THE SINNERS SANCTUARY.
Sermon I.
ROM. viii. I."There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit."
THERE are three things which concur to make man miserable,
- sin, condemnation, and affliction. Every one may observe that man is
born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward; that his days here are few
and evil. He possesses months of vanity, and wearisome nights are
appointed for him, Job v. 6, 7; vii. 3. He is of few days and full
of trouble, Job xiv. 1. Heathens have had many meditations of the misery of
mans life; and in this have outstripped the most part of Christians. We
recount amongst our miseries, only some afflictions and troubles, as poverty,
sickness, reproach, banishment, and such like. They again have numbered even
these natural necessities of men amongst his miseries, - to be continually
turned about, in such a circle of eating, drinking, and sleeping. What burden
should it be to an immortal spirit to roll about perpetually that wheel? We
make more of the body than of the soul. They have accounted this body a burden
to the soul. They placed posterity, honour, pleasure, and such things, which
men pour out their souls upon, amongst the greatest miseries of men, as vanity
in themselves, and vexation, both in the enjoying and losing of them; but,
alas! they knew not the fountain of all this misery, sin; and the
accomplishment of this misery, - condemnation. They thought trouble came out of
the ground and dust, either by a natural necessity, or by chance; but the word
of God discovereth unto us the ground of it, and the end of it. The ground and
beginning of it was mans defection from God, and walking according to the
flesh; and from this head have all the calamities and streams of miseries in
the world issued.
It hath not only redounded to men, but even to the whole
creation, and subjected it to vanity, ver. 20 of this chapter. Not only shalt
thou, 0 man, (saith the Lord to Adam,) eat thy meat in sorrow, but thy curse is
upon the ground also, and thou who wast immortal, shalt return to that dust
which thou magnifiedst above thy soul, Gen. iii. 17. But the end of it is
suitable to the beginning. The beginning had all the evil of sin in it, and the
end hath all the evil of punishment in it. These streams of this lifes
misery, they run into an infinite, boundless, and bottomless ocean of eternal
wrath. If thou live according to the flesh, thou shalt die: it is not only
death here, but eternal death after this. The miseries then of this present
life are not a proportionable punishment of sin, they are but an earnest given
of that great sum which is to be paid in the day of account, and that is
condemnation, everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and
the glory of his power,
Now, as the law discovers the perfect misery
of mankind, so the gospel hath brought to light a perfect remedy of all this
misery. Jesus Christ was manifested to take away sin, and therefore his name is
Jesus, for He shall save his people from their sins. This is the Lamb of
God that takes away the Sins of the world. Judgment was by one unto
condemnation of all, but now there is no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus; so these two evils are removed, which indeed have all
evil in them. He takes away the curse of the Law; being made under it; and then
he takes away the sin against the law by his Holy Spirit. He hath a twofold
virtue, for he came by blood and water, (1 John v. 6 7) - by blood, to cleanse
away the guilt of sin ; and by water, to purify from sin itself. But in the
meantime, there are many afflictions and miseries upon us, common to men: why
are these not removed by Christ? I say, the evil of them is taken away, though
themselves remain. Death is not taken away, but the sting of death is removed.
Death, afflictions, and all, are overcome by Jesus Christ, and so made his
servants to do us good. The evil of them is Gods wrath and sin, and these
are removed by Jesus Christ. Now they would be taken away indeed, if it were
not good they remained, for all things work together for good to them
that love God, ver. 28. So then we have a most complete deliverance in
extent, but not in degree. Sin remains in us, but not in dominion and power.
Wrath sometimes kindles because of sin, but it cannot increase to everlasting
burnings. Afflictions and miseries may change their name, and be called
instructions and trials, good, and not evil: but Christ hath reserved the full
and perfect delivery till another day, which is therefore called the day
of complete redemption, and then all sin, all wrath, all misery
shall have an end, and be swallowed up of life and immortality,
ver, 23.
This is the sum of the gospel; and this is the substance of this
chapter. There is a threefold consolation answerable to our threefold evils:
there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ. Here is a
blessed message to condemned lost sinners, who have that sentence within their
breasts, ver. I. This was the end of Christs coming and dying, that he
might deliver us from sin as well as death, and the righteousness of the law
might be fulfilled in us; and therefore he hath given the Holy Spirit, and
dwells in us by the Spirit, to quicken us who are dead in trespasses and
sins. 0 what consolation will this be to souls, that look upon the body
of death within them, as the greatest misery, and do groan with Paul, 0
wretched man that I am! &c., Rom. vii. 24. This is held forth to ver,
17. But because there are many grounds of heaviness and sadness in this world,
therefore the gospel opposes unto all these, both our expectation which we have
of that blessed hope to come, whereof we are so sure, that nothing can
frustrate us of it, and also the help we get in the meantime of the Spirit to
bear our infirmities, and to bring all things about for good to us, ver. 28.
And from all this the believer in Jesus Christ hath ground of triumph and
boasting before the perfect victory, even as Paul doth in the name of
believers, from ver. 31 to the end. Upon these considerations, he that cried
out not long ago, 0 miserable man, who shall deliver me? doth now
cry out, who shall condemn me? The distressed wrestler becomes a
victorious triumpher; the beaten soldier becomes more than a conqueror. 0 that
your hearts could be persuaded to hearken to this joyful sound - to embrace
Jesus Christ for grace and salvation.! How quickly would a song of triumph in,
him swallow up all your present complaints and lamentations!
All the
complaints amongst men may be reduced to one of these three. I hear the most
part bemoaning themselves thus: Alas for the miseries of this life, this evil
world! Alas for poverty, for contempt, for sickness! Oh! miserable man that I
am, who will take this disease away? Who will show me any good thing, (Psal.
iv. 6,) any temporal good? But if ye knew and considered your latter end, ye
would cry out more; ye would refuse to be comforted, though these miseries were
removed. But I hear some bemoaning themselves more sadly, - they have heard the
law, and the sentence of condemnation is within them. The law hath entered and
killed them. Oh! what shall I do to be saved? Who will deliver me
from the wrath to come? What are all present afflictions and miseries in
respect of eternity? Yet there is one moan and lamentation beyond all these,
when the soul finds the sentence of absolution in Jesus Christ, and gets its
eyes opened to see that body of death and sin within, that perfect man of sin
diffused throughout all the members. Then it bemoans itself with Paul -
0 wretched man, - who shall deliver me from this body of death? Rom. vii.
24. I am delivered from the condemnation of the law, but what comfort is it, as
long as sin is so powerful in me? Nay, this makes me often suspect my delivery
from wrath and the curse, seeing sin itself is not taken away
Now, if you
could be persuaded to hearken to Jesus Christ, and embrace this gospel, 0 what
abundant consolation should ye have! What a perfect answer to all your
complaints! They would be swallowed up in such a triumph as Pauls are
here. This would discover unto you a perfect remedy of sin and misery, that ye
should complain no more: or at least no more as those without hope. You shall
never have a remedy of your temporal miseries, unless ye begin at eternal, to
prevent them. "Seek first the kingdom of God" and all other things "shall be
added unto you" Seek first to flee from the wrath to come, and ye shall escape
it; and besides the evil of time, afflictions shall be removed. First remove
the greatest complaints of sin and condemnation, and how easy is it to answer
all the lamentations of this life and make you rejoice in the midst of
them!
You have in this verse three things of great importance to
consider,...the great and precious privilege, the true nature, and tbo special
property of a Christian. The privilege is one of the greatest in the world,
because it is of eternal consequence, and soul concernment; the nature is most
divine, - he is one that is in Jesus Christ, and implanted in him by faith; his
distinguishing property is noble, suitable to his nature and privileges, - he
walks not as the world, according to his base flesh, but according to the
Spirit. All these three are of one latitude, - none of them reaches further
than another. That rich privilege and sweet property concentres and meets
together in one man, even in the man who is in Jesus Christ. Whoever enters
into Jesus Christ, and abideth in him, he meets with these two, justification
and sanctification; these are nowhere else, and they are there together.
If
ye knew the nature and properties of a Christian, ye would fall in love with
these for themselves; but if these for your own sakes will not allure you,
consider this incomparable privilege that he hath beyond all others, that ye
may fall in love with the nature of a Christian. Let this love of yourselves
and your own well-being pursue you into Jesus Christ, that ye may walk even as
he walked; and I assure you, if ye were once in Christ Jesus, ye would love the
very nature and walking of a Christian, no more for the absolution and
salvation that accompanies it, but for its own sweetness and excellency beyond
all other. Ye would, as the people of Samaria, no more believe for the report
of your own necessity and misery, but ye would believe in Jesus Christ, and
walk according to the Spirit, for their own testimony they have in your
consciences. You would no more be allured only with the privileges of it to
embrace Christianity, but you would think Christianity the greatest privilege,
a reward unto itself. Godliness is great gain in itself, though it had not such
sweet consequents or companions. That you may know this privilege, consider the
estate all men are into by nature. Paul expresses it in short, Rom. v. By
the offence of one, judgment came upon all unto condemnation; and the
reason of this is, by one man sin came upon all, and so death by sin, for
death passed upon all, because all have sinned, ver. 18, 12. Lo,
then, all men are under a sentence of condemnation once!
This sentence is
the curse of the law. - 'Cursed is every one that abideth not in all things
commanded to do them. If you knew what this curse were, ye would indeed
think it a privilege to be delivered from it. Sin is of an infinite deserving,
because against an infinite God; it is an offence of an infinite majesty, and
therefore the curse upon the sinner involves eternal punishment. 0 what weight
is in that word, (2 Thess. i. 9,) Ye shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power! If
it were duly apprehended, it would weigh down a mans soul, and make it
heavy unto death. What an unpleasant and bitter life would one lead, that were
born to a kingdom, and yet to be banished it and lose it? But what an
incomparable loss is it, to fall from an heavenly kingdom, which heart cannot
conceive, and that for ever? In Gods favour is life, and in his presence
are rivers of pleasures for evermore. When your petty penny-losses do so much
afflict your spirits, what would the due apprehension of so great a loss do?
Would it not be death unto you, and worse than death, to he separated from this
life; to be eternally banished from the presence of his glory? If there should
be no more punishment but this only; if the wicked were to endure for ever on
earth, and the godly, whom they despised and mocked, were translated to heaven,
what torment would it be to your souls to think upon that blessedness which
they enjoy above, and how foolishly ye have been put by it for a thing of no
value? What would a rich mans advantages and gains be to him when he
considereth what an infinite loser he is? How he hath sold a kingdom for a
dunghill? Now if there were any hope, that after some years his banishment from
heaven might end, this might refresh him, but there is not one drop of such
consolation. He is banished, and eternally banished, from that glorious life in
the presence of God, which those do enjoy whom he despised.
If a man were
shut up all his life-time in a pit, never to see the light once more, would not
this be torment enough to him? But when withal there is such pain joined with
this loss; when all this time he is tormented within with a gnawing worm, and
without with fire; those senses that did so greedily hunt after satisfaction to
themselves, are now as sensible in the feeling of pain and torment. And when
this shall not make an end, but be eternal, 0 whose heart can consider it! It
is the comfort and ease of bodily torments here, that they will end in death.
Destruction destroys itself, in destroying the body; but here is an immortal
soul to feed upon, and at length the body shall be immortal. That destruction
cannot quite destroy it, but shall be an everlasting destruction and living
death.
This is the sentence that is once passed against us all in the word
of God, and not one jot of this word shall fall to the ground: heaven and earth
may fail sooner. Ye would think it were an irrepealable decree, if all the
nations in the earth, and angels above, convened to adjudge a man to death, did
pass sentence upon him. Nay, but this word that is daily spoken to you, which
passeth this sentence upon you all, is more certain: and this sentence of death
must be executed, unless ye be under that blessed exception made here and
elsewhere in the gospel.
I beseech you, consider what it is to have such a
judge condemning you. Would not any of you be afraid, if ye were under the
sentence of a king? If that judgment were above your head, who of you would sit
in peace and quietness? Who would not flee from the wrath of a king, that is
like the roaring of a lion? But there is a sentence of the Kiwis of kings and
nations above your heads. Who would not fear thee, to whom it doth
appertain, 0 King of nations It is not a great man that can
destroy the body, that is against thee; it is not he who hath power to kill
thee, and he hath also a great desire so to do. This were indeed much; but it
is the great and eternal JEHOVAH, who lifts up his hand to heaven, and swears
he lives for ever, - he is against thee. He who hath all power over body and
soul is against thee, and so is obliged to improve his omnipotency against
thee; he can kill both soul and body, and cast them into hell, and by virtue of
this curse he will not spare thee, but pour out all the curses in this book.
Thou wouldst be at no peace if thou wert declared rebel by the king and
parliament; but alas! that is a small thing. They can but reach thy body, nay,
neither can they always do that; thou mayest flee from them, but whither canst
thou flee from him? Thou caust not go out of his dominions; for the earth is
his, and the sea, and all that therein is. Darkness cannot hide thee from him.
He may spare long, because he can certainly overtake when he pleases; men may
not, because they have no assurance of finding. I beseech you, then, consider
this. It is of soul consequence; and what hath a man gained, if he gain the
world, and lose his soul? If the gainer he lost, what is gained? And it is of
eternal consequence; and what are many thousand years to this? You can look
beyond all these, and might comfort yourselves in hope; but you cannot see to
the end of this. There is still more before than is past; nay, there is nothing
past, - it is still as beginning.
0 that ye would consider this curse of
God that stands registrate upon us all? What effects had it on Christ, when he
did bear it? It made his soul heavy to death : - it was a cup that he could
scarcely drink. He that supported the frame of this world was almost near
succumbing under the weight of this wrath. It made him sweat blood in the
garden. He that could do all things, and speak all things, was put to this,
What shall I say? When this condemnation was so terrible to him,
who was that Mighty One upon whom all help was laid, what shall it be to you?
No mans sorrow was ever like his, nor pain ever like his, if all the
scattered torments were united in one; but because he was God he overcame, and
came out from under it. But what do you think shall be the estate of those who
shall endure that same torment ? - and not for three days, or three years, or
some thousands of years, but beyond imagination, - to all eternity?
I
beseech you consider this condemnation which ye are adjudged unto, and do not
lie under it. Do ye think ye can endure what Christ endured? Do ye think ye can
bear wrath according to Gods power and justice? And yet the judgment is
come npon all men to this condemnation. But alas! who fears him according to
his wrath? Who knows the power of his anger? Ye sleep secure, as if all matters
were past and over your head. We declare unto you in the Lords name, that
this condemnation is yet above you, because you have not judged yourselves. It
is preached unto you that ye may flee from it; but since ye will not condemn
yourselves, this righteous Judge must condemn you.
Now, since it is so,
that such a condemnatory sentence is passed on all men, what a privilege must
it be, to be delivered from it, - to have that sentence repealed by some new
act of Gods mercy and favour? David proclaims him a blessed man whose
sins are forgiven and covered; and indeed he is blessed who escapes that pit of
eternal misery, though there were no more. Though there were no title to an
inheritance and kingdom above, to be delivered from that wrath to come upon the
children of disobedience, this is more happiness than the enjoyment of all
earthly delights. What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
These riches and advantages and pleasures that men spend their labour for, all
these they part with in such a hazard. The covetous man, he will cast his
coffers overboard ere he will lose his life; the voluptuous man he will suffer
pain and torment in cutting off a member, ere he die. But if men knew their
souls, and what an immortality and eternity expects them, they would not only
give skin for skin, and all that they have, for their soul, but their life
also. Ye would choose to die a thousand deaths to escape this eternal death.
But what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Matt. xvi.
26; though he would give, yet what hath he to give? There are two things endear
any privilege to us, and heighten the rate of it, - the necessity of it, and
the preciousness of it; and these two are eminent here. Is it not necessary to
be, to live, and have a being? All men think so, when they will give all they
have to redeem themselves. All other things are accidental to them, they are
nearest to themselves; therefore all must go, ere themselves go. But I say this
is more necessary, - to be well eternally, than to be simply; to escape this
condemnation, than to have a being. And this shall be verified in the last day,
when men shall cry for hills and mountains to fall on them, and save them from
the wrath of the Lamb, Rev. vi. 16. Men will choose rather not to be, than to
fall in that wrath. 0 how acceptable would a mans first nothing be to him
in that great day of wrath! Who shall be able to stand in it? - when kings and
princes, bond and free, great and small, shall desire mountains to grind them
into powder, rather than to hear that sentence of condemnation, and yet shall
not obtain it. 0 blessed are all they that trust in him, when his wrath
is kindled but a little, Pa. ii. 12. Ye toil and vex yourselves, and
spend your time about that body and life; but for as precious as they are to
you now, ye would exchange them one day for immunity and freedom from this
wrath and curse. How will that man think his lines are fallen in pleasant
places, - how will he despise the glory of earthly kingdoms, though all united
in one, - who considers in his heart how all kings, all tongues and nations,
must stand before the judgnient.seat of God, and the books of his law be
opened, to judge them by, as also the books of their consciences, to verify his
accusation, and precipitate their own sentence, and then, in the open view of
all the sons of Adam, and the angels, all secrets be brought out, - their
accusation read as large as their life-time, and as many curses be pronounced
against every one, as there be breaches of the law of God, whereof they are
found guilty; and then all these will seek into corners, and cry for mountains,
but there is no covering from his presence. What do ye think the man will think
within himself, who will stand before God, and be absolved in judgment by Jesus
Christ, notwithstanding his provocations above many of them? What will a king
then think of his crown and dominions, when he reflects on them? What will the
poor persecuted Christian then think of all the glory and perfection of this
world, when he looks back upon it? 0 know, poor foolish men, what madness is in
venturing your souls for trifles! Ye run the hazard of all greatest things for
a poor moments satisfaction. Ye will repent it too late, and become wise
to judge yourselves fools, when there is no place to mend it.
But this
privilege is no more necessary than it is precious. your sould are now kept
captive under that sentence of everlasting imprisonment. Ye are all prisoners
and know not of it. What will ye give in ransom for your souls? Your sins and
iniquities have sold you to the righteous Judge of all the earth, as
malefactors, and He hath passed a sentence of your perpetual imprisonment under
Satans custody in hell. Now what will you give to redeem your souls from
that pit? How few know he worth of their souls! And so they offer unto God some
of their riches for them. Doth.not many of you think ye have satisfied for
sins, if ye pay a civil penalty to the judge? Many think their own tears and
sorrow for sin may be a price to justice, at least if it be joined with
amendment in time coming. And so men conceive their sins are pardoned, and
their souls redeemed. But alas! the redemption of the soul is precious, yea, it
ceaseth for ever; all your substance will be utterly contemned, hough ye
offered it. How few of you would give so much for your souls! And yet hough ye
give it, it will not do it, - ye must pay the uttermost farthing, or nothing.
Our sorrow and reformatiom will not complete the sum, no, nor begin it.
Though thou wash thee with nitre, and take much soap, yet thine iniquity
is marked before me, - yet there is still condemnation for thee. Though
all the world should convene about this matter, to find a ransom for man;
suppose all the treasures of monarchs, he mines and bowels of the earth, the
coffers of rich men were searched; nay, let he earth, the sea, the heavens, and
sun and moon be prized at the highest ; - join all the merits of angels above
and men below, all their good actions and sufferings, to the sum that amounts
of all that addition, would not pay the least farthing of is debt. The earth
would say, it is not in me; the heaven behoved to answer so; angels and men
might say, we have heard of it, but it is hid from all living. Where then is
this redemption from the curse? Where shall a ransom be found? Indeed God hath
found it; it is with him. He hath given his Son a ransom for many, and His
blood is more precious than souls, - let be gold and silver. Is not this then a
great privilege, that if all the kingdoms of the world were sold at the
dearest, yet they could not buy it? What a jewel is this! What a pearl! Whoever
of you ye escaped this wrath, consider what is your advantage. 0 consider your
dignity are advanced unto, that you may engage your hearts to him, to become
his, and wholly! for ye are bought with a price, and are no more
your own; he gave Himself for you, and was made a curse to redeem you from the
curse. 0 how should a walk as privileged men, as redeemed ones!
I beseech
you all to call home your thoughts, to consider and ponder on this sence that
is passed against us. There is now hope of delivery from it, if ye will take it
home unto you; but if ye will still continue in the ways of sin, without
returning, know this, that ye are but multiplying those curses, platting many
cords of your iniquities, to bind you in everlasting chains. Ye are but digging
a pit for yourself, ye that sweat in your sins, and travel in them, and will
not embrace this ransom offered. The key and lock of that pit is eternal
despair. 0 consider how quickly your pleasures and gains will end, and spare
some of your thoughts from present things, to give them to eternity, that
thread spun out for ever and ever ; - the very length of the days of the
Ancient of days, who hath no beginning of days end of time! Remember now of it,
lest ye become as long miserable as God is blessed, and that is for ever.
All men would desire to have privileges beyond others, but there is one
that carries it away from all the world, and that is the believer in Jesus
Christ, who is said to be in Christ, implanted in him by faith, as a lively
member of that body whereof Christ is the head. Christ Jesus is the head of
that body, the church; and this head communicates life unto all the members,
for he filleth all in all. There is mighty working power in the
head, which diffuseth itself throughout the members, Eph.i. 19, 22, 23. There
are many expressions of union between Christ and believers. There is no near
conjunction among men, but this spiritual union of Christ with believers is
represented to us under it. The foundation and the building have a near
dependence, the corner-stone and the wall - these knit together; and Christ
Jesus is is the foundation and the chief corner-stone, in whom all the
building fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple, Eph. ii. 20,
21. The head and members are near united, so is Christ and believers; they
grow up into him, Eph. iv. 15. Parents and children are almost one,
so is Christ Jesus the everlasting Father, and he thows to the Father the
children which he hath given him. We are his brethren, and he is not ashamed to
call us so; but which is more, we are one flesh with him. There is a marriage
between Christ and the church, and this is the great meditation of the song of
Solomon. He is the vine tree, and we are branches planted in him. Nay, this
union is so strict, that it is mutual, I in them, and they in
me. Christ dwelleth in us by faith, by making us to believe in him, and
love him; we dwell in Christ by that same faith and love, by believing in him,
and loving him. Christ Jesus is our house where we get all our furniture; he is
our storehouse and treasure, our place of strength and pleasure, a city of
refuge, a strong tower and a pleasant river to refresh us. We again are his
habitation where he dwelleth by his Spirit; we are his workhouse, where he
works all his curious pieces of the new creature, forming it unto the day of
his espousals, the great day of redemption.
This gives us to understand
what we once were. We may stand here and look back upon our former condition,
and find matter both of delight and sorrow. We were once without Christ in the
world, and if without Christ, then without hope and without God in the
world, Eph. ii. 12. I wish this were engraven on the hearts of men, that
they are born out of Christ Jesus; wild olives, growing up in the stock of
degenerated Adam. He was once planted a noble vine; but how quickly turned he
into a degenerate plant, and instead of grapes, brought forth wild grapes, and
sour! We all grow upon an olive tree which is wild by nature, Rom.
ii. 24. It grows out of the garden of God, in the barren wilderness, and is
meet for nothing but to bring forth fruit unto death, to be cut down and cast
into the fire. It is a tree which the Lord hath cursed, -'never more fruit grow
upon thee henceforth: this was the fatal sentence pronounced on Adam. 0
that you would know your condition by nature! how all your good inclinations,
dispositions, and education, cannot make your stock good, and your fruit good!
Israel is an empty vine, - this is our name.
Nay, but many
think they bring forth fruit. Have not heathens spread forth their branches,
and brought forth many pleasant fruits of temporal patience, sobriety,
magnanimity, prudence, and such like? Do not some civil men many acts of
civility profitable to men? Doth not many a man pray and read the scriptures
from his youth up? Yes, indeed, these are fruits, but for all that, he is an
empty vine, for he brings forth fruit to himself; and so, as in the original,
he is a vine emptying the fruit which it gives, Hos. x. 1. All these fruits are
but to himself, and from himself; he knows not to direct these to Gods
glory, but to his own praise or advantage, to make them his ornament; and he
knows not his own emptiness, to seek all his furniture and sap from another.
What were all these fair blossoms and fruits of heathens? Indeed they were more
and better than any now upon the multitude of professed Christians: and yet
these were but splendida peccata, shining sins. What is all your praying and
fasting, but to yourselves, as the Lord charges the people, Zech. vii.
Did ye at all fast unto me? No, ye do it to yourselves.
Here is
the wildness and degenerateness of your natures. Either you bring forth very
hitter fruits, such as intemperance, avarice, contention, swearing, &c., or
else fruits that have nothing but a fair skin, like apples of Sodom that are
beautiful on the tree, but being handled, turn to ashes; so there is nothing of
them from God, or to God. I think every man almost entertains this secret
persuasion in his breast, - that his nature may be weak, yet it is not wicked;
it may be helped with education, and care, and diligence, and dressed till it
please God, and profit others. Who is persuaded in heart that he is an enemy to
God, and cannot be subject to Gods law? Who believes that his heart
is desperately wicked? Oh! it is indeed deceitful above all
things, and in this most deceitful, that it persuades you ye have a good
heart to God. Will not profane men, whose hands are defiled, maintain the
uprightness of their hearts? . I beseech you once, consider that ye are born
out of Christ Jesus. Ye conceive that ye are born and educated Christians; ye
have that name indeed from infancy, and are baptized. But I ask about the
thing; baptism of water doth not implant you into Jesus Christ. Nay, it
declares this much unto you, that by nature ye are far off from Jesus, and
wholly defiled, - all your imaginations only evil.
Now, I beseech you, how
came the change? Or is there a change? Are not the most part of men the old
men, - no new creatures? He that is in Christ is a new creature, 2 Cor. v. 17.
Ye have now Adams nature, which ye had first. Ye have borne the image of
the earthly, and are ye not such yet, who are still earthly? Think ye that ye
can inherit the kingdom of God thus? Can ye pass over from a state of
condemnetion to a state of life and no condemnation, without a change? No,
believe it, ye cannot inherit in corruption with flesh and blood, which ye were
born with. Ye must be implanted in the second Adam, and bear his image, ere ye
can say that ye are partakers of his blessings, I Cor. xv. 47 - 49, &c. Now
I may pose your consciences, - how many of you are changed? Are not the most
part of you even such as ye were from your childhood? Be not deceived; ye are
yet strangers from the promises of God, and without this hope in the world.