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SHERATON
MEMORIAL LIBRARY
THE
WORKS OF THOMAS MANTON, D.D.
VOL. III.
COUNCIL OF PUBLICATION.
W. LINDSAY ALEXANDER, D.D., Professor of Theology, Congregational
Union, Edinburgh.
JAMES BEGG-, D.D., Minister of Newington Free Church, Edinburgh.
THOMAS J. CRAWFORD, D.D., S.T.P., Professor of Divinity, University,
Edinburgh.
D. T. K. DRUMMOND, M.A., Minister of St Thomas's Episcopal Church,
Edinburgh.
WILLIAM H. GOOLD, D.D., Professor of Biblical Literature and Church
History, Reformed Presbyterian Church, Edinburgh.
ANDREW THOMSON, D.D., Minister of Broughton Place United Presby
terian Church, Edinburgh.
<J5eneraT ^bitor.
REV. THOMAS SMITH, D.D., EDINBURGH.
THE COMPLETE WORKS
OF
THOMAS MANTON, D.D.
VOLUME III.
CONTAINING
EIGHTEEN SERMONS ON THE DESCRIPTION, RISE, GROWTH, AND
FALL OF ANTICHRIST;
AND
A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER
OF ISAIAH.
V
LONDON:
JAMES NISBET & CO., 21 BERNERS STREET.
1871.
CONTENTS
EIGHTEEN SERMONS ON THE SECOND CHAPTER OF THE SECOND
EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS.
To the Keader, . . . . . 3
Sermon I. 2 Thes. ii. 1, 2, . . . . 5
II. 2 Thes. ii. 2, . . . . . 14
III. 2 Thes. ii. 3, . . . . .26
IV. 2 Thes. ii. 4, . . . . .36
V. 2 Thes. ii. 5-7, .... 46
VI. 2 Thes. ii. 8, . . . . .56
VII. 2 Thes. ii. 9, 10, . . . 66
VIII. 2 Thes. ii. 10, . . . .75
IX. 2 Thes. ii. 11, 12, . . . 85
) X. 2 Thes. ii. 12, . . . . 94
XI. 2 Thes. ii. 13, .... 102
XII. 2 Thes. ii. 14, . . . .112
XIII. 2 Thes. ii. 15, .... 122
XIV. 2 Thes. ii. 16, 17, . . . 135
XV. 2 Thes. ii. 16, .... 146
XVI. 2 Thes. ii. 16, .... 156
XVII. 2 Thes. ii. 17, .. . 166
XVIII. 2 Thes. ii. 17, . . . .176
A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF
ISAIAH.
To the Reader, . . . . . .189
The First Verse, ...... 191
The Second Verse, . 219
Vlll CONTENTS.
t
PAGE
The Third Verse, . . . . . .247
The Fourth Verse, . . . . . .260
The Fifth Verse, ...... 272
The Sixth Verse, ...... 295
The Seventh Verse, ...... 335
The Eighth Verse, . . . . . .344
The Ninth Verse, . . . . . .362
The Tenth Verse, . . . . . .368
The Eleventh Verse, ...... 400
The Twelfth Verse, . 455
EIGHTEEN SERMONS
ON THE
SECOND CHAPTER OF THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE
THESSALONIANS,
CONTAINING
THE DESCRIPTION, RISE, GROWTH, AND FALL OF
ANTICHRIST,
WITH
DIVERS CAUTIONS AND ARGUMENTS TO ESTABLISH CHRISTIANS AGAINST
THE APOSTASY OF THE CHURCH OF ROME.
VOL. III.
TO THE READER.
READER, — Dr Thomas Manton was not so unknown to London, nor
is he so much forgotten, as that his name or writings should need any
of my commendations. Bat booksellers expecting such an office, I
have great reason to be willing to serve thee in serving the memorial
of such a friend. What he was I need not tell even strangers, after
the character truly given of him by his friend and mine in his funeral
sermon. How sound in judgment against extremes in the contro
versies of these times, a great lamenter of the scandalous and dividing
mistakes of some self-conceited men ; how earnestly desirous of the
healing of our present breaches, and not unacquainted with the proper
means and terms, of which the author of his funeral sermon and I
had more than ordinary experience ; how hard and successful a
student he was, and how frequent and laborious a preacher, and how
highly and deservedly esteemed; — all this, and more, is commonly here
known. The small distaste that some few had of him I took for part
of his honour, who would not win reputation with any by flattering
them in their mistakes or unwarrantable ways. He used not to serve
God with that which cost him nothing, nor was of their mind who
cannot expect or extol God's grace without denying those endeavours
of man to which his necessary grace exciteth them. He knew that
without Christ we could do nothing, and yet that by Christ's strengthen
ing us we can do all things which God hath made necessary to be done
by us. He was not of their mind that thought it derogatory to the
honour of Christ to praise his works in the souls or lives of any of his
servants, and that it is the honour of his grace that his justified ones
are graceless ; and that their Judge should dishonour his own right
eousness if he make his disciples more righteous personally than
scribes and pharisees, and will say to them, * Well done, good and
faithful servant ; thou hast been faithful over a few things, enter thou
into the joy of thy Lord.' He knew how to regard the righteousness
and intercession of Christ, with pardon of sin and divine acceptance,
instead of legal personal perfection, without denying either the neces
sity or assigned office of our faith, repentance, or evangelical sincerity
in obeying him that redeemed and justifieth us. He knew the differ
ence between a man's being justified from the charge of being liable
to damnation as a Christless, impenitent unbeliever and ungodly, and
being liable to damnation for mere sin as sin, against the law ofinno-
cency, which required of us no less than personal, perfect, perpetual
4 TO THE READER.
obedience. He greatly lamented the wrong which the truth and
church underwent from those that neither knew such differences, nor
had humility enough to suspect their judgments, nor to forbear
reviling those that had not as confused and unsound apprehensions
and expressions as themselves.
But he hath finished his course, and is gone before us, and hath
left here a dark, self-distracting world, and a church of such as Christ
will perfect ; but, alas ! yet lamentably imperfect, as their errors,
divisions, contentions, and scandals have these thirteen hundred years
too publicly declared. Children of the light we are, while the world
is in darkness ; but, alas ! yet how dim and clouded ! With thousands
it does not so much as convince them of their ignorance, nor maketh
them humbly suspicious of an erring judgment ; so that through the
copulation of pride and ignorance, few cry out so loud of error as the
erroneous, or of heresy as the heretical, or of schism as the schis-
matical ; and false conceptions are so common among men, that I
think with almost all mankind the number of false apprehensions in.
comparison of the true ones is far greater than unhumbled under
standings will easily believe; and yet, while mankind doth swarm
with error, those that least know their own cry down even the tolera
tion of that which, alas ! we cannot cure ; and if a multitude of errors
must not be tolerated, I know not the person that must be tolerated.
And who then be they that shall be the avengers of other men's mis
takes? Christ knew that none are so forward to reproach and so
backward to bear with the motes in men's eyes as they that have
beams in their own.
Among such, what sort of men on earth hath more cried down,
error, heresy, and schism, than the Papal tribe ? AWAY WITH THEM,
EXTERMINATE THEM, BURN THEM, hath long been their cry, their laws
and practice, little thinking how they are polluted with error, heresy,
and schism themselves. The revived attempts of this consuming fiery
spirit hath made those that dispose of Dr Manton's papers take these
against Popery as now most seasonable ; and their plainness, suited
to common capacities, may make them to many more useful than
more argumentative disputations. They that would have such may
see errors that are unanswerable (I should say unrefutable, for I find
that men, and women too, can answer anything). I confess myself
not thoroughly studied in these prophetical parts of the scriptures,
and therefore none of the fittest to commend such writings, any fur
ther than they commend themselves. But I am hasting after this
my dear departed brother to the world of light, where all divine
mysteries are unveiled, and life, and light, and love are perfected ; for
which, even at the door, I am, though weak, a believing and desiring
expectant.
RICH. BAXTER.
July 8, 1679.
SEKMON I
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and our gathering together unto him, that you be not
soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word,
nor by letter as from us, that the day of Christ is at hand. —
2 THES. II. 1, 2.
THE former chapter was spent in a consolation against troubles, this
in a caution against error, or to rectify their judgments concerning the
time of Christ's second coming. In these two first verses, we have the
manner of proposal, ver. 1 ; the matter proposed, ver. 2.
1. The manner of proposal is very pathetical, by way of adjuration
or obtestation.
2. The matter. An error had crept in among the Thessalonians
concerning the speedy and immediate coming of Christ to judgment,
while they were yet alive ; which error the devil set on foot to subvert
their faith and expose the whole Christian doctrine to contempt.
First, The manner or obtestation falleth first uader our consider
ation, in which two things are mentioned : —
1. The coming of Christ.
2. Their gathering together unto him. Obtestations are by those
things which have great reverence and respect with us, as most likely
to prevail. Now these two things are mentioned : —
[1.] As weighty: 2 Tim. iv. 1, 'I charge thee before God, and the
Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead, at his
appearance and his kingdom.'
[2.] This was the article mistaken and perverted as to one circum
stance, the time ; but the thing is taken for granted as an unquestion
able truth, and the support of all their hopes : 2 Thes. i. 10, * When he
shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that
believe.'
[3.] This was a famous Christian doctrine with which the apostles
usually began, in planting religion in any place : 1 Thes. v. 1-3, ' But
of the times and the seasons ye have no reason that I write unto
you, for ye yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so
cometh as a thief in the night,' &c.
[4.] It was of precious account with them : 2 Tim. iv. 8, * Hence
forth 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 them also that love his appearing.' So that the obtestation im-
plieth both the certainty of their belief, and also their dear account of
this article of faith ; and therefore the sense is : As you do assuredly
6 THE FIRST SERMON. [2 TfiES. II. 1, 2.
expect him, and love, and look, and long for this day, that it may go
well with you, and Christ appear to your glory, so be not troubled.
Doct. 1. That the coming -of Christ to the judgment is a truth well
known, firmly believed, and earnestly desired by all true Christians.
Doct. 2. That when Christ shall <come, all the saints shall be gathered
together unto him.
Doct 1. That the coming of Christ to the judgment is a truth well
known, firmly believed, and earnestly desired by all the saints.
1. That it is well known, the apostle produceth the testimony of
Enoch : Jude 14, ' Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his
saints/ David often mentioneth it as a thing delighted in by be
lievers ; therefore, in a poetical, or rather prophetical strain, he calleth
upon the heavens, earth, sea, and fields to rejoice ' before the Lord,
for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth ; he shall judge the
world with righteousness, and the people with his truth,' Ps. xcvi. 13 ;
and again, Ps. xcviii. 9, he calleth upon the creatures to rejoice ' be
fore the Lord, for he cometh to judge the earth ; with righteousness
shall he judge the world, and the people with equity ;' passages which
relate, not only to the kingdom of the Messiah, as it is exercised now
in the world, but also to his final act of judging, till which time they
are not fully verified. Solomon bindeth the whole duty of man upon
him by this consideration : Eccles. xii. 13, 14, * Let us hear the con
clusion of the whole matter : Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man ; for God shall bring every work
into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether
it be evil/ And the apostles, when they went abroad to proselytise the
world, usually began with this point.
2. That this is firmly believed by all true Christians. This must
needs be so, because it is the grand inducement to all piety and godli
ness, and none ever disbelieved it but those the interest of whose lusts
engaged them to question it : 2 Peter iii. 3-5, ' Knowing this first, that
there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own
lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming ? for since the
fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning
of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of,' &c. Willingly
ignorant ; their interest puts them upon it, rather than their con
science, because this doctrine filleth them with unquiet thoughts, that
they cannot so securely follow their sinful practices till they blot out
the fear of it, or banish the thoughts of it out of their hearts. But all
that obey the teachings of grace (take it for objective or subjective
grace), they firmly believe it : Titus ii. 11-13, 'For the grace of God.
that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men, teaching us that,
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, right
eously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope,
and the glorious appearance of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus
Christ/ The sound belief of it is not so much encountered with the
doubts of the mind, as the inclinations of their perverse hearts. Now,
the seeming reasons of partial men are not to be heard, especially as
delivered in a scoffing, malicious way ; and on the other side, godli
ness and mortification standeth upon such evident reason as man's
unquestionable duty, that it needeth not to be maintained by a lie and
2 THES. II. 1, 2.] THE FIRST SERMON. 7
manifest falsehood. Certainly, they that deny it do not so much
reason against this article of our Christian faith as scoff at it ; and it
is to be imputed to the malignity of their tempers, rather than the
acuteness or sharpness of their reason that they do not believe it.
Many things which they urge are a manifest token of the contrary ; as
the calamities of the good : 2 Thes. i. 4, 5, 'So that we glory in you
for your faith and patience in all your persecutions and tribulations
that you endure, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment
of God.' The perversion of justice : Eccles. iii. 16, 17, * And moreover,
I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there,
and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there ; I said in my
heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked ; for there is a
time there for every purpose and for every work/ Things must be
reviewed and judged over again. A state-engine to serve order and
government. Doth the benefit of mankind need a lie to promote it ?
Doth carnal interest govern the world, or virtue ? If mere carnal
interest, what a confusion would there be of all things ? Then men
might commit all villany, take away men's lives and goods when it is
their interest, or they could do it safely and secretly, without infringe
ment of their interest ; servants poison their masters, if they could do
it without discovery, and there were no sin in it ; men prey upon
others, if it be in the power of their hands ; and ' catch he that catch
can/ without impunity, would be the truest wisdom. Clear it is,
virtue cannot be supported without the thoughts of a world to come ;
and it is unreasonable to imagine that God would make a world which
cannot be governed without falsehood and deceit.
3. That it is earnestly desired by all true Christians. That is of chief
respect here ; for the apostle conjureth them by all that is dear and
sacred in their most holy faith ; and upon this I will mainly spend the
first part of this discourse. I shall prove it by these two choice pieces
of scripture, which describe the communion of the church with Christ,
or the dispensations of Christ to the church ; the one concerneth God's
internal, the other his external government — the Canticles and Reve
lations. The book of Canticles is ended with this desire, vote, and
wish : Cant. viii. 14, ' Make haste my beloved, and be like a young
hart or roe upon the mountains of spices/ The bride's last and great
suit to the bridegroom is ' make haste,' as to his coming in glory to
judge the world; not that Christ is slack, but the church's affections
are strong. They that go a-whoring after the world neither desire his
coming, nor love his appearing ; but the spouse would have all things
hastened that he might return. He cannot come soon enough to set
the world to rights and complete their happiness ; it is that only that
will perfect their consolation, and therefore would have the blessed
and longed-for meeting hastened. In the other book, of the Reve
lations, see how it is closed : Rev. xxii. 20, Christ saith, * Surely I come
quickly ; ' and the church, like a quick echo, saith ' Even so, come,
Lord Jesus ; come quickly/ It taketh the word out of Christ's mouth,
and presently improveth the promise into a prayer, and so Christ's
voice and the church's voice are unisons. The acclamation of the
saints answereth to his proclamation. Christ saith, ' I come/ as de
siring to meet with us. The church answereth, ' Even so, come/ as
8 THE FIBST SEKMON. [2 THES. II. 1, 2
desiring his fellowship and company. When once faith apprehendeth
the glorious coming of our Lord Jesus to judgment, love presently
desireth it, as the most comfortable thing which we can ask of him ;
that is the farewell suit of the church to Christ. If he will grant this,
all complaints, and sorrow, and sighing will be no more.
Now I shall give you reasons why this is desired by all true
Christians.
1. In respect of him who is to come : his person, that we may see
him who is our great Lord and Saviour. All that believed anything
of Christ desired to see him ; those that lived before his coming in
the flesh : John viii. 56, * Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my
day, and he saw it, and was glad ; ' and the same affection possesseth
us that live after his coming in the flesh. We know him by hearsay,
we have heard much of him ; he wooeth us by a proxy, as Eliezer,
Abraham's servant, did Eebekah. Now, Christians would fain see him
of whom they have heard, and whom they loved, and in whom they
have believed: 1 Peter i. 8, 'Whom having not seen, ye love, and^in
whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable, and full of glory.' They do not see Christ, but they
have a taste of his goodness : 1 "Peter il 3, ' If so be ye have tasted that
the Lord is gracious.' They have felt his comforts and live by his
life ; all that is wanting is but ocular vision, that they may see him
face to face ; therefore they long for his coming.
The excellency of Christ their head shall then be fully revealed ;
therefore it is comfortable to his saints to think of his second coming.
It is called, 'the revelation of Christ/ 1 Peter i. 13. Christ is now
under a veil, retired within the curtain of the heavens. The wicked
often ask, Where is now your God ? and our own unbelieving hearts
are apt to question the glory of his person and the truth of his pro
mises, when his most faithful servants are under disgrace. Christ is a
glorious king, but little of his glory is seen in the world ; therefore
they desire that he may appear in glory and royalty ; we pray that his
kingdom may come.
2. The persons desiring ; there is somewhat in them to move them
to it.
[1.] The Spirit of Christ: Kev. xxii. 17, ; The Spirit in the bride
saith, Come;' the Holy Ghost breedeth this desire in the church.
Nature saith, It is good to be here ; but this is a disposition above
nature. The flesh saith, Depart; but the Spirit saith, Come. The great
work of the Spirit is to bring us and Christ together ; he cometh from
the Father and the Son to bring us to the Father by the Son ; his
business is to marry us to Christ; the promise being passed, the spouse
longeth to see her beloved. It is the Spirit kindleth a desire in us of
his second coming, when the marriage that is now contracted shall be
consummated; when the queen shall be brought unto the king in
raiment of needlework, and shall enter into the palace with him, there
to abide for ever. Well, then, though guilty sinners would have Christ
stay away still, and if it might go by voices, the carnal world would
never give their voice this way, ' Even so, come, Lord Jesus, come
quickly;' no, they are of the devils' mind, ' Why art thou come to
torment us before the time ?' Mat. viii. 29. Thieves and malefactors,
2 THES. II. 1, 2.] THE FIRST SERMON. 9
if they might have the liberty to choose, they would never look nor
long for the day of assizes ; but the Spirit in the bride is another
thing, it giveth us other inclinations : the sooner Christ cometh the
better ; they can never be soon enough taken up to him, nor he come
to them.
[2.] There are graces planted in us, faith, hope, and love, to move
us earnestly to desire his coming.
(I.) Faith believeth Christ will be as good as his word : ' I will
come again ; if it were not so, I would have told you/ John xiv. 2.
And if Christ saith in a way of promise, ' I come/ the church saith,
1 Amen/ in a way of faith, ' even so, come/ If Christ had gone away
in discontent, and with a threat in his mouth, Ye shall never see my
face more, we should altogether despair of seeing him again ; but he
parted in love, and left a promise with us, which upholdeth the hearts
of believers during his absence. Would Christ deceive us, and flatter
us into a fools' paradise ? What need that ? He can strike us dead
in an instant if we do not please him, and we have hitherto found him
true in all things, and will he fail us at last ?
(2.) Hope, which is faith's handmaid ; it looketh for that which we
do believe, it is the immediate effect of the new creature : 1 Peter i. 3,
' Begotten to a lively hope ;' as soon as grace is infused, it discovereth
itself by its tendency to its end and rest ; it came from heaven, and
carrieth the soul thither.
(3.) Love is an affection of union ; it desireth to be with the party
loved : Phil. i. 23, ' I desire to depart, and to be with Christ ;' therefore
its voice is, ' Come, come/ He hath communion with us in our houses
of clay ; therefore we desire presence with him in his palace of glory.
His voice now is very sweet when he saith, * Come unto me, ye that are
weary and heavy laden/ but much more will it be so when he saith,
* Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit a kingdom prepared for you
before the foundations of the world were laid/ Eeconciliation with
God is comfortable, but what will fruition be !
[3.] Look upon a Christian's privileges ; believers then find the fruit
of their interest in him, and have their reward adjudged to them :
Kev. xxii. 12, * Behold, 1 come quickly, and my reward is with me/
Christ doth not come empty-handed : it is but maintenance we have
from him now, but then wages ; earnest now, but then the full sum ;
it is our pay-day, yea, rather, it is our crowning-day : 2 Tim. iv. 8,
' Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which God
the righteous Judge will give me in that day ;' 1 Peter v. 4, ' When
the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory,
which fadeth not away/ Those that have been faithful and diligent in
their duty shall not need to seek another paymaster ; that which Christ
giveth us in hand is worth all the pains that we lay out in his service ;
grace and inward peace : but then we shall have glory and honour ; he
will honour us in the sight of those that have opposed, contradicted,
and despised us : our comfort is hidden, but our glory is sensible, and
visible, and public before all the world.
Object. But how can true Christians earnestly desire it, when so
many tremble at the thought of it, for want of assurance of God s
love?
10 THE FIRST SERMON. [2 THES. II 1, 2.
Jns. We suppose a Christian in a right frame, and one that doth
prepare for his coming ; but —
1. The meanest saint hath some inclination this way. It was one of
the points of the apostolical catechism : Heb. vi. 2, ' The doctrine of
resurrection from the dead, and of eternal judgment :' and the apos
tolical catechism was for the initiating or entering of Christians into
the faith and profession of the gospel : when they laid the foundation,
this was one truth which was never omitted, the coming of Christ to
judgment. Now faith is a believing, not with the mind only, but the
heart ; they were to be affected with what they did believe— sapida
scientia was the qualification — and not with trembling only, for that
would deter them from Christianity; but with rejoicing of hope, which
did invite them to the practice of it : Heb. iii. 6, ' Whose house are we,
if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of hope firm unto the
end ;' and indeed what other affection can become the thought of
Christ's rewards which he will bring with him ?
2. Sometimes there may be a drowsiness and indisposition in the
children of God when their lamps are not kept burning : Luke xii. 37,
' Blessed are those servants whom, when the Lord cometh, he shall
find watching ;' but the wise virgins slumbered as well as the foolish ;
and so for a season they may be unprepared for his coming by care
lessness or remission of their watchfulness and neglect of preparation,
yet the spirit and inclination this way beginneth with the new birth.
A wife desireth her husband's coming home after a long journey, but
it may be all things are not ready and in so good order : sometimes
all good Christians desire the coming of Christ, but sometimes they
are not so exact and accurate in their walkings, and therefore their
affections are not so lively ; security breedeth deaduess, and God is
fain to rouse us up by sharp afflictions.
3. The church doth really and heartily desire Christ's coming,
though they tremble at some circumstances of his coming : there is a
degree of bondage that hindereth much of our confidence and boldness:
1 John iv. 17, 18, ' Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have
boldness in the day of judgment ; because as he is, so are we in this
world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear,
because fear hath torment ; he that feareth is not made perfect in
love.' While we are imperfect there may be some fears how it shall
go with us in the judgment. The day of judgment may be considered
in esse rei, or in esse cognito, — the success of the day itself, that we may
stand before Christ in the judgment, or in our apprehension of it, that
we may think of it with boldness, confidence, and desire. All sincere
persons shall speed well in the judgment; but while we are thus weak
arid imperfect, we have little confidence of our sincerity. Certainly
the more holy we are, the more we are emboldened against judgment
to come ; therefore we must every day get a conscience soundly estab
lished against the fears of hell and damnation.
4. To be of such a temper as not at all to value, and prize, and
delight in it, quencheth all sense of godliness and religion. Surely
they are not touched with any fear of God who wish it would never
come, who would be glad in their heart to hear such news ; they have
the spirit of the devil in them who count his coming their burden and
2 THES. II. 1, 2.] THE FIRST SERMON. 11
torment; they cannot say the Lord's Prayer without a fear to be heard,
and pray, * Thy kingdom come/ when they desire it may never be ; the
thought of it casts a damp on their carnal rejoicing ; and he that is
afraid lest his prayers prove true, can never pray heartily ; no, not
with a moral sincerity.
Use. To press us to keep up a firm belief and an earnest desire of
Christ's coming; this will make you heavenly-minded : Phil. iii. 20, 21,
' For our conversation is in heaven, where we look for the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ.' It will engage you to fidelity in your duty ; for
every one of us must give an account of himself to God: 1 John ii. 28,
* And now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall appear, we
may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.'
To watchfulness as well as faithfulness: Luke xxi. 36, * Watch ye,
therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape
all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of
man.' Yea, to diligence, that you may clear up your title and interest :
Heb. ix. 28, 'And to them that look for him shall he appear the
second time, without sin unto salvation;' 2 Peter iii. 14, 'Wherefore,
beloved, seeing that ye look for these things, be diligent that ye may
be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless/ Oh, therefore,
let this be a precious truth to you, which you would not forego for all
the world ; if others tremble at the mention of it, still carry it so that
it may be your comfort and solace. In short, believe it strongly, think
of it frequently, prepare for it diligently, improve it^ fruitfully, to all
holy conversation and godliness, yea, to get oil not into your lamps
only, but vessels, — grace in your hearts, as well as profess yourselves to
be Christians.
Doct. 2. That when Christ shall come, all the saints shall be
gathered together unto him.
For evidencing this, let me clear to you, that at the day of judg
ment there shall be : — •
1. A congregation.
2. A segregation.
3. An aggregation.
They are all intended, but principally the last.
1. A congregation: Mat. xxv. 32, 'Before him shall be gathered
all nations ;' and not only all nations, but all persons: 2 Cor. v. 10,
' We must all (collective) appear before the judgment-seat of Christ,
that every one (distributive) may receive according to the things done
in his body,' &c. All that have lived from the beginning of the world
unto that day shall, without exception of any one single person, from
the least unto the greatest, appear before the tribunal of Christ ; no
age, no sex, or nation, or dignity, or greatness, can excuse us. In the
world some are too high to be questioned, others too low to be taken
notice of, but there all are brought forth to undergo their trial ; there
is no shifting or avoiding this day of appearance : Adam will there
meet with all his posterity at once. Take all the distinctions of man
kind, infants, and grown persons ; I mean infants who die before they
are in an ordinary way capable of the doctrine of life (the scriptures
are written for grown persons, the case of infants is more obscure),
those of them who are born within the church, God is their God:
12 THE FIRST SERMON. [2 THES. II. 1, 2.
Gen. xvii. 7, ' I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and
thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant,
to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.' Good and bad is
the next distinction, — both sorts come to receive their sentence ; only
the one come to the judgment of condemnation, the other to the
judgment of absolution : John v. 28, 29, ' Those that have done good,
to the resurrection of life, and those that have done evil, to the
resurrection of condemnation;' Acts xxiv. 15, 'There shall be a
resurrection of the dead; both of the just and unjust/ The next
distinction is men of all callings, — apostles, ministers, private
Christians. Apostles: Paul expected to be judged: 1 Cor. iv. 4, 'I
know nothing of myself, yet am I not thereby justified, but he that
judgeth me is the Lord ; ' he speaketh with respect to the execution of
the apostolical office. Ordinary ministers : Heb. xiii. 17, ' They
watch for your souls, as those that must give an account/ If souls
miscarry through their negligence, they are answerable to God for it.
Ordinary Christians : Bom. xiv. 12, ' Every one must give an account
of himself to God/ Men of all conditions, poor or rich, weak or
powerful, high and low : Bev. xx. 12, 'I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God;' I mean those that are so distinguished
now ; these distinctions do not outlive time, there all stand on the
same level ; the ruffling men of the world shall then be afraid, and
' call upon the mountains to cover them from the wrath of him that
sitteth upon the throne/ Bev. vi. 16. The poor are not forgotten;
they are God's creatures, and must undergo his judgment. Thus
shall all people that live scattered up and down in the world, how
much soever they differ from one another in rites, tongues, customs of
living, be brought together in one place.
2. There is a segregation : Mat. xxv. 32, 33, ' He shall separate the
one from the other, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats ;
and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his
left.' There may be now a confusion and mixture of the godly and
the wicked, as sheep and goats feed in the same pasture ; and they
may be all raised together according to the places where they lived
and died ; but then a perfect separation : good and bad are first
gathered together, but the good are drawn into a company by them
selves, but no pure company, till the great Shepherd will 'judge
between cattle and cattle/ Ezek. xxxiv. 17 ; 'He will gather his saints
together/ Ps. 1. 5 ; Ps. i. 5, * The ungodly shall not stand in the judg
ment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous/ So Mat.
xiii. 49, 'At the end of the world the angels shall come, and sever the
wicked from among the just/
3. An aggregation : believers are gathered together to him for sev
eral ends: —
[1.] To make up the number of Christ's train and attendants to
wait on him : Jude 14, ev /jivpido-iv aylais, f with his holy ten
thousands ; ' Zech. xiv. 5, ' And the Lord my God shall come, and all
the saints with him ;' 1 Thes. iv. 17, ' The dead in Christ shall rise
first, and we which are alive shall be caught up together in the clouds
with them, to meet the Lord in the air/
[2.] That after judgment we may be solemnly presented to God by
2 THES. II. 1, 2.] THE FIRST SERMON. 13
head and poll. We were given to Christ to be preserved unto the
glory we were designed for : John xvii. 6, * I have manifested thy
name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world ; thine
they were, and thou gavest them me ; ' not by way of alienation, but
oppignoration, recompense, and charge. Christ is to give an account :
John vi. 40, * And this is the will of him that sent me, that every
one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life.; and I will raise him up at the last day.' The form of presenta
tion is, Heb. ii. 13, ' Behold I and the children which God hath given
me.'
[3.] That in one troop we may be brought into his heavenly
kingdom : John xiv. 3, ' And if I go, and prepare a place for you, I
will come again, and receive you to myself ; that where I am, there ye
may be also.' The whole flock shall then follow the great Shepherd
of the sheep into the everlasting fold.
Use 1. Believe this gathering together to him. We are joined to the
church of God's elect now by faith only : Heb. xii. 22, 23, * Ye are
come to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are
written in heaven/ &c. IlavrfyvpLs is a meeting made up of many
different persons gathered together from several countries into one
body and one place ; as the meeting of all sorts of persons from all the
corners of Greece to see the Olympic Games was called the jravfyvpis ;
people of all countries came to behold their 070)^9 ; so the mystical
state of the church of the gospel is a general assembly, because it is
not confined to one nation, but extended to believers of all nations and
ages ; they are drawn into a body, or heavenly society, into one fold,
under one Shepherd ; but they never meet in an actual assembly until
the last day, which is the great congregation or rendezvous of the
saints, so that now it is matter of faith.
2. See you be of the number. When some are admitted, others are
thrust out : Luke xiii. 28, * There shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all
the prophets in the kingdom of God, and ye yourselves thrust out ;'
the wicked shall not stand in this congregation. Oh, it is a blessed
and a comfortable thing when we are made members of the mystical
body of Christ, and have hopes that we shall be in the number of
those that shall meet together in the great assembly and congregation
of the righteous ; that we are trained up in the church of Christ,
which is the seminary of heaven ; that we are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints.
3- Let us improve it many ways.
[1.] To comfort us against the paucity of serious walkers and real
Christians. Alas ! now they are but like two or three berries upon
the top of the uppermost bough ; here one, and there another ; in
some places thinner, in others thicker, as God hath service for them ;
in appearance, piKpov irolfjiviov, ' a little flock,' Luke xii. 32. But take
all together, they are a general assembly, that are ' redeemed out of
every kindred, tongue, and nation,' Kev. v. 9 ; yea, Kev. vii. 9, * a
great multitude, which none can number, of all kindreds, tongues,
peoples, and nations.' As few as we are, and as despised as the interest
of the godly is, we shall not want company in heaven ; we see few
14 THE- SECOND SERMON. [2 THES. II. 2.
going to heaven, but when we are gathered together we shall see that
our everlasting companions are many.
[2.] To comfort us against the distance of Christian friends. We are
often separated from the society of good Christians whom we love
dearly, but we shall be gathered together in one congregation. The
saints are now scattered by Providence ; they live in divers countries,
towns, houses, have little comfort of one another. They live where
they may be most useful ; as stars do not shine in a cluster, but
are dispersed throughout the heaven; and as they are the light of
the earth, so they are the salt of the earth, which is sprinkled here
and there, not laid in a heap ; sometimes by violence of men, perse
cution, and banishment; sometimes by death, which parts friends,
perfectus est quern putas mortuum, like people in a wreck, got to
shore before us. Now what a comfort is it to be united to all God's
people, which have been, are, or shall be, to the end of the world, and
to meet in one assembly: Mat. xxiv. 31, * They shall gather together
the elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to another.'
The saints shall be gathered from all quarters of the earth ; though
they live in several places, several times, many we never saw in the
flesh, Christ will assemble them all, bring them in unto one place.
[3.] To comfort them under the degenerate and collapsed state of
Christianity. (1.) The mixture of the wicked ; the good and bad are
here mixed, they live together in the same kingdoms, cities, societies,
visible church, family, bed (perhaps), but then a perfect separation :
Zech. xiv. 21 , ' There shall no more be the Canaanite in the house of
the Lord of hosts;' Kev. xxi. 27, 'Nothing that defileth shall enter
there : ' such a difference shall there be between the state of God's
church in this world, and the world to come : here tares are mingled
with wheat, good fish with bad in the drag-net ; it is hard by discipline
to keep the sound from the infected. (2.) Discord ; the saints are
divided in affection, but then perfect harmony ; they are all gathered
together to Christ, and have no signs and badges of distinction to
herd apart. (3.) It is universal with all the saints. (4.) Perpetual,
never to part more.
SEKMON II.
That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither ly spirit, nor
by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at
hand.— 2 THES. II. 2.
WE come now to the matter of the apostle's caution, which is in the
second verse : ' That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled,
neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the
day of Christ is at hand.' In which words take notice : —
1. Of the error disproved : that the day of Christ is at hand.
2. The effect which this error might produce ; trouble and unsettled-
ness of mind: that ye be not soon shaken in mind or troubled.
2 THES. II. 2.] THE SECOND SERMON. 15
3. A removal of all the supposed foundations of this error, or the
means which these impostors used to entice them to embrace it. Three
are mentioned — spirit, word, and letter.
[1.] Nor by spirit ; that is, pretence of spiritual revelation ; be not
soon shaken in mind by it.
[2.] Nor by word ; some word of the apostle, which they pretended
to have heard — and that is another sleight of deceivers ; some tradition
or doctrine delivered by the apostle by word of mouth.
[3.] Nor by letter as from us. This may be understood — (1.)
Either of some passage in the former epistle ; for the apostle saith there,
1 Thes. iv. 17, ' Then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air ;'
and because he joins himself with them, they thought he should sur
vive until that day. Or else those warnings which the apostle gives
them : 1 Thes. v. 1-3, ' Of the times and seasons I need not write unto
them, for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord cometh as
a thief in the night/ &c. Now these warnings they might abuse ; and
this is one way by which men may be unsettled and unshaken, i.e., by
false glosses and interpretations of scripture. (2.) Or rather the sense
may be, some spurious and counterfeit writings, which was one means
of deceit used in the primitive times ; supposititious or apocryphal
legends, wherein the apostle might be said to write something, as if
Christ should come in that age wherein they lived. Now, to obviate
this, the apostle is supposed to insert that passage, chap. iii. 17, ' The
salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every
epistle : so I write/
First, From the error disproved, observe : —
Doct. That the time of Christ's coming to judgment must be
patiently expected, not rashly defined or determined ; for this is the
error which the apostle with such earnestness opposeth here.
But you will say, Is this such an error ? Do not the holy apostles
themselves say, in effect, the same, as the apostle James, chap. v. 8,
* The coming of the Lord draweth nigh / and the apostle Peter, 1
Peter iv. 7, ' The end of all things is at hand/ Yea, Paul himself. 1
Cor. x. 11, * These are written for' our admonition, upon whom the
ends of the world are come ;' and Kom. xiii. 12, * The night is far
spent, and the day is at hand ;' where by night is meant the state of
ignorance, sin, and paganism before conversion ; and by the day is
meant the state of our full regeneration and illumination in eternal
glory, when the corrupt world shall come to an end, and all shadows
shall fly away. As if he had said, The morning of the resurrection is
at hand, the night is far spent — not quite past — and the day is at
hand ; the night is not thoroughly gone, nor the day wholly come, yet,
he saith, it is at hand. What evil was in this opinion, that the apostle
should with such vehemency argue and reason against it ? Ans. There
is some difference in the words, for fyyyi/cev signifies, it draweth near ;
eveo-Tijicev, it is begun already. But the sense is vastly different ; for
by these and such like expressions the apostle only did intend that the
last dispensation was then on foot — no other change of dispensation or
worship was to be expected till the coming of Christ. But I shall
more clearly and distinctly show—
16 THE SECOND SERMON. [1 TllES. II. 2.
1. What reason the apostle had to speak at this rate.
2. What little reason these seducers had to pervert this speech to
countenance their hypothesis or supposition.
1. For the first, the apostle had reason to say the day of the Lord
was at hand.
[1.] With respect of faith ; for faith gives a kind of presence to
things : Heb. xi. 1, 'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
and the evidence of things not seen; ' that is, it gives a being, a kind
of existence, to things future and afar off, and sets them before the
eyes of our mind, and gives us some sight of them, as if they were
already come. And therein it agrees with the light of prophecy.
Look, as by the light of prophecy John saith, Kev. xx. 12, * I saw the
dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened,'
&c., so faith doth in effect see what it believes. Well, then, faith
looking upon things distant and absent as near at hand, the apostle
had reason to use this language to believers, as if the judge were at
the door : Phil. iv. 5, ' Let your moderation be known unto all men ;
the Lord is at hand/ not only in regard of his present providence, but
also with respect to his second coming to judgment ; it is as certain to
faith as if he were already come.
[2.] With respect of love : love will not account it long to endure
the hardships of this present world until Christ come to set all things
at rights. Jacob served seven years for Kachel * for the love he bare
to her, and it seemed to him but a little while,' Gen. xxix. 20. If we
had any love for Christ, we should be contented to suffer a while for
his sake. The time is coming when the wicked shall persecute no
more, when the mouth of iniquity shall be stopped, when the desire and
hope of all believers shall be satisfied, when the Bedeemer's work shall be
consummated, when the kingdom shall be delivered up to the Father,
when those that made a jest of this day shall be fully confuted. Faith sees
the certainty of it, and love makes us hold out till the time come about.
[3.] The apostle might speak so, as comparing time with eternity :
Ps. xc. 4, ' A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday, when
it is past, and as a watch in the night ;' 2 Peter iii. 8, ' One day is with
the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day/ The
longest time to eternity is but as a drop lost and spilt in the ocean ;
and all the tediousness of the present life is but like one rainy day to
an everlasting sunshine : 2 Cor. iv. 17, ' Our light affliction, which is
but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory/ Though troubles are lengthened as long as our lives
are, yet they are but a moment in respect of eternity ; we reckon by
time, and not by eternity, and therefore these expressions may seem
strange to us.
[4.] The apostle speaks this to particular men, whose abode in the
world is not very long. Eternity and the judgment is at hand, though
Christ tarry long till the church be completed, and the elect be
gathered : 2 Peter iii. 9, ' The Lord is not slack concerning his pro
mise, as some men count slackness/ Now, what is long, and what is
afar off to the whole church, considered in several successions of ages,
it is short to particular persons. Death soon puts an end to their con
flict, and then their triumph ensues. And so Christ is ready to judge
2 THES. II. 2.] THE SECOND SERMON. 17
at all times, though the world be not ready to be judged. The coming
of Christ is uncertain, and hidden for this very purpose, that men in
all ages might be quickened to faithfulness and watchfulness, and
make that preparation which is necessary. Now, therefore, it concerns
the messengers of God to bind men's duty upon them, by showing the
nearness of it in all the fore-mentioned considerations, that they might
be always ready ; for so we find our Lord himself pressing it : Luke
xii. 40, ' Be ye therefore ready, for the Son cometh at an hour when
ye think not ;' Mat. xxiv. 42, ' Watch, therefore, for ye know not what
hour your Lord cometh/ He may come in a moment ; our duty is
unquestionable, but the time of his coming is uncertain. And to
please ourselves with the thoughts of a delay, is a mighty deadening
thing, and quencheth our duty ; yea, it is an enticement to all evil ; Mat.
xxiv. 48, the wicked servant took liberty to beat his fellow-servants
because of his lord's delay. We are bid to be sober and watchful, and
always to be looking for the coming of the Lord.
2. The seducers had little reason to pervert this speech to the coun
tenance of their hypothesis or supposition, and therefore the apostle
had very good reason to be zealous in the confutation of this hypo
thesis of the seducers, who maintained that Christ would come in that
age.
[1.] To inquire after the time is curiosity : Acts i. 7, 'It is not for
you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put into
his own power.' Those things which God hath reserved to himself,
for us to inquire after is sinful. It is a great evil to pry into our
Master's secrets, when we have so many revealed truths to busy our
minds about. We take it to be a piece of ill-manners to pry into that
which is purposely concealed ; as to break up a secret letter and the
like. The practising of known duties would prevent this curiosity.
These things tend not to our profit and edification.
[2.] Much more was it a sin to fix the time ; it was an arrogant pre
sumption : Mat. xxiv. 36, ' For of that day and hourknowethno man ;
no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.' The peremptory
time of the day of judgment God keeps to himself, and it is arrogance
for any to define it and set a time, when God has resolved to keep it
secret.
[3.] The fixing of that time did a great deal of hurt.
(1.) For the present it drew away their minds from their calling,
because they expected a sudden coming of the Lord. Ill impressions
either destroy or weciken necessary duties.
(2 ^ The least error doth gratify Satan and the interest of his king
dom, for he is the father of lies.
(3.) It might shake their faith in other things when their credulity
was disproved by the event ; the gospel might be brought into con
tempt when their error only was confuted ; as many men, who have
been peremptory in fixing times, afterwards have thrown off their
religion.
(4.) It showed a diseased mind, that they were sick of questions ;
as the apostle speaks, 1 Tim. vi. 4, * Doting about questions and strifes
of words, whereof cometh envy/ &c., when they had so much whole
some food to feed upon.
VOL. III. B
18 THE SECOND SERMON. [2 THES. II. 2.
(5.) It did but engender strife among Christians, begat wranglings
and disputes in the church: 1 Tim. vi. 4, 'He is proud, knowing
nothing, but doting (or sick) about questions and strifes of words,
whereof cometh envy, strife, railing, evil surmisings/
Use 1. Let us not fix times. Many of the ancients were too bold
this way, and we are apt to it. Lactantius peremptorily said, the
world would endure but two hundred years after his time. So many
will fix the time of the calling of the Jews, and the destruction of
Antichrist without evident grounds and reasons. What God hath
revealed is enough to bear us out in our duty and suffering. In other
things let us patiently wait ; we see reason to do so, when we con
sider how many men have proved false prophets.
2. Let us not put off the time, and set it at too great a distance.
Distant things, though never so great, will hardly move us ; that which
men put off they do in effect put away ; they put far off the evil dny,
they would not let it come near their minds to have any operation,
upon them. Look, as the stars, those vast globes of light, by reason
of the distance between us and them, do seem but as so many spangles,
so we have but a weak sight of what is set at a great distance, and
their operation on us will be but small ; the closer things are, the
more they will work upon us. One that looks upon what God hath
revealed of this as sure and near, is more affected with it than others
are. Therefore set yourselves at the entrance of that world, where
you must everlastingly be, and watch and be ready. They that put
it off, are apt to loiter in their work. If Christ's coining be not near
at hand, certainly the time of our departure is at hand, and it will not
be long ere it come about. But this is but introductive to the doctrine
of Antichrist. Therefore I corne to the second thing.
Secondly, The effect that this error might produce, trouble and un-
settledness of mind : ' That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or troubled/
In the words there is a twofold metaphor; the one taken from a
tempest, or sea-storm, as the word plainly implies, ' that ye be not
shaken in mind ;' and the other word is taken from the sudden alarm
of a land-fight, which breeds trouble.
Doct. 1. That errors breed trouble of mind : they do not only trouble
the church's peace : Gal. v. 12, * I would they were even cut off which
trouble you;' but they hinder tranquillity of mind: Gal. i. 7, 'There
be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ/
How do errors hinder tranquillity of mind ? Partly because it is
an unsound foundation ; it can never yield solid peace. We only find
rest for the soul in a true religion, and there where it is purely pro
fessed ; others are left to great doubts and uncertainties. The Lord
seems to direct us in this course when we are upon consultation about
the taking up of a religion : Jer. vi. 16, ' Stand in the ways, and see,
and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein,
and ye shall find rest for your souls.' Soul-rest is only found in God's
way, and where it is most clearly professed. Partly because whatever
false peace is bred there, it will at last end in trouble. The apostle
compares seducers, Jude 13, to ' raging waves of the sea, foainino-
out their own shame ;' and we are told of the locusts that came out of
2 THES. II. 2.] .THE SECOND SERMON. 19
the bottomless pit, Eev. ix. 5, that they ' stung like scorpions.' Every
erroneous way of religion is comfortless; yea, their doctrine breeds
anxiety, and vexes the spirit ; for they have no true way of quieting
the conscience ; let us therefore detest error, because it is so much our
interest. It is the property of truth to beget a delectation of mind ; it
is ' sweeter than honey and the honeycomb/ Verum est bonum intel-
lectus — truth is the good of the understanding. Now when we under
stand truth satisfyingly, it breeds an incredible delight ; when we have
been in some perplexities, and begin to find out a truth : Prov. xxiv.
13, 14, ' My son, eat thou honey, because it is good, and the honey
comb, which is sweet unto thy taste : so shall the knowledge of wisdom
be when thou hast found it.' Honey is not so sweet to thy taste as
this is to thy understanding. When a man hath found out any truth,
though it be but a natural truth, it breeds its oblectation : much more
spiritual truth ; it is very pleasing to the understanding, and most of
all when spiritual. Truth is obeyed and practised; for the understand
ing gives us but a sight of it, but obedience gives a taste thereof. Our
Saviour saith, Mat. xi. 28-30, * Come unto me, all ye that are weary
and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,
and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart. For my yoke is
easy, and my burden is light.' If you will but come under Christ's
blessed yoke and sceptre, and that way of religion he hath recom
mended to you, you will find an incredible peace, joy, and oblectation
in your mind.
Doct. 2. That Christians should be so established, and have such
constancy of mind, that they should not be easily shaken arid moved
from the faith.
1. Let us see how this is pressed. Sometimes it is pressed from the
encouragement of your great hope : 1 Cor. xv. 58, ' Be stedfast, and
unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord ; forasmuch as
you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.' First, he
would have them stedfast and unmoveable ; these two words have
their special signification, the one is a degree above the other. A man
may be stedfast in a thing, though he be moved a little in some by-
matters ; but now, since your innocency will bear you out, be not only
stedfast but immoveable, which is a higher degree ; but take it thus,
be stedfast in yourselves, and unmoveable by the storms of tempta
tion from without : a man is stedfast in himself, settled upon his own
foundation ; and you are unmoved when you are strengthened against
outward assaults : Acts xx. 24, ' None of these things move me, neither
count I my life dear unto me, so I might finish my course with joy/
A man may be settled in the knowledge of the truth, but he is not
unmoveable, except he be fortified against all temptations that may
draw him off from his profession. Such constancy of mind may be
well enforced because of our great hope ; thus it is pleaded for there.
Then the absolute necessity of it is urged at other times, as Col. i. 23,
' If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved
away from the hope of the gospel/ The same condition is required to
continue as to begin our right in the privileges of the gospel. There
are some conditions required for the beginning, others for the con
tinuing of our right. Now this is absolutely required for the continuing
20 THE SECOND SERMON. [2 THES. II. 2.
of our right, both for present reconciliation with God, and future
glory ; it is upon this condition, ' if ye continue in the faith/
2. Let us inquire what is necessary to this constancy and establish
ment of mind, that we may not be soon troubled and shaken ; partly
that our minds may be enlightened to know the truth, and our hearts
renewed to believe and love the truth; for without this there can never
be any constancy of mind in religion.
[1.] A clear conviction of the truth, or certainty of knowledge, a
rooted assent, or well-grounded persuasion ; not some fluctuating opinion
about it. A half light maketh us very uncertain in our course : James
i. 8, ' A double-minded man is unstable ia all his ways ' — Sn^i^o?
d/cardo-rctros ; first 'try all things,3 1 Thes. v. 21, then 'hold fast
that which is good/ When men resolve upon evidence, or after due
examination, the truth sticketh the closer and faster by them ; but
when they take up things hand-over-head, they have no firm prin
ciples, and therefore waver hither and thither, as vessels without
ballast are tossed with every wave : 2 Peter iii. 16, 17, ' Beware lest ye
also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own
stedfastness' — iBtav o-Trjpiypbv, substantial grounds within themselves.
They do not stand by the knowledge of others, or the faith of others,
and consent of others : light chaff is carried about with every wind,
irepi^po^evoi : Eph. iv. 14, ' That ye henceforth be no more children,
tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine/ They
go through all parts of the compass ; sometimes this wind of error
taketh them up, sometimes that ; sometimes taking up one opinion,
then changing it for another : this is the fruit of half-convictions.
[2.] The other part of our basis is a resolution to adhere to the
truth. What likelihood is there that we should continue, who are not
so much as resolved so to do? The heart must be established by
grace, as well as the mind soundly -convinced : Heb. xiii. 9, 'Be not
carried about with divers and strange doctrines, for it is a good thing
that the heart be established with grace;' as the apostle speaketh of
a purpose not to marry : 1 Cor. vii. 37, ' He that standeth stedfast in
his own heart,' &c. So here, Acts xxi. 13, ' I am ready not to be
bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ/ A firm, thorough resolution is requisite to fortify us
against all changes in religion ; otherwise we are but as trees without
a root, or a house without a foundation. Now this resolution of the
heart is by faith and love. Faith : Heb. iii. 12, ' Take heed lest there
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living
God/ Love : 2 Thes. ii. 10, ' They received not the love of the truth,
that they might be saved ; and for this cause God shall send them
strong delusions, that they shall believe a lie/ We are not only rooted
and grounded in faith, but ' rooted and grounded in love : ' Eph. iii. 17,
'That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted
and grounded in love/ &c.
3. The opposite to this is levity an-d inconstancy of mind, that soon
quitteth truth without difficulty, or without much hesitancy and
resistance yields to the temptation. The scripture often taketh notice
of this sudden embracing .of error : Gal. i. £, ' I marvel that ye are so
soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto
2 THES. II. 2.] THE SECOND SERMON. 21
another gospel ;' and in the text, ' soon shaken in mind.' Credulity is
a lightness in believing, when we are like reeds shaken with every
wind, Mat. xi. 7, and have a faulty easiness, ready to be carried away
with every doctrine which pretendeth to truth : ' The simple believeth
every word/ Prov. xiv. 15. There is a readiness of mind which is
good, but it goeth on sufficient evidence ; so ' the wisdom that is from
above is gentle, and easy to be entreated,' James iii. 17 ; and the Bereans
were irpoOvfJioi,: Acts xvii. 11, ' They received the word with all readi
ness of mind, and searched the scriptures, whether these things were
so or no.' But a readiness of mind differs from a weakness of mind,
or a lightness in believing upon slender and insufficient grounds : they
never receive the truth with thorough efficacy, and are prone to error.
4. The causes of this levity and inconstancy of mind are these : —
[1.] Want of solid rooting in the truth ; they receive it hand-over
head, as the stony ground forthwith sprang up : Mat. xiii. 5, 20,
' Anon they receive it with joy ;' they do not so soon receive the word,
but they as soon quit it.
[2.] Want of mortification : 2 Tim. iv. 10, ' Demas hath forsaken
us, having loved this present world.' Lusts are uncertain ; fear of men,
favour of men, carnal hopes will easily prevail.
[3.] A certain readiness of mind which disposeth men to conform
and comply with their company, as the looking-glass representeth every
face that looketh on it ; so they are very changeable, and unstable as
water ; as Zedekiah, Jer. xxxviii. 5, * The king is not he that can say
you nay ;' soon turned this way and that way.
[4.] Want of a thorough inclination to God, so that they are right
for a while, or in some things, yet they are not universally true to his
interest : 1 Kings ii. 28, ' Joab turned after Adonijah, though he
turned not after Absolom;' Hoseavii. 8, ' Ephraim is a cake not turned.'
[5.] Want of holiness and living up to the truths we know : 1 Tim.
iii. 9, ' Holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience.' Choice
liquors are best kept in a clean vessel ; men provoke God to desert
them and leave them to a vertiginous spirit.
[6.] Libertinism. Men think they may run from one sect of Chris
tians to another, as the wind of interest bloweth. If they were to turn
to Ethnicism, Turcism, or Judaism, they would die rather than change
their religion ; but they think the differences among Christians are not
of such moment as to venture anything upon that account. Every
truth is precious, and must be owned in its season, and it is damnable
in itself to do anything against conscience, and he that giveth way to
a small temptation will entertain a greater ; as a man that hangeth
over a precipice, when he lets go his hold, will sink further and further
till he come to the bottom ; therefore, it is good to be faithful in a
little.
Use. Let us take heed of this evil credulity and lightness.
1. Till Christians get a settled and sound judgment they never have
peace within themselves, for fears and scruples arise in the dark, and
those that live in error are full of perplexities, and have not that tran
quillity of spirit which they have who are fully persuaded in their own
mind : Kom. xiv. 5, ' Let every man be fully persuaded in his own
mind/
22 THE SECOND SERMON. [2 THES. II.. 2.
2. If hardened in error, consider your opinions will ordinarily have
an influence upon your whole religion, and will pervert your carriage
towards God and men ; your prayers will smell of your opinions, and
be like Balaam's sacrifice, offered to God to engage him against his
own people ; your love will be dispensed according to the interests of
your faction: 1 Cor. i. 12, 13, 'Every one of you saith, I am of Paul,
and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. Is Christ divided?'
3. The danger of error to others. Vice is like a duel, error a war :
2 Tim. ii. 17, ' Their word will eat as doth a canker ;' ' All in Asia
have turned from me,' 2 Tim. i. 15.
4. There is danger to yourselves, though the error be not damnable,
1 Cor. iii. 13. You have not so full communion with God.
Thirdly, The third thing is the means which these impostors used to
seduce them from the faith, — spirit, word, letter; by all which the
apostle would not have them troubled and shaken in mind ; none of
these engines which the seducers used should draw them from the
truth. What should poor Christians do thus assaulted? Ans. Stick
to the apostolical doctrine. I shall observe : —
Doct. That a Christian should be so persuaded in religion that
neither spirit, nor word, nor writing, should be able to shake or unsettle
his mind. 1 shall show you : —
1. What ways or what means God hath appointed whereby a man
may settle his choice as to opinions in religion.
2. That the word of God will sufficiently fortify him against all
these false ways by which error is wont to be insinuated.
1. For the first, if a Christian would be established and guided
aright in the choice of a religion, he must follow both the light of
nature and scripture.
[1.] The light of nature, antecedently to any external revelation, will
sufficiently convince us of the being of God and our dependence upon
him : Kom. i. 19, 20, ' That which may be known of God is manifest
in them, for God hath showed it to them ; for the invisible things of
him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things which are made, even his eternal power and Godhead.'
For I must know there is a God, or else I cannot be certain that he
hath given us a rule or revelation of his mind. We begin with what
is natural, and then go on to what is spiritual. Nature will tell us that
there is one God, the first cause of all things, of infinite power, wisdom,
and goodness ; that it is reasonable he should be served by those whom
he hath made ; that he will reward and punish men as they disobey
or serve and please him : but how God will be served, how they shall
be rewarded or punished, or how they shall escape punishment, if after
a breach they are willing to return to their duty and obedience to him,
this is revealed in the word of God.
[2.] The written word shows us the true way of worshipping and
pleasing God, and being accepted with him ; therefore it is a sufficient
direction to us : there is enough to satisfy conscience, though not to
please wanton curiosity ; as that may quench the thirst of a sober man
that will npt satisfy the lust of a drunkard : there we are ' made wise
unto salvation/ 2 Tirn. iii. 15—' Thou hast known the holy scriptures,
which are able to make thee wise unto salvation ;' and Ps. cxix. 105,
2 THES. II. 2.] THE SECOND SERMON. 23
' Thy word is a light unto my feet, and a lanthorn to my paths.'
There we have the knowledge of many things evident by the light of
nature discovered with more clearness and certainty ; and that which
could not be found out by natural light, as salvation by a Redeemer,
or the remedy of our lapsed estate, which, depending on the sole will
and good pleasure of God, could not be known till it was manifested
and revealed by him. When man sat in darkness and in the shadow
of death, it was necessary that God should some way or other reveal
his mind to him by word of mouth or by writing. Byword of mouth,
that is, either by oracles or extraordinary messengers. That sufficed
while God saw fit to reveal but a few truths, or such as did not much
burden the memory ; and men were long-lived, and the church confined
within a small compass of ground, and not liable to so many miseries
and changes as now in the latter ages ; and then he put it into writing,
that men may not obtrude upon us their own conceits, but we might
have a standard or rule of faith and manners : Gal. vi. 16, ' As many
as walk according to this rule/ &c.
[3.] The natural truths contained in the word of God are evident
by their own light. The supernatural truths, though they are above
natural light, yet they are not against it, or contrary to it, and do fairly
accord with those principles which are naturally known ; and are con
firmed, — partly by an antecedent testimony, which is prophecy ; partly
by an innate evidence in their own frame and contexture ; partly by a
subsequent evidence, which is valuable testimony as to matter of fact.
The antecedent testimony : John v. 39, * Search the scriptures, for in
them ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me ;'
2 Peter i. 19, * We have a more sure word of prophecy, to which we
do well to give heed, as to a light shining in dark places.' The innate
and concomitant evidence : 2 Cor. iv. 2-4, ' We have renounced the
hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling
the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, com
mending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. For
if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the god
of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them/ The subsequent testimony, the apostles :
Acts v. 32, ' We are witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy
Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.' They were eye
and ear witnesses of great fidelity and credit ; their religion forbiddeth
them to lie for God, and they were accompanied with the mighty power
of the Holy Ghost, not only in giving them success in the face of the
learned world, hunting out the devil everywhere, but also by miracles,
divers signs, and wonders ; and they and their followers endured all
manner of torments and death to witness to the truth of these things, and
transmitted them to us with assurance of God's owning this doctrine.
[4.] The word being thus stated and put into a sure record, it is
intelligible enough, in all necessary matters at least ; for if God should
speak or write darkly to his people, especially in necessary things, it is
because he could not or would not speak otherwise. The former is
direct blasphemy : Exod. iv. 11, * Who hath made man's mouth? have
not I, the Lord ?' The latter cannot be said, because that is contrary
24 THE SECOND SERMON. [2 THES. II. 2.
to his goodness : Ps. xxv. 8, ' Good and upright is the Lord, therefore
will he teach sinners the way/ It is not to be imagined that the great
and universal king should give a law to mankind, and speak so darkly
that we should have no sure direction from thence, nor be able to
know his mind in any of the duties God hath required of us, or expose
us to great difficulties and hardships in the world. And if he had not
plainly expressed his will to us, man would never leave writing and
distinguishing himself out of his duty. Surely he that will venture his
all for Christ's sake had need of a clear warrant to bear him out, for
none will hazard all that is near and dear to him but for weighty
reasons.
[5.] Besides, the illumination of the Holy Spirit doth accompany
this word, and make it effectual to us, to show us God as revealed
in Christ : 2 Cor. iv. 6, ' God, who commanded the light to shine out
of darkness, hath shined into our hearts, to give us the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ ;' and for
heaven, Eph. i. 17, 18, 'Praying that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of him ; the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling,
and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.' He
sanctifieth and healeth our souls, and prepareth us for the entertain
ment of the truth, that as natural things are naturally discerned, so
spiritual things are spiritually discerned: 1 Cor. ii. 14, 'The natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolish
ness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned/
[6.] There are promises of direction made to humble and sincere
minds : Ps. xxv. 9, ' The meek shall he guide in judgment, the meek
shall he teach his way ;' to the industrious : Prov. ii. 4, 5, ' If thou
seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures, then
shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of
God ;' to the godly and well-disposed: John vii. 17, ' If any man will
do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or
whether I speak of myself ; ' so to them that pray much : James i. 5,
'If any man lack wisdom, let him ask it of God, that giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him/ They that
thus sincerely endeavour to know the will of God, will come to a sound,
established judgment in the truth.
2. A Christian that is thus established, is fortified against spirit,
word, or writing, or all suggestions that may perplex his mind.
[1.1 Against pretended revelations, called here spirit.
(1.) Because having his mind thus settled, he may boldly defy all
revelations pretended to the contrary : Gal. i. 8, ' Though we, or an
angel from heaven, preach any other gospel than we have preached,
let him be accursed/ Any doctrine, if diverse, or different from, or
besides the written word, much more contrary to it, a Christian may
reject it, and account it cursed doctrine ; therefore neither church, nor
angel, nor spirit is to be heard against it.
(2.) Because a Christian is upon better terms, having the written
word, than if God dealt with him by way of revelations : 2 Peter i. 19,
2 THES. II. 2.] THE SECOND SERMON. 25
' We have jSe(BaioTepov \6yov, a more sure word of prophecy ; ' com
paring it with the voice from heaven, of which he spake before ; not as
if there could be any uncertainty in the Lord's voice speaking from
heaven, but because a transient voice is more easily mistaken or for
gotten than an authentic standing record ; as Samuel thought Eli
called him, when it was the Lord. It is quoad nos ; though God gave
evidence of the truth of such revelations as he made, yet we have
more accommodate means. Our Lord intimate th such a thing :
Luke xvi. 31, 'If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will
they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.' This is the surest
ground for faith to rest upon of any that ever hath been or can be
given to sinners, subject to forgetf illness, jealousies, and mistakes.
(3.) Because it is not rational to expect new revelation, now the
canon and rule of faith is closed up : Heb. ii. 1,2,' Therefore we
ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have
heard, lest at any time we should let them slip,' &c. ; Mat. xxviii. 20,
' Teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded
you ; ' John xvii. 29, ' Neither pray I for these alone, but for them
which shall believe on me through their word.'
(4.) Because if any such be pretended, it must be tried by the
word : Isa. viii. 20, 'To the law and to the testimony ; if they speak
not according to this word, it is because they have no light in them ; '
so 1 John iv. 1, 'Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits
whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone abroad
into the world.'
(5.) Because they that despise ordinary means, and pretend to
vision, revelation, or inspiration, are usually such as are given up by
God to a vertiginous spirit, and cast into the dungeon of error, for the
punishment of other sins : Micah ii. 11, ' If a man walking in the spirit
of falsehood do lie, he shall be the prophet of this people ; ' God will
permit those that are both deceivers and deceived themselves to come
amongst them for a plague to them. Sleidan giveth sad instances of
some given up to this fantastical frenzy, that killed their own rela
tions on pretence of inspiration, and of others that murdered fifty
thousand in one day.
[2.] By word or unwritten tradition. This also should not shake the
mind of a_settled Christian, for this hath no constat — no evidence of its
certainty, and would lay us open to the deceits of men, blinded by
their own interest and passions ; and if such tradition could be pro
duced as hath unquestionable authority, it must be tried by the scrip
ture, which is everywhere commended as the public standard, and
true measure and rule, both of faith and manners.
[3.] Not by epistle as from us.
(1.) Supposititious writings, which the church in all ages hath ex
ploded, having received only those which are unquestionably theirs
whose names they bear.
(2.) False expositions. These are confuted by inspection of the
context, scope of the writer, comparing of obscure places with plain
and clear. Thus you see what certainty God hath provided for us to
guide us in the way to eternal life.
26 THE THIRD SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 3.
SERMON III.
Let no man deceive you by any means ; for that day shall not come
except there come a falling aivay first, and that man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition. — 2 THES. II. 3.
IN these words we have these two things : —
1. A caution against the error set afoot at that time concerning
Christ's sudden coming to judgment.
2. The confutation of it. It is disproved by two antecedents and
forerunners of his coming : — (1.) A general apostasy, or a defection of
the visible church from the true state of Christianity; (2.) The
revelation of Antichrist, described here by his names and proper
titles — 1st, That man of sin ; and 2dly, Son of perdition.
I. Let us speak of the general apostasy that must be before Christ's
coming to judgment ; except there come a falling away first.
Now concerning it take these propositions :—
1. That apostasy is any defection from him to whom we owe and
have performed subjection, or a falling from that lord to whom we
owe fealty. I am sure, in religious matters, it importeth a defection
from our right and proper Lord. Thus the devil is an apostate, be
cause he abode not in his first estate : Jude 6, ' And the angels
which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath
reserved in everlasting chains,' &c. ; * abode not in the truth ; ' John
viii. 44, ' Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father
ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in
the truth ;' that is, forsook his obedience to God, and so became the
ringleader of all rebellious creatures. So it is true of our first parents.
They were apostates, they did revolt from God and their obedience to
him. Therefore it is said, Rom. v. 19, 'By one man's disobedience
many were made sinners.' So of their posterity ; their apostasy is de
scribed by ' turning back from following the Lord,' Zeph. i. 6, and 'de
parting from God,' that is, his worship and service ; Isa. lix. 13, 'In
transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing away from
our God/ Let us then be agreed of this notion of apostasy, which is
evident, that it is a falling off from the obedience which we owe to
our rightful Lord.
2. The apostasy mentioned in the text was not civil, the falling
away of many kingdoms from the Roman empire ; but an apostasy of
the visible church from him who is Lord of the church. I prove it
partly from the persons to whom the apostle wrote, who did not inter
mingle themselves with state affairs, or were not concerned in the
interests of the Roman empire further than that they lived within the
bounds of it ; and this apostasy must be understood as they would con
ceive of apostasy with respect to the main cause wherein they were
concerned and engaged, which was the profession of Christianity.
Tartly from the use of the word in the Christian doctrine; falling
away there is certainly falling away from the faith and purity of the
gospel : Luke viii. 13, ' Which for a while believe and in time of
temptation fall away/ And partly because to them it was expressly
2 TlIES. II. 3.] THE THIRD SERMON. 27
foretold that rives aTroa-Trja-ovrat,, ' Some shall fall away or depart
from the faith/ 1 Tim. iv. 1. Lastly, because those who are most
concerned to maintain the notion of the civil apostasy from the Roman
empire are most notorious in this defection. It is true the Eoman
empire lost Asia and the places adjacent by the invasion of Eastern
nations, but it was thrust out of Eome by the rebellion of its sub
jects, and chiefly by the influence of the Pope there, as histories
manifest. So that this interpretation will not help them a jot, but
hurt them not a little. So that here is a defection from our proper
Lord, and a spiritual defection, not a civil.
3. The proper Lord of the Christian church is Jesus Christ, who
hath purchased it with his blood, and 'died, and rose again, and
revived, that he might be Lord of dead and living,' Eom. xiv. 9 ; and
again, Eph. v. 23, ' Christ is the head of the church, and the Saviour
of the body/ He that saveth and recovereth the church out of the
general apostasy of mankind, and restoreth them to their due obedience
and proper happiness, he only is fit to be head of the church ; and this
only is Christ : we expect no opposition here.
4. The apostasy from the Lord will be determined chiefly by these
two things ; — (1.) By undermining his authority; (2.) Or destroying the
interests of his kingdom. By these two we may understand the falling
away, which is to come first.
[1.] By undermining his authority. Certainly his authority is under
mined when others presume to usurp his place without his leave.
Therefore, to superinduce a universal head of the visible church,
which Christ never appointed, is manifestly to usurp his authority ;
though the party so intruding should pretend to hold his sovereignty
from Christ, and under him, yet this is treason against Christ, for
here is an authority set up without, and therefore against, his consent.
Put the case in a temporal kingdom, and the thing will be clear. And
thus the Pope is the usurping head of a rebellion against Christ.
Where did Christ institute him to take this office ? Tu es Petrus is
such a stale pretence, so often baffled and defeated, and pretended
upon so small grounds ; — as that Christ hereby conveyed singular
authority to Peter above the rest of the disciples, that from Peter
it descendeth to his successors, and to those of Eome (if ever he were
at Eome), and not those of Antioch ; — that it is endless to pursue the
absurdities of this impertinent allegation. The argument holdeth
the more strongly when the Pope condemneth all the churches that
will not be his subjects, how holy, good, and obedient to the laws of
Christ soever they be. Surely, if anything, this is an apostasy or a
revolt from our rightful Lord ; and to consent to this rebellion and
usurpation is to be drawn into a conspiracy against Christ, to
submit to the head of the most pernicious schism that did ever rend
the church of Christ, and to betray the liberty of the people of oar
Lord to a tyrannical usurpation.
[2.] Or corrupting and destroying the interests of his kingdom.
Certainly, wherever there is a degeneration from the purity and sim
plicity of the gospel, the interests or Christ's kingdom are destroyed.
' I fear,' saith the apostle, 2 Cor. xi. 3, ' lest by any means, as the
serpent beguiled Eve through his subtil ty, so your minds should be
28 THE THIRD SERMON. [2 THES. II. 3.
corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.' The ancient, pure,
apostolic Christianity doth only preserve the interests of Christ's kingdom
in the world ; there is no way of safety but by keeping there ; for since
godliness is a mystery, and we shall see afterwards the iniquity that
is contrary is a mystery also — 2 Thes. ii. 7, .* The mystery of iniquity
doth already work ' — we need to be exactly careful to keep close to
the doctrine, worship, and discipline of the first gospel church ; for if
these had remained pure, Antichrist had never risen. Christ's institu
tions would have preserved his interests in the world ; but as these
were corrupted, the apostasy prevailed. When the faith of the gospel
was turned into dead opinions and curious questions, if not direct
errors, and the worship of the gospel was corrupted by giving divine
honour to saints and angels, and turned into a theatrical pomp and
the pageantry of empty ceremonies, which eclipse the majesty and
splendour of it ; and the discipline of the church into a temporal
domination, and all is carried in the world by sides and interests, that
Christianity looketh like another thing, a design calculated for the
present world rather than a serious preparation for the world to come ;
then certainly there is an apostasy and a defection from Christ ; how
ever the corrupt manners of the church be varnished over with the
name of Christianity, there is a degeneration questionless ; and that is
apostasy, in a mystery, such as this is, though not in open revolt from
Christ.
^ But to make this more evident to you, let us consider what the
kingdom of Christ is. ^ The gospel kingdom is a kingdom of light,
life, and love. Opposite to light is ignorance and error ; to lite, a
religion that consists of shows, dead rites, and empty ceremonies ; to
love, uncharitableness, malice, and especially hatred of the power of
godliness. Now where these prevail eminently, there is an opposite
kingdom set up to the kingdom of Christ ; certainly a falling off from
his kingdom^ that is to say, where, in opposition to light, error is
taught, and ignorance is counted the mother of devotion, and people
are restrained from the means of knowledge, as if the height of Chris
tian faith and obedience did consist in an implicit believing what the
church believeth ; and where, instead of life, men place their whole
religion in superficial rites and ceremonies, and some trifling acts of
seeming devotion and exterior mortifications ; and instead of love to
God and souls, all things are sacrificed to private ambition ; and
forcing consciences with the highest penalties and persecutions to sub
mit to their corruptions— there is a manifest subversion of the interests
of Christ's kingdom. In short, God's witnesses were ' slain in that
city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, and where our Lord
was crucified,' Kev. xi. 8 ; that city which answereth to Sodom for im
purity, to Egypt for idolatry, and to Jerusalem for persecution of the
saints ; there may you find the great apostasy.
^ 5. This apostasy from our Lord's authority and the interests of his
kingdom is some notable and discernible apostasy, and the head patron
thereof is Antichrist. The defection is not of one, or a few, or many
in divers churches ; there have always been backsliders from the faith :
I John 11. 19, * They went out from us, but they were not of us ; ' and the
spirit of Antichrist wrought in the apostles' days : 1 John ii. 18, ' As you
2 THES. II. 3.] THE THIRD SERMON. 29
have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now there are many
Antichrists ; ' and again, 1 John iv. 3, we are told of the spirit of
Antichrist : * And this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof you have
heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world ; '
then described to be afterwards (ver. 5) a worldly spirit : ' They are
of the world, and speak of the world, and the world heareth them/
Though they profess Christianity, carnal, worldly hypocrites, which
never conquered the fleshly mind and interest, have the spirit of
Antichrist ; these obscure the light, and obstruct the life and love of
the gospel — they that wholly affect a life of pomp and ease in the
church. Now, this hath always been in all the ages. The false
Christians forget their hopes are built upon a crucified Christ, and are
to be derived to them from a glorified Christ in the other world —
crucified in this world and glorified in the next, — which indeed are the
two considerations that keep Christianity pure and lively ; that all
was purchased by a crucified Christ, and all is dispensed by a glorified
Christ ; and I wish you would oftener think of it. But the great
apostasy is eminently found in some external visible church, where
these corruptions are generally received and defended. For the head
of that church is Antichrist, where doctrine is corrupted, and the wor
ship mingled with idolatry, and the government a usurpation, and
bent against the holy seed that desire to worship God in spirit and in
truth ; there is this manifest revolt from and rebellion against God
and Christ, though they push with the horns of the lamb.
That the Papists are a corrupt sect of Christians is beyond dispute
to any that will try their religion by the scriptures ; and that they
are far more corrupt than the Protestants or Eeformed Churches,
will also soon appear by the comparison, or a view of both churches.
But whether they are so corrupt as to become the seat of Antichrist,
is the matter under debate. Therefore, let any one consider where
the eminent apostasy is to be found. Who are they that invade
Christ's authority by setting up a universal head over all Christians ?
Who are they that establish the doctrine of demons, or revive the wor
ship of a middle sort of powers between God and mortal men ? 1
Tim. iv. 1. Who through hypocrisy invent so many lies to maintain
it, and when Christians should keep themselves from idols, 1 John v.
21, yet, in defiance of this, worship angels and other creatures : Col. ii.
18, * Let no man beguile you of your reward, in a voluntary humility,
and worshipping of angels,' &c. ; and erect the images of saints, com
manding and compelling men to adore them, and pray to .them ? Who
are they that are not contented with the one only Mediator : 1 Tim.
ii. 5, ' For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men,
the man Jesus Christ ; ' 1 Cor. viii. 5, * For though there be that are
called gods, whether in heaven or in earth (as there be gods many,
and lords many), but to us there is but one God, the Father, of
whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom are all things, and we by him,' — but set up other mediators
of intercession ? Who are they that plead for indulgences and the
supererogatory satisfactions of the saints, as gathered into the treasury
of the church, and so profitable for the remission of sins, and con
demn them who think' the contrary ? Who are they that keep
30 THE THIRD SERMON. [2 THES. II. 3.
believers from reading the scriptures, when they are so expressly
enjoined to do it ? John v. 89, and Ps. i. 2, ' But his delight is in the
law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night/
That deny one part of the Lord's Srupper to his disciples, notwith
standing his institution to the contrary ? 1 Cor. xi. 25, 26, ' After the
same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This
is- the New Testament in my blood : this do ye, as oft as ye drink it,
in remembrance of me ; for as oft as ye eat this bread, and drink this
cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death till he come.' It were endless
to instance in all : I shall speak more of it in the following verses.
6. This apostasy is not only forbidden, but foretold as a thing that
would certainly come to pass. This consideration is necessary for
divers reasons.
[1.] Because the Papists ask how this can be consistent with Christ's
care of his church, that there should be a universal apostasy and
decay of Christian religion, who hath promised * the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it ' ?
Ans. That promise is made chiefly to the invisible church, or com
munity of the elect, not to all the visible societies of the Christians,
against whom the devil can and hath prevailed, and doth daily, to the
destruction of many souls. And we say not that the whole visible
church did apostatise, though all are faulty.
[2.] Because some require the time when this apostasy began to
be particularly assigned and noted to them, and by what persons
these corruptions were first introduced, or else deny that any such
thing hath been. But the case is clear : it began to work betimes,
only it wrought in a mystery. But cannot we prove a man to be old,
unless we prove the first moment when his grey hairs began to appear,
or his natural force to be abated ? Who can tell every step of the
progress of the corruption of the Jewish church ? and why should the
like be required of the Christian ? This dunghill of corruption was
not raised in one age : and suppose that in track of time authors be
forgotten, matters of faith are not to be contradicted because of the
defect of history. And yet histories are not altogether wanting in
the case, only in things that came in by degrees they are not neces
sary. In the introducing of the general apostasy, some erred in the
simplicity of their hearts, as the people followed Absalom, 2 Sam. xv.
11. But shall we deny a thing to be done because we cannot speak
the particular moments of time, and circumstances of them, when
and how it was done ? Shall we say the pointer in the dial passeth
riot, because we do not see its motion ? Might not the priests judge of
a leprosy, though they knew not how it was contracted ? Iniquity
mystical did by degrees prevail.
[3.] Because some think, if we should grant such an apostasy, it
would interrupt the whole course of visible Christianity, and so deprive
the world of a ministry and ordinances, till Christ send some new
nuncios from heaven, or by miracle, at least, authorise a new ministry,
that may be owned by the world, and received by his people. A vain
conceit I for though this apostasy is foretold that it should come to
pass, yet it is also foretold that Christ will be with the apostles and
their successors to the end of the world, Mat. xxviiL 20 ; and prayed for
2 THES. II. 3.] THE THIRD SERMON. 31
all them that should believe in him through their word, John xvii. 20 ;
and though the church was corrupted by degrees, *yet all this while it
ceased not to be a church, nor the officers thereof to be Christ's ministers.
When the ten tribes fell away, yet God till their dissolution continued
the spirit of prophecy amongst them ; and in the Christian church a
ministry, though many had their calling from such who consented to
the encroachments of Antichrist. God had not so wholly cast off
his people, but that there was a ministry and ordinances ; their minis
try was a true ministry, and the baptism a true baptism, to be owned
in for o externo : for these things remain whilst anything of Chris
tianity remaineth. In a body mangled with wounds, or all overgrown
with sores, there is life remaining ; and so some functions and offices
of life. God called idolatrous Israel his people, and was not angry
with them for circumcising their children, but for offering them to
Moloch, Ezek. xvi. 20, 21. But of this in the next verse, where Anti
christ is said to sit in the church of God.
II. The revelation of Antichrist : and that man of sin shall be
revealed, the son of perdition; where two things are notable : — (1.)
His rise and appearing ; (2.) The names and titles given to him.
1. His rise and appearing, expressed in the word revealed ; that is,
that great and chief Antichrist, upon that apostasy or falling away,
shall be extant and show himself to the world. A thing is said to be
revealed two ways — either when it is in being, or when it is discovered ;
both ways are proper here. He shall publicly appear, exercising a
tyranny in the world, or cast off his veil, and show himself in his
colours. God by his providence perniitteth him to be, and by the
doctrine of the gospel discovereth his impostures to all those who have
no mind to be deceived.
2. The names or titles given to him ; they are two : — (1.) ' The
man of sin/ wherein he is compared and likened to Antiochus ; (2.)
' The son of perdition,' wherein he is compared and likened to Judas.
[1.] For the first, the Jews called Antiochus 'the man of sin:' 1 Macch.
ii. 48, ' They gave not the power to the sinner ; ' in the Greek, TO /cepa?
afiapTO)\S>t ' They gave riot the horn to the sinner/ The Syriac ver
sion hath it, ' They suffered not the horn of the sinner to be lifted
up ; ' and ver. 62, ' Fear not the words of the man of sin/ — airo \6ya)v
az^S/30? afjLaprcoXov prj (j)oj3r]0rJT€, l From the words of the man the sin
ner be not afraid ' Now why did they call Antiochus the man of sin ?
Because he sought to alter the religion of the people, and by cruelty
to introduce a change of worship and idolatry, and such laws as he
would set up. Now, according to this pattern, Antichrist is a man of
sin ; that is, either a man given up to all sin eminently, • a sinner
addicted unto sin, and a ringleader of others unto sin, either by fraud
and violence ; or as he giveth encouragements and encitements to sin ;
or as a special kind of sinner, a usurper arid invader of the empire of the
Son of God. So was Antiochus. So was Antichrist. Now, how much
open sin is practised, allowed, and maintained in the Papacy, I list
not now to rake into ; their own stories speak enough ; — the sodomy,
blasphemy, incest, adulteries, sorceries, murders, treasons, parricides,
which they have authorised and countenanced. Histories witness that
hardly hath the world yielded a more abominable sort of men, than
32 THE THIRD SERMON. [2 TlIES. II. 3.
have sat in that chair of pestilence. This I am sure of, that a man
can sin nowhere at so cheap a rate as in Popery, where, what by
dividing their sins into mortal and venial, and these expiated by a
little penance, accompanied with a single attrition, and bare grief and
trouble, because of the punishment ; what by faculties, pardons, licenses,
dispensations, indulgences, sin is distinguished out of the conscience.
But because he is called the man of sin, here it cometh fitly to be
inquired whether Antichrist be an individual person ? for * that man
of sin ' would seem to be some single person. No ; he is put for a
society and succession of men, that make up the head of the apostate
state/ As one lion figured the whole kingdom of the Babylonians,
and one bear the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, and one leopard
the kingdom of the Grecians, Dan. vii. , — and there the fourth beast is
the fourth kingdom, — so one person that succession of men that
head the revolters from Christ. So Dan. viii., a goat figured a succes
sion of kings; so the Assyrian, Isa. x. 5, several kings in that
empire ; so Isa. xiv. 9, the king of Babylon, meaning not one but
many. So this man of sin doth not note a single man, but a succes
sion of men, a body politic or corporate, under one opposite head to
the kingdom of Christ : so the ' man of God ' is put for all faithful
ministers, 2 Tim. iii. 17 ; so ' honour the king,' 1 Peter ii. 17, series
regum. So o ap^epev^, Heb. ix. 25, ' The high priest every year
entereth into the holy place ; * meaning not one, but the succession of
the order ; and in reason it must needs be so here. Because Anti
christ, from his beginning to his end, from his rise and revelation, till
his ruin and destruction, will take up such a long track of time, as
cannot fall within the age of any one man, even from the time of
the apostles till the end of the world. Antichrist is the head of the
apostasy ; for here the apostasy and the revelation of the man of sin
are conjunct ; now the mysterious apostasy could not be perfected in
a short time.
[2.] The son of perdition, wherein he is likened to Judas : John xvii.
12, ' None of them is lost but the son of perdition.' Him he re-
sembleth in covetousness, treachery, and final destruction. The term
may be explained either passively, or actively : — (1.) Passively, as one
condemned to everlasting destruction ; as the ' son of death,' is one
condemned to die: 2 Sam. xii. 5, 'He shall be a son of death;' we
translate it, * He shall surely die.' So ' children of wrath,' Eph. ii. 3 ;
so here, * son of perdition/ (2.) Actively, bringing destruction upon
himself and others ; one that shall destroy others, and so he is called
* Abaddon,' and * Apollyon,' Eev. ix. 11, and is opposite to Christ, who
is 'the author of salvation/ Heb. v. 9, but Antichrist of destruction.
And let us see the parallel between him and Judas ; for the person is
a type, as well as the name hath a significancy. Antichrist then is
like Judas — in profession, a disciple of Christ ; in office, a governor of
the church ; but in practice, a traitor. As they said of the blind man,
John ix. 9, ' Some said, This is he ; others, He is very like him/ The
Pope boasteth that his seat is apostolical, his chair is Peter's chair, arid
that he is the successor of the apostle. Grant it, but there is an error
of the person — not of Peter, but of Judas. Let us see the parallel :—
(1.) Judas was not a stranger, but a pretended friend and apostle :
2 THES. II. 3.] THE THIRD SERMON. 33
Acts i. 17, 'He was numbered with us, and obtained part of this ministry.'
Turks and infidels are enemies to Christ, but Antichrist seeketh to un
dermine him, under a pretence of friendship ; azm^ptaro? is one in
show for, and in effect against Christ, and the beast in the Kevelation
is said to ' push with the horns of the lamb/ Kev. xiii. 11. If he were
a professed enemy, what mystery were there in it ? But mystery was
written upon the woman's forehead, Kev. xvii. 5 ; and here, ver. 7, ' The
mystery of iniquity/ It is wisdom to discern the false prophet, Rev.
xiii. 18, but there needeth no great wisdom to discover an open and
professed adversary.
(2.) He sold Christ for a small matter. Omnia Romce venalia : par
dons, indulgences, freedom from purgatory, all to be bought with money;
and it is a small matter, considering the things put to sale, the pardon
of sins, the souls of men redeemed with Christ's precious blood. The
antichristian state maketh a market of religion ; truth is made to yield
to interest and profit.
(3.) Judas betrayed Christ with a kiss, under a pretence of honour
ing him : Luke xxii. 48, ' Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou
the Son of man with a kiss ? ' Antichrist is a true adversary of Christ,
though he pretend to adore him ; as those that murdered the present
prophets would by all means beautify the tombs of the prophets
deceased, arid bear a respect to their memories, Mat. xxiii. 30. He
pretendeth to be his servant, yea, a servant of servants, but is really his
enemy. The apostle telleth us of some that were ' enemies to the cross
of Christ,' Phil. iii. 18. Who to appearance such friends to the cross as
the rabble of nominal Christians ? but they are opposers of his spiritual
kingdom, the virtue and power of the cross. You have crucifixes every
where, painted, carved, gilded ; they are ready to worship the cross
with a holy wrorship ; they set it in their temples, altars, wear it in
their bosoms, and wherever they meet it show it reverence, adorn it
with gold, silver, and precious stones. Their popes and prelates have
it carried before them ; and are not these friends of the cross ? No ;
they live a worldly, sensual life, and all their religion tendeth there
unto ; therefore enemies of the cross of Christ, because they mind
earthly things. This is right antichrist-like, to betray Christ under a
colour of adoration.
(4.) Judas was a guide to them that came to take Christ ; and one
main work of Antichrist is to be a ringleader in persecuting for re
ligion. Christ is in heaven, death hath no more power over him ; his
natural body is above abuse, but his mystical body still suffereth:
Acts ix. 6, ' Why persecutest thou me ? ' Antichrist is the head of the
persecuting state, others are his emissaries and agents, to take Christ
in his members. It is a politic religion, that must be carried on with
worldly artifices, with power and cruelty.
J5.) Lastly, The covetousness of Judas is set forth. He was a thief,
one that carried the bag, John xii. 6. England, to its bitter cost,
knoweth the polling exactions of the Papacy ; all its dealings with us
were to fill the bag out of this puteus inexhaustus. Now all these
things should open our eyes ; we may behold the man of sin, the son
of perdition ; one egg is not more like to another than Judas and
Antichrist.
VOL. III. C
34 THE THIRD SERMON. [2 THES. II. 3.
Use. Is to persuade us to a detestation of what is antichristian, and
to that end let us mark the progress of the text. (1 .) The apostasy made
was for Antichrist ; (2.) Antichrist, rising upon the apostasy, becometh
a man of sin ; and (3.) The man of sin is also the son of perdition.
1. Let me begin first with the falling away. There is a twofold
falling away — either from the power and practice of goldliness, or from
a true religion to a false, particularly to Popery.
[1.] I begin with the falling away from the power and practice of
godliness, though the profession be not changed; and the rather,
partly because this disposeth to the entertainment of error. When
a people that are carried with great fervour and vigour of zeal for
a while, lose their affections to good, and return to a worldly, sen
sual life, then the bias of their hearts doth easily prevail against the
light of their understandings. And so unsanctified men may the
sooner be drawn to apostasy ; they never felt the quickening virtue
of faith, and were never wrought by it to the true love of God, or
an holy and heavenly mind and life. And partly, also, because if a
lively Christianity had been kept up, Antichrist had never risen in
the world; and it is the way to keep him out still: 'When the ser
vants slept, the enemy sowed tares/ Mat. xiii. A sleepy religion
and corruption of manners made way for corruption of doctrine,
worship, and order. It was with the church according to the spouse's
complaint : ' I sleep, but my heart waketh/ Cant. v. 2. Some care
there was, but much drowsiness and deadness in religion ; and that
produced the great apostasy. Partly too, because there is such a com
pliance between the nature of antichristianism and the temper of a
carnal heart; for superstition and profaneness grow both upon the
same root. A lothness to displease the flesh, the sensual nature of
man, is such, that it is loth to be crossed ; and that breedeth profane-
ness. For wherefore do men ingulf themselves in all manner of
sensualities, but because they are loth to deny their natural appetites
and desires, and row against the stream of flesh and blood, but will
' walk in the way of their own heart, and in the sight of their own
eyes'? Eccles. xi. 9. Again, if nature be to be crossed, it is only a
little ; it shall only be in some external actions, and observances,
and dead rudiments, which never kill our lusts, nor promote the
divine life. And this pleasing superstition shall make up a religion
which is a fit pillow for a carnal heart to sleep upon. Popery
is the easiest religion for the flesh that can be found out, for it never
biteth nor disturbeth their lusts. The duties of it are like the pharisees'
fasting, which our Lord compareth to old wine, Mat. ix. 17, fit for old,
dried skin bottles. Well, take heed of falling away from a lively god
liness. No man entereth seriously upon religion but with some tasting
or rejoicing, Heb. vi. ; now as this decayeth, we fall off. The heavenly
life is obstructed, if not»choked and quite lost. Now, to prevent this,
observe two things :—(!.) Your coldness in duties; (2.) Your boldness
in sinning.
(1.) Coldness in duties, when the will and affections grow more re-
miss^and the worship of God, which keepeth up the remembrance of
mm, is either omitted or performed perfunctorily, and in a careless and
stupid manner : Jer. ii. 32, ' My people have forgotten me days without
2 THES. II. 3.] THE THIRD SERMON. 35
number ;' Job xxvii. 10, 'Will he always call upon God? will he delight
himself in the Almighty ?' God chargeth Israel with growing weary
of him ; and it began in not calling upon him, Isa. xliii. 22. Now, when
you seldom think or speak of God, and do not keep up a delightful
communion with him, there is a falling away.
(2.) Boldness in sinning. When men lose their tenderness and
strictness, and the awe of God is lessened in their hearts, and they do
not only sin freely in thought, but freely in act, have not that hatred
of sin and watchfulness as formerly, but more abandon themselves
to a carnal life, they are falling off from God apace : 2 Peter ii. 20,
' For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the
knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again en
tangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than
the beginning.' At first the heart checked you for sin, but you did not
kindly come off, were not troubled about it, hoped God would pardon
it ; and then you are bold to venture again, and so by degrees are en
tangled in the sensual and worldly life. Now consider the causes of
it:— I. Want of faith in God: Heb. iii. 12, 'Take heed, brethren, lest
there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the
living God.' You have not a sound belief of his being and presence.
2. Want of love to God : Eev. ii. 4, 5, ' Nevertheless I have (some
what) against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Kemember,
therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do thy first
works ; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy
candlestick out of its place, except thou repent.' Your hearts decline
from that love you had to him and his ways, and then your work is
intermitted. 3. Want of a due sense of the world to come : Heb. x.
39, ' But we are not of them who draw back to perdition, but of them
that believe, to the saving of the soul.' 4. The love of the present
world : 2 Tim. iv. 10, ' For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved
this present world/ The more that is valued, the more your hearts
are taken off from things to come, and the care about them ; you have
too great a liking, either to the profits of the world — 1 Tim. vi. 10,
' The love of money is the root of all evil, which while some have
coveted after, they have erred from the faith' — or else the pleasures of
the world : 2 Tim. iii. 4, ' Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.'
As the inclination of the heart groweth stronger to sensual pleasures,
your thoughts of God are less serious and pleasing to you. Now look
to these things, lest you grow quite weary of God and the holy life,
which once you had an affection unto.
[2.] From a true religion to a false ; which may be done two ways :
— (1.) Out of corruption of mind ; (2.) Out of vile affection.
(1.) Out of weakness of mind, as those do that were never well
grounded in the truth : Eph. iv. 14, ' That we henceforth be no more
children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they
lie in wait to deceive ;' 2 Peter iii. 16, 'In which are some things
hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable,
wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.'
Therefore we need to be established ; but the forsaking of a truth we
were bred in usually cometh from some falseness of heart. Some
36 THE FOURTH SERMON. [2 TfiES. II. 4.
errors are so contrary to the new nature, that they discern them by the
unction : 1 John ii. 20, ' But ye have an unction from the Holy One,
and ye know all things.'
(2.) Out of vile affection, when they forsake the truth for the advan
tages of a fleshly, worldly life, some places to be gotten by it, &c., and
as the whore of Babylon hath a golden cup, riches, and preferments,
wherewith it inviteth its proselytes. Now these are worse than the
former, for they sell the birthright : Heb. xii. 16, c Lest there be any
fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold
his birthright/ 0 Christians ! take heed to yourselves. Apostasy
brought Antichrist into the church. Let it not jure postliminio, bring
him back again into the land, or into your hearts.
2. The next step is the man of sin. As the first apostasy of Adam
and Eve brought sin into the world, so this great apostasy brought in
a deluge of sin into the church, and defiled the holy society which
Christ had gathered out of the world. Idolatry is often called adultery
or fornication ; spiritual uncleanness disposeth to bodily, and bodily to
spiritual. Usually a corrupt state of religion and corrupt manners
go together ; otherwise the dance and the fiddle would not suit. The
world cannot lie quiet in a course of sin, if there be not some libertine,
atheistical doctrine, and carnal worship to countenance it: Rev. xi. 10,
' And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make
merry, and shall send gifts one to another ; because these two prophets
tormented them that dwelt on the earth/
3. The man of sin is also the son of perdition — (1.) Actively. False
religions strangely efferate the mind: Jude 11, 'These go in the way
of Cain ;' and Hosea v. 2, ' Revolters are profound to make slaughter/
Men think no cruelty nor dishonesty unlawful which serveth to pro
mote the interests of their sect, and lose all charity to those that are
not of their way. (2.) Passively, shall be destroyed. Sometimes
grievous judgments come in this world for the corruptions of religion;
but in the world to come, dreadful is the end of apostates : 2 Peter
ii. 20, 21, ' For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world
through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are
again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with
them than the beginning ; for it had been better for them not to have
known the way of righteousness, than after they had known it, to turn
from the holy commandment delivered unto them/
SEEMON IV.
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or
is worshipped ; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God,
showing himself that he is God. — 2 THES. II. 4.
IN this matter of Antichrist we have made this progress : — First, That
he arose upon, and by a falling away from, the ancient pure state of
2 THES. II. 4.] .THE FOURTH SERMON. 37
Christianity. Secondly, That the Holy Ghost points him out by his
names and titles, which are two: — 'the man of sin,' wherein he is
resembled to Antiochus ; and ' the son of perdition,' wherein he is
resembled to Judas. As Antiochus, he is one that by force and power
should change the laws and ordinances, and compel men to his abomi
nations. As Judas, he should betray Christ by a kiss for worldly gain,
and be one that is in pretence an apostle, but indeed a real adversary
to Christ. Now, after the apostle had pointed at him by his names
and titles, he describeth him by his practices, wherein his names and
titles are verified ; for here he proveth that he should be as Antiochus,
by his exalting himself above all that is called God, which is said of
Antiochus, Dan. xi. 36, ' And the king shall do according to his will,
and he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, and shall
speak marvellous things against the God of gods ; ' — and as Judas, one
sitting in the temple of God ; that is, he sitteth there as exercising a
public ecclesiastical office, yea, challenging the highest seat in it. He
sitteth there potestate regiminis, by the power of his government ;
he doth Cathedratica potestate prcesidere (Estius). His sitting there
as chief shows him as Judas ; his sitting here as God, and exalting
himself above all that is called God, showeth him Antiochus.
But to handle the words more closely, Antichrist is here set forth : —
I. As opposite to Christ ; o avri/cei^vos, one set to the contrary,
that is, in respect of pride chiefly. Christ was the pattern of humility,
Antichrist is the king of pride ; Christ would not so much as assume
to himself an authority to divide the inheritance between two brethren
• — Luke~xii. 14, ' Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?'
— but Antichrist will depose kings, and dispose of kingdoms.
II. The instances of his pride: — (1.) In exalting himself above all
human power: ' Who exalteth himself above all that is called God, or
is worshipped/ (2.) A usurpation of divine honour : ' He, as God,
sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.'
Let us open these things more particularly : —
I. He is represented in the term avriKelfjievos as one diametrically
opposite to Christ, and contrary to him, who is the true head and Lord
of the church : Acts x. 36, * He is Lord over all ;' but Antichrist
opposeth himself, that is, showeth himself in a quite contrary appear
ance. That which is most remarkable in Christ, and should be in all
his followers, is humility. He expressed a wonderful contempt of the
riches and greatness of the world, and all the honour which is of man ;
taking the form of a servant, and making himself of no reputation,
and living a mean, inferior life. He ' came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many,' Mat. xx. 28.
He kept no state, nor affected pomp of attendants ; though he were
Lord of all, yet * he became poor, to make us rich/ 2 Cor. viii. 9. But
it may be this was proper to him ; doth he expect it from his servants
and officers in the church ? Yes ; this is the grace which he hath
recommended to all his followers : Mat. xi. 29, c Learn of me, for I am
meek and lowly.' But especially to the ministers of the gospel : our Lord
foresaw what spirit would work in them, and therefore he forewarned
them of pride and lordliness : Mat. xx. 25, 26, ' Ye know that the
princes of the earth do exercise dominion over them, and they that are
38 THE FOURTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 4.
great exercise authority upon them ; but it shall not be so among you :
but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister/
Among Christ's servants, he that is chief must be chief in service, even
as a servant unto all : Luke xxii. 26, 'He that is chief, as he that doth
serve.' Domination, greatness, principality and power, is allowed in
the civil state, for there it is necessary ; yet it is excluded the church.
This affecting of pre-eminence and chiefness is the bane of the church
— it is taxed as a great sin in Diotrephes, 3 John 9 — be it either over
their fellow-labourers, or the people of the Lord. You see how tender
the apostles were in this point ; everywhere they disclaim this affec
tation of lordship : 2 Cor. i. 24, * Not that we are lords of your faith,
but helpers of your joy.' And Peter recommendeth it to his fellow-
elders: 1 Peter v. 3, 'Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but
being examples to the flock/ And if the apostles would not assume
lordship, who may ? It is true, there is a government in the church,
and the people are to obey their guides, Heb. xiii. 17, and to ' have
them highly in honour, for their works' sake/ 1 Thes. v. 13; but yet
the pastors of the church should govern by light and love, not by pomp
and force, and not be known by such pomp and authority as begets
fear. Well, now, let us see the opposite state. If humility and meek
ness be in the very essence of Christianity, and woven throughout the
whole frame of it, then it is antichristian to be lordly and proud,
especially in them who pretend to be successors of Christ and his
apostles. Now, in the Pope and his adherents, you will see the most
odious pride set forth that ever the world was conscious unto, without
any cloak and shame. And all their business is to get power ; what
designs they have for preferment in the world, how studiously they
have, and do prosecute it, they blush not to own openly before angels
or men. This worldly ambition to rise higher and higher is their
design and trade of life. As the bishop of Rome, at first, from the
chief pastor of that city, affected to be an archbishop over the suburban
towns and cities ; then, a patriarch over many cities ; and because two
opposed him in Italy a long time, Eavenna and Milan, he gets power
over them, and then he must be oecumenical bishop over all the world.
But Constantinople resisteth for a long time, yea, arrogateth within the
empire the same titles. Who more earnest against it than Gregory,
whom they call the Great, and more forward to charge the assuming
of this title as antichristian ? But then, when once they began, by
powerful means and many indirect courses, to be owned as universal
bishop, they^ enlarged their bounds, not only over the ecclesiastical
power, but civil, and all kings and princes must stoop to them, as well
as bishops. So that here was the progress and gradation : — First, from
the chief presbyter, a bishop over many presbyters in the same city ;
then, a metropolitan over many bishops in one province ; then, a
patriarch over many provinces in one diocese (for in the Eoman divi
sion there were seven provinces in one diocese) ; then, universal bishop
in the whole world ; then, the only shepherd and bishop, and others
but his substitutes. Pretty steps of ambitious encroaching ! But yet
exalting himself farther, he" challengeth all power in heaven and earth ;
and the like is practised by his followers at this day in the church of
Rome. From private priests they grow up into some prelature, as
2 THES. II. 4.] THE FOURTH SERMON. 39
archdeacons, deans ; then a bishopric ; then a better or richer 'r then
archbishops, cardinals ; then pope. And the devil is grown so impudent,
by the help of these churchmen, as that it is counted a great piece of
spiritual wisdom, publicly owned in the world, to be able, by these
steps, to get higher and higher, and lord it over God's heritage ; as if
ambitious affectation were the honour of Christianity, and gospel
humility would expose the church to scorn, and pomp and grandeur
were a greater ornament to religion than grace ; when, in the mean
time, they have nothing to prove them to be true pastors of the
church but Judas's kiss, a little owning of Christ to countenance their
ambition.
II. The particular instances wherein the pride of Antichrist is set
forth are two : —
1. His exalting himself above all human powers : ' He opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is called God, or is worshipped/
Here the object is set forth by two terms : — (1.) All that is called God ;
(2.) Or worshipped. They both belong to the same thing.
[1.] That which is called God, that is, magistrates, princes, and
kings : Ps. Ixxxii. 1, ' He judgeth among the gods ;' and ver. 6, ' I
have said, Ye are gods ; all of you are children of the Most High ;' and
John x. 34, 35, 'It is written in your law, I said ye are gods. If he
call them gods unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture
cannot be broken/ &c. God hath clothed magistrates with his own
honour so far that he hath put his name upon them ; and their emi-
nency is a part of his image, as it lieth in superiority, dominion, and
power. Though magistrates be but like their brethren as- to their
common nature, yet in respect of their office they have the glorious
title of gods conferred upon them ; as being his vicegerents, and bear
ing his person in government, they are honoured with his name. So
that, without impeachment of blasphemy, those that excel in the civil
power may be called gods. Now, over these Antichrist exalteth him
self, that is, above all kings and potentates.
[2.] The other notion is, 17 a-epaa-pa; we render it, ' or is worshipped.'
The Greek word is, whatever is held in the highest degree of reverence,
whatever is august or illustrious ; as the emperors of Kome were called
2e@acrTol : Acts xxv. 21, Paul ' appealed to be referred to the hearing
of Augustus ;' it is rov ^eftao-rov, not Augustus Csesar, who was then
dead, but his successor. Well, then, here is the character of Anti
christ : that he exalteth himself above all civil authority authorised
and permitted of God, not only above ordinary magistrates, but kings
and emperors. Now, we find in history no less than twenty kings and
emperors trampled under foot by the Pope of Borne, some of whom
he had excommunicated and deposed from their kingdoms, and
their people dispensed withal in denial of their subjection to them;
others brought to cruel, shameful deaths, and their kingdoms miserably
rent and torn, to the destruction of millions of men, by their means.
He that hath any knowledge of the histories in Christendom cannot
but know these things ; how he treadeth on their necks, kicketh off
their crowns with his feet, and hath brought them to the vilest sub
missions. And if kings and emperors have received more spirit and
courage, and the Popes of Kome learned more modesty nowadays,
40 .THE FOURTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 4.
thanks is due to the light of the gospel, which hath shined so far and
to such a degree as to the consuming of Antichrist, though not to his
utter destruction.
2. The next instance of his pride is his usurpation of divine honour,
expressed in two clauses : — (1.) The one showeth the usurpation itself,
* That he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God ;' (2.) The other, the
degree of it, ' showing himself as God/ Both must be explained
and vindicated.
[1.] For the usurpation itself, 'he sitteth as God in the temple of
God.' By the temple of God is meant the church : 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17,
' Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you ? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God
destroy ; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye a,re.' So
2 Cor. vi. 16, * What agreement hath the temple of God with idols ?
for ye are the temple of the living God.' The external visible church,
which professeth the faith of Christ and beareth his name ; so that
the place wherein Antichrist shall arise is the visible Christian church ;
not Kome ethnic, but Christian.
But is, then, the church of Kome the church of Christ ?
Ans. It was one part of it before it was perverted ; it usurpeth still
that name ; it retaineth some relic of a church, mangled as it is. Saith
Calvin in his Epistles : * I think I have given some strong reasons that
it yet retaineth some show of a church.' Now in this temple of God
he sitteth as an officer and bishop there, as I before explained it :
and whereas other princes are said to reign so many years, the Pope
is said to sit so long. It is his $edes, his cathedral or seat. And
again, here he is said to sit as God, that is, as God incarnate, for
Christ is the true and proper Lord of the church ; none should reign
there but he. And the name of this man of sin is not Antitheos, but
avTixpiaros ; not one that directly invadeth the properties of the
supreme God, but of God incarnate, or Christ as Mediator : he sitteth
negatively, not as a minister, but positively as supreme lord upon
earth, whom all must adore and worship, and kings and princes kiss
his feet. In short, he usurpeth the authority due to Christ. Now I
shall prove that by a double argument : —
First, By usurping the titles due to Christ ; for he that will make bold
with names will make bold with things ; as to be sponsus ecclesice,
the husband of the church, as Innocent called the church sponsam
suam, his spouse ; caput ecclesice, the head of the church, which is
proper to the Saviour of the body ; supreme, visible, and universal
head, which only Christ is, who hath promised to be with her to the
end of the world, and will be visible to those who do at length
approach his court in heaven, where his seat is ; to be chief pastor,
Christ's own title : ' And when the chief shepherd shall appear/ 1 Peter
v. 4 ; to be pontifex maximus, the greatest high priest, whereas Christ
alone is called ' the high priest of our profession,' Heb. iii. 1, and * the
great high priest over the house of God,' Heb. iv. 14 ; so his vicar-
general upon earth ; whereas the ancient church attributed this to the
Holy Ghost, calling it Vicariam vim Spiritus Sancti, he supplies his
room and absence. Now titles including power, certainly they are not
to be usurped without warrant. Therefore to call the Pope the chief
2 THES. II. 4.] THE FOURTH SERMON. 41
and only shepherd, and the like, it is to usurp his authority to whom
these things originally belong.
Secondly, He doth usurp the thing implied by the titles — the autho
rity over the church, which is only due to God incarnate. Supreme
authority may be considered, either as to the claim, right, property,
and pre-eminence which belong to it, or to the exercise.
1. The claim and right pretended. He sitteth as God in the temple
of God ; that is, by virtue of his office there, claimeth the same power
that Christ had, which is fourfold : —
(1.) An unlimited power over all things both in heaven and earth.
This was given to Christ, Mat. xxviii. 18, and the Pope, as his vicar,
challengeth it. But where is the plea and ground of the claim ? For
one to set up himself as a vice-god without warrant, is ebellion against
Christ. To set himself in his throne without his leave, surely none is
fit to have this authority that hath not his power to back and to
administer and govern all things for the church's good, which power
God would trust in the hands of no creature.
(2.) A universal headship and supremacy over all the churches of
Christ. Now, this supreme power over all Christians is the right of
God incarnate, and whosoever challengeth it sits as God in the temple
of God ; and it is very derogatory to the comfort of the faithful that
they should in all things depend upon one man as their supreme
pastor, or else be excluded from the hope of salvation. Certainly this
power, as to matter of fact, is impossible to be managed by any man,
considering the vast extent of the world, and the variety of govern
ments and different interests under which the people of God find
shelter and protection, and the multitude and diversity of those things
which are comprised in such a government ; and, as to matter of right,
it is sacrilegious, for Christ never instituted any such universal vicar
and bishop. It is a dignity too high for any creature : none is fit to
be universal head of the church but one that is God as well as man.
(3.) Absolute authority, so as to be above control. When a mortal
man should pretend to be so absolute as to give no account of his
actions, that it shall not be lawful to be said to him, What^doest thou ?
and all his decrees must be received without examination or com
plaint, this is such a sovereignty as belongs to none but God : Job ix.
12, * Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him ? who will say unto
him, What doest thou ? ' Now, this is in their canon law, that the Pope
is to be judged by no man ; that though he should lead millions of
souls into hell, none can say Domine, cur itafacis?
(4.) Infallibility and freedom from error, which is the property of
God : he neither is deceived nor can deceive. * Let God be true, and
every man a liar.' Now, that corrupt and fallible man should arro
gate this to himself, such an unerring in judgment, is to usurp divine
honour in matter of right and in matter of fact. For the Pope to
arrogate this is as great a contradiction to all sense and reason as if a
man sick of the plague, or any other mortal disease, should say that
he was immortal, and in that part wherein the disease was seated.
2. As to the exercise, there are two acts of supreme authority : —
(1.) Legislation.
(2.) Judgment.
42 THE FOUETH BERMON. [2 TfiES. II. 4.
(1.) Legislation : It is the peculiar and incommunicable property of
Christ to be Lord and lawgiver to the church ; Isa. xxxiii. 22, ' The
Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king ; he
will save us.' God alone hath such interest in his people as to prescribe
supreme or universal laws to them, and we are his subjects : James iv.
12, ' There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy.' Now,
whosoever will make laws that shall immediately bind the conscience,
they invade Christ's sovereignty. This is spiritual tyranny, and the
worst sort of tyranny, to arrogate a power over the subjects of Christ
and their consciences as lord of their faith. He that taketh upon him to
rescind and make void his institutions and ordinances, and set his own
in their place, and give that reverence and honour to them which only
belongeth to the ordinances of Christ, he is Antichrist, whatever he be.
(2.) As to judgment : It is an exercising an authority no less than
divine, so to take upon him to absolve man from his duty to God, or the
penalty which sin hath made his due. The one is done by dispensa
tions, the other by indulgences : and therefore whoever by dispensa
tions antiquates and dispenses with the laws of God himself is thus
guilty ; as dispensing with marrying the brother's wife. Nay, one of
the Popes dispensed with one that took his own sister to wife. I do
not allege this so much for the particular facts, but to show the power
which they challenged to be inherent in themselves. Bellarmine saith,
Christ hath given Peter and his successors a power faciendi peccatum
non peccatum — to make a sin to be no sin ; and again, * If the Pope,
should err in forbidding virtues and commanding vices, the church
were bound to believe vices to be good and virtues to be evil/ which
certainly is to set man in the place of God. As to indulgences : as
to pretend to give pardons for sin for so many years, a thing that God
himself never did ; to pardon the sin before it was committed, that is,
to give a license to sin : so for the highest crimes to absolve men,
upon a little attrition or trouble about the sin, — lo do all this and more
than this as of right, is to sit in the church of God as God/
[2.] And showing himself that he is God : that is meant, not of what
he professeth in words, but what he doth in deed. It is not said that
he saith he is God, but aTroBei/cvvvra, he showeth himself, or sets forth
himself as God. The reason of the thing showeth it : — (1.) Antichrist
gets power by seduction, or the deceiveableness of unrighteousness ;
therefore does not openly call himself the true and only God. He is
represented as a false prophet, that speaketh lies in hypocrisy. If one
would openly and plainly profess himself to be God, he might be a
frantic usurper, but could not be a cunning seducer, and few would be
so stupid and senseless as to be led by him. (2.) Antichrist, whoever
he be, is to be a Christian by profession, and to have a high and great
charge among the visible professors of Christianity. He is a secret
adversary, that groweth upon the apostasy or degeneration of the Chris
tian state. Now, such pretends observance and obedience to Christ, and
therefore he would not openly declare himself to be God, and he sitteth
in the temple and church of God, as before. And it is a mystery ; all
which imply crafty conveyance, and that he doth not openly assume the
godhead, but slily and secretly, which doth not mend the matter ; for
the insinuating, devouring, unsuspected enemy is the most perilous and
2 THES. II. 4.] THE FOURTH SERMON. 43
pernicious ; as Joab to Amasa, and Judas to Christ. (3.) Antichrist is
plainly a man. Now, for a man to disannul all religion, and set up
himself directly as God, is improbable. Nero, Nebuchadnezzar, Simon
Magus would be adored as gods ; they did not deny other gods, nor a
greater God above them ; therefore it is the arrogance of works is
intended. If Antichrist will show himself as God, certainly he will
sweeten his blasphemy with some hypocrisy, as that he is the vicar and
vicegerent of God. (4.) His showing himself as God, is either accepting
or doing such things, which if they did rightly belong to him, they
would show that he is God. Two persons I find in scripture charged
for usurping divine honours. The one, Herod Agrippa, who was
smitten by an angel for not giving God the glory, when the people cried,
' The voice of God, and not of man,' Acts xii. 22 : his fault was accepting
what was ascribed by others. The other is the prince of Tyre : Ezek.
xxviii. 2, ' Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said I am
God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seat ; yet thou art a
man, and not God, though thou set thy heart as the heart of God/
His fault was taking upon him, as if he were God, to accept divine
honours, to do those things which would make him equalise himself to
our Lord Christ, blessed for ever. So doth he show himself that he is
God. (1.) His accepting Antichrist's disciples, who call him our Lord
God the Pope, supremum numen in terris, a certain deity upon earth.
That the Pope hath the same consistory with God, and the same tri
bunal with Christ ; that he is lord of heaven and earth ; that from him
there are no appeals to be made, no, not to God himself ; that the Pope
may do all that God doth ; that he is the husband of the church, and
the foundation of faith (Council of Later an, sess. 4) ; Alter Deus in
terra ; that the words of the Pope in cathedra are for certainty of
truth equal to the scriptures ; that he can change the form of sacra
ments delivered by Christ, or decree contrary to scripture. If any do
object that these were the applauses of his flatterers and claw-backs,
it is true they were so uttered ; but those flatteries of the canonists and
Jesuits do come to be received doctrines among them ; and whereas
divers popes have directed special commissions for perusal of the
works of the learned, with authority to expunge and purge out whatso
ever is not orthodox, many better things have come under censure,
but these things stand still, as being very pleasing to his holiness's hu
mility, and so not to be altered : besides, many of these things have been
spoken to his face without rebuke. — Cone. Latt., sess. 2. He is called
the high priest and king that is to be adored by all, and most like unto
God — (sess. 9). It is said, the aspect of thy divine majesty dazzleth our
eyes, and that of the 72d Psalm applieth to him, ' All the kings of
the earth shall worship him, and all nations shall serve him/ Now, to
accept and approve of these flatterers is to show himself that he is
God : (2.) By doing such things as if he were God, not by the usurpa
tion of the formal name, as by arrogating to himself such things as
belong to God, his right and property, to take upon himself to be lord
of consciences, to command what faith is to be believed, suppressing
the true doctrine of Christ, and setting up his own inventions, dis
pensing with God's laws, taking upon him to pardon sins. One article
for which Luther was condemned is this : that it is not in the power
44 THE FOUKTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 4.
of the church or Pope to make new articles of faith ; another, that
the best penitence of all is the new life. Quifacit Deos divosque Deo
major est. The Pope doth canonise saints, and his decrees must be
received as oracles, &c.
The first use is to give us a clear discovery where to find Antichrist ;
every tittle of this is fulfilled in the bishop of Kome, that we need no
longer be in doubt, and say, ' Is this he that should come, or shall we
look for another ? ' Who is the avri/ceifjuevos, but he that opposeth
himself to that humble state and frame wherein Christ left the church,
and will be prince of all pastors, and swear them to his obedience, and
hath made such troubles in the world to make himself acknowledged
for head and chief ? Who is he that exalteth himself above all that
is called God, and is august in the world, but he that takes upon
him to deprive and depose emperors, kings, and princes, by his ex
communications, suspensions, interdictions, and decrees, discharging
subjects of their allegiance and oaths, and giving away their kingdoms ;
that doth crown and uncrown emperors with his feet, and tread upon
them as one would do upon a viper ? Who is he that sitteth as God
in the temple of God — that is, affecteth the honour due to our Lord
Jesus Christ — but he that doth thus imperiously aspire, subesse Ro
mano Pontijici definimus esse de necessitate salutis ; that takes upon
him a power to make a new creed, and say we are bound to obey him ;
that saith he can change the things which God hath commanded in
his word, and dispense with them, and so by his decrees make the
commandment of God of none effect ; and can forgive sins, not only
already committed, but to be committed, which God himself never
would do ; that lords it over consciences, enslaving the world to his
usurpations : in short, that will be obeyed in those things which God
hath forbidden, and take upon himself an office which no human
creature is capable of ? Who is he that showeth himself that he is
God, but he that suffereth himself to be decked with the spoils of
God's own attributes ; to be optimum maximum , the best and chief-
est, our Lord God the Pope, a visible deity ; and will be adored by all
the potentates of the earth, with such veneration as greater could not
be given to Christ himself if he were corporally present, and will have
all the world to submit to his decrees as being infallible ; that chal-
lengeth a power over angels, purgatory, and hell ? These things are
as clear as daylight, and ought to be regarded by us, partly that we
may bless God, who hath freed us from this tyranny, and have a liberty
of judging of truth and falsehood out his holy and blessed word ; partly
that we may stand fast in this liberty. Those that were never pope-
bitten know not the mischiefs that attend this spiritual tyranny ; and
God grant that we never more know it to our bitter cost. There
fore, as Samuel dealt with the Israelites when they would cast off the
theocracy, or God's government, under which they had been well and
safely governed, unless they forfeited the protection by their own sin,
that they might be like all the nations round about them, 1 Sam. viii.
20 ;— Samuel telleth them what would be the manner of the king that
should reign over them : 1 Sam. viii. 11-13, ' And he said, This
shall be the manner of the king that shall reign over you : he will
take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to
2 THES. II. 4.] THE FOURTH SERMON. 45
be his horsemen ; and some shall run before his chariots. And he
will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties ;
and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to
make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And
he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and
to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and
your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants,'
&c. ; — so if such a wanton humour should possess us, that we must
have the religion of the nations round about us, consider whom you
receive spiritually to reign over you — the king of pride, who opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or is worshipped, &c.,
one that will not only devour your substance, but lord it over your con
sciences, and put out the eye of your reason, that you may the better
swallow his damnable errors, pestilent superstitions, and idolatries, and
bold usurpation on the authority of Christ ; or else burn your bodies
with temporal fire, and cast out your name as one to be condemned
to that which is eternal. It is easy to open the flood-gate, but when
that is done, it is not so easy to call back the waters ; and when you
come to discern the difference between the blessed yoke of Christ and
the iron yoke of Antichrist, it will be too late for a remedy to repent
of your error.
The second use is to show us how things should be carried in the
true and reformed Christianity.
1. With such meekness, modesty, and mortification, that our reli
gion may be known to be established by a crucified Lord, whose
doctrine and example do visibly and eminently hold forth the contempt
of the world. The pride and ambition of the pastors of the church
hath been the cause of all the evil in it ; therefore nothing so unsuitable
to the gospel as a domineering spirit. We, that are to preach heavenly-
mindedness and self-denial, should not affect the greatness of the world,
lest our lives contradict our doctrine.
2. How eminent and exemplary we should be in our obedience to
magistrates, for this is to be opposite to the antichristian estate. God
is very tender of the honour of civil powers arid authorities, and will
have every soul to be subject to them : Rom. xiii. 1, ' Let every soul
be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God ;
the powers that be are ordained of God ;' and again, 1 Peter ii. 13,
' Submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it
be to the king as supreme, or to governors, as them that are sent by
him.' Great respect and submission is due to them for God's sake,
and that we may commend religion to the profane world, and live
down the reproaches of the gospel. They were branded as wicked men
that were not afraid to speak evil of dignities, that despise governments
in their own hearts, or weaken the esteem of it in the hearts of others
by their speeches : 2 Peter ii. 10, ' But chiefly them that walk after the
flesh in the lust of uncleanliness, and despise government ; presump
tuous are they, self-willed ; they are% not afraid to speak evil of dig
nities.'
3. What a wickedness it is to usurp divine honours ! We do so
when we take that praise and admiration to ourselves which is only
due to God : Acts iii. 12, ' And when Peter saw it, he answered unto
46 THE FIFTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 5-7.
the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this ? or why look ye
so earnestly on us, as though hy our power or holiness we had made
this man to walk ? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob,
the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus, &c. ; and his name,
through faith in his name, hath made this man strong, whom we see
and know; yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this per
fect soundness in the presence of you all.'
SERMON V.
Remember ye not, that, while I ivas with you. I told you these things f
and noiv you know what luithholdeth that he might be revealed
in his time; for the mystery of iniquity doth already worlc ; only
he who now letteth will let till he be taken out of the ivay. —
2 THES. II. 5-7.
IN these words is : —
First, A digression, calling them to remembrance of what he de
livered by word of mouth,
Secondly, A progress in the further description of Antichrist. He
had hitherto been described by —
1. His names and titles ;
2. His nature and properties ; now —
3. By the time of his appearing, where take notice of three things : —
I. That Antichrist was not then revealed, because there was an
impediment hindering his revelation.
II. That though he was not then revealed, yet that mystery of ini
quity did begin to work, but secretly.
III. That when that impediment shall be removed, then Antichrist
shall be revealed.
First, I begin with his putting them in mind of what he had told them
before by word of mouth : ' Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with
you, I told you these things ? ' This showeth the certainty and useful
ness of this doctrine ; for though the event were not to be accom
plished in their days, yet he taught them before when present, and
now repeateth it again when absent ; he preached it in private, and
now writeth it for public good, and laboureth to confirm the truth of
it, and fasten it upon their memories.
Observe, then, that the doctrine of Antichrist is a profitable doc
trine, and a point very necessary to be preached and known.
1. It is a point very necessary to admonish and warn the faithful,
that they be not circumvented with these delusions, and be found in
the opposite state to Christ Jesus, and the interests of his kingdom.
God hath blown his trumpet : Rev. xviii. 4, * Come out of her, my
people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of
her plagues ;' God calleth his people out of spiritual Babylon ; it is
dangerous and unsafe being there. If we would escape Babylon's
2 THES. II. 5-7.1 THE FIFTH SERMON. 47
punishments we must escape her sins, not live in that communion and
society where there are such temptations to idolatry and other detes
table enormities. It is disputable whether the errors of Popery be
damnable, or there be any possibility of salvation in that religion.
Some deny all possibility ; others, abating from the rigour of that opi
nion, assert a very great difficulty : 1 Cor. iii. 13, ' Saved as by fire ; '
if so much Christianity left as to save them, it is with much ado. But
the question is not about our benefit, but our duty; not whether
possibly we may be saved ? but what is the way the Lord will have us
to walk in ? And if there were possibility or probability of salvation in
the way, in the general, yet there is very little or none for them that
live in a known sin, and especially in a sin of such a dangerous
nature as abetting an opposite faction to Christ, such as is that of
Antichrist.
2. It is necessary to fortify and forewarn the people of God against
a double temptation. (1.) Against scandal ; (2.) Against perse
cutions.
[1.] Against scandal. It is a dangerous temptation to atheism to
see Christianity so corrupted and debauched by a vile submission to
serve worldly ends, and turned into the pageantry of empty and ridi
culous ceremonies, which beget scorn and contempt of it in the minds
of all considering beholders ; and therefore there are more atheists in
Home and Italy than in other countries. Supernatural things, dis
guised with a vain pomp, lose their reverence, and do not alarm the con
science, but harden the heart in a settled atheism and contempt of
Christ. Now it is a mighty stay to the heart to see that this degen
eration was foreseen and foretold : John xvi. 1, ' These things have I
spoken to you, that you should not be offended ;J Mat. xviii. 7, 'Woe
unto the world because of offences ! for it must needs be that offences
come ; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh !'
[2.] Against persecutions ; for the man of sin is also a son of per
dition, a destroyer of the saints, and maketh havoc of the people of
God. Now it is grievous when Christians suffer by Christians, and we
may have many doubtings and misgivings about our cause ; but when
Antichrist is clearly discovered, we submit the more cheerfully to suffer
the hardest things under his tyranny ; for suffering under antichristian
persecution is martyrdom and suffering for Christ, as much as suffer
ing under Pagan persecution : Rev. xiv. 13, * And I heard a voice
from heaven saying unto me, write, Blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord from henceforth/ &c. Not only the primitive martyrs, who were
put to death by heathens, but those that are condemned by Christians
and burned for heretics, those are martyrs also.
3. That we may the better understand true Christianity ; avriiceifieva
7rapa\\rj\€i/j,eva /zaXto-ra falvercu, opposites illustrate each other. The
two opposite states are Christianity and Antichristianity ; the one is a
' mystery of godliness/ 1 Tim. iii. 16 ; the other, * a mystery of iniquity/
The design of the mystery of godliness is to recover men from the
devil, the world, and the flesh, unto God ; the other, to seduce men
from God to the devil, the world, and the flesh again ; and that by
corrupting the former mystery, or the most excellent institution that
ever the world was acquainted with for the ennobling and refining man's
48 THE FIFTH SERMON. [2 TfiES. II. 5-7.
nature ; so that Christ's religion is turned against himself, to lull men's
consciences asleep, whilst they gratify the lusts of the eyes, the lusts of
the flesh, or live in pride of life. The devil is gratified by all sin, but
especially he is el^coXo^ap^, as Synesius calleth him ; one that de-
lighteth in idols, as knowing this is the best way to make men brutish,
or to live in an oblivion or neglect of God ; for an idol is ' a teacher
of lies,' Hab. ii. 18, doth imprint upon the mind carnal and false con
ceptions of a deity.
4. To confirm us in the truth of the Christian faith, when we see
the prophecies of it expressly fulfilled ; for this is the Lord's direction
to know a true prophet, Deut. xviii. 22, if the thing come to pass,
and the event doth punctually answer the prediction ; but when a pro
phet speaketh in the name of the Lord, and the thing follow not, nor
come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken. Now,
the apostles did not only teach the church the doctrine of Christianity,
but by a prophetic spirit and divine revelation foretold things to come ;
and among these, the great thing which is to happen and come to pass
before Christ's second coining is Antichrist, or the appearing of the
man of sin. Therefore, that we may not doubt of what is past, nor
suspect what is further to come, it is good to study these prophecies,
and know they are to be fulfilled in their time, that we may say that
God, who hath kept touch with the world hitherto in all the pre
dictions of the word, will not fail at last.
Use 1. To reprove them that think this is a curious point not to
be searched into. Why then did God reveal it, and that so often by
St Paul, by St John, in so many prophetical representations of it ?
Surely it is not curiosity to search into things revealed, but to intrude
ourselves into things hidden, and which God hath put under a veil of
secrecy. It is true men must know their measure, and not attempt
to run before they can go, and venture upon obscure points before
well versed in plain ; and it is true, in more abstruse points, men must
not rashly define, but soberly and modestly inquire, and compare
predictions with plain events ; this is no way culpable.
2. To reprove those that are so impatient of giving a little attend
ance to such doctrines for a while, and think at least matter more
profitable should be insisted on ; they are persuaded enough already.
It is well if it be so ; but those that stand should take heed lest they
fall ; and presumptuous confidence soonest giveth out, and forsak-
eth Christ. I would but propound this argument to them : If it were
profitable for them that were to go out of the body long before
Antichrist was revealed to be taught these things again and again,
and they be charged to keep these things in remembrance, certainly
it is more profitable for others that live at the time when these things
are in being, and the temptation is at the next door, ready to break in
upon them. Surely it is profitable to discover Antichrist, to reduce
those that are gone astray, much more to prevent a revolt, that we
may not return to this bondage after a deliverance from it.
Secondly, I come to consider the time of his appearing, and there to
observe three things : —
I. That Antichrist was not then revealed because there was an im
pediment hindering his revelation : 'and now ye know what withholdeth
2 THES. II. 5-7.] THE FIFTH SERMON. 49
that he might be revealed in his time/ that is, what keeps him back
for the present, until the time that God had prefixed. The apostle
doth not expressly mention what this TO /carexpv or impeachment 1 was,
either because he thought it enough to appeal to their memory and
knowledge — no wye know what withholdeth ; there was no need of repeat
ing that which was formerly mentioned, they sufficiently knew ; or
partly because he would not give the heathen an occasion of raising a
persecution against the Christians, if they should come to understand
that one professing himself a Christian should erect a throne for him
self at Rome, and that the empire should be taken away to make way
for him. The Romans were very jealous, on fiaa-iXelav ovo/jLafyftev —
because they talked of these innocent notions, the kingdom of Christ
and the kingdom of heaven ; they were apt to accuse them Icesce majes-
tatis, as if they would with open force and violence attack or assault
the empire ; therefore the apostle had spoken that which he thought
not fit to write in an epistle ; or, lastly, he leaveth it in this obscurity
because all prophecies were but darkly uttered, that their accomplish
ment be not hindered, since it is the will of God that such events shall
fall out in the world, and out of indulgence to his people he is pleased
to foretell this. It is not meet that the prediction should either be too
clear or too dark ; if too clear, the event would not follow, nor God's
government of the world be carried in such a way as might suit with
the liberty of mankind ; if too dark, the comfort and caution of God's
people would not be sufficiently provided for.
But what was this impediment ? The ancients generally determined
it to be the Roman empire ; for so Tertullian — the empire of Rome,
which was to be divided into ten kingdoms ; and reason showeth it,
because the man of sin could not rise to his greatness as long as the
Roman empire stood. "Why ? Because he that was to exalt himself above
all that is called God, and above all that is august, could not bring
his designs to pass as long as the Roman empire retained its majesty ;
but when once that was eclipsed and removed, then he was to be re
vealed in his time : all things have their time, and so the man of sin.
Well, then, it was the Roman empire that stayed the manifestation of
Antichrist, he being to build his tyranny on the ruins and wreck there
of ; and therefore the primitive Christians prayed pro mora finis, that
it would please God to defer the fall of this empire, fearing worse
things upon the dissolution thereof.
Now this impediment showeth both the time and place of Anti
christ ; and time and place, next to the nature and state of things, are
the best circumstances to discover him. (1.) The place: Antichrist's
seat and throne was to be there, where the seat of the Roman empire
was ; and St John telleth us it was situated on the city that had seven
hills : Rev. xvii. 9, ' The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the
woman sitteth ;' and that is Rome, which is famously taken notice of
to be seated on seven hills or mountains. Now Antichrist had not
room as long as the seat was filled with the Roman emperor, for ^this
seat could not be filled with two imperial powers at once, especially
with such a tyrannical power as that of Antichrist is, exalting itself
not only above kings and kingdoms, but irav cre^aa^a, the august
1 Qu. ' impediment ' ? — ED.
VOL. III. D
50 THE FIFTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 5-7.
state of the emperors themselves ; there was no exalting this cJiair, till
there was a removal of the throne ; while the Koman emperor possessed
Home, the seat was full, and till it was void it could riot be the seat of
Antichrist.
(2.) The next circumstance is the time when the impediment is taken
away, when the Koman empire is so weakened and removed from
Koine that this power may grow up ; and that was when the Koman
empire was divided into ten kingdoms, as Tertullian saith, and is agree
able enough with the prophecy of St John, Kev. xvii. 12, ' And the ten
horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have not received their
kingdoms as yet, but receive power as kings one hour with the beast ;'
that is, near that time when the Koman empire was broken and divided,
which began near 600 years after Christ's birth.
II. The next observation is, that though he was not revealed in the
apostle's days, yet the mystery of iniquity did begin to work, but
secretly ; for it is said, ver. 7, beginning, ' The mystery of iniquity
doth already work.' This is given as a reason why it would break
out sooner ; but it was kept back ; there was something a-brewing that
would make way for Antichrist, some disposition of the matter, some
propensity thereunto, something begun, which would afterwards show
itself more eminently in the great Antichrist.
Here two things must be explained : —
1. What is the mystery of iniquity.
2. How it began to work in the apostle s days.
1. What is the mystery of iniquity ? I answer — The design of usurp
ing Christ's kingdom, and his dignities and prerogatives over the
church, to countenance the kingdom of sin and darkness, under the
mask of piety and religion. Surely it is something quite contrary to the
gospel, which is the ' mystery of godliness,' 1 Tim. iii. 16. So that this
mystery is such a course and state design as doth frustrate the true
end and purpose of the gospel, and yet carried on under a pretence of
advancing and promoting it. So that to state it we must consider : —
[I-
•»"{-^ *>v**x* r/J. vyjLJ~L\_/ ci-AJ^ iU* K,'V^/
The mystery of godliness.
The mystery of ungodliness or iniquity.
[1.] The mystery of godliness is known by the ends of God in the
gospe , and the way he took to promote those ends.
(1.) The end of the gospel is to recover man out of a carnal, ungodly
state, into a state of holiness and reconciliation with God. (1.) The ter-
minus a quo:— men are carnal, tin godly. (1st.) Carnal. When man fell
from God, he fell to himself ; self interposed as the next heir, and that
self was not the soul, but the flesh. Many wrong their souls, but no man
ever yet hated his own flesh ; and therefore men would rule themselves,
and please themselves according to their fleshly appetite and fancy : John
iii. 6, ' That which is born of the flesh is flesh,' and therefore love the
pleasures, honours, and profits of the world, as the necessary provision
to satisfy the desires of the flesh ; and whosoever live thus they live in
a carnal state, as all do, till grace renew them, Rom. viii 5. But this
carnal estate doth break forth and bewray itself in various ways of sin
ning : Titus ni. 3, ' For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, dis
obedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice
and envy, hateful and hating one another.' All are not fornicators,
2 THES. II. 5-7.] THE FIFTH SERMON. 51
drunkards, persecutors, nor live in the same way of sinning ; but all
are turned from God to the world, and have a * carnal mind, which is
enmity to God/ Eom. viii. 7. (2dly.) The next word is ungodly Men
thus constituted live either in a denial of God : Ps. xiv. 1, ' The fool
hath said in his heart, There is no God' — or a neglect of God : Eph.
ii. 12, ' Without God in the world ;' without any acknowledgment or
worship of him : Ps. ix. 17, ' The wicked shall be turned into hell, and
all the nations that forget God ;' — or if not deprived of all sense of a
deity, they worship false gods, as those, Acts xiv. 12, 13, the men of
Lycaonia, that called Barnabas, Jupiter, and Paul, Mercurius, because
he was the chief speaker, and would have sacrificed to them ; and the
apostle saith to the Galatians, Gal. iv. 8, * When ye knew not God, ye
did service to them which by nature are no gods ;' they worshipped
plurality of false gods ; and though the wise men of the Gentiles had
some confused knowledge of the true God, Rom. i. 19-21, yet they
glorified him not as God, but committed idolatry by setting up a false
medium of worship, an idol, which begot a brutish conception of God
in their mind ; so that a false religion is so far from showing a remedy
of corrupt nature that it is a great part of the disease itself. (2.) Tho
terminus ad quern, into a state of holiness and reconciliation with God,
in whom man alone can be happy. (1st.) For holiness and obedience
to God. The great design of the Christian religion is to bring us back
to God again. First, As we are carnal, by the denial of fleshly and
worldly lusts : Titus ii. 12, ' The grace of God thatbringeth salvation
hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts,' &c. ; 1 Peter ii. 11, ' Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as
strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshy lusts that war against the
soul ;' and Gal. v. 24, ' They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh,
with the affections and lusts/ Secondly, As we are ungodly, to bring us
to the knowledge, love, worship, and obedience of the true God : Acts
xiv. 15, ' We pray ye that you should turn from these vanities to the
living God, that hath made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things
therein ;' and to seek after the Lord, from whom we have life, breath,
and all things, Acts xvii. 25-28 ; 1 Thes. i. 9, ' How ye turned from
idols to serve the living and true God/ (2dly.) Reconciliation with God,
that we might have commerce with him for the present, and live for
ever with him hereafter : 2 Cor. v. 19, ' God was in Christ, recon
ciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them,
and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation ;' 1 Peter i. 18,
' Ye are not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from
your vain conversation/ &c. ; Heb. vii. 25, 'He is able to save unto
the uttermost all that come unto God through him / that whereas be
fore they were alienated from the life of God, they might live in his
love, and in the expectation of being admitted into his blessed presence,
that they may see him as he is, and be like him, 1 John iii. 2.
(2.) The way it took to obtain these ends, how God may be satisfied,
man renewed and changed, God pacified by the sacrifice, merit, and
intercession of Christ Jesus, who came in our flesh and nature, not
only to acquaint us with the will of God and the unseen things of
another world, but to suffer an accursed death for our sins ; therefore
the mystery of godliness is chiefly seen in ' God manifested in our
52 THE FIFTH SERMON. [2 ^HES. II. 5-7.
flesh/ 1 Tim. iii. 16 ; and man must be renewed and changed, for our
misery showeth what is needful to our remedy and recovery : that we
be not only pardoned but sanctified, if ever we will be saved and
glorified ; for till men have new and holy hearts they can never see
God : Heb. xii. 14, * Without holiness it is impossible to see God /
Mat. v. 8, ' Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God/ &c. ;
nor for the present love him and delight in him, nor take him for their
chief happiness. As none but Christ can satisfy justice and reconcile
such a rebel to God, so none but Christ's Spirit can sanctify and renew
our souls that we may live in obedience to him : 1 Cor. vi. 11, ' Such
were some of you ; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God/
This is the mystery of godliness.
[2.] Now, for the mystery of ungodliness or iniquity : that is a quite
opposite state, but carried on plausibly, and with seeming respect to the
mystery which it opposeth. To know it, take these considerations : —
(1.) Where the carnal life is had in request and honour, there cer
tainly is the mystery 'of iniquity to be found, whatever pretences be
put upon it. Now, the carnal life is there had in request and honour, —
(1.) Where all is referred to worldly gain and profit, and the whole
frame of the religion tendeth that way ; for certainly they are ' enemies
to the cross of Christ whose god is their belly, and who mind earthly
things/ Phil. iii. 19. Now pardons, indulgences, purgatory, shrines of
saints, what do they all tend unto but to make a merchandise of reli
gion ? It was an old byword, Omnia Eomce vencdia — all things may
be bought at Kome, even heaven and God himself, &c. And these
things are used, not only to open the people's mouths in prayer, but
their hands in oblations and offerings. The complexion of their reli
gion is but a gainful trade. But the papal exactions and traffickings
have been so much and so loudly insisted upon, and the evil runneth
out into so many branches, that I shall forbear. (2.) Where temporal
greatness is looked upon as the main prop of their religion. * The king's
daughter is glorious within/ rich in gifts and graces, Ps. xlv. 13 ;
Ps. xciii. 5, ' Holiness becometh thy house, 0 Lord, for ever ; ' but the
false church is known by pomp and external splendour. It is easy to
discern the true ministers of Christ from the false ; the true are known
by being much in labours, much in afflictions : 2 Cor. vi. 4-6, ' In all
things approving ourselves the ministers of God, in much patience,
afflictions, necessities, distresses, in labours and watchings, and fast
ings ; by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by
the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned/ &c. ; whereas the false ministers are
known by the life of pomp and ease. The rule is plain, because self-
denial is^one of the great lessons of Christianity, and self-seeking the
bane of it : therefore where men professedly seek the greatness of the
world, they serve not the Lord Jesus Christ, but their own bellies.
(2.) Where men are turned from God to idols, though it be not the
demons of the Gentiles, but saints, as mediators of intercession, there
godliness is destroyed and the mystery of iniquity set up ; for the-
great drift of the Christian religion is to bring us to God, through
Christ. So the great whore— (which imports a breach of the funda
mental article of the covenant, ' Thou shalt have no other gods but
2 THES. II. 5-7.] THE FIFTH SERMON. 53
me), it is said, Kev. xvii. 5, ' Upon her forehead was a name written,
Mystery, Babylon, the mother of fornications and abominations upon
earth/ — debaucheth nations with her idolatry, and so seduceth from
God to the worship of the creature, that the great intent of the gospel
is lost.
(3.) Wherever power is usurped in Christ's name, and carried on
under the pretence of his authority, to the oppressing of Christ's sin
cere worshippers, who hate the carnal life, and would by all means
keep themselves from idols, or bowing and worshipping before images,
but excel in unquestionable duties, there is the mystery of iniquity ;
for the beast, that hath a mouth like a dragon, pusheth with the
horns of a lamb, Rev. xiii. 11. The violence and persecution
against the sincere, pure worshippers of Christ is nothing else but the
mystery of iniquity, the enmity of the carnal seed against the holy
seed, or the seed of the serpent against the seed of the woman
disguised.
(4.) Where there is a lessening of the merits of Christ and his satis
faction, as if it were not sufficient for the expiation of sin without
penal satisfactions of our own, there is the mystery of iniquity : ' For
by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified/
Heb. x. 14.
(5.) Where the new nature is little thought of, and all religion is
made to consist in some external rites and adorations or indifferences,
there the reducing of man to God is much hindered, and Christianity
is adulterated, and the religion that designedly countenanceth these
things is but the mystery of iniquity — To worship God, as the Papists
do, with images, agnus dcis, crucifixes, crossings, spittle, oil, candles,
holy water, kissing the pix, dropping beads, praying to the Virgin
Mary and other saints, repeating over the name Jesus five times in a
breath, repeating such and such sentences so often, praying to God in
an unknown tongue, and saying to him they know not what, adoring
the consecrated bread as no bread, but the very flesh of Christ himself,
fasting by feasting upon fish instead of flesh, choosing a tutelary saint
whose name they will invocate, offering sacrifices for quick and dead,
praying for souls in purgatory, purchasing indulgences for their de
liverance, carrying the bones and other relics of saints, going in
pilgrimage to shrines or images, or offering before them, with a
multitude more of such trashy devotions, whereby they greatly dis
honour God and obstruct the motions of the heavenly life, yea, quite
kill it ; for instead of the power and life of grace, there are introduced
beggarly rudiments or ritual observances in indifferent things, and
vain traditions by which Christian liberty is restrained, and these
pressed with as much severity as unquestionable duties established by
God's known law for the renewing and reforming mankind. We are
to ' stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and
not to be entangled again with the yoke of bondage/ Gal. v. 1 ; Col.
ii. 16, ' Let no man judge you in meat or drink, or in respect of an
holiday, or of the new moons, or of a sabbath-day/ These things
are left to arbitrament, to abstain or use them for edification. That
physician may be borne with who doth only burden the sick with some
needless prescriptions, if faithful in other things ; but if he should
54 THE FIFTH SERMON. [2 TfiES. II. 5-7.
tire out the patient with prescriptions which are not only altogether
needless, but troublesome, costly, and nauseous, and doth extinguish
and choke true religion by thousands _of things indifferent, making
our bondage worse than the Jews', this is the mystery of iniquity,— to
cheat us of the power of godliness by the show of it, burdening of
men with unnecessary observances.
2. How did this work in the apostle's time ? Something there
was then which did give an advantage to Antichrist, and laid the
foundation of his kingdom, and did dispose men's minds to an apos
tasy from pure Christianity ; as —
[1.] Partly the idolising of pastors by an excess of reverence, such
as was prejudicial to the interests of the gospel, setting them up as
heads of factions: 1 Cor. i. 12, ' Now this I say, that every one of
you saith, I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos, and I of Cephas;
1 Cor. iii. 22, ' Glory not in men, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas/
&c. This in time bred tyranny and slavery in the church.
[2.] The ambition of the pastors themselves, and the spirit of con
tention for rule and precedency : Acts xx. 29, 30, ' There shall arise
among you ravening wolves, speaking perverse things, to draw dis
ciples after them ;' which within a little time began to affect not only a
primacy of order, but of jurisdiction and authority ; so that then
Antichrist did not exist in his proper person, but in spirit and
predecessors.
[3.] The errors then set afoot corrupted the simplicity of the gospel :
1 John ii. 18, ' Now there are many antichrists ;' 1 John iv. 3, ' Every
spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not
of God ; and this is the spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard it
should come, and even now already is it in the world.' The spirit of
Antichrist is even now in the world ; there was a spirit then working
in the church to introduce this mystery of iniquity, only the seat was
not empty, but filled by another ; the seeds of this mystery were sown
in ambition, avarice, haughtiness of teachers, and their carnal and
corrupt doctrines.
[4.] Some kept their Jewish, others their Gentile customs, so that
the Christian religion was secretly tainted and mingled with the seeds
of heathenism and Judaism, which afterwards produced the great apos
tasy. Paul, in all his epistles, complaineth of the Judaising brethren,,
and seeks to reduce them to the simplicity of the gospel. In the
Corinthians he complaineth of their resort to idol temples, their com
munion in idol-worship : 1 Cor. x. 14, ' Wherefore, my dearly be
loved, flee from idolatry ;' and ver. 20, ' But I say, that the things
which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to devils and not to Godr
and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils/ and
2 Cor. vi. 16. The worship of angels, interdiction of certain meats,
then will-worship, and shows of humility : Col. ii. 16, ' Let no man
judge you in meat and drink, or in respect of an holiday, or of the
new moon, or of the sabbath-days ;' and ver. 18, * Let no man beguile
you of your reward in a voluntary humility, and worshipping of angels,
intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up
with his fleshly mind / and vers. 22, 23, ' Why are ye subject to ordi
nances after the commandments and doctrines of men ? which things
2 THES. II. 5-7.] THE FIFTH SERMON. 55
have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and
neglecting of the body/ Contempt of magistracy: 2 Peter ii. 10,
' But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness,
and despise government ; presumptuous are they, self-willed, and are
not afraid to speak evil of dignities.' Thus you see how it began to
work, and that the devil from the beginning had sown these tares.
But was it, then, in the apostle's time that the mystery of iniquity
did begin to work ? Then —
1. We see what need we have to withstand the beginnings, and not
give way to a further encroachment on the church of God ; and —
2. That the word of God should dwell richly in us, for we have to
deal with mystical iniquity.
III. Proposition : That when that impediment shall be removed,
then Antichrist shall be revealed ; only he that now letteth will let
till he be taken out of the way. Where observe —
1. It was before, TO Kare^ov, that which letteth; now it is 6
Kare^wv, he that letteth — the empire and the emperor. And mark, a
long succession of empires is called o Kare^wv : why not then a long
succession of popes, the man of sin, the son of perdition ?
2. He that now letteth will let. Antichrist was but in fieri, and
that secretly and in a mystery ; there was desire of rule, some super
stitious and false doctrines, some mixture of human inventions,
borrowed both from Jewish and heathenish rites, mingled with the
worship of God, some secret rising of antichristian dominion, some
playing at lesser game, as Victor took upon him to excommunicate
the Eastern churches for the matter of Easter. But before this ob
stacle was removed, he could not fully appear and invade the empire
of God and men till the emperor was removed out of that city : while
the heathen emperors prevailed, there was no place for churchmen's
ambition ; their times were times of persecution, and it is not perse
cution, but peace and plenty, that breedeth corruption in the
churches.
3. He, that is, the emperor, must be taken out of the way, that is,
either by the removal of his person and throne from the city of Rome,
or till the Eoman empire be ruined, as it was in the East by the Turk,
in the West by the incursions of many barbarous nations, parting it
into ten kingdoms, and then by the translation of the empire to Charles
the Great.
Well, then, note three things for the time of Antichrist : —
1. Before the obstacle was removed he could not appear.
2. When this obstacle was removed, presently he appeared.
3. The degrees of the falling of the one are the degrees of the
exaltation and establishment of the other, for Antichrist did grow up
upon it.
But they say, the Eoman empire is not quite fallen, there being a
Eoman emperor still. But (1.) the present empire is but inane
nwnen, or iimbra imperil — a mere name, or a shadow of the empire.
(2.) He that then let, in St Paul's time, was the succession of the
Eoman emperors, but this is the German empire ; now, if the Eoman
empire were the only impediment (the apostle useth the word fjiovov),
therefore as soon as that should be removed, Antichrist would in-
56 THE SIXTH SERMON. ' [2 TflES. II. 8.
fallibly be revealed. (3.) Though this empire be not abolished, but
removed out of Borne, it is enough to make good Paul's prophecy.
Dixit apostolus, imperium esse de medio tollendum, non prorsus
delendum. — (Whitaker.) Well, then, since the seat is left void,
either the prophecy is riot accomplished at the time, or else the Pope
is Antichrist, for the nations are long since fallen away from the
Roman empire, and the emperor hath no power nor authority at
Home.
•Use. To give a new note to discover and descry the man of sin.
Certainly Antichrist is already revealed, and we may find him some
where. I prove it by two arguments : — (1.) The mystery began to
work in the apostle's days ; therefore surely it is completed by this
time, and not reserved to a short space of time a little before Christ's
coming to judgment ; (2.) This spiritual usurped power was to break
forth upon the fall of the empire ; accordingly so it did, though it
grew to its monstrous excess and height by degrees, as to ecclesiastical
dominion, in Boniface III., who obtained from Phocas the title
of universal bishop ; whereas Gregory the Great called John of
Constantinople the forerunner of Antichrist for arrogating the same
title.
SERMON VI.
And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume
with the breath of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of
his coming. — 2 THES. II. 8.
THESE words contain both the rise and ruin of Antichrist, his revela
tion and destruction.
1. As to his revelation, there are two things : —
[1.] The title given to Antichrist: o avo^o^, the wicked.
[2.J His appearing in the world upon the taking away the impedi
ment : shall be revealed.
2. As to his ruin, three things are observable : —
[1.] The progress of his destruction, which is here considered as
begun, or as consummated.
(1.) A diminishing of antichristianism : lohom the Lord shall con
sume.
(2.) The finishing thereof, in the word destroy.
[2.1 The author, the Lord.
[3.1 The means.
(1.) God's word, called his breath, or the Spirit of his mouth.
(2.) The brightness of his coming, namely, when he shall come to
judge the world in the glory of the Father.
2 THES. II. 8.] THE SIXTH SEKMON. 57
First, Of the rising of Antichrist : ' And then shall that wicked be
revealed.'
1. The title given to Antichrist, 6 aVo/uo?, that lawless one, or son
of Belial. It is the property of Antichrist to boast himself to be above
all laws, and to be judged by no power upon earth ; for therein he
resembleth Antiochus, of whom it is said, ' He shall do according to his
own will/ Dan. xi. 36. Now if this be one of his characters, it will
not be hard to find him out ; for who is that infallible judge that
taketh upon him to decide all controversies, and judgeth all things,
and is judged of no man ? and whosoever doth but mutter against his
decrees and delusions, if a private person, he is to be destroyed with
fire and sword ; if a prince, to be excommunicated, deposed, and his
subjects freed from all allegiance to him ? Who is he that taketh upon
him, with faculties, licenses, and pardons, to dispense with the law of
God, and to allow open and notorious sins ? Who is he that by his own
writers is said to be tiolulus omni lege humana,freed from all human law
(Hostiensis) , Nee ullojure humano licjari potest, that hath a paramount
authority to all laws, that he cannot be bound by them, whether they
concern parricide, the murder of princes ; or perjury, the obligation of
oaths ; or matrimony, the bond of conjugal relations ? But one
expressly saith, that he is supra jus, contra jus, extra jits, above law,
against law, and without law ; a plain description of the lawless one in
the text ; and another, not without some spice of blasphemy, A pud
Deum et Papam sufficit pro ratlone voluntas, God and the Pope
have their will for a law. Lastly, Who is he that hath brought into
the church the great impiety of worshipping of God by images, and
the worship of the saints and angels, with a worship which is only due
to God ? which is the great avo^'ia, the lawlessness, which the pure
Christian rule condemneth and brandeth for such. If there be not
such a power extant in the Christian world, then I confess we are yet
to seek for Antichrist ; but if there be, none so wilfully blind as they
that cannot see wood for trees, and know not where to fix this character.
2. His revelation : ' Then shall that wicked be revealed.' The word
revealed noteth two things : —
[1.] His appearance in the world.
[2.] God's discovery of him.
[1.] Then he shall be revealed beareth this sense, He shall be in the
world, and begin to lift up his head as soon as the Roman emperor and
empire shall be removed ; this lawless one shall begin to discover him
self and set up his kingdom.
Now to understand this, consider this : —
(1.) The most learned interpreters, both ancient and modern, agree
in this, that the impediment was the Roman empire, as we showed
before ; and therefore as the Roman empire and emperor were removed
out of the way, Antichrist was to be revealed, or the predictions of the
scripture are false.
(2.) Things of great moment cannot be removed nor established in a
minute. The removing of the Roman empire was not all at once, nor
the rising of the pontificate, but by degrees the seat began to be made
void. When Constantine began to remove the imperial throne to Byzan
tium, though the majesty of the empire continued still at Rome, yet
58 THE SIXTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 8.
this was a step to the removing of the impediment, for by that means
the popes grew in greatness ; but as the emperor's authority was
lessened, so grew that of the popes, who still encroached to themselves
more and more power, and that to promote the apostasy and deroga
tion from the pure Christian religion. But as soon as he arose, he
came not to the height of his power, either ecclesiastical or temporal,
nor shall he presently decay.
(3.) To state the progress of antichristian tyranny is not for a sermon,
it filleth whole books ; but thus in short. About the year 600. or in
that century, their ecclesiastical power began to be raised, when the
majesty of the empire was low and weak in Italy, and therefore then
was Antichrist advanced a good step. When John of Constantinople
had usurped the title of universal bishop, Gregory the Great saith,
Hex superbiCB prope adest — the king of pride is near ; et sacerdotum
exercitus eiprceparatur — an army of priests is prepared to serve him as
their general ; this he — (fidenter dico, I speak confidently) and within
six years or thereabouts Phocas conferred on Pope Boniface the same
title, to ingratiate himself with the people of that part of the empire,
after the murder of his lord and master. And then many superstitions
were gotten into the church ; as, about the year G88, the Pope obtained
of the emperor the Pantheon, or temple of all-devils, and consecrated
the same to the Virgin Mary, and all saints. The temporal monarchy
was long in hatching, but yet the beginning of this mystery soon
bewrayed itself. In the beginning of the seventh century, Constantine
the Pope would have his foot kissed, like another Diocletian, and in
defence of image-worship he openly resisted Philippicus, the Emperor
of Greece, and encouraged Justine and Anastasius, tyrants and mur
derers, who submitted themselves to him with adoration. Kebellion
and idolatry have been ever continued since. In the year 720, or
thereabouts, Gregory the Second and Third continued the same
idolatry and rebellion, and caused all Italy to withdraw their obedience
from the Emperor Leo, because he had commanded all images to be
broken and burnt, and for the same cause excommunicated him, and
took to himself the Coctian Alps as the gift of the Lombards. In the
same century, 749, Zachary encourageth and assisteth Pepin to depose
his master Childeric, king of France, and to take upon him that king
dom. Afterward Adrian took upon him to translate the empire of
the Greeks to the Latins ; and ever since deposed emperors and made
broils in kingdoms.
[2.] God's discovery of him to the world; that is, when Antichrist was
not only extant, but impleaded as such ; and this also was by degrees,
God raising up in every age witnesses against the tyranny and usurpa
tions of Home, as the place, and the Pope, the person, as, considered
in his succession, claiming the same power. Five hundred years before
Luther, Peter Bruis began, and Henry his scholar succeeded him, and
both of them succeeded by the Waldenses and Albigenses ; then Wic-
liffe, the Bohemians, who have all pleaded and proved that the Pope
was the very Antichrist ; then Savonarola in Italy preached this boldly.
In the fifteenth century, about 1500, there were some remainder of
the Albigenses about the Alps, some few relics of the Hussites and
Cahxtines in Bohemia, so few and so ignorant that they had neither
2 THES. II. 8.] THE SIXTH SERMON. 59
learning nor ability to oppose this potent tyranny. Then God raised
up Luther, and many other worthies to assault the idolatry, tyranny,
and errors of the church of Rome ; and it is reported in history, that
the angel on the top of the Tower St Angelo was beaten down by a
thunderbolt ; and in the very day and in the church where Pope Leo
the Tenth at Eome had created thirty-one cardinals, a sudden tempest
dashed the keys out of the hands of the image of St Peter, showing
God would begin to take away their power.
Use. If God hath revealed Antichrist, let no man shut his eyes, but
lei him be shunned, forsaken, and abhorred. When Christ was to
come into the world, it was a day of rumours ; some sent to John
Baptist, whether he were the Christ, others cried up false Christs and
impostors ; but the people were alarmed with a general expectation.
So when Antichrist was to be revealed, it was a day of rumours ; just
about the time there was a great expectation : some pitched it here,
some there, until the pit was discovered to the church, and the snare
laid open. And now to run wilfully into these errors, how damnable
is it ! If Papists cleave to him, let not Protestants fall to him ; to
continue Papists is dangerous, for they favour Antichrist, and 'serve
Antichrist ; but to turn Papists is more dangerous, for this is a down
right revolt from Christ to Antichrist. And how God may in mercy
dispense with errors imbibed in our education we know not ; but to
turn our back on the truth, wherein we have been educated and
instructed, maketh it more dangerous to our salvation.
Secondly, We now come to the more comfortable part, his ruin ;
where note : —
I. In the general, that the apostle, as soon as he had showed his
rise, he presently foretelleth his ruin, to support the hearts of the
faithful, though he hath yet more things to speak concerning his dis
covery, ver. 9. I cannot let this pass without an observation,
Doct. That a spiritual eye can discern the ruin of wicked instru
ments, even in their rise and reign : Job v. 3, ' I have seen the foolish
taking root, and presently I cursed his habitation/ By i\\Q foolish, is
meant the wicked ; by their taking root, their seeking to fix and settle
themselves in their worldly prosperity ; I presently, that is, without
any great deliberation, which in this matter needeth not, cursed their
habitation, not as desiring, but as foreseeing and foretelling. I pro
nounced them accursed, or to be in a cursed condition ; when carnal
men seek to root and establish themselves upon earth, to a spiritual
eye, their best estate is miserable and detestable. When we see their
rise, we may foretell their fall.
EEASONS.
1. Their faith occasions such a reflection, which is 'the evidence of
things not seen/ Heb. xi. 1. They look not at things as a,t present they
seem to shortsighted men, or as they relish to the flesh, but as they
appear, and will be judged of at last ; their ruin is as present before
them as their rise ; present time is quickly past. But now without
faith this cannot be : 2 Peter i. 9, * He that lacketh these things is
blind and cannot see afar off/ jjuvwird^wv, but are dazzled with pre
sent splendour, and so miscarry.
€0 THE SIXTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 8.
2. This faith is necessary : — (1.) Partly to prevent scandal at the
prosperity of an ungodly party who obey not the gospel, but corrupt
and pervert it to their worldly ends. David's steps were even gone
when he saw the prosperity of the wicked, till he went into the
sanctuary and understood their end, Ps. Ixxiii. 17 ; that settled his
heart, to consider what end these men were appointed unto. How pros
perous soever they seem to be for the present, yet the end must put
the difference ; there they see the wicked in the height of their pros
perity, as ready to be cut down and withered. (2.) To prevent apostasy.
They choose the better part that choose the holiness and patience of
the saints : 2 Cor. iv. 18, ' While we look not at the things which are
seen, but at the things which are not seen ; for the things which are
seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal/ But
things present carry away our hearts, because we have so dim and
doubtful a sight of things to come; whereas, if we did look upon them
and near, they would fortify us against temptations : Prov.
32. ' Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways ;
£6r the froward is abomination to the Lord, but his secret is with the
righteous.'
II. More particularly the ruin of Antichrist is set forth : —
1. Partly by the manner of his fall. It is represented both as
begun and finished : he shall be consumed, he shall be destroyed ;
the one noteth a lingering delay, the other an utter perdition, that he
shall be finally rooted out.
First, Consumed ; to consume is to waste and melt away by little
and little.
Doct. Antichrist is not presently to be destroyed, but to waste away
by a lingering consumption ; as his rising was by little and little, so
is his fall ; he loseth his authority in Christendom by degrees.
Now the reasons may be these : —
1. God hath a ministry and use for him and the abettors of his
kingdom, as he hath a use for the devil himself, therefore permitteth
him some limited power ; but yet he holdeth him in the chains of his
invincible providence. So hath he a use for the devil's eldest son,
for Antichrist, and antichristian adversaries, which, if their power-
were wholly gone, could not be performed ; as —
[1.] To scourge his people for their sins, as their contempt of
the gospel, and wantonness under the several privileges which they
enjoy by it. God will not want a rod to scourge his disobedient
children; as, Isa. x. 5, he calleth the Assyrian 'the rod of his
anger,' the instrument that he maketh use of to punish those with
whom he is angry. And again, the ' staff of his indignation,' — the
staff is a heavier and sorer instrument of correction than a rod. What
the Assyrian was to the Jews, that Antichrist is to professing Chris
tians. God useth him till he have sufficiently chastised his children,
and then he will cast this rod into the fire. Heathens and Turks are
at a distance from us : our miseries will come from antichristianism,
who are nearer at hand to execute the Lord's vengeance when we
grow wanton.
[2.] To try his people, for he expects a tried obedience ; what
Christianity we will accept and choose — that calculated for this world.
2 THES. II. 8.] THE SIXTH SERMON. 61
or that which is calculated for the next. Antichristianism, in all the
branches of it, is a sort of religion suited to worldly interests : 1 John
iv. 5, ' They are of the world ; therefore speak they of the world, and
the world heareth them ; ' but true Christianity is for the kingdom of
heaven: 1 Cor. ii. 12, 'Now we have received, not the spirit of the
world, but the spirit which is of God/ Therefore God will try who
are the formal and pretended Christians, that serve their own bellies,
and the sincere Christians, who look to an unseen world, and are
willing to hazard their own interests out of their fidelity to Christ ;
therefore, when the saints under the altar groaned : Rev. vi. 10,
' How long, Lord, holy and true, dost thou not avenge our blood on
them that dwell on the earth ? ' the answer given was, ver. 11, ' that
they should rest for a season until their fellow-servants, and also their
brethren that should be killed, as they were, should be fulfilled.' In
every age God will have his witnesses, who by their faith arid patience,
and not loving their lives to the death, should promote the Lamb's
kingdom before they receive their crown ; and therefore, though Anti
christ be consumed more and more, yet he hath so many abettors of
his kingdom left as may try the faith and patience of the saints.
[3.] To cure our divisions. Nazianzen called the enemies KOLVCH,
Sia\\aKTal, the common reconcilers. The dog is let loose to make
the sheep flock together. We are hardened in our strifes against
each other till a common danger unite us. It is noted that when there
was a strife between the herdsmen of Abraham's cattle and Lot's
cattle, the Canaanite and Perizzite were yet in the land, Gen. xiii. 7.
God will unite those in common sufferings whose stubborn humours
will not suffer them to meet upon other terms.
[4.] To keep up a remembrance of his mercies: Ps. lix. 11,
' Slay them not, lest my people forget ; scatter them by thy power,
and bring them down, 0 Lord, our shield.' God maketh us sensible
of the care he hath over us, not by the utter destruction of the ene
mies of his people, but by lingering judgments on them, which affect
us more than if they were cut off suddenly.
2. Many other reasons may be given, because it serveth the beauty
and harmony of his providence to cut them off in their time, and by
such means as he hath appointed, and in such a way as shall most
conduce unto his glory. But I pass them by ; we must tarry his
leisure, and not question his truth and care over us, and be content
that our faith and patience be exercised. If God should bring a sud
den destruction upon a power and tyranny so supported by the com
bined interests of the world, we were not able to bear it. Thorns
serve for a fence to a garden of roses. God would not destroy the
Canaanites at once, lest the beasts of the field should increase upon
them, Deut. vii. 22 ; nor all abettors of antichristianism, lest his people
should lie open to such evils as they cannot bear.
[1.] Observe this consumption, how it is accomplished. If we find
Antichrist risen, discovered, and consumed, why should we be in doubt
any longer ? The pomp and height was much about 1500 years after
Christ ; what a consumption hath happened since, by the reviving re
ligion and learning, the Christian world should with thankfulness
take notice of, by the falling of Germany, England, France, and Him-
€2 THE SIXTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 8.
gary in a great part, together with Denmark, Sweden, Poland, and
other countries ; and by what means hath this been but by the Spirit
of his mouth ? It is profitable to know Antichrist by his rise and de
scription ; but it is comfortable to know him by his discovery and
consumption, and God's blessing such unlikely means at the begin
ning to such a wonderful effect. When Luther first appeared, the
bishop of Strasburg told him, Abi in coelum, mi f rater, et die, miser ere
nostri. But God hath done great things for us too : when he first
turned the captivity of his churches, we were like unto those that
dream.
[2.] Caution. Antichrist is consumed, but he is not yet dead. What
strength he may recover before his last destruction, God knoweth.
Popery after it was cast out, hath re-entered Bohemia and Austria,
and the emperor's hereditary countries ; and what havoc hath been
made of the evangelical churches, the book of Caraffa, the bishop
and legate of the Pope, called Ger mania sacra restaurata, showeth,
wherein many notable things concerning their artifices to replant
Popery are set down. As to England, some hope his consumption is
not desperate, and many fear that Popery may recover again, unless
God in mercy prevent it. We know not what is in the womb of pro
vidence, or how far the prerogative of free grace may interpose in our
behalf — whether England shall be made a theatre of mercy once more,
or the seat of idolatry, and superstition, and blood. But though we
do not know what God hath determined, yet we may soon know what
England hath deserved. And that is enough to quicken us to watch
fulness and prayer, and expectation, and serious preparation for the
day of evil ; and by these things, if it cometh to pass, it will do us no
harm.
(1.) When God hath laid in great store of comforts against suffer
ings, usually there is a time of expense to lay them out again. Christ
warned his hearers to make use of the light, because of the dark
ness coming upon them, John xii. 35, 36. You never knew the gos
pel powerfully preached, but trials came : Heb. x. 32-34, ' For ye had
compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your
goods, knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and an
enduring substance.' Castles are first victualled, then besieged : the
ministry is consolatory mostly.
(2.) When men can neither bear our vices nor their proper remedies :
Ezek. xxiv. 13, ' In thy filthiness is lewdness ; because I have purged
thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy
filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee ; '
Hosea vii. 1, ' When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of
Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria, for they
commit falsehood,' &c.
(3.) When there are great differences amongst God's own people, the
end is bitter; we warp in the sunshine, will not know the way of
peace. Eusebius says, before Diocletian's persecution, fa\oveiKiat,s
ave<p\e<yovTo — the church was torn with intestine broils, pastors against
pastors, and people against people. Ease begets pride and wanton
ness, and that maketh way for contention.
(4.) When profaneness increaseth, and men do not walk becoming
2 THES. II. 8.] THE SIXTH SERMON. 63
the gospel, God taketh the gospel from them. The apostasy from the
power and purity of religion first made way for Antichrist, arid is
most likely to let him in again.
(5.) When a people are prepared for such impressions, there is a
party formed, partly by opinions that symbolise with Popery, partly
by doting on the pomp and outside of religion, and neglecting the
life and power of it ; and partly when indifferent and atheistical con
ceits do dispose their minds no more to one religion than another :
usually then is a nation fitted for such a change.
Now what shall we do ?
1. Watch and pray. A people well awaked will not change their
religion. The envious man sowed tares while the servants slept,
Mat. xiii. 25. Be instant with God in prayer, as all good Christians
should be, when the church is in danger ; as David, Ps. lix. 13, ' Con
sume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be, that
they may know that God rules in Jacob unto the ends of the earth.
Selah.' The consumption is at hand : Luke xxi. 36, ' Watch ye,
therefore, and pray always, that ye may be counted worthy to escape
all these things that shall come to pass.'
2. Eeform and repent : Kev. ii. 5, ' Kepent, or I will remove thy
candlestick out of his place/ Our disorders must be bewailed and re
dressed. There are two stumbling-blocks — the idolatry of the Romish
synagogue, and the evil manners of the Reformed Churches.
3. Be fortified and established : —
[1.] By knowledge. If we have not L&LOV a-T7]piyfj,bv, a stedfastness of
our own, we shall fall, 2 Peter iii. 17 ; in a time of long peace, arms
hang up a-rusting ; and so we are not prepared to resist temptations.
[2.] By grace : * It is good the heart should be established by grace,'
Heb. xiii. 9. The new nature will caution men against many popish
errors : 1 John ii. 20, * Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye
know all things.' A child of God hath something in his bosom that
will not permit him to hearken to Popery ; the very life in us is oppo
site to this dead show and mummery of trashy devotions.
Now I come to the author, with the means of consuming : ' The
Lord shall consume him with the spirit of his mouth.' The Lord,
that is the Lord Christ. But what is meant by the spirit of his mouth,
or the breath of his mouth, as some render it ? Two things may be
meant hereby — either his providential word, or his gospel, accompanied
by his Spirit.
1. His providential word ; that is, when Christ saith, Let it be done,
it shall be done : Isa. xi. 4, * He shall smite the earth with the rod of
his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.'
Those that are called wicked, they are also called the earth, because
they are earthly-minded, and have their portion here, and possess much
on earth, and have great power, by the advantage of which they oppress
his people. Now, to execute judgment upon them, Christ needeth no
more than the rod of his mouth, that powerful word whereby he
created all things : Ps. xxxiii. 6, ' By the words of the Lord were the
heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth ;'
upholdeth all things : Heb. i. 3, * Upholding all things by the word
of his power ;' and brings all things to nothing again : John xviii. 6,
G4 THE SIXTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 8.
'As soon as lie had said to them, I am he, they went backward and
fell to the ground ;' — one word of his powerful providence is enough.
Or, secondly —
2. It is meant of the efficacy of his gospel, as it is accompanied by
his Spirit, called 'The sword of the Spirit/ Eph. vi. 17. And it is
said to be ' quick and powerful/ Heb. iv. 12 ; and Rev. ii. 16, ' Repent,
or I will come against thee quickly, and smite thee with the sword of
my mouth/ By this word he shall confound the falsehood and cunning
practices which are carried on under this mystery of iniquity, and give
it such a deadly and incurable wound, that it shall languish before it
be utterly destroyed.
Doct. That Antichrist's destruction is by the preaching of the
gospel, and the victorious evidence of truth. It must needs be so, for
his kingdom and tyranny is upheld by darkness, which is dispelled by
the light of the truth ; and, therefore, the Papists, as all other heretics,
are lucifugcc scripturarum Dei — cannot endure the scriptures, deny
them to the people, and seek to make them contemptible by all the
means they can. Again, his kingdom is carried on by falsehood ; and
his cheats, and impostures, and wickedness, and usurpation, and false
interpretations and delusions are discovered by the truth and sim
plicity of the gospel, and so is consumed yet more and more. Lastly,
Popery is a dead form of religion, and there is not only truth in the
word of God, but life ; we are not only enlightened, but quickened b^
it. and converted to God, and made partakers of his Spirit ; and theses-
will go against their own experience and inclination, if they should
sit down with such empty, beggarly rudiments.
But here ariseth a question, Shall Antichrist be consumed no other
way but by the spirit of his mouth ? We read in the prophecy of
wars, by which the antichristian state is brought to nought. I answer —
The pure and powerful preaching of the gospel is the principal means
whereby the Spirit of the Lord consumeth Antichrist in the hearts of
men ; but this is not exclusive of other means which God, in the ways
of his providence, may use to weaken his worldly interest. But we
must distinguish between the means God may use and we must use.
Simply to put down a religion by force of arms is not our way ; it is
not lawful certainly to invade other nations upon the pure and sole
title of religion ; but if they invade us on that account, no doubt a
prince and people so invaded may defend themselves. But when a
war is commenced on other occasions, it is the most cheerful cause to
engage in. When we war against the abettors of Antichrist, we war
against an enemy whom God will consume. Constantino warred
against Licinius, his colleague, not because an infidel, but because he
persecuted the Christians, contrary to their capitulations. Lewis
XII. caused it to be disputed in a synod at Tours, Num liceret Papcv
absque causa principi helium inferre 1 when it was answered, Non-
licet; a second question, Num tali principi sua defensione fas sit
eum invadere? Their answers were Licet, which he undertook,
and caused money to be stamped with this inscription — Perdam
Babylonem.
Use 1. We learn hence not to be discouraged in our greatest ex
tremities, when all temporal hopes seem to fail, and we have nothing-
2 THES. II. 8.] THE SIXTH SERMON. 65
left us but the word of our testimony. Let us not distrust our spiritual
weapons, for they are mighty through God to bring down all the strong
holds of sin and Antichrist, 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. Oh, encourage yourselves
in the Lord ; you have the merit of his humiliation, and the power of
his exaltation. Merit, what cannot the blood of Christ do to fetch off
men from their inveterate prejudices and superstitions ? 1 Peter i. 18,
' We are redeemed by the blood of Christ from our vain conversa
tion/ So, for the power of his exaltation, there is his Spirit. The
success of his Spirit on the pouring out of the first sermon, Acts ii. 41,
fetched in 3000 souls that had imbrued their hands in the blood
of their Saviour, and were in no very devout posture at that time. His
word, that is, ' The rod of his strength,' Ps. ex. 2, which hath a
mighty power to convince, transform, and convert souls: Rom. i. 16,
' For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, which is the power of
God unto salvation.' Then there is the power of providence ; all
judgment is put into Christ's hands for the advancement of his own
kingdom, John v. 22. If all be in Christ's hands, why should you dis
trust your cause, or the success of it ?
2. If you would defend yourselves, and wound the enemy, be much
acquainted with * the word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit/
Eph. vi. 17 ; thereby you may ward off every blow of a temptation.
Surely then we should be much acquainted with this word, that it may
dwell in us richly, that we may have it ready ; this is enough to make
wise the simple for all necessary duties and defence.
3. Pray heartily that the word of God may have a free course, 2
Thes. iii. 1, and that God would send forth labourers into his harvest,
Mat. ix. 38.
Secondly, The final destruction of Antichrist: and destroy him by the
brightness of his coming. This coming is most likely to be the coming
of Christ, so often mentioned : 2 Thes. i. 7, 8, ' When the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire,
taking vengeance on those that know not God, and that obey not the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ;' 2 Thes. ii. 1-3, * Now we beseech you,
brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering
together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor be troubled,
neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day
of Christ is at hand/ Others conceive some notable manifestation of his
presence and power in his church ; but this would engage us in many
dark prophecies, which I shall not meddle withal (intending only a doc
trinal discovery of Antichrist), as how long before his coming, by what
means. Sure I am, that at his coming, 'The beast and false prophet
shall be slain, and cast into the lake of fire,' Eev. xix. 20 ; but for other
things, I have not light enough certainly to define that the utter ruin
of Antichrist is not to be expected till the second coming of Christ.
Use. Be not discouraged though Antichrist yet remain after all the
endeavours against him.
It is enough that antichristianism shall be finished and finally de
stroyed ; and for the time refer it to God. If it be not till the day of
judgment, or Christ's final conquest over all his adversaries, you must
be contented to tarry for that, as well as for other things.
VOL. m. B
66 THE SEVENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 9, 10.
SERMON VII.
Even him whose coming is after the working of Baton, with all power,
and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish ; because they received not
the love of the truth, that they might be saved. — 2 THES. II.
9,10.
WE have considered the titles of Antichrist, his nature and properties,
the time of his rise, and with it his ruin ; now we are to consider the
way and means how he doth acquire and keep up this power in the
world.
The means are — (1.) Principal ; (2.) Instrumental.
1. Principal : /car evepyeiav rov ^arava, — after the loorldng of
Satan.
2. Instrumental, which are also two : —
[1.] Pretence of miracles: with all power, signs, and lying wonders.
[2.] Other cheats and impostures : with all deceivableness of un
righteousness ; their general way of dealing being sophistical and falla
cious. Let us a little explain these things.
1. The great agent in setting up this kingdom : * After the working of
Satan/ It may note the manner, as we render after, that is, in such a
way as Satan deceived our first parents, ' for he was a murderer and
a liar from the beginning,' John viii. 44 ; 'I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve by his subtilty, so your minds should be
corrupted from the simplicity which is in Christ/ 2 Cor. xi. 3. So all
this mystery of iniquity shall be carried on after this manner : by deceit,
by the tricks of lying men, and the works of deceiving spirits. Bather
it noteth Satan's agency and influence, and after, or according to the
working of Satan, is as much as by the working of Satan, noting not
only his pattern, but his influence ; so is Kara often rendered, and the
energy of the devil, and influence upon all wickedness is spoken of
elsewhere : Eph. ii. 2, ' The spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience.' The devil hath a great hand over wicked men in the
world ; his way of dealing with them is most efficacious and powerful,
and certainly he is the first founder and main supporter of the anti-
christian state.
2. The instrumental means.
[1.] By pretence of miracles : ' With all power, and signs, and lying
wonders.' These three words signify the same thing, and are often
joined when true miracles are spoken of ; as 2 Cor. xii. 12, ' Truly the
signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all places, in signs, and
wonders, and mighty deeds/ — SwdjAew, arj^ara, Tepara. So Acts ii.
22, ' Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles,
wonders, and signs ;' so Heb. ii. 4, ' God also bearing them witness,
both with signs and^ wonders, and with divers miracles ;' Rom. xv. 19,
4 Through mighty signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit
of God/ Powers they are called, because they issue from power divine
and extraordinary ; signs, from their use, because they serve to seal
and signify the doctrine to which they are applied; wonders, from
2 THES. II. 9, 10.] THE SEVENTH SERMON. 67
their effect, because they breed astonishment in the minds of the be
holders : these were the true miracles. Now, Antichrist, to countenance
his false doctrines and superstitions, would ape and imitate Christ, and
pretendeth to powers, signs, and wonders: as Jannes and Jambres
sought to imitate Moses, God permitting it in some degree ; so Anti
christ seeks to promote his kingdom the same way which Christ took
to promote evangelical truth. But they are called powers, and signs,
and lying wonders, i.e., lying powers, lying signs, and lying wonders,
for it agreeth to all the words, though affixed only to one of them. But
why lying wonders ? Partly because the greatest number of them are
mere fables, notorious impostures, and forgeries ; partly because others
are diabolical illusions, things beyond human, but not angelical power.
If they are Bavfiara, — wonders, they are not o-^eta, as Chrysostom
distinguished, fit signs to signify the truth of the doctrines ; partly
from the end and scope, for that must also be regarded. God cautioneth
his people, that if they gave them a sign and wonder, though it came
to pass, if it were to draw them to other gods, it was to be rejected,
Deut. xiii. 1-3 ; the spirits must be tried whether they be of God, 1
John iv. 1 ; 1 Cor. xii. 3, * No man speaking by the Spirit of God
calleth Jesus accursed.' If a wonder be wrought, or pretended to be
wrought, to draw us off from Christ, or to promote things clearly for
bidden by the word of God, it is a lying wonder, as all Antichrist's are ;
for their end is to confirm the Pope's dominion and false doctrine. The
sum is this, then : that many things are pretended, not really done, —
impostures and forgeries, not miracles ; other things, done by diabolical
illusions, as there may be apparitions, visions, spectres, for Satan will
bestir himself to keep up the credit of his ministers. Lastly, if we
cannot otherwise disprove them, if they tend to false doctrine and
worship, they are to be rejected, whatever extraordinary appearance
there be in them.
[2.] The other expression concerning the means is general : ' With all
deceivableness of unrighteousness ;' which compriseth —
(1.) Their sophistical reasoning from antiquity, unity, infallibility,
without coming to the intrinsic merits of the cause, but condemning
the truth rather by prejudice.
(2.) Their practical acts and feats to beguile souls, by fawning or
threatening, or preferment and persecutions ; these are the arts by
which Antichrist shall deceive men into unrighteousness, that is,
to bring this corruption into the church, and acquire this power to
himself.
Now I shall observe some points.
Loci. 1. The devil hath a great hand in setting up Antichrist's
kingdom, as he hath a great interest by it ; his coming shall be by,
or after the working of Satan. He is the raiser and supporter of
that estate, and he is the great seducer, opposer, and adversary of the
gospel. This will appear, if you consider, first, the properties of the
devil — how the devil is set forth in scripture, and secondly, by what
ways he promoteth his own kingdom.
First. 1. By ignorance; for the devils are called, Eph. vi. 12, ' The rulers
of the darkness of this world/ and his kingdom is called ' the kingdom
of darkness/ Col. i. 13. The prince-like authority and government
68 THE SEVENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 9, 10.
which by God's permission he exerciseth in the world, is over those who
remain in a state of darkness and ignorance. Well, then, necessarily
the devil must be a great friend to Popery, where ignorance not only
reigneth, but is commended as the mother of devotion ; it is into the
ignorant part of the world and the church that the devil hath brought
in errors in doctrine, formality and superstition in worship, and tyranny
and usurpation in government.
2. The next thing ascribed to him is error; so it is said, John viii. 44,
1 He abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him : when he
speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own ; for he is a liar, and the father
of it.' He soon apostatised from God and his way, and ever since is
an enemy of all truth and goodness ; he turned from God, and is a de
ceiver of others. To our first parents he called the truth of God in
question, and was the inventor and beginner of all errors that have
since fallen out in the world. Well, then, where should his eminent
power and residence be, but in that society of professed Christians
where most errors and corruptions in doctrine and worship have been
introduced, where they teach men to pray to and for the dead, to adore
the bread and worship it with divine worship, and to worship images,
and to pray to God in a language which they understand not, and
maim the Lord's Supper, and profess they can live perfectly without
sin, and meritoriously and supererogate besides, and lay up a treasury
of merits to redeem souls from purgatory ? &e. There will be errors
and mistakes in religion, while men are men ; but where there is a
wilful opposing of evident truths, and an obstinate refusing of all heal
ing means, and men will abide in their errors rather than acknowledge
that they have erred, surely they are governed by the influence of his
counsels who abode not in the truth, and seeketh what he can to hinder
the prevalency of it in the world.
3. That which is ascribed to Satan is idolatry. This was his first
and great endeavour in the world, to bring man to worship other gods
rather than the true, or the true God by an idol. So he prevailed among
the heathen ; they thought their images did represent their gods, and
that their gods dwelt in them, as our souls do in our bodies ; therefore
the Psalmist saith, * all the gods of the nations are idols ' or devils, Ps.
xcvi. 5, and the devil was the great master and contriver of this idolatry ;
therefore it is said, Ps. cvi. 37, ' They sacrificed their sons and daugh
ters unto devils.' The service done to idols or images of man's devising
is not done to God, as men pretend who worship them, but to devils,
who are the devisers, suggesters, and enticers of men unto all sorts of
unlawful worship, and are in effect served and obeyed by a false re
ligion : Deut. xxxii. 17, ' They sacrificed unto devils, not unto God ;' 2
Cor. x. 20, ' The things which the Gentiles sacrificed, they sacrificed
unto devils, not unto God;' 2 Chron. xi. 15, 'And he ordained him
priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which
he had made ;' — they otherwise meant it : Jeroboam intended it to the
true God Jehovah, but it was of the devil's invention. Now if the
devil can get such a party in the church as shall not only set up but
be mad upon image-worship, who can more serve his turn among pro
fessing Christians than they who have consented to and continued in
idolatrous worship ? Surely then Satan is concerned to befriend their
2 THES. II. 9, 10.] THE SEVENTH SERMON. 69
usurpations, and uphold their interests ; for what will more conduce to
the ruin of Christianity, or at least the decay of the power thereof ?
4. That which is ascribed to Satan is bloody cruelty, or seeking the
destruction of Christ's most faithful servants ; for he is called a ' mur
derer from the beginning/ John viii. 44 ; and Cain is said to be ' of
that wicked one, because he slew his brother ; and wherefore slew he
him ? because his own works were evil, and his brother s righteous/
1 John iii. 12. Enmity to the power of godliness came from Satan ;
and wherever it is encouraged, and notoriously practised, they are a
party of men governed and influenced by Satan. Now, where shall
we find this character but in Antichrist's confederacy ? In the pro
phecy of him, Rev. xiii. 15, he caused as many as would not worship
the image of the beast to be killed ; and again, Eev. xvii. 5, ' The
woman, whose name was Mystery, was drunk with the blood of the
saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus ;' and it hath been
eminently fulfilled in the blood shed in Germany, France, and England,
and other nations ; and all this to extinguish the light of, and suppress
the Reformation. The world is no stranger to their bloody persecu
tions. Oh, how many seeming Christians hath Satan employed in
these works of cruelty ! When once he had seduced the church to
so many errors, and corrupted the doctrine and worship of Christ,
he presently maketh the erroneous party his instruments of as cruel
and bloody persecutions as were ever commenced by infidels and
Mahometans ; witness their murders upon so many thousands of the
Waldenses and Albigenses, whom they not only spoiled, but slaugh
tered with all manner of hellish cruelty. Some of their own bishops
complained they could not find lime and stone to build prisons for
them, nor defray the charges of their food. The world was even
amazed at their unheard-of cruelties, smoking and burning thousands
of men, women, and children in caves, others at stakes, and many
ways butchering them ; proclaiming croisados, and preaching up the
merit of paradise to such bloody cut-throats as had a mind to root
them out, driving multitudes to perish in snowy mountains. What
desolations they wrought in Bohemia, what horrible massacres in
France, what fires they kindled in England, and of late, what cruelties
they exercised in Ireland, Piedmont ! &c. Histories will tell you, and
will tell all generations to come, what principles Eome is acted by,
and how insatiable their thirst is for the blood of upright righteous
men. And after all this, tell me, who is he whose coming is after the
working of Satan ? and whether we have cause to be enamoured of
blood, and fires, and inquisitions ?
5. That which is ascribed to Satan is, that he is ' the God of this
world/ 2 Cor. iv. 4 ; and again, * the prince of this world/ John xii.
31. He playeth the god here; the riches, honours, and wealth of
this world are the great instruments of his kingdom ; and the men
of this world, whose portion is in this life, are the proper subjects of
his kingdom. Of the saints, Christ is their head ; but of the wicked,
ungodly, ambitious world, surely Satan is the head. There are two
cities (as Austin distinguisheth them) : Jerusalem is the city of God,
and Babylon, that incorporation which belongeth to Satan. Now,
then, where shall we find him whose coming is after the working of
70 THE SEVENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 9, 10.
Satan, but with him who, with the loss of Christianity, exalteth him
self, and affecteth an ambitious tyranny and domineering over the
Christian world, both princes, pastors, and people; and to uphold
the tyranny, careth not what havoc he maketh of the church ; and
the whole frame of their religion is calculated for secular honour,
worldly pomp, and greatness ?
Secondly, By the visible appearances of the devil, and where he is
most conversant, as in his own kingdom. Before Christ's kingdom
was set up, the devil did often visibly appear ; but since, he playeth
least in sight ; when God openly manifested his presence by appear
ing to the fathers in sundry ways and manners, as he did before he
spake to us by his Son, Heb. i. 1, 2, so did Satan ; visions, apparitions,
and oracles, were more frequent ; and where Christ's spiritual king
dom prevaileth, the world heareth less of these things ; but where it
is obstructed, more. Now, two instances in Popery : — (1.) In their
chiefs: how many conjurers and necromancers (who expressly con
sulted and contracted with the devil), from the year 600 to the year
1500, the chair of pestilence yielded, the histories tell us. (2.) In
other duties, the devil had formerly, in the times of Popery, and still
where it is allowed, incomparably more power among men to appear
to them, and haunt their houses, and vex them, than now he hath ;
all that I say is, haunting of houses and apparitions were much
more common.
Uses. 1. A detestation of Popery ; whatever is of the devil should
be hated by us, for we are Christ's soldiers, listed in his warfare in
baptism: Kom. vi. 13, ' Yield yourselves unto God as those that are
alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteous
ness unto God ; but yield not your members as instruments of
unrighteousness unto sin;' Rom. xiii. 12, ' Let us cast off the works
of darkness, and put on the armour of light.' Now, after our military
oath, should we revolt to them that join with the devil and his angels,
to make war against Michael and his angels ?
2. To be more careful to be completely armed, ' For we fight not
against flesh and blood, but principalities and powers, and spiritual
wickednesses in heavenly places/ Eph. vi. 11, 12; that is, not only
with the one, but the other. The abettors of Popery are Satan's
auxiliary forces, whom he stirreth up and employeth. Now, the
devils are of great cunning and strength, and by God's permission
exercise great authority in the world, and the matter about which
we contend with them is the honour of God and Christ, and our
eternal salvation. Therefore, since the subtlety, power, and strength
of the enemy are so great, we had need to be the better prepared, and
put on the whole armour of God. That bodily and human power
that befriendeth the kingdom of Satan is formidable, and that can
only reach the outward man ; but devils and damned spirits are a
more terrible and dangerous party, who secretly blind our minds and
weaken our courage, and strangely and imperceptibly, by our own
carnal affections, promote our eternal ruin.
3. It showeth us the folly of reconciling Babel and Sion — Rome, as
it is, and the Reformed Churches : ' For what concord hath Christ with
Belial ?' 2 Cor. vi. 15, 16 ; « What agreement hath the temple of God
2 TEES. II. 9, 10.] THE SEVENTH SERMON. 71
with idols?' You can never reconcile God and Satan, the seed of
the woman and the seed of the serpent. I speak not of holy endea
vours to adjust the controversies, and reclaim papists from their errors ;
that must be pursued, how fruitless soever the attempt be; but to
hope for an agreement, as things now stand, is impossible.
4. Caution, that the devil prevail not against us ; he once surprised
Peter : Mat. xvi. 23, ' Get thee behind me, Satan ;' he hath prevailed
over them that usurp the highest chair in the Christian church. Let
him not blind your eyes in whole or in part ; though you be not drawn
to antichristianism, do not live in a carnal, worldly course : ' For this
purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the
works of the devil,' 1 John iii. 8. Every wicked act is Satan's inven
tion ; he stirreth it up, is served by it, delights in it, his kingdom
goeth forward by it: he gaineth by every wicked action. Show
plainly that you are not of his party, nor ever mean to be. Give
way to fleshly and worldly lusts, and you are very prone to entertain
the grossest temptations ; and by subtle evasions will wriggle and
distort yourselves out of your duty, as the papists do.
I come now to the second means.
Doct That Antichrist doth uphold his kingdom by a false show of
signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds. To evidence this —
I. We must inquire what is a miracle? Miracles are works
extraordinary, exceeding the ability of second causes, and done to
confirm the truth. Where we may observe : —
1. The general nature of them.
2. Their author.
3. Their use.
1. Their general nature and kinds: extraordinary works. Some
are either besides nature, when the course of nature is changed, as
the standing still of the sun in Joshua's days, the going back of the
shadow on Ahaz's dial in Hezekiah's time; above nature, as the
opening of the eyes of a man born blind by Christ, John ix. ; against
nature, when the operation of it is obstructed, as when the three
children remained untouched in the fiery furnace, Dan. iii. : the fire
had not lost its property to burn, for those that cast them in were
singed and scorched.
2. The author: they are works exceeding the ability of second
causes, and therefore are always done by the power of God, either
immediately or mediately, using some creature in the performing of
them, as the apostles of Christ. Well, then, the primary efficient
cause is God, and the manner of working is extraordinary and un
usual, exceeding the power and force of any creature.
3. The end and use is to confirm some truth. When they are done
for curiosity, ostentation, and delight, they are but juggling tricks,
and have not God for their author ; much less when they are pre
tended to confirm a false doctrine or evil end. But real miracles do
oblige by way of sign, declaring God's interest in or owning of the
truth and testimony to which they are annexed. For God, being the
ruler of the world, good, merciful, just, it is not to be supposed he
will co-operate to a lie or cheat, or leave such a stumbling-block
before his creatures.
72 THE SEVENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 9, 10.
II. That the miracles wrought by Christ and his apostles did suf
ficiently prove that they were teachers sent from God, for Christ
often appealeth to his works : John v. 36, * For the works which the
Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear
witness of me ;' and John x. 38, ' Though ye believe not me/ that is,
his personal verbal testimony, ' believe the works,' that is, his miracles,
' that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in
him.' And when John sent his disciples to know whether he were
the Messiah or no (not so much for his own confirmation as their
satisfaction) : Mat. xi. 4, ' Go, show him what ye hear and see ;' and
what was that ? ' The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up,' &c.
So Nicodemus was convinced by these : John iii. 2, ' We know that
thou art a teacher come from God ; for none can do the works that
thou dost, except God were with him.' To improve these scriptures,
let us consider : — •
1. The necessity of this attestation.
2. The sufficiency of it.
1. The necessity there was that Christ's person and office should be
thus attested. He had the law of Moses to repeal, which was well
known to be God's own law ; a new law to promulgate, which is the
law of faith, or the gospel ; and before this could be received, it was
needful for him to manifest his authority. Besides, he came to
redeem and recover sinners to God from the devil, world, and flesh.
And that he might be more readily and cheerfully entertained, it was
necessary to be evidenced that he came not only by God's permission,
but commission. ' For him hath the Father sealed/ John vi. 27, that
is, authorised by miracles. Look, as in the first institution of the
Aaronical priesthood, fire came from heaven to consume the sacrifices,
whereas afterwards the high priests were consecrated and admitted
by the ordinary rites, without any such attestation ; so there was
a greater necessity then, when God brought forth his Son into the
world, and did first set up the gospel state, than there was after
wards, when the course and order of it was settled, and received in
the world.
2. The sufficiency of it. The miracles then wrought were numerous,
evident, and undeniable, being done publicly in the sight of all, and
therefore the clearest attestation to his doctrine, that flesh and blood
could expect ; such a stream of holy, necessary miracles, that were for
the most part not acts of pomp, but of succour and relief, and such as
could be done by no power less than divine ; not like those ludicrous
miracles they talk of in Popery, which look like a cheat rather than
a sign from heaven. These miracles of Christ could no way be im
peached ; for either it must be by some truth of God, which the
new revelation did contradict, and delivered by more certain means
than those miracles were — but no such revelation was there ; all fairly
accorded with those former revelations of his mind given to the ancient
church ; and Christ and his apostles preached no other things than
what suited with Moses and the prophets, Acts xxvi. 22 — or else by
some greater works which should contradict the testimony of these
wonders, as Moses did the magicians of Egypt, Exod. vii. 18 ; but no
2 THES. II. 9, 10.] THE SEVENTH SERMON. 73
such thing could be alleged, or was pretended, therefore these were
sufficient.
2. After the faith of Christ was sufficiently confirmed, miracles
ceased ; and it was fit they should cease, for God doth nothing un
necessarily. The Christian doctrine is the same that it was, and is
to be the same till the end of the world ; we have a sure and authentic
record of it, which is the holy scriptures. The truth of Christ's office
and doctrine is fully proved, and cometh transmitted to us by the
consent of many successions of ages, in whose experience God hath
blessed it to the converting, comforting, and saving of many a soul.
Look, as the Jews, every time the law was brought forth, were not to
expect the thunderings and lightnings, and the voice of the terrible
trumpet, with which it was given at first on Mount Sinai (one solemn
confirmation served for after ages) ; they knew it was a law given
by the ministry of angels, and so entertained it with veneration and
respect ; so Christianity needed to be once solemnly confirmed (after
ages have the use of the first miracles) ; for the apostle compareth
these two things, the giving of the law and the gospel : Heb. ii. 2-4,
' For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgres
sion and disobedience received a just recompense of reward : how
shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at first began
to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by them that
- heard him ? ' we must be contented with God's owning it now only in
the way of his Spirit and providence.
3. That upon the ceasing of miracles, or their growing to be un
necessary, we have the more cause to suspect them who will revive
this pretence of a power to work miracles ; especially after we are
cautioned against these delusions, as here in the text against the lying
wonders of Antichrist, and elsewhere : Mat. xxiv. 24, ' For there
shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great
signs and wonders, insomuch, that if it were possible, they shall
deceive the very elect;' and again, Rev. xiii. 13, 'He doth great
wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven upon earth
in the sight of men.' But herein they triumph, when did they ever
pretend to do so? Ans. This is not to be taken literally, for the
whole chapter is mystical ; none can be so ignorant that Antichrist
shall arise as a beast out of the sea, with seven heads and ten horns ;
therefore, to fetch fire from heaven is only an allusion to Elias, that
he should pretend to work miracles, as did Elias, who brought fire
from heaven, 1 Kings xviii. 24 ; and yet, in the letter, it was fulfilled
in Pope Hildebrand, or Gregory VII., as one Paulus, who wrote his
life, testifieth, who mentioneth divers wonders of fire wrought by him,
and sundry times resembles him to Elias. The meaning is, he shall
make his followers as confident of their errors as if they saw fire
come from heaven to confirm them. But to return. We being
thus cautioned and forewarned, miracles thus performed are deceitful.
But you will say, though miracles are not necessary to confirm the
faith, yet they are necessary to convince the falsehood of heresies.
A ns. Heresies being a corruption of the faith once received, are to be
confuted by arguments, not miracles ; by evidence of doctrine, not
wonders : partly lest the people be deceived by magical impostures,
74 THE SEVENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 9, 10.
for it requireth some skill to distinguish true miracles from those that
are deceitful, and done by the power of the devil; partly because
verum est index sui et obliqui — faith stated and confirmed showeth
what is error ; so that to confute error by miracles is nothing but to
confirm truth by miracles.
4. Whosoever teach false doctrine, not consonant to the truth of
scriptures, or that faith of Christ which was confirmed by miracles,
their wonders are lying wonders, and, how plausible soever they seem,
are lying wonders, and not to be believed. Surely miracles must
needs be false and pretended which are brought to confirm a doctrine
contrary to that which is already confirmed by miracles ; for God is
faithful, and cannot deny himself, and therefore he cannot .be the
author of miracles whereby things contrary to each other may be
confirmed. If the faith once be established by other miracles, we are
to believe the latter miracles to be a mere imposture ; for Christ is
not yea, and nay, but 'yea, and Amen/ 1 Cor. i. 19, 20. The appari
tion of an angel is a great miracle, but ' if an angel preach any other
gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him
be accursed,' Gal. i. 8. It is a supposition of an impossible case,
necessary to forewarn the people of God against the delusions of the
devil, changing himself into an angel of light. Surely God will never
contradict himself.
5. The miracles wrought by Antichrist and his adherents are mira,
but not miracula, some wonderful things, but no true and proper mi
racles ; else, as Austin saith, Figmenta mendacium hominum, portenta
fallacium spirituum — either the fictions of lying men, or the illusions
of deceiving spirits. Many times the matter of fact is not true ; at
other times the thing done is but some illusion of the senses by the
devil, or something taken for a miracle which doth not exceed the
power of nature. Either way it is an imposture ; and, indeed, the
miracles of the legends are so false, so ridiculous, so light and trivial,
that they expose Christianity to contempt ; or else, if there be any
thing in it, it giveth suspicions of magical illusion and converse with the
devil which, among their votaries and recluses, is no unusual thing.
6. There are seven points in Popery which they seek to confirm
by miracles ; and which, being senseless in themselves, do most scan
dalise Protestants.
[1.] Pilgrimages. They show the shrine, and also the chamber of the
house of the blessed Virgin ; how the Virgin at Loretto was trans
ported out of Galilee into Dalmatia, and by angels in the air, to the
remote parts of Italy, and settled there after some removes.
The story is ridiculous, and I am serious ; yet this draweth an
infinite company of pilgrims there, where new miracles are pretended
to be wrought continually.
[2.] Prayers for the dead. Bellarmine allegeth, out of Gregory, the
miraculous apparition of Paschal's ghost, beseeching St Germanus to
pray for him.
[3.] Purgatory^ All their miracles are framed especially for the
establishing of this point, which is of such gain to them ; as that a
dead man's skull spake to Mercarias praying, ' When thou dost offer
prayer for the dead, then do we feel a little consolation,'
2 THES. II. 10.] THE EIGHTH SERMON. 75
[4.] The invocation of saints. Alypius, a grammarian, being forsaken
of his physicians, St Tiola appeared to him by night, demanding what
he ailed, or what he would have ? He answered (to show a touch
of his art) in Achilles's speech to his mother Thetis, in Homer,
&c. ' Thou knowest ; why should I tell thee that knowest all ? ' Where
upon she conveyed a round stone to him, with the touch of which he
was presently healed.
[5.] The adoration of images, but especially of the cross, crucifix,
and image of Christ. Malvenda saith, that at Meliapore, in the East
Indies, where St Thomas was killed by those barbarous people, dig
ging, to lay a foundation, they found a square stone, in it a bloody-
cross, and an inscription implying the saint was slain in the very act
of adoring and kissing the cross ; hereupon on went the building, and
the chapel being finished, in the beginning of the gospel, in sight of
the whole multitude, the cross did sweat abundantly ; the sweat wiped
off, drops of blood appeared in the linen with which they wiped it,
till at length it returned to its own colour.
[6.] The adoration of the host is made good by such a number of
miracles as fill whole volumes. Bellarmine himself telleth us of a
hungry mare, kept three days without meat, yet when provender was
poured to her in the presence of the host, she, forgetting her meat,
with bowed head and bended knees adored the sacrament.
J7.] The primacy of the Pope hath been the beginning and is tho
of all popish legends. A bishop, being excommunicated by Pope
Hildebrand, and inveighing against his pride, was smitten with a
thunderclap. Baronius relates, that while Pope Eugenius the Third was
celebrating the mass, a beam of the sun shone upon his head, in which
were seen two doves, ascending and descending, which an Eastern
legate seeing, submitted instantly to the primacy.
Use. Another note of Antichrist : these impostures are not only
countenanced and encouraged in that church, but made a mark of it.
The power of miracles : When Antichrist first appeared, ridiculous
miracles of all sorts began to be cried up and established ; yea, and
to this day, these are pleaded, challenging us for the want of them.
What they cannot prove by the oracles of God, they endeavour to
prove by miracles of Satan.
SEKMON VIII.
With all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; be
cause they received not the love of the truth, that they might be
saved.— '2 THES. II. 10.
WE have described unto you the head of the antichristian state ; we
come now to the subjects, especially the zealous abettors and pro
moters of this kingdom. They are described : — (1.) By the means how
they are drawn into this apostasy and defection, eV irdcrrj dirdrri TT)S
76 THE EIGHTH SERMON. [2 TfiES. II. 10.
(2.) By their doom or misery ; they are in a state of perdi
tion: in them that perish. (3.) By their sin, which is the cause and
reason of this doom : because they received not the love of the truth,
that they might be saved.
1. The means : ' With all deceivableness of unrighteousness/ That
Antichrist shall be a deceiver, and that he deceiveth by lying miracles,
we have seen already, and is foretold : Eev. xiii. 14, ' And deceiveth
them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he
had power to do in the sight of the beast/ &c. ; but the deceived
are not altogether guiltless, for the fraud would soon be discovered by
a holy and pure soul. His great engine is either the baits of lust
and sin, which work on none but those that have pleasure in unright
eousness, ver. 12 : the generality of wicked and carnal Christians are
easily drawn from God's pure worship, and true godliness ; either by
worldly means, as by the offers of preferment, riches, dignities, or else
terrors of the flesh. Now, none catch at these worldly baits but
whose eyes the god of this world hath blinded, 2 Cor. iv. 4.
2. Their misery : they are said to be ' those that perish.' That bear-
eth three senses : — (1.) That they are worthy to perish, because they
do not use care and diligence to understand their duty, being blinded
by their worldly affections. That is the mildest sense we can put
upon it ; they deserve to perish. No man perisheth but for his own
fault: Hosea xiii. 9, '0 Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in
me is thy help.' Now, they that will yield to the deceivableness of
unrighteousness, justly perish ; though there be deceit in the case, yet
there is unrighteousness in the case also. Fraudulent dealing should
not so cozen us, as apparent unrighteousness or unfaithfulness to
Christ should warn us. (2.) That they are in an actual state of per
dition, and, unless they come out of it, are undone for ever. The
apostles, when they propounded Christian doctrine, at first did use
this term to distinguish impenitent unbelievers from those that received
the gospel : as 1 Cor. i. 18, ' The preaching of the cross is to them that
perish foolishness, but unto us that are saved the power of God :' so
2 Cor. ii. 15, ' We are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them
that perish, and in them that are saved.' So he distinguished them
that receive the faith, and them that receive it not ; penitent believers
are those that are saved, but impenitent unbelievers are those that
perish, that is, are for the present, during their infidelity and impeni-
tency, in an actual state of perdition ; so 2 Cor. iv. 3, ' If our gospel
be hid, it is hid to those that are lost ;' that is, who are for the pre
sent in a lost condition. We know not God's secret decrees, but those
that refuse and oppose the only remedy, to all appearance, are lost
men. Now, this he applieth to those that yield to Antichrist, showing
them that though they are Christians, yet they have no more benefit
by the gospel than infidels ; they receive not the truth — these revolt
from the owning of it upon carnal reasons : and therefore it is fore
told, Kev. xiv. 9, 10, * If any man worship the beast and his image,
and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall
drink of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into
the cup of his indignation ; and he shall be tormented with fire and
brimstone, in the presence of the holy angels, and the presence of the
2 THES. II. 10J THE EIGHTH SERMON. 77
Lamb ; ' that is, all those that give up themselves as servants and
soldiers to the antichristian estate, and obstinately adhere to and pro
mote that profession, they shall taste of the Mediator's vengeance,
which will be very sore and severe : Luke xix. 27, * These mine ene
mies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring them
forth, and slay them before me/ Popery is the highway to damnation.
(3.) It beareth this sense, that they are fore-appointed to perish who
are left to these delusions ; they are such as God hath passed by, and
not chosen to life. This is to be considered also ; for damnable errors
take not effect on God's elect : Mat. xxiv. 24, ' If it were possible,
they shall deceive the very elect.' The elect cannot altogether be
seduced and drawn away from Christ, for God taketh them into his
protection, and guardeth them against the delusions of false prophets,
that, if they be for a time, they shall not always be deceived. So it
is said, Kev. ix. 4, ' The locusts shall hurt none of those that had the
seal of God in their foreheads/ The delusions of Antichrist have
only their full effect on those who are not elected and sealed, upon
the hypocritical professors that live in the 'visible church. So it is
said again, Eev. xiii. 8, ' All that dwell upon the earth shall worship
him, whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life ; ' and
again, Rev. xvii. 8, ' And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder,
whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation
of the world/ The elect are still excepted, which is much for the
comfort of the godly, who belong to God's election, that he shall not
prevail over them totally, finally. God hath chosen you to life.
3. The reason of this doom : ' Because they received not the love of
the truth that they might be saved/ By the truth is meant the gospel,
the chief truth revealed in God's word, and the only means of salva
tion : Eph. i. 13, ' In whom also ye trusted, after that ye heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation/ This is the truth most
profitable to lost sinners ; receiving is put for entertaining, or believing
the word ; as Acts viii. 14, ' When they heard that Samaria had
received the word of God ;' and Acts xi. 1, * That the Gentiles had
received the word,' and elsewhere. This reception must be with love:
Acts ii. 41, 'As many as received the word gladly;' and Acts xvii.
11, * They received the word with readiness of mind/ And this affec
tion must produce its effect, so as to convert them unto God. Now,
this is denied of them who are seduced by Antichrist, that they ever
had any true love to the truth, or minded it in order to their salva
tion. Now, the business is, whether the clause concerned only the
Jews, or can be applied to Christians ? The Jews clearly received not
the love of the truth, but did refuse Christ and his salvation. And
herein the papists glory of an advantage of turning off this prophecy
from themselves. But the apostle speaketh not of rejecting the truth,
but of not receiving the love of the truth, which is not proper to the
Jews but to false Christians. The Jews' company rejected Christ, and
Antichrist was not sent to them for a punishment, but wrath came
upon them to the uttermost, to the excision and cutting off their
nation. But here is rendered the reason not of other judgments, but
why men are captives to Antichrist. Therefore it is not so to be
confined.
78 THE EIGHTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 10.
Doct. 1. The subjects of Antichrist's power and seduction are those
that perish.
2. The great reason why God sent this judgment on the Christian
world, is because they received not the love of the truth.
Doct. 1. That the subjects of Antichrist's power and seduction are
those that perish.
It is a dreadful argument we are upon, yet necessary to be known
for our caution, however to be handled warily. (1.) It is certainly
more meet for us to have a regard of our own estate, than curiously to
inquire what becometh of others. The apostle waiveth judging them
that are without, 1 Cor. v. 12. I know he meaneth it of the censures
of the church, which are not exercised upon infidels, but Christians ;
but so far we may apply it to this case, that we should not rashly judge
of the eternal state of other persons, but rather of things wherein our
selves are concerned. If the inquiry were only matter of curiosity,
surely Christ's rebuke would silence it, 'What is that to thee ?' John xxi.
22 ; for Christ is ill pleased with curiosity about the state of other men ;
but it is fit we should know our own duty and danger, and to that end
it must be discussed. (2.) That there is a great difficulty of the sal
vation of papists so living and dying, if not an utter impossibility.
Partly because, though it should be supposed that they retain the
foundation, yet they build such hay and stubble upon it, so many errors
in doctrine, corruptions in worship, and tyranny in government, that
if a man could be saved, he is saved but as by fire, 1 Cor. iii. 13;
and no man that hath a care of his soul will either embrace Popery or
continue in it. Where the way is plainest there are difficulties enough,
and the righteous are scarcely saved ; and, therefore, in a questionable
way, none should venture. Worshipping of angels and saints departed,
and images, are no light thing. Nor will a serious Christian choose that
way where the doctrines of the gospel are so exceedingly corrupted, and
there is such a manifest invasion of the authority of Christ, by challeng
ing a universal headship over his church without his leave, and this
maintained by errors and persecutions. (3.) We must distinguish of
those that lived under Popery, rather as captives under this tyranny,
than voluntary subjects of this kingdom of Antichrist ; as many holy men
did in former times, groaning and mourning under the abominations,
rather than countenancing and promoting them. To these God speaketh
when he saith, Rev. xviii. 4, ' Come out of her, my people, that ye be
not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues/ They
were his people while they were there. These were as those ' seven
thousand in Israel that had not bowed the knee to Baal/ Bom. xi.
4. (4.) There is a difference to be put between those that err in the
simplicity of their hearts, knowing no better, and those that withstand
the light upon carnal reasons, and will not retract their errors, though
convinced of the degeneration of Christianity ; for simple ignorance
is not so damning as obstinate error : Luke xii. 48, ' But he that knew
not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with
few stripes,' &c. ; and 1 Tim. i. 13, ' But I obtained mercy, because I
did it ignorantly in unbelief.' The scriptures many times condemn a
way as a way of ruin, but all in that way are not damned ; as John iv,
22, ' Salvation is of the Jews.' There it is eminently dispensed, and
2 THES. II. 10.] THE EIGHTH SERMON. 79
yet therefore it followeth not that all the Samaritans were damned.
Some among them, though tainted with the errors of their country,
might have such knowledge of the law of God, and love to him, as
might be effectual to salvation. (5.) We must distinguish between
papists so living and so dying ; many, by God's grace, may have re
pentance conferred upon them at death ; and though they lived papists,
might die as reformed Christians, seeking salvation by Christ alone,
in the way of true faith and repentance, and so the Lord may manifest
his compassion to them, pardoning the errors of their lives. (6.) We
must distinguish times. God might dispense with many in the times
of universal darkness and captivity, more than he doth afterwards,
when the light of the gospel breaketh forth, and his trumpet is sounded
to call them forth. Whosoever shall compare John Fierus and John
Calvin will find they were assisted by the same Holy Spirit of God,
though the one lived and died a papist, and the other was an eminent
instrument in reforming the church of God ; but an ignorant fear of
separation from the catholic church caused many to do as they did ;
but much more doth it hold good in the times before. Our fathers,
if alive, would not have condemned us, nor should we condemn them,
being dead, before they had these advantages which we now enjoy.
Illi si reviviscerent, &c., saith Austin in a like case. (7.) We must
distinguish between Popish errors : some are more capital, as adoration
of images, invocation of saints, justification by the merit of works, in
hibition of the scriptures, &c. ; others not so deadly, as when too much
reverence is given to ecclesiastical orders and constitutions, penance,
auricular confession, fasting, &c. Now though the case of a real
papist, who is complete in this mystery of iniquity, and refuseth,
hateth, persecuteth the truth offered, be desperate, yet the Lord may
in tender mercy accept of other devout souls who yet live in that way,
if they hold the head and the foundation.
Use 1. Let us not think Popery a light thing, which the Lord so
peremptorily threateneth. Surely it is no little mercy that we are
freed from it. Therefore we should be thankful for the light we have,
arid improve it well while we have it, and hold it fast. What hope
soever we may have of men living in former times, and foreign countries,
where they know no better, but after such express warnings, what hope
can we have of English papists, considering the time, when Eome is not
grown better but worse, and what was common opinion is now made
an article of faith, and when the truth is taught and so clearly mani
fested ; so that for any, by their own voluntary choice, to run into
Popery, is a plain defection from Christ to Antichrist, and wilfully
to drink that poison which will be the bane and ruin of their souls !
Doct 2. The great reason why God sent this judgment upon the Chris
tian world, is to punish those that received not the love of the truth.
Here I shall inquire — (1.) How many ways men may be said not to
receive the love of the truth. (2.) How just their punishment is for
such a sin.
[1.] In stating this sin — (1.) Itis supposed that thetruth anddoctrine
of Christ is made known to a people ; yea, cometh among them with
great evidence, conviction, and authority. For it is not the want of
means, but want of love, that it is charged on them ; and the plenty of
80 THE EIGHTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 10.
means aggravateth their fault, and maketh their condemnation the
more just : John iii. 19, ' This is the condemnation, that light is come
into the world, and men loved darkness more than light/ The truth
was not for their turns, but was contrary to their lusts, and passions,
and prejudices ; and these they preferred before the light of the gospel
shining to them.
(2.) That as in evidence of doctrine was not the cause of not receiv
ing the truth, so not bare weakness of understanding. No ; it is not
weakness, but wilfulness which is here intimated ; not a defect of their
minds, but their hearts : John viii. 45, ' Because I tell you the truth,
ye believe me not/ It was not weakness but prejudice hindered their
believing. They despised the grace of Grod ; yea, hated it for their lust's
sake. Their lusts lie more in opposition to the truth than speculative
doubts and errors : Luke xvi. 14, ' And the pharisees, who were
covetous, when they heard all these things, derided him ;' the words
are, ' blew their noses at him/ The sensual, carnal, and ungodly
world scorneth heavenly doctrine, and pure Christianity is distasted
by false Christians. Err in mind, err in heart.
(3.) It is not enough to receive the truth in the light of it, but we
must also receive it in the love of it, or it will do us no good. To
make the truth operative: — (1.) Knowledge is necessary, and also faith,
and then love. Knowledge, for ' without knowledge the heart is not
good/ Prov. xix. 2. Nothing can come to the heart but by the mind ;
the will is o/oef t? pera \6yov — a choice or desire, guided by reason, and
the gospel doth not work as a charm, whether it be or be not under
stood. No ; the purport or drift of it must be known, or how can it
have any effect upon us ? Next to knowledge, to make it work, there
must be faith. When we apprehend a thing, we must judge of it,
whether it be true or false ; how else can it make any challenge, or lay
claim to our respect ? 1 Thes. ii. 13, 'Ye received it not as the word of
men, but (as it is in truth) the word of God, which worketh effectually
in you, as it doth in all them that believe/ Faith doth enliven our
actions about religion ; to hear of God, and Christ, and heaven, doth
not stir us unless we believe these things. Well, next to faith there
must be love, for apprehension and dijudication are acts of the under
standing only, but love belongeth to the will, and we must believe
with all the heart, Acts viii. 37. There may be knowledge without
faith, as an heathen may understand the Christian religion, though he
believe it not, profess it not. And there may be faith without love,
for there is a ' dead faith,' James ii. 20, which rests in cold opinions,
without any affection to the truth believed. Love pierceth deeper into
the truth, and maketh it pierce deeper into us. As a red-hot iron,
though never so blunt, will run farther into an inch board than a cold
tool, though never so sharp. And love maketh it more operative ;
there is notitiaper visum, et notitia per gustum — a knowledge by sight,
and a knowledge by taste. A man may guess at the goodness of wine
by the colour, but more by the taste ; that is a more refreshing appre
hension ; and Augustine prayeth, Fac me, Domine, gustare per amorem
quod gusto per cognitionem — Lord, make me taste that by love which
I taste by knowledge. Surely we are never sound in Christianity till
all the light that we receive be turned into love. These great things
2 THES. II. 10.] THE EIGHTH SERMON. gl
are revealed and represented to our faith, not to please our minds by
knowing them, but to quicken our love. Faith alone is but as sight,
and faith with love is as taste. Now, it is more easy to dispute a man
out of his belief that only seeth, than it is him that tasteth, and
knoweth the grace of God in truth. This is the true reason of the
stedfastness of weak and unlearned Christians ; though they have
not such distinct conceptions and reasonings as many learned men
have, yet their faith is turned into love, and a man is better hel d by
the heart than by the head. And though they cannot dispute for
Christ (as one of the martyrs said), they can die for Christ. But
alas ! many receive the truth in the light thereof, but few receive it in
the love of it, and so lie open to deceit.
(4.) This love must not be a slight affection, for that will soon vanish ;
but we must be rooted and well grounded, and have a good strength.'
The stony ground had some love to the word: Mat. xiii. 20, 21, * But
he that receiveth the seed in stony places, the same is he that heareth
the word, and anon with joy receiveth it : yet he hath not root in him
self, but dureth but a while ; for when tribulation or persecution riseth
because of the word, by and by he is offended.' So also of the thorny
ground : ' He heareth the word, and the care of this world, and the
deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful/
ver. 22. Now what are the defects of this love? (1.) It is not radicated
— a pang of love or flash of zeal ; whereas we should be ' rooted and
grounded in love/ Eph. iii. 17. Hypocrites had a taste : Heb. vi. 4, 5,
' For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have
tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to
come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance/
Tasted, but did but taste ; did escape ^dor^ara Koa-fiov, 2 Peter ii. 20 ;
yet, not having a good conscience, may make shipwreck of faith, 1 Tim.
i. 19. (2.) It is partial. The gospel offereth great privileges, and it is
also a pure, holy rule of obedience, Acts ii. 41. The word of God is
made up of precepts and promises. God offereth in the covenant ex
cellent benefits, upon gracious terms and conditions : there must be a
consent to the terms, as well as an acceptation of the privileges. The
confidence of the privileges serveth to wean us from the false happiness,
therefore that must be kept up : Heb. iii. 6, ' But Christ, as a son over
his own house, whose are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the
rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.' And the consent to the terms
bindeth our duty upon us, Isa. Ivi. 4. Now as willingly as we yielded
at first, we must keep up the same fervour still : Dent. v. 29, * Oh, that
there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me and keep
all my commandments always ; that it might be well with them and
with their children for ever.' But whole, pure Christianity is not loved
by false Christians ; therefore, when religion crosseth their interests
and the bent of their lusts, they seek to bring religion to their hearts,
not their hearts to religion. (3.) It is not strong, and in such a prevalent
degree as to control other affections ; it is but a passion, a pleasure,
and a delight they take on for a time, not the effect of solid judgment
and resolution — a joy easily controlled and overcome with other de
lights ; therefore Christ requireth a denial of all things, for a close
VOL. III. F
82 THE EIGHTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 10.
adherence to him and his doctrine, and hath^told us, Mat. x. 37, ' He
that loveth father and mother more than me, is not worthy of me,' and
Luke xiv. 26, * cannot be my disciple/ This is a love to which all
other loves must give way and be subordinate. Many love the truth
a little, but love other things more, will be at no cost for it. Solomon
giveth advice, Prov. xxiii. 23, 'Buy the truth and sell it not/ In
lesser points we must do nothing against the truth, for though the
matter contended for be never so small, yet sincerity is a great point ;
but in the greater truths we should purchase the knowledge of them at
any rate, and be faithful to Christ whatever it costs us. (4.) This slight
love may arise from worldly respects. Now in the text it is said, ' They
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved/ It should
arise upon eternal reasons and considerations of the other world, which
only produce abiding affections : Heb. x. 39, ' We are not of them that
draw back to perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the
soul/ In closing with Christianity, that must be fixed as our scope,
not to spare the flesh, but to save the soul, and to save the soul with
the loss of other things ; and that will make us true to Christ. But
there are many foreign reasons for which men may show some love to
religion. As, first, policy ; as Jehu took up Jehonadab into the chariot
with him, 2 Kings x. 15 — there is his compliment to him. Jehonadab
was a good man, and this honoured him before the people, to see Jehu
and Jehonadab so well acquainted. Sometimes respect to others upon
whom we depend Many seem to be good because they dare not dis
please others that have authority over them, or an interest in them ; as
Joash was religious all the days of Jehoiada, for he stood in awe of him,
2 Chron. xxiv. 2. Now such sorry religion dependeth on foreign ac
cidents, the life of others or presence of others, and therefore it cannot
be durable ; whereas, in presence or absence, we should ' work out our
salvation with fear and trembling/ Phil. ii. 12 ; otherwise men only
keep within compass for a while, but they have the root of sin within
them still. Or it may be novelty, as our Lord telleth the Jews, 'John
was a burning and shining light, and ye were willing to rejoice in his
light for a season/ John was an eminent man for pureness of doctrine
and vigour of zeal, and the more corrupt sort of Jews, pharisees as well
as others, admired him for a while, but they soon grew weary of him —
it was a fit of zeal for the present. Lastly, This love may be to the
excellency of gifts bestowed upon some minister or instrument whom
God raiseth up, or some countenance of great men given to their
ministry may stir up some love and attendance on their ministry ; and
some respect is given for their sakes when men have no sound grace in
their hearts. There is a receiving of the word as the word of man,
and a receiving of the word as the word of God, as the apostle in-
timateth, 1 Thes. ii. 13. The receiving of the word as the word of
man, so it worketh only a human passion, a delight in the gifts of the
ministry used : Ezek. xxxiii. 32, * Thou art to them as a lovely song
of one that hath a pleasant voice/ Then there is a receiving it as the
word of God, and then we receive it with much assurance and joy in
the Holy Ghost : 1 Thes. i. 5, ' Our gospel came to you, not in word,
but in power, and much assurance, and joy in the Holy Ghost/ Now
. if we do not receive the truth upon God's recommendation and con-
2 THES. II. 10.] THE EIGHTH SERMON. 83
firmation, we do not love truth as truth ; our contest is not who hath
most wit and parts, but most grace. (5.) They do not receive the love
of the truth, when it doth not produce its solid effects, which is a change
of heart and life, and they are not brought by the gospel to a sincere
repentance and conversion to God, or receive the truth so as to live by
it ; but whilst they have the names of Christians, have the lives and
hearts of atheists and infidels. These were those that debauched
Christianity, and meritorie and effective, by their provocations and
negligence, brought this degeneracy into the church and judgment on
the Christian world. Certainly a man hateth that religion which he
doth profess when he will not live by it. This perfidiousness and breach
of covenant was that which provoked God to permit these delusions in
the church ; the worldly, sensual, carnal Christians, that hate that life
which their religion calleth for. The godly Christian and the carnal
Christian have the same Bible, the same creed, the same baptism, yet
they hate one another as if they were of different religions, and confound
the distinction between the world and the church, because the world is
in the church. And of sensual and godless men we must speak as
heathens, as if they were without God : they abhor that religion which
they do profess ; that is, they abhor not the name, but they abhor those
that are faithful to it and serious in it, who desire to know God in
Christ, and desire to love him, and live to him. It was that Christ
taxed in the pharisees ; they honoured the dead saints and abhorred the
living: Mat. xxiii. 29-31, 'Woe unto you, scribes and pharisees,
hypocrites ! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish
the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days cf
our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood
of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye
are the children of them which killed the prophets.' Christ hath not
worse enemies in the world than those that usurp his name, and pre
tend to be his officers, and yet eat and drink with the drunken, and
beat their fellow-servants, Mat. xxiv. 49. Christ will disown such at
the day of judgment : Mat. vii. 22, 23, * Many will say unto me in that
day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name
have cast out devils ? and in thy name done many wonderful works ?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you : depart from me,
ye that work iniquity/ And such do most dishonour him in the world.
A righteous, sober, godly life is the best evidence of our love to the truth.
[2.] How just this punishment is : — (1.) Because God hath ever held
this course on the pagan world, who kept not the natural knowledge
of God : * He gave them up to vile affections,' Kom. i. 28. The Jews
who rejected Christ : John v. 43, ' I am come in my Father's name,
and ye receive me not : another will come in his own name, and him
will ye receive.' When Christ cometh merely for our benefit, the
unthankful world will not make him welcome, but they will take
worse in his room. So towards Christians. At first men would not
receive the gospel while it was pure and in its simplicity, as taught by
Christ and his apostles, and sealed by the blood of the martyrs, till it
was backed by a worldly interest, and corrupted into a worldly design ;
and then they had it and all manner of superstitions together, and with
these strong delusions there came just damnation. So still the pure
84 THE EIGHTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 10.
gospel is refused, and God sendeth popish seducers as a just judgment ;
men only prize the light as it may serve their turn. (2.) The neglect
and contempt of the truth is so heinous a sin that it deserveth the
greatest punishment : Heb. ii. 3, ' How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation?' Now it is revenged by these errors as a just
judgment on the perverseriess and unthankfulness of the world. The
duties of the gospel being so unquestionable, shows their perverseness.
The privileges of the gospel being so excellent, their unthankfulness is
more intolerable.
Use 1 is to show us what cause we have to fear a return of Popery.
Alas ! where is this love of the truth ? (1.) Some are gospel-glutted,
loathe manna : a full-fed people must expect a famine, Amos viii. 2.
In differences between God and Baal, Christ and Antichrist, few are
valiant for the truth : Jer. ix. 3, ' And they bend their tongue like
their bow for lies, but they are not valiant for the truth upon the
earth ; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith
the Lord/ Contend earnestly : Jude 3, * It was needful for me to
write unto you, and to exhort you, that you should earnestly contend
for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.' Again (2.)
There are many sensualists, unclean and carnal gospellers ; to these
God oweth a judgment. Usually the gospel is removed and given to
a nation that will bring forth the fruits thereof. They that use the
truth only or principally for their own turns, hate to be reformed ;
God will reckon with them : Ps. 1. 16, 17, ' But unto the wicked God
saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes ? or that thou
shouldst take my covenant into thy mouth, seeing thou Latest instruc
tion, and castest my words behind thee ? '
Use 2 shows you indeed that you love the gospel.1 Carentia remedii
is a grievous misery, or else Christ had not come as a great bless
ing. Neglectus remedii is a grievous sin, to be lazy in a matter of
such moment : those that never set their hearts to obey the truth.
Crassa negligentia dolus est : There should be constant purpose,
endeavour, striving, and not cease striving, till we in some measure
prevail. Rejectio or contemptio remedii, if we put away the word of
God from us : Acts xiii. 46, ' Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold,
and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been
spoken to you ; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves
unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.' God will
be gone, if not from the land, from thy soul. This is the most heinous
iniquity of all : Heb. x. 28, 29, 'He that despised Moses' law died
without mercy under two or three witnesses ; of how much sorer
punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden
under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the cove
nant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done
despite unto the Spirit of grace?' So Esau's despising his birth
right : Heb. xii. 16, 17, ' Lest there be any fornicator or profane person,
as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright ; for ye know
Low that afterwards, when he would have inherited the blessing, he
was rejected; for he found no place of repentance, thougL he sought
it carefully witL tears.'
1 Apparently the sentences in this paragraph are elliptical. — ED.
2 THES. II. 11, 12.] THE NINTH SERMON. 85
SEKMON IX.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they
should believe a lie ; that they all might be damned ivho believed
not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. — 2 THES.
II. 11, 12.
WE have considered the sin of those seduced by Antichrist ; now the
judgment. It is twofold : — (1.) Delusion in this world, ver. 11 ; (2.)
Damnation in the next, ver. 12.
1. Delusion in this world ; where take notice of three things : —
(1.) The author of it : God shall send it ; (2.) The degree or nature
of the punishment : strong delusion; (3.) The issue of it : that they
should believe a lie.
2. Their punishment in the next world : that they all might be
damned loho believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteous
ness ; where take notice : — (1.) Of the terribleness of it, it is no less
than everlasting damnation : KpiOuxri for KaTaicpiOwcn, ; (2.) The jus
tice and equity of it : ' They believed not the truth, but had pleasure
in unrighteousness.'
1. I begin with their judgment in this world : ' For this cause
God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie.'
Doct. That by God's just judgment there is an infatuation upon the
followers and abettors of Antichrist, that they swallow the grossest
errors to their own destruction.
To clear this I shall speak :—(!.) To the author ; (2.) The degree
or kind of the punishment ; (3.) The effect and issue.
1. As to the author : irk^&i aviol^ o Oeo?. Here a difficulty
ariseth ; for God is not, and cannot be, the author of sin. He that is
essentially good cannot be the cause of evil ; and he that is ultor pec-
cati, the avenger of sin, cannot be auclor peccati, the author of it.
If he should cause man to sin, how will his punishment of it be just ?
I answer — As it is a sin, God hath no hand in it ; but as it is a punish
ment of sin, God hath to do in it.
To clear this to you, consider—
[1.] He that is the supreme Lord and Governor of his creatures is
also their Judge ; for legislation and judgment belong to the same au
thority. And therefore God is called sometimes our King, and some
times our Judge : Gen. xviii. 25, ' Shall not the Judge of all the earth
do right ? ' Eom. iii. 5, 6, * Is God unrighteous ? how then shall he
judge the world ? ' That is his office and prerogative.
[2.] God's way of judging for the present is either external or in
ternal. As, for instance, there are two acts of judicature — reward and
punishment. In rewarding, God's external government is seen in
dispensing outward blessings to his people, as the fruit of their obed
ience : Micah ii. 7, * Do not my words do good to him that walketh
uprightly ?' His promises speak good, and as fulfilled do good, yield
protection, maintenance, and such a measure of outward prosperity as
supporteth and maintaineth them during their service. David owned
God s dealing with him in this sort : Ps. cxix. 56, ' This I had, because
I kept thy precepts.' So as to his internal government, in giving them
86 THE NINTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 11, 12.
peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost: Eom. xiv. 17, ' For
the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost ;' Prov. iii. 17, ' Her ways are ways of pleasant
ness, and all her paths are peace/ These are the 'internal rewards of
obedience. And so also God often rewardeth grace with grace ; as
Isa. Iviii. 13, 14, ' If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from
doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight,
the holy of the Lord, honourable, and shalt honour him, not doing thy
own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own
words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord ; and I will cause
thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the
heritage of Jacob thy father ; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken
it ;' Ps. xxxi. 24, ' Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your
heart, all ye that hope in the Lord/ Proficiency in the same grace
is a reward of the several acts and exercise of it. So in punishing,
sometimes he useth the way of external government, by the terrible judg
ments exercised upon men for the breach of his law : Eom. i. 18, ' For
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness :' Heb. ii.
2, ' Every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of
reward ; ' sometimes the way of internal government, by terrors of
conscience, or punishing sin committed with sin permitted. Both these
parts are seen in punishing both the godly and the wicked ; as, for in
stance, in the godly, in the way of external government : 1 Cor. xi.
32, ' But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we
should not be condemned with the world/ In the way of internal
government, the lesser penal withdrawings of the Spirit, which God's
people find in themselves after some sins and neglects of grace, are
grievous. But the judgments upon the souls of the ungodly are most
dreadful, when the sinner is either terrified or stupefied ; terrified by
horrors of conscience : 1 Cor. xv. 56, ' The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law ; ' or stupefied by being given up to their
own hearts' counsels : Ps. Ixxxi. 12, ' So I gave them up unto their
own hearts' lusts, and they walked in their own counsels/ So that
the sinner is left dull and senseless and past feeling : Eph. iv. 18,
' Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of
God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness
of their heart/ By the first, by horrors of conscience, they are made
to feel God's displeasure at the courses they walk in ; but when that
is long despised, and men sin on still, then the other and more ter
rible judgment cometh ; for the giving up a sinner to his own lusts, and
his losing all remorse, is the last and sorest judgment on this side hell.
[3.] As to God's internal judgments, the scripture chiefly insists upon
two parts of this internal dispensation — blindness of mind and hard
ness of heart ; they usually go together. Blindness of mind is spoken
of, John xii. 39, 40, ' Therefore they could not believe, because that
Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their
hearts ; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with
their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them/ All passages
are obstructed whereby the word might enter and work conversion
unto God. It was God laid this punishment of blindness upon them.
2 THES. II. 11, 12.] THE NDSTH SERMON. 87
Hardness of heart, in that famous instance, Exod. iv. 21, ' I will harden
Pharaoh's heart/ God doth not make them that see, blind, nor them
that are soft, hard ; but leaveth them to their own prejudice, obstinacy,
and unpersuadableness, and that when highly provoked. The former
is under our consideration.
[4.] To understand God's concurrence as a judge, we must not say
too much of it or too little. We must not say too much of it, lest we
leave a stain and blemish upon the divine glory. God infuseth no sin-,
no blindness nor hardness, into the hearts of men ; all influences from
heaven are good : he conveyeth no deceit into the minds of men im
mediately, nor doth he command or persuade men to oppose the truth.
Nor doth he impel or excite their inward propensions so to do. All
this belongeth not to God, but either to man or Satan. Nor must we
say too little; as, for instance, God is not said to blind or harden; by
bare prescience or foresight, that they will be blinded or hardened ;
because God foreseeth other things, and yet they are not ascribed unto
God ; as that men will kill, or steal, or do wrong, and yet God is not
said to kill or steal, as he is said to blind and harden ; and therefore
there is a difference between God's concurrence to this effect and other
sins. Nor only by way of manifestation, as if this were all the sense,
that in the course of his- providence God doth in the issue declare how
blind and hard they are. That some other thing is meant by it is seen
in the prayers by which we deprecate this heavy judgment. As when
the saints pray, Isa. Ixiii. 17, ' Lordr harden not our hearts from thy
fear;' or David, Ps. cxix. 19, 'Lord, hide not thy commandments-
from me.' They mean not thus, Lord, show not to the world how hard
and blind I am, but cure my blindness and hardness of heart ; keep
back this judgment from me. Again, we must not say that all that
God doth is a bare, naked, and idle permission, as if it happened be
sides his will and intention, and God had no more to do in it than a
man that standeth on the shore and seeth a ship ready to be drowned :
he might have helped it, but permitted it. No ; besides all this, there
is not a bare permission only,, but a permissive intention and a judicial
sentence, which is seconded by an active providence. Many things
concur to the blinding of the mind and hardening of the heart, all
which God willeth, but justly. The wicked take occasions of their own
accord to blind and harden themselves. Satan tempteth of his own
malice, but all this could n.ot be done with effect and success without
the will of God. There is a supreme power overruling, and ordering
all that is done in the world.
[5.] God's concurrence may be stated by these things : —
(1.) His withdrawing or taking away the light and direction of his
Holy Spirit : Deut. xxix. 4, ' The Lord hath not given you an heart
to perceive, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear, unto this day.' Now,
when God lets them loose to their own hearts' counsels, then they fall
into damnable errors. A greyhound held in by a slip or collar run
neth violently after the hare when it is in sight ; as soon as the slip
and collar are taken away, the restraint is gone, and his inbred disposi
tion carrieth him. So men that are greedy of worldly things are
powerfully drawn into errors countenanced by the world, when God
taketh off the restraint of his grace, and giveth them up to their own
88 THE NINTH SERMON. [2 TfiES. II. 11, 12.
lusts. Now herein God is not to be blamed, for he is debtor to none,
and the grace of his Spirit is forfeited by their not receiving the love
of the truth. He is so far from being bound to give grace, that he
seemeth to be bound in justice to withdraw what is given already
by men's wickedness and ingratitude. Voluntary blindness bringeth
penal blindness ; and because men will not see, they shall not see. And
when they wink hard, and shut their eyes against the light of the
gospel, it is just with God in this manner to smite them with blind
ness : and since they had no love to the truth, they are given up to
errors and deceits. And because they despise the holy scriptures, and
dote on vain fables, and would not take up a course of sound godliness
and holiness, he suffereth them to weary themselves with sundry
superstitions.
(2.) Not only by desertion, but by tradition, delivering them up to
the power of Satan : 2 Cor. iv. 4, ' The God of this world hath blinded
their eyes/ Satan, as the executioner of God's curse, worketh upon
the corrupt nature of man, and deceiveth them. It is said, 1 Chron.
xxi. 1, ' Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number
Israel ;' but it is said, 2 Sain. xxiv. 1, ' And the anger of the Lord was
kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go,
number Israel and Judah/ How shall we reconcile these two places ?
God gave him over to be tempted by Satan — by God as a judge, by
Satan as an executioner. Temptations to sin come immediately from
the devil, but they are governed by God for holy and righteous ends.
So again, 1 Kings xxii. 22, the evil spirit had leave and commission
to be a lying spirit in Ahab's prophets : * Go forth and do so, and thou
shalt prevail with him.' There is a permissive intention, not an affec
tive. When they grieve his Spirit, God withdraweth and leaveth them
to the evil spirit, who works by their fleshly and worldly lusts, and then
they are easily seduced who prefer worldly things before heavenly.
(3.) There is an active providence which raiseth such instruments
and propoundeth such objects as, meeting with a naughty heart, do
sore blind it. (1.) For instruments : Job xii. 16, ' The deceived and
the deceiver are his/ Take it in worldly, or take it in religious, mat
ters, man's deceiving others, or being deceived by others, is of God ;
for it is said, both are his ; not only as his creatures, but subject to the
government and disposal of providence, how and whom they shall de
ceive, and how far they shall deceive. So Ezek. xiv. 9, ' If the pro
phet be deceived that hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived
him/ This is a great transaction in the world, a sad judgment, not to
be cavilled but trembled at. For man's ingratitude, God raiseth up
false prophets to seduce them that delight in lies rather than in the
truths of God. (2.) For objects : wicked instruments varnish and dress
up this cause with all the art they can to make it a powerful deceit, and
then it is befriended and countenanced by the powers of the world,
and so easily prevaileth with them who are moved either with worldly
hopes or fears, and have debauched their conscience by worldly re
spects. God saith, Jer. vi. 21, ' I will lay stumbling-blocks before this
people/ If we will find the sin, God will find the occasion. If Judas
hath a mind to sell his Master, he shall not want chapmen to bargain
with him. The priests were consulting to destroy Christ at the same
2 THES. II. 11, 12.] THE NINTH SERMON. 89
time that the devil put it into his heart, Mat. xxvi. 3, being alarmed
by the miracle of raising Lazarus. Birds and fishes are easily de
ceived with such baits as they greedily catch at, so God by his just
vengeance ordereth such occurrences and occasions as take with a
naughty and carnal heart.
2. The degree or kind of the punishment, evepyeiav Tr/Vaz^? ; we
render it 'strong delusion/ or 'the efficacy of error;' that is, such
delusion as shall have a most efficacious force to deceive them. The
prevalency and strength of the delusion is seen in two things : — (1.)
The absurdity of the errors ; (2.) The obstinacy wherewith they
cleave to them.
[1.] The absurdity of the errors. I will instance in three things —
False image worship and bread worship, invocation of saints, and
supererogation of works.
(1.) Adoration of images. Idolaters are usually represented as
sottish ; as Ps. cxv. 8, ' They that make them are like unto them ; so is
every one that trusteth in them/ He had described the senselessness
of the idols before. They have mouths, but they speak not ; eyes have
they, but they see not ; they have ears, but they hear not ; noses have
they, but they smell not, &c. Now as idols are senseless, so the idolaters
are brutish ; that is, the makers, worshippers, and servers of them, are
as void of true wisdom as the images are of sense and motion : Isa. xliv.
18, * They have not known, nor understood ; for he hath shut their
eyes, that they cannot see, and their hearts, that they cannot under
stand.' There is a fatal obduration upon them all along there. Their
senselessness is set forth from ver. 9 to ver. 20 ; they that worship the
work of their own hands are themselves but stocks and stones, being
blinded by the just judgment of God. If it be said this is meant of
the idols of the Gentiles, not of the images of God, and Christ, and
the Virgin Mary, and saints ; still God will not be worshipped by an
idol, and there is no difference between the images of the papists and
the heathens, but only in the name.
(2.) Another thing that I will instance in is the invocation of
saints — a sottish error, and respect paid to them that are so far out
of the reach of our commerce ; and a thing not only without precept,
promise, or precedent in scripture, but also against scripture, which
always directeth to God by one Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. The
scripture saith, Go to God if you lack anything, and they say, Go to
the saints ; if they say, not as authors of grace, or any divine blessing,
but as intercessors, though that be not true, yet that derogateth from
Christ, whose office it is to intercede with the Father. So that this is
to put the creature in the place of God. But it is not only contrary to
scripture, but the very motion and inclination of the Spirit when he
stirreth us or moveth us to pray: Kom. viii. 15, * Ye have received the
Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father;' Gal. iv. 6, 'And
because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father ;' he inclineth us to corne to God, and
yet this they will leave.
(3.) A third error that I shall instance in is, that man may superero-
gate, not only merit for himself, but lay in an overplus to increase the
treasure of the church ; when the scripture telleth us that our best works
90 THE NINTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 11, 12.
are imperfect, yea, polluted; and our Lord himself hath told us that 'when
ye have done all, say ye, We are unprofitable servants/ Luke xvii. 10.
But what will not men believe that can believe these things ? There
are other absurdities as gross as these, but this sufficeth for a taste.
[2.] The obstinacy wherewith they cleave to them. Nothing will
reclaim them ; not scripture, nor reason, nor evidence of truth, but
they still cry the opinion of the church, and the faith of their fore
fathers, and will invent any paltry shift and distinction, rather recede
from anything than once admit that the church hath erred ; like the
obstinate Jews in Christ's time, that denied apparent matter of fact,
John viii. 33, * We were never in bondage to any man,' though they
were in Egypt and Babylon, and were now under servitude and the
power of the Komans. Though we prove they have erred, and do err,
still the church cannot err ; or rather, like the elder Jews in the
prophet Jeremiah's time, Jer. xliv. 16-19, ' As for the word that
thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken
to thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever goeth out of our own
mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-
offerings to her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, and our kings, and
our princes : for then we had plenty of victuals, and were well, and
saw no evil. But since we have left off burning incense to the queen
of heaven, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the
sword and the famine.' Such sottish obstinacy is there in men that
dote upon their own invented superstitious and idolatrous services,
custom, antiquity, practice of their ancestors, the authority and usage
of their great ones, their rulers, the generality of observance. This is
their knot of arguments by which they confirm themselves ; just as
the papists plead for their superstitions at this day ; and to make the
mess more complete, they add the plenty and prosperity they enjoyed — •
what a merry world it was before the new gospel came in, when they
had nothing but mass and matins ; and all the calamities that have
fallen out they impute not to their own sins, but to the gospel. Now,
when a people are thus obstinate, and measure religion not by reasons
of conscience, but the interests of the belly, it is a sign that they are
under the power of delusion, and error hath more efficacy with such
corrupt minds than the truth.
[3.J The causes of it show the efficacy of error. (1.) The sinning of
their learned to keep out all instructions, allowing the vulgar only
prayers in a strange tongue, and the scriptures in no tongue, and
teaching them implicitly to believe as the church believeth.
When the Lord permitteth such guides to order the affairs of
his church, his great judgment of occecation and obduration is
upon them: Jer. v. 31, 'The prophets prophesy falsely, and the
priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so/
(2.) When gain, interest, and ambition move them thereunto ; as
those masters in the Acts exclaim against Paul and Silas, when they
saw their hope of gain was gone, Acts xvi. 19-21, ' These men do
exceedingly trouble the city ; ' and Demetrius, Acts xix. 25, * Ye
know by this craft we have our wealth/ This is a tender point to
touch interest, and when once it cometh to this, they will proceed in
their folly, and defend one falsehood with another ; for the great idol
2 THES. II. 11, 12.] THE NINTH SERMON. 91
of the world is gain or love of money : 1 Tim. vi. 10, ' For the love of
money is the root of all evil : which while some coveted after, they
have erred from the faith.' It were a happiness if such kind of
arguments did only prevail with us to embrace a religion*~that might
convince others that it was religion itself that we loved ; that our
interests did not keep others from their duty, and that we could em
brace a religion for the goodness of it, even to our own loss. (3.)
Another cause is pride of themselves, and prejudice to others ; lest
they should seem to be in an error and wrong, and to learn of a few
novelists — shall they teach them ? No ; rather they will remain
ignorant still. Alas ! it is not easy to strike sail, and submit to the
teaching of those whom they hate ; therefore men continue those first
prejudices they have imbibed, and will rather live and die in their
errors than give God glory by a submission to truth, such a proud
opinion and conceit have they of their own learning and knowledge.
This cause also conduceth to make the resolution more strong — pre-
engagement in a contrary way. It is disgraceful to change ; men
think it is taken notice of as a great wonder, Acts vi. 7, ' that a
great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.' But such
wonders are not wrought every day ; they of all men are most perti
nacious ; but God can of stones raise up children to Abraham. Now,
would to God these causes of error were only found in the antichristiari
estate. They are everywhere, but these cause strong delusion.
3. The issue and effect ; that they should believe a lie. Two things
must be explained : — (1.) The object ; (2.) The act.
[1.] The object : a lie ; that is, either — (1.) False doctrines : 1 Tim.
iv. 2, ' Speaking lies in hypocrisy/ when palpable errors are taken
for truths. A man given over by God to delusion will swallow the
grossest errors and fictions, and that in matters dangerous and destruc
tive to salvation. False doctrines are often called a lie in scripture, as
opposite to the truth ; and yet such things are received by those from
whose parts the world could expect better things. (2.) False miracles
in their legends. A man would wonder any should have the face to
obtrude such ridiculous stories, and scandalous to religion, upon the
world. (3.) False calumnies against those instruments whom God em
ployed in the Reformation. Popery is a religion supported by lies ; as
that Calvin was a sodomite, and burnt in the shoulder at Noyon for that
crime, and the Popish dean and chapter of that place have published
his vindicate ; that Luther was an incarnate devil, begotten by an
incubus. I should weary you to rake in this dunghill ; but I must close
it with the general observation that antichristians will lie ; some
among them call them pious frauds, but they are diabolical forgeries.
[2.] The act is, that they are given up to believe a lie. This must
be applied to their erroneous doctrines, as common to them all ; to
their false miracles and calumnies ; not to the inventors, but to the
seduced, who swallow these things. All that oppose the truth do not go
apparently against conscience, but being given up to the efficacy of error,
they may believe that false religion wherein they live. Let us open the
term believe. What is it to believe a thing ? You may know by the
opposites. Now, opposite to faith there is — (1.) Doubtfulness, when
men halt between two opinions : 1 Kings xviii. 21, * If the Lord be
92 THE NINTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 11, 12.
God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.' This doubtfulness
proceedeth from want of bringing the case to a trial and thorough
hearing. (2.) Conjecture : Acts xxvi. 28, almost persuaded — ' Almost
thou persuadest me to be a Christian.' (3.) Opinion : Mat. xiii. 4,
' Hath not root in himself, but dureth for a while,' &c. (4.) Firm per
suasion. They will censure nothing ; for if of truth, John vi. 69, ' We
believe and are sure,' &c. ; if of error, Acts xxvi. 9, * I verily thought
with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus
of Nazareth.' (5.) Resolved adherence. If to the truth, that is
called * receiving the truth in the love of it ; ' if to error, it is seen in
men's obstinacy and zeal suffering in it : 1 Kings xviii. 28, ' Cutting
themselves with knives and lances, till blood gushed out/ Suffering
for it ; for a man may give his body to be burned for an error, a man
may sacrifice a strong body to a stubborn mind : 1 Cor. xiii. 3,
* Though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profit-
eth nothing/ And persecuting the contrary : John xvi. 2, 'They shall
put you out of the synagogues : yea, the time cometh, that whoso
ever killeth you will think that he doeth God service/ To apply this : —
Many that live within the kingdom of Antichrist, some are doubtful,
some almost persuaded, some espouse the common prevailing opinions,
others adhere to them with much false zeal and superstition ; these are
those who are given up to believe a lie.
Use 1. Information.
1. To show us the reason why so many learned men are captivated
by Antichrist, and live yet in the popish religion, for this is a great
scruple to many. The answer is ready : The Lord hath suffered them
to be deluded by him whose coming is after the working of Satan in all
power, &c. : Eev. xvii. 2, ' The inhabitants of the earth have been
made drunk with the wine of her fornication/ It is an intoxication ;
the errors of that state are plausibly defended and supported by
worldly interests. There is the witchery of worldly allurements, and
the intoxicating wine of errors defended and owned within their
bounds and places of their education and abode ; so that men have
seemed to lose their understandings, and not have that advisedness
which well becomes a man. Possibly they may have doubts and checks
of conscience, but the name of the church charmeth them, and worldly
magnificence strangely inveigleth them. They may know that the re
ligion professed by Protestants is sincere, holy, and saving ; but being
allured by licentiousness, or entangled by covetousness, or puffed up
with pride, are loth to change, or are vanquished and astonished with
fear of death, and other inconveniencies ; or, it may be, do not use that
advised and serious deliberation, which a matter of salvation requireth.
Four causes may be given : — (1.) Self-confidence. God will show the
folly of those that depend on the strength of their own wit : Prov. iii.
5, 6, ' Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine
own understanding : in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall
direct thy paths ; ' and therefore will bring to nought the wisdom of
the wise, and destroy the understanding of the prudent, when it is
lifted up against the interests of Christ's kingdom, 1 Cor. i. 19. (2.)
Prejudice. The priests and scribes could readily tell that Christ was
to be born in Bethlehem when Herod sent to consult them, Mat. ii. 4-6 ;
2 THES. II. 11, 12.] THE NINTH SERMON. 93
yet who more obstinate against him that was born there? They
expected a temporal Messiah, and therefore could not see what
they saw. What was apparent to children was a riddle to the
rabbis. So they expect some open enemy of the church to attack it by
power and force, little dreaming of a bishop, &c. (3.) Pride. Many
of the Jewish church believed in Christ, but they did not profess him,
lest they should be put out of the synagogue : John xii. 42, 43, ' They
loved the praise of men more than the praise of God/ They loved
not an hated opinion. Many may fear the Pope to be Antichrist, but
pride and interest will not let them submit to a change. (4.) The
judgment of God is the great cause that men do not, or will not, know
Antichrist ; God hath not given them eyes to see, as Christ was not
received in Jerusalem ; the things of their peace were hid from
their eyes: Luke xix. 41, 42, ' He beheld the city, and wept over it,
saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the
things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine
eyes.'
2. It showeth us that the prevalency of this wicked one should be
no blemish to providence ; for the permission of him is one of God's
dreadful providential dispensations. That it should have such success,
it raiseth atheistical thoughts in weak spirits ; yea, it is an offence to
the godly, as it is a prejudice to the truth. But God hereby will show
us: — (1.) That there are deceits and errors as well as truth in the world;
much of choice, not chance ; and lest we should think this an anti
quated dispensation, to try the professors of the gospel who lived in
the midst of pagans ; it cometh nearer to us. But he that coridemneth
all reli ,ion on this account, judgeth one man for another's crime,
which is unjust — doth as foolishly as he that thinketh there is no true
money because there are some counterfeit pieces. (2.) That God, in
concomitancy with the gospel, will discover his dreadful justice as
well as his wonderful mercy by it, that we may tremble whilst we
admire grace. (3.) That it is a great evil to be deceivers or active
promoters of delusions, and it will not wholly excuse us that we are
deceived, Mat. xv. 14. (4.) What need all serious Christians have to
pray to God not to be led into temptation. Alas ! what would become
of us if left to ourselves in an hour of temptation ? (5.) Let us fear to
slight the grace offered. Among other threatenings, God threateneth
to smite his people with blindness : Deut. xxviii. 28, ' The Lord shall
smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart.'
(6.) What a ready way to destruction it is to measure religion by
worldly interests. This bred Antichrist, kept him up in the world,
and blind eth his seduced proselytes to this day.
Use 2. Is caution to take heed of spiritual blindness and infatuation,
that this judgment fall not upon us ; that God leave us not to our own
lusts, hearts, and counsels, without check and restraint. It may in
part befall God's people. What shall we do to avoid it ? (1.) Take heed
of sinning against light, either by sins of omission or commission :
James iv. 17, ' To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to
him it is sin.' They will find it to be sin in the sad effects. (2.) Take
-heed of hypocrisy in the profession of the truth. God oweth the
hypocrite an ill turn, and seemeth to be engaged to discover him
94 THE TENTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 12.
*
before the congregation : Prov. xxvi. 26, ' Whose hatred is covered by
deceit, his wickedness shall be showed before the whole congregation ;'
and usually it is by giving him up to some licentious practice or
strong delusion, by which he breaketh the neck of his profession.
(3.) Take heed of pride and carnal self-sufficiency. God may leave
his people to dangerous falls when they make their bosom their oracle,
and think to carry all by the strength of their own understanding :
2 Chron. xxxii. 31, ' God left him to try him, that he might know all
that was in his heart/ It is good to consult with God continually.
(4.) Take heed of following the rabble: John iv. 20, 'Our fathers
worshipped in this mountain, and ye say that in Jerusalem is the
place where men ought to worship/ &c. But learn to see by your
own eyes, that you may have sure evidence you are in God's way,
Prov. xxiv. 13, 14.
SERMON X.
That they all might be damned ivho believed not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness. — 2 THES. II. 12.
THEIR punishment in the other world. Where — (1.) The terribleness
of it; (2.) The righteousness and justice of it.
1. The terribleness : that they all might be damned ; that is, filling
up the measure of their obduration, they may at length fall into just
condemnation.
2. The justice and equity of it, which is two ways expressed : —
[1.] Negatively: they believed not the truth ; that is, received not
the gospel in the simplicity of it, as revealed by Christ and his apostles,
and recorded in the scriptures, but wilfully, and for their interest's
sake, gave up themselves to these corruptions.
[2.] Positively : had pleasure in unrighteousness. In the 10th verse
it was, ' They received not the love of the truth ; ' now when the
meritorious cause is repeated, there is something more added : they
had a love to, and delight in, other things, evSo/crjcravTes iv rfj aSitcia.
Here two things must be explained.
1. What is a^LKia — unrighteousness?
2. What is evSo/cla — taking pleasure in unrighteousness ?
1. What is aSifcia — unrighteousness ? Eighteousness is giving
every one his due; and denying them their due is unrighteousness.
There is a giving man his due, and a giving God his due : Mat. xxii.
21, 'Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto
God the things that are God's/ Righteousness is often put for
giving man his due : Titus ii. 12, * That we should live soberly,
righteously,' &c. ; and giving God his due, which is worship and
reverence : Ps. xxix. 2, * Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his
name ;' and again, Ps. xcvi. 8, * Give unto the Lord the glory due to
his name ; bring an offering and come into his courts/ Now this
unrighteousness here spoken of is principally meant in the latter
2 TEES. II. 12.] THE TENTH SERMON. 95
*
sense. False ways of worship are the greatest unrighteousness that
can be practised ; for the duty that we owe to God is the most
righteous thing in the world. Now, by false worship you withdraw
the glory of God from him, and communicate it to another. Worship
is his own proper due, both by the light of nature and scripture ; and
therefore the Gentiles, which had the light of nature, are said to
' detain the truth, eV d&iicia,' Rom. i. 18. Why ? The reason is ren
dered in the after verses. Ver. 23, * They changed the glory of God
into an image made like a corruptible man.' Ver. 25, ' They changed
the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature
more than the Creator.' This was their aSiKia, their unrighteousness,
or injurious .dealing with God. So the antichristians that had the
light of scripture, though under palliated pretences, changed the truth
of God into a lie, loved their own errors more than simple and plain
Christianity, or the true knowledge of God, and diverted the worship
from himself unto an idol.
2. They had ' pleasure in unrighteousness ;' in these things they
please themselves, not lapse into it out of simple ignorance and error
of mind. And so the apostle parallels the two great apostasies : that
from the light of nature, and that from the light of the gospel. Light
of nature : Horn. i. 32, * Not only do these things, but have pleasure
in them that do them/ Light of scripture : * Have pleasure in un
righteousness.' They are mad upon their idols and images; not only
are idolaters, but delight in idolatry and image-worship : Ps. xcvii. 7,
' That boast themselves of idols.'
Now to observe some things.
1. Errors of judgment, as well as sins of practice, may bring
damnation upon the souls of men. All sins do in their own nature
tend to damnation: Born. vi. 23, 'For the wages of sin is death.'
And errors of judgment are sins, for they are contrary to the rule or
law of God : 1 John iii. 4, ' Whosoever committeth sin, transgresseth
also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law/ Any swerving
from the law is sin ; and they are inductive of other sins ; for ' if the
eye be blind, the whole body is full of darkness/ Mat. vi. 23 ; it
perverts our zeal. There is nothing so mischievous, wicked, and cruel,
that a man blinded with error will not attempt against those that
differ from him : John xvi. 2, * They shall put you out of the syna
gogues : yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think
that he doeth. God service,' A blind horse is full of mettle, but ever
and anon stumbleth. Therefore, if a man be not guided by sound
judgment, his zealous affections will precipitate him into mischief.
As the Jews, that persecuted Christ and his apostles, had a ' zeal of
God, but not according to knowledge,' Rom. x. 2, so the Popish
zealots ; with what fury have they persecuted the innocent and sincere
servants of Christ ! The papists would be angry if we should not
reckon St Dominic a zealous man ; and the poor Albigenses felt the
bitter effects of that zeal, in the destruction of many thousands by
inhuman butcheries and villanies about Toulouse, &c. The Lord
deliver us from the furies of transported, brain-sick zealots !
2. Though all errors may bring damnation upon the souls of men,
yet some more esp^ tally than others may be said to be damning ; as
96 THE TENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 12.
2 Peter ii. 1, ' Some shall bring in damnable heresies.' Now, this may
be either from the matter or manner of holding them :—
[1.] From the matter, if destructive of the way of salvation by
Christ. Some are utterly inconsistent with salvation and eternal life,
as errors in the fundamentals in religion. As suppose that ,a man
should reject or refuse Christ after a sufficient proposal of the gospel
to him, there is no question but this is damning unbelief : John iii. 19,
' And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and
men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.'
But yet we are not to say that alone damnetli. There are other
things necessary to salvation contained under that general truth. The
scripture saith, John xvii. 3, * And this is life eternal, that they might
know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.'
There is the sum of what is necessary to salvation : that God is to
be known, loved, obeyed, worshipped, and enjoyed ; arid the Lord
Jesus to be owned as our Redeemer and Saviour, to bring us home to
God, and to procure for us the gifts of pardon and life, and this life
to be begun here, and perfected in heaven. Other things are of
moment to clear these necessary truths, but they may be all reduced
thereunto. The truth is, the question about the matter to be believed
is not what divine revelations are necessary to be believed or rejected,
when sufficiently proposed, for all points, without exception, are so ;
but what are simply and absolutely necessary to eternal life, and these
are points of faith, and practice, and obedience. The points of faith
are a knowledge of God in Christ ; and practice, that we be regenerated :
John iii. 5, ' Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' And live a holy life : Heb.
xii. 14, ' Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no
man shall see the Lord.'
[2.] From the manner. (1.) When men profess what they believe not,
and voluntarily choose error for worldly ends, though it be a less error
against the scripture, and consistent with the main tenor of salvation,
yet, if taken up against conscience, for by-ends, it is a matter of sad
consequence ; for this is living in a known sin. Some may be blinded
for a time, out of terror and compassion, and their case is sad till they
express solemn repentance ; but when there is a reluctation against
clear light, and an obstinacy in that reluctation, this man is condemned
in himself : Titus iii. 11, ' Such a man is subverted and sinneth, being
condemned of himself.' There cannot be a greater argument of a will
unsubdued to God, than to stand out against conviction out of secular
respects. This is to love darkness more than light, and argueth such
pravity of heart as is inconsistent with faith and salvation. Some
ignorant souls may hold dangerous errors, and which to others would
be damnable ; yet they may not actually damn them, because they do
not rebel against the light ; and may be retracted by a general repent
ance or seeking of pardon for all their known or unknown sins : Ps.
xix. 12, 13, ' Who can understand his errors ? clea.nse thou me from
secret faults : keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins ;
let them not have dominion over me : then shall I be upright, and I
shall be innocent from the great transgression.'
(2.) When they are vented by some professor of Christianity, to
2 THES. II. 12.] THE TENTH SERMON. 97
the seducing of others, and rending of the church, and drawing disciples
after them, this addeth a new guilt to their errors, and maketh them
the more damnable : Acts xx. 30, * Also of your own selves shall men
arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.'
These are properly heretics and ringleaders of sects ; therefore heresies
are reckoned among the works of the flesh : Gal. v. 20, ' Emulation,
wrath, strife, seditions, heresies;' increasing their own doom and
judgment. These, under a Christian name, seduce and lead away the
church from Christ ; they pervert the holy ways of God, and draw his
people from serving him in spirit and truth.
(3.) When, though they should not err fundamentally, they so far
debauch Christianity, as that God giveth them up to believe a lie, and
to take pleasure in unrighteousness, that is, to defend and maintain
apparent corruptions of Christian doctrine and worship. Of doctrine,
for it is here said they believe a lie, and they believe not the truth.
Of worship, for it is said they take pleasure in unrighteousness. A
party thus given up by God we should shun, as we would shun
a plague or come out of Bedlam ; for these men have lost their
spiritual wits, and see not that which the common light of Christianity
doth disprove, however they retain the name of Christians, and make
a cry of the church ! the church ! as the Jews did of the temple of the
Lord, and retain some truth among them ; for such a party is here
described.
(4.) When there is gross negligence, or not taking pains to know
better, it is equivalent to reluctation or standing out against light ;
crassa negligentia dolus est — there is a deceit in laziness or affected
ignorance : John iii. 20, ' They will not come to the light, lest their
deeds should be reproved ;' 2 Peter iii. 5, ' They are willingly ignorant/
Those that please themselves in the ignorance of any truth, err not
only in their minds, but their hearts. It is the duty of God's people
to understand what is his will : Eph. v. 17, ' Be not unwise, but
understanding what the will of the Lord is/ And it is their practice :
Rom. xii. 2, ' That ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable,
and perfect will of God ;' Ps. i. 2, ' His delight is in the law of the
Lord, and therein doth he meditate day and night/ We should be
searching still. But when men will not know what they have a mind
to hate, it argueth a secret sore, and suspicion of the truth, and are
loth to follow it too close, lest it cross their lusts and interests.
3. That the way and errors of Popery are damnable, and it is very
unsafe living in that society and combination. I prove it — (1.) Because
they live in wilful disobedience to God. They violate the manifest com
mandments of God, while they hold it lawful to worship pictures and
images, to make pictures of the Trinity, to invocate saints and angels, to
deny laymen the cup in the sacrament, to adore the sacrament, to pro
hibit certain orders of men and women to marry, to celebrate the public
service in a language which ordinarily men and women that assist un
derstand not. In all these things they offer apparent violence to God's
precepts. And that their wholeworship is polluted with a gross supersti
tion ; as, for instance, to worship images is expressly against God's word :
Ps. xcvii. 7, ' Confounded be all they that worship graven images, that
boast themselves of idols. Worship him, all ye gods/ The scripture,
VOL. III. O
98 THE TENTH SERMON. [2 THES.1I. 12.
you see, denounceth confusion to all worshippers of images, and they
are reckoned as enemies of Christ's kingdom (for it is applied to
Christ, Heb. i. 6, * And let all the angels of God worship him ') that:
would set up the worship and service of them in his church, in the
exercise of their religion, especially those who glory in them, and
boast of them, and set them forth as the glory of their way and wor
ship. No ; he disdaineth all this relative worship at or before images,
which men would give unto him, and showeth that all the powers of
this world and the other, angels and potentates, should immediately
worship Christ. For the second point, picturing the Trinity, God
hath not only forbidden it, but argued against it : Deut. iv. 15, 16,
' Take therefore good heed unto yourselves, for ye saw no similitude,
when the Lord spake to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire ;
lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the simili
tude of anything male or female.' See how cautelous God is to
prevent this abuse, and yet how boldly men practise it. For the third
instance, the invocation of saints and angels, our Lord hath taught
us how to repel that temptation: Mat. iv. 10, 'It is written, thou
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve ;'
that religious service arid worship is due only to God. No creature
can claim it without sacrilege, nor can we give it to them without
idolatry. And God being so jealous of his honour, every Christian
should be careful that he doth not divert it from him. They have
many distinctions to excuse themselves to the world, but I doubt how
they will excuse themselves to God. For the fourth particular, ador
ing the sacrament, I shall speak to again anon ; that is a mean, not an
object of worship. The fifth, prohibiting certain orders of men and
women to marry, which the apostle calleth doctrines of devils : 1 Tim.
iv. 1, 2, ' In the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils ; speaking lies in
hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding
to marry/ &c. For the sixth, celebrating public service in an unknown
tongue, it is contrary to the apostle's reasoning : 1 Cor. xiv. 14-17,
' For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my
understanding is unfruitful. What is it then ? I will pray with the
spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also ; I will sing with
the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also ; else, when thou
shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the
unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth
not what thou sayest ? for thou verily givest thanks well, but the other
is not edified.' For the seventh, communion in one kind, this is
against Christ's express institution : Mat. xxvi. 26, 27, ' Jesus took
bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and
said, Take, eat ; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave
thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it.' The apostle
supposeth that every one can examine himself : 1 Cor. xi. 28, ' But let
a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of
that cup/ Now for this usurping synagogue to come as they do, with
a non obstante to the statutes of God, who can join with them in these
corruptions and usurpations without peril of salvation ? (2.) That
the way of Popery is damnable, because they deprive the people
2 THES. II. 12.] THE TENTH SERMON. 99
of the means of salvation, contrary to the express injunctions from
God : John v. 39, ' Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have
eternal life, and they are they which testify of me ;' Col. iii. 16, ' Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom, teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms and hymns.' The saints are com
mended, Acts xvii. 11, 'In that they received the word with all
readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those
things were so ; ' and 2 Tim. iii. 15, that he * knew the scriptures,
which are able to make wise unto salvation, through faith which is in
Christ Jesus/ This is the seed of life, food of souls, rule of faith and
manners, our strength against temptations : 1 John ii. 14, ' I have
written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of
God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.' Now to
deprive the Lord's people of the bread of life, and word of life, what
is it but to leave them to perish ?
The great charge is, they have pleasure in unrighteousness, that
is, delight in idolatry, and corrupt or false worship, which is the
greatest unrighteousness man can be guilty of. To evidence this, let
us inquire — (1.) What is idolatry ? (2.) Prove how notoriously they
are guilty of it.
First, What is idolatry ? It is a worshipping of a creature with
divine worship, and whosoever giveth divine worship to a creature
committeth idolatry. This proposition is evident in the scripture ; as
when the Israelites worshipped the calf, literal or metaphorical idolatry,
they are called idolaters : 1 Cor. x. 7, ' Neither be ye idolaters, as were
some of them ; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink,
and rose up to play/ And the covetous, that giveth that delight and
trust to his wealth which is only due to God, is called an idolater :
Eph. v. 5, * Nor covetous man, who is an idolater ;' and in many
other places.
Secondly, Now, that the papists are guilty of this, I prove : —
1. By the several kinds of their idolatry : they have more variety of
objects of worship than any society of men that ever lived in the world.
First, Angels are creatures, and that they worship angels them
selves confess. They consecrate churches unto them, offer solemn
prayers unto them, and own the adoring them, though an angel for-
biddeth this adoration : Eev. xix. 10, ' And he said unto me, See
thou do it not, I am thy fellow-servant/ &c. And St Paul telleth us,
that they that worship angels do not hold the head, Col. i. 18, 19.
So that angel-worship proveth to be a damnable error.
Secondly, The adoration of saints, to whom they give religious wor
ship, and invoke them as helpers, and honour them with fastings,
watchings, and prayers, as Suarez acknowledged ; and yet God is ex
press that he ' will not give his glory to another,' Isa. xlii. 8. They
are to be honoured indeed for imitation, but not adored for religion.
The third object is the Virgin Mary, to whom they pray more than
they do to God. In the rosary there is this prayer : Beata Maria,
salva omnes qui le glorificant — and we beseech thee to hear us, good
Lady ; that address, Honstra te esse matrem, and one divided, inter
ubera et vulnera, the breasts of the Virgin and wounds of Christ, as
if the milk of the one were as sovereign and as precious as the blood
100 THE TENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 12.
of the other. It were endless to rake in this filthy puddle : how many
books are there concluded with Laus Deo et Virgini Deiparce ? —
that sometimes there is a more present relief by commemorating the
name of Mary than by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus ; — in
their exclamations, Jesu I Maria ! — how often in their Te Deum,
We praise thee, 0 Lady f
Fourthly, Adoration of images. This is more foul than all the
former, because directed to a more gross object. This is prophesied
of Antichrist, that he and his abettors shall ' worship idols of silver,
and gold, and brass, and wood, and stone/ Rev. ix. 20. Now tell
a papist of this, and they say they do not terminate their worship
in the image, but in the party whom it representeth ; the same said
the pagan, Non lapidem sed Jovem in lapide (Julian the apostate).
But God hath forbidden bowing to or before an image.
Fifthly, The worshipping of the cross, not only by cupping, that
is, bowing, cringing, but prayers. 0 crux, ave ! spes unica hoc pas-
sionis tempore, auge piis justitiam reisque dona veniam — All hail, 0
cross ! our only hope this time of passion ; augment the godly's Devo
tion, and forgive the transgression of the guilty.
Sixthly, The bread in the sacrament ; the papists give it cultum
latrice, that worship which is due to God. Those heathens worshipped
living animals, but these adore a piece of bread, kneel to it in their
chapels and oratories, yea, in the midst of the streets when it is car
ried in procession. These are the idols whom they worship ; and
what hope of salvation is there in a religion where the heart is turned
so much from God to the creature ?
2. That they are more culpable than the heathens. (1.) As to their
hypocrisy, by distinctions and veil of piety wherewith they disguise
all this ; for this delight in unrighteousness was called before, ' the
deceivableness of unrighteousness.' They profess to abhor idols, and
yet worship images, and make that a point of Christianity which is
directly contrary to the drift of it, which is to teach us to worship God
in the Spirit. (2.) As to their helps against it, the pagans were never
taught to do better ; though they sinned against the light of nature
in worshipping God by images, yet they had no scripture, no such
express prohibitions to caution them as we have from God. They
pretend to believe the scriptures, yet how do they seek to evade the
force of them by crafty distinctions that will never satisfy conscience,
though they help to blind the mind and harden the heart. That
which I urge is this, they were never interdicted this kind of worship
by their gods ; but these know that it is severely forbidden by our
God, and the second commandment so stareth in their faces that it is
expunged out of their catechisms ; and Vasquez is bold to affirm that
the second commandment is ceremonial. Lactantius of old said, Non
est dubium, religio nulla est ubi cujusque simulachrum est. (3.) The
Pagans did adore their gods in their images, but never was any so
sottish among them to imagine that an image was to be adored with
the same degree of worship as God himself ; but this is the corrupt
doctrine of the papists, that an image is to be worshipped with the
same worship wherewith God himself is worshipped. Imagini Christi
latria debetur (Aquinas) ; that is, the proper worship of God.
2 THES. II. 12.] THE TENTH SERMON. 101
Use 1. To show how necessary it is to take heed that we be not
found among the followers of Antichrist, since these errors are
damnable. Salvation and damnation are not trifles, nor matters to
be played withal. Surely we need have our eyes in our head, and not
to be hoodwinked, when we are upon the brink of a bottomless gulf.
Both sides lay damnation at one another's door : they, for our depart
ing from the catholic church, out of which is no salvation, as they
pretend ; we, upon their departing from the catholic faith and sim
plicity of the gospel. Now external order is not of such consideration
as faith ; but when they will be able to prove that Christ hath settled
this order in the church, that all his subjects should be obedient to
one universal visible head, and that this head is the Pope, and there
fore when their very order is an encroachment and usurpation, to
depart from them is to return to Christ. Again, where is salvation
most likely to be found ? rather with them who seek all their religion
in the scriptures, and stick there, or with those who, not contented
with the apostolical doctrine contained in the scriptures, have brought
in unwritten traditions as an equal rule of faith with scripture, and
the sacrifice of the mass and purgatory, the religious invocations of
saints, and many other enormities, and uphold these innovations with
all manner of tyranny and cruelty exercised upon Christ's faithful
servants ? If men go to heaven without prayers which they under
stand, and scriptures, half Christ's sacrament, a piece of his merits,
and some superstitious observances, yea, plain idolatry, then the way
to heaven is sooner to be had in Popery. But he that hath but half
an eye may soon see which is the surer side. Surely the surest way
to avoid damnation is to avoid sin. Now, where are souls so much in
danger of sin as in the Koman society, where so little is given to
internal life and piety, and so much to external pomp and service ;
and where errors are so palpable, that either men do not believe them
with their hearts, or, if their hearts were upright and not perverse
and obstinate, could not believe them ? But just so is the way of
Popery to true Christianity. Surely whatever it be to papists, it
would be absolutely damnable to us, as wilfully to thrust ourselves
upon apparent ruin. There is a cavil or pretence which I shall speak
unto on this occasion : that many Protestants confess papists may
be saved in their faith ; whereas they hold Protestants and other
heretics may not be saved out of the catholic church ; and therefore
it is safe to enter into that way which is safe by the consent of both
parts.
Ans. (1.) Men's opinions are no ground of faith. Persons may be in
a sad, woeful case, that men speak well of : Luke vi. 26, * Woe unto
you when all men shall speak well of you ! ' It is not what man saith,
but what the word of God saith. Now the word speaketh terrible
things to them : Them that perish, and that they all might be damned
who believed not the truth, &c. (2.) The word of God teacheth us to
judge of the way, rather than persons, who stand or fall to their own
master. The way is damnable. If, on the one side, there be charity
to some persons that sin of invincible ignorance, and are ' saved as
by fire,' 1 Cor. iii. 13, which the other side will not grant to a con
trary persuasion; it argueth charity on one side, which hopeth all
102 THE ELEVENTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 13.
things ; malice on the other, who rashly condemn men without evi
dence, yea, against it. (3.) If this argument would hold good, it had
been better, in Christ and the apostles' time, to be a Jewish proselyte
than a Christian. Christ acknowledged ' salvation is of the Jews,' —
their promises of adoption and glory ; but the Jews pronounced him
and his followers accursed — scourged, imprisoned them ; yet did not
get so far as papists, to murder and butcher them. Suppose a little
time that Catholics owned Donatists as brethren, allowed their bap
tism ; but Donatists are re-baptised, and upon pain of damnation require
all so to be, and say, Save thy soul, become a Christian. Now a
pagan should rather by this argument join himself to Donatists than
Catholics. Lastly, the argument may be retorted — A Protestant
keepeth himself to his Bible, baptismal covenant, creed, but denieth
many things which papists believe and practise, as papal infallibility,
transubstantiation, purgatory, invocation of saints, worshipping of
images. They cannot but say Protestants are in the right.
Use 2. Observe the degrees of obduration, not receiving the truth
in the love of it, believing a lie, discarding truth, and then taking
pleasure in unrighteousness, and then cometh damnation.
SEEMON XI.
But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because the Lord hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation, through sanctijication of the Spirit, and
belief of the truth.— -2 THES. II. 13.
THE adversative particle but showeth what respect these words have
to what went before. He had spoken of God's direful judgment, of
sending strong delusion on them that had no love to the pure truth,
but sinned against light, and had pleasure in the false worship and
superstitions countenanced by the world. Now, lest the Thessalonians
should be troubled at this sad prediction, he showeth what cause he
had to bless God in their behalf. The subjoining of this consolation
doth teach us three things : —
1. That it is a great favour of God to us to escape antichristian
errors. They are so dangerous in their own nature, so insinuative and
inveigling by plausible appearance, and accompanied with such worldly
baits and advantages, that it is a great mercy that God hath taught us
better things. But then be sure you be in the right out of conscience
and evidence, not out of faction and interest ; and that you hate Popery
out of the love of the truth, rather than because you are out of the
reach of the temptation. However, it is a great mercy that God keepeth
off the temptation till we are better settled in religion.
2. That the election of God giveth a people great advantages against
errors, especially against the impostures of Antichrist ; for when he
speaketh of the sad estate of those who are seduced by the man of sin,
2 THES. II. 13.] THE ELEVENTH SERMON. 103
he presently addeth, ' But we are bound to give thanks to God for you,
for he hath chosen you to salvation/ You will say the Thessalonians
received the gospel before these corruptions were brought into the
church ; but, though Antichrist was not then in being, and this corrupt
Christianity not then set afoot, yet there were some preparations for it.
The mystery of iniquity already worketh, and they were preserved
from the taint of it by the election of God ; for either God suffereth not
the elect to be deceived in momentous points, or sooner or later he
reduceth them : 'The purpose of God according to election must
stand/ Kom. ix. 11 ; and Kom. xi. 7, ' The election hath obtained, and
the rest were blinded ; ' so 2 Tim. ii. 18, 19, ' They have overthrown
the faith of some, nevertheless the foundation of the Lord standeth
sure/ Still the elect of God escape the seduction, and especially anti-
christian error : Rev. xiii. 8, ' The dwellers upon earth shall worship
him, whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life/
3. How careful we should be to support the hearts of God's people,
when we speak of his terrible judgments on the wicked. This was
the practice of the apostles everywhere ; as when the author to the
Hebrews had spoken of the dreadful estate of apostates, ' whose end is
to be burned : ' Heb. vi. 9, ' But we are persuaded better things of you,
and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak ; ; he did
not condemn them all as apostates, nor would discourage them by
that terrible threatening, So again, after another terrible passage :
Heb. x. 39, ' But we are not of them that draw back to perdition, but
of them that believe to the saving of the soul.' Once more, when
another apostle had spoken of the sin unto death, which is not to be
prayed for, he presently addeth, 1 John v. 18, 19, 'Whosoever is
born of God, sinneth not ; but he that is begotten of God keepeth
himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. And we know that
we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness/ Zuinglius
saith, Bone Christiane, hcec nihil ad te, &c. — Good Christian, this is
not thy portion, when he had flashed the terrors of the Lord in the
face of sinners. The reasons of this are partly with respect to the
saints, who, sometimes out of weakness and infirmity, and sometimes
out of tenderness of conscience, are apt to be startled, electorum corda
semper ad se sollicite pudeant (Gregor.) We deserve such dreadful
judgments, and therefore fear them ; partly, with respect to ourselves,
that we may rightly divide the word of truth : 2 Tim. ii. 15, ' Study to
show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth/ Give every one his
portion ; make not their hearts sad whom God would not make sad ;
and, therefore, they are much to blame who, in reproving sinners, stab
a saint at the heart, and take the doctrine but for a colour to make a
perverse application. The apostle here useth more tenderness : * God
shall send them strong delusion. But we are bound always to give
thanks for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord ; because the Lord hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of
the Spirit and belief of the truth/
In the words are two things : —
1. An acknowledgment of this obligation to give thanks for them:
but we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, &c.
104 THE ELEVENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 13.
2. The matter or particular cause of his thanksgiving : because the
Lord hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, &c.
First, There are — (1.) The titles he giveth : ' brethren/ and ' beloved
of the Lord.' They were not only beloved of the apostle, but the Lord
himself; both with an antecedent love, bestowing grace upon them,
and also a consequent love, they believing in his name, living accord
ing to his precepts, suffering for the truth. (2.) His obligation to
bless God in their behalf: ' We are bound to give thanks to God
always for you.' There is — First, * Giving thanks,' which showeth
his esteem of the blessing. Secondly, ' Always/ which showeth how
deeply he was affected with it. (3.) 'O^etXcyteu, ' We are bound ;' he
acknowledged a debt and bond of duty. We must not only give
thanks to God for our own election, but the election of others, out of
the law of brotherly love, we loving them as our own souls, and respect
to the glory of God, which is promoted by the salvation of others as
well as ourselves.
Secondly, The matter of the thanksgiving, their election to salvation,
which is two ways amplified: — (1.) By the antiquity of it: 'from the
beginning ; ' that is, from everlasting, for so it is taken sometimes ; as
John i. 1, ' In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God ; ' that is, before the first point of time, before God began to create
all things. (2.) From the means of its accomplishment. Two are
mentioned — one on God's part, ' the sanctification of the Spirit ; ' the
other on ours, ' the belief of the truth.' From the whole observe :—
Doct. That the great matter of our thanksgiving to God is his
eternal election of us, whether for ourselves or others ; this is that
which leaveth a debt, or an indispensable obligation, always to bless
and praise his name.
In pursuing this point I shall first consider how election is here set
forth ; secondly, give you the reasons why this is the great matter of
thanksgiving : —
1. How it is here set forth.
[1 .] By the rise of it, which is the mere love of God ; for he calletli
these ' brethren, beloved of the Lord ; ' and that the only original
cause and motive of election is God's love arid grace. This is asserted
in other scriptures ; as, for instance, in the types of election and repro
bation : Rom. ix. 13, ' Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated/
God's respect to Jacob above Esau is ascribed to his love. So to the
posterity of Jacob, whom he distinguished from other nations : Deufc.
vii. 7, 8, ' The Lord did not set his love upon you, and choose you,
because ye were more in number than any people, for ye were the
fewest of all people ; but because the Lord loved you.' And still the
Lord's election is an election of grace. There is no antecedent
worthiness in the people whom he chooseth : 2 Tim. i. 9, * Not accord
ing to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given in Christ Jesus, before the world began.' Now grace is
nothing but the love of God working freely and of its own inclination.
[2.] The act itself: he ' hath chosen you ; ' making a distinction be
tween them arid others. Upon them he shall send strong delusion,
but you hath he chosen to salvation through the belief of the truth.
Those whom God hath chosen he separates from the world of the uii-
2 THES. II. 13.] THE ELEVENTH SERMON. 105
godly, or the corrupt heap of mankind, and consecrateth them unto
himself ; so that election is not a taking all, but some, and passing by
others : 1 John v. 19, ' We are of God, and the whole world lieth in
wickedness.' A choice implieth a setting apart some for objects of his
grace and instruments of his glory in the world, Ps. iv. 3. And the
number is certain, for their names are said to be written in the rolls
and records of heaven, when others are not written : Luke x. 20, ' Re
joice not that the spirits are subject unto you ; but rather rejoice be
cause your names are written in heaven : ' Phil. iv. 3, ' Whose names
are written in the book of life/ And others are said not to be written :
Rev. xvii. 8, ' And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose
names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the
world/ And Rev. xx. 15, ' And whosoever was not found written in
the book of life was cast into the lake of fire ; ' namely, those that
perish by these delusions.
[3.] It is set forth by the antiquity of it : ' from the beginning.'
Eph. i. 4, ' He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world ; ' and Mat. xxv. 34, * Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world ;'
namely, as they belonged to his choice election. Love in God is of an
old standing, even from all eternity. His thoughts and purposes of
love were towards us a long time before they were discovered. Surely
the ancientness of his love should beget an honourable esteem of it in
our hearts ; for who are we, that the thoughts of God should be taken
up about us so long ago ? And what is from everlasting is to ever
lasting, Ps. ciii. 17 ; for what is from eternity is to eternity, and de-
pendeth not upon the accidents of time.
[4.] By the means of its accomplishment. Two are mentioned, one
on God's part, the other on ours — ' the sanctification of the Spirit,
and the belief of the truth.' Where note : —
(1.) That God's decree is both of ends and means, for all his pur
poses are executed by fit means. He that hath chosen us to salvation hath
also chosen us to be holy, and to believe the truth. And without the
means the end cannot be obtained ; for without faith and holiness no
grown person shall see God or escape condemnation. As to faith, it is
clear : John iii. 36, ' He that believeth not, the wrath of God abideth
on him.' And holiness is indispensably necessary : Heb. xii. 14,
' Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.' God had assured
Paul, Acts xxvii. 22, ' That there should be no loss of any man's life
amongst them, except of the ship ;' and afterwards, ver. 31, Paul tell-
eth them, ' Except these abide in the ship ye cannot be saved.' How
could the assurance given to Paul from God, and Paul's caution to the
mariners stand together ? Doth the purpose of God depend upon the
will and actions of men ? I answer — Not as a cause from whence it
receiveth its force and strength, but as a means appointed also by
God to the execution of his decree. For by the same decree God
appointeth the event, what he will do, and the means by which he will
have it to be done ; and the Lord revealing by his word this conjunc
tion of end and means, there is a necessity of duty lying upon man^to
use these means, and not to expect the end without -them. God in
tended to save all in the ship, and yet the mariners must abide in the
106 THE ELEVENTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 13.
sliip. And therefore, what God hath joined together let no man
separate. If we separate these things, God doth not change his counsel,
but we subvert his order to our own destruction. The scripture maketh ,
it a grievous sin, a tempting of God, to expect the end without the
use of means. In vain is the cavil, then, of those who would impeach
the doctrine of God's free and unchangeable will concerning the sal
vation of the elect, upon the pretence that it taketh away the duty of
man, arid the necessity of our faith and obedience. No ; God exe-
cuteth his decree by the proper means. Arid wretched is their infer
ence who say, If I be elected I shall be saved. No salvation can be
obtained but by the sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the
truth. Arid worse is their confidence who profess assurance of their
election, and yet walk after the flesh. No ; till a man purge himself
from youthful lusts he is not a vessel of honour sanctified and set apart
for God, 2 Tim. ii. 21. And in vain do we hope to go to heaven till
we take the way that leadeth thither. Devils have been cast out
thence for unholiness, and therefore unholy men shall never be taken
in there.
(2.) That these things are not causes of election, but fruits of elec
tion, and means of execution of God's decree about our salvation.
Sanctification is not a cause, but a subordinate end or means : Eph.
i. 4, ' He hath chosen us to be holy ; ' not because we are holy, but that
we might be holy. So 1 Peter i. 2, ' Elect according to the foreknow
ledge of God, through the sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience/
Not elected for it, but through it. When God had all mankind in his
prospect and view, he freely chose out some to be sanctified and saved.
We come to the possession of it through sanctification, that is, by it as
a means. So for the other ; faith is a fruit of election, not a foreseen
cause : Acts ii. 47, ' The Lord added to the church daily such as
should be saved/ None cometh to the church but those whom God
draweth, and they are actually added to the church by a profession of
faith ; and such as should be saved were as many as were ordained to
salvation Acts xiii. 48, ' And as many as were ordained to eternal
life believed.' The whole city were met together to hear, but as many
as were ordained to eternal life believed. It is not said, as many as
believed were ordained to eternal life, but the contrary ; faith is not
the cause of election, but election is the cause of faith.
(3.) That being the necessary fruits, they are also evidences of our
election. All that are sanctified by the Spirit and believe the truth
belong to the election of God. Election itself is a secret in God's
bosom, and is only manifested to us by the effects ; and what are the
necessary effects but sanctification by the Spirit, and a sound belief of
the gospel ?
First, The sanctification of the Spirit is not only an external dedi
cation to God, but an internal and real change. Some are externally
dedicated, and may trample under foot the blood of the covenant
whereby they are sanctified : Heb. x. 29, ' Of how much sorer punish
ment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden
under foot the Son of God ; and hath counted the blood of the cove
nant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done
despite unto the Spirit of grace?' That is, were in external cove-
2 THES. II. 13.] THE ELEVENTH SERMON. 107
nant with God, and visibly dedicated. But there is another sanctifi
cation, which is the fruit of the Spirit, working a real change in them :
1 Cor. vi. 11, 'And such were some of you ; but ye are washed, but
ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of
our God.' Find this, and you find a sufficient evidence, namely, if
you become new creatures, and be enabled to forsake sin, and follow
after that which is pleasing in the sight of God. Sanctification of
the Spirit is not so much known by dedication and profession, but by
the real and fixed inclination of your souls to God and heaven, and
living accordingly ; you are turned to God, and live to God.
Secondly, Your belief of the truth, that is, of the gospel. Now this
is meant not of a dead faith, or such a cold assent as only begets an
opinion in us of the truth of Christian religion, but such a lively faith
as bringeth us under the power of it ; for it is opposed to them that do
not receive the truth in the love of it, ver. 10 : ' To them that believed
not the truth, because they had pleasure in unrighteousness/ ver. 12 ;
that lived under the power of fleshly and worldly lusts. And it is
spoken of them who had received the truth, so as to obey it and suffer
for it, as the Thessalonians are described all along ; and in short, such
a belief of the truth as caused them to enter into covenant with Christ,
and make conscience of their fidelity to him. And here in this verse
we learn that a bare belief of the truth doth not save, unless accom
panied with the sanctification of the Spirit ; and therefore both must
be taken together. When the word cometh to us, ' not in word only,
but in power and much assurance, and joy in the Holy Ghost/ it is an
infallible evidence of our election of God, 1 Thes. i. 5. Alas ! many
have a general cold belief of the gospel, that never felt the effect of it
upon their hearts.
(4.) Observe the necessary connection that is between both these
means, the sanctification of the Spirit, and the belief of the truth.
First, There is a necessary connection between them, as between the
cause and the effect ; for none are powerfully drawn to believe in
Christ but such as are sanctified by his Spirit. It is not in the power
of any creature to incline us to God, or bring us to come to him by
Christ. But this work is wholly reserved to the Spirit. And so the
Lord himself doth powerfully bring to pass his own decrees, as by
Christ redeeming, so by the Spirit sanctifying. The Spirit is the
author both of faith and holiness. Saving grace is called a new
creature : 2 Cor. v. 17, ' Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature ; Eph. ii. 10, ' For we are his workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that
we should walk in them/ And to create is the work of a divine power.
Creature and creator are relatives. And certainly the noblest creature,
such as the new creature is, cannot be framed by any but God. It is
called a new birth, and the new birth is only from the Spirit, John iii.
5, 6. Well, then, these are fitly coupled, the sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth, that God's work may make way for
ours.
Secondly, There is the connection of concomitancy between the gospel
and the Spirit. The Spirit only goeth along with the gospel, and no
other doctrine ; and so both external and internal grace are of God :
108 THE ELEVENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 13.
John xvii. 17, ' Sanctify them by thy truth, thy word is truth/ It
was fit that a supernatural doctrine should be accompanied with a
supernatural operation and power. How else should it be known to
be of God ? The truth and the Spirit are inseparable companions.
Where there is little of God known, there is little of his Spirit. As
in the natural truth revealed to the heathens, somewhat God showed
unto them, Kom. i. 19. In the darker revelation to the Jews there is
but a fainter degree of the Spirit ; but ' grace and truth come by
Jesus Christ/ There goeth along with the doctrine of the gospel a
mighty spirit of holiness ; for thereby God would prove the verity and
truth of this religion, and suitably to the rich mercy prepared for us
in Christ.
Thirdly, There is a subordination of faith to this work of the Spirit
by the truth ; for the greatest things work not till they be considered
and believed : 1 Thes. ii. 13, ' Ye received it, not as the word of men,
but as it is in truth, the word of God, which worketh effectually also
in you that believe/ A sound belief produceth strong affections, and
strong affections govern our practice and conversation. So that fitly
are these things united, as the fruits of our election and means of
salvation.
2. Why this is the great matter of our thanksgiving to God. That I
shall evidence in the following considerations : —
[1.] That thanksgiving to God is a great and necessary duty, ex
pressly enjoined by him, and expected from us : 1 Thes. v. 18, ' In
everything give thanks, for this is the will of God concerning you in
Christ Jesus/ When God hath interposed his will, all debates are
silenced. If there were nothing else in the case, this is motive enough
to a gracious heart ; for the fundamental reason of all obedience is the
will of God. Our thankfulness is no benefit to God, yet he is pleased
with it, as it showeth our honesty and ingenuity. And to us Christians,
the very life and soul of oar religion is thankfulness ; therefore, God
will have us continually exercised in it : Heb. xiii. 15, ' Let us offer
the sacrifice of praise continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving
thanks unto his name/ As our understanding was given us to think
of God, and know him ; so our speech was given us to speak of God,
and praise him. We praise God for all his works, we give him thanks
for such as are beneficial to us. In praise, we ascribe all honour, ex
cellency, and perfection unto him. In giving thanks, we express what
he hath done for ourselves or others. Now this must be done con
tinually, for God is continually beneficial unto us, by daily mercies
giving us new matter of praise and thanksgiving. Besides, there are
some mercies so great, that they should never be forgotten.
[2.] That we are to give thanks chiefly for spiritual and eternal
mercies : Eph. i. 3, ' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ/ For we cannot give thanks rightly without a just esteem
of the mercy we give thanks for. But spiritual and eternal mercies
do much excel those that are temporal and transitory. We are bound
to bless the Lord for temporal favours and the comforts of this life,
but a renewed heart is most taken up with spiritual and heavenly
blessings. A man may give thanks carnally as well as pray carnally.
2 THES. II. 13.] THE ELEVENTH SERMON. 109
A carnal man in prayer giveth vent to the desires of the flesh, James
iv. 3. So in blessing God he may speak from the relish of the flesh ;
though usually carnal men seldom give thanks to God : Hosea xii. 8,
*I am become rich, I have found me out substance,' &c. Surely
spiritual blessings should have the pre-eminence, because they concern
our well-being, and they discriminate us from others, which temporal
mercies do not : Eccles. ix. 1,2,' For all this I considered in my heart,
even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their
works, are in the hand of God : no man knoweth either love or hatred
by all that is before them. All things come alike to all : there is one
event to the righteous, and to the wicked ; to the good, to the clean, and
to the unclean ; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth
not ; as is the good, so is the sinner ; and he that sweareth, as he that
feareth an oath/ The wicked have many of these mercies : Ps. xvii.
14, * From men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and
whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure ; they are full of children,
and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.' And they may
own God in them as pleased, and well satisfied with the prosperity of
the flesh, or as desirous to have more.
[3.] That the best prospect we have of God's goodness to us, as to
those spiritual mercies, is in election.
(1.) There we see all our blessings in their rise, fountain, and bosom
cause, which is the eternal love and grace of God. Dulc\us ex ipso
fonte — waters are sweetest and freshest in their fountain. There we
see that antecedent love which provided a Redeemer for us, which
should be matter of continual love and reverence to us, John iii. 16.
There we see the rich preparations of grace in the new covenant, which
could never have entered into our hearts if elective love had not provided
them for us, 1 Cor. ii. 9. There we see what it was that disposed all
those providences that conduced to our good birth, education, acquaint
ance, relations. Alas ! we knew not the means of all these things, but
elective love was at work for us, to cast all circumstances, that we
might be best taken in our month,1 Eom. viii. 28. There we see what
it was that made all the means effectual to draw us unto God : Jer.
xxxi. 3, * He loved us with an everlasting love.'
(2.) It showeth us the Lord's distinguishing grace, and who it was
that made us differ from others, who are left to perish in their sins.
All are not called, and why we ? John xiv. 22, ' Judas saith unto him
(not Iscariot), Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us,
and not unto the world ?' Yea, many mighty and many noble are not
called, 1 Cor. i. 26. God taketh not all, nor many of the highest in
esteem among men, not many wise and prudent : Mat. xi. 25, 26, * At
that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise
and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes ; even so, Father, for
so it seemed good in thy sight.' Yea, many others are left to perish
by their own delusions. The reprobates are specula judicii divini.
The judgments of God on the wicked do exceedingly amplify his
mercies towards us. It was the mere elective love of God, issuing
forth by his powerful and differencing grace, that put the distinction
1 Either a proverbial expression, perhaps referring to Jer. ii. 24 ; or else a misprint. — ED.
110 THE ELEVENTH SERMON. [2 TlIES. II. 13,
between us and others. Surely his peculiar love to ourselves doth most
affect us.
(3.) There we see that grace that doth take off all self-boasting :
Eph. ii. 8, 9, ' For by grace are ye saved, through faith ; and that not
of yourselves, it is the gift of God ; not of works, lest any man should
boast.' Elective love prevented all actual or foreseen worth in us ;
and from first to last it is carried on in a way of grace ; the means,
the efficacy, all is of grace. This was God's great end, that grace might
be admired and esteemed by us, and be matter of eternal praise and
thanksgiving : Eph. i. 6, ' To the praise of the glory of his grace,
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved/ The whole design
is to show us how we are beloved of God, and that we may love him
again.
Use 1. If election be the great matter of thanksgiving to God, then
surely this doctrine should be heard in the church ; for the life and
soul of Christian religion is gratitude ; and what feedeth gratitude is
of great use unto us. Our gratitude doth not rise high enough till it
come to the first cause that stirred and set all the wheels a-work in the
business of our salvation. Surely this is a very profitable point.
1. To detect the pride of man, for here we see the true and proper
cause of difference between us and others : 1 Cor. iv. 7, ' Who maketh
thee to differ ?' The differencing grace of God, proceeding from his
election, is the only true grace.
2. Nothing more extolleth the glory of God in our salvation ; for if
man can assume nothing to himself, the glory alone redoundeth to
God. The mere reason and cause why some are chosen and others
passed by, is God's good pleasure : Mat. xi. 26, ' Even so, Father, be
cause it pleased thee/ Christ himself consents to it, giveth thanks for
it, as an act of free and undeserved mercy.
3. No greater incentive to holiness ; for here we see the absolute
necessity of it, together with the strongest, sweetest motive to enforce
it. (1.) The absolute necessity of it ; because it is a necessary means to
bring God's purposes to pass : Eph. i. 4, ' He hath chosen us, that we
should be holy, and without blame before him in love/ He hath
chosen none to enjoy everlasting glory after this life, but such as he
hath chosen to be holy here. First, They must be sanctified and re
newed by the Spirit, and then walk in all holy conversation and god
liness. And whatever assurance of election is pretended unto them
who lead an unholy life, it is but a vain presumption or ungrounded
persuasion ; yea, a strong delusion. Secondly, Here is the sweetest and
strongest motive to enforce it, and that is the singular love of God,
which breedeth in us a sincere love to God again, and all serious en
deavours to approve ourselves to him in purity of living. There is no
such constraining force in anything as there is in love : 2 Cor. v. 14,
1 For the love of God constraineth us,' &c. And no such holiness as
that which floweth from it ; this is thankful and evangelical obedience.
4. It is the ground of our solid comfort, in the midst of all the
calamities and temptations of the present life ; because our final happi
ness is appointed to us by God's electing love : Luke xii. 32, * Fear
not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the king
dom/ And this is accompanied with his active providence and care
2 THES. II. 13.] THE ELEVENTH SERMON. Ill
over us all the way thither. So that all things are sanctified to us,
that we may be sanctified to God : Bom. viii. 28, ' And we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who
are the called according to his purpose.'
Use 2. It showeth us that the elect have cause to bless God if they
be chosen to salvation, though not to wealth, pleasure, and honour.
These Thessalonians endured great afflictions for the gospel's sake, yet
Paul looked upon himself as bound to give thanks always to God for
them, because he had chosen them to salvation. God dispenseth his
gifts variously. Some are, shall I say, chosen — or condemned rather ?
— to worldly felicity. It is the will of God they should attain great
wealth and honour here ; and will you envy them and repine against
providence, though God hath reserved you for a better estate hereafter ?
Compare two places ; one is Jer. xvii. 13, ' All that forsake thee shall
be written in the earth ;' the other is Luke x. 20, ' Rejoice in this, that
your names are written in heaven.' Which is the better privilege — to
be written in earth, or to be written in heaven ? to have a great
name in the subsidy-book, or to have our names written in the book
of life ? The one is their punishment, the other your blessedness.
Second use is exhortation. It presseth you to two things : —
1. Put in for a share and interest in this mercy ; that is to say, in
the apostle's words, 2 Peter i. 10, ' Give diligence to make your calling
and election sure.' God hath not told us who are elected and who
are not ; therefore our way is to accept of the general grace offered,
and to devote and resign ourselves to God, and to depend upon the
merits of our Redeemer, and put ourselves under the discipline of his
Spirit in the use of the appointed means, humbly waiting for his
renewing and reconciling grace, and every day more and more, by
diligence in the holy and heavenly life, getting your interest more
assured ; for by this means do we come to know the purposed love of
God, and that ' he hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain
eternal salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ/ We need not say, Who
shall go up to heaven to know the mind of God ? Our election is
known to us by our vocation, and our vocation by the fruits — our
walking before him in holiness and righteousness all our days. Surely
the knowledge of our election is a thing greatly to be desired, because
our eternal happiness and all spiritual good things depend upon it.
Election is the free love of God, by which he intendeth these blessings
to us. This is manifested by calling, by which they begin to be
applied to us ; then the effectual operation which these blessings have
in us discovereth calling, when we ' call on the name of Christ,' and
* depart from iniquity/ 2 Tim. ii. 19.
2. We should praise, and admire, and esteem this glorious grace,
and show our thankfulness both in word and deed.
[1.] In word ; because that is a means to kindle in our hearts the
love of God, and to stir up a spiritual rejoicing in him : Ps. ciii. 1-3,
' Bless the Lord, 0 my soul ; and all that is within me, bless his holy
name. Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all his benefits :
who forgiveth all thine iniquities ; who healeth all thy diseases/ &c.
[2.] Bat chiefly in deed : you are more obliged to live to God than
other men, when, passing by thousands who, in outward respects, were
112 THE TWELFTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 14.
better than you, and you as deep in sin as they, lie, not only without,
but against, all merit of yours, by his singular grace set you apart for
himself. Shall I sin against God, and grieve his Spirit ? No ; let
me glorify him as long as I have a day to live.
SERMON XII.
Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of
our Lord Jesus Christ. — 2 THES. II. 14.
AFTER the doctrine of Antichrist, and God's dreadful spiritual judg
ments on his abettors and followers, the apostle interposeth some
matter of consolation to the Thessalonians ; as before he comforted
them from their election, so now from their vocation, Therefore, as
we saw the doctrine of election set forth in the former verse, with all
its appendant branches and circumstances, so now the doctrine of
vocation, with what belongeth to it. Here calling is set forth — (1.)
By the author of it : he calleth you ; that is, God, who from the begin
ning hath chosen you to salvation. (2.) The outward means : by our
gospel (3.) The end, which is double : — First, Subordinate, in the
word ivhereunto, viz., to faith and holiness ; Secondly, Ultimate: to
the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ' Whereunto he
called you,' &c.
Doct. All that are elected by God are in time effectually called by
faith and holiness * to obtain eternal life.
1. I shall open effectual calling by what is said of it in the text.
2. That all chosen by God are called in this way.
1. Let me explain effectual calling. The author of it : ' he called
you ;' namely, God, spoken of in the former verse. I prove it by these
two reasons : — (1.) None else hath authority to call ; (2.) None else
hath power to call.
[1.] Authority to call, either to duties or privileges; for calling is
an earnest invitation to duties upon the offer of several privileges.
(1.) Duties : God is our proper Lord and rightful sovereign. He
may justly challenge our obedience. Being our Creator, he is our
owner ; and being our owner, he is our sovereign and lawgiver, and
may enact what laws he pleaseth. Certainly creation giveth him an
interest in us ; for every man taketh himself to have an authority over
what he hath made, to dispose of it as he pleaseth. Now he that
properly made all things is God. Man is said to make a thing as he
bestoweth art upon it, but God bestoweth being upon it. A potter
may form his clay into what vessel he pleaseth, to make one vessel
unto honour, and another unto dishonour, Rom. ix. 21 ; that is, either
a dish for food or a vessel to serve the vilest uses of nature, for meat
or excrements. But we speak of rational creatures that are capable
of proper government. Surely God made us, and hath a right to
1 Qu. ' called by the gospel to faith and holiness ' ?— ED.
2 THES. II. 14.] THE TWELFTH SERMON. 113
govern us. Our parents are but instruments of his providence ; they
know not how the child is framed in the womb, &c. Now he calleth
upon us to do our duty with original supreme authority. We may
refuse others ; if they speak not to us in his name, they have no right
over our consciences, to impose new duties upon us : James iv. 12,
' There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy.' Now his
calling being a powerful excitation to do our duty, it originally be-
longeth to God.
(2.) As to privileges : The blessings God offereth are so great
and glorious, that none else can give us a right to them but
God ; and the soul can have no security that it doth not usurp and
intrude upon the possession of things that belong not to us till we
have his warrant. As the apostle speaketh of an office, Heb. v. 4,
' No man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of
God, as was Aaron ;' so it is true of all prerogatives ; we have no leave
to assume and take the honour of them to ourselves till we are called of
God : that is our warrant. None came to the wedding-feast till they
were bidden, Mat. xxii., or went into the vineyard till they were hired,
Mat. xx. This is the difference between duties and privileges : that
any man, who will prefer that office of charity and love to us, may
excite us to our duties, to unquestionable duties, due from the crea
ture to the Creator ; but no man can assure us of right to privileges
without the Creator's leave. Man cannot make that to be a necessary
duty to the Creator which is not. But man may warn us of our danger
when we disobey God ; but man cannot assure us of our right to such
privileges without God's grant. Therefore certainly it is God that
must call us
[2.] None else can have power ; for to calling there is necessaryjiot
only the invitations of the word, but also the effectual operation or the
Spirit. None else can change the heart. A Christian is nothing, and
hath nothing, but what God is pleased to work in him by his divine
power : 2 Peter i. 3, * According as his divine power hath given us
all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge
of him that hath called us to glory and virtue/ It is a work of an
infinite power to give grace to graceless souls, to make those that are
sensual and worldly to become spiritual and heavenly, there being so
much opposition to hinder that work ; for such is the corruption of
men's hearts, the power of Satan over us, that he keepeth possession
till a stronger than he overcometh him, Luke xi. 21. Therefore it is
always made the work of his power, ' who calleth the things that are
not as though they were,' Kom. iv. 17. It is still ascribed to his
creating power; either the illumination of the mind, 2 Cor. iv. 6,
' For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath
shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ ;' or inclinations of the heart, Eph.
ii. 10. We can neither think, nor effect, nor pursue spiritual and
heavenly things without it. Therefore certainly it is God that
calleth us.
2. The outward means : ' by our gospel/ Where— (1.) Consider the
means itself : the gospel ; (2.) The interest which the apostle chal-
lengeth in it : our gospel.
VOL. III. H
114 THE TWELFTH SERMON. [2 TfiES. II. 14.
[1.] The means itself : the gospel. This God useth : —
(1.) Because if God will call and invite the creature by his duty to
his happiness, it is necessary that his call should be evident to the
creature by some visible sign. Now, the natural duty of man is much
seen by the creation : Kom. i. 19, * Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto them ;' Ps.
xix. 1,2,' The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament
showeth his handiwork : day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto
night showeth knowledge.' But this call is made to man fallen, as a
remedy to his lapsed estate, which, depending on the free grace of
God, can only be known by his revelation, conveyed to us by extra
ordinary messengers, such as Christ, who was the principal revealer
of the doctrine of God for the saving of the world, and him God
authorised and sealed to this end : John vi. 27, ' Labour not for the
meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto ever
lasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you ; for him hath
God the Father sealed.' And then by the apostles, who were insti
tuted by Christ, and sent forth to proselytise the world to the obedience
of God ; and they were also authorised from heaven by divers signs
and wonders, as long as it was necessary to use that dispensation for
the confirmation of their message, and to show how dangerous it was
to neglect a doctrine so useful to mankind, and suitable to their great
necessities, and so owned by God, Heb. ii. 3, 4. Therefore by the
gospel God called them to this grace.
(2.) To convince and stop their mouths that refuse this calling, for
the gospel bringeth grace home to us, and leaveth it upon our choice. If
we will accept it, well and good ; if not, we justly deserve to be rejected
forever : Acts xiii. 26, ' To you is this word of salvation sent.' What
say you to it ? God hath sent a gracious message to you in particular ;
will you accept or refuse ? Acts iii. 26, ' He hath sent him to you, to
^ bless every one of you,' &c. It doth excite all, and every man, to look
'after the recovery of his lapsed estate ; surely God doth you no wrong
if he severely punish your refusal after he hath invited you to his grace
in Christ. Great is the misery of those that refuse this call : ' None
of those that were bidden shall taste of my supper,' Luke xiv. 24.
They are not only excluded from happiness, but they incur extreme
wrath and misery : Prov. i. 24-26, ' Because I have called, and ye re
fused ; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded ; but ye
have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I
also will laugh at your calamity ; I will mock when your fear cometh.'
(3.) Because to the elect he will deal congruously, and preserve the
liberty of his own workmanship, and therefore dealeth with man as
man ; doth not compel us to be good whether we will or no, but doth at
the same time teach and draw us : John vi. 44, 45, ' No man can
come unto me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him : and
I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And
they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard,
and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me ; sweetly attemper
ing the means to our liberty, but accompanying them with his power
ful ice : Acts xi. 21, ' The hand of the Lord was with them, and
a / It number believed, and turned to the Lord/ It is God doth
2 THES. II. 14.] THE TWELFTH SERMON. 115
all, prospering the labours of his servants. So Acts xvi. 14, ' God
opened the heart of Lydia, so that she attended unto the things spoken
by Paul/ God opened her heart, but by the things spoken by Paul.
And God loveth to associate or accompany his power with his own
means : Kom i. 16, ' It is the power of God unto salvation.'
[2.] The interest the apostle challengeth in it : our gospel. Doth it
not derogate from the authority of it to appropriate it to any man ? I
answer — No. Elsewhere it is called God's gospel : ' The glorious gos
pel of the blessed God,' 1 Tim. i. 11. He is the author. It is not an
invention of man, but a secret that came from the bosom of God.
Again, it is called Christ's gospel: 'The gospel of our Lord Jesus
•Christ,' 2 Thes. i. 8 ; as the principal sub-revealer, who made known
unto us most fully the mind of God. And then on the apostles, who
were instruments chosen and intrusted by Christ to declare it to the
world both by word and writing. The scripture is an authentic re
cord, wherein all things are delivered to us both concerning our duties
and privileges. Therefore, when he saith our gospel, he doth not
mean it of principal revelation, but in regard of dispensation and trust :
1 Tim. i. 11, ' The glorious gospel of the blessed God is committed to
my trust/ Therefore this word our gospel is — (1.) A word of fidelity,
that argued the conscience to this duty, that owneth the trust com
mitted to him, and that this was his chief work and charge : 1 Cor. ix.
17, * A dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me/ (2.) It is a
word of esteem, love, and affection ; what we love we call ours : Kom.
xvi. 25, 'Now to him that is able to stablish you according to my gospel/
Paul was glad he had such interest in it as to be a preacher of it ; and
believers should be glad they are partakers of the benefit : Eph. i. 13,
•' In whom ye trusted, after ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation/ It is theirs and ours. Oh, blessed be God for this !
'(3.) It is a word importing diligence — our gospel ; that which he
preached with so much labour and hazard : he followed this work
close : Acts xx. 24, ' I count not my life dear, that I may finish my
course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord
Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God/ He was willing to
die and suffer anything for the gospel's sake. (4.) The consent and
harmony between him and the rest of the apostles. Sometimes he
calleth it my gospel, to assert his own apostolical authority, as Rom. ii.
16 ; sometimes our gospel, 2 Cor. iv. 3, to note their common consent,
who were the authorised messengers of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is
»our gospel, the same jointly attested by all Christ's chosen messengers.
3. The ends of this calling. They are either subordinate or ultimate.
First, Subordinate: in the word ' Whereunto he hath called you ;'
that is, to faith, holiness, and salvation ; we are called to all.
[1.] God calleth us to the faith of the gospel ; he hath not only or
dained us to believe, but called us to believe. Without calling there
can be no faith : Kom. x. 14, ' How shall they believe in him of whom
they have not heard ? ' But upon calling there must be faith, or else
we make void the dispensation of God which we are under.
(1.) There must be a belief of the gospel in general. The voice ot
the creatures calleth upon the Gentiles to believe an infinite, eternal
power, that made man and all things ; and the condemnation of the
116 THE TWELFTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 14
Gentile world is that they know not God, and glorify not God as God,
after this revelation made to them. But to believe in Christ is a
mystery to nature, and dependeth upon God's special revelation in
the gospel. Therefore the external and internal power of the Spirit
accompanieth it, to convince the world that it is sin not to believe in
Christ — the external power in miracles, and the internal in the
illumination of the mind : John xvi. 9, ' The Spirit shall convince the
world of sin, because they believe not in me ; ' that is, receive not the
faith of the gospel, or believe not that Christ was the true Messiah,
the great prophet and doctor of the church.
(2.) This call doth aim at not only a belief of the truth of the gospel
in general, but also a particular affiance in Christ according to the
terms of the new covenant. General assent to the truth of the gospel
is only considerable as it leadeth on other things .Now, that I may not
wander, I will refer them to two things — (1.) A fiducial assent; (2.)
An obediential confidence. This is the belief of the truth we are called
unto.
(1st.) The assent must be fiducial, or accompanied with a trust in
Christ : Eph. i. 13, ' In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation/ The meaning is, the
Gentiles, after they heard the gospel and believed the truth, they did
trust themselves in the hands of Christ, to be brought by his saving
and healing methods to eternal happiness. It is a mighty thing to
have such a belief as may produce trust, or a venturing ourselves in
the hands of Christ against all hazards, and, whatever befalleth us, be
content to save our souls on his terms. This breedeth holy security
or courage : 2 Tim. i. 12, ' For 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.'
(2dly.) This confidence must be obediential, not a devout sloth or
carelessness. To trust in his mercies and neglect his precepts crosseth
the tenor of his covenant : Ps. cxix. 60, * I made haste, and delayed
not to keep thy commandments.' It is true religion when faith, hope,
and love concur: Jude, vers. 20, 21, 'But ye, beloved, building up
yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep
yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ unto eternal life/ I know there is a trusting in his pardon for
our failings, and that justification is a great privilege, as well as salva
tion ; but pardon is promised to the sincere, that with an honest heart
perform their duty : Ps. xxxii. 2, ' Blessed is the man to whom ^ the
Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile ;'
and Kom. viii. 1, ' There is no condemnation to them who are in
Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit/ So
that still our confidence in Christ must be obediential.
[2.] We are called to holiness ; this is everywhere asserted in the
scripture : 1 Thes. iv. 7, ' For God hath not called us to uncleanness,
but to holiness/ And it enforceth it on several grounds ; as —
(1.) That there may be a likeness between the person calling
and the persons called : 1 Peter i. 15, * But as he that called you is
holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.' It is true religion
to imitate what we worship ; for knowledge and esteem always work an
2 THES. II. 14.] THE TWELFTH SERMON. 117
assimilation ; and therefore, if we know the true God, and love him,
we will study to be like him. Certainly, we have not a true know
ledge of God if we do not know him to be a pure and holy God. He
hath showed it in his laws, showed in his providence, and showed in his
gospel by which we are called. The gods of the heathen taught sin
by their own example. Their impure lives are recorded by their
poets. Austin telleth us of a young man who was incited to wanton
ness by seeing the picture of Jupiter on the wall committing adultery.
Quo pacto non faceret, cum in templo adorare cogeretur Jovem potius
Catonem quam f But our God is pure, as appeareth by his laws, which
are all ' holy, just, and good/ Ps. cxix. 140. Surely such holy pre
cepts could come from none but a pure and holy God. As also by
the work of his Spirit on his people : Eph. iv. 24, ' And that ye put
on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true
holiness ; ' and 2 Cor. iii. 18, ' We all, with open face, beholding as in
a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from
glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.' He puts us into a
nature that is very tender and shy of sin, troubled at it in others : 2
Peter ii. 7, 8, ' And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversa
tion of the wicked; for that righteous man dwelling amongst them, in
seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with
their unlawful deeds.' He that made the eye, shall not he see ? He
that put into us a clean heart, is not he pure and holy ? This ap
peareth also by the dispensations of his providence : Hab. i. 13, ' Thou
art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.
Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and boldest
thy tongue, when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous
than he ?' Judgments on sinners, so on his own people : Prov. xi. 31,
' Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in earth ; much more
the wicked and the sinner.' As, for instance, in David : the child died,
his daughter is deflowered, Amnon slain, Absalom is in rebellion, his
wives ravished, himself banished from his house and kingdom. Eli's
sons slain, the ark taken, his daughter-in-law died, himself brake his
neck. But chiefly in the very foundation of the gospel : the Son of
God dieth a shameful, painful, accursed death before God would relax
the rigour of his law and set afoot the gospel, and all that there might
be a perfect demonstration of his justice and holiness, and displeasure
against sin : Horn. viii. 3, ' For what the law could not do, in that
it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the like
ness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin, in the flesh/
(2.) The very nature of this calling enforceth this sanctification, or
setting man apart from a common to a sacred use ; for it is a calling
us not only from misery to happiness, but from sin to holiness, and
the one is indispensably necessary to the other ; for none but those
who are in a holy estate can be in a blessed condition. Our calling
is sometimes called ' a heavenly calling,' Heb. iii. 1 ; sometimes ' an
holy calling/ 2 Tim. i. 9. Therefore the chief subordinate end is holi
ness : Rom. i. 7, * Called to be saints/ — from the devil, the world, and
the flesh, to God.
(3.) The grace and favour which is showed in our calling obligeth
us to be holy in point of gratitude ; for when we consider in what a
118 THE TWELFTH SERMON. [2 TfiES. II. 14..
sinful estate God found us, how freely he loved us, and that with a
discriminating, differencing love, when he passed by others worthier
than we, and to what estate he is ready to advance us — to the enjoy
ment of himself, amongst all those that are sanctified by faith ; — all
these are as so many strong bonds and obligations upon us to * walk
worthy of God, who hath called us to his kingdom and glory in Jesus
Christ/ 1 Thes. ii. 12 — worthy of his grace in calling ; worthy of the
glory to which we are called ; that is, with the worthiness of conde-
cency, not of condignity. We cannot fully answer this grace, but
we must do that which will become it.
(4.) This calling enableth us to be holy, because it giveth us all
things necessary both to holiness of heart and life: 2 Peter i. 3, ' Accord
ing as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto
life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us
to glory and virtue.' Now this grace must not lie idle, otherwise we
receive the Spirit in vain.
Secondly, The ultimate end : ' To obtain the glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ.' The same expression in 1 Peter v. 10, ' The God of
all grace, who hath called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus/
It is ' his glory/ Mark — (1.) Here is glory ; (2.) It is the glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
[1.] It is glory for body and soul. The glory is so great we cannot
utter it, and conceive it. Now a little is revealed to us, but then it
shall be revealed in us. (1.) The soul is not annihilated after death,
nor doth it sleep till the resurrection, nor is it detained by the way
from immediate passing into glory ; but as soon as it is loosed from
the body, is admitted into God's presence, and gathered unto the souls-
of just men made perfect, where it seeth God and loveth him, and en
joy eth what it seeth arid loveth ; for as soon as we are loosed from
the body, we are present with the Lord. And therefore the first bene
fit we receive in the other world is the salvation of the soul : 1 Peter i,
9, ' Keceiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls/
It flitteth hence to God. (2.) The body hath its glory also in due
time ; for when it is raised up out of the grave, it will be another kind
of body than we now have, both for impassibility, clarity, agility —
for impassibility, called incorruption ; clarity, called glory ; agility,
called power ; subtilty, called a spiritual body by the apostle : 1 Cor.
xv. 42, 43, ' It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption ; it is
sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory ; it is sown a natural body, it
is raised a spiritual body' : —
(1.) Impassability doth not only exclude corruption, for so the
bodies of the damned are preserved for ever ; but all grievances and
pain : Kev. xxi. 4, ' There shall not be any more pain/
(2.) For glory, a shining brightness : Mat. xiii. 43, ' The righteous
shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of the Father/ Stephen's face
shone, in this life, ' as it were the face of an angel,' Acts vi. 15. And
Moses' face shone by converse with God in the mount, Exod.
xxxiv. 30. Our bodies shall be ' likened unto his glorious body,' PhiL
iii. 21. In the transfiguration, ' His face did shine as the sun, and his
raiment did shine as the light/
(3.) For vigour, activity, and strength. It shall always be in the
2 THES. II. 14.] THE TWELFTH SERMON. 119
height and excellency of it. God preserved Moses' natural vigour
for a long time, Deut. xxxiv. 7 ; but glorified bodies shall for ever re
main in an eternal spring of youth.
(4.) Subtilty, a spiritual body. Here we live an animal life, after
the manner of sensitive creatures, maintained by meat, drink, sleep ;
but hereafter the body shall live after the manner of spirits, having
no need or use of these things. There we are la-ayyeXoi, l as the
angels of God/ Mat. xxii. 30 ; and 1 Cor. vi. 19, ' Our bodies are the
temple of the Holy Ghost/ Well, then, this is the glory put upon us.
[2.] Why is it called ' the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ ?'
(1.) It is purchased by Christ. We were redeemed or bought by
the price of his blood, that we might attain to this glory : Eph. i. 7,
' In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins, according to the riches of his grace.'
(2.) It is promised by Christ : John x. 28, ' I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish/ All that obey this call have
eternal life already begun, nay, completed : 1 John ii. 25, ' And this
is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life/
(3.) It is prayed for by Christ, which is a copy of his intercession :
John xvii. 14, * 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/
(4.) It is actually bestowed by Christ on his followers and called
people. He receiveth our departing souls as soon as they flit out of
the body : Acts vii. 59, ' Lord Jesus, receive my spirit/ They are
with him : Phil. i. 23, and 2 Cor. v. 8, when ' absent from the body/
they are * present with the Lord/ which is a mighty comfort to us.
At the last day he will solemnly introduce us into heaven : John xiv.
3, ( I will come again, and receive you to myself ; that where I am,
there ye may be also/ The great shepherd of the sheep will lead the
flock into their everlasting fold.
(5.) We have not only glory by Christ, but with Christ. We shall
have the same glory Christ now hath, but in our measure ; the same
glory in kind whereunto Christ's humanity is advanced, referring to
him only his privilege in the degree. So Eom. viii. 17, ' And if
children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ : if so
be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together ;'
Rev. iii. 21, 'To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in
my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father
in his throne/ We share with him in his own blessedness, so far as
we are capable.
II. That all those who are elected and chosen by God are thus called.
Election and vocation have a great respect one to another ; and though
we cannot say that none are called that are not elected, for the Lord
calleth others not only by the voice of nature, but the gospel : Mat.
xxii. 14, * Many are called, but few are chosen ; ' yet we may say
that none are chosen, but they are in time called, so that vocation is,
as it were, actual election. They are often put one for another ; as John
xv. 19, ' I have chosen you out of the world ; therefore the world hateth
you ;' that is, called them, or pursued his choice. So 1 Cor. i. 2G,
4 Ye see your calling, brethren, that not many wise men after the flesh,
120 THE TWELFTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 14.
not many noble, not many mighty are called : for God hath chosen
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise ; and God hath
chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are
mighty,' ver. 27 ; as if choosing and calling were all one. So Kom.
xi. 28, 29, ' As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake ;
but as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sake :
for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.' So that
calling is an infallible consequent of election. And Kom. v.iii. 30,
1 Whom he did predestinate, them he also called.' Keason showeth
it. (1.) Effectual calling is that powerful operation of God, wherein
he beginneth to execute the purposes of his grace: Kom. viii. 28,
* And we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose' (/cara
7rp69ecriv). The first discovery of it to the creature is by drawing us
to himself. (2.) This act proceedeth immediately from his choice, as
anteceding all that we can do, all worthiness of ours, or supposed
worthiness : 2 Tim. i. 9, ' Who hath saved us, and called us with an
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the
world began.' Nothing induced God to do it on our part, for what
good thing could we do before we were made good by calling ? (3.)
The effect doth infallibly follow : John vi. 37, ' All that the Father
hath given me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in
no wise cast out/ In due time they are called, and are obedient to
the call, Kom. viii. 28.
Use 1. If it be so, then here is advice to all.
1. Let us apply ourselves to the means with reverence and serious
ness; because God's power is shown in them, in converting souls to
himself : Ps. Ixv. 4, * Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and
causest to draw nigh unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts/ It
is a good thing to be in grace's way. The means have a ministerial
efficacy: Acts xiv. 1, 'They so spake, that a great multitude of the
Jews and Greeks believed ; ' with such clearness and force ; so far
God is with the minister. A dart flung by a skilful hand will pierce
deeper than by its own weight. But yet, if you can but tarry, the
hand of the Lord may be with you also. You do not know the seasons
of the Lord's grace ; all are not called at the first hour ; some lie long
at the pool, but yet wait still. Ere ever you are aware, the Holy
Ghost may fall upon you and open your hearts. That heavenly doc
trine may have its effect upon you.
2. Let us mind not only privileges, but duties. We have great
privileges ; we are called to enjoy sweet fellowship with Christ here :
1 Cor. i. 9, * Faithful is he who hath called you to the communion of
Christ Jesus our Lord,' and to a glorious estate hereafter. But we
are also called to the sarictification of the Spirit and the belief of the
truth ; and we cannot obtain the one without the other. Do not so
mind comfort as to slight holiness, and divide one part of your calling
from the other. Comfort is consequent to holiness, and followeth it
as heat doth fire. The Spirit is more necessarily a sanctifier than a
comforter ; for our duty and obedience to God is a greater thing
than our own peace. Holiness is the image of God upon the soul,
2 THES. II. 14.] THE TWELFTH SERMON. 121
and the blessed perfection wherein we were created : Gen. i. 27, ' So
God created man in his own image.' And when it was lost by sin,
Christ came and paid our ransom, that he might renew us by his
Spirit ; Titus iii. 5, 'According to his mercy he saved us, by the wash
ing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.' Yea, much of
our everlasting blessedness lieth in it. For heaven is to be looked
upon not only as a state of complete felicity, but exact holiness : 1 John
iii. 2, ' -We know that when he doth appear, we shall be like him, for
we shall see him as he is ; ' Eph. v. 27, * That he might present it to
himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such
thing ; but that it should be holy and without blemish.' Then it is a
glorious church. Christ hath done his whole work. Holiness is the
beauty of God himself, Exod. xv. 11, and puts an excellency on us, if
we love it, and imitate it : Prov. xii. 26, ' The righteous is more excel
lent than his neighbour : but the way of the wicked seduceth them.'
We do not only excel other men, but we are more amiable in the sight
of God : Prov. xi. 20, * The upright is his delight.' In short, it is a
part of salvation itself, and a means to that which remaineth : Acts
xxvi. 18, ' Inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith in
Christ Jesus/
3. Let us reflect upon ourselves. Have we God's call ? Have we
obeyed the gospel ? This will clear up your election to you : 2 Peter
i. 10, * Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your
calling and election sure : for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall/
Do you find such a belief wrought in you by the Spirit as begins in
brokenness of heart, and ends in holiness ? For Christ came to * call
sinners to repentance,' "Mat. ix. 13 ; that is, men sensible of sin to holi
ness of heart and life ; to return to God, that we may first live to him,
and then with him.
4. To improve the belief of the glory promised. (1.) To sweeten
obedience, or a cause of holiness which for the present is so tedious to
the flesh. Now here is our labour, hereafter our recompense, 1 Cor.
xv. 58. Every day we should grow more meet for his glory, Col. i. 12.
(2.) To a contempt of all worldly things, good or evil. If good, many
are pleased with this world's good things, but have no affection to
spiritual and heavenly things ; like the rebellious Israelites, who
more desired the onions and garlic of Egypt than the milk and honey
of the promised land, or the celestial manna, Num. xi. 5, 6 ; worse
than prodigals, that rest more satisfied with husks of swine, than bread
which is in their father's house : they have their good things. Now,
we should remember we are called off from these things, from dreggy
contentments, base enjoyments, to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(3.) The evils of the world— crosses, afflictions : 'After ye have suffered
a while, the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory
by Christ Jesus, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you ; '
and 2 Tim. ii. 11, 12, ' It is a faithful saying : for if we be dead with
him, we shall also live with him : if we suffer, we shall also reign with
him/ Our afflictions are both breves and leves, light and momentary :
2 Cor. iv. 17, * For our light affliction, which is but for a moment,
worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.' Our
sufferings are small if compared with the reward ; the time short, if
122 THE THIRTEENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 15.
compared with eternity. There is a twofold eternity — that eternal
death which the wicked must endure ; that eternal life which we enter
into. This should sweeten all bitter waters. (4.) To dispose and
prepare us for death. The contemplation of immortality hath left
strong impressions on the hearts .of heathens ; some burnt themselves
as impatient to tarry longer. If a dark view, vain hope cause this,
what should a sure promise and earnest of the Spirit do ?
Use 2. To the called. (1.) Bless God for this calling. The woful
estate out of which we are called, and the blessed estate into which
we are entered, compared together, should make us wonder : 1 Peter
ii. 9, ' Ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you
out of darkness into his marvellous light.' (2.) Walk answerably :
Eph. iv. 1 , * I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye
walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.' And 1 Thes.
ii. 12, ' That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto-
his kingdom and glory.'
SERMON XIII.
Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have
been taught, whether by luord, or our epistle. — 2 THES. II. 15.
THE apostle, after he had comforted the Thessalonians, he exhorteth
them to constancy in the truth, whatever temptations they had to the
contrary. The comforts he propoundeth to them were taken — (1.)
From their election, ver. 13 ; (2.) From their vocation, ver. 14. His
exhortation is to perseverance : * Therefore, brethren/ &c.
In the words observe : —
1. The illative particle, therefore; because God hath chosen you
and called you, and given you such advantages against error and
seduction.
2. The duty inferred: crr^ere, stand fast. It is a military word;;
you have the same in other places : 1 Cor. xvi. 13, ' Watch ye, stand
ye fast/ &c. ; Eph. vi. 14, ' Stand, therefore, having your loins girt
about with truth/ The word intimateth perseverance.
3. The means of perseverance : hold the traditions ivhich you have
been taught, luhether by word, or our epistle.
Where observe :—(!.) The act; (2.) The object.
1. The act : Kpa-relre, hold with strong hand. The word implieth a
forcible holding against assaults, whether of error or persecution. The
Thessalonians were assaulted in both kinds ; the heathens persecuted
them, and some were gone abroad that began the mystery of iniquity,
and were ready to pervert them.
2. The object, which is propounded — (1.) By a common and general
term : c The traditions which ye have been taught/ (2.) By a distribu
tion : ' Whether by word, or our epistle/
2 THES. II. 1 5.] THE THIRTEENTH SERMON. 123
1. The common and general term, ' The traditions which ye have
been taught.' There are two sorts of traditions — human and divine.
First, Human traditions are certain external observances instituted
by . men, and delivered from hand to hand, from progenitors to
their posterity. These may be either besides or contrary to the word
of God. (1.) Beside the word, as the institutions of the family of the
Rechabites, in the observance of which, from father to son, they were
so exact and punctual, that God produceth their example to shame the
disobedience of his people; Jer. xxxv. 6, 7, ' Jonadab the son of Eechab
our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, nor build
houses, nor plant vineyards,' &c. (2.) Contrary to the word of God,
such as were those of the pharisees : Mat. xv. 3, ' Why transgress ye
the commandment of God by your traditions ? ' Human inventions in
religion are contrary to, and destructive of, divine laws.
Secondly, Traditions divine are either heavenly doctrines revealed by
God, or institutions and ordinances appointed by him for the use of the
church. These are the rule and ground of our faith, worship, and
obedience. The whole doctrine of the gospel is a tradition delivered
and conveyed to us by fit messengers, such as the apostles were : 1 Cor.
xi. 2, ' Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things,
and keep the ordinances [marg. traditions] as I delivered them to you.'
So that holding the traditions is nothing else but perseverance in apos
tolical doctrine.
2. The distribution, that no cheats might be put upon them under
any pretence ; therefore he saith, * Whether by word, or our epistle ;'
that is, by word of mouth when present, or by epistle when absent ;
and he saith, not epistles, but epistle, as alluding to the former he wrote
unto them. They were bound to yield to both alike credence and
obedience ; for, whether in speaking or writing, the apostolical autho
rity was the same. To improve this verse for your benefit, I shall lay
down several propositions.
I. That whatever assurance we have of God's preserving us in the
truth, yet we are bound to use diligence and caution.
II. Our diligence and caution is to be employed about this, that we
may stand fast in the faith of Christ, and the profession and practice
of godliness.
III. That the means of standing fast in the faith of Christ, and the
profession and practice of godliness, is by holding the traditions which
were taught by the holy apostles.
IV. That while the apostles were in being, there were two ways of
delivering the truth — by word of mouth and writing.
V. That now when they are long since gone to God, and we cannot
receive from them the doctrine of life by word of mouth, we must stick
to the scriptures or written word.
I. That whatever ,'^surance we have of God's preserving us in the
truth, yet we are bound to use diligence and caution. For the apostle
had said that ' God had chosen and called them to the belief of the
truth/ and yet saith, ' Therefore, brethren, stand fast/
First, Reason will tell us that when we intend an end, we must use
the means ; otherwise the bare intention and desire would suffice, and
to the accomplishing of any effect, we need no more than to will it ;
124 THE THIRTEENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 15.
and the sluggard would be the wisest man in the world, who is full of
wishings and wouldings, though his hands refuse to labour. But
common experience showeth that the end cannot be obtained without
a diligent use of the means : Prov. xiii. 4, ' The soul of the sluggard
desireth, and hath nothing : but the soul of the diligent shall be made
fat :' that is, rewarded with the intended benefit.
Secondly, The business in hand is, whether God's election, calling,
or promise, doth so secure the end to us, as that we need not be so
careful in the diligent use of means? Such a notion or conceit there
may be in the hearts of men, therefore let us attack it a little by these
considerations : —
1. God's decree is both of end and means, for all his purposes are
executed by fit means. He that hath chosen us to salvation, bringeth
it about by the belief of the truth, arid sanctification of the Spirit, 2
Thes. ii. 13 ; and without faith and holiness no man shall see God, and
escape condemnation. God had assured Paul that there should be ' no
loss of any man's life among them, except of the ship,' Acts xxvii. 22.
And yet afterwards, ver. 31, Paul telleth them, ' Except these abide in
the ship, ye cannot be saved.' How could that assurance given to Paul
from God, and Paul's caution to the mariners, stand together ? Doth
the purpose of God depend upon the uncertain will and actions of men ?
I answer — Not as a cause, from whence it receiveth its force and strength ;
but as a means, appointed also by God to the execution of his decree.
For by the same decree God appointeth the event, what he will do,
and the means by which he will have it to be done : and the Lord re
vealing by his word this conjunction of end and means, there is a
necessity of duty lying upon man to use these means, and not to expect
the end without them. God intended to save all in the ship, and yet the
mariners must abide in the ship ; therefore, what God hath joined to
gether, let no man separate. If we separate these things, God doth
not change his counsel, but we pervert his order to our own destruction.
2. God, that hath bidden us to believe his promises, hath forbidden
us to tempt his providence, Mat. iv. 7. Now we tempt God when we
desire him to give an extraordinary proof of his care over us, when
ordinary means will serve the turn, or be useful to us.
3. Though the means seem to have no connection with the end, yet,
if God hath enjoined them for that end, we must use them. As in the
instance of Naaman ; God was resolved to cure him, but Naaman
must take his prescribed way, though against his own fancy and con
ceit : 2 Kings v. 10, ' Wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall
come again unto thee, and thou shalt be clean ;' compare ver. 13, 'If
the prophet had bidden thee to do some great thing/ &c. So John
xiii. 6, 7, Peter must submit to be washed, though he could not see
the benefit of it. So John ix. 6, 7, the blind man must submit to
have his eyes anointed with clay, and wash in the pool of Siloam ;
though the clay seemed to put out his eyes, rather than cure them,
and the pool could not wash away his blindness ; but means appointed
by God must be used, whatever improbabilities are apprehended
by us.
4. That when God's will is expressly declared concerning the event,
yet he will have the means used. As, for instance, 2 Kings xx. 5-7 ;
2 THES. II. 15.] THE THIRTEENTH SERMON. 125
God was absolutely resolved to add fifteen years more to Hezekiah's
life, yet he must take a lump of figs and lay it on the boil ; which
plainly showeth that no promise on God's part, nor assurance on ours,
hindereth the use of means. God will work by them, not without them.
5. In spiritual things, assurance of the event is an encouragement to
industry, not a pretence to sloth : 1 John ii. 27, 28, ' Ye shall abide
in him : and now, little children, abide in him/ The promise of per
severance doth encourage us to use endeavours that we may persevere,
and quicken diligence rather than nourish security, or open a gap to
carnal liberty : 1 Cor. ix. 26, ' I run not as one that is uncertain.' We
are the more earnest, because we are assured the means shall not be
uneffectual.
II. Our duty is to stand fast in the faith of Christ and profession
of godliness, whatever temptations we have to the contrary. Stand
fast being a military word, it alludeth to a soldier's keeping his
ground, and is opposed to two things: — (1.) A cowardly flight; (2.)
A treacherous revolt.
1. A cowardly flight implieth our being overcome in the evil day,
by the many afflictions that befall us for the truth's sake: Eph. vi. 13,
' Wherefore take to you the whole armour of God, that you may be
able to withstand in the evil day ; ' that after ye have done all things,
ye may stand. Their temptation was the many troubles and persecu
tions that befell them, called there ' the evil day/ Their defence lay
in * the whole armour of God/ which is there made of six pieces : — The
girdle of truth or sincerity, which is a strength to us as a girdle to
the loins ; the breastplate of righteousness, or a holy inclination and
desire to perform our duty to God in all things ; and the shield of
faith, or a steadfast adhering to the truths of the gospel, whether de
livered in a way of command, promise, or threatening ; the helmet of
hope, or a certain and desirous expectation of the promised glory ; the
shoe of the preparation of the gospel of peace, which is a readiness to
endure all encounters for Christ's sake, who hath made our peace with
God ; and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Now, if
we take this armour and use it in our conflicts, what doth it serve for ?
To withstand and stand. The first is the act of a soldier, the second
is the posture of a conqueror. Here is withstanding till the field be
won, and then standing when the day of evil is over. Here we make
our way to heaven by conflict and conquest, and hereafter we triumph.
2. A treacherous revolt, or yielding to the enemy, by complying with
those things which are against the interest of Christ and his kingdom
for advantage-sake : 2 Tim. iv. 10, ' Demas hath forsaken us, and loved
the present world/ Backsliders in heart are the worst sort of apostates.
Such as lose their affection to God, and delight in his ways, and esteem
not of his glorious recompenses, for a little pleasure, profit, or pomp of
living ; sell their birthright for one morsel of meat, Heb. xii. 15, 16.
Some fail in their understandings, but most miscarry by the perverse
inclination of their wills ; they are carnal worldly hypocrites that never
thoroughly mortified the fleshly mind, prize things as they are com
modious to the flesh, and will save them from sufferings. The bias
of such men's hearts doth easily prevail against the light of their un
derstandings.
126 THE THIRTEENTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 15.
III. The means of standing fast is, by holding the traditions which
were taught by the holy apostles. Here I will prove — (1.) That
the doctrine of Christianity taught by the apostles is a tradition ;
(2.) That holding this tradition by strong hand, when others wrest it
from us, is the means of our perseverance.
1. That the doctrine of Christianity is a tradition, I prove it by
two arguments : —
First, Matters not evident by the light of nature, nor immediately
revealed to us by God, must be either an invention or a tradition. An
invention is something in religion not evident by natural light, nor
agreeable to sound reason, but is some cunningly-devised fable, in
vented by one or more, and obtruded by various artifices upon the
belief of the world. Inventions in this kind were man's disease, not
his remedy : Eccles. vii. 29, ' God made man upright, but they sought
out many inventions/ As when the philosophers sat a-brood upon
religion, a goodly chimera it was they hatched and brought forth :
Kom. i. 21, 22, ' They became vain in their imaginations, and their
foolish heart was darkened ;' and * professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools.' The inventions little became the nature of God;
nor were they profitable to man, for still the great sore of nature was
unhealed, which is a fear of death and the righteous wrath of God,
Kom. i. 32. So that neither man's comfort nor duty was well pro
vided for. Surely the gospel is none of this sort, not an invention of
men, but a revelation of God ; and a revelation not made to us in per
son, but brought out of the bosom of God by Jesus Christ, and by
him manifested to chosen witnesses, who might publish this mystery
and secret to others. Well, then, since the gospel is not an invention ;
it is a tradition, or a delivery of the truth upon the testimony of one
that came from God, to instruct the world, or reduce it to him ; not
an invention of man, but a secret brought out of the bosom of God
by our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore it is said, Heb. ii. 3, 4, ' How
shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, first spoken by the
Lord himself, and then confirmed to us by them that heard him, the
Lord bearing them witness ?' &c. Christ delivered it to the apostles,
*md the apostles delivered it to others : 2 Tim. ii. 2, ' Those things
which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same
commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.'
The apostles received the gospel from Christ, and the churches and
ministers from the apostles, and they delivered it down to others until
it came to us, which is the means of our believing the truth, and con
fessing the name of Christ. This testimony, delivered and conveyed
to us by the most credible means, and which we have no reason to
doubt of, is as binding as if we had heard Christ and his apostles in
person ; for we have their word in writing, though we did not hear
them preach and publish it with the lively voice ; their authority is
the same, delivered either way. And that these are their writings
appeareth by the constant tradition of the church, and the acknow
ledgment of friends and enemies, who still appeal to them as a public
authentic record. And as they have been attested by the church, they
have been owned by God, and blessed by him to the conversion and
sanctifying of many souls throughout all successions of ages : and by
2 THES. II. 15.] THE THIRTEENTH SERMON. 127
this tradition Christianity hath held up the head against all encounters
of time ; and the persecutions of adverse powers have not suppressed
it, nor the disputes of enemies silenced the profession of it, but from
age to age it hath been received, and transmitted to future generations,
though sometimes at a very dear rate. And this is binding to us,
though we saw not the persons and miracles by which they confirmed
their message, and heard not the first report. Yet the universal
tradition having handed it to us, is a sufficient ground of faith, and
so we believe through their word, and are concerned in Christ's
prayers, John xvii. 20; for with them and their successors, as to
these necessary things, Christ hath promised to be to the end of the
•world, Mat. xxviii. 20.
Secondly, My next argument is — Because Christian religion must
needs be a tradition, partly because matter of fact is the foundation
of it, and it is in itself matter of faith. (1.) Because it is built upon
matter of fact : that the Son of God came from God, to bring us to
God ; that is to say, appeared in human nature, instructed the world
by his doctrine and example, and at length died for sinners, confirm
ing both in life and death the truth of his mission, by such unques
tionable miracles as showed him to be the Son of God and the Saviour
of the world. Now, a testimony, tradition, or report, is necessary in
matters of fact, which of necessity must be confined to some deter
minate time and place. It was not fit that Christ should be always
working miracles, always dying, always rising, and ascending in every
place, and in the view of every man ; but those things were to be once
done in one place of the world, in sight of some particular and com
petent witnesses. But because the knowledge of them concerned all
the rest of the world, they were by them to be attested to others ;
matters of fact can only be proved by credible witnesses, and this was
the great office put upon the apostles, Acts i. 8-22 ; ii. 32 ; iii. 15 ;
x. 39-41. (2.) As it is matter of faith, or the doctrine built upon
this matter of fact. We cannot properly be said to believe a thing
but upon a report and testimony. I may know a thing by sense or
reason, but I cannot believe it, but as it is affirmed or brought to me
by credible testimony. As we are said to see those things which we
perceive by the eye, or the sense of seeing, and to know those things
which we receive by reason, or sure demonstration ; so we are said to
believe those things which are brought to us by valuable testimony,
tradition, and report. As, for instance, if any one ask you, Do you
believe the sun shineth at noonday ? You will answer, I do not be
lieve it, but see it. So if any one ask you, Do you believe that twice
two make four, and twice three make six ? You will say, I do not
believe it, but know it, because certain and evident reason telleth me
that two is the half of four, and three of six ; and every whole con-
sisteth of two halves or moieties. But if he should ask you, Do you
believe that the sun is bigger than the earth ? You will say, I believe
it; for though your eye doth not discover it, nor doth an ignorant
man know any certain demonstration of it, yet, having the authority
of learned men, who are competent judges in the case, you judge it a
rash and foolish obstinacy not to believe it. Apply it now to the
mysteries of godliness revealed in the gospel. They cannot be seen with
128 THE THIRTEENTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 15.
the eye, for they are invisible ; nor found out and comprehended by
any human understanding, because they exceed the reach of man's
reason, and depend upon the love and arbitrary will of God, John iii.
16 ; yet you believe them, because God hath revealed them to the pro
phets and apostles : and God, being truth and wisdom itself, cannot
deceive or be deceived ; and therefore you believe them with the cer
tainty of divine faith, and do no more doubt of them than you do of
those things which you see with your eyes, and know and understand
by a sure demonstration. The sense of seeing may be deceived, and
human reason may err, but it is impossible God should deceive or be
deceived. It oftentimes falleth out that men do prefer the authority
and report of a man whom they judge to be wise and good before their
own sense and reason. As, for instance, that man who by his eye
judges the sun to be less than the earth, yet doth not obstinately stand
in his opinion when he hears a knowing and skilful philosopher assert
the contrary. Now, ' If we receive the witness of men, the witness of
God is greater/ 1 John v. 9. And this testimony of God is brought
to us by his authorised messengers as the ground of faith : and what
is that but tradition ? We believe in God by hearing of him ; and
we hear by a preacher, Kom. x. 14. Ordinary common preachers give
us notice ; but Christ and his apostles give us assurance ; and by their
testimony and tradition our faith is ultimately resolved into the vera
city of God.
2. That holding this tradition is the great means of standing fast
in the faith of Christ and the confession of his name. For in the
word of God delivered by Christ and his apostles, there is sure direc
tion to walk by, and sure promises to build upon. For whatever they
made known of Christ was not a fable but a certain truth ; for they
had the testimony of sense, 2 Peter i. 16, 17 ; 1 John i. 2-4, and so
could plead both the authority of his command and the certainty of
his promise, and that with uncontrollable evidence ; and without this
relation there can be neither faith nor obedience, nor sure expectation
of happiness. For we cannot trust God for what he hath not pro
mised, nor obey God in what he hath not commanded ; nor in our
difficulties and distresses expect happiness from him without his war
rant and assurance. But by this doctrine delivered to us, we have all
that belongeth to faith, obedience, and happiness, and beyond that the
creature can desire no more. (1.) There can be no faith till we have
a sure testimony of God's revelation ; for faith is a believing such
things as God hath revealed, because he hath revealed them. It is
not faith but fancy to believe such things as God hath never revealed ;
nor is it trust and a regular confidence to think that he will certainly
give us what he hath never promised ; this were to lay us open to all
manner of delusion ; and therefore we are never upon sure and stable
ground but by sticking to such a tradition as may justly entitle itself
to God. (2.) Nor obedience : for obedience is a doing what God
hath commanded, because he hath commanded it. The fundamental
reason of obedience is the sight of God's will, 1 Thes. iv. 3, v.
18 ; 1 Peter ii. 15. To do what God never commanded, or not to do
it upon that account, but for other reasons, is not obedience ; and in
difficult cases the soul can never be held to its duty till we are per-
2 THES. II. 15.] THE THIRTEENTH SERMON. 129
snadecl that so is God's will concerning us. Now to know his will
concerning us, we are often bidden to search the scripture : but never
bidden to consult with the church, to know what unwritten traditions
she hath in her keeping to instruct us in our duty. (3.) No certain
expectation of happiness. We are never safe till we know by what
rule Christ will judge us ; that is, reward or punish men at the last
day. Now he will judge us according to the gospel, Rom. ii. 16 ; 1
Thes. i. 8. Obey the gospel, and you have a perfect rule to guide
you to happiness ; but if you neglect this great salvation, or be un
faithful in the profession of it, this word condemneth you, and God
will ratify the sentence of it.
IV. That whilst the apostles were in being, there were two ways of
delivering the truth, and that was by word of mouth and writing. So in
the text : ' Whether by word or our epistle.' The apostles went up
and down and preached Christ everywhere ; that needeth no proof,
unless you would have me to produce the whole book of the Acts of
the Apostles. But they did not preach only, but write ; and both by
the instinct of the Holy Spirit, who guided their journeys, and moved
them to write epistles. For being often absent i'rom churches newly
planted, and heresies arising, or some contentions, which could not be
avoided among weak Christians, God overruled these occasions for the
profit of the church in after ages : upon one occasion or another they
saw a necessity to write ; avd^K^v ecr^ov : Jude ver. 3, ' It was needful
for me to write unto you.' As, in the Old Testament, God himself
delivered the law with great majesty and terror, and afterwards caused
the same to be written in tables of stone, for the constant use of his
people ; and the prophets first uttered their prophecies, and then
wrote unto them ; so the apostles first preached evangelical doctrine,
and then consigned it to writing for the use of all ages. And though
all things delivered by them were not delivered in one sermon or one
epistle, yet by degrees the canon of the New Testament was constituted
and made perfect by the writings of the evangelists and apostles.
V. That now, when they are long since gone to God, and we cannot
receive from them the doctrine of life byword of mouth, we must stick
to the scriptures or written word. (1.) Because we are taught to do so
by Christ and his apostles. Christ always appealeth to the writings
of the Old Testament, both against traditions, which he condemneth,
Mat. xv. 2, and against pretended revelations: Luke xvi. 31, 'If they
hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded to repent,
if one should come from the dead/ And the apostles still have re
course to this proof : Acts xxvi. 22, ' Witnessing no other things than
the prophets and Moses did say should come to pass/ And when they
pleaded they were eye and ear witnesses, and so their testimony was
valuable ; yet they say we have jSepcuoTepov \6yov, ' A surer word of
prophecy, whereunto ye shall do well to take heed/ 2 Peter i. 19.
Now, how can we do better than to imitate these great examples ? (2.)
Because those things were written for our sakes : 1 John i. 4, ' These
things write we unto you, that your joy may be full/ The apostles,
being to leave the world, did know the slipperiness of man's memory,
and the danger of corrupting Christian doctrine, if there were not a
sure authentic record left ; therefore they wrote, and so fully, that
VOL. III. I
130 THE THIRTEENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 15.
nothing is wanting to complete our joy and happiness. (3.) Because
the scriptures are perfect. The perfection of scripture is known by its
end and intended use, which is to give us a knowledge of those things
which concern our faith, duty, and happiness. (1st.) Our faith in
Christ. If there be enough written for that end, we need not unwritten
traditions to complete our rule. Now, St John telleth us he might
have written more things : ' But these things are written that ye might
believe in the Son of God, and have life through his name,' John xx.
30, 31. Certainly nothing is wanting to beget a faith in Christ. The
object is sufficiently propounded ; the warrant or claim is laid down
in the new covenant, and the encouragements to believe it are clear
and strong. What would men have more ? So that here is a perfect
rule, perfect in its kind , and for its proper use. (2dly.) For our duty ; that
is sufficiently provided for. The apostle telleth us that ' the grace of
God ' — take it objectively for the grace of the gospel, or subjectively for
grace in our hearts — ' teacheth us ;' — if you mean objective grace, it
prescribeth, directeth ; if subjective grace, it persuadeth and exciteth ;
what to do ? l To live soberly, righteously, godly in the present world/
Titus ii. 12. There are all the branches of man's duty enumerated : so
briety relateth to self-government; righteously, to our carriage towards
our neighbour ; godly, to our commerce and communion with God. What
is there wanting that belongeth either to worship, or justice, or personal
holiness ? Therefore certainly we need no other rule ; for it layeth down
whatsoever men are bound to do in all ages and places of the world,
and in whatsoever circumstances God shall put them. And so it is fit
to be the law of the universal King and Lawgiver ; yea, it is so per
fect, that whatever other way is set up, it presently dasheth against
those notions that we have, or should have, of God, his service and
worship ; or it infringeth or perverteth the liberty and nature of man.
(3dly.) For our happiness. That doctrine and institution which is able
to make us wise unto salvation is enough for us ; but so the holy
scriptures are said to do : 2 Tim. iii. 15, ' And that from a child thou
hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise
unto salvation, through the faith which is in Christ Jesus.' Nay,
afterwards, ver. 17, ' The man of God is by them made perfect, and
thoroughly furnished to every good work.'
If the scriptures do thoroughly direct men to know God in Christ,
and save their own souls, why should we look any further ? Now,
they do not only furnish every private Christian with this knowledge,
but ' the man of God,' who is to instruct others, he needeth look no
further, but is furnished out of the scripture with all things necessary
to discharge his office. Therefore here we fix and rest; we have a
sufficient rule, and a full record of all necessary Christian doctrine.
Use 1. The use of all is : Let us not seek another rule than the
word of God. Papists cry up unwritten traditions to be received with
equal respect and reverence, as we receive the holy scriptures. But
you, brethren, stand fast, holding the apostolical tradition. You can
not have it by word of mouth from them now ; therefore you must
stick to what is written, or else you cannot preserve yourselves from
the frauds and impostures of Antichrist. These apostolical writings
have been received in all ages and times of the church from the
2 THES. II. 15.] THE THIRTEENTH SERMON. 131
beginning ; and all disputes among Christians have been tried by them.
None were allowed good or sincere Christians who doubted of the
truth of them. But because we have to do with a people that will
sacrifice all to the honour and interest of their church, and knowing
they are not able to stand before the light of scriptures, have, to the
no little prejudice of the Christian cause, done all they can to weaken
the authority, sufficiency, and perspicuity of them, that we might have
no religion without the testimony and recommendation of their church ;
therefore I shall resume the matter and declare it afresh.
1. Mankind lying in darkness and in the shadow of death, it was
necessary that one way or another God should reveal his mind to them,
that we may have what belongeth to our duty and happiness, for our
.chief good and last end. Being altered by sin, we strangely mistake
things, and put light for darkness and darkness for light, good for evil
and evil for good, weighing all things in the balance of the flesh, which
we seek to please. We confound both the names arid natures of things,
and wander in a maze of a thousand perplexities ; therefore Godwin,
pity to mankind, hath given us a sure direction in his word, which is
* a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our paths,' Ps. cxix. 105.
Mark the words of light and lamp. The use of a lamp is by night, and
in the day we have the light of the sun : whether it be day or night with
us, here we are taught how to carry ourselves. Mark again the words
of path and feet. The one signifieth our way and general course, the
other all our particular actions ; so far as religion is concerned in them,
we have directions in the word about them. Besides, man's condition
is such, that he needeth a supernatural remedy by a Kedeerner ; which,
depending upon the mere love and free grace of God, cannot be found
out by natural light left to us ; for that only can judge of things
necessary, but not of such things as depend upon the mere pleasure of
God ; therefore a divine revelation there must be.
2. Since it is necessary that God should some way or other reveal
his mind to his people, it must be done by oracles, visions, dreams, or
by extraordinary messengers, who by word of mouth might convey it
to us ; or else by writing, or by ordinary teachers, whose lips may pre
serve knowledge in the church. The former ways might suffice while
God saw fit to reveal but a few truths, and such as do not burden the
memory, and men were long-lived, and of great simplicity, and the
church was confined within a small compass of ground, and not liable
to so many miseries and changes as now in the latter ages ; but when
once God had spoken to us by his Son, those extraordinary ways ceased :
Heb. i. 1, 2, ' God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake
in times past to the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last times
spoken to us by his Son.' As formerly God did speak TTOXUT/JOTTO)?,
in divers manners, — that is to say, by visions, oracles, dreams ; and so
7ro\uf6e/3ft)9, at sundry times, by several steps and degrees, he acquainted
the world with the truths necessary for man to know, delivering them
out by portions, not altogether at once, till he came who had ' The Spirit
without measure/ John iii. 34. The prophets to whom God revealed
himself before by visions, oracles, dreams, or the coming of the Spirit
upon them, had the spirit eic fjuerpov, by measure, to fit them for some
particular errand or message on which God sent them. But when God
132 THE THIRTEENTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 15
sent his Son out of his bosom to reveal the whole doctrine of faith at once,
and to declare his Father's will with full authority and power, he fixed
and closed up the rule of faith. So it was not fit that after him there
should come any extraordinary nuncios and ambassadors from heaven ,
or any other should be owned as infallible messengers, but such as he
immediately sent abroad in the world to disciple the nations. There
fore all former extraordinary ways ceased, and we are left to the ordi
nary rule stated by Christ.
3. Being left to the ordinary rule, it was necessary it should be
taught, not only by word of mouth, but committed to writing ; for
Christ is ascended into heaven, and the apostles do not live for ever ;
and we have no men now that are immediately and divinely inspired ;
and ordinary pastors and teachers cannot make more articles of faith,
but do only build on the apostles' foundation, 1 Cor. iii. 10, or that
divinely-inspired doctrine which they delivered to the church. Yea,
that doctrine cannot well be preserved from oblivion and corruption
without writing. Therefore God accounted this the safest way : those
things that are only delivered by word of mouth, or from hand to hand,
may easily be changed, corrupted, or utterly lost. Certainly, if you
consider man's sloth, treachery, levity, and the many vile affections
which may easily induce him to extinguish or corrupt the truth, which
is contrary to them, you will see that it is necessary there should be
an authentic record by which truth and error might be tried and dis
tinguished ; yea, that the church, which is dispersed throughout the
world, might have truth at hand, and particular believers have this
doctrine ever by them for their comfort and use, it being the property
of a blessed man to ' delight in the law of God/ and to ' exercise him
self therein day and night,' Ps. i. 2. In short, while the apostles were
living, it was good to take the tradition from their mouth, but, now
they are dead, we take it from their writings. Surely if God saw some
writing necessary when those extraordinary ways we spake of before
were in use, and the church of the Old Testament was in a much
quieter estate than the church of the New, I say, if some writing were
necessary then, it is more necessary now, for the Christian church is
more exposed to dreadful storms of persecution, the deceits of here
tics of all sorts, especially to the frauds of Antichrist, which we are
forewarned of in this chapter, and are detected and discovered by their
contrariety to the written word.
4. This truth being written, it is both a safe and a full rule for us-
to walk by. It is a safe rule, because it is written by the apostles and
evangelists, holy men moved by the Holy Ghost. The apostles did
not lose their infallibility when they committed what they preached to
writing. The same Spirit that assisted them in delivering the doc
trine by word of mouth, assisted them also when they delivered it by
writing. And it is a full and sufficient rule, because it containeth all
things which are necessary for men to believe and do in order to-
eternal life. Let them name what is necessary, beyond what is recom
mended there or may be delivered from thence. Yea, it doth contain
not only all the essential, but also the integral parts of the Christian
religion ; and therefore nothing can be any part of our religion which
is not there. The direction of old was, Isa, viii. 20, ' To the law and t0
2 THES. II. 15.] THE THIRTEENTH SERMON. 133
the testimony ; if they speak not according to this word, it is because
there is no light in them.' Everything was then tried by Moses and the
prophets ; everything must be now tried by the prophets and apostles,
which is our foundation of faith, worship, and obedience, Eph. ii. 20.
5. That which we blame in the papists is, that they cry up a pri
vate, unproved, unwritten tradition of their own, as of equal authority
with this safe and full rule which is contained in this written word of
God. Their crime and fault may be considered partly with respect to
the object and matter — that these traditions are not indifferent customs,
but essential points necessary to faith and Christian practice. And so,
though a Christian be never so thorough and sound in his obedience
to the word of God, and true to the baptismal covenant, yet, if he sub-
initteth not to these unwritten traditions, he wants some point neces
sary to faith and practice, and so to life eternal, which is contrary to
Mark xvi. 16, 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and
he that believeth not shall be damned;' and John xvii. 3, ' This is
life eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent.' Partly as to the subject, as they make their own fac
tion to be the only keepers of these things, and that nothing is to be
owned as apostolical tradition but what is delivered as such by their
authority ; which is to leave the church to the tyranny and usurpation
of a corrupt faction, to declare for apostolical tradition anything which
serveth their end and interest, and for which no true historical evi
dence is produced. Now the unjust and fraudulent practices which
they have used to promote this usurpation over the churches of Christ
render them false men, most unfit to be trusted in this kind. Partly
with respect to the manner : they will have these things to be received
part reverentta et pietatis offectu — with the same reverence and pious
affection with which we receive the holy scriptures ; and so man's post
is set by God's, and unproved traditions equalled with doctrines of
faith. Their opinion is bad enough, but their practice is worse ; for
there they show they value these things more than the scriptures ; as
superstition always aboundeth in its own things. Did ever any of their
doctors say the same things of traditions which they take the boldness
to say of scripture ? Did they ever call them pen and inkhorn, or
parchment divinity, a nose of wax, a dumb rule, an obscure and am
biguous doctrine ? These blasphemies they vent boldly against the
scriptures ; but did they ever speak these of traditions ? And again,
their common people are a thousand times better instructed in their
traditions than in the doctrine of salvation. They skill more of Lent
and Ember-weeks, &c., than they truly understand the doctrine of
man's misery and remedy. And call you this reverence and pious
affection to the scriptures and traditions ? Partly because they would
never give us a catalogue of unwritten traditions necessary to be ob
served by all Christians. It may be lest they should amaze the people
with the multitude of them, or else that the people may not know how
many of their doctrines are destitute of scripture proof, and so they
plainly be discovered to be imposers on the belief of the Christian
world.
6. Though we blame this in papists, yet we reject not all tra
ditions : —
134 THE THIRTEENTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 15.
[1.] Because scripture itself is a tradition, as we proved before, and!
is conveyed to us by the most credible means, which we have no reason
to doubt of. The scriptures of the Old Testament were preserved by
the Jews, * to whom were committed the oracles of God/ Eom. iii. 2,
Protestants received all the books which they admitted into their canon.
And for the books of the New Testament, the Christian church hath
received them as the writings of those whose names they bear. And
by the constant universal tradition of the church they are transmitted
to us ; and we have no more reason to doubt of them than we do of
statutes and laws made by kings and parliaments who lived long be
fore we had a being. Yea ; we may be much more confident, as the
matter is of greater weight and consequence, and these writings have
the signature and stamp of God's Spirit on them, and have been
blessed by God to the converting and sanctifying of many souls ; and
have been delivered down to us by a succession of believers unto this
•very day. And by them Christianity hath been preserved in the
world, notwithstanding the wickedness of it, and hath held up head
against all the encounters of time. The persecutions of adverse powers-
have not suppressed it, nor the disputes of enemies silenced the pro
fession of it ; but still from age to age God's truth is received and
transmitted to posterity.
[2.] Because the truth of Christianity depending upon matter of
fact, chiefly Christ's rising from the dead, it can only be proved by a
testimony which, in so extraordinary a case, must be made valuable,
and authorised to the world by the miracles accompanying it. Now
the notice of these things is brought to us by tradition, which, being
unquestionable , giveth us as good ground of faith as it did to them
that lived in the apostles' time, and heard their doctrine and saw
their miracles. God's wonderful works were never intended for the
benefit of that age only in which they were done, but for the benefit
also of those that should hear of them by any credible means what
soever, Ps. cxlv. 4 ; Joel i. 3 ; Ps. Ixxviii. 3-7 : these things were
told them ' that they might set their hope in God/ &c.
[3.] Because there are some doctrines drawn by just consequence
from scripture, but are the more confirmed to us when they are
backed with constant church usage and practice ; as baptism of
infants, Lord's-day, singing of psalms in our public worship, &c.
[4.] Because there are certain words which are not found in scrip
ture indeed, yet agreeable thereto, and are very useful to discover the
frauds of heretics ; as Trinity, divine providence, consubstantial, proces
sion of the Holy Ghost, satisfaction, &c.
[5.] We reject not all church history, or the records of ancient
writers concerning the providences of God in their days in owning
the gospel, which make much for our instruction in manners, and help
to encourage us to put our trust in God.
[6.] There are certain usages and innocent customs or circum
stances, common to sacred and other actions, which we despise not,
but acknowledge and receive as far as their own variable nature and
condition requireth ; not rejecting them, because anciently practised ;
nor regarding them, when the general law of edification requireth the
omission of them. But that which we detest is, that the traditions of
2 THES. II. 16, 17.J THE FOURTEENTH SERMON. 135
men should be made equal in dignity and authority with the express
revelation of God ; yea, that manifest corruptions and usurpations, — as
making Home the mistress of other churches, and superinducing the
Pope as the head of the universal visible church, and the vicar of
Christ, without his leave and appointment, and such like other points,
— should be obtruded upon the world as apostolical traditions, and to be
received with like religious reverence as we do articles of faith set
down in scripture. This is that we cannot sufficiently abhor, as
apparently false, and destructive to Christianity.
SERMON XIV.
Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which
hath loved us, and given us everlasting consolation, and good hope,
through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every
good loord and work. — 2 THES. II. 16, 17.
THE apostle — 1. Giveth thanks for their election and vocation, vers.
13, 14.
2. Exhorteth them to stick fast to the truths delivered by epistles,
or word of mouth, ver. 15.
3. Prayeth for them, in the words now read. So that is the third
means of confirming their faith in the truth of the gospel ; prayer to
God for them. Now in a prayer all things are plain ; we must put
off our shoes when we draw nigh to God, appear before the Lord with
naked and bare feet. Therefore here nothing of difficulty will occur ;
our prayers, the more simply and plainly they are expressed, the more
sincere they are.
In this prayer observe : —
I. The persons to whom this prayer is addressed : now our Lord
Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father.
II. The grounds of audience and success are intimated, which are
two : — (1.) God's love : luhich hath loved us. (2.) The pledges of his
love ; which are also two : — First, Without us ; Secondly, Within us.
1. He hath given us everlasting consolation.
2. Good hope through grace.
III. The blessings prayed for.
1. Increase of comfort : comfort your hearts.
2. Perseverance or establishment : and stablish you in every good
•word and work ; where, by * every good word ' is meant the sound
doctrine of the gospel ; by * every good work/ holiness of life.
So that here is a great harvest of matter, but we must gather it in
by degrees, for all cannot be spoken of at once.
First, We begin with the persons to whom the prayer is addressed :
'Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father;'
that is, I beseech the Lord our Saviour, and God our Father, to
136 THE FOURTEENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 16, 17.
comfort and stablish you. The observations for this branch shall be
brief and short, because the proper seat of them lieth elsewhere.
I. That exhortations prevail little without prayer. He had exhorted
them to hold fast the traditions, and presently addeth, * Our Lord
Jesus Christ and God the Father stablish you in every good word
and work.' It is good to observe how all the parts of the apostle's
discourse cohere and agree together. He first blesseth God for their
election, and then showeth how it is accomplished by vocation or
effectual calling. Yet the effectually called need quickening and
exhortation, that we may concur to our salvation in that way which
is proper to us. But lest the business should seem wholly to rest upon
our will, he carrieth up the matter to God again by prayer. Election
doth not exclude God's means, which is vocation, nor man's means,
which is exhortation ; but that availeth little unless the matter be
brought before God again by prayer.
Now this method is necessary : —
1. Because all from first to last come from God ; he is Alpha and
Omega, first and last ; all things are from him, through him, and to
him. The business began with God in his election, and is still carried
on through God, not only by effectual calling, but actual assistance,
which giveth success and blessing; and then the glory of all redouridcth
to him.
2. Because what cometh from God must be sought of God :
Ezek. xxxvi. 37, ' I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of
Israel, to do it for them ;' compared with the 26th verse, ' A new
heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.' We
must express our desires to God for things agreeable to his will, for
God will not force spiritual blessings upon us, nor give them to us,
unless we desire them. Some things he gave us unasked, and without
our desire, consent, or knowledge, as a Mediator, a new covenant, or
offers of grace, yea, the first gift of the Spirit ; but in other things we
are obliged to ask.
3. A great part of man's duty dependeth on prayer 'seriously per
formed. There is nothing so conducible to the maintaining of com
munion between us and God as a daily sense of our emptiness, and
God's both fulness and readiness to supply all our wants.
[1.] That it is so, that we are empty, and God is all-sufficient,
otherwise there would not be a foundation for practical godliness.
That we are empty : John xv. 5, ' Without me ye can do nothing.' Not
only nihil magnum, but nihil. So 2 Cor. iii. 5, ' Not that we are suf
ficient of ourselves, to think anything as of ourselves, for our sufficiency
is of God ;' that is, we are not able to think anything in order to the
conversion of other men or ourselves ; we cannot imagine to enter
upon this design with any hope of success without God. That
there is a fulness in God to supply all our wants : Eph. iii. 20, ' Now
unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above what we can
ask or think ;' that is, above what we can imagine and pray for. If
any man seriously address himself to any serious business, he is full
of imaginations — may it be effected, yea, or no ? Alas 1 God outworketh
their thoughts and prayers, and doth things which never entered into
our hearts to conceive. That there is a readiness in God to supply
2 THES. II. 16, 17.J THE FOURTEENTH SERMON. 137
all our wants, otherwise our prayers would be little encouraged, and
be dead in the mouth. Now James i. 5, ' If any man lack wisdom,
let him ask it of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth
not.' You need not make scruple, or be ashamed to consult with God
upon every occasion, for he is read3r, and hath not a confined bounty
like ours, who waste by giving, and give from ourselves what we
impart to others.
[2.] That without this, communion with God would be interrupted,
and all religion would die and languish ; for if we had the stock in
our hands, we would forget and forsake our Father. But when still
we must be enabled by God to every good work, and we cannot have
it unless we acknowledge him, and seek it of him by prayer, this
keepeth up a sensible dependence of the creature upon God ; this
dependence begets observance, Phil. ii. 12 ; and they that continually
receive their dole and portion from him are obliged to please him in
all things.
Use of direction. When you come to wait on the word, or receive
here any quickening exhortation, call God into the business, that the
thing may not die away in your hearts. Make conscience of praying
as well as hearing. You hear from man in God's name, but carry it
again to God, that he may bless it. All religion is carried on between
the pulpit and the throne of grace. You will thrive if you conscien
tiously make use of both ordinances — if you hear of Christ in the
word, and make use of him in prayer.
II. Observation. That prayer must be made to God alone : Ps.
Ixv. 2, ' 0 thou that nearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.'
The apostle here addresseth himself to God, and so must all flesh.
1. He alone is capable of hearing prayers. We conceive of God as
an infinite being, wise, powerful, and good ; as knowing all things, as
able to do all things, as willing to give all things that we can in reason
and righteousness ask of him.
[1.] He knoweth all things, our persons, wants, necessities, prayers.
Our persons : God knoweth that there is such a creature in the world
as thou art ; for surely God knoweth whom he hath made, and whom
he supporteth and governeth. A notable instance we have : Acts ix.
11, ' And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street that is
called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul
of Tarsus ; for behold he prayeth.' What a description is here of
God's particular providence ! — the city of Damascus ; the street called
Straight; the house of one Judas; the person (a lodger there), one
Saul of Tarsus ; the action he was employed in, behold, he prayeth !
He knoweth our wants and necessities : Mat. vi. 8, ' Your Father
knoweth what things ye have need of before you ask him/ He ob
served every weary step of David in the wilderness, and all his tears
and sorrows : Ps. Ivi. 8, * Thou tellest my wanderings; put thou my tears
in thy bottle : are they not in thy book ? ' He particularly took notice
of all the troubles arid sorrows of his exile and wandering condition,
as if his tears had been preserved in a bottle, and his troubles registered
or recorded in a book. The doctrine of the Gentiles was, Dii magna
curant, parva negligunt — that great and weighty matters the Lord
took into his care, but left other things to their own event and chance ;
138 THE FOURTEENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 16, 17-
but the doctrine of the scripture is otherwise ; God taketh notice of every
particular person. For our prayers : Ps. xxxiv. 6, ' This poor man
cried unto the Lord, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of
all his troubles/ How obscure soever the worshipper be in the ac
count of the world, if he depend on God, the Lord will regard him.
[2.] For his power. He is able to do all things : Mark xiv. 36,
* Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee/
[3.] For his goodness. He relieveth all his creatures ; heareth the
moans of the beasts, much more the prayers of the saints : Ps. cxlv.
15, 16, ' The eyes of all things wait upon the Lord, and thou givest
them their meat in due season,' £c. Now this he makes a ground of
' fulfilling the desires of them that fear him, and being near to all
that call upon him/ vers. 18, 19. He that feedeth a kite, will he not
provide for a child ? Surely we have more reason to trust in God
than they, if you think this belongeth to his common bounty. But
in spiritual things it is otherwise ; he is most pleased when we ask
spiritual blessings : 1 Kings iii. 10, 'It pleased the Lord that Solomon
asked this thing/ Well, then, since none other is capable, and God
is, to him must we come.
2. The scriptures, which are the proper rule of worship, direct us
to no other. When Christ taught his disciples to pray, he directed
them to God : Luke xi. 2, ' When ye pray, say, Our Father which art
in heaven/ Invocation is divine worship, and so done to God alone.
3. When the Spirit moveth us to pray, he inclineth us to come to
God : Rom. viii. 15, ' Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, where
by we cry, Abba, Father ; ' Gal. iv. 5, 6, ' Because ye are sons,' he
hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba,
Father.' He doth not move us to go to the saints, but to God.
The use. Well, then, if any trouble befall us, let us call on God, un
bosom ourselves to him : Ps. 1. 15, ' Call upon me in the day of
trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me/ If we want
any grace, let us go to the God of all grace, in the name of Christ :
Heb. iv. 16, ' Seeing, therefore, we have a great high priest that is en
tered into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us come boldly to the
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help
us in a time of need/ We can pray to none but to him in whom
we trust : Ps. Ixii. 8, ' Trust in the Lord at all times ; pour'out your
hearts before him.' Trust is the foundation of prayer. They that
look to God for all will frequently apply themselves to him. Our
necessities and wants are continual, both as to the temporal and
spiritual things. We need not only daily bread, but daily pardon,
daily strength against temptations ; therefore let us often come to God.
III. Observation. That Jesus Christ is invoked together with the
Father as an author of grace, and thereby his Godhead is proved ;
for he that is an object both of internal and external worship is God.
Now such is Christ. Of internal worship : ' John xiv. 1, ' Ye believe
in God, believe also in me/ Though Christ died as man, yet he is
God equal with the Father, and an object of faith and trust. For ex
ternal worship, or prayer, the text is clear: 'Our Lord Jesus Christ, and
God, even our Father/ That is much for the comfort of the faithful,
that we have God to trust in, and Christ to trust in ; that we that have
2 THES. II. 16, 17.] THE FOURTEENTH SERMON.
sinned with both hands earnestly, have a double ground of our comfort
and hope — the infinite mercy and power of God, and the infinite merit
of a mediator. There is a great latitude in the object of faith, and so
of invocation : ' The Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father.'
There is no pain so great that God in Christ cannot remove ; no dan
ger so dreadful but he can prevent ; no misery so deep but he can de
liver from it ; no enemy so strong, but he can vanquish them ; no
want that he cannot supply. When we have a want that he cannot
supply, or a sickness that he cannot cure, or a danger that he cannot
prevent, or a misery that he cannot remove, or enemies that are too
hard for him, then we may sit down and despair, and die. I speak of
both as one, for God and Christ are here joined as to the same effect :
' Comforting their hearts, and stablishing them in every good word
and work/
IV. Observation. We can obtain nothing from God unless we seek it
in Jesus Christ. Therefore the apostle beginneth his prayer, 'Now our
Lord Christ, and God,' &c. God alone is abundantly enough for our
happiness, for there is in him more than abundantly enough to satisfy
all the capacities of the creature ; but without a mediator how shall we
come to receive of his fulness ? If man had kept innocent, God had
been enough to us, for in innocency there was no mediator ; but to
man fallen a mediator is necessary
1. I shall state the necessity of it. Because of distance and differ
ence ; we are unworthy to approach his holy presence ; and God hath
a quarrel and controversy with us, which till it be taken up, we can
expect no good thing from him.
[1.] Distance. We are estranged from God by the fall, and have
lost his image, lost his favour and fellowship, and all communion
with him, so that God now is looked upon by us as out of the reach
of our commerce, which hindereth our love and confidence in him ;
for we can hardly depend upon one so far above us that he will
take notice of us, or take care for us, so as to relieve us in our neces
sities, or help us in our miseries, and give us the blessings we ask of
him ; or that we shall be welcome to him, when we come with our
prayers and supplications. God taught the Israelites their distance ;
and the apostle telleth us that all that dispensation ' the Holy Ghost
did signify, that the way into the holiest was not yet made manifest
while the first tabernacle was standing/ Heb. ix. 8. They could not
come near God without danger of death ; he would not have them so
familiar with him.
[2.] Difference, or controversy. A mediator is used only between
disagreeing parties. When man was guilty, God was angry. Con
science of sin presents God terrible, and taketh away all confidence
from us, so that we are obnoxious to his wrath and righteous ven
geance : 1 Sam. vi. 20, ' Who is able to stand before this Holy God ? '
Isa. xxxiii. 14, ' And who can dwell with everlasting burnings ? '
We cannot approach God in any friendly manner.
2. I shall show what provision God hath made for us. The Lord
Jesus took this office at God's appointment, of reconciling God to us,
and appeasing his wrath, and us to God, by bringing us back again, our
alienated and estranged affections to God. How so ? what hath he done ?
140 THE FOUBTEENTH SERMON. [2 TlIES. II. 16, 17.
[1.] The distance is in truth taken away by his very person. He is
God-man ; God and man meet together in the person of Christ. God
doth condescend and come down to man, and man is encouraged to
ascend to God. God in Christ is nearer to man than he was before,
that we may have more familiar thoughts of him. The pure Deity is
at so vast a distance from us, that we are amazed and confounded
when we think of it, and cannot conceive an hope that he should con
cern himself in our affairs. But the Son of God is come in our
nature : John i. 14, * The word was made flesh, and dwelt among us ; '
1 Tim. iii. 16, ' Great is the mystery of godliness, God manifested in
the flesh ;' so that he is more accessible to us, and nearer at hand, and
more readily inclined to help us, for he will not be strange to his own
flesh.
[2.] The difference and controversy is taken up by the work of his
redemption ; for ' God hath set him forth to be a propitiation/ or a
means of appeasing his wrath, Kom. iii. 25, and to be the foundation
of that new covenant wherein pardon and life is offered to us. It is
not enough to our recovery that God be reconciled, but man must be
renewed, otherwise we remain for ever under the displeasure of God.
Now he hath purchased the grace of the Spirit, to be dispensed by the
covenant, to bring us home to God : Titus iii. 5, 6, ' Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he
saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our
Saviour ; ' and Eom. viii. 2, * For the law of the spirit of life in Christ
Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.'
Use, Let us be sensible of this unspeakable mercy, that God hath
provided a Mediator for us, that we may come to God by him : Heb.
vii, 25, * Wherefore he is able to save unto the uttermost all that
come unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make inter
cession for us ; ' that the legal exclusion is removed, and a way
opened to the Father : John xiv. 6, ' I am the way, the truth, and the
life ; no man cometh to the Father but by me ;' otherwise we could
not immediately converse with God, nor trust in him.
1. We see God in our nature as near at hand, and ready to help
us ; he came down amongst us, and became one of us ; was ' bone of our
bone, and flesh of our flesh.' And though he hath removed his dwell
ing into heaven again, it is for our sakes ; he hath carried our nature
thither, to take possession of that blessed place in our name, if we
have a mind to follow him : John xiv. 2, ' I go to prepare a place for
you.'
2. Here we see the means of appeasing God's wrath : 2 Cor. v.
19, ' God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself/ There
is a full ransom paid ; all that enter into God's peace shall have the
benefit of it.
3. By him we are encouraged to come to pray for every blessing
we stand in need of : Eph. ii. 18, ' Through him we both have an
access by one Spirit unto the Father.' Liberty to approach unto God
is a privilege which we cannot enough value; the wall of partition
between God and us is broken down by Christ ; he hath completely
satisfied God's justice, Heb. x. 19. He is now at the right hand of
2 THES. II. 16, 17.] THE FOURTEENTH SERMON. 141
God interceding for us : 1 Tim. ii. 5, * There is one God, and one
Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus ;' and remainetli
with God as the great agent of the saints: Heb. viii. 1, 2, ' We have
such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the
majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary/ £c. Perfuming
their prayers with the smoke of his incense : Kev. viii. 3, 4, ' And
another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer,
and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it
with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before
the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the
prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.'
V. Observation. Mark the distinct titles given to God and the
Mediator : Christ is called our Lord, and God our Father. Let us
see what these titles import, of Lord and Father.
1. Christ is represented to us as the Lord ; so he was set forth by
the apostles at the first preaching of the gospel : Acts x. 36, * We
preach peace by Christ Jesus, he is Lord of all •/ 2 Cor. iv. 5, ' We
preach Christ Jesus the Lord ;' Col. ii. 6, * If ye have received Christ
Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.' Christ is Lord two ways : —
[1.] By that right which belongeth to him as Creator, and is
common and equal to him with the Father and the Spirit. Surely
the Creator of the world is the sovereign of it. This right continueth
still, and shall continue while man receiveth his being from God by
creation, and the continuance of his being by daily preservation and
providence.
[2.] There is novum jus dominii et imperil — a new right of em
pire and government which belongeth to him as Redeemer, and this
accrueth to him : —
(1.) Partly by the donation of God : Acts ii. 36, ' Let all the house
of Israel know that this Jesus, whom ye have crucified, is made Lord
and Christ/ This office of Lord is derivative, and cannot be supreme,
but subordinate ; it is derived from God : ' All power is given to me,
both in heaven and earth,' Mat. xxviii. 18 ; and it is referred to him :
Phil. ii. 11, * That every tongue should confess that Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father/ The supreme right of governing
is still in God, and subjection to him is not vacated, but established
and reserved.
(2.) It is acquired by his own purchase: Rom. xiv. 9, 'For this
end Christ both died and rose again, and revived, that he might be
Lord both of dead and living;' 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20, ' Ye are not your
own, for ye are bought with a price ; therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's/ He had a full right in us
before, but this lordship and dominion which the Redeemer is pos
sessed of is comfortable and beneficial to us, and the end of it is to
effect man's cure and recovery. We could not by our sin make void
God's right and title to govern us ; but yet it was not comfortable to
us, it was but such a right as a prince hath to chastise his rebellious
subjects. We forfeited our interest in his gracious protection, there
fore was this new interest set afoot to save and recover fallen man ;
therefore this lordship is spoken of as medicinal and restorative, to
reduce man to the obedience of God that made him : Acts x. 38, ' God
142 THE FOURTEENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 16, 17.
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power,
who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed with
the devil.' It is a lordship that conduce th to make peace between
God and man, that we may again enjoy his favour, and live in his
obedience : Acts v. 31, ' Him hath God exalted with his right hand
to be a prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance unto Israel, and
remission of sins.' This new Lord hath made a new law of grace,
which is lex remedians, a remedy propounded for the recovering the
lapsed world of mankind. The great benefit is remission of sins ; the
great duty, repentance.
Use 1. To persuade us to submit ourselves to this blessed Lord by
our voluntary consent: Ps. xlv. 11, ' He is thy Lord ; worship thou
him/ There is a passive subjection and a voluntary submission. By
a passive subjection all creatures are under the power of the Son of
God and our Redeemer ; and amongst the rest, the devils themselves,
though grievous revolters and rebels, are not exempted ; every knee
is forced to bow to Christ. By voluntary submission : Those are Christ's
subjects, and admitted into his kingdom, who willingly give up them
selves to the Redeemer to be saved upon his own terms : 2 Cor. viii.
5, ' They first gave their own selves to the Lord/ The devils and
wicked men are his against their wills ; but all Christ's people are
his by their own consent.
Use 2. Let us perform the duties which this title calleth for ; our
obedience is the best testimony of our subjection to him. Many seem
to like Christ as a Saviour, but refuse him as a Lord ; whereas Christ
is not only a Saviour to bless, but a Lord to rule and command.
Therefore if we catch at comforts and neglect duty, we do not own
Christ's authority. The libertine, yokeless spirit is very natural to
all : Luke xix. 14, ' We will not have this man to reign over us ;' Ps.
xii. 4, ' With our tongues we will prevail ; our lips are our own ; who
is Lord over us ?' Ps. ii. 3, ' Let us break their bands asunder, and
cast away their cords from us.' Some are so in opinion, but most in
practice. We would not be under command ; we love privileges, but
decline duties. But he is the ' head of the church ' who is ' the
Saviour of the body,' Eph. v. 23. If we would have privileges by him,
we must set ourselves to obey his laws. If thou hast no care to obey
him as a lord, thy esteem of Christ is but imaginary, thy knowledge
but partial, thy application of him unsound. But we will own him
as lord. How is that understood ? Will you give him an empty title,
or some superficial compliments and observances ? Luke vi. 46, ' And
why call you me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say ?' It
is a mockage. Or will you please yourselves with strict opinions?
Mat. vi. 21, 22, ' For where your treasure is, there will your heart be
also. The light of the body is the eye ; if therefore thine eye be single,
thy whole body shall be full of light ; if therefore the light that is in
thee be darkness, how great is that darkness ! ' No ; nothing less than a
thorough subj ection to his holy laws, forsaking all other lords : Isa. xxvi.
13, * 0 Lord our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over
us ; but by thee only will we make mention of thy name/ And then a
strict observance: Col. i. 11, * Strengthened with all might, according to
his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering, with joyfulness.'
2 THES. II. 16, 17.] THE FOURTEENTH SERMON. 143
Use 3. Depend upon Christ for the effects of his love to you, which
are the privileges of his kingdom, which are pardon of sins: Col. i.
14, ' In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of our sins.' The sanctification of the Spirit; Heb. viii. 10, ' This is the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,
saith the Lord ; I will put my laws into their minds, and write them
in their hearts.' Assistance in carrying on the spiritual life ; that
here surely our Lord will not desert us, but help us in our obedience
to him. Finally, everlasting life : Heb. v. 9, ' And being made per
fect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that
obey him/ When the devil and his instruments are cast into hell,
Christ's faithful subjects and servants are advanced into eternal glory
and blessedness.
Secondly, God is represented under the title of a father : ' And God,
even our Father/ God is a word of power ; Father expresseth his good
will and love. God standeth in both relations to us, as he did also to
Christ : John xx. 17, * I go to my God and your God, my Father
and your Father/ Both joined together signify his power and readi
ness to do good. He that is our Father is true God also, and he that
is true God is also our Father ; and therefore we may depend on him.
That which we are to open is the term Father, which speaketh both
comfort and duty to us.
1. Comfort. For God's dealing with us will be very fatherly; as a
father loveth his children, so will God love his people : 2 Cor. vi. 18,
' 1 will be a father to you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters,
saith the Lord.'
[1.] He will pardon our sins and frailties, and spare us and pity us,
notwithstanding our ill-deservings : Ps. ciii. 13, ' Like as a father
pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him ;J Mai. iii.
17, ' They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I
make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own
son that serveth him/ Surely this is a grace we stand in need of,
because of our manifold infirmities and daily failings.
[2.] He will give grace, that we may serve him better : Luke xi. 13,
•' If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them
that ask him ?' Do but cry to him, as an hungry child to his father
for bread, and God will not deny this great gift to you.
[3.] God will provide for us, and give such an allowance of tem
poral mercies as are convenient : Mat. vi. 25, ' Take no thought for
your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your
body, what ye shall put on ;' and ver. 32, * For after all these things
•do the Gentiles seek ; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have
need of all these things/ The belief of adoption and particular pro
vidence kills all distrustful fears and cares at the very root.
[4.] He will protect you and preserve you against temptations :
1 Peter i. 3, 5, * Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us
again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead, &c., who are kept by the power of God through faith unto sal
vation.'
144 THE FOURTEENTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 16, 17.
[5.] He will give you the kingdom : Luke xii. 32, ' Fear not, little
flock ; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.'
2. On the other side, this relation bespeaketh duty. For if God
be a father, we must carry ourselves as children by our subjection, to
him ; that is, by submission to his disposing will, and obedience to his
governing will.
[1.] By an absolute submission to his disposing will. For if you
would enjoy the privileges of God's family, you must submit to the
discipline of his family : Heb. xii. 6-9, ' For whom God loveth he
chasteneth, arid scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If you
endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons : for what son
is he whom the father chasteneth not ? But if you are without chas
tisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh, which chastened us,
and we gave them reverence ; shall we not much rather be in subjec
tion to the Father of spirits, and live ?' In heaven, where there is no
danger of sin, there is no use of the rod ; but while we are in the flesh,
we need correction, and if God should not give it us. we are vodoi, not
legitimate, but degenerate sons. But in the 10th verse, the apostle
argueth from God's paternal authority : ' For they verily for a few days
chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit, that we
might be partakers of his holiness/ Children, though they take it ill
to be beaten by others, yet not by their parents, who (under God) are
the cause of their being, and love them, and in correction of them seek
their good ; much more do we owe this respect to our heavenly Father,
who hath a more absolute right over us. Parents may err through
want of wisdom — their chastisements may be arbitrary and irregular ;
do much in passion rather than compassion ; but all God's chastise
ments come from purest love, and are regulated by perfect wisdom,
and tend to and end in holiness and happiness.
[2.] Obedience to his governing will. The great duty of children is
to love, please, obey, and honour their father: Mai. i. 6, 'A son
honoureth his father, and a servant his master. If I be a father,
where is mine honour ? If I be a master, where is my fear ?' 1 Peter
i. 14, 15, ' As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according
to the former lusts in your ignorance. But as he which hath called
you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation ;' John xv. 8,
' Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be
my disciples/ There should be a great tenderness upon us not to do
anything that may be a breach of God's law, or tend to God's dishon
our. What diligent observers were the Kechabites of the institutions
of their family : Jer. xxxv. 6, ' But they said, We will drink no wine :
for Jonadab the son of Kechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye
shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever/
VI. Observation. They to whom Christ is a lord, to them God is a
father. His special fatherly love floweth in the channel of redemption,
and is brought about by the gospel. The Lord, from all eternity, pre-
determinated some to the adoption of sons : Eph. i. 5, ' Having
predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will/ But how doth he bring to
pass this decree ? By the redemption of Christ. It is no mean pri-
2 THES. II 16, 17.] THE FOURTEENTH SERMON. 145
vilege, Christians, that needeth so much ado to establish it : Gal.
iv. 4, 5, ' But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth
his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that
were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons/
Christ came to be the foundation of a new covenant, before we could
have this privilege. Well, but whence ariseth our actual interest ?
I answer — By accepting the offer of the gospel, or receiving and own
ing Christ to the ends for which he came into the world, or God sent
him into the world : John i. 12, * But as many as received him, to
them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name ;' that is, by depending on his merits for our
reconciliation with God, and submitting to his laws, that he might
reduce us to our primitive obedience and love to them.
Use. Therefore, if you would have a share in this blessed privilege : —
1. You must be regenerated by his Spirit ; for the relative change
dependeth on the real : our state is not changed till our natures be
changed : John i. 12, 13, ' Being born again of the will of God.' If
you would enter into God's family, and enjoy the privileges thereof,
you must be changed by the Spirit.
2. There is required on our part an entrance into the kingdom of
the Mediator by faith and repentance : Mat. xviii. 3, ' Except ye be
converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the
kingdom of God.' As little children are newly entered into the world
and beginning their life, all things are become new to them ; so those
that have the privileges of God's children must become as little
children, enter into a new state, carry on a new life and trade, with
which they were not acquainted before. Our first admission is by a
consent to the new covenant : Gal. iii. 26, 'Ye are all made children
of God by faith in Christ ;' depending on the merit of Christ's sacrifice,
and binding ourselves by a solemn word to perform the duties required
of us, which we renew again in the Lord's Supper.
VII. That we most comfortably come to God by Christ for grace,
when we consider our interest in him and relation to him. Our
relation is here intimated, for Jesus Christ is our Lord, and God is
our Father ; and surely our Lord will not refuse his own subjects, nor
our Father be strange to his own children.
1. It is certain that among men relation to any person or thing
endeareth them to us. To dvrwv TTCLO-LV r) Sea (j)L\6refcvoi,,1 men love their
own children ; though not so fair and good as others, yet they are
their own. And is it not so as to God ? See John xiii. 1, ' Having
loved his own that were in the world, he loved them unto the end ;'
and John xvii. 6, ' I have manifested thy name to the men which thou
gavest me out of the world ; thine they were, and thou gavest them
me, and they have kept thy word/
2. Interest giveth us more encouragement : Isa. Ixiii. 19, * We are
thine : thou never barest rule over them ; they were never called by
thy name;' that is, we are thy people, thy subjects, so called, so
accounted. That interest giveth some hope and confidence is evident,
because sometimes the saints plead the common relation that they are
1 A misprint, which can only be conjecturally rectified. Perhaps rb. avrwv wayiv ^oea
<f)L\OT^KVOL3. ED.
VOL. III. K
146 THE FIFTEENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 16.
the workmanship of his hands : Ps. cxix. 73, ' Thy hands have made
me and fashioned me ; give me understanding, that I may learn thy
commandments/ They will not quit their interest in God ; if they
cannot come as his special servants, yet as his creatures, one way or
another, they will entitle themselves to him.
Use. To direct the servants of God, when they ask any grace of
him, to bring it to this still, ' Our Lord and our Father/ But how
shall they do so, if they have no assurance ? I answer : —
1. There are some titles which imply a claim to benefits and pri
vileges ; others that infer an obligation to duty : these latter may be
used without any usurpation : John xx. 28, ' My Lord, and my God.'
2. Kesignation of yourselves to him showeth you are his, and in
time you will come to know that he is yours, if you make it good :
Ps. cxix. 94, ' I am thine ; save me, for I have sought thy precepts.'
Resolve to obey him, and serve him, however he deal with you. Choice
of God for our portion, and Christ for our Lord, showeth you are
resolved to be his.
3. Speak as the covenant speaketh that you are under, till your
sincerity be more unquestionable. God offers himself to be our God,
and Eedeemer, and Father ; Christ to be our Lord and Saviour : Isa.
Ixiii. 16, ' Doubtless thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant
of us, and Israel acknowledge us not : thou, 0 Lord, art our Father/our
Eedeemer ; thy name is from everlasting/ God offered himself to be
so, and God is angry for not owning it: Jer. iii. 4, 'Wilt thou not from
this time cry unto me, My Father, thou art the guide of my youth ?'
SEBMON
Which hath loved us, and given us everlasting consolation, and good
hope through grace. — 2 THES. II. 16.
WE come now to the second branch, the ground of audience and
success in prayer : ' Which hath loved us, and given us everlasting con
solation, and good hope through grace/ Where three grounds of
acceptance are intimated : —
I. The first is taken from the rise and foundation of all the love of
God : he hath loved us.
II. From the matter of our comfort : he hath given us everlasting
consolation.
III. From the way whereby we receive it and entertain it : and good
hope through grace.
The first relateth to our redemption by Christ.
The second to the new covenant.
The third to the disposition of our hearts, and how we are affected
in the reception of these things, as will appear more in the explication
of each branch.
First, I begin with the rise and foundation of that grace which we
expect and beg of God in prayer : he ' hath loved us/
2 THES. II. 16.] THE FIFTEENTH SERMON. 147
Doct. That God's love to sinners, manifested in our redemption by
Christ, giveth great boldness and encouragement in prayer.
1. I shall prove this is the love here intended.
2. That this giveth boldness in prayer.
I. That this is the love here intended, for these reasons : —
1. This is a visible effect and demonstration of his love to us : 1 John
iii. 16, * Hereby perceive we the love of God to us, in that he laid
down his life for us ;' and 1 John iv. 9, 10, ' In this was manifested
the love of God towards us, in that he sent his only-begotten Son into
the world, that we might live by him. Herein was love, not that we
loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation
for our sins.' From these places I gather, that to found our confidence
and hope, it was needful that the love God had to us should show
itself by some manifest and real proof. How can we tell how God's
heart standeth affected to mankind but by the effects ? Whatever
benevolence or good-will he has towards us, it is not evident to us till
it break forth into some action, and real performance of some great
thing for us. Now this was fully manifested in giving his Son to die
for a sinful world, that he hath a love for us, and doth really desire our
salvation. There is a hidden love of God, which is his eternal purpose
and decree ; and there is an open and declared love, and that is first
and most seen in our redemption by Christ. In predestination his
love was conceived in his heart ; in redemption it is manifested in the
effects ; that was the rise, this the visible demonstration and sign of it.
Now the apostle would not reason from what was hidden and secret,
but from what is open and manifest.
2. This is not only, the demonstration and visible proof of the reality
of his love, but an ample representation and commendation of the
greatness of his love : Bom. v. 8, ' But God commendeth his love to
us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us/ A thing
may be demonstrated to be real that yet is not commended or set
forth as great and glorious. But God would express his love in such
an astonishing instance, that we might admire the greatness as well
as believe the reality of it : John iii. 16, ' God so loved the world,' &c. ;
that is, so unspeakably, so inconceivably would he express his love to
mankind, as to send his Son to assume our nature, and die for our
transgressions. He doth not tell you how, but leaveth you to admire
at it, and rejoice in it. What may we not expect from this love, this
great love ? If God loveth us at such a rate, surely he is in good
earnest ; his heart is set upon our salvation, or else he would never have
taken this course of giving his only Son to suffer an accursed and
shameful death. Now when the apostle saith * God hath loved us/
he meaneth it of the great instance of his love. Analogum per se posi-
tum, stat pro suo signijicatu famosiori — words not restrained by the
context must be interpreted in the most famous and known sense. ^
3. This is the first motive to draw our hearts to him : 1 John iv.
19, ' We loved him, because he loved us first.' The first motive of our
affection is not his special electing love to us above others, for that we
cannot know before we love him ; but his common love and mercy to
sinners, and that was manifested in Christ's being sent to be a propitia
tion for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole
148 THE FIFTEENTH SERMON. [2 TllES. II. 16.
world. This is that which is propounded to us to recover and recon
cile our alienated and estranged affections to God : 2 Cor. v. 19, 20,
1 God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto him/ This grace God offereth to us, as well
as others ; namely, that for Christ's sake he will pardon our sins, if we
will lay down our weapons and enter into his peace. None are bound to
believe that God specially loveth them, but those that are specially
beloved by him, for none are bound to believe a falsehood, and a false
hood it is to us, till we have the saving effects and benefits. There
fore, it is not the special, but the general love which first draweth in
our hearts to God ; yea, the saints, after some testimonies received of
God's special love, still make this to be the great engaging motive :
Gal. ii. 20, ' I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
himself for me.' Well, then, this is most likely to be meant by the
apostle.
II. This must needs give great boldness in prayer.
1. By this we see that God's love is not a cold, ineffectual love, that
consists only in raw wishes, but an operative, active love, that issueth
forth to accomplish what he intendeth to us, though by the most costly
means, and acted at the dearest rate. God * is good, and doth good,'
Ps. cxix. 68. He hath a love to us, and will do good to us. Our love
many times goes no further than good wishes or good words — be
warmed, be clothed, but giveth not those things which are needful to
the body, James ii. 16 ; but God resteth not in kind wishes, but giveth
a full demonstration of it. If Christ be needful to the saints, they
shall have him ; 'if God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up
for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things ?'
2. It is an act of such infinite love in God to give us Christ to die
for us, such as may raise our wonder and astonishment. God's love is
an immeasurable love, and so enlargeth our expectations and capacity
for the reception of other things : Eph. iii. 18, 19, 'That ye may com
prehend with all saints to know what is the breadth, and length, and
depth, and height ; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth
knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.' There
is such an immensity in the love of Christ as raiseth our desires and
hopes to expect all other things from God that belong to our duty and
happiness. If God will do this, what will he not do for those whom
he loveth ? He that hath given the greatest gift will not stick at
lesser things. He that hath given a talent, shall he not give a penny ?
He that hath given Christ, will he not give pardon to cancel our
debts, grace to do our duty, comfort to support us in afflictions, sup
plies to maintain and protect us during our service ? Finally, will he
not reward us when our work is over ? Keconciliation by his death is
propounded as more difficult than salvation by his life: Kom. v. 10,
' For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of his Son ; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life/
3. It is a gift in order to other things, and therefore he will complete
that gift. Christ came to purchase all manner of blessings for us :
the favour of God, the fruition of God, the everlasting fruition of God
in glory, and all things by the way necessary thereunto. There are
two arguments implied : —
2 THES. II. 16.] THE FIFTEENTH SERMON. 149
[1.] That God may now do us good without any impeachment of
his honour. His justice and holiness is sufficiently demonstrated, the
authority of his law, and truth of his threatenings kept up : Horn. iii.
25, 26, * Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faitli
in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that
are past, through the forbearance of God ; to declare, I say, at this
time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him
that believeth in Jesus/
[2.] That after God by an antecedent bounty hath laid the foundation
so broad and deep, the consequent bounty, which is as the upper build
ing for which this foundation was intended, will be laid on also. It
was said of the foolish builder, that he began and was not able to
finish. Surely the wise God, if we be qualified, and put no impedi
ment on our part, will finish what he hath begun.
4. Because the giving of Christ showeth how freely God will give
all things to us. He gave Christ unasked, unsought too ; in this instance
we see his free and undeserved love. This was love to rebels and ene
mies. When the world had corrupted their way and cast off God, then
Christ died for us ; a consideration which serveth to support our confi
dence, notwithstanding the sense of our unworthiness. In the covenant
of grace, great and wonderful mercies are given out to a world of sin
ners, and to ourselves among the rest. We see how loth God is sinners
should perish ; that sins may be pardoned if we will accept God's
terms, that hath given such general testimony of his love to mankind,
his love to miserable sinners, that is willing they should be recon
ciled ; that there is not so much difference between us and others
as between him and all. Now this encourageth us to fulfil the condi
tions of the gospel, notwithstanding our unworthiness of the privileges
thereof.
Use 1. Is caution. Let us not have wrong thoughts of God when
we come to him. We think of God the Father as one that is all wrath
and justice, and unwilling to be reconciled to man, or brought to it
with much difficulty. No ; Christ came on purpose to show the love
and loveliness of God to us ; for our redemption came first out of the
bosom of God ; and Christ's mission into the world, and dying for sin
ners, was the fruit of his love ; and mainly for this end, to give us a full
demonstration of the love of God, and his pity to the lost world of
sinners, that when our guilt had made him frightful to us, we might
not fly from him as a condemning God, but love him, and serve him,
and pray to him, as one willing to be reconciled to us : therefore take
heed what picture of God you draw in your minds. Light and heat
are not more abundant in the sun than love is in God.
Use 2. Of direction to us how to conceive of God in prayer, as one
that loveth us. We have gained a great point when we are persuaded
of this, and can come with this thought into his presence, that I am
praying to a God that loveth me, and will do me good. You will say,
If I could come to that, I have gained a great point indeed. But what
hindereth ? There is, I confess, a twofold love, — his general love, and
his special love. His general love, which intendeth benefits to us ; and
his special love, which hath already put us in possession of them. His
general love to the lost world ; and his love and mercy to us in parti-
150 THE FIFTEENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 16-
cular, putting us in possession of the saving benefits purchased and
intended.
1. The general love to the lost world, that is a great thing the devil
seeketh to hide and obscure, the wonderful love of God revealed in our
Redeemer, that we may still fly from God, as more willing to punish
than to save ; and many poor dark creatures gratify his design. We
are still seeking signs and tokens of God's love, something to warrant
us to come to God by Christ, and to persuade us that we shall be wel
come if we do so ; and because we cannot find anything in ourselves
that he will admit us, we are troubled. But all this while we are but
seeking the sun with a candle. What greater evidence of God's will
ingness to receive you than the death of Christ, than the institutions of
the gospel ? This is above all evidences, that he sent his Son to die for
us. This is like the Jews, who, when they had seen many wonders
wrought by Christ, would still have a new sign : the greatest sign is
given already, Christ dying for a sinful world. Men and angels cannot
find out a sign, pledge, and confirmation of the love of God above that.
Yet, if that be not enough, we have another sign, the promises and
invitations of the gospel, which show his willingness to welcome sinners.
Salvation is offered, but not to named, but described persons. There
fore, if we are willing to come under these hopes upon God's terms,
this may satisfy our scrupulous minds ; there is no bar put to us but
what we put to ourselves by our refusing the grace as God ofFereth it.
Certainly God's love and mercy to lost mankind is our first motive,
and his willingness to impart good things to them upon his own terms ;
and surely he is well pleased with our acceptance of them.
2. There is special love where this grace is applied to us : Eph.
ii. 4, 5, ' But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith
he loved us, hath quickened us, when we were dead in trespasses and
sins/ He did not begin to love us when we were converted — that is
of a more ancient and eternal rise — but then he did begin to apply
his love to us ; and this is no ordinary, but great love, when God was
angry with us, and pronounced wrath on us in the sentence of the
law, and appeared as an enemy in the course of his providence, and the
apprehensions of our guilty fears, then to be reconciled ; and surely
this is a great advantage to draw nigh to God as a reconciled Father.
This is the object of our everlasting love and joy : Rom. v. 11, ' And
not only so, but we also joy in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom we have now received the atonement/ And this is a prop of
confidence in prayer. Could we once believe that he dearly loves us,
and is reconciled to us, and taketh us for his children, that he delighteth
in our prosperity ; oh, how cheerfully could we come into his presence !
John xvi. 27, ' The Father himself loveth you, because you have loved
me, and believe that I came out from God/ They have not only his
intercession, but the Father's especial love, which is the ground and
hope of audience. Now this particular interest dependeth on some
thing wrought in our souls by the Holy Spirit. Our Lord mentioneth
two things — their faith in Christ, and love to God. (1.) Faith in
Christ, or a thankful acceptance of him as our Lord and Saviour,
therefore called receiving Christ, and entitling us to the privileges of
Christ's children: John i. 12, 'To as many as received him, to them
2 THES. II. 16.] THE FIFTEENTH SERMON. 151
gave he liberty to become the children of God, even to as many as
believe in his name/ (2.) Love to God : John xiv. 21, 'He that hath
my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and
he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him,
and manifest myself to him ;' and ver. 23, 'If any man love me, he
will keep my words ; and my Father will love him, and we will come
unto him, and make our abode with him.' We cannot perceive our
interest in the special love of God but by our sincerity, faith in Christ,
and love to God. When we see God's love taken in our hearts, we
may know that he loveth us, especially the latter ; for by the latter
the former is manifested also : Gal. v. 6, ' Faith worketh by love/
Now the evidences of sincere love to God are seeking after God and
delighting in him ; if you cannot find the latter, the former will evi
dence it to you : Prov. viii. 17, * I love them that love me, and those
that seek me early shall find me/ The desiderium unionis, the desir
ing, seeking love, if it be serious and earnest, it is sincere, though you
find not such delightful apprehensions of his grace to you. Clear that
once, and when you come to prayer, you may know God loveth you ;
and the dearest friend we have in the world hath not the thousandth
part so much as he : yea, the highest angel doth not love God so much
as he loveth the lowest saint. God loveth like himself, becoming the
greatness and infiniteness of has own being ; and with this persuasion
pray to him.
Secondly, The second ground of audience is from the fruit of his
love, as demonstrated in the new covenant, wherein we have the matter
of everlasting consolation. Surely this clause respects not the effect
and sense in our own hearts, but respects the matter and object of our
comfort ; for he prayeth for the application of it afterwards : ' Comfort
your hearts,' &c. And besides, nothing is more fleeting and oftener
interrupted than our comfort in this life. It would contradict plain
sense to call that comfort which Christians feel, and actually enjoy,
everlasting comfort. Therefore I understand it of the matter, and
observe this doctrine : —
That God hath given all true believers solid ground of perpetual
and endless comfort.
I will prove it by three arguments : —
1. The comforts propounded are of an everlasting tendency and
benefit — pardon and life, to free us from everlasting death, and to bring
us into the possession of everlasting happiness, when our souls and
bodies shall be for ever glorified in heaven. Now the consolation
grounded on the promise of eternal life, whatever it be in our feeling,
is in its causes and foundation eternal. The scripture often insists
upon this : 1 John ii. 25, ' And this is the promise that he hath pro
mised us, even eternal life;' Heb. v. 9, 'And being made perfect, he
became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him/
We have by Christ deliverance from sin, and all the consequents of it,
not only for a time, but for ever ; eternal peace and felicity is our
portion. So it is said, Ps. cxix. Ill, ' Thy testimonies have I taken
for an heritage for ever ; for they are the rejoicing of my heart/ It
is not an heritage to lean upon for a while, as all our worldly comforts
are, but for ever : so Ps. Ixxiii. 26, ' God is my portion for ever ;'
152 THE FIFTEENTH SERMON. [2 TflES. IT. 16.
that is, when all other things fail, have spent their allowance, can
afford us no more relief, then we begin to enjoy our true and proper
portion. It were endless to heap up places. Man for his sin was cast
out of paradise ; but surely in the other world there is no change of
estate : for men are past their trial, and must be what they are for ever.
If you could imagine (as some have had the large charity to conceit
it) that the condition of the wicked should be changed, yet there is no
reason at all why the state of the godly should be changed, who have
passed the pikes, a,nd are triumphing with God, that they should ever
lose that estate again.
2. They depend on everlasting foundations, such as are these : —
[1.] The everlasting love of God : Ps. ciii. 17, ' The mercy of the
Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on them that fear him.' Not
only from the beginning of the world to the end of the world, but from
eternity to eternity. It was an ordinary form of praising God in the
Old Testament : ' For his mercy endureth for ever/
[2.] The everlasting merit of Christ, which never loseth its force
and effect : Heb. ix. 12, ' He hath obtained eternal redemption for
us/ Not that Christ is always propitiating. No ; the work was
performed in a short time, but the virtue of it is of everlasting con
tinuance.
[3.] There is an eternal and unchangeable covenant : Heb. xiii. 20,
* Through the blood of the everlasting covenant/ Though the cove
nant made with Israel was abolished, yet this is everlasting, and con-
tinueth for ever, and shall never be altered ; because it was able to
reach the end for which it was appointed, which is the eternal salvation
of man. That was a temporary covenant, this eternal. Now, because
this is the main circumstance, and the next ground of our eternal con
solation, the covenant of life and peace that God hath made with us in
Christ, I shall prove the eternal truth and immutable constancy of this
covenant. That a promise be immutable, certain, and firm, three
things are required: —
(1.) That it be seriously and heartily made, with a purpose to per
form it.
(2.) That he that hath promised continue in his purpose without
change of mind.
(3.) That it be in the power of him that promiseth to perform what
he hath promised. Now, of all these things there can be no doubt.
(1.) God meaneth as he speaketh when he promiseth to give eternal
life to those that believe and obey the gospel. There is no question
but he is so minded, when he sent the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven
to assure us of it by his doctrine, to die the death to purchase it for
us, and afterward to rise again and enter into that happiness that he
spake of ; and as soon as he was ascended up on high, gave gifts to men
to give notice of this blessed estate to be had upon the terms of his new
covenant, his Spirit attesting the truth of it by divers signs and won
ders, partly to alarm the drowsy world to regard it, and assure the
incredulous world that it is no fable ; and because they live not for
ever, did inspire those holy men, before they went out of the body, to
write a book of this salvation for the use of the world in all ages.
To think that God is not serious in all this; is to make him a liar
2 THES. II. 16.] THE FIFTEENTH SERMON. 153
indeed ; yea, to establish a falsehood with the greatest solemnity and
demonstration that can be offered to mankind ; yea, to make a lie
necessary, not only to the governing, but sanctifying of the world.
Surely, then, there is a truth in that great promise which he hath
promised us, even eternal life.
(2.) That God doth continue in his purpose without change of
mind. There is no doubt of it, if we consider his eternal and unchange
able nature : Mai. iii. 6, * I am the Lord, I change not ; ' James i. 17,
' With him is no variableness, neither shadow of turning/ And what
should alter his purpose ? Doth he meet with anything that he fore
saw not, or knew not before ? No ; this is a weakness incident to
man ; God doth never repent and call back his grant, which he hath
by this condescending act of grace insured to the heirs of promise. 1
Sam. xv. 29, ' The strength of Israel will not lie nor repent, for he is
not as man, that he should repent ; ' Ps. ex. 4, ' I have sworn, and will
not repent ; thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek.'
Christ is by oath instated in full power of entertaining and blessing
his faithful servants, which shall never be retracted and reversed. To
take off all doubt, he hath given double assurance— his word and his
oath : Heb. vi/17, 18, * God, being willing more abundantly to show unto
the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it with
an oath ; that by two immutable things, wherein it is impossible for God
to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to
lay hold on the hope that is set before us/ That we might know
that the new covenant is unchangeable and irrevocable, and so our
comfort be the more strong, certain, and stable, God was pleased to
give sincere believers this double assurance, by his word and oath,
having regard to our infirmity, and those many doubts wherewith we
are haunted about the world to come. God hath ever been tender of
his word ; above all that is famed or believed of him, this is most
conspicuous : Ps. cxxxviii. 2, ' Thou has magnified thy word above all
thy name ; ' and Mat. xxiv. 35, ' Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my words shall not pass away ; ' and an oath is /jLejiarrj Trap1
avOpwirois Tricms ; and the apostle tells us it is Trepas avriXoyiw;.
It is interposed usually indeed in a doubtful matter. But though
here it needed not, God would show his extraordinary care for our sal
vation ; we see his good-will in the promise, his solicitude in the oath ;
in short, God would never be so fast bound, but that he doth and will
still continue his purpose.
(3.) That he is able to perform it. Faith looks to that also ; for this
was the'ground and prop of Abraham's faith : Kom. iv. 21, ' Being fully
persuaded that what God had promised he was able to perform ; ' so
must all Abraham's children that would give glory to God in believing.
The way of salvation is so rare and mysterious, and so many difficulties
object themselves to our view, that we are soon pudderedr unless we
reflect upon the power of God. God is able to find out a way whereby
sinners may be reconciled, our corrupt hearts sanctified, and our sins
subdued by his Spirit, whereby his interest in us may be preserved
against the assaults and temptations of the devil, world, and flesh ; he is
able to receive our souls to himself after they flit out of the body ; and
finally, he is able to raise our vile bodies after they are eaten out by worms,
154 THE FIFTEENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 16
and turned into dust: Phil. iii. 21, c Who shall change our vile bodies,
that they may be like unto his own glorious body; according to the work
ing whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.' Matters
of faith being wholly or mainly future or to come, and difficult to be
performed, and in the meantime, we being exercised with so many
trials, an express belief of God's power is necessary to convert such an
obstinate creature as man is : to sanctify such a sinful creature, to pre
serve us in the midst of temptations, to raise the dead, are no slight things.
3. It is called ' everlasting consolation,' because it is sufficient to
do its work ; that is to say —
[1.] To reduce us from temporal and flesh-pleasing vanities. Alas !
the pleasures of sin are but for a season, not worthy to be compared
to the recompense of reward which Christ hath promised : Heb. xi.
25, 26, ' Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God,
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the
reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt : for
he had respect to the recompense of reward.' Whatever is temporal,
we may soon see the end of it. All carnal enjoyments, like flowers,
wither while we smell on them ; and the most shining glory in the
world is soon burned to a snuff ; but eternal life, and eternal glory, and
eternal pleasure, are secured to us by Christ's promise ; all the delights
in the world are but a May-game to these eternal pleasures, which we
shall have at God's right hand for evermore : Ps.xvi.ll, * Thou wilt show
me the path of life ; in thy presence is fulness of joy ; at thy right hand
there are pleasures for evermore.' Now, will you sell your birthright for
one morsel of meat ? part with your eternal inheritance for a little
carnal satisfaction ? We have souls that will not perish ; and shall we
spend our whole time in seeking after things that perish in the using ?
Temporal things carry no proportion with an immortal spirit. We
shall live for ever ; we should look after things that will abide for ever :
1 John ii. 17, * The world passeth away, and the lust thereof ; but he
that doeth the will of God, abideth for ever/ Otherwise what will you
do when the soul shall be turned out of doors ? To what regions must
the poor shiftless, harbourless soul betake itself? Surely then this con
solation, though we feel it not always, and it be frequently interrupted,
may be well called eternal consolation, because it affordeth argument
enough to check our worldly and sensual inclinations, and to call us off
from time to eternity.
[2.] To make us stedfast in the truth, and cheerful under sufferings,
for he saith here, ' The Lord, that hath given us everlasting consola
tion, comfort your hearts and establish you/ The great use of everlasting
consolation is to comfort and stablish us in a suffering condition. The
loss of temporal comforts is grievous, but it is recompensed with the
promise of eternal joys revealed in the gospel : Heb. x. 34, ' Ye took
joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that in
heaven ye have a better and an enduring substance ; cast not away there
fore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.' And
all our pains and afflictions are sweetened, so far as to keep us from
fainting : 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18, ' Our light affliction, which is but for a
moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory ; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the
2 THES. II. 16.] THE FIFTEENTH SERMON. 155
things that are not seen : for the things which are seen are temporal, but
the things that are not seen are eternal/ The end of God's covenant
and promises is to give us strong consolation in the midst of tempta
tions, persecutions, and trials. Worldly joys appear and vanish in a
moment, every blast of temptation scattereth them. It is eternal
blessedness which is the cause of solid comfort in all dangers, storms,
and tempests ; hither we retreat as to our sanctuary, and find relief.
In the world all is unstable and uncertain, but the covenant provideth
for us eternal joy and bliss.
[3.] The third effect which it is to produce in us, is an increase of
holiness, to stablish us in every good word ; that is, not only in sound
doctrine, but in every good work. In holiness of life, our endeavours
should answer our motives and ends : ' Abound in the work of the
Lord, forasmuch as your labour is not in vain in the Lord/ 1 Cor. xv.
58. Diligence should not be grievous to us when there is everlasting
consolation at the back of it ; surely this should put life into all our
endeavours. Should we trifle away that time which we are to improve
for eternity ? John vi. 27, ' Labour not for the meat that perishes,
but for that which is to endure to everlasting life/ Faith in Christ,
joined with solid goodness, will lead you to eternal life. There should
be in the saints an eternal principle, which is the grace of the Holy
Spirit ; and an eternal end, which is the pleasing, glorifying, and en
joying of God ; and an eternal rule, which is the will of God ; and they
will have eternal consolation and reward.
Use, of exhortation : —
1. Look upon the new covenant as it is in itself, as containing the
only solid grounds of rejoicing ; the blessings of it are real, certain,
stable, and suitable to the great necessities of mankind. The blessings
are pardon and life ; they are real, no fancies or chimeras. The gospel
is not a dream or well- devised fable, but the greatest reality in the
world ; it speaketh much for itself, commending itself to the conscience
by rational evidence: 2 Cor. iv. 2, 'By manifestation of the truth,
commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God ; '
but more by the authority of the Son of God, who came from heaven
to show us the way thither ; and if it had not been so, he would have
told us, John xiv. 2 ; for he used great plainness of speech and
fidelity ; and is more fully ratified by the Spirit : John xvi. 8-11, ' He
will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment/ They
are stable and unchangeable, as appeareth by the covenant form, in
which the conveyance is so strong and firm as will make a plea in law :
2 Sam. xxiii. 5, * He hath made an everlasting covenant with me,
ordered in all things, and sure/ in which is all my hope and desire,
and suitable to many necessities. Here is a cure for our great sore by
pardon, and satisfaction to our desires by a fit happiness.
2. Let it be so to you ; do you fulfil the duties required ; if there be
any room for doubting, it must be of your qualification ; therefore that
must be made more explicit : 1 John iii. 19 ' Hereby we know that
we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him/ We miss
much of this everlasting consolation, because we are upon such loose
terms with God : never hope to have peace upon cheaper terms than
clear and undoubted holiness. You are not to model God's covenant
156 THE SIXTEENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 16.
and new make it, and bring it down to your humour and liking. No ;
the covenant is unalterable and eternal ; so the duties, as well as the
privileges. You must take it as you find it, and choose the things that
please God, Isa. Ivi. 4. There is your claim; follow that close: * Hence
forth 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
to all them that love his appearing.'
3. Carry it so as those to whom God hath given grounds of everlast
ing consolation. We are up when we have the world with us, but dead
in the nest when our temporal dependences are broken. The covenant
is the same still ; and there should be your hope and your joy : 2 Cor.
i. 20, ' All the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto
the glory of God by us ; ' 2 Sam. xxiii. 5, ' Although my house be
not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things, and sure ; for this is all my salvation, and all
my desire, although he make it not to grow.' Heaven is where it was ;
the world cannot make void your interest in it ; therefore you should
rejoice in the Lord always: Phil. iv. 4, ' Eejoice in the Lord always ;
and again, I say rejoice/
SERMON XVI.
And good liope through grace. — 2 THES. II. 16.
WE now come to the third ground of audience and acceptance. He
hath given us ' good hope through grace/ This showeth how we en
tertain the everlasting consolation offered in the gospel — with good
hope, and this wrought in us by God. Here is —
1. The gift : good hope.
2. The moving cause : through grace.
Doct. That it is a great advantage, when we pray for consolation and
confirmation in holiness, to consider that God hath already given us
the hope of eternal life.
Here I shall —
I. Open the gift.
II. Show what encouragement this is in prayer.
I. In the opening the gift, let me inquire : —
1 . What is this good hope mentioned, and what are the properties
of it?
2. That this is the free gift of God.
1. What is this good hope ?
[1.] Hope is sometimes put for the object or thing hoped for ; as
Prov. xiii. 12, 'Hope deferred maketh the heart sad;' that is, the
delay of the good expected is very tedious and troublesome to us. So
in Christian hope : Col. i. 5, ' For the hope which is laid up for you
in heaven ; ' where hope is put for the object of it, the blessed and
glorious estate which is reserved for us hereafter. The great objects
of hope, which yet do not exclude intervening blessings, are these : —
2 THES. II. 16.] THE SIXTEENTH SEKMON. 157
(1.) The coining of Christ to our comfort : Titus ii. 13, * Looking for
the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our
Saviour Jesus Christ ; ' 1 Peter i. 13, ' Gird up the loins of your
minds, and be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be
brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.' Hope is there
described by its singular object, the coming of Christ, called there the
revelation of Christ. Christ is now under a veil, his bodily presence
being removed, and his spiritual glory seen but darkly, as in a glass ;
but then he shall appear in person and in his glory. When Christ
withdrew out of sight, our comfort seemed to be gone with him ; but
he will come again. He is not gone in anger, but about business, to
set all things at rights against the day of solemn espousals ; and then
he cometh to possess what he hath purchased, and to carry the church
into the everlasting place of her abode. This is the great hope of
Christians, and a blessed and good hope it is indeed.
(2.) The resurrection of the dead : Acts ii. 26, * My flesh shall rest
in hope ; ' Acts xxiv. 15, ' I have hope towards God that there shall
be a resurrection both of the just and unjust ; ' Acts xxvi. 6-8, ' Now I
stand judged for the hope of the promise made unto the fathers, unto
which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night,
hope to come. Why should it be thought an incredible thing with you
that God should raise the dead ? ' Death seemeth to make void all the
promises at once ; but there is an estate after death ; the dead shall
rise ; and to men bred up in the bosom of the church this should not
seem incredible. It is not incredible in itself, considering the justice
and power of God. But why to you, since all religion tendeth to it ?
But it is a matter of undoubted certainty all believers do look for,
long for, and prepare for this blessedness, otherwise why should they
trouble themselves about religion, which abridge th us of present de
lights, and exposeth us to great difficulties and sufferings ? But there
is another life after this, where all is happy and joyful, and therefore
we ' serve God instantly day and night.'
(3.) The vision of God, that at length we shall be admitted into his
blessed presence, and see him as he is, and be made like him both for
holiness and happiness, 1 John iii. 2.
(4.) Our heavenly inheritance : 1 Peter i. 4, ' An inheritance incor
ruptible, and undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us.'
Called eternal life : Titus i. 2, ' In hope of eternal life, which God, that
cannot lie, promised us/ The glory of God: Kom. v. 2, ' We rejoice in
hope of the glory of God/ Well, then, all this is a good hope, if there
be the things hoped for ; for the object of our hope is the chiefest good,
the eternal vision and fruition of God ; this is that we must aim at as our
happiness : Ps. xvii. 15, 'As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteous
ness ; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness/ We must
seek after it and make it our constant work: Heb. x' c' * God is a re-
warder of them that diligently seek ' him/ This is that we must take
hold of, as having a right and title to it : Heb. vi. 18, ' Who have fled
for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us/ We challenge it by
the law of grace ; as we fulfil the conditions, our hold is more strong,
right more evident ; as we get greater measures of the first-fruits, we
gain more security and confidence in the spiritual conflict : ver. 19,
158 THE SIXTEENTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 16.
* Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, sure and stedfast/ By
good works we enter upon the possession of it, in part, as we get the
first-fruits of the Spirit : Kom. viii. 23, * We ourselves also, which
have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within our
selves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body ; '
2 Cor. v. 5, ' Now he that hath wrought us for the self -same thing is
God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.' In whole,
when we come to heaven, for then we ' enter into our Master's joy/
Mat. xxv. 21. When we die our souls enter into that blessed place,
where the spirits of just men are made perfect ; not only preserved
in manu Dei, but admitted in conspectum Dei : 1 Peter i. 9, * Receiv
ing the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls/ But after the
resurrection and general judgment : John xiv. 3/1 will come again,
and receive you to myself ; that where I am, there ye may be also/
Then, in body and soul, we enter into our everlasting mansions.
[2.] Sometimes hope is put for the reasons and causes of hoping ; and
so he that giveth me solid reasons of hoping, giveth me good hope.
In this sense it is taken, Heb. vii. 19, ' The law made nothing perfect,
but the bringing in of a better hope did, whereby we draw nigh to
God/ By the better hope is meant the sure and comfortable promises
of the gospel, depending merely on the grace of God, which gives hope
to lost sinners of recovering commerce and communion with God ; that
is, solid grounds upon which they may expect the pardon of their sins
and eternal life. In this sense, good hope .is hope well warranted.
The solid reasons are contained in the word of God: Rom. xv. 4,
* Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our
learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures,
might have hope.' The great end of the scriptures is, that we might
have a sure hope in God — quod agit tota scriptura, ut credamus in
Deum. The business of the scripture is to bring us to believe in God,
and wait upon him for eternal salvation. There the rule of commerce
between God and us is stated ; whatever is promised is sure. There
may be reason to expect some things from God's merciful nature,
though we have no promise about them ; but the sure and certain
hope is grounded on the promise ; that is an express ground of confi
dence and hope that will never leave us ashamed ; it is well-grounded
hope, therefore good hope, built on the promise and word of the
eternal God.
[3.] By the act or grace of hope itself. This may be called good either
in itself or with respect to the degree.
(1.) In itself : ' It is good that a man should both hope and quietly
wait for the salvation of the Lord/ Lam. iii. 26. Bonum is either
honestum, jucundum, or utile : it is good in all regards. It is our duty
to rest assured in God's promise. It is pleasant to anticipate and
forecast a blessing to come. Surely it is delightful to live in the fore
sight of endless glory. It is profitable to support our hearts under pre
sent difficulties and troubles, and the uncertainties of the present life.
(2.) In respect of the degree and measure of it. That is good hope
which is most able to do its office, when it is lively hope : 1 Peter i. 3,
' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which,
according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again to a lively
2 THES. II. 16.] THE SIXTEENTH SERMON. 159
hope ;' such as doth most support and quicken us. The more serious
and earnest our reflections are upon eternal life, the better is the hope :
Heb. vi. 11, ' Show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope
unto the end.' We should still keep up this sure and desirous expec
tation. Briefly, hope the grace is twofold.
(1st.) There is a hope which is the immediate effect of regeneration,
and is a constitutive part of the new creature. Of that the apostle
speaketh, 1 Peter i. 3, ' Begotten to a lively hope/ This merely floweth
from our acceptance of the new covenant, and dependeth upon the
conditional offer of eternal life. We take it for our happiness, resolving
to seek it in God's way ; without this a man cannot be a Christian, till
he hope for eternal life to be given him upon Christ's terms.
(2dly.) There is a hope which is the fruit of experience, and belongeth
to the seasoned and tried Christian, who hath approved his own fidelity
to God, and hath much trial of God's fidelity and faithfulness to him.
Of this it is said, Eom. v. 4, that * Experience worketh hope/ It
differeth from the former, because it produceth not only a conditional
certainty, but an actual confidence of our own salvation. The former
is necessary, for we live and act by it ; the other is very comfortable,
for it facilitateth all our acts when we know ' there is reserved for us
a crown of life, which the righteous Judge will give in that day ;' and
do not only believe ' a resurrection both of the just and unjust/ but
our own resurrection unto eternal life.
But now for the effects. I shall instance in two which suit with
the prayer in the text — consolation in troubles, and confirmation in
holiness.
First, Support in troubles. When we are certainly persuaded of a
happy issue, we are the better kept from fainting: Phil. i. 19, ' I know
that this shall turn to my salvation/ &c. He speaketh it of his troubles,
and the machinations of his adversaries ; and this knowledge he calleth
in the 20th verse, ' his earnest expectation and his hope/ The bitterest
cross is sweetened by hope. This carried him through his sufferings,
not only with patience, but comfort ; as men in a storm, when they
see land, take courage ; it is but enduring a little more tempest and
they shall be safe on shore. To a hoping Christian, his whole life is
a rough voyage, but a short one.
Secondly, To encourage us in working. It is hope sets the whole
world a-work: 1 Cor. ix. 10, 'That he that plougheth should plough in
hope ; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his
hope.' Certainly it is hope sets the Christian a-work : Acts xxvi. 7,
' Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day arid
night, hope to come/ Why are God's children so hard at work for
God, but out of love to him, and hope to enjoy him for ever ? Oh !
let us continually be serving God. Let us live always either for
heaven, as seeking it, or upon heaven, as solacing ourselves with the
hopes of it ; do whatever we do in order to eternal life, and not be
taken up with trifles, and this will put life into our endeavours. It
is for a glorious and blessed estate on which we employ all this
labour.
2. That this is the free gift of God. I must prove two things : —
[1.] That good hope is his gift. He doth not only give us objective
160 THE SIXTEENTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 16.
grace, — this is the free and undeserved mercy of the gospel, or a
sufficient warrant to hope for it, which are his gracious promises ; but
subjective grace : the hope by which we expect this blessedness is
freely wrought in us by his Holy Spirit, which is a further confirmation
of his love to us, that he hath not only given us the blessedness we
hope for, but the very hope itself. The Spirit's work is necessary —
(1.) By way of illumination, to open the eyes of our minds, that we
' may see what is the hope of his calling/ Eph. i. 18. Alas ! otherwise
our sight cannot pierce so far, nor discern any reality in a happiness
that lieth in an unseen and an unknown world, so as to venture and
forsake all that we see and love for a God and a glory that we never
saw. Nature, if it be not blind in discerning the duty of man, yet it
is purblind ; it cannot foresee the happiness of man, which lieth afar
off from us : 2 Peter i. 9, ' But he that lacketh these things is blind,
and cannot see afar off.' A short-sighted man cannot see things at a
distance from him: not from any defect in the object, but through the
fault in his eyes. So the natural man, blinded by delusions, doth
either not believe, or forget the world to come ; though these things be
set before him in the promises of the gospel, thoy leave no impression
upon his heart. There needeth a very quick sight to be able to look
from earth to heaven ; therefore, till we are enlightened by the Spirit,
we can have no saving knowledge of those things which pertain to the
kingdom of God or eternal life.
(2.) By way of inclination. The Spirit doth not only open the eyes of
our mind, but he doth also incline our hearts to mind and seek after
these things as our portion and happiness : Acts xvi. 14, ' God opened
the heart of Lydia/ There is an opening of our mind, and an opening
of our hearts necessary ; for the wisdom of the flesh is kneaded into
our natures, and we are prepossessed and entangled with divers foolish
and hurtful lusts. Though we know these things, we regard them not,
and therefore the work of the Spirit is necessary to incline us earnestly
to look and long, and patiently to wait, for blessedness to come : Gal.
v. 5, ' For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by
faith.' Alas ! otherwise we should never regard these things, certainly
we would not wait for them with so much patience and self-denial, and
solace our hearts with these hopes in the midst of all our labours,
adversities, and troubles, when all is in expectation, and so little in
possession.
(3.) By way of excitation, he doth quicken us and comfort us, by
raising our thoughts, desires, and endeavours after the promised glory
and blessedness : Kom. xv. 13, ' Now, the God of hope fill you with all
joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the
power of the Holy Ghost.' It is by his lively impressions that this
grace is acted in us with any profit ; our hope is acted and increased
by his power, blessing the promises of the gospel to this end.
[2.] That it is his free gift. That which moveth God to give us this
hope is his mere love and grace.
(1.) The matter of hope is God's free, undeserved mercy. The mercy
of God is everywhere made the great invitation of hope to the fallen
creature : Ps. cxxx. 7, * Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord
is mercy and plenteous redemption.' Without this there were no hope
2 THES. II. 16.] THE SIXTEENTH SERMON. 161
for us, and therefore the saints make this their anchor-hold : Ps. xiii.
5, ' I have trusted in thy mercy, therefore my soul shall rejoice in thy
salvation ; ' let others trust in what they will, Lord, I will trust in thy
mercy. This is that which maketh hope lift up the head : Jude 21,
1 Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life ; '
there is our best and strongest plea. But —
(2.) For the grace of hope, it is the mere fruit of the Lord's mercy ;
such are our undeservings and ill-deservings, that nothing else could in
cline him to give us this hope. He was not induced by any merits of
ours, which are none ; nor hindered by any demerits or sins of ours,
which were many and great ; only his grace moved him to bring us
under the hopes of the gospel, that we might set ourselves with longing
and certain expectation in the way of holiness, to seek after the eternal
enjoyment of himself : 1 Peter i. 3, * Of his abundant mercy he hath
begotten us to a lively hope.' There were so many provocations on our
part, such great privileges to be enjoyed, that nothing but abundant
mercy could give us this hope.
II. What encouragement is this in prayer, if God hath given us good
hope through grace ?
1. God would not invite and raise a hope to disappoint it ; for
surely the Lord will not deceive his creature that dependeth upon his
word, and therefore we are allowed to challenge him : Ps. cxix. 49,
' Remember thy word unto thy servant, on which thou hast caused me
to hope/ The words contain a double argument : the promise was of
God's making, and the hope of his operation, — it is thy word, and thou
hast caused me to hope ; his grant in the new covenant, and his influ
ence by the Spirit. We have a strong tie upon him, as he giveth us the
promise, which is a ground of hope. Surely we may put his bonds in
suit, Chirographa tua tibi mjiciebat, Domine. But when his Spirit hath
caused us to hope, it is not with a purpose to defeat it ; and therefore
we may expect necessary blessings, such as are support and establish
ment in holiness. Sometimes God promiseth that we may believe, and
then promiseth again because we do believe and trust in him: Isa.
xxvi. 3, * Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed
on thee, because he trusteth in thee.' Actual hope and trust giveth a
fresh claim or new interest, for God will not fail a trusting soul, as a
generous man will not fail his friend if he rely on him. We count
this to be the strongest bond we can lay upon another, to be mindful
of us, and faithful to us — I wholly trust upon you. Now, much more
will God do so : when he hath sent his work before, he will bring his
reward with him ; when he hath invited hope by his promise, and caused
hope by his Spirit, he will give the mercy you hope for, for he hath
prepared you for it by his prerenting grace. I remember the prophet
telleth God, Jer. xx. 7, ' 0 Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was
deceived ;' words that seem to intrench upon the honour of God. Some
interpret them as if they were spoken by the prophet in a passion ;
others soften them by another rendering, ' Thou hast persuaded me, and
I was persuaded,' that is, to undertake the prophetical office, to which
I was nothing forward of myself, and have found it more troublesome
than I expected. But why may not the words be spoken as a supposi
tion : ' If I be deceived, thou hast deceived me' ? God had told him
VOL. in. L
162 THE SIXTEENTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 16.
that he would make him as a brazen wall, and had raised a faith and
hope in him that he would hear him out in his work ; and so it signifies
no more but 'I cannot be deceived.' When you have God's word, and
a well-grounded hope, it is not a foolish imagination or vain expecta
tion. God will not deceive a poor creature that trusts in him for
necessary things, such as perseverance and establishment in holiness.
2. He that giveth us hope will give us all things necessary to the
thing hoped for; therefore when God hath called us to the hope of
eternal glory by Jesus Christ, we may with the more confidence pray
for necessary support and establishment in the way. This argument
seemeth to be urged by the apostle : 1 Peter v. 10, ' The God of all
grace, who called you to his heavenly glory by Jesus Christ, after ye
have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle
you.' God, that called us to eternal glory, foresaw the difficulties and
troubles we should meet with by the way, and therefore provided grace
answerable, which we are to sue out by prayer. Surely he that called
them to the possession of everlasting blessedness by the Mediator, did
not flatter them into a vain hope, as it will prove, if he help us not.
Therefore he will assist us in these difficulties, and though he will not
exempt us from the conflict, yet he will not deny strength. When we
consent to his calling, it is a sure ground to our faith that he that hath
called will give us all things necessary to our perseverance ; for his
calling, when it is effectual, will not be in vain and to no purpose : 1
Cor. i. 9, ' God is faithful, by whom ye were called into the fellowship
of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord;' 1 Cor. x. 13, 'There hath no
temptation taken you but what is common to men : but God is faith
ful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able ; but
will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be
able to bear it.' The intent of his calling is to bring them to the pos
session of what he hath called them to. If he would at first take us
with all our faults, and put us under the hopes of the gospel when we
were sinners, he will follow the first grace with continual aids and
supports, until he hath perfected his work ; and therefore, when a people
are sincere, and willing to run all hazards for Christ, God will not only
give them glory at the end of their journey, but bear their expenses by
the way ; and therefore we need not be discouraged, and say, How shall
we hold out ? God, that hath given such hope as to venture upon the
difficulties, will support you under them ; he will add more grace to
that grace that we have received.
3. They that have received good hope through grace, have God's
nature and promise to rest upon ; his nature, as he is a gracious God,
and his promise, as he is a faithful God.
[1.] His nature, as he is a God merciful and gracious. That former
experience doth fully manifest ; he is sufficiently inclined to do us
good, and therefore will not fail us in our necessities. He hath ever
borne us good-will, never discovered any backwardness to help us,
thought of us before the world was, sent his Son to die for us before
we were born or had a being in the world, called us when we were
unworthy, warned us of our danger when we did not fear it, offered
happiness to us when we had no thought of it ; and lest we should
turn our backs upon it, followed us with an earnest and incessant im-
2 THES. II. 16.] THE SIXTEENTH SERMON. 163
portunity, till we came to anxious thoughts about Christ, and began
to make it our business to seek after it ; by the secret drawings of his
Spirit, inclined us to choose him for our portion, and to rejoice in the
hopes offered. How many contradictions and stragglings of heart
were we conscious to ere we were brought to this ! Ever since he
hath been tender of us in the whole conduct of his providence ;
afflicted us when we needed it, delivered us when we were ready to
sink ; hath pardoned our failings, visited us in ordinances, supported
us in doubts, helped us in temptations, and is still mindful of us at
every turn, as if he would not lose us ; and shall not we hope in him
to the last ? We may reason as they,. Judges xiii. 23, * If the Lord
had a mind to destroy us, he would not have received a sacrifice at our
hands/ And so if God had no mind to save us, he would not use
such methods of grace about us.
[2.] His promise, so that we must trust his faithfulness, after we come
under the hopes of the gospel. There are two great promises to sup
port us : his presence with us in the midst of our afflictions, and our
being ever present with the Lord in eternal glory. This is that we
have hope of; all the difficulty is, how far God hath promised his
presence with us. Certainly he hath promised it : Ps. xci. 15, ' I will
be with them in troubles ;' and again, ' I will be with them in fire and
water.' And again, certain it is, that God is most with his afflicted
people, as the mother keepeth most with the sick child, or the blood
runneth to comfort the wounded part. And again, that he will never
leave us to unsupportable difficulties : Heb. xiii. 5, ' I will never leave
you, nor forsake you ;' a negative gradation. And besides, there is a
general promise, though the particulars be not absolutely made certain
to us ; namely, that ' all shall work together for good,' Kom. viii. 28.
That giveth us but a probability of health, and outward protection,
and deliverance, of a ready support in every temptation, because we
are uncertain how far they are for our good ; but for necessary grace
to our preservation, there is express provision in the covenant : Jer.
xxxii. 40, ' I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will
not turn away from them to do them good,' &c.
4. It giveth us encouragement in prayer ; because they that have
this hope are so much exposed to the scorn of the world, because they
trust in an invisible God, and look for all their recompense in a world
to come. They think Christians are a company of credulous fools,
that please themselves with dreams and fancies : Ps. xxii. 7, 8, ' They
laugh me to scorn, because, they say, he trusted in the Lord ;' 1 Tim.
iv. 10, ' We therefore labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in
the living God/ Christians thought their reward sure, and therefore
endured all things ; but atheists and infidels scoff at them, and at all
their comforts, as fanatical illusions, and persecute them. Therefore
God is in point of honour engaged to stand by them, and to justify
their hope and trust ; not always by temporal deliverance, but by spirit
ual support and establishment ; that it may be seen there is a Spirit
of God and glory resteth upon them, that is glorified by him, however
he be evil spoken of in the world, 1 Peter iv. 14. God will do so in
condescension to his people. Nothing goeth so near their hearts as a
disappointment of their hope in God. It is a mighty damp to their
164 THE SIXTEENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 16.
spirits when God doth as it were spit in their faces, and reject their
prayers : Ps. xxv. 2, ' 0 my God ! I trust in thee ; let me not be
ashamed.' At such times the Lord seemeth to countenance the slanders
of their enemies, and to cover their faces with shame.
Use 1. To persuade you to get this hope of eternal life wrought in
your hearts.
1. This is the characteristic and note of difference betwixt God's
people and others. By this we are distinguished from pagans, who are
described to be such as ' Have no hope, and without God in the world/
Eph. ii. 12 ; and 1 Thes. iv. 13, ' Sorrow not as them without hope.'
But Christians are such as have c good hope through grace ;' and by
this we are distinguished from temporary and slight believers : Heb.
iii. 6, 'His house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing
of hope firm unto the end ;' so also ver. 14, * If we hold the begin
ning of our confidence stedfast unto the end/ Their hope is slight
and fluid : the temporary loseth his joy and comfort, which he con
ceived in the offers of the gospel, and so either casts off the profession
of godliness, or neglecteth the power and practice of it ; but the true
Christian is serious, patient, heavenly, and holy ; because he is always
looking to his end, and sweeteneth his work by his great hope, keeping
up his taste or lively expectation of the mercy of Christ to everlasting
life. Nay, this differenceth the children of God, those that are in their
conflict from those that are in their triumph, the sanctified and glori
fied ; those that are in their way, and those that are at home. They
that are at home are enjoying what we expect, and in possession of
that supreme good that we yet hope for ; they have neither miseries
to fear nor blessings to desire beyond what they do enjoy ; they see
what they love, and possess what they see. But the time of our ad
vancement is not yet come, and therefore we can only look and long
for it ; this is our work and present happiness.
2. Now the covenant of God is contrived to raise hope in us. The
Jachin and Boaz, the two pillars that support it, are mercy and truth :
Micah vii. 20, ' Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy
to Abraham ;' Ps. xxv. 10, ' All the paths of the Lord are mercy and
truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies ;' and Ps.
cxxxviii. 2, ' I will praise thy name for thy loving-kindness and truth ;
for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name ;' and in many
other scriptures.
[1.] The mercy and grace of the covenant.
I.) In the frame of it, where excellent benefits are dispensed upon
free terms, that our faith and hope may be in God. The Lord would
not leave the sinful creature under despair, but hath provided a way
how we may be reconciled and glorified: Ps. cxxx. 4, 'There is for
giveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.' Mercy opens the door
for us ; the very offer speaks much mercy, the terms are mercy. So
much duty is required as is necessary, and doth arise from the nature
of the thing. Violence would be offered to the reason of a serious
creature, if such things were not required.
^ (2.) In the dispensations of the blessings of the covenant. Now, Gal.
vi. 16, ' To as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them,
and mercy, and on the Israel of God.' There are many infirmities and
2 THES. II. 16.] THE SIXTEENTH SERMON. 165
frailties, but God passeth them by when there is sincerity. Our faith
is weak, and mingled with doubtings,our love to God clogged with much
inordinate self-love, our obedience often interrupted, too much deadness
and coldness in holy things ; yet these do not cast us out of the favour
of God, nor make void our interest in the covenant, where the heart
for the main is set to serve him, and please him : Mai. iii. 17, ' I will
spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him/
(3.) At the very close of all it is grace : * Hope unto the end, for
the grace that is brought unto you at the revelation of Christ/ 1 Peter
i. 13. Then there will be the fullest and largest manifestation of
God's love and free grace. There is grace brought to us now, by the
revelation of Jesus Christ in the gospel ; but when his person shall be
revealed, grace shall be seen in all its graciousness. We see his grace
in the pardon of sins, and that measure of sanctification which now
we attain unto, that he is pleased to pass by our offences, and take us
into his family, and give us right to his heavenly kingdom, and some
taste of his love and remote service. But when pardon shall be pro
nounced by the judge's mouth, when he shall take us not only into
his family, but into his palace and Father's house, and give us not
right only, but possession, and we shall be admitted to the imme
diate vision and fruition of God, and be everlastingly employed in
heavenly praising and delighting in him, then grace will be grace
indeed.
[2.] His truth and mercy openeth the door for us. Truth keepeth it
open ; mercy is the pipe ; truth is the conveyance. Now God bindeth
himself by promise, arid hath ever been tender of his word. We may
see for the present that a covenant-interest is no fruitless thing. He
hath confirmed this hope to the world by miracles ; to us within the
church by the seal and earnest of his Spirit, or the impression of his
image, preparing the hearts of the faithful for this blessed estate : Eph.
iv. 30, ' Grieve .not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto
the day of redemption ;' 2 Cor. v. 5, ' Who hath given us the earnest
of his Spirit.' He hath appointed ordinances to revive our hopes : 1
Cor. xi. 26, c For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye
do show the Lord's death till he come/ By daily experience we see
many of God's children have gone out of the world cheerfully profess
ing this hope ; we have the same Father, ' of whom the whole family
in heaven and earth is named/ Eph. iii. 15 ; are reconciled to him by
the same Christ : Col. i. 20, ' Having made peace through the blood
of the cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself ; by him, I say,
whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven/ If he be so
good to that part of the family that is now in heaven, he will be good
to them also that are working out their salvation with fear and tremb
ling.
[3.] What an advantage it is to the spiritual life to have good hope
wrought in us through grace.
(1.) It maketh us diligent and serious. Christianity implieth a
serious application of our heart and mind to do what Christ requireth,
that we may obtain what he hath offered ; to do it as our first work
and chief business : Phil. ii. 12, ' Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling;' Heb. iv. 1, * Let us labour to enter into that
166 THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 17.
rest ;' that is, employ our utmost care and diligence. Now all the exe
cutive powers are fortified and strengthened in their operation by hope.
(2.) To be patient and mortified, that we subdue our lusts, and
bear the loss of our interests with an humble and quiet mind : Kom.
xii. 12, ' Patient in tribulation, rejoicing in hope.' And for lusts: 1
John iii. 3, ' He that hath this hope, purifieth himself even as he is
pure.'
(3.) To be heavenly and holy ; the one respects our end, the other
our race. For it is not a few dead lifeless thoughts now and then,
bat the continual and delightful foresight of eternal bliss. What is
the way to heaven but hope ? And who more pure and holy than
they that look for such things ? 2 Peter iii. 14, ' Wherefore, beloved,
seeing ye look for such things, be diligent that ye be found of him in
peace, without spot, and blameless/
Use 2. Well, then, get this hope. But what must we do ? You
will say, It is God's gift : yet you are bound to use the means.
1. Kemove the impediments : 1 Peter i. 13, ' Be sober, and hope to
the end/ Draw off the affections from carnal vanities, and the delights
of the senses, and consider what God offereth to you in the gospel : there
can be no certain and desirous expectation of better things, while the
mind and heart is so occupied and thronged with vanity, and dead
ened by carnal satisfaction.
2. Wait on all the opportunities of profiting, and use the known
means of grace more conscionably. Certain it is that the grace of
hope is of God, not acquired, but infused ; but God will bless his own
means. The propounding of the object, the offering of the solid
grounds, maketh way for the infusing of the grace : Titus i. 1,2,
Paul was the apostle to ' bring them to the acknowledgment of the
truth, for the hope of eternal life/ And it is called, * the hope of the
gospel,' Col. i. 23, because it is wrought by the preaching of the
gospel.
SERMON XVII.
Comfort your hearts, and slablish you in every good word and work.
—2 THES. II. 17.
WE come now, thirdly, to the prayer itself. He asketh two bene
fits :—
1. Comfort.
2. Establishment.
First, Comfort : ' Comfort your hearts/ But why doth the apostle
pray for that which they had already ? He had told them, in the
former verse, that God had given them everlasting consolation, and
now he prayeth that God would comfort them. The answer given by
some is, that he prayeth that God would give them an increase of
comfort ; by others, that God would give them the continuance of
2 THES. II. 17.] THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON. 167
it. Bather, by everlasting consolation is meant tlie solid matter of
comfort ; by his prayer, now the effectual application of it ; for
though sufficient matter of comfort be provided for us, yet God must
powerfully apply it. The gospel is a sovereign plaster, yet God's hand
must make it stick. Observe here : —
Doct. That all true and solid and heart-comfort is of God. He
is called ' the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort,' 2 Cor.
i. 3 ; and again, ' The God of patience and consolation/ Rom. xv.
5. His Spirit taketh an office upon him to accomplish, this effect in
us, therefore called the Comforter.
1. I shall inquire what comfort is.
2. Show why it is of God.
3. What advantage we have thereby.
I. What comfort is. Three things are to be explained : —
1. Comfort.
2. Comforting.
3. In what sense it is of God.
I. 1. What comfort is. We call two^ things by that name : —
[1.1 Our natural refreshment.
[2.J Our support in troubles.
[l.j Our natural refreshment, or the benefit that we have by the
creatures for the support of nature. We cannot enjoy our temporal
mercies with any delight and pleasure without God's leave and bless
ing; as to eat and drink with comfort, that the soul may enjoy good
by its labour. In one place it is said, it is * by the hand of God,'
Eccles. ii. 24. In another place it is said to be ' the gift of God/
Eccles. iii. 13. It is by his power and his grace that the comfort of
the creature is not in man's hands but God's ; nor can the creature
yield to us any comfort without his gift or grant. And because of
our forfeiture by sin, we have neither these mercies from ourselves,
nor the use ; nor the natural benefit from the bare creature, which is
health, strength, and cheerfulness. All goodness resideth chiefly in
God, and it is to be found in the creatures only by participation, and
that at his pleasure : Acts xiv. 17, ' He gave us rain from heaven, and
fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness ;' that is,
for the comfortable use of food, we must still look to the giver. But the
apostle here doth not speak of the comfort of the creatures, but the
comfort of the scriptures ; not the supply of the body, but the support
of the soul.
[2.] Comfort is taken for support in troubles. The Thessalonians
were now under great persecutions. Comfort is a strengthening of
the mind when it is in danger to be weakened by fears and sorrows,
or the strength and stay of the heart in trouble : Ps. cxix. 50, ' This
is my comfort in my afflictions, thy word hath quickened me ; ' and 2
Cor. i. 4, ' Who comforteth us in all our tribulations, that we may be
able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort where
with we are comforted of God/ As cordials are for a fainting time,
so are comforts for a time of afflictions. Indeed spiritual comfort is
never out of season ; because we are now in the house of our pilgrim
age, and our chief good is at a distance from us ; and because of the
labours and difficulties of the spiritual life : therefore it is said, Acts
168 THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 17.
ix. 31, ' When the churches had rest, they walked in the fear of God,
and the comfort of the Holy Ghost/ But the great need of comfort
is in our afflictions, therefore here I shall show three things : —
(1.) That God can give his people comfort in the greatest tribula
tion : his favour is enough to support them against the frowns of all
the world : Isa. li. 12, ' I, even I, am he that comforteth thee. Who
art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of man that shall die, and the
son of man that shall be made as the grass ? ' As long as we have
the almighty and immortal God to stand by us, and the promise of
eternal life, it will counterbalance all our trouble : Bom. v. 2, 3, ' We
rejoice in hope of the glory of God : and not only so, but we glory
in tribulations also ;' 2 Cor. iv. 17, * This light affliction, which is
but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory/ There is everlasting joy against a heaviness for a
season, and everlasting ease and rest against a little present pain ;
there is enough to outweigh all that we can suffer for and from God.
So the pardon of sin : Isa, xl. 1, 2, 'Comfort ye, comfort ye, my
people, saith my God/ Why ? ' Because her iniquity is pardoned/
Mat. ix. 2, ' Be of good cheer ; thy sin is forgiven thee/ Here is sound
comfort, the sting of all our troubles is taken away. Well, then, this
the people of God have to support them in all their tribulation. They
can set God against the creature, heaven against earth, pardon of sins
against all the bitterness they meet with in the world.
(2.) That there is a special allowance of -comfort for God's children
in their afflictions. The Lord is more tender of his people then, when
they want comfort, than at another time ; they have a more plentiful
measure of the supporting operations of his Spirit then : as 1 Peter
iv. 14, * If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for
the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you/ As the mother
keepeth most with the sick child, so God looketh to the afflicted.
This is the difference between God and the world : the world ever
runneth most after those that are prosperous, and flourish and rejoice,
as rivers into the sea, where there is water enough ; but forsaketh those
that are in poverty, disgrace, and want ; but God is most mindful of
his afflicted people, visiteth them most, vouchsat'eth most of his com
fortable presence to those that holily and meekly bear the afflictions
he layeth upon them : ' He comforteth us in all our tribulations/
2 Cor. i. 4. The soul is then more capable of spiritual comforts,
because their taste is more purged and refined from the dregs of sense,
and grace is more lively and exercised now ; the more grace, the more
comfort. And prayers are more frequent ; and prayers are seldom in
vain.
(3.) That our comforts carry proportion with our sorrows : 2 Cor. i.
5, ' As our afflictions abound, so do our consolations/ This cometh
from the wisdom of God, that the evil may not be greater than our
support ; and from the faithfulness of God, * who will not suffer us to
be tempted above what we are able to bear/ 1 Cor. x. 13. And there
fore, if he bring on heavy troubles, he puts a suitable measure of com
fort and cheerfulness into our hearts. This is comfort.
2. What it is to have our hearts comforted. It showeth that the
heart is the proper seat of spiritual comfort : Ps. iv. 7, ' Thou hast
2 THES. II. 17.] THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON. 169
put gladness into my heart.' God's comfort is like a soaking shower,
that goes to the root, and refresheth the plants of the earth more than
a morning dew, that wets only the surface. Other comforts tickle
the senses and refresh the outward man, but this penetrateth to the
very heart. Christ prayeth, John xvii. 13, ' That they may have my joy
fulfilled in themselves/ Christ's comforts are not reported to the ear
only, but felt in the heart. The joy of the world maketh a great
noise, but in the midst of it the heart is sorrowful. But God feasts
his children with hidden manna ; they have meat and drink which
the world knoweth not of. In their outward man they are exposed
to great difficulties, but their hearts are filled with 'joy unspeakable,
and full of glory/ The joy of the carnal in outward things is foreign ;
and as much as their senses are pleased, their hearts are full of tor
menting fears and secret disgusts. They may put a good face upon
it, but dig the most jovial of them to the bottom, they have their
inward stings and secret horrors of conscience. But in comforting his
children God chiefly deals with the heart : Kom. v. 5, ' The love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto. us •/
and 2 Cor. i. 22, ' He hath given us the earnest of the Spirit in our
hearts/ In establishing this comfort, God doth immediately work
upon the soul. He useth means indeed ; as the word : Kom. xv,. 4,
4 That you through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have
hope/ There we have the grounds of comfort set forth — Cprist's
redemption, the promises of the gospel, both of pardon and life, and
the ordinances, as the sacraments ; as the eunuch after his baptism :
Acts viii. 39, 'He went away rejoicing/ So in the Lord's Supper, we
come to eat of Christ's peace-offerings that we may rejoice in^God :
Ps. xxii. 26, ' The meek shall eat and be satisfied ; they shall r)raise
the Lord that seek him : your heart shall live for ever/ But his Spirit
worketh immediately upon the soul; either — (1.) By opening the un<|er-
standing to see the grounds and reasons of comfort: Rom. xv. -13,
' Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost ;'
or (2.) By raising the heart to the lively act of joy : Acts xiii. 52,
' The disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost/ Cer
tainly God comforteth the heart both ways by seeing the grounds as
he worketh faith. Man is a reasonable creature, and it is not ima
ginable that the Holy Ghost should comfort us we know not why : he
revealeth indeed supernatural grounds of comfort ; but if they be not
evident to reason, they are evident to faith. But then the very joy is
executed by the efficacy of his impression. But of that more anon.
3. In what sense comfort may be said to be of God ? I answer —
Three ways: —
When it is allowed by him.
When the matter is provided by him.
When it is wrought by him.
When it is allowed by him, and warranted by him. Every man
fects comfort and oblectation of mind; for otherwise they could
never be pleased in that condition they are in, nor satisfy themselves.
It would much undeceive the carnal world, and make them see the
folly of their unreasonable joy and quiet, if they would put conscience
170 THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 17.
to the question, Is our joy from God or no ? that is, Doth God allow
it me ? Certainly God doth allow us to rejoice in our outward por
tion : Eccles. v. 18, ' It is good and comely for one to eat and drink,
and to enjoy the good of all his labours that he taketh under the sun,
all the days of his life which God giveth him, for it is his portion ; '
but so that his favour rngy be the matter of our chief joy, for other
wise it is exceeding folly and gross carnality to rejoice in the creature
apart from God. And in the midst of the greatest soul-dangers, you
must first inquire, Are all things right between God and me ? It is
a mighty contempt of God, yea, brutish atheism, to sit down con
tented with anything on this side God, Luke xii. 19, and to say, ' Soul,
take thine ease, thou hast goods laid up for many years.' To sing
lullabies -to our souls when God is angry for sin, this comfort is not
allowed oy God : ' There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked/
Isa. Ivu. 21. It is spiritual madness to dance about the brink of hell.
[2.] When the matter is provided by him. God in the new covenant
hath propounded excellent grounds of comfort : John xiv. 1, ' Let not
your hearts be troubled ; ye believe in God, believe also in me.' The
two ^reat general grounds of support against heart-trouble are God's
merc'ful nature and Christ's mediation ; more particularly in the new
covenant, the promises of pardon and life, — of pardon of sin : Eom.
v. l-\3, ' Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ/ &c. ; and of life eternal : 1 Thes. iv.
18, ' And so shall we ever be with the Lord ; wherefore comfort one
another with these words/ It is good to see what comforts we live
upon and propound to ourselves and others, more expressly as to
afflictions, God's particular providence, that nothing falleth out with
out God's appointment : 1 Thes. iii. 3, ' That no man should be
moved with these afflictions, for yourselves know that we were ap
pointed thereunto/ It is not chance or a natural accident, but that
which God hath appointed. If any Shimei rail, the Lord hath bid
him curse. If any evil come to us, is it without God's fatherly care
over his people, who ordereth all things for their profit ? Heb. xii. 10,
' They verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure ;
but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness/
And his unchangeable love, which doth not vary and alter with our
condition : Heb. xii. 6, ' Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth/ He is our God still, though
he seemeth to deal hardly with us. We learn of Christ on the very
cross to cry, ' My God/ Mat. xxvii. 46 ; and if we cannot find enough
in him when the creatures and our natural comforts fail, it is meet
we should lose them : Hab. iii. 18, ' Though the fig-tree should not
blossom, &c., yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of
my salvation/ This is the sum of God's comforts ; and when these
things are suggested to us, God comforteth our hearts.
[3.] When by these means God worketh comfort in us. Joy is often
called ' the comfort of the Spirit/ and 'joy in the Holy Ghost/ Kom.
xiv. 17. Now all the Spirit's works are singular, and do much exceed
the natural work of man's heart. The groans which he stirreth up in
prayer are ' unutterable/ Rom. viii. 26 ; his joys ' unspeakable and
glorious/ 1 Peter i. 8. The heathens counted that fire more fit and
2 THES. II. 17.] THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON. 171
pure for their altars which was enkindled by a sunbeam rather than a
coal taken from a common hearth. So this comfort which is raised
in us by the Holy Ghost is more rich and glorious and effective than
that which is the fruit of our bare reason, or the mere working of our
human spirit, even in the common grounds of Christian comfort ; or
as elementary fire differeth from culinary and kitchen fire, and is
much more pure, so doth this joy, which is immediately wrought in
us by the Spirit, from all joy that we can work by ourselves, out of
the scriptural grounds of comfort. Carnal men have their joy at the
second or third hand, as God blesseth the order and influence of in
ferior causes ; it comes to them from creature to creature, so as they
discern not the work of God in it ; yea, the joy of common Christians
in the proper grounds of comfort is not so strong as that which is
raised in us by the immediate impression of the comforting Spirit.
II. Why this is of God.
1. Because God challengeth this as his own right to comfort the
heart of man ; and therefore, whatever the means of the comfort be,
God will be owned as the spring and fountain of it. He keepeth this
as his great bridle upon the world, to govern the hearts of men : Job
xxxiv. 29, ' When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble ?
and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him ? whether
it be done against a nation, or against a man only.' Our peace and
trouble is in God's hands, and at his disposing. It is true he exer-
ciseth his sovereignty according to law, and in his internal govern
ment according to the law of grace, penally withdrawing his comfort
ing Spirit, and leaving us to our doubts, and troubles, and fears ; by
the rewarding our obedience and faithfulness with the manifest tokens
of his love, as the matter shall require. It is enough for the point in
hand that God alone doth powerfully dispense peace or trouble. And
when he will give comfort, none can make his gift void ; for it is at
his command ; and in both, a nation is all one with a particular per
son as to any ability to resist God.
2. Though grounds of comfort be never so clear, yet if God concur
not, we find not the effect ; therefore it is his Spirit that can only com
fort the heart. To have God's warrant for our comfort is much, but to
have his impression is more ; both must concur, or the soul will not
be comforted. It falleth out many ways, sometimes out of ignorance.
When a well of comfort was near, poor Hagar saw it not, and was
almost famished with thirst, until ' God opened her eyes, and she saw
a well of water/ Gen. xxi. 19. We know not the grounds of our com
fort. Sometimes out of passion ; grief is obstinate, and will admit no
remedy : as ' Kachel would not be comforted/ Jer. xxxi. 15. They
are so peevishly addicted to their worldly comforts, that if they be
crossed in them, they will not admit of God's comforts, though they
are evident, clear, and pertinent. Sometimes out of forgetf ulness :
Heb. xii. 5, ' Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto
you as unto children.' And oblivion is an ignorance for the present.
Had they remembered, they would not have fainted and waxed weary.
It is a great work of the Spirit to bring to remembrance. Sometimes
questioning their interest in comfort; besides that, there are general com
forts, when interest is not clear. Now the Spirit, that showeth us the
172 THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 17.
things given us of God, doth also reveal and evidence our right to
them. What is wrought in our hearts — that is to say, by quickening
us to exercise grace, — he evidenceth the truth of grace ; and in our
afflictions by patience maketh out our comfort : Rom. v. 3-5, ' We
glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and
patience experience, and experience hope ; and hope maketh not
ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the
Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.' From the whole, there can be
no true solid comfort but what God bestoweth ; his favour, and our
interest in his favour, is manifested to us by his Spirit.
Ill What advantages we have by this, that all solid comfort is of
God.
1. It assureth us of God's readiness to comfort poor afflicted crea
tures that humbly submit to him. He that is the God of all comfort
is also the Father of mercies ; his mercy and compassion inclineth him
to comfort us. God hath his name from this effect — Nomina sunt a
notioribus — ' God that comforteth those that are cast down/ 2 Cor. vii. 6.
He is very tender of all afflicted creatures, much more of his people.
2. God's comforts come with more authority, and silence all our
doubts and fears: Ps. xciv. 19, 'In the multitude of my thoughts
within me thy comforts delight my soul.' We have many intricate,
perplexing thoughts, out of which we cannot disentangle ourselves ;
no comforts come with such authority and power as God's comforts.
In the comfort we have it is good to consider whence it cometh : Is it
God's comfort, or a fancy of our own ? If it be made up by our own
fancy, it will be like a spider's web, that is weaved out of its own bowels,
but is gone and swept away with the least turn of a besom ; but God's
comforts are more durable : they flow from the true fountain of com
fort, upon whose frowns or smiles our happiness and misery dependeth.
There is little warmth in a fire of our own kindling. God's comforts
are built on his covenant, and have a commanding force and over
powering efficacy on the soul. God in his word speaketh by sovereign
authority ; in our hearts he worketh by powerful efficacy. The autho
rity of his word we own when we speak to others or to ourselves, when
we know trouble but in supposition or imagination. The efficacy of
his grace we feel when trouble comes actually upon us ; many that
strengthen others, when it cometh upon them faint themselves : Job
iv. 4, 5, * Thy words have upholden him that is falling, and thou hast
strengthened the feeble knees. But now it is come upon thee, and thou
faintest ; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled/ Which showeth
that not only the matter of comfort, but the effectual blessing cometh
from God, or comforting of souls is his work.
3. That God's comforts are full and strong. For he worketh like
himself^ and therefore can and will support his people in the greatest
difficulties. It is sometimes represented as full : Acts xiii. 52, ' The
disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost ;' and, ' I ain
filled with comfort, and am exceeding joyful in all our tribulations/
2 Cor. vii. 4 : vTrepTrepiao-evofjiat, ry %apa. And our Lord Jesus, when
he took care for our comfort, took care for our full comfort : John xv. 11,
' These things have I spoken, that my joy may remain in you, and
your joy might be full/ Thus we see the joy of believers is a full joy,
2 THES. II 17.] THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON. 173
that no other joy needeth to be added to it ; it is a full joy to hear us
out under all discouragements. For what is wanting to them who
have God for their portion, and the promised glory for their inherit
ance, and God's providence engaged for their protection, safety, and
comfort, while they are here by the way ? And it is strong as well as
full : Heb. vi. 18, * That by two immutable things, in which it is im
possible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation/ Other
comforts are weak and of little force ; they are not affliction-proof, much
less are they death-proof, and judgment-proof; they cannot stand before
a few serious, sober thoughts of the world to come. The comforts of
the world cannot stay and revive the heart ; for every blast of a tempta
tion scattereth them.
Use 1. To reprove Christians for their over-much dejection and
fainting in troubles. Why are we so much cast down ? Is there no
balm in Gilead, nor comfort in God ? Why hath God taken the name
upon him of being the God of all comfort, and put this office upon his
{Spirit to be the comforter ? Hath he not made sufficient provision in
the new covenant ? Is there any evil which the promise of eternal
life cannot countervail ? Is God backward to give you comfort ?
Why, then, did he send Christ, write scriptures, appoint a ministry
and ordinances, seek to prepare you for it by the seal and earnest of
his Spirit, and invite you so earnestly to trust in him, to cast all your
care upon him, and so often forbid your fear and sorrow ?
Use 2. If all comfort be of God, let us go to God for it. But then
take these three directions : —
1. See you be qualified for it. Comfort follows holiness, as heat
doth fire : the Spirit is first a sanctifier and then a comforter ; and
according to God's promise, is more necessarily a sanctifier than a
comforter : Eph. i. 13, 14, ' In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation : in whom also, after
that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which
is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of his glory.' Comfort is our happiness ;
but we are made holy before happy. Hereafter we enter into our
master's joy, we have a taste of it in the world. But who have this
taste but the sanctified and self-denying Christians ? The work of
sanctification is carried on more certainly, but his comforting work
is many times obscure and interrupted. Do your work thoroughly
and faithfully, and you may refer yourselves to God for comfort.
2. Expect not a singular way of comfort besides the word. It
was Eliphaz's charge upon Job, chap. xv. 11, ' Are the consolations of
God small with thee ? Is there any secret thing with thee ? ' The
charge is, that he undervalued the common consolation of God, and
looked for some secret way peculiar to himself of getting comfort,
besides humbling of himself, and turning unto God. No ; God hath
sufficiently provided for the comfort of his people, and we must not
expect singular manifestations of his love, and special signs and tokens,
beyond the common allowance given to the whole family. It is a
thousand to one but it is some false consolation and dream of comfort
which they affect and cry up, beyond or besides the usual comforts of
his word.
174 THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 17.
3. Do not compare lower discoveries of God with that great re
velation he hath made of his mind in the word, for the comfort of
his people ; for this argueth great unthankfulness, and a secret desire
to set up man's comfort against those which are unquestionably of the
Lord. Sure it is, that whatever good is in nature, is from God ; but
it is mingled with so many weaknesses, that what is of God can scarce
be seen in it. I speak of those that cry up heathen philosophy, to the
disparagement of the word of God, as if it were a better institution
to quiet the mind, and fortify it against all troubles, than Chris
tianity. But alas! they neither know the true ground of misery,
which is sin, nor the true ground of comfort, which is Christ, And
that which mere man offereth can neither come with such authority
and blessing as what cometh immediately from God. This is a
moonlight that rotteth things before it ripeneth them. In short,
philosophers were never acquainted with Christ, the foundation of
comfort ; nor the Spirit, the efficient cause of comfort ; nor the pro
mise of pardon and life, which is the matter of comfort ; nor faith,
which is the light by which we know things that depend upon divine
revelation, and so the proper instrument of comfort. This I thought
good to say, because comfort and rest for souls is one of the great
benefits of our religion: Jer. vi. 16, ' Stand in the way and see, and
ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein ; and
ye shall find rest for your souls;7 Mat. vi. 28, 29, ' Come unto me, all
ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Use 3. Seek it in the use of means and ordinances which God hath
appointed for the raising of comfort in us, as the word, prayer, and
the Lord's Supper. In solemn duties God reneweth the pledges of
his love to us, exciteth grace, and by grace comfort. It must needs
be so, because then the grounds of comfort are anew laid in the view
of conscience ; graces are in their lively exercise, and God is not want
ing to his own institution. Take all these three together, and the
reverent use of the Lord's Supper must needs increase our comfort.
The ground of comfort is reconciliation with God by Christ, Eom. v.
11, ' We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have
now received the atonement/ And here we raise up our faith and
love : Cant. i. 4, * The King hath brought me into his chamber. We
will be glad and rejoice in thee ; we will remember thy love more than
wine. The upright love thee.' God's ordinances are not empty;
there is some participation : 1 Cor. x. 16, ' The cup of blessing
which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ?
The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of
Christ?'
Use 4. Consider the ends why God giveth us comfort. It is to
fortify us against the enemies of our salvation, so far as they are vex
ing, and troubling, and molesting us in the way to heaven. The
Spirit hath two great offices — to be a sanctifier and comforter ; and
both serve all the needs of Christians. When we are enticed to sin, he
helps us as a sanctifier ; when we are discouraged in God's service, he
helps us a comforter. And therefore Christians are to consider their
condition, and what their present state requireth ; for God dispenseth
his grace according to the assaults made upon them by the enemies
2 TlIES. II. 17.] THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON. 175
of their salvation. As for instance, our enemies are the devil, the
world, and the flesh. These we renounced in baptism ; and in the
progress of Christianity, these are those with whom we conflict and
must overcome. As for instance, the devil is a tempting devil, who
seeketh to draw away the saints from God, and, by the love of the
flesh, to weaken our love and obedience to our proper and our right
ful Lord. Now what are we to do in this case ? To beg comfort and
peace, that we may not be troubled, though we yield unto his tempta
tions ? Alas ! this were to turn the grace of God into wantonness.
No ; we are to be ' sober and watchful/ 1 Peter v. 8 — to use all the rules
of sobriety and vigilancy, that our worldly comforts may not be a
snare to us (sobriety is a holy moderation in the use of all earthly
things : vigilancy is a holy diligence and seriousness in the use of
means) ; and also add to both the help of the sanctifying Spirit, that we
may keep up our love to God, and be faithful in our obedience to him.
But the devil is not only a tempting devil, but a vexing and disquiet
ing devil, who ' accuseth us before God day and night/ Rev. xii. 10,
raiseth in us many troublesome fears to make our service uncomfort
able, and tire us and clog us. What is our duty then ? To beg the
help of the Comforter, not only to show love to God, but that we may
have some persuasion of his love to us, and quench his fiery darts, that
we may go on cheerfully in our work, because ' the God of peace shall
bruise Satan under your feet shortly/ Eom. xvi. 20. So for the
worid. The world is a tempting world, drawing our affections from
God and heaven to present things ; and when it smileth on us, en
croaches upon our hearts more and more: 2 Tim. iv. 10, * Demas hath
forsaken me, having loved this present world/ Now what is our
business then ? To beg comfort and assurance of God's love ? No ;
that would be our bane ; there is work for the Sanctifier rather than the
Comforter, that the worldly spirit may be subdued in us ; there is
need of mortification rather than assurance, that we may be 'crucified
to the world/ Gal. vi. 14. But sometimes the world is a persecuting
world, and reproacheth and troubleth us with all manner of vexations ;
then there is work for the Comforter, to seal up to our souls the love
of God, our interest in Christ : John xvi. 33, ' These things have I
spoken to 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 ;'
and to become to our souls the earnest of eternal glory. Comfort is
for tribulation ; at other times we are glutted with it, but then it is
our great support. When all things fail, we feel the great necessity
of the joys of faith. It is good to time well our duties. David saith,
Ps. Ivi. 3, ' What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.' So for the
flesh ; it enticeth us : James i. 14, * Every man is tempted when he is
drawn away of his own lust and enticed.' Many times it draweth
to actual sin by indulgence to its desires ; yea, disposeth us often
to apostasy and falseness of heart; for apostasy usually begins at
falseness of heart, when the fleshly rnind and interest is not
thoroughly overcome. Well, when we are conscious to this, what
shall we do in such a case ? Certainly the great and proper work is
to beg the Spirit, and implore the Spirit as a sanctifier, and to be
more obedient to his sanctifying motions. Comfort will come in time.
176 THE EIGHTEENTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 17.
Well, but the flesh is not only enticing, but troublesome and grievous
to the saints ; witness Paul's groans : Kom. vii. 24, ' 0 wretched
man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? '
"We are quite wearied and tired out with the importunity of its
motions ; we would serve God more purely and perfectly. Then there
is work for the Comforter, and confidence in his operations to help the
faithful soul : Phil. i. 6, ' Being confident of this very thing, that he
which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of
Jesus Christ/ Then it is seasonable to remember the covenant we are
under : Kom. vi. 14, ' For sin shall not have dominion over you ; for
ye are not under the law, but under grace.' The serious, striving soul
will not be left destitute. Thus must we expect comfort.
Use 5. Eemember that comfort hath a latitude in it, and is ex
pressed by divers words.
i; {Sometimes by it support is implied, when the sense of sin and
fear of God's wrath is not altogether removed and taken away, but so
mitigated and abated, that hope doth more easily prevail in the soul
than fear ; and we resolve to wait on God, though we cannot so fully
clear up our interest in him. You have many conflicts and fears, yet
some hope and expectation towards God : Jonah ii. 4, 5, * I am cast
out of thy sight, yet will I look again to thy holy temple/ Eesolute
adherence giveth great support : Job xiii. 15, * Though he slay me,
yet will I trust in him ; I will maintain my own ways before him/
He dependeth merely on the covenant.
2. Peace, or some rest from troubles and accusations of conscience.
There is some calm and quiet of soul : Kom. v. 1, ' Being justified by
faith, we have peace with God ; ' Gal. vi. 16, 'As many as walk ac
cording to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy/ Assaulted with
none or light fears : John xvi. 33, ' In me ye shall have peace/ I
will give you peace, though not full spiritual suavities.
3. The third word is joy : 1 Peter i. 8, ' Ye rejoice with joy unspeak
able, and full of glory.' In peace all things are quiet, they have no
anxious thoughts ; but in joy there is a sensible motion of pleasure and
delight. They are feasted with the pleasures of faith, love, and hope.
Let us then bless God for any degree of comfort.
SEKMON XVIII.
And stablish you in every good word and work. — 2 THES. II. 17.
WE come now to the apostle's second request for them : ' And stablish
you in every good word and work/ By ' every good word ' is meant
sound doctrine ; by ' every good work,' holiness of life.
Doct. Establishment in faith and holiness is a needful blessing, and
earnestly to be sought of God.
1. What this establishment is.
2. How needful.
3. Why it is to be sought of God.
2 THES. II. 17.] THE EIGHTEENTH SERMON. 177
I. What this establishment is ? Ans. Confirmation in the grace
that we have received. Now this confirmation must be distinguished.
1. With respect to the power wherewith we are assisted ; there is
habitual confirmation, and actual confirmation.
[1.] The habitual confirmation is when the habits of grace are
more settled and increased: 1 Peter v. 10, 'The God of all grace
strengthen, stablish, settle you.' God hath effectually called and con
verted them, and he beggeth the strengthening of the grace which
they had received. Now thus we are established, when faith, love
and hope are increased in us ; for these are the principles of all spirit
ual operations ; and when they have gotten good strength in us, a
Christian is more established. (1.) Faith is necessary, for we stand
by faith: Eom. xi. 20, 'Because of unbelief they were broken off,
but thou standest by faith.' We do not only live by it, but stand by
it, and are kept by it : 1 Peter i. 5, ' Who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation.' He is strong that is strong in faith, as
Abraham was, that believeth the gospel, and can venture his all upon it,
and trust himself in God's hands, whatever befalleth him : Luke xxii. 32,
' I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not/ That was the grace
likely to be assaulted, and would most keep him ; had he been persuaded
that Jesus was the Son of God, would he have denied him with oaths and
execrations ? (2.) Love is strong. We are told, Cant. viii. 6, 7, ' That
love is as strong as death ; many waters cannot quench it : if a man
would give all the substance of his house, it would utterly be con
temned.' It will not be bribed or quenched. Our backsliding cometh
from losing our complacency in or desire of God : there is an averse-
ness from sin and zeal against it ; as long as we have a sense of our
obligations to God, and a value and esteem of his grace in Christ, then
we continue in delightful obedience to him, and level and direct our
actions to his glory. (3.) Hope is necessary to stablish the soul on
the promise of eternal life ; for this is the sure and stedfast anchor
of the soul : Heb vi. 19, ' Which hope we have as an anchor of the
soul, both sure and stedfast.' If hope be strong and lively, present
things do not greatly move us.
[2.] Actual establishment, when these habits are fortified and
quickened by the actual influence of God. As God doth establish by
these habitual principles, so by the actual motions of his Spirit ; for
otherwise neither the stability of our resolutions nor of gracious habits
will support us. Not stability of resolutions : Ps. Ixxiii. 2, ' As for me, my
feet were almost gone, my steps had well-nigh slipped/ Not habit :
Eev. iii. 2, * Be watchful, and strengthen those things which remain,
that are ready to die/ It is true, God ordinarily worketh most strongly
with strongest graces, because their hearts are most prepared; yet
sometimes weak Christians have gone through great temptations when
strong ones have failed : Rev. iii. 8, ' Thou hast a little strength, and
hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name/ Sometimes the
strong Christian stumbleth and falleth when the weak standeth.
God may in an instant confirm a weak person in some particular
temptation, by his free assistance, but ordinarily concurreth with the
strongest grace. Thus with respect to the power wherewith we are
assisted.
VOL. III. M
178 THE EIGHTEENTH SERMON. [2 TflES. II. 17.
2. With respect to the object or matter about which it is conver
sant : stablished in every good word and work ; stability in the doctrine
of faith and practice of godliness.
[1.] In the doctrine of faith. It is a great advantage in the spiritual
life to have a sound judgment. Some men are never well grounded
in the truth, and in the nature and reasons of that religion which
they do profess, and then are always left to a wandering uncertainty,
because they resolve not upon evidence ; as men ordinarily abide not in
the place to which they are driven by a tempest, or the current of the
tides, rather than by aim and choice, though they take shelter there
for the present : 1 Thes. v. 21, ' Prove all things, hold fast that which
is good/ Certainly religion in the general must be taken up by choice,
and not by chance ; not because we know no other, but because we
know no better : as Jer. vi. 16, ' Stand ye in the ways, and see, and
ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein.'
And the same is true of particular opinions and controversies about
religion, till we have I&LOV ffrqpiyjj,a, ' our own stedfastness,' 2 Peter iii.
17. We stand by the stedfastness of others, when we profess the
truth merely because of company; and when the chain is broken,
we all fall to pieces. Now we ought to be well settled, lest we appear
to the world with a various face, which breedeth atheism in others,
and shame to ourselves. It is possible, in particular things, future light
may disprove present practice ; but then we must be able to give a very
sufficient account of it. Luther, when he was charged with apostasy,
Confitetur se esse apostatam, sed beatum et sanctum, quifidem Diabolo
datam non servavit. While we cry up constancy, we must not cherish
stubborn prejudice, which shuts the door upon truth. However, to avoid
the opinion of lightness, before religious persons profess anything,
their warrant need to be very clear, both for the world's sake and their
own, that they may not make needless troubles, and afterwards change
their mind, to the scandalising of others : and their own sake : §tyv~xps
avrjp, James i. 8, ' A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.'
And we had need to take care to be right, because every error hath
an influence upon the heart and practice : upon the heart, as it weak-
eneth faith and love ; and practice : some opinions have no malig
nity in themselves, yet the profession of them may divide the church,
and make us by contentions enemies of the growth and progress of
Christ's kingdom. Now, if we would be established in the truth, we
must see what influence every truth hath upon the new nature, either
as it worketh towards God by faith, to keep up our respects to him, or
men by love, as it furthereth our duties to them. A man will not
easily let go truth that is wont to turn it into practice, and to live as
he belie veth. Once more, we need to be established in the present
truth ; it is no zeal to fight with ghosts and antiquated errors, but to
take God's part in our time ; but usually the orthodoxy of the world
is an age too short, men please themselves in things received.
[2.] In every good work, or in holiness of life. Here needeth the
greatest establishment, that we may hold on our course to heaven ;
and the usual apostasy and backsliding that men are guilty of is from
the practice of religion. It is ill when the mind is tainted, but worse
when the heart is alienated from God; and commonly it is the perverse
2 THES. II. 17.] THE EIGHTEENTH SERMON. 179
inclination of the will that tainteth the mind. Therefore the great
establishment is to be settled in a course of godliness: 1 Thes. iii. 13,
* That he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before
God, even our Father, until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, with
all his saints.' Now this establishment is very difficult.
First, Because of the contrariety of the principles that are within
us : Gal. v. 17, ' For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh ; and these are contrary one to the other, so
that ye cannot do the things that ye would/ The garrison is not free
from danger that hath an enemy lodged within. The love of the world
and the flesh was in the heart before the love of God and holiness, and
these are not wholly rooted out. Yea, these are natural to us, whereas
grace is a plant planted in us contrary to nature ; and the ground
that bringeth forth weeds and thistles of its own accord, but the flowers
and good herbs with much tillage and cultivation, if it be neglected,
the weeds will soon overgrow the flowers.
Secondly, Because it is more hard to continue in conversion than to
convert ourselves at first. In our first conversion we are more passive ;
it is God that converteth us, and draweth us to himself, and quickens
and plants us into Christ ; but in perseverance and fulfilling our
covenanting duty, we are more active ; it is our work, though we per
form it by God's grace. An infant in the mother's womb is nourished
by the nourishment of the mother, but afterwards he must suck and
seek his own nourishment ; and the older he groweth, the more care
of his life is devolved upon himself. Now, that which is more our
work is more difficult. It is true that God, that hath begun a
good work, doth perfect it, but not without our care, Phil. i. 6.
When we are fitted and prepared unto good works, God expecteth
from us that we should walk in them. God stablisheth us in the text,
but it is in every good work. Besides, in conversion, we make cove
nant with God, but by perseverance we keep covenant with him. Now
it is easier to consent to conditions than it is to fulfil them ; the cere
monies, at first consent of marriage, are not so difficult as to perform
the duties of the marriage covenant. It is more easy to build a castle
in a time of peace than to keep it in a time of war. Peter more easily
consented to come to Christ upon the water ; but when he began to
try it, his feet were ready to sink, Mat. xiv. 29, 30. When winds and
waves are against us, alas ! how soon do we fail ! Therefore, a good
spring doth not always foreshow a fruitful harvest, nor plenty of blos
soms store of fruit. We are carried on with great life and earnestness
for a while in the profession of religion, we consent to follow Christ ;
but when we meet with difficulties not foreseen or allowed for, we faint
and are discouraged. ^
3. With respect to the subject in which it is seated, which is the
soul with its faculties. The strength of the body is known by ex
perience rather than by description ; but the strength of the soul must
be determined by its right constitution towards good and evil. The
faculties of the soul are either the understanding, wherein lieth the
directive counsel, or the will, wherein lieth the imperial power, or the
affections, wherein lieth the executive power of the soul.
[1.] The mind or understanding is established when we have a clear,
180 ,THE EIGHTEENTH SEBMON. [2 THES. II. 17.
certain, and full apprehension of the truth of the gospel ; it is called
knowledge ; the sure, and sound, and certain apprehension of them is
called faith, or intellectual assent, or * the full assurance of under
standing/ Col. ii. 2, when there is a due knowledge of what God
hath revealed, with a certain persuasion of the truth of it, wrought in
us by the Holy Spirit. Now, the more clearly, and orderly, and cer
tainly we know these things, the more powerfully do they affect the
heart, and the more we are established. He that hath little knowledge
and little certainty is called weak in the faith : Kom. xiv. 1, ' Him
that is weak in the faith receive, but not to doubtful disputations/
And those that have a clearer understanding are called strong ; as
Kom. xv. 1, ' We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the
weak ; ' meaning strong in knowledge. So also for certainty of per
suasion, it is said, Kom. iv. 20, Abraham was ' strong in faith, giving
glory to God ; ' when in all his trials he bore up himself upon the
confidence of God's word and promise. Well, then, the mind is
confirmed and established when we have a good stock of knowledge,
and do firmly believe what we know of God and Christ and eternal
salvation. But alas ! how few truths do many Christians know,
especially in their order, and as to their worth, and weight, and cer
tainty, and so that, if we know these things, we know them not as we
ought to know them : 1 Cor. viii. 2, ' If any man think that he
knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know
them.' If we know them speculatively, we know them not prac
tically. If we are able to discourse of these things, we do not
live by them. If we know them generally, we do not know them par
ticularly, to direct us in all cases wherein they concern us, but are
blinded with temptations. If we know them comprehensively, so as
to look about the compass of them, yet not certainly, John xvii. 8,
' And have known surely that I came out from thee — ' so as to venture
our interests upon them. If we know them darkly, and with a half
light, we do not know them clearly and with a full light. There is
many times conviction in the ore, which is not refined into a clear and
distinct knowledge, such as may awe the heart. If we know these
things habitually, we know them not actually, when we should re
member them in their season ; and oblivion is a sort of ignorance.
Hence come the many doubts we are assaulted with, and all the un-
evenness and uncertainty of our lives, so that the mind needeth to be
established in grace.
^ [2.] The will, which is the imperial power of the soul. Now, the
will's establishment is known by its firm and thorough resolution for
God and against sin. For God : as Acts xi. 23, Barnabas, ' when he
had seen the grace of God, was very glad, and exhorted them all that,
with full purpose of heart, they would cleave to the Lord/ First
choosing, then cleaving, and this with full purpose, when the will is
so fixed in the knowledge and faith of the gospel that they resolve to
abide by their choice : Ps. xxvii. 4, ' One thing have I desired of the
Lord ; this will I seek after.' When spiritual resolution carrieth the
.force and authority of a principle in the soul, and nothing can break
it: 1 Peter iv. 1 'Arm yourselves with the same mind/ As con
stantly as Christ persevered in the work of 'mediation, so be you in
2 THES. II. 17.] THE EIGHTEENTH SERMOF. 181
the work of obedience, notwithstanding the difficulties of it. This
powerful will, that beareth down oppositions and temptations, and the
greatest impediments in the way to heaven, so that you rather make
advantage of opposition than are discouraged by it, when sensual or
carnal good is of little force to you, and you can despise the most
pleasing baits of sin.
[3.] The affections are the executive power, and do excite and stir us
up to do what the mind is convinced of and the will resolved upon as
to the necessary duties of the gospel in order to eternal happiness.
There is a backwardness within and many temptations without ; but
a holy delight overcometh the unwilling backwardness within, and
overbalanceth either worldly fear or worldly hope without, that the
soul is carried on powerfully towards God. We never work better
than when we work in the strength of some eminent affection, when
the heart is enlarged : Ps. cxix. 32, c I will run the way of thy com
mandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart.' Either love or hope.
Love filleth us with delight, overcoming our natural slackness and
sluggishness in the ways of God : Ps. xl. 8, ' I delight to do thy will,
0 my God, yea, thy love is within my heart ; ' 1 John v. 3, ' For this
is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his com
mandments are not grievous ;' Ps. cxii. 1, ' Blessed is the man that
feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.':
Hope beareth us up in contempt of present delights and terrors of
sense : Heb. iii. 6, ' Whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence
and rejoicing of hope firm unto the end ;' so that we serve God with
vigour and alacrity. When our affections are damped, grace falleth
into a consumption ; and if you lose your taste, your practice will lan
guish, your service of God will not be so uniform. It is a great part of
our establishment to keep up the vigour and fervency of our affections.
4. With respect to the uses for which it serveth, as to duties, suffer
ings, conflicts.
; [1.] Doing the will of God, or discharging our doings with delight,
cheerfulness, and constancy; for all strength is for work : Eph. iii. 16,
' That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be
strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.' That we
may do our work with that readiness of mind which becomes faith in
Christ and love to God. This is often spoken of in scripture : Phil,
ii. 13, ' For it is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do, of
his good pleasure,' TO 6e\elv /cal TO evep^elv ; and Heb. xiii. 21, * Make
you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you what is
well pleasing in his sight.' It is of great use to our establishment that
the soul be kept doing ; for as wells are the sweeter for draining, so
are we the more lively for exercise. Frequent omission of good duties,
or seldom exercise of grace, necessarily produceth a decay ; as a key
rusteth that is seldom turned in the lock ; thereby we lose the life and
comfort of religion, and at length cast it off as a needless and unprofit
able thing.
. [2.] For bearing afflictions, and passing through all conditions
with honour to God and safety to ourselves : Phil. iv. 13, ' I can
do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me ;' Col. i. 11, ,
'Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, with-
182 THE EIGHTEENTH SERMON. [2 TlIES. 11. 17.
all patience/ The great use of establishment is to fortify us against
all the evils and inconveniences of the present life, that we may hold
on our course to heaven in fair way or foul, and not be greatly moved
by anything that befalleth us within time.
[3.] For conflicts with temptations from the devil, the world, and
the flesh. The world is round about us, and we are accustomed to
these inveigling objects whose importunity prevaileth at length. The
devil seeketh to work upon our affections and inclinations, and the
flesh urgeth us to gratify them. How, then, is a Christian safe ? God
establisheth him : Eph. vi. 10, ' Finally, be strong in the Lord, and
in the power of his might/ A Christian here is in a military state,
and we of ourselves, left unto ourselves, are like reeds shaken with
every wind ; we have need of establishment in regard of our own
feebleness, and the force of our enemies. We must be established
against the devil soliciting ; against the world, the silent argument by
which he soliciteth us and draweth us from God and heaven ; against
the flesh, the rebelling principle which is apt to be wrought upon by
Satan. Well, then, this establishment is that grace which enableth
us to carry on the duties of religion with constancy, frequency, and
delight ; to bear all the inconveniences of religion with patience and
fortitude ; to be more deaf and resolute against all the suggestions of
the devil, or the machinations of the flesh, stirred up by the world.
5. With respect to the degree, it is such a strengthening of the soul
as doth prevent not only our fall, but our shaking. Before falling
away, or our being drawn to apostasy, there may be a shaking, a
doubtfulness, and wavering of mind with respect to the truth, and
much inconstancy and unevenness of life with respect to practice.
Now, Christians, as they must not draw back to perdition, so they
must not be always fluctuating and unfixed, either in matters of
opinion, but settled in the truth, or in matters of practice ; there must
be a strength and stability of holy inclinations and resolutions for God
and the world to come still kept up, or else there will be no evenness
or uniformity in the course of our lives. And though we avoid apos
tasy, yet we cannot avoid scandal ; though there be no falling back,
there is a stepping out into bypaths : 1 Cor. xv. 58, ' Be stedfast and
unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord ; ' and Eph.
iii. 17, ' That ye being rooted and grounded in love/ &c. ; and Col. i.
23, ' Jf ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not
moved away from the hope of the gospel/ If we do not look to the
degree, our weakness and instability groweth upon us ; as in matters
of opinion, some have an unsettled head of a vertiginous spirit : Eph.
iv. 14, ' Carried about with every wind of doctrine/ They never were
well grounded in the truth, nor took up the ways they are engaged in
upon sufficient evidence ; and therefore, by their own weakness, and
the cunning and diligence of the seducers, are drawn into error. Light
chaff is blown up and down by every wind, when solid grain hitcheth
in, and resteth in the floor where it is winnowed. A half light maketh
us uncertain in our course. For matter of practice, if we allow our
selves in our first declinings, the evil will grow upon us ; when the
judgment reasoneth more remissly against sin than it did before, and
the will doth oppose it with less resolution, or with greater faintness
2 THES. II. 17.] THE EIGHTEENTH SEKMON. 183
and indifferency, or when opposition doth more discourage us. No ;
there must be a resolved conquest of temptations that would pervert
you; this will only serve our turn : Heb. xii. 3, ' Consider him that
endured such contradictions, lest ye be weary and faint in your minds/
Weariness is a lesser degree of deficiency. Many a man is weary
that is not faint or quite spent ; so with the practice of godliness, when
the heart begins to be alienated and estranged from God, and the life
of duty doth decay. When our first love is gone, our first works will
in a great measure cease : Rev. ii. 4, 5, ' Nevertheless I have some
thing against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember,
therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do thy first
works/ Well, then, the degree must be minded ; for though a man
may be stedfast in the main, yet he may be somewhat moved and
shaken ; but a Christian should not only be stedfast, but unmoveable ;
otherwise we shall be very uncertain in our motions.
II. How needful it is : this is in a great measure showed already.
But yet more fully.
1. Man at best is but a creature. The new creation doth carry a
great correspondence with the old and first creation. It is not enough
that the creature be, but he must be sustained in being ; we have our
being in God still : Acts xvii. 28, ' For in him we live, and move, and
have our being/ As providence is a continual creation, so stablishing
grace is the continuance of the new creation. The same grace that
sets us in the state of the new creation, the same stablisheth us. God
found no stability in the angels, therefore it is said he trusteth them
not : Job xv. 15, ' Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints ; yea, the
heavens are not clean in his sight/ They stand by the grace and
favour of God. Take the best creatures even as creatures, they are
defective and unstable in themselves ; for God will have the creature,
as a creature, to be a dependent thing on the Creator, who only is
a being of himself. Man at his best estate was but an unstable crea
ture — -for Adam gave out at the first assault — and since, we are very
unstable, blown down with the blast of every little temptation. Even
in the state of grace, we are like a glass without a bottom, broken as
soon as out of hand ; and, therefore, God alone is able to make us
stand, and persevere in this grace that we have received: 2 Cor. i. 21,
' Now, he that stablisheth us with you in Christ is God/ After we
are in Christ, our stability is in God alone.
2. The indisposition of our natures both to every good word and
work. (1.) To every good word. The truths of the gospel are super
natural. Now, things that are planted in us contrary to nature can
hardly subsist and maintain themselves. We have some seeds of the
law yet left in our hearts, Kom. ii. 14. But the gospel dependeth on
sure revelation; therefore are there so many heresies against the
gospel, but none against the law. Therefore, as they depend upon a
divine revelation, they must be settled in our hearts by a divine power,
and by a divine power preserved there ; that as the doctrine is super
natural, so the grace may be also by which we do receive it. Faith is
the gift of God : Eph. ii. 8, ' For by grace ye are saved, through faith ;
and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of God ;' both as to its begin
ning, so to its preservation and increase. (2.) To every good work
184 THE EIGHTEENTH SERMON. [2 TfiES. II. 17.
There is not only slowness and backwardness of heart to the duties of
the gospel, but somewhat of the old enmity and averseness remaineth
still. Our hearts are not only inconstant and unsettled, but very way
ward : Jer. xiv. 10, ' Thus saith the Lord to this people, Thus have
they loved to wander ;' Ps. xcv. 10, ' It is a people that do err in their
heart/ Moses was no sooner gone aside with God in the mount, but
the Israelites, after their solemn covenant, fell to idolatry. Before the
law could be written, they brake it. Now, we that have a warring
principle within, how can we stand unless God establish us ? There
is a back-bias, there are the seeds of wantonness, anger, revenge, envy,
impatience, worldliness, ambition, and sensuality. God knoweth how
little the fleshly mind and interest is conquered in us ; and therefore,
if he did not establish us, we should soon show ourselves.
3. In regard of those oppositions that are made against us after
once we be in Christ. It is not enough that we are brought out of the
kingdom of Satan, but after we are rescued out of his hand and power,
he pursueth us with continual malice ; therefore there must be the
same power to stablish us still in grace that first brought us into the
state of grace : Col. i. 13, ' Who has delivered us from the power of
darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son ;'
compared with 1 John iv. 4, * Ye are of God, little children, and have
overcome them ; because greater is he that is in you than he that is
in the world.' The world runneth a quite contrary course than those
do that set their faces heavenward, and therefore maligns them, and
pursues them with reproaches and troubles : 1 Peter iv. 4, 5, ' Wherein
they think it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of
riot, speaking evil of you ; who shall give account to him that is ready
to judge the quick and the dead.' And most commonly our supports
are invisible, and we have no temporal interest to leant to ; but, 2 Tim.
i. 12, ' For the which cause I also suffer these things : neverthe
less I am not ashamed ; for I know whom I have believed, and I am
persuaded he is able to keep that which I have committed unto
him against that day.' We bear these afflictions by the power of
God.
4. We see here the saints miscarry when God withdraweth his sup
porting grace but in part, as Peter, David. Peter was in the state of
grace, and Christ prayed that his faith might not utterly fail ; yet,
when God did not establish him, you see what sins he was guilty of
in that combat. David was ' a man after God's own heart ;' but how
did he fall when God upheld him not ! Ps. li. Hezekiah ; 2 Chron.
xxxii. 31, * Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes
of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was
done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all
that was in his heart/ Thus is God fain to humble his children, to
teach them dependence, and to put them in niind that they do not stand
by their own strength..
III. Why it is to be sought of God ?
1. He only is able : Kom. xvi. 25, * Now to him that is of power
to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus
Christ,' &c. Surely God never made a creature too hard for him
self. He is able to defeat the power of enemies, and to preserve his
2 THES. II. 17.] THE EIGHTEENTH SERMON. 185
people in the midst of temptations. So Jude, ver. 24, ' To him that is
abl>r to keep you from falling/ &c. ; and * He is able to keep that which
I/nave committed to him/ 2 Tim. i. 12. The saints gather much
comfort from this, for it is a relief to their thoughts against the dread
ful and powerful opposition of the world ; they have no reason to doubt
of their Father's love. That which surpriseth them is to see all the
world against them. It is the dreadfulness of power in the tempta
tion and sense of their own weakness ; therefore the power of God is a
fit relief to them.
2. God is not very forward to cast you off, when he hath a just cause
to do it. Your constant experience evidenceth this. If he here had
done so, what had become of you long ago ? For you have given
him abundant occasion, you have weaned him with your sins, abused
his mercies ; and yet he hath not cast you off. He hath not utterly for
saken you, when you have turned the back upon him and have been
ready to forsake him, but hath kept you from dangers and in dangers ;
yea, called you to his grace, confirmed you hitherto. Why should you
doubt of his grace for the future ? 2 Cor. i. 10, * Who delivered us
from so great a death, and doth deliver ; in whom we trust that he
will yet deliver us ;' 2 Tim. iv. 17, 18, ' Notwithstanding, the Lord
stood with me, and strengthened me ; that by me the preaching might
be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear ; and I was deli
vered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me
from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom ;
to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.'
3. He hath made promises of sustentation and preservation : Ps.
Ixxiii. 23, * Nevertheless I am continually with thee; thou hastholden
me by my right hand/ Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast
down, for God upholdeth him with his hand. If God hath promised
to preserve that grace which he hath once given, should not we pray
for the continuance of it with the more encouragement ?
4. The experience of the saints : Ps. xciv. 18, ' When I said my
foot slippeth, thy mercy, 0 Lord, held me up/ God's manutenancy
is there asserted.
Use. Is to press us at all times to look up to God for establishment ;
but especially in two seasons : —
1. When we begin to decline, and grow more remiss and indif
ferent in the practice of godliness. If grace be weak, you must get it
strengthened. When you grow bolder in sin, and more strange to
God and Jesus Christ, and have little converse with him in the Spirit,
oh ! it is time to be instant and earnest with God, that he would re
cover you. Though you have embezzled your strength, yet you have
to do with a merciful God; go to him for help : Ps. xvii. 5, ' Hold up
• my goings in thy path, that my footsteps slip not/ You have for
feited the more plentiful aids of grace ; but beg him not to forsake
you utterly. You must confess the sin, but God must remedy the
evil : Ps. cxix. 133, ' Order my steps in thy word, and let not any
iniquity have dominion over me/ Lord, I am apt to be led away
with worldly allurements ; my spiritual taste is distempered with car
nal vanities : but, ' let not iniquity have dominion over me/
186 THE EIGHTEENTH SERMON. [2 THES. II. 17.
2. In unsettled times, when we are full of fears, and think we shall
never hold out in a holy course. God, that keepeth us in times of
peace, will hold us up in times of trouble : Ps. xvi. 8, ' I have set the
Lord always before me ; because he is at my right hand, I shall not
be moved.'
A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION
FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH.
TO THE READER
THE character of Dr Manton is so generally known by his celebrated
preaching so many years in this city, and by the numerous collections
of excellent discourses published since his death, that I cannot think
it needful to give any account of him here, as I do not pretend to add
anything to the accounts already given by those excellent persons that
published his former works. It will be sufficient to remark, that his
works have been esteemed by some of the best judges one of the most
valuable collections of scriptural and practical divinity, and to have
been as generally serviceable to the world as most that have appeared
in these latter ages, and in many respects no way inferior to some of
the ancient monuments of the Christian church.
I shall reckon myself concerned only to give some account of this
treatise.
As to the subject of it, I shall only observe, that as the prophecy of
Isaiah contains the clearest revelations of the Messiah, and is writ in
the loftiest style of any part of the Old Testament, so this excellent
chapter is an eminent instance of both, containing an exact descrip
tion both of his sufferings and his glories, represented in bright and
lively colours, and in a phrase, though somewhat difficult and obscure,
exceeding lofty and sublime. The veil of the temple seemed to have
been drawn aside, though not yet rent asunder, and the light of the
gospel shone forth with a brighter glory than ever it had appeared be
fore. Upon those accounts this chapter has exercised the thoughts
and employed the diligence of several eminent persons in former and
later times ; though, through some or other misfortune, they have been
buried with their authors, and have never seen the light. Perhaps this
is the only thing that can pretend to a just discourse now extant.
It would not be proper, in the preface to a practical discourse, to
undertake the defence of this chapter, and to rescue it from the
violence offered it in the posthumous annotations of a learned critic,
who, with a great deal of force, and frequent absurdity, has applied
this whole chapter to the prophet Jeremiah ; not only cross to the
brightest evidence of truth, and the general consent of Christian in
terpreters, but in flat contradiction to himself in two very accurate
and elaborate treatises published by himself, — in the one1 of which,
arguing against the Jews, he has these remarkable words, ' That the
Messiah was to pass through sufferings and death in the way to his
kingdom, and in order to bestow invaluable blessings on his seed, there
^Grotius de Relig. Chris., cap. v., sec. 19.
190 TO THE READER.
is no man can doubt that carefully considers Isaiah liii.' And after
wards he adds, * To whom of all the kings and prophets can this
rie ? To none.' In the other l he settles the true sense of the
e, and exposes the perverse glosses of Socinus.
As to these discourses themselves, they bear the lively signatures of
the excellent author, and are of a piece with the rest of his works.
There is a judicious choice of pertinent matter, disposed in a regular
method, expressed in a plain and native elegance, quickened and en
livened with proper images, and tinctured throughout with a deep savour
of true piety. And though they may be thought neither so polished nor
correct as his riper years and his last hand could easily have made them,
or as were necessary to gratify the nice and the curious ; yet they seem,
however, excellently fitted to a better end, — to promote saving know
ledge and real godliness, to move and to instruct the mind, and give en
tertainment as well as profit to the serious and the wise, and are par
ticularly suitable to sacramental occasions.
It will be only further necessary to acquaint the reader that, as
these sermons were preached in his stated and ordinary course, so they
were preached in his early youth, and are younger than any of those
that have seen the light ; which must be his apology to the world if
any expressions are found up and down less accurate and clear, or any
thing different from what was known to be his sense in some of his
later writings.
This account may be collected from the preface of his Exposition on
James : —
' I have the rather chosen this scripture, that it may be an allay to
those comforts which in another exercise I have endeavoured to draw
out of Isaiah liii. I would at the same time carry on the doctrine of
faith and manners, and show you your duties together with your en
couragements, lest, with Ephraim, you should only love to tread out
the corn, and refuse to break the clods. We are all apt to divorce
comfort from duty, and content ourselves with a barren and unfruitful
knowledge of Jesus Christ ; as if all he required of the world were only
a few naked, cold, inactive apprehensions of his merit, and all things
were so done for us that nothing remained to be done by us. This is
the wretched conceit of many in the present age ; and therefore they
either abuse the sweetness of grace to looseness, or the power of it to
laziness. Christ's merit, and the Spirit's efficacy are the common
places from whence they draw all the defences and excuses of their own
wantonness and idleness.'
I have compared the transcript with the original notes, and find
reason, after all the care that has been taken, to beg the reader's can
dour and excuse for any smaller errors that may have escaped, both
of the copy and of the press.
W. HARRIS.
1 De Satisfactions, cap. i.
A PEACTICAL EXPOSITION.
Who hath believed our report ? and to whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed?— ISA. LIII. 1.
I SHALL in the course of this exercise go over the several verses of this
chapter, which is an eminent portion of scripture, and calls for most
serious attention. It may rather be called the gospel than the prophecy
of Isaiah. It contains so ample and clear a discovery of Jesus Christ,
that one would rather account it historical than prophetical. Other
prophecies are explained by the history of Christ in the New Testa
ment, but this prophecy explains the history ; there is no chapter so
often quoted and vouched by Christ and the apostles as this, viz., no
less than seven or eight times in the New Testament. It is so full and
clear, that it rather needs meditation than a comment, faith more
than learning, to conceive of it. The coherence or connection of this
with the former chapter, take briefly thus : —
The evangelical prophet (for so he may justly be called) had in the
end of the former chapter spoken of the glory of Christ's kingdom, how
readily it should be entertained among the Gentiles, how he should
1 sprinkle many nations/ and make ' kings to shut their mouths,' that
is, with silence hearken to and consider his doctrine. Here, coming to
the Jews, he finds, on the contrary, nothing but contempt and scorn,
and therefore in an holy admiration cries out, ' Who hath believed our
report ? ' He saw it was not believed in his days, and that it would
not in after days. It was in vain to speak to them of the Messiah. In
this chapter there are three remarkable parts : —
1. A description of the Jews' horrid unbelief and contumacy against
Christ, ver. 1.
2. The occasion and ground of that unbelief, viz., Christ's meanness
as to outward show and appearance, from ver. 2 to 1 0.
3. The removal of this occasion, and taking off this scandal and
prejudice, by showing the fruit and glory that followed this meanness,
ver. 11 to the end of the chapter.
Our text is the first of these, containing a pathetical description of
the Jews' contempt and rejection of Christ It is propounded by way
of query, in two questions.
1st. The one holds forth the thing or evil itself by way of admira
tion : ' Who hath believed our report ?'
192 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 1.
2dly. The other, the cause of it : ' To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed ?'
1st. In the first there is considerable : the person, tvho; the act,
believed ; the object, report.
That the words are a question is clear, but what kind of question is
not so clear. Some understand the words as a commiseration of the
prophet : q. d, I am to tell you such things of the sufferings of the
Messiah, that you will scarce believe men should be so barbarous
toward him. But this is so absurd that it needs no confutation. It
is not a question of commiseration, but of admiration, or rather of
complaint, in which Isaiah applies himself to God, as the Septuagint
shows by putting in the word Kvpce, Lord, being herein followed by
St Paul, Rom. x. 16, ' For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our
report ?' So John xii. 38, it is also said, ' Lord, who hath believed
our report?'
But let us come to the parts of it. Who ? Though the inquiry be
general, it is not to intimate that none, but only that very few did
believe, or think there was any truth in what was spoken. Then for
the object, our report, understand it concerning Christ ; or, as the
LXX. express it, ry a/cofj rj^wv, ' our hearing/ that is, what they hear
from us. The Jews are guilty here of a double lie in wresting this
place ; they say it means the report concerning their own misery and
succeeding glory, as if Israel were spoken of here under the notion of
one common person ; and they transfer the evil complained of from
themselves to the Gentiles. But the sense is this : There are very few
that will hearken to those things that we are to tell them concerning
the Messiah ; they will seem riddles and contradictions to them, that
there should be such glory in things so vile and ignoble to outward
appearance.
2dly. For the reason : ' To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ?'
As if the prophet had said, Therefore they do not believe, because the
arm of the Lord is not revealed. Here is some difficulty about what
is meant by ' the arm of the Lord,' which, without question, is meta
phorical. Some take it for the counsel and contrivance of God effected
and brought to pass ; as Acts iv. 28, ' Whatsoever thy hand (or arm)
and counsel determined to be done.' It is more properly taken for the
strength of God : you know the arm is the chiefest receptacle of
strength. But what strength of God ? Some understand it of the
gospel, which is called * the power of God to salvation/ Bom. i. 16 ;
the gospel is not revealed to them. So 1 Cor. i. 18, ' The preaching
of the cross ' is called ' the power of God/ because of that admirable
virtue and success which accompanied the preaching of it. Some by
the power of God understand the power of God with Christ. He did
miracles, and yet they would not see the arm of the Lord. They
thought he cast out devils by Beelzebub, as if it were by the power of
Satan, not of God. Some by ' arm ' understand Christ himself, who,
1 Cor. i. 24, is called ' the power and wisdom of God / he is the power,
the arm, the right hand of the Father. There is no great work of
God but is done in and by Christ, as a man doth his work by his arm ;
as in making the world, vanquishing his enemies, delivering his
church, it is everywhere spoken of as done by Christ. Others by '
ISA. LIII. 1.] THE FIFTY-THIED CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 193
understand the power of the Spirit in and by the ordinances. I rather
prefer that of the gospel, together with the Spirit.
Then for revealed, you will say the gospel was revealed to the Jews.
I answer — There is a double revelation. First, Common, which is
nothing else but the promulgation of the gospel ; this must be to
every creature. Secondly, Proper and special, to the elect, by the
Spirit. There is the Spirit's revelation, and the prophet's revelation.
The meaning is : To whom hath the Spirit of God revealed that what
I speak is true ? To whom is the power of God to salvation inwardly
manifested and made known by the Spirit ? Implying they will not
believe without this manifestation.
Thus you have the meaning of the words. I shall offer to your
thoughts some occasional observations before I come to the main
points.
From the Jews wresting this text, observe : —
1. That there is an evil disposition in men to turn off upon others
that which nearly concerns themselves. Men are good at making
false applications, and turn off that to others which the word and Spirit
intend to them. When Christ had spoken to Peter, it is said, ' Peter,
turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith to Jesus,
Lord, What shall this man do ? '
2. Observe, that it is no new thing in persons to vouch that for
themselves which makes most against them. Thus the Jews do this
chapter against the Gentiles. So that which you find written, 1 Cor.
xiv. 16, ' How shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say
Amen ? ' the papists vouch it for Latin service, though it is the drift
of the apostle to condemn it. Let not the like usage in our time
amaze you, when Antinomians and Socinians urge those texts for them
that are really against them.
3. Observe this too : When God, for the wickedness of a people,
hardeneth their hearts, they are apt to mistake in that which is most
plain. A man would think that this chapter should work upon a Jew
if anything could ; so you wonder why men are not wrought upon by
such powerful persuasions which speak very home to them. The
reason is, God hath hardened them, Kom. xi. 7.
4. From the prophet's great admiration, observe, that when we
can do no good upon a people, the most effectual way is to complain
of it to God. He can help us and them too ; this will stop murmur
ing. The mind is eased of that burden that lies heavy on us, when
we can go and report the case to God, and pour out our complaints
into his bosom. Other of God's messengers besides Isaiah have great
cause to say, ' Who hath believed our report ? '
5. Observe, that those that profess the name of God may be much
prejudiced against the entertainment of those truths and counsels that
he makes known to them for their good.
6. That it is a wonder they should not believe so plain a discovery
of Christ, though by the just judgment of God they did not.
7. That the first believing of Christ is a believing the report of him ;
but afterwards there are experiences to confirm our belief. The soul
then knoweth that there is a Christ, and that there is mercy in him :
1 Peter ii. 3, ' If so be that ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious ; '
VOL. III. N
194 A PKACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 1.
John iv. 42, ' Now we believe, not because of thy saying, for we have
heard him ourselves, and know indeed that he is the Christ, the
Saviour of the world/
I come now to the main points which I shall prosecute.
First, That there may be a glorious report of Jesus Christ, and
yet few believe it. Or —
That Jesus Christ may be clearly represented to a people, and yet
but few won to believe in him.
Secondly, That the gospel is the arm and power of God, or word of
righteousness. Though it is an uncredited report to the world, yet it
is the arm and power of God to them that believe.
Thirdly, Therefore so few believe, because God's arm is not revealed
to them : the power of the word is not manifested by the Spirit.
I. As to the first of these points, other truths may be delivered and
not closed with, but it is a wonder that so sweet a truth as this should
not be received. The wonder is so much the greater if we look upon : —
1. The persons making this report : The prophets of old time, the
apostles in Christ's time, the ministers of the gospel now-a-days — men
that, if you look upon them singly, did deserve some reverence and
esteem — men that gave forth abundant declarations that God was
with them, and spoke by them, who were as polished shafts in God's
quiver. Then consider them speaking the same thing, all proclaiming
the same Christ ; that is more. For I conceive there is an emphasis
in this our report — not my, but our ; or, as Zachariah, John's father,
said, Luke i. 70, ' As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets,
which have been since the world began.' Though there were many
holy prophets, yet they had but one mouth, they spake as if with one
mouth : ' Who hath believed our report ? '
2. The persons to whom the report is made : A professing people,
a people that were nurtured and taught this from their infancy and
youth, by all the ceremonies of their religion, leading them to that
Christ whom the prophets did more distinctly reveal to them. They
had been tutored and taught this lesson for many hundred years by
the pedagogy of the law ; for so that place is to be expounded, Gal.
iii. 24, ' The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we
might be justified by faith.' The ceremonial law may properly be
called Trai&dyooyos efc Xpiarov, or the dispensation of Moses. Yet ' who
hath believed our report ?'
3. The manner how it is reported : Distinctly, plainly, though in
prophetical expressions, by Isaiah and Jeremiah, God gave some prce-
ludia; some clear expressions were then used by all the prophets.
Though they had not noonshine, they had the dawning of the day, light
enough to see the day approaching. Had it been such a dark intima
tion as that of the seed of the woman breaking the serpent's head, it
had been the less wonder if they had not weighed it, because they could
not so distinctly have conceived it. But when all is made so clear,
the wonder is the greater that they should not consider it.
I shall prove the point by distinguishing the several times in which
there have been any glorious discovery of Jesus Christ, and show you that
in all these times the company of believers have been few. Distingue
tempora, et exis bonus tlieologus. The way to understand the reason
ISA. LIIL 1.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 195
of it, is to find out what have been the main prejudices against Christ
in the several times of his revelation. I shall name four times : — (1.)
The prophets' time ; (2.) John Baptist's time ; (3.) That of Christ's
life ; (4.) Our time, or the time of the first promulgation of the gospel.
1. The prophets' time, when the number of believers was few.
They had all some loose and general expectation of a Messiah, but
few believed, at least not in such a Messiah as the prophet pro
phesied of.
[1.] Because of the grossness of their hearts, which rested in the
outward ceremonies, as if they were ordained for themselves, and not
to signify any other thing. They were observant of the ceremonies,
but did not observe the end and purpose of them. Therefore doth
God so often protest against sacrifices. A sacrifice was not acceptable
to God but according as they did eye Christ in it. Now they used
no farther reach or recollection, but rested in the sacrifices ; as Isa.
Ixvi. 3, ' He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man/ And there
fore did God so often tell them that ' the sacrifice of the wicked is an
abomination to him.'
[2.] Because of their want of due observation how God did fulfil
his promise concerning the Messiah, few troubled themselves about it.
Only the pious Jews lived in a continual expectation of it, and their
hearts were always upon the wing of strong and earnest desires after
it. It is said, Luke ii. 25, Simeon ' waited for the consolation of
Israel.' He was a man whose thoughts ran that way. So Daniel,
chap. ix. 2, ' sought by books;' then, ver. 21, an angel tells him the
time of the Messiah. But others were negligent.
[3.] Their obstinate hatred against the prophets that revealed these
things concerning Christ. They reproved their other sins, and there
fore they believed them not in this: Jer. v. 13, 'The prophets shall
become wind, and the word of the Lord is not in them.' Disaffection
is the great prejudice against anything. They judged it false or to
no purpose before it was spoken. The Jews, though they honoured
the prophets when dead, could not endure them whilst living : Mat.
xxiii. 29, 30, ' Woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites ! be
cause ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres
of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers,
we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the pro
phets.' But that was a deceit, as I shall show you by and by. These
three I conceive to be the causes why, in the prophets' time, they did
not believe ; they are to be marked by us, because there is somewhat
in them suitable to the case of gospel unbelievers, viz., a circle and
track of cold duties ; a non-attendance on God in his ordinances ; and
a wicked spirit of contradiction against his word.
2. John Baptist's time. I distinguish this from the former, be
cause Christ doth so, Mat. xi. 11, 'Among them that are born of
women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist ; and
yet he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.'
And Christ saith that he is ' more than a prophet/ He made a more
glorious report of Jesus Christ, as being immediately to come ; and
then a common rumour was given forth that the Messiah's time was
come. Now what were the prejudices then ?
196 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 1.
[1.] The levity and rashness of the people. If any man were more
eminent than other, they presently cried him up for the Messiah, and
therefore, being disappointed in some, they were prejudiced against all :
Luke iii. 15, 'And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused
in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ or no ; John
answered them, There cometh one after me who is mightier than I.'
He plainly directeth them to another. Multitudes flocked to him
indeed, but it was out of a nice and vain curiosity. Few believed his
report.
[2.] The evil influence of the scribes and pharisees, who thought
all the water lost that went beside their own mill. They would fain
keep the people under their beck and pleasure, and therefore had a
vigilant eye upon every new way, or anything that might seem to take
off from that respect and devotion wherewith the people were engaged
to them. By-ends in some that should have been teachers, have been
always a hindrance to the entertainment of Christ. Those that
preached Christ for their own ends were enemies to the cross of Christ,
Phil. iii. 19.
[3.] Offence at John's boldness. His office was to humble and
change proud hearts, and he goeth about his work vigorously, there
fore they forsook him. I shall speak no more of this, because it will
fall in with the next head.
3. As to the time of Christ's being in the flesh. There were divers
prejudices concerning him, both in the Jews and in the Gentiles.
First, In the Jews. I will name the chief.
[1.] An erroneous opinion of the Messiah. The people thought he
would set up an earthly kingdom ; they were weary of the Roman
yoke, and expected that he would free them from it. See an excellent
place for this, John vi. 14, 15, ' When the men had seen his miracles,
they said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the
world. And when Jesus saw that by force they would come and
make him king, he departed into a mountain alone.' They conceived
he was able to gratify their malice on their enemies, out of a hope,
conceived from his miracles, that he could maintain an army with
very little cost. But Christ would not hold by that tenure. He
would be king of their hearts, not of their lands. And therefore,
being disappointed, they rejected him. There is nothing prejudiceth
a man more against a thing than a false conceit of it. When we
expect what we do not find in it, we loathe it. The apostle calleth
this ' knowing Christ after the flesh/ — in a pompous carnal way. This
is to be noted, because we have such gross conceits in our hearts,
We expect Christ should serve us in our own ends, as St Austin
speaketh of those conceits he had of God when he was a child — Sentie-
bam te esse magnum aliquem qui potes exaudire et subvenire nos ; et
rogabam te parvus, non parvo qffectu, ne in scliola vapularem. Such
childish conceits have some entertained of Christ, they could close
with him to serve their covetousness, revenge, or vain-glory. They
look upon him as some great thing that should help them.
[2.] A fond reverence of Moses and the prophets, as if it were
derogatory to them to close with Christ: Johnix. 29, ' We are Moses'
disciples ; as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is/ This
ISA. LIII. I.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 197
Christ confutes, John v. 46, ' If ye had believed Moses, ye would have
believed me/
[3.] Offence at his outward meanness (that is the scope of this chap
ter), and the persecution he met with ; the just judgment of God upon
them to fit them for destruction. Thus much for the Jews.
Secondly, As to the Gentiles, there were divers prejudices why they
would not believe the gospel when tendered to them.
[1.] Pride in the understanding. They were loth to captivate their
knowledge to the obedience of Christ, and to make their principles of
reason strike sail to the truth represented. Therefore, 1 Cor. i. 23,
it is said, ' Christ crucified ' was ' to the* Greeks foolishness.' It was
a foolish doctrine, because contrary to their forestalled principles.
This is to be noted by us also, because we are very unwilling to receive
anything but what cometh dyed in the colour of our own conceits, and
is suitable to our carnal minds.
[2.] The meanness of the reporters, poor fishermen; though sufficient
enough for the matter they took in hand by the Spirit's mighty assist
ance, yet of no great repute and value in the world. God would have
the gospel commend itself to have a respect without the addition of
any outward excellency, and therefore he useth the ministry of mean
and weak men : Ps. viii. 6, ' Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings
thou hast ordained strength.' God knoweth how prone the world is
to close with a truth upon a preposterous ground, not for its own sake ;
we cannot endure to stoop to a mean man. That of Salvian is very
true : Omnia dicta tanti existimantur quantus est ipse qui dixit, nee
tarn dictionis vim respiciunt quam dictatoris dignitatem. Men look
to the worth of the speaker. Any attempt at innovation or alteration
must needs be ill taken from them who are in the eye of the world
very mean and low, especially against such practices as have been
authorised by men of gravity and great judgment, countenanced by
antiquity and long custom, confirmed by the joint consent of all ; for
men to quit such practices upon the intimation of persons of mean
presence and estates, it must needs be a great prejudice. As it is
said, Paul's bodily presence was base and contemptible among them,
2 Cor. x. 10. Therefore, having so many lets in the way, well might
the prophet cry out ' Who hath believed our report ? ' It is good to
observe this, because this is a great prejudice against the entertaining
of many of the truths of Christ in our days : we have men's persons in
disesteem and contempt.
[3.] The hard conditions upon which they were to entertain Christ.
He was not, as other of their gods, to be worshipped in company ; he
was to be worshipped alone : they were to forsake all their old ways and
worship, and to abridge themselves of their unlawful gains and trades ;
and this was a prejudice they could not brook : Acts xix. 27, If this
doctrine go on, ' our craft is in danger to be set at nought/ They
were to expose themselves to all the obloquy and scorn that could be.
It was crime enough to say they were Christians — Vir bonus nisi quod
Cliristianus. They were to be cast upon the disadvantage of the hatred
of near friends, upon all manner of persecution and cruelty, to be led
about the cities and amphitheatres as the objects of public scorn and
malice, — nay, and these things were not to be hidden from them, and
198' A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 1,
only the lighter and better part revealed to them, — if they would be
Christ's disciples. This is a prejudice enough, you will say, against a
new way, — enough to make the world look upon it as some odd, humor
ous conceit of a few brain-sick persons, who had no other bait to allure
to their way but fire and faggot, whips and scourges ; for the present
they would promise you nothing but these things. Well might they
cry out, Who will believe our report ? God would have no outward
blandishment at first, that the truths of religion might not be sus
pected ; and indeed hence did so few believe, insomuch that the cause
of Christianity never came to an indifferent hearing ; they hated the
name, and would not let it plead for itself. Thus for the Gentiles.
4. I come now to prove it in our times, or the time of the first pro
mulgation of the gospel. I might divide my discourse into these two
heads : Few believe the report of Christ, and few believe in Christ. I
prove the latter. We all profess ourselves Christians, disciples of
Christ, those that have entertained him, — but few do really believe.
The lets and hindrances now are these : —
[1.] Ignorance. Men hear of Christ, but are not acquainted with
him ; many come to the ordinances, but only to sit out the hour, not
to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. There is much in a man's
ends why he cometh to the ordinances : God seldom meets with a man
in his word that cometh to it with a vain end ; if they do not seek
after knowledge they shall not find it. Many of the reports of Jesus
Christ are lost upon an ignorant people ; they hear the name, and do
not weigh the thing in their thoughts ; they look upon him as aliquem
magnum — as some great person that the preachers talk of, and go no
further. Thousands are damned this way through their ignorance •
they do not trouble their thoughts about getting the knowledge ol
Christ in his word, they come to the church and rest in that. There
must be distinct apprehensions of the report of Christ before faith, not
only to hear the sound, but weigh the sense : Eom. x. 14, ' How
shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard ? ' that is, not
only the sound of his name, but heard so as to weigh the doctrine that
was delivered concerning him. This affected ignorance is a great
hindrance when men do not apply themselves to knowledge ; as it is,
Prov. ii. 2, 3, ' Incline thine ear to wisdom, and apply thy heart to
understanding : yea, if thou criest for knowledge, and liftest up thy
voice for understanding.' Many incline their ears, but they do not
apply their hearts to knowledge, weigh and ponder what they hear ; if
they attend to it while it is spoken, they do not consider it afterwards
in their more serious thoughts, and ponder it in their minds ; and
therefore no wonder they do not close with Christ : Kom. iii. 11,
' There is none that understandeth, none that seeketh after God/
That will necessarily follow, if they do not understand Christ, they will
not seek after him ; a man will not value an unknown good. This is
one hindrance, gross and affected ignorance.
[2.] An easy slightness ; men do not labour after faith. It is true our
diligence alone can never attain it, but yet we should use the means.
Men marry to beget children, yet it is impossible they should generate
a rational soul without the concourse of God. So we should do those
things that are likely, and leave the success to God : we should seek after
ISA. LIII. 1.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 199
ft. God will not violently withhold faith from those that are diligent,
that are much in meditation, much in earnest supplication, much in ob
servation, much in a continual and holy expectation, when Jesus Christ
will be begotten in their souls. God will not fail such a waiting soul :
Ps. cxxx. 6, ' My soul waiteth for God more than they that watch for
the morning ; yea, more than they that watch for the morning.' Such
souls as are thus eager in the pursuit, and earnest in their expectation,
that would fain have Christ come and appear in their hearts, may
well expect God's blessing. But there is a great deal of idle and easy
tightness in men's hearts ; they complain for want of faith, yet they
will not pray, meditate, hear, read ; as if God should infuse it into them
in their sleep. It were an easy cut to heaven if God should do all.
What need had Christ to tell you, * Strait is the way ' ? And faith is
called a work, not in regard of the toil of it, but in regard of our
diligence and intention of spirit. ' This is the work of God, that ye
should believe in him whom he hath sent/ It is a sign people do not
prize a thing when they do not labour after it. If men thought Christ
worthy of respect, they would not sit still, but take pains in the seeking
of him. The idle and evil servant are joined together : Mat. xxv. 26,
* Thou wicked and slothful servant ! ' The wicked will be slothful ;
and as idleness and sin are joined together, so idleness and destruction :
Prov. i. 32, ' Ease slayeth the fool/ so it is in the margin, or, ' The
turning away of the simple shall slay them.' Men perish by resting
in their slight wishes ; they would have Christ, but they would not take
the pains to get him. Certainly a man valueth the report of Christ at
a low rate when he doth not think it worthy of a few thoughts, and a
little time to consider it. You know what Christ saith, Mat. xi. 12,
' From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven
suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.' They close with the
gospel, which is called the kingdom of God there, that pursue it with
a great deal of earnestness and fervour of spirit. This is the next
hindrance, an easy slightness.
[3.] A careless security. They are not won to believe in Christ, be
cause they think themselves well enough without him. Most cannot
endure to look beyond their present condition. A false heart is so far
from knowing the worst of its own condition, that it will not so much
as suppose a time will come in which it may be miserable. Oh ! think
upon changes ; rouse up your souls with the sense of your danger ! If
you lull your souls asleep, you may awake in flames ; even the gospel
is peremptory in this kind : Mark xvi. 16, 'He that believeth not shall
be damned.' It will not be always with you as now. Oh ! cry out,
then, Do I believe ? If men would not put away all thoughts of their
eternal condition, they would see a greater need of Christ than now
they do. What a strange thing is it to keep the thoughts of that from
our heart, which we cannot possibly deliver our souls from hereafter, to
wit, endless eternity ! — to be witty to deceive our own souls, to invent
shifts that we may put far away the evil day ! A man doth not care
for things till he wanteth them, no, not for the best things, the comforts
of Christ, the joys of the Spirit. While we have outward comforts we
care not for inward, because we have a false conceit that our comforts
will still continue with us: Luke xii. 19, * Soul, thou hast much goods
200 A PKACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 1,
laid up for many years ; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be rnerry/ He
would not so much as suppose they might be taken from him that
night. A man's peace may be tried by this. Secure hearts cannot endure
to think of danger. Though believers think of danger, yet they think
more of Christ. They consider their misery, and so are directed to a
remedy against it. Others, though they cannot put away the evil day,
they put it out of their thoughts, and labour to make the most of the
world they can. Briefly, that security is a hindrance is plain, because
the number of believers is increased by those that have least to trust
to in the world, and so are necessarily engaged to a consideration of
their misery, and a want of something that may stand them in stead at
the end of their days: James ii. 5, ' Hath God not chosen the poor of this
world to be rich in faith ? ' And yet the poor may be secure ; they have
their pleasures and vain thoughts to make them forget their sorrows.
[4.] A light esteem of Christ. As we do not see our own needs, so not
his worth. As the heart is, so it judgeth. A carnal heart valueth
all things by outward pomp and splendour. Such objects take as are
most excellent in the eyes of the world : Ps. cxliv. 15, ' Happy is the
people that is in such a case ; yea, happy is the people whose God is
the Lord/ A man's temper may be discerned by his valuation of
things ; carnal hearts cannot prize spiritual mercies. We prize those
things that are most suitable to our desires : 1 Peter ii. 7, ' To them
that believe Christ is precious.' He is an honour to them ; they look
upon him as a most attractive object, and therefore their hearts move
after this loadstone. Everything is loved according to the suitable
ness and proportion it bears to our desires. Therefore see how Christ
is spoken of by the faithful : Cant. v. 10, ' As the chiefest among ten
thousand ;' ' He beareth the banner from ten thousand,' as Ainsworth
rendereth it. And in the 16th verse, 'He is altogether lovely.' But
see what the world judgeth of him : Isa. lii. 14, ' His visage was
marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.'
Look then to the value you have for a thing, for from thence will
arise your endeavours after it. They that will be rich, are drowned
and sunk in the cares of this world, they are all for moiling and busi
ness. They that love pleasures, their thoughts and the strength and
vigour of their souls will run that way. So for honourable preferment,
they that seek after it will spend all their thoughts about it. What
a man valueth, it will be his work to gain. Therefore this high esteem
of Christ taketh off men from these things, Acts xviii. 15, 16. He
that thought the promulgation of the gospel to be but a strife about
words and names, ' cared for none of these things/ This is the next
hindrance ; men that profess themselves Christians, make the getting
of Christ the least of their care.
[5.] A presumptuous conceit that we have entertained Christ already.
Many think every slight wish, every trivial hope, will serve the turn.
Many would be scholars, if they did not think themselves so too soon.
I would not weaken any man's confidence ; I know it is our office to
establish it : ' The fruit of our lips is peace/ Isa. Ivii. 19. But there are
those to whom our God will not speak peace. ' No peace, saith my
God, to the wicked/ Many wicked persons think it enough to be
named Christians. It is an advantage, I confess, to be born a Chris-
ISA. LIII. 1.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 201
tian, but to rest in it maketh it the greatest judgment that can be.
People will reason thus, Do not all believe in Christ ? Oh, no. Thou
mayest profess Christ, and yet not believe in him. Many depend upon
this that they are Christians, as the Jews did that they were the seed
of Abraham. I shall touch upon this afterwards.
[6.] Hardness of heart. The mind will not stoop to Christ till it be
tamed. John Baptist, that was to prepare the way for Christ, was to
bring the mountains and hills low, Luke iii. 5. The heart must not
only be serious, but humbled, if it would entertain this doctrine. A
man must see his error before he will be willing to be governed by Christ,
and guided into a better way : Acts ii. 37, ' They were pricked at their
hearts ' before the apostle bid them * repent, and be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins.' The heart never
yields till it bleedeth with the sense of sin. We have been wrong, oh,
what course shall we take ? There must be a conviction of sin before
that of righteousness. It is happy when both go together, John xvi.
9 ; so Acts xvi. 30, 31. First, ' What shall I do to be saved ?' Then
comes, * Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ/ A man hath no reason to
begin a new way till he is convinced of the vanity of the old one.
There must be at least so much of humiliation as to make a man
anxious and solicitous about a better course. Well, then, here is
another hindrance : a proud and unmortified spirit, a hard heart ; a
man must get humbled, That you may do so, examine your state by
the law, and aggravate it by love. There is some apprehension of
love, some general consideration that precedeth faith. You have done
all this, and you have done it against a merciful God, and indeed that
is a keen argument to wound the spirit : Joel ii. 14, * Rend your hearts,
for God is merciful/ See your sins, and aggravate them with unkind-
ness. There is something in nature to make us relent, when we have
done wrong to a kind person, that, for aught we know, meant better to
us. But of this more by and by.
[7.] Self-confidence. When men's consciences are troubled, they
would fain get them eased. Those that are so greedy after quiet and
peace, rather than holiness and grace, usually ease themselves in a
wrong way ; they fly to a few outward duties, or to some slight resolu
tions for God, and there rest. It is better to keep the conscience raw
a while than to skin it over too soon ; that will make the wound fester
and rankle. Most desire ease too soon, they consult and contrive
suddenly how they may ease themselves of that pain and horror that
is upon them, and so vainly rest in the way of their own thoughts.
A man should not look to be eased of grief till he find himself fitted
for holiness, that he may not be engaged to the like grief again ; other
wise we shall but stop the grief rather than cure it. We must be
directed to a better course, and that must be only by Jesus Christ. It
is a sign we are guilty of this self-confidence when we resolve upon a
better life, and do not think how unable we are for it. Great resolu
tions are always vain, unless joined with the consideration of our own
weakness. The people of God have promised much, but always it is
with the concurrence of Christ. The apostle saith, Phil. iv. 12, * I
can/ or will ' do all things/ but it is ' through Christ.' David pro-
miseth, Ps. cxix. 32, ' I will run the ways of thy commandments ;' but
202 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 1.
he addeth, ' when thou shalt enlarge my heart/ There are divers such
places in scripture. We walk in the strength of our resolutions when
we do not see a need that Christ should help us, that we may not walk
in the same ways of error and maze of misery again.
[8.] Carnal fears. These hinder the soul from closing with that
mercy that is reported to be in Christ. They are of divers sorts.
(1.) Fear of God's anger, as if he were so displeased with us that
certainly he did not intend Christ for us. Why, consider, the more
angry God is, the more need there is to fly to his mercy. His mercy
is as infinite as his wrath, nay, I may say more infinite : Ps. cxxxviii. 2,
' Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name ;' that is, God's
promise in Christ is greater than all other things by which he hath
made himself known. Christ was an instance of infinite wrath and
infinite mercy at the same time, but rather of infinite mercy. Nay ; to
clear all, God expressly saith, ' Anger is not in me.'
(2.) Fear of being too bold with the promises. Take heed of com
plimenting with God. A man cannot be too bold where he is so freely
invited : Mat. xi. 28, ' Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy
laden.' You are unworthy to believe, but God is worthy to be obeyed.
And ' this is his commandment,' 1 John iii. 3, ' That we should
believe in the name of Jesus Christ.'
(3.) Fear of the sin of presumption. Oh ! they shall presume too
much. A man doth not presume if he knoweth his own danger ; if he
be lost to himself and his own apprehension, it is pity he should be
lost to God too. Presumers are seldom troubled about their estate ;
it is enough to disturb a false peace so much as to suspect it. There-
can be no presumption where there are no slight thoughts of sin and
mercy. The mind cannot presume when it is serious.
[9.] Carnal reasonings from our sins. They are arguments of con
fidence, but not of dejection : Ps. xxv. 11, * Pardon my sin, for it is
great.' If so, it is the better for God to pardon. Sins should not
hinder a man from duty. It is your duty to believe. The sense of
sickness will cause us to make use of the physician. You cannot see
anything in sin, but you may see more in Christ. Not greatness : Ps.
Ivii. 10, ' Thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the
clouds.' Not number : Eom. v. 16, ' The free gift is of many offences
unto justification/
[10.] And lastly, carnal apprehensions of Christ. We will believe
no more to be in God than we find in ourselves : 1 Sam. xxiv. 19, ' Who
findeth his enemy, and slayeth him not ? will he let him go well
away ? ' The soul in all her conclusions is only directed by premises
experimental and of sensible apprehension. We think God is but as
man ; we are used to the dispositions of men, and therefore cannot
believe there is anything more in God : Ps. 1. 22, * Thou thoughtest I
was altogether such an one as thyself/ But remember, ' God is not a
man, that he should lie ; neither the son of man, that he should repent,'
Num. xxiii. 19 ; and Hosea xi. 9, 'I will spare Ephraim, for I am
God, and not man ;' so Isa. Iv. 8-10, ' My thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord : For as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts :' Jer. iii. 1, ' If a man put
ISA. LIII. 1.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 203
away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall
he return to her again ? But thou hast played the harlot with many
lovers ; yet return unto me again, saith the Lord.'
Use 1. Is by way of information. It informeth us of divers truths ;
as —
1. That the paucity or fewness of followers is no disgrace to a thing
or doctrine. The world followeth the multitude, as if the way to
religion were like that to a town, where there is the greatest track :
Luke xii. 32, ' Fear not, little flock,' /Micpbv iroipviov. Christ's flock
is a little flock. The world usually casteth that prejudice. There
may be but one Micaiah against four hundred false prophets.
2. It informeth us that the number of believers is not as large as
the number of professors : 2 Thes. iii. 2, ' All men have not faith/
3. That it is a very difficult thing to believe, and therefore so few
attain it.
Use 2. Is by way of examination. If but few are won to believe
this report, examine yourselves — Are you of the number ? Are you of
the number of those that are won by the preaching of the word to be
lieve in Christ ? I will name a few effects: —
1. If so, you will find this persuasion melting you : Zech. xii. 10, ' I
will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jeru
salem, the Spirit of grace and supplication : and they shall look upon
him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one
mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one
that is in bitterness for his first-born.' God and the soul come together
just as Saul and David: 1 Sam. xxiv. 16, ' Saul lift up his voice and
wept; Is this thy voice, my son David ?' Thus the soul, Oh ! didst thou
love me so, 0 Lord my God ?
2. You will find it teaching you a way to resist sin. You could not
tell how to prevail against it before, now you have a cutting argument
against it: Titus ii. 11, 12, ' The grace of God, that bringeth salvation,
hath appeared to all men ; teaching us, that denying all ungodliness
and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this
present world.' Now you are taught to gainsay sin.
3. You will find it quickening you to good : 2 Cor. v. 14, * The love
of Christ constraineth us/ Such melting commands and commanding
entreaties have a powerful influence to that effect : ' I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the
life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me, and gave himself for me/
I shall now come to the second point, namely —
II. That the gospel, or the report concerning Jesus Christ, is the arm
and power of God. Though it be our report, yet it is the arm of the
Lord. There is some controversy, as I hinted before, about what
is meant by the arm of the Lord; some applying it to Christ,
some to the word. I rather incline to the latter; but it is good to
observe, that what is spoken of Christ, the same is spoken also of
the word. Christ is called * the power of God/ 1 Cor. i. 24 ; and the
gospel is called 'the power of God,' 1 Cor. i. 18 ; Rom. i. 16 ; because
in the word Christ is made known, and his excellencies are displayed..
204 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 1.
And what is spoken of the word is spoken of faith. Christ is revealed
to the heart by the word, and so he is likewise by faith.
But in what respect is the gospel the arm and power of God ?
I answer : —
1. In respect of the sense and meaning of it, which is to be regarded
above the bare sound of the letters and syllables. Many make a charm
of the word of God, by applying some sentences of it to drive away
diseases in a way of exorcism and conjuration, or by coming to it in a
customary way, as if the mere hearing or reading of it were sufficient ;
as if salvation were to be had by the bare hearing of it : John v. 39,
' Search the scriptures/ saith our Saviour, * for in them ye think ye
have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.' Ao/celre ev
avrais %a>rjv aiaviov, ' ye think ye have ;' this is not barely a command,
but a reproof, otherwise Christ would have said {ye shall.' He speaketh
it to the pharisees and hypocrites that had rejected him.
2. In regard it manifests the power of God. There are instances of
God's eternal power in the creatures, Kom. i. 20, but the great and
mighty instances of his power are discovered in the word. God showeth
his strength every day, but in the gospel he holdeth forth ' the man
whom he hath made strong for himself,' Ps. Ixxx. 15, the branch or
Son, meaning Christ — though he is there speaking of the church's afflic
tions : ' The vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the
branch that thou makest strong for thyself/
3. It is said to be the arm and power of God, chiefly as it is a glori
ous instrument in his hands, as a weapon that is managed by the Spirit,
which will work mightily indeed. It is observable that when Isaiah
speaketh of the word as pronounced by the prophets, he saith our re
port ; but as revealed by the Spirit, the arm of the Lord. You must
understand it as accompanied with the Spirit's efficacy : 2 Cor. x. 4,
* The weapons of our warfare are mighty through God / there lies its
force. So 2 Cor. iii. 6, ' Who hath made us able ministers of the new
testament : for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life/ He calleth
the law the letter, as it showeth what is to be done, but ministereth no
abilities. The letter killeth, leaveth us miserable, but the gospel,
accompanied with the Spirit, is an efficacious instrument to beget life
in us ; because all the efficacy thereof depends upon the Spirit, there
fore, in opposition to the law, it is called spirit.
4. It is called the arm and power of God, because in one sense it
worketh much even upon those on whom it has the least effect. It is
powerful to their destruction, if not to their salvation : Heb. iv. 12,
' The word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged
sword/ It is * the savour of death unto death/ if not ' of life unto life/
It is not a dead letter even there where it cannot obtain the least en
trance into the heart ; it bindeth them over to judgment, if it cannot
force them over to obedience. It is a heavy arm of God to the wicked;
if they be not converted, they are judged, by the word. An arm, you
know, is used in scripture in both senses, to protect friends, and to de
stroy enemies ; and to that purpose it is said of God by the Psalmist :
Ps. Ixxxix. 13, ' Thou hast a mighty arm ; strong is thy hand, and high
is thy right hand/ This mighty power of the word appears divers
wav
(
ISA. LIIL l.J THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 205
[1.] It troubleth sinners. The power of the gospel awakeneth their
consciences, for fear of which they cannot so freely run into such excess
and outrage as otherwise they would, Acts xxiv. 25. When Paul
' reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix
trembled.' When a guilty conscience is touched, it is enraged: Acts
vii. 54, * When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and
gnashed on him with their teeth.' It causeth a tumult in the soul of
a guilty creature ; if nothing else, the word worketh such a trouble in
them, that they cannot be at rest in their minds.
[2.] It worketh some faint resolutions in sinners to look after Christ :
Acts xxvi. 28, ' Thou almost persuadest me to be a Christian.' They
have much ado to put off the force of the word, and therefore are even
won by it. It argueth a mighty power in the gospel, that it can put a
wicked man on acting, though weakly, against the bent and inclination
of his evil heart. And it is some argument of the divine power in the
gospel, that men are brought thereby to wish and resolve against their
evil practices, though they will not leave them.
[3.] It judgeth them, it bindeth them over to eternal punishment ;
as it is said, 1 Cor. xiv. 24, of the unbeliever, ' He is convinced of all,
he is judged of all ; ' that is, his sentence is passed upon him in the
word : John iii. 18, ' He that believeth not is condemned already;' that
is, the power of the word is passed upon him: Mark xvi. 16, 'Go
preach the gospel to every creature ; he that believeth not shall be
damned.' That is the peremptory sentence of the gospel.
[4.] It punisheth them, the arm of God is upon them. It is said to
the stubborn Jews, Zech. i. 6, * But my words and my statutes, which
I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your
fathers ? ' Mark, not so much the wrath and vengeance of God, as the
prophet's words. So it is said, 1 Kings xix. 17, 'It shall come to
pass, that he that escapeth the sword of Hazael, shall Jehu slay : and
he that escapeth from the sword of Jehu, shall Elisha slay.' So Hosea
vi. 5, 'I have hewed them by my prophets : I have slain them by the
words of my mouth.' So much for the determination of this point.
To prove it now, it will appear by two things : —
1. By the uses for which God did appoint it.
2. By the glorious effects of it, suitable to those ends of God. I
shall handle both together.
Let us consider the uses for which God did appoint the publication
of the gospel, and certainly you will then say it is the arm of the
Lord. God's designs by the preaching of the gospel are either public
or private.
First, Public, which are —
1. To purchase and gain the world for a kingdom and an inherit
ance for Jesus Christ.
2. To conquer all the enemies of Christ.
Secondly ', Private, so it is to convert souls. The appointment of
the gospel for these ends showeth there is the arm of God in it.
First, Public, which are —
1. To purchase the whole world for a kingdom and an inheritance
for Jesus Christ. This is the main end of the gospel, and therefore it
is called, Ps. ex. 2, ' The sceptre and rod of Christ's strength.' The
206 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 1.
gospel is the sceptre of Christ ; it was by the word that he was to
sway the nations ; and so Mat. xiii. 19, it is called ' the word of the
kingdom/ Now, how should a man purchase a kingdom but by his
arm ? Great enterprises require proportionable strength, and there
fore such a glorious design as this necessarily calleth for the arm and
power of God. That this reason may have its due force on you, do
but consider what it is to purchase the world for Christ, and what
prejudices and difficulties there are against it that must be overcome.
[1.] The report of Jesus Christ was a despised truth. If a man
would win others to his conceits and opinions, policy requireth that he
should make them as plausible as he can. It is difficult to win a
people from their old religion, though a new one that is proposed be
never so agreeable to reason. But now, when this is utterly inconsistent
with our former apprehensions and notions about religion, the mind
riseth against it ; it stoppeth all further inquiry after the truth of it.
Now such was the report of Jesus Christ to all the world : you may
divide them into Jews and Gentiles. The Jews were to be brought off
from their fond esteem of Moses and the prophets ; the Gentiles were
to be won from their old vain religions, received by traditions from
their fathers : and we well know by experience how ill changes in re
ligion are brooked in the world. But that was not all ; they were to
leave their religion that they had so long professed, and to expect
(what they thought very absurd) eternal life and happiness by him
whom they looked on as an object of misery, and who suffered such a
shameful death himself : 1 Cor. i. 18, ' The preaching of the cross
was to them that perished foolishness.' It might well be so among
them that perished ; the prejudice was as great among them that pro
fessed : Mat. xxvii. 42, ' He saved others ; himself he cannot save : if
he be the king of Israel, let him come down from the cross, and we
will believe in him.'
[2.] It was given forth by despised persons. If a man would be
prevailed with by any, he would be by men of some repute and renown
in the world. But now, Ps. viii. 6, ' Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings thou hast ordained strength.' If babes and sucklings could
prevail so much by the use of their mouths, certainly there is some
secret and invisible force in such doctrines, or else it would not
prevail for babes and sucklings to speak so prevailingly as Christ
promised : Luke xxi. 15, ' I will give you a mouth and wisdom which
all your adversaries shall never be able to gainsay nor resist/ So
much power in so much appearing weakness argueth a divine arm.
2. The next end was to conquer the enemies of Christ. To conquer
their minds, or destroy their bodies, the best weapon is the gospel,
especially to do the former. This is the ark that beats all the Dagons
in pieces. It is said, Isa. xi. 4, ' He shall smite the earth with the rod
of his mouth^ and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked/
Mark, it is with the rod of his mouth ; the gospel slayeth the outward
enemies, and the mists of error do inwardly vanish before this sun.
As —
[1.] The paganish rites and worship were forced to give place to it,
as the oracle of Delphos, which had voice enough left to proclaim its
own silence, and also that among the rocks of Sicily. But then —
ISA. LIII. 1.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 207
[2.] As to antichristianism, God hath appointed the word to be a
weapon against it : 2 Thes. ii. 8, it is said, ' God shall consume them
with the spirit of his mouth, and with the brightness of his coming.'
God bloweth in the mouth of his ministers the force of their words
against Antichrist ; it is the spirit or breath of his mouth. When the
gospel was a little revived by Luther, how many of his kingdom did
Antichrist lose? The goose-quill gave him a deadly wound, saith
Beza ; Eev. xi. 13 : when the witnesses had finished their testimony,
' the tenth part of the city fell/ This is a most powerful engine to
shake the strongholds of that city, these blasts of the gospel. The
great policy of that party is to withhold people from the knowledge of
the gospel. When Dr Day discoursed with Stephen Gardiner con
cerning free justification by Christ, saith he, ' 0 Mr Doctor, open that
gap to the people, and we are undone !' The more gospel there is dis
covered, the more Antichrist is discovered. Free grace puts the
foundation of that way out of course.
[3.] All lesser errors, like the little foxes, are slain by this sword.
Those that went greedily after Balaam and the doctrine of the Nico-
laitans, what doth God say to them ? ' Repent, or I will come and
fight against thee with the sword of my mouth,' Rev. ii. 16 ; that is,
with his word. That is punishment enough, to detect their errors by
the gospel. The sword is put for a powerful weapon ; the sword in
the mouth showeth it was the word; God's appointing it to these
great uses argueth there is a divine power in it.
Secondly, Private ; and that is to convert souls : Ps. xix. 7, ' The
law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.' This is such a
difficult work that it must needs require a divine power. That
this may be of use to you, I shall show you what a difficult thing
it is to convert a soul, there being so many obstacles and hindrances
against it, and yet the word is the only fit instrument to overcome
them.
1. There is Satan, who is strong. The devil hath great power to
possess the hearts of wicked men ; he is said to ' work in the children
of disobedience/ Eph. ii. 2. Those frequent possessions in Christ's
time were a discovery of that spiritual thraldom in which the heart of
man is engaged whilst in the service of the devil : 2 Tim. ii. 26, ' That
they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are
taken captive by him at his will/ As violent tempests whirl things
at their pleasure, so doth he our blinded understandings and crooked
wills. We are taken of the devil in his snare, to be led about at his
will and pleasure. Well, then, no power but that of God can set us
free ; it must be by the mighty ministry of his arm. The strong man
will hold fast till he be cast out by a stronger than he, Luke xi. 22.
It is not so easy dispossessing the old man, and to turn from the
power of Satan to the power of God.
2. The perverseness of man's heart. The chief hindrances there
are these : —
[1.] Subtle evasions, crafty pretences, whereby to evade and escape
the power of the word : Heb. iv. 12, ' Piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit/ The soul is that faculty wherein the
affections do reside ; the spirit is the reasoning power ; it discovereth
208 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LITI. 1.
the closest affections of the heart, and the most secret plots and devices
of the spirit ; it telleth the heart how it cleaveth to sin, and the mind
how it plotteth pretences to hide it. The mind and spirit conspire
together.
[2.] Crafty disputes and reasonings. There are great and many
perverse debates in our hearts against the things of God ; therefore
the apostle expresses the power of the word thus : 2 Cor. x. 5, ' Cast
ing down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God ; and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ.' It demolisheth all carnal reason
ings, and convinceth of truth. Then —
[3.] Swelling lusts. To tame these, nay, to set up the work of
grace instead of these, must needs argue a divine hand. It is a hard
matter to break the course of any inclination, much more of a rooted
affection ; to break the very course of nature ; to turn lions into lambs,
as it is said, ' The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard
shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the
fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.' There shall be
such a wonderful change, that the violence and turbulency of the
affections shall be done away. To make the filthy and intemperate to
become chaste and sober, and to make the proud to become humble,
argueth the great power of God. Thus you see how it overcometh
difficulties.
But now observe how powerfully and wonderfully the word worketh
this. It is not by a fond conceit and opinion of it in the minds of
men : ' The simple believeth every word/ as it is said in the Proverbs ;
and some weak persons may be easily awed into a scrupulous fear.
But, on the contrary —
(1.) It hath wrought upon them that have been cast upon it
unawares, that looked for no such thing. The apostle saith of
unbelievers : 1 Cor. xiv. 24, ' And there come in one that believeth
not, or one unlearned ; he is convinced of all, he is judged of all/ if he
be by chance put upon the ordinances. Thus we read in the story of
Austin and of Firmus, who, though they looked for nothing less, yet
were wrought upon, and converted to God.
(2.) Those that came with a mind to despise the word have been
won by it. The unbeliever that cometh in falleth down on his face,
1 Cor. xiv. 25. It may bring men that have wrong conceits of the
ways of God on their faces, and to say, ' God is in them of a truth/
Use 1. Is exhortation. And that —
1. To ministers. Is the gospel the arm and power of God?
Then—
[1.] Be not ashamed of it, but preach it boldly. St Paul saith,
Kom. i. 16, ' I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ/ Many are
ashamed of the naked simplicity of the gospel, and therefore hanker
the more after profound parts and human learning. You must imitate
Christ ; preach boldly, as having authority from him.
[2.] Wait for the success of it. Doubt of success is a great dis
couragement, and taketh off the wheels of a man's ministry. Kefer it
to God ; it is his own arm, if it cannot be mighty through us, it will
be mighty through God : Jer. i. 9/1 have put my words in thy
ISA. LIII. 1.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 209
mouth/ It is a great lesson of holy wisdom, if we could learn it, to
mind duty, and refer the success to God.
[3.] To dispense it faithfully ; not to use God's arm for our own ends.
There is a preaching the gospel out of envy, Phil. i. 16. This is a put
ting God in a servility to our designs, a prostituting of the greatest
power to the vilest uses, an embasing a thing beneath its office.
[4.] To dispense it so as to look to the Spirit to make it effectual ;
not to think to make it work by our own fancies : 1 Cor. ii. 4, ' My
preaching was not with the enticing words of man's wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power/ A minister may be apt to
be too full of self. The old Adam may be too hard for young Melanc-
thon. It is said of Christ, Luke xxiv. 32, that * he opened the scrip
tures ;' and ver. 45, ' Then he opened their understandings, that they
might understand the scriptures/
2. To the people.
[1.] To all in general.
[2.] To those to whom the arm of the Lord is revealed and made
known.
[1.] To all in general : to press them to see God in his word. Many
see no more than what is of man, and therefore are not wrought upon
by it. The power of God is veiled under our weakness : 1 Thes. ii.
13, ' Ye received it not as the word of men, but (as it is in truth) the
word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe/ But
what is it to receive it as the word of God ?
I answer — It is to receive it : —
(1.) With reverence. It is a description of God's people that they
* tremble at his word,' Isa. Ixvi. 2, 5. Do not slight it as if it were
but a little sound poured out into the air.
(2.) Look up unto God, and wait upon him for this power to be
let into your hearts. See that, besides the report, you have a discovery
of God's power and arm. Do not rest contented with enjoying the
word till you feel the power of God making it effectual on your
hearts. Oh, be careful lest it should work upon you the wrong way,
and prove the savour of death unto death ! As the people waited^for
the angel's stirring of the waters, so do you for the Spirit's motion.
Man's voice can but pierce the ear : Cathedram liabet in cadis qui
corda docet, God only can reach the heart.
(3.) Keceive it into your hearts, open your souls for it with such a
resolution as is expressed, Acts x. 33, ' We are all here present be
fore thee, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God/ Then
it is a sign we are willing to take home the message to ourselves.
(4.) Let not your thoughts rest in the abilities of the minister, if
your hearts be touched : Acts iii. 12, ' Peter answered unto the
people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this ? or why look ye so
earnestly upon us, as though by our own power or holiness we had
made this man to walk ? ' It is not our report, but God's arm ; we
are but the instruments, his arm must do the work.
[2.] To those to whom the arm of the Lord is made known, two
duties I shall exhort them unto : —
(1.) To behold and admire the power of God working in them for
their salvation : Eph. i. 19, ' That ye may know the exceeding great-
VOL. in. o
210 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 1.
ness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the work
ing of his mighty power.' A man doth not know the excellency of
this power till he takes a review of it. Man can better observe such
experiences when past, when he seeth and feeleth such a power of God
upon his soul.
(2.) To walk worthy of it in their conversation ; — to walk so as a
man may perceive the power of God hath passed upon him : 1 Peter ii.
9, ' That you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you
out of darkness into his marvellous light/ Inward holiness is ex
pressed by the power of godliness. Take heed of having a form of
godliness but denying the power thereof. Oh, do not carry it as if
there were no power passed upon you !
Use 2. Is of examination. See whether any of this power hath
passed upon your hearts. Have you ever felt the power of the Spirit
in the ordinances, that will convince of sin, of righteousness, and of
judgment ?
1. Hath it powerfully humbled you for sin? There is the power
of the word seen to bring men upon their faces, and to make them
lay their mouths in the dust, 1 Cor. xiv. 25. The first work is to
humble the heart and to subdue the pride of it.
2. Is it powerful to comfort and refresh the soul? Every man
hath not comfort, but every man that hath it can tell which way it
cometh : Ps. xciv. 19, ' In the multitude of my thoughts within me,
thy comforts delight my soul/ What is the refreshment of your
hearts ? Is it not the power of God's Spirit ? When a man is in
distress, it is known what he maketh his trust in : then we shall see
what our heart fetcheth comfort from. Do you look upon gospel
comforts as powerful ? John xvi. 33, ' In the world ye shall have
tribulation, but in me ye shall have rest ; be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world/
3. Is it powerful to enable to holiness ? You will then be able to
gain upon your lusts more, they will not be so pleasing to you : Ps. ex.
3, ' Thy people shall be a willing people in the day of thy power/
You will be made ready to duty, and be more cheerful in God's service,
when the power of the word hath passed upon you.
I now proceed to the last point observable in this verse, which is: —
III. That none believe the report that is made of Jesus Christ,
but those to whom it is revealed by the Spirit.
It is meant of an inward revelation ; though it were outwardly pro
claimed in their ears, yet the power of the report was not secretly
conveyed into their hearts. The arm of the Lord was not revealed
to them. Or thus : —
The cause why so few are won to believe in Jesus Christ is because
they have not the Spirit's revelation.
This I shall prove to you by these reasons: —
1. Because without the Spirit's revelation all the outward tenders
and reports^of Jesus Christ will be to no purpose. The efficacy of the
word lieth in the Spirit's assistance. I told you in the former point
how powerful the word of God is, but withal I told you it was when
the Spirit sets it home upon the heart. God may knock at the door
and yet no man open to him ; and, therefore, he speaketh by way of
ISA. LIII. 1.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 211
supposition, if he doth but barely knock : Eev. iii. 20, * Behold, I stand
at the door and knock ; if any man hear my voice and open the door,
I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with me/ It is put
upon an if: it is a great peradventure whether any man will open the
door or no, when it is but a bare knock of the word. The spouse plead-
eth excuses when Christ stood and knocked, saying, ' Open to me, my
sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled,' Cant. v. 2 ; but in the 4th
verse it is said, ' My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door,
and my bowels were moved for him ; ' — that signifieth the working of
his Spirit, and then she opened. Men would fain take one nap more
in sin when they are roused by the ministry ; but when God puts his
fingers upon the handles of the lock, Christ hath an admittance and
the door then flieth open : Acts xi. 19^21, ' The hand of the Lord was
with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.'
God's hand was upon the lock. If the word be anywhere spoken
of as powerful, it is in reference to> the Spirit, as 1 Thes. i. 5, * Our
word came unto you not in word only, but also in power and in the
Holy Ghost ; ' therefore in power, because in the Holy Ghost.
2. Because the Spirit's revelation is the token of God's special love ;
and that is not given to every one : God has appointed his special
love but for a few. The outward revelation is to leave men without
excuse ; it is but a token of God's common love : 2 Cor. iv. 3, ' If our
gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost ' — hidden from their
hearts, though it be revealed to their ears. Those that are lost have
not the inward discoveries — that is, the effectual discovery and special
effect of God's peculiar love : Acts xiii. 48, ' As many as were ordained
to eternal life believed ;' such have God's special love. Those that
have least have many times an outward revelation: Acts xiv. 17,
' God left not himself without a witness, in that he did good ; ' yet,
ver. 16, 'he suffered them to walk in their own ways.' They had a
revelation, but they had not an efficacious revelation. And in this
sense it is said, that ' many are called but few are chosen, — many
are invited and few wrought upon. They have the doctrine of life
propounded to them, but they have not the Spirit of life setting it
home upon their hearts ; few taste of God's special love.
3. Because the least of Christ that is made known to the soul is
made known by the Spirit ; even common illumination, any slight
taste of the doctrine of life, it cometh from the Spirit. Those that apos
tatised afterwards are said, Heb. vi. 4, to be * made partakers of the
Holy Ghost.' A historical persuasion of the truth of the articles of
religion flows hence. There are some things like this inward effectual
revelation in the hearts of wicked men, namely, some notional irra
diations and illuminations in many profound mysteries of the scrip
ture. In this sense is that place to be understood : 1 Cor. xii. 3, ' No
man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed ; ' and that,
' No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost/
Even their common illumination and profession that Jesus is the
Lord was from the Holy Ghost. And so that, Mat. xvi. 16, 17,
* Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered,
Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven/ He did not learn this from nature, but from a revela-
212 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 1.
tion. Even, I say, a notional apprehension of these truths, without
any fiducial assent given to them, is from the manifestation of the
Spirit, and, therefore, much more is this the cause of believing.
4. Because there is so much corruption in a man that hindereth
the soul from believing in Jesus Christ, that it cannot be done away
without the Spirit's manifestation. There is a double seat of this cor
ruption — the mind and the heart. First, In the mind there is igno
rance and unteachableness. Secondly, In the heart there is obstinacy
and carelessness ; which things cannot be conquered any otherwise than
by the Spirit of God. Let us look upon these things severally. Con
sider a man naturally as he is : —
[1.] In his mind; and so —
(1.) There is ignorance ; he hath no savoury apprehension of the
truths of God : 1 Cor. ii. 14, ' The natural man receiveth [not the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him ; neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned/ There is
no suitableness between the heart and the things of Christ ; and, there
fore, though they understand the words, they have confused appre
hension of the thing, and cannot tell what to make of them for their
comfort and peace. These sottish conceits in the minds of men pre
possess them against the receiving of Jesus Christ. They are like
leaky vessels that cannot hold this precious liquor ; the cockleshell of
their brains cannot empty this ocean. A natural man hath abundance
of confused, indistinct, indefinite conceits of Jesus Christ. Festus said,
Acts xxv. 19, That the Jews and Paul had * a controversy about their
own superstitions, and of one Jesus, that was dead, whom Paul affirmed
to be alive ;' as if it were no more. And the like conceits are to be
found not only in him but in all natural men. They do but look upon
him as Austin in his infancy said he did upon God, Tanquam aliquem
magnum — as some great remedy against all evils. Now these conceits,
though they be a little rectified in some by pregnancy of wit, ripeness
of experience, and industrious meditation, yet no savoury knowledge,
nor wisdom to salvation, can be fetched out of these divine truths but
by the Spirit. We cannot learn Christ, as the apostle speaketh. A
man may know Christ, but he hath not learned Christ, Eph. iv. 20.
That supposeth a teacher, which is the Spirit of God : John vi. 45,
' They shall all be taught of God.' The Spirit teacheth us Christ, so
as to have communion and fellowship with him — to fetch comfort out
of him ; and this helpeth our natural light, and doth indeed set ^ off
Christ to us : Job xxxii. 8, ' There is a spirit in man, and the inspira
tion of the Almighty giveth them understanding/ Then we begin to
look upon Jesus Christ with a true and distinct eye. A man may
have eyes, but if he have not light he cannot see well, nor discern the
distinct shape of things. Light must come to light ; — first the light
of the sun or candle to the light of the eye. Thus our reason must
be helped to fasten upon divine truths so as to fetch comfort out of
them. Thus ignorant men cannot tell what to make of the promises
of the gospel or the commandments of the gospel, what to think of
Christ or what to believe. Therefore, it is said, 1 Cor. ii. 10, ' The
deep things of God ' are ' revealed to us by his Spirit ; ' that giveth us
the knowledge of the truth and worth of them.
ISA. LIII. 1.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 213
(2.) Unteachableness. We are not only in the dark, but blind ; we
have not only lost the use, but the faculty : 1 Cor. ii. 14, * The natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are fool
ishness unto him ; neither can he know them, because they are spirit
ually discerned.' We have no spiritual eyes, and therefore we cannot
see spiritual things. Things are apprehended by us according as they
carry a proportion and suitableness to our hearts. Now our hearts
are so gross that we cannot measure truths by them. This unteach-
ableness remaineth in the soul till the Spirit disposes it to knowledge ;
and therefore St Paul prayeth, Eph. i. 17, 18, ' That God would give
them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation r and open the eyes of their
understanding '—take away the scales, And so you read, Luke xxiv.
29, That Christ ' opened their understanding ;' i.e., made it teachable.
The word is not only proposed to them to rectify their apprehensions of
Christ, but their minds are opened ; which implieth, that as they had
no light, so they had closed eyes, a wicked mind as well as a weak
mind, a mind disaffected, prejudiced, full of corrupt principles and
reasonings that are advanced the truth.1
[2.] In the heart there is carelessness and stubbornness. And there
fore, as God must teach their minds, so he must draw their hearts ; as
it is said, John vi. 44, ' No man cometh unto me, except the Father
draw him.' The power of the Spirit must be put forth into the soul
to bend it to Christ.
Let us take notice of these two evils.
(1.) Carelessness. Men slight Christ, and then they are not won to
believe in him. This carelessness cometh from two things : —
(1st.) A love of ease. Men cannot think of Christ without reluctancy,
and they are loth to put themselves to the trouble. When the spouse
is lodged in the bed of security, see how she pleadeth : ' I have put
off my coat, how shall I put it on ? I have washed my feet, how shall
I defile them ?' A carnal, careless heart, that loveth ease, sticketh at
every little hesitancy and vain excuse. In hot countries, where they
went barefoot, they were wont to wash their feet after travel. They
are loth to arise to entertain Christ for fear of trouble and loss to
themselves : Prov. xx. 4, 'The sluggard will not plough because of
the cold.' Many do not care for Christ, because it will cost them some
pains and care to pursue after him. They must follow him through
so many prayers, meditation, and observation, that they had rather sit
still. There is need of a great deal of revelation to make the soul
seriously to attend. The spouse fainted, Cant. v. 6, when Christ put
his finger into the key-hole of the lock : ' Then I rose up and opened
to my beloved, and my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone ;
my soul failed when he spake.' When he beginneth to touch the wards
of the heart, all idle excuses vanish, then nothing but Christ will
satisfy the heart. So Acts ii. 37, * When they were pricked in their
hearts, then they cried out, Men and brethren, what shall we do?'
Men that are not converted indulge their vain thoughts and excuses
still ; but when that is once past, they cannot dally with salvation any
more : Acts xvi. 30, the jailer saith ' Sirs, what must I do to be saved?'
Oh, tell me quickly, it can brook no delay !
1 Qu. 'against the truth '?— ED.
214 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 1.
(2dly.) Doting upon other excellencies. One love, like a nail, driveth
out another, A man slighteth a thing when the stream of his affec
tions are carried another way. Some had a farm, some a yoke of oxen,
some had married a wife, some one excuse, some another ; but. they
all said, ' I cannot come.' Men are severally taken up, either with
honours, or profits, or pleasures ; but all keep from Christ. Therefore
there is need of the Spirit's revelation, to display the beauties of Christ
before the soul, that they may see that there is more in this beloved
than in other beloveds, Cant. v. 9 ; that so the force of our ill affec
tions may be broken, and the stream of the heart diverted another
way, and brought about to Christ. This is that which is desired in
that request, ' Draw me ; we will run after thee,' Cant. i. 4 ; that
the Spirit would display the glory of Christ to the soul, that we
may look upon him as an attractive object, and so find our hearts and
our desires following after him. Thus for carelessness.
(2.) Stubbornness of heart, that is another thing. There is a wilful-
ness in men ; they will not believe, because they will not believe. Men
will not close with Jesus Christ ; God showeth them the way, and
they contemptuously reject it : John v. 40, ' Ye will not come unto
me, that ye might have life.' Christ inviteth men by the gospel :
' Come unto me, all you that are weary and heavy laden ; ' and they
will not come ; there is no answer in the heart to God's call because of
this stubbornness of spirit. But now, when gospel invitations are
seconded with the Spirit's motions, they command their own entrance
into the soul, the heart submits to the way that God revealeth for its
good. The heart, like a quick, strong echo, returneth the full answer
of gospel demands : Ps. xxvii. 8, ' When thou saidst unto me, Seek ye
my face, my heart said, Thy face, Lord, will I seek;' Zech. xiii. 9, ' 1
will say, It is my people ; and they shall say, The Lord is my God/
So much for the proof of the point.
I shall answer a doubt or two before I go on to the application.
The doubts are these : — •
1. If the want of the Spirit's revelation be the cause why so few
believe, how can God be just in punishing men for their unbelief,
since he doth not give them all a like revelation ?
I answer — Two ways : First, From God's sovereignty : Exod. xxxiii.
19, ' I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy ;' so Koin. ix. 15, 16. God's will
is the measure of his actions, as the moral law is the measure of our
actions. That is a rule to us, not to God ; he giveth no account of
his matters, he acteth out of infinite sovereignty, and so he may do
what he pleaseth Who shall set a task for him ? Mat. xi. 25, 26, ' I
thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto
babes : even so. Father, because it seemed good in thy sight/ That
is the upshot of all, and the result of all disputes about it : ' Even so,
Father, because it pleaseth thee/ He doth not tell you for what cause
it pleased the Father ; but even so it pleased him, as if that were
reason enough : it is just because it pleased the Father. You are not
to be judges of God's actions, but doers of his will. God made you
not to censure him, but to give him glory. The pattern of all
ISA. LIIL 1.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 215
justice is to be copied out from God's will ; it is just because God
did it.
Secondly, The beauty of God's justice shineth in this, in that the
positive cause of unbelief —
[1.] Is in ourselves, it being through our own blindness and stub
bornness. We ' will not come to him that we may have life/ Hosea
xiii. 9, ' 0 Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help/
God is the positive cause of faith, the privative cause of unbelief. The
Spirit's revelation worketh faith ; but in case of the want of it,
our own perverse hearts are the cause of unbelief. If the earth be
light, it is from the sun ; but if it be dark, it is through the want of
the sun, that is from itself : 2 Cor. iv. 3, ' If our gospel be hid, it is
hid to them that are lost/ It is to those that take a course to ruin
themselves.
[2.] Men do not their utmost, and therefore are justly punished,
because they did not what they were able to do to get faith. He
is justly condemned that complaineth of the length of the way, and
therefore doth not stir one foot to see whether he shall conquer it, yea
or no: Mat. xxv. 26, 'Thou wicked and slothful servant/ Many
complain, as if God required brick and gave no straw. They are wicked
and slothful ; they do not what they should. Men had rather accuse
God than reflect upon their own idleness ; they will not come to him.
[3.] They abuse their parts, and are so far from improving of them
to the utmost, that they employ them against God : Jude 10, ' What
they know naturally as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt
themselves/ So 2 Peter ii. 12, it is said, ' They utterly perish in their
.own corruptions/ There is wickedness enough in them to cause the
wrath of God to proceed against them. This is the first doubt.
2. The next is (which is somewhat answered out of this) if this be
cause — viz., the want of the Spirit's revelation — Why then should we
labour after faith ? Our labour will not do without the revelation
of the Spirit..
Ans. [1.] We should labour after it, to see our own weakness, that
we may look up to God the more earnestly for it. Men think it is easy
to believe till they put themselves upon the trial. They do not see a
need of the Spirit till they perceive the fruitlessness of their own en
deavours : ' If thou appliest thy heart to understanding, and criesfc
after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding ; if thou
seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as hidden treasure ; then
shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of
God,' Prov. ii: 3-5.
[2.] That we may manifest our obedience to God, and meet him in
his own way. He hath commanded us to believe ; let us do what we can
towards it. Improve your natural abilities, and use the means that
God hath appointed, and refer the success to him : Luke v. 5, * Master,
we have toiled all night, and catehed nothing ; nevertheless, at thy
command I will let down the net/ Consider God's prerogative over
you, and make the best of the power you have ; and if for nothing else,
yet at his command perform thy duty. God hath enabled you to do
somewhat, and he may justly require you should do the utmost of it.
Every man hath a command over his locomotive faculty ; he can choose
216 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 1.
whether he will come hither or go thither. Every man can f watch at
the gates of wisdom,' Prov. viii. 34, ' and wait at the posts of her door.'
Therefore, let the command of God enforce you to do what you can.
[3.] That you may manifest your desires after it. God doth not
give Christ to many, because they do not care for him. If a man did
care for a thing, he would endeavour after it. Excuses are always a
sign of an unwilling heart. Where the desires are vehement, they
will not easily be put by : Mat. xiii. 45, The merchant that ' found a
pearl of great price/ ' went and sold all that he might buy it.' Those
that desire not Christ, do not look upon him as a pearl of price ; if
they did, their hearts would follow hard after him. Those that say
they have no power, it is to be feared they have no heart. It was the
slothful person said, ' There is a lion in the way,' Prov. xxvi. 13.
Therefore strive after faith, if for nothing else, yet to show that Christ
is worth your most earnest seeking and pursuit after him.
[4.] Because though by the using of means we do not get faith, yet
without the means we shall not have it. It is conditio sine qua non,
though not causa fidei: Kom. x. 14, ' How shall they believe in him
of whom they have not heard ?' A man hath it not by hearing, nor
for hearing, yet he hath it not without hearing. There is not merit nor
efficacy in- the means, and yet there must be the presence of them, be
cause it holdeth negatively, if ye do not use the means ye shall never
believe. The Spirit causeth faith, but it is by the word : see that text,
Acts xiii. 46, ' It was necessary that the word of God should first have
been spoken unto you ; but seeing ye have put it from you, and judge
yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.'
Men that refuse the means, pass the sentence of condemnation upon
themselves, they declare themselves to be those whom God will judge
to be unworthy of eternal life — unworthy, because they would not seek
after it. When the psalmist describeth desperate men, he represents
them to be such as reject the means : Ps. lviii.4, 5, ' They are like the deaf
adder that stoppeth her ear, which will not hearken to the voice of the
charmer, charm he never so wisely.' The adder stoppeth one ear with
her tail, and the other lieth close upon the ground. So wicked men, if
they come to the ordinances, take care they shall not prevail upon
them ; they are not diligent to attend to the word.
[5.] It is very likely God will come in and meet with us if we seek
him in his own ways ; and who would not venture upon a likelihood of
safety to come out of a certain danger ? If you do not use the .means,
you are sure to perish ; if you do, you may be likely to obtain mercy ;
and certainly it is the safest course to adventure upon these hopes. The
soul reasoneth in such a case just as the Aramites did : 2 Kings vii.
4, ' If we enter into the city, there is the famine, we shall die there ;
if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come and let us fall
into the host of the Assyrians ; if they save us alive, we shall live, and if
they kill us, we shall but die.' So if we continue in our sins, it is
death ; if we neglect prayer, or hearing, or meditation, it is death ;
though there be but an ifoi mercy, venture upon it, a little to keep up
the heart. Men near drowning will catch hold, though it be but of a
reed or a twig.
[6.] This is God's usual way, to meet those that seek him. The God
ISA. LIII. 1.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 217
of Jacob would not have them seek his face in vain, Isa. xlv. 19, and
Luke xi. 9 ; though he would not arise and give as his friend, yet
because of his importunity, he will arise and give him. When the
soul is importunate with God thus, it is a sign of mercy, and it is
through the precedaneous efficacy of the Spirit. This earnestness
after faith is the first impression of the Spirit's efficacy. Thus I
have answered the doubts.
I shall now come to the application.
The first use is exhortation, to press you to divers duties ; as —
1. To wait for the Spirit's motion and revelation. Do not look to
the words that are spoken, but how the Spirit giveth you the savoury
sense and meaning of them. They that were at the pool looked for the
angel's stirring of the waters ; so do you look for the Spirit's revelation,
to see how the confusedness of your light and knowledge is done away.
The mind knoweth some things, but doth not know things as it should
know them. See how the Spirit giveth you satisfaction. If you would
have faith, your chief care is to attend the Spirit ; and therefore, faith
is called by the Spirit's own name, ' the same Spirit of faith,' 2 Cor.
iv. 13, because it is the faith of the Spirit.
2. Yield to it. Many are of an unteachable heart, they are not won
by the Spirit's allurements : Gen. ix. 27, ' God shall persuade (or en
large) Japhet to dwell in the tents of Shem.' God shall allure the
allurable. Take heed you resist not the secret whispers and persua
sions of God's Spirit. There is a great deal of thwarting in the heart
against it, that God's Spirit, when it should allure, it is forced to dis
pute it ; and therefore God saith, Gen. vi. 3, ' My Spirit shall no longer
strive with men.' The Spirit convinceth us this is right, and then our
interests and vile affections set the heart a-disputing against it ; and
we would fain put off these inward motions and checks of conscience.
Many of God's elected servants do very often resist those motions, so
that it were even just with God to cast them off, but that Christ's word
is passed : John vi. 37, 'All that my Father giveth me shall come to me,
and I will in no wise cast them out.' But as to reprobates, God stayeth
a great while with them too. No longer, implieth a long time, even
as long as he shall think fit, and then he leaveth them. Take
heed of these withdrawings.
3. Cherish it. Many have had strong resolutions, but they die away
without this. They have a great many previous workings of the Spirit,
as, much knowledge of the will of God, much sense of sin, fear of pun
ishment, many thoughts about their freedom and deliverance, some
hopes of pardon, some kind of care and desire ; but then they drown
these things again by the cares and pleasures of this world, and so
they are to no purpose. This is called by the apostle ' quenching of
the Spirit,' 1 Thes. v. 19. Now, the Spirit is quenched two ways : —
[1.] When they do not blow up the coals, stir up the graces of God
that are in them, and labour to feed and cherish by prayer and medi
tation these desires, which is the strengthening of the things which are
ready to die, Rev. iii. 2 ; when we do not labour to rouse up our
selves, and keep in the heat and warmth in our souls : Mat. xiii. 19,
'Then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was
sown in their hearts/
218 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 1.
[2.] When they do as it were cast water on the Spirit's motion by
the return of their lusts. Men are apt to return to their old ways,
after these partial desires and partial care to get Christ ; but 2 Peter
ii. 21, 'It had been better for them not to have known the way of
righteousness, than after they have known it, to turn from the holy
commandment delivered to them.' Enraged lusts return the stronger,
and have the greater force upon the heart.
4. In case you have it, praise God for it. Oh, get largeness of heart
to conceive of this great privilege, to have Christ not only to be revealed
to you, but in you ! There is a threefold ground of thankfulness : —
[1.] In respect of yourselves, that God was not discouraged with
your often resistance of him, but that he should go on with his work :
Isa. Ixvi. 9, ' Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth ? '
God speaketh of the outward glory of his church, but it is also true of
grace in the hearts of his servants. Oh, how justly might God have
broken off and interrupted his design and purpose of grace and mercy,
and have given over such a stubborn heart as yours to the sway
of its lusts ! As Elizabeth said, Luke i. 43, ' Whence is this, that
the mother of my Lord should come to me ? ' So whence is it that
the Spirit of the Lord should come to me, stubborn me ? There should
be such a reflection upon our unkindness.
[2.] In respect of the freeness of the gift, that he should give his
Spirit to work faith in us so freely. Faith is expressed to be the gift
of God, Eph. ii. 8 ; Phil. i. 29, ' To you it is given to believe/ VJMV
fyapia-Or) ; you have it of the free grace of God. Flesh would fain boast,
and have these things in its own power, but you see, ' to you it is given.'
J3.] In respect of others. That he should reveal himself unto you,
not unto others. What did he see in you more than in others,
that he should give you a token of his distinguishing love ? Christ
thanketh God for the distinguishingness of it : ' Father, I thank thee,
that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them to babes,' Mat. xi. 26. And therefore we have the
greater reason so to do : John xiv. 22, ' How is it that thou wilt mani
fest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? ' Thus you see what cause
there is of thankfulness on this threefold account.
Use 2. Is examination, to see whether you have closed with the
report of Jesus Christ or no. If you have closed with it aright, it is
with the Spirit's revelation, it is because you have been inwardly con
vinced in your hearts of the truth of it. But how shall we know that
we believe in the report because of the Spirit's revelation, and that
many will say and every one crieth it up for a truth, that Jesus Christ
came to save sinners ? I answer : —
1. The Spirit's revelations are distinct; it showeth the soul how
Christ will be received. Most men's knowledge of Christ is an in
definite knowledge ; they know him in a confused, indistinct, indefinite
manner ; they look upon him as a Saviour, but they do not look upon
him as commanding things contrary to their vile affections. Now the
Spirit revealeth him determinately, what he is, and upon what terms
we must take him.
2. It giveth men an experimental taste of Christ : 1 Peter ii. 3, ' If so
be that ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.' They can speak of
ISA. LIII. 2.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 219
what sweetness there is in Christ. Notional knowledge looketh upon
him as a man looketh upon a thing in the bulk. When a man hears
a minister talk of Christ, he taketh it up as a great and comfortable
truth, but he cannot speak out of experience. All Christians can speak
out of their desires, though not delights : Oh, come, taste and see how
good the Lord is !
3. The Spirit revealeth so as to influence us to obedience. Spiritual
li^ht is like that of the sun, it hath heat with it. But now it is other
wise with notional irradiations, and common illuminations; the heart is
vain, and the conference conduceth to controversy, more than to the
conversion of others.
Use 3. The third and last use is to condemn all that false faith that
is in most people : they think they believe in Christ, whereas they
scarcely believe the report of him. True faith hath a true ground.
Most men have this in their thoughts, that there was such a person as
Christ ; the preachers tell them so; the laws of the land and the customs
of the people are for it. Alas ! most people are like wax, they are fit
to take the stamp and impression of any religion that is bequeathed to
them. They are not said so properly to believe, as to have a super
ficial apprehension of the common report that is made concerning such
a thing. They have no more saving faith in Christ than Turks and
infidels, and have as little true love for him as the Jews that crucified
him. I cannot examine every false ground. I will give you marks in
general when you have it from any wrong ground ; as —
1. When you take it up without weighing : Prov. xiv. 15, ' The simple
believeth every word, but the prudent man looketh well to his going/
2. By your fickleness ; when a man embraceth a thing upon wrong
grounds, he will leave it upon wrong grounds: Gal. i. 6, ' I marvel
that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace
of Christ, unto another gospel ;' 2 Thes. ii. 2, * I beseech you, brethren,
be not soon shaken in mind.'
3. By the dissonancy of our practice, and inconstant resolutions.
This is called, 2 Peter ii. 1, a 'denying Christ that bought us.'
Though they profess him in words, yet in deeds they deny him. It were
better to renounce the profession of Christ than to keep it with these
resolutions : Mat. vi. 31-33, ' Take no thought what ye shall eat,
or what ye shall drink, or wherewith ye shall be clothed ; for after all
these things do the Gentiles seek ; but seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.'
THE SECOND YEKSE.
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out
of a dry ground : he hath no form nor comeliness : and when we
shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
I AM now to make entrance upon the cause and ground of the Jews'
unbelief, namely, Christ's meanness and sufferings. His meanness
is described : —
220 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [IsA. MIL 2.
1. In regard of his birth.
2. In regard of his manner of life, and outward appearance in the
world, which are the two things the prophet prosecutes in divers ex
pressions. I shall take notice of them in this and the following verses.
My method shall be : —
1. To open the phrases to you as they lie in the order of the words.
2. To apply them to Jesus Christ, and to give you some helps for
your meditation.
3. Because Christ's life holdeth forth much matter of observation
for the guiding of our lives, I shall give some more general and prac
tical points, that so what is said of Christ may be useful for us.
First, For the phrases, and these respect : —
First, His birth and original ; and here three expressions are to be
explained.
1. He shall grow up as a tender plant. What is meant by that ?
The Septuagint (because the word for tender plant signifieth also a
sucker) have translated it &>? Tra&iov. We have spoken of him as a
sucking child. But I conceive it is not put here to signify the infancy
of Christ, so much as the low and mean manner of the original that
he would take upon himself. He would be as a tender plant, not as
a tall tree full of limbs and branches. For it is usual in scripture to
set forth the several conditions of men by trees and plants : thus Ne
buchadnezzar's greatness and strength are represented, Dan. iv. 21 , 22,
by the tree whose leaves were fair, whose fruits were much, and the
branches thereof reaching to heaven and shading the earth. So the
Psalmist describes the wicked's prosperity, Ps. xxxvii. 35, ' I have seen
the wicked great in power, and spreading himself like a green bay- tree.'
And on the contrary, misery is expressed by the heath in the desert,
a low mean shrub, Jer. xvii. 6. So here, Christ's meanness and poverty
are held forth by a tender plant, newly sprouted forth, and come up
above the earth, which a man would tread upon rather than cherish.
And indeed it is observable that Christ is often represented by the ex
pression of a tender plant, or as a branch: thus Isa. xi. 1, 'There shall
come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out
of his roots/ I shall touch upon it again. So it is said, Zech. iii. 8,
' I will bring forth my servant the branch.' So chap. vi. 12, ' The man
whose name is The Branch : ' Jer. xxiii. 5, ' Behold the days shall come
that I will raise unto David the righteous branch ; ' Jer. xxxiii. 15,
' Behold, I will cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto
David.' And I conceive this expression holdeth forth two things : —
[1.] Christ's present meanness, what he was in the world's eye,
which was no more than a branch or twig.
[2.] His future glory. He should be a tree : Ezek. xvii. 22-24,
' Thus saith the Lord, I will also take of the highest branch of the
high cedar, and I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a
tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent ;
and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fair fruit, and become a
goodly cedar ; and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing ; in the
shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell/ Thus it was a tender
plant, yet such a one as might become a spacious and goodly tree.
2. A root out of a dry ground; that is, not only a tender branch,
ISA. LIII. 2.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 221
but a branch that hath little verdure and freshness. But why a root?
And why out of a dry ground ? The root does not come up, but the
branches. I may answer — Hoot is put figuratively, the cause for the
effect, the root for the sprigs ; or else to denote the dryness of the
branch ; it was not fresh and green : even like a root, or like heath in
the wilderness, which is a branch and root too. Or more properly it
may be to show that Christ is such a branch as that he is a root like
wise. And I the rather take notice of this, because the scripture
doth so: Kev. v. 5, 'The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of
David, hath prevailed to open the book ; ' and chap. xxii. 16, ' I am
the root and offspring of David.' Mark, not the branch, but the root.
Christ was David's son and David's Lord, Mat. xxii. 45, yet ' a root
out of a dry ground.' Some triflers understand by this is meant the
womb of the virgin ; but it is rather the dead and withered stock of
David's house. For though that family was obscure, and all the
glorious branches cut off to the very stump, yet even then shall
sprout out the last and greatest ornament of it, like a root out of a
dry ground. Therefore it is observable it is said, Isa. xi. 1, ' A rod
shall come out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots/
He doth not say, out of the stem of David, who was the first king and
honour of that family, but Jesse, whose name was more obscure, imply
ing that at this time this house should be reduced to its first mean
ness, or that it should not be the house of David so much as the house
of Jesse. Out of his decayed roots should spring up this tender branch.
3. Before him. Whom ? Some say himself, for so they say the Heb
rew word is to be understood. As if the sense were, if you look to the
state and presence of the person himself. But I shall pass by that, and
take notice but of two persons to whom this him may be referred ;
for the scriptures have this privilege, to abound in senses.
[1.] Him, that is, the Lord, for so may it be referred. He was but
lately spoken of, ver. 1, * The arm of the Lord ; ' and then it is added,
' Before him shall grow up a tender plant.' Though he was so mean,
yet God saw it, and permitted it, because he had appointed it. It was
not by chance, and because it could be no better, but by God's special
decree and appointment. Before the Lord he shall rise up a tender
plant.
[2.] Before him ; that is, before the party that believes not the
report : ver. 1, ' Who hath believed,' &c. — because before him Christ
riseth up in such a mean manner. By this him must be meant
the unbelieving Jews of whom he spake. Keason cannot expect that
the Messiah should lie hid under so mean a shape. They will be
offended in Christ's meanness, as I shall touch by and by. Thus for
the phrases of Christ's original.
Secondly, For the phrases now that belong to the outward state and
appearance of his life. Christ hath not in him proportion and beauty,
which are the objects allurable to men. We love things for the orderly
disposition of parts or colours ; the one is called form or comeliness, the
other beauty. So that Christ's mean appearance is described two ways : —
1. By the removal of excellency.
2. By the restraint of affection.
1. As to the removal of excellency. And therein —
222 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 2.
fl.] No proportion, no form nor comeliness is found in him. Then —
2.] As to beauty, there was no fitness of colour. These things are
not put here literally, to deny there was any individual or personal
beauty in Christ ; for I believe that he was not of a monstrous and
misshapen body, but well compacted and well coloured, — though I
doubt not but there have been a great many fictions about the body
of Christ, particularly what Lentulus says in his letters concerning
the amiableness of Christ's countenance, that he was of so fair a face,
and yet of so majestic an eye, that all that beheld him were enforced
to love and fear him. Nicephorus likewise said that Mary Magdalen,
who was at first a common strumpet, was drawn to hear Christ upon
a report of the comeliness of his person, and afterwards won by the
efficacy of his doctrine. No doubt he had a comely, well-featured,
healthy body. But this is not spoken of so much as his outward
port and presence to the world. He did not come with such pomp
and glory as they imagined was suitable to the majesty of the Messiah.
They thought he should have come in a royal way, with a great deal
of outward pomp and splendour, that so all the world might have ad
mired the great Redeemer of the Jews.
But how can it be said of Christ that he had neither comeliness nor
beauty, since it is said, Ps. xlv. 2, that ' he is fairer than the children
of men/ or * than the sons of Adam' ? And in Cant. v. 10-16, he
is described by the spouse to be well-coloured, ' My beloved is white
and ruddy, the chiefest of ten thousand ; ' and likewise well-featured,
as she goeth on from part to part, from head to feet ; and then con-
cludeth, ' He is altogether lovely/
To this I answer : —
(1.) It is one thing what Christ is to the spouse, another what he
is to the unbelieving Jews. Christ's beauties are inward, seen of
none but those that are inwardly acquainted with him. The spouse
speaketh of him in a spiritual sense. Here he is spoken of in respect
of his outward habitude in the world.
(2.) We must distinguish between Christ's humiliation and exalta
tion, his Godhead and his manhood. In his Godhead ; so he is ' the
brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his per
son,' Heb. i. 3, and consequently full of beauty. In his humiliation ;
so he is not only a man, but a mean man : Phil. ii. 9, ' He made him
self of no reputation/
(3.) In Christ's humiliation we must distinguish as to what he is
in himself and as to what he is in the eye of the world. In Christ's
manhood he did not appear in the form of God. It is said, Phil. ii.
7, ' He took upon him the form of a servant ; ' yet he did not lay aside
his Godhead : that appeared too sometimes in the power of his doc
trine and miracles ; but the world saw no form in him, none of the
form of the Godhead in him. Then —
2. As to the phrase that implieth restraint of affection, ' why we
should desire him/ But you will say, How then is Christ said to be
the desire of all nations, as we read, Hag. ii. 7, ' I will shake all
nations, and the desire of all nations shall come ' ?
I answer —
[1.] Though he is not actually desired, yet he is nevertheless
ISA. LIII. 2.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 223
worthy of esteem and affection. Pearls do not lose their worth
though swine trample upon them. It is the world only that is
offended at his meanness, and saith, ' There is no beauty in him
wherefore we should desire him.' But —
[2.] You judge by the eye and appearance. Now a carnal heart
can see no excellency in Christ ; and when you see him, if you trust
to your sight merely, you will not desire him. Thus you have the
meaning of the words. Now —
Secondly, To accommodate this prophecy to Christ, and show you
how it agreeth to him, that so his love may be displayed and held
forth to your meditations, that he should submit himself to such mean
ness for your sakes. Wherefore I desire that you would with me ob
serve these few things. And first from the causal particle : * For he
shall grow up as a tender plant.' He gives a reason why so few be
lieved the report.
The point therefore is this : —
Doct. 1. That Christ's meanness, and want of outward pomp arid
splendour, is the great prejudice against the entertainment of him
and the things of his kingdom.
In handling this point I shall treat of his meanness both in his
life and doctrine.
First, As to his meanness in his manner of revealing himself to the
world. Because the beginnings of his kingdom were weak, the world
rejected it. I will prove this by a reason or two.
1 . Because we have no light to see any excellency in other things
but what are outwardly glorious. Men being inured to such things,
think them the only things. Corrupt desires make a corrupt mind.
Where there is flesh, there will be a knowing of things after the flesh,
2 Cor. v. 16 ; and we will think such things only to be glorious.
Men's judgments are as their affections ; for as these are, so are their
conceits of happiness : 1 Cor. ii. 12, ' We have not received the spirit
of the world.' There is a spirit of the world which raaketh men think
that the greatest excellency is in the things of the world, as in outward
fineness, royalty, learning, eloquence, pomp, and splendour. Christ is
mean, and therefore rejected, because he cometh not with these things.
2. Because we judge altogether by likelihoods and outward appear
ances. Samuel thought sure that Eliab was the man, because he
looked upon his countenance and the height of his stature, 1 Sam.
xvi. 7 ; but it is added, * Man seeth not as God seeth ; man looketh
to the outward appearance/ We judge of things according as they
are to our senses. Many would have thought that some great emperor
should have been the Messiah, rather than the poor child in the man
ger at Bethlehem. Most people will have it that truth is rather on
that side that is accompanied and accommodated with outward autho
rity, applause, and other advantages of learning and eminency, than
among a few despicable men, such as the martyrs were.
3. Because we envy and despise any worth that is veiled under mean
ness, as if it were a disgrace to us to take anything from those beneath
us. It was a great condescension in Job, chap. xxxi. 13, that he
would ' not despise the cause of his servants when they contended with
him/ Certain it is otherwise in the world ; they consider the person
224 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 2.
and envy the excellency ; as you may read, Mat. xiii. 55, &c. Though
they were astonished at his doctrine, yet they said, * Is not this the car
penter's son ?' and were oifended at him. His mean original hindered
them from giving that due honour and respect that they should.
Use 1. The use of this may be to inform us : —
1. Whence it is that Christ is differently entertained in the world,
which is, because some see nothing but the outward meanness, others
the inward excellency : Luke ii. 34, ' This child is set for the fall and
rising of many in Israel/ Because this child, therefore for the fall
and rising of many. And therefore he is called a rock of offence and
a stumbling-stone, Rom. ix. 33. God would not satisfy every one.
There was inward power in Christ, and outward meanness, and many
times he did exert and put forth his inward power : 1 Peter ii. 7, * To
them that believe he is precious ; but to others a stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offence/ God will satisfy those that are desirous to
learn the things of his kingdom ; as for others, there is so much out
ward meanness and reproach laid upon his ways, as to harden them
against them. If you will know the reason why so many are pre
judiced against the ways of Christ, it is because they see nothing in
them worthy of their choice. Oh, it is a great mercy of God for any to
see the beauty of religion through the clouds of meanness, affliction,
self-denial, and all those troubles to which it engageth men.
2. Do not despise things for their meanness, for so thou mayest
condemn the ways of God. God will have his people love him for his
own sake, not for the outward accommodation and advantages we
have by him. As it is said, John vi. 26, ' Jesus answered them and
said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me not because ye saw the
miracle, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled/ Princes
try the affections of their subjects most when they come to them in a
disguise, and veil their majesty under the plainest garb ; and so did
Christ to the world, and still does to this day. He suffereth this
stumbling-block, to see if we will look beyond it. As there was mean
ness in the outward habitude of Christ's person, so there is now in the
administration of his kingdom ; as appears by considering : —
[1.] That the ordinances are weak to appearance ; there is nothing
but plain words, plain bread and wine, in one ordinance, and only water
in another. The simple plainness of the ordinances is an obstacle to
men's believing ; they would fain bring in pomp, but that will mar
all. When there were wooden chalices, there were golden priests.
God would have his ordinances like himself, simple and full of virtue.
The tabernacle was all gold within, but covered with badgers' skins
without. This stumbleth the world at first dash ; they will not look
for gold where they see nothing but badgers' skins : 2 Kings v. 12,
* Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the
waters of Israel ?' What ! no greater thing to be done for my health?
I might have done thus at home. So some are apt to say, We had
better read at home, than wait upon such plain preaching ; but re
member, it is God's ordinance, and that puts a value upon it.
[2.] These ordinances are administered by weak men. Many times
God singleth out the meanest. Our Saviour sent fishermen to conquer
the world, and made use of a goose-quill to wound Antichrist. Moses,
ISA. LIII. 2.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 225
the stammering shepherd, was commissioned to deliver Israel ; God
makes use of Amos, who was a herdsman, to declare his will, Amos L
1. So Elisha the great prophet was taken from the plough, 1 Kings
xix. 19. And many times God made use of young men, such as Paul,
whose very person causeth prejudice ; young Samuel, young Timothy,
men of mean, descent, low parentage, and of no great appearance in
the world.
[3.] The manner how it is by them managed, which is not in such
a politic, insinuating way as to beguile and deceive, and as if they
were to serve their own ends : 2 Cor. i. 12, the apostle saith, * Our
rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity
and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, we have our conversation
among you.' He calleth it carnal wisdom to use any underhand dealing
to gain esteem to their way, or to go in any by-path out of Christ's
way. They did nothing deceitfully and closely, but what they openly
held forth. And so now the less there is of worldly wisdom, the more
God prevaileth : Luke xvi. 8, ' The children of this world are wiser in
their generation than the children of light.'
[4.] The persons by whom it is entertained, the poor : James ii. 5,
' Hath not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith ? '
Usually God's true people are the meanest and most contemptible,
not being so noted for outward excellency as others, Mat. xi. God
revealeth the things of his kingdom to babes,, men destitute of out
ward [sufficiencies. This hath been always a great prejudice against
Christ's doctrine : John vii. 48, * Have any of the rulers or the phari-
sees believed on him ?' Have the great men, the great scholars, closed
with that way ?
[5.] The general drift of it is to make men deny their pleasures, to
overlook their concernments, to despise the world, to hinder unjust
gain, to walk contrary to the honorary customs and fashions of the
world. If men would be Christians indeed, they will find that the
usual customs of the world are most contrary to Christianity ; as to for
give injuries, to seek reconciliation, to put up with disgrace, and to show
kindness to those that are not likely to repay us again : Luke xiv. 12-
14, * When thou makest a dinner or supper, call not thy friends,
nor thy brethren, nor thy rich neighbours, lest they bid thee again,
and a recompense be made unto thee ; but call the poor, the blind,
and the lame, and the maimed, for they cannot recompense thee ; for
thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.' So to
make a man contented, though he and his family should be in a mean
condition, though he be not so great in the world as others ; yet this is a
great prejudice against the ways of Christ. Therefore do not despise
persons or things for their meanness ; do not count zeal folly, or reli
gion weakness ; do not reckon them among fools that are conscien
tiously scrupulous : Heb. xiii. 2, it is said, that some that entertained
strangers thereby entertained angels unawares ; so some that refuse
things because of outward appearance, they refuse Christ unawares ;
they may condemn and reproach the very saints and people of God.
Luke xvi. 15 : * That which is highly esteemed among men is abomi
nation in the eyes of God.' There is no judging by the outward proba
bility and face of things. Still true, strict Christianity is disesteemed
VOL. in. p
226 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 2.
in the world ; men look upon it as some humorous, misshapen conceit,
that looketh enviously upon their pleasures, contrary to their natures, and
unbefitting their quality. That you may not thus despise the things
that any way concern the kingdom of Christ for their meanness, I
shall give you these four directions : —
(1.) Beg the Spirit of God that he would suggest to you his will
and counsel in all things. The spirit of the world or your own spirit
will make you judge amiss, and that nothing is God's but what is out
wardly glorious ; and so even Christ may become a stone of stumbling
and a rock of offence to you, and you may despise the greatest truth.
The things of Christ's kingdom are carried in a secret way. The
Spirit telleth us what things are given us of God. Plain things must
be set on by the demonstration of the Spirit, or else we shall see no
beauty in them : 1 Cor. ii. 4, A Christian sucketh marrow out of that
which is dry bones to a natural man. Do not trust to your own rea
son. Leave a man to his reason, to the mere considerations of flesh
and blood, and he can perceive no beauty in the glorious ways of
Christ. This is the cause why great scholars are so much mistaken
in the things of his kingdom
(2.) Walk in the ways of God, in his fear and love — keep commu
nion with him and he will direct you: Ps. xxv. 13, ' The secret of the
Lord is with them that fear him ; he will show them his covenant.'
God discovereth himself particularly to his own people. They are his
friends, and you know friends reveal themselves mutually to one
another in the greatest secrets ; as Christ giveth the reason : John
xv. 15, 'I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of
my Father, I have revealed to you.' Those that keep up a continual
acquaintance with God, by manifesting their love and fear of him,
shall have divine mysteries manifested to them : Col. i. 26, ' The
mystery that was hid from ages is made manifest to the saints/
Truths that have long lain hid through many successions and revolu
tions of ages, are at length made known to holy persons. Where
there is purity, there is revelation : ' The pure in heart shall see God,'
Mat. v. 8. They shall see more of his truth and mind in those things
which if they should judge of by their own reason, they would con
temn. So also it is said, Prov. iii. 32, ' His secret is with the right
eous.' They have not only other kinds of knowledge, but knowledge of
the secret of such a way as is veiled with contempt, reproach, and un
likelihood to the world. Blind and carnal men sometimes stumble
upon the despised ways of Christ ; but they do but plough with the
saints' heifer, and light their torch at the altar. Their self-ends and
by-interests make them borrow from truth ; but it is with them as
it is with parrots, they speak the words of men not of reason but
custom ; they learn a truth when it is delivered, they have been used
to such notions.
(3.) Exercise faith ; that is, the evidence of things not seen, Heb.
xi. 1 ; that is, not seen by natural sense or reason. It is 6'0#aA/-iG9
T^? tyvxrjs, — tne eve> th6 discovering part of the soul. As reason is
to a natural man, so is faith to a godly man. It carrieth a man
within the veil : what cannot be made out to sense and reason is
made out to faith. Ideo credo quia est impossibile, — therefore I be-
ISA. LIIL 2.] THE FIFTY-THIBD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 227
lieve, because it is impossible. Though, in your own thoughts, you
would fain have things otherwise, yet, if there be revelation to the
contrary, believe it ; as that there is happiness in sufferings, — that the
reproach of Christ is better than all the treasures of the world, — that
there is life in death. Faith seeth that easy and plain which is the
greatest contradiction to reason and sense. See what a riddle St Paul
telleth you by faith : 2 Cor. vi. 9, 10, ' As unknown, yet well known ;
as dying, and behold we live ; as chastened, and not killed ; as sorrow
ful, yet always rejoicing ; as poor, yet making many rich ; as having
nothing, and yet possessing all things/ Faith maketh us see that in
a thing which reason would tell us were the greatest absurdity and
inconsistency in the world to believe ; as that Abraham should see
Christ before he was extant. The Jews were ready to stone Christ
for saying so : * Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he
saw it and was glad.' Faith captivates reason to scripture, and
maketh a man close with the revelation against his own conceits and
prejudices. Only take this caution,— -though faith seeth things im
possible and improbable, yet they are only such things as are revealed
by God.
(4.) Deny carnal reason and sense; do not judge of divine things
by outward appearance. Hear what the apostle saith : ' Eye hath
not seen, ear hath not heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of
man to conceive, what God hath prepared for them that love him'—
that is, carnal eyes, carnal sense, and carnal thoughts ; weighing that
place with the context, that seemeth to be the meaning. To an or
dinary reason, or eye, or ear, things would not appear so. Now, because
this rule is general, I shall a little restrain it by these particulars.
1 . Do not cast away anything of Christ because it is despised or
discountenanced. Take heed, a saint may suffer under a reproachful
name. Christ was a despised branch, a root out of a dry ground ;
and Christianity was contemned because of the ill name and com
mon cry against it. Most Christians offend in blind zeal ; they con
demn things before they have tried them. Though the censure be
right, it is ill in thee. Nicodemus suggested good advice: 'Doth
our law judge any man before it hear him, and know what he doth ? '
It was a pharisaical spirit to take up a prejudice, and not to be willing
to hear what might be said for it. It was the misery of the primitive
Christians that they could not be heard to speak out. Nolentes au-
dire quod auditum damnare non possunt — men are unwilling to
hear that which they are resolved to condemn as soon as heard. It
would be confutation enough if men did but know the beauty of the
ways of religion. It is always this hasty zeal which rejecteth things
upon public scorn without due trial : examine first and then speak.
Though it be a despised and unlikely way, it is like thou mayest find
somewhat of God in it.
2. Because it is an afflicted way. Afflicted godliness is a great pre
judice. But remember God never intended that truth should be known
by pomp, nor condemned or disallowed for the troubles that accom
pany it. The drift of Christianity is to take us off from the hopes and
fears of the present world ; therefore he that liketh Christ and Ms
promises is not likely to be separated from him by persecution.
228 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 2.
3. Because poor men are of that way, those that have the meanest
parts, and no outward excellencies : Mat. xi. 26, 'At that time Jesus
answered and said, I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes.' The Jesuits have charged it upon the
ministers of France, that they were poor. So in Salvian's time ; Cog-
untur esse mali, ne viles Jiabeantur — men would not be religious, be
cause they would not be ranked among poor men. So the Albigenses
were called the poor men of Lyons. Usually the priests' lips preserve
knowledge, but sometimes God worketh extra ordinem. A simple
laick nonplussed a bishop at the council of Nice, and many that were
very mean in the world were martyrs.
4. Because thou mayest seem to hazard thy wisdom by closing with
it. ' If any man seem to be wise, let him become a fool that he may be
wise.' Thus I have despatched the first observation, namely, that
Christ's meanness in his person and kingdom is the great hindrance
against the entertainment of him ; few or none believed. ' For he shall
grow up as a tender plant.
I come now to insist upon the second point, which is this : —
Doct. 2, That though Christ's meanness be a great hindrance against
the entertainment of him, yet, it is by the special appointment of God.
He shall grow up before him. God orders it that the Messiah should
come in such a manner. I shall be brief in handling this point. There
is nothing about Christ but fell under God's decree, and the special
care of his providence. All the circumstances of his birth, the time,
place, manner of every action, you have some instance of it. The
counsel of God brought it to pass, and the scripture was frequently
quoted, ' that that might be fulfilled which was spoken concerning him ; '
yea, the most malicious actions of the enemies are spoken of as ap
pointed by God, as particularly their spite to him in his death : ' Him,
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,
ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.' Judas
delivered him, Pilate delivered him, and God delivered him. ' For of
a truth against thy holy child Jesus, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
and the Gentiles, were gathered together, to do whatsoever thy hand and
thy counsel determined before to be done/ Acts iv. 27, 28. ' Whom being
delivered by the counsel of God.' This was God's grand contrivance ;
here was his 7roXu7ro//aAo? o-o<f)ta, ( the manifold wisdom of God/ Eph.
iii. 10. So St Paul calleth the wise disposition of our salvation by
Christ : * Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness, God
manifest in the flesh/ This was the great mystery. When a man is
to make some rare engine, he will look to every screw and wheel, that
all is set and ordered right. Here was God's great masterpiece, in
which he would show himself, and the great copy of his eternal
thoughts. That is the reason.
This point affordeth us many useful considerations, as this decree
of God may be referred —
1. To Christ.
2. To the wicked.
3. To the godly.
1. To Christ. God decreed this, anH Christ fulfilled it. It is a
ISA. LIII. 2.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 229
wonder to see how all things did conspire to make Christ conform in every
thing to God's counsel concerning him. As, for instance, in Augustus
his decree, which caused Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem, where
she was delivered. It would be too long to give you the history of the
gospel. Many providences did meet, that all things whatever God had
decreed might come to pass. Admire therefore the manifold wisdom
of God in contriving these things.
2. In respect of the wicked. God appointed this meanness of Christ
before them. Before them he shall rise up. God punisheth sin by
occasions of sin. God may be said to harden sinners three ways : — (1.)
By leaving them to themselves, as it is said, he left the Gentiles to their
own ways, Acts xiv. 16 ; (2.) By permitting them to enter into them ;
(3.) By presenting to them such objects from whence their corruption
taketh occasion to sin, though they were things good in themselves ; as
Jer. vi. 21, * I will lay stumbling-blocks before this people.' The Jews
argue that Christ is not the Messiah, because he did not come in such
a way as to satisfy all his countrymen. God would have Christ mean
that all might not believe in him, though not to cause sin, but to pro
mote his just judgments. So God's cause and Christ's ways have diffi
culty enough in them to harden them. God pursueth his secret judg
ments upon them. Admire, therefore, and fear God's judgments on
the wicked. It was by the special appointment of God that it was so
mean.
3. For the godly. God appointed all the meanness of Christ for
their sakes, for whom it is a double comfort.
[1.] From the eternity of God's thoughts towards them. Christ
from before all worlds was appointed to be a captain of salvation
through many sufferings, and to undergo many hardships for your
sakes. This length of love is a great refreshment to the spirit ; and
when the soul reflects upon the meanness of Christ as the effect of
God's eternal thoughts of mercy to it, it is the more encouragement to
believe. ' Christ verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the
world, but manifested in these last times for you/ He would have
them established in that as a sure truth.
[2.] It is a comfort to them in their meanness ; it is that which is ap
pointed. They shall be conformable to their Head in this respect. They
shall undergo no condition but what God from all eternity had decreed
for them : Col. i. 24 ; Paul and all the godly are said to fill up what is
behind of the sufferings of Christ in their flesh. The church and
Christ make but one body ; that which they suffer, he suffers ; that
which he suffereth, they suffer. The sufferings of the godly are ap
pointed as well as Christ's meanness.
I now proceed to the third observation, namely : —
Doct. 3. That this meanness of Christ was willingly taken up by
him both in his birth and life and manner of appearing among men.
1. In his birth.
[1.] For the time of it. It was when the royal stock of David was
quite extinct, and even come so low that Joseph was but a carpenter
by profession. ' Is not this the carpenter's son ?' And therefore is the
genealogy of Joseph and Mary so carefully sought out by the evange
list, because it was not commonly and publicly known that they were
230 A PKACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIIT. 2.
of that lineage. The throne of "David was occupied by Herod, who
was an Ascalonite ; he was 'ETTL <j>6pQis Teray^evos, rather an observer
of the tribute than a king.
[2.] The place, Bethlehem, a small place, not able to make up one
division in Israel, the least of the thousands of Judah. A man would
have thought he should have been born in some great city, as Koine
or Jerusalem. No ; but he chose to be born in Bethlehem, and suffered
at Jerusalem : he had the least place to be born, but the greatest to
suffer in. And then again, he was not born in any stately room at
Bethlehem, but in a stable, nay, in a manger in the stable. Christ
would have all mean at his birth.
[3.] Consider how in everything he was found in shape like another
child, being circumcised the eighth day. He submitted to the law
as soon as he was born into the world, to teach his followers obe
dience.
[4.] Consider the oblation that was made for him, such as was made
for poor people — a pair of turtle-doves and two young pigeons, the
poor's offering. Those that were not able to bring a lamb were to
bring two turtles and two young pigeons, and that was accepted for
an atonement. Thus much for his birth : yet we may observe there
was something divine still mingled with Christ's outward meanness,
as the appearing of the star, the trouble of the Jews, the wise men's
report and offerings. By these things God would leave them without
excuse, and under this poverty discover some glimpses of the deity.
2. Now for his life and manner of appearance in the world.
He was altogether found in fashion as a man, as the apostle saith ;
that is, to outward appearance just as other men, for his growth was
as other men's, by degrees : ' And Jesus increased in wisdom and sta
ture, and in favour with God and man.' Though he had a most
perfect divine soul given him at first, yet as he grew in stature he
exercised and discovered the vigour of his faculties, which is there
called increasing in knowledge, showing forth in his several ages more
degrees of knowledge, that in all things he might conform to us. It
would be too large for me to insist upon everything, therefore briefly
take it thus : — His life was spent in much toil and labour, going to
and fro ; nay, and probably too, in mean labour, in his father's trade :
Mark vi. 3, * Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary ? ' Not only
the carpenter's son, but the carpenter. In his younger time he exer
cised that trade, as Justin Martyr, a most ancient historian, whites :
he made yokes and ploughs. And when he put himself upon the way
and duty of his ministry, he was in much want and penury ; he was
an hungry, Mat. iv. 2; thirsty, John iv. 6 ; without house and home :
Mat. viii. 20, ' Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but
the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.' Yea, so poor was he,
that he had not wherewith to pay his poll- money for his head to the
Eomans, Mat. xvii. 27 ; therefore Peter is fain to go to the sea and catch
a fish. I will not touch upon those that especially take in his suffering,
that will fall in the next verse ; only take notice how he was hunted up
and down by the pharisees, how he was scorned and derided by them,
so far as it reflects upon his weakness, as Luke xvi. 14, egspvicTJptfaf,
— they blew their nose at him in great scorn, as the word may be ren-
ISA. LIII. 2.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 231
dered. Nay, when he would show any royalty, and come as a king to
Sion, he came riding upon the foal of an ass, Mat. xxi. 5.
Use 1. Oh, then be exhorted —
1. To admire the love of God, that he should stoop to such a low
condition for your sakes. Here is a large field for meditation ; ex
patiate your thoughts, then, and trace Christ in all the history of his
life, from the cradle to the grave, from the stable to Golgotha, and
see what a mean and contemptible life he led.
2. Faithfully apply it, and say, All this was done for my good. The
scriptures do not only take notice of Christ's humiliation, but of the
very end of it. Most read the history of Christ as a man would do a
romance, to be a little affected with it for a time ; they take notice
what is done, but not why ; there is not that faithful appropriation :
Gal. iv. 4, 5, ' When the fulness of time was come, God sent his Son,
made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem us that were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption of ons.' Mark the end,
and say, This was done for me ; for us is too general. Why was Christ
so mean ? It was that I might be rich : 2 Cor. viii. 9, * For ye know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for
your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be
rich ;' rich in grace, and rich in comfort, Ure^o?, the word signifieth
he became a beggar, not that he did beg, but he lived in continual
need of a supply, and would sometimes put forth some glimpses of
his divinity to command his welcome : Luke xix. 5, * Zaccheus, make
haste and come down, for to-day I must abide at thy house.' Yet I
say, Christ put himself upon this meanness for our sakes. Speciosus
prce filiis hominum, obscuratur pro filiis hominum, saith Bernard.
It is for our sakes that he who is altogether lovely in himself had no
form, that we might be made lovely and beautiful ; he was without
comeliness, that his church might be comely, without spot or wrinkle,
as the apostle speaketh, Eph. v. 27. He was besmeared with blood,
that the church might be without spot. It is good to observe that
Christ's meanness was not only in judgment, for a stumbling-block to
the wicked, but in mercy to the godly. If he had discovered his deity
at first, he had never suffered, and then the work of our redemption
had stood still. It is a good observation of St Austin, quoted by
Aquinas, Dum omnia mirabiliter fecit,, auferret quod misericorditer
fecit — if he had done all things wonderfully, he had done nothing
mercifully. Christ's meanness, as it is a great mercy to mankind, see
that it be so to you.
Use 2. Is information. It informeth us, then : —
1. That poverty and meanness is not disgraceful. Christ himself
was a carpenter, Paul a tent-maker, and the apostles fishermen.
Christ, you see, scorned that glory, pomp, and greatness which the
world doteth upon. Men look upon the outside as if the horse were
the better for the trappings, or anything without a man could ennoble
him : Prov. xix. 1, ' Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity,
than he that is perverse in his lips.' A man is rightly esteemed by
his internal qualifications. One holy saint is to be preferred above all
the rich men that abound in the greatest affluence of estate and pomp.
It should be so with all, much more with the godly. It is a reproach
232 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 2.
to Christ to contemn any man for his poverty, because he is meaner
in the world than we : Prov. xiv. 31, ' He that despiseth the poor
reproacheth his Maker.' Can I believe that ever you would honour
Christ, who despise the poor ? Would you not him too ? He that
despiseth the poor reproacheth his Saviour. It is the most contrary
affection to the Christian religion.
2. It informs us that poverty should not be irksome to us. Christ
underwent it before you ; his apostles were base in the world's eye :
1 Cor. iv. 13, ' We are made as the filth of the world, and are the
offscouring of all things ;' counted the scurf of the earth. Christ
chose this kind of life, a holy meanness, and therefore be not troubled.
Poverty is a great burden, I confess, and layeth a man open to many
a disadvantage, — scorn, contempt, and refusal. But consider, Christ
hath honoured it in his own person, and he honoureth it to this very
day. If there be any respect of persons with God, he respecteth the
poor, and reveals most of himself to them : * The poor receive the
gospel/ Mat. xi. 5 ; 'I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted
and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord,' Zeph.
iii. 12. God hath provided for the esteem of all his servants. What
is wanting one way is more plentifully supplied in another ; so that
those that have the least outward esteem, are justly accounted the
most excellent. Every condition, I confess, hath its snares, but poverty
hath least. This disposeth the soul to hearken to divine things, that
their outward defects may be made up in some inward excellency.
Everything naturally seeketh after a supply of its wants ; and there
fore, as it is in outward things, persons that are themselves deformed
are most deeply stricken with the love of beauty in others, that they
may cover their own wants by linking themselves with that abundance
of perfection that they spy in them ; so the godly poor are more dis
posed to hearken to religion, because more sensible of their defects,
that the meanness of their outward estate may be covered and satisfied
for by the riches of those graces that are in their souls. And indeed,
as these are fitter to receive a manifestation, so God doth most mani
fest himself to them : the first report that was made of Christ was
made to shepherds and poor swains. Therefore on these accounts
poverty is not so irksome.
Use 3. Is instruction. It teacheth us divers lessons : — Was Christ
both in birth and manner of appearance in the world mean ? Then —
1. It teacheth us humility, that he should empty himself of all his
glory, and live in a mean estate. The apostle sets out this pattern
excellently : Phil. ii. 6-8, ' Who, being in the form of God, thought it
no robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form, of a servant, and was made in the like
ness of men ; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled him
self, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross/
He divested himself of all his royalty, that he might teach us this
pattern of humility. Most men love to live to the utmost, — in a proud,
pompous way, and disdaining of others. You see Christ, when he
might have discovered majesty, held forth nought but poverty. And,
indeed, it was principally to teach us this lesson : Mat. xi. 29, * Learn
of me, for I am meek, and lowly of heart.' He doth not say, Learn
ISA. LIII. 2.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 233
of me, quia potens; but, Learn of me, quiet Immilis sum — not, Learn
of me, for I am powerful ; but, Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly.
Christ is not to be imitated in his power, but he is to be imitated in
his graces. Not, Learn of me to do miracles, to create the world ; but,
to be lowly and humble-minded. This is the great pattern and copy
that God hath set us, to wit, humility.
2. To be mean and low for Christ, as he was for you. Christ was
poor that you might be rich — rich in peace, joy, comfort, salvation.
Can you find such a rare instance as would be poor for Christ that he
may be rich in his glory, in his ordinances, in the safety of his servants ?
We have read of many that have been poor for their lusts, they have
prodigally lavished away their estates upon their pleasures ; but very
few have been poor for Christ : Phil. ii. 5; ' Let the same mind be in
you that was in Jesus.' The apostle applieth it to humility, and we
may also to the same purpose. Do you have as bountiful a disposi
tion to God as Christ had for you ? Can anything be too much for
him ? If a man truly serveth God, he would come as near him as
possibly he could. Well, Christ cast away his glory for you ; do you
cast away your riches for Christ, not by a vowed poverty, but by a
voluntary laying out yourselves for his word, his cause, and gospel ? It
is not waste where all is due ; and indeed nothing is lost that is laid
out upon God : Mat. x. 39, 'He that findeth his life shall lose it ; and
he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.' Therefore, if you do,
as Ahaz's dial, go back ten degrees in your estate or outward pomp,
the nearer will you come to the pattern. There is one who has quitted
more for you than you can possibly quit for him. But I shall pro
ceed to the next doctrine.
Doct. 4. That Christ is so outwardly mean, that the men of the
world do not any way desire him, or that carnal men do see nothing
in Christ wherefore they should desire him. To his spouse he is all
beauty, ' altogether lovely ;' but to them there was no beauty why they
should desire him.
The reasons of the point are these : —
1. Because carnal men neglect the study of Christ ; their hearts are
so taken with the things of sense, and the beauty of the creatures, that
they do not look any further. We are riot much affected with an
unknown beauty ; things that we know only by a general hearsay do
not work upon us. Christ must be in our thoughts before, he can be
in our desires. The Jews looked upon Christ's outside, and therefore
minded him no further. So men hear of Christ in a slight way ; so
far as they know him by the common noise and report, so far they
close with him. But they do not see why they should desire him, and
slight apprehensions stir up but weak affections. The spouse displayeth
every part of Christ, to work upon her bowels : Cant. v. 10-16, 'My
beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. His
head is as the most fine gold ; his locks are bushy, and as black as a
raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed
with milk, and finely set. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet
flowers; his lips like lilies, dropping sweet-smelling myrrh. His
hands are as gold rings, set with the beryl; his belly is as bright
ivory, overlaid_with sapphires ; his legs are as pillars of marble set upon
234 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 2.
sockets of fine gold. His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the
cedars. His mouth, is most sweet ; yea, he is altogether lovely. This
is my beloved, and this is my friend, 0 daughters of Jerusalem/ The
apostle wondereth that the Galatians should not obey the truth, when
Jesus Christ was evidently set forth and crucified among them before
their eyes, Gal. iii. 1. It was so in the word, but not in their thoughts.
Men's hearts are wedded to the creatures, and so the breasts of their
own roe satisfy them, and therefore they do not gaze upon other beauties.
2. Because they reject Christ ; he is not for their turn ; nay, he is
quite contrary to their ends. Carnal men have not all the same ends,
but they all agree in this, their ends are carnal. Those that would
not come to the wedding-supper, some had their farm, some their
merchandise to mind, another had married a wife, and therefore could
not come ; all said, they could not come : Mat. xxii. 5, ' They all made
light of it, and went their ways/ So they all despised Jesus Christ.
Some wicked men make riches their end. Now see what Christ saith :
Mat. xix. 24, ' It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God/ It is by
the great power of God that a rich man is saved, as it followeth, ' All
things are possible with God/ Now Christ is not for a rich man's turn.
Christianity furnisheth men with precepts, not only against unjust
gain, but mere desires of gain, or delight in gain. It contains
precepts, that the kingdom of God is to be sought first, and his
righteousness. And we are to look to these things from God for an
aclditional supply : Mat. vi. 32, ' After these things do the Gentiles
seek/ It is not a Christian but a paganish spirit that maketh men so
inordinate in the pursuit of gain. Then for honour, preferment, or
applause, the scripture is peremptory against it : John v. 44, ' How
can ye believe, who seek honour one of another, and not the honour
that cometh from God only?' This pursuing of glory, honour, and
renown is incompatible with a Christian affection. The force of the
argument lieth thus : How can those that seek honour believe in him
that contemneth honour ? Only he is fit to believe in God that
maketh eternal life the end of his desires and endeavours, which is
called the glory that cometh from God. The like argument is used
by the apostle : Gal. i. 10, ' For if I yet pleased men, I should not be
the servant of Christ/ He did not labour to frame his doctrine and
life so as might be pleasing and suitable to the affections of men.
Pride and ambition are the most unsuitable affections to religion that
can be. There is such an antipathy between what God liketh and men
like, that it is impossible they should be in the same soul. Then for
pleasures ; there are men that have quit human nature, and are so far
from desiring Christ, that they do not desire a free use of their reason.
Keason is not for their turn, and therefore certainly religion is not.
This is the very affection that is in the brute beasts. They have some
general object, a sensual good, only they differ in the particular modi
fication of the object. Beasts are for grass and water, these for meats
and drinks. All the use they make of their reason is to be more
curious than the beasts in their choice ; and therefore Christ is not for
their ends : ' Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto
life,' Mat. vii. 13. It is spoken specially in opposition to the voluptuous.
ISA. MIL 2.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 235
The ways of God are fenced up with thorns to them : Prov. xv. 19,
* The way of a slothful man is an hedge of thorns.' Everything is
grievous and troublesome that requireth care and diligence. Thus they
reject Christ because he is not suitable to them. To apply it now.
Use 1. It serveth for information, to teach us the difference between
God's people and carnal men. To God's people he is all their desire ;
to carnal persons there is nothing desirable in him. It is good to
observe their several verdicts of him : 1 Peter ii. 7, ' To you that
believe he is precious, but to them that be disobedient, the stone
which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the
corner, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence/ To the
world he is base and ignominious: Ps. xxii. 6, 'A worm, and no
man, a reproach of men, and despised of the people.' To the spouse,
glorious and full of allurements : Ps. xlv. 2, ' Thou art fairer than
the children of men : grace is poured into thy lips.' To the world
he appeared deformed and contemptible : Isa. lii. 14, * Many were
astonied at thee ; his visage was so marred more than any man, and
his form more than the sons of men ; ' but quite contrary to the
spouse : Cant. v. 10, ' My beloved is the fairest of ten thousand/ The
Hebrew word signifieth an ensign-bearer. In the world's view there
is no form nor comeliness in him ; he is without beauty. To the
spouse he is ' altogether lovely/ Cant. v. 16. Well, then, you see here
is the true differencing note between us and the men of the world,
whether we see anything in Christ why we should desire him. And
it is both an inclusive and an exclusive mark. Some marks are inclu
sive ; that is, if a man find them in him, he may be sure he is in
Christ ; but if not, he is not to determine he is out of Christ. As the
eminent and vigorous workings of holy graces, they do not take in
every state of Christianity, they do not take in the infancy of grace.
Other marks are exclusive ; that is thus, they knock off the fingers of
pretenders, and serve to show a man out of grace, but not in. As
frequenting of the ordinances, a care of duty ; if a man doth not these
things, he may be sure he is none of God's, though he cannot be sure
he is of God because he doth them. But now this is a mark that is
inclusive and exclusive too. It is inclusive, for if your desires be to
Christ, no doubt he is yours. It is a true mark, and a mark that is
compatible to the weakness of grace. It is a true mark, for God
looketh to the heart more than to the duty : Prov. xxiii. 26, * My son,
give me thy heart/ And desires are the chief est part of that. De
sires are most genuine and suitable to the judgment and determina
tion of the soul. They are a mark in which God's weakest servants
may comfort themselves. Those that fail in other things are not
wanting in desires. However they may have many defects in their
carnage and in their duties, yet they are sure their desires are towards
him. If they cannot be much in duty, they will be much in their
desires and valuations of him. Peter, that durst not appeal to his
own conscience for other things, dareth appeal to God's omnisciency
for this : John xxi. 17, * Lord, thou knowest all things ; thou knowest
that I love thee/ And the people of God often vouch this : Isa.
xxvi. 8, ' The desire of our soul is to thy name ; ' Neh. i. 11, ' Thy
servants who desire to fear thy name/ Therefore it is comfortable,
236 A PKACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 2.
and it is convincing too, and exclusive. Wicked men feel no desires ;
they have some slight wishes, carnal and weak velleities, but they have
no serious desires, nor true volitions. Balaam may wish to die the
death of the righteous, Num. xxiii. 10. So they may desire Christ
out of some general conceit of happiness; but they do not desire
Christ for holiness. So there is no beauty in him why we should
desire him. They do not desire him as seeing any beauty in his ways :
John vi. 34, c Lord, evermore give us this bread.' When Christ said
he was the bread of life, those that would not come to Christ would
fain have the bread of life. Nay, heaven itself is not really desired
by wicked men ; it is true, they may desire it in a carnal way, as a
Turkish paradise, and such a place of ease and delight as the Alcoran
sets forth ; but not as it is in itself, to enjoy God, and Christ, and more
grace, and to be more free and undisturbed in respect of the prevail
ing of sin and corruptions. Those that desire Christ truly, desire him
not for ease (the spirit of the world may do that), but from the beauty
and excellency they find in him, and in his ways. His service is of a
high and honourable nature, and therefore they desire it. So that
you see here is the note of trial, and the main difference, viz., a desir
ing of Christ for the rare beauty and perfections that are found in him.
Do you, then, try yourselves by this note. But that you may not
deceive yourselves in this matter, I will give you a few notes. I will
not speak anything of the cause of desires. A high value and price
set upon Christ, and a seeing rich beauties in him, of that I shall
speak in the next verse. I shall only treat now of the effects of this desire.
If it be earnest and strong after him, it will be manifested by these things.
1. A holy impatiency in the want of Christ. When we strongly
desire a thing, the heart fainteth under the want of it. Amnon was
sick for Tamar, 2 Sam. xiii. 1-4. And the spouse was sick of love
for Christ, Cant. v. 8. The soul languishes with a holy desire of the
sense of his mercy, with a longing after pardon, and grace, and
quickening, and life, and what is to be found in Christ. They can
find no rest in themselves till they do enjoy it : Ps. xlii. 1, 'As the
hart panteth after the water brooks, so doth my soul pant after thee,
0 God.' Thirst is the most implacable impression that can be upon
the body ; the creature cannot be quiet till it be quenched. Now, of
all creatures the hart is most thirsty by nature, and the thirst is
mightily increased when it is hunted. And mark, it is the she-hart,
for so the Seventy read it, 97 eXa^o?, ' The she-hart panteth after the
water brooks.' Passions in females are stronger than in the males.
As the she-hart panteth when chased, such a rage of thirst was there
in his soul till it were satisfied with. God, and refreshed with the com
forts of Jesus Christ. Search then for such a restless and strong
desire ; try if there be such an ardency and earnestness upon your
affections, that nothing can satisfy but Christ, that you cannot be
quiet till you have him. Was your heart never chased into a panting
for the water brooks ? Some tire haunted so by the ghastly appre
hensions of God's wrath, that they have no ease, no rest. But cer
tainly all that love Christ are chased into a panting ; they have such
a sense of their sins and miseries, that their souls are put into an
earnest expectation of the mercies of Christ.
ISA. LIII. 2.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 237
2. A holy indignation. Passions usually serve and accompany one
another. If there be a holy desire, there will be a holy anger. And
this is at two things : —
[1.] At anything that would rival the affection.
[2.] At what would hinder the enjoyment of the object.
[l.j At anything that would rival Christ in the affection. There
is a scorn that anything should come in competition with him, that
we should have so much as a thought that anything were worthy but
Christ : Phil. iii. 8, ' I count all things but loss and dung, that I may
win Christ.' Any outward excellency in comparison of him is but
o-fcv@a\a, dog's meat. It thinketh the worst name good enough for
anything that shall come in competition with him. And in such a
case gold is not gold, but dog's meat — honour is not honour — pleasure
is not pleasure — but all is dung and dog's meat. You know in a
natural way things have their due respect from us, till they be com
pared with what we dearly love and prize ; then no term is bad enough
for them. So here, the soul doth even abhor the thought that Christ
and other things should be spoken of the same day, which other
wise might have fairer respects and valuations from the soul. It is
worth your observation to see how the saints do abominate the
thought that anything should be supposed to satisfy them without or
besides Christ: Ps. iv. 6, ' There be many that say, Who will show
us any good ? Lord, lift up the light of thy countenance upon us.'
0 Lord, do not think we are of that strain. It is the many, the men
of the multitude, that think so ; they speak as if they would not own
such an unworthy thought, nor entertain any resolution to prostitute
their desires to any sensual good. God shall not turn them away so.
If they should have all things else, it is irksome to them to think
they should be contented. Te ipsum, Domine, da, quod peto, Domine,
da te ipsum ; as Austin crieth out : ' Thyself, Lord — thyself, Lord/
They are angry with themselves if any pleasing thought should arise
any other way, any vain conceit, that they should be happy apart from
God and Christ. It is an excellent saying of one, Tccdet gaudere sine
te, delectat contristari pro te — They had rather mourn for God than
delight without him. All their comforts are irksome to them if they
have not Christ with them. Try, then, is there such a zealous indig
nation against false thoughts in your comforts ? In what case do you
think yourselves ? ' Happy is the people that is in such a case.' If
that be a thought that is pleasing to your minds, it is a good sign.
[2] Indignation against what hindereth the enjoyment of the
object. A man is angry with what cometh between him and his
desires. If your desires be to Christ, you will be angry with your
perverse hearts, that keep you from him. When a man desireth to
sin, he is angry with God because he cometh in with his law, and
steppeth between us and our desires : Bom. viii. 7, ' The carnal mind
is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law, neither indeed
can be.' So when the desires are set and bent upon Christ, a man is
angry with himself that he is so clogged and weighed down with the
flesh that he cannot enjoy such full communion with him as he desires :
2 Cor. v. 4, * For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being bur
dened.' And David crieth out, Ps. cxx 5, * Woe is me that I sojourn
.
238 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 2.
in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedarf f) Trapoi/cta, my pil
grimage, is prolonged. They are angry with their own base hearts,
that still there is such a strangeness between them and Christ.
3. It will cause a holy waiting. Those that desired the coming of
the Messiah, waited for him ; as Simeon : Luke ii. 25, ' Waiting for
the consolation of Israel/ Earnest expectation is the formal and most
proper effect of the desire of anything. Look, as it is said of Sisera's
mother, Judges v. 28, ' She looked out at a window and cried through
the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming ? ' She would fain
meet with it as far as she could with her eyes. And so it is said,
Eom. viii. 19, ' The earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for
the manifestation of the sons of God/ 'ATrefcSexercu, the creature lifts
up the head — would fain see the general restoration of all things in
the world ; so the soul lifteth up the heart, it would fain see Christ
coming to it in this or that ordinance, — with a great deal of longing
they expect when he will draw their hearts to himself : Ps. cxxx. 6,
' My soul waiteth for thee more than they that watch for the morn
ing ; yea, more than they that watch for the morning.'
4. Another effect is a powerful command over the whole man. De
sires are the most vigorous faculties, they carry the whole soul along
with them. They will take up your thoughts, time, care, endeavours,
speeches. Look and you shall observe that a man is so affected in
earthly things, and, therefore, why not so in heavenly ? It is a bad
sign when there cannot be found the same proportion and care for
heavenly things as men have for the things of the world. Let us see
these things a little severally.
[1.] It will take up your thoughts. Our thoughts will be conversant
about what we desire. We love to feed upon the sweet of those things
that we long for, — to enjoy them in our meditations before we really
and actually enjoy them. Thoughts are the pulses of the heart, you
may know by them how it beats. When desires are at a high pitch,
we shall not be able to put off those pleasing imaginations that con
cern the object of these desires. Nay, they will haunt the mind in
the time of our usual repose and "rest : Isa. xxvi. 9, ' With my soul
have I desired thee in the night ; yea, with my spirit within me will
I seek thee early/ Night and morning, all their mind was upon this,
how they should get God.
[2.] It will challenge more of your time and care. When men will
make bold with God rather than their own occasions, it is a sign they
are but coldly affected to him. If your desires be to Christ, your care
and time will be more laid out upon him ; you will rather borrow
from yourselves, your own pleasures and business, than borrow from
God. I confess a man that is in a particular calling, and is to pro
vide for a wife and family, must necessarily spend more time in the
world than he can in religion ; but when he begrudgeth all time to God,
or thinketh all lost that is spent in duty, it is a sign there is little de
sire after Christ. When we are where we would be, time goeth too
fast for us ; therefore, try how it is with thee in point of religion :
Is all too much that is spent in duty P If the heart goeth out that
way, all will be too little. As men's desires are so their time goeth
away. Job xxi. 13, It is said of the wicked, ' They spend their days
ISA. LIII. 2.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 239
in wealth/ Voluptuous men do so, — so worldly men, they spend their
time in business and worldly cares, and are cumbered about much
serving. You may try your bent by that, how you spend your days.
J3.] It will put you upon endeavours. Those are true desires that
in action. Slight wishes after Christ never put us upon a pursuit
of him. If a man be earnest in a thing, he will try all ways he can
to compass it ; it shall be his earnest business. Men that are slight
would fain have Christ, but they will not seek him — Vellent, sed
nolunt: Prov. xxi. 25, * The desire of the slothful killeth him, for
his hands refuse to labour.' The slothful are most full of desires ;
they would fain have things, but they do not labour after them.
Now, it is otherwise with the children of God. The spouse, that was
sick for want of Christ, sought him through the streets, though it cost
her many a wandering, Cant. v. 7. God hath fenced up every excel
lent thing with difficulty, to see if we think it worth our endeavours.
Use 2. In the next place it serveth for exhortation, to press you to
do otherwise than the men of the world do, and to beware of their
spirit. Men see nothing in Christ why they should desire him, be
cause they judge with a carnal spirit. Let not any such black note be
found upon you : Do you make him the desire of your souls who is
deservedly styled ' the desire of all nations.' This exhortation hinteth
at three duties : —
1. Long to get him into your hearts. As all things are to him, let
your desires be to him : Kom. xi. 36, 'Of him, and through him, and
to him are all things ;' therefore, all creatures, — for it is the law of
their creation to move towards God, especially for reasonable creatures
so to do. But particularly by your desires look upon him as summum
necessarium, as the only chief thing for your souls.
2. Be careful to keep communion with him. If you have got him,
take heed you do not lose him again. Kemember the fate of the
spouse for parting with her beloved, and how dearly she paid for it,
Cant. v. 6, 7. Whatever carnal men judge of it, the favour of Christ
is worth the keeping.
3. Labour to get more interest in him. Worldly blessings have all
this lot and fate, that they cloy in the enjoyment. Christ is a mercy
of a nobler nature ; the more you see of his excellency, the more you
will thirst after him. When a man hath a taste of Christ, he will
labour for more of him. The great prejudice against him is, that men
have never had experience of him, Austin saith of himself, in the ninth
book of his Confessions, chap. i. : ' That the reason why he was loth
to close with Christ was, because he was to forego all pleasures, and
to deny himself in whatever was delightful, and that was very irksome
to him. But since,' saith he, * when once I had tasted Christ, quam
suave milii subito factum est carere suavitatibus nugarum ! It was the
greatest delight in the world to abstain from worldly delights.' Christ
made abundant recompense for them. Oh, how sweet is Christ to those
that have tried him, and made experience of him ! They will not
want their old delights again. I shall prescribe a few means how you
shall bring your hearts to desire Christ, to keep him, and to get
further interest in him : —
[1 .] Consider nothing is a fit object for your desires without Jesus
240 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [IsA. LIU. 2.
Christ. The creatures are beneath you. The desire of the soul is
like a member of the body out of joint when it is fixed upon a wrong
object. All things without Christ are either sin or the creatures.
To desire sin was the cause of the first misery; that is, forbidden
fruits. We know what that is by sad experience. As to the creatures,
to desire them for themselves is beneath us : it is, as it were, to sit
upon the threshold and the door of the gate when we might sit upon
the throne, — to make that our crown which should be our footstool :
Ps. viii. 6, it is said, ' Thou hast put all things under his feet.' God
made these things to be under our feet ; and, therefore, the church
is described, Kev. xii. 1, to have the moon under her feet. All sub
lunary things are beneath the people of God. I should a little digress
from the matter in hand, at least vary from my purpose, if I should
at large discourse of the uncertainty and frailty of the creatures, and
show how the desires may be lost and wasted upon them, which they
cannot be upon God ; or should I descant upon the unsuitableness of
the creatures, which cannot give true satisfaction to the soul ; but I
will only conclude this first rule with this : That sin is not to be de
sired at all, and the creatures only in reference to God and Christ,
otherwise, we sin in the desire or enjoyment of them.
[2.] Look upon Jesus Christ alone as the only object upon which
thy affections should be exercised. He hath all the properties in him
that a lawful desire looketh to, though the world cannot see it. He is
an excellent good, a necessary good, and one that deserveth the best of
our desires.
(1.) Consider he is an excellent good. Whatsoever is an attractive
of love is to be found in Christ. Oh, display his glorious beauties be
fore the soul ! There is in him greatness, goodness, glory, mercy,
peace, comfort, satisfaction : these are the beauties of Christ. Look
over all the world and see if there be any that can do you so much
good as he is able or willing to do. Cant. v. 10-16, The spouse de-
scribeth her beloved as a comely young man, as one of the greatest
perfections. It would be too large to go over every particular of that
description ; only, in the general, observe that the Spirit of God useth
such expressions as serve to discover outward beauty, to show us that
whatever we admire in the creatures is, in a far more eminent degree,
to be found in God and Christ. I know not how to be particular in
this large field ; only I shall a little single out the name of God to you,
as it is said, ' Thy name is as an ointment poured forth ; therefore do
the virgins love thee/ Cant. i. 3. And the desires of God's people are
always expressed to be towards his name in the scriptures. I shall
mention two attributes, and pour out the savour of them, and display
the beauty of them, which shine most gloriously in Jesus Christ ;
namely, his power and his mercy,
(1st.) His power and might. Christ is spoken of to'be the desire of
the nations, when he gave forth the greatest experiences of his power :
Hag. ii. 7, ' I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall
come.' Who would not desire him that is able to secure him against
all fears, to keep him in the midst of all dangers, and to comfort
him in all conditions? If a man would long after any person, he
would after him that is able to shake the nations and to secure
ISA. MIL 2.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 241
him against the common visible fears of mankind. Men run after
things for a little satisfaction and security, but still this troubleth
them ; they must die, and then all their shifts will not serve the
turn : Prov. xi. 7, ' When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall
perish/ Then all his desires— wife, children, friends — will not serve
the turn, when his cold corpse must be laid in the grave. But now
Christ is so powerful, that he is able to secure us against this fear,
to comfort us in death, and to raise us when dead.
(2dly.) His mercy is very great. A man's desire is restrained to
things many times, which though otherwise allurable, yet he hath no
hopes to obtain. Now here you may desire and be welcome, for your
suit will be entertained : Ps. cxi. 8, ' He satisfieth the longing soul,
and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.' When the soul openeth
itself to God, he filleth it ; the longing soul is satisfied : Rev. xxi.
6, * I will give to him that is athirst of the water of life freely.' You
need not stand off upon terms or punctilios; Christ will satisfy your
longing freely ; he hath passed his word : John vi. 37, ' He that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out/ They may have their
comfort hindered and interrupted in their own thoughts, but he will in
no wise cast them out.
(2.) Christ is a necessary good. Things may be excellent, yet if
they be not needful to us, the affections move but faintly after them.
Now Christ is unum necessarium, the one thing needful. It is not
enough to choose that which is good, but that which is needful :
Luke x. 42, ' But one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen the
better part/ Many follow after riches, pleasures, and honours, and
outward comforts ; these may be good in their kind, but they are not
needful. What good will those things do us to all eternity ? There
the love of God will only stand us in stead. The things of this world,
according to that usual saying among divines, are temporal in their
use, but the punishment for the abuse of them is eternal. The most
necessary and serviceable good to us is Jesus Christ ; therefore get the
judge to be your friend against the assizes.
(3.) Consider, he hath deserved that our strongest desires should be
after him, not only as he is the being of beings, and the fountain of
our lives and mercies, but as he laid down his life for us : John xii.
32, ' And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men
to me ; ' that is, I will do that which shall draw all men's desires to
nie ; he will leave such a debt of thankfulness upon them. Though
we could expect nothing from Christ, yet, by the law of thankfulness,
our desires are due to him.
Thirdly, I come now to the third thing propounded, which was to
give you some practical points and observations that concern man in
the ordering of his life and conversation. I shall handle but three,
and so quit this verse.
1. That God prosecuteth and accomplished his greatest designs
by the most unlikely and despised means. Jesus Christ, the great
Saviour of the world, was but a tender plant, which a man would be
more apt to tread upon and crush, than to cherish.
2. God cometh in for the deliverance of his people in times of
greatest despair and unlikelihood. For when the branches of Jesse
VOL. in. Q
242 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 2.
were dried up, and had no verdure, even then sprung up the greatest
ornament of that stock, although a root out of a dry ground.
3. Mean beginnings may grow up to great matters and glorious
successes. Christ, the tender plant, was to be a tall tree, under the
shadow of whose boughs all the fowls of heaven should lodge.
I begin with the first : —
Doct. 1. That God accomplished his .greatest designs by the most
unlikely and despised means. I might trace the way of God's prose
cution throughout all succession of ages, and show you how this truth
is verified. He made us out of the dust, and that is contemptible
matter. And as hath been our creation, so hath been our preserva
tion, even by dust, that which we would trample upon rather than
admire. But I shall rather come to the reasons of it, which are as
follow : —
1. That his glory may more appear. The weakness of the instru
ment directs our thoughts to the power of the supreme worker. {Should
things work according to the constant tenor of nature, and the
order of second causes, God might have no glory. We should look
upon successes and deliverances as coming to us by chance, and not
mind the great sway and poise by which all things in the world are
moved, and carried to their proper ends. Therefore God doth some
times more eminently put forth his hand this way. The weakness of
the instrument holdeth forth the glory of the first mover and agent.
The spirit of providence is discovered by it : Zech. iv. 6, ' Not by might
nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord/ My Spirit ; that is,
the invisible sway that directeth and ordereth all things to their
proper uses and effects. God worketh sometimes the most eminent
glorious things by these weak means, that you may not rest on second
causes.
2. That we may not see to the end of his counsels. A man doth
not know what God will do with despised branches ; God worketh in
such a way as doth not suit with our usual expectations : Isa. xlviii. 7,
' They are created now, and not from the beginning, even before the day
when thou heardestthem not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew
them/ The things of God's providence are said to be new things,
not created of old, lest we should say we understood them ; deliverance
cometh that way that we least looked for it. Certainly this is a new
thing, it is not according to the course of this world. God hath
created some things of higher value and greater efficacy than others,
but they are the old things. Notwithstanding, weak things are often
made use of by God. Should we see a man of a stately presence and
comely lineaments and proportion, we should straightway cry, This is
the anointed of the Lord, he is now before him, as Samuel did:
1 Sam. xvi. 7, ' Here is now the person that God will work by ; ' but it
is added there, ' God seeth not as man seeth ; ' that is, God will not
work according to the usual way of your expectation. David, the
least and the youngest, God chooseth him. So again, man thinketh
that the eldest son shall advance the family, as being the flower of the
parents' strength ; and by the constant course and tenor of nature,
the elder proveth the most successful ; yet many times God appointeth
otherwise : Gen. xxv. 23, * The elder shall serve the younger/ God
ISA. LIII. 2.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 243
will not have us look to the end of his counsels, and therefore the
younger is the most eminent.
3. That he may declare his displeasure against the pomp of the
world. God maketh least use of that which we so much adore, out
ward glory and splendour. Most of his glorious instruments have been
taken from the plough and sheepfold. Christ himself, as I told you,
honoured meanness in his own person. You may see by Isa. ii. 11-22,
that God's great design in the latter days is to destroy the pomp of
the world, the oaks and the cedars, and whatever is lifted up : ' The
day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and
lofty, and every one that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low.'
God's choice is of the meanest and most unlikely things, hereby showing
certainly that there is not so much as the world thinketh in outward
glory, which hath always proved unhappy to the church, who, when
she enjoyed golden cups, had but wooden priests. Though Constan-
tine was a worthy instrument,, yet Seminatum est venenum in ecclesia —
in his time poison was sowed in the church.
4. That he may shame his enemies in their security. When they
have to deal with those that are unlikely to prevail, they think they
shall carry all before them, 1 Sam. xvii. 42. The ruddy youth was
despised by Goliath, and threatened terribly too, that his flesh should be
given to the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field ; but yet he over
came the giant. The more shame doth God pour upon his enemies by far,
when they meet with their destruction where they least think of it.
Abimelech, after he had overcome Shechem, the hold of the god Berith,
and divers other strongholds, and there was but one fort stood out, had his
skull broke by a woman with a piece of a millstone, Judges ix. 53. God
ruineth them most ignominiously. Thus the Almighty goeth to war
against Pharaoh with flies, and frogs, and lice, Exod. viii. , the most
putrid of all living creatures. The Moabites were put to flight before
the Israelites by a fancy, to wit, the sun shining upon the water, which
they thought to be blood. Pope Adrian was choked with a gnat.
So Judges v. 20, it is said, * The stars in their courses (or paths)
fought against Sisera.' And what was that ? Nothing but a little rain
and hail, as Josephus witnesseth ; for as they drew to battle there
fell suddenly a storm of rain and hail just in their faces, that they
could not see ; and it being on the backs of the Israelites, it drove
them on with the more fierceness against their enemies. Now by this
way God poureth a great deal of contempt upon his adversaries.
5. That he may take off all cause of boasting from the creature, that
the flesh may not glory in itself. Thus this very reason is urged by
the apostle, 1 Cor. i. 27-29, ' God hath chosen the foolish things of
the world to confound the wise ; and God hath chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base
things in the world, and things which are despised, hath 'God chosen,
yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are, that
no flesh should glory in his presence/ The things that are nothing in
our respect and valuation, God honoureth, and uses them as instru
ments, that we may have no cause to boast of our strength or merit.
The creatures are apt to vaunt when they see there is anything
of theirs concurring towards a work, though they do in part see
244 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 2.
God's hand in it : Judges vii. 2, ' And the Lord said unto Gideon, The
people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into
their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own
hand hath saved me/ It is observable that David called twice upon the
mighty: Ps. xxix. 1, * Give unto the Lord, 0 ye mighty, give unto
the Lord glory and strength/ When a people are mighty they are very
loth to give the glory and strength to God. Therefore God worketh
by those that cannot any way ascribe it to themselves.
6. Another reason may be, that God may provide for the esteem
of the meanest. God hath so tempered his providence, that he will
leave no cause of contempt and disrespect among us. He casteth
honour upon the meanest, and those that are not so high in the valua
tions of men. This is the reason of God's various distribution, why he
hath made some mean, and some glorious, that he might upon times
single out some of those mean ones to show his power by. Look, as
Christ saith of the blind man, that he was made blind to fit him for a
miracle — John ix. 3, ' That the works of God should be manifest in
him' — so some are poor, some are unlikely, that the work of God
might be made manifest, that he might show his power and might
and wisdom in working by them. He will leave none to scorn and
contempt. Despised persons shall be honoured by him, when other
more glorious persons are laid aside as useless.
To apply it now. It afforcleth divers inferences of duty, suitable to
our divers cases and conditions.
1. To keep up the heart in case the means be weak. Take heed,
do not sink to any base despondency of mind or spirit. Usually when
means are weak men fly to wicked means, to a base desertion of the
cause of God that they have undertaken, and yield to every unworthy
fear : Isa. viii. 6, ' Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of
Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Kezin and Kemaliah's son/
Shiloah was a little stream in Jerusalem. Now rivers are often put
for the refreshments and accommodations of a place. So that the sense
is, they had rather basely yield up to Rezin and Remaliah's son than
wait upon God, to see what he will do with the small forces in
Jerusalem. Do not despise the waters of Shiloah. It is the greatest
honour that can be done to God, if we keep up endeavours for him,
though we have but weak means and encouragements ; but then faith
is tried, how you can east yourselves upon a bare promise.
2. In ease you have great means, fear them ; God usually worketh by
the most unlikely. The prophet David in the Psalms often expresseth
himself as full of fears when his armies had been successful and vic
torious, not doubting of God, but himself ; doubting lest he provoke
him by being lifted up with his mercies, as you know in that place,
2 Chron. xxxii. 25, ' His heart was lifted up, therefore there was wrath
upon him/ David, when he had great strength, must needs fall to
numbering of the people, 2 Sam. xxiv. 11. It is a sad sign of speedy
ruin when a people reckon and rely upon their strength. The more
it is, the less it should be in your value and estimation. Asa had an
army of six hundred thousand, and yet, 2 Chron. xiv. 11, he saith,
' We have no power/ Get it out of your hearts ; it is no strength to
you unless God go with it.
ISA. LIU. 2.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 245
3. la case weak means have been successful, give God the glory,
and do not boast. This is visibly one of God's ends in such provi
dences, that we may take notice of his strength. In other instances it is
from God, but in this most remarkably: as Pharaoh's magicians said,
Exod. viii. 19, * This is the finger of God.' There God remarkably dis-
covereth himself in such deliverances. We ascribe it to his power,
but not to his mercy. Therefore our care, as I told you, should be
especially that we do not ascribe the merit of it to ourselves, as we do
ascribe the working of it to God : Deut. ix. 4, ' Speak not thou in
thine heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from be
fore thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to
possess this land.' Give the Lord the praise. This is our case ; our
praise should live beyond the day of its public solemnisation.
I proceed to the second point, viz. : —
Doct. 2. That God cometh in for the deliverance of his people in
times of greatest despair and unlikelihood. I will give you a few places.
Zech. xiv. 7, c At evening time it shall be light;' that is, sepulcrum
lucis, it shall break forth when a man would think that all things
should be enveloped arid wrapped up in darkness. So Mat. xxv. 6,
* At midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh/
when all slumbered and slept ; all expectation was given over. So
Luke xviii. 8, ' When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on
the earth ? ' All things will be at such a desperate pass, that nobody will
believe that ever he will come. Faith there is taken for a confident
expectation of good success, not in its whole latitude, as it is falsely
mis-expounded.
The reasons are : —
1. That he may seize upon his enemies suddenly, even steal upon
them, as Christ did upon the world, when the sixth vial was poured
out. Christ saith, Rev. xvi. 15, * Behold, I come as a thief ; ' that is, as
one not expected. So 1 Thes. v. 2, * For yourselves know perfectly
that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night ; ' that is,
with respect to the suddenness of it. To wicked men it is unexpected.
2. That he may sufficiently try and exercise the patience and other
suffering graces of his people : James i. 4, ' Let patience have its per
fect work/ It is but a partial patience in a partial calamity. Then
it is perfect patience when it is thoroughly exercised. So also that he
may try their faith, whether they will believe in him or no, whether
they can fetch one contrary out of another : Hosea ii. 15, He hath
given ' the valley of Achor for a door of hope/ And so for prayer, and
to stir up delight in him.
Use. Do not then give over your dependence upon God in the worst
of times : Gen. xviii. 14, ' Is anything too hard for the Lord ? ' Un
belief stumbleth most at God's power ; when we cannot see which way we
shall be helped, then we are apt to doubt. But at such times consider: —
1. You have no cause to distrust God ; though he doth not find
means, he can create them. The root of Jesse, though there be no
branches, it can bear a sprig. God, that could make the world out^ of
nothing, can preserve the church by nothing ; you do not know his in
visible way of working. Believe beyond what you can see. Luther was
wont to comfort himself, when all supplies failed, with this, that God
246 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 2.
was alive: Dan. ii. 34, 'A stone cut out without hands, smote the image
upon his feet, that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces/
'In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen/ It is a spiritual proverb,
Gen. xxii. 14 : in the greatest extremities the Lord will appear, and
provide for those that commit themselves to him.
2. You have much ground of confidence : Ps. cii. 13, 14, ' Thou shalt
arise and have mercy upon Zion ; for the time to favour her, yea, the set
time, is come : for thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the
dust thereof/ Now you are in a condition fit for deliverance : Deut.
xxxii. 3G, ' For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for
his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none
shut up or left/ God puts his people into such a condition in which
deliverance will be most welcome, and then he bestoweth it upon them.
Wait upon him now you are in a condition for God to help. When
Caligula was angry with Philo, saith he, * Now God will help, for the
emperor is angry/
I come now to the last point.
Doct. 3. That mean beginnings may grow up to great matters and
glorious successes. This is admirably set forth by the prophet Ezekiel,
chap. xvii. 22-24, ' Thus saith the Lord God, I will also take of the
highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it ; I will crop off from
the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high
mountain, and eminent : in the mountain of the height of Israel will I
plant it ; arid it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly
cedar ; and under it shall dwell all fowls of every wing ; in the shadow
of the branches thereof shall they dwell And all the trees of the field
shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have ex
alted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry
tree to flourish : I the Lord have spoken, and have done it/ As it
was with Christ, so it is many times with his followers ; as in many
instances. Jacob from himself and his staff was multiplied into two
bands, Gen. xxxii. 10, meaning his company of children and cattle, so
divided to meet Esau. David was taken from feeding of sheep to
feed Israel : Ps. Ixxviii. 70, 71, 'He chose David also his servant, and
took him from the sheepfolds ; from following the ewes great with
young, he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inherit
ance.' Saul, when seeking his father's asses, found a kingdom. Christ's
kingdom sprang from a small beginning. This might also be shown
from the great spreading of Satan's kingdom, many times from little
matters: it is well known that 'a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump/
Arius, a private priest in Alexandria, drew the whole world after him;
as Montanus and other heretics might be said to do. We should not
therefore lay too much on success. So Kev. xii. 3, * The dragon drew
the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth/
The reasons of this in short are these : —
1. God's sovereignty over us, as we are his creatures ; he that hath
made us, can do what he will with his own.
2. Because he will keep the world in a continual vicissitude and
change, some up, some down.
Use 1. To teach us to look to beginnings: Ps. cxxix. 1, 2, 'Many
a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say :
ISA. LIII. 3.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 247
many a time have they afflicted me from my youth ; yet they have not
prevailed against me ; ' Cant. ii. 15, * Take us the foxes, the little
foxes, that spoil the vines/ This is added for abundant caution, to
teach the church to prevent errors and heresies in the beginnings of
them, before they spread, and grow strong and incurable ; to crush
things in the beginnings.
2. To support the hearts of Christians when they first put forth
into the world : Eccles. iv. 14, ' For out of prison he cometh to reign.'
One seed multiplieth into many. Broad rivers come from a small
fountain : Job viii. 7, * Though thy beginning was but small, yet thy
latter end shall greatly increase.' Men rise like hop-stalks out of the
dunghill, by the pole of Providence.
3. To keep men from despairing of public mercies. When the child
of deliverance hath put forth the hand, it will come to the birth :
Zech. iv. 10, ' Who hath despised the day of small things ? ' Christ
was but a branch at first.
4. To encourage those that are weak in grace, Mat. xii. 20. God
will not despise smoking flax, though it cannot flame : Phil. i. 6,
' Being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ/ Be humble
and thankful in admiring God's goodness towards you, saying, as David,
' Who am I, 0 Lord, and what is my father's house, that thou hast
brought me hitherto ? '
THE THIKD VEESE.
He is despised and rejected of men ; a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief ; and we hid as it were our faces from him : he was
despised, and we esteemed him not.
THE prophet proceedeth now to the second scandal and offence that
the Jews took against Christ, who therefore would not believe the report
that was made of him. The first was Christ's meanness in his birth and
life, which we have handled in the second verse. The next is his suf
ferings, and those are either of his life or of his death, which are set
forth in divers verses following. In this verse the prophet's expres
sions do chiefly hint the sufferings of his life. Here are divers phrases
which discover the several degrees of Christ's sufferings, though I
shall not give them to you in the order of the words, because the
expressions lie scattered here and there. The degrees are these : —
1. He was not esteemed.
2. He was actually despised, and became an object of scorn and
contempt.
3. He was liable to great miseries ; and —
4. He was continually pestered with them. This is the sum of this
verse. I will make it out unto you from the phrases, opened as the
text presenteth them.
1. He is despised and rejected of men. That which we read rejected
248 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 3.
of men, the Hebrew chadal ishim, signifieth ' the leaving off of men/
It may bear a double interpretation : —
[1.] That Christ was so extremely mean and miserable that it was
impossible to be lower as a man. He was the minimum quod sic of
a man ; if he had gone any lower, we must have had some other name
for him. In this sense it is said, Ps. xxii. 6, * I am a worm and no
man, a reproach of men, and despised of the people.' You must seek
for some name for him among the worms.
[2.] The leaving off of men ; that is, there men left him, they would
converse with any other, but not with him. Nobody would deign him
speech and company ; he was least of all. Our interpretation seemeth
to favour this exposition. There is not much matter which you
prefer.
2. A man of sorrows. A Hebraism to express the height of misery.
They use the genitive case of the substantive to express the super
lative degree of anything, as ' a man of Belial' for a very wicked
man ; so ' a psalm of degrees/ an excellent psalm. This expression
compel leth some of the wiser Jews to feign two Messiahs, one that is
already come, that walketh up and down on the earth under the shape
of a beggar, that he may satisfy for the sins of the Jews, and is in a
great deal of misery. The other a glorious king, whom they do as yet
expect ; that is the second expression.
3. Acquainted with grief. Familiar is morbo, so Tremellius renders
it — knowing diseases ; that is, by his own experience. Disease is put
for any kind of trouble and molestation, because they are the things that
are most irksome. For otherwise Christ, though he had many griefs, yet
he had no diseases, these usually arising out of some intemperance or
badness of constitution, neither of which agree to Christ. He took
our personal, not individual infirmities ; hunger and thirst he was
acquainted with, not stone or gout or fever.
4. And we hid as it were our faces from him, or, as it is in the mar-
fin, He hid as it loere his face from us ; the Hebrew will bear both,
t is either a hiding faces from him or from us. Since the text doth
so indifferently allow of both these renderings, I shall show you the
sense of both. He hid his face from us, which the Septuagint follows,
TO irpoatoiTov dvTov. His face was turned away as it were ; in modesty
say some, as if he were ashamed of the meanness of his condition ; but
that is unworthy of Christ. The Chaldee paraphrase seemeth to hint
another sense, subtraxit vultum majestatis suce — he hid the counte
nance of his divine majesty ; that is probable, but doth not thoroughly
reach the force of the expression. Others thus — he hid his face as a per
son doomed to die, as sentenced persons had their faces covered, or when
much discountenanced. Thus Haman, when in displeasure with the
king, Esther vii. 8, it is said 'his face was covered/ So in great sor
row and mourning, * Thou shalt cover thy face,' Ezek. xii. 6 ; or it is
more properly in shame, or as a token of "being unworthy the society of
men. So it was with the lepers, who by the law were to put a covering
upon the upper lip, Lev. xiii. 45. It is not difficult to reconcile any
of these senses with the matter in hand. But let us consider the other
reading, * We hid our faces from him/ This is a natural gesture, and
at all times signifieth some abomination and withdrawing of the mind
ISA. LIU. 3.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 219
from a thing ; but sometimes it is in one affection, and sometimes in
another ; as —
[1.] Sometimes in anger ; to hate them so as we will not give them
a look. Thus God is said to hide his face from his church to express
his anger against their sins.
[2.] Sometimes in shame. We turn away from them, as rich men
do from their poor friends ; they scorn to give them a look.
[3.] Sometimes in pity. It is such a sad sight that we dare not
look on it. I rather prefer that of a scornful shame, being ashamed
to follow such a poor, mean, miserable man. Thus many now hide
their faces from Christ, when it is disgraceful to close with him.
There is nothing now remaineth that is difficult ; only it followeth, he
was despised and looked upon as a man leprous, whose face should be
hid ; and therefore we did not esteem him worthy of our company.
The sum of the verse amounts to thus much, that Jesus Christ was so
miserable in regard of his outward face and appearance, that he was
looked upon as an abject, as a man not fit to be kept company with. I
shall only note these two things more for explication, because upon them
I shall build two points, which shall be all I will handle out of this verse.
1. Some of these expressions set out Christ as indeed he was ;
2. Some, only as he was in the apprehension of men. He was in
himself ' a man of sorrows,' but in the eye of man he was a despised
and an abject person : the one is the cause or the occasion of the other;
and the prophet so intermingleth these two things in this verse, that
the phrases may be taken both ways — how Christ was in himself, and
how he was to men.
1. As he was in himself : from thence I observe this point : —
Doct. I. That Christ's appearance in the world, and state of life
among men, was not only very mean, but very miserable.
2. From men's judgment of him : upon this account I observe : —
Doct. 2. That carnal men do not look upon Jesus Christ as worthy
of any esteem from them.
I shall begin with the first, viz. : —
Doct. 1. That Christ's appearance in the world, and state of life
among men, was not only very mean, but very miserable.
I shall take the several degrees in the text to make it out unto you.
1. The lowest step is negative ; he was ' not esteemed.' He had not
that due respect and value in the world that he might justly look for ;
and it is a misery to be slighted by those to whom we intend the
greatest good. It was much that they should not own him as some
eminent man ; it was more that they would not give him the respect
due to any man, to an ordinary prophet : John i. 11, ' He came to his
own, and his own received him not.' There is an emphasis in the
words his own, those over whom he had a special care, and to whom
he meant the greatest good. Mark, everything else acknowledged
Christ, but man would not. The angels ushered in his birth, Luke ii.
14. The wind and seas obeyed him, Mat. viii. 27. The fish paid his
tribute to him, Mat. xvii. 27. The wild beasts, when he was in the
wilderness, would not touch him, Mark i. 13. The Holy Ghost
would have us to note it as a special circumstance, that ' he was in the
wilderness forty days, and he was with the wild beasts.' Nay, the
250 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIIL 3.
very devils confessed him, Luke viii. 28. The man that had many
devils fell down before him. and cried out, and with a loud voice said,
* What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high ? ' ,
Yet rnan would not own him. They thought any one was more like
to be the Messiah than he. John, though he never did miracles, nor
taught with such authority as Christ did, yet they sent an honourable
message to him, John i. 19. The Jews sent priests and Levites from
Jerusalem to ask him whether he were the Christ or no. Bat now they
never sent an honourable embassy to Christ, never put him to the ques
tion, but only in a scoff asked him whether he were the Christ or no. Yet
John gave them as much ground of distaste as Christ did, freely taxing
their sins. John was sent to in an honourable way, because he was a
priest's son, but Christ only a carpenter's son, therefore Christ was not
esteemed. Anything is enough to prejudice them that are notaffected to
a thing or way. Nay ; they not only preferred John before him, though
famous for no miracles, but even Barabbas before him : John xviii. 40,
4 When Pilate said, Will ye that I release unto you the king of the Jews?
Then cried they all, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Bar-
abbas was a robber/ Any rather than Christ. They had very little
esteem of Christ, you see. And this fault is objected to them ; indeed,
it was a great aggravation of their guilt : Acts iii. 14, ' Ye have denied
the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto
you,' even a cruel highwayman before Christ. Esteeming is a rela
tive word, and it implieth every one, even the worst of men, to be higher
in their thoughts than Christ.
2. As he was not esteemed, so actually he was despised, and became
an object of scorn and contempt.
[1.] He was despised arid contemned in their thoughts. They looked
upon him as an abject, the leaving-off or off-scouring of men ; they
thought it was a disgrace for them to converse with him ; and there
fore Nicodemus went to Christ by night, John iii. 2, as being ashamed
to be seen in his company by day. So John ix. 22, the blind man's
parents, that had received a great benefit, by him, would make a lie
rather than own him. It is said, ' These words spake his parents,
because they feared the Jews : for the Jews had agreed already, that
if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the
synagogue.' They thought him unworthy of their company, and
therefore every one hid his face from him, and would not seem to look
that way.
[2.] In their words they used all kinds of reproaches, they thought
no name bad enough for him : John viii. 48, ' Say we not well, that
thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil ? ' There was such a deadly
feud between the Jews and the Samaritans, that to call a man a
Samaritan was the greatest disgrace that could be, and the ready way
to beget him public hatred. Here are two scandals fixed on Christ —
a Samaritan, and one that hath a devil ; the one reflecteth upon his
person, the other on his doctrine. And that which is worthy of
your notice is, that to that of his doctrine Christ answereth, but doth
not care how they vilified his person. In Mat. xi. 19, they call him
' a glutton, a wine-bibber, and a friend of publicans and sinners/ They
looked upon him as an object of common scorn and hatred. So they
ISA. LIII. 3.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 251
accounted him as an enemy to Caesar ; anything that would make him
obnoxious to danger and scorn. They likewise called him a deceiver :
Mat. xxvii. 63, * Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he
was yet alive.' Proud, insulting malice ! They would not call him
by his own name, but as if he had been so notoriously guilty, that it
was a sufficient description of him to say that deceiver.
[3.] In their general carriage towards him. To any that seemed to
own him, they showed a great deal of contempt and scorn. Because
the blind man acknowledged him, they cast him out, or excommuni
cated him, John ix. 34. So John vii. 52, by way of taunt they said,
' Art thou also of Galilee ? ' But chiefly their behaviour to his person
was intolerable, and that in the last scene of his life : Mat. xxvi. 68.
The rude soldiers make him their game, and blinding him, say, * Pro
phesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?' So it is
prophesied, Mat. xx. 19, ' They shall deliver him to the Gentiles to
mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him.' There is a special emphasis
in these words — that he, being a Jew, should be delivered over to the
Gentiles to be mocked, scourged, and crucified. Nothing was more
vile and abominable, insomuch that they would not come into the
place where Pilate sat judging, for fear of being contaminated : John
xviii. 28, ' And they themselves went not into the judgment-hall, lest
they should be defiled.' Therefore it was that Pilate went forth to
them, for they would not come in. Look, as it was an aggravation of
David's fault that he made Uriah to be slain with the sword of the
children of Ammon, 2 Sarn. xii. 9, so it was of the Jews' contempt,
that they should deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and
scourged. Thus you see how he was despised, and looked upon as an
abject.
3. A man of sorrows. This noteth the multitude of his afflictions,
and the greatness of them. He was a man assaulted with all kinds of
sorrows, and grievously afflicted with them. A man of sorrows, that
is. a man of miseries ; the affection is put for the condition, because
they left a great impression upon him. All kinds of sorrows he
endured for our sakes, as scoffs, persecution, contempt, unkindness,
miseries, hunger, thirst, faintness, and weariness. I might tire you
with a woful variety of this nature ; the scriptures everywhere testify
it. Let me briefly tell you, that they were as much as might fit him
to be a mediator ; his sufferings are to be measured by his mediator-
ship ; and then, they were such as might stand with the holiness of
his person. Now, these sufferings were the more grievous to him,
because his senses were most quick and smart; and, therefore, he
must needs, above other men, have a sensible apprehension of what was
done to him. The best constitutions have the most vigorous affections ;
and therefore, it could not be but that all these sufferings should leave
very dolorous impressions upon the spirit of Christ. And, indeed, it
is more than probable that he was so wasted with them, and they had
so dried up the moisture and freshness of his countenance, that when
he was little above thirty they thought him near fifty years of age :
John viii. 57, * Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen
Abraham?' He was little above thirty; but griefs blasting his
beauty, he might appear more aged than he was. Thus you see he
252 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 3.
was a man of sorrows. I do not touch, upon the last scene of his
death, the sorrows of his life justly give him that character.
4. Acquainted ivitli grief. It was not only now and then, hut it
was always miserable with him. Acquaintance with a thing or person
implieth the usualness of it. Now, Christ was acquainted with grief,
that is, accustomed to it, never freed from it. As soon as he began to
live he began to suffer. He was exiled, and forced to fly into Egypt
as soon as he was a month old, and ever afterward hunted up and
down by the pharisees. Trace him through all the scenes of his life,
from the cradle to the cross, from the stable to Golgotha, and you shall
see that grief was his familiar — he had no other companion. It is an
observation in that letter that Lentulus sent concerning him (if that
letter be not forged), Visus est fare sccpe, ridere nunquam—he was
often seen to weep, never to laugh, being always acquainted with grief.
And in regard of those cruel persecutions that did constantly attend
him, he is called in the title of that psalm that sets out the misery of
his life, Ps. xxii., ' The hind of the morning;' see the title, 'A psalm
concerning Aijeleth Shahar/ that is, Christ, who was always from the
very morning hunted and worried by the dogs. He complaineth of it
in that psalm, ver. 16, 'The dogs have compassed me/ The dogs
hunted him in the morning early and betimes. Herod, one of the
dogs, as soon as he was born, endeavours to murder him. So at the
time of Christ's death the Holy Ghost giveth us this circumstance:
John xviii. 28, ' That they led Christ from Caiaphas unto the judg
ment-hall, and it was early in the morning/ The bloodhounds were
up to worry him betimes in the morning. Well, you see Christ was
acquainted with grief, even early, from his first breath to his last gasp,
from his lying in the cradle to his consummatum est on the cross.
Nay, it is very observable, that in the short glory of his transfiguration
he was not without sorrow, for even then he remembered his death to
come, as you shall see, Luke ix. 31 ; when Moses and Elias appeared
to him in glory, ' They spake of his decease, which should be accom
plished at Jerusalem/ In the midst of his glory he would remember
his death. And therefore, you see, well might the prophet use the
expression acquainted with grief. So much for the determination of
the point, to prove to you that Christ's state of life was so miserable
in the world.
I shall now show you why he was so miserable. Why did he under
go all these sorrows ? It is a profitable question ; as the former for
our meditation, so this for our faith. The causes either respect God
or the creature.
First, In respect of God ; and so it was :—
1. That his promises might be fulfilled. God had foretold it so by
the prophets : Mark ix. 12, ' It is written of the Son of man, that he
must suffer many things, and be set at nought/ Now this sentence is
nowhere in one prophet, but the meaning is. It is the constant drift
and result of all that is written concerning the Messiah, that he must
suffer many things, and be counted as nothing ; though he alludeth
specially to this chapter and the 22d Psalm. This was so far from
being a scandal against Christ, that it rather confirmed him to be the
Messiah, for he was just such a one as was promised and prophesied of.
ISA. LIII. 3.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 253
2. That he might declare his obedience to God's decrees and appoint
ment. It is said, Heb. v. 8, that * He learned obedience by the things
that he suffered/ He did by experience find what it was to have a
Father whom he must obey, though otherwise he were every way equal
to him. But the excellency of his person exempted him not from
Buffering ; for, having taken our debt upon him, his holy life was a
part of his obedience to his Father, but his sufferings showed a higher
degree of it, which made him a full and complete mediator. To obey
God in the ordinary way of our actions is a common lesson to every
holy person ; but Christ's obedience was chiefly tried by his sufferings,
because, being without sin, he never deserved it. Thus much in
respect of God.
Secondly, In respect of men ; and so —
1. That he might set off his love to us. Usually they are dearer
to us that have suffered anything for our sakes, than they that have
otherwise done us good. And therefore Christ, to set off his love,
spent a miserable thirty- two years and upwards in the world, and after
wards died a terrible death ; and that not for himself, but for us. Some
say it was to merit his own glory ; but it is not good to divert the
stream, or any part of it, from that channel in which Christ intended
it should run : Dan. ix. 26, ' The Messiah shall be cut off, but not for
himself/ Christians, all his sufferings were for you.
2. That he might be a perfect mediator for us. Christ was perfect
in himself, but he wanted somewhat to make up his office : Heb. ii.
10, 'It behoved the captain of our salvation to be made perfect
through sufferings ; ' Heb. v. 8, 9, ' By the things which he suffered
he was made perfect/ Christ was perfect in himself, but not perfect
in his office ; he was made perfect as a captain of our salvation
when he went through those things in which others were to follow
him.
3. That he might be able to comfort his people in the like dis
tresses : Heb. ii. 18, ' For in that he himself hath suffered, being
tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted/ A man can the
better comfort others, when he hath had the experience of their
miseries in himself. Christ knew how sad it was with his own soul
when he was acquainted with these griefs, and therefore no doubt he is
willing and able to help you. Experienced men are pitiful ; those that
have suffered pity others when they are in the like case. It is God's
charge often to Israel, that having been strangers in the land of Egypt,
they should learn to pity strangers. And certainly whatever is good in
the creature, is eminently so in Christ. He hath stronger impressions
of affection and pity than we have. Mark what the apostle saith :
Heb. iv. 15, * For we have not an high priest that cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all things tempted as we
are, yet without sin/ Christ knew how it was with himself. In the
like experiences and afflictions, therefore, it cannot but work upon his
bowels, though men's hearts are shut up.
To apply it now. Out of all that I have spoken to you, you may
infer much for your instruction.
1. The matter, what he suffered.
2. The manner, how he came to suffer.
254 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 3.
3. The reasons and ends why, for our good ; so that here are three
chief lessons for a Christian to learn : —
Patience and comfort.
Humility.
In the end, love.
It teacheth you patience and comfort. There is a double ground
for that. Christ went before you, and he did it that he might have
experience and a fellow-feeling of your case and sufferings. Here is
the comfort of God's people ; they have a high priest that is touched
with the feeling of their infirmities. Christ's bowels melt over them
whilst God's hand striketh them. A man may have moral grounds
of comfort, but here is the true ground, Christ sympathises with us :
John xviii. 10, * The cup which my father hath given me, shall I not
drink it?' Though it is a bitter cup, yet it is my heavenly Father
that hath put it into my hands. There is a difference between the
strokes of God upon the wicked and his own people ; strokes upon the
wicked come from God's hand, but those upon the godly from God's
heart. Bear up, then, against the greatest crosses. Art thou looked
upon as an abject, the leaving-off of men ? So was Christ, and so are
many of God's people : 1 Cor. iv. 13, ' We are made as the filth of the
world, and are as the off-scouring of all things/ The world's filth, —
worms, not men. Worms are bred out of the world's filth. Art thou
compassed about with losses, affliction upon affliction, like waves one
in the neck of the other ? do men hide their faces from thee, or art
thou in no repute, no respect with them ? so was Christ, and Christ
knoweth what it is for thee to be in such a case. Job heareth of loss
upon loss from the Chaldeans, Sabeans, Job i. 14. It is often re
peated, ' While he was yet speaking, came another and said.' So Jer.
xxx. 17, 'Zion, whom no man looketh after/ God's people have
often become the wagging of the head, but Christ' sufferings teach us
patience.
[2.] Humility. Christ taught us this in his meanness, and he
teacheth it in his sufferings. See the difference between Christ and
Adam; Christ would be most abject, Adam would be higher than
man. The highest is become the humblest ; our first parents would
be as gods, and Christ would scarce be as man, even be man's leavings.
It is good to learn humility from this pattern showed us in the mount,
even in Mount Calvary ; to deny ourselves to set up Christ, as Christ
denied himself to set up us. Of all things, men cannot endure to cast
their crowns at the Lamb's feet — I mean, to sacrifice their glory and
esteem to Christ, or to be nothing that he may be all in all. Pride is
like the heart, first living and last dying in a man : 3 John 9,
* Diotrephes loved to have the pre-eminence/ Some are all for pre
cedency, they would be preferred before others. You see Christ is
otherwise. He freely submitted himself to the most abject condition.
Thus it teacheth us humility.
[3.] Considering the end, — his love. All this was for you. Oh., what
will you do for God again ? Christians should blow up the fire of
love by these thoughts. How are we wrought upon by every petty
kindness that passeth between man and man ! How much more,
then, should the consideration of what Christ hath done and suffered
ISA. LIII. 3.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 255
endear him to us ? And this was done for our sakes. Let it melt
our hearts, and draw them out in love to God again.
I proceed now to the second point.
Doct. 2. That carnal men do not look upon Jesus Christ as worthy
of any esteem from them. Christ was mean and miserable, and there
fore the world esteemed him not, but despised him rather, and looked
upon him as an abject, unfit for their converse and society.
I shall give you a few reasons for it.
1 . Because they look altogether upon the dark part (as I may speak)
of Jesus Christ ; they do not consider the light and the more glorious
part. In sins they look altogether upon the light part, and not upon
the dark — the pleasures of sin, and not the cross and shame that attends
them. Now, taking into their thoughts Christ's worst, and sin's best
part, no wonder if they miscarry in their judgments. They look
upon the world's pomp, but not the world's vanity ; upon the pleas
ures of sin, but not upon the shame and horror that accompany
them. Therefore it is said, Prov. v. 3, 4, ' The lips of a strange
woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil ;
but her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged sword/
Men think to swallow the honey, but do not think of the wormwood.
Things are to be esteemed as they prove in the end. Heathens had
some light into this truth, that no man is happy till the end, till they
try how things prove with them. Things are better known in their
departure than in their coming ; the sting is in the tail, and therefore
you shall see it is said, Deut. xxxii. 29, ' Oh, that they were wise, that
they would understand this, that they would consider their latter end.'
That is wisdom, not to look upon things as they are at present, but
what they will prove at the latter end — how we shall find them upon
trial. But with Christ they deal otherwise ; they look upon Chris
tianity as a hard, laborious thing. Many sad fears they have ; a great
deal of duty to be performed ; much care, much toil, and much grief
attends it ; with many other inconveniences. But they do not look
upon the sweet of all this : Kom. vi. 22, ' But now being made free
from sin, and become the servants of God, ye have your fruit unto
holiness, and the end everlasting life.' There is a good end. Carnal
men tiling it a hard saying to part with pleasures, profits, honour, esteem,
to part with all for Christ, and to expect nothing in this world but grief,
and sorrow, and care. This is sad. Christ is not esteemed, because
they look upon him with such an unequal, unfaithful eye. We are will
ing to stumble at his meanness, but will not reflect upon his excellency.
2. Because carnal men want that which should set off Christ to
them as an object fit to be esteemed; and that is two things — the
Spirit's discovery, and faith's eye ; the one to reveal the object, the
other to apprehend it.
[1.] They want the Spirit's discovery. A man cannot see the sun
without its own light ; no more can you see Jesus Christ in his beauty
without the Spirit of Christ. Eeports and education may do much,
but it is the Spirit that sets forth Jesus Christ as a worthy object.
What is the reason that many that know Christ and profess him, yet
cannot esteem him? The Spirit hath not convinced them of the
worth that is in him. A man may be convinced of the truth of a
256 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 3.
thing, but not practically convinced of the worth of it. And ' flesh and
blood doth not reveal that to us,' as Christ said to Peter. The reason
why Christ is valued by his own people is because he hath discovered
much of himself to them.
[2.] They want the eye of faith, and that is the discovering part of
the soul, that showeth much of Christ to it. Till we have faith we
judge by sense and carnal reason, and then no wonder if we turn away
from him. ' Faith is the evidence of things not seen/ Heb. xi. 1. It
carrieth the soul within the veil, and showeth unto us better things, and
maketh them present in the heart through hope and the promises.
Faith and the Spirit discover a world of satisfaction, sweetness, glory,
excellency, and beauty in Christ. There are large discoveries of God's
love and purposes, and what he will do for his people.
3. There are perverse inclinations in the heart that carry the soul
another way. Men look upon everything as it cometh dyed in the
colour of their own affections. Here is the great depravation of nature
since the fall, that those things which should follow guide and sit at
the stern ; vile affections besot the judgment : Bom. i. 26, with 28,
* God gave them up to vile affections ;' and presently afterwards, * He
gave them over to a reprobate mind.' Men are so injudicious, because
they consult with their affections. Now they cannot make a right
judgment. It is true, things should be desired and loved as the judg
ment propounds them to be good and true ; but now, in the disorder
of nature, it is otherwise. We let our desires get the start of us, and
therefore men do not esteem Christ, because he is so opposite to the
chief object of their desires. A worthy thought of Christ would exas
perate our base affections that are carried to other things. Hear what
the apostle saith : Rom. viii. 5, * They that are after the flesh do mind
the things of the flesh.' They mind only those things, they only
savour and relish them.
4. Because they do not know what it is to want Christ. Men make
other things serve instead of him, and therefore they do not care for
Christ. Now when the soul looks upon the insufficiency of all things
else to give rest and quiet to it, then it will prize him. When a man
extremely wants a thing, nothing will satisfy him until he obtain it.
As Abraham, for want of a child, though he had much, yet he crieth
out, ' What wilt thou give me, since I go childless ? ' Such is the
language of the soul — What is all this, since I have not Christ ?
Sampson his victory could do him no good when he had no water to
quench his thirst : Judges xv. 19, ' Thou hast given me a deliverance,
and now I shall die for thirst.' Thus carnal men have other things,
but they shall die and be damned for want of Christ. If men were
brought to this, to see that there were satisfaction nowhere else for
them, they would value him.
5. They do not know what it is to have an interest in Christ ; they
never had experience of him. Here is the difference between Christ
and other comforts : The more experience we have had of them, the
less satisfaction we perceive to be in them ; but the more experience
we have of Christ, the more we desire to have. Taste Christ once,
and there will be no room left for any other desire. Though you Want
other things, this maketh amends for all. As Austin crieth out,
ISA. LIII. 3.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 257
Quam suave milii subito factum est carere suavitatibus nugarum !
A man may be weary of other comforts, of the greatest comfort of
life, but you never heard of any that complained they had too much
love for Christ. Men are easily prejudiced against Christ that never
tried him. They that familiarly conversed with him among the Jews,
they saw his miracles, the others saw only his meanness.
Object. But you will say, Do not carnal persons think Jesus Christ
worthy of any esteem from them ? How is it, then, that they think
and speak so honourably of him, and count it a dishonour to them not
to profess him ? A Turk, or a Jew, or a pagan, they are terms of
reproach among us.
Ans. To solve this doubt I shall show you —
1. Affirmatively, in what manner they do esteem him.
2. Negatively, how they do not esteem him.
1. Affirmatively, how they may esteem him.
[1.] Hypocritically in their words : Titus i. 16, ' They profess they
know Christ, but in works they deny him.' It is not what a man
speaketh out of a little traditional knowledge. A man's carriage is the
best measure of his esteem. When the judgment determineth aright,
the conversation is proportionable in some measure ; that followeth ulti-
mum dictamen, the last determination of the heart. Men may thus
profess they know Christ, and value him, who live in a habitual
neglect of what he commands, and indulge and allow themselves in a
continual practice of what he hath forbidden.
[2.] Indefinitely they may esteem him, that is, in some nice and bare
speculations, when they do not look upon him as commanding what
is contrary to their carnal desires ; they consider Christ in an indefinite
way, not such a person as he is set forth in the word. Speculative
truths and general apprehensions do not thwart our corrupt desires.
A man may love Christ in general, but not in a particular way.
[3.] They may have some partial esteem for him, as conceiving him
to be able to bring them to happiness : John vi. 34, ' Lord, evermore
give us this bread/ And with Balaam they may wish, * Oh that I
might die the death of the righteous, and that my last end may be like
his/ They would esteem Christ were it not for his hard terms of duty
and obedience.
[4.] Customarily, in a traditional way. They esteem Christ so far as
he is commonly esteemed of in the world. If anything recede from
the general form and usual rate of duties, it is base in their eyes, not
being honoured with the common custom and practice of men. Carnal
professors will despise others that do more than they. ' Singing of
psalms, repeating of sermons, Christian conference, these meet with
a scoff from them. Men of Michal's spirit will scoff at what is more
than ordinary, as she did at David when he danced before the ark :
2 Sam. vi. 20, * How glorious was the king of Israel to-day ! ' But
David replieth, * If this be to be vile, I will be yet more vile/
2. Negatively, how they do not esteem Christ.
[1.] They do not esteem all of Christ.
[2.] Nor always. These two will somewhat clear it.
[1.J They do not esteem all of Christ. If Christ be truly precious to
the soul, then all of Christ must be precious ; not only his name, and
VOL. III. B
258 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 3.
offices, and sufferings, but also his ordinances, ministers, members,
and government. You must esteem every one of these. Many esteem
Christ in one thing, but not in another ; they may delight in his
mercy, but not in his holiness ; they may love him as a priest to die
tor them, but not as a king to rule over them ; they will not submit
to the laws of his kingdom ; they find no sweetness in his ordinances ;
they despise his servants, they do not love a whole Christ. It is a
fancy of their own making ; they think they esteem Christ, but they
esteem him not as he hath set forth himself in his word.
[2.] They do not esteem him always, nor at all times. It appeareth
plainly that Christ is set at nought by them in times of outward or
inward opposition. Our esteem is shown when it cometh to these
cases.
(1st.) In time of outward opposition ; when the profession of Christ
is oppugned, they lay it down, they do not think him worthy the
suffering for. Most men esteem Christ because of the common
countenance that is given to his ways in a state or kingdom, and
therefore do they so often vary. The same men that were Protestants
in King Edward's days were Papists in Queen Mary's, and Protest
ants again in Queen Elizabeth's. England hath been often used to
these changes. Men look to the public favour that is given to the
ways of Christ, and so join with them ; but in times of disgrace
and opposition they hide their faces from him, they will not own
him.
(2dly.) In time of inward opposition ; they assent to the goodness of
Christ in the general, till it conies to a particular trial between him
and their lusts. When Christ cometh in competition with their
sensual pleasure, and honour, and estimation, then is he set at nought
by them. They did not esteem him upon these terms, to part with
their lusts for him. So much for the doctrinal part.
Use is for information, to give us the difference between carnal
men and the people of God. Christ is an abject to the one, and a
jewel to the other. It is good to observe this difference of esteem and
valuation, and therefore I shall discover it on both sides.
1. I shall show you how the wicked show themselves to disesteem
Christ.
2. How the godly manifest their esteem to him.
1. How the wicked show themselves to disesteem Christ.
[1.] They prefer every base lust, the satisfaction of every sinful
motion, before him. What care they for obeying Christ, so they may
satisfy their present corrupt desires ? It is said, Heb. xii. 16, that
' Esau ' (that profane person, as the Spirit of God brandeth him) ' for
one morsel of meat sold his birthright.' The birthright among the
patriarchs was a pawn of the blessing of being heir of the promise.
Now he esteemed the satisfaction of his sensual desires more than his
spiritual prerogative ; like another profane person that said he would
not lose his portion in Paris for his portion in paradise. The Jews
would rather have Barabbas delivered to them than Christ. They
chose the vile pleasures of sin, or the vain things of the world, rather
than the sure mercies of David. These the apostle describes to be,
2 Tim. in. 4, ' Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God/ They
ISA. LIII. 3.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 259
prefer a little contemptible pleasure before Christ. They venture
their souls for a minute's pleasure, for one dram or taste of it.
[2.] They prefer the pleasing of carnal men before him. They can
rather deny the motions of Christ's Spirit than the importunate solici
tations of a wicked friend. Many that are not allured into the tents
of Shem are easily drawn into sin. The most easy facile natures and
dispositions are hard enough to be wrought upon to any good, but
they are easily drawn to sin, and to continue wilful and stubborn to
Christ. It is said, Prov. vii. 22, ' He goeth after her straightway, as
an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the
stocks/ Whereas a godly man saith as Joseph, ' How can I do this
great wickedness, and sin against God ? ' They cannot so readily
comply; others, — they will rather lose their souls than leave their
wicked company ; they cannot say nay to a solicitation that pleaseth
the lust.
[3.] They are so far from esteeming Christ, that they think he will
be a disgrace to them, and therefore they are ashamed to be joined to
him in a more strict and holy way, especially if they be great in the
world. They think to be religious is beneath them. Nicodemus, being
a rabbi, was ashamed to come to Christ before he was converted ; but
afterwards this Nicodemus spake boldly for him : John vii. 51, ' Nico-
demus, that came to Jesus by night, spake boldly, Doth our law judge
any man before it hear him ?' There is a base disposition in men ;
they think religion a disgrace, and that it is an abasement to them to
stand publicly for the ways of God, to vary from the customs of the
world, to begin holy conference, to do something beyond the general
tenor and frame of profession in the world.
2. For the godly ; they manifest their esteem of Christ divers ways.
[1.] By labouring after communion with him with all care and
diligence, and earnestness of desire. Oh, how they prize communion
with him ! ' Thy loves are better than wine/ Cant. i. 2 ; ' Thy loving-
kindness is better than life/ Ps. Ixiii. 3. They would rather have some
intimations from God of his love, than life, and comfort, and honour.
[2.] By rejoicing in him when they have at 'any time found him :
Cant. i. 4, ' The king hath brought me into his chambers ; we will be
glad and rejoice in thee ;' that the king should give them any closet-
mercies, and the sweet solaces of his chamber : Isa. Ixi. 10, ' My soul
shall be joyful in God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of
salvation.'
[3.] By prizing those things where they find most of Christ, viz.,
his ordinances and servants, judging they are the excellent ones of the
earth : Ps. xvi. 3, and Ps. xxvii. 4, 'One thing have I desired of the
Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to in
quire in his temple.'
[4.] By their boldness in professing him. A man that is ashamed
of his religion dishonoureth it : Heb. xi. 16, ' They declared plainly
that they sought a country, that is an heavenly/ And St Paul saith,
Horn. i. 16, * I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ/ Nature brands
evil with shame. They conceive more honourably of Christ's ways,
than to be afraid to be seen in them.
260 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 4.
[5.] By seeking his honour and praise more than their own concern
ments. It is enough if Christ be exalted. They would fain have him
exalted not only in their own hearts, but in the kingdom also where
they live. Men desire that what they esteem should be publicly ad
vanced : Ps. xiv. 7, ' Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of
Zion ! When will the Lord bring back the captivity of his people ?'
[6.] By avoiding all means whereby Christ may be dishonoured and
disesteemed. They would have Christ held forth in their hearts, and
in their ways. Christians are often pressed to live to the glory of God :
Mat. v. 16, ' Let your light so shine before men, that they may see
your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven ;' 1 Peter
li. 12, * Having your conversations honest among the Gentiles, that
whereas they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good
works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.'
One of their questions will be, Shall I not dishonour God by this ?
Nathan, when he came to David, telleth him he had made the name
of God to be blasphemed : 2 Sam. xii. 13, ' Nathan said unto David,
The Lord also hath put away thy sin ; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, be
cause by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of
the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall
surely die.'
[7.] By accounting those things which are dishonourable in t he-
world to be honourable with Christ, such as reproaches and afflictions.
It is said, Acts v. 41, ' They departed from the council, rejoicing that
they were counted worthy to suffer for his name/ So St Paul saith,
Acts xxviii. 20, ' For the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain/
He holds it up in triumph.
THE FOURTH VEESE.
Surely Jie hath lorne our griefs, and carried our sorroivs ; yet we did
esteem Mm stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
THE prophet having given you the meanness of Christ's birth, and the
manner of his appearing in the world, beginneth now to draw towards
his death and passion, and in this verse entereth upon it, and doth not
barely describe Christ's agonies and fears, but showeth the cause of it,
confuting the folly of the Jews, who rejected Christ because he came
under this disguise of meanness and sufferings, by showing it was
for their sakes : ' Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows.'
This text is the rather to be prized, because as it is a clear convic
tion against the Jews, so it is a ground of all consolation to Christians.
It is a clear demonstration against the Jews ; they could never elude
it, insomuch that when Luther urged this place to them, they had
but this poor shift, that certainly the people of the Jews did not de
serve these plagues and therefore the Messiah needed not to take them
ISA. LIII. 4.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF 4SAIAH. 261
away ; or if they did deserve them, it was because they did not perse
cute Christ enough, the pretended Messiah. Thus it is usual with
people to have an "ill apprehension of their miseries. But other Jews
left all upon the reading of this chapter ; and being asked why ? they
answered, God was stricken and smitten, they could never put by that,
they said. And it is the ground of all consolation to Christians. Luther
said all St Paul's epistles were so, and those floods of consolation
flowed out of this fountain : ' He hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows.'
Therefore, let us a little look upon it. The parts are two : —
1. Christ's love.
2. Man's unthankfulness.
1. Christ's love, which is set forth in that clause, * Surely he hath
borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.' And there consider —
El.] The certainty of what is averred of Christ : surely.
2.] The acts of Christ's obedience, set forth in two words : lie hath
borne, lie hath carried.
[3.] The objects : they are griefs, sorrows.
2. Man's unthankfulness, in censuring Christ and despising him ;
and there consider —
[1.] The persons : we.
[2.] The guilt : esteeming Christ stricken and smitten of God. These
are the parts ; and that I may open them, I shall go over them in a
short comment and explication, and then clear a doubt about the quot
ing of these words by St Matthew. I shall first go over the words.
Surely. To note— (1.) The reality of the' thing in regard of Christ's
suffering, it was verily and really done. (2.) To note the truth of the
proposition ; this is a true'proposition. Christ hath borne our griefs ; he
bore them, and it is true that he bore them really. And then for the
acts, he bore and carried. They note a susception or taking up of things
to put them upon our backs. And then the objects, our griefs, our
sorroivs. The first word signifieth sicknesses, the last wounds. The
one importeth the sin, the other the punishment of sin. The Septua-
gint translates it, ouro? ra? d/j,aprla$ f^wv (ftepei, real irepl rj/jiwv oSvvarai,
— he beareth our sins, and is pained for our sakes. Then the specifi
cation of the object, our sins, our griefs. It implieth, first, that it is
for our sakes he endured these sicknesses and sorrows for us. Secondly,
He not only bore pains for our sakes, but the pains that we should have
endured, or at least equivalent to what we should have borne and carried,
if we had suffered for sin. And it implieth not only the cause of suf
fering, but the quality of suffering. So much for the first part.
2. For man's unthankfulness, yea, evil requital of Christ's love.
For here is first something implied, an unworthy refusal of him for our
saviour : yet ive. Secondly, The ground of this refusal, expressed upon
a false supposition or surmise, that all these calamities came upon him
by the just judgment of God : we esteemed liim stricken and smitten
of God. Some read quasi leprosum — stricken with a leprosy. Leprosy
was esteemed among the Jews as the greatest expression of God's
anger. They looked upon him as in the state of leprosy, as if he had
the expressions of God's anger upon him. And then as for smitten of
God and afflicted. Expressions are heaped up one upon another, to
262 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 4.
show the height of Christ's sufferings, and their malice. He suffered
much, and they looked upon him as having all the expressions of God's
anger : ' Stricken, smitten, afflicted.'
But you will say, Was not this true? was he not stricken and
afflicted by God ?
I answer — True, but not in their sense ; they did not look upon
themselves stricken and smitten by God in him. For the matter of
the censure, it was right, but for the form and manner of application
to Christ, it is wrong.
But now to answer one objection to the whole, and I have done with
the explication.
If this be the meaning of the words, how cometh it then to be quoted
by Matthew in another sense ? Mat. viii. 17, ' That it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our in
firmities, and bare our sicknesses/ Where it is applied to the healing
of corporal and bodily diseases.
This is a doubt fit to be solved, and I shall answer it.
1. Some think, and, for aught I see, Junius is in the number, that
this place is to be meant of bodily diseases, as if it were an argument
only brought to prove that Christ was the Messiah by the power he-
exerted in curing those diseases ; and that this bearing and carrying
intimated no more than the bare taking them away. But if it be pro
perly to be understood of diseases, how will the last clause agree ? for
it is nonsense to think he was stricken and smitten of God because he
took away diseases.
2. Others therefore think that the proper and literal sense is con
cerning the bearing and taking away of sins and punishments, though
in an accommodative sense it has respect to diseases bodily. But how
is it said then, ' that it might be fulfilled/ which is a note of differ
ence when a text is quoted for the thing contained in it, or the words
alluded to in it ? Therefore —
3. What is to be done then ? I answer — We must distinguish of the
sense of a place. There is the proper and full sense, and the less
principal, secondary, and subordinate sense. So it may be applied to
diseases, which was some kind of representation of his great love in
taking away our sins, and is virtually so in this place, because sick
nesses are the effects of sin at least. And this action of Christ's taking
away diseases, was a type of his taking away sin. Now, Matthew
applieth that to the sign, which did more fully agree to the thing itself
and the truth signified. And observe this, for the clearing of this and
other scriptures : as the patriarchs in their actions, and in what they
did, were types of Christ, so Christ's own actions were in a manner
types of what he himself would more principally do, as casting out of
devils, dispossessing of Satan, healing the sick ; and so the prophecy
was fulfilled in the type : and it was a taste of Christ's love when he-
cured the sick and healed every disease. And so upon the cross,,
when he bare our sins, and suffered for them ; as it is quoted by Peterr
who expressly followeth the Septuagint's translation of this place, say
ing, 1 Peter ii. 24, ' Who his own self bare our sins in his own body
on the tree.' Now the words being explained, I shall give you several
brief notes upon them ; for if I should speak largely, I shall prevent
ISA. LIII. 4.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 263
myself in the chapter. (1.) From that deep assertion with which this
truth is proposed, surely, look upon it, it is a sure thing : this is a
true proposition, that Christ did bear our sins and carry our griefs;
it noteth the truth of the thing, and the unquestionableness of it :
this surely chiefly relateth to that our sins; though it is to the
whole sentence, yet to that emphatically. The note then is this : —
Doct. 1. That it is a most unquestionable truth that Jesus Christ
suffered for our sins. As the centurion said, Mat. xxvii. 54, ' Truly
this was a just man, and the Son of God/ They had some tremulous
consent before, but then he puts it out of question : truly it was so, he
was some great man. But to prove it, take that place : 1 Tim. i. 15,
' This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' It is a sure thing, an un
questionable truth. So the gospel of salvation is a word of truth, Eph.
i. 13. In regard of its effects, it is called there the gospel of salvation ;
in regard of its property, the word of truth.
I shall prove it to you a little by parts.
1. It is an unquestionable truth against the Jews that he did not
die for his own sins, for to those the prophet chiefly speaketh : and I
should not be faithful to the text if I did not hint it. John viii. 46,
Christ makeththis challenge, * Which of you convinceth me of sin?'
not, Who can lay anything to my charge ? For they were ready to lay
anything to his charge, and to object against him as a traitor, deceiver,,
glutton, demoniac, what not ; but they could not make it good, nor
convince him of it. Nay, it is worth the observation, that God would
not surfer him to be condemned till Pilate had solemnly acquitted him
thrice by his own mouth. See it in one chapter, Luke xxiii. 4, ' He
saith to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man ;'
and again, ver. 14, * Pilate said to the chief priests, and the rulers,
and the people altogether, I have examined him before you, and have
found no fault in him touching those things whereof ye accuse him ;'
and in ver. 22, ' And he said unto them the third time, Why, what
evil hath he done ? I have found no cause of death in him.' And
there was nothing but popular tumult, and a confused noise of voices,
* Crucify him, crucify him/ but no cause specified. Just as Tertullian
saith of the old Christians, Suojurenos inimicum vulgus invadit lapi-
dibus et incendiis — when they were dismissed from the judges, the
common people would tear them in pieces, but they could assign no
cause. Therefore, ' surely he hath borne our griefs.' As in the place
before quoted, the centurion and they that were with him, when they
saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, were forced to
testify his innocence, Surely this was some hero, some man highly
favoured by the gods.
2. It is an unquestionable truth that he died for our sins, in
that—
[1.] It is the sum of all truth : 2 Cor. i. 20, ' For all the promises
of God are in him yea, and in him Amen/ It is called ' a more sure
word of prophecy/ 2 Peter i. 19. That part of the prophets that
concerned Christ was more sure than all revelations and voices.
[2.] This truth is confirmed by God's oath, Heb. vi. 14-19, when
God made a promise to Abraham, ' because he could swear by no
264 A PEACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIIL 4.
greater, he sware by himself, saying, Surely in blessing I will bless
thee ; ' which, as the apostle reasoneth there, belongeth to us, through
Christ. So that we have two immutable things— God's promise, and
God's oath. Surely that is God's oath ; if not, let me not be God.
[3.] This a truth confirmed by Christ's own testimony, by the
apostles and witnesses chosen to this purpose, whom the world was
not able to withstand. And by a multitude of miracles wrought by
them, and extraordinary gifts bestowed on them. Therefore it should
be entertained as a sure truth, as a sure word of promise.
Use. It serveth to show us how this proposition is to be entertained
by us, as a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation and belief.
Such truths are so commended to us to show how they should be
received. It is to check our unbelief that these asseverations and
commendations are annexed to great truths. A physician commendeth
some medicines, not that they need it, but that the patient may the
better take them. So we say it is true, not as if there were a doubt
of it, but that the act of your faith may be the more revived and exer
cised upon these truths. Now then close with this truth both in the
general and particularly.
1. In the general, look upon it as a faithful saying, that Christ the
Son of God came into the world. There is a great deal of difference in
men's assent to the gospel in the general. Every one doth not believe
it to be a word of truth. First, In some there is but a conjectural ap
prehension ; it may be true, or it may not, for they never made a strict
inquiry into it, only received it by tradition. As the men of Samaria,
Christ telleth them, ' Ye worship ye know not what,' John iv. 22. So
they take up the gospel at hap-hazard, not knowing the worth of it,
never feeling the power of it, nor experiencing the comfort of it.
Secondly, In others there is but opinion, in which the mind is strongly
swayed to think it true, but they cannot tell how it may prove. There
are fears and doubts of the falsehood, as well as of the truth of it.
They cannot contradict it, and yet cannot settle in it, for the establishing
of their souls. There may be some ungrounded overly persuasions,
which may work in them that which the apostle calleth an enlightening,
and a tasting of the powers of the world to come, Heb. vi. 5. As some
were drawn into baptism in the primitive church out of a probable
conceit of the truth of the gospel, there may be some flashy momentary
lightnings, but in few there are real and thorough persuasions of the
truth of this proposition.
2. In particular, we should get the riches of assurance of understand
ing, that we may fetch comfort out of it for ourselves. We should all say,
For our sins Christ died ; and if that word be too common, my sins.
Take heed of making God a liar : 1 John v. 10, * He that believeth
not God, hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record
that God gave of his Son.' Here is the oath of the Spirit of God,
' Surely he hath borne our griefs.' There should be the like confidence
in our hearts as there is truth in the proposition. Do not doubt of the
sure word of promise. Many are loth to determine upon comfort ; they
are afraid of presumption; they are afraid to look upon the pro
mises on the bright side : why then, look upon them in the humbling
way. Claim by the apostle's tenure, ' He came to save sinners, of
ISA. LIII. 4.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 265
whom I am chief,' 1 Tim. i. 15. He came to die for sinners ; why not
then for me ? I am sure I am as much a sinner as any other man, and
more too. The faithful saying is, that Christ came to die for sinners ;
surely I am sinner enough for Christ to save, — that you can say by ex
perience. Why, if the word be true, it is as true Christ came to take
away our sins.
But how shall I look upon this as a faithful saying, that Christ came
to die for my sins ? Is not that to believe a lie, suppose I be a repro
bate ?
Ans. [1.] The word of God excludeth none but those that exclude
themselves. We are to go to God's revealed will ; that we are bound
to believe, though in his secret will it should not be truth. As Abra
ham was bound to believe, after God's command, that Isaac should die
under his hand, though God had otherwise purposed ; for you know it
is said, 1 Tim. ii. 4, ' Who will have all men to be saved, and to come
to the knowledge of the truth/ God showeth them that the promul
gation of the gospel is general.
[2.] Though every wicked man is not bound to believe that his sins
are pardoned, yet he is bound to come to Christ that he may obtain
forgiveness. Therefore I close this proposition with a great deal of
joy, that surely Christ came to pardon our sins, and to carry our griefs.
So much to this use and point.
2. From the first act of Christ's love, with the object of it : ' He
hath borne our griefs ; ' that is, took our sins upon him : the point is: —
Doct. 2. That Jesus Christ bore the guilt of our sins.
All our griefs were really transacted and cast upon him. The
scriptures delight much in the expression of Christ's bearing our sins,
and it implieth two things : —
1. A sublation, a taking of them away from us.
2. A susception of them upon himself. Look, as the sacrifice is
said to bear the iniquities of the people, and the two goats — the slain
goat and the scape-goat — typed out Christ's death and resurrection :
Lev. xvi. 22, ' And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities
unto a land not inhabited ;' so Christ is said to ' bear our sins in his
own body upon the tree,' 1 Peter ii. 24 — the guilt and the punishment of
them. So Heb. ix. 28, it is said, ' Christ was once offered to bear the
sins of many;' and John i. 29, 'Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sins of the world,' — aipeu : the word signifieth both to
bear and to take away. Now, this bearing, in the language of the
scripture, implieth a real susception of guilt; not only Christ's taking
away of sin from us, but a taking of it into his own person ; as Ezek.
xviii. 20, ' The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither
shall the father bear the iniquity of the son ; ' that is, his wickedness
and his guilt shall not be transacted upon him. Now Christ bore our
sins : —
[1.] That he might make a change with us : 2 Cor. v. 21, ' He was
made sin for us that knew no sin, that we might be made the right
eousness of God in him/ He would take our sins, that we might have
his righteousness. What a great exchange is here ! As if a king
should take a beggar's weeds and dunghill rags for his own royal
robes. It was much for Joshua to have his filthy garments taken
266 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 4.
from him, more to have change of raiment ; most of all that Christ
should take such cast-off rags upon himself. We are righteousness
in him, he is sin in us. In the great contrivance of the covenant,
everything is done by way of exchange. The Son of God was made the
Son of man, that the sons of men might become the sons of God. He
took our misery that we might have his glory. He was born of
a woman that we might be born of God. Christ was really sin for us,
that we might be really righteous in him.
[2.] That he might destroy sin in us, by taking it into his own per
son : 1 Peter ii. 24, ' He bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we
might be dead unto sin,' — aTroyevofJLevoi : the word signifieth that w&
might be unborn to SID : it cannot be fully rendered. We were be
fore dead in sins : Christ would make us dead to sin, and, therefore,
he took it into his own person. You know some foul diseases pass
from us by the transmission of the infection to others. Christ was in
fected, as it were, by our corruptions, that we might be free. We,
that were dead in sins, are now dead to sin, the vigour and strength
of sin being extinguished by virtue derived from Christ's bearing of
them, whereby the soul is restored to health again.
The uses of this point are : —
1. To discover to us the love of Christ, whereby our faith hath
somewhat to fix and dwell upon. The love of Christ is seen in that
he would not only take away the guilt of sins, but take it into his own
person. Here is the lowest condescension, and so the highest expres
sion of love, that he was ' made sin/ This is that which is most ab
horrent from the purity of the divine nature, to be sin ; and yet he was
so for our sakes ; that was the lowest step and condescension that could
be. Christ was made many things for us, but there is the highest
wonder of his love, that he should be made sin for us. Usually that
is the highest expression of love, when men do not only stoop beneath
themselves, but do that which is contrary to their natures, to do us
good. As when a stern man doth not only serve our necessities in his
own way, but with great affability ; and when a modest man is bold for
our sakes. These things take with us, when men deny their very
tempers and dispositions to serve us. This was the greatest self-
denial in Christ, to become sin. Oh, work it upon your hearts, and
display it before your faith ! Here is cause of triumph : Col. ii. 14,
' Whatever was contrary to us, Christ took it away, nailing it to his
cross.' How nailed it ? It was nailed when Christ was nailed : he
bore it in his own person. Oh, how hath God provided for the triumph
of our faith !
Doct. 3. I might further observe, that sin is our soul-sickness.
He took our griefs or sickness. The more gracious, the more
healthy the soul is : 3 John 2, ' I wish above all thing that thou
mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.' Gaius
had a healthy soul in a sickly body. As a disease blasteth the per
fection and beauty of the body, so doth sin that of the soul, — it doth
not thrive and prosper under it. There are some sins that bear
a great analogy and resemblance with outward diseases, and affect the-
soul just as they do the body. But I will not speak to that now.
I proceed to a fourth point from the second act of Christ's love.
ISA. LIII. 4.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 267
Doct 4. That the Lord Jesus Christ took not only our sickness but
our sorrows.
He did not only bear our griefs, but carried our sorrows ; that is,
took not only our guilt, but our punishment upon him ; that is,
the very wrath that we should have endured if we had suffered for sin,
even the curse of the law and the wrath of God. He put himself in
our stead ; Christ would give us an experience of what he freed u&
from in his own person. That I may make this out to you, consider : —
(1.) What ; (2.) How ; (3.) Why Christ suffered.
1. What Christ suffered. His sufferings were not only outward
and visible, such as he endured in the garden, in the hall, and on the
cross, — bufferings, scourgings, taunting insultations, being mocked,
spit upon, crowned with thorns, pierced, crucified. Not only these,,
but inward sufferings, such as were : —
[1.] The assaults of spiritual wickednesses. The'devil, seeing Christ
under great agonies, thought he had a great advantage upon him,
and therefore was very busy with him. Now God gave him leave,
and Christ offered as it were the occasion, being stirred with passions ;
though, as a glass of clean water that is shaken, there was no filth to
arise. God gave Satan leave, the chains of his providence being taken
off from him, as in that place, Luke xxii. 53, 'This is your hour, and
the power of darkness : ' 77 &pa, KOI rj egovcrla rov O-KOTOVS. Hell's
licentious time, — it was, as it were, let loose to do what it would.
The devil, who would tempt Christ in his fasting, would now much
more in his dissolution and desertion : hell had a kind of license to
tempt Christ, so far as it might stand with the innocency of his person.
[2.] The desertion of God the Father, whereby all comfort was
eclipsed and hidden from his soul ; he was sequestered from all sense
of comfort, though the union were not dissolved. Therefore, he crieth
out, Mat. xxvii. 46, ' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? '
Though he lost his Father's love, it was not as if he had apprehensions
that there was any change in God towards him ; God was the same to
Christ still, though not appearing in the same way : as the sun is the
same, whether it shine through a red or green glass, and so casteth
sometimes a comfortable and sometimes a bloody reflection.
[3.] He suffered inwardly the impressions of his Father's wrath, and
that was a heavy burden indeed ; and, therefore, he saith, Mat. xxvL
38, ' My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.' It is said,
Gal. iii. 13, He was ' made a curse for us ; ' not only deprived of lovey
but made a curse. He suffered so much of the wrath of God, anc
underwent the curse of the law, so far forth as it might stand with hk
office and person, that, if he had not been God, he would have re
mained under that curse to all eternity.
2. How he suffered. It was with a great deal of reluctancy and
consternation expressed in his prayers, fears, grief, insomuch that he
needed an angel to comfort him ; and yet, notwithstanding, he was in
so great an agony, that he sweat great drops of blood : the word is
Opopfioi,, crumbs and clots of blood, Luke xxii. 44. That implieth a
great deal of consternation of mind. Ordinarily, men, when they are
in a great passion, emit sweat ; but the impression of it was so strong
upon Christ that he emitted blood, — nay, thick clots of blood, a sign
268 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII.-4.
that his soul laboured under the violence of strong passions. How
poorly, then, do they provide for the honour of our Saviour that say
he suffered no more than the cruelty and malice of men ! The mar
tyrs have suffered a great deal of more outward cruelty from men
cheerfully, when they have been sawed, burned, melted, roasted, har
rowed, boiled in lead or oil. They never felt much agonies and con
sternations, and, therefore, there was more in Christ's suffering than
man's cruelty.
3. Let us consider why he suffered, and how that will clear the con
clusion we have in hand.
[1.] He suffered to free us from the wrath which he endured, that
was one end : 1 Thes. i. 10, ' Even Jesus, who delivered us from the
wrath to come/ Therefore, he underwent it in his own person ; and
the pains of hell did in a manner compass him round [about. The
ground of this reason lieth in this, that Christ was our surety and sub
stitute, and, therefore, was to subject himself to that wrath which we
had deserved by our sins, and should have endured in our persons, if
he had not redeemed us from it. Our surety must carry our sorrows.
He was to suffer not only for us, but in our name and stead ; and the
surety was to pay the same sum of money that the debtor oweth :
Heb. vii. 22, Jesus was ' made a surety of a better testament.' The
debt of punishment was to be exacted of him, as well as the debt of
obedience. Jesus was made our surety, and he fully satisfied God's
justice for that punishment that we owed to him by suffering it in his
own person.
[2.] He was to suffer to satisfy for our sins that he had taken upon
him ; for our sins were really put upon Christ, as was shown in the
former point. And if the sins and the punishment, which was the
wrath of God, it followeth by a necessary consequence, that he who
bore our griefs should also carry our sorrows. The ground of this
reason is, because, as God meant to magnify his mercy at this time,
so also his justice. He would not pardon sin without satisfaction for
sin in us, or in our surety : Ps. cxvi. 5, ' Gracious is the Lord, and
righteous/ Now, if God had restored mankind without requiring our
sins of Christ, he had only discovered his mercy. Nay, if an ordinary
death had been accepted, as some dream of an acceptation, it had been
all grace still. Now, it was God's design to express his justice as well
as his mercy : Kom. iii. 25, * Whom God hath set forth to be a pro
pitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins/ And the apostle repeateth it, ver. 26, ' To
declare, I say, his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier
of him that believeth in Jesus ; ' that is, that he might be acknow
ledged just, even while of mercy he forgave sins. This is what the
light of nature teacheth men, that justice must be satisfied before
mercy could have a free passage. And, indeed, in the business of be
lieving, the soul sticketh here : God is a just God, and this was what
made the most seeing and knowing heathens to be at a loss how
divine justice could be satisfied ; and, therefore, to expiate guilt, they
would give all that was near and dear to them,— the fruit of their
bodies for the sin of their souls. Whereas the gospel, you see, hold-
*eth it forth in a sweet way, — Christ suffering the infinite wrath of his
ISA. LIU. 4.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 269
Father, even as much as would have sunk any soul to hell eternally,
if it had been laid upon him.
These arguments, I conceive, are sufficient. I will not traverse all
the arguments and doubts that might be objected. Solid and funda
mental truths are much weakened and lessened in the hearts of the
hearers, when they are proposed in a controversial way ; and therefore,
lest I should prejudice this comfortable doctrine, while I go about to
confirm it, I shall only touch upon two objections that concern the
main state of the point.
Object. 1. If Christ made a full satisfaction by bearing our sorrows
and his Father's wrath, how then doth God love us freely ? — how
is mercy magnified ?
I answer briefly — The freeness of God's love or mercy doth not ex
clude the fulness of Christ's merit. You shall see the apostle joineth
both together, God's mercy and Christ's merit : Bom. iii. 24, ' Being
justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus
Christ/ Freely, in respect of us ; we could contribute nothing of de
sert, nor nothing of satisfaction toward it. There can be no price paid
by ourselves, nor by any for us. We could not satisfy for ourselves,
nor merit a satisfier. And therefore there is a great deal of freeness
of mercy held forth in it, in that God freely gave Christ for us. The
scriptures always speak of Christ as a gift : ' For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only-begotten Son.' There are divers respects-
that set out the freeness of the gift. First, In that he gave him of his
own accord. We could not enlarge our thoughts to such a desire, Isa.
Ixv. 1. As God said in another like case, ' I am found of them that
sought me not.' It is impossible that man or angel could take in such
a contrivance in his thoughts to ask it of God. Secondly, Freely, be
cause, as we cannot deserve it, so we cannot requite it. God giveth
Christ to them that can give nothing for him. But this must be the
work of another place.
Object. 2 is this, How did Christ suffer our punishment, since his
sufferings were but temporary, and ours to be eternal ? There are
divers answers. I will give you that which is most satisfying.
1. I distinguish of our punishment ; it maybe considered two ways :
as to the substance, and as to the circumstances of it. For the sub
stance, Christ suffered it fully, even infinite wrath, though not with
such circumstances as could not stand with his person and office.
2. That those circumstances, the eternity and duration of our punish
ment, are not so much in regard of the punishment itself, as the per
sons that undergo it. It is because they cannot conquer and get above
it. Now Christ was such an excellent person that he could not only
undergo infinite wrath, but get above it. Christ could set himself free
by his own power. The scriptures hint this answer in that expression,
Acts ii. 24, ' Having loosed the pains of death, because it was not pos
sible he should be holden of it.' Death and the curse were, as it were,
in travail ; for look, what pains and throes a travailing woman sus-
taineth till she be delivered of her burden ; even such pangs did the
grave and the curse feel till Christ were gotten free from them, for it
was impossible he could be holden of it. Thus for that objection.
Those curses that would have continued upon him for ever and ever,
270 A PKACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. MIL 4.
Christ conquered by the power of his Godhead, for he was to suffer
triumphantly.
Use 1. Is exhortation, to press you to three duties : —
1. To observe this great work of God, to put the punishment of
our sins upon Christ.
[1.] Meditate upon it in your thoughts. Here is enough to take
them up to all eternity. Deep sufferings seem to challenge from us a
serious contemplation : Lam. i. 12, * Is it nothing to you, all ye that
pass by ? Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my
sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me
in the day of his fierce anger/ — which some have applied to Christ,
though I think improperly. I quote it only to show you that a tran
sient glance, a mere passing by, is not enough for deep sorrows ; you
must behold and see. The scripture speaks of looking upon him
whom we have pierced, Zech. xii. 10. And observe it seriously ; it is
not a slight turn of the thoughts this way that will serve. What is
the reason that men that know the evil of sin and the mercy of
Christ do not more love Christ and hate sin ? They have but a slight
and superficial apprehension — it swimmeth upon the top of their
thoughts, and is readily up : It is true we are all sinners, and God is
merciful. These men, though they speak often of it, do least of all
believe it. Therefore do not hastily run over these truths. The
scriptures always, when they express the love of God, they seem to give
occasion for some pause of the thoughts : ' God so loved the world ! '
4 Behold what manner of love ! ' and the like. The works of God's
providence require an accurate search : Ps. cxi. 2, ; The works of the
Lord are great, and to be sought out by all that take pleasure therein.'
Much more the great contrivance of the covenant. Take it into your
thoughts, what it is to have a God suffering, and a God punishing.
[2.] Observe it with admiration. One said he had gotten this good
by philosophy, that he had learned to admire at nothing. The more
you know of the things of God, the more you will admire at every
thing, especially at this great mystery. There is an observation of
curiosity, when men look into every creek of it by their reasons,
and so lose themselves in a mist of errors. The Christian way is to
look upon it with admiration, to admire the wisdom of God, that he
should in such a sweet way magnify infinite wisdom and infinite jus
tice at the same time. This very thing, the sufferings of Christ,
the angels desire to pry into, 1 Peter i. 12 ; if you consult the context,
you will find it so. He alludeth to the two angels that were set upon
the mercy-seat, which was the covering of the ark, and typed out
Christ. They would fain see the utmost of this mystery. They
desire to look into it out of a thirst of knowledge, or a delight in medi
tation. So 1 Tim. iii. 16, ' Seen of angels ; ' that is, this was the
ravishing object that took up their thoughts.
2. To learn that which God teacheth us in such an instance. There
are many profitable lessons. I will but name them : — First, There
is the evil of sin. God would express his hatred against it by punish
ing it in Christ. Sin is such a thing, that when Christ did but take
the guilt of it into his own person, he must suffer the infinite wrath of
his Father. Secondly, Then the impartial severity of divine jus-
ISA. LIII. 4.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 271
tice : God spared not his own Son. It is said, 2 Peter ii. 4,
that he ' spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to
hell/ But lo, here is a greater instance : Horn. viii. 32, ' He spared
not his own Son/ when he bore our sins by imputation. No prerogative
then can hinder. In vain do men pretend privileges against God's
wrath. There is nothing but Christ that hath borne wrath that we can
•oppose against wrath. There is nothing that stoppeth the long fur
rows but the casting God's Son in the way. Think of this, that you
may fear before him. God is a consuming fire, Heb. xii. 29. He was
•so in Christ in a sense, and is so to all out of Christ. Thirdly, The
law's dignity and indispensableness. God would fulfil every tittle ; not
the least iota must pass away, but it must be fulfilled in Christ, both
in regard of the duty it commandeth, arid the curse it annexeth to the
breach of it. Fourthly, The love of God in providing amply against
all our scruples, that he would offer us mercy in such a way as he might
declare his justice, and so satisfy all our doubts. There is a saying
usual in some men's prayers, * We appeal from thy justice to thy
mercy/ This expression is not so warrantable. God's justice and
God's mercy both look comfortably upon a sinner through Christ.
It is mercy, and mercy purchased, when justice is satisfied. God
is now faithful and just. That which before caused our greatest
horror, causeth now our greatest triumph. God is a just God.
What would men have given heretofore to appease justice ? It
could never enter into men's thoughts which way that should be
done, till the gospel revealed it.
3. To render praise and thanksgiving to God. We enjoy a great
•deal of benefit by it, and great benefits require a great deal of duty.
Here is a double motive to praise. The wrath of God is taken away
from us, and Christ endured it for us. As to its being taken away
from us, consider what it is to be freed from the wrath of God. What
should we have endured if Christ had not made such a satisfaction !
You cannot expect that I should give you a map of hell. I have
observed that great truths never do well when they are painted by
fancy. War and hell are rather pleasant in the description than hor
rible. It is like there may be a little shrinking in the soul ; as a
gentle fresh gale that is let out upon the face of the sea may a little
furl the surface and upper part rather than stir the billows, it doth
not work soundly. A mere relation is better than a passionate de
scription. Oh, consider, then, what it is to be deprived of all sense of
the favour of God, to be delivered over to torments ceaseless, endless,
and remediless. One flash of God's wrath into our consciences,
how doth it make us roar ! And if a drop be so irksome, what is it
•to have an ocean of wrath poured upon us, and to be overwhelmed in
soul and body 1 Oh, what a mercy is it that our Saviour hath delivered
us from this everlasting vengeance of hell-fire ! I had rather you
should enlarge your hearts to think of these things than expatiate
upon them. To have all this taken away should make us abound in
praise. And then, in the next place, consider how Christ took it
upon himself. ' He hath carried our sorrows !' There are some
rare instances and representations of those in story that have exposed
themselves to violence and cruelty for others; as in Damon and
272 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIIL 5.
Pythias, Pambo, &c. But none riseth so high as this, to wit, the
leaving of infinite glory to suffer infinite wrath for us — that was a
hard exchange. Oh, then, work it upon your thoughts, that you may
live to that God that gave himself for you. The main argument that
faith urgeth upon the soul is drawn from Christ's suffering for us :
Gal. ii. 20, ' The life which I live in the flesh, I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.' I should
have been given, but he gave himself in my stead.
Use 2. Is information to the children of God to show the happiness
of those that have an interest in Christ's death. There is no wrath
against them : Isa. xxvii. 4, ' Fury is not in me/ There may be
sometimes filii sub ira ; they may have some apprehensions of God's
wrath through their own sins, when they have offended God. They
must get a new act of pardon assured to them and to their con
sciences. There may be displeasure, though not wrath. There may be
afflictions, and that in pursuance of divine vengeance ; though for the
matter they may be the same as light upon wicked men, yet their
habitude and use is changed unto God's children. They are of ex
ceeding great use to them, to quicken them to duties, to humble them
for sin, to keep lusts low, to prevent vanity and pride of heart, and to
brine: us nearer to God. So much for this verse.
THE FIFTH VERSE.
He was wounded for our transgressions, lie ivas bruised for our
iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon him ; and by
Ms stripes we are healed.
THE prophet having in the former verse briefly touched upon the-
sufferings of Christ, and the cause of them, by way of confutation of
the Jews, he now amplifieth the argument, and enlargeth himself by
setting it out in other expressions. All words and all thoughts are
little enough for so great a mystery. It should not be tedious, though
a man do always dwell upon it. St Paul's e/cpiva justifieth a minister,
if he should preach no other thing to you : 1 Cor. ii. 2, * For I deter
mined not to know anything among you, but Jesus Christ and him
crucified/ Christ's sufferings are like the widow of Sarepta's cruse ;
though we spend much of the oil of it, it will not fail, it will afford
more consolation still ; and therefore it should not be grievous to you,
if we hold your meditation to it. The prophet here, now he is fallen
upon the subject, will not give it over. Though he had told you that
surely he bore our sorrows and carried our griefs, yet he will not
quit it so till he hath more fully expressed it to you, as he doth in the
text : ' He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities/ &c. You may here in this verse observe three things : —
1. The history of Christ's sufferings.
2. The cause of them.
3. The fruit and benefit of them. These three things are scattered
in divers expressions throughout the verse.
ISA. LIII. 5.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 273
1. The history of Christ's sufferings, set out by tvounds, bruises r
chastisements, stripes ; which expressions are multiplied to fasten the
thought of it the more upon our minds. And the words do not only
imply those wounds in Christ's body by the nails, the spear, the
scourge, but the whole bitterness of his bloody death ; and some of the
expressions will bear it. ' He was wounded.' It is the manner of
the scripture to use wounding for killing. ' He was bruised,' or
broken, as it were crushed to pieces by the hand of God. ' The
chastisement of our peace.' Chastisement, the word is applied to
learning ; and because lazy and slow learners must be whipped, it is
applied to signify punishment. Some think the prophet alludeth to
those that were whipped by the sentence of the law, and by way of
punishment. And then ' stripes,' ^w\wm avrov, — the word signifieth
sometimes gore, blood, or scars. And I conceive these things are the
rather mentioned, wounds, stripes, scars, because Christ after his resur
rection, for a testimony of the reality of his sufferings, retained these
wounds and scars. So much for the first thing, the history.
2. The cause of it : for our transgressions, for our iniquities.
The first word noteth more properly the doing of evil, the latter
swerving from good ; sins of omission and commission : Christ suffered
for them all : the least neglect of duty, and the least obliquity in
duties needed Christ to satisfy for them. It was for our iniquities as
well as our transgressions, our defections from the right way.
3. The fruits and benefits : they are two — peace and healing.
[1.] Peace: the chastisement of our peace ivas upon him. Some
understand by peace whatsoever is good and precious ; it being usual
with the Hebrews to express it by the word peace. And because the
Septuagint sometimes turn shelomim, the plural word for peace, into
retributions, some read it thus, ' The chastisement of retributions was
upon him ;' that is, God payed him what should have been payed us,
namely, punishment and wrath. But I conceive it noteth here that
peace and reconciliation that is between God and a sinner. Christ was
chastised to procure it for us. Sin made us odious, and enemies to
God. Here is the first privilege : Christ bore the chastisement of our
peace.
[2.] Healing. A strange paradox, you will think, that we should
be healed by another's stripes ; but so it is. The meaning is, by this
our souls are cured from the wounds and infection of sin. From the
wounds, Christ took them upon himself. From the infection, sin is
wounded by it, as you will see hereafter.
I come to the points, which are three, according to the parts of thetext.
1. That the Lord Jesus at his death endured many cruel and bitter
sufferings.
2. That all these sufferings were undergone for our sins and trans
gressions.
3. That by these sufferings Christ hath purchased for us peace and
healing.
Doct. 1. That Jesus Christ at his death endured many cruel and
bitter sufferings. The prophet sets them out here by ivounds, bruises,
stripes; which words, because they imply most of all his outward and
bodily sufferings, and what he suffered from the cruelty and malice of
VOL. III. S
274 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 5.
man, I shall most of all touch upon these things, that they may be
matter of meditation to you.
1. He was betrayed by his own disciple ; that is sad. It was a
double stab to Caesar's heart when Brutus was among the conspirators ;
the grief is the more by far. David, in the person of Christ, complaineth
of it, Ps. Iv. 12, 13, * It was not an enemy that reproached me ; then
I could have borne it : neither was it he that hated me that did magnify
himself against me ; then I would have hid my face from him. But it
was thou, a man, mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance/
2. Forsaken by the rest of the disciples : Mark xiv. 50, ' And they
all forsook him and fled ;' that is, all the disciples. And that is a
misery, to be deprived of the solace of friends when we most want them.
A friend is for adversity ; that is the reason of our 'Choice, that we may
have some to stand by us in evil times. But all are gone.
3. He was an object of the common hatred. They do not only come
out against him with swords and staves, the usual instruments of vul
gar fury, but thirst after his blood, cry against him, ' His blood be
upon us and on our children/ They would rather have Barabbas
released than Christ.
4. Then he was haled to the judgment-seat, and there accused and
sentenced contrary to all law, arid their own conscience. When Pilate
asked of them what evil they found in him, they could rejoin nothing
but a tumultous noise, ' Crucify him, crucify him ; ' that is all the
reason they urge.
5. There are several expressions of contempt used to him, which
are like vinegar to wounds, the very smart and quintessence of grief.
They buffeted him, that is an ignominious expression of cruelty ;
buffeting being the punishment of slaves. Spitting, which was another
token of contempt among the Jews : * If her father had spit upon her,
should she not be unclean seven days ?' Numb. xii. 14. Yea, Job
reckoned it as a great aggravation of his sufferings : Job xxx. 10,
'They abhor me, they even dare to spit upon me/ And then they
whipped and mocked him with a robe, a sceptre of reeds, and a crown
of thorns. There can be no greater dishonour done to a man than to
twit him with his dignity, to put the mock habiliments of majesty
upon him. And then as to their several beatings and smitings, I
cannot mention all. And at last they crucified him, a death designed
for men accursed. Usually those that suffered that death were looked
upon as accursed by God and men; Deut. xxi. 23, ' Cursed is every
one that hangeth upon a tree/ It was the death of grievous malefac
tors, such as blasphemers and idolaters. Nay, he was hanged between
two thieves, in media latronum, tanquam latronum maximus ; he was
put in the midst, as if he was the greatest malefactor of the three.
And when he was dead, he was wounded with a spear, John xix. 34.
An impotent, silly malice, to triumph over the dead ! Thus I have
given you a taste of what you may read more fully in the evangelists.
I come now to apply it.
Use 1. It serveth for consolation, for examples are apt to ease the
soul. The great sting of misery is, that we think it strange, and such
a thing as never happened : * Is there any sorrow like my sorrow ?'
Lam. i. 12. We are all apt to say so. Why, here is a great example.
ISA. LIIL 5.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 275
Christ, that he might sanctify afflictions to us, endured them in his
own person. Comfort is never so well taken as when we speak to the
particular case. Why, here in Christ's instance there is comfort.
Whatever the case and distress be, there is some use in the argument :
1 Peter ii. 21, ' Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example that we
should follow his steps.' There is a great deal of merit in Christ's
sufferings. Example is not all, and yet example is much. God would
suffer too, that he might provide against all the terrible troubles you
can be cast upon. I shall instance a little in those things that cause
the greatest storm and tumult in the heart.
1. In case thy greatest woe is brought about to thee by the men
of thine own family and cherishing, remember Christ was so used,
and so was St Paul. Among the other dangers that he reckoned up, he
saith, ' In perils among false brethren.' And divers of the martyrs in
church history have been betrayed into the hands of their enemies by
their friends and allies. It is much, I confess, to meet with evil usage
from whom we least looked for it. And yet you see this hath been
the lot of Christ and the people of God before you.
2. Is the case so, that you are in misery and forsaken of friends ?
It is a very miserable case, that you find respect no longer than you
are able to purchase it. Why, Christ was left by his own disciples ;
and it is the lot of many a faithful servant of God, and will be till you
can weed self-love out of men's hearts. Usually they aim at their own
good in dispensing of their respects ; and when they cannot serve them
selves of us, they will leave us : Prov. xiv. 20, ' The poor is hated by
his neighbour, but the rich hath many friends/
3. Is it so that thou art an object of the common hatred, like Ish-
mael, thy hand against every man, and every man's hand against thine ?
Christ suffered it, and it is the lot of many a public-spirited servant
of God. Lapidibus nos invadit inimicum vulgus, saith Tertullian.
The common people are ready to brain us writh stones wheresoever we
go. Kemember the Ephesian tumult, where the common people raged
against Paul, so that he speaketh of them as if they had put off all
humanity : 1 Cor. xv. 32, ' If after the manner of men I have fought
with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me ? ' Hinting at that
story in Acts xix. And it is the lot of many of God's people now to be
cruelly handled by rude hands ; and evil neighbours look upon the
day of their brethren's adversity, and are as some of them that do it.
4. To be denied the benefit of law, the wall of our safety, the fence
of our privileges and interests. The thing we suffer many times doth
not grieve us so much as the injustice of it. Why, remember it was
Christ's case ; he was condemned, though none could fasten the least
guilt upon him. So it is many a Christian's case to be denied all
right and equity : Eccles. v. 8, * If thou seest the oppression of the
poor, and violent perverting of justice and judgment in a province,
marvel not at the matter ; for he that is higher than the highest re-
gardeth, and there be higher than they.' The primitive martyrs were
condemned before they were heard. Tertullian complaineth much
that they would not hear the Christians plead for themselves. So it
would make a man gnash his teeth for indignation to see what undue
proceedings there were against the martyrs that were convened before
276 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 5.
the bishops here in England ; the case was determined before heard.
It was likewise so of late, agreeable to what Tertullian spake of the
heathen.
5. Art thou handled with a great deal of contempt, as in all the in
stances of Christ's sufferings, buffeted with the back of the hand ? So
was Christ : Mat. v. 39, ' Whosoever shall smite thee on the right
cheek, turn to him the other also/ A transverse blow, such as might
light upon the right cheek, expresseth great contempt. Christ would
have you bear it. Again, be it spitting upon us, any expression of
contempt, this is that which the nature of man stormeth at ; every one
counteth himself worthy of some respect. And yet Christ submitted
to it. So Job, ' they even dare to spit upon me/ See how the prophet
speaketh in the person of Christ, Isa. 1. 6, ' I gave my back to the
smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair : I hid not
my face from shame and spitting/ Suppose thy case to be an oppro
brious punishment. John Frith was put in the stocks, mocked, and
made a laughing-stock, marked as a common vagrant. So was Christ,
so was Samson, and so it was with Israel: Jer. xlviii. 27, ' For was
not Israel a derision unto thee ? Was he found among thieves ? '
They did hoot at them, as boys do in the street after a thief when he
is taken. Again, is there some upbraiding pageantry used in con
tempt of thee ? Why, they gave Christ a reeden sceptre and a thorny
crown. John Huss and Jerome of Prague had painted coats put upon
them with devils round about them ; and many poor souls have been
served in that manner. I remember a story of a king of England in
his distress, whom they would trim upon a hill with cold water. Ay
but, saith he, Hot water will come, meaning his tears. Is thy case so,
that thou art called to suffer a shameful death for Christ ? Christ
suffered the shamefulest death that can be for thee. Hanging is no
dishonour to a Christian. It is not the death, but the cause that
maketh it shameful. Ludovicus Marsaius thought himself honoured
by his rope. Cur non et mihi quoque torquem donas, et hujus ordinis
equitem erects 1 — Give me a rope likewise, saith he, and make me a
knight of this noble order. St Paul saith, ' With this chain/ holding it
up by way of triumph. A man would have thought that it had been a
golden chain that he spake of, since he honoured it so much, when,
alas ! it was iron. Christ hath taken away all shame of punishment.
And then they gave Christ vinegar instead of drink. This has been
the lot of many Christians upon the inquisition-rack. So to have your
dying words misconstrued and misreported ; there have not been want
ing in all ages those that have turned the saints' Eloi into Ellas. What
reports have there been of Tremellius turning Jew, and of divers pro-
testants turning papists 1 So after death ; for you may live in such cala
mitous times in which you may see a great deal of cruelty exercised,
not only upon the bodies of the saints here, but even after death ; so it
was with Christ, and so with his people. They were not safe when
they had taken sanctuary in the grave. So the papists did against
the bones of Wickliffe, Bucer, and others. Nay, if it were possible,
they would reach to the damnation of the soul. As the papists said
of John Huss, mandamus animam diabolo. And then, as Christ was
crucified in the midst of two thieves, so it may be your case to be
JSA. LIII. 5.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 277
numbered among transgressors, to be counted heretics, factious, schis
matics ; this is what the people of God hath suffered from the proud
men of the world. Papists would make Protestantism a bundle of old
errors, as Baily says in the Jesuit's Catechism. Thus the enemies,
like the cruel watchmen, would fain take away the garment from the
spouse, expose her to shame and contempt in the world. But remem
ber, in all these cases Jesus Christ has gone before you.
Use 2. Did Jesus endure such cruel and bitter sufferings ? It in-
formeth you how unlike Christ they are who live in a way of pleasure
and ease, as if the way to heaven were over a bed of roses. If Christ
were a Man of Sorrows, certainly they are men of pleasures, such as
mind nothing but present contentments and satisfactions. Thus I have
given you the history of Christ's sufferings.
I now come to the cause. We must not only look upon the suffer
ings of Christ, but must look upon the cause of it. The point is : —
Doct. That Jesus Christ endured all these bitter sufferings at his
death for our sins. Take a place or two of scripture to prove this :
Kom. iv. 25, ' Who was delivered for our offences, and raised again for
our justification/ You have need of places to confirm you when the
most substantial truths are questioned. Delivered, that is delivered to
death for our transgressions : 1 Cor. xv. 3, ' For I delivered unto you
first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures.' This was the doctrine Sfc Paul
would preach among them, and the doctrine that contained the drift
of the scriptures. He suffered for our sins, that he might become a
sacrifice to appease God for us. That was it that all the world thirsted
after, an expiation ; and it is fully performed by Christ. God for a
while trained up his people in sacrifices, that he might type out the
Lamb of God that was to be slain for the satisfying of wronged justice.
But I shall say no more to that here, but proceed to application.
Use 1. It confuteth divers errors and mistakes in doctrine, viz. : —
1. That evil blasphemy of the Socinians, that say that Christ only
died by occasion of sin, not for sin. The scriptures speak plainly, and
yet vain men list to blaspheme, that they may take away the merit of
Christ's passion, and establish only his example. Christ did not only
leave us an example, but satisfied for our sins. Adam left us more
than an example of sin, and Christ left us more than an example of
suffering.
2. The derogatory doctrine of the papists, who extend this full
satisfaction of Christ to sins only committed before baptism ; but as
for mortal sins, and sins committed after baptism, they say we receive
forgiveness only of the eternal, but not of the temporal punishment of
them, which remaineth to be suffered by us to the satisfaction of divine
justice. But when the scriptures speak so fully of all sins, transgres
sions, and iniquities satisfied for, why should men fancy a restraint ?
In human matters we account those things that are in our favour may
be construed in the largest sense that they can bear with probability.
Christians, stand for your liberty against those encroachments of
Antichrist.
3. That fond dream of some that think Christ's sufferings were a,ny
way for himself. They urge for it Luke xxiv. 26, ' Ought not Christ
278 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON (ISA. LIII. 5.
to have suffered these things, and then to enter into his glory ?' That
proveth it an antecedent, not a cause or merit of glory. There is a
difference between consequents and effects : Phil. ii. 8, 9, ' He became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God
hath highly exalted him : ' Sib signifieth after which. In Dan. ix.
26, it is said, ' The Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself/ And
so here, ' He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our
iniquities/
use 2. Is exhortation to look upon the cause of Christ's sufferings.
Mr Perkins well observeth it to be a superstitious looking upon Christ,
when we reflect upon his passion without looking upon the cause. So
to look upon him in a crucifix is superstition to the eye ; and to look
upon his sufferings as a dolorous and sad story, is superstition to the
ear. Look, then, upon them as they refer to the cause, to wit, our sins.
This is the consideration that maketh them profitable and useful to
us. The cause yieldeth this profit.
1. Here is matter for our faith to work upon. Christ died for
those things that trouble a gracious heart, viz., sins. One saith, Send
drooping Christians to the 53d of Isaiah, send them to this place, ' He
was wounded' for that for which your consciences were wounded. When
the soul groaneth under the sad apprehensions of God's wrath and
hell's horror, why here is thy comfort, 'He was wounded for our
transgressions/ Pray as those for the distressed : Job xxxiii. 24,
' Deliver me from going down to the pit ; I have found a ransom/ 0
Lord, here I have found a ransom ; show him Christ's wounds : 0
Lord, wilt not thou forgive in a servant what thou didst punish in a
Son ? What is there in sin that there is not in Christ's sufferings ?
Are they manifold ? Tell God here are wounds, bruises, stripes, chas
tisements. Are they great ? Here is infinite wrath suffered, divine
justice fully satisfied. Art thou a base, vile, filthy person ? Christ is a
glorious and all-sufficient Saviour. Every way here is triumph for faith.
2. Here is an object for your love. It is a great testimony of the love
of Christ, that he was wounded for our transgressions. Viscera patent
per vulnera — you may see his bowels through his wounds. A strange
kind of surgery ! The whole body is sick, and the head wounded to
cure it. We committed the sins, and Christ suffered the punishment
due to them. Usually, we love them more that suffer for us, than
those that otherwise do us good. Oh, work it upon your affections !
3. It giveth you help in your endeavours against sin.
[1.] It is a help to humble us for sins past. There is a leanness in
the soul many times, and we cannot make sin so odious and grievous
to our souls as we would. Take in this circumstance ; all Christ's suf
ferings and wounds were but the effects of our sins. This is a glass
which will discover it to us, our knowledge is by the effects. The
effects of sin were never so apparent and eminent as in Christ. Oh, look
upon him whom you have pierced, and then mourn, Zech. x. 12.
[2.] To caution you against sins to come. Here is a double argu
ment, from experience, and from love.
(1.) From experience. Sin is not so sweet as the sinner imagines.
Christ suffered bitter things when he bore it in his body upon the tree.
It lieth when it flattereth you with hopes of some contentment. Sin
ISA. LIU. 5.] THE FIFTY-THIJRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 279
indeed smileth upon the soul at the first coming. Therefore Solomon
saith, Prov. xxiii. 31, ' Look not upon the wine when it is red, when
it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright •/ that is,
upon the seeming pleasure of it. Oh, remember, it cost Christ dear ;
it is a flattering, deceiving thing.
(2.) From love. Oh, shall I wound Christ again ? Shall I grieve God
once more ? We hate that which hath injured our friends. Shall I
allow that in my bosom which Christ hates ? Use yourselves- to these
meditations upon the least solicitations to drunkenness, adultery, and
the like : 1 Peter iv. 1, * Forasmuch as Christ hath suffered for us
in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind/ The apostle
meaneth, we should arm ourselves with such contemplations as Christ's
death affordeth us. He speaketh of it as a great remedy against tempt
ations. By such thoughts the work of the Spirit is perfected. By
drunkenness, thou givest him vinegar to drink ; thy oppression is a
wounding of his sides ; wresting scripture is a turning ofEloiintoElias;
scoffing at religion is spitting upon him ; jeering of his ministers is
like the soldiers jeering at him ; professing him for fashion's sake, and
hating him in your hearts, is a putting mock habiliments upon him ;
by abusing of his servants thou dost again buffet and beat him. Thus
you may exemplify in every sin.
I am now to make entrance upon the last point —
That by these sufferings, Christ hath purchased for us peace and
healing.
I begin with the first of these benefits.
1. That Christ hath purchased peace for his people, ' The chastise*-
ment of our peace was upon him.' Peace, among other expositions
of the phrase, I take to be that reconciliation and amity that was
wrought out between God and a sinner. Christ was chastised to pro
cure it for us, and all other good things that follow upon it.
I shall prove it to you by scripture, that one of the great benefits that
we enjoy by Christ's sufferings is peace, or the favour of God. Take
a few scriptures : Kom. v. 1, ' Being justified by faith, we have peace
with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.' There is peace of con
science, and peace with God, which is nothing else but our atonement
and reconciliation with him. Every one that is justified hath not peace
of conscience ; but every one that is justified hath peace with God.
There is a quarrel between God and the soul because of sin ; your sins
have separated between God and you. Sin maketh God not only an
utter enemy, but a severe punisher. Now this strife and quarrel is
taken up by Christ : through Jesus it is said we have peace. He maketh
God our friend ; so Col. i. 20, ' And having made peace through the
blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself.' By
the blood of his cross ; that is, by the bloody cruel death he suffered
upon the cross, he took away sin and wrath. The scriptures speak of
what is most visible : so Eph. ii. 14, * He is our peace, who hath made
both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between
us/ He is our peace, the abstract for the concrete ; such a speech as
is usual in relation to the business of Christ's undertaking ; even as he
is wisdom to us, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so Zech.
ix. 10, ' He shall speak peace to the heathen ;' so Isa. ix. 8, Christ is
280 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 5.
called * the Prince of peace/ Look, as we call men by the better title, as
we say the king of England, not mentioning the lesser dominions, as Scot
land, Wales, Ireland ; and the king of France, not taking in the petty
governments in our ordinary way of speaking ; so Christ is set forth by
the great privilege he hath purchased for mankind, which includes
other things : Mic. v. 5, ' And this man shall be the peace.' This man
shall be our peace, the Prince of peace. All these expressions imply,
that as we are said to have it this way, so we can have it no other way.
I come to the reasons of the point.
1. Because Christ by his death hath slain all hatred. It is the apostle's
phrase : Eph. ii. 16, ' And that he might reconcile both unto God in one
body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby ;' that is, took away
the cause of hatred ; and the cause being taken away, the effect ceaseth.
Look, as when there is a whisperer that goeth between party and party,
and sets them at odds and variance, we say we shall never be friends till
such an one be removed out of the way ; so it was between God and the
soul, there is no hope of agreement till those that do the ill offices between
God and us be removed. And therefore Christ himself would die rather
than not slay our enemy. He hath slain hatred by taking away the
cause of it, which was : —
[1.] The just wrath of God. Now that was abolished by Christ ; he
conquered it by suffering it ; insomuch that God saith, ' Fury is not in
me/ Isa. xxvii. 4. God's justice being satisfied in Christ, he doth not
pursue revenge against his people. Is there any fury in God ?
E2.] Sin in us, that was the cause of hatred. You may consider
oth in its guilt and power, and both sit heavy upon the soul.
(1.) The guilt of it. There can be no peace as long as this lieth
charged upon the soul. This works all that distance and hatred be
tween us and God ; and therefore guilt will cause horror : Job xiii. 26,
* Thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me possess the ini
quities of my youth ;' that is, bitter enough to possess sins, to own
the guilt of them. It was as great a threatening as Christ could use,
when he told the Jews they should die in their sins, John viii. 21-24.
Oh, it is a miserable thing that death should seize upon us in our sins !
What a perplexity is the soul then left to ! Whither will it go when
it dieth in its own guilt? Now this is taken away by Christ ; and
therefore it is so often said that we have remission of sins by his blood :
1 John i. 7, 'And the blood of Jesus Christ cleansethus from all sin.'
(2.) The power of sin. This disturbeth and filleth the soul with
the sense of God's wrath, and embittereth the soul against God.
Through the strength of sin we hate God, because we cannot but look
upon him as a punisher 'of it. Now Christ slayeth this hatred by
sending his Spirit-to kill our enmity, to heal our poisoned natures, and
maketh us more willing and careful to please God. It is said, Titus iii.
6, ' The Spirit of regeneration is shed on us abundantly (or richly),
through Jesus Christ our Saviour/ He taketh away that rancorous
disposition that is in the heart. This is the first reason : Christ taketh
away hatred, and therefore purchaseth peace.
2. Because he hath taken away all show of hatred. The ceremonial
law was an ordinance hinting out our guilt. Now Christ would take
away whatever in show made against us, or was contrary to us : Col.
ISA. LIU. 5.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 281
ii. 14, ' He took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.' He would
not leave any ground for doubt or suspicion ; he hath provided against
all our scruples : Christ would not leave the least line uncrossed, our
own confessions do not make against us. As soon as you give in the bill,
Christ teareth it ; he hath nailed all in triumph to his cross. You can
urge many things against yourselves ; ay ! but all these things are par
doned, and God hath nothing to show for the debt. St Paul says, 1
Tim. i. 13, * I was a blasphemer and a persecutor ;' a heavy bill, ' but
I obtained mercy/ All this was taken out of the way. Christ hath
not only paid the debt, but torn also the bonds. By his death on the
cross he did as it were declare to the believer that God hath nothing
to show against him. As there is not anger, so there should not be
suspicion of anger. He hath taken up the controversy that was be
tween God and the soul.
3. Christ hath procured us favour. Not only the matter that
kindleth anger, and all show of it is taken away, but love is pro
cured : the children of wrath are become the children of love : Mat. iii.
17, ' This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' The eyes
of God's holiness cannot but be offended with a filthy, polluted sinner,
yet he is well-pleased with them in Christ, and so they are not only
objects of his love but of his delight : Isa. Ixii. 4, ' But thou shalt be
called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah ; for the Lord delighteth in
thee ; ' and in another place, ' He shall rejoice over them to do them
good/ A man delighteth in things that are most suitable and agree
able to his nature. There cannot be a more pleasing work to God
than to do his people good. It is said, Luke xv. 5, of the lost sheep,
that * when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing/
Before there could be no work more suitable to God's justice than to
punish sinners ; whereas now it is, as the prophet calleth it, ' his
strange work,' Isa. xxviii. 21, a thing that he would not be acquainted
with towards his people. Whereas, to the wicked, still he laughs at
their destruction, Prov. i. 26. Therefore, Christ hath purchased
peace for us, because he hath not only taken away anger but procured
favour. Among men, anger many times may be taken away, but
they have not love. Kebels, after a pardon, live in a great deal of
umbrage, and are under suspicion ; the scars remain though the
wound be cured : as Absalom, when pardoned, did not see the king's
face. Artificial cracks will be seen though soldered ; but it is not so
here, for we are re-instated in God's love and affections. Christ hath
satisfied wrath and merited favour ; so that the soul can look upon
God with a great deal of comfort and joy.
Use 1. This serveth to reprove those —
1. That fetch their peace anywhere else. No comfort is lasting but
what floweth from the blood of Christ ; that only is the true peace
that he hath merited.
2. Those that are against peace, or the settling of the heart in the
sufferings of Jesus Christ. I begin with these first, and they are of
two sorts: —
[1.] Such as are grossly ignorant ©f Christian privileges, and think
it a duty to doubt, and a matter of merit to keep themselves upon
terms of perplexity. A popish spirit haunts many; they think
282 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 5.
assurance a dry doctrine, and therefore do not strive to settle their
hearts ; as if there could be no duty where there is no fear. Hereby
they plainly discover out of what principles they act for God, — to wit,
out of a servile spirit ; and therefore they cannot be kept right any
longer than they fear wrath. 0 brethren ! turn these evil thoughts out
of your hearts. True peace is a great benefit that Christ hath pur
chased for us.
[2.] Such as would fain apply themselves to Christ, but are loth to
busy themselves witli what should make for the settling of their
hearts and establishing their spirits ; as if it were more pleasing to
God to keep the conscience raw with sins, than to heal it with Christ's
righteousness. A man should labour after peace with God, and peace
of conscience too. It is a natural superstitious thought to think God
is pleased with the mere sorrow of a creature ; and, therefore, false
worshippers have wounded themselves, that they might make some
dolorous impressions upon his mind. Christ suffered the sorrows that
you might have the peace ; the chastisement of your peace was upon
him. Why should you stand out against comfort, if there were not
some secret thought of satisfying by your sorrow ? Now you are not
to satisfy, but Christ. It is good to reflect upon wrath, to drive us to
mercy ; but it is not good to dwell always in the preparations, for that
is to forget our errand, and to stay in the porch when we should enter
into the temple. Labour to get an interest in him in whom dwelleth
the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
3. It reproveth such as would have peace, but not this way, but
upon wrong grounds. Now that is an evil peace that cometh any
other way. Look to the grounds of your peace. How came you to
such a peaceable frame of heart ? The false grounds are : —
[1.] Ignorance of our condition. A man doth not fear danger till he
be sensible of it. Now many do not know that God and they are at such
terms of distance and anger. Little doth a man trouble himself when
he doth not know what evil is determined against him : Kom. iii. 11,
' There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after
God, they have no understanding/ And it is easy to go hoodwinked
to hell. Blinded sinners go merrily to the pit of destruction, never
dreaming that danger was so near hand. Poor souls that do not know
the worst by themselves ! This is the greatest judgment that can be
fall them.
[2.] Carelessness in others. When men cannot put off sorrow, they
put it by, and will not so much as reflect upon themselves. You
may know it is bad with men when they cannot endure to look in
ward. Things that are evil cannot brook a trial ; men will put all
care out of their hearts as to their eternal concerns.
[3.] When men avoid whatever may put them in mind of their
misery. There are two things that humble men, doing of duty and
striving against sin.
(1.) Doing of duty seriously, that will make men see what profane,
unsavoury, and senseless spirits they have. A man that lieth abed
doth not feel his lame leg, but when he goeth to walk upon it he does.
Exercise the soul in inward duties, and you will see it diseased. We
know things when we come to make trial of them : therefore, wicked
ISA. LIII. 5.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 283
men will not meddle in inward and hearty duties, lest thereby they
should discover the soul to itself. Formal duties make men the more
secure : they are thereby apt to think better of themselves than they
ought. The pharisee thought himself in a good case, because of his
vain fasting, giving alms, and paying tithes. So formal duties are a
vain refuge. But now duties wholly spiritual, and spiritually per
formed, make men see the weakness and wickedness of their spirits ;
but they are looked upon as such a disturbance to wicked men that
they cannot endure to hear of them.
(2.) Resisting of sin. Tumult is caused by opposition. When a man
tamely yieldeth to Satan, no wonder if he be let alone. The devil
rageth most when we set against him : Rev. xii. 12, ' For the devil is
come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he
hath but a short time.' Dying beasts bite shrewdly. Oh, how is the
poor soul tortured with sin, when it is about to quit it ! The sea doth
not rage so much when the wind and the tide go together. Please
the worst natures and they will not disturb you. This is a peace that
will end in trouble : there will be a quarrelling between affections and
convictions when a sinner cometh to be serious and thoughtful.
[4.] When men do what they can to divert all care and minding of
their condition : this is like a few stolen waters, when they can get con
science asleep. As it is said, Prov. ix. 17, ' Stolen waters are sweet,
and bread eaten in secret is pleasant/ They lull the soul asleep by
pleasures, or distract it by business. They never keep the heart
empty that they may enter into themselves. As Cain built cities, so
carnal men drown themselves in business or pleasures.
Use 2. Is direction, to teach us what to do if we would have peace
when our consciences are enraged. Go to Christ ; the chastisement of
our peace was upon him. Get an interest in Christ, and you have an
interest in God. God is not to be had as a friend without Christ.
Get him and you are presently interested in God's favour. For ' he
that has the Son hath the Father also/
But, you will say, how shall I get an interest in Christ ? I answer
in one word — By faith ; that is the way to get Christ to you with all
his benefits ; and, therefore, faith is expressed by receiving Christ :
John i. 12, * To as many as received him, to them gave he power to
become the sons of God ; ' and Eph. iii. 17, Christ is said to ' dwell
in our hearts by faith/ You must say, in the language of faith here,
' The chastisement of our peace was upon him/ Those that offered a
peace-offering were to lay their hands upon the head of the sacrifice,
which implieth a kind of joining. So Christ is the peace-offering, and
you must lay your hands upon his head. When Thomas believed, he
cried, * My Lord and my God/ That gives your souls the possession
of Christ ; and if of Christ, of God. But briefly I might from this
speak to two sorts of persons : —
1. To secure sinners.
2. To poor broken-hearted sinners that labour under the sense of
wrath. But having spoken from several passages of Christ's suffer
ings for them, and more remaining to be insisted on from other verses,
I shall now only speak a little to secure sinners. I shall press them
to two things : —
284 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 5.
[1.] To consider their condition ; and,
[2.] The danger of their condition.
[1.] Consider your condition. You are. in a state of enmity with
God ; God is at war with you. That this may appear to you, weigh
these things following : —
(1.) That your condition is not to be measured by your present
feeling and apprehension. A man may be in danger, though he be
not sensible of it: Isa. Ivii. 21, ' There is no peace, saith my God, to
the wicked : they are like a troubled sea when it cannot rest.' The
wicked do not think so, but my God saith so. It is what God
speaketh to you, not what you think of yourselves. Wicked men's
lives slide away in pastimes, and pomp, and pleasure ; but still they
are under continual danger, though they mind it not. Mark that
expression; 2 Peter ii. 3, it is said, * Their damnation slumbereth
not.' Though they slumber, their damnation doth not slumber. If
men could make their condemnation sleep as well as themselves, it
were well. Do not measure your estate by your own thoughts, but by
God's heart towards you, how he looketh upon you in Christ. God
may be angry with you and you not know it.
(2.) Remember that God is angry with every man in his natural
condition. Till you get an interest in Christ, you have not God for a
Father. There is a war between God and every natural man. Those
that think themselves at peace with God from their cradles upwards,
never were at peace with him. You are at peace with God, you say,
when you are at war with him. The scripture speaks otherwise of
you : Eph. ii. 2, You are * children of wrath, even as others.' And,
John iii. 36, * The wrath of God abideth on them/ This you must
take for granted. There was a time when you were fallen out with
God and God with you, even as well as others — those that embraced
the Christian profession, as well as Turks and pagans. We are indeed
estranged from the womb, but we are not reconciled from the womb,
Ps. Iviii. 3 ; therefore, whatever you think, you must conclude that
God is angry till you can get him pacified in Christ.
(3.) There are expressions of this anger and enmity that pass
between God and the soul, though we do not take notice of it.
(1st.) On our part there are a great many expressions of our enmity
to God ; as hatred of his being, wishing he were not, slighting of his
ordinances, rebellion against his laws, a rising of heart against his
servants ; a rancorous tumult, and rebellious storming in our affections
against his providence ; a vexing that he doth so thwart us in our
ways and courses. This is our war. Then vexing and grieving his
blessed Spirit. God hath told us what will grieve him, and yet, con
trary to all the motions of his blessed Spirit, and the checks of our
own consciences, we will go on our own way. As Esau took a wife
from the daughters of Heth, which was a grief of mind to Isaac and
Eebekah, Gen. xxvi. 35.
(2dly.) From God to us. There are some flashes of wrath, and open
ing of our consciences, fears of hell, horrors, Hosea ii. 6. Hedging
up our ways with thorns, and making a wall that we should not find
our paths, which maketh us to vex and storm when we cannot have
as much as we desire. So likewise by turning all providences into a
ISA. LIII. 5.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 285
snare, cursing all ordinances to us. Now and then, I say, God dis-
covereth much wrath to the soul, that it cannot but see it. Oh, then,
labour to be sensible of your condition. You think to rub it out well
enough, and yet you see there are many expressions of war between
God and you.
[2.] Consider the danger of your condition. Oh, it is a sad thing to be
at war with God. If a man were at war with one with whom he were
able to make his party good, it were no such matter ; but this you
can never do with God. Foolish man thinketh so, and therefore the
apostle saith, 1 Cor. x. 22, ' Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy ?
are we stronger than he ?' Will ye act so flatly against his com
mandments, as if you thought you should be able to bear out
yourselves in the transgression ? That you may not think so, con
sider : —
(1.) He it is that upholdeth you in your beings, and he can resolve
you into nothing, as easily as he could create you out of nothing.
Solomon saith, Prov. xvi. 14, that ' the wrath of a king is as the mes
senger of death ;' that is, you had as good have one to come and tell
you that you shall die, as to come and tell you that a king is angry
with you. A wrinkle in the brow of majesty is as a grave to you. If
men were sensible, it is much more true of the wrath of God ; he can
speak you out of your beings in an instant. It is said, Heb. i. 2, * He
upholdeth all things by the word of his power.' And would a man be
angry with him that is able to speak him into nothing ? Now thus it
is with God.
(2.) Besides his power, consider the whole creation taketh part with
God ; and when he pleaseth he is able to arm the meanest creatures
against you. As he said that would not dispute with a king, ' I have
learned not to contend with him that is able to command legions ;' so
should we say, that we will not contend with God, that is able to com
mand the creatures. The meanest worm is able to revenge God's
quarrel against you. Sometimes God declareth his power against his
enemies by frogs, flies, mean contemptible things, as we read concern
ing the plagues of Egypt. So Herod was eaten up of worms, Acts
xii. 23 ; and Pope Adrian was choked with a gnat. I would not
willingly expatiate on these things, to offer only matter to your fancies,
but beseech you to weigh it in your thoughts. God might kill you
with the least fly that hummeth about you, and you have deserved it.
It is not only the more dangerous things that can do man hurt, but
all things. Consider this, I pray you ; God doth more eminently dis
cover it to you, that you may consider it.
(3.) If nobody else, yet God can make use of your own selves
against yourselves. He need plague a man no worse than to open his
own conscience against him. As Luther said, for a man to see but his
own sins, is as great a hell as can be imagined. This hath made
saints to roar, Ps. xxxii. 3. This dried up David's moisture, ver. 4.
Spira would give all the world for one motion of the Spirit to make
him believe what was proposed to him concerning Christ. See that
expression, Job vi. 4, 'The arrows of the Almighty are within me,
the poison whereof drinketh up my spirits ; the terrors of God do set
themselves in array against me.' Just as a man runneth up and down
286 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 5.
in distraction that hath a poisoned arrow shot into his bowels. In the
whole circuit of nature you cannot find one medicine that will heal
this grief. All friends, comforts, and relations, are nothing, and all
other troubles are but sport and recreation to these. Spiritual good and
evil, both are not known till felt. Oh, consider how it will be with
you when God shall bring out all those unclean thoughts, horrid oaths,
lies, deceits that you have been guilty of. All shall be set on upon the
heart, and you become a terror to yourselves.
(4.) He is able to ruin you, body and soul, eternally ; and so he will
deal with all his enemies : Mat. xxi. 41, 'He will miserably destroy
those wicked men.' Not only destroy, but miserably destroy. Many
are encouraged in their attempts, that if they be ruined, it is but their
fortune, there is the worst of it. Now he is able to destroy you so as
you shall not know the worst of it ; he is able to sink you below all
happiness of being or subsistence. Oh, consider the end of those whose
peace is not made with God! Judgments without measure, most
extreme and exquisite sufferings without mitigation, not a drop of cold
water to cool the tongue ; judgment without mercy.
By his stripes we are healed.
Doct. That the healing of our natures, as well as peace and reconci
liation with God, is the fruit of Christ's sufferings. Three things are
here to be taken notice of : —
1. Healing puts us in mind of a disease incurable by human art, or
any remedies that are in our power.
2. Health implieth our recovery out of this disease, or our salvation
by Christ.
3. The means of this recovery is by Christ's stripes.
First, For the disease.
1. The soul hath its diseases as well as the body, and may be in a
good or ill plight, as well as the body. It is in a good plight when it
is fit to serve God or enjoy him. It is in an ill plight, or diseased,
when it is disabled for these ends. The diseases therefore of the soul
are those inordinate dispositions by which it is hindered from bringing
forth actions agreeable or belonging to the spiritual life. This came
to pass by Adam's sin, which, according to the tenor of the first
covenant, is imputed to all those who were naturally propagated from
him, they being thereupon deprived of original righteousness ; whereby
we became blind in our minds, perverse in our hearts, and so sold
under sin ; and till we be freed by the grace of God, we cannot but
act sinfully, and daily contract and strengthen evil habits and inclina
tions. Therefore the work of conversion is expressed by healing : Isa.
vi. 10, * And convert and be healed.' When these distempers and
perverse inclinations of the soul are done away, we are healed, other
wise we lie under the power of a blind mind, and a hard heart, a
guilty conscience and carnal affections, which are as so many deadly
wounds and diseases of the soul.
2. The diseases of the soul are greater than those of the body, as
being seated in the nobler part, and so the wound is the more grievous.
As a cut in the body is worse than a rent in the clothes, so is a wound
ISA. LIII. 5.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 287
in the soul more grievous than a cut in the body. The diseases of
the body tend only to the death of the body, which of itself must
necessarily die : Eccles. xii. 7, ' Then shall the dust return to the
earth as it was;' and then by the power of God shall certainly rise
again. But the diseases of the soul, as they make us unuseful to God
for the present, so they tend to eternal destruction and death both of
body and soul for ever : Mat. x. 28, ' But rather fear him that is able
to destroy both body and soul in hell.'
3. I assert that sin is the great sickness of the soul. There are two
sorts of diseases in the soul : —
[1.] Terrors, or spiritual bondage, by which the soul is driven from
God, and cannot think of him, or seek after him, with any comfort or
peace. And this is a sore and evil disease indeed, for the curing of
which Christ also came ; for it is said, Ps. cxlvii. 3, ' He hath healed
the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds ;' Luke iv. 18, 'He
hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted.' Which he doth by pardon
or peace, the former benefit mentioned in this verse.
[2.] Sins, or evil habits and inclinations, which disable us from
pleasing of God. These are the worst sort of diseases, as being the
cause of the other ; for terrors entered into the world with sin. When
Adam had sinned against God he was afraid of him, and ran to the
bushes, Gen. iii. 8-10. And when sin is taken away, the others cease.
Now that sin is the great sickness and wound of the soul, I shall prove
by these considerations: —
First, It is a wasting disease ; it bringeth the soul into a languish
ing condition, and wasteth the strength of it. Therefore our natural
estate is described to be an estate without strength : Rom. v. 6, * When
we were yet without strength, Christ died for us ; ' that is, without
strength to help ourselves out of that misery into which sin had
plunged us. Sin hath weakened the soul in all the faculties of it,
which all may discern and observe in themselves. The mind is
weakened ; for how acute and discerning soever it be in earthly things,
it is stupid and dull in things spiritual and heavenly. We see little
of the danger of eternal damnation, or the worth of eternal salvation,
or the need of Christ, or the serious preparation for the world to come :
2 Peter i. 9, ' He that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see
afar off.' These things, that is, faith and other graces of the Spirit.
And then the memory is weakened; it is true and faithful in retaining
what is evil, but slippery and treacherous in what is good. These things
we easily let slip, as leaky vessels do the liquor contained in them :
Heb. ii. 1, ' Therefore we ought to give the more diligent heed to the
things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip/
Our will is fixedly inclined to evil, and averse to good : ' Their heart
is fully set in them to do evil,' Eccles. viii. 11. The affections are like
tinder, apt to catch fire at the spark of every temptation : Prov. vii.
22, ' He goeth after her straightway.' But they are like wet wood as to
the entertainment of any heavenly motion: 1 Cor. ii. 14, 'The natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know
them, because they are spiritually discerned.' Therefore sin hath made
fearful havoc in the soul, and destroyed the strength and right consti
tution of it. The strength of man lieth not in the robust, healthy
288 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. MIL 5.
temper of his body; that is a brutish strength, and a bull or an ox ex-
ceedeth us in that ; nor merely in the strength of natural parts, for
therein many pagans excel many Christians : but it lies in the strength
of grace, strength to overcome temptations to sin, to govern our
passions and affections, to do the things which God commandeth, that
is strength indeed, the strength of the inward man. See, on the other
side, man's proper strength described, Prov. xvi. 32, ' He that is slow
to anger is better than the mighty ; and he that ruleth his spirit, than
he that taketh a city.' On the other side see weakness described,
Ezek. xvi. 30, * How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord God, seeing
thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman ! '
That is a weak heart that lieth open to every temptation ; that is at the
beck of every foolish and hurtful lust, as pride, sensuality, worldliness,
carnal fear and sorrow. An imperious heart is a weak heart, and
this weakness sin hath brought upon us.
Secondly, It is a painful disease, it woundeth the spirit ; and a
wounded spirit who can bear ? Prov. xviii. 14. Greatness of mind
may support us under a wounded body, but when there is a breach
made upon the conscience, what can relieve us then ? Take either a
tender conscience, or a raging, stormy conscience, for an instance to
show what sin is. Ask of Cain and Judas, and they will tell you what
horror and anguish it breedeth in the soul, what storms and tempests
it raiseth in the mind : Gen. iv. 13, ' My iniquity is greater than I
can bear.' Their lives, yea, all their comforts, are a burden to them.
Nay, ask any man whose heart is well awaked, and he will tell you,
that the sense of the guilt of sin is bitterer to the soul than the gall
of asps, and that no tortures are comparable to the piercing stings of
an accusing conscience. Even holy David could say, Ps. xxxviii. 1-3,
' Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot dis
pleasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thine hand presseth
me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger,
neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.' If this holy
man, whose heart was upright with God, did thus complain, what
should they do who are nothing else but wounds and putrified sores from
the crown of the head to the sole of the foot ? We think a man in a fever
is in a miserable condition, who hath little rest day or night: but alas!
feverish flames are nothing to the scorchings of conscience, and the fear
ful apprehensions of divine wrath : they that are under these are miser
able indeed, because the pains of hell do compass them round about,
and wherever they go, they carry their own hell along with them.
Object. But you will say, They that are most infected with sin feel
little of this ; how is it then so painful a disease ?
Ans. 1. If they feel it not, the greater is their danger ; for stupid
diseases are the worst, and usually most mortal. It is an ill crisis and
state of soul when men are past feeling: Eph. iv. 19, /Who, being past
feeling, have given themselves over to lasciviousness.' These have out
grown their consciences. There is hope of sensible sinners ; their
anguish may drive them to the physician, and make them inquisitive
after a remedy : Acts ii. 37", ' When they heard this, they were pricked
in their hearts, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men
and brethren, what shall we do?' But it is more dangerous when sins
ISA. LIIT. 5.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 289
do not terrify but stupefy. A spiritual lethargy is the common disease
that ruineth the far greatest part of the world.
2. The soul of a sinner never sits so easy but that he has his qualms
and pangs of conscience, and that sometimes in the midst of jollity ; as
was the case of Belshazzar, while carousing in the cups of the temple.
Certainly they feel enough to show that if they were cured of this disease,
it would be a great comfort and felicity to them ; their best pleasures
are but stolen waters, and bread eaten in secret, poor sneaking delights,
when they can get conscience asleep.
3. Though they feel not their diseases now, they shall hereafter. Oh,
what a pain will sin be to them when God awakeneth them, either
in this life, by letting a spark of his wrath fall into the conscience, and
then they become a terror to themselves ; or, if not here, yet in hell
hereafter, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth !
Thirdly, It is a loathsome disease. The pain of sin, which worketh
upon our fear, is first and soonest felt : but the loathsomeness of sin,
which worketh on our shame, requireth a quicker and more tender
sense. As a man overgrown with noisome boils and sores, is first
affected with the pain caused by them, and then with the sight and
smell of them ; so it is with soul-distempers : Ps. xxxviii. 5, * My
wounds stink and are corrupt, because of iny foolishness ; ' and ver. 7,
* My loins are filled with a loathsome disease.' The soul abhors, and
is ashamed of itself, when it hath anything of tenderness, or lively
sense of the purity of God. Solomon telleth us that ' a wicked man
is loathsome, and cometh to shame/ Prov. xiii. 5. How loathsome ?
He is loathsome to God, who is ' of purer eyes than to behold iniquity,'
Hab. i. 13. Loathsome to good men, who can no more delight in him
than a sound man can in the conversation of a leper : Prov. xxix. 27,
'An unjust man is an abomination to the just.' Loathsome to indif
ferent men, for those that can allow sin in themselves dislike it in
others: Titus iii. 3, 'Hateful and hating one another/ Another's
pride, sensuality, and worldliness, is offensive to us. Though we be
proud, sensual, and worldly ourselves, yet it is an offence to ourselves ;
therefore a sinner dareth not converse with his own heart, but doth
what he can to fly from himself, to divert his thoughts from the sight
of his own natural face in the glass of the word, as being ashamed of
himself arid his own ways : Rom. vi. 21, 'What fruit had ye then of
those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? ' However it is enough for
our purpose, if loathsome to God : Ps. xiv. 2, 3, the psalmist telleth
us, ' The Lord looked down from heaven.' And what did he see
here below? 'They are altogether become filthy and abominable.'
All their persons, all their actions flowing forth from their corrupt
hearts, are vile and loathsome in God's sight. When God looked
upon his creatures just as they passed his hand, all was very good,
Gen. i. 31. But when once they were infected with sin, the case is
altered, they are all become filthy and abominable ; some more, some
less gross, as to the outbreaking of sin ; but they are all odious to
God, and we are sensible of it, as appeareth by our shyness of God,
and backwardness to look him in the face.
Fourthly, It is an infectious and catching disease. Sin cometh into
the world by propagation rather than imitation : yet imitation and
VOL. III. T
290 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 5.
example hath a great force upon the soul : Eph. ii. 3, Kara rbv alwva,
1 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the
lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and
were hy nature the children of wrath, even as others ; ' Isa. vi. 5,
' Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips,
and I dwell among a people of unclean lips/ Living among such, he
had contracted some contagion and taint. It is hard to converse with
wicked ones and not to be defiled : Micah i. 9, ' Her wound is incur
able, for it is come into Judah.' Samaria was desperately sick of pro
vocations, and the taint reached to Judah also.
Fifthly, It is a mortal disease if we continue in it without repent
ance, for ' by sin came death' into the world, Kom. v. 12 ; and ' the
wages of sin is death/ Bom. vi. 23. Not only death temporal, which
consists in the separation of the soul from the body, but death spiritual,
which consists in an estrangement from God, as the author of the life
of grace ; yea, death eternal, which consists in a separation both of
body and soul from the presence of God for ever, and is a perpetual
living in deadly pain and torment. The second death is set forth by
two notions — 'the worm that never dieth,' and 'the fire that shall never
be quenched,' Mark ix. 44 ; by which is meant the sting of conscience
and the wrath of God. Conscience worketh on what is past, present,
and to come. There is a vexing remembrance of what is past, your
past folly and evil choice, past neglects of grace, past misspense of time,
past abuse of mercies, past despising of the offered salvation. Oh, what
cutting thoughts will these be to the damned to all eternity ! There
is a sense of what is present ; they have nothing to divert their thoughts
from their misery, no company nor sensual comforts, but are left to
the bitter apprehension of their sad estate. There is also a fear of what
is to come, or a fearful looking for of more wrath from God. The
fire is the wrath of God, which inflicts pains upon the damned both in
body and soul. There is no member or faculty free, but feeleth the
misery of the second death. The agonies of the first death are soon
over, but those of the second endure for ever. The first death is the
more terrible because of this death which is to succeed it. In the first
death our struggling is for life, we would not die ; but here, for death
and destruction, we would not live. This is the fruit of sin.
Secondly, Our recovery out of sin, and all the effects of it, which is
our health. Before the application of the blood of Christ, every man
in his natural estate is in no less dangerous a condition than a man
that is wounded and bleeding to death : Luke x. 30, ' A certain man
went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who
stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving
him half dead/ Not as if he had any spiritual life at all, but it is
spoken in respect to his natural life. So before Christ's blood is applied,
every man is dead spiritually, and is posting towards eternal death ;
but when he is regenerated and converted to God, then he is translated
from death to life. Therefore this healing must be considered —
1. As to its nature.
2. With respect to the several periods of this benefit, as to its
beginning, progress, and final consummation.
1 The nature of this cure, or health bestowed upon us, will be best
ISA. LITL 5.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 291
understood by considering what is in sin. There are in sin four
things — culpa, macula, realm, posna.
[!".] Culpa. The fault is the criminal action, which is the founda
tion of our guilt. Now this properly is not healed, but passed by,
or not brought into judgment against us, for as it is an action it cannot
be reversed. Factum infactum fieri nequit. As it is a criminal action
against the law of God, it cannot lose its nature, for Christ came not
to make a fault to be no fault. This properly is not healed. Indeed
some phrases express pardon but by a passing by : Micah vii. 18,
* That pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the
remnant of his heritage/ The Lord passeth over the fault, or quits
the plea towards them that own their faults. The Lord seeth them,
and not seeth them ; that is, will not lay them to their charge : Isa.
Ivii. 18, ' I have seen his ways, and will heal him ; ' that is, not enter
into judgment with him. In short, the fault is not disannulled,
but passed over, and cast behind God's back. The offender is not
made innocent, but pardonable on certain terms. We must remem
ber the fault, but God forgets it.
[2.] Here is macula, which is the blot or inclination to sin again.
So he healeth us by sanctification, renewing and cleansing us by the
.Spirit, which is the work of God : Exod. xv. 26, ' I am the Lord
that healeth thee.' This is most properly his healing grace. So
God reneweth and healeth our natures : Ps. ciii. 3, ' Who forgiveth
all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases.'
[3.] There is realus, the guilt or obligation to punishment. God
dissolveth this by his sovereign authority, according to his new co
venant : 2 Chron. xxx. 20, ' The Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and
healed the people.' There was no actual stroke or judgment upon
them, but healing — there is dissolving the guilt. He forgave their sin,
or remitted the penalty which they had incurred by eating the pass-
over otherwise than it was written.
[4.] There is pcena, the punishment, which is external, internal,
or eternal. The external punishment is affliction. This is the wound
that sin maketh in us. This wound God healeth by restoring pros
perity : Hosea vi. 1, ' Come, let us return unto the Lord, for he hath
torn, and he will heal us ; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up ; '
2 Chron. vii. 14, ' I will forgive their sin, and heal their land/ The
internal punishment consists in trouble of conscience, or the anguish
and pain occasioned by the fear of God's wrath, which he healeth : Ps.
vi. 2, ' Have mercy upon me, 0 Lord, for I am weak ; 0 Lord, heal me,
for my bones are vexed ; ' Ps. xli. 4, ' Lord, be merciful unto me, and
heal my soul ; for I have sinned against thee/ As to eternal, or the
mortal wound of sin, he healeth that by reversing the sentence of eter
nal death, and bestowing upon us eternal life, that from children of
wrath we may be made heirs of glory. This grant is the true balsam
for a wounded soul, when it is not only freed from the fears of the
flames of hell and the sting of death, but made heir according to the
hope of eternal life. If God and heaven be not matter of comfort, I
know not what is. This is the portion of one that believeth in Christ
2. The several periods of this benefit.
[1.] The cure is begun when we repent and believe, and so are re-
292 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 5.
newed and reconciled to God ; then the danger of death is over : John
v. 24, ' He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is
passed from death to life.' The disease will not prove mortal.
[2.] It is carried on by degrees, as he doth sanctify us more and
more by his Spirit, and settles us in the peace of the gospel. Christ
is still in hand with the cure : Mai. iv. 2, ' The Sun of right
eousness shall arise upon }rou with healing in his wings, and ye shall
go forth and grow up like calves in the stall.' Increase of grace and
joy in the Holy Ghost is our continued healing. Dangerous sores and
deadly wounds are not so soon cured. We have defects and dis
tempers which disable us for duty, but the healing virtue prevail-
eth more and more. The wicked grow more and more diseased, and
in the godly there are some ups and downs ; but the Lord promiseth
to heal our backslidings : Hosea xiv. 4, ' I will heal your back
sliding, and I will love you freely ; for mine anger is turned away
from you.' He will take away more and more the guilt, pollution,
and other effects of sin.
[3.] Our state of perfect health is in heaven ; there is our com
plete and eternal welfare, when sin and misery shall be no more.
Therefore heaven is set forth by the tree of life which groweth in
the midst of paradise, and ' beareth twelve manner of fruits, and
yieldeth its fruit every month, arid the leaves of the tree were for
the healing of the nations,' Rev. xxii. 2 ; and ver. 14, it is said,
' Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have
a right to eat of the tree of life, and may enter in through the
gates into the- city ;' that is into the happiness of the saints in glory.
These enter into the New Jerusalem, and are there fully healed.
Thirdly, The means of our recovery is by Christ's stripes.
1. None but Christ can cure us, for he is the physician of souls
— all else are physicians of no value. Sin is the disease, the, Re
deemer's grace the medicine, and salvation is our health.; and then
it is perfect when we are fully saved from sin, arid all the consequents
of it. Now this is above the sinner's cure, till God himself takes us
in hand. Christ is the Sun of righteousness, who hath healing in his
wings, and hath set forth himself under the notion of a physician :
Mat. ix. 12, ' The whole need not the physician, but they that are
sick/ This sore sickness can be cured by no other hand. And the
proper nature of his grace is to be medicinal, that is, a healing dis
pensation.
2. Christ cureth us not by doctrine and example only, but by merit
and suffering; for it is said in the text, We are healed by his
stripes. I confess the doctrine of Christ hath a great tendency this
way ; for it is said, Prov. iv. 22, ' My word is life to them that find
it, and health to their flesh/ There is the medicine for sick souls ;
there are our cordials and encouragements to prevent sinkings arid
despondences of spirit ; there are potent arguments against distrust
ful cares and fears, excellent remedies against eovetousness, sensuality,
and pride; forcible dissuasions from unkind and unholy walking.
In short, it is the common shop and storehouse against any distemper
incident to the soul. The words of the Lord Jesus are wholesome
ISA. LIII. 5.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 293
words, but yet the virtue of the word mainly results from his merit
and satisfaction : John xvii. 19, ' And for their sakes I sanctify my
self, that they also may be sanctified through the truth ; ' and Eph.
v. 25, 26, * Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he
might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.'
So his example hath a great force, seeing how prone the nature of
man is to imitate. And this example is so much commended to us
by his kindness and condescension in coming down to be subject to the
same laws we live by, by the exactness of it, and the issue and conse
quent — life and immortality — into which he entered to give us a
visible demonstration of the success of our obedience. But an ex
ample would nothing at all have profited those that are dead in sin
and hated of God, if some other means had not been used. Compare
1 Peter ii. 21 with 24 ; ' For even hereunto were ye called, because
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow
his steps ; ' then ver. 24, * Who his own self bare our sins in his own
body upon the tree, that we, being dead to sinr should live unto right
eousness, by whose stripes we are healed/ There needed grace to
make example effectual: 2 Cor. iii. 18, 'We all with open face, be
holding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the
same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the
Lord.'
3. Christ's merit and sufferings do effect our cure, as they purchased
the Spirit for us, who reneweth and healeth our sick souls : Titus iii. 5,
6, * Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the re
newing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through
Jesus Christ our Saviour.' We have it by virtue of Christ's suffer
ings : Gal. iii. 13, 14, ' Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the
law, being made a curse for us ; for it is written, Cursed is every one
that hangeth on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come on
the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise
of the Spirit through faith/ So in many other places. He is power
ful to change our hearts, and to take away sin. Our wound is not in
curable. The Spirit of God can and will heal the diseased soul.
God's justice being satisfied in Christ, he is at more liberty now to
dispense his grace.
Use 1. Is for reproof, and that to divers sorts ; as —
1. Those that are not sensible of their deadly wounds and the dis
eases of their souls. There is a carelessness and insensibility in most
of soul diseases. If the body be but ill at ease, they complain presently,
and seek help for their bodies, but never think of the languishing
condition of their souls, and how lamentably distempered they are.
They are hard by death's door, on the brink of destruction, yet are
merry and laugh, lay not their condition to heart ; nay, think it
an injury done them, if you mind them of their cure. Though
they are spiritually sick, yet they will not know nor acknowledge it,
but, like persons of a distempered brain, who take the physician for an
enemy, they murmur at and resist all Christ's healing methods, as if
their duty were their torment, and not their disease. These are in love
with their diseases : John iii. 19, ' This is the condemnation, that light
294 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 5.
is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, be
cause their deeds are evil/
2. Some would have peace and comfort by Christ, but neglect
healing ; whereas both were purchased by him, and both must be re
garded by us. We should aim at a sound cure, not to have the grief
assuaged only, but the distemper removed. It is a mountebank's cure
to stop the pain and let alone the cause ; yet such a cure do they seek
after that are more earnest for ease and comfort than grace. A good
Christian is troubled with the strength of sin, as well as the guilt of
it, and mindeth the rectitude of all his faculties as well as the ease
and peace of his conscience, that he may be enabled to walk with God
cheerfully, in the way of holiness, as well as enjoy the pardon of sins :
1 John i. 9, ' He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' He would be an unwise man
who, having his leg broken, should only mind to be eased of the pain,
but not take care to have it set right again. So foolish is that Chris
tian who is earnest for comfort, but taketh no care how to be directed
and enabled to please God. Sin, in some sense, is worse than damna
tion.
3. It reproveth those who think it impossible to get rid of their
carnal distempers. Will you lessen the merit of Christ and the power
of his Spirit, or doubt of the promise of God ? Jer. iii. 22, ' Return,
and I will heal you/ Now, upon these terms we should come to Christ
with confidence, to be the better for coming : Jer. xvii. 14, ' Heal me,
and I shall be healed.' God can heal, and he will ; that is, he is
ready to do it, or else why did he take this course ?
Use 2. Is to press us to come to God for healing. I shall give you
a few directions.
1. You must, in a broken-hearted manner, be sensible of your
sickness. It is the sensible sinner Christ undertaketh to cure ; the
heart-whole are not within the compass of his commission : Luke v.
31, 32, ' They that are whole need not the physician, but they that are
sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance/ A
sense of our disease is a good step toward our cure. God will so heal
that he will make us feel our sickness, that the smart of it may be a
warning to us for the future, that we may not presume to offend again
when we are recovered : Josh. xxii. 17, ' Is the iniquity of Peor too
little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day ? ' We
must not make too bold with God.
2. We must by earnest prayer seek this blessing of God, for God
will be entreated for all things which he meaneth to bestow : Isa. xix.
22, ' He shall be entreated of them, and he shall heal them ; ' Ps. xci.
14, * Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver
him.' The leven of these distempers is so kneaded into the nature of
man that it cannot be gotten out presently ; therefore come often to
God by prayer for healing, sometimes this, sometimes that distemper ;
now that our pride may be mortified, and anon our impatience ; at
another time our carnal fear, our sensuality ; still praying as occasion
requireth. We speed well at the throne of grace if we obtain the rid
dance and abatement of any one spiritual disease.
3. We must use God's means, viz. : — (1.) The word, which is
ISA. LIU. 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 295
our medicine : 2 Tim. i. 13, * Hold fast the form of sound words which
thou hast heard of me in faith arid love, which is in Christ Jesus/
Keep the soul healthy. (2.) The sacraments, they are a part of the
medicinal dispensation, sealing the great benefits of God towards us,
and our duty towards him, and so are a help against backsliding. (3.)
Meditation on the death of Christ, not only as a price and ransom, but
morally, as it represents the odiousness of sin, and also the love of
Christ towards us. So that, out of gratitude to him, and kindness to
ourselves, we are bound to abstain from sin for the future. Viscera
patent per vulnera. By his stripes we see what we have deserved, and
what Christ hath endured.
4. When God is seriously dealing with us about a cure, and apply
ing means of healing, let us take heed we do not lose the advantage
and grow worse : Jer. li. 9, ' We would, have healed Babylon, but she
would not be healed.' So of Sion it is said, Hosea vii. 1, ' When I
would have healed Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered/
God is willing to offer us help to cure us of our sins, and affordeth us
special means and excitations to that purpose. Now, when the waters
are stirred, we should step in that we may be made whole ; otherwise
the disease is the more irritated, and breaketh out in a worse manner
than it did before. The great Physician of souls must be carefully
observed and constantly waited upon, and in time he will give us per
fect ease and health.
5. Take heed, when you are healed, of casting yourselves into new
diseases : John v. 14, ' Behold, thou art made whole ; sin no more, lest
a worse thing come unto thee ; ' Heb. ix. 14, * How much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your consciences from dead works to serve
the living God?'
THE SIXTH VERSE.
All we, like sheep, Jiave gone astray ; ive have turned every one to his
own way ; and the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquities of
VA att,
IN this verse we have two things which ought to be matter of con
tinual meditation to us all our days, to wit, our misery by sin, and our
remedy by Christ.
1. Our misery in the former clause ; where —
[1.] Our sin is charged upon us collectively in common : we Jiave all
gone astray.
[2.] Distributively : every one to his own way. We all agree in
turning aside from the right way of pleasing and enjoying of God ;
and we disagree, as each one hath a by-path of his own, some running
after this lust, some after that, and so are not only divided from -God,
but divided from one another, while every one maketh his will his law.
296 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 6.
Velle suum cuique est, nee voto vivitur uno : several desires breed
difference.
2. The remedy provided against this misery : and the Lord hath
laid upon him the iniquities of us all. The burden of sin, that would
otherwise have ruined us, is cast upon Christ. The sheep wander and
the shepherd is slain. He is the good shepherd that layeth down his
life for the sheep. David saith, 2 Sam. xxiv. 17, ' These sheep, what
have they done ?' David was more tender of his people than of him
self, yet David was guilty. But here it is otherwise, for our iniquities
were laid upon Christ. Here we may observe : —
[1.] The author of this benefit, or who it was that provided this
remedy for us : the Lord.
[2.] The nature of the benefit : he laid our iniquities on him ; that
is, on Christ.
[3.] The persons concerned : the iniquities of us all ; all those that
are at length gained to believe in him, and return to him, as the
bishop and shepherd of their souls.
First, I begin with the misery or the woeful case wherein all those
for whom Christ died were in before conversion.
1. They wandered in their ignorance and sinful ways to their own
destruction, set forth by the going astray of sheep : ' All we, like sheep,
are gone astray.' It is a usual similitude, which is not put here by
way of extenuation, as in some scriptures, as ' I send you forth as
sheep among wolves ; ' but in a way of aggravation, not to extenuate
the sin, but to set it out the more. It is to show the folly of man.
Sheep, of all creatures, are most apt to stray without a shepherd. They
are apt either to be driven out of the fold as a dog or wolf scattereth
the sheep, or to wander of their own accord, a fit emblem of our folly,
who love to depart from God, and go astray from the way of life :
Bom. iii. 12, ' They are all gone out of the way ;' that is, the way to
true happiness.
2. They were unable to bring themselves into the right way : Luke
xv. 18, ' I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father,
I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.' St Austin saith,
Domine, errare per me potui, redire non potui—~Lwd, I could go
astray of rny own accord, but could not return by myself.
3. In hazard to be preyed upon by the roaring lion, and the dogs
and wolves that are abroad : 1 Peter v. 8, * Be sober, be vigilant,
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seek
ing whom he may devour.' Our misery is mentioned to show the
necessity of a Saviour ; and this misery is made to consist in sin or stray
ing from God ; the sense of which is our first motive to make us look
after Christ, that we by him may return again to our own happiness,
even to God, who is the refuge of our souls, and the centre of our rest.
But let us more nearly observe how our misery is described. And first
of the universal particle, all ive; and then of the distributive particle,
every one.
First, From the universal particle all, we may observe : —
Doct. 1. That no son of Adam can exempt himself from the imm-
ber of those that are gone astray from God and the way of true hap
piness. I shall explain the point in these considerations : —
ISA. LIII. 6.] THE FIFTY -THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 297
First, All are sinners by nature. There are three branches of
original sin : —
1. The communication of Adam's guilt.
2. The want of original righteousness.
3. The corruption or pollution of nature. These are derived from
Adam to all his children, and in respect of these they are all out of the
way.
1. Because the guilt of Adam's sin is imputed to us ; his guilt we
receive as children do the brand of their ancestors, that are tainted in
blood and forfeited in law. Look, as Keuben's act in defiling his
father's bed was a stain to all his posterity, and they lost the sover
eignty by it, Gen. xlix. 4, so all mankind, being in Adam, as they
descended from him, and were in him as in a common person, they
sinned in him, so that what Adam did we did. Thus it is said, Heb.
vii. 9, * Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes in Abraham.' There is
ground you see in nature for the imputation of the father's deed to
those that descend of him: and God may as justly impute to us
Adam's sin as to Levi Abraham's paying of tithes. When Abraham
did it, it was as if Levi did it ; and when Adam sinned, it was as if
you sinned. We were all in his loins at that time ; and, if it had
been our personal case, we should have done so. Now this answer
may satisfy as to the angels, that do not beget one another, and,
therefore, sustain not the person of one another ; — their sins do not
take hold of one another ; they, being all immediately begotten by
God, are not guilty of each others' sins, unless it be by consent and
mutual agreement; therefore, those only fell that combined to follow
one as the ringleader of the faction. Hence it is said, Mat. xxv.
41, * The devil and his angels ;' not as if begotten by him, but ad
hering to him. But to return, in pursuance of the former matter,
note, the scripture looketh upon parents as sustaining a common per
son, and, therefore, what injury is done to the father, is spoken of
as done to his seed ; and many families suffer for the miscarriages of
their progenitors : Gen. iv. 10. ' Thy brother's blood crieth unto me : '
thou hast shed the blood of his offspring in spilling his, and, therefore,
it is bloods, in the plural number. And so for Jacob and Esau, God
elected them as sustaining the common persons of their posterity, and
so likewise in many places. Now this holdeth good in man's justice,
for treason in the father taints the blood of the son.
2. The want of original righteousness, which cometh upon us thus.
As poor and ignoble parents convey their poverty and want to their
children, and none can give what he hath not. A bankrupt father
must needs leave his family poor ; so Adam, having lost his righteous
ness, he could not bequeath it as a legacy to his children.
3. As to the corruption and pollution of nature, that is conveyed as
a leprosy is propagated to the children of lepers : 2 Kings v. 27, ' The
leprosy of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and to thy seed for ever ; '
so that every child born of that line was born a leper. Thus men be
get children like themselves, corrupt and sinful ; the copy answereth
the original — the blood resembleth the kind. Of vipers there cometh
nothing but vipers, and sinners produce sinners after their kind. If
the immediate parent be sanctified, yet, that being not natural, doth
298 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 6.
not alter the case ; from a circumcised father there doth not come a
circumcised child, — threshed corn doth not produce threshed corn.
But let us consider these branches a little more particularly .
1. All men are sinners as they partake of Adam's guilt in being
descended of him. As they sprang from him, they were in him as in
a common person, and sinned in him ; as Levi paid tithes in Abra
ham, as aforesaid, Heb. vii. 9. To be sure, sin and death came upon
him and upon all : Kom. v. 12, * Wherefore as by one man sin en
tered into the world, and death by sin, so that death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned.' If death, as is visible, then sin, even
upon children : ver. 14, ' Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even
over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's trans
gression/ Otherwise the apostle's reason would not be good and
cogent, and there would be a punishment without a guilt : but ubipcena,
ibi culpa. Yea, Eom. v. 19, ' For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be
made righteous.' Made sinners is meant sensu forensi, in a law
or court sense, by the imputation of Adam's guilt, as appeareth by
the opposition. In short, those things are said to be imputed to us
which are reckoned ours to all intents and purposes, as much as if
they were our own. As another man's debt, taken on upon my
score and account, is really and truly mine : so Adam's disobe
dience, and Christ's righteousness are imputed to all those whom they
represented.
2. They are sinners as they want original righteousness : Rom. iii.
23, * For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God/ By
' the glory of God ' may be meant his glorious recompenses, or his
glorious image. The latter, questionless, is meant : 1 Cor. xi. 7, ' A
man ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and
glory of God ; but the woman is the glory of man/ See also 2 Cor. iii.
18, ' But we all with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the
Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory/ This
necessarily maketh them sinners : for the soul being destitute of a
principle to incline it to God, wholly accommodateth itself to the in
terests of the flesh, and is only employed to cater for the body and
the bodily life ; for, though it be created by God, yet being created
destitute of grace and original righteousness, and put into the body,
it soon forgets its divine original, and that region of spirits from
whence it came, and conformeth itself to the body ; as water put into
a round or square vessel, taketh form from the vessel into which it is
put. The soul doth only affect things present and known, having
no other principle to guide it. Now things present and known are
the delights of the body and bodily life, such as meat, drink, natural
generation, sports, wealth, honour, and pomp of living. And the soul
is turned from the love and study of better things. That self-love
that carrieth us to these things is naturally good but morally evil, as
it destroys the love of God, and the care of pleasing and enjoying him.
There is a conversion from God to the creature, a falling off from our
last end.
3. There is pollution or corruption of nature, the stock of sin which
we have inbred in us, consisting in a blind mind, perverse will, dis-
ISA. LIII. 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 299
orderly affections, an unruly appetite, and evil inclinations to sensual
things. This corruption is often spoken of in scripture : Ps. li. 5,
' Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me ; ' John iii. 6, ' That which is born of the flesh is flesh/ We all
partake of the same carnal nature, the dunghill of corruption, which
wreaketh out in the mind by vain thoughts, in the heart by carnal de
sires, and constantly discovereth itself by a proneness to all evil : Gen.
vi. 5, the imaginations and ' the thoughts of his heart are evil, and
that continually/ An aversion from and enmity to all that is good :
Eom. viii. 7, ' The carnal mind is enmity against God, and is not subject
to the law, neither indeed can be/ Man, in respect to that which is
good, is described not only by terms that imply weakness, but hostility
and opposition, as unfit for every good work, and so opposite to it :
Col. i. 21, 'Alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works/
If a man were indifferent to good and evil, a neuter and not a rebel,
the case were the less ; but the bent of his heart is against it, as ap-
peareth not only by scripture but experience. There is a proneness,
and a greater inclination to evil than to good. Now, from whence
should it come ? Not by example, for then this inclination would not
discover itself so early, and children would be as capable of good as
evil. We catch a disease from the sick, but not health from the sound.
We find a manifest disproportion in all our faculties. In the under
standing, a sharpness of apprehension in carnal things, but a dulness
and slowness to conceive of what is spiritual — the will is backward
and slow to what is good, but there is a strong bent and urging in
it to what is evil. We need a bridle to curb and restrain us from
evil, and a spur to excite and quicken us to good. Evil things perse
vere and continue with us. Oh, but how fickle and changeable are we in
any holy matter ! The memory is slippery in what is good, firm and
strong in what is evil, the affections quick, and easily stirred ; like
fire in tinder, they catch presently what is evil, but are cold and dead,
like fire in wet or green wood, to anything that is good. The body
is unwieldy for any holy use, but ready to execute any carnal pur
pose. In short, there is the seed of all actual transgressions before it
break forth ; so that we are gone astray and out of the way indeed.
This should be minded by us. Nothing inferreth so much a contra
diction to God as our being sinners by nature. This is a standing
enmity ; actual sin is a blow and away, a fit of anger, this a state of
malice. Surely, we had need look to a redeemer and a change by re
generation, that are so corrupt and fleshly in all the powers and
faculties both of soul and body. This secludeth us from any possi
bility of attaining heaven and true happiness.
Secondly, All that come to the use of reason have actually sinned
against God. The bad : 1 Kings viii. 46, ' For there is no man that
sinneth not/ The good : Eccles. vii. 20, ' For there is not a just man
upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not/ Our nature, being un
subdued, discovereth itself in acts suitable: Gen. viii. 21, 'For the
imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, and that continually/
Though there be mixtures and intermissions, and though this corrup
tion be in part broken, yet it is not wholly vanquished ; as cloth dyed
in the wool doth not easily leave its first mixture. Principles in the
300 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 6.
best are mixed, so are their operations, like fair water passing through
a dirty sink. Bonum non est nisi ex integro — not so purely good, as
merely evil before. The best are either overtaken, Gal. vi. 1, or over
borne, Rom. vii. The saints in heaven are called ' spirits made perfect/
Heb. xii. 23. They sin no more ; but here we come very short of
tha,t exact obedience which the law reqtiireth : Prov. xx. 9, ' Who can
say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin ?' They have
entered upon the work of cleansing their hearts, but cannot get them
quite clean, but still go on with the work, and make use of the blood
of Christ. Though none accuse them, yet God and their own hearts
may justly condemn them for many sinful swervings from their duty.
Thirdly, This departing from God and his ways is fitly represented
by the straying of sheep : ' All we like sheep have gone astray.'
In the general it implieth: —
1. That we are brutish in our sin and defection from God : it could
not be expressed but by a comparison fetched from the beasts ; we
were like sheep led aside in a sensual way. Man aimed at being equal
with God, and he was made beneath himself : Ps. xlix. 12, 'Never
theless, man being in honour, abideth not ; he is like the beasts that
perish.' He continued not in the honour of his creation, and in that
excellency and dignity wherein God had set him ; but became like a
beast, governed by his senses and lower appetite. It is true of all
men, they do not continue in the excellency of their being, they have
lost much of the dignity of their reason, and are more led by sense,
as the brute creatures are. And therefore you have the saints often
complaining : Ps. Ixxiii. 22, * So foolish was I and ignorant, I was as
a beast before thee.' I was as behemoth, a great beast. Sometimes
they have no command of their affections, but are merely led by the
unruliness of appetite or passions : so Prov. xxx. 2, ' I was more
brutish than any man ; ' that is, he was no more able to gain heavenly
knowledge, whereby to be wise for heaven and salvation, than brute
creatures are able to wield man's reason, whereby to apply themselves
to the affairs of this life. Therefore man is often compared to beasts
for fierceness and cruelty, as the prophet calleth the proud oppressors
cows : Amos iv. 3, ' And ye shall go out of the breaches, every cow
at that which is before her.' So for their rude wanton simplicity,
they are compared to ' a wild ass's colt,' Job xi. 12. And here to a
sheep in decay of knowledge and government. In the general, then,
it implieth something brutish in us, and that through the fall we have
slipped beneath the excellency of our rank and being.
2. Proneness to err. No creature is more prone to wander and lose
his way than a sheep without a shepherd, which is easily seduced.
So are we apt to transgress the bounds whereby God hath hedged up
our way : Jer. xiv. 10, * Thus saith the Lord unto this people, thus
have they loved to wander/ They loved to try experiments in a way
of sin. Man indeed would fain transmit the fault from himself, as
Adam doth obliquely upon God : * The woman which thou gavest
me to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat,' Gen. iii. 12.
It may not be the shepherd's fault if the sheep wander, but their own
nature, their aptness to wander. When we bring ourselves into
inconveniences, we are apt to murmur, and secretly to accuse God in
ISA. LIII. 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 301
our thoughts, as if he did not sufficiently provide for us. Solomon
saith, Prov. xix. 3, ' The foolishness of man perverteth his way, and
his heart fretteth against the Lord.' It is our own folly, and we blame
our own fate, our evil destiny, and those unlucky stars that shone at
our birth ; and in these things we blame God himself. The saints
themselves have been guilty of this evil, fretting at God for what
inconvenience comes to pass through their own sin and folly. 2 Sam.
vi. 8, it is said, ' David was displeased, because the Lord had made a
breach upon Uzzah.' He should have been displeased with himself
and his own ignorance, to order the ark to be carried upon a cart,
when it should have been carried upon the priests' shoulders. Thus,
as sheep, it notethto us self-abasement, because of our own proneness :
we did it as sheep, and they are apt to wander.
3. Our inability to return, or to bring ourselves into the right way
again. It is like a sheep, not like a swine or a dog ; these creatures
will find the way home again, but a sheep is irrecoverably lost without
the shepherd's diligence and care : Jer. 1. 6, ' My people have been
lost sheep, their shepherds have caused them to go astray ; they have
turned them away on the mountains, they have gone from mountain
to hill, they have forgotten their resting-place.' The farther they go
the farther they will be from the flock, and in a very sad condition.
It holdeth good too here ; for we do not know the way back again to
God. Austin saith, I could wander by myself, and could not return
by myself. And God saith as much, Hosea xiii. 9, ' 0 Israel, thou
hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help/ That is done in a
moment which we cannot help to all eternity. Our destruction is
from ourselves, but our reparation from God. The good shepherd
bringeth home the lost sheep upon his shoulders, Luke xv. 5.
4. It noteth our readiness to follow evil example. A sheep is
animal sequax, they run one after another, arid one straggler draweth
away the whole flock : Eph. ii. 2, 3, i Wherein in times past ye
walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, that now worketh in the children of dis
obedience : among whom also we had our conversation in times past, in
the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath even as others/ There is
Satan, corrupt examples, and evil inclinations, the world and the flesh,
all concurring to ruin man. We easily swim with the stream and
current of others' examples, and do as they do ; and even so men take
and do a great deal of hurt by evil examples. Thus sins are pro
pagated, and we live by imitation ; like sheep, we draw others out of
the pasture together with ourselves. Sheep go by troops, and so do
men follow the multitude to do evil ; and what is common passeth
into our practice without observance.
5. The danger of straying sheep, which when out of the pasture,
are often in harm's way, and exposed to a thousand clangers : Jer.
1. 6, 7, ' My people have been like lost sheep ; all that have found
them have devoured them/ So are we in danger to be preyed upon
by the roaring lion, and the dogs and wolves that are abroad. In our
sinful estate we are as sheep whom no man taketh up, being out of
God's protection, and so a ready prey for Satan. See how pathetically
302 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIIL 6.
the prophet describeth the misery of Israel: Hosea iv, 16, 'Now the
Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place/ Oh, consider what it
is for a poor solitary lamb to wander through the mountains, where,
it may be, some hungry lion and ravenous wolf looketh for such a
prey. Even so it is with straying men, their judgment sleepeth not ;
it may be the next hour they will be delivered over to destruction :
Eom. iii. 16, ' Destruction and misery is in their way, and the way of
peace they have not known.'
Use 1. Is to show us the necessity of a Redeemer. All are included
under a necessity of looking after a remedy ; if all be sick, they
must all seek to the physician or perish. And therefore it concerneth
every one to see what they have done for the saving of their lost souls.
' All the world is become guilty before God/ as the apostle saith,
Rom. iii. 19. Guilty you are, but have you sued out your discharge ?
By nature you lost the glory of God, but are you changed into the
image and likeness of Christ from glory to glory ? You were polluted
in your first birth, but are you born again of water and the Spirit?
Are you saved by being washed in the laver of regeneration and
renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he hath shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Saviour ? You are sinners by practice,
but are you washed in the blood of the Lamb, and reconciled to God ?
You have gone astray, but is the case altered with you ? 1 Peter ii. 25,
' For ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the
shepherd and bishop of your souls/ Do you use Christ as a mediator
to seek the favour of God by him ? Do you put yourselves into his
hands as your Shepherd, and resign and give up yourselves to be
governed by him as your bishop and overseer ? As the misery
involveth all, so doth the care and necessity of looking after a remedy
concern all. In the first Adam we contracted guilt, and became liable
to the wrath of God ; in the second, we have righteousness, which is a
pledge of God's favour. In the first Adam we lost the image of God ;
by the second, we are made partakers of the divine nature. In the
first, we lost paradise; but by the second, are restored to a better para
dise, heaven itself.
But let us not reflect only upon this common necessity, but our own
personal necessity, what need we have to look after a Redeemer, and
to get an interest in him, and that his redeeming grace may become
glorious in our eyes.
1. In your natural estate you were every one of you as lost sheep,
fugitives, and strangers, and enemies to him. Thy way was lost, thy
God lost, thy happiness lost, thy soul lost ; so it was, for Christ ' came
to seek and to save that which was lost.' Then the devil was thy
shepherd, then thou didst put thyself under his conduct, and God was
looked upon as thy enemy. Oh, think of it ; at a day old thou wert
sinful, even to the death, and worthy of God's hatred : Col. i. 21,
' You were sometimes alienated, and enemies in your minds by wicked
works.' And his wrath remaineth on you, till application be made
of the blood of Christ upon gospel terms: John iii. 36, 'He that
believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth
on him/ These terms are repentance and turning to God. Now
dost thou believe that thou wert a child of wrath by nature, a fire-
ISA. LIIL 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 303
brand of hell ? and canst thou be secure, and desirest thou not to be
freed from so great a danger ?
2. In practice. How didst thou wander and depart from God
throughout the whole course of thy life ? The stragglings of thy
youth, how canst thou look back upon them without shame and blush
ing ? Cry out then, Ps. xxv. 7, ' Kemember not the sins of my
youth, nor my transgressions : according to thy mercy remember thou
me, for thy goodness' sake, 0 Lord.' And in thy riper years how
shamefully didst thou stray from God, even since thou begannest to
have more of conscience, and a greater use of reason ? It were end
less to trace us in all our by-paths : ' Who can understand his errors ? '
Ps. xix. 12. In every age, in every condition, in every business, we
have been wandering from God.
3. Since grace received we have had our deviations : Ps. cxix.
176, ' I have gone astray like a lost sheep : seek thy servant, for I do
not forget thy commandments.' Though our hearts be set to walk
with God in the main, yet we are ever and anon swerving from the
rule, either neglecting our duty to God, or transgressing against the
holy commandment. Oh, therefore eat your passover with sour herbs,
and bless the Lord for finding you out in your wanderings, and follow
ing you with the tenders of his grace in Christ.
Use 2. If the Spirit of God sets forth our natural estate by the
straying or wandering of sheep, see if this disposition be still in you,
yea or no. Are you not apt to go astray from God and from his
ways ?
1. From God. Every sin is a departing from him, but especially
unbelief : Heb. iii. 12, ' Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of
you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God/
Adam thought to find much happiness in forbidden fruit, to mend
and better his condition, but was miserably disappointed. So when we
do not believe God in his word, we will be trying our fortunes and
taking our own swing and course. But I speak of a more general dis
position. There are some whose main care it is to be getting away
from God; as the prodigal went into a far country, Luke xv. 11.
They think to be better anywhere than at home under God's eye and
presence. This appeareth by the care they take to keep God out of
their thoughts : Ps. x. 4, * God is not in all his thoughts.' A thought
of God rushing into their mind is very unwelcome and unpleasant to
them ; they are backward and hang off from communion with God,
and the duties of religion are looked upon as a melancholy inter
ruption.
2. From the ways of God. Though they are the only ways of
peace and life, and will surely make us happy in the end, yet natu
rally we are of a libertine and yokeless spirit. Sinners looking upon
all things through the spectacles of the flesh, count them harsh and
unequal, and a strict confinement : Mat. vii. 14, ' Because strait is the
gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be
that find it.' They cannot endure God's restraint : Prov. xiv. 12,
' There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof
are the ways of death/ The broad and easy ways of sin are pleasing
to flesh and blood, but destructive to the soul. Well, then, he that
304 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 6.
counteth the company of God or the ways of God irksome, hath this
wandering disposition still remaining with him ; and if it be not checked
it will prove his eternal destruction. The sheep do not fare the better
for going out of the pasture. We leave all good in leaving the chiefest
good ; and in departing from God you turn your back upon your own
happiness ; as beasts put into a good pasture will yet seek out some gap
that they may range abroad.
I come now to observe from the distribution of this common error :
every man to his own way : —
Doct. 2. That there are many several ways of sinning ; or thus,
though there be one path to heaven, yet there are several ways of sin
ning and going to hell.
Every man hath his several course. And as the channel is cut, so
his corrupt nature findeth an issue and passage : Eccles. vii. 29, ' God
hath made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions/
One hath one invention, arid another another, wherein he imagineth
to find contentment and happiness, but findeth none. Man swerving
from the state of happiness and sufficiency wherein God had created
him, thinketh to better his condition, and therefore hath many devices
and inventions, which indeed make it worse. So 1 John ii. 16, ' For
all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and
the pride of life.' Though no sin cometh amiss to a carnal heart, yet
some are more kindly and suitable to that particular humour. One's
notorious blemish is the lust of the eyes, worldliness ; another, sensu
ality ; another, pride ; one this sin, another that. Hence the psalmist
saith, Ps. xviii. 23, ' I kept myself from mine iniquity.' That which
most urgeth us, and prevaileth with us, we should endeavour to
mortify.
The reasons how this cometh to pass are : —
1. Because of the activeness of man's spirit. It is always a-devising
wickedness, which as it is true most especially of the malicious musing
mind, so of all evil hearts : Ps. Ixiv. 6, * They search out iniquities,
they accomplish a diligent search ; both the inward thought of every
one of them, and the heart, is deep.' A wicked spirit is a searching
spirit; they contrive new ways ; they are always finding out new in
ventions and devices ; they are not contented with the way God hath
set them, and therefore will try others.
2. It happeneth through diversity of constitutions. Amores animi
sequuntur humores corporis — the conditions of the mind follow the con
stitution of the body. The matter of some men's bodies is more viciously
disposed than others are. We plainly see the body hath some indirect
operation upon the soul ; the affections, in their work and exercise,
depend upon the body ; and these corrupt affections meeting with a
disposed body for them, by a violent sway carry the whole man with
them. And this reason is the stronger, because the devil joineth with
our tempers to help on those sins to which we are naturally disposed,
as wantonness, drunkenness, gluttony ; or if of a better constitution,
to pride and vainglory. As when the devil observeth a lustful man,
he helpeth forward the temptation, and offereth occasions, stirring up
raging and immoderate desires, until at length, forgetting all shame
and modesty, or the danger of punishments, he does most foully pol-
ISA. LIII. 6.] THE FIFTY- THIKD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 305
lute himself. So if to luxury and gluttony, he presents sweet baits till
the soul is drowned and drenched in meats and drinks, and there be no
sense of piety, and the heart is made unwieldy to prayer or any good
duty. So for contentious or furious persons ; whatever the constitution
be, he ' worketh mightily in the children of disobedience/ Eph. ii. 2.
Godly men find least hurt by him, as being led by the Spirit, and avoid
the occasions and snares, and strive against evil suggestions, and yet
they smart too much under his malice many times, through the ad
vantage he hath over them by their constitutions.
3. It happeneth from their business and occasions in the world.
Many men are engaged to ways of sin because they suit best with their
employments, the sin of their calling, as vainglory in a minister. The
apostle saith, ' Ordain not a novice, lest he be lifted up of pride, and
fall into the condemnation of the devil/ 1 Tim. iii. 6. So worldliness
suits a man of business, or deceitfulness in his trade ; and corruption
is common to a magistrate. Several callings and businesses have their
several corruptions. Men easily slide into the corruptions of their way,
and every calling, through the wickedness of our hearts, is made to
serve this or that sin.
4. Custom and education. Aristotle saith, It is ill education that
engageth men to a way of wickedness, and it is not easy to break
them off from it. Vessels will not easily quit their first savour, and
customs will not easily be left. Teach a child the way of the Lord
and it will stick by him : Prov. xxii. 6, ' Train up a child in the way
he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.'
5. Company and example. Men learn from them with whom they
converse, and thence come national sins, partly as they run in the
blood, but more by example. Of the Germans we learn drunkenness
and gluttony ; of the French, wantonness. Men shape their practices
to the patterns that are before them, and learn their way ; for it easily
taints the spirits. And thus you see why there are so many inven
tions and ways of wickedness.
Use 1. Well, then, do not be too ready to bless yourselves, provided
the sins of others break not out upon you : do not flatter yourselves
that you run not into the same sins that others do. The devil may
take you in another snare that suiteth more with your temper and con
dition of life. Some are sensual and some vainglorious, others worldly ;
many meet in hell that do not go thither the same way. A man may
not be as other men, and yet he may not be as he should be : Luke
xviii. 11, 'The pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I
thank thee that I am not as other men ; ' yet ' the publican went down
to his house justified rather than the proud pharisee/ Those that
slighted the invitation to the marriage-feast had their several diver
sions and reasons of excuse : Mat. xxii. 5, ' But they all made light of
it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise/
One hath business to keep him from Christ, and another pleasures
and the pomps and vanities of the present world, and another has his
superstitious observances. But all obstruct the power of the truth,
and the receiving of Christ into their souls. Every man will have his
way, saith Luther upon this text. Some follow their hawks and hounds,
and neglect their precious and immortal souls. Others busy them-
VOL. III. U
306 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 6.
selves in heaping up riches ; others are for plays and sports to fool
away the day of grace. * My way/ saith he, * when I was a monk, was to
fast and pray till I had made myself sick ; to observe the statutes of
my order strictly. I called upon the blessed Virgin, and St George,
and St Christopher'; and this was my way. And so vile a creature as
I was, for all this, became the more sinful.' Others may hate this or
that public and visible blemish, but what are thy failings ? John viii.
7, ' He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at
her/ We may rashly censure others, and descant on their faults,
but it is better to look inward. Do not I offend God as much another
way as those whom I censure ? There is a double madness — not only
that which is idle and light, and breaketh out in strange freaks and
furious extravagances, but that which is more sober, solemn, and
grave. A frenzy betrayeth itself by deep musings and high conceits.
So it is true of these discoveries of sin. Some delight in vain plea
sures, others go to hell in a graver course. When a man perisheth,
he * eateth the fruit of his own way, and is filled with his own de
vices/ Prov. i. 31.
2. Stop your way of sinning, pluck out thy right eye, cut off thy
right hand, Mat. v. 29, 30. Your trial lieth there, as Abraham was
tried in offering up his Isaac ; and David voucheth it as a mark of
sincerity : Ps. xviii. 23, ' I was upright before thee, and kept myself
from mine iniquity/ It will prove a stumbling-block, and eat out all
the heart and power of grace if let alone. It concerneth us in our
covenanting with God to set against the sin of this inbred and natural
inclination. Though original sin dispose us to all sin, yet our partic
ular and personal inclination may carry us more strongly to some one
kind of sin : Heb. xii. 1, ' Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin
which doth so easily beset us/ Thus childhood is wanton, and old age
touchy and covetous. Sins take the throne by turns, according to our
vocation and course of life. Every calling hath its temptations, and
there is a snare which others meet not with. Every condition of life
hath a predominant sin ; as the young man with his great possessions.
Oh ! let us consider our tender parts, our Delilah, our Herodias, that
sin that hindereth us most in closing with Christ, that sin that most
engrosseth our thoughts ; for they always follow the temper of our
hearts. Some sins we hide under the tongue, Job xx. 12, which we
cannot endure should be touched ; our private sore is a tender place.
Thus Herod would not be crossed in his Herodias, and Felix trembled
when Paul ' reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to
come/ Acts xxiv. 25, because he lived in intemperance with Drusilla,
his pretended wife. That which you reserve in turning to God, that
which you set up a toleration in your hearts for, even this sin must be
bewailed to God, and you must seek the blood of Christ to mortify it
with all the promising occasions of it. Act the contrary grace, and
see how you can deny yourselves in what you most affect.
Use 2. Is caution not to walk slightly. There is but one right path,
there are many evil ones. As one said, Evil is manifold, and the way
of sin divideth itself into divers paths ; you may easily mistake. See
that place, Prov. iv. 26, 27, ' Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all
thy ways be established : turn not to the right hand, nor to the left ;
ISA. LIU. 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 307
remove thy foot from evil.' Walk with a great deal of care and cir
cumspection. When it is so easy to err, a man would be solicitous.
The apostle blameth those that did not opOoiro^elv, not ' walk uprightly
according to the truth of the gospel/ Gal. ii. 14. They did not go
with a right foot. The world thinketh strictness to be folly and nice-
ness. You see there is a great deal of reason for it : there is error on
both sides of truth, and you may easily miscarry : there is an extreme
on both hands. A little to direct you, mind that place, Mat. vii. 14,
' Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, and few there be that find
it/ There are some way-marks. I think, without wrong to that place,
that I may give you three — a strait gate, a narrow way, and few
company.
1. A strait gate. The entrance into it puts the soul shrewdly to it,
whether taken for the coming out of ourselves, or the getting into
-Christ. It is a narrow way to carry the soul right. It is like the pas
sages by which Jonathan and his armour-bearer sought to get up to
the Philistines : 1 Sam. xiv. 4, ' There was a sharp rock on the one
side, and a sharp rock on the other side ; the name of the one was
Bozez, and the name of the other was Seneh.' So here, between pre
sumption and despair, it is hard to keep the soul right, sometimes the
wind bloweth in one corner, sometimes in another. How to keep our
selves from despair in going out of ourselves, how to keep ourselves
from presumption by getting into Christ, is not so easy.
2. There is a narrow path, refl/U/z^e^ 9} 0805, an afflicted, rough
way, such as will engage believers —
[1.] To the exercise of care. A diffident, regardless soul is out of
his way: you have but a ridge to walk upon : Eph. v. 15, * Walk cir
cumspectly ; ' not even as it hitteth ; for it is a hard matter to keep a
good conscience, Acts xxiv. 16 ; and Prov. xxiii. 19, ' Hear thou, my
son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the right way.' You had
need look to it.
[2.] To a great deal of pains and sorrow. He was mistaken that
said, Take thine ease. Many can swallow sins, and pursue them, and
yet have no sense of them that they are wrong. It is a way that will
put you upon much sorrow and affliction, because you have such a
distempered soul, and such a deal of pride and intemperance and
anger in it : Horn. vii. 24, ' 0 wretched man that I am ! who shall
deliver me from the body of this death ? ' Ps. cxx. 5, ' Woe is me that
I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar 1 * The saints
are apt to grieve that they have such a worldly spirit in a heavenly
journey.
[3.] To a great deal of self-denial. It is a way that restraineth
nature ; therefore we are called upon, Mat. iii. 3, ' Prepare ye the way
of the Lord, make his paths straight;' Heb. xii. 13, 'And make
straight paths to your feet.' There must be strictness in our course.
It is not such a way as will leave you to the sway of your own hearts.
Nature would have a thing many times, but you must put a knife to
your throats, as if you were more ready to slay your appetite than to
satisfy it. The thoughts, the affections, the speeches, the actions,
must be reduced to the strict rules of the word. When men please
nature to the full, it is a sign they have mistaken their way.
308 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. G.
[4.] It will engage you to much mortification, to much opposition r
Eph. vi. 12, 'For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.' You have strong
lusts to cope with, and those must be mortified, which you cannot do
without the Spirit of Christ, Kom. viii. 13. It will cost you many
prayers and tears, and fighting with spiritual wickednesses.
3. The next way-mark is, that you have but little company : ' Nar
row is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it.' Many
walk as others do, and so mistake. Others sever themselves from the
world, but go in the ordinary track of profession, not out of the com
mon road. This is to be true to a sect and company of men, not to
the ways of God. As Paul, when he was a pharisee, he lived by the
eye, and did as others did ; he lived after the strictest sect of religion y
Acts. xxvi. 5. You must put a difference between the ordinary num
ber of professors and yourself. But if you be vain and sensual, what
do you more than they ? Christians should look after the distinction
and the difference between them and others : Mat. vi. 32, ' For after
all these things do the Gentiles seek.' Implying, a man should da
more than they, more than the men of the world can ever do : Ps.
iv. 6, ' There be many that say, Who will show us any good ?' That is
the fashion of the men of the brutish multitude. But the godly say,
' Lord, lift up the light of thy countenance upon us.'
Use 3. Is to press you to look into the state of your hearts, and see
what 37ou have by long experience observed, what is your sin, your way
of wickedness, what assaults you most frequently, most fiercely ; observe
the frequency of temptations, and the strength of them, the law in the
members, and a thorn in the flesh ; so, as it is conceived, he calleth
the violent stirrings of lusts. Now bend all your strength against
these ; as the king of Aram said, 1 Kings xxii. 31, c Fight not against
small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.' So bend the
strength of the soul against this way of wickedness.
I come now to the last point of the first part of the text, and that is
drawn from that possessive particle whereby every man's by-path is ex
pressed : Every man to Ms ivay.
Doct. 3. That this is the sin of men in their natural condition, that
they turn to their own way.
^ The phrase implieth these two things— First, A defect or want of
divine guidance; Secondly, A rejection of the ways of God when
made known to us. We do not like them so well as some other,
which we fancy to be better to us, because more suitable to our carnal
desires ; and therefore it is often charged upon the people of Israel,
especially by Jeremiah, that they would not regard the ways of God,
but the way of their own imaginations. See Jer. vii. 24. God had
told them that all that he required of them was this, ' Obey my voice,
and walk in the way that I have commanded you; but they hearkened
not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsel and in the ima
gination of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.' So
that you see it argueth a refusal of God's ways when discovered to
them, as not being for their turns. So Jer. ix. 13, 14, ' Because they
have forsaken my law which I have set before them, and have not
ISA. LIII. 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 309
obeyed my voice, neither walked therein, but have walked after the
imagination of their heart and after Baalim.' They think their own
path better, safer, or more comfortable, and therefore would not meddle
with God's. So Jer. xi. 8, ' Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their
ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart.' This
refusal is the more sottishly perverse ; as in Jer. xliv. 17, ' But will
certainly do whatsoever thing goeth out of our mouth/ So that here
is a scorning to have their ways prescribed, out of a presumption that
they can better provide for themselves. The drunkard, the adulterer,
thinks God's way is either insipid or injurious. Our first parents
thought their conceit was better, and that God in envy had denied it
to them ; and therefore they did not weigh God's restraint and pro
hibition, Gen. iii. 17 ; she would eat, the devil had fastened her fancy
to it, and she went on with the temptation.
1. There is a defect or want of divine guidance. God leaveth men
to their own sway, and taketh away all check and restraint from them ;
and then whatever a man doth is purely from himself. So it is said,
Ps. Ixxxi. 12, * I gave them up to their own hearts' lust, and they
walked in their own counsels/ When all divine guidance or direction
is taken away, you will be left to the impure dictates of a corrupt mind,
or at best to some poor remains of civility. As it is said, Gen. xx. 6, ' 1
also withheld thee from sinning against me, therefore suffered thee
not to touch her/ Some restraints and chains God casteth upon men,
that they are not able to do the evil which naturally they would.
Though they do not go God's way, they cannot go their own. But
when God pleaseth he letteth men alone, and then they do what is
right in their own eyes; as you shall see, Acts xiv. 16, ' Who in times
past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways;' that is, to live
according to their own pleasure, prescribing no restraint to them by
discovering himself in a law ; or, to those that have the outward written
word, by using no inward motions of his Spirit. So that this is the
first thing, the privative part, a defect of divine guidance, either by
such outward prescriptions as may revive natural light, or such inward
motions as may restore it.
2. That which is positive or more formally imported is a following
of the dictates of our own corrupt minds, and fulfilling the desires of
our own corrupt wills. For I conceive this turning to our own way is
expressed by the apostle upon the same occasion, Eph. ii. 3 ; for he saith
there, that natural men ' have their conversations in the lusts of the
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind/ There is a
natural inclination to obey his corrupt mind, and to satisfy his corrupt
will. It is but a pleasing of themselves. It is the way they have de
vised, and the way they have desired. But to speak of these things a
little severally : —
[1.] There is a following the dictates of a corrupt mind. This is the
iirst and chiefest, and therefore it is often expressed, 'According to
their imaginations and their counsels/ There are a great many pre
judices in a natural understanding against the ways of God. It is a
way of their own contriving. Men think their way is good : Prov. xiv.
12, * There is a way which seerneth right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death/ Their blind hearts dictate to them
310 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 6,
that their own way is the best, safest, most pleasant, and comfortable.
The mind chooseth, pauseth, and determineth upon what it conceives
to be better for it than the rule of obedience. Therefore it is called
our own ivay, because it is not of God's appointment, but our own
choice. Men consult with their own hearts, and think sin is better.
You may go through all the commandments of God, and you shall see
a natural understanding dictates otherwise than God saith. As to the
first table, man hath some confused knowledge that there is a God, who>
is to be worshipped, to be spoken of with reverence and observance ;
that there is some time to be set apart for his worship. Now what
this God is, what is his worship, what time is to be set apart for it,
and how it is to be spent, there reason faileth. We have some ways
that seem right to us for that ; and we are guided either by our own
reason, or prescript of time, or education, or example, or custom. It
is our own ways that we turn to, and therefore do not give God the
glory that is due to his name: Rom. i. 21, ' Because that when they
knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but
became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.'
They do not glorify him as God. We paint out worship by our own
lazy thoughts, or overdo it by some fancies of our own : this is our own
way. Then, as to the second table, there natural light is most clear.
There we have some sparks and knowledge left of good and evil, and
yet even there our carnal understanding easily leadeth us into a way
that we think better to us than that which God hath set us ; and so
we think liberty is better than obedience to superiors; revenge is sweet,
and injury is looked upon as profitable, and mere adultery as pleasant,
some thinking nature never planted such strong desires in a man but
to have them satisfied. And as to theft and oppression, why should a
man be scrupulous and stand upon conscience when he seeth a present
benefit ? So calumny and reproach of others pleaseth us and serveth
our ends, by making them odious to others whom we ourselves hate.
Thus, by a little use, all knowledge of good and evil is blotted out of
the mind, and a thing seemeth right to us, though condemned by God.
[2.] There is a fulfilling of the desires of our corrupt wills. Men
go the way of their own affections ; and though it be not according to
the law of God, it is according to their desires, lust being their law ;
as if it were warrant enough to do a thing because they desire it. The
apostle saith, Titus iii. 3, ' Serving divers lusts and pleasures ; ' that
is, their mind was to obey their vile affections. They think the desire
was planted in them that they might satisfy it, and they are not bound
to thwart it : it were a wrong to their natures, whose bent and force they
follow. It is said of Eve, Gen. iii. 6, that ' when she saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired
to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat.' Men think
there is no harm as long as they do but please appetite, and only meddle
with what tempts the desire. But, brethren, do not deceive yourselves :
the mere fulfilling of natural desires without thwarting is a walking in
your own ways ; for even so you may wander beyond those bounds by
which the word hath hedged up your way, be it of pleasures, honour,
or profit. One of the first lessons in Christ's school is self-denial.
You must reckon upon it to go against your desires, and indeed it is a
ISA. LIII. 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 311
hard lesson. The way of natural men is their own way, they do not
love to be restrained in their desires, and therefore they have ventured
upon sin, notwithstanding great restraints, yea, the more for restraints.
Men fancy some exceeding goodness in forbidden fruit, and think the
prohibition cruel and envious, and therefore will venture and try their
own way, as being loth to lose their longing and to disappoint nature.
See that place, Roin. vii. 5, ' For when we were in the flesh, the motions
of sin which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth
fruit unto death ;' that is, when in our natural condition, the restraints
of the law revived sin, and we let it work, though it were to our de
struction. Men's voluptuous hearts will not let them enter upon such
a strict course as the law prescribes. Well, now, gather all together,
and ycu may see what it is to turn to our own way. It is to be left to
ourselves, and then to reject the ways of God, upon a supposition that
we have found something that is better for us, because it is more
pleasing to our fancies, and more suitable to our desires.
The reasons may be referred to two heads. Our own way can never
be right, either —
1. To please God ; or,
2. To do ourselves good.
1. Not to please God. This appears in that : —
[1.] God will not stand to our appointment. Nothing pleaseth him
but what he hath required ; all other things he looketh upon as mere
invention or imagination. Though man should be very zealous in his
own way, with never so devout an intention, it is not acceptable.
There is naturally implanted in the creature some desire to please God.
Now, you will never do it in your duties, or in your lives, if your car
riage be not suitable to his rule : Micah vi. 7, 8, ' Will the Lord be
pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of
oil ? shall I give my first-born for my transgression, and the fruit of
Bey body for the sin of my soul?" Here is a very liberal proposal.
Bat what doth the prophet rejoin upon this ? * He hath showed thee,
0 man, what is good ; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to
do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God ? ' There
is the trial what God hath required of us. He will not stand to the
creatures' courtesy ; it is his prerogative to appoint what pleaseth him
best. God hath been angry with things, though done with a good
intention, if not according to what he hath showed. Uzzah's breach
se:s forth this : 2 Sam. vi. 7, * God smote him for his error ; ' it is said
there, for ' doing besides the rule/ So you may see in a case that
concerneth conversation as well as worship : Rom. x. 2, it is said of
the Jews, that ' they have a zeal of God, but not according to know
ledge/ They were very furious in it ; they had good intentions, but they
did not understand God's way. A man may seem to have much zeal,
and much scrupulous tenderness of doing good, and avoiding evil ; but
it is such as is in his own fancy and apprehension, but not in God's
law; he hateth it. The false teachers had some seemingly strict
ordinances: Col. ii. 21, 22, 'Touch not, taste not, handle not;' but
they were the doctrines and commandments of men. Thus you see
God will not like our way, though it should be never so strict, and
accommodated with the advantage of many devout and pure intentions.
312 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 6.
A popish spirit may be very devout, but God regardeth it not, because
it is not according to his appointment. A good intention cannot make
the action good, but the conformity of it to the rule ; otherwise, those
that slew the apostles and crucified Christ pleased him ; many of
them did it with a devout heart to that way which seemed right to
them and they thought was pleasing to God : John xvi. 2, ' The time
cometh, that whosoever killeth you, will think that he doeth G-od
service/ They think this is well, and will please God. Usually that
hath been the lot of the saints hitherto, to suffer under such rage as
hath been rashly and unadvisedly conceived for God's sake. Ecclesia
nunquam magis passa est quam sub nomine ecdesice. Therefore I say,
God doth not look to the intention of a thing, but the conformity of it
to the rule, and to his appointment, that he liketh ; otherwise that
which is odious to him would seem right in our eyes.
[2.] Suppose God should commit it to ourselves, yet we should never
do that which would please him. If God had left us no direction but
the light of our own reason, we would never reach the right way, but
there would be divers hindrances ; as —
(1st.) Ignorance. Natural men know not which way to go about it :
they are described, Kom. i. 21, to be such as 'became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.' A frivolous mind
every man hath ; the word is StaXo7£oy<tot9, they are vain in their dis
courses and reasonings : they have very unsavoury apprehensions of
the ways of God. It is spoken of the heathen there. And the like
you shall see of the Jews, and of natural men within the church :
Jer. iv. 22, ' For my people is foolish ; they have not known me, they
are sottish children, and they have no understanding ; they are wise
to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.' Men of parts are
sometimes extremely ignorant in point of duty towards God and man,
and therefore certainly their own path must needs be a wrong way.
Brethren, it signifies not what men in a notional way can discourse
or argue concerning duty, for their foolish darkness will be discovered
when it cometh to practice.
(2dly.) Their antipathy against anything that concerneth the ways
of God. Our way must needs be seen, for our heart is exceeding
averse to the will of God : Rom. viii. 7, ' The carnal mind is en
mity against God.' Mark, it is not only an enemy, but enmity. There
is the spirit of malice in it against all the ways of God. Therefore,
God's appointments and carnal devices will never be brought together ;
if you be wise to the flesh, you cannot be wise to duty. A carnal wise
heart must needs err in its choice then. There is a disallowing of all
that is good, and an approving of all that is naught: this is most suit
able to us. See Isa. v. 20, ' Woe unto them that call evil good and
good evil ; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put
bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter/ The prophet useth divers ex
pressions to set out that wicked disvaluing of the ways of God that is
in all carnal hearts. They think all the comfort and sweetness is in
their own ways of jollity and excess, and for God's ways they look
upon them as bitter and dark, such as will banish mirth and eat out
all contentment, and fill the heart with sad fears and darkness. Oh,
how are these men mistaken !
ISA. LIIL 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 313
(3dly.) We have a base, paltry heart, and are loth to serve him as
far as we know. It is said, Kom. i. 28, ' They did not like to retain
-God in their knowledge.' They do not approve or make such precious
account of the ways of God as they should do. Carnal men are loth
to go contrary to their desires. They like the knowledge that they
have, and are better content with ignorance, — as it is said, 2 Peter in.
5 : the apostle Peter saith, ' They are willingly ignorant ' of what
might make against them. This they are angry at, that they know
so much, and are willing to practise so little ; and, therefore, what is
chosen and followed with full consent by such hearts must needs be a
wrong way. You may well suspect whatever nature deviseth so will
ingly, and practiseth so cheerfully. This is the first reason : Our own
way is not the right way, because we can never please God in it.
2. Our own way is not the right way to do ourselves good. The
more we please the flesh, the more we wrong our own souls : passions
and corrupt affections do but blind the heart to its own destruction.
As the fishes that play down the pleasant streams of Jordan devolve
themselves into the Dead Sea, so ways that are altogether suitable to
our nature do but end in destruction : Prov. xvi. 25, ' There is a way
that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of
d«ath/ Mark, it is the plural, ways, — it is multiplex. A man ruineth
himself many ways, by one sin or another ; some their way is adultery,
that wasteth the strength, blasteth the beauty, bringeth infamy,
poverty, reproach, horror of conscience, death, and eternal destruction.
Another drunkenness, which besots the brain, wasteth the estate, be-
trayeth a man to reproach, brawneth the heart, and bringeth death and
destruction. I will not stand longer upon the reasons, but apply it.
Use 1. Is caution to you not to go in your own ways, neither in
worship nor conversation ; that is the sin of men in their natural con
dition. Now, that you may not do so —
1. I shall give you some cautionary propositions.
2. A few directions.
The cautionary propositions I shall spread before you for the greater
quickening and incitement of you.
[1.] God may not like what men like : Prov. xvi. 2, ' All the ways
of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord weigheth the spirit.'
A man that doth not weigh his service in the balance of the sanctuary
is not sensible of the defects of it God weigheth and can look be
neath the veil of pretences : so Luke xvi. 15, * For that which is
highly esteemed amongst men is abomination in the sight of God/
You may please yourselves in your ways, and yet you may very much
displease God. The rule holdeth in duties. You may pass it off as if
it were a seemly beast for an offering, whereas God looketh upon it as
a poor, sick sacrifice, a corrupt thing, Mai. i. 14. This rule likewise
holds good in conversation. Men please themselves in an easy moral
way, but God can find a great deal of evil in it. We look upon sins
as they are odious abroad, but God considereth inward guilt. Now,
when men live in an easy, voluptuous, sensual way, they do not check
themselves for it because others do not, but God may hate them for it.
[2J Nay, the more thy way pleaseth thee, the more thou shouldest
suspect it doth not please God. Whence cometh all this vigilance ?
314 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 6.
Either the thing is carnal, or, if it be spiritual, thou art set on by the
concernments of the flesh. Certainly, thy carnal heart is set on by
something that is suitable. David did not dare touch the waters of
Bethlehem, because he longed for them: 2 Sam. xxiii. 15, 16, 'Oh
that one would give me of the water of Bethlehem ! ' He would
not drink of it, because they went in jeopardy of their lives that
fetched it, but poured it out before the Lord. I say, in doubtful things,
when thou art so vehement, suspect thy heart ; and the more thy life
pleaseth thee, fear it is the less acceptable to God. Consider not what
thou art willing to do, but what God alloweth. Nature would not be so
strongly bent upon a thing, if there were not corruption in it. These are
the two quickening propositions. The rules or directions are three : —
[1.] Lead your life by a divine rule ; have respect to the command
ment. See how heartily David prayeth, Ps. cxix. 10, ' With my whole
heart have I sought thee ; let me not wander from thy commandments.'
That is the rule — the law a man should go by. Advise with the word.
' Bind it continually about thine heart, and tie it about thy neck.' The
commandment is a lamp, and the law is light. * When thou goest it
shall lead thee, when thou sleepest it shall keep thee, and when thou
wakest it shall talk with thee,' Prov. vi. 21-23. He would not
deviate into his own path : Gal. vi. 16, 'As many as walk according
to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of
God ;' — they that walk by this rule, that is, according to the word of
God. The law is the expression of God's will to us creatures, there
fore conform to that. If Christians had oftener recourse to the rule,
they would have a better sight of duty.
[2.] Beg divine assistance. We cannot keep to God's rule without
God's power ; beg it of God, then, as David in the psalm before
mentioned. There are divers places hint this in scripture. It is a
sign we run beyond ourselves when we would not be directed by God.
When God leaveth us to ourselves, then we leave his law : Acts xiv.
16, 'In times past God suffered the Gentiles to walk in their own
ways.' A man left to himself cannot but err; and, therefore, desire
God that he would guide you ; for a blind mind and a wicked heart
cannot guide you in his ways. This is called a taking heed to the
word, Ps. cxix. 9 ; and ver. 101, 'I have refrained my feet from
every evil way, that I may keep thy word ; ' and David prayeth, ver.
133, ' Order my steps in thy word.' God must order every step, or
else we shall soon go astray.
[3.] Look up to divine encouragement. As you must take the word
for your rule, and the Spirit for your guide, so the promises for your
encouragement : 2 Cor. vii. 1, ' Having, therefore, these promises,
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all. filthiness of the flesh
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God ; ' 2 Peter i. 4,
' Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises ;
that by these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust/ Worldly
wisdom is seen otherwhere : Kom. viii. 5, ' For they that are after the
flesh do mind the things of the flesh ; and they that are after the
Spirit, the things of the Spirit/ Christians should fetch in a supply
that way ; it is a sign you are in God's way when you eye God's
ISA. LIII. 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 315
encouragements. Some mind only to compass their carnal ends, and
sweeten all their endeavours by fleshly considerations; they are in their
own way : ' To be carnally minded is death/ To savour only fleshly
encouragements argueth a very naughty heart.
Use 2. Is examination, to try whether you be in the state of nature
or no. Your own way is a sinful way ; and, therefore, what is the
generality of your conversations ? Is it not a turning to your own
way ? But, you will say, how shall I know that ?
1. By the suitableness of it to nature. A life led in pleasures,
without self-denial and mortification, certainly is none of God's way ;
it is a way of your own choosing : 1 Tim. v. 6, ' She that liveth in
pleasure is dead while she liveth.' Though she liveth a natural life,
she dieth a spiritual death. This is even just as nature would have
it. Observe what compliance it hath with your carnal desires and
delights.
2. By the easiness of it to nature. It is your own way, for you can
walk in it by your own strength. It is often said of such as were in a
natural state, ' He did that which was right in his own eyes/ You
have shaped out to yourselves such an easy course ; but what diffi
culty is it to be such a Christian ? Solomon saith, ' Lean not to thine
understanding/ Prov. iii. 5, ' but trust in the Lord with all thine
heart/ That is necessary to true Christianity ; but now here men
keep up themselves well enough, though no intercourse be between
them.
3. The serviceableness of it to nature, and to natural ends and
courses. Every man naturally is for himself, to attain honour, plea
sure, profit, or satisfaction to his lusts. Our own way will serve for
our own end. Though many things that man may do be of divine
appointment, yet it is but your own way still ; you borrow means of
God to further your own purposes. The glory of God is the great
Christian end, but men value themselves by other things.
Use 3. Is exhortation ; to press men in their natural condition to
turn from their sottishness and foolish ways by repentance. Now
repentance first beginneth with turning from our own ways, as the
prophet Jeremiah calleth it : Jer. xxvi. 13, * Therefore now amend
your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God/
To this end a few things must be spoken to.
There are two things that make this exhortation fruitless : —
1. Carnal prejudices. Do not believe what your own hearts sug
gest to you concerning the folly and uncomfortableness of God's ways,
for these prove the best and most comfortable to the soul. Other
pleasures are but for a season, Heb. xi. 25. Natural reason calleth
sour sweet. The best way to know is to try them once, then you will
see how all was delusive ; mistakes and prejudices will vanish then.
2. Despairing stubbornness. Men have been in an ill way, and
they are loth to quit it : they think now they must try the worst of
it : Jer. xviii. 12, ' And they said there is no hope, but we will walk
after our devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil
heart/
But I would not tarry too long on these black lines and dark
shadows of man's sin and misery which are in the text ; therefore I
316 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIIL 6.
come now to the comfortable part, viz., God's remedy : and the Lord
hath laid on him the iniquities of us all. There I propounded three
things : —
1. The author of our deliverance: the Lord; that is, God the
Father.
2. The nature or manner of our deliverance: he hath laid our
iniquities on him.
3. The parties interested : the iniquities of as all.
1. The author: 'the Lord.' You may take it essentially for the
whole Deity, or personally for God the Father, who, in the mystery
of redemption, is looked upon as pars offensa, the wronged party against
whom the offence is committed, and the supreme Judge to whom the
satisfaction is tendered. The point is —
Doct. That God the Father laid our iniquities on Christ.
I shall a little open this point to you, and therein you shall see,
that whatever Christ did as Mediator, or whatever was done to Christ,
is attributed to God the Father, to his counsel and appointment.
1. He designed the person, and therefore it is said : Gal. iv. 4,
' God sent forth his Son ; ' Eom. viii. 3, ' God sending his Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh ; ' 1 John iv. 14, * God sent his Son to be the
Saviour of the world.' It noteth the decree and designation of God
the Father concerning the second person : John x. 36, ' Whom the
Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world/ When a thing or
person is set aside for divine uses and purposes, it is said to be sanc
tified. And so it is said, John vi. 27, ' For him hath God the Father
sealed/ The Father cannot but accept of the obedience of Christ in
the name of those for whom it is offered, and who do lay hold upon
him by faith, seeing Christ did not come of himself, but was sent of
the Father to pay our ransom for us. Moses, that interposed of his
own accord, was denied : Exod. xxxii. 32, ' If thou wilt not forgive
their sin, blot me out of thy book/ But God told him, ' The soul that
sinneth, him will I blot out of my book/ But Christ interposed not of
his own accord. This sending his Son was a remedy of God's appointing.
So in the place forementioned, John x. 36, ' Whom the Father hath
sanctified, and sent into the world ; ' that is, consecrated him from
eternity unto the office of Mediator, arid then sent him into the world
to assume human nature into the unity of his own person. ' Him
hath the Father sealed ; ' that is, the Father hath authorised him to
be the Saviour and Redeemer of lost sinners. He hath a commission
under the broad seal of heaven. Thus kings give commissions to
their ministers of state, who are employed in their affairs : Esther
viii. 8, ' For the writing which is written in the king's name, and
sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse/ Christ coming in
•God's name is fully authorised to do your souls good.
2. He qualified him for his office, and therefore he is said to be
* anointed with the Spirit of the Lord to preach the gospel to the poor,
and to heal the broken-hearted/ Luke iv. 18; and John iii. 34,
4 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God, for God
giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him/ As Mediator he is en
dowed with the Spirit for the discharge of his office, that he might
be a full storehouse of all grace for his people : 1 Cor. i. 30, * Who of
ISA. LIU. 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 31T
God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption.' Surely we may use him for what he was made of
God.
3. Whatever was done to Christ as Mediator, was from God the
Father ; either, first, mediately by men ; God ordered their cruelty
with reference to his own designs : Acts iv. 28, ' For to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done/ God hath so
laid the state of our redemption, that whatever was done to Christ, he
ordereth the whole business from first to last. Or, secondly, immedi
ately by God : Isa. liii. 10, ' It pleased the Lord to bruise him, he
hath put him to grief ; ' Zech. xiii. 7, ' Awake, 0 sword, against my
Shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow/ Our sin and
punishment was not taken up by Christ without the Father's privity
and consent ; it was not by our desire and will, but by the counsel of
the Father, that he laid our iniquities upon him.
4. Whatever was done by Christ, you shall find in the scripture ;
Christ always going according to the appointment of the Father, the
whole work being but a testimony of his obedience : Heb. x. 7, ' Lo,
I come to do thy will, 0 God.' In the whole transaction Christ would
be ordered by the will of his Father ; the Son is become a servant in
this business ; therefore it is said, Phil. ii. 7, ' He took upon him the
form of a servant/ So in that place, Heb. x. 5, ' A body hast thou
prepared me/ It is in Ps. xl. 6, * Mine ears hast thou opened/ or
bored ; that is, made me a wise and faithful servant in the work of
redemption. They were wont, under the law, to bore the ears of their
servants : Exod. xxi. 6, ' So that he was to be a servant for ever/
And thus you have Christ always professing his obedience to the
Father. As if it were not his own business that he was set about,
and he could not do as he would in it, but he must be acted and
guided by another : John x. 37, ' If I do not the works of my Father,
believe me not ; ' John x. 18, 'I have power to lay down my life, and
I have power to take it again ; this commandment have I received of
my Father/ All which is a testimony that the Father was satisfied
by his sufferings, and is a ground of strong consolation to believers.
The way was agreed upon between God and Christ long before the
accomplishment. It was not out of impotence, as if forced to give
place to the devil and the violence of wicked men, but obedience to
God's designed way.
Now in two things Christ showeth this : —
[1.] As if he acted altogether by the Father's power: John v. 19 r
1 The Son can do nothing of himself/ So ver. 30, ' I can of mine
own self do nothing ; ' that is, the Father and he were distinct per
sons in themselves, but not separate in nature, power, and operation.
The Son acts by the Father, and the Father in the Son. The Son
doth nothing of himself, that is, separate from the Father. Or under
stand it of the manhood of Christ, that is guided by God the Father
in its operations, it doth not act at pleasure. Christ would will or
act nothing separate from the will and power of the Godhead. This-
is spoken to remove such a gross speculation, as if the union between
God and Christ were no other than that between a natural father
and son.
318 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 6.
[2.] As if he acted by the Father's appointment : for he would do
nothing, neither lay down his life, nor take it up, unless God the
Father said Amen to it ; as where Christ speaketh of some power he
had in himself, yet it was a power limited by the Father : John x.
18, ' No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself: I have
power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This com
mandment have I received from my Father.' Christ would lay down
his life for his people, and take it up again, and all because of the
Father's commandment. The words are spoken to exclude any ex
ternal power or violence that could be offered to Christ ; none could
impose upon him, but at the Father's commandment he would lay it
down, and take it up again. Christ would leave a testimony of his
love and obedience : John xiv. 31, ' But that the world may know
that I love the Father, as the Father gave me commandment, even
so I do.' No outward force can impose upon him, but the Lord can
impose. Jehovah ' laid on him the iniquities of us all/
The reasons of the point.
1. Because none else had any power to lay it on Christ but God
alone. That God could, it is clear by virtue of that interest he had in
him. A loving son can deny the father nothing. Now, it being the
ordination and the will of God, Christ would not gainsay it ; and as
long as the Father's commandment lasted, he would obey ; and there
fore, when the burden of our sins lay sore upon him, to whom doth
he address himself but to the Father ? He laid it on, and he alone could
take it off: Mat. xxvi. 39, ' He fell on his face and prayed, 0 my
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me ; nevertheless, riot
as I will, but as thou wilt.' Though it were a deadly cup, yet Christ
would not have it any way to pass from him, unless it were the
Father's will. He had such an interest in him, that he would stoop
to that : no other could have gained Christ to such a service but the
Father.
2. Because if God should not lay iniquity upon Christ, it would be
to no purpose ; for to him it belongeth, because against him was the
offence committed. Ps. li. 4, see what David saith there with eyes brim
ful of tears, * Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil
in thy sight.' He had sinned against Bathsheba and against Uriah,
yet ' against thee only have I sinned.' His sin was not known to many,
for the plot was closely carried : 2 Sam. xii. 12, ' Thou didst it secretly/
as the prophet Nathan told him. But how should he do to get it
expiated by him against whom the offence was chiefly committed, and
who knew it well enough ? Ps. xli. 4, ' Lord, be merciful unto me,
heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee.' Against whomsoever
else the offence be, the chiefest aggravation is that it is against God,
and therefore he must have all the ordering how the iniquity must be
forgiven : Isa. xliii. 25, ' I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy trans
gressions for mine own 'sake, and will not remember thy sins.' God
would have you to look to him as one that only hath to do about the
guilt of his people's sin : ' I, even I, am he/
Use. Is to inform us what abundant matter here is for your faith to
work upon. Jehovah laid the iniquities of us all on him. God, whom
you most fear, God the Father, he is first in the design, and he layeth
ISA. LIIL 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 319
the command upon the bowels of Christ. Do but lay it abroad in
some particular considerations before you pass over this circumstance :
the Lord. Certainly all the triumph of faith cometh from it.
1. The Lord, to whom belongeth forgiveness. It is not the business
of others to lay it upon Christ, it is not their right, it is not what they
say, but what the Father saith ; you must look to that. You see when
'Christ prayeth for pardon he addresseth himself to his Father, as if it
were not in his own single power : Luke xxiii. 34, * Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do/ The Son prayeth, there is hope :
' Father, forgive them.' If it passeth with God the Father, the matter is
ended. So 1 John ii. 1, Christ is said to be 'an advocate with the Father/
And so you shall see frequent places, as John xiv. 16, ' I will pray the
Father, and he shall give you another Comforter.' Forgiveness and
mercy and comfort, they all proceed from the Father. It is true, we
read Mat. ix. 6, that ' the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive
sins/ but it is by commission from the Father, and as having the
mind of the Father in it ; as it is said, John v. 22, ' For the Father
judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son.' So
the immediate dispensation of all censures is given to the Son by the
Father, whose will passeth for a law. God the Father, in all the work
of salvation is to be considered as a superior wronged. And what an
encouragement is it to a poor soul, in the matter of its faith, to under
stand that God has laid its iniquities on Christ! Oh, then, as you would
magnify the sufficiency of the Son's merit, so magnify the largeness of
the Father's mercy. Look upon Christ as able to save you, and look
upon God as willing to give Christ to you. Christ hath fully satisfied
for iniquities ; the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all. Tell
me then, where should the soul stick ? Usually it sticketh here : they
doubt whether Christ be for them or no. No pardon is granted but it
first passeth the Father. Why ? because the Father is first in the de
sign. God sent the Son. If men would reason thus out of the scrip
tures, how might they shame their hearts in the sense of their unbelief !
Oh, wait then for the Spirit to fix this truth upon you. Though a man
should frame never so many deductions without the Spirit, it would not
do. Therefore, I cease to wonder why men do not believe, though they
can object nothing against the free grace of God.
2. The God whom you have wronged. Sin is against all the persons of
the Trinity, but it is chiefly against the Father. You may despise the
Son, and grieve the Spirit, but the chiefest injury is against the Father,
because he is the fountain of all ; nay, all that is done to the other per
sons redounds to the Father's dishonour. Thus our Saviour often
reasoneth with the Jews, ' He that despiseth me, despiseth him that
sent me/ And the injury to the Spirit, it is called a vexing of his
Spirit : Isa. Ixiii. 10, ' They rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit/ There
fore the prophet inquireth, Isa. vii. 13, ' Is it a small thing for you to
weary men, but will ye weary my God also ?' Oh, what a grievous thing
is this, to do all this despite to God, that you have vexed and wearied
God by your stubborn resisting of the motions of his Spirit ! Why,
yet this God puts Christ upon this task, the Lord hath laid on him our
iniquities. He whom you have most cause to fear is your greatest
friend. A soul that is sensible of sin is sensible of the wrong he hath
320 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 6.
done to G-od. Why, though you have wronged him, he is chief in the
design of mercy. You have not only the Son on your side, but you
have the Father. Jehovah laid our iniquities upon him. You shall
see the apostle maketh it a great advantage to mercy that we have the
Son and Father too : 2 John 9, ' He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son/ He hath one that
is willing and one that is able to save him, and therefore the wronged
party is of his side and reconciled to him. 0 Christians ! triumph now
in this great design of salvation, if you believe you have an interest in
the Father's affection, as well as the Son's merit. Nay, to invite you
to believe, consider what a remedy here is against all your doubts ; it
was the Lord that put Christ upon all that he did for you. I use the
more words that I may bring you to weigh these things. Why should
you stick at your sins ? The first motion to pardon cometh from him
that should avenge them. You have sinned against Jehovah, and
Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquities of us all.
3. The Lord, whose will and word is alone to be looked to. It is no-
matter what Satan saith, or what your hearts say, for it goeth alto
gether by what God saith, who hath laid our sins upon Christ. See
how the apostle rejoiceth that God's hand was in the acquitting of
poor sinners : Kom. viii. 33, 34, * Who shall lay anything to the charge
of God's elect ? It is God that justifieth : who is he that condemneth ?
It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen.' What a bold challenge
is there ! Satan may say, I can, and our consciences may condemn us
too. The devil is an accuser of the brethren to God as well as men,,
and a poor soul can go and indict itself at the throne of grace, and
bring in many a sad charge against itself, and find its own case liable
to death and damnation. I have sinned, and the wages of sin is death.
Ay I but who will you believe — God, or Satan and your own hearts ?
The Lord hath laid your sins upon Christ, and you will believe Satan,
and lay them upon yourselves. God would have Christ not only ta
suffer the death, but to bear the sins ; that, as he did take away
the condemnation, so he might take away the accusation too ; for
mark, the apostle saith, ' Who shall charge ? ' and then, ' Who shall
condemn ?' Satan hath nothing to do to bring in the sad charge, or
to collect the doleful inferences. Brethren, keep your ground still.
It is God that justifieth, the whole business of your acquitment is
carried on by the Lord. Satan telleth you, you have been a swearer,
a drunkard. It is a sad thing that you have been so, but has God
given you a sight of this ? Here is your comfort, God hath ordered
all this to be laid upon the back of Christ. Ay ! but Satan saith, the soul
that sinnneth shall die. But keep your faith on what God has done ;
he hath less reason to condemn than he hath to accuse. ' It is Christ
that died, yea, rather that is risen again/ Thus you see what comfort
there is in God's acquitment. It is the Lord hath laid : now, nobody
is to be believed before him. It is the great policy of Satan to make
you put this high affront upon God, that you should believe him before
the Lord : thus he did by our first parents in another case, Gen. iii.
4, ' Ye shall not surely die/ Here he telleth a poor distressed soul,
Ye shall surely die. The devil acts his part on every hand; but do not
you believe him, for it is God that justifieth. Satan saith it shall be
ISA. LIII. 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 321
laid on thyself ; the Lord saith, on Christ. Do not believe the father
of lies before the Father of lights.
4. The Lord hath laid, even God, that hath so great an interest in
Christ that he can deny him nothing. Look, as God denieth Christ
nothing that he asketh him, so Christ denieth God nothing that he
commandeth him. Thus you shall see when God commandeth Christ
to die for souls, Ps. xl. 8, ' I delight to do thy will, 0 God ; yea, thy
law is within my heart.' It was a gladsome intimation to Christ to
be ordained to such a service. There is a law upon the bowels of
Christ ; he is called to bear your sins ; he will be accounted the sinner,
and you shall go free. Therefore see what rich matter there is for
your faith to work upon, and beg the Spirit to fix it upon you.
Use 2. Is exhortation to glorify God for his goodness. Here are
two things I would exhort you to : —
1. To glorify God for his mercy and goodness ; and,
2. To glorify him alone.
1. Glorify God. Though Christ effected your deliverance, yet he
was sent by the Father ; the Lord laid our iniquities upon him. We
have experience not only of Christ's love, but of God's ; every person
of the Trinity hath a hand in it, and every person must have his dis
tinct glory. I will not speak now of what the Son did, or what the
Spirit doth, but of the love of the Father. He showed a great deal of
love : —
[1.] In deputing Christ to this office, and laying his command upon
Christ for it : John xvii. 23, ' That the world may know that thou
hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me.' It is a high
expression of the love of God to lay our sins upon his own Son, to
send Christ to die for our sins. It is an expression of the same love to
you that God bare to Christ ; it was the same kind of love, though
not the same degree, God's complacency in Christ being infinite and
incomprehensible, above all the creatures in the world.
[2.] In fitting Christ to bear the sins that were laid upon him.
God anointed him with a compassionate spirit, so that the Spirit of
the Godhead was always with him in the greatest agonies, and also in
giving him readiness and strength. Acts x. 38, it is said, ' God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power.' It is
usual in scripture to express the powerful graces of God's Spirit by
anointing.
[3.] In loving him for it, for taking our sins upon him according to
his will : John x. 17, ' Therefore doth my Father love me, because I
lay down my life, that I may take it up again.' Though God's love
to Christ were eternal, yet you see how he expresseth it, as if he were
loved the more for his kindness to us. The like expression you have
John xv. 10, 'If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love,
even as I kept my Father's, and abide in his love ; ' that is, his com
mandments about the office of his mediatorship. This is a great en
dearment to God's affection.
[4.] God rewarded him for it : Heb. ii. 9, ' But we see Jesus, who
was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death,
crowned with glory and honour ; ' so Phil. ii. 9, ' Wherefore God also
hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name/
VOL. in. x
322 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. MIL 6.
God restored him to his glory with a great deal of renown in the eyes
of men. So Christ prayeth, John xvii. 5, ' And now, 0 Father,
glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was.'
2. Glorify God alone. Let not other things share with him in
your thoughts ; do not think it is for your sakes. God can have no
higher motive than his own will. The Lord laid it upon Christ, but
nothing moved him to lay it but his own goodness. Now men usually
fancy something without God to be the ground of his love ; but he ex
pressly saith, Isa. xliii. 25, ' I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy
transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.*
Mark, his own sake. Therefore exalt God, in that, as you see, nothing
else could lay it upon Christ: Isa. ii. 11, ' The Lord alone shall be
exalted in that day ; ' that is, so separately and so singly, that you
may see it was his own mere will that put him upon such a design of
mercy. Dr Crisp disputeth at large that nothing else could lay it
upon Christ, and so excludeth faith and all holy means, out of a mis
take that we think faith layeth it on Christ, whereas faith only ap-
prehendeth it to be laid on Christ. But this we may safely say,
Nothing did put God upon it that could be found in us, no good dis
position, faith or works foreseen. It is merely his own sovereignty
and goodness; and therefore, Kom. iii. 24, we are said to be 'justified
freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus/
But a little more particularly let me show you how you do not
exalt God alone and separately for laying it upon Christ. It is inclu
sive two ways : —
1. If you have such a secret thought in you that it is because you
are less sinners than others, therefore you are pardoned, and your sins
are laid upon Christ.
2. If because you are greater sinners than others, you therefore con
clude you shall not be pardoned, you do not give God the glory of his
prerogative, that he alone should lay your sins upon Christ, but you
look for somewhat in the creature.
1. When you think God laid your sins on Christ because you are
not so vile as others. Take heed, say not in your hearts it is for your
righteousness. God acts according to his own pleasure ; he many times
leaveth those that to outward appearance are most righteous. You
have heard of the heathens, and yet they were passed by, as Cato and
Aristides ; nay, Fabricius and Socrates, though they did excel in out
ward honesty of life, yet God did not regard them in his choice.
Whereas Paul, who was a persecutor, a blasphemer, and injurious, his
sins were laid upon the back of Christ, as were those of Mary Mag
dalen, and the thief upon the cross, whose whole life was wasted in
wickedness. And Christ telleth the pharisees that 'publicans and
harlots should enter into the kingdom of heaven before them.' It doth
not go by your works. The apostle Paul doth strive often to remove
this conceit out of our hearts : Titus iii. 4, 5, ; But after that the love
and kindness of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he
saved us.' All that we could bring to God was disobedience, and
lusts, and malice, and envy. So 2 Tim. i. 9, 'He called us with an
ISA. LIU. 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 323
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own pur
pose and grace, which was given us in Christ before the world began.'
God doth not look without himself, but only to his own purpose and
grace. It is good to improve natural light, and to live to the utmost
of it ; but it is a vain thing to think that by any action of ours we
should hope to move God to lay our sins upon Christ. Luther hath
a pretty expression to this purpose upon this text : * Take heed,' saith
he, ' of bringing the servants or the ass to God's mountain. They
may accompany you thither : Abraham and the lad must go yonder and
worship ; the servants and the ass must tarry at the foot of the hill.
Only go you with faith to deal with the mercy of God ; do not any way
admit your works to the glory of a pardon.' Therefore, I say, look
upon God as laying your sins upon Christ, being moved thereunto merely
by his own purpose and will. He saw nothing in you to incline him
to lay your sins on Christ more than others'. This is the first way.
2. When you think God will not lay your sins upon Christ, because
you are so great sinners, and have committed so much wickedness.
We are all apt to say, as Peter, Luke v. 8, ' Lord, depart from me, for
I am a sinful man.' Do not you make God to eye something without
himself now to incline him to this ? Alas ! it is all one to God whether
you are great or little sinners. The spring and rise of his love in
giving Christ to you is from his own bowels ; and if there be any differ
ence in this kind it is in this, that the greater sins comply with God's
ends and designs. And therefore it is sometimes an argument used
to God, that though they can bring him no other thing, they can bring
him wickedness enough. Thus David saith, ' Pardon my sin, for it is
great,' Ps. xxv. 11 ; so Isa. xliii. 24, 25, ' Thou hast bought me no
sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of
thy sacrifices, but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, and hast
wearied me with thine iniquities.' What followeth ? A man would
think terrible, thundering words. No ; it is a sweet and evangelical
promise ; ' I, even I, am he that blotteth out your transgressions, for my
own sake, and will not remember thy sins.' So Gen. viii. 21, ' I will not
again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for the imagination
of man's heart is evil from his youth ;' and Isa. Ivii. 17, 18, ' For the
iniquity of his covetousness, I was wroth, and smote him ; I hid me,
and was wroth, and he went on f rowardly in the way of his heart. I
have seen his ways, and will heal him. I will lead him also, and re
store comforts unto him, and to his mourners.' God, you see, declares
that it is according to his own purpose, and not of our works. He
doth quite contrary to the deserts of man, not to debase strictness, but
to exalt his own grace. Mark, that place fully setteth forth the cove
nant of grace, Isa. liv. 9, where God saith, ' For this is as the waters
of Noah unto me ; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should
no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth
with thee nor rebuke thee/
I come now to the next part, the nature and way of our deliverance :
' The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquities of us all/ Our sin and
punishment is transferred to Christ. The point is —
Doct That the way that God taketh to acquit poor sinners is to lay
the guilt and punishment of sin on the back of his own Son. ' The
324 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 6.
Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all.' What the phrase im-
porteth I did in part discover in giving you the different readings of
it in several translations. Four especially you may take to set it off
to your thoughts.
1. That of the Septuagint, 7rape$o)K6v avrbv ral$ ajjuap'rials — he
delivered him over to our sins. It is hard and sad with a man
to be delivered over to be torn by wild beasts, to be delivered to perse
cutors, to be burned in the flames, to be stretched on a rack, to be
broken on a wheel, and other tortures. But it is far more hard and
evil to be delivered over to sins. Especially for Christ, who was in
flamed with a desire to please God ; there is nothing more abhorrent
from his nature than the filthiness of sin. And therefore, though you
should suppose him to be delivered over to the most exquisite pun
ishments that the world or the wit and malice of man can invent,
yet it is nothing in respect of his being given over to sins. So
the spittings, scourgings, buffeting, his cross, and all, were but
as a flea-biting in respect of his being given over to our sins. God
delivered him to Pilate. The Jews could have done nothing if
power had not been given them from above. But to be delivered
over to the power of our sins, what a heavy thing was this for
Christ ! And therefore the expression doth in part reach what is
meant here by God's laying it upon Christ.
2. That of Junius and others, Fecit ut in eum incurrerent peccata
nostra. Our sins did rush upon Christ ; they would fain destroy him, as
an enemy pusheth sore to destroy their enemy. We read of a company
that came out to take Christ with swords and staves, and a soldier that
fiercely run him through. Ay ! but brethren, there is another com
pany that came rushing, and would fain destroy him, and that was
your and my sins. We came forth with swords and lances, and, as it
were, run him through.
3. Another version has it, Traduxit in eum, or, as with us, he ' laid
it on him.' Do but consider what it is to have sin laid upon any. It
is to be bound over to death and destruction ; it is to put that upon
a man that will be his certain ruin : 1 Kings xiii. 34, ' And this thing
became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy
it ^ from off the face of the earth.' When sin is laid upon a man, it
will undo him.
4. Others take our marginal reading, Occurrere fecit in eum : he
made our sins to meet in him ; that raiseth it a little higher. Though
one sin be enough to ruin a man, yet all the sins in the world were
as it were concentred in Christ to overwhelm his soul, and to fill it
with a great deal of terror ; and indeed he stood in much danger of a
great condemnation unless he could satisfy God's wrath. Thus you
see, from the several readings, what may be gathered out of this
expression. And I the rather note it, because the Spirit of God useth
a word here that hath so many significations. Out of all you may
gather a delivery of Christ over to that which was most contrary to
him, which seized upon his soul, and settled there, and brought him
to the death of the cross, and would not leave him till he had fully
expiated and satisfied for it, even our sins.
But I come more particularly to set out the thing that is intended
ISA. LIII. 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 325
here by the Holy Ghost in this expression : hut c he hath laid on him
the iniquities of us all/
There are two things in it — one implied, which is a taking off sin
from the creature ; and the other more formally expressed, which is
a putting it upon Christ.
First, therefore, I shall show you how far it is taken off from the
creature. But, for the understanding of both, you must know there
are three things in sin : —
1. The fault or offence against God.
2. The guilt or obligation to punishment.
3. The blot or sinful inclination, or vicious disposition to sin.
1. I begin with the first. For the offence, it is as if it were never
committed. The creature, when justified and sanctified, is as free as
if it had never sinned, which is intimated in divers expressions of
scripture. I will give you a few places : Jer. 1. 20, * In those days,
and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought
for, and shall not be found ; and the sins of Judah, and there shall be
none, for I will pardon them whom I reserve ; ' Isa. xliv. 22, ' I
have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud
thy sins.' They are exhaled and dried up by the beams of mercy.
And Jer. xxxi. 34, ' I will remember your sins no more.' It is quite
gone from the creature : Num. xxiii. 21, ' He hath not beheld
iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel ; ' Ps.
li. 9, David prayeth, 'Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all
mine iniquities.' God doth so cover the sin as if it were not at all ;
his carriage to the soul is as if there were no sin. As a holy and
just God, he cannot behold it with approbation ; and therefore, as a
merciful God, he doth as it were cover it from his eyes. Whereas, on
the contrary, when God punisheth sin, he is said to set iniquity before
him : Ps. xc. 8, ' Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret
sins in the light of thy countenance ; ' Ps. cix. 15, ' Let them be
before the Lord continually/ God in love will not take notice of the
offence.
2. He taketh off all guilt and obligation to punishment: Horn.
viii. 1, ' There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ/
Nothing is done in a vindictive and punitive way, though many things
be done in a corrective and chastising way. All God's dispensations
are as branches of the covenant.
3. For the blot or sinful inclination ; that is more and more taken
away by virtue of Christ taking our sins upon him : 1 Peter ii. 24,
' Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we,
being dead unto sin, should live unto righteousness ; by whose stripes
we are healed/ He took away vicious inclinations, as well as the
penal obligations.
Secondly, It is transacted on Christ, or laid upon him. We cannot
safely say the fault, for that is the guilt that groweth out of the sin
inherent ; but the guilt was laid upon him, such as groweth out of
sin imputed : therefore he is said to ' bear the sins of many,' Isa.
liii. 12, and to ' bear our sorrows and griefs,' ver. 4.
1. So much sin was laid upon Christ as obliged him to make satis
faction for it to his Father's justice ; for having once submitted to
326 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [IsA. LIU. 6.
the taking of it, he could not recede ; there was a necessity that he
should clear himself with his Father : and therefore it is said, Luke
xxiv. 26, ' Ought not Christ to have suffered, and then to enter into
his glory ? '
2. There was so much sin as put Christ in our stead. Therefore,
2 Cor. v. 21, it is said, he was 'made sin for us.' And in this
chapter he is said to be ' numbered among transgressors/ nay, the
chief of transgressors.
3. So much sin as made him liable to the infinite wrath of God ;
therefore it is said, Gal. iii. 13, he was ' made a curse for us/ And in
the Psalms it is said, ' The pains of hell gat hold of him ; ' insomuch
that he needed justification as well as we: Isa. 1. 8, 'He is near
that justifieth me, who shall contend with me ?' It is spoken of
Christ; this chapter is a chapter of Christ. He needed that God
should clear him.
4. So much sin as would have sunk him into eternal misery, had he
not been God to escape out of it : Acts ii. 24, ' Having loosed the pains
of death, because it was impossible that he should be holden of it/
And therefore you shall find faith's chiefest support cometh from
Christ's resurrection : Eom. viii. 34, ' It is Christ that died, yea, rather
that is risen again/ Mark that, /jLa\\ov Se ; faith looketh to that as the
wonderfullest thing, that, having such a weight of sin upon him, he
should be able to rise up again. This was a great wonder.
But I come to the reasons of the point.
1. Therefore did God lay it upon Christ, because he was the fittest
person to bear it : he was most able. It best befitted the divine
justice to choose such a person as might not miscarry in the work and
transaction, else we could have had no assurance that satisfaction was
given : Ps. Ixxxix. 19, ' I have laid help upon one that is mighty/
It is spoken of David, but chiefly means Christ in it. The help is laid
on one that is most able to go through with it, and Christ was most
willing to come to the utmost : Luke xii. 50, ' I have a baptism to be
baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished !'
Christ had not room enough, his heart being enlarged with love, till
he had given testimony of it to the world : Luke xxii. 15, ' With
desire have I desired to eat this passover/ Christ knew the date of
his days was then at an end.
2. This did suit best with God's design, which was to magnify
justice and mercy at the same time. The mercy-seat did but cover
the tables of the law in the ark. The law was satisfied by Christ,
and yet God is merciful to us. David saith, Ps. ci. 1, 'I will sing
of mercy and judgment/ God would have his people triumph in
both now.
Use 1. To press us to bless the Lord for this wonderful deliverance
by Christ.
1. That sin is taken off from our shoulders and laid upon Christ.
How miserable would it have been if every man had borne his own
burden 1 Gal. v. 6. How light soever men's sins seem when they are
committed, yet they will not be found light when they come to reckon
with God, for then sin to an awakened conscience is one of the heaviest
burdens that ever was felt. Now Christ hath taken off this burden
ISA. LIU. 6.1 THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 327
from us. If God had laid sins upon us, as he laid them upon Christ,
they would have sunk us to hell. The little finger of sin is heavier
than the loins of any other sorrow. If God give you but a touch of
it, or a spark of it light into your consciences, you will groan sadly :
Ps. xxxviii. 4, ' Mine iniquities are gone over mine head,, as an heavy
burden they are too heavy for me.' When we do but taste of this
cup, we cry out presently, ' My heart faileth/ You may know it —
[1.] By what Christ felt. He lost his actual comforts, felt strange
agonies, insomuch that he sweat drops of blood. We are of weak
spirits, and soon dismayed, but his soul was exceeding sorrowful : ' If
this be done in the green tree, what shall be done to the dry ?' Many
times, a little before a shower, falls a gloominess and sad blackness :
so it was in Christ's spirit.
[2.] The saints, when the little finger of God is upon them, how
have they roared all the day long 1 Ps. xl. 12, 'Mine iniquities have
taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up ; they are more
than the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth me.' All life
and spirit is gone when God sets home but one sin upon the conscience.
Job saith, chap. vi. 4, ' The arrows of the Almighty are within me, the
poison thereof drinks up my spirits.'
[3.] You may know it by your own experience. When conscience
is a little opened, what horrors and disquiets are there ! Prov. xviii.
14, ' A wounded spirit who can bear ?' Then for thousands of rams,
and ten thousand rivers of oil { Cain crieth out, ' My iniquity is greater
than I can bear/
[4.] Consider the life to come, and the threatenings of the word
concerning those that die in their sins: Heb. x. 31, ' It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God.' Who can conceive
what it is to remain in chains of darkness ? 2 Peter ii. 4. Sins that
now lie asleep like sleepy lions will be then roused up : Mark ix. 44,
' Their worm never dieth, and their fire is not quenched.' This is the
portion of them that bear their own burden and their own transgres
sions.
2. When you begin to feel the burden of sin, make use of Christ for
ease ; remember this burden is laid upon him : Mat. xi. 28, ' Come
unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest/ The weight lieth upon us, not to press us down to hell and
despair, but to go to Christ, as they were to do under the law to the
sacrifice, Lev. i. 4. They were to lay their hand upon the head of the
sacrifice — a rite expressing that the sacrifice did bear the burden of
their sins. This they were to do with brokenness of heart, acknow
ledging their offences — acknowledging that they were worthy to die
as the beast died — owning the sacrifice of atonement, Christ Jesus :
Ps. li. 17, * The sacrifices of a broken heart, 0 God, thou wilt not
despise/ So John i. 29, * Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away
the sin of the world ;' ' Look on him whom they have pierced,' Zech.
xii. 10. This was done to renew the covenant : Ps. 1. 5, ' Gather
my saints together unto me, those that have made a covenant with me
by sacrifice/ And they were to promise to walk with God in all humble
obedience.
Use 2. Is exhortation, to beseech you to believe this truth, that your
328 A PKACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. MIL 6.
iniquities are cast upon Christ. A man hath no benefit by it till he
believeth. There is as much need of your believing as of Christ's
suffering. Believe in ' the Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of
the world.'
1. As soon as you feel sin a burden, ease yourselves by considering
it is laid upon Christ. Free grace, as it doth not exclude the merits of
Christ, so not the application of faith : Kom. iii. 25, ' Whom God hath
set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood/ The business
was transacted between God and Christ before all worlds. Faith gets
it copied out to the soul. You are weary and heavy laden with sin,
come then to him, Mat. xi. 28, with a lively faith ; not as if by faith
we did anew lay the burden of sin upon Christ, only then we apprehend
it to be done for our sakes.
2. After you have gotten an interest in him by faith, renew the
sense of your pardon, God seeth as a just God, and so our sins should
be matter of humiliation to us ; but he covereth them as a merciful
God, and so it is matter of comfort. Sins, they were long since laid
upon Christ ; renew thy pardon again by faith, and strive to get an
actual sense of it. Kemember, Christ's soul was heavy to the death,
that thou mightest go free.
But you say, I could take comfort in these things if I knew that
my sins were laid upon Christ ; it is only the sins of the elect are laid
upon Christ.
Ans. The text saith, ' The iniquities of us all.'
Doct. That Christ is set forth in the gospel, as having all men's sins
laid upon him. The word carrieth it in such a general way, that none
is excepted, and there are very many other places to confirm it, where
Christ is said to reconcile the world: 2 Cor. v. 19, ' God was in Christ,
reconciling the world to himself;' and to 'taste death for every man/
Heb. ii. 9 ; and to * die for all,' It is good to mark that : 2 Cor. v.
14, ' If one died for all.' I shall come to the reasons why Christ is
proposed so generally.
1. Because all men in some sort have benefit by him. So far Christ
suffered his Father's wrath that was due to all men's sins, that in a large
sense they have benefit by him. All the common mercies we enjoy
we have by virtue of Christ's death. You know how the threatening
ran, ' In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt die,' Gen. ii. 17 ; nay,
it is ' surely die/ And all mankind might have been lost ; but yet
you see the absolute accomplishment of the sentence, even to wicked
men, is referred to the day of judgment. The worst, at least, enjoy a
reprieve by Christ. In this sense it is said, 1 Tim. iv. 10, ' We trust
in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of them,
that believe/ Such as is spoken of, Ps. xxxvi. 6, ' 0 Lord, thou pre-
servest man and beast ; ' by a common salvation and preservation. And
the word o-coTfjp, which is usually applied to Christ as Mediator, is
used there to hint that it cometh by Christ ; though it be a common
mercy, it is from him. Thus it is said, Eph. i. 10, ' That in the dis
pensation of the fulness of time he might gather together in one all
things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth,
even in him/ Some understand it of collecting the scattered parts of
the world, and renewing the creature, which, had it not been for Christ,
ISA. LIII. 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 329
would have been lost. As an orator collects the heads of a discourse,
that nothing be lost, and bringeth it into one sum. So the heathens,
all their mercies come to them swimming in the blood of Christ ; so
the word, ordinances, covenant, and outward graces to the church.
Thus he suffered for the sins of the whole world, that the whole should
enjoy these common favours and blessings by him.
2. Because there is a sufficiency in the merits of Christ for all, so
that if it had pleased God to give Christ to all mankind, his justice
had been sufficiently satisfied. For there is no defect in the Redeemer,
and therefore there are so many general expressions in scripture to set
out the value of Christ's sacrifice ; so that if there were ten thousand
times more sins committed than there are, here is enough to expiate
them all, the person that suffered being so eminent, and the sufferings
so great and infinite. Those that perish do not perish out of any
defect or insufficiency in the merit of Christ, as if enough were not
done to save them ; but out of their own fault, because they did not
believe it. Thus it is said, 1 Cor. xv. 22, * For as in Adam all die,
so in Christ shall all be made alive ;' that is, as there was a sufficiency
in Adam, the first common person, to ruin all his posterity, so there
was a sufficiency in Christ to save all that Adam ruined ; for it must
needs be understood so, for take it literally and it is against all common
experience. Many know not Christ, many hate him and will not come
unto him : ' Ye will not come unto me, that ye may have life ; ' Rom.
v. 18, ' Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon all to
condemnation ; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came
upon all men to justification of life.' The text proveth nothing but
that there was as much sufficiency in Christ to justify, as there was in
Adam to condemn. That we may not have too low and undervaluing
thoughts of Christ's sufferings, the scripture speaks thus generally:
there is enough for me and thee, and all the world. It is a great in
jury done to Christ to lessen and extenuate him beneath Adam, as if
he were not as able to recover as the other to ruin us.
3. Therefore it is expressed thus generally, that all conditions of
men might be included. God would not have any enclosure of his
mercy within the bounds of any nation, persons, and conditions of men,
that he might take off all outward exceptions, and comprise every be
liever, of what condition and rank soever ; and therefore he expresseth
himself promiscuously to all of every state, every nation, every order.
It is the nature of man to confine privileges to their own nation and
order. We would be singular and shine alone, and have none share
with us ; envy, I say, grudgeth at the commonest mercies. We see in
common things nothing is so welcome to us as that which we enjoy alone.
The Romans would be the only civil nation, all else were barbarians.
The Romish clergy would have all learning and knowledge confined
within their function ; and the Jews could not endure to hear of a
genera] savation for other nations. It was the harshest note that could
be sounded in their ears, that Christ died for all. It is much urged
by the apostle, because of the rage of the Jews, for the enlargement of
the pale of God's church. Therefore I conceive the apostle did incul
cate, and so largely insist upon it, to meet with this perverseness of
the Jews, as that which they would never hear of. In this sense it is
330 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 6.
said, Heb. ii. 9, he ' tasted death for every man ; ' and so 1 John ii.
2, ' And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but
also for the sins of the whole world ; ' that is, not only for us Jews, but
for all the world, even of all places, orders, and ranks. God would not
have the creatures envy it to any man, he proposeth it so generally to
take away that Jewish indignation against the Gentiles. Therefore
the apostles do so plentifully abound in these expressions.
4. That no man might accuse God as if he had not made sufficient
provision for his soul. Men are apt to transfer their guilt; though they
will not charge Christ with it in a way of faith, they will charge God
with it in a way of censure ; as Prov. xix. 3, ' The foolishness of man
perverteth his way, and his heart fretteth against the Lord.' It is
their own folly and unbelief, and we are apt to impute it to God, as if
he did not intend Christ to us. Now there would be more occasion
offered, if the Lord should have pointed out by name those to whom
he intended Christ. God keepeth it secret what he will do with men,
that he may provoke them to endeavours after duty, leaving themselves
to his good pleasure. No man can plead now, as an excuse for his
negligence, that God left him out ; it is we leave out ourselves ; and
therefore the proposal and offer of Christ is general. God hath ex
pressed enough of his will to show man his duty, though not enough
of his will to tell man his pleasure and secret intention. Now the
will of God concerning any particular person is hidden. Men would
fain excuse themselves of duty by prying into God's secrets. God
giveth a check to such curious impudence, by making the proposal
and offer of Christ general, though his intentions to give Christ may
be particular ; yet we must not meddle with that. Foolish curiosity
proceeds from an innate desire in the creature to charge God with all
its miscarriages: Deut. xxix. 29, 'Secret things belong unto the Lord,
but those things which are revealed belong to us, and our children for
ever/ The proposal of Christ in the gospel, that is a revealed thing,
and it belongeth to the creatures. God would have it carried so as
rather typing out duty to them than revealing his own purposes; he
would not give the creature such an occasion to murmur.
5. To denote the multitude that should come into Christ, especially
in the latter times ; they are as good as a whole world : he ' so loved
the world,' John iii. 16. It is understood by many of mundus creden-
tium ; they were but a world when Christ saved them. God's elect,
compared with the wicked world, are but a little flock by themselves,
but they are accounted in the scripture as innumerable : Kev. vii. 9,
' I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of
all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the
throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in
their hands.' Mark, it is a multitude which none can number ; the
sheep of Christ's flock are so many that it is innumerable : in a sort
especially, there shall be a great increase in the last times. And thus
you may expound that place : Heb. ii. 9, ' He tasted death for every
man/ In the next verse it is so intended, ' in bringing many sons unto
glory/ So Ps. ii. 8, ' Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for
an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession/
The gospel shall then be spread far and near. God hath given Christ
ISA. LIII. 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 331
to have and to hold all the world : Heb. i. 3, ' Whom he hath ap
pointed heir of all things/ And it is said in the 10th verse of this
Isa. liii., that ' the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands/
Therefore the scripture speaketh this generally, to comprise the vast
multitude that should embrace the doctrine of Christ.
6. To denote the oneness, or the one way by which all are recon
ciled to God : all that have it have it by Christ. I say, many times
the expressions are general, to show that God disposeth of the sins of
all his people one way. Such expressions are rather exclusive of other
ways, than inclusive and comprising all persons. God is said to lay
the iniquities of us all upon Christ, because all those whose iniquities
are disposed in a merciful way, they are disposed this way. Let
me exemplify this a little: — The philosophers define good thus: KCL\OV
'Ecmv 8e iravre? e^tXerat1 — good is that which all things desire. It is
not to be understood as if all things in the world did desire good ;
for stones and timber, and many other things, have no appetite. The
meaning is, all things that desire, desire that which is good. But
I will give you instances in scripture : Col. i. 20, * And having made
peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things
unto himself/ Not that everything is reconciled, but everything that
is reconciled, is reconciled this way, by the blood of Christ's cross. So
Titus ii. 11, ' The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared
to all men;' that is, to all to whom salvation is brought, it is brought
by the grace of God ; it rather noteth Christ's merits than the persons
that enjoy it. Divers such expressions there are in scripture. Thus,
John i. 9, 'That was the true light which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world/ Not that every man that cometh into the
world is enlightened, there are many that perish and die in their igno
rance : the meaning is, every man that is enlightened, is enlightened
by him. As, for example, such a man cured all the city ; not that
every particular man was cured, but all that were cured were cured
by him : so Christ is the Saviour of all men, that is, of all that are
saved. These expressions are exclusive of all other ways, not inclu
sive of every person. Thus you have the reasons.
APPLICATION.
Use 1. This serveth to clear to us the mistake of the doctrine ot
universal grace, and to explain those expressions in scripture that are
brought to favour this opinion : though you cannot conclude out of
them universal grace, yet you may a universal necessity of believing
this benefit. Solomon saith, Prov. xxiv. 26, ' Every man shall kiss
his lips that giveth a right answer ; ' that is, ingenuous men will
mightily prize and be taken with aright answer. Why, here now you
have an answer against the patrons of universal grace. You see the
reasons why the proposals of Christ are so general, and why there are
so many expressions of it to all men : it is because all enjoy benefit by
him. He is sufficient for all : God would not have any enclosure of
his grace to any particular person ; and it is to show the multitude of
believers ; and that God would have all men look to this, and to no other
name, and to but one Christ.
1 Probably KO.\OV tcnv o\> iravra ^7ri0t;/zet. — ED.
332 A PKACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LTII. 6.
Use 2. Is to inform us what little reason we have to refuse to come
to God at his call, seeing he keeps open-house for all comers ; yea,
though you have no money for heaven : Isa. Iv. 1, ' Ho, every one that
thirsteth, come to the waters, and he that hath no money : come ye,
buy and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and with
out price/ The publication of the gospel is general to all men — to
all kinds of men : nothing hindereth now but unbelief, or the refusal
of Christ.
1. Not thy nation. Oh, how are we to praise God that he hath en
larged the bounds of mercy to us Gentiles now, as well as to the Jews
formerly ! You may look upon your iniquities as laid upon Christ :
Kom. xv. 11, ' Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles/ It is quoted out of
Ps. cxvii. 1. All nations now share in this privilege. You know, in
traffic or otherwise, peculiar nations have peculiar privileges, but here
all alike.
2. Not thy condition. Art thou poor ? Christ is as mindful of thee
as of the rich. God taketh a great deal of care and knowledge of a
poor soul. In the parable of Dives and Lazarus, the poor man hath a
proper name, and the rich man hath an appellative ; and it is a great
favour, I can tell you, to be known to God by name. It is spoken as
a great privilege that God knew Moses by name : Exod. xxxiii. 12, ' I
have known thee by name, and thou hast found favour in my sight ; '
Acts xvii. 34, ' Howbeit, certain men clave unto him, and believed,
among which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named
Damans/ God took notice of the poor woman at Athens as well as
the great scholars. So James ii. 5, * Hath not God chosen the poor of
this world, rich in faith ? ' Art thou a poor, neglected man or woman,
or a poor servant ? Yet your souls may be as dear to him as the
richest man's alive, and he is as tender over you. You read in the
16th verse of Philemon, that Onesimus, a servant, was above a servant
in regard of his spiritual condition. Oh, brethren, it is a great fault
in men, they do not look after the poor in the world, especially poor
servants; if they mind the good of the higher servants, yet they neglect
the other. I speak a homely word, and yet a true one ; it may be the
soul of the poor scullion- boy in the kitchen may be as dear and pre
cious to Christ as yours. So it may be said of one deformed : Acts
xiii. 1 and ' Simon that was called Niger ' was a saint as well as Moses
the fair.
3. Not your sins. Make no exceptions where the word maketh
none. Christ came to die for the dissolute drunkard as well as for the
devout hypocrite. Men in despair look upon their sins as Cain did,
and cry out, ' My sins are greater than I can bear/ Why, did Christ
upon the cross only except thy sins, thinkest thou ? Did he say he
would not die for such a one as thou art ? Mat. xi. 28, ' Come unto
me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest/
Those that have committed so many sins that they are even sunk
down to hell by them, Christ calleth to himself ; yea, the more un
likely it seemeth to you, God may have the greater regard to you :
Luke xiv. 21, ' The master of the house being angry, said to his
servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and
bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind/
ISA. LIII. 6.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 333
A man would have thought a morsel at the door had been great pre
ferment for them, and of all persons they should never have been in
vited. There is nothing exempted out of the call of the gospel but the
sin against the Holy Ghost, and that is never pardoned, because the
forgiveness thereof is never asked. Take heed of making exceptions
where God hath made none ; a feast may be intended for thee, though
thou hast a poor, blind, lame soul.
4. Not any thoughts that Christ was never intended for us. How
do you know that ? Keprobation is God's sealed book. It is not for
creatures to look into it ; you would fain justify your unbelief by
God's decree against you, but it argueth an ill spirit. If you can ex
empt yourself out of the number of them that go astray, you may ex
empt yourself out of the number of those whose iniquities are laid
upon Christ. Let God alone with his secret judgments. Christians
are to look to the revealed will of God — to directions in the scriptures,
not to the secret that is in God's bosom.
But still the soul replieth, If I knew that I belonged to the election
of grace, then I would believe ; otherwise, I know that I cannot
change his purpose by any faith of mine. Doth God promiscuously
intend Christ to every one ? I reserved the discussion of this doubt,
that I might answer it the more fully. I shall endeavour it in these
propositions, by which I shall lay open the whole matter : —
1. Certain it is that there is enough in Christ's death to merit
pardon for all men in the world, though there were ten thousand times
more men than ever there were or shall be ; and so they \vould find
it if they did believe. It is good to determine that first, for the defect
is not on Christ's part ; but this I spoke to before in the reasons.
2. Though Christ's death be sufficient for all, yet the efficacy and
benefit of it is intended only to believers — to those that enjoy it by
faith, — not only applied, but intended only. Mark, I say, that not
only the efficacy of it is to believers, but the efficacy of it is intended
to believers. See some proof of this from scripture : John x. 15, 'I
lay down my life for the sheep/ There was the intent of God and
Christ, that Christ should die only for those of his own flock ; and
therefore many times, where you find the expressions of God's love
very general, you shall see the intention of it is restrained to those
that believe. As John iii. 16, ' God so loved the world that he gave
his only-begotten Son, that whosoever belie veth on him should not
perish, but have everlasting life.' God intended him to the world of
believers : whoever amongst them do believe, let him be whatever
he will, or whatever he was, he should not perish. So Kom. iii. 22,
' Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ,
unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference.'
Though it be to all, it is with this restraint and limitation, ' to all
that believe/ And there is good reason for it ; for if God intended
it, he would effect it : Ps. cxv. 3, * Our God is in heaven, and doth
whatsoever he will/ If ever God willed it, certainly he would accom
plish it — man cannot frustrate it. And if God intended the giving
Christ to the whole world, Christ would have prayed for it. A man can
not know what was God's will or the Son's duty better than by taking
notice of his solemn prayer when he was about to offer up the sacri-
334 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 6.
fice of himself : John xvii. 9, ' I pray not for the world, but for them
which thou hast given me out of the world/ Christ was given for
none but for those that were given to him ; and for them he prayeth,
ver. 20, ' Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which
shall believe on me through their word/ Christ prayed only for those
for whom he died, and he died only for believers.
3. God no doubt intended him such a sufficient sacrifice to the
world. Christ did nothing but by the Father's will, as was largely
confirmed in the beginning of this discourse : John v. 30, ' I seek not
mine own will, but the will of the Father, which hath sent me/ It
was the Father's intention as well as the Son's. So far, then, we may
safely say, God intended Christ as a sufficient sacrifice.
4. Though the efficacy and benefit be certainly intended to believers,
yet God's offer of Christ, and the publication of the gospel, is general :
Isa. Iv. 1, ' Ho, every one that thirsteth, come to the waters ; ' Kev.
xxii. 17, ' Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely/
Such commands being rather an intimation of what he would have
us do than what he intendeth we shall do ; of the creature's duty
rather than of God's will. It is the will of God's pleasure that they
ought to seek after an interest in Christ. So it is said, 1 Tim. ii. 4,
' God will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of
the truth ; ' volunlate prcccepti, by the will of his command : and by
virtue of this we are bidden to preach the gospel to every creature,
Mark xvi. 16. To the making it effectual, there is required not only
God's will, but God's grace, still reserving to God the power of his
own secret judgment.
5. God is serious and in earnest in these offers and publications of
Christ to all. That he mocketh no man you shall see : do but try him,
accept him, and he will be as good as his word. It is not made to
you fraudulently, and with an intent to deceive, but God is serious.
God is bound to no man, and wicked men refuse him out of their own
perverseness. And indeed we should rather admire his mercy that he
giveth Christ to any, than quarrel at his justice that he doth not give
him to all.
That God is serious and in good earnest in these offers, appeareth —
1. By his entreaties. He beseecheth you to take him as well as
offereth him : Ezek. xxxiii. 11, 'As I live, saith the Lord God, I have
no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from
his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways ; for why will
you die, 0 house of Israel ?' 2 Cor. v. 20, ' Now then we are ambas
sadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us/ So God
useth all these entreaties to show that he is sincere and in earnest with
all men.
2. Because it suiteth more with his delight that you should take
hold of these offers and not refuse them. God bindeth himself with a
strong oath : Ezek. xxxiii. 11, 'As I live, saith the Lord, I have no
pleasure in the death of the wicked/ Merely as it is the destruction
of the creature, so God doth not any way approve of it, though, as a
just punishment, he delighteth in it. If you look to God's appro
bation or delight, your accepting grace more suiteth with it than your
refusal.
ISA. LIII. 7.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 335
3. Because he is angry that you do refuse : John v. 40, c Ye will not
come to me that you may have life/ He is grieved that men, through
their own folly, neglect that which should do them good : Mat. xxiii.
37, ' 0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest
them that are sent unto thee ! how often would I have gathered thy chil
dren together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings,
and ye would not ? ' He meant by his outward ministry, though not
inward call. He was mighty solicitous and earnest in that. So
though God use all the means with us, and give us all the light that
possibly can be into his will, except saving light, we turn unto our
own way.
THE SEVENTH VEKSE.
He was oppressed, and lie ivas afflicted ; yet he opened not his mouth :
he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.
THE main drift of the prophet in this chapter, as I have showed, is to
remove the stone of stumbling and the rock of offence which lay in
the way of the Jews because of Christ's meanness and sufferings.
They looked for a Messiah to come fluttering with the pomp and
royalty of an earthly prince ; and therefore, when they found nothing
but a mean outside, a despised branch, and a withered root in a dry
ground, a man of no splendour, but of much sorrow, they did easily
dash the foot of their faith, arid split all their hopes upon this rock,
as if there were nothing worthy of the arm of God to be found in
Jesus. Against this scandal the prophet maketh many defences, and
showeth the several reasons why the excellency of Christ was to be hid
under the veil of meanness and miseries ; and therefore what a slender
ground there was why it should be turned to the blemish and disrepute
of Christ.
1. His first argument was, because it was for our good, and for our
sakes that he did put on this disguise ; and so being found in appear
ance like us, he might be taken in our stead : ' Surely he hath borne
our griefs and carried our sorrows/ And what foul ingratitude were
this, not to know a friend because he hath put on a disguise of mean
ness and misery for our sakes ! Having fully traversed this argument
in the fourth, fifth, and sixth verses, he proceeds to another, a second
defence against the scandal, and that is —
2. The voluntariness and willingness of Christ to undergo these
sufferings. He was not compelled to it unless by his own spirit. He
might have come in the lustre and glory of the Godhead. Or if not
so, yet being a man, he might have hid himself secretly from the malice
of his adversaries ; or, when seized upon and taken, he might then
have vouched his innocency, and have pleaded the matter with them ;
or have made a party among the people, and so, one way or another,
rescued himself from the ignominy and bitterness of that death that he
336 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 7.
was to suffer. No, saith the prophet, here is nothing but patience and a
willing subjection to his Father's design : ' He was oppressed, and he
was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth/ And, indeed, you had need
observe these words, for they were the occasion of the eunuch's conver
sion ; for he was reading this very place in Isaiah : Acts viii. 32,' And
the place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep
to the slaughter, and like a lamb before the shearer, so opened he not
his mouth.' And God sent Philip to join with him. And usually such
scriptures have been of greatest account that have proved effectual to
the converting of a sinner ; as that place in Eom. xiii. 11, ' And that
knowing the time, that it is high time to awake out of sleep ; for now
is our salvation nearer than when we believed.' This scripture was
the occasion of Austin's conversion, as John I. was of Junius's con
version, and this of the eunuch's. God sendeth the same Spirit to
speak to you as to Philip, and you are to hear with the same affection.
These words are the second argument to take off the scandal of Christ's
death and bitter sufferings. And it is taken from the willingness and
ready patience wherewith he underwent those sufferings. 1 may ob
serve in the verse two parts : —
1. The nature of the sufferings : he ivas oppressed, and he was
afflicted.
2. The carriage of Christ under them : lie opened not Ms mouth ;
which is amplified and illustrated by two similitudes, of a lamb going
to the slaughter, and a sheep before her shearers.
The points hence may be many ; but because the prophet doth so
often double and redouble expressions about the sufferings of Christ,
and I have spoken so much of almost every circumstance considerable
in them already, I shall be enforced now and hereafter to touch only
upon the main thing held forth in every verse. Notwithstanding, I
shall endeavour to draw out the strength and sweetness of every phrase
in the comment and explication. Briefly, then, to go over the parts.
1. As to what was done to Christ, or the nature of his sufferings :
' He was oppressed, and he was afflicted.' There is a great deal of
variety about the rendering of these words, because of the diversity of
the Hebrew pointings. The vulgar readeth, Obtains quia ipse voluit
— he was offered because he would. Symmachus renders it, He was
brought, and he obeyed. But these do not follow the best pointed
Bibles, though they do not much vary from the sense intended in the
verse. Those come nearer that render, He was punished and troubled ;
for the first word signifieth, to exact a thing with rigour and molest
ation, and is applied to this case : as if a man should come and molest
a surety for the debt of another for whom he is engaged. I find most
of the best interpreters going this way ; and Junius rendereth it,
exigitur poena, our punishment is exacted of Christ : the creditor came
upon him for our debt ; as if the word did point to that great truth
which is held forth in other places, that Christ died for us as our
surety. And therefore he is called ' the surety of a better testa
ment/ Heb. vii. 22. Mat. xx. 28, he is said ' to give his life, \vrpov
avrl Tro\\o)v, as a ransom for many.' He laid down his life to set us
free from the debt and engagement ; so that they that are Christ's
need not fear that the debt will be required of them again : Luke xii.
ISA. LIII. 7.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 337
58, ' Lest the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee
into prison, where thou shalt remain till the uttermost price be paid.'
I say this is a very comfortable truth for God's people, that the surety
had paid the debt for them, so that they need not fear the officer or
the prison ; God hath exacted it of Christ. Or you may, if you will,
reftd, as generally our translation, * He was oppressed,' as the Seventy
render both words by one, he was evilly dealt with and evilly entreated :
and so our translation maketh it to be read with an emphasis, * He
was oppressed and afflicted ;' that is, it was such an affliction as
did amount to an oppression, and yet he bore it patiently. * Oppres
sion/ saith Solomon, ' maketh a wise man mad/ Eccles. vii. 7. A
wise man, that is a man that hath the greatest command over himself.
The heart stormeth and rageth when it meets with such usage as it
did not expect, or hath not deserved. But Christ was oppressed and
afflicted, and he opened riot his mouth. And indeed the sufferings of
Christ, in reference to man, do best of all come under the notion of
oppression; for the other word 'afflicted/ it is well rendered, and
therefore I will not criticise upon it.
2. How Christ bore it, or his carriage under it. It is given first
in general : ' He opened not his mouth ;' and then it is particularly
amplified by two similitudes.
First, In the general : ' He opened not his mouth.' This shows two
things : —
1. The great patience of Christ. When all this was upon him, not
an impatient word dropped from him, either against God or his ene
mies. And, indeed, you shall find in scripture that holy patience is
many times expressed by holding our peace. Discontent easily breaketh
out into daring and provoking language. The tongue and lips speak
unadvisedly against God, therefore the bridling the tongue is a great
sign of patience. Hence it is said, Lev. x. 3, that ' Aaron held his
peace ' when a remarkable judgment was upon him. Stormy hearts
will soon boil over ; but Aaron held his peace. I conceive it was not
out of the greatness of his sorrow — as, indeed, griefs are not always
utterable — but out of the greatness of his patience. As David, Ps.
xxxix. 9, * I was dumb, and opened not my mouth, because thou didst
it.' He sweetly acquiesced in Providence. And so in the person of
Christ, Ps. xxxviii. 13, he saith, ' I as a deaf man heard not, and I
was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth ; ' as if he had been
either deaf or dumb, not sensible of the injury, nor willing to speak of
it. Thus Christ suffered unjustly for our sake and in our stead, yet
spoke not a word. This showed his great patience.
2. His great love to man, showed in his wonderful silence, even
then when he might justly have spoken in his own defence, but would
not seem to interrupt the design of God. It is witnessed in many
places that Jesus held his peace when they asked him questions about
his innocence, as I shall show you by and by out of several places. I
conceive it hinteth that great silence that Christ manifested upon all
his accusations.
But some may object, and say, How can this be, since Christ did
sometimes open his mouth ? Did not he say to the soldiers, ' Are you
come out against me as against a thief and a robber ?' And he said to
VOL. in. Y
338 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIIL 7.
Pilate, ' Thou hast no power unless it be given from above.' And he
prayed for them, Luke xxiii. 34, and rebuked him that smote with the
sword, and forbade Peter to use it. How, then, doth this suit with
these words, * He opened not his mouth ' ?
I answer — He never spoke to hinder our redemption, neither railingly
nor revilingly ; for so Peter explaineth it, 1 Peter ii. 23, ' Who, when
he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judge th righteously.' He
used no threatening, no reviling — no, many times not a modest reply,
when a man would think he might very well have made it. Thus
you see the meaning of the phrase, ' He opened not his mouth.'
Secondly, Now for the particular resemblance ; as —
1. That he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter. The scripture
often useth this similitude ; for, indeed, it was not a casual similitude,
but a standing type of Christ ; as the lamb in the daily sacrifice,
Exod. xxix. 38, which was offered to God daily, morning and evening,
for pardon — we being only accepted through his mediation ; and the
Paschal lamb in the Lord's Supper importeth Christ's being offered to
God, for Christ is called a lamb in scripture, I conceive, for three reasons.
[1.] As it is an emblem of innocence, meekness, and patience, as the
lamb was to be without spot and blemish. Therefore, St Peter saith,
1 Peter i. 18, 'We are redeemed by the blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without spot and blemish.' A pure, harmless, undefiled lamb.
[2.] As it may import weakness and slenderness of appearance in the
world. Christ is nothing in show, though mighty in power : Rev.
vi. 15, 16, ' And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich
men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, hid themselves in
dens, and rocks, and mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks,
Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb,' that is, even from Christ. Christ
in his weakest appearance was but as a lamb, yet such a lamb as at
the last day will make the wolves to shake.
[3.] It noteth the meekness and sweetness of Christ, willingly yield
ing to be a sacrifice for us. Christ, when he cometh to judgment, is
expressed in Hosea and other places to be as a lion ; but when to save,
then as a lamb. When he cometh to destroy men, he cometh as a
lion ; but when he cometh to destroy sins, he cometh as a lamb. Thus
here, and John i. 29, ' Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the
sins of the world.' This was the Lamb the prophet Isaiah foretold,
and the sacrifices prefigured that Lamb, ' the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world,' Eev. xiii. 8. Well, then, you see the force of
the expression here, — that Christ went as sweetly and readily to the
work of our redemption as an innocent lamb to the slaughter or
shambles.
2. The next similitude is, ' As a sheep before her shearers is dumb/
Of all creatures the sheep is the most silent. Hogs whine and hout, but
sheep are dumb before the shearer. Christ did not open his mouth,
unless to pray, instruct, and reprove, as before mentioned. Many
points might be observed, but I will sum up all in this one.
Doci^h&t Jesus Christ underwent cruel and bitter sufferings for
us with' a great deal of willing patience.
ISA. LIIL 7.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 339
For this I take to be the intent of this verse, to show how ready
Christ was to accomplish the office of the mediatorship : Rev. i. 5,
he * loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.' For in
all his conflicts with malicious accusations and opprobrious speeches,
he would do no violence, nor express anything that might be an occa
sion to divert him from his purpose ; but, as a lamb is brought to the
slaughter, so he opened not his mouth. I shall prove the point : —
1. By some scriptures that assert it, and show the willingness of
Christ: Phil. ii. 8, 'He humbled himself, and became obedient to
death, even the death of the cross.' With a great deal of willing
patience he complied with the sorest and most bruising act of the
mediatorship. He was ' obedient to death, even the death of the cross.'
So it is said, Eph. v. 25, ' Christ loved the church, and gave himself
for it.' And in other places : Heb. x. 7, with its parallel, Ps. xl.
7, c In the volume of thy book it is written of me, Lo, I come to do thy
will, 0 God.' Christ doth, as it were, exult in the command, and
rejoice over the work of redemption : * Lo, I come to do thy will ! '
2. By several passages in the history of Christ's life.
[1.] His longing for it before it came. When a man desireth a
thing, he is impatient till he obtain his desire ; every minute is tedious
till he doth enjoy it : Luke xii. 50, ' I have a baptism to be baptized
with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished ! ' That baptism
was the laver of his own blood. Earnestness of expectation straiteneth
joy, and a man cannot let out his spirit upon other things till he hath
what he waiteth for. ' How am I straitened ! ' saith Christ. He con
sulted with himself, that thou, and It and others, have souls to be
saved, and therefore he would not do otherwise : Luke xx. 15, * With
desire have I desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer/
The earnest and vigorous bent of his desire is shown in that expres
sion, * With desire have I desired/
[2.] In not preventing it when he knew it. Many are cast una
wares upon danger, but Christ knew it, and foretold it before he came
to suffer : Luke xviii. 32, ' Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and all
things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man
shall be accomplished: that he shall be delivered to the Gentiles,
and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on/ He
knew which way the divine decrees and predictions ran, yet he went
to Jerusalem. He could have kept himself safe from danger, yet he
offered himself to it. It was in his power to have commanded twelve
legions of angels, but the scripture saith it must be so. He could have
kept himself and his disciples safe too, for he had power enough :
John x. 17, 18, * I lay down my life, no man taketh it from me, but I
lay it down of myself : I have power to lay it down, and I have power
to take it again/ Unless he had been pleased to lay it down, no man
could have taken it from him. Voluntarily he submitted to it.
Creatures do things out of necessity, because they cannot do other
wise, but Christ might have prevented it, for he knew it before:
John xviii. 4, ' Therefore Jesus, knowing all things that should come
upon him, went forth and saith unto them, Whom seek ye ? '
[3.] His cheerful casting himself upon it: John xiv. 31, ' Arise,
let us go hence/ Presently, upon the end of that sermon, Christ went
340 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 7.
into the garden, where he is taken. So he saith to Judas, John xiii.
27, * What thou doest do quickly/ Not to encourage him to the evil
in his treasonable fact, but to show how willing he was to undertake
our redemption.
[4.] In submitting to his Father's will in his highest agonies and
conflicts : Luke xxii., ' Not my will, but thine be done/ Here was no
murmuring, but a sweet submission and acquiescence at the appoint
ment of God. Many may seem to submit to God till they come to
be pinched with the soreness of the trial. It is then you may discern
and try your readiness in submitting to God's will.
[5.] By his silence. When he heard the false witnesses, he held his
peace and answered nothing, Mark xiv. 61 ; so Mat xxvii. 13,
' Then saith Pilate unto him, hearest thou how many things they
witness against thee ? and he answered him never a word ; ' so Mark
xv. 5, ' But Jesus yet answered nothing, so that Pilate marvelled :
and he questioned him in many words, but he answered him nothing/
Christ holdeth his peace, that we might speak and have boldness with
the Father, and taketh the accusation patiently, that he might break
it off from us. His not answering was to show our guilt ; and yet he
carried it so that nothing could be clearly proved to impeach his own
innocency: Mat. xxvi. 62, 63, 'And Jesus held his peace, and the
high priest arose and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing ? ' Not
as if his silence did (as it doth in others) come from suppressed
anger, or scornful stubbornness, but patience and meekness : * He
opened not his mouth/ Not a malicious taunt, or proud reproach,
nor angry threatenings ; nothing but silence, nothing but what argued
oppressed innocence.
[6.] By forbidding all violence that might seem to hinder this in
tention : Mat. xxvi. 52, ' Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy
sword into its place/ If he opened his mouth, it was to forbid vio
lence, and to pray for his persecutors: Luke xxii. 51, 'And he touched
his ear, and healed him/ Every one of these things showeth a sweet
submission, and readiness, and willingness in Christ to suffer for us.
Now the reasons why it must be so are these : —
1. That he might be fit for the Mediatorship, that all things might
come freely and sweetly to you from his Father. He offered himself
willingly, that thou mayest have mercies willingly. All wicked men's
blessings seem to be extorted from Providence ; they have them, as
it were, invito Deo: Hosea xiii. 11, 'I gave thee a king in mine
anger/ So the murmuring Israelites had quails in anger : Ps.
Ixxviii. 31, Now Christ went willingly, that his own people might
have everything from the heart of God as well as his hand : Jer.
xxxii. 41/1 will rejoice over them to do them good/ One of the
conditions, as divines observe, how it may stand with the justice of
God to punish the innocent for the nocent, is, if he be willing ; for
God could not have extorted our debt of Christ, unless he had been
willing. When Paul would take Onesimus his debt upon himself,
Philemon might justly require it of him : Philem. 18, 19, 'If
Onesimus hath wronged thee aught, put it upon my account, and I
will repay it/ It would not stand with God's justice to force the ob
ligation upon Christ, but Christ voluntarily engage th himself ; if these
ISA. L1II. 7.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 341
souls owe thee aught, put it on my account — I will repay it. There
was not only an ordination of God the Father, but a voluntary sus-
ception and undertaking of God the Son ; he cheerfully and willingly
submitted to have sin translated upon him, and to be liable by
engagement ; put that on my account, and I will repay it.
2. That he might set off the worth of his love to us. Willingness
and freeness commendeth a kindness, extorted courtesies lose their
value. Therefore it is said, ' He loved us, and gave himself for us.'
We see among men it would be ill taken to do a thing grudgingly.
Decius i rode cheerfully into the gulf for the good of his country ;
nay, in some men it is a kind of corruption to be over-forward with
their favours : Prov. xvii. 18, ' A man void of understanding striketh
hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend ; ' that is,
before his friend desires and seeks for it. Many men, rather than
lose the praise of their kindness, undo themselves, their stock being
soon spent. It is folly to be over-lavish and easy in such kindnesses.
Therefore much more now would Christ commend his love to us : this
ocean arid overflowing of comforts being in Christ, it was the com
mendation of his love ; he strikes hands and becometh surety before
he is asked ; it is the enhancement of Christ's love, and therefore he
willingly submitted to it.
But you will object, How did Christ do it willingly? did not he pray
that the cup might pass from him ? and did he not fear and stagger at
it ? Heb. v. 7, ' Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up
prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears, unto him that
was able to save him from death, arid was heard in that he feared/
I answer — 1. Briefly, Christ's prayers are rather for our example
and comfort, and that he might leave us a pattern where to go, and
to whom to apply ourselves in all our straits, than to declare his
willingness to decline this hot service : he would be tempted in all
things like us, except sin, Heb. iv. 15, that he might be ' touched
with the feeling of every infirmity.' He would be touched with such
a conflict as came nearest to a sin of infirmity, but without sin.
Jesus did it that we might know ourselves in the like case, when we
struggle with the sense of guilt and the apprehension of divine wrath.
2. To show himself truly man. Christ prayed against the cup,
' Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass.' He doth not contend
with instruments, but beseech God. Christ's prayers against the cup
were as the prayers of a private man ; and so Christ would show all
the passions of our nature ; for if he had not prayed that the cup
might pass, he must have put off all natural affections, because
Christ, as a private person, looked upon it as a mere suffering, it being
the nature and duty of man to decline all those things that are
grievous and painful to him ; and Christ having the same love, and
hatred, and fear that we have, as a private person, he would manifest
it at this time.
3. As a common and public person, namely, as our Mediator and
surety, so he was extremely willing and desirous to do this great
office of love for us. For so it followeth, he sweetly submitted to his
Father's will : ' Father, not my will, but thine be done.' Not my will
1 Qu. ' Curtius ' ?— ED.
342 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 7.
as a private person, but thy will, which is more to a public person,
let that be done ; it was not in reference to the work, but how he
should go through with it.
2dly, For his fears : these were not a shrinking from the work, but
only a natural consternation and retirement of the spirits upon so
ghastly an apprehension as he then had of his Father's wrath against
him for our sins. When the cold hands of death were put into his
bosom to pluck out his heart, no wonder if there were a struggling ;
it is natural to be moved with things that are nigh. These fears were
a part of the fire in which this sacrifice was to be burnt and offered
to God. No wonder, therefore, if the Spirit of the Godhead did
freely give up the manhood to be scorched with these fears : Mark
xiv. 38, * The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak/ The willing
spirit giveth up the flesh to this weakness.
3dly, For his tears : they were such an eruption and overflow of
his love ; a part of that deluge by which he would drown the world of
sin and wickedness.
Divers inferences may be drawn from hence.
Use 1. Is consolation, and that more generally. Here is comfort
for believers, for your faith to feed upon. You may be sure that God
accepted Christ for you, for he willingly offered himself to be a sacri
fice for you. He went as a lamb to the slaughter, and this lamb
taketh away the sins of the world. You have it twice proclaimed
from heaven that God was well pleased with Christ — at his baptism
and at his transfiguration : Mat iii. 17 ; and Mat. xvii. 5, ' This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' God is pleased in
Christ with you. Your willing sacrifices are acceptable to the Lord ;
God had no respect to Cain and his offering, because it was offered
with a grudging mind. The Lord loveth a cheerful giver. Christ
gave himself cheerfully and willingly for you ; therefore the Lord
loveth him, and loveth you for his sake. Among the heathens, a
sacrifice that came unwillingly to the altar was thought ominous, as
when the beast did show much reluctance, or did roar, or bleat much.
0 Christians ! your sacrifice came willingly ; he was not haled to the
altar with rigour, but he went as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a
sheep that before her shearers is dumb. Go and urge it to God ;
willing sacrifices are pleasing to him ; Jesus Christ did not offer
himself with a grudging mind.
2. More particularly, there is comfort against sad thoughts about
sin. The great aggravation upon which the soul doth so bitterly
reflect is the willingness of it ; and, indeed, here lieth much of the
evil of sin. • It was that which heightened Ephrairn's guilt, that he
willingly walked after the commandment, Hosea v. 11 ; that is, so
readily complied with Jeroboam's calves ; and, indeed, the foulness of
the fact is not so much to be gathered from the grossness of the acts
of it, as from the propension, and inclination, and disposition of the
heart towards it, and the fulness of the will to it, a deliberate ready-
giving ourselves to it. Wilfulness in sin rnaketh the heart very sad
when it cometh to see it. But, blessed be God, here is an answer to
it — you have a willing Saviour. Though there be in you much
reluctancy against God's will, and much readiness to offend, yet you
ISA. LIII. 7.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 343
could not be so ready to sin as Christ was willing to die for you :
c With desire have I desired to eat this passover/ How earnest was
he to show his love ! Have you felt the rage of lust in your bosoms ?
Christ felt the rage of love. He was straitened till he were bap
tized with blood for your sakes. This is the true reflection upon
Christ, when we see enough in him to stop the mouth of conscience :
* Who shall condemn ? it is Christ that justifieth.'
Use 2. Is exhortation to bless arid praise God. This was the
endearment of his love, the willingness of it. Oh, how much are we
indebted to him ! The very argument that faith useth in the heart
is the willingness of Christ to serve us in this business : Gal. ii. 20,
' I live by the faith of the Son of God, who hath loved me, and gave
himself for me.'
Use 3. Is instruction. It giveth out divers lessons, for Christ's life
is a praxis of divinity, and the rules of religion exemplified.
1. To show us how we should give up ourselves to the service of
Christ, how we should come with the sacrifice of ourselves and duties
with a ready and cheerful heart. When you feel any reluctancy and
regret of spirit, oh, remember Christ offered himself willingly. The
Socinians would make Christ's sufferings to serve for some other
use, only to be exemplary ; but certainly they were not only to leave
us an example : 1 Peter ii. 21, * Christ suffered for us, leaving us an
example that we should follow his steps ; ' but he died in our room
and stead, and for our sakes. And therefore we should give up our
selves to him. The scripture speaketh often of the free-will offering
of the saints : Ps. cxix. 108, ' Accept, I beseech thee, the free-will
offering of my mouth, 0 Lord;' Ps. ex. 3, 'They shall be a willing
people in the day of thy power.' Bernard saith, Lord, I will willingly
sacrifice myself to thee, because thou wert willingly sacrificed for me.
Christ was sacrificed willingly, not for his own gain but your benefit ;
and will you not give up yourselves to God, when it is better you
should be given to him than left to yourselves ?
2. It showeth us what we should do in all our straits, wants, and
calamities that befall us. The saints are as lambs in the midst of wolves,
Luke x. 3 : show yourselves lambs in suffering, as well as like lambs
in danger, not like swine that whine and yell. You should not open
your mouth against God. Do not please your own carnal mind by
murmuring, but rather resign up yourselves to God's disposal ; this is
somewhat hard to do. The saints have been troubled with carnal rea
sonings, as Job, and David, and Jeremiah, and Habakkuk ; but learn
of a higher instance, Jesus Christ, who, though innocent, did not mur
mur under his sufferings, but bore all with a ready and willing
patience. Oh, therefore yield up yourselves to God with great patience,
both in life and death.
3. It teacheth us not to use reviling and threatenings words to men.
You may be wronged, so was Christ ; he was more innocent than you
can be, for it is impossible but something of the flesh will discover
itself in us ; but what a sad thing is it to see the people of God bring
a railing accusation against others ! Consider, Christ opened not his
mouth, but went as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before
her shearers is dumb.
344 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 8.
THE EIGHTH VEKSE.
He was taken from prison and from judgment ; and who shall declare
his generation ? for he ivas cut off out of the land of the living ;
for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
WE now come to the third defence to take off the scandal of Christ's
meanness and sufferings ; and that is taken from the glorious issue and
end of these sufferings. It was an ignominious death, but there fol
lowed a glorious resurrection : he was not detained and holden of death,
he got clear of it, and then lived for ever. The text saith, * He was
taken from prison, and from judgment/ &c.
There is scarce a verse in the scripture that hath been so variously
expounded as this hath been, not only by others, but by the same men.
Scarce a man hath agreed with himself positively to determine of the
sense of it, the phrases looking so many several ways. However, dif
ficulty provoketh endeavours. According as I apprehend them, you
may divide them into two parts : —
1. The scandal itself, laid down in the most aggravating terms —
'prison,' 'judgment/ 'cutting off from the land of the living/ and a
' stroke upon him for trangression ; ' as if the prophet had said, Grant
all that you will charge upon him, prison, judgment, strokes, cutting
off, — express it the worst way you can, all this will not impeach the
glory of his excellency.
2. We have the defence in other terms : 'He was taken ' from those
things, and ' who shall declare his generation ? ' If you think it is not
enough to say that he died for others, and that he was stricken for the
trangression of my people, yet he did not as every man that dieth for
others ; he perished not in this expression of his love, as others do :
he was taken from prison, and from judgment, and now liveth glori
ously. There are two things in the defence : —
[1.] His resurrection : ' He was taken from prison and from judg
ment ; ' he got out from under it.
[2.] His life and duration in that state : ' Who shall declare his
generation ? ' These are the parts, which will be the better made out
to you by going over the phrases, as they lie in the order of the words,
clearing this scripture from a wrong sense.
1. He ivas taken from prison and from judgment. These words
have been variously translated and variously expounded. Some read
' by prison and judgment he was taken away ; ' but that doth not suit
with the scope: others, 'after distress and judgment he was taken
into glory / that differeth not from the proper sense : others, ' without
prison and judgment he was taken away in a violent, wrongful, extra-
judicial manner ; ' but the Hebrew words do not so easily signify that.
Now the main thing is to reconcile scripture and scripture, though it
is impossible to reconcile interpreters. Therefore to dance after their
pipe would perplex a man with much uncertainty, seeing they knew
not which sense to take themselves. The Seventy translate it otherwise
than it is read here, and the words are quoted in Acts viii. 32, ev rfj
t,, &c., * In his humiliation his judgment was taken away ; '
ISA. LIII. 8.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 345
for that place hath the sense, though not the same words ; for in or after
his humiliation his judgment was taken away, when he was taken
from it : in the middle of death he was a conqueror. Others now fol
low our reading, and give the sense thus : ' He was taken from prison
and judgment to the cross ; ' as soon as bound and condemned, pre
sently crucified. But that mistaketh the sense, and the following
words show it is wrong, for they declare the glory of his resurrection,
as these do his resurrection.
Thus for the different opinions. The true sense briefly is, that
Christ was taken and assumed into glory from the prison of the grave.
Prison is taken metaphorically for any distress, or it may be taken
properly for the prison of the grave, and that judgment and condem
nation that was passed upon him by God and men : by God, as our
surety, condemning him in our stead ; by men, in an unjust and violent
way. Thus, after much traversing the variety of senses, I find this to
be best and most approved.
2. It followeth, Who shall declare his generation f The Seventy,
and Luke out of them, have it, rrjv ryeveav avrov rt? SirjyrjcreTai, ;
' Who shall declare his generation ? ' Some apply this to his eternal
generation, as the fathers generally do, — as if the scandal of his misery
were excused by that: others to his incarnation, — who can declare it how
he was begotten of the Virgin ? But these are wide of the scope, and
the word will not bear it. Others refer it to the wickedness of that
age, — Who can tell it ? Oh, the wickedness of such a generation, who
would put to death such an innocent person as the Messiah ! Who
can declare the wickedness of the people of this generation ? But that
is but arresting the place, and a harsh sense. Others more properly
interpret it thus : Who shall declare his generation ? that is, the
numerousness of those converts that shall be gained to him, the race
or issue that shall come of the gospel ? But this is the matter of
another verse, and such a thing is never expressed by dor or yevea pro
perly, but by other words. The sense is, then, who shall declare his
generation ? that is, his age or duration : dor is often for that, and yevea
too : Acts xiii. 36, * David, after he had served (yevea) his age, or his
generation, he fell asleep/ The like in other places. So that the
meaning is, though he were a short time under distress and judg
ment, some two or three days ; yet, when he was taken from it, who
shall declare his generation ? who shall be able to count the num
ber of his age, or the date of that time ? You may easily count the
number of a man's age and the date of his generation : Ps. xc. 10,
' The days of our years are threescore years and ten.' But who can tell
those many thousands of thousands of years, those endless ages that for
ever Christ shall live ? You can tell David's or Jacob's generation,
but can you tell his ? Theirs is soon reckoned, but who can find out
a sum that can reach eternity ? Thus for this phrase.
3. It followeth, For heivas cut^ off out of the land of the living: for,
or though he were cut off ; that is, though he were by a violent death
cut off, yet he shall be taken thence and translated into glory, where he
shall have a long and lasting age. Or you may take the particle
causally, as we render it, for : here is a double reason, he was but cut
off as a slip, and it was not for his own sins ; and therefore there is
346 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 8.
reason why he should not miscarry under it : this will appear in the
exposition. * He was cut off ' is a metaphor taken from plants or
trees, that do not fall down of their own accord, but are slipped and
plucked off. The same metaphor is used, Dan. ix. 25, ' The Mes
siah is cut off, but not for himself/ To which metaphor Christ him
self seemeth to allude, Luke xxiii. 31, * For if they do these things in
the green tree, what shall be done in a dry ? ' The meaning is, if
Christ himself be taken off, who was cut off as a green tree, and not
planted again, — was taken from the land of the living ; that is, from
living and conversing here upon earth : and it is so called, both by
way of opposition to the land of the dead, or the grave ; and by a
condescension of the Spirit of God to our weakness, because we count
that none live but those that are before us. This phrase is often
used : Ps. xxvii. 13, ' I had fainted unless I had believed to see the
goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.' So Isa. xxxviii.
11, ' I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living.'
4. And for the transgression of my people luas lie stricken ; or by
the transgression, by the wickedness of Israel. He bringeth in God
speaking it, as taking notice of their sin : Acts ii. 23, ' Him, being de
livered by the determinate counsel of God, have ye taken, and by
wicked hands have crucified and slain.' You may take both ; it is
like this may be the scripture Paul meaneth when he saith, 1 Cor.
xv. 3, ' Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures ; ' either
sense is good. The sum of all is this, that though Jesus Christ was
so cruelly and despitefully handled for our sins, yet at length he was
taken from all this suffering, and reigneth for ever with God in glory.
Many points may be raised from these words ; but having promised
only to hint at the main things in these following verses, I shall take
notice but of these few.
Doct. 1. That by the divine appointment there was a formal process
against Christ. He was made guilty, he was cast into prison, he was
condemned. Sin was translated upon him in the former verses. Here
God had him to prison, and let all his distresses come upon him ; and
so the grave especially he was condemned to ; there was judgment
passed upon him. And therefore, the next time you see your surety
without sin ; here you see him as under your sin in misery and distress:
Heb. ix. 28, ' Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and
unto them that look for him he shall appear the second time without
sin unto salvation.'
What comfort is there for believers in this, to support and strengthen
their faith ?
1. In that whatsoever should be done to them, is done to Christ in
their stead. It is comfort that Christ hath made full satisfaction, that
he hath been in prison and under judgment for our sakes. God will
not exact twice, of Christ and you too.
2. It yieldeth them instruction as well as comfort, not to think it
much if they be imprisoned, and be under judgment for Christ's sake.
Christ hath been so for theirs, and you may be glad you are conformed
to your head : Luke xxi. 12, Christ told the apostles, ' They shall lay
their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the syna
gogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my
ISA. LIII. 8.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 347
name's sake.' So it may be with you ; but remember he was taken
from prison and from judgment.
3. Christ had a long reign for a short death. Christ's glory was in
the midst of his sufferings, in his humiliation, that is, when most
humbled. Christ did not recover glory till in the prison of the grave.
We can easily count the time of his suffering, but his generation who
can declare ? 2 Cor. iv. 17, ' This light affliction, which is but for a
moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory/ An hyperbole, which is an expression greater than the truth,
will not declare the glory. Hyperboles of hyperboles are not high
enough ; who can declare his generation ?
4. Those that are cut off from the land of the living may live again
to glory. So the church, when buried as it were under its ruins, there
will be a resurrection ; and therefore the glory of the churches is called
' the first resurrection,' Kev. xx. Death is but a transplanting to glory
to the godly ; they are but a slip taken off from an earthly root, that
God may set them in the field of glory. Alas ! this life is nothing to
the age and generation that we shall have with Christ in heaven ; a
man may die, and yet be saved from death.
5. All Christ's sufferings were from men or by men. If there be
anything shameful in the cross, blame the Jews for it, and yourselves
for it. Many blame the Jews, and are ready to fly in their faces ; but
do you blame yourselves ? It is hard to know which is meant by
'the transgression of my people/ or * for/ or ' of my people.' God would
have us reflect upon both. Christ, that died for the sins of men, was
taken away by the sins of men, that so he might at the same time
discover his personal innocency and assumed guilt.
6. Oppressed innocency will get clear again : ' Who shall declare his
generation ? for he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the
transgression of my people/ It was not a just debt in regard of men,
and therefore not a lasting death ; and it was not for any fault of his
own. It plainly hinteth the unexpected restitution of glory to the
people of God in their greatest humiliation ; their judgment is taken
away : God can never come with help too late, but men can. In his
humiliation, in his judgment, Christ showeth the meaning of that
riddle, * Though he kill me, yet I will trust in him/ There may be
victory in death ; the matter is never past help with God : Jonas in
the whale's belly was recovered. We can never sink below hope and
prayer. Our interest thrives best many times when the case is dead
and desperate as to all appearance.
These things having been observed, I now come to the main things
intended in the text, and that is the glory of the resurrection, and the
duration and continuance of that glory.
The points are two : —
1. That the Lord Jesus was taken from prison and from judgment,
t.e., he rose again out of the pit of distress, to which he was condemned
for our sakes.
2. That Christ being risen, liveth a numberless date of years, even
for ever with God in glory.
These two points, then, the resurrection of Christ, and the life of
Christ : the first is from that clause, ' He was taken from prison and
348 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 8.
from judgment;' the other from that, 'Who can declare his genera
tion ? '
I begin with the first point, that the Lord Jesus was taken from
prison and from judgment, and rose out of the pit of distress, to which
he was condemned for our sakes. He was taken from prison and from
judgment ; he did rise as Mediator, and could not choose but rise ; he
was not suffered to miscarry in it. The scriptures testify abundantly
that he rose again : 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4, ' That he died for our sins, and
rose again the third day, according to the scriptures.' And in other
places, that he ought to rise again : Luke xxiv. 46, ' And thus it be
hoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day.' This
Christ proveth out of the scriptures.
Therefore I shall show you — (1.) Why he rose, by reasons reflecting
upon the efficient cause ; (2.) Why he ought to rise, reflecting upon
the final causes and ends of God in Christ in it for our good.
First, I shall show you why he rose, giving you the reasons for it; as —
1. His own prayer. Christ's prayers were all granted, but especially
those that were put forth with such vehemency and strong pouring
out of his soul to his Father. He prayed for it with a great deal of
holy fear, that he might not miscarry in the work. Therefore he was
taken from prison and from judgment The apostle saith, Heb. v. 7,
' He was heard in that he feared ; he offered up prayers and supplica
tions, with strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save
him from death/ He did not so much pray that he might not die, as
that he might be saved from death ; that having taken so much guilt
upon him, he might not sink under it.
2. God's power was put forth upon his prayer to support him. He
had a Father to look after him, whose tenderness would not let him
leave Christ in the grave, nor suffer his Holy One to see corruption.
And therefore the resurrection of Christ is applied to God the Father ;
as here in the text, ' He was taken from prison and from judgment.'
And Acts ii. 24, ' Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains
of death, because it was not possible he should be holden of it.' He
helped the grave to disburden herself, easing it of its pangs and throes :
Kom. viii. 11, 'But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the
dead dwell in you/ &c. The apostle speaketh of a mighty power of
God, that is, of God the Father, which wrought in Christ when he
raised him from the dead, Eph. i. 20. God the Father put forth his
power to take off the pains of death and the chains of the grave.
3. There was the power of his own Godhead ; he had in himself a
divine virtue to quicken his body. I distinguish this from the former,
because God did not only raise Christ, but he raised himself, so as his
resurrection might be a discovery of his Godhead. And therefore you
shall find in scripture, that he is not only said to be raised by the
power of God, but by himself, by his own person : Acts ii. 24, ' He
loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible he should be
holden of it/ The grave was to give up this hot morsel, as a man
that hath swallowed down a hot bit was not able to hold it. The
scriptures do not only ascribe the resurrection to God the Father, but
to the Godhead of the Son too : John x. 17, 'I lay down my life, that
I may take it again.' The words speak of Christ's taking up his life
ISA. LIII. 8.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 349
by his own power. He so laid down his life, that he might re-assume
it again by his own power. It is said, 2 Cor. xiii. 4, that * though he
was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God ;
for we are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of
God toward you/ And it is very like that expression of St Peter, 1
Peter iii. 18, ' Put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.'
The apostle's scope in that place of the Corinthians is to prove that
Christ and Christians are both alike in some respects : there is visible
weakness, and inward power ; he died through visible weakness. That
which you could see in him was man's form, and so he was crucified ;
that which was not seen was his divinity, through the power of which
he liveth. His resurrection was a glorious instance and manifestation
of his own Godhead.
Secondly, For what end Christ was raised. And here, that I may show
believers the fountain of their comfort, why it ought to be that Christ
should be raised from the dead, since all the comfort of the soul de-
pendeth upon his getting above the grave, and shaking the powers of
death, I will here a little refresh your spirits with the water of this
well-spring of salvation ; I will draw it up and pour it forth in three
considerations. In regard of a moral necessity which I call conve-
niency, the good that we attain by Christ's getting the upper hand of
the grave, and the confirmation of our souls in all the benefits of
his purchase; for without his resurrection they had been nothing
to us.
1. Generally the resurrection is made to be the chiefest ground of
comfort to Christians in the scripture ; and therefore you shall find in
scripture that this is made the great article : Kom. x. 9. 'If thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved/
Mark, that is put as the main thing of Christianity, that God hath
raised him from the dead : 2 Tim. ii. 8, ' Remember that Jesus Christ,
of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel/
Above all truths we must clearly preach that, and press that as if it were
the life of all religion. Remember Christ is raised from the dead ; and
therefore it was a usual salutation among the Christians, THE LORD is
RISEN. The apostle maketh the triumph of faith chiefly to arise from
this, Christ's resurrection : Rom. viii. 34, ' Who is he that condemneth ?
It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again/ If Christ had
not risen, there would be but poor comfort to believers : 1 Cor. xv. 14,
' If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is
also vain/ All would be to no purpose without this great seal and
confirmation. It is a point of so great importance, that it is generally
made the corner-stone in religion, the main hinge upon which gospel
comfort hangs.
2. More particularly to show you the benefits of it.
[1.] All your spiritual enemies are subdued : Eph. iv. 8, * When he
ascended up on high, he led captivity captive ; ' that is, those things
that usually captivate the spirits of Christians, they were forced to set
off the triumph of Christ's ascension ; he seized upon the spoils at his
resurrection, and rode in triumph at his ascension to glory. Death is
unstinged ; death shall be served as Haman, when it thinketh to hurt
350 . A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 8.
believers, and shall honour them as he did Mordecai. You may die,
but you are saved from death : 1 Cor. xv. 55, ' 0 death, where is thy
sting? 0 grave, where is thy victory?' It followeth, ' Thanks be
to God, who giveth uo the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ/
You can no more be held of the grave than Christ could be holden
thereby. Hell is unarmed and subdued, and the powers of darkness
triumphed over. Though the devil mustereth temptations against
you, you can see all conquered by faith in Christ's resurrection :
' Your life is hid with Christ.' Then for sin, that is subdued : Christ
gave it its death-wound upon the cross, and at his resurrection got
above it. Then for the world, remember what Christ says, John xvi.
33, 'Fear not, little flock/ ' I have overcome the world ;' that is, so
conquered and triumphed over the world that it shall not hurt them.
As for the devil, he trode him underfoot, and so shall Christians
shortly : Kom. xvi. 20, ' The God of peace shall tread Satan under
our feet shortly/
[2.] All spiritual blessings are procured for us. The blessedness of
a Christian lieth in these three things : in pardon, grace, and glory ;
in justification, sanctifi cation, and glorification. And all these are
confirmed by Christ's being risen, and taken from prison and from
j udgment.
(1.) For pardon or justification. If any one sin had remained un
satisfied for, Christ could riot have risen ; every sin must be expiated
with death : Kom. vi. 23, ' The wages of [every] sin is death ; ' and
Christ would fulfil every tittle of the law, Mat. v. 18. But seeing
he is got free, you may be sure he hath paid the wages of every sin :
1 Cor. xv. 17, ' If Christ be not risen, your faith is vain, ye are yet in
your sins/ While the surety is in prison, it is a sign the debt is not
satisfied ; but your surety is taken from prison and from judgment.
Be of good comfort, all is paid : Kom. iv. 25, ' Who was delivered for
our offences, and was raised again for our justification/ God had him
to prison for the debt of the creatures, and took him from prison and
from judgment for their comfort, and that they might be persuaded
of his satisfaction.
(2.) For the grace of sanctification ; he rose that he might purchase
the Spirit to raise us from the death of sin to the life of grace : Kom.
vi. 4, ' That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory
of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life/ By the
same glory of the Father both is done, that is, by the same glorious
power that raised Jesus from the dead : Phil. iii. 10, the apostle
speaketh of the power of Christ's resurrection, that is, the virtue that
goeth out from it unto believers.
(3.) Glorification. Christ rose before us to open the way ; and there
fore he is called 'the first-fruits of them that slept/ 1 Cor. xv. 20. Others
rise as a single ear of corn, but Christ as the first-fruits. The first-
fruits were consecrated in lieu of all the rest ; so is Christ in your
stead : Col. i. 18, Christ is called * the first-born from the dead ; '
that is, the chiefest, and one that rose for us all, — the first that entered
into heaven as a common person. There was a resurrection of some
before the glorification of Christ's body, but he was the first-born that
stood for all : Heb. vi. 20, ' Whither the forerunner is for us entered/
ISA. LIII. 8.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 351
Jesus Christ is our forerunner, his resurrection doth make way for us
to rise after him ; he is our harbinger that is gone before.
[3.] Consider what special thing there is in the resurrection of
Christ above the other acts of the mediatorship, since the scripture
tayeth so much weight upon it. What is it that it contributes to
the comfort of Christians above his death ? It will be necessary to
inquire after that, because the scripture speaketh so much of this cir
cumstance, the resurrection of Christ from the dead.
I answer — First, By way of confirmation : it confirmeth the heart
in the expectation of salvation by Christ. By this it appeareth
that the whole contrivance of salvation was a true thing ; you have
God's seal for it. It therefore confirmeth the heart in two things : —
(1.) The person of Christ ; and (2.) The office of Christ, upon which
all hangeth.
1. The person of Christ. There can be no greater proof of his
divinity than the resurrection : 1 Peter i. 21, 'Who by him do believe
in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that
your faith and hope might be in God.' And, indeed, there our faith
beginneth upon Christ's being God ; as Peter saith, ' Your faith is
built on God.' Well, then, here is God's seal to the heart, about the
person of the Messiah : Rom. i. 4, ' Declared to be the Son of God
with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection
from the dead.' There the case was plainly and mightily decided
that he was so, so as no man could contradict it : ' Truly this was the
Son of God,' as the centurion cried. All were forced to say so by this
instance. So Acts xiii. 33, he is said to be ' begotten of the Father.'
He proveth it there to be at his resurrection, that is, declarative ;
then it was evidently shown that he was begotten of the Father.
Well, then, though the mercies of pardon, grace, and glory were
merited by other acts of the mediatorship, yet they are confirmed and
i-ealed by this, because this established! the soul in the ground of it —
in the truth of the person of Christ.
2. It sealeth to us the truth of his office, that this was he that was
sealed to be Mediator. When the Jews taxed Christ for usurpation,
he would confirm his office to them by no other sign but the resurrec
tion : Mat. xii. 39, 'An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after
a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the
prophet Jonas ; ' that is, that which answereth to the type of Jonas ;
and what was that but his lying three days and three nights in the
grave and rising again ? As if Christ had said, If you will have a
miracle and a seal from heaven, that is all that I will give you. So
you shall see upon another occasion, in John ii., when the Jews saw
him authoritatively purging the temple, and acting as an extraor
dinary person, ver. 18, ' What sign shovvest thou unto us, seeing that
thou dcest these things ?' What confirmation hast thou from heaven
to be the Messiah, that thou takest upon thee to reform the temple ?
Ver. 19, ' Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple,
and in three days I will raise it up ; ' meaning * the temple of his
body,' ver. 21. There was all the sign he would give them, viz.,
his resurrection ; this was the most proper confirmation of his office.
Secondly, There is something by way of evidence, — it is a clearing
352 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 8.
and justifying of the merits of Christ. The benefits purchased by
his death are evidenced to us in his resurrection ; God must not only
be satisfied, but it must be discovered to the world that God was fully
satisfied, or else we should remain under doubts and perplexities still.
Now the resurrection of Christ is the full discovery of that satisfaction
that is made by his death. This is that that the fallen creature hath
to show for it, that God was satisfied, even Christ's resurrection. You
know, among men, when they pay debts, they look that the book be
cancelled, and that they have an acquittance to show, if they should
be challenged that the debt is not paid. Now, what have you to
answer the challenge ? What have you to show Satan when he im-
pleadeth you before God ? Why, by Christ's resurrection you may even
challenge the challenger : Eom. viii. 34, ' Who is he that condemneth?
it is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again/ Why should
God let him out of prison, if he had not paid the utmost farthing ?
He was taken from prison and from judgment. If Christ had been
still in the prison of the grave, you must have looked for another
surety that must make up his defects and satisfy where he could not :
' If Christ be not risen, ye are yet in your sins ;' ye have nothing to
show for your discharge. How could ye have answered Satan then, if
your surety had miscarried ? Thus by way of evidence.
Thirdly, Something by way of pledge to us. By Christ's resurrection
God giveth us a pawn and earnest, as it were, that we may expect the
raising of our own bodies. You may plead it to God, and you may
argue it for yourselves to God : Christ is raised, therefore raise me.
And to yourselves, Therefore shall I be raised, because Christ was
raised. Christ was acquitted from sins and received into glory : there
fore, Lord, for his sake acquit me from my sins. Or shall I say, this
is a pledge to us, that our persons shall be raised, justified, sanctified,
glorified, because our head is raised ? The apostle thinketh it is a
good argument to prove the resurrection of our bodies by the resur
rection of Jesus Christ, 1 Cor. xv. ; and 1 Thes. iv. 14, ' For if we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that sleep
in Jesus will God bring with him/ The meaning is, that Christ's
resurrection doth not only manifest a possibility, but a necessity of
our rising with him. God hath in him given you an earnest of the
resurrection, so as through Christ you may humbly challenge it at
his hands — Lord, I believe thou wilt raise me to life everlasting.
The wicked rise by the general power of God, but Christians rise
with reference to Christ's resurrection ; that was a pledge to them of
theirs : and, therefore, it is observable, that presently upon the resur
rection of Christ's body, there followed the resurrection of the bodies
of some of the saints, that it might not only be a pledge, but that we
might look upon it as a pledge to us : Mat. xxvii. 52, 53, ' And the
graves were opened, and many bodies of saints which slept arose, and
came out of their graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy
city, and appeared to many/ There the virtue wrought immediately,
that others of God's people might look for it, and the rest of Christ's
mystical body expect their turn ; not only the head, but some of the
members rose too. Therefore, here is our comfort, because it is the
great pledge and earnest tliat God hath given to the saints, namely,
ISA. LIU. 8.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 353
that, as it was done to Christ, so they may expect it shall be done to
them.
Fourthly, Something you may expect by way of influence. Every
well of salvation hath its proper stream, and everything in a believer's
heart hangs and depends upon some proportionable thing in Christ
Jesus ; our death to sin upon his death, our life upon his life, our
holiness upon his holiness : John xvii. 19, 'For their sakes I sanctify
myself, that they may be sanctified through the truth/ For whatever
Christ had in himself as Mediator, he had it and did it for us. So
that from these special things there is special causal influence on the
hearts of believers. As from the resurrection of Christ our resurrec
tion ; from his death, the death of sin to the life of grace, or to the life
of glory. There is causal influence from Christ's resurrection upon
our hearts, which is the donation of the Spirit of God upon this act of
Christ's resurrection, to raise us to grace and glory. And therefore
we are said, 1 Peter i. 3, to be ' begotten to a lively hope by the resur
rection of Jesus Christ.' Kegeneration cometh from the virtue and
influence of it, that passeth into our hearts for the conquering of sin,
and begetting the new nature and the raising us to glory. But there
is another benefit you are to expect by way of influence from the
resurrection of Christ, even the gift of the Spirit, to conform you to
your head. Christ by his resurrection being made a fountain of super
natural life, will^ send out vital influence. Wait for it, then ; he will
renew and heal you, and he will carry on the work, to the perfection of
glory. Head and members must be conformable, as far as the model
of the creatures will permit. Therefore, as sure as Christ is risen, you
shall be raised with him to holiness here, and to heaven hereafter.
That you may wait for this influence —
1. Labour to get your union with Christ cleared to you. The pass
ing out of virtue and influence from Christ depends upon that ; the
head doth not guide and act foreign members. Oh, say, then, if 1 were
sure of my union with Christ, I should have this rich comfort. As
the woman said, Mat. ix. 21, ' If I might but touch the hem of his
garment, I shall be made whole.' The least evidence of an interest
and union with Christ would fill us with wonderful comfort.
2. Value it. Think it worthy of the best of your endeavours,
and your greatest self-denial : Phil. iii. 10, ' That I may know him,
and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings,
being made conformable to his death.'
Now this appeareth to be from the resurrection of Christ, for these
three reasons : — From its influence —
1. Because this is the most proportionable and suitable act in the
creatures ; and I take it for a spiritual principle that every act of grace
hath a necessary dependence upon that work of Christ that is most suit
able to it. Observe it, Christians, faith is mightily helped^ when you
know that special well-head to which you must repair for the refresh
ment of your spirit in every exigence. It is not enough to know in the
general that Christ must do all for you, and that he is the fountain of
all mercies ; but you must know particularly what is the spring of your
comfort on such and such a needful occasion. In times of knowledge
God will have our thoughts more explicit ; and if you observe it, you will
VOL. III. 2
354 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 8.
find that general and indistinct considerations do not work so effectu
ally to the stablishing of the spirit. God would have you to see the
provision he hath made for every need. Christ died for sin that you
might die to sin ; and Christ rose to glory that you might rise to
grace and glory. The dependence and looking up of the creature
must be to the most suitable act and work of the Messiah. Whole
Christ carrie th in himself the complete work of our salvation, and the
several acts and conditions of Christ are proportioned to the several
acts and conditions of salvation.
2. Because the same power that raised Christ raiseth us from death
to life ; and therefore clearly such influence is from the resurrection
of Christ. This is evidenced in many places of scripture : Col. ii. 12,
' You are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God,
who hath raised him from the dead.' It is the same operation of God.
The meaning of that place is, that the life of faith was created in our
souls by the same almighty efficacy of God by which Jesus Christ was
raised from the dead. For the apostle proveth three things there :
That whoever is in Christ is risen from death to life ; and that this
rising is by faith ; and that this faith is wrought by the same power that
raised -Jesus from the dead. See another place, Eph. i. 19, 20, ' And
what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, ac
cording to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ
when he raised him from the dead.' It was the same power, because it
was the same power that procured it for us. God raised him up, that he
might be a fountain and root of all supernatural life to us, that the
power might work in his as well as him. So Kom. viii. 11, ' If the
Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that
raised Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by
his Spirit which dwelleth in you. Mark, it is the same Spirit. The
Eower of the Spirit is put forth to raise Christ, and the power of the
pirit is put forth to raise you. This is not done by the consideration
of Christ's resurrection, but by the power of the Spirit accompanying
it. It is the Spirit that doth effectually apply this raising and beget
ting power.
3. Because the Spirit worketh always with reference to this act and
work of Christ. It raiseth you with respect to Christ's resurrection ;
and that is the meaning of these phrases which do abound in scrip
ture, that couple the soul and Christ together in all his works, as
crucified with him, raised with him. For the latter, take these places :
Eph. ii. 5, ' Even when we were dead in sins hath he quickened us to
gether with Christ, and hath raised us up together.' So Col. ii. 13,
* So you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, hath he quickened together with him ; so Col. iii. 1, 'If ye be
risen with Christ, seek the things which are above/ Divers such kinds
of expressions there are in the word, which make out the soul's shar
ing with Christ in the virtue of these works. The Spirit revealeth to
them that they are not only to be raised with Christ, but that they are
raised, and so make it a powerful argument to heavenliness, or any
other part of the new creature. This is done already in the root and
mystical notion, and therefore it should be done in the effectual appli
cation. I say, the Spirit revealeth to the soul the resurrection of
ISA. LIII. 8.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 355
Christ, and that he is our head, and the fountain of our life ; and
therefore we should live and be conformed to our head. And by such
considerations the Spirit leaveth a great virtue and force upon the
soul, which is called 'the power of the resurrection.' And thus I have
a little opened this difficult matter to you. Take but one place more
and I have done : Rom. vi. 10, 11, ' For in that he died, he died unto
sin once ; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.' There are
Christ's acts. Now in the next verse you shall see how the Spirit
maketh the soul to share in them : ' Likewise reckon ye also your
selves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord/ Dead by the death of Christ, but alive by the life
of Christ. The Spirit cometh to the heart, and revealeth this to it.
Lo, this is done for you in Christ, and so bringeth the soul by the
same efficacy to a likeness to Christ.
Use 1. Is consolation. Here is comfort for those that have an in
terest in Christ. Believers, know the ground of your privileges.
Christ is risen, and thereby declared mightily to be the Son of God.
So shall you be declared mightily to be the sons of God at your resur
rection : Ps. xxxvii. 5, * Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in
him, and he shall bring it to pass.' Oh, what comfort is there for their
spirits in that word, ' Christ is risen/ It was the comfortable mes
sage Christ sent to Peter, when he was ready to faint under the sad
ness of his own apprehensions, ' Go, tell his disciples and Peter that
he is risen, and goeth before you into Galilee/ Mark xvi. 7 — Go to
Peter, and tell him by name. 0 poor Peter ! he is weeping and ready
to break his heart ; go and comfort him, be sure to tell him I am
risen. Christians, here is comfort for the saddest believer. Among
the primitive Christians their usual salutation was, THE LORD is RISEN ;
as if that were as much as wishing them all peace and grace.
But how shall we do to draw out these comforts ?
Ans. Act faith, which bringeth in the virtues of Christ upon the
soul.
But how must we act faith in this matter of the resurrection of
Christ ? It consists in reasoning and waiting. There is something
you must collect by way of inference, and something you must expect
by way of influence.
First, Set faith a-work, or arguing by way of inference. You must
collect somewhat that you may extract the quintessence of it. As a
surety, as a common person, and as a pattern of providence and church
dispensations, in all these respects you may fetch comfort from Christ's
resurrection. I shall a little clear these three considerations of Christ,
though the two first be somewhat common among divines.
1. As a surety, and one that undertook for us ; that is clear,
because Christ is called * the surety of a better testament/ Heb. vii.
22. Now your surety is risen, then draw out the comfort thus :
Surely sin is satisfied, for the debt is paid. A man is never the richer
for gold in the mine till it be digged out ; no more is a man the better
for comforts in the lump ; dig them out by holy reasoning. Say then,
Christ, that undertook all, he is got free again ; surely then I am dis
charged, I have something to show to God. Go and urge it to the
Lord — Why didst thou suffer Christ to rise again, if thou wilt charge
356 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LITI. 8.
poor creatures with their guilt ? And urge it to Satan too — Dost
thou condemn me, and tell me what I have done, and wherein so often
I have sinned ? — Why, Jesus Christ is risen. As Paul : Rom viii. 34,
* Who is he that condemneth ? it is Christ that died, yea, rather, that
is risen again.' Surely the whole business is accomplished by Christ.
Thus dwell upon such thoughts ; only take heed you rest not in your
own reasonings — look for the success of all from the Spirit. 0 Lord,
didst thou not let thine only-begotten and well-beloved Son, Jesus
Christ, go free, after he had been in the prison and in the grave ?
Did not he undertake for us, and hast thou discharged him and not
us? He is our surety, he hath paid our debt for us. Therefore
reason with your souls as David reasoned with his soul : Ps. xlii. 11,
' Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul, and why art thou disquieted
within me ? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him, who is
the health of my countenance, and my God.'
2. As a common person, Christ may be said to be all of us ; for
as Adam, in a sense, was all mankind, so Christ had all the elect in
his own person, and so represents them : so that what he did we
may, in some sense, be said to have done. Thus, a burgess in parlia
ment, that represents all the town or corporation that sendeth him,
his act is their act : it is grounded upon what the apostle saith, 1 Cor.
xv. 22, * As in Adam all died, so in Christ shall all be made alive.'
As Adam was a common person representing all mankind, so Christ
all the elect. Therefore the apostle saith, Rom. vi. 11, ' Reckon ye
also yourselves dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through
Jesus Christ our Lord/ You must do two things : —
[1.] Interest yourselves in the acts of your common person. Reason
thus — If we are united to Christ, then we shall share in all his pur
chased benefits : ' I am crucified with Christ/ Gal. ii. 20 ; and I am
risen with Christ. You are instated by virtue of your union in all
Christ's acts : Christ was raised, therefore I shall rise ; Christ was
taken to glory, therefore I shall be so. Urge it to God — 0 Lord, did
I not rise out of the dust in Christ ? Lord, didst thou not take me
out of the devil's power when thou tookest Christ out of the grave ?
[2.] You must reason from this privilege against present distress —
Is it the evil of sin ? Rom. vi. 2, ' How shall we that are dead to
sin live any longer therein ? ' Am not I dead to sin in Christ, and
alive to this grace in Christ ? Then reason from your privileges ;
I am above this cross, for Christ is, and shall I sink under it ? I am
in this glory already, as united to Christ, who is there, and shall I
despair of it ? Is not my head there, and will the head be severed
from the rest of the members in the mystical body ?
3. As a pattern of Providence: for God meant to copy out all
his dispensations to his people in the life of Christ. There is not a
providence happeneth to the church or to believers but there is
something therein conformable to the life of Christ. For look, as
all dispensations typed out Christ, as the children of Israel's going
out of Egypt did, for which see that of Hosea, * I called my Son out
of Egypt/ Hosea xi. 1, which is cited, Mat. ii. 15, 'Out of Egypt
I called my Son ; ' and as Jonas, being three days and three nights
in the whale's belly, did \ so Christ is the type of all providences after
ISA. LIII. 8.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 357
him. There is no misery but some passage of Christ's life is parallel
to it. Out of all these considerations you may fetch a great deal of
comfort. Keason then against all the depths of misery into which
you may be cast ; I shall get free, for Christ got free ; I see the suc
cess in the story of Christ's life. Is it the depth of inward misery ?
Ps. xviii. 5, ' The sorrows of hell compassed me about, and the snares
of death compassed me/ So they did Christ, yet he got free of them,
as the apostle saith, Heb. xii. 2, * Looking unto Jesus, the author and
finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured
the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of
the throne of God.' Is it outward misery ? None could have more
distress upon him than Christ, yet he was taken from distress and
judgment. Is it death ? Christ died and rose again. Either God
will preserve you from the evil, or he will order it so that it shall not
hold you. Christ could not be holden of death when it seized upon
him. Is it reproaches ? It may be you are buried in the scorn of
the world, and crowded under disrespects and abasures — so was
Christ before you.
We now come to the second considerable circumstance in the text,
and that is the life of Christ : ' Who shall declare his generation ? '
As Christ saith, ' I am the resurrection and the life,' that is, the cause
of both ; for Christ did not only rise, and not only live, but he was
the resurrection and the life. He rose as a resurrection, and he liveth
as a life. And therefore all our spiritual rising and living is from his
rising and living. But having spoken of his resurrection, it will be
necessary to inquire into his life.
Doct. That Christ, being risen, liveth a numberless term of years,
even for ever, with God in glory.
Who shall declare his generation? That is so long that it cannot be
reckoned. Those that have the best skill in numbers cannot rise
high enough to reach his age. By what sum will you express eternity ?
Thousands of thousand thousands can scarce be admitted to be a
shadow of it : Heb. vii. 3, * Having neither beginning of days, nor end
of life ; ' which is to prove, not that Christ as God should live for
ever, but Christ as Mediator, as God-man, under which notion he is
considered here.
1. Because at his resurrection he was cleared from sin, and so was
no more liable to death. The apostle saith, Kom. v. 12, that ' death
entered by sin.' It did so upon Christ as well as upon us when he
took our guilt: 1 Peter iv. 1, 'He that hath suffered in the flesh
hath ceased from sin/ being cleared at his resurrection. When he
ceased from suffering he ceased from sin. Therefore the apostle saith,
1 Tim. iii. 16, He was 'justified in the Spirit/ and manifested to the
world in the flesh ; that is, they saw him, but because of his miser
able appearance, they could judge nothing but that he was a sinner ;
but when his Godhead came to be discovered at his resurrection, then
he was justified in the Spirit. Therefore now he is no more liable to
death. Christ was not justified, neither by God nor men, till that
time. Now he is raised, he is exempt from it, as the apostle
urgeth, Rom. vi. 9, ' Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more ;
death hath no more dominion over him/ Death can lord it no more
358 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 8.
over Christ, as it seemed to do for a while ; but now Christ hath
destroyed death : Eev. i. 18 : 'I am he that liveth and was dead, and
behold I am alive for evermore, Amen ; and have the keys of hell
and death.' Death and hell thought to make sure of Christ, and to
have him under lock and key, as it were ; but he could not be holden
by them. But now Christ hath the power of death and hell, so that
none goeth there but whom he pleaseth. Amen ; it is very certain
it is so. This is the first reason ; having fully cleared the debt
wherein he stood engaged to divine justice, he is no more liable to
death.
2. That he might become a principle and fountain of life to us.
Whatever Christ hath as Mediator, he hath it for us. He lived for us
upon earth, and he died for us; and he liveth for ever for us in
heaven : 1 Thes. v. 10, ' Who died for us, that whether we wake or
sleep, we should live together with him.' His life of glory is our life,
as well as his life of grace ; and therefore he is said to be ' the
Kesurrection and the Life : ' 1 John v. 11,12, ' And this is the record,
that God hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He
that hath the Son hath life ; ' that is, the testimony of God's bounty,
eternal life, which is by virtue of his life. And so Christ is said to
have life in himself : John v. 26, ' For as the Father hath life in him
self, so he hath given to the Son to have life in himself ; ' that is, to
have an original fountain of life. No creature in the scripture notion
hath life in itself.
3. That he might perform all the other acts of the mediatorship, and
so be doing something continually in heaven for the elect of God,
that he may apply the merit of his sufferings, death, and resurrec
tion. Past acts would not satisfy the spirit; they are more im
mediately for the comfort of those that have some evidence of their
right in Christ. The soul saith, Here is much done, but what was
this to me ? This was done for those that have interest in Christ,
as his sufferings, dying, and resurrection. Ay ! but Christ liveth ;
there is something a-doing still — there is something a-negotiating
in heaven for you. Therefore, he not only negotiated for you by the
past acts of his life upon earth, his death, burial, and resurrection,
but he yet liveth to be doing for you. His office required this :
Heb. vii. 16, ' Who is made not after the law of a carnal command
ment, but after the power of an endless life.' The meaning is, the
Levitical priests were by the law of carnal rites for a while, but Christ
for ever. As a judicious divine observeth, present acts do most
satisfy such doubtful spirits. Christ's life in heaven is for the effectual
application of his merit, and other the great offices of the mediatorship.
But what doth Christ in heaven for us ?
1. He intercedes for us : Heb. vii. 25, ' 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 us.' That is the end of his life,
to beseech the Father for such as come to him ; he intercedeth for the
application of his merit. Christ is a continual remembrancer in
heaven, as it were, to God the Father ; he is praying that you may
believe ; he is our soul's solicitor, as it were, to appear and plead our
cause in heaven for us : Heb. ix. 24, he is said to ' appear in the pre-
ISA. LIII. 8.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 359
sence of God for us/ as our agent in heaven. He proveth the matter,
he prayeth for what thou prayest for, and liveth to appear before God
for you in all your straits.
2. That he may seize upon his kingdom, and administer it to the
destruction of his adversaries. Christ's life is their death : Ps. ex. 1,
'The Lord said unto nay Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I
make thine enemies thy footstool.' Christ must live, that they may
fall and be under the feet of Christ. So the apostle saith,! Cor. xv.
25, ' For he must reign till he hath put all his enemies under his feet.'
At the . time of his ascension Christ was solemnly inaugurated into
the regal office, that, so he might destroy his adversaries : Kev. xvii.
14, * The Lamb shall overcome/ It is Christ shall fight against them.
Isa. Iviii. 8, ' Thy righteousness shall go before thee/ That which is
comfort to God's people, is terror to the adversaries ; if they could
make sure work of him, their business were at an end ; but Christ is
alive to destroy their persons, and blast their designs. Some of the
people of God may fall before them, and all visible supplies may be
dead, as Sarah's womb ; but ' the Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock,
and let the God of my salvation be exalted/
3. That he may dispense all necessary supplies ta the needs of his
servants : Eph. iv. 10, ' When he ascended up on high, he gave gifts
to men ; ' that is, all necessary supplies for his servants. As a foun
tain of living waters continually feedeth the stream, so you have a
living Christ who will continually supply the streams of grace ;. he
knoweth your needs, and can supply them. And therefore the apostle
maketh the main business of salvation to hang upon the life of Christ :
Eom. v. 10, ' For if when we were enemies we were reconciled by the
death of his Son, much more being reconciled we shall be saved by
his life ; ' that is, can we want anything necessary to salvation, that
have a living Christ to go to ? You may be sure, if by his death he
could bring you into such a glorious estate, now he is alive he will
not be wanting to you.
Use 1. Is information. Learn hence divers truths : —
1. What is the fountain of spiritual life, to wit, the life of Christ ;
and, therefore, it is called the life of God, and the life of Christ, in
many places of scripture : ' Alienated from the life of God/ Eph. iv. 18 ;
It is God and Christ that liveth, and liveth in us, Eph. iii. 17;
and Col. iii. 3, * Your life is hid with Christ in God/ and ' Christ
that liveth in me/ Gal. ii. 20. Again, ' When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear/ Col. iii. 4. As things are hid in their causes, flowers
in their root, till their appearance at spring, so the glory of spiritual
life is hid in its cause and fountain.
2. That true believers cannot wholly fall away. Christ liveth for
ever, and, therefore, they shall live for ever ; the life of Christ cannot
wholly be abolished in them. When you can dig up the spring and
fountain, then grace may wither, and you may be lost in a seducement
and a temptation, but now you are kept by the power of an endless
life. The perpetuity of the saints, if it had no other ground but this,
would remain unshaken ; therefore, it is said, ' We are preserved in
Jesus Christ/ Jude ] . Christ's life is their life, and Christ's life is
euch a numberless age, that none can count it.
360 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIIL 8.
3. That Christ is a fit object for worship and service. Every being
is the more noble, the more life it hath in it ; the life of things is the
commendation of them : Eccles. ix. 4, ' A living dog is better than a
dead lion;' better, that is, more noble. Now, since Christ hath the
noblest and the highest being, he liveth for ever. The scriptures
often call upon us to trust in the living God : Ps. xlii. 2, ' My
soul thirsteth for the living God/ Who would go to the dead cistern,
and leave the living fountain ? Alas ! what is a man the better for a
dead idol ? All the satisfaction of the spirit lieth in the life of him
whom we worship. Now Christ is not only living, but living for ever.
Your hopes in him will not run waste. A prince, whose breath is in
his nostrils, may uphold his favourites during his life, but upon his
death they may be brought from the crown of their excellency to the
dust of scorn and ignominy ; but Jesus Christ never dieth. As Bath-
sheba said to David, 1 Kings i. 21, ' When my lord the king shall
sleep with his fathers, I and my son Solomon shall be counted
offenders.' All their care and cost is lost ; but it cannot be so with
Jesus Christ ; he liveth to make you everlastingly happy.
Use 2. Is for the discovery of hypocrites, that pretend to Christ,
but live as if Christ were in the grave still, as if he were a dead
Christ, as if there were no life nor virtue in him.
But how shall we know what is the life of Christ ? I answer — By
three things : there will be freeness, and there will be power, and
there will be likeness to Christ.
1. There will be freeness towards God. The heart is sweetly drawn
out to comply with the mind of Christ. Christ doth not live in you,
if there be not a willingness in you to be like him. The Spirit of
Christ supplieth the place of a law in such a soul : Horn. viii. 2,
' For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death.' Outward letters and the rule could
not make him free, and disentangle him from his corruptions, but the
Spirit of the Lord Jesus evangelising the law of God, did. The law
is made gospel by the Spirit in the life of Christ; it giveth the heart
a sweet liberty and freedom towards God. The tears of those that
pray are sweeter than the joys of the theatre.
2. There will be power, there will be something besides cold forms
and slight pretences ; 2 Tim. iii. 5, ' Having a form of godliness, but
denying the power/ That which the apostle calleth the power arid
force of godliness is a real impression and operation upon the heart ;
there will be somewhat besides empty profession and barren specula
tion ; there will be somewhat that you may call power and ' mighty
working,' as the apostle calleth it everywhere. Now, when there is no
working upon the spirit answerable to knowledge or pretences, what a
dead Christ do such make him !
3. There will be likeness to Christ. Christ as surely liveth in
believers now, as he once lived upon the earth in his own person.
And you know three things were eminent in the person of Christ
when on earth : — Obedience to his Father : he often professeth that he
came to do the will of his Father : John iv. 34, * My meat is to do
the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.' But we drink
in iniquity like water ; our meat and drink is to sin against the
ISA. LIII. 8.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 361
Father. That is the meaning of that phrase before mentioned, Job
xv. 16. Then for his humility : 'Learn of me, for I am meek and
lowly in heart/ Mat. xi. 29. He could have given the world another
pattern : Learn of me, for I made the world ; I can do wonders. But
Christ would teach this lesson, Not as I am mighty, but meek : Phil,
ii. 5, ' Let this mind be in you which was also in Jesus Christ.'
What was that ? A humble mind, as you may see in the context.
And then usefulness : that was eminent in him ; he went about doing
good. Laziness and selfishness were abhorred by him. If Christ
would make Christians more useful, he would still act according to
his old copy, and live over his life in their hearts again. Search
then ; is the living God a dead thing to you ?
Use 3. For reproof to the people of God, that do not draw out
this life of Christ. Believers, Christ should not only live in heaven,
but he should live in you also : * Not I, but Christ that liveth in me,'
Gal. ii. 20. Christians are to blame especially in their conflicts with
sin, and the difficulties of duty, and the hardships of the world, and
they faint under miseries, as if there were not a living Christ, whence
they might fetch comfort. A Christian should say, The Lord liveth,
and blessed be my Kock. You should make his power useful in
your worst condition ; your lives should be nothing else but a dis
covery of the life of Christ in yourselves : 2 Cor. iv. 10, the apostle
saith that he suffered terrible things with a courageous heart, ' That the
life also of Jesus might be manifested in our body/ Noble actings of
grace hold forth the life of Christ, as effects discover the cause. And
by your conversations it should appear there is one liveth in heaven.
Use 4. Is consolation in all conditions. Is it sin that is grievous
to you ? doth it leave a wound upon the soul ? There is one that
liveth in heaven ; that prays for the binding up of your souls, and
for the healing of the wounded spirit ; he is negotiating the matter
with God for you. Is it death ? Christ liveth, though you die ;
and though you were dead, yet shall you live : Hosea vi. 2, ' After two
days he will revive us ; in the third day he will raise us up, and we
shall live in his sight.' Are friends dead ? Kemember your Friend
in heaven liveth for ever. Are your hopes dead as Sarah's womb
and Abraham's body? Yet Christ is alive still. Succours may
miscarry, supports may fail, violence may cut off your comforts ; but
110 hand of iniquity can reach Jesus Christ. He liveth for ever with
God in glory.
Use 5. Is exhortation to believers : —
1. To wait for the like privileges. Oh, who shall count your
generation when you shall come to share with Christ ? You know
the longings of Christ's heart towards you, and that you shall behold
his glory : John xvii. 24, ' Father, I will that they also whom thou
hast given me may be where I am, that they may behold my glory/
You are to enjoy the same endless life of bliss and glory. Oh, groan
and wait for the consolation of the saints in heaven. For the present
you have rich privileges, but alas ! this is nothing : ' It doth not yet
appear what we shall be, but we know when he shall appear, we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is,' 1 John iii. 2.
2. Possess your souls of this life of Christ, and by faith see your-
362 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 9.
selves in him : Bom. vi. 10, c Keckon ye also yourselves dead indeed
unto sin, but alive unto God/ Dead first in his death, then raised
in his resurrection, and at last glorified in his glory. All these acts
of the Mediator must pass out into your souls ; first I was dead to
the law, dead to sin, dead to the curse ; but then, shall live and die
no more.
3. Strive to be conformed to your head. He is to die no more ;
do not you die any more in sin. There is in every action of Christ
influence and matter of imitation: influence, of which you must
possess youselves ; but matter of imitation is that to which you must
be conformed. Oh, strive to keep in the same condition with your
dear Lord and Saviour. If death hath no more dominion over him, ' let
not sin reign in your mortal bodies/ Kom. vi. 12. From the same
enforcement the apostle urgeth it ; and indeed for a motive you can
have no better than what the subject offereth. Christ would not only
suffer for you for a time, but lives for your sake for ever. Christ
spendeth all his time to do you good.
THE NINTH VERSE,
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his
death ; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit
in his mouth.
THE prophet goeth on with the account of Christ's sufferings, and
showeth that he should at length be humbled to the grave, and
brought thither in a most ignominious manner. Yet, however, there
was no cause why the Jews should stumble at it, and dash the foot of
their faith against this rock, for God had made provision ample
enough against this offence and scandal. Even his grave, that seemed
to obscure his glory, did in some measure illustrate it : 'He made his
grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, because,' &c.
Here are in this verse, as in many of the former, two parts con
siderable: —
1. The Jews' scandal : he made his grave with the wicked.
2. The prophet's defence, which you have —
[1 .] By the circumstances which made for the glory of Christ : and
with the rich in his death.
[2.] By asserting his innocency —
(1.) In respect of open and gross sins : he hath done no violence.
(2.) In respect of secret and hidden sins : neither ivas any deceit
found in his mouth. All these parts will more plainly appear in
the explication. There are no verses have been so severally ex
pounded as this and the former. I should perplex your thoughts too
much to give you the differences. Some distinct senses there are : I
shall only give you what I conceive to be the positive and plain sense,
by going over the phrases.
ISA. LIII. 9.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 363
And he made. There may be a question to whom this he must be
referred, for the number being so often changed, we can have no relief
from the context. There are three persons spoken of in the chapter :
God the Father, God the Son, and the Jews. If this he be applied to
God the Father, then the sense is, he dispensed and ordered it so by his
providence that his grave should be appointed among the wicked ;
and so it points at the divine decrees, which implied that Christ
should be executed as an offender, and be buried in an ignominious
manner, as other offenders are, for aught could be discerned at first.
This suiteth with the Seventy, who bring in God the Father speaking
this clause, though they read the sentence a little otherwise than we
do: Scoaco TOU? irovrjpovs, &c., ' I will give the wicked for his grave.'
Or it may be referred to God the Son, — his patience, who submitted
so, as it seemed to hold forth nothing but as if he were to have had
the burial of an ordinary malefactor, he submitting to it till a further
declaration of God's pleasure ; a man could have guessed nothing else.
Or, he made, may be referred to the people of the Jews ; they did as
much as in them lay that Christ should have the burial of a wicked
man : * He made/ that is, by their ordination. You may take either
or all very commodiously. It followeth, 'and with the rich in his
death/ There is a great deal ado about what is meant by rich. Some
understand the term, as Calvin, equivalent with the wicked ; because
riches puff up men's minds and dispose them to injury and violence.
Junius understands Pilate ; others have different apprehensions of the
place. I shall take liberty to recede from them ; for by this phrase,
* the rich in his death/ I understand Joseph of Arimathea ; and the
meaning I conceive thus, that though at his crucifixion his grave
was intended to be with ordinary malefactors, yet God ordered it so
that he should be honourably interred by a rich person, Joseph of
Arimathea : * With the rich in his death/ that is, after his death.
And my reasons for this interpretation are two : —
1. Because the word for rich, aasir, in the Hebrew, is in the sin
gular number, and so noteth some eminent rich man that had to do
about the grave and sepulchre of Christ ; and that was Joseph of
Arimathea.
2. Because the evangelist Matthew seemeth,, as with a finger, to
point to this place when he saith, Mat. xxvii. 57, * When the evening
was come, there was a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also
himself was Jesus' disciple, and he went to Pilate and begged the
body of Jesus.' And besides, the place is most sweetly and without
wresting opened. And, indeed, the following words yield us a twofold
reason : —
[1.] Because God would right his innocency in the midst of calum
nies and reproaches. God would not have an innocent buried among
malefactors ; and, therefore, by the care of Joseph and Nicodemus, he
would have it testified to the world that there were some thought him
innocent and worthy of an honourable burial.
[2.] It may well be to show the suitableness of it. He would have a
new kind of man laid in a new grave, in which no man was ever laid.
It could be said of no man but Christ that no iniquity and guile was
found in him ; and therefore he was put in a sepulchre in which no
364 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 9.
man was laid. For now God began to honour Christ because he
had done no violence. In Peter, it is, ' Who did no sin ; ' for
indeed the word must be taken so generally, avoids. It is meant,
no gross fact could be charged upon him ; neither was there deceit
in his mouth ; that is, he was guilty of no secret evil : for no guile in
the mouth argueth there was none in the heart — there being a swift
intercourse between the heart and the tongue : James iii. 2, * If any
man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the
whole body/
Thus for the phrases. The sum of all is this, that though the
Messiah was taken away by a shameful death, and therefore likely to
be looked upon as an eminent instance of divine wrath and vengeance,
yet the Lord provided for his glory in the midst of this ignominy, by
procuring such a sepulchre and burial for him as might set out not
only his innocency but his honour ; for he indeed was without fault
and blame.
There is not much to be observed out of this verse, yet that which
is, is very comfortable, and therefore in the general take these notes.
1. There is a sweet harmony and accord between the Old and New
Testament ; they agree in the least things. Isaiah saith, ' He made
his grave with the rich ; ' and Matthew saith, ' a rich man of Arima-
thea came and begged his body/ So in other things you may observe
there is an agreement in those things which a man would judge to be
of least consequence.
Note 2. That every passage of Christ's life is considerable ; as this
concerning the account of his burial. A man would have thought it
had not been so worthy of observation, and yet the prophet speaketh
of it as an eminent circumstance, and you shall see much use may be
made of it by and by. So, for Christ's name, Mat. i. 23, * They shall
call his name Emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is, God with us/
So the offering for him a pair of turtle-doves and two young pigeons.
Man would easily overlook these things, yet the Holy Ghost thought
them worthy the noting. Oh, study Christ's life more; there is no waste
passage in it. But what benefit is there in the text? I shall not here
give you doctrines, as I did from the other verses, but direct you, for
your comfort, to look upon Christ under a threefold notion, viz., as
our surety, as a pattern of providence, and as a great example.
1. As a surety ; so there are two clauses that afford comfort to
believers : —
EL.] That ' he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich
is death/ That expression, * He made his grave with the wicked/
holdeth forth the payment of the debt, and full evidence of his satis
faction. Your surety suffered in your stead. ' Cursed is every one
that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the
law to do them/ And the Lord Christ was accursed to redeem us
from the curse of the law. But I shall chiefly take notice of this cir
cumstance, ' And with the rich in his death/ After Christ had once
died, God began to honour him : full satisfaction being made to God,
and the reproach and shame due to sins taken away ; after death he
had an honourable interment. Of all people, the Jews did most look
to burials. It was a great threatening that they should die unburied:
ISA. LIII. 9.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 365
Prov. xxx. 17, ' The eye that mocketh at his father, the ravens of the
valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it ;' alluding to
the shameful death and burial of the disobedient son. And again,
Ps. Ixxix. 3, There should be * none to bury him.' And Jer. xxii. 19,
* He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth
beyond the gates of Jerusalem.' But now Christ had not only a
decent but an honourable burial. Well, then, Christians, here is
encouragement for your faith. Christ was honoured as soon as he died :
the work is ended — the last act of his humiliation was the first step
to his exaltation, and there began his triumph and glory. Joseph
and Nicodemus, two of his devout followers, they celebrate his
funerals, and bury him with such solemnities as are due to persons of
the greatest honour. Well, then, conclude in faith, that by Christ's
death, shame, and sufferings, sin is done away. Christians were wont
to solemnise their funerals with psalms of thanksgiving. You may
remember Christ's funeral with rejoicing and giving of thanks : there
you have the first intimation that the work was finished, sins were
satisfied for, shame and reproach began to vanish. 0 you redeemed
of the Lord, go forth and rejoice. God beginneth to take off the
ignominy of Christ's death, and thereby your ignominy and your
shame. So that now, ' In him we have boldness and access with con
fidence by the faith of him/ Eph. iii. 12 ; that is, you may freely have
communion and social commerce with God, your shame being gone ;
God hath branded sin with shame. Adam hid himself ; the captains
and great men called to the mountains to cover them from the wrath
of the Lamb, they could not endure the sight of God. Guilt maketh
a fallen countenance, and causeth a shyness of God. Now you may
lift up your heads, your shame is taken away.
[2.] From that clause, ' Because he had done no violence, neither
was any deceit in his mouth.' Your surety was a pure person — he
had no guilt of his own to satisfy for, and so it yieldeth not only an
encouragement to faith, but an endearment of love to Christ. All
these sufferings were for you, there is nothing that can argue a need
for himself to do it. The scriptures everywhere urge and testify this :
1 John iii. 5, ' And ye know that he was manifested to take away our
sins, and in him is no sin/ All his sufferings were for some cause :
there was nothing to occasion them in himself, it must therefore be for
our sins: 1 Peter iii. 18, cFor Christ hath also once suffered for sin,
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.' It was for
sins he suffered, and therefore certainly for ours, for he had none of
his own. Urge it then upon your hearts, both as an encouragement
to faith and an endearment to love. It was a pure Christ that
suffered, and therefore certainly for such an impure wretch as I am —
the just for the unjust. Keason thus: Surely God is just; Christ
undergoing so great sufferings, and yet possessed of great purity,
certainly died for great sinners.
2. As a pattern of providence. God meant to copy out all dispen
sations in the life of Christ. Learn then : —
[1.] That we must not always look upon the face of providence
and eye present appearances. ' He made his grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death.' A man would have thought that
366 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 9.
Christ should have had an ignominious burial, and that none would
have contributed to his glory ; but the rich man begged his body from
the cross, and God turns his grave into his glory. Oh, do not look
to present appearance ; you know not what a mercy may be couched
under the frowns of providence. John ii. 7, Christ calleth for water-
pots when he meant to give them wine ; and John xi. 6, when he
meant to restore Lazarus from the dead by a miracle, he would not
vouchsafe to go and see him ; he abode still two days in the same
place. When God designed to honour Christ with a funeral, he
meant to order it so that the Jews looked for nothing else but the
burial of an ass. Thus God many times seems to hide himself, and
when we seek for him, he is not to be found : Eccles. xi. 4, * He that
observeth the wind shall not sow, arid he that regardeth the clouds
shall not reap.' If you look always upon the face of outward things,
the heart will be discouraged with the louring of Providence.
[2.] Learn what reason you have to wait upon God when things are
at the worst. There was no appearance for Christ till things came to
the worst. Joseph begged his body when dead upon the cross : ' He
was with the rich in his death ; ' Job xiii. 15, ' Though he slay me,
yet will I trust in him/ God can of a sudden turn things, and dis
appoint the devices and counsels of wicked men, even when they
think all is sure. Therefore wait upon God, and see what event he
will give to things. When the Jews thought every one would be
ashamed of Christ, up start Joseph and Nicodemus, and boldly begged
his body. There was death first before God would do him honour.
3. Look upon him as the great example ; so there is benefit in the
last clause : ' For he had done no violence, neither was there deceit in
his mouth.' This is your pattern : 1 Peter ii. 21, 22, ' Because
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should fol
low his steps, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth/
Oh that we could write after this fair copy that Christ hath set us,
that we might be ' holy as he was holy in all manner of conversation,'
1 Peter i. 15, in every turning of our lives. I would not that you
should lose the benefit of this instruction for want of making it par
ticular. I shall set home this pattern by the two words of the text,
violence and deceit. None of this was found in Christ.
[1.] Violence. Take heed of that. There is violence in the spirit,
manifested by wrath, revenge, boisterousness of passion, affection. Oh,
what an unbecoming thing is it for men to deliver themselves over to
the sway of their own passions ! James i. 20, ' The wrath of man worketh
not the righteousness of God.' The meaning is, such a heart is not fit
to serve God ; it will not reach righteousness. God must have always
service proportionate. God, that is a spirit, must be served in spirit
and in truth ; the God of peace with peace, with a peaceable, calm
spirit : 1 Tim. ii. 8, * Lifting up holy hands without wrath and
doubting.' Then there is violence in the tongue, showed in bitterness,
reviling, reproaches. This was far from Christ ; he did no violence.
This becometh the sons of the world rather than the sons of God.
Surely such wolfish dispositions do ill become them that are related to
the Lamb, the Lamb slain for the sins of the world. Where is your
warrant for this in the life of Christ? Gal. v. 15, * If ye bite and de-
ISA. LIII. 9.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 367
vour one another, take heed ye be not consumed one of another.' You
learn it of the wolf or the old dragon, not of the Lamb. The apostle
useth such a word as implieth such bitterness as is brutish. Then
in practice, by oppression, invading of another's right and property.
There was no such thing in Christ. He would not intrench upon the
magistrate's office : John viii. 11, ' Neither do I condemn thee ; go and
sin no more.' Not in respect of guilt, for he saith, * Sin no more/
But the meaning is, he would not meddle with her punishment ; it
was none of his office, and therefore he would not in the least manner
encroach upon another's right. Learn of Christ, who did no violence.
[2.] There was no deceit found in his mouth. Take heed also of
that. Be like Christ. It is said of Nathanael, John i. 47, ' Behold
an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.' Why an Israelite
indeed ? Because, like old Israel, like old Jacob ; for it is said of
him, Gen. xxv. 27, ' Jacob was a plain man, and dwelt in tents/
So here ; we are Christians indeed when without guile, when we are
like Christ, for no deceit was found in him. There is deceit in heart,
which the scripture calleth guile of spirit : Ps. xxxii. 2, ' Blessed is
the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose
spirit there is no guile/ Take heed of this deceitful heart. We
must take heed we drive not on a self-design in all our respects to
God and men ; and when we pretend to zeal in worship, that it is not
to serve ourselves of it. Kev. xiv. 5, it is said of the Lamb's fol
lowers, that ' in their mouth was found no guile ; ' they are without
fault before the throne of God, Heb. iv. 12. Wait upon the word, for
that is ' a divider between soul and spirit, and of the joints and mar
row, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intention of the heart ; ' that
is, between fairness of pretences, and vileness of affection and base
ness of intents. And there is deceit in the mouth when men dis
semble for advantage. You did not learn this of Jesus Christ. As
Doeg glavered upon David, to tell Saul of it : Ps. cxx.3, * What shall
be done unto thee, thou false tongue ? ' Though he told the truth,
yet he flattered with David, that he might observe his carriage, and
relate it to Saul : Ps. lii. 4, ' Thou lovest all devouring words, 0 thou
deceitful tongue.' Then for practice, many give out specious pretences,
as if they were what indeed they are not. Be what you would be ac
counted to be. It is hypocrisy that overacts to the world. We know
counterfeit gold because it looketh so yellow : 2 Sam. xv. 6, Absalom
stole hearts of the men of Israel by flattery, and fair but false pre
tences. But we should eye our pattern. That is true religion, to imi
tate him whom we worship.
368 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 10.
THE TENTH VEKSE.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he hath put him to grief:
ivhen thou shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his
seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand.
THE prophet is still dealing with the Jews' scandals. Unbelief will
easily take up any pretence to justify itself. And therefore when there
was so much ground for their prejudice against Christ, as such mean
ness and so many sufferings, these vain pleas could not easily be
removed out of their minds ; and that is the reason why he speaketh
to it again in this verse, that he might further discover their folly,
because they would suffer their thoughts to stay in the outward ap
pearance of things, not considering how God bringeth about many
times his greatest designs in a riddle and mystery,, and wraps up the
good and salvation of his people under a veil of contradictions. God
the Father is the wronged party, and he that hath to- do with pardon :
Kom. iii. 26, He is * the justifier of them that believe in Jesus.' The
prophet telleth them in this verse that Christ should live by dying,
gain by his bruises and sufferings ;. that which was likely to disaffect
the world against him,, should draw them into his obedience. Where
the work of the Lord seemed to miscarry, there it should prosper in
his hands. The great expectation was that the Lord should bruise
the head of the serpent ; yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Christ.
Look to the design of God, and you shall see sufferings are not mat
ter of scandal, but admiration. It is no good rule to measure the in
tents of God by the looks and face of things. Whilst you look only
to the outward meanness and sufferings of Christ, you overlook the
design of God in him. ' It pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he hath
put him to grief,' &c. The wards contain divers arguments and de
fences against the scandals taken up against Christ by the Jews.
1. The will of God : it pleased the Lord to bruise him, he hath put
him to grief; that is the cause of his sufferings.
2. The nature of his suffering : when thou shalt make his soul an
offering for sin.
3. The fruits of his suffering, and they are three: —
[1.] The propagation of his spiritual seed : he shall see his seed.
!2.] The prolongation of his life : he shall prolong his days.
3.] The promulgation of the will of God in his hands : the plea
sure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. This will be clear to you
by going over the phrases.
Tremellius has it, Delectatus est Dominus, the Lord delighted to
bruise him. The Seventy, to mend the harshness of the phrase, render
it, ' It pleased the Lord to cleanse him ; ' but that is a mistake of
the word, which among the Chaldees signifieth to cleanse ; and there
is no reason why we should fear to say that the Lord designed to sub
ject his Son to bruisings and to grief, since the great comfort of Chris
tians dependeth upon it. That these things did not happen by
chance, or against the will of God, as something that he did not care
ISA. LIU. 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 360
for, or would abhor. The Lord's pleasure was fulfilled in all these
sufferings, though these wicked men that brought them upon Christ
had other intentions. And that decision of Lombard and other school
men is very derogatory to the truth of the gospel and the comfort of
believers, when they say, God would only discover the virtues of
Christ, and the fruits of his sufferings, and the malice of the Jews ; as
if the sufferings of Christ were beside God's intention and design.
But the acts of their malice are ascribed to the ordination of God : ' It
pleased the Lord to bruise him and to put him to grief.' And suit
able to this, it is very observable in the New Testament, that those
words which imply their malice do also imply God's appointment.
Pilate delivered him, Judas delivered him, and God delivered him :
Mat. xxvii. 2, Trap&wicev, * And delivered him to Pontius Pilate the
governor.' And then it is said of Pilate, in the 26th verse, that he
* loosed ' or ' released Barabbas,' irap&uHcev, and delivered Christ to
be crucified. And Judas delivered him : Mat. xxvi. 15, ' I will deliver
him to you.' And Christ, speaking of Judas, says, John xix. 11, 'There
fore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.' And the same
word is used of God's disposal of Christ, Horn. viii. 32, ' He spared not
his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.' And again, of the Jews,
Acts iii. 13, TrapeScofcare, 'Whom ye delivered up.' The priests for envy,
Judas for gain, the people in blind zeal, and Pilate to keep up his esteem
among the Jews, but God to make out his own ends for the salvation
of his people. And always delivered or betrayed is expressed by the
same word, which is the rather to be noted, because the scriptures, riot
in one place only, but in many, use the same action and expression.
And therefore, without any stain or blot upon divine justice, we may
say, ' The Lord delighted to bruise him and to put him to grief; ' for
he had a great hand in all that was done to Christ. It followeth : —
' When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin ; ' or, as it is more
properly in the margin, * When his soul shall make an offering for
sin : ' this clause being to be referred to God the Son ; for the Lord
Christ was not unwillingly subjected to bruises and griefs, but volun
tarily submitted himself to the pleasure of his Father's will, and gave
himself to die for us : Gal. ii. 20, ' He made his soul (ascham), sin/
as it is in the Hebrew, it being a usual property of scripture-phrase to
call the sin-offering sin. Thus it is said, 2 Cor. v. 21, ' For he hath
made him to be sin for us ; ' that is, a sin-offering. And thus you
may understand that of the apostle, Kom. viii. 3, ' God sending his
own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin
in the flesh/ By a sin-offering, which was Christ, he abolished and
took away sin. I should pass over this phrase, but that I cannot
choose but note to you the conditionality of this expression, ' When he
shall make his soul an offering for sin.' Erdb some read it — if thou
wilt do thus and thus. It implieth the covenant between God and
Christ. There is not only a covenant between God and believers, but
between God and Christ ; as I shall show more fully hereafter, when I
observe the abundant usefulness of that consideration. But it followeth
in the text : —
He shall see his seed. This is the third reason why the death of
Christ should not be accounted infamous and ignominious to him. The
VOL. in. 2 A
370 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. L1II. 10.
meaning is, he shall beget to himself a great many children by the
immortal seed of the word and the power of his Spirit, which are
called his seed ; and it is said he shall see them, he shall live to see
how the word is propagated throughout all ages. I conceive in this
expression the prophet alludeth to the desire of the Hebrew fathers, who
were for living so long as they might see a numerous issue come from
their loins. And therefore it is spoken of as a very desirable blessing :
Ps. cxxviii. 6, ' Thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon
Israel.' Or, if you will, this expression may refer to Isaac, who, though
God commanded to be offered, yet he promised that ' his seed should
be multiplied as the stars of heaven and the sand on the sea- shore ; '
and all this upon his death. That which seemed to cut off other
men's hopes should increase Christ's. As he saith himself, John xii.
24, ' Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone ; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.' So Christ by his
death, like the root in the ground, perisheth, that he may bring forth
fruit. But it is added : —
He shall prolong his days ; that is, he shall live for ever. Some
refer it to his seed, — he shall prolong the days of his seed : so the
Seventy. But probably it is to be referred to Christ, though the com
fort also belongeth to the faithful ; their days shall be prolonged in the
life of Christ, and they shall be eternal in his eternity.
The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands ; that is, the
will of the Lord. The will of the Lord for your redemption, justifica
tion, sanctifi cation, the conversion of the world, the collection of a
church, whatever you may call the will of God. Any design of his
shall prosper in the hand of Christ ; anything in the grand design of
reconciliation ; that is, by his strength, or by his ministry and dispen
sation : both these are called a hand in scripture ; as it is said, Num.
xxxvi. 13, God published the law by the hand of Moses ; ' These are
the commandments and judgments which the Lord commanded by the
hand of Moses unto the children of Israel/ So ' prosper in his hand ; '
that is, by his ministry and dispensation.
Thus I have gone through the phrases. I have been the larger, be
cause I shall a little stay upon this text. I do not find a verse in the
scriptures that doth yield more consolation and comfort to Christians
than this doth. Here is the Father's ordination, the Son's voluntary
susception, God's covenant with Christ ; Christ is a sacrifice for sin.
Here is the promulgation of the gospel, the life of Christ, and the
pleasure of the Lord. Oh, what a heap of sweetness is here, if we had
the skill to draw out the comfort of it !
I begin with the first : ' Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he
hath put him to grief/ The point is, that all the sufferings of Jesus
Christ were laid on him by the ordination and appointment of God
the Father.
It was the Lord bruised him, and put him to grief ; that is, it was
by the Lord's appointment and decree. This appears by scripture,
which asserts —
1. The choice of Christ's person, and the designation and deputa
tion of him to the office of Mediator. As Isa. xlii. 1, ' Behold my ser
vant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth ; 1 have
ISA. "LITI. 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 371
put my Spirit upon him.' God would show election in Christ first:
the cause of his appearing in our salvation was God's choice : John
vi. 27, ' Him hath God the Father sealed ; ' that is, expressly appointed,
marked out for such a design. So it is set forth, Rom. iii. 25, ' Whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation for our sins.' So 1 Peter i.
20, ' Who verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world,
but was manifest in these last times for you.' The plot of the gospel
was long since drawn in heaven, and lay hid in God's breast, till he
was pleased to copy out his eternal thoughts, and give the world a
draught of them.
2. The bestowing the person of Christ upon us, so that he was
made ours, as it were ; which is expressed in scripture by God's sending
his Son : John iii. 16, ' God so loved the world that he gave his only-
begotten Son.' He disposed of his person, to be handled so as might
make most for your good. And, therefore, in other places he is said
to send his Son : 1 John iv. 10, 'He sent his Son to be the propitia
tion for our sins.' God despatched him on that great errand. And in
this sense is the apostle's phrase, Rom. viii. 32, He ' spared not his
own Son.' He would not dismiss him from serving his design, though
it rendered him liable to wrath and sufferings. Gave, sent, would not
spare ; all these words imply the execution of the decree according to
the design of God.
3. The determining of all the sufferings of Christ ; not a sorrow,
but God had it in his thoughts before all worlds. Every bruise and
stroke was a further discovery of his eternal counsel : Acts ii. 23,
* Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge
of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.'
Mark it, wpta-fievr} (Bov\r) teal Trpoyvcoaei. There was an express counsel
for that, even the greatest mischief their wickedness could execute
upon Christ ; they had other thoughts than to conform to God's will,
yet they did but discover it, and draw it out to the world : Luke xxii.
22, ' The Son of man goeth as it was determined.' Which checketh
our laziness, that we do no more consider the several actions of Christ,
they being all appointed and ordered in much counsel by the Father :
Acts iv. 27, 28, ' Of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou
hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and
the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done/ What
Herod and the Jews, and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles did, was
all that God would have to be done. Every particular was conceived
and devised in the decree of God, and so necessary to be fulfilled ;
' For who hath resisted his will ?' Rom. ix. 19. God will cause the
decree to bring forth, and the world shall see what is conceived in the
womb of his counsels.
4. There are some expressions which seem to imply as if there were
more than a bare knowledge and permission in this great affair, as if
there were some kind of action in Christ's sufferings. As here, ' It
pleased the Lord to bruise him, and to put him to grief ; ' Zech. xiii.
7, ' Awake, 0 sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that
is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts ; smite the shepherd, and the
sheep shall be scattered.' God is said to awake and stir up the sword
372 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 10.
against Christ, which implieth more than a bare suffering, some kind
of efficiency and concurrent act of God to the bruising and grief of
Christ. For that place is meant of Christ, my shepherd and my
fellow ; there is no shepherd that is God's fellow but Christ. Besides,
Christ applieth it to himself : Mat. xxvi. 31, ' For it is written, I will
smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered/ It
will be worthy the inquiring, then, what acts of God, what efficiency
there was from him towards the sufferings of Christ ?
1. Thus far God concurred, by a withdrawing of his presence and
the sight of his favour ; so God might be said to put him to grief
indeed, for so Christ complaineth, Mat. xxvii. 46, * My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me ? ' That was the greatest torment that
could be upon Christ's spirit. His humanity would not have been
sensible of all the other sorrows, if there were not a suspension of that
joy and comfort which otherwise he might have taken in the union of
the Godhead. I say, in this sense God may be said to put him to
grief, by the withdrawing of his love and presence of grace from his
apprehension.
2. By sustaining the wicked instruments in their natures, beings,
and actings, whilst they were drawing out their spite and violence
against Christ : Acts xvii. 28, ' In him we live, and move, and have
our beings/ It is by his concurrence the action is brought forth.
God could have blasted the hand of violence, blown them all into
nothing, even in the heat of their fury against his Son ; but the Lord
upheld them in their beings and actings. As Christ said to Pilate,
John xix. 11, * Thou couldst have no power at all against rne, except
it were given thee from above/ If there were not some leave and con
cession from heaven, they could do nothing. God can suspend the
actions of the creature at his pleasure, as he did the fire from burning
when the three children were in it. And therefore so far God con
curred to the supporting of the creature in acts of violence and sin
against Christ : men have not a power of themselves, separate from
a providential assistance, to operate or exercise any power in them.
Though God doth not take away their power, yet if he doth not co
operate with their power, nothing will be done ; as the beasts stood
still when the wheels stood still, Ezek. i. 21. When God stands still,
all second causes are silent, and move not at that time. And though
he does not dissolve their beings, he can suspend their motion, if he
will not work with them. There is his concurrence to the action,
though not to the pravity and wickedness of it. I conceive that is
dangerous and unsafe to say.
3. By serving his love and glory by their wickedness, that bruised
and afflicted Christ. God would not have permitted it if he did not
know how to make good use of it, and how he might reduce it by his
goodness and wisdom to his glory. So far he would uphold them in
their actings as to serve his purposes of salvation, and to cause his
pleasure to prosper. It pleased the Lord to bruise Christ, that he
might bruise the serpent. His aim was at his head, though Christ's
heel was bruised in the enterprise : Gen. iii. 15, 'It shall bruise thy
head, and thou shalt bruise his heel/ God cloth make sin itself to
turn to his own glory. As Gregory said of Adam's fall, it was falix
ISA. LIII. 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 373
culpa, because it made way for such a Eedeemer as Christ, because it
made way for his redemption ; as the apostle said, Rom. iii. 5, ' Our
unrighteousness commendeth the righteousness of God.' And such
efficiency there was about evil, though not of evil, that God might
bring good out of it, and dispose of it for the advantage of his own
counsels and intents. And so he may be said to awake the sword
against the shepherd that was his fellow, as justly pursuing the effect
of his own decrees.
The reasons of this point are : —
1. Because all things fall under his decrees and the care of his pro
vidence, and therefore certainly this matter of Christ does. See that
place, Eph. i. 11, he ' worketh all things after the counsel of his own
will ;' the meaning is, there is nothing done in the world but God may
be said to work it ; he doth it by counsel and by the counsel of his
own will, in a wise order and freely, as God pleaseth and as he seeth
best. God's will and counsel is the ground of all things. Mark the
generality of the expression, all things ; nothing so low and frivolous
but God's will taketh cognisance of it ; nothing so wicked but God
will order and dispose it for good : Mat. x. 29, * Not a sparrow shall
fall upon the ground without your Father ; and every hair of your
head is numbered.' Nothing so sinful as Judas's act and Pilate's, yet
it was determined ; God's hand and counsel intended it. Whatever
is done is done in reference to some foregoing decree.
2. Because this was the special design and contrivance of heaven
to bring forth Christ into the world ; all other dispensations looked this
way. Adam's fall, God's providence through so many ages, did but
tend to help on this great birth, and therefore this design of Christ is
called by the apostle, Eph. iii. 10, ' The manifold wisdom of God.'
All that variety and intermixture of providences was but in pursuance
of his design : 1 Tim. iii. 16, ' Without controversy great is the
mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh/ This was the great
contrivance, the masterpiece of heaven, that discovered most of God to
the creatures. It was much when God made man after his own image
and likeness, the wonder of nature ; yet it was more when God made
himself after our image. That is a wonder indeed. The apostle
would have it carried above all exception by all Christians. There
fore, it was especially in heaven designed by God.
Object How is the creature to blame, then, for smiting and bruising
of Christ ? Or if to blame, how is God clear ? It was by his ordi
nation and appointment.
Ans. 1. For the creatures' blame ; they are faulty : —
[1.] Because God's secret thoughts and intents are not their rule.
Hidden things belong to God ; and it is he that worketh according to
the counsel of his own will. You must look to the counsel of his
word. Though God got a great deal of glory, yet that was no thanks
to them that crucified Christ ; for because they crucified him, the
wrath of God came upon them to the uttermost, to their ruin and
desolation, 1 Thes. ii. 16.
[2.] They had other ends, though God turned it for good : Acts ii.,
* With wicked hands ye have taken, and crucified, and slain ;' Isa. x.
7, ' Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so ; but
37-1 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIIL 10.
it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few/ Judas's
end was gain, Pilate's to please the people, the high priests' to wreak
their malice ; but God had other ends in it, the salvation of fallen
man.
[3.] God's decrees did not corn-pel them to evil; it implieth things
will be, though it doth not effect them — there is no necessity of con
straint and compulsion, though there be of infallibility. God taketh
not liberty from the creatures, nor contingency from the second causes;
they act their own way, though God turneth it to his own ends ; they
were carried to it by their wickedness. This is the plain decision of
the matter.
2. For the justifying of God when he judgeth. His justice cannot
be impeached, because he infuseth no evil, enforceth to no evil, only
ordaineth what shall be ; his goodness cannot be impeached for suffer
ing things which he can turn to such advantage for his own glory and
the creature's good. And, therefore, as the sun shineth upon a dung
hill without having his beams polluted by it, so God's ordination taketh
in the sin of the creatures without any blemish to itself. God's
decrees are immanent in himself, working nothing that is evil in the
creatures. Other things might be said, but I would not perplex the
matter.
APPLICATION.
Use 1. It serveth to give check to curiosity. Men are bold in their
inquiries, and cavil at such dispensations. Though you cannot see
the reason of them, yet rest in God's appointment: ' It pleased the
Father to bruise him.' You shall find in scripture this is made to be
the last result of all difficulty, the pleasure and will of God : Col. i.
19, ' It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.' If
you would know the reason why the second person should be chosen,
and enriched with the fulness of the Godhead, it pleased the Father.
So for God's liberty in dispensing mercies to babes, passing by wise
men : Mat. xi. 26, 'Even so, Father, because it pleaseth thee.'
Use 2. Is consolation to believers. Here is ample encouragement
for your faith : every grain in the life of Christ should be weighed.
Now this is a material consideration, that he was ordained by God the
Father.
1. That the offended party beginneth first to think of a remedy : 1
John iv. 19, ' He loved us first/ Certainly it is a great relief arid
support to our thoughts ; God thinketh of a pardon before we could
think of the sin. It pleased the Father to take the sufferings of
Christ into his eternal thoughts. Oh, then, when you have offended the
Father, think you have a Christ to present to him, one that he thought
of before all worlds.
2. Here is encouragement. Christ is a sacrifice of the Father's
ordaining. He was pleased to bruise him. Therefore, rejoice and
triumph in believing. You have found him who is acceptable to
God the Father. This is the great inquiry of men, how to appease
God. When they are filled with fears, and a sense of divine wrath,
what would they give to redeem their souls from guilt ? You shall
see the offers of the creature are very large : Micah vi. 6, 7, ' Wherer
.ISA. LIII. 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 375
with shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high
God ? Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings and calves of a
year old ? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, and
ten thousands of rivers of oil ? Shall I give my first-born for my
transgression, and the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ? '
Thus, you see, they bid high. Oh, this will be your disposition when
you are scorched with God's wrath. Anything for a pardon, for a
testimony of his love. How shall you please him ? Though he will
not accept of thy first-born, yet he will of his own Son, whom himself
hath given thee. It is not the creature's shift, but the Lord's appoint
ment. You may be sure here is somewhat will please the Father,;
you have it from heaven : ' This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased.' But God will have all believers know it. Oh, say with
joy then, Job xxxiii. 20, * I have found a ransom.' God will say so
too : it was his ordination for reconciliation.
3. Here is comfort against sins of deliberation. It may be you
have catered for your lusts, and devised wickedness upon your beds.
It is sad when so much of your hearts hath gone out to the ways of
sin. Sins of counsel and premeditation do most sadly wound the
Spirit ; but here is your balm and comfort. Christ was the result of
God's eternal thoughts. The Lord was devising the remedy as well
as we the sin.
Use 3. Is information. It informeth us of divers things.
1. The greatness of God's love: John iii. 16, 'God so loved the
world, that he gave his only-begotten Son/ Christ himself speaketh
of it with admiration. So loved ! as if there were not an expression
great enough to show how much : 1 John iv. 10, ' Herein is love, not
that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be a pro
pitiation for our sins.' If you speak of love, this is love indeed. When
Abraham offered Isaac, and would part with his son, how doth the
Lord make him promises upon it ? Oh, then, consider what it was for
God, of all persons, to choose the second person in the Godhead, his
Son, and to give him up for you — to determine so great sufferings
against him, to awaken the sword against the shepherd his fellow — and
all for your sakes. Consider of it in your thoughts, and let these
thoughts of God be sweet and endearing to you. He was not bound
to it ; you could oblige him by no merits, by no satisfaction you could
make him, — only it pleased him. Oh, study this his love, the dying
love of our dear Redeemer.
2. The ancientness of God's love in Christ. The oldness of love is
the commendation of it ; therefore God saith, Isa. liv. 8, ' With an
everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee.' His pleasure in
Christ was conceived before all worlds. Christ manifested in time
was the effect of an eternal love. You shall see the scriptures
voucheth the ancientness of the promise often : Titus i. 2, 'In hope of
eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world
began.' A promise that went before all time.
3. It teacheth us to bless God the Father for giving and appointing
of Jesus Christ. It is good to look what endearment every person
hath upon our spirits, that so we may keep them up in our thoughts as
a proportioned object for our worship arid respects. Here is the great
376 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. MIL 10-
endearment : — The election of the Father caused the donation of the
Son : Eph. i. 3, ' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ.' Bless him not only as your creator and preserver, but as
the God and Father of Christ.
4. It teacheth us not to look upon the face of things, but upon God's
counsel and intents in them. The foulest acts that ever were in God's
design may serve most holy purposes. Providence is like a double-
faced picture — a monster and a woman : Gen. xlv. 5, ' God sent me
before you to preserve life/ So in all that befalleth you, or what
others do to you out of ill ends, God may work good out of it.
I come now to the second argument — why Christ's death should not
be looked upon as infamous and ignominious to him ; and that is
taken from the manner of his sufferings : ' When thou shalt make his
soul an offering for sin ; ' or * When his soul shall make an offering for
sin/ I shall take notice —
1. Of the form or manner of it.
2. The matter, or what is contained in it.
1. For the form or manner of it. It seemeth to be conditional and
federal, that when Christ would do thus and thus, God would
perform his part to him, and he should enjoy such and such privileges.
The point is —
Doct. That the business of man's salvation was transacted by way
of covenant between God and Christ.
Here is the form of it, that in case Christ would make his soul an
offering for sin, he should see his seed, and prolong his days, and the
pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hands. That this point
may be fully made out to you, I shall use this method : —
1. Show how it may appear that there was such a covenant and
formality of agreement between God and Christ.
2. What this covenant is, and the several ways whereby it doth
appear in scripture.
1. I shall show how it may appear there was such a covenant.
[1.] By such titles given to Christ as do infer it, because he is the
effect or result of it ; as Mai. iii. 1, 'I will send the angel (or
messenger) of the covenant, even the messenger of the covenant whom
ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts/ This
him whom by covenant I have designed to such an office, him whom
by virtue of the compact and agreement I have made with him, I
shall send to you. So you shall see he is called a covenant : Isa. xlii.
6, * And give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the
Gentiles ;' Isa. xlix. 8, 'And give thee for a covenant of the people,
to establish the earth/ Because of the eternal agreement between
God and Christ, he is said to be a covenant ; that is, the foundation
of a covenant between God and believers. His being given for a
covenant, is to be a means to redeem and reconcile them.
[2.] By the words that passed between God and Christ, that are
recorded in scripture. It is very observable that the scripture, for the
relieving of our thoughts and apprehensions, does make all the
passages and debates between God arid Christ to pass by words : so
in this business : Ps. ex., ' Thou art my Son, sit thou at my right
ISA. MIL 10.] THE FIFTY THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 377
hand ; ' Ps. ii. 8, ' Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for
thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy pos
session.' But to this affair in hand, you shall see how God breaketh
the matter to him: Ps. Ixxxix. 19, * Thou spakest in vision to the
Holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty, and
have exalted one chosen out of the people/ Thou speakest in a mystical
way to thy Christ ; God revealeth himself to his Holy One, and said
thus, Lo, the creatures are weak and miserable, never able to recover
themselves into my favour, but thou art mighty ; therefore I shall lay
this charge upon you, to help them. And thereupon you shall see
Christ's answer : Ps. xl. 7, 8, ' Lo, I come ; in the volume of thy book
it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, 0 my God/ Christ
accepted of it, and agreed to the terms, and was willing to do, and
conform to the pleasure of God the Father for poor sinners. So in
this place, if he will do thus and thus, then he shall see his seed, and
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hands.
[3.] It appeareth by the carriage of Christ. The scripture showeth
everywhere that it was according to the covenant God made with him :
he undertook to do all things according to the will of the Father :
John iv. 34, ' My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to
finish his work ; ' and therefore he would punctually keep to the laws
of the covenant. And accordingly he is said to look up to God the
Father for the accomplishment of his promise to him: John x. 18,
* This commandment I received of my Father, that I should lay down
my life : ' I have agreed to it. John xii. 49, ' For I have not spoken
of myself, but the Father that sent me, he gave me a commandment
what I should say, and what I should speak : ' according to the
instructions he received from God, and the tenor of his commission ;
he would not vary from it a tittle. And he goeth to the Father, and
urgeth it to him : John xvii. 4, * I have glorified thee upon earth,
and have finished the work which thou gavest me to do/ He did all
that he was bound to do. So in many other places.
2. What this covenant is. I shall here show you the whole draught
of this transaction. To a covenant there belong four things — two on
the part of the proposer, and two on the part of the undertaker ; and
so in this covenant you will find the scriptures fully discovering these
four things — two on God's part, and two on Christ's. On God's part,
there is the work proposed and the encouragements promised. And
then, on Christ's part, the work is undertaken, and the terms and
promises expected to be fulfilled.
[1.] To begin with that which is God the Father's part, who being
the first in order of persons, is the first covenanter. In the motioning
of a thing, something is required and something promised.
(1.) See what is required then, and what charge is given to Christ.
Help is laid upon the shoulders of Christ. It may be referred to two
heads : —
(1st) He was to do something by way of merit and impetration,
that so he might satisfy the creatures' engagement, and merit the
favour of God for them, which they had forfeited ; and there were
divers steps in this. He was to divest himself of his glory, to strip
378 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 10.
himself of all appearances of the Godhead. And therefore he is said
to he employed as an instrument and servant in the execution of
God's decrees. Hence it is said, Isa. liii. 2, ' He shall grow up before
him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground, having no
form nor comeliness.' Before him ; that is, before God the Father :
ver. 11, 'By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many : '
Isa. xlii. 1, 'Behold my servant, whom I uphold/ To this end he
was to take a body : Heb. x. 5, 4 A body hast thou prepared me.'
And to take flesh of a woman ; and therefore it is said, Gal. iv. 4,
' God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.' He
was to take an office of service and obedience, and then to work all
our works for us. It is said he was made under the law, subjected
to the first covenant of works. He was to be holy, and harmless, and
undefiled, to be exercised with divers sufferings, reproaches, and
injuries ; therefore called ' a man of sorrows,' Isa. liii. 3. And it
became God in this regard to make the captain of our salvation
perfect through sufferings. Then at length to humble himself to the
very death, and in great consternation and agonies to lay down his life,
and to pour out his soul as an offering for sin : and all by the
command of the Father ; that is, by the charge laid upon him by
God. And thus far the merit. He left his glory, taking our nature,
our works, our debts upon himself, and subjected himself to the
wrath of God the Father, that he might make an atonement for the
sins of the world, sufficient for all mankind.
(2dly.) God gave him something touching the application of his merit.
God gave in the names of divers persons, and bade him have a care over
them. Therefore it is said, John x. 3, ' He calleth his own sheep by
name.' He hath such a special care over them, as if every distinct
name were given unto him, and there were a charge committed to
him to have a care of that soul. And the elect of the Father are said
to be given to Christ : John xvii. 6, ' Thine they were, and thou gavest
them me/ Now what was he to do to them, i.e., to those of the world
whom God had chosen as his ? He was to enlighten them ; he was to
bring them into covenant with himself by enlightening them.
God saith of Christ, Isa. xlii. 6, ' I will give thee for a covenant
of the people, for a light to the Gentiles ; ' that is, to shine in upon
them in the darkness of their natural estate, to bring them home
to himself: John vi. 37, 'All that the Father giveth me shall
come to me : and them that come to me I will in no wise cast out/
And the reason is given in the next verse ; it is ' the will of my Father/
And then he was to comfort them by the glad tidings of salvation :
Isa. Ixi. 1, ' The Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings to
the meek : he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to
proclaim comfort to all that mourn, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening the prison to them that are bound/ And after this
to bear with their weakness and waywardness ; for that is a part of
his charge : Isa. xlii. 3, ' A bruised reed shall he not break, and the
smoking flax shall he not quench/ Lovingly to bear with the
ignorance and weaknesses of his children, and supply all their defects
by his Spirit and strength : Isa, xl. 11, 'He shall feed his flock like a
shepherd ; he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in
ISA. LIII. 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 379
his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.' He shall have
a special and certain care of his tender flock. Besides, where they
want strength, he shall lend his own strength, and so sweetly lead
and guide them by his counsel, till he has brought them to his
glory, that is in his commission and charge : John vi. 40, ' And this
is the will of him that sent me, that every one that seetli the Son,
and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him
up at the last day/ This is the Father's charge, who doth as it were
say thus to his Son, If you will engage yourself to me, here is the
work you are to do ; you must leave your glory and become my
servant ; I have fitted a body for you, and you shall fulfil the law, and
live in meanness and misery, and then yield up yourself to an accursed
death, that so you may merit my favour for these persons whose names
I give you : and then you shall oblige yourself to enlighten and
quicken them by your Spirit, that their bondage may be removed :
and then you shall cherish them, and comfort them, and support
them, especially the weak ones among them, until you have perfected
them, and brought them to glory. This is the sum, and this was the
will of the Father, and the charge given to Christ : so that whatsoever
Christ acted as Mediator, he acteth as God's servant.
2. Now, the work being proposed, God promiseth what he should
expect by way of encouragement and reward for it ; and that is this, —
that in case Christ will undertake all this, he shall not want help, he
shall have the Spirit : Isa. Ixi. 1, ' The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ;'
and that he should have the Spirit without measure, not by drops, as
the creatures have. And that he should have all countenance ; God
would not forget his relation in the meanness of his disguise: ' I will
be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son,' Heb. i. 5. And
because empty relations are nothing worth, God would not only be a
Father in title, but dispense all fatherly care and respects to him, so
that though he meet with opposition and discouragements, he should
be borne up against the brunt of them : Isa. xlii. 4, ' He shall not fail
nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth, and the
isles shall wait for his law/ He shall still have the best. His judg
ments and law shall be set up ; and sorry, impotent men shall but ex
press their malice ; they shall not wreak and satisfy it, for the Lord
will be with him : Isa. xlii. 4, ' He shall not fail nor be discouraged ;'
the meaning is, he will mightily come in for his assistance. And then,
after all this, he shall be full of success and triumph : ' He shall see
his seed,' and God's pleasure shall thrive in his hands. He shall have
anything, a kingdom that knoweth no end and no limits : Ps. ii. 8,
' Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for an inheritance, and
the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession/ He shall have
power over his adversaries to use them at pleasure, to dash them in
pieces as a potter's vessel is shattered into pieces by an iron mace.
Alas ! what is an earthen vessel to an iron mace ? And then the bowing
and stooping of all creatures before him : Phil. ii. 9, 10, * Wherefore
God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow/ God
hath promised not only to break the stoutest back, but to bow the
stiffest knee ; and wherefore ? because he undertook this work by
380 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIIL 10.
covenant. And then, after all this, an entrance into glory : Luke xxiv.
26, ' Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into
glory ? ' So was he thus engaged to do by covenant. And besides,
Christ was encouraged by promises not only to his person, but for his
people. As a sufficiency of grace: Col. i. 19, ' It pleased the Father
that in him all fulness should dwell.' And also a power to justify
them : ' By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many.'
To sanctify, enlighten, and glorify them : ' All things are delivered
me of my Father,' Mat. xi. 27. So that you see what God would do
for Christ, in case he should take that burden and charge upon him.
Thus you see the matter proposed by God the Father.
Secondly, Now you shall see that this is accepted by God the Son ;
the work is undertaken with reference to those terms.
1. The work is undertaken. God the Son, being equal to the
Father, could not have been commanded and overruled to any service
without a voluntary susception and concurrence of his own ; and there
fore, upon this discovery of the will of God, Christ sweetly concurred
and consented to it : Ps. xl. 7, 8, ' Lo, I come ; in the volume of thy
book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, 0 God.' And he
professeth in another place, John iv. 34, ' My meat is to do the will
of him that sent me, and to finish his work/ It was a gladsome thing
to him, as the hours of repast are to an ordinary man. As for the
impetration, God would have him lay aside his glory. And it is said,
Phil. ii. 7, ' And made himself of no reputation, and took upon him
the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men/ incarnate ;
' He was found in fashion of a man/ It was his Father's will that he
should endure reproaches and injuries : Isa. 1. 5, 6, ' The Lord hath
opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away my
back : I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that
plucked off the hair ; I hid not my face from shame and spitting/
Christ offered himself to all these indignities, being bound to it. He
would not be rebellious against his Father's motion. Then to do our
works ; therefore he is said to be obedient. And then to pay our
debts ; and therefore he is said to be obedient to the death of the cross,
Phil. ii. 7. Then for the application of the merit; he inviteth the weary,
Mat. xi. 28. He enlighteneth the blind, dispossesseth Satan, sets the
captive free, Mark v. 18. Pitieth the faint : Luke xv. 5, ' And when
he had found it, he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing/ He bringeth
home the weary upon his own shoulders, and at length bringeth them
to glory : John vi. 40, ' And this is the will of him that sent me,
that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have
everlasting life, and I will raise him at the last day/
2. Christ looketh for the donation, and the accomplishment of God's
terms upon it. As for help and assistance : Isa. 1. 9, * Behold, the
Lord will help me/ So Isa. xlix. 5, ' And my God shall be my strength/
It is spoken of Christ in many places. And Isa. xlix. 7, ' Thus saith
the Lord, the Eedeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom
man despiseth, to him whom the nations abhor, to a servant of rulers,
kings shall see and arise, and princes also shall worship, because of
the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose
thee/ He comforts himself with the promises of success and glory, that
ISA. LIII. 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 381
though the nations should despise it, yet kings should see it, and rulers
worship him. The apostle, quoting a prophecy of Christ, saith in his
person, Heb. ii. 13, ' I will put my trust in him ;' that is, for his seed ;
' Behold I and the children which God hath given me/ So for his
people : the Spirit is called the promise of the Father, Luke xxiv. 49,
' And, behold, I send the promise of the Father unto you/ that is, the
Spirit which my Father hath promised, he will give you. And he
pleadeth for his own glory upon this ground, because he had submitted
to God's terms : John xvii. 5, c And now, 0 Father, glorify thou me
with thine own self, with the glory I had with thee before the world
was/ So for his people, ver. 24, * Father, I will that they also whom
thou hast given me be with me where I am, and that they may behold
my glory which thou hast given me ; for thou lovedst me before the
foundation of the world/ Thou didst promise this glory to me, and
to them in me, in the everlasting covenant. And thus I have given
you a taste of this matter.
The reasons are these : —
First, That God might found another covenant upon it ; therefore
God would make a covenant with his Son before he would make a
covenant with his creatures ; for indeed Christ's covenant is the foun
dation of another covenant. Unless he had been bound to Christ by
this, the other would not have been sure, if God had not obliged Christ
to the oversight of it. That this reasoning may be looked upon as
the more cogent, do but eye the several differences between both these
covenants.
1. This was made with Christ ; he is the only federate or person in
covenant with God : but now, in the other, Christ is indeed a main
federate, the prime federate or chiefest person in covenant, but not
the only federate. That he is the prime federate is clear : Gal. iii.
16, * To Abraham and his seed were the promises ; but he saith not
seeds, as of many, but to thy seed, as to one, which is Christ ;' that is,
Christ mystical ; the whole church, head and members, are called
Christ in scripture : 1 Cor. xii. 12, * For as the body is one, and hath
many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are
one body, so also is Christ/ It is true, the promises are mainly pitched
upon his person, but from him descend to the rest : for the covenant
is not made with Christ only, as appeareth, Heb. viii. 8, * I will make
a covenant with the house of Israel, and the house of Judah/ It is
made with all believers. This is made to Christ mystically, whereas
the other we speak of now is made to Christ personally.
2. This made with Christ is a covenant of works in the very form-
ality of it, and obliged him to subject himself to a covenant of works,
to fulfil perfect obedience for the creatures, and to satisfy for the debts
of the creatures, and to buy out their peace by the price of his own
blood ; but now the covenant made with believers is a covenant of
grace. God dealt with Christ in justice, that he might deal with us
in mercy : Kom. iii. 24, * Being justified freely by his grace, through
the redemption that is in Jesus Christ/ God dealeth with us freely,
though he satisfied his justice upon Jesus Christ. The yoke of the old
covenant is not upon the neck of believers, because the stroke of it is
Upon the back of Christ.
382 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 10.
3. This covenant made with Christ is eternal, before all worlds ; the
other, the covenant of grace, is made with us in time, and we enter
into it in time. I confess in itself it is very old, ever since the
first promise dropped from God's mouth : Gen. iii. 15, ' The seed of
the woman shall bruise the serpent's head, and thou shall bruise his
heel.' Though since that it hath been renewed, arid we come to have
share in it at conversion, yet I say it is very old, ever since the fall ;
however it is not so old as the covenant with Christ, that was before
all time : Titus i. 2, ' In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot
lie, promised before the world began/ that is, to Jesus Christ. Before
any succession of time Christ received promises for you, and undertook
to bestow eternal life upon believers : 2 Tim. i. 9, it is said, ' Accord
ing to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began ;' that is, it was given to Christ for us. And
this it may be is the meaning of that, Heb. xiii. 20, that ( Jesus
Christ is the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the
everlasting covenant ;' the blood appointed to be shed to be the ever
lasting covenant between God and him.
Second reason, That Christ might be inaugurated into his office with
the more solemnity, and greater endearment to the creatures. That
which is done by a covenant is done more solemnly and surely ; you
have not only a decree and purpose, and promise arid types, but the
discovery of a covenant : Ps. ex. 4, ' The Lord hath sworn, and will
not repent ; thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.'
There you have God's oath for Christ's priesthood, which noteth an
irreversible sentence. Though the creatures play fast and loose with
him, yet God thinketh himself never enough bound to them. And,
therefore, he would tie himself in such ways as are most solemn and
obliging amongst men, as by oaths and covenants. He would fain
stablish the hearts of sinners, and make things certain to them ; and,
therefore, he giveth this account of his eternal transactions for your
good, they were ordered by way of covenant.
Third reason, This is a way that yieldeth mush comfort and
satisfaction to the people of God. This is the most comfortable re
presentation of Jesus Christ that can be made to you, and that for
two reasons : —
1. You have a double engagement upon God; he is engaged to
Christ, and he is engaged to you. Oh, that is it that makes all sure
to our souls, that God was engaged to Christ first ! If God had only
dealt with particular persons, the business had been in danger of mis
carrying. In the covenant of works the burden lay upon every one's
person ; if thou do this, thou shalt live : Gal. iii. 10, * Cursed is
every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the
book of the law to do them.' But now there is a covenant made with
Christ : indeed God hath taken every one's person into covenant, but
God hath given Christ the oversight of it ; he hath founded a covenant
upon a covenant. The covenant was made to him before it was made
to you. Nay, in the covenant made with you, it is made with one
seed, which is Christ : there to Christ mystical, here to Christ per
sonal ; still Christ is taken in with you, and therefore the business is
more sure and satisfying : 2 Cor. v. 19, 'God was in Christ reconciling
ISA. LIU. 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 383'
the world to himself.' There is great comfort that he would trans
act the matter with Christ before he would meddle and deal with the
world.
2. You have double promises ; the very promises that are made to
Christ's person, they are your promises as well as Christ's, so far as
they are compatible with your state and condition. Your Mediator
will be nothing but what you shall have the benefit of ; nay, it is very
observable that we have glory not only by virtue of the promises made
to ourselves, but by virtue of the promises made to Christ ; that we
should have glory, as Christ prays, John xvii. 23, 24, ' And the glory
which thou gavest me I have given them. 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 ; for thou lovedst me from
the foundation of the world.' God promised to be his God and
Father, and therefore you may be as confident he will be yours as if
the promise had been directed to your persons. For Christ reasons
thus, John xx. 17, ' Go to my brethren, and say to them, I ascend to
my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' He hath
engaged himself to be mine, therefore yours ; you are what I am. So
that besides the promises directed to sinners, you have Christ's personal
promises so far as they concern your state. So you shall see God pro
mised to acquit Christ from all the sins he should take upon him, and
to free him from the reproaches that should be cast upon his person,
because of his miserable appearance in the world : Isa. 1. 7, 8, ' For
the Lord God will help me ; therefore I shall not be confounded. He
is near that justifieth me ; who shall contend with me ?' If all the
world count me a sinner, God will justify me. As the apostle applieth
it to believers, Rom. viii. 33, ' Who shall lay anything to the charge
of God's elect ? it is God that justifieth/ God dealt with Christ as
the first believer : if Christ had the Spirit put upon him, you shall
have the Spirit by virtue of the first promise : Isa. xlii. 1, ' I have put
my Spirit upon him ; and he shall bring forth j udgment to the Gentiles.'
Isa. xliv. 3, * I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing
upon thine offspring.5
Use 1. Is exhortation by way of inference to two duties: —
1. If there be such a covenant, meditate upon it. Oh, it is the most
comfortable subject that you can spend your thoughts upon ! Con
sider the form of it, that the divine decrees were laid in the way of a
covenant, and that God and Christ should article one with another.
You may fetch a great deal of comfort and support for your faith out
of this.
[1.] It occasioned God and Christ to become both believers, and to
trust one another ; and Christ is a believer to this day : Heb. x. 13,
' From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool/
God promised Christ, and Christ promised God, and they took each
other's word for the salvation of all the world. Oh, what an encou
ragement is it to believe when you have such high patterns ! If you
will not believe God upon his oath, believe him upon his engagement
to Christ. It is an honour to be a believer, because God and Christ
were both believers : as great personages among men are an honour to
the society and fellowship into which they come. You may fetch.
38-1 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 10.
a reason hence ; they trusted one another, and shall not I trust them
both? Now you have a willing God and an able Saviour, and
they both in covenant with you. Christ would not let go the assur
ance that he had of God's love by this covenant in his agonies : Mat.
xxvii. 46, * My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?' Though
there were a suspension of the discovery of love, yet he could say my
God, my God. Oh, why should not we believe now, and silence all
doubts ? Who would not believe God with his surety ?
[2.] Consider the manifold engagements that are upon God. God
is bound to Christ, and God is bound to you ; the heart should not be
loose in believing when God is thus bound. You have his purpose,
his promise, his oath, both covenants. Is it not a high affront put
upon God to distrust him now ? God was angry with Sarah for
laughing, when she had but a bare promise, Gen. xviii. 13. Certainly,
then, he has just cause to be angry with you for unbelieving, when he
hath so deeply engaged himself to you. Num. xxiii. 19, it is said,
* Hath he said, and shall he not do it ? or hath he spoken, and shall
he not make it good ? ' So I may say much more, Hath he not sworn,
hath he not covenanted, and will he not make good his engagement
to Christ ?
[3.] Here is comfort against the sense of our un worthiness : you
are vile wretches, you can expect nothing ; but consider, Christ is not
unworthy : God made the promises to him ; he hath the oversight of
the covenant of grace : God hath a bond, a covenant with him ; and
though you have given him occasion to break with you, yet he will not
break with his own Son. Jesus Christ did not fail in his undertaking
with God, but fulfilled the will of his heavenly Father, even to a tittle.
Therefore God will make good his word to Jesus Christ for you, though
humble arid vile in yourselves. No matter though you be base in your
own eyes ; consider the truth of God plighted to his Son, who was not
unfaithful.
[4.] Against fears of apostasy. Oh, you shall not keep faithful with
God ! Why, consider God doth not deal first with you as with par
ticular persons, but with Jesus Christ. The covenant is not com
mitted to the indeterminate freedom of your wills, and the wanderings
of your hearts, but to the care of Jesus Christ ; and there is no breach
likely to be on Christ's part. It is a dishonour to God to think we are
out of favour upon every offence. In the state of innocency we had
perfect peace, but it wa^s such an estate as was capable of enmity,
because the covenant was made with ourselves ; but now it is made
with Christ, that is a firm foundation. If we were still left to our own
free will, it were not certain that any should be saved.
2. The matter of the covenant ; this yields ground of comfort also.
Do but consider what Christ was bound to, or what God promised
Christ. Do you struggle with unbelief, and you cannot tell how to
settle upon any comfort ? If you belong to Christ, God hath given
him a charge to look after your souls, you shall not perish ; Christ is
bound to apply the virtue of his sufferings, as well as to merit by them.
Are you feeble ? God hath provided a place for you in Christ's bosom.
Christ's shoulders are for lambs that cannot go of their own feet. Do
you want knowledge ? It is one of the things given Christ in charge :
ISA. LIII. 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 385
He shall be * a light to the Gentiles/ Do you want freedom and
liberty towards God ? Christ is to preach freedom to the captives.
Still study the covenant between God and Christ, and you shall see
the Lord Jesus received a charge to supply your wants. Is a nation
stubborn and averse from Christ ? Is it not said, ' He shall set judg
ment in the earth, that the isles shall wait for his law ' ? Is there
opposition against Christ, his glory, and servants ? Is it not said, ' He
shall not fail, nor be broken in judgment' ? Alas ! these adversaries
can do nothing ; like angry bees, they may sting, but they leave their
life behind them. God will still uphold the hand and head of Christ.
This is the first part to meditate on.
2. If there were a covenant made with Christ, oh, then, get an
interest in him, and be united to him, that so you may come within
the compass of his care and commission. Everything belongeth to
you according to your interest in Christ : 2 Cor. i. 20, * The promises
are in him yea, and in him amen.' Still a man's hope is in the cove
nant of grace : and you shall see Christ hath all to do in the covenant
of grace.
[1.] In this covenant between God and Christ he is only federate ; he
hath taken the whole business upon himself, to discharge you out of the
covenant of works, to destroy the powers of hell, to bring you into
favour with God. We cannot do it with our prayers and tears :
Hosea xiii. 14, ' I will ransom them from the power of the grave ; I
will redeem them from death : 0 death, I will be thy plagues ; 0 grave,
I will be thy destruction/ Christ undertook this when God the Father
and Christ entered into a formal, solemn compact, for so the apostle
explaineth it, 1 Cor. xv. 55.
[2.] In the covenant of grace made with believers, Christ is every
way concerned in it : he taketh several relations upon himself, which
seem otherwise to be contradistinct.
(1.) He is called the testator or author of the covenant: Heb. ix.
16, 'For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be
the death of the testator/ It was built upon his purchase, confirmed
by his death. He undertook to make up all controversies that might
fall out between God and us ; .and so the whole is ascribed to him ;
therefore he is said to be ' the author and finisher of our faith,' Heb.
xii. 2. Our faith is built upon that covenant, and peace with Christ
is surely ordained for us. We are said to be his people : Mat. i. 21,
' And he shall save his people from their sins/ And therefore there
are many promises in scripture that pass in the name of Christ. Some
what he will do to us, which shows him to be joint-author together
with God in the covenant ; he, being heir with his father, is heir to the
promises. So that you see there is no likelihood of right to the cove
nant but by union with Jesus Christ. It is his covenant as well as the
Father's.
(2.) He is called the Mediator of the covenant : Heb. xii. 24, ' And
to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant/ He is the middle person
that goeth betwixt God and us, to make up all breaches that may be
on our default ; he mediates with the Father when he is provoked by
our sin, and mediates with us by his Spirit, to bring us upon our knees
before God. The old covenant needed no mediator, for God and man.
VOL. in. 2 B
386 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. MIL 10.
were not fallen out ; but now they are so, and therefore Christ is the
fittest person to mediate ; for partaking of the nature of both parties,
he is the fittest person to come between them.
(3.) He is called the surety of the covenant : Heb. vii. 22, ' By so
much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.' One that is to
see it performed on both sides, so as God will challenge Christ for our
part, and you may challenge God for Christ's part. He is to see all
wrought in us which God hath required ; to see that the Spirit writes
the law in our hearts, and inclines us to obedience ; and then to see
that we yield up that obedience, and that God be satisfied. He is to
do all our works for us, and all our works in us ; so that God calleth
upon Christ, and we call upon Christ. All is done in him, and there
fore God calleth him his witness, Isa. Iv. 4, ' Ye are my witnesses, and
my servant whom I have chosen/ Isa. xliii. 10. He is my chief wit
ness, that I am faithful, and true, and able. Christ will undertake
for him, and he will undertake for you, for you need a surety most.
(4.) In the covenant of grace Christ is the prime federate ; the pro
mises are mainly pitched upon him, and he receiveth them for all his
brethren. He is mainly intended : Gen. iii. 15, ' I will put enmity
between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It
shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel/ Mark, the
covenant is made to all in general, but so as it reflects upon Christ
especially. There is an enmity between all the holy seed and the ser
pent's, all the spawn of Satan, though chiefly Christ be concerned in
it, as if the whole seed were Christ's. And in the covenant renewed
with Abraham, the promises are mainly pitched upon Christ, or else
the expressions would not agree ; for he it is that stands as the prime
federate, to receive the promises for all his brethren : Gen. xii. 3, ' In
thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed/ The covenant of
works was made with Adam and all mankind, and Adam received it
for all his race : so does Christ. Well, then, you see the necessity
and benefit of union with Christ, that you may be entitled to his care
as he is the only federate, that you may receive his bequests and lega
cies as testator and ordainer of the covenant, that he may mediate for
you, and go to God for you ; and as he is Mediator, he may undertake
for you ; and as a surety he may bestow blessings upon you, as your
head, as the chiefest of the body that is called Christ.
3. To love God. You have the greatest experience of the love of
the Godhead that possibly you could have, that there should be a
covenant between the persons of the Godhead, the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit, that they would mutually engage one another for
your good. It is the highest endearment you could have from them,
that God should ordain you his Son to carry on the work of your sal
vation ; therefore engage and give up yourselves to God again : seeing
the Lord should devise such a way, and Christ effect it, give up your
selves by covenant to God.
But I come now to the matter, or to handle the words absolutely,
and not considered under that conditional and federate form : ' When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin/ or, as it is in the Hebrew,
' When he shall make his soul sin (ascham), the sin or the trespass-
offering. His soul, that is, himself : ' What is a man profited if he
ISA. LIII. 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 387
shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? ' Mat. xvi. 26 ; that
is, himself, body and soul. So his soul, that is himself, shall he make
an offering for sin. His whole man was offered up. He could not
sacrifice his divinity. The apostle Peter saith, ' He suffered in the
flesh/
Doct. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was the only true satisfactory
and expiatory sacrifice for sin.
1. Because it was of God's own ordaining. God will be pleased
with nothing but what he appoints. Foolish man would fain give
laws to heaven, and think to please God with what liketh himself best
either in worship or in sacrifices ; as if God would be enticed by their
own lure. Christ is the only ascham : God requireth not ten thou
sand rivers of oil ; and all things else are nothing to God's will. Christ
was of his own appointment, and therefore expiatory : Rom. iii. 25,
' Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation ; ' 1 John iv. 10,
' God hath sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins.' It is not
expiatory, if God, the party offended, did not accept of Christ :
Eph. v. 2, ' He gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to
God for a sweet-smelling savour ;' that is, for an acceptable sacrifice :
all other sacrifices were an abomination to this.
2. Other sacrifices were but types of this, they could not make the
comers to them perfect, as the apostle provethT Heb. ix. 9. There
was expiation, but not real, except Christ was eyed in them. They
could not make him that did the service perfect, as appertaining to
the conscience : that is, they could not satisfy the conscience. The
sin was not forgiven through their worthiness, they could not have
any solid ground that justice was satisfied ; this is a thing that natu
rally troubleth a man, how to satisfy justice, arid to appease the
revengeful deity. Naturally there is such a sense in guilty man, and
that was the reason why they would have somewhat above sacrifices,
because still there was something that stuck with them, that this was
not enough. And therefore they in Micah added their first-born,
Micah vi. ; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 6, ' And he caused his children to pass
through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom.' There was
somewhat that caused parents to be so unnatural besides the example
of the heathens. And truly it was because their consciences were
not perfect. They had not the good answer that Peter speaketh of,
they could not be persuaded God was appeased by the killing of a
beast.
3. No other thing could be satisfactory and expiatory besides the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The prophet Isaiah bringeth in God as
saying, ' He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there
was no intercessor, therefore his arm brought salvation/ Man could
have had no other person to interpose for him. Therefore Christ,
who is the arm of the Lord, he brought salvation to him. All the
angels in heaven were not able to lay down a valuable consideration ;
there was no intercessor, no intervener, none that could come between
man and wrath. No creature can stand before infinite wrath to coun
termand it ; man was not able, nor all his tears available. The law
taketh no notice of sorrow for sin. It is true, the creature was easily
inclined to think of merit in that which is dolorous and costly ; but it
388 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 10.
is but a vain thought, the law is satisfied only through full and com
plete obedience. Your prayers would not do. Christ doth not barely
pray to God, but offer himself also. His entreaties alone would not
have been sufficient : Heb. ix. 22, ' Without shedding of blood there
is no remission/
4. Christ sacrificing of himself complied with God's design, which
is double : —
[1.] To discover the glory of the Trinity, his love to the souls of
men, and the Spirit's efficacy. These things would not have been
drawn out for the creatures' benefit, had it not been for this design.
The Father is glorified in being the contriver, the Son in being the
Mediator, the Spirit as the applier and settler of comfort in the hearts
of Christians. This was a high honour to Christ, next to that personal
glory that he had with the Father before all worlds. When Christ
was about to die, he saith, John xiii. 31, 'Now is the Son of man
glorified, and God is glorified in him.' The Son especially ; and not
him alone, but the whole Godhead ; the Spirit is glorified in your sense
and experience of him.
[2.] To magnify his justice and displeasure against sin : Rom. iii.
25, ' God set out Christ to declare his righteousness in the remission
of sin/ God would have us be reconciled, not only by way of entrea
ties, but satisfaction. You can as well stand before the seat of judg
ment as the throne of grace, if God forgives sinners. God's justice
is more glorified in punishing sin in Christ, than if all the world had
been lost for sin. This appears by the impartialness of it, that God
should not spare his own Son ; but the merit of it is full, here is room
for acceptation through the worth of his person that did all. If men
had been damned, God would be glorifying his justice, but never be
said to be glorified. It is more to the creditor to have his debt paid
at once, than always a-paying. Ten thousand pounds is a long time
a-paying by a poor man in shillings, but a rich man layeth it down
in a little time, and pays all.
Use 1. Then disclaim other satisfactions, your tears, your duties,
your repentance ; do not think to please God with these. Alas ! you
will never know when the work is done fully. Men make their way to
God easy through these. Naturally we trust in our works and duties ;
these are rather fruits than causes. Look higher than your prayers
and tears, to Jesus Christ.
I^now come to the third reason why the death and sufferings of
Christ are not ignominious to him ; and it is drawn from the fruits of
his sufferings, which are three : —
The first is a propagation of his spiritual seed : ' He shall see his
seed/ By seed, usually the scripture meaneth posterity ; he shall see
his holy posterity ; that is, those that are begotten to Christ by the
word. Observe here two things : —
1. That believers are the seed of Christ.
2. That Christ shall live to see his seed.
Doct. That believers are Christ's seed.
By purchase and covenant he hath obtained it of the Father, that you
should be his generation and his posterity. The whole world in some
sense is God's offspring, Acts xvii. 28. The apostle quoteth it out of
ISA. LIII. 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 389
a poet — rov jap ical yevos ea-jjuev ; but the special seed, the spiritual seed,
that is appointed to God the Son. Eph. iii. 15, it is said of the
Lord Jesus, * Of whom the whole family of heaven and earth is named/
Saints militant and triumphant are named from him. As the parents
give the name to their posterity — as Jacob to Joseph's sons, and
Zacharias to John the Baptist— so Christ to believers. It is just here as
it was with Abraham : Gen. xxi. 12, ' In Isaac shall thy seed be called.'
Abraham had another son, but that should not be counted his race ;
not in Ishmael, but in Isaac. So here; every son of Adam is the son
of God, Luke iii. 38, but in Christ shall thy seed be called. Men
cannot be God's sons, but by being Christ's seed. You have no
spiritual right to God's fatherhood out of him.
Object. But you will say, How are believers Christ's seed, since it is
said everywhere that we are born of God, and especially it is
said, 1 John iii. 1, ' Behold, what manner of love the Father hath
bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God'? And
in other places it seemeth we are the Spirit's seed : John iii. 5,
' Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter
into the kingdom of God.' And we are said to be * born of the Spirit /
1 Cor. iv. 15, ' Yet have ye not many fathers, for in Christ Jesus have I
begotten you through the gospel.' My answer shall be in these reasons : —
1. By reason of the gift of the Father, who made over all dispensa
tions and all relations to the Son: John v. 22, ' He hath committed all
judgment to the Son.' So ' All things are delivered to me of my
Father,' Mat. xi. 25. So that quickening, life, and all cometh from
the Son ; and God the Father worketh nothing in us but in reference
to the Lord Christ ; and he hath given over all his interest and rela
tions to Christ : John xvii. 6, ' Thine they were, and thou gavest
them me.' They were God's sons, but he made them over to
Christ, so that all the relation that we have to God the Father is
through the Son ; he is our Father, as he is the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ ; and we come to have interest in the love of the Father
by the love of the Son : for it is said, John i. 12, ' As many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God/ It
is Christ gave us that power and prerogative. So Gal. iv. 5, * That
we that were under the law might receive the adoption of sons/ So
that you see, through the gift of the Father, we are Christ's seed.
He worketh nothing in us, and doth own us no further than we belong
to the Son : for, as he is Christ's Father, so he is our Father ; and
as his seed, we are God's sons born to him.
2. Because the Lord Christ did so much to purchase them and gain
us for his seed.
[1.] He died for them. Christ, like Kachel, dieth, that he may
bring forth. Peril dum parit—he perisheth that he may bring forth.
You are Benonis, the children of his sorrows : John xii. 24, ' Except
a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone ; but if
it die, it bringeth forth much fruit,' not else. Isaac had not a
promise of increase and a numerous issue till he was ready to be
offered. When in this chapter the prophet had spoken of the suffer
ings of Christ, he comes to say, Isa. liv. 1, ' Sing, 0 barren, thou
that didst not bear ; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou
390 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 10.
that didst not travail with child : for more are the children of the
desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord/
Christ liveth to make you fruitful : Heb. ii. 10, ' To bring many sons
to glory, the captain of their salvation was made perfect through
sufferings/ God would not have his birth exempt from the fate and
lot of all bearings ; even Christ did bring forth in sorrows.
[2.] Because he sendeth forth power and efficacy to beget them.
(1.) He provideth the word, and blesseth it with power and
efficacy ; as you may see, 1 Peter i. 23, ' Being born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God that liveth
and abideth for ever ;' and in the 25th verse you see what word, to
wit, ' The word which by the gospel is preached unto you,' the word
preached in Christ's name, this word begets us. Therefore ministers
are said to be instruments in the hand of Christ, as he is pleased
to bless their endeavours. It is said in Ps. ex. 3, ' From the
womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth.' The
meaning is, that believers should be born to Christ like dewdrops in
the morning of the first dawning of heavenly light : 1 Cor. iv. 15,
' For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.'
Others were but schoolmasters ; he was their father in Christ. God
provideth nurses and subordinate parents, to whom he conveyeth his
own honour. It is by Christ's blessing upon their care and ministry.
(2.) By his Spirit. It is Christ's Spirit that bringeth you to be
new creatures. He worketh so as he may glorify Christ. The effi
ciency of the Spirit is the seed of Christ. Therefore it is said of one
that is born of God, 1 John iii. 9, that ' his seed remaineth in him/
The power of the Spirit is a seed by which we are made new creatures,
Titus iii. 6, ' The renewing of the Holy Ghost is shed on us abundantly,
through Jesus Christ, our Saviour/ The true virtue is from the
Spirit shed on us through Christ Jesus. All that are new creatures
are begotten by his word, actuated and quickened by his Spirit, and
therefore they are called his seed.
3. The next reason is, because all that is done to believers is to
form the image of Christ upon them: Gal. iv. 19, 'My little children,
of whom I travail in birth again till Christ be formed in you/ The
work of conversion is but the stamping and drawing out the linea
ments of Christ upon the soul. So it is said, Kom. viii. 29, av^fjiop-
(f)ovs r% eiicovos, ' Whom he did foreknow, he also predestinated to
be conformed to the image of his Son/ God intended us to be his
seed, because the new creature is most like him. The acts of Chris
tianity are expressed by our being ' planted into the likeness of his
death and resurrection,' Kom. vi. 5. The acts that pass forth into the
soul for the subduing of sin, for quickening of grace ; it is a planting
and forming Christ's image and likeness : and the whole carriage that
passeth from us, it is through the Spirit, it is but a discovery of
Christ's life. Therefore, the seed, likeness, form, and features are an
argument of parentage : children are but the parents multiplied, and
new set forth to the world.
To apply it.
Use 1. Is a word to the careless world. Look to it whose seed
you are.
ISA. LIII. 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 391
There are divers seeds in the world.
1. There are some that are only the offspring of God in a large
sense, have no other claim but by the first Adam. Ignorant men look
upon themselves under no other notion than that of God's creatures.
Oh ! consider your happiness lieth in your relation unto God through
Christ. You shall see the main encouragement to prayer, or any
address to him, is when you can come and call him Father. God is
sweet to you when you can call upon him as sons and daughters. But,
alas ! what a sad thing is it when men have no other title to God but
their creation! Isa. xxvii. 11, 'He that made them will not have
mercy on them, and he that formed them will show them no favour.'
Ignorant people say, God that made them shall save them. No ; such
an interest and claim to God will not avail you ; he that made them
will not save them ; God will reckon his seed in Isaac, that is, in
Christ. There is no privilege in claiming by Ishmael.
2. There are some that are yet worse, by the virulence and
bitterness, and rage of heart against the ways of God ; they are
possessed with an opposite seed — the seed of the serpent: Gen. iii. 15,
' I will put enmity between thy seed and her seed.' There is a seed
that is full of envy and enmity against the people and ways of God:
Mat. iii. 7, * 0 generation of vipers ! ' the very spawn and seed of
vipers.
3. There is the holy seed, against whom all the powers of darkness
are armed : Rev. xii. 17, ' And the dragon was wroth with the woman,
and went to war with the remnant of her seed, which kept the com
mandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.' The
generation of men that worshipped God in Jesus Christ, those are they
that are hated by the world, and yet they are the pillars of the earth,
Isa. vi. 13. Therefore, look to yourselves whose seed you are. If the
Spirit of Christ hath not been shed out upon you, to new form you
through the word ; if you are not formed more and more into the
image of the Lord Jesus, you are none of his seed. Consider who is
your root ; your fall lieth in this. God doth not deal with single men,
but with the common root and author of the whole seed. Adam was
a miscarrying root, but Christ is not.
Use 2. Here is a word to the seed of Jesus Christ, to believers.
You may say indeed, Ps. c. 4, ' It is he that made us, and not we
ourselves ; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.' You are
of the Lord's making, and therefore of the Lord's keeping. The seed
of Jesus Christ are preserved in him. The whole work of Christ is
the workmanship of God in Christ Jesus, Eph. ii. 10. Therefore, look
up to him. Children's dependence is upon the parents, and yours is
upon the supplies of Christ, for your heavenly Father knoweth what
he hath made. Here is —
1. Direction to you to whom to look for increase of grace. It is
the rule of nature, all things are nourished by those things by which
they are begotten. God maketh the next causes to be the ^ convey
ances of support to his creatures. God begetteth you by his Spirit,
actuating and quickening the word, and so he keepeth you : 1 Peter ii.
2, ' As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye
may grow thereby.'
392 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 10.
2. Exhortation to press you to conform to Jesus Christ. You are
his seed, and therefore it is an engagement to likeness : children are
to bear and show forth the image and likeness of their parents. Christ
makes imitation an argument of parentage : John viii. 37, ' I know
that ye are Abraham's seed, but ye seek to kill me/ A degenerate
offspring are a shame to their ancestors. They were children of God,
that came of an ancient royal family, but yet were unworthy of their
extraction, I Chron. iv. 22, ' Who had dominion in Moab and Jashubi-
lehem : and these are ancient things/ Base powers came of them
that preferred sordid drudgery work to the king of Babylon before
working in the temple. What doth it avail to speak of the ancient
honour of our family when we are degenerated from it ? Oh, take
heed you be not a stain to Jesus Christ. You came of a noble seed,
the whole family of God is named of him. Ishmael came of Abraham ;
but ' cast out the bondwoman and her son.' God will have no bond
slaves to inherit this honour. To be enslaved to sin, and to pretend
sonship by Christ, will provoke to a casting out. Children, unless de
generate, will hold out the honour of their parents, and walk in the
high steps of their ancestors ; and so must you show from whose loins
and life you came by a worthy walking before God.
Use 3. Here is a word of consolation. A great deal of comfort it is
to be of the seed of Christ; as —
1. Consider what an honour is done you. By this you have a title
and claim to the whole Godhead : ' He gave you power to become the
sons of God.' You belong to his care, being the seed of Christ. As
some living fathers among the emperors did make their children co
partners with them in their dignity, so are you sharers with Christ in all
his privileges: Kom. viii. 17, 'And if children, then heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ.' Our Saviour saith, John xx. 17, ' I ascend
to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.' As
if you were in the same rank with Christ. And therefore it is said,
Heb. ii. 11, 'He is not ashamed to call them brethren.' Christ doth
not think it a disgrace to him that they should be invested in his honours
and privileges.
2. This relation engageth affection.
[1.] It engageth Christ's delight to Christians. As parents' joy is in
their seed, so is Christ's in your thriving and welfare. God hath made
love naturally descending and running down to them that come
from us. Christ is brought in as a type of Isaiah, Heb. ii. 13, rejoic
ing over his children : ' Behold I and the children which thou hast
given me/ Believers are a pleasure and glory to him. To look upon
the numerousness of the saints is a pleasant sight to Christ ; as to a
father to see the increase of his loins : Isa. Ixii. 4, ' For the Lord
delighteth in thee/ Christ rejoiceth over his seed. It is promised as
a privilege that he should see his seed, implying it should be a delight
to Christ. And what a comfort is this, that we should be Christ's joy !
Therefore Paul saith, Phil. i. 8, ' God is my record how greatly I long
after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ ; ' that is, as the bowels of
Jesus Christ did yearn after you, with such like bowels do I yearn for
you.
[2.] It engageth Christ's care of you. He shall see his seed ; and
ISA. LIII. 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 393
you are his seed, and therefore he will look after you. He watcheth
these great births, that they may not miscarry ; and is as it were bound
that we may lack nothing. All his care is about his seed : Cant. ii.
17, Christ walketh in the gardens to look after the green figs and
tender grapes, that he may apply himself to them. The apostle saith,
he is ' worse than an infidel that provideth not for his own ;' not
only beneath grace, but beneath nature. And certainly Christ will
have a more tender regard to his own seed. The greatest ex
pression of love that Christ would have spoken to Peter was to feed
his lambs, John xxi. 15. We may look to him for provisions : Isa.
xlix. 15, ' Can a woman forget her sucking child ? She may, but I
will not forget thee.' Men, by debauching their spirits, may wear out
the impressions of natural affections, but Christ cannot forget his own
seed : ' The foundation of the Lord standeth sure.'
I come now to the second point.
Doct. That Christ shall see his seed, or an increase of the faithful
through his word and Spirit. It noteth two things :—
First, The life of Christ. Many leave seed that do not see it, being
snatched from their children and comforts as soon as they grow into
any hopes : but Christ's seeing his seed implieth he should live to see
it propagated throughout all successions of time.
First observation, That the seed of Christ have a living parent :
c He shall see his seed.' God's children can never be orphans. We
say by many that their parents died too soon for them, because they
were but young, and exposed to the hazards and uncertainties of the
world. But believers cannot be left as orphans : John xiv. 18, ' I
will not leave you comfortless ; I will come to you again.'
Well, then, to apply it: Lay up this comfort, though Christ be
ascended and gone out of your sight, yet he seeth his seed, he liveth to
take care for you. You have not his corporeal presence, but you have
the presence of his Spirit to direct you : John xvi. 7, * It is expedient
for you that I go away ; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not
come to you.' Christ cannot die too soon ; his absence in the flesh is
abundantly recompensed and made up in the Spirit. That more gene
rally and more particularly is the comfort that you have by the life of
Christ as you are his seed : and therefore I shall not handle it at large.
1. You may be sure you are still an object working upon his affec
tions. The sight of things worketh more vehemently upon us than the
conceit of them. Imagination hath a great force upon the spirit, but
not so great as the senses, as tasting, seeing, and the like. As you shall
see in impure love : Gen. xxxix. 7, she * cast her eyes upon Joseph,
and said, Lie with me ; ' Mat. v. 28, Lusting cometh by looking. So
in pure affection love is enkindled by the presence of the object. You
may discern the workings of nature in these instances. As you shall
see in another case ; when God would stir up or provoke the rage of his
justice, it is said, ' And God looked upon the earth, and behold it was
corrupt.' It is spoken after the manner of man. It is true of the
man Christ Jesus, who, looking upon us, and seeing our state and case,
is the more touched with the feeling of our infirmities, Heb. iv. 15.
It is said in Mat. xiv. 14, Christ saw a great multitude, and was moved
with compassion towards them. Christ's eye presented objects to his
394 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 10.
pity ; therefore the prophet speaketh to Christ : Isa. Ixiii. 15, ' Look
down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness
and thy glory/ Christ shall see his seed ; not only know their state
by imagination, but live to look into their particular wants : ' Though
Abraham be ignorant of us/ yet Christ liveth to see the several
states of his seed.
2. You may be sure that he is able to give you a constant and
sufficient supply. Parents, that only leave a portion, cannot provide
against all hazards. Christ doth not only leave you a portion, and so
let you shift for yourselves, but you are still under his eye and care :
Kev. ii. 2, ' I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience/ Tha.t
was the ground of Christ's pity to her : he ever seeth his seed. It
was the prodigal's comfort, that though he had spent all, yet still his
father was living: Lukexv. 17, ' There is bread enough in my father's
house/ God doth not give us a stock of grace, and leave us to our
selves ; we are still in the family, and under the Father's eye and care.
You have a parent that liveth for ever, that dispenseth his grace to
you, and teacheth you how you may manage it without impair and
loss. A father, whilst living, will not put the whole out of his own
hands ; it is best that our stock is still in Christ's keeping.
Secondly, He shall see his seed, noteth the increase that is implied
in the phrase seed put indefinitely : it is put for a multitude, such a
seed as is worth looking after. Observe then —
Second observation, That Jesus Christ hath a plenteous seed and
numerous offspring. In the exposition I showed you it is plural,
' He shall see his seeds' It is parallel with that, ' He shall see his chil
dren's children/ A seed propagated through many successions of
ages. This appeareth by the promises made to the types of Christ ;
as —
1. To several of the patriarchs, &c., viz., Isaac, Ham, Jacob, David,
whose posterity was a shadow of it : Jer. xxxii. 22, ' As the host of
heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured, so
will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that
minister unto me/ Great shall be the number of those that are grafted
into Christ, and made kings and priests to him. So to Abraham :
Gen. xxviii. 14, ' And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and
thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north,
and to the south ; and in thee and thy seed shall all the families of
the earth be blessed.' It is meant principally of the holy and spiritual
seed : Gen. xxxii. 12, ' I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed
as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude/
Balaam says, Num. xxiii. 10, ' Who can count the dust of Jacob, and
the number of the fourth part of Israel ? ' It is meant of Jacob's
sons that are propagated ; and it is meant of Israel's sons among
the Gentiles principally, though not with exclusion of the other :
Hosea i. 10, ' Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the
sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered ; and it shall
be said to them, Ye are the sons of the living God ; ' which is applied
by the apostle to the church among the Gentiles.
2. To the church : Isa. liv. 1,2,' Sing, 0 barren, thou that didst
not bear ; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not
ISA. LIU. 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 395
travail with child : for more are the children of the desolate than the
children of the married wife. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let
them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations : spare not,
lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes/ It is said, the land
should grow too little : Isa. xlix. 19, ' The land shall be too narrow by
reason of the inhabitants ;' Isa. Ix. 8, ' Who are these that fly as a
cloud, and as the doves to the windows ? ' Doves fly in flocks, so that
they even darken the air.
3. To Christ ; as here, that he should see his seed : Ps. ii. 8, ' Ask
of me, and I will give the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utter
most parts of the earth for thy possession ;' Rev. vii. 9, 'After this I
beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all
nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne,
and before the Lamb/
Use 1. Be not discouraged at the church's paucity and fewness.
Men say they are popular, and go against the whole world : Gen. xix.
9, 'This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge/
Elijah was zealous alone. Do not be discouraged. A grain of mus
tard-seed will grow into a tree, Mat. xiii. A little flock may increase,
so that you must stretch forth the curtains, and strengthen the stakes.
The little stone hewed out of the mountain filled the whole earth,
Dan. ii. 35 ; and Job viii. 7, ' Though thy beginning was small, yet
thy latter end should greatly increase/
2. Wait and pray for the increase of it, for the coming in of the
fulness of the Gentiles, Rom. xi. 25. Pray that the waters of the
sanctuary may go out to the former and latter sea, Zech. xiv. 8.
We are now come to the second fruit of the sufferings of Christ :
' He shall prolong his days ; ' that is, though he die, the term of his
life shall never be the shorter for it ; he shall live for ever. Some apply
this to the seed of Christ before mentioned ; as if the sense were, He
shall prolong the days of his seed. And the Seventy favour this sense
in their translation, for they render this clause with the former, ' He
shall see his seed to be long-lived/ I confess the result is the same ;
for if Christ be long-lived, we shall be long-lived ; our life and glory
hang upon his life and glory. But I conceive this phrase more ex
pressly and properly doth concern Christ himself. The point is then —
Doct. That the days of the Lord Jesus Christ were not shortened
by his dying, but rather prolonged and lengthened out to eternity.
I cannot give you the full discussion, having spoken much concern
ing it upon that place which I shall now quote as the proof of it :
Isa. liii. 8, ' Who shall declare his generation ? ' that is, who can count
the number of his age and duration ? The reason is —
Because, after suffering, Christ was to return to the glory of his God
head : Luke xxiv. 26, ' Ought not Christ to have suffered these things,
and to enter into his glory ? ' He was to put off meanness and death ;
these things could have no more dominion over him. He returned to
all the other glories, and therefore to the glory of his immortality.
And hence the apostle saith of our Lord Christ, "l Tim. vi. 16, ^ Who
only hath immortality, dwelling in the light ; ' that is, in opposition to
the creatures. He only hath it to dispose of it, and in himself ; for
otherwise we are immortal in our souls ; but it is only by his benefit
396 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 10.
and promise, and as we live in his life. Well, then, you see the
reason is, because Christ is in possession of glory and immortality.
Use 1. It maketh for the comfort of believers: your Saviour liveth for
ever. As the second person in the Trinity, he is immutably glorious ;
and as the Mediator, he hath eternity made over by grant and cove
nant to him. It is for your comfort divers ways ; besides what I have
spoken to before, take these : —
1. If Christ be eternal, then his love is eternal, his care and his
mercy are eternal, his kingdom is eternal : Isa. ix. 6, 7, ' Of the increase
of his government and peace there is no end/ Everything in Christ
is prolonged to you. As you find Christ to you now, so he will be to
you for ever. It is true, there may be some withdrawings of love and
grace as to our apprehensions. And so Job saith, Job xxx. 21, ' Thou
art become cruel to me/ Saints may think they have lost God and
lost grace, when it is only through the weakness of their own appre
hensions ; there may be a different appearance of Christ to the creature,
but his heart is the same to them still ; like children, that think the
sun doth not give light but when they see it breaking out in glory.
There is light for you in Christ, though you cannot see it through the
darkness that is upon your spirits.
2. Here is relief against all our enemies. Is it the shortness of
life ? Ps. cii. 11, 12, ' My days are like a shadow that declineth, and
I am withered like grass ; but thou, 0 Lord, slialt endure for ever/
It may be you are assaulted with weaknesses, you carry about you a
sickly, crazy, body that is ready at every turn to drop into the grave.
This is a trouble to you : God having placed in the creature naturally
a desire of immortality, the vanity and perishableness of their being
is a trouble to them. But consider, Christ is long-lived, and there
fore your glory shall not be left in the dust, nor God's holy ones left
to corruption and rottenness. Christ's life was not shortened by his
death, but prolonged ; so shall yours be that have an interest in him.
Oh, see that your lives are made long in the prolongation of Christ's
life ; for as the body liveth in the life of the soul, so shall we live in
the life of Christ. See how the church draweth out this comfort
everywhere : Hab. i. 12, ' Art thou not from everlasting, 0 Lord my
God. my Holy One ? We shall not die/ We cannot perish if we have
an interest in one that is everlasting : Ps. cii. 27, 28, ' Thy years shall
have no end ; therefore the children of thy servants shall continue,
and their seed shall be established before thee/ It is taken for a good
consequence, that if God continueth, the saints shall continue : ' Thy
years have no end, therefore their seed shall be established/ What a
privilege is this, that creatures that are in their own nature but of a
day's standing, as it were, should have their lives prolonged to the con
tinuance of their Maker !
3. This will support and settle the heart in doubtful times, in days
of misery and violence. Your hearts are ready to be overcome, to
see the thriving of wicked men ; and you know not how dangers may
grow upon you. Consider, the days of the Lord Christ are prolonged ;
let them flourish never so long, he will outlive them. A man would
comfort himself in this, if he knew that the interest of religion would
thrive to a long continuance. Why, you may be sure Christ will take
ISA. LIIL 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 397
care of his church : Ps. ix. 6, 7, * 0 thou enemy, destructions are come
to a perpetual end ; but the Lord shall endure for ever.' Their
enemies are such as must die, but Christ will never die ; his days are
prolonged, but their days are shortened : Ps. Iv. 23, ' Bloody and
deceitful men shall not live out half their days/ You may see an end
of Christ's enemies, but never of the life of Christ. Alas ! who would
fear them ? You may be sure when they perish, Christ will remain :
Ps. xcii. 8, 9, ' But thou, Lord, are most high for evermore. Thine
enemies shall perish, all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.'
Still you have an eternal God, and an everlasting Christ, that will live
beyond your enemies.
4. It is comfort in the loss of outward enjoyments. Alas! their
nature is vanishing, even the most glorious of all the creatures. The
heavens shall be like a scorched scroll : Ps. cii. 26, ' They shall perish,
but thou shalt endure ; yea, all of them shall wax old as doth a gar
ment, as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed.'
But you have an interest in a more lasting comfort, in a Christ whose
days are prolonged, though all things else perish before you.
Use 2. Is advice to the world, first, to get an interest in Christ ;
his friendship will last. Make a friend of him, that you may be sure
will abide by you to the last. This is Christ's argument for improve
ment of wealth : ' They will receive you into everlasting habitations,'
Luke xvi. 9, to wit, those whose bowels you have refreshed. Make
friends of the saints, but especially of Christ, that when other things
fail, you may have an eternal God to stand by you. Christ is a friend
that can never fail. Barzillai commended his son to David, 2 Sam.
xix. 37 ; but David must yield to the fate of all men, and was forced
to leave him to Solomon, 1 Kings ii. 7. Oh, commend your souls to
Christ, and he will not leave them to another. His days are pro
longed, and he doth not yield to the fate of the creatures. Well
then, choose him. Those are not friends that beguile you in your
hopes (and then are not able to stead you), as the creatures do. Christ
is a friend that is able to stand by you in the worst of times ; he will
confess you before his Father in heaven.
2. He will give you long life, which is the great desire of the crea
tures : Ps. xxxiv. 12, * What man is he that desireth life, and loveth
many days, that he may see good ? ' What man is there that doth
not desire to live long? that is the meaning of it: Prov. iii. 16,
' Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left riches and
honour,' Length of days is the right-hand blessing of wisdom ; it is
the blessing of Jesus Christ. Therefore it is said, Eternal life is in the
Son : and he that hath the Son hath life ; his days are prolonged, and
he will prolong and lengthen out yours to eternity.
Having showed the things most proper to this phrase, I come now
to the latter clause, that ' the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hands.' The point is, that all the will and pleasure of God shall
prosper and be effectual in the hands of Jesus Christ.
Reasons —
1. Because he is the choice instrument of God, the special servant
of his decrees, therefore everywhere called his servant : Isa. xlii. 1 ,
' Behold my servant, whom I uphold/ He is God's servant as Media-
398 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 10.
tor, therefore God will uphold him, and hear him out in his work :
Isa. liii. 11, ' By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many/
Certainly God's will and work will thrive in the hands of Christ. When
God raiseth up any special instrument among the creatures to accom
plish his pleasure, they are successful. Nebuchadnezzar, that was but
a remoter servant of God's decrees, and one taken in by the by to do
God's will, he was prosperous : Jer. xxv. 9, ' Behold, I will send and
take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar
the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this
land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations
round about, and will utterly destroy them, and will make them an
astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolation.' So the Medes
and Persians, when called to the service of God's decrees, they were
successful : Isa. xiii. 3, ' I have commanded my sanctified ones ; I have
also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in
my highness.' They are set apart for that work. The lowest servants
of the decrees cannot miscarry, much less, then, can Christ, the choicest
instrument of God's decrees.
2. Because the Lord Christ is so qualified that the will of God
must needs prosper with him.
[1.] He is willing and ready to comply with the will of God the
Father. It is motive sufficient to Christ that it is the Father's plea
sure : John iv. 34, ' My meat is to do the will of him that sent me,
and to finish his work.' It is Christ's pleasure, as much as God's, to
work out the good of the creatures. Work is best done by a willing
servant ; now Christ is willing. As God gave Christ, so Christ gave
himself to die for man. The Father's delight is to you, and so is the
Son's ; and therefore the business is not like to miscarry, Prov. viii.
31. Christ is brought in speaking as the Wisdom of the Father, ' re
joicing in the habitable parts of the earth, and my delights are with
the sons of men/ Christ's delights were with men ; it was a pleasure
to him to do them good. The pleasure of the Lord will prosper in
any hand, but especially in the hands of Christ, for it is his own
pleasure.
[2.] He is able and mighty, so as he must needs effectuate the will
of God : Ps. Ixxxix. 19, ' I have laid help upon one that is mighty.'
It is an able Christ that the work is committed to, that can break
through discouragements, overcome difficulties, remove lets. Alas !
there is no mountain that is anything before this Zerubbabel : Col. i.
19, ' It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell/ He
wanteth nothing for the accomplishment of this work, there is a ful
ness and supply of all things : Col. ii. 3, * In him are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge.' There is an unexhausted trea
sury of grace and knowledge to be found in Christ ; it was hid, the
world does not easily see it, but there is a rich magazine of grace, and
sufficiency to effect all the will of God ; but our weakness measureth
things by appearance, and till God bringeth us within the veil we can
not see it.
But you will say, What is this pleasure of the Lord ?
I answer — It is the whole decree of God about the good of the
creatures ; more especially, that .1 may open your hearts to the view
ISA. MIL 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 399
of some cases, these comforts work best when they are drawn forth
into particulars.
1. There are some more general, that concern the universality and
body of men ; and so the pleasure of the Lord is that Christ should
gather churches out of the world, out of all kindreds and nations in
the world ; and then give them his laws ; and this Christ will do,
notwithstanding the rage of tyrants, and the malice of evil men :
' The isles shall wait for his law.' And it is said, Isa. ix. 7, ' The
zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.' The Lord hath sworn
he will maintain him against all the attempts of the world ; that the
gospel shall get ground and prosper. Now, see if Christ's hand mis
carried in these general works : Acts ii. 4, three thousand were
converted by one sermon ; one apostle preached the gospel from
Jerusalem to Illyricum, and that was some thousands of miles, Kom.
xv. 19. These general works prospered by the good pleasure of the
Lord.
2. Some more special, as the reconciliation of sinners to God. This
will thrive in Christ's hands, for it is God's pleasure : Luke iv. 18,
' The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor, and sent me to heal the broken-hearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives ; ' Col. i. 20, ' It pleased the
Father that in him all fulness should dwell ; and having made peace
through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to him
self.' The conversion of a sinner is the will of God : James i. 18,
* Of his own will begat he us, by the word of truth/ Do not doubt,
then ; there may be discouragements, but the will of God is for your
regeneration. So the sanctification of the creatures : 1 Thes. iv. 3,
' This is the will of God, even your sanctification.' This is one of the
wills that shall prosper in the hands of Christ, your preservation and
keeping in a state of grace: John vi. 34, 'And this is the Father's
will, who hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing.' You may have many assaults, but it is God's will you
should be kept. Nay, it is his will to glorify you : Luke xii. 32, ' It
is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.'
Use. What an abundance of encouragement to faith is there from
every word that is here iised !
1. That all the work of Christ for your good is called chephets, the
Lord's pleasure. We may come to men for things with greater con
fidence when we know it is their pleasure to give them to us. It
was an encouragement to Joab to set the woman of Tekoah at work
to bring home Absalom, because the thing was pleasing to the king :
2 Sam. xiv. 1, 'When he perceived the king's heart was towards
Absalom/ So when we perceive God's heart towards a thing, we
may the better urge him to it. Among men we easily speed in an
errand that is pleasing to him to whom we go : Ps. xxxv. 27, ' The
Lord hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servants/ All that can
make for good to you, it is the Lord's pleasure ; your welfare is his
delight ; nay, to those that are without, for them to come in to be
recovered and accepted to mercy, it is the Lord's pleasure. So it is
in prayer, when you come with such requests to the throne of grace ;
you speak to God's bowels when you ask for such things as are
400 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
acceptable to him as they can be to yourselves. We have two hints
of God's pleasure — chaphets, it pleased the Lord to bruise him ; and
chephets, his pleasure in Christ's bruises was our good.
2. It shall prosper. It goeth in the way of a promise ; it is part
of God's covenant with Christ to relieve your souls from doubts and
fears ; you may go and urge it to him — Lord, was it not thy covenant
that thy pleasure should prosper in the hands of Christ ? This is
thy pleasure. Christ urgeth this covenant, and therefore you may
urge it : John xvii. 4, 5, ' I have glorified thee on the earth, I have
finished the work thou gavest me to do. And now, 0 Father, glorify
thou me with thine own self, with the glory I had with thee before
the world was/ Tell him Christ observed his ordinances to a tittle;
you may plead promises though not performances ; you may plead
Christ's merit, though not your own. But to the word, shall prosper.
This signifieth to break through, or pierce through. Alas ! all diffi
culties are nothing. They are but as a fly upon the wheel, that cannot
hinder the motion. Kage and opposition will not hinder the collec
tion and gathering the church of Christ. The devil, sin, and all
the powers of darkness, shall not hinder the reconciling of a soul to
Christ. The will of the Lord shall break through. Death nor the
grave shall not hinder the glory of Christ. Mountains are nothing
to Christ. God's pleasure is not retarded by difficulty ; it breaketh
through all.
3. In his hand. Our hands would fail us, nay, be withered and
decay. What is the reason discomfort seizeth upon men ? They
would have the will of God prosper in their own hands, like the
monk that hopes to subdue corruption by his own vows, niliil videt
prosperum : Gal. ii. 20, ' I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.' It
is not in our hands, but in the hand of Christ. Oh that our souls would
look up to him in the sense of our own weakness ! Christ's hand is a
strong hand : John x. 28, ' No man shall pluck his sheep out of his
hand.' The sheep are safe when in the hand of Christ, especially
when upheld by God : Isa. xlii. 6, ' I will hold thine hand, and keep
thee.' It is not Christ as man only, but as upheld by the power of
the Godhead. As a man, he himself is subject to agonies and con
sternations: Ps. Ixxxix. 21, 'With whom my hand shall be estab
lished, and mine arm shall strengthen him.'
THE ELEVENTH VEBSE.
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied : by his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many • for he shall
bear their iniquities.
THE prophet goeth on in describing the glorious effects of the cove
nant of God with Jesus Christ, and his obedience and humiliation
answerable thereunto. God the Father's part was to bestow privi-
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 401
leges, grace, and glory, and every good thing upon believers ; and
God the Son's part was to obey, and suffer, and die, to submit himself
to all kind of labour and travail of spirit for our sakes: for God
being about to deal with us in mercy, would first deal with Christ in
justice ; and the state of the work of redemption was so laid, that,
as Suarez proveth well, our grace and glory was due to Christ injustice,
as the reward of his merit. Much was spoken before what God
would do, and what Christ might expect in case he would lay down his
soul as an offering for sin ; he should ' see his seed, prolong his days,
and God's pleasure should prosper in his hands/ And the prophet
here goeth on in repeating the same thing, only addeth words more
particular and significant, that he might more fully and expressly draw
out the sense and meaning of the former privileges to your apprehen
sions : ' He shall see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied.'
In these words three things are asserted : —
1. Christ's travail of soul in the work of our redemption.
2. The certainty of success : he shall see ; that is, reap the wished
and expected fruits of his labour and sorrows, which is the comfort
and salvation of poor creatures.
3. His contentment therein : he shall be . satisfied. He counts the
salvation of lost sinners to be satisfaction enough for all his pains.
You may take the words as relating to God's decree, or to the execu
tion of it.
[1.] As to God's decree, the iforegoing verse intimateth the com
pact and bargain between God the Father and the Son ; there were
articles of agreement stated between them. Now when Christ came
to consider what he should give, and what he should gain, he pro-
fesseth he is satisfied, and abundantly pleased with the terms pro
pounded. Our Lord Jesus made no blind bargain. He knew from
all eternity what it would cost him to save sinners ; he had leisure
enough to cast up his accounts. And when he foresaw the tempta
tions of the wilderness, and the agonies of the garden, the ignominy
of the cross, the vile usage of .his body, and the travail of his soul, yet
saith our dearest Redeemer, I will go down and suffer upon these
terms ; I am satisfied out of all this, if a few broken-hearted creatures
may be brought home to God.
[2.] To the execution of God's decree. When sinners are brought
to accept of mercy, I count my blood well shed, my bitter agonies
well recompensed : here is wages enough for all my toil. There is
joy in heaven, in Christ's heart, when a sinner is converted.
I begin with the first ; the travail of his soul. The word for travail
noteth the highest degree of labour, such as is tiring and wearisome.
The soul is often put for the whole man ; so many souls came out of
Egypt, that is, so many persons. So Acts xxvii. 37, ' There were
in the ship two hundred threescore and six souls.' So that the
travail of his soul is his whole labour and travail. Or properly it
may imply his soul-troubles, which were the pasvsion of his passion,
the bitterest part of his sufferings : ' Now is ,my soul troubled, and
what shall I say ? ' John xii. 27.
The doctrine is, that our salvation cost Christ much travail of soul.
He was afflicted in his whole man, but chiefly in his inward man.
VOL. in. 2 c
402 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
1. As a kind of imaginary person : he suffered in his reputation, which,
is another kind of being in the hearts and opinions of others. They
accuse him of the two highest crimes in either table, blasphemy and
sedition ; blasphemy against God, and sedition against Csesar, Luke
xxiii. 2. They mock him in all his offices ; his kingly office, by
putting a soldier's coat upon him for a royal robe, a reed for a sceptre,
and thorns for a crown, and floutingly saying unto him, ' Hail, King
of the Jews,' Mat. xxvii. 29. In his prophetical office ; when they
had blindfolded him, they smote him on the face, saying, * Prophesy
who it was that smote thee ; ' scoffing at those who honoured him as
a prophet. When he was upon the cross, offering up himself for our
sins, they wagged the head, saying, * Save thyself/ and ' He saved
others, himself he cannot save/ Mat. xxvii. 39, 42. There they scoff
at his priestly office, while doing the part of a Saviour.
2. Nearer they come to his real person. In his body he suffered
in every part, and afflictions were poured in upon him by the conduit
of every sense. His feeling was exercised with weariness, and wounds,
and scourges ; his ears with their railing and the clamorous noises of
popular outrage ; his taste with vinegar and gall ; his sight and smell
with Golgotha, the place of skulls and dead men's bones. We have
made all our senses inlets of sin, and therefore in Christ they were
inlets of sorrow.
But the consummation of his bodily sufferings was at his death,
which consisted in the separation of the soul from the body, though
both still remained united to the divine nature ; otherwise for a while
he would not be God-man, and his resurrection would be a new incarna
tion ; though separate from one another, yet they were both united to
the Godhead. As a man drawing his sword holdeth the sword in one
hand, and the sheath in the other ; there is a separation between the
sword and the sheath, but the same man holdeth both. 0 Chris
tians ! do we believe this, and wonder no more that life itself should
die, and Christ be free among the dead ? If any had cause to love
his life, Christ had ; every man's life is valuable, much more Christ's,
which was enriched with the continual presence of God. We are
often a burden to ourselves ; we wish for death ; but that Christ
should die, whose soul dwelt with God in a personal union, is a
wonder.
His death was not a naked death, but the painful, shameful, and
accursed death of the cross. The law pronounced the death of the
cross accursed : Deut. xxi. 23, ' He that is hanged is accursed of God.'
In the account of all nations it is ignominious. It was cruel and
painful, to show that he came to bear not only our curse but our
sorrows : Gal. iii. 13, He was ' made a curse for us ; ' Isa. liii. 4,
' Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows/ If you
follow him to the grave, it was a continuation of his abasement,
though not of his pain. Thither Christ went to shut and seal up our
sins, that they should no more come into remembrance, as Abraham
buried his dead out of his sight. If we look only to what was visible,
Christ was a man of sorrows; his life was full of sorrows, his death
violent, and bloody, and ignominious.
But all this doth not answer the expression, travail of soul. Our
ISA. MIL 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 403
souls sinned, and therefore Christ must lay down his soul as an offer
ing for sin, Isa. liii. 10. In Christ's soul-sufferings we may take
notice of two things — his desertion and agonies. These have some
correspondence with the pcena damni et sensus.
I. His desertion: Mat. xxvii. 46, 'My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me ?' Christ's desertion cannot be meant of outward
afflictions, of being left to the rage and violence of men. The word
forsaking implieth God's withdrawing: 2 Cor. iv. 9, ' We are perse
cuted, but not forsaken ; ' though given up to the will of men, yet
still enjoying the presence of God: but Christ was both persecuted
and forsaken.
But how could he be forsaken, who was God-man in the same
person ?
Ans. As the personal union gave way to the death of the body,
so it gave way to the troubles of the soul. Christ, by virtue of the
eternal covenant, was to yield up the whole human nature, both body
and soul, to suffer according to the will of God. Now, he declined no
part of the service ; as he offered his body to the pains of death, so his
soul to the trouble of desertion.
But what was this desertion ?
[1.] The personal union was not dissolved — the two natures united,
a^o)/3io-TO)9, — his inherent holiness not lessened, for then he should
have been less fit to be either priest or sacrifice. God's love to him
was not abated ; he was now doing his work, and in the height of
obedience : John x. 17, ' Therefore doth my Father love me, because
I lay down my life.' This was a new argument and reason of love.
[2.] Assisting and sustaining grace was not wholly withdrawn :
Isa. xlii. 1, ' Behold my servant, whom I uphold ;' and John xvi. 32,
* I am not alone, because the Father is ever with me.' What was that,
then, which Christ lost ? It was the sense and actual comfort of his
Father's love, the want of a sensible consolation, those effects of joy and
solace which he used to have.. Now, this was a very grievous loss to
Christ. He complaineth of it. The disciples were fled, his friend
and lover was afar off, but he doth not complain of that : Disciples,
why have ye forsaken me ? Peter, why hast thou denied me ? — but,
' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?' It was a greater
loss to Christ, because it was more natural to him to enjoy this com
fort and solace than it can be to any creature. To have a candle put
out, is no great matter ; but to have the sun eclipsed, who is the
fountain of light, that sets the world a- wondering. Christ, as God-
man, had more to lose. We lose drops ; he an ocean. The greater
the enjoyment, the loss or want of it is the greater.
[3.] He knew how to value the comfort of the union, having a pure
understanding, heavenly affections, excellent contemplations. God's
children, that have tasted of his love, if anything of it be shed abroad
in their hearts, they would not part with it to gain the world. They
know how to value it, and so none are so sensible of the loss of it as
they. Now, Christ was best able to apprehend the worth of com
munion with God, having such a clear understanding, and such tender
affections.
[4.] So near an interest and relation to God : Prov. viii. 30, ' I was
404 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
by him as one brought up with him ; I was daily his delight, rejoicing
always before him ; ' Col. i. 13, he is called * his dear Son/ Creatures
that have any interest in God, how mournfully do they brook his
absence ! As Mary Magdalene : ' Woman, why weepest thou ?' ' They
have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him/
She sought for Christ, and found a grave.
[5.] Christ's trouble was more than a believer's, because it was to
be satisfactory. Our desertions are for trial or correction ; his from
vindictive justice, arid the revenging hand<of God for our sins, that met
on him : Isa. liii. 6, ' The Lord laid on him the iniquities of us all/
He was forsaken for a time, that we might be received for ever.
2. There is something positive, or the apprehension of his Father's
wrath, which he was to undergo for man's sins. There is the trouble
of a guilty conscience, that is proper to the sinner himself ; and there
is a penal disturbance, which was found in our sftrety. He was to
stand in the sinner's stead, and the great burden of sin he was to
undergo was an amazement to him that had such a delicate and tender
spirit as Christ had : Mat. xxvi. 38, ' My soul is exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death.' He was ' sore amazed,' Mark xiv. 33. He had his
'fears/ Heb. v. 7. The effects were sensible in his bloody sweat.
These were a part of that fire in which our sacrifice was to be roasted.
It was not the fear of temporal death that caused these agonies. Christ
had not a childish, womanish spirit ; not to say anything of the forti
tude of the martyrs, many of whom kissed the stake, and thanked the
executioner. And we see in malefactors what a courage and stubborn
ness men of a stout heart will put on. No ; it was the apprehension
of his Father's wrath, which he was to undergo for man's sin, when
'made a curse for us,' Gal. iii. 13. We have slight thoughts of sin,
and the wrath of God deserved thereby ; but Christ had other thoughts
of it. When God cometh to deal with him in our stead, we, that
know not the power of God's anger, are not affected with it. But
when the Father shall fall upon him with all his weight, this was
properly the travail of his soul : Isa. liii. 10, ' It pleased the Father to
bruise him : he hath put him to grief/
Hence learn: —
1. The heinousness of sin. You see it is no easy matter to recon
cile sinners to God. It cost Christ a life of sorrows, and afterwards a
painful, shameful, and an accursed death ; the loss of actual comfort,
and a terrible feeling, or an amazing sense of the wrath of God. We
jest and sport away our souls, but Christ found it hard work to save
them, and recover them to God. Surely they that sin freely in thought,
and foully in act, have low thoughts of the blood of Christ. You
count it common blood : Heb. x. 29, ' And have counted the blood of
the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing/ When
you make it a light thing to sin, you do in effect say so. When a
precious vessel cannot be mended or repaired but with the cost of a
thousand pounds, you would be careful how you break it. You slight
the sufferings of Christ when you break with God for every trifle.
Is it nothing for the Son of God to come down from heaven to die for
poor sinners ? He calleth to you, ' Behold, all ye that pass by, is any
sorrow like unto my sorrow ?' Is it nothing to offend your heavenly
ISA. LIU. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 405
Father, and to lie under the burden of his displeasure ? By his deal
ing with his dear Son, substituted into the room and place of sinners,
God would convince all wicked and hard-hearted sinners what it is to
break his commandments. Dare you, after all this, to go on pleasingly
and delightfully in an evil course, as if God made a small matter of
our sins ? Now he is satisfied for them by a Mediator.
2. Learn hence the terribleness of God's wrath. It put Jesus Christ
upon dying, yea, upon much travail of soul. Christ knew before all
that he was to suffer, and yet he is amazed when it came upon him.
Many roar upon their death-beds when the anger of the Lord brcaketh
in upon them like an armed man. They never thought of their
danger before, arid were not prepared for it ; but Christ knew it before.
Besides, Christ had no personal guilt to weaken his strength; you
have wounded consciences. Christ had all graces in him to the height;
but you have none or little patience and fortitude. Christ was God-
man, you are poor creatures. Christ knew what glory his sufferings
would bring to God, what good to man ; and yet he feareth what he
was to undergo ; and Christ knew they would be short, yet he prayeth,
* Father, save me from this hour:' but yours are to endure for ever.
The Lord Jesus is lifted up as a sign of salvation to them that trust
in him, and is a pledge of what shall light upon the wicked to all
eternity — an instance to all others of' God's wrath. God will make
you see what it is to lie under his wrath. If a spark of it light upon
the conscience, what a burden is a man to himself !
3. We learn hence the greatness of our obligations to Christ, that
he willingly condescended to endure such hard and bitter things for
our sakes. He would be deserted and submit to soul-troubles ; he
knew well enough what it would cost him, yet he willingly undertook
the business : Ps. xl. 7, 8* ' Then said I, Lo, I come ; in the volume of
the book it is written of me, 1 delight to do thy will, 0 my God ; thy
law is within my heart/ Divine justice is there introduced proposing
its demands : Son, you must take a body and suffer in it. Man's
blood is tainted, and you must be formed in fashion like one of them,
and stand before me in their stead. You must expect to be tempted
by the devil, hunted and baited by men, — to be responsible to my
justice, to bear my wrath, and to be handled as if you were the sinner
in law. And Christ said, Heb. x. 7, ' Lo, I come to do thy will, 0
God ;' I am satisfied and well pleased with the terms. Oh ! woe unto
us, if after all this we should slight Christ, and will not come at him,
though it cost us travail of soul. To pray, wait, meditate, is tedious,
and to break our hard hearts we are hardly brought to ; yet how will
ingly and readily did Christ undergo .all his sufferings for our sakes !
4. We learn hence what reason we have to be willing to suffer any
thing for Christ, and to yield obedience to God at the dearest rate.
We are called upon in the gospel to take up our cross and follow
Christ, and when he invited us first to engage with him, he gave us
warning of it ; yet most men hope to shift well enough for all this, and
are not troubled, and out of the impatiency of the flesh repine when it
cometh really and actually to their share to take it up and bear it.
Certainly, in the general, we should not desire a better lot than Christ
himself had ; for the disciple is not above his Lord : ' If they have
406 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIIL 11.
persecuted me, they will persecute you also/ John xv. 20. He stooped
to more than ever we were or shall be put to. But, in particular, we
should be as willing to suffer for his sake as he for ours. He left the
bosom of his Father to suffer for you, and will not you leave the bosom
of your dearest relations to surfer for Christ ? There is a great dis
proportion between the persons, and his sufferings and ours. Christ
suffered as an evil-doer, and we surfer for well-doing ; otherwise, it is
the cross of Barabbas, not of Christ. His name was rent and torn
with reproaches ; and though he never did anything worthy of blame,
yet he bore the taunts of the world, as well as the curse of God that
was due for our sins, and suffered not only in his person, but in his
name and reputation, and foul crimes were unjustly laid to his charge.
It is an honour to suffer for Christ, and for his interest, and can be no
disgraceful thing. He was the innocent Son of God, completely just
and righteous — not only as God, but as man, being wholly freed of
that original contagion wherewith others that come of Adam are
defiled, Luke i. 35 ; fully conform to the law of God, both in heart
and practice, Mat. iii. 15 ; and by just deserving lovely in the eyes of
God and men, for he did all things well. But we, how innocent soever
of those things which the world chargeth upon us, yet we are faulty
before God, and cannot altogether justify ourselves before men. And
so far as God's hand is in our troubles, we must keep silence. There
fore, in the sense of our sinfulness in other things, we should the
sooner submit : Micah vii. 3, ' I will bear the indignation of the Lord,
because I have sinned against him.' Again, he hath taken the sting
out of our sufferings, and borne all the wrath due for our sins. Our
crosses are not a satisfaction to his vindictive justice ; he is but trying
our sincerity, not pursuing his vengeance upon us. And we have our
comforts allowed us ; his were suspended. In short, since he endured
the anger and wrath of God for us, shall not we endure the anger and
wrath of men for his sake ? So that, upon the whole matter, our
murmuring and impatience under the cross show that we have not a
due sense of Christ's sufferings, but too slight a value of them.
The next thing offered in this scripture is the certainty of success.
He shall see ; that is, enjoy, receive the fruits of it. The prophet
speaketh of some that travail in vain ; as if they went but with the
wind : Isa. xxvi. 18, ' We have been with child, we have been in
pain, we have as it were brought forth wind.' And of others we
read, that when the child came near to the birth, there was not
strength to bring forth, Isa. xxxvii. 3. But the fruits of this travail
should be a plentiful harvest of souls, or a numerous issue of believers
begotten unto God.
Doct. That Christ will infallibly, and without miscarrying, obtain
the end of his death.
What was the end of his death ?
1. The salvation of all such as belong to the election of grace.
Christ died not at uncertainties, nor laid down his life at a venture,
that some might be saved if they would ; but his intention is fixed.
He laid down his life ' for his sheep/ John x. 17 ; ' for his church/
Eph. v. 26 ; ' for his people/ Mat. i. 21. These expressions are
exclusive ; these, and not all
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 407
2. He effects and procures the conditions by which this salvation is
brought about : —
[1.] In effectual calling.
[2.J By final perseverance.
[1.] Effectual calling. Christ died not only to procure privileges
for us, but to purchase faith and repentance : Acts v. 31, 'Him hath
God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a Saviour, to give
repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins ;' Heb. xii. 2, ' Looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God;' and Heb. xiii. 21,
* Working in you what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ ;'
Phil. i. 29, ' For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only
to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake/ v-jrep Xplarov, that
is, upon Christ's account. He merited faith and holiness for us.
[2.] Final perseverance. He is both the author and finisher of our
faith : John x. 29, 'My Father, who gave them me, is greater than
all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand ;' Heb. x.
14, ' For by one offering he perfected for ever them that are sanctified,'
i.e., set apart for God. He hath made them fully and perfectly happy.
But briefly to show why Christ cannot miscarry in his ends from
the eternal covenant : Isa. liii. 10, 'When thou shalt make his soul an
offering for sin, he shall see his seed.' Look to the undertaking of the
Father and the Son, and the salvation of the elect is secured ; both are
intimated in that phrase of being given to Christ : John xvii. 6,
* Thine they were, and thou gavest them me.' All souls were God's
in one sense ; now they are given to Christ two ways :—
1. By way of reward : Ps. ii. 8, ' Ask of me, and I will give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth
for thy possession.'
2. By way of charge ; and of this charge Christ is to give an ac
count : John vi. 37, 38, ' All that the Father giveth me shall come
unto me ; and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out :
for I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will
of him that sent me/ And they not only may, but they shall come :
John vi. 39, ' And this is the Father's will, who hath sent me, that of
all that he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day.' Otherwise Christ would lose part of his
reward and part of his charge : Heb. ii. 13, ' Behold I and the
children whom thou hast given me.'
Use. Is to persuade us to wait for this power, and observe how the
whole good pleasure of his will is fulfilled in us. Doth your salvation
thrive and prosper in the hands of Christ ? Do you come on kindly
in a way of faith ? You seek to put your Redeemer to shame, — to
hinder Jesus Christ of the fruit of his travail, when you are vain, and
careless, and obstinate. As a moral agent, so all his travail may be in
vain, though not as Mediator. He complain eth as a minister of the
circumcision : Isa. xlix. 4, ' Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I
have spent my strength for nought and in vain ; yet surely my judg
ment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.' When a people
that have the means of grace will not be reclaimed, they seek to rob
408 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
Christ of his purchase, and to make all his labour of love to be in
vain. Christians are co-workers with God : ' We therefore, as
workers together with him, beseech you to receive not this grace in
vain/ 2 Cor. vi. 1. Oh, when shall Christ be formed in you ? There
is travailing in pain till that be done, Gal. iv. 19. Will you be shut
out from the blessing ?
Use 2. Here is comfort to God's elect, and an engagement to make
your election sure. How shall we know it ? Do you ratify God's
decree by your consent ? Consecration answereth giving by way of
reward, and committing by way of charge.
1. Consecrate and set apart yourselves for the use and service of
the Lord: Kom. xii. 1, 'I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.' Employ what
ever is bestowed upon you for his glory ; live according to his will : Ps.
cxix. 94, ' I am thine, save me.' Lord, I would not be my own, unless
1 be thine. Thus we should do when God seemeth to put us off.
2. Commit yourselves to him in well-doing, and in the course of
your obedience venture your souls in Christ's hands without trouble:
2 Tim. i. 12, ' For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded
that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against
that day ; ' 1 Peter iv. 19, ' Commit the keeping of your souls to him
in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator ;' Ps. xxxi. 5, ' Into thy hands
I commit my spirit, for thou hast redeemed me, 0 Lord God of truth.'
I come to the third thing in this scripture, and that is the satisfac
tion Christ took in the salvation of men ; it was that which gave him
full content for all his pains and travail : * He shall see of the travail
of his soul and be satisfied.' The gaining and recovering of lost
sinners was a great satisfaction to Jesus Christ: John iv. 34, Christ
saith unto them, ' My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and
to finish his work/ When the disciples asked him whether he had
eaten anything, it was satisfaction enough to him that he had gained
ajsoul. See Luke xv. 5, * And when he hath found it, he layeth it on
his shoulders, rejoicing.' He rejoiceth at the return of a poor wander
ing sinner ; after all the refusals of grace, arid despising of offers,
Christ is glad if he may at length get him home to himself. It is
a welcome work to Christ to carry home his lost sheep upon his
shoulders.
Dpct.^ That Jesus Christ taketh an infinite contentment and satis
faction in the salvation of sinners.
I shall give you— (1.) Evidences of it ; (2.) The reasons of it.
1. For the evidences : —
[1.] Christ pleased and entertained himself in the thought of it be
fore the world was : Prov. viii. 31, 'Kejoicing in the habitable parts of
the earth, and my delights were with the sons of men/ But why the
habitable parts ? The inhabitable are also the work of God's hands.
There are objects of wonder — there is the great leviathan, and there is
the sun, moon, and stars ; but no men there with whom he was to
dwell, or whom he was to save. Next to the complacency he took in
God the Father, this was the delight of Christ, that he should come
into the world and recover a people to himself.
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 409
[2.] This was the end and aim of his coming into the world ; and
it is pleasant when a man hath attained his end, especially if it be
greatly desired and much laboured for. For delight is according to
the degree of the desire and labour.
(1 .) Desires : Luke xii. 50, ' I have a baptism to be baptized with,
and how am I straitened till it be accomplished ! ' Luke xxii. 15,
' With desire have I desired to eat this passover ; ' that was immedi
ately before his death. And it is remarkable, when Peter dissuaded
him from suffering, Christ rebuked him with the same words that he
did Satan tempting him to idolatry : Mat. xvi. 23, with iv. 10, ' He
turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan.'
(2.) Labour. According to the labour in the means, so is the joy
in the end : * God hath made me forget all my toil,' saith Joseph, Gen.
xli. 51, when advanced after all his hardships and sorrows ; Ps.
cxxviii. 2, ' Thou shalt eat of the labour of thine hands, and happy
ahalt thou be.' These were the wished, longed, laboured-for fruits of
his mediation : no such sorrows as his sorrows, therefore no such satis
fying joys ; things that are the purchase of his blood — things dearly
bought, are highly prized. Kachel is brought in mourning because
she had a son in sorrows, Jer. xxxi. 15 ; John xvi. 21, ' A woman
when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come ; but as
soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more her
anguish for joy that a man is born into the world.' This was Christ's
travail, and the end that he pursued the salvation of poor, lost, and
undone sinners.
[3.] Now, in heaven it is his rejoicing to see the work thrive :
Luke xv. 7, ' Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth ; '
and ver. 10, ' There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over
one sinner that repenteth ; ' that the lost sheep is found, and the lost
son returned : John xv. 11, ' These things have I spoken unto you,
that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.'
There is our joy and Christ's joy ; these are distinct things, joy in us
and for us. It is not only matter of rejoicing to us to be taken to
grace, but a rejoicing to Christ. When he seeth the gospel prevail,
when sins are pardoned, hearts are sanctified, their spirits comforted,
he is more pleased in this, and rejoiced in this than you can be, when
he heareth in heaven arid knoweth how it is with your souls on earth.
[4.] When he shall come from heaven to judge the world, oh, with
what triumph and rejoicing will he come, when he shall deliver up the
kingdom to the Father ! 1 Cor. xv. 24 ; Heb. ii. 13, ' Behold I and
the children which thou hast given me.' He will present them and
show them to God as the fruit and proof of his death. See what joy
and rejoicing Paul had as a subordinate instrument : 1 Thes. ii. 19,
' For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing ? Are not even
ye in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?' They
are the fruit of his ministerial labours. Paul had not such an interest
in them as Christ had ; the main virtue came from his death.
But to determine the point, what this contentment and satisfaction
is — negatively and positively : —
1. Negatively. It is not only that complacency which God taketh
in acts of grace and mercy : Micah vii. 18, 'He delighteth in mercy.'
410 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
It is a native act. Justice is as natural to God as mercy ; yet the
exercise of justice in a punitive way presupposeth a foregoing act of
ours ; and the due desert of the creatures' punishment is wrested and
extorted from him, and therefore called his ' strange work/ Isa. xxviii.
21 : but mercy, like live honey, droppeth of its own accord ; the exer
cise of it is more pleasing to him : Lam. iii. 33, ' He doth not afflict
willingly, nor grieve the children of men.' It is not from 'his heart ;
for when the rod is in his hand, tears are in his eyes ; but, on the
other side, Jer. xxxii. 41, ' I will rejoice over them to do them good,
with my whole heart and whole soul/ It is an act most suitable
to the nature of God, which goeth before, and is done without any
regard to the creatures' desert ; this is part of it.
[2.] It is not only that complacency which he taketh in the holiness of
his people. In the holiness of his people there is amor benevolentice, a
good- will and happiness to the unconverted ; and there is amorplacentice,
his delight in them as they are holy, because of the suitableness of
their nature : Isa. Ixii. 4, 5, ' Thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, for
the Lord delighteth in thee. And as a bridegroom rejoiceth over the
bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee/ When we are drawn into
a near relation to God, there is another love, for we are in another
state; and Zeph. iii. 17, ' He will rejoice over thee with joy, he will
rest in his love/ His love putteth a comeliness upon his people, —
there is the ground of God's delight. So, for their prosperity, it is
said, Ps. xxxv. 27, ' Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure
in the prosperity of his servant/ He is glad to see when they are
holy, and when they do well.
2. Positively. The formality of the expression implieth more : he is
satisfied, he accounts our well-being a sufficient recompense for all his
pains, and all the travail of his soul well bestowed, though he hath been
at that expense for it. It is natural and kindly for a good man to do
good, and to rejoice in others' good. But now for Christ to count it a
saving bargain, if with the expense of his all he may promote the wel
fare of others ; this is the delight and the contentment here spoken of.
Christ did not reckon of the charges, so he might gain sinners to God.
The reasons of the point : —
1. Because this was his work, his personal work; every person of
the Godhead is refreshed in his work. God the Father, his personal
work is creation, — the first mercy we received, and so proper to the first
person. Now, it is said, Exod. xxxi. 17, ' In six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, and on the seventh he rested and was refreshed;'
not in point of weariness, but in point of delectation. It was a re
freshment to God the Father, to see all the creatures disposed into
their apt cells and places, as the fruit and effect of his goodness,
wisdom, and power. He delighted himself in the survey of his work.
So God the Spirit is grieved with the resistance and opposition he
meeteth with in our hearts, Eph. iv. 30, but gratified and delighted
with our obedience to his sanctifying work. And likewise the second
person, when he seeth of the travail of his soul, what a numerous in
crease ^his death will bring in, he is refreshed and satisfied. Christ
hath his rest as God hath his rest : he took great complacency and
delight in the salvation of poor sinners, as the fruit of all his labours.
ISA. LIU. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 411
2. His love was the cause of all : his love to the Father, and his
love to the saints.
[1.] His love to the Father, to see him fully glorified. When
Christ came into the world, it was sung by the angels : Luke ii. 14,
' Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good-will towards men ;'
John xiii. 31, * Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified
in him.' Our comfort is not only concerned in the salvation of the
elect, but God's glory. He would have been but half discovered to
the world if we had only been created and not redeemed : we should
have known but half his goodness, for that goodness which was mani
fested in creation was in order to some other thing. God did not
create us merely that he might create us, but that he might com
municate himself to us, and manifest more of his glory, and that we
might see more of his wisdom, and goodness, and power. These were
in part discovered in making the world, but much more in the gospel :
there is much of his wisdom seen in making the creatures, but much more
in the mystery of redemption, in bringing God and man together —
justice and mercy together, * which the angels desire to look into,' 1
Peter i. 12. We see his power in making us out of nothing, in dis
solving the works of the devil, loosing the bands of death, raising the
dead. His goodness is seen in giving the world, in giving Christ, in
giving eternal life. Christ saith in love to his Father, I am satisfied ;
I see it will be a way wherein the glory of God will be much pro
moted.
[2.] Love to poor lost sinners.
(1.) They are dearly bought : they are his own ; and having loved
them so as to buy them, he will love them to the end. The saints are
the purchase of his blood, arid therefore they are called ' the purchased
possession,' Eph. i. H. Things dearly bought are much esteemed and
valued. The church, which he hath purchased with his precious
blood, he paid dear for it — expended his royal blood for it. The Lord
Jesus forgets all his agonies and sorrows, because this was it he tra
vailed for, and the end which he pursued.
(2.) They are his own, his interest is concerned in them: John xvii.
6, * I have manifested thy name unto the men thou gavest me out of
the world : thine they were, and thou gavest them me.' He hath not
only undertaken a charge concerning them, but received them as a
reward at the hands of God : John xiii. 1, ' Having loved his own.'
Propriety endeareth a thing. They are his, and therefore his heart is
made glad when they thrive and do well — when his work doth prosper
in their hands. He is the owner of the saints ; and as a man is dis
satisfied when his bargain turneth to no good account, so is Christ
when you do not grow in grace and make a daily progress in your
heavenly journey.
Use 1. Let us consider our obligations to Christ. It was wonderful
love that the Son of God should lay aside his glory and willingly come
down from heaven, and undertake the business of our salvation. He
needed us not ; God was alone from all eternity, and yet happy from
all eternity, when there was nothing besides his divine majesty. If
he had any happiness by making the world, he might have made it
sooner ; he wanted not us, we are of no worth to him. What can we,
412 A PKACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 11.
that are less than the dust of the balance, contribute to the perfection
of our Kedeemer ? yet that he should take pleasure in our welfare,
and count himself satisfied, so we may be saved ! Oh, the greatness
of this love ! How shall we answer it but by loving Christ again, by
imitating him ? Let us be satisfied in Christ ; let it be enough to
allay our cares, and fears, and worldly distractions, that we have an
interest in him. Say with the psalmist : Ps. Ixxiii. 25, ' Whom have
I in heaven but thee ? and there is none on earth that I desire besides
thee/ Let this draw us from outward comforts and worldly satisfac
tions : if Christ did 'so much for you, that are not worth the having,
oh, how should your souls be satisfied in him ! The merchant sold all
for the pearl ; but what doth Christ get by us creatures, of us sinners?
We can give a reason of our love to Christ, because of his excellency
and our obligations to him : Cant. vi. 9, 10, ' My dove, my undefiled,
is but one ; she is the choice one of her that bare her : the daughters
saw her, and blessed her ; yea, the queens and the concubines, and
they blessed her. Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair
as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?'
But ' Lord, what is man that thou regardest him ? and the son of
man that thou makest account of him?' Let all worldly content
ments be as nothing to you, so you may win Christ, Phil. iii. 8. And
when you have him, you should say, It is enough. He that hath God
for his portion may say with the psalmist, Ps. xvi. 5, 6, ' The Lord
is the portion of mine inheritance arid of my cup : thou maintainest
my lot. The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places ; I have a
goodly heritage.'
Use 2. It is a ground of comfort in the work of faith. We may
plead with you not only from your own interest, but from Christ's con
tentment : he hath chidden many for not coming, but never any for
corning to him. Nay, in point of gratitude, thou hast long grieved
the Spirit of God with thy stubbornness and impenitency, taking
liberty in fleshly delights, and running after vanity and folly. Oh, come
now, and make glad the heart of thy Redeemer ! When Isaac longed
for savoury meat, a profane Esau would take his bow and arrows and
go and kill. Go and try how thou canst mourn over an unbelieving
heart, what thou canst do in compliance with Christ's desire. So, in
point of hope, when he seeth you begging pardon, you speak to his
very heart ; he will join issue with you, and sue out the fruit of his
labour. He rejoiceth in our justification and salvation. It will be
accomplished by his desire and contentment.
Use 3. It giveth ample encouragement to faith to come to Christ.
It maketh his heart joyful when you come; the Lord Christ counteth
it worth all his pains. People question Christ's willingness ; would
any be against their own joy and satisfaction ? You have high
thoughts of an interest in Christ, and Christ hath high thoughts of
our interest in him ; and therefore the saints plead it reciprocally :
Ps. xlii. 5, ' Why art thou disquieted, 0 my soul ? Hope thou in
God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance/ They
speak to their own hearts. Again, Ps. cxix., ' I am thine ; save me.'
It is your gain, and yet Christ counts it his joy. Why should we
stand back, when Christ crieth earnestly to us? Mat. xi. 28, 'Come
ISA. LIU. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 413
unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you
rest.' Pray come ; he cliideth earnestly for not coming : John v. 40,
' Ye will not come unto me, that you may have life.' But he never
chid you for coming. It is hard to distinguish whether Christ be
more willing to take the soul, or the soul to take Christ. We cannot
desire it more than Christ will delight in it. If you are afraid of
seeking self in it, consider it would not be for your contentment but
Christ's ; when he seeth the travail of his soul he is satisfied. Your
souls are enough to him. You are vile creatures. It is no matter ;
your Spouse thinketh it worthy of all his pains and entreaties to gain a
daughter of light into his embraces ; your comfort is his privilege.
Use 4. It yieldeth fuel to increase the flame of love. There are
three circumstances offered here as matter of this divine fire : — The
impatiency of his desires; the painfulriess of his endeavours; and the
sweetness and fulness of his contentment, intended for the good of
our souls.
1. The impatiency of 'his desires. The whole life of Christ was but
a thirst after our good, spent in the heat of love and desire. And
when he died, he said, John xix. 28, * I thirst.' No doubt, in such
agonies, his natural moisture was turned into drought ; but especially
it was a thirst after the good of souls, the good of the creatures ; it
was a thirst that the prophecies might be fulfilled. Paul, that had
the Spirit of Christ by measure, see what longings he expresseth :
Gal. iv. 19, ' My little children, of whom I travail in birth again till
Christ be formed in you.' This 'was but a taste, a drop of what was
in Christ. Phil. i. 8, * For God is my record, how greatly I long for
you in the bowels of Christ/ All Paul's longings were but a glimpse
or specimen of those bowels in Christ. The impressions upon his
spirit were more pure and powerful.
2. The painfulness of his endeavours, such as could not be expressed
by a lower term than the travail of his soul ; and do but remember all
the hardships of Christ's life, the woes of the garden, all the conflicts
and assaults of hell upon his spirit ; you shall see Christ's love did not
dwindle in a wish, nor die away in a cold desire. The sparks of the
creature's love may soon languish, but Christ's love did not leave him
till it got him out of heaven into the womb, from the womb to the
wilderness, to the garden, to the cross, to the grave. All these waters
could not quench it. The apostle expresseth the common acts of the
creature's love by labour : ' The labour of love/ Heb.-vi. 10. But here
was higher labour in the utmost degree, yea, travail : ' He shall see
the travail of his soul.' Paul maketh it an endearing circumstance :
1 Thes. ii. 9, ' Ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail, labour
ing night and day/ But what was it for Paul to part with his allow
ance, when Christ parted with his glory ? Well, then, consider it was
no lazy love, no idle wish, but such as ended in restless endeavours for
your good. There are pains on the cross, and pains in his spirit.
3. The sweetness and fulness of contentment. Still the Lord went
on till he took the last sour draught of vinegar; then he said, ' It is
finished,' John xix. 30. Christ's spirit was restless, but then satisfied;
it was enough if he could gain souls. 0 vile wretches that we are,
that God should think our souls enough ! Alas ! what can we -bring
414 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
to him that Jesus Christ should set up his rest in the good of our
souls ? The merchant sold all for a pearl ; but alas ! we are but an
ill purchase. What doth Christ get by us so as to be satisfied when
he gaineth sinners ?
Use 5. It holdeth forth a high pattern for our imitation.
1. To ministers. All the toil and travail of Christ's spirit was to
gain souls, and he thought that a good purchase. He did not mind
other things but for our good ; heaven, that we might be glorified in
his glory. He was head over all things, that he might be so to the
church ; otherwise he did not mind dignities and honours. Oh that
our spirits did act thus purety, that we would not drive on a selfish
design in such a weighty calling ! God's work must be done to God's
ends. Oh that the joy of our hearts might be the good of souls, and
not a thriving in our own concernments: 3 John 4, 'I have no
greater joy than to hear that thy children walk in the truth/ Oh, that
should most affect our spirits ! Many mind the gain, but not the
soul, and rather oppose grace than further it ; and as the dragon sought
to devour the man-child, so they to nip the early blossoms of grace.
2. To all. If Jesus Christ seek you, that are not worth the having,
oh, what should you do to serve him, who is all desire, as the spouse
calleth him, Cant. i. 16, enough to invite me and others !
[1.] Desire him : Ps. Ixxiii. 25, ' Whom have I in heaven but
thee ? and there is none on earth that I desire besides thee.' Christ,
that had no need of you,, thirsted after you ; and who would not but
pant for Christ ? Disclaim, all other things, they are nothing to his
gain. What is it, so I may win Christ? Phil. iii. 8, all is nothing,
all is but dung and dross. Who would leave the pearl of price, to
trade for dung ?
[2.] Pursue hard after him. The Lord Christ sought you with
bruises in his body and travail in his soul ; and will you begrudge
him an hour in duty, a little time in prayer ? When Augustus
refused the petition of one of his soldiers, he told him, I did not
serve you so at the battle of Actium : so may Christ say to us.
Though you gain him by meditation, prayer, hearing, great endeavours
against the unbelief of your souls ; though you search for him about
the city as the spouse doth, Cant. v. 2, which is spoken in allusion to
Jerusalem, where God was worshipped in his ordinances ; though you go
from duty to duty, yet still seek him ; Christ will recompense all the
endeavours that are laid out in the pursuit of him.
[3.] Value him in the enjoyment. Alas! your travail is nothing to
your gain: if Christ be satisfied, you should much more be satisfied.
Say then, as Jacob, ' It is enough, I have seen Joseph ; ' so say, It is
enough, I have Christ : Ps. xvi. 5, 6, ' The Lord is the portion of
mine inheritance : the lines have fallen to me in a pleasant place ;
yea, I have a goodly heritage/ It is like the trade with the Indians,
you have gold for a toy, a glass, or a bason. Therefore you may well
be satisfied; this labour is well spent, these carnal desires well
renounced : Oh, it is all made up abundantly above whatever I could
part with for it. Therefore say as the psalmist, Ps. ciii. 2, ' Bless
the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all his benefits/ as it is in the
Hebrew. You may say, Here is a wonderful recompense indeed.
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 415
By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many.
We are now come to that clause wherein one particular glorious
effect of God's covenant with Christ, and his obedience answerable
thereunto, is mentioned ; to wit, justification, which is here set out to us
by most of its considerable causes. Here is the efficient cause ; the
instrumental cause on God's part, the doctrine of the gospel. On our
part, the knowledge of God ; for it may be taken either way, by his
knowledge, or by the knowledge of him. The meritorious cause ; and
that is the satisfaction of Christ. The subject of it, many.
The first thing that is offered to us in the order of the words is the
instrumental cause of justification : bedaato, ' by his knowledge.'
There is some little difference about the opening of this word. The
Septuagint do plainly pervert the sense of it, while they reflect upon the
person spoken of in this chapter, and render it thus : That God would
show him light, and form his mind with knowledge, and justify his
righteous servant that served many. But we need not stay upon that
among Christians.
1. Some take it actively, for the knowledge which he shall give out
concerning himself, the doctrine of the gospel, which is the power of
God to salvation, because it containeth the revelation of the righteousness
of Christ: Rom. i. 16, 'I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ ;
for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth/
And it is contradistinguished to the law, which holdeth out a discovery
of sin : Rom. iii. 20, ' By the law is the knowledge of sin ; ' and so
worketh wrath, as it is said, Rom. iv. 15 ; that is, all that we can
get out of the law is guilt and wrath ;. and that will show us that we
are in a condition not to be justified, and the sadness and misery of
that condition. But now the gospel, that discovereth a way of justi
fication, even for the justification of sinners. ' By his knowledge;'
that is, by his doctrine, by his gospel, he shall discover a way of
justification.
2. It is taken passively, for our apprehension of Christ ; for so it
may be rendered : ' By the knowledge of him shall; he justify them.'
And this I conceive to be most proper to this place, though I cannot
wholly exclude the other. The other without this is nothing ; the
gospel condemneth rather than justifieth, where it is not apprehended
and embraced by faith. Christ saith, they had no sin if he had not
spoken to them, John xv. 22 ;. that is, not so much sin. And it is
said, John iii. 19, 'This is the condemnation, that light is come into
the world, and men love darkness rather than light ; ' that is, the
light of the gospel by accident proveth the cause of the greatest con
demnation. Therefore you must take in this ; and besides, the words
will bear it. First, it must be so, for the prophet speaketh not only
of a way of justification, but of actual justification. But then all
the difficulty will be, why we are said to be justified by knowledge,
since everywhere the scripture carries it for faith, and usually faith
is made the instrument in our justification. We apprehend the
righteousness of Christ for justification. There may be divers
reasons given for the expression.
[1.] Because the first radical act of faith is knowledge. There are
416 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
three radical acts of faith — knowledge, assent, and affiance. The first
is knowledge ; by that God begetteth persuasion and confidence in
the spirit. God dealeth in the new creation, and framing of the
heart to his own use and service, as he dealt in the old creation and
framing of the world. The first creature that he made was light ;
so in the new creation he shineth in upon the heart, and taketh away
the natural blindness and folly of the spirit.
[2.] Because it is the property of the Hebrews to count and apply
all words of knowledge and of the understanding to such affections as
are suitable and becoming such knowledge ; so God's knowing and re
membering of us implieth his pity and relieving, and our remembering
of God our duty and observance of him ; and in an ill sense imaginations
are usually put for all those vicious affections following them. What
the New Testament expresseth by lusts, the Old does by imaginations ;
because the understanding being the great wheel of the soul, the
scripture expresseth the good or ill carnage of the soul by acts proper
to the understanding. By knowledge is meant such an apprehension
of Christ according as he hath revealed himself in the gospel, so as to
close with him, embrace him, and rely upon him for salvation,
acknowledging and relying upon Christ for justification. To all such
as thus know him, Christ will procure a perfect absolution from all
their sins. By one act are implied the other acts of faith, it being
the manner of the Hebrews thus to express themselves. And there
fore you must understand other suitable dispositions and goings out
of the heart to Christ as will become such knowledge.
[3.] Because it is no unusual thing in scripture to make knowledge
to be the hand to receive the greatest conveyances of grace : 2 Peter i. 2,
* Grace and peace be multiplied unto you, through the knowledge of
God, and Jesus Christ our Lord.' He maketh it to be multiplied,
and shed into the heart through knowledge. So eternal life, which is
the greatest of blessings : John xvii. 3, * This is life eternal, that they
might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast
sent.' It is made to be a happy fruit of knowledge, even life eternal.
The knowing of God in Christ entitleth us to it. Well, then, you
see the reason of the expression why he saith ' by his knowledge.'
I shall give you the points :—
Doct. 1. That it is the privilege of the gospel to discover a way
for the justification of sinners ' by his knowledge,' or by his doctrine;
and you have that only in the gospel of Christ.
Doct. 2. That faith is knowledge, or an apprehension of Christ ; and
therefore it is expressed by such a term here : ' the knowledge of him/
Doct. 3. That by faith we are justified. He saith by his know
ledge, but he rneaneth faith ; such a knowledge as is affective, such
apprehensions of Christ as cause answerable dispositions in the
spirit.
For the first of these, that it is the privilege of the gospel to
discover a way for the justification of sinners.
My work shall be to show you : —
1. That by no other way, doctrine, or knowledge in ;the world, can
this be done to make a sinner just before God ; not by your vain
pretences, that may serve to justify you before men, but not in the
ISA. LIU. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 417
sight of God : Ps. cxliii. 2, ' Enter not into judgment with thy servant,
for in thy sight shall no man living be justified ; ' which is quoted by
the apostle. The business is to get a righteousness that will endure
the eye of God : Kom. ii. 13, ' For the hearers of the law are not
justified before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified/ That
is the intent of that verse ; that it is not appearances, but exact
obedience, not any outward excellency and privilege, that could endear
you to God's acceptance: Rom. ii. 11, 'For there is no respect of
persons with God, bond or free, Jew or Gentile/ God is not charmed
by any outward pomp and glory of the creatures ; the wicked may be
justified for a reward. Men are apt to prize anything that is pompous.
The disciples showed Christ the buildings of the temple, Mat. xxiv. 1.
God did not regard Saul for his personage, nor Jezebel for her
painting, nor Absalom for his beauty, nor Sodom for her beauty. Not
any device of the creatures ; men and angels could not find out a way
for the re-instating of sinners into the favour of God, and absolving
them from their guilt. God himself seemeth to hint that he could
find no other way : Isa. lix. 16, ' And he saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no intercessor ; therefore his arm brought
salvation/ No endeavours or contrivance of the creature would serve
the turn ; our own prayers and endeavours, lashing and punishing
others, will not serve the turn ; nor the law, which is the chiefest
thing that discovereth a way of justification, but not for the justification
of sinners, for the making of a man righteous, but not for the making
of a sinner righteous : if a man could walk up to the exactness of it,
yet how should he do to redeem his soul from guilt, and to expiate
sin ? Papists fondly dream of a satisfaction in the creature's
endeavours. Alas ! all will not do : ' The law is weak through our
flesh : ' Rom. viii. 3 ; that is, we being weak creatures, it were
impossible it should be done that way. The law in itself might have
done it, were it not that we were sinners ; and therefore mere doing
will not serve. Doing indeed may make us less sinners, but it cannot
make us righteous. But alas! we are weak through the flesh, and we
cannot do anything : Rom. iv. 5, ' But believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly ; ' that is the circumstance that maketh it
emphatically glorious.
2. Here it is fully and amply done ; the gospel holdeth out a clear
way : and that it may appear to you, I shall show you what the way
is, and prove that it must needs be a sure way.
[1.] What the gospel doth.
(1.) It discovereth perfect righteousness. The drift of the gospel is
to discover this righteousness — actively, for the fulfilling of the law
passively, for the satisfying of the breaches of it. For ' therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from faith/ The apostle proveth that
it is ' the power of God to salvation/ for there is a righteousness to be
found in it. For that is it which the creature wants, a righteousness
to appear just before God : Rom. i. 21, ' But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested/ We must be righteous, or we
cannot be saved. Now the gospel discovereth this perfect righteousness
in Jesus Christ; for it is by his righteousness that we are justified.
And therefore it is everywhere called * God's righteousness/ and dis-
VOL. III. 2 D
418 A PKACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 11.
tinguished from our own. Now this is done here ; the wrath of God
is pacified, and the law fulfilled by Jesus Christ,
(2.) The gospel discovereth a way how this righteousness may be
come ours : it is made ours by faith, and our union with Christ.
When a man hath an interest in Christ, he is possessed of all that is
in him ; you have his righteousness, and therefore he is so often called
Phenazidkem,1 'the Lord our righteousness,' Jer. xxxiii. 16; and
Isa. Iviii. 8, ' Thy righteousness shall go before thee.' You shall have
an interest in what is his : * Thy righteousness;' i.e., you have it in
Jesus Christ.
[2.] This must needs be a sure way, because God's ends are furthered
by it.
(1.) God is glorified. God would honour his justice ; and whatever
that required to be done or suffered was accomplished by Christ ; God
justifying sinners, and yet being just : Rom. iii. 26, ' To declare, I say,
at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier
of him that belie veth in Jesus/ That was the special attribute ; mercy
shineth forth from it. But the chief est was that he might be just ;
and therefore here you have mercy and justice shining forth in their
greatest strength arid brightness.
(2.) The creature is contented and satisfied. God, as he would
glorify every one of his own attributes, so he would do that which was
most satisfying and engaging to our spirits. Now this is so done that
every doubt and scruple is answered. The creature is troubled be
cause he cannot keep the law ; it is kept for us : because it cannot
satisfy for breaches, it is done for us. If our consciences be scorched
with the wrath of God, there is the blood of Christ to quiet them ; if
troubled with fears, Christ was heard in what he feared, to allay ours.
Use. Is by way of inference : —
First, To exhort us to bless God for the gospel. Oh, what a mercy
is it that such a way is found out for our returning to God ! Acts xiii.
48, ' They were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord ; ' that is,
spake wonderfully and affectionately of the gospel. What so good a
word ? If we had been to have satisfied the law, we had been miser
able. Christians, we are not sensible of the mercy of being freed from
the rigour of the law, of being justified by the knowledge of the doc
trine of Christ. Do but consider what it would have been with us then,
and how it is with us now.
First, How it would have been with us then ; the misery that we
were in then by reason of the rigour of the law, which consisteth in
two things : —
1. The matter, what was required ; such a burden as we nor our
fathers were ever able to bear. See what kind of obedience it was
that it requires.
[1.] It must be full and entire, so as to take in the inward and
outward man. The pharisees indeed did strive to lighten the law,
and would have it only reach the outward part and external acts in
worship, and obedience to the commanding part, and the grosser acts
in the prohibition. But alas ! our Saviour in Mat. v. showeth that it
reacheth the least dissonancy that may be, as a glance of the eye, the
1 Qu. ' Jehovah tsidkenu ' ? — ED
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 419
roving of the thoughts, looking upon a woman to lust after her, and
there all their peace is gone : Kom. vii. 14, ' The law is spiritual, but
I am carnal, sold under sin.' Paul, when a pharisee, thought that the
law was only conversant about externals, but he found it spiritual,
and himself carnal. So Ps. xix. 7, ' The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul.' Man's law reacheth the body and the flesh, but
God's law goeth to the very spirit and conscience. And alas ! upon
what miserable terms should we be with God, if this were the rule of
our acceptance with him ! A man hath some command of himself
in these outward things, but who can guide his spirit in an even pro
portion to the law of God ?
[2.] Such as requireth the whole man, so as the soul must be exactly
perfect in all the actings of it, or else it could not be accepted with
God : Deut. vi. 5, ' Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart, and
all thy soul, and all thy might.' A little failing in the intenseness of
the spirit might make you to miscarry. The law knoweth not how to
wink at failings ; the least deadness and coldness of affection, the least
restraint of spirit, would have been fatal to you. It doth not only
reach the spirit, but the whole spirit, and bindeth over every faculty
to obedience.
[3.] It must be constant and universal, carried on without the least
interruption to all the things of the commandments : Gal. iii. 10,
'Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written
in the book of the law to do them.' The least deviation maketh us
liable to the curse. So James ii. 10, * Whosoever shall offend in one
point, is guilty of all.' Though he keep the whole law, yet the breach
of any one point maketh him guilty of the breach of all. And so all
your endeavours would come to nothing, and be in vain ; one sin would
undo your hopes. Well, then, you that have observed the wanderings
of your spirits, and are acquainted with your failings, oh, what cause
have you to bless God that justification is not dispensed upon such
rigorous terms ! Otherwise you might cry out with the men of Beth-
shemesh, 1 Sam. vi. 20, ' Who is able to stand before this holy God ?'
when fifty thousand were smitten for the breach of a ceremony, for
looking into the ark. Or you will be ready to say as David : Ps. cxxx.
3, ' If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, 0 Lord, who should be able
to stand?' There were no subsistence for the creature before the
power of his wrath ; and if God should deal with us upon these terms,
we could not stand in our beings, much less be recti in curia, stand
in our righteousness and innocency.
2. Consider the manner how this must be done, viz., in our own
persons: Mat. xix. 17, 'If thou wilt enter into life, keep the com
mandments.' That is all we can get, the law taketh no notice of a
mediator and common person. Adam, that had the knowledge of the
whole law, had no knowledge of Christ. Though the law should a
thousand times be fulfilled by another, that is nothing to us. The
law requireth obedience in our own persons ; cursed is every one. And
the law is said to be our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. But that
is the law ceremonial, which was but a dark gospel, and did hint
Christ out of the elements of the ceremonies ; a man might spell
Christ out of them : Gal. iii. 12, * But the man that doeth them shall
420 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
live in them.' Well, then, out of all this you may conclude that the
creature can fetch nothing from the law but aggravations of his
misery ; it is not to make us righteous before God, but to make us
guilty : Roni. iii. 19, 'That every mouth may be stopped, and all the
world become guilty before God;' Eom. v. 20, 'Moreover the law
entered, that the offence might abound.' You see then what cause
you have to bless God. All that the rigour of the law could do, is
but to make the offence more abounding in our apprehensions.
Secondly, But you shall see more cause of rejoicing, 0 Gentiles ! when
you look upon the second thing, which is the privilege of the gospel.
You have abundant cause to bless God that there is a way found out
that sinners may draw nigh to God ; that there is commerce between
heaven and earth revived again: Luke v. 8, Peter said unto Christ,
' Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.' Alas ! what should sinners
do with a holy God, or stubble with everlasting burnings ? When
the law was pronounced, there were bounds about the mount, Exod.
xix. 23. And when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar
off, at the promulgation of the law, Exod. xx. 18. And our first
parents hid themselves: Rev. vi. 16, 'They said to the rocks and
mountains, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth
upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.' Therefore it is
much that we may now come nigh to God.
Secondly, We may come with confidence and joy. That which
was their terror is our comfort, viz., nearness of converse with God :
Eph. iii. 12, ' In whom we have boldness, and access with confidence.'
We do not come like malefactors to a tribunal of justice, but like
favourites to a throne of grace. Our greatest confidence is with God :
Heb. x. 22, ' Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of
faith.' That we may be thankful, consider what is done that we may
enjoy it.
1. The gospel holdeth out a way how poor sinners may be accepted
with God, a way wherein God will look after sinners : 2 Sam. xix.
28, as Mephibosheth said to David, ' For all of my father's house were
but as dead men before my lord the king ; yet didst thou set thy ser
vant among them that eat at thine own table.' All we were as dead
men before God : Ezek. xvi. 6, ' I said unto thee, when thou wast in
thy blood, Live ; yea, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood,
Live/ The expression is doubled, because that is a notable circum
stance, that God should seek to them twice, that he should look upon
them when they were in their blood, that he should think of poor
sinners, that could expect nothing but the sentence of condemnation.
2. The gospel holdeth out a way how sinners may be made right
eous. If we are vile in ourselves, yet we shall be glorious and comely
in Christ : Ezek. xvi. 14, ' For it was perfect through my comeliness,
which I have put upon thee ;' Zech. iii. 4, 'I will cause thine iniqui
ties to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment/
If thine own garments be filthy, Christ will give thee the royal robe
of his righteousness : Luke xv. 22, * Bring forth the best robe, and
put it on him/ We have raiment out of Christ's own wardrobe.
3. It showeth a way how God cometh to be delighted in the per
sons, and prayers, and services of poor sinners : Prov. xv. 8, ' The
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 421
prayer of the upright is his delight ;' Prov. xi. 20, 'But such as are
upright in their way are his delight/ Alas ! we do not deserve the
meanest respect with God ; as Abigail said to David, 1 Sam. xxv. 41,
' Let thine handmaid be a servant, to wash the feet of the servants of
my lord;' Isa. lxii; 3, 'Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the
hand of the Lord/ Oh, therefore let us prize the gospel, and never
leave till we have gotten a share in it. The corn in Egypt will not
nourish us, unless we go and fetch it : Mark x. 49, ' Be of good com
fort, rise, he calleth thee/
Doct. 2. That faith is a knowledge, or an apprehension of Jesus
Christ. So it is called here.
To clear and vindicate the point, and to recover it out of the hands
of exception, observe —
1. That the doctrine I have laid down is not convertible ; for there
is a knowledge, and there are apprehensions of Christ that are not faith;
every faith hath knowledge, but every knowledge is not faith.
2. The doctrine is not an adequate and absolute definition of faith ;
for there is more than knowledge in faith. There is a firm assent,
consent, and affiance. So that the point is not exclusive of other acts
of it, but only to show what is a most necessary and radical act of
faith ; and the sense of it will be this : In faith there is a knowledge,
and that only because of the prophet's word here, and because know
ledge is the most necessary and first act of faith ; therefore did I put
it in this form. So that I do not only make faith to be a knowledge,
and an assent to the truths of the gospel, as some do, mistaking the
nature of it ; nor, with the papists, make this knowledge to be some
general apprehension and avowing the articles of religion. But I shall
show you by and by what kind of knowledge is here meant.
But to determine the point, or to prove the acts of it ; it appeareth
that faith is knowledge by these hints from scripture.
1. Because the effects and consequents of faith are given to know
ledge : as knowledge is said to justify here, and life eternal is said to
be through knowledge, John xvii. 3 ; and ' grace and peace ' is said to
be ' multiplied through knowledge,' 2 Peter i. 2. And so Luke i. 77,
' To give the knowledge of salvation to his people/ And the work of
faith is called ' the knowledge of salvation/
2. Because the most considerable acts of faith are expressed by
words that are proper to knowledge, and belong to the understanding ;
and yet that barely is not sufficient : Job xix. 25, ' I know that my
Kedeemerliveth/ for ' I believe/ And Mat. xiii. 23, ' He thatheareth
the word, and understandeth it ; ' that is, understandeth and believeth
it. And Eph. i. 28, * The eyes of your understandings being en
lightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling/ But yet
more expressly : John vi. 69, ' We believe and are sure that thou art
that Christ, the Son of the living God/ We believe, and eyv(*)Ka/j,ev ;
we translate it, ' are sure that thou art the Son of the living God ; ' 2
Tim. i. 12, 'For I know in whom I have believed ;' and that is made
the ground of his committing his soul to him, his knowledge of God :
1 John v. 20, * And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath
given us an understanding, that we may know him/
3. Because there are some objects of faith that are inter cognosci-
422 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
~bilia, among those things that are only to be known and apprehended
by us according to the revelation of God. I say, all that faith hath to
do about them, is to understand and apprehend the truth of them,
according to the discoveries of the word ; as the creation of the world ;
the making man out of nothing : and therefore the apostle saith, Heb.
xi. 3, ' Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by
the word of God ; so that the things which are seen were not made
of things that do appear.' That was the great riddle to the philo
sophers, but by faith we understand it.
4. Because faith is opposed to such things as imply a defect and
want of knowledge, and therefore there is a knowledge in faith ; as to
ignorance, darkness, and folly. Therefore Paul maketh his ignorance
and unbelief the joint causes of his rebellion against God : 1 Tim. i.
13, * But I did it ignorantly in unbelief.' It must needs be so, if in
unbelief. So Mat. iv. 16, unbelief is made to be a state of darkness ;
' The people which sat in darkness saw great light.' Till men come
to believe the gospel, they are under darkness. So Kom. xi. 25, the
apostle saith, ' Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness
of the Gentiles be come in.' Now the great sin of the Jews is un
belief, and rejecting the light of the gospel. So Eph. iv. 18, the state
opposite to faith, or to the learning of Christ, is expressed by ' the
vanity of the mind/ ' the darkness of the understanding,' and ' blind
ness of heart/ Which three expressions note vain principles, corrupt
inferences, and want of spiritual wisdom to oversway the affections,
and all the inclinations of the heart, into a subjection to the will of
God.
5. Because God's work, in reference to the begetting of faith, is
plainly expressed to be a work upon the understanding ; as by opening
the eyes : Acts xxvi. 18, ' To open their eyes, and to turn them from
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God.' The first
creature in the new creation is light opening the eyes, and many of
Christ's cures were about the sight ; as he dispossessed Satan, so he
opened the eyes ; for I plainly find they had a spiritual signification :
John vi. 44, 45, ' No man can come unto me, except the Father, who
hath sent me, draw him ; ' ' They shall all be taught of God/ There
must be teaching as well as drawing ; a work upon the understanding
as well as the will. So Mat. xi. 25, there is mention made of reveal
ing the things of God : a main cause of faith is this revelation. Thus
it is proved.
Secondly, To demonstrate the point, or to show why it must be so,
and that for these reasons : —
1. Because otherwise faith would not do its work : the work and
business of faith is to show us things unseen to sense and reason. The
apostle's word is eXey^o?, the force of which I shall show you by and
by. It is to carry us within the veil, to reveal to us the things of God,
such as ' Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, nor hath it entered
into the heart of man to conceive,' 1 Cor. ii. 9 ; that is, such as
cannot otherwise be discovered without this light. There is a know
ledge for faith and in faith ; a knowledge that followeth it, and a
knowledge that maketh it up. It is o<f)9a\/j,os r^ tyvxfjs, the eye of
the soul. Look, as sense is the light of beasts, and reason of a man,
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 423
so is faith of a Christian. It is to guide and direct us to, and to
ravish us with the beauties of Christ; to show us what is in our
beloved more than in another beloved, Cant. v. 9. It is to provoke holy
desires and fervent affections towards God. All this cannot be done
without knowledge.
2. Because there must be something done to sanctify the under
standing, something to irradiate and enlighten the mind : grace must
have influence upon every faculty, upon the understanding much more,
for these reasons : —
[1.] Because the understanding is the great wheel of the soul, and
guide of the whole man. Usually there the business of the salvation
sticketh : either we do not rightly apprehend Christ, or not rightly
determine concerning Christ, and therefore we do not close with him.
The rest of the faculties follow that same dictamen intellectus, the
dictates and decisions of the understanding. It is with men accord
ing to their knowledge : the same grace which enlighteneth the mind
worketh again to the subduing of the affections. We see men are as
their minds are : God giveth men up first to vain minds, and then to
vile affections, Rom. i. 28. This is the primum mobile, the great and
first moving cause, and great wheel of the soul : Eph. ii. 3, 'Fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind.' They are the wills of the
mind, and therefore of the flesh, of the lower and more sensual soul.
A corrupt judgment embaseth the spirit.
[2.] Because all the great opposition against faith is from thence.
(1.) There is great opposition against the working of faith in the
soul. Mark a few places, and you will easily perceive it : 2 Cor. iv.
4, ' In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them
who believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, which
is the image of God, should shine upon them.' Satan casteth a veil of
carnal prejudices upon the heart,, so as natural men cannot see the
beauty and glory of the gospel. There are blind minds, dark hearts,
corrupt principles, and carnal prejudices and fleshly conceits ; so that
they scorn the truth, rather than receive it in the love of it : 1 Cor. ii.
14, ' The natural man receiveth not the things of God/ Full vessels
can receive no more water : you cannot pour in the gospel to such
vessels as are full of sin, and flesh, and folly ; they scorn it, and
dash it over. There are sly pretences and crafty excuses ; these
are in the understanding and the spirit, and therefore, Heb. iv.
12, the word is said to ' divide between soul and spirit ;' that is, be
tween vile affections and crafty pretences. There is the pretence of
inability and un worthiness ; we cannot come, and we are unfit to come.
Now the light of the gospel showeth what is inability, and what is
laziness ; what is pride, and what unworthiness. The word dis-
covereth all the collusions and jugglings of the spirit, so that we shall
not easily excuse duty by affecting inventions to befriend affections,
and so to beguile ourselves in these vain pleas and excuses. From all
this are those secret persuasions and lying counsels concerning the
goodness of our estate, the happiness of worldly comforts and pleasures,
the hardships of the gospel, which hinder the soul from coming freely
to Jesus Christ. Thus, you see, in the understanding is the great let
to the begetting of faith.
424 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
(2.) So likewise against the acting of faith, carnal counsels, false sug
gestions, corrupt reasonings in the spirit ; and, therefore, the aposl/le
speaketh, 2 Cor. x. 5, of ' casting down imaginations, and every high
thought that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bring
ing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ/ These
reasonings and thoughts are the things that are against the knowledge
of God and the obedience of Jesus Christ. What is the reason men
are upon such uncertainty, and terms of perplexity between Christ and
themselves ? It is through some false reasonings. We think Christ will
not accept of us, or that we may do well enough without him. Now, this
I take for a rule, that graces are seated in those faculties where there is
most opposition against them ; and there must be something in faith to
sanctify the understanding, where it meeteth with such corrupt thoughts,
carnal reasonings, dangerous persuasions, and crafty pretences.
(3.) Because this is the main difference betwixt faith and presump
tion. Faith is a child of light, and presumption a child of darkness :
the more ignorant, the more presuming. Deceits are best carried on
in the dark : groundless conceits cannot endure the light ; truf faith
always goeth upon sure grounds from the word, not upon every vain sur
mise : Rom. x. 14, ' How shall they believe in him of whom they have
not heard ? ' Faith is according as we have heard out of the word.
1 Peter iii. 15, we are to ' give a reason of the hope that is in us/
Faith is rational, though we cannot always give a reason of the thing be
lieved. Mysteries surpass reason, yet we must see a reason why we
believe. Cant. v. 9, the spouse being asked, ' What is her beloved
more than another beloved?' she gives an account of the special excel
lences in Christ that engaged her affections : ' My beloved is white
and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.3 Presumption only taketh
up the name of Christ, and talketh of him by rote and hearsay ; but
there is not a distinct knowledge and apprehension of his excellences ;
they do not know any special grounds for their belief. Custom and
common illumination furnish the tongue with good words. But they
do not, 2 Cor. iii. 18, ' with open face behold the glory of the Lord ;'
that is, most nearly examine and consider the glorious beauties of the
Lord Christ.
(4.) To explicate the point a little more thoroughly, you will be
ready to ask me what kind of knowledge this is ? That is very neces
sary to be cleared. Of all things men will stand upon their knowledge ;
they will sooner own a fault in their morals, than a weakness in their
intellectuals : John ix. 40, ' Are we blind also ? ' What ! thinking
men and speaking men, men of study and parts ? If there be but any
superficial apprehensions and flashy irradiations., then men are quiet ;
there is a notional light, and there is a spiritual light ; and there are
also common works and common knowledge ; and there are ra e^o^eva
•n}? o-oor^/D/a?, 'Things that do accompany salvation,' Heb. vi. 4, 5, com
pared with ver. 9. Every knowledge then is not the knowledge of
faith ; wild plants and garden plants have the same name and common
nature, though they differ much in their virtues and operations. So
it is here ; there is a great deal of difference in the workings and influ
ence of this knowledge. Let us a little reflect upon the differences and
properties of true knowledge, which are these : —
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 425
(1st.) It is considerate ; it looketh to the grounds and to the nature of
things. False apprehensions of Christ, they are hasty and surrepti
tious. Men have knowledge of the gospel, but they are loth to ponder
and weigh the business of it in their thoughts. We may talk after
one another like parrots, and yet never take it into our serious thoughts
and considerations ; as the apostle saith of some that taught the law,
1 Tim. i. 7, ' Neither understanding what they say, nor whereof they
affirm/ Men talk of things by rote, after others, and out of books
and sermons ; reason of matters of which they have no spiritual un
derstanding : many prophesied in the name of Christ that knew him
not. Nicodemus, though a teacher, was ignorant of the doctrine of
regeneration. As Aristotle observed of young men, that they attain
to the height of mathematics, and there ponder the reason of every
thing ; but when it cometh to morals and matters that should do them
good, ra pev ov irLa-revovcnv ol veol d\\a ^ejovcn, they rather recite it
by rote, than believe it. Men talk of the mysteries of Christ, that are
only revealed to the saints, but they do not seriously consider with
what disadvantages the doctrine of Christ is represented to carnal
reason, and, on the other side, what may be the benefits of it. Con
trary desires and carnal inclinations will not suffer us to pause on those
things. When we begin to think on the gospel, there are jealousies,
discontents, reluctations, and distractions : such things as exasperate
the affections, the soul cannot easily get leave to pause upon. Felix
had some apprehensions of the doctrines of temperance and judgment
to come, but he could not easily bring his heart to think of them :
Acts xxiv. 25, ' When I have a more convenient season, I will call for
thee.' A man may hear the sound of music, but he is not affected
with the melody till he hearkeneth to it. We suffer ourselves to be
cumbered with other cares, carried aside with other desires, and there
fore cannot stay upon these things that are most necessary, and so are
not taken with them. It is the commendation of Mary, Luke ii. 19,
' But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart/
Truths work with us usually when we take them into our serious
thoughts. All false knowledge of Christ lies in trivial and slight
apprehensions. Christ often calleth upon his disciples to let things
sink into their hearts ; then it is best.
(2dly.) It is convincing ; that is, it is such a knowledge as maketh us
to subscribe to the truth and good of things, humbling us for former
misapprehensions and misconceits, causing us to smite upon the thigh,
as being thoroughly sensible of the vanity of them ; and maketh the
heart thoroughly to determine concerning them. Many men have some
knowledge concerning the gospel, but they are not fully convinced of
the truth of the gospel ; it is mingled with much doubting, unbelief,
error, and ignorance ; they think it a vain fable, and a false or a fruit
less doctrine, invented perhaps for a good end, to make men live an
honest and orderly life : or at least, there is some fear that it may not
prove true. They are not brought thoroughly to subscribe to the
truth and worth of it : Heb. xi. 1, ' Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen ;' not a knowledge, but an
evidence, an evidencing knowledge, when the heart is made to yield to
such discoveries, and the word is received and lodged in the heart with
426 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIIL 11.
much assurance, as the apostle speaketh, 1 Thes. i. 5. They were
convinced that it was the only good and true way. Others have only
some conjectural persuasions, or some opinionative thoughts ; they
apprehend the gospel with a loose heart : John xvi. 9, ' The Spirit con-
vinceth of sin, righteousness, and judgment/ eX&yfe^. The Spirit
dealeth by way of conviction, so as to overcome all gainsaying and
contradiction of the spirit, of sin without excuses, and grace without
suspicions and jealousies, of judgments without crafty pretences and
evasions ; conviction draweth the mind to a full consent. As Paul, when
he was convinced, consented to the law that it was good, Eom. vii. 16 ;
so they consent and yield to the goodness of the word : it is a true word,
and the best word in the world ; all former vain thoughts are gone, and
the force of vain, carnal reasonings are broken, and the soul is brought
to a full consent.
(3dly.) It is a wise, a prudent, and a directive light. You shall see
unbelief is opposed to folly, as well as to ignorance : Luke xxiv. 25, 0
ye fools, and slow of heart to believe ! ' Many have faith, but they
have not wisdom. Faith is a spiritual wisdom ; it is a grace that hath
judgment in it ; not only apprehension, but judgment. There is a
foolish knowledge that puffeth up, loose apprehensions of the doctrine
of the gospel that feed pride : 1 Cor. viii. 1, ' Knowledge puffeth up.'
Knowledge goeth the wrong way when it gets up into the tongue and
the head only. But this is a knowledge in which there is wisdom,
which teaclieth us to make the best choice for ourselves. Wisdom
implieth something more than bare knowledge and empty speculations;
it is a directive light, not only an idea or model of truth in our brains,
which the apostle calleth nopfywcnv TTJ? 71/0)0-60)5, a form of knowledge, a
platform of knowledge gathered into some compendiums or method
for their own or others' good, able to branch out things, and talk well
of them, a map and perfect system of all the enjoyments of the saints ;
for alas ! such things may be easily learned from others' experience ; but
such a knowledge as is able to guide us in all the actings of our spirits,
such a knowledge as aimeth at a right frame of affections. We shall
easily discern knowledge by the ends and use of it. It is not merely
that we may conceive distinctly of the Godhead, to better our art and
skill, and to be able to discourse of Christ, but that we may glorify
him, that we may honour him in our lives, — that is the end and the
aim. Some desire to know God, as a painter desireth to know a man
that he may take his image and likeness, and so draw his picture, and
set it out in paint upon a table. Others know Christ as a child doth
his father, that he may become the lively image and resemblance of
him, that men may read their heavenly Father in their conversations :
Mat. v. 16, 'Let your light so shine before men, that they may see
your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven/ Not
that we may paint out God and Christ in words, but that we may
become a lively representation of him in our lives. Faith is wise, it
doth not aim only at abstracted conceits of God, but to know him so
as we may live by it.
(4thly.) It is affective ; that is, it is such a knowledge as, besides the
representation of the object, leaveth an impression upon the affections,
and stirreth up desires and delights : as Prov. ii. 10, ' When wisdom
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 427
entereth upon thy heart.' The heart, in the scripture dialect, is the
seat of the affections, of esteem, desire, and delight ; it stirreth up
affiance, and embracing of Christ and his righteousness to salvation,
when there is heat as well as light, if it provoke affections and suit
able inclinations, and there is a powerful sway upon the whole spirit.
As the church saith, Lam. iii. 51, ' Mine eye affecteth my heart/
There are proportionable affections stirred to the apprehensions that
we have of Christ ; and the gospel as a light, by the further concur
rence of the Spirit, breaketh the force of contrary inclinations, and
causeth yearnings and languishings in the soul after Christ. This must
be understood rightly, for the most abstract speculations do suppose
some inclination in the soul ; but it must be answerable. And
besides, in the first work of the Spirit upon the heart, there is not
only an enlightening, but some impressions of joy. The stony
ground received the word with joy, Mat. xiii. There may be some
flashes of joy in the apprehension of Christ, though it be but a condi
tional proffer, some slight apprehensions of happiness in having Christ,
when we look upon it as a probable way for salvation, and yet have no
interest in him. As the Jews mistook John for Christ, so many mis
take these preparations for grace or a real work, Heb. vi. 5. This is
called a ' tasting of the good word,' a causing of contentment in the
joy the word holdeth forth. Therefore it is not to be understood by
these flashy joys and transient glances, but by the settled and serious
constitution of the spirit towards God, when the whole frame, stream,
and bent of the soul goeth that way. As it is not a few thoughts and
affections that make a man bad, but the frame and bent of his thoughts
and affections, so here, it is not some glancing desires, or some slight
wishes, but the general bent and delight of the spirit. Saving know
ledge begets standing affections and gracious dispositions, that are as
the chariots of Aminadab to carry out the soul towards Christ.
(5thly.) It is practical, as it doth not stay in the brain, but goeth down
to the affections ; and it doth not stay there, but gets out into the
conversation and into the actions. When men pretend to know much
and practise little, it is a sign their knowledge is but slight and trivial;
arid it is so far from being a privilege, that it obligeth us to many
stripes : Luke xii. 47, ' That servant which knew his lord's will, and
prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten
with many stripes/ There is a knowledge that doth not end in doing,
but alas ! that is but a fancied knowledge rather than true : 1 John
ii. 4, ' He that saith I know him, and keepeth not his commandments,
is a liar, and the truth is not in him/ Saving light and true appre
hensions of Christ will end in practice : 3 John 11, 'He that doeth
evil hath not seen God/ A true sight and apprehension of God is
renewing and transforming ; false apprehensions cannot work it: there
fore the apostle saith: 2 Cor. iii. 18, ' But we all with open face,
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the
same image from glory to glory/ God's glory maketh us shine like
Moses's face when he talked with God. The greater acquaintance with
him, the more holy, and heavenly, and spiritual ; the life will be
according to the light, and the light of Christ will carry the glory of
Christ into the heart, and make it shine out in the conversation. Like
428 . A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIIL 11.
windows that shine in the day when the sun is risen, so we may arise
and shine, for the glory of the Lord is risen upon us, and holiness of
conversation is made to depend upon the clearness of the apprehension
of Christ : Eph. iv. 2, ' But ye have not so learned Christ ;' that is, to
walk in such looseness as the Gentiles did. A true sight of him
maketh us the same that Christ is.
(6thly.) It is spiritual : I mean, such as is begotten by the power of
the Spirit, not a taking up of reports of Jesus Christ, but a closing with
him upon the revelation made of him ; not upon the reports of men,
but the Spirit's testimony : John iv. 42, ' Now we believe, not because
of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this
is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.' They would not take
him upon the common report, but had heard his own voice ; not only
upon the belief of the church, but upon Christ's own voice, that
maketh it sure to the soul : 1 John v. 6, ' And it is the Spirit that
beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.'
Use 1. Serveth for information, to show us the misery of those that
are without knowledge. Without knowledge, without faith ; and
without faith, without God, without a promise. It was a great
reproach that Nahash would lay upon Israel, that he would put out
their right eyes : 1 Sam. xi. 12. And the great design the god of
this world hath upon the men of the world is to blind their eyes, that
they may not come to the knowledge of the truth. Ignorance is one
of God's sorest judgments ; when he hath left off threatening of other
things, then he threateneth a blind heart and a vain mind. Oh that we
could be sensible of it ! Ignorance is twofold : either —
1, Necessary ; or
2. Negligent.
1. Necessary ignorance, which is otherwise called the ignorance of
pure negation, when men do not know God in Christ, because they have
not heard of him. And it happeneth in two cases — either in the total
want of means, or the want of due means. I shall a little examine
the particulars, that you may not think they do not concern you, or
that you may make this use of it, at least, to affect your hearts with pity
and compassion towards them that want it. When Christ saw the
blindness of the Jews, he wept over them, because ' the things which
belong to their peace ' were 'hid from their eyes/ Luke xix. 41, 42.
Oh, how may we weep over many corners of this kingdom, where Jesus
Christ is not so much as named: Kom. xv. 2, ' Let every one of us
please his neighbour for his good to edification.' And not only that,
but that we may be sensible of our mercies, and bless God for our
enjoyments. When Christ had told his disciples of the gross ignorance
of others, he presently added, Mat. xiii. 16, ' Blessed are your eyes,
for they see ; and your ears, for they hear ' ! Oh, what a mercy is it
that it is otherwise with you ! So far you may reckon yourselves
blessed, as you have more advantages of increasing your knowledge,
and bettering your apprehensions of God in Christ. Therefore con
sider how ill it is with them that want means, or the due means.
' Faith cometh by hearing ;' God dealeth with us in a way suitable to
our intellectual nature, and beginneth with knowledge. How should
they know ? and yet their case is very sad.
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 429
[1.] As to those that want the means. 'God leaveth no man without
some witness of himself. Those that have not the word and Spirit,
they have showers of rain and fruitful seasons; God is not wanting to
them. If they have not those larger and clearer discoveries of God, yet
their ignorance is deadly and fatal to them : Prov. xxix. 18, * Where there
is no vision, the people perish.' Oh, think of such unhappy times, when
frequenting of ordinances was counted a crime, the want of which will
be your undoing ; for the apostle saith Christ cometh ' to render ven
geance to them that know not God/ 2 Thes. i. 8. Men think if
their lives be not vicious, and they have good meanings, it will be well
with them ; they are not troubled for their ignorance. I tell you,
Christ will come in flames of fire to them that know not God, and
obey not the gospel. A vain mind is as bad as vile affections. The
blind and the lame, they were equally an abomination to God ; and it
is every way as dangerous to want knowledge as obedience. Oh, con
sider the sad state of such souls and places where there are no means !
Our Saviour saith, ' He that knoweth not the will of God shall have
few stripes ;' he doth not say no stripes, Luke xii. 48. Ignorance will
not excuse them. What a sorry privilege is it that they shall have a
cooler hell ?
[2.] That want due means. This is as bad or worse than the
former. Men rest in that which carrieth the face of an ordinance ;
and usually it is harder to teach them who know something in religion
than those who know nothing at all ; for a little knowledge does but
prepossess the mind with carnal truth and prejudices, and the real
truth is rejected with more stubbornness. Consider the sadness of
such an estate. Men think to cause all the blame to reflect upon their
teachers, they have been taught so ; but what saith our Saviour : Mat.
xv. 14, ' If the blind lead the blind, they shall both fall into the ditch/
Ignorant, misled people will perish with their blind guides : Isa. ix. 16,
' For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and they that are
led of them are destroyed.' And indeed it is but just. Men make
them their darlings, and humour them in the way of their lusts. Ill
instruments would be cast out if cast out of the people's hearts : Jer.
v. 31, ' The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their
means ; and my people love to have it so : and what will you do in
the end thereof ?' What will be the end of this ? It is the property
of this blindness to love those that do increase it. If naturally blind,
we would have a good guide. Elymas, the sorcerer, sought for one to
lead him by the hand, Acts xiii. 11. But oh, how sad is their case
that dote upon their blind guides ! — these are the people's idols every
where. Thus for necessary ignorance ; I mean, that which must needs
be so.
2. Ignorance that ariseth from negligence ; that is, when men have
means and do not improve them. This is sad, and increaseth the sin,
when you have the gospel, and do not suffer it to shine in upon your
souls : John xv. 22, ' If I had not spoken unto them, they had not had
sin ;' that is, not so much sin. The great aggravation of sin is from
the advantages and opportunities you have to do better. All your
Privileges do but heighten your offence if you neglect to improve them,
f you have but the witness of sense and reason, you are left without
430 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
excuse ; how much more when you have the word and Spirit. Christ
often threateneth heavier judgments to those places that were privy
and conscious to his mighty works, and more glorious discoveries, arid
the testimonies of his Godhead. Look, as it will be a great vexation
to the men of the world at the last day, that the saints' Saviour will
be their judge ; so the gospel, the word of salvation, will become a
killing word to them that have it preached, and yet do not benefit by
it. There are divers degrees of this negligent ignorance, which I
shall name.
[1.] When men have not any proportionable measures of knowledge
to their means, — men that have sat a long time under the word, and
yet their foolish heart is darkened within them, and they know little
of the mysteries of salvation, and scarce get ricl of their natural
thoughts and apprehensions of God ; this is sad, and yet this may in
some measure befall the people of God : John xiv. 9, ' Have I been so
long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ?' Have
you had so many conferences and sermons, and are yet to seek ? Heb.
v. 12, ' When for the time ye ought to be teachers of others, ye have
need that one should teach you again which be the first principles of
the oracles of God.' After all the pains taken with them, men must
still be kept to their milk and first rudiments, and still we must be
forced to press you from things odious to mere nature. And when we
should go up to spiritual evils, unbelief, resting in duties, want of
making the most of Christ, want of communion and commerce with
him ; we find that we must deal with you about drunkenness, and
surfeiting, and excess in sensual things, you being in the lowest form of
godliness, scarce brought to a seemly pitch of morality, so that sublime
discoveries do but amuse you or harden you, and are certainly lost upon
you. When the apostle could not by all his endeavours bring them off
from their ceremonies, he sadly complaineth, Gal. iv. 10, 11, 'Ye observe
days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have
bestowed upon you labour in vain.' All the choice discoveries of Christ
were to no purpose. If they were at that pass, oh, what a sad thing it
was that notwithstanding all the pains the apostle had taken with them,
they would still stick at a ceremony, when there is so small a profici
ency, that we can scarce bring them to the low things of Christianity.
[2.] When men have some knowledge with the means, but it is
flashy and superficial. Men do not know God as they ought to know
him, as the apostle's word is. All their knowledge ends in specula
tion ; their lives do not answer it : Titus i. 16, ' They profess that they
know God, but in works they deny him.' Superficial and slender
knowledge will not reach the heart, and go down as low as the con
versation. Some are like toads, that have a jewel in their heads, when
their whole bodies are poison ; like the devil, that taketh Christ to the
top of the pinnacle, that he might throw him down again. Some
men have light in their understandings, when their conversations are
foul and defiled. Oh, consider, mere knowledge will not profit when
you know only to aggravate your wickedness. Quid 'prodest, &c.
What will it profit to be dignified with learning and knowledge, and
to perish at last ? The name of the evil angels is baifjiovia, because
of their knowledge ; they are intellectual natures. The good angels
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 431
know the will of God, and do it : Ps. ciii. 20, ' They do his command
ments, hearkening to the voice of his word/ Christ leadeth us to
heaven for a pattern of duty : ' Thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven/ You shall find the saints of God drawing out their knowledge
into practice, as David prayeth for it upon this ground : Ps. cxix. 34,
1 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law.' That was his
end, to know so as he might be guided in his way: Ps. cxix. 11, ' Thy
word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.' He
had laid up some principles that he might argue from them, and draw
them out to every case ; and upon every temptation might bring out
these truths, and enforce them upon his heart. It is true, sometimes
the people of God may be too backward, and too often cherish an empty
knowledge and naked apprehension, which the apostle calleth a being
' barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ/ 2 Peter i. 8. They
know his plenty, but do not make use of it ; his comforts, but are not
refreshed by them ; his will, but do not do it. This is a being barren
and unfruitful ; but it should not be so. Therefore, bewail that your
affections are not heated, yonr conversations bettered and amended by
what you know.
[3.] Those that have knowledge of Christ, but abuse their knowledge
to countenance their lusts, and to defend their sins. Oh, this is sad !
The Gnostics were so called from their knowledge, and yet were the
impurest heretics. These are those who, as the apostle saith, Gal.
v. 13, ' Use their liberty as an occasion to the flesh/ and make the
knowledge of Christ the ground of looseness and laziness : Jude 4,
' Turning the grace of God into lasciviousness ; ' that is, the knowledge
of the gospel. Carnal hearts are like the sea, that turneth everything
into the nature of itself, even the sweet influences of heaven into salt
waters. The learning of Christ, and the looking upon Christ, is made
the great ground of holiness everywhere in the scripture ; and they
make it the ground of carnal liberty and a loose life : like the devil,
the more cunning the more wicked ; the more knowing, the more hurt
they do to their own souls, and to the souls of others.
[4.] When men grossly affect their ignorance. And this is seen in
two things: —
(1.) By the unteachableness of their hearts. They are not know
ing or tractable ; the plainest truths of God are riddles to them. A
child of God may be ignorant, but a child of God cannot be un-
teachable. There is a suitableness and cognation between his spirit
and divine truths ; there is something in his heart that answereth to
it, though he never heard it before. When God regenerates the heart,
he introduceth a frame of truth, something that is of kin, and answer
able to everything that is revealed. But now it is not so with wicked
men ; they are carried aside with contrary inclinations, that their spirits
bear no proportion with truth. As the apostle saith of silly women
laden with sin, and led away with divers lusts, 2 Tim. iii. 7, they are
' ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth ; '
that is, they make not use of the advantages, occasions, and oppor
tunities of learning ; for otherwise it might be the description of a
godly man ; they never reach the uttermost truths of the spiritual life,
though always learning. Oh, it is a sad thing this untractableness and
432 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
unteachableness of heart ! Men cannot tell what to make of divine
things : Isa. xxviii. 9, ' Whom shall I teach knowledge, and whom
shall I make to understand doctrine ? Them that are weaned from
the milk, and drawn from the breasts ; ' that is, he were as good go and
prattle with poor infants as teach them. Men have unsavoury, inju
dicious minds that do not relish the things of Grod.
(2.) By downright opposition, raging against the light. As the
Ethiopians, that are said once a year solemnly to curse the sun ; so their
hearts rage against knowledge, because it reviveth guilt : Job xxi. 14,
1 They say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge
of thy ways.' They did not desire knowledge. This is the perverse-
ness of man's nature, to love his own blindness, to refuse the means of
helping arid relieving his soul. We are not only blind, but mad ; when
we cannot keep out the light, we rage against it: Jer. xliv. 16, 17,
' As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the
Lord, we will not hearken unto thee ; but we will certainly do what
soever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth.' Who would not pity
such mad persons as these ? Here is the result of blindness and
ignorance, desperate opposition against the word. They will have their
old ways, their old principles, their old customs. Oh, the malignity
that is in their hearts !
Use 2. Is exhortation, to press you to get knowledge. If faith be
knowledge, there lieth a great necessity upon you to get it. You can
as well be without the sun in the world as without knowledge and
light in the heart.
1. To get knowledge. Shall I press it in the general, — the know
ledge of divine things, and the knowledge of God in Christ ?
[1.] The knowledge of divine things in the general. And here
consider :— -
(1.) You cannot be well without it : Prov. xix. 2, ' That the soul
be without knowledge, it is not good/ Men will plead thus : We are
ignorant, but we hope we have a good meaning : the spirit cannot
be good without knowledge. This shows the goodness of your spirits.
(2.) It is your excellency above the beasts : the more knowledge,
the more manly ; and the more ignorant, the more brutish : Ps. xlix.
12, ' Nevertheless man, being in honour, abideth not, but is like the
beasts that perish.' In all communications of grace, God beginneth
with the understanding. The perfection of man is his angelical
nature: Job xxxv. 11, ' Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the
earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven.' Common light
is man's excellency, but to have a mind to know God distinguishes
you from other men. Others may go beyond you in other things, but
this will be your excellency, to know him : Jer. ix. 23, 24, ' Let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory
in his might ; let not the rich man glory in his riches : but let him
that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me,
that I am the Lord.' If you will glory, there is your glory. It is
not who is most wealthy, or who most mighty, or who most wise ; this
is your excellency above other men, that excel in wisdom and know
ledge. They may be able, with Berengarius, to dispute de omni scibili,
from the cedar to the hyssop, from the highest star to the lowest
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIKD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 433
mineral, yet yours is a better knowledge : 1 Cor. i. 20, ' Where is the
wise ? where is the scribe ? where is the disputer of this world ?
Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world ? ' The great
prejudice against divine knowledge is, because men do not know the
excellency of it. The Gentiles refused the gospel, because they would
fain be conversant about the nobler sciences, and because those would
enrich their senses with wisdom, which they seemed to want in the
gospel : 1 Cor. ii. 6, ' Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are
perfect ; yet not the wisdom of the world, nor of the princes of this
world, that come to nought/ Oh, if you had eyes to see it, you would
find this to be the greatest wisdom ; here is your excellency.
(3.) You cannot serve God without it. The papists say, ignorance
is the mother of devotion, whereas it is the great hindrance of it :
1 Chron. xxviii. 9, ' And thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the God
of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing mind.'
There is the method and order : first, know him, and then the heart
and the will must follow. God doth not love blind obedience. Christ
reproveth the Samaritans for worshipping they knew not what, John
iv. 22. And Paul calleth it superstition in the Athenians to build an
altar to the unknown God. Simple credulity may be very awful, and
the light may work upon our fear, but rational service is performed
most with love and delight.
2. Above all things know God in Christ : John xvii. 3, * And this
is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent/ Not only to know the true God, but
Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. 2 Cor. iv. 6, it is said, God ' giveth
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ/ He being the express image of the Father, there is the
express representation of him. I am afraid Christians do not prize
the knowledge of God in Christ so much as they should. Oh, consider,
there you have the most comfortable representation of him : Ps. cxvi.
5, this is David's rejoicing, ' Gracious is the Lord, and righteous ; yea,
our God is merciful/ Oh, that you could see both together, that is most
beneficial. Kemember it is said, ' by the knowledge of him,' or ' by
his knowledge/ in the text. The knowledge of Christ carrieth the
image of Christ into the soul : John i. 14, ' And we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth/
And then in the 17th verse, ' Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ/
All the good of your souls cometh this way. The more particular
discoveries your hearts have of him, the better it is for you.
Secondly, Grow up in the knowledge of Christ : 2 Peter iii. 18, ' But
grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ/ Search out more of the particularities of his love. When
men think they have knowledge enough, they know nothing : 1 Cor.
viii. 2, ' He that thinketh he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing
as he ought to know/ You have not knowledge enough to see
your ignorance : 1 Cor. xiv. 20, * In understanding be ye men/ Do
not think that you know all things that can be taught ; you cannot
so easily go through all the dimensions, height, breadth, depth and
length.
The means are these : —
VOL. III. 2 E
434 A PRACTTCAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
1. Be conversant with the word, in reading of it. Therefore it is
said, Ps. xix. 8, ' The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the
heart ; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.'
St Austin calleth the scriptures his chief light.
2. In hearing, wait upon God in it : Isa. ii. 3, ' Come ye, and let us
go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob,
and he will teach us his ways/ Wait at the doors of wisdom, that
God may cause your souls to lie under the power of truth.
3. Pray instantly and earnestly : Jer. xxxi. 34, ' They shall all
know me from the least of them to the greatest of them, saith the
Lord.' It is his covenant promise to give understanding, therefore ask
it of God. The blind man would not hold his peace, Luke xviii.
39-41, ' But cried so much the more, Lord, that I may receive my
sight.'
4. Meditate often upon the love of Christ, search out all the par
ticularities of it. The Indian gymnosophists would all the day be
gazing upon the beauty of the sun ; oh ! view the Sun of Righteous
ness in all his glorious beams and influences with more delight and
pleasure.
5. Lay aside your own prejudices and misapprehensions, for they
will lead you aside, and you will gravel yourselves, and run into great
uncertainties and contradictions : Job xxxii. 8, ' There is a spirit in
man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding/
By liis knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for lie
shall bear their iniquities.
I shall now apply this first circumstance, the instrument, specified
in that word ~by his Icnowledge, to the act in the other word, justify.
For the word of the instrument, knowledge, we showed you it im-
porteth faith — an effective knowledge — such as causeth the soul to
embrace Christ, and receive him for our comfort. The other word is
a little to be opened, and then we shall the better match these two
together. To justify, in a scripture notioD, is to absolve and acquit.
It is a judicial and court word, and signifieth not so much to make
righteous as to account so. The papists would have it that it signifies
a righteousness infused, not a reckoning of the wicked as if they were
not guilty. But the word is used otherwise, Isa. v. 23, ' Woe to
them that justify the wicked for a reward, and take away the right
eousness of the righteous from them ; ' Luke xviii. 14, ' This man
went down to his house justified rather than the other.' To be
justified, then, is to be acquitted before God of that condemnation and
censure which we had deserved, and to be accepted as righteous in
his sight. Well, then, the point from both these linked together is
this : —
That by faith we are justified ; or, Jesus Christ justifieth poor
sinners by their faith. The prophet meaneth faith, though the saith
knowledge. For scriptures to prove the point, take these, tha are full
to the purpose : — Eom. iii. 28, ' Therefore we conclude that a man is
justified by faith.' The apostle had been labouring throughout all
the three chapters to bring the discourse to that issue ; and at length
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 435
there was the result of all, that we must be justified by faith. So
Kom. v. 1, ' Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ/ You see these scriptures are express enough
without any improvement ; therefore I go off to the reasons why faith,
of all other graces, is deputed to this service.
1. Because it is the most receptive grace, and so most fit for the
needy condition of the creature. Other graces are more operative,
but faith is most receptive. It is the right hand of the soul, to take
in the fulness of Jesus Christ. Nature liveth upon alms, and the con
tinued bounty and supplies of heaven, since the fall ; and therefore
those graces are most serviceable that are most receptive. Love giveth,
but faith taketh. All God's stars shine with a borrowed light. We
are beggars now, rather than workers. The blessing of life is not in
ourselves, but in Christ. Faith standeth in a passive receptiveness to
take the conveyances of grace : 1 John v. 12, * He that hath the Son
hath life ; and he that hath not the Son hath not life.' It is all in
having Christ. We must be beholden to another. God will trust us
no more with the keeping of it, but hath placed our support in Jesus
Christ. Our safety is like the ivy, or those weaker strings that are
strengthened by cleaving about the oak. Now faith serveth for that,
for relying on Christ to clothe us with his righteousness.
2. Faith is most loyal and true to God. It giveth him all the
glory, it looketh for all from him ; therefore the apostle saith, Bom.
iii. 26, 27, The grand condition of the new covenant is faith, to ex
clude boasting. God would have everything carried in a way of grace,
that if we glory in anything, we may glory in the Lord, 1 Cor. i. 31.
Our boasting must be in the glorifying of grace. God honoureth
those graces that honour him most. It is said, Bom. iv. 20, of Abra
ham, that he was ' strong in faith, giving glory to God ; ' so doth God
to faith. And faith is most abasing ; it casteth down all the excel
lence of the creature. Man had rather be doing than borrowing :
we cannot endure to hear of going out of ourselves ; therefore God
ordained this grace.
3. To make the way more sure : Born. iv. 16, ' Therefore it is of
faith, that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure
to all the seed/ Now things are not so floating and uncertain as when
we were left to working graces. Now we have a sure Christ for the
foundation : Isa. xxviii. 16, ' Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a
stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation/ It is
sure in Christ, and we have Christ too by a sure tenure and claim : 2
Sam. xxiii. 5, ' Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things, and sure.' We may be uneven and unconstant
with God ; and though we be so with him, yet we have a sure, unvari
able promise to hold by. And now here is faith, that taketh a sure
hold upon this promise : Heb. vi. 19, ' Which hope we have as an
anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast;' a sure faith, a sure
promise, a sure Christ. Things are not left upon doubtful terms ;
God hath deputed all to faith, which hath a sure ground, a sure
claim, and a sure hold.
4. Because God would bring us back again in the same way that
we went off and departed from him, that so the return might be the
436 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII 11.
more satisfactory, that we might see tho defects of nature repaired
and made up in Christ. We went off by unbelief. Eve distrusted
the truth of God, and therefore God will bring us about again by
faith. To this day the heart is loosened from God by unbelief.
Diffidence is the first step to apostasy : Heb. iii. 12, ' Take heed,
brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in de
parting from the living God.' And faith is a drawing near to God,
even to such a degree of nearness as a union. We are not only
made like to Christ, as by other graces, but one with Christ. Thus
the point is proved.
I shall now a little clear the point to you by dispatching these two
questions : —
First, What faith is that justifieth ?
Secondly, How it justifieth ?
First, What faith is ? It is not every faith, — not a general assent
01 loose acknowledgment of the articles of religion ; but there is a
faith which, to distinguish it from all others, is called justifying faith.
It may be defined thus : — It is a grace wrought in our hearts by the
Spirit, by which the soul doth rest and cast itself upon Christ,
tendered to us in the offer of God, for pardon and acceptance. I will
not stand examining every part of this definition, but shall endeavour
to discover to you the nature of it by the several acts and effects of it,
beginning with the lowest, whilst it is but a seed, as a grain of mustard-
seed, in some small and weak beginnings, planted in the heart. St
Mark saith, chap. iv. 31, ' The kingdom of God is likened to a grain
of mustard-seed.' Very small and inconsiderable is the first work jf
grace ; but we must not despise the day of small things, nor neglect
the soft waters of Siloah. And therefore —
First, To begin with the acts : — There are some implicit acts, and
some explicit and formal acts. Since I am willing to give you the
whole nature of faith, it will not be amiss to reflect upon these things.
1. The implied acts of faith are two.
[1.] A sight of ourselves, which faith supposeth, and the curse of
God due to us. Man is a lazy creature, and will not apply himself to
any religious care till he be spurred on by his need of Christ. Christ
saith, ' The whole need not the physician/ Mat. ix. 12. The stung
Israelites looked up to the brazen serpent ; and those that were
' pricked in their hearts ' cried out, ' What shall we do ? ' Acts ii. 37.
1 1 sat alone because of thy hand, for thou hast filled me with indig
nation/ Jer. xv. 17. It rnaketh the soul sensible that it is no easy
matter to deliver ourselves from the wrath of God. Men slight mercy
till they need it, and are careless of the great salvation till God affect
them with a sight of their sin and his own wrath. We are like
Israel in Egypt, not easily weaned from the flesh-pots, till the burdens
be doubled, and wrath presseth to anguish.
J2.] A sense of our inability to help ourselves. Believing im-
plieth that a man hath given up all his vain confidence. How should
we lean upon Christ, whilst we fancy we have props and supports of
our own to bear up the soul ? The Corinthians did not care for
Paul when they were full, and ' reigned as kings without him/ 1 Cor.
iv. 8. No more do sinners for Christ that are full of self ; they can
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 437
be merry and happy, and keep their church, and do no harm, and all
without Christ : Hosea xiv. 3, ' With thee the fatherless findeth
mercy,' i.e., those that were destitute of all helps and supplies. Paul
could not look upon Christ as gain till he saw the loss that was in
his carnal endeavours, Phil. iii. 8. His care to relieve his soul was a
greater incumbrance to him.
2. There are formal explicit acts of faith, and they are : —
[1.] Knowledge of Christ, his goodness and excellency ; how satis
fying and how proportionable an object he is to the soul : John iv. 10,
* If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that speaketh unto
thee/ &c. The first act is an apprehension of Jesus Christ ; but I
have spoken of that largely.
[2.] There is desire. The soul thirsteth after Christ with such a
restless desire as will not be satisfied but with an enjoyment. It is
compared to the panting of a chased hart : Ps. xlii. 1, ' As the hart
panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, 0 God.'
In the Hebrew it is the chased she-hart, appetite in females being
most impetuous and impatient. And it is expressed by hungering
and thirsting : Mat. v. 6, ' Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst
after righteousness, for they shall be filled.' They are such volumin
ous and large desires that can in no wise endure check and restraint.
Nothing in the world can give quiet and content to the mind pos
sessed with them. The soul is sick of love for Christ, till it be stayed
with his flagons, and comforted with his apples, Cant. ii. 5 ; the soul
desireth him in the night season, Isa. xxvi. 9. And it is said, Ps.
Ixiii. 1, ' My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a
dry and thirsty land, where no water is.' They would have him
rather than all things in the world.
[3.] There is a seeking of Christ, as the spouse sought her be
loved, Cant. iii. 1-3. This is usually expressed by coining, which
is one of the lowest degrees of faith, whilst the soul is in the way, and
in the pursuit of Christ, but hath not fully closed with him : John vi.
35, * He that cometh to me shall never hunger ; and he that believeth
on me shall never thirst.' He that is coming — qui se dat in viam, so
Beza — shall never hunger nor thirst. It is like the poor prodigal
returning to his father. Though Christ and the soul be not as yet
brought to close together, yet the souls of believers will adventure upon
Christ ; yea, though they are not so comfortably persuaded of accep
tance with him ; as said the king of the Ninevites, Jonah iii. 9, ' Who
can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce
anger ? ' So Joel ii. 13, 14, ' Turn unto the Lord your God, for he is
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and re-
penteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent,
and leave a blessing behind him ? ' There is encouragement, a cable-
rope cast out to save a sinking soul ; though they cannot so comfort
ably apply Christ to their case, they are resolved to seek him.
[4.] The soul resteth upon him; there is a receiving of Christ:
John i. 12, ' To as many as received him ; ' which noteth a higher de
gree than coming to him. It implieth an apprehension, and particular
application of the promises for our use ; as when the prodigal and
the father were fallen upon each other's necks, and joined together in
438 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. MIL 11.
mutual embraces. It is the welcoming of Christ into the soul, the
clasping him about with the arms of faith ; as old Simeon took the
child in his arms and said, ' Mine eyes have seen thy salvation/ And
so the faith of the patriarchs is described : Heb. xi. 13, they ' embraced
the promises/ The word is aa-nracrdpevoi, they hugged and embraced
promises. I conceive it hinteth the practice of the patriarchs, who
upon every new hint of Christ went and worshipped; which was a
testimony of the joy of their faith and their cleaving to Christ in the
promise. And when faith is once come to this, it is no longer a seed
hidden in the earth, but it springeth up in all the happy effects and
fruits of it. Therefore the next thing I shall speak to is the effects of
a justifying faith.
Secondly, The effects of faith ; there are many. I shall name those
which I conceive to be most essential and proper ; and they are of
two sorts : —
1. Such as concern faith itself.
2. Other gracious constitutions of spirit.
1. For those that concern faith itself, and they are two : —
[1.] It is always renewing its own acts. God doth not delight in
dead and useless habits. It is not faith that will profit us, but the
exercise of it. God delighteth in the work of faith, that we should
* with joy draw water out of the wells of salvation/ Isa. xii. 3 ; that
we should not only have faith, but act it — that is, as we should make
Christ ours, so we should possess ourselves of all that he hath, and
that we should maintain our lives out of the supplies of his grace :
Gal. ii. 20, ' I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and
gave himself for me,' — that we should not only have Christ, but live
in him. The perfection of graces is in their acting : James ii. 22,
' By works was faith made perfect ;' that is, strengthened and increased ;
as the right arm groweth stronger and full of spirits by frequent
action.
[2.] It aimeth at the increase of itself. Therefore a weak faith
may grow into assurance. The first thing faith struggleth against is
doubts and fears : Mark ix. 24, * Lord, I believe, help thou my un
belief/ Graces are much tried by this opposition against the con
trary inclinations of spirit. Graces in pretence do not exasperate op
posite propensions ; and therefore the soul enjoy eth a great deal of
quiet and calmness under shows. False graces do not aim at growth,
and so exclude care ; and do not exasperate doubts, and so exclude
fear. There is not such a struggling with the relics and remainders
of unbelief. The children of God believe that they may believe : 1
John v. 13, ' These things have I written unto you that believe on the
name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life,
and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God/ They would
grow up into greater measures. David checketh distrusts : Ps. xlii.
5, * Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul ? and why art thou dis
quieted within me ? Hope thou in God/
Gracious hearts are troubled at their evil imaginations. Others are
drawing back, till God hath no pleasure in them, Heb. x. 38.
2. The effects that concern other gracious constitutions : so justify
ing and saving faith hath four effects : —
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 439
[1.] It humbleth and melteth for sin. The passover is to be eaten
dth i
with sour herbs. A man cannot look upon Christ but with a bitter
remembrance of his own guilt : Zech. xii. 10, ' They shall look upon
him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one
mourneth for his only son.' Even our best actions to a believing soul
cause grief. Like the ancient Israelites, who had seen the glory of the
first house, when they saw how unlike the last was to the former,
Ezra iii. 12, * wept with a loud voice.' So these, when they have such
a perfect model before them as Christ's love, and being like to make
such weak returns, it humbleth their hearts. As the queen of Sheba,
beholding the glory of Solomon, had no spirit left in her, 1 Kings
x. 5, thinking her own glory nothing to his, so doth the soul at the
contemplation of the excellences of Christ.
[2.] It purgeth the heart from sin : Acts xv. 9, ' Purifying their
hearts by faith.' The apostle speaketh of the Gentiles : if they had not
the ceremonial purgings, they have that which is better — their hearts
are purified by faith. The blood of Christ cleanses from sin. It doth
not only allay the burning of the spirit when it is upon it, but also
doth away the defilement. Faith and lusts are like a poison and a
preservative, they cannot lodge quietly in one soul. Apprehensions of
grace, even in the Gentiles, are the keenest arguments against sin. A
man never learned how to deal with sin to purpose till the appearance
of grace. Therefore the apostle saith, Titus ii. 11, 12, ' The grace of
God, that bringeth salvation, appeareth to all men, teaching us that,
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, right
eously, and godly in the present world/
[3.] It sets a high price and value upon Christ, so as to part with
all for his sake. Love is not to be measured with respect to the intense-
ness of the object, but the valuation of it: Mat. xiii. 46, ' He parted
with all for the pearl of great price/ See whether you can part with
worldly comforts, or with Christ. Let lusts go, and sin go. Our
Father's house is the least thing that we can quit for him : Ps. xlv.
10, ' Forget also thine own people, and thy father's house/ A small
contentment. It was Abraham's commendation that he did not with
hold his son, his only son, Gen. xxii. 12. God trieth us sometimes by
things that are great in our esteem, to see whether we will hazard
the comforts of Christ, or the loss of our own contentments. Alas !
there should be no worldly respect but should be sacrificed upon this
account. Many profess Christ, but they do not prize him ; they are
apt to be scandalised with the least suffering for his sake : Luke xvi.
26, ' If ye forsake not all, ye cannot be my disciples/
[4.] It worketh by love : Gal. v. 6, ' For in Jesus Christ neither
circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith, which
worketh by love/ It aboundeth in all holy duty out of love. Mercies
are such an argument as leaveth a constraint upon the soul: 2
Cor. v. 14, ' The love of Christ constraineth us/ Terrors and fears
cannot urge the spirit so as love will. Carnal affections make us
lazy, but faith begets in us love, and love maketh us labour. Those
that love much, will do much. Now by this you may discern the
nature of justifying faith.
Secondly, My next work is to show you how it justifieth. There
440 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. MIL 11.
being mistakes in this matter, I shall endeavour to lay the truth be
fore you.
1. Faith does not justify as a mutual cause together with works,
as if they did co-operate together; but we must distinguish.
There is a first and second justification, the one ascribed to faith, the
other to works. This opinion maketh as if we were beholden to grace
only for some courtesies, where we cannot engage God of ourselves.
It is true Jarnes saith, ' Not by faith, but by works ; ' but that is only
to justify faith. It is a false faith that doth not end in works ; but
works have nothing to do in justification. God abhorreth such a pro
fane medley ; he would have it wholly of grace. The papists exact
an imaginary faith, and so are put upon a necessity of eking it out
with works.
2. Not as an act and grace in us. Faith justifieth relative, not
effective etformaliter : not as if the act of believing were instead of
perfect obedience to the law, and as if it were grace in us, and not an
apprehending of Christ's righteousness. But it is in reference to the
object that it is said to justify, only because of its necessary concur
rence as an instrument. Christ's righteousness maketh us righteous,
only because it cannot apprehend this righteousness but by faith,
therefore it is said faith doth it. The hand may be said to feed and
nourish the body, but the nutritive virtue is not in the hand, but the
meat. There are divers reasons to sway you to believe this : —
[1.] Because faith is always said to justify as complicated with its
object, from whom it receiveth all its virtue.
E2.] Because the righteousness of faith is always contradistinct
opposed to that which is in ourselves : Eom. x. 3, * For they,
being ignorant of God's righteousness, they go about to establish
their own righteousness/ Now how anything in us can be called
God's righteousness, judge ye. So Phil. iii. 9, ' And be found in
him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law,
but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith/ Kom. i. 17, in the gospel, * the righteous
ness of God is revealed from faith to faith ; ' Kom. iii. 22, * Even the
righteousness of God, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ, unto all
and upon all that believe/
[3.] Because the apostle speaketh of imputing righteousness for
faith, as well as faith for righteousness : Kom. iv. 6, ' Unto whom God
imputeth righteousness without works/
[4] Because we are never said to be justified propter fidem, but per
Jidem ; not because of faith, but by faith. But I shall speak to the
matter of imputation in the next point.
3. Faith doth not justify, that is, merely receive the witness of our
justification, as those that make it assurance ; that is a thing that
followeth faith. We are not justified before faith, for then actual un
believers would be subject to no condemnation ; whereas * he that
believeth not is condemned already/ John iii. 18.
But to show affirmatively how faith justifieth, as an instrument
which God hath deputed to the apprehension and application of
Christ's righteousness, the whole order is thus : —
[1.] By effectual calling God begetteth faith, and uniteth us to Jesus
ISA. LIIL 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 441
Christ. Faith is the grace of union, and we are said to * live in him
by faith,' Gal. ii. 20. And he is said to ' dwell in our hearts by faith/
Eph. iii. 17.
[2.] And being united to Christ, we are possessed of all that is in
Christ ; so that whatsoever he hath suffered or done becometh ours :
2 Cor. v. 21, * For he was made sin for us, that knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him.' As Christ had our
sins, so we have his righteousness. So that we find imputation a real
thing.
[3.] Then God looketh upon us as righteous ; and so —
(1.) He absolveth us from all sin by a free and full pardon, and we
are as if we were not sinners in the sight of God : Jer. 1. 20, ' The
iniquities of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none ; and
the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found ;' Ps. ciii. 12, ' As far
as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions
from us.'
(2.) He accepteth us as righteous to eternal life, so complete as we
cannot be challenged : Eom. viii. 32, * Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth ;' Kom. v. 21, * That
as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord.'
Use 1. It showeth us the excellency of faith. God hath put a high
honour upon it ; all the conveyances of Christ come into the soul this
way, but especially of justification ; and what a mercy is it that God
would require nothing of us but faith !
2. It presseth us to get faith; it is the instrument of justification,
the grace that maketh all sure to the people of God. The world liveth
by guess or random ; and alas ! what a misery is it to have only our
own contrivances and good meanings ! Faith is designed to clothe us
with the righteousness of Christ, and that is the best robe. Oh, labour
only for that ! Take heed it be a justifying faith. To this end take
two cautions : —
[1.] Get such a faith as will endure the sight of God. If you be
justified it must be by faith, a righteousness that will endure that :
Ps. cxliii. 2, ' For in thy sight shall no man living be justified.' And
that is the reason why the deeds of the law are excluded. Nay, get
such a faith as will endure the appearance of Jesus Christ, even his
terrible appearance in judgment. Graces are true when they can
endure that brunt : Luke xxi. 36, ' Watch and pray, that you may be
able to stand before the Son of man at his coming/ 1 John iv. 17,
' That we may have boldness in the day of judgment ;' that is a sen
sible proof of the truth of graces. 1 John ii. 28, ' And now, little
children, abide in him, that when he shall appear, you may have con
fidence, and may not be ashamed at his coming/
[2.] Let it be such_a faith as taketh Christ out of God's hand, such
a faith as will stand with knowledge and more discoveries of Christ.
The more ignorant any are, the more presumptuous. It must be such
a faith as apprehends Christ in the use of all the means appointed.
To talk of faith while we contemn or neglect the means, is but an idle
fancy, an imaginary persuasion, not faith, and will easily discover our
iblly.
442 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many ; for he
shall bear their iniquities.
I am now come to the next circumstance in the order of the words,
and that is the efficient cause in justification, which is Jesus Christ,
expressed here by God's ' righteous servant ;' for so he is to be consi
dered in the business of justification, or else it were ill for the creatures.
What this expression will amount to we shall see by and by. The
point is: —
Doct. That Jesus Christ justifieth as God's righteous servant. I shall —
1. Explain the point.
2. Prove it.
3. Apply it.
For the explaining the matter to you, consider these two things : —
1. How Christ was God's servant.
2. How Christ was God's righteous servant.
First, Christ was said to be God's servant, partly as he subjected
himself to the condition of man, and because he lived among men in a
needy, servile, and abject state of life, not like a prince, but a servant,
which is the lowest form of rational creatures. And it is expressed by
' taking the form of a servant ; upon him, Phil, ii, 7. Angels are
called sons, and man a servant ; ' The sons of God shouted for joy,'
Job xxxviii. 7. In the family of heaven they were to God as servants.
And partly as he was a choice instrument for the executing of God's
decrees. Those that are taken into any degree of subserviency to God's
counsels have this badge of honour put upon them, to be God's ser
vants, as Nebuchadnezzar is called God's servant, Jer. xxvii. 6. Now,
because Christ submitted himself to the office of the mediatorship, and
so to a subserviency to God's decrees, he is called a servant : Isa. xlii.
1, ' Behold my servant, whom I uphold ;' Isa. xlix. 3, ' Thou art my
servant.' And this being an instrument of God's decrees, is called
service, because whosoever is employed in it is to sequester himself for
the uses of God, and to divest himself of all self-respect, and like a ser
vant to be at the command of another, and wholly to give up himself to
the profit and benefit of his Master. So Christ, not aiming at himself,
accomplished the work of God to God's glory and the salvation of man.
And—
Partly as he subjected himself to the law of God and the covenant
of works, which was a covenant of servants. A servant expects his
hire as the reward of his work, and therefore the state of the gospel is
called a state of sonship : Gal. iv. 5, * To redeem them that were under
the law, that they might receive the adoption of sons/ So in the 1st
verse of that chapter, ' The heir, as long as he is a child, differeth
nothing from a servant ;' that is, those that are under the covenant of
grace did very little differ from those that are under the covenant of
works, in the time of the church's infancy and ceremonial dispensation,
because it was a ministry of condemnation. Everywhere the cove
nant of works is made as the covenant of an hireling, and implieth
bondage and service. And therefore Christ, because he submitted
himself to such a covenant, and seeing he was to be judged of
God according to all extremity and rigour, things were carried be
tween God and Christ in a way of justice, and our grace and glory
ISA. MIL 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 443
were due to him. So that in all these respects Christ was God's
servant.
Use 1. Is to commend to us the service of God. It is a glory to a
society when princes are of it: you count the order or company
dignified when they will come into your fellowship. You have Jesus
Christ in your fellowship. Oh, certainly the service of God can be
no disgrace to you ! God calleth him my servant. This was David's
choice : Ps. Ixxxiv. 10, ' I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of
God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.' The meanest employ
ment in God's service is a greater honour than any sinful dignity.
Christ did not honour kingship and lordship, and the dignities of the
world in his person here upon earth, but only meanness and obedience.
Think it no reproach to be engaged in such services with David as are
most mean and low in the world's eye. Your fellow-servant is Christ.
Use 2. To commend to us the love of Christ, that he should divest
himself of all his glory, and appear in the form of a servant.
1. It was love that he should submit himself to our nature. Do
but consider what an infinite distance there was between the Godhead
and us, and then you may guess somewhat what a strange condescen
sion there was in his love. How many degrees it came down to meet
the creatures for their good. There are divers things to aggravate it.
That Christ should take our nature, when he left equal glory with the
Father. It was a great abasement for Adam to fall from his excel
lency by sin to meanness ; for us to stoop is no such matter, but it
was most amazing in him that * thought it no robbery to be equal with
God,' Phil. ii. 6. Then that he ' took upon him the form of a ser
vant/ not of angels, which is a higher degree of natures, and would
have been a fitter form for a Son, but of a man, and that the form of
a servant — he went to the lowest rank of rational creatures. Then
how he took it, not of the highest order of men ; he came not in the
pomp, equipage and appearance of a king and prince. The Jews
looked for a mighty monarch. Christ had right to all the world, but
he would not hold by that tenure. It was the form of a servant, not
only in respect of the angels, but in respect of men. He was found in
the lowest rank of men, poor and destitute, therefore called cliadall
ishim : Isa, lii. 3, ' despised and rejected.' In the Hebrew it is the
leavings off of men ; man just left off there where Christ was found :
if he had gone lower, he could not be man : Ps. xx. 6, ' I am a worm,
and no man ; ' rather found among the rank of poor despicable worms,
than of men. Then, what were the effects of it ? Even upon this he
was refused of those for whose good he came; they rejected him, nay
slew him, because he came in this disguise of meanness for their sakes.
He gained no honour by it, neither did the world know him the
better: John i. 11, ' He came to his own, and his own received him
not/ In short, this was the great cause why he was the object of the
Jewish scorn and rejection. Nay, further, consider this was not only
an accidental event, and a thing that was not aimed at, but the very
end of Christ. He was found in the form of a servant, that he might
be handled in a despiteful manner, and that the decrees of God might
be accomplished upon his person. He could have shown himself in
majesty, and have prevented his sufferings, as he saith, Mat. xxvi.
444 A PKACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 11.
53, 54, ' Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray unto my Father, and
he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels ? But
how, then, shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?'
Well, then, you find a great deal of matter to be offered to your
thoughts for the commendation of Christ's love.
2. There is more in Christ's being a servant. He subjected him
self to your covenant — the covenant of works — that lay upon all men
naturally : Gal. iv. 4, * Made under the law' — not only the moral law,
which is not a slavery, but a freedom ; whereas, on the contrary, the
satisfying of our corrupt desires is the greatest slavery in the world :
2 Peter ii. 19, ' While they promise them liberty, they themselves are
the servants of corruption/ But that he should put himself into such
a condition as to make himself liable to his Father's wrath, to take
our curse upon him, yea, to be 'made a curse for us/ Gal. iii. 13, that
is a high instance of the love of Christ — that he, that was the beloved
of his Father — the apostle calleth him ' the Son of his love/ Col. i. 13 ;
— we translate it 'his dear Son' — that he, I say, should become the
receptacle of his Father's wrath, and that all his anger should as it
were be pitched upon him, — what a circumstance is this ! Thus
you see Christ is God's servant.
Secondly, In the next place, you must look upon him as God's
righteous servant ; and thus he hath taken our work and burden upon
him. There is a threefold righteousness of Christ : —
1. Essential and divine, which is that infinite and surpassing per
fection which is in him as he was God. That is not to be considered in
this place, partly because he speaketh here of the righteousness of
Christ as a servant ; but this is the righteousness of Christ as a Lord.
And besides, this is not communicable to the creatures. It was the
dream of Osiander that the Lord should, in justification, communicate
to us his essential righteousness. But hear what the prophet saith :
Isa. xlii. 8, ' My glory will I not give to another.' God saith expressly
he will part with none of his essential glory. His creatures are not
vested with that.
2. There is his absolute and personal righteousness, as he is
Mediator and God-man, and is able to make others righteous. And
so it is said, John iii. 34, ' God giveth not the Spirit by measure to
him.' He had as a man the Spirit without measure, not sparingly,
but poured out with a full hand and in abundance. And so it is
said, Col. i. 19, 'It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness
dwell;' and Col. ii. 9, 'For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the
Godhead bodily/ Christ's soul is filled by the union of the Godhead
with all created and habitual graces. Though these things are for
us, and God hath made Christ a storehouse of sufficiencies for the
elect, yet they are not imputed to us. It is true, though we are full
of sin, and Christ came into the world full of righteousness, and so it
is a just remedy against the sinfulness of our natures, and it qualified
the Lord Jesus to be a fit person to do us good ; yet here we speak
not of the righteousness of Christ as a servant, but of his service ; and
we have not this fulness imputed to us so as that we may become
saviours to one another. Christ was by these things fitted to do us
good, and to be a continual magazine of comforts and graces, to which
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 445
the creatures might have recourse in all their troubles : Eph. iv. 7,
' But unto every one of us is grace given according to the measure of
the gift of Christ/
3. There is a dispensative and relative righteousness, which is
called justitia fidejussoria, the righteousness that Christ performed
for us, and in our stead, as our surety, even the righteousness that he
manifested in the work and service of our redemption. And so chiefly
he is to be considered as God's righteous servant. He showed it in
two things : —
[1.] In exact obedience, even to the least tittle of the law, for our
sakes. We could not possibly keep in with God, therefore Christ did:
Kom. viii. 3, ' For what the law could not do, in that it was weak
through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, for sin condemned sin in the flesh ;' Mat. iii. 15, 'It becometh
us to fulfil all righteousness.' He doth that for us which we could not
do in ourselves. And therefore Christ is said to be ' the end of the
law for righteousness to every one that believeth,' Kom. x. 4. The
end of the law is perfection of obedience, and Christ is that to us by
having fulfilled it in his own person. The scriptures do everywhere
avow this righteousness of Christ and exactness of keeping the law :
Isa. liii. 9, it is said, ' There was no deceit in his mouth.' It was not
a pretended show. As to the holiness of his conversation : 2 Cor. v.
21, 'He knew no sin ;' that is, he had no experimental knowledge of
it in his own soul : 1 Peter ii. 22, ' Who did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth/ There could be nothing justly charged upon
him as to his conversation. Farther, it is said, Heb. iv. 15, 'He was
in all points tempted like us, yet without sin/ Men usually miscarry
in their temptations. Jesus Christ was tempted, his soul was as
saulted even to a consternation ; but there was no sin in it ; like a
glass of pure water that is jogged, but it stirreth up no mud. Thus
you see what a righteous servant Christ is. God ordained him to the
suretyship of the creature, and he was faithful in it, and did all things
well.
[2.] His passive obedience. And it is that sacrifice and offering of
himself that Christ made for the sins of the world, bearing our curse
and punishment, and so satisfying for our transgression : 1 Tim. ii. 5,
6, ' The man Christ Jesus gave himself a ransom for all/ He suffered
so long till he had satisfied God's justice, and engaged the very
righteousness of God to the good of the creature too, and would not
expire his soul till all were finished and made sure. See John xix. 30,
' It is finished/ and then he gave up the ghost. The scriptures every
where speak of this, and therefore I shall be more sparing in it.
You see now how Christ was God's righteous servant.
To apply it : —
Use 1. It holdeth out a pattern for us to imitate God's righteous
servant as well as we can, and to enjoin us to write after this copy.
Several things are remarkable in the righteousness of Christ ; I shall
only instance in two : —
1. The sincerity of his spirit.
2. Innocency of his conversation.
1. The sincerity of his spirit. There is no guile in Christ, and
446 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
there should be none in those that have benefit by him : Ps. xxxii. 2,
' Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and
in whose spirit there is no guile.' Be not for appearances and shows.
Corrupt aims and self-advantages, and desire of esteem amongst men,
argue a false spirit, which is all for appearances. They do not care
what God thinketh of them, for they are all for repute : 1 Cor. iv. 3,
' But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you,
or of man's judgment/ Gracious hearts count that nothing ; their
desire is to approve themselves to God.
2. Innocency of conversation. It became our High Priest to be
harmless and undefiled ; so should we be : Phil. ii. 15, ' That ye may
be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the
midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as
lights in the world.' Be righteous in your ways, be faithful to your
work. Christ knew no sin ; it is a holy simplicity to be simple in
evil. Christ was tempted, yet without sin. Watch over your spirits
in temptations, that they may not encroach upon you to the betraying
of yourselves into any unbecoming or unworthy walking.
Use 2. Is comfort to poor broken-hearted sinners. Christ was
God's righteous servant, and so fitted to make a Saviour for sinners,
and to plead with God for you. You say you are sinners, but Jesus
Christ is righteous. You are all ill servants of God, compassed
about with daily infirmities. Ay ! but Jesus Christ was a righteous
servant — he was righteous in our stead : 1 John ii. 1, ' I write unto
you that you sin not; arid if any man sin, we have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous/ Sin not ; that is, do not
allow yourselves in sin ; but if any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father. Though God will not hear you, he will hear Christ ;
he never offended him. It is very observable that all comfort usually
in scripture is made to flow from the righteousness of Christ : Zech.
ix. 9, ' Behold thy king cometh unto thee ; he is just, and having sal
vation/ He bringeth salvation with him, for he is righteous. So
Dan. ix. 24 ; the Messiah was to make reconciliation for iniquity, and
to bring in an everlasting righteousness. You may be confident he is
gracious with God, and he will make you gracious. There is righteous
ness to satisfy justice. Christ's righteousness is fit to satisfy, for there
is no sin in it. And there is righteousness to make up your defects —
to make you righteous in his righteousness. But that is the work of
the next inquiry.
And, therefore, I now come to show how Christ is said to justify as
God's righteous servant. I shall open this matter to you : —
1. Negatively. He justifieth as a servant, and therefore —
[1.] He doth not exclude God the Father from being the first
eternal moving cause of our justification. It hath its first rise at his
mercy in ordaining Christ : Rom. iii. 24, * Being justified freely by
his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ/ It was
the pleasure of the Father. Grace is most sure and free when we
look upon his contrivances for your good. He gave Christ, and pre
destinated you to enjoy the benefits; he elected you rather than
another : Eph. i. 5, ' Having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ, to himself, according to the good pleasure
ISA. LIU. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 447
of his will. Therefore, it implieth that Christ was not the first mov
ing cause of justification. He only is a righteous servant. There was
some antecedent love and mercy that deputed him to that service.
[2.] It doth not exclude the grant and sentence of the Father ; and
the sentence is passed by the Father, though it be procured by Christ
as the servant of God's decrees in this matter. Kom. iii. 26, the
Father is said to be ' the justifier of him who belie veth in Jesus/
' We have an advocate with the Father/ 1 John ii. 1. Sin is com
mitted against him ; his will is the rule of justice; and by nature,
right, and office, he is the supreme judge.
2. Affirmatively. So Christ is said to justify two ways : —
[1.] By meriting that righteousness which will serve for justifica
tion. His obeying and suffering have procured such a righteousness
as will stand us in stead, for Christ's righteousness is ours. We have
share in whatever he had, for he was our surety ; as he saith, John
xvii. 19, ' I sanctify myself, that they may be sanctified ; ' and Eph.
i. 6, ' He hath accepted us in the beloved/ We are beloved in his
love, sanctified in his sanctification, and so righteous in his righteous
ness. I shall prove it more by and by. And then it is the best way,
in procuring such a righteousness by his life and death as should
avail the creatures in their acceptance with God.
[2.] By meriting the Spirit that constitutes and gives us an interest
in this righteousness : 2 Cor. v. 20, We pray you in Christ's stead, be
ye reconciled to God/ All the entreaties of the word are from Christ.
He offereth grace in the word, and conferreth it by the Spirit. He
justifieth them as a righteous servant, because it is his righteousness
which is the matter of justification, and it is his Spirit that effects it
in us, and interests us in it. His righteousness and his Spirit, though
imputed and bestowed upon us by the Father, yet they are merited by
Christ, and bestowed upon us by the Spirit of Christ.
To apply this.
Use 1. Is to check those that deny the imputation of Christ's
righteousness. He justifieth as a righteous servant, as having pro
cured righteousness for us by his own obedience and suffering. He
causeth us to be absolved as righteous before God by his own right
eousness ; made ours by virtue of our union with him.
1. Some deny the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, either
active or passive, as the papists and Socinians, who both deny that
we are justified by the imputation of Christ's righteousness. But
what a strange thing is it that the papists, who in other doctrines
establish the imputation of the righteousness of a man, of a monk, or
a dead man, in their works of supererogation, should yet deny the
righteousness of Christ ! They say there is no such expression in
scripture. But to both these I oppose these places : — The apostle
speaketh of the imputation of righteousness, Eom. iv. 6, * Even as
David also describeth the blessedness of the man to whom God im-
puteth righteousness without works.' And the prophet calleth Christ
' the Lord our righteousness/ Jer. xxxiii. 16. And Christ is said to
be ' made to us of the Father righteousness/ 1 Cor. i. 30. And we
are said to be ' made the righteousness of God in him/ 2 Cor. v. 21, as
he was made sin for us, and both by imputation. And he addeth this
448 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. MIL 11.
as an argument, that it would not stand with the justice of God — take
it for the exact tenor of righteousness, which is essential to his nature,
or his will revealed in his word — to constitute a wicked man righteous,
unless there be some righteousness to make him so. Now, none will
serve the turn but Christ's, for that is exact and regular. For the
former, see Prov. xvii. 15, ' He that justifieth the wicked, and he that
condemneth the just, even they both are an abomination to the Lord.'
And God saith, Exod. xx., that he will not hold sinners guiltless.
And you may add, that still the righteousness whereby we are justi
fied is opposed to that which is inherent in us. Certainly we are
made righteous by imputation ; for by the same justice that Christ is
made a sinner, we are made righteous.
2. There are others that deal with the robes of Christ's righteous
ness as the king of Ammon did by the garments of David's messengers ;
they cut them off by the middle, they exclude the active obedience of
Christ, but upon slender grounds. In opposition to these consider : —
[1.] The need of both his active and passive obedience. By his pas
sive obedience, by death, the punishment of sin is taken away ; and by
his active obedience the law is fulfilled for us : so that we have not only
pardon but acceptance ; so that there is not only a restraint of ven
geance, but pardon obtained. The guilt and punishment of sin is done
away by his death ; the other benefit, favour and acceptance, is procured
by his obedience. There must be something done by way of satisfaction
to divine justice and to appease his wrath, and something by way of
acquisition of favour : these are the two things procured by Christ.
Absalom was pardoned, but he saw not the king's face. We are God's
creatures, bound to his law, as well as his prisoners, liable to his
wrath ; and there must be the expiation of sin and the fulfilling of all
righteousness. There are two blessings obtained by Christ — freedom
from death, and the benefit of eternal life.
[2.] We are expressly said in scripture to be made righteous by the
obedience of Christ, which is exactly opposed to the disobedience of
Adam : Kom. v. 19, ' For as by one man's disobedience many were
made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made right
eous.' We are condemned by Adam's actual guilt, and made righteous
by Christ's active obedience.
[3.] In the very passive obedience of Christ, the active part is the
chief ; for the sufferings of Christ do not simply justify us. but as they
are the sufferings of Christ, voluntarily yielding up himself in obed
ience to his Father's will. For Christ was to be considered as the sac
rifice or the priest : as a sacrifice, so passive ; as a priest, so active :
Phil. ii. 8, ' He became obedient to death, even the death of the cross;'
and Heb. x. 10, ' By the which will we are sanctified, through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ/ He willingly undertook to do
for us what we were bound to do.
Use 2. Is to press you to go to Christ, that you may be interested
in his righteousness : it cometh by union.
The rules are these : —
1. See the insufficiency of your own righteousness. The creatures'
fig-leaves will never cover a naked soul ; there must be first a sight of
your own vileness, and of your own inability to help yourselves out of
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 449
it. It is observable in John xvi. 8, that the Spirit doth first convince
of sin and then of righteousness. Christ doth not seek us till we be
lost, and we cannot seek Christ till we are lost. The soul doth most
truly seek Christ when loosened from all other things, from all false
props and expectations, and seeth plainly that it shall perish if it have
not an interest in Christ. As Simon Peter said, John vi. 68, ' Lord,
to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life/ Whither
should we go ? thou hast the only righteousness.
2. Consider your own filthy rags, and then you will long, desire,
and groan for change of raiment. Alas ! your persons are covered with
your own guilt, and your natures are full of sin ; what will you do to
appear before God ? Alas 1 you can scarce keep up a fair show before
a discerning man ; what will you do before a God of pure eyes ? Job
xv. 15, ' The heavens are not clean in his sight/ The holy angels in
comparison of God are nothing, yea, less than nothing. But do you
think to help yourselves by your services, your duties, and good
meanings ? Alas ! as long as you stick there, no good will be done :
the saints blame themselves in the sense of their duties ; their best per
formances are poor, worthless things : Isa. Ixiv. 6, ' But we are all as
an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.' They
will not make your souls amiable : Phil. iii. 9, 'And be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness/
3. Consider the willingness of God to clothe you with the righteous
ness of Jesus Christ ; Christ was appointed to this very end : Kom. iii.
25, 'Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood, to declare his righteousness/ God's design was to lay open his
heart to the creatures, and to show how willing he was that you should
come unto him in this way : 1 Cor. i. 30, ' Who of God is made unto
us wisdom arid righteousness/ If we had framed it, it had been more
doubtful, but God appointed a righteousness of his own making; arid
therefore it is everywhere called in scripture ' the righteousness of
God/ not only because it was the righteousness of God-man, Christ
Jesus, but God's righteousness, that is, of his appointment.
4. Consider the worth of this righteousness ; it is better than if we
had stood in our innocency, and had procured it in our own persons.
Luke xv. 22, it is called ' the best robe;' better than we should have
had if we had stayed in our father's house ; far better than that we
lost in Adam. Our repair is more excellent than our first make, and
it contents God better ; j;he creature is most humbled, and God most
exalted : this is as it should be, when we have nothing in ourselves,
and fetch all from God. It is as good as the best of the saints have ;
you are as righteous as David, and as righteous as Abraham and all
the worthies of God : Kom. iii. 22, * Even the righteousness of God,
which is by the faith of Jesus Christ, unto all, and upon all that be
lieve, for there is no difference/ In this case there is no difference
indeed : Rev. xix. 8, ' And to her was granted that she should be ar
rayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteous
ness of the saints/ The saints have one common righteousness ; as it
was with the Israelites in point of the manna, none had more than
another, none had over or under ; nay, higher, it is as good or better
than the righteousness of angels, for they are confirmed in their owu
VOL. III. 2 F
450 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
righteousness. Isa. vi. 2, the seraphims covered their faces as being
abashed at the glorious holiness of God ; and before him they are not
clean, they cannot stand before the holiness of God. And in Job iv.
18, 'His angels he chargeth with folly;' that is, comparatively, and in
respect of himself, they might be accused, rather than accounted
righteous. But now we may have access with confidence and boldness,
as the apostle saith, Eph. iii. 12, because we do not come in our own
holiness, but Christ's. Nay, further, in some sort, it maketh us as
righteous as Christ himself; therefore it is said, 1 John iii. 7, 'He
that doth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous ; ' that is,
he doth truly show forth that he is righteous in Christ's righteousness ;
nay, this is a righteousness that will endure God's sight. You must
needs obtain the blessing in the garment of your elder brother.
5. Seek it in Christ's way ; then you are like to obtain it, at least
you shall be sure not to deceive yourselves. Many conceit themselves
to be in a good estate, and that Christ is theirs, and all his righteous
ness theirs, when they never sought it in his way ; you must therefore
look to this. This way of Christ respects two things : —
[1.] The manner of obtaining.
[2.] Our ends and aims in it.
[l.J The manner of obtaining it must be by union ; this righteous
ness is not gotten by an assent to the truth of any promise or proposi
tion in the word, but by an union with Jesus Christ. We are not
united to any promise, but to Christ. Many take a promise, and go
away with it. But alas ! you are to take Christ in the promise, for
there is no promise that appertaineth to any till they are one with
Christ, Therefore there must be union before you can take any com
fort in him ; for all the promises are his, and you have not right in
them till you have a right in him : 2 Cor. i. 20, ' All the promises of
God in him are yea, and in him amen.' So they will be true and cer
tain to you. Many flatter themselves in this kind. They go away
with the words of a promise, but do not care to carry out their faith to the
person of Christ tendered in the promise. You cannot close with Christ
without a promise, so not with a promise without him. Look, as it is in
the spiritual life, many think to live upon a comfortable word or a pro
mise of God, whereas they should live upon Christ in a promise; as men
do not live upon their conveyances and leases, but their lands: so
here, you do not come to a promise for righteousness, but to Christ in it.
[2.] The ends and aims in it ; both the subordinate and the ulti
mate ends must be right.
(1.) The subordinate end, which concerneth ourselves and our own
good.^ Be not contented without the king's face, the grace of God, and
the^ light of his countenance. Many desire to allay the burnings of
their consciences, arid to cool the heat that is in their spirits through
guilt, and^would fain shun hell and horror, but do not care for com
munion with God, and to be in a state of favour and amity with the
Lord. Alas ! a pardon is nothing without acceptance ; it were hell
enough not to enjoy God. In justification there must be both done,
an allaying of wrath and procuring of favour. Zech. iii. 4. The
filthy garments must be taken away, and we must be clothed with
change of raiment. 'I have caused thine iniquities to pass from
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 451
thee ; ' but that is not enough : ' I will clothe thee.' There must be a
charming of wrath and a being accepted in the beloved, Eph. i. 6.
Hypocrites they are altogether for removal of punishment, but do not
care how they stand in Grod's favour, so as they may receive the com
munications of grace. Oh, do not you rest in that,, and only make it
your care to get the punishment off.
(2.) The ultimate end, which concerneth God's glory. God's end in
the covenant of grace is to exalt mercy ; and therefore it is said, Eph.
i. 6, ' He hath accepted us in the beloved ; ' that is God's end in the
covenant of grace, to exalt the glory of grace : Isa. xlviii. 9, ' For my
name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain
for thee, that I cut thee not off.' There is God's end in all : and when
our end and God's end are the same, then our desires are the most re
gular. Now what is your end in desiring the righteousness of Christ —
God's glory, or your own good ? The natural inclination and propen-
sion that is in us to our own good may work a desire to have sin for
given, and to be saved from wrath, or that conscience may be pacified ;
but to desire that we may be accepted in the beloved, to the praise of
the glory of his grace, that is a heavenly frame of spirit ; not that you
may be exalted, but grace in you. {Seek the righteousness of Christ
with the same mind that God offereth it in the covenant.
Use 3. It serveth for instruction to us, to make Jesus Christ, as he
is Mediator, God-man, the object of our faith.. We may do it, and we
ought to doit. Whosoever justifieth me becomes the object of my
faith. Now not only God the Father justifieth, but also Jesus Christ,
God's righteous servant. And therefore, in; the work of our faith, we
are not only to reflect upon God the Father, but Jesus Christ as Media
tor. And indeed we ought to do so, for much of the comfort of be
lieving dependeth upon our taking of him into our thoughts : John
xiv. 1, 'Let not your hearts be troubled ; ye believe in God, believe also
in me/ It easeth us much of the trouble of our hearts when our souls
have recourse to Christ, when we believe in him. who was God's right
eous servant.
I shall here handle two questions, and so despatch this use : —
First, What it is to believe in Christ as God's righteous servant ?
It is not only to believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; not only
to have distinct and explicit thoughts of the Trinity ; but to believe in
Christ as Mediator. You have a willing God, and you have an able
Saviour. It is to reflect upon the whole carriage of Christ's mediator-
ship, as a sufficient help for poor creatures ; there is enough in God's
righteous servant to become a sufficient bottom and ground for our
faith. Though faith is not to rest in Christ, it is to begin in him, that
by him we may the more comfortably believe in God. And this is
the reason why many times there is no other object of faith expressed
but Jesus Christ : John i. 12, * To as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name.'
Second question, What special comfort and privilege doth there
come to faith by it ?
1. By this you have a double claim. An interest in God by virtue
of the covenant of grace made with your persons, and the covenant of
452 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII 11.
works made with Jesus Christ. It is due to you as it is all of
grace, but to Jesus Christ it was a due debt; he satisfied justice and
merited mercy : Koni. iii. 24, ' Being justified freely by his grace, through
the redemption that is in Jesus Christ;' that is Christ's claim, and
your claim by virtue of your interest in him. So the 26th verse,
'That he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in
Jesus.' When you reflect upon Jesus Christ, your claim is not dis
annulled, but strengthened by the justice of God. Christ hath satisfied
justice and merited mercy ; Christ hath satisfied the covenant of
works by suffering what was due in point of transgression, and by
discharging what was due in point of obedience. You see satisfaction
as well as imputation.
2. It ministereth matter of glory and triumph of faith, considering
every scruple. You have not only a proof of the Father's love, but
the Son's merit : Horn. viii. .34, ' Who is he that condemneth ? it is
Christ that died.' And therefore faith speaketh of glorying in the
cross of Christ, Gal. vi. 14. There is matter of glorying in the cross
of Christ, in his obedience and death, that there is so full satisfaction
and such exact obedience. Oh, plead it to your souls ; he fulfilled every
tittle. Alas ! we have but little cause to boast ; we know but in part,
and do but in part; but in Christ we may glory; nay, you* may
glory in God the Father : 1 Cor. i. 31, ' That according as it is written,
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord/ Why ? because Christ
is made all to us by the Father — wisdom, righteousness, and sanctifica-
tion, and redemption : an object fully satisfying, so that now you may
make your boast of God all the day long.
3. It ministereth joy, in that you see God in your own nature, and
he is your kinsman. Affinity begets obedience and hopes of speeding.
Your hearts would tremble and quiver at the sight of God's back
parts in his own glorious nature ; and therefore, because you cannot
converse with God in his own nature, there is Christ to help to relieve
you ; in believing God in your own nature, that is an object of our
faith. Hence it is said, Eph. iii. 12, ' We have access with boldness
through the faith of him ; ' and Heb. x. 19, 20, ' Having therefore
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and
living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is
to say, his flesh.' The manhood of Christ is the means to bring God
and us together ; otherwise, there was a flaming sword against us every
way, and we could not come near but we must die. The mere God
head was incensed against us ; and therefore, till God became man,
there was no hope left unto us to see him ; but when he became bone
of our bone and flesh of our flesh, it was matter of great encourage
ment to the creature. There are other considerations, but these are
enough to persuade you in believing, not only to look upon God, but
to look upon Christ, to look upon God's righteous servant .; not only
upon the mercy or grace of God, but upon the mercy and grace en
gaged to you by the sufferings and obedience of Jesus Christ. Thus
you see you have a double claim to God, and you have an excellent
remedy against the doubts of your own hearts ; you may see God in
your own natures. The Lord grant you may have a right sight of
these things, not that you may abuse them to looseness, and to the
ISA. LIIT. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 453
cherishing of presumption, and so turn Aaron's rod into a serpent, but
that you may be helped in the great work of believing.
I go on in the text to the next circumstance, and that is the object
or subject of justification, that is many. He shall 'justify many/
1. It is put here exclusively, to shut out the universality of man
kind; it is but many that he justifieth, it is not all.
2. It is put inclusively, to take in the whole company of the faithful.
Look upon those that are called of Christ in all ages, and they will
come to such a number.
I shall handle the first acceptation, as it excludeth the greater part
of the world.
Observe, then, that all are not justified by Christ. The privilege
that God bestowed upon Christ was, that he should justify many.
The reasons of the point are : —
1. Because of his sovereign pleasure, to pass by some for their sins,
and for the glory of his justice, and not to bestow upon them the grace
of election ; he may do with his own as it pleaseth him. And indeed,
usually in this matter, the scriptures make God's pleasure to be all in
all. There are some whose names are not written in the book of life
of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Some transla
tions read it, ' Whose names are not written before the foundation of
the world in the Lamb's book of life.' God never gave Christ a charge
to save such men whose names are not in the Lamb's book. God
dealeth out of absolute sovereignty : Prov. xvi. 4, ' God hath made all
things for himself, and the wicked for the day of evil/ You would
overlook that, but it is for the glorifying of his justice. It is
observable, he doth not say he made the elect for the day of evil.
There are many who grant that the wicked are for the day of evil, who
do not grant eternal reprobation and preterition ; these cavil at God's
prerogative: Eom. ix. 18, 'Whom he will he hardeneth ;' i.e., with
draws the influences of his grace from them. They are hardened as
water is freezed by the absence of the sun. The preterition of God is
not the cause of sin, but the antecedent : 2 Tim. ii. 20, ' In a great
house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood
and earth ; and some to honour, and some to dishonour/ And Jude
4, speaks of ' some who were of old ordained to this condemnation,
before the world was/
2. Because all do not believe. It is a visible argument that all are
not justified, because all do not apply themselves to Christ for justifi
cation. The righteousness of Christ will bear this limitation, none have
a share in it but believers : Rom. iii. 22, ' Even the righteousness which
is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all that believe, for there
is no difference.' All they, and none but they. Now, all are not be
lievers: 'All have not faith,' 2 Thes. ii. 12, 13; Mat. xx. 16, 'Many
are called, but few are chosen/ The preaching of the gospel doth not
work upon all ; they have the outward means, but not the inward
grace. Scarce all have the outward means.
Use 1. This checketh that wild charity that was in Origen, who
thought that all should be saved at last, even the devils themselves.
And this opinion was revived in Germany by a man of an obscure
name, and by some in our days. Now, consider that the general drift
454 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 11.
of the scriptures fiaith, ' Depart from me, I know you not,' Mat. vii.
23. That there are goats as well as sheep ; some to whom Christ will
say, ' Go ye cursed/ Mat. xxv. 41. Some that are without : Kev. xxii.
15, 'Without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and mur
derers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.' The
main places whereupon they build their conceit are these : Kom. v. 18,
' Wherefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to
condemnation ; evea so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came
unto all men to justification of life;' where Christ and Adam are
compared together, and the one's sin and the other's sufferings are made
equivalent : 1 Cor. xv. 22, ' As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall
all be made alive.' But in these places Christ and Adam are com
pared as two common roots, and the one should be as able to save, as
the other to ruin those that belong to him. The other place is 1 Cor.
xv. 28, ' That God may be all in all/ which they understand of God's
presence and glory in all. But the apostle speaketh there only of
those holy ones who shall have a glorious manifestation of the presence
of God, so that God will be all in all to them. But I shall no longer
rake in this dirt.
Use 2. Is to teach you : —
1. Not to be contented with those common privileges which all men
may enjoy, for you may have all these and not be saved. All men are
not justified, and therefore not saved. As in creation, because God
bestowed a human form upon you, therefore you think he will save
you ; but God doth not save all those he hath made: Isa. xxvii. 11,
' It is a people of no understanding ; and therefore he that made them
will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will show
them no favour/ It is ill trusting to that. Men will say, I hope to
be saved as well as others, and the like. The covenant of works was
made with all men, as being in Adam's loins ; but not that of grace,
that is made to those that are given to Christ. Hath he given you a
mind to know him ? Heb. viii. 10, and a heart to receive him ? John
i. 12 ; then it is well. It is no privilege to be an intellectual creature,
only to be wiser than the beasts to our own destruction. So for an
estate ; surely God loveth and favoureth me, because he blesseth me
with worldly good things: Eccles. ix. 1, 2, 'No man knoweth love or
hatred by all that is before them. All things come alike to all, and
there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked/ This all men
may have, but you must have some privilege that is distinct. So for
good meanings ; they thank God they have a good heart towards him,
and ever had, and that they know they have done their best ; as the
young man said, Mat. xix. 20, ' All these have I kept from my youth/
I tell you, whatever you have by nature, every man may have; and
therefore, till you have faith and other graces, it is as nothing.
2. It teacheth you not to flatter yourselves with the universality of
grace and mercy. Many live and die, and rot in their sins, and think
Christ will save them, and mercy will save them. You see Christ will
not save all, and God gave him no commission to justify all : Deut.
xxix. 1 9, 20, ' When he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless
himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace though I walk in the
imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst : the Lord
ISA. LIII. 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 455
will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy
shall smoke against that man.' Mark, it is said, against that man. God
hath a special quarrel at him that abuseth mercy : there will a time
come when they shall see his justice; as the thief said on the cross,
Luke xxiii. 41, ' And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward
of our deeds.'
Use 3. Is to the people of God, that have had any sense of their
justification by Christ — any inclination to walk after the Spirit and
not after the flesh : Eom. viii. 1, ' There is no condemnation to them/
Man is most taken with anything that is appropriate ; it is a privilege
that is mine, — it is not given to others. This exhorteth you to the
greater sense of this privilege ; it is not every one's mercy. The apostle
showeth this is one of God's reasons in passing by the reprobate world:
Bom. ix. 23, ' That he might make known the riches of his glory on the
vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory.' Your mercies
are mightily aggravated by their want. Kespects are not favours when
they are bestowed promiscuously. Oh, consider this is the mercy of
God's own people: Ps. cxix'. 132, 'Look upon me, and be merciful unto
me, as thou usest to do to those that love thy name/ Alas ! what should
engage God to you above others? Oh, consider and admire the good
ness of God, that hath passed by millions, and yet manifested himself
to thee, in whom there was no desert! This was an endearment to
the Israelites: Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20, ' He hath showed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his judgments to Israel ; he hath not dealt so with
any nation ;' Dent. vii. 7, 8, 'The Lord did not set his love upon you,
nor choose you because ye were more in number than any people, but
because the Lord loved you/
THE TWELFTH VEKSE.
Therefore ivill I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide
the spoil with the strong ; because he hath poured out his soul unto
N death : and he was numbered ivith the transgressors; and he bare
the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
IN this last verse, as in most of the former, you may observe a scandal,
and a provision against it ; for the prophet still continueth his method.
As in the life of Christ, there was no passage or occurrence that did
deject him to such a degree of abasement but that he showed forth
some glimpse of his power and Godhead ; as when they came to take
him, he forced them to go backward and fall to the ground, John xviii.
6. So here, the prophet never giveth a single scandal, but addeth some
glorious event and effect of it. Observe, then, two parts : —
First, Christ's conflict.
Secondly, Christ's conquest. The conflict is last in the order of the
words, but first in order of nature and time.
There observe that the scandal of Christ's conflict is reduced to four
heads : —
456 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIIT. 12.
1. His death : lie poured out Ms soul unto death.
2. The ignominy of it : he was numbered with the transgressors.
3. The cause of it, both of his death and ignominy: he bore the sins
of many.
4. The prayer, meekness, and patience of Christ, together with his
desire of the application of this remedy : he made intercession for the
transgressors.
Secondly, For the conquest ; there it is first hinted in the promise
of the Father : / loill divide him a portion with the great.
2. The possession and enjoyment of the Son, what the Father would
give, and what the Son shall enjoy : I will give him a portion with the
great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong. Or, if you will
have it more particularly, you may consider it thus :—
1. The ground of the conquest, implied in the causal particle, there
fore.
2. The donor or author of it, God the Father : I will divide.
3. The reality of it, it was done; God the Son shall find this promise
accomplished : he shall divide the spoil with the strong.
4. The nature of the conquest ; it is expressed by a portion with the
great, and by dividing the spoil.
5. From whom he shall take them : from the great and the strong.
6. Others add the persons whom he shall admit into co-partnership
in the conquest and spoils, as implied in that word, with the strong ;
how justly, we shall see by and by. Though you may now guess at the
sense of the words by this explication of them into their parts, yet I
shall give you some better satisfaction about the phrases before I let
them pass.
At this time, I shall insist upon the conquest, which, as I have
observed, is last in nature and time, yet first in the order of the
words. I shall pitch upon that now ; and my first endeavour shall be
to open it to you; for indeed, though most interpretations in their result
and effect come to the same thing, yet I find they do not make it out
one and the same way ; so that the phrases need a vindication. Con
sider, then, that the intent of the prophet here is to set out the victory
and triumph of the Messiah, which victory and triumph is here set out
by terms proper to the triumphs of man. A general, when he hath
scattered the enemies and driven them out of the field, securely seizeth
upon the prey, and divideth it amongst his followers. The dividing of
the spoils is a sign of conquest. Pharaoh, when he promised himself
success, Exod. xv. 9, you know what he saith there : * I will pursue, I
will overtake, I will divide the spoil/ That is the custom of conquerors.
So one of Sisera's mother's ladies: ' Have they not sped ? have they not
divided the prey ? ' As soon as they had borne down the enemies, and
had any leisure, they were for distributing the booty. So the prophet
Isaiah, speaking of the glad tidings of the gospel, saith to those that
hear them, Isa. ix. 3, ' They joy before God according to the joy
in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil/ So Christ
is here set forth as a conqueror, taking his portion, and dividing the
spoil.
I confess there is some difference in reading the words. Junius
reads it, Partem ei dabo, ut cum robustis partiatur prcedam — ' that he
ISA. LIIL 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 457
may divide the spoil with the strong.' Others, c I will give him the
part of many, and he shall divide the spoil of the strong/ Others, in,
many, and over the strong, as a great man, or as a strong man useth
to do after battle. I shall not intricate the discourse with these things,
but by going over word by word make all plain ; though for my part
I conceive the phrases are put here as common and in general, and only
implying a triumph. ' I will divide him a portion with the great, and
divide the spoil with the strong ;' that you shall see him as a great con
queror, and like the kings and potentates, and the great and strong ones
of the earth, having a part in dividing the spoil.
But it may be better to go over the text more particularly. ' I will
divide him a portion with the great.' He is spoken of in the former
verses, I will divide him a portion, or give him a part with the great,
larabim, with many ; so it may signify, and implieth the numerousness
of those that Christ shall gain to himself among the nations ; or the
great, that is the powerful, whose power ruled the world. Not as if
Christ and they should divide the world between them ; that they
should have a part and Christ should have a part : as some think, it
implieth that Christ should have the elect, and Satan the rest. No,
that is not the force of the word; but that Christ should come to part
ing ; that is, to spoil Satan, for he is intended by ' the great ' and ' the
strong,' though it also noteth and implieth all his instruments, who
usually have the dignities and pomp of the world. Therefore, it is
said, Col. ii. 14, 15, that ' he spoiled principalities and powers ;' Eph.
iv. 8, ' He led captivity captive ;' and Luke xi. 21, ' He disarmeth the
strong man, and divideth the spoils.' I cannot conceal from you that
some by this latter sentence, ' divide the spoil with the strong,' under
stand the godly, those that are called the violent, Mat. xi. 12, that with
a great deal of fervour of spirit follow him, love hhn, confess him, and
cleave to him, and will not give over for any dangers, lets, and difficul
ties. But, for method's sake, and reverence to those learned men that
affect that sense, I shall take in that in the last place.
The points, then, are :—
1. From the causal particle, therefore. Observe —
That the ground of Christ's triumph was his sufferings. Therefore —
why ? Because he laid down his soul an offering for sin, and hath
borne our iniquities, as in the former verse ; and it is again amplified in
the latter end of this verse. And it is worth our observation, that
always the sufferings and exaltation of Christ, when spoken of together,
are expressed causally ; as Ps. ex. 7, ' He shall drink of the brook in
the way, therefore he shall lift up the head ;' that is, drink up the lake
of curses that divide between God and the elect. Mark the particle
therefore. So John x. 17, ' Therefore doth my Father love me, because
I lay down my life.' Therefore prevail : mark the inference, because.
Phil. ii. 9, 10, ' He became obedient to death, even the death of the
cross : wherefore God hath highly exalted him.' And John xii. 32, it
is there expressed conditionally and federally : ' If I be lifted up from
the earth, I will draw all men unto me ; ' that is, if I be lifted up upon
the cross, then I shall have power to work the hearts of men to my
obedience. So that you see Christ's exaltation did not only imply his
humiliation, as in some places it only doth ; as Eph. iv. 9, ' Now that
458 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 12.
he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower
parts of the earth ? ' It not only necessarily implieth and presupposeth
it, but was caused by it, and merited by it. So Kev. v. 9, ' Thou art
worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof ; for thou wast
Blain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.' To open the seals ;
that is, to open dark promises, and to do what was necessary for the
illuminating of the church. Christ's humiliation and exaltation was
not only an antecedent and a consequent, as some divines expound
these places, and I myself formerly have done among you, but as a
cause and effect, as merit and reward. Calvin indeed judgeth it a
curious question whether Christ merited his conquest and trial ; l
and his reasons were, because there is no express scripture for it.
But what shall we say then to those causal particles ? But this he
saith is a great derogation to the love of Christ, to make him eye him
self in his sufferings ; since it is said, ' The Messiah shall be cut off,
but not for himself ; ' he eyed our good in it, and not his own.
I answer, it maketh much for our comfort, that Christ had his con
quests, and the privileges of his mediatorship in a way of justice and
merit ; that though all things are dispensed to us freely, yet to Christ
justly. It is true, as it hath been handled by divers schoolmen, and
as it is referred merely to the glorification of Christ's humanity, so it
is a curious question ; but as it importeth the carriage of all things
appertaining to our comfort and salvation between God and Christ in
a way of rigour and justice, so it maketh much for our comfort and
consolation.
Use 1. Here is a sealing of your comfort, it was merited by Christ :
you can do nothing to merit it, but Christ did. What is free grace to
you is due debt to Christ. Alas ! what can you do to find so much
grace with God as to prevail over Satan or your own spirit, to lift up
the head in triumph, so as to be raised to glory ? Though you cannot
tell how, yet Christ did. God is bound in justice to Christ to do all
these things for you. You have a double claim in God ; you can lay
hold of his mercies engaged by his promises to you, and of his justice
engaged by the merits of Christ for you. Things are not now uncer
tain ; Christ hath merited such a capacity as to bestow grace and glory
and every good thing upon you. You cannot hope to prevail over
Satan, but God hath indented with Christ ; ' Therefore he shall divide
a portion with the great, and divide the spoil with the strong.' You
cannot hope for glorious privileges ; alas ! you are poor, vile, worthless
creatures : but ' He drank of the brook in the way, therefore he shall
lift up the head,' and your head too. You cannot look for the power
of the Spirit to draw you to Christ ; these are great comforts, but not
for you : ' But if I be lifted up, I will draw all men after me.' Christ
merited that privilege by his sufferings. You cannot open the book,
neither can you find anything in yourselves to encourage you to hope
for such a privilege ; no more indeed you should not find any merit in
yourselves, but seek it in another. Christ was worthy, for he was slain ;
and if you are Christ's, and Christ be yours, you are worthy, for you
Lave his merit, though none of your own.
2. If the ground of Christ's triumph were his death and sufferings,
1 Qu. ' triumph ' ?— ED.
ISA. LIII. 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 459
then here is great comfort to you in all your inward and outward
abasements. Here is a double comfort, one to allay fear, and the
other to encourage hope. To allay fear : be not dismayed, great abase
ments usually go before glory. And then to encourage hope; the
greatest abasements will turn to the greatest glory. Christ's death
and sufferings were not only the antecedent, but the cause of his con
quest and exaltation. ' Therefore I will divide him a portion with
the great/ Consider with yourselves: — •
[1.] Great abasements often go before glory. This was the dispen
sation God used to Christ: Luke xxiv. 26, ' Ought not Christ to suffer
these things, and then to enter into glory ? ' and will not you take it
well at the hands of God to drink of Christ's cup, to be first crowned
with thorns before you be crowned with glory, to be humbled before
converted ; to be slurred with the bishop's coal-dust before you be
shining platters upon God's shelf, as that martyr said ; to be full of
wants before you be full of Christ ? What is your abasement ? If
you look inward, you have a vile heart, a destitute, naked soul, no
grace, but much corruption ; therefore there are some hopes of crumbs
when you find yourself a dog ; as the woman of Canaan maketh it a
motive, Mat. xv. 27. Oh, be not discouraged ! Blessed be God, he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted. There is no sentence repeated so
often in the New Testament as that, Prov. xv. 33, * Before honour is
humility.' This is the Lord's course, to make us poor in spirit, and
then rich in grace. But is the trouble outward ? Are you low in the
world, of base account and esteem ? Oh, remember, Jesus Christ was
first accounted a glutton, a wine-bibber, one that had a devil in the
eye of the world, and then had a name above all names. Morclecai
was first envied for sitting at the king's gate, and then honoured by
his adversary with sitting upon the king's horse. Job was brought
from a large estate to the very dust, because God would bless his latter
end more than his beginning, Job xlii. 12. As Samuel saith to Saul,
1 Sam. xv. 17, ' When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou
not made the head of the tribes of Israel?' It may be God hath more
eminent providences for you after your great abasement.
[2.] This should be so far from being a discouragement, that it is
a ground of hope. Usually we get great advantage by our sufferings.
Consider the conflict of Christ upon the cross, his cross was his
triumph ; like Sampson, he destroyed more enemies at his death than
in all his life ; his cross was his chariot of triumph : Col. ii. 15, ' And
having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them
openly, triumphing over them in it/ * Therefore I will divide him a
portion with the great/ because made so small : James i. 9, * Let the
brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted.' Your abasement
is your preferment and exaltation : 2 Cor. i. 5, ' As the sufferings of
Christ abound in us, so our consolation aboundeth in Christ.' The
greatest grace meets with the greatest conflicts, because it is the great
est grace. This is so sure a truth, that even their spiritual abasements,
their falls, their sins, do work for their good ; the soul groweth the
more humble, holy and watchful. Paul was the more fervent and
frequent with God in prayer because of the messenger of Satan, 2 Cor.
xii. 10. David came to number the people, and by that means came
460 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 12.
to know where the temple should be built, which he^so earnestly de
sired to know. Hezekiah was the more humble for his fall, 2 Chron.
xxxii. 31 ; he knew all that was in his heart. But especially it holdeth
good in outward abasements ; they are cause of more good to their souls.
The setting of the day-star maketh way for the sun-rising, and the loss
of some petty comfort for their abundant consolation in Jesus Christ.
I shall now come to the author and donor, God the Father : ' I will
divide a portion with the great, and divide the spoil with the strong.'
Doct. That the power and majesty whereby Jesus Christ overcame
his enemies was by the gift and appointment of the Father : Ps. ex. 1,
' The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I have
made thine enemies thy footstool ; ' that is, God the Father said to
Christ. And Ps. ii. 6, ' I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.'
Christ was a king of God's making. So the Father hath committed
all judgment to the Son, John v. 22. All the supremacy, power, and
majesty that Christ had as Mediator was derived from the Father. So
Mat. xxviii. 18, 'All power is given to me both in heaven and earth.'
Christ's power was given to him, and it was meet it should be so.
The condition on God the Father's part was to honour the Son for
the elect's sake ; and the Son had glorified the Father, John xvii. 4,
by virtue of the compact and agreement between them. And besides,
we could not take so much comfort in the advancement of Christ
unless we had the consent of the Father. The love of every person
was to appear to the creature, especially the love of the offended per
son ; sin in its last result being against the Father : hence it is so often
said that he hath 'given him a name above all names;' that he hath
' put all things in subjection/ And therefore it is a mighty pledge of
God's love to the creature, and of what God will do for us, now our
nature is advanced to such high and glorious privileges. Not only
God the Son was willing, who assumed our nature in his own person,
but God the Father was willing to do it.
Use 1. To direct us to stick to God's choice and appointment. He
hath honoured Jesus Christ to be the king of his church : Luke xxii.
29, ' I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto
me a kingdom.' And therefore we should honour him, and acknow
ledge no other. God chose Adam a wife in paradise, and he chose
a husband to the church, who is bone of our bone : and therefore we
should honour him as the captain of our salvation. Now God hath
honoured him, and put all things in subjection to him : Hosea i. 11,
it is said, ' They shall appoint themselves one head ;' Eph. i. 22, * And
gave him to be head over all things to the church.' Thus shall it be
done to them whom the king delighteth to honour. Thus shall it be
done to the person whom God will honour, that has such faith, depen
dence, reverence, and confidence. They appoint him whom God hath
appointed. You do as it were anew honour Jesus Christ, when your
dependence on him is according to the honour the Father hath put
upon him. 2 Sam. xvi. 18, as Hushai said, ' Whom the Lord shall
choose, his will I be, and with him will I abide.' God the Father
hath chosen him ; look to him as your head, king, and husband, as
the captain of your salvation, the author and finisher of your faith.
God hath divided him a portion with the great.
ISA. LIII. 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 461
2. It teacheth us to glorify the Father in our thoughts, expressions,
and affections, for the honour that he hath put upon Jesus Christ.
The person that is most in our eye usually intercepts all the love and
praise of the creature. Though you can never enough honour and
magnify the person of Jesus Christ, yet do not exclude the person of
the Father. The persons in the Trinity mutually glorify one another,
and why should not we ? In every glorious manifestation of the power
of Christ, send up a thankful thought, some acknowledgment of love
and praise to the Father. As Paul : Kom. vii. 24, 25, ' Who shall
deliver me from the body of this death ? I thank God through Jesus
Christ our Lord.' It is accomplished by the power God hath put
upon Jesus Christ. Look upon what terms the scriptures do pitch
all comfort and expectation upon the person of Christ : 2 Cor. i. 20,
* For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him amen, unto
the glory of God by us.' There is the end why all is in Christ. So
Phil. ii. 11 : 'And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' Mark, the person of Christ
can never be enough in our thoughts, nor mentioned in our mouths,
for he is the Lord ; but it is to the glory of the Father. As often as
you remember the work of your redemption, remember the work of
the Father, and then you will find your hearts raised in thankfulness
and love to him. Christ himself, when he saw poor souls receive the
gospel, though he saith there the power of dispensing was committed
to him, Mat. xi. 25, compared with 27, yet he saith, ' Father, I thank
thee that thou hast revealed it to them.' See if your hearts be raised
and ravished within you with this eternal and free love of God to the
glory of the Father.
3. It is a great ground of trust and confidence, when you go to
God in prayer to turn your captivity, for power against your spiritual
adversaries, as sin, Satan, fears of death, and hell ; or earthly ones, as
unjust and tyrannous encroachments without. Urge it to God, did
not he divide Christ a portion with the great ? You desire but to
exalt the king of his own making, a king upon his holy hill. Was it
not thine own grant and donation ? When we come and urge God's
own acts upon him, and he urgeth it to God, you shall see he will own
them. The apostle alludeth to that of the Psalms, in Heb. ii. 8,
' Thou didst set him over the work of thine hands ; thou hast put all
things in subjection under his feet.' And why not my sins and mine
enemies ? But alas ! ' We see not yet all things put under him ;' it is
not yet made good to our sense and experience. Lusts are stirring
and Satan busy. Lord, didst thou not say, that all things should be
put under him ? Go to God, and do but press him with his own ap
pointment.
I now come to the third particular, and that is the reality of this
conquest. It was not only promised by God the Father, but God the
Son was possessed of it : ' He shall divide the spoil with the strong.'
Doct. That the Lord Jesus was a glorious conqueror.
Dividing of the spoil is the effect of a sure and a great conquest. You
may perceive that in all respects it maketh a victory glorious. You
know the eminency of it lieth in these four things :—
1. Either in the power of the adversaries. There is no triumph in
462 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII 12.
prevailing over weak things : 1 Sam. xxvi. 20, ' For the king of
Israel is come out to seek a flea, as one doth hunt a partridge in the
mountains.' What honour could Saul get to seek a flea, or hunt a
partridge in the mountains, — to chase hares or harts ?
2. By the unlikelihood of the means. A thousand men were slain
by the jaw-bone of an ass by the hands of Sampson ; and a numerous
host discomfited by Gideon's pitchers and three hundred lamps. Such
things as these make the success memorable.
3. The manner or nature of the victory. Total defeats are most
noted. A slight hurt, or some petty brush is nothing, as Amalek's
falling upon the weak rear, and putting the hindermost stragglers to
shame ; what is that ? The conquest is not complete till there be a
dissipation and dissolution of the whole force that is against us.
4. A conquest is glorious in the effects or result of it. If it be of
great importance and consequence to the good of a people, when fears
are removed, and privileges are granted and enlarged, spoilers taken,
a kingdom subdued, — these things make for the glory of the victory.
And, therefore, let us see if such things be not found in the conquest
of Christ. There are strong adversaries and weak means, glorious
achievements and great effects and fruits of this conquest, for the
benefit of the faithful ; and therefore he was a glorious conqueror.
First, The adversaries ; they are mighty. They are always expressed
by such notions as do imply great strength and power : Col. ii. 15, it
is said, ' He spoiled principalities and powers.' The evil angels, by
reason of their power and pre valency in and with the world, are
expressed by that name, ' principalities and powers/ So Eph. iv. 8,
' He led captivity captive;' that is, he captivated enemies such as are
apt to bring us into bondage. It is as much as if it were said, he
prevailed over victory, — he led captivity itself captive. And he is
called the strong man, Luke xi. 21.
But let us a little more particularly consider the enemies, and then
we shall see how much they add to the glory and renown of the con
quest.
1. There is the devil, who is a powerful adversary. He causeth
great disturbance to the people of God, either to the called or uncalled.
He either accuseth us, or soliciteth us to evil. He accuseth the called
and converted, and so filleth their souls with disquieting, doubtful
thoughts. Ay ! but * the prince of this world is judged,' John xvi. 11.
God hath condemned him for an accuser ; God hath condemned him
for condemning you : and when he cometh to resist you at the time
you are about the work of God, judgment is passed upon the liar
who would cause you to misjudge yourselves. Sometimes he soliciteth
to evil ; injects carnal and provoking thoughts. Ay ! but Satan is
rebuked : Zech. iii. 2, ' And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord
rebuke thee/ There is grace to check and oppose him. But Satan
chiefly worketh upon the uncalled people of God — men in their unre-
generacy and sinful estate ; he possesseth their hearts, and * worketh
in the children of disobedience,' Eph. ii. 3, detaining them in blind
ness, captivates and subjects them to the power of their lusts, and so
by this means possesseth the most part of the world by ignorance and
superstition, or else causeth them to hold the truth in unrighteousness ;
ISA. LIII. 12.] THE FIFT5T-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 463
and erects strongholds, partly by ignorance, partly by error and super
stition, and partly by lusts and violent temptations, which he darts
forth that he may keep the world in his obedience. But now ' the
prince of this world is cast out,' John xii. 31. Satan is dispossessed,
and his power vacated, his rule disannulled. Great Pan is dead, being
like Dagon brought upon his face in the presence of the ark. And
so, some stories say, the idols were overturned at the time of Christ's
birth. Certain we are, spiritually it is true, if not fulfilled in a literal
miracle. Thus Satan is an enemy.
2. The law, that was an enemy, as it condemns us ; the law of
ordinances was against us. Now Christ hath abolished it, so far as it
was contrary and prejudicial to our acceptance with God, as it made
for our discomfort and condemnation, and bound us to wrath, and to
such obedience as could not be fulfilled by us : Col. ii. 14, ' Blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross/
Christ contended with the law, and took us out of the hands of it,
abrogated the curse and rigour of it. Alas ! we were all a prey to the
law, till Christ did arise and plead our cause, and removed the curse
and the difficulties of obedience, and made the craggy hill to become
a plain to us. He ' slew the enmity by his cross/ Eph. ii. 16. Now,
as great an enemy as the law was to us, it was by God's appointment,
and it may be thought much that God should abrogate his own law.
Christ was not only to deal with rebels, but with his Father's appoint
ments, that he might abolish them so far as there was any enmity and
contrariety in them, to our good.
3. Death and hell. I join them both together, because the scripture
doth so often. Of all enemies, these are the most potent and severe,
yet are overcome by Christ. Christ, conquering the law, must needs
conquer death : ' The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin
is the law/ By Christ death is made a friend, as Haman served
Mordecai. It doth but help us to honour and advancement : 1 Cor.
xv. 54, ' Death is swallowed up in victory,' — destroyed and brought to
nothing. We may outdare death, it cannot harm us, it doth but
midwife us into glory. And then for hell, the mouth of it is shut up,
so that it serveth only as an aggravation of our mercies : Rev. xx. 6,
' Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection ; over
such the second death hath no power ;' 2 Tim. i. 10, * He hath abolished
death,' — overthrew it. When the fears of death encroach upon our
spirits, you may see a stone rolled upon the mouth of hell by Jesus
Christ : Rev. i. 18, ' I am alive for evermore, and have the keys of
death and hell;' and Rev. xx. 14, ' Death and hell are cast into the
lake of fire/ What comfort is this for those that have an interest in
Christ, that Christ hath the keys of death and hell !
4. The flesh. Corruption is a bosom-enemy, that insinuates with
us, and worketh upon us in our most pleasing desires : Rom. viii. 7,
' The carnal mind is enmity to God ;' and Gal. v. 17, ' The flesh
lusteth against the spirit/ It is a great trouble to a gracious heart.
Though it be flesh, as dear to us as our own skin, yet it is a thorn in
the flesh, a great cumber to a gracious heart. Nehemiah was very
much troubled with his adversaries, because divers about him that
464 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 12.
a,bode with him held secret correspondence with his enemies, Neh.
viii. 18. So we carry somewhat about us that complies with Satan.
Rebellious lusts, and vicious affections, and proud thoughts swarm in
our hearts, to the disdain of the yoke of Christ: 2 Cor. x. 5, ' Casting
down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against
the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to
the obedience of Christ.' But it is said, Rom. viii. 3, ' God sending
his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin
in the flesh.' 0 beloved ! sin in your flesh is rooted in your corrupt
desires ; but it is a condemned thing, and it will be executed. Mat. xii.
20, ' A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not
quench, till he bring forth j udgment unto victory.' He will make the
cross triumphant.
5. The world, — take it either for the baits and allurements, or the
concernments and interests of it, anything that may be dangerous to
us in the work of our salvation. But Christ hath overcome the malig
nity of it. Christ would put all out of doubt and danger : John xvi.
33, ' Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.' Height shall not
separate no more than depth, neither favour nor frowns. Christ hath
taken away the noxiousness and harm of everything that may be pro
pounded to us.
6. All the adverse powers in the world. Stubborn enemies are
sometimes armed with power : Rev. xvii. 14, ' These shall make war
with the Lamb ;' that is, the kings of the earth. This is a great
terror, when a man seeth all the combined force of a nation, all the
force, authority, and strength combined against Christ : Ps. ex. 6,
' He shall wound the heads over many countries, and strike through
kings in the day of his wrath;' arid Ps. ii. 10-12, 'Be wise now,
therefore, 0 ye kings ; be instructed, ye judges of the earth : serve the
Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be
angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a
little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him/ A little
wrath will destroy a great person. Sometimes our enemies are enraged
with malice. Herod being vexed at the wise men's words, he vowed
revenge ; but, alas ! he could not overcome Christ in his cradle. What
will they do now he is in heaven, out of their reach ? Ps. cxxiv. 3,
' They had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled
against us ; ' that is, when their courage is heightened by wrath. Ps.
Ixxvi. 10, ' Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee ; ' i.e., shall keep
an holyday. This wrath shall serve the design of Christ, for God will
make every stiff knee to bow, Phil. ii. 10. Alas ! fear surpriseth us
when a provoked enemy cometh with rage and fury, as if like a flood
he would bear all before him. But this may occasion a day of praise
to God. And then sometimes your enemies are advantaged with wit,
wealth, and all outward sufficiencies and supplies : Luke xvi. 8, ' The
children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children
of light ; ' that is, more dexterous in the course of their affairs. And
Mat. xi. 26, the things of Christianity are 'hidden from the wise and
prudent, and revealed unto babes.' So Ps. Ixiv. 6, ' They search out
iniquity, they accomplish a diligent search ; but the inward thought
of every one of them and the heart is deep/ They may be men of
great parts, pregnant invention, full of politic enterprises ; ay 1 but all
ISA. LIIL 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 465
this is nothing: Job v. 13, 'He taketh the wise in their own crafti
ness/ Christ hath died to recover the truth, and to free the souls of
his servants from such kinds of assaults as these. These are the
enemies that are most stubborn, but they are forced to stoop, though
they are advantaged with power, armed with malice, and stored with
all outward sufficiencies.
Thus you see the enemies whose opposition adds to the glory of the
conquest : the devil, the law, death and hell, the flesh and the world,
and all the adverse powers and dominations that are combined against
Christ. Christ can have no spoil, no prey, no kingdom, no saints, till
he had combated with these enemies ; their opposition addeth to the
renown of the conquest.
Secondly, Let us look to the means. The weapons of this warfare
are not carnal ; that is, there is little pomp and appearance in them.
Look upon them, and the matter will be the more wonderful.
1 . As to his death. His very conflict was his triumph. The Lamb
overcometh, and Christ conquered Satan, and sin, and the law, when
they seemed to have most power upon him ; like angry bees that sting
others and disarm themselves. When Satan had the greatest hand
Qver Christ, Christ overcame him : Heb. ii. 14, ' That through death
he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil/
Satan lost his life in his sting. It is observable, that the scripture
twice or thrice mentioneth it as a remarkable circumstance that Christ
triumphed in his cross : Col. ii. 15, ' Triumphing over them in it/
So Eph. ii. 16, * Having slain enmity thereby ;' that is, the cross spoken
of before, when he was slain himself. His cross is in two places ex
pressed by lifting up : John iii. 14, ' Even so the Son of man shall be
lifted up ; ' and John xii. 32, ' And I, if I be lifted up from the
earth/ Indeed it was his preferment and exaltation.
2. By the word of the cross, called the foolishness of preaching :
Ps. viii. 2, ' Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained
strength/ Weak men, whose strength is in their Messiah, may bring
men upon their faces by a sermon : 1 Cor. xiv. 25, * And thus are the
secrets of his heart made manifest ; and falling down upon his face,
he will worship God, and report, saying, God is in you of a truth/
And recover the world unto his obedience by these arts : Mat. iv. 23,
' Jesus went about preaching the gospel of the kingdom/ And his
kingdom is gained by that, and it inaketh much for the heightening
of the conquest.
3. By his Spirit : Zech. iv. 6, ' Not by might, nor by power, but by
my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts/ A great force, but secret and uri-
discerned ; mighty to humble, mighty to comfort, mighty to convert
and save. The little finger of the Spirit is heavier than the loins of
our reasoning, and debates with our souls. Jerusalem is purged by
the Spirit : Jer. iv. 4, ' Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take
away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah, and inhabitants of
Jerusalem, lest my fury come forth like fire/
4. By his prayers and intercessions : Zech. iii. 2, ' And the Lord said
unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, 0 Satan, even the Lord that hath
chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee/ Christ prayeth Satan into nothing.
All the merit of Christ is made effectual by his prayers, and all the
VOL. III. 2 G
466 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 12.
efficacy of Christ's death and satisfaction is applied and conveyed to us
by the Spirit ; and thereby we have the spiritual virtue of Christ's
prayers: John xiv. 16, ' I will pray the Father, and he will send you
another Comforter/ All the actual application is by the power of the
Spirit, obtained by the intercession of Christ : Luke xvii. 20, 21, ' The
kingdom of God cometh not with observation, neither shall they say,
Lo here, lo there: behold the kingdom of God is within you.' Well,
then, these are the arts and engines that Christ useth for the gaining
of the world and spoiling of his adversaries ; his death, his word, his
Spirit obtained by his prayer. Some take in other things, sometimes
God ruineth them by themselves,. Satan by his own instruments, by
their subtilty, and sometimes other ways ; but the cause and ground of
all are the death, and prayers,, and Spirit of Christ ; there lieth his
strength, and this is a strange and glorious conquest.
Thirdly, The manner or nature of the conquest, how it is achieved
and accomplished. See what a conquest it is.
1. The enemies are overcome and terribly broken ; there is a total
dissipation of all the powers of darkness. It is expressed in scripture
by bruising the head of Satan,. Gen. iii. 15, Christ received a slight
hurt in the conflict ; his heel was bruised, but the serpent's head is
broken : 1 John iii. 8, ' The Son of man came to dissolve the works of
the devil.' All the fabric of iniquity is analysed and dissolved, — all the
webs and plots of wickedness are unravelled. The dragon is cast out,
Eev. xii. 9, being combated by Michael and his angels. Sin is con
demned in the flesh, Eom. viii. 3. Corruptions captivated, 2 Cor. x.
5. The world overcome, John xvi. 33. Wicked and adverse powers
and dominations in the world broken to pieces and grounded to
powder, or else gained and forced to yield to the uses and glory of
Christ.
2. Not barely overcome and dissipated, though that were much, but
spoiled and rifled. Christ hath divided the prey : Col. ii. 15, ' And
having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them
openly, triumphing over them in it/ They are spoiled by disarming
the strong man, and dividing his spoils, Luke xi. 22. God hath spoiled
and dispossessed Satan of the souls that were taken captive by him at his
pleasure ; they are recovered into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.
The nations are got from under his obedience, and subdued to the power
of the gospel. So death and hell are under his power ; they are, as it
were, under lock and key, Satan had the power of them heretofore, and
then men were always under bondage : Heb. ii. 14, 15, ' That through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the
devil ; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life
time subject to bondage/ They durst not think of judgment and hell,
because Satan had them in his power as God's executioner ; but now,
saith Christ, ' I have the keys of death/ The world is despoiled of all
its wit, wealth, glory, and power ; these are made to serve the uses of
Christ, being recovered out of the chains of wicked men : Micah iv. 13,
' And thou shalt beat in pieces many nations, and shalt consecrate their
gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole
earth ;' Zech. xiv. 14, 20, ' The wealth of the nations shall be gathered
together. . . . And upon the bells of the horses and the pots in Jeru-
ISA. LIU. 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 467
salem there shall be written, HOLINESS TO THE LORD/ All this is done
so clearly to the eye of faith, that they do even see Christ triumphing :
Isa. Ixiii. 1, 'Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments
from Bozrah ? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the
greatness^ of his strength ? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to
save/
3. Such a victory as endeth in a solemn triumph ; as conquerors in
public view carried their spoils and their enemies tied to their chariots,
so Christ would expose them to open shame. Therefore, it is said,
Eph. iv. 8, * He led captivity captive,' as it were in triumph, as you do
manacled prisoners. So Col ii. 15, ' He made a show of them openly ;'
he put them to open shame. How so ? — before God and the eyes of be
lievers. We may see the triumphant chariot of Christ, and Satan, hell
and death, and the world haled after it. As soon as the soul is possessed
of Christ, and beginneth to have some interest in him, it feels this bene
fit, and seeth how these things are captivated by the death, Spirit, and
power of Christ. Christ doth, as it were, call upon your souls, Come,
look ! here is Satan disarmed, death unstinged, hell shut up, and I have
the keys ; sin is manacled, wrath satisfied, the law's curse and rigour
taken out of the way, heady enemies despoiled and discouraged, the
world subdued and brought to my obedience, or forced to serve my
glory. So that you see the conquest is full and absolute.
Object. But you will say, I feel none of these things ; why are these
enemies so busy and cumbersome about my soul, if totally dissipated
by Christ ?
I answer briefly in these considerations : —
1. It is true in faith, though not in sense and feeling, that these
adversaries received their death's wound at the death of Christ. This
was done in the merit of Christ, and in God's decree and ordination.
Christ was possessed of this promise of having a portion with the great,
and to divide the spoil with the strong ; all things were put under
his feet. The crown was put upon the head of Jesus Christ, though
it be not effectually made out to sense. There is the objection from
sense : Heb. ii. 8, ' But now we see not all things put under him/
2. Though it be so that these things are left for a while, it is
partly to exercise our souls, and to draw forth the life of our graces.
Opposition keeps the soul humble and wakeful. Paul had a thorn in
the flesh, and a messenger of Satan to buffet him, lest he should be ex
alted above measure, 2 Cor. xii. 7. It is partly to prove us, to see if
we will enter into the battle, and powerfully maintain it, and combat
against the enemies of Christ ; and partly to make us the more thank
ful for our deliverance by Christ. Christ was tempted like us, that
he might be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and that we
might be touched with a feeling of Christ's sufferings, and the great
ness of Christ's love to us. Experience maketh us the more sensible
how it would have been with us, if we had not been freed by the Son
of God. Oh, when we are a little scorched with wrath, when we tug
with sin, we may begin to think what it is to dwell with everlasting
burning. How would it have been if Christ had not died for us? So
when there are difficulties abroad, what should we have done with these
mountains, if it had not been for our Zerubbabel ? Experience giveth
468 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 12.
us the best sense of things, therefore the Lord saw fit to continue these
things for a season. As it is said of Daniel's beasts, Dan.^vii. 12, that
their ' dominion was taken away/ though their ' lives was prolonged
for a season/ So their power to hurt or endamage our salvation is
gone : 1 Peter iii. 13, ' And who is he that will harm you ? ' Nothing
' shall separate you from the love of God/ Kom. viii. 33. Neither death,
nor hell, nor sin, shall prejudice the salvation of the elect ; Satan can
not ruin, death cannot disannul it ; hell hath no right, and sin hath no
reign ; the world may kill us, but they cannot conquer us.
3. Though continued, they cannot harm us, rather they may do us
good. Even sin and Satan may give us cause to glory in infirmities,
2 Cor. xii. 10, to boast of our weakness : they may occasion such
supplies and comforts from God ; but certain we are they cannot hurt
our souls nor hinder our salvation.
4. The work will be thoroughly and completely done ere long ; our
comforts and hopes in Christ will prove sure : Kev. xii. 11, ' They over
came by the blood of the Lamb.' ' We do not as yet see all things put
under him/ Heb. ii. 8. Mark, that as yet implies it is at hand. We do
not as yet see the god of this world fully cast out and falling as light
ning from heaven ; we do not as yet find sin fully mortified, Satan
subdued, Christ exalted among all the nations ; none of these things
are as yet completely done. But here is the comfort of believers : Horn,
xvi. 20, ' The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly/
All this will be done, and will not you tarry a little while ? As the
church saith, Micah vii. 8, 9, ' Kejoice not against me, 0 mine
enemy ; when I fall, I shall arise ; when I sit in darkness, the Lord
shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, be
cause I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute
judgment for me : he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall be
hold his righteousness/ Times will be better and hearts better.
5. If we do find and feel no benefit by the conquest of Christ, it is
through our-own corruptions. God hath not left us for the present with
out some sense of it. You will have some rule over your hearts and spirits,
more grace to resist Satan, more comfort against the fear of death, arid
less trouble about the difficulties of obedience : 1 John v. 4, ' Whoso
ever is born of God overcometh the world.' Thus you see we have
gone through the third part, that is, a complete victory, even to the
spoiling and triumphing over Satan, who shall be totally subdued.
Fourthly, The next and last thing proposed was the fruits and
effects, or what special benefit we have by the conquest of Christ.
I answer — It is hard to mention all the rich communications of grace
that we enjoy by it. Those that are most proper are these : —
1. The banishment of distracting fear : holy fear remaineth, but
that natural fear which would distract and perplex the soul is gone.
The apostle speaks, Heb. ii. 15, of some ' who, through fear of death,
were all their lifetime subject to bondage/ There is a natural fear in
us ; though not always felt, yet it is easily awakened, so as we could
not think of death, or hell, or judgment, but it filled us with a great
deal of terror. But now a child of God hath a great deal of courage
and boldness ; he may remember it to increase his joy and praise ; he
can play upon the hole of the cockatrice ; death and hell may aggra-
ISA. LIII. 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 469
vate his mercies, but cannot increase his fears ; so that they are fitted
for the worst condition and the greatest duty : Ps. xxiii. 4, ' Though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.'
They are fitted for the sorest suffering and the greatest service. In
the sorest affliction they may be comforted ; hell-gates are shut, and
Christ hath locked them up. So for the greatest service : Luke i. 74,
75, ' That being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might
serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all
the days of our life/ It is a mighty weakening to the hands of the
soul in duty, when we ponder upon the danger and difficulties, and the
powerful opposition we shall meet with in the ways of grace. Ay !
but now we may serve him without fear ; Christ hath conquered death
and hell, lusts and fears. We can the better bear afflictions now they
are unstinged, and their venom taken away. We can the better go
through duty ; the joy of the Lord may be our strength ; the enemies
are fallen before us.
2. It is an encouragement to the spiritual conflict. The difficulty
of things amuseth l the heart, and causeth the spirit to faint and melt
within us. Thus vigorous opposition within, without giants and the
sons of Anak, Satan and wicked men, our own hearts and all are
against us. Oh ! but be not dismayed, you are sure to overcome; you
fight against a manacled enemy, a naked enemy, a vanquished enemy.
Mice may trample upon a dead lion, and the feeblest creatures insult
a dead carcase. Will you fear Satan in chains ? He is bound up ;
he was let loose upon Christ, and hath been bound up ever since. ' Be
strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might/ Eph. vi. 10. God
is at our right hand, and he will assist us in our endeavours against
Satan ; yon may go on with hope and resolution : Ps. ex. 5, 'The Lord
at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath/
Hope of success is a strength and encouragement to an undertaking.
3. Here is joy unspeakable and glorious. Christ's triumphs are our
joy. Oh, what a triumph, even to exaltation, is it to see Satan
despoiled and trampled upon, sin disarmed, and hell locked up! Luke
i. 47, ' My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour/ Oh, you may
triumph over the powers of darkness: Isa. li. 11, ' Therefore the re
deemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and
everlasting joy shall be upon their head : they shall obtain gladness and
joy ; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away/ Why ? because the
Lord hath smote Kahab, and wounded the dragon. Spiritual enemies
being destroyed, we may make our boast of Christ all the day long.
4. Hopes of glory : we shall conquer with him, and we shall reign
with him. There is nothing that can be noxious and hurtful to our
salvation. Christ will not leave till he hath settled us upon his own
throne : Kev. iii. 21, 'To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit
with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with
my Father on his throne.' We shall have fellowship with Christ in
his glory, as Christ as Mediator had fellowship with the Father's
glory; we shall have the throne of Christ, as Christ has that
of his Father. He led captivity captive, and then ascended ; so he
will cause us to conquer and overcome : Eph. ii. 6, ' He hath raised
1 Qu. < amazeth. ' ? — ED.
470 A PBACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. MIL 12.
us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus/ Conquerors enter after the spoil into the secure possession
of their kingdoms ; so did Jesus Christ, and so shall we.
5. Great comfort accrueth and redoundeth to us by it ; the very
exaltation of Christ is a great comfort to us. We are happy in the
success of our Prince, and we have interest in a great conqueror, in
Michael, the great prince, Dan. xii. 1. As Joshua put his feet upon
the necks of the kings, Josh. x. 24 ; so our Joshua, our Jesus, calleth
to the captains and men of war with him, to come and set their
feet upon the necks of their enemies. Nay, the apostle seemeth
to express it, as if he did invest us in a surplusage of privileges :
Eom. viii. 37, ' We are more than conquerors, through him that loved
us ;' and 2 Cor. ii. 14, ' Now thanks be unto God, who always causeth
us to triumph in Christ/ We have such a glorious Saviour as can
help and stead his followers. Therefore, you maybe always boasting.
6. There is this fruit and effect of Christ's conquest ; it is a token,
earnest, and pledge of our victory. Everything is first done in Christ,
then in us ; he died, rose, and conquered as our common person : John
xvi. 33, ' Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world/ What is that
to us ? Christ hath overcome, and that is a sign you shall overcome
too : 1 John v. 4, ' For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the
world ; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our
faith/ First Christ, and then your faith. There will something be
done proportionably in your souls. God chose him, therefore he is
called his c Elect servant,' Isa. xlii. 1. And he hath chosen us, John
xv. 16, * But I have chosen you/ He calleth him. Christ took this
honour when called, then we ; Christ dieth, and we die ; he was justi
fied in the Spirit, then he riseth and ascendeth, so do we ; he con-
quereth, so do we.
7. What Christ did in this conquest, he did it for our sakes. He
will have nothing but we shall share in it. If God give him a portion
with the great, he will divide it with the strong : Luke xxii. 29, ' I
appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me/
Mark, Christ would have you have the same privileges as he hath :
John xii. 30, ' This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes/
Christ eyed us in his actions : John xvii. 22, ' And the glory which
thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we
are one/ Christ would have you come and ride with him in his
triumphant chariot, and spoil principalities and powers.
8. Another benefit is usefulness and serviceableness of all that
befalls us. Christ doth so effect it that all things work together for
good, Kom. viii. 28. The crooked sticks help to make the faggot the
more decent. You do not only get a prey from Satan and your sins,
but they yield you some good, and you may glory in infirmities, and
desire to close with him, and cleave to him.
Use. I did here and there interpose matter applicative, but now I
shall come to it more formally. The uses concern the people of God,
or the adversaries of Christ.
1. To the people of Christ : Behave yourselves towards him as a
conqueror.
[L] Get an interest in him. Oh, who would not strive to get an in-
ISA. LIII. 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 471
terest in Christ, that he may have a share in his spoils? Who would
not be one of the angels and followers of Michael, the great prince ?
' He preserveth the souls of his people/ Ps. xcvii. 10. There is safety
under the shadow of his wings. Therefore, apply your souls to this
matter. You that think of Christ for a Lord, get your interest cleared.
The soul is encumbered with fears for want of clearing up its right
in Christ, and entertains these comforts with a loose heart for want of
that. The soul is apt to say, Oh, if I were Christ's, then the matter
were at end, and therefore, get it cleared up. How sweetly then can
you reason and argue, This is my Christ, this is he that died for
me : whilst others must be persuaded to seek Christ, and to cleave to
him. We all desire to be of the strongest side : consider it, Jesus
Christ is a glorious conqueror.
[2.] Believe in him, and depend on him to possess your souls of these
glorious privileges. Luther saith, carnal men hear these comforts
quasi somniantes — like golden dreams, rare things, but presented to
fancy rather than faith. Oh, stir up the large and sure apprehensions
of faith. These things require a wakeful and believing soul, to see
Christ conquering, triumphing, and spoiling the powers of darkness.
Spiritual conquests must be discerned with a spiritual eye : Luke viii.
10, ' To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom.' Other
men may hear them, but you know the mysteries. Oh, it is a great
privilege vouchsafed, that when others only hear the voice, you see
the glory ; you see him leading captivity captive. It is in your eye
that the powers of darkness are put to an open shame. You see the
conqueror coming from Bozrah, the blood of his garments that cutteth
off his enemies ; all this is easily made out to your faith. Oh, there
fore, depend upon him in all your assaults and straits ; do not think
to help and relieve yourselves by your own wit and parts ; put forth
endeavours, but do not rest in them ; disclaim your own strength :
Isa. xxx. 15, ' For thus saith the Lord Grod, the Holy Onevof Israel,
In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and in confidence
shall be your strength.' The less the creature bustles, and the more
it believeth, the more safe. Pray and wait in quietness and confidence
that you are safe. The Philistines placed much confidence in their
Goliah : oh ! what hopes will you pitch upon Jesus Christ, the great
conqueror!
[3]. Check vain fears of death and hell, Satan, lusts, and the world.
Alas ! there is no more spirit left in these things ; they are like the
Canaanites which were stung by Grod's hornets before the Israelites
conquered them : * I will send my hornets before you.' Fear possessed
them, and then they were easily vanquished. Christ hath not only
stung them, but broke them in pieces. Will you fear shattered forces ?
Nay, Christ hath not only broken them, but disarmed them, and not
only disarmed them, but bound them ; and who would fear naked and
chained enemies ? Children are frightened at the sight of enemies,
though bound. Oh, be not such children in grace ! You shall find
often in scripture that this is brought in as a just inference out of
Christ's conquest : ' Fear not, I have overcome the world/ Some are
careless, and fear nothing; others, that mind the danger of their souls,
are very apt to be surprised with carnal trouble when they think of
472 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. MIL 12.
death, and hell, and wrath ; and altogether it proveth' a great con
sternation to their thoughts : but be not troubled, ' Ye believe in God,
believe also in me/ John xiv. 1. When you think of God and Christ
together, God satisfying, and Christ suffering, oh ! what an amulet
is there, what a cordial for fainting souls ! Timorousness in a Christian
is a disgrace to Christ. "Understand what fears I mean ; not a caute-
lous fear to avoid sin, to shun danger, to put us upon seasonable
provisions against evil, but a perplexing fear, such as filleth the
soul with amazement. Cautelous fear maketh the soul run to Christ,
like chickens under the hen's wings ; but the other fear undervalueth
the conquest of Christ, as if there were no hope for us in our God,
and no hope for us in our Saviour.
[4.] It presseth us to praise, honour, and obey him. Conquerors
merit of their country ; usually some trophy and statue is erected to
their memorial. Oh, what honour do you devise for Christ, now he
hath conquered for you, now he hath recovered a church, and it may
be your souls, out of the hands of death, and hell, and Satan, and
defended you against all the malice of the world ! When our knees
bow to Christ, our mouths must confess him, Phil. ii. 10, 11. Fall
down like the elders before the Lamb, with the harps of God in your
hands, Kev. v. 9, and give him honour, and blessing, and praise.
David, when he had rest from his enemies, he thinketh of building
God a temple, 2 Sam. vii. 2. God hath given you rest, think of a
trophy for God. Honour him in your expressions, affections, and
conversations. Serve him now he hath set you free ; you are his
by right of conquest : pass over into his power and love as Christ's,
Kom. vii. 14. The apostle speaketh of himself in his natural
condition, ' I am carnal, sold under sin.' He alludeth to a custom
among the Romans, who, when captives and prisoners were taken in
war, they were wont to sell them to one another, as captives, under a
spear. Oh, do not live as carnal, and for the uses and advantages of
sin, as if you were the spoils of sin, but as the spoils of Jesus Christ.
Oh, be not sold under sin ; wholly pass over into his power and right,
and live to his glory.
[5.] Set against the enemies with the more courage and resolution.
Oh, that the joy of the Lord may be your strength, that in all your
endeavours against sin and Satan you may look up to the victory of
Christ ! It is said, Kom. vii. 24, 25, ' 0 wretched man that I am !
who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? I thank God
through Jesus Christ our Lord.' Oh, you are enclasped within the ribs
of the body of death : how shall I get free ? Through Jesus Christ
there is hope of triumph. Therefore do not fear, but set upon it.
You are mistaken, if you think the work was so done upon Christ's
cross that there remaineth nothing for your care and endeavours :
Kom. xvi. 20. God ' will bruise Satan/ but it is ' under your feet ; •
implying there is something that we must do. And Ps. ex. 5, ' The
Lord at thy right hand will smite through kings in the day of his
wrath/ God will smite them through, but it will be at thy right
hand, which doth imply our endeavours. Christ will divide the spoil
with the strong, and the violent take heaven by force ; therefore use
all due means. Men cherish a lazy wish, a yawning, drowsy prayer ;
ISA. LIII. 12.] THE FIFTY -THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 473
they may read a chapter, and go on in a dead way, perform a cold
duty, or make a formal discourse, but they do not stir up themselves
to lay hold upon God. They do not pray, with tears and strong cries
and supplications, for a share in Christ's conquest. Where is the
violence of your spirits, the earnestness of desires, the fervency of
raised affections, vigorous and powerful endeavours ? Frov. xiii. 4,
' The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing.' Oh, therefore,
stir up yourselves. Who would not put forth endeavours when they
are like to be successful ? James iv. 7, ' Resist the devil, and he shall
flee from you.' You shall not only repel him, but chase him. Oh,
buckle to it to the purpose, put on the whole armour of God. Christ's
death, and Spirit, and prayers aim at this, that he may do it in you ;
for it should never content you, unless it be done in your souls, that
he may destroy death in you : Col. i. 29, ' Whereunto I also labour,
striving according to the working which worketh in me mightily.'
Not that he did put forth in his own person only.
[6.] Pray to him that he would show himself Lord and King, that
he might rule among his enemies. Christ hath taught us to say, Thy
kingdom come : desire that he would powerfully and with his own
arm work salvation. Christ's conquest is founded on his prayers and
intercessions, therefore help on his kingdom. You know where and
to whom to go, when you see the church small, worldly powers
enraged, Satan busy. Oh, complain to him, the strong get all the
spoils. Urge the promises, especially in the latter days, when the
kingdoms of the world are to become the kingdoms of the Lord and
his Christ.
2. Here is terror to the adversaries of Christ. His reign is your
ruin : Ps. xciii., ' The Lord reigneth ; ' that is as bad a word as David
could speak to the enemies. Be wise, you that act contrary designs to
the glory, reign, cause, and servants of Christ. The Red Sea. that
yielded a passage to the Israelites, proved a grave to the Egyptians.
Consider seriously whether it be not against Christ. When your
ways are challenged as opposite to God, look more thoroughly into the
nature of them.
I come now to the second part of the text : ' Because he hath poured
out his soul unto death: and was numbered with transgressors ; and he
bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.'
Which is called the conflict of Christ explained, and is set out in four
things : —
1. His death.
2. The ignominy of it.
3. The cause of it.
4. The noted circumstance in it : * He made intercession for the
transgressors.'
I shall begin with the first of these : * He hath poured out his soul
unto death.' It doth not only imply the bare death of Christ, simply
that he died ; but he died willingly and freely, gave up his whole self
to death. So David speaks in the person of Christ, Ps. xxii. 14, * I
am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.' There
is nothing left in the vessel, neither sap nor savour ; he freely and
willingly poured out every drop of his soul, as if he made no account
474 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LI II. 12.
of it, so man might enjoy benefit by it. It noteth both the freeness
and fulness of the sacrifice; it was unto death, and it was poured out.
Observe, That the Lord Jesus did freely and willingly yield up
himself to die for our sakes. I handled such a like point on verse
the 7th, therefore shall be the more sparing and wary in this. For
the proof, I shall rather evidence that it was so, than why he desired
it : Luke xii. 50, ' I have a baptism to be baptized with ; and how am
I straitened till it be accomplished ! ' He thought the time would
never come ; he hindered it not : he did not discontinue resorting to
the garden, the place of his usual abode and retirement. Judas
knew that he often resorted thither with his disciples : Mat. xxvi. 53,
' Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall
presently send me more than twelve legions of angels ? ' The violence
of man did not take his life from him : John x. 17, 18, ' Therefore
cloth my Father love me, because I lay down my life : no man taketh
it from me, I lay it down of myself.' It was not an enforced obedience
to the will of God, for God did not only give Christ, but he gave
himself : Gal. i. 4, ' Who gave himself for our sins ; ' and Eph. v. 2,
* He loved us, and gave himself for us ; ' which appeared by the
cheerful resignation of his soul into the hands of the Father in his
agonies : Luke xxiii. 46, ' Father, into thy hands I commend my
Spirit.' It is said, ' He cried with a loud voice/ which noteth his con
fidence and willingness.
Use 1. It serveth to commend the love of Christ, in that he gave
himself : ' He poured out his soul,' and that ' to the death.' There
are three things to be noted : —
1. The gift.
2. The manner of giving.
3. The intent.
1. The gift. We read of great gifts in the scripture : Zaccheus,
when salvation was come to his house, Luke xix. 8, says, ' Half my
goods I give to the poor.' And Herod proffered half his kingdom to
his niece when she pleased him, Mark vi. 23. God in the creation
gave all the creatures to man ; and the devil says to Christ, Mat. iv. 9,
' All these will I give thee.' Ay ! but here Christ giveth himself,
poureth out his own soul, and with himself everything that maketh
for the delighting and contenting of the spirit. Oh, it is better than a
thousand worlds ! At our creation God gave us but the creatures,
but here God giveth himself.
2. The manner ; ' He poured out his soul ; ' which noteth a
copious and bounteous effusion of his blood for the creatures' good.
Nihil in hoc Christo est nisi profusa liberalitas misericordice, et
remissionis peccatorum, said Luther — I see nothing in this Christ but
a prodigality of love ; if guilty of anything, it was of too much
freeness: ' He poured out his soul/ Oh, when you are at the Lord's
Supper, and see the wine poured out, remember the death of Christ
set out by this notion, * He poured out his soul unto death ; ' see how
freely Christ emptied his veins. In the garden he did sweat drops
of blood ; every pore in his body became an eye, and it wept blood
for your sakes.
3. The end and intent, why he would pour out himself like water.
ISA. LIIL 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 475
It was to die for you : ' He poured out his soul to death.' Simeon
suffered himself to be bound for his brethren, Gen. xlii. 24. Lot
offered his daughter, and the man in Judges prostitutes his daughter ;
and the Levite, Judges xix. 23, 24, his concubine to the lusts of the
men of Gibeah ; but saith Christ, ' Greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend.' That is
man's heroic honour, and it may be we may find two or three rare
instances in history. But Jesus Christ laid down his life for enemies,
for ' dead dogs/ as David calleth himself. Such as we are he poured
out his soul for, even to death. Oh, enlarge your thoughts on these
particulars.
Use 2. It yieldeth useful inferences and enforcements to duty.
1. To humbled sinners. Take Christ as freely as he offereth himself
to you : He poured out his soul, and you will not come to him, you
will not receive him. Oh, come and pour out yourselves into the bosom
of Christ ; he hath poured out his soul to death for you. You that
complain as the church, Lam. ii. 11, ' My liver is poured out/ there
is much faintness and fears. The liver is the seat of blood ; it is made
there, and dispersed from thence into all the veins : your liver is only
poured out, but Christ's soul is so. Consider, all the persons in the
blessed Trinity are willing, and are not you ? The Father, John iii. 16,
' He gave his only-begotten Son.' And Christ gave himself, Gal. i. 4.
And the Spirit is willing, he is grieved at your refusal : ' I would have
gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and
ye would not.' He wooeth and beseecheth you, and pleadeth for your
entertainment of Jesus Christ. Oh, open to him, and be as willing to
believe as Christ was to die : Ps. cxlii. 2, ' I poured out my com
plaint to him, I showed before him my trouble.' Pour out your souls
in faith and prayer, as -Christ poured out his soul on the cross.
2. To stubborn sinners, to press them to come out of their sins upon
this ground — Jesus Christ poured out his soul unto death. Christ
parted with his heart's blood, and will not you part with your sinful
delights ? Shall we love our sins better than Christ loved his own
soul ? He laid down his life, and will not you lay down your lusts ?
Nay, what horrible unthankfulness is this ? Christ poured out his
soul to death, and we pour out our souls in the ways of death. In
the llth verse of Jude's epistle we read, that ' they ran greedily
after the error of Balaam.' In the original it is, ' They poured out in
the error of Balaam ; ' not as water out of a vessel, drop by drop ; but
as water out of a bucket, in abundance. Hearts set upon the world, set
upon lusts and pleasures, are expressed by giving themselves to work
wickedness. Oh, should not you give up yourselves to Jesus Christ,
when he gave out himself for .you ? That is an ill requital, to let
loose the reins to your vile affections, and to pour out yourselves in
sins without restraint.
3. To the people of God. Christ poured out his soul to death,
freely and fully offered himself for your sakes : it presseth you to an
imitation in your duties and respects towards God and men. Pour
out your souls, discharge them fully and freely ; they are both ex
pressed by pouring out the soul. In your duty to God : So Hannah is
said, 1 Sam. i. 16, to * pour out her soul before the Lord ; ' to come
476 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 12.
freely, and draw out her affections and desires before God. And so for
duties to man : Isa. Iviii. 10, * If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and
thy darkness be as noonday/ Do both freely.
[1.] Your duties and respect to God. Oh, come and pour out your
whole souls ; the willingness of your services is the commendation of
them : ' Call the Sabbath a delight,' Isa. Iviii. 13 ; and 1 Chron.
xxviii. 9, ' Thou shalt serve him with a perfect heart and a willing
mind ;' and make prayer your joy and pleasure, your comfort and
your solace : Isa. ii. 3, ' Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of
the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his
ways/ Let the meditation of God be sweet to you : Ps. civ. 34, ' And
I will be glad in the Lord/ See that the thoughts of God are pleasing
to you. But now, on the contrary, when the Sabbath is a burden,
prayer a task, and you cannot wait upon the Lord one hour in hearing
or holy meditation ; when the commandments are grievous, meditation
irksome, holy company and conference a prison ; oh ! then, I say, con
sider the freeness of Jesus Christ in pouring out his blood for you,
and you will find the advantage of pouring out your hearts before God.
[2.] In your duties and respects to men. In all offices of love and
service, do it willingly ; for such was the love of the Lord Jesus to
you : 1 Peter v. 2, ' Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking
the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly;' especially if it
be to instruct and teach them, and to take pains with them about the
good of their souls : Phil. iii. 1, ' To write the same things to you, to
me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe/ He often speaks
how little good was done, but it was not grievous to him to try again.
Labour to put off the sluggishness of your spirits with this considera
tion — Jesus Christ died freely for souls to relieve them, and shall not
I be at some pains to persuade them to accept of him ? Forced kind
ness loseth its acceptance ; God and man prize the willing mind best.
The will honoureth God more than the deed ; for it is not our act any
further than it is done willingly : 2 Cor. viii. 12, ' If there be first a
willing mind, it is accepted, according to that a man hath, and not
according to what he hath not/ The widow's mite was noted ; the
unjust judge did his duty by constraint ; and in so doing we do not
only relieve others, but ourselves.
Use 3. To press us to act proportionably to the act of Christ. He
yielded up his whole self, and did it with his whole heart ; so let
your abounding be in believing, and your gratitude in yielding up
yourselves with your whole heart.
I come now to the second circumstance, the ignominy of Christ's
death : ' He was numbered with transgressors/ It is to be understood
of God or man. It is true before God, God looking upon him under
our guilt ; but it is most properly true in regard of men, who counted
him a sinner and a transgressor, and so delivered him to the Gentiles:
John xviii. 30, ' If he were not a malefactor we would not have deli
vered him to thee.' But more especially this prophecy is said to be
fulfilled in two places of scripture : as Mark xv. 27, 28, ' And with
him they crucified two thieves, one on his right hand, and the other
on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith. And he was
ISA. LIU. 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 477
numbered with the transgressors/ That is then eminently fulfilled ;
for it was also at other times, but then especially, being placed in the
middle, not only as a companion of thieves, but as their prince and
chieftain. So Luke xxii. 37, ' For I say unto you, that this that is
written must be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the
transgressors : for the things concerning me have an end.' There he
speaketh as if the intent of this prophecy was more general. I told
you of all things necessary ; for I and you must be accounted wicked
persons ; it must be so, for it is foretold. You see the sense ; now for
the points.
Observe, that the Lord Jesus Christ was reckoned among trans
gressors, especially in his death and sufferings.
For proof of the point, which is general, let me suggest to you that he
was so reputed by men ; by wicked men, godly men, and by God himself.
1. By wicked men he was counted a glutton and a wine-bibber,
Mat. xi. 19 ; and John viii. 48, ' Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a
devil.' Nay, they accounted him the prince of devils, but this was
chiefly at his death. The high priest charged him with no less than
blasphemy : Mat. xxvi. 65, ' He hath spoken blasphemy ; what further
need have we of witnesses?' False witnesses were suborned to accuse
him of sedition against his country, as if he would destroy the temple,
and as if he were a seducer and perverter of the people ; of disloyalty
to Caesar, as if he went about to make himself king, John xviii. 36.
They preferred Barabbas, a murderer, before him. See these things
in the Evangelists.
2. By godly men .: Luke xxiv. 21, * We trusted that it had been he
who should have redeemed Israel.' In their distrustful thoughts the
disciples began to doubt of him, and so looked upon him as an imposter.
3. By God himself. Christ having taken our sins upon him, was
dealt with as a transgressor : 1 Peter iv. 1, ' For he that hath suffered
in the flesh, hath ceased from sin ;' and Heb. ix. 28, ' He shall ap
pear the second time without sin unto salvation.' In his first coming
he was not without sin by imputation.
Well, but for the reason why God would suffer Christ thus to be
numbered with transgressors. I shall not much trouble you with the
allegories of the ancients, recorded by Aquinas, why Christ was cru
cified between two thieves, and so reckoned as one of them, as the
chief of them, to typify that distinction that shall be made at the day
of judgment, some being put on the right hand of Christ, and some
on the left. The thief on the right hand was received into paradise,
so Keo1 and Austin. Christ's cross, made his tribunal in his sufferings,
and a type of his second glorious coming, and he as a judge placed
between two others, who are of less avail, implied, as Hilary would
have it, that though all did not know the cross and sufferings of Christ,
yet some should be placed on the right hand and some on the left.
So Beza thought that the thief on the left side signified those that
should endure strictness and hardships in Christianity for the praise
of men ; others for the praise of God, as the thief on the right
1 A misprint, I presume, for Leo ; the allusion being, I doubt not, to a paragraph in
Leo the Great's fourth sermon on the Lord's Passion, with the title Latronum in Gru.ce,
Signifaatio, the substance of which is very much as in the text. — ED.
478 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 12.
side. But these are all but flashes of wit. The reasons of the point
are : —
1. That these might be sensible evidences of those sins of ours
that Christ bore in his body, and had taken upon himself. This rea
son is in the text, ' He was numbered among transgressors, for he
bare the sins of many.' God would give believers this evidence and
testimony that he was a transgressor ; that you may know all the
load of the blasphemies and rebellions laid upon Christ, God gave a
taste of it in these imputations — a devil, a blasphemer. God made
special use of their malice to direct our thoughts to the guilt transacted
on Christ.
2. Because Christ was to make satisfaction by suffering all that
we were to suffer. We are cursed, therefore Christ was made a curse,
Gal. iii. 13. We were to endure the wrath of God, therefore he bore
our griefs, Isa, liii. 4. We are to blame, and deserve shame, therefore
he would undergo that, and suffer in his credit and honour, Our re
proach is taken away, because Christ would take it upon himself: he
was ' the reproach of men,' Ps. xxii. 6. We were sinners, and there
fore Christ is called a murderer, a thief, a blasphemer, one that had
a devil. This was a circumstance that commended the greatness
of the satisfaction. What greater satisfaction could we expect or
desire than that Christ, who is holiness itself, should not only suffer,
but suffer under ignominies — that innocency itself should suffer as a
malefactor ? This made the sufferings of Christ exceeding great and
valuable. Christ would lay aside all his glory, pleasure, and honour,
and sacrifice everything for the good of the creature. You have the life
of God, and the honour of God, and all. There is nothing that God
prizeth so much as his honour, and Christ would suffer tha,t God's
honour might not be obscured by these imputations, but repaired.
Use 1. Is information. It informeth us of the great love of Christ ;
he not only poured out his soul to death, but to an accursed death.
Suppose it had been merely for the cause of salvation, would it then
have yielded more comfort ? No ; but he suffered as a malefactor,
a thief, worse than a murderer. An ingenious man valueth his good
name above all enjoyments. It stood Christ in much stead to have
his innocency cleared, that the world might know that he did not die
for his own sins, but the just for the unjust. And yet, though it is
true there were evident demonstrations of his innocency out of Pilate's
mouth, yet Christ would suffer as a malefactor, so as to suffer every
thing you were to suffer ; he would make his sufferings every way
valuable. Oh, what a mercy is here !
2. It informeth us that glory and innocency itself may be be
clouded. Christ was under aspersions. Do not believe every report
of the godly. Wicked men would fain paint them out in ill colours ;
but we must drink of the same cup with Christ. What foul things
were charged upon the primitive Christians, that they were obscene
and turbulent in their practices ! Always suspect those aspersions
that are cast upon religious eminency.
3. It informeth us how unlike Christ the men of the world are.
Christ is innocent, but counted a transgressor ; they are transgressors,
yet would fain be accounted innocent. ' Honour me before the
ISA. LIII. 12.] THE FIFTY-THIKD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 479
people,' saith Saul, 1 Sam. xv. 30. They are more careful of their
credit than their conscience ; they would not be accounted sinners,
and yet do not fear to be so. They are all for man's judgment, though
that is nothing to a gracious heart. Christ was innocent, however he
might suffer under misrepresentations. You are most like him when
you look to your conscience, and trust God for your credit.
Use 2. Is consolation to you. Here is comfort, for the main :
Christ was counted a sinner for your sakes ; that must needs be a
great satisfaction, seeing Christ has suffered his own glory to be ob
scured and eclipsed. You are a great sinner, but urge the sufficiency
of his satisfaction. You have deserved great blame ; consider God
hath laid it upon Christ. Satan accuseth of foul miscarriages, and
you must certainly cry out Guilty. He cannot commence a greater
accusation against you than his instruments did against Jesus Christ.
They accuse him of sedition, theft, heresy, blasphemy — crimes that run
highest against God and men. Oh, what abundant consolation is there,
that Christ hath borne the blame, and hath made a great satisfaction!
As high accusations were commenced against Christ as can be against
you.
2. Here is comfort in this. When you are under undiscerned 1 re
proaches, comfort yourselves thus: This was the lot of Christ. I do
not mean merely under the same reproaches, but sufferings not de
served, for Christ's sake. God knew his Son in the midst of the two
thieves, and the martyrs in the common goal, and Daniel in the lions'
den, and the lily among thorns. The thieves were crucified with him,
yet they justly ; but if you do not suffer as an evil-doer, take comfort
though you be crucified between thieves, yoked with ill companions ;
Christ was numbered among transgressors. It was an old trick to
bring an odium upon the truth, to put it upon ill company. Though
you be bound up in ill bundles, yet God will know his jewels.
I come now to the third circumstance, that which is called the
conflict of Christ, and that is the cause both of his death and the
ignominy of it : ' He bare the sins of many/ This is a circumstance
very often repeated in this prophecy, and often mentioned by the pro
phet in this chapter ; so that I need dwell the less on it now. And it
is so often mentioned, because this is the great argument that maketh
the glory and innocency of Christ to be clear in our thoughts, notwith
standing the scandal of the greatness of his sufferings from the repe
tition. By the way observe : —
That when we remember, consider, or make mention of the suffer
ings of Christ, we should also reflect upon the cause of it, viz., the
bearing of our sins and iniquities. This is what the prophet doth fre
quently here, not only once or twice, but again and again, to show
you that other reflections upon the sufferings of Christ were not pro
per and useful.
The reasons are: —
1. Because this is most for the glory and honour of Christ.
2. For the good and benefit of the creature.
1. For Christ's glory. We are apt to judge men mean under
sufferings and disgrace. The prophet bringeth in the Jews' saying
1 Qu. ' undeserved' ? — ED.
480 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 12.
here, 'We did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted,'
Isa. liii. 4. Otherwise men would be apt to think something alien and
unbecoming Christ, especially when there were such formal accusations
commenced against him. But alas ! consider they were not occasioned
by any fault of his, either against God's or man's interest. Much was
pretended, but nothing proved ; nothing to make him obnoxious to
God's justice or man's judgment. They talked of destroying the
temple, of rising against Caesar ; but these were but surmises and
malicious jealousies. The person of Christ and the glory of Christ is
most clear in your thoughts, when you perceive that on his part there
was nothing to occasion his death and sufferings.
2. For the good of the creature. It mindeth us of our comfort and
duty.
[1.] Our comfort. When we consider his sufferings under such a
notion, we cannot but remember there is our expiation, there is a
satisfaction for our sins. God hath found a ransom : ' He died, the
just for the unjust/ 1 Peter iii. 18. It maketh you mindful of the
price and ransom. The price was paid for you : Rom. v. 8, ' Herein
God commended his love, that when we were sinners, Christ died for
us/ Here is a just Christ, that died for poor sinners : remember it
for your comfort, mention it for your comfort ; here is your expiation
and satisfaction.
[2.] It mindeth us of our duty. When we consider these sufferings
were for our sins, it mindeth us of our debt of obedience, wherein we
stand engaged to his love and liberality ; and it giveth us a sense of
his love, and so in thankfulness engageth us to obedience. What
sufferings are too hard, what duty too great, to go through with for
one that hath done so much for us ?
Use. By this you may know what reflections upon the death and
sufferings of Christ are good and proper ; not such only as work a fond
compassion, for we are naturally apt to pity those in misery ; not foolish
anger against the Jews, not a little vain delight — these are effects
when you look upon it as a mere story ; but the glorifying of Christ
and humbling of ourselves, increase of faith, comfortable persuasions
and excitations to duty and praise — these show you consider it rightly.
I would but hint these things, because they are obvious.
But to come to the sense of the phrase, ' And he bare the sins of
many/ I shall content myself with the assertion of the text, and show
you what it implieth. He bare the sin importeth two things : —
1. The susception of our guilt : he bare it.
2. The sustaining of our punishment. Both were upon Christ as a
heavy burden, our guilt and our punishment He was made sin, and
was under wrath. In one respect sin is made to be laid upon him by
God in ver. 6, ' The Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all ;'
and in the other he is said to ' bear our sins in his body on the tree/
1 Peter ii. 24, which noteth the enduring of the punishment of them.
Both yield a great deal of comfort to those that have interest in Christ :
he bare their guilt, and he bare their punishment. It is comfort in
three cases : —
[1.] When their hearts are ready to sink within them under the
multitude and greatness of their provocations : Ps. xxxviii. 4, ' Mine
ISA. LIIL 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 481
iniquities are gone over my head, as an heavy burden they are too
heavy for me/ Oh, it is heavy and sad with that soul that is compassed
about with innumerable evils ! This will cause heart-failing and
quaking when our sins, our pride, and haughtiness, are set in order
before us. Here conscience accuseth for sins of the highest aggra
vation, slighting of means, abuse of mercies, wantoning in all manner
of provocations, serving divers lusts and pleasures, cursed worldliness,
carelessness of the great salvation, neglect of our family duties, ill
example, gross omissions, seldom praying, or, when it is done, in a
drowsy, dead way, little discussion with your hearts and ways. When
these things are mustered up against us, the soul is bowed down under
its own fears, and cannot look up, nor scarce groan out a sigh for
mercy. Oh, consider you are not to bear your sins, but Jesus Christ ;
see all this load transacted upon the back of Jesus Christ : Mat. xi. 28,
' Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give
you rest.' By putting the burden upon his own back, he bare our sins.
But you will say, I have sinned, but God must have satisfaction ;
the guilt and punishment must be borne by somebody.
Oh, consider it is borne by Jesus Christ. As Aaron was to bear the
iniquity of the holy things of the children of Israel, ExocL xxviii. 38,
so Christ will bear the sins of your duties. His soul was heavy unto
death, Mat. xxvi. 38. A little before the showers there is a gloomi
ness and sad blackness ; so there was upon Christ's spirit a little before
the showers of wrath were poured out upon him. To lighten you,
Christ's own soul is heavy and exceeding sorrowful ; he bare your
sins. Thus, in the burden of guilt, it is a lightening of the eyes and a
relieving of your bondage.
[2.] When you are oppressed with the burden of punishment, fears
of death and hell. We are naturally subject to these things : Heb. ii.
15, ' Who all their lifetime were subject to bondage through fear of
death.' Conscience, that convinceth of sin, assureth of judgment:
Kom. i. 32, ' Who knowing the judgment of God, that they who
commit such things are worthy of death.' Our hearts and our own
despairing thoughts are upon us ; then we smell the brimstone and
the stench of the pit that cometh up into our nostrils. Oh, what shall
we do, for these everlasting burnings will consume us ? Consider,
the satisfaction will not be required of you ; ' He hath borne our
griefs, and carried our sorrows.' Christ, that took your sin, bare your
punishment ; ' even Jesus who hath delivered us from wrath to come/
1 Thes. i. 10.
[3.] In the case of afflictions. Providence is against us ; and then
afflictions without raise troubles and discontents within. We think
God is against us, and all is ordered by way of satisfaction to divine
vengeance ; all is wormwood and gall, and the terrors of the Lord
possess our spirits. Oh, but hold up the head, and consider nothing
is done to a believer by way of punishment and satisfaction of divine
vengeance : all that was required of Jesus Christ ; he bore that in his
body upon the tree. We are not to bear our own sins. Natural men
do think that all their misery is formally penal, and ordered by way
of punishment, the sting of death, and all afflictions. But yours are
not punishments ; that is the wormwood and gall of afflictions. The
VOL. in. 2 H
482 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 12.
idol priests were to bear their own iniquities, Ezek. xliv. 10. But
Christ hath taken the sins of his people upon himself. You may have
the same afflictions with wicked men, or that you had before conver
sion ; but their habit and use is changed to you. Either they are
chastisements or corrections, whose use is to instruct or humble.
To instruct them in their duty : Their * ears are opened to disci
pline,' Job xxxvi. 10 ; and Christ ' learned obedience by the things
he suffered/ Heb. v. 8.
To show us the vanity of the creature : Ps. xxxix. 11, ' When thou
with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to
consume away like a moth. Surely every man is vanity.' Then they
see it to humble them, Job xxxvi. 8 ; and if they be bound in fetters,
and holden in cords of affliction, it is to show them they have been
proud. Now, it is a great mercy when we can look upon afflictions
under this notion. It is a great mercy to have our afflictions sanctified :
Ps. xciv. 12, ' Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, 0 Lord, and
teachest out of thy law/ Want maketh the prodigal child think of
returning, Luke xv. And for prevention, they are an antidote to
keep off poison. It would have been worse with me if it had not been
so : Ps. cxix. 71, 'It is good for me that I have been afflicted.' It is
a corrosive, like Paul's messenger of Satan, to cure his pride, 2 Cor.
xii. 7 ; and to mind them of duty : Hosea v. 15, 'I will go and return
to my place, till they acknowledge their offences and seek my face ;
in their afflictions they will seek me early.' And for the exercise of
graces, and to conform them to their head, as patience, obedience, and
faith ; bruised spices are the more fragrant. So that in all these
respects, and many other such like, we may take comfort in the sad
dest things that befall us : Ps. xxiii. 4, ' Thy rod and thy staff doth
comfort me.' We do not fear our iniquities when we bear these
things.
It followeth in the text, ' He bare the sins of many ;' that is, of the
elect, not of all without exception. The same was in the former verse,
' For he shall bear their iniquities/ And so in other places : Horn. v.
19, 'As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous.' So in the 15th
verse, ' The gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath
abounded to many.'
Observe, that the merit of Christ's death was not extended to all.
He bare the sins of many.
I shall propose these arguments : —
1. Christ died for no more than are elected.
2. The death of Christ is usually restrained in scripture to such a
number and such a company that shall be saved.
3. Christ must needs save all that he intended to save.
4. All those to whom Christ intended the merit of his sufferings,
they shall .have it applied to them.
5. Because Christ's special love was only to few.
6. Because Christ doth not pray for all, and therefore he did not
die for all.
7. Christ's offices are of equal extent ; those that have Christ have
whole Christ.
ISA. LIU. 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 483
Use 1. If Christ did not intend the merit of his sufferings to all,
and bore only the sins of many, it standeth us upon to see that we be
of the number of those for whom Christ died. I shall use a motive
or two to you.
1. The misery of those that bear their own sins. In what a sad
case are you if you should bear the heavy and insupportable load of
your own sins ! Consider and look about you for the Lord's sake, and
see if you be some of Christ's royal priesthood, and a chosen genera
tion. You may know it by the effects of Christ in the hearts of the
faithful, in your own sense and experiences, in the communications of
the word, and how it will be with you hereafter.
[1.] By what Christ felt when he took our sins from us. Job saith,
Job vi. 4, ' The arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison
thereof drinketh up my spirit ; the terrors of God do set themselves
in array against me.' Christ lost the comfortable apprehensions of
God's favour. Wherever there is sin, there will be a separation.
1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?' His soul was
exceeding sorrowful, felt strange agonies and passions, which are the
more remarkable because of the eminency of the person ; had these
things been found in us, it had not been so notable. Weak spirits
are soon dismayed and terrified at anything that hath but a dreadful
appearance. Glover, the martyr, was so affected with the sense of
some backsliding, that for some years he lost the use and pleasure of
his senses. But for Christ to be sad, Christ in agonies, Christ to
sweat drops of blood, it maketh it the more noted.
[2.] By what effects it hath upon the saints. When the little finger
of God hath been upon them, oh ! how have they roared through their
own folly all the day long ! Ps. xl. 12, ' Mine iniquities have taken
hold upon me, therefore my heart faileth.' All life and spirit is gone
when the soul laboureth under the guilt of one sin. All the racks in
the world are nothing to the rack of conscience : Luke xxiii. 31, ' For
if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done to the
dry?'
[3.] Consider your sense and experience. When conscience hath
been a little opened, oh ! what horrors and disquiets have they felt,
and how sore a bondage has there been upon men, good or bad !
Sometimes God giveth his own people a taste what it is to bear their
own sins, especially under some great judgment or fears of death.
A man can divert other griefs : Prov. xviii. 14, * The spirit of a man
will sustain his infirmity, but a wounded spirit 'who can bear ? ' Oh,
the intolerableness of a conscience wounded with sin ! Do not your
joints smite one another for fear when you see the handwriting against
you ? A man hath the best apprehension of such things in such a
case. And then, oh ! for thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers
of oil, Micah vi. 7. Then ten thousand worlds would he give to set
his soul free. What would Spira have done when under terrors ? So
Mr Democke, under what desertion was he for eating with too much
delight and inconsiderate greediness, who, as Mr Bolton witnesseth,
crieth out, Oh, the hell of my conscience ! So for ungodly men. Cain
crieth out, Gen. iv. 13, * My punishment is greater than I can bear,'
desperately murmuring against justice. And Judas hanged himself,
484 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 12.
thinking thereby to be rid of the terrors of his conscience. Even in
the experiences of this life, God showeth what it is to bear sin.
[4.] Consider the life to come, and the threatenings of the word
concerning those that die in their sins and bear their own trans
gressions. Oh, how sad will it be to be haled by devils, and added to
the rest of the spirits now in prison, and reserved in chains of dark
ness unto the judgment of the great day ! When sins, that now are
like sleepy lions, shall arise enraged and tear our souls, and there be
none to deliver, as Ps. 1. 22. Oh, this is the portion of them that bear
their own burden and their own transgression !
2. The happiness of those whose sins are borne by Christ. No
guilt can be charged upon them, no punishment can be laid upon
them, no sins, no guilt shall be laid upon them ; the scapegoat hath
carried them away into a land of darkness : Jer. 1. 20, ' In those days,
and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquities of Israel shall be sought
for, and there shall be none ; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not
be found/ So Ps. ciii. 12, ' As far as the east is from the west, so far
hath he removed our transgressions from us/ They are quite out of
sight ; our iniquities are not where we are. No punishment is to be
laid upon us ; God will not exact the debt twice, of us and Christ too.
Something corrective may be done to us, but nothing penal ; justice
is satisfied, anger appeased, the sting of afflictions is plucked out, and
all serveth to make us the more meet for glory. It were but a poor
pardon if God should retain the punishment. The rod comforteth.
Let these things then persuade you to consider whether you are of
the number of those whose sins Christ bare in his body.
But you will say, How shall we know whether we be of that
number ?
I answer in these propositions : —
1. Your first care must not be to look to God's election. Hidden
things belong to God ; man must regard duty : Deut. xxix. 29, ' The
secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are
revealed belong to us and to our children for ever/ We are overwise
when we would pry into the secrets of heaven. God's secret will hath
relation to his own actions, his revealed will to ours. We must not
look to what he will do, but what he will have us do.
2. Our duty is to believe till the matter be cleared to us. Beg faith,
or act faith. There is a double act : To look upon Christ as bearing the
sins of the world, and to see a full satisfaction in Christ, and so at
least a possibility for our souls being saved : John i. 29, ' Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.' See
him bearing sins upon the cross. Men bear their own sins when they
cannot look up : Ps. xl. 12, ' Mine iniquities have taken hold upon
me, so that I am not able to look up/ Oh, be not always poring
upon sin ; a wound always rubbed cannot be cured. See a satis
faction made by Christ, and so you may have comfort in Christ.
Secondly, To present Christ to the Father in your own behalf ; show
him your surety, lay your hands upon the head of the sacrifice before
the Lord : when the debt is satisfied, God looketh that you should
come to him for an acquittance. Oh, desire it may be sealed up to
your souls; say, Lord, was not thy justice satisfied in Christ? Do
ISA. LIII. 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 485
not make particular exceptions where God makes none. This is that
God hath required of thee, to believe and fetch out your pardon. Oh,
there hangeth a weight of guilt upon you, and he invited the heavy
laden to come to him for ease and rest. Thus doing, you may haply
come to know and to determine that you are of the number.
3. This being done, God is many times pleased to clear it up fully
to some of his people, that their names were some of those that were
given to Christ, whose sins he was to bear and expiate ; thy name is
written upon the breast of thy High Priest, and thy sins upon his
back. Those that lie in the bosom of Christ, they have the Spirit of
Christ, that revealeth the secrets of heaven to them, the purposes
and decrees of love ; the sealed fountain is broke open, and joys flow
in upon their spirits. And there are dispositions by which the soul
concludeth her interest in Christ. I shall name two. They are —
[1.] A humble and thankful acknowledgment in the sense] of so
great a privilege ; the soul admireth the mercy, and wondereth that
he should look after such poor worms as we are, that he should give
Christ a charge concerning us, and trust Christ with the care and
good of their souls, the expiation of their sins. I say, the sense of all
this maketh them humble and thankful : 1 Peter ii. 9, ' That ye
should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of dark
ness into his marvellous light.'
[2.] There will be answerable effects to such a privilege in heart and
life : 1 Peter ii. 24, ' Who his own self bare our sins in his own body
upon the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteous
ness.' Corruptions are more mortified, and graces more quickened.
If Christ bare our sins, we shall feel his Spirit ; he will exchange
with us. He felt the wrath of God, and we feel the joys of his Spirit.
He took our sins, and he will not leave till he hath communicated to
us his grace and glory.
And he made intercession for the transgressors.
These words are the fourth considerable particular in Christ's con
flict, a noted circumstance either at or upon his death. Some make
them to be of a more private and restrained sense ; others, of a more
public and general. I shall exclude neither, for they are one sub
ordinate to the other. Those that look upon them as words of a
private and particular concernment, make them to relate to that
prayer of Christ on the cross, Luke xxiii. 34, * Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do;' a circumstance that extremely
commendeth the love and patience of Christ, when, in the midst of
the extremity of his sufferings, he doth not think of revenge and re
taliation, but of mercy, and doing his persecutors good. Others look
upon them as if the prophet did aim at some greater matter, namely,
as implying the whole mediation and intercession of Christ, which as
a high priest he presenteth to the Father, and by virtue of it pleadeth
to him in our behalf. I shall exclude neither of these senses ; for the
former is but a part and pledge of this, it is a discovery of those
bowels that are in Christ to poor sinners.
From the former observe, that Christ prayed for his persecutors.
486 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 12.
Our translation inclineth to this sense, as reading in the praster tense :
'He made intercession for the transgressors;' whereas the original
will bear, ' He shall make intercession for the transgressors/ as re
ferring it to some particular men, not transgressors indefinitely. The
point being historical, the prophecy of the text and the testimony of
Luke is confirmation sufficient. I shall inquire under what notion
and consideration he made this prayer, and so apply it.
Christ in this and such like actions is to be considered in a double
regard : —
1. As a holy, godly man ; so he was to fulfil ail righteousness.
2. As a mediator and public person, that was to be our High
Priest, to satisfy and intercede.
In the first sense the scripture proposeth Christ as an example ; in
the second, as an object of our faith. His actions are partly for satis
faction, so his mediatory actions ; and partly for our imitation, as an
exemplary pattern. Which distinction and several references not
being weighed, we lose much comfort and instruction which other
wise we might find. You shall see these actions of Christ in scrip
ture are joined both together in one place : 1 Peter ii. 21, ' Because
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should
follow his steps.' In the former clause he is to be looked upon and
considered as Mediator ; in the other as an eminent, holy, and godly
man, as a pattern. Both these two must be carefully distinguished,
as in all other matters of this nature, so especially in the prayers of
Christ ; as in that prayer, ' Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
from me,' Mat. xxvi. 39. That prayer was uttered by Christ as a
private, godly man, for as Mediator he did not desire it. As a private
godly man, he was to have such natural abhorrences of evil as we
have, and to refer himself to the will of God. And this distinction is
the rather to be marked, because Christ's prayers as a godly man, his
private prayers, were only a testimony and instance of duty, and so
might not be granted. But as to his mediatory prayers, he was heard
always, John xi. 42 ; for these were of equal merit with his sufferings,
whose fruit and intent could not be frustrated and disannulled.
To apply this to the matter in hand : Was this prayer of Christ
for the persecutors uttered as the private prayer of a godly man in
obedience to the law, or as Mediator of the covenant ?
I answer — You must consider it both ways : —
1. As of a private man, a man subject to the law, and that would
fulfil all righteousness, and would exemplify his own doctrine : Mat.
v. 44, ' But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse
you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despite-
fully use you and persecute you.' Christ would teach us by his prac
tice, as well as by his precept, to pray for enemies. For ' knowing
what was in man/ John ii. 25, that is, the state of men's hearts,
whether they would be saved or no, and knowing some of these
would not be saved, he could not pray for them as Mediator, but as a
private man ; his prayers were conditional, that God would forgive
them, in case they did repent and believe. As when we pray God to
bless a wicked man, and give him eternal life, we imply by giving
him faith and repentance ; so did Christ as a testimony of duty and
ISA. LIIL 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 487
obedience, and so far as he prayed for them he was heard ; and there
fore to some of the persecutors they were but as the prayers of a
private godly man, with a condition.
2. The prayers of a mediator, and so Christ absolutely prayed that
God would look upon them in mercy; and so he did, upon all those
that did it in ignorance, for they enjoyed the fruit of these prayers.
That intercession was the cause of the conversion of the three thou
sand ; for to those Peter speaketh, Acts ii. 23, ' Ye have taken, and
by wicked hands have crucified and slain ;' and from the 37th verse
downward, you shall see their conversion described, ver. 41, ' There
were three thousand souls added to the church ;' they began to feel
the effect of Christ's prayer. So Acts iii. 17, ' And now, brethren, I
wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers/ He
goeth by that argument that Christ useth in his prayers : the Mediator
prayed for the pardon of those that did it in their ignorance. So that
you see Christ's prayers were partly as the prayers of a mediator, and
partly as of a private person. In the one there is something pro
pounded to our imitation ; in the other, to our comfort and faith.
First, For our imitation. Consider this act as the duty of a glorious
saint who is gone before us. Christ is a rare and eminent instance of
meekness, and patience, and love, nay, even love to his enemies. Oh
that we could transcribe this copy, that such instances of obedience
might be found in our hearts and ways ! We are poor, passionate
spirits, that are ready to lose our lives with our sting ; like fine glasses,
broken as soon as touched. We take up every discontent, and aggra
vate it, being ready to revenge the wrongs that are done to us, and
cannot put up the least injuries and affronts without storming
and indignation. Angry spirits will have satisfaction. We think
provocation an excuse for passion. The son of an Israelitish woman
and an Israelitish man strove in the camp, and the son blasphemed
the name of the Lord, for which he was stoned to death, Lev. xxiv.
10-14. Christ was provoked, but he was not passionate, but prayed
for his persecutors.
We learn three things in this instance, which we cannot reflect upon
without the shame of our own faces. This mirror will kill like the
basilisk when we look on it.
1. Not to retaliate, hate, curse, revile, and pursue injuries with in
juries. We cannot come to this : 1 Peter ii. 23, ' Who when he was
reviled, reviled not again/ It is otherwise with us ; rather than take
an example from Christ, we take it from our enemies, do as they do
to us. Why should a man imitate that which he judgeth evil in
others ? Kevenge and injury differ but in order ; the one is first, the
other second. Kevenge is a sweet evil ; nothing more pleasing to
nature, and more contrary to grace. Nothing more pleasing to nature :
Patience, in the eye of nature, is a kind of weakness and servility.
Men will plead for this ; but Solomon saith, Prov. xxiv. 29, c Say not,
I will do so to him as he hath done to me/ Aristotle saith, it is as
reprovable to love an enemy as to hate a friend ; and he saith, it
argueth a servile, slow wit, and a disingenious spirit. In direct opposi
tion to which Solomon saith, Prov. xix. 11, ' The discretion of a man
deferreth his anger, and it is his glory to pass over a transgression/
488 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIU. 12.
It is a man's honour ; it is not a servile, but a Christian and free spirit.
And it is the most contrary to grace ; for giving is many times made
the condition of the promises, and the measure of our expectations
from God : ' Forgive as we forgive.' It is much, even a meritorious
act in our thoughts, if we do but pass by an offence.
2. We learn to do good, and seek the good of others, to feed and
supply a hungry, thirsty enemy: Prov. xxv. 21, 'If thine enemy be
hungry, give him bread to eat ; and if he be thirsty, give him water
to drink.' David saith, Ps. xxxv. 12, 'They rewarded me evil for
good, to the spoiling of my soul.' But in ver. 13, he saith, ' When
they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth, I humbled my soul with
fasting.' It is much that the scripture requireth obedience in the
least and lowest offices, where one would think our care were excused :
Exod. xxiii. 4, 5, * If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going
astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou seest the
ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest
forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him/ To reduce the
straying ox or ass, and to ease the oppressed, these are offices of
humanity that men express to their friends ; but God requireth it to
enemies : ' Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that de-
spitefully use you and persecute you,' Mat. v. 44. Nay, do not excuse
yourselves by a colour and show of religion. Religion, that should be
the judge, is a party, and the restraint is made the fuel to passion.
The very persecutors are named. We are apt to allow ourselves in
the exorbitancy of our passions, under the colourable pretences of re
ligion arid duty ; nay, not only when it is your enemy, but God's :
when a man is a persecutor, you are to do him good.
3. To do the best good for them, not only to wish them all the good
in the world, but seek the good of their souls. Christ prayed, 'Father,
forgive them ;' that God would convince them of their sin, and reform
and pardon them. Thus John converted a man that came to rob him.
Our duty is expressed, not only by doing good, but by blessing and
praying for them, Mat. v. 44. You should mind their good ; pity poor
blind souls, which we too often neglect for our friends, and those to
whom we are engaged. Oh, when have you done this to those that
have wronged and injured you ? Alas ! they have no light, they have
no better principles ; go and mourn over their souls to God. What
sweet comfort shall a man have in his spirit, when he doth so really
mind their good. This is a hard lesson, how shall we make it easy ?
[1.] Consider you have God the Father's pattern for it, and the
special precept of Christ for it : 'Do good to them that hate you, bless
them that curse you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and
persecute you/ And you have the pattern of Christ for it, who prayed
for the persecutors and transgressors. And the pattern of God the
Father : Mat. v. 45, ' He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the
good, and sendeth rain on the just and unjust.' They come not by
chance and the ordinary course of nature. None can be so much an
enemy to you as sinners are to God, yet they have his rain and his sun.
It is at God's disposal to exclude their right ; there are none of these
things but God could keep from them, and that justly too. yet it is
godlike to bestow them, and it is man's perfection. It is the glory of
ISA. LIII. 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 489
man to imitate the superior beings, God and angels. Children, you
know, when they first come to have the use of their reason, their pride
is to imitate the actions of grown men. Why should not we then
imitate those of God? Nay, further, you have the pattern of the
saints, as well as the pattern of the Most High, that you may not
think it an inimitable pattern. Stephen cried with a loud voice,
' Lord, lay not this sin to their charge,' Acts vii. 60. Note his
vehemency, ' He cried with a loud voice ;' his tender love and com
passion, ' Lord, lay not this sin to their charge/ The sense of your
privileges and prerogative should make you do more than others. It
was an accusation, 1 Cor. iii. 3, * Ye walk as men/ Should not
Christians do more than publicans and heathens ? Mat. v. 46, ' If ye
love them that love you, what reward have ye ? Do not even the
publicans the same ?' Christians must have something exirnious and
rare. Where is your differing excellency? Oh, go and shame your
selves with these considerations.
[2.] Consider the inducements ; such as these : —
(1.) The calmness of your spirit. If ever any were wise, they are wise
that get and keep this frame of spirit. Men would find more pleasure
in holy meekness and Christian endeavours for patience, than possibly
they can in the pleasure of revenge. Vexations disturb the quiet of
the heart ; not only your affections, but your consciences. For can I
do mine enemy a greater pleasure than to let him take away my con
tentment from me ? It is a madness, when I am wronged by others,
to wrong myself. David's heart smote him for cutting off the lap of
Saul's garment, that was his enemy ; but what a comfort is it when,
like an oak, we can endure the angry blasts in an unmoveable
posture.
(2.) The likelihood of gaining upon them. Saul wept when he saw
David's tenderness towards him : 1 Sam. xxiv. 19, ' If a man find his
enemy, will he let him go well away?' This is not usual. It is ex
pressed by * heaping coals of fire upon his head/ Prov. xxv. 22. You
may make him pliable to your purposes. They are men of distorted
depraved natures, that will not be won by kindness.
(3.) Your acceptance with God: Prov. xxv. 22, 'And the ^ Lord
shall reward thee/ You will say, it will be labour lost. The sincere
endeavours of duty are not lost with God ; the Lord shall reward thee.
Christ did much for the unthankful Jews, but he comforts himself
with this, * My reward is with thee/ A pattern for ministers to deal
with opposers in meekness ; you get nothing but scorn and contempt
with men, but your judgment is with the Lord. There is much com
fort in the sincerity and faithfulness of your endeavours.
Secondly, Look upon this intercession of Christ as a part of his
mediation. Oh, what a glorious instance is this of Christ's love ! what
a pledge and token of those bounteous dispositions that are in his heart
to poor sinners ! Do but consider the circumstances that may com
mend it to you: —
1. Who prayeth : Christ, one that could destroy them with his
glory easy enough. We say we forgive men when we cannot harm
them ; power efferates the mind ; many would be cruel enough if it
were in their power. Christ could command twelve legions of angels
490 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 12.
if he would have prayed in another strain : Mat. xxvi. 53, ' Thinkest
thou that I cannot pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me
more than twelve legions of angels ?' But he doth not say, ' Father,
send me twelve legions of angels ;' but, ' Father, forgive them/ Alas !
one angel was enough, 2 Kings xix. 35, to destroy a hundred fourscore
and five thousand in Sennacherib's camp. But he prayeth for plenty
of compassions, though in man's eye the other would have been a rare
vindication of his glory.
2. Consider when he prayed. In the very act of his sufferings he
seeks mercy for the instruments of his sufferings ; he is full of love
when the world is full of spite : 1 Cor. xi. 23, ' The same night in
which he was betrayed, he took bread/ When they were devising
mischief, he was devising comfort. He taketh Paul, Acts ix., breath
ing out threatenings ; and scorners have been brought upon their faces
by an ordinance. We pardon when got rid of the misery, and perceive
it is advantageous to us ; but Christ pardons in the height of his sor
rows. A man would have thought that the sharp sense of his sufferings
should have embittered his spirit. Oh, the invincible love of Christ
to poor sinners ! It is much that he intercedeth in heaven ; but that
he should upon the cross say, ' Father, forgive them,' we cannot but
admire and adore till there be no spirit left within us.
3. For whom he prayed. For the transgressors, vile sinners, that
offered him all the indignities in the world ; them that had mocked,
buffeted, spit upon him, and by their clamorous importunity got him
to the cross, and gave him vinegar to drink, and placed him between
two malefactors, and desired a murderer to be released before him.
They cursed themselves, 'His blood be upon us ;' they prayed back
ward, as we say, for themselves. He was placed between two thieves.
Now, he made intercession for these trangressors. Go home now, arid
see if you can find any just exception, among all your sins, against the
love of Christ. Come and urge it ; he prayed for the transgressors,
for scorners of love, men that did not pray for themselves, injurious,
blasphemers ; name anything of higher aggravations ; for those that
scorned him in the very service and labour of love. Holy David vowed
he would cut off all in the house of Nabal, that scorned and slighted
his love. He vowed, but Christ prayed for such.
4. How he prayed. He pleadeth for them : ' Forgive them, for they
know not what they do/ You see he pitcheth upon the most favour
able construction that could be made of their fact ; it is a bad fact,
but they are poor ignorant people. Arguments in prayer imply earnest
ness ; and Christ useth such an argument as might most lessen the
offence, and be accepted with God. The usual plea is bare ignorance;
and therefore Peter useth that : Acts iii. 17, ' I wot ye did it in ignor
ance/ So Acts xvii. 30, ' The times of ignorance God winked at/ So
1 Tim. i. 13, ' I did it ignorantly, and in unbelief.' If any excuse will
serve, that doth. Oh, consider how willing Christ is to save poor lost
sinners ! Here is a great deal of comfort for poor, humble souls, who
ever they be.
^ [1.] Are they men that are sensible of their natural estate, oppressed
with the sense of their sins, that think Christ will not regard them ?
He prayeth for the transgressors. Cannot you believe ? See that
ISA. LIII. 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 491
place, John xvi. 10, ' He shall convince the world of righteousness,
for I go to the Father/ Christ is gone to send the comforting Spirit,
that shall give you clear gospel ; he is gone to heaven to plead with
the Father for you. You desire to believe, and Christ prayeth that
you may. Do not think that Christ is only careful of the elect re
generate, he is also careful of the elect uncalled : John x. 16, ' And
other sheep I have, which are not of this fold ; them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice.' He hath regard to those in that state
you apprehend yourselves to be in. And he doth not only care for
you, but pray for you : John xvii. 20, ' Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also who shall believe on me through their word/ As
he wooeth you by his Spirit, so the Father for your sakes. Would
you believe, then all were clear : Christ is praying you may believe.
You are dealing with yourselves, with your own hearts, and Christ
is dealing with the Father in heaven about the same matter. There
is comfort in this word transgressors.
[2.] Are they believers that groan under wants, or inward and
outward distresses ? Christ, that interceded for transgressors, cer
tainly will intercede for you. Oh, if unbelievers have comfortable
hopes — Christ prayed for them — what will he do for you ? It is a
mighty comfort that you have by Christ's intercession what you
would have : Jer. xxx. 21, ' Who is this that engaged his heart to
approach unto me, saith the Lord ? ' Christ hath engaged all his
bowels and pities, that he will draw nigh to God, and plead with him
for your sakes. Christ prayeth when you pray ; the Spirit of Christ
prays in you, and Christ himself prays for you. What is it that
troubleth you ? Do the cares of the world encroach upon your
spirits and encumber them ? Or else are you dejected by the fears
and sorrows of it ? In John xvii. 15, Christ prayed that you might
be ' kept from the evil ' of the world, either the one or the other way.
Do you want the comforts of the Spirit, and do you sit in darkness,
and see no light ? John xiv. 16, 17, * I will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever,
even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it
seeth him not, neither knoweth him ; but ye know him, for he dwelleth
with you, and shall be in you/ Is it opposition against your private
endeavours in duty, or public endeavours for reformation ? Zech. iii. 2,
'And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee/ Is it for
unity among God's people ? John xvii. 21, ' That they may be one, as
thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in
us/ Or for success in duties? Kev. viii. 3, 4, 'Another angel came
and stood at the altar, having a golden censer ; and there was given
unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all
saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne : and the
smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints,
ascended up before God out of the angel's hand/ Or is it for deliver
ance ? Zech. i. 12, 'And the angel of the Lord answered and said,
How long wilt thou not have mercy upon Jerusalem ? ' And he
would not give over till God gave him some comfortable words,
ver. 13.
492 A PKACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 12.
And he made intercession for the transgressors.
The last observation from this last clause is this : —
That Jesus Christ is, and is alone, the Intercessor for poor sinners.
I shall be very brief on this point, because so many English authors
have treated upon it, to whose judicious resolution I refer you.
Now, that Jesus Christ is so, appeareth by many places, which
show this is his work now in heaven : Kom. viii. 34, ' It is Christ that
died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us ; ' Heb. vii. 25, * Who liveth
for ever, to make intercession for us/ It is the business of his
endless life. And that he alone is the Intercessor is also fully mani
fest from the scripture : Isa. lix. 16, ' And he saw, and there was no
man, and wondered that there was no intercessor ; ' no man that would
come between him and wrath, though the case of his people was sad
and deplorable : Isa. Ixiii. 5, ' I looked, and there was none to help ;
and I wondered that there was none to uphold/ The prophet speaketh
there as if it were the inquiry of God's eternal thoughts to find out a
meet person for intercessor, but none could be found. But why is
Christ the alone Intercessor ? The reasons of the point are : —
1 . To answer the high priest under the law, who was not only to
slay the sacrifice, but to intercede ; both were the duties of the priest
hood. First, the beast was slain without the camp, an,d then blood
was carried into the holy of holies, and then prayers were made.
This the apostle proveth in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chap. xiii. 11,
' For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the
sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burnt without the camp/
So Christ, after he had offered himself a sacrifice for sin, ' is set
down at the right hand of the Majesty on high/ Heb. i. 3, and in
many other places. We were to have a perfect high priest in all points.
2. To carry salvation in a way of mercy as well as justice, and to
have it by entreaty as well as satisfaction, Lev. xvi. 14, as the
high priest was to bring the blood within the veil, and to sprinkle it
on the mercy-seat, so our High Priest, having satisfied divine justice,
by giving himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God, he hath
carried blood within the veil, so that now we may take hold of God
with both hands, we may present the satisfaction of Christ, and yet
beg mercy. The sending of Christ did not only glorify justice, but
grace ; and, therefore, Christ's address must be to both : Kom. iii.
24, ' Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that
is in Jesus Christ/ There was an act of free grace as well as justice.
These two are sweetly coupled together : * Ask of me, and I will give
thee,' Ps. ii. 8. Though it were his purchased inheritance, yet he
would ask.
But secondly, Why is it Christ alone ?
1. Because none else would undertake it; none of the creatures
have such bounteous affections : John xvf 13, * Greater love hath no
man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends/ The
two emphatical words are life and friends. Some creatures have
gone far, as Abraham in offering his son. Lot his two daughters, and
the father of the Levite's concubine in Judges.
ISA. LIU. 12.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 493
2. Because none could intercede and come between wrath and
justice, as Christ did. Not man for man ; one rebel cannot under
take for another : Ps. xlix. 7, ' None of them can by any means
redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.' One man
cannot undertake for another. ' It became us to have a high priest,
who was holy, harmless, and undeh'led, separate from sinners.' Nor
any angel, for he would have perished in the attempt ; they needed
an intercessor themselves to confirm them.
But what is this intercession ? I shall open the matter to you a
little. The word signifieth coming between ; one that undertaketh
for us, that intercedeth for us ; that was the duty of the high priest
after slaying the sacrifice. This Christ did as a high priest, after
offering himself upon the cross.
For distinctness sake I shall give you the parts. This intercession
is despatched : —
1. Partly in heaven ; and —
2. Partly in the hearts of believers.
1. Partly in heaven. There these acts are performed by Christ : —
[1.] His presenting himself in our natures, and in our stead: Heb.
ix. 24, he is said to ' appear in the presence of God for us.' Christ
is ' not entered into the holy place made with hands, but into
heaven itself.' The high priest had the names of the twelve tribes
written on his breast, and Christ the names of his redeemed ones on
his heart. *He cometh there not only in our nature, but as our com
mon person, as one that was to represent, and to do our business with
the Father.
[2.] He presents his own merits, that the Father may turn his eyes
from us, and look upon that everlasting righteousness that he brought
with him into heaven in our nature. He bringeth his blood within
the veil. Though Christ were on earth, yet he could not despatch all
his offices of priesthood on earth, as those that had to do with typical
sacrifices : Heb. viii. 4, * For if he were on earth he should not be a
priest, seeing that there priests offer gifts according to the law.' And
this blood of Christ is ' the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better
things than that of Abel,' Heb. xii. 24. We by our sins causing
the Lord Christ to die, had deserved that his blood should speak
against us, as Abel's did against Cain ; no, but it speaketh to God to
pacify wrath, and pardon our sins, and give peace to our consciences.
These merits plead hard for us, which is what we call the mediation
of Christ.
3. He undertaketh for us, and promiseth obedience to God the
Father in our behalf ; therefore he is said to be our surety, Heb. vii.
22. He promiseth that we shall subscribe to the conditions of God,
and pass over into the power of the covenant.
4. He prayeth and intercedeth, and maketh his request for us, as
being sensible of our infirmities, as the high priest was to bless the
people, that is, to pray for them. Therefore it is said, 1 John ii. 2,
' We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.'
There Christ is dealing with God for us. When he was here upon
earth, he was a-praying whole nights, and there he is praying whole
ages : Jer. xxx. 21, ' Their governor shall proceed from the midst of
494 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION, ETC. [ISA. LIU. 12.
them, and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto
me : who is this that engageth his heart to approach unto me ? saith
the Lord.' His heart is engaged, even all his bowels and pities, to
draw near to God, and plead with him for your sakes. These are the
acts of Christ's intercession in heaven.
2. In the hearts of his people ; and there the acts of Christ
coming between us and wrath are these two : —
[1.] He applieth his merit: the application is by virtue of his inter
cession. The scriptures everywhere put a great deal of weight upon
this, Kom. v. 10. Therefore it is said, ' Much more being reconciled,
we shall be saved by his life.' He beginneth to save us here by his
Spirit, sanctifying all inward and outward means for the bringing of
us to the full participation of all the benefits he hath purchased for
us ; but the actual application is afterwards.
[2.] He prays in us. The Spirit's interceding in our hearts is but
the answer and echo of Christ's intercession in heaven : Kom. viii.
26, ' The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities ; for we know not what
to pray for as we ought ; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for
us with groanings which cannot be uttered.' The workings of Christ's
Spirit in prayer show how Christ's heart is affected towards you in
heaven.
Use. Is comfort. Think of Christ as a Mediator and Intercessor,
for whose sake we shall be accepted with God. To open this comfort,
consider for whom he prayeth, not only for present believers, but for
all them that shall believe hereafter. For what ? All mercies, the
public glorifying of God's name : John xii. 30, ' This voice came not
because of me, but for your sakes.' Private acceptance in duties,
efficacy of ordinances, doing away guilt in holy services. Exod. xxviii.
38, the high priest was to bear the iniquity of their holy tilings.
Here is comfort in Christ's success in prayer : the Father always
heareth him, John xi. 42. In the person praying, the Son of his love,
a Son that hath made satisfaction ; he can bring blood with him. It
is a great privilege for us to pray to God, but it is a much greater to
have God praying for us.
THE END OF VOL. III.
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