02 Body of Practical Divinity cont'd
Body of Practical Divinity cont’d The best friend!
"Man is born to trouble." Job 5:7
He is heir to trouble, it is his birthright. You may as well separate weight from lead, as trouble from the life of man.
Death frees a believer from all the troubles and encumbrances to which this life is subject. "Sin is the seed sown--and trouble is the harvest reaped!" Euripides. Life and trouble are married together. There is more in life to trouble us, than to tempt us! Parents divide a portion of sorrow to their children, and yet leave enough for themselves.
King Henry’s emblem was a crown hung in a bush of thorns. There is a far greater proportion of bitterness, than pleasure in this life. "I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon." Proverbs 7:17. For one sweet ingredient there were two bitter; for the sweet cinnamon, there were bitter myrrh and aloes.
A man’s grace will not exempt him from troubles. "My years have been few and difficult." Genesis 47:9. Thus said a godly patriarch, though he had met with God. "I have seen God face to face!" and yet he had his troubles. There are many things to embitter life and cause trouble--but death frees us from them all!
(1.) Death frees a believer from CARE. The mind is full of perplexed thoughts--how to bring about such a design; or how to prevent such an evil. The Greek word for care comes from a primitive in the Greek, which signifies, to cut the heart in pieces. Care torments the mind; wastes the spirits. Care is a spiritual canker, which eats out the comfort of life. Death is its only cure!
(2.) Death frees a believer from FEAR. Fear is the epilepsy of the soul, which sets it shaking. "There is torment in fear." Fear is like Prometheus’ vulture gnawing the heart. There is a mistrustful fear--a fear of lack; and a distracting fear--a fear of danger; and a discouraging fear--a fear that God does not love us. These fears leave dreadful impressions upon the mind. But at death, a believer is freed from these torturing fears! He is as far from fear--as the damned are from hope. The grave buries a Christian’s fear!
(3.) Death frees a believer from LABOR. "All things are wearisome, more than one can say." Ecclesiastes 1:8. Some labor with their bodies--others with their minds. God has made a law, "In the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread." But death gives a believer a quietus--it takes him off from his hard labor. "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord: they rest from their labors." They no longer need to work--for they have entered upon their reward! They no longer need to fight--for they have the crown set on their head! "They rest from their labors."
(4.) Death frees a believer from SUFFERING. Believers are as a lily among thorns; or as the dove among vultures. The wicked have an antipathy against them; and secret hatred will often break forth into open violence. "He who was born after the flesh, persecuted him who was born after the Spirit." The dragon is described with seven heads and ten horns. j. He plots with the seven heads, and pushes with the ten horns. But at death, the godly shall be freed from the molestations of the wicked! They shall never more be pestered with these vermin! "There the wicked cease from troubling." Job 3:17. Death does to a believer, as Joseph of Arimathea did to Christ--it takes him down from the cross. The eagle which flies high, cannot be stung with the serpent. Death gives the soul the wings of an eagle--to fly above all the venomous serpents here below!
(5.) Death frees a believer from TEMPTATION. Though Satan is a conquered enemy--yet he is a restless enemy. "Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour." 1 Peter 5:8. He prowls about--he is always going about his diocese. He has his snares and his darts! One he tempts with riches, another with beauty. It is a great trouble to be continually followed with temptations; it is as bad as for a virgin to have her chastity daily assaulted. But death will free a child of God from temptation, so that he shall never again be vexed with the old serpent! After death has shot its dart--the devil will be done shooting his! Grace puts a believer out of the devil’s possession--but only death frees him from the devil’s temptation!
(6.) Death frees a believer from SORROW. A cloud of sorrow often gathers in the heart--and drops into tears! "My life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing." It was part of the curse, "In sorrow you shall bring forth." Genesis 3:16. Many things occasion sorrow: sickness, lawsuits, treachery of friends, disappointment of hopes, and loss of estate. "Don’t call me Naomi (that is, pleasant). Instead, call me Mara (that is, bitter), for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me." Ruth 1:20.
Sorrow is the evil spirit which haunts us! "The people wept loudly. So they named that place Bochim (that is, weeping)." Judges 2:4-5. The world is a Bochim! Rachel wept for her children; some grieve that they have no children, and others grieve that their children are unkind. Thus we spend our years with sighing. The world is a valley of tears! But death is the funeral of all our sorrows! "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes!" Revelation 7:17. Then Christ’s spouse puts off her mourning garments; for "how can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?" Matthew 9:15. Thus death gives a believer his quietus--it frees him from sin and trouble. "The last enemy to be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26. Though the apostle calls death the last enemy--yet it is the best friend! "To me to die is gain!"
See here that which may make a true saint willing to die. Death will set him out of gunshot, and free him from sin and trouble! There is no cause for weeping--to leave a valley of tears--to leave the stage on which sin and misery are acted. Believers are here in a strange country, why then should they not be willing to leave it? Death beats off their fetters of sin, and sets them free! Who goes weeping--when released from a jail?
Besides our own sins, there are the sins of others. The world is a place where Satan’s throne is; a place where we see God daily dishonored. Lot, who was a bright star in a dark night, felt his righteous soul tormented with the filthy lives of the wicked. 2 Peter 2:7. To see God’s truths adulterated, and His glory eclipsed--wounds a godly heart. It made David cry out, "Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar." Kedar was Arabia, where Ishmael’s posterity lived. It was a cut to David’s heart to dwell there. O then, be willing to depart out of the tents of Kedar!
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The sweetest hours
Be exhorted to prize the written Word.
"I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread." Job 23:12
David valued the Word more than gold.
The Word is the field where Christ the pearl of great price is hidden! In this sacred mine we dig, not for a wedge of gold--but for a weight of glory! The Scripture is a sacred eye-salve to illuminate us. Proverbs 6:23, ’The commandment is a lamp, and the law is light.’ The Scripture is the chart and compass by which we sail to the new Jerusalem.
The Word is a sovereign cordial in all distresses. What are the promises, but the water of life to renew fainting spirits? Is it sin which troubles you? Here is a Scripture cordial.
Do outward afflictions disquiet you? Here is a Scripture cordial. Psalms 91:15, ’I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him.’ Thus, as manna was laid up in the ark, so promises are laid up in the ark of Scripture.
The Scripture will make us wise. Wisdom is above rubies. Psalms 119:104, ’By Your precepts I get understanding.’ The Scriptures teach a man to know himself. They unmask Satan’s snares and stratagems. 2 Corinthians 2:2. ’They make one wise to salvation.’ 2 Timothy 3:15. They show us the way to the heavenly kingdom.
David counted the Word ’more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb.’ Psalms 19:10. There is that in Scripture which may breed delight. Well then may we count those the sweetest hours, which are spent in reading the holy Scriptures; well may we say with the prophet, ’Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became a delight to me and the joy of my heart.’ Jeremiah 15:16
Oh, then, highly prize the Scriptures.
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True ’holy water’
"True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:23-24
See how God is delighted with spiritual worship. This is the savory meat which God loves. How few mind this! They give Him more dregs than souls; they think it enough to bring their duties, but not their hearts!
To worship God in spirit, is to worship Him without ceremonies. The ceremonies of the law, which God Himself ordained, are now abrogated, and out of date. Christ the substance being come, the shadows fly away; and therefore the apostle calls the legal ceremonies, carnal rites.
To worship God in spirit, is to worship Him with the utmost zeal and intenseness of soul. The more spiritual any service is--the more excellent it is. The spiritual part of duty is the fat of the sacrifice: it is the soul and quintessence of true religion. It is not pomp of worship--but purity, which God accepts.
Repentance is not in the outward severities used to the body--such as penance, fasting, and chastising the body--but it consists in the sacrifice of a broken heart. The true ’holy water’ is not that which the pope sprinkles--but is distilled from the penitent eye.
Thanksgiving does not stand in church-music, the melody of an organ--but rather in making melody in the heart to the Lord. Ephesians 5:19.
Prayer is not the tuning of the voice into a heartless confession, or counting over a few prayer beads; but it consists in sighs and groans, Romans 8:26. When the fire of fervency is put to the incense of prayer--then it ascends as a sweet fragrance to God.
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They are never out of His eye
God is infinite. He fills all places, and is everywhere present. This is dreadful to the wicked. God is their enemy, and they cannot escape Him, nor flee from Him--for He is everywhere present! They are never out of His eye, nor out of His reach. "Your hand shall find out all your enemies." What caves or thickets can men hide in--that God cannot find them? Go where they will--He is present.
"Where shall I flee from Your presence?" If a man owes a debt to another he may make his escape, and flee into another land, where the creditor cannot find him. "But
where shall I flee from Your presence?" God is infinite, He is in all places; so that He will find out His enemies and punish them!
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The diamond in the ring!
God is eternal, therefore He lives forever to reward the godly. "To those who seek for glory and honor, eternal life." The people of God are now in a suffering condition. The wicked are clad in purple, and fare deliciously, while the godly suffer. The goats climb upon high mountains, while Christ’s sheep are in the valley of slaughter. But
here is the comfort--God is eternal, and He has appointed eternal recompenses for the saints. In heaven are fresh delights, and sweetness without excess. That which is the crown and zenith of heaven’s happiness, is--that it is "eternal." Were there but the least suspicion that this glory must cease, it would much eclipse, yes, embitter it; but it is eternal. "An eternal weight of glory."
What angel can span eternity? The saints shall bathe themselves in the rivers of divine pleasure; and these rivers can never be dried up. "At Your right hand are
pleasures for evermore." This is the highest strain in the apostle’s rhetoric--"Forever with the Lord!" In heaven, there is . . .peace without trouble, ease without pain, glory without end!
Let this comfort the saints in all their troubles; their sufferings are but short--but their reward is eternal!
Eternity makes heaven to be heaven! Eternity is the diamond in the ring! Oh blessed day, which shall have no night! The sunlight of glory shall rise upon the soul, and never set!
The saints’ crown is eternal, "You shall receive a crown of glory, which never fades away!" The wicked have a never-dying worm; and the godly a never-fading crown! Oh how should this be a spur to virtue! How willing should we be to work for God! Though we have nothing here on earth, God has time enough to reward His people.
The crown of eternity shall be set upon their head!
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A good antidote against sin
Thoughts of eternal torments, are a good antidote against sin. Sin tempts with its
pleasure; but when we think of eternity, it may cool the intemperate heat of lust. Shall I, for the pleasure of sin for a season--endure eternal pain? Shall I venture eternal wrath? Is sin committed so sweet--as lying in hell forever is bitter? This thought would make us flee from sin, as from a serpent!
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What a strong appetite!
"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned." Romans 5:12
Not only is the guilt of Adam’s sin imputed to us--but the depravity and corruption of his nature is transmitted to us, as poison is carried from the fountain to the cistern. This is that which we call original sin. "In sin did my mother conceive me." Psalms 51:5. Adam’s leprosy cleaves to us, as Naaman’s leprosy did to Gehazi. 2 Kings 5:27.
Sin has contaminated and defiled our virgin nature. Sin has poisoned the spring of our nature, it has turned beauty into leprosy; it has turned the azure brightness of our souls, into midnight darkness.
In sin there is an aversion from good. Man has a desire to be happy--yet opposes that which would promote his happiness. He has a disgust of holiness, he hates to be reformed. Since we fell from God, we have no mind to return to Him.
We have a propensity to evil. Men roll sin as honey under their tongue. "They drink iniquity as water," Job 15:16. They thirst for sin. Though they are tired out in committing sin--yet they sin. "Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more." Ephesians 4:19. "They weary themselves to commit iniquity"; as a man who follows his game while he is weary--yet delights in it, and cannot leave it off. Jeremiah 9:5. Though God has set so many flaming swords in the way to stop men in their sin--yet they go on in it; which all shows what a strong appetite they have to the forbidden fruit.
Consider the universality of sin. It has, as poison, diffused itself
into all the parts and powers of the soul. "The whole head is sick,
and the whole heart is faint." Isaiah 1:5. Like a sick patient, that has no part sound, his liver is swelled, his feet are gangrened, his lungs are withered. Such infected, gangrened souls we have; until Christ, who has made a medicine of His blood, cures us!
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Three keys
Christ has three keys in His hand-- the key of the grave, to open the graves of men at the resurrection; the key of heaven, to open the kingdom of heaven to whomever He will; the key of hell, to lock up the damned in that fiery prison!
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The diamond in the ring
"For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for His children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay!" 1 Peter 1:4
But that which is the diamond in the ring, the glory of this inheritance--is the eternal sight and fruition of the blessed God! The sight of God will be a most alluring, heart-ravishing object! "We shall see Him as He is!" Oh, what will it be to see Him in glory, shining ten thousand times brighter than the sun! And not only see Him--but enjoy Him forever! All this blessedness, has Christ purchased for us, through His death on the cross!
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He turns the wolf into a lamb
The whole world is divided into two classes--the sons of God, and the heirs of hell.
"He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will." Ephesians 1:5
Adoption is a mercy spun out of the affections of free grace. All by nature are strangers to God, therefore have no right to sonship. God is pleased to adopt one,
and not another; to make one a vessel of glory--another a vessel of wrath!
God adopts us from a state of sin and misery. He adopts us from slavery; it is a mercy to redeem a slave--but it is more to adopt him!
It would be much for God to take a clod of dust--and make it into a star. But it is more for Him to take a piece of clay and sin--and adopt it for His heir!
God adopts all His sons to a glorious inheritance. "It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom!" Adoption ends in coronation! The kingdom God gives to His adopted sons and heirs, excels all earthly kingdoms.
All whom God adopts as His sons--He makes saints. Those whom God adopts--He sanctifies. He not only gives a new name--but a new nature. He turns the wolf into a lamb; He makes the heart humble and gracious.
See the amazing love of God, in making us His sons. It is love in God to feed us--but more to adopt us!
God did not adopt us when we were bespangled with the jewels of holiness--but when we were deformed with sin, and diseased as lepers!
It is amazing that God should adopt His enemies! For God to have pardoned His enemies would have been much; but to adopt them for His heirs--this astonishes the angels in heaven! All this proclaims the wonder of God’s love in adopting us.
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 3:1
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Evangelical obedience
A true Christian not only believes God’s promise--but obeys His command. When God says "Do not drink from sin’s enchanted cup," the believer says, "my heavenly Father has commanded me--and I dare not drink!"
Obedience must have the Word of God for its rule. This is the touchstone. "To the law and to the testimony!" If our obedience is not according to the Word, it is offering up strange fire; and God will say, "Who has required this at your hand?" Child-like obedience is that which is consistent with our Father’s revealed will.
Obedience must be done from a right principle, from the noble principle of faith. "The obedience of faith." A crab-tree may bear fruit fair to the eye--but it is sour
because it does not come from a good root. A moral person may give God outward obedience, which to the eyes of others may seem glorious; but his obedience is sour because it comes not from the sweet and pleasant root of faith. A child of God gives Him the obedience of faith, and that meliorates and sweetens his services.
All God’s commands have the same stamp of divine authority upon them. If I obey one precept because my heavenly Father commands me, by the same rule I must obey all. A child of God obeys one command, as well as another. "I have respect unto all Your commandments." To obey God in some things--and not in others, shows an unsound heart. Child-like obedience moves towards every command of God, as the needle points that way which the magnet draws. If God calls to duties which are cross to flesh and blood, if we are children--we shall still obey our Father. "I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey Your Word."
Though a believer cannot obey every precept perfectly; yet he does evangelically. He approves of every command. "I consent to the law, that it is good." He delights in every command. "O how love I Your law!" His desire is to obey every command. "Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying Your decrees!" Wherein he comes short--he looks up to Christ’s blood to supply his defects. This is evangelical obedience; which, though we are not satisfied with it, God accepts it.
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Satan’s picture!
"Our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good." Titus 2:13-14
Jesus Christ has died for our sanctification. Christ shed His blood to wash off our impurity. The cross was both an altar and a laver. Christ died, not only to save us from wrath--but from sin!
"Just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written--Be holy, because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:15-16
Sanctification makes us resemble God. It was Adam’s sin--that he aspired to be like God in omniscience; but we must endeavor to be like Him in sanctity. It is a holy
heart--in which something of God can be seen. Nothing of God can be seen in an unsanctified man--but you may see Satan’s picture in him! Envy is the devil’s eye,
hypocrisy his cloven foot; but nothing of God’s image can be seen in him.
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Feathers fly up--but gold descends!
True assurance of salvation, always keeps the heart in a lowly posture. "Lord," says the soul, "what am I, that, passing by so many others, the golden beams of Your love should shine upon me?"
Paul had assurance. Is he proud of this jewel? No! "To me who am less than the least of all saints." The more love a Christian receives from God, the more he sees himself a debtor to free grace; and the sense of his debt keeps his heart humble!
But presumption is bred from pride. He who presumes,thinks himself better than others. "The proud Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: I thank You, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that tax collector over there! For I never cheat, I don’t sin, I don’t commit adultery, I fast twice a week, and I give You a tenth of my income." Luke 18:11-12.
Feathers fly up--but gold descends! Just so, the heart of him who has this golden assurance, descends in humility. Pride estranges God from the soul. Be low in humility. Paul had assurance, and he baptized himself with the name, "chief of sinners!" The jewel of assurance is best kept in the cabinet of a humble heart.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ To die is gain!
As the wicked have a worm which never dies, so the elect have an unfading crown of glory. ’Forever’ is a short word--but it has no end.
"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain!" Php 1:21
To show fully what a believer’s gains are at death, would be a task too great for an angel; all hyperboles fall short of it; the reward of glory exceeds our imagination.
Believers at death, shall bid an eternal farewell to all sins and troubles. They shall be in a state of impeccability. Sin expires with their life. I think sometimes what a happy state that will be, never to have another sinful thought, and to have a quietus from all troubles. Here David cried out, "My life is spent with griefs, and my years with sighing." "Long life is merely long torment," said Augustine.
Life begins with a cry, and ends with a groan; but at death all troubles die. How delightful will it be, to be freed from all our sinful corruptions, pride, envy, passion and censoriousness--which as scars, disfigured us here!
Believers at death, shall gain the glorious sight of God. The sight of God will be very delightful; for the terror of God’s essence will be taken away; His majesty will be mixed with beauty, and sweetened with mercy. It will be infinitely delightful to the
saints, to see the amiable aspects and smiles of God’s face.
The saints at death shall not only have a sight of God--but shall enjoy His love. There shall be no more a veil on God’s face, nor shall His smiles be chequered with frowns--but His love shall discover itself in all its orient beauty and fragrant sweetness. Here the saints pray for His love, and they have a few drops; but there they shall have as much as their vessels can receive. To know the love that passes knowledge, will cause a jubilation of spirit, and create such holy raptures of joy in the saints, as are superlative, and would soon overwhelm them, if God did not make them able to bear it.
Forever in Christ’s bosom is the highest strain of the saint’s glory! We should be ambitious of being with Christ. "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far!" Php 1:23. We should be content to live--but willing to die. Is it not a blessed thing to be freed from sin, and to lie forever in the bosom of divine love? Does not the bride desire the marriage day, especially if she has the prospect of a crown? What is the place we now live in--but a place of banishment from God? We are in a wilderness! Here we are combating with Satan--should we not desire to be out of the bloody field, where the bullets of temptation fly fast--and receive a victorious crown? Think what it will be, to have always a smiling look from Christ’s face! to be brought into the banqueting-house, and have the banner of His love displayed over us! O you saints, desire death--it is your ascension-day to heavenly glory!
"Always thanking the Father, who has enabled you to share the inheritance that belongs to God’s holy people, who live in the light. For He has rescued us from the domain of darkness, and He has brought us into the Kingdom of His dear Son." Colossians 1:12-13
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Miser ego homo!
Death frees a believer from sin. There are in the best believers, the remnants of sin--some remainders and relics of corruption. "O wretched man who I am! who
shall deliver me from this body of death?" By the body of death is meant the mass and lump of sin. It may well be called a body--for its weightiness; and a body of death for its harmfulness.
(1.) Sin weighs us down. Sin hinders us from doing good. Like a bird that would be flying up--but has a chain tied to its legs to hinder it--a Christian would be flying up to heaven with the wings of desire--but sin hinders him! He is like a ship under sail, and at anchor! Grace would sail forward--but sin is the anchor that holds it back!
(2.) Sin is more active in its sphere, than grace. How stirring was lust in David, when his grace lay dormant!
(3). Sin sometimes gets the mastery, and leads a saint captive. "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing." Romans 7:19. Paul was like a man carried down the stream, and could not bear up against it. How often is a child of God overpowered with pride and passion! Therefore Paul calls sin, "a law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members." Romans 7:23. Sin binds as a law; it has a kind of jurisdiction over the soul, as Caesar had over the senate.
(4.) Sin defiles the soul. Like a stain to beauty--sin turns the soul’s azure brightness into darkness.
(5.) Sin debilitates us, disarms us of our strength. "I am this day weak, though anointed king." Though a saint is crowned with grace, and anointed a spiritual king--he is weak.
(6.) Sin is ever restless. "The flesh lusts against the spirit." Galatians 5:17. Sin is an inmate that is always quarreling--it will never be quiet.
(7.) Sin adheres to us, we cannot get rid of it. It may be compared to a wild fig-tree growing on a wall, the roots of which are pulled up--but some fibers of it are left in the joints of the stone-work, which cannot be gotten out.
(8.) Sin mingles with our duties and graces. It makes a child of God weary of his life, and makes him water his couch with his tears--to think that sin is so strong an inhabitant, and that he often offends the God he loves. This made Paul cry out, Miser ego homo! "Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin?" Romans 7:24. He did not cry out because of his affliction, or his prison-chains--but for the body of sin!
Now a believer at death is freed from sin! He shall never again have a vain, proud thought! He shall never again grieve the Spirit of God! Sin brought death into the world--and death shall carry sin out of the world.
The Persians had a certain day in the year in which they killed all serpents and venomous creatures; such a day will the day of death be to a believer. Death will destroy all his sins--which, like so many serpents, have stung him! Death smites a believer as the angel did Peter--and made his chains fall off. Acts 12:7.
Believers at death are made perfect in holiness. "The spirits of just men made perfect." At death the souls of believers recover their virgin purity. Oh! what a blessed privilege is this--to be without spot or wrinkle; to be purer than the
sunbeams; to be as free from sin as the angels! This makes a believer desirous to have his passport, and to be gone from his sin! He would gladly live in that pure air, where no black vapors of sin arise!
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Seven eyes and an iron rod
"The Father has committed all judgment to the Son." John 5:22
He who once hung upon the cross--shall sit upon the throne of judgment! He is of infinite knowledge to understand all causes brought before Him; and of infinite power to execute offenders. He is described with seven eyes, Zechariah 3:9, to denote His wisdom; and an iron rod, Psalms 2:9, to denote His power.
He is so wise that He cannot be deceived, and so strong that He cannot be resisted.
This will be terrible to the wicked. How can a guilty prisoner endure the sight of the judge? The Lamb of God will then be turned into a Lion, the sight of whom will strike terror into sinners. They, being convicted, will be speechless. Then follows the
dismal sentence: "Depart from Me, you cursed ones, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels!"--a dreadful, but a righteous sentence. The sinner himself shall cry, "Guilty!" Though he has a sea of wrath--he has not one drop of injustice.
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My sheep
"My sheep hear My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish." John 10:27-28
"My sheep"--there is election.
"Hear My voice"--there is effectual calling.
"I know them"--there is justification.
"They follow Me"--there is sanctification.
"I give them eternal life"--there is glorification.
"They shall never perish"--there is preservation.
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The devil’s peace
"There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked." Isaiah 57:21
The wicked may have something which looks like peace; but it is not. They only have a stupefied conscience. This is the devil’s peace. He rocks men to sleep in the cradle of carnal security; he cries, "Peace, peace!" when men are on the precipice of hell. The seeming peace, which a sinner has, arises from the ignorance of his danger.
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The very hinge and pillar of Christianity
Justification is an act of God’s free grace, whereby He pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in His sight--only for the righteousness of Christ, imputed to us, and received by faith alone. By Christ’s death and merits, God’s justice is more
abundantly satisfied than if we had suffered the pains of hell forever.
Justification is the very hinge and pillar of Christianity. An error about justification is dangerous, like a defect in a foundation. Justification by Christ is a spring of the water of life. To have the poison of corrupt doctrine cast into this spring is damnable.
God, in justifying a person, pronounces him to be righteous, and looks upon him as if he had not sinned.
The cause, the motive or ground of justification, is the free grace of God: "being justified freely by his grace." The first wheel that sets all the rest running, is the love
and favor of God; as a king freely pardons a delinquent. Justification is a mercy spun out of the affections of free grace. God does not justify us because we are worthy; but by justifying us makes us worthy.
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Redeemed
A justified person is redeemed from the guilt of sin--though not the stain of sin. Christ has redeemed a justified person from the guilt of sin; He has discharged his debts. Christ says to God’s justice, as Paul to Philemon, "If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything--charge that to My account."
A justified person is redeemed from the power and dominion of sin--though not from the presence of sin. Sin may rage in a child of God--but not reign. Lust raged in David, and fear in Peter--but it did not reign; they recovered themselves by repentance. "Sin shall not have dominion over you." Sin lives in a child of God--but is deposed from the throne; it lives not as a king--but a captive.
A justified person is redeemed from the curse due to sin. "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." Galatians 3:13. Christ said to His Father, as Rebecca to Jacob, "Upon Me, upon Me be the curse; let the blessing be upon them--but upon Me be the curse."
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The sum and quintessence of the gospel!
Jesus Christ is the sum and quintessence of the gospel! He is the wonder of angels; and the joy and triumph of saints. The name of Christ is sweet--it is as music in the ear, honey in the mouth, and a cordial at the heart!
"His name shall be called Jesus." Matthew 1:21. The word for JESUS signifies a Savior; and whom He saves from hell, He saves from sin. Where Christ is a Savior, He is a sanctifier. There is no other Savior. "Neither is there salvation in any other." Acts 4:12. As there was but one ark to save the world from drowning--so there is but one Jesus to save sinners from damning.
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Minerva’s eyes were upon him
God’s glory lies chiefly in his attributes, which are the several beams by which the divine nature shines forth.
"The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed." Among other of his orient excellencies, this is not the least--"the Lord is a God of knowledge." He has a full idea and cognizance of all things; the world is to Him a transparent body.
He makes a heart-anatomy. "I am He who searches the thoughts and the heart." The clouds are no canopy, the night is no curtain--to draw between us and His sight. "Even in darkness I cannot hide from You. To You the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are both alike to You."
There is not a word we whisper but God hears it. "There is not a word in my tongue--but lo, O Lord, You know it altogether." There is not the most subtle thought that comes into our mind--but God perceives it. "I know their thoughts." Thoughts speak as loud in God’s ears--as words do in ours. All our actions, though ever so subtly contrived, and secretly conducted, are visible to the eye of Omniscience. "I know their works." Achan hid the Babylonish garment in the earth--but God brought it to light. Minerva was so lively painted, that whichever way one turned, Minerva’s eyes were upon him. Just so, whichever way we turn ourselves, God’s eye is upon us!
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Baptized heathen?
"The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s feeding-trough, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand." Isaiah 1:3
Are there not many in our churches, who are no better than baptized heathen?
Ignorance is the nurse of impiety.
Where ignorance reigns in the understanding, lust rages in the affections. When people’s minds are covered with ignorance, it is a fatal forerunner of destruction.
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Blown to hell!
"Be careful not to do your ’acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them." Matthew 6:1
Many do religious duties for their own glory. They want to be set upon a theater for others to admire them. The oil of vainglory feeds their lamp. How many by the wind of popular breath--have been blown to hell! Whom the devil cannot destroy by intemperance, he does by vainglory! If there is either justice in heaven, or fire in hell--they shall not go unpunished.
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The silkworm
When Herod had made an oration, and the people gave a shout, saying, ’It is the voice of a God, and not of a man!’ ’Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.’ Acts 12:23.
We glorify God, when we sacrifice the praise and glory of all we do--to Him. 1 Corinthians 15:10. ’I have worked harder than all the other apostles,’ is a speech, one would think, which savored of pride. But the apostle pulls the crown from his own head--and sets it upon the head of free grace! ’Yet it was not I but God who was working through me by His grace.’
As Joab, when he fought against Rabbah, sent for King David, that David might carry away the crown of the victory; so a Christian, when he has gotten power over any corruption or temptation, sends for Christ, that He may carry away the crown of the victory.
As the silkworm, when she weaves her curious work, hides herself under the silk, and is not seen; so when we have done anything praiseworthy--we must hide ourselves under the veil of humility, and transfer the glory of all we have done to God.
As one used to write the name of Christ over his door--so should we write the name of Christ over our duties. Let Him wear the garland of praise!
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Diamonds and magnets
We glorify God by laboring to draw others to God, by seeking to convert others, and so make them instruments of glorifying God. We should be both diamonds and magnets; diamonds for the luster of grace, and magnets for attractive virtue in drawing others to Christ. It is a great way of glorifying God, when we break open the devil’s prison, and turn men from the power of Satan to God.
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Either leap over them, or tread upon them!
"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me!" Matthew 10:37
If relations lie in our way to heaven, we must either leap over them, or tread upon them!
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Feathery Christians
A man may go to hell as well for heresy, as adultery!
"Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in
their deceitful scheming." Ephesians 4:14
To be unsettled in religion, argues lightness. As feathers will be blown every way, so will feathery Christians. Therefore such are compared to infants. Children are fickle; sometimes of one mind, sometimes of another; nothing pleases them long. Just so, unsettled Christians are childish; the truths they embrace at one time, they reject at another.
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Let us be content that God should rule the world
Better is the loss that makes you humble, than the success that makes you proud.
If God will give His people a kingdom when they die--he will not deny them daily bread while they live!
God’s providences are wise and regular, though to us they seem very strange and
crooked.
Providence is a Christian’s diary--but not his Bible.
If other people do not act as we would have them act, they shall act as God would have them act.
It may be, we think sometimes we could order things better, if we had the government of the world in our hands; but alas! should we be left to our own choice, we would choose those things that are hurtful for us!
Let us be content that God should rule the world. Learn to acquiesce in His will, and submit to His providence.
Does any affliction befall you? Remember God sees it is that which is fit for you--or it would not come. God’s providence may sometimes be secret--but it is always wise. We should learn to be silent under His displeasure.
"I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for You are the one who has done this." Psalms 39:9