The Leonard Library
OTpcliffe College
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Reister No.. |.6..2. .1..3
TH E
ENTIRE WORKS
REV. CHARLES SIMEON, M.A
WITH COPIOUS INDEXES,
PKEPAKEI) BY Till: lu;v.
THOMAS HARTvVELL HORNE, B.D.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY UICUAUD CI,AY, BH E AD-STREKT-H ILL-
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OK
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NOW FIRST DIGESTED INTO ONE CONTINUED SERIES,
AM) FORMING A COMMENTARY
fl ON KVKRY BOOK OF
THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT;
ID u MICH is * s N i:\ ii
AN IMPROVED EDITION OF A TRANSLATION or
CLAUDE S ESSAY ON THE COMPOSITION OF A SERMON.
IN TWKNTY-ONK VOLUMES.
BY THE REV. CHARLES SIMEON, M.A.
SENIOR FELLOW OK KING S COI.I.EGK, CAMBRIDGE.
VOL. XIX.
2 TIMOTHY TO HEBREWS.
LONDON:
H OLDS W O II T H AND B A L L,
AMKN CORNER, PATERNOSTER ROW.
M DCCCXXXIII.
.<;
CONTENTS TO VOL. XIX.
lent.
Subject.
I age.
2 TIMOTHY
2240.
i. 7.
The Spirit of vital Christianity .
1
2241.
i. 9.
Effectual Calling
6
2242.
i. 10.
Death abolished, and Life revealed .
9
2243.
i. 12.
Confidence in God a Source of Con
solation
13
2244.
ii. 1.
Strength in the Grace of Christ .
17
2245.
ii. 7.
Consideration enforced
21
2246.
ii. 10.
Paul s Love to the Elect exemplified .
26
2247.
ii. 1114.
The Equity of God s Procedure .
29
2218.
ii. 19.
The Stability of the Covenant
35
2249.
ii. 20, 21.
Saints, Vessels of Honour ....
38
2250.
ii. 25, 26.
The great Ends of the Ministry .
43
2251.
iii. 1, 2.
Self-love reprobated
47
2252.
iii. 5.
Form and Power of Godliness .
51
2253.
iii. 7.
A Want of Profiting by the Gospel
censured
55
2254.
iii. 10.
Character of St. Paul
60
2255.
iii. 12.
63
2256.
iii. 15.
The early Knowledge of Timothy .
66
2257.
iii. 16, 17.
The Excellency of the Scriptures .
71
2258.
iv. 1, 2.
Charge to Ministers and People .
76
2259.
iv. 7, 8.
A Christian s dying Reflections .
79
22GO.
iv. 10.
81
TITUS
2261.
i. 16.
False Professors described ....
86
2262.
ii. 6.
Sober-mindedness
90
2263.
ii. 1114.
The Gospel productive of Holiness .
97
2264.
. iii. 47.
Work of the Trinity in Redemption .
101
2265.
iii. 8.
True Way of promoting good JVorks
112
CONTENTS.
Discourse.
Text. Subject.
Page.
PHILEMON
2266.
7.
117
2267.
10, 11.
The Efficacy of the Gospel . . .
123
HEBREWS
22C8.
i. 3.
Christ s Ascension to Glory
131
2260
i. 6.
134
t\JiJ *
2270.
i. 8.
Excellency of Christ s Person and
138
2271.
i. 1012.
Christ s Superiority to Angels
143
2272.
i. 14.
The Ministry of Angels ....
148
2273.
ii. 3.
Greatness of the Gospel Salvation
156
2274.
ii. 68.
Christ s Superiority to Angels .
161
2275.
ii. 10.
Sufferings of the Messiah necessary .
166
2276.
ii. 14, 15.
The Ends of Christ s Incarnation
170
2277.
ii. 18.
Christ s Power to succour the Tempted
176
2278.
iii. 1.
Names and Offices of Christ .
179
2279.
iii. 5, 6. .Christ s Superiority to Moses .
182
2280.
iii. 12 14. Against departing from God . . .
187
2281.
iv. 1. Canaan typical of the Believer s spi
ritual and eternal Rest ....
191
2282.
iv. 2. The Reason why Men are so little
profited by the Gospel ....
194
2283.
iv. 9. The Rest that remains for God s
201
2284.
iv. 12.
The Word of God quick and powerful
204
2285.
iv. 13.
God sees our inmost Thoughts .
210
2286.
iv. 15, 16.
Encouragement derived from the Cha
racter of Christ
212
2287.
v. 79.
Christ benefited by his own Sufferings
218
2288.
v. 1114.
The slow Progress of many reproved
221
2289.
vi. 13.
Going on to Perfection
225
2290.
vi. 46.
The Danger of Apostasy ....
232
2291.
vi. 7, 8.
The Difference between fruitful and
237
2292.
vi. 911.
The Things that accompany Salvation
240
2293.
vi. 12. Exhortation to Diligence ....
245
2294.
vi. 17, 18. The. Citii nf Refuae
250
2295.
vi. 19, 20.
253
CONTENTS.
Discourse.
Text.
Subject
Pge.
HEBREWS
229G.
vii. 1 3.
Melchizedec a Type of Christ
263
2297.
vii. 19.
The Superiority of the Christian
above the Mosaic Dispensation
267
2298.
vii. 25.
Christ s Priesthood, and Ability to
Save
272
2299.
vii. 20.
Christ, a suitable High-priest .
276
2300.
viii. G.
Christ the Mediator of the New Co
venant
281
2301.
ix. 11, 1-J.
Christ above, the Levitical Priests
28 8
j 2302.
ix. 13, 14.
Jcii ish Sacrifices typical of Christ s .
292
2303.
ix. 22.
A a Remission /cithout Blood .
297
2304.
ix. 23.
Use of Typical Purifications .
301
2305.
ix. 2J.
T/ie Holy of Holies, a Type .
307
230G.
ix. 20.
Christ s Appearance to take away Sin
311
2307.
ix. 27, 28.
Christ s second Cominy
313
2308.
x. 3.
Seasons of Penitence recommended
316
2309.
x. 510.
Christ superseding the legal Sacrifices
323
2310.
x. 14 17
The Perfection of Christ s Sacrifice .
328
2311.
x. 1922.
The Way of Access to God through
the Vail
333
2312.
x. 2325.
Steadfastness and Activity in God s
Service inculcated
337
2313.
x. 2G 31.
The Evil and Danger of Apostasy .
343
2314.
x. 32
The Benefit of past Experience .
349
2315.
x. 35, 3G.
Patient Fortitude required ....
355
231G.
x. 38, 39.
True Cleans of Persevering to the End
358
2317.
xi. 1.
The \ature of Faith
366
2318.
xi. 4.
Abel s Offering instructive to us .
371
2319.
xi. 5.
Enoch s Translation
378
2320.
xi. G.
TJtc Necessity of Faith
381
2321.
xi. 7.
Noah s Faith
384
2322.
xi. 810.
Abraham s Life a Pattern for ours .
389
2323.
xi. 13.
The Practical Efficacy of Faith .
394
2324.
xi. 1G.
The Christian s Desire ....
396
2325.
xi. 1719.
Abraham offering uj> Isaac ....
400
2326.
xi. 24 2G.
Moses Choice
407
2327.
xi. 27.
Faith seeing the invisible God .
* \ r 1
412
2328.
xi. 28.
Moses Faith in relation to the Pass-
oi er
116
CONTENTS.
,,,.cor. e
Text.
Subject.
P^8<-
HEBREWS
2329.
xi. 30.
The Walls of Jericho thrown down by
Faith
422
23,30.
xi. 31.
Rahab concealing the Spies
428
2331.
x } f 32 35.
435
2332.
xi. 38.
God s Estimate of his People .
441
2333.
xi. 39, 40.
The Advantages enjoyed under the
Christian Dispensation ....
446
2334.
xii. 1, 2.
Christ s persevering Diligence
450
2335.
xii. 3.
Christ s Patience under Sufferings
454
2336.
xii. 413.
Afflictions the Fruit of God s Love .
458
2337.
xii. 14.
The Necessity of Holiness ....
465
2338.
xii. 1517.
The Danger of despising or dis
honouring the Gospel
469
2339.
xii. 1825.
Transcendent Excellence of the Chris
tian Dispensation
475
2340.
xii. 22, 24.
Abel s Sacrifice and Christ s compared
480
2341.
xii. 28, 29.
God to be served with reverential Fear
484
2342.
xiii. 3.
Compassion to the Distressed incul
cated
489
2343.
xiii. 5, 6.
God s promised Presence an Encou-
494
2344.
xiii. 8.
499
2345.
xiii. 9.
Caution against false Doctrines .
517
2346.
xiii. 10.
524
2347.
xiii. 1113.
The Burnt-sacrifices typical of Christ
529
2348.
xiii. 14.
The Christian s Portion ....
534
2349.
xiii. 15, 16.
Sacrifices to be offered by Christians
537
2350.
xiii. 17.
The Duty of People, and the Respon
sibility of Ministers
544
2351.
xiii. 20, 21.
Christian Principles improved in
549
2 TIMOTHY.
MMCCXL.
THE SPIRIT 0V VITAL CHRISTIANITY.
2 Tim. i. 7. God hath not given to us the spirit of fear ; but of
power, and of Jove, and of a sound mind.
THE real character of Christianity, as infused into
the soul of the believer, and exhibited in his
life, is by no means generally understood. It forms
a man of energy ; but of energy combined with
suavity, and regulated \vith discretion. In whomso
ever it exists, it operates like a new creation : it
changes, to a very considerable extent, the views,
the dispositions, the habits of the soul, so as gra
dually to " transform a man into the Divine image
in righteousness and true holiness." It does not,
indeed, so assimilate men, that they shall be in all
things the same : there will still remain in every man
so much of his original cast, as will occasion an end
less diversity in the characteristic features of different
saints. Not all the grace that God ever bestowed
would produce a perfect identity of character between
Peter and John : but the principles which divine
grace instils into the soul are the same in every age
and every place : and of all its subjects it may be
said, " God has given to us, not a spirit of fear, but
of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
With a view to open and illustrate these gracious
words, I will shew,
VOL. XIX. B
2 2 TIMOTHY, I. 7. [2240.
I. The spirit which God infuses into the souls of his
, people-
It is " not a spirit of fear "-
[" Fear" is discarded from the soul that is truly given up
to God. There may remain, indeed, what I may call a con
stitutional fear ; (some persons, whose piety cannot be doubted,
have a strange and unaccountable fear of this or that animal*;)
and no depth of religious principle will prevent its operation ;
for its seat is in the imagination, and not in the heart : but
the fear of man, which has so great an ascendant over the
carnal mind, will be dismissed ; being subjected to, and, if
I mav so express myself, swallowed up by, the fear of
God"- -]
It is a spirit " of power "-
[A holy resolution will be formed to serve the Lord, and
" to follow him fully." Whatever means be used to deter a
child of God from his purpose, he will hold on his way.
Father, mother, brother, sister, houses, hinds, yea, and life
itself, are regarded by him as of no account, in comparison
with his duty to God : he " hates them all" in comparison of
his God and Saviour : as for sin, it is a foe which he pursues
with unrelenting animosity, determined, through grace, that
not one lust shall continue in him unmortified and unsubdued.
His besetting sin, whatever it may be, is pursued by him with
more than ordinary vigilance, if by any means he may prevail
to bring it into subjection, and to destroy it utterly d . And he
does advance from victory to victory ; finding that, however
weak he be in himself, " through the strength communicated
to him from above, he can do all things 6 ."]
This power, however, is blended with a spirit " of
love "
[The energy which we have just spoken of has some
what of an unamiable aspect ; and would be unamiable in the
highest degree, if it were not tempered with love. To resist
all authority of parents, and the solicitations of most endeared
relatives, bears with it an aspect of culpable self-will, and of
deplorable self-conceit. The believer, therefore, must be par
ticularly on his guard to cut off all occasion for such misap
prehensions. His whole spirit must savour of love. He must
shew, that whatever he does, he does from absolute necessity :
and that, as far as love can operate in conformity to God s
will, no child of man shall exceed him in the cultivation of it.
a A toad, for instance, or a mouse, or some insect.
b Luke xii. 4, 5. c Luke xiv. 20.
rt Heb. xii. 1. c Phil. iv. 13.
2240.] THE SPIRIT OF VITAL CHRISTIANITY. . ]
Even towards his persecutors this must be in active and con
tinual exercise ; his fixed determination being, " not to be
overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good f ."]
Yet, not even love must be left to operate but
under the direction of "a sound mind"-
[Enthusiasm is no part of true religion : it is rather in
decided opposition to it ; and is always the offspring of an
ill-regulated mind. True religion is wisdom ; and God, when
infusing it into the soul, gives us " sound wisdom" and discre
tion B . A man under the influence of divine grace will pause
before he acts; and will weigh, as in a balance, the claims of
duty, as they may be affected by times and circumstances.
He will carefully distinguish between things necessary, and
things of only subordinate importance. He will attend to the
time and manner of doing what he judges to be necessary; so
as to strip it of all needless offence, and to " cut off occasion
from those who seek occasion against him." Both in the
world and in the Church, he will be anxious so to demean
himself, that all who behold him shall acknowledge that God
is with him of a truth 1 . He will give no needless offence in
any thing ; but will labour, with David, to " behave himself
wisely in a perfect way 1 ."]
But, that we may the better appreciate his spirit,
we will mark,
II. Its peculiar importance, in order to a due dis
charge of the ministerial office
The words before us were addressed more imme
diately to Timothy, a young and pious minister : and
they deserve the very special attention of all who
either are, or hereafter may be, engaged in the mini
sterial office.
In such must be found no spirit " of fear "-
[A minister is a standard-bearer : and if he faint, what
must be expected of others? He must go with his life in his
hand: he must "set his face as a flint" against the whole
world k . No confederacies, whether of men or devils, must
appal him 1 . His spirit must be that which is described by
the prophet: " Truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the
Lord ; and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob
his transgression, and to Israel his sin m ." And, in the midst
f Rom. xii. 21. R Prov. ii. 7. h 1 Cor. x. 32, 33.
Ps. ci. 2. k Isai. 1. 1. l Jer. i. 17. and Hzek. ii. 0,7.
m Mic. iii. 8.
4 2 TIMOTHY, I. 7. [2240.
of all the afflictions that can come upon him, he must say,
" None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear
unto myself, so that I may but 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"."]
But in them must be conspicuous a spirit " of
power "
[They have more difficulties to encounter than others.
They stand in the forefront of the battle : and they must be
examples, not to the world only, but to the whole Church of
God. To Timothy, whilst quite a youth, it was said, " Be
thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in
charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity ." If a minister be over
come of any evil, the injury done to the Church of God is
incalculable. The whole ungodly world will take occasion from
it to exult over him, and to " blaspheme the very name of God
himself p :" yea, they will harden themselves in their own ini
quities, and impute to the Gospel itself the evils which they
see in him q . He must " be steadfast, immoveable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord ; for then only shall his
labour not be in vain in the Lord r ."]
In them too, more especially, must be a spirit " of
love "
[Nothing but a love to immortal souls can reconcile them
to all the labours and difficulties which they have to sustain.
They should therefore " have compassion on them that are
ignorant and out of the way 8 :" they should be able to "call
God to witness that they have great heaviness and continual
sorrow in their hearts" for their perishing fellow-creatures*:
and they should be ready to welcome even death itself, if it
may but be subservient to the spiritual welfare of their bre
thren". At the same time, their whole deportment should be
regulated by this benign principle. Every thing they do
should proceed from it; every thing which they suffer should
call it into exercise : and their whole walk should be, like that
of their Divine Master, in a spirit of love.]
But, in all their diversified circumstances, they
must shew themselves under the influence of " a
sound mind "-
[In no situation is wisdom so requisite, as in the discharge
of the ministerial office: for, as the circumstances of the
" Acts xx. 24. 1 Tim. iv. 12. P Rom. ii. 24.
i 2 Pet. ii. 2. r i Cor. xv. 08. Hcb. v. 2.
4 Horn, ix- 1, 2. Phil. ii. 17, 18.
2240.1 THE SPIRIT OF VITAL CHRISTIANITY. O
minister are more arduous, and his trials more diversified, than
those of others, so a want of judgment in him is more deeply
felt than in any other person ; because the prejudices of many
are strengthened by it, and the souls of many are hardened
in their sins. A minister, therefore, must be particularly
attentive to this point. He must have a well-regulated mind.
His views, both of truth and duty, must be clear: his judg
ment, in relation to every thing, must be accurately and wisely
formed. He must be freed from every bias that may influence
his mind, and from every lust which may blind his eyes. He
must be cool, considerate, prayerful: he must feel his entire
dependence on God to guide him aright : and must cry to him
for that " wisdom, which is profitable to direct." And, where
God has really fitted a man for the ministry, there will be,
though in different degrees, " a spirit of wisdom and under
standing, a spirit of counsel and of might, a spirit of knowledge
and of the fear of the Lord ; all concurring to make him quick
of understanding in the fear of the Lord*."]
APPLICATION
1. To you, then, who have not received this spirit,
I would say, " Seek it of the Lord "-
[It is the gift of God: it cannot proceed from man: it
may come to us through man ; but it is from God alone, even
from Him, " from whom cometh every good and perfect git t y ."
Whether we be ministers or private Christians, this spirit is
indispensable to our eternal welfare. No man can be saved
without it. " The fearful" shall go into the lake of fire, as
certainly as " whoremongers or murderers 2 :" the man who
for icant of strength draws back, " draws back unto perdition 3 :"
the person destitute of lore is no better than sounding brass or
a tinkling cymbal b :" and the man devoid of wisdom will perish .
I say then, seek this spirit ; " so shall you have good under
standing, in the sight both of God and man 1 ."
It is remarkable, that, when St. Paul is instructing Titus
how to speak to the cases of both old people and young, he
specifies many things which he would have him insist upon
with old men and old women, and with young women also :
but with young men, every thing that was essential was com
prehended in one single point; "Exhort young men to be
sober-minded 6 ." On this, therefore, I would particularly in
sist ; because with sobriety of mind every grace will flourish;
but without it, no man can ever walk worthy of the Gospel,
or adorn, as he ought, the doctrine of God our Saviour.]
x Isai. xi. 2, 3. * Jam. i. 17.
a Heb. x. 39. b 1 Cor. xiii. 1. Prov. xxix. 10.
d Prov. iii. 4. "- Tit. ii. 0.
G 2 TIMOTHY, I. 9. [2241.
2. To those who have received it, I would say,
" Stir it up within you "
This was the direction given to Timothy: " Stir up the
gift of God that is in thee ;" that is, stir it up, as you would
a fire which is in a languishing condition f . The fire, which
burned upon the altar, came down, as you well know, from
heaven ; but it was to be kept alive by the care of man. So
must the fire that is kindled in us be ever kept burning on the
altar of our hearts : we must " stir it up," by reading, medi
tation, and prayer : and the very opposition which is made to
the Gospel must call forth in us the greater energy in its de
fence. Paul was now imprisoned for the Gospel sake. This
might be a source of alarm to Timothy, and induce him to
draw back from that measure of activity and zeal which might
bring down similar vengeance upon his head. But the Apostle
says to him, " Be not ashamed of the testimony of the Lord,
nor of me his prisoner ; but be thou partaker of the afflictions
of the Gospel, according to the power of God g ." So say I to
you. Let " none of you be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ ;"
but rather account it an honour if you are called to bear a
measure of those afflictions which are allotted to the followers
of the Lamb. They will try your graces : they will also tend
to quicken them, and make them burn with redoubled bright
ness. Let growth in grace, then, be henceforth your great
concern ; and, whatever will conduce to that end, do it with
diligence, or welcome it with delight.]
, ver. 6. ver. 8.
MMCCXLI.
EFFECTUAL CALLING.
2 Tim. i. 9. Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy
calling, not according to our tvor/cs, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began.
THE deepest truths of our religion were familiar
to the mind of the Apostle Paul. He introduced
them, on all occasions, as the most forcible motives
to obedience a . Amongst us, their practical efficacy
is denied, and their importance questioned. The
very maintaining of them is not unfrequently deemed
The consideration of God s electing love is here urged as a motive
to induce Timothy to constancy and perseverance in the path of duty.
2241.1 EFFECTUAL CALLING. 7
a crime; but we must not conceal the truth, because
some reprobate it as error. We will state it cau
tiously ; and it will commend itself to all. In the
text, we have ample instruction in relation to the
Christian s calling: we see,
I. The nature of it-
There is an outward call of the Gospel, which is
resisted by many ; but that of which the text speaks,
is inward and effectual
It is a call,
1. To salvation as the end
[If it \verc only, as many think, a call to outward privi
leges, it still \vould establish God s right to bestow his blessings
on whomsoever he will b . But the Scriptures represent it as a call
to the adoption of children , to eternal life 1 , to everlasting sal
vation . The connexion between salvation and the call, is, as
in the text, uniform and inseparable 1 .]
2. To holiness as the way
[If holiness were not included in the call, the doctrine of
election would certainly be open to insurmountable objections:
but holiness is that to which we are immediately and distinctly
called". It is required of us, not only in general 11 , but in this
particular view 1 . It is declared to have been particularly in the
mind and intention of God, in our predestination k , election 1 ,
vocation" 1 , and in the whole work of his grace upon our hearts".
Our perseverance also in good works was equally in his con
templation . When our acceptance and salvation are most
distinctly spoken of as the end, holiness is carefully stated as
the medium through which we are to attain them 1 .]
The Christian s calling is further to be considered,
in reference to,
JI. The grounds of it
b If God has a right to confer the means of salvation on some and
not on others, he has a right to confer salvation itself. If the one
would be unjust, so must the other he ; and if the one be admitted,
so must also the other.
c Eph. i. . ). d Acts xiii. 48. e 1 Thcss. v. 9.
f Horn. viii. 30.
B 1 Thess. iv. 7. Hence it is denominated in the text, "an holy
calling."
h Heb. xii. 14. j 1 Pet. i. 1">, 10. k Rom. viii. 29.
1 Eph. i. 4. 2 Pet. i. 3. " Eph. ii. 10.
John xv. 1(J. i 1 Pit. i. 2. 2 Thcss. ii. 13, M.
8 2 TIMOTHY, I. 9. [2241.
Nothing can be more plain than the Apostle s
statement: he tells us, both negatively, what our
calling does not arise from ; and positively, what it
does :
1. It is not founded on our works-
fit cannot be founded on any good works already done ;
for we never had done, or could do any, till we were called by
grace. It could not be founded on good works foreseen : for
they were to be the fruits of our calling, and therefore could
not be the ground or occasion of it. Had our works, whether
done or foreseen, been the proper ground of our calling, we
should have had a ground of boasting before God. Hence
God has repeatedly and expressly declared, that they never
operated in any respect or degree as inducements with him to
confer upon us his converting grace q .]
2. It is founded solely on his purpose and grace
[God formed his purposes from all eternity r ; and agreeably
to them he acts 8 . In consequence of them we were given to
Christ, as his purchased possession*; and a promise of life was
given to us in him, and for his sake u . It was in conformity
to them that the Jews were made God s peculiar people x ; and
in conformity to them we Gentiles also are called to a partici
pation of his favour y .]
From hence we shall take occasion to answer some
important QUESTIONS :
1. How shall I know whether I have been effec
tually called ?
[It cannot be determined by any dreams, or visions, or
fanciful experiences. It can be known only by the fruits which
we produce 2 .]
2. What have I to do on the supposition I have
been called ?
[You are not at liberty to indulge supineness, as though
you were sure of heaven at all events. You should exceed all
others in holiness, as much as you profess to surpass them in
your prospects. You should walk worthy of the favours con
ferred upon you 3 , and of the Benefactor who conferred them b .]
i Rom. xi. 5, 6. Eph. ii. 9. Tit. iii. 5. r Acts xv. 18.
s Eph. i. 11. t j hn xv ji. Q w j tn Eph t j. 4
11 Tit. i. 2. ^ D eut- v jj t 6 _ 8 y R om> j Xi 11> 16<
* 1 Thess. i. 4 10. St. Paul judged by the change wrought in
the hfe and conversation of his converts.
a Eph. iv. 1. ni Thess. ii. 12.
2242.] DEATH ABOLISHED, AND LIFE REVEALED. 9
3. What privileges do I enjoy as one of God s
elect ?
[Survey the wheels of a watch, and see how, in all their
complicated motions, they accomplish one important end.
Thus does all the machinery of the universe, whether more or
less connected with men or devils, move in reference to your
present and eternal good. Of this you may be assured ; and
it may well endear to you the doctrines in the text c .]
c Rom. viii. 28.
MMCCXLII.
DEATH ABOLISHED, AND LIFE REVEALED.
2 Tim. i. 10. Who hath abolished death, and hath brought life
and immortality to light through the Gospel.
TO the free and sovereign grace of God must all
our blessings be traced. Nothing did we ever merit
at his hands, or can we ever merit, but wrath and
indignation. From all eternity did God ordain to
give us whatever he has bestowed. The gift of a
Saviour was the fruit of his eternal love ; as was also
the gift of salvation by him. Both the one and the
other are the fruit of his eternal counsels : and the
appearing of Jesus Christ, as the author of these
blessings, was, not the cause, but the result and evi
dence, of purposes already formed, even of " purposes
which from all eternity he had purposed in Christ
Jesus our Lord a ."
But, not to insist on this, I would call your atten
tion simply to the fruits of God s purpose ; and shew
you what, in consequence of his eternal counsels, the
Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. I will shew,
I. What he has done for us in his own person-
Death had been introduced by sin ; and it reigned
over the whole human race 1 . In the curse denounced
against transgression, " In the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die," both the body and the
soul were alike consigned to death. But from this
a ver. 9, 10. b Rom. v. 12, 17. 1 Cor. xv. 22.
10 2 TIMOTHY, I. 10. [2242.
curse the Lord Jesus Christ has delivered us. " He
has abolished death,"
1. From the soul
[The soul, by reason of transgression, was despoiled of
all spiritual life, and was doomed to everlasting death. But
the Lord Jesus Christ, by " becoming a cm*se for us c ," has
so cancelled our guilt, that " there is no condemnation to them
that are in Christ Jesus d ." His death has been a sufficient
"propitiation for the sins of the whole world 6 " and
" all who believe in him are justified from all things f "
By his Holy Spirit, too, the same Divine Saviour removes
spiritual death from our souls. He infuses into us a principle
of life, whereby we are enabled to live unto our God in right
eousness and true holiness. Previous to the implantation of
this principle in our souls, we have no more activity in spiritual
exercises than a dead body has of sense and motion. But,
when raised by him, every sense receives a spiritual power and
direction. We see, and hear, and taste, and feel, and savour
the things of the Spirit and " walk from thenceforth
in newness of life " ]
2. From the body
[True it is, that " the body is still subjected to death g ;"
as it is said, " It is appointed unto men once to die h ." But
to those who believe in Christ, the nature and character of
death are changed. It is not so pi operly death as sleep: " Our
friend Lazarus sleepeth 1 ." " Stephen," in martyrdom, " fell
asleep k ." And all the saints, instead of dying, merely fall
" asleep in Jesus 1 ." Hence we find the saints triumphing over
it as a vanquished enemy m ;" yea, and numbering it amongst
their richest treasures: " All things are yours, whether life or
death*"
But, allowing it a short and momentary triumph, it will at
last be totally " abolished." For in the last day, all that are
in the graves shall come forth, every one possessing his own
proper body : for " what has been sown in corruption and
weakness and dishonour, shall be raised in incorruption and
power and glory;" and " this mortal shall put on immortality ."
We see in our Lord Jesus Christ both a pattern and a pledge
of our own resurrection : for " our vile bodies shall be fashioned
like unto his glorious bodyP," and be partakers with the soul
in all the glory and felicity of heaven ]
c Gal. iii. 1-3. d Rom. viii. 1. e 1 John ii. 2.
r Acts xiii. 39. g Rom. viii. 10. h Heb. ix. 27.
1 John xi. 11 13. k Acts vii. GO. 1 1 Thess. iv. 14.
m 1 Cor. xv. 55 57. " 1 Cor. iii. 22.
1 Cor. xv. 4-2, 43, 52, 53. i> Phil. iii. 21.
2242.] DEATH ABOLISHED, AND LIFE REVEALED. 11
But let us further view,
II. What he has done for us through the instru
mentality of his word
" He has brought life and immortality to light
through the Gospel."
These were not known to the heathen world. As
for the resurrection of the body, it was derided by
them, as a vain and foolish imagination : " What will
this babbler say ?" And, though some of the wiser
philosophers entertained some faint conceptions about
the immortality of the soul, it was in their minds a
matter of surmise or of opinion only, and not of
knowledge : it was never a fixed and operative prin
ciple in the minds of any, except the Jews ; and even
in their minds its operation was but very rare and
partial. But the Lord Jesus Christ " brought lite
and immortality to light,"
1. As a matter of undoubted certainty
[Through the whole of his ministry, he inculcated as of
primary and indispensable importance, a regard to eternal life,
both of body and soul q ]
2. As the portion and inheritance of all his
people
[Though he declared that an eternal state awaited all, he
made a broad distinction between his believing people and
others. To the impenitent and unbelieving it would be a
state of inconceivable misery; but to the obedient, a state of
inconceivable and endless bliss : " The hour is coming," says
he, " in the which all that are in the graves shall hear the
voice of the Son of man, and shall come forth, they that have
clone good, unto a resurrection of life ; and they that have
done evil, to a resurrection of damnation 1 ." Indeed, he sets
before us the whole process of the day of judgment, and the
doom that shall be assigned to all, according to their respective
characters ; " the wicked going away into everlasting punish
ment, and the righteous into life eternal 5 ."]
3. As equally deserving the attention of every
child of man
<i Mark ix. 4318. Matt. x. 28. r John v. 28, 29.
s Matt. xxv. 31 46.
12 2 TIMOTHY, I. 10. [2242.
[How merciful is the warning which he has given to all
to " enter in at the strait gate, and to walk in the narrow
way 1 !" Surely the thought of au eternal existence, either
in happiness or misery, should operate upon all ; and, if duly
contemplated, it will operate on all, to deter them from evil,
and to stimulate them in the path of duty. It is impossible
for one who cordially embraces this sentiment not to set him
self in earnest to secure the happiness provided for him in the
Gospel.]
SEE then, brethren,
1. How highly you are privileged above the hea
then
[There is not a child amongst us, that is not wiser in this
respect than all the philosophers of Greece and Rome
But what if we do not improve our knowledge ? Shall not the
heathen rise up in judgment against us, and condemn us?
Yes, verily: " the people of Tyre and Sidon. yea, of Sodom
and Gomorrha, will find it more tolerable for them in the day
of judgment than we," if we do not avail ourselves of the light
afforded us, to " flee from the wrath to come, and to lay hold
on eternal life."]
2. What obligations we owe to our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ
[To Him we owe both the light that has discovered these
things, and the salvation that renders this discovery so delight
ful. To what purpose would the eternity of rewards and
punishments be made known to us, if a way to avoid the one,
and obtain the other, had not been revealed ? It would have
only been to " torment us before our time." In truth, there
are none more miserable than they, who, being assured of the
immortality of the soul, are ignorant of the way in which they
may obtain acceptance with God. Glad would they be, if
there were no future judgment. Glad would they be, if,
when the time of their departure from the body arrives, they
could be annihilated altogether. What is it that makes the
very mention of death so painful to the generality of men?
It is the dread of an hereafter, which offers to their view no
prospect but of " wrath and fiery indignation to consume
them." But to you who believe in Christ, and look to him
for the remission of your sins, all this gloom has passed away,
and " glory and honour and immortality" present themselves
to your view as your assured portion ! O ! bless that adorable
Saviour, who by his own death has abolished death, and by his
own ascension to glory has shewn to you the felicity that
* Matt. vii. 13, 14.
2243.1 CONSOLATION BY CONFIDENCE IN GOD. 13
awaits you. Only hold fast your confidence firm unto the
end, and his crown shall be your crown, his kingdom your
kingdom, his glory your glory, for ever and ever.]
MMCCXLIII.
CONFIDENCE IN GOD A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION.
2 Tim. i. 1~. I know u-/ioi I have beliercd, and am per
suaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto Jiim against that day.
MAX is born to trouble : and it is of the greatest
importance to him that he should know where to turn
his eyes in the day of adversity. The Gospel directs
u-s to a reconciled God in Christ Jesus, who has
engaged to be our support and comfort under every
distress. The Christian has many trials peculiar to
himself: but the Gospel is fully adequate to his ne
cessities. Its power to support him may be seen in
the passage before us. St. Paul is exhorting Timothy
to steadfastness in the cause of Christ " 1 : and, for his
encouragement, he tells him what was the ground
of his own consolations under the heavy afflictions
which he was now enduring for the sake of Christ.
He tells him, that, notwithstanding he was immured
in a dungeon, and in daily expectation of a violent
and cruel death, he was neither "ashamed" nor
afraid : for that he had a firm persuasion of God s
ability to keep him ; and that persuasion afforded
him ample support.
To illustrate the text, we may observe,
I. The Christian commits his soul to God
The Apostle doubtless committed unto God the
concerns of the Church : but it is rather of his soul
that he is speaking in the words before us, because
it was that which alone could be in danger at the day
of judgment. In like manner,
Every Christian commits his soul to God
a vcr. 8.
II 2 TIMOTHY, I. 12. [2243.
[We know what it is to commit a large sum of money to
the care of a banker: and from thence we may attain a just
notion of the Christian s conduct. He has a soul which is of
more value than the whole world : and he feels great anxiety
that it should be preserved safely " against that day," when
God shall judge the world. But to whom shall he entrust it?
He knows of none but God that can keep it; and therefore he
goes to God, and solemnly commits it into his hands, en
treating him to order all its concerns, and, in whatever way he
shall see best, to fit it for glory.]
To this he is prompted by manifold considera
tions
\He reflects on the fall of man in Paradise, and says,
Did Adam, when perfect, and possessed of all that he could
wish, become a prey to the tempter, when the happiness of all
his posterity, as well as his own, depended on his steadfastness;
and can such a corrupt creature as I, surrounded as I am by
innumerable temptations, hope to maintain my ground against
my great adversary? O my God, let me not be for one
moment left to myself; but take thou the charge of me ; and
let " my life be hid with Christ in God:" then, and then only,
can I hope, that at the last coming of my Lord I shall appear
with him in glory V
He bears in mind also his own weakness and ignorance. He
is conscious that " he has not in himself a sufficiency even to
think a good thought ;" and that " it is not in him to direct his
way aright." Hence he desires to avail himself of the wisdom
and power of God ; and cries, " Lead me in the right way,
because of mine enemies:" " Hold thou me up, and I shall be
safe."
But more especially he considers the gracious commands of
God. God has not only permitted, but enjoined, this surrender
of our souls to him c . O what a privilege does the Christian
account it to obey this divine injunction ! How thankful is he
that God will condescend to accept this deposit, and to take
care of this charge ! Hence he avails himself of this privilege,
and says, " Hide me under the shadow of thy wings ! " " O
save me for thy mercy s sake ! "]
Whilst he acts in this manner,
II. He is persuaded of God s ability to keep him
He does not merely presume upon God s suffi
ciency : he is well persuaded of it,
1. From the report of others
h Col. iii. 3, 4. c 1 Pet. iv. 19. and Isai. xxvi. 20.
2243.1 CONSOLATION BY CONFIDENCE IN GOD. 15
[He is informed by the inspired writers, that God created
the ivorld out of nothing ; and that he upholds and orders every
thing in it ; insomuch that not a sparrow falls to the ground
without his express permission. Hence then he argues ; Did
God create my soul, and can he not uphold it ? Did he form
my enemies also, and can he not restrain them d ? Has he
numbered even the hairs of my head, and will he overlook the
concerns of my soul ?
He is told that God is ever seeking opportunities, not only
to exert, but also to magnify, his power in his peoples cause*.
Shall all that vigilance, then, be exercised in vain? or shall
any be able to prevail against him ?
He is assured also that God never yet lost one whom he had
undertaken to keep : he never suffered " one of his little ones
to perish f ." " None was ever plucked out of his hand 8 :" not
the " smallest grain of wheat, however agitated in the sieve,
was ever permitted to fall upon the earth 1 ." " The gates of
hell have never been able to prevail against his Church."
Then, says the Christian, " I will trust, and not be afraid."
My Saviour, in the days of his flesh, " lost none that had
been given him 1 :" " Whom he loved, he loved to the end k :"
and therefore I am persuaded he will perfect that which con-
cerneth me 1 , and " complete in me the good work he has
begun 111 ."]
2. From his own experience
[The Christian well remembers what he was by nature ;
and knows by daily experience what he should yet be, if
Omnipotence were not exerted in his support. And hence he
argues thus; Has God created me anew, and by an invisible,
but almighty, influence turned the tide of my affections, so
that they now flow upward to the fountain from whence they
sprang; and can he not keep me from going back? Has
he kept me for many years, like the burning bush, encom
passed, as it were, with the flame of my corruptions, yet
not consumed by it; and " can any thing be too hard for
him? "
These arguments are indeed of no weight for the conviction
of others ; but to the Christian himself they are a source of the
strongest conviction, and of the richest consolation : yea, from
d See this argument suggested by God himself, Isai. liv. 15 17.
q. d. " Your enemies are forming weapons ; but I formed them ; and
whatever skill they exercise, I will defeat their attempts."
e 2 Chron. xvi. 9. This is meant by " shewing himself strong."
f Matt, xviii. 14. e Johnx. 28, 29. h Amos ix. 9/
John xviii. 9. k John xiii. 1. Ps. cxxxviii. 8.
> !1 Phil. i. 0.
16 2 TIMOTHY, I. 12. [2243,
these, more than from any others, he is enabled to say, " I
know whom I have believed."]
Moreover,
III. This persuasion is a strong support to him under
all his trials-
Many are the difficulties of the Christian s warfare:
but a persuasion of God s ability to keep him,
1. Encourages him to duty
[The path of duty is sometimes exceeding difficult: and
too many have fainted in it, or been diverted from it. But we
may see in the Hebrew Youths what a persuasion of God s
power will effect. They braved the furnace itself, from the
consideration that God could deliver them from it, or support
them in the midst of it n . And thus will every Christian
" encourage himself in God," and " be strong in the Lord and
in the power of his might."]
2. Strengthens him for conflict
[Under temptations of Satan, or the hidings of God s
face, the most exalted Christian would sink, if he were not
supported by this hope : " I had fainted," says David, " unless
I had believed verily to see the goodness of the Lord in the
land of the living." But the thought that the grace of Christ
fs sufficient for him, will turn all his sorrows into joy : he will
chide his dejected spirit p , and return again to the charge,
knowing that at last " he shall be more than conqueror
through Him that loved himV]
3. Enables him to endure sufferings
[Many and great were the sufferings of St. Paul; yet says
he, " None of these things move me, neither count I my life
dear unto myself.-" Thus every Christian must " go through
much tribulation in the way to the kingdom :" but he learns,
not only to bear, but to " glory in tribulation," because it gives
him a more enlarged experience of God s power and grace,
and thereby confirms his hope, which shall never make him
ashamed 1 .]
4. Assures him of final victory
[Those who have not just views of God are left in painful
suspense : but they who know whom they have believed, are as
much assured of victory, as if all their enemies were lying dead
at their feet 8 .]
n Dan. iii. 17, 18. 2 Cor. xii. 9. and Rom. vii. 24.
P Ps. xlii. 11. i Rom. viii. 37. r Rom. v. 35.
6 Compare Isai. 1. 7 9. with Rom. viii. ,3339.
2244.] STRENGTH IN THE GRACE OF CHRIST. 17
We shall further IMPROVE the subject,
1. For conviction
[All persons are ready to think that they are possessed of
true and saving faith. But faith is not a mere assent to the
truths of the Gospel, or even an approbation of them. It
includes three things ; a committing of the soul to Christ ; a
persuasion of his ability to save us ; and a determination to go
forward in dependence upon him, doing and suffering whatever
we are called to in the path of duty.
Have we this faith ? ]
2. For consolation
[If there be any amongst us weak and dejected, let them
turn their eyes to God as their Almighty Friend. Let them
know that " He is able to make them stand":" he is " able to
make all grace abound towards them, that they, having always
all-sufficiency in all things, may abound unto every good
work x ." It is God himself who suggests to the fainting soul
these very considerations ; and he requires nothing, but that
we wait on him in order that we may experience their truth
and efficacy y
" Now unto Him that is able to keep us from falling, and
to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and
ever. Amen 7 -."] j
1 If this were the subject of a Funeral Sermon, the excellencies of
the deceased might here be enumerated, and the survivors be com
forted by the consideration that THEIR KEEPER lives for ever.
" Rom. xiv. 4. x 2 Cor. ix. 8.
> Isai. xl. 2731. z Jude, ver. 24, 25.
MMCCXLIV.
STRENGTH IN THE GRACE OF CHRIST.
2 Tim. ii. 1. My son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ
Jesus.
HOW shall it be that all of us, who are assembled
here this day, should ever get to heaven, so weak as
we are, and so corrupt, and in the midst of so many
and great dangers ? I look back to the Apostle s
days ; and find, that when he was in prison at
Rome, " all the converts that were of Asia, turned
away from him ;" but that one pious man, " Onesi-
VOL. xix. c
18 ~> TIMOTHY, II. 1. [2244.
phorus, sought him out with great diligence," to re
lieve his necessities, and to comfort his soul a . Now,
if reduced to such straits as the Apostle Paul was,
for the Gospel s sake, how should we hope to stand ?
How should we avoid the apostasy of the many, and
retain the fidelity of the few ? This instruction the
Apostle gives to his beloved Timothy : " Thou, there
fore, my son, (seeing how hard it is to stand in times
of severe trial,) be strong in the grace that is in
Christ Jesus:" that is, know that there is grace
treasured up for thee in Christ : and, in dependence
upon that, thou shalt be able to sustain all the trials
that shall come upon thee.
To elucidate these words, I will shew,
I. What a fulness of grace there is treasured up for
us in Christ
But how can I present this to your minds in any
intelligible shape ? Methinks it can be done only in
a way of illustration. Take, then, some scriptural
illustrations; by means of which you may apprehend,
in some considerable degree, the mysterious truth
which I wish to submit to you.
Consider Christ, then,
1. As a Vine
[This is our Lord s own suggestion : " I am the Vine ; ye
are the branches 1 *." Now we know, that every branch derives
all its sap and nourishment from the vine ; and that, if sepa
rated from the vine, it can bring forth no fruit whatever.
This, then, will convey a very just idea of the connexion that
subsists between Christ and his people; and of their entire
dependence on him for every fresh supply of grace
But an husbandman prunes the luxuriant branches of his
vine ; lest the sap being too widely diffused, its influence be
weakened, and its fructifying power be abridged. In this,
therefore, the image altogether fails : and we must look for
one more suitable, by regarding Christ,]
2. As a Sun
[This supplies the whole universe with light : and every
individual of mankind, when exposed to its rays, enjoys as
a 2 Tim. i. 1518. b John xv. 5.
2244.1 STRENGTH IN THE GRACE OF CHRIST. 19
much of it as if he alone existed upon earth. Nor has he the
less of its influence from its being extended to all the millions
of mankind. Thus has every believer as much of Christ s
gracious influence as his soul can need; having it neither
increased by the paucity of those who partake of it, nor dimi
nished by the numbers " The Sun of Righteousness"
is alike sufficient for all
Yet the sun affords us not the same genial warmth in winter,
as in the summer months; and at night it is altogether hid
from us. In these respects, therefore, this image also fails.
But we shall find an illustration more complete, if we consider
Christ,]
3. As a Fountain
[Under this character our blessed Lord commends him
self to us : " If any man thirst, let him come unto me and
drink." But especially is he compared with the rock smitten
in the wilderness, " from whence gushed rivers of water," for
the supply of all the people of Israel ; and which followed them
in very abundant streams, through all their journeying in the
wilderness . Here then we have a more appropriate image:
for as He is the only source of grace to every living soul, so
may every one have access to him at all times, to obtain a
supply fully commensurate with his utmost necessities. And
in this does this image pre-eminently display the fulness that
is in Christ Jesus, and the benefit to be derived from it; be
cause " every soul that drinks of that living water has within
himself a well of water, springing up to everlasting life :" so
that, having Christ within him, he can never thirst again, nor
want any other source, either of strength or comfort d
Without attempting to give any further illustration of what,
after all, can never be adequately comprehended, I will only
observe, that the representation is truly scriptural; since we
are expressly told, that " it hath pleased the Father that in
Christ should all fulness dwell 6 ," and that all his people are
said to " receive, out of his fulness, grace for grace f ."]
Let us then consider,
II. Our duty in relation to it
We are to " be strong in the grace that is in Christ
Jesus ;" that is,
1. We are to apply to him for it with simplicity
[We should have it as a settled principle in our minds,
that there is no strength in man, nor any other source of
c 1 Cor. x. 4. d John iv. 13, 14. and vii. 37, 38.
e Col. i. 19. f John i. 16.
c
20 2 TIMOTHY, II. 1. [2244.
grace than Christ Jesus : and without hesitation we should go
to him from day to day, and from hour to hour, to receive it
out of his fulness. We should not dream of meriting it at his
hands, or of earning it by any thing that we can do: we
should receive it as freely as the Israelites did the waters that
issued from the rock ; and should go to it as the only source
of all that we need. Did the Israelites, think you, attempt
to dig wells in the wilderness, when they had access to that
stream ? So then should we go to Christ for grace con
tinually, and derive from him all that our necessities re
quire ]
2. We are to rely upon it with confidence
[We should never, for a moment, entertain doubts or
fears respecting Christ s sufficiency to supply our wants.
Whatever dangers threaten us, we should say, " There be
more with us than with them g :" and, " If God be for us, who
can be against us h ?" He has told us, that, whatever be our
necessities, " his grace is sufficient for us:" and therefore,
instead of dreading trials, lest we should be vanquished by
them, we should " take pleasure in them, that the power
of Christ may rest upon us, and his strength be magnified
in our weakness 1 " " Knowing in whom we have
believed," we should look upon " our enemies as bread for
s k ," and view their assaults as preludes only to victory and
triumph
Let me now ADD,
1 . A word of caution
[The circumstance of there being such a fulness treasured
up for you in Christ does not in the least degree supersede the
necessity for exertion on your part ; no, nor of fear and watch
fulness. To your latest hour you must be like Paul, who
" kept his body under, and brought it into subjection ; lest by
any means, after having preached to others, he himself should
be a cast-away 1 ." You will see in the context, that you are
to " endure hardness, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ" 1 :" and
your strength in Christ is not to render you forgetful of, biit
to fit you for, the warfare, which he has called you to main
tain" ]
2. A word of encouragement
[Now, for eighteen hundred years has grace been flowing
from the Lord Jesus for the supply of all his people. But
do you suppose that his power to communicate is therefore
* 2 Chron. xxxii. 7. h Rom. viii. 31. > 2 Cor. xii. 10.
L Numb. xiv. 9. 1 1 Cor. ix. 27. m ver. 4.
n Eph. vi. 10, 11.
2245.] CONSIDERATION ENFORCED. 21
lessened? When "virtue went forth from him," in the days
of his flesh, " to heal all the multitudes that waited on him,"
was there less virtue in him than before ? or has the sun lost
any of its splendour by all the rays that it lias emitted these
six thousand years ? Know, then, that Christ is still as able
to save as ever, and that the very weakest amongst you all
is authorized to say, " I can do all things through Christ who
strengthened! me ."]
o Phil. iv. 13.
MMCCXLV.
CONSIDERATION ENFORCED.
2 Tim. ii. 7. Consider ivhat I say ; and the Lord gin fhcc
understanding in all things.
HERE we behold a parent addressing his beloved
son : here we behold an Apostle addressing the whole
Church of God. In like manner would I now, with
an union of parental love and apostolic authority,
address you, my brethren : and I pray you to con
sider what I say : and may the Lord " give you
understanding in all things!" The points to which
I would draw your attention are,
I. The things proposed for Timothy s consideration
Of course, we must look to the preceding context,
to see what the Apostle had been saying. He had
been urging Timothy to a performance of his mini
sterial duties : and to ministers the subject primarily
belongs. But the duties are also of general import :
and we may all consider ourselves as included under
the different images that are here set before us :
1. As soldiers
[In soldiers are required energy and devotion ; such
energy as will bear them up under all difficulties; and such
devotion, as supersedes every other engagement, and deter
mines them fully to approve themselves to the commander
under whom they fight. Now, my beloved brethren, to this
character all of us, both ministers and people, are to be con
formed. We are all engaged to " fight the good fight of faith,"
and to " war a good warfare," under " the Captain of our sal
vation." For every one of us is armour provided, even " the
22 2 TIMOTHY, II. 7. [2245.
whole armour of God; which we are to put on," and by
means of which we are to withstand all our enemies. But in
this warfare we must, of necessity, meet with great trials,
yea, and must sustain many afflictions. For, where is there
a Christian who has not " his cross to bear, whilst following
his Lord?" A soldier, by his very profession, expects to
encounter difficulties : and his mind is made up to bear what
ever evils he may meet with in the discharge of his duty : and
precisely thus must we, having once girded on the sword, be
prepared for privations, exertions, conflicts ; and we must
never think of rest, till all " our enemies are bruised under
our feet."
As for other occupations, the soldier feels that he has no
time for them. He cannot alienate his time and attention
from the duties of his calling. The concerns of agriculture
and commerce he leaves to others : and he concentrates all
his energies in the more immediate duties of his profession ;
having no wish, no desire, but to approve himself faithful to
his commander and his king. Thus, my brethren, it must be
with its : with ministers in a more especial manner ; because
for them, by divine appointment, is a provision made, in
order that they may be able to give themselves wholly and
exclusively to the service of the sanctuary : and it is greatly
to be regretted, that, in our Church, the provision made is
so small as to render a compliance with God s appointment in
this respect, in many instances, impracticable. But I hesitate
not to say, that for a minister to " entangle himself in the
affairs of this life" beyond what is necessary, is not the way to
" please Him who has chosen him to be a soldier." And the
same would I say, to a certain degree, respecting Christians in
general. They have, it is true, and must have, their temporal
employments, to which it is their duty to pay very diligent
attention. But yet these must all be subordinated to the
higher duties of religion: they must " seek first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness ;" and disregard " the meat that
perisheth," in comparison of that which " endureth to ever
lasting life." Every man must perform his duties in social
and domestic life: but we must be " without carefulness:"
and, whilst our heads and our hands are occupied with earthly
pursuits, " our affections must be altogether set upon things
above." To please our God must be, at all times and under
all circumstances, our one concern.]
2. As wrestlers
[The Apostle often takes his illustrations from the Grecian
games. Here he compares us with wrestlers, who, however
much they might exert themselves, were not crowned, unless
they conformed exactly to the rules which were prescribed to
2245.] CONSIDERATION ENFORCED. 23
the contending parties. Now \ve, both ministers and people,
are called to " wrestle, not with flesh and blood only, but with
all the principalities and powers of hell:" and we have laid
down for us, in the inspired volume, rules, to which we must
rigidly adhere in all our conflicts. It is not sufficient that we
put forth all our strength : we must put it forth in God s
appointed way. For instance: Are we assaulted with evil?
We must " not render evil for evil," but rather " do good to
them that hate us ;" and must persevere in this contest even
to the end; " not being overcome of evil, but overcoming evil
with good." Our blessed Lord has " set us an example,"
under every species of conflict and of suffering : and we are
" to follow his steps." St. Paul, also, is a pattern which we
should follow. He was " a man of like passions with us :"
and therefore we may hope, that the grace which wrought so
powerfully in him will work effectually in us also ; and enable
us " to be followers of him, as he was of Christ." A soldier
never thinks of following his own mind or will in any thing.
He looks to the orders issued by his commander ; and to them
he strictly adheres. Thus also must we, having not so much
as a thought or wish to follow our own will, but a full deter
mination to conform, in every particular act, and in the whole
state and habit of our mind, to the revealed will of God. In
a word, " we must strive lawfully," and in the precise way
that God has marked out for us : and it is in that way alone
that we can hope to have the crown of victory accorded to us.]
3. As husbandmen
[We all know that the husbandman prosecutes his labours
with a patient expectation of a distant, but rich reward. He
does not expect the seed to produce a harvest the instant that
it has been sown. He looks for many changes of the weather;
and passes through many alternations of hope and fear; but
he is sustained, through all, by a humble hope, that, in the
end, God will give to him the fruit of his labours. Thus
also must we, both ministers and people, go on in the work
assigned to us; and, "by patient continuance in well-doing,
seek for glory and honour and immortality." We must not be
discouraged because events do not turn out according to our
wish or expectation. We must " wait the Lord s leisure ;"
and " let patience have its perfect work, that we may be
perfect and entire, lacking nothing." " He that believeth,
must not make haste." " Every vision is for an appointed
time: and if it tarry, we must wait for it, assured, that it shall
come in due season, and not tarry one instant beyond it.
God had promised to Abraham to bring his posterity out of
Egypt, at the distance of four hundred and thirty years: and
had they been kept there one day longer, his promise would
iM- 2 TIMOTHY, II. 7. [2245.
utterly have failed. But that self-same day that the period
was completed, he brought them forth. So, however long we
may have to wait for a successful issue of our labours, we
must " never faint or be weary in well-doing ;" but must pro
ceed with cheerfulness, assured, that " in due season we shall
reap," and " our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord."]
Now then attend, I pray you, to,
II. The injunction given him in relation to them,
First, says the Apostle,
1. " Consider what I say"-
[No good can be hoped for, even from apostolic instruc
tions, if they be not duly and attentively considered. Now
then let all of you consider, How vast and arduous are your
duties. In the preceding context you have seen how all the
offices of a soldier, a wrestler, and a husbandman, are com
bined in you : and, in fact, there is not any office sustained
by any man on earth, from the king upon the throne to the
meanest slave, that is not concentrated in you. You are
called " a royal priesthood :" and if you, every one of you,
are " kings and priests unto God," you may well suppose
that every subordinate employment must find its counterpart
in you. Conceive, then, all the diversified occupations of all
the human race to devolve on you, so far at least as to have
their respective energies required at your hands ; and then you
will form some notion of the duties to which you are called.
But " consider," also, how great and indispensable are your
obligations to fulfil them. Ministers, doubtless, are bound by
the most solemn ties to " fulfil their ministry ;" not only
because they have been most solemnly called to this office,
and have pledged themselves to the performance of it, but
because the souls of their people will be required at their
hands. But every Christian, in his baptism, has consecrated
himself to God : and every one, inasmuch as he professes to
" have been bought with a price," acknowledges himself bound
to " glorify God with his body and his spirit, which are his."
Now then, consider this. Consider what that price is with
which you have been redeemed, even with the precious blood
of your incarnate God ; and is there any service which you
will account too arduous to engage in, or any suffering too
heavy to endure, for the honour of his name? It was well
said by St. Paul, " I beseech you by the mercies of God that
ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable
to God, as your reasonable service:" and truly this is your
reasonable service, that, as the burnt-offei ings were wholly
consumed upon the altar in sacrifice to God, so should every
2245. J CONSIDERATION ENFORCED. 25
faculty of your souls be wholly and exclusively devoted to
your God.
Yet one thing more I beg you to " consider ;" and that is,
How rich is the recompenceihat awaits you. Look at the hus
bandman toiling at his work in the midst of winter; what a
hopeless task does he, in appearance, perform ! but look at
his fields in the time of harvest, and you will say he is richly
compensated. Thus will a minister find all his labours and
sufferings abundantly repaid, when he shall bring before his
Lord " those whom he has begotten by the Gospel ;" saying,
" Here am I, and the children thou hast given me." And
how richly will every Christian be recompensed, when he shall
hear, from the lips of his adored Lord, those glorious words,
" Come, ye blessed children of my Father ! inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the fcmndation of the world." Go,
survey the glory and blessedness of heaven ; and then say, my
brethren, whether any thing can be too much for us either to
do or sutler, in the prospect of such a recompence. Would
you but consider these things as you ought, you would think
that all the labours of the most devoted soldier, all the exer
tions of the most strenuous wrestler, and all the patience of
the most laborious husbandman, are but faint representations
of what may well be required at your hands.]
2. Seek of God an experimental acquaintance with
them
[Truly it is God alone that can bring you to such a state
as this. He alone can enable you to discern even the necessity
of it, and much less its excellency. The unenlightened man
would account such a life as this " foolishness ;" and a person
aspiring after it would be condemned as a weak enthusiast,
that was " righteous over much." To long for it, as the per
fection of your nature, and as a heaven upon earth, is a feeling
which no man on earth can possess, till he is born again, and
renewed in the spirit of his mind by the Spirit of the living
God. It is altogether a new creation in the soul of man.
Moreover, God alone can guide you in such a path as this.
Whether a person be a minister or a private Christian, he shall
find, that, in this high and heavenly course, there are situations
wherein no human wisdom could guide him aright. There is
a film over the eyes of man which obstructs his sight, and a
bias in his heart that perverts his judgment. Never, till God
has opened the eyes of our understanding, shall we see our
way. When God has given us " a single eye, our whole body
will be full of light ;" but till then, " the light that is in us
will be all darkness." See the situations and circumstances
to which St. Paul was often reduced ; and think how an unen
lightened man would have acte 1 in his place: and you will
26 2 TIMOTHY, II. 10. [2246.
soon see that, however " man may devise his way, God alone
can direct his steps."
Once more : It is God alone that can uphold us in the dis
charge of such duties. Recall to mind all that has been set
forth under the images to which my text refers ; and then say,
" Who is sufficient for these things ? " Who can support the
soul, so as that neither the world with all its temptations, nor
the flesh with all its corruptions, nor the devil with all his
wiles, shall be able to divert it from the path of duty, or to
obstruct its progress in the heavenly life who can do this but
God alone ? I say then, look to God to give you these high
attainments, and to " fulfil in you all the good pleasure of his
goodness." Limit not either his power or his grace; but
" open your mouth wide, and he will fill it."
I conclude with repeating the injunction in my text : " Con
sider what I say ; and the Lord will give you understanding
in all things."]
MMCCXLVI.
PAUL S LOVE TO THE ELECT EXEMPLIFIED.
2 Tim. ii. 10. / endure all things for the elect s sakes, that
they may also obtain the salvation ivhich is in Christ Jesus
^vith eternal glory.
THE labours of faithful ministers are, for the
most part, but ill requited by a wicked and ungrate
ful world. But, in the midst of all the opposition
they meet with, they have the consolation to know,
that all efforts to stop the progress of the Gospel
shall be in vain. This was St. Paul s comfort, when
imprisoned at Rome for the word s sake, that, how
ever 7/e might be bound, the word was not ; and
" therefore" he submitted the more cheerfully to his
troubles, being assured, that his endeavours to save
the souls of his fellow- creatures would be crowned
with success.
This subject leads us to consider,
I. St. Paul s love to the elect-
Notwithstanding the word "elect" has passed into
a term of reproach, there most assuredly is an elect
people, " a remnant according to the election of
2246.] PAUL S LOVE TO THE ELECT. 27
grace*," whom " God has chosen to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the
truth V
Towards these St. Paul felt a peculiar regard
[He loved all, even his very enemies, and would gladly
have submitted to the heaviest afflictions for their sake c . But
his love to the elect was both more exalted in its nature,
and more abundant in its degree. He considered them as
the special objects of God s love ; as children of the same
heavenly parent; as members of the same mystical body;
and as fellow-heirs of the same glory. Hence they were all
engraven on his very heart : and hence he exhorts us, while
we do good unto all men, to do it more especially unto the
household of faith d .]
For their sake he willingly endured every trouble
that could come upon him
[No man ever endured so much as he in his Master s
cause. This we may see from the long catalogue of his troubles
which he himself has left us e . But, says he, " None of these
things move me f :" " I rejoice in my sufferings for the elect s
sakes B :" " most gladly will I spend and be spent for them,
though the more abundantly I love them, the less I be loved h :"
I am so " affectionately desirous of them, that I am willing to
impart to them, not the Gospel only, but my own soul also,
because they are dear unto me 1 :" "yea, if 1 be offered (and
my blood be poured out as a libation) upon the sacrifice and
service of their faith, I joy and rejoice with them all, and
desire them also to joy and rejoice with me k ;" for, so far am
I from looking forward to it with fear, or accounting it an
occasion of grief, that I esteem it a blessed subject of mutual
congratulations.]
How amiable and praiseworthy was this heavenly
disposition !
[Certainly the love of Christ in dying for us, infinitely
exceeds all that ever was manifested by any human being.
But, next to Christ, St. Paul seems to have most abounded
in love to man. He was indeed a very bright resemblance
of his Divine Master. And what a world would this be, if all
were actuated by the same spirit and temper! Even those
who cultivate least of this spirit themselves, must confess, that
a Rom. xi. 5. b 2 Thcss. ii. 13. c Rom. ix. 1 3.
d Gal. vi. 10. e 2 Cor. xi. 2328. f Acts xx. 24.
fc r Col. i. 24. h 2 Cor. xii. 15. 1 Thess. ii. 8.
k Phil. ii. 17.
as 2 TIMOTHY, II. 10. [2246.
the universal prevalence of it would make a very heaven upon
earth.]
But the Apostle s regard to the elect was not a
mere carnal affection, as we shall see, if we consider,
II. The end he aimed at on their behalf
The happiness provided for the elect, is exceeding
great and glorious
[For them is reserved " salvation," even salvation from
sin and Satan, death and hell. It is, moreover, a salvation
" with glory ;" not a mere exemption from punishment, but
an unspeakable felicity in the immediate vision and fruition of
their God. Nor is it ever to come to an end: its duration
will continue as long as the soul itself shall exist. To crown
the whole, it is a salvation in Christ Jesus, not merely as it is
purchased by his blood (though that will infinitely enhance its
value) but as it is treasured up in him, and shall be enjoyed in
and through him, as the one medium of its communication for
ever and ever.]
That they might obtain this, was the great object
of his desires, the one scope of his labours
[He had no doubt at all respecting his own salvation 1 .
But could he be content to go to heaven alone ? No ; he would
gladly have drawn all he could along with him m . It was for
this end that he became all things to all men": and to this he
looked forward as his joy, his hope, his crown of rejoicing .
There was not one weak, but he sympathized with him ; not
one turned aside, but he burned with an ardent desire to
restore him p . To such a degree was his soul bound up in the
welfare of the elect, that he could say, " Now I live, if ye
stand fast in the Lord :" nor did any thing appear too great for
him either to do, or suffer, provided he might be instrumental
in accomplishing this blessed end q .]
INFER
1. What reason have most professors of religion to
be ashamed of their attainments !
[Beyond a doubt, the Apostle s spirit ought to be the
spirit of all Christians ". But how little of it is seen in the
Christian Church ! How many are there who are ready to
" bite and devour one another," instead of being willing to lay
down their lives for each other ! And how little self-denial is
1 2 Cor. v. 1. m So the church. Cant. i. 4.
" 1 Cor. ix. 22. 1 Thess.ii. 19. P 2 Cor. xi. 29.
<i 1 Thess. iii. 7 9. r 1 John iii. 16.
2247.] EQUITY OF GOO .S PROCEDURE. l )
there even in the best of us ! /How little will we do, or suffer,
either for the temporal or spiritual welfare of our brethren !
Let us blush at our want of love ; and labour henceforth to
benefit the bodies, and more especially to save the souls, of all
around us.]
2. How infatuated are they who have no concern
for their own souls !
[Wherefore was Paul so earnest for the salvation of others,
but because he knew somewhat of the value of a soul? He
knew its happiness, if saved ; and its misery, if lost. Shall
another then be more concerned for us, than we for ourselves ?
Shall another be ready to do and suffer all things for us, and
we be unwilling to do or suffer any thing for our own good?
Let us remember, that no present gratifications can compensate
for the loss of salvation; and that eternal glory will infinitely
over-balance all that can be endured in the pursuit of it.]
3. How must they be blinded by the devil, who
oppose the salvation of their fellow-creatures !
[There are too many who scoff at piety, and endeavour,
by ridicule or persuasion, to turn men from the practice of it,
Alas! what an awful contrast do their characters form with
that of the Apostle ! Let such consider the warning given
them by our Lord, that it were better for them to have a mill
stone hanged about their neck, and to be cast into the sea,
than they should offend one of his little ones 8 .]
s Luke xvii. 2.
MMCCXLVII.
THE EQUITY OF GOD S PROCEDURE.
2 Tim. ii. 11 14. It is a faithful saying : For if toe be dead
with him, we sJiaU, also live ivitk him : if we suffer, we shall
also reign icith him : if we deny him, he also will deny us :
if we beliere not, yet he abide fh faithful : he cannot den//
himself. Of these things put them in remembrance.
STRANGE as it may seem, it is no uncommon
thing for men to arraign the equity of God, and to
accuse him of undue severity in the execution of his
judgments. The Jewish people of old complained,
" The ways of the Lord are not equal :" and God,
for his own honour s sake, was constrained to vin
dicate his character in this respect ; which he did in
30 52 TIMOTHY, II. 1114. [2247.
an open appeal to their judgment, and a candid
exposition of the modes of his procedure. " O house
of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your
ways unequal ?" If a man have sinned and repent,
I forgive him : but if he turn back to his former
wickedness, I make no account of his temporary
reformation, but visit all his iniquities upon his head.
Is this unequal? Is it not consonant with strict
justice 3 ? In like manner St. Paul declares, in the
passage before us, that God will act towards men as
they act towards him ; requiting with good his faith
ful servants, and marking the disobedient as objects
of his displeasure. And that he may the more deeply
impress this truth upon our minds, he introduces it
with assuring us, that " it is a faithful saying."
From his words we shall be led to consider,
I. The rule of God s procedure in reference to our
future destinies
The whole Scripture declares that he will deal
with men according to their works ; that " to those
who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for
glory and honour and immortality, he will give eter
nal life ; but that to them that are contentious, and
obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there
shall be indignation and wrath, tribulation and an
guish, even upon every soul of man that doeth evil 1 .
To this effect we are here told how God will deal,
1. With the godly-
fit is here supposed that the godly will " die with Christ,
and suffer with him." And it is true, that all his faithful fol
lowers are " crucified with him c ," and " dead with him." As he
died for sin, so they, in conformity to him, and by virtue de
rived from him, die to sin : they no longer suffer it to act
without controul, as once they did, but they " mortify it in all
their members," and " crucify the flesh with its affections and
lusts 1 ." In acting thus, they of necessity condemn the " world
around them, who are lying in wickedness 6 ," and ordering their
course agreeably to the will of Satan, who worketh in them f ,
a Ezek. xxxiii. 1720. b Rom. ii. 7 9. c Gal. ii. 20.
d Gal. v. 24. c i J i m v . 19. f Kh. ii. 2.
2247.] EQUITY OF GOD S PROCEDURE. 31
and " leads them captive at his wills." In consequence of this,
they are hated, reviled, and persecuted, as their Saviour was;
and are called to " suffer," even as he suffered. There is not
one of them who has not his cross to bear. Times and cir
cumstances may cause a difference as to the degree in which
they shall suffer : but there is no exception whatever to that
declaration of the Apostle, " All that will live godly in Christ
Jesus shall suffer persecution 11 ."
Now how will God deal with these ? Will he overlook them
as unworthy of his notice ? Will he afford them no succour,
and recompense them with no reward? Far be it from him;
for " if we be dead with Christ, we shall also live with him;" that
is, he will enable us to execute our holy purposes, and to rise
superior to all our spiritual adversaries, even as he did when he-
rose again from the dead. This is the explanation which St.
Paul himself gives us : " If we have been planted in the like
ness of his death," says he, " we shall be also in the likeness of
his resurrection : knowing this, that our old man is crucified
with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that hence
forth we should not serve sin. But he that is dead, is freed
from sin. Now, if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we
shall also live with him ; knowing that Christ being raised from
the dead, dieth no more : death hath no more dominion over him :
for, in that he died, he died unto sin once ; but in that he liveth,
he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be
dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ
our Lord 1 ." The same Apostle also gives it as his own actual
experience : " We are always bearing about in the body the
dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be
made manifest in our body : for we who live are always deli
vered unto death for Jesus sake, that the life also of Jesus
might be made manifest in our mortal flesh k ." Thus does the
Lord Jesus fulfil the promise which he made in reference to
this very point ; " Because I live, ye shall live also 1 ."
Moreover our God engages, that, " if we suffer with Christ,
we shall also reign with him." Our services shall not be for
gotten. There is " a crown of glory prepared for all them that
love him" 1 :" even on that very throne which Christ himself
occupies, shall they be seated with him". Yes ; it is a faithful
saying, that " they who suffer with him shall also be glorified
together ."
This then will be the mode of God s procedure towards his
faithful people : and according to the same rule will he proceed,]
ver. 2G. 2 Tim. iii. 12. Rom. vi. 5 11.
k 2 Cor. iv. 10, 11. John xiv. 19.
m 2 Tim. iv. 8. 1 Pet. v. 4. Rev. iii. 21.
Rom. viii. 17. 1 Pet. iv. 13.
3;> 2 TIMOTHY, II. 1114. [2247.
2. With the ungodly
[These are here designated as " those who deny him. *
Now there are two ways in which this may be done ; namely,
either by an open and avowed rejection of his Gospel p , or by a
timid concealment of our convictions. Of the former we shall
have no occasion to speak, because it is the latter class only
that are referred to in our text ; and because all that we shall
have occasion to say respecting the latter, must of necessity be
in a yet stronger degree applicable to the former : for, if those
who do believe in Christ, but through fear of persecution are
deterred from confessing him openly, will be disapproved by
him, much more will they who impiously blaspheme his name,
and pour contempt upon all the wonders of his love and
mercy.
Our Lord requires, that we should confess him openly be
fore men. But there are many, who, " when persecution or
tribulation ariseth because of the word, are offended* 1 ," and
dare not face the obloquy, or encounter the perils, that await
them. And how will the Lord Jesus Christ deal with them ?
Will he take no account of their cowardice ? Will he be
satisfied with such a. mode of requiting all his love? No;
he will deal with them in the way that they deal with him :
" they are ashamed of him ; and he will be ashamed of them,
in the day that he shall come in the glory of his Father,
and of all his holy angels 1 :" " they deny him; and he will
deny them 8 ." And this is nothing but what they may rea
sonably expect : for if their love to him is so small, that they
will not endure a little shame, or submit to some trifling loss,
for his sake, how can they expect to be approved as good and
faithful servants ? How can they suppose it possible that they
should partake of that felicity which is reserved for those who
fought the good fight of faith, and " loved not their lives unto
death 1 ?" This indeed would be unequal : such inequality shall
never be found in the judgments of our God: for " they who
loved their lives, shall lose them ; and they only who are willing
to lose their lives for Christ s sake, shall save them unto life
eternal 11 ."]
That no doubts on this subject may rest upon our
minds, I will go on to state,
II. The assurance we have that he will proceed
according to this rule
The declarations of God on these subjects do not
obtain the credit they deserve
P 2 Pet. ii. 1. 1 Matt. xiii. 21. r Mark viii. 38.
8 Matt. x. 33. l Rev. xii. 11. u Mark viii. 31, 35.
2247.1 EQUITY OF GOD S PROCEDURE. 33
[Many of the godly are apt, through the weakness of their
faith, to yield to doubts and fears. When feeling the depth of
their corruptions, they think it almost impossible that they
should ever be able to subdue them : and, when menaced with
heavy trials, they doubt whether they shall ever be able to
support them.
The ungodly, on the other hand, boldly question whether
God ever can proceed with them according to his word. They
do not hesitate to say, that such a procedure would be cruel
and unjust. If indeed they were to abandon themselves to all
manner of wickedness, they might then expect the Divine
judgments : but when they can have no gross evils laid to their
charge, is it to be supposed that God will punish them to all
eternity, merely because they do not (as they will call it) make
a parade of their religion? That is nothing but a conceit of
enthusiastic zealots : God is too good to act in such a way, or
to visit with such unmerited severity what, at the worst, can
only be deemed an excess in the exercise of prudence - ]
But, whether believed or not, they shall all be
fulfilled in their season
[" Our unbelief will not make the truth of God of none
effect*." Whatever he has spoken, he will surely execute ; as it
is said, " God is not a man, that he should lie ; neither the son
of man, that he should repent. Hath he said, and shall he
not do it ? Hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good* ?"
Were he to reverse his word for us, he would cease to be a
God of truth. He has pledged himself for the accomplish
ment of every word that he has spoken : and " he cannot deny
himself."
True it is, that he is not pleased with the weakness of his
people s faith. He complained of it in Peter: "O thou of
little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" But lie will not on
this account neglect to fulfil to them his promises. He has
engaged in behalf of those who die unto sin, that " his grace
shall be sufficient for them 2 ;" that " their strength shall be
according to their day" 1 ;" and that " they shall be more than
conquerors, through Him that loved themV Their doubts
and fears will indeed distress their minds, and weaken their
efforts, and subject them to many anxieties from which a
stronger exercise of faith would have freed them : but still he
will not cast them off because they are weak : " lie will not
break the bruised reed, or quench the smoking ilax ; but will
bring forth judgment unto victory ." And in the last day he
will recompense into their bosom all that they have done or
x Rom. iii. 3. > Xumb. xxiii. 19. 2 Cor. xii. 9.
a Deut. xxiii. 2.">. b Rom. viii. 37. e Matt. xii. 20.
VOL. XIX. D
o4 2 TIMOTHY, II. 11 11. [2247.
sufl ered for him. He will say, " Thou hast been faithful in a
few things; be thou ruler over many things 1 :" and the precise
measure of their glory shall be proportioned to the labours and
sufferings to which in this life they had submitted for his sake e .
In like manner, to the ungodly he will award a sentence of
condemnation proportioned to their deserts. It will be to no
purpose that they expostulate, and ask, as if aggrieved by his
sentence, " Lord, have we not in thy name cast out devils, and
in thy name clone many wonderful works?" He will be alto
gether inflexible; and will say, "Depart from me; I never
knew you, ye workers of iniquity f ."]
The importance of this subject appears from the
solemn charge with which St. Paul enjoins Timothy
to " put his hearers in remembrance of it." The
same charge is in fact given to every minister of
God s word : " Put your people in remembrance of
these things." In compliance with this command I
will now proceed yet further to REMIND you of them,
I. For your conviction
[It is to no purpose to dispute against God. A criminal
may dispute against human laws if he will, and may determine
beforehand that they can never be executed against him. But
the only effect of his confidence will be, to deceive his own
soul, and to involve himself in irremediable ruin. Let him be
ever so assured of impunity, he will not be able to stop the
course of the law, or to prevent its execution upon him. How
much less then can we suppose that the arm of God s justice
shall be arrested, and the very truth of God violated, to rescue
a man from perdition, merely because he will not believe that
God will fulfil his word. I must declare to you, that all such
hopes are groundless : and I call upon you carefully to examine
the state of your own souls. Are you " dead to sin," to all
sin, so that no iniquity whatever is suffered to have dominion
over you? Are you openly confessing Christ before
men, so that it is seen and known " whose you are, and whom
you profess to serve?" Are you " following him without the
camp, bearing his reproach 8 ;" and not bearing it only, but
" rejoicing that you are counted worthy to suffer for his sake h ?"
In a word, are you Christians, not in word only, but in deed
and in truth? These are the inquiries which you must make;
for by them alone can you ascertain your state before God.
Say not, that, in requiring these things, we require too much :
d Matt. xxv. 23. e 2 Cor. iv. 17. f Matt. vii. 22, 23.
e Heb. xiii. 13. h Acts v. 41.
2248.] THE STABILITY OF THE COVENANT. O.)
for if God require them, and will receive to mercy those only
in whom these requisites can be found, it will be to no purpose
to contend with him. Be wise in time : and so endeavour to
approve yourselves to God now, that he may approve of you in
the day of judgment.]
2. For your comfort and support
[The workings of unbelief have harassed many who were
truly upright before God : and therefore we should not write
bitter tilings against ourselves, merely because we possess not
a full assurance of faith. David on some occasions was quite
overwhelmed with doubts and feijrs. Hear his complaints :
" Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no
more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? Doth his promise
fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious ? Hath
he in anger shut up his tender mercies?" But whence arose
all this? Had it any foundation in truth? No: he imme
diately acknowledges, " This is mine infirmity ." So then do
ye say, when doubts and fears assail your minds. Remember,
God is a faithful God, and not one jot or tittle of his word shall
ever fail. " Of those whom the Father gave to Jesus, he lost
none k ;" nor will he ever lose one : " not the smallest grain of
true wheat shall ever fall upon the earth 1 ;" nor " shall one of
God s little ones ever perish" ." Only commit yourselves to
God, and leave the issue of events to him. Your part is to be
seeking a conformity to Christ in his death and resurrection;
and his part is to carry on and perfect his work within you.
Be ye intent on your part ; and leave His to him : and you
shall be able at the last to say with Joshua, that " of all the
good things which the Lord your God hath spoken concerning
you, all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath
failed "."]
Ps. Ixxvii. 7 10. k John xvii. 12. Amos ix. 9.
111 Matt, xviii. 14. n Josh, xxiii. H.
MMCCXLVIII.
THE STABILITY OF THE COYFXANT.
2 Tim. ii. 19. The foundation of God standeth sun , hui-in<j
t/iis seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let
every one that iiameth the name of Christ, depart fn/i
iniquity.
GOD has a people whom he will preserve from
apostasy : but he will keep them by the instrumenta
lity of their own care and watchfulness. There were
3f> 2 TIMOTHY, II. 19. [2248.
some in the apostolic age seduced from the faith, and
led to think that the resurrection was passed already.
But St. Paul entertained no fears for the ark of God.
He was persuaded that God would keep his faithful
people : " they overthrew the faith of some : never
theless," &c.
I. What is meant by the foundation of God
It does not seem to refer to the doctrine of the
resurrection. The context indeed mentions this doc
trine ; hut the immediate connexion of the text is
with the apostasy that had prevailed. The " founda
tion" relates rather to the covenant of grace. In
some respects Christ is the only foundation 3 . Ne
vertheless the covenant of grace may be represented
in this light-
It is the foundation of God s dealings towards us
[From a regard to it he bears with us in our unconverted
state b : from a regard to it he effects our conversion : from a
regard to it he endures our backslidings after conversion^:
from a regard to it he restores us after we have fallen 6 .]
It is also the foundation of our hope towards God
[We have no claim upon God independent of the cove
nant; but in his covenant with Christ, and with us in him, he
has engaged to give us all that we want f . We receive spiritual
blessings, only as being parties in it g ; the continuance of
those blessings to us is only in consequence of our interest
in it h .]
This foundation standeth sure.
II. Wherein its stability consists
The foundation of God is represented as having a
seal 1 . This seal is God s unchanging love; "God
knoweth them/ &c.
a 1 Cor. iii. 11. b Ezek. xxxvi. 21 23, 32.
c 2 Tim. i. 9. Jer. xxxi. 3. d 1 Sam. xii. 22.
e Luke xxii. 32. f 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23.
e Rom. viii. 29, 30. h Rom. ix. 10.
There is no confusion of metaphor here, because foundation
stones often have (r^pa-y ica, an inscription (as the word means, Rev.
ix. 4.) But there is peculiar propriety in the metaphor of a seal as
applied to a covenant.
2248.]] THE STABILITY OF THE COVENANT. 37
[Knowledge is here, as in many other places, put for
love k : in this sense it is represented as a seal of the covenant.
Love ib stamped, as it were, on every part of the covenant,
gives a kind of validity to it, and is inseparable from it.]
This unchanging love is the stability of the cove
nant
[We should continually forfeit our interest in it: no
believer whatever, if left to himself, would be steadfast in it.
Our daily transgressions are sufficient to exclude us from it for
ever; but God s love changeth not 1 . He betroths us to him
self in faithfulness for ever 1 ". He loves and keeps us, not for
our sake, but for his own name s sake": hence all our security
arises .]
The covenant, however, does not make void our
obligations to holiness,
III. The improvement we should make of it
The privileges of Christians are exceeding great :
but we are in danger of turning the grace of God
into licentiousness. Hence the Apostle cautions us
against abusing this covenant 1
[They " who name the name of Christ" are those who
profess Christ s religion ; and that profession supposes them to
be interested in the covenant. But continuance in sin would
be inconsistent with that profession: the covenant prohibits
the indulgence even of the smallest sin. It provides "strength
for the mortification of every lust; it secures holiness to us as
well as salvation ; it engages for our salvation on/// in a way of
holiness. Let it not then be made a ground of presumptuous
security: let it rather operate as an incentive to diligence; let
it incline " every one" to stand at the greatest distance from
sinA]
INFER
^ hat rich consolation is here for every true be
liever !
k Ps. i. G. i Jam. i. 17. Rom. xi. 29.
m Hos. ii. 19. " Ueut. vii. <> S.
St. Paul considers the steadfastness of the foundation as connected
with, and depending on, God s immutable regard for his people ; and
to this is their final salvation to be ascribed, Mai. iii. (>.
v If KIU were translated "but" the sense would be incomparably
more clear : it has this sense in many places ; and is so translated,
2 Tim. iii. 11. and 1 Cor. x\i. 1:2.
38 2 TIMOTHY, II. . 30, 21. [2249.
[There ever have been some apostates from the Church
of Christ ; but their defection does not disprove the stability
of God s covenant. The reason of their departure is accounted
for by St. John 1 Let not then any be dejected when they
see the falls of others. God " knows" his sheep, and will
suffer " none to pluck them out of his hands." Nor need any
despond on account of their indwelling corruptions : it is not
sin lamented, but sin indulged, that will destroy the soul.
Let every one be more anxious to lay hold on this covenant:
it will be found at last, that it is " ordered in all things and
sure."]
r 1 John ii. 19.
MMCCXLIX.
SAINTS, VESSELS OF HONOUR.
2 Tim. ii. 20, 21. In a great house there are not only vessels
of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth ; and
some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore
purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour,
sanctified, and meet for the Master s use, and prepared unto
every good work.
IT was said by a heathen poet, and the truth and
importance of the sentiment are strongly marked by
its being cited by an inspired Apostle, that " evil
communications corrupt good manners." But there
is by no means such attention paid to this aphorism
a*s its importance demands. Men will indeed cau
tion their friends against the society of those who are
dissolute and profane ; but, against those who may
distract our minds with matters of doubtful disputa
tion, or lower our standard of Christian duty, no one
judges it necessary to put us on our guard. But
St. Paul, that vigilant watchman, that faithful servant
of the Most High God, has taught us to shun every
thing which may pervert our judgment, or corrupt
our minds, or in any way impede our progress in the
Divine life. In the words which I have now read to
you, he shews us,
I. What we must guard against, as injurious to our
souls
2249. 1 SAINTS, VESSELS OF HONOUR. 39
Two things he mentions, as necessary for us to be
purged from ;
1., Error in principle
[Even in that early age of the Church, there were many,
who, instead of upholding the faith, sought, by all imaginable
subtilties, to turn men from their adherence to it. False
teachers there were in great numbers, who " strove about
words which were of no real profit, but tended only to the
subverting of the hearers " 1 ." Against these St. Paul strongly
guarded his son Timothy: " Shun profane and vain babblings;
for they will increase unto more ungodliness, and their word
will eat as doth a canker : of whom is Hymena. us and Phi-
letus ; who concerning the truth have erred; saying, that the
resurrection is passed already ; and overthrow the faith of
some b ." Now such persons there have been in the Church,
from that dav even to the present hour. Some will magnify
beyond due bounds the importance of some favourite doctrine,
to the utter exclusion of other doctrines which have a diiferent
aspect. Others will dwell upon the circumstantials of religion,
to the neglect of the points that are most essential. Others,
again, will attack the fundamentals themselves; " bringing in
damnable heresies, and denying the Lord who bought them."
Some, like the Pharisees of old, will make all religion to
consist in the observance of rites and ceremonies: others will
cast off every kind of ritual, and divest religion of every out
ward form. Some will discard from religion every thing that
is mysterious or spiritual ; whilst others will spiritualize every
thing, and involve the most common truths of Scripture in
mystery and allegory, like those who reduced the doctrine of
the resurrection to the mere introduction of another dis
pensation, or the moral change that is wrought on the hearts
of Christian converts. In fact, there is no end of the absur
dities which men will introduce into religion, according to
o o
their respective fancies: and their zeal for their respective
peculiarities will be considered by them as the best proofs of
their zeal for religion. But it will be our wisdom " to purge
ourselves from all such persons and sentiments; and to hold
last, with childlike simplicity, the truth as it is in Jesus."
For, in fact, these dispositions and habits are the fruits of vain
conceit; and they gender nothing but strife and contention.
In a word, they all " eat like a gangrene; which, if not
healed, will gradually destroy the whole body.]
2. Corruption in practice
[This is invariably connected with the former: for the
very alienation of heart, both from God and man, which
> vcr. 11. h vcr. 16 18.
40 2 TIMOTHY, II. 20, 21. [2249.
controversial habits generate, must, of necessity, give advantage
to Satan for the infusion of all manner of evil into our souls.
Hence St. Paul, in his advice to Timothy, combines with a
caution against error, a caution against sin also: " Flee youth
ful lusts ; but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with
all them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart: but foolish
and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender
strifes ." Amongst youthful lusts we must doubtless, in the
h rst place, number those corrupt propensities which are so
powerful in the time of youth : but we must also number those
which are more nearly allied with heresies, whilst yet they are
peculiarly influential on the youthful mind ; such as, a love of
novelty, a fondness for disputation, a desire after notoriety
and distinction. The tempers which these habits generate
are extremely hateful to God, and injurious to man. " The
filthiness of the flesh," as the Apostle speaks, is, in appearance,
more opposite to true religion than what he calls " the filthi
ness of the spirit:" but it is not so in reality : and we must be
purged from this, no less than from the other, if ever we would
serve God acceptably, or be approved by him in the day of
judgment. The beauty of all true religion consists in a child
like spirit, which is the very reverse of that conceit and
forwardness which characterize the controversialist and vain
disputer. I must therefore guard you, with all earnestness,
against every thing which may corrupt your mind from the
simplicity that is in Christ, or weaken the influence of real
piety in your souls.]
And, that my exhortation may have the greater
weight, let me proceed to shew,
II. What benefit we shall derive from this care-
In a great house, the Apostle observes, there is a
great variety of vessels ; some of purer, and others of
baser, materials ; some to honour, and others to dis
honour. So also, in the Church of Christ, there is a
great variety of persons ; all indeed in some way or
other subserving his interests, and widely differing
from each other in their value, their use, and their
ultimate destination.
Now those who are infected with evil principles or
practice are of no estimation before God.
[Their spirit is hateful to him, as is their conduct also ;
nor are they of any use in the Church of God. They tend
c ver. 22, 23.
2249.] SAINTS, VESSELS OF HONOUR. 4-1
rather to corrupt others, than to benefit their souls ; and to
dishonour their profession, rather than adorn it. In fact, they
are base in themselves, and subserve only base purposes : and
" their end will be according to their works."]
But " those \vlio are purged from these will be
regarded by him as vessels of honour, meet for their
Master s use.
[Under this image, the Apostle means to suggest, that
persons of simple minds and pure habits shall be favoured ivitli
God s peculiar regard, be set apart for his special service, and
be made line of for his honour and glory. These are the dis
tinctions conferred on " vessels of gold and silver in a great
house or palace ;" whilst the vessels of wood and of earth are
disregarded and despised. Now, those nobler vessels are
polished with care, in order that they may appear worthy of
their owner, and of the uses to which thev are applied : so are
the godly " sanctified" by the Holy Ghost, and " prepared for
every good work" to which they are destined.
Now, I would ask, is not this a great encouragement to us
to keep ourselves pure? Is not this honour an abundant
recompence for all the self-denial we can exercise, and all the
caution we can maintain ? See the golden vessel in the hand
of the prince; its beauty, its symmetrv, its splendour, admired
by him; yea, and his own honour, as it were, advanced by it:
and can you contemplate yourself thus in the hands of the
God of heaven, and not feel a desire to be accounted worthy
of that honour? I say, then, " purge yourselves from" every
thing which, in a way either of principle or of practice, may
defile you, and this honour shall be yours.]
Now, then, say whether there be not in this subject
ABUNDANT MATTER,
1. For anxious inquiry
[To which of these widely-different vessels may you be
compared ? Which of them do you resemble, in their essen
tial qualities, or in their habitual use? Are you of gold or
silver, or of the baser materials of wood or earth? Are you
altogether consecrated to God? or are you occupied solely
about the things of time and sense? To assist you in this
inquiry, I must observe, that no man possesses, by nature,
those higher qualities: they are all the fruits of grace: by
nature we are earthly, sensual, devilish : it is by grace alone
that we become heavenly, spiritual, divine. And, to judge
whether this change have been wrought in us, we must not
look to our outward conduct merely, but to that inward
purification from erroneous principles and corrupt aficctions.
43 2 TIMOTHY, II. 20,21. [2249.
See, then, whether you have yet been brought to humble
yourselves before God, as guilty and undone sinners : see
whether you are living altogether by faith on the Lord Jesus
Christ, as your only source, either of righteousness or strength;
and see whether you are devoting yourselves, unreservedly,
to God in all holy obedience : this is the proper test of con
version : all other conversions are of no value : you may go
the whole round, from one Church to another, espousing every
one of them in succession, and zealously maintaining every
distinction, whether in principle or practice, and yet be vessels
in which God can take no pleasure, and which shall finally
be hid from his eyes as objects of shame only and dishonour.
Let this then be, as in truth it ought to be, a matter of
anxious inquiry amongst you all : for I must again declare,
that they only shall be approved of their God who correspond
with the character drawn of them in our text.]
2. For necessary distinction
[Here, you perceive, are " vessels of gold and of silver,
as also of wood and of earth ;" and, though all of one common
origin, and alike of base materials, yet destined, some to
honour, and others to dishonour. You perceive, also, that
it is God alone who makes the difference between them ;
changing the nature and end of some, whilst others are left
to their original worthlessness and debasement. Against this
our proud hearts would be ready to rise; just as that of the
objector did, when St. Paul declared, that " God had mercy
on whom he would have mercy; and whom he would he
hardened." Hear the Apostle s statement of the objector s
argument; and his reply to it: " Thou wilt say then unto
me, Why doth he yet find fault? for who hath resisted his
will ? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against
God ? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it,
Why hast thou made me thus ? Hath not the potter power
over the clay, of the same lump, to make one vessel unto
honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing
to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured
with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to de
struction ; and that he might make known the riches of his
glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared
unto glory d ?" This is the answer which I also must make to
any one who shall object to the statement which has been
before made. I grant, yea, I assert, that all, as born into this
world, are base in their nature, their use, and their end : and
it is grace alone, even the sovereign grace of God, that changes
them so that they become vessels of honour for his use. I
d Rom. ix. 18 23.
2250.] THE GREAT ENDS OF THE MINISTRY. 43
assert, too, with the Apostle, that the same power which the
potter has over the clay, our God has over all the works of his
hands. But there is a distinction which the Apostle lias made,
and which we must ever bear in mind, that, though it is God
alone ivho prepares any for glory, yet man Jits himself for
destruction : so that, whilst the godly have no ground for
boasting, the ungodly have no reason whatever for complaint 6 .
To all eternity must those who are vessels of honour ascribe
the glory to their God; but the vessels to dishonour will,
through all eternity, be constrained to take all the shame to
themselves.]
3. For grateful adoration
[Let any one contemplate the state of a pious soul in
glory. Let him see the feast that is there spread, at which
God himself presides. Let him behold the vessels of gold and
silver, polished to the utmost possible perfection, the ornament
of the feast, the honour of their God; and every one of them
filled to the utmost brim with all the richest effusions of
blessedness and joy : then let him contrast with these the
vessels of wrath, filled with the overflowings of God s wrathful
indignation : let any one, I say, contemplate the contrast ;
and then determine, whether those monuments of grace and
mercy have not grounds for gratitude and praise? I trust,
that to many of this description I am now addressing myself;
and to them I would say, See to it that nothing which can
defile, be admitted within you : see also that you be more
and more polished every day and hour, that you may grow in
a meetness for the honour that awaits you. And be looking
forward to the time when your final destiny shall be awarded
to you ; and you shall, as objects of God s love, and monu
ments of his grace, be for ever " filled with all the fulness of
your God."]
e See the Greek of the fore-cited passage.
MMCCL.
TIIF, GREAT ENDS OF THE MINISTRY.
2 Tim. ii. 25, 26. In meekness instructing those that oppose
themselves ; if God peradventure will (jive them repentance
to the acknowledging of the truth ; and that they may recover
themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken cap
tive by him at his u ill.
THE work of the ministry is arduous in the ex
treme, not only on account of the labours in which a
44 2 TIMOTHY, II. 25, 26. [2250.
pastor has to engage, but on account of the opposi
tion he meets with from those whose welfare he seeks.
He has to call men from all which by nature they
affect, and to stimulate them to much for which they
have an utter distaste. But the hope of ultimately
benefiting immortal souls is sufficient to carry him
forward ; and, if he be himself of a becoming spirit,
he will persevere with patience and long-suffering,
" meekly instructing those that oppose themselves,
if God peradventure may give them repentance to
the acknowledgment of the truth."
To enter fully into the subject before us, I must
set before you,
I. The state of unconverted men
I am not aware that there is any other passage of
Holy Writ that places this matter in a more humili
ating view, than that which we have just read.
The unconverted man is altogether a slave of
Satan
[The agency of Satan is but little thought of by us,
though it occupies a very prominent place in the Scriptures
of truth. His influence over Judas and Ananias shews what
he can effect, if God see fit to withdraw the restraints which,
from love to mankind, he has imposed upon him. This malig
nant fiend is, in fact, " the god of this world;" and all man
kind, whilst in their unconverted state, are his vassals
Yet it is not by force that he reigns over them, but by
subtilty. He " takes them captive;" but it is by "snares"
that he allures them, and draws them into his net. He knows
what is suited to each, as a fowler or a fisherman does to the
taste and appetite of the different creatures he would decoy :
and he finds the whole human race ready enough to yield
to his devices, and to surrender up themselves to him ac
cording to his will To persons in early life he offers
the gratifications of sense ; and to those at a more advanced
period the acquisition of wealth and honour. Nor is he more
anxious to ensnare them, than they are to swallow the bait
which he has laid for their destruction In truth, if
they were to form a deliberate purpose to serve Satan as far
as they possibly could consistently with the preservation of
a good character among men, they could not do it more
effectually than they already do. Satan would not wish them
to live in a more entire neglect of God and of eternity than
2250.] . THE GREAT ENDS OF THE MINISTRY. 45
they do : nor could he wish them more habitually to cheat
themselves with a mere name and form of godliness than they
do ]
And this is the state of all, without exception
[Men have their different tastes: one loves gross im
morality, whilst another prefers a self-complacent round of
outward duties. But these are only the baits which they
affect : their radical neglect of God and of his Christ is
the same in both. The Apostles themselves, not excepting
St. Paul in his unconverted state, were once subjects of this
great usurper: "We ourselves," says St. Paul, "were some
times foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and
pleasures 3 ." And by whose influence they were kept in this
awful condition, he tells us in another place : " And you hath
he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins ; wherein
in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that
now worketh in the children of disobedience : among whom we
all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of the flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind 1 ." Here,
you perceive, they were actuated by their own lusts ; yet
did they most effectually accomplish the will of the great
deceiver - -" His they were, and him they served;"
and from that kingdom of darkness must all be delivered, if
ever they would " be translated into the kingdom of God s
dear Son d ."]
The directions given to Timothy, for the regulation
of his conduct towards them, leads me to notice,
II. The efforts of ministers in their behalf-
Ministers are appointed of God to instruct the
world in the things which belong to their everlasting
peace.
They are to rescue men, if possible, from the
power of Satan
[They find men sleeping in security, and, like persons
in a state of intoxication, unconscious of their danger : and
they endeavour to awaken them. With this view they cry,
" Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and
Christ will give thee light f ." They call the poor unhappy
victims to " repentance, and to an acknowledgment of the
" Tit. iii. 3. Eph. ii. 13. c Rev. xii. 9. Col. i. 13.
e Acts xxvi. 18. This scorns to be implied in the term
{ Kph. v. 14.
4G 2 TIMOTHY, II. 25, 26. [2250.
truth as it is in Jesus." They set forth the claims of their
God and Saviour to their allegiance, and the evil and danger
of continuing in rebellion against him. They declare, that if
they will submit themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ, he will
forgive all their past sins, and bring them into the glorious
liberty of the children of God - This they do, to lead
the poor captives to cast off the yoke of Satan, and serve the
living God --- ]
But their only hope of success is in God alone
[They know how vain it would be for them to engage in
this warfare, if God himself do not interpose to give them the
victory. They know, that though " Paul should plant, and
Apollos water, God alone can give the increase." Nor are
they sure that he will work by them : much less do they
know for whose particular benefit they may be sent. They
can only " draw their bow at a venture," and leave it to God
to direct the shaft. A mere " peradventure," however, is
quite sufficient to stimulate their exertions. If they be but
the happy instrument of delivering one soul from Satan s yoke,
they will account it an ample recompence for a whole life of
labour. With their ministrations to men, therefore, they
unite their supplications to God; if peradventure he may
" give to any a repentance to the acknowledging of the
truth." Only let the gifts of repentance and faith be given
to any soul, there will be an end of Satan s power over them.
Their chains and bars shall all give way before them : and,
like Peter, they will come forth out of their prisons, as monu
ments of the Redeemer s power, and as witnesses for him to
an ungodly world --- ]
Let me offer two REQUESTS :
1. Acknowledge your state to be as God has de
scribed it
[It is so, whether ye will acknowledge it or not --
And, O submit no longer to such a degrading vassalage.
Awake from your intoxication, and contemplate the issue of
your present bondage --- And may God of his mercy
overcome the resistance which you have hitherto made to
our ministrations, and turn you, even by our feeble efforts,
" from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto
2. Unite your own efforts with ours, for your
deliverance
[There must be a concurrence on your part for your
ultimate deliverance. We cannot effect it : and God will twt,
s Acts xxvi. 18.
SELF-LOVE REPROBATED. 4-7
without your own cordial co-operation. Doubtless it is he
that must give you both to will and to do : but still you must
" work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
Though you are " drawn by God, and made willing by him
in the day of his power," you are " drawn by the cords of a
man," and from thenceforth act as willingly as ever you did
in the ways of sin. Arise then to the work of repentance,
and to an open acknowledgment of the truth : so shall your
chains be broken, and " Satan himself be bruised under your
fei-t shortly."]
MMCCLI.
SELF-LOVE REPROBATED.
2 Tim. iii. 1, 2. This know also, that in the last dai/s perilous
times shall come. For men shall be lovers of /heir oivn
selves,
THERE is in the inspired writings frequent men
tion of what will take place " in the last days." But
in these words very different and distant periods are
referred to. Sometimes they designate the time of
the Christian dispensation" 1 ; sometimes the day of
judgment 11 ; and sometimes, as in our text, a sea
son between these, when very great and important
changes will take place in the Church of Christ".
Immensely important changes have already taken
place, as in the successful efforts of Antichrist, both
in the Mahomedan and Popish powers : and still
further changes we look for in their overthrow. But
it is remarkable, that every event predicted, as to
take place at these distant periods, actually com
menced in the apostolic age : and St. John says,
" Even now are there many Antichrists 1 ." As for
the evil spoken of in my text, the Apostle declares,
that, though predicted as to occur " in the last days,"
it did exist at that very time, to a great extent ; and
that, when it should prevail in the way that he de
scribed, very perilous and troublesome times would
have arrived.
a Heb. i. 2. b Jam. v. 3. c 2 Pet. iii. 3.
d 1 John ii. IS. < ver. G <>.
48 o TIMOTHY, III. 1,2. [2251.
For the elucidation of the subject before us, I will
endeavour to shew,
I. What is the disposition here reprobated
It is self-love : " Men shall be lovers of their own
selves." But we are not to imagine that every kind
and degree of self-love is sinful. On the contrary,
the desire which God has infused into the soul of
every man to promote his own welfare, is proposed
by God himself as a standard, agreeably to which we
are to regulate our love to our neighbour : he calls it
"a royal law," as being established by himself; and
he declares, that, in accommodating ourselves to it
and " loving our neighbour as ourselves, we do well f ."
Nay, more ; our blessed Lord compares with it the
love which he himself bears to his own Church and
people : " No man ever yet hated his own flesh, but
nourisheth, and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the
Church*" Still, however, when it becomes inor
dinate, it is a very hateful disposition, evil in itself,
and abominable in the sight of God. Self-love is
then sinful,
1. When it induces a forgetfulness of God
[God should be acknowledged by us as the only source
of all good ; for " from him proceedeth every good and perfect
gift h :" and for his glory should every thing be done; as it is
said, " Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to
the glory of God 1 ." But self-love robs him in both these
respects : it leads men to ascribe their success of every kind
to their own wisdom and power ; and at the same time to seek
their own gratification only in the enjoyment of all that they
possess. Now what can be more hateful, than for a man to be
" sacrificing to his own net, and burning incense to his own
drag k ," when he should be adoring God for the mercies
vouchsafed unto him ? or what more abominable, than for a
man to be " living to himself," when he should be consecrating
all his powers to the service of his Creator and Redeemer ] ?
In fact, what is this, but to idolize ourselves, and to put our
selves in the very place of God? Covetousness and sensuality
are expressly called idolatry m : yet are these but branches
proceeding from the root of inordinate self-love ; which is
f Jam. ii. 8. s Eph. v. 29. h Jam. i. 17.
1 Cor. x. 31. k Hah. i. 16. 1 Cor. iv. 7.
1 Rom. xiv. 7, 8. m Phil. iii. 19. Col. iii. 5.
2251.] SELF-LOVE REPROBATED. 4 9
nothing less than practical atheism, or a " banishing of God
from all our thoughts 11 ."]
2. When it operates to the injury of our neigh
bour
[Our neighbour, in his place, has claims upon us, no less
than God himself. Whoever we be, whether of high or low
degree, what are we but members of one great family ; yea,
and members too of one body ? Now, in a body, no member
is to consult its own separate interest at the expense of others,
but every one to seek its own happiness in the welfare of the
whole p . But self-love banishes all these considerations, and
sets aside every obligation arising from them. Now, we are
told, from authority, that whatever a man may possess, or
whatever he may either do or suffer in the service of the Lord,
" if he have not charity" towards his neighbour, so as to
render unto him his dues, " he is no better than sounding
brass or a tinkling cymbal q ." Whatever he may pretend,
" his faith is dead;" his love is hypocritical 1 ; his " religion is
vain 8 ."]
Lamentable are those times, and pitiable that
society, where this disposition reigns. Consider, I
pray you,
II. The danger attendant on it-
Consider the danger,
1. To those who are under its influence
[There is no evil which will not find a ready access to
their minds ; nor is there any situation in which they will not
betray their selfish propensities. Whether in civil or social
life, they will render themselves hated and despised. Towards
the state, they will be always full of murmurs and complaints.
And, in their intercourse with their families and neighbours,
they will be occasions of pain to all around them. They will
be displeased with every person that stands in any respect in
competition with them ; and will quarrel with every thing that
militates in the least degree against their favourite propensity.
In all their transactions in business they will be straining to
gain some undue advantage, and will make the minutest differ
ences subjects for dispute. See what the Apostle connects
with this character : " Men shall be lovers of their own selves,
covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers,
n Ps. x. 4. amlxiv. 1. 1 Cor. xii. 20. P 1 Cor. xii. 25,26.
<i 1 Cor. xiii. 1. r Jam. ii. 1"> 17. s Jam. i. 20.
VOL. XIX. E
50 2 TIMOTHY, III. 1,2. [2251.
false-accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are
good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more
than lovers of God." It is not necessary, indeed, that all these
evil qualities should be combined in the same person : but
there is in self-love a tendency to produce them, so far as a
person s circumstances are calculated to call them forth. Nor
will there be found in such persons any redeeming quality, or
any thing to compensate for these evil dispositions. Their
selfishness so engrosses their minds, as to render them in
capable of any noble exertion, either in a way of piety or
benevolence. The lover of self will love none else, at least
not in such a degree as to make any great sacrifice either for
God or man.]
2. To the cause of Christ in the world
[It is granted, that a man who is " a lover of his own self"
may be instructed in the truths of religion, and observant of
its forms: " He may have a form of godliness; but he will be
destitute of its power :" nor is there any great hope of ever
benefiting him by the ministration of the Gospel. The word
preached either sinks not into his mind at all, or, if sown in
his heart, is " choked with thorns and briers, so as to bring
forth no fruit to perfection." Nor is this all the evil that ac
crues from his hateful dispositions. He sets others against the
Gospel ; and " causes the way of truth to be evil spoken of,"
and " the very name of God to be blasphemed." Besides, by
his spirit and conduct he stirs up corruption in all around him ;
and even foments in them, by re-action, the very dispositions
exercised by himself. Hence, instead of unity in the Church,
there will be dissension ; and the minister will derive nothing
but grief from those over whom he ought rather to rejoice.
This I apprehend to be the primary idea in the Apostle s mind,
when he calls the times, of which he speaks, " perilous," that
is, troublesome, grievous, and perplexing. And certainly it
must go ill with any Church where such characters abound.]
We may SEE, then, What is mainly to be looked to,
1. In estimating our own character
[I would not undervalue religious sentiments : but they are
of no worth, if they be not productive of suitable dispositions
and conduct. Do not then inquire, whether you have attained
a scriptural creed, and " a form of godliness ;" but whether
" the truth has made you free ;" free from selfish principles
and selfish habits. The man whose heart is right with God
will account nothing of any value, any further than it can be
improved for the honour of God and the good of man. Even
life itself is held by him only as a victim ready to be sacrificed,
whenever a proper occasion shall call for it. See how the
2252.] FORM AND POWER OF GODLINESS. ^>l
Apostle Paul acted : he accounted not his life dear to him :
on the contrary, if called to lay it down for his brethren, he
regarded it as an occasion, not of grief, but of joy 1 . Ah!
brethren, see how much you have acquired of that spirit ; and
how much you possess of " the mind that was in Christ Jesus,
who, when possessed of all the glory and felicity of heaven,
emptied himself of it all for you ; and for your benefit became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross 11 ." Self has
by nature wholly occupied your minds. The proper efl ect of
the Gospel is, to root out that hateful quality, and to fill your
souls with love both to God and man. Let this, then, serve
you as a test whereby to try your state; and assure yourselves,
brethren, that a work of grace is no further wrought within
you than this great change is accomplished.]
2. In selecting our companions and friends
[St. Paul guards you particularly on this head: "Men
will be lovers of their own selves .... FROM SUCH TURN
AWAY X ." So say I, my brethren: " From such turn aivay."
You can get no good from such men ; nor can you hope to
do any good to them : and your whole intercourse with them
will be productive only of pain. As Solomon says, " Make no
friendship with an angry man, lest thou learn his ways, and
get a snare to thy soul y ;" so I would say in reference to a
selfish man. He only will be a source of comfort and benefit
to you, who is divested of self, and who lives for God, and lays
himself out for the good of man. That is an honourable
character, worthy to be esteemed ; and an useful character,
from whom you may hope to derive much benefit ; and a
blessed character, with whom you may hope to spend a happy
eternity. If thou find such an one, take him to thy bosom :
and congratulate thyself, that, in this poor vain world, God
has raised up to thee such a treasure as this, that may well be
dear to thee even as thine own soul.]
1 Phil. ii. 17, 18. Phil. ii. 5 S.
x ver. 5. x Prov. xxii. 24, 2">.
MMCCLII.
FORM AND POWER OF GODLINESS.
% Tim. iii. 5. Having a form of godliness, but denying the
power thereof: from such turn away.
THERE were, even in the Apostolic ages, many
awful declensions from piety and sound religion : hut
in the last days we expect they will prevail to a far
i: 2
52 2 TIMOTHY, III. 5. [2252.
greater extent. Even at the present day, a thorough
acquaintance with what is called the religious world
will bring to our minds many sad characters, who do
not indeed fully answer to the description given in
the preceding context, but in many respects approxi
mate to it. It is not, however, my intention to take
the whole of the character here portrayed ; but only
the last trait of it, which I have selected for our con
sideration at this time.
Let me, then,
I. Unfold the character that is here drawn
They "have a form of godliness"
[By " godliness," I understand an entire devotion of the
soul to God. This must, of necessity, have forms and ser
vices wherein it must display itself: for, circumstanced as we
are in the world, it is impossible to serve God without forms.
The reading of the Scriptures, the attending on divine ordi
nances, the observance of the Sabbath, the duties of family
worship, and of secret prayer, are all forms, in and by which
vital godliness must display itself. Now many have, in these
respects, the form of godliness : they live in the external dis
charge of these duties : they are conscious, that without an
observance of these things they could have no credit whatever
for true godliness ; and therefore they fulfil their duties in these
respects ; and then flatter themselves that they have performed
all that is required of them ]
But they deny its power
[As for real delight in God, notwithstanding all their
profession of religion, they are strangers to it. Their prayers
are a mere service of the lip and knee ; their praises are no
other than cold, unmeaning acknowledgments ; and the whole
service of God, in the Church, the family, and the closet, is
nothing but " a form," a lamp without oil, a body without the
soul. Nor does godliness pervade their souls, so as to produce
the mind that was in Christ, or to transform them into God s
image. They seem not to think that religion is to operate to
such an extent as this ; and that, provided they observe the
outward duties of religion, the tempers and dispositions of the
soul may safely be overlooked. Hence their self-love, their
covetousness, and their numberless evil dispositions, retain their
full ascendency, and reign without controul. In fact, " they
have a name to live ; but in reality they are dead."]
And now let me,
II. Shew in what estimation it should be held
2252.] FORM AND POWER OF GODLINESS. 53
The Apostle says, " From such turn away." To
explain this, I will shew,
1. In what sense we are not to turn away from
such characters
[We are not to turn away from them in contempt. That
were highly unbecoming us ; who, if we differ at all, owe the
whole of that difference to the distinguishing grace of God.
And it would be most offensive to God, who cannot endure
such hateful pride. If we say to any man, " Stand off ; I am
holier than thou ;" God will regard us as " a smoke in his
nose, a fire that burneth all the day a "- Nor are we
to turn away in indifference, as though we cared not what be
came of them. We should rather mourn over them, as Paul b ;
and weep over them, as our Lord did over the murderous
Jerusalem -Nor should we turn away from them in
despair ; for God is able to save them ; and he will hear
prayer in their behalf ]
2. In what sense we are to turn away from them
[W r e are not, on any account, to make them our com
panions. We should in this respect turn away from them,
for their sake, for our own sake, for the Chtirctis sake, and for
the world s sake. If we associate with them, we shall make
them think well of themselves ; when, by a becoming departure
from them, we may bring them to a measure of self-diffidence
and compunction - If we associate with them, \ve shall
be in danger of drinking into their spirit, and of learning their
ways. We shall have our zeal and ardour damped by them ;
who, instead of rising with us, would soon bring us down to
a level with themselves By associating with them,
also, we should lead our weaker brethren to conceive that
there is no evil in their ways - And we should justify
the world in all their censures of religion, when, for the sake of
some ungodly professors, they decry all serious religion, and
represent all the servants of God as hypocrites
ADDRESS
1. Those who have not even the form of god
liness
[It is a lamentable truth, that the greater part of nominal
Christians live altogether " without God in the world." Had
they been born Pagans or Mahomedans, they would not, as
far as Jehovah is concerned, have differed in any essential
particular. Now then, I ask, if they who have a form of
a Isai. Ixv. 5. b Rom. ix. 1, 1.
54 2 TIMOTHY, III. 5. [2252.
godliness may yet be in a state so hateful to God, what must be
the condition of those who are destitute even of the form?
Can it be that they should be approved of the Lord ? They
will indeed, and with great confidence too, affirm, that they
have no ground to fear : but they awfully deceive their own
souls : for to them does that declaration of God belong, in its
utmost force, " The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all
the people that forget God c ." O that they would be wise, and
consider their latter end, ere it be too late !]
2. Those who have the form, but not the power
[To what purpose is it that you " profess to know God,
if in works you deny him ? " In truth, if you will look into
the Scriptures, you will find that real godliness is a far diffe
rent thing from what you are accustomed to think it. Look
at the precepts : do they extend only to forms ? Examine the
promises ; are they limited to forms ? See the examples of
piety : do they rise no higher than to mere formal services ?
The whole of God s blessed word declares, that God must " be
worshipped in Spirit and in truth ;" and that the heart, the
whole heart, must be consecrated to his service. Any thing
short of this is a mere mockery, and a fatal delusion.]
3. Those who have both the form and power of
godliness
[It is well to combine the two, yet to keep them both
in their proper place. We must not elevate either, to the
exclusion of the other. As we must not rest in forms, so
neither must we rise above them, as though the eminence of
our piety superseded the use of them. All external duties, of
whatever kind, must be observed : only we must take care
that we be filled with the Spirit, in the use of them. Forms
are like Jacob s ladder, by which you are to ascend to God,
and God will descend to you. But see to it, that your access
to God be daily more near, and your enjoyment of him more
sweet: see to it, that you shew forth daily, with increasing
evidence, the efficacy of his grace, and the beauty of his reli
gion. Let your whole spirit and temper evince the power of
godliness in your souls ; and then not only shall all the saints
turn unto you in love, but God himself will embrace you as the
objects of his tenderest affection.]
c Ps. ix. 17.
2253.] WANT OF PROFITING BY THE GOSPEL, CENSURED. 55
MMCCLIII.
A WANT OF PROFITING BY THE GOSPEL, CENSURED.
2 Tim. iii. 7. Ever learning, and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth.
FROM what we know of the excellency of the
Gospel, we should naturally conclude that it can
never produce any thing but good. And tJiis is true.
But, as the law, notwithstanding it is good, is some
times, through the corruption of our nature, an occa
sion of evil a , so the Gospel often gives occasion to
the corruptions of our hearts to manifest themselves
to a very awful extent. Who, for instance, would
imagine that persons calling themselves Christians
should be obnoxious to the charge brought against
them in all the preceding context b , and answer in
any degree to the character there drawn ? Yet is it
a melancholy fact, that some did answer to that cha
racter, even in the apostolic age ; and, at different
periods of the Church, multitudes have fully corre
sponded with the description there given ; yea, and
not only corresponded with it themselves, but la
boured also with zeal and industry to infuse into
others the same malignant spirit, and taken advan
tage of those who w r ere less instructed, or more easily
wrought upon, to propagate it to the utmost of their
power. There is reason for thankfulness, that the
Christian Church is not much agitated by such tur
bulent and unchristian teachers at this time : but still
the spirit exists to a considerable extent amongst
some classes of Christians ; who, whilst they are
running after every new preacher, exactly answer to
the character here given of them, " Ever learning,
and never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth."
To counteract this great evil, 1 will endeavour to
shew,
I. What little improvement many make of the Gospel
which they hear
a Rom. vii. 5, 813. b vcr. 17.
56 2 TIMOTHY, III. 7. [2253.
The Gospel, in this age, has acquired a consider
able degree of popularity ; so that, wherever it is
preached, it is attended by multitudes who previously
had shewn no regard whatever for religion : yea, to
such a degree does it interest many, that their whole
souls appear to be engaged in an attention to it.
Yet of these, not a few may be characterized by the
words before us : they are " ever learning," losing no
opportunity, whether in public or in private, of gra
tifying their thirst for spiritual instruction, and " yet
never able to come to the knowledge of the truth,"
either in principle or in practice.
1. In principle
[Of those who indulge a spirit of scepticism, and who
make all that they hear an occasion for calling in question the
truth of God, it is not my intention to speak. The persons
alluded to in my text are rather those who take partial views
of the Gospel ; insisting on some particular truth, to the exclu
sion of many others; or espousing some great error, to the
utter subversion of the whole Gospel. Such are they who
deny the corruption of human nature, the necessity of an
atonement, the divinity of our blessed Lord, and the influences
of the Holy Spirit. Persons of this description find pleasure
in nothing which does not foster their heretical opinions : and
to diffuse their principles is as much their labour, as it was
the labour of the Pharisees of old ; who " compassed sea and
land to make one proselyte," whom, by their hostility to the
truth, they reduced to a still more abject condition than them
selves.
Nor are Antinomian heretics less zealous, or less pernicious,
than they. They can hear of nothing, and talk of nothing,
but God s decrees ; whilst all the fruits of Christianity upon
the spirit and temper are as much overlooked as if they were
of no importance whatever to the soul.
But, not to speak of those who magnify any peculiar tenet
to the neglect or exclusion of other truths, a great multitude
of those who hear the Gospel get only a vague and indistinct
view of it; discerning nothing of its transcendent excellency,
as displaying the glory of the Divine perfections, or as suiting
the necessities of fallen man : so that, amidst all their zeal for
the Gospel, they never get their souls duly impressed with it
as " the wisdom of God in a mystery," or " the power of God
unto salvation." I grant that a truly correct and systematic
view of Christianity is not to be expected of those who are
altogether illiterate, and whose opportunities of investigating
2253.] WANT OF PROFITING BY THE GOSPEL, CENSURED. 57
truth are very contracted : but still, the crude notions which
many form of it clearly prove that they have never received
the Gospel aright ; because, if they had really been taught of
God, they could not but discern its fundamental truths ; since,
" what God has hid from the wise and prudent, he does
clearly and most intelligibly reveal to babes."]
2. In practice
[Truly it is very humiliating to see how little the preached
Gospel answers the end for which it is delivered. It is in
tended to transform men into " the image of their God in
righteousness and true holiness :" but on how few does it
produce this saving change ! Many love the preaching of the
truth, like Ezekiel s hearers, who heard him with delight, " as
one that played well upon a musical instrument:" but, like
them, they still retain all their former lusts ; " their heart goes
after their covetousness" and worldly-mindedness as much as
ever ; and their tempers are as unsubdued as ever. See them
year after year ; their besetting sins are still their besetting
sins, with very little, if any, diminution in their power and
ascendency. It is painful to think how many satisfy them
selves with embracing the doctrines of Christianity, without
experiencing its sanctifying effects. Would to God there were
no room for this complaint! but indeed it is so: and there
are many professors of religion who are as much under the
dominion of unhallowed tempers as if they were utter strangers
to divine truth : and, in speaking peace to themselves, they
fearfully " deceive their own souls :" for, whatever they may
think, " their religion is altogether vain c ."
But there are others, who, though not left under the domi
nion of any particular sin, are still obnoxious to the censure
in my text ; because they never attain that knowledge of the
truth which would introduce them into the full liberty of the
children of God. They have heard and learned of men: but
they have never " heard and learned of the Father, as the truth
is in Jesits A ." See what the truth is, as it was revealed by the
Lord Jesus, and as exemplified in his life and conversation :
such is that which we also ought to receive and experience :
and it is a shame to us, if, after having been instructed in the
Gospel for months and years, we do not, in some good mea
sure at least, attain unto it. But many, " who, for the time
that they have been instructed, ought to have been capable of
instructing others, yet need again to be initiated into the very
first principles of the oracles of God e ," and "to be fed with
milk, rather than with meat f ," which their feeble powers aro
not able to digest.]
c Jam. i. 26. a Eph. iv. 20, 21. John vi. 45.
e Heb. v. 1214. t 1 Cor. iii. 14.
58 2 TIMOTHY, III. 7. [2253.
Let me, then, go on to shew,
II. Whence their want of proficiency proceeds
Many more reasons might be assigned for it than
we shall have time to notice. All the different classes
which we have mentioned may trace their ignorance
to causes in some respect peculiar to the class to
which they belong. On the other hand, there are
some causes common to them all, which therefore it
will be more proper for me to specify.
Men come not to the knowledge of the truth,
1. Because the obstacles to knowledge are not
removed from their minds
[The love of this world, and of the things thereof, casts
a thick veil over the human mind, and incapacitates it for the
reception of divine truth. It is like a film over the eyes,
which either distorts objects, or renders the vision of them very
indistinct. Our blessed Lord says, " How can ye believe who
receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that
cometh of God onlys?" In the parable of the Sower, the
cares and pleasures of life are represented as choking the
word, and rendering it unfruitful 11 : and, till the ground has
been in a measure cleared from thorns and briers, it is in vain
to hope that any instruction can avail for the renovation and
salvation of the soul.]
2. Because the means of attaining it are only par
tially used
[Men will hear the Gospel with an almost insatiable avi
dity : but if you follow them to their own homes, you will not
find them meditating upon what they have heard, with an
application of it to their own souls ; nor praying to God to
render it effectual for the ends for which it has been delivered.
When they have heard the word, they think they have done
their duty : but meditation and prayer are not a whit less neces
sary for the improvement of the mind, than either written or
oral instruction. This is particularly noticed by Solomon,
who tells us, that we must add prayer to study ; and not only
search, but " lift up our voice for understanding," if ever we
would attain it 1 : and if we will not use every effort to im
prove what we have heard, it is no wonder that the instruction
we have received fails of conveying any saving benefit to our
souls.]
e John v. 44. h Matt. xiii. 22. Prov. ii. 1 6.
2253.1 WANT OF PROFITING BY THE GOSPEL, CENSURED. 59
3. Because the knowledge acquired is not con
scientiously improved
[Men, under the word, are made to see their own faces
in a glass: but, having no desire to comply with its requisi
tions, they soon " forget what manner of persons they are k ."
If they would follow the instruction which they receive, and
take it as a light to search the inmost recesses of their souls,
and as a touchstone whereby to try their experience before
God, what progress would they make in the divine life ! How
clear would their views become ! how eminent their attain
ments ! But they hear not for this end. The Gospel is not
contemplated by them in this view. The ordinances are
attended by them more for the amusement of their minds
than for the edification of their souls. And hence, though
they are " ever learning," they never acquire that self-know
ledge that shall abase them in the dust, or that knowledge of
God that shall assimilate them to his likeness.]
ADDRESS
1. Those who have not yet attained the knowledge
of the truth
[Consider your responsibility for so abusing the privileges
you enjoy. Were it an earthly science which you could not
dive into or comprehend, you might plead your incapacity to
understand the things submitted to you. But no man is too
weak to comprehend divine truth, if God " open the eyes of
his understanding to understand it." Seek, then, to be taught
of God ; and you shall not be left in darkness. There are,
indeed, two keys of knowledge, which you must obtain ; and
they are, integrity and contrition. Get but " a honest and
good heart," with a soul truly humbled before God ; and you
shall be " guided into all truth," and " be made wise unto
everlasting salvation."]
2. Those who think they have acquired it
[Remember, it is not by its clearness, but by its efficacy,
that you are to judge of the knowledge you have acquired
- Remember, too, that you are still to be " ever learn
ing." Never, in this world, will you have arrived at a full
knowledge of the truth : your views of it will be increasing
through all eternity. Of its sanctifying efficacy, also, you
must have a progressive experience, to the latest hour of
your lives. Be careful, then, that you " grow in grace, as well
as in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ;"
so shall you, ere long, " see him as he is, and be like him for
ever."]
k Jam. i. 23, 21.
60 2 TJMOTHY, III. 10. [2254.
MMCCLIV.
CHARACTER OF ST. PAUL.
2 Tim. iii. 10. Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of
life, purpose, faith, long suffer ing, charity, patience.
IN every age of the world there have been persons
adverse to the truth of God, and actively engaged in
frustrating his designs for the salvation of men. In
the days of Moses, Jannes and Jambres sought to
harden the heart of Pharaoh : and in the apostolic
age, many seducers arose to draw away from the
faith those who had embraced the Gospel of Christ.
Against their influence St. Paul guards his son Timo
thy : and that this young minister might be the bet
ter able to distinguish them, the Apostle reminds
him of " all that he had heard and seen in him."
The word which, in the text, is translated, " thou
hast fully known," is in the margin translated, "thou
hast been a diligent follower of." And from this
little diversity of construction, I shall take occasion
to propose to you the character of the Apostle, for
your investigation, that you may " fully know it ;"
and for your imitation, that you may "diligently fol
low it."
I propose it, then,
I. For your investigation
Take notice, then, what was,
1. His doctrine
[This was uniformly an exhibition of the Lord Jesus
Christ, as crucified for the sins of men, and as effecting thereby
our reconciliation with God On this subject he main
tained the utmost jealousy ; suffering nothing, either in himself
or others, to obscure it. When St. Peter himself had, by
undue concessions, endangered the purity of this doctrine,
St. Paul reproved him before the whole Church". And, if an
angel from heaven had attempted to establish any doctrine in
opposition to this, he was prepared to denounce him as ac
cursed 1 . All that he preached, either led to this doctrine, or
a Gal. ii. 11. b Gal. i. 8, 9.
2254.] CHARACTER OF ST. PAUL. 01
arose out of it ; for " he had determined to know nothing but
Christ, and him crucified."]
2. His spirit
[This was in perfect accordance with the doctrine which
lie preached. " The whole manner of his life" was regulated
by it; and marked a determined " purpose" to live only for
the Saviour in whom he believed, and to put forth all his
powers for the propagation of the Gospel of Christ. In the
discharge of this duty he had shewn the utmost "fidelity ;"
concealing nothing that could be profitable to his hearers, but
boldly " declaring to them the whole counsel of God." He
knew that, " in every place, bonds and afflictions awaited him:"
but " none of these things could move him :" neither counted
he his life dear to him, if only he might discharge, to the
satisfaction of his own conscience, the high office which had
been committed to him. This was his uniform course of life,
from the first moment of his conversion : and all who knew
him could bear witness to it.]
3. His conduct
[His /eal for God was duly blended with love to men.
He bore with all, however weak, however ignorant, however
perverse, they were : nor could the most cruel treatment
divert him from his purpose. In the midst of all the injuries
lie sustained, he still prosecuted his labours of love with all
imaginable " long-suffering, and charity, and patience;" " be
coming all things to all men, if by any means he might save
some;" and accounting it rather a matter of self-congratula
tion than of grief, if he should be called to pour forth his
blood as a libation upon the sacrifice and service of his
people s faith 1 . O that men would study this character, and
seek to have it embodied in their own experience ! J or this
end]
I will propose it,
II. For your imitation
St. Paul himself says, " Be ye followers of me, as I
am of Christ." And so would I say to you, as in
my text, Be diligent followers of him in the ahove
respects.
1. Embrace his principles
[It is observable, that the Apostle himself takes for
granted that every true Christian will resemble him in his
c This is here the import of the word translated " faith."
d Phil. ii. 17.
62 2 TIMOTHY, III. 10. [2254.
views of divine truth : for, having spoken of the sufferings
which he had been called to endure, he adds, " Yea, and all
that will live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution."
" The living godly in Christ Jesus" marks at once " his doc
trine and his manner of life." " A life of faith on the Son of
God " is that which characterizes every Christian under hea
ven. Yet it is not the faith alone which so distinguishes him,
but its operation on the heart and life : it is " the living godly
in Christ Jesus." The faith and practice must go together.
If separated, they are of no value : faith is of no value, if not
productive of works ; and works are of no value, if not pro
ceeding from faith. I wish this to be clearly and fully under
stood. In truth, there is not a person in the universe who can
act up to this high standard, unless he live under the influence
of faith. Nothing but a sense of redeeming love can constrain
any man to such an entire surrender of his soul to God. But,
on the other hand, no man who truly believes in Christ will
ever stop short of it. Be ye, therefore, followers of Paul in
this respect.]
2. Expect his trials
[We are ready to think, that sufferings for righteousness
sake were the portion of the Apostles only, or of the primitive
Christians: but they are, and will inevitably be, the portion of
all believers; as St. Paul tells us in the words which we have
just cited ; " All who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suffer persecution." Persons may be ever so wise, and ever
so prudent, and ever so blameless in the whole of their con
versation ; but they never can escape persecution of some
kind. They may not, indeed, be called to endure the suffer
ings inflicted on St. Paul : through the tender mercy of our
God, that measure of persecution is now prevented by the
laws, which afford protection to all classes of the community :
but hatred, and contempt, and obloquy, will attach to all who
resemble our blessed Lord, and to all who tread in the steps of
the Apostle Paul. It is in vain for any one to hope that he
shall be a follower of Christ without having a cross to bear :
for, " if men called the Master of the house Beelzebub, much
more will they those of his household." In this respect,
therefore, as well as in his religious sentiments and feelings,
every one of you must prepare to resemble this bright pattern
of all that was great and good.]
3. Maintain his conduct
[Imitate his zeal for God : and let it be seen that you live
only for God. Let your whole manner of life be consistent.
Let your determined purpose be manifest : let it be evident to
all, that you have but one wish, one desire. And let nothing
2255.1 THE TRUE GOSPEL HATED. 63
under heaven cause you to turn aside, even for a moment,
from the path of duty. " Be steadfast, and immoveable, and
always abounding in the work of the Lord." At the same
time, imitate his love to man. Whatever treatment you meet
with in the world, be long-suffering and loving towards all ;
and "let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be per
fect and entire, lacking nothing." In all this, let your con
duct be so uniform, that you may appeal to those who have the
nearest access to you, and opportunities of observing you at all
times, that this is the constant tenour of your way. It is an
easy matter to be Christians in public : but, to preserve a per
fect consistency in the whole of your deportment in private,
requires an unintermitted watchfulness, and a measure of grace
that is possessed by few. But, indeed, I must say, that it is
by such fruits alone that the goodness of the tree can be dis
cerned. May God enable all of us so to walk, that we may
be able to make our appeal, both to God and man, without fear
and contradiction ; and to the praise of that God who hath
wrought all our good works within us !]
MMCCLV.
THE TRUE GOSPEL HATED.
2 Tim. iii. 12. AH that will live godly in Christ. Jesus shall
suffer persecution.
WE are apt to imagine that persecution for right
eousness sake was peculiar to the apostolic age :
but St. Paul, reminding Timothy of the various trials
which he himself had endured, tells him, that the
Gospel would continue to give offence, wherever it
was faithfully preached, or consistently professed ;
and that " all who would live godly in Christ Jesus
should suffer persecution." Now, that we may enter
into the true import of these words, and see their
full scope, I will shew,
I. What is the life which is here described
[The Apostle does not say, "All that will live godly:" for
then his assertion would not be true. A conformity to the
law, under which men live, will by no means give oil ence to
those around them. Heathens, of every class and of every
caste, will admire those who are most scrupulously observant
of the rites prescribed by their religious system - The
Pharisees were held in the highest estimation on account of
64 2 TIMOTHY, III. 12. [2255.
the self-denying ordinances which they practised. And papists
are canonized for their penances and pilgrimages, and self-
imposed austerities. Even amongst us, an exact attention to
outward forms and to moral duties will gain for any man the
admiration of all around him. This is not the life which will,
in the general, expose us to persecution, whatever it may do
under some particular circumstances. The life that will involve
us certainly in persecution, is, " the living godly IN CHRIST
JESUS ;" that is, the depending on him for all the grace whereby
to serve our God, and the giving to him the glory of all that we
do. This is what the Gospel invariably requires and this
will still give the very same offence which it gave in former days.
This it was which so incensed Cain against his brother Abel.
Abel offered a burnt-offering as an acknowledgment of his
dependence on the sacrifice of Christ, which should, in due
time, be offered : and God s attested approbation of that
offering stirred up in Cain the murderous purpose to destroy
his brother s life. St. Paul, and all the rest of the Apostles,
suffered on the same account 3 And at this day,
wherever that religion is professed and exemplified, the very
same hatred prevails against it Other doctrines cause
no divisions : but wherever salvation by faith in the atoning
blood of Christ is proclaimed, there is a division among the
people ; " some saying of the preacher, He is a good man :
others saying, Nay, but he deceiveth the people."]
If this be so, it is of importance to shew, in refe
rence to this doctrine,
II. Why it gives such universal offence
It offends,
1. Because it is so incomprehensible in its nature
[A preacher of Christ crucified, whilst he calls men to
the performance of good works, will maintain most strenuously
the impossibility of our being ever justified by them, either in
whole or in part. He requires all to seek acceptance with
God through faith alone Now, people in general
neither do, nor can, comprehend this. If we are not to be
justified by our works in any measure or degree, why need we
perform them? - - Thus they stumble at that very
stumbling-stone which offended the Jews of old, and caused
them to reject the salvation which the less moral Gentiles
most thankfully accepted 1 * ]
2. Because it is so humiliating in its require
ments
a 1 Tim. iv. 10. b Rom. ix. 3033.
2255. J THE TRUE GOSPEL HATED. 05
[What! must the most exemplary Pharisee, who has
been " touching the righteousness of the law blameless,"
renounce all his own righteousness, and come down upon the
very same ground with publicans and harlots, and " enter in
at the strait gate " of repentance and faith, as much as the
most abandoned of mankind? Who can endure to hear that,
or make up his mind to comply with it ? What ! after
having done so many things, must I seek acceptance solely
through the righteousness of another imputed to me? Such
views were, in the days of old, " to the Jews a stumbling-
block, and to the Greeks foolishness :" and such will they be
judged by all, who are not truly enlightened by the Spirit of
God - -]
3. Because it is so exclusive in its pretensions
[If the Apostle would have suffered circumcision to be
retained by the Jews as a joint ground of hope before God,
" the offence of the cross would have altogether ceased." Or
it he would have suffered the name of Jesus to be enrolled
among the gods of Greece and Rome, the Gentiles would have
entirely renounced their opposition to him. But he required
that the whole world should abandon their various grounds of
hope ; and trust exclusively in " the Lord Jesus Christ, as
their wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and re
demption." He declared, that there was no way to heaven
but through Christ ; and that " if an angel from heaven should
preach any other doctrine than this, he must be accursed d . "
This is the testimony which we also bear; and which every
one who receives the Gospel must accede to. And can we
wonder that this rigid and immoveable purpose should give
offence ? Can we wonder, that, when we require every child
of man to bow to this doctrine, and inflexibly to adhere to it,
even though he were menaced with death for his fidelity can
we wonder, I say, that men should rise up against us, and
endeavour to extinguish the light which we set before them ?
It cannot be but that such authoritative demands should give
offence to those who have not obtained grace to comply with
them
Let me then ADDRESS,
1. Those who are intimidated by the opposition
made to them
[" Fear not man, who can only kill the body ; but fear
Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell." " If you
will not lay down your life for Christ, you cannot be his dis
ciples." We cannot lower those terms. Christ died, under
c 1 Cor. i. 23. (1 (lal. i. 8, 9.
VOL. MX. i-
G6 2 TIMOTHY, III. 15. [2256.
the wrath of God, for you: arid it is but a small sacrifice, in
comparison, that he requires you to make for him.]
2. Those who set themselves against the truth of
God-
[You can never prevail, in fighting against God: or, if
you prevail in any particidar instance, you only aggravate so
much the more your own guilt and condemnation. It were
better for you to have a millstone fastened to your neck, and
be cast into the depths of the sea, than that you should offend
one of Christ s little ones.]
3. Those who are enabled to maintain their stead
fastness in the midst of an ungodly world
[Perhaps you have suffered somewhat for the Lord. But
have you found any cause to regret it? Have not the conso
lations of Christ abounded above all your afflictions? You
may possibly have yet more to suffer for his sake. But, for
your encouragement, he has declared, that, " whilst he will
deny those who deny him, he will admit all who suffer with
him to reign with him in glory for ever and ever 6 ." " Be
then faithful unto death ; and expect assuredly, at his hands,
a crown of life."]
e 2 Tim. ii. 12.
MMCCLVI.
THE EARLY KNOWLEDGE OF TIMOTHY.
2 Tim. iii. 15. From a child thou hast known the Holy Scrip
tures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation,
through faith ivhich is in Christ Jesus.
IN seasons of heavy trial it is of great advantage
to have had a long acquaintance with the Holy
Scriptures and the principles of religion. A novice
is apt to be astonished, and to wonder that a change
so favourable as that which he has experienced,
("from a brier to a myrtle-tree %") should excite
nothing but enmity in those around him. But a
person conversant with the word of God, and esta
blished with his grace, has counted the cost : he
knows what he is to expect : he knows what others
have experienced before him ; and the very storms
* Isai. Iv. 13.
. j THE EARLY KNOWLEDGE OF TIMOTHY. G7
which threaten his existence, serve only to confirm
him in the truths he has professed. In this view
St. Paul encourages Timothy to hold fast the profes
sion of his faith without wavering, and to " continue
in the things he had learned," without being intimi
dated by persecutors, or deceived by seducers b .
From his words we shall consider
I. The early knowledge of Timothy-
He was acquainted with the Holy Scriptures
[By " the Holy Scriptures" we must understand, not
merely the words, but the doctrines, of Scripture. Doubtless
Timothy was acquainted with our fall in Adam, and the con
sequent depravity of our nature. He knew also the true
scope of all the sacrifices as pointing to that Lamb of God who
was to take away the sin of the whole world. Nor could he
be ignorant of the necessity of divine, influences, in order to a
renovation of our hearts, and a restoration of the soul to the-
Divine image.
But it was not a theoretical knowledge even of these things
which would have satisfied the mind of the Apostle: it must
have been a practical and experimental knowledge of them.
He must have felt and bewailed the plague of his own heart :
lie must have relied on Jesus as his only hope : he must have
been renewed in the spirit of his mind by the power of the
Holy Ghost : in short, he must have been " a new creature in
Christ Jesus," or else the Apostle would never have thought
his knowledge a proper ground of congratulation.]
These he knew from a child-
fit is generally thought that children are incapable of
understanding the mysterious truths of the Gospel. We
readily acknowledge that these truths exceed the capacity,
not of children only, but of the wisest philosopher ; for " the
natural man cannot know them, because they are spiritually
discerned ." But God can give a spiritual discernment to
children, as well as to adults; and, supposing this to be given,
there is nothing in the Gospel which a child may not under
stand as well as an adult. Children may have their affections
exercised on things proper to call them forth. If God dis
cover to them that they are sinners, and obnoxious to his
wrath, they may fear his displeasure: if he shew them that he
has provided salvation for them in Christ Jesus, they may
hope in his mercy: if he reveal his pardoning love to their
souls, they may rejoice in his salvation. The difficulty lies,
11 ver. 12 15. c 1 Cor. ii. 14.
08 2 TIMOTHY, III. 15. [2256.
not in feeling suitable emotions, but in having a practical con
viction of those truths which are calculated to excite them.
This practical conviction none but God can give ; and he is as
able to give it to one as to another. Indeed God does prefer
those who are babes, in knowledge at least d , and sometimes
also in years; for David says, that " God had ordained strength,
and perfected praise out of the mouth of babes and suck
lings 6 :" and our blessed Lord made it a matter of joy and
thanksgiving, that his heavenly Father had " hid divine things
from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes f ."
Do we desire instances of early conversion? Josiah sought
the Lord at eight years of age g . Samuel was devoted to him
at a still earlier period of life 11 . John the Baptist was filled
with the Holy Ghost even from his mother s womb . But,
if there were no other instance upon record, it would be suf
ficient that we are told, that Timothy knew the Holy Scrip
tures "from a child."]
We shall, with the Apostle, congratulate Timothy,
if we consider,
II. The excellency of that knowledge-
It was "able to make him wise"-
[Wisdom is that which is most of all coveted, and for the
attainment of which no expense or trouble are accounted too
great. Now the wisdom contained in the inspired volume
infinitely surpasses all that can be collected from other books.
It shews us what we were in our original formation, and what
we now are. It shews us wherein the chief good consists, and
how we may attain it. It shews us every thing, whether good
or evil, in its true light, and enables us to form the very same
judgment respecting it that God himself does. It teaches us
how to fill every station and relation of life to the greatest
possible advantage. It even draws aside the veil of heaven
itself, and exhibits to us God in all his glorious perfections.
It reveals to us the three persons of the Godhead, co-operating
in the work of man s salvation, and executing distinct offices
for our eternal good. What is all the boasted wisdom of
philosophers, when compared with this?]
It was able to make him "wise unto salvation "-
[All wisdom that stops short of this is only splendid folly.
How vain will the wisdom of philosophers or statesmen appear,
when once we are entered into the eternal world ! Nothing
d 1 Cor. i. 26 28. c Ps. viii. 2. with Matt. xxi. 16.
f Matt. xi. 25. s 2 Chron. xxxiv. 3.
11 1 Sain. ii. 18, 26. ! Luke i. 1").
225f).] THE EARLY KNOWLEDGE OF TIMOTHY. G9
will then be of any value, but that which led us to the enjoy
ment of God, and to a meetness for glory. Then the excel
lency of Scripture knowledge will appear in all its brightness.
But it must be inquired, How is it that the Scripture effects
this? Is there any thing meritorious in the knowledge of its
truths; or any thing which by its own power can save the
soul? The text informs us respecting these things, and
points out the precise way in which the Scriptures make us
wise unto salvation. Christ is the only Saviour of sinful
man. His obedience unto death is the only ground of our hope.
But how are we to be interested in him? There is but one
way; and that is, by faith. " He that believeth in the Son
hath everlasting life."
From hence then it may be seen how the Scriptures make
us wise unto salvation. They reveal Christ to us as the
Saviour of the world. They commend him to us under every
image that can convey an idea of his suitableness to our
wants, and his sufficiency for our necessities. They hold forth
the promises of God to those who believe in Christ; and
encourage us by every possible argument to rely upon him.
In this manner they work faith in our hearts : and by that
faith we become interested in all that Christ has done and
suffered for us.
Thus, in ascribing our salvation to the knowledge of the
Scriptures, we do not derogate from the honour of Christ ;
since it is only by revealing his work and offices to us, and l>v
leading us to depend upon him, that they become effectual for
this blessed end. But at the same time we put an honour on
the Scriptures, to which no other book has the smallest claim.
Other books may be channels for conveying divine knowledge;
but the Bible alone is the fountain from which it flows. The
knowledge therefore of the Bible is of supreme excellence;
and the earliest possible attainment of it is of unrivalled
importance.]
This being a very instructive record, I propose to
shew,
III. The instruction which his attainment of it con
veys to us
Surely it affords us matter
1. For inquiry respecting ourselves
[I ask not, whether the same thing can be affirmed of
you, as having taken place from your early childhood ; but
whether it is true concerning you at this moment? Do you
know the Holy Scriptures, and the great leading doctrines
contained in them? Do you know them practical/// and
experimentally, so as really to feel your lost and undone
70 2 TIMOTHY, III. 15.
state and to be fleeing to Christ as your only
refuge and to be devoting yourselves to him as his
redeemed people? Have you in relation to these things the
very mind of God, bringing you into a conformity to his
blessed will ? Possess what ye may, you have not
attained to true wisdom, if you possess not this state of mind.
No other wisdom than this will avail to your salvation : and,
if you lack this, you will, to all eternity, lament and bewail
your folly. I entreat you then to examine carefully whether
ye be " living a life of faith in the Son of God, who has loved
you and given himself for you?" Is your daily walk with
God such, that the Apostle Paul would pronounce with con
fidence respecting you the testimony which he thus confidently
bare to his beloved Timothy ? Dear brethren, I beseech you,
"prove your own selves;" and pray God to set his seal to the
truth of this change as wrought in you, and as exemplified in
the whole of your life and conversation !]
2. For direction respecting others
[Parents, does not this record speak forcibly to you?
Here you have an evidence that children are capable of re
ceiving all the blessings of salvation, supposing they be taught
by you, and taught of God also. Without the Divine blessing,
even Paul might plant, and Apollos water, in vain : but the
labours of a Lois and an Eunice k shall not be lost, if God be
pleased to accompany them with his Holy Spirit to the soul.
Remember, a responsibility attaches to you for their souls,
similar to that which belongs to your minister in reference to
your souls. I pray God, that your children may not have to
reproach you in the day of judgment, and to trace it to you,
that they were left to perish for lack of knowledge.
And, young people, tell me whether you do not envy
Timothy the distinction here given him? Have you not in
your own consciences a conviction, that his was true wisdom,
and that in attaining the knowledge of salvation through a
crucified Redeemer, you best answer the end of your being.
Lose not then the present opportunity, before the cares and
pleasures of life have hardened your hearts, and seared your
consciences as with a hot iron.
To people of every age this record speaks forcibly, and says,
Labour by all possible means to convey to those around you
this knowledge which proved so great a blessing to this happy
youth 1 ]
k 2 Tim. i. 6.
1 If this be delivered as a Sermon for Missions, or for Charity
Schools, or Sunday Schools, or Infant Schools, an appropriate line of
Exhortation must be here added, to shew what has been done, or may
be done, and how richly sitccess in one single instance will repay for
all the efforts. that can he used.
2257.] EXCELLENCY OF THE SCRIPTURES. 71
MMCCLVII.
THE EXCELLENCY OF THE SCRIPTURES.
J3 Tim. iii. 16, 17. All Scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correc
tion, for instruction in righteousness : that the man of God
may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good ivorks.
LITTLE do men in general think how much they
are indebted to God for the possession of the Holy
Scriptures. This was the exclusive privilege of the
Jewish nation for fifteen hundred years : and it ele
vated them above all other people upon the face of
the earth. Their chief advantage, as St. Paul tells
us, was, that " unto them were committed the Ora
cles of God." In the knowledge of these Timothy
was early instructed ; and " by these he was made
wise unto salvation." Doubtless the way of salva
tion was not so clearly marked in them, as in the
Christian Scriptures : but still, to any one who reads
the writings of Moses and the Prophets with humility
and prayer, there was every needful instruction both
in relation to faith and practice. The whole Mosaic
dispensation taught him this great lesson, that he
must be saved by a vicarious sacrifice ; and all the
prophets directed his views to that great sacrifice,
which should, in due time, be offered by our Lord
Jesus Christ. It is of these Scriptures that St. Paul
speaks in my text; and in the commendation which
he bestows upon them, we see,
I. Their true origin
The Scriptures of the Old Testament were " given
by inspiration of God"-
[Of this there is abundant evidence, in the very nature of
the things which they contain. What could Moses have known
about the creation of the world, of the fall of man, and of the
facts relating to the deluge, if they had not been revealed to
him by God ? What could he have known of the nature and
perfections of God ; or of the means by which fallen man was
to be restored to his favour; or of the Prophet who should in
due time be raised up from amongst his brethren, to be, like
him. a Mediator, a Lawgiver, a Redeemer, a Governor ? How
7k> 2 TIMOTHY, III. 16, 17. [2257.
could lie have ever given so perfect a code of laws as those
contained in the Ten Commandments ; and so complicated a
system of ceremonial laws, that should shadow forth, in every
particular, the work and offices of the Messiah, together with
the privileges and enjoyments of his redeemed people? Or if
we suppose a finite creature endued with wisdom sufficient for
such a work (which yet cannot for a moment be imagined), it
cannot be conceived that he should impose his own inventions
on the world as a revelation from God : for if he was a good
man, he would never have attempted so impiously to deceive
the world ; nor, if he was wicked enough to execute so criminal
a project, would he ever have given so holy a law, which con
demned even the smallest approach to such impiety, and gave
the perpetrator of it no hope of ever escaping the wrathful
indignation of Almighty God. The miracles wrought by him
are a farther confirmation of his divine mission, and of his being
inspired of God to declare all which has been transmitted to
us in his writings.
Respecting the prophets also, we may say, that their inspira
tion of God can admit of no doubt; since it was not possible
for them, if uninspired, so minutely and harmoniously to fore
tell so many events, which all came to pass agreeably to their
predictions.]
The same may be said in reference to the writers
of the New Testament
[Whilst the Apostles and Evangelists always refer to the
Old Testament as inspired of God, and declare, with one con
sent, that the writers of it delivered not mere sentiments of
their own, but " spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost a ," they profess to be themselves inspired by that same
Spirit, in all that they declare; and they wrought miracles
without number in confirmation of their word. In what they
wrote indeed, they expressed themselves, each in his own pe
culiar style, as any other writers would have done : but in the
matter of what they wrote, they were inspired of God ; and in
the manner of expressing it they were preserved by that same
Spirit from any error or mistake. So that of the whole Scrip
tures, both of the Old and New Testament, we may affirm,
that God is the Author of them, and that every part of them
has been " given by inspiration from him."]
The Apostle proceeds to declare,
II. Their primary use
This is expressed in four different terms ; which
a 2 Pet. i. 1<J 21.
2257.] EXCELLENCY OF THE SCRIPTURES. 73
yet may properly be comprehended in two. The
Scriptures are profitable,
1. For the establishment of sound doctrine
[They declare all that is needful for us to know : and they
lay down every " doctrine" of our holy religion with the utmost
precision. At the same time, they enable us to " reprove," or,
as the word imports, to refute, by the most convincing mode
of argumentation, every error, which ignorant or conceited men
may labour to maintain. There is such a perfect unity in the
system of revelation, that you cannot overthrow one part,
without overturning the whole. Let the divinity of our Lord
and Saviour be denied, and you entirely destroy the doctrine
of the atonement also. Let the influences of the Holy Spirit
be denied, and the transformation of the soul into the Divine
image must fall with it. Let the merit of good works be
maintained, and the whole covenant of grace is annihilated.
There are indeed matters of less moment, which are less clearly
revealed, and respecting which persons of equal piety may
differ: but in every thing which is of fundamental importance,
\ve find in the Scriptures the most abundant means of dis
covering truth, and of refuting error. To them we must on
all occasions make our appeal, and by their testimony we must
abide.]
2. For the securing of a holy practice
[Innumerable evils obtain in the world : but every one of
them is condemned in the inspired volume ; whilst, at the same
time, the ways of true piety are pointed out with clearness to
all who desire to walk in them. There is not so much as a
secret evil of the heart which does not find " correction" there,
nor any attainment of true righteousness in relation to which
we do not find the most explicit " instruction." The works of
the flesh, and the fruits of the Spirit, are set in contrast with
each other, and are portrayed with such exactness, that there
is no room left for ignorance to any one who will search the
Scriptures, nor for mistake to any one that is truly upright
before God.]
From these immediate uses we may easily discern,
III. Their ultimate design-
To render men " perfect," is the great object of
God, in all that he has revealed : and this the Scrip
tures are admirably calculated to effect ; since they
leave nothing wanting, either to ministers or others,
71 2 TIMOTHY, III. 1C, 17. [2257.
1. For their instruction
[We cannot conceive of any good work which a person
instructed out of the Holy Scriptures is not fitted to perform.
Take him as " a man of God," discharging the ministerial
office : he may learn from the Scriptures how to demean him
self in the Church of God so wisely and so profitably, that
nothing shall be wanting to the edification of his flock. Or,
take him as a private individual : take him in his secret walk
ivith God : What needs he more than is there contained ?
What can any man add to the directions there given, or to
the examples that are there set before us? or what further
light can any creature in the universe desire ? Take him in
his conduct towards his fellow-creatures : What duty is there
which is undefined ? Let a person occupy any station, or
sustain any relation of life, husband or wife, parent or child,
master or servant, magistrate or subject, he will equally find
such directions as shall leave him at no loss how to please God,
or to approve himself to men.]
2. For their encouragement
[There is not a motive capable of influencing the human
mind which is not there suggested and enforced. Not only
are the tremendous sanctions of heaven and hell set forth in
order to work upon our hopes and fears, but all the wonders
of redeeming love are there displayed in such majesty and
splendour, that no person irradiated with their light can want
any thing to increase their constraining influence. Besides,
the promises of God contained in this blessed book are so rich,
so free, so full, that nothing can be added to them : nor can a
man be in any circumstances whatever, wherein suitable pro
vision is not made for his encouragement and support ; so that
he is not only " furnished for every good work," but assured
of success in all that he attempts to execute : if he be called
to act, he is " able to do all things through Christ who
strengthened! him;" or, if he be called to guffer, he is made
" more than conqueror through Him who loved him."]
Such then being the excellency of the Holy Scrip
tures, let every one of you set himself to dis
charge his DUTIES in relation to them
1. Refer every thing to them as your standard
[Rest not in the opinions of men, whoever those men may
be : but bring every thing to the law and to the testimony :
for, whoever they be, if they speak not according to this word,
there is no light in them b . You cannot but know, that, both
b Isai. viii. 20.
2257.] EXCELLENCY OF THE SCUIPTURES. 75
in relation to faith and practice, the most grievous errors
abound. Bring therefore your sentiments and your conduct
to this test. See whether your views of yourself, and of Christ,
agree with those which the Scriptures exhibit ; and see whe
ther your life, spirit, and conduct, be such as those of the
Apostles were. I charge you, before God, to try yourselves by
this touchstone. It is not a superficial view of these matters
that will suffice. You may easily deceive yourselves ; but you
can never deceive God : and it is not by any standard of yours
that he will try you, but by the standard of his own word.
Oh ! search and try your ways : " examine yourselves, whether
ye be in the faith : prove your own selves :" so shall you have
the testimony of a good conscience now, and attain acceptance
with God in the eternal world.]
2. Consult them in all things as your guide
[Difficulties will often arise : and if you go to man for
counsel, you will most generally be led astray; since none but
those who have imbibed the spirit of the Scriptures them
selves, can declare the sublime principles which they inculcate.
Study then the Holy Scriptures from day to day, and that too
with a direct view to your conduct; so that on any emergency
you may have readily occurring to your mind such passages as
are fitted to regulate your judgment, and to direct your paths.
" Instructed by them, you will be wiser than your teachers ,"
and will be enabled to " walk wisely before God in a perfect
way d ."j
3. Beg of God, who has revealed them to the
world, to reveal them also in your heart
[Plain as the Scriptures are, they are yet " a sealed book"
to all whose eyes have not been enlightened by the Spirit of
God. The natural man, how learned soever he may be, cannot
enter into their spiritual import, because he has not a spiritual
discernment 6 . The Apostles themselves, after all the instruc
tion which they had received, both in public and private, from
their Divine Master for above three years, yet needed to have
" their understandings opened by him, that they might under
stand the Scriptures." So do ye need the teachings of God s
Spirit, without which you will be in darkness to the latest hour
of your lives. Pray then to him, as David did ; " Open thou
mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law !"
Then shall you " be guided into all truth ;" and find the
Scriptures fully adequate to all the gracious ends for which
they have been revealed.]
c Ps. cxix. 99, 130. d Ps. ci. 2. e 1 Cor. ii. 11.
2 TIMOTHY, IV. 1, 2. [2258.
MMCCLVIII.
CHARGE TO MINISTERS AND PEOPLE.
2 Tim. iv. 1,2. / charge thee therefore before God, and the
Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead
at his appearing and his kingdom ; preach the word ; be
instant in season, out of season ; reprove, rebuke, exhort
with all long -suffering and doctrine.
RELIGION is a matter of far greater importance
than men generally imagine. The appointment of an
order of men on purpose to instruct mankind in the
knowledge of it, and by all possible means to advance
it in the world, is itself a proof, that, in God s esti
mation, it is indispensably necessary for the happi
ness of man. In truth, there is nothing else that is
of any importance in comparison of it. How St. Paul
laboured to diffuse it, is well known. And here we
see how earnestly he inculcated on others the duty
of labouring to the utmost to excite an attention to
it, throughout all classes of the community. A more
solemn charge can scarcely be conceived than that
which he here gives to Timothy. The age of this
pious youth might render him too diffident and timid
in the discharge of his ministerial office : and there
fore, in this epistle, St. Paul again gives him the
solemn charge which he had repeatedly given in his
former epistle a , to acquit himself to that God who
had sent him, and to that Saviour who would judge
him in the last day.
In discoursing on the words before us, I shall
consider,
I. The charge given b
" The word " is that which every minister must
" preach." He is not at liberty to amuse the people
a 1 Tim. v. 21. and vi. 13.
b If this were a subject addressed to Ministers, the first head
should constitute the whole body of the Sermon ; and the second
head be reserved, in a way of corollary, for the conclusion of it. But,
to a common audience, the present distribution is better.
2258.] CHARGE TO MINISTERS AND PEOPLE.
with the fancies and conceits of men, but must de
clare simply the mind and will of God. He is sent
of God for that very end. He is an ambassador from
God to man, authorized to declare on what terms
God will be reconciled to his rebellious subjects.
And this ministry he is to discharge,
1. With assiduity
[Day and night should he labour in his vocation, with all
diligence. The priests under the law had their appointed
seasons for sacrifice: but, for the ministration of the Gospel,
and the advancement of the interests of the Redeemer s king
dom, no time should be deemed unseasonable. A servant of
God should never lose sight of the object which he is com
missioned to promote. Whether in public or in private,
whether on the Sabbath or other days, whether early or late,
whether in a season of peace or of the bitterest persecution,
he should be alike active, and alike intent on fulfilling the
will of his Divine Master. He should "be instant in season,
out of season"
2. With fidelity-
[In his discourse, he should adapt himself to the necessities
of men, and " change his voice towards them as occasion may
require. If there be errors in the Church, he must "reprove"
them, and establish the truth in opposition to them. If there
be any sins committed, he must " rebuke" them; and, if need
he, with sharpness and severity too, " that the name of God
and his doctrine be not blasphemed." If there be any dis
couraged by reason of the difficulty of their way, he must
exhort and comfort them ; according to that injunction of the
prophet, " Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the
feeble knees ; and say to them that are of a fearful heart,
Fear not; your God will come and save you c ." He is not
to fear the face of man ; but to address all, without respect of
persons; and to declare to them the truth, " whether they will
hear, or whether they will forbear d ."]
3. With perseverance
[He may labour long, and see but little fruit of his labour:
but, " like the husbandman, he must wait with patience for
the early and the latter rain c ." He must be content to give
" line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there
a little." And if, in return for all his kindness, he meet with
nothing but reproach and persecution, he must still persist in
using his best efforts, if by any means he may at last be made
c Isai. xxxv. 3, 4. d E/.ek. ii. 7. e Jam. v. 7.
78 ^ TIMOTHY, IV. 1, 2. [2258.
useful even to one. Confident that his "doctrine" is right,
he. must labour to inculcate it on all; and leave to God the
issue, whether it be to blind and harden men, or to convert
and save their souls f .
All this is the bounden duty of a minister : and of his
labours in it he must give account to " the Judge of quick
and dead, in the great day of his appearing."]
But, that we may adapt the subject more to the
edification of all, let us consider,
II. The charge implied
It is evident, that, if such be the duties of those
who preach, there must be corresponding duties
attaching to those who hear. On these, therefore,
the charge enjoins,
1. A due improvement of the ministry
[If we are to " preach the word," you, my brethren, are
to hear it : and to hear it too, " not as the word of man, but
as the word of God," and as the word of God to your souls.
Nor are you evei\to become remiss in your attention to it.
It should " be daily your delight," and " more to you than
your necessary food." At all times, and under all circum
stances, you should look to it, as your sure directory, and
your never-failing support.
Whether read in your secret chamber, or preached to you
in the public assembly, your submission to it should be deep
and unreserved. Every sentiment of your heart should be
regulated by it ; every lust should be mortified in obedience
to it ; and every duty performed in accordance with it. You
must, in particular, guard against itching ears and a rebellious
heart; neither affecting novelty on the one hand, nor quarrel
ling with old-established truths on the other g .
Nor should you ever be " weary in well-doing." Whatever
it may cost you to conform to God s blessed word, it must be
done : nor should you ever rest, till your whole souls be cast
into the very mould of the Gospel.]
2. A diligent attention to your own personal
concerns
[If ministers have their duties, so have you also yours, to
which you are bound to pay all possible attention. Though
you minister not in public, you should be as priests in your
own houses, and perform towards your respective families all
that the most faithful minister attempts for you.
f Isai. vi. 9, 10. s vcr. - 3, 4.
2259. J A CHRISTIAN S DYING REFLECTIONS. 79
But, supposing that you have none to whom you owe these
friendly offices, you must at least watch over your own souls,
and with all diligence and fidelity endeavour to bring them
into subjection to the commands of God. You must bear
in mind your responsibility to God for your every act, and
word, and thought ; and must so walk before your Lord and
Saviour, that you may stand with boldness and confidence
before him in the great day of his appearing.]
In conclusion, let me bring the "CHARGE" more
directly to your hearts and consciences
[Almighty God is here present with us, and has heard
every word that has been spoken to you. The Lord Jesus
Christ, too, is present with us ; and records in the book of his
remembrance every word that is delivered in his name. And
soon will he descend from heaven, and summon the universe
to his tribunal. Then will his kingdom be complete ; and
every member of it, from the first to the last, shall stand
before him. Now, as in the immediate presence both of the
Father and of the Son, I speak unto you ; and in their sacred
name I charge you all. You shall all, ere long, stand at the
judgment-seat of Christ, and " give an account of yourselves
to God ;" and receive at his hands according to what you have
done in the body, whether it be good or evil. It becomes
YOU, then, to " receive with meekness every word" that is
delivered, as it becomes me also to " speak even as the oracles
of God." The Lord grant that I may so speak, and ye do, as
those who shall be judged by God s perfect law h ; and that
both the one and the other of us may so approve ourselves to
Christ, as " not to be ashamed before him at his coming 1 ."]
! Jam. ii. 12. j 1 John ii. 28.
MMCCLIX.
A CHRISTIAN S DYING REFLECTIONS.
2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. / liave fought a good Jiyhl, I have finished
my course, I have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid
up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous Judge, shall give me at that day : and not to me
only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
CHRISTIANITY adapts its comforts to every
part of our existence ; but its influence is peculiarly
visible at the close. St. Paul, when expecting death,
was not without the most comfortable reflections,
80 9, TIMOTHY, IV. 7, 8. [2259.
I. In his review of the past
He had had different views of life from what are
generally entertained
[Many think they have little to do but to consult their
own pleasure ; but St. Paul had judged, that he had many
important duties to fulfil.]
He had devoted himself to the great ends of life
[He had maintained a warfare against the world, the
flesh, and the devil : he had run his race with indefatigable
zeal and ardour a : he had kept the faith with undaunted courage
and constancy : he had disregarded life itself when it stood in
competition with his duty b .]
Hence the approach of death was pleasant
[He enjoyed the testimony of a good conscience : he could
adopt the language of his Lord and Master he was a pri
soner without repining, or wishing to escape : he was con
demned, and could wait with complacency for the tyrant s
stroke.]
In consequence of this, he was happy also,
II. In the prospect of what was to come
He had long enjoyed the earnest of eternal bless
ings 1 . He looked forward therefore now to the full
possession of them
[A crown of righteousness means a most exalted state of
holiness and happiness in heaven ; nor did he doubt but that
such a reward was laid up for him.]
He did not however expect it on account of any
merit in himself
[He speaks of it indeed as bestowed in a way of " right
eous" retribution ; but he expected it wholly as the " gift" of
God through Christ 6 .]
Nor did he consider it as a gift peculiar to himself
as an Apostle
[The "longing for Christ s second coming" is a feeling
common to all Christians f . For them also is this crown of
righteousness reserved g .]
a 1 Cor. ix. 26. b Acts xx. 24. and xxi. 13.
c John xvii. 4. d Eph. i. 14.
e Rom. vi. 23. f 2 Pet. iii. 12.
e Heb. ix. 28.
APOSTASY OF DEMAS. 81
INFER h
1. How does the Apostle s experience condemn
the world at large
[The generality are strangers to spiritual consolations : but
there is no true religion where they are not experienced. Let
all consider what would be their reflections, and prospects, if
they were now dying: Let all live the life of the righteous, if
they would die his death.]
2. How amply does God reward his faithful ser
vants !
[Poor and imperfect are the best services that they can
render : yet how different is their state from that of others,
both in and after death ! Let all then devote themselves
entirely to God.]
11 If this were the subject of a Funeral Sermon, it might be improved
in reference to the deceased and the tmrcirors, to shew that the former
resembled the Apostle, and to stimulate the latter to a due improve
ment of their time.
MMCCLX.
APOSTASY OF DEMAS.
2 Tim. iv. 10. Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this
present world.
TO have our minds well established with prin
ciples, is doubtless very desirable : but in matters
which are confessedly beyond the comprehension of
man, we should be modest and diffident in drawing-
conclusions from them, lest, through an excessive
zeal for one principle, we subvert others which are
not less true or less important. An inattention to
this rule has been productive of incalculable injury to
the Church of Christ : for persons giving themselves
up, as it were, to some particular sentiment, have
wrested the Scriptures to make every part of them
speak the same language ; and have indulged in most
acrimonious feelings against all who did not accord
with their views. But we should remember, that
there are in revelation, as in all the other works of
God, depths which we cannot fathom ; and that our
VOL. XIX. G
82 2 TIMOTHY, IV. 10. [2260.
true wisdom is, not so much to be making the Scrip
tures a theatre whereon to display our controversial
skill, as to deduce from them the great practical
lessons which they were intended to convey. Were
we, for instance, to take occasion from the passage
before us to argue about the decrees of God, and the
final perseverance of the saints, we might dispute
well, but it would be to little profit ! but, if we enter
upon the subject with fear and trembling, and with
a view to our own spiritual advantage, we shall find
it replete with the most valuable instruction to our
souls.
Let us consider then,
I. The fact here recorded
A more melancholy fact is scarcely to be found in
all the sacred records. Let us notice,
1. The fact itself
[Demas was a man of great eminence in the Church of
Christ. St. Paul, in the salutations which usually close his
epistles, twice mentions him in immediate connexion with St.
Luke ; " Salute Lucas and Demas." In one of these places he
calls Demas one of his fellow-labourers in the work of the
Gospel a : in the other, after having mentioned Demas with
honour, he gives to another minister, Archippus, a most solemn
warning, on account of the lukewarmness which he had mani
fested in the discharge of his ministry : " Say to Archippus,
Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord,
that thou fulfil it b ." From hence then we conclude, that he
saw no occasion for such an admonition in the case of Demas.
Yet behold, we find at last, that " Demas had forsaken him,"
and gone to a great distance from him, and altogether aban
doned the work in which he had been engaged. Had we been
told, that this servant of Christ had erred in some particular,
or even that he had declined in zeal for his Master s cause, we
should not have been so much surprised ; because we are aware
that the greatest and best of men are but weak, and that there
are changes in their spiritual, as well as their corporeal, health :
but, when we are informed that he forsook the Apostle, for
sook him too in his greatest extremity, when by reason of his
imprisoment and approaching martyrdom he needed all possible
support; and that, in forsaking the Apostle, he forsook his
Lord and Master also ; we are confounded, almost as the
* Philcm. ver. 24. b Col. iv. 14, 17.
APOSTASY .OF DF.MAS. .
Philistines were, when they saw their champion dead upon
the field.
Seeing the fact, we are eager to inquire into,]
2. The occasion of it
[Whence could this proceed ? To what shall we trace an
event so calamitous, so unforeseen? We are not left in doubt
respecting it : the Apostle, at the same time that he announces
the fact, declares the reason of it : " Demas hath forsaken me,
having loved this present world." Alas ! alas ! What did he
find in this world worthy of his affections? Had he never
known any thing of spiritual and eternal objects, we might
account for his attachment to the things of time and sense:
but we are amazed, that, after having once tasted of living
waters, he could ever afterwards find satisfaction in the polluted
streams of this world.
But, supposing him to love this present world; is there any
thing in that to draw him from Christ, and to make him cast
off all concern for his eternal interests ? Yes : the love of God
and of the world are incompatible with each other; insomuch
that, " if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not
in liim c ." Light and darkness are not more opposed to each
other than are the things of this world, and the things of God.
" The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of
life," what have they to do with heavenly -mindedness? "The
person who liveth in pleasure, is dead whilst he liveth d :" " the
cares and indulgences of this world choke the good seed, and
render it unfruitful :" and the seeking honour from men,
instead of seeking it from God only, is absolutely incompatible
with a saving faith f . The cross of Christ, if duly valued, would
crucify us unto the world, and the world to us g .
Here then we see whence this deplorable evil proceeded.
Demas had yielded to a concern about his carnal ease and
interests. This gradually weakened his anxiety about his spi
ritual and eternal welfare. Then he became remiss in secret
duties: then his strength to resist temptation declined : then his
natural corruptions regained their former ascendant over him :
then the Spirit of God, being grieved, and quenched, left him to
himself: then he became the sport of temptation, and the prey
of Satan : and then his abandonment of Christ and of his
Gospel followed of course.]
Whilst we mourn over this unhappy man, and la
ment his apostasy, let us proceed to consider,
II. The instruction to be derived from it
c 1 John. ii. 1"). rt 1 Tim. v. 6. e Matt. xiii. 22.
f John v. 41. f Gal. vi. M.
f.
9
84- 2 TIMOTHY, IV. 10. [2260.
Surely we may learn from it
1. That whatever attainments any man has made,
it becomes him not to be too confident about the
issue of his spiritual warfare
[If we are upright before God, we need not give way to
distressing fears : they are dishonourable to God, and unpro
fitable to ourselves. But at the same time we should guard
against a presumptuous confidence : for no man knows what a
day may bring forth. David, previous to his fall, if told
what sins he would commit, might have replied with Hazael,
" Is thy servant a dog, that he should do such things?" And
Peter, so far from thinking it possible that he should ever deny
his Lord, was confident that nothing could ever shake his con
stancy. So, if Demas, when, in his better state, had been told
in what it might end, he would have thought it absolutely
impossible that he could ever so " make shipwreck of his faith."
Shall we then, after seeing the failure of such men presume to
say, " My mountain standeth strong, I shall not be moved?"
Let us never forget, that if God withdraw his hand from us
for one moment, we shall fall and perish : and let our pi-ayer to
him therefore be continually, " Hold thou me up, and I shall
be safe." To every man among you, though he were as emi
nent as St. Paul himself, I would say, " Be not high-minded,
but fearV "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed
lest he fall 1 ."]
2. That we must watch with all carefulness against
the first beginnings of spiritual decay
[Had Demas attended to the first encroachments of a
worldly spirit, and resisted them as he ought, he had never been
left to final apostasy. But the first breach being neglected, an
inundation ensued; and the leak being disregarded, his vessel
sank. Let me then put you all upon your guard against a
decay in your spiritual affections, and an attempt to serve
God with a divided heart. From the moment that you em
brace the truth, and " put your hand to the Gospel plough,
you must not so much as look back k ;" you must "forget all
that is behind, and press forward to that which is before 1 ." O,
" remember Lot s wife" 1 ." Her sin might be thought small:
but it was not so in the estimation of her God : and she is
made a monument to all future generations. Be " jealous
over yourselves with a godly jealousy ;" and to the latest hour
of your lives adopt the habit of St. Paul, who " kept under his
body, and brought it into subjection, lest, after having preached
to others, he himself should be a cast-away"."]
11 Rom. xi. 20. > 1 Cor. x. 12. k Luke ix. 61, 62.
1 Phil. iii. 13. m Luke xvii. 32. 1 Cor. ix. 27.
APOSTASY 01 DEM A
8.3
3. That, if we have unhappily forsaken the Lord,
the door of mercy is not yet closed against us
[Of Demas we know no more than what is here spoken.
But of Mark, who is also called John, and who was a compa
nion of Paul and Barnabas in their travels, we do know. He,
like Demas, forsook those holy men in a time of danger, and
"went no more with them to the work ." But God in mercy
granted him repentance unto life ; so that he not only obtained
mercy of the Lord, but became afterwards profitable even to
St. Paul himself in the discharge of his apostolic office 1 . Let
not any one therefore despair. Let it be remembered, that as
long as we are in the body, God addresses us in these gracious
words, " Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your
backslidings, and love you freely 1 ." Be persuaded then to
return to him without delay: for if you return not, " it would
have been better for you never to have known the way of
righteousness, than, after having known it, to turn from the
holy commandment delivered to you r ." But, if you return
with penitential sorrow, then shall your Father s arms be open
to receive you, and every member of his family give thanks to
him in your behalf.]
Acts xiii. 13. and xv. 38.
i ver. 13. the very verse after the account of unliappy I)CHKIK.
f i Jcr. iii. 22. Hos. xiv. 4. 2 Pet. ii. 120, _ !.
T I T U S.
MMCCLXI.
FALSE PROFESSORS DESCRIBED.
Tit. i. 16. They profess that they know God; but in works they
deny him.
AT a time when the profession of godliness is
everywhere abounding, it is of peculiar importance
to lay down marks whereby the upright may be dis
tinguished, and the hypocritical be put to shame.
There have ever been in the Church, many, whose
characters would not bear investigation, and whose
conduct was the very reverse of what their profession
required. In the days of the Apostle there were
" many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, who
subverted whole houses, teaching things which they
ought not, for filthy lucre sake 3 :" and of these he
hesitated not to declare, that " whilst they professed
that they knew God, they in works denied him."
Now, as such persons abound in all ages, I will
enter into a fuller consideration of the character here
delineated ; and observe respecting it, that it is,
I. A common character
[As all who were the natural descendants of Abraham
were considered as professing the faith of Abraham, even whilst
they were living altogether without God in the world ; so all
who name the name of Christ are considered as Christians,
though they never think of departing from any iniquity which
a ver. 10, 11.
2261.1 FALSE PROFESSORS DESCRIBED. 87
their hearts affect. But it is not of such persons that 1 intend
to speak. The persons mentioned in my text evidently wished
to be regarded as religious : and therefore it is to persons of
that description that my attention shall be confined. These,
indeed, embrace a great variety of character : for, whilst some
take up religion in a formal kind of way, as a means of gain
ing a reputation for sanctity, others vaunt themselves in an
experience of its power upon their souls. Of the former class
are those whom St. Paul speaks of, when he says, " Behold,
thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and niakest thy
boast of God, and knowest his will, and approves! the things
that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law ; and
art confident, that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light
of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a
teacher of babes, icliich hast the form of knowledge and of the
truth in the latc b ." Of the latter class are they whose hearts
have been impressed in a measure with divine truth, and
brought in some degree under the power of religion, but who
yet hold fast some secret lusts which they will not part with.
Of such the Prophet Isaiah speaks : " They call themselves of
the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel ."
Of such also God speaks by the Prophet Ezekiel : "They
come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee
as my people, and they hear thy words ; but they will not do
them : for with their mouth they shew much love, but their
heart goeth after their covetousness d ."
Now, of both these classes there are very many in the pre
sent day. At a former period, the pharisaical class were the
more numerous; but at this time the hypocritical. In some
respects they differ widely from each other, and hold each
other in contempt : but, in the main point, they are agreed ;
namely, in not walking agreeably to their profession. Neither
the one nor the other give themselves up wholly to their
God : some hidden abomination, like a worm at the root, im
pedes their fruitfulness in good works, and prevents them
from " bringing forth any fruit to perfection." Were I to
distinguish between them, I should say, the one profess reli
gion generally ; the others profess religion of a superior cast :
but, when the whole of their spirit, and temper, and conduct,
are compared with the Scripture-standard, they shew that
their hearts are not right with God ; and that, whilst " they
draw nigh to him with their lips, their hearts are far from
him 6 ."]
It is also,
II. An awful character
b Rom. ii. 17 20. c Isai. xlviii. _>.
d Kzek. xxxiii. 31. c Isai. xxix. 13.
88 TITUS, I. 16. [2261.
In two respects do these persons fearfully betray
their extreme folly and wickedness :
1. They grievously dishonour God-
fin proportion as they profess a zeal for God, is God
implicated, if I may so say, in the evils which they commit.
Not that God has indeed any responsibility on their account :
but an ungodly world, who hate religion, will take occasion to
condemn religion itself for the faults of those who proi ess it,
yea, and to " blaspheme the very name of God himself on
their account." Unreasonable as it is that " the way of truth
should be evil spoken of" on account of those who walk not
according to its dictates, still this is what men will do, in vin
dication of themselves, and for the purpose of decrying all
serious godliness f . But this greatly aggravates the guilt of
those who thus expose religion to contempt, and cast a
stumbling-block in the way of a perishing world. Truly it
were " better that a millstone were hanged about the neck of
such persons, and that they should be cast into the sea," than
that they should continue to involve themselves in such tre
mendous guilt.]
2. They fatally deceive their own souls
[No persons are less disposed to suspect themselves than
these. Their profession stands with them in the place of
practice. They think only of what they do ; but never reflect
on what they leave undone. If they " say, Lord, Lord," it
never comes into their minds to inquire how far they " do the
things which he requires of them." The godly themselves
express not a greater confidence of their state before God,
than these. Hence it is that they are so frequently warned
against self-deceit; "If a man think himself to be something
when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself^." And again ;
" If any man seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue,
but deceiveth his oivn heart, that man s religion is vain h ."
Of such persons there is little, if any, hope : because they
imagine themselves already possessed of all that the Gospel
offers, and therefore are deaf to the invitations and entreaties
which they deem applicable only to persons less favoured than
themselves.]
Such an one is truly,
III. A pitiable character-
In the midst of light " they walk on still in dark
ness "-
f "2 Pet. ii. 2. Rom. ii. 23, 24. 1 Tim. vi. 1.
f Gal. vi. 3. Jam. i. 26.
2261.] FALSE PROFESSORS DESCRIBED. 89
[Professing that they know God, they take, of course,
the Scriptures for their guide : but, with respect to the real
life of godliness, they are yet ignorant, because that " dark
ness has blinded their eyes ." In truth, they see every thing
through a wrong medium, and as it were with a jaundiced
eye ; and the very principles which they profess serve only to
beguile them to their ruin. Unhappy souls ! " whose very
light is darkness k ," and whose knowledge causeth them to
err 1 !]
With all imaginable opportunities for salvation,
they improve not any for their good
[They have the ordinances of religion, yea, and take
pleasure in them too" 1 ; but they remain unhumbled, and
" uncircumcised both in heart and life." The very word they
hear, which to others is " a savour of life unto life," proves
to them only " a savour of death unto death"." The more
formal of these characters satisfy themselves with a mere round
of duties; and the more enlightened of them place their own
feelings and conceits in the stead of vital godliness; and thus
both the one and the other turn the very means of salvation
into occasions of augmented guilt and misery. The very sun
and rain, which ripen others, do but prepare them for fuel in
the fire of hell .]
Buoyed up with the most glorious hopes and
prospects, they have nothing awaiting them but the
most fearful disappointment
[They dream of heaven at the termination of their earthly
pilgrimage : but, alas ! what horror will seize hold upon them
at the instant of their departure hence ! It is not only the
tree which bears bad fruit, but that which bears not good fruit,
that will be cast into the fire p : not those only who had no
lamps, but " those whose lamps were destitute of oil, that will
be cast into outer darkness, where is weeping and wailing and
gnashing of teeth q ." They will carry their delusive hopes
even to the bar of judgment : but their claims will be disallowed,
and their pleas be of no avail 1 . Their eyes will then be
opened to see their folly ; and they will be left to reap for ever
the fruit which they have sown 5 ."]
Let me now entreat you to INQUIRE into,
1. Your profession
1 John ii. 11. k Matt. vi. 23. Isai. xlvii. 10.
m Isai. Iviii. 2. n 2 Cor. ii. 16. Hob. vi. 7. S.
P Matt. vii. 19. <i Matt. xxv. S 12. with Matt. viii. 12.
r Matt. vii. 22. 2:5. - (Jal. vi. 7, S.
90 TITUS, II. 0. [22(32.
[Think not that a merely speculative knowledge, how
ever extensive it be, will suffice. To know God aright, you
must know him, as reconciled to us in Christ Jesus ; and must
so know him, as to renounce every other hope, and to rely
altogether on Christ alone. Then only do we know him
aright, when we " cleave unto Christ with full purpose of
heart."]
2. Your practice-
fit is to little purpose that we hear and approve of the
word, " unless we be doers of it also 4 :" nor can we have any
satisfactory evidence that we know God, except by obeying
his commandments 11 . See, then, that with your profession
there be also a holy consistency of conduct: and take care to
" shew forth your faith by your works."]
1 Jam. i. 22 25. u 1 John ii. 3.
MMCCLXII.
SOBER-MINDEDNESS.
Tit. ii. 6. Young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded.
THE first object of a Christian minister is, to pro
claim the Gospel of salvation, in all its freeness and in
all its fulness. This is the foundation of a sinner s
hope : and unless this foundation be firmly laid, it
will be in vain to attempt any superstructure ; since
from the Gospel alone, and from Christ as revealed
in it, can we obtain that strength which is necessary
for the production of any good work whatever. But,
when we have made known " the truth as it is in
Jesus," we must go on to inculcate holiness in all its
branches ; and not in general terms only, but with a
special reference to every particular person whom
we may have occasion to address. Titus, though
but a youth, was enjoined to officiate with all the
authority of a divinely-appointed minister ; and to
address with equal fidelity the aged and the young,
on the subject of their respective duties : " Speak
thou the things which become sound doctrine :" ex
hort alike " the aged men, and aged women," " the
young women also, and the young men," giving to
each the instruction suited to his own peculiar state
2262. J SOBER-MINDEDNESS. 91
and condition. To the aged men and aged women
many important hints were to be offered ; as to the
young women also, through the medium of the ma
trons. In every one of these, sobriety of mind bears
a part a : but in the instructions which he is to give
to young men, it comprehends the whole ; since, if
they be thoroughly imbued with that, it will form
their whole character agreeably to the mind of God.
I shall not, however, so confine my observations to
the one sex as to overlook the other, but shall address
myself indiscriminately to youth in general. And in
doing this, I will,
I. Shew whence it is that young people need this
particular counsel
1. They are inexperienced as to the world
[The world, in the eyes of youth, looks fair, and pro
mises much happiness to those who will worship at its shrine.
Its allurements are set forth on every side ; and its votaries
are everywhere inviting us to participate their delights. But
its choicest flowers conceal a thorn ; its sweetest draughts are
impregnated with poison. Of all that it contains, there is not
any thing that is capable of affording any permanent satisfac
tion : on every thing in it is stamped, in characters that are
indelible, this humiliating inscription, " Vanity and vexation
of spirit," Over this, however, is hung a veil, which time and
experience alone are, for the most part, able to remove. What
wonder then is it, if youth, who see nothing but the outward
garb of the world, admire its glittering vanities, and give them
selves to the pursuit of its empty shadows ? What wonder, if,
after having got a taste of its delusive pleasures, they suppose,
of course, that the harvest will correspond with the first-fruits?
But the event never justifies the expectation. To none did
the world ever yet prove a satisfying portion : and therefore,
in the commencement of their course, the counsel in the text
is necessary for every child of man.]
2. They are but little acquainted with their own
hearts
[They take credit to themselves for meaning well : and
they do perhaps, on the whole, mean well : entertaining no
deliberate purpose to offend either God or man. But they are
a ver. 2, tri i}<t>noi (ic : ver. -J,
92 TITUS, II. 6. [2262.
not aware how strong a bias there is within them, or through
what a delusive medium they behold the things around them.
Their prejudices are all in favour of the world: their passions
are pleading strong for indulgence : self-denial is in its very
nature painful : and, if only they keep within the bounds pre
scribed by custom, they can see no reason why they should
debar themselves from any species of indulgence. By gratifi
cation, their dispositions, their habits, their very sentiments,
are confirmed; and thus they proceed in their vain career;
" calling good evil, and evil good; putting darkness for light,
and light for darkness ; bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter V
in a word, whilst they feed on ashes, a deceived heart turns
them aside ; so that they cannot deliver their, souls, or say,
"Is j;here not a lie in my right hand c ?" How needful for
them the counsel in our text is, must be obvious to every
considerate mind.]
3. They are surrounded on every side with evil
counsellors and vicious examples
[The great mass of mankind are walking after the imagi
nation of their own hearts, and not after God. Nor are they
ashamed of what they do : yea, rather, they glory in their
shame, and with undaunted effrontery persuade all around
them to " follow their pernicious ways." The votaries of real
piety, on the contrary, are few ; and in their habits they affect
an unobtrusive concealment. Of course, young people con
ceive that the great majority are right ; and that those who
are walking in a narrow and unfrequented path, are actuated
by some vain conceit, against which it will be well to guard.
The invitations too of the gay are welcome, because they meet
with a congeniality of sentiment and feeling in the youthful
bosom ; whilst the lessons of wisdom and piety find a very
reluctant admission into the soul. We need only observe how
different an ear young people turn to the counsels of wisdom,
and of folly, and we shall see the importance of the admoni
tion in our text, and the necessity of " exhorting them to be
sober-minded."]
Having shewn what need young people have of
counsel, I will,
II. Suggest such counsel as their situation requires
Under this head we might range through the whole
field of practical wisdom, and bring forth topics
which would occupy a whole volume. But we must
content ourselves with a few brief hints :
b Isui. v. 20. c Isai. xliv. 20.
SOBER-MINDEDNESS. 93
1. Some more general
[The first point that I would press on your attention is,
to get your souls deeply imbued with the concerns of eternity.
If the concerns of time have the ascendant in your hearts,
there can be no hope of your ever being sober-minded, because
your views and dispositions are radically wrong. You are
immortal beings ; and must never forget, that in a few more
hours you will be standing at the tribunal of your Judge,
and be consigned by him, for ever, either to heaven or to
hell. If that be kept out of sight, every species of delusion
will be harboured in the mind, and will reign without con-
troul
But it is not a general conviction that will suffice. No :
you must pray to God Lo guide you in every step of your ivay.
So " deceitful is sin," and so " desperately wicked is the
heart," that no human care can preserve you. It is God
alone that can keep the feet of his saints. Had you all the
zeal of Peter, you might, in a time of trial, deny your Lord,
and dissemble with your God. To your latest hour you must
entreat of God to guide you; for "it is not in man that
walketh to direct his paths ;" and, in every step you take, you
must say, " Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe"
You must also be diligent in studying the word, of God.
There is something very imposing in the maxims of the world ;
and you will easily be misled by them. But the word of God
must be your rule : it must be the one touchstone, by which
you are to try every sentiment and every practice. You must
take the sublimest precepts of Holy Writ, and set before you
the brightest examples that arc there exhibited : you must
behold an Abraham sacrificing his only son at the command
of God ; and a Moses giving up all the treasures of Egypt,
that he might participate affliction witli the people of God.
You must follow the Apostle Paul in all his diversified scenes
of trial ; and see what spirit he manifested, what conduct he
pursued. Above all, you must contemplate your blessed Lord
and Saviour in every step which he took whilst sojourning in
this polluted world. It is in this way that you must attain
sobriety of mind. The world will call these things en
thusiasm: but, whatever the world may say or think, your
wisdom is to " be conformed to Christ," and to " walk in all
things as he walked."]
2. Others more particular
[General rules will scarcely suffice to mark with sufficient
accuracy the counsel in my text. I would therefore descend
to a few particulars ; and say, Consider what becomes you in
your place and station. There are particular duties assigned
to different situations : to YOU who are in earlier life, the
94- TITUS, II. 6. [2262.
virtues of modesty, and diffidence, and submission, are of
prime importance. Nothing is more hateful than conceit
and waywardness in the youthful mind. The younger are
especially commanded to be in subjection to the elder, and
especially to those elders who are placed by God in authority
over us : and, wherever there is sobriety of mind, there will
be a willing obedience to all lawful authority, and a diligent
performance of every appointed duty. Humility, respect,
and deference to the judgment of superiors, are pre-eminently
characteristic of a well-regulated mind.
I would also say, Consider, on every occasion, what im
pression your conduct is likely to make on others. This is
on no account to be overlooked. An inattention to it is
productive of incalculable evil. We are not at liberty to cast
stumbling-blocks in the way of others. Religion of itself,
however careful we may be, will be sufficiently offensive to
the carnal mind, without having any thing added to it by our
imprudence. We should guard, as much as possible, that
"our good may not be evil spoken of:" and if, as must of
necessity be the case, we are constrained in many things to
act contrary to the wishes of those around us, we should seek
to disarm their hostility by meekness and gentleness, and not
to augment it by petulance and indiscretion.
One great help to sobriety will be, (what I would next
recommend,) to choose for your associates the prudent and
discreet. " He that walketh with wise men," says Solomon,
" will be wise ; but a companion of fools will be destroyed."
We naturally drink into the spirit of those with whom
we associate: and we are told from authority, that " evil
communications will corrupt good manners." Indeed, from
evil connexions the most deplorable consequences ensue. It
is no uncommon thing for a man, who at first only " ivalks
occasionally in the counsel of the ungodly, to come ere long to
stand in the way of notorious sinners, and at last to be found
sitting in the seat of the scornful." If you would walk wisely,
put away from you the light, the vain, and those who are
indulging any sinful propensity ; and gather round you the
wise, the discreet, the holy. This will render your path in
comparably more safe and easy, and will contribute to fix in
you such habits as are " praise-worthy and of good report."
To this I would add yet further, Examine your own motives
and principles of action, with all possible care and diligence.
Many persuade themselves that they are doing right; whilst
all but themselves see, that they are acting a very unworthy
part. James and John were at one time actuated by ambition,
and at another time by revenge ; whilst yet they had not the
smallest consciousness of deviating from the path of duty.
But they " knew not what spirit they were of." And so it is
J SOBER-MINDEDNESS. 9/j
with us: \ve may think that we are under the influence of
a religious principle ; whilst, in i act, we are manifesting a
temper that is truly Satanic. Let us remember this ; that
whatever proceeds from pride, from passion, from interest, or
from any corrupt principle whatever, is wrong; and that we
then only are right, when our zeal for God is blended with
love to man, and when we are ready to weep over the persons
whom we are constrained to offend.
Lastly, I would say, Be open to conviction. Diffidence
becomes every child of man. A backwardness to receive re
proof, or to listen to one who would point out to us a wiser
path, is a strong presumptive evidence that we are wrong.
We should be jealous over ourselves. We see mistake and
obstinacy in others; and we should guard against them in
ourselves. Our first care must be, to " prove all things," and
then to " hold fast that only which is good."]
ADDRESS
1 . Those who arc yet strangers to " sound doc
trine "
[You have at least seen, this day, that the Gospel is not,
as some slanderously affirm, opposed to morality: you have
seen, on the contrary, that " the grace of God which bringeth
salvation teaches us to live soberly, righteously, and godlv, in
this present world 1 ." Do not then impute, as many do, tin-
indiscretions of professors to the Gospel which they profess.
It is not to be supposed that young people should all at once
become so wise and discreet, that they shall not err in any
thing. They are " of like passions with yourselves," and are
in the midst of a tempting and ensnaring world ; and have,
moreover, deceitful hearts, and a subtle adversary ever en
deavouring to turn them aside. Be not offended, then, if
you do see somewhat of indiscretion in youthful professors.
Ascribe it not to their religion, but their inexperience: and if
you see them growing in sobriety of mind and consistency of
conduct, let the honour redound to that Gospel by which they
are animated ; and to that God, by whose gracious influences
they are instructed and upheld.
There is one danger to which the indiscretions of religious
people may expose you ; and that is, the confounding of cold
ness and indifference with sobriety of mind. Be assured, that
however faulty religious professors may be in the exercise of
their zeal, you can never be right in indulging a lukewarm
spirit. Thin is offensive to God, and odious in the extreme.
Religion requires the heart, the whole heart; nor will God
d vcr. 11, 12.
9(5 TITUS, II. 6. [2262.
be satisfied with any thing less. I call upon you, therefore,
to embrace the truth, and to walk worthy of it : and, instead of
censuring the infirmities of the weak, be yourselves examples
to them in every thing that becometh the Gospel of Christ.]
2. Those who desire to serve the Lord
[Your very desires, if not duly regulated, may lead you
astray. You may imagine that your duty to your God and
Saviour supersede your duties to men ; but it does no such
thing. The duties of the second table are as binding as
those of the first: only they must, to a certain degree, be
subordinated to them. I say, to a certain degree ; for if there
be only a positive institution, the duty of love will super
sede that : but, where the commands are of a moral and
religious nature, there God must be obeyed, and not man.
You must endeavour to make all your duties harmonize : for,
most assuredly, there is no real contradiction between them ;
and in endeavouring to fulfil them all, you must not forget that
declaration of Solomon, " I, Wisdom, dwell with Prudence."
Prudence is not that contemptible virtue which many people
imagine : it calls into action much thought, and care, and
self-denial, and love ; and it tends, in a very high degree, to
recommend the Gospel. On the exercise of it much of God s
honour depends : for imprudence will cause his ways to be
evil spoken of, and " his very name to be blasphemed." On
the exercise of this, too, the eternal welfare of multitudes
depends. No one knows how many might be " won by the
good conversation of God s people, who never will be won by
the word." Let this be kept in mind: you will at least cut
off occasion from those who seek occasion against you ; and
put to silence the ignorance of foolish men ; and, who can
tell ? you may peradventure, by the light which shines from
you, constrain many to " confess, that God is with you of a
truth," and lead them "to glorify God in the day of visitation 6 ."
Guard, then, against extremes of every kind; and say with
David, " I will walk wisely before thee, in a perfect way f ."
Guard against extremes in austerity; extremes in fear; ex
tremes in confidence ; extremes in boldness and forwardness.
There is a season for every grace, and a limit to the exercise
of every grace. Your faith must be tempered with fear ; your
boldness, with modesty; your zeal, with love: you must have
a spirit of "power, and of love, and of a sound mind" You
must not so tremble, as to forget that you have cause to rejoice;
nor so rejoice, as to forget that you have cause to tremble :
you must combine the two, and " rejoice with trembling." In
this way you will attain sobriety of mind, and " adorn the
doctrine of God our Saviour in all things."]
e 1 Pet. ii. 12. f Ps. ci. 2.
2263. J THE GOSPEL PRODUCTIVE OF HOLINESS. 97
MMCCLXIII.
THE GOSPEL PRODUCTIVE OF HOLINESS.
Tit. ii. 11 14. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath
appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness
and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and
godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope,
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ ; ivho gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works.
WHEREVER Christianity has been professed,
the standard of public morals has been raised : and
in proportion as it has gained an ascendant over the
hearts of men, it has approved itself the friend and
parent of good works. That many have perverted
its principles, and walked unworthy of them, is true ;
but this can form no solid objection against the
Gospel itself, any more than the abuse of reason or
of the blessings of Providence can disprove the benefit
of them when rightly used. We will not concede
one atom of the freeness or riches of divine grace ;
yet will we maintain that the Gospel is conducive to
morality : for at the same time that it brings salva
tion to men, it inculcates every species of moral duty,
and enforces the practice of godliness in the most
authoritative and energetic manner. This is evident
from the words before us ; in which we may notice,
I. The character of the Gospel
The Gospel is supposed by many to be no other
than a remedial law
[The law given to man in Paradise, and republished on
Mount Sinai, required perfect obedience. But fallen man can
never obtain happiness on those terms. Hence many imagine,
that Christ came to publish a new law, suited to our weak and
fallen state. They suppose that his death atoned for our past
transgressions ; and that it purchased for us a power to regain
heaven by an imperfect but sincere obedience. Thus they
make the Gospel to differ very little from the law. They
reduce indeed the standard of the law ; but they insist upon
obedience to its requirements, as the terms on which alone we
VOL. XIX. II
98 TITUS, II. 1114. [2263.
are to be saved. They ascribe to Christ the honour of obtain
ing salvation for us on these favourable conditions ; but they
make our performance of the conditions themselves to be the
true and proper ground of our acceptance with God.]
But the Gospel, as described in the text, is widely
different from this
[Such a law as these persons substitute for the Gospel,
could not properly be called " grace ;" nor could it be said to
" bring salvation ;" for it does not bestow life as a gift, but
requires it to be earned ; and brings only an opportunity of
earning it on easier terms. But that Gospel, which in the
Apostle s days " appeared to all men," was " a dispensation of
grace a :" it revealed a Saviour; it directed our eyes to Christ,
as having wrought out salvation for us ; and it offered that
salvation to us freely, " without money and without price."
This is the true character of the Gospel. It is grace, mere
grace, and altogether grace from first to last. It brings a free,
a full, a finished salvation. It requires nothing to be done to
purchase its blessings, or to merit them in any measure. In it
God gives all, and we receive all.]
Yet there will be no room to charge the Gospel as
licentious, if we consider,
II. The lessons it inculcates
We have before said, that it requires nothing as
the price of life. But as an evidence of our having
obtained life, and in a variety of other views, it re
quires,
1. A renunciation of all sin
[By " ungodliness " we understand every thing that is
contrary to the first table of the law ; as profaneness, unbelief,
neglect of divine ordinances, &c. And, by " worldly lusts "
we understand "all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life b ;" or, in other
words, the pleasures, riches, and honours of the world. All
of these are to be "denied" and renounced. As, on the one
hand, we are not to dishonour God ; so neither, on the other
hand, are we to idolize the creature. Nor is it against open
transgressions merely that we are to guard, but against the
secret " lusts " or desires. Tne very inclinations and propen
sities to sin must be mortified. This is indispensably neces
sary, to prove that we have embraced the Gospel aright : for,
" they that are Christ s have crucified the flesh with the affec
tions and lusts ."]
a Eph. iii. 2. b 1 John ii. 15, 1C. c Gal. v. 24.
2263.1 THE GOSPEL PRODUCTIVE OF HOLINESS. 99
2. A life of universal holiness
[We have duties to God, our neighbour, and ourselves.
Those which relate to ourselves are comprehended under the
term " sobriety," which includes the government of all our
passions, and the regulation of all our tempers. " Righteous
ness " fitly expresses our duty to our neighbour, which briefly
consists in this, The doing to him as we would that he, in a
change of circumstances, should do unto us. " Godliness "
pertains more immediately to the offices of piety and devotion,
and marks that respect which we ought to have in our minds
to God in all that we do. Thus extensive are the injunctions
of the Gospel : it makes no abatement in its demands : it gives
no licence to sin : it does not allow us to reduce its requisitions
to our attainments ; but urges us to raise our attainments to
the standard which God has fixed. Nor is it on some parti
cular occasions only that it requires these things : it enjoins us
to " live" in this way as long as we are " in this present world,"
having the tenour of our lives uniformly and perseveringly con
formed to these precepts. Such is that holiness which the
Gospel requires, and " without which no man shall see the
Lord."]
Sufficient has already been stated to shew the
practical tendency of the Gospel. But its tendency
will yet further appear from,
III. The motives it suggests
The instructions which the Gospel affords, are not
mere directions, but commands, enforced with the
most powerful motives that can actuate the mind of
man. Those suggested in the text may be consi
dered as referring to,
1. Our own interest
[There is a day coming, when our adorable Emmanuel,
who once veiled his Deity in human flesh, will appear in all
the glory of the Godhead. At that period, all that we have
done for God shall be brought to light: and though our good
works shall not be the meritorious ground of our acceptance
with him, they shall be noticed by him with approbation, and
rewarded with a proportionable weight of glory. This is
" that blessed hope " which the Gospel has set before us, and
to which it directs us continually to " look."
And is not this sufficient to instigate us to holiness ? If we
kept this in view, how unremitted would be our diligence, and
how delightful our work !]
2. Christ s honour
H 2
100 TITUS, II. 1114. [2263.
[At the first appearance of the Lord Jesus, the scope and
tendency of his doctrine were shadowed forth in miracles : the
devils were cast out by him, and all manner of diseases were
healed. But the full intent of his incarnation and death were
not understood till after the day of Pentecost. Then the
honour of his Gospel was completely vindicated. Then the
most abandoned characters were changed : the lion became a
lamb ; and those who had borne the very image of the devil,
were changed into the image of their God. At his next
appearing, this will be more fully manifest. Then the lives of
all his people will bear testimony respecting the end of his
voluntary sacrifice. It will then be seen, beyond controversy,
that " he gave himself to redeem us," not merely from condem
nation, but from sin ; from the love and practice of all iniquity ;
and to " purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good
works." Then " will he see of the travail of his soul, and be
satisfied :" then also will " the ignorance of foolish men be
silenced :" and then will " Christ be glorified in his saints, arid
admired in all that believe d ;" for every grace they have
exercised will " tend to his praise and honour and glory " in
that solemn day 6 .
And is not this also a strong motive to influence our minds ?
Can we reflect on the honour which will accrue to him, when
the purifying efficacy of his Gospel shall be seen in all the
myriads of his redeemed ; can we reflect on this, I say, and
not long to add a jewel to his crown ?]
INFER
1. How little do they know of the Gospel who live
in any kind of sin !
[It matters little whether men profess themselves fol
lowers of Christ, or not, if they indulge iniquity in their
hearts. " Can one born of God habitually commit sin ?"
No f : " we have not so learned Christ, if so be we have heard
him, and been taught by him as the truth is in Jesuss." The
Gospel " teaches us to deny and renounce all sin " without
exception. Whoever ye be, therefore, who live by any other
rule than that which the Gospel proposes, know that ye will
surely be confounded in the day of Christ s appearing. And
the only difference between those who professed, and those
who despised, the Gospel, will be, that " they who knew their
Lord s will and did it not, will be beaten with the more and
heavier stripes."]
2. How happy a world would this be, if all em
braced and obeyed the Gospel !
a 2 Thess. i 10. e 1 Pet. i. 7.
f 1 John iii. 9. s Eph. iv. 20, 21.
2264.] WORK OF THE TRINITY IN REDEMPTION. 101
[All kinds of iniquity would be renounced, and all
heavenly graces be kept in exercise. There would be no
public wars, no private animosities, no wants which would not
be relieved as soon as they were known. Evil tempers would
be banished : the pains arising from discontent or malice
would be forgotten. Peace and love and joy would univer
sally abound. Surely we should then have a heaven upon
earth. Let the Gospel be viewed in this light. Let us con
ceive the whole world changed like the converts on the day of
Pentecost ; and then we shall indeed confess its excellence,
and pray that " the knowledge of the Lord may cover the
earth as the waters cover the sea."]
MMCCLXIV.
THE WORK OF THE TRINITY IN REDEMPTION .
Tit. iii. 1 7. sifter that the kindness and lore of God our
Saviour toward man appeared, not by tcor/cs of rigliteousness
which ice hare done, but according to Jiis mercy he s ared UK,
by the was/ting of regeneration, and renewing of (lie Holy
Gliost ; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Cliriat
our Saviour ; that being justijiea by his grace, ive should be
made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
THE doctrine of the Trinity must be acknowledged
to be deeply mysterious, and utterly surpassing our
weak comprehensions. Yet is it so clearly laid down
in the sacred writings, that we cannot entertain a
doubt of its truth. Indeed, without admitting a
Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, the Scriptures
are altogether inexplicable. What interpretation can
we put on those words which are appointed to be
used at the admission of persons into the Christian
Church ? they are to be baptized in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Here are evidently three distinct Persons, all placed
upon the same level, and all receiving the same divine
honour : to suppose either of them a creature, is to
suppose that a creature may have divine honours
paid to him ; when we are expressly told that God is
a jealous God, and that he will not give his glory to
another : and therefore, while we affirm that there is
but one God, we cannot but acknowledge that there
102 TITUS, III. 47. [2264.
is, in some way incomprehensible by us, a distinc
tion of persons in the Godhead. This is further con
firmed by the manner in which the inspired writers
set forth the work of redemption : they frequently
speak of it as effected by three distinct Persons,
whom they represent as bearing three distinct offices,
and as acting together for one end : thus St. Peter
says, " We are elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, through sanctification of the
Spirit, and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
Christ :" thus also St. Paul, in the passage before us,
having represented all men, Apostles as well as
others, in a most wretched state both by nature and
practice, proceeds, in the words of my text, to set
forth the work of redemption. He begins with
tracing it up to the Father, as the source from whence
it springs : he then mentions the Holy Spirit and
Jesus Christ, the one as the Author who procures it,
the other as the Agent who applies it ; and then he
concludes with declaring that the glorification of sin
ful man is the grand end, for the accomplishing of
which the Sacred Three co-operate and concur :
"After that the kindness and love of God our
Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of rege
neration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which
he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ
our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we
should be made heirs, according to the hope of
eternal life."
From these words we will take occasion to unfold
the glorious work of redemption, from its first rise to
its final consummation ; and herein to set before you
its original procuring efficient and final cause.
I. Its original cause
The original cause of our redemption is represented
in my text to be " the kindness and love of God the
Father." God is love in his own nature ; and every
part of the creation bears the stamp of this perfec-
2264.] WORK OF THE TRINITY IN REDEMPTION. 103
tion : the whole earth is full of his goodness. But
man, the glory of this lower world, has participated
the fruits of his kindness in far the most abundant
measure ; having been endued with nobler faculties,
and fitted for incomparably higher enjoyments than
any other creature. In some respects, God has loved
man more than the angels themselves : for when
they fell, he cast them down to hell, without one
offer of mercy : but when man transgressed, God
provided a Saviour for him. This provision, I say,
was wholly owing to the love of God the Father : it
was the Father who, from all eternity forseeing our
fall, from all eternity contrived the means of our
recovery and restoration. It was the Father who
appointed his Son to be our Substitute and Surety ;
and in due time sent him into the world to execute
the office assigned him : and it is the Father who
accepts the vicarious sacrifice of Christ on our behalf.
He accepts at the hands of his own Son the payment
that was due from us, and confers on us the reward
which was due to Christ. Thus the Father s love con
trived, appointed, and accepts the means of our sal
vation ; and therefore in my text he himself is called
" our Saviour ;" " the love of God our Saviour."
This title belongs more immediately to the Son, who
died for us : but yet, as the Father is the original
cause of our salvation, he is properly called " our
Saviour." Nor is it the text only that represents the
Father s love as the source of our redemption ; the
Scriptures uniformly speak the same language :
" God so loved the word, that he gave his only-
begotten Son :" " God commendeth his love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us :"
and again, " Herein is love ; not that we loved God,
but that He loved us, and sent his Son to be the pro
pitiation for our sins."
This love, however, did not fully appear till after
the ascension of our blessed Lord. The text says,
" After that the kindness and love of God our
Saviour towards man appeared" The word in the
original refers, I apprehend, to the shining forth of
101 TITUS, III. 47. [22(M.
the sun. Now the sun shines with equal brightness
when it is behind a cloud, or when this part of the
globe is left in midnight darkness ; only it is not
visible to us till it actually appears above the horizon,
or till the clouds that veil it from our eyes are
dissipated. So the love of God has shone from all
eternity ; " He has loved us," says the prophet, " with
an everlasting love." But this love was behind a
cloud till our Lord had finished his course upon
earth : and then it appeared in all its splendour : so
that now we can trace redemption to its proper
source : and instead of imagining, as some have
done, that the Father was rilled with wrath, and
needed to be pacitied by the Son, we view even
Christ himself as the Father s gift, and ascribe every
blessing to its proper cause, the love of God.
It is true, however, that much was necessary to be
done, before this love of God could shed forth its
beams upon us. We proceed therefore to set before
you,
II. The procuring cause of our redemption-
Tins in my text is set forth both negatively and
positively : it was not any works of righteousness
which we have done, but it was Jesus Christ : they
who are saved will no doubt abound in works of
righteousness; but these works are not the procuring
cause of our redemption. What good works did
Adam perform before God promised to send him a
Saviour ? What good works can any man do, before
God endues him with his Holy Spirit ? Or even after
our conversion, what works of ours can challenge so
glorious a reward ? Yea, when do we perform any
work whatever, which is not miserably defective, and
which does not need the mercy of God to pardon it .
Every one who knows the spirituality of God s law,
and the defects that are in our best performances,
will say with the Apostle Paul, " I desire to be found,
not having my own righteousness, but the righteous
ness which is of God by faith in Christ. We
mav well acknowledge, therefore, as in the text, that
2264. J WORK OF THE TRINITY IN REDEMPTION. 105
we are saved, not by works of righteousness which
we have done. The only procuring cause of our
salvation is Jesus Christ. Every tiling which we
receive conies to us on account of what he has done
and suffered : if the Father s love appear to us, or if
the Spirit be shed forth upon us, it is, as the text
observes, " through Jesus Christ." It was his death
which removed the obstacles to our salvation : the
justice of God required satisfaction for our breaches
of the divine law: the dishonour done to the law
itself needed to be repaired : the truth of God, which
was engaged to punish sin, needed to be preserved
inviolate. Unless these things could be effected,
there could be no room for the exercise of mercy,
because it was not possible that one perfection of the
Deity should be exercised in any other way than in
perfect consistency with all the rest. But the death
of Christ removed these obstacles. Christ offered
himself as an atonement for sin ; and at once ho
noured the law, satisfied justice, and paid the utmost
farthing of our debt : thus, " mercy and truth meet
together, and righteousness and peace kiss each
other :" yea, by this means, " God is faithful and just,
(not to condemn us, but) to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Nor is it in this view only that Jesus Christ pro
cures our salvation : He has taken upon him the
office of an advocate, which he is ever executing in
heaven : " He ever lives," says the Apostle, " to make
intercession for us." He pleads our cause with the
Father : he urges his own merits on our behalf: like
the high-priest of old, he presents blood, yea, his
own blood, before the mercy-seat, and fills the most
holy-place with the incense of his own intercession.
Thus does he continually prevail for us ; and we, for
his sake, are loaded with all spiritual and eternal
benefits.
That we obtain mercies thus, by virtue of his
death and intercession, is evident also from other
Scriptures ; the Apostle says, that we have redemp
tion through Christ s blood ; and our Lord says, " I
106 TITUS, III. 47. [2264.
will pray the Father, and he shall send you another
Comforter :" so that, while we trace back our redemp
tion to the Father s love, we ascribe it also to the
mediation of the Son.
The third Person in the ever-blessed Trinity also
bears his part in this glorious work : we shall proceed
therefore to set before you,
III. The efficient cause of our redemption
As our salvation is not procured by our own merit,
so neither is it effected by our own power : the text
informs us, that we are " saved by the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holv Ghost."
9
The washing of regeneration may here refer to the
rite of baptism, whereby we are introduced into the
visible Church ; and the renewing of the Holy Ghost,
to the internal change by which we are made real
members of Christ s body ; or, they may both mean
the same thing, the latter being explanatory of the
former; and this I rather suppose to be the true
meaning, because they are both put in opposition to
the works of righteousness done by us : but, which
ever it be, the Holy Ghost is here declared to be the
only efficient cause of our salvation. It is He who
regenerates us, aad makes us partakers of the Divine
nature : we are of ourselves dead, and therefore
cannot restore ourselves to life : we have only
an earthly and carnal nature, and therefore cannot
perform the operations of an heavenly and spiritual
nature : this is effected only by " the washing of re
generation, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." We
cannot of ourselves secure an interest in Christ, or
discern the excellency of those things which he has
purchased for us by his blood. We are told, that
" the natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God, nor can know them, because they are
spiritually discerned :". It is the Spirit s office to
reveal them to us. Our Lord says, " I will send you
the Holy Ghost, and he shall take of mine, and shall
shew it unto you." So neither can we feel the kind
ness and love of God the Father, unless it be shed
2264.1 WORK OF THE TRINITY IN REDEMPTION. 107
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto
us. Thus we shall remain ignorant of the Father s
love, and uninterested in the mediation of the Son ;
yea, we shall continue dead in trespasses and sins, if
the Holy Ghost do not work effectually in us. Not
withstanding all that the Father and the Son have
done for us, we must eternally perish, if we be not
renewed and sanctified by the influences of the
Blessed Spirit. No resolutions or endeavours of our
own will effect the work : nothing less than a divine
power is sufficient for it : we must therefore expe
rience the agency of the Holy Ghost on our own
hearts, or remain for ever destitute of the salvation
provided for us.
Under the law, whatever good appeared in the
saints of God, was wrought in them by the Holy
Spirit. But they received the Spirit in so small a
measure, in comparison of what is vouchsafed to us
under the Christian dispensation, that He can scarcely
be said to have been given at all till after our Lord s
ascension. The Evangelist says, that " the Holy
Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not
yet glorified :" but from the time of that first effusion
of the Holy Ghost, even to this present day, the Holy
Ghost has been poured out abundantly, or richly, as
the original word means, upon the Christian Church :
so that not a few only may expect to feel his in
fluences, but all ; even all that will ask for them in
Jesus name.
IV. We come now, in the last place, to speak of
the final cause of our redemption
The final cause is the end ; and, after having seen
how the Sacred Three are engaged, we are naturally
led to inquire, What is the end proposed ? What is
it which these Divine Persons intend to accomplish ?
The text furnishes us with a full and sufficient answer.
It tells us, that the final cause for which such wonder
ful provision has been made, is, that man may be saved ;
or, in the express words of the text, " that, being
justified by faith, we may be made heirs according to
108 TITUS, III. 47. [2264.
the hope of eternal life." The justification of sinful
man was a concern so dear to God, that he gave his
only-begotten Son in order to effect it ; and so pre
cious were our souls in the sight of Christ, that he
willingly laid down his life for them. The Holy
Spirit also cheerfully undertook his part in the
economy of redemption. But it was a free justifi
cation, i.e. a justification by mere grace, that each
Person of the Trinity had in view ; they would cut
off most effectually all boasting on the part of man,
and reserve the whole glory to God alone. They
have therefore freely offered it from first to last.
The Father freely provided, the Son freely executed,
and the Spirit freely applies, that salvation. Nor is
it merely our justification, but our glorification also,
which has been provided for. The Scriptures pro
mise us eternal life, and encourage us to hope for it.
They set it forth as an inheritance to which we are
constituted heirs : and that, as heirs, we may in due
time take possession of it, was the united design of
the Three Persons in the Godhead. How astonishing
that such an end should ever be proposed, and that
such wonderful things should ever be done for the
accomplishment of it ! Well may we admire the
kindness and love of God ! well may we stand
amazed at the condescension and compassion of the
Son ! and well may we burst forth into praises and
thanksgivings for the grace and goodness of the
Blessed Spirit ! and indeed, " if we can hold our
peace, surely the very stones will cry out against us."
We shall now CONCLUDE with a few inferences from
what has been said. And,
1. We may see how secure is the salvation of
every believer
The Three Persons in the Trinity are engaged to
each other, as well as unto us. The Father gave his
elect to Christ, on condition that he would make
his soul an offering for them : and Christ laid down
his life, on condition that the Spirit might be sent
down into their hearts, to make them meet for his
2264.] WORK OF THE TRINITY IN REDEMPTION. 109
glory. Now we are sure that Christ died for those
who were given to him ; and that the Holy Ghost
will renew and sanctify those for whom Christ died.
The only question that can arise is this ; Has the
Father loved me, and has Christ died for me ? To
this I answer, We cannot look into the book of God s
decrees, and therefore we can only judge by what is
already manifest. Are we regenerated and renewed
by the Holy Ghost ? if we are, we may be sure that
whatever is needful shall be done for us. All that is
required of us is, to wait upon God for fresh supplies
of his Spirit ; and to yield ourselves to the govern
ment of that Divine Agent. We then need not fear
either men or devils : for none shall pluck us out
of the Redeemer s hands ; nor shall we have any
temptation without a way to escape, that we may be
able to bear it. If, however, we have not yet an
evidence that we are regenerate, we must not hastily
conclude that there is no salvation for us ; for all
the elect of God were once unregenerate, but in due
time were begotten by the Spirit to a lively hope :
so that we must still go to God for the gift of his
Spirit, and for an interest in Christ : nor will he
refuse the petition of any who call upon him in
sincerity and truth. But if we have a good hope
that we have believed in Christ, then let us rejoice
in our security ; for, Has the Father shewn such
proofs of his eternal love in vain ? Has the Son laid
down his life for nought ? Has the Spirit under
taken such a work, without ability to accomplish it ?
And is the salvation of our souls the grand end
which each of these Divine Persons has had in view,
and shall we at last be left to perish ? Be of good
courage, brethren ! and rest persuaded, with the
Apostle of old, that " none shall separate us from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
2. We may see from hence, how great must be the
condemnation of those who continue in unbelief
If we reflect a moment upon the most astonishing
provision which is made for us in the Gospel, and
110 TITUS, III. 47. [2264.
the dignity of the Persons concerned for our welfare,
we cannot but exclaim with the Apostle, " How shall
we escape if we neglect so great salvation ?" Surely,
to despise the kindness and love of God our Father,
will greatly aggravate our guilt : to trample on the
blood of a dying Saviour, will add tenfold malignity
to all our other sins : and to do despite to the Spirit
of grace, will render our state hopeless, and incon
ceivably dreadful. Yet such is the state of all who
reject the offers of the Gospel. As for the heathen,
I had almost said, they are innocent in comparison of
those who live and die unregenerate in a Christian
land. O, my brethren, beware how you bring such
aggravated condemnation upon your own souls !
St. Paul expressly cautions you respecting this : he
says, " He that despised Moses s law died without
mercy: of how much sorer punishment, think ye,
shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under
foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of
the covenant an unholy thing, and hath done despite
to the Spirit of grace?" Beware, therefore, lest ye
lose this day of grace, and, like the foolish virgins,
be shut out from the marriage-supper. Blessed be
God, there are none excluded from the Gospel offer:
we are commanded to preach it to every creature ;
and to assure you, that, if you will return to God,
there is a way of access opened for you, and that
you may at this instant come to him through the
Son, and by the Spirit. If therefore you now desire
mercy, beg the Holy Spirit to guide you unto Christ;
and entreat the Lord Jesus Christ to introduce you
to the Father. Nor need you doubt for one moment
but that in this way you shall be partakers of ever
lasting salvation : though you are now dead, and
doomed to everlasting death, you shall have spiritual
and eternal life : though you are now hopeless, you
shall be begotten to a lively hope : and though you
are now strangers and foreigners, you shall be heirs
of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.
Lastly ; we see what obligations lie upon every
professor of religion to abound in good works. The
2264. J WORK OF THE TRINITY IN REDEMPTION. Ill
Apostle, in the words immediately following the text,
says, " This is a faithful saying, and these things I
will that thou affirm constantly, that (N. B. to the
end that } they who have believed in God might be
careful to maintain good works." Now these words
are frequently understood as an exhortation to preach
about good works ; but it is not so : it is an exhorta
tion to preach the very doctrines that I have now
set before you ; and to preach them to the end that
believers may be careful to maintain good works.
And indeed it is impossible to conceive stronger
motives to a holy life than may be deduced from
hence. Did the Father set his love upon us from
all eternity, and choose us that we might be a holy
people unto himself; and shall we do that which his
soul hateth ? Shall we continue in sin, that grace
may abound ? Again : Did Christ undertake to be
come our surety ; and did he actually die for us, in
order to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify
us unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good
works; and shall we take occasion from his death to
rest secure in our wickedness ? Shall we thus make
the Holy One of God a minister of sin ? Again : Did
the Holy Spirit engage to renew and sanctify us,
and shall we resist all his motions, till we have
altogether quenched them ? Shall we not rather
comply with his solicitations, and cherish his sacred
influences ? And, once more : Have the blessed
Trinity done so much, on purpose to make us heirs
of eternal glory ; and shall we to the utmost of our
power thwart the Divine counsels, and reject the
proffered mercies ? O no ! let us rather feel the
obligations that are laid upon us : let us say with
the Psalmist, What shall I render to the Lord for
all the benefits he hath done unto me ? and let us
endeavour to abound in good works, not that we
may be saved by them, but that we may please Him
who hath called us unto his kingdom and glory.
TITUS, in. 8. [2265.
MMCCLXV.
THE TRUE WAY OF PROMOTING GOOD WORKS.
Tit. iii. 8. This is a faithful saying) and these things I will that
thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God
might be careful to maintain good works. These things are
good and profitable unto men.
ONE of the principal ends of a Christian ministry
is, to stem the torrent of iniquity, and to meliorate
the moral habits of mankind. If this be not attained,
nothing is done to any good purpose. The mys
teries which may be opened might as well be con
cealed : the arguments which may be urged might as
well be suppressed. No glory can be brought to
God, no benefit be secured to man, but through a
moral change wrought upon the hearts and lives of
men. In this, all are agreed. Even the profane,
who neither regard nor practise one moral duty, will
acknowledge this.
But then a question arises ; How shall this end
be obtained? Upon this question there will be a
great diversity of sentiment. The general answer
would be, Preach upon good works ; inculcate the
value and importance of them : trouble the people as
little as possible about the doctrines and mysteries of
religion ; and labour principally, if not exclusively,
to establish good morality. Unhappily for this land,
this sentiment has in past times been too generally
adopted. There may be some indeed (we trust they
are very few), who run to a contrary extreme, and
dwell upon doctrines to the utter exclusion of good
works : but a very great part of the Christian world
imagine, that the inculcating of Christian principles is
of but little use in the production of morals : and
hence it is that the peculiar doctrines of our religion
have so small a share in our public ministrations.
Many will even quote the words of our text as sanc
tioning this practice, and as enjoining ministers to
dwell principally upon the subject of good works.
But the text, properly understood, has a directly
2265. ~] TRUE WAY OF PROMOTING GOOD WORKS. 113
opposite aspect : it is an express injunction to Titus
to bring forward continually the leading doctrines of
our religion, in order to* lead men to the practice of
its duties.
Following his instructions, we propose to shew,
I. What subjects a Christian minister ought chiefly
to insist upon
The things which St. Paul " willed us constantly
to affirm," are those which are specified in the fore
going context : they are,
1. The extreme degeneracy of our nature
[What St. Paul speaks of himself and of all the other
Apostles in their unregenerate state, is equally true of us b :
whether we look around us, or within us, we shall see that the
representation is just. The foregoing part of it characterizes
us at all times : the latter, whenever suitable opportunities are
afforded us for displaying the feelings of our minds. The evil
principles are within us, whether exercised or not : they may
sleep, and thereby escape notice ; but they are easily roused,
and ready to act the very moment that an occasion arises to
call them forth.
Now men like to have these humiliating representations
kept out of sight : they love to hear flattering accounts of their
own praise-worthy conduct and amiable dispositions. But we
must declare to them what God has declared to us ; and what
we know by bitter experience to be true. If we neglect to
shew them these things, how can we hope that they should
ever be brought to repentance ? If they know not the depth
of their own depravity, they can never be duly humbled for it,
and consequently can never receive aright the consoling doc
trines of the Gospel.
On these things then we must insist ; and respecting the
truth of these things we must " constantly affirm."]
2. The means which God has used for our re
covery-
fin the fulness of his heart St. Paul expatiates upon the
wonders of redeeming love . He traces all to the free, the
rich, the boundless mercy of Jehovah ; who, in execution of his
eternal counsels, has, for Christ s sake, poured out his Spirit
upon man, in order to renew his nature, and to fit him for
glory. In short, he traces the salvation of man to three united
causes ; the Father s love, the Son s merits, and the Spirit s
influence.
a 7rn, to the end that. h ver. 3. c vcr. 4 7.
VOL. MX. I
114 TITUS, III. 8. [2265.
One would suppose that these subjects should be the most
welcome of all that can be presented to our view. But this
is not the case : for, however great the encouragement that is
derived from them, they all have an humiliating tendency :
they shew us the depth of our misery, that called for such a
remedy : they constrain us to acknowledge our obligations to
the grace and mercy of God, and our entire dependence on the
merits of his Son, and the influences of his Spirit. On these
accounts men would rather be amused with moral essays, than
instructed in these mysterious truths.
But we must " affirm these things ;" we must affirm them
" constantly ;" for they are " faithful sayings," and truths in
which our everlasting welfare depends. To make these known,
and understood, and felt, should be the great object of all our
labours.]
That we may not be thought to lay too great a
stress on these subjects, we shall shew,
II. Why they deserve so great a portion of our
attention
The Apostle assigns reasons the most satisfactory
imaginable :
1. They are the appointed means of promoting
good works
[It is a lamentable but undoubted fact, that where morals
only are insisted on, or where the foregoing doctrines are but
occasionally stated, the great mass of the people are ignorant
of the fundamental truths of our religion, and their morals
rarely experience any visible or important change. Nor can
we wonder at this, if only we consider, that God has appointed
other means for the reformation of mankind ; and that the
means he has appointed, are alone suited to produce the end.
Is it asked, Whence the stating of Christian doctrines
should work so powerfully, while the pressing home of moral
duties fails to produce any such effects? we answer, That God
will bless the means which are of his own appointment, when
he will not prosper those which are substituted in their place ;
and, that there is in the doctrines before stated a natural and
proper tendency to produce a change both of heart and life.
Suppose a person truly to receive what God has declared
respecting the extreme degeneracy of our nature ; can he fail
of being humbled in the dust? Can he do otherwise than stand
amazed at the forbearance of God towards him? Can he re
frain from saying, O that I could serve my God with as much
zeal and diligence as ever I exerted in violating his commands ?
Suppose him then to receive all the glorious truths relative to
22C5.1 TRUE WAY OF PROMOTING GOOD WORKS. 115
the way of salvation; will he not be filled with admiring and
adoring thoughts of God s mercy? Will not " the grace of
Christ," and " the love of the Spirit," constrain him to cry out,
" What shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits that he
hath done unto me?" Yes; let him only be penetrated with
a sense of what God has done for his recovery, and he will
not only " be careful to maintain," but studious to excel 6 - in,
good works : he will not be contented to conform to the world s
standard of morality, but will seek to become pure as God is
pure, and " holy as God is holy."]
2. They " are good and profitable unto men"-
[This expression of the Apostle may be understood either
of the doctrines of Christianity, or of the good works produced
by them, or (which we rather prefer) of both together.
Who must not acknowledge the excellence and utility of the
doctrines? We confidently ask, What has reformed the world,
as far as any change has taken place in its habits? Have the
dogmas of philosophers produced this effect; or has it been
wrought by the influence of Christianity? Let any one con
template the change that took place upon the converts on the
day of Pentecost; let him see the odoriferous myrtle starting
up in the place of the noxious brier, and say whether these
doctrines be not " good and profitable unto men ?" Or let the
appeal be made to living Christians: are there not many that
must say, Before I heard those doctrines I was altogether
earthly, sensual, and devilish; but from the moment that 1
received them into my heart, I have experienced a total
change of character : my spirit and temper have been wonder
fully improved ; my desires and pursuits have been altogether
altered; I am become quite a new creature: now also my
peace flows down like a river; death has been disarmed of
its sting, and I look forward to the eternal state with un
speakable delight?
That the good ivorks which are produced by these doctrines
are also beneficial, we gladly affirm. As for the works that
are unconnected with these doctrines, they are neither good
nor profitable unto men ; because they are essentially defective
both in their principle and end : but the works that flow from
them are both " good and profitable :" they are truly " good,"
because they proceed from love to God, and from an unfeigned
desire to promote his glory; and they are " profitable," because
they are evidences to us of our own sincerity ; they bring peace
and joy into the soul e ; they advance our meetness for heaven;
and they increase that eternal weight of glory which shall be
given us in exact proportion to the number and quality of our
works f . Let not any one imagine, that, by dwelling on the
d irpoiterraaOai. c Isai. xxxii. 17. f 2 Cor. v. 10.
I 2
11G TITUS, III. 8. [2265.
principles of religion, we mean to disparage its fruits: no:
only let the fruits proceed from love to God, and a desire to
promote his glory, and they cannot be spoken of too highly :
the smallest service performed in such a way, shall in no wise-
lose its reward.]
Hoping that the giving to the doctrines of Chris
tianity a considerable share of our attention is
vindicated to your satisfaction, we conclude with
two words of ADVICE :
1. Meditate much and deeply on the fundamental
principles of our religion
[If it be the duty of ministers constantly to set before you
the leading truths of Christianity, it must doubtless be your
duty constantly, as it were, to revolve them in your minds.
It is on them that you are to found your hopes : from them,
you are to derive your motives and encouragements : through
them, you will receive strength for the performance of all your
duties. It is by them that you are to be brought to believe
in God, and, " having believed in God" to be made careful
and diligent in all good works. Let them therefore be your
meditation day and night, and you shall find them " sweeter
than honey, or the honeycomb," and " dearer than thousands
of gold and silver."
2. Display the influence of those principles in your
life and conversation
[If you dishonour your profession, the ungodly world will
take occasion from your actions to vilify your principles, and
to represent your misconduct as the natural effect of our
preaching. If they would argue so in their own case, they
would do well : for their disregard of all the higher duties of
religion does indeed arise from their contempt of its doctrines.
But the experience of the primitive saints, and of thousands
that are yet alive, sufficiently refutes the idea of our principles
tending to licentiousness. However, be careful that you do
not give to your adversaries any occasion for such reflections.
Shew them, that the doctrines you profess, are " doctrines
according to godliness." The light of holiness will do more
than ten thousand arguments to stop the mouths of gainsayers,
and to recommend the Gospel to their acceptance. " Shew
them therefore your faith by your works ;" and constrain them
to acknowledge, that you by your principles are enabled to
attain a height of holiness, which they shall in vain attempt to
emulate.]
PHILEMON.
MMCCLXVI.
HENEVOLENCE ENCOURAGED.
Philem. 7. We have yreat joy and consolation in thy love,
because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.
IN no epistle that was ever written was contained,
I apprehend, a greater measure of address and skill
than in this. The Apostle had a deep knowledge of
the human heart, and an exquisite sensibility within
his own bosom ; so that, whilst speaking with the
utmost simplicity of mind, he touched the feelings of
his friend with a delicacy that no rules of art could
ever have supplied. It is thought by many, that to
express approbation of a person when soliciting a
favour, is to flatter, to cajole, to bribe him ; and that
to praise him to his face, under any circumstances,
is unworthy adulation. That the offering of praise
in an extravagant way is inexpedient and disgusting,
I readily acknowledge : but to applaud what is good
in a man, in order to encourage him in the prosecu
tion of his way, is nothing more than what equity
demands, and what a knowledge of the human heart
will fully approve. Accordingly, we find that the
Apostle Paul was ever ready, in all his epistles, to
commend the virtues of his converts, as far as the
occasion called for such acknowledgments, and truth
would sanction them. To the Christians at Rome
he says, " I am persuaded of you, my brethren, that
118 PHILEMON, 7. [2266.
ye are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able
also to admonish one another a ." To those at Corinth
he writes, " I thank my God always on your behalf,
for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus
Christ ; that in every thing ye are enriched by him,
in all utterance, and in all knowledge ; even as the
testimony of Christ was confirmed in you : so that
ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ V In like manner, to the
Thessalonians he says, " We give thanks to God
always for you all, making mention of you in our
prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of
faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our
Lord Jesus Christ ." It is in the same strain that
he addresses " his beloved fellow-labourer," Phile
mon, in the words before us ; which will naturally
lead me to shew you,
I. The proper office of love
Love ought to be exercised towards every child of
man ; yea, even to our enemies : but it is due in a
more especial manner to " the saints ;" as St. Paul
has said : " As we have opportunity, let us do good
unto all men ; especially unto them that are of the
household of faith 1 ." Nor is this preference to be
shewn upon any party-principle : it is founded upon
strong, substantial grounds : it is actually due to
them ;
1. Because they are more dear to God than
others
[From all eternity were they " chosen of God," and
" predestinated to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ
unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to
the praise of the glory of his grace 6 ." In due season he calls
them by his grace f , and, " by the incorruptible seed of his
word 8 ," " begets them again unto a lively hope 1 :" so that
they are sons, and consequently " heirs of God, and joint-heirs
with Christ 1 ." Shall not this, then, give them a priority in our
esteem? When brought into such a state as this, shall they
a Rom. xv. 14. b 1 Cor. i. 4 7. c 1 Thess. i. 2, 3.
d Gal. vi. 10. e Eph. i. 4 6. f Rom. viii. 30.
e I Pet. i. 23. h 1 Pet. i. 3. * Rom. viii. 16, 17.
2266.] BENEVOLENCE ENCOURAGED. 119
be regarded by us at no higher rate than the enemies of God,
and the children of the wicked one? Assuredly not: " if we
love Him that begat, we ought, in a pre-eminent degree, to
love those who are begotten of himV]
2. Because the Lord Jesus Christ is more deeply
interested in them
[They have sought through him the remission of their
sins : to him alone they look, as their only hope. On his
word they rely: in the fountain of his blood they have washed:
in his righteousness they are clothed : they habitually live by
faith upon him, and receive their all out of his fulness. They
are, in fact, the members of his body 1 : yea, surprising as it
must appear, " they are one spirit with him 1 "." And does
the Lord Jesus Christ so identify himself with them ? does he
even say, that " what we do to the least of his brethren, we
do it unto him?" and shall we place them on a level with
others who have no relation to him ? It were quite absurd to
imagine, that others, who stand in no such relation to him,
should be placed on a level with them : it cannot, it must
not be.]
3. Because they are more nearly related to our
selves
[In a natural sense, we are all children of one common
parent; but in a spiritual sense, there is a very wide difference
between us and others : others are still " strangers and
foreigners; but we (supposing, I mean, that we have been
truly converted to Christ) are fellow-citizens with the saints,
and of the household of God n ." Yea, being all " one body
in Christ, we all are members one of another ." Let any one
then judge: has the eye or ear no claim upon the hand or
foot ? Does not Nature herself teach us, that " the members
of the same body should all have the same care one for
another 1 ?" and that, whatever attention we shew to others,
our highest regards are due to these ?]
4. Because they are themselves of superior worth
[God himself has said, and therefore we may say it
without vanity, " The righteous is more excellent than his
neighbourV He is " a partaker of the Divine nature r ."
The Holy Ghost himself dwelleth in him: yea, " the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ come to him, and make their abode
with him 5 ." They are altogether the Lord s his property,
k 1 John v. 1. Eph. v. 30. m 1 Cor. vi. 17.
Eph. ii. 19. o 1 Cor. xii. 12, 20, 27.
i 1 Cor. xii. 25. i Prov. xii. 20 . T 2 Pet. i. 4.
K John xiv. 23.
120 PHILEMON, 7. [2266.
his people. Their faculties and powers, whether of mind or
body, are devoted to his service. They live but to advance
his glory in the world : and with a view to their welfare does
God himself govern and direct the world . So highly are
they esteemed in heaven, that the very angels account it an
honour to be their servants 11 ? Is there not then a pre
eminent regard due to them from us? There is: and we
should shew it in all our conduct towards them. We should
be particularly careful to supply their wants ; to supply them,
too, in such a way, as not only to relieve their bodies, but to
" refresh their souls" Our tender feelings towards them, our
affectionate expressions, our sympathizing tears, should shew
them that we feel an identity of interest with them ; and that
we are God s messengers, sent expressly for the relief and
comfort of their souls.]
I well know that this kind of love will, to many,
appear partial and confined : but it is such as God
approves : and in proof that it is so, I will point out,
II. Its excellence, when so employed
To prevent misapprehension, let me again say,
that the exercise of love is not to be confined to the
saints, but only to be maintained towards them in
a superior degree. A love of benevolence and bene
ficence is due to all : a love of complacency is due
to the saints alone : and towards them it should be
exercised to such an extent, that we should be will
ing even to " lay down our lives for them*." How
estimable this divine principle was in the judgment of
St. Paul, may be seen from the manner in which he
speaks of it : "I have great joy and consolation in
thy love ; because the bowels of the saints are re
freshed by thee, brother." He evidently had a
high idea of its excellency. And on what grounds ?
Because he felt,
1. How pre-eminently God was honoured by it-
fit was so exercised in obedience to an express command
of God : so that God s care for the saints was displayed in it.
Besides, it bore upon it the very stamp and character of God,
who " manifests himself to his saints as he does not unto the
world* ." Hence it necessarily led the saints to behold God s
1 Matt. xxiv. 22. " lleb. i. 14.
x 1 John iii. 10. > John xiv. 21, 22.
BENEVOLENCE ENCOURAGED. 121
hand, and to taste his love, in every mercy they received ; and,
consequently, it stirred them up to glorify him, as the true
source of all their blessings. This is spoken of by the Apostle
as a very distinguished excellence of this love, that " it not
only supplies the want of the saints (which is, in comparison,
a very trifling consideration), but that it causeth thanksgiving
to God; whilst by the experience of it many are made to
glorify God for the grace so exercised, and " for the subjection
which persons under its influence manifest to the Gospel of
Christ 2 ."]
2. How greatly the Gospel also was recommended
and adorned
[This love is the fruit of the Gospel, and of the Gospel
alone. Not an atom of it is found in the whole world, except
as it is produced by the Gospel of Christ. There may be
generosity and humanity exercised on natural and carnal prin
ciples: but love to the saints as saints, for Christ s sake, and a
special endeavour to relieve Christ himself in them, are feelings
to which an unconverted man is an utter stranger. In truth, it
is from the Gospel that all the great works of benevolence
chiefly flow. Look at Bible-societies, Mission-societies, Bene-
volcMit-societies, and all which have religion for their end,
and you will find them all set on foot by persons professing
the Gospel of Christ. I say not but that other persons may
be brought in to contribute to their support: but I do say,
that they almost universally originate with the followers of
Christ: and it is a fact, that in one single church where the
Gospel is preached in simplicity, more societies of this kind
are established and upheld, than in a dozen, I had almost
said an hundred, other parishes of equal population, and equal
wealth?" In fact, what is the Gospel, but faith working by
love?" When, therefore, its real tendency is thus strongly
marked, it cannot but rejoice every soul, that either tastes
the sweetness of the Gospel, or desires its advancement in
the world.]
3. What extensive benefits accrued to it from the
Church
[Though, as we have said, the bent-fit of individual saints
is a small matter in comparison of the honour that accrues to
God ; yet, if viewed in its full extent, it is of no light moment.
We have spoken of love as being exercised in a way to refresh
the souls of the saints. And let me ask, whether, if at any
time we have visited a person in deep affliction, and mingled
our tears with his, and laboured with tender and self-denying
* _> Cur. i.\. 1-2, l;5.
122 PHILEMON, 7. [2266.
services for his good, we have not seen, as it were, a load
taken off his mind, and his sorrow turned into joy? Have
not persons so comforted looked up to God with grateful
adoration for the blessings bestowed ? Have not their friends
and attendants, too, been often filled with admiration of the
persons manifesting these dispositions; and been constrained
to cry out, " Behold, how these Christians love one another!"
There is no knowing where the benefit arising from these
efforts stops, or to how many one single exercise of love may
reach. In this view, then, this blessed principle commends
itself to us, and should fill with joy and comfort every one who
beholds it in active operation.]
4. What an evidence it gave of substantial piety in
him who possessed it
[Almsgiving affords no criterion for piety; nor do the
common offices of love. But love to the saints for Christ s sake,
is both to the person himself, and to all who behold him, a
decided evidence that he is born of God. To himself, I say,
it is an evidence : for it is said, " We know that we have
passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren a ."
And again, " Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in
deed and in truth: and hereby we know that we are of the
truth, and shall assure our hearts before him b ." Nor is it a
less clear evidence to others : for our Lord has said, " By this
shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love
one to another ." Say then, was there not occasion for joy in
the Apostle s mind, when the piety of his friend stood so con
fessed, that it was impossible for any one to entertain a doubt
of it ? Yes : and wherever we behold similar fruits of faith,
we do, and will, rejoice.]
Let me now IMPROVE the subject,
1. In a way of thankful acknowledgment
[I bless God that the commendation given to Philemon
is justly applicable to many of you : to you especially, who are
engaged in visiting the sick, instructing the ignorant, com
forting the afflicted, and relieving the necessitous. I can bear
witness that your efforts have been crowned with success, not
only in refreshing the bowels of the saints, but in awakening
also and saving the souls of sinners d . Yes, brother; yes,
sister; I have much joy and consolation in the grace exer
cised by thee, and in the good effected by thee. May God
recompense it into thy bosom an hundred-fold ! To you, also,
a 1 John iii. 14. b 1 John iii. 18, 19. c John xiii. 35.
d This is adapted to a Visiting or Benevolent Society. Of course,
this part of the subject must be made to suit the particular occasion.
TIIE EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 123
who have contributed to aid the society with your funds, an
acknowledgment is justly due: and I trust that your liberality
on the present occasion will afford me fresh ground for joy
and gratitude. Yet, I must not let my gratitude terminate
altogether on you; but must rather view God himself in you;
and give glory to Him, " from whom alone cometh every good
and perfect gift. "]
2. In a way of affectionate exhortation
[Let none of you rest in any attainment. The Apostle
commended his Thessalonian converts, because " their faith
and love grew exceedingly 6 ." Let me have similar ground of
joy in you. You have received of us how you ought to walk
and to please God, and have " made your profiting to appear:"
but " we beseech you, brethren, to abound more and more 1 ."
Endeavour to honour God more ; to adorn the Gospel more ;
to diffuse richer benefits among the saints ; and to give more
abundant evidence of your piety to all around you. So shall
you be approved of your God, both now and in the eternal
world: for " he is not unrighteous to forget your work and
labour of love, which ye have shewed towards his name, in
that ye have ministered unto the saints, and do minister.
And we desire that every one of you do shew the same dili
gence to the full assurance of hope unto the end g ."]
e 2Thess. i. 3, 4. f 1 Thess. iv. 1, * Heb. vi. 10, 11.
MMCCLXVII.
THE EFFICACY OF TIIE GOSPEL.
Philem. 10, 11. / beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom
I have begotten in my bonds: if Inch in time past ivas to thee
unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me.
THE inspired volume certainly differs in many
respects from what we might have expected. We
should have supposed, that it would contain only
such things as could not be known except by reve
lation. But, behold, here is a letter, written to a
single individual, on a subject which might occur at
any time or place ; a letter, containing no particular
point of doctrine, but simply requesting a master to
receive with kindness an offending, but repentant,
slave. It should seem strange, I say, that such an
epistle should be dictated by inspiration, and be
124 PHILEMON, 10, 11. [2267.
preserved for the edification of the Church to the end
of time. But so it is : and an attentive consideration
of its contents will soon convince us, that it is worthy
of its Divine Author. We must never forget, that
the Word of God is intended to regulate our spirit
and conduct in every situation and relation of life :
and, in this view, the epistle before us possesses a
transcendent excellency : for, though it does not
state particularly any of the doctrines of the Gospel,
it does shew us in a very impressive manner,
I. The spirit which it breathes, where its influence is
complete
" I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I
have begotten in my bonds." Let us here mark,
1. The interest which the Apostle took in the wel
fare of Onesimus
[Onesimus was a slave belonging to Philemon, who was a
person of eminence, perhaps a minister in the Church at Co-
losse a . He had fled from his master, having, it should seem,
first robbed him ; and had come, many hundred miles off, to
Rome ; where he conceived he should be perfectly out of the
reach of his master s inquiries. It happened that at that time
Paul was a prisoner at Rome ; yet, though a prisoner, was
permitted to see, and to instruct, all who came to him. One
simus, probably from curiosity, went to see and hear this
famous servant of Christ; and, through the special grace of
God, was converted under his ministry. He soon made him
self known to Paul ; and, approving himself a sincere convert
to the faith of Christ, ingratiated himself into the favour of the
Apostle, who received and loved him as a son. In truth, he
was now, in a spiritual sense, his son ; since, by the ministry
of the Word, the Apostle, as it is expressed, had " begotten
him in his bonds." The Apostle now desired to restore him to
the favour and protection of that master whom he had so greatly
injured: and for that end he wrote this epistle to Philemon,
and sent it by the hands of Onesimus himself: for he judged,
that no man can be a true penitent without making restitution
to all whom he has wronged, and asking pardon of all whom
in any great degree he has offended. He judged this to be
necessary, as well for the peace and comfort of Onesimus, as
for the honour of God and his Gospel : and therefore, notwith
standing the loss of his kind attentions would be severely felt
a ver. 1,2.
2267.] THE EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 15
by the Apostle, he would on no account retain him at Rome,
but sent him back to his master, Philemon, at Colosse.]
2. The exquisite delicacy with which he pleaded
his cause-
fin point of delicacy of feeling and sentiment, this epistle
has not perhaps its equal in the world. Some of its leading
features we will proceed to notice.
The Apostle s object was, so to break the matter to Phile
mon, as not to shock his feelings ; and so plead the cause of
Onesimus, as to procure for him a favourable reception. Hence
arose a necessity for touching every point with tenderness and
delicacy; which the Apostle proceeded to do, not by rules of
art, (though the most consummate wisdom could not have
devised anv plan more appropriate than that which is here
pursued,) but by the simple dictates of love.
He begins with acknowledging Philemon s eminence both in
faith and love ; and with declaring, what exquisite joy he felt,
both in the accounts which he had heard of him, and in re
membering him before God in his daily supplications 3 . This
had a tendency to disarm Philemon, if he felt any bitter re
sentment against Onesimus : for he could not well indulge
hatred, when he himself experienced so much love.
The Apostle then proceeds, in the language of meek entreaty,
to request Philemon s pardon in behalf of this returning slave.
lie reminds Philemon, that, as he himself, no less than Onesi
mus, had received the truth by means of his ministry, he might
well assume the authority of a father, and require, rather than
request, the performance of so plain a duty: but he chose
rather to entreat as a favour, as a favour to him who was now
" grown old" in the service of his Lord, and was " a prisoner
too for the truth s sake," that he would be reconciled to One
simus, whom the Apostle himself regarded as a son c . How
could such a request as this, a request from such a person,
under such circumstances, be refused ? Methinks, it was not
possible for Philemon, however indignant against Onesimus, to
ivject a petition offered by his own spiritual father, in such
terms as these.
He goes on to remind Philemon, that Onesimus, who had
hitherto but ill deserved that name d , since he had been so
unprofitable, would henceforth act a more worthy part, and be
indeed profitable, in whatever capacity he should be employed.
This consideration would not be without its influence; more
especially as the Apostle speaks of himself as having been
b ver. 4 7. c ver. 8 10.
d Onesimus means profitable : and it is in reference to the import
of his name that the Apostle speaks.
120 PHILEMON, 10, 11. [2267.
materially benefited by the services of Onesimus, as Philemon
himself would in all probability be in future 6 .
He then suggests a thought, which must of necessity produce
a great effect upon Philemon s mind. Philemon, being himself
an eminent servant of Christ, could not but know that God
has formed his purposes from all eternity ; and that, if any be
converted to the faith of Christ, it is in consequence of God s
electing love, who has ordained the time, the means, the
manner, and every thing respecting his conversion, from all
eternity. Now, says Paul, who can tell ? Perhaps all that
Onesimus did, and whereby he so justly provoked thy displea
sure, was, in the counsel of God, ordained to be the means
whereby lie should be converted to the faith of Christ ; and,
though not in his own intention, yet in the intention of an
unerring God, " he therefore departed for a season, that thou
mightest receive him for ever, not now a servant, but above a
servant, a brother beloved f ?" This would in no respect ex
cuse the wickedness of Onesimus, any more than God s inten
tion to redeem the world would excuse the murderers of the
Lord Jesus. Onesimus was a free agent in all that he did :
but perhaps God had seen fit to leave him to the wickedness
of his own heart, in order that he might thus be brought under
the ministry of Paul, and have the grace of God the more
abundantly magnified in his conversion, and in the whole of
his future life. How effectually would such a thought as this
engage a pious mind, like that of Philemon s, to co-operate
with God, and to advance to the uttermost the purposes of his
grace !
Lest the recollection of the losses sustained by means of
Onesimus should rankle in Philemon s mind, the Apostle fur
ther adds, that whatever Onesimus might owe him, he (Paul)
would most gladly undertake to pay ; though he did not much
expect that such a demand of pecuniary compensation would
be made upon him, by one who owed to him what was of more
value than the whole world, even his own soul g .
Finally, as though he were pleading for his own life, and all
his happiness were bound up in the obtaining of this request,
he entreats : " If thou count me a partner, (a partaker of the
same salvation with thyself,) receive him as myself 11 ." " Yea,
brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my
bowels in the Lord :" for they are all in commotion whilst his
acceptance with thee is in suspense ; and nothing but thy
compliance with my request can give them rest 1 .
Now the point which I wish to be noticed here, is, not the
line of argument merely, but the delicacy of the sentiment, and
e ver. 11 14. f ver. 15, 16. e ver. 18, 19. h ver. 17.
5 ver. 20. This is the force of the word avanavaor.
2267.] THE EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 127
the exquisite address with which the Apostle seeks to attain
his end. This, if it had been the effect of art, would have
gained our admiration : but, as the effect of Christian principle,
and Christian love, it is edifying in the highest degree, inas
much as it shews what a spirit the Gospel breathes, and what
genuine Christianity will universally inspire k .]
From the account which the Apostle gives of
Onesimus, we are led to notice,
II. The change which it operates where its influence is
begun
" Onesimus," says the Apostle, " was in time past
unprofitable, but now will be profitable both to thee
and me." The state of every man previous to his
conversion may be said to be unprofitable, because
he does not answer the true ends of his creation : he
does nothing for God, nothing for the Church, no
thing for his own soul. But no sooner will divine
grace reach his heart, than he will endeavour to be
serviceable,
1. To the Church of God generally
[Onesimus, having received the truth in the love of it,
instantly set himself to work, if by any means he might render
service to the Apostle in his confinement. Doubtless such a
servant, at such a juncture, was an unspeakable comfort to the
Apostle, and would greatly alleviate the pains and sorrows of
his imprisonment. And, no doubt, whatever Onesimus was
able to do, he did with great delight, not shrinking back from
the horrors of a prison, nor intimidated by the sufferings in
flicted on St. Paul, but rejoiced to have an opportunity of tes
tifying his love to one, who had been such an instrument of
good to his own soul.
Now here we see, what every true convert will do. He will
begin to inquire, How can I co-operate with my minister in
his labours of love ? How can I strengthen his hands ? How
can I encourage his heart ? What can I do, either to shew my
love to him, or to impart to others the benefits which I myself
have received? Can I assist in any way in visiting the sick,
in instructing the ignorant, in relieving the needy, in teaching
the rising generation ? Whether my talents be more or less, I
am determined that they shall not be wrapped in a napkin, but
be diligently improved for my God. Freely I have received ;
k Observations might have been made also on ver. 21, 22. But
enough is here said to illustrate the point in hand.
128 PHILEMON, 10, 11. [2267.
and I will freely give. Yes, beloved brethren, how unprofit
able soever a man may have been in times past, he will not
willingly be so any longer, but will be profitable to his minister,
and to the Church of Christ, as far as his ability will admit.]
2. To those who have a more immediate claim
upon him
[Onesimus would henceforth be " profitable to his master
Philemon." O ! in what a different spirit would he serve his
master now ! We apprehend indeed that Philemon instantly
gave him his liberty; and that he immediately became an
assistant in the Church of Colosse, to whom St. Paul gave him
a most satisfactory testimonial 1 : but, if he had continued in
the service of Philemon, we can have no doubt but that he
would have justified the character given of him by St. Paul,
and proved truly profitable to his master. And herein divine
<*race will be sure to shew itself: it will lead us to fill up our
station in life, whatever that station be, with the utmost care
and diligence. Are we servants? we shall regard our master
as placed over us by the Lord himself, and shall do him service
as unto the Lord. Were we even slaves, we should fulfil our
duties as unto God himself, who has appointed us our lot, and
who requires that we execute with fidelity the work he has
assio-ned us. It is often made a matter of complaint indeed
against religious servants, that they are idle, and impatient of
reproof. And glad should I be, if there were not too much
reason for this complaint. But let not this evil be imputed to
religion : for religion condemns it utterly : the Gospel gives no
sanction to such conduct, nor any occasion for it. It requires
that servants demean themselves with modesty and humility ;
and not towards kind masters only, but towards such as are
harsh and severe" 1 : and it especially enjoins, that they fulfil all
their duties, " not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as
unto God, doing the will of God from their hearts"." Let it
be remembered then, that the true and proper tendency of the
Gospel is, to improve us in every station and relation of life :
and that, if it operate not this change in our hearts and lives,
we have never received it as we ought .]
LEARN then from hence,
1. To abound in all acts and offices of love
[Who does not admire the character given of Philemon,
whose love was such as to attract the notice of all, and con
strain them to acknowledge the abundance of the grace be
stowed upon him, whilst, by his kindness and liberality, " the
i Col . iv . 9. m 1 Pet. ii. 18.
Eph. vi. 58. Tit. ii. 11, 12.
THE EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 129
bowels of the saints were so greatly refreshed 1 ?" And who
does not admire the interest which the Apostle took in the
welfare of a poor slave who had run away from his master ?
Such, beloved, are the offices in which we should delight.
None on earth are so low or abandoned, but they deserve
notice from us, and should be objects of our pity and compas
sion. I call upon you then, if there be any, whom by your
instructions you may restore to God, or by your kind offices
you may reconcile to man, to engage in the good work with all
your heart, and to labour to the uttermost to diffuse the
blessings which are the sure result of faith and love.]
2. To bring men, if possible, under the sound of
the Gospel
[See the effects produced on this worthless character.
Worse than unprofitable had Onesimus been : but, by the-
hearing of the Gospel, he was turned to God. Of whom then
will you despair ? Who will not lay down the weapons of his
rebellion, when God speaks with power to his soul? It may
be that a person is hardened under the Gospel, even as One
simus was: for we cannot doubt but that the pious Philemon
had endeavoured to watch over his domestics : but in vain had
all his instructions been. Not so the instructions of the
Apostle Paul, when accompanied with a divine power to his
soul : then he became a new creature ; and, though a slave of
man, was made a freeman of the Lord : so may it be with those
whom ijou may bring to attend where Christ is preached. God
may meet them, as he did Onesimus. Many who, like Zac-
cheus, have thought of nothing but gratifying a foolish curiosity,
have been made to obey the voice of Christ, and have found
salvation come unto their souls. If one such instance occur
through your instrumentality, you will have " saved a soul
from death, and hid a multitude of sins 11 ."]
3. To bear in mind your own obligations to your
great Advocate and Intercessor, Jesus Christ
[Doubtless Onesimus would long remember his obligations
to St. Paul. But what were they in comparison with what you
owe to the Lord Jesus Christ? Think how you have cast oft
the yoke of Almighty God, and robbed him of all the service
to which he was entitled, and gone to a distance from him,
that you might live as " without God in the world." Think
how the Lord Jesus Christ has instructed you, and brought
you to the knowledge of salvation, and restored you to the
favour of your offended God. Think how he has not merely
offered to pay your debt, but has actually discharged it. Yes ;
P vcr. 6, 7. i Jam. v. 19, 20.
VOL. XI\. K
130 PHILEMON, 10, 11. [2267.
" of him it was exacted," says the prophet, " and he was
made answerable r :" and he " laid down his own life a ransom
for you." To his continual intercession too are you indebted
for all that peace which is maintained between God and your
souls. Will you not then be thankful to him? or rather, shall
there be any bounds to your gratitude ? Bless him then, and
adore and magnify him, and call upon all that is within you to
bless his holy name. And now endeavour to be " profitable
to him." Consecrate to him all your faculties, and all your
powers. Live for him : die for him, if need be : and begin
now the song, in which you shall, ere long, join all the choirs
of heaven : " To him that loved us, and washed us from our
sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto
God and our Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever
and ever, Amen 5 ."]
r Isai. liii. 7. The marginal translation.
s Rev. i. 5, 6.
HEBREWS.
MMCCLXVIII.
CHRIST S ASCENSION TO GLORY.
lleb. i. 3. Who being the brightness of his glory, and (//<>
express image of his person, and upholding all things bij the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins,
sat down on the rigid hand of the Majesty on high.
A REVELATION of God, by whatever means
or instrument it may be communicated, demands
our solemn attention. But Christianity requires the
highest possible degree of reverence, because the
Messenger, by whom it was promulgated, as far sur
passed all other instruments in excellence, as the
truths delivered by him are of deeper and more mys
terious import. It is in this view that the Apostle
introduces this sublime description of Christ ; in
which we may notice,
I. The dignity of his person
We cannot conceive any expressions more grand
than these which are here applied to Christ, and
which set forth,
1. His essential dignity
[The Father is the fountain, and the archetype of all
perfection. Of him Jesus is a perfect copy. As the impres
sion on the wax corresponds with all the marks and lineaments
of the seal, so is Jesus " the express image " of the Father in
every particular, insomuch that " he who hath seen him hath
K
132 HEBREWS, I. 3. [2268.
seen the Father 3 ." But the Father is, in himself, invisible to
mortal eyes b ; it is in Christ only that he is seen: on which
account Christ is called " the image of the invisible God c ."
And as all the glory of the sun is seen in the bright effulgence
of its rays, so is all the glory of the Godhead seen in the face
of Jesus Christ d .]
2. His official dignity-
fit was Jesus who made the worlds 6 : and he it is who
upholds them by the same " powerful word " that first spake
them into existence f . By him all things maintain their proper
courses, and the order first assigned them. Nor is there any
thing that happens either in the kingdom of providence or of
grace, which does not proceed from his will, or tend to his
glory. There is nothing so small but it occupies his attention,
nothing so great but it is under his controul g . Every thing
that is good owes its existence to his immediate agency, and
every thing that is evil, to his righteous permission.]
Intimately connected with this is,
II. The diversity of his ministrations
As in the Church there are " diversities of admi
nistrations and of operations 11 " under Christ, who is
the author of them, so in the work of Christ himself
there is a diversity of ministrations.
1. He " purged our sins" by his blood on earth
[Sin needed an atonement, and such an atonement as no
created being could offer. Jesus therefore, the Creator him
self, undertook to make an atonement for us, and such an one
as should satisfy divine justice on our behalf, and put honour
on that law which we had violated. For this end he assumed
that nature which had sinned, and endured the curse due to
our iniquities. When he had only to create or to uphold the
universe, his ivord was sufficient : but when he came to redeem
the world, nothing would suffice but his own precious blood.
Other priests offered the blood of bulls and of goats as typical
expiations : but, to make a true and proper atonement, Jesus
was forced to offer up " himself" His prayers and tears were
insufficient : if he would purge away our sins, he must do it
" by himself," by * pouring out his soul unto death."
This is what Jesus undertook to do ; nor did he ever draw
back till he could say, " It is finished."]
a John xiv. 9. b 1 Tim. i. 17. and vi. 16.
c Col. i. 15. d Col. ii. 9. 2 Cor. iv. G.
e ver. 2. and John i. 3. f Col. i. 17.
e Matt. x. 29, 30. h 1 Cor. xii. 46.
2268.1 CHRIST S ASCENSION TO GLORY. 133
He ascended to complete his work in heaven
[The high-priest, after offering the sacrifice, entered
within the vail, to present it there. Thus Jesus " passed into
the heavens," the place where he was to finish his ministra
tions. In the presence of all his disciples he ascended thither,
giving thereby a decisive evidence that nothing further re
mained for him to do on earth. But a further evidence of
this arises from the posture in which he ministers in heaven.
The priests under the law stood, because they needed to repeat
the same sacrifices continually : but Jesus having offered one
sacrifice once for all, "sat down at the right hand" of God,
the place of supreme dignity and power. From this we infer
the perfection of his sacrifice on earth 1 ; and are assured, that
whatever remains to be done by him within the vail, is trans
acted in an authoritative manner, all power being given to him
to " save to the uttermost " them that trust in him.]
AVe may LEARN from hence,
1. The security of those who believe in Christ
[Who is it that interests himself for them? "Jehovah s
Fellow V Who bought them with his blood ? The God of
heaven and earth 1 . Who has undertaken to keep them ? He
that " upholdeth all things by his word" 1 ." Who is con
tinually engaged in completing their salvation? He that is
constituted Head over all things for this very purpose". What
then have they to fear either from their past guilt, or their
present weakness ? Let them only be strong in faith, and
" none shall ever pluck them out of his hand ."]
2. The danger of those who are yet in unbelief-
fin proportion to the dignity of this adorable Saviour
must be the guilt of rejecting him. This is frequently insisted
on in this epistle 1 . Let us lay it to heart. To neglect this
Jesus is such a mixture of folly and ingratitude, of impiety
and rebellion, as involves in it the highest degree of crimi
nality, and subjects us to the heaviest condemnation q . Let
those who are guilty of this neglect remember that " the
enemies of Jesus shall all become his footstool :" and let them
kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and they perish without a
remedy 1 ".]
Heb. x. 11, 12. k 2ech. xiii. 7.
I Acts xx, 28. "> Col. i. 17, 18
II Eph. i. 22, 23. " John x. 28.
i Ilch. ii. ,3, 4. and x. 28, 2<>. n Deut. xviii. 18, H.
T Ps. ii. (J, 9, 10, 12.
134< HEBREWS, I. 6. [2269.
MMCCLXIX.
CHRIST S INCARNATION.
Hcb. i. 6. When he bringeth in the First-begotten into the
world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
IF God had been pleased to try our faith, he might
have required us to believe whatsoever he should re
veal, even though he should mention it but once :
but, in condescension to our weakness, he has given
us a great variety of testimonies to confirm every
fundamental doctrine of our holy religion. The doc
trine of the divinity of Christ is as important as any
in the whole Bible : and it stands, not on one or two
doubtful passages of Scripture, but on the plainest,
and almost numberless declarations of the inspired
writers. In the passage before us the Apostle is
shewing the infinite superiority of Jesus above the
highest orders of created beings ; and he adduces a
whole series, as it were, of testimonies in proof of
this point. The one which we have now read is
taken from the 97th Psalm, and confessedly relates
to Jesus 3 .
In discoursing upon it we are led to observe,
I. That Christ is a proper object of divine worship
The command contained in the text is itself deci
sive upon the point
[God is a jealous God, and claims divine worship as his
unalienable prerogative 13 ; yet he at the same time requires it
to be given to his Son. Would he do this, if his Son were
not worthy of that high honour ? Would he, contrary to his
express declaration, give his glory to another ? We are
assured he would not; and therefore his Son must be a
proper object of our supreme regard.]
The practice of the Christian Church confirms it
beyond a doubt
a It speaks of Christ s kingdom, ver. 1 ; and the duty of angels,
lit- re called gods, to worship him. ver. 7.
b Mutt. iv. 10. c Isai. xlii. 8.
2269.] CHRIST S INCARNATION. 135
[Stephen, when he was full of the Holy Ghost, and his
face shone like that of an angel, at the very instant that he
saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of
God, addressed himself, not to the Father, but to Jesus ; and
that too in terms precisely similar to those in which Jesus in
his dying hour had addressed the Father d . Can we wish for
any plainer example ? The Apostle Paul, under the buf-
fetings of Satan, applied to Jesus for relief, and was expressly
answered, as he himself tells us, by Jesus ; in consequence of
which answer he from that time " gloried in his infirmities,
that the power of CHRIST might rest upon him e ." The whole
Church of God, not only at Corinth, but " in all other places,"
are described and characterized by this very thing, the wor
shipping of Christ f . But the Church triumphant no less than
the Church militant are incessantly presenting before him
their humble and grateful adorations g .
Surely if worship be not to be paid to Christ, the Scriptures
are not calculated to instruct, but to deceive and ensnare us.]
Nor must it be forgotten, that to worship Christ is
the highest act of obedience to the Father-
fit is the Father who enjoins it in the text; and that,
not to men only, but to angels also : " He has committed all
judgment to his Son for this very purpose, that all men may
honour the Son even as they honour the Father 1 ;" he even
swears that all, at the peril of their souls, shall bow to Jesus ;
and, so far from thinking himself dishonoured by it, he ex
pressly requires it, in order that he himself may be more
abundantly glorified k .]
The text leads us further to observe respecting
Christ,
II. That his incarnation affords a special call to all
both in heaven and earth to worship him
" The bringing in of the First-begotten into the
world," may comprehend the whole period of his
reign under the Gospel dispensation ; in which case
the command to worship him is general: but if we
confine the expression to the time of his incarnation,
the command to worship him will be a special call,
arising from the circumstance of his incarnation, and
founded on it. To elucidate it in this latter view we
may observe that,
ll Compare Acts vii. 59, GO. with Luke xxiii. , H, 46.
l> 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9. 1 Cor. i. _>. % Rev. vii. 9, 10.
11 John v. 2-2, 23. < Rum. xiv. 10, 11. k Phil. ii. 10, 1!.
136 HEBREWS, I. 6. [2269.
1. It (his incarnation) affords the brightest dis
covery of the Divine perfections
[The angels had doubtless seen much of the Divine glory
before : they had seen God s wisdom, power, and goodness in
the creation and government of the world. But they never
before had such a view of his condescension and grace as when
they beheld him lying in the manger, a helpless babe. Now
also the design of God to glorify all his perfections in the
work of redemption was more clearly unfolded. Hence the
whole multitude of the heavenly choir began to sing, " Glory
to God in the highest." And if their hosannas increased with
their discoveries of the Divine glory, should not ours also ?
Have not we also abundant reason to magnify our incarnate
God ; and to exalt our thoughts of him in proportion as he
has debased himself for our sakes ?]
2. It opens a way for our reconciliation with
God-
[Men were indeed accepted of God before Christ s advent
in the flesh ; but it was through him who was to come, as we
are accepted through him who has come. But when Christ
was manifested in the flesh, his mediatorial work commenced;
and that course of sufferings and obedience, which is the
meritorious ground of our acceptance, was begun. It may be
said, that, though we are bound on this account to adore him,
the angels feel no interest in it. But can we suppose that those
benevolent spirits, who minister to the heirs of salvation, and
bear them on their wings to the realms of glory, feel no delight
in our happiness ? Doubtless they do ; and are themselves
made happier by their sympathy with us. If they rejoice over
one sinner that repenteth, they also have reason to adore the
Saviour for opening both to us and them such an inexhaustible
fountain of blessedness and joy.]
3. It reunites men and angels under one Head
[Christ was the Creator and sovereign Lord both of men
and angels 1 ; but man, by casting off his allegiance to his Lord,
lost also his connexion with angels. Jesus however, by be
coming man, gathers together again both men and angels
under himself as their common head : yea, he comes, as it
were, to the very gates of hell, that he may take from thence
sinners of the human race to fill the thrones once vacated by
the apostate angels. It is by no means improbable that the
very same humiliation of Jesus that exalts men to glory, is
the source of establishment to the angels that retained their
1 Col. i. Hi. " Am-/;</>uXrw<T<70(ti. Eph. i. 10.
2269.J CHRIST S INCARNATION. 137
innocence. At all events, the restoration of their Lord to the
honour of which man by transgression had deprived him, and
their communion with man in the benefits conferred upon him,
cannot fail of exciting in their breasts the liveliest emotions
of gratitude. Indeed, we see that this is no fanciful idea,
since it is realized in heaven, where saints and angels join in
one general chorus, ascribing " salvation to God and to the
Lamb "."]
To ENFORCE then the injunction we have been con
sidering, we would say,
1. Welcome him
[Let not his advent be regarded with indifference ; but
welcome him with acclamations and hosannas. The captious
Pharisees may indeed condemn you ; but if you neglect to
honour him thus, the very stones will cry out against you".]
2. Submit to him
[Jesus comes, not merely to save mankind, but to set up
his kingdom in the world. Let your hearts then, yea, " the
very thoughts of your hearts, be brought into a willing
captivity to him." " Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye
perish 1 :" and present your offerings before him in token of
your allegiance to him, and your unreserved subjection to his
will".]
3. Depend upon him
[He is that nail in a sure place on which are to be hanged
all the vessels of his Father s house r . Trust then on him ; and
let his vicarious sufferings and obedience be the stay and
support of your souls.]
4. Glory in him
[Since he is the boast of all in heaven, let him be the
boast of all on earth. Let the frame of your hearts be joyous,
exulting, and triumphant 8 . Thus from worshipping him here
below, you shall be brought to worship him for evermore in
heaven above.]
n Rev. v. 9, 13. Luke xix. 38 40. i> Ps. ii. 12.
i Matt. ii. 11. r Isai. xxii. 23, 24. s See Isai. xliv. 2;!.
138 HEBREWS, I. 8. [2270.
MMCCLXX.
EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST S PERSON AND GOVERNMENT.
Heb. i. 8. Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, God, is for
ever and ever : a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of
thy kingdom.
IN the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Apostle s main
object is to shew, that the Jewish ritual was com
pletely fulfilled in Christ, and was therefore super
seded by the Christian dispensation. But before he
comes to the argumentative part, wherein this sub
ject is regularly discussed, he shews how great and
glorious a person Christ was : for, as the Jews had
a high regard for Moses, and as they had received
their law from God, it was necessary that they should
be informed who Christ was ; that he was greater
than Moses, yea, than the very angels in heaven ;
and that therefore he had full authority to introduce
the religion which was now established amongst his
followers, and which the Jews were every where
called upon to embrace. This, however, he takes
care to ground upon their own Scriptures. He speaks
of nothing as now, for the first time, revealed to
himself; but appeals to the writings of their own
prophets, in proof of every thing that he asserts.
The Psalm from whence the text is cited, relates
chiefly to the Messiah. Whatever relation it may
have to Solomon, it confessedly cannot be altogether
applied to him. The ancient Jews understood it as
speaking of the Messiah : and of the propriety of
applying it to him, there can be no doubt. The
words before us are addressed by the Father to the
Messiah : and they lead us distinctly to notice two
things ; namely,
I. The dignity of his person
Many there are, both Jews and Christians, who
deny that the Divinity of Christ is here asserted
[Jews have said, that the word Eloliim is applied in Scrip
ture to creatures, and therefore cannot be justly interpreted as
2270.] EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST. 139
importing the proper Deity of the person to whom it is ad
dressed. But to this it may be observed, that though the word
Elohini is applied to magistrates officially, as representatives
of the Deity, it is no where applied to any individual but to
Jehovah himself; and that to apply it to any individual besides
Jehovah would be blasphemy.
But Christians also have attempted to invalidate the testi
mony of the Apostle, as the Jews have of the prophet; and
for that purpose would translate the words thus ; " God is thy
throne for ever and ever." But this is to force the words from
their plain and obvious meaning : nor will it answer the end
which they would endeavour to attain : for the very next quo
tation from the Psalms asserts the divinity of Christ, as clearly
as the text itself does ; speaking of him as the Creator of all
things, and as continuing immutably " the same" for ever and
ever 3 : and just before the text, another passage is cited from
the Psalms to the same purpose, saying, " Let all the angels
of God worship him 1 ." We may safely therefore affirm, that
the Messiah (who is here called " the Son,") is addressed as
truly and properly " God."]
But the doctrine of his proper Deity, whilst it is
asserted here, pervades also the whole Scriptures,
both of the Old and New Testament
[The very name Emmanuel was assigned him on this
account, because he was " God with us." Yes, verily, he is
" Jehovah s fellow c :" even " the mighty God 1 ;" " Jehovah our
righteousness 6 ." Nor does the New Testament leave this in
doubt: for it asserts him to be " God manifest in the flesh f ,"
even " the great God and our Saviour"," " God over all, blessed
for ever 1 ."]
And this doctrine lies at the root of all our hopes
[The whole scope of this epistle is to shew, that what the
blood of bulls and goats could not do, the blood of Christ, as
shed upon the cross, has effected ; namely, that it has made a
propitiation for the sins of the whole world. But is it the
blood of a mere creature that could effect this ? If Christ be a
mere creature, what force is there in that argument of the
Apostle, " If the blood of bulls, &c. sanctifieth to the purifying
of the flesh, ho\v much more shall the blood of Christ, &c.
purge our conscience from dead works to serve the living
God 1 ?" What sense would there be in this, " If the blood of
one creature could effect the smallest thing, hair much more
a ver. 10 12. b ver. G. c Zecli. xiii. 7.
d Isai. ix. 0. e Jer. xxiii. 0. f 1 Tim. iii. 1G.
e Tit. ii. 11. >> Rom. ix. 5. Heb. ix. 13, 11.
140 HEBREWS, I. 8. [2270.
shall the blood of another creature effect the greatest?" But
it Christ be God as well as man, then is the argument clear,
and worthy of an inspired Apostle. In a word, if Christ be
not God, he cannot be the Saviour revealed in the Old Testa
ment: for of him it is expressly said, " Look unto me, and be
ye saved, all the ends of the earth : for I am God, and there
is none else. There is no God else beside me; a just God
and a Saviour : there is none beside me k ."]
But it is not so much of the essential, as of the
mediatorial, dignity of Christ that the text speaks :
for it immediately proceeds to mark,
II. The excellency of his kingdom
Earthly kingdoms are but of a limited duration :
and, from the imperfection of all human institutions,
there must of necessity be something in them of par
tiality and of comparative oppression. But Christ s
kingdom is perfect in every respect : it is,
1. In its duration perpetual
[The four great monarchies all found a termination of
their power 1 : but the kingdom which Christ has established,
shall endure for ever 1 ". True it is, that the present mode of
administering it will cease, when there are no more subjects
to be governed, or enemies to be subdued. When the final
judgment is passed, the enemies of the Messiah s kingdom will
all be shut up in the prison prepared for their reception ; and
his subjects be exalted to those regions, where their every
want will be supplied. " Then the Son will deliver up the
kingdom to God, even the Father, that God may be all in
all 11 ." Still, however, the kingdom itself will remain: and
Christ, as its glorious Head, be acknowledged by all his sub
jects, as the one source of their happiness, the one author of
their salvation .]
2. In its administration just
[" His sceptre is a sceptre of righteousness." Every law
that proceeds from him is " holy, and just, and good." Nothing
of imperfection is found in any one of them : they are alike
incapable of diminution or addition. If any one law appears
too strict, it is only through our own ignorance and love of
sin. To the renewed soul, not one of his commandments is
grievous : the only thing that is grievous to it is, that it is not
k Isai. xlv. 21, 22. > Dan. ii. 37 41.
" Dan. ii. 44. and vii. 13, 14. 1 Cor. xv. 24, 28.
Rev. v. 9, 10.
2270.] EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST. 141
able to obey them all more perfectly. The very tendency of
every law is to make those happy who obey it: and were any
man to obey the laws of Christ as perfectly as they do in
heaven, he would already in his own soul possess a heaven
upon earth. Let any one who is disposed to complain of the
strictness of the Gospel, examine its laws with candour, and
see which of them he can reduce : Would he love God with
less than all his heart; or his neighbour less than himself?
Were he to reduce any one law below its present standard,
he would so far give a licence for rebellion throughout all the
kingdoms of the earth, and reason for murmuring throughout
all the regions of hell, since a lower standard was appointed
for others than was ever allowed to them.
But this righteousness is no less visible in the administration
of the King, than in the laws by which he governs : for in no
one instance is his favour or his frown accorded to any one,
but in a strict consistency with equity. On whom did the
King ever frown but on account of his transgressions, or more
than in proportion to their enormity ? or on whom did he ever
deign to smile, but on those who humbled themselves before
him as guilty, and pleaded his perfect righteousness as the
ground of all their hopes ? Nay, where did he ever pardon
one rebel, till that rebel had cast himself entirely on the merit
of his sacrifice, whereby Divine justice had been satisfied, and
the law of God magnified? In earth, in hell, in heaven, the
righteousness of his sceptre is alike displayed, and to all eter
nity shall it be acknowledged throughout the whole extent of
his dominions.]
Keeping in view the general scope of the passage, as
well as our own individual benefit, we would
observe by way of IMPROVEMENT,
1. How clearly are the great truths of the Gospel
founded on the Old Testament !
[We find nothing in the New Testament which was not
predicted in the Old. Hence our blessed Lord and his Apostles
continually refer to the Jewish Scriptures in confirmation of
their own word. And it is worthy of particular remark, that
we never so much as once hear of their enemies controverting
or objecting to the construction which they put upon the
Scriptures. The true import of the prophecies was, in many
respects, better understood then than now; because the Jews,
in order to justify their rejection of Jesus as their Messiah,
have laboured to find out other interpretations of the Scrip
tures, different from those which their own forefathers ac
knowledged and approved. And I cannot but regard the very
circumstance of the Apostles citing the different prophecies in
142 HEBREWS, I. 8. [2270.
the way they did, as a strong presumption, that the Scriptures
were understood at that time in the very sense in which they
cited them : for, had they not been so understood by the Jews
of that day, the citation of them would have been nugatory :
yea, worse than nugatory ; it would have been absurd in the
highest degree ; and would have produced the directly opposite
effect to that which it was intended to produce. Let any one,
with this impression upon his mind, read the chapter from
whence our text is taken, and he cannot for one moment doubt
the divinity of Christ, or the truth of his Messiahship.]
2. How safely may we commit ourselves into the
Saviour s hands !
[Were our King a man only, what confidence could we
have in his protection ? He could not be every where : he
could not hear and aid all persons at the same moment : con
sequently we might be overwhelmed before he could come to
our aid. But our King is " the Mighty God," who has all
things in heaven, and earth, and hell under his controul ; and
who has engaged that all his enemies, and ours, shall be put
under his feet. Let none then be discouraged because of the
number, power, or inveteracy of their enemies : for, if he be
for us, none can succesfully be against us. Let the considera
tion therefore which quieted David s mind in all his troubles,
compose and quiet our minds also under every trial that can
befall us : " the floods have lifted, O Lord, the floods have lifted
up their voice : the floods lift up their waves. The Lord on
high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the
mighty waves of the sea p :" " The Lord is in his holy temple ;
the Lord s throne is in heaven q ."]
3. How obedient should we be to his holy will !
[Were it only that we are the work of his hands, we ought
to be altogether obedient to his will : but how much more,
when, in addition to being our Creator, he has become our
Redeemer; and has assumed our nature, in order that we,
through his vicarious sufferings, may be made partakers of his
kingdom and glory ! We must not forget that the throne on
which he sits is a mediatorial throne ; and the kingdom which
he governs is a mediatorial kingdom : and that he exercises his
dominion not merely over us, but for us. How happy would
the fallen angels be, if they could have one more offer of being
received into his kingdom ! But this privilege belongs to us
only; and to us no longer than during the present short period
of our existence upon earth. If we cast not down the weapons
of our rebellion now, the day of grace will be past, and we shall
. J> Ps. xciii. 3, 4. <i Ps. xi. 3, 4.
2271.] CHRIST S SUPERIORITY TO ANGELS. 143
hear him say, " Bring hither those that were mine enemies,
who would not that I should reign over them, and slay them
before me." But me thinks we should be constrained by love,
rather than by fear. Think, my brethren, what it has cost
him to establish his kingdom: what conflicts he has endured
for us, that we might be made partakers of his triumphs ! It
was " through his own death that he triumphed over him that
had the power of death, and delivered us from his cruel bond
age." Give ye then up yourselves to him : and though death
should await you for your fidelity to him, fear it not, but rejoice
that ye are counted worthy to suffer it for his sake. And know
assuredly, that, " if ye suffer with him, ye shall reign with him,"
and to all eternity " be glorified together" with him.]
MMCCLXXI.
CHRIST S SUPERIORITY TO ANGELS.
Heb. i. 10 V2. Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the
foundation of the earth ; and the heavens are the ivorks of
thine hands: they shall perish ; but thou remainest ; and
they all shall wax old as doth a garment ; and as a vesture
shall thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but
thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
THE Old Testament speaks much of Christ : the
Psalms, in particular, abound with expressions re
lating to him : and, previous to his coming, the
learned Jews, who looked forward to the advent of
their Messiah, and longed for his appearance, inter
preted them in their true and proper sense. This is
clear ; because we never find, in any one instance,
that the construction put upon these passages by
the Apostles of our Lord was controverted, or the
application of them to him doubted. The Jews of
later ages, in order to weaken the force of these pas
sages as proving the Messiahship of the Lord Jesus,
have invented other explanations of them ; deter
mining to put any sense whatever upon their own
Scriptures, rather than admit the validity of his
claims. But it is not to be conceived that the
Apostle Paul, at the very time that he withheld the
signature of his name from this epistle, (lest, by the
mention of it, he should excite the prejudices of his
141 HEBREWS, I. 1012. [2271.
countrymen to whom he wrote,) should, in the very
outset of his epistle, cite passages in a sense which
none of his opponents were ready to admit ; and that
he should go on to build the whole weight of his ar
guments on passages so adduced, and so interpreted.
Yet we find, that he has applied to Jesus many ex
pressions, which, if his construction of them be true,
prove, beyond a doubt, not only the Messiahship of
Jesus, but the infinite superiority of his dispensation
to that which had been established among the Jews.
The Jews gloried in the Mosaic dispensation, as
having been given to them, not only by the hands of
Moses, but through the instrumentality of angels 3 .
St. Paul shews them, in the beginning of this epistle,
that, however much they might glory in this honour,
the Christian had far higher reason to glory ; because
his religion was revealed by Christ himself, who,
both in his nature as God, and in his office as the
appointed Mediator between God and man, was in
finitely above the angels.
In confirmation of the Apostle s statement, I shall
set before you,
I. The majesty of Him by whom the Gospel was
revealed
Great and glorious things are spoken of him in the
preceding context. But we shall wave all mention
of those things, and confine our attention to the pas
sage before us ; and notice,
1. The passage cited by the Apostle
[The words in my text will be found towards the close of
the 102d Psalm. In that psalm, the writer, personating the
Church, speaks of the afflictions under which he groaned 1 ,
and of the consolations which he derived from contemplating
the future glories of the Messiah s kingdom, which should ex
tend over the whole world, and endure for evermore . The
person of whom he speaks, he calls " his God :" " I said, O
my God, take me not away in the midst of my years:" and
* Heb. ii. 3. Acts vii.,53. Gal. iii. 19. b Ps. cii. 111.
c Ps. cii. 12 28. He speaks of " the heathen fearing the name
of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth beholding his glory : and
of a people who should be created to praise the Lord." ver. 15, 18, 22.
2 27\. j CHRIST S SUPERIORITY TO ANGELS. 145
then he immediately adds, " Of old hast thou laid the foun
dations of the earth," and so on. Now, no one ever doubted
but the Person whom the Psalmist there addresses, was the
God of heaven and earth : and the Jews themselves were wont
to interpret the psalm as referring to the Messiah. St. Paul
confirms that interpretation, by expressly applying the text to
the Lord Jesus Christ. As for saying that he applied the
passage to Christ in a subordinate sense, there is no intimation
given of any such thing: nor would the passage have been at
all to his purpose, if it were not understood in its full sense :
for the Apostle s object was, to establish the superiority of
Christ above all the angels of heaven : and to have asserted
that the Father was superior to them, would have been of no
use. It is clear, then, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the true
God, even " God over all, blessed for ever."]
2. The sublime truths contained in it
[The Person here addressed has two attributes ascribed
to him ; namely, omnipotence, as the Creator of the universe ;
and immutability, as being ever the same : and both of these
belong to the Lord Jesus Christ ; for it was He who created
all things, both in heaven and earth. If an idea be suggested,
that he might have merely been an agent deputed to this work,
as any angel might have been; and that the execution of it is
not sufficient to prove his Godhead ; I answer, that though
I will not undertake to say what works God might devolve on
a creature, there can be no doubt but that he was God who
made the worlds : for it is said, " In the beginning was the
Word; and the Word was with God; and the Word ivas God:
the same was in the beginning with God. All things were
made by HIM; and without HIM was not any thing made that
was made d ." And this was no other than the Lord Jesus
Christ : for the same Apostle adds, " The Word was made
flesh, and dwelt amongst us e ."
To the same Person, also, is immutability ascribed: as it is
said, " They (the works of creation) shall perish, but thou
remainest: and they all shall wax old, as doth a garment;
and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be
changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
Now this, also, is an incommunicable attribute of the Deity !
" I, the Lord, change not." To no creature whatever can this
perfection be assigned : the highest archangel, if left to him
self, would fail, even as myriads of once-holy angels did in
heaven ; from whence they were expelled for their transgres
sion, and were doomed to an eternity of misery in hell. But
to Jesus it essentially belongs ; because, though a man, as to
*
A John i. 1 3. e John i. 14.
vol.. \i\. L
11G HEBREWS, I. 1012. [2271.
his human nature, he is " Jehovah s Fellow," " God manifest
in the flesh," " Emmanuel, God with us."]
The whole scope of the Apostle s argument leads
me, from speaking of the Majesty of Christ, to shew,
in the next place,
II. The excellency of the Gospel as revealed by
him
Why, when the Law was committed to us by the
ministry of angels, should the Gospel be spoken to
us by God himself? Is there any thing in the Gospel
that calls for such a distinction ? I answer, There is
an immense disparity between the two, even such as
may well account for the high honour conferred
upon the Gospel. Consider what the Gospel is :
consider,
1. The depth of its mysteries
[The law was not without its mysteries : but they were
all veiled from human sight; in token of which, Moses put a
veil upon his face. But " in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ, that veil is taken away," and we behold his glory with
unveiled face f . We are led even to the council-chamber of
the Most High, where the Father and the Son concerted
together for the recovery of mankind, even millions of years
before they fell. We hear the Son undertaking to become a
man, in order that he might suffer in the stead of his offending
creatures, and expiate their guilt by his own obedience unto
death. We see this very Saviour become incarnate : we behold
him sojourning on earth, as the accredited Ambassador of
heaven. We hear his voice ; we trace his footsteps ; we witness
all his sufferings unto death. We see him yet again, raised
from the dead, and ascending up to heaven ; and sending down
the Holy Ghost, to testify of him, and to establish his kingdom
upon earth. We behold his kingdom actually established,
and maintaining its pre-eminence on earth, in despite of all
possible opposition from men and devils. And, finally, we
behold in this stupendous mystery every perfection of the
Deity, shining in harmonious and united splendour.
Here then was a mystery, which deserved to be marked
with all the honour conferred upon it. True, " this treasure"
might well, at a subsequent period, be put " into earthen
vessels:" but at its first exhibition it was well that it should
be displayed by our incarnate God, and that the word which
2 Cor. iii. 14, 18.
2271.] CHRIST S SUPERIORITY TO ANGELS. 147
unfolded it should " at first begin to be spoken by the Lord
himself*."]
2. The richness of its provisions-
fin this is contained all that man can need, and all that
God himself can bestow. We were fallen, even our whole
race, like the apostate angels themselves : and being partakers
with them in transgression, we were doomed to partake with
them also in their punishment. We were sunk even to the
very precincts of hell : yet, behold, from thence are we taken,
to be restored to the favour of our God, and to inherit a
throne of glory. Could we conceive of the fallen angels, as
taken from their sad abodes of misery, and .restored to the
felicity from which they fell, we might have some idea of the
blessings imparted to us by the Gospel of Christ. But who
can declare all that is comprehended in pardon, and peace,
and holiness, and glory? Eternity itself will not be sufficient
to compute and estimate the mighty Bum.]
3. The duration of its benefits
[Eternity ! Amazing thought ! eternity ! Yes, eternity
shall be the duration of blessedness to every believing soul.
The benefits of the Mosaic dispensation soon passed away :
but not so those which we inherit by the Gospel. As long as
the believing soul shall retain its capacity for enjoyment, and
the Saviour himself exist upon his throne, so long shall He
who bought us with his blood, dispense to us all the blessings
that he has purchased for us: and the inheritance that shall
be accorded to us, shall be " incorruptible, and undefiled, and
one that fadeth not away."]
Observe, then, from this subject,
1. How worthy of acceptation is the Gospel of
Christ !
[When we consider who it is that has proclaimed the
Gospel to us, even " the true and faithful Witness," the Lord
Jesus Christ, we cannot entertain a doubt either of its truth
or excellency. Take all the promises and invitations ; take
them in all their freeness, and in all their fulness ; which of
them is not worthy to be embraced with our whole hearts, and
to be relied upon with our whole souls? Well did St. Paul
say of the Gospel, " It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation." O that we could receive it as we ought ! O
that we felt our need of it, and that we were duly mindful of
the authority and veracity of Him who has revealed it to us !
We should not then dare to slight it; nor should we hesitate
to rest in it with most implicit confidence.]
B Heh. ii. 3.
H 8 HEBREWS, I. 14. [2272.
2. How worthless are all things, in comparison
of it!
[Let crowns and kingdoms be put into the balance against
it, and they will all be found lighter than vanity itself. What
is become of all that the greatest monarchs ever enjoyed ? It
is vanished away as a dream. And what will soon become of
the whole world ? It will all pass away, as a morning cloud ;
and be as though it had never been. Of this we are all sen
sible ; but yet we find it difficult to realize our own principles.
In opposition to our better judgment, we are carried away
after some worthless objects, which often elude our grasp ;
or, if enjoyed, are no sooner possessed than they perish. But
if we seek for Jesus and his kingdom, all will be secured to us.
No one ever sought eternal things in earnest, and was disap
pointed of his hope : no one ever suffered loss for them, but he
found it to be gain in the end. To all then, I say, " Labour
not for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat which
endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall
give unto you ; for him hath God the Father sealed."]
MMCCLXXII.
THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS,
Heb. i. 14. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to
minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation ?
THE superiority of Christ to angels occupies the
mind of the Apostle throughout this chapter. He has
illustrated it already in a very convincing way. He
has adduced many passages of Holy Writ which con
fessedly belong to the Messiah ; and has shewn, that
they never have been, nor can be, applied to them,
because the things predicated in them, exclusively
belong to him. The representations given of the
angels necessarily imply a great inferiority to him :
for they are commanded to worship him a , as their
Creator b , and their God c . Nor is it him only whom
they serve : they are the servants of his people also,
appointed by him to that very office, and executing it
for his honour and glory. This the Apostle men
tions as an indisputable fact ; and appeals to the
a ver. G. b vcr. 10 12. c ver. 8.
2272.] THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS. 149
Hebrews themselves respecting it : " Are they not all
ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation ?"
The ministry of angels is not only a curious sub
ject as it relates to them, but a very interesting
subject as it relates to us ; since we, if we be heirs
of salvation, are the very persons for whom they
minister. We propose therefore to consider the
ministry of angels,
I. As evinced in their services for God s people of
old
They are called by the Apostle " ministering spi
rits," which designates at once both their nature and
office. In their nature they are not corporeal, but
spiritual beings : and they possess both wisdom and
strength far beyond any of the sons of men 1 . Their
number was once far greater than it at present is ;
for vast multitudes of them " kept not their first
estate, but left their first habitation, and are reserved
in chains of darkness to the judgment of the great
day e ." Those who have held fast their integrity are
called " the elect angels ;" and of them there are
myriads, yea millions without number f . Amongst
them are different ranks and orders, (as there are
also amongst the fallen angels,) under Michael their
head, who is therefore called " the archangel," whilst
they are called "his angels g ."
On God they wait, as his servants, with the utmost
alacrity and zeal 1 : and by him they are employed in
executing his holy will.
They were employed by him at the promulgation
of his law { : and they have been rendered useful also
in the diffusion of his Gospel k .
By him they have been sent forth both as execu
tioners of his vengeance and as dispensers of his
mercies. By an angel, he slew in one hour the whole
d 2 Sam. xiv. 20. 2 Pet. ii. 11. c Jude, vcr. G.
f Ps. Ixviii. 17. Rev. v. 11. Heb. xii. 22.
8 Jude, ver. 9. Rev. xii. 7. h Ps. ciii. 20, 21.
Acts vii. 53. Deut. xxxiii. 2. k Rev. xiv. (j.
150 HEBREWS, I. 14. [2272.
Egyptian first-born both of men and beasts 1 . By
the agency of one of those powerful spirits was the
pestilence produced, to which, for the punishment of
David s sin, seventy thousand Israelites fell victims" 1 .
It was by a sword wielded by a similar messenger
from God, that one hundred and eighty-five thousand
of the Assyrian host also were slain in one night".
Nor is it in such extensive ravages only that they
have been employed : a single individual, whom God
has ordained to punish for his iniquity, has been the
object of a similar commission, and been made to
feel the weight of an angel s avenging arm : an angel
smote Herod for his pride, and he was eaten up of
worms . In like manner they have been frequently
made God s ministers for good. In the instances
already mentioned they proved signal benefactors, no
less than avengers : for, if they smote the enemies of
God, they effected thereby a great deliverance for
Israel : and if they corrected his people, it was with
a view to humble them, and to bring them to re
pentance. But they have been no less willing to
minister to individuals than to a whole nation : nor
have they accounted any office beneath their atten
tion. Was Abraham s steward sent to seek a wife
for Isaac ? an angel went before him to prepare his
way p . Did Hagar flee from the face of her mistress ?
an angel advised her to return* 1 . And when she was
put away by Abraham, and her child was perishing
with thirst, an angel directed her to a well, where she
might find an immediate supply 1 . Were Lot and his
family in danger of perishing in Sodom ? with what
affectionate solicitude did angels go to bring them
forth from that devoted place 8 ! Does Balaam hasten
to curse Israel ? an angel obstructs his way, and does
not suffer him to proceed, till he engages to utter
nothing but what the Lord shall put into his mouth 1 .
Does the highly-favoured Daniel pour out his soul
1 Exod. xii. 23. m 2 Sam. xxiv. 1(3, 17. " Isai. xxxvii. 36.
Acts xii. 23. P Gen. xxiv. 7. 1 Gen. xvi. 7 9.
r Gen. xxi. 17. s Gen. xix. 1, 11, lo 17-
1 Numb. xxii. 2235.
2272.] THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS. 151
before God in prayer ? an angel flies from the highest
heavens to give him assured intelligence of the ac
ceptance of his prayers".
Under the New Testament dispensation also, we
find them alike attentive to the welfare of God s peo
ple. Is the child Jesus in danger of being involved
in the common ruin of the infants whom Herod slew?
an angel appears to Joseph, and directs him to flee
to Egypt with his wife and child x . Is Peter kept in
prison to be brought forth the very next day for ex
ecution ? an angel opens for him the prison doors,
and liberates him from his confinement y . Is Paul
ready to be overwhelmed in the waves of the tem
pestuous ocean ? an angel comes to assure him, that
both he, and for his sake all the ship s company also,
shall be saved 2 .
We might adduce a great many other instances of
their friendly interposition for the people of God : but
sufficient lias been spoken to shew, that the office of
ministering to the saints has not been assigned to
them on one or two occasions only of extraordinary
magnitude, but that it has been in every successive
age their uniform and willing employment.
By the view we have taken of their ministry in
former times, we shall be prepared to contemplate it,
II. As still exercised towards the heirs of salvation
The vision of Jacob s ladder, with the angels as
cending and descending upon it, is still realized
throughout the world, even as our blessed Lord has
taught us to expect it should be a . As soon as we
embrace the Gospel, we are brought into actual com
munion with them, even with that " innumerable
company of them" that are before the throne of God 1 .
But, as ubiquity is the prerogative of God only, there
are some who have a special charge of particular
saints, and whose office it is to watch over them in a
more especial manner .
u Dan. ix. 21 23. * Matt. ii. 13. y Acts xii. 7.
z Acts xxvii. 23. a (Jen. xxviii. 12. John i. .">!.
b lleb. xii. 22. Matt, xviii. 10. and Acts xii. 13.
152 HEBREWS, I. 14. [2272.
They have still, as formerly, a great concern for
the Gospel, desiring to get a deeper insight into it
themselves d , and longing for a diffusion of it through
out the world. As the first promulgation of it was
to them an occasion of joy and triumph, insomuch
that they left their bright abodes in heaven, and came
down, a whole multitude of them, to earth on pur
pose to proclaim it e ; so the acceptance of it by any
single individual is to them a source of unutterable
joy : not even the glory of the Divine presence so
attracts their notice, but they can with pleasure turn
away their eyes to behold a mourning penitent ; nor
is their felicity in God himself so perfect, but it re
ceives an addition from this blissful sight f . From
the moment that any one receives the Gospel aright,
they become his servants, and wait upon him with
unwearied assiduity. " They encamp around him"
when he is stationary g , and go out with him where
soever he goes, in order to " hold him up in their
hands, lest he dash his foot against a stone h ." Nor
is it about his corporeal welfare only that they are
concerned : they are attentive also to the concerns
of his soul, and oftentimes succour him in his con
flicts, even as they did his Lord and Master, who, we
are expressly told, had " an angel sent from heaven
to strengthen him "when agonizing in the garden 1 .
What was then accomplished in the Head, is doubt
less yet daily wrought in the members also : for as
" He was tempted in all things like as we are," so
shall we be succoured in all things like as he was k .
In a dying hour, more especially, they redouble their
attentions ; and wait with tender solicitude the de
parture of the spirit, that they may bear it on their
wings to heaven into the very presence of their God.
Nor do they render this service only to men of higher
rank and quality : they minister with equal pleasure
to the least and meanest of mankind : if there be a
Lazarus so poor as to subsist only on the crumbs that
1 Pet. i. 12. e Luke ii. 13, 14. f Luke xv. 10.
P Ps. xxxiv. 7. h Ps. xci. 11, 12. Luke xxii. 43.
k John vi. 57.
2272.] THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS.
fall from a rich man s table, and so destitute of friends
that the very dogs surround him to lick his sores 1 ,
they will perform the same office for him as freely as
for the greatest monarch upon earth.
Beyond this life too will they afford us their kind
services : for, when our bodies, after having moul
dered into dust, shall again be raised in the last day,
these benevolent agents will employ themselves in
gathering together the dispersed saints from every
quarter of the globe, and in bearing them into the
presence of their Lord and Saviour. The separa
tion of the tares from the wheat will be effected by
them : and, whilst the tares are bound up by them in
bundles, and cast into the fire that never shall be
quenched, the wheat shall be gathered by them,
and carried into the granary of heaven". O fearful
thought to the ungodly, to find those benevolent
spirits the instruments of their destruction, when they
might, but for their own fault, have secured them as
agents for their welfare ! But to the saints how
joyful the contemplation, that those elder brethren
who never fell, will so exult in, and contribute to,
the recovery of our apostate race !
Their services will now be ended, because we shall
then no longer have any occasion for their aid. But
the expressions of their love will never end : for,
having seen with joy our fruition of redeeming love,
they will unite with us in songs of praise to our
redeeming God for ever and ever .
IMPROVEMENT
1. How desirable is it to be found amongst "the
heirs of salvation ! "
[To be heirs of great estates \ve all account desirable ;
but to be " heirs of salvation," how few of us regard as an
object worthy of any serious attention ! The very character of
an heir of salvation, so far from being estimable in the eyes of
the generality, is despised ; and the names by which such a
person is designated in Scripture, are made terms of reproach.
" The elect," " the saints," " the godly," are names in the
I Luke xvi. 21, 22. m Matt. xxiv. 30, 31.
II Matt. xiii. 30. " Rev. v. 9 13.
151- HEBREWS, I. 14. [2272.
estimation of the world equivalent to hypocrites and fanatics.
Such, however, is not the opinion of the holy angels. When
once we are brought into that family of which Christ is the
head, they love us, they honour us, they serve us ; yea, they
account it their highest honour to minister unto us. Let me
then exhort all of you, my brethren, to defer to the judgment
of those, who must confessedly be so much better judges than
yourselves: for it is not the angels only who thus express
their sentiments, but God also, who assigns to them this very
office, and sends them forth for the execution of it. And, if
men treat us with contempt because we prefer an invisible and
eternal inheritance before one that is visible and temporal,
" let us not be ashamed, but let us glorify God on this
behalf*."
Does any one ask, How shall I become an heir of salvation ?
I answer, " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ," and " cleave
unto him with full purpose of heart:" for then shall ye be
children of the living God q : and, " if children, then heirs;
heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ 1 ";" who, if he is " the
Saviour of all men, is especially the Saviour of them that
believe 8 ."]
2. How awful will it be to be found amongst the
opposers of God s people !
[Little did the persecuting Saul think whom he opposed,
when he laboured to destroy the followers of Christ. He
imagined that his efforts were directed only against a number
of wild enthusiasts : but, when he heard the Lord Jesus Christ
himself expostulating with him, " Saul, Saul, why persecutes!
thou ME?" he saw his error, and learned, that " whoso toucheth
God s people, toucheth the apple of his eye*." Nor are the
angels indifferent about the treatment which is shewn to
the objects of their care. Of this we are assured expressly by
our Lord himself: and we desire your particular attention to
this point.
Our Lord, in order to inculcate the great doctrine of humi
lity, exhorted his Disciples to imitate a little child, which, for
the more effectually impressing of the lesson upon their minds,
he had set in the midst of them. He then declared, that
whoso should offend one of the little ones who believed in
him, it would be better for him that a mill-stone were hanged
about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the
sea. And the reason which he assigns is very remarkable :
" Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones : for I
say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the
v I Pet. iv. 16. i Johni. 12. Gal. iv. 26, 29.
r Rom. viii. 17. s 1 Tim. iv. 10. Zech. ii. 8.
2272.] THK MINISTRY OF ANGELS. 155
face of my Father which is in heaven"." What is the meaning
of this? and what is the force of this menace? The foregoing
subject will explain it. The meaning is this. The least and
meanest of God s people have one or more angels peculiarly
interested about them in heaven : and, when they see the
injuries done to the objects of their care, they cry to God in
their behalf for vengeance ; " How long, O Lord, holy and
true, dost thou not judge and avenge their cause"?" And
then, as " they do continually his commandments, hearkening
unto the voice of his icord," they wait for the first intimation
of the Divine will, and are ready to execute without delay the
judgment which God assigns: and, if there were an hundred
and eighty-five thousand of those enemies, they should all be
" eaten up with worms," as Herod was, or be cut off, like the
Assyrian host, in one single night. And let us mark parti
cularly the extent of this admonition. It is not said, Take
heed that ye do not destroy my people; but, that ye do not
" despise" them; that ye despise not "one" of them ; not one
of " these little ones" however mean and despicable he may
appear ; for he has an avenger in heaven : and the vengeance
he will inflict is far more terrible than being drowned in the
depths of the sea ; for into the depths of hell shall he cast
your soul, the very instant he has inflicted the fatal stroke
upon your body. Ah ! brethren, will ye not tremble at this
menace? Will ye still account it a light matter either out
wardly to deride, or imvardly to despise, a child of God ?
Beware, I pray you, of your impending danger: and, if ye
will not seek to become heirs of salvation yourselves, at your
peril lift not up your finger against one that is. If this be
man s threatening, disregard it; but, if it be God s, know that
ye cannot hope for success in fighting against God.]
3. How excellent a work is that of ministering to
the saints !
[It has been shewn that this is an office which even the
angels themselves affect. And that they do perform it, is
not merely asserted in our text, but assumed as a fact that is
undoubted and unquestionable : " Are Ihey not ministering
spirits? are they not all sent forth to minister for them that
shall be heirs of salvation ?" Is there so much as one amongst
them all that accounts himself too high to wait upon the least
and lowest of the human race ? If then such be their employ
ment, see what an honourable office those amongst ourselves
sustain who are labouring in any way for the good of souls !
They are fellow-workers with angels, yea, and fellow-workers
with God also. Engage then in this good work, all of you,
u Matt, xviii. (i, 10. * Rev. vi. 10.
156 HEBREWS, II. 3. [2273.
according to your ability ; knowing that, "if ye are to do
good unto all men, ye are especially to do it unto them that
are of the household of faiths." Do it then in every possible
way 2 And the more ye resemble the angels here,
the more richly shall ye participate their felicity in a better
world.]
y Gal. vi. 10.
z Here recommend the Bible Society, or Mission Societies, or Jews
Society, or Charity Schools, or Visiting Societies, or Charities of any
kind, as occasion may require.
MMCCLXXIIL
GREATNESS OF THE GOSPEL SALVATION.
Heb. ii. 3. How shall we escape, if toe neglect so great sal
vation ?
TO estimate our privileges aright, we should com
pare them, not with those of the heathen world, but
with those enjoyed by God s ancient people the Jews.
These were favoured with a revelation from heaven,
and with ordinances of divine appointment, whereby
they were to obtain acceptance with God. But their
dispensation was burthensome beyond measure; their
laws were executed with a rigour that was extreme ;
insomuch, that a man was stoned to death for only
gathering a few sticks upon the Sabbath-day a . In
fact, any presumptuous violation of the law, attested
by two or three witnesses, brought with it the punish
ment of death b . Now, when it is considered how
very different a dispensation we live under, it may
well be asked, " How shall we escape, if we neglect
so great salvation?" For surely, if a dispensation
introduced by angels only required such strict at
tention, and was so inexorably enforced, much more
must the Gospel dispensation, introduced as it has
been by God s only dear Son, and attested by the
Holy Ghost, demand attention and observance from
all to whom it is revealed.
The words which I have read, will lead me to shew
you,
a Numb. xv. 32. b Numb. xv. 30.
2273.] GREATNESS OF THE GOSPEL SALVATION. 157
I. The greatness of the Gospel dispensation
To learn what the Gospel salvation is, we are re
ferred to the preaching of our blessed Lord and his
Apostles
[Our blessed Lord did not systematically lay down the
whole nature of the Gospel salvation ; but he opened it with
a sufficient clearness, that those who paid due attention to his
word might easily comprehend it. What, for instance, could
be plainer than the instruction given to Nicodemus, " As
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but have everlasting life ?" Here the
perishing condition of the whole world is declared, and the
means of their deliverance ; namely, through the death of
Christ as an atonement for sin, and by the simple exercise of
faith in him 1 . The same truth was repeatedly declared to
others and it was fully announced, that, as he com
pleted in himself the whole of the Mosaic ritual, he was the
onlv medium of access to God, the only Saviour of the world:
" I am the truth, the way, and the life : no man cometh unto
the Father but by me f ."
His Apostles after him preached the very same doctrine ;
and to it, as preached by them, the Holy Ghost set his seal.
When Peter opened the Gospel to the Jews, he bade them
believe in Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins ; and in
like manner when he opened it to the Gentiles : and on each
occasion the Holy Ghost bare witness to it, by a visible
descent from heaven 8 . So Paul also preached, and with the
same effect, to the people at Antioch, and to the Jailor at
Philippi 1 . In a word, this was the Gospel which they all
preached ; and by this they prevailed, to establish the king
dom of Christ throughout the greater part of the known
world 1 .]
But how shall I declare the greatness of this sal
vation ?
[Consider it as imparted to us ; who shall estimate the
blessings of it? Tcike it either separately or collectively; and
tell me if you, or an angel from heaven, can ever calculate
the value of pardon, and peace, and holiness, and glorv ?
Eternity would be too short to count the mighty
sum. But consider it as purchased for us ; there all efforts to
c Jolmiii. 14, 15. <> See also ver. 1G, 18, 36.
e John vi. ">1. xi. 2o, 20. xii. 32, 33. and Matt. xxvi. 27, 28.
f John xiv. G. - Acts ii. 38, 3D. and x. -13, -1-1.
11 Acts xiii. 38, 39. and xvi. 30, 31. { Mark xvi. 15, 1G.
158 HEBREWS, II. 3. [2273.
estimate it aright are altogether vain. What shall I say of the
incarnation of God s only dear Son, and of his substitution in
the place of sinners ? What shall I say of his obedience unto
death ; and of his working out a righteousness, wherein every
sinner in the universe, if only he believed in Jesus, might
stand accepted before God ? It is evident that the theme is
too vast either for men or angels ; and that " the height, and
depth, and length, and breadth of this love can never be fully
comprehended," or adequately explored k .]
Well, then, may we now be prepared to hear of,
II. The danger of neglecting it
Here an appeal is made to every living man ; and
sinners are made judges in their own cause. Only
consider what is included in a neglect of the Gospel
salvation :
1. What ingratitude !
[Did Almighty God so compassionate our fallen state as
to give his only-begotten Son to stand in our place and stead,
and by his own obedience unto death to rescue us from all the
miseries we had deserved ? What shall be said of
those on whom this stupendous act of grace makes no impres
sion ? If but a man, a fellow-sinner, had substituted himself
in our place, and died for us by the hands of a public execu
tioner, what would be thought of us if we felt no obligation to
him ? I put it then to you, What must God think of us, if
we feel no desire to requite his unmerited and unbounded
kindness to us, in giving his only dear Son to die for us ? /
appeal to all, May we not well expect to lose this salvation, if
we are so indifferent about it, as to treat both it, and the
means used to effect it, with neglect? I cannot doubt
what is the testimony which the conscience of every one before
me is constrained to give.]
2. What unreasonableness !
[Who ever thinks of attaining the means without the end ?
You cannot obtain any thing in this life without some effort
suited to the occasion. How can you hope, therefore, that hea
ven, and all its glory, shall ever be attained without some effort?
If I had to require all the exertions that poor heathen devo
tees employ to secure the favour of their gods, it were highly
reasonable that you should engage day and night in all the
most self-denying services that could be prescribed. But when
I have only to say, " Believe in Christ, and be saved," your
k Eph. iii. 18, 19.
2273.1 GREATNESS OF THE GOSPEL SALVATION. 1 .")0
neglect is unreasonable in the highest degree. Suppose, when
Moses erected the brazen serpent that all who looked to it
might be healed, any had been so perverse as to say, No, I
will not turn my head to look to it; would you not say that
such an one justly merited the death that must have ensued ?
Such then is the desert of you who neglect the Saviour : and I
will leave you to judge, whether your unreasonable obstinacy,
in refusing to comply with such easy means, do not justly cut
you off from all hope of that salvation which he offers to you ?]
3. What horrible impiety !
[I am afraid of putting this in its true point of view, lest
you should think that I wish to aggravate your guilt beyond
all due bounds. But the Apostle himself represents it as " a
trampling under foot the Son of God, and putting him to an
open shame, and doing despite unto the Spirit of grace."
Now, suppose you could see this matter as God sees it. Sup
pose you could see the Lord Jesus Christ coming in person
to that man, and the man turning upon him and trampling
him under his feet: then suppose you saw the Holy Spirit
also importuning and entreating him to accept of mercy, and
the man turning his back upon him, and doing all manner of
despite to him : should you think that man had any just ground
to expect a salvation which he treated with such contempt ?
This, then, is the very light in which God places it, and in
which you also ought to view it 1 . You, in fact, say to God,
It was needless to send thy Son for me : I did not want him;
nor will I receive him: and if I am not to be saved but by
him, I am determined to abide by the alternative : for I will
rather perish in my sins, than be at the trouble of seeking
salvation through him. I think I need not put it to you,
whether the damnation of such an obstinate sinner be just or
not : I feel persuaded that the appeal made to you in my text
has made its way to all your hearts ; and that you see how
vain it must be for any to hope to escape the displeasure of
God, if they continue to treat with such neglect and contempt
the wonderful salvation provided for them.]
ADDRESS
1. Those who have neglected this salvation
[I wish it to be particularly remembered, that whilst I
address you, I do not lay to your charge any sin except that
which is expressly specified in my text. I will grant, that, as
far as any flagrant act of sin, you have been as innocent as
you yourselves can afHrm. But have you therefore com
mitted no damning sin ? Ask yourselves whether you have
1 Heb. x. 28, 20.
100 HEBREWS, II. 3. [2273.
not neglected the Gospel salvation. Ask whether, if any man
had thought as little of his earthly business as you have
thouo-ht of that, and had entered into his temporal concerns
with as little ardour as you have into the concerns ot your
soul, he could reasonably have hoped for success? Yea, tell
me whether you yourselves would not have been ready to
ascribe his failure to his neglect of business ? You would not
consider an occasional thought about his concerns sufficient,
whilst yet he paid no just attention to them: and so, if you
now and then, in a formal way, perform what you call your
religious duties, whilst the concerns of eternity do not really
occupy your souls, you must not imagine that you are tree
from the charge which my text imputes to you. Consider, 1
pray you, what salvation is; and how greatly you need it; and
how it is to be sought ; and what an entire devotion of soul is
required in order to a due performance of that duty. J
me Have you, with deep contrition of heart, mourned and
lamented your sins? Have you cried to the Lord Jesus
Christ for mercy, as if you felt really your perishing condi
tion ? Have you utterly renounced all hope in yourselves,
and cast yourselves altogether upon him as your only hope?
And is this still, at this very time, the daily habit of your mind ?
Nothing less than this is what the Gospel requires ot you ;
nor without this can you ever enjoy the salvation which it has
provided for you. I pray you, consider this well : and pro
vide, if you can, an answer to the appeal, the awful appeal,
which God himself here makes to you -
2. Those who are really seeking after salvation
[If you are seeking salvation altogether in and through
Christ, then will I alter the words of my text, and ask, How
shall you not escape, if you are seeking this great salvation J
Be assured of this ; the salvation is great enough to answer
all your wants, and to satisfy all your desires. There is in
Christ an inexhaustible fulness of all that you stand m need
of- and out of that fulness you shall receive to the utmost
extent of your necessities. If a doubt or fear arise in your
minds, know that none ever perished looking unto Jesus.
To those who are in him, there never was, nor ever shall be,
any condemnation-." Every promise in the Bible secures t
you the possession of that salvation. Are you blind, i
euiltv and polluted, and enslaved? Behold, wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and complete redemption, are
are made over to you in Christ Jesus, and shall be imparted
in the measure that your necessities require Enjoy then
your liberty ; and let the salvation thus accorded to you t
"> Rom. viii. 1.
2274.1 CHRIST S SUPERIORITY TO ANGELS. lf>l
you with unutterable joy. I grant, your enemies are mighty,
and your corruptions great, and your temptations manifold:
but still I boldly adopt the appeal in my text, and ask, How
shall you not escape, if you seek this salvation? Look at
others, and see how they have escaped. See in those who cru
cified the Lord of glory, how speedy and effectual was the
change wrought on them. See what has been already done for
that multitude whom no man can number, and who are
already enjoying that salvation around the throne of God.
Soon shall ye be of that happy number. Only let the Gospel
salvation be sought by you as the one thing needful, and you
shall never feel the want of it in time or eternity. Give your
selves thoroughly to the attainment of it; and "your labour
shall not be in vain in the Lord."]
MMCCLXXIV.
CHRIST S SUPERIORITY TO ANGELS.
Heb. ii. 6 8. One in a certain place testified, saying, What
is man, that thou art mindful of him ? or the son of man, that
thou viaitest him ? Thou madest him a little lower than the
angels- ; thou croivnedst him with glory and honour, and didst
set him over the works of thy hands: thou hast put all things
in subjection under his feet.
OUR blessed Lord has said, " Search the Scrip
tures ; for they are they which testify of me." Hence
it appears, that the Jews were highly privileged ;
because, if they would only look up to God for the
illumination of their minds, they had within their
reach an infallible directory in their way to heaven.
But we are still more highly privileged, in that we
have a multitude of passages pointed out to us by
men, who were themselves inspired of God to discern
and to explain the meaning of them. If we had been
left to ourselves, we might have doubted whether our
interpretations of the Scripture were just : but, when
holy men of God are moved by the Holy Ghost, to
open and apply those very words to Christ, which
the prophets, under the influence of the same Spirit,
spake of him, we proceed without any fear of error
or delusion.
In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the types and pro
phecies of the Old Testament are more fully opened
VOL. XIX. M
162 HEBREWS, II. 68. [2274.
to us, than in any other part of the apostolic writ
ings. That epistle was evidently written on purpose
to point out the connexion between the Jewish and
Christian dispensations ; to shew their perfect cor
respondence with each other, and the completion of
Judaism in Christianity. It would be profitable to
trace this through the whole epistle : but we must
content ourselves with noticing only the passage be
fore us.
Let us "then consider,
I. The testimony here adduced
The manner in which the Apostle speaks of this
passage of Holy Writ is somewhat remarkable : at
first it appears as if he himself did not recollect the
author, or the part of Scripture where the passage
occurred ; but the fact is, that the Jews were so con
versant with their Scriptures, as not to need any
thing more than the mere citation of the words : the
writer of them, and the place, were sufficiently known
to all. What its import is, we can be at no loss to
determine.
[David, contemplating the starry heavens, and the per
fections of God as displayed in them, breaks out into a devout
acknowledgment of the condescension of God, in noticing so
poor and abject a creature as man ; and his goodness in having
subjected to man the whole animal creation 3 . This is the
primary meaning of the text : and, if we had not been in
structed by God himself to look for any thing further, we
should have rested in that as its full and only import. But
we know on infallible authority, that there was a prophetic
meaning in the psalm ; and that it referred to the Messiah, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Having this clew given us, we find, that
the mystical sense of the passage is, if we may so speak, by
far the most literal. The words, in fact, are inexplicable, as
referred to man, whether in his innocent or fallen state : for
Adam was not reduced from a higher state in order to be
made lower than the angels b : nor is man, in his fallen state,
" a little lower than they, but a great deal lower. Moreover,
fallen man was not crowned with glory and honour ;" nor
are all the creatures in a state of subjection to him. The
very words themselves therefore lead our thoughts to Christ,
a Ps. viii. 3 8. b j/Xur-woTH- conveys this idea.
2274.] CHRIST S SUPERIORITY TO ANGELS. 1(J J
in whom alone they ever received their accomplishment : and
the manner in which the Apostle quotes them, shews, that the
Jews themselves had interpreted them in that very sense in
which he quoted them: for he is arguing with the Jews, to
shew them the superiority of Christ to Moses, their great
lawgiver, and to the angels, by whose ministration their law
was given : and, if he had quoted passages from their writings
which did not bear directly on his point, or had put a con
struction upon them which had not been generally received,
they would have denied his interpretation of the passages he
adduced : and consequently his whole argument would have
immediately fallen to the ground.
If any thing further were wanted to shew that the testimony
is here properly adduced, we might observe, that our blessed
Lord himself quotes the very words before the text as appli
cable to himself, and as being generally understood to refer to
the Messiah*. ,]
Having ascertained the meaning of the testimony,
let us consider,
II. The points established by it-
Some interpreters understand the text as quoted
only in an accommodated sense : but the words them
selves, and the scope of the Apostle s argument, prove
that we must understand it as a prophecy that has
been strictly and literally fulfilled. In this view it
contains much respecting the Lord Jesus : It proves,
I. The dignity of his person
[The scope of the Apostle s argument in the two first
chapters of this epistle is, to shew that Christ is superior
to the heavenly hosts, and " hath by inheritance a more
excellent name than they." Him the Father acknowledges as
his only-begotten Son d : and commands all the angels to adore
him 6 . Him he addresses as the Creator and Governor of all
things, the eternal, immutable Jehovah f , to whom all adverse
powers shall assuredly be subjected 5 : to whom also the Chris
tian dispensation (" of which St. Paul speaks," and which he
designated as the " world to come,") is altogether committed,
that he may order every thing relating to it according to his
sovereign will and pleasure 11 . As for angels, he has never
spoken such things concerning them, or committed such power
e Ps. ii. 2. with Matt. xxi. 15, 10. d Heb. i. >.
c Heb. i. 6. f Heb. i. S 12. P Heb. i. IP.
* Hcb. ii. .-,.
M 2
164 HEBREWS, II. 08. [2274.
to them 1 . They are the fellow-servants of the saints k , united
with them as part of the Church over which Christ presides 1 ,
and appointed to minister unto them in the capacity of ser
vants" 1 . However venerable therefore they are in themselves,
and whatever honour God put upon them in the giving of the
law, they are infinitely below the Lord Jesus, who is their
Creator, their Governor, and their God. In his human nature
he was " made a little lower than they;" but in his pre-existent
nature he was infinitely above them. O that we may have
worthy conceptions of his Divine Majesty, and ever be ready
to address him in the words of Thomas, " My Lord, and my
God ! "]
2. The truth of his Messiahship
[Here is a prophecy that must receive an accomplishment:
there must be a person superior to the angels in his own
nature, and made lower than they by the assumption of our
nature. He must submit to this humiliation " for the purpose
of suffering death," as the penalty due to the sins of men.
Having " tasted death for every man," he must be raised, and
" crowned with glory and honour," and must " have all things
in heaven, earth, and hell, put under his feet." Now then
we ask, In whom has this, or any part of it, been fulfilled ?
Who has experienced either the humiliation or the exaltation
which are here predicted ? That Jesus has fulfilled the pro
phecy, we know : for, " being in the form of God, and account
ing it no robbery to be equal with God, he made himself of
no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant: and
having submitted to death, even the death of the cross, he has
been exalted, and has had a name given him above every
name, that every knee should bow to him, and every tongue
confess him to be the Lord, to the glory of God the Father"."
Is there any one else of whom these things, or any one of
them, can be spoken? Assuredly not: " But tve see Jesus"
thus humbled, and thus exalted : and, consequently, Jesus
is, beyond all doubt, " the Christ, the Saviour of the world."]
3. The certainty of his triumphs
[When he was on earth " he was crucified through weak
ness; but now he liveth by the power of God." He is not
only " crowned with glory and honour," as his followers will
be, but is " set far above all principality and power, and
1 Heb. ii. 5. k Rev. xix. 10. and xxii. 9.
1 Eph. i. 10. m Heb. i. 14.
n Phil. ii. 6 11. where iKivuaf. in ver. 7. corresponds with >}\dr-
e in the text.
ver. 9.
2274.] CHRIST S SUPERIORITY TO ANGELS. 165
might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only
in this world, but also in that which is to come : and being
constituted Head over all things to the Church, he filleth all
in all," supplying every member of it with light and life, even
as the sun does in the material world p . The Apostle indeed
justly observes, " We see not yet all things put under him q ."
But we see enough to assure us, that all things shall in due
time be put under him. See to what a state he himself was
reduced, when he lay sealed up, and guarded in the silent
tomb! but he rose triumphant, and ascended up to heaven, and
" sits as King upon God s holy hill of Zion." See how
quickly he triumphed over all the lusts and prejudices of man
kind, and subdued millions to the obedience of faith; and thin
through the instrumentality of a few poor fishermen ! See
how he carries on his victories yet daily through the world !
Indeed every saint is a living witness for him, and a pledge to
the world that nothing in the universe shall finally withstand
his power.]
Surely this SUBJECT is full,
1. Of consolation to the godly-
[You are weak; and your enemies are mighty: but is this
any ground for despondency. If an angel had been set at the
head of the Church, you might well be afraid r ; but under the
care of Jesus you have nothing to fear. Think with yourselves,
is not the Lord Jesus possessed of " all power, both in heaven
and earth?" Is there not " a fulness treasured up in him,"
on purpose that " you may receive out of it, even grace for
grace?" Does not " all the fulness of the Godhead dwell in
him bodily?" and has he not said, " My grace is sufficient for
you?" Fear not, then; but " be strong in the grace that is
in Christ Jesus." Adopt the triumphant language which
the prophet has put into your mouth; and "say, In the
Lord have I righteousness and strength." Fear not, I say ;
for " through His strength you shall be enabled to do all
things," and " be more than conquerors through Him that
loved you."]
2. Of terror to the ungodly
[Because you behold not many signal interpositions of
his power, you. think that you may rebel against him with
impunity. But see whether this prophecy has not been so
far fulfilled already, as to give you reason to expect its full
accomplishment! God has even " sworn that every knee
P Eph. i. 20 23. 1 ver. 8.
r See Exod. xxxii. 34. and xxxiii. 2, 3.
186 HEBREWS, II. 10. [2275.
shall bow to Jesus 5 :" and, if you will not submit to the sceptre
of his grace, he will " break you in pieces with a rod of iron 1 ."
Nor is it a mere nominal submission that will suffice : you
must put yourselves willingly and unreservedly " under his
feet" as conscious of your ill desert, and as ready to justify
him, if he should " execute upon you the fierceness of his
anger." You must be wholly and altogether his, in every
member of your body, and in every faculty of your soul. O
deceive not yourselves by a feigned or partial submission !
but " kiss the Son :" kiss him in token of the ardour
of your affection, and of the delight you take in living to his
glory. This is your true " wisdom, even though you be kings
and judges of the earth u ." He is that " stone which the
builders refused, and which is become the head of the corner :"
if you build upon him, you will find him " a sure foundation ;"
but if you reject him, " he will fall upon you, and crush you
to powder V]
s Isai. xlv. 23. with Rom. xiv. 11. i Ps. ii. 9.
" Ps. ii. 1012. x Luke xx. 17, 18.
MMCCLXXV.
SUFFERINGS OF THE MESSIAH NECESSARY.
Heb. ii. 10. It became him, for whom are all things, and by
whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to
make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
THE Jews expected, that, at the coming of their
Messiah, "all things should be subjected to him."
But what kind of a dominion his should be, or how
it should be obtained, they knew not. They pleased
themselves with the idea of a triumphing Messiah ;
but quite overlooked what the prophets had foretold
respecting the sufferings by which those triumphs
should be accomplished. In a word, they neither
knew how great he should be, nor to what a state of
degradation he should be reduced. But St. Paul in
formed them, that, though he was, in his own nature,
superior to angels, he should be brought into a con
dition inferior to them, for the purpose of expiating
our guilt, and redeeming a ruined world. And this
he declared to be such a dispensation as became the
Most High God : " It became him, c."
2275.] SUFFERINGS OF THE MESSIAH NECESSARY. 167
From these words I shall take occasion to shew,
I. The grand peculiarity of the Christian dispen
sation-
God had determined to bring an innumerable mul
titude of sons to glory
[He had not dealt so with angels. Of them, not so much
as one had been saved : but of men, it was God s purpose to
restore many to the relation which they had forfeited as his
" sons;" and to the inheritance of " glory," which they had
lost ]
This he had ordained to accomplish through the
intervention of his dear Son
[Man could not effect it for himself; nor could all the
angels in heaven have effected it. But Christ, being God
equal with the Father, was appointed to be " the Captain of
our salvation," and to obtain for us what could never be
wrought by any other means ]
It was, however, to be effected solely " through
the sufferings" of his Son-
fit was not by any exercise of his power that salvation
was to be wrought ; nor by instructing men how they might
save themselves. He must become their Surety and Substi
tute, and must die in their place and stead This is
the grand peculiarity of the Gospel: and, if we view not the
Gospel in this light, as a redemption wrought by blood, even by
the blood of God s only dear Son, we have no just conception
of it at all ]
Not content with a bare assertion, the Apostle
states,
II. The special reason for this appointment
God being the One Author and end of all, (" by
whom, and for whom, are all things,") might be ex
pected to accomplish this work by a mere arbitrary
appointment of his own. But a very different line of
conduct "became him." If he would save men at
all, it was expedient that it should be through the
sufferings of his Son. This, I say, " became him ;"
1. For the honouring of his law
[The law had been violated : and if its sanctions were
not enforced, both it and the Lawgiver himself would be dis
honoured. But that could not be: God would not suffer it:
168 HEBREWS, II. 10. [2275.
and rather than such a stain should be brought on his moral
government, he would exact of his only dear Son the debt that
was due from us, and inflict on him the curse which our sins
had merited. In this way the authority of his law would be
fully vindicated, at the time that the transgressors of it were
forgiven : yea, by the sufferings of our incarnate God it would
be more honoured than if all its penalties had been inflicted on
the whole human race. Seeing, then, that such honour would
accrue to the law from this marvellous device, it " became"
the Almighty Lawgiver to arrange his dispensations with a
view to this great result.]
2. For the displaying of his own perfections
[If man had been forgiven without any atonement made
for sin, what should we have known either of the justice or
the holiness of God ? Holiness imports an hatred of sin ; and
justice, the dealing with men according to their deserts. But
not a trace of these would have been found, if men had not
suffered, either in their own persons or their Surety, the
penalty due to sin. Even truth itself would have failed ; and
God s most solemn threatenings been falsified. But no such
consequences flow from the exercise of mercy through a suffer
ing Saviour. On the contrary, every perfection of the Deity
is the more honoured, because, what it derives not from us,
it receives from the Lord Jesus Christ, who, as our Surety,
endured all, that justice, or holiness, or truth could possibly
require.]
3. For the magnifying of his own grace
[Doubtless it would have been a stupendous act of grace,
if man had been forgiven without any atonement made for sin.
But, glorious as such a favour would have been, it would have
had no glory, by reason of the infinitely richer display of mercy
which we have in the Gospel of his Son. Such a mercy, if I
may so speak, would have been attended with no sacrifice on
the part of God : but by giving his own Son out of his bosom,
he has made a sacrifice which no finite intelligence can ever
duly appreciate. Hence this is represented as exhibiting,
above all other things, " the exceeding riches of his grace ;"
and as commending to us, with unrivalled evidence, the won
ders of his love : " Herein is love, not that we loved God, but
that he loved us, and gave his Son to be the propitiation for our
sins*." But to display this grace was worthy of the Deity;
and though, with a view to it, the sacrifice that he must make
was great, yet, on the whole, was it such a sacrifice as well
" became him."]
3 I John iv. !), 10.
2275.] SUFFERINGS OF THE MESSIAH NECESSARY. 169
4. For the enabling of his Son to execute every
part of his mediatorial office
[There are parts of that office which he could not execute
without suffering. As he could not atone for sin without
suffering, so neither could he yield obedience to all that the
law required of us without suffering. Patience and resignation
can only be exercised under suffering: and therefore, " though
he was a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which
he sufferedV He must also sympathize with his afflicted
people : and this also he would have been unable to do, if he
had not been experimentally acquainted with sufferings in
his own person : but " having suffered through temptations,
he is now able to succour them that are tempted :" and we,
knowing that " we have One who can be touched with a feeling
of our infirmities, are encouraged to come boldly to a throne
of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help us
in the time of need d ."]
Let me now ASK, If such a dispensation " became
God," WHAT BECOMES US ?
Does God seek to " bring us, as his sons, to glory?"
Let us seek to obtain this great benefit
[Can it be right that Almighty God should take such an
interest in us, and we remain indifferent about our own state?
Can we by any possibility be advanced to such honour as
" sonship" with God, and such happiness as the possession of
his " glory," and shall we not exert ourselves to the utmost of
our power ? Shall any earthly distinctions stand for a moment
in competition with these? ]
Has God appointed his own Son to be " the Cap
tain of our salvation ?" Let us seek salvation through
Him alone
[Through Christ alone it can ever be attained. He is
the sole " Author" of it; and from him, as the purchase of his
blood, and the effect of his grace, it must be received. Let
us not, for a moment, cherish a thought of obtaining salvation
from any other source : but let our reliance on him be simple
and entire. Let " him be our wisdom, our righteousness, our
sanctification, and our complete redemption."]
Has God seen fit to " perfect his own Son through
sufferings?" Let us be content to be perfected by
him in the same way
b Hub. v. 8, 9. Hcb. ii. 17, IS. Heb. iv. 15, 16.
170 HEBREWS, II. 14, 15. [2276.
[He has " predestinated his people to be conformed to the
image of his Son 6 :" and this conformity must be in holiness,
in sufferings, and in glory. Our blessed Lord has told us,
that we must " take up our cross daily, and follow him :" that
" the servant cannot expect to be above his Lord :" and that
"we must suffer with him, if ever we would reign with him f ."
Let us be content, then, to fill up the measure of sufferings
which he has allotted to us ; and, if it must be so, " through
much tribulation to enter into his kingdom." Let us be con
tent, do I say ? Rather, let us " rejoice that we are counted
worthy to suffer for his sake," and account it an honour to be
" partakers of his sufferings." The Israelites, under Joshua,
did not gain possession of Canaan without encountering a foe :
nor can we, under " the Captain of our salvation," become
victors without a conflict. But let us " war a good warfare,"
and " endure unto the end." So shall we be not sons only,
but heirs also, of our heavenly Father, and be made partakers
of his glory for evermore.]
e Rom. viii. 29. f Rom. viii. 17.
MMCCLXXVI.
THE ENDS OF CHRIST S INCARNATION.
Heb. ii. 14, 15. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the
same ; 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.
IS it so indeed, that He who was the brightness of
his Father s glory, and the express image of his per
son ; that He who created and upholdeth all things
by the word of his power ; that He whom all the
angels in heaven adore, became a man, and was
made in all things like unto us, sin only excepted ?
Yes, " He, who was in the form of God, and thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, emptied himself
of all his glory, and took upon him the form of a ser
vant :" " the mighty God himself was a child born,
and a Son given." And shall God be manifest in the
flesh, and we not inquire into the reasons of such a
stupendous mystery ? Shall we profess to believe
2276.] THE ENDS OF CHRIST S INCARNATION. 171
this truth ; and yet pay no more attention to it,
than if it was a cunningly-devised fable ? Let us
inquire what occasion there was for it, and what ends
God designed to accomplish by it. These are stated
in the words before us. The children, whom he de
signed to redeem from death and hell, were in such
a state, that nothing short of this would avail for
their final happiness : they were subjected to death,
and could be delivered from it only by one dying in
their stead : they were in bondage to Satan, and
could only be rescued from his dominion by one who
should overcome this great adversary, in their na
ture, and in their behalf; in a word, by one who
should both suffer what they merited, and gain the
victories which they needed.
These are the ends of our Saviour s incarnation, as
specified in the text.
I. The more immediate end was to suffer
Suffer he must, even unto death, if he would effect
the deliverance of his chosen people.
1. The necessities of his own people required it
[They were reduced by sin to the lowest ebb of misery.
Doomed to participate the lot of the fallen angels, they were
us incapable as they of effecting their own deliverance. What
then must be done? Must they be left to perish for ever? or
shall an atonement be made for them ? But who can offer an
atonement that shall be of sufficient value to expiate their
offences? The blood of bulls and of goats will not suffice: nor
if the highest angel in heaven could offer himself, would that
be adequate to the occasion ; seeing that his merits, whatever
they might be, could never extend to all the millions of our
guilty race : the sacrifice, to answer that end, must be of infinite
value : it must be offered by a person of infinite value : it must
be offered by a person of infinite dignity : he must be God as
well as man. He must be man, that he may suffer; he must
be God, that his sufferings may be available for the desired
end. Hence the necessity for our blessed Lord to become
incarnate; and hence the necessity for him to die. Supposing
him to come from heaven, and to teach us both by precept and
example, that would not answer the necessities of man : Divine
justice must be satisfied for the sins of men: the holiness of
the Deity must be displayed in the punishment of sin: the truth
of God, which denounced a curse against every transgression
172 HEBREWS, II. 14, 15. [2276.
of his law, must be kept inviolate: in a word, a sentence of
death was gone forth against sinners ; and it must be inflicted
on them, or on a surety in their stead. Hence, if Jesus would
ever bring us back to God, " he must suffer, the just in the
place of us the unjust a ." If he would redeem our souls, he
must " give his own life a ransom for us."]
2. His own covenant engagements required it
[From all eternity did the Son of God engage to repair
the evils which it was foreseen would in time be introduced by
sin. A council of peace was held between the Father and the
Son b : the terms which were then agreed upon, are expressly
mentioned by the Prophet Isaiah ; " When thou shalt make
thy soul an offering for sin, thou shalt see a seed, who shall
prolong their days ; and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper
in thy hand c ." These terms being acceded to on the Son s
part, "a body was prepared him 1 ," and "he came in due
season, made of a woman, and under the law, that he might
redeem them that were under the law 6 ." His incarnation
alone would not have fulfilled his engagements : he must suffer :
and hence, when his sufferings came upon him to the utter
most, and he felt, as a man, disposed to deprecate them, he
especially called to his remembrance the engagements he had
entered into, and submitted to drink the cup which was put
into his hands : " Now is my soul troubled : and what shall I
say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this cause
came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name f !"]
3. All the predictions concerning him required it
[The very first promise clearly pointed it out : he, as
" the seed of the woman, was to bruise the serpent s head :"
but in the conflict " his own heel was to be bruised g ." To what
an extent he was to suffer is fully declared : " his visage was
to be so marred, more than any man, and his form more than
the sons of men: and so was he to sprinkle many nations 1 ."
Standing in the place of us who deserved utter excision, he
must suffer it \ All the sacrifices of the Mosaic law shadowed
forth this awful event. He was to be a priest ; but what sacrifice
could he offer ? He was not of the tribe to which alone the
offering of animal sacrifices belonged. He had no offering but
his own body : which therefore he did present ; and " with his
own blood he entered within the vail, there to carry on and
perfect the work he had begun on earth V Looking forward
a 1 Pet. iii. 18. b Zech. vi. 13. c Isai. liii. 10.
d Heb. x. 5. e Gal. iv. 4, 5. f John xii. 27, 28.
e Gen. iii. 15. h Isai. Iii. 1315. See also liii. 4 12.
Dan. ix. 26. k Heb. viii. 3, 4. and ix. 11, 12.
2276.] THE ENDS OF CHRIST S INCARNATION. 173
to his death, he often referred to it as that which should
speedily be accomplished, as the appointed means of saving a
ruined world 1 . And, when his disciples were stumbled at his
death, and regarded it as an event by which all their hopes and
expectations were frustrated, he reproved them for their igno
rance and unbelief, and shewed them, that it had been the
great subject of prophecy from the beginning of the world ;
and that it was necessary to the accomplishment of the work he
had undertaken" 1 ]
Such was the more immediate end of Christ s in
carnation !
II. The ultimate end of it was to reign and triumph-
In overlooking the previous humiliation of their
Messiah, the Jews greatly err : but in their expecta
tion of a triumphing Messiah, they are right. He
was indeed " to drink of the brook in the way ;" but
he was then " to lift up his head." His sufferings
were to precede : but the whole Scripture attests,
that a glory was to follow" : and by the very suffer
ings which he sustained, his triumphs were secured
to him. He was to triumph,
1. In the destruction of Satan s empire
[Satan, that " murderer," had introduced sin and death
into the world: and by his continual agency he is carrying
forward the work of death amongst the sinners of mankind ;
and exulting in the multitudes which are daily subjected to his
tyrannic sway. But Jesus, we are assured, came to weaken
and destroy his empire : " For this purpose the Son of God
was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil ."
But the point particularly to be noticed is, that Jesus was to
accomplish this victory by means of his own death : " By death
he was to destroy him that had the power of death." By
reason of sin, all the human race were subjected to everlasting
chains of darkness in the regions of despair. But Jesus, nailing
to the cross the hand-writing that was against us, has cancelled
it for ever. Satan thought, that, when he had so far prevailed
as to secure the death of the Lord Jesus, he had gained his
cause : but it was that very event which gave the death-blow
to all Satan s power, in that it removed the only ground on
which Satan could maintain his stand against the children of
men. It was by that event that Jesus satisfied the demands
1 1 John xii. 3133. m Luke xxiv. 21, 2527, 44 46.
n 1 Pet. i. 11- 1 John iii. 8.
171 HEBREWS, II. 14, 15.
of law and justice, and discharged the debt which had been
contracted by mankind. And, that once discharged by our
Surety, we can claim our release from all obligation to pay it
ourselves. Hence we are told, that Jesus, whilst upon the
cross, " spoiled principalities and powers, triumphing over them
openly in it p ." Yes, if Jesus had, as some have feigned, gone
down himself to hell, and opened the prison-doors to those who
were already there, he would not have more signally displayed
his power, than he did in his death and resurrection, whereby
he vanquished Satan and " led captivity itself captive."]
2. In the deliverance of his own people
[Death being inflicted as the penalty of sin, and being a
prelude to an unknown state, all men by nature dread it.
Though many, through pride and thoughtlessness, may brave
it on afield of battle, no man can behold its gradual approaches
without an awful apprehension of its terrors. But the Lord
Jesus would not surfer that his people should remain in such
bondage ; and by his death he has effectually freed them from it.
The sting of death is sin : but he by his death has cancelled sin,
and blotted it out as a morning cloud. The offering which has
satisfied the justice of the Deity, satisfies the sinner s conscience,
and brings perfect peace into the soul. And it was one end of
our Lord s death to effect this ; that his people might be brought
into perfect liberty, and enjoy a very heaven upon earth. To
them death is now become a friend, for whose arrival to look
forward with eager desire q : it is numbered amongst their trea
sures also 1 ; and all fear, either of its present terrors, or future
consequences, is removed. " The Son has made them free ;
and they are free indeed."]
ADDRESS
1. The captive sinner
[How lamentable is it that the effects of Jesus death
should be so limited, as we see they really are ! Though Satan
is a vanquished enemy, there are but few who will " put their
foot upon his neck." Many are his willing captives still : and
love the chains wherewith he binds them 5 . O, beloved, what
an awful thought is it, that to multitudes the incarnation and
death of Christ are a curse, rather than a blessing ! " Had he
never come to die for them, they had not (comparatively) had
sin : but now they have no cloak for their sin :" and the state
of Sodom and Gomorrha is less terrible than theirs. When
will ye lay this to heart, O ye who " walk according to the
course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
P Col. ii. M, la. Q 2 Pet. iii. 12.
r 1 Cor. iii. 22. s 2 Tim. ii. 26.
2276.] THE ENDS OF CHRIST S INCARNATION. \1~)
the air, who worketh in all the children of disobedience ?" Do
but reflect on the account which you must hereafter give, and
on the self-condemnation which you will feel in the day of
judgment, when the full effects of your present disobedience
will come upon you. I cannot contemplate your condition
now, or your feelings in that day, without saying with the
prophet, " O ! that my head were waters, and mine eyes were
a fountain of tears, that they might run down day and night in
your behalf!" O let not all the wonders of redeeming love be
in vain to you, yea, worse than in vain a melancholy source
of tenfold condemnation !]
2. The awakened penitent
[Are you beginning to feel your sins a heavy burthen ?
Bless and adore your God for the provision he has made for
you in the Son of his love. Your guilt is expiated by your
Saviour s blood : and Satan, who has kept you hitherto in
such cruel bondage, is dethroned. Look unto this Saviour.
Did he come down from heaven ? It was to seek and save the
lost, yea, and the very chief of sinners. Lay hold on him ;
plead with God the sacrifice which he has offered ; and seek an
interest in the victories he has gained. It is for that he has
lived ; for you he has died ; for you he reigns : and never is
he better satisfied with the travail of his soul, than when he
sees such as you born to God through him 1 ]
3. The trembling believer
[What would you that God should add to all that he has
done for you? What is there wanting to dispel your fears, and
encourage your hearts ? Are you afraid of Satan ? He is a
vanquished enemy. Are you afraid of death ? To you it is
only as the gate of heaven. Be of good cheer. If you are
weak, "your Redeemer is mighty;" and his "strength shall
be perfected in your weakness." He, who for your sakes
" partook of flesh and blood," with all the sinless infirmities of
your nature, knows by experience all that you feel, and will
afford you all needful succour. Fear not ; " He will not
break the bruised reed, or quench the smoking flax, but will
bring forth judgment unto victory." Rejoice then in him ;
rejoice evermore : and doubt not but that " he who has begun
a good work in you, will for his own sake perfect it to the
end."]
4 Isai. liii. 11.
176 HEBREWS, II. 18. [2277.
MMCCLXXVII.
CHRIST S POWER TO SUCCOUR THE TEMPTED.
Heb. ii. 18. In that he himself hath suffered, being tempted,
he is able to succour them that are tempted.
THERE was in various respects a necessity for
Christ s humiliation : on our part, that, an atonement
being offered for us, we might find favour with God :
on God s part, that his justice might be satisfied, and
his law be magnified : and on the part of Christ him
self, that he might be qualified for the discharge of
his mediatorial office. This, having been expressly
asserted in the preceding verse, is further intimated
in the words we have just read; which lead us to
consider,
I. The temptations of our Lord-
Great and manifold were the trials which our
blessed Lord sustained,
1. From men
[Though in his infancy he grew up in favour with men as
well as with God, yet from his first entrance on his public
ministry, he was an object of universal contempt and abhor
rence 3 . He endured all manner of contradiction from all ranks
and orders of men : they cavilled at his words, misrepresented
his actions, reviled him as an impostor, and a confederate with
the devil, and, at last, apprehended, condemned, and crucified
him.]
2. From devils
[These assaulted him with fiery temptations in the wilder
ness, urging him to distrust, presumption, and idolatry. They
attacked him with fresh vigour in the garden, when the powers
of darkness combined all their force against him : and they
made their last efforts against him on the cross ; when, though
" triumphed over and spoiled by him," they succeeded in
" bruising his heel," and in bringing him down to the cham
bers of death.]
3. From God
[When he stood as the surety of sinners, God exacted of
him the utmost farthing of our debt. It was the Father who
a Isai. xlix. 7.
2277.] CHRIST SUCCOURS THE TEMPTED. 177
put the bitter cup into his hands, who laid the tremendous
load of our iniquities upon him, and " bruised him," that the
fragrance of his offering might ascend up as incense with
acceptance before him b .]
But, notwithstanding these sufferings of his, our
text assures us of,
II. His ability to succour his tempted people
All his people, like him, are persecuted by men,
assailed by devils, and chastised by God. But Jesus
is able to succour them : he has a sufficiency,
1. Of power and strength
[He has all power committed to him, yea, all fulness of
the Godhead dwelling in him. He can bind the strong man
armed, and rescue from him his wretched captives. There is
nothing impossible with him ; and the weaker his people are,
the more shall " his strength be perfected in their weakness."]
2. Of wisdom
[As he has ; power to deliver the godly out of tempta
tions," so can he defeat all the plots of their adversaries, and
take even Satan himself in his own devices. He set s every
weapon that is formed against them, and knows the day and
hour that their enemies set themselves against them 1 . He
discerns also the best time and manner in which to afford his
aid, and so to proportion it to our necessities, as both to secure
us the victory, and himself the glory.]
3. Of pity and compassion
[He wept on account of the afflictions of his friends when
he was on earth : nor will he forget to pity us, now that he is
in heaven. " The verv apple of his eve is wounded, whenever
any of his dear people are touched." " In all their afflictions,
he is afflicted ; and as, in his love and in his pity he redeemed
them, and bare them, and carried them all the days of old,"
so does he now, being " touched with the feeling of our in
firmities," and sympathizing with us in all our troubles 1 .]
Having noticed his temptations, and his ability to
succour us under ours, it will be proper to shew,
III. The connexion between the two, or the depen
dence of the one upon the other
As God, he of necessity possessed every perfection :
11 Compare Isai. liii. 10. with Kxod. xxx. .T(J.
c Jcr. xlix. 30. d Isai. Ixiii. 0.
VOL. XIX. N
178 HEBREWS, II. 18. [2277.
but, as man and mediator, he learned much from his
own experience. By his own temptations,
1. He learned our need of succour
[He himself, under his own grievous sufferings, " prayed
to God with strong crying and tears, and was heard," and
strengthened from above 6 . Hence then he knows how much
we must need assistance under our trials, and how certainly we
must faint, if we be not supported by his almighty power.]
2. He acquired a right to succour us
[We are bought by him with the inestimable price of his
own blood. And it was agreed with him in the covenant of
redemption, that, " if he would make his soul an offering for
sin, he should see a seed ; and the pleasure of the Lord should
prosper in his hands f ." Having then paid the price, he has a
right to us as " his purchased possession ;" and has therefore a
right to convey to us whatever maybe needful for the salvation
of our souls.]
3. He attained a disposition to succour us
[We are assured that " he learned obedience by the things
that he suffered g ." Now, as obedience consists entirely in
love to God and man, sympathy, which is the highest office
of love, must of necessity have been learned by him, together
with every other part of his duty. And how perfectly he had
learned it, his address to the persecuting Saul declares ; " Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me?" And it is worthy of obser
vation, that the Apostle ascribes his sympathy to this very
cause ; " his having been tempted in all things like unto us,
qualifying and disposing him to feel for us under our infirmi
ties 11 ." Nay, further, he observes, that there was a necessity
for him to be made like unto us in all things, in order that he
might be a merciful and faithful High-priest in things per
taining to God ; which office he could not have executed if he
had not, by his own sufferings, been enabled to sympathize
with us .]
ADDRESS
1. Those who are conflicting with temptations
[The Lord s people still are assaulted with manifold
temptations. Satan is not idle : he still " desires to sift us as
wheat," and still " as a roaring lion goeth about, seeking whom
he may devour." There is not a saint whom he does not
labour to " corrupt from the simplicity that is in Christ :" and
e Heb. v. 7. with Luke xxii. 42, 43. f Tsai. liii. 10.
e Heb. v. 8. Heb. iv. 15. i Heb. ii. 17.
2278.] NAMES AND OFFICES OF CHRIST. 179
for this end he still on many occasions " transforms himself
into an angel of light." But however severe your outward
or inward trials may be, you have the comfort to reflect, that
Christ endured the same before you, and is able to aiford you
effectual succour. Think not then your difficulties peculiar,
or insurmountable; but assure yourselves of his sympathy and
care ; and be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his
might."]
2. Those who are yielding to their temptations
[Excuse not your compliances by pleading the frailty of
your nature ; for " Christ is able to make all grace abound to
wards you, that you having always all sufficiency in all things,
may abound unto every good workV Continue not then
under unmortified tempers, or criminal neglects ; but call on
the Lord, who " will not suffer you to be tempted above that
ye are able ; but will, with the temptation, make also a way
to escape, that ye may be able to bear it 1 ." I say again, plead
not in excuse the corruption of your nature, or the difficulties
of your situation: for grace which is not effectual, is no grace.
The very weakest amongst you may say, " I can do all things
through Christ who strengtheneth me," and, though assaulted
by all the powers of darkness, shall be "more than conqueror
through him that loved me."]
k 2 Cor. ix. 8. 1 1 Cor. x. 13.
MMCCLXXVIII.
NAMES AND OFFICES OF CHRIST.
Heb. iii. 1. Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
consider the Apostle and High Priest ofourprofession, Christ
Jesus.
OUR Lord possessed, from all eternity, a nature
infinitely superior to that of angels*: yet did he
submit to the lowest humiliation for us b . And it
is by the knowledge of him, as humbled, that we
attain salvation .
The Apostle having spoken much on this subject
in the foregoing chapter, enforces it with this affec
tionate exhortation
I. Explain the exhortation
a Heb. i. 3, 8, 10. Phil. ii. 6, 7. John xvii. ?>.
180 HEBREWS, III. 1. [2278.
The first thing that calls for our attention is the
description which he gives of all true Christians
[Wishing to persuade, he strove by tenderness to conci
liate their esteem: he calls them brethren; which they are,
both by relation d and affection 6 . They are "holy;" set apart
for the service and enjoyment of God washed in the fountain
of Christ s blood, and renewed after the Divine image : they
are " partakers of an heavenly calling;" called to heavenly
exercises and enjoyments obedient to that call and suitably
influenced by it in their hearts and lives. How amiable is such
a character ! " brethren ! " " holy ! " " called ! " &c. Who would
not wish to be found of their number ?]
The next thing which demands our notice is the
object he sets before them
[When he speaks of Christ in common, he places the
name " Jesus " first ; but when with more than ordinary so
lemnity, the name " Christ" is first. He here describes the
Saviour both by his names and offices. His names " Christ*,
Jesus s ," are peculiarly significant in this connexion : his offices
are such as Moses and Aaron sustained under the law. Christ
is " the Apostle of our profession," as being sent, like Moses,
to publish that religion which we profess : he is also " the
High-priest of it," because, like Aaron, he performs all that is
necessary for our reconciliation with God h .]
The last thing to explain is the duty which he
presses upon them
The word which we translate " consider," implies an at
tentive regard 1 . It might easily be shewn how important this
duty is ; but our observations on this subject will occur more
properly in another place.]
d Matt, xxiii. 9. e 1 John iii. 14.
f It is of the same import as Messias, John i. 44. and means
Anointed.
s Jesus is the same with Joshua, Heb. iv. 8. ; and Joshua is a
contraction for Jah Oseah, the former of which signifies God, and the
latter Saviour. This name was given by God to Iloseah the son of
Nun, who, as a type of Christ, led the Israelites into the land of Ca
naan : and the giving of this name to the Virgin s Son may be justly
considered as an accomplishment of that prophecy which said he
should be called Emmanuel, God with us. Its import therefore is,
Divine Saviour. See Matt. i. 21 23. and Bp. Pearson, p. C9, 70.
11 Jesus, as our High-priest, offered himself a sacrifice for us is
gono into the holy of holies to present his blood before the mercy-
seat liveth to make intercession for us presents our offerings unto
the Father bears us on his breast-plate and makes known to us
tlie will of God. Karapo//<rar.
2278.] NAMES AND OFFICES OF CHRIST. 181
Having spoken what was necessary to unfold the
meaning of the exhortation, we proceed to,
II. Enforce it
To those who answer the foregoing character we
address the exhortation
1. Consider the object set before you
His names
[As " Jesus," Divine Saviour, he is able to save to the
uttermost: As " Christ," he was anointed of God for this very
purpose. Had he not been appointed of God, or had he been
less than God, you might have been afraid to trust in him ;
but his names attest his right and ability to save. Think how
these words would sound in hell ; and let them be as sweet to
you as they would be to the unhappy spirits there.]
His offices
[As the Apostle or Prophet of the Church, he will in
struct all k As the High-priest, lie will open a way for
us into the holy place 1 - - O reflect on these, till your
hearts burn within you with gratitude and love !]
2. Consider more particularly the view given of
him in the preceding and following context
His compassion as an High-priest
[He himself has endured persecution from men, tempta
tion from Satan, desertion from (rod, &c. m : he will sympa
thize with you under your trials". Let this be a source of
comfort to you under every affliction.]
His faithfulness as a Prophet
[He extends his care to all his people": he never suffered
the weakest believer to err finally > ; nor will he fail to guide
us aright 1 . Go to him then for teaching in every doubt and
c-\ cry cliiliculty.]
Those who do not answer to the character may reap
benefit from the EXHORTATION
[Ye who are unholy, and strangers to the heavenly calling,
consider this description of our blessed Lord. Consider it
witli attention, that you may understand it with faith, that
you may have an interest in it with affection, that you may
k Matt. xi. "29. Heb. x. 19, 20. Heb. ii. 17, 18.
" Heb. iv. 1.5. This may be further illustrated by the care of n
refiner, whom Christ is said to resemble, Mai. iii. 3.
Heb. iii. J. P Isai. xxxv. 8.
1 Isai. xx.x. 21. Ps. Ixxiii. 21.
182 HEBREWS, III. 5, (5. [2279.
delight in it with gratitude, that you may display its influ
ence in your heart 1 .]
r This subject may be reduced to more of unity and simplicity,
thus : Mark,
I. What offices the Lord Jesus Christ sustains for us
Every religion has its apostles, who propagate it, and its priests,
who perform its rites. Of our religion our incarnate God, the Lord
Jesus Christ, is both the Apostle and High-priest. These offices were
assigned to him from eternity, Ps. xl. 6 8. He executed them
faithfully when on earth ; the prophetic, Heb. i. 2. and ii. 3 ; the
priestly, Heb. i. 3. and ii. 14, 17. He still discharges them for the
good of his people ; as a prophet, teaching them by his Spirit, John
xvi. 7 11 ; as a priest, compassionating and relieving all their spi
ritual necessities, Heb. ii. 18. and iv. 15.
IT. Our duty towards Him in relation to them
We should consider him in these characters : with attention, that
we may have the fullest knowledge of him ; with faith, that we derive
all benefit from them ; with gratitude, that we may give him the glory
of them.
ADDRESS
1. Those who profess to be " partakers of the heavenly calling"
If indeed you have experienced the power of divine grace, you will
need no incentives to this duty. To contemplate the Lord Jesus
Christ in all his excellency and glory, will be the richest delight of
your souls.
2. To those who are strangers to this holy exercise
Alas ! what do you lose ! There is no other subject under heaven
that would so repay your labour. The more you delight yourselves
in Christ, the more evidence you will have of his grace in your souls,
and the better preparation for his glory.
MiMCCLXXIX.
CHRIST S SUPERIORITY TO MOSES.
Heb. iii. 5, 6. Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a
servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be
spoken after ; but Christ as a son over his own house; whose
house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing
of the hope firm unto the end.
IN order to have a just conception of the Chris
tian dispensation, we must above all things acquire
scriptural views of the person of Christ, as God and
man, and of his mediatorial character, as Emmanuel,
2279.] CHRIST S SUPERIORITY TO MOSES. 183
God with us. It is in this latter view more espe
cially, that we are led to contemplate him through
out this whole epistle. As God, he is " the brightness
of his Father s glory, and the express image of his
person ;" whilst, as man, " he has purged our sins,
and is set down on the right hand of the Majesty on
high 3 :" but it is as God and man in one Christ that
his sacrifice becomes effectual for this great end. It
is in his mediatorial capacity, as God-man, that he
is exalted above all the angels in heaven, who are
expressly enjoined to " worship himV And it is in
the same capacity that we are now called upon to
" consider him as the Apostle and High-priest of our
profession ." As " the Apostle" of our profession,
sent like Moses, to instruct us in the mind and will of
God, he is superior to Moses, whose instructions he
is sent to supersede. And, in like manner, will his
superiority to Aaron also be declared, when we shall
come, in a subsequent part of this epistle, to consider
his priesthood. It is the comparison between him
and Moses which alone we have to notice at this
time.
We proceed then to mark,
I. The superiority of Christ to Moses
The character given of Moses is most exalted
[He was " faithful in all God s house d ." From the first
moment of his undertaking- the office that was assigned him,
he was faithful in the discharge of it. Whatever was com
manded him to do, lie did; adding nothing, omitting nothing,
neglecting nothing. Whether the commands were moral or
ceremonial, he was observant of every the minutest direction
that was given him. He was aware that all which he was
commissioned to say or do, had respect to a future period, and
was intended to shadow forth something under a future dis
pensation : and so accurate was lie in every particular, that
there is not the smallest want of agreement between the Jewish
and Christian codes, the one answering to the other, as the
coin to the die by which it is stamped. As the tabernacle,
even to the smallest pin, was " made according to the pattern
shew to him in the mount ;" so was that whole dispensation in
perfect accordance with that under which we live.
a Heb. i. 3. b Hcb. i. 4 G. \xr. 1. (1 Numb. xii. 7.
181 HEBREWS, III. 5, 6. [2279.
Much he had to try him, and to shake his fidelity : but he
was immoveable. Nothing could for a moment divert him
from his duty, or cause him to relax his efforts in his Master s
cause. And in this fidelity he stood alone. Aaron and Miriam
both turned aside from the path of duty; yea, both confede
rated even against Moses himself. But Moses was steadfast
to the end, unmoved, unwearied, unrestrained.]
But Christ in this respect was exalted infinitely
above him
[Christ also was faithful in all his house. He delivered
nothing which he had not previously heard and learned of his
Father : but all which had been given him either to do or
teach, he did and taught with all imaginable fidelity : yea, and
what he was ordained to suffer also for the sins of men, he
patiently endured, drinking the bitter cup even to the dregs,
and never stopping till he could say, in relation to it all,
" Tis finished."
Thus far the two may be supposed to have been upon an
equality. But there are some points of difference between
them, which exalt the office and character of Christ far above
that of Moses. Moses was " a servant in the house of
another :" Christ was a Son, or Lord, " over his own house."
Moses only instructed his house: but Christ was the very
source and builder of the house he governed ; every member
of it having been created by his power, and redeemed by his
blood, and converted by his grace. The house itself would
have had no existence but for him. Now, as the builder of a
house, whether in a literal, political, or religious sense, must
be far above the work which he has prepared ; so must Christ,
who formed his house, be far above every member of it : and
as being the only true source of every thing in the Church, he
must be truly and properly " God 6 ;" and consequently have
infinitely higher glory than Moses, who was only a member of
the very house which he himself was appointed to instruct and
govern.]
That this superiority of his is not a mere specula
tive point, will appear, if we consider,
II. Our interest in it
" We are his house "
[The Church is called in Scripture " the house of God f :"
and if we have truly believed in Christ, we are that house.
We are those for whom all the wonders of redeeming love
were planned ; those for whom all that Christ has ever exe
cuted was undertaken ; those for whose sake he has hitherto
e ver. 4. f 1 Tim. iii. 15.
2271).] CHRIST S SUPERIORITY TO MOSES. 185
ordered all things both in heaven and earth ; those over whom
he still watches as his peculiar care ; and those for whom he
is engaged to complete the work he has begun. Wonderful
thought ! We are his house, his family, his peculiar people !
What an honour! what a privilege! what a blessing!
But it is here taken for granted, that we have believed in
him, and made him the one foundation of all our hopes, and
boldly confessed him in the presence of an ungodly world :]
And under this character we have appropriate
duties and obligations
[We must " hold fast our confidence, and the rejoicing
of our hope firm unto the end." We shall have difficulties to
encounter, even as Moses and Christ had : but we must endure
like them, being " steadfast, unmoveable, and always abound
ing in the work of the Lord." Whatever we may meet with,
we must not for a moment be moved away from the hope of
the Gospel: we must stand fast in our principles 8 -
our practice 11 our profession for on our stead
fastness in these things our ultimate acceptance with him
depends. " If we be dead with him, we shall also live with
him: but if we deny him, he will deny us. And if we believe
not (either the one or other of these sayings), yet he abideth
faithful (to his word); he cannot deny himself*;" He will be
with us, whilst we are with him : if we seek him, he will be
found of us: but if we forsake him, he will forsake us 1 .]
IMPROVEMENT
1. Let us put ourselves under his direction
[Christ is the great Head and Lord of all. From him we
must receive directions, as he did from his Father, and as
Moses did also. Nothing is to be done by us but according to
his word; nothing to be done which he has forbidden; nothing
to be omitted which he has commanded : no deviation is to be
admitted in a way of excess or defect. If doubt at any time
arise respecting the path of duty, we must consult him, and
not proceed, till we have attained, so far as we can attain, the
knowledge of his will. Human opinions are to have no weight
with us in opposition to his word. And if we see not as yet
the reasons of his commands, as Moses certainly did not in
relation to the ceremonial law, we are not on that account to
disobey them, but in all humility to comply with them, saying,
" What I know not now, I shall know hereafter 111 ." Nor are
we to complain of any commandment as difficult or self-denying;
but to disregard even life itself, if by the sacrifice of it He may
Eph. iv. 1-1. > Heb. x. 26. * Hi-b. x. 2;3.
k 2 Tim. ii. 12. 2 Chron. \v. 2. "> John xiii. (>, 7.
186 HEBREWS, 111. 5, 6. [2279.
be glorified". Admirable was tbe lesson which the Jews
were taught in the wilderness : if the pillar and the cloud
moved for several days and nights together, they continued to
follow it : and if it was stationary for a year together, they
were stationary also. Thus it should be with us : we should
move tvhen, and ivkere, and as the Lord prescribes, and in that
way alone, to the latest hour of our lives.]
2. Let us endeavour to approve ourselves to him
in our respective spheres
[He walked amongst the seven golden candlesticks, the
seven Churches of Asia, and declared to each of them, " I
know thy works," And still are his eyes as a flame of fire to
penetrate the inmost recesses of our hearts. We must not
therefore be satisfied with walking irreproachably before men,
but must labour to approve ourselves to Him who searcheth
the heart and trieth the reins. We must be attentive not to
our actions only, but to our motives and principles, that, if
possible, every thought may be brought into captivity to his
will. We must seek to obtain from God that testimony
which he bore to Moses, that we are " faithful in all our
house." Let us look to it, that as parents and children,
masters and servants, rulers and subjects, we do all that he
has required of us. Let us labour to " serve him with a per
fect heart;" so that in all our commerce with men, and in
our secret walk with God, we may have " the witness of his
Spirit that we please him ;" and may receive from him in
the last day that testimony of his approbation, " Well done,
good and faithful servants, enter ye into the joy of your
Lord."]
3. Let us expect from him all that he has under
taken for us
[Still does he superintend the concerns of his Church :
and though he has wrought much for us, yet is there much
that yet remains to be done, and much that he has promised
to be accomplished. But " his promises are sure to all his
seed p :" not one of them shall ever fail: nor shall even the
least member of his house ever have occasion to complain that
he was disappointed of his hope. Joshua s testimony shall be
that of all the Church in the last day, that " of all which God
has promised, not one thing has failed q ." Take hold then of
his promises, and plead them before him. If they appear too
great to be fulfilled, " stagger not at them, but hope against
hope, and be strong in faith, giving glory to God r ." If your
n Phil, i. 20. Heb. xi. 5. P Rom. iv. 16.
i Josh, xxiii. 14. r Rom. iv. 18, 20.
2280.] AGAINST DEPARTING FROM GOD. 187
tribulations be great, let them not for a moment obstruct your
rejoicing in him ; but " maintain your glorying firm unto the
end." See the utmost desires of a bleeding soul all concen
trated in one short prayer; and, for the accomplishment of
them, rest not merely on the love and power of Jesus, but on
his fidelity: and when you have been praying that the very
God of peace would sanctify you wholly, and that your whole
spirit, and soul, and body, may be preserved blameless unto
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, then add, " Faithful is
He that hath called me, who also will do it 8 ."]
s 1 Thess. v. 23, 24.
MMCCLXXX.
AGAINST DEPARTING FROM GOD.
Heb. iii. 12 1 i. Take heed, brethren, lent there be in any of
you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the liviny
God. But exhort one another daili/, while it is called To
day ; lest any of you be hardened tJtrough the deceitful-
ness of sin. For ice are made partakers of Christ, if we hold
the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end,
THE consideration of the fulness and sufficiency
of Christ, is that which animates the believer in all
his conflicts : yet it is on no account to supersede
our own care and watchfulness : on the contrary, it
affords us the greatest encouragement to watch, be
cause it ensures success to us in our endeavours,
which, without his Almighty aid, would be of no
avail. In this view it is that the inspired writer calls
us to " consider the Apostle and High Priest of our
profession, Christ Jesus, who was not merely a ser
vant, like Moses, but a son, the Heir and Lord of all,
yea, the very builder of that spiritual house, of which
we profess ourselves to be a part." On this truth he
grounds the exhortation in the text a , in which he
suggests,
I. A solemn caution-
Difficult as it is to come to God, we find it but too
a All the words between " wherefore," in ver. 7, and the text, are
a parenthesis : we must therefore connect the text thus ; "Where
fore," " take heed," &c.
188 HEBREWS, 111. 1214. [2280.
easy to depart from him. We should therefore be on
our guard,
1. Against any departure from him
[While men are yielding to temptation, and turning aside
from the ways of God, they cherish a hope that they may
still preserve their interest in his favour, though they be not
studious to do his will. But a departure of any kind, whether
from the faith or practice of Christianity, is nothing less than
a departure from God himself, even from him who is the only
source of life and happiness. We cannot therefore be too
much on our guard against any secret declensions, which are
so dishonourable to him whom we profess to love, and so
destructive of our present and eternal welfare.]
2. Against that unbelief from whence all declen
sions arise
[As faith is that which brings us to God, and keeps us
steadfast in our adherence to him, so unbelief separates us
from him, and, in proportion as it is harboured, invai iably
alienates us from the life of God. Whatever be the more
immediate object of that unbelief, whether we attempt to
lower the strictness of God s precepts, or question the veracity
of his promises or threatenings, it proceeds equally from " an
evil heart," and brings with it the same pernicious conse
quences : it is a root of bitterness, which, if it be permitted
to spring up, will cause every devout affection to wither and
decay. We must therefore labour to eradicate it, if we would
not eat for ever its bitter fruits.]
That his caution may have its due effect, the
Apostle prescribes,
II. The means of improving it
Sin is of a deceitful and hardening nature
[When " a backslider in heart" commits a sin, many
thoughts will arise in his mind to palliate the evil, and to
make him think that it will not be attended with any im
portant consequences. Soon he begins to doubt whether the
thing be evil at all ; and, ere long, to justify it from the pecu
liarity of his circumstances. At first he felt some remorse ;
but presently his conscience becomes less tender, till at last
it is altogether seared and callous; so that, notwithstanding
he be miserably departed from God, he is regardless of his
loss, and insensible of his danger. Who that has ever noticed
the workings of his own heart, has not found what a bewitch
ing and besotting thing sin is ? yea, who has not often seen
reason to bewail its deceitful, hardening effects?]
2280.] AGAINST DEPARTING FROM GOD. 189
To guard effectually against it we should watch
over each other
[Sin, from the foregoing qualities, naturally hides itself
from our view, and renders us inattentive to the means of
prevention. But ignorant as we often are of our own spirit,
we see clearly enough the defects of others ; yea, perhaps we
condemn with severity in others the very things which we
allow in ourselves. To watch over each other therefore, and
to warn each other of those declensions which we either see
or apprehend, is a most valuable service; and, if performed
with discretion and love, it can scarcely fail of producing the
happiest effects. This is a duty to which God has solemnly
called us in his word b ; and it is to be a part of our daily"
work. Our time for it will be very short: either we or our
brother may be speedily removed; and our opportunity of
benefiting his soul may be lost for ever. We should exhort
one another therefore " daily, while it is called To-day ;" and,
though it is often an unpleasant olh ce, we should use all
fidelity in the execution of it. By this means we may restore
a brother before he has relapsed too far, and preserve him
from that departure from God, which would otherwise termi
nate in his destruction.]
Still further to enforce the caution given us, the
Apostle adds,
III. A motive to regard it
Our final participation of Christ s benefits depends
on our steadfastness in the pursuit of them
[Without entering into the question, whether God have
decreed the final perseverance of the saints, we may be fully
assured, that none can attain salvation but by persevering in
the way of holiness to the end of life : the Scriptures con
tinually speak this language, " He that endureth to the end,
the same shall be saved:" " but if any man draw back, my
soul shall have no pleasure in him ." It is true that believers
are already in a measure " partakers of Christ:" but the com
plete enjoyment of his benefits is reserved for the future life :
and we must not only have a scriptural and well-founded
confidence at first, but must keep it steadfast even to the end,
in order to attain that full possession of our inheritance. You
may call yourselves " brethren," and may boast of " your con
fidence in Christ:" but it is to you, yea, to all of you, that
the caution is addressed; and to you I address myself, saying,
" Take heed lest there be in ant/ of YOU an evil heart of
b Lev. xix. 17. c Matt. xxiv. 1.3. Heb. x. 38.
190 HEBREWS, III. 1214. [2280.
unbelief," and " lest any of YOU be hardened through the
deceitfulness of sin."]
If any thing can stimulate us to caution, surely
this must
[Eternity is at stake, and depends on our present con
duct : according as we approve ourselves to the heart-searching
God, will our state be fixed for ever. Is it not madness to be
remiss and careless under such circumstances? Would any
one, who should have reason to think his house were on fire,
sit still without endeavouring to find out the latent grounds
of his alarm ? And shall we know our proneness to unbelief,
and not guard against its operation, lest it prevail against us,
and lead us to apostasy ? Shall we acknowledge the deceitful,
hardening nature of sin, and not exhort each other to mortify
and subdue it ? Surely, if we have the smallest concern for
our own souls and the souls of others, we shall not only regard
the caution given us in the text, but shall labour to improve it
in the way prescribed.]
ADDRESS
1. Those who have never come to God at all
[The foregoing subject is in itself applicable to those only
who profess religion ; but it may be accommodated to those
also who make no such profession : for, if they who have come
to God are in danger of departing from him, and they who
have enjoyed a scriptural confidence, may lose it ; if they, who
have believed, may " make shipwreck of their faith," and
they, who have " begun in the Spirit, may end in the flesh ;"
if they, who have " begun to run well, may be hindered,"
and they who have " escaped the pollutions of the world, may
again be entangled therein and overcome ;" and, lastly, if they
who " have been enlightened, and have tasted the good word
of God and the powers of the world to come, may so fall
away as never to be renewed unto repentance ;" what must
become of those who have never experienced any of these
things ? Can they be safe ? Can they have any scriptural
hope of heaven ? If the strongest have so much need of
caution, and the most circumspect such reason to fear the
deceitful, hardening effects of sin, surely the careless have
need to tremble, lest they " die in their sins," and " be driven
away in their wickedness." If all, except two, of those who
came out of Egypt, perished in the wilderness, can they hope
to enter into the heavenly Canaan, who have never once come
forth from their spiritual bondage? The point is clear; may
God enable us to lay it to heart, and to consider it with the
attention it deserves!]
2281.] TYPICAL MEANING OF CANAAN. 191
2. Those who are conflicting with their spiritual
enemies
[Much has already been spoken to you both in a way
of caution and direction : we beg leave to add a word of
encouragement. The thing against which you are chiefly
guarded, is unbelief; because that is the true source of all
apostasy. We now would say, Be strong in faith, giving
glory to God. " Faith is the shield wherewith you are to
quench the fiery darts" of your enemies. Only believe; and
Omnipotence will come to your support. Only believe ;
and you shall experience " the mighty working of his power,
who raised Christ from the dead." Commit yourself to him
" who is able to keep you from falling; and he will present
you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding
MMCCLXXXI.
CA\A\\ TYPICAL OF TIIF. HFLIKYF.Il s SPIRITUAL AXD
KTF.UNAL REST.
Hob. iv. 1. Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise bei/ir/ Icfl
its of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come
short of if.
THE histories of the Old Testament are very in
structive to us. The divine interpositions, as well in
a way of judgment as of mercy, shew us what to ex
pect from God a . The Apostle has been recording
the destruction of the Jews in the wilderness 11 : and
from thence he takes occasion to urge us to holy fear
and diligence-
Consider,
I. What is that rest which God has promised us
The rest promised to the Israelites was the land of
Canaan : but the Israelites had already for many
hundred years possessed that land. The rest there
fore, which David speaks of as yet future, must he a
rest, of which Canaan was only a type or shadow-
It includes,
1. A present rest in Christ
a 1 Cor. x. 11. b Heb. iii.
192 HEBREWS, IV. 1. [2281.
[A soul ignorant of Christ, can have no rest ; but " by
believing in Christ it has peace with God :" this is that rest
which our Saviour promises to troubled souls c .]
2. A future rest in heaven
[The rest of the soul is never perfect in this life : tribu
lations are the way through which we are all to pass ; but in
heaven our happiness will be complete : that therefore must
be the rest in which our labours shall terminate d .]
Of this rest God has left us a promise in his word
[It is called his, because he has prepared it for us from
the beginning : it is his also, inasmuch as it is the gift of his
sovereign grace: it is his moreover, as enjoyed in and with
him ; nor has he only revealed it as an object worthy our pur
suit, but promised it to every penitent and believing sinner 6 .]
It becomes us then to inquire,
II. What effect the promise of this rest should have
upon us ?
The news of any great and unexpected acquisition
immediately produces strong emotions in our minds.
The prospect therefore of present and eternal rest
should surely excite much solicitude respecting it
[We should endeavour to ascertain our title to it : we
should fear lest by any means we be deprived of it; nor should
we account any thing too much to do in order to obtain it :
our vigilance and zeal should be proportioned to its value.]
The danger of coming short of it should increase
our diligence in the pursuit of it
[Of six hundred thousand that came out of Egypt, only
two entered into Canaan : the others " could not enter in by
reason of their unbelief." And how much unbelief is there in
our hearts ! Yet, if we live under its power, we in vain hope
for this rest: nor will the numbers of those, who are so cir
cumstanced, afford security to us, any more than it did to
those who perished in the wilderness. Surely then we should
" fear lest we perish after their example."]
The misery of coming short of it should also stimu
late our exertions
[There is no intermediate state between heaven and hell ;
nor will there be any other state of probation afforded us.
They who rest not in Christ, can never know solid peace in
c Matt. xi. 28. d Rev. xiv. 13. e Acts ii. 39.
2281.] TYPICAL MEANING OF CANAAN. 193
this world; nor will they experience any thing but tribulation
to all eternity f : there will be an impassable gulf between
them and heaven. What fear and caution should this thought
excite !]
We should fear lest we even " seem" to come short
ofit-
[To be in suspense about our eternal state is dreadful :
God s honour, as well as our happiness, is affected by it. We
should seek to be " always triumphing in Christ," and at last
to have " an abundant entrance into his kingdom."]
ADDRESS
1. To those who have no fears about their souls
[Your rest, such as it is, is by no means to be desired :
it will soon vanish in the prospect of death and judgment, and
it will speedily terminate in everlasting woe. Seek then the
true rest, while yet it may be found : seek it in Christ, who
alone can impart it to you; nor doubt but that it will abun
dantly recompense your labours.]
2. To those who are filled with slavish fears
[These are not fears which you ought to entertain : they
are calculated to rob you of the heavenly rest, rather than to
bring you into it. The fear you should cultivate, is a jealous
and watchful fear : to live under the influence of this, is to be
truly blessed g : this well consists with even a present rest in
the Lord Jesus. Lay hold then on the promise which is left
you in the Gospel, and expect that " He who has promised
will also perform:" they " who trust in the Lord, shall never
be confounded."]
3. To those who maintain a godly fear and jea
lousy
[Disputes about the doctrine of perseverance are un
profitable and vain ; but to unite a jealousy over ourselves
with a confidence in God, will guard us against mistakes on
either hand. Go on then in this good way, in which there is
no clanger of error or excess: thus will your soul be kept at
an equal distance from presumption and despondency, and the
attainment of your rest be perfectly secured.]
f 2 Thcss. i. 8, 9. Rev. xiv. 10, 11.
K Prov. xxviii. 14.
VOL. \rx.
194 HEBREWS, IV. 2. [2282.
MMCCLXXXII.
THE REASON WHY MEN ARE SO LITTLE PROFITED BY
THE GOSPEL.
Heb. iv. 2. Unto us was the Gospel preached, as tvell as unto
them : but the word preached did not profit them, not being
mixed with faith in them that heard it.
IN these words there is a peculiarity of expression,
which, till it is explained, seems almost unaccount
able. Had the Apostle said that the Gospel was
preached unto the Jews, as well as unto us, it would
have been intelligible enough : but the text, as it
stands, seems to give the preference to them, as if
they had enjoyed a pre-eminent display of God s
favour, and a clearer revelation of his will than our
selves. But the true meaning of the Apostle will
appear from a due attention to the context. The
Apostle is shewing the superiority of Christ to Moses,
Moses being a servant only in God s house, but
Christ being a Son and Lord over his own house.
" That house are we," says he, " if we hold fast the
confidence, and the rejoicing of our hope, firm unto
the end 3 ." To impress this idea the more strongly
on our minds, he, in the language of David, urges us
to guard against a departure from God, lest, like the
Israelites of old, we provoke God to cut us off from
his promised rest. But, regarding the very passage
which he quotes as needing some explanation, since,
though all the adults who came out of Egypt perished
in the wilderness, their children did enjoy the pro
mised rest, he intimates, that the very expression of
David shewed that Canaan was only a shadow of the
rest promised to Israel, and that the true rest was
common to all the children of Abraham, whether
Jews or Gentiles. Of this rest he exhorts us not to
come short : for that the promise relating to it be
longed to us as much as to the Jews in the time of
Moses : and, as they came short of it in consequence
a Heb. iii. 6.
2282.] WHY MEN PROFIT LITTLE BY THE GOSPEL. 195
of their unbelief, so shall we, if we mix not faith with
the truths we hear.
Now this view of the Apostle s words limits the
term " Gospel" to that which alone is mentioned in
the context, the promised rest. Hence, to compare
the Gospel, as revealed to the Jews by Moses and the
Prophets, with that which is revealed to us by Christ
and his Apostles in a general view, would be beside
the proper scope of our text. It would be profitable
indeed to see how the moral law shuts us up to
Christ, and how the ceremonial law shadows forth
his work and offices ; and how the Prophets also de
clare the fulness and excellency of his salvation ; or,
in the words of the Apostle, how " the righteousness
which is by faith in Christ is witnessed by the Law and
the Prophets* :" but we prefer confining our views to
the precise idea that was in the Apostle s mind, be
cause we then have more clearly the mind of the
Holy Ghost. This then we shall do, whilst we en
deavour to shew,
I. What is that Gospel which is preached to us in
common with the Jews
To the Jews were sent " the glad tidings" of a
promised rest
[The promise given them included three things, deliver
ance, preservation, rest ; deliverance from Egypt, preservation
in the wilderness, and rest in Canaan. Their deliverance was
to be by the blood of the paschal lamb, which, being sprinkled
on their door-posts, was to protect them from the sword of the
destroying angel, whilst all the first-born of Egypt were slain.
That it was which burst their bands asunder, and caused their
former masters not merely to liberate them from their bondage,
but to thrust them out from amongst them : and from that
time they were in all future ages to kill and eat the paschal
lamb in remembrance of that great deliverance. From thence
forth, committing themselves to the Divine guidance and
protection, they were to subsist entirely on the manna given
them from the clouds, and on the water that issued from the
rock. At the expiration of the time appointed for their
sojourning in the wilderness, they were to enter into Canaan,
there to serve and enjoy God as their God to the latest gene
rations.
b Rom. iii. 21, 22.
19G HEBREWS, IV. 2. [2282.
Now all this was to the Jews " a shadow of good things to
come :" it marked the ways and means of our redemption ;
the nature of that life of faith which we are to live, and the
happy termination of our labours. And, that it was so under
stood by the more spiritual among them, is evident, as from
many other passages, so particularly from that quoted both in
the foregoing and following context : for if the rest promised
by Moses had had no reference to any thing beyond the land
of Canaan, David could never, after that rest had been enjoyed
for five hundred years, have spoken of a rest yet future. Con
sequently, the typical nature of that whole dispensation was
made known to them ; and though obscurely, yet certainly,
was the Gospel of Christ preached to them.]
To us is the same rest presented as an object of
faith and hope
[We are to be delivered from a worse than Egyptian
bondage, even from the bonds of sin and Satan, death and hell.
And in the very same manner also are we to be delivered.
" Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us :" and by the
sprinkling of his blood on our hearts and consciences are we
to escape the wrath of God. " We have redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sins c ." The destroying angel
has received his commission against all on whom this mark is
not found : and he will execute it on all without partiality or
reserve : for, as " without shedding of blood there is no remis
sion of sins," so it is by a believing application of that blood
to our souls, and by that only, that we can ever obtain from
Christ the benefits of his salvation.
Our preservation during the whole of our pilgrimage must
also be secured in the same way. Whilst under the guidance
and protection of our God, we must " live altogether by faith
on the Son of God, who loved us, and gave himself for us."
Our blessed Lord himself has told us, that HE is the bread of
life : that we must live from day to day upon him, even as the
Israelites did upon the manna in the wilderness ; and that,
whereas they derived from it only the temporary support of
their mortal bodies, we shall secure from him the eternal wel
fare of our souls. St. Paul also tells us, that the rock which
poured forth its waters in the wilderness was Christ ; that is,
a type and figure of Christ : we learn therefore from this, that
we are to look to Christ for daily supplies of his Spirit, to
renew and sanctify us, and to refresh and comfort us through
out the whole of our weary pilgrimage. This is to be the one
constant tenour of our way from first to last. Never till we
c Eph. i. 7.
2282.] WHY MEN PROFIT LITTLE BY THE GOSPEL. 197
arrive in the promised land shall we cease to need these sup
plies, which are to be brought to us by the exercise of a
lively faith. There is no substitute for them : the life of the
Israelites in the wilderness is a perfect pattern of our life ; and
to theirs we are taught to conform our own.
To " the rest which remaineth for us d " we are taught to
look forward with high expectations and assured confidence.
There is a better country than Canaan, even heaven itself,
which the patriarchs, to whom the land of Canaan was pro
mised, themselves regarded as their destined home . And to
that must we look as our inheritance. "There, we shall rest
from all our labours :" there, shall all tears be wiped away from
our eyes. There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor
crying ; neither shall there be any more pain : but, having his
tabernacle with us, we shall dwell with him and he with us
more intimately than we have now any conception of, we being
his acknowledged people, and he our endeared God, for ever
and ever f .]
But as this Gospel has never yet produced what
it was destined to accomplish, it will be proper to
shew,
II. To what must be ascribed its inefficacy both in
them and us
The Gospel itself is not destitute of power : it is
" the rod of God s strength :" it is " quick and power
ful, and sharper than a two-edged sword :" it is
" mighty through God to the pulling down of the
strong-holds of sin and Satan :" it is the power of
God unto salvation to all who truly believe it. Yet
its operations have been very limited and partial.
And whence arises this ? I answer,
The Jews " mixed not faith with what they
heard "-
[Moses from the beginning told them of all the blessings
which God had in reserve for them : yet from the beginning
they were an unbelieving people. Though Moses had given
them abundant evidence of his divine mission, they murmured
against him, when they found their burthens augmented in
consequence of his interposition &. When they had seen all
the wonders wrought in their behalf in Egypt, they again
complained, as soon us ever tliev saw the hosts of Pharaoh
< ver. f). Net), xi. f), 10, 1316.
f Rev. xxi. 3, 1. - Kxod. v. 2123.
198 HEBREWS, IV. 2. [2282.
pressing upon their rear, and ready, as they thought, to over
whelm them 11 . When they had passed through the sea on
dry ground, and seen their enemies, who presumed to follow
them, dead upon the sea shore, they were still as unbelieving
as ever, and regretted that they had ever been induced to
leave the land of Egypt. They even questioned " whether
God were amongst them or not ." But a few weeks after
wards they altogether renounced God, and worshipped the
golden calf. Thus it was on all occasions : whenever any fresh
difficulty arose, they distrusted God, and murmured against
him. When the spies brought their report of the land which
they had searched out, the people universally gave way to
despondency, as much as if they had never seen any one
display of God s power in their behalf. On this account they
were all doomed to perish in the wilderness, " God swearing
in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest." In a
word, " they could not enter in because of unbeliefV]
We also are alike unbelieving in relation to the
truths we hear
[The very necessity of redemption is denied by multitudes,
or at least is acknowledged only in a speculative way, and
without any due sense of its importance. The Jews under the
pressure of their burthens cried mightily to God, so that their
groans entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts. But when
has he heard from us those sighs and groans by reason of the
pressure of our sins ? When has he heard those earnest cries
for deliverance from the guilt we have contracted, and from
the power of our in-dwelling corruptions ? Alas ! when urged
on these subjects, we reply in our hearts, " Let us alone, that
we may serve the Egyptians 1 ." If told, that " the whole
world lieth in wickedness," and that we must flee from it, as
Lot from Sodom, if we will escape its ruin, we despise the
warning, like the sons-in-law of Lot, and regard our monitor
as " one who only mocks us" with absurd and groundless
alarms.
If brought to give a general assent to the truths we hear,
we still do not approve of a life of faith as the means of our
final preservation. Why must we subject ourselves to so
many trials and difficulties ? Why may we not go in an easier
way to heaven ? Why must our separation from the world be
so entire? Why may we not still enjoy the leeks and onions
of Egypt, instead of subsisting upon the light and tasteless
food provided for us ? Why must we be so dependent ? Why
be looking every day and hour to the pillar and cloud for
h Exotl. xiv. 11, 12. Exod. xvii. 3, 4, 7.
k Heb. iii. 19. > Exod. xiv. 12.
2282.] WHY MEN PROFIT LITTLE BY THE GOSPEL. 199
direction, and never to follow my own way? Why am I to
have nothing in myself, but all in Christ ? Why should I be
necessitated to seek such a measure of sanctification, as not to
entertain a " thought that is not brought into captivity to the
obedience of Christ?" We choose to have greater liberty,
and an easier path. We choose to have a less humiliating
way, where we may derive some supplies from a stock of our
own, and be able to ascribe some measure of credit to our
selves.
Nor are we by any means satisfied with the rest that is
provided for us ; we wish for some rest in earthly things ; and
murmur at the prohibition to seek it in them. Why must I
have as the one object of my desire a portion that is invisible?
Of the Israelites it is said, " they despised the pleasant land ;
they believed not God s word" 1 :" and the same may be said of
us. We do not estimate aright the felicity of heaven : we do
not despise every thing else in comparison of it: we do not
follow after it with the ardour that we ought : we shew, in the
whole of our life and conversation, that we do not think the
prize worth the toil necessary to secure it. Were we duly
impressed with the excellency of Canaan as " the glory of all
lands," we should grudge no labours or sufferings that we may
have to encounter in our way to it, nor any exertions that may
be necessary for the attainment of it.
What I have here said is applicable to the great mass even
of the Christian world : and the true reason of their being so
little influenced by all that they hear, is, that they do not
mix faith with it : they either account it a cunningly-devised
fable, or else imagine that some way shall be found for the
salvation of their souls besides that which is revealed in the
written word. They believe not what God has spoken either
of the way, or of the end ; and therefore they fall short of that
end, and perish in their unbelief]
To impress this subject the more deeply on our minds,
I \vill endeavour to IMPROVE it,
1. In a way of solemn inquiry-
fit surely is reasonable for all of us to inquire, What have
we " profited by the Gospel ? " If we have indeed been pro
fited by it, we can tell, in some degree at least, what are the
benefits which we have received from it. To imagine that we
have been really benefited, and not to know wherein we have
been benefited, and especially in a matter of such infinite im
portance, is palpable and wilful self-deception. I ask then,
wherein have we been profited by the Gospel ? What effect
has it produced upon our minds in relation to the things before
m Ps. cvi. -21.
200 HEBREWS, IV. 2. [2282.
spoken of? What have we experienced of a spiritual redemp
tion? What are we yet daily experiencing of a life of faith
upon the Son of God ? and how far does the prospect of eter
nal glory animate us to do and suffer all things for the attain
ment of it ? I pray you, brethren, put these questions to
yourselves, and satisfy not yourselves with a superficial or
evasive answer. Bring forth the benefits which you have
received : examine them : see how far they are of a saving
nature, and bear the stamp and character of a work of grace
upon the soul ! If such inquiries be unnecessary, trouble not
yourselves about them : but, if they will be made at the last
day by the Judge of quick and dead, and will form the ground
of your salvation or condemnation to all eternity, then let
them be duly weighed, and impartially answered by every one
of us: for, if we be not profited by the Gospel now, sure I am
that we shall not be profited in the eternal world ; yea, rather,
that very " word which ought to have been to us a savour of
life unto life, will be to us a savoiir of death unto death 11 ."
You all remember how greatly the guilt of Bethsaida and
Chorazin was aggravated by their misimprovement of the pri
vileges which they enjoyed under the ministry of our Lord :
being exalted to heaven in their privileges, they were cast
down the deeper into hell for their abuse of them . The Jews
in general too would not have had sin, comparatively, it they
had not enjoyed the ministry of our blessed Lord : but that
left them without excuse p . And even they will be innocent in
comparison of you, if you, with the yet fuller light that is
shining round you, neglect to improve the day of your visi
tation* 1 .]
2. In a way of affectionate remonstrance
[It is clear and manifest, that the great mass of Christians
do not mix faith with what they hear : for, if they did, they
would obey it. Faith has the same respect to the proper ob
jects of faith, as reason has to the proper objects of reason.
From reason, we know that some things will be beneficial to
the body, and other things injurious : and in accordance with
its dictates we act, unless we are violently impelled in opposi
tion to them, by some more operative principle in our minds.
So will faith act. If we be blinded and overpowered by sense,
we are then under the influence of unbelief. And if this be
the predominant principle in our minds, O ! think how awful
will be our state ! Verily, if this be of all sins the least cri
minal in appearance, it is of all sins the most fatal in its ten
dency : for whilst other sins render us obnoxious to God s
n 2 Cor. ii. 16. Luke x. 1315.
P John xv. 22. 1 Matt. xii. 32.
2283.] THE REST THAT REMAINS FOR GOD S PEOPLE. 201
displeasure, this binds them all upon us, and precludes, as long
as it is in exercise, all hope and possibility of obtaining mercy.
See its operation as marked in our text. Methinks we have
here the veil of the invisible world drawn aside. We are in
the habit of sending all to heaven ; but here we see how few
in comparison do really attain the promised rest. Of all the
six hundred thousand Israelites that were advanced to man
hood, two only were suffered to enter into Canaan. All the rest
(with the exception of the Levites) fell short through unbelief.
And this is recorded as a warning to us, that we buoy not up
ourselves with delusive expectations, in reference to our final
state 1 . We can never alter that word, " He that believeth
shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned." I
entreat you therefore to " mix faith with what you hear" from
the infallible records of God s word. Mix faith with it, I say,
in the same intimate and influential manner as you mix reason
with the deductions of reason. Your reason soon makes you
flee from a house that is on fire, and to run to a place of safety
from one that seeks your life : let your faith operate in like
manner, without delay ; stimulating you to flee to Christ for
safety, and to lay hold upon the hope that is set before you in
the Gospel.]
T 1 Cor. x. 1 G, 11. Jude, ver. 5.
MMCCLXXXIII.
THE REST THAT REMAINS FOR GOD*S PEOPLE.
Heb. iv. 9. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of
God.
THE servants of God possess many distinguished
privileges. Their state in this world is far happier than
that of the ungodly ; hut there is an infinitely richer
portion reserved for them hereafter. To this David
had respect in that awful denunciation a , whence it
appears, that though prefigured by other rests, it
remains yet to be enjoyed b .
3 Ps. xcv. 1 1 .
b The Apostle s argument seems to be this : God instituted a day
of rest in commemoration of his having ceased from his works of cre
ation. And many centuries afterwards he promised a rest to his
people in the land of Canaan. But that rest was only typical of a
more glorious sabbath, of which David spake a long time after the
other had been enjoyed. From hence the Apostle concludes that there
202 HEBREWS, IV. 9. [2283.
I. Who are the people of God ?
This title cannot belong to all indiscriminately
[The greater part of the world are idolatrous heathens.
The generality of those who are called Christians are ignorant
of God. Impiety and profaneness abound in every place :
this indisputably proves the Apostle s assertion . The sinful
works of men plainly shew whose people they are d ; nor do all
who " profess godliness" really belong to God e . There are
many who deceive both themselves and others*.]
Those who alone have a right to it are described by
God himself g .
They " worship God in the Spirit"
[It is the characteristic of God s enemies that they neglect
prayer h : nor will formal services prove us to be God s people 1 .
No worship is acceptable to him but that which is spiritual k .
His faithful servants are importunate at the throne of grace 1 .]
They "rejoice in Christ Jesus"
[They do not merely acknowledge him to be the Messiah :
they make daily application to him as the only ground of their
hopes. Their hearts are lifted up with devout affection to
wards him. They delight in him as their all-sufficient Re
deemer.]
They " have no confidence in the flesh"
[They are deeply convinced that " in them dwelleth no
good thing." They see the folly of trusting to their own
strength or wisdom 11 . They acquiesce fully in Solomon s
direction . They look for every thing in Christ alone?.]
To these belong many glorious privileges.
II. What is the rest which remaineth for them ?
They have already in some respect entered into
rest" 1
[They are freed from the terrors of a guilty conscience 1 .
must yet be a rest, or 2a/3/3anoyzoe (for he changes the word which
he had before used, in order more strongly to intimate the analogy
between the different rests there spoken of) remaining for the people
of God.
c Rom. ix. 6. d 1 John iii. 8. John viii. 44.
e Rom.ii. 28, 29. Tit. i. 16. f Rev. iii. 1. Jam. i. 26.
g Phil. iii. 3. h Ps. liii. 4. J Matt. xv. 8, 9.
k John iv. 23,24. Eph. vi. 18. m 1 Pet. i. 8.
11 Prov. iii. 5. Prov. xxviii. 20. r 1 Cor. i. 30.
i Ileb. iv. 3. r Heb. x. 22.
2283. J THE REST THAT REMAINS FOR GOD S PEOPLE. 203
They feel a delight in ordinances and Sabbaths. Their minds
are fully satisfied with the Gospel salvation. They experience
the truth of our Lord s promise 8 .]
But the rest which awaits them is far superior to
that they now possess
They will enjoy a freedom from all labours and
sorrows
[They are constrained to labour as long as they are in the
world. Their whole life resembles a race or warfare. They
can obtain nothing without strenuous exertions 4 : and of ne
cessity they are encompassed with many sorrows". But in
heaven they will cease from their labours x : nor will their
happiness have any intermission or alloy y .]
They will be exempt from all influence of sin or
temptation ,
[Sin now defiles their very best services. Satan is also
unwearied in his endeavours to corrupt them 2 . These are
sources of much pain to them at present. But the souls of all
in heaven are made perfect 3 : nor can any unclean thing enter
to defile them b . Their triumph will be complete and ever
lasting .]
They will dwell in the immediate presence of their
God-
[Their capacity of enjoying God will be wonderfully en
larged : they will behold him not darkly, as now, but face to
face d . The Saviour s glory will be the object of their devoutest
admiration 6 . Their delight in him will surpass their present
conceptions f . They shall know that their happiness will be
eternal 8 . Then will every desire of their heart be fully
satisfied 11 .]
INFER
1. How desirable is it to be numbered among
God s people !
[The rest described is the portion of them alone. God
himself declares that the wicked have no part in it 1 : their
portion will be very different k , and its duration also will be
Matt. xi. 28. l Matt. xi. 12. " Acts xiv. 22.
x Rev. xiv. 13. y Rev. xxi. 4. z 2 Cor. xi. 3.
a Heb. xii. 23. b Rev. xxi. 27. e Isai. Ix. 20.
d 1 Cor. xiii. 12. c John xvii. 24. f Ps. xvi. 11.
B Rev. xxii. 3 .5. h Ps. xvii. 1">. Isai. Ivii. 21.
k Ps. xi. 6.
204 HEBREWS, IV. 12. [2284.
endless 1 . Who then would not wish to be numbered with the
saints ? Who does not desire to participate their inheritance ?
But we must first be conformed to their character. We must
renounce self-confidence, and believe in Christ. It was un
belief which excluded the Israelites from Canaan" 1 . Let us
fear lest the same evil principle rob us of the heavenly rest".]
2. With what delight may God s people look for
ward to death !
[The hour of death is often an object of terror to the
godly, but it should be welcomed as a season of joy. Does
not the husbandman rejoice in his wages, the mariner in his
haven, the soldier in the spoils of victory ? Much more should
the Christian rejoice in the approach of his rest. Let us then
long after it, like the holy Apostle ; and let us labour to attain
it in full confidence of success p .]
1 Rev. xiv. 11. Heb. iii. 18, 19. n Heb. iv. 1, 11.
2 Cor. v. 2. P 2 Cor. v. 6, 8, 9.
MMCCLXXXIV.
THE WORD OF GOD QUICK AND POWERFUL.
Heb. iv. 12. The word of God is quick, and powerful, and
sharper than any tivo-edged sword, piercing even to the
dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart.
THE state of a Christian s mind should be alike
distant from slavish fear and from presumptuous con
fidence. He is authorized to entertain a confidence,
because he has Omnipotence for his support, and
the veracity of God pledged to supply him with all
that is needful for his spiritual welfare. But he has
need of fear also ; because he is in the midst of temp
tations, and has a deceitful heart, ever ready to
beguile him. In the view of his privileges, he may
rejoice : but in the view of his dangers, he should
tremble. In a word, he should, as David expresses
it, " rejoice with trembling." This frame of mind is
supposed by many to be unsuited to that full liberty
into which we are brought under the Christian dis
pensation. But St. Paul continually inculcates the
2284.] WORD OF GOD QUICK AND POWERFUL. 205
necessity of it in order to a safe and upright walk :
" Be not high-minded, but fear :" " Let him that
thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." But in
no place of Scripture is this mixture of diffidence and
affiance more strongly insisted on than in this and the
preceding chapters. We are taught the indispensable
necessity of " holding fast the confidence, and the
rejoicing of hope, firm unto the end 3 ;" and yet we
are again and again warned by the example of the
Israelites, who were excluded from the promised
land, lest we also should " fall after the same ex
ample of unbelief V It is in this view that the de
clarations in our text are introduced. There ,is an
abruptness in them which renders the meaning of the
Apostle somewhat difficult at first : but when the
connecting link is supplied, the sense of the passage
is clear, and very important. It speaks to this effect:
The Israelites thought they had sufficient grounds
for their unbelief; yet it ruined them. You also
may be deceived by an evil heart of unbelief: but,
however you may vindicate yourselves, that word,
which you now disobey, will judge you in the last
day ; and will both expose your self-delusion, and
justify God in passing against you a sentence of
exclusion from the promised land.
The scope of the passage being thus explained, we
propose to consider,
I. The description here given of the word of God
Many able commentators have given it as their
opinion, that, by " the word of God," we are to un
derstand the Lord Jesus Christ, who is frequently
called by that name in the Holy Scriptures. But
St. Paul never speaks of Christ by that name : nor is
there any mention of Christ in the context. On the
contrary, the word of revelation is mentioned, as that
which the Israelites would not believe ; as that also
which excluded them from the promised rest d ; and
as that, which speaks to us precisely as it did to them 6 .
a Heb. iii. G. b ver. 1, 11. e ver. 2.
d II, -l>. iii. 711. ver. 79.
206 HEBREWS, IV. 12. [2284,
And the different things spoken of it in the text are
far more suited to the written word, than to the Lord
Jesus Christ. To that, therefore, we limit the de
scription before us. Its properties are set forth,
1. In figurative terms-
fit is " quick," that is, a living word. Our blessed Lord
represents it in the same view : " The words that I speak unto
you, they are spirit, and they are life f ." And it is the very
same term which Stephen also makes use of, when he calls the
Scriptures " the lively oracles g ." The word is not a mere dead
letter, that will soon vanish away : it lives in the mind of God :
it lives in the decrees of heaven : it liveth and will live for ever:
nor will millions of ages cause it to be forgotten, or in the least
enervate its force. All besides this shall wax old, and decay :
but this shall endure, without the alteration of one jot or tittle
of it, to all generations 1 .
It is also " powerful." ear the appeal which God himself
makes to us respecting it : " Is not my word like as a fire ?
saith the Lord: and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in
pieces 1 ?" Yes: there is nothing that can resist its force.
But in the text it is compared with " a two-edged sword,"
which, how sharp soever it may be, cannot penetrate like that.
Frequently is it characterized by this image, especially as pro
ceeding from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ k . Yet does
that image give but a very faint idea of its power : for a sword,
though it may inflict a mortal wound, would be utterly in
capable of dividing, with accuracy, the almost imperceptible
organs of the human frame : but the word can " pierce to the
dividing asunder the joints and marrow, yea, and the animal
soul also from the rational spirit." By this is meant, that
there is nothing so hidden, which it cannot detect; nothing so
blended, which it cannot discriminate.
This the Apostle proceeds to set forth,]
2. In plain language
[The word is " a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart." Of the unregenerate man it is said, that " every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart is only evil continu
ally 1 ." The regenerate are " renewed in the spirit of their
minds." But still they are not so renewed, but that some
imperfection cleaves to all which they do : there is something
in every thought and every purpose of the human heart, some
thing which still shews that man is a fallen creature, and which
f John vi. 63. * Acts vii. 38. h 1 Pet. i. 2325.
1 Jer. xxiii. 29. k Isai. xlix. 2. Rev. i. 16.
1 Gen. vi. 5.
2284.] WORD OF GOD QUICK AND POWERFUL. 207
cannot stand the strict scrutiny of God s all-seeing eye. If he
lay judgment for a line, and righteousness for a plummet, there
is not any thing in which there will not be found some obli
quity. Such a perfect standard is the word of God: " it will
discern between the good and evil that is in the most holy
thought of the most perfect of men." In the hand of " the
Spirit, whose sword it is m ," its power is infinite, even though
it be wielded by the feeblest arm. In the hand of the prophets,
it " hewed" the hypocritial Jews in pieces". In the hand of
the Apostles, it pierced thousands to the heart at once . In
the hand of ordinary ministers, it has still the same power,
and can so detect all the secret thoughts of men s hearts, as to
evince that, it is indeed the very word of God himself P,
and through him is still, as much as ever, " mighty to the
casting down of the most haughty imaginations, and to the
bringing of every thought into captivity to the obedience of
Christ i."]
But that which gives to this description its force, is,
II. The end for which it is adduced
The Apostle means to say, that, however secret
the workings of unbelief may be, they will all be
detected and condemned by the word in the last day.
Now,
Unbelief is a most subtle sin-
fit has ten thousand pleas and pretexts by which it clokes
its malignity, and justifies to the mind and conscience its
operations. See it in the Jews, whom it deceived to their
ruin. There was always some great trial, some apparently
insuperable difficulty in their way. They supposed that God
would make all their way easy, and that they should have
nothing to try their faith and patience. Hence they construed
every difficulty as a violation of God s promises, and a prelude
to his final dereliction of them. Hence also they made their
appeals upon this subject with as much confidence, as if their
conclusions were undeniable : and the chastisements which they
received for their impiety only increased their complaints, as
though, in addition to the disappointments of their legitimate
expectations, they were treated with undeserved cruelty. Thus
it is with us: we hide from ourselves, or rather we justify to
ourselves, the workings of unbelief. Its operations all seem to
us to be founded in truth and equity. If we look at God s
m Eph. vi. 17. " Hos. vi. 5. Acts ii. 37.
P 1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25. 1 2 Cor. x. 4, 5.
208 HEBREWS, IV. 12. [2284.
threatenings, it cannot be that they should ever be executed,
because such a procedure would be inconsistent with the Divine
perfections, and an act of injustice towards man. If the pro
mises of God be the object to which our attention is turned,
they are too great, and too good to be performed ; or at least,
that they are not intended for such sinners as we. Besides,
they are so far out of our sight, as to have, in our conceptions,
little or no reality, in comparison of the objects of time and
sense. Other sins we excuse as acts of frailty: but this we
justify, as an act of wisdom.]
But, how subtle soever our unbelief may be, the
word of God will discover and condemn it
[The word of God is so comprehensive, that there is not
in the whole creation a thought or purpose that does not come
within its range 1 : and it is so minute, that there is not the
slightest " imagination of a thought," of which it does not take
cognizance. It is spiritual, even as the Author of it himself is
spiritual ; and, when it is brought home with power to the
soul, it convinces a man of sins of which he had before not the
least conception 8 . As by a chemical process the constituent
parts of material bodies may be discovered, so by the applica
tion of the word to our souls in the last day will every thought
be decompounded, as it were, and its every particle of good or
evil be disclosed 1 . The fire that will try us will search the inmost
recesses of the soul, and determine, with infallible precision, the
quality of the most latent imagination there". Of this we have
an earnest in the events which happened to the Jews in conse
quence of their unbelief. Thus God addresses them by the
Prophet Zechariah : " our fathers, where are they ? and the
prophets, do they live for ever ? But my words and my statutes
which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take
hold of your fathers ? and they returned and said, Like as the
Lord of Hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways and
according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us x ." And the very
same confession will, assuredly, be made in the last day by the
most confident unbeliever in the universe: " His sin shall surely
find him out y ;" and it shall then be seen, " whose word shall
stand, God s or his 2 ." The counsels of every heart shall then
be made manifest 3 ;" and God be justified before the whole
universe in the sentence that he shall pass b .]
From hence we may SEE
r Ps. cxix. 96. s Rom. vii. 9, 14. l John xii. 48.
u 1 Cor. iii. 13. x Zech. i. 5, 6. > Numb, xxxii. 23.
z Jer. xliv. 28. a 1 Cor. iv. 5.
b Ps. li. 4. with Rom. iii. 4.
2284.] WORD OF GOD QUICK AND POWERFUL. 20!)
1. How attentive we should be to the word of
God-
[Would we but inspect it with humility and care, it would
be as a glass to reflect our own image, in a way that nothing
else can do c . And, is it not madness to neglect the opportunity
it affords us of learning our true character, and of ascertaining,
before hand, the sentence of our Judge? To what purpose is
it to deceive our own souls ? Will that word be altered ?
Will any other standard be brought forward whereby to esti
mate our state ? Or shall we be able either to dispute its
testimony, or avert its sentence? Dear brethren, remember
the description given of it in our text : think how unavailing
all your pleas and excuses will be, when its voice shall be
raised against you : and now, ere it be too late, take it as
a light to search all the secret corners of your hearts 1 , and to
guide your feet into the way of peace.]
2. How fearful we should be of unbelief
[As there is no grace which so honours God, as faith, so
there is no sin which so dishonours him, as unbelief. Other
sins, though they oppose his authority, do not deny his right to
command : but unbelief questions the very existence of his
truth. Hence does St. John so frequently speak of it, as
"making God a liar e ." Ah! little do the sceptic and the
unbeliever think what guilt they contract : and little do they
imagine what chains they are forging for their own souls !
How, I would ask, will any man get his sins forgiven ? it can
only be by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ ; and by a living-
faith too : for it is not a dead faith that will suflice ; but
such a faith as unites the soul to Christ, and derives out of
his fulness all that grace, and mercy, and peace which we
stand in need of. Most awful is that declaration of God, that
" all the fearful and unbelieving shall have their part in the
lake that burneth with fire and brimstone ; which is the second
death 1 "." Whether we believe this or not, it will prove true in
the end: and the sentence, once denounced against Israel with
an oath, shall again be repeated against all that abide in unbe
lief; " I swear in my wrath, that they shall not enter into my
rest."]
3. How earnestly we should pray to God for the
gift of his Spirit
[It is by the Spirit of God alone that we can either " be
convinced of unbelief*- ," or be enabled to exercise a living
faith 1 . O! beg of God to give you his Spirit. Seek it in
c Jam. i. 23, 24. J John iii. 19 21. Prov. xx. 27.
e 1 John ii. 22. and v. 10. f Rev. xxi. S.
John xvi, 8, 9. * Eph. ii. 8. Phil. i. 29.
\ or.. \i.\. r
210 HEBREWS, IV. 13. [2285.
earnest; and you shall not ask in vain 1 . It is the Spirit s
office to " take of the things that are Christ s, and to shew them
unto you k ." It is his office to make the word effectual to
your souls : for it is then only effectual, when " it comes in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power 1 ." Read not then,
nor hear, the word in dependence on your own strength ; but
cry mightily to God to bring it home to your hearts " with
power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance."
Then shall you experience its life-giving efficacy, and find it
" the power of God to the salvation of your souls"."]
1 Luke xi. 13. k John xvi. 14. 1 Cor. ii. 4.
1 Thess. i. 5. " Rom. i. 1(3.
MMCCLXXXV.
GOD SEES OUR INMOST THOUGHTS.
Heb. iv. 13. All things are naked and opened unto the eyes
of him ivith ivhom we have to do.
MEN will commit those things in secret, which
they would not commit, if they knew that the eye of
a fellow-creature was upon them. But, if they duly
considered the omniscience of God, they would be as
watchful over their conduct in their most hidden re
cesses, as they now are in the noon-day. Yea, they
would impose a far greater restraint on their inmost
thoughts, than they now do on their outward actions.
To fortify the Hebrews against apostasy, the Apostle
endeavoured to impress upon their minds the thought
that every motion of their hearts was strictly noticed
by God.
From his words we shall consider,
I. The omniscience of God
" There is not any thing in the whole creation
which is not manifest in his sight." At one glance he
beholds,
1. All things
[All that is past, however long since, or however for
gotten by us, is as fresh in his memory, as if it had been
transacted this very moment a . All present things, in whatever
> Isai. xli. 22.
2285. J CiOD SEES OUR INMOST THOUGHTS. 211
quarter of the globe, and however hidden from mortal eyes,
are visible to him b -All future events, whomsoever
they concern, even the eternal states of all that ever shall be
born, are known by him with as much certainty as if they
were already accomplished
2. All men-
[The actions of men are not only noticed by him, but
weighed in a most perfect balance d - Their words are
all distinctly heard by him, and recorded before him 6 . Their
very thoughts, how secret or transient soever they be, are also
marked, and written by him in the book of his remembrance f
- The priests, when inspecting the sacrifices that had
been Jlayed and cut asunder, did not so infallibly discern any
blemish that might be found, either on their external part or
in their inwards, as God discerns " every imagination of the
thoughts of our hearts g " ]
That we may not give our assent to this truth
without being suitably affected with it, let us con
sider,
II. The concern we have in it
The words of the text include a double inter
pretation
We shall include both senses by observing,
1. " We have to do with God" in every transaction
of our lives
[The law of God extends to the whole of our conduct :
every action therefore, with every word and thought, is an
act of obedience to him or of disobedience : there is not a
possibility of detaching ourselves from him for an instant, so
as to assert our independence in the least respect. Om minds
should be constantly full of love to him ; and our every pur
pose and desire should have respect to his glory 1 . How
deeply then are we interested in approving ourselves to him !
If we had merely to do with our fellow-creatures, it might
suffice to have our actions right, even though there were some
defect in our motives and principles ; but when we have to do
with the heart-searching God, we should be careful that every
motion of our hearts be agreeable to his mind and will.]
Job xxviii. 24. c Isai. xlvi. 9, 10. Acts xv. 8.
d 1 Sam. ii. 3. Job xxxi. 4. e Ps. cxxxix. 4. 2 Kings vi. 12.
f Ezek. xi. 5. Gen. vi. ">.
I lyim KUI TEwa\ri\iffplva. This may be further illustrated by
1 s. xi. 4, " his eye-lids try" &c.
1 Cor. x. 31.
212 HEBREWS, IV. 15, 16. [2286.
2. We must "give an account to God 1 " of all that
we do
[Every thing we do is noticed by God, in order that it
may be recompensed at the day of judgment k . The book of
his remembrance will assuredly be opened in that day 1 ; and
every action, word, and thought, during our whole lives, will
have an influence on his decision. However trivial any thing
may be in our eyes, or even imperceptible by us, it will
enhance our happiness or misery to all eternity : how anxious
then should we be to walk as in God s sight ! and how should
we labour daily to lay up an increasing weight of glory, in
stead of" treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath!"
We may IMPROVE this subject,
1. For the awakening of the careless
[You may think, like those of old, that God does not see
or regard your ways"; but, if Achan was detected and punished
by God s immediate interference in this world , how much
more shall you be in the day of righteous retribution!]
2. For the encouragement of the sincere
[If God notices the defects of his people, he both makes
allowance for them, and observes also their excellencies 11 : nor
have they so much as a good desire, which he does not mark
with special approbation q . Let all then stir up their hearts
to seek and serve him r : so, notwithstanding their defects, they
shall receive his plaudit in the day of judgment 8 .]
uv riplr 6 Xoyoe. k Jer. xvii. 10. l Rev. xx. 12.
m 2 Cor. iv. 17. with Rom. ii. 5. n Ps. xciv. 7.
Josh. vii. 14, 18, 25. P Comp. Ps. ciii. 14. with Rev. ii. 9.
1 Ps. xxxviii. 9. Mai. iii. 16. 1 Kings xiv. 13.
r 1 Chron. xxviii. 9. s I Cor. iv. 5.
MMCCLXXXVI.
ENCOURAGEMENT DERIVED FROM THE CHARACTER OF
CHRIST.
Heb. iv. 15, 16. We have not an High-priest ivhich cannot be
touched with the feeling of our infirmities ; but was in all
points tempted like as ive are, yet without sin. Let us there
fore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that ive may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
NOTWITHSTANDING the excellency of the
Christian religion, when compared with that of the
2286.] ENCOURAGEMENT FROM CHRIST S CHARACTER. 213
Jews, there were not wanting many specious objec
tions, which a Jew might bring against it, and which,
on a wavering and ill-instructed mind, might operate
with considerable force. A Jew might, with some
appearance of truth, say, We know that our religion
is from heaven : we know that the sacrifices which
we offer are of divine appointment : we see the priest
actually making an atonement for us : we behold the
high-priest carrying the blood of the sacrifice within
the vail : and we hear him pronouncing the very
benediction which God put into his mouth. You
Christians lose all these advantages, and rely on mere
notions of your own, which have nothing visible, no
thing real. But to these objections the Christian
may reply, We have a better sacrifice, and a greater
High-priest than you : and though we see neither
the sacrifice nor the High-priest with our bodily eyes,
we know he is entered into a better tabernacle, that
is, into heaven itself, " there to appear in the pre
sence of God for us :" and therefore do we " hold
fast our profession," yea, and will hold it fast, what
ever menaces, or whatever allurements, be employed
to turn us from it.
But if the greatness of our High-priest be suffi
cient to determine us, what will not the consideration
of his goodness be ? Let us but contemplate that,
and we shall need nothing further to keep us stead
fast even to the end : for we shall have a perfect
assurance that we shall never want any thing that is
requisite either for our spiritual or eternal welfare.
This is the idea suggested in the text; from whence
we are naturally led to notice,
I. The character of our great High-priest
Though he was " the Son of God," " Jehovah s
Fellow," "the brightness of his Father s glory, and
the express image of his person," yet " He was in
all points tempted like as we are."
[In bodily sufferings, he was tried with hunger and thirst,
and weariness and pain ; and had not even a place where to
lay his head. As for persecutions from men, no human being
214 HEBREWS, IV. 15, 16. [2286.
was ever pursued with such bitter unrelenting animosity as he.
No terms were too vile to be applied to him : he was called
" a glutton and a wine-bibber," a deceiver and blasphemer, a
Samaritan and a devil : and the whole nation rose against him
with that indignant cry, " Crucify him, crucify him." Of his
assaults from Satan, what shall we say? What words can
express the conflicts he maintained with all the powers of
darkness, in the wilderness, and in the garden of Gethsemane,
when through the agonies of his soul his whole body was
bathed in a bloody sweat? From the hidings of his Father s
face also, and from a sense of his wrath, when, as we are told,
" it pleased the Lord to bruise him," his sufferings infinitely sur
passed all that any created imagination can conceive. When
his soul was sore troubled, even unto death, he prayed indeed
for the removal of the bitter cup, yet drank it, when put into
his hands, without complaint: but when he was called to
endure the consummation of his misery in the hidings of his
Father s face, he could not forbear pouring forth that heart
rending complaint, " My God, my God, why hast thou for
saken me ? " Thus was he foremost in almost every trial that
we can possibly be called upon to sustain ; and notwithstanding
in him was no sin, he was, far beyond any of the sinners of
mankind, " a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief."]
Having experienced in his own person all that we
can feel, he sympathizes with us in all our trials
[The double negation in our text is very expressive ; and
imports much more than a simple affirmation. Our High-
priest is most assuredly a tender sympathizing Friend : and
one great end for which he submitted to be tempted like us,
was, that he might learn to appreciate aright our sufferings,
and " be able to succour us in our temptations a ." He now
can say, more emphatically than heretofore, " I know their
sorrows 1 *:" and more justly may it be said of him, " His soul
is grieved for the misery of Israel ." So acutely does he feel
for all his members, that " whoso persecuteth them, perse
cutes him d ;" and " whoso toucheth one of them, toucheth the
apple of his eye 6 ." What he felt when he wept at the grave
of Lazarus, he still feels, as it were, when he beholds his
sorrowing and afflicted people. From whatever quarter their
troubles arise, from, men or devils, from body or from mind,
yea, or even from the hand of God himself, his compassion is
the same, and his sympathy is ready to exert itself for their
relief.]
a Ilcb. ii. 18. b Exod. iii. 7. Judg. x. 16.
d Acts ix. 4. e Zech. ii. 8.
2286.] ENCOURAGEMENT FROM CHRIST^ CHARACTER. 215
Such being indisputably the character of our High-
priest, let us contemplate,
II. The encouragement to be derived from it in all
our addresses at the throne of grace
The thought of having such an High-priest passed
into the heavens to further our cause in the presence
of his God, emboldens us to come to God himself,
1. Without fear, as arising from a sense of our own
unworthiness
[Had we not such an Advocate, it would be impossible
for us to draw nigh to God with any hope of acceptance. To
such unholy creatures as we, God would be nothing but " a
consuming fire." But, when we recollect what a sacrifice our
great High-priest has offered, and that " he is entered into
heaven with his own blood," and that he pleads the merit of
that blood in behalf of his believing people, how can we doubt
of acceptance through his prevailing intercession ? Be it so,
our sins have been most heinous : yet are we assured, that
" his blood will cleanse from all sin," and that they who are
washed in it, shall be as wool, and their crimson sins be
white as snow. Had we the guilt of the whole world accumu
lated on our own souls, still need we not despair, since he who
is our Advocate is also " a Propitiation for us, and not for our
sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world f ." If the
blood of bulls and goats prevailed for Israel to the purifying
of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who,
through the Eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to
God, purge our conscience from dead works to serve the
living God g . With such an Advocate we have nothing to
fear. We are sure that " him the Father heareth always :"
and that " he is able to save to the uttermost all who come
unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for themV He has the names of all his people on his breast
plate, and on his heart : and the chief of sinners may be as
confident of acceptance through him, as those who have com
paratively little to be forgiven .]
2. Without doubt, as arising from the greatness of
the things we have to ask
[All that we can need is comprehended in two things,
" mercy and grace ;" the one, for the pardon of our past trans
gressions ; the other, for the preservation of our souls from sin
f 1 John i. 2. 6 Heb. ix. 13, 14.
h Heb. vii. 25. 1 Tim. i. ]">, 1(5. ipoi Trpw-w.
HEBREWS, IV. 15, 16. [2286.
in future. Now these are the very things specified in our
text, as to be asked by us in the name of our High-priest
with boldness and confidence : and we are assured, that they
shall be granted, both in the time and measure that we need
them. We are not to be accounting any thing too great to
ask, because there is nothing too great for him to give. We
" are not to be straitened in ourselves, seeing that we are not
straitened in him." We may " ask what we will ; and it shall
be done unto us k ." However " wide we open our mouth, it
shall be filled 1 ." Let our need of mercy be ever so great, " we
shall obtain mercy ;" and our need of grace ever so abundant,
the supply shall be proportioned to our need. If we want
grace to sustain suffering, to fulfil duty, to transform the soul
into the Divine image, " Ask and have," is the Divine com
mand : and our boldness in asking cannot be too great, pro
vided it be of a right kind : it must not be of an unhallowed
and presumptuous cast; but duly tempered with penitential
sorrow, and patient resignation. Then it may rise to a con
fident expectation, and a full assurance of faith.]
But whilst we are thus encouraged to draw nigh to
God, let us LEARN,
1. That nothing is to be obtained without prayer-
fit is not the death of Christ as our sacrifice, nor the
intercession of Christ as our great High-priest, that will save
us, if we do not pray for ourselves. Though he is on a throne,
and that throne is a " throne of grace," we shall receive no
benefit from his power or grace, if we do not sue for it in
earnest and believing prayer. His offices are not intended to
supersede our endeavours, but to encourage them, and to
assure us of success in the use of the appointed means. Those
are always characterized as " enemies, who call not upon
God :" and we are warned plainly that we cannot have, if we
neglect to ask n . The means must be used in order to the end ;
and it is only in, and by, the means, that the end can ever
be attained . Hear this, ye who neglect prayer, or draw nigh
to God with your lips only and not with your hearts ! Unless
" in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanks
giving, you make your requests known unto God," you can
never experience his blessing upon your souls, nor ever behold
the face of your God in peace.]
2. That in all your addresses to God your eyes
must be directly fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ as
your Mediator and Advocate
k John xiv. 13, 14. Ps. Ixxxi. 10. m Ileb. x. 19 22.
11 Jam. iv. :3. Matt. vii. 7, 8.
2286.] ENCOURAGEMENT FROM CHRIST S CHARACTER. 211
[When the high-priest was passing through the vail into
the holy of holies, the eyes of all were fixed on him as their
mediator ; and from his intercession all their hopes were de
rived. And how much more should our eyes be fixed on the
Lord Jesus Christ as our Advocate and Intercessor ! It is in
his name that we are taught to offer our supplications 11 : and
it is through his intercession alone that they can come up with
acceptance before God q . Seek then at all times to realize
this in your minds : and beg of God to make you deeply and
abidingly sensible of it : for " then only do you honour the
Father, when you thus honour his dear Son r ;" and then
only will the Father be glorified in you, when he is thus
honoured and glorified in the person of his Son 8 .]
3. That when you thus approach God in and
through his Son, all doubts of acceptance must be
put away
[We are not to be wavering in our minds when we draw
nigh to God. To doubt either his power or his willingness
to help us, is to disparage both the Father and the Son : and
prayers offered with a doubtful mind will never bring with
them an answer of peace 1 . It is quite a mistaken humility
that leads persons to question whether such sinners as they
can find mercy; or whether the grace of Christ can be sufficient
for them. All such doubts betray an ignorance of Christ, and
his Gospel. If he be not the Son of God, equal with the
Father, then we may well doubt his ability to help : or if his
sacrifice and intercession be not the appointed means of salva
tion for the whole world, then we may ask, Can he save such
a guilty wretch as me ? But if all has been ordered of the
Father, and the whole work of redemption has been executed
by the Son, then must we " not stagger at any of th 
