a rare qualification. There are indeed some of them written in such great characters, that he who runs may read them : but there are others more subtile, which few discern. How few are there, to whom the bias of the heart to unbelief is a burden? Nay, they perceive it not. Many have had sharp convictions of other sins, that were never to this day convinced of their un- belief; though that is the sin especially aimed at in a thorough conviction, John xvi. 8, 9, " He will reprove the world of sin, because they believe not on me." A disposition to establish our own righteousness, is a weed that naturally grows in every man's heart; but few sweat at the plucking of it up: it lurks undiscovered. The bias of the heart, to the way of the cove- nant of works, is a hidden plague of the heart to many. All the difficulty they find is, in getting up their hearts to duties ; they find no difficulty in getting their hearts ofFthem, and over them to Jesus Christ. How hard is it to bring men off from their own righteousness ! Yea, it is very hard to convince them of their leaning to it all. Lastly, Pride and self-conceit. A view of the corruption of nature would be very humbling, and oblige him that has it to reckon himself the chief of sinners. Under the greatest attainments and enlargements, it would be ballast to his heart, and hide pride from his eyes. The want of thorough humiliation, piercing to the sin of one's nature, is the ruin of many professors : for digging deep makes great difference be twixt wise and foolish builders, Luke vi. 48, 49. ORIGINAL SIN SPECIALLY NOTICED. ORIGINAL SIN SPECIALLY NOTICED. II. I will lay before you a few things in which you should have a special eye to original sin. 1. Hive a special eye to itj in your application to Jesus Christ. Do you find any need of Christ, which sends you to him as the Physician of souls ? O forget not your disease when you are with the Physician. They never yet knew well their errand to Christ, that went not to him for the sin of their nature ; for his blood to take away the guilt of it, and his Spirit to break the power of it. Though, in the bitterness of your souls, you should lay before him a cata- logue of your sins of omission and commission, which might reach from earth to heaven ; yet, if original sin were wanting in it, assure yourselves that you have forgot the best part of the errand which a poor sinner has to the Physician of souls. What would it have availed the people of Jericho, to have set before Elisha all the vessels in their city, full of the water that was naught, if they had not led him forth to the spring, to cast in salt there? 2 Kings ii. 19 21. The application is easy. 2. Have a special eye to it, in your repentance, whether initiative or progressive ; in your first repentance, and in the renewing of your repentance afterwards. Though a man be sick, there is no fear of death, if the sickness strike not to his heart : and there is as little fear of the death of sin, as long as the sin of our nature is not touched. But if you would repent indeed, let the streams lead you up to the fountain ; and mourn over your corrupt nature, as the cause of all sin, in heart, lip, and life, Psa. li. 4, 5, " Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight. " Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." 3. Have a special eye upon it in your mortification, Gal. v. 24, " They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh." It is the root of bitterness that must be struck at ; which the axe of mortification must be laid to, else we labour in vain. In vain do men go about to purge the streams, while they are at no pains about the muddy fountain : it is vain religion to attempt to make the life truly good, while the corruption of nature retains its ancient vigour, and the power of it is not broken. Lastly, you are to eye it in your daily walk. He that would walk aright, must have one >,ye upward to Jesus Christ, and another inward to the corrup- tion of his own nature. It is not enough that we look about us, we must also look within us. There the wall is weakest; there our greatest enemy lies ; and there are grounds for daily watch- ing and mourning. WHY ORIGINAL SIN IS TO BE SPECIALLY NOTICED. 89 WHY ORIGINAL SIN IS TO BE SPECIALLY NOTICED. III. I shall offer some reasons, why we should especially notice the sin of our nature. 1. Because of all sins, it is the most expensive and diffusive. It goes through the whole man, and spoils all. Other sins mar particular parts of the image of God : but this doth at once de- face the whole. A disease affecting any particular member of the body, is dangerous ; but that which affects the whole, is worse. The corruption of nature is the poison of the old ser- pent, cast into the fountain of action ; and infects every action and every breathing of the soul. 2. It is the cause of all particular lusts, and actual sins, in our hearts and lives. It is the spawn which the great leviathan has left in the souls of men, from whence comes all the fry of actual sins and abominations, Mark vii. 21, " Out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries," &c. It is the bitter fountain : particular lusts are but rivulets running from it, which bring forth into the life a part only, and not the whole of what is within. The fountain is always above the streams : and where the water is good, it is best in the fountain ; where it is bad, it is worst there. The corruption of nature being that which denies all, itself must needs be the most abominable thing. 3. It is virtually all sin : for it is the seed of all sins, which want but the occasion to set up their heads : being, in the cor- ruption of nature, as the effect in the virtue of its cause. Hence it is called " a body of death," Rom. vii. 24, as consisting of the several members belonging to such a " body of sins," Col. ii. 11, whose life lies in spiritual death. It is the cursed ground, fit to bring forth all manner of noxious weeds. As the whole nest of venomous creatures must needs be more dreadful than any few of them that come creeping forth ; so the sin of thy nature, that mother of abominations, must be worse than any particular lusts, that appear stirring in thy heart and life. Never did every sin appear, in the conversation of the vilest wretch that ever lived ; but look thou into thy corrupt nature, and there thou mayest see all and every sin, in the seed and root thereof. There is a fulness of all unrighteousness there, Rom. i. 29. There is atheism, idolatry, blasphemy, murder, adultery, and whatsoever is vile. Possibly none of these appear to thee in thy heart ; but there is more in that unfathomable depth of wickedness, than thou knowest. Thy corrupt heart is like an ant's nest, on which, while the stone lieth, none of them appear ; but take off the stone, and stir them up but with the point of a straw, you will see what a swarm is there, and how lively they are. Just such a sight would thy heart afford thee 8* 90 WHY ORIGINAL SIN IS TO BE SPECIALLY NOTICED. did the Lord but withdraw the restraint he has upon it, and suffer Satan to stir it up by temptation. 4. The sin of our nature is, of all sins, the most fixed and abiding. Sinful actions, though the guilt and stain of them may remain, yet in themselves pass away. The drunkard is not always at his cups, nor the unclean person always acting lewdness : but the corruption of nature is an abiding sin ; it remains with men in its full power, by night and by day ; at all times fixed, as with bands of iron or brass, till their nature be changed by converting grace ; and it remains even with the godly, until the death of the body, though not in its reigning power. Pride, envy, covetousness, and the like are not always stirring in thee ; but the proud, envious, carnal nature, is still with thee ; even as the clock that is wrong, is not always striking wrong, but the wrong set continues with it without intermission. 5. It is the reigning sin, Rom. vi. 12, " Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof." There are three things which you may observe in the corrupt heart: 1. There is the corrupt nature, the corrupt set of the heart, whereby men are unapt for all good, and fitted for all evil. This the apostle calls here " sin which reigns." 2. There are particular lusts, or dispositions of cor- rupt nature, which the apostle calls " the lusts thereof;" such as pride, covetousness, &c. 3. There is one among these, which is, like Saul among the people, higher by far than the rest, namely, " the sin which doth so easily beset us," Heb. xii. 1. This we usually call the " predominant sin," because it doth, as it were, reign over other particular lusts ; so that other lusts must yield to it. These three are like a river which divides itself into many streams, whereof one is greater than the rest : the corruption of nature is the river head, that has many particular lusts in which it runs ; but it chiefly disburdens itself into what is commonly called one's predominant sin. Now all of these being fed by the sin of our nature, it is evident that it is the reigning sin, which never loses its superiority over particular lusts, which live and die with it, and by it. But, as in some rivers, the main stream runs not always in one and the same channel, so particular predominants may be changed, as lust in youth may be succeeded by covetousness in old age. Now what doth it avail to reform in other things, while the reigning sin remains in its full power? What though some particular lusts be broken? If sin, the sin of our nature, keep the throne, it will set up another in its stead ; as when a water course is stopped in one place, if the fountain is not dammed up, it will stream forth another way. Thus some cast off their prodigality, but covetousness comes up in its stead ; some cast away their profanity, and the corruption of nature sends not its HOW TO GET A VIEW OF THE CORRUPTION OF NATURE. 91 main stream that way, as before, but it runs in another channr-1, namely, in that of a legal disposition, self-righteousness, or the like. So that people are ruined, by their not contemplating the sin of their nature. Lastly, It is an hereditary evil, Psal. li. 5, " In sin did my mother conceive me." Particular lusts are not so, but in the virtue of their cause. A prodigal father may have a frugal son ; but this disease is necessarily propagated in nature, and there- fore hardest to cure. Surely, then, the word should be given out against this sin, as against the king of Israel, 1 Kings xxii. 31, "Fight neither with small nor great, save only with this ;" for this sin being broken, all other sins are broken with it ; and while it stands entire, there is no victory. HOW TO GET A VIEW OF THE CORRUPTION OF NATURE. IV. That you may get a view of the corruption of your nature, I would recommend to you three things : 1. Study to know the spirituality and extent of the law of God, for ihat is the glass wherein you may see yourselves. 2. Observe your hearts at all times, but especially under temptation. Temptation is a fire that brings up the scum of the vile heart : carefully mark the first risings of corruption. Lastly, Go to God, through Jesus Christ, for illumination by his Spirit. Lay out your soul before the Lord, as willing to know the vileness of your nature ; say unto him, " That which I know not, teach thou me." And be willing to take in light from the word. Believe and you shall see. It is by the word the Spirit teaches ; but without the Spirit's teaching, all other teaching will be to little purpose. Though the gospel were to shine about you, like the sun at noon-day, and this great truth ever so plainly preached, you will never see yourselves aright, until the Spirit of the Lord light his candle within your breast ; the fulness and glory of Christ, and the corruption and vileness of our nature, are never rightly learned, but where the Spirit of Christ is the teacher. To shut up this weighty point, let the consideration of what has been said, commend Christ to you all. You that are brought out of your natural state of corruption, unto Christ, be humble; still coming to Christ, and improving your union with him, to the further weakening of your natural corruption. Is your nature changed ? The day was you could not stir : now you are cured ; but remember the cure is not yet perfected, you still go halting. Though it were better with you than it is, the remembrance of what you were by nature should keep you low. You that are yet in your natural state, take this with you; believe the corruption of your nature ; and let Christ and his grace be precious in your eyes. O that you would at length 92 THE MISERY OF MAN'S NATURAL STATE. be serious about the state of your souls ! What do you intend to do ? You must die ; you must appear before the judgfnent seat of God. Will you lie down and sleep another night at ease in this case ? Do it not ; for, before another day, you may be summoned before God's dreadful tribunal, in the grave clothes of your corrupt state ; and your vile souls cast into the pit of destruction, as a corrupt lump, to be forever buried out of God's sight. For I testify unto you all, there is no peace with God, no pardon, no heaven for you, in your natural state ; there is but a step between you and eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord ; if the brittle thread of your life, which may be broke with a touch ere you are aware, be broken while you are in this state, you are ruined for ever, without remedy. But come speedily to Jesus Christ : he has cleansed as vile souls as yours ; and he will yet " cleanse the blood that he has not cleansed," Joel iii. 21. Thus far of the sinfulness of man's natural state. HEAD* II. THE MISERY OF MAN'S NATURAL STATE. We were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. EPH. ii. 3. HAVING shown you the sinfulness of man's natural state, 1 come now to lay before you the misery of it. A sinful state cannot but be a miserable state. If sin go before, wrath follows of course. Corruption and destruction are so knit together, that the Holy Ghost calls destruction, even eternal destruction, " Corruption," Gal. vi. 8. " He that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption," that is, everlasting destruction ; as is clear from its being opposed to life everlasting, in the following clause. The apostle having shown the Ephesians their real state by nature, that they were dead in sins and trespasses, altogether corrupt ; tells them, in the words of the text, their relative state, namely, that the pit was dug for them, while in that state of corruption : being dead in sins, they " were by nature children of wrath, even as others." In the words we have four things: 1. The misery of a natural state ; it is a state of wrath, as well as a state of sin. " We were,'- says the apostle, " children of wrath," bound over and liable to the wrath of God ; under wrath in some measure ; and, in wrath, bound over to more, even the full measure of it, in hell where the floods of it go THE MISERY OF MAN*S NATURAL STATE. 93 over the prisoners for ever. Thus Saul, in his wrath, adjudging David to die, 1 Sam. xx. 31 ; and David, in his wrath, passing sentence of death against the man in the parable, 2 Sam. xii. 5, says, each of them, of his supposed criminal, "He shall surely die ;" or, as the words in the first language are, " He is a son of death." So the natural man is " a child of wrath, a son of death. He is a malefactor, dead in law, lying in chains of guilt ; a criminal, held fast in his fetters, till the day of execution ; which will not fail to come, unless a pardon be obtained from his God, who is his judge and opponent too. By that means, indeed, children of wrath may become children of the kingdom. The phrase in the text, however common in the holy language, is very significant. And as it is evident that the apostle, calling natural men the " children of disobedience," ver. 2, means more than that they were disobedient children ; for such may the Lord's own children be : so, to be children of wrath, is more than simply to be liable to, or under wrath. Jesus Christ was liable to, and under wrath ; but I doubt whether we have any warrant to say he was a child of wrath. The phrase seems to intimate, that men are, whatever they are in their natural state, under the wrath of God ; that they are wholly under wrath : wrath is, as it were, woven into their very nature, and mixes itself with the whole of the nTan, who is, if I may so speak, a very lump of wrath, a child of hell, as the iron in the fire is all fire. For men naturally are children of wrath ; come forth, so to speak, out of the womb of wrath ; as Jonah's gourd was the " son of a night," which we render, " came up in a night," Jonah iv. 10 ; as if it had come out of the womb of the night, as we read of the " womb of the morning," Psal. ex. 3 ; and so the birth, following the womb whence it came, was soon gone. Thus sparks of fire are called, " sons of the burning coal," Job. v. 7 ; Marg. Isa. xxi. 10, " O my threshing, and the corn" or son, " of my floor," threshed in the floor of wrath, and, as it were, brought forth by it. Thus the natural man is a "child of wrath ;" it " comes into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones," Psal. cxix. 18. For, though Judas was the only son of perdition among the apostles ; yet all men, by nature, are of the same family. 2. Here is the rise of this misery ; men have it by nature. They owe it to their nature ; not to their substance or essence ; for that neither is nor was sin, and therefore cannot make them children of wrath ; though, for sin, it may be under wrath : not to their nature, as qualified at man's creation by his Maker ; but to their nature, as vitiated and corrupted by the fall ; to the vicious quality, or corruption of their nature, as before noticed, which is their principle of action, and ceasing from action the only principle in an unregenerate state. Now, by this nature, men are children of vrath ; as in time of pestilential infection 94 MAN'S NATURAL STATE erne draws in death with the disease then raging. Wherefore seeing, from our first being as children of Adam, we are corrupt children, shapen in iniquity, conceived in sin; we are also from that moment children of wrath. 3. The universality of this misery. All are by nature child- ren of wrath ; " we," says the apostle, " even as others ;" Jews, as well as gentiles. Those that are now by grace the children of God, were, by nature, in no better case than those that are still in their natural state. Lastly, Heie is a glorious and happy change intimated. We were children of wrath, but are not so now ; grace has brought us out of that fearful state. This the apostle says of himself, and other believers. And thus, it well becomes the people of God to be often standing on the shore, and looking back to the Red Sea of the state of wrath, which they were weltering in, even as others. MAN'S NATURAL STATE IS A STATE OF WRATH. DOCTRINE, The state of nature is a state of wrath. Every one, in a natural unregenerate state, is in a state of wrath. We are born children of wrath ; and continue so, until we be born again. Nay, as soon as we afe children of Adam, we are children of wrath. I shall usher in what I have to say on this point, with a few observations, touching the universality of this state of wrath, which may serve to prepare the way for the word into your consciences. Wrath has gone as wide as ever sin went. When angels sinned, the wrath of God broke in upon them as a flood. " God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell," 2 Pet. ii. 4. It was thereby demonstrated, that no natural ex- cellency in the creature can shield it from the wrath of God, if once it become a sinful creature. The finest and nicest piece of the workmanship of Heaven, if once the Creator's image be defaced upon it by sin, God can and will dash in pieces in his wrath, unless satisfaction* be made to justice, and that image be restored ; neither of which the sinner himself can do. Adam sinned, and the whole lump of mankind was leavened, and bound over to the fiery oven of God's wrath. From the text you may learn, 1. That ignorance of that state cannot free men from it. The gentiles, that knew not God, " were by nature children of wrath, even as others." A man's house may be on fire, his wife and children perishing in the flames, while he knows nothing of it ; and therefore is not concerned about it. Such is your case, O ye that are ignorant of these things ! Wrath is silently sinking into your souls, while you are blessing yourselves, saying " We shall have peace." You need not IS A STATE OP WRATH. 95 a more certain token that you are children of wrath, than that you never saw yourselves such. You cannot be the children of God that never yet saw yourselves the children of the devil. You cannot be in the way to heaven, that never saw yourselves by nature in the high road to hell. You are grossly ignorant of your state by nature ; and so, ignorant of God and of Christ, and your need of him : and though you look on your ignorance as u covert from wrath, yet, take it out of the mouth of God himself, that it will ruin you if it be not removed, Isa. xxvii. 11, "It is a people of no understanding : therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them." See also 2 Thess. i. 8 ; Hos. iv. 6. 2. No outward privileges can exempt men from this state of wrath ; for the Jews, the children of the kingdom, God's peculiar people, were " children of wrath, even as others." Though you be church members, partakers of all church privi- leges ; though you be descended of godly parents, of great and honourable families ; be what you will, you are by nature heirs of hell, children of wrath. 3. No profession, no attainments in a prolusion of religion, do, or can exempt a man from this state of wrath. Paul was one of the strictest sect of the Jewish religion, Acts xxvi. 5, yet a child of wrath, even as others, till he was converted. The close hypocrite, and the profane, are alike as to their state, howeveV different their conversation be ; and they will be alike in the fatal end, Psa. cxxv. 5, " As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity." 4. Young ones, that are but setting out into the world, have not that to do to make themselves children of wrath, by following the graceless multi- tude: they are children of wrath by nature ; so it is done already. They were born heirs of hell ; and they will indeed make them- selves more so, if they do not, while they are young, flee from that wrath to which they are born, by fleeing to Jesus Christ. Lastly, Whatever men are now by grace, they are even as others by nature. This may be a sad meditation to them that have been at ease from their youth, and have had no changes. Now, these things being premised, I shall, in the first place, show what this state of wrath is ; next, confirm the doctrine ; and then apply it. I. I am to show what this state of wrath is. But who can fully describe the wrath of an angry God? None can do it. Yet so much of it may be discovered, as may serve to convince men of the absolute necessity of fleeing to Jesus Christ, out of that state of wrath. Anger, in men, is a passion and commotion of the spirit, for an injury received ; with a desire to resent the same. When it comes to a height, and is fixed in one's spirit, it is called wrath. Now there are no passions in God, properly speaking : they are inconsistent with his absolute unchange- ableness, and independency : therefore Paul and Barnabas to 96 MAN'S NATURAL STATE remove the mistake of the Lycaonians, who thought they were gods, tell them, " they were men of like passions with them selves," Acts xiv. 15. Wrath, when it is attributed to God must not be "considered in respect to the affection of wrath, but the effects thereof. Wrath is a fire in the bowels of man, tormenting the man himself: but there is no perturbation in God. His wrath does not in the least mar that infinite repose and happiness which he has in himself. It is a most pure, undisturbed act of his will, producing dreadful effects against the sinner. It is little which we know of the infinite God ; but, condescending to our weakness, he is pleased to speak of him- self to us, after the manner of men. Let us therefore notice man's wrath, but remove every thing in our consideration of the wrath of God, that implies imperfection ; and so we may attain to some view of it, however scanty. By this means we are led to take up the wrath of God against the natural man in these three particulars. First, There is wrath in the heart of God against him. The Lord approves him not, but is displeased with him. Every natural man lies under the displeasure of God ; and that is heavier than mountains of brass. Although he be pleased with himself, and others be pleased with him too, yet God looks down on him displeased. First, His person is under God's displeasure ; " thou hatest all workers of iniquity." Psa. v. 5. A godly man's sin is displeasing to God, yet his person is still " accepted in the beloved," Eph. i. 6. But " God is angry with the wicked every day," Psa. vii. 11. There is a fire of wrath burns continually against him in the heart of God. They are as dogs and swine, most abominable creatures in the sight of God. Though their natural state be gilded over with a shin- ing profession, yet they are abhorred by God ; they are to him as smoke in his nose, Isa. Ixv. 5, and lukewarm water, to be spewed out of his mouth, Rev. iii. 16; whited sepulchres, Matt, xxiii. 27 ; a generation of vipers, Matt. xii. 34 ; and a people of his wrath, Isa. x. 6. Secondly, He is displeased with all they do : it is impossible for them to please him, being unbelievers, Heb. xi. 6. He hates their persons ; and so has no pleasure in, but is displeased with, their best works, Isa. Ixvi. 6, " He that sacrificeth a lamb, is as if he cut off a dog's neck," &c. Their duty, as done by them, is " an abomination to the Lord," Prov. xv. 8. And as men turn their back on those with whom they are angry, so the Lord's refusing commu- nion with the natural man in his duties, is a plain indication of this wrath. Secondly, There is wrath in the word of God against him. When wrath is in the heart, it seeks a vent by the lips : so God fights against the natural man with the sword of his mouth, Rev. ii. 16. The Lord's word never speaks good of him, but 13 A STATE OF WRATII. 97 always curses and condemns him. Hence it is, that when he is awakened, the word read or preached often increases his horror. First, It condemns all his actions, together with his corrupt nature. There is nothing he does, but the law declares it to be sin. It is a rule of perfect obedience, from which he always, in all things, declines : and so it rejects every thing he does, as sinful. Secondly, It pronounces his doom, and de- nounces God's curse against him, Gal. iii. 10. " For as many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse : for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." Be he never so well in the world, it pronounces a wo from heaven against him, Isa. iii. 11. The Bible is a quiver filled with arrows of wrath against him ; ready to be poured in on his soul. God's threatenings, in his word, hang over his head as a black cloud, ready to shower down on him every moment. The word is indeed the saint's security against wrath : but it binds the natural man's sin and wrath together, as a certain pledge of his ruin, if he continues in that state. So the conscience being awakened, and perceiving this tie made by the law, the man is filled with terrors in his soul. Thirdly, There is wrath in the hand of God, against the natural man. He is under heavy strokes of wrath already, and is liable to more. First, There is wrath on his body. It is a piece of cursed clay, which wrath is sinking into, by virtue of the threatening of the first covenant, Gen. ii. 17, " In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shall surely die." There is never a disease, gripe, nor stitch, that affects him, but it comes on him with the sting of God's indignation in it. They are all cords of death, sent before to bind the prisoner. Secondly, There is wrath upon his soul. 1. He can have no communion with God ; he is " foolish, and shall not stand in God's sight," Psal. v. 5. When Adam sinned, God turned him out of paradise : and natural men are, as Adam left them, banished from the gracious presence of the Lord ; and can have no access to him in that state. There is war between heaven and them : and so all commerce is cut off*. " They are without God in the world," Eph. ii. 12. The sun is gone down on them, and there is not the least glimpse of favour towards them from heaven. 2. Hence the soul is left to pine away in its ini- quity ; the natural darkness of their minds, the averseness to good in their wills, the disorder of their affections, and distem- per of their consciences, and all their natural plagues, are left upon them in a penal way ; and, being so left, increase daily. God casts a portion of worldly goods to them, more or less, as a bone is thrown to a dog : but, alas ! his wrath against them appears, in that they get no grace. The physician of souls 9 98 MAN'S NATURAL STATE comes by them, and goes by them, and cures others on each side of them, while they are consuming away in their iniquity, and ripening daily for utter destruction. 3. They lie open to fearful additional plagues on their souls, even in this life. First, Sometimes they meet with deadening strokes, silent blows, from the hand of an angry God : arrows of wrath, that enter into their souls without noise, Isa. vi. 10, " Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes," &c. God strives with them for a while, and convictions enter their consciences ; but they rebel against the light : and, by a secret judgment, they receive a blow on the head : so that from that time, they do, as it were, live and rot above ground. Their hearts are deadened ; their affections withered ; their consciences stupefied ; and their whole souls blasted; "cast forth as a branch and withered," John xv. 16. They are plagued with judicial blindness. They shut their eyes against the light ; and they are given over to the devil, the god of this world, to be blinded more, 2 Cor. iv. 4. Yea, " God sends them strong delusions, that they should believe a lie," 2 Thess. ii. 11. Even conscience, like a false light on the shore, leads them upon rocks ; by which they are broken in pieces. They harden themselves against God, and he leaves them to Satan and their own hearts, whereby they are hardened more and more. They are often " given up unto vile affec- tions," Rom. i. 26. The reins are laid on their necks ; and they left to run into all excess, as their furious lusts draw them. Secondly, Sometimes they meet with sharp fiery strokes, where- by their souls become like Mount Sinai, where nothing is seen, but fire and smoke ; nothing heard but the thunder of God's wrath, and the voice of the trumpet of a broken law, waxing louder and louder : which makes them like Pashur, Jer. xx. 4, " a terror to themselves." God takes the filthy garments of their sins, which they were wont to sleep in securely ; overlays them with brimstone, and sets them on fire about their ears : so they have a hell within them. Thirdly, There is wrath on the natural man's enjoyments. Whatever be wanting in his house, there is one thing that is never wanting there, Prov. iii. 33, " The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked." Wrath is on all that he has ; on the bread that he eats, the water he drinks, the clothes which he wears. " His basket and store are cursed," Deut xxviii. 17. Some things fall wrong with him ; and that comes to pass by virtue of this wrath : other things go according to his wish, and there is wrath in that too ; for it is a snare to his soul, Prov. i. 32, " The prosperity of fools shall destroy Ihem." This wrath turns his blessings into curses, Mai. ii. 2, " I will curse your blessings ; yea, I have cursed them already." The holy law is " a killing letter to him," 2 Cor. iii. 6. The ministry of the IS A STATE OF WRATH. 99 gospel " a savour of death unto death," chap. ii. 16. In the sacrament of the Lord's supper, " he eateth and drinketh damna- tion to himself," 1 Cor. xi. 29. Nay, more than all that, Christ himself is to him, " a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence," 1 Pet. ii. 8. Thus wrath follows the natural man, as his shadow does his body. Fourthly, He is under the power of Satan, Acts xxvi. 18. The devil has overcome him, so he is his by conquest, his law- ful captive, Isa. xlix. 24. The natural man is condemned already, John iii. 18, and therefore under the heavy hand of " him that hath the power of death, that is the devil." He keeps his pri- soners in the prison of a natural state bound hand and foot, Isa. Ixi. 1, laden with divers lusts, as chains wherewithal he holds them fast. Thou needest not, as many do, call on the devil to take thee ; for he has a fast hold of thee already, as a child of wrath. Lastly, The natural man has no security for a moment's safety, from the wrath of God coming on him to the uttermost. The curse of the law, denounced against him, has already tied him to the stake : so that the arrows of justice may pierce his soul ; and, in him, may meet all the miseries and plagues that flow from the avenging wrath of God. See how he is set as a mark to the arrows of wrath, Psal. vii. 11 13. " God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he will whet his sword ; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready ; he hath also prepared for him the instruments of death." Doth he lie down to sleep ? There is not a promise that he knows of, or can know, to secure him that he shall not be in hell ere he awake. Justice pursues, and cries for vengeance on the sinner ; the law casts the fire-balls of its curses continually upon him : wasted and long-tired patience is that which keeps in his life. He walks amidst enemies armed against him : his name may be Magor-Missabib, i. e. terror round about, Jer. xx. 3. Angels, devils, men, beasts, stones, heaven, and earth are in readiness, on a word of command from the Lord, to ruin him. Thus the natural man lives, but he must die too ; and death is a dreadful messenger to him. It comes upon him armed with wrath, and puts three sad charges in his hand. 1. Death charges him to bid an eternal farewell to all things in this world : to leave it, and haste away to another world. Ah, what a dreadful charge must this be to a child of wrath ! He can have no comfort from heaven, for God is his enemy : as for the things of the world, and the enjoyment of his lusts, which were the only springs of his comfort, these are in a moment dried up to him for ever. He is not ready for another world : he was not thinking of removing so soon ; or, if he was, yet he has no por- tion secured to him in the other world, but that which he was ' >.rn to, and was increasing all his days, namely a treasure of 100 MAN S NATURAL STATE wrath. But go he must : his clay god, the world, must be parted with, and what has he more ? There was never a glimmering of light, or favour from heaven to his soul : the wrath which hung in the threatening, as a cloud like a man's hand, is darken- ing the whole heaven above him: if he " look unto the earth," from whence all his light was wont to come, " behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish ; and he shall be driven to darkness," Isa. viii. 22. 2. Death charges soul and body to part, till the great day. His soul is required of him, Luke xii. 20. O what a miserable parting must this be to a child of wrath ! Care was indeed taken to provide for the body things necessary for this life : but, alas ! there is nothing laid up for another life, nothing to be a seed of a glorious resurrection : as it lived, so it must die, and rise again, sinful flesh, fuel for the fire of God's wrath. As for the soul, he was never solicitous to provide for it. It lay in the body, dead to God, and all things truly good ; and so must be carried out into the pit, in the grave- clothes of its natural state : for now that death comes, the com- panions in sin must part. 3. Death charges the soul to appear before the tribunal of God, while the body lies to be carried to the grave, Eccles. xii. 7, " The spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Heb. ix. 27, " It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Well were it for the sinful soul, if it might be buried together with the body. But that cannot be ; it must go and receive its sentence ; and shall be shut up in the prison of hell, while the cursed body lies imprisoned in the grave, till the day of the general judgment. When the end of the world, as appointed of God, is come, the trumpet shall sound, and the dead arise. Then shall the weary earth, at the command of the Judge, cast forth the bodies, the cursed bodies, of those that lived and died in their natural state ; " The sea, death, and hell, shall deliver up their dead," Rev. xx. 13. Their miserable bodies and souls shall be re- united, and they summoned before the tribunal of Christ. Then shall they receive that fearful sentence, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his an- gels," Matt. xxv. 41. Whereupon " they shall go away into everlasting punishment," ver. 46. They shall be eternally shut up in hell, never to get the least drop of comfort, nor the smallest alleviation of their torment. There they will be punished with the punishment of loss, being excommunicated for ever from the presence of God, his angels, and saints. All means of grace, all hopes of a delivery, wiil be for ever cut off from their eyes. They shall not have a drop of water to cool their tongues, Luke xvi. 24, 25. They will be punished with a punishment of sense. They must not only depart from God, but depart into fire ; into everlasting fire ! There the worm that shall gnaw them will never die ; the fire that shall scorch them, IS A STATE OF WRATH. 101 shall never be quenched. God will, through eternity, hold them up with the one hand, and pour the full vials of wrath into them with the other. This is that state of wrath natural men live in ; being under much of the wrath of God, and liable to more. But, for a further view of it, let us consider the qualities of that wrath : 1. It is irresistible, there is no standing before it; " Who may stand in thy sight, when once thou art angry ?" Psal. Ixxvi. 7. Can the worm or the moth defend themselves against him that designs to crush them ? As little can the worm man stand before an angry God ! Foolish men indeed practically bid a defiance to Heaven ; but the Lord often, even in this world, opens such sluices of wrath upon them, as all their might cannot stop : they are carried away thereby, as with a flood ! Hence much more will it be so in hell ! 2. It is insupportable. What a man cannot resist, he will try to endure : but who shall dwell with devouring fire? Who shall dwell with everlasting burnings? God's wrath is a weight that will sink men into the lowest hell. It is a burden which no man can stand under. " A wounded spirit who can bear?" Prov. xviii. 14. 3. It is unavoidable to such as go on impenitently, and die in their sinful course. " He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed ; and that without remedy," Prov. xxix. 1. We may now flee from it indeed, by fleeing to Jesus Christ : but such as flee from Christ, will never be able to avoid it. Whither can men flee from an avenging God ? Where will they find a shelter? The hills will not hear them. The mountains will be deaf to their loudest supplications, when they cry to them to " hide them from the wrath of the Lamb." 4. It is powerful and fierce wrath, Psa. xc. 11, "Who knoweth the power of thine anger ? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath." We are apt to fear the wrath of man more than we ought : but no man can apprehend the wrath of God to be more dreadful than it really is ; the power of it can never be known to the utmost ; for it is infinite, and, properly speaking, has no utmost. How fierce soever it be, either on earth or in hell, God can still carry it further. Every thing in God is most perfect in its kind ; and therefore no wrath is so fierce as his. O sinner ! how wilt thou be able to endure that wrath, which will tear thee in pieces, Psa. 1. 22; and grind thee to powder! Luke xx. 18. The history of the two she bears, that tare the children of Bethel, is an awful one, 2 Kings ii. 23, 24. But the united force of the rage of lions, leopards, and she bears bereaved of their whelps, is not sufficient to give us even a faint view of the power of the wrath of God, Hos. xiii. 7, 8. " Therefore I will be unto them as a lion ; as a leopard by the way will I observe them. I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart," &c. 5. It is penetrating and 9* 102 THE DOCTRINE OF THE STATE OP piercing wrath. It is burning wrath, and fiery indignation. There is no pain more exquisite than that which is caused by fire ; and no fire so piercing as the fire of God's indignation, that burns unto the lowest hell, Deut. xxxii. 22. The arrows of men's wrath can pierce flesh, blood, and bones ; but cannot reach the soul ; but the wrath of God will sink into the soul, and so pierce a man in. the most tender part ; like as, when a person is thunderstruck, ofttimes there is not a wound to be seen in the skin ; yet life is gone, and the bones are melted, as it were ; so God's wrath can penetrate into, and melt a man's soul within him, when his earthly comforts stand about him entire, and untouched : as in Belshazzar's case, Dan. v. 6. 6. It is constant wrath, running parallel with the man's contin- uance in an unregenerate state ; constantly attending him from the womb to the grave. There are few days so dark, but the sun sometimes looks out from under the clouds : but the wrath of God is an abiding cloud on the objects of it, John iii. 36, " The wrath of God abideth on him" that believeth not. 7. It is eternal. O, miserable soul ! if thou flee not from this wrath, unto Jesus Christ, though thy misery had a beginning, yet it will never have an end. Should devouring death wholly swallow thee up, and for ever hold thee fast in the grave, it would be kind : but thy body must be re-united to thy immortal soul, and live again, and never die ; that thou mayest be ever dying, in the hands of the living God. Cold death will quench the flame of man's wrath against us, if nothing else do : but God's wrath, when it has come on the sinner, millions of ages, will still be the wrath to come, Matt. iii. 7 ; 1 Thess. i. 10; as the water of a river is still coming, how much soever of it has passed. While God is, he will pursue the quarrel. Lastly, However dreadful it is, and though it be eternal, yet it is most just wrath : it is a clear fire, without the least smoke of injustice. The sea of wrath, raging with the greatest fury against the sinner, is clear as crystal. The Judge of all the earth can do no wrong : he knows no transports of passion, for they are inconsistent with the perfection of his nature. " Is God unrighteous, who taketh vengeance 1 (I speak as a man) God forbid : for then, how shall God judge the world ?" Rom. iii. 5, 6. THE DOCTRINE OF THE STATE OF WRATH CONFIRMED AND VINDICATED. II. I shall confirm the doctrine. Consider, 1. How per- emptory the threatening of the first covenant is : " In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die," Gen. ii. 17. Hereby sin and punishment being connected, the veracity of God ascer- tains the execution of the threatening. Now, all men being by nature under this covenant, the breach of it lays them under WRATH CONFIRMED AND VINDICATED. 103 the curse. 2. The justice of God requires, that a child of sin be a child of wrath ; that the law being broken, the sanction thereof should take place. God, as man's ruler and judge, cannot but do right, Gen. xviii. 25. Now it is " a righteous thing with God to recompense sin" with wrath, 2 Thess. i. 6. He " is of purer eyes than to behold evil," Hab. i. 13. And " he hates all the workers of iniquity," Psa. v. 6. 3. The horrors of a natural conscience prove this. Conscience in the breasts of men, tells them that they are sinners, and therefore liable to the wrath of God. Let men, at any time, soberly com- mune with themselves, and they will find that they have the wit- ness in themselves, " knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death," Rom. i. 32. 4. The pangs of the new birth, the work of the Spirit on elect souls, in order to their conversion, demonstrate this. Hereby their natural sinfulness and misery, as liable to the wrath of God, are plainly taught them, filling their hearts with fear for that wrath. As it is the Spirit's work to " convince of sin, right- eousness, and judgment," John xvi. 8, this testimony must needs be true ; for the Spirit of truth cannot witness an untruth. But true believers, being freed from the state of wrath, " receive not the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but receive the Spirit of adoption," Rom. viii. 15. Therefore, if fears of that nature do arise, after the soul's union with Christ, they come from the saint's own spirit, or from a worse. Lastly, The sufferings of Christ, plainly prove this doctrine. Wherefore was the Son of God a son under wrath, but because the children of men were children of wrath? He suffered the wrath of God; not for himself, but for those that were liable to it in their own persons. Nay, this not only shows us to have been liable to wrath ; but also that wrath must have a vent, in the punishing of sin. If this was done in the green tree, what will become of the dry ? What a miserable case must a sinner be in, that is out of Christ; that is not vitally united to Christ, and partakers not of his Spirit? God, who spared not his own Son, surely will not spare such a one. But the unregenerate man, who has no great value for the honour of God, will be apt to rise up against his judge, and in his own heart condemn his procedure. Nevertheless, the judge being infinitely just, the sentence must be righteous. There- fore, to stop thy mouth, O proud sinner ! and to still thy clamour against thy righteous Judge, consider, First, Thou art a sinner by nature ; and it is highly reasonable, that guilt and wrath be as old as sin. Why should not God begin to vindicate his honour, as soon as vile. worms attempt to impair it? Why shall not a. serpent bite a thief, as soon as he leaps over the hedge ? Why should not the threatening take hold of the sinnet, as soon as he casts away the command ? The poisonous nature of tho 1U4 THE DOCTRINE OF THE STATE OP serpent affords a man sufficient ground to kill it, as soon as ever he can reach it ; and by this time thou mayest be convinced, that thy nature is a very compound of enmity against God. Secondly, Thou hast not only enmity against God in thy nature, but hast discovered it by actual sins, which are, in his eye, acts of hostility. Thou hast brought forth thy lusts into the field of battle against thy sovereign Lord. And because thou art such a criminal, thy condemnation is just : for besides the sin of thy nature, thou hast done that against Heaven, which if thou hadst done against men, thy life must have gone for it ; and shall not wrath from heaven overtake thee? 1. Thou art guilty of high treason and rebellion against the King of heaven. The thought and wish of thy heart, which he knows as well as the language of thy mouth, has been, "No God," Psa. xiv. 1. Thou hast rejected his government, blown the trumpet, and set up the standard of rebellion against him, being one of those that say, " We will not have this man to reign over us," Luke xix. 14. Thou hast striven against, and quenched his Spirit; prac- tically disowned his laws proclaimed by his messengers ; stopped thine ears at their voice, and sent them away mourning for thy pride. Thou hast conspired with his grand enemy, the devil. Although thou art a servant of the King of glory, daily receiving of his favours, and living on his bounty, thou art holding a correspondence, and hast contracted a friendship, with his greatest enemy, and art acting for him against thy Lord ; for " the lusts of the devil ye will do," John viii. 44. 2, Thou art a murderer before the Lord. Thou hast laid the stumbling- block of thine iniquity before the blind world, and hast ruined the souls of others by thy sinful course. Though thou dost not see now, the time may come, when thou shalt see the blood of thy relations, neighbours, acquaintances, and others, upon thy head, Matt, xviii. 7, " Woe unto the world because of offences Woe to that man by whom the offence cometh." Yea, thou art a self-murderer before God, Prov. viii. 36, " He that sinneth against me, wrongeth his own soul ; all they that hate me, love death." Ezek. xviii. 31, "Why will ye die?" The laws of men go as far as they can against the self-murderer, denying his body a burial place with others, and confiscating his goods ; what wonder is it, that the law of God is so severe against soul murderers ? Is it strange, that they who will needs depart from God now, cost what it will, should be forced to depart from him at last, into everlasting fire ? But, what is yet more criminal, thou art guilty of the murder of the Son of God ; for the Lord will reckon thee amongst those that pierced him, Rev. i. 7. Thou hast rejected him, as the Jews did ; and by thy rejecting him, thou hast justified their deed. They indeed did not ac- knowledge him to be the Son of God, but thou dost. What, they did against him, was in his state of humiliation ; but thou WRATH CONFIRMED AND VINDICATED. 105 hast acted against him, in his state of exaltation. These things will aggravate thy condemnation. What wonder then, if the voice of the lamb change to the roaring of the lion, against the traitor and murderer? Objection. But some will say, " Is there not a vast dispro- portion between our sin, and that wrath you talk of?" I an- swer, " No ; God punisheth no more than the sinner deserves." T> rectify your mistake in this matter, consider 1. The vast rewards which God has annexed to obedience. His word is no more full of fiery wrath against sin, than it is of gracious re- wards to the obedience it requires. If heaven be in the pro- mises, it is altogether equal that hell be in the threatenings. If death were not in the balance with life ; eternal misery with eternal happiness, where were the proportion? Moreover, sin deserves the misery, but our best works do not deserve the happiness : yet both are set before us ; sin and misery, holiness and happiness. What reason is there then to complain ? 2. How severe soever the threatenings be, yet all have enough to do to reach the end of the law. " Fear him," says our Lord, " which, after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell ; yea, I say unto you, Fear him," Luke xii. 5. This bespeaks our dread of divine power and majesty ; yet how few fear him in- deed ! The Lord knows the hearts of sinners to be exceedingly intent upon fulfilling their lusts ; they cleave so fondly to these fulsome breasts, .that a small force does not suffice to draw them away from them. They that travel through deserts, where they are in hazard from wild beasts, have need to carry fire along with them ; and they have need of a hard wedge that have knotty timber to cleave : so a holy law must be fenced with dreadful wrath, in a world lying in wickedness. But who are they that complain of that wrath as too great, but those to whom it is too little to draw them off from their sinful courses? It was the man who pretended to fear his Lord, because he was an austere man, that kept his pound laid up in a napkin ; and so he was condemned out of his own mouth, Luke xix. 20 22. Thou art that man, even thou whose objection I am answering. How can the wrath which thou art under, and liable to, be too great ; when, as yet, it is not sufficient to awaken thee to flee from it ? Is it time to relax the penalties of the law, when men are trampling the commands of it under foot ? 3. Consider how God dealt with his own Son, whom he spared not, Rom. viii. 32. The wrath of God seized on his soul and body both, and brought him into the dust of death. That his sufferings were not eternal, flowed from the quality of the sufferer, who was infinite ; and therefore able to bear, at once, the whole load of wrath ; and, upon that account, his sufferings were infinite in value. But as the sufferings of a mere creature cannot be infi- nite in value, they must be protracted to an eternity. And 106 THE DOCTRINE OF THE MISERY OP what confidence can a rebel subject have to quarrel, on his part, with a punishment executed on the king's son 1 4. The sinner doth against God what he can. " Behold thou hast done evil things as thou couldst," Jer. iii. 5. That thou hast not done more, and worse, thanks to him who restrained thee ; to the chain which the wolf was kept in by, not to thyself. No wonder that God shows his power on the sinner, who puts forth his power against God, as far as it will reach. The unregene- rate man puts no period to his sinful course ; and would put no bounds to it either, if he were not restrained by divine power, for wise ends : therefore it is just that he be for ever under wrath. 5. It is infinite majesty which sin strikes against ; and so it is, in some sort, an infinite evil. Sin rises in its demerit, according to the quality of the party offended. If a man wound his neighbour, his goods must go for it ; but if he wound his prince, his life must go for that. The infinity of God makes infinite wrath the just demerit of sin. God is infinitely dis- pleased with sin ; and when he acts, he must act like himself, and show his displeasure by proportionable means. Lastly, Those that shall lie for ever under this wrath, will be eternally sinning ; and therefore must eternally suffer : not only in re- spect of divine judicial procedure, but because sin is its own punishment, in the same manner as holy obedience is its own reward. THE DOCTRINE OF THE MISERY OF MAN'S NATURAL STATE APPLIED. USE I. Of information. Is our state by nature a state of wrath ? Then, 1. Surely, we are not born innocent. Those chains of wrath, which by nature are upon us, show us to be born criminals. The swaddling bands, wherewith infants are bound hand and foot, as soon as they are born, may put us in mind of the cords of wrath, with which they are held prisoners, as children of wrath. 2. What desperate madness Is it, for sinners to go on in their sinful course ! What is it but to heap coals of fire on thine own head ! to lay more and more fuel to the fire of wrath ! to " treasure up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath?" Rom. ii. 5. Thou mayest perish, " when his wrath is kindled but a little," Psa. ii. 12. Why wilt thou increase it yet more 1 Thou art already bound with such cords of death, as cannot easily be loosened ; what need is there of more? Stand, careless sinner, and consider this. 3. Thou hast no reason to complain, as long as thou art out of hell. " Wherefore doth a living man complain ?" Lam. iii. 39. If one who has forfeited his life, be banished his native MANS NATURAL STATE APPLIED. 107 Country, and exposed to many hardships ; he may well bear all patiently, seeing his life is spared. Do you murmur because vou are under pain and sickness? Nay, bless God you are nol there where the worm never dies. Dost thou grudge that thou art not in so good a condition in the world as some of thy neigh- bours are ? Be thankful, rather, that thou art not in the case of the damned. Is thy substance gone from thee ? Wonder that the fire of God's wrath has not consumed thee. Kiss the rod, O sinner, and acknowledge mercy ; for God " punisheth us loss than our iniquities deserve," Ezra ix. 13. 4. Here is a memorandum, both for poor and rich. 1. Tho poorest, that go from door to door, and had not one penny left them by their parents, were born to an inheritance. Their first father Adam left them children of wrath : and, continuing in their natural state, they cannot miss of it ; for " this is the por- tion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by God," Job xx. 28. An heritage that will furnish them with a habitation, who have not where to lay their head ; they shall be " cast into utter darkness," Matt. xxv. 30, for to them, "is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever," Jude ver. 13, where their bed shall be sorrow; "they shall lie down in sor- row," Isa. 1. 11 ; their food shall be judgment, for God will " feed them with judgment," Ezek. xxxiv. 16; and their drink shall be the red wine of God's wrath, " the dregs whereof all the wicked of the earth shall wring out, and drink them," Psa. Ixxv. 8. I know that those who are destitute of worldly goods, and withal void of the knowledge and grace of God, who there- fore may be called the devil's poor, will be apt to say here, "We hope God will make us suffer all our misery in this world, and that we shall be happy in the next;" as if their miserable out- ward condition, in time, would secure their happiness in eternity. A gross and fatal mistake ! there is another inheritance which they have, viz: "Lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit," Jer. xvi. 19. But "the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies," Isa. xxviii. 17. Dost thou think, O sinner, that God, who commands judges on earth " not to respect the person of the poor in judgment," Levit. xix. 15, will pervert judgment for thee ? Nay, know for certain, that however miserable thou art here, thou shall be eternally miserable hereafter, if thou livest and diest in thy natural state. 2. Many that have enough in the world, have far more than they know of. Thou hadst, it may be, O unregenerate man ! an estate, a good portion, a large stock, left thee by thy father ; thou hadst improved it, and the sun of prosperity shines upon thee ; so that thou canst say, with Esau, Gen. xxxiii. 9, " I have enough." But know, thou hast more than all that, an inheritance which thou dost not think of: thou art a child of wrath, an heir of hell. That is an heritage whicn will abide with thee, amidst all the changes in 108 ALAR3I TO THE UNREGENERATE. the world, as long as thou continuest in an unregenerate state. When thou shall leave thy substance to others, this shall go along with thee into another world. It is no wonder a slaughter ox is fed to the full, and is not toiled as others are, Job xxi. 30 : " The wicked is reserved to the day of destruction : they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath." Well then, " Rejoice, let thine heart cheer thee, walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes." Live above reproofs and warnings from the word of God : show thyself a man of fine spirit, by casting ofF all fear of God : mock at seriousness ; live like thy- self, " a child of wrath," an heir of hell: "But know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment," Eccl. xi. 9. Assure thyself, thy " breaking shall come suddenly at an instant," Isa. xxx. 13. "For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool," Eccl. vii. 6. The fair blaze, and the great noise which they make, is quickly gone, so shall thy mirth be. Then that wrath, that is now silently sinking into thy soul, shall make a fearful hissing. 3. Woe to him, that, like Moab, " hath been at ease from his youth," Jer. xlviii. 11, and never saw the black cloud of wrath hanging over his head. There are many who " have no changes, therefore they fear not God," Psa. Iv. 19. They have lived in a good belief, as they call it all their days ; that is, they never had power to believe an ill report of their soul's state. Many have come by their religion too easily : and as it came lightly to them, so it will go from them, when the trial comes. Do ye think men flee from wrath in a morning dream ? Or will they flee from the wrath they never saw pur- suing them? 6. Think it not strange, if you see one in great distress about his soul's condition, who was wont to be as jovial, and as little concerned for salvation as any of his neighbours. Can one get a right view of himself, as in a stale of wrath, and not be pierced wilh sorrows, lerrors, and anxiely 1 When a weight quite above a man's strenglh, lies upon him, and he is alone, he can neilher slir hand nor fool ; but when one comes to lift it off* him, he will struggle to get from under it. Thunder-claps of wrath from the word of God, conveyed to the soul by the Spirit of the Lord, will surely keep a man awake. Lastly, It is no wonder that wrath comes upon churches and nations, and upon us in this land, and that infants and children yet unborn smart under it. Mosl of the society are yet children of wrath ; few are fleeing from il, or taking Ihe way lo prevent it : bul people of all ranks are helping il on. The Jews rejected Christ ; and their children have been smarting under wrath these sixteen hundred years. God grant, thai Ihe bad enter- tainment given to Christ and his gospel, by this generation, ba not pursued with wrath on the succeeding one. ALARM TO THE UNREOENERATE. 109 USE II. Of Exhortation. Here, 1. I shall drop a word to those who are yet in an unregenerate state. 2. To those that are brought out of it. 3. To all indifferently. 1. To you that are yet in an unregenerate state, I would sound the alarm, and warn you to see to yourselves, while there is yet hope. O you children of wrath, take no rest in this dismal state ; but flee to Christ, the only refuge ; haste, and make your escape thither. The state of wrath is too hot a climate for you to live in, Micah ii. 10, " Arise ye and depart, for this is not your rest." O sinner, knowest thou where thou art? Dost thou not see thy danger? The curse has entered into thy soul: wrath is thy covering; the heavens are growing blacker and blacker above thy head ; the earth is weary of thee, the pit is opening her mouth for thee, and should the thread of thy life be cut this moment, thou art thenceforth, past all hope for ever. Sirs, if we saw you putting a cup of poison to your mouth, we should fly to you and snatch it out of your hands. If we saw the house on fire about you, while you were fast asleep in it, we would run to you and drag you out of it. But alas ! you are in ten thousand times greater hazard : yet we can do no more than tell you your danger ; invite, exhort, and beseech you, to look to yourselves ; and lament your stupidity, and ob- stinacy, when we cannot prevail with you to take warning. If there were no hope of your recovery, we should be silent, and would not torment you before the time : but though you be lost and undone, there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. Wherefore, I cry unto you, in the name of the Lord, and in the words of the prophet, Zech. ix. 12, " Turn ye to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope." Flee to Jesus Christ, out of this your natural state. Motive 1. While you are in this state, you must stand or fall according to the law, or covenant of works. If you understood this aright, it would strike through your hearts as a thousand darts. One had better be a slave to the Turks, condemned to the galleys, or under Egyptian bondage, than be under the cove- nant of works now. All mankind were brought under it in Adam, as we heard before ; and thou, in thy unregenerate state, art still where Adam left thee. It is true, there is another cove- nant brought in : but what is that to thee, who art not brought into it ? Thou must needs be under one of the two covenants ; either under the law, or under grace. That thou art not under grace, the dominion of sin over thee manifestly evinces : there- fore thou art under the law, Rom. vi. 14. Do not think God has laid aside the first covenant, Matt. v. 17, 18; Gal. iii. 10. No, he will " magnify the law, and make it honourable." It is broken indeed on thy part : but it is absurd to think, that there- fore your obligation is dissolved. Nay, thou must stand and fall by it, till thou canst produce thy discharge from God hirn- 10 ALARM TO THE UNREGESERATE. self, who is the party in that covenant ; and this thou canst not pretend to, seeing thou art not in Christ. Now, to give you a view of your misery, in this respect, con- sider these following things: 1. Hereby you are bound over to death, in virtue of the threatening of death in the covenant, Gen. ii. 17. The condition being broken, you fall under the penalty. So it concludes you under wrath. 2. There is no salvation for you under this covenant, but on a condition impossible to be performed by you. The justice of God must be satisfied for the wrong which you have done already. God has written this truth in characters of the blood of his own Son. Yea, and you must perfectly obey the law for the time to come. So saith the law, Gal. iii. 12, "The man that doth them, shall live in them," Come, then, O sinner ! see if thou canst make a ladder, whereby thou mayest reach the throne of God : stretch forth thine arms, and try if thou canst fly on the wings of the wind, catch hold of the clouds, and pierce through these visible heavens : and then either climb over, or break through, the jasper walls of the city above. These things thou mayest do as well as be able to reach heaven, in thy natural state, or under this covenant. 3. There is no pardon under this covenant. Pardon is the benefit of another covenant, with which thou hast nothing to do, Acts xiii. 39, " By him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." As for thee, thou art in the hand of a merciless creditor, who will take thee by the throat, saying, " Pay what thou owest ;" and cast thee into prison, there to remain till thou hast paid the utmost farthing : unless thou be so wise as to get a surety in time, who is able to answer for all thy debt, and get up thy discharge. This Jesus Christ alone can do. Thou abidest under this co- venant, and pleadest mercy : but what is thy plea founded on ? There is not one promise of mercy or pardon in that covenant. Dost thou plead mercy for mercy's sake 1 Justice will step in between it and thee ; and plead God's covenant threatening, which he cannot deny. 4. There is no place for repentance in this covenant, so that the sinner can be helped by it. For as soon as ever thou sinnest, the law lays its curse on thee, which is a dead weight thou canst by no means throw off; no, not though thine " head were waters, and thine' eyes a fountain of tears, to weep day and night" for thy sin. That is " what the law can- not do, in that it is weak through the flesh," Rom. viii. 3 Thou art another profane Esau, that has sold the blessing ; and there is no place for repentance, though you seek it carefully with tears, while under that covenant. 5. There is no acceptance of the will for the deed under this covenant, which was not made for good will, but good words. The mistake in this point ruins many. They are not in Christ, but stand under the first cove- nant, and yet they will plead this privilege. This is just like ALARM: TO THE CXREGENERAT E . Ill a man's having made a feast for those of his own family, and when they sit down at table, another man's servant, that has run away from his master, presumptuously comes forward, arid sits down among them : would not the master of the feast give such a stranger that check, " Friend, how earnest thou in hither 1" and, since he is none of his family, command him to be gone quickly ? Though a master accept the good- will of his own child for the deed, can a hired servant expect that privilege'.' 6. You have nothing to do with Christ, while under that cove- nant. By the law of God, a woman cannot be married to two husbands at once : either death or divorce must dissolve the first marriage, ere she can marry another. So we must first be dead to the law, ere we can be married to Christ, Rom. vii. 4. The law is the first husband ; Jesus Christ, who raises the dead, marries the widow, that was heart broken, and slain by the first husband. But while the soul is in the house with the first hus- band, it cannot plead a marriage relation to Christ ; nor the benefits of a marriage covenant, which is not yet entered into, Gal. v. 4 ; " Christ is become of no effect to you, whosoever of you are justified by the law ; ye are fallen from grace." Peace, pardon, and such like benefits, are all benefits of the covenant of grace. You must not think to stand off from Christ, and the marriage covenant with him, and yet plead these benefits ; any more than one man's wife can plead the benefit of a contract of marriage past between another man and his wife. Lastly, See the bill of exclusion, passed in the court of Heaven, against all under the covenant of works, Gal. iv. 30, " The son of the bond- woman shall not be heir." Compare ver. 24. Heirs of wrath must not be heirs of glory. Whom the first covenant has power to exclude out of heaven, the second covenant cannot bring into it. Objection, Then it is impossible for us to be saved. Answer. It is so, while you are in that state ; but if you would be out of that dreadful condition, hasten out of that state. If a mur- derer be under sentence of death, so long as he lives within the kingdom, the laws will reach his life : but if he can make hw escape, and get over the sea, into the dominions of another prince, our laws cannot reach him there. This is what we would have you to do ; flee out of the kingdom of darkness, into the kingdom of God's dear Son ; out of the dominion of the law, into the dominion of grace : then all the curses of the law, or covenant of works, shall never be able to reach you. Motive 2. O ye children of wrath, your state is wretched, for you have lost God, and that is an unspeakable loss. You are without God in the world, Eph. ii. 12. Whatever you may call yours,you cannot call God yours. If we look to the earth, perhaps you can tell us, that land, that house, or that herd of cattle, is yours. But let us look upward to heaven ; is that 11* ALARM TO THE UNREGEXERATE. God, that grace, that glory, yours ? Truly, you have neither part nor lot in this matter. When Nebuchadnezzar talks of cities and kingdoms, O how big does he speak ! " Great Ba- bylon, that I have built my power my majesty ;" but he tells a poor tale, when he comes to speak of God, saying, " Your God," Dan. ii. 47, and iv. 30. Alas, sinner ! whatever thou hast, God is gone from thee. O the misery of a godless soul ! Hast thou lost God? then, 1. The sap and substance of all thou hast in the world, is gone. The godless man, have what he will, is one that hath not, Matt. xxv. 29. I defy the unre- generate man to attain to soul satisfaction, whatever he pos- sesses ; since God is not his God* All his days he eats in dark- ness : in every condition there is a secret dissatisfaction haunts his heart like a ghost : the soul wants something, though per- haps it knows not what ; and so it will be always, till the soul return to God, the fountain of satisfaction. 2. Thou canst do nothing to purpose for thyself; for God is gone, his soul is de- parted from thee, Jer. vi. 8, like a leg out of joint hanging by, whereof a man has no use, as the word there used doth bear. Losing God, thou hast lost the fountain of good ; and so all grace, all goodness, all the saving influences of his Spirit. What canst thou do then 1 What fruit canst thou bring forth, more than a branch cut off from the stock ? John xv. 5. Thou art become unprofitable, Rom. iii. 12, as a filthy rotten thing, fit only for the dunghill. 3. Death has come up into thy windows, yea, and has settled on thy face ; for God, in whose favour is life, Psa. xxx. 5, is gone from thee, and so the life of thy soul is departed. What a loathsome lump is the body, when the soul is gone ! Far more loathsome is thy soul in this case. Thou art dead while thou livest. Do not deny it, seeing thy speech is gone, thine eyes closed, and all spiritual motion in thee ceased. Thy true friends who see thy case, lament ; be- cause thou art gone into the land of silence. 4. Thou hast not a steady friend among all the creatures of God ; for now that thou hast lost the master's favour, all the family is set against thee. Conscience is thine enemy : the word never speaks good of thee : God's people loathe thee, so far as they see what thou art, Psa. xv. 4. The beasts and stones of the field are banded together against thee, Job v. 23 ; Hos. ii. 18. Thy meat, drink, and clothes, grudge to be serviceable to the wretch that has lost God, and abuses them to his dishonour. The earth groans under thee ; yea, " the whole creation groaneth, and travaileth in pain together," because of thee, and such as thou art, Rom. viii. 22. Heaven will have nothing to do with thee ; for " there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that de- fileth," Rev. xxi. 27. Only " hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming," Isa. xiv. 9. Lastly, Thy hell is begun already. What makes hell, but exclusion from the ALARM TO THE UNREGENEBATE. 113 presence of God ? " Depart from me, ye cursed." You are gone from God already, with the curse upon you. That which is now your choice, shall be your punishment at length, if you turn not. As a gracious state is a state of glory in the bud ; so a graceless state is hell in the bud, which, if it continue, will come at length to perfection. Motive 3. Consider the dreadful instances of the wrath of God ; and let them serve to awaken thee, to flee out of this state. Consider, 1. How it has fallen on men. Even in this world, many have been set up as monuments of divine ven- geance, that others might fear. Wrath has swept away multi- tudes, who have fallen together by the hand of an angry God. Consider how the Lord " spared not the old world bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly ; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly," 2 Pet. ii. 5, 6. But it is yet more dreadful to think of that weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, amongst those, who in hell lift up their eyes, but cannot get a drop of water to cool their tongues. Believe these things, and be warned by them, lest destruction come upon thee, for a warning to others. 2. Consider how wrath fell upon the fallen angels, whose case is absolutely hopeless. They were the first that ventured to break the hedge of the divine law ; and God set them up. for monuments of his wrath against sin. They once " left their own habitation," and were never allowed to look in again at the hole of the door ; but they are " reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day," Jude ver. 6. Lastly, Behold how an angry God dealt with his own Son, standing in the room of elect sinners, Rom. viii. 32, " God spared not his own Son." Sparing mercy might have been expected, if any at all. If any person could have obtained it, surely his own Son would have got it : but he spared him not. The Father's delight is made a man of sorrows ; he who is the wisdom of God, becomes sore amazed, ready to faint away in a fit of horror. The weight of this wrath makes him sweat great drops of blood. By the fierce- ness of this fire, his heart was like wax melted in the midst of his bowels. Behold, here, how severe God is against sin ! The sun was struck blind with this terrible sight, rocks were rent, graves opened, death, as it were, in the excess of aston- ishment, letting his prisoners slip away. What is a deluge, a shower of fire and brimstone on Sodomites, the terrible noise of a dissolving world, the whole fabric of heaven and earth disuniting at once, and angels cast down from heaven into the bottomless pit ! What are all these, I say, in comparison with this, God suffering ! groaning ! dying upon a cross ! Infinite holiness did it, to make sin look like itself, viz. infin- 10* 114 ALARM TO THE UNREGENERATE. itely odious. And will men live at ease, while exposed to this wrath ? Lastly, Consider what a God he is with whom thou hast to do, and whose wrath thou art liable unto. He is a God of infinite knowledge and wisdom : so that none of thy sins, how- ever secret, can be hid from him. He infallibly finds out all means, whereby wrath may be executed, toward the satisfying of justice. He is of infinite power, and so can do what he will against the sinner. How heavy must the strokes of wrath be, which are laid on by an omnipotent hand ! Infinite power can make the sinner prisoner, even when he is in his greatest rage against heaven. It can bring again the several parcels of dust out of the grave, put them together again, re-unite the soul and body, summon them before the tribunal, hurry them away to the pit, and hold them up with the one hand, through eternity, while they are lashed with the other. He is infinitely just, and therefore must punish ; it were acting contrary to his nature to suffer the sinner to escape wrath. Hence the executing of this wrath is pleasing to him ; for though the Lord hath no delight in the death of a sinner, as it is the destruction of his own creature, yet he delights in it, as it is the execution of justice. " Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest." Mark the reason ; " For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness," Psal. xi. 6, 7. " I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted," Ezek. v. 13. " I also will laugh at your calamity," Prov. i. 26. Finally, He lives for ever to pursue the quarrel. Let us there- fore conclude, " It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Be awakened then, O young sinner ! be awakened, O old sinner ! who art yet in the state thou wast born in ! Your security is none of God's allowance ; it is the sleep of death : rise out of it, ere the pit close its mouth upon you. It is true, you may put on a breast-plate of iron, make your brow brass, and your heart as an adamant : and who can help it? But Go'JL will break that brazen brow, and make that adamantine heart, at last, to fly into a thousand pieces. You may, if you will, labour to put these things out of your heads, that you may yet sleep in security, though in a state of wrath. You may run away, with the arrows sticking in your consciences, to your work, to work them away ; or to your beds, to sleep them off,- or to company, to sport and laugh them away : but convictions, so stifled, will have a fearful resurrection ; and the day is coming, when the arrows of wrath shall so stick in thy soul, as thou shall never be able to pluck them out through the ages of eternity, unless thou take warning in time. But if any desire to flee from the wrath to come, and, for that end, to know what course to take, I offer them these few advices ; DUTY OF THOSE WHO ARK DELIVERED FROM WRATH. 115 and implore and beseech them, as they love their own souls, to fall in with them. 1. Retire to some secret place, and there meditate on this your misery. Believe it, and fix your thoughts on it. Let each put the question to himself, How can I live in this state? How can I die in it? How shall I rise again, and stand before the tribunal of God in it ? 2. Consider seriously the sin of your nature, heart and life. A proper sight of wrath flows from a deep sense of sin. They who see themselves exceedingly sinful, will find no great difficulty to perceive themselves to be heirs of wrath. 3. Labour to justify God in this matter. To quarrel with God about it, and to rage like a wild bull in a net, will but fix you the more in it. Humiliation of soul, before the Lord, is necessary for an escape. God will not sell deliverance, but freely gives it to those who see them- selves altogether unworthy of his favour. Lastly, Turn your eyes, O prisoners of hope, towards the Lord Jesus Christ, and embrace him, as he offers himself in the gospel. " There is no salvation in any other," Acts iv. 12. God is a consuming fire ; you are children of wrath : if the Mediator interpose not between him and you, you are undone forever. If you would be safe, come under his shadow : one drop of that wrath cannot fall there, for he " delivereth us from the wrath to come," 1 Thess. i. 10. Accept of him in his covenant, wherein he offers himself to thee ; so thou shall, as the captive woman, redeem thy life, by marrying the conqueror. His blood will quench that fire of wrath which burns against thee ; in the white raiment of his righteousness thou wilt be safe ; for no storm of wrath can pierce it. II. I shall drop a few words to the saints. First y "Remember that at that time," namely, when you were in your natural state, " Ye were without Christ having no hope, and without God in the world." Call to mind the state you were in formerly ; and review the misery of it. There are five memorandums which I may thence give in to the whole assembly of the saints, who are no more children of wrath, but heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, though as yet in their minority. 1. Remember that in the day our Lord first took you by the hand, you were in no better condition than others. O ! what moved him to take you, when he passed by your neighbours? He found you children of wrath, even as others : but he did not leave you so. He came into the common prison, where you lay in your fetters even as others ; and from among the multitude of condemned malefactors, he picked you out, commanded your fetters to be taken off, put a pardon in your hand, and brought you into the glorious liberty of the children of God, while he left others in the devil's fetters. 2. Remember, there was nothing in you to engage him to love you, n the day he first appeared for your deliverance. You were 116 DUTY OP THOSE WHO ARE children of wrath, even as others ; fit for hell, and altogether unfit for heaven : yet the King brought you into the palace ; the King's Son made love to you, a condemned criminal, and espoused you to himself, on the day in which you might have been led forth to execution. " Even so, father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight," Matt. xi. 26. 3. Remember, you were fitter to be loathed than loved in that day. Wonder, that wnen he saw you in your blood, he looked not at you with abhorrence, and passed by. Wonder, that ever such a time could be a time of love, Ezek. xvi. 8. 4. Remember, you are decked with borrowed feathers. It is his comeliness which is upon you, ver. 14. It was he that took off your prison garments, and clothed you with robes of righteousness, garments of salva- tion ; garments wherewith you are arrayed as the lilies, which toil not, neither do they spin. He took the chains from off your arms, the rope from about your neck ; put you in such a dress, as you might be fit for the court of Heaven, even to eat at the King's table. 5. Remember your faults this day, as Pharaoh's butler, who had forgotten Joseph. Mind how you have forgotten, and how unkindly you have treated him, who remembered you in your low estate. Is this your kindness to your friend 1 In the day of your deliverance, did you think you could thus have requited him, your Lord 1 Secondly, Pity the children of wrath, the world that lies in wickedness. Can you be unconcerned for them, you who were once in the same condition ? You have got ashore, indeed, but your companions are yet in hazard of perishing ; and will not you afford them all possible help for their deliverance ? What they are, you sometimes were. This may draw pity from you, and engage you to use all means for their recovery. See Titus iii. 13 Thirdly, Admire that matchless love which brought you out of the state of wrath. Christ's love was active love ; he brought thy soul from the pit of corruption ! It was no easy work to purchase the life of the condemned sinner ; but he gave his life for thy life. He gave his precious blood to quench the flame of wrath, which otherwise would have consumed thee. Men get the best view of the stars from the bottom of a deep pit ; from this pit of misery, into which thou wast cast by the fall of the first Adam, thou mayest get the best view of the Sun of Right- eousness, in all his dimensions. He is the second Adam, who took thee out of the horrible pit, and out of the miry clay. How broad were the skirts of that love, which covered such a multitude of sins ! Behold the length of it, reaching from ever- lasting to everlasting, Psal. ciii. 17, the depth of it, going so low as to deliver thee from the lowest hell, Psal. Ixxxvi. 13, the height of it raising thee up to sit in heavenly places, Eph. ii. 6. DELIVERED FROM WRATH. 117 Fourthly, Be humble, carry low sails, walk softly all youi years. Be not proud of your gifts, graces, privileges, or attain- ments : but remember you were children of wrath, even as others. The peacock walks slowly, hangs down his starry feathers, while he looks to his black feet. " Look ye to the hole of the pit, whence ye are digged ;" and walk humbly as it becomes free grace's debtors. Lastly, Be wholly for your Lord. Every wife is obliged to be dutiful to her husband ; but double ties lie upon her who was taken from a prison, or a dunghill. If your Lord has delivered you from wrath, you ought, on that very account, to be wholly his ; to act for him, to suffer for him, and to do whatever he calls you to. The saints have no reason to complain of their lot in the world, whatever it be. Well may they bear the cross for him, by whom the curse was borne away from them. Well may they bear the wrath of men in his cause, who has freed them from the wrath of God; and cheerfully go to a fire for him, by whom hell fire is quenched as to them. Soul and body, and all thou hadst in the world, were sometimes under wrath. He has removed that wrath ; shall not all these be at his service 1 That thy soul is not overwhelmed with the wrath of God, is owing purely to Jesus Christ ; and shall it not then be a temple for his Spirit '/ That thy heart is not filled with horror and despair, is owing to him only ; to whom then should it be devoted, but to him alone? That thine eyes are not blinded with the smoke of the pit ; thy hands are not fettered with chains of darkness ; thy tongue is not broiling in the fire of hell and thy feet are not standing in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, is owing purely to Jesus Christ : and shall not these eyes be employed for him, these hands act for him, this tongue speak for him, and these feet speedily run his errands ? To him who believes that he was a child of wrath, even as others, but is now delivered by the blessed Jesus, nothing will appear too much, to do or suffer for his deliverer, when he has a fair call to it. ^ III. To conclude with a word to all. Let no man think lightly of sin, which lays the sinner open to the wrath of God. Let not the sin of our nature, which wreathes the yoke of God's wrath so early about our necks, seem a small thing in our eyes. Fear the Lord, because of his dreadful wrath. Tremble at the thoughts of sin, against which God has such fiery imugnation. Look on his wrath and stand in awe, and sin not. Do you think this is to press you to slavish fear ? If it were so, one had better be a slave to God with a trembling heart, than a free man to the devil, with a seared conscience and a heart of adamant. But it is not so ; you may love him and thus fear him too ; yea, you ought to do it, though you were saints of the first magni- tude. See Psa. cxix. 120 ; Matt, x. 28 ; Luke xii. 5 ; Hcb. xii. 118 MAN UNABLE TO KECOVEH HIMSELF. 28, and 29. Although you have passed the gulf of wrath, being in Jesus Christ, yet it is but reasonable that your hearts should shiver when you look back to it. Your sin still deserves wrath, even as the sins of others : and it would be terrible to be in a fiery furnace, although by a miracle, we were so fenced against it, as that it could not harm us. HEAD III. MAN'S UTTER INABILITY TO RECOVER HIMSELF. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly ROMANS v. 6. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw him. JOHN vi. 44. WE have now had a view of the total corruption of man's nature, and that load of wrath which lies on him, that gulf of misery which he is plunged into in his natural state. But there is one part of his misery that deserves particular consideration ; namely, his utter inability to recover himself; the knowledge of which is necessary for the due humiliation of a sinner. What I design here, is only to propose a few things, whereby to con- vince the unregenerate man of this his inability ; that he may see an absolute need of Christ, and of the power of his grace. As a man that is fallen into a pit, cannot be supposed to help himself out of it, but by one of two ways ; either by doing all himself alone, or taking hold of, and improving the help offered him by others : so an unconverted man cannot be supposed to help himself out of his natural state, but either in the way of the law, or covenant of works, by doing all himself without Christ ; or else in the way of the gospel, or covenant of grace, by ex- erting his own strength to lay hold upon, and to make use of the help offered him by a Saviour. But alas ! the unconverted man is dead in the pit, and cannot help himself either of these ways : not the first way ; for the first text tells us, that when our Lord came to help us, " we were without strength," unable to recover ourselves. We were ungodly, therefore under a Durden of guilt and wrath : yet " without strength," unable to stand under it, and unable to throw it off, or get from under it : so that all mankind had undoubtedly perished, had not " Christ died for the ungodly," and brought help to them, who could never have recovered themselves. But when Christ comes and offers help to sinners, cannot they take it? Cannot they im MAN UNABLE TO RECOVER HIMSELF. 119 prove help, when it comes to their hands? No, the second text tells us, they cannot ; " No man can come unto me," &c. that is, believe in me, John vi. 35, " except the Father draw him." This is a drawing which enables them to come, who, till then, could not come ; and therefore could not help them- selves, by improving the help offered. It is a drawing which is always effectual ; for it can be no less than " hearing and learning of the Father," which, whoever partakes of, comes to Christ, ver 25. Therefore it is not drawing in the way of mere moral suasion, which may be, yea, and always is ineffectual. But it is drawing by mighty power, Eph. i. 19, absolutely ne- cessary for them that have no power in themselves to come and take hold of the offered help. Hearken then, O unregenerate man, and be convinced, that as thou art in a most miserable state by nature, so thou art ut- terly unable to recover thyself any way. Thou art ruined ; and what way wilt thou go to work to recover thyself? Which of the two ways wilt thou choose ? Wilt thou try it alone ; or wilt thou make use of help ? Wilt thou fall on the way of works, or on the way of the gospel ? I know very well that thou wilt not so much as try the way of the gospel, till once thou hast found the recovery impracticable in the way of the law. Therefore we shall begin where corrupt nature teaches men to begin, viz. at the way of the law of works. I. Sinner, I would have thee to believe that thy working will never effect it. Work, and do thy best ; thou shalt never be able to work thyself out of this state of corruption and wrath. Thou must have Christ, else thou wilt perish eternally. It is only Christ in you can be the hope of glory. But if thou wilt needs try it ; then I must lay before thee, from the unalterable word of the living God, two things which thou must do for thy- self. If thou canst do them, it must be yielded that thou art able to recover thyself; but if not, then thou canst do nothing this way for thy recovery. First, " If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments," Matt. xix. 17. That is, if thou wilt by doing enter into life, then perfectly keep the ten commands ; for the drift of these words is to beat down the pride of the man's heart, and to let him see an absolute need of a Saviour, from the impossibility of keeping the law. The answer is given suitable to the address. Our Lord checks him for his compliment, " Good Master," ver. 1C, telling him, " There is none good but one, that is God," ver. 17. As if he had said, You think yourself a good man, and me another ; but where goodness is spoken of, men and angels may veil their faces before the good God. As to his question, wherein he discovered his legal disposition, Christ does not answer him, saying, " Believe, and thou shalt be saved ;" that would not have been so seasonable in the case of 120 MAN UNABLE TO RECOVER HIMSELF. one who thought he could do well enough for himself, if he but knew " what good thing lie should do ;" but, suitable to the humour the man was in, he bids him " keep the command- ments ;" keep them nicely and accurately, as those that watch malefactors in prison, lest any of them escape, and their life go for thei-rs. See then, O unregenerate man ! what thou canst do in this matter ; for if thou wilt recover thyself in this way, thou must perfectly keep the commandments of God. 1. Thy obedience must be perfect, in respect of the principle of it ; that is, thy soul, the principle of action, must be per- fectly pure, and altogether without sin. For the law requires all moral perfection ; not only actual, but habitual : and so con- demns original sin ; impurity of nature as well as of actions. Now, if thou canst bring this to pass, thou shall be able to answer that question of Solomon, so as never one of Adam's posterity could yet answer it, " Who can say, I have made my heart clean ?" Prov. xx. 9. But if thou canst not, the very want of this perfection is sin, and so lays thee open to the curse, and cuts thee off from life. Yea, it makes all thine actions, even thy best actions, sinful : " For who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ?" Job xiv. 4. And dost thou think by sin, to help thyself out of sin and misery 1 2. Thy obedience must also be perfect in parts. It must be as broad as the whole law of God : if thou lackest one thing thou art undone ; for the law denounces the curse on him that continues not in every thing written therein, Gal. iii. 10. Thou must give internal and ex- ternal obedience to the whole law ; keep all the commands in heart and life. If thou breakest any one of them, that will ensure thy ruin. A vain thought, or idle word, will still shut thee up under the cm*se. 3. It must be perfect in respect of degrees ; as was the obedience of Adam, while he stood in his innocence. This the law requires, and will accept of no less, Matt. xxii. 37, " Thou shall love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." If one degree of that love, required by the law, be wanting ; if each part of thy obedience be nol brought up to the greatest height commanded ; that want is a breach of the law, and so leaves thee still under the curse. A man may bring as many buckets of water to a house that is on fire, as he is able to carry ; and yet it may be consumed, and will be so, if he bring not as many as will quench the fire. Even so, although thou shouldest do what thou art able, in keeping the commands, if thou fail in the least degree of obedience, which the law enjoins, thou art certainly ruined for ever ; unless thou take, hold of Christ, renouncing all thy righteousness, as filthy rags. See Rom. x. 5; Gal. iii. 10. Lastly, It must be perpetual, as the man Christ's obedience was, who always did the things which pleased the Father; for the tenor of the law is, " Cursed is he that continueth not in MAN UNABLE TO RECOVER HIMSELF. 12] / all tnmgs written in the law, to do them." Hence, though Adam's obedience was, for a while, absolutely perfect ; yet because at length he tripped in one point, viz. in eating the for- bidden fruit, he fell under the curse of the law. If a man were to live a dutiful subject to his prince, till the close of his days, and then conspire against him, he must die for his treason. Even so, though thou shouldst all the time of thy life, live in perfect obedience to the law of God, and yet at the hour of death only entertain a vain thought, or pronounce an idle word, that idle word, or vain thought, would blot out all thy former right- eousness, and ruin thee ; namely, in this way in which thou art seeking to recover thyself. Now, such is the obedience which thou must perform, if thou wouldst recover thyself in the way of the law. But though thou shouldst thus obey, the law stakes thee down in the state of wrath, till another demand of it be satisfied, viz : Secondly, Thou must pay what thou owest. It is undeniable thou art a sinner ; and whatever thou mayst be in time to come, justice must be satisfied for thy sins already committed. The honour of the law must be maintained, by thy suffering the denounced wrath. It may be thou hast changed thy course of life, or art now resolved to do it, and to set about keeping of the commands of God : but what hast thou done, or what wilt thou do with the old debt? Your obedience to God, though it were perfect, is a debt due to him, for the time wherein it is performed ; and can no more satisfy for former sins, than a tenant's paying the current year's rent can satisfy the landlord for all arrears. Can the paying of new debts, acquit a man from old accounts ? Nay, deceive not yourselves ; you will find these laid up in store with God, and sealed up among his treasures, Deut. xxxii. 34. It remains then", that either thou must bear that wrath, to which for thy sin thou art liable, according to the law ; or else thou must acknowledge that thou canst not bear it, and thereupon have recourse to the surety, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me now ask thee, Art thou able to satisfy the justice of God ? Canst thou pay thy own debt 1 Surely not : for, as he is the infinite God, whom thou hast offended ; the punishment, being suited to the quality of the offence, must be infinite. But thy punishment, or sufferings for sin, cannot be infinite in value, for thou art a finite creature: therefore they must be infinite in duration or continuance ; that is, they must be eternal. And so all thy sufferings in this world are but an earnest of what thou must suffer in the world to come. Now sinner, if thou canst answer these demands, thou mayst recover thyself in the way of the law. But art thou not con- scious of thy inability to do any of these things ; much more to do them all ? yet if thou do not all, thou dost nothing. Turn then, to what course of life thou wilt, thou art still in a state of 11 122 MAN UNABLE TO RECOVER HIMSELF. \ wratii. Screw up thy obedience to the greatest height thou canst ; suffer what God lays upon thee ; yea, add, if thou wilt, to the burden, and walk under all, without the least impatience : yet all this will not satisfy the demands of the law ; therefore thou art still a ruined creature. . Alas, sinner ! what art thou doing, while tnou stnvest to help thyself ; but dost not receive, and unite with Jesus Christ ? Thou art labouring in the fire, wearying thyself for very vanity ; labouring to enter into heaven, by the door which Adam's sin so bolted, as neither he, nor any of his lost posterity, can ever enter by it. Dost thou not see the flaming sword of justice, keeping thee off* from the tree of life ? Dost thou not hear the law denouncing a curse on thee, for all thou art doing ; even for thy obedience, thy prayers, thy tears, thy reformation of life, and so on : because, being under the law's dominion, thy best works are not so good as it requires them to be ? Believe it, sirs, if you live and die out of Christ, without being actually united to him as the second Adam, the life-giving Spirit, and without coming under the covert of his atoning blood ; though you should do the utmost that any man on earth can do, in keeping the commands of God, you can never see the face of God in peace. If you should, from this moment, bid an eternal farewell to this world's joys, and all the affairs thereof; and henceforth busy yourselves with nothing but the salvation of your souls ; if you should go into some wilderness, live upon the grass of the field, and be com- panions to dragons and owls ; if you should retire to some dark cavern of the earth, and weep there for your sins, until you have wept yourselves blind, yea, wept out all the moisture of your body ; if you should confess with your tongue, until it cleave to the roof of your mouth ; pray, till your knees grow hard as horns; fast, till your body become a' skeleton; and after all this give it to be burnt ; the word is gone out of the Lord's mouth in righteousness, and cannot return ; that you shall perish forever, notwithstanding all this, as not being in Christ, John xiv. 6, " No man cometh unto the Father but by me." Acts iv. 12, " Neither is there salvation in any other." Mark xvi. 16, "He that believeth not, shall be damned." Objection. But God is a merciful God, and he knows that we are not able to answer these demands ; we hope therefore to be saved, if we do as well as we can, and keep the commands as well as we are able. Answer. 1. Though thou art able to do many things, thou art not able to do one thing right : thou canst do nothing acceptable to God, being out of Christ, John xv. 5, " Without me ye can do nothing." An unrenewed man, as thou art, can do nothing but sin ; as we have already proved. Thy best actions are sin, and so they increase thy debt to justice : how then can it be expected they should lessen it ? 2. Though God should offer to save men. upon condition that they did all MAN UNABLE TO RECOVER HIMSELF. 123 they could do, in obedience to his commands, yet we have reason to think, that those who should attempt it, would never be saved : for where is the man that does as well as he can ? Who sees not many false steps he has made, which he might have avoided ? There are so many things to be done, so many temptations to carry us out of the road of duty, and our nature is so very apt to be set on fire of hell, that we surely must fail, even in some point that is within the compass of our natural abilities. But, 3. Though thou shouldst do all that thou art able to do, in vain dost thou hope to be saved in that way. "V^hat word of God is this hope of thine founded on 1 It is neither founded on law nor gospel : therefore it is but a delusion. It is not founded on the gospel : for the gospel leads the soul out of itself, to Jesus Christ for all ; and it establishes the law, Rom. iii. 31. Whereas this hope of yours cannot be established, but on tho ruins of the law, which God will magnify and make honourable. Hence it appears, that it is not founded on the law neither. When God set Adam a working for happiness to himself, and his posterity, perfect obedience was the condition required of him ; and the curse was denounced in case of disobedience. The law being broken by him, he and his posterity were subjected to the penalty, for sin committed ; and withal, still bound to perfect obedience : for it is absurd to think, that man's sinning, and suffering for sin, should free him from his duty of obedience to his Creator. When Christ came in the room of the elect, to purchase their salvation, the terms were the same. Justice had the elect under arrest : if he is desirous to deliver them, the terms are known. He must satisfy for their sin, by suffering the punishment due to it ; he must do what they cannot do, to wit, obey the law perfectly ; and so fulfil all righteousness. Accord- ingly, all this he did, and so became, " the end of the law for righteousness, to every one that believeth." Rom. x. 4. And dost thou think that God will abate of these terms as to thee, when his own Son got no abatement of them 1 Expect it not, though thou shouldst beg it with tears of blood ; for if they prevailed, they must prevail against the truth, justice, and honour of God, Gal. iii. 10, " Cursed is every one that contin- ueth not in all things, which are written in the book of the law to do them." Ver. 12, " And the law is not of faith : but, the man that doeth them, shall live in them." It is true, ihat God is merciful : but cannot he be merciful, unless he save you in a way that is neither consistent with his law, nor his gospel ? Has not his goodness and mercy sufficiently appeared, in send- ing the Son of his love, to do " what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh 1" He has provided help for them that cannot help themselves : but thou, insensible of thine own weakness, wilt needs think to recover thyself by thine own 124 MAN UNABLE TO RECOVER HIM3ELF. works, while thou art no more able to do it than to remove moun- tains of brass out of their place. Wherefore I conclude, that thou art utterly unable to recover thyself, in the way of works, or by the law. O that thou wouldst conclude the same concerning thyself. II. Let us try next what the sinner can do to recover himself, in the way of the gospel. It may be thou thinkest, that thou canst not do all by thyself alone, yet Jesus Christ offering thee help, thou canst of thyself embrace it, and use it for thy recovery. But, O sinner, be convinced of thine absolute need of the grace of Christ : for truly there is help offered, but thou canst not accept it : there is a rope cast out to draw shipwrecked sinners to land : but alas ! they have no hands to catch hold of it. They are like infants exposed in the open field, that must starve, though their food be lying by them, unless one put it in their mouths. To convince natural men of this, let it be considered, First, That although Christ is offered in the gospel, yet they cannot believe in him. Saving faith is the faith of God's elect ; the special gift of God to them, wrought in them by his Spirit. Salvation is offered to them that will believe in Christ, but how can you believe ? John v. 44. It is offered to those that will come to Christ ; but " no man can come unto him except the Father draw him." It is offered to them that will look to him, as lifted on the pole of the gospel, Isa. xlv. 22 : but the natural man is spiritually blind, Rev. iii. 17 ; and as to the things of the Spirit of God, he cannot know them, for they are spiritually discerned, 1 Cor. ii. 14. Nay, whosoever will, he is welcome; let him come, Rev. xxii. 17, but there must be a day of power on the sinner, before he can be willing, Psal. ex. 3. Secondly, Man naturally has nothing wherewithal to improve, for his recovery, the help brought in by the gospel. He is cast away in a state of wrath ; and is bound hand and foot so that he cannot lay hold of the cords of love, thrown out to him in the gospel. The most cunning artificer cannot work without tools ; neither can the most skilful musician play well on an instrument that is out of tune. How can one believe, how can he repent, whose understanding is darkness, Eph. v. 8 ; whose heart is a stony heart, inflexible, insensible, Ezek. xxxvi. 26; whose affections are wholly disordered and distempered; who is averse to good, and bent to evil ? The arms of natural abilities are too short to reach supernatural help : hence those who most excel in them, are often most estranged from spiritual things, Matt. xi. 25, " Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent." Thirdly, Man cannot work a saving change on himself: but so changed he must be, else he can neither believe nor repent, nor ever see heaven. No action can be without a suitable principle. Believing, repenting, and the like, are the product MAN UNABLE TO RECOVER HIMSELF. 125 of the new nature; and can never be produced by the old corrupt nature. Now, what can the natural man do in this matter ? He must be regenerate ; begotten again unto a lively hope : but as the child cannot be active in his own generation, so a man cannot be active, but passive only, in his own re- generation. The heart is shut against Christ : man cannot open it; only God can do it by his grace, Acts xvi. 14. He is dead in sin: he must be quickened, raised out of his grave; who can do this but God himself? Eph. ii. 1 5. Nay, he must be " created in Christ Jesus, unto good works," Eph. ii. 10. These are works of omnipotency, and can be done by no less a power. Fourthly, Man, in his depraved state, is under an utter inability to do any thing truly good, as was cleared before at large : how then can he obey the gospel ? His nature is the very reverse of the gospel : how can he, of himself, fall in with that plan of salvation, and accept the offered remedy ? The cor- ruption of man's nature infallibly includes his utter inability to recover himself in any way, and whoso is convinced of the one, must needs admit the other ; for they stand and fall together. Were all the purchase of Christ offered to the unregenerate man, for one good thought, he cannot command it, 2 Cor. iii. 5, " Not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to think any thing as of ourselves." Were it offered on condition of a good word, yet, " how can ye, being evil, speak good things ?" Matt. xii. 35. Nay, were it left to yourselves, to choose what is easiest, Christ himself tells you, John xv. 5, " Without me, ye can do nothing." Lastly, The natural man cannot but resist the Lord's offer ing to help him ; yet that resistance is infallibly overcome in the elect, by converting grace. Can the stony heart but choose to resist the stroke 1 There is not only an inability, but an enmity and obstinacy in man's will by nature. God knows, O natural man, whether thou knowest it or not, that " thou art obstinate," and " thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass," Isa. xlviii. 4, and cannot be overcome, but by him, who hath " broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder." Hence, commonly speaking, there is such hard work, in converting of a sinner. Sometimes he seems to be caugnt in the net of the gospel ; yet, quickly he slips away again. The hook catches hold of him ; but he struggles, till getting free of it, he goes away with a bleeding wound. When good hopes are conceived of him, by those that travail in birth for the forming of Christ in him, there is oft times nothing brought forth but wind. The deceitful heart makes many a shift to avoid a Saviour, and cheat the man of eternal happiness. Thus the natural man lies sunk in a state of sin and wrath, utterly unable to recover himself. 11* 1^6 OBJECTIONS TO MANS INABILITY TO Objection 1. If we be under an utter inability to do any good, how can God require us to do it ? Answer. God making man upright, Eccl. vii. 29, gave him a power to do every thing that he should require of him : this power man lost by his own fault. We were bound to serve God, and do whatever he com- manded us, as being his creatures ; and also, we were under the superadded tie of a covenant, for that purpose. Now, we having, by our own fault, disabled ourselves, shall God lose his right of requiring our task, because we have thrown away the strength he gave us whereby to perform it? Has the creditor no right to require payment of his money, because the debtor has squandered it away, and is not able to pay him ? Truly, if God can require no more of us than we are able to do, we need no more to save us from wrath, but to make ourselves unable for every duty, and to incapacitate ourselves for serving God any manner of way, as profane men frequently do : and so the deeper a man is plunged in sin, he will be the more secure from wrath ; for where God can require no duty of us, we do not sin in omitting it ; and where there is no sin, there can be no wrath. As to what may be urged by the unhumbled soul, against the putting our stock in Adam's hand, the righteousness of that dispensation was cleared before. But moreover, the un- renewed man is daily throwing away the very remains of natu- ral abilities, that rational light and strength which are to be found amongst the ruins of mankind. Nay, further, he will not believe his own utter inability to help himself; so that out of his own mouth he must be condemned. Even those who make their natural impotency to good, a covert to their sloth, do, with others, delay the work of turning to God from time to time, and, under convictions, make large promises of reforma- tion, which afterwards they never regard, and delay their re- pentance to a death-bed, as if they could help themselves in a moment ; which shows them to be far from a due sense of their natural inability, whatever they pretend. Now, if God can require of men the duty they are not able to do, he can in justice punish them for their not doing it, not- withstanding their inability. If he has power to exact the debt of obedience, he has also power to cast the insolvent debtor into prison, for his not paying it. Further, though unregenerate men have no gracious abilities, yet they want not natural abili- ties, which, nevertheless, they will not improve. There are many things they can do, which they do not, they will not do them ; and therefore their damnation will be just. Nay, all their inability to do good is voluntary ; they will not come to Christ, John v. 40. They will not repent, they will die, Ezek. xviii. 51. So they will be justly condemned; because they will neither turn to God nor come to Christ ; but love their chains RECOVER HI3ISELF, ANSWERED. 127 better than their liberty, and darkness rather than light ; John iii. 19. Objection 2, Why do you then preach Christ to us, call us to come to him, to believe, repent, and use the means of sal- vation ? Answer. Because it is your duty so to do. It is your duty to accept of Christ, as he is offered in the gospel ; to repent of your sins, and to be holy in all manner of conver- sation : these things are commanded you of God ; and his com- mand, not your ability, is the measure of your duty. More- over, these calls and exhortations are the means that God is pleased to make use of, for converting his elect, and working grace in their hearts : to them, " faith cometh by hearing," Rom. x. 17, while they are as unable to help themselves as the rest of mankind are. Upon very good grounds may we, at the com- mand of God, who raises the dead, go to their graves and cry in his name, " Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light," Eph. v. 14. And seeing the elect are not to be known, and distinguished from others before conversion ; as the sun shines on the blind man's face, and the rain falls on the rocks as well as on the fruitful plains ; so we preach Christ to all, and shoot the arrow at a venture, which God himself directs, as he sees meet. Moreover, these calls and exhortations are not altogether in vain, even to those who are not converted by them. Such persons may be con- vinced, though they be not converted: although they be not sanctified by these means, yet they may be restrained by them, from running into that excess of wickedness, which otherwise they would arrive at. The means of grace serve, as it were, to embalm many dead souls, which are never quickened by them : though they do not restore them to life, yet they keep them from smelling so rank as otherwise they would do. Finally though you cannot recover yourselves, nor take hold of the saving help offered to you in the gospel ; yet, even by the power of nature, you may use the outward and ordinary means, whereby Christ communicates the benefits of redemption to ruined sin- ners, who are utterly unable to recover themselves out of the state of sin and wrath. You may and can, if you please, do many things that would set you in a fair way for help from the Lord Jesus Christ. You may go so far on, as not to be far from the kingdom of God, as the discreet scribe had done, Mark xii. 84, though, it should seem, he was destitute of supernatural abilities. Though you cannot cure yourselves, yet you may come to the pool, where many such diseased persons as you are, have been cured ; though you have none to put you into it, yet you may lie at the side of it : " Who knows but the Lord may return, and leave a blessing behind him 1" as in the case of the impotent man, recorded in John v. 5 8. I hope Satan does not chain you to your houses, nor stake you down in your fields OBJECTIONS TO MAN'S INABILITY TO on the Lord's day ; but you are at liberty, and can wait at the posts of wisdom's doors, if you will. When you come thither, he doth not beat drums at your ears, that you cannot hear what is said ; there is no force upon you, obliging you to apply all you hear to others.; you may apply to yourselves what belongs to your state and condition. When you go home, you are not fettered in your houses, where perhaps no religious discourse is to be heard ; but you may retire to some separate place, where you can meditate, and exercise your consciences with pertinent questions upon what you have heard. You are not possessed with a dumb devil, that you cannot get your mouths opened in prayer to God. You are not so driven out of your beds to your worldly business, and from your worldly business to your beds again, but you might, if you would, make some prayer to God upon the case of your perishing souls. You may examine yourselves as to the state of your souls, in a solemn manner, as in the presence of God ; you may discern that you have no grace, and that you are lost and undone without it ; and you may cry unto God for it. These things are within the compass of natural abilities, and may be practised where there is no grace. It must aggravate your guilt, that you will not be at so much pains about the state and case of your precious souls. If you do not what you can, you will be condemned, not only for your want of grace, but for your despising it. Objection 3. But all this is needless, seeing we are utterly unable to help ourselves out of the state of sin and wrath. An- swer. Give not place to that delusion, which puts asunder what God has joined, namely, the use of means, and a sense of our own impotency. If ever the Spirit of God graciously influence your souls, you will become thoroughly sensible of your absolute inability, and yet enter upon a vigorous use of means. You will do for yourselves, as if you were to do all ; and yet overlook ail you do, as if you had done nothing. Will you do nothing tor yourselves, because you cannot do all? Lay down no such impious conclusion against your own souls. Do what you can ; and, it may be, while you are doing what you can for yourselves, God will do for you what you cannot. " Understandest thou what thou readest 1" said Philip to the eunuch : " How can I," said he "except some man should guide me'.'" Acts viii. 30, 31. He could not understand the scripture he read, yet he could read it : he did what he could, he read ; and while he was reading, God sent him an interpreter. The Israelites were in a great strait at the Red Sea ; and how could they help them- selves, when on the one hand were mountains, and on the other the enemy's garrison ; when Pharaoh and his host were behind them, and the Red Sea before them ? What could they do ? " Speak unto the children of Israel," said the Lord to Moses, " that they go forward," Exod. xiv. 15. For what end should RECOVER HIMSELF, ANSWERED. 129 they go forward ? Can they make a passage to themselves through the sea ? No; but let them go forward, saith the Lord: though they cannot turn sea to dry land, yet they can go for- ward to the shore. So they did ; and when they did what they could, God did for them what they could not do. Question. Has God promised to convert and save them who, in the use of means, do what they can towards their own relief? Ansiver. We may not speak wickedly for God ; natural men being strangers to the covenant of promise, Eph. ii. 12, have no such promise made to them. Nevertheless they do not act rationally, unless they exert the powers they have, and do what they can. For, 1. It is possible this course may succeed with them. If you do what you can, it may be God will do for you what you cannot do for yourselves. This is sufficient to deter- mine a man in a matter of the utmost importance, such as this is, Acts viii. 22, " Pray God, if perhaps the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee." Joel ii. 14, " Who knoweth if he will return ?" If success may be, the trial should be. If, in a wreck at sea, all the sailors and passengers betake them- selves each to a broken board for safety ; and one of them should see all the rest perish, notwithstanding their utmost endeavour to save themselves, yet the very possibility of escaping by that means, would determine that one still to do his best with his board. Why then do not you reason with yourselves, as the four lepers did, who sat at the gate of Samaria? 2 Kings vii. 3, 4. Why do you not say, " If we sit still," not doing what we can, " we die ;" let us put it to a trial ; if we be saved, " we shall live :" if not, " we shall but die ?" 2. It is probable this course may succeed. God is good and merciful : he loves to surprise men with his grace, and is often " found of them . that sought him not," Isa. Ixv. 1. If you do this, you are so far in the road of your duty ; and you are using the means, which the Lord is wont to bless, for men's spiritual recovery : you lay yourselves in the way of the great Physician ; and so it is probable you may be healed. Lydia went, with others, to the place " where prayer was wont to be made ; and " the Lord opened her heart," Acts xvi. 13, 14. You plough and sow, though nobody can tell you for certain that you will get so much as your seed again : you use means for the recovery of your health, though you are not sure they will succeed. In these cases probability determines you ; and why not in this also ? Importunity, we see, does very much with men ; therefore pray, meditate, desire help of God ; be much at the throne of grace, supplicating for grace ; and do not faint. Though God regard you not, who in your present state are but one muss of sin, universally depraved, and vitiated in all the powers of your soul ; yet he may regard prayer, meditation, and the like means of his own appointment, and he may bless 130 OBJECTIONS TO MAN'S INABILITY TO, ETC. .hem to you. Wherefore if you will not do what you can, you are not only dead, but you declare yourselves unworthy of eternal life. To conclude Let the saints admire the freedom and power of grace, which came to them in their helpless condition, made their chains fall off, the iron gate to open to them, raised the fallen creatures, and brought them out of the state of sin and wrath, wherein they would have lain and perished, had not they been mercifully visited. Let the natural man be sensible of his utter inability to recover himself. Know that thou art without strength ; and cannot come to Christ, till thou be drawn. Thou art lost, and canst not help thyself. This may shake the foun- dation of thy hopes, who never saw thy absolute need of Christ and his grace, but thinkest to shift, for thyself by thy civility, morality, drowsy wishes and duties ; and by faith and repent- ance, which have sprung out of thy natural powers, without the power and efficacy of the grace of Christ. O be convinced of thy absolute need of Christ, and his overcoming grace ; believe thy utter inability to recover thyself; that so thou mayest be humbled, shaken out of thy self-confidence, and lie down in dust and ashes, groaning out thy miserable case before the Lord. A proper sense of thy natural impotency, the impotency of depraved human nature, would be a step towards a delivery. Thus far of man's natural state, the state of entire deprava- tion. STATE III. THE STATE OF GRACE, OR BEGUN RECOVERY. HEAD I. ON REGENERATION. Being bom again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideih for ever. 1 PETKR L 23. WE proceed now to the state of grace, the state of begun recovery of human nature, into which all that shall partake of eternal happiness are translated, sooner or later, while in this world. It is the result of a gracious change made upon those who shall inherit eternal life ; which change may be taken up in these two particulars : 1. In opposition to their natural real state, the state of corruption, there is a change made upon them in regeneration ; whereby their nature is changed. 2. In oppo- sition to their natural relative state, the state of wrath, there is a change made upon them, in their union with the Lord Jesus Christ, by which they are placed beyond the reach of condem- nation. These, therefore, namely, regeneration and union with Christ, I design to handle as the great and comprehensive changes on a sinner, bringing him into the state of grace. The first of these we have in the text ; together with the out- ward and ordinary means by which it is brought about. The apostle here, to excite the saints to the study of holiness and particularly of brotherly love, puts them in mind of their spirit- ual original. He tells them that they were born again ; and that of incorruptible seed, the word of God. This shows them to be brethren, partakers of the same new nature; which is the root from which holiness, and particularly brotherly love, springs. We are once born sinners : we must be born again, that we may be saints. The simple word signifies " to be begotten ;" and so it may be read, Matt. xi. 11; " to be con- ceived," Matt. i. 20 ; and " to be born," Matt. ii. 1. Accordingly, the compound word, used in the text, may be taken in its full latitude, the last idea presupposing the two former : so regenera- tion is a supernatural real change on the whole man, fitly compared to natural or corporal generation, as will afterwards appear. The ordinary means of regeneration, called the "seed," 131 132 OF THE NATURE OF REGENERATION. whereof the new creature is formed, is not corruptible seed. Ot such, indeed, our bodies are generated : but the spiritual seed, of which the new creature is generated, is incorruptible ; namely, " the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." The sound of the word of God passes, even as other sounds do ; but the word lasts, lives, and abides, in respect of its everlasting effects, on all upon whom it operates. This " word, which by the gospel is preached unto you," ver. 25, impregnated by the Spirit of God, is the means of regeneration : and by it are dead sinners raised to life. DOCTRINE. All men in the state of grace are born again. All gracious persons, namely such as are in a state of favour with God, and endowed with gracious qualities and dispositions, are regenerate persons. In discoursing on this subject, I shall show what regeneration is ; next, Why it is so called ; and then apply the doctrine. OP THE NATURE OF REGENERATION. I. For the better understanding of the nature of regeneration, take this along with you, in the first place, that as there are false conceptions in nature, so there are also in grace : by these many are deluded, mistaking some partial changes made upon them for this great and thorough change. To remove such mistakes, let these few things be considered : 1. Many call the Church their mother, whom God will not own to be his child- ren, Cant. i. 6, " My mother's children," that is, false brethren, " were angry with me." All that are baptized, are not born again. Simon was baptized, yet still "in the gall of bit- terness, and in the bond of iniquity," Acts viii. 13 23. Where Christianity is the religion of the country, many are called by the name of Christ, who have no more of him than the name: and no wonder, for the devil had his goats among Christ's sheep, in those places where but few professed the Christian religion, 1 John ii. 19, "They went out from us, but they were not of us." 2. Good education is not regeneration. Education may chain up men's lusts, but cannot change their hearts.. A wolf is still a ravenous beast, though it be in chains. Joash was very devout during the life of his good tutor Jehoia- da ; but afterwards he quickly showed what spirit he was of, by his sudden apostasy, 2 Chron. xxiv. 2 18. Good exam- ple is of mighty influence to change the outward man : but that change often goes off, when a man changes his company ; of which the world affords many sad instances. 3. A turning from open profanity, to civility and sobriety, falls short of this saving change. Some are, for a while, very loose, especially in their younger years ; but at length they reform, and leave their profane courses. Here is a change, yet only such as may OF THE NVTURE OF REGENERATION. 133 be found in men utterly void of the grace of God, and whose righteousness is so far from exceeding, that it does not come up to the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. 4. One may engage in all the outward duties of religion, and yet not be born again. Though lead be cast into various shapes, it re- mains still but a base metal. Men may escape the pollutions of the world, and yet be but dogs and swine, 2 Pet. ii. 20 22. All the external acts of religion are within the compass of natural abilities. Yea, hypocrites may have the counterfeit of all the graces of the Spirit : for we read of " true holiness," Eph. iv. 23 ; and " faith unfeigned," 1 Tim. i. 5 ; which shows us that there is a counterfeit holiness, and a feigned faith. 5. Men may advance to a great deal of strictness in their own way of religion, and yet be strangers to the new birth, Acts xxvi. 5, " After the most straitest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee." Nature has its own unsanctified strictness in religion. The Pharisees had so much of it, that they looked on Christ as little better than a mere libertine. A man whose conscience has been awakened, and who lives under the felt influence of the covenant of works, what will he not do that is within the com- pass of natural abilities 1 It is a truth, though it came out of a hellish mouth, that " skin for skin, all that a man hath will he give for his life." Job ii. 4. 6. A person may have sharp soul-exercises and pangs, and yet die in the birth. Many " have been in pain," that have but, as it were, " brought forth wind." There may be sore pangs and throes of conscience, which turn to nothing at last. Pharaoh and Simon Magus had such con- victions, as made them desire the prayers of others for them. Judas repented himself; and under terrors of conscience, gave back his ill-gotten pieces of silver. All is not gold that glitters. Trees may blossom fairly in the spring, on which no fruit is to be found in the harvest : and some have sharp soul-exercises, which are nothing but foretastes of hell. The new birth, however in appearance hopefully begun, may be marred two ways. First, Some, like Zarah, Gen. xxxviii. 28, 29, are brought to the birth, but go back again. They have sharp convictions for a while ; but these go off, and they become as careless about their salvation, and as profane as ever ; and usually worse than ever ; " their last state is worse than their first," Matt. xii. 45. They get awakening grace, but not con- verting grace ; and that goes off by degrees, as the light of the declining day, till it issue in midnight darkness. Secondly, Some, like Ishmael, come forth too soon ; they are born before the time of the promise, Gen. xvi. 2 ; compare Gal. iv. 22, &c. They take up with a mere law-work, and stay not till the time of the promise of the gospel. They snatch at consolation, not waiting till it be given them ; and foolishly draw their comfort from the law that wounded them. They apply the healing 12 134 OF THE NATURE OP REGENERATION. plaster to themselves, before their wound be sufficiently searched. The law, that rigorous husband, severely beats them, and throws in curses and vengeance upon their souls ; then they fall to reforming, praying, mourning, promising, and vowing, till this ghost be laid ; which done, they fall asleep again in the arms of the law : but they are never shaken out of themselves and their own righteousness, nor brought forward to Jesus Christ. Lastly, There may be a wonderful moving of the affections, in souls that are not at all touched with regenerating grace. Where there is no grace, there may, notwithstanding, be a flood of tears, as in Esau, " who found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears," Heb. xii. 17. There may be great flashes of joy ; as in the hearers of the word, represented in the parable by the stony ground, who "anon with joy receive it," Matt. xiii. 20. There may also be great desires after good things, and great delight in them too ; as in those hypocrites described in Isa. Iviii. 2, " Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways : they take delight in approaching to God." See how high they may sometimes stand, who yet fall away, Heb. vi. 4-6. They may be " enlightened, taste of the heavenly gift," be " partakers of the Holy Ghost, taste the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come." Common operations of the Divine Spirit, like a land flood, make a strange turning of things upside down : but when they are over, all runs again in the ordinary channel. All these things may be, where the sanctifying Spirit of Christ never rests upon the soul, but the stony heart still remains ; and in that case these affections cannot but wither, because they have no root. But regeneration is a real thorough change, whereby the man is made a new creature, 2 Cor. v. 17. The Lord God makes the creature a new creature, as the goldsmith melts down the vessel of dishonour, and makes it a vessel of honour. Man is, in respect of his spiritual state, altogether disjointed by the fall ; every faculty of the soul is, as it were, dislocated : in regenera- tion the Lord loosens every joint, and sets it right again. Now this change made in regeneration, is, 1. A change of qualities or dispositions : it is not a change of the substance, but of the qualities of the soul. Vicious qualities are removed, and the contrary dispositions are brought in, in their room. " The old man is put off," Eph. iv. 22 ; " the new man put on," ver. 24. Man lost none of the rational faculties of his soul by sin : he had an understanding still, but it was darkened ; he had still a will, but it was contrary to the will of God. So in regeneration, there is not a new substance created, but new qualities are infused ; light instead of darkness, right- eousness instead of unrighteousness. 2. It is a supernatural change ; he that is born again, is bom of the Spirit, John iii. 5. Great changes may be made, by the OF TILE NATURE OF REGENERATION. 135 power of nature, especially when assisted by external revelation. Nature may be so elevated by the common influences of the Spirit, that a person may thereby be turned into another man, as Saul was, 1 Sam. x. 6, who yet never becomes a new man. But in regeneration, nature itself is changed, and we become partakers of the Divine nature ; and this must needs be a super- natural change. How can we, that are dead in trespasses and sins, renew ourselves, more than a dead man can raise himself out of his grave ? VVho but the sanctifying Spirit of Christ can form Christ in a soul, changing it into the same image ? Who but the Spirit of sanctification can give the new heart ? Well may we say, when we see a man thus changed, " This is the finger of God." 3. It is a change into the likeness of God, 2 Cor. iii. 18. " We beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image." Every thing that generates, generates its like ; the child bears the image of the parent ; and they that are born of God, bear God's image. Man aspiring to be as God, made himself like the devil. In his natural state he resembles the devil, as a child doth his father, John viii. 44, " Ye are of your father the devil." But when this happy change comes, that image of Satan is defaced, and the image of God is restored. Christ himself, who is the brightness of his Father's glory, is the pattern after which the new creature is made, Rom. viii. 29, " For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate, to be conformed to the image of his Son." Hence he is said to be formed in the regenerate, Gal. iv. 19. 4. It is an universal change ; "all things become new," 2 Cor. v. 17. It is a blessed leaven, that leavens the whole lump, the whole spirit, and soul, and body. Original sin infects the whole man ; and regenerating grace, which is the salve, goes as far as the sore. This fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness ; goodness of the mind, goodness of the will, goodness of the affections, goodness of the whole man. He gets not only a new head, to know religion, or a new tongue, to talk of it ; but a new heart, to love and embrace it in the whole of his conversa- tion. When the Lord opens the sluice of grace, on the soul's new birth-day, the waters run through the whole man to purify and make him fruitful. In those natural changes spoken of before, they are, as it were, pieces of new cloth put into an old garment ; a new life sewed to an old heart : but the gracious change is a thorough change ; a change both of heart and life. 5. Yet, though every part of the man is renewed, there is no part of him perfectly renewed. As an infant has all the parts of a man, but none of them come to a perfect growth ; so regeneration brings a perfection of parts, to be brought for- ward in the gradual advances of sanctification, 1 Pet. ii. 2, " As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye 136 THE MIND ILLUMINATED. may grow thereby." Although in regeneration, there is heavenly light let into the mind, yet there is still some darkness there : though the will is renewed, it is not perfectly renewed : there is still some of the old inclination to sin remaining : and thus it will be, till that which is in part be done away, and the light of glory come. Adam was created at his full stature ; but they that are born, must have their time to grow up ; so those that are born again, come forth into the new world of grace, as new-born babes. Adam being created upright, was at the same time perfectly righteous, without the least mixture of sinful imperfection. Lastly, Nevertheless, it is a lasting change which never goes off. The seed is incorruptible, says the text ; and so is the crea- ture that is formed of it. The life given in regeneration, whatever decays it may fall under, can never be utterly lost. " His seed remaineth in him," who "is born of God," 1 John iii. 9. Though the branches should be cut down, the root shall abide in the earth, and being watered with the dew of heaven, shall sprout again : for " the root of the righteous shall not be moved," Prov. xii. 3. But to come to particulars : First, In regeneration the mind is savingly enlightened. There is a light let into the understanding ; so that they who were " sometime darkness, are now light in the Lord," Eph. v. 8. The beams of the light of life, make their way into the dark dungeon of the heart ; then the night is over, and the morning light has come, which will shine more and more unto the perfect day. Now the man is illuminated, 1. In the knowledge of God. He has far other thoughts of God than he ever had before, Hos. ii. 20, " I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord." The Spirit of the Lord brings him back to this question, " What is God ?" and catechizes him anew upon that grand point, so that he is made to say, " I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear ; but now mine eye seeth thee," Job xlii. 5. The spot- less purity of God, his exact justice, his all-sufficiency, and other glorious perfections revealed in his word, are by this new light discovered to the soul, with a plainness and certainty, that doth as far exceed the knowledge which it had of these things before, as ocular demonstration exceeds common report. For now he sees what he only heard of before. 2. He is enlightened in the knowledge of sin. He has dif- ferent thoughts of it than he was wont to have. Formerly his sight could not pierce through the cover Satan laid over it : but now the Spirit of God removes it, wipes off the paint and var- nish ; so he sees it in its natural colours, as the worst of evils, exceedingly sinful, Rom. vii. 13. O what deformed monsters do formerly beloved lusts appear ! Were they right eyes, he pluck them out ; were they right hands, he would consent THE MIN1> ILLUMINATED. to their being cut off. He sees how offensive sin is to God, how destructive it is to the soul ; and calls himself a fool, for fighting so long against the .Lord, and harbouring that destroyer as a bosom friend. 3. He is instructed in the knowledge of himself. Regenerat- ing grace brings the prodigal to himself, Luke xv. 17, and makes men full of eyes within, knowing every one the plague of his own heart. The mind being savingly enlightened, the man sees how desperately corrupt his nature is ; what enmity against God, and his holy law, has long lodged there ; so that his soul loathes itself. No open sepulchre, no puddle so vile and loathsome, in his eyes, as himself, Ezek. xxxvi. 31, "Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight." He is no worse than he was before : but the sun is shining ; and so those pollutions are seen, which he could not discern, when there was no dawning in him; as the word is, Isa. viii. 20, while as yet there was no breaking of the day of grace with him. 4. He is enlightened in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, 1 Cor. i. 23, 24, " But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks, foolishness : but unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." The truth is, unregenerate men, though capable of preaching Christ, have not, properly speaking, the knowledge of him, but only an opinion, a good opinion, of him : as one has of many controverted points of doc- trine, wherein he is far from certainty. As when you meet with a stranger on the road, who behaves himself discreetly, you conceive a good opinion of him, and therefore willingly converse with him ; but yet you will not commit your money to him : because, though you have a good opinion of the man, he is a stranger to you, you do not know him : so may they think well of Christ : but they will never commit themselves to him, seeing they know him not. But saving illumination carries the soul beyond opinion, to the certain knowledge of Christ and his excellency, 1 Thess. i. 5, " For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." The light of grace thus discovers the suitableness of the mystery of Christ, to the divine perfections, and to the sinner's case. Hence the regenerate admire the glo- rious plan of salvation, through Christ crucified ; lay their whole weight upon it, and heartily acquiesce therein ; for whatever he be to others, he is to them, " Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." But unrenewed men, not seeing this, are offended in him : they will not venture their souls in that bot- tom, but betake themselves to the broken boards of their own righteousness. The same light convincingly discovers a super- 12* 138 THE MIND ILLUMINATED. lative worth, a transcendent glory and excellency in Christ, which darken all created excellencies, as the rising sun makes the stars hide their heads : it engages " the merchantman to sell all that he hath, to buy the one pearl of great price," Matt. xiii. 45, 46 ; makes the soul heartily content to take Christ for all, and instead of all. An unskilful merchant, to whom one offers a pearl of great price, for all his petty wares, dares not venture on the bargain ; for though he thinks that one pearl may be more worth than all he has, yet he is not sure of it : but when a jew- eller comes to him, and assures him it is worth double all his wares, he then greedily embraces the bargain, and cheerfully parts with all he has, for that pearl. Finally, this illumination in the knowledge of Christ, convincingly discovers to men a fulness in him, sufficient for the supply of all their wants, enough to satisfy the boundless desires of an immortal soul. And they are persuaded that such fulness is in him, and that, in order to be communicated : they depend upon it, as a certain truth ; and therefore their souls take up their eternal rest in him. 5. The man is instructed in the knowledge of the vanity of the world, Psa. cxix. 96, " I have seen an end of all perfec- tion." Regenerating grace elevates the soul, translates it into the spiritual world, from whence this earth cannot but appear a little, yea, a very little thing ; even as heaven appeared be- fore, while the soul was grovelling in the earth. Grace brings a man into a new world, where this world is reputed but a stage of vanity, an howling wilderness, a valley of tears. God has hung the sign of vanity at the door of all created enjoy- ments : yet how do men throng into the house, calling and looking for somewhat that is satisfying ; even after it has been a thousand times told them, that there is no such thing in it, it is not to be got there, Isa. Ivii. 10, " Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way ; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope." Why are men so foolish ? The truth of the matter lies here, they do not see by the light of grace, they do not spiritually discern that sight of vanity. They have often indeed made a rational dis- covery of it : but can that truly wean the heart from the world ? Nay, no more than painted fire can burn off the prisoner's bands. But the light of grace is the light of life, powerful and efficacious. Lastly, To sum up all in one word, in regeneration the mind is enlightened in the knowledge of spiritual things, 1 John ii. 20, " Ye have an unction from the holy One," that is, from Jesus Christ, Rev. iii. 18. It is an allusion to the sanctuary, whence the holy oil was brought to anoint the priests ; " and ye know all things," viz. necessary to salvation. Though men be not book-learned, if they are born again, they are Spirit- learned ; for all such are taught of God, John vi. 45. The Spirit of regeneration teaches them what they knew not before ; and what they knew, by the ear only, he teaches them over THE WILL RENEWED. again as by the eye. The light of grace is an overcoming light, determining men to assent to divine truths, on the mere testimony of God. It is no easy thing for the mind of man to acquiesce in divine revelation. Many pretend great respect to the Scriptures ; whom, nevertheless, the clear Scripture testi- mony will not divorce from their pre-conceived opinions. But this illumination will make men's minds run, as willing captives, after Christ's chariot wheels, which they are ready to allow to drive over, and " cast down" their " imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God," 2 Cor. x. 5. It will bring them to receive the kingdom of God as a little child," Mark x. 15, who thinks he has suffi- cient ground to believe any thing, if his father do but say it is so. Secondly, The will is renewed. The Lord takes away the stony heart, and gives a heart of flesh, Ezek. xxxvi. 26, and so of stones raises up children to Abraham. Regenerating grace is powerful and efficacious, and gives the will a new turn. It does not indeed force it ; but sweetly, yet powerfully draws it, so that his people are willing in the day of his power, Psa. ex. 3. There is heavenly oratory in the Mediator's lips to per- suade sinners, Psa. xlv. 2, " Grace is poured into thy lips." There are cords of a man, and bands of love in his hands, to draw them after him, Hos. xi. 4. Love makes a net for elect souls, which will infallibly catch them, and bring them to land. The cords of Christ's love are strong cords : and they need to be so, for every sinner is heavier than a mountain of brass ; and Satan, together with the heart itself, draws the contrary way. But love is strong as death ; and the Lord's love to the soul he died for, is the strongest love ; which acts so powerfully, that it must come off victorious. 1. The will is cured of its utter inability to will what is good. While the opening of the prison, to them that are bound, is proclaimed in the gospel ; the Spirit of God comes and opens the prison door, goes to the prisoner, and by the power of his grace, makes his chains fall off; breaks the bonds of iniquity, wherewith he was held in sin, so that he could neither will nor do any thing truly good ; brings him forth into a large place, " working in him both to will and to do of his good pleasure," Phil. ii. 13. Then it is that the soul, that was fixed to the earth, can move heavenward ; the withered hand is restored, and can be stretched out. 2. There is wrought in the will a fixed aversion to evil. In regeneration a man gets a new spirit put within him, Ezek. xxxvi. 26 ; and that spirit lusts against the flesh, Gal. v. 17. The sweet morsel of sin, so greedily swallowed down, he now loathes, and would fain be rid of it, even as willingly as one who had drunk a cup of poison would throw it up again. When 140 THE WILL RENEWED. the spring is stopped, the mud lies in the well unmoved : but when once the spring is cleared, the waters springing up, will work away the mud by degrees. Even so, while a man con- tinues in an unregenerate state, sin lies at ease in the heart ; but as soon as the Lord strikes the rocky heart with the rod of his strength, in the day of conversion, grace is "in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life," John iv. 14, work- ing away natural corruption, and gradually purifying the heart, Acts xv. 9. The renewed will rises up against sin, strikes at the root thereof, and the branches too. Lusts are now grievous, and the soul endeavours to starve them ; the corrupt nature is the source of all evil, and therefore the soul will be often laying it before the great Physician. O what sorrow, shame, and self- loathing fill the heart, in the day that grace makes its trium- phant entrance into it ! For now the madman is come to him- self, and the remembrance of his follies cannot but cut him to the heart. Lastly, The will is endowed with an inclination, bent, and propensity to good. In its depraved state it lay quite another way, being prone and bent to evil only ; but now, by the ope- ration of the omnipotent, all-conquering arm, it is drawn from evil to good, and gets another turn. As the former was natu- ral, so this is natural too, in regard to the new nature given in regeneration, which has its holy lustings, as well as the corrupt nature has its sinful lustings, Gal. v. 17. The will, as re- newed, inclines and points towards God and godliness. When God made man, his will, in respect of its intention, was di- rected towards God, as his chief end ; in respect of its choice, it pointed towards that which God willed. When man unmade himself, his will was framed to the very reverse hereof; he made himself his chief end, and his own will his law. But when man is new made, in regeneration, grace rectifies this disorder in some measure, though not perfectly ; because we are but renewed in part, while in this world. It brings back the sinner out of himself, to God, as his chief end, Psa. Ixxiii. 25, " Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee," Phil. i. 21. " For to me to live is Christ." It makes him to deny himself, and whatever way he turns, to point habitually towards God, who is the centre of the gracious soul, its home, its " dwelling place in all genera- tions," Psal. xc. 1. By regenerating grace, the will is brought into a conformity to the will of God. It is conformed to his preceptive will, being endowed with holy inclinations, agreeable to every one of his commands. The whole law ijs impressed on the gracious soul : every part of it is written on the re- newed heart. Although remaining corruption makes such blots in the writing, that oft-times the man himself cannot read it, yet he that wrote it can read it at all times ; it is never quite THE WILL RENEWED. 141 blotted out, nor can be. What he has written, he has written ; and it shall stand : " For this is the covenant I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts," Heb. viii. 10. It is a covenant of salt, a perpetual covenant. It is also conformed to his providential will ; so that the man would no more be master of his own process, nor carve out his lot for himself. He learns to say from his heart, " The will of the Lord be done ; he shall choose our inheritance for us," Psal. Ixvii. 4. Thus the will is disposed to fall in with those things which, in its depraved state, it could never be reconciled to. Particularly, 1. The soul is reconciled to the covenant of peace. The Lord God proposes a covenant of peace to sinners ; a covenant which he himself has framed, and registered in the Bible : but they are not pleased with it. Nay, an unregenerate heart cannot be pleased with it. Were it put into their hands, to frame it according to their minds, they would blot many things out of it, which God has put in, and put in many things which God has kept out. But the renewed heart is entirely satisfied with the covenant, 2 Sam. xxiii. 5, " He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure; this is all my salvation, and all my desire." Though the covenant could not be brought down to their depraved will, their will is, by grace, brought up to the covenant : they are well pleased with it ; there is nothing in it, which they would have out ; nor is any thing left out of it which they would have in. 2. The will is disposed to receive Christ Jesus the Lord. The soul is content to submit to him. Regenerating grace under- mines, and brings down the towering imaginations of the heart, raised up against its rightful Lord : it breaks the iron sinew, which kept the sinner from bowing to him ; and disposes him to be no more stiff-necked, but to yield. He is willing to have on the yoke of Christ's commands, to take up the cross, and to follow him. He is content to take Christ on any terms, Psal. ex. 3. " Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." The mind being savingly enlightened, and the will renewed, the sinner is thereby determined and enabled to answer the gospel call. So the chief work in regeneration is done ; the fort of the heart is taken ; there is room made for the Lord Jesus Christ, in the inmost parts of the soul ; the inner door of the will being now opened to him, as well as the outer door of the understanding. In one word, Christ is passively received into the heart ; he is come into the soul, by his quickening Spirit, whereby spiritual life is given to the man, who in himself was dead in sin. His first vital act we may conceive to be an active receiving of Jesus Christ, discerned in his glorious excellencies ; that is, a believing on him, a closing with him, as discerned, offered and exhibited in the word of his grace, the glorious 142 THE AFIECTIONS CHANGED. gospel : the immediate effect of which is union with him, John i. 12, 13, " To as many as received him, to them gave he power," or privilege, " to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name : which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Eph. iii. 17, " That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." Christ having taken the heart by storm, and triumphantly en- tered into it, in regeneration, the soul by faith, yields itself to him, as it is expressed, 2 Chron. xxx. 8. Thus, this glorious King, who came into the heart, by his Spirit, dwells in it by faith. The soul being drawn, runs ; and being effectually called, comes. Thirdly, In regeneration there is a happy change made on the affections ; they are both rectified and regulated. 1. This change rectifies the affections, placing them on suitable objects. 2 Thess. iii. 5, " The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God." The regenerate man's desires are rectified ; they are set on God himself, and the things above. He, who before cried with the world, " Who will show us any good ?" has changed his note, and says, " Lord, lift up the light of thy countenance upon us," Psal. iv. 6. Before, he saw no beauty in Christ, for which he was to be desired ; but now he is all desires, he is altogether lovely, Cant. v. 16. The main stream of his desires is turned to run towards God ; for there is the one thing he desireth, Psal. xxvii. 4. He desires to be holy, as well as to be happy ; and rather to be gracious than great. His hopes, which before were low, and staked down to things on earth, are now raised, and set on the glory which is to be revealed. He entertains the hope of eternal life, founded on the word of promise, Tit. i. 2. Which hope he has, as an anchor of the soul, fixing the heart under trials, Heb. vi. 19. It puts him upon purifying himself, even as God is pure, John iii. 3. For he is begotten again unto a lively hope, 1 Pet. i. 3. His love is raised, and set on God himself, Psal. xviii. 1 ; on his holy law, Psal. cxix. 97. Though it strike against his most beloved lust, he says, " the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good," Rom. vii. 12. He loves the ordi- nances of God, Psal. Ixxxiv. 1, " How amiable are thy taber- nacles, O Lord of hosts !" Being passed from death unto life, he loves the brethren, 1 John iii. 14 ; the people of God, as they are called, 1 Pet. ii. 10. He loves God for himself; and what is God's, for his sake. Yea, as being a child of God, he loves his own enemies. His heavenly Father is compassionate and benevolent : " He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good ; and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust :" therefore he is in like manner disposed, Matt. v. 44. 45. His hatred is turned against sin, in himself and others, Psal. ci. 3, ' I hate the work of them that turn aside, it shall not cleave to THE AFFECTIONS CHANCED. 143 me." He groans under the body of it, and longs for deliverance, Rom. vii. 24, " O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?" His joys and delights are in God the Lord, in the light of his countenance, in his law, and in his people, because they are like him. Sin is what he chiefly fears : it is a fountain of sorrow to him now, though formerly a spring of pleasure. 2. It regulates the affections placed on suitable objects. Our affections, when placed on the creature, are naturally exorbitant : when we joy in it, we are apt to overjoy ; and when we sorrow, we are ready to sorrow over much : but grace bridles these affections, clips their wings, and keeps them within bounds, that they overflow not all their banks. It makes a man " hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children : yea, and his own life also," comparatively ; that is, to love them less than he loves God, Luke xiv. 26. It also sanctifies lawful affections ; bringing them forth from right principles, and directing them to right ends. There may be unholy desires after Christ and his grace ; as when men desire Christ, not from any love to him, but merely out of love to themselves. " Give us of your oil," said the foolish virgins, " for our lamps are gone out," Matt. xxv. 8. There may be an unsanctified sorrow for sin : as when one sor- rows for it, not because it is displeasing to God, but only because of the wrath annexed to it, as did Pharaoh, Judas, and others. So a man may love his father and mother, from mere natural principles, without any respect to the command of God binding him thereto. But grace sanctifies the affections, in such cases, making them to run in a new channel of love to God, respect to his commands, and regard to his glory. Again, grace raises the affections where they are too low. It gives the chief seat in them to God, and pulls down all other rivals, whether persons or things, making them lie at his feet. Psal. Ixxiii. 25, " Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee." He is loved for himself, and other per- sons and things for his sake. What is lovely in them, to the renewed heart, is some ray of the divine goodness appearing in them : for unto gracious souls they shine only by borrowed light. This accounts for the saints loving all men ; and yet hating those that hate God, and contemning the wicked as vile persons. They hate and contemn them for their wicked ness ; there is nothing of God in that, and therefore nothing lovely or honourable in it : but they love them for their com- mendable qualities or perfections, whether natural or moral , because in whomsoever these are, they are from God, and can be traced to him as their fountain. Finally, regenerating grace sets the affections so firmly on God, that the man is disposed, at God's command, to quit his hold of every thing else, in order to keep his hold of Christ ; to hate father and mother, in 144 THE CONSCIENCE RENEWED. comparison with Christ, Luke xiv. 26. It makes even lawful enjoyments, like Joseph's mantle, to hang loose about a man that he may quit them, when he is in hazard to be ensnared by holding them. If the stream of our affections has never been thus turned, we are doubtless, going down the stream into the pit. If " the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life," have the throne in our hearts, which should be possessed by the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; if we never had so much love to God as to ourselves ; if sin has been somewhat bitter to us, but never so bitter as suffering, never so bitter as the pain of being weaned from it ; truly we are strangers to this saving change. For grace turns the affections upside down, whenever it comes into the heart. Fourthly, The conscience is renewed. As a new light is set up in the soul, in regeneration, conscience is enlightened, in- structed, and informed. That candle of the Lord, Prov. xx. 27, is now snuffed and brightened ; so that it shines, and sends forth its light into the most retired corners of the heart ; discovering sins which the soul was not aware of before : and, in a special manner, discovering the corruption or depravity of nature, that seed and spawn, whence all actual sins proceed. This produces the new complaint, Rom. vii. 24, " O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death !" Conscience, which lay sleeping in the man's bosom before, is now awakened, and makes its voice to be heard through the whole soul ; there- fore there is no more rest for him in the sluggard's bed ; he must get up and be doing, a.rise, " haste, and escape for his life." It powerfully incites to obedience, even in the most spiritual acts, which lay not within the view of the natural conscience ; and powerfully restrains from sin, even from those sins which do not lie open to the observation of the world. It urges the sovereign authority of God, to which the heart is now reconciled, and which it willingly acknowledges : and so it engages the man to his duty, whatever be the hazard from the world ; for it fills the heart so with the fear of God, that the force of the fear of man is broken. This has engaged many to put their life in their hand, and follow the cause of religion, which they once contemned, and resolutely walk in the path they formerly abhorred, Gal. i. 23, " He which persecuted us in times past, now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed." Guilt now makes the conscience smart. It has bitter remorse for sins past, which fills the soul with anxiety, sorrow and self-loathing. And every new reflection on these sins is apt to affect, and make its wounds bleed afresh with regret. It is made tender, in point of sin and duty, for the time to come : being once burnt, it dreads the fire, and fears to break the hedge where it was formerly bit by the serpent. Finally, the renewed conscience drives the THE MEMORY BETTERED. 145 sinner to Jesus Christ, as the only Physician that can draw out the sting of guilt ; and whose blood alone can purge the conscience from dead works, Heb. ix. 14, refusing all ease offered to it from any other hand. This is an evidence that the conscience is not only fired, as it may be in an unregenerate state, but oiled also, with regenerating grace. Fifthly, As the memory wanted not its share of depravity, it is also bettered by regenerating grace. The memory is weak- ened, with respect to the things that are not worth their room therein ; and men are taught to forget injuries, and drop their resentments, Matt. v. 44, 45, " Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you that ye may be," that is, appear to be, " the children of your Father which is in heaven." It is strengthened for spiritual things. We have Solomon's receipt for an ill memory, Prov. iii. 1, "My son," says he, " forget not my law." But how shall it be kept in mind 1 " Let thine heart keep my commandments." Grace makes a heart-memory, even where there is no good head- memory, Psal. cxix. 11, " Thy word have I hid in mine heart." The heart, truly touched with the powerful sweetness of truth, will help the memory to retain what is so relished. If divine truths made deeper impressions on our hearts, they would impress themselves with more force on our memories, Psal. cxix. 93, " I will never forget thy precepts, for with them thou hast quickened me." Grace sanctifies the memory. Many have large, but unsanctified memories, which serve only to gather knowledge whereby to aggravate their condemnation : but the renewed memory serves to " remember his command- ments to do them," Psal. ciii. 18. It is a sacred storehouse, from whence a Christian is furnished in his way to Zion ; for faith and hope are often supplied out of it, in a dark hour. It is the storehouse of former experiences ; and these are the believer's way-marks, by noticing of which he comes to know where he is, even in a dark time. Psal. xlii. 6, " O my God, my soul is cast down within me : therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan," &c. It also helps the soul to godly sorrow and self-loathing, presenting old guilt anew before the conscience, and making it bleed afresh, though the sin be already pardoned ; Psal. xxv. 7, " Remember not the sins of my youth." Where unpardoned guilt is lying on the sleeping conscience, it is oflen employed to bring in a word, which, in a moment, sets the whole soul on the stir ; as, when " Peter remembered the words of Jesus he went out and wept bitterly," Matt. xxvi. 75. The word of God, laid up in a sanctified memory, serves a man to resist temptations, puts the sword in his hand against his spiritual enemies, and is a light to direct his steps in the way of religion and right- eousness. 13 146 A CHANGE ON THE BODY AND CONVERSATION. Sixthly, There is a change made on the body, and the members thereof, in respect of their use ; they are consecrated to the Lord. Even " the body is for the Lord," 1 Cor. vi. 13. It is "the temple of the Holy Ghost," ver 19. The members thereof, that were formerly " instruments of unright- eousness unto sin," become " instruments of righteousness unto God," Rom. vi. 13; "servants to righteousness unto holiness," ver. 19. The eye that conveyed sinful imagina- tions into the heart, is under a covenant, Job xxxi. 1, to do so no more ; but to serve the soul, in viewing the works, and reading the word of God. The ear, that had often been death's porter, to let in sin, is turned to be the gate of life, by which the word of life enters the soul. The tongue, that set on fire the whole course of nature, is restored to the office it was de- signed for by the Creator; namely, to be an instrument of glorifying him, and setting forth his praise. In a word, the whole man is for God, in soul and body, which by this blessed change are made his. Lastly, This gracious change shines forth in the conversation. Even the outward man is renewed. A new heart makes new- ness of life. When " the King's daughter is all glorious within, her clothing is of wrought gold," Psal. xlv. 13. "The single eye " makes " the whole body full of light," Matt, vi, 22. This change will appear in every part of a man's conversation ; par- ticularly in the following things ; 1. In the change of his company. Formerly, he despised the company of the saints, but now they are " the excellent, in whom is all his delight," Psa. xvi. 3, " I am a companion of all that fear thee," says the royal Psalmist, Psa. cxix. 63. A renewed man joins himself with the saints ; for he and they are like minded, in that which is their main work and busi- ness ; they have all one new nature ; they are travelling to Im- manuel's land, and converse together in the language of Ca- naan. In vain do men pretend to religion, while ungodly com- pany is their choice ; for " a companion of fools shall be de- stroyed," Prov. xiii. 20. Religion will make a man shy of throwing himself into an ungodly family, or any unnecessary familiarity with wicked men; as one that is clean will beware of going into an infected house. 2. In his relative capacity, he will be a new man. Grace makes men gracious in their several relations, and naturally leads them to the conscientious performance of relative duties. It does not only make good men and good women, but makes good subjects, good husbands, good wives, children, servants, and, in a word, good relatives in the church, commonwealth, and family. It is a just exception made against the religion of many, namely, that they are bad relatives, they are ill husbands, wives, masters, servants, &c. How can we prove ourselves to A CHANGE IN THE CONVERSATION. 147 be new creatures, if we be just such as we were before, in our several relations ? 2 Cor. v. 17, " Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature : old things are passed away ; behold, all things are become new." Real godliness will gain a testi- mony to a man, from the consciences of his nearest relations, though they know more of his sinful infirmities than others do ; as we see in the case, 2 Kings iv. 2, " Thy servant, my hus- band, is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant did fear tho Lord." 3. In the way of his following his worldly business, there is a great change. It appears to be no more his all, as it was be- fore. Though saints apply themselves to worldly business, as well as others, yet their hearts are not swallowed up in it. It is evident that they are carrying on a trade with heaven, as well as a trade with earth, Phil. iii. 20, " For our conversation is in heaven." They go about their employment in the world, as a duty laid upon them by the Lord of all, doing their lawful busi- ness as the will of God, Eph. vi. 7, working, because he has said, " Thou shall not steal." 4. They have a special concern for the advancement of the kingdom of Christ in the world : they espouse the interests of religion, and " prefer Jerusalem above their chief joy," Psa. cxxxvii. 6. How privately soever they live, grace gives them a public spirit, which will concern itself in the ark and work of God, in the gospel of God, and in the people of God, even in those of them whom they never saw. As children of God, they naturally care for these things. They have a new concern for the spiritual good of others : no sooner do they taste of the power of grace themselves, but they are inclined to set up to be agents for Christ and holiness in the world ; as appears in the case of the woman of Samaria, who, when Christ had manifested him- self to her, " went her way into the city, and saith unto the men, Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did : is not this the Christ?" John iv. 28, 29. They have seen and felt the evil of sin, and therefore pity the world lying in wick- edness. They would fain pluck the brands out of the fire, re- membering that they themselves were plucked out of it. They labour to commend religion to others, both by word and exam- ple ; and rather deny themselves their liberty in indifferent things, than, by the uncharitable use of it, destroy others, 1 Cor. vhi. 13, " Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend. I will eat no flesh while the woild standeth, lest I make mj brother to offend." 5. In their use of lawful comforts, there is a great cnange. They rest not in them, as their end ; but use them as means to help them in their way. They draw their satisfaction from the higher springs, even while the lower springs are running. Thus Hannah, having obtained a son, rejoiced not so much in the 148 RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN NATURAL gift, as in the giver, 1 Sam. ii. 1, "And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord." Yea, when the comforts of life are gone, they can subsist without them, and " rejoice in the Lord, although the fig tree do not blossom," Hab. iii. 17, 18. Grace teaches to use the conveniences of the present life pass- ingly ; and to show a holy moderation in all things. The heart which formerly revelled in these things, without fear, is now shy of being over much pleased with them. Being ap- prehensive of danger, it uses them warily ; as the dogs of Egypt run, while they lap their water out of the river Nile, for fear of the crocodiles that are in it. Lastly, This change shines forth in the man's performance of religious duties. He who lived in the neglect of them will do so no more, if once the grace of God enter into his heart. If a man be new born, he will desire the sincere milk of the word, 1 Peter ii. 2, 3. Whenever the prayerless person gets the Spirit of grace, he will be in him a Spirit of supplication, Zech. xii. 10. It is as natural for one that is born again to pray, as for the new-born babe to cry, Acts xi. 11, "Behold, he pray- eth." His heart will be a temple for God, and his house a church. His devotion, which was before superficial and formal, is now spiritual and lively ; for as much as heart and tongue are touched with a live coal from heaven : and he rests not in the mere performance of duties, as careful only to get his task done, but in every duty seeks communion with God in Christ; justly considering them as means appointed of God for that end, and reckoning himself disappointed if he miss of it. Thus far of the nature of regeneration. THE RESESIBLANCE BETWEEN NATURAL AND SPIRITUAL GENE- RATION. II. I come to show why this change is called regeneration, a being born again. It is so called, because of the resemblance between natural and spiritual generation, which lies in the fol- lowing particulars. First, Natural generation is a mysterious thing : and so is spiritual generation, John iii. 8, " The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born of the Spirit." The work of the Spirit is felt; but his way of working is a mystery we cannot comprehend. A new light is let into the mind, and the will is renewed ; but how that light is conveyed thither, how the will is fettered with cords of love, and how the rebel is made a willing captive, we can no more tell, than we can tell " how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child," Eccl. xi. 5. As a man hears 'he sound of the wind, and finds it stirring, but knows not where AND SPIRITUAL GENERATION. 149 it begins, and where it ends ; " so is every one that is born of the Spirit :" he finds the change that is made upon him ; but how it is produced, he knows not. One thing he may know, that whereas he was blind, now he sees ; but the seed of grace " springs and grows up, he knoweth not how." Mark iv. 26, 27. Secondly, "In both, the creature comes to a being it had not before. The child is not, till it be generate ; and a man has no gracious being, no being in grace, till he be regenerate. Rege- neration is not so much the curing of a sick man, as " the quick- ening of a dead man," Eph. ii. 1 5. Man, in his depraved state, is a mere nonentity in grace, and is brought into a new being, by the power of him " who calleth things that be not, as though they were;" being " created in Jesus Christ unto good works," Eph. ii. 10. Therefore our Lord Jesus, to give ground of hope to the Laodiceans, in their wretched and miserable state, proposes himself as " the beginning of the creation of God," Rev. iii. 14, namely, the active beginning of it ; " for all things were made by him," at first, John i. 3. From whence they might gather, that as he made them when they were nothing, he could make them over again, when worse than nothing ; the same hand that made them his creatures, could make them new creatures. Thirdly, As the child is passive in generation, so is the child of God in regeneration. The one contributes nothing to its own generation ; neither does the other contribute any thing, by way of efficiency, to its own regeneration ; for though a man may lay himself down at the pool, yet he hath no hand in moving of the water, no power in performing the cure. One is born the child of a king, another the child of a beggar : the child has no hand at all in this difference. God leaves some in their depraved state ; others he brings into a state of grace, or regen- eracy. If thou be thus honoured, no thanks to thee ; for " who maketh thee to differ from another?" 1 Cor. iv. 7. Fourthly, There is a wonderful contexture of parts in both births. Admirable is the structure of man's body, in which there is such a variety of organs ; nothing wanting, nothing su- perfluous. The Psalmist, considering his own body, looks on it as a piece of marvellous work ; " I am fearfully and wonderfully made," says he, Psa. cxxxix. 14, and curiously wrought in the lower parts of the earth," ver. 15 ; that is, in the womb ; where I know not how the bones grow, more than I know what is doing in the lowest parts of the earth. In natural generation we are curiously wrought, as a piece of needle-work ; as the word imports : even so it is in regeneration, Psa. xlv. 14, " She shall be brought unto the King, in the raiment of needle-work," raiment curiously wrought. It is the same word in both texts. What that raiment is, the apostle tells us, Eph. iv. 24. It is 13* 150 NATURAL AND SPIRITUAL GENERATION. " the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." This is the raiment which, he says in the same place, we must put on ; not excluding the imputed righteousness of Christ. Both are curiously wrought, as master-pieces of the manifold wisdom of God. O the wonderful contexture of grace in the new creature ! O glorious creature, new made after the image of God ! It is grace for grace in Christ, which makes up this new man, John i. 16 ; even as in bodily genera- tion, the child has member for member in the parent ; has every member which the parent has in a certain proportion. Fifthly, All this, in both cases, has its rise from that which is in itself very small and inconsiderable. O the power of God in making such a creature of the corruptible seed, and much more in bringing forth the new creature from so small be- ginnings ! It is as " the little cloud, like a man's hand," which spread, till " heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain," 1 Kings xviii. 44, 45. A man gets a word at a sermon, which hundreds besides him hear, and let slip ; but it remains with him, works in him, and never leaves him, till the little world be turned upside down by it ; that is, till he be- come a new man. It is like the vapour that got up into Ahas- uerus's head, and cut off sleep from his eyes, Esth. vi. 1. which proved a spring of such motions as never ceased, until Mordecai, in royal pomp, was brought on horseback through the streets, proud Haman trudging at his foot ; the same Haman afterwards hanged, Mordecai advanced, and the church deliv- ered from Haman's hellish plot. " The grain of mustard seed becometh a tree," Matt. xiii. 31, 32. God loves to bring great things out of small beginnings. Sixthly, Natural generation is carried on by degrees, Job x. 10, " Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?" So is regeneration. It is with the soul, ordinarily, in regeneration, as with the blind man cured by our Lord, who first " saw men as trees walking," afterwards " saw every man clearly," Mark viii. 23 25. It is true, regeneration being strictly speaking, a passing from death to life, the soul is quickened in a moment ; like as, when the embryo is brought to perfection in the womb, the soul is infused into the lifeless lump. Nevertheless, we may imagine somewhat like concep- tion in spiritual regeneration, whereby the soul is prepared for quickening ; and the new creature is capable of growth, 1 Peter 11. 2, and of life more abundantly, John x. 10. Seventhly, In both there are new relations. The regenerate may call God, Father ; for they are his children, John i. 12, 13, " begotten of him," 1 Pet. i. 3. The bride, the Lamb's wife, that is, the Church, is their mother, Gal. iv. 26. They are re- lated, as brethren and sisters, to angels and glorified saints ; " the family of heaven." They are of the heavenly stock ; the THE DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION APPLIED. 151 meanest of them, " base things of the world," 1 Cor. i. 29, the kinless things, as the word imports, who cannot boast of the blood that runs in their veins, are yet, by their new birth, near of kin with the excellent in the earth. Eighthly, There is a likeness between the parent and the child. Every thing that generates, generates its like ; and tho regenerate are " partakers of the divine nature," 2 Peter i. 4. The moral perfections of the divine nature are, in measure and degree, communicated to the renewed soul : thus the divine image is retrieved ; so that, as the child resembles the father, the new creature resembles God himself, being holy as he is holy. Lastly, As there is no birth without pain, both to the mother and to the child ; so there is great pain in bringing forth the new creature. The children have more or less of these birth- pains, whereby they are " pricked in their heart," Acts ii. 37. The soul has sore pains when under conviction and humiliation. " A wounded spirit who can bear ?" The mother is pained ; " Zion travails," Isa. Ixvi. 8. She sighs, groans, cries, and has hard labour, in her ministers and members, to bring forth children to her Lord, Gal. iv. 19, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you." Never was a mother more feelingly touched with "joy, that a man child is born into the world," than she is upon the new birth of her children. But what is more remarkable than all this, we read not only of our Lord Jesus Christ's " travail" or toil " of soul," Isa. liii. 11, but, what is more directly to our purpose, of his l pains," or pangs, as of one travailing in childbirth ; so the word, used Acts ii. 24, properly signifies. Well may he call the new creature, as Rachel called her dear-bought son, Benoni, that is, the son of my sorrow : and as she called another, Napthali, that is, my wrestling : for the pangs of that travail put him to " strong crying and tears," Heb. v. 7 ; yea, into an " agony and bloody sweat," Luke xxii. 44. And in the end he died of these pangs ; they became to him " the pains of death," Acts ii. 24. THE DOCTRINE OP REGENERATION APPLIED, USE I. By what is said, you may try whether you are in the state of grace, or not. If you be brought out of the state of wrath or ruin, into the state of grace, or salvation, you are new creatures, you are born again. But you will say, How shall we know whether we be born again or not? Anncer. Were you to ask me if the sun were risen, and how you should know whether it were risen or not, I would bid you look up to the heavens, and see it with your eyes. And, would you know if the light be risen in your heart ] Look in and see. Grace is 152 THE DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION APPLIED. light, and discovers itself. Look into thy mind, see if it has been illuminated in the knowledge of God. Hast thou been inwardly taught what God is? Were thine eyes ever turned inward to see thyself; the sinfulness of thy depraved state, the corruption of thy nature ; the sins of thy heart and life ? Wast thou ever led into a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin ? Have thine eyes seen King Jesus in his beauty ; the manifold wisdom of God in him, his transcendent excellency, and absolute fulness and sufficiency, with the vanity and emptiness of all things else ? Next, what change is there on thy will ? Are the fetters taken off, wherewith it was sometimes bound up from moving heaven-ward ? Has thy will got a new turn ? Dost thou find an aversion to sin, and a proneness to good, wrought in thy heart? Is thy soul turned towards God, as thy chief end ? Is thy will new moulded into some measure of conformity to the preceptive and providential will of God ? Art thou heartily reconciled to the covenant of peace, and fixedly disposed to the receiving of Christ, as he is offered in the gospel ? And as to a change on your affections, are they rec- tified, and placed on right objects ? Are your desires going out after God ? Are they to his name, and the remembrance of him? Isa. xxvi. 8. Are your hopes in him? Is your love set upon him, and your hatred set against sin ? Does your offending a good God affect your heart with sorrow, and do you fear sin more than suffering? Are your affections regu- lated ? Are they, with respect to created comforts, brought down, as being too high ; and, with respect to God in Christ, raised up, as being too low ? Has he the chief seat in your heart ? And are all your lawful worldly comforts and enjoy- ments laid at his feet ? Has thy conscience been enlightened and awakened, refusing all ease, but from the application of the blood of a Redeemer ? Is thy memory sanctified, thy body consecrated to the service of God ? And art thou now walking in newness of life ? Thus you may discover, whether you are born again, or not. But, for your further help in this matter, I will discourse a little of another sign of regeneration, namely the love of the brethren ; an evidence whereby the weakest and most timorous saints have often had comfort, when they could have little or no consolation from other marks proposed to them. This the apostle lays down, 1 John iii. 14, " We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." It is not to be thought that the apostle, by the " brethren" in this place, means brethren by a common relation to the first Adam, but to the second Adam, Christ Jesus : because, however true it is, that universal benevolence, a good will to the whole race of mankind, takes place in the renewed soul, as being a lively lineament of the divine image ; yet the whole context speaks of THE DOCTRINE OP REGENERATION APPLIED. 153 those that are " the sons of God," ver. 1,2;" children of God," ver. 10 ; " born of God," ver 9 ; distinguishing between " the children of God," and " the children of the devil," ver. 10 ; between those that are " of the devil," ver. 8, 12, and those that are "of God," ver. 10. The text itself comes in as a reason why we should not marvel that the world hates the brethren, the children of God, ver. 13. How can we marvel at it, seeing the love of the brethren is an evidence of one's having passed from death to life ? Therefore it were absurd to look for that love amongst the men of the world, who are dead in trespasses and sins. They cannot love the brethren ; no wonder, then that they hate them. Wherefore it is plain, that by brethren here, are meant brethren by regeneration. Now, in order to set this mark of regeneration in a true light consider these three things. 1. This love to the brethren, is a love to them as such. Then do we love them in the sense of the text, when the grace, or image of God in them, is the chief motive of our love to them. When we love the godly for their godliness, the saints for their sanctity or holiness ; then we love God in them, and so may conclude, we are born of God ; for "every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him," 1 John v. 1. Hypocrites may love saints, on account of civil relations to them ; because of their obliging con- versation ; for their being of the same opinion with themselves in religious matters ; and on many other such like accounts, whereby wicked men may be induced to love the godly. But happy they who love them for naked grace in them ; for their heaven-born temper and disposition : who can pick this pearl out of a dunghill of infirmities in and about them ; lay hold of it, and love them for it. 2. It is a love that will be given to all in whom the grace of God appears. They that love one saint, because he is a saint, will have " love to all the saints," Eph. i. 15. They will love all, who, to their discerning, bear the image of God. They that cannot love a gracious person in rags, but confine their love to those of them who wear gay clothing, have not this love to the brethren in them. Those who confine their love to a party, to whom God has not confined his grace, are souls too narrow to be put among the children. In what points soever men differ from us, in their judgment or way ; yet if they appear to agree with us in love to God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ, and in bearing his image, we shall love them as brethren, if we are of the heavenly family. 3. If this love be in us, the more grace any person appears to be possessed of, he will be the more beloved by us. The more vehemently the holy fire of grace does flame in any, the hearts of true Christians will be the more warmed in love to them. It is not with the saints as with many other men, who make themselves the standards for others ; and love them so far as they think 154 THE DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION APPLIED. they are like themselves. But, if they seem to outshine and darken them, their love is turned to hatred and envy, and they endeavour to detract from the due praise of their exem- plary piety ; because nothing relishes with them, in the practice of religion, that goes beyond their own measure ; what of the life and power of religion appears in others, serves only to raise the serpentine grudge in their Pharisaical hearts. But as for them that are born again, their love and affection to the brethren bears proportion to the degrees of the divine image they discern in them. Now if you would improve these things to the knowledge of your state, I would advise you, 1. To set apart some time, when you are at home, for a review of your case : and try your state by what has been said. Many have comfort and clearness, as to their state, at a sermon, who in a little time lose it again ; because, while they hear the word preached, they make applica- tion of it ; but do not consider these things more deliberately and leisurely, when alone. The action is too sudden and short to give lasting comfort ; and it is often so indeliberate, that it has bad consequences. Therefore set about this work at home, after earnest and serious prayer to God for his help in it. Complain not of your want of time, while the night follows the busy day ; nor of place, while fields and out-houses are to be got. 2. Renew your repentance before the Lord. Guilt lying on the conscience, unrepented of, may darken all your evidences and marks of grace. It provokes the Spirit of grace to withdraw ; and when he goes, our light ceases. It is not fit time for a saint to read his evidences, when the candle is blown out by some conscience-wounding guilt. Lastly^ Exert the powers of the new nature ; let the graces of the divine Spirit in you discover themselves by action. If you would know whether there is sacred fire in your breast, or not, you must blow the coal ; for although it be, and be a live coal, yet if it be under the ashes, it will give you no light. Settle in your hearts a firm purpose, through the grace that is in Christ Jesus, to comply with every known duty, and watch against every known sin, having readiness of mind to be instructed in what you know not. If gracious souls would thus manage their inquiries into their state, it is likely that they would have a comfortable issue. And if others would take such a solemn review, and make trial of their state, impartially examining themselves before the tribunal of their consciences, they might have a timely dis- covery of their own naughtiness : but the neglect of self-exami- nation leaves most men under sad delusions as to their state ; and deprives many saints of the comfortable sight of the grace of God in them. But that I may afford some further help to true Christians in their inquiries into their state, I shall propose and briefly answer CASES OF CHRISTIANS DOUBTING, ETC. 155 some cases or doubts, which may possibly hinder some persons from the comfortable view of their happy state. The children's bread must not be withheld ; though, while it is held forth to them, the dogs snatch at it. Case 1. " I doubt if I be regenerate, because I know not the precise time of my conversion ; nor can I trace the particular steps in the way in which it was brought to pass." Answer. Though it is very desirable to be able to give an account of the beginning, and the gradual advance of the Lord's work upon our souls, as some saints can distinctly do, the manner of the Spirit's working being still a mystery, yet this is not necessary to evidence the truth of Grace. Happy he that can say, in this case, as the blind man in the gospel, " One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see." " As, when we see flame, we know there is fire, though we know not how or when it began ; so the truth of grace in us may be discerned, though we know not how or when it was dropped into our hearts. If thou canst perceive the happy change which is wrought on thy soul ; if thou findest thy mind is enlightened, thy will inclined to comply with the will of God in all things; especially to fall in with the divine plan of salvation, through a crucified Redeemer ; in vain dost thou trouble thyself, and refuse com- fort, because thou knowest not how and what way it was brought about. Case 2. " If I were a new creature, sin could not prevail against me as it doth." Answer. Though we must not lay pillows for hypocrites to rest their heads upon, who indulge themselves in their sins, and make the doctrine of God's grace subservient to their lusts, lying down contentedly in the bond of iniquity, like men that are fond of golden chains ; yet it must be owned, " the just man falleth seven times a day ;" and iniquity may prevail against the children of God. But if thou art groaning under the weight of the body of this death, the corruption of thy nature ; loathing thyself for the sins of thy heart and life ; striving to mortify thy lusts ; fleeing daily to the blood of Christ for partlon ; and looking to his Spirit for sanctifi- cation : though thou mayest be obliged to say with the Psalmist, " Iniquities prevail against me ;" yet thou mayest add with him, " As for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away," Psal. Ixv. 3. The new creature does not yet possess the house alone : it dwells by the side of an ill neighbour, namely, remaining corruption, the relics of depraved nature. These struggle to- gether for the mastery : " The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh," Gal. v. 17. And sometimes corruption prevails, bringing the child of God into captivity to the law of sin, Rom. vii. 23. Let not therefore the prevailing of corruption make thee, in this case, conclude thou art none of God's children ; but let it humble thee, to be the more watchful, 156 CASES OF CHRISTIANS DOUBTING and to thirst the more intensely after Jesus Christ, his blood ano Spirit; and that very disposition will evidence a principle of grace in thee, which seeks the destruction of sin, that prevails so often against thee. Case 3. " I find the motions of sin in my heart more violent since the Lord began his work on my soul, than they were be- fore that time. Can this consist with a change of my nature?" Answer, Dreadful is the case of many, who, after God has had a remarkable dealing with their souls, tending to their reforma- tion, have thrown off all bonds, and have become grossly and openly immoral and profane; as if the devil had returned into their hearts with seven spirits worse than himself. All I shall say to such persons is, that their state is exceedingly dangerous ; they are in danger of sinning against the Holy Ghost ; there- fore let them repent before it be too late. But if it be not thus with you ; though corruption is stirring itself more violently than formerly, as if all the forces of hell were raised, to hold fast, or bring back a fugitive ; yet these stirrings may consist with a change of your nature. When the restraint of grace is newly laid upon corruption, it is no wonder if it acts more vigorously than before, " warring against the law of the mind," Rom. vii. 23. The motions of sin may really be most violent, when the new principle is brought in to cast it out. The sun, sending his beams through the window, discovers the motes in the house, and their motions, which were not seen before; so the light of grace may discover the risings and actings of corruption, in another manner than ever the man saw them before, though they really do not rise nor act more vigorously. Sin is not quite dead in the regenerate soul ; it is but dying, and dying a linger- ing death, being crucified; no wonder there be great fightings, when it is sick at the heart, and death is at the door. Besides, temptations may be more in number, and stronger, while Satan is striving to bring you back, who are escaped, than while he only endeavoured to retain you : " After ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of affliction," says the apostle to the Hebrews, chap. x. 32. But " cast not away your confidence," ver. 34. Remember his " grace is sufficient for you, and the God of peace will bruise Satan under your feet shortly." Pharaoh and his Egyptians never made such a formidable appearance against the Israelites, as at the Red sea, after they were brought out of Egypt : but then were the pursuers nearest to a total overthrow, Exod. xiv. Let not this case, there- fore, make you raze your foundations : but be ye emptied of yourselves, and strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, and you shall come off victorious. Case 4. " But when I compare my love to God with my love to some created enjoyments, I find the pulse of my affections beat stronger to the creature than to the Creator. How then THEIR REGENERATION, RESOLVED. 157 can I call him Father ? Nay, alas ! these turnings of heart within me, and glowings of affection to him, which I had, are gone ; so that I fear all the love which I ever had to the Lord, has been but a tit and flash of affection, such as hypocrites often have." Answer. It cannot be denied, that the pre- dominant love of the world is a certain mark of an unregenerate state, 1 John ii. 15, "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Nevertheless, those are not always the strongest affections which are most violent. A man's affections may be more moved, on some occasions, by an object that is little regarded, than by another that is exceedingly beloved ; even as a little brook sometimes makes more noise than a great river. The strength of our affections is to be measured by the firmness and fixedness of the root, not by the violence of their actings. Suppose a person meeting with a friend, who has been long abroad, finds his affection more vehe- mently acting towards his friend on that occasion, than towards his own wife and children ; will he therefore say, that he loves his friend more than them ? Surely not. Even so, although the Christian may find himself more moved in his love to the creature, than in his love to God ; yet it is not therefore to be said, that he loves the creature more than God, seeing love to God is always more firmly rooted in a gracious heart, than love to any created enjoyment whatever ; as appears when competi- tion arises in such a manner, that the one or the other is to be foregone. Would you then know your case ? Retire into your own hearts, and there lay the two in the balance, and try which of them weighs down the other. Ask thyself, as in the sight of God, whether thou wouldst part with Christ for the creature, or part with the creature for Christ, if thou wert left to thy choice in the matter? If you find your heart disposed to part with what is dearest to you in the world for Christ, at his call, you have no reason to conclude you love the creature more than God ; but, on the contrary, that you love God more than the creature, although you do not feel such violent motions in the love of God, as in the love of some created thing, Matt. x. 37, " He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me." Luke xiv. 26, " If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother he cannot be my disciple." From which texts compared we may infer, that he who hates, i. e. is ready to part with, father and mother for Christ, is, in our Lord's account, one that loves them less than him, and not one who loves father and mother more than him. Moreover, you are to consider that there is a two-fold love to Christ. 1. There is a sensible love to him, which is felt as a dart in the heart, and makes a holy love-sickness in the soul, arising either from want of enjoyment, as in that case 'of the spouse, Cant. v. 8, "I charge you, O daughters of Jeru- 14 158 CASES OF CHRISTIANS DOUBTING salem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him that I am sick of love ;" or else from the fulness of it, as in Cant. ii. 5, " Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples ; for I am sick of love." These glowings of affections are usually wrought in young converts, who are ordinarily made " to sing in the days of their youth," Hos. ii. 14. While the fire-edge is upon the young convert, he looks upon others, reputed to be godly, and not finding them in such a temper or disposition as himself, he is ready to censure them ; and to think there is far less religion in the world than indeed there is. But when his own cup comes to settle below the brim, and he finds that in himself which made him question the state of others, he is more humbled, and feels more and more the necessity of daily recourse to the blood of Christ for pardon, and to the Spirit of Christ for sanc- tification ; and thus grows downwards in humiliation, self- loathing, and self-denial. 2. There is a rational love to Christ, which, without these sensible emotions felt in the former case, evidences itself by a dutiful regard to the divine authority and command. When one bears such a love to Christ, though the vehement stirrings of affection be wanting, yet he is truly tender of offending a gracious God ; endeavours to walk before him unto all well-pleasing; and is grieved at the heart for what is displeasing unto him, 1 John v. 3, " For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments." Now, although that sensible love does not always continue with you, you have no reason to deem it a hypocritical fit, while the rational love remains with you ; more than a loving and faithful wife needs question her love to her husband, when her fondness is abated. Case 5. " The attainments of hypocrites and apostates are a terror to me, and come like a shaking storm on me, when I am about to conclude, from the marks of grace which I seem to find in myself, that I am in a state of grace." Answer. These things should indeed stir us up to a most serious and impar- tial examination of ourselves ; but ought not to keep us in a continued suspense as to our state. Sirs, you see the outside of hypocrites, their duties, their gifts, their tears, and so on, but you see not their inside ; you do not discern their hearts, the bias of their spirits. Upon what you see of them, you found a judgment of charity as to their state; and you do well to judge charitably in such a case, because you cannot know the secret springs of their actings: but you are seeking for, and ought to have a judgment of, certainty as to your own state ; and therefore are to look into that part of religion, which none in the world but yourselves can discern in you ; and which you can as little see in others. A hypocrite's religion may appear far greater than that of a sincere soul : but that which makes the greatest figure in the eyes of men, is often of least worth before God. I would rather utter one of those groans TUEIR REGENERATION, RESOLVED. 159 which the apostle speaks of, Rom. viii. 26, than shed Esau's tears, have Balaam's prophetic spirit, or the joy of the stony- ground hearer. " The fire that shall try every man's work," will try, not of what bulk it is, but " of what sort it is," 1 Cor. iii. 13. Though you may know what bulk of religion another has ; and that it be more bulky than your own, yet God does not regard that ; why then do you make such a matter of it ? It is impossible for you, without divine revelation, certainly to know of what sort another man's religion is : but you may certainly know what sort your own is of, without extraordi- nary revelation ; otherwise the apostle would not exhort the saints to " give diligence to make their calling and election sure," 2 Pet. i. 10. Therefore the attainments of hypocrites and apostates should not disturb you, in your serious inquiry into your own state. I will tell you two things, wherein the meanest saints go beyond the most refined hypocrites: 1. In denying themselves; renouncing all confidence in themselves, and their own works ; acquiescing in, being well pleased with, and venturing their souls upon, God's plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, Matt. v. 3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, lor theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And chap. xi. 6, " Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me." Phil. iii. 3, " We are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." 2. In a real hatred of all sin ; being willing to part with every lust, without exception, and to comply with every duty which the Lord makes, or shall make known to them, Psal. cxix. 6, " Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments." Try yourselves by these. Case 6. " I see myself fall so far short of the saints men- tioned in the Scriptures, and of several excellent persons of my own acquaintance; that, when I look on them I can hardly look on myself as one of the same family with them." Answer. It is indeed matter of humiliation, that we do not get forward to that measure of grace and holiness which we see is attainable in this life. This should make us more vigorously press towards the mark: but surely it is from the devil, that weak Christians make a rack for themselves, of the attain- ments of the strong. To yield to this temptation, is as un- reasonable as for a child to dispute away his relation to his father, because he is not of the same stature with his elder bre- thren. There are saints of several sizes in Christ's family ; some fathers, some young men, and some little children, 1 John ii. 13, 14. Case 7. " I never read in the word of God, nor did I ever know of a child of God so tempted, and so left of God, as I am; and therefore, no saint's case being like mine, I cannot but conclude that I am none of their number." Answer. This 160 CASES OF CHRISTIANS DOUBTING objection arises to some from their unacquaintedriess with the Scriptures, and with experienced Christians. It is profitable, in this case, to impart the matter to some experienced Chris- tian friend, or to some godly minister. This has been a blessed means of peace to some persons ; while their case, which ap- peared to them to be singular, has been proved to have been the case of other saints. The Scriptures give instances of very horrid temptations, wherewith the saints have been assaulted. Job was tempted to blaspheme ; this was the great thing the devil aimed at in the case of that great saint, Job i. 11, "He will curse thee to thy face." Chap. ii. 9, " Curse God, and die." Asaph was tempted to think it was in vain to be reli- gious, which was in effect to throw off* all religion, Psal. Ixxiii. 13, " Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain." Yea, Christ himself was tempted, to " cast himself down from a pinnacle of the temple," and to " worship the devil," Matt. iv. 6 9. And many of the children of God have not only been attacked with, but have actually yielded to, very gross temptations for a time. Peter denied Christ, and cursed and swore that he knew him not, Mark xiv. 71. Paul when a persecutor, compelled even saints to blaspheme, Acts xxvi. 10, 11. Many of the saints can, from their sad experience, bear witness to very gross temptations, which have astonished their spirits, made their very flesh to tremble, and sickened their bodies. Satan's fiery darts make terrible work ; and will cost some pains to quench them, by a vigorous managing of the shield of faith, Eph. vi. 16. Sometimes he makes such desperate attacks, that never was one more put to it, in running to and fro, without inter- mission, to quench the fire balls incessantly thrown into his house by an enemy, designing to burn the house about him, than the poor tempted saint is, to repel Salanical injections. But these injections, these horrid temptations, though they are a dreadful affliction, are not the sins of the tempted, unless they make them theirs, by consenting to them. They will be charged upon the tempter alone, if they be not consented to : and will no more be laid to the charge of the tempted party, than a bas- tard's being laid down at a chaste man's door, will fix guilt upon him. But suppose neither minister nor private Christian, to whom you go, can tell you of any who has been in your case ; yet you ought not thence to infer, that your case is singular, far less to give up hope : for it is not to be thought, that every godly mi- nister, or private Christian, has had experience of all the cases which a child of God may be in. We need not doubt but some have had distresses known only to God and their own con- sciences ; and so to others these distresses are, as if they had never been. Yea, and though the Scriptures contain suitable directions for every state which a child of God can be in, and THEIR REGENERATION, RESOLVED. 161 these illustrated with a sufficient number of examples , vet it is not to be imagined that there are in the Scriptures perfect in- stances of every particular case incident to the saints. There- fore, though you cannot find an instance of your case in the Scripture, yet bring your case to it, and you shall find suitable remedies prescribed there for it. Study rather to make use of Christ for your case, who has salve for all sores, than to know if ever any was in your case. Though one should show you an instance of your case, in an undoubted saint ; yet none could promise that it would certainly give you ease : for a scru- pulous conscience would readily find out some difference. And if nothing but a perfect conformity of another's case to yours will satisfy, it will be hard, if not impossible, to satisfy you : for it is with people's cases, as with their natural faces. Though the faces of all men are of one make ; and some are so very like others, that, at first view, we are ready to take them for the same; yet, if you view them more accurately, you will see some- thing in every face, distinguishing it from all others ; though possibly you cannot tell what it is. Wherefore I conclude, that if you can find in yourselves the marks of regeneration, proposed to you from the word ; you ought to conclude you are in the state of grace, though your case were singular, which is indeed unlikely. Case 8. " The afflictions I meet with are strange and un- usual. I doubt if ever a child of God was tried with such dis- pensations of providence as I am." Answer. Much of what was said on the preceding case, may be helpful in this. Holy Job was assaulted with this temptation, Job v. 1, "To which of the saints wilt thou turn ?" But he rejected it, and held fast his integrity. The apostle supposes that Christians may be tempted to " think strange concerning the fiery trial." 1 Pet. iv. 12. But they have need of larger experience than Solomon's who will venture to say, " See this is new," Eccl. i. 10. What though, in respect of the outward dispensations of Providence, " it happen to you, according to the work of the wicked ?" yet you may be just notwithstanding ; according to Solomon's observation, Eccl. viii. 14. Sometimes we travel in ways where we can neither perceive the prints of the foot of man nor beast : yet we cannot from thence conclude that there was never any there before us : so though thou canst not perceive the footsteps of the flock, in the way of thine affliction, thou must not therefore conclude that thou art the first who ever tra- velled that road. But what if it were so ? Some one saint or other must be first, in drinking of each bitter cup the rest have drunk of. What warrant have you or I to limit the holy One of Israel to a trodden path in his dispensations towards us? " Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters : and thy footsteps are not known," Psal. Ixxvii. 19. If the Lord 14* 162 OF THE NECESSITY OP REGENERATION. should carry you to heaven by some retired road, so to speak you would have no ground of complaint. Learn to allow sove- reignty a latitude ; be at your duty ; and let no affliction cast a veil over any evidences you otherwise have for your being in the state of grace : for " no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them," Eccl. ix. 1. USE II. You that are strangers to this new birth, be convinced of the absolute necessity of it. Are all who are in the state of grace born again 1 then you have neither part nor lot in it, who are not born again. I must tell you, in the words of our Lord and Saviour, and O that he would speak them to your hearts ! " ye must be born again," John iii. 7. For your conviction, consider these few things. First, Regeneration is absolutely necessary to qualify you to do any thing really good and acceptable to God. While you are not born again, your best works are but glittering sins ; for though the matter of them is good, they are quite marred in the making. Consider 1. That without regeneration there is no faith, and " without faith it is impossible to please God," Heb. xi. 6. Faith is a vital act of the new-born soul. The Evan- gelist showing the different entertainment which the Lord Jesus had from different persons, some receiving him, some rejecting him, points at regenerating grace as the true rise of that differ- ence, without which never any one would have received him. He tells us, that " as many as received him," were those " which were born of God," John i. 11 13. Unregenerate men may presume, but true faith they cannot have. Faith is a flower that grows not in the field of nature. As the tree cannot grow without a root, neither can a man believe without the new nature, whereof the principle of believing is a part. 2. Without regeneration, a man's works are dead works. As is the princi- ple, so must the effects be : if the lungs be rotten, the breath will be unsavory ; and he who at best is dead in sin, his works at best will be but dead works. " Unto them that are denied and unbelieving, is nothing pure being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate," Tit. i. 15, 16. Could we say of a man, that he is more blameless in his life, than any other in the world ; that he macerates his body with fast ing ; and has made his knees as horns with continual praying ; but he is not born again : that exception would mar all. As if one should say, There is a well proportioned body, but the soul is gone ; it is but a dead lump. This is a melting con- sideration. Thou dost many things materially good : but God says, All these things avail not, as long as I see the old nature reigning in the man. Gal. vi. 15, "For in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." If thou art not born again, 1. All thy reformation is naught OP THE NECESSITY OP REGENERATION. 163 in the sight of God. Thou hast shut the door, but the thief ig still in the house. It may be thou art not what once thou wast, yet thou art not what thou must be, if ever thou see heaven , for " except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," John iii. 3. 2. Thy prayers are " an abomination to the Lord," Prov. xv. 8. It may be others admire thy serious- ness, thou criest as for thy life ; but God accounts of the opening of thy mouth, as one would account of the opening of a grave full of rottenness, Rom. iii. 13, "Their throat is an open sepul- chre." Others are affected with thy prayers, which seem to them as if they would rend the heavens ; but God accounts them but as the howling of a dog ; " They have not cried unto me with their hearts, when they howled upon their beds," Hos. vii. 14. Others take thee for a wrestler and prevailer with God: but he can take no delight in thee, nor thy prayers, Isa. Ixvi. 3. " He that killeth an ox, is as if he slew a man : he that sacri- ficeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck. He that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol." Why ? because thou art yet " in the gall of bitterness, and bond of iniquity !" 3. All thou hast done for God and his cause in the world, though it may be followed with temporal rewards, yet is lost as to divine acceptance. This is clear from the case of Jehu, who was indeed rewarded with a kingdom, for his executing due ven- geance upon the house of Ahab ; as being a work good for the matter of it, because it was commanded of God, as you may see, 2 Kings x. 13 : yet was he punished for it in his posterity, because he did it not in a right manner, Hos. i. 4, " I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu." God looks chiefly to the heart : and if so, truly though thy outward appearance be fairer than that of many others, yet the' hidden man of thy heart is loathsome ; you look well before men, but are not as Moses was, fair to God. as the margin has it, Acts vii. 20. O what a difference is there between the characters of Asa and Amaziah ! " The high places were not removed ; nevertheless, Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days," 1 Kings xv. 14. "Amaziah did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart," 2 Chron. xxv. 2. It may be thou art zealous against sin in others, and dost admonish them of their duty, and reprove them for their sin ; and they hate thee, because thou dost thy duty : but I must tell thee, God hates thee too, because thou dost it not in a right manner ; and that thou canst never do, whilst thou art not born again. Lastly, All thy struggles against sin in thine own heart and life, are naught. The proud Pharisee afflicted his body with fasting, and God struck his soul, in the mean time, with a sentence of condemnation, Luke xviii. Balaam struggled with his covetous temper, to that degree, that though he loved the wages of unrighteousness, yet he would not 164 OF THE NECESSITY OF KEGENERATION. win them by cursing Israel ; but he died the death of the wicked, Numb. xxxi. 8. All thou dost, while in an unre- generate state, is for thyself; therefore it will fare with thee as with a subject, who having reduced the rebels, puts the crown on his own head, and loses all his good service and his head too. Objection. If it be thus with us, then we need never perform any religious duty at all. Answer. The conclusion is not just. No inability of thine can excuse thee from the duty which God's law lays on thee : and there is less evil in thy doing thy duty, than there is in the omitting of it. But there is a difference between the omitting of duty, and the doing of it as thou doest it. A man orders the masons to build him a house. If they quite neglect the work, that will not be accepted : if they build on the old rotten foundation, neither will that please : but they must raze the foundation, and build on firm ground. " Go thou and do likewise." In the mean time, it is not in vain for thee, even for thee, to seek the Lord : for though he regards thee not, yet he may have respect to his own ordinances, and do thee good thereby, as we said before. Secondly, Without regeneration there is no communion with God. There is a society on earth, whose " fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ," 1 John i. 3. But out of that society, all the unregenerate are excluded ; for they are all enemies to God, as you heard before at large. Now, " can two walk together, except they be agreed ?" Amos iii. 3. They are all unholy : and " what communion hath light with darkness Christ with Belial?" 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15. They may have a show and semblance of holiness ; but they are strangers to true -holiness, and therefore " without God in the world." How sad is it, to be employed in religious duties, yet to have no fellowship with God in them ! You would not be content with your meat, unless it nourished you ; nor with your clothes, unless they kept you warm : and how can you satisfy your- selves with your duties, while you have no communion with God in them ? Thirdly, Regeneration is absolutely necessary to qualify you for heaven. None go to heaven but they that are made meet for it, Col. i. 12. As it was with Solomon's temple, 1 Kings vi. 7, so it is with the temple above. It is " built of stone, made ready before it is brought thither ;" namely, of " lively stones," 1 Pet. ii. 5 " wrought for the selfsame thing, 2 Cor. v. 5 ; for they cannot be laid in that glorious building, just as they come out of the quarry of depraved nature. Jewels of gold are not meet for swine, and far less jewels of glory for unrenewed sinners. Beggars, in their rags, are not meet for kings' houses ; nor sinners to enter into the King's palace, without the raiment of needle-work, Psal. xlv. 14, 15. What wise man would OF THE NECESSITY OF REGENERATION. 165 bring fish out of the water to feed in his meadows : or send hi3 oxen to feed in the sea ? Even as little are the unregenerate meet for heaven, or heaven meet for them. It would never be relished by them. The unregenerate would find fault with heaven on several accounts. As, 1. That it is a strange country. Heaven is the renewed man's native country : his Father is in Heaven ; his mother is Jerusalem, which is above, Gal. iv. 26. He is born from above, John iii. 3. Heaven is his home, 2 Cor. v. 1 ; there- fore he looks on himself as a stranger on this earth, and his head is homeward, Heb. xi. 16, " They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly country." But the unregenerate man is the man of the earth, Psal. x. 18 ; written in the earth, Jer. xvii. 13. Now, " Home is home, be it ever so homely :" therefore he minds earthly things, Phil. iii. 19. There is a peculiar sweet- ness in our native soul ; and with difficulty are men drawn to leave it, and dwell in a strange country. In no case does that prevail more than in this ; for unrenewed men would quit their pretensions to heaven, were it not that they see they cannot make a better bargain. 2. There is nothing in heaven that they delight in, as agreeable to the carnal heart, Rev. xxi. 27, " For there shall in no wise enter into it, any thing that defileth." When Mahomet gave out a paradise to be a place of sensual delights, his religion was greedily embraced; for that is the heaven men naturally choose. If the covetous man could get bags full of gold there, and the voluptuous man could promise himself his sensual delights, they might be reconciled to heaven, and meet for it too ; but since it is not so, though they may utter fair words about it, truly it has little of their hearts. 3. Every corner there is filled with that which of all things they have the least liking for; and that is holiness, true holiness, perfect holi- ness. Were one that abhors swine's flesh bidden to a feast, where all the dishes were of that sort of meat, but variously prepared, he would find fault with every dish at the table, not- withstanding all the art used to make them palateable. It is true, there is joy in heaven, but it is holy joy ; there are pleasures in heaven, but they are holy pleasures ; there are palaces in heaven, but it is holy ground. That holiness which is in every place, and in every thing there, would mar all to the unregenerate. 4. Were they carried thither, they would not only change their place, which would be a great heart-break to them, but they would change their company too. Truly, they would never like the company there, who care not for communion with God here ; nor value the fellowship of his people, at least in the vitals of practical godliness. Many, indeed, mix themselves with the godly on earth, to procure a name to themselves, and to cover the naughtiness of their hearts ; but that trade cannot b* managed there. 5. They would never like the employment of 66 OF THE NECESSITY OF REGENERATION. heaven, they care so little for it now. The business of the saints there, would be an intolerable burden to them, seeing it is not agreeable to their nature. To be taken up in beholding, admiring, and praising of him that sitteth on the throne, and of the Lamb, would be work unsuitable, and therefore unsavoury to an unrenewed soul. Lastly, They would find this fault with it, that the whole is of everlasting continuance. This would be a killing ingredient in it to them. How would such as now account the Sabbath day a burden, brook the celebrating of an everlasting Sabbath in the heavens ? Lastly, Regeneration is absolutely necessary to your being admitted into heaven, John iii. 3. No heaven without it. Though carnal men could digest all those things which make heaven so unsuitable for them, yet God will never bring them thither. Therefore born again you must be, else you shall never see heaven ; you shall perish eternally. For, 1. There is a bill of exclusion against you in the court of heaven, and against all of your sort ; " Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," John iii. 3. Here is a bar before you, that men and angels cannot remove. To hope for heaven, in the face of this peremptory sentence, is to hope that God will recall his word, and sacrifice his truth and faithful- ness to your safety ; which is infinitely more than to hope, that " the earth shall be forsaken for you, and the rock removed out of his place." 2. There is no holiness without regenera- tion. It is " the new man, which is created in true holiness," Eph. iv. 24. And no heaven without holiness ; for " without holiness no man shall see the Lord," Heb. xii. 14. Will the gates of pearl be opened to let in dogs and swine? No; their place is without, Rev. xxii. 15. God will not admit such into the holy place of communion with him here ; and will he ad- mit them into the holiest of all hereafter? Will he take the children of the devil, and permit them to sit with him in his throne ? Or will he bring the unclean into the city, whose street is pure gold ? Be not deceived ; grace and glory are but two links of one chain, which God has joined, and no man shall put asunder. None are transplanted into the paradise above, but out of the nursery of grace below. If you be un- holy while in this world, you will be for ever miserable in the world to come. 3. All the unregenerate are without Christ, and therefore have no hope while in that case, Eph. ii. 12. Will Christ prepare mansions of glory for them that refuse to receive him into their hearts ? Nay, rather, will he not " laugh at their calamity," who now " set at nought all his counsel ?" Prov. i. 25, 26. Lastly, There is an infallible connection be- tween a finally unregenerate state and damnation, arising from the nature of the things themselves ; and from the decree of heaven, which is fixed and immovable as mountains of brass, OP THE NECESSITY OF REGENERATION. 167 John iii. 3 ; Rom. viii. 6. " To be carnally minded is death." An unregenerate state is hell in the bud. It is eternal destruc- tion in embryo, growing daily, though thou dost not discern it Death is painted on many a fair face, in this life. Depraved nature makes men meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the damned, in utter darkness. 1. The heart of stone within thee, is a sinking weight. As a stone naturally goes down- ward, so the hard stony heart tends downward to the bottom- less pit. You are hardened against reproof: though you are told your danger, yet you will not see it, you will not believe it. But remember that the conscience, being now seared with a hot iron, is a sad presage of everlasting burnings. 2. Your unfruitfulness under the means of grace, fits you for the axe of God's judgments, Matt. iii. 10, "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down and cast into the fire." The withered branch is fuel for the fire, John xv. 6. Tremble at this, you despisers of the gospel : if you be not thereby made meet for heaven, you will be like the barren ground, bearing briers and thorns, "nigh unto cursing, whose end it is to be burned," Heb. vi. 8. 3. The hellish dispositions of mind, which discover themselves in profanity of life, fit the guilty for the regions of horror. A profane life will have a miserable end. " They which do such things, shall not inherit the kingdom of God," Gal. v. 19 21. Think on this, ye prayer- less persons, ye mockers of religion, ye cursers and swearers, ye unclean and unjust persons, who have not so much as moral honesty, to keep you from lying, cheating, and stealing. What sort of a tree think you it to be, upon which these fruits grow ? Is it a tree of righteousness, which the Lord hath planted 1 Or is it not such a one as cumbers the ground, which God will pluck up for fuel to the fire of his wrath ? 4. Your being dead in sin, makes you meet to be wrapped in flames of brimstone, as a winding sheet ; and to be buried in the bottomless pit, as in a grave. Great was the cry in Egypt, when the first-born in each family was dead ; but are there not many families, where all are dead together? Nay, many there are who are twice dead, plucked up by the roots. Sometimes in their life they have been roused by apprehensions of death, and its consequences : but now they are so far on in their way to the land of darkness, that they hardly ever have the least glimmering of light from heaven. 5. The darkness of your minds presages eternal darkness. O the horrid ignorance with which some are plagued, while others who have got some rays of the light of reason in their heads, are utterly void of spiritual light in their hearts ! If you knew your case, you would cry out, Oh ! darkness! dark- ness ! darkness ! making way for the blackness of darkness for ever ! The face-covering is upon you already, as condemned persons ; so near are you to everlasting darkness. It is only Jesus 168 ADVICE TO THE UNREGENERATE. Christ who can stop the execution, pull the napkin off the face of the condemned malefactor, and put a pardon in his hand, Isa xxv. 7. " He will destroy in this mountain, the face of the cov ering cast over all people," that is, the face-covering cast over the condemned, as in Haman's case, Est. vii. 8, " As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face." Lastly, The chains of darkness you are bound with in the prison of your depraved state, Isa. Ixi. 1, fits you to be cast into the burning fiery furnace. Ah, miserable men ! Sometimes their consciences stir within them, and they begin to think of amending their ways. But alas ! they are in chains, they can- not do it. They are chained by the heart : their lusts cleave so fast to them, that they cannot, nay, they will not shake them off. Thus you see what affinity there is between an unregene- rate state, and the state of the damned, the state of absolute and irretrievable misery. Be convinced then, that you must be born again ; put a high value on the new birth, and eagerly desire it. The text tells you, that the word is the seed, whereof the new creature is formed : therefore take heed to it, and entertain it, for it is your life. Apply yourselves to the reading of the Scripture. You that cannot read, get others to read it to you. Wait diligently on the preaching of the word, as by Divine ap- pointment the special means of conversion ; " for it pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe," 1 Cor. i. 21. Wherefore cast not yourselves out of Christ's way ; reject not the means of grace, lest you be found to judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life. Attend carefully to the word preached. Hear every sermon, as if you were hearing for eternity ; take heed that the fowls of the air pick not up this seed from you, as it is sown. " Give thyself wholly to it," 1 Tim. iv. 15. " Receive it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God," 1 Thess. ii. 13. Hear it with application, looking on it as a message sent from heaven, to you in particular; though not to you only, Rev. iii. 22, " He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." Lay it up in your hearts ; meditate upon it ; and be not as the unclean beasts, that chew not the cud. But by earnest prayer beg that the dew of heaven may fall on thy heart, that the seed may spring up there. More particularly, 1. Receive the testimony of the word of God, concerning the misery of an unregenerate state, the sin- fulness thereof, and the absolute necessity of regeneration. 2. Receive the testimony concerning God, what a holy and just One he is. 3. Examine thy ways by it ; namely the thoughts of thy heart, the expressions of thy lips, and the tenor of thy life. Look back through the several periods of thy life; and see thy sins from the precepts of the word, and learn, from its MYSTICAL UNION BETWEEN CHRIST AND BELIEVERS. 169 threatenings what thou art liable to on the account of these sins. 4. By the help of the same word of God, view the corruption of thy nature, as in a glass, which represents our ugly face in a lively manner. Were these things deeply rooted in the heart, they might be the seed of that fear and sorrow, on account of thy soul's state, which are necessary to prepare and stir thee up to look after a Saviour. Fix your thoughts upon him offered to thee in the gospel, as fully suited to thy case ; having, by his obedience to the death, perfectly satisfied the justice of God, and brought in everlasting righteousness. This may prove the seed of humiliation, desire, hope, and faith ; and move thee to stretch out the withered hand unto him, at his own command. Let these things sink deeply into your hearts, and improve them diligently. Remember, whatever you be, you mi^st be born again ; else it had been better for you, that you had never been born. Wherefore, if any of you shall live and die in an un regenerate state, you will be inexcusable, having been fairly warned of your danger. HEAD II. MYSTICAL UNION BETWEEN CHRIST AND BELIEVERS. I am the vine, ye are the branches. JOHN xv. 5. HAVING spoken of the change made by regeneration, on all those who will inherit eternal life, in opposition to their natural real state, the state of degeneracy ; I proceed to speak of the change made on them, in their union with the Lord Jesus Christ, in opposition to their natural relative state, the state of misery. The doctrine of the saint's union with Christ, is very plainly and fully insisted on, from the beginning to the twelfth verse of this chapter ; which is a part of our Lord's farewell sermon to his disciples. Sorrow had now filled their hearts : they were apt to say, Alas ! what will become of us when our Master is taken from our head? Who will then instruct us? Who will solve our doubts? How shall we be supported, under our difficulties and discouragements? How shall we be able to live, without our wonted communication with him ? Therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ seasonably teaches them the mystery of their union with him, comparing himself to the vine, and them to the branches. He compares, 1. Himself to a vine. " I am the vine." He 15 170 GENERAL VIEW OF THE MYSTICAL UNION. had been celebrating with his disciples, the sacrament of hr> supper, that sign and seal of his people's union with him ; and had told them, " That he would drink no more of the fruit of the vine, till he should drink it new with them in his Father's kingdom :" and now he shows himself to be the vine, from whence the wine of their consolation should come. The vine had less beauty than many other trees, but it is exceedingly fruitful ; fitly representing the low condition which our Lord was then in, yet bringing many sons to glory. But that which is chiefly aimed at, in his comparing himself to a vine, is to repre- sent himself as the supporter and nourisher of his people, in whom they live and bring forth fruit. 2. He compares them to branches ; ye are the branches of that vine. Ye are the branches knit to, and growing on this stock, drawing all your life and sap from it. It is a beautiful comparison ; as if he had said, I am as a vine, you are as the branches of that vine. Now there are two sorts of branches: 1. Natural branches, which at first spring out of the stock. These are the branches that are in the tree, and were never out of it. 2. There are ingrafted branches, which are branches cut off from the tree that first gave them life, and put into another, to grow upon it. Thus branches come to be on a tree, which originally were not on it. The branches mentioned in the text, are of the latter sort ; branches broken off, as the word in the original language denotes, namely, from the tree that first gave them life. None of the children of men are natural branches of the second Adam, viz. Jesus Christ, the true vine ; they are all the natural branches of the first Adam, that degenerate vine : but the elect are all of them, sooner or later, broken off from their natural stock, and ingrafted into Christ, the true vine. DOCTRINE, They who are in the state of grace, are ingrafted, in, and united to, the Lord Jesus Christ. They are taken out of their natural stock, cut off from it ; and are now ingrafted into Christ, as the new stock. In handling of this, I shall speak to the mystical union : 1. More generally. 2. More par- ticularjy. A GENERAL VIEW OF THE MYSTICAL UNION. 1. In the general, for understanding the union between the Lord Jesus Christ and his elect, who believe in him, and on him : 1. It is a spiritual union. Man and wife, by their marriage- union, become one flesh ; Christ, and true believers, by this union, become one spirit, 2 Cor. vi. 17. As one soul or spirit actuates both the head and the members of the natural body ; so the one Spirit of God dwells in Christ and the Christian ; for, " if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his," GENERAL VIEW OF THE MYSTICAL UNION. 171 Rom. viii. 9. Corporal union is made by contact ; so the stones in a building are united : but this is a union of another nature. Were it possible that we could eat the flesh, and drink the blood of Christ, in a corporal and carnal manner, it would profit nothing, John vi. 63. It was not Mary's bearing him in her womb, but her believing on him, that made her a saint. Luke xi. 27, 28, "A certain woman said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." 2. It is a real union. Such is our weakness in our present state, so much are we sunk in sin, that, in our fancy, we are prone to form an image of every thing proposed to us ; and as to whatever is denied us, we are apt to suspect it to be but a fiction, or what has no reality. But nothing is more real than what is spiritual ; as approaching nearest to the nature of him who is the fountain of all reality, namely, God himself. We do not see with our eyes the union between our own soul and body ; neither can we represent it to ourselves truly, by imagi- nation, as we do sensible things : yet the reality of it is not to be doubted. Faith is no fancy, but " the substance of things hoped for," Heb. xi. 1. Neither is the union thereby made between Christ and believers imaginary, but most real : " For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones," Eph. v. 30. 3. It is a most close and intimate union. Believers, regene- rate persons, who fiducially credit him, and rely on him, have put on Christ, Gal. iii. 27. If that be not enough, he is in them, John xvii. 23 ; formed in them, as the child in the womb, Gal. iv. 19. He is the foundation, 1 Cor. iii. 11 ; they are the lively stones built upon him, 1 Pet. ii. 5. He is the head, and they the body, Eph. i. 22, 23. Nay, he liveth in them, as their very souls live in their bodies, Gal. ii. 20. And, what is more than all this, they are one in the Father and the Son, as the Father is in Christ, and Christ in the Father, John xvii. 21, "That they all may be one ; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." 4. Though it is not a mere legal union, yet it is a union sup- ported by law. Christ, as the surety, and Christians as the principal debtors, are one in the eye of the law. When the elect had run themselves, with the rest of mankind, in debt to the justice of God, Christ became surety for them, and paid the debt. When they believe on him, they are united to him in a spiritual marriage union ; which takes effect so far, that what he did and suffered for them, is reckoned in law, as if they had done and suffered it themselves. Hence, they are said to be crucified with Christ, Gal. ii. 20 ; buried with him, Col. ii. 12 ; yea, raised up together, namely, with Christ, "and 172 GENERAL VIEW OF THE MYSTICAL UNIOX. made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," Eph. ii. 6. In which places, saints on earth, of whom the apostle there speaks, cannot be said to be sitting, but in the way of law- reckoning. 5. It is an indissoluble union. Once in Christ, ever in him. Having taken up his habitation in the heart, he never removes. None can untie this happy knot. Who will dissolve this union ? Will he himself? No, he will not ; we have his word for it ; " I will not turn away from them," Jer. xxxii. 40. But per- haps the sinner will do this mischief to himself? No, he shall not ; " they shall not depart from me," says their God, ibid. Can devils do it? No, unless they be stronger than Christ and his Father too ; " Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand, saith the Lord, John x. 28 ; " And none is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand," ver. 39. But what say you of death, which parts husband and wife ; yea, separates the soul from the body ? Will not death do it ? No ; the apostle, Rom. viii. 38, 39, is " persuaded that neither death," as terrible as it is, " nor life," desirable as it is, " nor devils," those evil angels, " nor " the devil's persecuting agents, though they be " principalities, nor powers," on earth ; " nor " evil "things present," already lying on us, " nor" evil " things to come" on us ; " nor" the " height" of worldly felicity ; " nor depth " of worldly misery ; " nor any other creature," good or evil, " shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." As death separated Christ's soul from his body, but could not separate either his soul or body from his Divine nature ; so, though the saints should be separated from their nearest relations in the world, and from all their earthly enjoyments ; yea, though their souls should be separated from their bodies, and their bodies separate in a thousand pieces, their " bones scattered, as when one cutteth or cleaveth wood ;" yet soul and body, and every piece of the body, the smallest dust of it, shall remain united to the Lord Christ ; for even in death, " they sleep in Jesus," 1 Thess. iv. 14 ; and " he keepeth all their bones," Psal. xxxiv. 20. Union with Christ, is " the grace wherein we stand," firm and stable " as mount Zion, which cannot be removed." Lastly, It is a mysterious union. The gospel is a doctrine of mysteries. It discovers to us the substantial union of the three persons in one Godhead, 1 John v. 7, "These three are one :" the hypostatical union of the divine and human natures, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Tim. iii. 16, " God was manifest in the flesh ;" and the mystical union between Christ and believers ; " this is a great mystery," also, Eph. v. 32. O what mysteries are here ! The head in heaven, the members on earth, yet really united ! " Christ in the believer, living in him, walking in him :" and " the believer dwelling in OUR NATURAL AND SUPERNATURAL STOCK. 173 God, putting on the Lord Jesus, eating his flesh, and drinking his blood !" This makes the saints a mystery to the world ; yea, a mystery to themselves. II. I come now more particularly to speak of this union with, and ingrafting into Jesus Christ. 1. I shall consider the natural stock, which the branches are taken out of. 2. The supernatural stock they are ingrafted into. 3. What branches are cut off the old stock, and put into the new. 4. How it is done. And, lastly. The benefits flowing from this union and ingrafting. OP THE NATURAL AND SUPERNATURAL STOCKS, AND THE BRANCHES, TAKEN OUT OF THE FORMER AND INGRAFTED INTO THE LATTER. I. Let us take a view of the stock, which the branches are taken out of. The two Adams, that is, Adam and Christ, are the two stocks : for the Scripture speaks of these two, as if there had been no more men in the world than they, 1 Cor. xv. 45, " The first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit ;" ver. 47, "The first man is of the earth, earthy : the second man is the Lord from heaven." And the reason is, there never were any that were not branches of one of these two ; all men being either in the one stock or in the other : for in these two sorts, all mankind stand divided, ver. 48, " As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy : and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly." The first Adam then, is the natural stock : on this stock are the branches found growing at first, which are afterwards cut off", and ingrafted into Christ. As for the fallen angels, as they had no relation to the first Adam, so they have none to the second. There are four things to be remembered here. 1. That all mankind, the man Christ excepted, are naturally branches of the first Adam, Rom. v. 12, " By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin : and so death passed upon all men." 2. The bond which knit us unto the natural stock, was the covenant of works. Adam being our natural root, was made the moral root also, bearing all his posterity, as representing them in the covenant of works. For " by one man's disobedience many were made sinners," Rom. v. 10. It was necessary thai there should be a peculiar relation between that one man and the many, as a foundation for imputing his sin to them. This relation did not arise from the mere natural bond between him and us, as a father to his children ; for so we are related to our immediate parents, whose sins are not thereupon imputed to us, as Adam's sin is, but it arose from a moral bond between Adam and us ; the bond of a covenant, which could be no other than 15* 174 ADAM OUR NATURAL STOCK. A DEGENERATE STOCK. the covenant of works, wherein we were united to him, as branches to a stock. Hence Jesus Christ, though a son of Adam, Luke iii. 23 33, was none of these branches ; for as he came not of Adam, in virtue of the blessing of marriage, which was given before the fall, Gen. i. 28, " Be fruitful and multiply," &c., but in virtue of a special promise made after the fall, Gen. iii. 15, " The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head," he could not be represented by Adam in a covenant made before his fall. 3. As it is impossible for a branch to bo in two stocks at once, so no man can be, at one and the same time, both in the first and second Adam. 4. Hence it evi- dently follows, that all who are not ingrafted in Jesus Christ, are yet branches of the old stock ; and so partake of the nature of the same. Now, as to the first Adam, our natural stock, con- sider, First, What a stock he was originally. He was a vine of the Lord's planting, a choice vine, a noble vine, wholly good. There was a consultation of the Trinity at the planting of this vine, Gen. i. 26, " Let us make man in our image, after our own likeness." There was no rottenness at the heart of it. There was sap and juice enough in it to have nourished all the branches, to bring forth fruit unto God. My meaning is, Adam was made able perfectly to keep the commandments of God, which would have procured eternal life to himself, and to all his posterity : for as all die by Adam's disobedience, all would have had life by his obedience, if he had stood. Consider, Secondly, What that stock now is. Ah ! most unlike to what it was, when planted by the author and fountain of all good. A blast from hell, and a bite with the venomous teeth of the old serpent, have made it a degenerate stock, a dead stock ; nay, a killing stock. First, It is a degenerate naughty stock. Therefore the Lord God said to Adam in that dismal day, " Where art thou !" Gen. iii. 9. In what condition art thou now? " How art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me ?" Or, "where wast thou?" Why not in the place of meeting with me? Why so long in coming? What means this fearful change ; this hiding of thyself from me ? Alas ! the stock is degenerate, quite spoilt, is become altogether naught, and brings forth wild grapes. Converse with the devil is preferred to communion with God. Salan is believed ; and God, who is truth itself, is disbe- lieved. He who was the friend of God, is now in conspiracy against him. Darkness is come in the room of light ; ignorance prevails in the mind, where divine knowledge shone ; the will, which was righteous and regular, is now turned rebel against its Lord : and the whole man is in dreadful disorder. Before I go further, let me stop and observe, Here is a mirror both for saints and sinners. Sinners, stand here and consider ADAM OUR NATURAL STOCK. A DEGENERATE STOCK. 175 what you are ; and saints, learn what once you were. You, sinners, are branches of a degenerate stock. Fruit you may bear indeed; but now that your vine is the vine of Sodom, your grapes must of course be grapes of gall, Deut. xxxii. 32. The Scripture speaks of two sorts of fruit which grow on the branches of the natural stock ; and it is plain that they are of the nature of their degenerate stock. 1. The wild grapes of wickedness, Isa. v. 2. These grow in abundance, by influence from hell. See Gal. v. 19 21. At its gates are all manner of these fruits, both new and old. Storms come from heaven to check them ; but still they grow. They are struck at with the sword of the Spirit, the word of God ; conscience gives them many a secret blow; yet they thrive. 2. Fruit to themselves, Hos. x. 1. What else are all the unrenewed man's acts of obedience, his reforma- tion, sober deportment, his prayers, and good works ? They are all done chiefly for himself, not for the glory of God. These fruits are like the apples of Sodom, fair to look at, but fall to ashes when handled and tried. You think you have not only the leaves of a profession, but the fruits of a holy practice too ; but if you be not broken off from the old stock, and ingrafted in Christ Jesus, God accepts not, nor regards your fruits. Here I must take occasion to tell you, there are five faults will be found in heaven, with your best fruits. 1. Their bit- terness : your " clusters are bitter," Deut. xxxii. 32. There is a spirit of bitterness, wherewith some come before the Lord, in religious duties, living in malice and envy ; and which some professors entertain against others, because they outshine them in holiness of life, or because they are not of their opinion. This, wherever it reigns, is a fearful symptom of an unregene- rate state. But I do not so much mean this, as that which is common to all the branches of the old stock, namely the leaven of hypocrisy, Luke xii. 1, which sours and embitters every duty they perform. Wisdom, that is full of good fruits, is without hypocrisy, James iii. 17. 2. Their ill savour. Their works are abominable, for themselves are corrupt, Psal. xiv. 1. They all savour of the old stock, not of the new. It is the pe- culiar privilege of the saints, that they are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, 2 Cor. ii. 15. The unregenerate man's fruits savour not of love to Christ, nor of the blood of Christ, nor of the incense of his intercession, and therefore will never be accepted in heaven. 3. Their unripeness. Their grape is an unripe grape, Job xv. 33. There is no influence on them from the Sun of Righteousness, to bring them to per- fection. They have the shape of fruit, but no more. The matter of duty is in them, but they want right principles and ends ; their works are not wrought in God, John ii. 21. Their prayers drop from their lips, before their hearts are impregnated with the vital sap of the Spirit of supplication : their tears fall 176 ADAH OUR NATURAL STOCK. A DEAD STOCK. from their eyes, ere their hearts are truly softened : their feet turn to new paths, and their way is altered, while yet their nature is not changed. 4. Their lightness. Being weighed in the balances, they are found wanting, Dan. v. 27. For evidence whereof you may observe, that they do not humble the soul, but lift it up in pride. The good fruits of holiness bear down the branches they grow upon, making them to salute the ground, 1 Cor. xv. 10. "I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." But the blasted fruits of unrenewed men's performances, hang lightly on branches towering up to heaven, Judges xvii. 13, "Now know I, that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest." They look indeed too high for God to behold them ; " Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not?" Isa. Iviii. 3. The more duties they do, and the better they seem to perform them, the less are they humbled, and the more they are lifted up. This disposition of the sinner, is the exact reverse of what is to be found in the saint. To men, who neither are in Christ, nor are solicitous to be found in him, their duties are like windy bladders, wherewith they think to swim ashore to Immanuel's land : but these must needs break, and they consequently sink ; because they take not Christ for the lifter up of their head, Psal. iii. 3. Lastly, They are not all manner of pleasant fruits, Cant. vii. 13. Christ, as a King, must be served with variety. Where God makes the heart his garden, he plants it as Solomon did his, with trees of all kind of fruits, Eccl. ii. 5. Accordingly it brings forth the fruit of the Spirit in all goodness, Eph. v. 9. But the ungodly are not so ; their obedience is never universal ; there is always some one thing or other excepted. In one word, their fruits are fruits of an evil tree, that cannot be accepted in heaven. Secondly, Our natural stock is a dead stock, according to the threatening, Gen. ii. 17, " In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." Our root now is rottenness ; no wonder the blossom goes up as dust. The stroke has gone to the heart, the sap is let out, and the tree is withered. The curse of the first covenant, like a hot thunderbolt from heaven, has lighted on it, and ruined k. It is cursed now as that fig tree, Matt. xxi. 19, " Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever." Now it is good for nothing but to cumber the ground, and furnish fuel for Tophet. Let me enlarge a little here also. Every unrenewed man is a branch of a dead stock. When thou seest, O sinner, a dead stock of a tree, exhausted of all its sap, having branches on it in the same condition, look on it as a lively representation of thy soul's state. 1. Where the stock is dead, the branches must nreds be barren. Alas ! the barrenness of many professors plainly discovers on what stock they are growing. It is easy ADAM OUR NATURAL STOCK. A DEAD STOCK. 177 to pretend to faith, but " show me thy faith without thy works !" if thou canst, James ii. 18. 2. A dead stock can convey no sap to the branches, to make them bring forth fruit. The covenant of works was the bond of our union with the natural stock ; but now it is become weak through the flesh ; that is, through the dege- neracy and depravity of human nature, Rom. viii. 3. It is strong enough to command, and to bind heavy burdens on the shoul- ders of those who are not in Christ, but it affords no strength to bear them. The sap, that was once in the root, is now gone : the law, like a merciless creditor, apprehends Adam's heirs, saying to each, " Pay what thou owest ;" when, alas ! his effects are riotously spent. 3. All pains and cost are lost on the tree, whose life is gone. In vain do men labour to get fruit on the branches, when there is no sap in the root. First, the garden- er's pains are lost : ministers lose their labour on the branches of the old stock, while they continue on it. Many sermons are preached to no purpose ; because there is no life to give sen- sation. Sleeping men may be awakened ; but the dead cannot be raised without a miracle : even so the dead sinner must re- main, if he be not restored to life by a miracle of grace. Se- condly, The influences of Heaven are lost on such a tree : in vain does the rain fall upon it : in vain is it laid open to the win- ter cold and frosts. The Lord of the vineyard digs about many a dead soul but it is not bettered. " Bruise the fool in a mor- tar, his folly will not depart." Though he meets with many crosses yet he retains his lusts : let him be laid on a sick bed, he will lie there like a sick beast, groaning under his pain, but not mourning for, nor turning from his sin. Let death itself stare him in the face, he will presumptuously maintain his hope, as if he would look the grim messenger out of countenance. Sometimes there are common operations of the Divine Spirit performed on him : he is sent home with a trembling heart, and with arrows of conviction sticking in his soul: but at length he prevails against these things, and turns as secure as ever. Thirdly, Summer and winter are alike to the branches of the dead stock. When others about them are budding, blossoming, and bringing forth fruit, there is no change on them : the dead stock has no growing time at all. Perhaps it may be difficult to know, in the winter, what trees are dead, and what are alive ; but the spring plainly discovers it. There are some seasons wherein there is little life to be perceived, even among saints ; yet times of reviving come at length. But even when " the vine flourisheth, and the pomegranates bud forth," when saving grace is discovering itself by its lively actings wherever it is, the branches on the old stock are still withered. When the dry bones are coming together, bone to bone, amongst saints, the sinner's bones are still lying about the grave's mouth. They are trees that cumber the ground, ready to be cut down, and 178 ADAM OUR NATURAL STOCK. A KILLING STOCK. will be cut down for the fire if God in mercy prevent it not by cutting them off from that stock, and ingrafting them into another. Lastly, Our natural stock is a killing stock. If the stock die, how can the branches live 1 If the sap be gone from the root and heart, the branches must needs wither. " In Adam all die," 1 Cor. xv. 22. The root died in Paradise, and all the branches in it, and with it. The root is poisoned, and from thence the branches are infected ; " death is in the pot ;" and all that taste of the pulse, or pottage, are killed. Know then, that every natural man is a branch of a killing stock. Our natural root not only gives us no life, but it has a killing power, reaching to all the branches thereof. There are four things which the first Adam conveys to all his branches, and they are abiding in, and lying on, such of them as are not ingrafted in Christ. First, A corrupt nature. He sinned, and his nature was thereby corrupted and depraved ; and this cor- ruption is conveyed to all his posterity. He was infected, and the contagion spread itself over all his seed. Secondly, Guilt, that is, an obligation to punishment, Rom. v. 21. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." The threaten- ings of the law, as cords of death, are twisted about the branches of the old stock, to draw them over the hedge into the fire. And till they be cut off from this stock by the pruning knife, the sword of vengeance hangs over their heads, to cut them down. Thirdly, This killing stock transmits the curse into the branches. The stock, as the stock, for I speak not of Adam in his personal and private capacity, being cursed, so are the branches, Gal. iii. 10, " For as many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse." This curse affects the whole man, and all that belongs to him, every thing he possesses; and works three ways. 1. As poison, infecting ; thus their blessings are cursed, Mai. ii. 2. Whatever the man enjoys, it can do him no good, but evil, being thus poisoned by the curse. His pros- perity in the world destroys him, Prov. i. 32. The ministry of the gospel is a savour of death unto death, to him, 2 Cor. ii. 16. His seeming attainments in religion are cursed to him ; his knowledge serves but to puff him up, and his duties to keep him Back from Christ. 2. It works as a moth, consuming and wast- ing by little and little, Hos. v. 12, "Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth." There is a worm at the root, consuming them by degrees. Thus the curse pursued Saul, till it wormed him out of all his enjoyments, and out of the very show he had of religion. Sometimes they decay like the fat of lambs, arid melt away as the snow in the sunshine. 3. It acts as a lion rampant, Hos. v. 14, " I will be unto Ephraim as a lion." The Lord " rains on them snares, fire, and brimstone and an horrible CHRIST OUR SUPERNATURAL STOCK. AS MEDIATOR. 179 tempest," in such a manner, that they are hurried away with 'he stream. He tears their enjoyments from them in his wrath, pursues them with terrors, rends their souls from their bodies, and throws the deadened branch into the fire. Thus the curse devours like fire, which none can quench. Lastly, This killing stock transmits death to the branches upon it. Adam took the poisonous cup and drank it off: this occasioned death to himself and us. We came into the world spiritually dead, thereby exposed to eternal death, and absolutely liable to tern- poral death. This root is to us like the Scythian river, which, they say, brings forth little bladders every day, out of which come certain small flies, which are bred in the morning, winged at noon, and dead at night : a very lively emblem of our mortal state. Now, sirs, is it not absolutely necessary to be broken ofF from this our natural stock? What will our fair leaves of a profession, or our fruits of duties avail, if we be still branches of the degenerate, dead, and killing stock ? But alas ! of the many questions among us, few are taken up about these. " Whether am I broken off from the old stock or not ? Am 1 ingrafted in Christ, or not ?" Ah ! Wherefore all this waste of time? Why is there so much noise about religion amongst many, who can give no good account of their having laid a good foundation, being mere strangers to experimental religion ? I fear, if God does not in mercy undermine the religion of many of us, and let us see that we have none at all, our root will be found rottenness, and our blossom go up as dust, in a dying hour. Therefore let us look to our state, that we be not found fools in our latter end. II. Let us now view the supernatural stock, in which the branches cut off from the natural stock are ingrafted. Jesus Christ is sometimes called " The Branch," Zech. iii. 8. So he is in respect of his human nature, being a branch, and the top branch of the house of David. Sometimes he is called a " Root," Isa. xi. 10. We have both together, Rev. xxii. 16, " I am the root, and the offspring of David ;" David's root as God, and his offspring as man. The text tells us, that he is the vine, i. e. he, as a Mediator, is the vine stock, whereof believers are the branches. As the sap comes from the earth into the root and stock, and from thence is diffused into the branches ; so, by Christ as Mediator, divine life is conveyed from the fountain unto those who are united to him by faith, John vi. 57. " As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father : so, he that eateth me, even he shall live by me;" by Christ as Mediator, not as God only, as some have asserted ; nor yet as man only, as the Papists generally hold : but as Mediator, God and man, Acts xx. 28, " The church of God, which he hath purchased with his blood." Heb. ix. 14, " Christ, who through 180 CHRIST OUR SUPERNATURAL STOCK. THE ELECT. the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God." The divine and human natures have their distinct actings, yet a joint operation, in his discharging the office of Mediator. This is illustrated by the similitude of a fiery sword, which at once cuts and burns : cutting it burns, and burning it cuts ; the steel outs, and the fire burns. Wherefore Christ, God-man, is the stock, whereof believers are the branches: and they are united to whole Christ. They are united to him in his human nature, as being members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones," Eph. v. 30. And they are united to him in his Divine nature ; for so the apostle speaks of this union, Col. i. 27, " Christ in you the hope of glory." Those who are Christ's, have the Spirit of Christ, Rom. viii. 9 ; and by him they are united to the Father, and to the Holy Ghost ; 1 John iv. 15. " Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God." Faith, the bond of this union, receives whole Christ, God-man, and so unites us to him as such. Behold here, O believers, your high privilege. You were once branches of a degenerate stock, even as others : but you are, by grace, become branches of the true vine, John xv. 1. You are cut out of a dead and killing stock, and ingrafted in the last Adam, who was made a quickening spirit, 1 Cor. xv. 45. Your loss by the first Adam is made up, with great ad- vantage, by your union with the second. Adam, at his best estate, was but a shrub, in comparison with Christ the tree of life. He was but a servant ; Christ is the Son, the Heir, and Lord of all things, " the Lord from heaven." It cannot be de- nied, that grace was shown in the first covenant ; but it is as far exceeded, by the grace of the second covenant, as the twilight is by the light of the mid day. III. What branches are taken out of the natural stock, and grafted into this vine 1 Answer, These are the Elect, and none other. They, and they only, are grafted into Christ; and con- sequently none but they are cut off from the killing stock. For them alone he intercedes, that they may be one in him and his Father, John xvii. 9 23. Faith, the bond of this union, is given to none else: it is the faith of God's elect, Tit. i. 1. The Lord passes by many branches growing on the natural stock, and cuts off only here one, and there one, and grafts them into the true vine, according as free love has determined. Oft does he pitch upon the most unlikely branch, leaving the top boughs; passing by the mighty, and the noble, and calling the weak, base, and despised, 1 Cor. i. 26, 27. Yea, he often leaves the "air and smooth, and takes the rugged and knotty ; " and such were some of you, but ye are washed," &c. 1 Cor. vi. 11. If we inquire why so 1 we find no other reason but because they were chosen in him, Eph. i. 4 ; " Predestinated to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ," ver. 5. Thus are they gathered CHRIST OUR SUPERNATURAL STOCK. 181 together in Christ, while the rest are left growing on their natural stock, to be afterwards bound up in bundles for the fire. Therefore to whomsoever the gospel may come in vain, it will have a blessed effect on God's elect, Acts xiii. 48, " As many as were ordained to eternal life, believed." Where the Lord has much people, the gospel will have much success, sooner or later. Such as are to be saved, will be added to the mystical body of Christ. HOW THE BRANCHES ARE TAKEN OUT OF THE NATURAL STOCK, AND INGRAFTED INTO THE SUPERNATURAL STOCK. IV. I am to show how the branches are cut ofF from the natural stock, the first Adam, and grafted into the true vine, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks to the Husbandman, not to the branch, that it is cut off from its natural stock, and grafted into a new one. The sinner, in his coming off from the first stock, is passive, and neither can nor will come off from it of his own accord, but clings to it, till almighty power make him to fall off, John vi. 44, " No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw him." And, chap. v. 40, " Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." The ingrafted branches " are God's husbandry," 1 Cor. iii. 9, " The planting of the Lord," Isa. Ixi. 3. The ordinary means he makes use of, in this work, is the ministry of the word, 1 Cor. iii. 9, " We are labourers together with God." But the efficacy thereof is wholly from him, whatever the minister's parts or piety be, ver. 7, " Neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth: but God that giveth the increase." The apostles preached to the Jews, yet the body of that people remained in infidelity, Rom. x. 16, "Who hath believed our report?" Yea, Christ himself, who spoke as never man spake, says con- cerning the success of his own ministry, " I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought," Isa. xlix. 4. The branches may be hacked by the preaching of the word ; but the stroke will never go through till it be carried home by the omnipotent arm. However, God's ordinary way is, " by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe," 1 Cor i. 21. The cutting off of the branch, from the natural stock, is per- formed by the pruning knife of the law, in the hand of the Spirit of God, Gal. ii. 19, " For I, through the law, am dead to the law/' It is by the bond of the covenant of works, as I said before, that we are knit to our natural stock : therefore, as a wife, unwilling to be put away, pleads and hangs by the marriage tie; so do men by the covenant of works. They hold by it, like the man who held the ship with his hands ; and when one hand was cut off, held it with the other ; and when both were cut off, held it with his teeth. This will appear from a distinct 16 182 CHRIST OUR SUPERNATURAL STOCK. HOW THK view of the Lord's works on men, in bringing them off from the old stock ; which now I offer in the following particulars : First, When the Spirit of the Lord comes to deal with a person, to bring him to Christ, he finds him in Laodicea's case, in a sound sleep of security, dreaming of heaven, and the favour of God, though full of sin against the holy One of Israel, Rev. iii. 17, "Thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Therefore he darts in some beams of light into the dark soul ; and lets the man see that he is a lost man, if he turn not over a new leaf, and betake himself to a new course of life. Thus, by the Spirit of the Lord acting as a Spirit of bondage, there is a criminal court erected in the man's breast ; where he is arraigned, accused, and condemned, for breaking the law of God, " convinced of sin and judgment," John xvi. 8. And now he can no longer sleep securely in his former course of life. This is the first stroke which the branch gets, in order to cutting off. Secondly, Hereupon the man forsakes his former profane courses, his lying, swearing, Sabbath-breaking, stealing, and such like practices ; though they be dear to him, as right eyes, he will rather quit them than ruin his soul. The ship is like to sink, and therefore he throws his goods overboard, that he himself may not perish. Now he begins to bless himself in his heart, and look joyfully on his evidences for heaven ; think- ing himself a better servant to God than many others, Luke xviii. 11, " God, I thank thee, I am not as other men are, ex- tortioners, unjust, adulterers," &c. But he soon gets another stroke with the axe of the law, showing him that it is only he that does what is written in the law, that can be saved by it ; and that his negative holiness is too scanty a covering from the storm of God's wrath. Thus, although his sins of commission only were heavy on him before, his sins of omission now crowd into his thoughts, attended with a train of law curses and ven- geance. And each of the ten commands discharges thunder claps of wrath against him for his omitting required duties. Thirdly, Upon this he turns to a positively holy course of life. He not only is not profane, but he performs religious du- ties : he prays, seeks the knowledge of the principles of religion, strictly observes the Lord's day, and, like Herod, does many things, and hears sermons gladly. In one word, there is a great conformity, in his outward conversation, to the letter of both tables of the law. There is a mighty change upon the man, which his neighbours cannot miss taking notice of. Hence he is cheerfully admitted by the godly into their society, as a pray- ing person ; and can confer with them about religious matters, yea, and about soul exercises, which some are not acquainted with ; and their good opinion of him, confirms his good opinion of himself. This step in religion is fatal to many, who never BRANCHES ARE CUT OFF FROM THE NATURAL STOCK. 183 get beyond it. But here the Lord gives the elect branch a fur- ther stroke. Conscience flies in the man's face, for some wrong steps in his conversation, the neglect of some duty, or commis- sion of some sin, which is a blot in his conversation : and then the flaming sword of the law appears again over his head ; and the curse rings in his ears, for that he " continueth not in all things written in the law, to do them," Gal. iii. 10. Fourthly, On this account he is obliged to seek another salve for his sore. He goes to God, confesses his sin, seeks the par- don of it, promising to watch against it for the time to come , and so finds ease, and thinks he may very well take it, seeing the Scripture says, " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins," 1 John i. 9 ; not considering that he grasps at a privilege, which is theirs only who are grafted into Christ, and under the covenant of grace, and which the branches yet growing on the old stock cannot plead. And here some- times there are formal and express vows made against such and such sins, and binding to such and such duties. Thus many go on all their days, knowing no other religion, than to perform duties, and to confess, and pray for pardon of that wherein they fail, promising themselves eternal happiness, though they are utter strangers to Christ. Here many elect ones have been cast down wounded, and many reprobates have been slain, while the wounds of neither of them have been deep enough to cut them off from their natural stock. But the Spirit of the Lord gives yet a deeper stroke to the branch which is to be cut off, showing him, that, as yet, he is but an outside saint, and discovering to him the filthy lusts lodged in his heart, which he took no notice of before, Rom. vii. 9, " When the commandment came, sin re- vived, and I died." Then he sees his heart a dunghill of hellish lusts, filled with covetousness, pride, malice, filthiness, and the like. Now, as soon as the door of the chambers of his imagery is thus opened to him, and he sees what they do there in the dark, his outside religion is blown up as insufficient; and he learns a new lesson in religion, namely, " That he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly," Rom. ii. 28. Fifthly, Upon this he goes further, even to inside religion ; sets to work more vigorously than ever, mourns over the evils of his heart, and strives to bear down the weeds which he finds growing in that neglected garden. He labours to curb his pride and passion, and to banish speculative impurities ; prays more fervently, hears attentively, and strives to get his heart affected in every religious duty he performs : and thus he comes to think himself not only an outside, but an inside Christian. Wonder not at this, for there is nothing in it beyond the power of nature, or what one may attain to under a vigorous influence of the covenant of works ; therefore another yet deeper stroke is given. The law charges home on the man's conscience, that he was a 184 CHRIST OUR SUPERNATURAL STOCK. HOW THE transgressor from the womb ; that he came into the world a guilty creature ; and that in the time of his ignorance, and even since his eyes were opened, he has been guilty of many actual sins, either altogether overlooked by him, or not sufficiently mourned over ; for spiritual sores, not healed by the blood of Christ, but skinned over some other way, are easily irritated, and soon break out again ; therefore the law takes him by the throat saying, " Pay what thou owest." Sixthly, Then the sinner says in his heart, " Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all ;" and so falls to work to pacify an offended God, and to atone for those sins. He renews his repentance, such as it is ; bears patiently the afflictions laid upon him : yea, he afflicts himself, denies himself the use of his lawful comforts, sighs deeply, mourns bitterly, cries with tears for a pardon, till he has wrought up his heart to a conceit of having obtained it : having thus done penance for what is past, he resolves to be a good servant to God, and to hold on in outward and inward obedience for the time to come. But the stroke must go nearer the heart yet, ere the branch fall off. The Lord discovers to him, in the glass of the law, how he sins in all he does, even when he does the best he can ; and there- fore the dreadful sound returns to his ears, Gal. iii. 10, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things," &c. " When ye fasted and mourned," says the Lord, " did ye at all fast unto me, even to me ?" Will muddy water make clean clothes I Will you satisfy for one sin with another ? Did not your thoughts wander in such a duty ? Were not your affections flat in another 1 Did not your heart give a lustful look to such an idol 1 And did it not rise in a fit of impatience under such an affliction ? " Should I accept this of your hands ? Cursed be the deceiver, which sacrificeth to the Lord a corrupt thing," Mai. i. 13, 14. And thus he becomes so far broke off, that he sees he is not able to satisfy the demands of the law. Seventhly, Hence, like a broken man, who finds he is not able to pay all his debt, he goes about to compound with his creditor. And, being in pursuit of ease and comfort, he does what he can to fulfil the law ; and wherein he fails, he looks that God will accept the will for the deed. Thus doing his duty, and having a will to do better, he cheats himself into a persuasion of the goodness of his state : and hereby thousands are ruined. But the elect get another stroke, which loosens their hold in this case. The doctrine of the law is borne in on their consciences, demonstrating to them, that exact and perfect obedience is required by it, under pain of the curse; and that it is the doing, and not the wishing to do, which will avail. Wish- ing to do better will not answer the law's demands ; and therefore the curse sounds again, " Cursed is every one that continueth BRANCHES ARE CUT OFF FROM THE NATURAL STOCK. 185 not to do them ;" that is, actually to do them. In vain is wishing then. Eigiithly, Being broken off from all hopes of compounding with the law, he falls a borrowing. He sees that all he can do to obey the law, and all his desires to be, and to do better, will not save his soul ; therefore he goes to Christ, entreating, that his righteousness may make up what is wanting in his own, and cover all the defects of his doings and sufferings ; that so God, for Christ's sake, may accept them, and thereupon be reconciled. Thus doing what he can to fulfil the law, and look- ing to Christ to make up all his defects ; he comes, at length to sleep in a sound skin again. Many persons are ruined this way. This was the error of the Galatians, which Paul, in his epistle to them, disputes against. But the Spirit of God breaks off the sinner from this hold also, by bringing home to his conscience that great truth, Gal. iii. 12, " The law is not of faith, but the man that doth them shall live in them." There is no mixing of the law and faith in this business ; the sinner must hold by one of them, and let the other go. The way of the law, and the way of faith, are so far different, that it is not possible for the sinner to walk in the one, unless he come off from the other ; and if he be for doing, he must do all alone; Christ will not do a part for him, if he do not all. A garment pieced up of sundry sorts of righteousness, is not a garment meet for the court of heaven. Thus the man is like one in a dream, who thought he was eating, but being awakened by a stroke, behold, his soul is faint ; his heart sinks in him like a stone while he finds that he can neither bear his burden himself alone, nor can he get help under it. Nint/tly, What can he do, who must needs pay, and yet haa not enough of his own to bring him out of debt ; nor can borrow so much, and to beg he is ashamed ? What can such a one do, I say, but sell himself as the man under the law, that was waxen poor ? Lev. xxv. 47. Therefore the sinner, beat off from so many holds, attempts to make a bargain with Christ, and to sell himself to the Son of God, if I may so speak, solemnly pro- mising and vowing, that he will be a servant to Christ, as long as he lives, if he will save his soul. And here, the sinner often makes a personal covenant with Christ, resigning himself to him on these terms ; yea, and takes the sacrament, to make the bar- gain sure. Hereupon, the man's great care is, how to obey Christ, keep his commands, and so fulfil his bargain. In this the soul finds a false, unsound peace, for a while ; till the Spirit of the Lord gives another stroke, to cut off the man from this refuge of lies likewise. And that happens in this manner : when he fails of the duties he engaged to perform, and falls again into the sin he covenanted against, it is powerfully carried home on his conscience, that his covenant is broken ; so all his comfort 16* 186 CHRIST OUR SUPERNATURAL STOCK. HOW THE goes, and terrors afresh seize on his soul, as one that has broken covenant with Christ. Commonly the man, to help himself, renews his covenant, but breaks it again as before. And how is it possible it should be otherwise, seeing he is still upon the old stock '{ Thus the work of many, all their days, as to their souls, is nothing but a making and breaking such covenants, over and over again. Objection, Some perhaps will say, " Who liveth and sinneth not 1 Who is there that faileth not of the duties he has engaged to ? If you reject this way as unsound, who then can be saved ?" Answer. True believers will be saved, namely, all who do by faith take hold of God's covenant. But this kind of covenant is men's own covenant, devised of their own heart ; not God's co- venant, revealed in the gospel of his grace : and the making of it is nothing else but the making of a covenant of works with Christ, confounding the law and the gospel ; a covenant he will never subscribe to, though we should sign it with our heart's blood. Rom. iv. 14 16, " For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed." Chap. xi. 6, " And if by grace, then is it no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace, otherwise work is no more work." God's covenant is ever- lasting ; once in, never out of it again ; and the mercies of it are sure mercies, Isa. Iv. 3. But that covenant of yours is a totter- ing covenant, never sure, but broken every day. It is a mere servile covenant, giving Christ service for salvation : but God's covenant is a filial covenant, in which the sinner takes Christ, and his salvation freely offered, and so becomes a son, John i. 12, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God :" and being become a son, he serves his Father, not that the inheritance may become his, but because it is his, through Jesus Christ. See Gal. iv. 24, and downward. To enter into that spurious covenant, is to buy from Christ with money ; but to take hold of God's covenant, is to buy of him without money and without price, Isa. Iv. 1, that is to say, to beg of him. In that covenant men work for life ; in God's covenant they come to Christ for life, and work from life. When a person under that covenant fails in his duty, all is gone ; the covenant must be made over again. But under God's covenant, although the man fail in his duty, and for his failure falls under the discipline of the covenant, and lies under the weight of it, till such time as he has recourse anew to the blood of Christ for pardon, and renew his repentance ; yet all that he trusted to, for life and salvation, namely, the righteousness of Christ, still stands entire, and the covenant remains firm. See Rom. vii. 24, 25; viii. 1. BRANCHES ARE CUT OFF FROM THE NATURAL STOCK. 187 Now, though some men spend their lives in making and breaking such covenants of their own, the terror on the breaking of them wearing weaker and weaker by degrees, till at last it creates them little or no uneasiness; yet the man, in whom the good work is carried on, till it be accomplished in cutting him off from the old stock, finds these covenants to be as rotten cords, broke at every touch ; and the terror of God being thereupon redoubled on his spirit, and the waters at every turn getting in unto his very soul, he is obliged to cease from catching hold of such covenants, and to seek help some other way. Tentkly, Therefore the man comes at length to beg at Christ's door for mercy : but yet he is a proud beggar, stand- ing on his personal worth. For, as the papists have mediators to plead for them with the one only Mediator, so the branches of the old stock have always something to produce, which they think may commend them to Christ, and engage him to take their cause in hand. They cannot think of coming to the spiritual market, without money in their hand. They are like persons who have once had an estate of their own, but are re- duced to extreme poverty, and forced to beg. When they come to beg, they still remember their former character ; and though they have lost their substance, yet they retain much of their former spirit : therefore they cannot think that they ought to be treated as ordinary beggars, but deserve a particular regard ; and, if that be not given them, their spirits rise against him to whom they address themselves for supply. Thus God gives the unhumbled sinner many common mercies, and shuts him not up in the pit according to his deserving : but all this is nothing in his eyes. He must be set down at the children's table, otherwise he reckons himself hardly dealt with, and wronged ; for he is not yet brought so low, as to think God may be justified when he speaks against him, and clear from all ini- quity, when he judges him, according to his real demerit, Psa. li. 4. He thinks, perhaps, that even before he was enlightened, he was better than many others : he considers his reformation of life, his repentance, the grief and tears which his sin has cost him, his earnest desires after Christ, his prayers and wrestlings for mercy ; and uses all these now as bribes for mercy, laying no small weight upon them in his addresses to the throne of grace. But here the Spirit of the Lord shoots a sheaf of arrows into the man's heart, whereby his confidence in these things is sunk and destroyed ; and, instead of thinking himself better than many, he is made to see himself worse than any. The naughtiness of his reformation of life is discovered ; his repent- ance appears to him no better than the repentance of Judas his tears like Esau's ; and his desires after Christ to be selfish and loathsome, like those who sought Christ because of the "loaves, John vi. 26. His answer from God seems now to be, 188 CHRIST OUR SUPERNATURAL STOCK. HOW THE Away proud beggar, " how shall I put thee among the child- ren?" He seems to look sternly on him, for his slighting of Jesus Christ by unbelief, which is a sin he scarce discerned before. But now at length he beholds it in its crimson colours, and is pierced to the heart, as with a thousand darts, while he sees how he has been going on blindly, sinning against tho remedy of sin, and, in the whole course of his life, trampling on the blood of the Son of God. And now he is, in his own eyes, the miserable object of law vengeance, yea, and gospel vengeance too. Eleventhly, The man being thus far humbled, will no more plead " he is worthy for whom Christ should do this thing;" but, on the contrary, looks on himself as unworthy of Christ, and unworthy of the favour of God. We may compare him, in this case, to the young man who followed Christ, " having a linen cloth cast about his naked body : who, when the young men laid hold of him left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked," Mark xiv. 51, 52. Even so the man had been follow- ing Christ, in the thin and cold garment of his own personal worthiness : but by it, even by it, which he so much trusted to, the law catches hold of him, to make him prisoner ; and then he is fain to leave it, and flees away naked : yet not to Christ, but from him. If you now tell him he is welcome to Christ, if he will come to him ; he is apt to say, Can such a vile and unworthy wretch as I, be welcome to the holy Jesus? If a plaster be applied to his wounded soul, it will not stick. He says, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord," Luke v. 8. No man needs speak to him of his repentance, for his comfort ; he can quickly espy such faults in it as make it naught : nor of his tears ; for he is assured they have never come into the Lord's bottle. He disputes himself away from Christ ; and concludes, now that he has been such a slighter of Christ, and is such an unholy and vile creature, that he can- not, he will not, he ought not to come to Christ; and that he must either be in better case, or else he will never believe. Hence he now makes his strongest efforts to amend what was amiss in his way before: he prays more earnestly than ever, mourns more bitterly, strives against sin in heart and life more vigor- ously, and watches more diligently, if by any means he may at length be fit to come to Christ. One would think the man is well humbled now: but, ah! devilish pride lurks under the veil of this seeming humility; like a kindly branch of the old stock, he adheres still, and will not submit to the righteousness of God, Rom. x. 3. He will not come to the market of free grace with- out money. He is bidden to the marriage of the King's Son, where the Bridegroom himself furnishes all the guests with wed- ding garments, stripping them of their own ; but he will not come, because he wants a wedding garment ; although he is very BRANCHES ARE CUT OFF FROM THE NATURAL STOCK 189 ousy in making one ready. This is sad work ; and therefore he must have a deeper stroke yet, else he is ruined. This stroke is given him with the axe of the law, in its irritating power. Thus the law, girding the soul with cords of death, and holding it in with the rigorous commands of obedience, under the pain of the curse; and God, in his holy and wise conduct, withdraw- ing his restraining grace, corruption is irritated, lusts become violent ; and the more they are striven against, the more they rage, like a furious horse checked with the bit. Then corrup- tions set up their heads, which he never saw in himself before. Here ofttimes, atheism, blasphemy, and, in one word, " horrible things concerning God, terrible thoughts concerning the faith," arise in his breast; so that his heart is a very hell within him. Thus, while he is sweeping the house of his heart, not yet water- ed with gospel grace, those corruptions which lay quiet before, in neglected corners, fly up and down in it like dust. He is as one who is mending a dam, and while he is repairing breaches in it, and strengthening every part of it, a mighty flood comes down, overturns his works and drives all away before it, as well what was newly laid, as what was laid before. Read Rom. vii. 8 13. This is a stroke which goes to the heart : and by it, his hope of making himself more fit to come to Christ, is cut ofF. Lastly, Now the time is come, when the man, between hope and despair, resolves to go to Christ as he is ; and there- fore, like a dying man, stretching himself just before his breath goes out, he rallies the broken forces of his soul, tries to believe, and in some sort lays hold on Jesus Christ. And now the branch hangs on the old stock by one single tack of a natural faith produced by the natural vigour of one's own spirit under a most pressing necessity, Psal. Ixxviii. 34, 35, " When he slew them, then they sought him, and they returned and in- quired early after God. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their Redeemer." Hos. viii. 2, " Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee." But the Lord, never failing to perfect his work, fetches yet another stroke, whereby the branch falls quite off. The Spirit of God convincingly discovers to the sinner his utter inability to do any thing that is good, and so he dies, Rom. vii. 9. That voice powerfully strikes through his soul, " How can ye be- lieve?" John v. 44. Thou canst no more believe, than thou canst reach up thine hand to heaven, and bring Christ down from thence. Thus at length he sees, that he can neither help himself by working, nor by believing : and having no more to hang by on the old stock, he therefore falls off. While he is distressed thus, seeing himself like to be swept away with the flood of God's wrath ; and yet unable so much as to stretch forth a hand to lay hold of a twig of the tree of life, growing on the 190 CHRIST OUR SUPERNATURAL STOCK. bank of the river, he is taken up, and ingrafted in the true vine, the Lord Jesus Christ giving him the spirit of faith. By what has been said upon this head, I design not to rack or distress tender consciences ; for though there are but few such at this day, yet God forbid I should offend any of Christ's little ones. But, alas ! a dead sleep is fallen upon this generation, they will not be awakened, let us go ever so near to the quick : therefore I fear that there is another sort of awakening abiding this sermon-proof generation, which shall make the ears of them that hear it tingle. However, I would not have this to be looked upon as the sovereign God's stinted method of breaking off sin- ners from the old stock. But this I assert as a certain truth, that all who are in Christ, have been broken off from all these several confidences ; and that they who were never broken off from them, are yet in their natural stock. Nevertheless, if the house be pulled down, and the old foundation razed, it is much the same, whether it was taken down stone by stone, or whether it was undermined, and all fell down together. Now it is that the branch is ingrafted in Jesus Christ. And as the law, in the hand of the Spirit of God, was the instrument to cut off the branch from the natural stock ; so the gospel, in the hand of the same Spirit, is the instrument used for ingrafting it in the supernatural stock, 1 John i. 3, " That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us ; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." See Isa. Ixi. 1 3. The gos- pel is the silver cord let down from heaven, to draw perishing sinners to land. And though the preaching of the law prepares the way of the Lord, yet it is in the word of the gospel that Christ and a sinner meet. Now, as in the natural grafting, the branch being taken up is put into the stock, and being put into it, becomes one with it, so that they are united : even so in the spiritual ingrafting, Christ apprehends the sinner, and the sinner, being apprehended of Christ apprehends him, and so they become one, Phil. iii. 12. First, Christ apprehends the sinner by his Spirit, and draws him to himself, 1 Cor. xii. 13, "For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body." The same Spirit, which is in the Mediator himself, he communicates to his elect in due time, never to depart from them, but to abide in them as a principle of life. Thus he takes hold of them by his own Spirit put into them ; and so the withered branch gets life. The soul is now in the hands of the Lord of life, and possessed by the Spirit of life ; how can it then but live ? The man gets a ravishing sight of Christ's excellency, in the glass of the gospel : he sees him a full, suitable, and willing Saviour ; and gets a heart to take him for and instead of all. The Spirit of faith furnishes him with feet to come to Christ, and hands to receive him. What by na- CHRIST OUR SUPERNATURAL STOCK. INFERENCES. 191 ture he could not do, by grace he can, the holy Spirit working in him the work of faith with power. Secondly, The sinner, thus apprehended, apprehends Christ by faith, and is one with the blessed stock, Eph. iii. 17, " That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." The soul that be- fore tried many ways of escape, but all in vain, now looks with the eye of faith, which proves the healing look. As Aaron's rod, laid up in the tabernacle, budded, and brought forth buds, Numb. xvii. 8 ; so the dead branch, apprehended by the Lord of life, put into, and bound up with the glorious quickening stock, by the Spirit of life buds forth in actual believing on Jesus Christ, whereby this union is completed. " We having the same Spirit of faith believe," 2 Cor. iv. 13. Thus the stock and the graft are united, Christ and the Christian are married, faith being the soul's consent to the spiritual marriage covenant, which, as it is proposed in the gospel to mankind-sinners inde- finitely, so it is demonstrated, attested, and brought home, to the man in particular, by the Holy Spirit : and so he being joined to the Lord, is one spirit with him. Hereby a believer lives in, and for Christ, arfd Christ lives in, and for the believer, Gal. 5i. 20, " I am crucified with Christ : Nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Hos. iii. 3, " Thou shalt not be for another man, so will I also be for thee." The bonds then of this blessed union are, the Spirit on Christ's part, and faith on the believer's part. Now both the souls and bodies of believers are united to Christ. " He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit," 1 Cor. vi. 17. The very bodies of believers have this honour put upon them, that they are " the temple of the Holy Ghost," ver. 19, and " the members of Christ," ver. 15. When they sleep in the dust, they sleep in Jesus, 1 Thess. iv. 14; and it is in virtue of this union they shall be raised up out of the dust ngain, Rom. viii. 11, " He sh.ill quicken your mortal bodies, by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." In token of this mystical union, the Church of believers is called by the name of her Head and Husband, 1 Cor. xii. 12, "For as the body is one, and hath many members so also is Christ." Use. From what is said, we may draw the following infer- ences. 1. The preaching of the law is most necessary. He that would ingraft, must needs use the pruning knife. Sinners have many shifts to keep them from Christ ; many things by which they keep their hold of the natural stock : therefore they have need to be closely pursued, and hunted out of their skulking holes, and refuges of lies. 2. Yet it is the gospel that crowns the work : " the law makes nothing perfect." The law lays open the wound, but it is the gospel that heals. The law " strips a man, wounds CHRIST OUH SUPERNATURAL STOCK. him, and leaves him half dead :" the gospel " binds up his wounds, pouring in wine and oil," to heal them. By the law we are broken off, but it is by the gospel we are taken up, and implanted in Christ. 3. " If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his," Rom. viii. 9. We are told of a monster in nature, having two bodies differently animated, as appeared from contrary affections at one and the same time ; but so united, that they were served with the self same legs. Even so, however men may cleave to Christ, call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel, Isa. xlviii. 2, and may be bound up as branches in him, John xv. 2, by the outward ties of sacraments ; yet if the Spirit that dwells in Christ, dwell not in them, they are not one with him. There is a great differ- ence between adhesion and ingrafting. The ivy clasps and twists itself about the oak, but it is not one with it, for it still grows on its own root: so, to allude to Isa. iv. 1,'many profes- sors " take hold" of Christ, and eat their own bread, and wear their own apparel, only they are called by his name. They stay themselves upon him, but grow upon their own root ; they take him to support their hopes, but their delights are else- where. 4. The union between Christ and his mystical members is firm and indissoluble. Were it so that the believer only appre- hended Christ, and Christ apprehended not him, we could pro- mise little on the stability of such a union ; it might quickly be dissolved : but, as the believer apprehends Christ by faith, so Christ apprehends him by his Spirit, and none shall pluck him out of his hand. Did the child only keep hold of the nurse, it might at length weary, and let go its hold, and so fall away : but if she have her arms about the child, it is in no hazard of falling away, even though it be not actually holding by her. So, whatever sinful intermissions may happen in the exercise of faith ; yet the union remains sure, by reason of the constant indwelling of the Spirit. Blessed Jesus ! " All his saints are in thy hand," Deut. xxxiii. 3. It is observed by some, that the word Abba, is the same whether you read it forward or backward ; whatever the believer's case be, the Lord is still to him, Abba, Father. Lastly, They have an unsure hold of Christ, whom he has not apprehended by his Spirit. There are many half mar- riages here, where the soul apprehends Christ, but is not ap- prehended of him. Hence, many fall away, and never rise again ; they let go their hold of Christ ; and when that is gone, all is gone. These are " the branches in Christ, that bear not fruit, which the husbandman taketh away," John xv. 2. Question. How can that be? Answer. These branches are set in the stock by a profession, or an unsound hypocritical APPREHENDING A SINNER. 193 faith ; they are bound up with it, in the external use of the sacraments ; but the stock and they are never knit ; therefore they cannot bear fruit. And they need not be cut off, nor broken off; they are by the Husbandman only taken away ; or, as the word primarily signifies, lifted up, and so taken away, because there is nothing to hold them : they are indeed bound up with the stock, but were never united to it. Question. How shall I know if I am apprehended of Christ ? Answer. You may be satisfied in this inquiry, if you consider and apply these two things : First, When Christ apprehends a man by his Spirit, he is so drawn, that he comes away to Christ with his whole heart ; for true believing is believing with all the heart, Acts viii. 37. Our Lord's followers are like those who followed Saul at first, men whose hearts God has touched, 1 Sam. x. 26. When the Spirit pours in overcoming grace, they pour out their hearts like water before him, Psa. Ixii. 8. They flow unto him like a river, Isa. ii. 2, " All nations shall flow unto it," namely, to "the mountain of the Lord's house." It de- notes not only the abundance of converts, but the disposition of their souls in coming to Christ ; they come heartily and freely, as drawn with loving-kindness, Jer. xxxi. 3, " Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power," Psa. ex. 3, that is, free, ready, open-hearted, giving themselves to thee as free-will offerings. When the bridegroom has the bride's heart, it is a right marriage : but some give their hand to Christ, who give him not their heart. They that are only driven to Christ by terror, will surely leave him again when that terror is gone. Terrors may break a heart of stone, but the pieces into which it is broken still continue to be stone : terrors cannot soften it into a heart of flesh. Yet terror may begin the work, which love crowns. The strong wind, the earthquake, and the fire going before, the still small voice, in which the Lord is, may come after them. When the blessed Jesus is seeking sinners to match with him, they are bold and perverse : they will not speak with him, till he has wounded them, made them captives, and bound them with the cords of death. When this is done, then it is that he makes love to them, and wins their hearts. The Lord tells us, Hos. ii. 16 20, that his chosen Israel shall be married unto himself. But how will the bride's consent be won ? Why, in the first place, he will bring her into the wil- derness, as he did the people when he brought them out of Kirypt, ver. 14. There she will be hardly dealt with, scorched with ihirst, and bitten of serpents : and then he will speak com- fortably to her ; or, as the expression is, he will speak unto her heart. The sinner is first driven, and then drawn to Christ. It is with the soul, as with Noah's dove, she was forced back again to the ark, because she could find nothing else to rest upon ; but 17 194 BENEFITS PLOWING FROM A UNION when she returned, she would have rested on the outside of it, if Noah had not " put forth his hand, and pulled her in," Gen. viii. 9. The Lord sends the avenger of blood in pur- suit of the criminal, who with a sad heart leaves his own city, and with tears in his eyes parts with his old acquaint- ances, because he dare not stay with them, and he flees for his life to the city of refuge. This is not all his choice, it is forced work ; necessity has no law. But when he comes to the gates, and sees the beauty of the place, the excellency and loveliness of it charm him ; and then he enters it with heart and good-will, saying, " This is my rest, and here I will stay ;" and, as one said in another case, " I had perished, unless I had perished." Secondly, When Christ apprehends a soul, the heart is dis- engaged from, and turned against sin. As in cutting off the branch from the old stock, the great idol self is brought down, the man is powerfully taught to deny himself: so, in the appre- hending of the sinner by the Spirit, that union is dissolved which was between the man and his lusts, while he was in the flesh, as the apostle expresses it, Rom. vii. 5. His heart is loosened from them, though formerly as dear to him as the mem- bers of his body, as his eyes, legs, or arms ; and, instead of taking pleasure in them, as before, he longs to be rid of them. When the Lord Jesus comes to a soul, in the day of converting grace, he finds it like Jerusalem, in the day of her nativity, Ezek. xvi. 4, with its navel not cut, drawing its fulsome nourish- ment and satisfaction from its lusts ; but he cuts off this commu- nication, that he may set the soul on the breasts of his own consolations, and give it rest in himself. And thus the Lord wounds the head and heart of sin, and the soul comes to him saying, " Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit," Jer. xvi. 19. OF THE BENEFITS FLOWING TO TRUE BELIEVERS FROM THEIR UNION WITH CHRIST. V. And, lastly, I come to speak of the benefits flowing to true believers from their union with Christ. The chief of the partic- ular benefits which believers have by it, are justification, peace, adoption, sanctification, growth in grace, fruitfulness in good works, acceptance of these works, establishment in the state of grace, support, and a special conduct of providence about them. As for communion with Christ, it is such a benefit, as being the immediate consequence of union with him, comprehends all the rest as mediate ones. For as the branch, immediately upon its union with the stock, has communion with the stock, in all that is in it : so the believer, uniting with Christ, has commu- nion with him ; in which he launches forth into an ocean of WITH CHRIST. JUSTIFICATION. 195 happiness, is led into a paradise of pleasures, and has a saving interest in the treasure hid in the field of the gospel, the un- searchable riches of Christ. As soon as the believer is united to Christ, Christ himself, in whom all fulness dwells, is his, Cant. ii. 16, " My beloved is mine, and I am his." And " how shall he not with him freely give us all things ?" Rom. viii. 32, " Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours," I Cor. iii. 22. This communion with Christ is the great compre- hensive blessing necessarily flowing from our union with him. Let us now consider the particular benefits flowing from it, before mentioned. The first particular benefit tnat a sinner has by his union with Christ, is justification : for, being united to Christ, he has com- munion with him in his righteousness, 1 Cor. i. 30, " But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wis- dom and righteousness." He stands no more condemned, but justified before God as being in Christ, Rom. viii. 1, " There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." The branches hereof are, pardon of sin, and personal acceptance. First, His sins are pardoned, the guilt of them is removed. The bond obliging him to pay his debt is cancelled. God the Father takes the pen, dips it in the blood of the Son, crosses the sinner's accounts, and blots them out of his debt book. The sinner out of Christ is bound over to the wrath of God ; he is under an obligation in law to go to the prison of hell, and there to lie till he has paid the utmost farthing. This arises from the terrible sanction with which the law is fenced ; which is no less than death, Gen. ii. 17. So that the sinner, passing the bounds assigned him, is, as Shimei in another case, a man of death, 1 Kings ii. 42. But now, being united to Christ, God says, " De- liver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom." Job xxxiii. 24. The sentence of condemnation is reversed, the believer is absolved, and set beyond the reach of the condemning law. His sins, which were set before the Lord, Psal. xc. 8, so that they could not be hid, God now takes and casts them all behind his back, Isa. xxxvii. 17. Yea, he casts them into the depths of the sea, Micah vii. 19. What falls into a brook may be got up again ; but what is cast into the sea cannot be recovered. But there are some shallow places in the sea : true, but their sins are not cast in there, but into the depths of the sea ; and the depths of the sea are devouring depths, from whence they shall never come forth again. But what if they do not sink ? He will cast them in with force, so that they shall go to the ground, and sink as lead in the mighty waters of the Redeemer's blood. They are not only forgiven, but forgotten, Jer. xxxi. 34, " I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no 196 BENEFITS PLOWING FROM A UNION more." And though their after-sins do in themselves deserve eternal wrath, and do actually make them liable to temporal strokes, and fatherly chastisements, according to the tenor of the covenant of grace, Psal, Ixxxix. 30 33, yet they can never be actually liable to eternal wrath, or the curse of the law ; for they are dead to the law, in Christ, Rom. vii. 4. They can never fall away from their union with Christ ; neither can they be in Christ, and yet under condemnation at the same time, Rom. viii. 1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." This is an inference drawn from that doctrine of the believer's being dead to the law, set forth by the apostle, chap. vii. 1 6 ; as is clear from the second, third, and fourth verses of this eighth chapter. In this respect, the justified man is the blessed man, unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity, Psal. xxxii. 2 ; as one who has no design to charge a debt on another, sets it not down in his account book. Secondly, The believer is accepted as righteous in God's sight, 2 Cor. v. 21, For he is " found in Christ, not having his own righteousness, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith," Phil. iii. 9. He could never be accepted of God, as righteous, upon the account of his own righteousness : because, at best, it is but imperfect ; and all righteousness, properly so called, which can abide a trial before the throne of God, is perfect. The very name of it implies perfection : for unless a work be perfectly conformable to the law, it is not right, but wrong ; and so can- not make a man righteous before God, whose judgment is according to truth. Yet if justice demand a righteousness of one that is in Christ, upon which he may be accounted righteous before the Lord, " Surely shall" such a " one say, In the Lord have I righteousness," Isa. xlv. 24. The law is fulfilled, its commands are obeyed, its sanction is satisfied. The believer's surety has paid the debt. It was exacted, and he answered for it. Thus the person united to Christ is justified. You may con- ceive the whole proceeding herein, in this manner. The avenger of blood pursuing the criminal, Christ, as the Saviour of lost sinners, does by the Spirit apprehend him, and draw him to himself; and he, by faith, lays hold on Christ : so the Lord our righteousness, and the unrighteous creature, unite. From this union with Christ results a communion with him in his unsearch- able riches, and consequently in his righteousness, that white raiment which he has for clothing of the naked, Rev. iii. 18. Thus the righteousness of Christ becomes his : and, because it is his by unquestionable title, it is imputed to him ; it is reckoned his in the judgment of God, which is always according to truth. And so the believing sinner, having a righteousness which fully WITH CHRIST. PEACE WITH OOD. 197 answers the demands of the law, is pardoned and accepted as righteous. See Isa. xlv. 22, 24, 45 ; Rom. iii. 24 : and chap. v. 1. Now he is a free man. Who shall lay anything to the charge of those whom God justifies ? Can justice lay any thing to their charge ? No ; for it is satisfied. Can the law ? No ; for it has got all its demands on them in Jesus Christ, Gal. ii. 20, " I am crucified with Christ." What can the law require more, after it has wounded their head, poured in wrath in full measure into their soul, and cut off their life, and brought it into the dust of death, by doing all this to Jesus Christ, who is their head, Eph. i. 22 ; their soul, Acts ii. 25 27 ; and their life, Col. iii. 4? What is become of the sinner's own hand writing, which would prove the debt upon him ? Christ has blottod it out, Col. ii. 14. But it may be, justice may get its eye upon it again. No ; he took it out of the way. But, O that it had been torn in pieces ! may the sinner say : yea, so it is ; the nails that pierced Christ's hands and feet are driven through it he nailed it. But what if the torn pieces be set together again? That cannot be, for he nailed it to his cross, and his cross was buried with him, and will never rise again, seeing Christ dies no more. Where is the face-covering that was upon the condemned man? Christ has destroyed it, Isa. xxv. 7. Where is death, that stood before the sinner with a grim face, and an open mouth, ready to devour him ? Christ has swallowed it up in victory, ver. 8. Glory, glory, glory to him that thus " loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood." The second benefit flowing from the same spring of union with Christ, and coming by the way of justification, is peace ; peace with God, and peace of conscience, according to the measure of the sense the justified have of their peace with God, Rom. v. 1, " Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God." Chap. xiv. 17, " For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Whereas God was their enemy before, now he is reconciled to them in Christ ; they are in a covenant of peace with him ; and, as Abraham was, so they are the friends of God. He is well pleased with them in his beloved Son. His word, which spoke terror to them formerly, now speaks peace, if they rightly understand its language. And there is love in all his dispensations towards them, which makes all work together for their good. Their consciences are purged of that guilt and filthiness that lay upon them : his conscience-purifying blood streams through their souls, by virtue of their union with him, Heb. ix. 14, " How much more shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God ?" The bonds laid on their consciences by the Spirit of God, acting as the Spirit of bondage, are taken off, never more 17* 198 BENEFITS FLOWING FROM A UNION to be laid on, Rom. viii. 15, " For ye have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear." Hereby the conscience is quieted, as soon as the soul becomes conscious of the application of that blood ; which falls out sooner or later, according to the measure of faith, and as the only wise God sees meet to time it. Unbelievers may have troubled consciences, which they may get quieted again : but alas ! their consciences become peaceable before they become pure; so their peace is but the seed of greater horror and confusion. Carelessness may give ease for a while to a sick conscience ; men neglecting its wounds, they close again of their own accord, before the filthy matter is purged out. Many bury their guilt in the grave of an ill- memory : conscience smarts a little ; at length the man forgets his sin, and there is an end of it : but that is only an ease before death. Business, or the affairs of life, often give ease in this case. When Cain is banished from the presence of the Lord, he falls a building of cities. When the evil Spirit came upon Saul, he calls not for his Bible, nor for the priests to converse with him about his case ; but for music, to play it away. So many, when their consciences begin to be uneasy, fill their heads and hands with business, to divert themselves, and to regain ease at any rate. Yea, some will sin contrary to their convictions, and so get some ease to their consciences, as Hazael gave ease to his master by stifling him. Again, the perform- ance of duties may give some ease to disquieted consciences : and this is all which legal professors have recourse to for quieting their consciences. When conscience is wounded, they will pray, confess, mourn,and resolve to do so no more ; and so they become whole again, without any application of the blood of Christ, by faith. But they whose consciences are rightly quieted, come for peace and purging to the blood of sprinkling. Sin is a sweet morsel, that makes God's elect to be sick souls, before they get it vomited up. It leaves a sting behind it, which one time or other will create them no little pain. Elihu shows us both the case and cure, Job xxxiii. Behold the case which a man may be in, whom God has thoughts of love to. He darts convictions into his conscience ; and makes them stick so fast that he cannot rid himself of them, ver. 16, " He openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction." His very body sickens, ver. 19, " He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain." He loses his stomach, ver. 20, " his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat." His body pines away, so that there is nothing on him but skin and bone, ver. 21, " His flesh is con- sumed away, that it cannot be- seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out." Though he is not prepared for death, he has no hopes of life, ver. 22, " His soul draweth near unto the grave, and," which is the height of his misery, " his life to WITH CHRIST. ADOPTION. 19& the destroyers :" he is looking every moment when devils, these destroyers, Rev. ix. 11, these murderers, or manslayers, John viii. 44, will come and carry away his soul to hell. O dread- ful case ! Is there any hope for such ? Yes, there is hope. God will " keep back his soul from the pit," Job xxxiii. 18, although he bring him forward to the brink of it. Now, seo how the sick man is cured. The physician's art cannot pre- vail here ; the disease lies more inward than bis medicines can reach. It is soul trouble that has brought the body into this disorder ; and therefore the remedies must be applied to the sick man's soul and conscience. The physician for this case, must be a spiritual physician ; the remedies must be spirit- ual, a righteousness, a ransom, an atonement. Upon the appli- cation of these, the soul is cured, the conscience is quieted, and the body recovers, ver. 23 26, " If there be a messen- ger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness, then he is gracious unto him. and saith, Deliver him from going down into the pit, I have found a ransom. His flesh shall be fresher than a child's, he shall return to the days of his youth. He shall pray unto God, and he shall be favourable unto him, and he shall see his face with joy." The proper physician for this patient is a messenger, an inter- preter, ver. 23, that is, as some expositors not without ground understand it, the great Physician Jesus Christ, whom Job had called his Redeemer, chap. xix. 25. He is a messenger, the " messenger of the covenant of peace," Mai. iii. 1, who comes seasonably to the sick man. He is an interpreter, the great interpreter of God's counsels of love to sinners, John i. 18. " One among a thousand," even " the chief among ten thou- sand," Cant. v. 10. "One chosen out of the people," Psa. Ixxxix. 29. One to whom " the Lord hath given the tongue of the learned to speak a word in season to him that is weary," Isa. 1. 4 6. It is he that is with him, by his Spirit, now, to " convince him of righteousness," John xvi. 8, as he was with him before, to " convince him of sin and of judgment." His work now is, to show unto him his uprightness, or his righteous- ness, that is, the interpreter's, Christ's, righteousness ; which is the only righteousness, arising from the paying of a ransom, and upon which a sinner is delivered from going down to tho pit, ver. 24. Thus Christ is said to declare God's name, Psa. xxii. 22, and to preach righteousness, Psa. xl. 9. The phrase is remarkable : it is not to show unto the man, but unto man, his righteousness ; which not obscurely intimates, that he is more than a man, who shows or declares this righteousness. Com- pare Amos iv. 13, " He that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought." There seems to be in it a sweet allusion to the first declaration of this righteousness unto man, or as the word is, unto Adam, after tho 200 BENEFITS PLOWING FROM A UNION fall, while he lay under terror from apprehensions of the wrath of God : which declaration was made by the messenger, the in- terpreter, namely, the eternal Word, the Son of God, called, the voice of the Lord God, Gen. iii. 8, and by him appearing, pro- bably, in human shape. Now, while he, by his Spirit, is the preacher of righteousness to the man, it is supposed that the mar lays hold on the offered righteousness ; whereupon the ransom is applied to him, and he is delivered from going down to the pit : for God has a ransom for him. This is intimated to him by the words, " Deliver him," Job xxxiii. 24. So his conscience, being purged by the blood of atonement, is pacified, and sweetly quieted, " He shall pray unto God and see his face with joy," which before he beheld with horror, ver. 26 ; that is, in New Testament language, " having an high-priest over the house of God," he shall " draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having his heart sprinkled from an evil conscience," Heb. x. 21, 22. But then what becomes of the body, the weak and weary flesh? Why, "his flesh shall be fresher than a child's, he shall return to the days of his youth," ver. 25. Yea, " all his bones" which were chastened with strong pain, ver. 19, "shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee ?" Psa. xxxv. 10. A third benefit flowing from union with Christ, is adoption. Believers, being united to Christ, become children of God, and members of the family of heaven. By their union with him, who is the Son of God by nature, they become the sons of God by grace, John i. 12. As when a branch is cut off from one tree, and grafted in the branch of another, the ingrafted branch, by means of its union with the adopting branch, as some not unfitly have called it, is made a branch of the same stock, with that into which it is ingrafted : so sinners, being ingrafted into Jesus Christ, whose name is the Branch, his Father is their Father, his God is their God, John xx. 17. And thus they, who are by nature children of the devil, become the children of God. They have the Spirit of adoption, Rom. viii. 15, namely, the Spirit of his Son, which brings them to God, as children to a Father ; to pour out their complaints in his bosom, and to seek necessary supplies, Gal. iv. 6, " Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Under all their weaknesses, they have a fatherly pity and compassion shown them, Psa. ciii. 13, " Like as a father pitieth his children : so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." Although they were but foundlings, found in a desert land ; yet now " he keeps them as the apple of his eye," Deut. xxxii. 10. Whosoever pursues them, they have a refuge, Prov. xiv. 26, ' His children shall have a place of refuge." In a time of com- mon calamity, they have chambers of protection, where they may be hid, until the indignation be overpast, Isa. xxvi. 20. And he is not only their refuge for protection, but their portion WITH CHRIST. SANCTIFICATION. for provision, in that refuge; Psa. cxliii. 5, "Thou art my refuge, and my portion in the land of the living." They are provided for eternity, Heb. xi. 16, "He hath prepared for them a city." And what he sees they have need of for a time, they shall not want, Matt. vi. 31, 32, "Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat ? or what shall we drink 1 or wherewithal shall we be clothed 1 For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." Seasonable correction is likewise their privilege as sons : so they are not suffered to pass with their faults, as others who are not children, but ser- vants of the family, who at length will be turned out of doors for their miscarriages, Heb. xii. 7, "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons : for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not ?" They are heirs of, and shall inherit the promises, Heb. vi. 12. Nay, they are heirs of God, who himself is the portion of their inheritance, Psa. xvi. 5, " and joint heirs with Christ," Rom. viii. 17. And because they are the children of the great King, and heirs of glory, they have angels for their attendants, who are sent forth to minister for them, who shall be heirs of salvation," Heb. i. 14. A fourth benefit is sanctification, 1 Cor. i. 30, " But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification." Being united to Christ, they partake of his Spirit, which is the Spirit of holiness. There is a fulness of the Spirit in Christ, and it is not like the fulness of a vessel, which only retains what is poured into it but it is the fulness of a fountain for diffusion and communica- tion, which is always sending forth its waters, and yet is always full. The Spirit of Christ, that spiritual sap, which is in the stock, and from thence is communicated to the branches, is the Spirit of grace, Zech. xii. 10. And where the Spirit of grace dwells, there will be found a confluence of all graces. Holi- ness is not one grace only, but all the graces of the Spirit : it is n constellation of graces ; it is all the graces in their seed and root. And as the sap conveyed from the stock into the branch goes through it, and through every part of it ; so the Spirit of Christ sanctifies the whole man. The poison of sin was dif- fused through the whole spirit, soul and body of the man ; and sanctifying grace pursues it into every corner, 1 Thess. v. 23. Every part of the man is sanctified, though no part is perfectly so. The truth we are sanctified by is not held in the head, as in a prison ; but runs, with its sanctifying influences, through heart and life. There are indeed some graces, in every be- liever, which appear as top-branches above the rest ; as meeK- ness in Moses, patience in Job ; but seeing there is in every child of God, a holy principle going along with the holy law, in all the parts thereof, loving, liking, and approving of it; as appears from their universal respect to the commands of God : 202 BENEFITS FLOWING FROM A UNION it is evident that they are endowed with all the graces of the Spirit ; because there can be no less in the effect, than there was in the cause. Now, this sanctifying Spirit, whereof believers partake, is unto them, 1. A spirit of mortification; "through the Spirit they mortify the deeds of the body," Rom. viii. 13. Sin is crucified in them, Gal. v. 24. They are planted together, namely, with Christ, in the likeness of his death, which was a lingering death, Rom. vi. 5. Sin in the saint, though not quite dead, yet is dying. If it were dead, it would be taken down from the cross, and buried out of his sight : but it hangs there as yet, working and struggling under its mortal wounds. Look, as when a tree has got such a stroke as reaches the heart of it, all the leaves and branches begin to fade and decay : so, where the sanctifying Spirit comes, and breaks the power of sin, there is a gradual ceasing from it, and dying to it, in the whole man ; so that he " no longer lives in the flesh, to the lusts of men." He does not make sin his trade and business ; it is not his great design to seek himself, and to satisfy his cor- rupt inclinations : but he is for Immanuel's land ; and is walk- ing in the highway to it, the way, which is called the way of holiness : though the wind from hell, that was on his back before, blows now full in his face, and makes his travelling un- easy, and often drives him off the highway. 2. This Spirit is a Spirit of vivification to them ; for he is the Spirit of life, and makes them live unto righteousness, Ezek. xxxvi. 27, u And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes." Those that have been " planted together," with Christ, " in the likeness of his death, shall be also in the like- ness of his resurrection," Rorn. vi. 5. At Christ's resurrec- tion, when his soul was re-united with his body, every member of that blessed body was enabled again to perform the actions of life : so the soul being influenced by the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, is enabled more and more to perform all the actions of spiritual life. And as the whole of the law, and not some scraps of it only, is written on the holy heart ; so believers are enabled to transcribe that law, in their conversation. Although they cannot write one line of it without blots, yet God, for Christ's sake, accepts of the performances, in point of sanctifi- cafion ; they being disciples to his own Son, and led by his own Spirit. This sanctifying Spirit, communicated by the Lord Jesus to his members, is the spiritual nourishment the branches have from the stock into which they are ingrafted ; whereby the life of grace, given them in regeneration, is preserved, continued, and actuated. It is the nourishment whereby the new creature ives, and is nourished up towards perfection. Spiritual life needs to be fed, and must have supply of nourishment : and WITH CHRIST. SANCTIFICATION. 203 believers derive the same from Christ their head, whom the Father has appointed the head of influences to all his mem- bers, Col. ii. 19, " And not holding the head, from which all the body, by joints and bands, having nourishment ministered," or supplied, &c. Now this supply is " the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ," Phil. i. 19. The saints feed richly, "eating Christ's flesh, and drinking his blood," for their spiritual nour- ishment : yet our Lord himself teaches us, that " it is the Spirit that quickeneth," even that Spirit who dwells in his blessed body, John vi. 63. The human nature is united to the Divine nature, in the person of the Son, and so, like the bowl in Zechariah's candlestick, Zech. chap. iv. lies at the fountain- head, as the glorious means of conveyance of influences, from the fountain of Deity. He receives not the Spirit by measure, but ever has a fulness of the Spirit, by reason of that personal union. Hence believers, being united to the man Christ, as the seven lamps to the bowl, by their seven pipes, Zech. iv. 2, his flesh is to them meat indeed, and his blood drink indeed : for, feeding on that blessed body, that is, effectu- ally applying Christ to their souls by faith, they partake more and more of that Spirit, who dwelleth therein, to their spiritual nourishment. The holiness of God can never ad- mit of an immediate union with the sinful creature, nor, con- sequently, an immediate communion with it : yet the crea- ture could not live the life of grace, without communion with the fountain of life. Therefore, that the honour of God's holi- ness, and the salvation of sinners might jointly be provided for, the second person of the glorious Trinity took into a per- sonal union with himself a sinless human nature; that so this holy, harmless, and undefined humanity might immediately receive a fulness of the Spirit, of which he might communicate to his members, by his Divine power and efficacy. Suppose there was a tree, with its root in the earth, and its branches reaching to heaven, the vast distance between the root and the branches would not interrupt the communication between the root and the top branch : even so, the distance between the man Christ, who is in heaven, and his members, who are on earth, cannot hinder the communication between them. What though the parts of mystical Christ, viz. the head, and the members, are not contiguous, as joined together in the way of corporal union ; the union is not therefore the less real and effectual. Yea, our Lord himself shows us, that though we should eat his flesh, in a corporal and carnal manner, yet it would profit nothing, John vi. 63 ; we would not be one whit holier thereby. But the members of Christ on earth are united to their head in heaven, by the invisible bond of the self same Spirit dwelling in both ; in him as the head, and in them as the members. The wheels in EzokiePs vision were not contiguous to the living 204 BENEFITS FLOWING FROM A UNION creatures, yet were united to them by an invisible bond of one Spirit in both; so that, "when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them, and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up," Ezek. i. 19; " For," says the prophet, " the Spirit of the living creature was in the wheels," ver. 20. Hence we may see the difference between true sanctification, and that shadow of it, which is to be found amongst some strict professors of Christianity, who yet are not true Christians, are not regenerated by the Spirit of Christ, which is of the same kind with what has appeared in many sober heathens. True sanc- tification is the result of the soul's union with the holy Jesus, the first and immediate receptacle of the sanctifying Spirit ; out of whose fulness his members do, by virtue of their union with him, receive sanctifying influences. The other is the mere product of the man's own spirit, which, whatever it has, or seems to have of the matter of true holiness, yet does not arise from the supernatural principles, nor to the high aims and ends thereof; for, as it comes from self, so it runs out into the dead sea of self again ; and lies as wide of true holiness, as nature doth of grace. They who have this bastard holiness, are like common boatmen, who serve themselves with their own oars ; whereas the ship bound for Immanuel's land, sails by the blow- ings of the Divine Spirit. How is it possible there should be true sanctification without Christ 1 Can there be true sanctifi- cation, without partaking of the Spirit of holiness ? Can we partake of that Spirit, but by Jesus Christ, " the way, the truth, and the life ?" The falling dew shall as soon make its way through the flinty rock, as influences of grace can come from God to sinners, any other way than through him whom the Father has appointed the head of influences, Col. i. 19, " For it pleased the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell :" and chap. ii. 19, " And not holding the head, from which all the body by joints and bands, having nourishment ministered and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God." Hence see, how it comes to pass, that many fall away from their seeming sanctification, and never recover : it is be- cause they are not branches truly knit to the true vine. Mean- while, others recover from their decays, because of their union with the life-giving stock, by the quickening Spirit, 1 John ii. 19, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with -js." A fifth benefit is growth in grace. " Having nourishment ministered, they increase with the increase of God," Col. ii. 19. " The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree : he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon,'' Psal.. xcii. 12. Grace is of a growing uature ; in the way to Zion they go from strength to strength. WITH CHIRST. GROWING IN GRACE. 205 Though the holy man be at first a little child in grace, yet at length he becomes a young man ; a father, 1 John ii. 13. Though he does but creep in the way to heaven sometimes, yet afterwards he walks, he runs, he mounts up with wings as eagles, Isa. xl. 31. If a branch grafted into a stock never grows, it is a plain evidence of its not having knit with the stock. But some may perhaps say, " If all true Christians be growing ones; what shall be said of those, who instead of growing are going back ?" I answer, First, There is a great difference between the Christian's growing simply, and his growing at all times. All true Christians do grow, but I do not say that they grow at all times. A tree that has life and nour- ishment, grows to its perfection, yet it is not always growing , it grows not in the winter. Christians also have their winters, wherein the influences of grace, necessary for their growth, are ceased, Cant. v. 2, " I sleep." It is by faith the believer de- rives gracious influences from Jesus Christ ; as each lamp in the candlestick received oil from the bowl, by the pipe going between them, Zech. iv. 2. Now, if that pipe be stopped, if the saint's faith lie dormant and inactive, then all the rest of the graces will become dim, and seem ready to be extinguished. In consequence whereof, depraved nature will gather strength, and become active. What then will become of the soul ? Why, there is still one sure ground of hope. The saint's faith is not as the hypocrite's, like a pipe laid short of the fountain, whereby there can be no conveyance : it still remains a bond of union, between Christ and the soul ; and therefore, because Christ lives, the believer shall live also, John xiv. 19. The Lord Jesus " puts in his hand by the hole of the door," and clears the means of conveyance ; and then influences for growth flow, and the believer's graces look fresh and green again, Hos. xiv. 7, " They that dwell under his shadow shall return : they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine." In the worst of times, the saints have a principle of growth in them, 1 John lii. 9, " His seed remaineth in him." Therefore after decays, they revive again ; namely, when the winter is over, and the Sun of Righteousness returns to them with his warm influences. Mud thrown into a pool may lie there at ease ; but if it be cast into a fountain, the spring will at length work it out, and run clear as formerly. Secondly, Christians may mistake their growth, and that two ways. 1. By judging of their case ac- cording to their present feeling. They observe themselves, and cannot perceive themselves to be growing : but there is no reason thence to conclude they are not growing, Mark iv. 27, " The seed springs and grows up, he knoweth not how." Were a person to fix his eye ever so steadfastly on the sun running his race, or on a growing tree; he would not perceive the sun 18 206 BENEFITS FLOWING FROM A UNION moving, nor the tree growing ; but if he compare the tree as it now is, with what it was some years ago, and consider the place in the heavens where the sun was in the morning; he will certainly perceive the tree has grown, and the sun has moved, In like manner may the Christian know whether he be in a growing or declining state, by comparing his present with his former condition. 2. Christians may mistake their case, by measuring their growth by the advances of the top only, not of the root. Though a man be not growing taller, he may be growing stronger. If a tree be taking with the ground, fixing itself in the earth, and spreading out its roots, it is certainly growing, although it be nothing taller than formerly. So, although a Christian may want the sweet consolations and flashes of affection which he had : yet, if he be growing in hu- mility, self-denial, and a sense of needy dependence on Jesus Christ, he is a growing Christian, Hos. xiv. 5, " I will be as the dew unto Israel ; he shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon." Question. "But do hypocrites grow at all 1 And if so, how shall we distinguish between their growth, and true Christ- ian growth ?" Answer. To the first part of the question, hy- pocrites do grow. The tares have their growth, as well as the wheat : the seed that fell among thorns did spring up, Luke viii. 7. Only it did bring no fruit to perfection, ver. 14. Yea, a true Christian may have a false growth. James and John seemed to grow in the grace of holy zeal, when their spirits grew so hot in the cause of Christ, that they would have fired whole villages, for not receiving their Lord and Master, Luke ix. 54, " They said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did ?" But it was indeed no such thing ; and therefore he turned and rebuked them, ver. 55, " and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of." To the second part of the question, it is answered, that there is a peculiar beauty in true Christian growth, distinguishing it from all false growth : it is universal, regular, proportionable. It is a " growing up into him in all things, which is the head," Eph. iv. 15. The growing Christian grows proportionably, in all the parts of the new man. Under the kindly influences of the Sun of Righteousness, believers " grow up as calves of the stall," Mai. iv. 2. You would think it a monstrous growth, in these creatures, if you saw their heads grow, and not their bodies ; or if you saw one leg grow, and another not : if all the parts do not grow proportionably. Aye, but such is the growth of many in religion. They grow like rickety children, who have a big head, but a slender body : they get more knowledge into their heads, but no more holiness into their hearts and lives. They grow very hot outwardly, but very cold inwardly ; like men in a fit of the ague. They are more taken up about the externals of religion, than formerly ; yet us WITH CHRIST. FKUITFULNESS. 207 great strangers to the power of godliness as ever. If a garden is watered with the hand, some of the plants will readily get much, some little, and some no water at all ; and therefore some wither, while others are coming forward : but after a showur from the clouds, all come forward together. In like manner, all the graces of the Spirit grow proportionately, by the spe- cial influences of Divine grace. The branches ingral'ted in Christ, growing aright, do grow in all the several ways of growth at once. They grow inward, growing into Christ, Eph. iv. 15, uniting more closely with him ; and cleaving more firmly to him, as the head of influences, which is the spring of all other true Christian growth. They grow outward in good works, in their life and conversation. They not only, with Napthali, give goodly words ; but like Joseph, they are fruitful boughs. They grow upward in heavenly mindedness, and contempt of the world ; for their conversation is in heaven, Phil. Hi. 20. And finally, they grow downward in humility and self loathing. The branches of the largest growth in Christ, are, in their own eyes, " less than the least of all saints," Eph. iii. 8 ; " the chief of sinners," 1 Tim. i. 15 ; more brutish than any man," Prov. xxx. 2. They see that they can do nothing, no, not so much as " to think any thing, as of themselves," 2 Cor. iii. 5 ; that they deserve nothing, being " not worthy of the least of all the mercies shown unto them," Gen. xxxii. 10 ; and that they are nothing, 2 Cor. xii. 2. A sixth benefit is fruitfulness. The branch ingrafted into Christ is not barren, but brings forth fruit, John xv. 5, " He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit." For that very end are souls married to Christ, that they may bring forth fruit unto God, Rom. vii. 4. They may be branches in Christ by profession, but not by real implantation, that are barren branches. Whoever are united to Christ, bring forth the fruit of gospel obedience and true holiness. Faith is always followed with good works. The believer is not only come out of the grave of his natural state, but he has put off his grave- clothes, namely, reigning lusts, in the which he walked like a ghost ; being dead while he lived in them, Col. iii. 7, 8. For Christ has said of him, as of Lazarus, " Loose him, and let him go." Now that he has put on Christ, he personates him, so to speak, as a beggar in borrowed robes represents a king on the stage, walking as he also walked. Now the fruit of the Spirit in him is in all goodness, Eph. v. 9. The fruits of holiness will be found in the hearts, lips, and lives of those who are united to Christ. The hidden man of the heart, is not only a temple built for God and consecrated to him ; but used and employed for him, where love, fear, trust, and all the other parts of un- seen religion are exercised, Phil. iii. 3, " For we are the circum- cision, which worship God in the Spirit." The heart is no 208 BENEFITS FLOWING FROM A UNION more the devil's common, where thoughts go free ; for there even vain thoughts are hated, Psa. cxix. 113. But it is God's inclo- sure, hedged about as a garden for him, Cant. iv. 16. It is true, there are weeds of corruption there, because the ground is not yet perfectly healed : but the man, in the day of his new crea- tion, is set to dress it, and keep it. A live coal from the altar has touched his lips, and they are purified, Psa. xv. 1 3, "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle 1 who shall dwell in thy holy hill 1 He that speaketh the truth in his heart ; he that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor taketh up a reproach against his neigh- bour." There may be, indeed, a smooth tongue, where there is a false heart. The voice may be Jacob's, while the hands are Esau's. But, " if any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain," James i. 26. The power of godliness will rule over the tongue, though a world of iniquity. If one be a Galilean, his speech will betray him ; he will speak, not the language of Ashdod, but the language of Canaan. He will neither be dumb in religion, nor will his tongue walk at random, since to the double guard which nature has given the tongue grace has added a third. The fruits of holiness will be found in his outward conversation ; for he has clean hands, as well as a pure heart, Psa. xxiv. 4. He is a godly man, and religiously discharges the duties of the first table of the law ; he is a right- eous man, and honestly performs the duties of the second table. In his conversation he is a good Christian, and a good neighbour too. He carries it towards God, as if men's eyes were upon him ; and towards men, as believing God's eye to be upon him. Those things which God has joined in his law, he dare not in his practice put asunder. Thus the branches in Christ, are full of good fruits. And those fruits are a cluster of vital actions, whereof Jesus Christ is the principle and end : the principle ; for he lives in them, and " the life they live is by faith in the Son of God," Gal. ii. 20 : the end ; for they live to him, and " to them to live is Christ," Phil. i. 21. The duties of religion are in the world, like fatherless children, in rags : some will not take them in, because they never loved them, nor their father : some take them in, because they may be serviceable to them : but the saints take them in for their father's sake, that is for Christ's sake ; and they are lovely in their eyes, because they are like him. O ! whence is this new life of the saints 'I Surely it could never have been hammered out of the natural powers of their souls, by the united force of all created power. In eternal barrenness should their womb have been shut up ; but that oeing " married to Christ, they bring forth fruit unto God," Rom. vii. 4. If you ask me, " How your nourishment, growth, and fruit- WITH CHRIST. FRUITFULXESS. 209 fulness may be forwarded ?" I offer these few advices : 1 . Make sure work, as to your knitting with the stock, by faith un- feigned ; and beware of hypocrisy : a branch that is not sound at the heart, will certainly wither. The trees of the Lord's planting are trees of righteousness, Isa. Ixi. 3. So when others fade, they bring forth fruit. Hypocrisy is a disease in the vi- tals of religion, which will consume all at length. It is a leak in the ship, that will certainly sink it. Sincerity of grace will make it lasting, be it ever so weak : as the smallest twig, that is sound at the heart, will draw nourishment from the stock, and grow ; while the greatest bough that is rotten, can never recover, because it receives no nourishment. 2. Labour to be steadfast in the truths and way of God. An unsettled and wavering judgment, is a great enemy to Christian growth and fruitfulness, as the apostle teaches, Eph. iv. 14, 15, " That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine ; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ." A rolling stone gathers no moss, and a wavering judgment makes a fruitless life. Though a tree be ever so sound ; yet how can it grow, or be fruitful, if you be still re- moving it out of one soil into another ? 3. Endeavour to cut ofF the suckers, as gardeners do, that their trees may thrive. These are unmorlified lusts ; therefore, " mortify your members that are upon the earth," Col. iii. 5. When the Israelites got meat to their lusts, they got leanness to their souls. She that has many hungry children about her hand, and must be still putting into their mouths, will have much ado to get a bit put into her own. They must refuse the cravings of inordinate affections, who would have their souls to prosper. Lastly, Improve, for these ends, the ordinances of God. It is in the courts of our God where the trees of righteousness flourish, Psal. xcii. 13. The waters of the sanctuary are the means appointed of God, to cause his people to grow as willows by the water courses. Therefore drink in with " desire, the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby," 1 Pet. ii. 2. Come to these wells of salvation ; not to look at them only, but to draw water out of them. The sacrament of the Lord's supper is in a special manner, appointed for these ends. It is not only a solemn public profession, and a seal of our union and communion with Christ ; but it is a means of most intimate communion with him ; and strengthens our union with him, our faith, love, repentance, and other graces, 1 Cor. x. 16, " The cup of blessing, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" And chap. xii. 13, "We have been all made to drink into one spirit." Give yourselves unto prayer ; open your mouths wide, and he will fill them. By these means the branches 18* 210 BENEFITS FLOWING FROM A UNION in Christ may be further nourished, grow up, and bring forth much fruit. A seventh benefit is, The acceptance of their fruits of holiness before the Lord. Though they be very imperfect, they are accepted, because they savour of Christ, the blessed stock, which the branches grow upon ; while the fruits of others are rejected of God, Gen. iv. 4, 5, " And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering ; but unto Cain and his offering he had not respect." Compare Heb. xi. 3, " By faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." O how defective are the saints' duties in the eye of the law ! The believer him- self espies many faults in his best performances ; yet the Lord graciously receives them. There is no grace planted in the heart, but there is a weed of corruption hard by its side, while the saints are in this lower world. Their very sincerity is not without mixture of dissimulation or hypocrisy, Gal. ii. 13. Hence there are defects in the exercise of every grace ; in the performance of every duty : depraved nature always drops some- thing to stain their best works. There is still a mixture of darkness with their clearest light. Yet this does not mar their acceptance, Cant. vi. 10, " Who is she that looketh forth as the morning?" or, as the dawning? Behold, how Christ's spouse is esteemed and accepted of her Lord, even whefj she looks forth as the morning, whose beauty is mixed with the blackness of the night ! " When the morning was looking out," as the word is, Judg. xix. 36, that is, " in the dawning of the day," as we read it. So the very dawning of grace, and good will to Christ, grace peeping out from under a mass of darkness in believers, is pleasant and acceptable to him, as the break of day is to the weary traveller. Though the remains of unbelief make the hand of faith to shake and tremble ; yet the Lord is so well pleased with it, that he employs it to carry away pardons and supplies of grace, from the throne of grace, and the fountain of grace. His faith was effectual, who " cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief," Mark ix. 24. Though the remains of sensual affections make the flame of their love weak and smoky ; he turns his eyes from the smoke, and beholds the flame, how fair it is Cant. iv. 10, " How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse !" " The smell of their " under " garment" of inherent holiness, as imperfect as it is, " is like the smell of Lebanon," ver. 11 ; and that because they are covered with their elder brother's clothes, which makes the sons of God to " smell as a field which the Lord hath blessed." Their good works are accepted : their cups of cold water given to a disciple, in the name of a disciple, shall not want a reward. Though they cannot offer for the tabernacle, gold, silver, and brass, and onyx stones, let them come forward with what they have ; if it were but goat's hair, it shall not be rejected : if i WITH CHRIST. ESTABLISHMENT. 211 were but rams' skins, they shall be kindly accepted ; for they are dyed red, dipt by faith in the Mediator's blood, and so pre- sented unto God. A very ordinary work done in faith, and from faith, if it were but the building of a wall about the holy city, is a great work, Neh. vi. 3. If it were but the bestowing of a box of ointment on Christ, it shall never be forgotten, Matt. xxvi. 13. Even " a cup of cold water only given to one of Christ's little ones, in the name of a disciple, shall be rewarded," Matt. x. 42. Nay, not a good word for Christ shall drop from their mouths, but it shall be registered in God's " book of remem- brance," Mai. iii. 16. Nor shall a tear drop from their eyes for him, but he will "put it in his bottle," Psal. Ivi. 8. Their will is accepted for the deed ; their sorrow for the want of will, for the will itself, 2 Cor. viii. 12, " For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not ac- carding to that he hath not." Their groanings, when they can- not well word their desires, are heard in heaven ; the meaning of those groans is well known there, and they will be returned like the dove with an olive branch of peace in her mouth. See Rom. viii. 26, 27. Their mites are better than oth- r men's talents. Their lisping and broken sentences are more pleasant to their Father in heaven, than the most fluent and flourishing speeches of those that are not in Christ. Their voice is sweet, even when they are ashamed it should be heard ; their countenance is comely, even when they blush, and draw a veil over it, Cant. ii. 14. The Mediator takes their petitions, blots out some parts, rectifies others, and then presents them to the Father, in consequence whereof they pass in the court of heaven. Every true Christian is a temple to God. If you look for sacrifices, they are not wanting there ; they offer the sacrifice of praise, and do good ; with such sacrifices God is well pleased, Heb. xiii. 15, 16. Christ himself is the altar that sanctifies the gift, ver. 10. But what comes of the skins and dung of their sacrifices ? They are carried away without the camp. If we look for incense, it is there too. The graces of the Spirit are found in their hearts : and the Spirit of the crucified Christ fires them, and puts them in exercise ; as the fire was brought from the altar of burnt offering, to set the incense in flame ; then they mount heavenward, like pillars of smoke, Cant. iii. 6. But the best of incense will leave ashes behind it : yes, indeed ; but as the priest took away the ashes of the incense in a golden dish, and threw them out ; so our great High Priest takes away the ashes and refuse of alt the saints' services, by his mediation in their behalf. An eighth benefit flowing from a union with Christ, is estab- lishment. The Christian cannot fall away, but must persevere unto the end, John x. 28, " They shall never perish, neither 212 BENEFITS FLOWING FROM A UNION shall any man pluck them out of my hand." Indeed, if a branch do not knit with the stock, it will fall away when shaking winds arise : but the branch knit to the stock stands fast, whatever wind blows. Sometimes a stormy wind of temptation blows from hell, and tosses the branches in Christ the true vine : but their union with him is their security ; moved they may be, but removed they never can be. The Lord " will with the tempta- tion also make a way to escape," 1 Cor. x. 13. Calms are never of any continuance ; there is almost always some wind blowing ; and therefore branches are rarely altogether at rest. But some- times violent winds arise, which threaten to rend them from off their stock. Even so it is with saints ; they are daily put to it to keep their ground against temptation : sometimes the wind from hell rises so high, and blows so furiously, that it makes even top branches to sweep the ground ; yet being knit to Christ their stock, they get up again, in spite of the most violent efforts of the prince of the power of the air, Psal. xciv, 18, " When I said, My foot slippeth, thy mercy, O Lord, held me up." But the Christian improves by this trial ; and is so far from being damaged, that he is benefitted by it, as it discovers what hold the soul has of Christ, and what hold Christ has of the soul. And look, as the wind in the bellows, which would blow out the candle, blows up the fire ; even so it often comes to pass, that such temptations enliven the true Christian, awakening the graces of the Spirit in him ; and, by that means, discover both the reality and the strength of grace in him. And hence, as Luther, that great man of God, says, " One Christian, who hath had experience of temptation, is worth a thousand others." Sometimes a stormy wind of trouble and persecution from the men of the world, blows upon the vine, that is, mystical Christ : but union with the stock is a sufficient security to the branches. In a time of the Church's peace and outward prosperity, while the angels hold the winds that they blow not, there are a great many branches taken up, and put into the stock, which never knit with it, nor live by it, though they be bound up with it, by the bonds of external ordinances. Now these may stand awhile on the stock, and stand with great ease while the calm lasts : but when once the storms arise, and the winds blow, they wiL begin to fall off one after another ; and the higher the wina rises, the greater will the number be that falls. Yea, some strong boughs of that sort, when they fall, will, by their weight, carry others of their own kind, quite down to the earth with them ; and will bruise and press down some true branches in such a manner, that they would also fall off, were it not for their being knit to the stock ; in virtue whereof they get up their heads again, and cannot fall off, because of that fast hold which the stock has of them. Then it is that many branches which before were nigh WITH CHRIST. ESTABLISHMENT. 213 and eminent, are found lying on the earth withered, and fit to be gathered up and cast into the fire, Matt. xiii. 6, " When the sun was up, they were scorched : and because they had no root, they withered away." John xv. 6, " If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." But however violently the winds blow, none of the truly ingrafted branches, that are knit with the stock, are found missing, when the storm is changed into a calm, John xvii. 12, " Those that thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost." The least twig growing in Christ shall stand it out, and subsist ; when the tallest cedars growing on their own root, shall be laid flat on the ground, Rom. viii. 35, " Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword 1" See ver. 36 39. However severely Israel be " sifted, yet shall not the least grain," or as it is in the original language, a little stone " fall upon the earth," Amos ix. 9. It is an allusion to the sifting of fine pebble stones from among heap* of dust and sand : though the sand and dust fall to the ground, be blown away with the wind, and trampled under foot, yet there shall not fall on the earth so much as a little stone, such is the exactness of the sieve, and care of the sifter. There is nothing more ready to fall on the earth than a stone: yet, if professors of religion be lively stones built on Christ, the chief corner stone, although they be little stones, they shall not fall to the earth, whatever storm beat upon them. See 1 Pet. ii. 4 6. All the good grain in the Church of Christ is of this kind : they are stones, in respect of solidity ; and lively stones, in respect of activity. If men be solid substantial Christians, they will not be like chafF tossed to and fro with every wind ; having so much of the liveliness, that they have nothing of the stone: and if they be lively Christians, whose spirit will stir in them, as Paul's did, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry, Acts, xvii. 16, they will not lie like stones, to be turned over, hither and thither, cut and carved according to the lusts of men ; having so much of the stones, as leaves nothing of liveliness in them. Our God's house is a great house, wherein are not only ves sels of gold, but also of earth, 2 Tim. ii. 20. Both these are apt to contract filthiness ; and therefore when God brings trou- ble upon the Church, he has an eye to both. As for the ves- sels of gold, they are not destroyed ; but purged by a fiery trial in the furnace of affliction, as goldsmiths purge their gold, Isa. i. 25, " And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross." But destruction is to the vessels of earth they shall be broken in shivers, as a potter's vessel, ver. 28, " And the destruction," or breaking " of the transgressors, and of the sinners, shall be together." It seems to be an allusion to BENEFITS FLOWING FROM A UNION that law, for breaking the vessels of earth, when unclean ; while vessels of wood, and consequently vessels of gold, were only to be rinsed, Lev. xv. 12. A ninth benefit is support. If thou be a branch ingrafted in Christ, the root beareth thee. The believer leans on Christ as a weak woman, in a journey, leaning upon her beloved husband, Can. viij. 5. He stays himself upon him, as a feeble old man stays himself on his staff, Isa. 1. 10. He rolls himself on him, as one rolls a burden, he is not able to walk under, off his own back, upon another who is able to bear it, Psa. xxii. 8. Marg. There are many weights to hang upon, and press down the branches in Christ the true vine. But you know, whatever weights hang on the branches, the stock bears all ; it bears the branch and the weight that is upon it too. First, Christ supports believers in him, under a weight of outward troubles. That is a large promise, Isa. xliii. 2, " When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee." See how David was supported under a heavy load," 1 Sam. xxx. 6. His city Ziklag was burnt, his wives were taken captives, his men spoke of stoning him ; nothing was left him but his God and his faith ; but by his faith, " he encouraged himself in his God." The Lord comes, and lays his cross on his people's shoulders ; it presses them down, they are like to sink under it, and therefore cry, " Master, save us, we perish :" but he supports them under their burden ; he bears them up, and they bear their cross. Thus the Christian, with a weight of outward troubles upon him, goes lightly under his burden, having the everlasting arms underneath him. The Christian has a spring of comfort, which he cannot lose ; and therefore never wants something to support him. If a man have all his riches in money, robbers may take these away ; and then what has he more? But though the landed man may be robbed of his money, yet his lands remain for his support. They that build their comfort on worldly goods, may quickly be comfortless ; but they that are united to Christ shall find comfort, when all the streams of worldly enjoyments are dried up, Job vi. 13, " Is not my help in me ? and is wisdom driven quite from me ?" As if he should say, Though my substance is gone ; though my servants, my children, my health, and soundness of body, are all gone ; yet my grace is not gone too. Though the Sabeans have driven away my oxen and asses, and the Chaldeans have driven away my camels ; they have not driven away my faith, and my hope too : these are yet in me ; they are not driven from me ; so that by them I can fetch comfort from heaven, when I can have none from earth. Secondly, Christ supports his people under a weight of in- ward troubles and discouragements. Many times heart and WITH CHRIST. SUPPORT. 215 flesh fail them ;" but then " God is the strength of their heart," Psa. Ixxiii. 26. They may have a weight of guilt pressing them. This is a load that will make their back bend, and the spirits sink : but he takes it off, and puts a pardon in their hand, while they cast their burden upon him. Christ takes the soul, as one marries a widow under a burden of debt ; and so wnen the creditors come to Christ's spouse, she carries them to her husband, confesses the debt, declares she is not able to pay, and lays all upon him. The Christian sometimes, through carelessness, loses his discharge ; he cannot find it, however he search for it. The law takes that opportunity, and proceeds against him for a debt paid already. God hides his face, and the soul is distressed. Many arrows go through the heart now ; many long accounts are laid before the man, which he reads and acknowledges. Often does he see the officers coming to apprehend him, and the prison door open to receive him. What else keeps him from sinking utterly, under discour- agements in this case, but that the everlasting arms of a Media- tor are underneath him, and that he relies upon the great Surety ? Further, they may have a weight of strong lusts pressing them. They have a body of death upon them. Death is a weight that presses the soul out of the body. A leg or an arm of death, if I may so speak, would be a terrible load. One lively lust will sometimes lie so heavy on a child of God, that he can no more remove it than a child could throw a giant from off him. How then are they supported under a whole body of death? Their support is from the root that bears them, from the ever- lasting arm that is underneath them. His grace is sufficieat for them, 2 Cor. xii. 9. The great stay of the believer is not the grace of God within him ; that is a well whose streams sometimes run dry: but it is the grace of God without him, the grace that is in Jesus Christ ; which is an ever flowing fountain, to which the believer can never come amiss. For the apostle tells us in the same verse, it is " the power of Christ." " Most gladly therefore," says he, " will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me," or " tabernacle above me," as the cloud of glory did on the Israelites, which God spread for a covering, or shelter to them in the wilderness, Psal. cv. 39 ; compare Isa. iv. 5, 6. So that the believer in this combat, like the eagle, first flies aloft by faith, and then comes down on the prey, Psal. xxxiv. 5, " They looked to him, and were lightened." Finally, they have a weight of weakness and wants upon them, but they " cast over that burden on the Lord "their strength, " and he sustains them," Psal. Iv. 22. With all their wants and weak- ness they are cast upon him ; as the poor, weak, and naked babe coming out of the womb, is cast into the lap of one appointed to take charge of it, Psal. xxu. 10 Though they be destitute, as 216 BENEFITS FLOWING FROM A UNION a shrub in the wilderness, which the foot of every beast may tread down, the Lord will regard them, Psal. cii. 17. It is not surprising, that the weakest plant should be safe in a garden : but our Lord Jesus Christ is a hedge for protection to his weak and destitute ones, even in a wilderness. Objection. " But if the saints be so supported, how is it that they fall so often under temptations and discouragements ?" Answer. 1. How low soever they fall at any time, they never fall off; and that is a great matter. They " are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation," 1 Pet. i. 5. Hypo- crites may fall, so as to fall off, and fall into the pit, as a bucket falls into a well when the chain breaks. But, though the child of God may fall, and that so low that the waters go over his head, yet there is still a bond of union between Christ and him ; the chain is not broken ; he will not go to the ground ; he will be drawn up again, Luke xxii. 31, 32, " And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat ; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." 2. The falls of the saints flow from their not improving their union with Christ, their not making use of him by faith, for staying or bearing them up, Psal. xxvii. 13, "I had fainted, unless I had believed." While the nurse holds the child in her arms, it cannot fall to the ground ; yet if the unwary child hold not by her, it may fall backwards in her arms, to its great hurt. Thus David's fall broke his bones, Psal. li. 8 ; but it did not break the bond of union between Christ and him : the Holy Spirit, the bond of that union, was not taken from him, ver. 11. The last benefit I shall name is, the special care of the hus- bandman, John xv. 1, 2, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." Believers, by virtue of their union with Christ, are the objects of God's special care and providence. Mystical Christ is God's vine ; other societies in the world are but wild olive trees. The men of the world are but God's out field : the saints are his vineyard, which he has a special property in, and a special concern for, Cant. viii. 12, " My vineyard, which is mine, is before me." He that slumbers not, nor sleeps, is the keeper of it ; he does keep it ; lest any hurt it, he will keep it night and day : he, in whose hand is the dew of heaven, will water it every moment, Isa. xxvii. 3. He dresses and purges it, in order to further fruitful, ness, John xv. 2. He cuts off the luxuriant twigs, that mar the fruitfulness of the branch. This is done, especially by the word, and by the cross or afflictions ; the saints need the ministry of the word, as much as the vineyard needs one to dress and prune the vines, 1 Cor. iii. 9, " We are labourers together with God : ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." And they need the cross too, 1 Pet. i. 6. WITH CHRIST. CARE OP THE HUSBANDMAN. 217 Therefore, if we were to reckon the cross amongst the bene- fits flowing to believers, from their union with Christ, I judge that we should not reckon amiss. Sure I am, in their suffer- ings, they " suffer with him," Rom. viii. 17. The assurances which they have of the cross, have rather the nature of a pro- mise, than of a threatening, Psal. Ixxxix. 30 33, " If his chil- dren forsake my law then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him ; nor suffer my faithfulness to fail." This looks like a tutor's engaging to a dying father, to take care of the children left with him ; and to give them both nurture and admonition for their good. The covenant of grace truly beats the spears of affliction into pruning hooks, to them that are in Christ, Isa. xxvii. 9, " By this there- fore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit to take away his sin." Why then should we be angry with our cross ? why should we be frightened at it ? The be- liever must take up his cross, and follow his leader, the Lord Jesus Christ. He must take up his every day's cross, Luke ix. 23, " If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily." Yea, he must take up his holy- day's cross too, Lam. ii. 22, " Thou hast called, as in a solemn day, my terrors round about." The church of the Jews had of a long time many a pleasant meeting at the temple, on solemn days, for the worship of God ; but they got a solemnity of an- other nature, when God called together, about the temple and city, the Chaldean army, that burnt the temple, and laid Jeru- salem on heaps. And as the Church of God is yet militant in this lower region, how can it be but the clouds will return after the ram ? But the cross of Christ, by which appellation the saint's troubles are named, is a kindly name to the believer. It is a cross indeed ; not to the believer's graces, but to his cor- ruptions. The hypocrite's seeming graces may indeed breathe out their last on a cross, as those of the stony-ground hearers did, Matt. xiii. 6. "When the sun " of persecution, ver. 21, " was up, they were scorched ; and because they had no root, they withered away." But never did one of the real graces in a believer die upon the cross yet. Nay, as the candle shines brightest in the night, and the fire burns fiercest in intense frost ; so the believer's graces are commonly most vigorous in a time of trouble. There is a certain pleasure and sweetness in the cross, to them who have their senses exercised to discern, and to find it out. There is a certain sweetness in a man's seeing himself upon his trials for heaven, and standing candidate for glory. There is a pleasure in travelling over those mountains, where the Christian can see the prints of Christ's own feet, and the footsteps of the flock, who have been there before him. How pleasant is it to 19 218 BENEFITS FLOWING FROM A UNION a saint, in the exercise of grace, to see how a good God crosses his corrupt inclinations, and prevents his folly ! How sweet is it to behold these thieves upon the cross ! How refined a pleasure is there in observing how God draws away provision from un- ruly lusts, and so pinches them, that the Christian may get them governed ! Of a truth, there is a paradise within this thorn hedge. Many a time the people of God are in bonds ; which are never loosed, till they be bound with cords of affliction. God takes them, and throws them into a fiery furnace, that burns off their bonds; and then, like the three children, Dan. iii. 25, they are loose, walking in the midst of the fire. God gives his children a potion, with one bitter ingredient ; if that will not work upon them, he will put in a second, a third, and so on, as there is need, that they may work together, for their good, Rom. viii. 28. With cross winds he hastens them to their harbour. They are often found in such ways, as that the cross is the happiest foot they can meet with : and well may they salute it, as David did Abigail, saying, " Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me," 1 Sam. xxv. 32. Worldly things are often such a load to the Christian, that he moves but very slowly heavenward. God sends a wind of trouble that blows the burden off the man's back ; he then walks more speedily on his way, after God has drawn some gilded earth from him, that was drawing his heart away from God, Zeph. iii. 12, " I will also leave in the midst of thee, an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord." It was an observation of a Heathen moral- ist, that " no history makes mention of any man, who has been made better by riches." I doubt whether our modern histories can supply the defect of ancient histories in this point. But sure I am, many have been the worse for riches ; thousands have been hugged to death, in the embraces of a smiling world ; and many good men have got wounds from outward prosperity, that must be cured by the cross. I remember to have read of one, who having an imposthume in his breast, had in vain used the help of physicians : but being wounded with a sword, the im- posthume broke ; and his life was saved by that accident, which threatened immediate death. Often have spiritual imposthumes gathered in the breasts of God's people, in time of outward prosperity, and been thus broken and discussed by the cross. It is kindly for believers to be healed by stripes ; although they are usually so weak as to cry out for fear at the sight of the pruning hook, as if it were the destroying axe ; and to think that the Lord is coming to kill them, when he is indeed coming to cure them. I shall now conclude, addressing myself in a few words, first to saints, and next to sinners. I. To you that are saints, I say, WITH CHRIST. DUTY OF SAINTS SO UNITED. 219 First, Strive to obtain and keep up actual communion and fellowship with Jesus Christ; that is, to be still deriving fresh supplies of grace, from the fountain thereof in him, by faith : making suitable returns of them, in the exercise of grace and holy obedience. Beware of estrangement between Christ and your souls. If it has got in already, which seems to be the case of many in this day, endeavour to get it removed. There are multitudes in the world that slight Christ, though you should not slight him : many that looked fair for heaven have turned their backs upon him. The warm sun of outward peace and prosperity, has caused some to cast their cloak of religion from them, who held it fast, when the wind of trouble was blowing upon them : and " will you also go away ?" John vi. 67. The basest ingratitude is stamped on your slighting of communion with Christ, Jer. ii. 31, " Have I been a wilderness unto Israel : a land of darkness? Wherefore say my people, We are lords, we will come no more unto thee?" Oh! beloved, "Is this your kindness to your friend ?" It is unbecoming any wife to slight converse with her husband, but especially her who was taken from a prison or a dunghill, as you were, by your Lord. But remember, I pray you, this is a very ill chosen time to live at a distance from God : it is a time in which divine providence frowns upon the land we live in ; the clouds of wrath are gathering, and are thick above our heads. It is not a time for you to be out of your chambers, Isa. xxvi. 20. They that now are walking most closely with God, may have enough to do to sland when the trial comes : how hard will it be for others then, who are like to be surprised with troubles, when guilt is lying on their consciences unremoved ! To be awakened out of a sound sleep, and cast into a raging sea, as Jonah was, will be a fearful trial. To feel trouble before we see it coming, to be past hope before we have any fear, is a very sad case. Wherefore break down your idols of jealousy, mortify these lusts, these irregular appetites and desires, that have stolen away your hearts, and left you like Sampson, without his hair, and say, "I will go and return to my first husband ; for then was it better with me than now," Hos. ii. 7. Secondly, Walk as becomes those that are united to Christ. Evidence your union with him by " walking as he also walked," 1 John ii. 6. If you be brought from under the power of dark- ness, let your light shine before men. " Shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life ;" as the lantern holds the candle, which being in it, shines through it, Phil. ii. 15, 16. Now that you profess Christ to be in you, let his image shine forth in your conversation, and remember that the business of your lives is to prove, by practical arguments, what you profess. 1. You know the character of a wife, " She that is married, careth how she may please her husband." Go you and do 220 BENEFITS FLOWING FROM A UNION likewise ; " walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing," Col. i. 10. This is the great business of life ; you must please him, though it should displease all the world. What he hates must be hateful to you, because he hates it. Whatever lusts corne in suit of your hearts, deny them, seeing the grace of God has appeared, teaching us so to do, and you are joined to the Lord. Let him be a covering to your eyes ; for you have not your choice to make, it is made already ; and you must not dishonour your head. A man takes care of his feet, because, if he catch cold there, it flies up to his head. " Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot ? God forbid," says the apostle, 1 Cor. vi. 15. Wilt thou take that heart of thine, which is Christ's dwelling place, and lodge his enemies there? Wilt thou take that body, which is his temple, and defile it, by using the members thereof as instruments of sin ? 2. Be careful to bring forth fruit, and much fruit. The branch well laden with fruit, is the glory of the vine, and of the husbandman too, John xv. 8, " Herein is my Father glori- fied, that ye bear much fruit ; so shall ye be my disciples." A barren tree stands safer in a wood, than in an orchard ; and branches in Christ, that bring not forth fruit, will be taken away, and cast into the fire. 3. Be heavenly minded, and maintain a holy contempt of the world. You are united to Christ, he is your head and husband, and is in heaven ; wherefore your hearts should be there also, Col. iii. 1, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." Let the serpent's seed go on their belly, and eat the dust of this earth : but let the members of Christ be ashamed to bow down, and feed with them. 4. Live and act dependently, depending by faith on Jesus Christ. That which grows on its own root, is a tree, not a branch. It is of the nature of a brancn, to depend on the stock for all, and to derive all its sap from thence. Depend on him for life, light, strength, and all spiritual benefits, Gal. ii. 20, " I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me ; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God." For this cause, in the mystical union, strength is united to weakness, that death and earth may mount up on borrowed wings. Depend on him for temporal benefits also ; Matt. vi. 2, " Give us this day our daily bread." If we have trusted him with our eternal concerns, let us be ashamed to distrust him in the matter of our provision in the world. Lastly, Be of a meek disposition, and a uniting temper with the fellow members of Christ's body, as being united to the meek Jesus, the blessed centre of union. There is a prophecy to this purpose concerning the kingdom of Christ, Isa. xi. 6, " The wolf shall dwell with the lamb ; and the leopard shall WITH CHRIST. SINNERS PARTAKE NOT OF THEM. 221 lie down with the kid." It is an allusion to the beasts in Noah's ark. The beasts of prey, that were wont to kill and devour others, when once they came into the ark, lay down in peace with them : the Iamb was in no hazard by the wolf there, nor the kid by the leopard. There was a beautiful accomplish- ment of it in the primitive church, Acts iv. 32, " And the mul- titude of them that believed, were of one heart and of one soul." And this prevails in all the members of Christ, according to the measure of the grace of God in them. Man is born naked : he comes naked into this world, as if God designed him for the picture of peace ; and surely, when he is born again, he comes not into the new world of grace with claws to tear, a sword to wound, and a fire in his hand to burn up his fellow members in Christ, because they cannot see with his light. Oh . it is sad to see Christ's lilies as thorns in one another's sides, Christ's lambs devouring one another like lions, and God'a diamonds cutting one another : yet it must be remembered, that sin is no proper cement for the members of Christ, though Herod and Pontius Pilate may be made friends that way. The apostle's rule is plain, Heb. xii. 14, " Follow peace with all men, and holiness." To follow peace no further than our humour, credit, and such like things will allow us, is too short : to pursue it further than holiness allows us, that is, conformity to the Divine will, is too far. Peace is precious yet it may be bought too dear ; wherefore we must rather want it, than pur- chase it at the expense of truth or holiness. But otherwise it cannot be bought too dear : and it will always be precious in the eyes of the sons of peace. II. And now, sinners, what shall I say to you? I have given you some view of the privileges of those in the state of grace. You have seen them afar off; but, alas, they are not yours, be- cause you are not Christ's. The sinfulness of an unregenerate state is yours ; and the misery of it is yours also : you have nei- ther part nor lot in this matter. The guilt of all your sins lies upon you ; you have no part in the righteousness of Christ. There is no peace to you, no peace with God, no true peace of conscience : for you have no saving interest in the great Peace- maker. You are none of God's family : the adoption we spoke of, belongs not to you. You have no part in the Spirit of sane- tification; and, in one word, you have no inheritance among them that are sanctified. All I can say to you in this matter, is, that the case is not desperate, they may yet be yours, Rev. iii. 20, " Behold, I stand at the door and knock ; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Heaven is proposing a union with earth still ; the potter is making suit to his own clay ; and the gates of the city of refuge are not yet closed. O that we could compel you to come in. Thus far of the state of grace. 19* STATE IV. THE ETERNAL STATE; OR, STATE OF CONSUMMATE HAPPINESS OR MISERY. HEAD I. DEATH. For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living. JOB xxx. 23. I COME now to discourse of man's eternal state, into which he enters by death. Of this entrance Job takes a solemn, serious view, in the words of the text, which contain a general truth, and a particular application of it. The general truth is supposed: namely, that all men must, by death, remove out of this world ; they must die. But whither must they go ? They must go to the house appointed for all living ; to the grave, that darksome, gloomy, solitary house, in the land of forgetfulness. Wherever the body is laid up till the resurrection, thither, as to a dwelling house, death brings us home. While we are in the body, we are but in a lodging house, in an inn on our way homeward. When we come to our grave, we come to our home, our long home, Eccl. xii. 5. All living must be inhabitants of this house, good and bad, old and young. Man's life is a stream, running into death's devouring deeps. They who now live in palaces, must quit them, and go home to this house ; and they who have not where to lay their heads, shall thus have a house at length. It is appointed for all, by him whose counsel shall stand. This appointment cannot be shifted ; it is a law which mortals cannot transgress. Job's application of this general truth to himself, is expressed in these words, " I know that thou wilt bring me to death," &c. He knew that he must meet with death ; that his soul and body behoved to part ; that God, who had set the time, would certainly see it kept. Sometimes Job was inviting death, to come to him, and carry him home to its house; yea, he was in hazard of running to it before the time : Job vii. 15, " My soul chooseth strangling and death, rather than my life." But here he considers God would bring him to it ; yea, bring him back to it, as the word imports. Whereby he seems to intimate, that we have no life in this world, but as runaways from death, which stretches out its cold arms, to receive us from the womb ; out though we do then narrowly escape its clutches, we cannot 222 CERTAINTY OF DEATH. 223 escape long ; we shall be brought back again to it. Job knew this ; he had laid his account with it, and was looking for it. Doctrine, All must die. Although this doctrine be confirmed by the experience of all former generations, ever since Abel en- tered into the house appointed for all living ; and though the living know that they shall die ; yet it is needful to discourse of the certainty of death, that it may be impressed on the mind and duly considered. Wherefore consider, First, There is an unalterable statute of death under which men are concluded. " It i appointed unto men once to die," Heb. ix. 27. It is laid up for them, as parents lay up for their children : they may look for it, aud cannot miss it ; seeing God has designed and reserved it for them. There is no peradventure in it ; " we must needs die," 2 Sam. xiv. 14. Though some men will not hear of death, yet every man must see death, Psal. Ixxxix. 48. Death is a champion all must grapple with : we must enter the lists with it, and it will have the mastery, Eccles. viii. 8, " There is no man that hath power over the spirit, to retain the spirit ; neither hath he power in the day of death." They indeed who are found alive at Christ's coming, shall all be changed, 1 Cor. xv. 51. But that change will be equivalent to death, will answer the purposes of it. All other persons must go the common road, the way of all flesh. Secondly, Let us consult daily observation. Every man " seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and brutish person," Psal. xlix. 10. There is room enough, on this earth, for us ; notwith- standing the multitudes that were upon it, before us ; they are gone to make room for us : as we must depart to leave room for others. It is long since death began to transport men into an- other world, and vast shoals or multitudes are gone thither already ; yet the trade is going on still ; death is carrying off new inhabitants daily, to the house appointed for all living. Who could ever hear the grave say, It is enough ? Long has it been getting, but still it asks. This world is like a great fair or market, where some are coming in, others going out ; while the assembly that is in it is confused, and the most part know not wherefore they have come together : or like a town situated on the road to a great city, through which some travellers have past, some are passing, while others are only coming in, Eccles. i. 4, " One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh : but the earth abideth for ever." Death is an inexora- ble, irresistible messenger, who cannot be diverted from executing his orders by the force of the mighty, the bribes of the rich, the entreaties of the poor. It does not reverence the hoary head, nor pity the harmless babe. The bold and daring cannot out- brave it ; nor can the faint-hearted obtain a discharge in this war. Thirdly, The human body consists of perishing princi- ples, Gen. iii. 19, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou 224 CERTAINTY OF DEATH. return." The strongest are but brittle earthen vessels, easily broken in shivers. The soul is but meanly housed, while in this mortal body, which is not a house of stone, but a house of clay ; the mud walls cannot but moulder away ; especially seeing the foundation is not on a rock, but in the dust ; they are crushed before the moth, though this insect be so tender that the gentle touch of a finger will despatch it, Job iv. 19. These principles are like gunpowder ; a very small spark lighting on them, will set them on fire, and blow up the house : the stone of a raisin, or a hair in milk, having choked men, and laid the house of clay in the dust. If we consider the frame and structure of our bodies how fearfully and wonderfully we are made, and on how regular and exact a motion of the fluids, and balance of humours, our life depends, and that death has as many doors to enter in by, as the body has pores ; and if we compare the soul and body together, we may justly reckon there is somewhat more astonishing in our life, than in our death ; and that it is more strange, to see dust walking up and down on the dust, than lying down in it. Though the lamp of our life be not violently blown out, yet the flame must go out at length for want of oil. What are those distempers and diseases which we are liable to, but death's harbingers, that come to prepare his way ? They meet us, as soon as we set our foot on earth, to tell us at our entry, that we do but come into the world to go out again. Nevertheless, some are snatched away in a moment, without being warned by sickness or disease. Fourthly, We have sinful souls, and therefore have dying bodies ; death follows sin, as the shadow follows the body. The wicked must die, by virtue of the threatening of the covenant of works, Gen. ii. 17, " In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." And the godly must die too; that as death entered by sin, sin may go out by death. Christ has taken away the sting of death, as to them ; though he has not as yet removed death itself. Wherefore, though it fasten on them, as the viper did on Paul's hand, it shall do them no harm ; but because the leprosy of sin is in the walls of the house, it must be broken down, and all the materials thereof carried forth. Lastly, Man's life in this world, according to the Scripture account of it, is but a few degrees removed from death. The Scripture represents it as a vain and empty thing, short in its continuance, and swift in its passing away. First, Man's life is a vain and empty thing : while it is, it vanishes away ; and lo ! it is not. Job vii. 6, " My days are vanity." If we suspect afflicted Job of partiality in this matter, hear the wise and prosperous Solomon's character of the days of his life, Eccles. vii. 15, " All things have I seen in the days of my vanity," that is, my vain days. Moses, who was a very active man, compares our days to a sleep, Psal. xc. 5, " They MAN'S LIFE is VANITY. 225 are as a sleep, which is not noticed, till it be ended. The re- semblance is just : few men have right apprehensions of life, until death awaken them ; then we begin to know that we were living. " We spend our days as a tale that is told," ver. 9. When an idle tale is telling, it may affect a little ; but when it is ended, it is forgot : and so is a man forgotten when the fable of his life is ended. It is as a dream, or a vision of the night, in which there is nothing solid ; when one awakes, all vanishes ; Job xx. 8, "He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found; yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night." It is but a vain show or image ; Psal. xxxix. 6, " Surely every man walketh in a vain show." Man, in this world, is but as it were a walking statue : his life is but an image of life, there is so much of death in it. If we look on our life, in the several periods of it, we shall find it a heap of vanities. " Childhood and youth are vanity," Eccles. xi. 10. We come into the world the most helpless of all animals : young birds and beasts can do something for them- selves, but infant man is altogether unable to help himself. Our childhood is spent in pitiful trifling pleasures, which become the scorn of our after thoughts. Youth is a flower that soon withers a blossom that quickly falls off; it is a space of time, in which we are rash, foolish, and inconsiderate, pleasing ourselves with a variety of vanities, and swimming as it were, through a flood of them. But ere we are aware, it is past ; and we are in middle age, encompassed with a thick cloud of cares, through which we must grope : and finding ourselves beset with pricking thorns of difficulties, through them we must force our way, to accom- plish the objects and contrivances of our riper thoughts. The more we solace ourselves in any earthly enjoyment we attain to. the more bitterness do we find in parting with it. Then comes old age, attended with its own train of infirmities, labour, and sorrow, Psal. xc. 10, and sets us down next door to the grave. In a word, " All flesh is grass," Isa. xl. 6. Every stage or period in life is vanity. " Man at his best state," his middle age, when the heat of youth is spent, and the sorrows of old age have not yet overtaken him, " is altogether vanity," Psal. xxxix. 5. Death carries off some in the bud of childhood, others in the blossom of youth, and others when they are come to their fruit ; few are left standing, till, like ripe corn, they forsake the ground : all die one time or other. Secondly, Man's life is a short thing ; it is not only a vanity, but a short-lived vanity. Consider, First, How the life of man is reckoned in the Scriptures. It was indeed sometimes reck- oned by hundreds of years : but no man ever arrived at a thousand, which yet bears no proportion to eternity. Now hundreds are brought down to scores ; threescore and ten, or fourscore, is its utmost length, Psal. xc. 10. But few men arrive MAN'S LIFE IS VANITT. at that length of life. Death does but rarely wait, till men be bowing down, by reason of age, to meet the grave. Yet, as if years were too big a word for such a small thing as the life of man on earth, we find it counted by months, Job xiv. 5, " The number of his months are with thee." Our course, like that of the moon, is run in a little time : we are always waxing or waning, till we disappear. But frequently it is reckoned by days ; and these but few, Job xiv. 1, " Man, that is born of a woman, is of few days." Nay, it is but one day in Scripture account ; and that a hireling's day, who will precisely observe when his day ends, and give over his work, ver. 6, " Till he shall accomplish as an hireling his day." Yea, the Scripture brings it down to the shortest space of time, and calls it a moment, 2 Cor. iv. 17, " Our light affliction" though it last all our life long, " is but for a moment." Elsewhere it is brought down yet to a lower pitch, further than which one cannot carry it, Psal. xxxix. 5, " Mine age is as nothing before thee." Agreeable to this, Solomon tells us, Eccles. iii. 2, " There is a time to be born, and a time to die ;" but makes no mention of a time to live, as if our life were but a skip from the womb to the grave. Secondly, Consider the various similitudes by which the Scripture repre- sents the shortness of man's life. Hear Hezekiah, Isa. xxxviii. 12, " Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shep- herd's tent; I have cut off like a weaver my life." The shep- herd's tent is soon removed ; for the flocks must not feed long in one place : such is a man's life on this earth, quickly gone. It is a web which he is incessantly working ; he is not idle so much as for one moment ; in a short time it is wrought, and then it is cut off. Every breathing is a thread in this web ; when the last breath is drawn, the web is woven out ; he expires, and then it is cut off, he breathes no more. Man is like grass, and like a flower, Isa. xl. 6. "All flesh, even the strongest ana most healthy flesh, " is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field." The grass is flourishing in the morning ; but, in the evening, being cut down by the mowers, it is withered : so man sometimes is walking up and down at ease in the morning, and in the evening is lying a corpse, being struck down by a sudden blow, with one or other of deatn's weapons. The flower, at best, is but a weak and tender thing, of short continuance, wherever it grows : but ob- serve, man is not compared to the flower of the garden, but to the flower of the field, which the foot of every beast may tread down at any time. Thus is our life liable to a thousand acci- dents every day, any of which may cut us off. But though we should escape all these, yet at length this grass withers, this flower fades of itself. It is carried off, " as the cloud is con- sumed, and vanisheth away," Job vii. 9. It looks big as the morning clouu, which promises great things, and raises the ex- MAN'S LIFE is VANITY. 227 pectations of the husbandman ; but the sun rises, and the cloud is scattered ; death comes, and man vanishes. The apostle James proposes the question, " What is your life?" chapter iv. 14. Hear his own answer, " It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." It is frail, uncertain, and lasteth not. It is as smoke, which goes out of the chimney, as if it would darken the face of the heavens ; but quickly it is scattered, and appears no more : thus goes man's life, and " where is he ?" It is a wind, Job vii. 7, " O remember that my life is wind." It is but a passing blast, a short puff, " a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again," Psa. Ixxviii. 39. Our breath is in our nostrils, as it were, always upon the wing to depart; ever passing and repassing, like a traveller, until it go away, not to return till the heavens be no more. Lastly, Man's life is a swift thing; not only a passing, but a flying vanity. Have you not observed how swiftly a shadow has run along the ground, in a cloudy and windy day, suddenly darkening the places beautified before with the beams of the sun, but as suddenly disappearing? Such is the life of man on the earth, for " he fleeth as a shadow, and continueth not," Job xiv. 2. A weaver's shuttle is very swift in its motion ; in a moment it is thrown from one side of the web to the other ; yet "our days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle," chap. vii. 6. How quickly is man tossed through time, into eternity ! See how Job describes the swiftness of the time of life, chap. ix. 25, 26, " Now my days are swifter than a post ; they flee away, they see no good. They are passed away as the swift ships ; as the eagle that hasteth to the prey." He compares his days with a post, a foot-post ; a runner, who runs speedily to carry tidings, and will make no stay. But though the post were like Ahimaaz, who outran Cushi, our days would be swifter than he; for they flee away, like a man fleeing for his life before the pur- suing enemy ; he runs with his utmost vigour, yet our days run as fast as he. But this is not all ; even he who is fleeing for his life, cannot run always : he must needs sometimes stand still, lie down, or turn in somewhere, as Sisera did into Jael's tent, to refresh himself: but our time never halts. Therefore it is com- pared to ships, which can sail night and day without intermission, till they be at their port; and to swift ships, ships of desire, in which men quickly arrive at their desired haven ; or, ships of pleasure, that sail more swiftly than ships of burden. Yet the wind failing, the ship's course is marred : but our time always runs with a rapid course. Therefore it is compared to the eagle flying ; not with his ordinary flight, for that is not sufficient to represent the swiftness of our days ; but when he flies upon his prey, which is with an extraordinary swiftness. And thus, even thus, our days flee away. Having thus discoursed of death, let us improve it, in dis- 228 DEATH A GLASS IN WHICH TO BEHOLD THE cerning the vanity of the world; in bearing up, with Christian contentment and patience, under all troubles and difficulties in it; in mortifying our lusts; in cleaving unto the Lord with full purpose of heart, on all hazards; and in preparing for death's approach. And, first, Let us hence, as in a looking glass, behold the vanity of the world, and of all these things in it, which men sc much value and esteem ; and therefore set their hearts upon. The rich and the poor are equally intent upon this world; they bow the knee to it ; yet it is but a clay god : they court this bulky vanity, and run keenly to catch this shadow. The rich man is hugged to death in its embraces ; and the poor man wearies himself in the fruitless pursuit. What wonder if the world's smiles overcome us, when we pursue it so eagerly, even while it frowns upon us ? But look into the grave, O man ! consider and be wise ; listen to the doctrine of death ; and learn, 1. That, hold as fast as thou canst, thou shalt be forced to let go thy hold of the world at length. Though thou load thyself with the fruits of this earth ; yet all shall fall off when thou comest to creep into thy hole, the house under ground, appointed for all living. When death comes, thou must bid an eternal farewell to thy enjoyments in this world : thou must leave thy goods to another : Luke xii. 20, " And whose shall those things be which thou hast provided '.'" 2. Thy portion of these things shall be very little ere long. If thou lie down on the grass, and stretch thyself at full length and observe the print of thy body when thou risest, thou mayest see how much of this earth will fall to thy share at last. It may be thou shalt get a coffin, and a winding sheet : but thou art not sure of that; many who have had abundance of wealth, yet have not had so much when they took up their new house in the land of silence. But however that be, more you cannot expect. It was a mortifying lesson which Saladin, when dying, gave to his soldiers. He called for his standard bearer, and ordered him to take his winding sheet upon his pike, and go out to the camp with it, and tell them, that of all his con- quests, victories, and triumphs, he had nothing now left him, but that piece of linen to wrap his body in for burial. Lastly, " This world is a false friend," who leaves a man in time of greatest need, and flees from him when he has most to do. When thou art lying on a death bed, all thy friends and rela- tions cannot rescue thee ; all thy substance cannot ransom thee, nor procure thee a reprieve for one day ; nay, not for one hour. Yea, the more thou possesses! of this world's goods, thy sorrow at death is like to be the greater : for though one may live more commodiously in a palace than in a cottage, yet he may die more easily in the cottage, where he has very little to make him fond of life. VANITY OF THE WORLD. 229 Secondly It may serve as a storehouse for Christian con- tentment and patience under worldly losses and crosses. A close application of the doctrine of death is an excellent remedy against fretting, and gives some ease to a troubled heart. When Job had sustained very great losses, he sat down contented, with this meditation, Job i. 21, "Naked came I out of my mo- ther's womb, and naked shall I return thither : the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord." When Providence brings a mortality or murrain among your cattle, how ready are you to fret and complain ! but the serious consideration of your own death, to which you have a notable help from such providential occurrences, may be of use to silence your complaints, and quiet your spirits. Look to " the house appointed for all living," and learn, 1. that you must abide a more severe thrust than the loss of worldly goods. Do not cry out for a thrust in the leg or arm : for ere long there will be a home thrust at the heart. You may lose your dearest relations : the wife may lose her husband, and the husband his wife ; the parents may lose their dear children, and the children their parents : but if any of these trials happen to you, remem- ber you must lose your own life at last ; and " wherefore doth a living man complain ?" Lam. iii. 39. It is always profitable to consider, under affliction, that our case might have been worse than it is. Whatever be consumed, or taken from us, " it is of the Lord's mercies that we " ourselves " are not con- sumed," ver. 22. 2. It is but for a short space of time that we are to be in this world. It is but a little that our necessities require in so short a space of time : when death comes we shall stand in need of none of these things. Why should men rack their heads with cares how to provide for to-morrow ; while they know not if they shall then need any thing? Though a man's provision for his journey be nearly spent, he is not dis- quieted, if he think he is near home. Are you working by can- dle light, and is there little of your candle left ? It may be there is a little sand in your glass ; and if so, you have little use for it. 3. You have matters of greater weight that challenge your care. Death is at the door, beware you lose not your souls. If blood break out at one part of the body, they gene- rally open a vein in another part of it, to turn the stream of the blood, and to stop it. Thus the Spirit of God sometimes cures men of sorrow for earthly things, by opening the heart vein to bleed for sin. Did we pursue heavenly things the more vigo- rously that our affairs in this life prosper not, we should thereby gain a double advantage ; our worldly sorrow would be diverted, and our best treasure increased. 4. Crosses of this nature will not last long. The world's smiles and frowns will quickly be buried together in everlasting forget fulness. Its smiles go away as the foam on the water ; and its frowns are as a passing stitch 20 230 DEATH. A BRIDLE TO CURB THE LUSTS. in a man's side. Time flies away with swift wings, and car ries our earthly comforts, and crosses too, along with it : neither of them will accompany us into " the house appointed for all living," Job iii. 17 19, "There the wicked cease from troub- ling ; and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners rest together, they hear not the voice of the oppressor. The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master." Cast a look into eternity, and you will see affliction here is but for a moment. The truth is, our time is so very short, that it will not allow either our joys or griefs to come to perfection. Wherefore, let them that weep, be " as though they wept not ; and them that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not," &c. 1 Cor. vii. 29 31. 5. Death will put all men on a level. The king and the beggar must dwell in one house, when they come to their journey's end ; though their entertainment by the way be very different. " The small and the great are there," Job iii. 19. We are all in this world as on a stage; it is no great matter, whether a man act the part of a prince or a peasant : for when they have acted their parts, they must both get behind the curtain and appear no more. Lastly, If thou be not in Christ, whatever thy afflictions now be, troubles, a thousand times worse, are abiding thee in another world. Death will turn thy crosses into pure unmixed curses; and then, 'how gladly wouldst thou return to thy former afflicted state, and purchase it at any rate, were there any possibility of such a re- turn ? If thou be in Christ, thou mayest well bear thy cross. Death will put an end to all thy troubles. If a man on a journey be not well accommodated, where he lodges only for a night, he will not trouble himself much about the matter ; because he is not to stay there, it is not his home. You are on the road to eternity : let it not disquiet you that you meet with some hard- ships in the inn of this world. Fret not, because it is not so well with you as with some others. One man travels with a cane in his hand ; his fellow traveller, perhaps, has but a com- mon staff or stick : either of them will serve the turn. It is no great matter which of them be yours ; both will be laid aside when you come to your journey's end. Thirdly, It may serve for a bridle, to curb all manner of lusts, particularly those conversant about the body. A serious visit made to cold death, and that solitary mansion, the grave, might be of good use to repress them. 1. It may be of use to cause men to remit of their inordinate care for the body ; which is to many the bane of their souls. Often do these questions, "What shall we eat? what shall we drink 1 and wherewithal shall we be clothed ?" leave no room for another of more importance, viz. " Wherewith shall I come before the Lord '.'" The soul is put on the rack, to answer these mean questions in favour of the body ; while its own eter- DEATH A BRIDLE TO CURB THE LUSTS. 231 nal interests are neglected. But ah ! why are men so busy to repair the ruinous cottage ; leaving the inhabitant to bleed to death of his wounds, unheeded, unregarded ? Why so much care for the body, to the neglecting of the concerns of the im- mortal soul '? O be not so anxious for what can only serve your bodies ; since, ere long, the clods of cold earth will serve for back and belly too. 2. It may abate your pride on account of bodily endowments, which vain man is apt to glory in. Value not yourselves on the blossom of youth ; for while you are in your blooming years, you are but ripening for a grave ; death gives the fatal stroke, without asking any body's age. Glory not in your strength, it will quickly be gone: the time will soon be, when you shall not be able to turn yourselves on a bed ; and you must be carried by your grieving friends to your long home. And what signifies your healthful constitution? Death does not always enter in soonest where it begins soonest to knock at the door ; but makes as great dispatch with some in a few hours, as with others in many years. Value not yourselves on your beauty, which "shall consume in the grave," Psal. xlix. 14. Remember the change which death makes on the fairest face, Job xiv. 20, " Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away." Death makes the greatest beauty so loathsome that it must be buried out of sight. Could a looking-glass be used in " the house appointed for all living," it would be a terror to those who now look oftener into their glasses than into their Bibles. And what though the body be gorgeously arrayed ? The finest clothes are but badges of our sin and shame ; and in a little time will be ex- changed for a winding-sheet ; when the body will become a feast to the worms. 3. It may be a check upon sensuality and fleshy lusts, 1 Pet. ii. 11, "I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul." It is hard to cause wet wood to take fire ; and when the fire does take hold of it, it is soon extinguished. Sensuality makes men most unfit for Di- vine communications, and is an effectual means to quench the Spirit. Intemperance in eating and drinking, carries on the ruin of soul and body at once ; and hastens death, while it makes the man most unmeet for it. Therefore, " Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and so that day come upon you unawares," Luke xxi. 34. But O how often is the soul struck through wiih a dart, in gratifying the senses ! At these doors, destruction enters in. Therefore Job " made a covenant with his eyes," chap. xxxi. 1. " The mouth of a strange woman is a deep pit ; he that is abhorred of the Lord, shall fall therein," Prov. xxii. 14. " Let him that standeth, take heed lest he fall," 1 Cor. x. 12. Beware of lasciviousness ; study modesty, in your apparel, 232 DEATH A BRIDLE TO CURB THE LUSTS. words, and actions. The ravens of the valley of death, will at last pick out the wanton eye : the obscene filthy tongue will at length be quiet, in the land of silence : and grim death embracing the body, in its cold arms, will effectually allay the heat of all fleshly lusts. 4. In a word, it may check our earthly mindedness ; and at once knock down, " the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." Ah ! if we must die, why are we thus ? Why so fond of temporal things ; so anxious to get them, so eager in the embraces of them, so mightily touched by the loss of them ? Let me upon a view of " the house appointed for all living," bespeak the worldling, in the words of Solomon, Prov. xxiii. 5, " Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not 1 For riches certainly make themselves wings, they fly away as- an eagle towards heaven." Riches, and all worldly things, are but a fair nothing : they are that which is not. They are not what they seem to be: they are but gilded vanities that deceive the eye. Comparatively they are not; there is infinitely more of nothingness and not being, than of being or reality, in the best of them. What is the world, and all that is in it, but a fashion, or fair show, such as men make on a stage, a passing show ? 1 Cor. vii. 31. Royal pomp is but a gaudy show, or appear- ance, in God's account, Acts xxv. 23. The best name they get is good things : but, observe it, they are only the wicked man's good things, Luke xvi. 25, " Thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things," says Abraham, in the parable, to the rich man in hell. Well may the men of the world, call these things their goods ; for there is no other good in them, about them, nor attending them. Now, wilt thou set thine eyes upon empty shadows and fancies ? Wilt thou cause thine eyes to fly on them, as the word is ? Shall men's hearts fly out at their eyes upon them, as a ravenous bird on its prey ? If they do, let them know, that at length, these shall flee as fast away from them, as ever their eyes flew upon them : like a flock of fair- feathered birds, that settle on a fool's ground ; the which, when - he runs to catch them as his own, do immediately take wing, fly away, and sitting down on his neighbour's ground, elude his expectation. Luke xii. 20, " Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee ; then whose shall these things be ?" Though you do not make wings to them, as many do ; they make themselves wings, and fly away ; not as a tame house bird which may be caught again ; nor as a hawk, that will show where she is by her bells, and be called again with the lure : but as an eagle, which quickly flies out of sight, and cannot be recalled. Forbear thou to behold these things. O mortal ! there is no reason thou should set thine eyes upon them. This world is a great inn, on the road to eternity, to which thou art travel- ing. Thou art attended by these things, as servants belonging DEATH A BRIDLE TO CURB THE LUSTS. 233 to the inn, where thou lodgest : they wait upon thee while thou art there ; and when thou goest away, they will convoy thee to the door. But they are not thine, they will not go away with thee ; but return to wait on other strangers, as they did on thee. Fourt/tly, It may serve as a spring of Christian resolution, to cleave to Christ, adhere to his truths, and continue in his ways; whatever we may suffer for so doing. It would much allay the fear of man, that brings a snare. " Who art thou that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall die?" I-sa. li. 12. Look on persecutors as pieces of brittle clay, that shall be dashed in pieces ; for then shall you despise them as foes, that are mortal ; whose terror to others in the land of the living, shall quickly die with themselves. The serious consideration of the short- ness of our time, and the certainty of death, will teach us, that all the advantage which we can make by our apostasy, in time of trial, is not worth the while ; it is not worth going out of our way to get it; and what we refuse to forego for Christ's sake, may quickly be taken from us by death. But we can never lose it so honourably, as for the cause of Christ, and his gospel : for what glory is it, that you give up what you have in the world ; when God takes it away from you by death, whether you will or not 1 This consideration may teach us to undervalue life itself, and choose to forego it, rather than to sin. The worst that men can do, is to take away that life, which we cannot long keep, though all the world should conspire to help us to retain the spirit. If we refuse to offer it up to God when he calls for it in defence of his honour, he can take it from us in another way : as it fared with him, who could not burn for Christ, but was afterwards burnt by an accidental fire in his house. Lastly, It may serve for a spur to incite us to prepare for death. Consider, 1. Your eternal state will be according to the state in which you die : death will open the doors of heaven or hell to you. As the tree falls, so it shall lie through eternity. If the infant be dead born, the whole world will not raise it to life again : and if one die out of Christ, in an unregenerate state, there is no more hope of him for ever. 2. Seriously consider what it is to go into another world ; a world of spirits, where- with we are very little acquainted. How frightful is converse with spirits, to poor mortals in this life : and how dreadful is tho case, when men are hurried away into another world, not know- ing but devils may be their companions for ever ! Let us then give all diligence to make and advance our acquaintance with the Lord of that world. 3. It is but a short time you have to prepare for death : therefore now or never, seeing the time as- signed for preparation will soon be over. Eccles. ix. 10, " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might : for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." How can we be idle, having so 20* 234 DEATH A BRIDLE TO CURB THE LUST8. great a work to do, and so little time to do it in ? But if the time be short, the work of preparation for death, though hard work, will not last long. The shadows of the evening make the labourer work cheerfully ; knowing the time to be at hand, when he will be called in from his labour. 4. Much of our short time is over already ; and the youngest of us all cannot assure himself, that there is as much of his time to come, as i? past. Our life in the world is but a short preface to a long eternity ; and much of the tale is told. Oh ! shall we not double our diligence, when so much of our time is spent, and so little 3f our great work is done 1 5. The present time is flying away : and we cannot bring back time past, it has taken an eternal farewell of us : there is no kindling the fire again that is burnt .o ashes. The time to come is not ours : and we have no assur- ance of a share in it when it comes. We have nothing we can call ours, but the present moment, and that is flying away. How soon our time may be at an end, we know not. Die we must : but who can tell us, when 1 If death kept one set time for all, we were in no hazard of a surprise ; but daily observa- tion shows us, that there is no such thing. Now the flying shadow of our life, allows no time for loitering. The rivers run speedily into the sea, from whence they came ; but not so speedily as man to the dust, from whence he came. The stream of time is the swiftest current, and quickly runs out to eternity. Lastly, If once death carry us off, there is no coming back to mend our matters, Job xiv. 14, " If a man die, shall he live again ?" Dying is a thing we cannot get a trial of; it is what we can only do once, Heb. ix. 27, " It is appointed unto men mice to die." And that which can be but once done, and yet is of so much importance, that our all depends on our doing it right, we have need to use the utmost diligence, that we may do it well. Therefore prepare for death. If you who are unregenerate ask me, what you shall do to prepare for death, that you may die safely 1 I answer, I have told you already what must be done. Your nature and state must be changed ; you must be born again ; you must be united to Jesus Christ by faith. Till this is done, you are not capable of other directions, which belong to a person's dying comfort- ably ; whereof we may discourse afterwards in the due place. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE RIGHTEOUS, ETC. 235 HEAD II. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED IN THEIR DEATH. The wicked is driven away in his wickedness : but the righteous hath hope in his death. PROVERBS xiv. 32. THIS text looks like the cloud between the Israelites and Egyp- tians ; having a dark side towards the latter, and a bright side towards the former. It represents death like Pharaoh's jailer, bringing the chief butler and the chief baker out of prison ; the one to be restored to his office, and the other to be led to execu- tion. It shows the difference between the godly and ungodly in their death ; who, as they act a very different part in life, so, in death have a very different exit. First, as to the death of a wicked man, here is, 1. The man- ner of his passing out of the world. He is " driven away ;" namely, in his death, as is clear from the opposite clause. He is forcibly thrust out of his place in this world ; driven away as chaff before the wind. 2. The state he passes away in. He dies in a sinful and hopeless state. First, In a sinful state ; he is driven away in his wickedness. He lived in it, and he dies in it : his filthy garments of sin, in which he wrapt up himself in his life, are his prison garments, in which he shall lie wrapt up for ever. Secondly, In a hopeless state ; " but the righteous hath hope in his death ;" which plainly imports the hopeless- ness of the wicked in their death. Whereby is not meant, that no wicked man shall have any hope at all when he is dying, but shall die in despair. No : sometimes it is so indeed ; but frequently it is otherwise : foolish virgins may, and often do hope to the last breath. But the wicked man has no solid hopes : as for the delusive hopes he entertains himself with, death will root them up, and he shall be for ever irretrievably miserable. Secondly, As to the death of a righteous man, he has hope in his death. This is ushered in with a but, importing the re- moval of these dreadful circumstances, with which the wicked man is attended, who is driven away in his wickedness : but the godly are not so. Not so, 1. In the manner of their passing out of the world. The righteous are not driven away as chaff before the wind ; but led away as a bride to the marriage cham- ber, carried away by the angels into Abraham's bosom, Luke 236 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE RIGHTEOUS, ETC. xvi. 22. 2. Not so as to their state, when passing out of this life. The righteous man dies, 1. Not in a sinful, but in a holy state. He goes not away in his sin, but out of it. In his life he was putting off the old man, changing his prison garments : and now the remaining rags of them are removed, and he is adorned with robes of glory. 2. Not in a hopeless, but a hopeful state. He has hope in his death : he has the grace of hope, and the well-founded expectation of better things than he ever had in this world : and though the stream of his hope at death may run shallow, yet he has still so much of it as makes him venture his eternal interests upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Doctrine I. The wicked dying, are driven away in their wickedness, and in a hopeless state. In speaking to this doctrine, 1. I shall show how, and in what sense, the wicked are " driven away in their wickedness" at death. 2. I shall discover the hopelessness of their state at death. And, lastly, Apply the whole. I. How, and in what sense, the wicked are "driven away in their wickedness." In discoursing of this matter, I shall briefly inquire, 1. What is meant by their being "driven away." 2. Whence they shall be driven, and whither. 3. In what re- spects they may be said to be driven away "in their wickedness." But before I proceed, let me remark, that you are mistaken if you think that no persons are to be called wicked, but they who are avowedly vicious and profane; as if the devil could dwell in none but those whose name is Legion. In Scripture account, all who are not righteous, in the manner hereafter explained, are reckoned wicked. Therefore the text divides the whole world into two sorts, " the righteous, and the wicked :" and you will see the same thing in Mai. iii. 18, " Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked." Wherefore if you be not righteous, you are wicked." If you have not an imputed righteousness, and also an implanted righteousness, or holiness ; if you be yet in your natural state, unregenerated, not united to Christ by faith ; however moral and blameless in the eyes of men your conversation may be, you are the wicked who shall be driven away in their wickedness, if death find you in that state. Now, FIRST, As to the meaning of this phrase, " driven away ;" there are three things in it ; the wicked shall be taken away suddenly, violently, and irresistibly. First, Unrenewed men shall be taken away suddenly at death. Not that all wicked men die suddenly ; nor that they are all wicked that die so; God forbid! But, 1. Death com- monly comes upon them unexpectedly, and so surprises them, as the deluge surprised the old world, though they were fore- warned of 'it long before it came: and as travail cometh on a woman with child, with surprising suddenness, although looked HOPELESS STATE OF THE WICKED IN DEATH. 237 for and expected, 1 Thess. v. 3. Death seizes them, as a cre- ditor does his debtor, to hale him to prison, Psa. Iv. 15, and that when they are not aware. Death comes in, as a thief, at the window, and finds them full of busy thoughts about this life, which that very day perish. 2. Death always seizes them un- prepared for it ; the old house falls down about their ears, before they have another provided. When death casts them to the door, they have not where to lay their heads ; unless it be on a bed of fire and brimstone. The soul and body are as it were hugging one another in mutual embraces ; when death comes like a whirlwind and separates them. 3. Death hurries them away in a moment to destruction, and makes a most dis- mal change : the man for the most part never knows where he is, till " in hell he lift up his eyes," Luke xvi. 23. The floods of wrath suddenly overwhelm his soul : and ere he is aware, he is plunged into the bottomless pit. Secondly, The unrenewed man is taken away out of the world violently. Driving is a violent action; he is "chased out of the world," Job xviii. 18. Fain would he stay if he could ; but death drags him away like a malefactor, to the ex- ecution. He sought no other portion, than the profits and pleasures of this world ; he has no other ; he really desires no other : how can he then go away out of it, if he were not driven? Question. " But may not a wicked man be willing to die ?" Answer. He may indeed be willing to die ; but, observe, it is only in one of three cases. 1. In a fit of passion, by reason of some trouble that he is impatient to be rid of. Thus, many persons, when their passion has got the better of their reason ; and when, on that account, they are most unfit to die, will be ready to cry, " O to be gone !" But should their desire bo granted, and death come at their call, they would quickly show they were not in earnest ; and that, if they go, they must be driven away against their wills. 2. When they are brim full of despair, they may be willing to die. Thus Saul murdered himself; and Spira wished to be in hell, that he might know the uttermost of what he believed he was to suffer. In this man- ner men may seek after death, while it flees from them. But fearful is the violence these undergo, whom the terrors of God do thus drive. 3. When they are dreaming of happiness after death. Foolish virgins under the power of delusion, as to their state, may be willing to die, having no fear of lying down in sorrow. How many are there, who can give no Scripture ground for their hope, who yet have no bands in their death ! Many are driven to darkness sleeping : they go off like lambs, who would roar like lions, did they but know what place they are going to ; though the chariot in which they are drive furiously 238 HOPELESS STATE OF THE WICKED IN DEATH. to the depths of hell, yet they fear not, because they are fast asleep. Lastly, The unregenerate man is taken away irresistibly. He must go, though sore against his will. Death will take no refusal, nor admit of any delay ; though the man has not lived half his days, according to his own computation. If he will no. bow, it will break him. If he will not come forth, it will pull the house down about his ears ; for there he must not stay. Although the physician help, friends groan, the wife and child- ren cry, and the man himself use his utmost efforts to retain the spirit, his soul is required of him; yield he must, and go where he shall never more see light. SECONDLY, Let us consider, whence they are driven, and whither. When the wicked die, 1. They are driven out of this world, where they sinned, into the other world, where they must be judged, and receive their particular sentences, Heb. ix. 27, " It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." They shall no more return to their beloved earth. Though their hearts are wedded to their earthly enjoyments, they must leave them, they can carry nothing hence. How sorrowful must their departure be, when they can have nothing in view, so good as that which they leave behind them ! 2. They are driven out of the society of the saints on earth, into the society of the damned in hell, Luke xvi. 22, 23, " The rich man also died, and was buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes." What a multitude of the devil's goats do now take place among Christ's sheep ! but at death they shall be led forth with the workers of iniquity, Psa cxxv. 5. There is a mixed multitude in this world, but no mixture in the other ; each party is there set by themselves. Though hypocrites grow here as tares among the wheat, death will root them up, and they shall be bound in bundles for the fire. 3. They are driven out of time into eternity. While time lasts with them, there is hope ; but when time goes, all hope goes with it. Precious time is now lavishly spent : it lies so heavy on the hands of many, that they think themselves obliged to take several ways to drive away time. But beware of being at a loss what to do in life: improve time for eternity, whilst you have it ; for ere long death will drive it from you, and you from it, so as you shall never meet again. 4. They are driven out of their specious pretences to piety. Death strips them of the splendid robes of a fair profession, with which some of them are adorned ; and turns them off the stage, in the rags of a wicked hearf and life. The word " hypocrite " properly signifies a stage player, who appears to be what indeed he is not. This world is the stage on which these children of the devil personate the children of God. Their show of religion is the player's coat, under which one must look, who will judge of them aright. Death turns HOPELESS STATE OP THE WICKED IN DEATH. 239 them out of their coat, and they appear in their native dress: it unveils them, and takes off their mask. There are none in the other world, who pretend to be better than they really are. De- praved nature acts in the regions of horror, undisguised. Lastly, They are driven away from all means of grace ; and are set beyond the line, quite out of all prospect of mercy. There is no more an opportunity to buy oil for the lamp ; it is gone out at death, and can never be lighted again. There may be offers of mercy and peace made after they are gone ; but they are to others, not to them : there are no such offers in the place to which they are driven ; these offers are only made in that place from which they are driven away. LASTLY, In what respects may they be said to be driven away in their wickedness? Answer. 1. In respect to their being driven away, in their sinful* unconverted state. Having lived enemies to God, they die in a state of enmity to him : for none are brought into the eternal state of consummate happiness, but by the way of the state of grace in this life. The child that is dead in the womb, is born dead, and is cast out of the womb into the grave : so he who is dead while he lives, or is spirit- ually dead, is cast forth of the womb of time, in the same state of death, into the pit of utter misery. O miserable death, to die in the gall of bitterness, and bond of iniquity ! it had been incomparably better for such as die thus, that they had never been born. 2. In regard that they die sinning, acting wickedly against God, in contradiction to the Divine law : for they can do nothing but sin while they live : so death takes them in the very act of sinning; violently draws them from the embraces of their lusts, and drives them away to the tribunal, to receive their sen- tence. It is a remarkable expression, Job xxxvi. 14, " They die in youth ;" the marginal reading is, " their soul dieth in youth ;" their lusts being lively, their desires vigorous, and expectations big, as is common in youth. " And their life is among the unclean ; or, " And the company " or herd " of them " dieth " among the Sodomites," viz. is taken away in tho heat of their sin and wickedness, as the Sodomites were, Gen. xix ; Luke vii. 28, 29. 3. As they are driven away, loaded with the guilt of all their sins ; this is the winding sheet that shall lie down with them in the dust, Job xx. 11. Their works follow them into the other world ; they go away with the yoke of their transgressions wreathed about their necks. Guilt is a bad companion in life, but how terrible will it be in death ! It lies now, perhaps, like cold brimstone on their benumbed consciences : but when death opens the way for sparks of Divine vengeance, like fire, to fall upon it, it will make dreadful flames in the conscience, in which the soul will be, as it were, wrapt up for ever. Lastly, the wicked are driven away in their wickedness, in so far as they die under the absolute power of 240 HOPELESS STATE OF THE WICKED IN DEATH. their wickedness. While there is hope, there is some restrain-' on the worst of men ; those moral endowments, which God gives to a number of men, for the benefit of mankind in this life, are so many restraints upon the impetuous wickedness of human nature. But all hope being cut off, and these gifts with- drawn, the wickedness of the wicked will then arrive at its per- fection. As the seeds of grace, sown in the hearts of the elect come to their full maturity, at death ; so wicked and hellish dis- positions in the reprobate, come then to their highest pitch. Their prayers to God will then be turned to horrible curses, and their praises to hideous blasphemies, Matt. xxii. 13, "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." This gives a dismal, but genuine view, of the state of the wicked in another world. II. I shall discover the hopelessness of the state of unrenewed men at death. It appears to be very hopeless, if we consider these four things : First, Death cuts off their hopes and prospects of peace and pleasure in this life, Luke xii. 19, 20, " Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years : take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee : then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?" They look for great matters in this world, they hope to increase their wealth, to see their fami- lies prosper, and to live at ease ; but death comes like a stormy wind, and shakes off all their fond hopes, like green fruit from off a tree. " When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him," Job xx. 23. He may begin a web of contrivances, for advancing his worldly interest ; but be- fore he gets it wrought out, death comes and cuts it off. His breath goes forth, he returns to his earth ; in that very day his thoughts perish, Psal. cxlvi. 4. Secondly, When death comes, they have no solid ground to hope for eternal happiness. " For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God takes away his soul ?" Job xxvii. 8. Whatever hopes they fondly entertain, they are not founded on God's word, which is the only sure ground of hope ; if they knew their own case, they would see themselves only happy in a dream. And indeed what hope can they havel The law is plain against them, and condemns them. The curse of it, those cords of death, are about them already. The Saviour whom they slighted, is now their Judge, and their Judge is Iheir enemy. How then can they hope ? They have bolted the door of mercy against themselves, by their unbelief. They have despised the remedy, and therefore must die without mercy. They have no saving interest in Jesus Christ, the only channel of conveyance, through which mercy flows ; and therefore they can never taste it. The sword of justice guards the door of mercy, so as none can enter in, HOPELESS STATE OF THE WICKED IN DEATH. 241 but the member? of the mystical body of Christ, over whose head is a covert of atoning blood, the Mediator's blood. These indeed may pass without harm, for justice has nothing to re- quire of them. But others cannot pass, since they are not in Christ : death comes to them with the sting in it, the sting of unpardoned guilt. It is armed against them, with all the force which the sanction of a holy law can give it, 1 Cor. xv. 56, " The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law." When that law was given on Sinai, " the whole mount quaked great- ly," Exod. xix. 18. When the Redeemer was making satisfac- tion for the elect's breaking it, " the earth did quake, and the rocks rent," Matt, xxvii. 51. What possible ground of hope then, is there to the wicked man, when death comes upon him armed with the force of this law 1 How can he escape that fire, which "burnt unto the midst of heaven ?" Deut. iv. 11. How shall he be able to stand in that smoke, that " ascended as the smoke of a furnace ?" Exod. xix. 18. How will he en- dure the terrible " thunders and lightnings," ver. 16, and dwell in "the darkness, clouds, and thick darkness?" Deut. iv. 11. All these resemblances heaped together do but faintly represent the fearful tempest of wrath and indignation, which shall pursue the wicked to the lowest hell ; and for ever abide on them, who are driven to darkness at death. Thirdly, Death roots up their delusive hopes of eternal hap- piness ; then it is that their covenant with death, and agreement with hell, is broken. They are awakened out of their golden dreams, and at length lift up their eyes; Job viii. 14, " Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web." They trust that all shall be well with them after death : but their trust is as a web woven out of their own bowels, with a great deal of art and industry. They wrap themselves up in their hope, as the spider wraps herself in her web. But it is a weak and slender defence ; for however it may withstand the threatenings of the word of God, death, that besom of destruc- tion, will sweep them and it both away, so as there shall not be the least shred of it left ; and he, who this moment will not let his hope go, shall next moment be utterly hopeless. Death over- turns the house built on the sand ; it leaves no man- under the power of delusion. Lastly, Death makes their state absolutely, and for ever hopeless. Matters cannot be retrieved and amended after death. For, 1. Time once gone can never be recalled. If cries or tears, price or pains, could bring time back again, the wicked man might have hope in his death. But tears of blood will not prevail ; nor will his roaring for millions of ages, cause it to return. The sun will not stand still for the sluggard to awake and enter on his journey ; and when once it is gone down, he needs not expect the night to be turned into day for his sake : 21 242 HOPELESS STATE OP THE WICKED IN DEATH. he must lodge the long night of eternity, where his time left him. 2. There is no returning to this life, to amend what is amiss , it is a state of probation and trial, which terminates &. death ; therefore we cannot return to it again ; it is but once we thus live, and once we die. Death carries the wicked man to " his own place," Acts i. 25. This life is our working day. Death closes our day and our work together. We may readily admit the wicked might have some hope in their death, if, after death has opened their eyes, they could return to life, and have but the trial of one Sabbath, one offer of Christ, one day, or but one hour more, to make up their peace with God : but " man lieth down, and riseth not till the heavens be no more ; they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep," Job xiv. 12. Lastly, In the other world, men have no access to get their ruined state and condition retrieved, though they be ever so desirous of it. " For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest," Eccl. ix. 10. Now a man may flee from the wrath to come; he may get into a refuge. But when once death has done its work, the " door is shut ;" there are no more offers of mercy no more pardons; where the tree is fallen, there it must lie. Let what has been said be carefully pondered, and that it may be of use, let me exhort you, First, To take heed that you entertain no hopes of heaven, but what are built on a solid foundation : tremble to think what fair hopes of happiness death sweeps away, like cobwebs ; how the hopes of many are cut off", when they seem to them- selves to be at the very threshold of heaven ; how, in the mo- ment they expected to be carried by angels into Abraham's bosom, into the regions of bliss and peace, they are carried by devils into the society of the damned in hell, into the place of torment, and regions of horror. I beseech you to beware, 1. Of a hope built upon ground that was never cleared. The wise builder digged deep, Luke vi. 48. Were your hopes of heaven never shaken; but have you had good hopes all your days? Alas for it ! you may see the mystery of your case explained, Luke xi. 21, " When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods 'are in peace." But if they have been shaken, take heed lest some breaches only have been made in the old building, which you have got repaired again, by ways and means of your own. I assure you, that your hope, however fair a building it is, is not to trust to, unless your old hopes have been razed, and you have built on a foundation quite new. 2. Beware of that hope, which looks brisk in the dark, but loses all its lustre, when it is set in the light of God's word, when it is examined and tried by the touchstone of Divine revelation, John iii. 20, 21, " For every one that doth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doth CAUTIONS AGAINST FALSE HOPES OF HEAVEN. 243 the truth, cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." That hope, which cannot abide Scripture trial, but sinks, when searched into by sacred truth, is a delusion, and not a true hope : for God's word is always a friend to the graces of God's Spirit, and an enemy to delusion. 3. Beware of that hope, which stands without being supported by Scripture evidences. Alas! many are big with hopes, who cannot give, because they really have not, any Scripture grounds for them. Thou hopest that all will be well with thee after death : but what word of God is it, on which thou hast been caused to hope? Psal. cxix. 49. What Scripture evidence hast thou to prove that thy hope is not the hope of the hypocrite? What hast thou, after impartial self-examina- tion, as in the sight of God, found in thyself, which the word of God determines to be a sure evidence of his right to eternal life, who is possessed of it ? Numbers are ruined with such hopes as stand unsupported by Scripture evidence. Men are fond and tenacious of these hopes ; but death will throw them down, and leave the self-deceiver hopeless. Lastly, Beware of that hope of heaven, which does not prepare and dispose you for heaven, which never makes your soul more holy, 1 John iii. 3, " Every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure." The hope of the most part of men, is rather a hope to be free of pain and torment in another life, than a hope of true happiness, the nature whereof is not understood and discerned ; therefore it rests in sloth and indolence, and does not excite to mortification and a heavenly life. So far are they from hoping aright for heaven, that they must own, if they speak their genuine sentiments, removing out of this world into any other place whatever, is rather their fear than their hope. The glory of the heavenly city does not at all draw their hearts upwards to it, nor do they lift up their heads with joy, in the prospect of arriving at it. If they had the true hope of the marriage day, they would, as the bride, the " Lamb's wife," be " making themselves ready for it." Rev. xix. 7. But their hopes are produced by their sloth, and their sloth is nourished by their hopes. Oh, as you would not be driven away hopeless in your death, beware of these hopes ! Raze them now, and build on a new foundation, lest death leave not one stone of them upon another, and you never be able to hope any more. Secondly, Hasten, O sinners, out of your wickedness, out of your sinful state, and out of your wicked life, if you would not at death be driven away in your wickedness. RememDer the fatal end of the wicked man, as the text represents it. I know there is a great difference in the death of the wicked in respect of some circumstances ; but all of them, in their death, agree in *his, that they are driven away in their wickedness. Some ol 244 EXHORTATION TO SINNER3 them die resolutely, as if they scorned to be afraid ; some in raging despair, so filled with horror, that they cry out as if they were already in hell; others in sullen despondency, oppressed with fears, so that their hearts sick within them, on the remem- brance of misspent time, and the view which they have of eternity, having neither head nor heart to do anything for their own relief. And others die stupid ; they lived like beasts, and they die like beasts, without any concern on their spirits about their eternal state. They gronn under their bodily distress, but have no sense of the danger of their souls. One may, with almost as much prospect of success, speak to a stone, as speak to them : vain is the attempt to teach them ; nothing that can be said moves them. To discourse to them, either of the joys of heaven or the torments of hell, is to plough on a rock, or beat the air. Some die like the foolish virgins, dreaming of heaven ; their foreheads are steeled against the fears of hell, with pre- sumptuous hopes of heaven. Their business, who would be useful to them, is not to answer doubts about the case of their souls, but to dispute them out of their false hopes. But which way soever the unconverted man dies, he is " driven away in his wickedness." O dreadful case ! Oh, let the consideration of so horrid a departure out of this world, move you to flee to Jesus Christ, as an all-sufficient Saviour, an almighty Redeemer. Let it prevail to drive you out of your wickedness, to holiness of heart and life. Though you reckon it pleasant to live in wick- edness, yet you cannot but own, it is bitter to die in it. And if you leave it not in time, you must go in your wickedness to hell, the proper place of it, that it may be set there on its own base. For when you are passing out of this world, all your sins, from the eldest to the youngest of them, will swarm about you, hang upon you, accompany you to the other world ; and as so many furies, surround you there for ever. lastly, O be concerned for others, especially for your rela- tions, that they may not continue in their sinful natural state, but be brought into a state of salvation ; lest they be driven away in their wickedness at death. What would you not do to pre- vent any of your friends dying an untimely and violent death ? But, alas ! do you not see them in hazard of being driven away in their wickedness ? Is not death approaching them, even the youngest of them? And are they not strangers to true Christ- ianity, remaining in that state, in which they came into the world ? Oh ! make haste to pluck the brand out of the fire, before it be burned to ashes. The death of relations often leaves a sting in the hearts of those they leave behind them, because they did not do for their souls as they had opportunity ; and because the opportunity is forever taken out of their hands. Doctrine II. The state of the godly in death, is a hopeful state. We have seen the dark side of the cloud looking towards TO FORSAKE THEIR WICKEDNESS. 245 ungodly men, passing out of the world ; let us now take a view of the bright side of it, shining on the godly, as they enter on their eternal state. In discoursing on this subject, I shall con- firm this doctrine, answer an objection against it, and then make some practical improvement of the whole. For confirmation, let it be observed, that although the passage out of this world by death, has a frightful aspect to poor mor- tals, and to miscarry in it must needs be of fatal consequence ; yet the following circumstances make the state of the godly in their death, happy and hopeful. First, They have a trusty good Friend before them in the other world. Jesus Christ, their best Friend, is Lord of that land to which death carries them. When Joseph sent for his father to come down to him to Egypt, telling him, " God had made him Lord over all Egypt," Gen. xlv. 9 ; and " Jacob saw the wagons Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob revived," ver. 27. He resolves to undertake the journey. I think, when the Lord calls a godly man out of this world, he sends him such glad tidings, and such a kind invitation into the other world, that if he has faith to believe it, his spirit must revive, when he sees the wagon of death, which comes to carry him thither. It is true, indeed, he has a weighty trial to undergo " after death, the judgment." But the case of the godly is altogether hopeful ; for the Lord of the land is their husband, and their husband is the judge ; " the Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son," John v. 22. Surely the case of the wife is hopeful, when her own husband is her judge, even such a husband as hates putting away. No husband is so loving and so tender of his spouse, as the Lord Christ is of his. One would think it would be a very bad land, which a wife would not willingly go to, where her husband is her ruler and judge. Moreover, their judge is the advocate, 1 John li. 1, " We have an" advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the i ghteous." There- fore they need not fear their being put back, and falling into con- demnation. What can be more favourable ? Can they think, that he who pleads their cause, will himself pass sentence against them? Yet further, their advocate is their Redeemer; they are '' redeemed with the precious blood of Christ," 1 Pet. i. 18. 19. So when he pleads for them, he is pleading his own cause. Though an advocate may be careless of the interest of one who employs him, yet surely he will do his utmost to defend his own right, which he purchased with his money : and shall not their advocate defend the purchase of his own blood ? But more than all that, their Redeemer is their head, and they are his members, Eph, v. 23" 30. Though one were so silly as to let his own purchase go, without standing up to defend his right, yet surely he will not quit a limb of his own body. Is not their case then hopeful in death, who are so closely linked and 21* 246 HOPEFUL STATE OF THE GODLY IN DEATH. allied to the Lord of the other world, who has " the keys of hel! and of death ?" Secondly, They shall have a safe passage to another world They must indeed go through " the valley of the shadow of death ;" but though it be in itself a dark and shady vale, it shall be a valley of hope to them : they shall not be driven, but walk through it, as men in perfect safety, who fear no evil, Psal. xxiii. 4. Why should they fear ? They have the Lord of the land's safe conduct, his pass sealed with his own blood ; namely, the blessed covenant, which is the saint's death-bed comfort. 2 Sam. xxiii. 5, " Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure : for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow." Who then can harm them ? It is safe riding in Christ's chariot, Cant. iii. 9, both through life and death. They have good and honourable attendants, a guard. even a guard of angels. These encamp about them in the time of their life ; and surely will not leave them in the day of their death. These happy ministering spirits are attendants on their Lord's bride, and will doubtless convey her safe home to his house. When friends in mournful mood stand by the saint's bed-side, waiting to see him draw his last breath, his soul is waited for of holy angels, to be carried by them into Abraham's bosom, Luke xvi. 22. The captain of the saints' salvation is the captain of this holy guard : he was their guide even unto death, and he will be their guide through it too, Psa. xxiii. 4, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil ; for thou art with me." They may, without fear, pass that river, being confident it shall not overflow them ; and they may walk through that fire, being sure they shall not be burnt by it. Death can do them no harm. It cannot even hurt their bodies : for though it separate the soul from the body, it cannot separate the body from the Lord Jesus Christ. Even death is to them but sleep in Jesus, 1 Thess. iv. 14. They continue members of Christ, though in a grave. Their dust is precious dust: laid up in the grave, as in the Lord's cabinet. They lie in a grave mellowing, as precious fruit laid up to be brought forth to him, at the resurrection. The husbandman has corn in his barn, and corn lying in the ground : the latter is more precious to him, than the former, because he looks to get it re- turned with increase. Even so the dead bodies of the saints are valued by their Saviour : they are " sown in corruption," to be " raised in incorruption ; sown in dishonour," to be " raised in glory," 1 Cor. xv. 42, 43. It cannot hurt their souls. It is with the souls of the saints at death, as with Paul and his com- pany in their voyage, whereof we have the history, Acts chap, xxvii. The ship was broken to pieces, but the passengers got HOPEFUL STATE OF THE GODLY IN DEATH. 247 all safe to land. When the dying saint's speech is stopped, his eyes set, and his last breath drawn ; the soul gets safe away into the heavenly paradise, leaving the body to return to its earth, out in the joyful hope of a re-union at its glorious resurrection. But how can death hurt the godly ? it is a foiled enemy : if it cast them down, it is only that they may rise more glorious. " Our Saviour Jesus Christ hath abolished death," 2 Tim. i. 10. The soul and life of it is gone : it is but a walking shade that may fright, but cannot hurt saints : it is only the shadow of death to them : it is not the thing itself; their dying is but as dying, or somewhat like dying. The apostle tells us, " It is Christ that died," Rom. viii. 34. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, though stoned to death, yet only fell asleep, Acts vii. 60. Certainly, the nature of death is quite changed, with respect to the saints. It is not to them, what it was to Jesus Christ their head : it is not the envenomed ruinating thing, wrapt up in the sanction of the first covenant, Gen. ii. 17, "In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." It comes to the godly without a sting : they may meet it with that salutation, " O death, where is thy sting?" IsthisMzra? Is this bitter death? It went out full into the world, when the first Adam opened the door to it, but the second Adam hath brought it again empty to his own peo- ple. I feel a sting, may the dying saint say ; yet it is but a bee sting, stinging only through the skin : but, O death where is thy sting, thine old sting, the serpent's sting, that stings to the heart and soul ? The sting of death is sin : but that is taken away. If death arrest the saint, and carry him before the Judge, to answer for the debt he contracted, the debt will be found paid by the glorious Surety ; and he has the discharge to show. The thorn of guilt is pulled out of the man's conscience ; and his name is blotted out of the black roll, and written among the living in Jerusalem. It is true, it is a great journey through the valley of the shadow of death : but the saint's burden is taken away from his back, his iniquity is pardoned, he may walk at ease ; " no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast :" the redeemed may walk at leisure there, free from all apprehensions of danger. Lastly, They shall have a joyful entrance into the other world. Their arrival in the regions of bliss, will be celebrated with rapturous hymns of praise to their glorious Redeemer. A dying day is a good day to a godly man. Yea, it is his best day ; it is better to him than his birth day, or than the most joyous day which he ever had on earth. " A good name," says the wise man, is " better than precious ointment : and the day of death than the day of one's birth," Eccl. vii. 1. The notion of the immortality of the soul, and of future happiness, which obtained among some pagan nations, had wonderful effects on them. Some of them, when they mourned for 248 HOPEFUL STATE OP THE GODLY IN DEATH. the dead, did it in women's apparel ; that, being moved with the indecency of the garb, they might the sooner lay aside their mourning. Others buried them without any lamentation or mourning ; but had a sacrifice, and a feast for friends, upon that occasion. Some were wont to mourn at births, and rejoice at burials. But the practice of some Indian nations is yet more strange, of whom it is reported, that upon the husband's decease his several wives contend before the judges, which of them was the best beloved wife : and she, in whose favour it was deter- mined, with a cheerful countenance, threw herself into the flames prepared for her husband's corpse, was burned with it, and reckoned happy ; while the rest lived in grief, and were accounted miserable. But however lame notions of a future state, assisted by pride, affectation of applause, apprehensions of difficulties in this life, and such like principles proper to de- praved human nature, may influence rude uncultivated minds, when strengthened by the arts of hell ; O what solid joy and consolation may they have, who are true Christians, being in Christ, who " hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel !" 2 Tim. i. 10. Death is one of those " all things," that " work together for good, to them that love God," Rom. viii. 28. When the body dies, the soul is perfected : the body of death goes off, at the death of the body. What harm did the jailer do to Pharaoh's butler, when he opened the prison door to him, and let him out? Is the bird in worse case, when at liberty, than when confined in a cage? Thus, and no worse, are the souls of the saints treated by death. It comes to the godly man, as Haman came to Mordecai, with the royal apparel and the horse, Esther iv. 11, with commission to do them honour, however awkwardly it be performed. I question not but Haman performed the ceremony with a very ill mein, a pale face, a down look, and a cloudy countenance, and like one who came to hang him, rather than to honour him. But he, whom the king delighted to honour, must be honoured ; and Haman, Mordecai's grand enemy, must be the man employed to put this honour upon him. Glory, glory, glory, blessing and praise to our Redeemer, our Saviour, our Mediator, by whose death, grim devouring death is made to do such a good office to those whom it might otherwise have hurried away in their wickedness, to utter and eternal destruction ! A dying day is, in ilself, a joyful day to the godly ; it is their redemption day ; when the captives are delivered, when the prisoners are set free. It is the. day of the pilgrims coming home from their pilgrimage ; tho day in which the heirs of glory return from their travels, to their own country, and their Father's house ; and enter into actual possession of the glorious inheritance. It is their mar- riage day : now is the time of espousals ; but then the marriage is consummated, and a marriage feast begun, which has no AN OBJECTION ANSWERED. 249 period. If so, is not the state of the godly in death, a hopeful state 1 Objection, " But if the state of the godly in their death be so hopeful, how comes it to pass that many of them when dying, are full of fears, and have little hope?" Answer, It must be owned, that saints do not all die in one and the same manner ; there is a diversity among them, as well as among the wicked yet the worst case of a dying saint is indeed a hopeful one Some die triumphantly, in a full assurance of faith. 2 Tim. iv. 6, 7, 8, "The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." They get a taste of the joys of heaven, while here on earth ; and begin the songs of Zion, while yet in a strange land. Others die in a solid fiducial dependence on their Lord and Saviour : though they cannot sing triumphantly, yet they can and will say confidently, " The Lord is their God." Though they cannot triumph over death, with old Simeon, having Christ in his arms, and saying, " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word : for mine eyes have seen thy salvation," Luke ii. 29, 30 ; yet they can say with dying Jacob, " I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord," Gen. xlix. 18. His left hand is under their head, to support them ; though his right hand does not embrace them : they firmly believe, though they are not filled with joy in believing. They can plead the covenant, and hang by the promise, although their house is not so with God, as they could wish. But the dying day of some saints may be like that day mentioned in Zech. xiv. 7, " Not day, nor night." They may die under great doubts and fears ; setting as it were in a cloud, and going to heaven in a mist. They may go mourning without the sun, and never put off* their spirit of heaviness, till death strip them of it. They may be carried to heaven through the confines of hell ; and may be pursued by the devouring lion, even to the very gates of the New Jerusalem ; and may be compared to a ship almost wrecked in sight of the harbour, which yet gets safe into her port, 1 Cor. iii. 15, " If any man's work shall be burnt, he shall suffer loss : but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire." There is safety amidst their fears, but danger in the wicked's strongest confidence ; and there is a blessed seed of gladness in their greatest sorrows. " Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart," Psa. xcvii. 11. Now, saints are liable to such perplexity in their death, be- cause, though they be Christians indeed, yet they are men of like passions with others : and death is a frightful object in itself whatever dress it appears in : the stern countenance with which it looks at mortals, can hardly miss of causing them to shrink. 250 A.N OBJECTION ANSWERED. Moreover, the saints are of all men the most jealous of them- selves. They think of eternity, and a tribunal, more deeply than others do ; with them it is a more serious thing to die, than the rest of mankind are aware of. They know the deceits of the heart, the subtilties of depraved human nature, better than others do. Therefore they may have much to do to keep up hope on a death-bed ; while others pass off quietly, like sheep to the slaughter ! and the rather that Satan, who uses all his art to support the hopes of the hypocrite, will do his utmost to mar the peace, and increase the fears of the saint. And finally, the bad frame of spirit, and ill condition, in which death sometimes seizes a true Christian, may cause this perplexity. By his being in the state of grace, he is indeed always habitually pre- pared for death, and his dying safely is ensured : but yet there is more necessary to his actual preparation and dying comfort- ably ; his spirit must be in good condition too. Wherefore there are three cases, in which death cannot but be very uncomfortable to a child of God. 1. If it seize him at a time when the guilt of some particular sin, unrepented of, is lying on his conscience ; and death comes on that very account, to take him out of the land of the living ; as was the case of many of the Corinthian believers, 1 Cor. xi. 30, "For this cause," namely, of unworthy communicating, " many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." If a person is sur- prised with the approach of death, while lying under the guilt of some unpardoned sin, it cannot but cause a mighty consterna- tion. 2. When death catches him napping. The midnight cry must be frightful to sleeping virgins. The man who lies in a ruinous house, and awakens not till the timbers begin to crack, and the stones to drop down about his ears, may indeed get out of it safely, but not without fears of being crushed by its fall. When a Christian has been going on in a course of security and backsliding, and awakens not till death comes to his bedside, it is no wonder that he gets a fearful awakening. Lastly, When he has lost sight of his saving interest in Christ, and cannot produce evidences of his title to heaven. It is hard to meet death without some evidences of a title to eternal life at hand : hard to go through the dark valley, without the candle of the Lord shining upon the head. It is a terrible adventure to launch out into eternity, when a man can make no better of it, than a leap in the dark, not knowing where he shall light, whether in heaven or hell. Nevertheless, the state of the saints, in their death, is always in itself hopeful. The presumptuous hopes of the ungodly, in their death, cannot make their state hopeful ; neither can the hopelessness of a saint make his state hopeless : for God judges according to the truth of the thing, not according to men's opin- ions about it. Therefore, the saints can no more be altogether CASES OF THE UNEASINESS OP SAINTS. 251 without hope, than they can be altogether without faith. Their faith may be very weak, but it fails not ; and their hope very low, yet they will, and do hope to the end. Even while the godly seem to be carried away with the stream of doubts ana tears, there remains still as much hope as determines them to lay hold of the tree of life that grows on the banks of the river, Jonah ii. 4, " Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight : yet I will look again toward thy temple." USE. This speaks comfort to the godly against the fear of death. A godly man may be called a happy man before his death ; because, whatever befall him in life, he shall certainly be happy at death. You who are in Christ, who are true Christians, have hope in your end ; and such a hope as may comfort you against all those fears which arise from the con- sideration of a dying hour. This I shall branch out, in answer- ing some cases briefly : CASE I. " The prospect of death," will some of the saints say, " is uneasy to me, not knowing what shall become of my family when I am gone." Answer. The righteous has hope in his death, as to his family, as well as himself. Although you have little, for the present, to live upon ; which has been the condition of many of God's chosen ones, 1 Cor. iv. 11, " We," namely, the apostles, " both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place :" and though you have nothing to leave them, as was the case of that son of the prophets, who feared the Lord, and yet died in debt, which he was unable to pay, as his poor widow represents, 2 Kings iv. 1, yet you have a good Friend to leave them to; a covenant God, to whom you may confidently commit them, Jer. xlix. 11, "Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive ; and let thy widows trust in me." The world can bear witness of signal settlements made upon the children of providence ; such as by their pious parents have been cast upon God's providential care. It has been often remarked, that they wanted neither provision nor education. Moses is an eminent instance of this. He, though he was an outcast infant, Exod. ii. 3, yet was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, Acts vii. 22, and became king in Jeshurun, Deut. xxxiii. 5. O ! may we not be ashamed, that we do not confidently trust him with the concerns of our families, to whom, as our Saviour and Redeem- er, we have committed our eternal interests? CASE II. " Death will take us away from our dear friends ; yea, we shall not see the Lord in the land of the living, in the blessed ordinances." Answer. It will take you to your best Friend, the Lord Christ. The friends you leave behind you, if they be indeed persons of worth, you will meet again, when they come to heaven : and you will never be separated any more. If death take you away from the temple below, it will carry yoo 252 CASES OF THE UNEASINESS OF SAINTS to the temple above. It will indeed take you from the streams but it will set you down by the fountain. If it put out your candle, it will carry you where there is no night, where there i? an eternal day. CASE III. " I have so much to do, in time of health, to satisfy myself as to my interest in Christ, about my being a real Chris- tian, a regenerate man ; that I judge it is almost impossible I should die comfortably." Answer. If it is thus with you, then double your diligence to make your calling and election sure. Endeavour to grow in knowledge, and walk closely with God : be diligent in self-examination ; and pray earnestly for the Holy Spirit, whereby you may know the things freely given you of God. If you are enabled, by the power and Spirit of Christ thus diligently to prosecute your spiritual concerns, though the time of your life be neither day nor night, yet at evening time it ma.y be light. Many weak Christians indulge doubts and fears about their spiritual state, as if they placed at least some part of religion in this imprudent practice : but towards the period of life, they think and act in another manner. The traveller, who reckons that he has time to spare, may stand still debating with himself, whether this or the other be the right way ; but when the sun begins to set, he is forced to lay aside his scruples, and resolutely to go forward in the road which he judges to be the right one, lest he lie all night in the open fields. Thus some Christians, who perplex themselves much, throughout the course of their lives, with jealous doubts and fears, content themselves when they come to die, with such evidences of the safety of their state, as they could not be satisfied with before ; and, by disput- ing less against themselves, and believing more, court the peace they formerly rejected, and gain it too. CASE IV. " I am under a sad decay, in respect of my spiri- tual condition." Answer. Bodily consumptions may make death easy : but it is not so in spiritual decays. I will not say, that a godly man cannot be easy in such a case, when he dies, but I believe it is rarely so. Ordinarily, I suppose, a cry comes to awaken sleeping virgins, before death comes. Sam- son is set to grind in the prison, till his locks grow again. David and Solomon fell under great spiritual decays ; but before they died they recovered their spiritual strength and vigour. However, bestir yourselves without delay, to strengthen the things that remain : your fright will be the less, for being awakened from spiritual sleep before death comes to your bed side : and you ought to lose no time, seeing you know not how soon death may seize you. CASE V. " It is terrible to think of the other world, that world of spirits, which I have so little acquaintance with." Answer. Thy best friend is Lord of that other world. Abra- nam's bosom is kindly even to those who never saw his face. IN VIEW OF DEATH, ANSWERED. 253 After death, thy soul becomes capable of converse with the blessed inhabitants of that other world. The spirits of just men made perfect, were once such as thy spirit now is. And as for the angels, however superior their nature in the rank of beings, yet our nature is dignified above theirs, in the man Christ, and they are all of them, thy Lord's servants, and so thy fellow-servants. CASE VI. " The pangs of death are terrible." Answer. Yet not so terrible as pangs of conscience, caused by a pierc- ing sense of guilt, and apprehensions of Divine wrath, with which I suppose thee to be not altogether unacquainted. But who would not endure bodily sickness, that the soul may become sound, and every whit whole 1 Each pang of death will set sin a step nearer the door ; and with the last breath, the body of sin will breathe out its last. The pains of death will not last long ; and the Lord thy God will not leave, but support thee under them. CASE VII. " But I am like to be cut off in the midst of my days." Answer. Do not complain, you will be the sooner at home : you thereby have the advantage of your fellow labour- ers, who were at work before you, in the vineyard. God, in the course of his providence, hides some of his saints early in the grave, that they may be taken away from the evil to come. An early removal out of this world, prevents much sin and misery. They have no ground of complaint, who get the resi- due of their years in Immanuel's land. Surely thou shall live as long as thou hast work cut out for thee by the great Master, to be done for him in this world : and when that is at an end, it is high time to be gone. CASE VIII. " I am afraid of sudden death." Answer. Thou mayest indeed die so. Good Eli died suddenly, 1 Sam. iv. 19. Yet death found him watching, ver. 13, " Watch, therefore, for ye know not what hour the Lord doth come," Matt. xxiv. 42. But be not afraid, it is an inexpressible comfort, that death, come when it will, can never catch thee out of Christ ; and therefore can never seize thee, as a jailer, to hurry thee into the prison of hell. Sudden death may hasten and facilitate thy passage to heaven, but can do thee no prejudice. CASE IX. " I am afraid it will be my lot to die wanting the exercise of reason." Answer. I make no question but a child of God, a true Christian, may die in this case. But what harm 1 There is no hazard in it, as to his eternal state : a dis- ease at death, may divest him of his reason, but not of his reli- gion. When a man, going a long voyage, has put his affairs in order, and put all his goods aboard ; he himself may be carried on board the ship sleeping : all is safe with him, although he knows not where he is, till he awakes in the ship. Even so the 22 254 CONSIDERATIONS TO RECONCILE SAINTS TO DEATH. godly man, who dies in this case, may die uncomfortably, bat not unsafely. CASE X. " I am naturally timorous, and the very thoughts of death are terrible to me." Ansiver. The less you think on death, the thoughts of it will be the more frightful : make it familiar to you by frequent meditations upon it, and you may thereby quiet your fears. Look at the white and bright side of the cloud : take faith's view of the city that hath foundations ; so shall you see hope in your death. Be duly affected with the body of sin and death, the frequent interruptions of your com- munion with God, and with the glory which dwells on the other side of death : this will contribute much to remove slavish fear. It is a pity that saints should be so fond of life as they often are : they ought to be always on good terms with death. When matters are duly considered, it might be well expected that every child of God, every regenerate man should generously profess concerning his life, what Job did, chap. vii. 16, " I loathe it, I would not live always." In order to gain their hearts to this desirable temper, I offer the following additional considera- tions. First, Consider the sinfulness that attends life in this world. While you live here, you sin, and see others sinning. You breathe infectious air. You live in a pest-house. Is it at all strange to loathe such a life? 1. Your own plague-sores are running on you. Does not the sin of your nature make you groan daily 1 Are you not sensible, that though the cure be begun, it is yet far from being perfected ? Has not the leprosy got into the walls of the house, which cannot be removed with- out pulling it down ? Is not your nature so vitiated, that no less than the separation of the soul from the body can root out the disease ? Have you not your sores without, as well as your sick- ness within 1 Do you not leave marks of your pollution on whatever passes through your hands? Are not all your actions tainted and blemished with defects and imperfections ? Who, then, should be much in love with life, but such whose sickness is their health, artll who glory in their shame ? 2. The loath- some sores of others are always before your eyes, go where you will. The follies and wickedness of men are every where con- spicuous, and make but an unpleasant scene. The sinful world is but an unsightly company, a disagreeable crowd, in which the most loathsome are the most numerous. 3. Are not your own sores often breaking out again after healing? Frequent relapses may well cause us to remit of our fondness for this life. To be ever struggling, and anon falling into the mire again, makes weary work. Do you never wish for cold death, thereby effectually to cool the heat of these lusts, which often take fire again ; even aAer a flood of godly sorrow has gone over them ? CONSIDERATIONS TO RECONCILE SAINTS TO DEATH. 255 4. Do not you sometimes infect others, and others infect you ? There is no society in the world, in which every member of it does not sometimes lay a stumbling-block before the rest. The best carry about with them the tinder of a corrupt nature, which they cannot be rid of while they live, and which is liable to be kindled at all times, and in all places : yea, they are apt to in- flame others, and become the occasions of sinning. Certainly these things are apt to embitter this life to the saints. Secondly, Consider the misery and troubles that attend it. Rest is desirable, but it is not to be found on this side of the grave. Worldly troubles attend all men in this life. This world is a sea of trouble, where one wave rolls upon another. They, who fancy themselves beyond the reach of trouble, are mistaken : no state, no stage of life, is exempted from it. The crowned head is surrounded with thorny cares. Honour many times paves the way to deep disgrace : riches, for the most part, are kept to the hurt of the owners. The fairest rose wants not prickles ; and the heaviest cross is sometimes found wrapt up in the greatest earthly comfort. Spiritual troubles attend the saints in this life. They are like travellers journeying in a cloudy night, in which the moon sometimes breaks out from under one cloud, but quickly hides her head again under another : no wonder they long to be at their journey's end. The sudden alterations which the best frame of spirit is liable to, the perplexing doubts, confounding fears, short lived joys, and long running sorrows, which have a certain affinity with the present life, must needs create in the saints a desire to be with Christ, which is best of all. Lastly, Consider the great imperfections attending this life. While the soul is lodged in this cottage of clay, the necessities of the body are many ; it is always craving. The mud walls must be repaired and patched up daily, till the clay cottage fall down for good and all. Eating, drinking, sleeping, and the like, are, in themselves, but mean employments for a rational creature, and will be reputed such by the heaven-born soul. They are badges of imperfection, and, as such, unpleasant to the mind aspiring unto that life and immortality which is brought to light through the gospel ; and would be very grievous, if this state of things were of long continuance. Does not the gracious soul often find itself yoked with the body, as with a companion in travel, unable to keep pace with it? When the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. When the soul would mount upward, the body is a clog upon it, as a stone tied to the foot of a bird attempting to fly. The truth is, O believer, thy soul in this body is, at best, but like a diamond in a ring, where much of it is obscured ; it is far sunk in the vile clay till relieved by death. 1 conclude this subject with a few directions, how to prepare 256 DIRECTIONS HOW TO PREPARE FOR DEATH. for death, so that we may die comfortably. I speak not here of habitual preparation for death, which a true Christian, in virtue of his gracious state, never wants, from the time he is born again, and united to Christ; but of actual preparation, or readi- ness in respect of his particular case, frame, and disposition of mind and spirit ; the want of which makes even a saint very unfit to die. First, Let it be your constant care to keep a clean conscience, "a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward man," Acts xxiv. 16. Beware of a standing controversy between God and you, on the account of some iniquity regarded in the heart. When an honest man is about to leave his country, and not to return, he settles accounts with those he had dealings with, and lays down methods for timeously paying his debts, lest he be reckoned a bankrupt, and attacked by an officer when he is going off. Guilt lying on the conscience, is a fountain of fears, and will readily sting severely, when death stares the criminal in the face. Hence it is, that many, even of God's children, when dying, wish passionately, and desire eagerly, that they may live to do what they ought to have done before that time. Wherefore, walk closely with God ; be diligent, strict, and exact in your course : beware of loose, careless, and irregular conversation ; as you would not lay up for yourselves, anguish and bitterness of spirit, in a dying hour. And because, through the infirmity cleaving to us, in our present state of imperfection, in many things we offend all, renew your repentance daily, and be ever washing in the Redeemer's blood. As long as you are in the world, you will need to wash your feet, John xiii. 10, that is, to make application of the blood of Christ anew, for purging your consciences from the guilt of daily miscarriages. Let death find you at the fountain ; and, if so, it will find you ready to answer its call. Secondly, Be always watchful, waiting for your change, " Like unto men that wait for their lord that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately," Luke xii. 36. Beware of " slumbering, and sleeping while the Bridegroom tarries." To be awakened out of spiritual slumber, by a sur- prising call to pass into another world, is a very frightful thing ; but he who is daily waiting for the coming of his Lord, shall comfortably receive the grim messenger, while he beholds him ushering in Him of whom he may confidently say, " This is my God, and I have waited for him." The way to die com- fortably, is to die daily. Be often essaying, as it were, to die. Bring yourselves familiarly acquainted with death, by making many visits to the grave, in serious meditations upon it. This was Job's practice, chap. xvii. 13, 14, "I have made my lied in the darkness." Go thou, and do likewise ; and when death comes, thou shalt have nothing to do but to lie down. " I have DIRECTIONS HOW TO PREPARE FOR DEATH. 257 said to corruption, Thou art my father : to the worm, thou ar* my mother and my sister." Do thou say so too ; and thou wilt be the fitter to go home to their house. Be frequently reflecting upon your conduct and considering what course of life you wish to be found in, when death arrests you ; and act accordingly. When you do the duties of your station in life, or are employed in acts of worship, think with yourselves, that, it may be, this is the last opportunity ; and therefore do it as if you were never to do more of that kind. When you lie down at night, compose your spirits as if you were not to awake till the heavens be no more. And when you awake in the morning, consider that new day as your last ; and live accordingly. Surely that night comes, of which you will never see the morning ; or that morning, of which you will never see the night. But which of your morn- ings or nights will be such, you know not. Thirdly, Employ yourselves much in weaning your hearts from the world. The man who is making ready to go abroad, busies himself in taking leave of his friends. Let the mantle of earthly enjoyments hang loose about you ; that it may be easily dropped, when death comes to carry you away into another world. Moderate your affections towards your lawful comforts of life : let not your hearts be too much taken with them. The traveller acts unwisely, who suffers himself to be so allured with the conveniences of the inn where he lodges, as to make his necessary departure from it grievous. Feed with fear, and walk through the world as pilgrims and strangers. Just as, when the corn is forsaking the ground, it is ready for the sickle ; when the fruit is ripe, it falls off the tree easily ; so, when a Christian's heart is truly weaned from the world, he is prepared for death, and it will be the more easy to him. A heart disengaged from the world is a heavenly one: we are ready for heaven when our heart is there before us, Matt. vi. 21. Fourthly, Be diligent in gathering and laying up evidences of your title to heaven, for your support and comfort at the hour of death. The neglect hereof mars the joy and consolation which some Christians might otherwise have at their death. Where- fore, examine yourselves frequently, as to your spiritual state ; that evidences, which lie hid and unobserved, may be brought to light and taken notice of. And if you would manage this work successfully, make solemn, serious work of it. Set apart some time for it. And, after earnest prayer to God, through Jesus Christ, for the enlightening influences of his Holy Spirit, whereby you may be enabled to understand his own word, and to discern his own work in your souls, examine yourselves before the tribunal of your consciences, that you may judge yourselves, in this weighty matter. And, in the first place, let the marks of a regenerate state be fixed from the Lord's word : have recourse to some particular 22* 258 DIRECTIONS HOW TO PREPARE FOR DEATH. text for that purpose ; such as Prov. viii. 17, " I love them that love me." Compare Luke xiv. 26, " If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." Psal. cxix. 6, " Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments." Psal. xviii. 23, " I was also upright before him : and I kept myself from mine iniquity." Compare Rom. vii. 22, 23, " For I delight in the law of God, after the inward man : but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind." 1 John iii. 3, " Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." Matt. v. 3, " Blessed are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Phil. iii. 3, " For we are the circumcision, which worship," or serve, " God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." The sum of the evidence arising from these texts lies here : a real Christian is one who loves God for himself as well as for his benefits ; and that with a supreme love, above all persons, and all things ; he has an awful and impartial regard to God's commands ; he opposes and wrestles against that sin, which of all others, most easily besets him ; he approves and loves the holy law, even in that very point wherein it strikes against his most beloved lust ; his hope of heaven engages him in the study of universal holiness ; in the which he aims at perfection, though he cannot reach it in this life ; he serves the Lord, not only in acts of worship, but in the whole of his conversation ; and as to both, is spiritual in the principle, motives, aims, and ends" of his service : yet he sees nothing in himself to trust to, before the Lord. Christ and his fulness is the stay of his soul ; his confi- dence is cut off from all that is not Christ, or in Christ, in point of justification or acceptance with God, and in point of sancti- fication too. Every one, in whom these characters are found, has a title to heaven, according to the word. It is convenient and profitable to mark such texts, for this special use, as they occur, while you read the Scriptures, or hear sermons. The marks of a regenerate state thus fixed, in the next place, im- partially search and try your own hearts thereby, as in the sight of God, with dependence on him for spiritual discernment, that you may know whether they be in you or not. When you find them, form the conclusion deliberately and distinctly ; namely, that therefore you are regenerated, and have a title to heaven. Thus you may gather evidences But be sure to have recourse to God in Christ, by earnest prayer, for the testimony of the Spirit, whose office it is to "bear witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God," Rom. viii. 16. Moreover, care- fully observe the course and method of providence towards you ; and likewise, how your soul is affected under the same, in the various steps thereof: compare both with Scripture doc- DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION ASSERTED. 259 tnnes, promises, threatenings, and examples : so shall you perceive if the Lord deals with you as he uses to do unto those that love his name, and if you be going forth by the footsteps of the flock. This may afford you comfortable evidence. Walk tenderly and circumspectly, and the Lord will manifest himself to you, according to his promise, John xiv. 21, " He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth me, shall be loved by my Father ; and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." But it is in vain to think of successful self-examination, if you be loose and irre- gular in your conversation. Lastly, Despatch the work of your day and generation with speed and diligence. " David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep," Acts xiii. 36. God has allotted us certain pieces of work of this kind, which ought to be despatched before the time of working be over, Eccles. ix. 10, " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might : for there is no work, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." Gal. vi. 10, "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." If a passenger, after he has got on ship board, and the ship is getting under sail, remember that he has omitted to despatch a piece of necessary business when he was ashore, it must needs be uneasy to him : even so, reflection in a dying hour, upon neglected seasons, and lost opportunities, cannot fail to disquiet a Christian. Wherefore, whatever is incumbent on thee to do for God's honour, and the good of others, either as the duty of thy station, or by special opportunity put into thy hand, perform it seasonably, if thou wouldst die comfortably. HEAD III. I OF THE RESURRECTION. Marvel not at this : for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. JOHN v. 28, 29. THESE words are part of the defence which our Lord Jesus Christ makes for himself, when persecuted by the Jews, for curing the impotent man, and ordering him to carry away his bed on the Sabbath ; and for vindicating his conduct, when accused by them of having thereby profaned that day. On this 260 . CERTAINTY OF THE RESURRECTION. occasion he professes himself not only Lord of the Sabbath, but also Lord of life and death ; declaring, in the words of the text, the resurrection of the dead to be brought to pass by his power. This he introduces with these words, as with a solemn preface. " Marvel not at this," viz. at this strange discourse of mine : do not wonder to hear me, whose appearance is so very mean in your eyes, talk at this rate ; for the day is coming, in which the dead shall be raised by my power. Observe in this text, 1. The doctrine of the resurrection asserted : " All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth." The dead bodies, which are reduced to dust, shall revive, and evidence life by hearing and moving. 2. The author of it, Jesus Christ, " the Son of man," ver. 27. The dead shall hear his voice, and be raised thereby. 3. The num- ber that shall be raised," " All that are in the graves," that is all the dead bodies of men, howsoever differently disposed of in different kinds of graves ; or all the dead, good and bad. They are not all buried in graves, properly so called : some are burnt to ashes ; some drowned, and buried in the bellies of fishes ; yea, some devoured by man-eaters, called cannibals : but, wherever the matter or substance of which the body was composed is to be found, thence they shall come forth. 4. The great distinction that shall be made between the godly and the wicked : they shall indeed both rise again in the resurrection. None of the godly shall be missing ; though, perhaps, they either had no burial, or a very obscure one : and all the wicked shall come forth ; their vaulted tombs shall hold them no longer than the voice is uttered. But the former shall have a joyful resurrection to life, whilst the latter have a dreadful resur- rection to damnation. Lastly, The set time of this great event : there is an hour, or certain fixed period of time, appointed of God for it. We are not told when that hour will be, but that it is coming; for this among other reasons, that we may always be ready. DOCTRINE. There shall be a resurrection of the dead. In dis- coursing of this subject, I shall I. Show the certainty of the resurrection. II. I shall inquire into the nature of it. And, lastly, make some practical improvement of the whole. I. In showing the certainty of the resurrection, I shall evince, 1. That God can raise the dead. 2. That he will do it ; which are the two grounds or topics laid down by Christ himself, when disputing with the Sadducees, Matt. xxii. 29, " Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God." First, Seeing God is almighty, surely he can raise the dead. We have instances of this powerful work of God, both in the Old and New Testament. The son of the widow in Sarepta was raised from the dead, 1 Kings xvii. 22 ; the Shunamite's son, 2 CERTAINTY OF THE RESURRECTION. 261 Kings iv. 35 ; and the man " cast into the sepulchre of Elisha," chap. xiii. 21. In which we may observe a gradation, the second of these miraculous events being more illustrious than the first, and the third than the second. The first of these per- sons was raised when he was but newly dead ; the prophet Elijah, who raised him, being present at his decease. The second, when he had lain dead a considerable time ; namely, while his mother travelled from Shunem to mount Carmel, reck- oned about the distance of sixteen miles, and returned from thence to her house, with Elisha, who raised him. The last, not till they were burying him, and the corpse was cast into the prophet's grave. In like manner, in the New Testament, Jairus's daughter, Mark v. 41, and Dorcas, Acts ix. 40, were both raised to life, when lately dead ; the widow's son in Nain, when they were carrying him out to bury him, Luke vii. 11, 15 ; and Lazarus, when thought to be putrefying in the grave, John xi. 39 44. Can men make curious glasses out of ashes, reduce flowers into ashes, and raise them again out of these ashes, restoring them to their former beauty ; and cannot the great Creator, who made all things of nothing, raise man's body, after it is reduced into dust ? If it be objected, " How can men's bodies be raised up again, after they are reduced to dust, and the ashes of many generations are mingled together ?" Scripture and reason furnish the answer ; " With men it is impossible, but not with God." It is absurd for men to deny that God can do a thing, because they see not how it may be done. How small a portion do we know of his ways ! How absolutely incapable are we of conceiving distinctly of the extent of almighty power, and much more of comprehending its actings, and method of procedure ! I question not, but many illiterate men are as great infidels to many che- mical experiments, as some learned men are to the doctrine of the resurrection : and as these last are ready to deride the former, so "the Lord will have them in derision." What a mystery was it to the Indians, that the Europeans could, by a piece of paper, converse together at the distance of some hundreds of miles ! How much were they astonished to see them, with their guns, produce as it were thunder and lightning in a moment, and at pleasure kill men afar off*! Shall some men do such things as are wonders in the eyes of others because they cannot com- prehend them, and shall men confine the infinite power of God within the narrow boundaries of their own shallow capacities, in a matter no ways contrary to reason ? An inferior nature has but a very imperfect conception of the power of a superior. Brutes do not conceive of the actings of reason in men ; and men have but lame notions of the power of angels : how low and inadequate a conception then, must a finite nature have of the power of that which is infinite ! Though we cannot conceive 262 CERTAINTY OF THE RESURRECTION. how God acts, yet we ought to believe he can do above what we can think or conceive. Wherefore let the bodies of men be laid in the grave; let them rot there, and be reduced into the most minute particles : or let them be burnt, and the ashes cast into rivers, or thrown up into the air, to be scattered by the wind : let the dust of a thousand generations be mingled, and the steams of the dead bodies wander to and fro in the air : let birds or wild beasts eat the dead bodies, or the fishes of the sea devour them, so that the parts of human bodies, thus destroyed, pass into substantial parts of birds, beasts, or fishes : or, what is more than that, let man-eaters, who themselves must die, and rise again, devour human bodies, and let others devour them again ; and then let our modern Sadducees propose the question in these cases, as the ancient Sadducees did in the case of the woman who had been married to seven husbands successively, Matt. xxii. 28, we answer, as our blessed Lord and Saviour did, ver. 29, " Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God." We believe God to be omniscient, and omnipotent ; infinite in know- ledge and in power ; and hence, agreeably to the dictates of reason, we conclude the possibility of the resurrection, even in the cases supposed. Material things may change their forms and shapes, may be reduced to the principles of which they are formed ; but they are not annihilated, or reduced to nothing ; nor can they be so, by any created power. God is omniscient, his understanding is infinite; therefore he knows all things; what they were at any time, what they are, and where they are to be found. Though the countryman, who comes into the apothecary's shop, cannot find out the drug he wants ; yet the apothecary himself knows what he has in his shop, whence it came, and where it is to be found. And, in a mixture of many different seeds, the expert gardener can distinguish between each of them. Why then may not Omniscience distinguish between dust and dust ? Can he, who knows all things to perfection, be liable to any mistake about his own creatures? Whoso believes an infinite under- standing, must needs own, that no mass of dust is so jumbled together, but God perfectly comprehends, and infallibly knows, how the most minute particle, and every one of them, is to be matched. Therefore he knows where the particles of each dead body are ; whether in the earth, sea, or air, how confused soever they are scattered. And particularly he knows where to find the primitive substance of the man-eater, howsoever evaporated or re- duced, as it were, into air or vapour, by sweat or perspiration : and how to separate the parts of the body, that was eaten, from the body of the eater, however incorporated or made one body with it: and so understands not only how, but whence, he is to bring back *he primitive substance of the man-eater to its proper place : and CERTAINTY OF THE RESURRECTION. 263 also to separate from the man-eater's body that part of the de- voured body which goes into its substance, and is indeed but a very small part of it. It is certain the bodies of men, as of all other animals or living creatures, are in a continual flux : they grow and are sustained by daily food ; so small a part whereof becomes nourishment, that the most part evaporates. And it is reckoned that, at least, as much of the food evaporates insensibly b\ perspiration, as is voided by other perceptible ways. Yea, the nourishing part of the food, when assimilated, and thereby become a cart of the body, evaporates by perspiration, through the pores of the skin, and is again supplied by the use of other food : yet the body is still reckoned one and the same body. Whence we may conclude, that it is not essential to the resur- rection of the body, that every particle of the matter, which at any time was part of a human body, should be restored to it, when it is raised up from death to life. Were it so, the bodies of men would become of so huge a size, that they would bear no resemblance to the persons. It is sufficient to denominate it the same body that died, when it is risen again, if the body that is raised be formed in its former proportions, of the same particles of matter, which at any time were its constituent parts, however it be refined ; just as we reckon it is the same body that was pined away by long sickness, which becomes fat and fair again after recovery. Now, to this infinite understanding join infinite power, whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself; and this gloriously great work appears most reasonable. If Omniscience discover every little particle of dust, where it is, and how it is to be matched, cannot Omnipotence bring them, and join them together, in their order ? Can the watchmaker take up the several pieces of a watch, lying in a confused heap before him, and set each in its proper place ; and cannot God put the human .body into order, after its dissolution ? Did he speak this world into being, out of nothing, and can he not form man's body out of its pre- existent matter? If he calls those things which be not, as though they were, surely he can call things that are dissolved, to be as they were before the compound was resolved into its parts and principles. Wherefore, God can raise the dead. And " why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead ?" Acts xxvi. 8. Secondly, God will do it. He not only can do it, but he certainly will do it, because he has said it. Our text is very full to this purpose, " All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." These words relate to, and are an explanation of, that part of Daniel's prophecy, Dan. xii. 2, " And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth 264 CERTAINTY OF THE RESURRECTION. shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame anci everlasting contempt ;" which appears to be calculated to confront the doctrine of the Sadducees ; which the Holy Ghost knew was to be at a great height in the Jewish church, under the persecution of Antiochus. There are many other texts in the Old and New Testament, that might here be adduced ; such as Acts xxiv. 15, " And have a hope towards God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." And Job xix. 26, 27, " Though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God ; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another ; though my reins be consumed within me." But I need not multiply testimonies, in a matter so clearly and frequently taught in sacred Scripture Our Lord and Saviour himself proves it, against the Sadducees, in that remarkable text, Luke xx. 37, 38, " Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ; for he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him." These holy patriarchs were dead; never- theless, the Lord JEHOVAH is called their God, namely, in virtue of the covenant of grace, and in the sense thereof; in which sense, the phrase comprehends all blessedness, as that which, by the covenant, is secured to them who are in it; Heb. xi. 16, "God is not ashamed to be called their GOD; for he hath pre- pared for them a city." He is not called the God of their souls only ; but their God, the God of their persons, souls, and bodies; the which, by virtue of his truth and faithfulness, must have its full effect : now it cannot have its full effect on the dead, who, in as much as they are dead, are far from all blessedness ; but on the living, who alone are capable of it. Therefore since God is still called their God, they are living in respect of God,* although their bodies are yet in the grave ; for, in respect of him, who by his power can restore them to life, and in his covenant has declared his will and purpose so to do, and whose promise can- not fail, they are all to be reckoned to live ; and, consistent with the covenant, their death is but a sleep, out of which, in virtue of the same covenant, securing all blessedness to their persons, their whole man, they must, and shall certainly be awakened. The apostle Paul proves the resurrection at large, 1 Cor. chap. xv. and shows it to be a fundamental article, the denial whereof is subversive of Christianity, ver. 13, 14, " If there be no resur- rection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." To assist us in conceiving of it, the Scripture gives us types * Their souls are actually so, and enjoy communion with him, and with saints and angels. OP THE NATURE OF THE RESURRECTION. 265 of the resurrection of the dead; as the dry bones living, Ezek. chap, xxxvii, Jonah's coming out of the whale's belly, Matt, xii. 40. And nature affords us emblems and resemblances of it ; as the sun's setting and rising again, night and day, winter and summer, sleeping and waking ; swallows in winter lying void of all appearance of life, in ruinous buildings, and subterra- neous caverns, and reviving again in the spring season ; the seed dying under the clod, and afterwards springing up again : all which, and the like, may justly be admitted as designed by the God of nature, though not for proofs, yet for memorials of the resurrection ; whereof we have assurance from the Scripture, 1 Cor. xv. 36, " Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quick- ened, except it die." II. I shall inquire into the nature of the resurrection, showing, 1. Who shall be raised. 2. What shall be raised. 3. How the dead shall be raised. 1. Who shall be raised. Our text tells us who they are; namely, " all that are in the graves," that is, all mankind who are dead. As for those persons who shall be found alive at the second coming of Christ, they shall not die, and soon after be raised again ; but such a change shall suddenly pass upon them, as shall be to them instead of dying and rising again ; so that their bodies shall become like to those bodies which are raised out of the graves, 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52, " We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed ; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." Hence those who are to be judged at the great day, are distinguished into quick and dead, Acts x. 42. All the dead shall arise, whether godly or wicked, just or unjust, Acts xxiv. 15, old or young ; the whole race of mankind, even those who never saw the sun, but died in their mother's womb, Rev. xx. 12, " And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God." The sea and earth shall give up their dead, without reserve ; none shall be kept back. 2. What shall be raised. The bodies of mankind. A man is said to die, when the soul is separated from the' body, " and returns unto God who gave it," Eccles. xii. 7. But it is the body only which is laid in the grave, and can be properly said to be raised ; wherefore the resurrection is, strictly speaking, competent to the body only. Moreover, it is the same body that dies, which shall rise again. At the resurrection, men shall not appear with other bodies, as to substance, than those which they now have, and which are laid down in the grave; but with the self same bodies endowed with other qualities. The very notion of a resurrection implies this, since nothing can be said to rise again, but that which falls. But to illustrate it a little, First, It is plain from Scripture testimony. The apostle asserts that it is " this mortal" which " must put on immor- tality," 1 Cor. xv. 53 ; and that Christ " shall change our vile 23 266 OP THE NATURE OF THE RESURRECTION. body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,'' Phil. iii. 21. Death, in Scripture language, is a sleep, and the resurrection an awakening out of that sleep, Job xiv. 12; which shows the body rising up, to be the self same that died. Secondly, The equity of the Divine procedure, both with re- spect to the godly and the wicked, proves this. It is not reck- oned equal among men, that one do the work, and another get the reward. Though the glorifying of the bodies of the saints is not, properly speaking, and in a strict sense, the reward of their services or sufferings on earth ; yet this is evident, that it is not at all agreeable to the manner of the Divine dispensation, that one body should serve him and another be glorified : that one should fight, and another receive the crown. How can it be imagined, that " the temples of the Holy Ghost," as the bodies of believers are termed, 1 Cor. vi. 19, should always lie in rubbish, and others be reared up in their stead? that the mem- bers of Christ, ver. 15, should perish utterly, and other bodies come in their room? Nay, surely, as the bodies of the saints now bear a part in glorifying God, and some of them suffer in his cause, so they shall partake of the glory that is to be re- vealed. And these bodies of the wicked, which are laid in the dust, shall be raised again, that the same body which sinned, may suffer. Shall one body sin here, and another suffer in hell for that sin? Shall that body which was the soul's companion in sin, lie for ever hid in the dust ; and another body, which did not act any part in sinning, be its companion in torment? No, no ; it is that body, which now takes up all their thoughts to provide for its wants and pleasures, that shall be raised up, to suffer in hell. It is that tongue that is now the swearing, lying tongue, which will need water to cool it, in eternal flames. The same feet that now stand in the way of sinners, and carry men in their ungodly courses, shall stand in the burning lake. And the same covetous and lascivious eyes shall take part in the fire and smoke of the pit. 3. How the dead shall be raised. The same Jesus, who was crucified without the gates of Jerusalem, shall, at the last day, to the conviction of all, be declared, both Lord and Christ ; appearing as judge of the world, attended with his mighty angels, 2 Thess. i. 7. He " shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." 1 Thess. iv. 16. " The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised," and those who are alive, changed, 1 Cor. xv. 52. Whether this shout, voice, and trumpet, denote some audible voice, or only the workings of Divine power, for the raising of the dead, and other awful purposes of that day, though the former seems probable, I will not positively deter- mine. There is no question, but this coming of the Judge of the world will be in greater majesty and terror, than we can OP THB NATURE OP THE RESURRECTION, 267 conceive: yet that awful grandeur, majesty, and state, <vhich was displayed at the giving of the law, viz. thunders heard, lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount seen, the Lord descending in fire, the whole mount quaking greatly, and the voice of the trumpet waxing louder and louder, Exod. xix. 16, may help to form a becoming thought of it. However, the sound of this trumpet shall be heard all the world over; it shall reach to the depths of the sea, and into the bowels of the earth. At this loud alarm, bones shall come together, bone to his bone; the scattered dust of all the dead shall be gathered together, dust to his dust; " neither shall one thrust another, they shall walk every one in his path ;" and meeting together again, shall make up that very same body which crumbled into dust in the grave. At the same alarming voice, shall every soul corne again into its own body, never more to be separated. The dead can stay no longer in their graves, but must bid an eternal farewell to their long homes : they hear his voice, and must come forth, and re- ceive their final sentence. Now, as there is a great difference between the godly and the wicked, in their life, and in their death : so will there be also in their resurrection. The godly shall be raised out of their graves, by virtue of the Spirit of Christ, the blessed bond of their union with him, Rom. viii. 11, " He that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies, by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." Jesus Christ arose from the dead, as the " first fruits of them that slept," 1 Cor. xv. 20. So they that are Christ's, shall follow at his coming, ver. 23. The mystical head having got above the waters of death, he cannot but bring forth the members after him, in due time. They shall come forth with inexpressible joy : for then shall that passage of Scripture, which in its immediate scope, respect- ed the Babylonish captivity, be fully accomplished in its exten- sive spiritual view, Isa. xxvi. 19, " Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust." As a bride adorned for her husband, goes forth of her bed chamber unto the marriage ; so shall the saints go forth of their graves, unto the marriage of the Lamb. Joseph had a joyful coming out from the prison, Daniel from the lion's den, and Jonah from the whale's belly : yet those are but faint representations of the saints coming forth from the grave at the resurrection. Then shall they sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb, in highest strains ; death being quite swallowed up in victory. They had, while in this life, sometimes sung, by faith, the triumphant song over death and the grave, "O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy victory ?" 1 Cor. xv. 55. But when they sing the same, from sight and sense, the black band of doubts and fears, which frequently disturbed them, and disquieted their minds, is for ever disbanded, and driven away. 268 OF THE NATURE OF THE RESURRECTION. May we not suppose the soul and body of every saint, as in mutual embraces, to rejoice in each other, and triumph in their happy meeting again ; and the body to address the soul thus ? " O my soul, have we got together again, after so long a separa- tion 1 art thou come back to thine old habitation, never more to remove? O joyful meeting! how unlike is our present state to what our case was, when a separation was made between us at death ! Now is our mourning turned into joy ; the light and gladness sown before, are now sprung up ; and there is a per- petual spring in Immanuel's land. Blessed be the day in which I was united to thee ; whose chief care was to get Christ in us the hope of glory, and to make me a temple for his holy Spirit. O blessed soul, which, in the time of our pilgrimage, kept thine eye to the land then afar off, but now near at hand ! thou tookest me into secret places, and there madest me to bow these knees before the Lord, that I might bear a part in our humiliation be- fore him : and now is the time that I am lifted up. Thou didst employ this tongue in confessions, petitions and thanksgivings, which henceforth shall be employed in praising for evermore. Thou madest these sometimes weeping eyes, sow that seed of tears which is now sprung up in joy, that shall never end. I was happily beat down by thee, and kept in subjection, while others pampered their flesh, and made their bellies their gods, to their own destruction : but now I gloriously arise, to take my place in the mansions of glory, whilst they are dragged out of their graves, to be cast into fiery flames. Now, my soul, thou shalt complain no more of a sick and pained body ; thou shall be no more clogged with weak and weary flesh : I shall now hold pace with thee in the praises of our God for evermore." And may not the soul say, "O happy day in which I return to dwell in that blessed body, which was, and is, and will be for ever a member of Christ, a temple of the holy Spirit ! Now I shall be eternally knit to thee: the silver cord shall never be loosed more; death shall never make another separation be tween us. Arise then, my body, and come away I and let these eyes, which were wont to weep over my sins, behold with joy, the face of our glorious Redeemer ; lo ! this is our God, and we have waited for him. Let these ears, which were wont to hear the word of life, in the temple below, come and hear the hallelujahs in the temple above. Let these feet, that carried me to the congregation of saints on earth, take their place among those in heaven. And let this tongue, which confessed Christ before men, and used to be still dropping something to his commendation, join in the choir of the upper house, in his praises for evermore. Thou shalt fast no more, but keep an everlasting feast ; thou shalt weep no more, neither shall thy countenance be overclouded ; but thou shalt shine for ever, as a star in the OF THE NATURE OF THE RESURRECTION. 269 firmament. We took part together in the fight, come, let us go together to receive and wear the crown." But, on the other hand, the wicked shall be raised by the power of Christ, as a just Judge, who is to render vengeance to his enemies. The same Divine power which shut up their souls in hell, and kept their bodies in the grave, as in a prison, shall bring them forth, that soul and body together may receive the dreadful sentence of eternal damnation, and be shut up to- gether in the prison of hell. They shall come forth of their graves, with unspeakable horror and consternation. They shall be dragged forth, as so many malefactors out of a dungeon, to be led to execution ; crying to the mountains and to the rocks to fall on them, and hide them from the face of the Lamb. Fearful was the cry in Egypt that night on which the destroying angel went through, and slew their first-born. Dreadful were the shouts, at the earth opening her mouth, and swallowing up Dathan and Abi- ram, and all that appertained to them. What hideous crying then must there be, when, at the sound of the last trumpet, the earth and sea shall open their mouths, and cast forth all the wicked world, delivering them up to the dreadful Judge ! How will they cry, roar, and tear themselves ! How will the jovial companions weep and howl, and curse one another! How will the earth be filled with their doleful shrieks and lamentations, while they are pulled out like sheep for the slaughter ! They who, while they lived in the world, were profane debauchees, covetous worldings, or formal hypocrites, shall then, in anguish of mind, wring their hands, beat their breasts, and bitterly la- ment their case, roaring forth their complaints, and calling themselves beasts, fools, and madmen, for having acted so mad a part in this life, in not believing what they then heard. They were driven away in their wickedness, at death : and now all their sins rise with them; and, like so many serpents, twist themselves about their wretched souls, and bodies too, which have a frightful meeting, after a long separation. Then we may suppose the miserable body thus to accost the soul, " Hast thou again found me, O mine enemy, my worst enemy, savage soul more cruel than -a thousand tigers. Cursed be the day that ever we met. O that I had remained a lifeless lump, rotted in the womb of my mother, and had never re- ceived sense, life, nor motion ! O that I had rather been the body of a toad, or serpent, than thy body ; for then had I lain still and had not seen this terrible day ! If I was to be neces- sarily thine, O that I had been thy ass, or one of thy dogs, rather than thy body ; for then wouldst thou have taken more true care of me, than thou didst ! O cruel kindness ! hast thou thus hugged me to death, thus nourished me to the slaughter ? Is this the effect of thy tenderness for me ? Is this what I am 23* 270 OF THE NATURE OF THE RESURRECTION. to reap of thy pains and concern about me 1 What do riches and pleasures avail now, when this fearful reckoning is come , of which thou hadst fair warning ? O cruel grave ! why didst thou not close thy mouth upon me for ever ? Why didst thou not hold fast thy prisoner? Why hast thou shaken me out, while I lay still and was at rest? Cursed soul, wherefore didst thou not abide in thy place, wrapped up in flames of fire ? Wherefore art thou come back to take me also down to the bars of the pit? Thou madest me an instrument of unright- eousness ; and now I must be thrown into the fire. This tongue was by thee employed in mocking at religion, cursing, swearing, lying, backbiting and boasting ; and withheld from glorifying God : and now it must not have so much as a drop of water to cool it in the flames. Thou didst withdraw mine ears from hearing the sermons, which gave warning of this day. Thou foundest ways and means to stop them from attending to seasonable exhortations, admonitions, and reproofs. But why didst thou not stop them from hearing the sound of this dreadful trumpet? Why dost thou not rove and fly away on the wings of imagination, thereby, as it were, transporting me during these frightful transactions; as thou wast wont to do, when I was set down at sermons, communions, prayers, and godly conferences ; that I might now have as little sense of the one, as I formerly had of the other ? But ah ! I must burn for ever, for thy love to thy lusts, thy profanity, thy sensuality, thy unbelief, and hypocrisy." But may not the soul answer? " Wretched and vile carcass, I am now driven back into thee. O that thou hadst lain rotting for ever in thy grave ! Had I not torment enough before? Must I be knit to thee again, that being joined together as two dry sticks for the fire, the wrath of God may burn us up? It was by caring for you, that I lost myself. It was your appetites, and the gratifying of your senses, which ruined me. How often was I ensnared by your ears ! how often betrayed by your eyes ! It was to spare you, that I neglected opportunities of making peace with God, loitered away Sabbaths, lived in the neglect of prayer ; went to the house of mirth, rather than to the house of mourning ; and that I chose to deny Christ, and forsake his cause and interests in the world; and so am fallen a sacrifice to your cursed ease. When at any time my conscience began to awake, and I was setting myself to think of my sins, and the misery which I have felt since we parted, and now feel, it was you that diverted me from these thoughts, and drew me off to make provision for you. O wretched flesh ! by your silken cords of fleshly lusts, I was drawn to destruction, in defiance of my light and conscience : but now they are turned into iron chains, with which I am to be held under wrath for evermore. Ah wretched profits ! ah cursed pleasures! for which I must lie for ever in utter dark- QUALITIES OF THE RAISED BODIES OF THE SAINTS. 271 ness !" But no complaints will then avail. O that men were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end ! As to the qualities, with which the bodies of the saints shall be endowed at the resurrection, the apostle tells us, they shall be raised incorruptible, glorious, powerful, and spiritual, 1 Cor. xv. 42 44, " It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorrup- tion : it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory : it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power : it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." First, The bodies of the saints shall be raised incorruptible, They are now, as the bodies of others, a very mass of corrup- tion, full of the seeds of disease, and death ; and, when dead, become so nauseous, even to their dearest friends, that they must be buried out of their sight, in a grave, there to rot, and be consumed : yea, loathsome sores and diseases make some of them very unsightly, even while alive. But, at the resur- rection, they leave all the seeds of corruption behind them in the grave ; and rise incorruptible, incapable of the least indis- position, sickness, or sore, and much more of dying. External violences, and inward causes of pain shall forever cease ; they shall feel it no more : yea, they shall have an everlasting youth and vigour, being no more subject to the decays, which age produced in this life. Secondly, They shall be glorious bodies ; not only beautiful, comely, and well proportioned, but full of splendour and bright- ness. The most beautiful face, and best proportioned body, that now appears in the world, is not to be named in compari- son with the body of the meanest saint at the resurrection ; for "then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun," Matt. xiii. 43. If there was a dazzling glory on Moses's face, when he .came down from the mount ; and if Stephen's face was " as it had been the face of an angel," when he stood before the coun- cil ; how much more shall the faces of the saints be beautiful and glorious, full of sweet agreeable majesty, when they have put off all corruption, and shine as the sun ! But observe, this beauty of the saints is not restricted to their faces, but diffuses itself through their whole bodies : for the whole body is raised in glory, and shall be fashioned like unto their Lord and Saviour's glorious body, in whose transfiguration, not only did his face shine as the sun, but his raiment also was white as the light, Matt. xvii. 2. Whatever defects or deformities the bodies of the saints had, when laid in the grave, occasioned by acci- dents in life, or arising from secret causes in their formation in the womb ; they shall rise out of the grave free of all these. But suppose the marks of the Lord Jesus, the scars or prints of the wounds and bruises which some of the saints received while on earth, for his sake, should remain in their bodies after 272 QUALITIES OF THE RAISED BODIES OP THE SAINTS. the resurrection ; the same as the print of the nails remained in the Lord Jesus' body after his resurrection : these marks will rather be badges of distinction, and add to their glory, than detract from their beauty. But however that be, surely Isaac's eyes shall not then be dim, nor will Jacob halt : Leah shall not be tender-eyed, nor Mephibosheth lame of his legs. For as the goldsmith melts down the old crazy vessel, and casts it over again in a new mould, bringing it forth with a new lustre so shall the vile body, which lay dissolved in the grave, come forth at the resurrection, in perfect beauty and comely pro- portion. Thirdly, They shall be powerful and strong bodies. The strongest men on earth, being frail and mortal, may justly be reckoned weak and feeble, in as much as their strength, however great, is quickly worn out and consumed. Many of the saints now have weaker bodies than others ; but " the feeble among them," to allude to Zech. xii. 8, at that day shall be "as David, and the house of David shall be as God.' A grave divine says, That one shall be stronger at the resurrection, than an hundred, yea, than thousands are now. Certainly, great, and vastly great, must the strength of glorified bodies be ; for they shall bear up under an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. The mortal body is not at all adapted to such a state. Do transports of joy occasion death, as well as excessive grief does? and can it bear up under a weight of glory? Can it sub- sist in union with a soul filled with heaven's raptures? Surely no. The mortal body would sink under that load, and such a fill would make the earthen pitcher to fly all in pieces? The Scripture has plainly told us, " That flesh and blood," namely, in their present frail state, though it were the flesh and blood of a giant, " cannot inherit the kingdom of God," 1 Cor. xv. 50. How strong must the bodily eyes be, which, to the soul's- eternal comfort, shall behold the dazzling glory and splendour of the new Jerusalem ; and steadfastly look at the transcendent glory and brightness of the man Christ, the Lamb, who is the light of that city, the inhabitants whereof shall shine as the sun ! The Lord of heaven doth now, in mercy, hold back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it ; that mortals may not be confounded with the rays of glory which shine forth from it, Job xxvi. 9. But then the veil shall be re- moved, and they made able to behold it, to their unspeakable joy. How strong must their bodies he, who shall not rest night nor day, but be, without intermission, for ever employed in the heavenly temple, to sing and proclaim the praises of God, without weariness, which is a weakness incident to the frail mortal, but incompetent to the glorified body ! Lastly, They shall be spiritual bodies. Not that they shall he Changed into spirits, but they shall be spiritual in respect of QUALITIES OF THE RAISED BODIES OP THE SAINTS. 273 their spirit-like qualities and endowments. The body shall be absolutely subservient to the soul, subject to it, and influenced by it, and therefore no more a clog to its activity, nor the animal appetites a snare to it. There will be no need to beat it down, nor to drag it to the service of God. The soul, in this life, is so much influenced by the body, that, in scripture style, it is said to be carnal ; but then the body shall be spiritual, readily serving the soul in the business of heaven, and in that only, as if it had no more relation to earth than a spirit. It will have no further need of the now necessary supports of life, namely, food, and raiment, and the like. " They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more," Rev. vii. 16. " For in the resurrec- tion, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven." Then shall the saints be strong, without meat or drink, warm without clothes, ever in perfect health without medicine, and ever fresh and vigorous, though they shall never sleep, but serve him night and day in his tem- ple, Rev. vii. 15. They will need none of these things, more than spirits do. They will be nimble and active as spirits, and of a most refined constitution. The body, that is now lumpish and heavy, shall then be most sprightly. No such thing aa melancholy shall be found to make the heart heavy, and the spirits flag and sink. Where the carcass is, there shall the saints, as so many eagles, be gathered together. I shall not further dip into this matter. The day will declare it. As to the qualities of the bodies of the wicked, at the resurrec- tion, I find the Scripture speaks but little of them. Whatever they may need, they shall not get a drop of water to cool their tongues, Luke xvi. 24, 25. Whatever may be said of their weakness, it is certain they will be continued for ever in life, that they may be ever dying : they shall bear up, however un- willing, under the load of God's wrath, and shall not faint away under it. " The smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever. And they have no rest day nor night." Surely they shall not partake of the glory and beauty of the saints. All their glory dies with them, and shall never rise again. Daniel tells us they shall awake to shame, and everlasting contempt, chap. xii. 2. Shame follows sin, as the shadow follows the body : but the wicked in this world walk in the dark, and often under a disguise : nevertheless when the Judge comes in flaming fire, at the last day, they will be brought to the light ; their mask will be taken off", and the shame of their nakedness will clearly appear to themselves and others, and fill their faces with confusion. Their shame will be too deep for blushes : all faces shall gather blackness at that day, when they shall go forth of their graves, as malefactors out of their prisons to execution for their resurrection is the resurrection of damnation. The greatest beauties, who now pride themselves in their cornel 1 - 274 COMFORT TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD. ness of body, not regarding their deformed souls, will then ap- pear with a ghastly countenance, a grim and death-like visage. Their looks will be frightful, and they will be horrible specta- cles, coming forth from their graves, like infernal furies out of the pit. They shall rise also to everlasting contempt. They shall then be the most contemptible creatures, filled with con- tempt from God, as vessels of dishonour, whatever honourable employments they had in this world ; and filled also with con- tempt from men. They will be most despicable in the eyes of the saints ; even of those saints who gave them honour here, either for their high station, the gifts of God in them, or because they were of the same human nature with themselves. But then shall their bodies be as so many loathsome carcasses, which they shall go forth and look upon with abhorrence : yea " they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh," Isa. Ixvi. 24. The word here rendered " an abhorring," is the same which in the other text is rendered " contempt," and Isaiah and Daniel point at one and the same thing, namely, the loathsomeness of the wicked at the resurrection. They will be loathsome in the eyes of one another. The unclean wretches were never so lovely to each other, as then they will be loathsome : dear com- panions in sin will then abhor each other; and the wicked, great and honourable men, shall be no more regarded by their wicked subjects, their servants, their slaves, than the mire in the street. USE I. Of comfort to the people of God. The doctrine of the resurrection is a spring of consolation and joy to you. Think on it, O believers, when ye are in the house of mourning, for the loss of your godly relations or friends, " That ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope ;" for you will meet again, 1 Thess. iv. 13, 14. They are but lain down to rest in their beds for a little while, Isa. Ivii. 2 ; but in the morning of the resurrection they will awake again, and come forth of their graves. The vessel of honour was but coarse, it had much alloy of base metal in it; it was too weak, too dim and inglorious, for the upper house, whatever lustre it had in the lower one. It was cracked, it was polluted ; and therefore it must be melted down to be refined, and fashioned more gloriously. Do but wait awhile, and you shall see it come forth out of the furnace of earth, vieing with the stars in brightness ; nay, as the sun when he goes forth in his might. Have you laid your infant children in the grave ? You will see them again. Your God calls himself "the God of your seed ;" which, according to our Saviour's ex- position, secures the glorious resurrection of the body. Where- fore xei the covenant you embraced, for yourselves, and your babes now in the dust, comfort your heart, in the joyful expecta- tion, tnat, by virtue thereof, they shall be raised up in glory ; and that as being no more infants of days, but brought to a full TERROR TO UNREOENERATE MEN. 275 and perfect stature, as is generally supposed. Be not discour- aged by reason of a weak and sickly body : there is a day coming when thou shalt be entirely whole. At the resurrection, Timothy shall be no more liable to his often infirmities ; his body, that was weak and sickly, even in youth, shall be raised in power. Lazarus shall be healthy and sound, his body being raised incorruptible. Although, perhaps, thy weakness will not allow thee now to go one furlong to meet the Lord in public ordinances, yet the day comes, when thy body shall be no more a clog to thee, but thou shalt " meet the Lord in the air," 1 Thess. iv. 17. It will be with the saints coming up from the grave, as with the Israelites when they came out of Egypt, Psa. cv. 37, " There was not one feeble person among their tribes." Hast thou an uncomely or deformed body ? There is a glory within, which will then set all right without, according to all the desire of thine heart. It shall rise a glorious, beautiful, hand- some, and well proportioned body. Its comeliness or deformities may go with it to the grave, but they shall not come back with it. O that those, who are now so desirous to be beautiful and handsome, would not be too hasty to affect it with their foolish and sinful arts, but wait and study the heavenly art of beautify- ing the body, by endeavouring now to become all glorious within, with the graces of God's Spirit ! This would at length make them admirable and everlasting beauties. Thou must indeed, O believer, grapple with death, and shalt get the first fall : but thou shalt rise again, and come off victorious at last. Thou must go down to the grave ; but though it be thy long home, it will not be thine everlasting home. Thou wilt not hear the voice of thy friends there ; but thou shalt hear the voice of Christ there. Thou mayest be carried thither with mourning, but thou shalt come up from it rejoicing. Thy friends, indeed, will leave thee there, but thy God will not. What God said to Jacob, concerning his going down to Egypt, Gen xlvi. 3, 4, he says to thee, on thy going down to the grave, " Fear not to go down I will go down with thee and I will also surely bring thee up again." O solid comfort ! O glorious hope ! " Wherefore comfort " yourselves, and " one another with these words," 1 Thess. iv. 18. USE II. Of terror to all unregenerate men. You who are yet in your natural state, look at this piece of the eternal state : and consider what will be your part in it, if you be not in time brought into the state of grace. Think, O sinner, on that day, when the trumpet shall sound, at the voice of which the bars of the pit shall be broken asunder, the doors of the grave shall fly open, the devouring depths of the sea shall throw up their dead, the earth cast forth hers ; and death every where, in the excess of astonishment, shall let go its prisoners ; and thy wretched soul and body shall be re- united, to be summoned before the 276 TERROR TO UNREGENERATE MEN. tribunal of God. Then, if thou hadst a thousand worlds at thy disposal, thou wouldst gladly give them all away, on condition that thou mightest lie still in thy grave, with the hundredth part of that ease, wherewith thou hast sometimes lain at home on the Lord's day : or, if that cannot be obtained, that thou might- est be but a spectator of the transactions of that day, as thou hast been at some solemn occasions, and rich gospel feasts ; or, if even that is not to be purchased, that a mountain or a rock might fall on thee, and cover thee from the face of the Lamb. Ah ! how are men infatuated, thus to trifle away the precious time of life, in almost as little concern about death, as if they were like the beasts that perish ! Some will be telling where their corpses must be laid ; while yet they have not seriously considered whether their graves shall be their beds, where they shall awake with joy, in the morning of the resurrection ; or their prisons, out of which they shall be brought to receive the fearful sentence. Remember, now is your seed time ; and as you sow, so you shall reap. God's seed time begins at death ; and at the resurrection, the bodies of the wicked, that were sown " full of sins, that lie down with them in the dust," Job xx. 11, shall spring up again, sinful, wretched, and vile. Your bodies, which are now instruments of sin, the Lord will lay aside for the fire, at death, and bring them forth for the fire, at the resurrection. That body, which is not now employed in God's service, but is abused by uncleanness and lasciviousness, will then be brought forth in all its vileness, thenceforth to lodge with unclean spirits. The body of the drunkard shall then stagger, by reason of the wine of the wrath of God poured out to him, and poured into him, without mixture. Those who now please themselves in their revellings, will reel to and fro at another rate ; when, instead of their songs and music, they shall hear the sound of the last trumpet. Many toil their bodies for worldly gain, who will be loath to distress them for the benefit of their souls ; by labour, unreasonably hard, they will quite unfit them for the service of God ; and, when they have done, will reckon it a very good reason for shifting duty, that they are already tired out with other business ; but that day comes, when they will be made to abide a yet greater distress. Many will go several miles for food and raiment, who will not go half the way for the good of their immortal souls ; many will be sickly and unable on the Lord's day, who will be tolerably well all the rest of the week. But when that trumpet sounds, the dead shall find their feet, and none shall be missing in that congregation When the bodies of the saints shine as the sun, frightful wil. the looks of their persecutors be. Fearful will their condition be, who shut up the saints in nasty prisons, stigmatized, burned them to ashes, hanged them, and stuck up their heads and hands, in public places, to frighten others from the way of righteous- OF THE GENERAL JUDGMENT. ness, which they suffered for. Many faces, now fair, will then gather blackness. They shall be no more admired and caressed for that beauty, which has a worm at the root, that will cause it to issue in loathsomeness arid deformity. Ah ! what is that beauty, under which there lurks a monstrous, deformed, and graceless heart? What, but a sorry paint, a slight varnish, which will leave the body so much the more ugly, before that flaming fire, in which the Judge shall be " revealed from heaven, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel ?" 2 Thess i. 7, 8. They shall be stripped of all their ornaments, and not have a rag to cover their nakedness : their carcasses shall be an abhorring unto all flesh, and serve as a foil to set off* the beauty and glory of the righteous, and make it appear the brighter. Now is the time to secure, for yourselves, a part in the resur- rection of the just : which if you would do, unite with Jesus Christ by faith, rising spiritually from sin, and glorifying God with your bodies. He is the " resurrection and the life," John xi. 25. If your bodies be members of Christ, temples of the Holy Ghost, they shall certainly arise in glory. Get into this ark now, and you shall come forth with joy into the new world. Rise from your sins ; cast away these grave-clothes, putting off your former lusts. How can any one imagine, that those who continue dead while they live, shall come forth, at the last day, unto the resurrection of life ? But that will be the privilege of all those who, having first consecrated their souls and bodies to the Lord by faith, do glorify him with their bodies, as well as their souls ; living and acting to him, and for him, yea, and suf- fering for him too, when he calls them to it. HEAD IV. OP THE GENERAL JUDGMENT. When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angeis with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations i and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divider!) his sheep from the goats : and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed, &c. Unto them on the lei 1 hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, &c. And these shall go away into ever lasting punishment : but the righteous into life eternal MATT. xxv. 31 34, 41, 46. THE dead being raised, and those found alive at the coming of the Judge changed, the general judgment follows, plainly and 24 278 OF THE GENERAL JUDGMENT. awfully described in this portion of Scripture ; in which we shall lake notice of the following particulars: 1. The coming of the Judge, " when the Son of Man shall come in his glory," &c The Judge is Jesus Christ, " the Son of Man ;" the same by whose almighty power, as he is God, the dead will be raised. He is also called the King, ver. 34, the judging of the world being an act of the royal Mediator's kingly office. He will come in glory, glorious in his own person, and having a glorious retinue, even all the holy angels with him, to minister unto him at this great solemnity. 2. His mounting the tribunal. He is a king, and therefore it is a throne, a glorious throne. " He shall sit upon the throne of his glory," ver. 31. 3. The appear- ance of the parties. These are all nations ; all and every one, small and great, of whatever nation, who ever were, are, or shall be on the face of the earth : all shall be gathered before him ; summoned before his tribunal. 4. The sorting of them. He shall separate the elect sheep and reprobate goats, setting each party by themselves ; as a shepherd, who feeds his sheep and goats together all the day, separates them at night, ver. 32. The godly he will set on his right hand, as the most honourable place ; the wicked on the left, ver. 33. Yet so as they shall be both before him, ver. 32. It seems to be an allusion to a custom in the Jewish courts, in which one sat at the right hand of the judges, who wrote the sentence of absolution ; another at their left, who wrote the sentence of condemnation. 5. The sentencing of the parties, and that according to their works ; the righteous being absolved, and the wicked condemned, ver. 34 41. Lastly, The execution of both sentences, in the driving away of the wicked into hell, and carrying the godly to heaven, ver. 46. DOCTRINE. There shall be a general judgment. This doc- trine I shall, 1. Confirm ; 2. Explain ; and 3. Apply. I. For confirmation of this great truth, that there shall be a general judgment. First, It is evident from plain Scripture testimonies. The world has in all ages been told of it. Enoch, before the flood, taught it in his prophecy, related in Jude, ver. 14, 15, " Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all," &c. Daniel describes it, chap. vii. 9, 10, " I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool : his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him : thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him ; the judgment was set, and the books were opened." The apos- tle is very express, Acts xvii. 31, "He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that OF TUB GENERAL JUDGMENT. 279 man whom he hath ordained." See Matt. xvi. 27 ; 2 Cor. v. 10; 2 Thess. i. 710; Rev. xx. 1115. God has not only said it, but he has sworn it, Rom. xiv. 10, 11, " We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." So that the truth of God is most solemnly pledged for it. Secondly, The rectoral justice and goodness of God, the sovereign Ruler of the world, necessarily require it, in as much as they require its being well with the righteous, and ill with the wicked. Yet we often see wickedness exalted, while truth and righteousness fall in the streets ; piety oppressed, while pro- fanity and irreligion triumph. This is so very common, that every one who sincerely embraces the way of holiness, must and does lay his account with the loss of all he has, which the world can take away from him, Luke xiv. 26, " If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." But it is inconsistent with the justice and goodness of God, that the affairs of men should al- ways continue in the state in which they appear, from one generation to another ; and that every man should not be re- warded according to his works : and since that is not done in this life, there must be a judgment to come ; " seeing it is a right- eous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you : and to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven," 2 Thess. i. 6, 7. There will be a day in which the tables will be turned ; and the wicked shall be called to an account for all their sins, and suffer the due punishment of them ; and the pious shall be the prosperous : for, as the apostle argues for the happy resurrection of the saints, " If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable," 1 Cor. xv. 19. It is true, God sometimes punishes the wicked in this life ; that men may know, " he is a God that judgeth in the earth :" but yet much wickedness remains unpunished, and undiscovered, to be a pledge of the judgment to come. If none of the wicked wero punished here, they would conclude that God had utterly for- saken the earth ; if all of them were punished in this life, men would be apt to think, that there is no after reckoning. There- fore, in the wisdom of God, some are punished now, and some not. Sometimes the Lord smites sinners, in the very act of sin ; to show unto the world, that he is witness to all their wicked- ness, and will call them to an account for it. Sometimes he delays long ere he strike, that he may discover to the world that he forgets not men's ill deeds, though he does not presently punish them. Besides all this, the sins of many outlive them ; and the impure fountain, by them opened, runs long after they 280 OF THE GENERAL JUDGMENT. are dead and gone. As in the case of Jeroboam, the first King of the ten tribes, whose sin did run on all along unto the end of that unhappy kingdom, 2 Kings xvii. 22, 23, "The children ot Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam, which he did, they departed not from them ; until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight." Thirdly, The resurrection of Christ is a certain proof, that there shall be a day of judgment. This argument Paul uses to convince the Athenians, that Jesus Christ will be the Judge ot the world; " Whereof," says he, " he hath given assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead," Acts xvii. 31. The Judge is already named, his commission written and sealed, yea, and read before all men, in his rising again from the dead. Hereby God has given assurance of it. He has, by raising Christ from the dead, exhibited his credentials as Judge of the world. When, in the days of his humiliation, he was placed before a tribunal, arraigned, accused, and condemned of men ; he plainly told them of this judgment, and that he himself would be the Judge, Matt. xxvi. 64, " Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." And now that he is raised from the dead, though condemned as a blasphemer on this very head, is it not an undeniable proof, from heaven, of the truth of what he as- serted ? Moreover, this was one of the great ends of Christ's death and resurrection ; " For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be the Lord," that is, " the Lord Judge," as is evident from the context, " both of the dead and of the living," Rom. xiv. 9. Lastly, Every man bears about with him, a witness to this, within his own breast, Rom. ii. 15, " Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing, or else excusing one another." There is a tribunal erected within every man, where conscience is accuser, witness, and judge, binding over the sinner to the judgment of God. This fills the most profligate wretches with horror, and inwardly stings them, upon the commission of some atrocious crime ; in effect sum- moning them to answer for it, before the Judge of the quick and dead. And thus it does, even when the crime is secret, and hid from the eyes of the world. It reaches those, whom the laws of men cannot reach, because of their power or craft. Men have fled from the judgment of their fellow-creatures ; yet, go where they will, conscience, as the supreme Judge's officer, still keeps hold of them, reserving them in its chains, to the judgment of the great day. And whether they escape punish- ment from men, or fall by the hand of public justice, when they oerceive death's approach, they hear from within, of this after reckoning ; being constrained to hearken thereto in these the OF THE GENERAL JUDGMENT. 281 most serious minutes of their lives. If there be some, in whom nothing of this appears, we have no more ground thence to conclude against it, than we have to conclude, that because some men do not groan, therefore they have no pain ; or that dying is a mere jest, because there have been some who seemed to make little else of it. A good face may be put upon an ill conscience : the more hopeless men's case is, they reckon it the more their interest, to make no reflections on their state and case. But every one, who will consult himself seriously, shall find in himself the witness to the judgment to come. Even the heathen were not without a notion of it, though mixed with fictions of their own. Hence, though some of the Athenians, " when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, mocked," Acts xvii. 32 ; yet there is no account of their mocking, when they heard of the general judgment, ver. 31. II. For explanation, the following particulars may serve to give some view of the nature and transactions of that great day. 1. God shall judge the world by Jesus Christ. " He will judge the world in righteousness by that man, whom he hath ordained," Acts xvii. 31. The psalmist tells us, that God is Judge himself, Psal. 1. 6. The holy blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is Judge, in respect to judicial authority, dominion, and power : but the Son incarnate is the Judge, in respect of dispensation, and special exercise of that power. The judgment shall be exercised or performed by him, as the royal Mediator ; for he has a delegated power of judgment from the Father, as his servant, " his King," whom he hath " set upon his holy hill of Zion," Psal. ii. 6, and to whom he " hath committed all judgment," John v. 22. This is a part of the Mediator's exaltation, given him in consequence of his volun- tary humiliation, Phil. ii. 8 10, " He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name, which is above every name," that is, power and autho- rity over all, to wit, " that at," or in, " the name of Jesus," (not the name Jesus ; that is not the name above every name, being common to others, as to Justus, Col. iv. 11 ; and Joshua, Heb. iv. 8,) "every knee should bow." The which is ex- plained by the apostle himself, of " standing before the judg- ment seat of Christ," Rom. xiv. 10, 11. So he who was judged and condemned of men, shall be the Judge of men and angels. 2. Jesus Christ the Judge, descending from heaven into the air, 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17, "shall come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory," Matt. xxiv. 30. This his coming will be a mighty surprise to the world, which will be found in deep security, foolish virgins sleeping, and the wise slumbering. There will then be much luxury and debauchery in the world, 24* - 282 CHRIST DESCENDING FROM HEAVEN A3 A JUDGE. nttle sobriety and watchfulness ; a great throng of business, bu f . a great scarcity of faith and holiness. " As it was in the days of Noah, so also shall it be in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark : and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot : they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed," Luke xvii. 26 30. The coming of the Judge will surprise some at market, buying and selling ; others at table, eating and drinking, and making merry ; others busy with their new plantings ; some building new houses : nay some's wedding-day will be their own and the world's judgment day. But the Judge comes ! the markets are marred ; the buyer throws away what he has bought ; the seller casts down his money ; they are raised from the table, and their mirth is extinguished in a moment ; though the tree be set in the earth, the gardener cannot stay to cast the earth about it ; the workmen throw away their tools, when the house is half built, and the owner regards it no more ; the bridegroom, bride, and guests, must leave the wedding feast, and appear before the tribunal : for, " Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him," Rev. i. 7. He shall come most gloriously ; for he will " come in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels," Mark viii. 38. When he came in the flesh, to die for sinners, he laid aside the robes of his glory, and was despised, and rejected of men ; but when he comes again, to judge the world, such shall be his visible glory and majesty, that it shall cast an eternal veil over all earthly glory, and fill his greatest enemies with fear and dread. Never had prince or potentate in the world, such a glorious train, as will accompany this Judge: all the holy angels shall come with him, for his honour and service. Then he, who was led to the cross with a band of soldiers, will be gloriously attended to the place of judgment, by not " a multitude of the heavenly host," but the whole host of angels ; " all his holy angels," says the text. 3. At the coming of the Judge, the summons is given to the parties by the sound of the last trumpet ; at which the dead are raised, and those found alive changed ; of which before, 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17. O loud trumpet, that shall be heard at once, in all corners of the earth and of the sea ! O wonderful voice, that will not only disturb those who sleep in the dust, but effectually awaken, rouse them out of their sleep, and raise them from death ! Were trumpets sounding now, drums beating, furious soldiers crying and killing men ; women and children running and shrieking, the wounded groaning and dying ; those who are in the graves would have no more disturbance, than if the world THE SUMMONS TO JUDGMENT. 283 were in most profound peace. Yea, were stormy winds to cast down the lofty oaks, the seas to roar and swallow up the ships, the most dreadful thunder to go along the heavens, lightnings every where to flash, the earth to quake, tremble, open, and swallow up whole cities, and bury multitudes at once ; the dead would still enjoy a perfect repose, and sleep soundly in the dust, though their own dust should be thrown out of its place. But at the sound of this trumpet, they shall all awake. The morn- ing is come, they can sleep no longer ; the time for the dead to be judged : they must get out of their graves, and appear before the Judge. 4. The Judge shall sit down on the tribunal ; he " shall sit on the throne of his glory." He stood before a tribunal on earth, and was condemned as a malefactor : now he shall sit on his own tribunal, and judge the world. He once hung upon the cross, covered with shame ; now he shall sit on a throne of glory. What this throne shall be, whether a bright cloud, or what else, I shall not inquire. Our eyes will answer to that question at length. John " saw a great white throne," Rev. xx. 11. " His throne," says Daniel, " was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire," chap. vii. 9. Whatever it be, doubtless it will be a throne glorious beyond expression ; and in comparison with which the most glorious throne on earth, is but a seat on a dunghill ; and the sight of it will equally surprise kings, who sat on thrones in this life, and beggars who sat on dunghills. It will be a throne, for stateliness and glory, suited to the quality of him who shall sit on it. Never had a judge such a throne, and never had a throne such a judge on it. Leaving the discovery of the nature of the throne until that day, it concerns .us more nearly to consider what a judge will sit on it ; a point in which we are not left to uncertain conjec- tures. The Judge on the throne will be, 1. a visible Judge, visible to our bodily eyes, Rev. i. 7, " Every eye shall see him." When God gave the law on mount Sinai, the people " saw no similitude, only they heard a voice :" but when he calls the world to account, how they have observed his law, the man Christ being Judge, we shall see our Judge with our eyes, either to our eternal comfort, or to our eternal confusion, according to the entertainment which we give him now. That very body which was crucified without the gates of Jerusalem, between two thieves, shall then be seen on the throne, shining in glory. We now see him symbolically, in the sacrament of his supper ; the saints see him by the eye of faith ; then all shall see him with these eyes now in their heads. 2. A Judge having full authority and power, to render unto every one ac- cording to his works. Christ, as God, hath authority of himself; and as Mediator he hath a judicial power and autho- jrity, which his Father has invested him with, according to the 284 THE APPEARANCE OF THE PARTIES. covenant between the Father and the Son, for the redemption of sinners. His Divine glory will be a light, by which all men shall see clearly to read his commission, for this great and honourable employment. " All power is given unto him in heaven and in earth," Matt, xxviii. 18. He hath " the keys of hell and of death," Rev. i. 18. There can be no appeal from his tribunal : sentence once passed there, must stand for ever ; there is no reversing of it. All appeals are from an in ferior to a superior court : but when God gives sentence against a man, where can he find a higher court to bring his process to 1 This judgment is the Mediator's judgment ; and therefore the last judgment. If the Intercessor be against us, who can be for us 1 If Christ condemn us, who will absolve us? 3. A Judge of infinite wisdom. His eyes will pierce into, and clearly discern, the most intricate cases. His omniscience qualifies him for judging of the most retired thoughts, as well as of words and works. The most subtle sinner shall not be able to outwit him, nor, by any artful management, to palliate his crimes. He is the searcher of hearts, to whom nothing can be hid or perplexed ; but all things are naked and open unto his eyes, Heb. iv. 13. 4. A most just Judge ; a Judge of per- fect integrity. He is the righteous Judge ; 2 Tim. iv. 8, and his throne a great white throne, Rev. xx. 11, from whence no judgment shall proceed, but what is most pure and spotless. The Thebans painted justice blind, and without hands : for judges ought not to respect persons, nor take bribes. The Areopagites judged in the dark ; that they might not regard who spoke, but what was spoken. With the Judge on this throne, there will be no respect of persons ; he will neither regard the person of the rich, nor of the poor : but just judg- ment shall go forth in every one's cause. Lastly, An omni- potent Judge, able to put his sentence in execution. The united force of devils and wicked men will be altogether unable to withstand him. They cannot retard the execution of the sentence against them one moment ; far less can they stop it altogether. " Thousand thousands of angels minister unto him," Dan. vii. 10. And, by the breath of his mouth, he can drive the cursed herd whither he pleaseth. 5. The parties shall appear. These are men and devils. Although these last, the fallen angels, were, from the first mo- ment of their sinning, subjected to the wrath of God, and were cast down to hell ; and wherever they go, they carry their hell about with them ; yet it is evident that they are reserved unto judgment, 2 Pet. ii. 4, namely, unto the judgment of the great day, Jude ver. 6. Then they shall be solemnly and publicly judged, 1 Cor. vi. 3. " Know ye not that we shall judge angels ?" At that day they shall answer for their trade of sin- ning and tempting to sin, which they have been carrying on THE SEPARATION BETWEEN THE RIGHTEOUS, ETC. 285 from the beginning. Then many a hellish brat, which Satan has laid down at the saints' door, but not adopted by them, shall be laid at the door of the true father of it, that is the devil. And he shall receive the due reward of all the dishonour which he has done to God, and of all the mischief which he has done to men. Those wicked spirits now in chains, though not in such strait custody, but that they go about, like roaring lions, seeking whom they may devour, shall then receive their final sentence, and be shut up in their den, namely, in the prison of hell ; where they shall be held in extreme and unspeakable torment through all eternity, Rev. xx. 10, " And the devil, that deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever ;" in prospect of which, the devils said to Christ, "Art thou come hither to torment us before the time ?" Matt. viii. 29. But what we are chiefly concerned to take notice of, is the case of men at that day. All men must appear before this tri- bunal. All of each sex, of every age, quality, and condition ; the great and small, noble and ignoble : none are excepted, Adam and Eve, with all their sons and daughters, every one who has had, or, to the end of the world, shall have a living soul united to a body, will make up this great congregation. Even those who refused to come to the throne of grace, shall be forced to the bar of justice : for there can be no hiding from the all-seeing Judge, no flying from him who is present every where, no resisting of him who is armed with almighty power, " We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ," 2 Cor. v. 10. "Before him shall be gathered all nations," says the text. This is to be done by the ministry of angels. By them shall the elect be gathered, Mark xiii. 27, "Then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds." And they also shall gather the reprobate, Matt. xiii. 40, 41, "So shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity." From all corners of the world shall the inhabitants thereof be gathered unto the place where he shall set his throne for judg- ment. 6. There shall be a separation made between the righteous and the wicked ; the fair company of the elect sheep bejng set on Christ's right hand, and the reprobate goats on his left. There is no necessity to wait for this separation, till the trial be over ; since the parties will rise out of their graves, with plain outward marks of distinction, as was mentioned before. The separation seems to be effected by that double gathering, before mentioned ; the one of the elect, Mark xiii. 27 ; the other of them that do iniquity, Matt. xiii. 41. The elect being "caught 286 THE SEPARATION BETWEEN THE RIGHTEOUS, ETC. up together in the clouds, meet the Lord in the air," 1 Thess. iv. 17, and so are set on his right hand ; and the reprobate left on the earth, Matt. xxiv. 40, upon the Judge's left hand. Here is now a total separation of two parties, who were always oppo- site to each other in their principles, aims, and manner of life, who, when together, were a burden the one to the other, under which the one groaned, and the other raged ; but now they are freely parted ; never to come together any more. The iron and clay, Dan. ii. 41 43, which could never mix, are quite separated ; the one being drawn up into the air, by the attractive virtue of " the stone cut out of the mountain," name- ly, Jesus Christ ; and the other left upon its earth, to be trod under foot. Now let us look to the right hand, and there we shall see a glorious company of saints, shining as so many stars in their orbs, and with a cheerful countenance beholding him who sitteth upon the throne. Here will be two wonderful sights, which the world never saw. 1. A great congregation of saints, in which there will not be so much as one hypocrite. There was a bloody Cain in Adam's family ; a cursed Ham in Noah's family, in the ark ; a treacherous Judas in Christ's own family : but in that company there will be none but sealed ones, members of Christ, having all one Father. This is a sight reserved for that day. 2. All the godly upon one side. Seldom or ever do the saints on earth make such harmony, but there are some jarring strings among them. It is not to be expected, that men who see but in part, though they be all going to one city, should agree as to every step in the way ; no, we must not look for it, in this state of imperfection. But at that day, Paul and Barnabas shall meet in peace and unity, though once " the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder, the one from the other," Acts xv. 39. There shall be no more divisions, no more separate standing among those who belong to Christ. All the godly, of the different parties, shall then be upon one side, since, whatever were their differences in lesser things, while in the world, yet even then they met and concentred all in one Lord Jesus Christ, by a true and lively faith, and in the one way of holiness, or practical godliness. And naughty hypocrites, of whatever party, shall be led forth with the workers of iniquity. Look to the left hand, and there you will see the cursed goats, all the wicked ones, from Cain to the last ungodly person, who shall be in the world, gathered together into one most miserable congregation. There are many assemblies of the wicked now ; then there shall be but one. But all of them shall be present there, brought together as one herd for the slaughter, bellowing and roaring, weeping and howling, for the miseries come, and that are coming on them. And remember, thou shall not be a TRIAL OF THE PARTIES. 287 mere spectator, to look at these two so different companies : but must thyself take thy place in one of the two, and shalt share with the company, whatever hand it be on. Those who now abhor no society so much, as that of the saints, would then be glad to be allowed to get in among them ; though it were but to lie among their feet. But then not one tare shall be found with the wheat : he will thoroughly purge his floor. Many of the right hand men of this world, will be left hand men in that day. Many, who must have the door on the right hand of those who are better than they, (if the righteous be more excellent than his neighbour,) shall then be turned to the left hand, as most despi- cable wretches. O how terrible will this separation be to the ungodly ! How dreadful will this gathering them together into one company be ! What they will not now believe, they will then see, namely, that but few are saved. They think it enough now, to be neighbour-like, and can securely follow the multitude : but the multitude on the left hand will yield them no comfort. How will it sting the ungodly Christian, to see himself set on the same hand with Turks and Pagans ! How will it gall profane Protestants to stand with idolatrous Papists ; praying people, with their profane neighbours, who mocked at religious exercises; formal professors, strangers to the new birth, and the power of godliness, with persecutors ! Now there are many opposite societies in the world, but then all the ungodly shall be in one society. And how dreadful will the faces of companions in sin be to one another there ! What doleful shrieks, when the whoremonger and his whore shall meet ; when the drunkards, who have had many a jovial day together, shall see one another in the face ; when the husband and wife, the parents and child- ren, masters and servants, and neighbours, who have been snares and stumbling blocks to one another to the ruin of their own souls, and those of their relatives, shall meet again in that miserable society. Then will there be curses instead of saluta- tions ; and tearing of themselves, and raging against one another, instead of the wonted embraces. 7. The parties shall be tried. The trial cannot be difficult, seeing the Judge is omniscient, and nothing can be hid from him. But, that his righteous judgment may be made evident to all, he will set the hidden things of darkness in the clearest light at that trial, 1 Cor. iv. 5. Men shall be tried, First, Upon their works ; for " God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil," Eccles. xii. 14. The Judge, will try every man's conversation, and set his deeds done in the body? with all the circumstances thereof, in a true light. Then will many actions, commended and applauded of men, as good and just, be discovered to have been evil and abominable in the sight of God ; and many works, now condemned in the world, 288 TRIAL OF THE PARTIES. will be approved and commended by the great Judge as good and just. Secret things will be brought to light; and what was hid from the view of the world, shall be laid open. Wickedness, which has kept its lurking place, in spite of all human search, will then be brought forth to the glory of God, and the confusion of impenitent sinners, who hid it. The world appears now very vile in the eyes of those who are exercised to godliness ; but it will then appear a thousand times more vile, when that which is done of men in secret comes to be discovered. Every good action shall then be remembered ; and the hidden religion and good works, most industriously concealed by the saints, from the eyes of men, shall no more lie hid : for though the Lord will not allow men to proclaim every man his own goodness, yet he himself will do it in due time. Secondly, Their words shall be judged, Matt. xii. 37, " For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Not a word spoken for God and his cause in the world, from love to himself, shall be forgotten. They are all kept in remembrance, and shall be brought forth as evidences of faith, and of an interest in Christ. Mai. iii. 16, 17, "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it ; and a book of remembrance was written before him. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels." And the tongue, which did run at random, shall then confess to God ; and the speaker shall find it to have been followed, and every word noted, that dropped from his unsanctified lips. "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment," Matt, xii. 36. And if they shall give account of idle words, that is, words spoken to no good purpose, neither for God's glory, one's own, nor one's neighbour's good ; how much more shall men's wicked words, their sinful oaths, curses, lies, filthy communi- cations, and bitter words, be called over again in that day ! The tongues of many shall fall then upon themselves, and ruin them. Thirdly, Men's thoughts shall be brought into judg- ment ; the Judge will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, 1 Cor. iv. 5. Thoughts go free from man's judgment, but not from the judgment of the heart-searching God, who knows men's thoughts, without the help of signs to discern them by. The secret springs of men's actions will then be brought to light ; and the sins, that never came further than the heart, will then be laid open. O what a figure will man's corrupt nature make, when his inside is turned out, and all his speculative impurities are exposed! The rottenness that is within many a whited sepulchre, the speculative filthiness and wantonness, murder and malignity, now lurking in the hearts of men, as in the chambers of imagery, will then be discovered, and what good was in the hearts of any, shall no more lie concealed. If THE BOOKS OPENED. 289 it was in their hearts to build a house to the Lord, they shall fiear, that they did well that it was in their hearts. This trial will be righteous and impartial, accurate and searching, clear and evident. The Judge is the righteous Judge, and he will do right to every one. He has a just bal- ance for good and evil actions, and for honest and false hearts. The fig leaf cover of hypocrisy will then be blown aside, and the hypocrite's nakedness will appear ; as when the Lord came to judge Adam and Eve " in the cool," or, as the word is, " in the wind of the day," Gen. iii. 8. " The fire," which tries things most exquisitely, " shall try every man's work, of what sort it is," 1 Cor. iii. 13. Man's judgment is often perplexed and confused : but here the whole process shall be clear and evident, as written with a sunbeam. It shall be clear to the Judge, to whom no case can be intricate ; and to the parties, who shall be convinced, Jude ver. 15. And the multitudes on both sides shall see the Judge is clear when he judges ; for then " the heavens shall declare his righteousness," in the audience of all the world ; and so it shall be universally known, Psa. 1. 6. On these accounts it is, that this trial is held out in the Scrip- ture, under the notion of " opening the books ;" and men are said to be "judged out of those things written in the books," Rev. xx. 12. The Judge of the world, who infallibly knows all things, has no need of books to be laid before him, to prevent mistakes in any point of law or fact ; but the expression points at his proceeding, as most nice, accurate, just, and well grounded, in every step of it. Now there are four books that shall be opened in that day : First, The book of God's remembrance, or omniscience, Mai. iii. 16. This is an exact record of every man's state, thoughts, words, and deeds, good or evil : it is, as it were, a day-book, in which the Lord puts down all that passes in men's hearts, lips, and lives ; and it is filling up, every day that one lives. In it are recorded men's sins and good works, secret and open, with all their circumstances. Here are registered all their privileges, temporal and spiritual mercies, often made ready to their hand ; the checks, admonitions, and rebukes, given by teachers, neighbours, afflictions, and men's own consciences ; every thing in its due order. This book will serve only as a bill of indictment, in respect of the ungodly; but it will be for another use in respect of the godly, namely, for a memorial of their good. The opening of it is the Judge's bringing to light what is written in it ; the reading, as it were, of the bill and me- morial, respectively, in their hearing. Secondly, The book of conscience will be opened, which shall be as a thousand witnesses to prove the fact, Rom. ii. 15 " Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their 25 290 THE BOOKS OPENED. conscience also bearing witness." Conscience is a censor, go.'ng with every man wherever he goes, taking an account of his deeds done in the body, and, as it were, noting them in a book. Much is written in it, which cannot be read now ; the writing of conscience being, in many cases, like to that which is made with the juice of lemons, not to be read, till it be held before the fire ; but then men shall read it clearly and distinctly; the fire which is to try every- man's work, will make the book of conscience legible in every point. Though the book be sealed now, the conscience blind, aumb, and deaf, the seals will then be broken, and the book opened. There shall be no more a silent conscience, and far less a secret conscience, amongst all the ungodly crew: but their consciences shall be most quick sighted, and most lively, in that day. None shall then call good evil, or evil good. Ignorance of what sin is, and what things are sins, will have no place among them : and the subtle reasonings of men, in favour of their lusts, will then be for ever baffled by their own conscience. None shall have the favour, if I may so speak, of lying under the soft cover of delusion : but they shall all be convicted by their conscience. Whether they will or not, they must look on this book, read, be confounded, and stand speechless, knowing that nothing is char- ged upon them by mistake; since this is a book which was always in their own custody. Thus shall the Judge make every man see himself in the glass of his own conscience, which will make quick work. Thirdly, The book of the law shall be opened. This book is the standard and rule, by which is known what is right, and what is wrong ; as also, what sentence is to be passed accord- ingly, on those who are under it. As to the opening of this book, as a statute, which shows what is sin, and what is duty, it agrees with the opening of the book of conscience : for con- science is set, by the sovereign Lawgiver, in every man's breast, to be his private teacher, to show him the law, and his private pastor, to make application of the same ; and at that day, it will be perfectly fit for its office, so that the conscience, which is most stupid now, shall then read to the man most accurate, but dreadful lectures on the law. But what seems principally pointed at, by the opening of this book, is the opening of that part of it, which determines the reward of men's works. Now the law promises life, upon perfect obedience : but none can be .found on the right hand, or on the left, who will pretend to that, when once the book of conscience is opened. It threatens death upon .disobedience, and will effectually bring it upon all under its do- minion. And this part of the book of the law, determining the reward of men's works, is opened, only to show, what must be the portion of ^he ungodly, and that there they may read their sentence before it be pronounced. But it is not opened for the THE BOOKS OPENED. 291 sentence of the saints ; for no sentence absolving a sinner could ever be drawn out of it. The law promises life, not as it is a rule of actions, but as a covenant of works ; therefore innocent man could not have demanded life upon his obedience, till the law was reduced into the form of a covenant ; as was shown be- fore. But the saints having been, in this life, brought under a new covenant, namely, the covenant of grace, were dead to the law, as a covenant of works, and it was dead to them. Where- fore, as they shall not now have any fears of death from it ; so they can have no hopes of life from it, since " they are not un- der the law, but under grace," Rom. vi. 14. But, for their sen- tence, another book is opened. Thus the book of the law is opened, for the sentence against all those on the left hand : and by it they will clearly see the justice of the judgment against them, and how the Judge pro- ceeds therein according to law. Nevertheless, there will be this difference, namely, that those who had only the natural law, and lived not under any special revelation, shall be judged by that law of nature they had in their hearts : which law declares " that they which commit such things," as they will stand con- victed of, " are worthy of death," Rom. i. 32. But these who had the written law, to whom the word of God came, sounding in the visible church, shall be judged by that written law. So says the apostle, Rom. ii. 12, " For as many as have sinned without " the written " law, shall also perish without " the written " law : and as many as have sinned in the law," that is, under the written law, " shall be judged by the (written) law." Lastly, " Another book " shall be " opened, which is the book of life," Rev. xx. 12. In this the names of all the elect are written, as Christ said to his disciples, Luke x. 20, " Your names are written in heaven." This book contains God's gra* cious and unchangeable purpose, to bring all the elect to eternal life ; and that, in order thereto, they be redeemed by the blood of his Son, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and raised up by him at the last day, without sin. It is now lodged in the Mediator's hand, as the book of " the manner Oi the kingdom :" and having perfected the work the Father gave him to do, he shall, on the great day, produce, and open the book, and present the persons therein named, " faultless before the presence of his glory," Jude ver. 24 ; " not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing," Eph. v. 27. Not one of them who are named in the book will be missing. They shall be found qualified, according to the order of the book, redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, raised up without spot : what remains then, but, according to the same book, they obtain the great end, namely, everlasting life? This may be gathered from this pre- cious promise, Rev. iii. 5, " Ho that overcometh, the same shall b clothed in white raiment," being raised in glory ; " and 1 292 SENTENCE PRONOUNCED ON THE SAINTS. will not .blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will con- fess his name before my Father, (it shall be, as it were, read out,' among the rest of God's elect,) and before his angels." Here is now the ground of the saints' absolution, the ground of the blessed sentence they shall receive. The book of life being opened, it will be known to all, who are elected, and who are not. Thus far of the trial of the parties. 8. Then shall the Judge pronounce this blessed sentence on the saints, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king- dom prepared for you, from the foundation of the world." Matt. xxv. 34. It is most probable, the man Christ will pro- nounce it with an audible voice ; which not only all the saints, but all the wicked likewise, shall hear and understand. Who can conceive the inexpressible joy, with which these happy ones will hear these words ? Who can imagine that fulness of joy which will be poured into their hearts, with these words reaching their ears ? And who can conceive how much of hell shall break forth into the hearts of all the ungodly crew, by these words of heaven 1 It is certain that this sentence shall be pronounced, before the sentence of damnation, Matt. xxv. 34. " Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed," &c. ver. 41, "Then shall he say also to them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed," &c. There is no need of this order, that the saints may, without fear or affrightment, hear the other sentence on the reprobate : they who are raised in glory, caught up to meet the Lord in the air, presented without spot, and whose souls, for the far greater part of them, have been so long in heaven before, shall not be capa- ble of any such fear. But hereby they will be orderly brought in, to sit in judgment, as Christ's assessors, against the ungod- ly; whose torment will be aggravated by it. It will be a hell to them to be kept out of hell, till they see the doors of heaven opened to receive the saints, who once dwelt in the same world with them ; and perhaps in the same country, parish, or town, and sat under the same ministry with themselves. Thus will they see heaven afar off, to make their hell the hotter: like that unbelieving lord, 2 Kings vii. 19, 20. They " shall see " the plenty " with their eyes, but shall not eat thereof." Every word of the blessed sentence shall be like an envenomed arrow shot into their hearts, while they see, what they have lost, and from thence gather what they are to expect. This sentence passes on the saints, "according to their works," Rev. xx. 12 ; but not for their works, nor for their faith, as if eternal life were merited by them. The sentence itself overthrows this absurd conceit. The kingdom which they are called to, was " prepared for them, from the founda- tion of the world ;" not left to be merited by themselves, who were but of yesterday. They inherit it as sons, but procure it SENTENCE PRONOUNCED ON THE SAINTS. 293 not to themselves, as servants do the reward of their work. They were redeemed by the blood of Christ, and clothed with his spotless righteousness, which is the proper cause of the sentence. They were also qualified for heaven, by the sancti- fication of his Spirit ; and hence it is " according to their works :" so that the ungodly world shall see now, that the Judge of Jhe quick and dead does good to them who were good. Therefore it is added to the sentence, " For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat," &c. ver. 35, 36 ; which does not denote the ground, but the evidence, of their right to heaven ; as if a judge should say, he absolves a man pursued for debt ; for the witnesses depose, that it is paid already. So the apostle says, 1 Cor. x. 5, "But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness." Their overthrow in the wilderness was not on the ground of God's dis- pleasure with them, but it was an evidence of it. And thus our Lord teaches us the necessary connection between glory and good works, namely, works evangelically good ; works having a respect to Jesus Christ, and done out of faith in him, and love to him, without which they will not be regarded in that day. And the saints will so far be judged according to such works, that the degrees of glory amongst them, shall be according to these works ! For it is an eternal truth, " He that soweth sparingly, shall reap sparingly," 2 Cor. ix. 6. Thus shall the good works of the godly have a glorious, but a gratuitous reward; a reward of grace, not of debt, which will fill them with wonder at the riches of free grace, and the Lord's condescending to take any notice, especially such public notice, of their poor worthless works : which seems to be the import of what they are said to answer, " saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered ?" ver. 37, 38, 39. And may they not justly wonder to see themselves set down to the marriage supper of the Lamb, and hear him acknowledge a dinner or supper, a little meat or drink, such as they had, which they gave to a hungry or thirsty member of Christ, for his sake 1 O plentiful harvest, following upon the seed of good works! Rivers of pleasures, in exchange for a cup of cold water, given to a disciple, in the name of a disciple ! Eternal mansions of glory, in exchange for a night's lodging, given to a saint, who was a stranger ! Ever- lasting robes of glory, in exchange for a new coat, or, it may be, an old one, bestowed on some saint, who had not necessary clothing ! A visit to a sick saint, repaid by Christ himself/ coming in the glory of his Father, with all his holy angels ! A visit made to a poor prisoner for the cause of Christ, repaid with a visit from the Judge of all, taking away tne visitant with him to the palace of heaven, there to be ever with himself! These things will be a matter of everlasting wonder ; and should stir up all to sow liberally in time, while the seed time of good works 25* 294 THE SAINTS SHALL JUDGE THE WORLD. lasts. But it is Christ's stamp on good works, that puts a value on them, in the eye of our gracious God ; which seems to be the import of our Lord's reply, ver. 40, " In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." 9. Now the saints having received their own sentence, " they shall judge the world," 1 Cor. vi. 2. This was not fulfilled, when the empire became Christian, and Christians were made magistrates. No, the Psalmist tells us, " This honour have all the saints," Psa. cxlix. 9. And the apostle, in the forecited place, adds, " And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters ?" ver. 3, "Know ye not that we shall judge angels ? y Being called, they come to receive their kingdom, in the view of angels and men : they go, as it were from the bar to the throne, " To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me on my throne," Rev. iii. 21. They shall not only judge the world, in Christ their head, by way of com- munion with him, by their works compared with those of the ungodly, or by way of testimony against them ; but they shall be assessors to Jesus Christ the judge, giving their voice against them, consenting to his judgment as just, and saying Amen to the doom pronounced against all the ungodly : as is said of the saints, upon the judgment of the great whore, Rev. xix. 1, 2, " Hallelujah for true and righteous are his judgments." Thus " the upright shall have dominion over them, in the morning" of the resurrection, Psa. xlix. 14. Then, and not till then, shall that be fully accomplished, in Psa. cxlix. "6 9, " Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people this honour have all his saints." O ! what a strange turn of affairs will appear here! What an astonishing sight will it be, to see wicked churchmen and statesmen, stand- ing as criminals before the saints, whom sometimes they con- demned as heretics, rebels, and traitors ! To see men of riches and power stand pale faced before those whom they oppressed ! To see the mocker stand trembling before those he mocked ! The worldly wise man, before those whom he accounted fools ! Then shall the despised faces of the saints be dreadful faces to the wicked; and those, who sometimes were the song of the drunkards, shall then be a terror to them. All wrongs must be righted at length, and every one set in his proper place. 10. The Judge will pronounce the sentence of damnation on all the ungodly multitude. " Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels," ver 41. Fearful doom ! and that from the same mouth, from whence proceeded the sen- tence of absolution before. It was an aggravation of the misery of the Jews, when their city was destroyed, that they were SENTENCE OF DAMNATION ON THE UNGODLY. 295 ruined by one who was accounted the darling of the world. O what an aggravation of the misery of the wicked will it be, that Christ will pronounce this sentence also! To hear the curse from Mount Zion, must needs be most terrible. To be damned by him, who came to save sinners, must be double damnation. But thus it will be. The Lamb of God shall roar, as a lion, against them : he. shall excommunicate, and cast them out of his presence for ever, by a sentence from the throne, saying, " De- part from me, ye cursed." He shall adjudge them to everlasting fire, and the society of devils for evermore. And this sentence also, we suppose, will be pronounced with an audible voice, by the man Christ. And all the saints shall say, " Hallelujah, true and righteous are his judgments." None were so compassionate as the saints, when on earth, during the time of God's patience. But now that time is at an end : their compassion on the ungodly is swallowed up in joy, in the Mediator's glory, and his executing of just judgment, by which his enemies are made his footstool. Though, when on earth, the righteous man wept in secret places for their pride, and because they would not hear; yet he " shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance ; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked," Psa. Iviii. 10. No pity shall then be shown to them from their nearest relations. The godly wife shall applaud the justice of the Judge, in the condemnation of her ungodly husband ; the godly husband shaH say Amen to the damnation of her who lay in his bosom : the godly parents shall say Hallelujah, at the passing of the sentence against their ungodly child : and the godly child shall, from the bottom of his heart, approve the damnation of his wicked parents, the father who begat him, and the mother who bore him. The sentence is just ; they are judged according to. their works, Rev. xx. 12. There is no wrong done them, " For I was an hungered," says our Lord, " and ye gave me no meat : I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink : I was a stranger, and ye took me not in naked, and ye clothed me not : sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not," ver. 42, 43. These are not only evidences of their ungodly and cursed state, but most proper causes and grounds of their condemnation : for though good works do not merit salvation, yet evil works merit damnation. Sins of one kind only, namely of omission, are here mentioned ; not that these alone shall be then discovered, for the books lie all open, but because these, though there were no more, are sufficient to damn unpardoned sinners. And if men are condemned for sins of omission, much more for sins of commission. The omission of works of charity and mercy, is mentioned in particular, to stop the mouths of the wicked ; for it is most just, that he " have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy," James ii. 13. Taking notice of the omission of acts of charity and 296 SENTENCE OF DAMNATION ON THE UNGODLY. mercy, towards the distressed members of Christ, intimates, thai it is the judgment of those who have heard of Christ in the gospel, that is principally intended in this portion of Scripture ; and that the slighting of Christ will be the great cause of the ruin of those who hear the gospel: but the enmity of the hearts of the wicked, against Christ himself, is discovered by the enter- tainment they now give to his members. In vain will they say, " When saw we thee an hungered, or athirst ?" die. ver. 44. For the Lord reckons, and will reckon, the world's unkindness to his people, unkindness to himself; " In as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me," ver. 45. O meat and drink unhappily spared, when a member of Christ was in need of it ! O wretched neglect, that the stranger saint was not taken in ! It had been better for them they had quitted their own room, and their own bed, than he had wanted lodging. O cursed clothing, may the wicked say, that was in my house, locked up in my chest, or hanging in my wardrobe, and was not brought out to clothe such a one ! O that I had stripped myself, rather than he had gone away without clothing ! Cursed business, that diverted me from visit- ing such a sick saint ! O that I had rather watched whole nights with him ! Wretch that I was ! Why did I sit at ease in my house, when he was in prison, and did not visit him ? But now the tables are turned ; Christ's servants shall eat, but I shall be hungry ; his servants shall drink, but I shall be thirsty ; they rejoice, but I am ashamed, Isa. Ixv. 13. They are taken in, but I am cast out, and bid to depart ; they are clothed with robes of glory, but I " walk naked, and they see my shame," Rev. xvi. 15. They are now raised up on high, beyond the reach of sickness or pain ; but I must now " lie down in sorrow," Isa. 1. 11. Now they will go to the palace of heaven, but I must go to the prison of hell. But if our Lord thus resent men's neglecting to help his people under these, and the like distresses ; what may they expect, who are the authors and instruments of them ? If they shall be fed with wrath, who fed them not when they were hungry ; what shall become of those, who robbed and spoiled them, and took their own bread away from them ? What a full cup of wrath shall be the portion of those, who were so far from giving them meat or drink, when hungry or thirsty, that they made it a crime for others to entertain them, and made themselves drunken with their blood ! They must lodge with devils for evermore, who took not in the Lord's people, when strangers : then, what a lodging shall those have, who drove them out of their own houses, out of their native land, and made them strangers? Men will be condemned for not clothing them, when naked : then, how heavy must the sentence of those be, who have Stripped them, and made them go without clothing? Surely, if SENTENCE OF DAMNATION ON THE UNGODLY. 297 not visiting of them in sickness, or in a prison, shall be so severely punished; they shall not escape a most heavy doom, who have cast them into prisons, and have put them under such hard- ships, as have impaired their health, brought sickness on them, and cut short their days in prison, or out of prison. To put a face upon such wicked practices, men will pretend to retain an honour for Christ and religion, while they thus treat his members, walking in his way, and keeping the truth. They are here represented to say, " When saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?" ver. 44. As if they should say, Our bread, drink, lodging, clothing, and visits, were indeed refused, but not to Christ ; but to a set of men of a bad character, men who " turned the worid upside down," Acts xvii. 6 ; who troubled Israel, 1 Kings xviii. 17, a humorous and fantastic sort of people, having laws diverse from all people ; factious and rebellious, they did not keep the king's laws, and therefore a very dangerous set of men ; it was not for the king's profit to suffer them, Esther iii. 8. But although men cast iniquity upon the godly, and give them ill names, that they may treat them as criminals ; all these pretences will avail them nothing, in the great day, before the righteous Judge, nor before their own consciences : but the real ground of their enmity against the saints, will be found, to their own convic- tion, to be their enmity against Christ himself. This seems to be the import of the objection of the damned, ver. 44, and of the answer to it, ver. 45, " In as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me." Lastly, Sentence being passed on both parties, the full exe- cution of the same follows, ver. 46, " And these shall go away into everlasting punishment ; but the righteous into life eternal." The damned shall get no reprieve, but go to their place without delay ; they shall be driven away from the judgment seat into hell : and the saints " shall enter into the King's palace," Psa. xlv. 15, namely, into heaven, the seat of the blessed. But our Lord Christ, and his glorious company, shall keep the field that day, and see the backs of all their enemies ; for the damned go off first. In this day of the Lord, the great day, shall be the general conflagration ; by which, these visible heavens, the earth, and sea shall pass away. Not that they shall be annihilated, or re- duced to nothing, that is not the operation of fire ; but they shall be dissolved, and purged by that fire, from all the effects of sin, and of the curse, upon them ; and then renewed, and made more glorious and stable. Of this conflagration, the apostle Peter speaks, 2 Pet. iii. 10, " But the day of ihe Lord will come, as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent 298 THE GENERAL CONFLAGHATION. heat ; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up." See also, ver. 7 12. And of the renewing of the world, he adds, ver. 13, " Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." It seems most agreeable to the Scriptures, and to the nature of the thing, to conceive this conflagration to follow after the general judgment ; sentence being passed on both parties before it. And I judge it probable, that it will fall in with the putting of the sentence in execution against the damned ; so as they shall, according to their sentence, depart, and the heavens and the earth pass away, together and at once, at that furious rebuke from the throne, driving away the damned, out of the world (in this fire) to the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Even as, in the deluge, with which the apostle Peter compares the conflagration, or burning of the world, 2 Pet. iii. 6, 7, the world itself, and the wicked upon it, perished together ; the same water which destroyed the earth, sweeping away the inhabitants. For it is not likely that the wicked shall at all stand on the new earth, " wherein dwelleth righteousness," 2 Pet. iii. 13. And as for this earth, it shall " flee away," which seems to denote a very quick despatch, and it shall " flee from his face, who sits on the throne." Rev. xx. 11, " And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away." The execution of the sen- tence on the wicked is also thus expressed : they " shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence," or " from the face of the Lord," 2 Thess. i. 9. The original word is the same in both texts, which being compared, seem to say, that these creatures, abused by the wicked, being left to stand, as witnesses against them, in the judgment, are, after sentence passed on their abusers, made to pass away with them from the face of the Judge. It is true, the flying away of the earth and the heavens is narrated, Rev. xx. 11, before the judg- ment, but that does not prove its going before the judgment, any more than the narrating of the judgment, ver. 12, before the resurrection, ver. 13, will prove the judgment to be before it. Further, it is remarkable, in the execution of the sentence, Rev. xx. 14, 15, that not only the reprobates are "cast into the lake," but " death and hell" are cast into it likewise : all effects of sin and of the curse, are removed out of the world, for which very cause shall the conflagration be, and they are confined to tho place of the damned. Besides all this, it is evident that the end of the world is by the conflagration : and the apostle tells us, 1 Cor. xv. 24, 25, " then cometh the end, when he shall have de- livered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet." COMFORT TO THE SAINTS. 299 Which last, as it must be done before the end ; so it seems not to be done,*but by putting the sentence in execution, passed in the day of judgment, against the wicked. Now, if the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, that are set f orth for an example, Jude ver. 7, was so dreadful, how terri- ble will that day be, when the whole world shall be at once in flames ! How will wretched worldlings look, when their dar ling world shall be on fire ! Then shall strong castles, and .owering palaces, with all their rich furniture, go up together in one flame, with the lowest cottages. What heart can fully con- ceive the terror of that day to the wicked, when the whole fabric of heaven and earth shall at once be dissolved, by that fire ! When that miserable company shall be driven from the tribtnal to the pit with fire within them, and without on every hand of them ; and fire awaiting them in the lake : whither the former fire, for ought appears, may follow them. As for the particular place of this judgment, though some point us to the valley of Jehoshaphat for it ; yet our Lord, who infallibly knew it, being asked the question, by his disciples, " Where, Lord?" only said, " Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together," Luke xvii. 37. After which answer, it is too much for men to renew the question. As for the time, when it shall be, in vain do men search for what the Lord has purposely kept secret, Acts i. 7, " It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in his own power." The apostle Paul, after having very plainly described the second coming of Christ, 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17, adds, chap. v. 1,2, " But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you : for your- selves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." Nevertheless, some, in several ages, have made very bold with the time; and several particular years, which are now past, have been given out to the world, for the time of the end, by men who have pried into the secrets of God. Time has proclaimed, to the world, their rashness and folly ; and it is probable they will be more happy in their conjectures, whose determinate time is yet to come. Let us rest in that " he cometh." God has kept the day hid from us, that we may be every day ready for it, Matt. xxv. 13, " Watch, therefore ; for ye know neither the day, nor the hour, wherein the Son of man cometh." And let us remember, that the last day of our life, will determine our state in the last day of the world : and as we die, so shall we be judged. I shall now shut up this subject, with some application of what has been said. USE I. Of comfort to all the saints. Here is abundance of consolation to all who are in the state of grace. Whatever be your afflictions io the world, this day will make up all your 300 TERROR TO UNBELIEVERS. losses. " Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold," Psa. Ixviii. 13. Though the world reproach, judge, and condemn you ; the Judge will at that day absolve you, and bring forth your righteousness as the light. The world's fools will then appear to have been the only wise men who were in it.. Though the cross be heavy, you may well bear it, in expectation of the crown of righteousness, which the righteous Judge will then give you. If the world despise you, and treat you with the utmost contempt, regard it not : the day comes wherein you shall sit with Christ, in his throne. Be not discouraged by reason of manifold temptations. But resist the devil, in confidence of a full and complete victory ; for you shall judge the tempter at last. Though you have hard wrestling now, with the body of sin and death ; yet you shall get all your enemies under your feet at length, and be presented faultless before the presence of his glory. Let not the terror of that day dispirit you, when you think upon it : let those who have slighted the Judge, and continue enemies to him, and to the way of holiness, droop and hang down their heads, when they think of his coming : but lift you up your heads with joy, for the last day will be your best day. The Judge is your Head and Husband, your Redeemer, and your Advocate. You must appear before the judgment seat, but you " shall not come into condemnation," John v. 24. His coming will not be against you, but for you. He came in the flesh, to remove the lawful impediments of the spiritual marriage, by his death : he came in the gospel to you, to espouse you to himself: he will come, at the last day, to solemnize the marriage, and take the bride home to his Father's house. " Even so, come, Lord Jesus." USE IL Of terror to all unbelievers. This may serve to awaken a secure generation, a world lying in wickedness, as if they were never to be called to an account for it ; and slighting the Mediator, as if he were not to judge them. Ah ! how few have the lively impressions of the judgment to come ! Most men live, as if what is said of it, from the word, were but idle tales. The profane lives of many speak the thoughts of it to be far fiom their hearts, and in very deed make a mock of it before the world, saying in effect, " Where is the promise of his com- ing?" The hypocrisy of others, who blind the eyes of the world with a splendid profession, being in appearance Christ's sheep, while they are indeed the devil's goats, proves, that the great separation of the sheep from the goats is very little laid to heart. How do many indulge themselves in secret wickedness, of which they would be ashamed before witnesses ; not con- sidering, that their most secret thoughts and actions will, at *hat day, be discovered before the great congregation ! How eagerly are men's hearts set on the world, as if it were to be TERROR TO UNBELIEVERS. - 301 their everlasting habitation ! The solemn assemblies, and pub- lic ordinances, wherein the Judge is upon a transaction of peace with the criminals, are undervalued : men's hearts swim like feathers, in the waters of the sanctuary, that sink like stones to the bottom in cares of this life ; they will be very serious in trifles of this world, and trifle in the most serious and weighty things of another world : but, O consider the day, that is ap- proaching, in which Christ will come to judgment ; the world shall be summoned, by the sound of the last trumpet, to appear before his tribunal. The Judge will sit on his throne, and all nations will be summoned before him ; the separation will be made between the godly and the wicked ; the books opened, and the dead judged out of them ; one party will be adjudged to everlasting life, and the other to everlasting fire, according to their works. It would be a sight of admirable curiosity, if thou couldst wrap up thyself in some dark cloud, or hide thyself in the clift of some high rock, from whence thou mightest espy wicked kings, princes, judges, and great ones of the earth, rising out of their marble tombs, and brought to the bar, to answer for all their cruelty, injustice, oppression, and profanity, without any marks of distinction, but what their wickedness puts upon them : profane, unholy, and unfaithful churchmen, pursued with the curses of their ruined people, from their graves to the judgment seat, and charged with the blood of souls, to whom they gave not faithful warning : mighty men standing trembling before the Judge, unable to recover their wonted boldness, to outwit him with their subtleties, or defend themselves with their strength : delicate women cast forth of their graves, as abominable branches, dragged to the tribunal, to answer for their ungodly lives : the ignorant, suddenly taught in the law to their cost ; and the learned declared before the world, fools and laborious triflers : the Atheist convinced, the hypocrite unmasked ; and the profane at length, turned serious about his eternal state : secret murders, adulteries, thefts, cheats, and other works of darkness, which scorned all human search, discovered and laid open before the world, with their most minute circumstances : no regard had to the rich, no pity shown to the poor : the scales of the world turned ; oppressed and despised piety set on high ; and prosper- ous wickedness at last brought low : all not found in Christ, arraigned, convicted, and condemned, without respect to persons, and driven from the tribunal to the pit ; while those found in him, at that day, being absolved before the world, go with him into heaven. Nay, but thou canst not so escape. Whoever thou art, not being in Christ, thou must bear a part in this tragi- cal and frightful scene. Sinner, that same Lord Christ, whom thou now despisest, whom thou woundest through the sides of his messengers, and 26 302 EXHORTATION TO PREPARE FOR JUDGMENT. before whom thou dost prefer thy lusts, will be thy Judge. The neglected Saviour will be a severe Judge. O ! what mountain, what rock wilt thou get to fall on thee, and hide thee from the face of him who sitteth on the throne ? Thou hast now a rock within thee, a heart of adamant, so that thou canst count the darts of the word as stubble, and laugh at the shaking of the spear : but that rock will rend at the sight of the Judge ; that hard heart will then break, and thou wilt weep and wail, when weeping and wailing will be to no purpose. Death's bands will fall off, the grave will vomit thee out ; and the mountains shall skip from thee, and the rocks refuse to grind thee to powder. How will these cursed eyes abide the sight of the Judge ? Be hold, he cometh ! Where is the profane swearer, who tore his wounds ? The wretched worldling, now abandoned of his God ? The formal hypocrite, who kissed him and betrayed him? The despiser of the gospel, who sent him away in his messengers groaning, profaned his ordinances, and trampled under foot his precious blood ? O murderer, the slain man is thy judge : there is he whom thou didst so maltreat. Behold the neglected Lamb of God appearing as a lion against thee. How will thine heart endure the darts of his fiery looks ? That rocky heart, which now holds out against him, shall then be blown up ; that face, which refuses to blush now, shall then gather blackness ; arrows of wrath shall pierce, where arrows of conviction cannot enter now. What wilt thou answer him, when he rises up, and charges thee with thy unbelief and impenitence 1 Wilt thou say thou wast not warned ? Conscience within thee will give thee the lie ; the secret groans and weariness of those who warned thee, will witness the contrary. If a child or a fool did tell you that your house were on fire, you would immediately run to quench it : but, in matters of eternal concern, men will first fill their hearts with prejudices against the messengers, and then cast their message behind their backs. But these silly shifts and pretences will not avail, in the day of the Lord. How will these cursed ears, now deaf to the call of the gospel, inviting sinners to come to Christ, hear the fearful sentence, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels ?" No sleepy hearer shall be there ; no man's heart will then wander ; their hearts and eyes will then be fixed on their misery, which they will not now be- lieve. O that we knew in this our day, the things that belong to our peace ! Lastly, Be exhorted to believe this great truth ; and believe it so as you may prepare for the judgment betimes. Set up a secret tribunal in your own breasts, and often call yourselves to an account there. Make the Judge your friend in time, by closing with him, in the offer of the gospel ; and give all dili- gence, that you may be found in Christ, at that day. Cast off THE SAINTS MADE COMPLETELY HAPPY. 303 the works of darkness ; and live, as believing you are, at all times, and in all places, under the eye of your Judge, who will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing ! Be fruitful in good works, knowing, that as you sow, you shall reap. Study piety towards God, righteousness and charity towards men. Lay up in store, plenty of works of charity and mercy towards them who are in distress, especially such as are of the household of faith ; that they may be produced, that day, as evidences that you belong to Christ. Shut not up your bowels of mercy, now, towards the needy ; lest you then find no mercy. Take heed, that in all your works you be single and sincere ; aiming, in them all, at the glory of your Lord, a testimony of your love to him, and obedience to his command. Leave it to hypocrites, who have their reward, to proclaim every man his own goodness ; and to sound a trumpet, when they do their alms. It is a base and unchristian spirit, which cannot have satisfaction in a good work, unless it be exposed to the view of others : it is utterly unworthy of one who believes that the last trumpet shall call together the whole world, before whom the Judge himself shall publish works truly good, how secretly soever they were done. Live in a believing expectation of the coming of the Lord. Let your loins be always girt, and your lamps burning ; so when he comes, whether in the last day of your life, or in the last day of the world, ye shall be able to say with joy, " Lo, this is our God, and we have waited for him." HEAD V. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Then shall the King say imto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. MATT. xxv. 34. HAVING from this portion of Scripture, of which the text is a part, discoursed of the general judgment ; and being to speak of the everlasting happiness of the saints, and the everlasting misery of the wicked, from the respective sentences to be pro- nounced upon them, in the great day : I shall tai\e them in the order wherein they lie before us ; and the rather that, as sentence is first passed upon the righteous, so the execution thereof is first begun, though possibly the other may be fully executed before k be completed. The words of the text contain the joyful sentence itself to- 304 NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OP HEAVEN. gether with an historical introduction thereto, which gives us an account of the Judge pronouncing the sentence " the Kins," Jesus Christ ; the parties on whom it is given, " them on his right hand ;" and the time when, " then," as soon as the trial is over. Of these I have spoke already. It is the sentence itself we are now to consider, " Come, ye blessed of my Father," &c. Stand back, O ye profane goats ! away all unregenerate souls, not united to Jesus Christ ! this is not for you. Come, O ye saints, brought out of your natural state into the state of grace! behold here the state of glory awaiting you. Here is glory let down to us in words and syllables ; a looking glass, in which you may see your everlasting happiness, a scheme or draught, of Christ's Father's house, wherein there are many mansions. This glorious sentence bears two things. 1. The complete happiness to which the saints are adjudged, " the kingdom." 2. Their solemn admission to it, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit," &c. First, Their complete happiness is a kingdom. A kingdom is the top of worldly felicity ; there is nothing on earth greater than a kingdom ; therefore the hidden weight of glory in heaven is held forth to us under that notion. But it is not an ordinary kingdom, it is " the kingdom ;" the kingdom of Heaven, surpassing all the kingdoms of the earth, in glory, honour, profit, and pleasure, infinitely more than they do, in these, excel the low and inglorious condition of a beggar in rags, and on a dunghill. Secondly, There is a solemn ad- mission of the saints into this their kingdom, " Come ye, inherit the kingdom." In view of angels, men, and devils, they are invested with royalty, and solemnly inaugurated, before the whole world, by Jesus Christ, the heir of all things, who has " all power in heaven and in earth." Their right to the king- dom is solemnly recognized and owned. They are admitted to it, as undoubted heirs of the kingdom, to possess it by inhe- ritance, or lot, as the word properly signifies, because, of old, inheritances were designed by lot, as Canaan to Israel, God's " first-born," as they are called, Exod. iv. 22. And because this kingdom is the Father's kingdom, therefore they are openly acknowledged, in their admission to it, to be the blessed of Christ's Father ; the which blessing was given them, long be- fore this" sentence, but is now solemnly recognized, and con- firmed to them, by the Mediator, in his Father's name. It is observable, he says not, Ye blessed of the Father, but, Ye blessed of rny Father ; to show us, that all blessings are derived by us, from the Father, the Fountain of blessing, as he is " the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," through whom wo are blessed, Eph. i. 3. And finally, they are admitted to this Kingdom, as that which was " prepared for them from the foun- dation of the world," in God's eternal purpose, before, they, or THE SAINTS' ENSIGNS OF ROYALTY. 305 any of them, were ; .that all the world may see eternal life to be the free gift of God. Doctrine, The saints shall be made completely happy, in the possession of the kingdom of heaven. Two things I shall here inquire into: 1. The nature of this kingdom. 2. The admission of the saints thereto. And then I shall make some practical improvement of the whole. FIRST, As to the nature of the kingdom of heaven, our know- ledge of it is very imperfect ; 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. As, by familiar resemblances, parents instruct their little chil- dren, concerning things of which otherwise they can have no tolerable notion ; so our gracious God, in consideration of our weakness, is pleased to represent to us heaven's happiness, under similitudes taken from earthly things, glorious in the eyes of men ; since naked discoveries of the heavenly glory, divested of earthly resemblances, would be too bright for our weak eyes, and in them we would but lose ourselves. Wherefore now we can but speak as children of these things, which the day will fully discover. The state of glory is represented under the idea of a kingdom; a kingdom, among men, being that in which the greatest num- ber of earthly good things centre. Now every saint shall, as a king, inherit a kingdom. All Christ's subjects shall be kings, each one with his crown upon his head : not that the great king shall divest himself of his royalty, but he will make all his chil- dren partakers of his kingdom. I. The saints shall have kingly power and authority given them. Our Lord gives not empty titles to his favourites ; he makes them kings indeed. The dominion of the saints, will be a dominion, far exceeding that of the greatest monarch who ever was on earth. They will be absolute masters over sin, which had the dominion over them. They will have a complete rule over their own spirits ; an entire management of all their affec- tions and inclinations, which now create them so much molesta- tion : the turbulent root of corrupt affections shall be for ever expelled out of that kingdom, and never be able any more to give them the least disturbance. They shall have power over the nations, the ungodly of all nations, " and shall rule them with a rod of iron," Rev. ii. 26, 27. The whole world of the wicked shall be broken before them : " Satan shall be bruised under their feet," Rom. xvi. 20, He shall never be able to fasten a temptation on them any more ; but he will be judged by them ; and, in their sight, cast with the reprobate crew, into the lake of fire and brimstone. So shall they rule over their oppressors. Having fought the good fight, and got the victory, Christ will entertain them as Joshua did his captains, causing 26* 306 THE SAINTS SHALL BE CLOTHED IN WHITE GARMENTS. them to " come near, and put their feet on the necks of kings,' Josh. x. 24. H. They shall have the ensigns of royalty. For a throne Christ will grant them " to sit with him in hia throne," Rev. iii. 21. They will be advanced to the highest honour and dig- nity that they are capable of; and in the enjoyment of it, they will have an eternal undisturbed repose, after all the tossings which they met with in the world, in their way to the throne. For a crown, they shall " receive a crown of glory, that fadeth not away," 1 Pet. v, 4. Not a crown of flowers, as subjects being conquerors, or victors, sometimes have got : such a crown quickly fades, but their crown never fades. Not a crown of gold, such as earthly kings wear : even a crown of gold is often stained, and at best can never make them happy who wear it. But it shall be " a crown of glory." A crown of glory is " a crown of life," Rev. ii. 10, that life, which knows no end-: a crown which death can never make to fall off one's head. It must be an abiding crown ; for it is a " crown of righteous- ness," 2 Tim. iv. 8. It was purchased for them by " Christ's righteousness," which is imputed to them ; they are qualified for it, by inherent righteousness ; God's righteousness, or faith- fulness, secures it to them. They shall have " a sceptre, a rod of iron," Rev. ii. 27, terrible to all the wicked world. And a sword too, " a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute ven- geance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people," Psal. cxlix. 6, 7. They shall have royal apparel. The roya 1 robes in this kingdom are white robes, Rev. iii. 4. " They shall walk with me in white." These things in a very particulai manner, point at the inconceivable glory of the state of the saints in heaven. The Lord is pleased often to represent unto us, the glorious state of the saints, by speaking of them as clothed in " white garments." It is promised to the overcomer, that he shall be " clothed in white raiment," Rev. iii. 5. The elders about the throne, are " clothed in white raiment," chap. iv. 4. The mul- titude before the throne, are " clothed in white robes," chap, vii. 9 ; " arrayed in white robes," ver. 13 ;" made white in the blood of the Lamb," ver. 14. I own, the last two testimonies respect the state of the saints on earth ; yet the terms are bor- rowed from the state of the church in heaven. All garments, properly so called, being badges of sin and shame, shall be laid aside by the saints, when they come to their state of glory. But if we consider, on what occasions white garments were wont to be put on, we shall find much of heaven under them. First, The Romans when they manumitted their bond ser vants, gave them a white garment, as a badge of their freedom. So shall the saints, that day, get on their white robes ; for it is he day of " the glorious liberty of the children of God," Rom. THE SAINTS SHALL BE CLOTHED IN WHITE GARMENTS. 30*7 viii. 21, the day of "the redemption of their body," ver. 23. They shall no more see the house of bondage, nor lie any more among the pots. If we compare the state of the saints on earth, with that of the wicked, it is indeed a state of freedom, whereas the other is a state of slavery : but, in comparison with their state in heaven, it is but a servitude. A saint on earth is indeed a young prince, and heir to the crown, but his motto may be, " I serve ;" for " he differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all," Gal. iv. 1. What are the groans of a saint, the sordid and base work which he is sometimes found employed in, the black and tattered garments which he walks in, but badges of this comparative servitude ? But from the day the saints come to the crown, they receive their complete freedom, and serve no more. They shall be fully freed from sin, which of all evils is the worst, both in itself, and in their apprehension too ; how great then must that freedom be, when these " Egypt- ians whom they see to-day," they " shall see again no more for ever ?" They shall be free from all temptation to sin : Satan can have no access to tempt them any more, by himself, nor by his agents. A full answer will then be given to that petition, they have so often repeated, " Lead us not into temptation." No hissing serpent can come into the paradise above : no snare nor trap can be laid there, to catch the feet of the saints : they may walk there without fear, for they can be in no hazard : there are no lions' dens, no mountains of the leopards, in the promised land. Nay, they shall be set beyond the possibility of sinning, for they shall be confirmed in goodness. It will be the consummate freedom of their will, to be for ever unalterably determined to good. And they shall be freed from all the ef- fects of sin ; " There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain ;" Rev. xxi. 4. What kingdom is like unto this ? Death makes its way, now into a palace, as easily as into a cottage : sorrow fills the heart of one who wears a crown on his head : royal robes are no fence against pain, and crying by reason of pain. But in this king- dom no misery can have 'place. All reproaches shall be wiped off; and never shall a tear drop any more from their eyes. They shall not complain of desertions again ; the Lord will never hide his face from them ; but the Sun of Righteousness shining upon them in his meridian brightness, will dispel all clouds, and give them an everlasting day, without the least mix- ture of darkness. A deluge of wrath, after a fearful thunder clap from the throne, will sweep away the wicked from before the judgment seat, into the lake of fire : but they are, in the first place, like Noah, brought into the ark, and out of harm's way. Secondly, White raiment has been a token of purity. There- fore " the Lamb's wife is arrayed in fine linen clean and 808 THE SAINTS SHALL BE CLOTHED IN WHITE GARMENTS. white," Rev. xix. 8. And those who stood before the throne " washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," chap. vii. 14. The saints shall then put on the robea of perfect purity, and shine in spotless holiness, like the sun in his strength, without the least cloud to intercept his light. Ab- solute innocence shall then be restored, and every appearance of sin banished far from this kingdom. The guilt of sin, and the reigning power of it, are now taken away in the saints ; never- theless sin dwelleth in them, Rom. vii. 20. But then it shall be oo more in them : the corrupt nature will be quite removed : that root of bitterness will be plucked up ; and no vestige of it left in iheir souls : their nature shall be altogether pure and sinless. There shall be no darkness in their minds ; but the understanding of every saint, when he is come to his kingdom, will be as a globe of pure and unmixed light. There shall not be the least aversion to good, nor the least inclination to evil, in their wills : but they will be brought to a perfect conformity to the will of God ; blessed with angelic purity, and fixed therein. Their affections shall not be liable to the least disorder or irregularity : it will cost them no trouble to keep them right : they will get such a fixed habit of purity, as they can never lose. They will be so refined from all earthly dross, as never to savour more of any thing but heaven. Were it possible for them to be set again amidst the ensnaring objects of an evil world, they would walk among them without the least defilement ; as the sun shines on the dunghill, yet untainted : and as the angels preserved their purity in the midst of Sodom. Their graces shall then be perfected ; and all the imperfections now cleaving to them, done away. There will be no more ground for com- plaints of weakness of grace : none in that kingdom shall com- plain of an evil heart, or a corrupt nature. " It doth not yet ap- pear what we shall be, but when he shall appear, we shall be like him," 1 John iii. 2. Thirdly, Among the Jews, those who desired to be admitted into the priestly office, being tried, and found to be of the priests' line, and without blemish, were clothed in white, and inrolled among the priests. This seems to be alluded to, Rev. iii. 5, " He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life." So the saints shall not be kings only, but priests also: for they are a " royal priesthood," 1 Pet. ii. 9. They will be priests upon their thrones. They are judicially found descended from the great High Priest of their profession, begotten of him by his Spirit, of the incorruptible seed of the word, and with- out blemish : so the trial being over, they are admitted to be priests in the temple above, that they may dwell in the house of ihe Lord for ever. There is nothing upon earth more glo- rious than a kingdom ; nothing more venerable than the priest- THE SAINTS SHALL BE CLOTHED IN WHITE GARMENTS. 309 hood : and both meet together in the glorified state of the saints. " The general assembly of the first-born," Heb. xii. 23, whose is the priesthood and the double portion, appearing in their white robes of glory, will be a reverend and glorious company. That day will show them to be the persons whom the Lord hath chosen, out of all the tribes of the earth, to be near unto him, and to enter into his temple, even into his holy place. Their priesthood, begun on earth, shall be brought to its perfection, when they shall be employed in offering the sacrifice of praise to God and the Lamb, for ever and ever. They got not their portion in the earth, with the rest of the tribes : but the Lord himself was their portion, and will be their double portion, through the ages of eternity. FourMy, They were wont to wear white raiment, in a time of triumph ; to the which also there seems to be an allusion, Rev. iii. 5, "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment." And what is heaven, but an everlasting triumph 1 None get thither, but such as fight, and overcome too. Though Canaan was given to the Israelites, as an inheri- tance, they behoved to conquer it, ere they could be possessors of it. The saints, in this world, are in the field of battle: often in red garments, garments rolled in blood : but the day ap- proaches, in which they shall " stand before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands," Rev. vii. 9, having obtained a complete victory over all their enemies. The palm was used as a sign of victory ; because that tree, though oppressed with weights, yet yields not, but rather shoots upwards. And palm trees were carved on the doors of the most holy place, 1 Kings vi. 32, which was a special type of heaven ; for heaven is the place which the saints are received into, as conquerors. Behold the joy and peace of the saints, in their white robes. The joys arising from the view of past dangers, and of riches and honours gained at the very door of death, most sensibly touch one's heart : and this will be an ingredient in the everlast- ing happiness of the saints, which could have had no place, in the heaven of innocent Adam, and his sinless offspring, sup- posing him to have stood. Surely the glorified saints will not forget the entertainment which they met with in the world : it will be to the glory of God to remember it, and will also heighten their joy. The Sicilian king, by birth the son of a potter, acted a wise part, in that he would be served at his table, with earthen vessels ; which could not but put an additional sweetness in his meals, not to be relished by one born heir to the crown. Can ever meat be so sweet to any, as to the hungry man ? Or can any have such a relish of plenty, as he who has been under pinching straits ? The more difficulties the saints have passed through, in their way to heaven, the place will be the sweeter 310 THE SAINTS SHALL BE CLOTHED IN WHITE GARMENTS. to them when they come at it. Every happy stroke, struck in the spiritual warfare, will be a jewel in their crown of glory. Each victory obtained against sin, Satan, and the world, will raise their triumphant joy the higher. The remembrance of the cross will sweeten the crown ; and the memory of their travel through the wilderness, will put an additional verdure on the fields of glory ; while they walk through them, minding the day when they went mourning without the sun. And now that they appear triumphing in white robes, it is a sign they have obtained an honourable peace ; such a peace as their enemies can disturb no more. So every thing peculiarly adapted to their militant condition is laid aside. The sword is laid down ; and they betake themselves to the pen of a ready writer, to commemorate the praises of him by whom they over- came. Public ordinances, preaching, sacraments, shall be ho- nourably laid aside ; there is no temple there, Rev. xxi. 22. On earth these were sweet to them : but the travellers all being got home, the inns, appointed for their entertainment by the way, are shut up ; the candles are put out, when the sun is risen ; and the tabernacle used in the wilderness is folded up, when the temple of glory is come in its room. Many of the saints' duties will then be laid aside, as one gives his staff out of his hand, when he is come to the end of his journey. Praying shall then be turned to praising : and there being no sin to confess, no wants to seek the supply of, confession and petition, shall be swallowed up in. everlasting thanksgiving. There will be no mourning in heaven. They have sown in tears : the reaping time of joy is come, " and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes," Rev. xxi. 4. No need of mortification there ; and self examination is then at an end. They will not need to watch any more ; the danger is over. Patience has had its perfect work, and there is no use for it there. Faith is turned into sight, and hope is swallowed up in the ocean of sensible and full enjoyment. All the rebels are subdued, and the saints quietly sit on their throne; and so the forces, needful in the time of the spiritual warfare, are disbanded; and they carry on their triumph in the profoundest peace. Lastly, White garments were worn on festival days, in token of joy. And so shall the saints be clothed in white raiment; for they shall keep an everlasting Sabbath to the Lord, Heb. LV. 9, " There remaineth therefore a rest" or keeping of a Sabbath " to the people of God." The Sabbath, in the esteem of saints, is the queen of days: and they shall have an endless Sabbatism, in the kingdom of heaven ; so shall their garments be always white. They will have an eternal rest, with an un- interrupted joy : for heaven is not a resting place, where men may sleep out an eternity ; there they rest not day nor night, but their work is their rest, and continual recreation ; and toil THE ROYAL CITY. 311 ana weariness nave no place there. They rest there in God, who is the centre of their souls. Here they find the completion, or satisfaction of all their desires ; having the full enjoyment of God, and uninterrupted communion with him. This is the point, unto the which, till the soul come, it will always be restless: but that point reached, it rests: for he is the last end, and the soul can go no further. It cannot understand, will nor desire more ; but in him it has what is commensurable to its boundless desires. This is the happy end of all the labours of the saints ; their toil and sorrows issue in a joyful rest. The Chaldeans measuring the natural day, put the day first, and the night last : but the Jews counted the night first, and the day last. Even so the wicked begin with a day of rest and pleasure, but end with a night of everlasting toil and sorrow : but God's peo- ple aave their gloomy night first, and then comes their day of eternal rest. Which Abraham, in the parable, observed to the rich man in hell, Luke xvi. 25, " Son, remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things : but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented." III. If any inquire where the kingdom of the saints lies ; it is not in this world ; it lies in a better country, " that is an heavenly," Heb. xi. 16, a country better than the best of this world ; namely, the heavenly Canaan, ImmariuePs land, where nothing is wanting to complete the happiness of the inhabitants. This is the happy country ; blessed with a perpetual spring, and which yields all things, for necessity, conveniency, and delight. There men shall eat angels' food ; they shall be enter- tained with the hidden manna, Rev. ii. 17, without being set to the painful task of gathering of it: they-will be fed to the full, with the product of the land falling into their mouths, with- out the least toil to them. The land enjoys everlasting day, for there is " no night there," Rev. xxi. 25. Eternal sunshine .beautifies this better country, but there is no scorching heat there. No clouds shall be seen there for ever : yet it is not a land of drought ; the trees of the Lord's planting are set by the rivers of water, and shall never want moisture, for they will have an eternal supply of the Spirit, by Jesus Christ, from his Father. This is the country, from whence our Lord came, and whither he is gone again ; the country which all the holy patriarchs and prophets had their eye upon while on earth ; and which all the saints, who have gone before us, have fought their way to; and unto which the martyrs have joyfully swum through a sea of blood. This earth is the place of the saints' pilgrimage; that is their country, where they find their everlast- ing rest. IV. The royal city is that great city, the holy Jerusalem, described at large, Rev. xxi. 10, to the end of the chapter. It is true, some learned divines place this city in the earth : but 312 THE ROYAL PALACE THE PALACE GARDEPT. the particulars of this description seem to me to favour thos most, who point us to the other world, for it. The saints shal\ reign in that city, whose wall is of "jasper," ver. 16; ano " the foundations of the wall garnished with all manner of pre- cious stones," ver. 19; and "the street of pure gold," ver. 21. So that their feet shall be set on that which the men of this world set their hearts upon. This is the city which God " has prepared for them," Heb. xi. 16: " a city that hath founda- tions," ver. 10; "a continuing city," chap. xiii. 14, which shall stand and flourish, when all the cities of the world are laid in ashes ; and which shall not be moved, when the foun- dations of the world are overturned. It is a city, that never changes its inhabitants : none of them shall ever be removed out of it ; for life and immortality reign there, and no death can enter into it. It is blessed with a perfect and perpetual peace, and can never be in the least disturbed. Nothing from without can annoy it ; the gates therefore are not shut at all by day, and there is no night there, Rev. xxi. 25. There can nothing from within trouble it. No want of provision there, no scarcity ; no discord among the inhabitants. Whatever contentions are among the saints now, no vestige of their former jarrings shall remaui there. Love to God, and to one another, shall be perfected : and those of them, who stood at greatest distance here, will joyfully embrace and delight in one another there. V. The royal palace is Christ's Father's house, in which "are many mansions," John xiv. 2. There shall the saints dwell for ever. This is the house prepared for all the heirs of glory, even those of them who dwell in the meanest cottage now, or have not where to lay their heads. As the Lord calls his saints to a kingdom, he will provide them a house suitable to the dignity he puts upon them. Heaven will be a conve- nient, spacious, and glorious house, for those whom the King delights to honour. Never was a house purchased at so great a rate as this, being the purchase of the Mediator's blood : and for no less could it be afforded to them : never was there so much to do, to fit inhabitants for a house. The saints were, by nature, utterly unfit for this house, and human art and indus- try could not make them meet for it. But the Father gives the designed inhabitants to the Son, to be by him redeemed. The Son pays the price of their redemption, even his own precious blood : justice gives them access to the house, and the holy Spirit sanctifies them by his grace ; that they may be meet to come in thither, where no unclean thing can enter. And no wonder, for it is the King's palace they enter into, Psa. xlv. 15 ; the house of the kingdom, where the great King keeps his court, where he has set his throne, and shows forth his glory, in a singular manner, beyond what mortals can conceive. THE ROYAL TREASURES. 313 VI. Paradise is their palace garden. " This day shall thou be with me in paradise," said our Saviour to the penitent thief on the cross, Luke xxiii. 43. Heaven is a paradise for plea- sure and delight, where there is both wood and water ; " A pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the L;unb ; and on either side of the river, the tree of life, which bears twelve manner of fruits, and yields her fruit every month," Rev. xxii. 1, 2. How happy might innocent Adam have been in the earthly paradise, where there was nothing wanting for use or delight ! Eden was the most pleasant spot of the uncorrupted earth, and paradise the most pleasant spot of Eden : but what is earth in comparison of heaven ? The glorified saints are advanced to the heavenly paradise. There they shall not only see, but " eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God," Rev. ii. 7. They shall behold the Mediator's glory, and be satisfied with his goodness. No flaming sword will be there, to keep the way of that tree of life ; but they shall freely eat of it, and live for ever. They shall " drink of the river of pleasures," Psa. xxxvi. 8, the sweetest and purest pleasures, which Imma- nuel's land affords, and shall swim in an ocean of unmixed delight for evermore. VII. They shall have royal treasures, sufficient to support the dignity to which they are advanced. Since the street of the royal city is pure gold, and the twelve gates thereof are twelve pearls ; their treasure must be of that which is better than gold or pearl. It is an "eternal weight of glory," '2 Cor. iv. 17. O precious treasure ! a treasure not liable to insensible corruption, by moths or rust ; a treasure which none can steal from them, Matt. vi. 20. Never did any kingdom afford such a precious treasure, nor a treasure of such variety ; for " he that over- cometh, shall inherit all things," Rev. xxi. 7. No treasures on earth are stored with all things : if they were all put together in one, there would be far more valuable things wanting in that one, than found in it. This then is the peculiar treasure of the kings who inherit the kingdom of heaven. They shall want nothing that may contribute to their full satisfaction. Now^ they are rich in hope : but then they will have their riches in hand. Now all things are theirs in respect of right: then all shall be theirs in possession. They may go for ever through ImmanuePs land, and behold the glory and .riches thereof, with the satisfying thought that all they see is their own. It is a pity those should ever be uneasy under the want of earthly good things, who may be sure they shall inherit all things at length. VIII. Though there is no material temple therein, no serving of God in the use of ordinances, as here on earth ; yet, as for this kingdom, '' The Lord God Almighty, and the Lumb, are 27 314 THE SOCIETY IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. the temple of it," Rev. xxi 22. As the temple was the glory of Canaan, so will the ceiestial temple be the glory of heaven. The saints shall be brought in thither as a royal priesthood, to dwell in the house of the Lord for ever ; for Jesus Christ will then make every saint " a pillar in the temple of God, and he shall go no more out ;" Rev. iii. 12, as the priests and Levites did, in their courses, go out of the material temple. There the saints shall have the cloud of glory, the Divine presence, with most intimate, uninterrupted communion with God : there they shall have Jesus Christ, as the true ark, wherein the fiery law shall be forever hid from their eyes : and the mercy seat, from which nothing shall be breathed, but everlasting peace and good will towards them : the cherubims, the society of holy angels, who shall join with them in eternal admiration of the mystery of Christ : the golden candlestick, with its seven lamps, for " the glory of God" doth " lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof," Rev. xxi. 23 : the incense altar, in the intercession of Christ, who "ever liveth to make intercession for them," Heb. vii. 25, eternally exhibiting the merit of his death and sufferings, and efficaciously willing for ever, that those whom the Father has given him, be with him : and the shewbread table, in the perpetual feast, they shall have together, in the enjoyment of God. This leads me more particularly to consider, IX. The society in this kingdom. What would royal power and authority, ensigns of royalty, richest treasures, and all other advantages of a kingdom, avail, without comfortable society ? Some crowned heads have had but a sorry life through the want of it : their palaces have been unto them as prisons, and their badges of honour, as chains on a prisoner : while haled of all, they had none they could trust in, or whom they could have comfortable fellowship with. But the chief part of heaven's happiness lies in the blessed society which the saints shall have there. First, The society of the saints, among themselves, will be no small part of heaven's happiness. The communion of saints on earth is highly prized by all those who are travelling through .the world to Zion : and companions in sin can never have such true pleasure and delight in one another, as sometimes the Lord's people have in praying together, and in conversing about those things which the world is a stranger to. Here the saints are but few in a company at best; and some of them are so situated, as that they seem to themselves to dwell alone ; having no access to such, as they could freely unbosom themselves to, in spiritual matters. They sigh and say, " Woe is me ! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits there is no cluster to eat the good man is perished out of the earth," Micah vii. 1, 2. But in the general assembly of the first-born in heaven, none of all the saints, who ever were, or will be on THK SOCIETY IN TUB KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. 315 the earth, shall be missing. They will be all of them together in one place, all possess one kingdom, and all sit down together to the marriage supper of the Latnb. Here the best of the saints want not their sinful imperfections, making their society less comfortable : but there they shall be perfect, without " spot or wrinkle, or any such thing," Eph. v. 27. All natural, as well as sinful imperfections, will be done away ; they " shall shine as the brightness of the firmament," Dan. xii. 3. There we shall see Adam and Eve in the heavenly paradise, freely eating of the tree of life; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the holy patriarchs, no more wandering from land to land, but come to their everlasting rest ; all the prophets feeding their eyes on the glory of him, of whose coming they prophesied ; the twelve apostles of the Lamb, sitting on their twelve thrones ; all the holy martyrs in their long white robes, with their crowns on their heads ; the godly kings advanced to a kingdom which cannot be moved ; and them that turn many to righteousness, shining as the stars for ever and ever. There we shall see our godly friends, relations, and acquaintances, pillars in the temple of God, to go no more out from us. And it is more than pro- bable, that the saints will know one another in heaven ; at lra* they will know their friends, relatives, and those they were acquainted with on earth, and such as have been most eminent in the church : yet that knowledge will be purged from all earthly thoughts and affections. This seems to be included in that perfection of happiness to which the saints shall be ad- vanced. If Adam knew who and what Eve was, at fust sight, when the Lord God brought her to him, Gen. ii. 23, 24, why should one question, but husbands and wives, parents and child- ren, will know each other in glory 1 If the Thessalonians, con- verted by Paul's ministry, shall be his " crown of rejoicing in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, at his coming," 1 Thess. ii. 19, why may we not conclude, that ministers shall know their people, and people their ministers, in heaven ? And if the disciples, on the mount of transfiguration, knew Moses and Elias, whom they had never seen before, Matt. xvii. 4, we have reason to think that we shall know them too, and such as they, when we come to heaven. The communion of saints shall be most intimate there ; " they shall sit down with Abra- ham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven," Matt. viii. 11. Lazarus was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom, Luke xvi. 23 ; which denotes most intimate and familiar society. And though diversity of tongues shall cease, 1 Cor. xiii. 8, I make no question, but there will be the use of speech in heaven ; and that the saints will glorify God in their bodies there, as well as in their spirits, speaking forth his praises with an audible voice. As for the language, we shall understand what it is, when we come thither. When Paul was caught up to the third 316 THE SOCIETY IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. heaven, the seat of the blessed, he heard there unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a .man to utter, 2 Cor. xii. 4. Moses and Elias, on the mount with Christ, " talked with him," Matt. xvii. 8, and " spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem," Luke ix. 31. Secondly, The saints will have the society of all the holy angels there. An innumerable company of angels shall be com- panions to them in their glorified state. Happy were the shep- herds who heard the song of the heavenly host, when Christ was born ! but thrice happy they, who shall join their voices with theirs, in the choir of saints and angels in heaven, when he shall be glorified in all who shall be about him there ! Then shall we be brought acquainted with those blessed spirits who never sinned. How bright will these morning stars shine in the holy place ! They were ministering spirits to the heirs of salva- tion, loved them for their Lord and Master's sake ; encamped round about them, to preserve them from danger. How joyfully will they welcome them to their everlasting habitations, and re- joice to see them come at length to their kingdom, as the tutor does in the prosperity of his pupils ! The saints shall be no more afraid of them, as at times they were wont to be : they shall then have put off mortality, and infirmities of the flesh, and be themselves, as the angels of God, fit to entertain commu- nion and fellowship with them. And both being brought under one head, the Lord Jesus Christ, they shall join in the praises of God, and of the Lamb, " saying, with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain," &c. Rev. v. 11, 12. Whether the angels shall, as some think,- assume ethereal bodies, that they may be seen by the bodily eyes, of the saints, and be in a nearer capacity to converse with them, I know not : but, as they want not ways of converse among themselves, we have reason to think, that conversation between them and the saints, shall not be for ever blocked up. Lastly, They shall have society with the Lord himself in heaven, glorious communion with God in Christ, which is the perfection of happiness. I choose to speak of communion with God and the man Christ, together ; because, as we derive our grace from the Lamb, so we shall derive our glory from him too, the man Christ being, if I may be allowed the expression, the centre of the Divine glory in heaven, from whence it is diffused unto all the saints. This seems to be taught us by the Scriptures, which express heaven's happiness by " being with Christ," Luke xxiii. 43, " This day shalt thou be with me in paradise." John xvii. 24, " Father, I will that these also, whom thou hast given me, be with me," and remarkable to this purpose is what follows, " that they may behold my glory." 1 Thess. iv. 17, " So shall we ever be with the Lord," to wit, the Lord Christ, whom we shall meet in the air. This also seems to be the im- THE PRESENCE OF GOD AND OF THE LAMB. 317 port of the Scriptures, wherein God and the Lamb, the slain Saviour, are jointly spoken of, in point of the happiness of the saints in heaven, Rev. vii. 17, " For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters ; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.'-? Chap. xxi. 3, " Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them," to wit, as in a tabernacle, so the word signifies, that is, in the flesh of Christ, compare John i. 14 ; and ver. 22, " The Lord Gfcd Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple of it." Here lies the chief hap- piness of the saints in heaven, without which -they could never be happy, though lodged in that glorious place, and blessed with the society of angels there. What I will venture to say of it, shall be comprised in three things : First, The saints in heaven shall have the glorious presence of God, and of the Lamb; God himself shall be with them, Rev. xxi. 3, and they shall ever be with the Lord. God is every where present in respect of his essence ; the saints militant have his special gracious presence : but in heaven they have his glo- rious presence. There they are brought near to the throne of the great King, and stand before him, where he shows his in- conceivable glory. There they have the tabernacle of God, on which the cloud of glory rests, the all-glorious human nature of Christ, wherein the fulness of the Godhead dwells ; not veiled, as in the days of his humiliation, but shining through that blessed flesh, that all his saints may behold his glory, and making that body more glorious than a thousand suns : so that the city has no need of the sun, nor of the moon, but " the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof," pro- perly, "the candle thereof," Rev. xxi. 23, that is, the Lamb is the luminary, or luminous body, which gives light to the city as the sun and moon now give light to the world, or as a candle lightens a dark room : and the light proceeding from that glo- rious luminary of the city, is the glory of God. Sometimes on earth that candle burnt very dim, it was hid under a bushel, in the time of his humiliation ; only now and then it darted out some rays of this light, which dazzled the eyes of the spectators : but now it is set on high, in the city of God, where it shines, and shall shine for ever, in perfection of glory. It was some- times laid aside, as a stone disallowed of the builders ; but now it is, and for ever will be, " the light," or luminary of that city ; and that " like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal," ver. 11. Who can conceive the happiness of the saints, in the presence chamber of the great King, where he sits in his chair of state, making his glory eminently to appear in the man Christ ? His gracious presence makes a mighty change upon the saints in this world ! his glorious presence in heaven, then, must needs 27* 318 FULL ENJOYMENT OF GOD, AND OF THE LAMB. raise their graces to perfection, and elevate their capacities. The saints experience that the presence of God, now with them, in his grace, can make a little heaven of a sort of hell. How great then must the glory of heaven be, by his presence there in his glory ! If a candle, in some sort, beautifies a cottage or prison, how will the shining sun beautify a palace or paradise. The gracious presence of God made a wilderness lightsome to Moses ; the valley of the shadow of death to David ; a fiery fur- nace to the tkree children : what a ravishing beauty then shall arise from the Sun of Righteousness, shining in his meridian .brightness on the.street of the city laid with pure gold ! This glorious presence of God in heaven, will put a glory on the saints themselves. The most pleasant garden is devoid of ; beauty, when the darkness of the night sits down on it; but the shining sun puts a glory on the blackest mountains ; so those who are now as bottles in the smoke, when set in the glorious presence of God, will be glorious both in soul and body. Secondly, The saints in heaven shall have the full enjoy- ment of God and of the Lamb. This it is that perfectly satisfies the rational creature ; and here is the saint's everlasting rest. This will make up all their wants, and fill the desires of their souls, which, after all here obtained, still cry, " Give, give," not without some anxiety ; because, though they do enjoy God, yet they do not enjoy him fully. As to the way and manner of this enjoyment, our Lord tell us, John xvii. 3, " This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Now there are two ways, how a desirable object is known most perfectly and satisfyingly ; the one is by sight, the other by experience : sight satisfies the understanding, and experience satisfies the will. Accordingly, one may say, that the saints enjoy God and the Lamb in heaven, I. By an intuitive knowledge ; II. By an experimental know- ledge ; both of them perfect, I mean, in respect of the capacity of the creature; for otherwise a creature's perfect knowledge of an infinite Being is impossible. The saints below enjoy God, in that knowledge they have of him by report, from his holy word which they believe ; they see him likewise darkly in the glass of ordinances, which do, as it were, represent the Bride- groom's picture, or shadow, while he is absent: they have also some experimental knowledge of him ; they taste that God is good, and that the Lord is gracious. But the saints above shall not need a good report of the King, they shall see himself; therefore faith ceases : they will behold his own face ; therefore ordinances are no more : there is no need of a glass. They shall drink, and drink abundantly, of that whereof they have tasted : and so hope ceases, for they are at the utmost bounds of their desires. I. The saints in heaven shall enjoy God and the Lamb, by FULL ENJOYMENT OF GOD, AND OF THE LAMB. 319 sight, and that in a most perfect manner, 1 Cor. xiii. 12, "For now we see through a glass, darkly ; but then face to face." Here our sight is but mediate, as by a glass, in which we see not things themselves, but the images of things : but there we shall have an immediate view of God and the Lamb. Here our knowledge is but obscure : there it shall be clear, without the least mixture of darkness. The Lord now converses with his saints, through the lattices of ordinances ; but then shall they be in the presence chamber with him. There is a veil now on the glorious face, as to us : but when we come to the upper house, that veil, through which some rays of beauty are now darted, will be found entirely taken off; and then shall glorious excellencies and perfections, not seen in him by mortals, be clearly discovered, for we shall see his face, Rev. xxii. 4. The phrase seems to be borrowed from the honour put on some in the courts of monarchs, to be attendants on the king's person. We read, Jer. Hi. 25, of" seven men that were" (Heb. "seers of the king's face," that is as we read it) " near the king's per- son." O unspeakable glory ! the great King keeps his court in heaven ; and the saints shall all be his courtiers, ever near the King's person, seeing his face. " The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him ; and they shall see his face," Rev. xxii. 3, 4. 1. They shall see Jesus Christ God and man, with their bodily eyes, as he will never lay aside the human nature. They will behold that glorious blessed body, which is person- ally united to the Divine nature, and exalted far above princi- palities and powers, and every name that is named. There we shall see, with our eyes, that very body which was born of Mary at Bethlehem, and crucified at Jerusalem between two thieves : the blessed head, that was crowned with thorns ; the face, that was spit upon ; the hands and feet, that were nailed to the cross ; all shining with inconceivable glory. The glory of the man Christ will attract the eyes of all the saints, and he will be for ever admired in all them that believe, 2 Thess. i. 10. Were each star, in the heavens, shining as the sun in its meri- dian brightness, and the light of the sun so increased, as the stars, in that case, should bear the same proportion to the sun, in point of light, that they do now : it might possibly be some . faint semblance of the glory of the man Christ, in compari- son with that of the saints : for though the saints " shall shine forth as the sun :" yet not they, but the Lamb shall be " the light of the city." The wise men fell down, and worshipped him, when they saw him " a young child, with Mary his mother, in the house." But O what a ravishing sight will it .be to see him in his kingdom, on his throne, at the Father's right hand ! " The Word was made flesh," John i. 14, and the glory of God shall shine through that flesh, and the joys of 320 FULL ENJOYMENT OF GOD, AND OF THE LAMB. heaven spring out from it, unto the saints, who shall see anJ enjoy God, in Christ. For since the union between Christ and the saints is never dissolved, but they continue his members for ever ; and the members cannot draw their life, but from their head ; seeing that which is independent on the head, as to vital influence, is no member : therefore Jesus Christ will remain the everlasting bond of union betwixt God and the saints ; from whence their eternal life shall spring, John xvii. 2, 3, " Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him, " And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God," &c. Ver. 22, 23, " And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one : I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one." Wherefore the immediate enjoyment of God in heaven, is to be understood, in respect of the laying aside of word and sacraments, and such ex- ternal means, as we enjoy God by in this world ; but not, as if the saints should then cast off their dependence on their Head, for vital influences : nay, " the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and lead them unto living fountains of waters," Rev. vii. 17. Now when we shall behold him, who died for us, that we might live for evermore, whose matchless love made him swim through the Red Sea of God's wrath, to make a path in the midst of it for us, by which we might pass safely to Canaan's land ; then we shall see what a glorious one he was, who suf- fered all this for us ; what entertainment he had in the upper house ; what hallelujahs of angels could not hinder him to hear the groans of a perishing multitude on earth, and to come down for their help ; and what glory he laid aside for us. Then shall we be more " able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height ; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge," Eph. iii. 18, 19. When the saints shall remember, that the waters of wrath which he was plunged into, are the wells of salvation from whence they draw all their joy ; that they have got the cup of salvation in exchange for the cup of wrath his Father gave him to drink, which his sinless human nature shivered at : how will their hearts leap within them, burn with seraphic love, like coals of juniper, and the arch of heaven ring with their sOTgs of salvation ! The Jews, celebrating the feast of tabernacles, which was the most joyful of all their feasts, and lasted seven days, went once every day about the altar, singing hosanna, with their myrtle, palm, and willow branches in their hands, the two former signs of victory, the last, of chastity ; in the mean time, bending their boughs towards the altar. When the saints are- presented, as a chaste virgin to Christ, and as conquerors have got their palms^ in their hands, how joyfully will they compass FULL ENJOYMENT OF GOD, AND THE LAMB. 321 the altar evermore, and sing their hosannas, or rather their hal- lelujahs about it, bending their palms towards it, acknowledging themselves to owe all unto the Larnb that was slain, and redeem- ed them with his blood ! To this agrees what John saw, Rev. vii. 9, 10, "A great multitude stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands ; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." 2. They shall see God, Matt. v. 8. They will be happy in seeing the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, not with their bodily eyes, in respect of which God is invisible, 1 Tim. i. 17, but with the eyes of their understanding ; being blessed with the most per- fect, full, and clear knowledge of God, and divine things, which the creature is capable of. This is called the beatific vision, and is the perfection of the understanding, the utmost term thereof. It is but an obscure delineation of the glory of God, that mortals can have on earth ; a sight, as it were, of his back parts, Exod. xxxiii. 23. But there they will see his face, Rev. xxii. 4. They shall see him in the fulness of his glory, and behold- him fixedly ; whereas it is but a passing view they can have of him here, Exod. xxxiv, 6. There is a vast difference between the sight of a king in his night clothes, quickly passing by us ; and a fixed leisure view of him, sitting on his throne in his royal robes, his crown on his head, and his sceptre in his hand : such a difference will there be, between the greatest manifestation of God that ever a saint had on earth, and the display of his glory in heaven. There the saints shall eternally, without interrup- tion, feed their eyes upon him, and be ever viewing his glorious perfections. And as their bodily eyes shall be strengthened, and fitted to behold the glorious majesty of the man Christ ; as eagles gaze on the sun, and are not blinded thereby : so their minds shall have such an elevation, as will fit them to see God in his glory : their capacities shall be enlarged, according to the measure in which he shall be pleased to communicate himself unto them, for their complete happiness. This blissful sight of God, being quite above our present capacities, we must needs be much in the dark about it. But it seems to be something else, than the sight of that glory, which we shall see with our bodily eyes, in the saints, and in the man Christ, or any other splendour or refulgence from the Godhead whatever ; for no created thing can be our chief good and hap- piness, nor fully satisfy ou* souls ; and it is plain that these things are somewhat different from God himself. Therefore I conceive, that the souls of the saints shall see God himself: so the Scriptures teach us, that we shall " see face to face, and know even as we are known," 1 Cor. xiii. 12 ; and that " we shall see him as he is," 1 John iii. 2. Yet the saints can never have an adequate conception of God : they cannot comprehend 322 PULL ENJOYMENT OP GOD AND THE LAMB. that which is infinite. They may touch the mountain, but can- not grasp it in their arms. They cannot, with one glance of their eye, behold what grows on every side; but the Divine perfections will be an unbounded field, in which the glorified shall walk eternally, seeing more and more of God ; since they can never come to the end 'of that which is infinite. They may bring their vessels to this ocean every moment, and fill them with new waters. What a ravishing sight would it be to see all the perfections, and lovely qualities, that are scattered here and there among the creatures, gathered together into one ! But even such a sight would be infinitely below this blissful sight the saints shall have in heaven. For they shall see God, in whom all these perfections shall eminently appear, with infinitely more, whereof there is no vestige to be found in the creatures. In him shall they see every thing desirable, and nothing but what is desirable. Then shall they be perfectly satisfied as to the love of God towards them, which they are now ready to question on every turn. They will no more have any need to persuade them- selves of it, by marks, signs, and testimonies : they will have an intuitive knowledge of it. They shall, with the profoundest reverence be it spoken, look into the heart of God, and there see the love he bore to them from all eternity, and the love and good- ness he will bear to them for evermore. The glorified shall have a most clear and distinct understanding of Divine truths, for in his light we shall see light, Psal. xxxvi. 9. The light of glory will be a complete commentary on the Bible, and untie all the hard and knotty questions in divinity. There is no joy on earth, comparable to that which arises from the discovery of truth, no discovery of truth comparable to the discovery of scripture truth, made by the Spirit of the Lord unto the soul. " 1 rejoice at thy word," says the Psalmist, " as one that findeth great spoil," Psa. cxix. 162. Yet, while here, it is but an im- perfect discovery. How ravishing then will it be, to see the opening of all the treasure hid in that field ! They shall also be led into the understanding of the works of God. The beauty of the works of creation and providence will then be set in due light. Natural knowledge will be brought to perfection by the light of glory. The web of providence, concerning the church, and all men whatever, will then be cut out, and laid before the eyes of the saints : and it will appear a most beautiful mixture ; so as they shall all say together, oi^the view of it, " He hath done all things well." But, in a special manner, the work of redemption shall be the eternal wonder of the saints, and they will admire and praise the. glorious contrivance for ever. Then shall they get a full view of its suitableness to the Divine per- fections, and to the case of sinners; and clearly read the cove- i*ant that passed between the Father and the Son, from all PULL ENJOYMENT OF GOD AND THE LAMB. 323 eternity, touching their salvation. They shall for ever wonder and praise, and praise and wonder, at the mysteries of wisdom and love, goodness and holiness, mercy and justice, appearing in the glorious scheme. Their souls shall be eternally satisfied with the sight of God himself, of their election by the Father, their redemption by the Son, and application thereof to them by the Holy Spirit. II. The saints in heaven shall enjoy God in Christ by expe- rimental knowledge, which is, when the object itself is given and possessed. This is the participation of the Divine goodness in full measure ; which is the perfection of the will, and utmost term thereof. " The Lamb shall lead them unto living foun- tains of waters," Rev. vii. 17. These are no other but God himself, " the fountain of living waters," who will fully and freely communicate himself unto them. He will pour out of his goodness eternally into their souls : then shall they have a most lively sensation, in the innermost parts of their souls, of all that goodness they heard of, and believe to be in him, and of what they see in him by the light of glory. This will be an ever- lasting practical exposition of that word, which men and angels cannot sufficiently unfold, to wit, God himself shall " be their God," Rev. xxi. 3. God will communicate himself unto them fully : they will no more be set to taste of the streams of Divine goodness in ordinances, as they were wont, but shall drink at the fountain head. They will be no more entertained with sips and drops, but filled with all the fulness of God. And this will be the entertainment of every saint : for though in created things, what is given to one, is withheld from another ; yet an infinite Good can fully communicate itself to all, and fill all. Those who are heirs of God, the great heritage, shall then enter into a full possession of their inheritance ; and the Lord will open his treasures of goodness unto them, that their enjoyment may be full. They shall not be stinted to any measure : but the enjoy- ment shall go as far as their enlarged capacities can reach. As a narrow vessel cannot contain the ocean, so neither can the finite creature comprehend the infinite Good : but no measure shall be set to the enjoyment, but what arises from the capacity of the creature. So that, although there be degrees of glory, yet all shall be filled, and have what they can hold ; though some will be capable to hold more than others. There will be no want to any of them : all shall be fully satisfied, and perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of Divine goodness, according to their en- larged capacities. As when bottles of different sizes are filled, some contain more, others less ; yet all of them have what they can contain. The glorified shall have all in God, for the satis- faction of all their desires. No created thing can afford satisfac- tion to all our desires : clothes may warm us, but they cannot feed us ; the light is comfortable, but cannot nourish us : but in 324 FULL ENJOYMENT OF GOD AND THE LAMB. God we shall have all our desires, and we shall desire nothing without him. They shall be the happy ones, that desire nothing but what is truly desirable ; and who have all they desire. God will be all in all to the saints: he will be their life, health riches, honour, peace, and all good things. He will communi- cate himself freely to them: the door of access to him shall never be shut again for one moment. They may, when they will, take of the fruits of the tree of life, for they will find it on each side the river, Rev. xxii. 2. There will be no veil between God and them, to be drawn aside ; but this fulness shall ever stand open to them. No door to knock at in heaven ; no asking to go before receiving ; the Lord will allow his people an unre- strained familiarity with himself there. Now they are in part made " partakers of the Divine nature !" but then they shall perfectly partake of it ; that is to say, God will communicate to them his own image, make all his good- ness not only pass before them, but pass into them, and stamp the image of all his own perfections upon them, so far as the creature is capable of receiving the same ; from whence shall result a perfect likeness to him, in all things in or about them, which completes the happiness of the creature. This is what the Psalmist seems to have had in view, Psa. xvii. 15, " I shall be satisfied, when I awake with thy likeness ;" the per- fection of God's image following upon the beatific vision. And so says John, 1 John iii. 2, " We shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he is." Hence there shall be a most close and intimate union between God and the saints : God shall be in them, and they in God, in the way of a glorious and most per- fect union ; for then shall they dwell in love made perfect. " God is love ; and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him," 1 John iv. 16. How will the saints knit with God, and he with them, when he shall see nothing in them but his own image ; when their love shall arrive at its perfec- tion, no nature but the Divine nature, being left in them ; and all imperfection swallowed up in their glorious transformation into the likeness of God ! Their love to the Lord, being purged from the dross of self-love, shall be most pure ; so that they will love nothing but God, and in God. It shall be no more faint and languishing, but burn like coals of juniper. It will be a light without darkness, a flaming fire without smoke. As the live coal, when all the moisture is gone out of it, is all fire ; so will the saints be all love, when they come to the full enjoyment of God in heaven, by intuitive and experimental knowledge of him, by sight and full participation of the Divine goodness. Lastly, from this glorious presence and enjoyment shall arise an unspeakable joy, which the saints shall be filled with. " In thy presence is fulness of joy," Psa. xvi. 11. The saints FULL ENJOYMENT OF GOD, AND THE LAMB. 32& sometimes enjoy God in the world ; but when their eyes are held, so as not to perceive it, they have not the comfort of the enjoyment: but then, all mistakes being removed, they shall not only enjoy God, but rest in the enjoyment with inexpressi- ble joy and satisfaction. The desire of earthly things breeds torment, and the enjoyment of them often ends in loathing. But though the glorified saints shall ever desire more and more of God, their desires shall not be mixed with the least anxiety, since the fulness of the Godhead stands always open to them ; therefore they shall hunger no more, they shall not have the least uneasiness in their eternal appetite after the hidden manna ; neither shall continued enjoyment breed loathing ; they shall never think they have too much ; therefore it is added, " neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat," Rev. vii. 16. The enjoyment of God and the Lamb will be ever fresh and new to them, through the ages of eternity : for they shall drink of living fountains of waters, where new waters are continually springing up in abundance, ver. 17. They shall eat of the tree of life, which, for variety, affords twelve manner of fruits, and these always new and fresh, for it yields every month, Rev. xxii. 2. Their joy shall be pure and unmixed, without any dregs of sorrow ; not slight and momentary, but solid, and ever- lasting, without interruption. They will enter into joy, Matt. xxv. 21, " Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." The expres- sion is somewhat unusual, and brings to my recollection this word of our suffering Redeemer, Mark xiv. 34, " My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death." His soul was beset with sorrows, as the word there used will bear, the floods of sorrow went round about him, encompassing him on every hand : wherever he turned his eyes, sorrow was before him ; it sprang in upon him from heaven, earth, and hell, all at once : thus was he entered into sorrow, and therefore saith, Psa. Ixix. 2, "I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me." Now wherefore all this, but that his own might enter into joy ? Joy sometimes enters into us now, but has much to do to get access, while we are encompassed with sorrows : but then joy shall not only enter into us, but we shall enter into it, and swim for ever in an ocean of joy ; where we shall see nothing but joy, wherever we turn our eyes. The presence and enjoyment of God and the Lamb will satisfy us with pleasures for evermore : and the glory of our souls and bodies, arising from thence, will afford us everlasting delight. The spirit of heaviness, how closely soever it cleaves to any of the saints now, shall drop off then : their weeping shall be turned into songs of joy, and bot- tles of tears shall issue in rivers of pleasure. Happy they who now sow in tears, which shall spring up in joy in heaven, and will encircle their heads with a weight of glory. Thus far of the society in this kingdom of the saints. 28 326 THE ETERNAL DURATION OF THE KINGDOM OP HEAVEN. X. In the last place, the kingdom shall endure for ever. As every thing in it is eternal, so the saints shall have undoubted certainty, and full assurance of the eternal duration of the same. This is a necessary ingredient in perfect happiness : for the least uncertainty as to the continuance of any good with one, is not without some fear, anxiety, and torment ; and therefore is utterly inconsistent with perfect happiness. But the glorified shall never have fear, nor cause of fear of any loss : they shall be " ever with the Lord," 1 Thess. iv. 17. They shall all attain the full persuasion, that nothing shall be able to separate them from the love of God, nor from the full enjoyment of him for ever. The inheritance " reserved in heaven is incorruptible ;" it has no principle of corruption in itself, to make it liable to decay, but endures for evermore : it is undefiled ; nothing from without can mar its beauty, nor is there any thing in itself to offend those who enjoy it. Therefore it fadeth not away ; but ever remains in its native lustre, and primitive beauty, 1 Pet. i. 4. Hitherto of the nature of the kingdom of heaven. SECONDLY, We now proceed to speak of the admission of the saints into this their kingdom. I shall briefly touch upon two things : I. The formal admission, in the call unto them from the Judge, to come to their kingdom. II. The quality in which they are admitted and introduced to it. I. Their admission, the text shows to be, by a voice from the throne ; the king calling to them, from the throne, before angels and men, to come to their kingdom. Come and go are but short words : but they will be such as will afford matter of thought to all mankind, through the ages of eternity : since everlasting happiness turns upon one, and everlasting misery on the other. Now our Lord bids the worst of sinners, who hear the gospel, Come ; but the most part will not come unto him. Some few whose hearts are touched by his Spirit, embrace the call, and their souls within them say, " Behold we come unto thee :" they give themselves to the Lord, forsake the world and their lusts for him : they bear his yoke, and cast it not off, no not in the heat of the day, when the weight of it perhaps, makes them sweat the blood out of their bodies. Behold the fools ! saith the carnal world, whither are they going ? But stay a little, O foolish world ! From the same mouth, whence they had the call they are now following, another call shall come, that will make amends for all: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom." The saints shall find an inexpressible sweetness in this call, Come. 1. Hereby Jesus Christ shows his desire of their society in the upper house, that they may be ever with him there. Thus he will open his heart unto them, as sometimes he did to his Father concerning them, saying, " Father, I will that they be with me, where I am," John xvii. 24. Now the travail of THE QUALITY IN WHICH THEV ARK INTRODUCED. 327 nis soul stands before the throne, not only the souls but the bodies he has redeemed ; and they must come, for he must be completely satisfied. 2. Hereby they are solemnly invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. They were invited to the lower table, by the voice of the servants, and the secret work- ings of the Spirit within them ; and they came, and did partuko of the feast of Divine communications in the lower house : but Jesus Christ in person shall invite them, before all the world to the higher table. 3. By this he admits them into the man sions of glory. The keys of heaven hang at the girdle of oui royal Mediator. " All power in heaven" is given to him, Matt, xxviii. 18 : and none get in thither but whom he admits. When they were living on earth, with the rest of the world, he opened the everlasting doors of their hearts, entered into them, and shut them again ; so that sin could never re-enter, to reign there as formerly : now he opens heaven's doors to them, draws his doves into the ark, and shuts them in ; so that the law, death, and hell, can never get them out again. The saints in this life were still labouring to enter into that rest ; but Satan was always pulling them back, their corruptions always drawing them down ; insomuch that they have sometimes been left to hang by a hair of promise, if I may be allowed the expression, not without fears of falling into the lake of fire: but now Christ gives the word for their admission ; they are brought in, and put beyond all hazard. Lastly, He speaks to them, as the person introducing them into the kingdom, into the presence chamber of the great King, and unto the throne. Jesus Christ is the great Secretary of heaven, whose office it is to bring the saints into the gracious presence of God now, and to whom alone it belongs to bring them into the glorious presence of God in heaven. Truly heaven would be a strange place to them, if Jesus was not there ; but the Son will introduce his brethren into his Father's kingdom ; they shall go in " with him to the marriage," Matt. xxv. 10. II. Let us consider in what quality they are introduced by him. First, He brings them in as the blessed of his Father; so runs the call from the throne, " Come, ye blessed of my Father," &c. It is Christ's Father's house they are to come into : there- fore he puts them in mind, that they are blessed of his Father ; dear to the Father, as well as to himself. This is it that makes heaven home to them, namely, that it is Christ's Father's house, where they may be assured of welcome, being married to the Son, and being his Father's choice for that very end. He brings them in for his Father's sake, as well as for his own ; they are the blessed of his Father : who as he is the fountain of the Deity, is also the fountain of all blessings conferred on the children of men. They are those whom God loved from eter- nity. They were blessed in the eternal purpose of God, being 328 THE QUALITY IN WHICH THEY ARE INTRODUCED. elected to everlasting life. At the opening of the book of life, their names were found written therein: so that by bringing them to the kingdom, he does but bring them to what the Father, from all eternity, designed for them : being saved by the Son, they are saved according to his, that is, the Father's purpose, 2 Tirn. i. 9. They are those to whom the Father has spoken well. He spoke well to them in his word, which must now receive its full accomplishment. They had his promise of the kingdom, lived and died in the faith of it ; and now they come to receive the thing promised. Unto them he has done well. A gift is often in Scripture called a blessing ; and God's blessing is ever real, like Isaac's blessing, by which Jacob became his heir : they were all by his grace justified, sanctified, and enabled to persevere to the end; now they are raised up in glory, and being tried, stand in the judgment ; what remains then, but that God should crown his own work of grace in them, in giving them their kingdom, in the full enjoyment of himself for ever ? Finally, they are those whom God has con- secrated ; the which also is a Scripture term of blessing, 1 Cor. x. 16. God set them apart for himself, to be kings and priests unto him ; and the Mediator introduces them, as such, to their kingdom and priesthood. Secondly, Christ introduces them, as heirs of the kingdom, to the actual possession of it. " Come, ye blessed, inherit the kingdom." They are the children of God, by regeneration and adoption ; "And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ," Rom. viii. 17. Now is the general assem- bly of the first born before the throne ; their minority is over- past ; and the time appointed of the Father for their receiving their inheritance is come. The Mediator purchased the inheri- tance for them with his own blood ; their rights and evidences were drawn long ago, and registered in the Bible ; nay, they have infeftment of their inheritance in the person of Christ, as their proxy, when he ascended into heaven, " Whither the fore- runner is for us entered," Heb. vi. 20. Nothing remains, but that they enter into personal possession thereof, which, begun at death, is perfected at the last day ; when the saints in their bodies, as well as their souls, go into their kingdom. Lastly, They are introduced to it, as those it was prepared for, from the foundation of the world. The kingdom was pre- pared for them in the eternal purpose of God, before they, or any of them, had a being; which shows it to be a gift of free grace to them. It was from eternity the Divine purpose, that there should be such a kingdom for the elect ; and that all im- pediments which might mar their access to it, should be removed out of the way : and also, by the same eternal decree, every one's place in it was determined and set apart, to be reserved for him, that each of the children coming home at length into TRIAL OF THE CLAIM TO THE KINGDOM. 329 their Father's house, might find his own place awaiting him, and ready for him ; as at Saul's table, David's place was empty, when he was not there to occupy it himself, 1 Sam. xx. 25. And now the appointed time is come, they are brought in to take their several places in glory. USE. I shall shut up my discourse on this subject, with a word of application. 1. To all who claim a right to this king- dom. 2. To those who have indeed a right to it. 3. To those who have no right thereto. First, Since it is evident there is no promiscuous admission into the kingdom of heaven, and none do obtain it but those whose claim to it is solemnly tried by the great Judge, and, after trial, supported as good and valid ; it is necessary that all of us impartially try and examine, whether, according to the laws of the kingdom, contained in the holy Scriptures, we can verify and make good our claim to this kingdom. The hopes of heaven, which most men have, are built on such sandy foun- dations, as can never abide the trial ; having no ground what- ever, but in their own deluded fancy : such hopes will leave those who entertain them, miserably disappointed at last. Wherefore it is not only our duty, but our interest, to put the matter to a fair trial in time. If we find we have no right to heaven, we are yet in the way: and what we have not, we may obtain : but if we find we have a right to it, we will then have the comfort of a happy prospect into eternity ; which is the greatest comfort one is capable of in the world. If you inquire, how you may know whether you have a right to heaven or not, I answer, you may know that by the state you are now in. If you are yet in your natural state, you are children of wrath, and not children of this kingdom ; for that state to them who live and die in it, issues in eternal misery. If you be brought into the state of grace, you have a just claim to the state of glory : for grace will certainly issue in glory at length. This kingdom is an inheritance, which none but the children of God can justly claim. Now, we become the children of God by re- generation, and union with Christ his Son ; " And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ," Rom. viii-. 17. These, then, are the great points, upon which our evidences for the state of glory depend. Therefore I refer you to what is said on a state of grace, for satisfying you as to your right to glory. If you be heirs of glory, " the kingdom of God is within you," by virtue of your regeneration and union with Christ. 1. The kingdom of Heaven has the throne in thy heart, if thou hast a right to that kingdom : Christ is in thee, and God is in thee ; and having chosen him for thy portion, thy soul has taken up its everlasting rest in him, and gets no true rest but in him ; as the dove, until she came into the ark. To him the soul habi- 28* 330 TRIAL OF THE CLAIM TO THE KINGDOM. tually inclines, by virtue of the new nature, the Divine nature, which the heirs of glory are partakers of, Psal. Ixxiii. 25, " Whom have I in heaven but thee 1 and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee." 2. The laws of heaven are in thy heart, if thou art an heir of heaven, Heb. viii. 10, " I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts." Thy mind is enlightened in the knowledge of the laws of the kingdom, by the Spirit of the Lord, the instructor of all the heirs of glory ; for whoever may want instruction, sure an heir to a crown shall not want it. " It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught of God," John vi. 45. Therefore, though father and mother leave them early, or be in no concern about their Christian education, and they be soon put to work for their daily bread ; yet they shall not lack teaching. Withal thy heart is changed, and thou bearest God's image, which consists in " righteousness and true holiness," Eph. iv. 24. Thy soul is reconciled to the whole law of God, and at war with all known sin. In vain do they pretend to the holy king- dom, who are not holy in heart and life; for without holiness no man shall see the Lord, Heb. xii. 14. If heaven is a rest, it is for spiritual labourers, not for loiterers. If it is an eternal triumph, they are not in the way to it, who avoid the spiritual warfare, and are in no care to subdue corruption, resist tempta- tion, and to cut their way to it, through the opposition made by the devil, the world, and the flesh. 3. The treasure in heaven is the chief in thy esteem and desire; for it is your treasure, and " where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matt. vi. 21. If it is not the things that are seen, but the things that are not seen, which thy heart is in the greatest care and concern to obtain ; if thou art driving a trade with heaven, and thy chief business lies there ; it is a sign that thy treasure is there, for thy heart is there. But if thou art of those who won- der why so much ado about heaven and eternal life, as if less might serve the turn ; thou art like to have nothing to do with it at all. Carnal men value themselves most on their trea- sures upon earth ; with them, the things that are not seen, are weighed down by the things that are seen, and no losses so much affect them as earthly losses : but the heirs of the crown of glory value themselves most on their treasures in heaven, and will not put their private estate in the balance with their kingdom ; nor will the loss of the former go so near their hearts, as the thoughts of the loss of the latter. Where these first fruits of heaven are to be found, the eternal weight of glory will surely follow after ; while the want of them must be admitted, according to the word, to be an incontestable evidence of an heir of wrath. Secondly, Let the heirs of the kingdom behave themselves suitably to their character and dignity. Live as having the faith DUTY AND COMFOHT OF THE HEIRS THEREOF. 331 and hope of this glorious kingdom : let your conversation be in heaven, Philip, iii. 20. Let your souls delight in commu- nion with God while you are on earth, since you look for your happiness in communion with him in heaven. Let your speech and actions savour of heaven : and in your manner of life, look like the country to which you are going : that it may be said of you, as of Gideon's brethren, Judges viii. 18, " Each one resembled the children of a king." Maintain a holy con- tempt of the world, and of the things of the world. Although others, whose earthly things are their best things, set their hearts upon them ; yet it becomes you to set your feet on them, since your best things are above. This world is but the country through which lies your road to Immanuel's land. Therefore pass through it as pilgrims and strangers ; and dip not into the incumbrances of it, so as to retard you in your journey. It is unworthy of one born to a palace, to set his heart on a cottage, to dwell there ; and of one running for a prize of gold, to go off his way to gather the stones of the brook : but much more is it unworthy of an heir of the kingdom of heaven, to be hid among the stuff of this world, when he should be going on to receive his crown. The prize set before you challenges your utmost zeal, activity, and diligence : and holy courage, resolu- tion, and magnanimity, become those who are to inherit the crown. You cannot come at it without fighting your way to it, through difficulties from without, and from within : but the kingdom before you is sufficient to balance them all, though you should be called to resist even unto blood. Prefer Christ's cross before the world's crown, and want in the way of duty before ease and wealth in the way of sin : " Choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the plea- sures of sin for a season," Heb. xi. 25. In a common inn, strangers, perhaps, fare better than the children : but here lies the difference, the children are to pay nothing for what they have got ; but the strangers get their bill, and must pay com- pletely for all they have had. Did we consider the wicked's after-reckoning for all the smiles of common providence they meet with in the world, we would not grudge them their good things here, nor take it amiss that God keeps our best things last. Heaven will make up all the saints' losses, and all tears will be wiped away from their eyes there. It is worth observing, that there is such a variety of Scrip- ture notions of heaven's happiness, as may suit every afflicted case of the saints. Are they oppressed? The day cometh, in which they shall have the dominion. Is their honour laid in the dust 1 A throne to sit upon, a crown on their head, and a sceptre in their hand, will raise it up again. Are they reduced to poverty ? Heaven is a treasure. If they be forced to quit their own habitations, yet Christ's Father's house is ready for 332 DtJTV AND COMFORT OF THE HEIRS THEREOF. them. Are they driven to the wilderness? There is a city prepared for them. Are they banished from their native country? They shall inherit a better country. If they are deprived of public ordinances, the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple there, whither they are going ; a temple the doors of which none can shut. If their life be full of bitter- ness, heaven is a paradise of pleasure. If they groan under the remains of spiritual bondage, there is a glorious liberty abiding them. Do their defiled garments make them ashamed ! The day comes, in which their robes shall be white, pure, and spotless. The battle against flesh and blood, principalities and powers, is indeed sore : but a glorious triumph awaits them. If the toil and labours of the Christian life be great, there is an everlasting rest for them in heaven. Are they judged unworthy of society in the world? They shall be admitted into the society of angels in heaven. Do they complain of frequent interruptions of their communion with God ? There they shall go no more out, but shall see his face for evermore. If they are in darkness here, eternal light is there. If they grapple with death, there they shall have everlasting life. And, to sum up all in one word, " He that overcometh, shall inherit all things," Rev. xxi. 7. He shall have peace and plenty, profit, and pleasure, every thing desirable ; full satisfaction to his most enlarged desires. Let the expectants of heaven, then, lift up their heads with joy ; let them gird up their loins, and so run that they may obtain ; trampling on every thing that may hinder them in the way to the kingdom. Let them never account any duty too hard, nor any cross too heavy, nor any pains too much, so they may attain the crown of glory. Lastly, Let those who have no right to the kingdom of heaven, be stirred up to seek it with all diligence. Now is the time, wherein the children of wrath may become heirs of glory ; when the way to everlasting happiness is opened, it is no time to sit still and loiter. Raise up your hearts towards the glory that is to be revealed : and be not always in search of rest in this per- ishing earth. What can all your worldly enjoyments avail you, while you have no solid ground to expect heaven after this life is gone ? The riches and honours, profits and pleasures, that must be buried with us, and cannot accompany us into another world, are but a wretched portion, and will leave men comfort- less at length. Ah! why are men so fond in their lifetime, to receive their good things ! Why are they not rather careful to secure an interest in the kingdom of heaven, which would never be taken from them, but afford them a portion to make them happy through the ages of eternity ! If you desire honour, there you may have the highest honour, which will last when the world's honours are laid in the dust ; if riches, heaven will yield you a treasure ; and, there are pleasures for ever OF HELL. 333 more. O ! be not despisers of the pleasant land, neither judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life ; but marry the heir, and heaven shall be your dowry ; close with Christ, as he is offered to you in the gospel, and you shall inherit all things. Walk in the way of holiness, and it will lead you to the kingdom. Fight against sin and Satan, and you shall receive the crown. Forsake the world, and the doors of heaven will be opened to receive you. HEAD VI. OF HELL. Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. MATT. xxv. 41. WERE there no other place of eternal lodging but heaven, I should here have closed my discourse of man's eternal state ; but seeing, in the other world, there is a prison for the wicked, as well as a palace for the saints, we must also inquire into that state of everlasting misery ; which the worst of men may well bear with, without crying, " Art thou come to torment us be- fore the time ?" since there is yet access to flee from the wrath to come ; and all that can be said of it comes short of what the damned will feel ; for " who knoweth the power of God's anger ?" The last thing which our Lord did, before he left the earth, was, " He lift up his hands, and blessed his disciples," Luke xxiv. 50, 51. But the last thing he will do, before he leaves the throne, is to curse and condemn his enemies ; as we learn from the text, which contains the dreadful sentence, wherein the ever- lasting misery of the wicked is wrapped up. In which three things may be taken notice of. First, The quality of the con- demned, " ye cursed." The Judge finds the curse of the law upon them as transgressors, and sends them away with it, from his presence, into hell, there to be fully executed upon them. Secondly, The punishment which they are adjudged to ; and to which they were always bound over, by virtue of the curse. And it is twofold, the punishment of loss, in separation from God and Christ, " Depart from me ;" and the punishment of sense, in most exquisite and extreme torments, " Depart from ma into fire." Thirdly, The aggravations of their torments. 1. They are ready for them, they are not to expect a moment's 334 EXPLICATION OF THE TEXT. respite. The fire is prepared, and ready to catch hold of those who are thrown into it. 2. They will have the society of devils in their torments, being shut up with them in hell. They must depart into the same fire, prepared for Beelzebub the prince of devils, and his angels ; namely, other reprobate angels, who fell with him, and became devils. It is said to be prepared for them ; because they sinned, and were condemned to hell, before man sinned. This speaks further terror to the damned, that they must go into the same torments, and place of torment, with the devil and his angels. They hearkened to his temptations, and they must partake in his torments : his works they would do, and they must receive the wages, which is death. In this life they joined with devils, in enmity against God and Christ, and the way of holiness ; and in the other, they must lodge with them. Thus all the goats shall be shut up together ; for that name is common to devils and wicked men, in Scripture, Lev. xvii. 7, where the word rendered devils, properly signifies hairy ones, or goats, in the shape of which creatures devils delighted much to appear to their worshippers. 3. The last aggravation of their torment is the eternal duration thereof; they must depart into everlasting fire. This is what puts the top stone upon their misery, namely, that it shall never have an end. Doctrine. The wicked shall be shut up under the curse of God, in everlasting misery, with the devils in hell. After having proved that there shall be a resurrection of the body, and a general judgment, I think it not needful to insist on proving the truth of future punishments. The same conscience which there is in men of a future judgment, bears witness also of the truth of future punishments. (And that the punishment of the damned shall not be annihilation, or a reducing them to nothing, will be clear in the progress of our discourse.) In treating of this awful subject, I shall inquire into these four things : I. The curse under which the damned shall be shut up. II. Their misery under that curse. III. Their society with devils in this miserable state. IV. The eternity of the whole. I. As to the curse under which the damned shall be shut up in hell ; it is the terrible sentence of the law, by which they are bound over to the wrath of God as transgressors. This curse does not first seize them when standing before the tribunal to receive their sentence : but they were born under it, they led their lives under it in this world, they died under it, rose with it out of their graves ; and the Judge finding it upon them, sends them away with it into the pit, where it shall lie on them through all the ages of eternity. By nature, all men are under the curse ; but it is removed from the elect, by virtue of their union with Christ. It abides on the rest of sinful mankind, and by it they are devoted to destruction, separated to evil, as one may describe the curse from Deut. xxix. 21, "And the Lord shall THE CURSE UNDER WHICH THE DAMNED ARE SHUT UP. 335 separate him unto evil." Thus shall the damned for ever be persons devoted to destruction ; separate and set apart from the rest of mankind, unto evil, as vessels of wrath, set up as marks for the arrows of Divine wrath ; and made the common receptacle and sink of vengeance. This curse has its first fruits on earth, which are a pledge of the whole lump that is to follow. Hence it is, that as temporal and eternal benefits are bound up together, under the same ex- pressions, in the promise to the Lord's people, as, Isa. xxxv. 10, " And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion," &c. relating both to the return from Babylon, and to the saints going to their eternal rest in heaven ; even so, temporal and eternal miseries, on the enemies of God, are sometimes in- cluded under one and the same expression in the threatening, as Isa. xxx. 33, " For Tophet is ordained of old ; yea, for the king it is prepared ; he hath made it deep and large : the pile thereof is fire and much wood, the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it :" which relates both to the temporal and eternal destruction of the Assyrians, who fell by the hand of the angel before Jerusalem. See also Isa. Ixvi. 24. What is that judicial blindness to which many are given up, " whom the God of this world hath blinded," 2 Cor. iv. 4, but the first fruits of hell and of the curse ? Their sun is going down at noon- day ; their darkness increasing, as if it would not stop till it issue in utter darkness. Many a lash in the dark does conscience give the wicked, which the world does not hear of: and what is that but the never-dying worm already begun to gnaw them ? And there is not one of these but they may call it Joseph, "for the Lord shall add another;" or rather Gad, " for a troop cometh." These drops of wrath are terrible forebodings of the full shower which is to follow. Sometimes they are given up to their vile affections, that they have no more command over them, Rom. i. 26. So their lusts grow up more and more towards perfection, if I may so speak. As in heaven grace comes to its perfection, so in hell sin arrives at its highest pitch ; and as sin is thus advancing upon the man, he is the nearer and liker to hell. There are three things that have a fearful aspect here. First, When every thing that might do good to men's souls, is blasted to them ; so that their blessings are cursed, Mai. ii. 2, sermons, prayers, admonitions, and reproofs, which are powerful towards others, are quite ineffi- cacious to them. Secondly, When men go on in sinning still, in the face of plain rebukes from the Lord, in ordinances and pro- vidences ; God meets them with rods in the way of their sin, as it were striking them back ; yet they rush forward. What can be more like hell, where the Lord is always smiting, and the damned always sinning against him ? Lastly, When every thing in one's lot is turned into fuel to one's lusts. Thus, adver- 336 THR CURSE UNDER WHICH THE DAMNED ARE SHUT UP. sity and prosperity, poverty and wealth, the want of ordinances, and the enjoyment of them, do all but nourish the corruptions of many. Their vicious stomachs corrupt whatever they receive, and all does but increase noxious humours. But the full harvest follows, in that misery which they shall for ever lie under in hell ; that wrath which, by virtue of the curse, shall come upon them to the uttermost ; which is the curse fully executed. This black cloud opens upon them, and the terrible thunderbolt strikes them, by that dreadful voice from the throne, " Depart from me, ye cursed," &c. Which will give the whole wicked world a dismal view of what is in the bosom of the curse. It is, 1. A voice of extreme indignation and wrath, a furious rebuke from the lion of the tribe of Judah. His looks will be most terrible to them ; his eyes will cast flames of fire on them ; and his words will pierce their hearts, like en- venomed arrows. When he will thus speak them out of his presence for ever, and by his word chase them away from before the throne, they will see how keenly wrath burns in his heart against them for their sins. 2. It is a voice of extreme disdain and contempt from the Lord. Time was when they were pitied, admonished to pity themselves, and to be the Lord's ; yet they despised him, they would none of him : but now they shall be buried out of his sight, under everlasting contempt. 3. It is a voice of extreme hatred. Hereby the Lord shuts them out of his bowels of love and mercy. " Depart, ye cursed ;" as if he should say, I cannot endure to look at you ; there is not one pur- pose of good to you in mine heart ; nor shall you ever hear one word more of hope from me. Lastly, It is a voice of eternal re- jection from the Lord. He commands them to be gone, and so casts them off for ever. Thus the doors of heaven are shut against them ; the gulf is fixed between them and it, and they are driven to the pit. Now were they to cry with all possible earnestness, " Lord, Lord, open to us ;" they will hear nothing, but, " Depart, depart, ye cursed." Thus shall the damned be shut up under the curse. USE. First, Let all those who, being yet in their natural state, are under the curse, consider this, and flee to Jesus Christ in time, that they may be delivered from it. How can you sleep in that state, being wrapped up in the curse ! Jesus Christ is now saying unto you, " Come, ye cursed, I will take the curse oflf from you, and give you the blessing." The waters of the sanctuary are now running, to heal the cursed ground ; take heed to improve them for that end to your own souls, and fear it as hell, to get no spiritual advantage thereby. Remember that " the miry places," which are neither sea nor dry land, a fit emblem of hypocrites, " and the marshes," that neither breed fishes, nor bear trees, but the waters of the sanctuary leave them, as they find them, in their barrenness, " shall not be healed ;" THE MISERY OF THE DAMNED IN HELL. 337 seeing they spurn the only remedy : " they shall be given to salt," left under eternal barrenness, set up for the monuments of the wrath of God, and concluded for ever under the curse, Ezek. xlvii. 11. Secondly, Let all cursers consider this, whose mouths are filled with cursing themselves and others. He who " clothes himself with cursing," shall find the curse " come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones," Psa. cix. 18, if the Lord orevent it not. He shall get all his imprecations against himself fully answered, in the day wherein he stands before the tribunal of God ; and shall find the killing weight of the curse of God, which he now makes light of. II. I proceed to speak of the misery of the damned, under that curse ; a misery which the tongues of men and angels cannot sufficiently express. God always acts like himself: no favours can be compared to his, and his wrath and terrors are without a parallel. As the saints in heaven are advanced to the highest pitch of happiness, so the damned in hell arrive at the height of misery. Two things here I shall soberly inquire into, the pun- ishment of loss, and the punishment of sense, in hell. But since these also are such things as eye has not seen, nor ear heard, we must, as geographers do, leave a large void for the unknown land, which the day will discover. First, The punishment of loss which the damned shall un- dergo, is separation from the Lord, as we learn from the text, " Depart from me, ye cursed." This will be a stone upon their graves' mouth, as " the talent of lead," Zech. v. 7, 8, that will hold them down for ever. They shall be eternally separated from God and Christ. Christ is the way to the Father : but the way, as to them, shall be everlastingly blocked up, the bridge shall be drawn, and the great gulf fixed ; so shall they be shut up in a state of eternal separation from God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They will be locally separated from the man Christ, and shall never come into the seat of the Blessed, where he appears in his glory, but be cast out into outer darkness, Matt, xxii. 13. They cannot indeed be locally separated from God, they cannot be in a place where he is not ; since he is and will be present every where : " If I make my bed in hell," says the Psalmist, " behold thou art there," Psa. cxxxix. 8. But they shall be miserable beyond expression, in a relative separation from God. Though he will be present in the very centre of their souls, if I may so express it, while they are wrapped up in fiery flames, in utter' darkness ; it shall only be to feed them with the vinegar of his wrath, and to punish them with the emanations of his revenging justice ; they shall never more taste of his goodness and bounty, nor have the least glimpse of hope from him. They will see his heart to be absolutely alien- ated from them, and that it cannot be towards them ; that they arc the party against whom the Lord will have indignation for 29 338 THE PUNISHMENT OF LOSS IN HELL. ever. They shall be deprived of the glorious presence and en- joyment of God ; they shall have no part in the beatific vision ; nor see any thing in God towards them, but one wave of wrath rolling at the back of another. This will bring upon them over- whelming floods of sorrow for evermore. They shall never taste of the rivers of pleasures which the saints in heaven enjoy ; but shall have an everlasting winter, and a perpetual night, be- cause the Sun of righteousness has departed from them, and so they are left in utter darkness. So great as heaven's happiness is, so great will their loss be ; for they can have no enjoyment of it for ever. This separation of the wicked from God will be, 1. An invol- untary separation. Now they depart from him, they will not come to him though they are called, entreated, and besought to come : but then they shall be driven away from him, when they would gladly abide with him. Although the question, " What is thy beloved more than another beloved ?" is frequent now amongst the despisers of the gospel, there will be no such ques- tion among all the damned crew ; for then they will see that man's happiness is only to be found in the enjoyment of God, and that the loss of him is a loss that can never be balanced. 2. It will be a total and utter separation. Though the wicked are, in this life, separated from God, yet there is a kind of inter- course between them : he gives them many good gifts, and they give him, at least, some good words ; so that the peace is not altogether hopeless. But then shall there be a total separation, the damned being cast into utter darkness, where there will not be the least gleam of light or favour from the Lord ; which will put an end unto all their fair words to him. Lastly, It shall be a final separation ; they will part with him, never more to meet, being shut up under everlasting horror and despair. The match between Jesus Christ, and unbelievers, which has so often been carried forward, and put back again, shall then be broken up for ever ; and never shall one message of favour or good will go between the parties any more. This punishment of loss, in a total and final separation from God, is a misery beyond what mortals can conceive, and which the dreadful experience of the damned can only sufficiently un- fold. But that we may have some conception of the horror of it, let these following things be considered. First, God is the chief good ; therefore, to be separated from him, must be the chief evil. Our native country, our relations, and our life, are good ; and therefore to be deprived of them, we reckon a great evil ; and the better any thing is, so much the greater evil is the loss of it. Wherefore, God being the chief good, and no good comparable to him, there can be no loss so great as the loss of God. The full enjoyment of him is the highest pinnacle of happiness the creature is capable of arriving THE PUNISHMENT OF LOSS IN HELL. 339 at : to be fully and finally separated from him, must then be the lowest step of misery which the rational creature can be re- duced to. To be cast off by men, by good men, is heavy : what must it then be, to be rejected of God, of goodness itself! Secondly, God is the fountain of all goodness, from which all goodness flows unto the creatures, and by which it is con- tinued in them, and to them. Whatever goodness or perfection, natural as well as moral, is in any creature, it is from God, and depends upon him, as the light is from, and depends on, the sun ; for every created being, as such, is a dependent one. Wherefore a total separation from God, wherein all comfortable communication between God and a rational creature is abso- lutely blocked up, must of necessity bring along with it a total eclipse of all light of comfort and ease whatever. If there is but one window, or open place, in a house, and that be quite shut up, it is evident there can be nothing but darkness in that house. Our Lord tells us, Matt. xix. 17, " There is none good but one, that is God." Nothing good or comfortable is origi- nally from the creature : whatever good or comfortable thing one finds in one's self, as health of body, peace of mind ,- what- ever sweetness, rest, pleasure, or delight, one finds in other creatures, as in meat, drink, arts and sciences ; all these are but some faint rays of Divine perfections, communicated from God unto the creature, and depending on a constant influence from him for their conservation, which failing, they would imme- diately be gone ; for it is impossible that any created thing can be to us more or better, than what God makes it to be. All the rivulets of comfort we drink of, within or without ourselves, come from God as their spring head ; the course of which towards us being stopped, of necessity they must all dry up. So that when God goes, all that is good and comfortable goes with him, a.l ease and quiet of body or mind, Hos. ix. 12, " Woe also to them, when I depart from them." When the wicked are totally and finally separated from him, all that is comfortable in them, or about them, returns to its fountain ; as the light goes away with the sun, and darkness succeeds in the room thereof. Thus, in their separation from God, all peace is removed far away from them, and pain of body, and anguish of soul succeed to it ; all joy goes, and unmixed sorrow settles in them : all quiet and rest separate from them, and they are filled with horror and rage : hope flies away, and despair seizes them : common operations of the Spirit, which now restrain them, are withdrawn for ever, and sin comes to its utmost height. Thus we have a dismal view of the horrible spectacle of sin and misery, which a creature proves, when totally sepa- rated from God, and left to itself; and we may see this separa- tion to be the very hell of hell. Being separated from God, they are deprived of all good 340 THE PUNISHMENT OF LOSS IN HELL. The good things which they set their hearts upon in this world, are beyond their reach there. The covetous man cannot enjoy his wealth there, nor the ambitious man his honours, nor the sensual man his pleasures, no not a drop of water to cool his tongue, Luke xvi. 24, 25. No meat or drink there to strengthen the faint : no sleep to refresh the weary ; and no music, nor pleasant company, to comfort and cheer up the sorrowful. And as for these good things they despised in the world, they shall never more hear of them, nor see them. No offers of Christ there, no pardons, no peace ; no wells of salvation in the pit of destruction. In one word, they shall be deprived of whatever might comfort them, being totally and finally separated from God, the fountain of all goodness and comfort. Thirdly, Man naturally desires to be happy, being conscious to himself that he is not self-sufficient ; he has ever a desire of something without himself, to make him happy ; and the soul being, by its natural make and constitution, capable of enjoying God, and nothing else being commensurable to its desires, it can never have true and solid rest, till it rest in the enjoyment of God. This desire of happiness the rational creature can never lay aside, no, not in hell. Now, while the wicked are on earth, they seek their satisfaction in the creature ; and when one fails, they go to another : thus they spend their time in the world, deceiving their own souls with vain hopes. But, in the other world, all comfort in the creatures failing, and the shadows which they are now pursuing vanished in a moment, they shall be totally and finally separated from God, and see they have thus lost him. So the doors of earth and heaven both are shut against them at once. This will create them unspeakable anguish, while they shall live under an eternal gnawing hunger after happiness, which they certainly know shall never be in the least measure satisfied, all the doors being closed on them. Who then can imagine how this separation from God shall cut the damned to the heart ! how they will roar and rage under it ! and how it will sting them and gnaw them through the ages of eternity ! Fourthly, The damned shall know that some are perfectly happy, in the enjoyment of that God from whom they them selves are separated : and this will aggravate the sense of theii loss, that they can never have any share with those happy ones. Being separated from God, they are separated from the society of the glorified saints and angels. They may see Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom, Luke xvi. 23, but can never come into their company ; being, as unclean lepers, thrust out without the camp, and excommunicated from the presence of the Lord, and of all his holy ones. It is the opinion of some, that every person in heaven or hell shall hear ani see all that masses in either state. Whatever is to be said of this, we have THE PUNISHMENT OF LOSS IN HELL. 341 ground from the word to conclude, that the damned shall have a very exquisite knowledge of the happiness of the saints in heaven , for what else can be meant by the rich man in hell seeing Lazarus in Abraham's bosom ? One thing is plain, in this case, that their own torments will give them such notions of the happiness of the saints, as a sick man has of health, or a prisoner has of liberty. And as they cannot fail of reflecting on the happiness of those in heaven, without any hope of attaining to contentment with their own lot, so every thought of that hap- piness will aggravate their loss. It would be a mighty torment to a hungry man to see others liberally feasting, while he is so chained up, as not to have one crumb to stay his gnawing ap- petite. To bring music and dancing before a man labouring under extreme pains, would but increase his anguish : how then will the songs of the blessed, in their enjoyment of God, make the damned roar under their separation from him ! Fifthly, They will remember that time was when they might have been made partakers of the blessed company of the saints, in their enjoyment of God : and this will aggravate their sense of the loss. All may remember that there was once a possibi- lity of it; that they were once in the world, in some corners of which the way of salvation was laid open to men's view ; and may wish they had gone round the world, till they had found it out. Despisers of the gospel will remember, with bitterness, that Jesus Christ, with all his benefits, was offered to them ; that they were exhorted, entreated, and pressed to accept, but would not ; and that they were warned of the misery they feel, and exhorted to flee from the wrath to come, but they would not hearken. The gospel offer slighted will make a hot hell, and the loss of an offered heaven will be a sinking weight on the spirits of unbelievers in the pit. Some will remember that there was a probability of their being eternally happy; that once they seemed to stand fair for it, and were not far from the kingdom of God ; that they had once almost consented to the blessed bargain, the pen was in their hand, as it were, to sign the marriage contract between Christ and their souls ; but un- happily they dropped it, and turned back from the Lord to their lusts again. Others will remember, that they thought them- selves sure of heaven, but, being blinded with pride and self conceit, they were above ordinances, and beyond instruction, and would not examine their state, which was their ruin : but then they will in vain wish that they had reputed themselves the worst of the congregation in which they lived, and curse the fond conceit they had of themselves, and that others had of them too. Thus it will sting the damned, that they might have escaped this loss. Lastly, They will see the loss to be irrecoverable ; that they must eternally lie under it, never, never to be repaired. Might 29* 342 THE PUNISHMENT OF LOSS IN HELL. the damned, after millions of ages in hell, regain what they have lost, it would be some ground of hope ; but the prize is gone, and never can be recovered. There are two things which will pierce them to the heart : 1. That they never knew the worth of it, till it was irrecoverably lost. Should a man give away an earthen pot full of gold for a trifle, not knowing what was in it till it were quite gone from him, and past recovery, how would this foolish action gall him, upon the discovery of the riches in it ! Such a one's case may be a faint resemblance of the case of despisers of the gospel, when in hell they lift up their eyes, and behold that, to their torment, which they will not see now, to their salvation. 2. That they have lost it for dross and dung; sold their part of heaven, and not enriched themselves with the price. They have lost heaven for earthly profits and pleasures, and now both are gone together from them. The drunkard's cups are gone, the covetous man's gain, the voluptuous man's carnal delights, and the sluggard's ease ; nothing is left to com- fort them now. The happiness they lost remains indeed, but they can have no part in it for ever. USE. Sinners, be persuaded to come to God through Jesus Christ, uniting with him through the Mediator ; that you may be preserved from this fearful separation from him. O be afraid to live in a state of separation from God, lest that which you now make your choice, become your eternal punishment here- after. Do not reject communion with God, cast not off the communion of saints ; for it will be the misery of the damned to be driven out from that communion. Cease to build up the wall of separation between God and you, by continuing in your sinful courses ; repent rather in time, and so pull it down ; lest the topstone be laid upon it, and it stand for ever between you and happiness. Tremble at the thoughts of rejection and sepa- ration from God. By whomever men are rejected upon earth, they ordinarily find some pity ; but, if you be thus separated from God, you will find all doors shut against you. You will find no pity from any in heaven ; neither saints nor angels will pity them whom God has utterly cast off: none will pity you in hell, where there is no love, but loathing ; all being loathed of God, loathing him, and loathing one another. This is a day of losses and fears. I show you a loss you would do well to fear in time ; be afraid lest you lose God ; if you do, eternity will be spent in roaring out lamentation for this loss. O horrid stupidity ! men are in a mighty care and concern to prevent worldly losses : but they are in hazard of losing the enjoyment of God for ever and ever ; in hazard of losing heaven, the communion of the blessed, and all good things for soul and body in another world ; yet as careless in that matter, as if they were incapable of thought. O compare this day with the day our text aims at. To-day heaven is opened to them who hitherto have rejected Christ ; and yet THE PUNISHMENT OF SENSE IN HELL. 343 there is room, if they will come : but that day the doors shall be shut. Now Christ is saying unto you, " Come :" then he will say, " Depart ;" seeing you would not come when you were bidden. Now pity is shown ; the Lord pities you, his servants pity you, and tell you that the pit is before you, and cry to you, that you do yourselves no harm : but then shall you have no pity from God or man. Secondly, The damned shall be punished in hell with the punishment of sense ; they must depart from God into everlast- ing fire. I am not disposed to dispute what kind of fire it is which they shall depart into, and be tormented by for ever, whether a material fire or not : experience will more than satisfy the curiosity of those who are disposed rather to dispute about it, than to seek how to escape it. Neither will I meddle with that question, where it is. It is enough, that the worm which never dies, and the fire that is never quenched, will be found somewhere by impenitent sinners. But, 1. I shall prove that, whatever kind of fire it is, it is more vehement and terrible than any fire we on earth are acquainted with. 2. I shall speak of some properties of these fiery torments. As to the first of these; burning is the most terrible punish- ment, and brings the most exquisite pain and torment with it. By what reward could a man be induced to hold his hand in the flame of a candle but for one hour ? All imaginable plea- sures on earth will never prevail with the most voluptuous man, to venture to lodge but one half hour in a burning fiery furnace ; nor would all the wealth in the world prevail with the most covetous to do it : yet, on much lower terms do most men in ef- fect, expose themselves to everlasting fire in hell, which is more vehement and terrible than any fire we on earth are acquainted with ; as will appear by the following considerations. 1. As, in heaven, grace being brought to its perfection, profit and pleasure also arrive at their height there ; so sin, being come to its height in hell, the evil of punishment does also arrive at its perfection there. Wherefore, as the joys in heaven are far greater than any joys which the saints obtain on earth, so the punish- ments of hell must be greater than any earthly torments what- ever ; not only in respect of the continuance of them, but also in respuct of vehemency and exquisiteness. 2. Why are the things of another world represented to us in an earthly dress, in the word, but because the weakness of our capacities in such matters, which the Lord is pleased to con- descend to, requires it; it being always supposed, that the things of the other world are in their kind more perfect than those by which they are represented. When heaven is repre- sented to us under the notion of a city, with gates of pearl, and the street of gold ; we expect not to find gold and pearls there, which are so mightly prized on earth, but something more ex- 344 THE PUNISHMENT OF SENSE IN HELL. cellent than the finest and most precious things in the world . when, therefore, we hear of hell fire, it is necessary we under- stand by it something more vehement, piercing, and torment- ing, than any fire ever seen by our eyes. And here it is worth considering, that the torments of hell are held forth under several other notions than that of fire simply : and the reason of it is plain ; namely, that hereby what of horror is wanting in one notion of hell, is supplied by another. Why is heaven's hap- piness represented under the various notions of " a treasure, a paradise, a feast, a rest," &c., but that there is not one of these things sufficient to express it? Even so, hell torments are represented under the notion of fire, which the damned are cast into. A dreadful representation indeed ! yet not sufficient to express the misery of the state of sinners in them. Wherefore, we hear also of " the second death," Rev. xx. 6 ; for the damn- ed in hell shall be ever dying : of the " wine press of the wrath of God," chap. xiv. 19, wherein they will be trodden in anger, trampled in the Lord's fury, Isa. Ixiii. 3 ; pressed, broken, and bruised, without end : " the worm that dieth not," Mark ix. 44, which shall eternally gnaw them : " a bottomless pit," where they will be ever sinking, Rev. xx. 3. It is not simply called " a fire," but " the lake of fire and brimstone," ver. 19, "a lake of fire burning with brimstone," chap. xix. 20 ; than which one can imagine nothing more dreadful. Yet, because fire gives light, and light, as Solomon observes, Eccles. xi. 7, is sweet, there is no light there, but darkness, utter darkness, Matt. xxv. 30. For they must have an everlasting night, since nothing can be there which is in any measure comfortable or refreshing. 3. Our fire cannot affect a spirit, but by way of sympathy with the body to which it is united : but hell fire will not only pierce into the bodies, but directly into the souls of the damned ; for it is " prepared for the devil and his angels," those wicked spirits whom no fire on earth can hurt. Job complains heavily, under the chastisements of God's fatherly hand, saying, " The arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit," Job vi. 4. But how will the spirits of the damned be pierced with the arrows of revenging justice ! how will they be drunk up with the poison of the curse on these arrows ! how vehement must that fire be that pierces directly into the soul, and makes an everlasting burning in the spirit, the most lively and tender part of a man, wherein wounds or pains are most intolerable ! Lastly, The preparation of this fire proves the inexpressible vehemency and dreadfulness of it. The text calls it," prepared fire," yea, the prepared fire, by way of eminency. As the three children were not cast into an ordinary fire, but a fire prepared on a particular design, which therefore was exceedingly hot, the furnance being heated seven times more than ordinary, Dan. ii. THE PUNISHMENT OF SENSE IN HELL. 345 19 22 ; so the damned shall find in hell prepared fire, the like to which was never prepared by human art ; it is a fire of God's own preparing, the product of infinite wisdom, on a particular design, to demonstrate the most strict and severe Divine justice against sin ; which may sufficiently evidence to us the inconceiv- able exquisiteness thereof. God always acts in a peculiar way, becoming his own infinite greatness, whether for or against the creature : therefore, as the things he has prepared for them thai love hrm, are great and good beyond expression or conception, so one may conclude, that the things he has prepared against those who hate him, are great and terrible beyond what men can either say or think of them. The pile of Tophet is " fire, and much wood," the coals of that fire are " coals of juniper," a kind of wood which, set on fire, burns most fiercely, Psal. cxx. 4 ; " and the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brim- stone, doth kindle it," Isa. xxx. 33. Fire is more or less vio- lent, according to the matter of it, and the breath by which it is blown. What heart, then, can fully conceive the horror of coals of juniper blown up with the breath of the Lord 1 Nay, God himself will be a consuming fire, Deut. iv. 24, to the damned ; intimately present, as a devouring fire, in their souls and bodies. It is a fearful thing to fall into a fire, or to be shut up in a fiery furnace on earth ; but the terror of these vanishes, when we con- sider how fearful it is to fall into the hands of the living God, which is the lot of the damned ; for " Who shall dwell with de- vouring fire ? Who shall dwell with everlasting burnings ?" Isa. xxxiii. 14. As to the second point proposed, namely the properties of the fiery torments in hell : 1. They will be universal torments, every part of the crea- ture being tormented in that flame. When one is cast into a fiery furnace, the fire makes its way into the very bowels, and leaves no member untouched : what part, then, can have ease, when the damned swim in a lake of fire burning with brim- stone ? There will their bodies be tormented, and scorched for ever. And as they sinned, so shall they be tormented in all the parts thereof; that they shall have no sound side to turn them to ; for what soundness or ease can be to any part of that body, which being separated from God, and all refreshment from him, is still in the pangs of the second death, ever dying, but never dead ? But as the soul was chief in sinning, it will be chief in suffering too, being filled brim full of the wrath of a sm- revenging God. The damned shall ever be under the deepest impressions of God's vindictive justice against them : and this fire will melt their souls within them like wax. Who knows the power of that wrath which had such an effect on the Media- tor standing in the room of sinners, Psal. xxii. 14, " My heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels ?" Their 346 THE PUNISHMENT OF SENSE IN HELL. minds shall be filled with the terrible apprehensions of God's implacable wrath : and whatever they can think upon, past, present, or to come, will aggravate their torment and anguish. Their will shall be crossed in all things for evermore : as their will was ever contrary to the will of God's precepts, so God, in his dealing with them, in the other world, shall have war with them for ever. What they would have, they shall not in the least obtain ; but what they would not, shall be bound upon them without remedy. Hence, no pleasant affection shall ever spring up in their hearts any more: their love of complacency, joy, and delight, in any object whatever, shall be plucked up by the root ; and they will be filled with hatred, fury, and rage, against God, themselves, and their fellow creatures, whether happy in heaven, or miserable in hell, as they themselves are. They will be sunk in sorrow, racked with anxiety, filled with horror, galled to the heart with fretting, and continually goaded with despair ; which will make them weep, gnash their teeth, and blaspheme for ever. Matt. xxii. 13, "Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into utter darkness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Rev. xvi. 21, "And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent : and men blasphemed God because of the hail ; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." Conscience will be a worm to gnaw and prey upon them ; remorse for their sins shall seize them, and torment them for ever, and they shall not be able to shake it off, as once they did ; for " in hell their worm dieth not," Mark ix. 45, 46. Their memory will serve but to aggravate their torment, and every new reflection will bring another pang of anguish, Luke xvi. 25, " But Abraham said," viz. to the rich man in hell, " Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things." 2. The torments in hell are manifold. Put the case, that a man were, at one and the same time, under the violence of the gout, gravel, and whatever diseases and pains have ever met together in one body ; the torment of such a one would be but light in comparison with the torments of the damned. For, as in hell there is an absence of all that is good and desirable, so there is the confluence of all evils there ; since all the effects of sin and of the curse take their place in it, after the last judg- ment, Rev. xx. 14, "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire." There they will find a prison they can never escape out of; a lake of fire, where they will be ever swimming and burning ; a pit, whereof they will never find a bottom. The worm that dies not, shall feed on them, as on bodies which are interred : the fire that is not quenched, shall devour them, as dead bodies which are burned. Their eyes shall be kept in blackness of darkness, without the least comfortable gleam of light; their ears filled with frightful yellings of the infernal THE PUNISHMENT OF SENSE IN HELL. 347 crew. They shall taste nothing but the vinegar of God's wrath, the dregs of the cup of his fury. The stench of the burning lake of brimstone will be the smell there ; and they shall feel extreme pains for evermore. 3. They will be most exquisite and vehement torments, causing " weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth," Matt. xiii. 42, and xxii, 13. They are represented to us under the notion of pangs in travail, which are very sharp and exquisite. So says the rich man in hell, Luke xvi. 24, " I am tormented," to wit, as one in the pangs of child-bearing, " in this flame." Ah ! dreadful pangs ! horrible travail, in which both soul and body are in pangs together ! helpless travail, hopeless and endless ! The word used for hell, Matt. v. 22, and in divers other places of the New Testament, properly denotes the valley of Hinnom ; the name being taken from the valley of the children of Hin- nom, in which was Tophet, 2 Kings xxiii. 10, where idolaters offered their children to Moloch. This is said to have been a great brazen idol, with arms like a man's : which being heated by fire within it, the child was set in the burning arms of the idol, and, that the parents might not hear the shrieks of the child burning to death, they beat drums in the time of the horrible sacrifice ; whence the place had the name of Tophet. Thus the exquisiteness of the torments in hell is pointed out to us. Some have endured grievous tortures on earth, with surprising obstinacy and undaunted courage : but men's courage will fail them there, when they find themselves fallen into the hands of the living God ; and no escape to be expected for ever. It is true, there will be degrees of torments in hell ; " It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, than for Chorazin and Beth- saida," Matt. xi. 21, 22. But the least load of wrath there will be insupportable : for how can the heart of the creature endure, or his hands be strong, when God himself is a consuming fire to him ? When the tares are bound in bundles for the fire, there will be bundles of covetous persons, of drunkards, profane swearers, unclean persons, formal hypocrites, unbelievers, and despisers of the gospel, and the like: the several bundles being cast into hell fire, some will burn more keenly than others, according as their sins have been more heinous than those of others : a fiercer flame shall seize the bundle of the profane, than the bundle of unsanctified moralists ; the furnace will be hotter to those who have sinned against light, than to those who lived in darkness, Luke xii. 47, 48, " That servant which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes." But the sentence common to them all, Matt. xiii. 30, " Bin<? them in bundles to burn them," speaks 348 THE PUNISHMENT OF SENSE IN HELL. the great vehemency and exquisiteness of the lowest degree o! torment in hell. 4. They will be uninterrupted ; there is no intermission there; no ease ; no, not for a moment. They " shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever," Rev. xx. 10. Few are so tossed in this world, but sometimes they get rest ; but the damned shall get none; they took their rest in the time ap- pointed of God for their labour. Storms are rarely seen, with- out some space between showers ; but there is no intermission in the storm that falls on the wicked in hell. There deep will be calling unto deep, and the waves of wrath continually rolling over them. There the heavens will be always black to them, and they shall have a perpetual night, but no rest, Rev. xiv. 11, " They have no rest day nor night." 5. They will be unpitied. The punishments inflicted on .he greatest malefactors on earth, draw forth some compassion from the spectators ; but the damned shall have none to pity them. God will not pity them, but laugh at their calamity, Prov. i. 26. The blessed company in heaven shall rejoice in the execution of God's righteous judgment, and sing while the smoke rises up for ever and ever, Rev. xix. 3. " And again they said, Hallelujah ; and her smoke rose up for ever and ever.' ; No compassion can be expected from the devil and his angels, who delight in the ruin of the children of men, and are and will be for ever void of pity. Neither will one pity another there, where every one is weeping and gnashing his teeth, under his own insupportable anguish and pain. There, natural affection will be extinguished ; the parents will not love their children, nor children their parents ; the mother will not pity the daugh- ter in these flames, nor will the daughter pity the mother : the son will show no regard to his father there, nor the servant to his master, where every one will be roaring under his own torment. Lastly, To complete their misery, their torments shall be eternal, Rev. xiv. 11, "And the smoke of their torment as cerideth up for ever and ever." Ah ! what a frightful case is this, to be tormented in the whole body and soul, and that not with one kind of torment, but many; all of these most exquisite, and all this without any intermission, and without pity from any ! What heart can conceive those things without horror ! Nevertheless, if this most miserable case were at length to have an end, that would afford some comfort ; but the torments of the damned will have no end ; of the which more afterwards. USE. Learn from this, 1. The evil of sin. It is a stream that will carry down the sinner, till he be swallowed up in the ocean of wrath. The pleasures of sin are bought too dear, at the rate of everlasting burnings. What availed the rich man's purple clothing and sumptuous fare, when in hell he was encir- THE PUNISHMENT OF SENSE IN HELL,, 319 cled by purple flames, and could not have a drop of water to cool his tongue? Alas! that men should indulge themselves in sin, which will be such bitterness in the end ! that they should drink so greedily of the poisonous cup, and hug that serpent in their bosom, that will sting them to the heart, and gnaw out their bowels at length. 2. What a God he is with whom we have to do ! What hatred he bears to sin, and how severely he punishes it. Know the Lord to be most just, as well as most merciful, and think not that he is such a one as you are ; away with the fatal mistake ere it be too late, Psa. 1. 21, 22, " Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself; but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes." Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver." The fire prepared for the devil and his angels, as dark as it is, will discover God to be a severe revenger of sin. Lastly ', The absolute necessity of flying to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith ; the same necessity of repentance, and holiness of heart and life. The avenger of blood is pursu- ing thee, O sinner, haste and escape to the city of refuge. Wash now in the fountain of the Mediator's blood, that thou mayst not perish in the lake of fire. Open thy heart to him, lest the pit close its mouth on thee. Leave thy sins, else they will ruin thee : kill them, else they will be thy death for ever. Let not the terror of hell-fire put thee upon hardening thy heart more, as it may do, if thou entertain that wicked thought, viz : " There is no hope," Jer. ii. 25, which, perhaps, is more common among the hearers of the gospel, than many are aware of. But there is hope for the worst of sinners, who will come unto Jesus Chrisv. If there are no good qualifications in thee, as certainly there can be none in a natural man, none in any man, but what are received from Christ in him, know, that he has not suspended thy welcome on any good qualifications : do thou take him and his salvation, freely offered unto all to whom the gospel comes. " Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely," Rev. xxii. 17. " Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out," John vi. 37. It is true, thou art a sinful creature, and canst not repent ; thou art unholy, and canst not make thyself holy : nay, thou hast attempted to repent, to for- sake sin, and to be holy, but still missed of repentance, refor- mation and holiness ; and therefore, " Thou saidst, " There is no hope. No, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go." Truly no wonder that the success has not answered thy expectation, since thou hast always begun thy work amiss. But do thou first of all honour God, by believing the testimony he has given of his Son, namely that eternal life is in him : and honour the Son of God, by believing on him, that is, embracing and falling in with the free offer of Christ, and of his salvation from sin and from wrath, made to thee in the gospel ; trusting 30 350 SOCIETY WITH DEVILS. in him confidently for righteousness to thy justification, ana also for sanctification ; seeing " of God he is made unto us " both " righteousness and sanctification," 1 Cor. i. 30. Then, if thou hast as much credit to give to the word of God, as thou wouldst allow to the word of an honest man, offering thee a gift, and saying, Take it and it is thine : thou mayest believe, that God is thy God, Christ is thine, his salvation is thine, thy sins are pardoned, thou hast strength in him for repentance and for holiness ; for all these are made over to thee in the free offer of the gospel. Believing on the Son of God, thou art justified, the curse is removed. And while it lies upon thee, how is it possible thou shouldst bring forth the fruits of holiness ? But, the curse removed, that death which seized on thee with the first Adam, according to the threatening, Gen. ii. 17, is taken away. In consequence of which, thou shalt find the bands of wickedness, now holding thee fast in impenitence, broken asun- der, as the bands of that death ; so that thou wilt be able to repent indeed from the heart : thou shalt find the Spirit of life, on whose departure that death ensued, returned to thy soul ; so that thenceforth thou shalt be enabled to live unto righteousness. No man's case is so bad, but it may be mended this way, in time, to be perfectly right in eternity : and no man's case is so good, but another way being taken, it will be marred for time and eternity too. III. The damned shall have the society of devils in their miserable state in hell : for they must depart into " fire prepared for the devil and his angels." O horrible company ! O fright- ful association ! who would choose to dwell in a palace haunted by devils ? To be confined to the most pleasant spot of earth, with the devil, and his infernal furies, would be a most terrible confinement. How would men's hearts fail them, and their hair stand up, finding themselves environed by the hellish crew ! But ah ! how much more terrible must it be, to be cast with the devils into one fire, locked up with them in one dungeon, shut up with them in one pit ! To be closed up in a den of roaring lions, girded about with serpents, surrounded with venomous asps, and to have the bowels eaten out by vipers, altogether and at once, is a comparison too low, to show the misery of the damned, shut up in hell with the devil and his angels. They go about now as roaring lions, seeking whom they may devour : but then shall they be confined in their den with their prey. They shall be filled to the brim with the wrath of God, and receive the full torment, Matt. viii. 29, which they tremble in expectation of, James ii. 19, being cast into the fire pre- pared for them. How will these lions roar and tear ! how will these serpents hiss ! these dragons vomit out fire ! what horrible anguish will seize the damned, finding themselves in the lake of fire, with the devil who deceived them ; drawn 4t " THE ETEKNITY OF THE MISUUY OP THE DAMNED. 351 thither with the silken cords of temptation, by these wicked spirits ; and bound with them in everlasting chains under dark- ness ! Rev. xx. 10, "And the devil that deceived them, was cast Into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for evei and ever." O ! that men would consider this in time, renounce the devi. and his lusts, and join themselves to the Lord in faith and holi- ness. Why should men choose that company in this world, and delight in that society, they would not desire to associate with in the other world 1 Those who like not the company of the saints on earth, will get none of it in eternity ; but, as god- less company is their delight now, they will afterwards get enough of it ; when they have eternity to pass in the roaring and blaspheming society of devils and reprobates in hell. Let those who used to invocate the devil to take them, soberly con- sider, that the company so often invited, will be terrible at last, when come. IV. And lastly, Let us consider the eternity of the whole, the everlasting continuance of the miserable state of the damned in hell. First If 1 could, I would show what eternity is ; I mean, the creature's eternity. But who can measure the waters of the ocean ; or who can tell you the days, years, and ages of eter- nity, which are infinitely more than the drops of the ocean ? None can comprehend eternity, but the eternal God. Eternity is an ocean, whereof we shall never see the shore ; it is a deep, where we can find no bottom ; a labyrinth, from whence we can- not extricate ourselves, and where we shall ever lose the door. There are two things we may say of it, 1. It has a beginning. God's eternity has no beginning, but the creature's has. Once there was no lake of fire ; and those who have been there for some thousands of years, were once in lime, as we now are. But, 2. It shall never have an end. The first who entered into the eternity of woe, is as far from the end of it, as the last who shall go thither will be at his entry. They who have launched out furthest into that ocean, are as far from land, as they were the first moment they went into it : and thousands of ages after this, they will be as far from it as ever. Wherefore eternity, which is before us, is a duration that has a beginning, but no end. It is a beginning without a middle, a beginning without an end. After millions of years passed in it, still it is a begin- ning. God's wrath, in hell, will ever be the wrath to come. But there is no middle in eternity. When millions of ages are past in eternity, what is past, bears no proportion to what is to come : no, not so much as one drop of water, falling from the lip of one's finger, bears to all the waters of the ocean. There is no end of it : while God is, it shall be. It is an entry without 352 THE ETERNITY OF THE MISERY OP THE DAMNED. an end to it ; a continual succession of ages ; a glass always running, which shall never run out. Observe the continual succession of hours, days, months, and years, how one still follows upon another; and think of eternity, wherein there is a continual succession, without end. When you go out in the night, and behold the stars of heaven, how they cannot be numbered for multitude, think of the ages of eternity ; consider also, there is a certain definite number of stars, but no number of the ages of eternity. When you see water running, think how vain a thing it would be to sit down by it, and wait till it should run out, that you may pass over; observe how new water still succeeds to that which passes by you : and therein you have an image of eternity, which is a river that never dries up. They who wear rings have an image of eternity on their fingers ; and they who handle the wheel, have an em- blem of eternity before them : for to which part soever of the ring or wheel we look, one will still see another part beyond it : and on whatever moment of eternity you meditate, there is still another beyond it. When you are abroad in the fields, and be- hold the blades of grass on the earth, which no man can reckon ; think with yourselves, that, were as many thousands of years to come, as there are blades of grass on the ground, even those would have an end at length ; but eternity will have none. When you look to a mountain, imagine in your hearts, how long it would be, ere that mountain should be removed, by a little bird coming but once every thousand years, and carrying away but one grain of the dust thereof at once : the mountain would at length be removed that way, and brought to an end ; but eter- nity will never end. Suppose this with respect to all the moun- tains of the earth ; nay, with respect to the whole globe itself: the grains of dust of which the whole of it is made up are not infinite ; and therefore the last grain would, at length, come to be carried away, as above : yet eternity would be, in effect, but beginning. These are some rude draughts of eternity ; and now add misery and woe to this eternity, what tongue can express it ! what heart can conceive it ! in what balance can that misery and that woe be weighed ! Secondly, Let us take a view of what is eternal, in the state of the damned in hell. Whatever is included in the fearful sen- tence determining their state, is everlasting : therefore all the doleful ingredients of their miserable state will be everlasting ; they will never end. The text expressly declares the fire, into which they must depart, to be everlasting fire. And our Lord elsewhere tells us, that in hell, the fire shall never be quenched, Mark ix. 42 ; with an eye to the valley of Hinnom, in which, besides the before-mentioned fire, for burning of the children to Moloch, there was also another fire burning continually, to con- THE ETERNITY OF THE MI8EHY OF THE DAMNED. 353 sume the dead carcasses and filth of Jerusalem : so the Scripture, representing hell-fire by the fire of that valley, speaks it not only to be most exquisite, but also everlasting. Seeing, then, the damned must depart, as cursed ones, into everlasting fire, il is evident, that, First, The damned themselves shall be eternal ; they will have a being forever, and will never be substantially destroyed or annihilated. To what end is the fire eternal, if those who are cast into it be not eternally in it ? It is plain, the everlasting continuance of the fire is an aggravation of the misery of the damned. But, surely, if they be annihilated, or substantially destroyed, it would be indifferent to them, whether the fire be everlasting, or not. Nay, but they depart into everlasting fire, to be everlastingly punished in it. Matt. xxv. 46, " These shall go away into everlasting punishment." Thus the execution of the sentence is a certain discovery of the meaning of it. The worm, that dies not, must have a subject to live in. They, who shall have no rest, day nor night, Rev. xiv. 11, but shall be " tormented day and night, for ever and ever," chap. xx. 10, will certainly have a being for ever and ever, and not be brought into a state of eternal rest in annihilation. Destroyed indeed they shall be : but their destruction will be an everlasting de- struction, 2 Thess. i. 9 ; a destruction of their well-being, but not of their being. What is destroyed, is not therefore annihi- lated ; " Art thou come to destroy us ?" said the devil unto Jesus Christ, Luke iv. 34. The devils are afraid of torment, not of annihilation, Matt. viii. 29 " Art thou come hither to tormen* us before the time ?" The state of the damned is indeed a state of death : but such a death it is, as is opposite only to a happy life ; as is clear from other notions of their state, which neces- sarily include eternal existence, of which before. As they who are dead in sin, are dead to God and holiness, yet live to sin ; so dying in hell, they live, but separated from God, and his favour, in which is life, Psa. xxx. 5. They shall ever be under the pangs of death : ever dying, but never dead, or absolutely void of life. How desirable would such a death be to them ! but it will flee from them for ever. Could each one kill another there, or could they, with their own hands, tear themselves into lifeless pieces, their misery would quickly be at an end : but there they must live, who chose death, and refused life ; for there death lives, and the end ever begins. Secondly, The curse shall lie upon them eternally, as the everlasting chain, to hold them in the everlasting fire ; a chain that shall never be loosed, being fixed for ever about them, by the dreadful sentence of the eternal judgment. This chain, which spurns the united force of devils held fast by it, is too strong to be broken by men, who being solemnly anathema- 30* 354 THE ETERNITY OF THE MISERY OF THE DAMNED. tized, and devoted to destruction, can never be recovered to any other use. Thirdly, Their punishment shall be eternal ; Matt. xxv. 46, " These shall go away into everlasting punishment." They will be for ever separated from God and Christ, and from the society of the holy angels and saints ; between whom and them an impassable gulf will be fixed, Luke xvi. 26, " Between us and you," says Abraham, in the parable, to the rich man in hell, " there is a great gulf fixed : so that they which would pass from hence to you, cannot ; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence." They shall for ever have the horri- ble society of the devil and his angels. There will be no change of company for ever in that region of darkness. Their torment in the fire will be everlasting: they must live for ever in it. Several authors, both ancient and modern, tell us of earth-flax or salamander's hair, [asbestos] that cloth made of it, being cast into the fire, is so far from being burnt or consumed, that it is only made clean thereby, as other things are by washing. But it is certain the damned shall be tormented for ever and ever in hell-fire, and not substantially destroyed, Rev. xx. 10. And indeed nothing is annihilated by fire, but only dissolved. Of what nature soever hell fire is, no question the same God, who kept the bodies of the three children from burning in Nebu- chadnezzar's fiery furnace, can also keep the bodies of the damned from any such dissolution by hell-fire, as may infer pri- vation of life. Lastly, Their knowledge and sense of their misery shall be eternal, and they shall assuredly know that it will be eternal. How desirable would it be to them, to have their senses for ever locked up, and to lose the consciousness of their own misery ! as one may rationally suppose it to fare at length with some, in the punishment of death inflicted on them on earth, and as it is with some mad people ; but that agrees not with the notion of torment for ever and ever, nor the worm that dies not. Nay, they will ever have a lively feeling of their misery, and strongest impressions of the wrath of God against them. And that dread- ful intimation of the eternity of their punishment, made to them by their Judge, in their sentence, will fix such impressions of the eternity of their miserable state upon their minds, as they will never be able to lay aside ; but will continue with them evermore to complete their misery. This will fill them with everlasting despair ; a most tormenting passion, which will con- tinually rend their hearts, as it were, in a thousand pieces. To see floods of wrath ever coming, and never to cease ; to be ever in torment, and to know that there shall never, never be a re- lease, will be the topstone put on the misery of the damned. If " hope deferred maketh the heart sick," Prov. xiii. 12, how killing will be hope rooted up, slain outright, and buried for ever THE ETERNITY OP THE MISERY OF THE DAMNED. 355 out of the creature's sight ! This will fill them with hatred and rage against God, their known irreconcilable enemy : and, un- der it, they will roar for ever, like wild bulls in a net, and fill the pit with blasphemies evermore. I might here show the reasonableness of the eternity of the punishment of the damned : but, having already spoken of it, in vindicating the justice of God, in his subjecting men, in their natural state, to eternal wrath, I only remind you of three things: 1. The infinite dignity of the party offended by sin, requires an infinite punishment to be inflicted for the vindica- tion of his honour ; since the demerit of sin riseth according to the dignity and excellency of the person against whom it is committed. The party offended is the great God, the chief good ; the offender, a vile worm ; in respect of perfection, infi- nitely distant from God, to whom he is indebted for all that he ever had, implying any good or perfection whatever. This then requires an infinite punishment to be inflicted on the sin- ner ; which, since it cannot in him be infinite in value, must needs be infinite in duration, that is to say eternal. Sin is a kind of infinite evil, as it wrongs an infinite God ; and the guilt and defilement thereof is never taken away, but endures for ever, unless the Lord himself in mercy remove it. God, who is offended, is eternal, his being never comes to an end : the sinful soul is immortal, and the man shall live for ever : the sin- ner being without strength Rom. v. 6, to expiate his guilt, can never put away the offence ; therefore it ever remains, unless the Lord put it away himself, as in the elect, by his Son's blood. Wherefore the party offended, the offender, and the offence, ever remaining, the punishment cannot but be eternal. 2. The sinner would have continued the course of his provocations against God for ever without end, if God had not put a check to it by death. As long as they were capable to act against him in this world, they did it; and therefore justly will he act against them, while he is ; that is, for ever. God, who judges of the will, intents, and inclinations of the heart, may justly do against sin-ners, in punishing, as they would have done against him in sinning. Lastly, Though I put not the stress of the matter here, yet it is just and reasonable, that the damned suffer eternally, since they will sin eternally in hell, gnashing their teeth, Matt. viii. 12, under their pain, in rage, envy, and grudge ; compare Acts vii. 54 ; Psal. cxii. 10 ; Luke xiii. 20 ; and blaspheming God there, Rev. xvi. 21, while they are " driven away in their wick- edness," Prov. xiv. 32. That the wicked be punished for their wickedness, is just ; and it is no ways inconsistent with justice, that the being of the creature be continued for ever : wherefore, it is just, that the damned, continuing wicked eternally, do suf- fer eternally for their wickedness. The misery, under which 356 A MEASURING REED. A BALANCE OF THE SANCTUARY. they sin, can neither free them from the debt of obedience, nor excuse their sinning, and make it blameless. The creature, as a creature, is bound unto obedience to his Creator; and no pun- ishment inflicted on him can free him from it, any more than the malefactor's prison, irons, whipping, and the like, set him at liberty again, to commit the crimes for which he is imprison- ed or whipped. Neither can the torments of the damned ex- cuse, or make blameless, their horrible sinning under them, any more than exquisite pains inflicted upon men on earth, can ex- cuse their murmuring, fretting, and blaspheming against God under them. It is not the wrath of God, but their own wicked nature, that is the true cause of their sinning under it ; for the holy Jesus bore the wrath of God, without so much as one un- becoming thought of God, and far less any one unbecoming word. USE I. Here is a measuring reed : O that men would apply it. First, Apply it to your own time in this world, and you will find your time to be very short. A prospect of much time to come proves the ruin of many souls. Men will be reckoning their time by years, like the rich man, Luke xii. 19, 20, when, it may be, there are not many hours of it to run. But reckon as you will, laying your time to the measuring reed of eternity, you will see your age is as nothing. What a small and incon- siderable point is sixty, eighty, or a hundred years, in respect of eternity ! Compared with eternity, there is a greater dispro- portion, than between a hair's breadth and the circumference of the whole earth. Why do we sleep then in such a short day, while we are in hazard of losing rest through the long night of eternity? Secondly, Apply it to your endeavours for salvation, and they will be found very scanty. When men are pressed to diligence in their salvation work, they are ready to say, " To what purpose is this waste?" Alas ! if it were to be judged by our diligence, what it is that we have in view ; as to the most part of us, no man could thereby conjecture, that we have eter- nity in view. If we duly considered eternity, we could not but conclude, that, to leave no means appointed of God unessayed, till we get our salvation secured ; to refuse rest or comfort in any thing, till we are sheltered under the wings of the Mediator ; to pursue our great interest with the utmost vigour ; to cut off lusts dear as right hands and right eyes ; to set our faces reso- lutely against all difficulties, and fight our way through all the opposition made by the devil, the world, and the flesh ; are, all of them together, little enough for eternity. USE II. Here is a balance of the sanctuary, by which we may understand the lightness of what is falsely thought weighty ; and the weight of some things, by many reckoned to be very light. First, Some things seem very weighty, which, weighed m A BALANCE OP THE SANCTUARY. 357 this balance will be found very light. 1. Weigh the world, and all that is in it, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and tne pride of life, and the whole will be found light in the balance of eternity. Weigh herein all worldly profits, gains, and advantages; and you will quickly see, that a thousand worlds will not be adequate to the cost of the eternity of woe. " For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?" Matt. xvi. 26. Weigh the pleasures of sin, which are but for a season, with the fire that is everlast- ing, and you show yourselves to be fools and madmen, to run the hazard of the one for the other. 2. Weigh your afflictions in this balance, and you will find the heaviest of them very light, in respect of the weight of eternal anguish. Impatience under affliction, especially when worldly troubles so embitter men's spirits, that they cannot relish the glad tidings of the gos- pel, speaks great regardlessness of eternity. As a small and inconsiderable loss will be very little at heart with him, who sees himself in danger of losing his whole estate ; so troubles in the world will appear but light to him who has a lively view of eter- nity. Such a one will stoop, and take up his cross, whatever it be, thinking it enough to escape eternal wrath. 3. Weigh the most difficult and uneasy duties of religion here, and you will no more reckon the yoke of Christ unsupportable. Repentance, and bitter mourning for sin, on earth, are very light in compari- son of eternal weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth in hell. To wrestle with God in prayer, weeping and making supplica- tion for the blessing in time, is far easier than to lie under the curse through all eternity. Mortification of the most beloved lust is a light thing, in comparison with the second death in hell. Lastly, Weigh your convictions in this balance. O ! how heavy do these lie upon many, till they get them shaken off! They are not disposed to continue with them, but strive to get clear of them, as of a mighty burden. But the worm of an ill conscience will neither die nor sleep in hell, though we may now lull it asleep for a time. And certainly it is easier to entertain the sharpest convictions in this life, if they lead us to Christ, than to have them fixed for ever in the conscience, and to be in hell totally and finally separated from him. Secondly, But, on the other hand, 1. Weigh sin in this balance ; and, though now it seems but a light thing to you, you will find it a weight sufficient to turn up an eternal weight of wrath upon ydu. Even idle words, vain thoughts, and unpro- fitable actions, weighed in this balance, and considered as fol- lowing the sinner into eternity, will each of them be heavier than the sand of the sea ; time idly spent, will make a weary eternity. Now is your seed-time; thoughts, words, and actions, are the seed sown : eternity is the harvest. Though the seed now lies under the clod, unregarded by most men, every the 358 EXHORTATIONS TO FLEE FROM THE WKATH TO COME. least grain shall spring up at length ; and the fruit will be accord- ing to the seed, Gal. vi. 8. " For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption, that is, destruction ; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." 2. Weigh in this balance your time and opportunities of grace and salvation, and you will find them very weighty. Preciqus time, and seasons of grace, Sabbaths, communions, prayers, sermons, and the like, are by many, now-a-days, rhade light of: but the day is coming, when one of these will be reckoned more valuable than a thousand worlds, by those who now have the least value for them. When they are gone for ever, and the loss cannot be retrieved, those will see the worth of them, who will not now see it. USE III. and last. Be warned and stirred up to flee from the wrath to come. Mind eternity, and closely ply the work of your salvation. What are you doing, while you are not so doing ? Is heaven a fable, or hell a mere scarecrow ? Must we live eternally, and shall we be at no more pains to escape everlasting misery ? Will faint wishes take the kingdom of heaven by force? And will such drowsy endeavours, as most men satisfy themselves with, be accounted fleeing from the wrath to come? You who have already fled to Christ, up, and be doing : you who have begun the work, go on, loiter not, but "work out your salvation with fear and trembling," Phil, ii. 12. " Fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell," Matt. x. 28. Remember, you are not yet ascended into heaven: you are but in your middle state. The everlasting arms have drawn you out of the gulf of wrath you were plunged into, in your natural state ; they are still underneath you, that you can never fall down into it again ; nevertheless, you have not yet got up to the top of the rock : the deep below you is frightful ; look at it, and hasten your ascent. You who are yet in your natural state, lift up your eyes, and take a view of the eternal state. Arise, ye profane persons, ye ignorant ones, ye formal hypocrites, strangers to the power of godliness, flee from the wrath to come. Let not the young venture to delay a mo- ment longer, nor the old put off* this work any more : " To-day, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts;" lest he swear in his wrath, that you shall never enter into his rest. It is no time to linger in a state of sin, as in Sodom, when fire and brimstone are coming down on it from the Lord. Take warning in time. They who are in hell, are not troubled with such warnings ; but are enraged against themselves, because they slighted the warning when they had it. Consider, I pray you, 1. How uneasy it is to lie one whole night on a soft bed in perfect health, when we very fain would nave sleep, but cannot get it, sleep being departed from us. How often should we, in that case, wish for rest ! how full of EXHORTATIONS TO FLEE FROM THE WRATH TO COME. 859 tossings to and fro ! But ah ! how dreadful must it then be to lie in sorrow, wrapped up in scorching flames through eternity, in that place where they have no rest day nor night ! 2. How terrible would it be, to live under violent pains of the cholic or gravel, for forty or sixty years together, without any intermis- sion ! Yet that is but a very small thing in comparison of eternal separation from God, the worm that never dies, and the fire that is never quenched. 3. Eternity is an awful thought ; O long, long, endless eternity ! But will not every moment, in an eternity of woe, seem a month, and every hour a year, in that most wretched and desperate condition? Hence, ever and ever, as it were, a double eternity. The sick man in the night, tossing to and fro on his bed, says it will never be day ; complains, that his pain ever continues, never, never abates. Are these petty time-eternities, which men form to themselves, in their own imaginations, so very grievous ? Alas ! then, how grievous, how utterly insupportable, must real eternity of woe, and all manner of miseries, be ! Lastly, There will be space enough there to reflect on all the ills of our hearts and lives, which we cannot get time to think of now ; and to see that all that was said of the impenitent sinner's hazard, was true, and that the half was not told. There will be space enough in eternity to carry on delayed repentance, to rue one's follies when it is too late ; and in a state past remedy, to speak forth these fruitless wishes, " O that I had never been born ! that the womb had been my grave, and I had never seen the sun ! O that I had taken warning in time, and fled from this wrath, while the door of mercy was standing open to me I O that I had never heard the gospel, that I had lived in some corner of the world, where a Saviour, and the great salvation, were not once named !" But all in vain. What is done cannot be undone ; the opportunity is lost, and can never be retrieved ; time is gone, and can never be recalled. Wherefore, improve time, while you have it, and do not wilfully ruin yourselves, by stopping your ears to the gospel call. And now, if you would be saved from the wrath to come, and never go into this place of torment, take no rest in your natural state; believe the sinfulness and misery of it, and labour to get out of it quickly, fleeing unto Jesus Christ by faith. Sin in you is the seed of hell : and if the guilt and reigning power of it be not removed in time, they will bring you to the second death in eternity. There is no way to get them remov- ed, but by receiving of Christ, as he is offered in the gospel, for justification and sanctification : and he is now offered to you with all his salvation, Rev. xxii. 12, 17, " And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man ac- cording as his work shall be. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come ; and let him that heareth, say, Come ; and let him 360 EXHORTATIONS TO FUSE FROM THE WRATH TO COME. that is athirst, Come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." Jesus Christ is the Mediator of peace, and the Fountain of holiness : he it is who delivers us from the wrath to come. " There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit," Rom. viii. 1. And the terrors of hell, as well as tha joys of heaven, are set before you, to stir you up to cordial receiving of him, with all his salvation ; and to incline you unto the way of faith and holiness, in which alone you can escape the everlasting fire. May the Lord himself make them effec- tual to that end. Thus far of man's eternal state ; which, because it is eternal, admits no succeeding one for ever. THE END. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 Box 951388 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. Series 9482 3 1205 00892 7145 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY A 001 002 958 5