ANDREW GRAY
the Youngest
Puritan
THE FIFTH TREATISE
Containing THE HAPPINESS AND PRIVILEGES OF THE TRUE BELIEVER
The fact that blessedness is attainable is a matter of
comfort and encouragement to the miserable. But what blessedness is, or wherein
it lies, hath been much controverted among philosophers. Infinite are the
disputes and discourses which are extant upon this subject. Varro, a great wise
man among the Romans, reports that in the books of the philosophers of his time
there were to be found a hundred-and-eighty-eight different opinions about the
chiefest blessedness. Some reposed it in one thing, some in another. Indeed, we
know not distinctly on earth, nor can we know comprehensively in heaven, what
it is. Else it would cease to be blessedness. It is an ocean for depth and an
heaven for heighth. Its top is unreachable; its bottom is unfathomable.
Yet
this much is evident from Scripture, that all believers are truly blessed. They
have a partial and imperfect blessedness in this life, and full and perfect
blessedness in heaven. God hath called them from a sinful to an holy, and from
a miserable to a blessed and happy life. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection (Rev. 20:6). It is not the great ones, but
the godly ones, that are pronounced blessed and happy everywhere in the holy
Scriptures. Though things sublunary cannot, yet true piety will make a man
truly happy. The least child of God is more happy than the mightiest monarch in
the world. His privileges are many and his happiness greater than all the
tongues or books of the world can specify. Oh how great shall his happiness be
when he departs out of this life in the fruition of those joys which are
prepared for him in the kingdom of heaven! Yes, even in this life, he is a
child of God, a brother of Christ, a partaker of the divine nature, and an heir
of the kingdom of heaven. Believers do not at present serve God for nought.
What folly are they guilty of? Who thinks that question cannot be answered?
What profit is there, if we serve God? The service of God is not like the works
of darkness which are unfruitful and unprofitable. God will not deny His people
any outward blessings that will not hinder their eternal blessedness. God will
give them those inward blessings, which afford much more real comfort than all
the present possessions of the wicked. Their happiness will more evidently
appear by a particular review of some of those glorious privileges belonging to
them. Carnal men have no right to these special blessings.
A true believer
hath the highest and noblest relations of any man in the world. He is son of a
Kings Son. Though he be poor and of small reputation in the world,
yet God is not ashamed to be called his God (Heb. 11:16). Christ
calls him His friend (John 15:15) Christ calls him His brother (Heb. 2:11).
Christ calls him His mother (Matt. 12:50). He is indeed Christs mother,
for Christ is formed in him. My little children, of whom I travail in
birth again, until Christ be formed in you. The new birth conceives
Christ in the saints. H lies in the womb of the heart. The heart of a saint is
the temple of God, and the womb of Christ.
A true believer hath God for his
portion. As believers are God portion, for the Lords portion
is His people (Deut. 32:9), God is theirs, The Lord is my portion,
saith my soul, therefore will I hope in Him (Ps. 16:5; Lam. 3:24). The
Lord who is the chiefest and most comprehensive good is theirs. What larger
happiness can promised, and bestowed by God? What larger happiness can be
desired and possessed by man than God Himself? Happy is the people, whose
God is the Lord (Ps. 144).
When God had no greater thing to swear by,
saith the apostle, He sware by Himself. So when God had no greater thing to
give His people, He gave them Himself. He scatters and sheds abroad some common
influences upon all creatures, but to the saints He gives not only that which
is His, but He gives them Himself. And oh what a rich blessing is God! Beauty,
blessedness, grace, goodness, glory, highness, holiness, life, liberty, love,
mercy, majesty, purity, peace, perfections, righteousness, sweetness,
everlasting glorious and inconceivable blessings come with Him to the believing
souls. God is all~sufficient, and in having God they have all. In the creature
there is nothing but vanity. All the happiness of the creature cannot make man
happy. There is an insufficiency in the creature to give that contentment men
look for. The creature is an empty well, but there is all-sufficiency, all
happiness in God.
And therefore whatever tends to make the saints truly
happy, they shall have it. Let the worldling boast and say, I have gold and
silver, houses and lands, riches and friends, such a manor and such a lordship
is mine. Yet the godly man can say more: God is mine. And if God be thine,
surely thou hast enough to make thee happy. If God be thine, all that is
contained in the covenant, and all the comforts in the Bible are thine. If God
be thine, all that is in Christ is thine. His graces are thine; His merit is
thine. His intercession is thine; His Spirit is thine. All Gods
attributes are thine; His mercy is thine to pardon.all thy offences. His
goodness is thine to supply all thy wants and necessities; His wisdom is thine
to direct and counsel thee in all doubtful and difficult cases. His power is
thine to secure thee from dangers, and to preserve thee to salvation. His love
is thine to bestow on thee both grace and glory. His justice is thine to
fulfill all His promises to thee. God is all things to thee, saith
Augustine. Art thou hungry? He is bread. Art thou thirsty? He is water.
Art thou in darkness? He is light. Art thou naked? He is a robe of eternity.
Art thou a widow? He is thy husband. Art thou an orphan? He is thy
father. And he writes in another place: Whatsoever my God bestows
upon me, let Him deprive me of it, so as to leave only Himself. Let Him take
away His gift, as long as He gives me the Giver. And indeed when all is
gone, if a covenant interest in God be left, this is enough to support the
heart (Hab. 3:17-18).
Oh, the happiness of believers is far above that of
wicked men! Wicked men may have Ishmaels blessings, and Esaus
portion; they may have the world to be theirs. But believers have God to be
theirs, and in Him they have all things: life, food, home, protection, and
comfort in all distresses. Are they in adversity? He will be their Comforter,
and make them prosperous. Are they in weakness? He will be the light of their
eyes, and the strength of their hearts forever (Ps. 73:26). Are they in
sickness? He will be their Physician and companion. The Lord will
strengthen him upon the bed of languishing, Thou wilt make all his bed in his
sickness (Ps. 41:3). Are they in want? His all-sufficiency shall supply
them (Phil. 4:19). Are they in trials? He shall be their reliever. Are they in
griefs? He shall give heart-ease to them. Are they in old age? He shall be
refreshment of their languishments. In death He shall be a crown of life and
salvation to them. And what is a crown of gold compared to this crown of glory?
An imperial crown with glistening stones is not worth the taking up; it is
attended with such piercing cares and sorrows. What are riches or worldly good
things in comparison to the chief Good? We cannot keep riches when we have
them. Oh, but God, when once bestowed, we cannot lose (Ps. 48). Health, riches,
yes life itself is ours but for a time. Oh but God is ours forever, and is not
this unspeakable happiness?
A true believer hath a place of refuge to fly
upon all occasions. God is known to be the godly mans refuge (Deut.
33:27; Ps. 46:1; 48:3). He is preserved under the wings of the Almighty in the
day of evil. He finds God, in and through Christ, a refuge both in life and
death.
(1) The true believer finds God as a fortress in life. Not only
against cruel men, but also against conscience, the law, and the wrath of God.
In the hour of conversion when his soul is full of frights and terrors, he
hides in the clefts of this Rock and is safe. In great providential straits,
when distresses compass him about, he finds God prompt and ready to help him
(Gen. 28:15). In strong temptations and impetuous assaults, he flees to God by
faith and is secure. Strong temptations make hypocritical professors to fly
off. These are as the roes and hinds of the field and are soon frightened away.
Yea, strong temptations may weaken grace in the best, but yet they only bruise
the believers heel. His head is helmeted by the power of the spirit of
Christ. Therefore they are said to be preserved in Jesus Christ (Jude 1). That
is, they are preserved in union to Christ, or by Christs power.
(2)
The true believer finds God as a refuge in the hour of death. When his senses
are stupified, his sight fails him, his speech is low and faltering, his
strength faints, medicine proves useless, and friends weep about him; when the
world looks pale, and all worldly comforts are insipid, when his eye-strings
crack, and the waves of death are ready to go over his soul, then God is his
refuge (Ps. 23:4). Though I walk side by side with death, though my bones be
cast into the grave, Thou art with me to look after my dust and the rotten
relics of mortality. Though my life depart, Thou art with me to comfort me with
Thy love that endureth forever. Though I be mounted on the pale horse of death,
yet it will carry me to glory. The funeral of my body shall not be the funeral
of my soul; it shall be the funeral of my miseries and mine iniquities, but my
soul and my happiness thou wilt take care of. Therefore I will not fear,
for the mountains shall depart, the hills be removed; but My kindness
shall not depart from thee; neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed,
saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee (Isa. 54:10). Usually a deathbed
is a den of ions, when Satan tempts and troubles, ramps and roars. Oh but God
muzzles and chains him up. Every hour of his life the poor Christian does
enough to damn himself forever. Oh but, both in life and in his death, the arms
of mercy twine about him and keep him close and safe.
A true believer hath
God for the avenger of those wrongs that are done him by others, when he
cannot, and through Gods prohibition may not, avenge himself (Luke
18:7-8; Rev. 18:20). God will be severe in revenging the wrongs done to His own
people. Men will not abide the wronging of their very dogs and beasts, and will
God abide the wrongs and affronts done to His chosen servants? God takes the
wrongs done to them, as done to Himself (Zech. 2:8). God will play David. When
once he saw what indignities were done to his ambassadors, their beards cut and
their garments cropped, he was very harsh in revenging the same (2 Sam. 12:31).
So if anyone harm the names of Gods saints, or robs them of their right,
God will be blunt in revenging such wrongs (Ps. 10:13-14; 1 Sam. 15:2-3).
Thus saith the Lord, even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: For I will contend with him
that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. And I will feed them
that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their
own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy
Savior and thy Redeemer, and the mighty One of Jacob (Isa. 49:25-26).
A true believer is privileged with the light of Gods countenance. God
may shine upon the counsels of the wicked with the light of His providence, but
the light of His countenance is the peculiar privilege and portion of
believers. And when the light of Gods well-pleased face shines upon their
souls, it makes their crosses easier, and their comforts sweeter. It turns
frowns into smiles, and lashes into embracing. It drives away their
uncomfortable darkness and, beaming on their graces, makes them to grow as the
tender herb or plant after the rain.
There is true love in the heart of
God to every true believer. The love of God is carried primarily to Himself,
but secondarily to them. He loved them before the foundation of the world by a
love of benevolence, and doth and will love them forever with a love of
complacency and delight. His love to them is free without compulsion, firm
without concussion, and eternal without cessation, diminution, or interruption.
It is sincere without dissimulation, ardent without extinction, and effectual
in operation. His love to them appears in many ways. (1) He commends
them highly (Cant 4:1-8). (2) He values them dearly and esteems them
precious. Since thou wast precious in My sight, thou hast been honorable,
and I have loved thee (Isa. 43:3). (3) He visits them frequently
(Rev. 3:20). (4) He reveals His secrets and counsels to them daily (Ps.
25:14). Oh, stupendous, admirable love! The effects of His love are more sweet
and frequent to true believers than to others. A general love He hath to all
creatures, but He has a special favour toward them. Yea, He doth manifest,
testify, and seal His love to them. (John 14:21). The love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us (Rom.
5:5). Though they are not to expect extraordinary visions and voices from
heaven, yet God by His Spirit enlightens them to see the reality of their
graces and the sincerity of their hearts. To him that overcometh will I
give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the
stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth
it (Rev. 2:17). These are sweet privileges; the white stone is a precious
jewel, and a new name is better than costly ointment.
A true believer is
closely and indissolubly united and joined to Jesus Christ. There is a near
communion between Christ and the believing soul, even such a bond as between
husband and wife. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother,
and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a
great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church (Eph.
5:31-32). There is a spiritual marriage between Christ and believers (Hosea
2:19-20; 2 Cor. 11:2; Isa. 62:4-5). And this marriage between Christ and the
soul is a transcendent privilege, and speaketh much to the honour of the
believer. For a beggar or mean personage to be married to a prince is a great
honour. What is it then for poor sinful dust and ashes to be thus united unto
Jesus Christ! What a wonder to be married to the eternal Son of God, the heir
of all things, the prince of the kings of the earth! God united to man is more
than if the Son should court a dunghill, or an angels should marry a vile worm.
Oh, what friendship! What fellowship between Christ and the believing soul! Oh,
what sweet communion the believer enjoys with God through Christ, by the Spirit
while he lives! And at death the soul lies down in the arms of Christ her
husband. How can a soul choose to be anything but happy, when in conjunction
with the ever blessed God! If a man be possessed of God, he may as well choose
whether a great fire shall warm him when he stands near it, or whether the sun
shall shine into his chamber when the windows are open, as whether he will be
happy when Christ Jesus the Son of God dwells in his heart and soul. Such a man
has no choice but to be blessed.
A true believer is Christs by
possession. The wicked are His in the same way as the beasts of the forest are
His. The wicked are Christs indeed, but they are Christs enemies!
They are Christs dishonourers and His scorn and hatred too. They are the
very excrements of the body visible, whose damnation is just, sure, sudden, and
terrible. Oh, but the saints are His, not only by a right of creation, but also
by right of redemption, of covenant, of conquest, and possession. He hath
removed blindness, pride and vanity out of their minds, and brought in sound
and saving knowledge, clear and convincing wisdom, and thereby taken possession
of their minds. He hath removed stubbornness, unwillingness and rebellion out
of their hearts. He hath removed inordinacy and unruliness out of their
affections, and brought in purity and order. And to ensure their affections are
His, Christ saith, This is My rest forever; here will I dwell (Ps.
132:14). This mind, this heart, these affections are Mine; yea, all is Mine.
Depart sin, depart Satan, depart world, depart flesh, depart self; this soul is
Mine forever.
Since the true believers soul belongs to Christ, He
bestows upon it sanctifying grace, and purifies it by His Spirit. As the house
of the Lord was filled with His glory (1 Kings 8:11), so are the hearts of
believers with His grace. By grace they are beautified and qualified as a
blessed mansion for God Himself. They have grace to adorn, to renew, to
ennoble, and to enliven them. Is not this a rich privilege? Grace is better
than the best earthly blessing. It is better than pleasures, honours, or
riches. Grace makes men equal to angels, and the lack of it casts men down to
devils. That which causes a man to stand before princes is noble birth, honour,
valor, abundant wealth, etc. But they that have grace shall stand boldly before
the judgment seat of God. Grace is the queen of mercies. Other things are
transient, but grace is permanent. Other things are for the body, but grace is
for the soul. Wholesome food is good for an hungry stomach, a fair fire is good
for a cold day, a full purse is good in an hour of need, but grace is good for
a dying soul. It is good all the days of a mans life, but best in the
end, when the stated hour of death is fully come. God gives liberally to
believers, not only houses of stone, and houses of clay, but an house not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens. As He gives them things that cannot be
kept, riches, and honors, so He gives them things that cannot be lost, grace
and glory. If God hath given thee grace, He hath not reserved a greater mercy
for His dearest favourites. Grace puts as much difference between man and man,
as reason puts between a man and beast. By it is a saint that excels a sinner,
as much as man by reason out-strips an ape, which is mans prerogative
royal. Yea, such is the sweetness of grace, that it sharpens the desire of
those who have tasted of it. The more they are furnished with grace, the more
earnestly do their souls desire grace.
Christ taketh great delight in the
company and fellowship of believers. Though their company be disdained and
rejected in the world, yet it is longed for by Christ. His heart is much set
upon it. (1) He desires their company on earth, to enjoy communion with
them in His ordinances. Thus they may be warmed, comforted, strengthened, and
quickened by Him. Oh My dove, that art in the clefts of the rock in the
secret places of the stairs, let Me see thy countenance, let Me hear thy voice;
for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely (Cant. 2:14). It is
as if He had said, Come, and let Me have thy company, thy prayers, thy tears,
thy faith, thy repentance, thy obedience. Let not the sense of thy deformity or
unworthiness discourage thee from coming to Me. Come to Me even though thou
think that thy face is not worthy to be seen by Me, in whose sight the very
heavens are not pure, and before whom the very angels do not appear except with
their faces covered. Come even though thou think thy voice not fit to be heard
by Me, to whom the angels are continually singing Hallelujah. Yea, though thy
company be scorned and rejected by the world, yet whatever thou seem to thyself
or to others, know that thou art dear and precious with Me. Thy company is
longed for, and delighted in by Me. To Me thy voice is sweet, thy face is
lovely, and thy fellowship delightful. Oh how should this warm our hearts, and
as a magnet draw our affections to Jesus Christ.
(2) He desires their
company in heaven, too. Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast
given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast
given Me (John 17:24). See how Christs heart is set upon getting
them up to heaven. Come with me from Lebanon, My spouse, with Me from
Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon
(Cant. 4:8). (1) He invites them to come from Lebanon, a very fruitful
place. It is as if He had said, Though thy outward condition in the world be
prosperous and flourishing, most delightful and desirable, yet leave it and
come to Me. (2) From Amana (otherwise Abana), Shenir, and Hermon, i.e.
from all parts and quarters of the world, north, east, south, and west. It is
as if He had said, No place on earth is fit for your residence and
commemoration, therefore come to Me. (3) Come from the lions dens,
and from the mountains of the leopards, i.e. from the miseries, inconveniences,
and dangers of this life. It is as if He had said, This world is a den and
mountain of leopards and lions; here ye are amidst wicked men, who are of a
most savage, cruel, and revengeful nature. Here ye are persecuted by the
censure of their tongues, if not by the blows of their hands. Therefore come,
oh come away, for if ye are once with Me, ye shall be freed from being among
wicked men forever. Thus Christ, out of His dear and excessive love to
believers, calls and invites them to leave the world, and to come to Him into
heaven. Christ hath begun a good work in them, and longs to see the
consummation of it. He knows their coming to heaven will be their perfection,
and therefore He longs for their company. What, though they be poor and
despised in and by the world, yet He that is higher than the highest in the
world, loves and desires their company. Indeed, riches and honours are the
worlds idols; oh, but Christ is no respecter of persons! There is no
difference in Gods account between a king and a beggar, between a madam
and a milk-maid, if both be alike in grace. He repudiates none and divorces
none because they are poor. If a man be wise, and rich, and noble, but without
grace, Christ disdains him while he lives, and in the end of his days he dies a
fool. He lies down naked, and in eternal dishonour. But if a man be poor and
yet gracious, Christ delights in him while he lives, and calls him up to Him to
glory when he dies.
Question: Why does Christ suffer believers to live so
long, if He so ardently desires their company?
Answer: (1) He suffers them
to live so long for the conversion and salvation of others, so that by their
humble and holy lives, they may be preachers of repentance and holiness to
others. God wants the world to know that He is not without lovers; He is not
without disciples and followers, no more than the devil. I see, saith God, you
love examples; lo, here is an example, here is a holy life that deserves your
observance and imitation. The godly live to keep the wicked a while undamned.
Once Lot leaves, the Sodomites cannot long escape. Once Noah is housed on the
ark, the world is quickly drowned with a deluge of water.
(2) Jesus allows
believers to live so long to train and prepare them for heaven. There is a room
furnished for them. Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you, from the foundation of the world (Mt. 25:34). Oh but
they need fitness to enter into it, Giving thanks unto the Father, which
hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
light (Col. 1:12). Vessels must be scoured and brightened, else they are
not fit for use. So we must be scoured from our filthiness by the Word and rod,
else we are unfit for that place into which no unclean thing can enter. We must
learn here in the school of the cross, before we go to the heavenly palace for
our crown. There must be a lower church militant to empty itself into the
higher church triumphant. We must be subjects for a time, before we can be
kings forevermore. And judge, I pray you, is a man fit to be a companion for
kings and nobles, to wear scarlet, and tread on nought but embroideries, to lie
on a bed of down, in pure linen, clean and white, when he is overspread with a
scabby leprosy, and full of crawling vermin? Heaven is a royal palace, in it is
a bed of rest and joy. Angels and glorified saints are peers there. Now the
poor saint here is sometimes overtaken with sin; the leprosy of sin remains,
and his mind and breast is full of the vermin of vile, worldly thoughts. Is
that man, in such a case, fit for heaven? Must he not stay awhile, till he be
doctored and cleansed, and so made meet for glory?
A true believer hath
Christ for his possession. Christ I say in whom all fulness dwells, and who is
Lord of all. He is His by the Fathers donation and by mystical union
(Rom. 8:32). Whence it follows, that whatsoever is in Christ is the
believers. He is their Peace-maker. He hath appeased the wrath of His
Father, and satisfied both law and justice for them. He is their surety, hath
paid their debt, and so prevented their being cast into the eternal prison of
darkness. He is their covering. He covers all the sins they have committed
against the law of God, and renders their souls amiable in the sight of the
Lord. Are they sick? Christ is their Physician,and their medicine too. Are they
afflicted in conscience, under the sense of Gods anger and their own
sins? Christ is the propitiation for their sins, and by His blood will
perfectly cure and cleanse them from all their wounds. Are they ignorant? He is
their Wisdom to enlighten and teach them, to expel their darkness and
blindness, their unbelief and doubtings. Are they weak? He is their strength,
and will manifest His power in their weakness. He will not break the
bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax.
Doth the power or malice
of Satan dismay the true believer? Christ is the Captain of their salvation to
defend them, and to give them the victory over all their enemies, outward and
inward. Are they poor? Christ is their riches. Are they weary? Christ is their
rest. Are they in trouble? Christ is their peace. Are they strangers? Christ is
both their way, and the end of their journey. He is virtually everything to
them in every condition and hath given them a participation of His own
benefits, and a denomination by His own titles. Is Christ the Son of God? So is
the believer: Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we should be called the sons of God (1 John 3:1)! Is Christ
beloved of the Father? So is the believer: I have given the dearly
beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies (Jer. 12:7). Is Christ
heir of all things? So is the believer: And if children, then heirs;
heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). Is Christ
Gods fellow? The believer is His: Thou lovest righteousness, and
hatest wickedness; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of
gladness above thy fellows (Ps. 45:7). Is Christ the light of the world?
So are they (Phil. 2:15; Mt. 5:14). In a word, all Christ did and suffered was
for them.
(1) What was Christs incarnation for, but the regeneration
and salvation of His elect? Surely His salvation is nigh them that fear
Him, that glory may dwell in our land (Ps. 85:9). The glory mentioned
here is Christ the Lord of glory. Christ took our flesh that we might take His
Spirit. He became the Son of man, so that we might become the children of God.
He took our human nature, so that we might partake of His divine nature. He was
born for us, so that He might be born in us. It was for us, and for our
salvation, that the Word became flesh, God became man, the virgin became a
mother, majesty was abased, ubiquity comprehended, and glory divested. The
Happiness and Privileges of the True Believer 181
(2) What was
Christs circumcision for, but the sanctification and salvation of His
people? In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made
without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ (Col. 2:11). He was the vine pruned with the sharp knife
of circumcision, when He was not nine days old so that drops of blood more
precious than the richest balm might be shed for them. He became Jesus by
offering the first-fruits of His blood. He felt the knife, but it was done so
that our sores might be lanced. He felt the pain, and we find the cure. It was
to circumcise the foreskin of our hearts, that He was circumcised.
(3) Why
did Christ die but for believers mortification and salvation (Rom. 14:9;
8:17)? We would have died in sin, had not He died for sin. Oh, but His death is
our ransom whereby He plucked the sting out of death, spoiled the conqueror,
and disarmed and wounded the enemy.
(4) Why did Christ rise again, but for
their salvation (Rom. 6:9; Ps. 118:19-21; Rom. 7:6)? His body came out of the
pit of darkness, that thy soul, oh believer, might escape the pit of hell. He
arose so that if thy flesh be eaten with worms, and these worms turned to dust,
and that dust be blown up and down the earth, yet thou shalt return
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to His abundant mercy hath begotten us against unto a lively hope by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Pet. 1:3).
(5) Why did
Christ ascend and go in triumph into heaven? Why did the chariots of the clouds
receive Him, and angels meet Him? Why did heaven open to Him, and His Father
enthrone Him? It was for the salvation of true believers (Ps. 68:4; John 14:2).
Thy soul, oh believer, came from heaven, and thy head lives there. Thy city,
and mansion, and inheritance is there. Christ is ascended above the earth, yes,
far above the visible heavens, so that thy knees might bow to Him, and thou at
last might come to enjoy incorruptible and undefiled glory with Him. He is thy
Messias and forerunner, as John the Baptist was His. He lifted up His body from
the earth, that He might lift, up thy heart to heaven. He transported His body,
so that thy desires might be transported to seek those things that are above,
where He is at the right hand of the Father (Col. 3:1-6).
Why did Christ
dismiss the Spirit after His ascension, but that it might dwell in believers
(Ps. 68:18), and deliver them from death? For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death
(Rom. 8:2). He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but
he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting
(Gal. 6:8). The Spirit came in the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and in the
light of fiery tongues to give them knowledge by the hearing of the Word, to
direct the tongues of preachers, to open the ears of hearers, and to mollify
their hearts. The Spirit came to be a divine fire to burn up the chaff in the
faithful, to stir up their zeal, to enlighten their darkness, to beat down all
Satans strongholds, to chase away the clouds and mists of error, to cool
the heat of their consciences, to fill up the sails of their affections, and to
bring their souls at last into the fair haven of everlasting rest. Hence, the
church and people of God keep those days holy: Christmas Day for Christs
birth; New Years Day for Christs circumcision; Lent for His forty
days fast; Good Friday for His death; Easter for His resurrection; Holy
Thursday for His ascension; and Whit Sunday (Pentecost) for the sending down of
the Spirit.
A true believer hath the Spirit of Christ for his own. He hath
an experimental knowledge of the enlightening, comforting, confirming, and
quickening operations of Gods Spirit. He hath a Spirit of wisdom and
understanding (Isa. 11:2). He hath a Spirit of grace; And I will pour
upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of
grace and supplications (Zech. 12:10). All the graces of the Spirit act,
dwell, and flourish in Him. He finds the Spirit of God inflaming his frozen
heart with love to God and zeal for God. He finds the Spirit of God purging
away his dross, and purifying him from his filth and corruption. He finds the
Spirit of God governing his heart and leading him in the way of holiness, till
he come to enjoy eternal happiness. Wicked men are destitute of the Spirit.
They will not be governed by the Spirit of God. They are profane Esaus, unholy
souls. Their disputings and despisings, their resistings and rebellings against
the Spirit, show them to be destitute of the Spirit.
Oh but the godly
mans actions are over-guided with the Holy Spirit, though in some the
Spirit works more visibly, apparently, and effectually than others. The godly
man keeps close to God in ordinances and the Spirit sanctifies and makes the
ordinances of God effectual for his consolation and salvation. The godly man
prays, and the Spirit of God quickens and breathes life into him. He hears, and
the Spirit of God helps his faith, gives him attention, and makes the Word he
hears a fire to consume his lusts and corruption. The godly man receives the
Supper of the Lord, and the Spirit of God quickens his graces, feeds his faith,
renews his repentance, enlivens his love, and makes him grow in grace. Yea, the
Spirit of God governs, overrules, commands, and disposes all in the gracious
soul.
To be under the command of Gods Spirit is of the sweetest
freedom and liberty. It is a great misery to be Satans servant, to be
acted and ruled by that evil spirit. But the gracious soul is acted and ruled
by the Spirit of God. It obeys His command out of love and faith, as in Isaiah
26:13: Oh Lord our God, other lords besides Thee have had dominion over
us; but by Thee only will we make mention of Thy Name. The Spirit of God
is Master and Lord of his heart, and therefore will repair the decays of the
heart. He will recover lost degrees, and maintain present degrees of grace. The
Spirit of God will not suffer Satan to tyrannize over the soul, out of which He
hath cast him. Satan shall not cause Him to vanish, but Satan shall be
vanquished by Him (John 12:28). He will cast out the usurper Satan; He will
cast out the bondwoman sin, and bring the soul out of the house of bondage. He
will disappoint Satan, restore the soul, and maintain His own right there.
The Spirit of God is the inhabitant in the believing heart. He dwells there. A
truly gracious heart is the mansion of the Holy Spirit. Hence, believers are
called the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15). As a carnalists heart is the
devils heaven, so a saints soul is Gods dwelling house,
Know ye not, that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you? (1 Cor. 3:16). Alas! In what a case are those poor
souls, who have not the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them (Rom. 8:9). They do
not belong to Christ and have no interest in the fruits of His redemption. Oh,
but the Spirit dwells in believers (John 14:17). He hath taken up His abode and
lodging in their hearts, and will never depart thence. He doth not sojourn
there for a while, but dwelleth as a man in his house or castle. They have His
continued presence and influence, by which they are supported in all their
ways. Is not this a rich privilege to have the Spirit of God dwelling with us?
Gods Spirit is to believers a Spirit of adoption. For ye have
not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the
Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba Father (Rom. 8:15). He evidences
their adoption, shows them that they are heirs apparent of the kingdom of
heaven, and enables them to perform adoption duties. He helps them to a dutiful
and child-like obedience, fear, and reverence of their heavenly Father, and
teaches them to cry Abba Father (Gal. 4:6).
Gods Spirit is
to them a Spirit of supplication and intercession (Rom. 8:26). Christ is their
Intercessor outside of them; the Spirit is their Intercessor within them.
Christ is their Intercessor at the Fathers right hand in heaven; the
Spirit is their Intercessor on earth. Christ is their Advocate for
reconciliation to God, and expiration of sin; the Spirit is their Advocate by
way of interpellation, inciting and instructing them how to pray and what to
pray for.
When the godly man prays, the Spirit of God helps him to desire of
God what he lacks. The Spirit gives him answerable affections in prayer, and
many times the very expressions. The Spirit often suggests arguments, lifts up
his soul, and pleads in him, when he himself discerneth it not. The Spirit
enables him to pray believingly, and to pray feelingly and affectionately. It
is not pattering a prayer, as the papists do, that is well-pleasing to God. It
is not the straining the voice to an affected tone, neither is it speaking
neat, trimmed expressions. Prayer is not a work of invention, nor of elocution,
but of affection. It is the fervent prayer, that is the prevailing prayer.
Do not misunderstand me. I do not say that believers are always alike fervent
and affectionate in prayer. Sometimes their devotion takes wing, and the soul
is indisposed for the work. Sometimes they are like Pharaohs chariot, the
wheels are off, and they drive heavily. Oh, but at other times, they are like
Elijahs fiery chariot, so that they could even burn themselves away in
those divine flames, and could wish, like Peter, that the mount were their
dwelling place, crying out, It is good for us to be here! The Spirit sometimes
fills the sails of the soul with gusts and gentle breathings, and then the ship
rides at full sea, all-amain. Whereas at other times, it is left standing on
the earth. When the north wind and south wind awake, and blow upon the gardens
of their hearts, then the spices of their graces flow out (Cant. 4:6).
The
Spirit of God is to believers a Spirit of liberty. He helps them to perform the
duties of religion with alacrity and readiness (2 Cor 3:17). There is more
cheerfulness and obeying Gods commands. I will run the way of Thy
commandments, when Thou shalt enlarge my heart (Ps. 119:32). When the
Spirit of God enlarges the heart, then we do not do what we will, but what we
ought. Then the heart is so sweetly and strongly inclined to what God requires,
that it can deny God nothing. The Spirit of God is to believers a Spirit of
light. He directs and shows them which is the best way for them to walk in. He
discovers those enemies and dangers that lie in ambush to surprise them and
keeps them from erring and straying in the broad and dangerous ways of sin. He
leads them forward in the narrow and safe way of life, and never leaves them
finally, but conducts them safely to heaven, that home they earnestly desire
and long for.
The Spirit of God is to true believers a Spirit of testimony
(Rom. 8:16). The Spirit, by its sanctifying virtue, doth brighten and enlighten
the eyes of their understanding and enable them to discover the signs of saving
grace in themselves. He makes their graces visible, and helps them to infer a
comfortable conclusion concerning thheir own estate, namely that Christ is
theirs, and that they are Christs, namely that they are Gods
servants, and that God is their salvation (1 John 5:11). And is there not
abundance of pleasure in the testimony of Gods Spirit and the evidence of
grace? Oh, what is more pleasant and delightful than to be helped by the Spirit
of God: to see that we are beloved of God, to see those letters drawn in our
hearts which tell us that our names are written in the book of life, to see the
first fruits of heaven in our own souls, to see that we are sincere in
religion, and have not deceived ourselves?
Question: How shall I
discern the delusion of Satan from the testimony of the Spirit?
Answer: Satans delusion follows upon security and spiritual
laziness, but the Spirits testimony comes when the godly are mourning for
sin, and seeking after reconciliation to God. The Spirits testimony comes
when the godly are praying to Him earnestly in secret, or waiting upon Him in
His public ordinances. In those days I Daniel was mourning three full
weeks (Dan. 10:2). Daniel was mourning three full weeks until, in verse
11, the man spake to him and said, 0 Daniel, a man greatly beloved,
understand the word that I speak unto thee: and stand upright, for unto thee am
I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
Finally, the Spirit of God is to believers a Spirit of comfort (John
14:16). Yet this comfort is not perpetual and permanent; their glimpses
suddenly come, and are suddenly vanished. Sometimes David is singing (Ps.
27:6), and sometimes dancing (Ps. 30:11). But look on him again, and you shall
find him sighing (Ps. 31:10), yes, roaring (Ps. 32:3). Look on him. He had his
youth renewed like the eagles (Ps. 103:5), but look back on him and he is an
owl of the desert and a pelican of the wilderness (Ps. 102:6).
The Spirit
hath his special seasons of comforting the godly. Sometimes he comforts
speedily after conversion (Eph. 1:13). He often comforts when the godly are
afflicted for conscience-sake and religions sake (John 16:20). Sometimes,
after some signal act of humble self-denial there is none so fit for lifting up
as the lowly soul. And often the Spirit comforts before the saints
decease and departure out of the world. Then God usually testifieth their
sincerity, and fills them with joy in believing. Did not Pauls heart just
dance within him when he saw a crown of righteousness just setting on his head?
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but
unto all them also that love His appearing (2 Tim. 4:8).
A true
believer hath the holy angels, those excellent creatures, as his keepers. They
are to keep him from evil, to keep him in evil, and at last to deliver him out
of evil. The holy angels are enemies to the wicked, and as faithful servants,
will not attend and guard those who are enemies to their Master. But to
believers the holy angels are a daily guard. Are they not all ministering
spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
(Heb. 1:14). They always attend upon them wherever they go, and whatever they
do. When believers are about their proper work in the wilderness of this world,
the angels keep them. Gods people are surrounded by wicked men. Satan,
their mortal enemy, watcheth for all opportunities to hurt them. He never
sleepeth night nor day, but continually goeth about, seeking whom he may
devour (1 Pet. 5:8). And if they had not those good watchmen to watch
over them when they sleep, they should soon be swallowed up. Oh but the holy
angels are always awake to protect and guard them (Ps. 34:7; 91:11).
Oh
what great good do the saints receive by the ministration of angels! I may say
to them with the prophet in 2 Kings 6:16, Fear not, for they that be with
us, are more than they that be with them. All praise be to that merciful
God, that taketh such care for His poor people, and appointeth such a guard to
watch over them night and day, that their enemies suddenly devour them not.
They are called Gods host (Gen. 32:1-2; Luke 2:13). God employs them as
soldiers to guard His saints. They are a numerous guard. And the Lord
opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was
full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha (2 Kings 6:17).
These chariots are many. The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even
thousands of angels; the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy
place (Ps. 68:17).
The angels are a strong guard. One of them (saith
an eminent writer) is stronger than all the world. They can stop the mouths of
lions, break iron chains, open prison doors and hence are called mighty angels
(2 Thess. 1:7). Neither men nor devils can stand before them. Though the devils
be mighty in power, and have been often too hard for the saints, yet are they
not able to stand before the holy angels of God. They are a wise and foreseeing
guard; they are said to be full of eyes before and behind, as if they were all
eyes. Therefore they cannot be circumvented by the subtlety of our enemies. And
they are a swift guard, having wings to fly to our help (Dan. 9:21,23). As the
devils are swift to do us mischief, so are the holy angels swift to defend and
do us good. And as they guard the saints in their lifetime, so at their death
they convey their souls through the territories of the prince of darkness (i.e.
the air) and carry them safe to heaven. So they did to Lazarus (Luke 16:22).
The chariots and horses of fire that parted the two worthies and carried one of
them to his everlasting home, were the blessed angels of God (2 Kings 2:11-12).
Oh what honour hath God conferred on believers, in sending such glorious
creatures to watch and keep them night and day! Oh wonderful condescension,
that such noble creatures disdain not to do service to them that are far
beneath themselves, to them that have the scent of earth and hell about them.
These holy ones, I say, despise them not, but minister to them while they live,
and convey them home to their Fathers house when they die!
A true
believer is raised above the common condition of the children of men, to the
great blessing and privilege of spiritual sonship. The Almighty God is his
Father. All men have God for their Father in respect of creation, but good men
only have God for their Father in respect of adoption (John 1:12). This is a
special privilege, a great and excellent prerogative. Behold what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of
God (1 John 3:1). David judged it high preferment to be son-in-law to the
king (1 Sam. 18:23). Observe, David did not say that it was high preferment to
be king himself, but a son; not the kings own or only begotten son, but
to be his son-in-law; and that not to a pious king, but to wicked Saul; and
that not in some vast kingdom, but the small kingdom of Judah. What honour and
preferment then is it to be an adopted son to the King of saints, yea, to be a
king as all Gods adopted sons are (Rev. 1:5). This is a principle of joy
and comfort, and may encourage the godly in all their doubts and difficulties.
If God be thy Father, why art thou so drooping and disconsolate, desponding and
discomposed? May I not say to thee, as Jonadab to Amnon: Why art thou,
being the kings son, so lean from day to day? (2 Sam. 13:4). Lift
up thy head, look God in the face, and in the language of faith call Him, Abba
Father.
A true believer is installed in an everlasting inheritance. He is
heir of a kingdom. He hath riches of graces here, and shall have riches of
glory hereafter. Oh rich privilege! What are rich sinners, but well fed swine?
For so the Scripture calls them (Amos 4:1; Ps. 22:12). They are rich in purse,
but bare in grace. They have fat and full fed bodies, but their souls have
lean, pale, and withered faces. Oh but the saints have true riches, inward
riches. Outward riches are but cyphers, till the figure of grace be added.
Wicked men must forsake their estates. Their estates will but go with them to
the holes mouth, but the saints treasure passes through the gates
of death. They carry their treasure, and their treasure carries them. The
wicked man hath but one child heir, but all Gods children are heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:17). They
are heirs to that good land, those glorious manners and mansions that are
above. Here to give away a cottage, with an acre or two, is great liberality.
Oh, but they have a kingdom that cannot be shaken, with all its appendants: a
throne, a crown, etc. This they have by a right of inheritance. Hence they are
called heirs of salvation (Heb. 1:14), heirs of a
kingdom (James 2:5), and their estate is called, the inheritance of
the saints in light (Col. 1:12). This is promised and granted to them
because they are sons. This inheritance is a glorious inheritance; the glory of
Solomons kingdom, when the queen of Sheba observed and admired it, was
nothing compared to it. This is a large inheritance. Luther, in comparison,
called all the Turkish empire but a crust that God casts to a dog. This whole
world would make up but a small inheritance, but the saints are heirs of all
things. They are heirs of heaven and earth too, heirs of God, and what more is
there? This is an eternal inheritance, to an inheritance incorruptible,
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away (1 Pet. 1:4). All things here are
perishing and fading in themselves, and are liable to spoil and devastation
from others, but this inheritance endureth forever.
The saints can never
be deprived of their title to their inheritance. Though their lives be
changeable, and their days on earth must have an end, yet their inheritance
endures forever, and their tenure is most firm and sure. Their right is
indeferable, and they cannot lose it. Though God may chastise them, yet will He
not disinherit them (Ps. 89:32-34). Let this therefore draw up thy heart, oh
believer, from earth to heaven. What though the sons of Keturah go away with
their gifts as worldly men with their large possessions, Isaac and all they who
with Isaac are born of the free-woman, shall inherit all things. So what if
thou art poor! Thy heavenly Father hath provided a glorious estate reserved for
thee and thou shalt shortly possess it. If thou art shelterless here, yet in
thy Fathers house there are many mansions.
Oh, draw off thine eyes
from things below, look upward, and see what mansions are prepared for thee and
rejoice. Suppose thou art to be heir of a thousand pounds a year, after the
death of an old consumptive man, which all the physicians tell thee cannot live
four days. Wouldest thou not secretly rejoice? Thy body, oh believer, is the
old man; it is decaying every day, and will soon be dead. Oh, but thy estate in
heaven is millions, even all the fulness of God. Thy soul is the heir apparent;
thy body will not live long to keep the heir from possession, and the Lord will
be Executor to see that all be done after the will of Jesus Christ. Should not
thy heart then be filled with joy? Should thou not account every hour ten hours
till thou be out of thy body? Should thou not welcome everything that brings
thee notice of death? Welcome, oh my friends, that are come to close my eyes.
Welcome, oh death, thou messenger of bills, and harbinger of glory. Thou
blessed Pilot that art come to steer me over the troublesome and stormy sea of
the whole world to my native country, my glorious inheritance, the land of
promise. There my prayers shall be turned into praises, and my sorrow into joy.
There I shall have perfect communion with God, perfect conformity to God, and
perfect enjoyment of God. There God and my soul shall never, never, never part.
Come Lord Jesus, come quickly; and make me as a young roe, or hart upon
the mountains of spices.
A true believer is clothed with a right to
the promises, which wicked reprobates are not. Though ungodly men may scramble
and pull the promises unto them, though they may falsely apply them to
themselves, yet the promises are the childrens bread and therefore belong
not unto dogs. God hath promised nothing to such, but threatened against them
all the plagues written in His Book, which shall surely overtake them.
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made (Gal. 3:16). He
saith not, and to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed which is
Christ. These words are an answer to the Jews, bragging of the promise made to
Abraham. For the promise was not made to seeds, i.e. to carnal men and faithful
together, but only to believers, Abrahams spiritual seed, who follow the
steps of his faith. They have a right to that comprehensive and chief promise,
I will be thy God.
Yea, believers have a right to numerous
other promises, which are as so many rivulets and streams, flowing from that
fountain-promise, even the promises of the life that now is, and of that
which is to come (1 Tim. 4:8). Art thou burdened with the power of sin?
God hath promised relief, Sin shall not have dominion over you
(Rom. 6:14). Doth the guilt of sin trouble thee? See Isaiah 43:25, I,
even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will
not remember thy sins. Doth the law threaten thee with death for sin?
Remember the promise, There is therefore no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit
(Rom. 8:1). Doth the fear of being separated from communion with Christ trouble
thee? See Revelation 3:20. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any
man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with
him, and he with Me. Art thou despised? Cast thy eye upon Micah 7:8-9:
Rejoice not against me, oh mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I
sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me... Hast thou
backslidden? There is a promise: Though he fall he shall not be utterly
cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand. Dost thou suffer
affliction? Remember Romans 8:17, If so be that we suffer with Him, that
we may be also glorified together. Art thou forsaken of friends? Meditate
upon Hebrews 13:5-6: The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear what man
shall do unto me. Art thou tempted? Call to mind 1 Corinthians 10:13:
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God
is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able, but
will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear
it.
Art thou assaulted with troubles? God hath promised, These
things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye
shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world
(John 16:33; Ps. 50:1,5). Doth the inevitable hand of the Lord strike thee that
thou must die? There is a comfortable promise, And whosoever liveth and
believeth in Me shall never die (John 11:26). Oh how refreshing is that
promise, Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest (Mt. 11:28)! As if He had said, whosoever groans under the
unsupportable weight of sin, and sends forth prayers mixed with tears for ease,
let Him come unto Me, and I will give him rest. Though his labour
be grievous, and his burden heavy, I will ease him. I who am the great
Physician of heaven and earth, both can and will do it. In a word, the promises
tend in a sweet manner to remove all the objections, doubts, and
discouragements of gracious souls. And therefore they are compared unto the
land of promise, which flowed with milk and honey, and to a rich mine,
abounding with precious treasure, in which the further we dig the more precious
gold we will find.
A true believer hath obtained mercy, who was
before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy,
because I did it ignorantly in unbelief (1 Tim. 1:13). When covered with
guilt, mercy pardoned him. Pardon of sin is a most comfortable and necessary
mercy. A man may get to heaven without honour. A man may get to heaven without
the smiles of the world, but not without pardon. This is a rich mercy. A man
may be miserable though rich, but he must needs be blessed if pardoned, and
pardon of sin is theirs who believe (Is. 40:1-2; Mt. 20:28). They are penitent
sinners, and therefore pardoned sinners. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). This is Gods promise, and can His
promise be disannulled or broken? Can the truth of God be turned into a lie? Is
it possible for God to violate his faith? Will His faithfulness give Him leave
to plague His own people for sin in hell? No, no. His justice is fully
satisfied, it looks on Christ bleeding and dying for them, and therefore He
will not exact a double payment, but upon their repentance will show them
mercy.
Peter is as notable an example of sin, repentance, and mercy, after
conversion, as any New Testament saint.
(1) His sin was very great. One
well expresseth it thus, Peter the first of the apostles, in the most public
place (the high-priests hall), before the profanest of persons (the
high-priests servants), at the weakest of motives (such as the summons of
the high-priests maid), did the worst of actions, namely, deny his
master, once, and not touched therewith, twice, and not troubled thereat,
thrice, and there he stopped. (1) He was forewarned; Christ gave him a caveat.
(2) It was against his own free promise and flat protestation. (3) He did it
thrice: once may be imputed to inconstancy, twice to infirmity, but thrice is
incapable of any charitable comment. And it was a denial embossed with an oath,
and a curse, and as some say, a curse of Christ Himself, that he might make
them believe that he knew not Christ.
(2) Peter is an example of
repentance. He excused not his sin, though he might have said, Lord, it
was a sin of infirmity, done against my purpose and resolution, or
I had a forcible motive and was afraid of losing my life, or
It was only with my mouth, not with my heart. The lameness of his
lie, I know not the man, might be helped by lending it the
charitable assistance of an equivocation, i.e. I know no such mere man as you
mean, for my master is God and man. But instead of excusing his sin, he repents
of it. He goes out and weeps bitterly.
(3) Peter is a notable
example of mercy received. For upon his repentance he had an expression of
comfort dispatched to him. Go your way, tell His disciples and Peter that
He goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see Him, as He said unto
you (Mark 16:7). Not a word to Peter of his denial! God pardons His
people often, and yet upbraids them not with their former sins. He forgives
their sins freely and forever, so that they shall never be laid to their
charge. He not only forgives, but also forgets (Heb. 8:12). Their pardon shall
never be revoked, or rendered ineffectual. Others cannot revoke it, and God
Himself will never do it. They are freed not only from the guilt of sin, but
also from the punishment of sin. It is but a mockery which papists make about
pardon, as if God did pardon the sin but not the punishment. God indeed
sometimes grievously afflicts those whose sins He hath pardoned, but those
afflictions are not judicial punishments, but Fatherly chastisements.
Yea,
God hath not only promised to forgive sin, but all the sins of believers. If
God should pass by millions, and set down but an hundred, nay, come so low as
to charge but ten, nay, forgive all save only one, that one would sink the soul
down to the lowest hell. But believers have the forgiveness of all through the
blood of Jesus (Eph. 1:7). Oh the great happiness then of believers, who have
through that redemption that is in Christ obtained the forgiveness of all their
sins (Rom. 4:7,8)! What a comfort it is to a poor man, that he is out of debt.
Sins are debts, and once pardoned, who can lay anything to the charge of
Gods elect? It is God that justifieth, who is he that shall
condemn? Let thy soul therefore, 0 believer, with David say, Bless the
Lord, and all that is within thee praise His holy Name: who forgiveth all thine
iniquities, and healeth all thy diseases, who hath freed thee from all thy
sins, and that forever (Psalm 103:1-3).
A true believer hath assured peace
first with God (Rom. 5:1). Wicked men have no peace with God. God is all
holiness, righteousness, and goodness. Unholiness, unrighteousness, and
wickedness, can have no union with these, no more than light and darkness can
consist together. The wicked in Scripture are called enemies of God, fighters
against God, haters of God. How can they then be at peace with Him? But
believers have accepted the terms of peace offered in the gospel. As Christ
hath reconciled God unto them, so He hath reconciled them unto God. The war is
concluded (Isa. 40:1). Now they stand in a state of real peace and friendship.
All the enmity that was between God and them is forever removed, and God is at
peace and fully reconciled to them in Jesus Christ.
Secondly, true
believers have peace with their own hearts, even that peace of God which
passeth all understanding. As the wicked have no peace with God, so they have
none with themselves. There is no peace, saith my God, to the
wicked (Isa. 57). And in the foregoing verse, The wicked are like
the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and
dirt. The wicked mans conscience is an evil conscience. It is
either sleepy and seared with an hot iron, letting him alone in sin, letting
him sleep quietly under the most awakening ministry upon the very brink of the
bottomless pit, just falling into the gulf of eternity, or else it is a
terrifying and tormenting conscience. Unspeakable horror sometimes arises from
the terrible accusations of wicked mens own consciences.
There is no
way of bearing in this world the pain and torment of an accusing conscience. It
is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an enraged conscience. It was an
enraged conscience that forced Judas to hang himself. When Satan first tempts
wicked men to sin, he turns the lessening end of his telescope unto their eye,
representing their greatest crimes as small and inconsiderable. But when he
hath raised the mass of their sins to a vast bulk, fit to terrify them, he then
turns the multiplying end to their affrighted conscience, representing their
sins in as foul and fearful a manner as possibly he can, never ceasing till he
hath overwhelmed them in the depth of despair. This is his chief pastime, to
see them so distracted and confounded. Oh miserable wretches! Made by sin at
last such mortal enemies to themselves, they are raging in despair to cast
themselves body and soul into eternal flames! There can be no peace to the
wicked who are not at peace with God. Oh, but to believers God hath spoken
peace. Great peace have they, which love thy law (Ps. 85:8;
119:165). This peace of conscience is a continual feast. As horror of
conscience is the greatest trouble, so peace of conscience is the greatest joy.
That man (saith one) can never lack music, that speaks in consort and is
harmonious with himself.
Objection: The godly mans conscience is
often disquieted, witness David (Ps. 38:2-3), Job (Job 13:26), and Hezekiah
(Is. 38:14). The best of Gods servants find many fears, and doubts, and
perplexities arising in their minds.
Answer: Gods children may be,
and sometimes are without this inward peace, yet they are never without the
promise of it (Ps. 29:11). They are never without the grounds of it. There is a
real work of grace in their hearts, an implantation into Christ, and a hearty
subjection to Christ. And though Satan tempts furiously, and his temptations be
complied with, though when sinful dispositions are indulged and nourished and
their peace is interrupted and beclouded, though they walk sadly for a time,
yet light is sown for the righteous. As their holiness increaseth, so doth
their peace. Though they have not always a lively sense and apprehension of
Gods love and favour to them, yet, for the most part, their hearts have a
secret peace in serving God. They experience meltings and enlargements in duty,
which revive the soul and bear it up from sinking. There is always some comfort
and relying upon God in the worst condition. Yea, their very conflicts are for
their greater triumph. Their tempest will be followed with a more quiet calm.
Their trouble is the way to peace, and will be sure to end in peace (Ps.
37:37).
Thirdly, true believers have peace with the creatures. All the
creatures are enemies to fallen man, but being reconciled, all things become
Him (Hos. 2:18; Job 5:23). Though wicked men are seldom hurt by the beasts of
the field, yet they are never at peace with them. But the godly are at peace
with God, and therefore all creatures are at peace and in league with them.
Those savage beasts that are hurtful to others shall be helpful to them. The
ravens that pull out the eyes of those that are disobedient to their parents
(Prov. 30:17) carried food to Elijah (1 Kings 17:6). The lions that devoured
Daniels accusers did not touch him (Dan. 6). The serpents stung the
rebellious Israelites in the wilderness, yet the viper upon Pauls hand
did not hurt him (Acts 28:5). The dogs that ate the flesh of Jezebel licked
Lazarus sores. Tranquillus Deus tranguillat omnia. If God be for
us, who can be against us? This is the ordinary privilege of every true
believer, to have peace external, internal, and eternal. And is it not a
transcendant privilege? To be at peace with the creatures is a great mercy, and
it is a greater mercy to be at peace with conscience, but to be at peace with
God is by far the greatest mercy.
Every true believer is gloriously
provided for. God doth not only provide for them things needful for this
present life (Mt. 6:32). He hath also provided for them in that other life: a
glorious kingdom (Luke 12:32), an eternal mansion (John 14:2), an eternal
portion and refreshment (Luke 22:29-30), and an inheritance that fadeth
not away (1 Pet. 1:4). Yea, even here their souls are fed and refreshed
with spiritual dainties, like heavenly manna of which whosoever eats
shall never die (John 6:50; 5:24). They have meat to eat that the world
knows not of. They have that peace which passeth all understanding.
They have special and peculiar food, the chiefest food in all the world (John
6:55). What meat is to the body, that Christ is to the soul. Doth meat renew
strength and preserve life? Jesus Christ renews the inward strength and
preserves the souls of the saints. Doth meat fit a man for work and business?
Christ fits for soul-work (Phil. 4:13). Is meat sweet to the taste? The
crucified flesh of Christ by which divine justice was satisfied, is sweet to
the taste of Gods people, sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. The most
sweet and precious thing in the world is not to be compared with it. All those
delights and sweetnesses which are in the creatures are but dark shadows and
resemblances of that sweetness and delightfulness which is in Christ (Cant.
2:3).
Oh what unspeakable sweetness gracious souls taste in that communion
which they have with Christ in His ordinances! There He gives them such tastes
of His goodness as carnal men have no sense of. Such tastes as embitter all
things below comparatively. Such tastes leave on their souls such a relish of
divine goodness, as shall never be worn off. It is the observation of an
ingenious writer, that the soul hath its palate as well as the body. Hence the
apostle exhorts, Set your affections on things above, not on things on
the earth (Col. 3:2). The original word signifies to try by tasting. They
that are risen with Christ taste, and relish the sweetness of heavenly things,
godliness, and religious duties. It is the want of such a taste that makes
religious duties so burdensome to carnal hearts, as it was with those in
Malachi 1:13. Alas! They could relish no sweetness in ordinances. Oh but a
gracious soul tastes a peculiar sweetness in them.
A true believer hath
free access to God. He may go with boldness to the throne of grace (Eph. 3:12).
The word rendered access hath an allusion to the courts of princes,
where petitioners are admitted unto access to their prince. How hard is it to
have access to an earthly king? To speak with such is a favour not easily
obtained. Oh but God, though He is endued with infinite majesty and glory, yet
He is always prepared every hour and moment to admit believers into His
presence.
Wicked men have no familiar access to God, no converse or
acquaintance with God. Though they may come outwardly to God with their lips,
yet they cannot come near to God. Why? They are in their natural estate; they
are not in Christ. They come not to God through Christ and therefore cannot see
the Kings face. As Absalom was not to see King Davids face because
the king was displeased with him, so wicked men cannot see Gods face,
because His indignation against them is not quenched. Their sins have divided
God and them (Isa. 59:2) and so closed up all access unto God. Christ hath
opened them a door for access unto God. He keeps it always open by His
continued intercession, which otherwise would be closed daily and hourly by
their renewed provocations (1 John 2:1).
They that are in Christ may boldly
approach before God. They may come securely into His presence, for
through Him we both have an access, by one Spirit, unto the Father (Eph.
2:18). Here both means both Jews and Gentiles that believe. In all
their troubles they may run with confidence to their heavenly Father, and pour
out their complaints and grievances into His hand. Oh glorious and comfortable
privilege! Is it a great privilege to have an affectionate wife, or
sympathizing friend, to whom we may pour forth our hearts? What a privilege is
it then for Gods children, when their spirits are oppressed, to have a
gracious God to run to by prayer in secret! He is able to do exceeding
abundantly for them, above what they can ask or think (Eph. 3:20). If to be
admitted into the presence chamber of princes is accounted a great honour, what
a privilege is it to be admitted into the holy of holies, to converse and
commune with God from day to day? Oh prize and improve this privilege, ye
servants of the most high God. Be not strangers to the throne of grace, but
have recourse to it continually. Daily renew and increase your fellowship and
communion with God, till ye at last be presented perfect in Christ Jesus.
A
true believer hath not only access but acceptance. God takes in good part the
least good from him. If he but feed an hungry belly, God regards it (Mt.
25:35,40). If only one penitential tear drops from his eye, God sees it (Isa.
38:5). If there be but a good intention, God takes notice of it (1 Kings 8:18).
If there be but a sigh for sin, a hearty desire after Christ, God spies it (Ps.
38:9). Where there are the least desires or breathings in the soul after
Christ, they shall not be contemned, but commended and cherished. God will not
break the bruised reed, though never so weak; neither will He quench the
smoking flax, but will rather increase it into a flame.
The most perfect
performances of Gods children are but imperfect. If God would examine
their self-examinations, would He not find them short and partial, and
unskillfully managed? Have not their devotions some spice of corruption, and
often some mixture of hypocrisy in them? They do not always, as Jacob, wrestle
with God when alone. They are all too frequently dead in secret. How unskillful
are they in handling that weapon of prayer? How little ardency is in their
prayers, attention, and faith in their hearing? How many are their miscarriages
in duties? Oh, but there is a comfortable promise: And it shall be upon
Aarons forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things,
which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts: and it shall
be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord
(Ex. 28:38). Aaron was a type of Christ.
God takes those duties lovingly
which believers themselves blush to own. And she said to her father, Let
it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of
women is upon me (Gen. 31:35). So when our times of weakness are upon us
and we rise not with that fervency we desire, God will spare us. He accepts
less at one time than another. I know, saith the Lord, the soul for the present
is weak and distempered. It breathes so short, prays so faintly. It is an hour
of darkness; he cannot see well to find the way to My throne of grace. He would
do better, therefore I will not despise. I will look upon him through Christ,
with a merciful eye, for if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted
according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not (2
Cor. 8:12). The infirmities that accompany the performances of Gods
children do not spoil their acceptance, but their sincerity covers their
infirmities.
A true believers services are not only graciously
accepted, but shall be gloriously rewarded (Heb. 11:6; Mat. 6:4,6; 10:41).
He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a
prophets reward: and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a
righteous man, shall receive a righteous mans reward. This is a
reward not of debt, but of favor; not of merit, but of grace. Our services do
not deserve it; it is wholly of mercy in respect of us or our deserving. Yet it
is justice in respect of Gods promises and Christs merit. Christ
hath merited, and God hath promised a free yet glorious recompense to His
servants, after all their labors and travels in His service. He hath annexed an
unspeakable reward to obedience (Ps. 19:11). As there is no master so mild as
the Lord, no laws so holy, no service so easy, so there is no reward as vast as
His. As far as heaven is above the earth, and glory is above gold, and life is
better than death, so far are Gods rewards beyond mans. Thou
hast magnified Thy Word above Thy Name (Ps. 138:2). What Word? Not only
Christ the eternal Word, but the Word of promise. His goodness was great in
giving the promise, and His truth is great in performing it punctually, and
giving superlative mercy to His people. Thou hast magnified Thy Word
above all Thy Name, i.e. beyond all that is famed or believed of Thee
among men or saints. Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid
up for them that fear Thee! (Ps. 31:19). The mercies believers have
received here, if thrown together on a heap, would amount to a great mass and
number. And yet they are but an inconsiderable allotment, not the ten
thousandth part of what avails them in the other world. There is no greater
resemblance between their present and future estate, than between a taste and a
feast, between a grain and the harvest, between a grape and the whole vintage.
Every gracious soul should solace itself with a general survey of those
profound treasures which are laid up for them in heaven.
A true believer is
privileged with joy in the Holy Ghost. It is a joy that ravisheth the heart and
is a foretaste of heaven, a joy that is better felt than expressed. In
whom though now ye see Him not, yet believing ye rejoice, with joy unspeakable
and full of glory (1 Pet. 1:8). Some censure religion, as if it were
perpetually attended with mopish pensiveness, and every precious soul were a
demoniac possessed with a melancholy devil. Oh, but the practice of religion is
full of joy and sweetness (Prov. 3:17). It brings a sedate serenity, a composed
quietness, a calm tranquility into the mind, conscience and affections. The
godly have Gods Spirit, and spiritual joy is one fruit of Gods
Spirit (Gal. 5:22). They are Christs subjects, and joy is one great
privilege of Christs spiritual kingdom (Rom. 14:17). They have an
interest in God, and therefore rejoice in Him as their own portion. They are
often drawing near to God in His ordinances, and God doth not love to send them
away sad. Though they have not an actual possession of glory, yet they have a
well-grounded hope of it, and therefore rejoice (Rom. 5:2).
I grant, God
often brings His children by way of a weeping cross. They are the mourners in
Zion. Her eyes are like the fish-pools of Heshbon (Cant. 7:4). The
cheeks of the godly are often all afloat, and their eyes as it were glazed over
with tears. Oh but in the midst of their greatest sorrows, their tears are
mixed with some hopes. In their heaviness there is a mixture of joy. Their
right to joy still remains, and though they meet with many rubs in the way to
heaven, though the feeling of joy may be suspended for a season, yet are they
not always sad, but sometimes taste how gracious and sweet God in Christ is.
God will come at last to them. Ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will
see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from
you (John 16:22). Yes, they have the highest feeling of joy, who have
tasted the bitterness of sorrow (Isa. 57:18). Unutterable groans make way for
unspeakable joys. Was not David the greatest mourner in Israel, and yet the
sweetest singer in Zion?
This joy is a transcendent privilege. The
saints joy is far purer and better than the sinners joy. They serve
a poor goddess, who are devoted to sensual pleasures as their choicest
felicity. Sensual pleasures are as a mermaid with a beautiful face, but
deformed in the nether parts. They come with an enticing sweetness, but depart
with shame and sorrow. Oh, but joy in purity of heart and holiness of life is
always good and commendable. The other is but vain and vanishing; this is
abiding. The other is from the world; this is from God. The other is maintained
with shadows and earthly things; this with substances and eternal things. The
end of the other is perplexity of conscience, but the end of this is peace of
conscience.
A true believer is happy in times of sore trouble. Indeed God
sometimes hides the faithful in the graves, before such times come (Isa. 57:2).
They have Jobs wish, Oh that Thou wouldst hide me in the grave,
that Thou wouldst keep me secret, until Thy wrath be past (Job 14:13).
Thus the Lord housed Josiah in the grave (2 Kings 23) before He poured out all
His fierce wrath, to the removing of Judah and Jerusalem out of His sight. Thus
He housed St. Augustine, the bishop of the city of Hippo in Africa, before it
was taken and sacked by the Goths and Vandals. Thus He housed Luther, before
that bloody war began in Germany, wherein all the Protestants were almost
wholly wasted. But if the saints live to see such times of troubles, yet are
they happy, first, because such troubles are medicinal to their souls. Alas!
They are apt to surfeit on the creature, and creature surfeits are very
dangerous. Oh, but sharp afflictions are corrective medicine to cure this
distemper. Alas! Impurity of affection is soon contracted, but when the water
of affliction is on their back, love is in Gods heart towards them.
Affliction and affection, frowns and favor, are not inconsistent. Jacobs
flitting and sorrowing life from Genesis 28 to 46, Davids tossing and
troubles in both books of Samuel, and Jobs trials and griefs do all
confirm this truth.
Believers have the presence, society, and company of
God with them in trouble (Ps. 96:15; Isa. 43:2). In times of sore and sad
troubles, God will protect and defend them. When the church was captive in
Babylon, described in Jeremiah 4:23-26, all the ten tribes were dispersed into
all quarters of the heathen and Assyrian empire. The temple was destroyed, and
walls of the city razed, and a people of a strange language, fierce countenance
and bloody spirit got the rule. Yet lo, the protection of the Almighty (Ez.
6:8; 12:16; 11:16; Jer. 36:26)! In the time of Antichristianism, the devil
walked without a chain and suffered no control, for God loosed him. He seduceth
by error and persecutes by sword, and yet they who appear for God in sinful
days, God will hide them in desolating days (Rev. 3:10; 12:6). He will preserve
them either from all hurtful troubles, or He will preserve them in them. What a
glorious preservation was that of Daniel when cast into the den of
lions (Dan. 6)! Were not the lions both many and hungry? And yet they
swallowed him not up, but suffered him to lie there all night. He lost not his
sense to fear, though this would have been death to many a timorous man. He was
so preserved by a heavenly instrument, an angel, that he lost not a limb, nor
had not so much as a finger broken or bruised. Whereas his accusers, when cast
into the den, were presently crushed and devoured, before they came to the
bottom of the den. Was not Noah gloriously saved in the waves? And how
gloriously and frequently did the Lord preserve and deliver Luther?
Three
great miracles are observed in Luther. (1) To stand against the Pope was a
great miracle. (2) To prevail against the Pope was a greater miracle. (3) To
die in his bed in peace, and in his own country, where he was born, seems the
greatest of all, especially having had so many enemies as he had. Besides, his
escapes from manifold danger were little less than miraculous. As when a
certain Jew was sent to destroy him by poison, God preserved him. For Luther
had been warned and the face of the Jew was sent to him by picture, whereby he
knew him and avoided the danger. At another time, as he was sitting in a
certain place upon his stool, there was a great stone in the vault over his
head where he sat. It was held miraculously while he was sitting, but as soon
as he was up it immediately fell upon the place where he sat. It would have
crushed him all to pieces if it bad fallen upon him.
No less strange and
glorious was the deliverance of St. Ambrose, when Valentini had with an army of
soldiers beset the temple, where Ambrose was praying. Valentini commanded him
to come out, but Ambrose refused, saying that he would not forsake the
sheep-fold of Jesus Christ to let the wolves enter, but that he was ready to
die where he was. The brave speech so daunted Valentii, that he retired without
doing him any hurt. At another time, a wizard claimed to send his familiar
spirit to kill Ambrose, but the spirit returned, and told him that Ambrose was
so fenced about that he could not hurt him. At another time, one coming with a
drawn sword to his bedside to kill him, found his hand so suddenly withered
that he could not stir it, till upon his hearty repentance, Ambrose prayed over
him. Then it was restored as the other.
Thus the Lord preserved His saints
in the midst of all dangers and troubles, even as the apple of His own eye (Ps.
41:2). Their enemies may rage and plot against them, but God will hide them in
the hollow of His hand, and they shall be safe. The devil must ask God leave,
before he can touch a saint, when at the same time, he hath command over the
ungodly (Job 1:12). But he never asked leave to irritate the Sabean bands to
destroy, but drove them on to spoil.
(5) If the faithful be hurried down
the stream, and die in the common calamity, if their bodies be thrown into the
fire, and consumed to ashes, yet their souls are in safety, as safe as Noah was
in the ark. Calamities are waters, great waters; they many times come tumbling
and rolling one upon and after another. Oh, but they cannot come near the souls
of the saints to destroy them. Their souls and their faith (which is the life
and seal of the soul) are in a blessed security. Though outward life go, yet
spiritual life continues, and life eternal succeeds life temporal. The shell is
broken, but the jewel is safely locked under custody. A believer may say in the
day of trouble, Show me what can slay my soul or blot out my name out of
heaven. Show me what can rob me of my Redeemers love, and I will fear,
but death cannot do it, for to me to live is Christ, and to die is
gain. God hath built heaven for my soul to dwell in, when turned out of
the house of the body. And therefore the shorter my life, the sooner I am at
home. It is not in the power of any trouble whatever to leave a soul
miserable if it is truly sanctified.
God bears with the many infirmities of
believers. How easily are the best misled out of the right way? Drawn and
enticed away by their own lusts; driven away by the temptations of Satan, and
follies of the world, they pass not one day without many offenses. Yes, and in
those things wherein they think they do well, they find upon examination, that
there is much amiss, that they deserve to be rejected and cast out of
Gods presence. Yet so great is Gods pity and bounty towards them in
Jesus Christ, that He deals most favorably and fatherly with them. He pities
their weaknesses, and so pities them as to heal them (Is. 57:18). He pities
them as to spare them. I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son
that serveth him (Mal. 3:17). By sparing them, we must understand
Gods passing by their infirmities. God indeed sees their failings, as
well as the failings of others (Heb. 4:12). Yea, God doth disallow their
failings, and is displeased with them (2 Sam. 11:27). Yea, His law condemneth
them as worthy of punishment (Gal. 3:10). Yet such is Gods indulgence and
compassion towards His sinning children, that upon their unfeigned sorrow and
afflicting their souls in secret, they may be assured that their heavenly
Father will spare them, as a father spareth his own son that serveth
him, and that with so much more kindness and love, as the heavens are
higher than the earth, and God greater than man, so God forgives His children.
It was the saying of that pious Prelate Bishop Babington: Albeit some one
or other infirmities may justly disable me for such a place in church or
commonwealth. Yet from a place with the elect, either here or forever, it shall
not hinder me. Ten thousand blemishes shall not hinder me, if I am grieved with
them and fight against them, as the Lord enableth me. I take hold of my
spotless Saviour, as my help and safety against them all.
God hears
the poor imperfect prayers of the true believer (Ps. 66:19-20). The prayers of
the saints are ships of venture. Oh but they return richly laden. They are
swift posts, and bring back glad tidings to their souls. Their prayers are
mingled with faith, and prayers mingled with faith do certainly mount up to
heaven (Mt. 21:22). The Jews were of the opinion that the smoke of the incense,
as it ascended from the altar, would not decline by any wind or blast but
ascend directly towards heaven. I am sure the prayers of believers ascend
directly to God by Jesus Christ (Is. 56:7; Rev. 8:4). God heareth not sinners.
Let hard-hearted sinners pray never so much, all their prayers are lost; God
regards them not. But God will certainly hear the prayers of those, whose
hearts are upright before Him (Prov. 15:8). They may be assured of speedy
answers to their requests, which are made according to the will of God (John
16:23; 1 John 5:14-15; Ps. 34:15).
This is the common privilege of all the
saints by Jesus Christ: their prayers are heard, and they have welcome audience
at the throne of grace continually. God hath not said to the seed of Jacob,
seek ye Me in vain. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing
precious fruit (this precious fruit, the prayer of faith) shall doubtless come
again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. His showery seed time shall be
blessed with a fruitful and plentiful harvest. God will so hear his prayers as
to supply his wants, and give him what he prays for. Oh wonderful condescension
and unspeakable mercy to have the ear of the great Jehovah! What greater
worldly privilege than to have the ear of those who are greatest in the world?
What a privilege then is it to have the ear of God, to have audience in the
court of heaven? And this is the saints privilege by Jesus Christ. As
soon as the poor believer calls, God is ready to answer, Here I am. Be it
unto thee, even as thou wilt. God indeed sometimes delays to answer the
prayers of believers, but then He supports them in the exercise of grace, and
the performance of their duties till the answer comes. He enables them to find
out some answer, some encouragement in His very refusal. But He answered
and said, it is not meet to take the childrens bread, and cast it to the
dogs. And she said, truth Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from
their masters table (Mt. 15:26-27). Here was encouragement in
discouragement. Gods dealings toward His people seem sometimes to cross
His promises. Oh but when He gives them no visible answer, He gives them
invisible strength, to persevere till answered. Thus the woman of Canaan
persevered prayingly when she was rebuked and answered roughly.
A true
believer is privileged with affliction for righteousness sake (Phil.
1:29). God many times honors His saints with those arms and ensigns of praise.
This you will say is a strange privilege. Oh but to a gracious soul, it is an
high glory to suffer for the gospels sake, as the apostles departed from
the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer
shame for His Name (Acts 5:41). These, whether they be tongue persecutions, the
flouts and reproaches of wicked men as in times of peace or hand persecutions
as in times of war, are glorious badges and a matter of glorying (Gal.
6:14,17). These make the saints famous and honorable. Is it not honour and
happiness to do the will of God? And can it be disgrace or misery to suffer His
will? Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you,
and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My
sake, Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven; for
so persecuted they the prophets which were before you (Mt. 5:10-12).
All things work together for good to them that love God, and
believe in His Son Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:28). The most bitter afflictions shall
make them better. The sharpest rue shall be an herb of grace. They shall thank
their fever, bless their poverty, and praise their oppressor; they shall find
it to have been a good fever, a good poverty, a good oppression, very
beneficial and advantageous unto them. For their heavenly Father correcteth
them for their profit, that they may be partakers of His holiness (Heb. 12:10).
God makes use of afflictions as medicine to prevent or cure soul diseases, and
to purge out corrupt temperaments from His children (Ps. 119:71). When they are
engulfed in troubles, and overwhelmed with afflictions, no evil toucheth them,
for God intendeth them good. The very worst of providences shall according to
Gods purpose and promise infallibly effect their internal and eternal
advantage. Yea, their very sins shall be turned to a mercy to the glory of God,
and the salvation of their souls. Peccatum, says Augustine, Tristitiam peperit
tristitia peccatum content. Gods wisdom draws good for them out of their
very sins. His over-ruling hand, guided with a wicked counsel, works mercy for
them out of misery. The wicked, because God prospers them in sin and gives them
some temporal mercies, harden themselves in their sinful course, like the
idolatrous Jews (Jer. 44:17).
But it is otherwise with the godly. They do
not harden themselves in sin, but mourn bitterly for sin, and watch against it
more earnestly. As God made Adams apostasy to be a door for a Redeemer to
come in, and as Josephs brethren sold him, so that Jacob and his sons
might not sell themselves for food, so God turneth the poison of sin into a
wholesome potion. Sin makes Gods sinning servants more cautious, humble,
watchful and zealous for the time to come. Indeed Satans design in
drawing them to sin is like that of the Assyrians, To take the spoil and
the prey, to tread them down as the mire in the streets, it is in his heart to
cut them off and destroy them (Isa, 10:6-7). Oh but by repentance,
they shall return to the Lord, and A true believer shall persevere in
grace, even unto the end. His stay themselves upon the Holy One of Israel
(verses 20-21). The devil, saith Cyril! Alex, runs with open mouth upon
Gods children to devour them, but they manfully resist him. He thinks to
weaken their faith, but they by his assaults are made the stronger. He fights
against them, but they gain ground upon him, so that what he intended for their
destruction, against his will is for their advantage.
A true
believers afflictions are sweetened. (1) His present distress and
affliction shall redound to his account here (2 Sam. 16:2). He that sacrificed
His own Son for them, would not deny them any desirable mercy, if His wisdom
saw that it would tend to the health and prosperity of their souls. He that
redeemed their souls from eternal burnings, takes no delight to pour vinegar
into their smarting sores. If God deny them any present mercy, His design is to
extract comfort in the end. If they lack children, health, estate, etc., God
will fetch their good out thence, though they discern it not.
Believers present comforts are more than their present afflictions.
Say, they have not great possessions, yet they have an inheritance among them
that are sanctified. They are poor in the world, but rich in faith. If they
have not such an overflowing cup and full table as some have, yet they have a
full Christ and receive of His abounding grace. Though they be mean and
contemptible on earth, yet their names are written in heaven. And if they want
health in their bodies, they have peace in their consciences which is far
better.
The joys of heaven will follow the believers sorrows on
earth. These heavenly joys will counter, yes, overbalance all their earthly
sorrows (2 Cor. 4:17). Tears and sighs may accompany them to the door of death,
but can find no entrance into heaven. Heaven is brought into their hearts here.
They must be praying, repenting, and believing only a little while, and heaven
shall open to receive their souls. God will put His hand as it were through the
clouds, and say to the believing soul, Come up hither. And oh, how transporting
and ravishing will its joys then be! A true believer shall persevere in grace,
even unto the end. His natural estate is indeed changeable; his body is strong
today and weak tomorrow. His civil estate is changeable; his riches often take
wing and fly away. But in his spiritual estate there is more certainty. His
continuance in grace is sure. He may ebb and flow, rise and fall, as to degrees
of grace. Yet being sanctified by the immortal Spirit of grace, he shall never
quite fall away from grace (John 4:14). There is an inseparable connection
between grace and glory: grace is the seed of glory, and glory is the harvest
of grace. Grace is glory inchoate, and glory is grace inconsummate. Grace is
the root of glory; glory is the top-branch of grace. Grace is glory militant;
glory is grace triumphant. True grace draws everlasting glory infallibly along
with it.
The saints perseverance is founded, first, upon election.
God hath chosen them to eternal life, and their names are written in heaven
(Luke 10:20). And what hand can get up to heaven to scratch it out? There it
is, and there it shall be forever. It was written by the finger of God, dipped
in the blood of Christ, as with the pen of a ready writer, and is fast shut up
with the clasps of Gods power and wisdom, and therefore none can expunge
it.
(2) The saints perseverance is founded, secondly, upon the
continuance of the Lords kindness, and the irremoveableness of His
covenant. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but
My kindness shall not depart from thee (Isa. 54:10).
(3) The
saints perseverance is founded, thirdly, upon Gods promise,
and I will betroth thee unto Me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me
in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies
(Hos. 2:19-20). Now God is true, and whatsoever is promised by Him shall be
performed with faithfulness, in spite of all intervement occurrences.
(4)
The saints perseverance is founded, fourthly, upon Christs prayer
in the days of His flesh. Whatsoever Christ prayed for to the Father shall be
performed and Christ prayed for the persevering of believers, And I will
pray to the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide
with you forever (John 17:11; 14:16).
Fifthly, the saints
perseverance is founded upon the power of. God. And I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of My hand: My Father, which gave them Me is greater than all, and no man is
able to pluck them out of My Fathers hand (John 10:28-29). As
corruption could not withstand the entrance of grace into their hearts, could
not bolt the door totally to exclude it, no more shall it be able irresistibly
to eject it out of their hearts. If God was able to bring grace into their
hearts, though sin and lust resisted to the utmost, how much more is He able to
keep grace in possession? Surely He who raised the light of reformation out of
Egyptian darkness can keep it from setting in obscurity. He who regenerated
them when they were enemies and unbelievers can preserve them now they are
regenerated.
In the sixth place, the saints perservation is founded
upon Christs intercession. Wherefore He is able also to save them
to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make
intercession for them (Rom. 8:35; Heb. 7:25).
Seventhly,
believers perseverance is grounded upon the sealing of the Spirit. They
who are sealed in their hearts by the Spirit can never totally nor finally lose
their grace, but all true believers are thus sealed (2 Cor. 1:21; Eph. 4:30;
1:13-14). This sealing is unchangeable as to the substance, though not as to
the quality of it. Broken and dark it may be, but it can never be quite broken
completely off. The new man may languish, but shall not die. Hypocrites may
fall fearfully. Their zeal may cool, the leaf of their profession drop off.
These gourds may wither, these luminaries may be tumbled from their orbs, and
the first may be last, but the godly man shall be like a tree planted by
the river of waters, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also
shall not wither (Ps. 1:3).
(1) A true believer is blessed at death
because he dies with a heart full of faith, in union to and leaning upon the
Lord Christ (Rev. 14:13). (2) A believers death is blessed because he
dies beloved of his God, and in covenant with Him. It is not the
unserviceableness of his body, it is not its ghastly look, nor that worm-eaten
putrefaction that follows after its dissolution that can make the godly man
loathed or less loved of his Creator. His God loved him when a mere nothing,
before ere his face was seen, or his name known. He cannot be less loved of his
Redeemer, who shed His blood and lost His life, that death might not enter him
upon an estate of everlasting distance. Death to the saints is a great
advantage (Phil. 1:21). To the wicked death is loss: the loss not only of their
perishing comforts, but of their immortal souls. It is not only a dissolution,
but a destruction of all their hopes, all their happiness. How then can they
desire the day of death? Do malefactors wish for the verdict and desire the day
of execution? It would be the best news they ever heard, if a mighty angel
should come from heaven and say, Christ hath, on second thought, resolved
that there shall be no day of judgment, though He hath threatened it in His
Word. All the wicked shall be forgiven, or, being once dead, shall never rise
again. Oh, but such a thought is foolish, for at death and judgment the
wicked shall be packed into hell, and cast into the holes that in Tophet are
digged for them! Oh but to the godly, death is an advantage; it is a going from
the place of their pilgrimage towards their Fathers house (2 Cor. 5:8).
It is a falling asleep when drowsy (Acts 7). It is a taking of rest when weary
(Rev. 14:13), a committing the jewel of the soul to a friends keeping
upon a journey (Mal. 3:17). It is a changing of the dross of corruption for the
gold of perfect grace, duskish twilight for midday sun, the company of vile
sinners for the company of glorious angels and saints, tabernacles of dust for
glorious mansions, brutish delights for divine pleasures, a small pittance of
this present transitory world for the full fruition of an all-sufficient and
soul-satisfying object, which is God in Christ blessed forever. It is a laying
down of one life, to go and take actual possession of a better. It is a
departure from all cares and troubles, to all joys and comforts that can never
be parted with. It is a passing from an howling wilderness to a joyful
paradise.
Oh how gladly may the dying saint lay down his head, and venture
into that other region, where his Saviour and Master, his Head and Husband is
ready to receive him! Surely He that redeemed thee, oh believer, will not
destroy thee. He that is thy Head will not curse a member of His own body. He
that is thy Husband will not cast off His own new-married spouse. When Christ
went up into heaven, thou ascended with Him; He went up to take possession of
heaven on thy behalf (Heb. 6:20; John 44:2). At thy conversion, heaven came
down into thee, and at thy dissolution thou shalt go up into heaven. At thy
conversion thou receivedst the earnest penny, and at they dissolution thou
shalt receive the whole sum. Now thou art in the borders and suburbs of heaven,
serving the Lord Christ, and therefore thou mayest be sure of glory (Col.
3:24). Christ will with power carry thee away at death, as a father saith to
his child, Child, come away with me, and so catcheth him up under
his arms. So saith Christ, Child, come away with Me, and so closes
the eyes, lays down the head, and takes up the soul into heaven. The great
Physician embalms the souls with spices and odors of glory, while the body is
left a prey to worms of rottenness.
A true believer hath inward strength in
the hour of death. When he feels the outward man decaying, and his heart is
somewhat dejected, God is near him to strengthen him. God strengthens the
godly upon their bed of languishing, and maketh all their bed in their
sickness (Ps. 73:26). Yea, He maketh a bed of inward joy and comfort unto
their souls, wherein they may rest and be refreshed, when their bodily pains
are most grievous and intolerable. He then speaketh to them words of comfort,
or rather as Peter calleth them, words of eternal life (John 6:68).
He saith to them as He said to the penitent thief, Verily I say unto
thee, today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise (Luke 23:43), or as He said
concerning Lazarus sickness, This sickness is not unto death
(John 11:4). Yea, this death is not unto death, but for the glory of God, and
also for your glory that by it ye may attain to eternal glory and happiness. He
said unto Jacob, when he was going down into Egypt, Fear not to go down
to Egypt, for I will go down with thee, and will surely bring thee up
again; so saith He to His languishing and dying servants, Fear not
to go down into the dark and silent grave, for I will go down with you, and
will also surely bring you up again.
Thus when the dying believers
sit down and sigh by them, or turn their backs and withdraw from them, unable
to help and comfort them, the Lord compounds a cordial which eases their aching
hearts. (1) He strengthens them to suffer all trials and exercises, even the
most sharp and tedious pains patiently (C 01. 1:11). (2) He strengthens them to
perform spiritual duties in such a dying hour (Phil. 4:13). The poor sickly
Christian continues instant in prayer, acts faith, abounds in gracious
thoughts, puts up most heart-ravishing prayer, and the soul sings like a bird
that is ready to leave the filthy cage of the body where it has been detained
long.
(3) God supports the dying believer to resist temptations that gather
about the departing soul. The believer has courage and boldness, skill and
wisdom, to receive with Christian manfulness the devils last charge, and
to throw back his darts into his conquered face. He hath formerly beaten him
many a time when he strove to slay his faith, and to quench his zeal, and now
scorns to yield to him. He believes that God is his Father, that his sins are
pardoned, and that his old Friend will not now forsake him; let the devil stand
at his bedside, and suggest what He will. I know whom I have believed,
and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him
against that day (2 Tim. 1:12). Oh, how comfortable is the claim that the
believing soul in that hour maketh unto God as a reconciled Father, unto
Christ, as a Bridegroom and Saviour, and to His blood as his ransom. What a
sweet claim the dying soul can make to heaven as Christs purchase for
him, and to the society of the saints and angels, as fellow citizens in eternal
glory.
The resurrection of believers shall be to everlasting life. Indeed
even the most daring sinner must rise again at the last day (Mt. 22:31-32). But
the unsaved sinners resurrection is by the power of Christ as a Judge,
not as a Head. Theirs is a resurrection to everlasting shame and contempt, not
to everlasting glory and honor. Their bodies must be partners in punishment as
they were in sin. They must then come to a depart from Me ye cursed
(Mt. 25:41). God will then answer them in their own language of defiance. But
the saints shall rise first, with perfect, glorious, and immortal bodies, to
lie in the grave no more, but to live in heaven forever. Their bodies that are
now earthly shall then become heavenly. Their bodies that are now mortal,
corruptible, and subject to passion, shall then become immortal, incorruptible,
and impassionate. Their bodies that are now dull and heavy, yea, perhaps even
black and deformed, shall then become quick and lively, yea, shining as the sun
in the kingdom of their Father. Their dissolved bodies shall partake of a
glorious resurrection, and be joyfully joined unto their souls.
Suppose
that the most loving couple that ever the sun saw married, were living on the
seaside. And suppose the wife were snatched away by a Turkish pirate, cast into
prison and abused severely. After many years a friend redeems her, and brings
her home clad like a princess to her husband, who wanted nothing else but her
company. Oh! What congratulations and feastings there would be! What embracing
salutes! What tears of joy! United in soul and body are this loving couple who
lived by the seaside of eternity. Death is the pirate which snatched away the
body in the night of sickness, and tumbled it into the grave to lie there,
while the soul lives in all prosperity in heaven. Oh, but Christ by His power
redeems the body of the believer from the grave, and instead of its rags,
clothes it with immortality. He changes the graves stench into perfumes
of joy. As the body comes up out of the grave, the soul runs to meet it,
saying, Oh my body thou art welcome here, oh, welcome out of the
dust! and so clasping together, they live forever with the Lord.
Then
shall the believer be justified and acquitted, applauded and rewarded openly.
Then shall believers be taken up as assessors, to sit with Christ upon His
throne, and to judge the world. As God judgeth by authoritative jurisdiction,
and Christ by the promulgation and execution of the sentence, so judge
believers by applausive approbation. Then shall they be taken up into
receptacles of light, and mansions of love, and enter in the joy of their Lord.
Then shall they be led into the Kings palace, to be married to the
Bridegroom of their souls, and to receive everyone of them a crown of glory.
Then their fetters shall be turned into chains of gold, and their bread of
affliction into a joyful and costly feast. Now they are as sowers sowing in
tears, but then shall be harvesters reaping in joy. Now they are as worms and
no men, obscured with many clouds, but then shall they have a name as glorious
as the sun. Now their dwellng is in a dungeon, then shall they have a glorious
place in which to dwell. Now they must associate with men who are as thorns in
their sides, but then they shall have communion with God, with Christ, with
glorious angels, and glorified saints. Now their knowledge is imperfect. They
are ignorant of far more than they realize, but then they shall know the
secrets both of heaven and earth. They shall know the patriarchs, prophets,
apostles, and all the saints that ever lived by name, as Peter, James, and John
knew Moses and Elias in the transfiguration of Christ on the mount. Surely the
transfiguration was an example of the knowing of heaven. Yea, then shall their
memories, wills, and affections be, after an inexpressible manner, made
conformable unto God. Christ will be glorified and made marvelous in His saints
(2 Thes. 1:10). That is, He shall glorify them with that glory wherewith He as
man is glorified, and they shall rest in His bosom in unspeakable peace and
blessedness forever.
A true believers happiness will never end. The
glory of the other world is eternal just as the damnation of hell is eternal
(Mark 3:29). The soul being once lost is lost forever. Once locked in the dark
prison of hell it is locked up fast forever. No release, ransom, or recompense
can then be found. So the happiness of heaven is eternal. When the ten hundred
thousand millions of millions of years shall be over, not a minute of eternity
shall be spent. Worldlings live but for a few years in their stately dwellings,
oh, but the saints shall live forever in the highest heavens, to which, in
comparison, the world is but a fly for littleness, and a hole for darkness. If
God should put thee to thy choice, and say, Oh man, thou shalt take thy
choice, whether thou wilt be wrapped up into heaven for three minutes, or live
on earth a thousand years in all mirth and pleasure, wouldst thou not
rather choose to be in heaven but for two minutes of the three, than to be in
an Eden of joy a thousand years? For a day in Thy courts is better than a
thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of My God (Ps.
84:lOa). What will it then be to dwell in Gods house above forever? Thy
estate, oh believer, in the next world will be a sickless, sorrowless,
temptationless, sinless, and timeless estate. Thy bliss and delights there will
be an ocean without bounds or bottom. Gods delights never had a
beginning, and never will have an end. The wicked mans delights are now
both at a beginning and ending. Oh, but thy delights, though they had a
beginning, yet they shall never have an end. While we look not at the
things which are seen, but the things which are not seen: for the things which
are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal (2
Cor. 4:18). May the Lord give thee a clear and piercing sight of heavens
glory, and fill thee with all peace and joy in believing.
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