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THE LIBRARY
of
VICTORIA UNIVERSITY
Toronto
I
THE
WORKS
OP
PRESIDENT EDWARDS,
IN FOUR VOLUMES.
i RBPBIHT OF THE WORCESTER EDITION,
WITH,
VALUABLE ADDITIONS AND A COPIOUS GENERAL INDEX,
TO WHICH, FOR THE FIRST TIME, HAS "BEEN ADDED, AT GREAT EXPENSE,
A COMPLETE INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS.
EIGHTH EDITION IN FOUR VOLUMES.
VOL. IV.
CONTAINING
FORTY SERMONS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
NEW YORK:
LEAVITT AND COMPANY,
No. 191 Broadway.
1851.
71 7
)
1
v.4
CONTENTS OF VOLUME IV.
PAGE
SERMON I. Importance and Advantage of a thorough Knowledge of Divine
Truth ........ . .1
Men s Natural Blindness, in the things of Religion . . .16
III. Men Naturally God s Enemies . . . . . .36
IV. Justification by Faith alone . . . . . .64
V. The Wisdom of God, displayed in the way of Salvation . . 133
VI. God glorified in Man s Dependence . . 169
VII. The Excellency of Christ ...... 179
VIII. The Final Judgment ; or the World judged righteously by Jesus
Christ ..... . 202
IX. The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners . . . 226
X. The Future Punishment of the Wicked unavoidable and intolerable . 254
XI. The Eternity of Hell Torments ..... .266
XII. When the Wicked shall have filled up the measure of their Sin, wrath
will come upon them to the uttermost ..... 280
XIII. The End of the Wicked contemplated by the Righteous ; or, The
Torments of the Wicked in Hell, no occasion of grief to the Saints in
Heaven ..... 287
XIV. Wicked Men useful in their Destruction only \ 300
XV. Sinners in the hands of an Angry God . . . 313
XVI. The vain Self-Flatteries of the Sinner . . . , vgg
XVII. The Warnings of Scripture are in the best manner adapted to the
awakening and conversion of Sinners ..... 330
XVIII. Unreasonableness of Indetermination in Religion . . 338
XIX. The Sin and Folly of depending on Future Time . . . 347
XX. Unbelievers contemn the Glory and Excellency of Christ . .361
XXI. The Manner in which the Salvation of the Soul is to be sought . 368
XXII. Pressing into the Kingdom of God ..... 381
XXIII. The Folly of looking back in fleeing out of Sodom . ! 403
XXIV. Ruth s Resolution ..... . 412
Y V < ^ 6at Guilt no obstacle to the pardon of the returning Sinner . 422
YYTTT Peace which Christ gives his true Followers . . . 429
YTTT . . .
oil A u Divine and Supernatural Light, immediately imparted to the
boul by the Spirit of God, shown to be both a Rational and Scriptural
Doctrine . 439
....
TT True Grace distinguished from the experience of Devils .
JLAIA. Hypocrites deficient in the duty of Prayer ..." 474
XXX. The fearfulness which will hereafter surprise Sinners in Ziori repre
sented and improved ..... AQO
XXXI. Great care necessary, lest we live in some Way of Sin 502
"; A u W A m J in " to Pr f e ssors ; or, The great Guilt of those who
attend on the Ordinances of Divine Worship, and yet allow themselves
m any known Wickedness . . . . . 52g
5JS 11 - God the best portion of the Christian
A.XXIV. God s Sovereignty ... 543
COJSTEMS.
XXXV. The Most High a Prayer Hearing God
XXXVI. The True Christian s life, a journey towards Heaven
XXXVII. Joseph s Great Temptation and Gracious Deliverance
XXXVIII. The Sin of Theft and oi Injustice
XXX IX. The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath
XL. The Nature and End of Excommunication
661
573
585
601
615
638
SERMONS
VARIOUS IMPORTANT Sl BJECTS.
SERMONS
ON VARIOUS
IMPORTANT SUBJECTS
SERMON I.
THE IMPORTANCE AND ADVANTAGE OF A THOROUGH KNOWLEDGE OF DIVINE TRUTH.
HEBREWS v. 12. For when, for the time, ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you
again which be the first principles of the oracles of God ; and are become such as have need of milk, and
not of strong meat.
THESE words are a complaint, which the apostle makes of a certain defect
in the Christian Hebrews, to whon he wrote. Wherein we may observe,
1. What the defect complained of is, viz., a want of such a proficiency
in the knowledge of the doctrines and mysteries of religion, as might have been
expected of them. The apostle complains of them, that they had not made
that progress in their acquaintance with the things of divinity or things taught
in the oracles of God, which they ought to have made. And he means
to reprove them, not merely for their deficiency in spiritual and experimental
knowledge of divine things, but for their deficiency in a doctrinal acquaintance
with the principles of religion, and the truths of Christian divinity ; as is evident
by several things.
It appears by the manner in which the apostle introduces this complaint or
reproof. The occasion of his introducing it, is this : in the next verse but one
preceding, he mentions Christ s being a high priest after the order of Melchi-
zedek: " Called of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek." This
Melchizedek being in the Old Testament, which was the oracles of God, held
forth as an eminent type of Christ, and the account we there have of Melchi
zedek containing many gospel mysteries, these the apostle was willing to point
out to the Christian Hebrews. But he apprehended, that through their weak
ness in knowledge, and little acquaintance in mysteries of that nature, they
would not understand him ; and therefore breaks off for the present from saying
any thing about Melchizedek. Thus, in verse 11, " Of whom we have many
things to say, and hard to be uttered ; seeing ye are dull of hearing ;" i. e.,
there are many things concerning Melchizedek, which contain wonderful gos
pel mysteries, and which I would take notice of to you, were it not that 1 am
afraid, that through your dulness and backwardness in understanding these
things, you would only be puzzled and confounded by my discourse, and so
receive no benefit ; and that it would be too hard for you, as meat that is too
strong.
* Dated November, 1739.
VOL. IV. 1
2 IMPORTANCE OF THE
Then come in the words of the text : " For when, for the time, ye ought to
be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles
of the oracles of God ; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of
strong meat." As much as to say, Indeed it might have been expected of you,
that you should have known enough of divinity, and the holy Scriptures, to be
able to understand and digest such mysteries : but it is not so with you.
Again, The apostle speaks of their proficiency in such knowledge as is con
veyed and received by human teaching ; as appears by that expression, " When
for the time ye ought to be teachers ;" which includes not only a practical and
experimental, but also a doctrinal knowledge of the truths and mysteries of
religion.
Again, The apostle speaks of such a knowledge, whereby Christians are
enabled to digest strong meat ; i. e., to understand those things in divinity
which are more abstruse and difficult to be understood, and which require great
skill in things of this nature. This is more fully expressed in the two next
verses : for every one that useth milk, is unskilful in the word of righteousness j
for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even
those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good
and evil."
Again, It is such a knowledge, that proficiency in it shall carry persons be
yond the first principles of religion. As here : " Ye have need that one teacn
you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God." Therefore the
apostle, in the beginning of the next chapter, advises them, " to leave the first
principles of the doctrine of Christ, and to go on unto perfection."
2. We may observe wherein the fault of this defect appears, viz., in that
they had not made proficiency according to their time. For the time, they
ought to have been teachers. As they were Christians, their business was to
learn and gain Christian knowledge. They were scholars in the school of
Christ ; and if they had improved their time in learning, as they ought to have
done, they might, by the time when the apostle wrote, have been fit to be teach
ers in this school. To whatever business any one is devoted, it may be ex-
Eected that his perfection in it shall be answerable to the time he has had to
;arn and perfect himself. Christians should not always remain babes, but should
grow in Christian knowledge ; and, leaving the food of babes, which is milk,
should learn to digest strong meat.
DOCTRINE :
Every Christian should make a business of endeavoring to grow in know
ledge in divinity.
This is indeed esteemed the business of divines and ministers : it is commonly
thought to be their work, by the study of the Scriptures, and other instructive
books, to gain knowledge ; and most seem to think that it may be left to them,
as what belongeth not to others. But if the apostle had entertained this notion,
he would never have blamed the Christian Hebrews for not having acquired
knowledge enough to be teachers : or if he had thought, that this concerned
Christians in general, only as a thing by the by, and that their time should not,
in a considerable measure, be taken up with this business ; he never would have
so much blamed them, that their proficiency in knowledge had not been answer
able to the time which they had had to learn.
In handling this subject, I shall show,
1. What divinitj is.
KNOWLEDGE OF DIVINE TRUTH. 3
2. What kind of knowledge in divinity is intended in the doctrine.
3. Why knowledge in divinity is necessary.
4. Why all Christians should make a business of endeavoring to grow in
this knowledge.
First, I shall very briefly show what divinity is.
Various definitions have been given of it by those who have treated on the
subject. I shall not now stand to inquire which, according to the rules of art,
is the most accurate defi nition ; but shall so define or describe it, as I think has
the greatest tendency to convey a notion of it to this auditory.
By divinity is meant, that science or doctrine which comprehends all those
truths and rules which concern the great business of religion. There are vari
ous kinds of arts and sciences taught and learned in the schools, which are
conversant about various objects ; about the works of nature in general, as
philosophy ; or the visible heavens, as astronomy ; or the sea, as navigation ;
or the earth, as geography ; or the body of man, as physic and anatomy ;
or the soul of man, with regard to its natural powers and qualities, as
logic and pneuraatology ; or about human government, as politics and juris
prudence. But there is one science, or one certain kind of knowledge and
doctrine, which is above all the rest, as it is concerning God and the great business
of religion : this is divinity ; which is not learned, as other sciences, merely by
the improvement of man s natural reason, but is taught by God himself in a
certain book that he hath given for that end, full of instruction. This is the rule
which God hath given to the world to be their guide in searching after this kind
of knowledge, and is a summary of all things of this nature needful for us to know.
Upon this account divinity is rather called a doctrine, than an art or science.
Indeed there is what is called natural religion or divinity. There are many
truths concerning God, and our duty to him, which are evident by the light of
nature. But Christian divinity, properly so called, is not evident by the light
of nature ; it depends on revelation. Such are our circumstances now in our
fallen state, that nothing which it is needful for us to know concerning God, is
manifest by the light of nature in the manner in which it is necessary for us to
know it. For the knowledge of no truth in divinity is of any significance to us,
any otherwise than, as it some way or other belongs to the gospel scheme, or
as it relates to a Mediator. But the light of nature teaches us no truth of divinity
in this matter. Therefore it cannot be said, that we come to the knowledge of
any part of Christian divinity by the light of nature. The light of nature teaches
no truth as it is in Jesus. It is only the word of God, contained in the Old and
New Testament, which teaches us Christian divinity.
Divinity comprehends all that is taught in the Scriptures, and so all that we
need know, or is to be known, concerning God and Jesus Christ, concerning
our duty to God, and our happiness in God. Divinity is commonly defined,
the doctrine of living to God ; and by some who seem to be more accurate, the
doctrine of living to God by Christ. It comprehends all Christian doctrines as
they are in Jesus, and all Christian rules directing us in living to God by Christ.
There is nothing in divinity, no one doctrine, no promise, no rule, but what
some way or other relates to the Christian and divine life, or our living to God
by Christ. They all relate to this, in two respects, viz., as they tend to promote
our living to God here in this world, in a life of faith and holiness, and also as
they tend to bring us to a life of perfect holiness and happiness, in the full en
joyment of God hereafter. But I hasten to the
Second thing proposed, viz., To show what kind of knowledge in divinity is
intended in the doctrine.
IMPORTANCE OF THE
Here I would observe :
1 That there are two kinds of knowledge of the things of divinity, viz.,
speculative and practical, or in other terms, natural and spiritual. The iormer
remains only in the head. No other faculty but the understanding is concerned
in it It consists in having a natural or rational knowledge of the things ot
religion, or such a knowledge as is to be obtained by the natural exercise of our
own faculties, without any special illumination of the Spirit of God. The latter
rests not entirely in the head, or in the speculative ideas of things ; but the heart
is concerned in it : it principally consists in the sense of the heart. The mere
intellect, without the heart, the will or the inclination, is not the seat of it. And
it may not only be called seeing, but feeling or tasting. Thus there is a differ,
ence between bavin* a right speculative notion of the doctrines contained in the
word of God, and having a due sense of them in the heart. In the iormer con
sists speculative or natural knowledge of the things of divinity j in the latter
consists the spiritual or practical knowledge of them.
2 Neither of these is intended in the doctrine exclusively of the other :
it is intended that we should seek the former in order to the latter. The latter,
even a spiritual and practical knowledge of divinity, is of the greatest impor
tance ; for a speculative knowledge of it, without a spiritual knowledge is in
vain and to no purpose, but to make our condemnation the greater. Yet a
speculative knowledge is also of infinite importance in this respect, that without
it we can have no spiritual or practical knowledge ; as may be shown by
" I have already shown, that the apostle speaks not only of a spiritual know
ledge but of such knowledge as can be acquired, and communicated from one
to another. Yet it is not to be thought, that he means this exclusively ot
other But he would have the Christian Hebrews seek the one, in order to the
other Therefore the former is first and most directly intended ; it is intended
that Christians should, by reading and other proper means, seek a good rational
knowledge of the things of divinity. The latter is more indirectly intended,
since it is to be sought by the other, as its end But I proceed to the
Third thing proposed, viz., To show the usefulness and necessity of know
ledge in divinity.
1 There is no other way by which any means of grace whatsoever can be
of any benefit, but by knowledge. All teaching is in vain, without learning.
Therefore the preaching of the gospel would be wholly to no purpose if it con
veyed no knowledge to the mind. There is an order of men whom Christ has
appointed on purpose to be teachers in his church. They are to teach the things
of divinity. But they teach in vain, if no knowledge in these things is gained
bv their teaching. It is impossible that their teaching and preaching should be
a means of grace, or of any good in the hearts of their hearers any otherwise than
by knowledge imparted to the understanding. Otherwise it would be of as
much benefit to the auditory, if the minister should preach in some unknown
tongue All the difference is, that preaching in a known tongue conveys some
thing to the understanding, which preaching in an unknown tongue doth not
On this account, such preaching must be unprofitable. Men in such things
receive nothing, when they understand nothing ; and are not at all edified in-
less some knowledge be conveyed ; agreeably to the apostle s arguing in 1 Cor.
O ^*
V> No speech can be any means of grace, but by conveying knowledge. Other-
wise the speech is as much lost as if there had been no man there, and he that
spoke had spoken only into the air ; as it follows in the passage just quoted,
KNOWLEDGE OF DIVINE TRUTH. 5
verses 6 10. He that cloth not understand, can receive no faith, nor any other
grace ; for God deals with man as with a rational creature ; and when faith is
in exercise, it is not about something he knows not what. Therefore hearing
is absolutely necessary to faith ; because hearing is necessary to understanding :
Rom. x. 14, " How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?"
So there can be no love without knowledge. It is not according to the
nature of the human soul, to love an object which is entirely unknown. The
heart cannot be set upon an object of which there is no idea in the understanding.
The reasons which induce the soul to love, must first be understood, before they
can have a reasonable influence on the heart
God hath given us the Bible, which is a book of instructions. But this book
can be of no manner of profit to us, any otherwise than as it conveys some
knowledge to the mind : it can profit us no more than if it were written in the
Chinese or Tartarian language, of which we know not one word.
So the sacraments of the gospel can have a proper effect no other \vay,
than by conveying some knowledge. They represent certain things by visible
signs. And what is the end of signs, but to convey some knowledge of the
things signified 1 Such is the nature of man, that nothing can come at the
heart, but through the door of the understanding : and there can be no spirit
ual knowledge of that of which there is not first a rational knowledge. It is
impossible that any one should see the truth or excellency of any doctrine of the
gospel, who knows not what that doctrine is. A man cannot see the wonderful
excellency and love of Christ in doing such and such things for sinners, unless his
understanding be first informed how those things were done. He cannot have
a taste of the sweetness and divine excellency of such and such things contained
in divinity, unless he first have a notion that there are such and such things.
2. Without knowledge in divinity, none would differ from the most ignorant
and barbarous heathens. The heathens remain in gross heathenish darkness,
because they are not instructed, and have not obtained the knowledge of the
truths of divinity. So if we live under the preaching of the gospel, this will
make us to differ from them, only by conveying to us more knowledge of the
things of divinity.
3. If a man have no knowledge of these things, the faculty of reason in him
will be wholly in vain. The faculty of reason and understanding was given
for actual understanding and knowledge. If a man have no actual knowledge,
the faculty or capacity of knowing is of no use to him. And if he have actual
knowledge, yet if he be destitute of the knowledge of those things which are
the last end of his being, and for the sake of the knowledge of which he had
more understanding given him than the beasts ; then still his faculty of reason
is in vain ; he might as well have been a beast, as a man with this knowledge.
But the things of divinity are the things to know which we had the faculty of
reason given us. They are the things which appertain to the end of our being,
and to the great business for which we are made. Therefore a man cannot have
his faculty of understanding to any purpose, any further than he hath knowledge
of the things of divinity.
So that this kind of knowledge is absolutely necessary. Other kinds of
knowledge may be very useful. Some other sciences, such as astronomy, and
natural philosophy, and geography, may be very excellent in their kind. But
the knowledge of this divine science is infinitely more useful and important than
that of all other sciences whatever.
I come now to the fourth, and principal thing proposed under the
doctrine, viz., To give the reasons why all Christians should make a busi-
6 IMPORTANCE OF THE
ness of endeavoring to grow in the knowledge of divinity This implies
two things.
1. That Christians ought not to content themselves with such degrees of
knowledge in divinity as they have already obtained. It should not satisiy them,
that they know as much as is absolutely necessary to salvation, but should seek
to make progress.
2. That this endeavoring to make progress in such knowledge ought not to
be attended to as a thing by the by, but all Christians should make a business
of it : they should look upon it as a part of their daily business, and no small
part of it neither. It should be attended to as a considerable part of the work
of their high calling. The reason of both these may appear in the following
things.
(1.) Our business should doubtless much consist in employing those facul
ties, by which we are distinguished from the beasts, about those things which
are the main end of those faculties. The reason why we have faculties superior
to those of the brutes given us, is, that we are indeed designed for a superior
employment. That which the Creator intended should be our main employment,
is something above what he intended the beasts for, and therefore hath given
us superior powers. Therefore, without doubt, it should be a considerable part
of our business to improve those superior faculties. But the faculty by which
we are chiefly distinguished from the brutes, is the faculty of understanding. It
follows then, that we should make it our chief business to improve this faculty,
and should by no means prosecute it as a business by the by. For us to make
the improvement of this faculty a business by the by, is in effect for us to make
the faculty of understanding itself a by faculty, if 1 may so speak, a faculty of
less importance than others ; whereas indeed it is the highest faculty we have.
But we cannot make a business of the improvement of our intellectual facul
ty, any otherwise than by making a business of improving ourselves in actual
understanding and knowledge. So that those who make not this very much
their business, but, instead of improving their understanding to acquire know
ledge, are chiefly devoted to their inferior powers, to provide wherewithal to
please their senses, and gratify their animal appetites, and so rather make their
understanding a servant to their inferior powers, than their inferior powers ser
vants to their understanding ; not only behave themselves in a manner not be
coming Christians, but also act as if they had forgotten that they are men,
and that God hath set them above the brutes, by giving them understanding.
God hath given to man some things in common with the brutes, as his out
ward senses, his bodily appetites, a capacity of bodily pleasure and pain, and
other animal faculties: and some things he hath given him superior to the
brutes, the chief of which is a faculty of understanding and reason. Now God
never gave man those faculties whereby he is above the brutes, to be subject to
those which he hath in common with the brutes. This would be great confu
sion, and equivalent to making man to be a servant to the beasts. On the con
trary, he has given those inferior powers to be employed in subserviency to
man s understanding ; and therefore it must be a great part of man s principal
business, to improve his understanding by acquiring knowledge. If so, then it
will follow , that it should be a main part of his business to improve his under
standing in acquiring divine knowledge, or the knowledge of the things of
divinity ; for the knowledge of these things is the principal end of this faculty.
God gave man the faculty of understanding, chiefly, that he might understand
divine things.
The wiser heathens were sensible that the main business of man was the
KNOWLEDGE OF DIVINE TRUTH. 7
improvement and exercise of his understanding. But they were in the dark, as
they knew not the object about which the understanding should chiefly be em
ployed. That science which many of them thought should chiefly employ the
understanding, was philosophy ; and accordingly they made it their chief busi
ness to study it. But we who enjoy the light of the gospel are more happy ;
we are not left, as to this particular, in the dark. God hath told us about what
things we should chiefly employ our understandings, having given us a book
full of divine instructions, holding forth many glorious objects about which all
rational creatures should chiefly employ their understandings. These instruc
tions are accommodated to persons of all capacities and conditions, and proper
to be studied, not only by men of learning, but by persons of every character,
learned and unlearned, young and old, men and women. Therefore the acqui
sition of knowledge in these things should be a main business of all those who
have the advantage of enjoying the Holy Scriptures.
(2.) The things of divinity are things of superlative excellency, and are
worthy that all should make a business of endeavoring to grow in the know
ledge of them. There are no things so worthy to be known as these things.
They are as much above those things which are treated of in other sciences, as
heaven is above the earth. God himself, the eternal Three in one, is the chief
object of this science : in the next place, Jesus Christ, as Godman and Mediator,
and the glorious work of redemption, the most glorious work that ever was
wrought : then the great things of the heavenly world, the glorious and eternal
inheritance purchased by Christ, and promised in the gospel ; the work of the
Holy Spirit of God on the hearts of men ; our duty to God, and the way in
which we ourselves may become like angels, and like God himself in our mea
sure : all these are objects of this science.
Such things as these have been the main subject of the study of the holy
patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, and the most excellent men that ever were
in the world, and are also the subject of the study of the angels in heaven ; 1
Pet. i. 10, 11, 12.
These things are so excellent and worthy to be known, that the knowledge
of them will richly pay for all the pains and labor of an earnest seeking of it.
If there were a great treasure of gold and pearls hid in the earth, but should
accidentally be found, and should be opened among us with such circumstances
that all might have as much as they could gather of it ; would not every one
think it worth his while to make a business of gathering it while it should last?
But that treasure of divine knowledge, which is contained in the Scriptures, and
is provided for every one to gather to himself as much of it as he can, is a far
more rich treasure than any one of gold and pearls. How busy are all sorts
of men, all over the world, in getting riches ! But this knowledge is a far
better kind of riches, than that after which they so diligently and laboriously
pursue.
3. The things of divinity not only concern ministers, but are of infinite im
portance to all Christians. !t is not with the doctrines of divinity as it is vvith
the doctrines of philosophy and other sciences. These last are generally specu-
lative points, which are of little concern in human life ; and it very little alters
the case as to our temporal or spiritual interests, whether we know them or not.
Philosophers differ about them, some being of one opinion, and others of ano
ther. And while they are engaged in warm disputes about them, others may
well leave them to dispute among themselves, without troubling their heads
much about them ; it being of little concern to them, whether the one or the
other bo in the ri<rht.
8 IMPORTANCE OF THE
But it is not thus in matters of divinity. The doctrines of this nearly con
cern every one. They are about those things which relate to every man s eter
nal salvation and happiness. The common people cannot say, Let us leave these
matters to ministers and divines; let them dispute them out among themselves as
they can ; they concern not us : for they are of infinite importance to every man.
Those doctrines of divinity which relate to the essence, attributes, and subsisten-
cies of God, concern all ; as it is of infinite importance to common people, as well
as to ministers, to know what kind of being God is. For he is the Being who
hath made us all, " in whom we live, and move, and have our being ;" who is
the Lord of all ; the Being to whom we are all accountable ; is the last end of
our being, and the only fountain of our happiness.
The doctrines also which relate to Jesus Christ and his mediation, his incar
nation, his life and death, his resurrection and ascension, his sitting at the right
hand of the Father, his satisfaction and intercession, infinitely concern common
people as well as divines. They stand in as much need of this Saviour, and of
an interest in his person and offices, and the things which he hath done and
suffered, as ministers and divines.
The same may be said of the doctrines which relate to the manner of a sin
ner s justification, or the way in which he becomes interested in the mediation
of Christ. They equally concern all ; for all stand in equal necessity of justi
fication before God. That eternal condemnation, to which we are all naturally
exposed, is equally dreadful. So with respect to those doctrines of divinity,
which relate to the work of the Spirit of God on the heart, in the application
of redemption in our effectual calling and sanctification, all are equally concerned
in them. There is no doctrine of divinity whatever, which doth not some way
or other concern the eternal interest of every Christian. None of the things
which God hath taught us in his word are needless speculations, or trivial mat
ters ; all of them are indeed important points.
4. We may argue from the great things which God hath done in order to
give us instruction in these things. As to other sciences, he hath left us to our
selves, to the light of our own reason. But the things of divinity being of in
finitely greater importance to us, he hath not left us to an uncertain guide ; but
hath himself given us a revelation of the truth in these matters, and hath done
very great things to convey and confirm to us this revelation ; raising up many
prophets in different ages, immediately inspiring them with his Holy Spirit, and
confirming their doctrine w y ith innumerable miracles or wonderful works out of
the established course of nature. Yea, he raised up a succession of prophets,
which w T as upheld for several ages.
It was very much for this end that God separated the people of Israel, in so
wonderful a manner, from all other people, and kept them -separate ; that to
them he might commit the oracles of God, and that from them they might be
communicated to the world. He hath also often sent angels to bring divine in
structions to men ; and hath often himself appeared to men in miraculous sym
bols or representations of his presence ; and now in these last days hath sent his
own Son into the world, to be his great prophet, to teach us divinity ; Heb. i.
at the beginning. By means of all, God hath given a book of divine instruc
tions, which contains the sum of divinity. Now, these things hath God done
not only for the instruction of ministers and men of learning ; but for the in
struction of all men, of all sorts, learned and unlearned, men, women, and chil
dren. And certainly if God doth such great things to teach us, we ought not to
do little to learn.
God hath not made giving instructions to men in things of divinity a busi-
KNOWLEDGE OF DIVINE TRUTH. 9
ness by the by ; but a business which he hath undertaken and prosecuted in a
course of great and wonderful dispensations, as an affair in which his heart
hath been greatly engaged ; which is sometimes in Scripture signified by the
expression of God s rising early to teach us, and to send prophets and teachers to us.
Jer. vii. 25, " Since that day that your fathers came forth out of the land of
Egypt, unto this day, I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets,
daily rising up early and sending them." And so, verse 13, " I spake unto
you, rising up early, and speaking." This is a figurative speech, signifying, that
God hath not done this as a by business, but as a business of great importance,
in which he took great care, and had his heart much engaged ; because persons
are wont to rise early to prosecute such business as they are earnestly engaged
in. If God hath been so engaged in teaching, certainly we should not be neg
ligent in learning ; nor should we make growing in knowledge a by business,
but a great part of the business of our lives.
5. It may be argued from the abundance of the instructions which God hath
given us, from the largeness of that book which God hath given to teach us
divinity, and from the great variety that is therein contained. Much was taught
by Moses of old, which we have transmitted down to us ; after that, other
books were from time to time added ; much is taught us by David and Solomon;
and many and excellent are the instructions communicated by the prophets : yet
God did not think all this enough, but after this sent Christ and his apostles, by
whom there is added a great and excellent treasure to that holy book, which is
to be our rule in the study of divinity.
This book was written for the use of all ; all are directed to search the
Scriptures. John v. 39, " Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have
eternal life; and they are they that testify of me;" and Isaiah xxxiv. 16,
" Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read." They that read and under
stand are pronounced blessed. Rev. i. 3, " Blessed is he that readeth, and they
that understand the words of this prophecy." If this be true of that particular
book of the Revelation, much more is it true of the Bible in general. Nor is it
to be believed that God would have given instructions in such abundance, if he
had intended that receiving instruction should be only a by concernment with us.
It is to be considered, that all those abundant instructions which are con
tained in the Scriptures were written for that end, that they might be under
stood ; otherwise they are not instructions. That which is not given that the
learner may understand it, is not given for the learner s instruction ; and unless
we endeavor to grow in the knowledge of divinity, a very great part of those
instructions will to us be in vain ; for we can receive benefit by no more of the
Scriptures than we understand, no more than if they were locked up in an un
known tongue. We have reason to bless God that he hath given us such various
and plentiful instruction in his word ; but we shall be hypocritical in so doing,
if we, after all, content ourselves with but little of this instruction.
When God hath opened a very large treasure before us, for the supply of
our wants, and we thank him that he hath given us so much ; if at the same
time we be willing to remain destitute of the greatest part of it, because we are
too lazy to gather it, this will not show the sincerity of our thankfulness. We
are now under much greater advantages to acquire knowledge in divinity, than
the people of God were of old, because since that time, the canon of Scripture
is much increased. But if we be negligent of our advantages, we may be
never the better for them, and may remain with as little knowledge as they.
6. However diligently we apply ourselves, there is room enough to increase
our knowledge in divinity, without coming to an end. None have this excuse
VOL. IV 2
10 IMPORTANCE OF THE
to make for not diligently applying themselves to gain knowledge in divinity,
that they know all already ; nor can they make this excuse, that they have no
need diligently to apply themselves, in order to know all that is to be known.
None can excuse themselves for want of business in which to employ them
selves. Here is room enough to employ ourselves forever in this divine
science, with the utmost application. Those who have applied themselves
most closely, have studied the longest, and have made the greatest attain
ments in this knowledge, know but little of what is to be known. The
subject is inexhaustible. That divine Being, who is the main subject of
this science, is infinite, and there is no end to the glory of his perfections.
His works at the same time are wonderful, and cannot be found out to per
fection ; especially the work of redemption, which is that work of God about
which the science of divinity is chiefly conversant, is full of unsearchable
wonders.
The word of God, which is given for our instruction in divinity, contains
enough in it to employ us to the end of our lives, and then we shall leave
enough uninvestigated to employ the heads of the ablest divines to the end of
the world. The Psalmist found an end to the things that are human ; but he
could never find an end to what is contained in the word of God ; Psalm cxix.
96, " I have seen an end to all perfection ; but thy commandment is exceeding
broad." There is enough in this divine science to employ the understandings of
saints and angels to all eternity.
7. It doubtless concerns every one to endeavor to excel in the knowledge
of things which pertain to his profession or principal calling. If it concerns men
to excel in any thing, or in any wisdom or knowledge at all, it certainly con
cerns them to excel in the affairs of their main profession and work. But the
calling and work of every Christian is, to live to God. This is said to be his
high calling, Phil. iii. 14. This is the business, and, if I may so speak, the
trade of a Christian, his main work, and indeed should be his only work. No
business should be done by a Christian, but as it is some way or other a part of
this. Therefore certainly the Christian should endeavor to be well acquainted
with those things which belong to this work, that he may fulfil it, and be
thoroughly furnished to it.
It becomes one who is called to be a soldier, and to go a warfare, to endea
vor to excel in the art of war. It becomes one who is called to be a mariner,
and to spend his life in sailing the ocean, to endeavor to excel in the art of navi
gation. It becomes one who professes to be a physician, and devotes himself
to that work, to endeavor to excel in the knowledge of those things which per
tain to the art of physic. So it becomes all such as profess to be Christians, and
to devote themselves to the practice of Christianity, to endeavor to excel in the
knowledge of divinity.
8. It may be argued from this, that God hath appointed an order of men
for this end, to assist persons in gaining knowledge in these things. He hath
appointed them to be teachers. 1 Cor. xii. 28, " And God hath set some in the
church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers." Eph. iv. 11, 12,
" He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and
teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ." If God hath set them to be teachers, making
that their business, then he hath made it their business to impart knowledge.
But what kind of knowledge ? Not the knowledge of philosophy, or of human
laws, or of mechanical arts, but of divinity.
If God hath made it the business of some to be teachers, it will follow, that
KNOWLEDGE OF DIVINE TRUTH. H
he hath made it the business of others to be learners ; for teachers and learners
are correlates, one of which was never intended to be without the other. God
hath never made it the duty of some to take pains to teach those who are not
obliged to take pains to learn. He hath not commanded ministers to spend
themselves, in order to impart knowledge to those who are not obliged to apply
themselves to receive it.
The name by which Christians are commonly called in the New Testa
ment is disciples, the signification of which word is scholars or learners. All
Christians are put into the school of Christ, where their business is to learn, or
receive knowledge from Christ, their common master and teacher, and from
those inferior teachers appointed by him to instruct in his name.
9. God hath in the Scriptures plainly revealed it to be his will, that all
Christians should diligently endeavor to excel in the knowledge of divine things.
It is the revealed will of God, that Christians should not only have some
knowledge of things of this nature, but that they should be enriched mth all
knowledge : 1 Cor. i. 4, 5, " I thank my God always on your behalf, for the
grace of God that is given you by Jesus Christ, that in every thing ye are en
riched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge." So the apostle earnestly
prayed, that the Christian Philippians might abound more and more, not only
in love, but in Christian knowledge : Philip, i. 9, " And this I pray, that your
love may abound yet more and more in knowledge, and in all judgment." So
the Apostle Peter advises to " give all diligence, to add to faith virtue, and to
virtue knowledge," 2 Pet. i. 5. And ihe Apostle Paul, in the next chapter
to that wherein is the text, counsels the Christian Hebrews, leaving the first
principles of the doctrine of Christ, to go on to perfection. He would by no
means have them always to rest only in those fundamental doctrines of repent
ance, and faith, and the resurrection from the dead, and the eternal judgment,
in which they were indoctrinated when they were first baptized, and had the
apostle s hands laid on them, at their first initiation in Christianity. See Heb.
vi., at the beginning.
APPLICATION.
The use that I would make of this doctrine is, to exhort all diligently to
endeavor to gain this kind of knowledge.
Consider yourselves as scholars or disciples, put into the school of Christ ;
and therefore be diligent to make proficiency in Christian knowledge. Con
tent not yourselves with this, that you have been taught your catechism in your
childhood, and that you know as much of the principles of religion as is neces
sary to salvation. So you will be guilty of what the apostle warns against,
viz., going no further than laying the foundation of repentance from dead
works, &c.
You are all called to be Christians, and this is your profession. Endeavor,
therefore, to acquire knowledge in things which pertain to your profession.-
Let not your teachers have cause to complain, that while they spend and are
spent, to impart knowledge to you, you take little pains to learn. It is a great
encouragement to an instructor, to have such to teach as make a business of
learning, bending their minds to it. This makes teaching a pleasure, when
otherwise it will be a very heavy and burdensome task.
You all have by you a large treasure of divine knowledge, in that you have
the Bible in your hands ; therefore be not contented in possessing but little of
LL IMPORTANCE OF THE
this treasure. God hath spoken much to you in the Scripture ; labor to under-
staiul as much of what he saith as you can. God hath made you all reasonable
creaiures ; therefore let not the noble faculty of reason or understanding lie neg
lected. Content noc yourselves with having so much knowledge as is thrown
in your way. and as you receive in some sense unavoidably by the frequent
inculcation of divine <.ruth in the preaching of the word, of which you are
obliged to be hearers, or as you accidentally gain in conversation ; but let it be
very much your business to search for it, and that with the same diligence and
labor with which men are wont to dig in mines of silver and gold.
Especially I would advise those that are young to employ themselves in
this way. Men are never too old to learn ; but the time of youth ,is especially
the time for learning ; it is especially proper for gaining and storing up know
ledge. Further, to stir up all, both old and young, to this duty, let me entreat
you to consider,
1. If you apply yourselves diligently to this work, you will not want em
ployment, when you are at leisure from your common secular business. In this
way, you may find something in which you may profitably employ yourselves
these long winter evenings. You will find something else to do, besides going
about from house to house, spending one hour after another in unprofitable con
versation, or, at best, to no other purpose but to amuse yourselves, to fill up
and wear away your time. And it is to be feared that very much of the time
that is spent in our winter evening visits, is spent to a much worse purpose
than that which I have now mentioned. Solomon tells us, Prov. x. 19, " That
in the multitude of words, there wanteth not sin." And is not this verified in
those who find nothing else to do for so great a part of the winter, but to go
to one another s houses, and spend the time in such talk as comes next, or such
as any one s present disposition happens to suggest ?
Some diversion is doubtless lawful ; but for Christians to spend-so much of
their time, so many long evenings, in no other conversation than that which
tends to divert and amuse, if nothing wocse, is a sinful way of spending time,
and tends to poverty of soul at least, if not to outward poverty : Prov. xiv. 23,
" In all labor there is profit ; but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury"
Besides, when persons for so much of their time have nothing else to do but to
sit, and talk, and chat in one another s chimney corners, there is great danger
of falling into foolish and sinful conversation, venting their corrupt dispositions,
in talking against others, expressing their jealousies and evil surmises concern
ing their neighbors ; not considering what Christ hath said, Matt. xii. 36, " Of
every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account in the. day of
judgment."
If you would comply with what you have heard from this doctrine, you
would find something else to spend your winters in, one winter after another,
besides contention, or talking about those public affairs which tend to conten
tion. Young people might find something else to do, besides spending their
time in vain company ; something that would be much more profitable to them
selves, as it would really turn to some good account ; something, in doing
which they would both be more out of the devil s way, the way of temptation, and
be more in the way of duty, and of a divine blessing. And even aged people
would have something to employ themselves in after they are become incapable
of bodily labor. Their time, as is now often the case, would not lie heavy upon
their hands, as they would, with both profit and pleasure, be engaged in search
ing the Scriptures, and in comparing and meditating upon the various truths
which they should find there.
KNOWLEDGE OF DIVINE TRUTH. 13
2. This would be a noble way of spending your time. The Holy Spirit
gives the Bereans this epithet, because they diligently employed themselves in
this business : Acts xvii. 11, " These were more noble that those of Thessalon-
ica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the
Scriptures daily, whether those things weue so." This is very much the em
ployment of heaven. The inhabitants of that world spend much of their time
in searching into the great things of divinity, and endeavoring to acquire know
ledge in them, as we are told of the angels, 1 Pet. i. 12, " Which things the
angels desire to look into." This will be very agreeable to what you hope will
be your business to all eternity, as you doubtless hope to join in the same em
ployment with the angels of light. Solomon says, Prov. xxv. 2, " It is the
honor of kings to search out a matter ;" and certainly, above all others, to
search out divine matters. Now if this be the honor even of kings, is it not
equally, if not much more, your honor ?
3. This is a pleasant way of improving time. Knowledge is pleasant and
delightful to intelligent creatures, and above all the knowledge of divine things ;
for in them are the most excellent truths, and the most beautiful and amiable
objects held forth to view. I lowever tedious the labor necessarily attending
this business may be, yet the knowledge once obtained will richly requite the
pains taken to obtain it. " When wisdom entereth the heart, knowledge is
pleasant to the soul," Prov. ii. 10.
4. This knowledge is exceeding useful in Christian practice. Such as
have much knowledge in divinity have great means and advantages for spiritual
and saving knowledge ; for no means of grace, as was said before, have their
effect on the heart, otherwise than by the knowledge they impart. The more you
have of a rational knowledge of the things of the gospel, the more opportunity
will there be, when the Spirit shall be breathed into your heart, to see ihe ex
cellency of these things, and to taste the sweetness of them. The Hea
thens, who have no rational knowledge of the things of the gospel, have no
opportunity to see the excellency of them ; and therefore the more rational
knowledge of these things you have, the more opportunity and advantage you
have to see the divine excellency and glory of them.
Again, The more knowledge you have of divine things, the better will you
know your duty ; your knowledge will be of great use to direct you as to your
duty in particular cases. You will also be the better furnished against the
temptations of the devil. For the devil often takes the advantage of persons
ignorance to ply them with temptations which otherwise would have no hold of
them.
By having much knowledge, you will be under greater advantages to con
duct yourselves with prudence and discretion in your Christian course, and so
to live much more to the honor of God and religion. Many who mean well,
and are full of a good spirit, yet, for want of prudence, conduct themselves so
as to wound religion. Many have a zeal of God, which doth more hurt than
good, because it is not according to knowledge, Rom. x. 2. The reason why
many good men behave no better in many instances, is not so much that they
want grace, as that they want knowledge.
Besides, an increase of knowledge would be a great help to profitable con
versation. It would supply you with matter for conversation when you come
together, or when you visit your neighbors : and so you would have less tempta
tion to spend the time in such conversation as tends to your own and others hurt.
5. Consider the advantages you are under to grow in the knowledge of di
vinity. We are under far greater advantages to gain much knowledge in di-
1 IMPORTANCE OF THE
vinity now, than God s people under the Old Testament, both because the -an
on ot Scripture is so much enlarged since that time, and also because e\ an^eli-
cal truths are now so much more plainly revealed. So that common men & are
now in some respects under advantages to know more of divinity, than the
greatest prophets were then. Thus that saying of Christ is in a sense applica
ble to us, Luke x. 23, 24, " Blessed are the eyes which see the things which ye
see. For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those
things which ye see, and have not seen them ; and to hear those things which
ye hear, and have not heard them." We are in some respects under far great
er advantages for gaining knowledge, now in these latter ages of the church,
than Christians were formerly ; especially by reason of the art of printing of
which God hath given us the benefit, whereby Bibles and other books of divin
ity are exceedingly multiplied, and persons may now be furnished with helps
for the obtaining of Christian knowledge, at a much easier and cheaper rate
than they formerly could.
6. We know not what opposition we may meet with in the principles
which we hold in divinity. We know that there are many adversaries to the
gospel and its truths. If therefore we embrace those truths, we must expect to
be attacked by the said adversaries ; and unless we be well informed Concern
ing divine things, how shall we be able to defend ourselves ? Besides, he A postle
Peter enjoins it upon us, always to be ready to give an answer to everv man
who asketh us a reason of the hope that is in us. But this we cannot expect
to do without a considerable knowledge in divine things.
I shall now conclude my discourse with some directions for the acquisition
of this knowledge
1. Be assiduous in reading the holy Scriptures. This is the fountain whence
all knowledge in divinity must be derived. Therefore let not this treasure lie
by you neglected. Every man of common understanding who can read, may,
if he please, become well acquainted with the Scriptures. And what an excel
lent attainment would this be !
2. Content not yourselves with only a cursory reading, without regarding
the sense. This is an ill way of reading, to which, however, many accustom
themselves all their days. When you read, observe what you read. Observe
how things come in. Take notice of the drift of the discourse, and compare
one Scripture with another. For the Scripture, by the harmony of the differ
ent parts of it, casts great light upon itself. We are expressly directed by
Christ to search the Scriptures, which evidently intends something more than a
mere cursory reading. And use means to find out the meaning of the Scrip
ture. When you have it explained in the preaching of the word, take notice
of it ; and if at any time a Scripture that you did not understand be cleared up
to your satisfaction, mark it, lay it up, and if possible remember it.
3. Procure, and diligently use other books which may help you to grow in
this knowledge. There are many excellent books extant, which might greatly
forward you in this knowledge, and afford you a very profitable and pleasant
entertainment in your leisure hours. There is doubtless a great defect in many,
that through a lothness to be at a little expense, they furnish themselves with
no more helps of this nature. They have a few books indeed, which now and
then on Sabbath days they read ; but they have had them so long, and read
them so often, that they are weary of them, and it is now become a dull story,
a mere task to read them.
4. Improve conversation with others to this end. How much might per
sons promote each other s knowledge in divine things, if they would improve
KNOWLEDGE OF DIVINE TRUTH. 15
conversation as they might ; if men that are ignorant were not ashamed to
show their ignorance, and were willing to learn of others ; if those that have
knowledge would communicate it, without pride and ostentation; and if all
were more disposed to enter on such conversation as would be for their mutual
edification and instruction.
5. Seek not to grow in knowledge chiefly for the sake of applause, and to
enable you to dispute with others j but seek it for the benefit of your souls, and
in order to practice. If applause be your end, you will not be so likely to be
led to the knowledge of the truth, but may justly, as often is the case of those
who are proud of their knowledge, be led into error to your own perdition.
This being your end, if you should obtain much rational knowledge, it would
not be likely to be of any benefit to you, but would puff you up with pride : 1
Cor. viii. 1, " Knowledge puffeth up."
6. Seek to God, that he would direct you, and bless you, in this pursuit
after knowledge. This is the apostle s direction, James i. 5 : " If any man lack
wisdom, let him ask it of God, who giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not."
God is the fountain of all divine knowledge. Prov. ii. 6, " The Lord giveth
wisdom : out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding." Labor to
be sensible of your own blindness and ignorance, and your need of the help of
God, lest you be led into error, instead of true knowledge. 1 Cor. iii. 18, " If
any man would be wise, let him become a fool, that he may be wise."
8. Practice according to what knowledge you have. This will be the
way to know more. The Psalmist warmly recommends this way of seeking
knowledge in divinity, from his own experience : Psal. cxix. 100, " I understand
more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts." Christ also recom
mends the same : John vii. 17, " If any man will do his will, he shall know of
the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself."
SERMON II.
MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN THE THINGS OF RELIGION.
PSALM xciv. 8 11. Understand, ye brutish among the people : and ye fools, when will ye be wise ?
He that planted the ear, shall he not hear ? He that formed the eye, shall he not see 1 He that cUs-
tiseth the heathen, shall not he correct ? He that teacheth mar. knowledge, shall not he know T The
Lord knoweth the thoughts of man that they are vanity.*
SECTION I.
Introductory Observations.
IN these words the following particulars are to be observed. (1.) A certain
spiritual disease charged on same persons, viz., darkness, and blindness of mind,
appearing in their ignorance and folly. (2.) The great degree of this disease:
so as to render the subjects of it fools. Ye fools, when will ye be wise ? And
so as to reduce them to a degree of brutishness. Ye brutish among the people.
This ignorance and folly were to such a degree, as to render men like beasts.
(3.) The obstinacy of this disease : expressed in that interrogation, When will
ye be wise? Their blindness and folly were not only very great ; but deeply
rooted and established, resisting all manner of cure. (4.) Of what nature this
blindness is. It is especially in things pertaining to God. They were strangely
ignorant of his perfections, like beasts : and had foolish notions of him, as
though he did not see, nor know ; and as though he would not execute justice,
by chastising and punishing wicked men. (5.) The unreasonableness and sot-
tishness of the notion they had of God, that he did not hear, did not observe their
reproaches of him and his people, is shown by observing that he planted the ear.
It is very unreasonable to suppose that he, who gave power of perceiving words
to others, should not perceive them himself. And the sottishness of their being
insensible of God s all-seeing eye, and particularly of his seeing their wicked
actions, appears, in that God is the being who/ormed the eye, and gave others
a power of seeing. The sottishness of their apprehension of God, as though he
did not know what they did, is argued from his being the fountain and original
of all knowledge. The unreasonableness of their expecting to escape God s
just chastisements and judgments for sin, is set forth by his chastising even the
heathen, who did not sin against that light, or against so great mercies, as the
wicked in Israel did ; nor had ever made such a profession as they. (6.) We
may observe, that this dreadful disease is ascribed to mankind in general. The
Lord knoweth the thoughts of MAN, that they are vanity. The psalmist had
been setting forth the vanity and unreasonableness of the thoughts of some of
the children of men ; and immediately upon it he observes, that this vanity and
foolishness of thought is common andnatural to mankind.
* This Treatise is a posthumma work, collected from the author s papers. They were drawn up by
him in the form of three short sermons, in his usual way of preparation for the pulpit ; but were by no
means finished in a manner fit for the public eye. It is presumed, therefore, that the present fc
much more suitable to the nature of the subject, than that in which they appeared in the Glasgow edition
(1785) of Eighteen Sermons, connected with the Author s Life, by Dr. Hopkins.
This plan has been occasionally adopted respeciingsome other courses of sermons, especially posthu
mous ones ; which we h;ive been encouraged to do by several judicious friends, who are well acquainted
wuh the author s writings. Andweown.it is no small inducement in our view, to edit them in tl
manner in a standard edition, they are much more likely to do good at a future period. A tract may be re
printed with much greater probability of acceptance and success, than the same in the form of sermons, un
finished by the author, with divisions, transitions, &c., to which ihe generality of readers are unaccus
tomed. W.
MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION 17
From these particulars we may fairly deduce the following doctrinal obser
vation : that there is an extreme and brutish blindness in things of religion,
which naturally possesses the hearts of mankind. This doctrine is not to be under
stood as any reflection on the capacity of the human nature ; for God hath made
man with a noble and excellent capacity. The blindness I speak of, is not a
merely negative ignorance ; such as in trees and stories, that know nothing.
They have no faculties of understanding and perception, whereby they should
be capable of any knowledge. And inferior animals, though they have sensi
tive perception, are not capable of any intellectual views. There is no fault to
be found with man s natural faculties. God has given men faculties truly
noble and excellent ; well capable of true wisdom and divine knowledge. Nor
is the blindness I speak of like the ignorance of a new-born infant ; which
arises from want of necessary opportunity to exert these faculties.
The blindness that is in the heart of man, which is spoken of in the text and
doctrine, is neither for want of faculties nor opportunity to know, but from some
positive cause. There is a principle in his heart, of such a blinding and besot
ting nature, that it hinders the exercises of his faculties about the things of reli
gion j exercises for which God has made him well capable, and for which he
gives him abundant opportunity.
In order to make it appear, that such an extreme brutish blindness, with
respect to the things of religion, does naturally possess the hearts of men, I shall
show how this is manifest in those things that appear in men s open profession;
and how it is manifest in those things that are found by inward experience, and
are visible in men s practice.
SECTION II.
Man s natural blindness in Religion, manifested by those things which appear
in men s open profession.
I would now show, how it is manifest that there is a sottish and brutish
blindness in the hearts of men in the things of religion, by those things which
appear in men s open profession.
1. It appears in the grossness of that ignorance and those delusions, which
have appeared among mankind. Man has faculties given him whereby he is
well capable of inferring the being of the Creator from the creatures. The
invisible things of God are very plainly and clearly to be seen by the things
that are made ; and the perfections of the Divine Being, his eternal power and
Godhead, are very manifest in the works of his hands. And yet grossly absurd
notions concerning the Godhead have prevailed in the world. Instead of ac
knowledging and worshipping the true God, they have fallen off to the worship
of idols. Instead of acknowledging the one only true God, they have made a
multitude of deities. Instead of worshipping a God, who is an almighty, infi
nite, all-wise, and Holy Spirit, they have worshipped the hosts of heaven, the
sun, moon, and stars ; and the works of their own hands, images of gold and
silver, brass and iron, wood and stone ; gods that can neither hear, nor see, nor
walk, nor speak, nor do, nor know any thing. Some in the shape of men,
others in the shape of oxen and calves ; some in the shape of serpents, others
of fishes, &c.
The sottishness of men in thus worshipping the lifeless images which they
themselves have made, is elegantly and forcibly represented by the prophet
Isaiah. " The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth
it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms. Yea, he is
VOL. IV. 3
18 MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION.
hungry, and his strength faileth ; he drinkelh no water, and is faint. The car
penter stretcheth out his rule ; he marketh it out with a line : he fitteth it with
planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure
of a man, according to the beauty of a man, (hat it may remain in the house.
He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he
strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest ; he planteth an ash, and
the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn : for he will take
thereof and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he
maketh a god, and worshippeth it : he maketh it a graven image, and faileth
down thereto. He burneth part thereof in the fire ; with part thereof he eat-
eth flesh : he roasteth roast, and is satisfied : yea, he vvarmeth himself, and saith
Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire. And the residue thereof he maketh a
god, even his graven image : he faileth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and
prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me, for thou art my god. They have not
known, nor understood : for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see, and
their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considereth in his heart,
neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in
the fire, yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted
flesh, and eaten it, and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination ? Shall
I fall down to the stock of a tree ?" Isa. xliv. 1219.
Many of the images which the heathen worshipped were made in the most
monstrous and terrible shapes they could devise ; and the more hideous and
frightful they appeared, the better they supposed they would serve their turn
for gods. Some of their images were made so as to be the most unclean rep
resentations ; images of men openly exposing their nakedness. These unclean
images, they judged, appeared in a god-like manner, and worthy to be worship
ped. Many, instead of worshipping a holy and good God, and infinitely per
fect Being, ascribed vices to many of the gods which they worshipped. One
god they reckoned notorious for drunkenness; others notorious for undeanness :
to others they ascribed lying and stealing ; to others cruelty ; and yet looked upon
them worthy to be worshipped as gods ! Many worshipped devils, who ap
peared to them, and whom they themselves reckoned to be evil spirits ; but yet
built temples, and offered sacrifices to them, because they were afraid of them.
Many worshipped beasts and birds and fishes ; and the most hateful and loath
some animals were most worshipped ; particularly, serpents were more com
monly worshipped than any other beast. Many worshipped rivers, and trees,
and mountains. They worshipped many diseases. There is scarcely any thing
of which men have not made gods.
And so far has that principle of blindness prevailed, with respect to the
things of religion, that it has in a great measure extinguished all light in the
minds of many, even in matters of morality, and things that have but a distant
relation to religion. So that many whole nations have professedly approved of
many things directly contrary to the light of nature; and the most horrid vices
and immoralities have been esteemed harmless, yea, accounted virtues among
them ; such as revenge, cruelty, and incest. Many nations have openly allowed
the practice of sodomy. And with some it has been accounted commendable to
marry their nearest relations. Many have even worshipped their gods in their
temples with acts of drunkenness and whoredom, and the most abominable lewd-
ness. And the more filthy they were in their uncleanness, they thought their
gods the more pleased and delighted with it.
Many nations have been so under the influence of mental blindness, that
they have been void of all civility, and have been reduced to a state very little
MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION. 19
above the beasts in their common customs, and ordinary way of living ; and in
a great many things far below the beasts : being, if I may so speak, much more
beastly than the beasts themselves. Now this has not been, because these men,
with whom this has been the case, have not had the same facilities that we
have. That we are not as ignorant as they, is not because we have better
natural understandings, or that our minds are by nature more clear, and our eyes
more discerning ; or that our hearts are not naturally so inclined to sottishness
and delusion as theirs. But only because God has not left us so much to our
selves, as he has them. He has given us more instruction to help us against
our delusions. God has so ordered it in his providence, that we should have
his good word to instruct us ; and has caused that we should grow up from our
infancy under Christian instruction.
2. The extreme blindness and sottishness in things of religion, which is na
turally in the hearts of men, appears not only in embracing and professing those
errors that are very great, but also those that are so unnatural. They have
not only embraced errors which are very contrary to truth, but very contrary to
humanity ; not only against the light of nature, but against the more innocent
inclinations of nature. Such has been, and still is, the blindness of many
nations in the world, that they embrace those errors which do not only exclude
all true virtue, all holy dispositions ; but those that have swallowed up the more
harmless inclinations of human nature.
Thus they have embraced many gross delusions, that are as contrary as
possible to natural affection. Such as offering up their own children in sacri
fice to their idol ; which has been a common thing in the heathen world. And
the parents have not only offered them up to death, but they have brought them,
and offered them up to the most cruel and tormenting deaths : as, to be burnt
alive, to be broiled to death in burning brass ; which was the way of offering
up children to Moloch. The image of the idol being made of brass, in a horrid
shape, was heated red hot ; and the poor child was laid naked in this burning
brass, and so burned to death. And the parents themselves brought the child
to this offering, however sweet and pleasant a child it might be. And thus the
innocent child was tormented till it died, without any regard to its piteous cries.
And it has been the manner of some nations, to offer in sacrifice the fairest and
best beloved child that they had. And thus many thousands of poor babes have
been offered up. So strong has been the tendency of the hearts of men to de
lusion, that it has thus overcome those strong natural affections which men have
to the fruit of their own bodies.
And many of these delusions have been against men s natural love of their
own ease, and aversion to pain. Many have worshipped their idols, and do so to
this day, with such rites as are most painful and tormenting ; cutting, gashing,
and mangling their own flesh. Thus they sottishly worshipped Baal of old.
" And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and
lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them," 1 Kings xviii. 28. And it is still
the custom in some nations grievously to torment temselves : to kindle a fire and
scorch their own bodies in a most miserable manner ; and to put themselves to
various and long-continued torments to please their idols. And it is the man
ner in some countries for persons, on certain occasions, to kill themselves ; yea,
to put themselves to cruel deaths ; to cast themselves into great fires, and there
burn themselves to death. How powerful must be the delusions of the human
mind, and how strong the tendency of the heart to carry them such a length,
and so to overcome the tenderest feelings of human nature!
3. The extreme blindness of the mind of man will appear further, if we
20 MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION.
consider how general gross ignorance and delusion has been. It has for the
most part prevailed through the greater part of the world. For most of the
time from Noah s flood to the coining of Christ, all nations, except the children
of Israel, were overspread with gross heathenish darkness : being given up to
the most vain and ridiculous notions, and all manner of superstitious, barbarous,
absurd, and unnatural practices. And, for the greater part of the time since,
most nations of the world have been covered with gross darkness.
So it is at this day. Many nations are under popish darkness, and are in
-such gross delusions that they worship the Virgin Mary, and a great multitude
of dead men, whom their church has canonized for saints ; some real saints,
and others abominably wicked men. So they worship the bread in the sacra
ment, and account it not only the real body of Christ, but real Christ in body
and soul, and divinity. They carry a wafer, a small piece of bread, in pro
cession, fall down before it, adore it, and account it Christ himself, both in his
divine and human nature ; and yet believe that the body of Christ is in heaven,
and in ten thousand different places on earth at the same time. They think they
can do works of supererogation ; that is, more good works than they are oblig
ed to do, whereby they bring God into debt to them. They whip themselves,
and put themselves to other ridiculous penances and sufferings, whereby they
think they appease the anger of God for their sins. And they pay money to
the priests, to buy the pardon of their sins ; yea, they buy indulgences for fu
ture crimes, or pardon for sins before they commit them. They think they de
fend themselves from evil spirits, by sprinkling holy water. They pay money
to buy the souls of their departed friends out of purgatory ; they worship the
relics of dead saints ; such as pieces of their bones, their teeth, their hair, pieces
of their garments, and the like. And innumerable other such foolish delusions
are they under.
A great part of the nations of the world are Mahometans ; many of the
articles of whose belief are too childish and ridiculous to be publicly mentioned
in a solemn assembly. But the greater part of the inhabitants of the world are
to this day gross, barbarous heathens, who have not the knowledge of the true
God, but worship idols and devils, with all manner of absurd and foolish rites
and ceremonies ; and are destitute of even common civility : multitudes of na-
tions being like beasts in human shape. Now this barbarous ignorance and
gross delusion being of such great extent and continuance, shows that the cause
is general, and that the defect is in the corrupted nature of mankind; man s
natural blindness and proneness of his heart to delusion.
4. The sottish blindness and folly of the heart of men appears in their being
so prone to fall into such gross delusions, soon after they have been favored
with dear light. Were not the minds of men exceeding dark, they never
would entertain such absurd notions at all j for they are as contrary as possible
to reason : much less would they fall into them, after they had once been in
structed in the truth. For, were it not very strange and great sottishness in
deed, they would when they come to be informed of the truth, and have
opportunity to compare it with those gross errors behold such a reasonable
ness in the truth, and such absurdity in those errors, that they would never be
in danger of being deluded by them any more. But yet so it is ; mankind after
they have been fully instructed, and have lived in clear light, have, time after
time, presently lost the knowledge of the truth, and have exchanged it for the
most barbarous and brutish notions.
So it was early after the flood, whereby the wicked world, those that were
risibly so, were destroyed ; and none were left but those who professed the true
MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION. 21
religion : and they had such an eminently holy man as Noah to instruct them.
And though the true God had so wonderfully and astonishingly manifested him
self in that great work of vengeance against his enemies ; yet the posterity of
Noah, in great part, presently lost the knowledge of the true God, and fell
away to idolatry ; and that even while Noah was living. And the ancestors
of Abraham were tainted with that idolatry ; even Terah his own father. " And
Joshua said unto all the people, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, your fathers
dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah the father of Abra
ham, and the father of Nachor : and they served other gods. And I took your
father Abraham from the other side of the flood," &c., Josh. xxiv. 2, 3, 4. It
seems as though Abraham was called away from his father s house, and from his
own country, for this reason, that the country was overrun with idolatry.
And even many of the posterity of Abraham and Isaac Abraham s pos
terity by Hagar and Keturah, and that part of Isaac s posterity which were of
Esau though the true religion was so thoroughly taught and practised in the
houses of those holy patriarchs, and God had from time to time so wonderfully
and so miraculously manifested himself to them, yet soon cast off the true God,
and fell away to idolatry. For, not very long after, we read of the posterity of
Jacob as being the only people of God, that he had in all the earth. And so
the people of that part of the land of Canaan, who were under that holy king
Melchizedek, soon totally cast off the worship of the one only true God, which
he taught and maintained. For before Joshua brought in the children of
Israel, the inhabitants of that land were wholly given to idolatry. So the peo
ple of the land of Uz, who were under the government of so great and holy a
man as Job, soon lost the knowledge of the true God, and all those religious
truths which were then known among them, and sunk into gross idolatry.
So the posterity of Jacob, themselves though God had manifested himself
to them, and had wrought such wonders for them in the time of Jacob and Jo
seph, yet presently fell to worship the gods of Egypt. This appears from the
words of Joshua, " Put away the gods which your fathers served on the other
side of the flood and in Egypt," Josh. xxiv. 14. And how soon did they fall
to worship a golden calf in the wilderness, in the midst of the wonderful and
miraculous manifestations of the one only true God ! And notwithstanding
idolatry was so strictly forbidden, and the folly and wickedness of it so clearly
manifested, in the law of Moses and in God s providence ; yet, how soon did
they fall into idolatry after they were brought into the land of Canaan ! And
when God raised up eminent men, judges to instruct and govern them, and re
claim them from their idolatrous practices, from time to time ; though they
professed to be convinced of their foolish delusion, yet they would soon fall
again into the most sottish idolatry. And this they did soon after such great
light as they enjoyed in the time of Samuel, David, and Solomon ; and so, from
time to time, down to the Babylonish captivity.
And in the apostles times, when such great things were done to rouse the
attention of mankind, and such great light was spread over many nations, mul
titudes, after they had been instructed in the Christian religion by the apostles
and others, fell away into the grossest heresies, and embraced the most corrupt
and absurd notions. After the Roman empire had been converted from hea
thenism to Christianity, and the light of the gospel had driven out the sottish
ignorance and gross absurdities of pagan idolatry, in which they had continued
so long ; they soon began to fall away from the truth into antictiristian supersti
tion and idolatry, in which are opinions and practices no less absurd than those of
the heathen. And a great part of the Christian world fell awav to Mahornetanism,
22 MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION.
And since the reformation, wherein God wonderfully restored gospel light
in a great part of the Christian world, which was but about two hundred years
ago, many are fallen away again, some to pop -ry, some to gross heresies, and
some to atheistical principles : so that the reformed church is greatly diminish
ed. And as to our nation in particular, which has been a nation favored with
light, since the reformation, above most, if not any in the world ; how soon has it
in great part fallen away ! A great part of it to atheism, deism, and gross infi
delity ; and others to Arminianism, and to the Socinian and Arian heresies, to
believe that Christ is a created dependent God ; and to hold other foolish ab
surdities ! And many have of late openly disputed and denied the moral evil
of some of the greatest and most heinous vices.
These things show how desperately prone mankind are to blindness and
delusion, how addicted they are to darkness. God now and then, by his in
structions, lifts up some nations out of such gross darkness : but then, how do
they sink down into it again, as soon as his hand is withdrawn ! like a heavy
stone, which, though it may be forced upwards, yet sinks down again ; and will
continue to sink lower and lower with a swift progress, if there be nothing to
restrain it. That is the woful tendency of the mind of man since the fall, not
withstanding his noble powers and faculties ; even to sink down into a kind of
brutality, to lose and extinguish all useful light, and to sink lower and lower
into darkness.
5. The extreme and brutish blindness that possesses the hearts of mm
naturally, appears in their being so confident in gross errors and delusions.
Some things mentioned already, show how confident and assured they are ;
particularly, their running such great ventures as offering up their children ;
and cutting and mangling themselves. Multitudes live and die in the most
foolish and absurd notions and principles, and never seem to make any doubt of
their being in the right.
The Mahometans seem to make no doubt but that, when they die, they
shall go to such a paradise as Mahomet has promised them ; where they shall
live in all manner of sensual pleasures, and shall spend their time in gratifying
the lusts of the flesh. Mahomet promised them, that all who die in war for
the defence of the Mahometan religion, shall go to this paradise ; and they
make no doubt of it. Therefore, many of them, as it were, willingly rush on
upon the point of the sword.
The papists, many of them at least, make no doubt of the truth of those
foolish notions of a purgatory, and the power of the priests to deliver them out
of it, and give them eternal life ; and therefore will not spare vast sums of
money to purchase deliverance from those imaginary torments. How confi
dent are many heretics in the grossest heresies ! and how bold are many deists
in their infidelity !
6. The desperateness of that blindness which is in the heart of man, appears,
in that no nation or people in the world ever have had any remedy or deliver
ance from such gross ignorance and delusion, from themselves. No instance
can be mentioned of any people whatsoever, who have once fallen into heath
enish darkness, or any other gross superstitious and ridiculous opinions in reli
gion, that ever had any remedy by any wisdom of theii own; or that A*Ye,o!
themselves, grown wiser by the improvement of their own faculties, and by
instructing one another ; or "that ever had any remedy at all, by the teaching
of any wise men, who did not professedly act as moved and directed of God ;
and did not declare, that they had their instructions, in the first place, from him.
Thus in the heathen world. Before Christ s time, the whole world, excep/
MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION 23
the Jews, lay in their darkness for a great many hundred years, even beyond
all time of which they had any certain history among them. And there was
no remedy, nor any appearance of a remedy ; they continued, ages after ages,
waxing worse and worse, sinking deeper and deeper. Among all the many
nations in the world, no one ever bethought themselves, and emerged out of
their brutish darkness. There were indeed some nations that emerged out of
slavery, cast off the yoke of their enemies, grew great, and conquered great
part of the world ; but they never conquered the blindness of their own hearts.
There were some nations who excelled in other knowledge ; as the Greeks
and Romans. They excelled in policy, and in the form of their civil govern
ment. They had wise political rulers ; they had excellent laws for regulating
their civil state ; many of which have been imitated, as a pattern, by many
Christian nations ever since. They excelled many other nations in arts, govern
ment, and civility, almost as much as men in common do beasts. Yet they
never could deliver themselves from their heathenism. Though they were so
wise in other things, yet in matters of religion they were very absurd and brut
ish. For even the Greeks and Romans, in their most flourishing state, worship
ped innumerable gods; and some to whom they ascribed great vices : and some
they worshipped with most obscene and horrid rites. To some they offered hu
man sacrifices. The Romans had a temple dedicated to the furies, which they
worshipped. And they had a multitude of childish notions and fables about
their gods.
And though there were raised up some wise men and philosophers among
the Greeks and Romans, who borrowed some things concerning the true God
from the Jews ; yet their instructions never were effectual to deliver any one
people, or even one city or town, from their barbarous heathenism, or so much
as to get any one society, or company of men, to unite in the public worship of
the true God. And these philosophers themselves had many grossly absurd
opinions, mingled with those scraps of truth which they had gathered up.
And the Jews, when fallen away to idolatry, as they often did, never re
covered of themselves. Never any remedy appeared, unless God raised up,
and extraordinarily moved, some person to reprove and instruct them. And in
this age of knowledge, an age wherein learning is carried to a great height,
even many learned men seem to be carried away with the gross errors and
fooleries of the popish religion.
Europe is a part of the world the most famed for arts and sciences of
any ; and these things have been carried to a much greater height in this age
than in many others : yet many learned men in Europe at this day, who great
ly excel in human arts and literature, are still under popish darkness. A de
ceived heart has turned them aside ; nor do they seem to have any power to
deliver their souls ; nor does it come into their minds, that there is a lie in their
right hands.
Many men in France and in other countries, who are indeed men of great
learning, knowledge, and abilities, yet seem really to think that the church of
Rome is the only true church of Christ ; and are zealous to uphold and propa
gate it. And though now, within this hundred years, human learning has been
very much promoted, and has risen to a greater height than ever in the world ;
and has greatly increased not only in our nation, but in France and Italy, and
other popish countries ; yet there seems to be no such effect of it, as any con
siderable turning from popish delusions ; but the church of Rome has rather in
creased of late, than otherwise.
And in England, a land wherein learning flourishes as much as in any in
24 MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION.
the world, and which is perhaps the most favored with light of any ; there art
many men of vast learning, and great and strong reason, who have embraced,
and do at this day embrace, the gross errors of the Arians and Deists. Our
nation, in all its light and learning, is full of infidels, and those that are further
from Christianity than the very Mahometans themselves. Of so little avail is
human strength, or human reason and learning, as a remedy against the ex
treme blindness of the human mind. The blindness of the mind, or an inclina
tion to delusion in things of religion, is so strong, that it will overcome the
greatest learning, and the strongest natural reason.
Men, if let alone, will not help one another ; nor will they help themselves
The disease always proves without remedy, unless God delivers. This was ob
served of old : " And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge
nor understanding to say, I have burnt part of it in the fire ; yea, also I have
baked bread upon the coals thereof ; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it : and
shall 1 make the residue thereof an abomination ? shall I fall down to the stock
of a tree ? He feedeth on ashes : a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that
he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand ?" Isa.
xliv. 19, 20.
If God lets men alone, no light arises ; but the darkness grows thicker and
thicker. How is it now, at this very day, among all the nations where the
light of the gospel has not come 1 Many of whose ancestors, without doubt,
have been in the midnight darkness of heathenism for above three thousand
years : and not one people have delivered themselves, who have not had the
light of the gospel. And this is not owing to their want of as good natural
abilities as we have ; nor is it because they have an inclination more to neglect
their natural abilities, or make a worse improvement of them than we.
7. The extreme blindness of man s heart, in matters of religion, appears, by
men falling into gross delusions, or continuing in them, at the same time that
they have been under great means of instruction from God. We have many
instances of this ; as Rachel in Jacob s family ; and the Israelites in the wilder
ness, &c. These last had great means of instruction ; yet they set up the golden
calf, &c. And after Joshua s time, they persisted in their delusions and folly,
from time to time, even under the reproofs of the prophets ; and even in such hor
rid delusions, so contrary to natural affection, as offering their children in sacri
fice to Moloch, burning them alive, in a most cruel manner.
In the time of Christ and the apostles, the Jews had great means of instruc
tion, and most of the nations of the world were put under great advantages to
come to the knowledge of the truth ; yet what was the effect ? It would be
easy to pursue these remarks respecting the papists in the time of the reforma
tion, and since the Arians and Deists in our day, &c. but what has been said
may be quite sufficient, if the reader will but indulge reflection.
8. The exceedingly great blindness of men, in things of religion, appears in
the endless disputes and controversies, that there have been, and are, among
men, about those things which concern religion. Of old, the wise men and
philosophers among the heathen, were, so to speak, infinitely divided among
themselves. Varro, who was one of them, reckons up several hundred opinions
about that one point, Wherein man s happiness consisted ? And they were con
tinually in disputes one with another. But the effect of their disputes was not
any greater union, or any better agreement in their opinions. They were as
much divided after they had disputed many ages, as they were at first ; yea,
much more.
So there have long been disputes in the Christian world about opinions and
MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION. 25
principles in religion. There is a vast variety of sects and opinions ; and dis
putes have been carried on, age after age, with great warmth, and thousands ot
volumes have been written one against another. And all these disputes have
not terminated the differences, but they still subsist as much as ever ; yea, they
increase and multiply mare and more. Instead of ending controversies by dis
puting, one dispute only lays a foundation for another. And thus the world goes
on jangling and contending, daily writing and printing ; being as it were deluged
with controversial books ; and all to no purpose.
The increase of human learning does not bring these controversies to an issue,
but does really increase and multiply them. There probably never was a time
in our nation wherein there was such a vast variety of opinions in matters of
religion, as at this day. Every now and then, a new scheme of things is broach
ed, and various and contrary opinions are mixed and jumbled, divided and sub
divided ; and every new writer is willing to have the credit of some new notion.
And after this manner does this miserable world go on in endless confusion;
like a great multitude of fool-hardy persons, who go on in the dark, stumbling
and justling one against another, without perceiving any remedy for their own,
or affording any for their neighbor s, calamity. Thus I have shown how the
extreme blindness that possesses the hearts of men is manifest in what appears
in their profession.
SECTION III.
Men s extreme blindness manifested by inward experience, and especially in their
practices under the gospel.
I come now to show, how this is manifest in those things that are found by
inward experience, and are visible in men s practices under the light of the
gospel.
1. This appears in their being so prone to be deceived so many ways, or
being liable to such a multiplicity of deceits. There are thousands of delusions
in things which concern the affairs of religion, that men commonly are led
away with, who yet live under the light of the gospel. They are many ways
deceived about God. They think him to be an exceeding diverse kind of being
from what he is : altogether such a one as themselves, Psal. 1, 21. They are
deceived about his holiness, they do not realize it, that he is such a holy being
as he indeed is, or that he hates sin with such a hatred as he declares he does.
They are not convinced of his truth, or that he certainly will fulfil his threaten-
ings or his promises. They are not convinced of his justice in punishing sin,
as he does. They have very wrong notions of Christ. They are not convinced
of his ability to save them, or of the srifficiency of his sacrifice and righteousness ;
nor of his willingness to receive them.
Men are commonly subject to a great many errors about their duty. They
are ready to bring their principles to agree with their practices, instead of bring
ing their practices to their principles, as they ought to do. They will put in
numerable false glosses on the rules of God s word, to bend them to a compli
ance with their lusts ; and so they " put darkness for light, and light for darkness ;
bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter."
They are subject to deceits and delusions about the things of this world.
They imagine that there is happiness and satisfaction to be found in the profits,
pleasures, and honors, which are to be had here. They believe all the deluding
flatteries and promises of a vain world. And they will hold that deceit and
grand delusion, that these things are the highest good ; and will act accordingly j
VOL. IV. 4
26 MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION.
will choose these things for their portion. And they will hold and piactise
upon that error, that these things are of long continuance, and are to be depend
ed upon.
They are greatly deceived about the things of another world. They under
value that heavenly glory, which is promised to the saints ; and are not much
terrified with what they hear of the damnation of hell ; they cannot realize it,
that its torments are so dreadful as they hear ; and are very ready to imagine
that they are not eternal, but will some time or other have an end.
They are deceived about the state of good men. They think they are not
happy, but live a melancholy life. And they are deceived about the nicked.
They envy the state of many of them, as accounting them well off. " They
call the proud happy," Mai. iii. 15," and bless the covetous, whom God abhors,"
Psal. x. 3 ; and they strive a great deal more after such enjoyments as these have,
than after such as are the portion of the godly.
They are subject to deceits and delusions about themselves. They think
themselves wise, when they are fools. They are deceived about their own
hearts ; they think them much better than they really are. They think they
see many good things in themselves, when indeed there is nothing good there.
They appear lovely in their own eyes, when their hearts are like the inside of
a grave, full of dead men s bones and rotten flesh, crawling worms, and all un-
cleanness. Or rather, the inward vault of hell, that is a habitation of devils
and every foul spirit. Those things in their hearts are highly esteemed by them,
which are an abomination in the sight of God.
Men are very prone to be deceived about their own state ; to think them
selves something when they are nothing ; and to suppose themselves " rich and
increased in goods, and to have need of nothing ; when they are wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." They are greatly deceived about
the principles they act from. They think they are sincere in that in which
there is no sincerity ; and that they do those things from love to God, which
they do only from love to themselves. They call mere speculative or natural
knowledge, spiritual knowledge ; and put conscience for grace ; a servile, foi
a child-like fear ; and common affections, that are only from natural principles,
and have no abiding affect, for high discoveries, and eminent actings of grace.
Yea, it is common with men to call their vicious dispositions by the name of
some virtue. They call their anger and malice, zeal for a righteous cause, or
zeal for the public good ; and their covetousness, frugality.
They are vastly deceived about their own righteousness. They think their
affections and performances lovely to God, which indeed are hateful to him.
They think their tears, reformations, and prayers, sufficient to make atonement
for their sins ; when indeed if all the angels in heaven should offer themselves
in sacrifice to God, it would not be sufficient to atone for one of their sins.
They think their prayers and works, and religious doings, a sufficient price tc
purchase God s favor and eternal glory ; when, as they perform them, they do
nothing but merit hell.
They are greatly deceived about their strength. They think they are able
to mend their own hearts, and work some good principles in themselves ; when
they can do no more towards it, than a dead corpse does towards raising itselr
to life. They vainly flatter themselves, they are able to come to Christ, when
they are not. They are greatly deceived about the stability of their own hearts.
They foolishly think their own intentions and resolutions of what good they
will do hereafter, to be depended on ; when indeed there is no dependence at
all to be had on them. They are greatly deceived about their opportunities
MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION 27
They think that the long continuance of their opportunity is to be depended on
and that to-morrow it is to be boasted of; when indeed there is the utmost un
certainty of it. They flatter themselves that they shall have a better opportu
nity to seek salvation hereafter, than they have now j when there is no proba
bility of it, but a very great improbability.
They are greatly deceived about their own actions and practices. Their
own faults are strangely hid from their eyes. They live in ways that are very
unbecoming Christians, but yet seem not to be at all sensible of it. Those evil
ways of theirs, which are very plain to others, are hid from them. Yea, those
very things which they themselves count great faults in others, they will justify
themselves in. Those things for which they will be very angry with others,
they at the same time do themselves, and oftentimes in a much higher degree,
and never once think of it. While they are zealous to pull the mote out of
their brother s eye, they know not that a beam is in their own eye.
Those sins that they commit, which they are sensible are sins, they are wo-
fully deceived about. They call great sins, little ones ; and in their own imagi
nations find out many excuses, which make the guilt very small ; while the
many heinous aggravations are hid from their eyes. They are greatly deceived
about themselves, when they compare themselves with others. They esteem
themselves better than their neighbors, who are indeed much better than them
selves. They are greatly deceived about themselves, when they compare them
selves with God. They are very insensible of the difference there is between
God and them, and act in many things as if they thought themselves his equals j
yea, as if they thought themselves above him. Thus manifold are the deceits
and delusions that men fall into.
2. The desperate blindness that is natural to men, appears in their being so
ignorant and blind in things that are so clear and plain. Thus if we consider
how great God is, and how dreadful sin against him must be, and how much
sin we are guilty of, and of what importance it is that his infinite Majesty should
be vindicated ; how plain is it, that man s righteousness is insufficient ! And
yet how greatly will men confide in it ! how will they ascribe more to it, than
can be ascribed to the righteousness of the sinless and glorious angels of heaven !
What can be more plain in itself, than that eternal things are of infinitely greater
importance than temporal things ? And yet how hard is it thoroughly to con
vince men of it ! I low plain is it, that eternal misery in hell is infinitely to be
dreaded ! And yet how few appear to be thoroughly convinced of this ! How
plain is it, that life is uncertain ! And yet how much otherwise do most men
think ! How plain is it, that it is the highest prudence in matters of infinite
concern to improve the first opportunity, without trusting to another ! But yet
how few are convinced of this ! How reasonable is it, considering that God
is a wise and just being, to suppose that there shall be a future state of rewards
and punishments, wherein every man shall receive according to his works ! And
yet, how does this seem like a dream to most men !
What can be in itself more plain and manifest, and easily to be known by
us, if it were not for a strange blindness, than we are to ourselves, who are
always with, never absent from ourselves, always in our own view, before our
own eyes ; who have opportunity to look into our own hearts, and see all that
passes there ? And yet what is there that men are more ignorant of, than they
are of themselves ? There are many vicious practices, the unlawfulness of
which is very plain ; the sins are gross, and contrary not only to the word of
God, but to the light of nature : and yet men will often plead, there is no harrt.
n such sins j such as, many actf of gross uncleanness j and many acts of
28 MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION.
fraud, injustice and deceitfulness ; and many others that might be men
tioned.
There is no one thing whatsoever more plain and manifest, and more demon
strable, than the being of a God. It is manifest in ourselves, in our own bodies
and souls, and in every thing about us wherever we turn our eye, whether to
heaven, or to the earth, the air, or the seas. And yet how prone is the heart ot
man to call this into question ! So inclined is the heart of man to blindness and
delusion, that it is prone to even atheism itself.
3. The great blindness of the heart of man appears, in that so little a thing
will deceive him, and confound his judgment. A little self-interest, or only the
bait of some short gratification of a sensual appetite, or a little stirring of pas
sion, will blind men s eyes, and make them argue and judge most strangely and
perversely, and draw the most absurd conclusion ; such as, if they were indif
ferent, they would see to be most unreasonable. The devil finds easy work to
deceive them a thousand ways ; an argument of the great weakness and blind
ness of our minds. As a little child, weak in understanding, is very easily
deceived.
4. The woful blindness that possesses the hearts of men naturally, appears
in their being all totally ignorant of that in God, which they had most need to
know ; viz., the glory and excellency of his nature. Though our faculties, which
we have above the beasts, were chiefly given us, that we might know this ;
and though without this knowledge all other will signify nothing to us ; and
our faculties are as capable of it, as of any other knowledge whatsoever and
which is as plainly and abundantly manifested as any thing whatsoever, innu
merable ways, both in the word and works of God yet all men naturally are
totally ignorant of this ; as ignorant as one born blind is of colors. Natural
men of the greatest abilities and learning, are as ignorant of it, as the weakest
and the most unlearned ; yea, as ignorant as the very stocks and stones ; lor
they see, and can see nothing at all of it
5. It appears, in that they are so blind in those same things in religious mat
ters, which they are sufficiently sensible of in other matters. In temporal things
they are very sensible that it is a point of prudence to improve the first opportu
nity in things of great importance. But in matters of religion, which are of infin
itely the greatest importance, they have not this discernment. In temporal mat
ters they are sensible that it is a great folly long to delay and put off, when life
is in danger, and all depends upon it. But in the concerns of their souls, they
are insensible of this truth. So in the concerns of this world, they are sensible
it is prudence to improve times of special advantage, and to embrace a good
offer when made them. They are sensible that things of long continuance are
of greater importance, than those of short duration; yet in religious concerns,
none of these things are sensibly discerned. In temporal things they are suffi
ciently sensible, that it is a point of prudence to lay up for hereafter, in summer
to lay up for winter, and to lay up for their families, after they are dead ; but men
do not generally discern the prudence of making a proper provision for a future
state. In matters of importance in this world, they are sensible of the wisdom
of taking thorough care to be on sure grounds ; but in their soul s concerns they
see nothing of this. Our Saviour observed this to be the case with the Jews
when he was upon earth. " Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky,
and of the earth: but how is it that ye do not discern this time?" Luke
xii. 56.
6. The desperate blindness that naturally possesses the hearts of men under
the gospel, appears in their remaining so stupidly insensible and deceived, under
MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION. 29
so great means of instruction and conviction. If they were brought under hea
thenish darkness, it would not be so full a demonstration of it : but thus they
remain, though under the clearest light, under the glorious light of the gospel,
where they enjoy God s own instructions in his word, in a great fulness and
plainness, and have the evidence and truth of things set before them from time
to time in the plainest manner. They have the arguments of God s being and
perfection ; and of another world. They are told how eternal things are of
greater importance than temporal ; and of what importance it is to escape eter
nal misery. How much it is worth while to take pains for heavenly glory ; and
how vain their own righteousness is : but yet to what little purpose !
And they have not only great means of instruction in God s word, but also
in providence. They have the evidence of the shortness and uncertainty of
life. " He seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person
perish, and leave their wealth to others." Yet " their inward thought is, that
their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling-places to all generations :
they call their lands after their own names. Nevertheless man being in honor,
abideth not : he is like the beasts that perish. This their way is their folly :
yet their posterity approve their sayings." They find the world is vain and
unsatisfactory ; they find the great instability and treachery of their own hearts;
and how their own good intentions and resolutions are not to be depended on.
They often find by experience, that their attempts to make them better, fail ;
but, alas ! with what small effect !
Such abundant evidence is there, both in what appears in the open profession
of men; and also by what is found in their inward experience, and is evident in
their practice, of the extreme and brutish ignorance and blindness, which natur
ally possess their hearts.
SECTION IV.
Practical inferences and application of the subject.
Having shown how the truth of the doctrine is evident, both by what ap
pears in men s open profession, and by those things which are found by inward
experience, and are manifest by what is visible in men s practice ; I proceed to
improve the subject.
I. By this we may see how manifest are the ruins of the fall of man. It is
observable in all the kinds of God s creatures that we behold, that they have those
properties and qualities, which are every way proportioned to their end ; so that
they need no more, they stand in need of no greater degree of perfection, in
order well to answer the special use for which they seem to be designed. The
brute creatures, birds, beasts, fishes, and insects, though there be innumerable
kinds of them, yet all seem to have such a degree of perception and perfection
given them, as best suits their place in the creation, their manner of living, and the
ends for which they were made. There is no defect visible in them ; they are per
fect in their kind ; there seems to be nothing wanting, in order to their filling up
their allotted place in the world. And there can be no reasonable doubt but
that it was so at first with mankind. It is not reasonable to suppose, that God
would make many thousands of kinds of creatures in this lower world, and one
kind the highest of them all, to be the head of the rest ; and that all the rest
should be complete in their kinds, every way endowed with such qualifications
as are proportioned to their use and end : and only this most noble creature of
all, left exceeding imperfect, notoriously destitute of what he principally stands
in need of to answer the end of his being. The principal faculty by which God
30 MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION.
nas distinguished this noble creature from the rest, is his understanding : but
would God so distinguish man in his creation from other creatures, and then
seal up that understanding with such an extreme blindness, as to render it useless,
as to the principal ends of it ; and wholly to disenable him from answering the*
ends of an intelligent creature, and to make his understanding rather a misery
than a blessing to him ; and rendering him much more mischievous than useful ?
Therefore, if the Scripture had not told us so, yet we might safely concludej
that mankind are not now, as they were made at first ; but that they are in a
fallen state and condition.
II. From what has been said, plainly appears the necessity of divine revela
tion. The deists deny the Scripture to be the word of God, and hold that there
is no revealed religion; that God has given mankind no other rule but his own
reason ; which is sufficient, without any word or revelation from heaven, to <nve
man a right understanding of divine things, and of his duty. But how fs it
proved in fact ? How much trial has there been, whether man s reason, with
out a revelation, would be sufficient or not! The whole world, excepting one
nation, had the trial till the coming of Christ. And was not this long enough
for trial, whether man^s reason alone was sufficient to instruct him? Those
nations, who all that time lay in such gross darkness, and in such a deplorable
helpless condition, had the same natural reason that the deists have. And dur
ing this time, there was not only one man, or a succession of single persons,
that had the trial, whether their own reason would be sufficient to lead them to
the knowledge of the truth; but all nations, who all had the same human facul
ties that we have. If human reason is really sufficient, and there be no nred
of any thing else, why has it never proved so 1 Why has it never happened,
that so much as one nation, or one city or town, or one assembly of men, have
been brought to tolerable notions of divine things, unless it be by the revelation
contained in the Scriptures? If it were only one nation that had remained in
such darkness, the trial might not be thought so great; because one particular
people might be under some disadvantages, which were peculiar. But thus it
has been with all nations, except those which have been favored with the
Scriptures, and in all ages. Where is any people, who to this day have ever
delivered themselves by their own reason, or have been delivered without light
fetched from the Scriptures, or by means of the gospel of Jesus Christ ?
If human reason is sufficient without the Scripture, is it not strange that, in
these latter ages since navigation has been so improved, and America and
many other parts of the world have been discovered, which were before un
knownno one nation has anywhere been found already enlightened, and
possessed of true notions about the Divine Being and his perfections, by virtue
of that human reason they have been possessed of so many thousand years?
The many poor, barbarous nations here, in America, had the faculty of reason
to do what they pleased with, before the Europeans came hither, and brought
over the light of the gospel. If human reason alone was sufficient, it is strange,
that no one people were found, in any corner of the land, who were helped by
it, in the chief concern of man.
There has been a great trial, as to what men s reason can do without divine
help, in those endless disputes that have been maintained. If human reason
alone could help mankind, it might be expected that these disputes would have
helped them, and have p it an end to men s darkness. The heathen philosophers
had many hundreds of years to try their skill in this way : but all without ef
fect. That divine revelation, which the church of God has been possessed of,
has been in the world " as a light shining in a dark place," 2 Peter i. 19. It
MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION. 31
is the only remedy which God has provided for the miserable, brutish blipdness
of mankind, a remedy without which this fallen world would have sunk down
for ever in brutal barbarism without any remedy. It is the only means that
the true God has made successful in his providence, to give the nations of the
world the knowledge of himself; and to bring them off from the worship of
false gods.
If human reason be the only proper means, the means that God has design
ed for enlightening mankind, is it not very strange, that it has not been sufficient,
nor has answered this end in any one instance ? All the right speculative
knowledge of the true God, which the deists themselves have, has been derived
from divine revelation. How vain is it to dispute against fact, and the experience
of so many thousand years ! and to pretend that human reason is sufficient with
out divine revelation, when so many thousand years experience, among so
many hundreds of nations, of different tempers, circumstances, and interests,
has proved the contrary ! One would think all should acknowledge, that so
long a time is sufficient for a trial ; especially considering the miseries that the
poor nations of the world have been under all this while, for want of light: the
innumerable temporal calamities and miseries such as sacrificing children, and
many other cruelties to others, and even to themselves besides that eternal
perdition, which we may reasonably suppose to be the consequence of such
darkness.
III. This doctrine should make us sensible how great a mercy it is to man
kind, that God has sent his own Son into the world, to be the light of the world.
The subject shows what great need we stand in of some teacher to be sent
from God. And even some of the wiser men among the heathen saw the need
of this. They saw that they disputed and jangled among themselves without
coming to a satisfying discovery of the truth; and hence they saw, and spoke
of, the need there was of a teacher sent from heaven. And it is a wonderful
instance of divine mercy that God has so beheld us in our low estate, as to pro
vide such a glorious remedy. He has not merely sent some created angel to
instruct us, but his oum Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, and of the
same nature and essence with him ; and therefore infinitely better acquainted
with him, and more sufficient to teach a blind world. He has sent him to be
the light of the world, as he says of himself, " I am come a light into the world,"
John XH. 45. When he came, he brought glorious light. It was like the day-
spring from on high, visiting a dark world, as Zacharias observes, Luke i. 77,
78, 79. After Christ came, then the glorious gospel began to spread abroad,
delivering those " that had sitten in darkness, and in the region of the shadow
of death."
What reason have we to rejoice, and praise God, that he has made such
excellent provision for us ; and has set so glorious a sun in our firmament, such
a " Sun of righteousness," after we had extinguished the light which at first
enlightened us ; and had, as it were, brought the world into that state, in which
it was when " without form, and void, and darkness was on the face of it."
See Jer. iv. 22, 23. The glory of that light which God has sent into the world
is fully answerable to the grossness of that darkness which filled it. For Christ
who came to enlighten us, is truth and light itself, and the fountain of all light.
" He is the light, and in him is no darkness at all," 1 John i. 5.
IV. Hence we may learn, what must be the thing which will bring to pass
those glorious days of light, which are spoken of in God s word. Though
mankind be fallen into such darkness, and the world be mostly in the kingdom of
daikness; yet the Scripture often speaks of a glorious day, wherein liglir shall
32 MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION.
fill the earth. " For behold the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross dark
ness the people ; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen
upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the bright
ness of thy rising," Isa. Ix. 2, 3. " And he will destroy in this mountain, the
face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all
nations," Isa. xxv. 7. "The knowledge of God shall fill the earth, as the
waters cover the sea," Isa. xi. 9.
By what we have heard, we may on good grounds conclude, that whenever
this is accomplished, it will not be effected by human learning, or by the skill
or wisdom of great men. What has been before observed of this learned age,
is a presumptive evidence of it ; wherein spiritual darkness increases with the
increase of learning. God will again make foolish the wisdom of this world ; and
will, as it were, say in his providence, " Where is the wise ? where is the scribe ?
where is the disputer of this world ?"
W T hen this shall be accomplished, it will be by a remarkable pouring out of
God s own Spirit, with the plain preaching of the gospel of his Son ; the
preaching of the spiritual, mysterious doctrines of Christ crucified, which to the
learned men of this world are foolishness ; those doctrines, which are the stum
bling-block of this learned age. " Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,
saith the Lord of hosts." It will not be by the enticing words of man s wis
dom ; but by the demonstration of the Spirit, and of power. Not by the wis
dom of this world, nor by the princes of this world, that come to nought : but
by the gospel, that contains the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden
wisdom, which none of the princes of this world, who have nothing to enlighten
them but their own learning, know any thing of.
The Spirit of God, who searches all things, even the deep things of God,
must reveal it. For let natural men be never so worldly wise and learned, they
receive not the things of the Spirit : they are foolishness to them ; nor can they
know them, because they are spiritually discerned. This great effect, when it
is accomplished, will be a glorious effect indeed : and it will be accomplished
in such a manner, as most remarkably to show it to be the work of God, and his
only. It will be a more glorious work of God than that which we read of in the
beginning of Genesis : " And the earth was without form, and void, and dark
ness vvasupon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the
face of the waters : and God said, Let there be light, and there was light,"
Gen. i. 2, 3.
V. Hence we may learn the misery of all such persons, as are under the
power of that darkness which naturally possesses their hearts. There are two
degrees of this misery.
1. That of which all who are in a natural condition are the subjects. The
doctrine shows, that all such as are in a natural condition, are in a miserable
condition : for they are in an extremely dark and blind condition. It is un
comfortable living in darkness. What a sorrowful state would we all be in,
if the sun should no more rise upon us, and the moon were to withdraw her
shining, and the stars to be put out, and we were to spend the rest of our time
in darkness ! The world would soon perish in such darkness. It was a great
plague in Egypt, when they had a total darkness for three days. They who
are deprived of sight, are deprived of the most noble of the senses; they have
no benefit of external light, one of the most excellent and needful of all the
things which God has made in the visible creation. But they who are without
spiritual sight and light, are destitute of that which is far more excellent and
necessary.
MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION. 33
That natural men are not sensible of their blindness, and the misery they
are under by reason of it, is no argument that they are not miserable. For it is
very much the nature of this calamity to be hid from itself, or from those who are
under it. Fools are not sensible of their folly. Solomon says, " The fool is wiser
in his own conceit, than seven men that can render a reason," Prov. xxvi. 16.
The most barbarous and brutish heathens-are not sensible of their own darkness ;
are not sensible but that they enjoy as great light, and have as good understand
ing of things, as the most enlightened nations in the world.
2. Another degree of this misery, is of those who are judicially given up of
God, to the blindness of their own minds. The Scripture teaches us that there
are some such. " What then ? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh
for, but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded," Rom. xi. 7.
" But their minds were blinded ; for until this day remaineth the same vail un-
taken away," 2 Cor. iii. 14. " And he said, Go and tell this people, Hear ye in
deed, and understand not ; and see ye indeed, and perceive not. Make the heart
of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with
their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and con
vert and be healed," Isa. vi. 6, 10. This judgment, when inflicted, is commonly
for the contempt and abuse of light which has been offered, for the commis
sion of presumptuous sins, and for being obstinate in sin, and resisting the Holy
Ghost, and many gracious calls and counsels, warnings and reproofs.
Who the particular persons are, that are thus judicially given up of God to
the blindness of their minds, is not known to men. But we have no reason to
suppose that there are not multitudes of them ; and most in places of the great
est light. There is no manner of reason to suppose, that this judgment, which
is spoken of in Scripture, is in a great measure peculiar to those old times. As
there were many who fell under it in the times of the prophets of old, and of
Christ and his apostles ; so doubtless there are now also. And though the per
sons are not known, yet doubtless there may be more reason to fear it concern
ing some than others. All who are under the power of the blindness of their
own minds, are miserable; but such as are given up to this blindness, are
especially miserable ; for they are reserved, and sealed over to the blackness of
darkness for ever.
SECTION V.
Address to Sinners.
The consideration of what has been said of the desperate blindness which
possesses the hearts of us all naturally, may well be terrifying to such as are
yet in a Christless condition, in this place of light ; where the gospel has been
so long enjoyed, and where God has in times past so wonderfully poured out
his Spirit.
And let such persons, for their awakening, consider the following things :
1. That they are blinded by the god of this world. Their blindness is from
hell. This darkness which natural men are under, is from the prince of dark
ness. This the apostle says expressly of those who remain in unbelief and
blindness under the gospel : " But if our gospel be hid, it is hid from them that
are lost ; in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that be
lieve not," 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4. They belong to the kingdom of darkness. In that darkness
which reigns in their souls, the devil reigns ; and he holds his dominion there.
2. Consider how God in his word manifests his abhorrence and wrath to
wards those who remain so sottishly blind and ignorant, in the midst of light. How
VOL. IV. 5
34 MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION.
does God speak of them ! " Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge ?"
Psal. xiv. 4. " Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is
a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways, unto whom
I sware in my wrath, that they should not enter into my rest :" Psal. xcv. 10, 11.
" The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master s crib : but Israel doth not know,
my people doth not consider. Ah, sinful nation they have provoked the Holy
One of Israel unto anger," Isa. i. 3, 4. " It is a people of no understanding ; there
fore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them
will show them no favor," Isa. xxvii. 10. " My people is foolish, they have not
known me, they are sottish children, and they have no understanding: they are wise
to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge," Jer. iv. 22. " Declare this in the
house of Jacob, and publish it in the house of Judah, saying, Hear now this,
foolish people, and without understanding, which have eyes and see not, which
have ears and hear not. Fear ye not ME ? saith the Lord ; will ye not tremble at MY
presence ?" Jer. v. 20, 21, 22.
3. Consider how much uilfulness there is in your ignorance. Sinners are
ready wholly to excuse themselves in their blindness ; whereas, as observed
already, the blindness that naturally possesses the hearts of men, is not a merely
negative thing ; but they are blinded by " the deceitfulness of sin," Heb. iii. 13.
There is a perverseness in their blindness. There is not a mere absence of
light, but a malignant opposition to the light ; as God says, " they know not,
neither will they understand, they walk on in darkness," Psal. Ixxii. 5. Christ
observes, u that every one that doeth evil, hateth the light, neither come<h to
the light." And that " this is their condemnation, that light is come into the
wodd, yet men loved darkness rather than light," John iii. 19, 20. And 1 may
appeal to your own consciences, whether you have not wilfully rejected the
many instructions you have had ; and refused to hearken ? Whether you have
not neglected to seek after the light, and neglected your Bible ? Whether you
have not been a very negligent hearer of the word preached, and neglected
other proper means of knowledge 1 Whether you have not neglected to cry to
God for that wisdom which you need ? Yea, have you not resisted the means
of knowledge ? Have you not resisted and quenched the motions of the Spirit,
which at times you have had 1 And taken a course to make yourself more and
more stupid, by stifling the convictions of your own conscience, and doing con
trary to the light thereof; whereby you have done those things that have tend
ed to sear your conscience, and make yourself more and more senseless and
sottish.
4. Consider what is the course that God will take to teach those who will
not be taught by the instructions of his word. He will teach them by briers
and thorns, and by the flames of hell. Though natural men will remain to all
eternity ignorant of the excellency and loveliness of God s nature, and so will have
no spiritual knowledge ; yet God in another world will make them thoroughly
to understand many things, which senseless unawakened sinners are sottfshly
ignorant of in this world. Their eyes in many respects shall be thoroughly
opened in hell. Their judgments will be rectified. They shall be of the same
judgment with the godly. They will be convinced of the reality of those
things which they would not be convinced of here ; as the being of God ; his
power, holiness, and justice : that the Scriptures are the word of God; that
Christ is the Son of God : and that time is short and uncertain. They will be
convinced of the vanity of the world ; of the blessed opportunity they had in
the world ; and how much it is men s wisdom to improve their time. We
read of the rich man who was so sottishly blind in this world, that " in hell he lift
MAN S NATURAL BLINDNESS IN RELIGION. 35
up his eyes, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom," Luke xvi.
23. With many men, alas ! the first time they open their eyes is in hell.
God will make all men to know the truth of those great things which he
speaks of in his word, one way or another ; for he will vindicate his own truth.
He has undertaken to convince all men. They who will not be convinced in
this world, by the gentle and gracious methods which God uses with them now,
shall be convinced hereafter by severe means. If they will not be convinced
for salvation, they shall be convinced by damnation. God will make them
know that he is the Lord. And he will make them know that he bears rule.
" Consume them in wrath, that they may not be ; and let them know that God
ruleth in Jacob, unto the ends of the earth," Psal. lix. 13. " Let them be con
founded and troubled for ever : yea, let them be put to shame, and perish.
That men may know that thou, whose name is Jehovah, art the Most High
over all the earth," Psal. Ixxxiii. 17, 18.
What great care we had need all have, that we be not deceived in matters
of religion. If our hearts are all naturally possessed with such an extreme
brutish ignorance and blindness in things of religion, and we are exceedingly
prone to delusion ; then surely great care ought to be taken to avoid it. For
that we are naturally prone to delusion, shows our danger: but the greater our
danger of any calamity is, the greater had our watchfulness need to be. Let
us therefore be hence warned to take heed that we be not deceived about our
duty ; about our own hearts ; about our ways ; about our state ; and about
our opportunities. Thousands are deceived in these things, and thousands
perish by that means. Multitudes fall on our right hand and on our left, and
are ruined eternally by their delusion in these things.
How foolish a thing it is for men to lean to their own understanding, and
trusttheir own hearts. If we are so blind, then our own wisdom is not to be
depended on ; and that advice of the wise man is most reasonable : " Trust in
the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding," Prov.
iii. 5, and " He that trusteth in his own heart, is a fool," Prov. xxviii. 26. They
therefore are fools, who trust to their own wisdom, and will question the mys
terious doctrines of religion ; because they cannot see through them, and will
not trust to the infinite wisdom of God.
Let us therefore become fools ; be sensible of our own natural blindness and
folly. There is a treasure of wisdom contained in that one sentence : " If any
among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he
may be wise," 1 Cor. iii. 18. Seeing our own ignorance, and blindness, is the
first step towards having true knowledge. " If any man think that he knoweth
any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know," 1 Cor. viii. 2.
Let us ask wisdom of God. If we are so blind in ourselves, then knowledge
is not to be sought for out of our own stock, but must be sought from some
other source. And we have nowhere else to go for it, but to the fountain of
light and wisdom. True wisdom is a precious jewel ; and none of our fellow-
creatures can give it us, nor can we buy it with any price we have to give. It
is the sovereign gift of God. The way to obtain it, is to go to him, sensible of
our weakness, and blindness, and misery on that account. " If any lack wisdom
let him ask of God," James i. 5.
SERMON III.
MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIE4
ROMANS v. 10. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.
THE apostle, from the beginning of the epistle to the beginning of this chap
ter, hath insisted on the doctrine of justification by faith alone. And having
particularly spoken to that, in this chapter he goes on to consider the benefits
that are consequent on justification. And there are three that flow from justifi
cation, which are here spoken of, viz., peace with God, present happiness, and
hope of glory. Peace with God is mentioned in the first verse. " Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ."
In the following verses he speaks of present blessedness, and hope of glory, as
benefits accompanying justification. " By whom also we have access by faith
into this grace, wherein* we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
And concerning this benefit of the hope of glory, the apostle does particu
larly take notice of two things, viz., the blessed nature of this hope, and the
sure ground of it.
1. He insists on the blessed nature of this hope, in that it enables us to glory
in tribulations. This excellent nature of true Christian hope is described in the
following words: " And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing
that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience,
hope ; and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us," verses 3 5, q. d.
Through hope of a blessed reward, that will abundantly more than make up for
all tribulation, we are enabled to bear tribulation with patience; patiently
bearing, and patiently waiting for the reward. And patience works experience ;
for when we thus bear tribulation with patient waiting for the reward, this
brings experience of the earnest of the reward, viz., the earnest of the Spirit, in
our feeling the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. So
that our hope does not make us ashamed ; though we do bear tribulation, our
hope is not disappointed ; for in the midst of our tribulation, we experience
those blessed incomes of the Spirit in our souls, that make even a time of tribu
lation sweet to us ; and is such an earnest as abundantly confirms our hope ;
and so experience works hope.
2. The apostle takes notice of the sure and abundant ground there is tor this
hope ; or the abundant evidence we have, that we shall obtain the glory hoped
for, in that peace we have with God, in our justification through Christ s blood ;
because that while we were without strength, in due time Christ died for us ;
while we were ungodly and sinners, enemies to God and Christ, verses 610.
The apostle s argument is exceeding clear and strong : that if God has done al
ready so great a thing for us, as to give us Christ, to die and shed his precious
blood for us, which was vastly the greatest thing, we need not doubl
he will bestow life upon us, after all this is already done. It is but a small
thing for God actually to bestow eternal life, after it is purchased, to what it is
for him to give his own Son to die, to purchase it. The giving Christ to purchase
it, was virtually all ; it included the whole grace of God in salvation. When
Christ had purchased salvation at such a dear rate, all the difficulty was got
through, all was virtually over and done. It is a small thing, in comparison,
MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES. 37
for God to bestow salvation, after it has been thus purchased at a full price. Sin
ners that are justified by the death of Christ, are already virtually saved : the
thing is, as it were, done ; what remains is no more than the necessary conse
quence, of what is done. Christ when he died made an end of sin ; and when
he rose from the dead, he did virtually rise with the elect ; he brought them up
trom death with him, and ascended into heaven with them. And therefore,
when this is already done, and we are thus reconciled to God through the death
of his Son, we need not fear but that we shall be saved by his life. The love
of God appears much more in his giving his Son to die for sinners, than in giv
ing eternal life after Christ s death.
The giving of Christ to die for us is here spoken of as a much greater thing,
than the actual bestowment of life, on two accounts.
1. That this is all that has any difficulty in it.
2. When God did this for us, he did it for us as sinners and enemies. But
in actually bestowing salvation on us after we are justified, we are not looked
upon as sinners. After we are justified, God does not look on us any longer as sin
ners, but as perfectly righteous persons ; he beholds no iniquity in us. We are
no more enemies, for then we are reconciled. When God gave Christ to die
for the elect, he looked on them as they are in themselves ; but in actually be
stowing eternal life, he does not look on them as they are in themselves, but as
they are in Christ.
There are three epithets used in the text and context, as appertaining to
sinners as they are in themselves.
1. They are without strength, they cannot help themselves, verses 6 8.
2. They are ungodly, or sinners.
3. They are enemies, as in the text.
DOCTRINE :
NATURAL MEN ARE GOD S ENEMIES.
God, though the Creator of all things, yet has some enemies in the world.
Men in general will own, that they are, or have been sinners. There are
few, if any at all, whose consciences are so blinded as not to be sensible
they have been guilty of sin. And most sinners will own that they have bad
hearts. They will own that they do not love God so much as they should do ;
and that they are not so thankful as they ought to be for mercies ; and that in
many things they fail. And yet few of them are sensible that they are God s
enemies. They do not see how they can be truly so called ; they are not sensi
ble that they wish God any hurt, or endeavor to do him any.
But we see that the Scripture speaks of them as enemies to God. So in our
text, and elsewhere, " And you that were sometime alienated, and enemies in
your minds by wicked works," Col. i. 21. " The carnal mind is enmity against
God, "Rom. vii. 7.
And that all natural, or unregenerate men are indeed so, is what I shall
endeavor now particularly to show. Which I propose to do in the following
method :
1. I shall show, in what respects they are enemies to God.
2. To how great a degree they are enemies.
3. Why they are enemies.
4. I shall answer some objections.
I. I am to show, in what respects they are enemies to God.
1. Their enmity appears in their judgments; in the judgment and esteem
38
they have of God. They have a very mean esteem of God. Men are ready to
entertain a good esteem of those with whom they are friends : they are apt to
think highly of their qualities, to give them their due praises; and if there be
defects, to cover them. But those to whom they are enemies, they are disposed
to have mean thoughts of; they are apt to entertain a dishonorable opinion of
them ; they will be ready to look contemptibly upon any thing that is praise
worthy in them.
So it is with natural men towards God. They entertain very low and con
temptible thoughts of God. Whatever honor and respect they may pretend and
make a show of towards God, if their practice be examined, it will show, that
they do certainly look upon him to be a Being, that is but little to be regarded.
They think him one that is worthy of very little honor and respect, not worthy
to be much taken notice of. The language of their hearts is, " Who is the
Lord, that I should obey his voice ?" Exod. v. 2. " What is the Almighty,
that we should serve him ? and what profit should we have if we pray unto
him ?" Job xxi. 15. They count him worthy neither to be loved nor feared.
They dare not behave with that slight and disregard towards one of their fellow
creatures, when a little raised above them in power and authority, as they dare
and do towards God. They value one of their equals much more than God,
and are ten times more afraid of offending such a one, than of displeasing the
God that made them. They cast such exceeding contempt on God, as to pre
fer every vile lust before him. And every worldly enjoyment is set higher in
their esteem than God. A morsel of meat, or a few pence of worldly gain, is
preferred before him. God is set last and lowest in the esteem of natural
men.
2. They are enemies in the natural relish of their souls. They have an in
bred distaste and disrelish of God s perfections. God is not such a sort of bein
as they would have. Though they are ignorant of God, yet from what they
hear of him, and from what is manifest by the light of nature of God, they do
not like him. By his being endowed with such attributes as he is, they have
an aversion to him. They hear God is an infinitely holy, pure, and righteous
Being, and they do not like him upon this account ; they have no relish of such
kind of qualifications; they take no delight in contemplating them. It would
be a mere task, a bondage to a natural man, to be obliged to set himself to con
template these attributes of God. They see no manner of beauty or loveliness,
nor taste any sweetness in them. And upon the account of their distaste of
these 1 perfections, they dislike all the other of his attributes. They have greater
aversion to him because he is omniscient and knows all things ; because his
omniscience is a holy omniscience. They are not pleased that he is omnipotent,
and can do whatever he pleases ; because it is a holy omnipotence. They are
enemies even to his mercy, because it is a holy mercy. They do not like his
immutability, because by this he never will he otherwise than he is, an infinitely
holy God.
It is from this disrelish that natural men have of the attributes of God, that
they do not love to have much to do with God. The natural tendency of the
heart of man is to fly from God, and keep at a distance from him ; and get as
far off as possible from God. A natural man is averse to communion with God,
and is naturally disinclined to those exercises of religion wherein he has imme
diately to do with God. It is said of wicked man, " God is not in all his
thoughts," Psal. x. 4. It is evident that the mind of man is naturally averse
to thinking about God ; and hence, if any thoughts of God be suggested to the
raind, they soon go away ; such thoughts are not apt to rest in the minds of
MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES, 39
natural men. If any thing is said to them of God, they are apt to forget it : it
is like seed that falls upon the hard path, it does not at all enter in, and the
fowls of the air soon catch it away ; or like seed that falls upon a rock. Other
things will stick ; but divine things do, as it were, rebound ; and if they are
cast into the mind, they meet with that there which soon thrusts them out again ;
they meet with no suitable entertainment, but are soon chased away.
Hence, also it is that natural men are so difficultly persuaded to be constant
in the duty of secret prayer. They would not be so averse to spending a quar
ter of an hour, night and morning, in some bodily labor, but it is because they
are averse to a work wherein they have so immediately to do with God, and
they naturally love to keep at a distance from God.
3. Their wills are contrary 1o his will. God s will and theirs are exceed
ing cross the one to the other. God wills those things that they hate, and are
most averse to ; and they will those things that God hates. Hence they op
pose God in their wills : they set up their wills against the will of God. There
is a dreadful, violent, and obstinate opposition of the will of natural men to the
will of God.
They are very opposite to the commands of God. It is from the enmity of
the will, that " the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be," Rom. vii. 7. Hence natural men are enemies to God s government.
They are not loyal subjects, but enemies to God, considered as Lord of the
world. They are entire enemies to God s authority.
4. They are enemies to God in their affections. There is in every natural
man a seed of malice against God : yea, there is such a seed of this rooted in
the heart of man naturally. And it does often dreadfully break forth and ap
pear. Though it may in a great measure lie hid in secure times, when God
lets men alone, and they meet with no great disturbance of body or mind ; yet
if God does but touch men a little in their consciences, by manifesting to them
a little of his wrath for their sins, this oftentimes brings out the principle of
malice against God, which is exercised in dreadful heart-risings, inward wrang-
lings and quarrelings, and blasphemous thoughts ; wherein the heart is like a
viper, hissing, and spitting poison at God. There is abundance of such a prin
ciple in the heart. And however free from it the heart may seem to be when
let alone and secure, yet a very little thing will set it in a rage. Temptation
will show what is in the heart. The alteration of a man s circumstances will
often discover the heart : a change of circumstance will bring that out which
was hid before. Pharaoh had no more natural enmity against God than other
men; and if other natural men had been in Pharaoh s circumstances, the same
corruptions would have put forth themselves in as dreadful a manner. The
Scribes and Pharisees had naturally no more of a principle of malice in their
hearts against Christ than other men ; and other natural men would, in their
case, and having as little restraint, exercise as much malice against Christ as
they did. When wicked men come to be cast into hell, then their malice
against God will appear. Then it will appear what dreadful malice they have
in their hearts. Then their hearts will appear as full of malice as hell is full
of fire. But when wicked men come to be in hell, there will be no new cor
ruptions put into their hearts ; but only old ones will then break forth without
restraint. That is all the difference between a wicked man on earth and a
wicked man in hell, that in hell there will be more to stir up the exercise of
corruption, and less to restrain it than on earth ; /but there will be no new cor
ruption put in. A wicked man will have no principle of corruption in hell, but
what he carried to hell with him. There are now the seeds of all the malice
40 MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES.
that will be exercised then. The malice of damned spirits is but a branch ot
the root, that is in the hearts of natural men now. A natural man has a heart
like the heart of a devil ; but only as corruption is more under restraint in man
than in devils.
5. They are enemies in their practice. " They walk contrary to him," Lev.
xxvi. 21. Their enmity against God does not lie still, but they are exceeding
active in it. They are engaged in a war against God. Indeed they cannot
hurt God, he is so much above them ; but yet they do what they can. They op
pose themselves to his honor and glory : they oppose themselves to the interest of
his kingdom in the world : they oppose themselves to the will and command of
God ; and oppose him in his government. They oppose God in his works, and
in his declared designs ; while God is doing one work, they are doing the con
trary, and as much as in them lies, counter- working ; God seeks one thing, and
they seek directly the contrary. They list under Satan s banner, and are his
willing soldiers in his opposing the kingdom of God.
I proceed now,
11. To say something with respect to the degree of this enmity j tending in
some measure to show, how great enemies natural men are to God.
1. They have no love to God ; their enmity is mere enmity, without any mix
ture of love. A natural man is wholly destitute of any principle of love to God,
and never had the least exercise of this love. Some natural men have had bet
ter natural tempers than others ; and some are better educated than others ; and
some live a great deal more soberly than others ; but one has no more love to
God than another ; for none have the least spark of that. The heart of a
natural man is as destitute of love to God, as a dead, stiff, cold corpse is of vital
heat. " I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you," John v. 43.
2. Every faculty and principle of action is wholly under the dominion of
jnmity against God. The nature of man is wholly infected with this enmity
against God. He is tainted with it throughout, in all his faculties and princi
ples. And not only so, but every faculty is entirely and perfectly subdued under
it, and enslaved to it. This enmity against God has the absolute possession of
the man. The Apostle Paul, speaking of what he was naturally, says, " I am
carnal, sold under sin," Rom. vii. 14.
The understanding is under the reigning power of this enmity against God,
so that it is entirely darkened and blinded with regard to the glory and excel
lency of God. The will is wholly under the reigning power of it. All the af
fections are governed by enmity against God ; there is not one affection, nor
one desire, that a natural man has, or that he is ever stirred up to act from, but
what contains in it enmity against God. A natural man is as full of enmity
against God, as any viper, or any venomous beast is full of poison.
3. The power of the enmity of natural men against God, is so great, that it
is insuperable by any finite power. It has too great and strong a possession of
the heart, to be overcome by any created power. Natural men cannot over
come their own enmity, let them strive never so much with their own hearts.
Indeed a natural man never sincerely strives to root out his enmity against God ;
his endeavors are hypocritical : he delights in his enmity, and chooses it. Neither
can others do it, though they sincerely, and to their utmost, endeavor to over
come this enmity. If godly friends and neighbors labor to persuade them to
cast away their enmity, and become friends to God, they cannot persuade him
to it. Though ministers use never so many arguments and entreaties, and set
forth the loveliness of God, and tell them of the goodness of God to them, and
hold forth to them God s own graciou* invitations, and entreat them never so
MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES. 41
earnestly to cast off their opposition and enmity, and to be reconciled, and be
come friends, yet they cannot overcome it : still they will be as bad enemies to
God as ever they were. The tongue of men or of angels cannot persuade them
to relinquish their opposition to God. Miracles will not do it. How many
miracles did the children of Israel see in the wilderness ! Yet their enmity
against God remained, as appeared by their often murmuring. And how oi ten
did Christ use miracles to this end without effect ! But the Jews yet obsti
nately stood out. " Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and
stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy
children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and
ye would not !" Matt, xxiii. 37. And how great did the enmity of these
people appear to be after all ; how spiteful and venomous were their hearts
towards Christ, as appears by their cruel treatment of him in his last suffer
ings!
They are mortal enemies to God, i. e., they have that enmity in their hearts,
that strikes at the life of God. A man may be no friend to another, and may
have an ill spirit towards him, and yet not be his mortal enemy : his enmity will
be satisfied and glutted with something short of the death of the person. But it
is not so with natural men with respect to God, they are mortal enemies. In
deed natural men cannot kill God. They have no hope of it, and so make no
attempts. It has ever been looked upon so much above their power, that, it
may be, it is not thought of. But this is no argument that this is not the ten
dency of the principle
Natural men are enemies to the dominion of God ; and their nature shows
their good will to pull him down out of heaven, and dethrone him if they could !
Yea, they are enemies to the being of God, and would be glad if there was no
God, and therefore it necessarily follows, that they would kill him, and cause
that there should be none, if they could.
" The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God," Psal. xiv. 1. This
saying in his heart, there is no God, implies in it, not only an aptness to question
the being of God, but it implies, that he inclines it should be so. IJis heart
says, i. e., his inclination says. The words in the original are thus : " The fool
hath said in his heart, no God." The words, there is, are not in the original, but
were put in by the translators. Now, if we read the words so, " The fool hath
said in his heart, no God," they will perhaps show the Psalmist s meaning more
fully than as they are now translated. " The fool hath said in his heart, no
God." That is, I would have none, I do not desire any, I wish there was none,
that would suit my inclination best. That is the language of the inclinations
of a natural man ; no God. Let there be no God for me, let me have no God;
let the world be emptied of a God, he stands in my way. And hence he is an
Atheist in his heart, he is ready to think there is none ; and that also is ready to
be the language of his heart, " There is no God."
The viper s poison is deadly poison ; and when he bites, he seeks the pre
cious life. And men are in this respect a generation of vipers. Their poison,
which is enmity against God, seeks the life of God. " O generation of vipers,"
Matt. iii. 7. " The wicked are estranged from the womb. Their poison is like
the poison of a serpent," Psal. Iviii. 3, 4. " For their vine is the vine of Sodom
and of the fields of Gomorrah ; their grapes are the grapes of gall, their clusters
are bitter. Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps "
Deut. xxxii. 32, 33.
The divine nature being immortal, and infinitely out of our reach there is
no other trial possible, whether the enmity that is naturally in the heart against
VOL. IV 6
42 MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIE&
God, be mortal or no, but only for God to take c i him the human nature and
become man, so as to come within man s reach, tLat they should be capable of
killinf him. There can be no other experiment but this. And this trial there
has been. And what has been the event 1 Why, when once God became
man, and came down to dwell here among such vipers as fallen men, they
hated him and persecuted him ; and never left him till they had imbrued their
hands in his blood. There was a multitude of them that appeared combined in
this design. Nothing would do, but he must be put to death. All cry out,
" Crucify him, crucify him. Away with him." They had rather Barabbas, who
greatly deserved death, should live, than he should not die. Nothing would re
strain them from it ; even all his preaching, and all his miracles ; but they
would kill him. And it was not the ordinary kind of execution that would
satisfy them ; but it must be the most cruel, and most ignominious they possibly
could invent. And they, in the time of it, added to it, and aggravated it as
much as ever they could, by mocking him, and spitting on him, and scourging
him. This sh6ws what the nature and tendency of man s enmity against God
is ; here it appears in its true colors.
5. Natural men are greater enemies to God than they are to any other being
whatsoever. Natural men may be very great enemies to their fellow creatures, but
not so great as they are to God. There is no other being that so much stands
in sinners way, in those things that they chiefly set their hearts upon, as God.
Men are wont to hate their enemies in proportion to two things, viz., their op
position to what they look upon to be their interest, and their power and ability.
One that is looked upon a great and powerful enemy, will be more hated than
one that is weak and impotent. But none of their enemies are so powerful as
God.
Man s enmity to other enemies may be got over : time may wear it out, and
they may be reconciled and be friends. But natural men, without a mighty
work of God to change their hearts, will never get over their enmity against
God. They are greater enemies to God than they are to the devil. Yea, they
treat the devil as their friend and master, and join in with him against God.
" Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do : he
was a murderer from the beginning," John viii. 44.
I now proceed,
III. To show why, or on what account they are enemies to God.
The general reason is, that God is opposite to them in the worship of their
idols.
The apostasy of man does summarily consist in departing from the true God
to idols ; forsaking his Creator, and setting up other things in his room.
When God at first created man, he was united to his Creator ; the God that
made him was his God. The true God was the object of his highest respect,
and had the possession of his heart. Love to God was the principle in his heart,
that ruled over all other principles ; and every thing in the soul was wholly in
subjection to it. But when man fell, he departed from the true God, and the
union that was between his heart and his Creator was broken : he wholly
lost the principle of love he had to God. And henceforward man clave to other
gods. He gave that respect to the creature which is due to the Creator. When
God ceased to be the object of his supreme love and respect, other things of
course became the objects of it.
Man will necessarily have something that he respects as God. If man does
not give his highest respect to the God that made him, there will be something
else that has the possession of it. Men will either worship the true God, or
MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES. 43
some idol : it is impossible it should be otherwise ; something will have the
heart of man. And that which a man gives his heart to, may be called his god ;
and therefore, wh^en man by the fall extinguished all love to the true God, he
set up the creature in his room*.
And so man came to be at enmity against the true God. For havino- lost
his esteem and love of the true God, and set up other gods in his room, and in
opposition to him ; and God still demanding their worship, and opposin o- them
in their worship of those false gods ; and man continuing still to worship 3 idols,
enmity necessarily follows.
That which a man chooses for his god he sets his heart mainly upon. And
- nothing will so soon excite enmity as opposition in that which is dearest. A
man will be the greatest enemy to him who opposes him in what he chooses
for his god : he will look on none as standing so much in his way as he that
would deprive him of his god : "Ye have taken away my gods; and what have
I more?" Judg. xviii. 24. A man in this respect cannot serve two masters that
stand in competition for his service. And not only if he serves one, he cannot
serve the other, but if he cleaves to one he will necessarily hate the other. " No
man can serve two masters : for either he will hate the one, and love the other,
or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
mammon," Matt. vi. 24. And this is the very reason that men hate God. In
this case it is as when two kings set up in one kingdom in opposition one to the
other ; and they both challenge the same throne, and are competitors for the
same crown; they that are loyal, hearty subjects to one, will necessarily be
enemies to the other. It alway happens so, nor indeed can it be otherwise.
As that which is a man s god, is the object of his highest love ; so that God,
who chiefly opposes him in it, must be the object of his greatest hatred.
The gods which a natural man worships, instead of the God that made him,
are himself and the world. He has withdrawn his esteem and honor from God
and proudly exalts himself as Satan did : he was not willing to be in such sub
jection ; and therefore rebelled, and set up himself for God. So a natural man
in the proud and high thoughts he has of himself, sets up himself upon God s
throne. And he gives his heart to the world, worldly riches, and worldly
pleasures, and worldly honors ; they have the possession of that regard which is
due to God. The apostle sums up all the idolatry of wicked men in their love
of the world. " Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that
is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is
not of the Father, but is of the world," 1 John ii. 15, 16. And the Apostle
James observes, that a man must necessarily be the enemy of the true God, if
he be a friend of the world. Know ye not that the friendship of the world is
enmity with God ? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world, is the
enemy of God," James iv. 4.
All the sin that men commit, is what they do in the service of their idols :
there is no one act of sin, but what is an act of service to some false god. And
therefore wherein soever God opposes sin in them, he is opposite to their wor
ship of their idols ; on which account they are enemies to God.
God opposes them in their service of their idols in the following respects.
1. He manifests his utter abhorrence of their worship of their idols. Their
idols are what they love above all things ; they would by no means part with
them. This wickedness is sweet unto them, Job xx. 12. If you take them
away what have they more ? If they lose their idols, they lose their all. To
end away their idols from them would be more grievous to them, than to rend
44 MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES.
body and soul asunder ; it is like rending their heart in twain. They love their
idolatry ; but God does not approve of it, but exceedingly hates it ; he hates it
implacably, and will by no means be reconciled y to it; and therefore they hate
him. God declares an infinite hatred of every act of sin which they do ; or
every act that they do in the service of their false gods. He approves of it in
no part, but hates it all. He declares himself to be a holy God, and a jealous
God ; a God that is very jealous of his own honor ; and that greatly abhors
the giving that honor to another.
2. He utterly forbids their cleaving to those idols, and all the service that they
do to them. He not only shows that he dislikes it, but he utterly forbids it ;
and demands that they should worship him, and serve him only, and give their
hearts wholly to him, without tolerating any competitor. He allows them to
serve their idols in no degree; but requires them to cast them away utterly, and
pay no more worship to them at any time. He requires a final parting with
their idols. Not only that they should refrain from them for a while, but cast
them away forever, and never gratify their idolatrous respect to them any more
This is so exceeding contrary to them, and what they are so averse to, and
so obstinate in their refusal of, that they are enemies to God for it. They can
not endure God s commands, because they forbid all that which their hearts are
so engaged in. And as they hate God s commands, so they hate him whose
commands they are.
3. He threatens them with everlasting damnation for their service of their
idols. He threatens them for their past idolatry. He threatens them with his
eternal wrath, for their having departed from him, and their having chosen to
themselves other gods. He threatens them for that disposition they have in
their hearts to cleave to other gods : he threatens the least degrees of that res
pect which they have in their hearts to their idols. He manifests that he will
not tolerate any regard to them, but has fixed eternal death, as the wages of
every degree of it. And he will not release them from their guilt ; he holds them
to their obligations ; he will not acquit them at all ; and he will accept of no
atonement that they can make. He will not forgive them, whatever they do in
religion ; whatever pains they take ; whatever tears they shed. He will accept
of no money or price that they have to offer.
And he threatens every future act of their idolatry. He not only forbids
them ever to be guilty of the least act, but forbids them on pain of eternal dam
nation. So strictly does God prohibit them from the service of their idols, that
are so dear to them, that are their all, and which they would on no account part
with. He threatens them with everlasting wrath for all exercises of inordinate
love of worldly profit ; for all manifestations of inordinate regard to worldly
pleasures, or worldly honors. He threatens them with everlasting torments for
their self-exaltation. He requires them to deny themselves, and renounce them
selves, and to abase themselves at his feet, on pain of bearing his wrath to all
eternity.
The strictness of God s law is a principal cause of man s enmity against
God. If God were a God that did not so much hate sin ; if he were one who
would allow them in the gratification of their lusts, in some degree: and his
threatenings were not so awful against all indulgence of their lust ; if his
threatenings were not so absolute ; if his displeasure could be appeased by a
few tears, and a little reformation, or the like ; they would not be so great ene
mies, nor hate him so much as they do now. But God shows himself to be an
implacable enemy to their idols, to every degree of their service of them ; and
has threatened everlasting wrath, infinite calamity for all that they do in the
MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES. 45
service of their lusts ; and holds them bound under his wrath therefor. And
this makes them irreconcilable enemies to him.
For this reason the Scribes and Pharisees were such bitter enemies to Christ,
because he showed himself to be such an enemy to their pride, and conceit of
their own wisdom, and their self-righteousness, and inordinate affection of their
own honor, which was their god. Natural men are enemies to God, because
he is so opposite to them in that in which they place their all. If you go to
take away that which is very dear to a man, nothing will provoke him more.
God is infinitely opposite to that in which natural men place all their delight,
and all their happiness, viz., their gods. He is an enemy to that which natural
men value as their greatest honor and highest dignity ; and which they trust
wholly to, that which is all their dependence, viz., their own righteousness.
Hence natural men are greater enemies to God than they are to any other
being. Some of their fellow creatures may stand very much in their way with
regard to some things they set their hearts upon ; but God opposes them with
respect to all their idols, and those gods^which are their all. And then God s
opposition to their idols, which are above all things dear to them, is infinitely
great. None of our fellow creatures ever oppose us in any of our interests so
much as God opppses wicked men in their idolatry ; for God has an infinite
opposition against it. His infinite opposition is manifested by his threatening
an infinite punishment, viz., his dreadful wrath to all eternity, misery without
end. Hence we need not wonder that natural men are enemies to God.
Having thus shown, in some measure, why natural men are God s enemies,
I proceed to the last thing proposed :
IV. To consider and make answer to some objections, that some may be
ready to make against this.
Natural men do not generally conceive themselves to be so bad : they have
not this notion of themselves, that they are enemies to God. And therefore
when they hear such doctrine as this taught them, they stand ready to make
objections.
Object. 1. Some natural men may be ready to say, I do not know that I
feel any such enmity in my heart against God as is spoken of. I am not sen
sible that I am such a dreadful enemy, so as to hate God, and to have a mortal
enmity against him ; and to have a disposition, if I could, to kill him. I feel
no such thing in myself, and why should I think that I have such a thing in
me ? If I have such enmity, why do not I feel it ? If I am a mortal enemy,
why should I not know it better than any body else ? How can others see
what is in my heart better than I myself?* If I hate one of my fellow crea
tures, and have a spirit against him, I can feel it inwardly working. To such
an objection I would,
Ans. 1. If you do but observe yourself, and search your own heart, unless
you are strangely blinded, you may be sensible of those things wherein enmity
does fundamentally consist. As particularly, you may be sensible that you
have at least had a low and contemptible esteem of God ; and that you in your
esteem set the trifles and vanities of {his world far above him ; so as to esteem
the enjoyment of these things. far before the enjoyment of God, and to value
these things better than his love. And you may be sensible that you despise
the authority of God, and value his commands and his honor but very little.
Or if by some means you have blinded yourself now, so as to think you do re
gard them now, doubtless you can look back and see that you have not regard
ed them. You may be sensible that you have had a disrelish and aversion
towards God ; an opposition to thinking of God, or to have any thing to do
46 MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES.
with him ; so that it would have been a very uncomfortable task to have been
confined to it for any time ; and that when the vanities of the world, at the
same time, have been very pleasing to you ; and you have been all swallowed
up in them, while you have been averse to the things of religion.
If you look into your heart, it is there plain to be seen, that there is an en
mity in your will, that your will is contrary to God s will ; for you have been
opposing the will of God all your life long. These things are plain in natural
men ; it is nothing but some great delusion that can hide them from you. And
these things are the foundation of all enmity ; if these things be in you, all the
rest that we have spoken of will follow of course.
2. One reason why you have not more sensibly felt the exercises of malice
against God is, that your enmity is now exercised partly in your unbelief of
God s being ; and this prevents it appearing in other ways, that otherwise it
would. Man has naturally a principle of atheism in him ; an indisposition to
realize God s being, and a disposition to doubt of it. The being of God does
not ordinarily seem real to natural men. All the discoveries that there are of God s
being, in his works, will not overcome the principle of atheism that is in the
heart. And though they seem in some measure to be rationally convinced,
yet it does not appear real ; the conviction is faint, there is no strong conviction
impressed on the mind, that there is a God : and oftentimes they are ready to
think that there is none. Now this will prevent the exercise of this enmity
that otherwise would be felt ; particularly, it may be an occasion of there not
being those sensible exercises of hatred, that otherwise there would be.
It may in some measure be illustrated by this : if you had a rooted malice
against another man, a principle that had been long established there ; if you
should hear that he was dead, and so should conceive that he had no being, the
sensible workings of your malice would not be felt, as when you realized it
that he was alive, or that there was such a person ; and that although there be
the same thing in the foundation, which would appear, if you should afterwards
hear the news contradicted, and perceive that your enemy was still alive; you
would feel the same workings of hatred that you did before. And when you
thought he was dead, you might feel the exercise of your enmity, in being glad
of it. And thus your not realizing it, that God has a being, may prevent those
sensible workings of hatred, that otherwise you would have. If wicked men
in this world were sensible of the reality of God s being, as the wicked are in
another, they would feel more of that hatred, that men in another world do. The
exercise of corruption in one way, may, and often does prevent it working in
other ways. As covetousness may prevent the exercise of pride, so atheism
may prevent malice ; and yet it may be no argument of there being any the less
of a principle of enmity in the heart ; for it is the same enmity working in
another way. The same enmity that in this world works by atheism, will in
another world, where there will be no room for atheism, work by malice and
blasphemy. The same mortal enmity that, if you saw there was a God, might
make you to wish him dead, and to desire, if it were possible, to kill him, may
now dispose and incline to think there is none. Men are very often apt to think
things are so as they would have them to be. The same principle disposes you
to think God has no life, which, if you knew he had, would dispose you, if it
were possible, to take it away.
3. If you think that there is a God, yet you do not realize it, that he is such
a God as he is. You do not realize it, that he is so holy a God as he is : you
do not realize it, lhat he has such a hatred of sin as indeed he has. You do
not realize it, that he is so just a God as he is, that will by no means clear the
MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES. 47
guilty. But that in the Psalms is applicable to you : " These things hast thou
done, and I kept silence : thou thoughtesl that I was altogether such a one as
thyself," Psa). 1. 21. So that if you think there is a God, you do not think
there is such a God as there is. And your atheism appears in this, as well as
in thinking there is no God. For that God that you think there is, is not that
God that indeed is, but another, one of your own feigning, the fruit of your own
vain, deluded imagination. So that your objection arises from this, that you do
not find such a sensible hatred against that god which you have formed, to suit
yourself; a god that you like better than the true God. But this is no argument
that you have no bitter enmity against the true God ; for it was your enmity
against the true God, and your not liking him, that has put you upon forming
up another in your imagination, that you like better. It is your enmity against
those attributes of God s holiness and justice, and the like, that has put youupon
conceiting another, who is not so holy as he is, and does not hate sin so much,
and will not be so strictly just in punishing it ; and whose wrath against sin is
not so terrible.
But if you were sensible of the vanity of your own conceits, and that God
was not such a one as you have imagined ; but that he is, as he is indeed, an infinite
ly n ty> J u . st > sin hating, and sin revenging God, who will not tolerate nor endure
the worship of idols, you would be much more liable to feel the sensible exer
cises of enmity against him, than you are now. And this experience confirms.
For we see that when men come to be under convictions, and to be made sen-
sible that God is not as they have heretofore imagined ; but that he is such a
jealous, sin hating God, and whose wrath against sin is so- dreadful, they
are much more apt to have sensible exercises of enmity against God than before.
4. Your having always been taught that God is infinitely above you, and
out of your reach, has prevented your enmity s being exercised in those ways
that otherwise it would have been. You have always from your infancy been
taught, that God is so high, that you cannot hurt him ; that notion has grown
up with you. And hence you be not sensible, that you have any disposition to
hurt him ; because it has been conceived so impossible, that it has not come
into your mind. And hence your enmity has not been exercised in revengeful
thoughts ; because revenge has never found any room here ; it has never found
any handle to take hold of; there has been no conception of any such thing,
and hence it has lain still. A serpent will not bite, or spit poison at that which
it sees at a great distance; which if it saw near, would do it immediately.
Opportunity shows what men be oftentimes, whether friends or enemies. Op
portunity to do, puts men in mind of doing; wakens up such principles as lay
dormant before. Opportunity stirs up desire to do, where there was before a
disposition that without opportunity would have lain still. If a man has had
an old grudge against another, and has a fair opportunity to be revenged, this
will revive his malice, and waken up a desire of revenge.
If a great and sovereign prince injures a poor man, and though what he
does is looked upon very cruel, that will not ordinarily stir up that passionate
revenge, as if he sustained no bigger an injury from one of his equals, because
he is so much above him, and out of his reach. Many a man that has appeared
calm and meek when he has had no power in his hands, and has not appeared,
either to himself or others, to have any disposition to these and those cruel acts;
that yet afterwards, when he came to have opportunity by unexpected advance
ment or otherwise, has appeared like a ravenous wolf, or devouring lion. So
it was with Hazael. " And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord 1 And he an
swered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel :
48 MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES.
their strong holds wilt, thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with
the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child.
And Hazael said, But what ! is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great
thing 1 And Elisha answered. The Lord hath showed me that thou shalt be
king 5 over Syria," 2 Kings viii. 12, 13. Hazael was then a servant ; he had
no power in his hands to do as he pleased ; and so that cruel disposition that
was in him had lain hid, and he did not himself imagine that it was there : but
afterwards, when he became king of Syria and was absolute, and had none to
control him ; then it broke out and appeared, and he did as the prophet had
foretold. He committed those very acts of cruelty, that he thought it was not
in his heart to do. And it was want of opportunity that was the thing that
made the difference. It was all in his heart before : he Avas such a dog then
as to do this thing, but only had not had opportunity. And therefore when he
seemed surprised that the prophet should say so of him, all the reason the
prophet gives is, " The Lord hath showed me that thou shalt be king over
O T * ? 5 "*
And some natural men are such dogs as to do things, if they had opportu
nity, which they do not imagine it is in their hearts to do. You object against
your having a mortal hatred against God ; that you never felt any desire to
kill him. But one reason has been, that it has always been conceived so im
possible by you, and you have been so sensible how such desires would be in vain,
that it has kept down such a desire. But if the life of God were within your
reach, and you knew it, it would not be safe one hour. Who knows what thoughts
would presently arise in your heart by such an opportunity, and what disposi
tion would be raised up in your heart 1 Who would trust your heart, that there
would not presently be such thoughts as these, though they are enough to make
one tremble to mention them 1 " Now I have opportunity to set myself at lib
erty that I need not be kept in continual slavery by the strict law of God.
Then I may take my liberty to walk in that way I like best, and need not be
continually in such slavish fear of God s displeasure. And God has not done
well by me in many instances. He has done most unjustly by me, in holding
me bound to destruction for unbelief, and other things which I cannot help.
He has shown mercy to others, and refused it to me. I have now an opportu
nity to deliver myself, and there can be no danger of my being hurt for it :
will not be alive to revenge it. And then there will be no God for us to be
terrified about, and so keep us in slavery."
Who would trust your heart, that such thoughts would not arise 7 Ano
others much more horrid ! Too dreadful to be mentioned ! And therefore 1
forbear. Those natural men are foolishly insensible of what is in their own
hearts, who think there would be no danger of any such workings of heart, it
they knew they had opportunity.
5 You little consider how much your having no more of the sensible exei-
cises of hatred to God, is owing to a being restrained by fear. You have al
ways been taught what a dreadful thing it is to hate God. And you have beer.,
tauo-ht what adreadful being God is, and how terrible God s displeasure is ,
that God sees the heart, and knows all the thoughts ; and that you are in b
hands, and he can make you as miserable as he pleases, and as soon as he
pleases. And these things have restrained you: and the fear that has
from these things, has kept you from appearing what you are ; it has kept down
your enmity, and made that serpent afraid to show its head, as otherwise it
would do. If a man were wholly under the power of an enemy, though he
were never so much of an enemy to him, he would be afraid to exercise his
MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES. 49
hatred in outward acts, unless it were \vith great disguise. And if it be sup
posed that such an enemy, in whose power he was, could sec his heart, and
know all his thoughts, and apprehended that he would put him to a terrible
death, if he saw the workings of malice there, how greatly would this restrain!
He would be afraid so much as to believe himself, that he hated his enemy ;
but there would be all mariner of smothering, disguise, and hypocrisy, and
feigning even of thoughts and affections.
Thus your enmity has been kept under restraint ; and thus it has been from
your infancy. You have grown up in it, so that it has become an habitual re
straint. You dare not so much as think you hate God. If you do exercise
hatred, you have a disguise for it, whereby you endeavor even to hide it from
your own conscience; and so have all along deceived yourself. And your de
ceit is very old and habitual ; and hence you are so difficultly convinced. But
this has been only restraint : it has been no mortification. But there has been
an enmity against God in its full strength. It has been only restrained like an
enemy that durst not rise up and show himself.
6. One reason why you have not felt more sensible hatred to God, may be
because you have not had much trial of what is in your heart. It may be God
has hitherto in a great measure, let you alone. The enmity that is in men s hearts
against God, is like a serpent, which, if he be let alone, lies still; but if any
body disturbs it, will soon hiss, and be enraged, and show its serpentine spite
ful nature.
Notwithstanding the good opinion you have of yourself, yet a little trial
would show you to be a viper, and your heart would be set all on rage against
God. One thing that restrains you now is your hope. You hope to receive
many things from God. Your own interest is concerned ; you hope to make
great gains of God. So that both hope and fear operate together, to restrain
your enmity from such sensible exercises as otherwise would be. But if once
hope were gone, you would soon show what you were : you would soon feel
your enmity against God in a rage.
7. If you pretend that you do not feel enmity against God, and yet act as
an enemy, you may certainly conclude, that it is not because you are no enemy,
but because you do not know your own heart. Actions are the best interpre
ters of the disposition ; they show, better than any thing else, what the heart is.
It must be because you do not observe your own behavior, that you question
whether you are an enemy to God.
What other account can you give of your own carriage, but only your being
God s enemy 1 What other can be given of your so opposing God in your ways :
walking so exceeding contrary to him, contrary to his counsels, contrary to his
commands, and contrary to his glory ? What other account can be given of
your casting so much contempt upon God ; your setting him so low ; your acting
so much against his authority, and against his kingdom and interest in the
world ? What other account can be given of your so setting your will in oppo
sition to God s will, and that so obstinately, for so long a time, against so many
wainings as you have had ? What other account can be given of your joining
so much with Satan, in the opposition he is making to the kingdom of God in
the world ? And that you will join with him against God, though it be so much
against your own interest, and though you expose yourself by it to everlasting
misery ?
Such like behavior in one man towards another, would be looked on as suf
ficient evidence of a man s being an enemy to another. If he should be seen to
behave thus from time to time, and that it was his constant n.anner, none would
VOL. IV. 7
JX) MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES.
"vant any better evidence, that he was an enemy to his neighbor. If you your
self had a servant that carried it towards you, as you do towards God, you would
not think there was need of any greater evidence of his being your enemy. If
your servant should manifest so much contempt of you ; should disregard your
commands as much as you do the commands of God ; and should go so directly
contrary ; should in so many ways act the very reverse of your commands ; and
should seem to set himself in ways that were contrary to your will so obstinate
ly and incorrigibly, without any amendment from your repeated calls and warn
ings, and threatenings ; and should act so cross to you day and night, as you
do to God ; when you sought one thing, he would seek the contrary ; when
you did any work, he would, as much as in him lay, undo and destroy your
work ; and should continually drive at such ends, as tended to overthrow the
ends you aimed at; when you sought to bring to pass any design, he would en
deavor to overthrow your design ; and should set himself as much against your
interest, as you do yourself against God s honor. And you should moreover
see him, from time to time, with others that were your declared mortal enemies;
and making them his counsellors as much as you do the devils, God s declared
mortal enemies ; and hearkening to their counsels, as much as you do to
Satan s temptations : should you not think you had sufficient evidence that he
was your enemy indeed 1
Therefore consider seriously your own ways, and weigh your own behavior.
" How canst thou say, I am not polluted ? See thy way in the valley, know
what thou hast done," Jer. ii. 23.
Object, II. Natural men may be ready to object, the respect they show to
God, from time to time. This makes many to think that they are far from
being such enemies to God. They carry it respectfully towards God : they pray
to him in secret, and do it in as humble a manner as they are able. They at
tend on public worship, and take a great deal of pains to do it in a decent
manner. It seems to them that they show God a great deal of respect ; they
use many very respectful terms in their prayer ; they give him all the honor
they can ; they are respectful in their manner of speaking, and in their voice,
and their gestures, and the like.
But to this, I
Answer, That all this is done in mere hypocrisy. All this seeming respect
is feigned, there is no sincerity in it; there is external respect, but no respect in
the heart ; there is a show, and nothing else. You only cover your enmity
with a painted vail. You put on the disguise of a friend, but in your heart
you are a mortal enemy for all that. There is external honor, but inward con
tempt ; there is a show of friendship and regard, but inward hatred. You do
but deceive yourself with your show of respect, and endeavor to deceive God ; not
considering God looks not on the outward appearance, but he looks on the heart.
Here consider particularly,
1. That much of that seeming respect which natural men show to God, is
owing to their education. They have been taught from their infancy that they
ought to show great respect to God. They have been taught to use respectful
language, when speaking about God, and to behave with solemnity, when at
tending on those exercises of religion, wherein they have to do with God. They,
from their childhood, have seen that it is the manner of others, when they pray
to God, to use reverential expressions, and a reverential behavior before him.
And their show of respect, which they make to God, is owing, in a great mea
sure, to this.
Those who are brought up in places where they have commonly, from their
MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES. 51
infancy, heard men take the name of God in vain, and swear, and curse, and
blaspheme ; they learn to do the same, and it becomes habitual to them so to
do. AIK! it is the same way, and no other, that you have learned to behave
respectfully towards God ; not that you have any more respect to God than
they ; but they have been brought up one way, and you another. In some
parts of the world, men are brought up in the worship of idols of silver, and
gold, and wood, and stone, made in the shape of men and beasts. " They say
of them, Let the men that sacrifice, kiss the calves," Hos. xiii. 2. In some
parts of the world they are brought up to worship serpents, and are taught from
their infancy to carry it with great respect to them. And in some places they
are brought up in worshipping the devil, who appears to them in a bodily
shape ; and to behave with a show of great reverence and honor towards him.
And what respect you show to God has no better foundation ; it comes the
same way, and is worth no more.
2. That show of respect which you make is forced. You come to God,
and make a great show of respect to him, and use very respectful terms, with a
respectful, reverential tone and manner of speaking ; and your countenance is
grave and solemn ; and you put on a humble aspect ; and you kneel, and use
humble, respectful postures, out of fear. You are afraid that God will execute
his wrath upon you ; and so you feign a great deal of respect, that he may not
be angry with you. "Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies
submit themselves unto thee, 1 Psal. Ixvi. 3. In the original it is, " shall thine
enemies lie to thee." It is rendered therefore in the margin, " shall yield feign
ed obedience unto thee." All that you do in religion is forced and feigned.
Through the greatness of God s power, you yield feigned obedience. You are
in God s power, and he is able to destroy you ; and so you feign a great deal of
respect to him, that he might not destroy you. As one might do towards an ene
my that had taken him captive, though he at the same time would gladly make
his escape, if he could, by taking away the life of him who had taken him captive.
3. It is not real respect that moves you to behave so towards God ; you do
it because you hope you shall get by it. It is respect to yourself, and not res
pect to God, that moves you. You hope to move God to bestow the rewards
of his children by it. You are like the Jews who followed Christ, and called
him Rabbi, and would make him a king. Not that they honored him so much
in their hearts, as to think him worthy of the honor of a king, or that they had
the respect of sincere subjects ; but they did it for the sake of the loaves. "Jesus
perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king.
And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him,
Rabbi, when earnest thou hither 1 Jesus answered, and said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because you saw the miracles, but be
cause ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled," John vi. 15 25, 26.
These things do not argue but that you are implacable enemies to God
notwithstanding. If you examine your prayers and other duties, your own con
sciences will tell you that the seeming respect which you have shown to God
in them, has been only in hypocrisy. That oftentimes you have set forth in
your prayers, that God was a great God, and glorious God, an infinitely holy
God, as if you greatly honored him on the account of these attributes; and you,
at the same time, had no sense in your heart of the greatness and gloriousness
of God, or of any excellency in his holiness. And so your own consciences
will tell you, that you have often pretended to be thankful ; you have told God,
that you thanked him that you was alive, and thanked him for these and those
mercies, when you have not found the least jot of thankfulness in your heart.
52 MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES.
And so you have told God of your own unworthiness, and set forth what a vile
creature you was, when you have had no humble sense of your own unwor
thiness.
And if these forementioned restraints were thrown off, you would soon
throw off all your show of respect. Take away fear, and take away a regard
to your own interest, and there would soon be an end to all those appearances
of love, honor and reverence, which now you make. All these things are not
at all inconsistent with the most implacable enmity.
The devil himself made a show of respect to Christ when he was afraid
that he was going to torment him ; and when he hoped to persuade Christ to
spare him longer. " When he saw Jesus he cried out, and fell down before
him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son
of God most high ? I beseech thee torment me not." Luke viii. 28.
Object. III. Some may perhaps object against this doctrine of their being
God s enemies, the religious affections they have sometimes experienced. They
may be ready to say, that when they have come before God in prayer, they
have not only used respectful terras and gestures, but they have prayed with
affection ; their prayers have been attended with tears, which they are ready to
think showed something in the heart.
Answer. These affections have risen from other causes, and not from any
true respect to God.
As particularly,
1. They have risen from self-love, and not love to God. If you have wept
before God, from the consideration of our own pitiful case, that has been because
you loved yourself, and not because you had any respect to God. And if your
tears have been from sorrow for your sins, you have mourned for your sins, be
cause you have sinned against yourself, and not because you have sinned against
God. " When you fasted and mourned, did ye at all fast unto me, even unto
Me ?" Zech. vii. 5.
2. Pride and a good thought of themselves, very commonly has a great
hand in the affections of natural men. They have a good opinion of what they
are doino- when they are praying ; and the reflection on that affects them ; they
are affected with their own goodness. Man s self-righteousness often occasions
tears. A high opinion of themselves before God, and an imagination of their
being persons of great account with him, has affected them in their transactions
with God.
There is commonly abundance of pride in the midst of tears, and pride is, in
a great measure, the source of them. And then they are so far from being an
argument that you be not an enemy to God, that on the contrary, they are an
argument that you be. In your very tears, you are in a vain conceit of yourself,
exalting yourself against God.
3. The affections of natural men do often arise from wrong conceits that
they have of God. They conceive of God, after the manner they do of men, as
thouo-h he were a being liable to be wrought upon in his affections. They con
ceive of him as one whose heart could be drawn, whose affections can be over
come by what he sees in them. They conceive of him as being taken with
them and their performances ; and this works on their affections ; and thus one
tear draws another, and their affections increase by reflection. And oftentimes
they conceive of God as one that loves them, and is a friend to them ; and such
a mistake may work much on their affections. But such affections that arise
towards God, as they conceit him to be, is no argument that they have not the
same implacable hatred towards God, considered as he really is. There is no
MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES. 53
concluding that men are not enemies, because they are affected and shed tears
in their prayers, and the like. Saul was very much affected when David ex
postulated with him about pursuing after him, and seeking to kill him. David s
words wrought exceedingly upon Saul s affections. " And it came to pass
when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said,
Is this thy voice, my son David ? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept,"
1 Sara. xxiv. 16, and chap. xxvi. 1, &c. He was so affected that he wept
aloud, and called David his son, though he was just before seeking his life.
But this affection of Saul s was no argument that he did not still continue in his
enmity against David. He was David s mortal enemy before, and sought his
life, and so he did afterwards. It was but a pang ; his enmity was not mortified
or done away. The next news we hear of Saul is, that he was pursuing David,
and seeking his life again.
APPLICATION.
This shall be of instruction, in several inferences.
Inf. I. If it be so that natural men are God s enemies, then hence we may
learn, how much we are indebted to God for his restraining grace. If all natu
ral men are God s enemies, what would they not do if they were not restrained ?
For what has one that is an enemy within himself, or in his disposition, to re
strain him from acting against him that he is an enemy to ? Hatred will not
restrain a man from acting any thing whatsoever against him that is hated.
Nothing is too bad for hatred, if it be mere hatred, and no love ; nothing is too
bad for that to do towards the object of it. Hatred shows no kindness either in
doing or forbearing. Only hatred will never make a man forbear to act any
thing whatsoever against God; for the very nature of hatred is to seek evil.
But wicked men, as has been shown, are mere enemies to God. They have
hatred, without any love at all. And hence natural men have nothing within
them, in their own nature, to restrain them from any thing that is bad, be it
never so bad ; and therefore their restraint must not be owing to nature, but to
restraining grace. And therefore, whatever wickedness we have been kept
from, it is not because we have not been bad enough to commit it ; but it is
God has restrained us, and kept us back from sin. There can be no worse prin
ciple than a principle of hatred to God. The devils in hell do not do any thing
from any worse principle than this. And there can be no principle that will go
further in wickedness than this, if it be neither mortified nor restrained. But it
is not mortified in natural men ; and therefore all that keeps them from any de
gree of wickedness is restrained. If we have seen others do things that we
never did ; and if they have done worse than we, this is owing to restraining
grace. If we have not done as bad as Pharaoh, it is owing to divine restraints.
If we have not done as bad as Judas, or as the Scribes and Pharisees, or as bad
as Herod, or Simon Magus, it is because God has restrained our corruption. If
we have ever heard or read of any that have done worse than we ; if we have
not gone the length in sinning that the most wicked pirates or carnal persecutors
have gone, this is owing to restraining grace. For we are all naturally the
enemies of God as much as they. If we have not committed the unpardonable
sin, it is owing to restraining grace. There is no worse principle in exercise in
that sin, than enmity against God. There is the entire fountain, and all the
foundation of the sin against the Holy Ghost, in that enmity against God that
we all have in us, and naturally reigns in us.
It is not we ourselves that restrain ourselves from the commission of the
54 MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES.
greatest imaginable wickedness; for enmity against God reigns in us and ovei
us ; we are under the power and dominion of it, and are sold under it. We
do not restrain that which reigns over us. A slave, as long as he continues a
mere slave, cannot control his master. " He that committeth sin, is the servant of
sin," Job viii. 34. So that the restraint of this our cruel tyrant is owing to
God and not to us. What does a poor impotent subject do to restrain the ab
solute lord that has him wholly under his power 1
How much will it appear that the world is indebted to the restraining grace
of God, if we consider that the world is full of enemies to God ! The world is
full of inhabitants ; and almost all are God s enemies., his implacable and mor
tal enemies. What therefore would they not do j what work would they not
make if God did not restrain them ?
God s work in the restraint that he exercises over a wicked world, is a glo
rious work. God s holding the reins upon the corruptions of a wicked world
and setting bounds to their wickedness, is a more glorious work than his ruling
the raging of the sea, and setting bounds to its proud waves, and saying, hither
to shalt thou come and no farther. In hell God lets the wickedness of wicked
spirits have the reins to rage without restraint ; and it would be in a great
measure upon earth as it is in hell, did not God restrain the wickedness of the
world.
But in order to the better understanding how it is owing to the restraining
grace of God, that we are kept and withheld from the highest acts of sin, I
would here observe several things.
1. Whenever men are withheld from sinning by the common influence of
God s Spirit, they are withheld by restraining grace. If sinners are awakened
sinners, and are made sensible of the great guilt that sin brings, and that it ex
poses to a dreadful punishment ; they, under such circumstances, dare not allow
themselves in wilful sin : God restrains them by the convictions of his Spirit ;
and therein their being kept from sin is owing to restraining grace. And sin
ners that live under the gospel, that are not awakened sinners, but in a great
measure secure, yet commonly have some degrees of the influence of God s Spi
rit, with his ordinances influencing natural conscience. And though they be
not sufficient thoroughly to rouse them out of security, or make them reform,
yet they keep them from going such lengths in sin, as otherwise they might do.
And when it is thus, this is restraining grace. They are very stupid and sottish,
yet they would be a great deal more so, if God should let them wholly alone.
2. All the restraints that men are under from the word and ordinances, is
from restraining grace. The word and ordinances of God might have some
degree of influence on men s natural principles of self-love, to restrain them
from sin, without any degree of the influence of God s Spirit ; but this would
be the restraining grace of God ; for God s goodness to a sinful world, appears
in his giving his word to be a restraint on the wickedness of the world. When*
men are restrained by fear of those punishments that the word of God threat
ens ; or by the warnings of the word, or by the offers and promises of it j when
the word of God works upon hope, or upon fear, or natural conscience, to re
strain men from sin, this is the restraining grace of God. When we are re
strained thus, it is owing to the mercy of God that we are restrained. It is an
instance of God s mercy, that he has revealed hell to restrain men s wickedness ;
and that he has revealed a way of salvation and a possibility of eternal life.
This is a thing that has great influence on men to restrain them from sin ; and
this is the restraining grace of God.
3. When men are restrained from sin by the light of nature, this also is re-
MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES. 55
straining grace. If men are destitute of the light of God s word, yet the light
of natural conscience teaches, that sin brings guilt, and exposes to punishment.
The light of nature teaches, that there is a God who governs the world, and will
reward the good arid punish the evil. When men are restrained by this, they
are to attribute their restraints to the restraining grace of God ; for it is God
who is the author of the light of nature, as well as the light of revelation. He
in mercy to mankind, makes known many things by natural light to work upon
men s fear and self-love to restrain their corruptions.
4. When God restrains men s corruptions by his providence, this is restrain
ing grace. And that whether it be his general providence, or his providence
in ordering the state of mankind ; or his particular providence, or providential
disposals towards them in particular.
( 1.) God doth greatly restrain the corruption of the world by ordering the
state of mankind. He has set mankind here in a mortal state, and that is a
great restraint on their corruption. He hath set mankind in a state of probation
for eternity, and that is a great restraint to corruption. God hath so ordered
the state of mankind, that ordinarily many kinds of sin and wickedness are dis
graceful, and what tend to the hurt of a man s character and reputation amongst
his fellow men ; and that is a great restraint. He hath so disposed the world
that many kinds of wickedness are many ways very contrary to men s temporal
interest; and that is a great restraint. God has so disposed the state of man
kind, that they are led to prohibit many kinds of wickedness by human laws ;
and that is a great restraint. God hath swt up a church in the world, made of
those, who, if they are answerable to their profession, have the fear and love of
God in their hearts ; and they, by holding forth light and the word of God, and
keeping up the ordinances of God in the world, and by warning others, are a
great restraint to the wickedness of the world.
But in all these things the restraining grace of God appears. It is God s
mercy to mankind, that he has so ordered their state, that they should have so
many things, by fear and a regard to their own interest, to restrain their cor
ruptions, it is God s mercy to the world, that the state of mankind here does
so differ in that respect from the state of the damned in hell ; where men will
have none of these things to restrain them : they will not be in such circum
stances that will so influence their hope and fear to restrain them from sin.
The wisdom of God, as well as the attributes of God s grace, greatly ap
pears in thus disposing things for the restraining the wickedness of men.
(2.) God doth greatly restrain the corruptions of men by his particular pro
vidence, or providence towards particular persons, by placing men in such cir
cumstances as to lay them under restraints. And to this it is often owing that
some natural men never go such lengths in sinning, or are never guilty of such
atrocious wickedness as some others, that Providence has placed in different cir
cumstances. If it were not for this, many thousands of natural men, who now
live sober and orderly lives, would do as Pharaoh did. The reason why they
do not, is, that Providence has placed them in different circumstances. If they
were in the same circumstances as Pharaoh was in, they would do as he did.
And so, if in the same circumstances as Manasseh, as Judas, as Nero. But
Providence restrains their corruptions, by putting them in such circumstances as
not to open such a door or outlet for their corruptions as he did to them. So
some do not do such horrid things as others; they do not live such horribly
vicious lives as some others, because Providence has restrained them, by ordering
that they should have a better education than others. Providence has ordered that
they should be the children of pious parents, it may be, or should live where
66 MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES.
they should enjoy many means of grace; and so Providence has laid them undei
restraints. Now this is restraining grace. The attribute of God s grace is ex
ercised in thus restraining persons in providence.
And oftentimes God restrains men s corruptions by particular events of pro
vidence. By particular affections they are brought under, or by particular occur
rences, whereby God does, as it were, block up men s way in their course of sin
or in some wickedness that they had devised, and that otherwise they would
perpetrate. Or something happens unexpected, to hold men back from that
which they were about to commit. When men are restrained thus, it is God
that restrains them. Thus God restrained David by his providence from shed
ding blood as he intended to do. " Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord
liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming
to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand," 1 Sam. xxv.
26. God withheld it from him no otherwise than by ordering it so in his pro
vidence, that Abigail should come, and by her wisdom should cool and pacify
him, and persuade him to alter his purpose. See verses 32, 33, 34.
5. Godly persons are greatly indebted to restraining grace, in keeping them
from dreadful acts of sin. So it was in that instance of David, that has been
just mentioned. Godly persons, when God has left, and has not restrained them,
have fallen into dreadful acts of sin. So did David in the case of Uriah, Lot,
Peter. And when other godly persons are kept from falling into such sins, or
much worse sins than these, it is owing to the restraining grace of God.
Merely having a principle of grace in their hearts, or merely their being godly
persons, without God s presence to restrain them, will not keep them from
great acts of sin. That the godly do not fall into the most horrid sins that can
be conceived of, is owing, not so much to any inconsistence between their falling
into such sins, and the having the principle of grace in the heart, as it is owing
to the covenant mercy of God, whereby he has promised never to leave nor
forsake his people ; and that he will not suffer them to be tempted above what
they are able ; but with the temptation will make a way for them to escape.
If saving grace restrains men from great acts of sin, this is owing to God, who
gives such exercises of grace at that time when the temptation comes, that they
are restrained.
Let not the godly therefore be insensible of their indebtedness to the re
straining grace of God. Though the godly cannot be said to be enemies to
God, because a principle of enmity does not reign ; yet they have the very same
principle and seed of enmity in them, though it be mortified. Though it be not
in reigning power, yet it has great strength ; and is too strong for them without
God s almighty power to help them against it. Though they be not enemies
to God, because they have another principle, besides a principle of enmity, viz.,
a principle of love, yet their old man, the body of sin and death, that yet re
mains in them, is a mortal enemy to God. Corruption in the godly is not a
whit better than it is in the wicked. The corruption in them is of as bad a
nature- every whit as that which is in a mortal enerny to God : it aims at the
life of God wherever it is. And though it be not in reigning power, yet it
would dreadfully rage were it not for God s restraining grace.
God gives his restraining grace to both natural men and godly men ; but
only there is this difference. God gives his restraining grace to his children in
the way of covenant mercy ; it is part of the mercy promised to them in his
covenant. God is faithful, and will not leave them to sin in like manner as
wicked men do, otherwise they would do every whit as bad.
Let not therefore the godly attribute it to themselves, or merely to their own
MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES 57
goodness, that they are not guilty of such horrid crimes as they hear of in others:
let them consider, it is not owing to them, but to God s restraints.
Thus all, both godly and ungodly, may learn from this doctrine, their great
indebtedness to the restraining grace of God.
I now proceed to
Inf. IT. Hence we may learn the reason why natural men will not come to
Christ : for they do not come because they will not come. " Ye uill not come to
me that ye might have life," John v. 40. When we say that natural men are
not willing to come to Christ, it is not meant that they are not willing to be de
livered from hell ; for without doubt, no natural man is willing to go to hell.
Nor is it meant that they are not willing that Christ should keep them from
going to hell. Without doubt, natural men that are under awakenings, do often
greatly desire this. But if they do desire it, this does not argue that they are
willing to come to Christ ; for notwithstanding their desire to be delivered from
hell, yet their hearts do not close with Christ, but are averse to him. They see
nothing in Christ wherefore they should desire him ; no beauty nor comeliness
to draw or incline their hearts to him. And they are not willing to take
Christ as he is ; they would fain divide Christ. There are some things in him
that they like, and others that they greatly dislike ; but consider him as he is,
and as he is offered to them in the gospel, and they will not have him. They
are not willing to accept of Christ as he is offered ; for in doing so, they must
of necessity part with all their sins ; they must sell the world, and part with
their own righteousness. But they are not willing to do that ; they had rather,
for the present, run the venture of going to hell than do that.
W 7 hen men are truly willing (o come to Christ, they are freely willing. It
is not what they are forced and driven to by threatenings ; but they are willing
to come, and choose to come without being driven. But natural men have no
such free willingness; but, on the contrary, have an aversion. And the ground
of it is that which we have heard, viz., that they are enemies to God. Their
having such a reigning enmity against God, makes them obstinately refuse to
come to Christ. If a man is an enemy to God, he will necessarily be an enemy
to Christ too ; for Christ is the Son of God ; he is infinitely near to God, yea he
is God. He has the nature of God, as well as the nature of man. He is a
Saviour appointed of God. God anointed him, and sent him into the world.
And in doing what he did in the work of redemption, he wrought the works
of God. He always did those things that pleased God ; and all that he does
as a Saviour, is to the glory of God. And one great thing that he aimed at
in his redemption, was to deliver them from their idols which they had chosen,
and bring them to God. The case being so, and sinners being enemies to God,
they will necessarily be opposite to coming to Christ ; for Christ is of God, and
as a Saviour, seeks to bring them to God only : but natural men are not of God,
but are averse to him
Inf. III. From this doctrine w r e may learn, how dreadful the condition of
natural men is. Their state is a state of enmity with God. If we con sider
what God is, and what men are, it will be easy for us to conclude, that such
men as are God s enemies, must be miserable. Consider, ye that are enemies
to God, how great a God he is that ye are enemies to. He is the eternal God :
the God that fills heaven and earth, and whom the heaven of heavens cannot
contain. He is the God that made you ; the God in whose hand your breath
is, and whose are all your ways ; the God in whom you live, and move, and
have your being ; the God who has your soul and body in his hands every
moment.
VOL. IV 8
58 , MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES.
You would look on yourself as in very unhappy circumstances, if your neigh
bors were all your enemies, and none of your fellow creatures were your friends.
If every body were set against you, and all despised and hated you, you would
be ready to think, you had better be out of the world than in it. But if it be
such a calamity to have enmity maintained between you and your fellow crea
tures, what is it when you and the Almighty God are enemies one to another ?
What avails either the friendship or enmity of your neighbors, poor little worms
of the dust, that are about you, in comparison of the friendship or enmity of
the great God of heaven and earth ?
Consider :
(1.) If you continue in your enmity a little longer, there will be a mutual
enmity between God and you to all eternity. God will appear to be your
dreadful and irreconcilable enemy. And you know not how soon it will come
to this. If you should die an enemy to God, there will be no such thing as
any reconciliation after death. God will then appear in hatred of you. As
you are a mere enemy to God, so God will then appear a mere enemy to you j
he will appear in perfect hatred without any love, and without any pity, and
without any mercy at all. As you hate God, he will hate you. And that will
be verified of you : My soul loathed them, and their soul ahhorredme, Zech. xi.
8. And then God will be your enemy forever. If you be not reconciled so as
to become his friend in this life, God will never become your friend after death.
If you continue an enemy to God till death, God will continue an enemy to you
to all eternity. There will nothing avail to reconcile God to you hereafter.
You will find that you cannot move the heart of God by any of your cries. You
will have no mediator offered you; there will be no day s man. betwixt you.
So that it becomes you to consider what it will be to have God your enemy to
all eternity, without any possibility of being reconciled.
Consider, what it will be to have this enmity to be mutual or maintained
forever on both sides. For as God will forever continue an enemy to you, so
you will forever continue an enemy to God. If you continue God s enemy until
death, you will always be his enemy. And after death your enmity will have
no restraint, but it will break out and rage without control. When you come
to be a firebrand of hell, you will be a firebrand in two respects, viz., as you will
be all on fire, full of the fire of God s wrath : and also as you will be all on a blaze
with spite and malice towards God. You will be as full of the fire of malice,
as you will with the fire of divine vengeance ; and both will make you full of
torment. Then you will appear as you are, a viper indeed. You are now a
viper, but under great disguise ; a wolf in sheep s clothing ; but then your mask
will be pulled oil ; you shall lose your garments, and walk naked, Rev. xvi. 15.
Then will you as a serpent, spit poison at God, and vent your rage and malice
in fearful blasphemies. Out of that mouth, out of which, when you open it, will
proceed flames, will also proceed dreadful blasphemies against God. That same
tono-ue, to cool which you will wish for a drop of water, will be eternally employ
ed in cursing and blaspheming God and Christ. And that not from any new
corruption being put into your heart, but only from God s withdrawing his hand
from restraining your old corruption. And what a miserable way will this
be of spending your eternity !
(2.) Consider what will be the consequence of a mutual enmity between God
and you, if it be continued. Now you find yourself left alone; you find no very
terrible event, but there will be great changes. Though hitherto you have met
with no very great changes, yet they will come. Alter a little while, dying
time will come ; and then what wiH be the consequences of this enmity? God,
MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES. 59
whose enemy you are, has the frame of your body in his hands. Your times
are in his hand ; and he it is that appoints your bounds. And when he sends
death to arrest you, and change your countenance, and dissolve your frame,
and take you away from all your earthly friends, and from all that is dear and
pleasant to you in the world ; what will be the issue then of God and you
being enemies one to another ? Will not you then stand in need of God s help ?
Would not he be the best friend in such a case, worth more than ten thousand
earthly friends ? If God be your enemy, then whom will you betake yourself
tor lor a friend ? Wlien you launch forth into the boundless gulf of eternity,
then you will need some friend to take care of you ; but if God be your enemy ^
where will you betake yourself? Your soul must go naked into another world,
in eternal separation from all worldly things ; and you will not be able to dis
pose of yourself ; your soul will not be in its own power to defend or dispose of
itself. Will you not then need to have God for a friend, into whose hands you
may commend your spirit ? And how dreadful will it be to have God for your
enemy then !
The time is coming whan the frame of this world shall be dissolved. Christ
shall descend in the clouds of heaven, in the glory of his Father ; and you, with
all the rest of mankind, must stand before the judgment seat of God. Then
what will be the consequence of this mutual enmity between God and you ? If
God be your enemy, who will stand your friend ? W T ho else will be able to
help you, and what will you do ? And what will be the event of God s being
your enemy then ? Now, it may be, it does not appear to be very terrible to
you to have God for your enemy ; but when such changes as these are brought
to pass, it will greatly alter the appearance of things. Then God s favor will
appear to you of infinite worth. They, and they only will then appear happy,
who have the love of God ; and then you will know that God s enemies are
miserable.
But under this head consider more particularly several things.
(1.) What God can do to his enemies. Or rather, what can he not do ?
How miserable can he, who is almighty, make his enemies, and those that he
is an enemy to ! Consider, you that are enemies to God, whether or no you
shall be able to make your part good with him. " Do we provoke the Lord
to jealousy ? Are we stronger than he ?" 1 Cor. x. 22. Have you such a
conceit of your own strength as that you think to try it out with God ? Do
you intend to run the risk of an encounter with him ? Do you imagine that
your hands can be strong, or your heart endure? Do you think you shall be
well able to defend yourself? Or will you be able to escape out of his hand ?
Or do you think to harden your own heart and fortify yourself with courage
and set yourself to bear ? And do you think that you shall be able to uphold
your spirits when God acts as an enemy towards you ? If so, then gird up
your loins and prepare to meet God, and see what the event will be. There
fore thus will I do unto thee " And because 1 will do this unto thee, prepare
to meet thy God," Amos iv. 12. Is it not in vain to set the briers and thorns
in battle against God? Is it not like setting dry briers and thorns in battle
array against devouring flames ; which, though they seem to be armed with
natural weapons, yet the fire will pass .through them, and burn them together ?
See Isa. xxvii. 4.
And if you endeavor to support yourself under God s wrath, cannot God
lay so much upon you as to sink and crush you ? Cannot he lay you under
such misery as to cause your spirit quite to fail j so that you shall find no
strength to resist him, or to uphold yourself ? Why should a little worm
60 MEN NATURALLY GOD*S ENEMIES.
think of supporting himself against an omnipotent adversary? Has not he
that made you, and gave you your strength, and your courage, got your strength
and courage in his hands 1 Is it a hard thing for him to overcome it 1 Con
sider God has made your soul ; and he that made it knows how to punish it
to what degree he will. He can fill it with misery ; he can bring what degree
of sorrow, and anguish, and horror he will. And he that made your body can
bring what torments he will upon it. He has made every vein and sinew ; and
has every one in his hands, and he can fill every one as full of torments as he
will. God, who made you, has given you a capacity to bear torment ; and he
has that capacity in his hands; and he can enlarge it, and make you capable
of more misery, as much more as he will. If God hates any one, and sets him
self against him as his enemy, what cannot he do with him ? How dreadful
must it be to fall into the hands of such an enemy ! Surely, " It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God," Heb. x. 31.
2. If God be your mere enemy, you may rationally conclude that he will
act as such in his dealings with you. We have already observed that you are
a mere enemy to God ; that is, have enmity without any love or true respect.
So, if you continue to be so, God will appear to be your mere enemy ; and will
be so forever without being reconciled. But if it be so, he will doubtless act as
such. If he eternally hates you, he will act in his dealings with you as one
that hates you with mere hatred, without any love or pity. The proper ten
dency and aim of hatred, is the misery of the object hated ; misery, and noth
ing else. So that you may expect God will make you miserable, and that you
will not be spared ; for sparing is not the effect of hatred, but of pity and
mercy, which is a quite different thing from enmity.
Now God does not act as your mere enemy ; if he corrects you, it is in
measure. He now exercises abundance of mercy to you. He threatens you now,
but it is in a way of warning, and so in a merciful way. He now calls and
invites, and strives with you, and waits to be gracious to you. But hereafter
there will be an end of all these things : in another world God will cease to
show you mercy.
3. If you will continue God s enemy, you may rationally conclude that God
will deal with you so as to make it appear how dreadful it is to have God
for an enemy. It is very dreadful to have a mighty prince for an enemy.
The wrath of a /cmg is as the roaring of a lion, Prov. xix. 12. But if the
wrath of a man, a fellow worm, be so terrible, what is the wrath of God !
And God will doubtless show it to be immensely more dreadful. If you will
be an enemy, God will make you know that it is not a light thing to be an
enemy to him, and have him for an enemy to you. God will doubtless
glorify himself as an enemy, in his dealings with those to whom he is an
enemy. That is, he will act so as to glorify those attributes which he exer
cises as an enemy ; which are his majesty, his power and justice. God will
deal so with you as to glorify these attributes in your destruction. His great
majesty, his awful justice, and mighty power, shall be showed upon you. " What
if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured
with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction," Rom.
ix. 22.
(4.) Consider what God has said he will do to his enemies. He has de
clared that they shall not escape, but that he will surely punish them : " Thine
hand shall find out all thine enemies, thy right hand shall find out all those thai
hate thee," Psal. xxi 8. " And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to
destroy them : he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him
MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES. 61
f o his face," Deut. vii. 10. " The Lord shall wound the hef.d of his enemies,
and the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his trespasses," Psal.
Ixviii. 21.
Yea, God hath sworn, that he will be avenged on them; and that in a most
awful and dreadful manner. " For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live
Ibrever. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment ;
I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and 1 will reward them that hate me.
will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh ;
and that with the blood of the slain from the beginning of revenges on the
enemy," Deut. xxxii. 40, 41, 42. The terribleness of that destruction that
God will bring on his enemies, is here variously set forth. As particularly in
God s " whetting his glittering sword," as one that prepares himself to do some
great execution. " His hands take hold on judgment," to signify that he will
surely reward them as they deserve. " He will render vengeance to his ene
mies, and reward them that hate him," i. e., he will render their full reward ;
he will not fail or come short. As in the forementioned place it was said he
would hot be slack in this matter, " I will make mine arrows drunk with blood,"
this signifies the greatness of the destruction. It shall not be a little of their blood
that shall satisfy ; but his arrows shall be glutted with their blood. " And his
sword shall devour flesh." That is, it shall make dreadful waste of it. Here
by is very lively set forth the terrible manner in which God will one day rise up
and execute vengeance on his enemies.
Again, the totality and perfection of their destruction is represented in the
following words : " The wicked shall perish, the enemies of the Lord shall be
as the fat of lambs, they shall consume ; into smoke shall they consume away,"
Psal. xxxvii. 20. The fat of lambs, when it is burnt in the fire, burns all up ;
there is not so much as a cinder left ; it all consumes into smoke. This is made
use of here to represent the perfect destruction of God s enemies in his wrath.
So God hath promised Christ, that he \vould make his enemies his footstool,
Psal. ex. 1 ; i. e., he would pour the greatest contempt upon them, and as it were
tread them under foot.
Consider that all these things will be executed on you if you continue God s
enemies.
Inf. IV. If it be so, that natural men are God s enemies, hence we may
learn how justly God may refuse to show you mercy. For is God obliged to
show mercy to his enemies? Is God bound to set his love on them that
have no love to him ; but hate him with perfect hatred ? Is God bound to
come and dwell with them that have an aversion to him, and choose to keep
at a distance from him, and fly from him as one that is hateful to them ? If you
earnestly desire the salvation of your soul, is God bound to comply with your
desires, when you do always resist and oppose his will ? Is God bound to be
persuaded and overcome by your prayers, when you are obstinate in your op
position to him, and refuse to yield obedience to him ? Is God bound to put
honor upon you, and to advance you to such dignity as to be a child of the
King of kings, and the heir of the kingdom of glory, while you at the same
time have God in the greatest-contempt, and set him too low to have the low
est place in your heart? Is God bound to spare your life, and deliver you from
eternal death, when you are a mortal enemy to God, and would, if you could,
destroy the being of God ? Is God obliged to set his great and transcendent
love on you, so as to give you benefits purchased by the blood of his own Son,
when your heart is all the while full of that enmity that strikes at the life of
God?
62 MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES.
This doctrine affords a strong argument for the absolute sovereignty of God.
with respect to the salvation of sinners. If God is pleased to show mercy to
his haters, it is certainly fit that he should do it in a sovereign way, without
acting as any way obliged. God will show mercy to his mortal enemies ; but
then he will not be bound, he will have his liberty to choose the objects of his
mercy ; to show mercy to what e nemy he pleases, and punish and destroy which
of his haters he pleases. And certainly this is a fit and reasonable thing. It
is fit that God should distribute saving blessings in this way, and in no other,
viz., in a sovereign and arbitrary way. And that any body ever thought of, or
devised any other way for God to show mercy, than to have mercy on whom
he would have mercy, must arise from ignorance of their own hearts, whereby
they were insensible what enemies they naturally are to God.
But consider here the following things :
1. How causelessly you are enemies to God. You have no manner of rea
son for it, either from what God is, or from what he has done. You have no
reason for this from what he is, for he is an infinitely lovely and glorious Being ;
the fountain of all excellency: all that is amiable and lovely in the universe, is
originally and eminently in him. Nothing can possibly be conceived of, that
could be lovely in God, that is not in him, and that in the greatest possible de
gree, even infinitely.
And you have no reason for this, from what God has done. For he has
been a good and bountiful God to you. He has exercised abundance of kind
ness to you ; has carried you from the w r omb, preserved your life, taken care of
you, and provided for you all your life long. He has exercised great patience
and long-suffering toward you. If it had not been for the kindness of God to
you, what would have become of you ? What would have become of your
body ? And what, before this time, would have become of your soul ? And
you are now, every day, and hour, maintained by the goodness and bounty of
God. Every new breath you draw, is a new gift of God to you. How cause
lessly then are you such dreadful enemies to God ! And how justly might
God, for it, eternally deprive you of all mercy, seeing you do thus requite God
for his mercy and kindness to you !
2. Consider how you would resent it, if others were such enemies to you as
you are to God. If they had their hearts so full of enmity to you ; if they
treated you with such contempt, and opposed you, as you do God ; and injured
you so much as you do God, how would you resent it ! Do you not find that
you are apt greatly to resent it, when any oppose you, and show an ill spirit
towards you ? And though you excuse your own enmity against God from
your corrupt nature that you brought into the world with you, which you could
not help, yet you do not excuse others for being enemies to you from their cor
rupt nature that they brought into the world, which they could not help ; but
are ready bitterly to resent it notwithstanding.
Consider therefore, if you, a poor, unworthy, unlovely creature, do so resent
it, when you be not loved, but hated, how may God justly resent it when you
are enemies to him. an infinitely glorious Being ; and a Being from whom you
have received so much kindness!
3. How unreasonable it is for you to imagine that you can oblige God to
have respect to you by any thing that you can do, continuing still to be his
enemy ! If you think you have prayed and read, and done considerable for God ,
yet who cares for the seeming kindness of an enemy?
What value would you yourself set upon it, if a man should seem to carry
it respectfully to you, with a fair face, talking smooth, and making a show of
MEN NATURALLY GOD S ENEMIES. 63
friendship ; when you knew, at the same time, that he was inwardly your mortal
enemy ? Would you look upon yourself obliged for such respect and kindness ?
Would you not rather abhor it ? Would you count such respect to be valued,
as Joab s towards Amasa, who took him by the beard, and kissed him, and said
Art thou in health, my brother? and smote him at the same time under the
fifth rib, and killed him !
What if you do pray to God, is God obliged to hear the prayers of an
enemy ? What if you have taken a great deal of pains, is God obliged to give
heaven for the prayers of an enemy ? God may justly abhor your prayers, and
all that you do in religion, as the flattery of a mortal enemy. No wonder God
does not accept any thing from the hands of an enemy.
Inf. V. Hence we may learn how wonderful is the love that is manifested
in giving Christ to die for us. For this love is love to enemies. That is taken
notice of in the text : " While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by
the death of his Son." How wonderful was the love of God the Father in giv
ing such a gift to those, who not only were such as could not be profitable to
him, and Such as could merit nothing from him, and poor little worms of the
dust ; but were his enemies, and enemies to so great a degree ! They had that
enmity that aimed at his life; yet so did he, love them, that he gave his own
Son to lay down his own life to save their lives. Though they had that enmity
that sought to pull God down out of his throne, yet God so loved them, that he
sent down Christ from heaven, from his throne there, to be in the form of a
servant ; and instead of a throne of glory, gave him to be nailed to the cross,
and to be laid in the grave, that so we might be brought to a throne of glory!
How wonderful was the love of Christ in thus exercising dying love to his
enemies ! That he should so love those that hated him, with hatred"that sought
to take away his life, so as voluntarily to lay down his life, that they might
have life through him. " Herein is love ; not that we loved him, but that he
loved us, and laid down his life for us."
Inf. VI. If we are all naturally God s enemies, hence we may learn
what a spirit it becomes us to be of towards our enemies. Though we are ene
mies to God, yet we hope that God has loved us ; and we hope that Christ has
died for us j and we hope that God has forgiven or will forgive us, and will do
us good, and bestow infinite mercies and blessings upon us, so as to make us
happy forever. All this mercy, we hope has been, or will be exercised towards
us while enemies.
Certainly then, it will not become us to be bitter in our spirits against those
that are/enemies to us, and have injured and ill treated us, and though they have
yet an ill spirit towards us. Seeing we depend so much on God s forgiving us,
though enemies, we should be of a spirit of forgiveness towards our enemies.
And therefore our Saviour inserted it in that prayer which he dictated as a gen
eral directory to all ; " Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors," to en
force the duty upon us, and to show us how reasonable it is. And we ought to
love them even while enemies ; for so we hope God hath done to us. We
should be the children of our Father, who is kind to the unthankful and evil
Luke vi. 35.
If we refuse thus to do, and we are of another spirit, we may justly expect
that God will deny us his mercy, as he has threatened ! " If ye forgive men
their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you ; but if ye forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses, -
Matt. vi. 14, 15. The same we have in the parable of the man who owed his
lord ten thousand talents, Matt, xviii. 2335.
SERMON III.
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
ROMANS iv. 5. But to him that worketh not, hut believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is
counted for righteousness.
THE following things may be noted in this verse: 1. That justification
respects a man as ungodly : this is evident by those words that justifieth the
ungodly: which words cannot imply less, than that God, in the act of justifi
cation has no regard to any thing in the person justified, as godliness, or any
goodness in him ; but that nextly or immediately before this act, God beholds
him only as an ungodly or wicked creature ; so that godliness in the person to
be justified is not so antecedent to his justification as to be the ground of it
When it is said that God justifies the ungodly, it is as absurd to suppose that
our godliness, taken as some goodness in us, is the ground of our justification,
as when it is said that Christ gave sight to the blind, to suppose that sight was
prior to, and the ground of that act of mercy in Christ ; or as, if it should be
said, that such a one by his bounty has made a poor man rich, to suppose that
it was the wealth of this poor man that was the ground of this bounty towards
him, and was the price by which it was procured.
2. It appears that by him that ivorkcth not, in this verse, is not meant only
one that does not conform to the ceremonial law, because he that worketh not,
and the ungodly, are evidently synonymous expressions, or what signify the
same ; it appears by the manner of their connection : if it be not so, to what
purpose is the latter expression, the ungodly, brought in ? The context gives
no other occasion for it, but only to show, that the grace of the gospel appears,
in that God, in justification, has no regard to any godliness of ours. The fore
going verse is," Now to him that worketh, is the reward not reckoned of grace,
but of debt." In that verse it is evident that gospel grace, consists in the re
ward s being given without works ; and in this verse which immediately follows
it, and in sense is connected with it, it is evident that gospel grace consists in a
man s being justified that is ungodly ; by which it is most plain, that by him
that worketh not, and him that is ungodly, are meant the same thing; and that
therefore not only works of the ceremonial law are excluded in this business of
justification, but works of morality and godliness.
3. It is evident in the words, that by that faith, that is here spoken of, by
which we are justified, is not meant the same tiling as a course of obedience or
righteousness, by the expression by which this faith is here denoted, viz., be
lieving on him that justifies the ungodly. They that oppose the Solifidians, as
they call them, do greatly insist on it, that we should take the words of Scrip
ture concerning this doctrine in their most natural and obvious meaning ; and
how do they cry out, of our clouding this doctrine with obscure metaphors, and
unintelligible figures of speech ! But is this to interpret Scripture according to
its most obtioua meaning, when the Scripture speaks of our believing on him
that justifies the ungodly for the breakers of his law, to say, that the meaning of
it is performing a course of obedience to his law, and avoiding the breaches of
it 1 Believing on God as zjustijier, certainly is a different thing from submit
ting to God as a lawgiver ; especially a believing on him as a justifier of the
ungodly or rebels against the lawgiver.
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 65
4. It is evident that the subject of justification is looked upon as destitute of any
righteousness in himself, by that expression, it is counted or imputed to him for
righteousness. The phrase, as the apostle uses it here, and in the context, mani
festly imports, that God, of his sovereign grace, is pleased, in his dealings with
the sinner, to take and regard that which indeed is not righteousness, and in one
that has no righteousness, so, that the consequence shall be the same as if he
had righteousness (which may be from the respect that it bears to some thing
that is indeed righteous). It is plain that this is the force of the expression in
the preceding verses. In the last verse but one, it is manifest that the apostle
lays the stress of his argument for the free grace of God, from that text that he
cites out of the Old Testament about Abraham, on that word counted, or im.put.ed,
and that this is the thing that he supposed God to show his grace in, viz., in his
counting something for righteousness, in his consequential dealings with Abra
ham, that was no righteousness in itself. And in the next verse which imme
diately precedes the text, " Now to him that worketh, is the reward not reckon
ed of grace, but of debt," the word there translated reckoned, is the same that in
the other verses is rendered imputed, and counted ; and it is as much as if the
apostle had said, " As to him that works there is no need of any gracious reck
oning or counting it for righteousness, and causing the reward to follow as if it
were a righteousness ; for if he has works, he has that which is a righteousness
in itself, to which the reward properly belongs." This is further evident by the
words that follow, verse 6, " Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the
man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works." What can here
be meant by imputing righteousness without works ; but imputing righteousness
to him that has none of his own 1 Verses 7, 8, " Saying, blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered : blessed is the man to whom
the Lord will not impute sin." How are these words of David to the apostle s
purpose ? Or how do they prove any such thing, as that righteousness is im
puted without works, unless it be because the word imputed is used, and the
subject of the imputation is mentioned as a sinner, and consequently destitute oi
a moral righteousness 1 For David says no such thing, as that he is forgiven
without the works of the ceremonial law ; there is no hint of the ceremonial
law, or reference to it, in the words. I will therefore venture to infer this doe-
trine from the words, for the subject of my present discourse, viz.
DOCTRINE :
WE ARE JUSTIFIED ONLY BY FAITH IN CHRIST, AND NOT BY ANY MANNER OF VIRTUE OR
GOODNESS OF OUR OWN.
Such an assertion as this, I am sensible, many would be ready to cry out oi
as absurd, betraying a great deal of ignorance, and containing much inconsist-
ence ; but I desire every one s patience till I have done.
In handling this doctrine, I would,
1. Explain the meaning of it, and show how I would be understood by such
an assertion.
2 Proceed to the consideration of the evidence of the truth of it.
3. Show how evangelical obedience is concerned in this affair.
4. Answer objections.
5. Consider the importance of the doctrine.
I. I would explain the meaning of the doctrine, or show in what sense I
assert it, and would endeavor to evince the truth of it : which may be done in
answer to these two inquiries, viz., 1. What is meant by being justified ?
VOL IV. 9
66 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
What is meant when it is said, that this is by faith alone, without any manner
of virtue or goodness " of our own ?"
First, I would show what justification is, or what I suppose is meant in
Scripture by being justified. And here I would not at all enlarge ; and there
fore, to answer in short :
A person is said to be justified, when he is approved of God as free from
the guilt of sin and its deserved punishment; and as having that righteousness
belonging to him that entitles to the reward of life. That we should take the
word in such a sense and understand it as the judge s accepting a person as hav
ing both a negative and positive righteousness belonging to him, and looking on
him therefore as not only quit or free from any obligation to punishment, but
ilso as just and righteous, and so entitled to a positive reward, is not only most
agreeable to the etymology and natural import of the word, which signifies to
make righteous, or to pass one for righteous in judgment, but also manifestly
agreeable to the force of the word as used in Scripture.
Some suppose that nothing more is intended in Scripture by justification, than
barely the remission of sins. If it be so it is very strange, if we consider the na
ture of the case ; for it is most evident and none will deny, that it is with respect
to the rule or law of God that we are under, that we are said in Scripture to be
either justified or condemned. Now what is it to justify a person as the subject
of a law or rule, but to judge him or look upon him, and approve him as stand
ing right with respect to that rule 1 To justify a person in a particular case,
is to approve him as standing right, as subject to the law or rule in that case ;
and to justify in general is to pass him in judgment, as standing right in a state
corresponding to the law or rule in general : but certainly in order to a person s
being looked on as standing right with respect to the rule in general, or in a
state corresponding with the law of God, more is needful than what is nega
tive, or a not having the guilt of sin ; for whatever that law is, whether a new
one or an old one, yet doubtless something positive is needed in order to its be
ing answered. We are no more justified by the voice of the law, or of him that
judges according to it, by a mere pardon of sin, than Adam, our first surety, was
justified by the law, at the first point of his existence, before he had done the
work, or fulfilled the obedience of the law, or had so much as any trial whether
he would fulfil it or no. If Adam had finished his course of perfect obedience,
he would have been justified ; and certainly his justification would have implied
something more than what is merely negative ; he would have been approved
as having fulfilled the righteousness of the law, and accordingly would have
been adjudged to the reward of it. So Christ, our second surety (in whose jus
tification all who believe in him, and whose surety he is, are virtually justified),
was not justified till he had done the work the Father had appointed him, and
kept the Father s commandments through all trials ; and then in his resurrection
he was justified. When he that had been put to death in the flesh was quickened
by the Spirit, 1 Pet. iii. 18, then he that was manifest in the flesh was justified
in the Spirit, 1 Tim. iii. 16. But God, when he justified him in raising him
from the dead, did not only release him from his humiliation for sin, and acquit
him from any further suffering or abasement for it, but admitted him to that
eternal and immortal life, and to the beginning of that exaltation that was the
reward of what he had done. And indeed the justification of a believer is no
other than his being admitted to communion in, or participation of the justifica
tion of this head and surety of all believers ; for as Christ suffered the punishment
of sin, not as a private person, but as our surety ; so when after this suffering
he was raised from the dead, he was therein justified, not as a private person,
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 67
but as the surety and representative of all that should believe in him ; so that
he was raised again, not only for his own, but also for our justification, according
to the apostle, Rom. iv. 25 : " Who was delivered for our offences, and raised
again for our justification." And therefore it is that the apostle says, as he
does in Rom. viii. 34, " Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that died,
yea, rather, that is risen again."
But that a believer s justification implies, not only remission of sins, or ac
quittance from the wrath due to it, but also an admittance to a title to that
glory that is the reward of righteousness, is more directly taught in the Scrip
ture, as particularly in Rom. v. 1, 2, where the apostle mentions both these as
joint benefits implied in justification : " Therefore, being justified by faith, wo
have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have
access into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
So remission of sins, and inheritance among them that are sanctified, are men
tioned together as what are jointly obtained by faith in Christ, Acts xxvi. 18 :
" That they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them that
are sanctified through faith that is in me." Both these are without doubt
implied in that passing from death to life, which Christ speaks of as the fruit of
faith, and which he opposes to condemnation, John v. 24 : " Verily I say unto
you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath ever
lasting life, and shall not come into condemnation ; but is passed from death to
life." I proceed now,
Secondly, To show what is meant when it is said, that this justification is by
faith only, and not by any virtue or goodness of our own.
This inquiry may be subdivided into two, viz., 1. How it is by faith. 2. How
it is by faith alone, without any manner of goodness of oui s.
1. How justification is by faith. Here the great difficulty has been about
the import and force of the particle by, or what is that influence that faith has
in the affair of justification that is expressed in Scripture by being justified by
faith.
Here, if I may humbly express what seems evident to me, though faith be
indeed the condition of justification so as nothing else is, yet this matter is not
clearly and sufficiently explained by saying that faith is the condition of justifi
cation ; and that because the word seems ambiguous, both in common use, and
also as used in divinity : in one sense, Christ alone performs the condition of
our justification and salvation ; in another sense, faith is the condition of justifi
cation ; in another sense other qualifications and acts are conditions of salvation
and justification too. There seems to be a great deal of ambiguity in such ex
pressions as are commonly used (which yet we are forced to use), such as, con
dition of salvation, what is required in order to salvation or justification, the
terms of the covenant, and the like ; and I believe thty are understood in very
different senses by different persons. And besides, as the word condition is very
often understood in the common use of language, faith is not the only thing ir
us that is the condition of justification ; for by the word condition, as it is
very often (and perhaps most commonly) used, we mean any thing that may
have the place of a condition in a conditional proposition, and as such is truly
connected with the consequent, especially if the proposition holds both in the
affirmative and negative, as the condition is either affirmed or denied. If it be
that with which, or which being supposed, a thing shall be, and without which,
or it being denied, a thing shall not be, we in such a case call it a condition of
that thing : but in this sense faith is not the only condition of salvation or justi
fication : for there are many things that accompany and flow from faith, thai
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
are things with which justification shall be, and without which, it will not be,
and therefore are found to be put in Scripture in conditional propositions with
justification and salvation, in multitudes of places ; such are, love to God, and
love to our brethren, forgiving men their trespasses, and many other good quali
fications and acts. And there are many other things besides faith, which are
directly proposed to us, to be pursued and performed by us, in order to eternal
life, as those which if they are done, or obtained, we shall have eternal life, and
if not done, or not obtained, we shall surely perish. And if it were so, that
faith was the only condition of justification in this sense, yet I do not apprehend
that to say, that faith was the condition of justification, would express the sense
of that phrase of Scripture, of being justified by faith. There is a difference
between being justified by a thing, and that thing universally, and necessarily,
and inseparably attending or going with justification ; for so do a great many
things that we are not said to be justified by. It is not the inseparable connec-
tionwith justification that the Holy Ghost would signify (or that is naturally
signified) by such a phrase, but some particular influence that faith has in the
affair, or some certain dependence that that effect has on its influence.
Some that have been aware of this have supposed that the influence or de
pendence might well be expressed by faith s being the instrument of our justi
fication ; which has been misunderstood, and injuriously represented, and ridi
culed by those that have denied the doctrine of justification by faith alone, as
thouo-h they had supposed that faith was used as an instrument in the -hand of
God,whereby he performed and brought to pass that act of his, viz., approving and
justifying the believer. Whereas it was not intended that faith was the instru
ment wherewith God justifies, but the instrument wherewith we receive justifica
tion ; not the instrument wherewith the justifier acts in justifying, but wherewith
the receiver of justification acts in accepting justification. But yet it must be
owned, that this is an obscure way of speaking, and there must certainly be some
impropriety in calling it an instrument, wherewith we receive or accept justifi
cation ; for the very persons that thus explain the matter, speak of faith as being
the reception or acceptance itself; and if so, how can it be the instrument of
reception or acceptance 1 Certainly there is difference between the act and the
instrument. And besides, by their own descriptions of faith, Christ the media
tor by whom, and his righteousness by which we are justified, is more directly
the object of this acceptance and justification, which is the benefit arising there
from more indirectly ; and therefore, if faith be an instrument, it is more prop
erly the instrument by which we receive Christ, than the instrument by which
we receive justification.
But I humbly conceive we have been ready to look too far to find out what
that influence of faith in our justification is, or what is that dependence of this
effect on faith, signified by the expression of being justified by faith, overlooking
that which is most obviously pointed forth in the expression, viz., that, the case
beinf as it is (there being a mediator that has purchased justification),
faithin this mediator is that which renders it a meet and suitable thing,
in the sight of God, that the believer, rather than others, should have this
purchased benefit assigned to him. There is this benefit purchased, which
God sees it to be a more meet and suitable thing that it should be assigned to
some than others, because he sees them differently qualified ; that qualification
wherein the meetness to this benefit, as the case stands, consists, is that in us by
which we are justified. If Christ had not come into the world and died, &c.,
to purchase justification, no qualification whatever in us could render it a meet
or fit thing that we should be justified : but the case being as it now stands, viz.,
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE 69
that Christ has actually purchased justification by his own blood for infinitely
unworthy creatures, there may be some certain qualification found in some per
sons, that, either from the relation it bears to the mediator and his merits, or on
some other account, is the thing that in the sight of God renders it a meet and
condecent thing, that they should have an interest in this purchased benefit,
and which if any are destitute of, it renders it an unfit and unsuitable thing
that they should have it. The wisdom of God in his constitutions doubtless ap
pears much in the fitness and beauty of them, so that those things are estab
lished to be done that are fit to be done, and that those things are connected in
his constitution that are agreeable one to another : so God justifies a believer
according to his revealed constitution, without doubt, because he sees something
in this qualification that, as the case stands, renders it a fit thing that such
should be justified ; whether it be because faith is the instrument, or as it were
the hand, by which he that has purchased justification is apprehended and ac
cepted, or because it is the acceptance itself, or whatever. To be justified, is to
be approved of God as a proper subject of pardon, and a right to eternal life;
and therefore, when it is said that we are justified by faith, what else can be
understood by it, than that faith is that by which we are rendered approvable,
fitly so, and indeed, as the case stands, proper subjects of this benefit?
This is something different from faith s being the condition of justification,
only so as to be inseparably connected with justification : so are many other-
things besides faith ; and yet nothing in us but faith renders it meet that we
should have justification assigned to us ; as I shall presently show how, in
answer to the next inquiry, viz.
2. How this is said to be by faith alone, without any manner of virtue or food-
ness of our own. This may seem to some to be attended with two difficulties,
viz., how this can be said to be by faith alone, without any virtue or goodness
of ours, when faith itself is a virtue, and one part of our goodness, and is not
only some manner of goodness of ours, but is a very excellent qualification, and
one chief part of the inherent holiness of a Christian ? And if it be a part of our
inherent goodness or excellency (whether it be this part or any other) that ren
ders it a condecent or congruous thing that we should have this benefit of Christ
assigned to us, what less is this than what they mean that talk of a merit of
congruity ? And moreover, if this part of our Christian holiness qualifies us in
the sight of God, for this benefit of Christ, and renders it a fit or meet thing, in
his sight, that we should have it, why should not other parts of holiness, and
conformity to God, which are also very excellent, and have as much the image
of Christ in them, and are no less lovely in God s eyes, qualify us as much, and
have as much influence to render us meet in God s sight, for such a benefit a*
this ? Therefore I answer,
When it is said, that we are not justified by any righteousness or goodness
of our own, what is meant is, that it is not out of respect to the excellency or
goodness of any qualifications or acts in us whatsoever, that God judges it meet
that this benefit of Christ should be ours ; and it is not in any wise, on account
of any excellency or value that there is in faith, that it appears in the sight of
God a meet thing, that he that believes should have this benefit of Christ as
signed to him, but purely from the relation faith has to the person in whom this
benefit is to be had, or as it unites to that mediator, in and by whom we are
justified. Here, for the greater clearness, I would particularly explain myself
under several propositions,
1. It is certain that there is some union or relation that the people of Christ
stand in to him, that is expressed in Scripture, from time to time, by being i
70 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE
Christ, and is represented frequently by those metaphors of being members of
Christ, or being united to him as members to the head, and branches to the
stock,* and is compared to a marriage union between husband and wife. I do
not now pretend to determine of what sort this union is ; nor is it necessary to
iny present purpose to enter into any manner of dispute about it. If any are
disgusted at the word union, as obscure and unintelligible, the word relation
equally serves my purpose ; I do not now desire to determine any more about
it, than all, of all sorts, will readily allow, viz., that there is a peculiar relation
between true Christians and Christ, or a certain relation between him and them,
that there is not between him and others; which is signified by those meta
phorical expressions in Scripture, of being in Christ, being members of Christ, &c.
2. This relation or union to Christ whereby Christians are said to be in
Christ (whatever it be), is the ground of their right to his benefits. This needs
no proof; the reason of the thing, at first blush, demonstrates it: but yet it is
evident also by Scripture, 1 John v. 12, " He that hath the Son, hath life; and
he that halh not the Son, hath not life." 1 Cor. i. 30, " Of him are ye in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us righteousness." First we must be in him,
and then he will be made righteousness or justification to us. Eph. i. 6, " Who
hath made us accepted in the beloved." Our being in him is the ground of our
being accepted. So it is in those unions which the Holy Ghost has thought fit
to compare this union to. The union of the members of the body with the head,
is the ground of their partaking of the life of the head ; it is the union of the
branches to the stock, which is the ground of their partaking of the sap and
life of the stock ; it is the relation of the wife to the husband, that is the ground
of her joint interest in his estate ; they are looked upon, in several respects, as
one in law : so there is a legal union between Christ and true Christians ; so
that (as all except Socinians allow) one, in some respects, is accepted for the
other by the Supreme Judge.
3. And thus it is that faith is that qualification in any person that renders it
meet in the sight of God that he should be looked upon as having Christ s sat
isfaction and righteousness belonging to him, viz., because it is that in him
which, on his part, makes up this union between him and Christ. By what
has been just now observed, it is a person s being, according to Scripture phrase,
in Christ, that is the ground of having his satisfaction and merits belonging to
him, and a right to the benefits procured thereby : and the reason of it is plain ;
it is easy to see how a having Christ s merits and benefits belonging to us, fol
lows from our having (if I may so speak) Christ himself belonging to us, or a
being united to him ; and if so, it must also be easy to see how, or in what
manner, that, in a person, that on his part makes up the union between his soul
and Christ, should be the thing on the account of which God looks on it meet that
he should have Christ s merits and benefits, from regard to any qualification in
him, in this respect, from his doing of it for him, out of respect to the value or
loveliness of that qualification, or as a reward of the excellency of it.
* " Our Saviour compares his mystical l>ody, that is his church, to a vine, which his Father, whom he
compares to a husbandman, hath planted ; / am the true nine, and my Fath r is the husbandman. To reprrsont
to us the union that is betwixt Christ und all true Christians, and the influei>ce of grace and spiritual life,
which all that are united to him do derive and receive from Kim, he sets it forth to us by the resemblance
of a vine and branches. As there is a natural, vi .a! inion between the vine and the branches, so there is
a spiritual union between Christ and true Christians ; and this union is the cause of our fruitfulness in
the works of obedience and a good life. There are some indeed that seem to l>e grafted in o Christ by an
outward profession of Christianity, who yet derive no influence from him so as to bring forth fruit, be
cause they are not vitally united to him." Dr. Tillotsun, 3<l vol. of Serm. p. 307.
By this it appears that the vital union between Christ and true Christians, which is much more of a
mystery than the relative union, and necessarily implies it, was not thought an unreasonable doctiin* by
one of the greatest divines on the other aide of th question in hand.
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONF. 71
As there is nobody but what will allow that there is a peculiar relation
between Christ and his true disciples, by \vhicli they are in some sense in Scrip
ture said to be one ; so I suppose there is nobody but what will allow, that
there may be something that the true Christian does on his part, whereby he is
active in coming into his relation or union, some of the soul of the Christian,
that is the Christian s uniting act, or that which is done towards this union or
relation (or whatever any please to call it) on the Christian s part : now failh
I suppose td be this act.
1 do not now pretend to define .justifying faith, or to determine precisely
how much is contained in it, but only to determine thus much concerning it,
viz., that it is that by which the soul that before was separate and alienated
from Christ, unites itself to him, or ceases to be any longer in that state of
alienation, and comes into that forementioned union or relation to him, or, to
use the Scripture phrase, that it is that by which the soul comes to Christ, and
receives him : and this is evident by the Scripture s using these very expres
sions to signify faith. John vi. 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, " He that comdh to me,
shall never hunger ; and he that bclicveth on me, shall never thirst. But I
said unto you, that ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father
giveth me, shall come to me ; and him that comefh to me, I will in no wise cast
out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of
him that sent me." Ver. 40, " And this is the will of him that sent me, that
every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life;
and I will raise him up at the last day." Chap. v. 38, 39, 40, " Whom he hath
sent, him ye believe not. Search the Scriptures, for they are they which tes
tify of me. And ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life." Ver. 43,
44, " I am come in my Father s name, and ye receive me not : if another shall
come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe which receive
honor one of another ?" Chap. i. 12, " But as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name." If it be said that these are obscure figures of speech, that, however
they might be well understood of old among those that then commonly used
such metaphors, yet they are difficultly understood now; I allow that the ex
pressions, receiving Christ, and coming to Christ, are metaphorical expressions :
and if I should allow them to be obscure metaphors, yet so much at least is
certainly plain in them, viz., that faith is that by which those that before were
separated, and at a distance from Christ, (that is to say, were not so related
and united to him as his people are), do cease to be any longer at such a dis
tance, and do come into that relation and nearness ; unless they are so unintel
ligible, that nothing at all can be understood by them.
God does not give those that believe, a union with or an interest in the
Saviour, in reward for faith, but only because faith is the soul s active uniting
with Christ, or is itself the very act of unition, on their part. God sees it fit,
that in order to a union s being established between two intelligent, active
beings or persons, so as that they should be looked upon as one, there should
be the mutual act of both, that each should receive the other, as actively join
ing themselves one to another. God, in requiring this in order to a union with
Christ as one of his people, treats men as reasonable creatures, capable of act
and choice ; and hence sees it fit that they only that are one with Christ by
their own act, should be looked upon as one in law. What is real in the union
between Christ and his people, is the foundation of what is legal ; that is, it is
something that is really in them, and between them, uniting them, that is the
ground of the suitableness of their being accounted as one by the Judge : and if
72 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
there be any act or qualification in believers that is of that uniting nature, that
it is meet, on that account, that the Judge should look upon them and accept
them as one, no wonder that upon the account of the same act or qualification,
he should accept the satisfaction and merits of the one for the other, as if it
were their satisfaction and merits : it necessarily follows, or rather is implied.
And thus, it is that faith justifies, or gives an interest in Christ s satisfaction
and merits and a right to the benefits procured thereby, viz., as it thus makes
Christ and the believer one, in the acceptance of the Supreme Judge. It is by
taith that we have a title to eternal life, because it is by faith that we have the
Son of God, by whom life is. The Apostle >hn in these words, 1 John v. 12,
" He that hath the Son, hath life," seems evidently to have respect to those
words of Christ that he gives an account of in his gospel, chap. iii. 36, " He
that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life ; and he that believeth not the
Son, shall not see life." And in the same places that the Scripture speaks.of
faith as the soul s receiving or coming to Christ, it also speaks of this receiving,
or coming to, or joining with Christ, as the ground of an interest in his benefits :
to as many as received him, " to them gave he power" to become the sons
of God. Ye will not come unto me " that ye might have life." And there
is a wide difference between its being looked on suitable that Christ s satisfac
tion and merits should be theirs that believe, because an interest in that satis
faction and merit is but a fit reward of faith, or a suitable testimony of God s re
spect to the amiableness and excellency of that grace, and its only being looked
on suitable that Christ s satisfaction and merits should be theirs, because Christ
and they are so united, that in the eyes of the Judge they may suitably be looked
upon and taken as one.
Although, on the account of faith in the believer, it is, in the sight of God, fit
and congruous, both that he that believes should be looked upon as in Christ, and
also as having an interest in his merits in the way that has been now explained ; yet
it appears that this is very wide from a merit of congruity, or indeed any moral
congruity at all to either. There is a twofold fitness to a state ; I know not
how to give them distinguishing names, or otherwise, than by calling the one a
moral and the other a natural fitness. A person has a moral fitness for a state,
when his moral excellency commends him to it, or when his being put into such
a good state is but a fit or suitable testimony of regard or love to the moral ex
cellency, or value, or amiableness of any of his qualifications or acts. A person has
a natural fitness for a state, when it appears meet and condecent that he should be
in such a state or circumstances, only from the natural concord or agreeableness
there is between such qualifications and such circumstances ; not because the
qualifications are lovely or unlovely, but only because the qualifications
and the circumstances are like one another, or do in their nature, suit
and agree or unite one to another. And it is on this latter account only that
God looks on it fit, by a natural fitness, that he whose heart sincerely unites
itself to Christ as his Saviour, should be looked upon as united to that Saviour,
and so having an interest in him ; and not from any moral fitness there is be
tween the excellency of such a qualification as faith, and such a glorious bless
edness as the having an interest in Christ. God s bestowing Christ and his
benefits on a soul in consequence of faith, out of regard only to the natural con
cord there is between such a qualification of a soul, and such a union with
Christ, and interest in him, makes the case very widely different from what
would be, if he bestowed this from regard to any moral suitableness : for, in
the former case, it is only from God s love of order that he bestows these things
on the account of faith : in the latter, God doth it out of love to the grace of faith
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 73
itself. God will neither look on Christ s merits as ours, nor adjudge his bene
fits to us, till we be in Christ ; nor will he look upon us being in him, without
an active union of our hearts and souls to him ; because he is a wise being, and
delights in order and not in confusion, and that things should be together or
asunder according to their nature ; and his making such a constitution is a testi
mony of his love of order : whereas if it were out of regard to any moral fitness
or suitableness between faith and such blessedness, it would be a testimony of
his love to the act or qualification itself: the one supposes this divine constitu
tion to be a manifestation of God s regard to the beauty of the act of faith ; the
other only supposes it to be a manifestation of his regard to the beauty of that
order that there is in uniting those things that have a natural agreement, and con-
gruity, and unition the one with the other. Indeed a moral suitableness or fitness to
a state includes a natural : for it is never so that if there be a moral suitableness
that a person should be in such a state, there is not also a natural suitableness ;
but such a natural suitableness as I have described, by no means necessarily in
cludes a moral.
This is plainly what our divines intend when they say, that faith does not
justify as a work, or a righteousness, viz., that it does not justify as a part of
our moral goodness or excellency, or that it does not justify as a work in the
sense, that man was to have been justified by his works by the covenant of
works, which was to have a title to eternal life given him of God in testimony
of his pleasedness with his works, or his regard to the inherent excellency and
beauty of his obedience. And this is certainly what the Apostle Paul means,
when he so much insists upon it, that w y e are not justified by works, viz., that
we are not justified by them as good works, or by any goodness, value, or ex
cellency of our works. For the proof of this I shall at present mention but one
thing (being like to have occasion to say what shall make it more abundantly
manifest afterwards), and that is, the apostle, from time to time, speaking of our
not being justified by works, as the thing that excludes all boasting, Eph. ii. 9,
Rom. iii. 27, and chap. iv. 2. Now which way do works give occasion for
boasting, but as good ? What do men use to boast of, but of something they
suppose good or excellent ? And on what account do they boast of any thing,
but for the supposed excellency that is in it ?
From these things we may learn in what manner faith is the only condition
of justification, and salvation : for though it be not the only condition, so as
alone truly to have the place of a condition in a hypothetical proposition, in
which justification and salvation are the consequent, yet it is the condition of
justification in a manner peculiar to it, and so that nothing else has a parallel
influence with it ; because faith includes the whole act of unition to Christ as a
Saviour. The entire, active uniting of the soul, or the whole of what is called
coming to Christ, and receiving of him, is called faith in Scripture; and how
ever other things may be no less excellent than faith, yet it is not the natune of
any other graces or virtues directly to close with Christ as a mediator, any fur
ther than they enter into the constitution of justifying faith, and do belong to
its nature.
Thus I have explained my meaning in asserting it as a doctrine of the gos
pel, that we are justified by faith only, without any manner of goodness of our
own. I now proceed,
II. To the proof of it ; which I shall endeavor to produce in the fol
lowing arguments.
First. Such is our case, and the state of things, that neither faith, nor any
other qualification, or act or course of acts, does or can render it suitable or fit
VOL. IV. 10
74 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
that a person should have an interest in the Saviour, and so a title to his bene
fits, on account of any excellency therein, or any other way, than only as some
thing in him may unite him to the Saviour. It is not suitable that God should
give fallen man an interest in Christ and his merits, as a testimony of his res
pect to any thing whatsoever as a loveliness in him ; and that because it is not
meet, till a sinner is actually justified, that any thing in him should be accepted
of God, as an excellency or amiableness of his person ; or that God, by any act,
should in any manner or degree testify any pleasedness with him, or favor
towards him, on the account of any thing inherent in him : and that for two
reasons : 1. Because the nature of things will not admit of it. 2. Because an
antecedent, divine constitution stands in the way of it.
1. The nature of things will not admit of it. And this appears from the infi
nite guilt that the sinner, till justified, is under ; which arises from the infinite evil
or heinousness of sin. But because this is what some deny, I would therefore
first establish that point, and show that sin is a thing that is indeed properly of in
finite heinousness ; and then show the consequence, and show that, it being so, and
so the sinner under infinite guilt in God s sight, it cannot be suitable, till the sinner
is actually justified, that God should by any act testify any pleasedness with, or
acceptance of any thing, as any excellency or amiableness of his person, or in
deed have any acceptance of him, or pleasedness with him to testify.
That the evil and demerit of sin is infinitely great, is most demonstrably
evident, because what the evil or iniquity of sin consists in, is the violating of an
obligation, the doing contrary to what we are obliged to do, or doing what we
should not do ; and therefore by how much the greater the obligation is that is
violated, by so much the greater is the iniquity of the violation. But certainly
our obligation to love or honor any being is great in proportion to the greatness
or excellency of that being or his worthiness to be loved or honored : we are
under greater obligations to love a more lovely being than a less lovely ; and if
a being be infinitely excellent and lovely, our obligations to love him are
therein infinitely great : the matter is so plain, it seems needless to say much
about it.
Some have argued strangely against the infinite evil of sin, from its being
committed against an infinite object, that if so, then it may as well be argued,
that there is also an infinite value or worthiness in holiness and love to God,
because that also has an infinite object ; whereas the argument, from parity of
reason, will carry it in the reverse : the sin of the creature against God is ill
deserving in proportion to the distance there is between God and the creature ;
the greatness of the object, and the meanness of the subject aggravates it. But
it is the reverse with regard to the worthiness of respect ot" the creature to God ;
it is worthless (and not worthy) in proportion to the meanness of the subject ;
so much the greater the distance between God and the creature, so much the
less is the creature s respect worthy of God s notice or regard. The unworthi-
ness of sin or opposition to God rises and is great, in proportion to the dignity
of the object and inferiority of the subject ; but on the contrary, the worth or
value of respect rises in proportion to the value of the subject ; and that for
this plain reason, viz., that the evil of disrespect is in proportion to the obliga
tion that lies upon the subject to the object ; which obligation is most evidently
increased by the excellency and superiority of the object ; but on the contrary,
the worthiness of respect to a being is in proportion to the obligation that lies
on him who is the object (or rather the reason he has) to regard the subject,
which certainly is in proportion to the subject s value or excellency. Sin or dis
respect is evil or heinous in proportion to the degree of what it denies in the
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 75
object, as it were takes from it, viz., its excellency and worthiness of respect ;
on the contrary, respect is valuable in proportion to the value of what is given
to the object in that respect, which undoubtedly (other things being equal) is
greater in proportion to the subject s value, or worthiness of regard ; because the
subject in giving his respect, can give no more than himself to the object;
and therefore his gift is of greater or less value in proportion to the value of
himself.
Hence (by the way), the love, honor, and obedience of Christ towards God,
has infinite value, from the excellency and dignity of the person in whom these
qualifications were inherent ; and the reason why we needed a person of infinite
dignity to obey for us, was because of our infinite comparative meanness, who
had disobeyed, whereby our disobedience was infinitely aggravated. We needed
one, the worthiness of whose obedience might be answerable to the unworthi-
ness of our disobedience ; and therefore needed one who was as great and
worthy as we were unworthy.
Another objection (that perhaps may be thought hardly worth mentioning)
is, that to suppose sin to be infinitely heinous, is to make all sins equally hein
ous ; for how can any sin be more than infinitely heinous ? But all that can be
argued hence is, that no sin can be greater with respect to that aggravation,
the worthiness of the object against whom i t is committed. One sin cannot be
more aggravated than another in that respect, because in this respect the ag
gravation of every sin is infinite ; but that does not hinder but that some sins
may be more heinous than others in other respects : as if we should suppose a
cylinder infinitely long, it cannot be greater in that respect, viz., with respect to
the length of it ; but yet it may be doubled and trebled, and made a thousand
fold more, by the increase of other dimensions. Of sins that are all infinitely
heinous, some may be more heinous than others ; as well as of divers punish
ments that are all infinitely dreadful calamities, or all of them infinitely exceed
ing all finite calamities, so that there is no finite calamity, however great,
but what is infinitely less dreadful, or more eligible than any of them, yet some
of them may be a thousand times more dreadful than others. A punishment
may be infinitely dreadful by reason of the long duration of it ; and therefore
cannot be greater with respect to that aggravation of it, viz., its length of
continuance, but yet may be vastly more terrible on other accounts.
Having thus, as I imagine, made it clear, that all sin is infinitely heinous
and consequently that the sinner-, before he is justified, is under infinite guilt in
God s sight ; it now remains that I show the consequence, or how it follows
from hence, that it is not suitable that God should give the the sinner an inter
est in Christ s merits, and so a title to his benefits, from regard to any qualifi
cation, or act, or course of acts in him, on the account of any excellency or
goodness whatsoever therein, but only as uniting to Christ ; or (which fully im
plies it) that it is not suitable that God, by any act, should, in any manner or
degree, testify any acceptance of, or pleasedness with any thing, as any virtue,
or excellency, or any part of loveliness, or valuableness in his person, until he is
actually already interested in Christ s merits; which appears by this, that from the
premises it follows, that before the sinner is already interested in Christ, and justi
fied, it is impossible God should have any acceptance of, or pleasedness with the
person of the sinner, as in any degree lovely in his sight, or indeed less the ob
ject of his displeasure and wrath. For, by the supposition, the sinner still remains
infinitely guilty in the sight of God ; for guilt is not removed but by pardon
but to suppose the sinner already pardoned, is to suppose him already justi
fied ; which is contrary to the supposition. But if the sinner still remains in.
76 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
finitely guilty in God s sight, that is the same thing as still to be beheld of God
as infinitely the object of his displeasure and wrath, or infinitely hateful in his
eyes ; and if so, where is any room for any thing in him, to be accepted as some
valuableness or acceptableness of him in God s sight, or for any act of favor ot
any kind towards him, or any gift whatsoever to him, in testimony of God s
respect to and acceptance of something of him lovely and pleasing ?
should suppose that it could be so, that a sinner could have faith or some other
grace in his heart, and yet remain separate from Christ ; and it should continue
still to be so, that he is not looked upon as being in Christ, or having any re
lation to him, it would not be meet that that true grace should be accepted of
God as any loveliness of his person in the sight of God. If it should be ac
cepted as the loveliness of the person, that would be to accept the person as in
some decree lovely to God ; but this cannot be consistent with his still reraam-
ino- under infinite guilt, or infinite unworthiness in God s sight, which that
goodness has no worthiness to balance. While God beholds the man as separate
from Christ, he must behold him as he is in himself; and so his goodness cannot
be beheld by God, but as taken with his guilt and hatefulness ; and as put in
the scales with it ; and being beheld so, his goodness is nothing ; because there
is a finite on the balance against an infinite, whose proportion to it is nothing.
In such a case, if the man be looked on as he is in himself, the excess of the
weight in one scale above another, must be looked upon as the quality of the
man These contraries being beheld together, one takes from another, as one
number is subtracted from another ; and the man must be looked upon in God s
sio-ht according to the remainder : for here, by the supposition, all acts of grace
and favor, in not imputing the guilt as it is, are excluded, because that supposes
a degree of pardon, and that supposes justification, which is contrary to what
is supposed, viz., that the sinner is not already justified ; and therefore things
must be taken strictly as they are: and so the man is still infinitely unworthy
and hateful in God s sight, as he was before without diminution, because hi
goodness bears no proportion to his unworthiness, and therefore when taken
together is nothing.
Hence may be more clearly seen the force of that expression in the text, o
believing on him that jwttfeth the ungodly ; for though there is indeed some-
thin" in man that is rtal y and spiritually good, that is prior to justification, yet
there is noth"^ that Is accepted as any godliness or excellency ot the person till
after justification. Goodness or loveliness of the person in the acceptance of
God in any decree, is not to be considered prior but posterior in the order and
method of God ? s proceeding in this affair. Though a respect to the natural
suitableness between such a qualification, and such a state, does go b
fication vet the acceptance even of faith as any goodness or lovehnes
believer follows justification : the goodness is on the forementioned account
uf.v looked upon as nothing, until the man is justified : and therefore the man
is respected in justification, as in himself altogether hateful. Thus the nature
of things will not admit of a man s having an interest given him in the mei
or benefits of a Saviour, on the account of any thing as a righteousness, 01
tue, or excellency in him. , . .-
2 A divine constitution that is antecedent to that which establishes justifi
cation by a Saviour (and indeed to any need of a Saviour), stands in the way
of it, viz., that original constitution or law which man was put under ; by
which constitution or law the sinner is condemned, because he is a violator ot
that law ; stftnds condemned, till he has actually an interest in the Saviour
through whom he is set at liberty from that condemnation. But t
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 77*
God gives a man an interest in Christ in reward for his righteousness or virtue,
is inconsistent with his still remaining under condemnation till he has an interest
in Christ ; because it supposes, that the sinner s virtue is accepted, and he ac
cepted for it, before he has an interest in Christ ; inasmuch as an interest in
Christ is given as a reward of his virtue : but the virtue must first be accepted,
before it is rewarded, and the man must first be accepted for his virtue, before
he is rewarded for it with so great and glorious a reward ; for the very notion
of a reward, is some good bestowed in testimony of respect to, and acceptance
of virtue in the person rewarded. It does not consist with the honor of the
majesty of the king of heaven and earth, to accept of any thing from a con
demned malefactor, condemned by the justice of his own holy law, till that con
demnation be removed : and then such acceptance, is inconsistent with, and con
tradictory to such remaining condemnation; for the law condemns him that
violates it to be totally rejected and cast off by God. But how can a man con
tinue under this condemnation, i. e., continue utterly rejected and cast off by
God, and yet his righteousness or virtue be accepted, and he himself accepted
on the account of it, so as to have so glorious reward as an interest in Christ
bestoweo as a testimony of that acceptance 1
I know that the answer that will be ready for this, is, that we now are not
subject to that constitution that mankind were at first put under j but that God, in
mercy to mankind, has abolished that rigorous constitution or law that they
were under originally, and he has put us under a new law, and introduced a
more rnild constitution ; and that the constitution or law itself not remaining,
there is no need of supposing that the condemnation of it remains, to stand in
the way of the acceptance of our virtue. And indeed there is no other way of
avoiding this difficulty ; the condemnation of the law must stand in force against
a man till he is actually interested in the Saviour, that has satisfied and answer
ed the law, effectually to prevent any acceptance of his virtue, before, or in
order to such an interest, unless the law or constitution itself be abolished. But
the scheme of those modern divines by whom this is maintained, seems to con
tain a great deal of absurdity and self-contradiction : they hold, that the old law
given to Adam, which requires perfect obedience, is entirely repealed, and that
instead of it we are put under a new law, which requires no more than imper
fect, sincere obedience, in compliance with our poor, infirm, impotent circum
stances since the fall, whereby we are unable to perform that perfect obedience
that was required by the first law*: for they strenuously maintain, that it would
be unjust in God to require any thing of us that is beyond our present power
and ability to perform ; and yet they hold, that Christ died to satisfy for the
imperfections of our obedience, that so our imperfect obedience might be accept
ed instead of a perfect. Now, how can these things hang together 1 I would
ask, What law these imperfections of our obedience are a breach of? If they
are a breach of no law, then they are not sins, and if they be not sins, what need
of Christ s dying to satisfy for them ? But if they are sins, and so the breach
of some law, what law is it ? They cannot be a breach of their new law, for
that requires no other than imperfect obedience, or obedience with imperfections ;
and they cannot be a breach of the old law, for that they say is entirely abol
ished, and we never were under it ; and we cannot break a law that we never
were under. They say it would not be just in God to exact of us perfect obe
dience, because it would not be just in God to require more of us than we can
perform in our present state, and to punish us for failing of it ; and therefore, by
their own scheme, the imperfections of our obedience do not Reserve to be pun
ished. . What need therefore of Christ s dying to satisfy for them ? What need
78 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
of Christ s suffering to satisfy for that which is no fault, and in its own nature
deserves no suffering ? What need of Christ s dying to purchase that our im
perfect obedience should be accepted, when, according to their scheme, it would
be unjust in itself that any other obedience than imperfect should be required ?
What need of Christ s dying to make way for God s accepting such an obedi
ence, as it would in itself be unjust in him not to accept 1 Is there any need of
Christ s dying to persuade God not to do unjustly 1 If it be said, that Christ
died to satisfy that law for us, that so we might not be under that law, but
might be delivered from it, that so there might be room for us to be under a more
mild law; still I would inquire, What need of Christ s dying that we might not
be under a law that (according to their scheme) it would in itself be unjust that
we should be under, because in our present state we are not able to keep it ?
What need of Christ s dying that we might not be under a law that it would
be unjust that we should be under, whether Christ died or no ?
Thus far I have argued principally from reason, and the nature of things :
I proceed now to the
Second argument, which is, That this is a doctrine that the holy^cripture,
the revelation that God has given us of his mind and will, by which alone we
can ever come to know how those that have offended God can be accepted of
him, and justified in his sight, is exceeding full in . particularly the Apostle
Paul is abundant in teaching, that " we are justified by faith alone, without the
works of the law." There is no one doctrine that he insists so much upon, and
is so particular in, and that he handles with so much distinctness, explaining and
giving reasons, and answering objections.
Here it is not denied by any, that the apostle does assert, that we are
justified by faith, without the works of the law, because the words are express;
but only it is said, that we take his words wrong, and understand that by them
that never entered into his heart, in that when he excludes the works of the law,
we understand him of the whole law of God, or the rule which he has given to
mankind to walk by ; whereas all that he intends is the ceremonial law.
Some that oppose this doctrine indeed say, that the apostle sometimes means
that it is by faith, i. e., a hearty embracing the gospel, in its first act only, or
without any preceding holy life, that persons are admitted into a justified state ;
but, say they, it is by a persevering obedienc- that they are continued in a jus
tified state ; and it is by this that they are finally justified. But this is the same
thing as to say, that a man, on his first embracing the gospel, is conditionally
justified and pardoned : to pardon sin, is to free the sinner from the punishment
of it, or from that eternal misery that is due to it ; and therefore, if a person is
pardoned or freed from this misery, on his first embracing the gospel, and yet
not finally freed, but his actual freedom still depends on some condition yet to
be performed, it is inconceivable how he can be pardoned otherwise than con
ditionally that is, he is not actually pardoned, and freed from punishment, but
only he has God s promise that he shall be pardoned on future conditions ; God
promises him, that now, if he perseveres in obedience, he shall be finally par
doned or actually freed from hell ; which is to make just nothing at all of the
apostle s <n-eat doctrine of justification by faith alone: such a cond.t.onal par.
don is nopardon or justification at all, any more than all mankind have, whe-
ther they embrace the gospel or no; for they all have a promise ot final just.fi.
cation on condition of future, sincere obedience, as much as he that embraces
the gospel. But not to dispute about this, we will suppose that there may be
something or other at the sinner s first embracing the gospel, that may properly
be calledjus tification or P ardon and yet that fi " al J^ 11 ^ 10 " or real frepdom
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 79
from the punishment of sin, is still suspended on conditions hitherto unfulfilled
yet they that hold that sinners are thus justified on embracing the gospel, suppose
that they are justified by this no otherwise than as this is a leading act of obedi
ence, or at least as virtue and moral goodness in them, and therefore would be
excluded by the apostle as much as any other virtue or obedience, if it be allow
ed that he means the moral law, when he excludes the works of the law. And
therefore, if that point be yielded, that the apostle means the moral, and not the
ceremonial law only, their whole scheme falls to the ground.
And because the issue of the whole argument from those texts in St. Paul s
epistles depends on the determination of this point, I would be particular in the
discussion of it.
Some of our opponents in this doctrine of justification, when they deny, that
by the law the apostle means the moral law, or the whole rule of life which
God has given to mankind, seem to choose to express themselves thus, that the
apostle only intends the Mosaic dispensation. But this comes to just the same
thing as if they said, that the apostle only means to exclude the works of the
ceremonial law; for when they say, that it is intended only that "we be not jus
tified by the works of the Mosaic dispensation, if they mean any thing by it, it
must be, that we be not justified by attending and observing what is Mosaic in
that dispensation, or by what was peculiar to it, and wherein it differed from
the Christian dispensation j which is the same as that which is ceremonial and
positive, and not moral, in that administration. So lhat this is what I have to
disprove, viz., that the apostle when he speaks of the works of the law in this
affair, means only the works of the ceremonial law, or those observances that
were peculiar to the Mosaic administration.
And here it must be noted, that nobody controverts it with them, whether
the works of the ceremonial law be not included, or whether the apostle does
not particularly argue against justification by circumcision, and other ceremonial
observances ; but all that is in question is, whether, when he denies justification
by works of the law, he is to be understood of the ceremonial law only, or whe
ther the moral law be not also implied and intended ; and therefore those argu
ments that are brought to prove that the apostle meant the ceremonial law, are
nothing to the purpose unless they prove more than that, viz., that the apostle
meant those only.
What is much insisted on is, that it was the judaizing Christians being
so fond of circumcision, and other ceremonies of the law, and depending so
much on them, which was the occasion of the apostle s writing as he does against
justification by the works of the law. But supposing it were so, that their
trusting in works of the ceremonial law were the sole occasion of the apostle s
writing (which yet there is no reason to allow, as may appear afterwards), if
their trusting in a particular work, as a work of righteousness, was all that
gave occasion to the apostle to write, how does it follow, that therefore the
apostle did not upon that occasion write against trusting in all works of right
eousness whatsoever ? Where is the absurdity of supposing that the apostle
might take occasion, from his observing some to trust in a certain work as a
work of righteousness, to write to them against persons trusting in any works
of righteousness, and that it was a very proper occasion too ? Yea, it would
have been unavoidable for the apostle to have argued against trusting in a par
ticular work in that quality of a work of righteousness, which quality was o- e n-
eral, but he must therein argue against works of righteousness in general.
Supposing it had been some other particular sort of works that was the occasion
of the apostle s writing, as for instance, works of charity, and the apostle should
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
hence take occasion to write to them not to trust in their works, could the apos
tle by that be understood of no other work besides works of charity ? Would
it have been absurd to understand him as writing against trusting in any work
at all, because it was their trusting to a particular work that gave occasion to
his writing 1
Another thing that .is alleged as an evidence that the apostle means the
ceremonial law, when he says, we cannot be justified by the works of the law,
is, that he uses that argument to prove it, viz., that this law that he speaks of
was given so long after the covenant with Abraham, in Gal. iii. 17 : " And
this, I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the
law , which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul." But, say
they, it was only the Mosaic administration, and not the covenant of works, that
was given so long after. But the apostle s argument seems manifestly to be
mistaken by them. The apostle does not speak of a law that began first to
have being four hundred and thirty years after; if he did, there would be some
force in their objection ; but he has respect to a certain solemn transaction, well
known among the Jews, by the phrase of the giving of the law, which was
that great transaction at Mount Sinai, that we have account of in the 19th and
20th chapters of Exodus, consisting especially in God s giving the ten com
mandments, which is the moral law, with terrible voice, which law he after
wards gave in tables of stone. This transaction, the Jews, in the apostle s time
misinterpreted ; they looked upon it as God s establishing the law as a rule of
justification. This conceit of theirs the apostle brings this invincible argument
against, viz., that God would never go about to disannul his covenant with
Abraham, which was plainly a covenant of grace, by a transaction with his
posterity, that was so long after it, and was plainly built upon it : he would not
overthrow a covenant of grace that he had long before established with Abra
ham, for him and his seed (which is often mentioned on the ground of God s
makino- them his people), by now establishing a covenant of works with them
at Mount Sinai, as the Jews and judaizing Christians supposed.
But that the apostle does not mean works of the ceremonial law only, when
he excludes works of the law in justification, but also of the moral law, and all
works of obedience, virtue and righteousness whatsoever, may appear by the
following things.
1. The apostle does not only say, that we are not justified by the works ot
the law, but that we are not justified by works, using a general term ? as in our
text, it is said, to him that irorketh not, but believethon him that justifeth, &c.;
and in the 6lh verse, " God imputeth righteousness without works ;" and chap.
xi. 6, " And if by grace, then it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no
more o-race : but if it be of works, then is it no more grace ; otherwise work is
no more work." So Eph. ii. 8, 9, " For by grace are ye saved, through faith ;
not of works ;" by which there is no reason in the world to understand the
apostle of any other than works in general, as correlates of a reward, or good
works, or works of virtue and righteousness. When the apostle says, we
are justified or saved not by works, without any such term annexed, as the law,
or any other addition, to limit the expression, what warrant has any one to con
fine it to works of a particular law or institution, excluding others ? Are not
observances of other divine laws, works, as well as of that ? It seems to be
allowed by the divines in the Arminian scheme, in their interpretation of several
of those texts where the apostle mentions works only, without any additions,
that he means our own good works in general j but then, they say, he only
means to exclude any proper merit in those works. But to say the apostle
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 81
means one thing when he says, we be not justified by works, another when he
says, we be not justified by the works of the law, when we find the expressions
mixed and used in the same discourse, and when the apostle is evidently on the
eame argument, is very unreasonable ; it is to dodge and fly from Scripture,
rather than to open and yield ourselves to its teachings.
2. In the third chapter of Romans, our having been guilty of breaches of
the moral law, is an argument that the apostle uses, why we cannot be justified
by the works of the law ; beginning with the 9th verse, there he proves, out of
the Old Testament, that all are under sin : " There is none righteous, no not
one : their throat is an open sepulchre ; with their tongues they have used de
ceit : their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness ; and their feet swift to shed
blood." And so he goes on, mentioning only those things that are breaches ot
the moral law ; and then when he has done, his conclusion is, in the 19th and
20th verses, Now, we know that whatsoever things the law sailh, it saith to
them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the
world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified in his sight." This is most evidently his argument, because
all had sinned (as it was said in the 9th verse), and been guilty of those breaches
of- the moral law that he had mentioned (and it is repeated over again after
ward, verse 23) : " For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God ;"
therefore none at all can be justified by the law. Now if the apostle meant
only, that we are not justified by the deeds of the ceremonial law, what kind ot
arguing would that be : " Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, their feet
are swift to shed blood ;" therefore they cannot be justified by the deeds of the
Mosaic administration : they are guilty of the breaches of the moral law ; and
therefore they cannot be justified by the deeds of the ceremonial law ? Doubt
less the apostle s argument is, that the very same law that they have broken and
sinned against, can never justify them as observers of it, because every law does
not justify, but necessarily condemns its violators. And therefore our breaches
of the moral law argue no more, than that we cannot be justified by that law
that we have broken.
And it may be noted, that the apostle s argument here is the same that I
have already used, viz., that as we are in ourselves, and out of Christ, we are
under the condemnation of that original law or constitution that God estab
hshed with mankind ; and therefore it is no way fit that any thing that we do
any virtue or obedience of ours should be accepted, or we accepted on the ac
count of it.
3. The apostle, in the preceding part of this epistle, wherever he has the
phrase, the law, evidently intends the moral law principally. As in the 12th
verse of the foregoing chapter : " For as many as have sinned without law,
shall also perish without law." It is evidently the written, moral law the
apostle means, by the next verse but one : For when the Gentiles, which
have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law ;" that is, the
iLoral law that the Gentiles have by nature. And so the next verse, " Which
show the work of the law written in their hearts." It is the moral law, and
not the ceremonial, that is written in the hearts of those that are destitute oi
divine revelation. And so in the 18th verse, " Thou approvest the things that
are more excellent ; being instructed out of the law." It is the moral law that
shows us the nature of things, and teaches us what is excellent ; 20th verse
" Thou hast a form of knowledge and truth in the law." It is the moral law
as is evident by what follows, verses 22, 23 : " Thou that sayest a man should
not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery ? Thou that abhorrest idols
VOL. IV. 11
82 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through
breaking the law dishonorest thou God 1 Adultery, idolatry, and sacrilege,
surely are the breaking of the moral, and not the ceremonial law. So in the
27th verse : "And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law,
judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law ?" i. e.,
the Gentiles, that you despise because uneircumcised, if they live moral and
holy lives, in obedience to the moral law, shall condemn you though cir
cumcised. And so there is not one place in all the preceding part of the epistle,
where the apostle speaks of the law, but that he most apparently intends prin
cipally the moral law ; and yet when the apostle, in continuance of the same dis
course, comes to tell us that we cannot be justified by the works of the law,
then they will needs have it, that he means only the ceremonial law ; yea,
though all this discourse about the moral law, showing how the Jews, as well
as Gentiles have violated it, is evidently preparatory and introductory to that
doctrine, chap. iii. 20, " that no flesh," that is none of mankind, neither
Jews nor Gentiles, " can be justified by the works of the law."
4. It is evident that when the apostle says, we cannot be justified by the
works of the law, he means the moral as well as ceremonial law, by his giving
this reason for it, that " by the law is the knowledge of sin," as Rom. iii. 20 :
" By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law
is the knowledge of sin." Now that law by which we come to the knowledge
of sin, is the moral law chiefly and primarily. If this argument of the apostle
be good, " that we cannot be justified by the deeds of the law, because it is by
the law that we come to the knowledge of sin ;" then it proves that we cannot
be justified by the deeds of the moral law, nor by the precepts of Christianity ;
for by them is the knowledge of sin. If the reason be good, then where the
reason holds, the truth holds. It is a miserable shift, and a violent force put
upon the words, to say that the meaning is, that by the law of circumcision is
the knowledge of sin, because circumcision, signifying the taking away of sin,
puts men in mind of sin. The plain meaning of the apostle is, that as the law
most strictly forbids sin, it tends to convince us of sin, and bring our own con
sciences to condemn us, instead of justifying us ; that the use of it is to declare
to us our own guilt and un worthiness, which is the reverse of justifying and ap
proving us as virtuous or worthy. This is the apostle s meaning, if we will
allow him to be his own expositor ; for he himself, in this very epistle, explains
to us how it is that by the law we have the knowledge of sin, and that it is by
the law s forbidding sin, chap. vii. 7 : " I had not known sin but by the law ;
for I had not known lust, except the law had said, thou shalt not covet."
There the apostle determines two things ; first, that the way in which " by the
law is the knowledge of sin," is by the law s forbidding sin : and secondly,
which is more directly still to the purpose, he determines that it is the moral
law by which we come to the knowledge of sin ; " for," says he, " I had not
known lust, except the law had said, thou shalt not covet." Now it is the
moral, and not the ceremonial law, that says, thou shalt not covet : therefore, when
the apostle argues, that by the deeds of the law no flesh living shall be justified,
because by the law is the knowledge of sin, his argument proves (unless he was
mistaken as to the force of his argument), that we cannot be justified by the
deeds of the moral law.
5. It is evident that the apostle does not mean the ceremonial law only,
because he gives this reason why we have righteousness, and a title to the privi
lege of God s children, not by the law, but by faith, "that the law worketh
wrath." Rom. iv. 1316, " For the promise that he should be the heir of the
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 83
world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed through the law, but through the
righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made
void, and the promise made of none effect. Because the law worketh wrath :
for where no law is, there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith, that it
might be by grace." Now the way in which the law works wrath, by the
apostle s own account, in the reason he himself annexes, is by forbidding sin,
and aggravating the guilt of the transgression ; " for," says he, " where no law
is, there is no transgression :" and so, chap. vii. 13, " That sin by the command
ment might become exceeding sinful." If, therefore, this reason of the apostle
be good, it is much stronger against justification by the moral law than the
ceremonial law ; for it is by transgressions of the moral law chiefly that there
comes wrath ; for they are most strictly forbidden, and most terribly threatened.
6. It is evident that when the apostle says, we be not justified by the works
of the law, he excludes all our own virtue, goodness, or excellency, by that
reason that he gives for it, viz., " that boasting might be excluded." Rom.
iii. 26, 27, 28, "To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness : that he might
be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then ?
It is excluded. By what law ? Of works ? Nay ; but by the law of faith.
Therefore we conclude, that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of
the law." Eph. ii. 8, 9, " For by grace are ye saved, through faith ; and that
not of yourselves : it is the gift of God : not of works, lest any man should boast."
Now what are men wont to boast of, but what they esteem their own goodness
or excellency ? If we are not justified by the works of the ceremonial law, yet
how does that exclude boasting, as long as we are justified by our own excel
lency, or virtue and goodness of our own, or works of righteousness which we
have done ?
But it is said, that boasting is excluded, as circumcision was excluded,
which was what the Jews especially used to glory in, and value themselves
upon, above other nations.
To this I answer, that the Jews were not only used to boast of circumcision,
but were notorious for boasting of their moral righteousness. The Jews of
those days were generally admirers and followers of the Pharisees, who were
full of their boasts of their moral righteousness j as we may see by the example
of the Pharisee mentioned in the 18th of Luke, which Christ mentions as des
cribing the general temper of that sect : " Lord," says he, " I thank thee, that
I am not as other men, an extortioner, nor unjust, nor an adulterer." The works
that he boasts of were chiefly moral works : he depended on the works of the
law for justification ; and therefore Christ tells us, that the publican, that re
nounced all his own righteousness, u went down to his house justified rather
than he." And elsewhere we read of the Pharisees praying in the corners of
the streets, and sounding a trumpet before them when they did alms. But
those works which they so vainly boasted of were moral works : and not only
so, but what the apostle, in this very epistle, is condemning the Jews for, is
their boasting of the moral law. Chap. ii. 22, 23, " Thou that sayest a man
should not commit adultery, doest thou commit adultery 1 Thou that abhorrest
idols, dost thou commit sacrilege ? Thou that makest thy boast of the law,
through breaking the law dishonorest thou God ?" The law here mentioned
that they made their boast of, was that of which adultery, idolatry and sacri
lege, were the breaches, which is the moral law. So that this is the boasting
which the apostle condemns them for, and therefore, if they were justified by
the works of this law, then how comes he to say that their boasting is exclud
ed ? And besides, when they boasted of the rites of the ceremonial law, it was
g 4 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
Under a notion of its being a part of their own goodness or excellency, or what
made them holier and more lovely in the sight of God than other people ; and
if they were not justified by this part of their own supposed goodness or holi
ness, yet if they were by another, how did that exclude boasting 1 How was
ilieir boasting excluded, unless all goodness or excellency of their own was
excluded ?
The reason given by the apostle why we can be justified by faith only, and
not by the works of the law, in the 3d chapter of Gal., viz., " that they that
are under the law, are under the curse," makes it evident he does not mean the
ceremonial law only. In that chapter the apostle had particularly insisted
upon it, that Abraham was justified by faith, and that it is by faith only, and
not by the works of the law, that we can be justified, and become the chil
dren of Abraham, and be made partakers of the blessing of Abraham : and he
gives this reason for it, in the 10th verse : " For as many as are of the works
of the law, are under the curse ; for it is written, Cursed is every one that con-
tinueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them."
It is manifest that these words, cited from Deuteronomy, are spoken, not only with
regard to the ceremonial law, but the whole law of God to mankind, and chiefly
the moral law ; and that all mankind are therefore, as they are in themselves,
under that curse, not only while the ceremonial law lasted, but now since that
has ceased : and therefore all that are justified are redeemed from that curse,
by Christ s bearing it for them ; as there, in verse 13 : " Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us ; for it is written, Curs
ed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Now therefore, either its being said
so, that he is cursed that continueth not in all things which are writterrin the
book of the law to do them, is a good reason why we cannot be justified by
the works of that law of which it is so said ; or it is not : if it be, then it is a
good reason why we cannot be justified by the works of the moral law, and of
the whole rule which God has given to mankind to walk by ; for the words
are spoken of the moral as well as the ceremonial law, and reach every com
mand or precept which God has given to mankind ; and chiefly the moral pre
cepts, which are most strictly enjoined, and the violations of which in both
New Testament and Old, and in the books of Moses themselves, are threatened
with the most dreadful curse.
8. The apostle does in like manner argue against our being justified by our
own righteousness, as he does against being justified by the works of the law ;
and evidently uses the expressions, our own righteousness, and works of the law,
promiscuously, and as signifying the same thing. It is particularly evident by
Rom. x. 3 : " For they, being ignorant of God s righteousness, and going about
to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the
righteousness of God." Here it is plain that the same thing is asserted as in
the last two verses but one of the foregoing chapter : " But Israel, which fol
lowed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteous
ness. Wherefore 1 Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the
works of the law." And it is very unreasonable, upon several accounts, to
suppose that the apostle, by their own righteousness, intends only their ceremo
nial righteousness. For when the apostle warns us against trusting in our own
righteousness for justification, doubtless it is fair to interpret the expression in
an agreement with the other Scriptures, where we are warned, not to think
that it is for the sake of our own righteousness that we obtain God s favor and
blessing : as particularly that in Deut. ix. 4, 5, 6, " Speak not thou in thine
heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying,
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 5
For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land : but for
the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee.
Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou
go to possess their land : but for the wickedness of these nations, the Lord thy
God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word
which he sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Understand
therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it,
for thy righteousness : for thou art a stiff-necked people." None will pretend
that here the expression thy righteousness, signifies a ceremonial righteousness
only, but all virtue or goodness of their own; yea, and the inward goodness of
the heart, as well as the outward goodness of life, which appears by the begin
ning of the 5th verse, " Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of
thy heart;" and also by the antithesis in the 6th. verse, " Not for thy righteous
ness, for thou art a stiff-necked people." Their stiff-neckedness was their moral
wickedness, obstinacy, and perverseness of heart : by righteousness, therefore,
on the contrary, is meant their moral virtue, and rectitude of heart and life.
This is what I would argue from hence, that the expression of our own right
eousness, when used in Scripture with relation to the favor of God, and when
we are warned against looking upon it as that by which that favor or the fruits
of it, are obtained, does not signify a ceremonial righteousness only, but all man
ner of goodness of our own.
The Jews also, in the New Testament, are condemned for trusting in their
own righteousness in this sense Luke xviii. 9, &c. : " And he spake this para
ble unto certain that trusted in themselves that they were righteous." This
intends chiefly a moral righteousness ; as appears by the parable itself, in which
we have an account of the prayer of the Pharisee, wherein the things that he
mentions as what he trusts in, are chiefly moral qualifications and performances,
viz., that he was not an extortioner, unjust, nor an adulterer, &c.
But tfe need not go to the writings of other penmen of the Scripture. If
we will allow the Apostle Paul to be his own interpreter, he, when he speaks
of our own righteousness as that which we are not justified or saved by, does
not mean a ceremonial righteousness only, nor does he only intend a way of re
ligion, and serving God, of our own choosing and fixing on, without divine
warrant or prescription ; but by our own righteousness he means the same as a
righteousness of our own doing, whether it be a service or righteousness of
God s prescribing, or our own unwarranted performing : let it be an obedience
to the ceremonial law, or a gospel obedience, or what it will, if it be a right
eousness of our own doing, it is excluded by the apostle in this affair, as is
evident by Titus iii. 5 : " Not by works of righteousness which we have done.
But I would more particularly insist on this text; and therefore this may be
the 9th argument, That the apostle, when he denies justification by works, and
by works of the law, and by our own righteousness, dees not mean works
of the ceremonial law only, viz., what is said by the Apostle in Tit. iii. 3 7 :
" For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving
divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one
another. But 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 regeneration, 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." Works of righteousness that we have done are here
excluded, as what we are neither saved nor justified by. The apostle express
gg JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
]y says, we are not saved by them ; and it is evident that when he says this, he
has respect to the affair of justification, and that he means, we are not saved by
them in not being justified by them, by the next verse but one, which is part of
the same sentence : " That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life."
It is several ways manifest, that the apostle in this text, by " works of right
eousness which we have done," does not mean works of the ceremonial law
only. It appears by the third verse, " For we ourselves also were sometimes
foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice
and envy, hateful and hating one another." These are breaches of the moral
law, that the apostle observes they lived in before they were justified : and it is
most plain that it is this that gives occasion to the apostle to observe, as he does
in the 5th verse, that it was not by works of righteousness which they had done,
that they were saved or justified.
But we need not go to the context ; it is most apparent from the words
themselves, that the apostle does not mean works of the ceremonial law only.
If he had only said, it is not by our own works of righteousness, what could we
understand by works of righteousness, but only righteous works, or, which is
the same thing, good works ? And to say, that it is by our own righteous
works that we are justified, though not by one particular kind of righteous
works, would certainly be a contradiction to such an assertion. But the words
are rendered yet more strong, plain and determined in their sense, by those addi
tional words, which we have done ; which shows that the., apostle intends to ex
clude all our own righteous or virtuous works universally. If it should be as
serted concerning any commodity, treasure, or precious jewel, that it could
not be procured by money, and not only so, but, to make the assertion the
more strong, it should be asserted with additional words, that it could not be
procured by money that men possess ; how unreasonable would it be after all,
to say, that all that was meant was, that it could not be procured with brass
money ?
And what renders the interpreting this text of works of the ceremonial law
yet more unreasonable, is, that these works were indeed no works of righteous
ness, but were only falsely supposed to be so by the Jews ; and that, our oppo
nents in this doctrine suppose, is the very reason why we be not justified by
them, because they are not works of righteousness, or because (the ceremonial
law being now abrogated) there is no obedience in them. But how absurd is
it to say, that the apostle, when he says we are not justified by works of right
eousness that we have done, meant only works of the ceremonial law, and that
for that very reason, because they are not works of righteousness ! To illus
trate this by the forementioned comparison : if it should be asserted, that such
a thing could not be procured by money that men possess, how ridiculous would
it be to say, that the meaning only was, that it could not be procured by counter
feit money, and that for that reason, because it was not money ! What Sciipture
will stand before men, if the) will take liberty to mangle it thus ? Or what one
text is there in the Bible that may not at this rate be explained away, and per
verted to any sense men please 1
But then further, if we should allow that the apostle intends only to oppose
justification by works of the ceremonial law in this text, yet it is evident by
the expression he uses, that he means to oppose it under that notion, or in that
quality, of their being works of righteousness of our own doing. But if the
apostle argues against our being justified by works of the ceremonial law, under
the notion of their being of that nature and kind, viz., works of our own doing,-
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 87
then it will follow that the apostle s argument is strong against, not only those,
but all or that nature and kind, even all that are of our doing.
If there were no other text in the Bible about justification but this, this
would clearly and invincibly prove that we are not justified by any of our own
goodness, virtue, or righteousness, or for the excellency or righteousness of any
thing that we have done in religion ; because it is here so fully and strongly
asserted : but this text does abundantly confirm other texts of the apostle where
he denies justification by works of the law. There is no doubt can be ration
ally made, but that when the apostle here shows, that God " saves us accord
ing to his mercy," in that he doth not save us by " works of righteousness
that we have done," verse 5, and that so we are "justified by grace," verse
7, herein opposing salvation by grace, he means the same works as he does
in other places, where he in like manner opposes works and grace : the same
works as in Rom. xi. 6, " And if by grace, then it is no more of works : other
wise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace :
otherwise work is no more work." And the same works as in Rom. iv. 4, " Now
to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." And the
same works that are spoken of in the context of the 24th verse of the foregoing
chapter, which the apostle there calls " works of the law, being justified freely
by his grace." And of the 4th chapter, 16th verse, "Therefore it is of faith,
that it might be by grace." Where in the context, the righteousness of faith
is opposed to the righteousness of the law : for here God s saving us according
to his mercy, and justifying us by grace, is opposed to saving us by works of
righteousness that we have done ; in the same manner as in those places, justi
fying us by works of the law.
The apostle could not mean works of the ceremonial law only, when he
says, we are not justified by the works of the law, because it is asserted of the
saints under the Old Testament as well as New. If men are justified by their
sincere obedience, it will then follow that formerly, before the ceremonial law
was abrogated, men were justified by the works of the ceremonial law as well
as the moral. For if we are justified by our own sincere obedience, then it alters
not the case, whether the commands be moral or positive, provided they be
God s commands, and our obedience be obedience to God : and so the case must
be just the same under the Old Testament, with the works of the moral law
and ceremonial, according to the measure of the virtue of obedience there was
in either. It is true, their obedience to the ceremonial law would have nothing
to do in the atiair of justification, unless it was sincere ; and so neither would
the works of the moral law ; obedience to the moral law would have been con
cerned in the affair of justification, if sincere; and so would obedience to the
ceremonial. If obedience was the thing, then obedience to the ceremonial law,
while that stood in force, and obedience to the moral law, had just the same
sort of concern, according to the proportion of obedience that consists in each ;
as now under the New Testament, if obedience is what we are justified by, that
obedience must doubtless comprehend obedience to all God s commands now in
force, to the positive precepts of attendance on baptism and the Lord s supper,
as well as moral precepts. If obedience be the thing, it is not because it is
obedience to such a kind of commands, but because it is obedience. So that
by this supposition the saints under the Old Testament were justified, at least
in part, by their obedience to the ceremonial law.
But it is evident that the saints under the Old Testament were not justified
in any measure by the works of the ceremonial law. This may be proved, pro
ceeding on the foot of our adversau ?s ? own interpretation of the apostles phrase ;
88 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
of the works of the law, and supposing him to mean by it only the works of the
ceremonial law. To instance in David, it is evident that he was not justified in any
wise by the works of the ceremonial law, by Rom. iv. 6, 7,8 : "Even as David also
describelh the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose
sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin."
Jt is plain that the apostle is here speaking of justification, by the preceding
verse and by all the context ; and the thing spoken of, viz., forgiving iniquities
and covering sins, is what our adversaries themselves suppose to be justification,
and even the whole of justification. This David, speaking of himself, says (by
the apostle s interpretation) that he had without works. For it is manifest that
David, in the words here cited, from the beginning oi the 32d Psalm, has a special
respect to himself : he speaks of his own sins being forgiven and not imputed
to him ; as appears by the words that immediately follow : " When I kept
silence, my bones waxed old ; through my roaring all the day long. For day
and night thy hand was heavy upon me : my moisture is turned into the drought
of summer. 1 acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid :
I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord ; and thou forgavest the
iniquity of my sin." Let us therefore understand the apostle which way we
will, by works, when he says, David " describes the blessedness of the man to
whom the Lord imputes righteousness without works," whether of all manner
of works, or only works of the ceremonial law, yet it is evident at least, that
David was not justified by works of the ceremonial law. Therefore here is the
argument : if our own obedience be that by which men are justified, then under
the Old Testament men were justified partly by obedience to the ceremonial law
(as has been proved) ; but the saints under the Old Testament were not justi
fied partly by the works of the ceremonial law ; therefore men s own obedi
ence is not that by which they are justified.
11. Another argument that the apostle when he speaks of the two opposite
ways of justification, one by the works of the law, and the other by faith, does
not mean the works of the ceremonial law only, may be taken from that place,
Romans x. 5, 6, " For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law,
that the man which doeth those things, shall live by them. But the righteous
ness which is of faith, speaketh on this wise," &c. Here two things are evident.
First, That the apostle here speaks of the same two opposite ways of justi
fication, one by the righteousness which is of the law, the other by faith that he
had treated of in the former part of the epistle ; and therefore it must be the
same law that is here spoken of. The same law is here meant as in the last
verses of the foregoing chapter, where he says the Jews had " not attained to
the law of righteousness. Wherefore ? Because they sought it not by faith,
but as it were by the works of the law ;" as is plain, because the apostle is still
speaking of the same thing ; the words are a continuation of the same dis
course, as may be seen at first glance, by any one that looks on the context.
Secondly, It is manifest that Moses, when he describes the righteousness
which is of the law, or the way of justification by the law, in the words here
cited, " He that doeth these things shall live in them," does not speak only, nor
chiefly, of the works of the ceremonial law; for none will pretend that God
ever made such a covenant with man, that he that kept the ceremonial law
should live in it, or that there ever was a time, that it was chiefly by the works
of the ceremonial law that men lived and were justified. Yea, it is manifest
by the forementioned instance of David, mentioned in the 4th of Romans, that
there never was a time wherein men were justified in any measure by the
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 89
works of the ceremonial law, as has been just now shown. Moses therefore, in
those words which, the apostle says, are a description of the righteousness which
is of the law, cannot mean the ceremonial law only. And therefore it follows,
that when the apostle speaks of justification by the works of the law, as oppo
site to justification by faith, he does not mean the ceremonial law only, but
also the works of the moral law, which are the things spoken of by Moses,
when he says, " he that tloeth these things shall live in them ;" and which are
the things that the apostle in this very place is arguing that we cannot be justi
fied by ; as is evident by the context, the last verses of the preceding chapter : " But
Israel, which followed after the Jaw of righteousness, hath not attained to the
law of righteousness. Wherefore ? Because they sought it not by Jaith, but
as it were by the works of the law," &c. And in the 3d verse of this chapter :
"For they, being ignorant of God s righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness
of God."
And further, how can the apostle s description that he here gives from Mo
ses of this exploded way of justification by the works of the law, consist with
the Arminian scheme, of a way of justification by the virtue of a sincere obe
dience, that still remains as the true and only way of justification under the
gospel. It is most apparent that it is the design of the apostle to give a descrip
tion of both the legal rejected, and the evangelical valid ways of justification,
in that wherein they differ, or are distinguished the one from the other : but how
is that, " he that doeth those things shall live in them ;" that wherein the way
of justification by the works of the law differs, or is distinguished from that in
which Christians under the gospel are justified, according to their scheme;
for still, according to them, it may be said, in the same manner, of the
precepts of the gospel, he that doeth these things, shall live in them : the
difference lies only in the things to be done, but not at all in that, that
the doing of them is not the condition of living in them, just in the one
case, as in the other. The words, " he that doeth them shall live in them,"
will serve just as well for a description of the latter as the former. By
the apostle s saying, the righteousness of the law is described thus, he that doeth
these things shall live in them ; but the righteousness of faith saith thus, plainly
intimates that the righteousness of faith saith otherwise, and in an opposite
manner. But besides, if these words cited from Moses, are actually said by
him of the moral law as well as ceremonial, as it is most evident they are, it
renders it still more absurd to suppose them mentioned by the apostle, as the
very note of distinction between justification by a ceremonial obedience, and a
moral and sincere obedience, as the Arminians must suppose.
Thus I have spoken to a second argument, to prove that we are not justi
fied by any manner of virtue or goodness of our own, viz., that to suppose
otherwise, is contrary to the doctrine that is directly urged, and abundantly in
sisted on, by the Apostle Paul in his epistles.
I now proceed to a
Third argument, viz., That to suppose that we are justified by our own
sincere obedience, or any of our own virtue or goodness, derogates from gospel
grace.
That scheme of justification that manifestly takes from, or diminishes the
grace of God, is undoubtedly to be rejected ; for it is the declared design of
God in the gospel, to exalt the freedom and riches of his grace, in that method
of justification of sinners, and way of admitting them to his favor, and the
blessed fruits of it, which it declares. The Scripture teaches, that the way of
VOL. IV. 12
90 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
justification that is appointed in the gospel covenant, is appointed as it is, for
that end, that free grace might be expressed and glorified : Rom. iv. 16,
" Therefore it is of failh, that it might be by grace." The exercising and mag
nifying the free grace of God in the gospel contrivance for the justification and
salvation of sinners, is evidently the chief design of it ; and this freedom and
riches of the grace of the gospel is everywhere spoken of in Scripture as the
chief glory of it. Therefore that doctrine that derogates from the free grace of
God in justifying sinners, as it is most opposite to God s design, so it must be ex
ceedingly offensive to him.
Those that maintain, that we are justified by our own sincere obedience, do
pretend that their scheme does not diminish the grace of the gospel ; for they
say, that the grace of God is wonderfully manifested in appointing such a way
and method of salvation, by sincere obedience in assisting us to perform such
an obedience, and in accepting our imperfect obedience instead of perfect.
Let us therefore examine that matter, whether their scheme, of a man s
being justified by his own virtue and sincere obedience, does derogate from the
grace of God or no ; or whether free grace is not more exalted, in supposing,
as we do, that we are justified without any manner of goodness of our own. In
order to this, I will lay down this self-evident
Proposition, That " whatsoever that be by which the abundant benevolence
of the giver is expressed, and gratitude in the receiver is obliged, that magnifies
free grace." This I suppose none will ever controvert or dispute.
And it is not much less evident, that it doth both show a more abundant
benevolence in the giver when he shows kihdness without goodness or excellen
cy in the object, to move him to it ; and that it enhances the obligation to grati
tude in the receiver.
1. It shows a more abundant goodness in the giver, when he shows kind
ness without any excellency in our persons or actions that would move the
giver to love and beneficence. For it certainly shows the more abundant and
overflowing goodness, or disposition to communicate good, by how much the
less loveliness or excellency there is to entice beneficence : the less there is in
the receiver to draw good will and kindness, it argues the more of the princi
ple of good will and kindness in the giver ; for one that has but little of a prin
ciple of love and benevolence, may be drawn to do good and to show kindness,
when there is a grertt deal to draw him, or when there is much excellency and
loveliness in the object to move good will ; when he whose goodness and be
nevolence is more abundant, will show kindness where there is less to draw it
forth ; for he does not so much need to have it drawn from without, he has
enough of the principle, within, to move him of itself. Where there is most of
the principle, there it is most sufficient for itself, and stands in least need of
something without to excite it : for certainly a more abundant goodness more
easily flows forth with less to impel or draw it, than where there is less; or,
which is the same thing, the more any one is disposed of himself, the less he
needs from without himself, to put him upon it, or stir him up to it. And there
fore his kindness appears the more exceeding great when it is bestowed with
out any excellency or loveliness in the receiver, or when the receiver is respect
ed in the gift, as wholly without excellency : and much more still when the
benevolence of the giver not only finds nothing in the receiver to draw it, but a
great deal of hatefulness to repel it : the abundance of goodness is then mani
fested, not only in flowing forth without any thing extrinsic to put it forward,
but in overcoming great repulsion in the object. And then does kindness and
love appear most triumphant, and wonderfully great, when the receiver is res-
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 91
pectecl in the gift, as not only wholly without all excellence or beauty to attract
it, but altogether, yea, infinitely vile and hateful.
2. It is apparent also that it enhances the obligation to gratitude in the
receiver. This is agreeable to the common sense of mankind, that the less
worthy or excellent the object of benevolence, or the receiver of kindness, is,
the more he is obliged, and the greater gratitude is due. He therefore is most
of all obliged, that receives kindness without any goodness or excellency in
himself, but with a total and universal hatefulness. And as it is agreeable to
the common sense of mankind, so it is agreeable to the word of God. How
often does God in the Scripture insist on this argument with men, to move them
to love him, and to acknowledge his kindness ! How much does he insist on
this as an obligation to gratitude, that they are so sinful and undeserving, and
ill deserving !
Therefore it certainly follows, that that doctrine that teaches, that God,
when he justifies a man, and shows him that great kindness, as to give him a
right to eternal life, does not do it for any obedience, or any manner of good
ness of his ; but that justification respects a man as ungodly, and wholly with
out any manner of virtue, beauty or excellency. I say, this doctrine does cer
tainly more exalt the free grace of God in justification, and man s obligation
to gratitude to him for such a favor, than the contrary doctrine, viz., that God,
in showing this kindness to man, respects him as sincerely obedient and virtu
ous, and as having something in him that is truly excellent, and lovely, and
acceptable in his sight, and that this goodness or excellency of man is the
very fundamental condition of the bestowment of that kindness on him, or of
the distinguishing him from others by that benefit. But I hasten to a
Fourth argument for the truth of the doctrine, " That to suppose that a
man is justified by his own virtue or obedience, derogates from the honor of
the Mediator, and ascribes that to man s virtue that belongs only to the right
eousness of Christ."
It puts man in Christ s stead, and makes him his own Saviour, in a re
spect in which Christ only is the Saviour : and so it is a doctrine contrary to
the nature and design of the gospel, which is to abase man, and to ascribe all
the glory of our salvation to Christ the Redeemer. It is inconsistent with the
doctrine of the imputation of Christ s righteousness, which is a gospel doctrine.
Here I would,
1. Explain what we mean by the imputation of Christ s righteousness.
2. Prove the thing intended by it to be true.
3. Show that this doctrine is utterly inconsistent with the doctrine of our
being justified by our own virtue or sincere obedience.
First, I would explain what we mean by the imputation of Christ s right
eousness. Sometimes the expression is taken by our divines in a larger sense,
for the imputation of all that Christ did and suffered for our redemption, where
by we are free from guilt, and stand righteous in the sight of God ; and so im
plies the imputation both of Christ s satisfaction and obedience. But here I in
tend it in a stricter sense, for the imputation of that righteousness or moral
goodness that consists in the obedience to Christ. And by that righteousness
being imputed to us, is meant no other than this, that that righteousness of
Christ is accepted for us, and admitted instead of that perfect inherent right
eousness that ought to be in ourselves : Christ s perfect obedience shall be reck
oned to our account, so that we shall have the benefit of it, as though we had
performed it ourselves : and so we suppose that a title to eternal life is given
us as the reward of this righteousness. The Scripture uses the word impute
92 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
in this sense, viz., for reckoning any thing belonging to any person, to another
person s account : as Philemon 18, " If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thet
aught, put that on mine account." In the original it is tovro efioi * Uo/st, im
pute that to me. It is a word of the same root with that which is translated
impute, Rom. iv. 6, "To whom God iraputeth righteousness without works."
And it is the very same word that is used in Rom. v. 13, that is translated im
pute, " sin is nbt imputed when there is no law."
The opposers of this doctrine suppose that there is an absurdity in it : they say
that to suppose that God imputes Christ s obedience to us, is to suppose that God is
mistaken, and thinks that we performed that obedience that Christ performed. But
why cannot that righteousness be reckoned to our account, and be accepted for us,
without any such absurdity ? Why is there any more absurdity in it, than in a
merchant s transferring debt or credit from one man s account to another, when
one man pays a price for another, so that it shall be accepted, as if that other
had paid it 1 Why is there any more absurdity in supposing that Christ s obe
dience is imputed to us, than that his satisfaction is imputed ? If Christ has
suffered the penalty of the law for us, and in our stead, then it will follow, that
his suffering that penalty is imputed to us, i. e., that it is accepted for us, and in
our stead, and is reckoned to our account, as though we had suffered it. But
why may not his obeying the law of God be as rationally reckoned to our ac
count, as his suffering" the penalty of the law ? Why may not a price to bring
into debt, be as rationally transferred from one person s account to another, as
a price to pay a debt 1 Having thus explained what we mean by the imputa
tion of Christ s righteousness, I proceed,
Secondly, To prove that the righteousness of Christ is thus imputed.
1. There is the very same need of Christ s obeying the law in our stead, in
order to the reward, as of his suffering the penalty of the law in our stead, in
order to our escaping the penalty ; and the same reason why one should be ac
cepted on our account, as the other. There is the same need of one as the
other, that the law of God might be answered : one was as requisite to answer
the law as the other. This is certain, that that was the reason why there was
need that Christ should suffer the penalty for us, even that the law might be
answered ; for this the Scripture plainly teaches. This is given as the reason
why Christ was made a curse for us, that the law threatened a curse to us, Gal.
iii. 10, 13. But the same law that fixes the curse of God as the consequent of
not continuing in all things written in the law to do them, verse 10, has as
much fixed doing those things as an antecedent of living in them (as verse 12,
the next verse but one). There is as much of a connection established in one case
as in the other. There is therefore exactly the same need, from the law, of per
fect obedience being fulfilled in order to our obtaining the reward, as there is ol
death s being suffered in order to our escaping the punishment ; or the same
necessity bvthe law, of perfect obedience preceding life, as there is of disobe
dience bein- succeeded by death. The law is, without doubt, as much of an
established rule in one case as in the other.
Christ by suffering the penalty, and so making atonement for us, only re
moves the miilt of our sins, and so sets us in the same state that Adam was the
first momenl of his creation : and it is no more fit that we should obtain eternal
life only on that account, than that Adam should have the reward of eternal
life, or of a confirmed and unalterable state of hapiness, the first moment of his
existence, without any obedience at all. Adam was not to have the reward
merely on the account of his beino; innocent; if so, he would have had it fixed
upon him at once, as soon as ever he was created ; for he was as innocent then
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 93
as he could be ; % but he was to have the reward on the account of his activeness
in obedience ; not on the account merely of his not having done ill, but on the
account of his doing well.
So on the same account we have not eternal life merely on the account of
being void of guilt (as Adam was at first existence), which we have by the
atonement of Christ ; but on the account of Christ s activeness in obedience and
doing well. Christ is our second federal head, and is called the second Adam,
1 Cor. xv. 22, because he acted the part for us that the first Adam should have
done. When he had undertaken for us to stand in our stead, he was looked
upon and treated as though he were guilty with our guilt ; and by his satisfy
ing or bearing the penalty, he did as it were free himself from this guilt. But
by this the second Adam did only bring himself into the state that the first
Adam was in on the first moment of his existence, viz., a state of mere freedom
from guilt ; and hereby indeed was free from any obligation to suffer punish
ment : but this being supposed, there was need of something further, even a
positive obedience, in order to his obtaining, as our second Adam, the reward
of eternal life.
God saw meet to place man first in a state of trial, and not to give him a
title to eternal life as soon as he had made him ; because it was his will that he
should first give honor to his authority, by fully submitting to it, in will and act,
and perfectly obeying his law. God insisted upon it, that his holy majesty and
law should have their due acknowledgment and honor from man, such as "be
came the relation he stood in to that Being that created him, before he would
bestow the reward of confirmed and everlasting happiness upon him; and
therefore God gave him a law when he created him, that he might have
opportunity, by giving the due honor to his authority in obeying it, to obtain
this happiness. It therefore became Christ, seeing that in assuming man to
himself, he sought a title to this eternal happiness for him after he had broken
the law, that he himself should become subject to God s authority, and be in
the form of a servant, that he might do that honor to God s authority for him,
by his obedience, which God at first required of man as the condition of his
having a title to that reward. Christ came into the world to that end, to ren
der the honor of God s authority and law consistent with the salvation and eter
nal life of sinners ; he came to save them, and withal to assert and vindicate
the honor of the lawgiver, and his holy law. Now if the sinner, after his sin
was satisfied for, had eternal ftfe bestowed upon him without active righteous
ness, the honor of his law would not be sufficiently vindicated. Supposing this
were possible, that the sinner himself could, by suffering, pay the debt, and af
terwards be in the same state that he was in before his probation, that is to say,
negatively righteous, or merely without guilt; if he now at last should have
eternal life bestowed upon him, without performing that condition of obedience ;
then God would recede from his law, and would give the promised reward, and
his law never have respect and honor shown to it, in that way of being obeyed.
But now Christ, by subjecting himself to the law, and obeying of it, has done great
honor to the law, and to the authority of God who gave it. That so glorious
a person should become subject to the law, and fulfil it, has done much more
honor to it, than if mere man had obeyed it. It was a thing infinitely honorable
to God, that a person of infinite dignity was not ashamed to call him his God,
and to adore and obey him as such : this was more to God s honor than if any
mere creature, of any possible degree of excellency and dignity, had so done.
It is absolutely necessary, that in order to a sinner s being justified, the
righteousness of some other should be reckoned to his account; for it is declar-
94 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
ed, thnt the person justified is looked upon as (in himself) ungodly ; but God
neither will nor can justify a -person without a righteousness ; for justification
is manifestly a forensic term, as the word is used in Scripture, and the thing
a judicial thing, or the act of a judge : so that if a person should be justified
without a righteousness, the judgment would not be according to truth : the
sentence of justification would be a false sentence, unless there be a righteous
ness performed that is by the judge properly looked upon as his. To say, that
God does not justify the sinner without sincere, though an imperfect obedience,
does not help the case ; for an imperfect righteousness before a judge is no right
eousness. To accept of something that falls short of the rule, instead of some
thing else that answers the rule, is no judicial act, or act of a judge, but a pure
act of sovereignty. An imperfect righteousness is no righteousness before a
judge ; for " righteousness (as one observes) is a relative thing, and has always
relation to a law. The formal nature of righteousness, properly understood,
lies in a conformity of actions to that which is the rule and measure of them."
Therefore that only is righteousness in the sight of a judge that answers the law.*
The law is the judge s rule : if he pardons and hides what really is, and so does
not pass sentence according to what things are in themselves, he either does not
act the part of a judge, or else judges falsely. The very notion of judging is
to determine what is, and what is not, in any one s case. The judge s work is
twofold ; it is to determine first what is fact, and then whether what is in fact
be according to rule, or according to the law. If a judge has no rule or law
established beforehand, by which he should proceed in judging, he has no foun
dation to go upon in judging, he has no opportunity to be a judge ; nor is it
possible that he should do the part of a judge. To judge without a law, or rule
by which to judge, is impossible ; for the very notion of judging, is to determine
whether the object of judgment be according to rule ; and therefore God has
declared, that when he acts as a judge, he will not justify the wicked, and cannot
clear the guilty ; and, by parity of reason, cannot justify without righteousness.
* That it is perfect obedience, that is what is called righteousness in the New Testament, and that
this righteousness, or perfect obedience, is l>y God s fixed unalterable rule, the condition of justification,
is from the plain evidence of truth, confessed by a certain great man, that nol>ody will think to be a likely
person to be blinded by a prejudice in favor of the doctrine we are maintaining, and one who did not re
ceive this doctrine, viz., Mr. Locke in his Reasonableness of Christianity, as delivered in the Scriptures,
Vol. II. of his works, p. 474: " To one that thus unbiassed reads the Scripture what Adam fell from is
visible, was the state of perfect obedience whieh is called justice in the New Testament, though the word,
which in the original signifies justice, be translated righteousness." Ibid. p. 476, 477, " For righteous
ness, or an exact obedience to the law seems by the Scripture to have a claim of right to eternal life.
Rom. iv. 4, To him that ivorkelh, i. e., does the works of the law, is the reward reckoned, not reckoned of
grace, but of debt. On the other side, it seems the unalterable purpose of the divine justice, that no un-
rigliteous person, no one that is guilty of any breach of the law, should le in paradise ; but that the wnges
of sin should be to every man, as it was to Adam, an exclusion of him out of that happy state of immor
tality, and bring death -ipon him. And this is so conformable to the eternal and established law of right
and wrong, that it is spoken of too a it could not be otherwise. Here then we have the standing
and fixf d measure s of life and death ; immortality and bliss belonging to ihe righteous. Those who have
lived in an exact conformity to the law of God are out of the reach of death ; but an exclusion from para
dise and loss of immortality, is the portion of sinners, of all those who have any way broke that law, and
"ailed of a complete obedience to it, by the guilt of any one trangres.sion. And thus mankind, by the law,
ire put upon the issues of life or death, as they are righteous or unrighteous, just or unjust, i. e., exact
performer^ or tranuressors of the law." Again, in p. 477 : " The law of works then in short is, that law
which requires perfect obedience, without any remission or abatement ; so that by that law a man cannot
Ite just, or justified, without an exact performance of every tittle. Such a perfect obedience in the New
Testament, is termed dixain$vvr], which we translate righteousness." In which last passage it is also
to be noted, that Mr. Locke, by the law of works does not understand the ceremonial law, but the cove
nant of works : as he more fully expresses himself in the next paragraph but one. Where this law ol
works was to be found, the iXew Tislament tells us, viz., in the law delivered by Moses : John i. 17,
Thr law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Chap. vii. 19, Did not Mvses givt
you the law, says our Saviour, and i^et none of you kept the law ? And this is the law which he speaks of, ver.
39 : This do and thou shall live. This is that \v hich St. Paul so often stylea the law without any other
distinction : Rom. ii. 13, Not the hearers qf the law are just before God, but the dnm of the law are justified.
It is needless to quote any more places, his epistles are all full of it, espf cially this to the Romans.
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE 95
And the scheme of the old law s being abrogated and a new law introduced,
will not help at all in this difficulty ; for an imperfect righteousness cannot an
swer the law of God that we are under, whether that be an old one or a new
one ; for every law requires perfect obedience to itself. Every rule whatsoever
requires perfect conformity to itself; it is a contradiction to suppose otherwise.
For to say, that there is a law that does not require perfect obedience to itself,
is to say that there is a law that does not require all that it requires. That law
that now forbids sin, is certainly the law that we are now under (let that be an
old one or new one) ; or else it is not sin. That which is not forbidden, and is
the breach of no law, is not sin. But if we are now forbidden to commit sin,
then it is by a law that we are now under ; for surely we are neither under the
forbiddings nor commanding of a law that we are not under. Therefore, if all
sin is now forbidden, then we are now under a law that requires perfect obedi
ence ; and therefore nothing can be accepted as a righteousness in the sight of
our Judge, but perfect righteousness. So that our Judge cannot justify us, un
less he sees a perfect righteousness, some way belonging to us, either performed
by ourselves, or by another, and justly and duly reckoned to our account.
God doth, in the sentence of justification pronounce a man perfectly right
eous, or else he would need a further justification after he is justified. His sins
being removed by Christ s atonement, is not sufficient for his justification ; for
justifying a man, as has been already shown, is not merely pronouncing him
innocent, or without guilt, but standing right with regard to the rule that he is
under, and righteous unto life : but this, according to the established rule of
nature, reason, and divine appointment, is a positive, perfect righteousness.
As there is the same need that Christ s obedience should be reckoned to our
account, as that his atonement should ; so there is the same reason why it
should. And if Adam had persevered, arid finished his course of obedience, we
should have received the benefit of his obedience, as much as now we have the
mischief of his disobedience ; so in like manner, there is reason that we should
receive the benefit of the second Adam s obedience, as of his atonement of our
disobedience. Believers are represented in Scripture as being so in Christ, as
that they are legally one, or accepted as one, by the Supreme Judge : Christ
has assumed our nature, and has so assumed all, in that nature that belongs to him,
into such a union with himself, that he is become their Head, and has taken
them to be his members. And therefore, what Christ has done in our nature,
whereby he did honor to the law and authority of God by his acts, as well as
the reparation to the honor of the law by his sufferings, is reckoned to the be
liever s account ; so as that the believer should be made happy, because it was
so well and worthily done by his Head, as well as freed from being miserable,
because he has suffered for our ill and unworthy doing.
When Christ had once undertaken with God to stand for us, and put him
self under our law, by that law he was obliged to suffer, and by the same law
he was obliged to obey : by the same law, after he had taken man s guilt upon
him, he himself being our surety, could not be acquitted until he had suffered,
nor rewarded until he had obeyed : bnt he was not acquitted as a private per
son, but as our Head, and believers are acquitted in his acquittance ; nor was he
accepted to a reward for his obedience, as a private person, but as our Head,
and we are accepted to a reward in his acceptance. The Scripture teaches us
that when Christ was raised from the dead, he was justified ; which justification,
as I have already shown, implies, both his acquittance from our guilt, and his
acceptance to the exaltation and glory that was the reward of his obedience :
but believers, as soon as they believe, are admitted to partake with Christ in
96 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
this his justification : hence we are told, that he was raised again for our jus-
tification " Rom. iv. 25, which is true, not only of that part oi his justification
that consists in his acquittance, but also his acceptance to his reward. The
Scripture teaches us that he is exalted, and gone to heaven to take possession oi
dory in our name, as our forerunner, Heb. vi. 20. We are as it were, both
raised up together with Christ,^ and also made to sit together with Christ, in
heavenly places, and in him, Eph. ii. 6.
If it be objected here, that there is this reason, why what Christ suffered
should be accepted on our account, rather than the obedience he performed,
tint he was obliged to obedience for himself, but was not obliged to suffer but
only on our account; to this 1 answer, that Christ was not obliged, on his own
account, to undertake to obey. Christ, in his original circumstances, was in
._-. . i ii ii 4 L* && * V\,\, *ITO tinrl^ir r\f\
under no
aCUUUlll, LU uiim-i ii j- l l !_ U
no subjection to the Father, being altogether equal with him: he was
obligation to put himself in man s stead, and under man s law ; or to put him
self into any slate of subjection to God whatsoever. There was a transaction
between the Father and the Son, that was antecedent to Christ s becoming
man and being made under the law, wherein he undertook to put himself under
the law, and bSth to obey and to suffer ; in. which transaction these things were
already virtually done in the sight of God ; as is evident by this, that God act-
ed on the ground of that transaction, justifying and saving sinners, as if the
things undertaken had been actually performed long before they were per-
formed indeed. And therefore, without doubt, in order to the estimating the
value and validity of what Christ did and suffered, we must look back to that
transaction, wherein these things were first undertaken, and virtually done in
the sight of God, and see what capacity and circumstances Christ acted in then,
and then we shall find that Christ was under no manner of obligation, either to
obey the law or suffer the penalty of it. After this he was equally under obli-
eation to both ; for henceforward he stood as our surety or representative : and
therefore this consequent obligation maybe as much of an objection against the
validity of his suffering the penalty, as against his obedience But it w e 1-
to that original transaction between the Father and the Son, wherein both these
were undertaken and accepted as virtually done in the sight of the feather, we
shall find Christ acting with regard to both, as one perfectly in his own right,
and under no manner of previous obligation to hinder the validity of either.
2 To suppose that all that Christ does is only to make atonement for us by
suffering, is to make him our Saviour but in part. It is to rob him of ha It his
glory as a Saviour. For if so, all that he does is to deliver us from hell ; he
does not purchase heaven for us. The adverse scheme supposes that he pur
chases heaven for us, in the sense, that he satisfies for the imperfections of our
oDedience,.and so purchase, that our sincere imperfect obedience might be ac
cepted as the condition of eternal life; and so purchases an opportunity for us
to obtain heaven by out own obedience. But to purchase heaven for us only m
this sense, is to purchase it in no sense at all ; for all of it conies to no more than a
satisfaction for our sins, or removing the penalty by suffering in our stead :
the purchasing they speak of, that our imperfect obedience should be accepted,
is only his satisfying for the sinful imperfections of our obedience ; or (wtach is
the same thin-)" making atonement for the sin that our obedience is attended
with. But that is not purchasing heaven, merely to set us at liberty again,
that we may go and get heaven by what we do ourselves; all that Christ does
is only to pay a debt for us ; there is no positive purchase of any good. We
are taught in Scripture that heaven is purchased for us ; it is called the pur
chased |cmT.mcm, Eph. i. 14. The gospel proposes the eternal inheritance, not
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 97
to be acquired, as the first covenant did, but as already acquired and purchased.
But he that pays a man s debt for him, and so delivers him from slavery, cannot
be said to purchase an estate for him, merely because he sets him at liberty, so
that henceforward he has an opportunity to get an estate by his own hand labor.
So that according to this scheme, the saints in heaven have no reason to thank
Christ for purchasing heaven for them, or redeeming them to God, and making
them kings and priests, as we have an account that they do, in Rev. v. 9.
3. Justification by the righteousness and obedience of Christ, is a doctrine
that the Scripture teaches in very 1 uil terms : Rom. v. 18, 19, " By the right
eousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For
as by one man s disobedience many were made sinners: so by the obedience of
one, shall many be made righteous. " Here in one verse we are told, that we
have justification by Christ s righteousness ; and, that there might be no room
to understand the righteousness spoken of, merely of Christ s atonement by his
suffering the penalty, in the next veise it is put in other terms, and asserted,
that it is by Christ s obedience that we are made righteous. It is scarce possi
ble any thing should be more full and determined : the terms, taken singly, are
such as do fix their own meaning, and taken together, they fix the meaning
of each other: the words show that we are justified by that righteousness of
Christ that consists in his obedience, and that we are made righteous or justified
by that obedience of his, that is, his righteousness, or moral goodness before
God.
Here possibly it may be objected, that this text means only, that we are
justified by Christ s passive obedience.
To this I answer, whether we call it active or passive, it alters not the case
as to the present argument, as long as it is evident by the words, that it is not
merely under the notion of an atonement for disobedience, or a satisfaction for
unrighteousness, but under the notion of a positive obedience, and a righteous
ness or moral goodness, that it justifies us or makes us righteous ; because both
the words righteousness and obedience are used, and used too as the oppositesof
sin and disobedience, and an offence. " Therefore as by the offence of one, judg
ment came upon all men to condemnation : even so by the righteousness of one,
the free gift came upon all men to justification of life. For as by one man s
disobedience many were made sinners : so by the obedience of one, shall many
be made righteous." Now, what can be meant by righteousness, when spoken
of as the opposite to sin, or moral evil, but only moral goodness ? What is the
righteousness that is the opposite of an offence, but only the behavior that is
well pleasing 1 And what can be meant by obedience, when spoken of as the
opposite of disobedience, or going contrary to a command, but a positive obey
ing, and an actual complying with the command 1 So that there is no room
for any invented distinction of active and passive, to hurt the argument from
this Scripture, as long as it is evident by it as any thing can be, that believers
are justified by the righteousness and obedience of Christ, under the notion of
his moral goodness, and his positive obeying, and actual complying with the
commands of God, and that behavior of his, that, because of its conformity to
his commands, was well pleasing in his sight. This is all that ever any need
to desire to have granted in this dispute.
By this it appears that if Christ s dying be here included in the words right
eousness and obedience, it is not merely as a propitiation, or bearing a penalty
of a broken law in our stead, but as his voluntary submitting and yielding him
self to those sufferings, was an act of obedience to the Father s commands, and
so was a part of his positive righteousness, or moral goodness.
VOL. IV 13
98 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
Indeed all obedience, considered under the notion of obedience or righ eius-
ness, is something active, something that is done in active and voluntary com
pliance with a command ; whether that which we do in obedience is something
easy, and something that may be done without suffering, or whether it be some
thing hard and difficult ; yet as it is obedience, or righteousness, or moral good
ness, it must be considered as something voluntary and active. If any one is
commanded to go through difficulties and sufferings, and he, in compliance with
this command, voluntarily does it, he properly obeys in so doing ; and as he
voluntarily does it, in compliance with a command, his obedience is as
active as any whatsoever. It is the same sort of obedience, a thing of the
very same nature, as when a man, in compliance with a command, does
a piece of hard service, or goes through hard labor ; and there is no room to
distinguish between such obedience and other that is more easy, to make a
different sort of obedience of it, as if it were a thing of quite a different nature, by
such opposite terms as active and passive : all the distinction that can be pretend
ed, is that which is between obeying an easy command and a difficult one. But is
not the obedience itself of the same nature, because the commands to be obeyed
are some of them more difficult than others 1 Is there from hence any founda
tion to make two species of obedience, one active and the other passive ? There
is no appearance of any such distinction ever entering into the hearts of any of
the penmen of Scripture.
It is true, that of late, when a man refuses to obey the precept of a hu
man law, but patiently yields himself up to suffer the penalty of the law, it is
called passive obedience : but this I suppose is only a modern use of the word
obedience ; surely it is a sense of the word that the Scripture is a perfect
stranger to ; and it is improperly called obedience, unless there be such a pre
cept in the law, that he shall yield himself patiently to suffer, to which his so
doing shall be an active, voluntary conformity. There may in some sense be
said to be a conformity to the law in a person s suffering the penalty of the
law ; but no other conformity to the law is properly called obedience to it but
an active, voluntary conformity to the precepts of it : the word obeyis often found
in Scripture with respect to the law of God to man, but never in any other
sense.
It is true that Christ s willingly undergoing those sufferings which he en
dured, is a great part of that obedience or righteousness by which we are justi
fied. The sufferings of Christ are respected in Scripture under a twofold con
sideration, either merely as his being substituted for us, or put into our stead in
suffering the penalty of the law ; and so his sufferings are considered as a sat
isfaction and propitiation for sin : or as he, in obedience to a law or command
of the Father, voluntarily submitted himself to those sufferings, and actively
yielded himself up to bear them ; and so they are considered as his righteous
ness, and a part of his active obedience. Christ underwent death in obedience
to the command of the Father: Psalm xl. 6,7, 8, " Sacrifice and offering thou
didst not desire ; mine ears hast thou opened : burnt-offering and sin-offering
hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come : in the volume of the book it is
written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God : yea, thy law is within
my heart." John x. 17, 18, " I lay down my life, that I might take it agaui.
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it
down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father." John xviii. 11, "The cup which my Father hath given me,
shall not I drink it ?" And this is part, and indeed the principal part of that
active obedience that we are justified by.
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 99
It can be no just objection against this, that that command of the Father to
Christ, that he should lay down his life, was no part of the law that we had
broken ; and therefore that his obeying this command could be no part of that
obedience that he performed for us, because we needed that he should obey no
other law for us, but only that which we had broken or failed of obeying. For
although it must be the same legislative authority, whose honor is repaired by
Christ s obedienc<, that we have injured by our disobedience ; yet there is no
need that the law that Christ obeys should be precisely the same that Adam
was to have obeyed, in that sense, that there should be no positive precepts
wanting, nor any added : there was wanting the precept about the forbidden
fruit, and there was added the ceremonial law. The thing required was per
fect obedience : it is no matter whether the positive precepts wer.e the same, if
they were equivalent. The positive precepts that Christ was to obey, were
much more than equivalent to what was wanting, because infinitely more diffi
cult, particularly the command that he had received to lay down his life, which
was his principal act of obedience, and which above all others is concerned in
our justification. As that act of disobedience by which we fell, was disobedience
to a positive precept that Christ never was under, viz., that of abstaining from
the tree of knowledge of good and evil; so that act of obedience by which
principally we are redeemed, is obedience to a positive precept that Adam never
was under, viz., the precept of laying down his life. It was suitable that it
should be a positive precept, that should try both Adam s and Christ s obedience :
such precepts are the greatest and most proper trial of obedience ; because in
them, the mere authority and will of the legislator is the sole ground of the
obligation (and nothing in the nature of the things themselves) ; and there
fore they are the greatest trial of any person s respect to that authority and will.
The law that Christ was subject to, and obeyed, was in some sense the same
that was given to Adam. There are innumerable particular duties that are re
quired by the law only conditionally ; and in such circumstances, are comprehended
in some great and general rule of that law. Thus, for instance, there are innu
merable acts of respect and obedience to men, which are required by the law of
nature (which was a law given to Adam), which yet be not required absolutely,
but upon many prerequisite conditions ; as, that there be men standing in such
relations to us, and that they gave forth such commands, and the like. So many
acts of respect and obedience to God are included, in like manner, in the moral
law conditionally, or such and such things being supposed; as Abraham s going
about to sacrifice his son, the Jews circumcising their children when eight days
old, and Adam s not eating the forbidden fruit ; they are virtually comprehend
ed in that great general rule of the moral law, that we should obey God, and
be subject to him in whatsoever he pleases to command us. Certainly the moral
law does as much require us to obey God s positive commands, as it requires us
to obey the positive commands of our parents. And thus all that Adam, and
all that Christ was commanded, even his observing the rites and ceremonies of
the Jewish worship, and his laying down his life, was virtually included in the
same great law.*
* Thus Mr. Locke in his Reasonableness of Christianity as delivered in the Scriptures, Vol. II. of his
work, p, 478 : "Nay, whatever God requires anywhere to be done, without making any allowance for faith,
that is a part of the law of works. So that forbidding Adam to eat of the tree of knowledge, was part of
the law of works. Only we must take notice here, that some of God s positive commands being for
peculiar ends, and suited to particular circumstances of times, places and persons, have a limited, and
only temporary obligation, by virtue of God s positive injunction. Such as was that part of Moses
law which concerned the outward worship or political constitution of the Jews, and is called the
ceremonial and judaical law." Again, p. 479, " Thus then as to the law in short, the civil and ritual part
of the law delivered by Moses, obliges not Christians, though to the Jews it were a part of the law of
100 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE
It is no objection against the last mentioned thing, even Christ s laying
Jown his life, its being included in the moral law given to Adam ; because that
law itself allowed of no occasion for any such thing ; for the moral law virtu
ally includes all right acts, on all possible occasions, even occasions that the law
itself allows not : thus we are obliged by the moral law to mortify our lusts, and
repent of our sins, though thai law allows of no lust to mortify, or sin to repent of
There is indeed but one great law of God, and that is the same law that
says, " if thou sinnest, thou shalt die ;" and " cursed is every one that continues
not in all things contained in this law to do them." All duties of positive in
stitution are virtually comprehended in this law : and therefore, if the Jews
broke the ceremonial law, it exposed them to the penalty of the law, or cove-
nant of works, which threatened, " thou shalt surely die." The law is the
eternal and unalterable rule of righteousness between God and man, and there
fore is the rule of judgment, by which all that a man does shall be either justi
fied or condemned ; and no sin exposes to damnation, but by the law : so now
he that refuses to obey the precepts that require an attendance on the sacra
ments of the New Testament, is exposed to damnation, by virtue of the law or
covenant of works. It may moreover be argued, that all sins whatsoever are
breaches of the law or covenant of works, because all sins, even breaches of
the positive precepts, as well as others, have atonement by the death of Christ :
but what Christ died for, was to satisfy the law, or to bear the curse of the law ;
as appears by Gal. iii. 10 13, and Rom. viii. 3, 4.
So Christ s laying down his life might be part of that obedience by which
we are justified, though it was a positive precept not given to Adam. It was
doubtless Christ s main act of obedience, because it was obedience to a com
mand that was attended with immensely the greatest difficulty, and so to a
command that was the greatest trial of his obedience. His respect shown to
God in it, and his honor to God s authority was proportionably great : it is
spoken of in Scripture as Christ s principal act of obedience. Philip, ii. 7, 8,
" But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men : and, being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross." Heb. v. 8, " Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by
the things that he suffered." It was mainly by this act of obedience that Christ
purchased so glorious a reward for himself; as in that place in Philippians, ii.
8, 9, " He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Where
fore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above
every name." And it therefore follows from what has been already said, that it
is mainly by this act of obedience that believers in Christ also have the reward
of glory, or come to partake with Christ in his glory. We are as much saved
by the death of Christ, as his yielding himself to die was an act of obedience,
as we are, as it was a propitiation for our sins : for as it was not the only act
of obedience that merited, he having performed meritorious acts of obedience
through the whole course of his life ; so neither was it the only suffering tha<
was propitiatory ; all his sufferings through the whole course of his life being
propitiatory, as well as every act of obedience meritorious : indeed this was his
principal suffering ; and it was as much his principal act of obedience.
Hence we may see how that the death of Christ did not only make atonement,
but also merited eternal life ; and hence we may see how by the blood of
Christ we are not only redeemed from sin, but redeemed unto God ; and there-
works : it being a pait of the law of nature, that men ought to obey every positive law of God, whenever
ne shall please to nr.ake any such addition to the law of las nature."
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 101
fore the Scripture seems everywhere to attribute the whole of salvation to the
blood of Christ : this precious blood is as much the main price by which heav
en is purchased, as it is the main price by which we are redeemed from hell.
The positive righteousness of Christ, or that price by which he merited, was of
equal value with that by which he satisfied ; for indeed it was the same price.
He spilled his blood to satisfy, and by reason of the infinite dignity of his per
son, his sufferings were looked upon as of infinite value, and equivalent to the
eternal sufferings of a finite creature : and he spilled his blood out of respect to
the honor of God s majesty and in submission to his authority, who had com
manded him so to do : and his obedience therein was of infinite value : both
because of the dignity of the person that performed it, and because he put him
self to infinite expense to perform it, whereby the infinite degree of his regard
to God s authority appeared.
One would wonder what the Arminians mean by Christ s merits. They
talk of Christ s merits as much as any body, and yet deny the imputation of
Christ s positive righteousness. What should there be that any one should
merit or deserve any thing by, besides righteousness or goodness ? If any thing
that Christ did or suffered, merited or deserved any thing, it was by virtue of
the goodness or righteousness, or holiness of it ; if Christ s sufferings and death
merited heaven, it must be because there was an excellent righteousness and
transcendent moral goodness in that act of laying down his life : and if by that
excellent righteousness he merited heaven for us; then surely that righteousness
is reckoned to our account, that we have the benefit of it, or which is the same
thing, it is imputed to us.
Thus, 1 hope I have made it evident, that the righteousness of Christ is in
deed imputed to us. I proceed now to the
Third and last thing under this argument, that this doctrine, of the imputa
tion of Christ s righteousness, is utterly inconsistent with the doctrine of our
being justified by our own virtue or sincere obedience. If acceptance to God s
favor, and a title to life, be given to believers as the reward of Christ s obedi
ence, then it is not given as the reward of our own obedience. In what re
spect soever Christ is our Saviour, that doubtless excludes our being our own
saviours in the same respect that Christ is ; it will thence follow, that the salva
tion of Christ is needless in that respect ; according to the apostle s reasoning,
Gal. v. 4, " Christ is rendered of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justi
fied by the law." Doubtless, it is Christ s prerogative to be our Saviour in that
sense wherein he is our Saviour : and therefore if it be by his obedience that
we are justified, then it is not by our own obedience.
Here perhaps it may be said, that a title to salvation is not directly given
as the reward of our obedience ; for that is not by any thing of ours, but only
by Christ s satisfaction and righteousness ; but yet an interest in that satisfac
tion and righteousness is given as a reward of our obedience.
But this does not at all help the case ; for this is to ascribe as much to our
obedience as if we ascribed salvation to it directly, without the intervention of
Christ s righteousness : for it would be as great a thing for God to give us
Christ, and his satisfaction and righteousness in reward for our obedience, as to
give us heaven immediately ; it would be as great a reward, and as great a
testimony of respect to our obedience : and if God gives as great a thing as
salvation for our obedience, why could he not as well give salvation itself di
rectly ? And then there would have been no need of Christ s righteousness.
And indeed if God gives us Christ, or an interest in him, properly in reward of
our obedience, he does really give us salvation in reward for our obedience :
102 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
for the former implies the latter ; yea it implies it, as the greattr implies the
less. So that indeed it exalts our virtue and obedience more, to suppose that
God gives us Christ in reward of that virtue and obedience, than if he should
give salvation without Christ.
The thing that the Scripture guards and militates against, is our imagining
that it is our own goodness, virtue, or excellency, that instates us in God s ac
ceptance and favor. But to suppose that God gives us an interest in Christ in
reward for our virtue, is as great an argument that it instates us in God s fa
vor, as if he bestowed a title to eternal life as its direct reward. If God gives
us an interest in Christ as a reward of our obedience, it will then follow that
we are instated in God s acceptance and favor by our own obedience, antece
dent to our having an interest in Christ. For a rewarding any one s excellency,
evermore supposes favor and acceptance on the account of that excellency : it
is the very notion of a reward, that it is a good thing, bestowed in testimony of
respect and favor for the virtue or excellency rewarded. So that it is not by
virtue of our interest in Christ and his merits, that we first come into favor with
God, according to this scheme ; for we are in God s favor before we have any
interest in those merits; in that we have an interest in those merits given as a
fruit of God s favor, for our own virtue. If our interest in Christ be the fruit
of God s favor, then it cannot be the ground of it. If God did not accept us,
and had no favor for us for our own excellency, he never would bestow so
great a reward upon us, as a right in Christ s satisfaction and righteousness.
So that such a scheme destroys itself; for it supposes that Christ s satisfaction
and righteousness are necessary for us to recommend us to the favor of God ; and
yet supposes that we have God s favor and acceptance before we have Christ s
satisfaction and righteousness, and have these given as a fruit of God s favor.
Indeed, neither salvation itself, nor Christ the Saviour, are given as a re
ward of any thing in man : they are not given as a reward of faith, nor any
thing else of ours : we are not united to Christ as a reward of our faith, but
have union with him by faith, only as faith is the very act of uniting or clos
ing on our part. As when a man offers himself to a woman in marriage, he
does not give himself to her as a reward of her receiving him in marriage: her
receiving him is not considered as a worthy deed in her, for which he rewards
her by giving himself to her ; but it is by her receiving him that the union is
made, by which she hath him for her husband : it is on her part the unition it
self. By these things it appears, how contrary to the scheme of the gospel of
Christ their scheme is, who say that faith justifies as a principle of obedience,
or as a leading act of obedience ; or (as others) the sum and comprehension ot
all evangelical obedience or virtue that is in faith, that is the thing that gives
it its justifying influence; and that is the same thing as to say, that we are
justified by our own obedience, virtue, or goodness.
Having thus considered the evidence of the truth of the doctrine, I now
proceed,
III. To show in what sense the acts of a Christian life, or of evangelical
obedience, may be looked upon to be concerned in this affair.
From what has been said already, it is manifest that they cannot have any
concern in this affair as good works, or by virtue of any moral goodness in
them ; not as works of the law, or as that moral excellency, or any part of it,
that is the answering or fulfilment of that great and universal, and everlasting
law or covenant of works that the great Lawgiver has established, as the high
est and unalterable rule of judgment, which Christ alone answers, or does any
thing towards it.
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 103
And it having been shown out of the Scripture that it is only by faith, or
the soul s receiving and uniting to the Saviour that has wrought our righteous
ness, that -we are justified ; it therefore remains, that the acts of a Christian
life cannot be concerned in this affair any otherwise than as they imply, and
are the expressions^ of faith, and may be looked upon as so many acts of recep
tion of Christ the Saviour.
But the determining what concern acts of Christian obedience can have in
justification in this respect, will depend on the resolving of another point, viz..
Whether any one act of faith besides the first act, has any concern in our justi
fication, or how far perseverance in faith, or the continued and renewed acts of
faith, have influence in this affair.
And it seems manifest that justification is by the first act of faith, in some
respectSj in a peculiar manner, because a sinner is actually and finally justified
as sopn as he has performed one act of faith ; and faith in its first act does,
virtually at least, depend on God for perseverance, and entitles to this among
other benefits. But yet the perseverance of faith is not excluded in this affair ;
it is not only certainly connected with justification, but it is not to be excluded
from that on which the justification of a sinner has a dependence, or that by
which he is justified.
I have shown that the way in which justification has a dependence on faith,
is that it is the qualification on which the congruity of an interest in the right
eousness of Christ depends, or wherein such a fitness consists. But the con
sideration of the perseverance of faith cannot be excluded out of this congruity
of an interest in Christ s righteousness, and so in the eternal benefits purchased
by it, because faith is that by which the soul hath union or oneness with Christ ;
and there is a natural congruity in it, that they that are one with Christ should
have a joint interest with him in his eternal benefits ; but yet this congruity
depends on its being an abiding union. As it is needful that the branch should
abide in the vine, in order to its receiving the lasting benefits of the root ; so it
is necessary that the soul should abide in Christ, in order to its receiving those
lasting benefits of God s final acceptance and favor. John xv. 6, 7, " If a
man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch. If ye abide in me, and my
words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."
Verse 9, 10, " Continue ye in my love. If ye keep for abide) rny command
ments, ye shall abide in my love : even as I have kept my Father s command
ments, and abide in his love." There is the same reason why it is necessary
that the union with Christ should remain, as why it should be begun ; why it
should continue to be, as why it should once be : if it should be begun without
remaining, the beginning would be in vain. In order to the soul s being now
in a justified state, and now free from condemnation, it is necessary that it
should now be in Christ, and not only that it should once have been in him.
Rom. viii. 1, "There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus."
The soul is saved in Christ, as being now in him, when the salvation is bestow
ed, and not merely as remembering that it once was in him. Phil. iii. 9, " That
I may be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith." 1 John ii. 28, " And now, little children, abide in him; that
when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him
at his coming." In order to persons being blessed after death, it is necessary
not only that they should once be in him, but that they should die in him.
Rev. xiv. 13, " Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord."
And there i.s the same reason why faith, the uniting qualification, should re-
104 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
main, in order to the union s remaining; as why it should once be, in order to
the union s once being.
So that although the sinner is actually and finally justified on the first act
of faith, yet the perseverance of faith, even then, comes into consideration, as
one thing on which the fitness of acceptance to life depends. God, in the ac<
of justification, which is passed on a sinner s first believing, has respect to per
severance, as being virtually contained in that first act of faith ; and it is looked
upon, and taken by him that justifies, as being as it were a property in thai
faith that then is: God has respect to the believer s continuance in faith, and he
is justified by that, as though it already were, because by divine establishment
it shall follow ; and it being by divine constitution connected with that first
faith, as much as if it were a property in it, it is then considered as such, and
so justification is not suspended ; but were it not for this, it would be needful that
it should be suspended, till the sinner had actually persevered in faith.
And that it h so, that God in that act of final justification that he passes at the
sinner s conversion, has respect to perseverance in faith, and future acts of
faith, as being virtually implied in that first act, is further manifest by this, viz.,
that in a sinner s justification at his conversion, there is virtually contained a
forgiveness as to eternal and deserved punishment, not only of all past sins, but
also of all future infirmities and acts of sin that they shall be guilty of; because
that first justification is decisive and final. And yet pardon, in the order of
nature, properly follows the crime, and also follows those acts of repentance
and faith that respect the crime pardoned, as is manifest both from reason and
Scripture. David, in the beginning of Psalm xxxii., speaks of the forgiveness
of sins of his, that were doubtless committed long after he was first godly, as
being consequent on those sins, and on his repentance and faith with respect to
them; and yet this forgiveness is spoken of by the apostle in the 4th of Romans,
as an instance of justification by faith. Probably the sin David there speaks of
is the same that he committed in the matter of Uriah, and so the pardon the same
with that release from death or eternal punishment, that the prophet Nathan
speaks of, 2 Sam. xii. 13 : " The Lord also hath put away thy sin ; thou shalt
not die." Not only does the manifestation of this pardon follow the sin in the
order of time, but the pardon itself, in the order of nature, follows David s re
pentance and faith with respect to this sin ; for it is spoken of in the 32d Psalm,
as depending on it.
But inasmuch as a sinner, in his first justification, is forever justified and
freed from all obligation to eternal punishment ; it hence of necessity follows,
that future faith and repentance are beheld, in that justification, as virtually con
tained in that first faith and repentance ; because repentance of those future
sins, and faith in a Redeemer, with respect to them, or, at least, the continu
ance of that habit and principle in the heart that has such an actual repentance
and faith in its nature and tendency, is now made sure by God s promise.
If remission of sins, committed after conversion, in the order of nature, fol
lows that faith and repentance that is after them, then it follows that future sins
are respected in the first justification, no otherwise than as future faith and re
pentance are respected in it. And future faith and repentance are looked upon
by him that justifies, as virtually implied in the first repentance and faith, in the
same manner as justification from future sins is virtually implied in the first jus
tification ; which is the thing that was to be proved.
And besides, if no other act of faith could be concerned in justification but
the first act, it will then follow, that Christians ought never to seek justification
by any othei act of faith For if justification is not to be obtained by after
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 105
arts of faith, then surely it is not a duly to seek it by such acts ; and so it can
never be a duty for persons after they are once converted, by faith to seek to God,
or believingly to look to him for the remission of sin, or deliverance from the
guilt of it, because deliverance from the guilt of sin is part of what belongs to
justification. And if it be not proper for converts by faith to look to God
through Christ for it, then it will follow, that it is not proper for them to pray
for it ; Christian prayer to God for a blessing, is but an expression of faith in
God for that blessing ; prayer is only the voice of faith. Hut if these things
are so, it will follow that that petition of the Lord s prayer, forgive us our debts,
is not proper to be put up by disciples of Christ, or to be used in Christian
assemblies ; and thai Christ improperly directed his disciples to use that petition,
when they were all of them, except Judas, converted before. The debt that
Christ directs his disciples to pray for the forgiveness of, can mean nothing else
but the punishment that sin deserves, or the debt that we owe to divine justice,
the ten thousand talents we owe our Lord. To pray that God would forgive
our debts, is undoubtedly the same thing as to pray that God would release us
from obligation to due punishment ; but releasing from obligation to the pun
ishment due to sin, and forgiving the debt that we owe to divine justice, is what
appertains to justification.
And then to suppose that no after acts of faith are concerned in the business
of justification, and so that it is not proper for any ever to seek justification by
such acts, would be forever to cut off those Christians that are doubtful concern
ing their first act of faith, from the joy and peace of believing. As the busi
ness of a justifying faith is to obtain pardon and peace with God, by looking to
God and trusting in him for these blessings; so the joy and peace of that faith
are in the apprehension of pardon and peace obtained by such a trust. This a
Christian that is doubtful of his first act of faith cannot have from that act,
because by the supposition, he is doubtful whether it be an act of faith, and so
whether he did obtain pardon and peace by that act. The proper remedy, in
such a case, is now by faith to look to God in Christ for these blessings : but
he is cut off from this remedy, because he is uncertain whether he has warrant
so to do ; for he does not know but that he has believed already ; and if so,
then he has no warrant to look to God by faith for these blessings now, because,
by the supposition, no new act of faith is a proper means of obtaining these
blessings. And so he can never properly obtain the joy of faith ; for there are
acts of true faith that are very weak acts, and the first act may be so as well
as others : it may be like the first motion of the infant in the womb ; it may
be so weak an act, that the Christian, by examining it, may never be able to
determine whether it was a true act of faith or no ; and it is evident from fact,
and abundant experience, that many Christians are forever at a loss to deter
mine which was their first act of faith. And those saints that have a good
degree of satisfaction concerning their faith, maybe subject to great declensions
and falls, in which case they are liable to great fears of eternal punishment;
and the proper way of deliverance, is to forsake their sin by repentance, and by
faith now to come to Christ for deliverance from the deserved eternal punish
ment ; but this it would not be, if deliverance from that punishment was not this
way to be obtained.
But what is a still more plain and direct evidence of what I am now r argu
ing for is, that that act of faith that Abraham exercised in the great promise
of the covenant of grace that God made to him, of which it is expressly said,
Gal. iii. 6, " it was accounted to him for righteousness," which is the grand
instance and proof that the apostle so much insists upon, throughout tne 4th
VOL IV. 14
106 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
chapter of Romans, and 3d of Galatians, to confirm his doctrine of justification
by faith alone, was not Abraham s first act of faith, but \vas exerted long after
he had by faith forsaken his own country, Heb. xi. 8, and had been treated as
an eminent friend of God.
Moreover, the Apostle Paul, in the 3d chapter of Philippians, tells us how
earnestly he sought justification by faith, or to win Christ and to obtain that
righteousness which was by the faith of him, in what he did after his conver
sion : ver. 8, 9, " For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count
them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith." And in the two next verses he
expresses the same thing in other words, and tells us how he went through
sufferings, and became conformable to Christ s death, that he might be a par
taker with Christ in the benefit of his resurrection ; which the same apostle
elsewhere teaches us, is especially justification. Christ s resurrection was his
justification ; in this, he that was put to death in the flesh, was justified by the
spirit ; and he that was delivered for our offences, rose again for our justifica
tion. And the apostle tells us in the verses that follow in that 3d chapter of
Philippians, that he thus sought to attain the righteousness* which is through
the faith of Christ, and so to partake of the benefit of his resurrection, still as
though he had not already atttained, but that he continued to follow after it.
On the whole it appears, that the perseverance of faith is necessary, even
to the congruity of justification ; and that not the less, because a sinner is jus
tified, and perseverance promised, on the first act of faith, but God, in that
justification, has respect, not only to the past act of faith, but to his own prom
ise of future acts, and to the fitness of a qualification beheld as yet only in his
own promise.
And that perseverance in faith is thus necessary to salvation, not merely as
a sine qua non, or as a universal concomitant of it, but by reason of such an in
fluence and dependence, seems manifest by many Scriptures ; I would mention
two or three : Heb. iii. 6, " Whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence,
and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." Verse 14 : " For we are
made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast
unto the end." Chap. vi. 12, " Be ye followers of them, who through faith and
patience inherit the promises." Rom. xi. 20, " Well, because of unbelief they
were broken off; but thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear."
And as the congruity to a final justification depends on perseverance in faith,
as well as the first act, so oftentimes the manifestation of justification in the con
science, arises a great deal more from after acts, than the first act. And all
the difference whereby the first act of faith has a concern in this affair that is
peculiar, seems to be, as it were, only an accidental difference, arising from
the circumstance of time or it being first in order of time, and not from any pe
culiar respect that God has to it, or any influence it has of a peculiar nature, in
the affair of our salvation.
And thus it is that a truly Christian walk, and the acts of an evangelical,
childlike, believing obedience, are concerned in the affair of our justification,
and seem to be sometimes so spoken of in Scripture, viz., as an expression of a
persevering faith in the Son of God, the only Saviour. Faith unites to Christ,
and so gives a congruity to justification, not merely as remaining a dormant
principle in the heart, but as being and appearing in its active expressions.
The obedience of a Christian, so far as it is truly evangelical, and perform
ed with the Spirit of the Son sent forth into the heart, has all relation to Christ,
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 107
the Mediator, and is but an expression of the soul s believing unition to Christ.
All evangelical works are works of thM faith that worketh by love ; and every such
act of obedience, wherein it is inward and the act of the soul, is only a new, effect
ive act of reception of Christ, an adherence to the glorious Saviour. Hence that
of the apostle, Gal. ii. 20, " I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me ; and the
life that I now live in the flesh, is by the faith of the Son of God." And hence
we are directed, in whatever we do, whether in word or deed, to do all in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Col. iii. 17.
And that God in justification has respect not only to the first act of faith, but
also to future, persevering acts, in this sense, \iz., as expressed in life, seems
manifest, by Rom. i. 17 ; " For therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith : as it is written, The just shall live by faith." And Heb. x.
38, 39, " Now the just shall live by faith ; but if any man draw back, my soul
shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them that draw back unto
perdition ; but of them that believe, to the saving of the soul."
So that as was before said of faith, so may it be said of a childlike, believ
ing obedience, it has no concern in justification by any virtue or excellency in
it ; but only as there is a reception of Christ in it. And this is no more con
trary to the apostle s frequent assertion of our being justified without the works
of the law, than to say, that we are justified by faith ; for faith is as much a
work, or act of Christian obedience, as the expressions of faith, in spiritual life
and walk. And therefore, as we say that faith does not justify as a work, so
we say of all these effective expressions of faith.
This is the reverse of the scheme of our modern divines, who hold, that faith
justifies only as an act or expression of obedience ; whereas, in truth obedience
has no concern in justification, any otherwise than as an expression of faith. I
now proceed,
IV. To answer objections.
Object. 1. We frequently find promises of eternal life and salvation, and
sometimes of justification itself, made to our own virtue and obedience. Eter
nal life is promised to obedience, in Rom. ii. 7 : " To them who by patient
continuance in well doing seek for glory, honor, and immortality ; eternal life."
And the like in innumerable other places. And justification itself is promised to
that virtue of a forgiving spirit and temper in us, Matt. vi. 14 : " For if ye for
give men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you : but if
ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your tres
passes." All allow that justification in great part consists in the forgiveness
of sins.
To this I answer,
1. These things being promised to our virtue and obedience, argues no more,
than that there is a connection between them and evangelical obedience ; which,
I have already observed, is not the thing in dispute. All that can be proved by
obedience and salvation being connected in the promise, is, that obedience and
salvation are connected in fact ; which nobody denies ; and whether it be owned
or denied, is, as has been shown, nothing to the purpose. There is no need that
an admission to a title to salvation, should be given on tfye account of our obe
dience, in order to the promises being true. If we find such a promise, that he
that obeys shall be saved, or he that is holy shall be justified ; all that is need
ful in order to such promises being true, is, that it be really so, that he that obeys
shall be saved, and that holiness and justification shall indeed go together.
That proposition may be a truth, that he that obeys shall be saved ; because
obedience and salvation are connected together in fact ; and yet an acceptance
108 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
to a title to salvation not be granted upon the account of any of our own virtue
or obedience. What is a promise, but onty a declaration of future truth, for the
comfort and encouragement of the person to whom it is declared ? Promises are
conditional propositions ; and, as has been already observed, it is not the thing
in dispute, whether other things besides faith may not have the place of the con
dition in such propositions wherein pardon and salvation are the consequent.
2. Promises may rationally be made to signs and evidences of faith,
and yet the thing promised not be upon the account of the sign, but the thing
signified. Thus, for instance, human government may rationally make prom
ises of such and such privileges to those that can show such evidences of their
being free of such a city, or members of such a corporation, or descended of
such a family ; when it is not at all for the sake of that which is the evidence or
sign, in itself considered, that they are admitted to such a privilege, but only
and purely for the sake of that which it is an evidence of.
And though God does not stand in need of signs to know whether we have
true faith or not, yet our own consciences do ; so that it is much for our com
fort that promises are made to signs of faith. A finding in ourselves a forgiving
temper and disposition, may be a most proper and natural evidence to our
consciences, that our hearts have, in a sense of our own utter unworthiness,
truly closed and fallen in with the way of free and infinitely gracious forgive
ness of our sins by Jesus Christ ; whence we may be enabled, with the greater
comfort, to apply to ourselves the promises of forgiveness by Christ.
3. It has been just now shown, how that acts of evangelical obedience are
indeed concerned in our justification itself, and are not excluded from that con
dition that justification depends upon, without the least prejudice to that doctrine
of justification by faith, without any goodness of our own, that has been main
tained ; and therefore it can be no objection against this doctrine, that we have
sometimes in Scripture promises of pardon and acceptance made to such acts of
obedience.
4. Promises of particular benefits implied in justification and salvation, may
especially be fitly made to such expressions and evidences of faith as they have
a peculiar natural likeness and suitableness to. As forgiveness is promised to a
forgiving spirit in us ; obtaining mercy is fitly promised to mercifulness in us ;
and the like : and that upon several accounts; they are the most natural evi
dences of our heart s closing with those benefits by faith ; for they do especially
show the sweet accord and consent that there is between the heart and these
benefits ; and by reason of the natural likeness that there is between the virtue
and the benefit, the one has the greater tendency to bring the other to mind ;
the practise of the virtue tends the more to renew the sense, and refresh the
hope of the blessing promised : and also to convince the conscience of the
justice of being denied the benefit, if the duty be neglected.
And besides the sense and manifestation of divine forgiveness in our own
consciences ; yea, and many exercises of God s forgiving mercy, as it respects
God s fatherly displeasure, that are granted after justification, through the course
cf a Christian s life, may be given as the proper rewards of the virtue of a forgiv
ing spirit, and yet this not be at all to the prejudice of the doctrine we have
maintained ; as will more fully appear, when we come to answer another
objection hereafter to be mentioned.
Object. 2. Our own obedience and inherent holiness, is necessary to prepare
men for heaven ; and therefore is doubtless what recommends persons to God s
acceptance, as the heirs of heaven.
To this I answer,
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 109
1. Our own obedience being necessary in order to a preparation for an actual
bestowment of glory, is no argument that it is the thing upon the account of
which we are accepted to a right to it. God may, and does do many things to
prepare the saints lor glory, after he has accepted them as the heirs of glory.
A parent may do much in its education, to prepare a child for an inheritance
after the child is an heir; yea, there are many things necessary to fit a child for
the actual possession of the inheritance, that be not necessary in order to its
having a right to the inheritance.
2. If every thing that is necessary to prepare men for glory iLrust be the
proper condition of justification, then perfect holiness is the condition of justifi
cation. Men must be made perfectly holy, before they are admitted to the en
joyment of the blessedness of heaven ; for there must in no wise enter in there
any spiritual defilement. And therefore, when a saint dies he leaves all his sin
and corruption when he leaves the body.
Object. 3. Our obedience is not only indissolubly connected with salvation,
and preparatory to it, but the Scripture expressly speaks of bestowing eternal
blessings as rewards for the good deeds of the saints. Matt. x. 42, " Whoso
ever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only,
in the name of a disciple, he shall in no wise lose his reward." 1 Cor. iii. 8,
" Every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labor." And
in many other places. This seems to militate against the doctrine that
has been maintained, two ways : 1. The bestowing a reward, carries in it a
respect to a moral fitness, in the thing rewarded, to the reward ; the very notion
of a reward being a benefit bestowed in testimony of acceptance of, and respect
to, the goodness or amiableness of some qualification or work in the person re
warded. And besides, the Scripture seems to explain itself in this matter, in
Rev. iii. 4 : " Thou hast a few names, even in Sardis, which have not defiled
their garments : and they shall walk with me in white ; for they are worthy."
This is here given as the reason why they should have such a reward, " because
they were worthy ;" which, though we suppose it to imply no proper merit, yet
it at least implies a moral fitness, or that the excellency of their virtue in God s
sight recommends them to such a reward ; which seems directly repugnant to
what has been supposed, viz., that we are accepted, and approved of God, as
the heirs of salvation, not out of regard to the excellency of our own virtue or
goodness, or any moral fitness therein to such a reward, but on the account of
the dignity and moral fitness of Christ s righteousness. 2. Our being eternally
rewarded for our own holiness and good works, necessarily supposes that our
future happiness will be greater or smaller, in some proportion as cur own holi
ness and obedience are more or less ; and that there are different degrees of
glory, according to different degrees of virtue and good works, is a doctrine
very expressly and frequently taught us in Scripture. But this seems quite
inconsistent with the saints all having their future blessedness as a reward
of Christ s righteousness : for if Christ s righteousness be imputed to all, and
this be what entitles each one to glory, then it is the same righteousness that
entitles one to glory which entitles another. But if all have glory as the
reward of the same righteousness, why have not all the same glory ? Does
not the same righteousness merit as much glory when imputed to one as when
imputed to another ?
In answer to the first part of this objection, I would observe, that it does
not argue that we are justified by our good deeds, that we shall have eternal
blessings in reward for them, for it is in consequence of our justification, that our
good deeds become rewardable with spiritual and eternal rewards. The accept-
110 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
ableness, and so the rewardableness of our virtue, is not antecedent to justifica
tion, but follows it, and is built entirely upon it ; which is the reverse of what those
in the adverse scheme of justification suppose, viz., that justification is built on the
acceptableness and rewardableness of our virtue. They suppose that a saving
interest in Christ is given as a reward of our virtue, or (which is the same thing)
as a testimony of God s acceptance of our excellency in our virtue. But the con
trary is true, that God s respect to our virtue as our atniableness in his sight, and his
acceptance of it as rewardable, are entirely built on our interest in Christ already
established. So that that relation to Christ, whereby believers, in Scripture
language, are said to be in Christ, is the very foundation of our virtues and
good deeds being accepted of God, and so of their being rewarded ; for a re
ward is a testimony of acceptance. For we, and all that we do, are accepted
only in the beloved, Eph. i. 6. Our sacrifices are acceptable, only through our
interest in him, and through his worthiness and preciousness being, as it were,
made ours. 1 Pet. M. 4, 5, " To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallow
ed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively stones,
are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Here a being actually built on this
stone, precious to God, is mentioned as all the ground of the acceptableness of
our good works to God, and their becoming also precious in his eyes. So, Heb.
xiii. 21, " Make you perfect in every good word to do his will, working in you
that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ." And hence we
are directed, whatever we offer to God, to offer it in Christ s name, as expect
ing to have it accepted no Other way, than from the value that God has to that
name. Col. iii. 17, " And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the
name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." Tc
act in Christ s name, is to act under him, as our head, and as having him to
stand for us, and represent us Godward.
The reason of this may be seen, from what has been already said, to show
that it is not meet that any thing in us should be accepted of God as any ex
cellency of our persons, until we are actually in Christ, and justified through
him. The loveliness of the virtue of the fallen creatures is nothing in the sight
of God, till he beholds them in Christ, and clothed with his righteousness.
1, Because till then we stand condemned before God, by his own holy law, to
his utter rejection and abhorrence. And, 2, Because we are infinitely guilty
before him ; and the loveliness of our virtue bears no proportion to our guilt,
and must therefore pass for nothing before a strict judge. And, 3, Because
our good deeds and virtuous acts themselves are in a sense corrupt ; and the
hatefulness of the corruption of them, if we are beheld as we are in ourselves,
or separate from Christ, infinitely outweighs the loveliness of that which attends
the act of virtue itself, the loveliness vanishes into nothing in comparison of it:
and therefore the virtue must pass for nothing, out of Chrisr. Not only are our
best duties defiled, in being attended with the exercises of sin and corruption,
that precede them, and follow them, and are intermingled with holy acts ; but
even the holy acts themselves, and the gracious exercises of the godly, though
the act most simply considered Is good, yet take the acts in their measure and
dimensions, and the manner in which they are exerted, and they are corrupt
acts; that is, they are defectively corrupt, or sinfully defective; there is that
defect in them that may well be called the corruption of them. That defect is
properly sin, an expression of a vile sinfulness of heart, and what tends to pro
voke the just anger of God ; not because the exercise of love and other grace
is not equal to God s loveliness ; for it is impossible the love of creatures (men
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. Ill
or angels) should be so ; but because the act is so very disproportionate to the
occasion given for love or other grace, considering God s loveliness, and the
manifestation that is made of it, and the exercises of kindness, and the capacity
of human nature, and our advantages (and the like) together. A negative ex
pression of corruption may be as truly sin, and as just cause of provocation, as
a positive. Thus if a man, a worthy and excellent person, should, from mere
generosity and goodness, exceedingly lay out himself, and should, with great
expense and suffering, save another s life, or redeem him from some extreme
calamity ; and when he had done all, that other person should never thank him
for it, or express the least gratitude any way ; this would be a negative ex
pression of his ingratitude, and baseness ; but is equivalent to an act of ingrati
tude or positive exercise of a base unworthy spirit ; and is truly an expression
of it, and brings as much blame, as if he, by some positive act, had much injur
ed another person. And so it would be (only in a less degree), if the gratitude
was but very small, bearing no proportion to the benefit and obligation ; as if,
for so great and extraordinary a kindness, he should express no more gratitude
than would have been becoming towards a person that had only given him a
cup of water when thirsty, or shown him the way in a journey when at a loss,
or had done him some such small kindness : if he should come to his benefac
tor to express his gratitude, and should do after this manner, he might truly be
said to act unworthily and odiously; he would show a most ungrateful spirit:
and his doing after such a manner might justly be abhorred by all : and yet the
gratitude, what little there is of it, most simply considered, and so far as it goes,
is good. And so it is with respect to our exercise of love, and gratitude, and
other graces, towards God : they are defectively corrupt and sinful, and take
them as they are, in their manner and measure, might justly be odious and pro
voking to God, and would necessarily be so, were we beheld out of Christ : for
in that this defect is sin, it is infinitely hateful ; and so the hatefulriess >f the
very act infinitely outweighs the loveliness of it ; because all sin has infinite
hatefulness and heinousness ; but our holiness has but little value and loveliness,
as has been elsewhere demonstrated.
Hence, though it be true that the saints are rewarded for their good works,
yet it is for Christ s sake only, and not for the excellency of their works in
themselves considered, or beheld separately from Christ ; for so they have no
excellency in God s sight, or acceptableness to him, as has now been shown.
It is acknowledged that God, in rewarding the holiness and good works of be
lievers, does in some respect give them happiness, as a testimony of his respect
to the loveliness of their holiness and good works in his sight : for that is the
very notion of a reward : but in a very different sense from what would have
been, if man had not fallen ; which would have been to bestow eternal life on
man, as a testimony of God s respect to the loveliness of what man did, con
sidered as in itself, and as in man, separately by himself, and not beheld as a
member of Christ : in which sense also, the scheme of justification we are op
posing necessarily supposes the excellency of our virtue to be respected and re
warded ; for it supposes a saving interest in Christ itself to be given as a re
ward of it.
Two things come to pass, relating to the saints reward of their inherent
righteousness, by virtue of their relation to Christ. 1. The guilt of their persons
is all done away, arid the pollution and hatefulness that attend their good
works are hid. 2. Their relation to Christ adds a positive value and dignity to
their good works in God s sight. That little holiness, and those faint and feeble
acts of love, and other grace, receive an exceeding value in the sight of God, by
112 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
virtue of God s beholding them as in Christ, and as it were members of one so
infinitely worthy in his eyes; and that because God looks upon their persons
as persons of greater dignity on this account, Isa. xliii. 4 : " Since thou wast
precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable." God for Christ s sake, and
because they are members of his own righteous and dear Son, sets an ex
ceeding value upon their persons ; and hence it follows, that he also sets a
great value upon their good acts and offerings. The same love and obedience
in a person of greater dignity and value in God s sight is more valuable in his
eyes than in one of less dignity. Love and respect (as has been before observ
ed) are valuable in proportion to the dignity of the person whose love it is;
because, so far as any one gives his love to another, he gives himself, in that he
gives his heart : but this is a more excellent offering, in proportion as the person
whose self is offered is more worthy. Believers are become immensely more
honorable in God s esteem by virtue of their relation to Christ, than man would
have been, considered as by himself, though he had been free from sin; as a
mean person becomes more honorable when .married to a king. Hence God
will probably reward the little, weak love, and poor and exceedingly imperfect
obedience of believers in Christ, with a more glorious reward than he would
have done Adam s perfect obedience. According to the tenor of the first cove
nant, the person was to be accepted and rewarded, only for the work s sake;
but by the covenant of grace, the work is accepted and rewarded, only for the
person s sake ; the person being beheld antecedently as a member of Christ,
and clothed with his righteousness. So that though the saints inherent holi
ness is rewarded, yet this very reward is indeed not the less founded on the wor
thiness and righteousness of Christ : none of the value that their works have in
his sight, nor any of the acceptance they have with him, is out of Christ, and
out of his righteousness ; but his worthiness as Mediator is the prime and only
foundation on which all is built, and the universal source whence all arises.
God indeed doth great things out of regard to the saints loveliness, but it is
only as a secondary and derivative loveliness, as it were. When I speak of a
derivative loveliness, I do not mean only, that the qualifications themselves that
are accepted as lovely, are derived from Christ, and are from his power and
purchase ; but that the acceptance of them as a loveliness, and all the value
that is set upon them, and all their connection with the reward, is founded in,
and derived from Christ s righteousness and worthiness.
If we suppose that not only higher degrees of glory in heaven, but heave
itself, is in some respect given in reward for the holiness and good works of th>>
saints, in this secondary and derivative sense, it will not prejudice the doctrine
we have maintained. It is no way impossible that God may bestow heaven s
o-lory wholly out of respect to Christ s righteousness, and yet in reward for man ^s
Siherent holiness, in different respects, and different ways. It may be only Christ s
righteousness that God has respect to, for his own sake, the independent accept-
ableness and dignity of it, being sufficient of itself to recommend all that be
lieve in Christ to a title to this glory ; and so it may be only by this, that per
sons enter into a title to heaven, or have their prime right to it : and yet God
may also have respect to the saints own holiness, for Christ s sake, and as de
riving a value from Christ s merit, which he may testify in bestowing heaven
upon them. The saints being beheld as members of Christ, their obedience is
looked upon by God as something of Christ s, it being the obedience of the
members o! Christ, and their sufferings are looked upon, in some respect, as the
suifermgs of Christ. Hence the apostle, speaking of his sufferings, says, Col. i
24, " Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, -nd fill up that which is be-
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. H3
hind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh." To the same purpose is Matt
xxv. 35, &c., I was an hungered, naked, sick, and in prison, &c. And so that
in Rev. xi. 8, " And their dead hodies shall lie in the street of the great
city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was
crucified."
By the merit and righteousness of Christ, such favor of God towards be
lievers may be obtained, as that God may hereby be already, as it were, disposed
to make them perfectly and eternally happy. But yet this does not hinder, but
that God in his wisdom may choose to bestow this perfect and eternal happiness in
this way, viz., in some respect as a reward of their holiness and obedience : it
is not impossible but that the blessedness may be bestowed as a reward for that
which is done, after that an interest is already obtained in that favor which (to
speak of God after the manner of men) disposes God to bestow the blessedness.
Our heavenly Father may already have that favor for a child, whereby he may
be thoroughly ready to give the child an inheritance, because he is his child;
which he is by the purchase of Christ s righteousness : and yet that does not
hinder but that it should be possible, that the Father may choose to bestow the
inheritance on the child, in a way of reward for his dutifulness, and behaving
as becoming a child. And so great and exceeding a reward may not be judged
more than a meet reward for his dutifulness ; but that so great a reward is
judged meet, does not arise from the excellency of the obedience absolutely con
sidered, but from his standing in so near and honorable a relation to God, as
that of a child, which is obtained only by the righteousness of Christ. And
thus the reward arises properly from the righteousness of Christ j though it be
indeed in some sort the reward of their obedience. As a father might justly
esteem the inheritance no more than a meet reward for the obedience of his
chrld, and yet esteem it more than a meet reward for the obedience of a ser
vant. The favor whence a believer s heavenly Father bestows the eternal in
heritance, and his title as an heir, is founded in that relation he stands in to
him as a child, purchased by Christ s righteousness ; though he in wisdom
chooses to bestow it in such a way, as therein to testify his acceptance of the
amiableness of his own obedience in Christ.
Believers having a title to heaven by faith, antecedent to their obedience,
or its being absolutely promised to them before, does not hinder but that the
actual bestowment of heaven may also be a testimony of God s regard to their
obedience, though performed afterwards. Thus it was with Abraham the
father and pattern of all believers : God bestowed upon him that blessing of
multiplying his seed as the stars of heaven, and causing that in his seed all the
families of the earth should be blessed, in reward for his obedience in offering uphi
sorilsaac: Gen. xxii. 1618, And said, by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord,
for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only
son ; that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy
seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore ; and
thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed ; because thou hast obeyed my voice." And
yet the very same blessings had been from time to time promised to Abraham
in the most positive terms, and the promise, with great solemnity, confirmed and
sealed to him ; as chap. xii. 2, 3, chap. xiii. 16, chap. xv. 17, &e., chap,
xvii. throughout, chap, xviii. 10, 18.
From what has been said we may easily solve the difficulty arising from
that text in Rev. iii. 4, " They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy "
which is parallel with that text in Luke xx. 35, " But they which shall be ac-
VOL. IV. 15
114 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
counted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead." I
allow (as in the objection) that this worthiness does doubtless denote a moral
fitness to the reward, or that God looks on these glorious benefits as a meet tes
timony of his regard to the value which their persons and performances have in
his sight.
1. God looks on these glorious benefits as a meet testimony of his regard to
the value which their persons have in his sight. But he sets this value upon
their persons purely for Christ s sake : they are such jewels, and have such pre-
ciousness in his eyes, only because they are beheld in Christ, and by reason of
the worthiness of the head they are the members of, and the stock they are
grafted into. And this value that God sets upon them on this account is so
great, that God thinks meet, from regard to it, to admit them to such exceed-
in^ glory. The saints, on the account of their relation to Christ, are such pre
cious jewels in God s sight, that they are thought worthy of a place in his own
crown. Mai. iii. 17, Zech. iv. 16. So far as the saints are said to be valuable in
God s sight, upon whatever account they are so, so far may they properly be said to
be worthy, or meet for that honor that is answerable to that value or price which
God sets upon them. A child or wife of a prince is worthy to be treated with
great honor ; and therefore if a mean person should be adopted to be a child of
a prince, or should be espoused to a prince, it would be proper to say, that she
was worthy of such an honor and respect, and there would be no force upon the
words in saying that she ought to have such respect paid her, for she is worthy,
though it be only on the account of her relation to the prince that she is so
2. From the value God sets upon their persons, for the sake of Christ s
worthiness, he also sets a high value on their virtue and performances. Their
meek and quiet spirit is of great price in his sight. Their fruits are pleasant
fruits, their offerings are an odor of sweet smell to him ; and that because of
the value he sets on their persons, as has been already observed and explained.
This preciousness or high valuableness of believers is a moral fitness to a re
ward ; and yet this valuableness is all in the righteousness of Christ, that is the
foundation of it. The thing that respect is had to, is not the excellency that is
in them separately by themselves, or in their virtue by itself, but to the value
that in God s account arises thereto on other considerations ; which is the nat
ural import of the manner of expression in Luke xx. 35, " They which shall
be accounted worthy to obtain that world," &c. ; and Luke xxi. 36, " That ye
may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass,
and to stand before the Son of Man." 2 Thess. i. 5, " That ye may be counted
worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer."
There is a vast difference between this scheme, and what is supposed
in the scheme of those that oppose the doctrine of justification by faith alone.
This lays the foundation of first acceptance with God, and all actual salvation
consequent upon it, wholly in Christ and his righteousness. On the contrary,
in their scheme a regard to man s own excellency or virtue is supposed to be
first, and to have the place of the first foundation in actual salvation, though
not in that ineffectual redemption, which they suppose common to all : they lay
the foundation of all discriminating salvation in man s own virtue and moral
excellency : this is the very bottom stone in this affair: for they suppose that
it is from regard to our virtue, that ( ren a special interest in Christ itself is
given. The foundation being thus contrary, the whole scheme becomes exceed
ing diverse and contrary ; the one scheme is an evangelical one, the other a
legal one ; the one is utterly inconsistent with our being justified by Christ *
righteousness, the other not at all.
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 115
From what has been said, we may understand what has been before men
tioned, viz., how that not only is that forgiveness of sin that is granted in
justification indissolubly connected with a forgiving spirit in us, but there may
be many exercises of forgiving mercy that may properly be granted in reward
for our forgiving those that trespass against us : for none will deny but that
there are many acts of divine forgiveness towards the saints, that do not pre
suppose an unjustified state immediately preceding that forgiveness. None
will deny, that saints that never fell from grace or a justified state, do yet com
mit many sins which God forgives afterwards, by laying aside his fatherly dis
pleasure. This forgiveness may be in reward for our forgiveness, without any
prejudice to the doctrine that has been maintained, as well as other mercies and
blessings consequent on justification.
With respect to the second part of the objection, that relates to the different
degrees of glory, and the seeming inconsistence there is in it, that the degrees
of glory in different saints should be greater or less according to their inherent
holiness and good works, and yet, that every one s glory should be purchased
with the price of the very same imputed righteousness:
I answer, that Christ, by his righteousness, purchased for every one com
plete and perfect happiness, according to his capacity. But this does not hin
der but that the saints, being of various capacities, may have various degrees of
happiness, and yet all their happiness be the fruit of Christ s purchase. Indeed
it cannot be properly said that Christ purchased any particular degree of happi
ness, so that the value of Christ s righteousness in the sight of God, is sufficient
to raise a believer so high in happiness, and no higher, and so that if the be
liever were made happier, it would exceed the value of Christ s righteousness ;
but in general, Christ purchased eternal life or perfect happiness for all, accord
ing to their several capacities. The saints are as so many vessels of different
sizes, cast into a sea of happiness, where every vessel is full ; this Christ pur
chased for all : yet it is left to God s sovereign pleasure to determine the large
ness of the vessel ; Christ s righteousness meddles not with this matter. Eph.
iv. 4 7, " There is one body, and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope
of your calling ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism," &c. " But unto every one
of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." God may
dispease in this matter according to what rule he pleases, not the less for what
Christ has done : he may dispense either without condition, or upon what con
dition he pleases to fix. It is evident that Christ s righteousness meddles not
with this matter ; for what Christ did was to fulfil the covenant of works ; but
the covenant of works did not meddle at all with this : if Adam had persevered
in perfect obedience, he and his posterity would have had perfect and full hap
piness ; eveiy one s happiness would have so answered his capacity, that he
would have been completely blessed ; but God would have been at liberty
to have made some of one capacity, and others of another, as he pleased. The
angels have obtained eternal life, or a state of confirmed glory, by a covenant
of works, whose condition was perfect obedience ; but yet some are higher in
glory than others, according to the several capacities that God, according to
his sovereign pleasure, hath given them. So that it being still left with God,
notwithstanding the perfect obedience of the second Adam, to fix the degree of
each one s capacity by what rule he pleases, he hath been pleased to fix the
degree of capacity, and so of glory, by the proportion of the saints grace and
fruitful ness here : he gives higher degrees of glory, in reward for higher de
grees of holiness and good works, because it pleases him ; and yet all the hap
piness of each saint is indeed the fruit of the purchase of Christ s obedience. If
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
vt had been but one man that Christ had obeyed and died for, and it had pleas
ed God to make him of a very large capacity, Christ s perfect obedience would
have purchased that his capacity should be filled, and then all his happiness
mi<rht properly be said to be the fruit of Christ s perfect obedience ; though if
heliad been of a less capacity, he would not have had so much happiness by
the same obedience ; and yet would have had as much as Christ merited foi
him. Christ s righteousness meddles not with the degree of happiness, any
otherwise than as he merits that it should be full and perfect, according to the
capacity j and so it may be said to be concerned in the degree of happiness, as
perfect is a degree with respect to imperfect ; but it meddles not with degrees
of perfect happiness.
This matter may be yet better understood, if we consider that Christ and
the whole church of saints are, as it were, one body, of which he is the Head,
and they members, of different place and capacity : now the whole body, head
and members, have communion in Christ s righteousness ; they are all parta
kers of the benefit of it ; Christ himself the head is rewarded for it, and every
member is partaker of the benefit and reward : but it does by no means follow,
that every part should equally partake of the benefit, but every part in propor
tion to its place and capacity ; the head partakes of far more than other parts,
because it is of a far greater capacity ; and the more noble members partake
of more than the inferior. As it is in a natural body that enjoys perfect health,
the head and the heart, and lungs, have a greater share of this health, they
have it more seated in them, than the hands and feet, because they are parts ol
greater capacity ; though the hands and feet are as much in perfect health as
those nobler parts of the body : so it is in the mystical body of Christ all the
members are partakers of the benefit of the righteousness of the head ; but it is
according to the different capacity and place they have in the body; and God
determines that place and capacity as he pleases ; he makes whom he pleases
the foot and whom he pleases the hand, and whom he pleases the lungs, &c. :
1 Cor xii 18 " God hath set the members every one of them in the body, as it
hath pleased him." And God efficaciously determines the place and capacity
of every member, by the different degrees of grace and assistance in the im
provement of it here in this world : those that he intends for the highest place
in the body, he gives them most of his Spirit, the greatest share of the divine
nature the Spirit and nature of Christ Jesus the head, and that assistance where
by they perform the most excellent works, and do most abound in them.
Object 4 It may be objected against what has been supposed, viz., that
rewards are given to our good works, only in consequence of an interes
Ch*t, or in testimony of God s respect to the excellency or value of them ir
his sight as built on an interest in Christ s righteousness already obtained : that
the Scripture speaks of an interest in Christ itself, as being given out of respect
o our moral fiTness, Matt. x. 37-39, He that loveth father or mother more
than me is not worthy of me : he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is
novrthyofme: he that taketh not up his cross, and fol oweth after me, is
worthy of me. He that findeth his life, shall lose it," &c. Worthiness
he at least signifies a moral fitness, or an excellency or virtue that recom-
mends : and thfs place seems to intimate as though it were from respect to
moral fitness that men are admitted even to a union with Christ, and interes
in him ; and therefore this worthiness cannot be consequent on being in
and by the imputation of his worthiness, or from any value that ,s in us, or in
our actions in God s sight, as beheld in Christ.
To this I answer, that though persons when they are accepted, are not ac-
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 117
cepted as worthy, yet when they are rejected they are rejected as unworthy.
He that does not love Christ above other things, that treats him with such in
dignity, as to set him below earthly things, shall be treated as unworthy of
Christ ; his unworthiness of Christ, especially in that particular, shall be mark
ed against him, and imputed to him : and though he be a professing Christian,
and live in the enjoyment of the gospel, and has been visibly ingrafted into
Christ, and admitted as one of his disciples, as Judas was ; yet he shall be
thrust out in wrath, as a punishment of his vile treatment of Christ. The fore-
mentioned words do not imply, that if a man does love Christ above father and
mother, &c, that he should be worthy ; the most they amply is, that such a
visible Christian shall be treated and thrust out as unworthy. He that believes is
not received for the worthiness or moral fitness of faith ; but yet the visible
Christian is cast out by God, for the unworthiness and moral unfitness of unbe
lief. A being accepted as one of Christ s-, is not the reward of believing ; but
being thrust out from being one of Christ s disciples, after a visible admission as
such, is properly punishment of unbelief: John iii. 18, 19, " He that believeth on
him, is not condemned ; but he that believeth not, is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is
the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness
rather than light, because their deeds were evil." Salvation is promised to
faith as a free gift, but damnation is threatened to unbelief as a debt, or pun
ishment due to unbelief. They that believed in the wilderness did not enter into
Canaan, because of the worthiness of their faith ; but God sware in his wrath,
that they that believed not should not enter in, because of the unworthiness of
their unbelief. The admitting a soul to a union with Christ is an act of free
and sovereign grace; but an excluding at death, and at the day of judgment,
those professors of Christianity that have had the offers of a Saviour and enjoy
ed great privileges as God s people, is a judicial proceeding, and a just punish
ment of their unworthy treatment of Christ. The design of this saying of Christ
is to make men sensible of the unworthiness of their treatment of Christ, that
professed him to be their Lord and Saviour, and set him below father and
mother, &c., and not to persuade of the worthiness of loving him above father
and mother. If a beggar should be offered any great and precious gift, but as
soon as offered, should trample it under his feet, it might be taken from him, as
unworthy to have it : or if a malefactor should have his pardon offered him,
that he might be freed from execution, and should only scoff at it, his pardon
might be refused him, as unworthy of it ; though if he had received it, he would
not have had it for his worthiness, or as being recommended to it by his virtue ;
for his being a malefactor supposes him unworthy, and its being offered him to
have it only on accepting, supposes that the king looks for no worthiness, nothing
in him for which he should bestow pardon as a reward. This may teach us
how to understand Acts xiii. 46 : " It was necessary that the word of God
should first have been spoken unto you ; but seeing ye put it from you, and
judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles."
Object. 5. It is objected against the doctrine of justification by faith alone,
that repentance is evidently spoken of in Scripture as that which is in a spe
cial manner the condition of remission of sins : but remission of sins is by all
allowed to be that wherein justification does (at least) in great part consist.
But it must certainly arise from a misunderstanding of what the Scripture
says about repentance, to suppose that faith and repentance are two distinct
things, that in like manner are the conditions of justification. For it is most
plain from the Scripture, that the condition of justification, or that in us by
118 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
which we are justified, is but one, and that is faith. Faith and repentance are
not two distinct conditions of justification, nor are they two distinct tilings that
together make one condition of justification; but faith comprehends the whole
of that by which we are justified, or by which we come to have an interest in
Christ, and nothing else has a parallel concern with it in the affair of our sal
vation. And this the divines on the other side themselves are sensible of, and
therefore they suppose that that faith that the Apostle Paul speaks of, which he
says we are justified by alone, comprehends in it repentance.
And therefore, in answer to the objection, I would say, that when repent*
ance is spoken of in cripture as the condition of pardon, thereby is not intend
ed any particular grace, or act properly distinct from faith, that has a parallel
influence with it in the affair of our pardon or justification ; but by repentance
is intended nothing distinct from active conversion (or conversion actively con
sidered), as it respects the term from which. Active conversion is a motion o:
exercise of that mind that respects two terms, viz., sin and God : and by repent
ance is meant this conversion, or active change of the mind, so far as it is conver
sant about the terra from which, or about sin. This is what the word repent
ance properly signifies ; which in the original of the New Testament, is /*m<-
yottt, which signifies a change of the mind, or which is the same thing, the turn
ing or the conversion of the mind. Repentance is this turning, as it respects
what is turned from : Acts xxvi. 20, " Whereupon, king Agrippa, I showed
unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of
Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, and turn to God."
Both these are the same turning, but only with respect to opposite terms : in
the former, is expressed the exercise of mind that there is about sin in this turn
ing ; in the other, the exercise of mind towards God.
If we look over the Scriptures that speak of evangelical repentance, we
shall presently see that repentance is to be understood in this sense ; as Matt.
ix. 13, " I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke
xiii. 3, " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." And chap. xv. 7, 10,
" There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth," i. e., over one sinner
that is converted. Acts xi. 18, " Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted
repentance unto life." This is said by the Christians of the circumcision at
Jerusalem, upon Peter s giving an account of the conversion of Cornelius and
his family, and their embracing the gospel, though Peter had said nothing ex
pressly about their sorrow for sin. And again, Acts xvii. 30, " But now
commandeth all men everywhere to repent." And Luke xvi. 30, " Nay, father
Abraham, but if one went to them from the dead they would repent." 2 Pet.
iii. 9, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness, but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance." It is plain that in these and other
places, by repentance is meant conversion.
Now, it is true, that conversion is the condition of pardon and justification :
but if it be so, how absurd is it to say, that conversion is one condition of justi
fication, and faith another, as though they were distributively distinct and par
allel conditions ! Conversion is the condition of justification, because it is that
great change by which we are brought from sin to Christ, and by which we
become believers in him, agreeable- to Matt. xxi. 32 : " And ye, when ye had
seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him." When we are di
rected to repent, that our sins may be blotted out, it is as much as to say, let
your minds and hearts be changed, that your sins may be blotted out. But if
it be said, let your hearts be changed, that you may be justified ; and also said,
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 119
believe that you may be justified ; does it therefore follow, that the heart s being
changed is one condition of justification, and believing another ? But our minds
must be changed, that \ve may believe, and so may be justified.
And besides, evangelical repentance, being active conversion, is not to be
treated of as a particular grace, properly and entirely distinct from faith, as by
some it seems to have been. What is conversion, but the sinful, alienated soul s
closing with Christ, or the sinner s being brought to believe in Christ ? That
exercise of soul that there is in conversion, fhat respects sin, cannot be
excluded out of the nature of faith in Christ : there is something in faith, or
closing with Christ that respects sin, and that is evangelical repentance. That
repentance which in Scripture is called repentance for the remission of sins,
is that very principle or operation of the mind itself that is called faith, so
far as it is conversant about sin. Justifying faith in a Mediator is conversant
about two things : it is conversant about sin or evil to be rejected and to
be delivered from by the Mediator, and about positive good to be accepted
and obtained by the Mediator ; as conversant about the Ibrmer of these it is
evangelical repentance, or repentance for remission of sins. * Surely they
must be very ignorant, or at least very inconsiderate of the whole tenor of the
gospel, that think that that repentance by which remission of sins is obtained,
can be completed, as to all that is essential to it, without any respect to Christ,
or application of the mind to the Mediator, who alone has made atonement for
sin. Surely so great a part of salvation as remission of sins, is not to be obtain
ed without looking or coming to the great and only Saviour. It is true, repent
ance, in its more general, abstracted nature, is only a sorrow for sin and
forsaking of it, which is a duty of natural religion ; but evangelical repentance,
or repentance for remission of sins, hath more than this essential to it ; a depend
ence of soul on the Mediator ibr deliverance from sin, is of the essence of it.
That justifying repentance has the nature of faith, seems evident by Acts
xix. 4: " Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance,
saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come
after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." The latter words, " saying unto the people,
that they should believe on him," c., are evidently exegetical of the former, and
explain how he preached repentance for the remission of sin. When it is
said, that he preached repentance for the remission of sin, saying, that they should
believe on Christ, cannot be supposed but that it is intended this saying, that
they should believe in Christ, was as directing them what to do that they might
obtain the remission of sins. So, 2 Tim. ii. 25, " In meekness instructing those
that oppose themselves ; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the
acknowledging of the truth." That acknowledging of the truth which there is
in believing, is here spoken of as what is attained in repentance. And on the
other hand, that faith includes repentance in its nature, is evident by the apostle s
speaking of sin as destroyed in faith, Gal. ii. 17. In the preceding verses the
apostle mentions an objection against the doctrine of justification by faith alone,
viz., that it lends to encourage men in sin, and so to make Christ the minister
of sin. This objection he rejects and refutes with this, "If I build again the
things that 1 had destroyed, I make myself a transgressor." If sin be destroyed
by faith, it must be by repentance of sin included in it j for we know that it is
our repentance of sin, or the pwavoiu or turning of the mind from sin, that is
our destroying our sin.
That in justifying faith that directly respects sin, or the evil to be delivered
from by the Mediator, is as follows : a sense of our own sinfulness, and the hateful-
ness of it, and a hearty acknowledgment of its desert of the threatened pun-
120 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE
ishraent, looking to the free mercy of God in a Redeemer, for deliverarce from
it and its punishment.
Concerning this here described, three things may be noted. 1. That it is
the very same with that evangelical repentance to which remission of sins is
promised in Scripture. 2. That it is all of it of the essence of justifying faith,
and is the same with that faith, so far as it is conversant about the evil to be
delivered from by the Mediator. 3. That this is indeed the proper and peculiar
condition of remission of sins.
1. All of it is essential to evangelical repentance, and is indeed the very
thing meant by that repentance, to which remission of sins is promised in the
gospel. As to the former part of the description, viz., a sense of our own
sinfulness, and the hateful ness of it, and a hearty acknowledgment of its
desert of wrath, none will deny it to be included in repentance : but this does
not comprehend the whole essence of evangelical repentance ; but what follows
does also properly and essentially belong to its nature, looking to the free mercy
of God in a Redeemer, for deliverance from it, and from the punishment of it.
That repentance to which remission is promised, not only always has this with
it, but it is contained in it, as what is of the proper nature and essence of it ,
and respect is ever had to this in the nature of repentance, whenever remission
is promised to it ; and it is especially from respect to this in the nature of repent
ance, that it has that promise made to it. If this latter part be missing, it fails
of the nature of that evangelical repentance to which remission of sins is
promised. If repentance remains in sorrow for sin, and does not reach to a
looking to the free mercy of God in Christ for pardon, it is not that which is
the condition of pardon, neither shall pardon be obtained by it. Evangelical
repentance is a humiliation for sin before God ; but the sinner never comes
and humbles himself before God in any other repentance, but that which
includes a hopin^ in his mercy for remission : if his sorrow be not accom
panied with that, there will be no coming to God in it, but a flying further
from him. There is some worship of God in justifying repentance ; but that
there is not in any other repentance, but that which has a sense of and faith
in the divine mercy to forgive sin : Psalm cxxx. 4, " There is forgiveness
with thee, that thou mayest be feared." The promise of mercy to a true pen
itent, in Prov. xxviii. 13, is expressed in these terms : " Whoso confessed) and
forsaketh his sins, shall have mercy." But there is faith in God s mercy in that
confessing. The Psalmist, in Psalm xxxii., speaking of the blessedness of the
man whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is covered, to whom the
Lord imputes not sin, says, that he acknowledged his sin unto God, his iniquity
he did not hide ; he said he would confess his transgression to the Lord, and
then God forgave the iniquity of his sin. The manner of expression plainly
holds forth, that then while he kept silence his bones waxed old, but then he
began to encourage himself in the mercy of God, when before his bones waxed
old, while he kept silence ; and therefore the Apostle Paul, in the 4th of Ro
mans, brings this instance to confirm the doctrine of justification by faith alone
that he had been insisting on. When sin is aright confessed to God, there is
always faith in that act : that confessing of sin that is joined with despair such
as was in Judas, is not the confession to which the promise is made. In Acts
ii. 38, the direction that was given to those that were pricked in their heart with
a sense of the guilt of sin, was to repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of their sins. A being baptized in the name of Christ
for the remission of sins, implied faith in Christ for the remission of sins. Re
pentance for the remission of sins was typified of old by the priest s confessing
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE 121
Hie sins of the people over the scape goat, laying his hands on him, Lev. xvi.
21, denoting that it is that repentance and confession of sin only that obtains
remission, that is made over the scape goat, over Christ, the great sacrifice, and
with dependence on him. Many other things might be produced from the
Scripture, that do in like manner confirm this point; but these may be sufficient.
2. All the forementioned description is of the essence of justifying faith, and
not different from it, so far as it is conversant about sin, or the evil to be de
livered from by the Mediator. For it is doubtless of the essence of justifying
faith, to embrace Christ as a Saviour from sin and its punishment ; and all that
is contained in that act is contained in the nature of faith itself: but in the act
of embracing Christ as a Saviour from our sin and iis punishment, is implied a
sense of our sinfulness, and a hatred of our sins, or a rejecting them with abhor
rence, and a sense of our desert of their punishment. An embracing Christ as
a Saviour from sin, implies the contrary act towards sin, viz., rejecting of sin.
If we fly to the light to be delivered from darkness, the same is contrary to
wards darkness, viz., a rejecting of it. In proportion to the earnestness or appe
tite with which we embrace Christ as a Saviour from sin, in the same propor
tion is the abhorrence with which we reject sin, in the same act. Yea, if we
suppose there to be in the nature of faith as conversant about sin, no more than
the hearty embracing Christ as a Saviour from the punishment of sin, this act
will imply in it the whole of the abovementioned description. It implies a
sense of our own sinfulness. Certainly in the hearty embracing a Saviour from
the punishment of our sinfulness, there is the exercise of a sense of our sinful-
ness, or that we be sinful : we cannot heartily embrace Christ as a Saviour
from the punishment of that w r hich we are not sensible we are guilty of.
There is also in the same act, a sense of our desert of the threatened punish
ment : we cannot heartily embrace Christ as a Saviour from that which we be
not sensible that we have deserved : for if we are not sensible that we have de
served the punishment, we shall not be sensible that we have any need of a
Saviour from it, or, at least shall not be convinced but that the God that offers
the Saviour, unjustly makes him needful ; and we cannot heartily embrace such
an offer. And further, there is implied in a hearty embracing Christ as a Sa
viour from punishment, not only a conviction of conscience that we have de
served the punishment, such as the devils and damned have ; but there is a
hearty acknowledgment of it, with the submission of the soul, so as with the
accord of the heart, to own that God might be just and worthy in the punish
ment. If the heart rises against the act or judgment of God, in holding us
obliged to the punishment, when he offers us his Son as a Saviour from the
punishment, we cannot with the consent of the heart receive him in that char
acter : but if persons thus submit to the righteousness of so dreadful a punish
ment of sin, this carries in A a hatred of sin.
That such a sense of our sinfuJness, and utter unworthiness, and desert of
punishment, belongs to the nature of saving faith, is what the Scripture from
time to time seems to hold forth, as particularly in Matt. xv. 26 28 : " But
he answered and said, it is not meet to take the children s bread and to cast it
to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord : yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall
from their masters table. Then Jesus answered, and said unto her, woman,
great is thy faith." And Luke vii. 6 9, " The centurion sent friends to him,
saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself, for I am not worthy that thou
shouldst enter under my roof. Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to
come unto thee ; but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed : for I also
am a man set under authority, &c. When Jesus heard these things, he mar-
VOL. IV. 16
122 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
veiled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed
him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." And
also ver. 37, 38, " And behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when
she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee s house, brought an alabaster
box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash
his feet, with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed
his feet and anointed them with the ointment." Together with verse 50, " He
said unto the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee ; go in peace."
These things do not necessarily suppose that repentance and faith are words
of just the same signification ; for it is only so much in justifying faith as re
spects the evil to be delivered from by the Saviour, that is called repentance :
and besides, both repentance and faith, take them only in their general nature,
and they are entirely distinct : repentance is a sorrow for sin, and forsaking of
it ; and faith is a trusting in God s sufficiency and truth : but faith and repent
ance, as evangelical duties, or justifying faith, and repentance for remission of
sins, contain more in them, and imply a respect to a Mediator, and involve
each other s nature;* though it be true, that they still bear the name of faith
and repentance, from those general moral virtues, that repentance which is a
duty of natural religion, and that faith, that was a duty required under the first
covenant, that are contained in the evangelical act ; which severally appear
when this act is considered with respect to its different terms and object, that it
is conversant about.
It may be objected here, that the Scripture sometimes mentions faith and
repentance together, as if they were entirely distinct things, as in Mark i. 15 :
" Repent ye, and believe the gospel." But there is BO need of understanding
these as two distinct conditions of salvation, but the words are excgetical one
of another : it is to teach us after what manner we must repent, viz., as believ.
ing the gospel, and after what manner we must believe the gospel, viz., as re
penting : these words no more prove faith and repentance to he entirely distinct
than those forementionecl. Matt. xxi. 32, " And ye, when ye had seen it, re
* pented not afterwards, that ye might believe him." Or those, 2 Tim. ii. 2U
" If peradventure God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the
truth." The apostle, in Acts xix. 4, seems to have reference to these words of
John the Baptist : " John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto
the people that they should believe," &c., where the latter words, as we have
already observed, are to explain how he preached repentance.
Another Scripture where faith and repentance are mentioned together, is
Acts xx. 21, " Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance
towards God, and faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ." It may be objected
that in this place, faith and repentance are not only spoken of as distinct things,
but having distinct objects.
To this I answer*, that it is true that faith and repentance, in their general
nature, are distinct things ; and repentance, for the remission of sins, or that in
justifying faith that respects the evil to be delivered from, so far as it regards
that term, which is what especially denominates it repentance, has respect to
God as the object, because he is the being offended by sin, and to be reconciled,
but that in this justifying act, whence it is denominated faith, does more espe
cially respect Christ. But let us interpret it how we will, the objection of faith
* Agreeable to this, is what Mr. Locke says in his second Vindication of the Reasonableness of
Christianity, &c., Vol. II. of his works, p. 630, 631 : " The believing him, therefore, to I* the Messiah,
is very often, with great reason, put both for faith and repentance too, which are sometimes set down
singly, where one is put for both, as implying the other."
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 123
being here so distinguished from repentance, is as much for an objection against
the scheme of those that oppose justification by faith alone, as against this
scheme ; for they hold that the justifying faith that the Apostle Paul speaks of,
includes repentance, as has been already observed.
3. This repentance that has been described, is indeed the special condition
of remission of sin. This seems very evident by the Scripture, as particularly
Mark i. 4 : " John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of re
pentance, for the remission of sins." So, Luke iii. 3, " And he came into all
the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance, for the remis
sion of sins." Luke xxiv. 47, " And that repentance and remission of sins should
be preached in his name among all nations." Acts v. 31, " Him hath God ex
alted with his right hand to be a Prince and Saviour, for to give repentance unto
Israel, and forgiveness of sins." Chap. ii. 38, " Repent, and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins." And chap,
iii. 19, " Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out." The like is evident by Lev. xxvi. 40 42, Job xxxiii. 27, 28, Psalm
xxxii. 5, Prov. xxviii. 13, Jer. iii. 13, and 1 John i. 9, and other places.
And the reason may be plain from what has been said. We need not wonder
that that in faith which especially respects sin, should be especially the condition
of remission of sins ; or that this motion or exercise of the soul, as it rejects and
flies from evil, and embraces Christ as a Saviour from it, should especially be
the condition of being free from that evil ; in like manner, as the same principle
or motion, as it seeks good, and cleaves to Christ as the procurer of that good,
should be the condition of obtaining that good. Faith with respect to good is ac
cepting, and with respect to evil it is rejecting. Yea, this rejecting evil is itself
an act of acceptance ; it is accepting freedom or separation from that evil ;
and this freedom or separation is the benefit bestowed in remission. No wonder
that that in faith which immediately respects this benefit, and is our acceptance
of this benefit, should be the special condition of our having it : it is so with
respect to all the benefits that Christ has purchased. Trusting in God through
Christ for such a particular benefit that we need, is the special condition of our
having it : it is so with respect to all the benefits that Christ has purchased.
Trusting in God through Christ for such a particular benefit that we need is the
special condition of obtaining that benefit. When we need protection from
enemies, the exercise of faith with respect to such a benefit, or trusting in
Christ for protection from enemies, is especially the way to obtain that parti
cular benefit, rather than trusting in Christ for something else ; and so of any
other benefit that might be mentioned. So prayer (which is the expression of
faith) for a particular mercy needed, is especially the way to obtain that mercy.*
So that we see that no argument can be drawn from hence against the doc
trine of justification by faith alone. And there is that in the nature of repent
ance, which particularly tends to establish the contrary of justification by works :
for nothing so much renounces our own unworthiness and excellency, as repent
ance ; the very nature of it is to acknowledge our own utter sinfulness and un
worthiness, and to renounce our own goodness, and all confidence in self; and
so to trust in the propitiation of the Mediator, and ascribe all the glory of for
giveness to him.
Object. 6. The last objection I shall mention, is that paragraph in the 2d
* If repentance justify, or be that by which we obtain pardon of sin any other way than this, it must
be either as a virtue or righteousness, or something amiable in us ; or else it must be. that our sorrow and
condemning what is past, is accepted as some atonement for it ; both which are equally contrary to the
gospel doctrine of justification by Christ.
12 4 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
chapter of James, where persons are said expressly to be justified ly -works .
verse 21, " Was not Abraham our father justified by works 1 verse 24, Ye
see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only; ver. 25,
Was not Rahab the harlot justified by works V
In answer to this objection I would,
1 Take notice of the great unfairness of the divines that oppose us, in the
improvement they make of this passage against us. All will allow, that m that
proposition of St. James, " By works a man is justified, and not by faith only,
one of the terms, either the word faith, or else the won] justify, is not to be un
derstood precisely in the same sense as the same terms when used by St. Pau ;
because they suppose, as well as we, that it was not the intent of the Apostle
Tames to contradict St. Paul in that doctrine of justification by faith alone, that
he had instructed the churches in : but if we understand both the terms, as used
by each apostle, in precisely the same sense, then what one asserts is a precise,
direct and full contradiction of the other, the one affirming and the other deny-
inrr the very same thing. So that all the controversy from this text comes to
thfs viz which of these two terms shall be understood in a diversity from St.
Paul They say that it is the word faith ; for they suppose, that when the
Apostle Paul uses the word, and makes faith that by which alone we are justified,
that then by it is understood a compliance with, and practise of Christianity in
o-eneral ; so as to include all saving Christian virtue and obedience. But as the
Apostle James uses the word faith in this place, they suppose thereby is to be
understood only an assent of the understanding to the truth of gospel doctrines,
as distinguished from good works, and that may exist separate from them, and
from all saving "race. We, on the other hand, suppose that the word justify
is to be understood in a different sense from the Apostle Paul. So that they
are forced to go as far in their scheme, in altering the sense of terms from Paul s
use of them, as we. But yet at the same time that they freely vary the sense
of the former of them, viz., faith, yet when we understand the latter, viz., jus
tify, in a different sense from St. Paul, they cry out of us, what necessity of
framino- this distinction, but only to serve an opinion ! At this rate a man may
maintain any thing, though never so contrary to Scripture, and elude the clear-
est text in the Bible ! Though they do not show us why we have not as good
warrant to understand the word justify in a diversity from St. Paul, as they the
word faith. If the sense of one of the words must be varied on either scheme,
to make the Apostle James s doctrine consistent with the Apostle Paul s, and
the varyincr the sense of one term or the other, be all that stands in the way of
their agreeing with either scheme, and the varying the sense of the latter, be in
itself as fair as of the former, then the text lies as fair for one scheme as the
other and can no more fairly be an objection against our scheme than theirs
And if so, what becomes of all this great objection from this passage in James T
2 If there be no more difficulty in varying the sense of one of these terms
than another, from any thing in the text itself, so as to make the words suit
with either scheme, then certainly that is to be chosen that is most agreeable to
the current of Scripture, and other places where the same matter is more parti
cularly and fully treated of; and therefore that we should understand the wo
justify in this passage of James, in a sense in some respect diverse from that in
which St. Paul uses it. For by what has been already said, it may appear
that there is no one doctrine in the whole Bible more fully asserted, explained
and urged, than the doctrine of justification by faith alone, without any o
own righteousness. , .
3. There is a very fair interpretation of this passage of St. James, that i
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 125
<vay inconsistent with this doctrine of justification, which I have shown that
other Scriptures do so abundantly teach, which interpretation the words them
selves will as well allow of, as that which the objectors put upon them, and
much better agrees with the context; and that is, that works are here spoken
of as justifying as evidences. A man may be said to be justified by that which
clears him, or vindicates him, or makes the goodness of his cause manifest.
Wher. a person has a cause tried in a civil court, and is justified or cleared, he
may be said in different senses to be cleared, by the goodness of his cause, and
by the goodness of the evidences of it. He may be said to be cleared by what
evidences his cause to be good. That which renders his cause good, is the pro
per ground of his justification ; it is by that that he is himself a proper subject
of it; but evidences justify, only as they manifest that his cause is good in
fact, whether they are of such a nature as to have any influence to render it so
or no. It is by works that our cause appears to be good ; but by faith our cause
not only appears to be good, but becomes good ; because thereby w r e are united
to Christ. That the word justify should be sometimes understood to signify the
former of these, as well as the latter, is agreeable to the use of the word in
common speech ; as we say such a one stood up-to justify another, i. e., he en
deavored to show or manifest his cause to be good. And it is certain that the
word is sometimes used in this sense in Scripture when speaking of our being
justified before God ; as where it is said, we shall be justified by our words :
Matt. xii. 39, " For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou
shalt be condemned." It cannot be meant that men are accepted before God
on account of their words; for God has told us nothing more plain, than that it
is the heart that he looks at; and that when he acts as judge towards men, in order
to justifying or condemning, he tries the heart: Jer. xi. 20, "But-0 Lord of
hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see
thy vengeance on them ; for unto thee have I revealed my cause." Psalm vii.
8, 9, " The Lord shall judge the people : judge me, Lord, according to my
righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me. let the wicked
ness of the wicked come to an end ; but establish the just ; for the righteous
God trieth the hearts and reins." Verse 11, " God judgeth the righteous." And
many other places to the like purpose. And therefore men can be justified by
their words, no otherwise than as evidences or manifestations of what is in the
heart. And it is thus that Christ speaks of the words in this very place, as is
evident by the context, verses 34, 35, " Out of the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart," &c. The
words, or sounds themselves, are neither parts of godliness, nor evidences of
godliness, but as signs of what is inward.
God himself, when he acts towards men as judge, in order to a declarative
judgment, makes use of evidences, and so judges men by their works. And
therefore, at the day of judgment, God will judge men according to their works :
for though God will stand in no need of evidence to inform him what is right,
yet it is to be considered, that he will then sit in judgment, not as earthly judges
do, to find out what is right in a cause, but to declare and manifest what is
right ; and therefore that day is called by the apostle, " the day of the revela
tion of the righteous judgment of God," Rom. ii. 5.
To be justified, is to be approved and accepted : but a man may be said to
be approved and accepted in two respects ; the one is to be approved really, and
the other to be approved and accepted declaratively. Justification is twofold ;
it is either the acceptance and approbation of the judge itself, or the manifesta
tion of that approbation, by a sentence or judgment declared by the judge,
126 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
either to our own consciences, or to the world. If justification be understood in
the former sense, for the approbation itself, that is only that by which we be
come fit to be approved : but if it be understood in the latter sense, for the man
ifestation of this approbation, it is by whatever is a proper evidence of that
fitness. In the former, faith only is concerned ; because it is by thai only in us
that we become fit to be accepted and approved : in the latter, whatever is an
evidence of our fitness, is alike concerned. And therefore, take justification in
this sense, and then faith, and all other graces and good works have a common
and equal concern in it : for any other grace, or holy act, is equally an evidence
of a qualification for acceptance or approbation, as faith. To justify has always,
in common speech, signified indifferently, either simply approbation, or testify
ing that approbation ; sometimes one, and sometimes the other : and that be
cause they are both the same, only as one is outwardly what the other is in
wardly. So we, and it may be all nations, are wont to give the same names to
two things, when one is only declarative of the other. Thus sometimes judg
ing intends only judging in our thoughts ; at other times, testifying and declar
ing judgment. So such words as justify, condemn, accept, reject, prize, slight,
approve, renounce, are sometimes put for mental acts, at other times, for an
outward treatment. So in the sense in which the Apostle James seems to use
the word justify for manifestative justification, a man is justified not only by faith
but also by works ; as a tree is manifested to be good, not only by immediately
examining the tree, but also by the fruit. Prov. xx. 11, Even a child is known
by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right."
The drift of the apostle does not require that he should be understood in
any other sense : for all that he aims at, as appears by a view of the context,
is to prove that good works are necessary. The error of those that he opposed
was this, that good works were not necessary to salvation ; that if they did
but believe that there was but one God, and that Christ was the Son of God,
and the like, and were baptized, they were safe, let them live how they would ;
which doctrine greatly tended to licentiousness. The evincing of the contrary
of this is evidently the apostle s scope.
And that we should understand the apostle, of works justifying as an evi
dence, and in a declarative judgment, is what a due consideration of the con
text will naturally lead us to. For it is plain, that the apostle is here insisting
on works, in the quality of a necessary manifestation and evidence of faith, or
as what the truth of faith is showed or made to appear by : as verse 18, " Show
me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works."
And when he says, verse 26, " As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith
without works is dead also," it is much more rational and natural to understand him
as speaking of worksdone as proper signs and evidences of the reality, life, and
goodness of faith. Not that the very works or actions are properly the life of
faith, as the spirit in the body ; but it is the active, working nature of faith, of
which the actions or works done are the signs, that is itself the life and spirit
of faith. The sign of a thing is often in Scripture language said to be that thing ;
as it is in that .comparison by which the apostle illustrates it. It is not the
actions themselves of a body, that are properly the life or spirit of the body ;
but it is the active nature, of which those actions or motions are the signs, that
is the life of the body. That which makes men call any thing alive, is, that
they observe that it has an active, operative nature in it ; which they observe
no otherwise than by the actions or motions that are the signs of it. It is
plainly the apostle s aim to prove that works are necessary from that, that if
faith hath not works, it is a sign that it is not a good sort of faith ; which
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 127
would not have been to his purpose, if it was his design to show that it is not
by faith alone, though of a right sort, that we have acceptance with God, but
that we are accepted on the account of obedience as well as faith. It is evi
dent by the apostle s reasoning, that the necessity of works that he speaks of, is
not as having a parallel concern in our salvation with faith ; but he speaks of
works only as related to faith, and expressive of it ; which, after all, leaves faith
the alone fundamental condition, without any thing else having a parallel con
cern with it in this affair ; and other things conditions, only as several expres
sions and evidences of it.
That the apostle speaks of works justifying only as a sign or evidence, and
in God s declarative judgment, is further confirmed by verse 21 : " Was not
Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered up Isaac his son
upon the altar ?" Here the apostle seems plainly to refer to that declarative
judgment of God, concerning Abraham s sincerity, manifested to him, for the
peace and assurance of his own conscience after his offering up Isaac his son on
the altar, that we have account of Gen. xxii. 12 : " Now I know that thou fear-
est God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." But
here it is plain, and expressed in the very words of justification or approbation,
that this work of Abraham s, his offering up his son on the altar, justified him
as an evidence. When the Apostle James says, we are justified by works, he
may, and ought to be understood in a sense agreeable to the instance he brings
for the proof of it : but justification in that instance appears by the works of
justification themselves referred to, to be by works as an evidence. And where
this instance of Abraham s obedience is elsewhere mentioned in the New Testa
ment, it is mentioned as a fruit and evidence of his faith. Heb. xi. 17, " By-
faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac ; and he that had received
the promises, offered up his only begotten son."
And in the other instance which the apostle mentions, verse 25 : " Likewise
also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the
messengers, and had sent them out another way ?" The apostle refers to a
declarative judgment, in that particular testimony which was given of God s
approbation of her as a believer, in directing Joshua to save her when the rest
of Jericho was destroyed, Josh. vi. 25 : " And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot
alive, and her father s household, and all that she had ; and she dvvelleth in
Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers which Joshua sent
to spy out Jericho." This was accepted as an evidence and expression of her
faith. Heb. xi. 32, " By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that
believed not, when she had received the spies with peace." The apostle in
saying, " Was not Rahab the harlot justified by works ?" by the manner of
his speaking has reference to something in her history ; but we have no account
in her history of any other justification of her but this.
4. If, notwithstanding, any choose to take justification in St. James s precise
ly as we do in Paul s epistles, for God s acceptance or approbation itself, and
not any expression of that approbation ; what has been already said concern
ing the manner in which acts of evangelical obedience are concerned in the
affair of our justification, affords a very easy, clear and full answer: for if we
take works as acts or expressions of faith, they are not excluded ; so a man
is not justified by faith only, but also by works ; i. e. he is not justified only by
faith as a principle in the heart, or in its first and more immanent acts, but also
by the effective acts of it in life, which are the expressions of the life of faith,
as the operations and actions of the body are of the life of that ; agreeable to
verse 26,
128 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
What has been said in answer to these objections, may also, I hope, abun
dantly serve for an answer to that objection, that is often made against this doc
trine, viz., that it encourages licentiousness in life. For, from what has been
said, we may see that the Scripure doctrine of justification by faith alone, with
out any manner of goodness or excellency of ours, does in no wise diminish
either the necessity or benefit of a sincere, evangelical, universal obedience in
that, man s salvation is not only indissolubly connected with it, and damnation
with the want of it, in those that have opportunity for it, but that it depends
upon it in many respects ; as it is the way to it, and the necessary preparation
for it, and also as eternal blessings are bestowed in reward for it, and as our
justification in our own consciences, and at the day of judgment, depends on it,
as the proper evidence of our acceptable state ; and that, even in accepting
us as entitled to life in our justification, God has respect to this, as that on
which the fitness of such an act of justification depends : so that our salvation
does as truly depend upon it, as if we were justified for the moral excellency of
it. And besides all this, the degree of our happiness to all eternity is suspended
on, and determined by the degree of this. So that this gospel scheme of
justification is as far from encouraging licentiousness, and contains as much to
encourage and excite to strict and universal obedience, and the utmost possible
eminency of holiness, as any scheme that can be devised, and indeed unspeak
ably more.
I come now to the last thing proposed, which is,
V. To consider the importance of this doctrine.
I know there are many that make as though this controversy was of no
great importance ; that it is chiefly a matter of nice speculation, depending on
certain subtle distinctions, which many that make use of them do not under
stand themselves ; and that the difference is not of such consequence as to be
worth the being zealous about ; and that more hurt is done by raising disputes
about it than good.
Indeed I am far from thinking that it is of absolute necessity that persons
should understand, and be agreed upon, all the distinctions needful particularly
to explain and defend this doctrine against all cavils and objections (though
all Christians should strive after an increase of knowledge, and none should
content themselves without some clear and distinct understanding in this point) :
but that we should believe in the general, according to the clear and abundant
revelations of God s word, that it is none of our own excellency, virtue, or
righteousness, that is the ground of our being received from a state of condem
nation into a state of acceptance in God s sight, but only Jesus Christ, and his
righteousness, and worthiness, received by faith. This I think to be of great
importance, at least in application to ourselves ; and that for the following
reasons.
1. The Scripture treats of this doctrine, as a doctrine of very great importance.
That there is a certain doctrine of justification by faith, in opposition to justifi
cation by the works of the law, that the Apostle Paul insists upon as of the
greatest importance, none will deny ; because there is nothing in the Bible
more apparent . The apostle, under the infallible conduct of the Spirit of
God, thought it worth his most strenuous and zealous disputing about and de
fending. He speaks of the contrary doctrine as fatal and ruinous to the souls
of men, in the latter end of the ninth chapter of Romans, and beginning of the
tenth. He speaks of it as subversive of the gospel of Christ, and calls it an
other gospel, and says concerning it, if any one, " though an angel from heaven,
preach it, let him be accursed ;" Gal. i. 6 9 compared with the following
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 129
part of the epistle. Certainly we must allow the apostles to be good judges of
the importance and tendency of doctrines ; at least the Holy Ghost in them.
And doubtless we are safe, and in no danger of harshness and censor iousness, if
we only follow him, and keep close to his express teachings, in what we be
lieve and say of the hurtful and pernicious tendency of any error. Why are
we to blame, or to be cried out of, for saying what the Bible has taught us to
say, or for believing what the Holy Ghost has taught us to that end that we
might believe it ?
2. The adverse scheme lays another foundation of man s salvation than God
hath laid. I do not now speak of that ineffectual redemption that they suppose
to be universal, and what all mankind are equally the subjects of; but I say, it
lays entirely another foundation of man s actual, discriminating salvation, or
that salvation, wherein true Christians differ from wicked men. We suppose
the foundation of this to be Christ s worthiness and righteousness : on the con
trary, that scheme supposes it to be men s own virtue ; even so, that this is the
ground of a saving interest in Christ itself. It takes away Christ out of the
place of the bottom stone, and puts in men s own virtue in the room of him :
so that Christ himself in the affair of distinguishing, actual salvation, is laid
upon this foundation. And the foundation being so different, I leave it to
every one to judge whether the difference between the two schemes consists
only in punctilios of small consequence. The foundations being contrary, makes
the whole scheme exceeding diverse and opposite ; the one is a gospel scheme,
the other a legal one.
3. It is in this doctrine that the most essential difference lies between the
covenant of grace and the first covenant. The adverse scheme of justification
supposes that we are justified by our works, in the very same sense wherein
man was to have been justified by his works under the first covenant. By that
covenant our first parents were not to have had eternal life given them for any
proper merit in their obedience ; because their perfect obedience was a debt
that they owed God : nor was it to be bestowed for any proportion between
the dignity of their obedience, and the value of the reward ; but only it was
to be bestowed from a regard to a moral fitness in the virtue of their obedience
to the reward of God s favor ; and a title to eternal life was to be given them,
as a testimony of God s pleasedness with their works, or his regard to the in
herent beauty of their virtue. And so it is the very same way that those
in the adverse scheme suppose that we are received into God s special favor
now, and to those saving benefits that are the testimonies of it. I am sensible
the divines of that side entirely disclaim the Popish doctrine of merit ; and are
free to speak of our utter unworthiness, and the great imperfection of all our
services : but after all, it is our virtue, imperfect as it is, that recommends men
to God, by which good men come to have a saving interest in Christ, and
God s favor, rather than others ; and these things are bestowed in testimony of
God s respect to their goodness. So that whether they will allow the term
merit or no, yet they hold, that we are accepted by our own merit, in the same
sense though not in the same degree as under the first covenant.
But the great and most distinguishing difference between that covenant and
the covenant of grace is, that by the covenant of grace we are not thus justified
by our own works, but only by faith in Jesus Christ. It is on this account
chiefly that the new covenant deserves the name of a covenant of grace, as is
evident by Rom. iv. 16 : " Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace."
And chap. iii. 20, 24, " Therefore by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh
be justified in his sight Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemp-
VOL. IV. 17
130 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
tion that is in Jesus Christ." And chap. xi. 6, " And if by grace, then it is no
more of works ; otherwise grace is no more grace : but if it be of works ; then
it is no more grace ; otherwise work is no more work." Gal. v. 4, " Whoso
ever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace." And therefore
the apostle, when in the same epistle to the Galatians he speaks of the doctrine
of justification by works as another gospel, he adds, " which is not another,"
chap. i. verses 6, 7. It is no gospel at all ; it is law : it is no covenant of grace,
but of works : it is not an evangelical, but a legal doctrine. Certain-ly that
doctrine wherein consists the greatest and most essential difference between the
covenant of grace and the first covenant, must be a doctrine of great importance.
That doctrine of the gospel by which above all others it is worthy of the name
gospel, is doubtless a very important doctrine of the gospel.
4. This is the main thing that fallen men stood in need of divine revelation
for, to teach us how we that have sinned may come to be again accepted of
God ; or, which is the same thing, how the sinner may be justified. Something
beyond the light of nature is necessary to salvation chiefly on this account.
Mere natural reason afforded no means by which we could come to the know
ledge of this, it depending on the sovereign pleasure of the Being that we had
offended by sin. This seems to be the great drift of that revelation that God
has given, and of all those mysteries it reveals, all those great doctrines that
are peculiarly doctrines of revelation, and above the light of nature. It seems
to have been very much on this account, that it was requisite that the doctrine
of the Trinity itself should be revealed to us ; that by a discovery of the con
cern of the several divine persons in the great affair of our salvation, we might
the better understand and see how all our dependence in this affair is on God,
and our sufficiency all in him, and not in ourselves ; that he is all in all in this
business, agreeable to that in 1 Cor. i. 2931, " That no flesh should glory in
his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption : that according
as it is written,He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." What is the gos
pel,, but only the glad tidings of a new way of acceptance with God unto life,
a way wherein sinners may come to be free from the guilt of sin, and obtain a
title to eternal life 1 And if, when this way is revealed, it is rejected, and an
other of man s devising be put in the room of it, without doubt it must be an
error of great importance, and the apostle might well say it was another
gospel.
5. The contrary scheme of justification derogates much from the honor of
God and the Mediator. I have already shown how it diminishes the glory of the
Mediator, in ascribing that to man s virtue and goodness, which belongs alone
to his worthiness and righteousness.
By the apostle s sease of the matter it renders Christ needless : Gal. r. 4,
" Christ is become of no effect to you, whosoever of you are justified by the law."
If that scheme of justification be followed in its consequences, it utterly over
throws the o-lory of all the great things that have been contrived, and done, and
suffered in the work of redemption. Gal. ii. 2 1, " If righteousness come by the
law, Christ is dead in vain." It has also been already shown how it diminishes
the glory of divine grace (which is the attribute God hath especially set him
self to cr lonfy in the work of redemption) ; and so that it greatly diminishes the
obligatfon to gratitude in the sinner that is saved : yea, that in the sense o the
apostle, it makes void the distinguishing grace of the gospel. Gal. y. 4, " Who
soever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace." It diminishes the
glory of the grace of God and the Redeemer, and proportionally magnifies
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE. 131
man : it makes him something before God, when indeed he is nothing : it
makes the goodness and excellency of fallen man to be something, which
I have shown are nothing. I have also already shown, that it is contra
ry to the- truth of God in the threatening of his holy law, to justify the sinner
for his virtue. And whether it were contrary to God s truth or no, it is a scheme
of things very unworthy of God, that supposes that God, when about to lift up
a poor, forlorn malefactor, condemned to eternal misery for sinning against his
Majesty, out of his misery, and to make him unspeakably and eternally happy,
by bestowing his Son and himself upon him, as it were, sets all this to sale, for
the price of his virtue and excellency. I know that those we oppose do ac
knowledge, that the price is very disproportionate to the benefit bestowed ; and
say, that God s grace is wonderfully manifested in accepting so little virtue,
and bestowing so glorious a reward for such imperfect righteousness. But see
ing we are such infinitely sinful and abominable creatures in God s sight, and
by our infinite guilt have brought ourselves into such wretched and deplorable
circumstances, and all our righteousnesses are nothing, and ten thousand times
worse than nothing (if God looks upon them as they be in themselves), is it
not immensely more worthy of the infinite majesty and glory of God, to deliver
and make happy such poor, filthy worms, such wretched vagabonds and
captives, without any money or price of theirs, or any manner of expectation of
any excellency or virtue in them, in any wise to recommend them ? Will it
not betray a foolish, exalting opinion of ourselves, and a mean one of God, to
have a thought of offering any thing of ours, to recommend us to the favor of
being brought from wallowing, like filthy swine, in the mire of our sins, and from
the enmity and misery of devils in the lowest hell, to the state of God s dear
children, in the everlasting arms of his love, in heavenly glory ; or to imagine
that that is the constitution of God, that we should bring our filthy rags, and
offer them to him as the price of this 1
6. The opposite scheme does most directly tend to lead men to trust in their
own righteousness for justification, which is a thing fatal to the soul. This is
what men are of themselves exceedingly prone to do (and that though they are
never so much taught the contrary), through the exceeding partial and high
thoughts they have of themselves, and their exceeding dulness of apprehending
any such mystery as our being accepted for the righteousness of another. But
this scheme does directly teach men to trust in their own righteousness for justi
fication ; in that it teaches them that this is indeed what they must be justified
by, being the way of justification that God himself has appointed. So that if
a man had naturally no disposition to trust in his own righteousness, yet if he em
braced this scheme, and acted consistent with it, it would lead him to it. But
that trusting in our own righteousness, is a thing fatal to the soul, is what the
Scripture plainly teaches us : it tells us, that it will cause that Christ profit us
nothing, and be of no effect to us, Gal. v. 2 4. For though the apostle speaks
there particularly of circumcision, yet (I have shown already, that) it is not
merely being circumcised, but trusting in circumcision as a righteousness, that
the apostle has respect to. He could not mean, that merely being circumcised
would render Christ of no profit or effect to a person ; for we read that he him
self, for certain reasons, took Timothy and circumcised him, Acts xvi. 3. And
the same is evident by the context, and by the rest of the epistle. And the
apostle speaks of trusting in their own righteousness as fatal to the Jews, Rom.
ix. 31, 32: "But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath
not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore ? Because they sought
it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law ; for they stumbled at
IQ9 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
LO^
that stumbling stone." Together with chap. x. verse 3, " For they, being igno
rant of God s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." And this is
spoken of as fatal to the Pharisees, in the parable of the Pharisee and the Pub
lican that Christ spake to them to reprove them for trusting in themselves that
they were righteous. The design of the parable is to show them, that the very
publicans shall be justified, rather than they ; as appears by the reflection Christ
makes upon it, Luke xviii. 14 : " I tell you, this man went down to his house
Justified rather than the other ;" that is, this and not the other. The fatal ten-
dency of it might also be proved from its inconsistence with the nature ol justi
fying faith and also its inconsistence with the nature of that humiliation that
the Scripture often speaks of as absolutely necessary to salvation; but these
Scriptures are so express, that it is needless to bring any further arguments.
How far a wonderful and mysterious agency of God s Spirit may so influ
ence some men s hearts, that their practice in this regard may be contrary to
their own principles, so that they shall not trust in their own righteousness,
though they profess that men are justified by their own righteousness ; or how
far they believe the doctrine of justification by men s own righteousness in gen
eral and yet not believe it in a particular application of it to themselves ; or
how far that error which they may have been led into by education, or cunning
sophistry of others, may yet be indeed contrary to the prevailing disposition of
their hearts, and contrary to their practice : or how far some may seem to main
tain a doctrine contrary to this gospel doctrine of justification, that really do not,
but only express themselves differently from others; or seem to oppose it
through their misunderstanding of our expressions, or we of theirs when indeed
our real sentiments are the same in the main ; or may seem to differ more than
they do, by using terms that are without a precisely fixed and determinate : mean-
in/- or to be wide in their sentiments from this doctrine, for want of a distinct
understanding of it, whose hearts, at the same time, entirely agree with it, and
if once it was clearly explained to their understandings, would immediately close
with it, and embrace it : how far these things may be, I will not determine ; but
am fully persuaded that great allowances are to be made on these and such like
accounts, in innumerable instances ; though it is manifest, from what has been
said, that the teaching and propagating contrary doctrines and schemes are
a pernicious and fatal tendency.
SERMON V.
THE WISDOM OF GOD, DISPLAYED IN THE WAY OF SALVATION.
EPHBSIANS iii. 10. To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places,
might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.
Introduction.
THE apostle is speaking in the context of the glorious doctrine of the re
demption of sinners by Jesus Christ ; and how it was in a great measure kept
hid in the past ages of the world. It was a mystery that before they did not
understand, but now it was in a glorious manner brought to light. Ver. 3 5,
" By revelation he made known unto me the mystery (as I wrote afore in few
words ; whereby when ye read ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery
of Christ), which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as
it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets, by the Spirit." And
ver. 8, 9, " Unto me who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given,
that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus
Christ."
And the apostle in the text informs us, that what Christ had accomplished
towards his church, in the work of redemption, had not only in a great measure
unveiled the mystery to the church in this world ; but God had more clearly
and fully opened it to the understanding even of the angels themselves ; and that
this was one end of God in it, to discover the glory of his wisdom to the angels.
" To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places,
might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God."
One end of revealing God s counsels concerning the work of redemption,
is making known God s wisdom. It is called manifold wisdom ; because of the
manifold glorious ends that are attained by it. The excellent designs, hereby
accomplished, are very manifold. The wisdom of God in this is of vast extent.
The contrivance is so manifold, that one may spend an eternity in discovering
more of the excellent ends and designs accomplished by it ; and the multitude
and vast variety of things that are, by divine contrivance, brought to conspire
to the bringing about those ends.
We may observe, to whom it is that God would manifest this his wisdom,
by revealing the mystery of our redemption ; and they are not only men, but
the angels. " To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in
heavenly places might be known the manifold wisdom of God." The angels
are often called principalities and powers, because of the exalted dignity of
their nature. The angels excel in strength and wisdom. Those who are the
wise men of the earth are called princes in the style of the apostle, 1 Cor. ii. 6 :
" Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom
of this world, nor of the princes of this world." Ver. 8, " Which none of ihe
princes of this world knew ; for had they known it, they would not have cruci
fied the Lord of glory." So the angels are called principalities for their great
wisdom. They may also be so called for the honor God has put upon them, in
employing them as his ministers and instruments, wherewith he governs the
134 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
world : and therefore are called thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers
Col. i. 16.
They are called principalities and powers in heavenly places, as distinguish
ing them from those that are in places of earthly power and dignity. The offices
or places of dignity and power that the angels sustain, are not earthly, but
heavenly. They are in places of honor and power in the heavenly city and the
heavenly kingdom.
One end of God in revealing his design or contrivance for redemption, as he
hath so fully and gloriously done by Jesus Christ, is that the angels in heaven
may behold the glory of his wisdom by it. Though they are such bright in
telligences, and do always behold the face of God the Father, and know so
much ; yet here is matter of instruction for them. Here they may see more of
the divine wisdom than ever they had seen before. It was a new discovery of
the wisdom of God to them.
The time when this display of the wisdom of God was especially made to
the angels is, when Christ introduced the gospel dispensation, implied in those
words, " To the intent that now unto the principalities," &c. When Christ
came into the world and died, and actually performed the work of redemption
when he had fully and plainly revealed the counsels of God concerning it ; and
accordingly introduced the evangelical dispensation, and erected the gospel church
then the angels understood more of the mystery of man s redemption, and
the manifold designs and counsels of divine wisdom, than ever they had done
before.
In the foregoing verse the apostle, after speaking of revealing this wisdom of
God to man, " and to make all men see, what is the fellowship of this mystery,"
&c., speaks of this mystery as a thing from the beginning kept hid till now,
" The mystery, which from the beginning of the world had been hid in God
that now," &c. In this verse he mentions another end, viz., that he may, at
the same time, make the angels also see. God s wisdom in his glorious scheme
of redemption. " Now," at this time, implies that it was before a mystery
kept hid from them in comparison of what it is now. And here is room enough
for the angels to discover more and more to all eternity of the wisdom of God
in this work.
Observe the medium by which the angels come by this knowledge, viz., the
church. " That now unto principalities might be known by the church"
i. e., by the things they see done in the church, or towards the church : and by
what they see concerning the church. So hath it pleased the sovereign God,
that the angels should have the most glorious discoveries of divine wisdom by
his doings towards his church, a sort of beings much inferior to themselves. It
hath pleased God to put this honor upon us.
The wisdom appearing in the way of salvation by Jesus Christ, is Jar above
the wisdom of the angels. For here it is mentioned as one end of God in re
vealing the contrivance of our salvation, that the angels thereby might see and
know how great and manifold the wisdom of God is ; to hold forth the divine
wisdom to the angels view and admiration. But why is it so, if this wisdom
be not higher than their own wisdom ? It never would have been mentioned
as one end of revealing the contrivance of redemption, that the angels might
see how mainfold God s wisdom is ; if all the wisdom to be seen in it way no
greater than their own. It is mentioned as a wisdom such as they had -/ever
seen before, not in God, much less in themselves. That now might be known
how manifold the wisdom of Gal is; now, four thousand years since t),e crea
tion. In all that time the angels had always beheld the face of God; and had
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION. 135
been studying God s works of creation ; yet they never, till that day, had seen
any thing like that; never knew how manifold God s wisdom is, as now they
knew it. by the church.
SECTION, i.
Wonderful things done, by which salvation is procured.
Such is the choice of the person chosen to be our redeemer, the substitu
ting of him in our room ; his incarnation his life his death and exalta
tion. And,
1. We will consider the choice of the person to be our redeemer. When
God designed the redemption of mankind, his great wisdom appears in that he
pitched upon his own, his only-begotten Son, to be the person to perform the
work. He was a redeemer of God s own choosing, and therefore he is called in
Scripture, God s elect, Isa. Ixii. 1. The wisdom of choosing this person to be
the redeemer, appears in his being every way a Jit person for this undertaking.
It was necessary, that the person that is the redeemer, should be a divine
person. None but a divine person was sufficient for this great work. The
work is infinitely unequal to any creature. It was requisite, that the redeemer
of sinners, should be himself infinitely holy. None could take away the infinite
evil of sin, but one that was infinitely far from and contrary to sin himself.
Christ is a fit person upon this account.
It was requisite, that the person, in order to be sufficient for this undertak
ing, should be one of infinite dignity and worthiness, that he might be capable
of meriting infinite blessings. The Son of God is a fit person on this account.
It was necessary, that he should be a person of infinite power and wisdom ; for
this work is so difficult, that it requires such a one. Christ is a fit person also
upon this account. It was requisite, that he should be a person infinitely dear
to God the Father, in order to give an infinite value to his transactions in the
Father s esteem, and that the Father s love to him might balance the offence
and provocation by our sins. Christ is a fit person upon this account. There
fore called thebeloved, Eph. i. 6. He hath made us accepted in the beloved.
It was requisite that the person should be one that could act in this as of
his own absolute right : one that, in himself, is not a servant or subject ; because,
if he is one that cannot act of his own right, he cannot merit any thing. He
that is a servant, and that can do no more than he is bound to do, cannot merit.
And then he that has nothing that is absolutely his own, cannot pay any price
to redeem another. Upon this account Christ is a fit person ; and none but a
divine person can be fit. And he must be a person also of infinite mercy and
love ; for no other person but such a one would undertake a work so difficult,
for a creature so unworthy as man. Upon this account also Christ is a fit per
son. It was requisite that he should be a person of unchangeable perfect truth
and faithfulness; otherwise he would not be fit to be depended on by us in so
great an affair. Christ is also a fit person upon this account.
The wisdom of God in choosing his eternal Son, appears, not only in that
he is a fit person ; but in that he was the only fit person of all persons, whether
created or uncreated. No created person, neither man, nor angel, was fit for
this undertaking; for we have just now shown, that he must be a person of in
finite, holiness dignity power wisdom ; infinitely dear to God of infinite
love and mercy ; and one that may act of his own absolute right. But no crea
ture, how excellent soever, has anyone of these qualifications. There are three
uncreated persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and Christ alone of these
136 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
was a suitable person for a redeemer. It was not meet, that the redeemer
should be God the Father ; because he, in the divine economy of the persons
of the Trinity, was the person that holds the rights of the Godhead, and so was
the person offended, whose justice required satisfaction ; and was to be appeased
by a mediator. It was not meet it should be the Holy Ghost, for in being
mediator between the Father and the saints, he is in some sense so between the
Father and the Spirit. The saints, in all their spiritual transactions with God,
act by the Spirit ; or rather, it is the Spirit of God that acts in them ; they are
the temples of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit dwelling in them, is their
principle of action, in all their transactings with God. But in these their spiritual
transactings with God, they act by a mediator. These spiritual and holy exer
cises cannot be acceptable, or avail any thing with God, as from a fallen creature,
but by a mediator. Therefore Christ, in being mediator between the Father
and the saints, may be said to be mediator between the Father and the Holy
Spirit, that acts in the saints. And therefore it was meet, that the mediator should
not be either the Father or the Spirit, but a middle person between them both.
It is the Spirit in the saints, that seeks the blessing of God, by faith and prayer ;
and, as the apostle says, wilh groanings that cannot be uttered : Rom. viii. 26,
" Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities : for we know not what we
should pray for as we ought : but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us,
with groanings that cannot be uttered." The Spirit in the saints seeks divine
blessings of God, by and through a mediator ; and therefore that mediator must
not be the Spirit, but another person.
It shows a divine wisdom, to know that he was a fit person. No other but
one of divine wisdom could have known it. None but one of infinite wisdom
could have thought of him to be a redeemer of sinners. For he, as he is God,
is one of the persons offended by sin ; against whom man by his sin had rebell
ed. Who but God infinitely wise could ever have thought of him to be a re
deemer of sinners ; against whom they had sinned, to whom they were enemies,
and of whom they deserved infinitely ill ? Who would ever have thought of
him as one that should set his heart upon man, and exercise infinite love and
pity to him, and exhibit infinite wisdom, power, and merit in redeeming him ?
We proceed,
2. To consider the substituting of this person in our room. After choosing
the person to be our redeemer, the next step of divine wisdom is, to contrive
the way how he should perform this work. If God had declared who the person
\vas, that should do this work, and had gone no further ; no creature could
"have thought which way this person could have performed the work. If God
had told them, that his own Son must be the redeemer ; and that he alone was
a fit person for the work ; and that he was a person every way fit and sufficient
f or it } but had proposed to them to contrive a way how this fit and sufficient
person should proceed, we may well suppose that all created understandings
would have been utterly at a loss.
The first thing necessary to be done, is, that this Son of God should become
our representative and surety ; and so be substituted in the sinner s room. But
who of created intelligences would have thought of any such thing as the eter
nal and infinitely beloved Son of God being substituted in the room of sinners ?
his standing in stead of a sinner, a rebel, an object of the wrath of God ? \\ ho
would have thought of a person of infinite glory representing sinful worms, that
had made themselves by sin infinitely provoking and abominable ?
For, if the Son of God be substituted in the sinner s room, then his sin must
be charged upoi him : he will thereby take the guilt of the sinner upon him-
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION 137
self; he must be subject to the same law that man was, both as to the com
mands, and threatenings : but who would have thought of any such thing con
cerning the Son of God ? But we proceed,
3. To consider the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The next step of divine
wisdom in contriving how Christ should perform the work of redeeming sin
ners, was in determining his incarnation. Suppose God had revealed his coun
sels thus far to created understandings, that his own Son was the person chosen
for this work, that he had substituted him in the sinner s room, and appointed
him to take the sinner s obligations and guilt on himself and had revealed no
more, but had left the rest to them to find out ; it is no way probable, that even
then they could ever have thought of a way, whereby this person might actu
ally have performed the work of redemption. For if the Son of God be substi
tuted in the sinner s stead, then he takes the sinner s obligations on himself. For
instance, he must take the obligation the sinner is under to perform perfect obe
dience to the divine law. But it is not probable, that any creature could have
conceived how that could be possible. How should a person who is the eternal
JEHOVAH, become a servant, be under law, and perform obedience even to the
law of man ?
And again, if the Son of God be substituted in the sinner s stead, then he
comes under the sinner s obligation to suffer the punishment which man s sin
deserved. And who could have thought that to be possible ? For how should
a divine person, who is essentially, unchangeably, and infinitely happy, suffer
pain and torment ? And how should he who is the object of God s infinitely
dear love, suffer the wrath of his Father ? It is not to be supposed, that creat
ed wisdom ever would have found out a way how to have got over these diffi
culties. But divine wisdom hath found out a way, viz., by the incarnation of
the Son of God. That the Word should be made flesh, that he might be both
God and man, in one person : what created understanding could have conceiv
ed that such a thing was possible ? Yet these things could never be proved to
be impossible. This distinction duly considered will show the futility of many
Socinian objections.
And if God had revealed to them, that it was possible, and even that it
should be, but left them to find out how it should be ; we may well suppose
that they would all have been puzzled and confounded, to conceive of a way
for so uniting a man to the eternal Son of God, that they should be but one
person ; that one who is truly a man in all respects, should indeed be the very
same Son of God, that was with God from all eternity. This is a great myste
ry to us. Hereby, a person that is infinite, omnipotent, and unchangeable, is
become, in a sense, a finite, a feeble man ; a man subject to our sinless infir
mities, passions, and calamities ! The great God, the sovereign of heaven and
earth, is thus become a worm of the dust. Psal. xxii. 6, " 1 am a worm, and
no man." He that is eternal and self-existent, is by this union born of a wo
man ! He who is the great original Spirit, is clothed with flesh and blood like
one of us ! He who is independent, self-sufficient, and all-sufficient, now is
come to stand in need of food and clothing : he becomes poor, " has not
where to lay his head :" stands in need of the charity of men ; and is main
tained by it ! It is far above us, to conceive how it is done. It is a great won
der and mystery to us ; but it was no mystery to divine wisdom.
4. The next thing to be considered is, the life of Christ in this world. The
wisdom of God appears in the circumstances of his life and in the work and
business of his life.
(I.) The circumstances of his life. If God had revealed that his own Son
VOL. IV. 18
138 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
should be incarnate, and should fftte in this world in the human nature ; and it
had been left to men to determine what circumstances of life would have been
most suitable for him, human wisdom would have determined that he should
appear in the world in a most magnificent manner ; with very extraordinary
outward ensigns of honor, authority, and power, far above any of the kings of
the earth : that here he should reign in great visible pomp and splendor over
all nations. And thus it was that men s wisdom did determine before Christ
came. The wise, the great men among the Jews, Scribes and Pharisees, who
are called " Princes of this world," did expect that the Messiah would thus
appear. But the wisdom of God chose quite otherwise : it chose that when the
Son of God became man, he should begin his life in a stable ; for many years
dwell obscurely in a family of a low degree in the world ; and be in low out
ward circumstances : that he should be poor, and not have where to lay his
head : that he should be maintained by the charity of some of his disciples :
that he should " grow up as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground,"
Isa. liii. 2 : that he should" not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be
heard in the streets," Isa. xlii. 2 : that he should come to Zion in a lowly
manner, " riding on an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass :" that he should be
" despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief."
And now the divine determination in this matter is made known, we may
safely conclude that it is far the most suitable ; and that it would not have been
at all suitable for God, when he was manifest in flesh, to appear with earthly
pomp, wealth, and grandeur. No ! these things are infinitely too mean and
despicable, for the Son of God to show as if he affected or esteemed them. Men
if they had had this way proposed to them, would have been ready to condemn
it as foolish and very unsuitable for the Son of God. But " the foolishness of
God is wiser than men," 1 Cor. i. 25. " And God hath brought to nought the
wisdom of this world, and the princes of this world," 1 Cor. ii. 6. Christ, by
thus appearing in mean and low outward circumstances in this world, has pour
ed contempt upon all worldly wealth and glory ; and has taught us to despise
it. And if it becomes mean men to despise them, how much more did it be
come the Son of God ! And then Christ hereby hath taught us to be lowly in
heart. If he who is infinitely high and great, was thus lowly ; how lowly
should we be, who are indeed so vile !
(2.) The wisdom of God appears in the work and business of the life of
Christ. Particularly, that he should perfectly obey the law of God, under such
great temptations : that he should have conflicts with, and overcome for us, in
a way of obedience, the powers of earth and hell ; that he should be subject to,
not only the moral law, but the ceremonial also, that heavy yoke of bondage.
Christ went through ths time of his public ministry, in delivering to us divine
instructions and doctrines. The wisdom of God appears in giving us such a one
to be our prophet and teacher, who is a divine person : who is himself the very
wisdom and word of God ; and was from all eternity in the bosom of the Father.
His word is of greater authority and weight than if delivered by the mouth of
an ordinary prophet. And how wisely ordered that the same should be our
teacher and Redeemer ; in order that his relations and offices, as Redeemer,
might the more sweeten and endear his instructions to us. We are ready to give
heed to what is said by those who are dear to us. Our love to their persons
makes us to delight in their discourse. It is therefore wisely ordered, that he
who has done so much to endear himself to us, should be appointed our great
prophet, to deliver to us divine doctrines.
5. The next thing to be considered is the death of Christ. This is a means
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION. 139
of salvation for poor sinners, that no other but divine wisdom would have pitch
ed upon ; and when revealed, it was doubtless greatly to the surprise of all the
hosts of heaven, and they never will cease to wonder at it. How astonishing
is it, that a person who is blessed for ever, and is infinitely and essentially happy,
should endure the greatest sufferings that ever were endured on earth ! That a
person who is the supreme Lord and judge of the world, should be arraigned,
and should stand at the judgment-seat of mortal worms, and then be condemn
ed. That a person who is the living God, and the fountain of life, should be
put to death. That a person who created the world, and gives life to all his
creatures, should be put to death by his own creatures. That a person of infinite
majesty and glory, and so the object of the love, praises, and adorations of an
gels, should be mocked and spit upon by the vilest of men. That a person, in
finitely good, and who is love itself, should suffer the greatest cruelty. That a
person who is infinitely beloved of the Father, should be put to inexpressible
anguish under his own Father s wrath. That he who is King of heaven, who
hath heaven for his throne, and the earth for his footstool, should be buried in
the prison of the grave. How w r onderful is this ! And yet this is the way that
God s wisdom hath fixed upon, as the way of sinners salvation ; as neither un
suitable nor dishonorable to Christ. "
6. The last thing done to procure salvation for sinners, is Christ s exaltation.
Divine wisdom saw it needful, or most expedient, that the same person who died
.upon the cross, should sit at his right hand, on his own throne, as Supreme
Governor of the world ; and should have particularly the absolute disposal of
all things relating to man s salvation, and should be the judge of the world.
This was needful, because it was requisite that the same person who purchased
salvation, should have the bestowing of it ; for it is not fit, that God should at
all transact with the fallen creature in a way of mercy, but by a mediator. And
this is exceedingly for the strengthening of the faith and comfort of the saints,
that he who hath endured so much to purchase salvation for them, has all things
in heaven and in earth delivered unto him ; that he might bestow eternal life
on them for whom he purchased it. And that the same person that loved them
so greatly as to shed his precious blood for them, was to be their final judge.
This then was another thing full of wonders, that he who was man as well
as God; he who was a servant, and died like a malefactor ; should be made
the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, angels and men ; the absolute disposer
of eternal life and death ; the supreme judge of all created intelligent beings,
for eternity : and should have committed to him all the governing power of
God the Father ; and that, not only as God, but as God-man, not exclusive of
the human nature.
As it is wonderful, that a person who is truly divine should be humbled so
as to become a servant, and to suffer as a malefactor ; so it is in like manner
wonderful, that he who is God-man, not exclusive of the manhood, should be
exalted to the power and honor of the great God of heaven and earth. But
such wonders as these has infinite wisdom contrived, and accomplished in order
to our salvation.
SECTION n.
In this way of salvation God is greatly glorified.
God has greatly glorified himself in the work of creation and providence.
All his works praise him, and his glory shines brightly from them all : but as
some stars differ from others in glory, so the glory of God shines brighter in
140 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
some of his works than in others. And amongst all these, the work of redemp
tion is like the sun in his strength. The glory of the author is abundantly the
most resplendent in this work.
I. Each attribute of God is glorified in the work of redemption. How God
has exceedingly glorified his wisdom, may more fully appear before we have
done with this subject. But more particularly,
1. God hath exceedingly glorified his power in this work. It shows the
great and inconceivable power of God to unite natures so infinitely different,
as the divine and human nature, in one person. If God can make one who
is truly God, and one that is truly man, the self-same person, what is it
that he cannot do ? This is a greater and more marvellous work than creation.
The power of God most gloriously appears in man s being actually saved
and redeemed in this way. In his being brought out of a state of sin and
misery, into a conformity to God ; and at last to the full and perfect enjoy
ment of God. This is a more glorious demonstration of divine power, than
creating things out of nothing, upon two accounts. One is, the effect is greater
and more excellent. To produce the new creature is a more glorious effect,
than merely to produce a creature. Making a holy creature, a creature in the
spiritual image of God, in the image of the divine excellencies, and a partaker
of the divine nature is a greater effect than merely to give being. And there
fore as the effect is greater, it is a more glorious manifestation of power.
And then, in this effect of the actual redemption of sinners, the term from
which, is more distant Jrom the term to which, than ^n the work of creation.
The term from which, in the work of creation, is nothing, and the term to
which, is being. But the term from which, in the work of redemption, is a
state infinitely worse than, nothing ; and the term to which, a holy and a happy
being, a state infinitely better than mere being. The terms in the production of
the last, are much more remote from one another, than in the first.
And then the production of this last effect, is a more glorious manifestation
of power than the work of creation ; because, though in creation, the terms are
very distant as nothing is very remote from being yet there is no opposition.
Nothing makes no opposition to the creating power of God. But in redemp
tion, the divine power meets with and overcomes great opposition. There is
great opposition in a state of sin to a state of grace. Men s lusts and corrup
tions are exceedingly opposite to grace and holiness ; and greatly resist the
production of the effect. But this opposition is completely overcome in actual
redemption.
Besides, there is great opposition from Satan. The power of God is very
glorious in this work, because it therein conquers the strongest and most power
ful enemies. Power never appears more illustrious than in conquering. Jesus
Christ, in this work, conquers and triumphs over thousands of devils, strong and
mighty spirits, uniting all their strength against him. Luke xi. 21, " When
a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace : but when a
stronger than he shall overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor where
in he trusted, and divideth his spoil." Col. ii. 15, " And having spoiled prin
cipalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them
in the cross."
2. The justice of God is exceedingly glorified in this work. God is so strictly
and immutably just, that he would not spare his beloved Son when he took
upon him the guilt of men s sins, and was substituted in the room of sinners.
He would not abate him the least mite of that debt which justice demanded.
Justice should take place, though it cost his infinitely dear Son his precious
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION. 141
blood ; and his enduring such extraordinary reproach, and pain, and death in its
most dreadfnl form.
3. The holiness of God is also exceedingly glorious in this work. Never
did God so manifest his hatred of sin as in the death and sufferings of his only-
begotten Son. Hereby he showed himself unappeasable to sin, and that it was
impossible for him to be at peace with it.
4. God hath also exceedingly glorified his truth in this way, both in his
threatenings and promises. Herein is fulfilled the threatenings of the law,
wherein God said, " In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." And
" Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of
the law to do them." God showed hereby, that not only heaven and earth
should pass away, but, which is more, that the blood of him who is the eternal
Jehovah should be spilt, rather than one jot or tittle of his word should fail, till
all be fulfilled.
5. And lastly, God has exceedingly glorified his mercy and love in this work.
The mercy of God was an attribute never seen before in its exercise, till it
was seen in this work of redemption, or the fruits of it. The goodness of God
appeared towards the angels in giving them being and blessedness. It appeared
glorious towards man in his primitive state, a state of holiness and happiness.
But now God hath shown that he can find in his heart to love sinners who de
serve his infinite hatred. And not only hath he shown that he can love them,
but love them so as to give them more and do greater things for them than ever
he did for the holy angels, that never sinned nor offended their Creator. He
loved sinful men so as to give them a greater gift than ever he gave the angels ;
so as to give his own Son, and not only to give him to be their possession and
enjoyment, but to give him to be their sacrifice. And herein he has done more
for them, than if he had given them all the visible world ; yea, more than if he
had given them all the angels, and all heaven besides. God hath loved them
so, that hereby he purchased for them deliverance from eternal misery, and the
possession of immortal glory.
II. Each person of the Trinity is exceedingly glorified in this work. Herein
the work of redemption is distinguished from all the other works of God. The
attributes of God are glorious in his other works; but the three persons of the
Trinity are distinctly glorified in no work as in this of redemption. In this work
every distinct person has his distinct parts and offices assigned him. Each one
has his particular and distinct concern in it, agreeable to their distinct, personal
properties, relations, and economical offices. The redeemed have an equal con
cern with and dependence upon each person, in this affair, and owe equal honor
and praise to each of them.
The Father appoints and provides the Redeemer, and accepts the price of
redemption. The Son is the Redeemer and the price. He redeems by offering
up himself. The Holy Ghost immediately communicates to us the thing pur
chased ; yea, and he is the good purchased. The sum of what Christ purchased
for us is holiness and happiness. But the Holy Ghost is the great principleboth
of all holiness and happiness. The Holy Ghost is the sum of all that Christ
purchased for men. Gal. iii. 13, 14, " He was made a curse for us, that we
might receive the promise of the Spirit, through faith."
The blessedness of the redeemed consists in partaking of Christ s fulness
which consists in partaking of that Spirit, which is given not by measure unto
him. This is the oil that was poured upon the head of the church, which ran
down to the members of his body, to the skirts of his garment. Thus we have
an equal concern with and dependence upon each of the persons of the Trinity,
142 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
distinctly ; upon the Father, as he provides the Redeemer, and the person of
whom the purchase is made ; the Son as the purchaser, and the price ; the
Holy Ghost, as the good purchased.
SECTION, ni.
The good attained by salvation is wonderfully various and exceeding great.
Here we may distinctly consider the variety and the greatness of the
good procured for men.
I. The good procured by salvation is wonderfully various. Here are all
sorts of good procured for fallen man, that he does or can really need, or is capa
ble of. The wisdom of God appears in the way of salvation, in that it is mosl
worthy of an infinitely wise God, because every way perfect and sufficient. We,
in our fallen state, are most necessitous creatures, full of wants : but they are
here all answered. Every sort of good is here procured; whatever would
really contribute to our happiness, and even many things we could not have
thought of, had not Christ purchased them for us, and revealed them to us.
Every demand of our circumstances, and craving of our natures, is here exactly
answered. For instance,
1. We stand in need of peace with God. We had provoked God to anger,
his wrath abode upon us, and we needed to have it appeased. This is done for
us in this way of salvation ; for Christ, by shedding his blood, has full) satisfied
justice, and appeased God s wrath, for all that shall believe in him. By the
sentence of the law we were condemned to hell ; and we needed to have our
sins pardoned that we might be delivered from hell. But in this work, pardon
of sin and deliverance from hell, is fully purchased for us.
2. We needed not only to have God s wrath appeased, and our sins pardon
ed ; but we needed to have the/avor of God. To have God, not only not
our enemy, but our friend. Now God s favor is purchased for us by the right
eousness of Jesus Christ.
3. We needed not only to be delivered from hell, but to have some satisfy-
ing happiness bestowed. Man has a natural craving and thirst after happiness ;
and will thirst and crave until his capacity is filled. And his capacity is of vast
extent ; and nothing but an infinite good can fill and satisfy his desires. But,
notwithstanding, provision is made in this way of salvation to answer those
needs, there is a satisfying happiness purchased for us ; that which is fully an
swerable to the capacity and cravings of our souls.
Here is food procured to answer all the appetites and faculties of our souk
God has made the soul of man of a spiritual nature ;. and therefore he needs a
corresponding happiness ; some spiritual object, in the enjoyment of which he
may be happy. Christ has purchased the enjoyment of God, who is the great
and original Spirit, as the portion of our souls. And he hath purchased the
Spirit of God to come and dwell in us as an eternal principle of happiness.
God hath made man a rational intelligent creature; and man needs some
good that shall be a suitable object of his understanding, for him to contemplate;
wherein he may have full and sufficient exercise for his capacious faculties, in
their utmost extent. Here is an object that is great and noble, and worthy of
the exercise of the noblest faculties of the rational soul. God himself should
be theirs, for them for ever to behold and contemplate ; his glorious perfections
and works are mosl worthy objects ; and there is room enough for improving
them, and still to exercise their faculties to all eternity. What object can be
more worthy to exercise the understanding of a rational soul, than the glories
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION. 143
of the Divine Being, with which the heavenly intelligences, and even the infi
nite understanding of God himself is entertained ?
Our souls need some good that shall be a suitable object of the will and af
fections ; a suitable object for the choice, the acquiescence, the love, and the
joy of the rational soul. Provision is made for this also in this way of salva
tion. There is an infinitely excellent Being offered to be chosen, to be rested
in, to be loved, to be rejoiced in, by us : even God himself, who is infinitely
lovely, the fountain of all good ; a fountain that can never be exhausted, where
we can be in no danger of going to excess in our love and joy : and here we
may be assured ever to find our joy and delight in enjoyments answerable to
our love and desires.
4. There is all possible enjoyment of this object, procured in this way of sal
vation. When persons entirely set their love upon another, they naturally de
sire to see that person : merely to hear of the person, does not satisfy love. So
here is provision made that we should see God, the object of our supreme love.
Not only that we should hear and read of him in his word, but that we should
see him with a spiritual eye here : and not only so, but that we should have the
satisfaction of seeing God face to face hereafter. This is promised, Matt. v. 8 :
" Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." It is promised that
we shall not see God, as through a glass darkly, as we do now, but face to
face, 1 Cor. xiii. 12. That we shall see Christ as he is, 1 John iii. 2.
We naturally desire not only to see those whom we love, but to converse
with them. Provision is made for this also, that we should have spiritual con
versation with God while in this world j and that we should be hereafter ad
mitted to converse with Christ in the most intimate manner possible. Provi
sion is made in this way of salvation, that we should converse with God much
more intimately, than otherwise it would have been possible for us ; for now
Christ is incarnate, is in our nature : he is become one of us, whereby we are
under advantages for an immensely more free and intimate converse with him,
than could have been, if he had remained only in the divine nature; and so in
a nature infinitely distant from us. We naturally desire not only to converse
with those whom we greatly love, but to dwell with them. Provision, through
Christ, is made for this. It is purchased and provided that we should dwell
with God in his own house in heaven, which is called our Father s house. To
dwe)l for ever in God s presence, and at his right hand.
We naturally desire to have a right in that person whom we greatly, love.
Provision is made, in this way of salvation, that we should have a right in God ;
a right to him. This is the promise of the covenant of grace, " That he will
be our God." God, with all his glorious perfections and attributes, with all his
power and wisdom, and with all his majesty and glory, will be ours; so that
we may call him our inheritance, and the portion of our souls : what we can
humbly claim by faith, having this portion made over to us by a firm instru
ment ; by a covenant ordered in all things and sure. And we may also hereby
claim a right to Jesus Christ. Love desires that the right should be mutual.
The lover desires, not only to have a right to the beloved, but that the beloved
should have a right to him: he desires to be his beloved s, as well as his
beloved should be his. Provision is also made for this, in this wise method of
salvation, that God should have a special propriety in the redeemed, that they
should be in a distinguishing manner his, that they should be his peculiar peo-
_1_ A 1 7 _ . i_ll*l__J./-1_J_ 1.1 11 / 1 > in . .
144 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
Love desires to stand in some near relation to the beloved. Provision is
made by Christ, that we should stand in the nearest possible relation to God ;
that he should be our Father, and we should be his children. We are often
instructed in the Holy Scriptures, that God is the Father of believers, and that
they are his family. And not only so, but they stand in Ihe nearest relation to
Christ Jesus. There is the closest union possible. The souls of believers are
married to Christ. The church is the bride, the Lamb s wife. Yea, there is
yet a nearer relation than can be represented by such a similitude. Believers
are as the very members of Christ, and of his flesh and of his bones, Eph. v. 30.
Yea, this is not near enough yet, but they are one spirit, 1 Cor. vi. 17.
Love naturally inclines to a conformity to the beloved. To have those ex
cellencies, upon the account of which he is beloved, copied in himself. Provi
sion is made in this way of salvation, that we may be conformed to God ; that
we shall be transformed into the same image. 2 Cor. iii. IS, " We all, with
open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the
same image from glory to glory." And that hereafter we shall see him as he
is, and be like him. ,
It is the natural desire of love to do something for the beloved, either for his
pleasure or honor. Provision is made for this also in this way of salvation ;
that we should be made instruments of glorifying God, and promoting his king
dom here, and of glorifying him to all eternity.
5. In this way of salvation, provision is made for our having every sort of
good that man naturally craves ; as honor, wealth, and pleasure. Here is pro
vision made that we should be brought to the highest honor. This is what God
has promised, that those that honor him, he will honor. And that true Christians
shall be kings and priests unto God. Christ has promised, that as his Father
has appointed unto him a kingdom, so he icill appoint unto them, that they may
eat and drink at his table in his kingdom. He has promised to crown them
with a crown of glory, and that they shall sit with him in his throne. That
he will confess their names before his Father, and before his angels. That he
will give them a new name ; and that they shall walk with him in white.
Christ has also purchased for them the greatest wealth. All those that are
in Christ are rich. They are now rich. They have the best riches ; being rich
in faith, and the graces of the Spirit of God. They have gold tried in the fire.
They have durable riches and righteousness. They have treasure in heaven,
where neither thief approacheth, nor moth corrupteth, an inheritance incorrupti
ble, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. They are possessors of all things.
Christ has also purchased pleasure for them ; pleasures that are immensely
preferable to all the pleasures of sense, most exquisitely sweet, and satisfying.
He has purchased for them fulness of joy, and pleasures for evermore at God s
right hand ; and they shall drink of the river of God s pleasure.
6. Christ has purchased all needed good both for soul and body. While we
are here, we stand in need of these earthly things ; and of these Christ has
purchased all that are best for us. He has purchased for the body ; that God
should feed and clothe us. Matt. vi. 26, " How much more shall he feed you, O
ye of little faith !" How much more shall he clothe you ! Christ has purchased,
that God should take care of us, and provide what is needed of these things, as
a father provides for his children. 1 Pet. v. 7, Casting your care upon him,
for he careth for you." .
7. Christ has purchased good that is suitable for his people in all conditions.
There is, in this way of salvation, respect had to, and provision made for, all
circumstances that they can be in. Here is provision made, for a time of af-
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION. 146
fliction for a time of poverty and pinching want for a time of bereavement
and mourning for spiritual darkness for a day of temptation for a time of
persecution and for a time of death. Here is such a provision made that is suf
ficient to carry a person above death, and all its terrors ; and to give him a com
plete triumph over that king of terrors. Here is enough to sweeten the grave
and make it cease to seem terrible. Yea, enough to make death in prospect to
seem desirable ; and in its near approach to be not terrible but joyful.
8. There is provision made in this way of salvation for the life and blessed-
ness of soul and body to all eternity. Christ has purchased, that we should be
delivered from a state of temporal death, as well as spiritual and eternal. The
bodies of the saints shall be raised to life. He has purchased all manner of
perfection for the body of which it is capable. It shall be raised a spiritual
body in incorruption and glory, and be made like Christ s glorious body, to shine
as the sun in the kingdom of his Father, and to exist in a glorified stale in union
with the soul to all eternity.
9. But man in his fallen state still needs something else in order to his hap
piness, than that these ibrementioned blessings should be purchased for him ;
viz., he needs to be qualified for the possession and enjoyment of them. In
order to our having a title to these blessings of the covenant of grace (so that
we can scripturally claim an interest in them), there is a certain condition must
be performed by us. We must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and accept of
him as offered in the gospel for a Saviour. But, as we cannot do this of our
selves, Christ has purchased this also for all the elect. He has purchased, that
they shall have faith given them ; whereby they shall be [actively] united to
Christ, and so have a [pleadable] title to his benefits.
But still something further is necessary for man, in order to his coming to the
actual possession of the inheritance. A man, as soon as he has believed, has a title
to the inheritance : but in order to come to the actual possession of it, he must
persevere in a way of holiness. There is not only a gate that must be entered ;
but there is a narrow way that must be travelled, before we can arrive at heav
enly blessedness ; and that is the way of universal and persevering holiness.
But men, after they have believed, cannot persevere in a way of holiness, of
themselves. But there is sufficient provision made for this also, in the way of
salvation by Jesus Christ. The matter of a saint s perseverance is sufficiently
secured by the purchase that Christ has made.
But still there is something else needful in order to qualify a person for the
actual entering upon the enjoyments and employments of a glorified estate, viz.,
that he should be made perfectly holy ; that all remainders of sin should be
taken away ; for there cannot any sin enter into heaven. No soul must go into
the glorious presence of God, with the least degree of the filth of sin. But there
is provision made : for Christ has purchased that all sin shall be taken away
out of the hearts of believers at death ; and that they should be made perfectly
holy : whereby they shall be fully arid perfectly qualified to enter upon the plea
sures and enjoyments of the new Jerusalem.
Christ has purchased all, both objective and inherent good : not only a por
tion to be enjoyed by us ; but all those inherent qualifications necessary to our
enjoyment of it. He has purchased not only justification, but sanctification and
glorification ; both holiness and happiness. Having considered the good at
tained in the way of salvation as manifold and various, I now proceed, as pro
posed,
n. To consider the good attained for us by this way of salvation, as exceed
ing great.
VOL. IV. 19
146 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
There is not only every sort of good we need, but of every sort in that degree,
so as to answer the extent of our capacity, and the greatest stretch of our de
sires, and indeed of our conceptions. They are not only greater than our con
ceptions are here, but also greater than ever they could be, were it not that
God s relation, and our own experience, will teach us. They are greater than
the tongue of angels can declare, the deliverance that we have in it is exceeding
great ; it is deliverance from guilt, from sin itself, from 4he anger of God, and
from the miseries of hell.
How great is the good conferred! The objective good is the infinite God,
and the glorious Redeemer, Jesus Christ. How great is the love of the Father,
and the Son! And how near the relation between them and the true believer!
How close the union, how intimate the communion, and ultimately how clear
will be the vision in glory !
There are great communications made to the believing soul on earth, but
how much greater in heaven ! Then their conformity to God will be perfect,
their enjoyment of him will be full, their honor great and unsullied, and the
glory of body and soul ineffable. The riches of the Christian are immense ; all
things are included in his treasure. Pleasures unspeakably and inconceivably
great await him ; rivers of delight, fulness of joy; and all of infinite duration !
The benefit procured for us, is doubly infinite. Our deliverance is an infinite
benefit, because the evil we are delivered from is infinite; and the positive
good bestowed is eternal ; viz., the full enjoyment of all those blessings merited.
SECTION IV.
How angels arc benefited by the salvation of men.
So hath the wisdom of God contrived this affair, that the benefit of what he
has done therein should be so extensive, as to reach the elect angels. It is for
men that the work of redemption is wrought out ; and yet the benefit of the
things done in this work is not confined to them, though all that is properly
called redemption, or included in it, is confined to men. The angels cannot
partake in this, having never fallen ; yet they have great indirect benefit by
it. God hath so wisely ordered, that what has been done in this directly and
especially for men, should redound to the exceeding benefit of all intelligent
creatures who are in favor with God. The benefit of it is so diffusive as to
reach heaven itself. So great and manifold is the good attained in this work,
that those glorious spirits who are so much above us, and were so highly exalted
in happiness before, yet should receive great addition hereby. I will show
how in some particulars.
1. The angels hereby see a great and wonderful manifestation of the glory
of God. The happiness of angels as well as of men consists very much in be
holding the glory of God. The excellency of the Divine Being is a most de
lightful subject of contemplation to the saints on earth ; but much more to the
angels in heaven. The more holy any being is, the more sweet and delightful
will it be to him to behold the glory and beauty of the Supreme Being. There
fore the beholding of the glory of God must be ravishing to the holy angels, who
are perfect in holiness, and never had their minds leavened with sin. The man
ifestations of the glory of God, are as it were the food that satisfies the angels ;
they live thereon. It is their greatest happiness.
It is without doubt much of their employment to behold the glory of God
appearing in his works. Therefore this work of redemption greatly contributes
to their happiness and delight, as the glory of God is so exceedingly manifested
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION. 147
by it. For what is done, is done in the sight of the angels, as is evident by
many passages of Holy Scripture. And they behold the glory of God appear
ing herein with entertainment and delight, as it is manifest by 1 Pet. i. 12 :
" Which things the angels desire to look into."
The angels have this advantage, that now they may behold the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ, where it shines with a peculiar lustre and bright
ness. 1 Tim. iii. 16, " Great is the mystery of godliness : God was manifest in
the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels." Perhaps all God s attributes
are more gloriously manifested in this work, than in any other that ever the
angels saw. There is certainly a fuller manifestation of some of his attributes,
than ever they saw before ; as is evident by the text. And especially, it is so
with respect to the mercy of God, that sweet and endearing attribute of the
divine nature. The angels of heaven never saw so much grace manifested be
fore, as in the work of redemption ; nor in any measure equal to it. How full
of joy doth it fill the hearts of the angels, to see such a boundless and bottom
less ocean of love and grace in their God ! And therefore with what rejoicing
do all the angels praise Christ for his being slain ! Rev. v. 11, 12, " And I
beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the
beasts and the elders : and the number of them was ten thousand times ten
thousand, and thousands of thousands ; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the
Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength,
and honor, and glory, and blessing."
2. They have this benefit by it, that hereby Jesus Christ, God-man, is be
come their head, God, subsisting in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, was the King of angels, and would have been, if it had not been for our
redemption. But it was owing to what is done in this work, that Jesus Christ,
as God-man, becomes the head of the angels. Christ is now not only the head
of angels simply as God, but as God-man. Col. ii. 10, " And ye are complete
in him, who is the head of all principality and power." Eph. i. 20 22,
" Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him
on his own right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality and power,
and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world,
but also in that which is to come. And hath put all things under his feet, and
gave him to be head over all things to the church."
This is a part of the exaltation and glory of Christ which God confers on
him as his reward. And not only so, but it is greatly to the angels benefit.
It is God s manner in his dealings with his elect creatures, in the same
works wherein he glorifies himself, or his Son, greatly to benefit them. The
same dealings of his that are most for his glory, shall be most for their good.
That Christ, God-man, should be made the head of the angels, is greatly to
their benefit several ways.
(1.) Because they become hereby more nearly related to so glorious a per
son, the Son of God, than otherwise they would have. The angels esteem it a
great honor done them to be related to such a person as Jesus Christ, God-man,
who is an infinitely honorable person.
The angels, by Christ becoming their head, are with the saints gathered
together in one in Christ, Eph. i. 10. They, by virtue hereof, though Christ
be not their Redeemer as he is ours, have a right and propriety in this glorious
person, as well as we. He is theirs ; though not their Saviour, yet he is their
head of government, and head of influence.
(2.) Again, this is greatly to their benefit ; as they are under advantages
for a far more intimate converse with God. The divine nature is at an infinite
148 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
distance from the nature of angels, as well as from the nature of man. This
distance forbids a familiarity and intimacy of intercourse. It is therefore a great
advantage to the angels, that God is come down to them in a created nature ;
and in that nature is become their head ; so that their intercourse and enjoyment
may be more intimate. They are invited by the similar qualifications of the
created nature, with which the Son of God is invested.
(3.) It is for the benefit of the angels, as hereby the elect of mankind are
gathered into their society. Christ, by the work of redemption, gathers in the
elect of mankind to join the angels of heaven. Eph. i. 10, " That in the dis
pensation of the fulness of times, he might gather in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him." Men are
brought in to join with the angels in their work of praising God ; to partake
with them ot their enjoyments. The angels greatly rejoice at this. They
rejoice when but one person is gathered in, as Christ teaches us, Luke xv. 10 :
" Likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over
one sinner that repenteth." The heavenly society is made more complete by this
accession of the saints to it ; they contribute to the happiness of each other.
Th angels rejoice that others are added to join them and assist them in prais
ing God. And thus the vacancy by the fall of angels is filled up.
(4.) It tends to make the angels to prize their happiness the more, when
they see how much it cost to purchase the same happiness for man. Though
they knew so much, yet they are not incapable of being taught more and more
the worth of their own happiness. For when they -saw how much it cost to
purchase the same happiness for man ; even the precious blood of the Son of
God ; this tended to give them a great sense of the infinite value of their hap
piness. They never saw such a testimony of the value of the eternal enjoyment
of God before.
Thus we have shown, how the wisdom of God appears in the work of redemp
tion in the good ends attained thereby, with respect to God, men, and good angels.
But are there any good ends obtained with respect to bad angels, God s
grand enemies? Undoubtedly there are, as. may appear from the few follow
ing considerations. Satan and his angels rebelled against God in heaven, and
proudly presumed to try their strength with his. And when God by his al
mighty power overcame the strength of Satan, and sent him like lightning from
heaven to hell with all his army, Satan still hoped to get the victory by subtlety.
Though he could not overcome by power, yet he hoped to succeed by craft ;
and so by his subtlety to disappoint God of his end in creating this lower world.
God therefore has shown his great wisdom in overthrowing Satan s design.
He has disappointed the devices of the crafty, so that they cannot perform their
enterprise ; he has carried their counsel headlong.
1. Satan thought to have disappointed God of his glory, which he designed
in creating this lower world ; and to make mankind be for his own glory, in
setting up himself god over them. Now Christ, by what he has done in the
work of redemption, has overthrown Satan ; and utterly frustrated him as to
this end. God is exceedingly glorified in the elect, to the surprise of angels
and devils. God by redemption has all the glory that he intended, and more
than either men, angels, or devils imagined that God intended. God might have
glorified his justice in the destruction of all mankind. But it was God s design
\n creating the world, to glorify his goodness and love; and not only to be
glorified eventually, but to be served and glorified actually by men. Satan in
tended to frustrate God of this end ; but, by the redemption of Jesus Christ, his
design is confounded
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION 149
2. Another design of the devil, was to gratify his envy in the utter destruc
tion of mankind. But, by the redemption of Jesus Christ, this malicious design
of Satan is crossed : because all the elect are brought to their designed happi
ness; which is much greater than ever Satan thought it was in God s heart to
bestow on man. And though some of mankind are left to be miserable, yet
that does not answer Satan s end ; for this also is ordered for God s glory. No
more are left miserable than God saw meet to glorify his justice upon.
One end why God suffered Satan to do what he did in procuring the fall of
man, was that his Son might be glorified in conquering that strong, subtle, and
proud spirit, and triumphing over him. How glorious doth Christ Jesus appear
in baffling and triumphing over this proud king of darkness, and all the haughty
confederate rulers of hell ! How glorious a sight is it to see the meek and
patient Lamb of God leading that proud, malicious, and mighty enemy in tri
umph ! What songs doth this cause in heaven ! It was a glorious sight in
Israel to see David carrying the head of Goliath in triumph to Jerusalem. It
appeared glorious to the daughters of Israel, who came out with timbrels and
with dances, and sang, " Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thou
sands." But how much more glorious to see the Son of David, the Son of God,
carrying the head of the spiritual Goliath, the champion of the armies of hell, in
triumph to the heavenly Jerusalem ! It is with a principal view to this, that
Christ is called, " the Lord of hosts, or armies, and a man of war," Exod. xv.
3. And Psal. xxiv. 8, "Who is this king of glory? The Lord strong and
mighty, the Lord mighty in battle."
SECTION v.
In this way of salvation wonderful glory redounds to God, a.s the effect of divine.
wisdom.
1. By this contrivance for our redemption, God s greatest dishonor is made
an occasion of his greatest glory. Sin is a thing by which God is greatly dis
honored ; the nature of its principle is enmity against God, and contempt of him.
And man, by his rebellion, has greatly dishonored God. But this dishonor, by
the contrivance of our redemption, is made an occasion of the greatest manifes
tation of God s glory that ever was. Sin, the greatest evil, is made an occasion
of the greatest good. It is the nature of a principle of sin that it seeks to de
throne God : but this is hereby made an occasion of the greatest manifestation
of God s royal majesty and glory that ever was. By sin, man has slighted and
despised God : but this is made an occasion of his appearing the more greatly
honorable. Sin casts contempt upon the authority and law of God : but this,
by the contrivance of our redemption, is made the occasion of the greatest honor
done to that same authority, and to that very law. It was a greater honor to
the law of God that Christ was subject to it, and obeyed it, than if all mankind
had obeyed it. It was a greater honor to God s authority that Christ showed
such great respect, and such entire subjection to it, than the perfect obedience
of all the angels in heaven. Man by his sin showed his enmity against the holi
ness of God ; but this is made an occasion of the greatest manifestation of God s
holiness. The holiness of God never appeared to so great a degree, as when
God executed vengeance upon his own dear Son.
2. So has the wisdom of God contrived that those attributes are glorified in
man s salvation, whose glory seemed to require his destruction. When man had
fallen, several attributes of God seemed to require his destruction. The justice
of God requires, that sin be punished as it deserves : but it deserves no less
150 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION
than eternal destruction. God proclaims it as a part of the glory of his nature,
that he will in no wise clear the guilty, Exod. xxxiv. 7. The holiness of God
seemed to require man s destruction ; for God by his holiness infinitely hates sin.
This seemed to require therefore that God should manifest a proportionable
hatred of the sinner ; and that he should be for ever an enemy unto him. The
truth of God seemed also to require man b destruction ; for eternal death was
what God had threatened for sin, one jut or tittle of which threatening cannot by
any means pass away. But yet so has God contrived, that those very attributes
not only allow of man s redemption, and are not inconsistent with it, but they
are glorified in it. Even vindictive justice is glorified in the death and suffer
ings of Christ. The holiness of God, or his holy hatred of sin, that seemed to
require man s damnation, is seen in Christ s dying for sinners. So herein also
is manifested and glorified the truth of God, in the threatenings of the law.
3. Yea, it is so ordered now that the glory of these attributes requires the
salvation of those that believe. The justice of God that required man s dam
nation, and seemed inconsistent with his salvation, now as much requires the sal
vation of those that believe in Christ, as ever before it required their damnation.
Salvation is an absolute debt to the believer from God, so that he may in jus
tice demand it, on account of what his surety has done. For Christ has satisfied
justice fully for his sin; so that it is but a thing that may be challenged, that
God should now release the believer from the punishment ; it is but a piece of
justice, that the creditor should release the debtor, when he has fully paid the
debt. And again, the believer may demand eternal life, because it has been
merited by Christ, by a merit of condignity. So is it contrived, that that justice
that seemed to require man s destruction, now requires his salvation.
So the truth of God that seemed to require man s damnation, now requires
his salvation. At the same time that the threatening of the law stands good, there
is a promise of eternal life to many who have broken the law. They both
stand good at the same time ; and the truth of God requires that both should be
fulfilled. How much soever they seem to clash, yet so is the matter contrived
in this way of salvation, that both are fulfilled, and do not interfere one with
another.
At the very time that God uttered the threatening, " In the day thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die ;" and at the time that Adam had first eaten the
forbidden fruit ; there was then an existing promise, that many thousands of
Adam s race should obtain eternal life. This promise was made to Jesus Christ,
before the world was. What a difficulty and inconsistency did there seem to
be here ? But it was no difficulty to the wisdom of God, that the promise and
the threatening should be both fully accomplished to the glory of God s truth in
each of them. Psal. Ixxxv. 10, " Mercy and truth are met together, righteous
ness and peace have kissed each other."
4. Those very attributes which seemed to require man s destruction, are
more glorious in his salvation, than they would have been in his destruction.
The revenging justice of God is a great deal more manifested in the death of
Christ, than it would have been if all mankind had been sufferers to all eternity.
If man had remained under the guilt and imputation of sin, the justice of God
would not have had such a trial, as it had, when his own Son was under the
imputation of sin. If all mankind had stood guilty, and justice had called for
vengeance upon them, that would not have been such a trial of the inflexible-
ness and unchangeableness of the justice of God, as when his own Son, who
was the object of his infinite love, and in whom he infinitely delighted, stood
with the imputation of guilt upon him.
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION. 151
This was the greatest trial that could be, to manifest whether God s justice
was perfect and unchangeable, or not j whether God was so just that he would
not upon any account abate of what justice required ; and whether God would
have any respect to persons in judgment.
So the majesty of God appears much more in the sufferings of Christ
than it would have done in the eternal sufferings of all mankind. The majesty
of a prince appears greater in the just punishment of great personages under the
guilt of treason, than of inferior persons. The sufferings of Christ have this ad
vantage over the eternal sufferings of the wicked, for impressing upon the minds
of the spectators a sense of the dread majesty of God, and his infinite hatred of
sin ; viz., that the eternal sufferings of the wicked never will be seen actually
accomplished, and finished ; whereas they have seen that which is equivalent
to those eternal sufferings actually fulfilled and finished in the sufferings of
Christ.
5. Such is the wisdom of this way of salvation, that the more any of the
elect have dishonored God, the more is God glorified in this redemption. Such
wonders as these are accomplished by the wisdom of this way of salvation.
Such things as these, if they had been proposed to any created intelligence,
would have seemed strange and unaccountable paradoxes ; till the counsels of
divine wisdom concerning the matter were unfolded.
So sufficient is this way of salvation, that it is not inconsistent with any of
God s attributes to save the chief of sinners. However great a sinner any one
has been, yet God can, if he pleases, save without any injury to the glory of
any one attribute. And not only so, but the more sinful any one has been, the
more doth God glorify himself in his salvation. The more doth he glorify his
power, that he can redeem one in whom sin so abounds, and of whom Satan
hath such strong possession. The greater triumph has Christ over his grand
adversary, in redeeming and setting at liberty from his bondage those that were
his greatest vassals. The more doth the sufficiency of Christ appear, in that it
is sufficient for such vile wretches.
The more is the sovereignty and boundless extent of the mercy of God mani
fested, in that it is sufficient to redeem those that are most undeserving. Rom.
v. 20, " Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound."
SECTION vr.
How the, wisdom of God appears in the manner and circumstances of obtaining
the good intended.
We now come to take notice of some wonderful circumstances of the attain
ment of our good, hereby ; which shows the great wisdom of this contrivance.
1. So hath God contrived in this way, that a sinful creature should become
not guilty ; and that he who has no righteousness of his own, should become
righteous. These things, if they had been proposed, would have appeared con
tradictions to any but the divine understanding.
If it had been proposed to any created intelligence, to find out a w r ay in
whick a sinful creature should not be a guilty creature, how impossible would
it have been judged, that there should be any way at all. It would doubtless
have been judged impossible but that he who has committed sin, must stand
guilty of the sin he has committed ; and if sin necessarily ob)?ges to punishment,
it must oblige him who has committed it. If punishment and sin be insepara
ble, then that, punishment and the sinner are inseparable. If the law denounces
152 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
death to the person who is guilt} of sin, and if it be impossible that the law should
not take place, then he who has committed sin must die. Thus any created un
derstanding would have thought.
And if it had been proposed, that there should be some way found out,
wherein man might be righteous without fulfilling righteousness himself; so that
he might reasonably and properly be looked upon and accepted as a righteous
person, and adjudged to the reward of righteousness, and yet have no righteous
ness of his own, but the contrary that he should be righteous by the righteous
ness of the law, by a perfect righteousness, and yet have broken the Jaw, and
done nothing else but break it this doubtless would have been looked upon as
impossible and contradictious.
But yet the wisdom of God has truly accomplished each of these things. He
hath accomplished that men, though sinners, should be without guilt, in that he
hath found out a way that the threatenings of the law should truly and properly
be fulfilled, and punishment be executed on sin, and yet not on the sinner. The
sufferings of Christ answer the demands of the law, with respect to the sins of
those who believe in him; and justice is truly satisfied thereby. And the law
is fulfilled and answered by the obedience of Christ, so that his righteousness
should properly be our righteousness. Though not performed by us, yet it is
properly and reasonably accepted for us, as much as if we had performed it our
selves. Divine wisdom has so contrived, that such an interchanging of sin and
righteousness should be consistent, and most agreeable with reason, with the
law, and God s holy attributes. For Jesus Christ has so united himself to us,
and us to him, as to make himself ours, our head. The love of Christ to the
elect is so great, that God the Father looks upon it proper and suitable to ac
count Christ and the elect as one; and accordingly to account what Christ
does and suffers, as if they did and suffered it. That love of Christ which is so
great as to render him willing to put himself in the stead of the elect, and to
bear the misery that they deserved, does, in the Father s account, so unite Christ
and the elect, that they may be looked upon as legally one.
2. It shows wonderful wisdom that our good should be procured by such
seemingly unlikely and opposite means, as the humiliation of the Son of God.
When Christ was about to undertake that great work of redemption, he did not
take that method that any creature-wisdom would have thought the most pro
per. Creature-wisdom would have determined that in order to his effectually
and more gloriously accomplishing such a great work, he should rather have
been exalted higher, if it had been possible, rather than humbled so low.
Earthly kings and princes, when they are about to engage in any great and
difficult work, will put on their strength, and will appear in all their majesty
and power, that they may be successful. But when Christ was about to per
form the great work of redeeming a lost world, the wisdom of God took an op
posite method, and determined that he should be humbled and abased to a mean
state, and appear in low circumstances. He did not deck himself with glory,
but laid it aside. He emptied himself. Phil. ii. 6, 7, 8, " Being in the form of
God he made himself of no reputation, and took on him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men : and being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, evefilhe death of the cross."
Creature-wisdom would have thought that Christ, in order to perform this great
work, should deck himself with all his strength ; but divine wisdom determined,
that he should be made weak, or put on the infirmities of human nature.
And why did divine wisdom determine that he should become thus weak ?
It was that he might be subject to want, and to suffering, and to the power and
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION. 153
malice of his enemies. But then what advantage could it be to him in this
work, to be subject to the power and malice of his enemies ? It was the very
design on which he came into the world, to overcome his enemies. Who would
have thought that this was the way to overthrow them, that he should become
weak and feeble, and for that very end that he might be subject to their power
and malice ? But this is the very means by which God determined, that Christ
should prevail against his enemies, even that he should be subject to their power,
that they might prevail against him, so as to put him to disgrace, and pain, and
death.
What other, but divine wisdom could ever have determined, that this was
the way to be taken in order to being successful in the work of our redemption !
This would have appeared to creature-wisdom the most direct course to be frus
trated that could be devised. But it was indeed the way to glorious success,
and the only way. " The foolishness of God is wiser than men," 1 Cor. i. 25.
God has brought strength out of weakness, glory out of ignominy and reproach.
Christ s shame and reproach are the only means by which a way is made to om
eternal honor.
The wisdom of God hath made Christ s humiliation the means of our exalt
ation ; his coming down from heaven is that which brings us to heaven. The
wisdom of God hath made life the fruit of death. The death of Christ was the
only means by which we could have eternal life. The death of a person who
was God, was the only way by which we could come to have life in God.
Here favor is made to arise out of wrath ; our acceptance into God s favor out
of God s wrath upon his own Son. A blessing rises out of a curse ; our ever
lasting blessedness, from Christ being made a curse for us. Our righteousness
is made to rise out of Christ s imputed guilt. He was made sin for us, that we
might be made the righteousness of God, 2 Cor. v. 21. By such wonderful
means hath the wisdom of God procured our salvation.
3. Our sin and misery, by this contrivance, are made an occasion of our
greater blessedness. This is a very wonderful thing. It would have been
a very wonderful thing if we had been merely restored from sin and misery, to
be as we were before ; but it was a much more wonderful thing that we should
be brought to a higher blessedness than ever; and that our sin and misery should
be the occasion of it, and should make way for it.
(J.) It was wonderful that sin should be made the occasion of our greater
blessedness ; for sin deserves misery. By our sin we had deserved to be ever
lastingly miserable ; but this is so turned by divine wisdom, that it is made an
occasion of our being more happy. It was a strange thing that sin should be
the occasion of any thing else but misery : but divine wisdom has found out a
way whereby the sinner might not only escape being miserable, but that he
should be happier than beibre he sinned; yea, than he would have been if he
had never sinned at all. And this sin and unworthiness of his, are the occasion
of this greater blessedness.
(2.) It was a wonderful thing that man s own misery should be an occasion
of his greater happiness. For happiness and misery are contraries ; and man s
misery was very great. He was under the wrath and curse of God, and con
demned to everlasting burnings. But the sin and misery of man, by this con
trivance, are made an occasion of his being more happy, not only than he was
before the fall, but than he would have been if he never had fallen.
Our first parents, if they had stood and- persevered in perfect obedience, till
God had given them the fruit of the tree of life as a seal of their reward, would
probably have been advanced to higher happiness : for they before were^but in
\OL. IV. ^0
154 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
a state of probation for their reward. And it is not to be supposed but that
their happiness was to have been greater after they had persisted in obedience,
and had actually received the reward, than it was while they were in a state of
trial for it. But by the redemption of Christ, the sin and misery of the elect
are made an occasion of their being brought to a higher happiness than man
kind would have had if they had persisted in obedience till they had received
the reward. For,
1st. Man is hereby brought to a greater and nearer union with God. If mau
had never fallen, God would have remained man s friend ; he would have en
joyed God s favor, and so would have been the object of Christ s favor, as he
would have had the favor of all the persons of the Trinity. But now Christ be-
cominw our surety and Saviour, and having taken on him our nature, occasions
between Christ and us a union of a quite different kind, and a nearer relation
than otherwise would have been. The fall is the occasion of Christ becoming
our head, and the church his body. And believers are become his brethren, and
spouse, in a manner that otherwise would not have been. And by our union
with Christ we have a greater union with God the Father. We are sons by
virtue of our union with the natural Son of God. Gal. iv. 4 6, " When the
fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the
adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of
his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." And therefore Christ has
taught us, in all our addresses to God, to call him our Father, in like manner
as he calls him Father : John xx. 17, " Go tell my brethren, behold I ascend to
my Father, and your Father."
This is one of the wonderful things brought about by the work of redemp
tion, that thereby our separation from God, is made an occasion of a greater
union than was before, or otherwise would have been. When we fell, there
was a dreadful separation made betwixt God and us, but this is made an occa
sion of a greater union. John xvii. 20 23, " Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all
may be one, as thou Father art in me, and 1 in thee ; that they also may be
one in us : that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory
which thou gavest me 1 have given them ; that they may be one, even as we
are one : I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one."
2dly. Man now has greater manifestations of the glory and love of God,
than otherwise he would have had. In the manifestations of these two things,
man s happiness principally consists. Now, man by the work of redemption,
has greater manifestation of both, than otherwise he would have had. We
have already spoken particularly of the glory of God, and what advantages
even the angels have by the discoveries of it in this work ; but if they have
such advantages, much more will man, who is far more directly concerned in
this affair than they. Here are immediately greater displays of the love of
God, than man had before he fell ; or, as we may well suppose, than he would
have had, if he had never fallen. God now manifests his love to his people,
by sending his Son into the world, to die for them. There never would have
been any such testimony of the love of God, if man had not fallen.
Christ manifests his love, by coming into the world, and laying down his
life. This is the greatest testimony of divine love that can be conceived. Now,
surely, the greater discoveries God s people have of his love to them, the more
occasion will they have to rejoice in that love. Here will be a delightful theme
for the saints to contemplate to all eternity which they never could have had, if
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION. 155
man never had fallen, viz., the dying love of Christ. They will have occasion
now to sing that song for ever, Rev. i. 5, 6, " Unto him that loved us, and
washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests
unto God and his Father; to whom be glory and dominion for ever. Amen.
3dly. Man now has greater motives offered him to love God than otherwise
he would have had. Man s happiness consists in mutual love between God
and man ; in seeing God s love to him, and in reciprocally loving God. And
the more he sees of God s love to him, and the more he loves God, the more
happy must he be. His love to God is as necessary in order to his happiness, as the
seeing of God s love to him ; for he can have no joy in beholding God s love to
him, any otherwise than as he loves God. This makes the saints prize God s love
to them ; for tkey love him. If they did not love God, to see his love to them would
not make them happy. But the more any person loves another, the more will he
be delighted in the manifestations of that other s love. There is provision
therefore made for both in the work of redemption. There are greater manifes
tations of the love of God to us, than there would have been if man had not
fallen ; and also there are greater motives to love him than otherwise there
would have been. There are greater obligations to love him, for God has done
more for us to win our love. Christ hath died for us.
Again, man is now brought to a more universal and immediate and sensible
dependence on God, than otherwise he would have been. All his happiness is
now of him, through him, in him. If man had not fallen, he would have had
all his happiness of God by his own righteousness ; but now it is by the right
eousness of Christ. He would have had all his holiness of God, but not so sensi
bly ; because then he would have been holy from the beginning, as soon as he
received his being ; but now, he is first sinful and universally corrupt, and af
terwards is made holy. If man had held his integrity, misery would have been
a stranger to him ; and therefore happiness would not have been so sensible a
derivation from God, as it is now, when man looks to God from the deeps of
distress, cries repeatedly to him, and waits upon him. He is convinced by
abundant experience, that he has no place of resort but God, who is graciously
pleased, in consequence of man s earnest and persevering suit, to appear to his
relief, to take him out of the miry clay and horrible pit, set him upon a rock, es
tablish his goings, and put a new song into his mouth. By man s having thus
a more immediate, universal, and sensible dependence, God doth more entirely
secure man s undivided respect. There is a greater motive for man to make
God his all in all, to love him, and rejoice in him, as his only portion.
4thly. By the contrivance for our salvation, man s sin and misery are but
an occasion of his being brought to a more full and free converse with and en
joyment of God than otherwise would have been. For as we have observed
already, the union is greater; and the greater the union, the moie full the com
munion, and intimate the intercourse. Christ is come down to man in his own
nature ; and hereby he may converse with Christ more intimately, than the in
finite distance of the divine nature would allow. This advantage is more than
what the angels have. For Christ is not only in a created nature, but he is in
man s own nature. We have also advantages for a more full enjoyment of
God. By Christ s incarnation, the saints may see God with their bodily eyes,
as well as by an intellectual view. The saints, after the day of judgment, will
consist of both body arid soul : they will have outward as well as spiritual sight.
It is now ordered by divine wisdom, that God himself, or a divine person, should
be the principal entertainment of both these kinds of sight, spiritual and cor
poreal : and the saints in heaven shall not only have an intellectual sight of God,
156 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
but they shall see a divine person as they see one another ; not only spiritually,
but outwardly. The body of Jesus Christ will appear with that transcendent
visible majesty and beauty, which is exceedingly expressive of the divine maj
esty, beauty, and glory. The body of Christ shall appear with the glory of
God upon it, as Christ tells us, Matt. xvi. 27 : " The Son of man shall come in
the glory of his Father." Thus to see God will be a great happiness to the
saints. Job comforted himself that he should see God with his bodily eyes,
Job xix. 26: " And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my
flesh shall I see God."
5t/ily. Man s sin and misery is made an occasion of his greater happiness,
as he has now a greater relish of happiness, by reason of his knowlege of both.
In order to happiness, there must be two things, viz., union to a proper object
and a relish of the object. Man s misery is made an occasion of increasing both
these by the work of redemption. We have shown already, that the union is
Increased ; and so is the relish too, by the knowledge man now has of evil.
These contraries, good and evil, heighten the sense of one another. The for
bidden tree was called the tree of knowledge of good and evil ; of evil, because
by it we came to the experience of evil ; of good, because we should never
have known so well what good was, if it had not bten for that tree. We are
taught the value of good, by our knowledge of its contrary, evil. This teaches
us to prize good, and makes us the more to relish and rejoice in it. The saints
know something what a state of sin and alienation from God is. They know
something what the anger of God is, and what it is to be in danger of hell.
And this makes them the more exceedingly to rejoice in the favor and in the
enjoyment of God.
Take two persons ; one who never knew what evil was, but was happy
from the first moment of his being, having the favor of God, and numerous
tokens of it ; another who is in a very doleful and undone condition. Let there
be bestowed upon these two persons the same blessings [subjectively], the
same good things ; and let them be objectively in the same glorious circumstan
ces, and which will rejoice most 1 Doubtless he that was brought to this hap
piness out of a miserable and doleful state. So the saints in heaven will for
ever the more rejoice in God, and in the enjoyment of his love, for their being
brought to it out of a most lamentable state and condition.
SECTION VII.
Some wonderful circumstances of the overthrow of Satan.
The wisdom of God greatly and remarkably appears in so exceedingly
baffling and confounding all the subtlety of the old serpent. Power never ap
pears so conspicuous as when opposed, and conquering opposition. The same
may be said of wisdom ; it never appears so brightly, and with such advantage
as when opposed by the subtlety of some very crafty enemy ; and in baffling and
confounding that subtlety. The devil is exceeding subtle. The subtlety of the
serpent is emblematical of his, Gen. iii. 1. He was once one of the bright
intelligences of heaven, and one of the brightest, if not the very brightest of all.
And all the devils were once morning stars, of a glorious brightness of under
standing. They still have the same faculties, though they ceased to be in
fluenced and guided by the Holy Spirit of God; and so their heavenly wisdom
is turned into hellish craft and subtlety. God in the work of redemption hath
wondrously baffled the utmost craft of the devils, and though they are all com
bined to frustrate God s designs of glory to himself, and goodness to men. The
wisdom of God appears very glorious herein. For,
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION. 167
1. Consider the weak and seemingly despicable means and weapons that
God employs to overthrow Satan. Christ poured the greater contempt upon
Satan in the victory that he obtained over him, by reason of the means of his pre
paring himself for it, and the weapons he hath used. Christ chooses to encounter
Satan in the human nature, in a poor, frail, afflicted state. He did as David did.
David when going against the Philistine refused Saul s armor, a helmet of brass,
a coat of mail, and his sword. No, he puts them all off. Goliath comes mightily
armed against David, with a helmet of brass upon his head, a coat of mail
weighing five thousand shekels of brass, greaves of brass upon his legs, and a
target of brass between his shoulders ; a spear, whose staff was like a weaver s
beam ; and the spear s head weighing six hundred shekels of iron. And be
sides all this, he had one bearing a shield before him. But David takes nothing
but a staff in his hand, and a shepherd s bag and a sling ; and he goes against
the Philistine. So the weapons that Christ made use of were his poverty, af
flictions and reproaches, sufferings and death. His principal weapon was his
cross : the instrument of his own reproachful death. These were seemingly
weak and despicable instruments, to wield against such a giant as Satan. And
doubtless the devil disdained them as much as Goliath did David s staves and
sling. But with such weapons as these has Christ, in a human, weak, mortal
nature, overthrown and baffled all the craft of hell.
Such disgrace and contempt has Christ poured upon Satan. David had a
more glorious victory over Goliath for his conquering him with such mean in
struments; and Samson over the Philistines, for killing so many of them with
such a despicable weapon as the jaw-bone of an ass. It is spoken of in Scrip
ture as a glorious triumph of Christ over the devil, that he should overcome
him by such a despicable weapon as his cross. Col. ii. 14, 15, " Blotting out the
hand-writing of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and
took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross : and having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it."
God shows his great and infinite wisdom in taking this method, to confound the
wisdom and subtlety of his enemies. He hereby shows how easily he can do it,
and that he is infinitely wiser than they. 1 Cor. i. 27, 28, " God hath chosen
the foolish things of the world, to confound the wise ; and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world, to confound the tlu ngs that are mighty : and the
base things of the world, and things that are despised, hath God chosen; yea,
and things that are not, to bring to nought things that are."
2. God has hereby confounded Satan with his own weapons. It is so
contrived in the work of redemption, that our grand enemy should be made a
means of his own confusion ; and that, by those very things whereby he en
deavors to rob God of his glory, and to destroy mankind, he is made an instru
ment of frustrating his own designs. His most subtle and powerful endeavors
for accomplishing his designs are made a means of confounding them, and of
promoting the contrary. Of this, I will mention buttw T o instances. First. His
procuring man s fall is made an occasion of the contrary to what he designed.
Indeed he has hereby procured the ruin of multitudes of mankind, which he
aimed at. But in this he does not frustrate God s design from all eternity to
glorify himself; and the misery of multitudes of mankind will prove no content
to him, but will enhance his own misery.
What Satan did in tempting man to fall, is made an occasion of the contrary
to what he intended, in that it gave occasion for God to glorify himself the
more ; and giveth occasion for the elect being brought to higher happiness
The happy state of man waseii ied by Satan. That man who was of
158 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
earthly original should be advanced to such honors, when he who was origi
nally of a so much more noble nature should be cast down to such disgrace, his
pride could not bear. How then would Satan triumph, when he had brought
him down !
The devil tempted our first parents with this, that if they would eat of the
forbidden fruit, they should be as gods. It was a lie in Satan s mouth; for he
aimed at nothing else but to fool man out of his happiness, and make him his
own slave and vassal, with a blinded expectation of being like a god. But little
did Satan think that God would turn it so, as to make man s fall an occasion
of God s becoming man ; and so an occasion of our nature being advanced to
a state of closer union to God.
By this means it comes to pass, that one in man s nature now sits at the right
hand of God, invested with divine power and glory, and reigns over heaven and
earth with a God-like power and dominion. Thus is Satan disappointed in his
subtlety. As he intended that saying, Ye sludl be. as gods, it was a lie, to decoy
and befool man. Little did he think, that it would be in such manner verified
by the incarnation of the Son of God. And this is the occasion also of all the
elect being united to this divine person, so that they become one with Christ.
Believers are as members and parts of Christ. Yea, the church is called Christ.
Little did Satan think, that his telling that lie to our first parents, " Ye shall
be as gods," would be the occasion of their being members of Christ the Son
of God.
Again, Satan is made a means of his own confusion in this : It was Satan s
design, in tempting man to sin, to make man his captive and slave forever; to
have plagued, and triumphed over him. And this very thing is a means to
bring it about, that man instead of being his vassal should be his judge. The
elect, instead of being his captives, to be forever tormented and triumphed over
by him, shall sit as judges to sentence him to everlasting torment. It has been
the means, that one in man s nature, should be his supreme Judge. It was
man s nature that Satan so envied, and sought to make a prey of. But Jesus
Christ at the last day shall come in man s nature ; and the devils shall be all
brought to stand trembling at his bar : and he shall judge, and condemn them,
and execute the wrath of God upon them. And not only shall Christ in the
human nature judge the devils, but all the saints shall judge them with Christ
as assessors with him in judgment : 1 Cor. vi. 3, " Know ye not that we shall
judge angels?"
Secondly. In another instance Satan is made a means of his own confusion ;
that is, in his procuring the death of Christ. Satan set himself to oppose Christ
as soon as he appeared. He sought, by all means, to procure his ruin. He set
the Jews against him. He filled the minds of the scribes and Pharisees with
the most bitter persecuting malice against Christ. He sought by all means to
procure his death ; and that he might be put to the most ignominious death.
We read " that Satan entered into Judas, and tempted him to betray him,"
Luke xxii. 3. And Christ speaks of his sufferings as being the effects of the
power of darkness, Luke xxii. 53 : " When I was daily with you in the temple, ye
stretched forth no hands against me : but this is your hour and the power of dark
ness." But Satan hereby overthrows his own kingdom. Christ came into the
world to destroy the works of the devil. And this was the very thing that did
it, \iz., the blood and death of Christ. The cross was the devils own weapon ;
and with this weapon he was overthrown : as David cut off Goliath s head with
his own sword.
Christ thus making Satan a means of his own confusion was typined ot old
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION. 159
by Samson s getting honey out of the carcass of the lion. There is more im
plied in Samson s riddle, < Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the
strong came forth sweetness," than ever the Philistines explained. It was veri
fied by Christ in a far more glorious manner. God s enemies and ours are taken
in the pit which they themselves have digged : and their own soul is taken in
the net which they have laid. Thus we have shown, in some measure, the
wisdom of this way of salvation by Jesus Christ.
SECTION vui.
The superiority of this wisdom to that of the angels.
The wisdom of this contrivance appears to have been above the wisdom of
the angels by the following things.
1. It appears that the angels did not fully comprehend the contrivance, till
they saw- it accomplished. They knew that man was to be redeemed, long be
fore Christ came into the world : but yet they did not fully comprehend it until
they saw it. This is evident by the expression in the text, That now might be
known unto the principalities - the manifold wisdom of God ; i. e., Now the
work is actually accomplished by Jesus Christ. Which implies that it was now
new to them. If they understood no more of it now, than they had all along,
the apostle would have expressed himself so ; for he is speaking of it as a mys
tery, in a measure kept hid until now.
Now it is to be considered, that the angels had four thousand years to con
template this affair ; and they did not want inclination and desire to understand
and look into it, as the Scripture teaches us. They had also a great deal to put
them upon an attentive contemplation of it. For when it was made known that
God had such a design, it must appear a new and wonderful thing to them.
They had seen their fellow-angels destroyed without mercy ; and this redeem
ing of the fallen sinful creature, was quite a new thing. It must needs be as
tonishing to them,when God had revealed this design of mercy to them present
ly alter the fall; and had given an intimation of it, in saying, "The seed of
the woman shall bruise the serpent s head." They knew that God had such a
design ; for they were, from the beginning, ministering spirits, sent forth to
minister to those that were the heirs of salvation. They were present at the
institution of the typical dispensation, that was so full of shadows of gospel
truth. Psal. Ixix. 17.
The angels contemplating the contrivance of our redemption was typified
by the posture of the cherubims over the mercy-seat, which was the lid of the
ark. These emblems were made bending down towards the ark and mercy-
seat. This is what the apostle Peter is thought to have some reference to,
1 Peter i. 12. Yet the angels, though for four thousand years they had been
studying this contrivance, did not fully comprehend it till they saw it accom
plished. This shows that the wisdom of it was far above theirs; for if they
could not fully comprehend it after it had been revealed that there was such a
design and after much of it had already been made known in the Old Testa
ment how much less could they have found it out of themselves \
Consider for what end this wisdom of God was made known unto the angels,
viz., that they might admire and prize it. It was made knoM n to them, that
they might see how manifold, how great and glorious, it is ; that they might
see the unspeakable " depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of
God," as the apostle expresses it, Rom. xi. 33. It was manifested to them that
they might see the glory of God in it. and how great and wonderful the mystery
160 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
was. 1 Tim. iii. 16, " Great is the mystery of godliness : God was manifest
in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels." Now if the wisdom of it
were not far above their own understandings, this would not be shown them for
the express purpose that they might admire and praise God for it.
2. It appears to be above the wisdom of the angels, because they are still
contemplating it ; and endeavoring to see more and more of it. Indeed there
is room for their faculties to employ themselves to all eternity. It is evident
from 1 Pet. i. 11, 12, that they are still employing themselves in endeavoring
to see more and more of God s wisdom appearing in the work of redemption,
" Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in
them did signify, when it testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and the
glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto them
selves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto
you by them that have preached the gospel unto you, with the Holy Ghost
sent down from heaven ; w hich things the angels desire to look into." They
still desire to look into it, after they have seen it accomplished. They do not
so perfectly comprehend all the wisdom that is to be seen in it ; but they are
contemplating, looking into it, that they may see more and more ; but there
will still be room enough in this work to employ the angelical understandings.
SECTION IX.
The subject improved.
I. Hence we may learn the blindness of the world, that the wisdom appear-
mo- in the work of redemption is no more admired in it. God has revealed this his
glorious design and contrivance to the world ; sends forth his gospel, and causes
it to be preached abroad, in order to declare to the world that his infinite wis
dom has been engaged for man s salvation. But how little is it regarded !
There are some who have their eyes opened to behold the wondrous things of
the gospel, who see the glory of God in, and admire the wisdom of it. But the
greater part are wholly blind to it. They see nothing in all this that is any
way glorious and wonderful. Though the angels account it worthy of their
most engaged and deep contemplation ; yet the greater part of men take little
notice of it It is all a dull story and dead letter to many of them. They can
not see any thing in it above the wisdom of men. Yea, the gospel to many
seems foolishness.
Though the light that shines in the world be so exceeding glorious, yet
how few are there that do see it. The glory of God s wisdom in this work is
surpassing the brightness of the sun : but so blind is the world that it sees noth
ing. It does not know that the Sun of righteousness shines. Thus it has been
in all ages, and wherever the gospel has been preached, ministers of the word
of God In all ages have had occasion to say, Who hath believed our report,
and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed 1 Thus the prophets were sent
to many with that errand, Isa. vi. 9, 10 : " Go and tell this people, Hear ye in
deed, but understand not ; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the
heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest they
should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their
heart, and convert, and be healed."
When Christ that glorious prophet came, and more fully revealed the coun
sels of God concerning our redemption, how many were then blind ! how
much di-1 Christ complain of them ! How blind were the scribes and Phari
sees, the most noted sect of men among the Jews for wisdom : they beheld no
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION. 161
glory in that gospel which Christ preached unto them ; which gave him occa
sion to call them fools and blind, Matt, xxiii. 17. So it was again in the apos
tles times. In all places where they preached, some believed, and some believ
ed not, Acts xxviii. 24. " As many as were ordained to eternal life believed,"
chap, xiii.48. " The election obtained, but the rest were blinded," Rom. xi. 7.
And so it is still in those places where the gospel is preached. There are a
few who see the glory of the gospel. God has a small number whose eyes he
opens, who are called out of darkness into marvellous light, and who have an
understanding to see the wisdom and fitness of the way of life. But how many
are there who sit under the preaching of the gospel all their days, yet never
see any divine wisdom or glory in it ! To their dying day they are unaffected
with it. When they hear it, they see nothing to attract their attention, much
less excite any admiration. To preach the gospel to them will serve very well
to lull them asleep ; but produces very little other effect upon them. This
shows the exceeding wickedness of the heart of man. How affecting the
thought, that infinite wisdom should be set on work, so as to surprise the angels,
and to entertain them from age to age ; and that to men, though so plainly set
before them, it should appear foolishness ! 1 Cor. i. 18, " The preaching of
the cross is to them that perish foolishness."
II. This is a great confirmation of the truth of the gospel. The gospel
stands in no need of external evidences of its truth and divinity. It carries its
own light and evidence with it. There is that in its nature that sufficiently
distinguishes it, to those who are spiritually enlightened, from all the effects of
human invention. There are evident appearances of the divine perfections ; the
stamp of divine glory, of which this of the divine wisdom is not the least part.
There is as much in the gospel to show that it is no work of men, as there
is in the sun in the firmament. As persons of mature reason who look upon
the sun, and consider the nature of it, its wonderful height, its course, its bright
ness and heat, may know that it is no work of man; so, if the gospel be duly
considered, if the true nature of it be seen, it may be known that it is no work
of man, and that it must be from God. And if the wisdom appearing in the
gospel be duly considered, it will be seen as much to excel all human wisdom,
as the sun s light excels the light of fires of our own kindling. The contri
vance of our salvation is of such a nature that no one can rationally conclude
that man had any hand in it. The nature of the contrivance is such, so out of
the way of all human thoughts, so different from all human inventions ; so
much more sublime, excellent, and worthy, that it does not savor at all of the
craft or subtlety of man : it savors of God only.
If any are ready to think man might have found out such a way of salvation
for sinners so honorable to God, to his holiness and authority they do not
well consider the scantiness of human understanding. Mankind were of a poor
capacity for any such undertaking ; for till the gospel enlightened the world,
they had but miserable notions of what was honorable to God. They could
have but poor notions of what way would be suitable to the divine perfections ;
for they were wofully in the dark about these divine perfections themselves,
till the gospel came abroad in the world. They had strange notions about a
Deity. Most of them thought there were many gods. " They changed the
glory of the incorruptible God into an image like to corruptible man, and to
birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things," Rom. i. 23. They attiibuted
vices to God. Even the philosophers, their wisest men, entertained but imper
fect notions of the Supreme Being. How then should men find out a way so
glorious and honorable to God, and agreeable to his perfections, who nad not
VOL. IV 21
162 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
wisdom enough to get any tolerable notions of God, till the gospei was reveal-
ed to them. They groped in the dark. Their notions showed the infinite in
sufficiency of man s blind understanding for any such undertaking, as the con
triving of a way of salvation every way honorable to God, and suitable to the
needs of a fallen creature.
But since the gospel has told what God s counsels are, and how he has con
trived a way for our salvation, men are ready to despise it, and foolishly to exalt
their own understanding ; and to imagine they could have found out as good a
way themselves. When, alas ! men, of themselves, had no notion of what
was honorable to God, and suitable for a Divine Being. They did not so much
as think of the necessity of God s law being answered, and justice satisfied.
And if they had, how dreadfully would they have been puzzled to have found^out
the way how ! Who would have thought of a trinity of persons in the God
head ; and that one should sustain the rights of the Godhead ; and another
should be the Mediator; and another should make application of redemption 1
Who would have thought of such a thing as. three distinct persons, and yet but
one God ? All the same Being, and yet three persons ! Who would have
thought of this, in order to have found out a way for satisfying justice ? Who
would have thought of a way for answering the law that threatened eternal
death, without the sinner s suffering eternal death ? And who would have
thought of any such thing as a divine person suffering the wrath of God ? And
if they had, who would have contrived a way how he should suffer, since the
divine nature cannot suffer 1
Who would have thought of any such thing as God becoming man ; two
natures and but one person ? These things are exceedingly out of the way of
human thought and contrivance. It is most unreasonable to think that the
world, who,till the gospel enlightened them, were so blind about the nature of
God and divine things, should contrive such a way that should prove thus to
answer all ends ; every way to suit what the case required ; most glorious to
God, and answerable to all man s necessities. Every thing is so fully provided
for and no absurdity to be found in the whole affair, but all speaking forth the
most perfect wisdom. That there should be no infringement upon holiness or
justice ; nothing dishonorable to the majesty of God ; no encouragement to sin,
all possible motives to holiness ; all manner of happiness provided ; and Satan
so confounded and entirely overthrown ; how truly wonderful !
And if we suppose that all this notwithstanding was the invention of men,
whose invention should it be ? Who should be pitched upon as the most
likely to invent it ? It was not the invention of the Jews ; for they were
the most bitter enemies to it. The wise men among them, when they first heard
of it conceived malice against it, and persecuted all that held this doctrine. It
was not the invention of the heathen ; for they knew nothing about it, till the
apostles preached it to them ; and it appeared a very foolish doctrine to the
wise men among them. The doctrine of Christ crucified was not only to the
Jews a stumbling-block, but also to the Greeks foolishness, 1 Cor. i. 23. Be
sides, it was contrary to all their notions about a Deity, and they knew nothing
about the fall of man, and the like, till the gospel revealed it to them.
It was not the invention of the apostles ; for the apostles, of themselves,
were no way capable of any such learned contrivance. They were poor fisher
men and publicans, an obscure and illiterate sort of men, till they were extra
ordinarily taught. They were all surprised when they first heard of it.
they heard that Christ must die for sinners, they were offended at it ; and it
a long while before they were brought fully to receive it.
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION. 163
There is but one way left ; and that is, to suppose, that Christ was a mere
man, a very subtle crafty man, and that he invented it all : but this is as un
reasonable as the rest; for it would have been all against himself, to invent a
way of salvation by his own crucifixion, a most tormenting and ignominious
death.
III. How great a sin they are guilty of who despise and reject this way of
salvation ! When God has manifested such unsearchable riches of wisdom ;
when all the persons of the Trinity have as it were held a consultation from all
eternity in providing a way of salvation for us sinful, miserable worms; a way
that should be sufficient and every way suitable for us ; a way that should be in all
things complete, whereby we might have not only full pardon of all our sins, and
deliverance from hell ; but also full blessedness in heaven forever : how must
God needs be provoked, when, after all, men reject this way of salvation !
When salvation comes to be preached, and is offered to them in this way ;
when they are invited to accept of its benefits, and yet they despise and refuse
it ; they thus practically deny it to be a wise way, and call this wisdom of God
foolishness. How provoking it must be, when such a poor creature as man
shall rise up, and find fault with that wisdom which is so far above the wisdom
of angels ! This is one thing wherein consists the heinousness of the sin of un
belief, and it implies a rejecting and despising of divine wisdom in the way of
salvation by Jesus Christ. Unbelief finds fault with the wisdom of God in the
choice of the person, for performing this work. It dislikes the person of Christ.
It sees no form nor comeliness in him, nor beauty wherefore it should desire him.
That person whom the wisdom of God looked upon as the fittest person of
any, the only fit person, is despised and rejected by unbelief. Men, through
unbelief, find fault with the salvation itself that Christ has purchased ; they do
not like to be saved as Christ would save. They do not like to be made holy,
and to have such a happiness as is to be had in God for a portion.
It may not be amiss here to mention two or three ways whereby persons
are guilty of a provoking contempt of the wisdom of God in the way of sal
vation.
1. They are guilty of a provoking contempt, who live in a careless neglect
of their salvation; they who are secure in their sins, and are not much con
cerned about either salvation or damnation. This is practically charging God
with folly. Its language is, that all is in vain, and to no purpose ; that God
hath contrived and consulted for our salvation, when there was no need of it.
They are well enough as they are. They do not see any great necessity of a
Saviour. They like that state they are in, and do not much desire to be de
livered out of it. They do not thank him for all his consultation and contriv
ance, and think he might have spared his cost. God has greatly minded that,
which they do not think worth minding ; and has contrived abundantly for
that which they do not trouble their heads about.
2. They are guilty of a provoking contempt of the wisdom of this way of
salvation, who go about to contrive ways qf their own. They who are not con
tent with salvation by the righteousness of Christ, which God has provided, are
for contriving some way of being saved by their own righteousness. These
find fault with the wisdom of God s way, and set up their own wisdom in op
position to it. How greatly must God be provoked by such conduct !
3. Those that entertain discouraged and despairing apprehensions about
their salvation, cast contempt on the wisdom of God. They think that because
they have been such great sinners, God will not be willing to pardon them
Christ will not be willing to accept of them. They fear that Christ, in the in-
14 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
vitations of the gospel, does not mean such wicked creatures as they are ; that
because they have committed so much sin, they have sinned beyond the reach
of mercy. They think it is in vain for them to seek for salvation. These cast
contempt on the wisdom of God in the way of salvation, as though it were not
all-sufficient ; as though the wisdom of God had not found out a way that was
sufficient for the salvation of great sinners.
SECTION X.
The misery of unbelievers.
Unbelievers have no portion in this matter. There is a most glorious way
of salvation, but you, who are unbelievers, have no interest in it. The wisdom
of God hath been gloriously employed for the deliverance of men from a miser
able, doleful state ; but you are never the better for it, because you reject it.
If you continue in that state, this wisdom will do you no good.
" Christ is a glorious person ; every way fit to be a Saviour of sinners ; a
person who has power sufficient, wisdom sufficient, merit sufficient, and love
sufficient for perfecting this work. And he is the only fit person ; but you
nave no ricrht in him ; you can lay claim to no benefit by his power, wisdom,
love or merits. This wisdom of God hath found out a way whereby this
Saviour might satisfy justice, and fulfil the law for us : a way whereby he might
be capable of suffering for us: but you have no lot in the incarnation, death,
and sufferings of Jesus Christ.
The wisdom of God hath contrived a way of salvation that there should be
procured for us perfect and everlasting happiness. Here is that happiness pro
cured which is most suitable to our nature, and answerable to the salvation of
our souls. Here is a most glorious portion, viz., the Divine Being himself,
with his glorious perfections. Here it is purchased, that we should see God
face to face ; that we should converse and dwell with God in his own glori
ous habitation ; that we should be the children of God, and be conformed to
hi ra H ere are the highest honors, the most abundant riches, the most substan
tial satisfying pleasures for evermore. Here we have prepared all needed good,
both for the souls and bodies ot sinners : all needed earthly good things,
while here ; and glory, for both body and soul hereafter, forever.
But you are never the better for all this. You have no lot nor portion in
any of it. Notwithstanding all this rich provision, you may remain in the same
miserable state and condition, in which you came into the world. Though the
provision of the gospel be so full, yet your poor soul remains in a famishing,
perishino- state. You remain dead in trespasses and sins ; under the dominion
of Satan ; in a condemned state, having the wrath of God abiding on you, and
beincr daily exposed to the dreadful effects of it in hell. Notwithstanding all
this provision, you remain wretched and miserable, poor and blind and naked.
O that you might turn to God through Jesus Christ, be numbered among his
disciples and faithful followers, and so he entitled to their privileges! They
have an interest in this glorious Saviour, and are entitled to all the ineffable
blessedness of his kingdom, so far as their capacities will admit : but you remain
without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the
covenant of promise, having no well-grounded hope, and without God in the
world. Further consider a few things.
First. It argues the great misery of sinners, that the wisdom of Lrod should
be exercised to such a degree in order to find out a way to deliver them from it.
Their case surely was most deplorable, since it required infinite wisdom to find
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION. 165
out a way for their deliverance. The wisdom of angels was not sufficient :
nothing but divine wisdom could reach and remedy their case. And all the
persons of the Trinity did enter into a consultation about it. If man s misery
were not very great, divine wisdom would not have been exercised for his deli
verance from it. God would not contrive and do things so wonderful in a tri
vial affair. If the salvation of a sinner were not a great salvation, from an ex
ceeding great misery, it is not to be supposed, that God s wisdom should be
more signalized in this affair than in any other whatever.
But so it is ; this contrivance seems to be spoken of in Scripture as the
master-piece of divine wisdom. This work of redemption is represented as
most wonderful, and spoken of in Scripture in the most exalted manner of any
work of God. Doubtless therefore salvation is a great thing ; and consequent
ly the misery that sinners are saved from, is a great and unspeakable misery.
Now this is the misery that you are all in, who remain in a natural condition.
This is the condemnation you lie under. This is the wrath of God that abides
upon you. The wisdom of God knew it to be a very doleful thing for a person
to be in a natural state, and therefore did so exercise itself to deliver miserable
sinners out of it. But this is the state that many among us do yet remain in.
Secondly. Consider that if you continue in the state you are in, you will
be so far from being the better for this contrivance, that you will be much more
miserable for it. The justice and wisdom of the way of salvation will be your
condemnation. " This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light," John iii. 19. If you continue in
the state that you are now in, it would have been better for you, if Christ had
never died for sinners ; if God had left all mankind to perish, as he did the fal
len angels. Your punishment then would have been light in comparison of
what it will be now. You will have greater sins by far to answer for ; and all
your sins will be abundantly the more aggravated.
Since I have been upon this subject, I have observed, that the work of re
demption is an occasion of the elect being brought to greater happiness than
man could have had, if he had not fallen. And it is also true as to reprobates,
that it will be the occasion of their having greater misery than they would
have had, if there had been no redemption. 2 Cor. ii. 15, " For we are unto
God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish.
To the one we are a savor of death unto death ; and to the other we are a sa
vor of life unto life." If you perish at last, you will be the more miserable for
the benefits of the gospel being so glorious, and that because your crime in re
jecting and despising them will be the more heinous. Heb. ii. 3, " How shall
we escape, if we neglect so great salvation ?"
Thirdly. Whilst you continue an unbeliever, the more you hear of this way
of salvation, your condition will become the more miserable. The longer you
sit under the preaching of the gospel, the more doleful does your case grow.
Your guilt continually increases. For your refusals of the gospel, and your re
jections of this way of salvation are so much the oftener repeated. Every time
you hear the gospel preached, you are guilty of a renewed rejection of it, the
guilt of which therefore you will have lying upon you. And the more you hear
of the suitableness and glory of this way, the greater is your guilt who still con-
tinue to reject it. Every new illustration of the wisdom and grace of God in
redemption, adds to your guilt : Matt, xxiii. 37, "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem-
how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gather-
eth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not !" What adds to your
misery is, that as long as it continues it is a growing evil.
166 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
Fourthly. Consider the danger there is, that you will never have any lot or
portion in this matter ; seeing there are but few that have. Christ has told us
that strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few
there be that find it. There have been but few in all ages of the world. Man)
seek ; and many hope that they shall obtain. There are few that intend to be
damned ; while many hope that they shall some way or other find means tc
escape eternal misery. But after all, there are but few saved ; or obtain the
oeneiits of redemption.
SECTION XI.
Exhortation to come to Christ.
I conclude with a use of exhortation to come to Christ, and except of sal
vation in this way. You are invited to come to Christ, heartily to close with
him, and trust in him for salvation : and if you do so, you shall have the benefit
of this glorious contrivance. You shall have the benefit of all; as much as if
the whole had been contrived for you alone. God has already contrived every
thing that is needful for your salvation ; and there is nothing wanting but your
consent. Since God has taken this matter of the redemption of sinners into his
own hand, he has made thorough work of it ; he has not left it for you to
finish. Satisfaction is already made, righteousness is already wrought out :
death and hell are already conquered. The Redeemer has already taken pos
session of glory, and keeps it in his hands to bestow on them who come to him.
There were many difficulties in the way, but they are all removed. The Saviour
has already triumphed over all, and is at the right hand of God, to give eternal
life to his people.
Salvation is ready brought to your door ; and the Saviour stands, knocks,
and calls that you would open to him, that he might bring it in to you. There
remains nothing but your consent. All the difficulty now remaining is with
your own heart. If you perish now, it must be wholly at your door. It must
be because you would not come to Christ that you might have life ; and because
you virtually choose death rather than life : Prov. viii. 36, " He that sinneth
against me, wrongeth his own soul : all they that hate me love death." All
that is now required of you, is, that your heart should close with Christ as a
Saviour. Here consider,
1. That the wisdom of God hath so contrived, that he hath forestalled all
your objections. If you make objections against Christ and the way of salva
tion, they must be all unreasonable. You cannot reasonably object that your
sins are of such a nature, that God s honor will not allow of your pardon. It
is true God insists upon his own honor. He is a God that will be honored, and
his majesty shall be vindicated : and when sinners cast contempt upon him, his
honor requires vengeance. But God has so contrived this way, that his honor
may be repaired by the punishment of sin without the sinner s suffering, how
great soever the sin be. Herein the wisdom of this way appears, that there is
a sufficiency for the greatest and most heinous transgressors.
You cannot object that God the Father will not be willing to accept you,
for the Mediator s sake ; for he hath chosen his own Son to be a mediator, to
cut off any such objections. So you may be sure that God will receive you if
you go 10 him through Christ. You cannot object that God the Father has not
given sufficient assurance of salvation to believers ; for (he principal things,
those which would have been most difficult to believe, are already fulfilled :
Go-1 hath already given his Son to die for us. This, before it was accomplished,
WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION. 167
was much more strange, and difficult to believe, than that he should give eter
nal life to sinners after Christ died for them.: Rom. viii. 32, " He that r-pared
not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him
freely give us all things ?"
There is no room to doubt but that if we accept of Christ, God will give
eternal life ; for he hath given it already into the hands of our Saviour for us.
He hath intrusted him with the whole affair. He hath given all things into his
hands, that he might give eternal life to as many as should come to him. The
Father hath appointed him who died for believers, to be their judge, to have
the whole determination of the matter, and the disposal of the reward, in his
own hand. And you cannot doubt but that Christ will be willing to bestow
eternal life on them for whom he purchased it. For if he is not willing to be
stow it, surely he never would have died to purchase it. Who can think that
Christ would be so desirous of sinners being saved, as to undergo so much for
it ; and not be willing to let them have it, when he had obtained it for them 1
Consider,
2. The wisdom of God hath contrived that there should be in the person of
the Saviour all manner of attractives to draw us to him. He has in him all
possible excellency. He is possessed of all the beauty and glory of the Godhead.
So that there can be no manner of excellency, nor degree of excellency that
we can devise, but what is in the person of the Saviour. But yet so redundant
has the wisdom of God been, in providing attractives in order that we should
come to Christ, it hath so ordered that there should also be all human excel
lencies in him. If there be any thing attractive in this consideration, that Christ
is one in our o\yn nature, one of us ; this is true of Christ. He is not only in
the divine, but in the human nature. He is truly a man, and has all possible
human excellencies. He was of a most excellent spirit ; wise and holy, con
descending and meek, and of a lowly, benign, and benevolent disposition.
Again : The wisdom of God hath chosen a person of great love to sinners,
and who should show that love in the most endearing manner possible. What
more condescending love can there be, than the love of a divine person to such
worms of the dust 1 What/mr love can there be than love to enemies ? What
greater love can there be, than dying love ? And what more endearing ex
pression of love, than dying for the beloved ? And the wisdom of God hath
so contrived, that Christ shall sustain that office which should most tend to
endear him to us, and draw us to him : the office of a Redeemer, a redeemer
from eternal misery, and the purchaser of all happiness.
And if all this be not enough to draw us, the wisdom of God hath ordered
more ; it hath provided us with a Saviour that should offer himself to us in the
most endearing relation. He offers to receive us as friends. To receive us to
a union to himself, to become our spiritual husband and portion forever. And the
wisdom of God has provided us a Saviour that woos in a manner that has the
greatest tendency to win our hearts. His word is most attractive. He stands
at our door* and knocks. He does not merely command us to receive him : but
he condescends to apply himself to us in a more endearing manner. He entreats
and beseeches us in his word and by his messengers.
3. The wisdom of God hath contrived that there should be all manner of
attractives in the benefits that Christ offers you. There are not only the ex
cellencies of the person of Christ to draw you to him, but the desirable benefits
he offers. Here is what is most suitable to the cravings of the human nature.
Men when distressed and burdened, long for ease and rest : here it is offered to
js in Christ. " Come unto me," says he, " all ye that labor and are heavy
168 WISDOM DISPLAYED IN SALVATION.
laden, and I will give you rest." Men when in fear of danger, long for safe
ty : here it is provided for us in Christ. God promises that he will become a
shield and buckler, a strong rock and high tower to those that trust in him.
Those that mourn need comfort : Christ tells us that " he came to comfort those
that mourn," Isa. Ixi. 2. The blind need to have their eyes opened. The
light is sweet to men : Christ offers to anoint our eyes with eye-salve that we
may see glorious light. He will be our sun, and the light of God s countenance.
What is more dear to men than life ? Christ hath purchased for men, that
they should live forever : Psal. xxi. 4, " He asked life of thee, and thou gavest
it him, even length of days forever and ever." How greatly is a crown prized
and admired by the children of men ! And Christ offers this ; not a corrupti
ble crown, but an incorruptible and far more glorious crown than any worn by
earthly kings : a crown of glory, the lustre of which shall never fade, nor decay ;
with an everlasting kingdom. Do men love pleasures ? Here are pleasures
for evermore. What could there be more to draw our hearts to Jesus Christ,
and to make us willing to accept of him for our Saviour, with all his unspeak
able benefits ?
SERMON VI.*
GOD GLORIFIED IN MAN S DEPENDENCE.
1 COR. i. 29 31. That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, \vhc )f
God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption ; that according aa
is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
THOSE Christians to whom the apostle directed this epistle, dwelt in a part
of the world where human wisdom was in great repute ; as the apostle observes
in the 22d verse of this chapter, " The Greeks seek after wisdom." Corinth
was not far from Athens, that had been for many ages the most famous seat of
philosophy and learning in the world.
The apostle therefore observes to them, how that God, by the gospel, des
troyed and brought to nought their human wisdom. The learned Grecians, and
their great philosophers, by all their wisdom did not know God : they were not
able to find out the truth in divine things. But after they had done their utmost
to no effect, it pleased God at length to reveal himself by the gospel, which
they accounted foolishness. He " chose the foolish things of the world to con
found the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty, and the base things of the world, and things that are despised, yea,
and things which are not, to bring to nought the things that are." And the apostle
informs them why he thus did, in the verse of the text; That no flesh should
glory in his presence, &c.
In which words may be observed,
1. What God aims at in the disposition of things in the affair of redemp
tion, viz., that man should not glory in himself, but alone in God ; That noflesh
should glory in his presence that, according as it is written, He that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord.
2. How this end is attained in the work of redemption, viz., by that abso
lute and immediate dependence which men have upon God in that work for all
their good. Inasmuch as,
FIKST. All the good that they have is in and through Christ ; He is made
unto us wisdom, righteousness, sandiji cation, and redemption. All the good of
the fallen and redeemed creature is concerned in these four things, and cannot
be better distributed than into them ; but Christ is each of them to us, and we
have none of them any otherwise than in him. He is made of God unto us
wisdom : in him are all the proper good and true excellency of the understand
ing. Wisdom was a thiny that the Greeks admired ; but Christ is the true
light of the world, it is through him alone that true wisdom is imparted to the
mind. It is in and by Christ that we have righteousness : it is by being in him
that we are justified, have our sins pardoned, and are received as righteous into
God s favor. It is by Christ that we have sanctification : we have in him true
excellency of heart as well as of understanding ; and he is made unto us in
herent, as well as imputed righteousness. It is by Christ that we have redemp-
*ion, or actual deliverance from all misery, and the bestowment of all happiness
id glory. Thus we have all our good by Christ, who is God.
SECONDLY. Another instance wherein our dependence on God for all GUI
* This was the first piece tho author published 1731
VOL. IV. 22
170 GOD GLORIFIED IN MAN S DEPENDENCE.
good appears, is this, That it is God that has given us Christ, that we raight have
these benefits through him ; he of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, &c.
THIRDLY. It is of him that we are in Christ Jesus, and come to have an in
terest in him, and so do receive those blessings which he is made unto us. It is
God that gives us faith whereby we close with Christ.
So that in this verse is shown our dependence on each person in the Trini
ty for all our good. We are dependent on Christ the Son of God, as he is our
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We are dependent on the
Father, who has given us Christ, and made him to be these things to us. We
are dependent on the Holy Ghost, for it is of him that we are in Christ Jesus ;
it is the Spirit of God that gives faith in him, whereby we receive him, and
close with him.
DOCTRINE.
" God is glorified in the work of redemption in this, that there appears in it
so absolute and universal a dependence of the redeemed on him."
Here I propose to show, 1st, That there is an absolute and universal de
pendence of the redeemed on God for all their good. And 2dly, That God
hereby is exalted and glorified in the work of redemption.
I. There is an absolute and universal dependence of the redeemed on God.
The nature and contrivance of our redemption is such, that the redeemed are in
every thing directly, immediately, and entirely dependent on God : they are
dependent on him for all, and are dependent on him every way.
The several ways wherein the dependence of one being may be upon another
for its good, and wherein the redeemed of Jesus Christ depend on God for all
their good, are these, viz., that they have all their good of him, and that they
have all through him, and that they have all in him : that he is the cause and
original whence all their good comes, therein it is of him ; and that he is the
medium by which it is obtained and conveyed, therein they have it through him ;
and that he is that good itself that is given and conveyed, therein it is in him.
Now those that are redeemed by Jesus Christ do, in all these respects, very
directly and entirely depend on God for their all.
FIRST. The redeemed have all their good of God ; God is the great author of
it ; he is the first cause of it, and not only so, but he is the only proper cause.
It is of God that we have our Redeemer : it is God that has provided a
Saviour for us. Jesus Christ is not only of God in his person, as he is the only
begotten Son of God, but he is from God, as we are concerned in him, and in
his office of Mediator : he is the gift of God to us : God chose and anointed
him, appointed him his work, and sent him into the world.
And as it is God that gives, so it is God that accepts the Saviour. As it is God
that provides and gives the Redeemer to buy salvation for us, so it is of God that
salvation is bought :. he gives the purchaser, and he affords the thing purchased.
It is of God that Christ becomes ours, that we are brought to him, and are
united to him : it is of God that we receive faith to close with him, that we may
have an interest in him. Eph. ii. 8, " For by grace ye are saved, through faith ;
and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." It is of God that we actually
do receive all the benefits that Christ has purchased. It is God that pardons
and justifies, and delivers from going down to hell, and it is his favor that the
redeemed are received into, and are made the objects of, when they are justi
fied. So it is God that delivers from the dominion of sin, and cleanses us from
our filthiness, and changes us from our deformity. It is of God that the re
deemed do receive all their true excellency, wisdom, and holiness ; and that two
GOD GLORIFIED IN MAN S DEPENDENCE. 171
ways, viz., as the Holy Ghost, by whom these things are immediately wrought,
is from God, proceeds from him, and is sent by him ; and also as the Holy Ghost
himself is God, by whose operation and indwelling, the knowledge of divine
things, and a holy disposition, and all grace, are conferred and upheld.
And though means are made use of in conferring grace on men s souls, yet
it is of God that we have these means of grace, and it is God that makes them
effectual. It is of God that we have the holy Scriptures; they are the word of
God. It is of God that we have ordinances, and their efficacy depends on the
immediate influence of the Spirit of God. The ministers of the gospel are sent
of God, and all their sufficiency is of him. 2 Cor- iv. 7, " We have this trea
sure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and
not of us." Their success depends entirely and absolutely on the immediate
blessing and influence of God. The redeemed have all,
1. Of the grace of God. It was of mere grace that God gave us his only
begotten Son. The grace is great in proportion to the dignity and excellency
of what is given : the gift was infinitely precious, because it was a person infi
nitely worthy, a person of infinite glory; and also because it was a person infinitely
near and dear to God. The grace is great in proportion to the benefit we have given
us in him : the benefit is doubly infinite, in that in him we have deliverance from
an infinite, because an eternal misery ; and do also receive eternal joy and glory.
The grace in bestowing this gift is great in proportion to our unworthiness to
whom it is given ; instead of deserving such a gift, we merited infinitely ill of God s
hands. The grace is great according to the manner of giving, -or in proportion
to the humiliation and expense of the method and means by which way is made
for our haying the gift. He gave him to us dwelling amongst us ; he gave
him to us incarnate, or in our nature ; he gave him to us in our nature, in the
like infirmities, in which we have it in our fallen state, and which in us do ac
company, and are occasioned by the sinful corruption of our nature. He gave
him to us in a low and afflicted state ; and not only so, but he gave him to us
slain, that he might be a feast for our souls.
The grace of God in bestowing this gift is most free. It was what God was
under no obligation to bestow : he might have rejected fallen man, as he did the
fallen angels. It was what we never did any thing to merit ; it was given
while we were yet enemies, and before we had so much as repented. It was
from the love of God that saw no excellency in us to attract it ; and it was
without expectation of ever being requited for it.
And it is from mere grace that the benefits of Christ are applied to such and
such particular persons. Those that are called and sanctified are to attribute it
alone to the good pleasure of God s goodness, by which they are distinguished.
He is sovereign, and hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he
will, he hardens.
Man hath now a greater dependence on the grace of God than he had be
fore the fall. He depends on the free goodness of God for much more than he
did then : then he depended on God s goodness for conferring the reward of
perfect obedience : for God was not obliged to promise and bestow that reward :
but now we are dependent on the grace of God for much more: we stand in
need of grace, not only to bestow glory upon us, but to deliver us from hell and
eternal wrath. Under the first covenant we depended on God s goodness to
give us the reward of righteousness; and so we do now. And not only so, but
we stand in need of God s free and sovereign grace to give us that righteous
ness ; and yet not only so, but we stand in need of his grace to pardon our sin,
and release us from the guilt and infinite demerit of it.
172 GOD GLORIFIED IN MAJV S DEPENDENCE.
And as we are dependent on the goodness of God for more now than under
the first covenant, so \ve are dependent on a much greater, more free and won
derful goodness. We are now more dependent on God s arbitrary and sovereign
good pleasure. We were in our first estate dependent on God for holiness: we
had our original righteousness from him ; but then holiness was not bestowed
in such a way of sovereign good pleasure as it is now. Man was created holy,
and it became God to create holy all the reasonable creatures he created : it
would have been a disparagement to the holiness of God s nature, if he had
made an intelligent creature unholy. But now when a man is made holy, it is
from mere and arbitrary grace ; God may forever deny holiness to the fallen
creature if he pleases, without any disparagement to any of his perfections.
And we are not only indeed more dependent on the grace of God, but our
dependence is much more conspicuous, because our own insufficiency and help
lessness in ourselves is much more apparent in our fallen and undone state, than
it was before we were either sinful or miserable. W 7 e are more apparently de
pendent on God for holiness, because we are first sinful, and utterly polluted, and
afterwards holy : so the production of the effect is sensible, and its derivation
from God more obvious. If man was ever holy and alwa)s was so, it would
not be so apparent, that he had not holiness necessarily, as an inseparable quali
fication of human nature. So we are more apparently dependent on free grace
for the favor of God, for we are first justly the objects of his displeasure and
afterwards are received into favor. W T e are more apparently dependent on God
for happiness, being first miserable, and afterwards happy. It is more appa
rently free and without merit in us, because we are actually without any kind
of excellency to merit, if there could be any such thing as merit in creature ex
cellency. And we are not only without any true excellency, but are full of,
and wholly defiled with, that which is infinitely odious. All our good is more
apparently from God, because we are first naked and wholly without any good,
and afterwards enriched with all good.
2. We receive all of the power of God. Man s redemption is often spoken
of as a work of wonderful power as well as grace. The great power of God
appears in bringing a sinner from his low state, from the depths of sin and
misery, to such an exalted state of holiness and happiness. Eph. i. 19, " And
what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according
to the working of his mighty power."
W T e are dependent on God s power through every step of our redemption.
We are dependent on the power of God to convert us, and give faith in Jesus
Christ, and the new nature.
It is a work of creation : " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature,"
2 Cor. v. 17. " We are created in Christ Jesus," Eph. ii. 10. The fallen
creature cannot attain to true holiness, but by being created again. Eph. iv.
24, " And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteous
ness and true holiness." It is a raising from the dead. Col. ii. 12, 13,
" Wherein ye also are risen with him, through the faith of the operation of
God, who hath raised him from the dead." Yea, it is a more glorious work of
power than mere creation, or raising a dead body to life, in that the effect at
tained is greater and more excellent. That holy and happy being, and spiritual
life which is reached in the work of conversion, is a far greater and more glo
rious effect, than mere being and life. And the state from whence the change
is made, of such a death in sin, and total corruption of nature, and depth of
miser} , is far more remote from the state attained, than mere death or nonentity.
It is by God s power also that we are preserved in a state of grace :
GOD GLORIFIED IN MAN S DEPENDENCE. 173
1 Pet. i. 5, " Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation."
As grace is at first from God, so it is continually from him, and is maintained
by him, as much as light in the atmosphere is all day long from the sun, as well
as at first dawning, or at sunrising.
Men are dependent on the power of God, for every exercise of grace, and
for carrying on the work of grace in the heart, for the subduing of sin and cor
ruption, and increasing holy principles, and enabling to bring forth fruit in good
works, and at last bringing grace to its perfection, in making the soul completely
amiable in Christ s glorious likeness, and filling of it with a satisfying joy and
blessedness ; and for the raising of the body to life, and to such a perfect state,
that it shall be suitable for a habitation and organ for a soul so perfected and
blessed. These are the most glorious effects of the power of God, that are seen
in the series of God s acts with respect to the creatures.
Man was dependent on the power of God in his first estate, but he is more
dependent on his power now ; he needs God s power to do more things for him,
and depends on the more wonderful exercise of his power. It was an effect of
the power of God to make man holy at the first ; but more remarkably so now,
because there is a great deal of opposition and difficulty in the way. It is a
more glorious effect of power to make that holy that was so depraved, and under
the dominion of sin, than to confer holiness on that which before had nothing
of the contrary. It is a more glorious work of power to rescue a soul out of
the hands of the devil, and from the powers of darkness, and to bring it into a
state of salvation, than to confer holiness where there was no prepossession or
opposition. Luke xi. 21, 22, " When a strong man armed keepeth his palace,
his o-oods are in peace ; but when a stronger than he shall come upon him,
and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, arid
divideth his spoils." So it is a more glorious work of power to uphold a soul
in a state of grace and holiness, and to carry it on till it is brought to glory,
when there is so much sin remaining in the heart resisting, and Satan with all
his might opposing, than it would have been to have kept man from falling at
first, when Satan had nothing in man.
Thus we have shown how the redeemed are dependent on God for all their
good, as they have all of him.
SECONDLY. They are also dependent on God for all, as they have all
through him. It is God that is the medium of it, as well as the author and
fountain of it. All that we have, wisdom, and the pardon of sin, deliverance
from hell, acceptance in God s favor, grace and holiness, true comfort and hap
piness, eternal life and glory, we have from God by a Mediator ; and this Medi
ator is God, which Mediator we have an absolute dependence upon as he through
whom we receive all. So that here is another way wherein we have our de
pendence on God for all good. God not only gives us the Mediator, and ac
cepts his mediation, and of his power and grace bestows the things purchased
by the Mediator, but he is the Mediator.
Our blessings are what we have by purchase ; and the purchase is made of
God, the blessings are purchased of him, and God gives the purchaser ; and not
only so, but God is the purchaser. Yea, God is both the purchaser and the price ;
for Christ, who is God, purchased these blessings for us, by offering up himself
as the price of our salvation. He purchased eternal life by the sacrifice of him
self. Heb. vii. 27, " He offered up himself;" and ix. 26, " He hath appeared
to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Indeed it was the human nature
that was offered ; but it was the same person with the divine, and therefore was
an infinite price ; it was looked upon as if God had been offered in sacrifice.
174 GOD GLORIFIED IN MAN S DEPENDENCE.
As we thus have our good through God, we have a dependence on God in
a respect that man in his first estate had not. Man was to have eternal life then
through his own righteousness ; so that he had partly a dependence upon what
was in himself; for we have a dependence upon that through which we have
our good, as well as that from which we have it ; and though man s righteous
ness that he then depended on was indeed from God, yet it was his own, it was
inherent in himself; so that his dependence was not so immediately on God.
But now the righteousness that we are dependent on is not in ourselves, but in
God. We are saved through the righteousness of Christ : he is made unto its
righteousness ; and therefore is prophesied of, Jer. xxiii. 6, under that name,
" the Lord our righteousness." In that the righteousness we are justified by is
the righteousness of Christ, it is the righteousness of God : 2 Cor. v. 21, " That
we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
Thus in redemption we have not only all things of God, but by and through
him : 1 Cor. viii. 21, " But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are
all things, and we in him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things,
and we by him."
THIRDLY. The redeemed have all their good in God. We not only have
it of him, and through him, but it consists in hun ; he is all our good.
The good of the redeemed is either objective or inherent. By their objective
good, I mean that extrinsic object, in the possession and enjoyment of which
they are happy. Their inherent good is that excellency or pleasure which is in
the soul itself. With respect to both of which the redeemed have all their good
in God, or, which is the same thing, God himself is all their good.
1. The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God himself is the
great good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by re
demption. He is the highest good, and the sum of all that good which Christ
purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion of their souls.
God is their wealth and treasure, their food, their life, their dwelling place, their
ornament and diadem, and their everlasting honor and glory. They have none
in heaven but God ; he is the great good which the redeemed are received to at
death, and which they are to rise to at the end of the world. The Lord God,
he is the light of the heavenly Jerusalem ; and is the " river of the water of
life, ^ that runs, and " the tree of life that grows, in the midst of the paradise
of God." The glorious excellencies and beauty of God will be what will for
ever entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God will be their ever
lasting feast. The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things ; they will enjoy
the angels, and will enjoy one another ; but that which they shall enjoy in the
angels, or each other, or in any thing else whatsoever that will yield them de
light and happiness, will be what will be seen of God in them.
2. The redeemed have all their inherent good in God. Inherent good is
twofold ; it is either excellency or pleasure. These the redeemed not only de
rive from God, as caused by him, but have them in him. They have spiritual
excellency and joy by a kind of participation of God. They are made excellent
by a communication of God s excellency : God puts his own beauty, i. e., his
beautiful likeness, upon their souls : they are made partakers of the divine nature,
or moral image of God, 2 Pet. i. 4. They are holy by being made partakers
of God s holiness, Heb. xii. 10. The saints are beautiful and blessed by a com
munication of God s holiness and joy, as the moon and planets are bright by
the sun s light. The saint hath spiritual joy and pleasure by a kind of effusion
of God on the soul. In these things the redeemed have communion with God ;
that is, they partake with him and of him
GOD GLORIFIED IN MAN S DEPENDENCE. 175
The saints have both their spiritual excellency and blessedness by the gift
of the Holy Ghost, or Spirit of God, and his dwelling in them. They are not
only caused by the Holy Ghost, but are in the Holy Ghost as their principle.
The Holy Spirit becoming an inhabitant, is a vital principle in the soul : he,
acting in, upon, and with the soul, becomes a fountain of true holiness and
joy, as a spring is of water, by the exertion and diffusion of itself. John iv.
14, " But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never
thirst ; but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water
springing up into everlasting life." Compared with chap. vii. 38, 39, "He
that beheveth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water ; but this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him
should receive." The sum of what Christ has purchased for us, is that spring
of water spoken of in the former of those places, and those rivers of living wa
ter spoken of in the latter. And the sum of the blessings, which the redeemed
shall receive in heaven, is that river of water of life that proceeds from the
throne of God and the Lamb, Rev. xxii. 1. Which doubtless signifies the same
with those rivers of living water, explained, John vii. 38, 39, which is elsewhere
called the " river of God s pleasures." Herein consists the fulness of good,
which the saints receive by Christ. It is by partaking of the Holy Spirit, that
they have communion with Christ in his fulness. God hath given the Spirit,
not by measure unto him, and they do receive of his fulness, and grace for
grace. This is the sum of the saints inheritance ; and therefore that little of
the Holy Ghost which believers have in this world, is said to be the earnest of
their inheritance. 2 Cor. i. 22, Who hath also sealed us, and given us the
Spirit m our hearts." And chap. v. 5, " Now he that hath wrought us for the
self-same thing, is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit."
And Eph. i. 13, 14, " Ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is
the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession."
The Holy Spirit and good things are spoken of in Scripture as the same
as if the Spirit of God communicated to the soul, comprised all good things
Matt. vii. 11, How much more shall your heavenly Father give good things
to them that ask him ?" In Luke it is, chap. xi. 13*, " How much more shall
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ?" This is
the sum of the blessings that Christ died to procure, and that are the subject of
gospel promises : Gal. iii. 13, 14, He was made a curse for us, that we might
receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." The Spirit of God is the great
promise of the Father: Luke xxiv. 49, "Behold, I send the promise of my
* ather upon you." The Spirit of God therefore is called the Spirit of pro
mise," Eph. i. 13. This promised thing Christ received, and had given into
his hand as soon as he had finished the work of our redemption, to bestow on
all that he had redeemed : Acts ii. 33, Therefore, being by the right hand of
God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost,
he hath shed forth this, which ye both see and hear." So that all the holiness
and happiness of the redeemed is in God. It is in the communications, indwell
ing, and acting of the Spirit of God. Holiness and happiness are in the fruit
here and hereafter, because God dwells in them, and they in God.
Thus it is God that has given us the Redeemer, and it is of him that our
good is purchased: so it is God that is the Redeemer, and the price; and it is
God also that is the good purchased. So that all that we have is of God and
through him, and in him : Rom. xi. 36, " For of him, and through him and to
him, or in him, are all things." The same in the Greek that is here rendered to
him, is rendered in him, 1 Cor. vii. 6.
176 GOD GLORIFIED IN MAN S DEPENDENCE.
II. God is glorified in the work of redemption by this means, viz., By there
being so great and universal a dependence of the redeemed on him.
F. Man hath so much the greater occasion and obligation to take notice and
acknowledge God s perfections and all-sufficiency. The greater the creature s
dependence 5 is on God s perfections, and the greater concern he has with them,
so much the greater occasion has he to take notice of them. So much the
greater concern any one has with, and dependence upon, the power and grace
of God, so much the greater occasion has he to take notice of that power and
grace. So much the greater and more immediate dependence there is on the
divine holiness, so much the greater occasion to take notice of, and acknow
ledge that. So much the greater and more absolute dependence we have on
thedivine perfections, as belonging to the several persons of the Trinity, so
much the greater occasion have we to observe and own the divine glory of
each of them. That which we are most concerned with, is surely most in the
way of our observation and notice; and this kind of concern with any thing,
viz., dependence, does especially tend to command and oblige the attention and
observation. Those things that we are not much dependent upon, it is easy to
neglect ; but we can scarce do any other than mind that which we have a great
dependence on. By reason of our so great dependence on God, and his perfec
tions, and in so many respects, he and his glory are the more directly set in our
view, which way soever we turn our eyes.
We have the greater occasion to take notice of God s all-sufficiency, when
all our sufficiency is thus every way of him. We have the more occasion to
contemplate him as an infinite good, and as the fountain of all good. Such a
dependence on God, demonstrates God s all-sufficiency. So much as the depend
ence of the creature is on God, so much the greater does the creature s empti
ness in himself appear to be ; and so much the greater the creature s emptiness,
so much the greater must the fulness of the Being be who supplies him. Our
having all of God shows the fulness of his power and grace : our having all
through him shows the fulness of his merit and worthiness ; and our having all
in him demonstrates his fulness of beauty, love, and happiness.
And the redeemed, by reason of the greatness of their dependence on God,
have not only so much the greater occasion, but obligation to contemplate and
acknowledge the glory and fulness of God. How unreasonable and ungrateful
should we be if we did not acknowledge that sufficiency and glory that we do
absolutely, immediately, and universally depend upon !
2. Hereby is demonstrated how great God s glory is considered compara
tively, or as compared with the creature s. By the creature s being thus wholly
and universally dependent on God, it appears that the creature is nothing, and
that God is all. Hereby it appears that God is infinitely above us ; that God s
strength, and wisdom, and holiness, are infinitely greater than ours. However
great & and glorious the creature apprehends God to be, yet if he be not sensible
of the difference between God and him, so as to see that God s glory is great,
compared with his own, he will not be disposed to give God the glory due to
his name. If the creature, in any respect, sets himself upon a level with God,
or exalts himself to any competition with him, however he may apprehend
that great honor and profound respect may belong to God from those that are
more inferior, and at a greater distance, he will not be so sensible of its being due
from him. So much the more men exalt themselves, so much the less will
they surely be disposed to exalt God. It is certainly a thing that God aims at
in the disposition of things in the affair of redemption (if we allow the Scrip
tures to be a revelation of God s mind), that God should appear all, and man noth-
GOD GLORIFIED IN MAN S DEPENDENCE. 177
ing. It is God s declared design that others should not " glory in his presence ;"
which implies that it is his design to advance his own comparative glory. So
much the more man " glories in God s presence." so much the less glory is as-
i i , ft i O /
cnbed to God.
^ 3. By its being thus ordered, that the creature should have so absolute and
universal a dependence on God, provision is made that God should have our
whole souls, and should be the object of our undivided respect. If we had our
dependence partly on God, and partly on something else, man s respect \vould
be divided to those different things on which he had dependence. Thus it
would be if we depended on God only for a part of our good, and on ourselves,
or some other being for another part : or if we had our good only from God,
and through another that was not God, and in something else distinct from both,
our hearts would be divided between the good itself, and him from whom, and
him through whom we received it. But now there is no occasion for this, God
being not only he from or of whom we have all good, but also through whom
and one that is that good itself, that we have from him and through him. So
that whatsoever there is to attract our respect, the tendency is still directly
towards God, all unites in him as the centre.
USE.
1. We may here observe the marvellous wisdom of God, in Ihe work of re
demption. God hath made man s emptiness and misery, his low, lost and ruin
ed state into which he sunk by the fall, an occasion of the greater advancement
of his own glory, as in other ways, so particularly in this, that there is now a
much more universal and apparent dependence of man on God. Though God
be pleased to lift man out of that dismal abyss of sin and wo into which he
was fallen, and exceedingly to exalt him in excellency and honor, and to a
high pitch of glory and blessedness, yet the creature hath nothing in any res
pect to glory of; all the glory evidently belongs to God, all is in a mere,
and most absolute and divine dependence on the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
And each person of the Trinity is equally glorified in this work : there is an
absolute dependence of the creature on every one for all : all is of the Father,
all through the Son, and all in the Holy Ghost. Thus God appears in the
work of redemption as all in all % It is fit that he that is, and there is none else,
should be the Alpha and Ornega , the first and the last, the all, and the only, in
this work.
2. Hence those doctrines and schemes of divinity that are in any respect
opposite to such an absolute and universal dependence on God, do derogate from
God s glory, and thwart the design of the contrivance for our redemption. Those
schemes that put the creature in God s stead, in any of the forementioned re
spects, that exalt man into the place of either Father, Son, or Holy Ghost, in
any thing pertaining to our redemption ; that, however they may allow of a
dependence of the redeemed on God, yet deny a dependence that is so absolute
and universal ; that own an entire dependence on God for some things, but not
for others ; that own that we depend on God for the gift and acceptance of a
Redeemer, but deny so absolute a dependence on him for the obtaining of an
interest in the Redeemer ; that own an absolute dependence on the Father for
giving his Son, and on the Son for working out redemption, but not so entire
a dependence on the Holy Ghost for conversion, and a being in Christ, and so
coming to a title to his benefits ; that own a dependence on God for means of
grace, but not absolutely for the benefit and success of those means ; that own
a partial dependence on the power of God, for the obtaining and exercising
VOL. IV. 23
178 GOD GLORIFIED IN MAN S DEPENDENCE.
holiness, but not a mere dependence on the arbitrary and sovereign grace of God j
that own a dependence on the free grace of God for a reception into his favor, so
far that it is without any proper merit, but not as it is without being attracted,
or moved with any excellency ; that own a partial dependence on Christ, as he
through whom we have life, as having purchased new terms of life, bu:
still hold that the righteousness through which we have life is inherent in our
selves, as it was under the first covenant ; and whatever other way any scheme
is inconsistent with our entire dependence on God for all, and in each of those
ways, of having all of him, through him, and in him, it is repugnant to the de
sign and tenor of the gospel, and robs it of that which God accounts its lustre
and glory.
3. Hence we may learn a reason why faith is that by which we come to
have an interest in this redemption ; for there is included in the nature of faith,
a sensibleness and acknowledgment of this absolute dependence on God in this
affair. It is very fit that it should be required of all, in order to their having
the benefit of this redemption, that they should be sensible of, and acknowledge
their dependence on God for it. It is by this means that God hath contrived
to glorify himself in redemption ; and it is fit that God should at least have this
glory of those that are the subjects of this redemption, and have the benefit of it.
Faith is a sensibleness of what is real in the work of redemption ; and as
we do really wholly depend on God, so the soul that believes doth entirely de
pend on God for all salvation, in its own sense and act. Faith abases men, and
exalts God, it gives all the glory of redemption to God alone. It is necessary
in order to saving faith, that man should be emptied of himself, that he should
be sensible that he is " wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."
Humility is a great ingredient of true faith : he that truly receives redemption,
receives it as a little child. Mark x. 15, " Whosoever shall not receive the
kingdom of heaven as a little child, he shall not enter therein." It is the de
light of a believing soul to abase itself and exalt God alone : that is the lan
guage of it, Psalm cxv. 1, " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy
name give glory."
4. Let us be exhorted to exalt God alone, and ascribe to him all the glory
of redemption. Let us endeavor to obtain, and increase in a sensibleness of our
great dependence on God, to have our eye to him alone, to mortify a self-de
pendent, and self-righteous disposition. Man is naturally exceeding prone to
be exalting himself arid depending on his own power or goodness, as though he
were he from whom he must expect happiness, and to have respect to enjoy
ments alien from God and his Spirit, as those in which happiness is to be
found.
And this doctrine should teach us to exalt God alone, as by trust and reli
ance, so by praise. Let him, that glorieth, glory in the Lord. Hath any man
hope that he is converted, and sanctified, and that his mind is endowed with true
excellency and spiritual beauty, and his sins forgiven, and he received into
God s favor, and exalted to the honor and blessedness of being his child, and
an heir of eternal life ; let him give God all the glory ; who alone makes him
to differ from the worst of men in this world, or the miserablest of the damned
in hell. Hath any man much comfort and strong hope of eternal life, let not his
hope lift him up, but dispose him the more to abase himself, and reflect on his
own exceeding unworthiness of such a favor, and to exalt God alone. Is any
man eminent m holiness, and abundant in good works, let him take nothing of
the glory of it to himself, but ascribe it to him whose " workmanship we are,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works."
SERMON VII.
THE EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST.
REVELATION v. 5, C. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not ; behold, the Lion of the tribe of
Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And
I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders
stood a Lamb as it had been slain
THE visions and revelations that the Apostle John had of the future events of
God s providence are here introduced with a vision of the book of God s de
crees, by which those events were foreordained ; which is represented in the
first verse of this chapter, as a book in the right hand of him that sat on the
throne, " written within and on the back side, and sealed with seven seals."
Books in the form in which they were wont of old to be made, were broad
leaves of parchment or paper, or something of that nature, joined together at
one edge, and so rolled up together, and then sealed, or some way fastened to
gether, to prevent their unfolding and opening. Hence we read of the roll of
a book, Jer. xxxvi. 2. It seems to have been such a book that John had the
vision of here ; and therefore it is said to be " written within and on the back
side," i. e., on the inside pages, and also on one of the outside pages, viz., that
that was rolled in, in the rolling of the book up together. And it is said to be
" sealed with seven seals," to signify that what was written in it was perfectly
hidden and secret ; or that God s decrees of future events are sealed, and shut
up from all possibility of being discovered by creatures, till God is pleased to
make them known. We find that seven is often used in Scripture as the num
ber of perfection, to signify the superlative or most perfect degree of any thing ;
which probably came from that, that on the seventh day God beheld the works of
the creation finished, and rested and rejoiced in them, as being complete and perfect.
When John saw this book, he tells us, he " saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals there
of ? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to
open the book, neither to look thereon." And that he wept much, because " no
man was found worthy to open the book, neither to look thereon." And then
he tells us how his tears were dried up, viz., that " one of the elders said unto
him, Weep not ; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed," &c., as
in the text. Though no man nor angel, nor any mere creature, was found either
able to loose the seals, or worthy to be admitted to the privilege of reading the
book; yet this was declared, for the comfort of this beloved disciple, that Christ
was found both able and worthy. Arid we have an account in the succeeding
chapters how he actually did it, opening the seals in order, first one, and then
another, revealing what God had decreed should come to pass hereafter. And
we have an account in this chapter, of his coming and taking the book out of
the right hand of him that sat on the throne, and of the joyful praises that were
sung to him in heaven and earth on that occasion.
Many things might be observed in the words of the text ; but it is to my
present purpose only to take notice of the two distinct appellations here given
to Christ.
1. He is called a Lion. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He seems
to be called the Lion of the tribe of Judah, in allusion to what Jacob said in
180 EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST.
his blessing of the tribes on his death-bed ; who, when he came to bless Judah,
compares him to a lion, Gen. xlix. 9 : " Judah is a lion s whelp ; from the prey,
my son, thou art gone up : he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old
lion; who shall rouse him up ?" And also to the standard of the camp of
Judah in the wilderness, on which was displayed a lion, according to the ancient
tradition of the Jews. It is much on account of the valiant acts of David, that
the tribe of Judah, of which David was, is in Jacob s prophetical blessing corn-
pared to a lion ; but more especially with an eye to Jesus Christ, who also was
of that tribe, and was descended of David, and is in our text called " the root oi
David ;" and therefore Christ is here called " the lion of the tribe of Judah."
2. He is called a Lamb. John was told of a lion that had prevailed to
open the book, and probably expected to see a lion in his vision ; but while he is
expecting, behold a Lamb appears to open the book, an exceeding diverse kind of
creature from a lion. A lion is a devourer, one that is wont to make terrible
slaughter of others ; and no creature more easily falls a prey to him than a
lamb. And Christ is here represented not only as a lamb, a creature very liable
to be slain, but a "Lamb as he had been slain," that is, with the marks of its
deadly wounds appearing on it.
That which I would observe from the words, for the subject of my present
discourse, is this, viz., .
There is an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies in Jesus Christ.
The lion and the lamb, though very diverse kinds of creatures, yet have
each their peculiar excellencies. The lion excels in strength, and in the majes
ty of his voice : the lamb excels in meekness and patience, besides the excel
lent nature of the creature as good for food, and yielding that which is fit for
our clothing, and being suitable to be offered in sacrifice to God. But we see
that Christ is in the text compared to both ; because the diverse excellencies of
both wonderfully meet in him.
In handling this subject, I would,
First, Show wherein there is an admirable conjunction of diverse excellen
cies in Christ. . ~,. .,
Secondly, How this admirable conjunction of excellencies appears in Cnrisl
acts.
And then make application.
First, I would show wherein there is an admirable conjunction ot diverse
excellencies in Jesus Christ. Which appears in three things.
I. There is a conjunction of such excellencies in Christ, as, in our manner
of conceiving, are very diverse one from another.
II. There is in him a conjunction of such really diverse excellencies, as
otherwise would have seemed to us utterly incompatible in the same subject.
III. Such diverse excellencies are exercised in him towards men, that
otherwise would have seemed impossible to be exercised towards the same
object.
I There is a conjunction of such excellencies in Christ, as, in our man
ner of conceiving, are very diverse one from another. Such are the various
divine perfections and excellencies that Christ is possessed of. Christ is a divine
person, or one that is God ; and therefore has all the attributes of God. The
difference there is between these is chiefly relative, and in our manner of con
ceiving of them. And those that in this sense are most diverse, do mee
person of Christ.
I shall mention two instances.
1. There do meet in Jesus Christ intlnite highness and infinite condescension.
EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST. 181
Christ, as he is God, is infinitely great and high above all. He is higher than
the kings of the earth : for he is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is high
er than the heavens, and higher than the highest angels of heaven. So great
is he, that all men, all kings and princes, are as worms of the dust hefore him ;
all nations are as the drop of the bucket, and the light dust of the balance ;
yea, and angels themselves are as nothing before him. He is so high, th?t he
is infinitely above any need of us ; above our reach, that we cannot be profita
ble to him ; and above our conceptions, that we cannot comprehend him. Prov.
xxx. 4, " What is his name, or what is his son s name, if thou canst tell ?"
Our understandings, if we stretch them never so far, cannot reach up to his di
vine glory. Job xi. 8, " It is high as heaven, what canst thou do ?" Christ
is the Creator and great possessor. of heaven and earth : he is sovereign Lord
of all : he rules over the whole universe, and doth whatsoever pleaseth him :
his knowledge is without bound : his wisdom is perfect, and what none can
circumvent : his power is infinite, and none can resist him : his riches are im
mense and inexhaustible : his majesty is infinitely awful.
And yet he is one of infinite condescension. None are so low or inferior,
but Christ s condescension is sufficient to take a gracious notice of them. He
condescends not only to the angels, humbling himself to behold the things that
are done in heaven, but he also condescends to such poor creatures as men ; and
that not only so as to take notice of princes and great men, but of those that are
of meanest rank and degree, the " poor of the world," James ii. 5. Such as are
commonly despised by their fellow creatures, Christ does not despise. 1 Cor.
i. 28, " Base things of the world, and things that are despised, hath God chosen."
Christ condescends to take notice of beggars, Luke xvi. 22, and of servants, and
people of the most despised nations : in Christ Jesus is neither " Barbarian,
Scythian, bond nor free," Col. iii. 11. He that is thus high, condescends to
take a gracious notice of little children. Matt. xix. 14, " Suffer little children to
come unto me." Yea, which is much more, his condescension is sufficient to
take a gracious notice of the most unworthy, sinful creatures, those that have
infinite ill deservings.
Yea, so great is his condescension, that it is not only sufficient to take some
gracious notice of such as these, but sufficient for every thing that is an act of
condescension. His condescension is great enough to become their friend : it is
great enough to become their companion, to unite their souls to him in spiritual
marriage : it is great enough to take their nature upon him, to become one of
them, that he may be one with them : yea, it is great enough to abase himself
yet lower for them, even to expose himself to shame and spitting ; yea, to yield
up himself to an ignominious death for them. And what act of condescension
can be conceived of greater ? Yet such an act as this, has his condescension
yielded to, for those that are so low and mean, despicable and unworthy !
Such a conjunction of such infinite highness and low condescension, in the
same person, is admirable. We see, by manifold instances, what a tendency a
high station has in men, to make them to be of a quite a contrary disposition.
If one worm be a little exalted above another, by having more dust, or a bigger
dunghill, how much does he make of himself! What a distance does he keep
from those that are below him ! And a little condescension is what he expects
should be made much of, and greatly acknowledged. Christ condescends to
wash our feet; but how would great men (or rather the bigger worms) account
themselves debased by acts of far less condescension !
2. There meet in Jesus Christ, infinite justice and infinite grace. As Christ
is a divine person he is infinitely holy and just, infinitely hating sin, and disposed
182 EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST.
to execute condign punishment for sin. He is the Judge of the world, and is
the infinitely just judge of it, and will not at all acquit the wicked, or by any
means clear the guilty.
And yet he is one that is infinitely gracious and merciful. Though his jus
tice be so strict with respect to all sin, and every breach of the law, yet he has
grace sufficient for every sinner, and even the chief of sinners. And it is not
only sufficient for the most unworthy to show them mercy, and bestow some
good upon them, but to bestow the greatest good ; yea, it is sufficient to bestow
all good upon them, and to do all things for them. There is no benefit or bless-
in^ that they can receive so great, but the grace of Christ is sufficient to bestow
it on the greatest sinner that ever lived. And not only so, but so great is his
grace, that nothing is too much as the means of this good : it is sufficient not
only to do great things, but also to suffer in order to it ; and not only to suffer,
but to suffer most extremely even unto death, the most terrible of natural evils ;
and not only death, but the most ignominious and tormenting, and every way
the most terrible death that men could inflict ; yea, and greater sufferings than
men could inflict, who could only torment the body, but also those sufferings in
his soul, that were the more immediate fruits of the wrath of God against the
sins of those he undertakes for.
II. There do meet in the person of Christ such really diverse excellencies,
which otherwise would have been thought utterly incompatible in the same sub
ject ; such as are conjoined in no other person whatever, either divine, human,
or angelical ; and such as neither men nor angels would ever have imagined
could have met together in the same person, had it not been seen in the person
of Christ. I would give some instances.
1. In the person of Christ do meet together infinite glory, and the lowest
humility. Infinite glory and the virtue of humility, meet in no other person but
Christ. They meet in no created person; for no created person has in
finite glory : and they meet in no other divine person but Christ. For though
the divine nature be infinitely abhorrent to pride, yet humility is not properly
predicable of God the Father, and the Holy Ghost, that exist only in the di
vine nature ; because it is a proper excellency only of a created nature ; for it con
sists radically in a sense of a comparative lowness and littleness before God, or
the great distance between God and the subject of this virtue ; but it would be
a contradiction to suppose any such thing in God.
But in Jesus Christ, who is both God and man, these two diverse excellen
cies are sweetly united. He is a person infinitely exalted in glory and dignity.
Phil. ii. 6, " Being in the form of God, he thought it not robbery to be equal
with God." There is equal honor due to him with the Father. John v. 25,
" That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father." God
himself says so to him : " Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever," Heb. i. 8.
And there is the same supreme respect and divine worship paid to him by the
angels of heaven, as to God the Father ; as there, verse 6, " Let all the angels
of God worship him."
But however he is thus above all, yet he is lowest of all in humility. There
never was so great an instance of this virtue among either men or angels, as
Jesvs. None ever was so sensible of the distance between God and him, or
had a heart so lowly before God, as the man Christ Jesus, Matt. xi. 29. What
a wonderful spirit of humility appeared in him, when he was here upon earth
in all his behavior ! In his contentment, in his mean outward condition, con
tentedly living in the family of Joseph the carpenter, and Mary his mother, for
thirty years together and afterwards choosing outward meanness, poverty and
EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST. 183
contempt^ rather than earthly greatness; in his washing his disciples feet,
and in all his speeches and deportment towards them ; in his cheerfully sus
taining the form of a servant through his whole life, and submitting to such im
inense humiliation at death !
2. In the person of Christ do meet together infinite majesty and transcend
ent meekness. These again are two qualifications that meet together in no
other person but Christ. Meekness, properly so called, is a virtue proper only
to the creature : we scarcely ever find meekness mentioned as a divine attri
bute in Scripture ; at least not in the New Testament ; for thereby seems to
be signified, a calmness and quietness of spirit, arising from humility in mutable
beings that are naturally liable to be put into a ruffle by the assaults of a tem
pestuous and injurious world. But Christ being both God and man, hath both
infinite majesty and superlative meekness.
Christ was a person of infinite majesty. It is he that is spoken of, Psalm
xlv. 3 : " Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, most mighty, with thy glory and
thy majesty." It is he that is mighty, that rideth on the heavens, and in his
excellency on the sky. It is he that is terrible out of his holy places ; who is
mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the
sea ; before whom a fire goeth, and burneth up his enemies round about ; at
whose presence the earth doth quake, and the hills do melt ; who sitteth on
the circle of the earth, and all the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers ; who
rebukes the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up the rivers ; whose eyes are as
a flame of fire ; from whose presence, and from the glory of whose power, the
wicked shall be punished with everlasting destruction ; who is the blessed and
only potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, that hath heaven for his
throne and the earth for his foostool, and is the high and lofty One, who in
habits eternity, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and of w r hose domin
ion there is no end.
And yet he was the most marvellous instance of meekness, and humble quiet
ness of spirit, that ever was ; agreeable to the prophecies of him. Matt. xxi.
4, 5, " All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto
thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass." And agree
able to what Christ declares of himself, Matt. xi. 29, " I am meek and lowly
in heart." And agreeable to what was manifest in his behavior here in this
world : for there was never such an instance seen on earth, of a meek behavior,
under injuries and reproaches, and towards enemies ; who, when he was reviled,
reviled not again; who was of a wonderful spirit of forgiveness, was ready to
forgive his worst enemies, and prayed for them with fervent and effectual pray
ers. With what meekness did he appear when in the ring of soldiers that were
contemning and mocking him, when he was silent and opened not his mouth,
but went as a lamb to the slaughter ! Thus is Christ a lion in majesty, and a
lamb in meekness.
3. There meet, in the person of Christ, the deepest reverence towards God
and equality with God. Christ, when he was here on earth, appeared full of
holy reverence towards the Father : he paid the most reverential worship to him
jvitb postures of reverence. Thus we read of his " kneeling down and praying,"
Luke xxii. 41. This became Christ, as he was one that had taken on him the
human nature ; but at the same time he existed in the divine nature ; whereby
his person was in all respects equal to the person of the Father. God the Father
hath no attribute or perfection that the Son hath not, in equal degree, and
equal glory. These things meet in no other person but Jesus Christ.
184 EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST.
4. There are conjoined in the person of Christ infinite worthiness of good,
and the greatest patience under sufferings of evil. He was perfectly innocent,
and deserved no suffering. He deserved nothing from God by any guilt of his
own ; and he deserved no ill from men. Yea, he was not only harmless and
undeserving of suffering, but he was infinitely worthy, worthy of the infinite
love of the Father, worthy of infinite and eternal happiness, and infinitely wor
thy of all possible esteem, love, and service from all men. And yet he was
perfectly patient under the greatest sufferings that ever were endured in this
world. Heb. xii. 2, " He endured the cross, despising the shame." He suffer
ed not from his Father for his faults, but ours; and he suffered from men not
for his faults, but for those things on account of which he was infinitely worthy
of their love and honor ; which made his patience the more wonderful and the
more glorious. 1 Pet. ii. 20 24, " For wha" glory is it, if when ye be buffeted
for your faults, ye shall take it patiently 1 But if when ye do well, and suffer
for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto
were ye called ; because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that ye should follow his steps ; who did no sin, neither was guile found in his
mouth ; who, when he was reviled, reviled not again ; when he suffered, he
threatened not ; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously : who
his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to
sins, should live unto righteousness : by whose stripes ye were healed." There
is no such conjunction of innocence, worthiness and patience under sufferings,
as in the person of Christ.
5. In the person of Christ are conjoined an exceeding spirit of obedience,
with supreme dominion over heaven and earth. Christ is the Lord of all things
in two respects : he is so, as he is God-man and mediator; and so his dominion
is appointed, and given of the Father, and is by delegation from God, and he
is, as it were, the Father s vicegerent. But he is Lord of all things in another
respect, viz., as he is (by his original nature) God; and so he is by natural
right the Lord of all, and Supreme over all as much as the Father. Thus, he
has dominion over the world, not by delegation, but in his own right : he is not
an under God, as the Arians suppose, but, to all intents and purposes, Supreme
God.
And yet in the same person is found the greatest spirit of obedience to the
commands and law of God that ever was in the universe ; which was manifest
in his obedience here in this world. John xiv. 31, " As the Father gave me
commandment, even so I do." John xv. 10, "Even as I have kept my Fa
ther s commandments, and abide in his love." The greatness of his spirit of
obedience appears in the perfection of his obedience, and in his obeying com
mands of such exceeding difficulty. Never any one received commands from
God of such difficulty, and that were so great a trial of obedience, as Jesus Christ.
One of God s commands to him was, that he should yield himself to those dread
ful sufferings that he underwent. See John x. 18 : " No man taketh it from
me, but I lay it down of myself." " This commandment received I of my
Father." And Christ was thoroughly obedient to this command of God. Heb.
vi. 8, " Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things that he
suffered." Philip, ii. 8, " He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross." Never was there such an instance of obedience in
man nor angel as this, though he that obeyed was at the same time Supreme
Lord of both angels and men.
6. In the person of Christ are conjoined absolute sovereignty and perfect re
signation. This is another unparalleled conjuncv.on. Christ, as he is God, is thf
EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST. 185
absolute sovereign of the world ; he is the sovereign disposer of events. The
decrees of God are all his sovereign decrees ; and the work of creation, and all
God s works of providence, are his sovereign works. It is he that worketh all
things according to the counsel of his own will. Col. i. 16, 17, " By him,
and through him, and to him, are all things." John v. 17, " The Father work
eth hitherto, and I work." Matt. vii. 3, " I will, be thou clean."
But yet Christ was the most wonderful instance of resignation that ever ap
peared in the world. He was absolutely and perfectly resigned when he had a
near and immediate prospect of his terrible sufferings, and the dreadful cup that
he was to drink, the idea and expectation of which made his soul exceeding
sorrowful, even unto death, and put him into such an agony that his sweat was
as it were great drops or clots of blood, falling down to the ground ; but in
such circumstances he was wholly resigned to the will of God. Matt. xxvi.
39, " my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless,
not as I will, but as thou wilt." Ver. 42, " my Father, if this cup may not
pass from me, except I drink it, thy will be done."
7. In Christ do meet together self-sufficiency, and an entire trust and reliance
on God ; which is another conjunction peculiar to the person of Christ. As
he is a divine person, he is self-sufficient, standing in need of nothing : all
creatures are dependent on him, but he is dependent on none, but is absolutely
independent. His proceeding from the Father, in his eternal generation of
filiation, argues no proper dependence on the will of the Father ; for that pro
ceeding was natural and necessary, and not arbitrary. But yet Christ entirely
trusted in God : his enemies say that of him, " He trusted in God that he
would deliver him," Matt, xxvii. 43. And the apostle testifies, 1 Pet. ii. 23,
" That he committed himself to God."
III. Such diverse excellencies are expressed in him towards men, that
otherwise would have seemed impossible to be exercised towards the same
object ; as particularly these three, justice, mercy, and truth. The same that
are mentioned Psalm Ixxxv. 10, " Mercy and truth are met together, righteous
ness and peace have kissed each other." The strict justice of God, and even
his revenging justice, and that against the sins of men, never was so gloriously
manifested as in Christ. He manifested an infinite regard to the attribute of
God s justice, in that, when he had a mind to save sinners, he was willing to
undergo such extreme sufferings, rather than that their salvation should be to
the injury of the honor of that attribute. And as he is the judge of the world, he
doth himself exercise strict justice ; he will not clear the guilty, nor at all acquit
the wicked in judgment. And yet how wonderfully is infinite mercy towards
sinners displayed in him ! And what glorious and ineffable grace and love have
been, and are exercised by him, towards sinful men ! Though he be the just
judge of a sinful work), yet he is also the Saviour of the world. Though he
be a consuming fire to sin, yet he is the light and life of sinners. Rom. iii. 25,
26, " Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood,
to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the
forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he
might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."
So the immutable truth of God, in the threatenings of his law against the
sins of men, was never so manifested as it is in Jesus Christ; for there never
was any other so great a trial of the unalterableness of the truth of God in
those threatenings, as when sin came to be imputed to his own Son. And
then in Christ has been seen already an actual complete accomplishment of
those threatenings which never has been, nor will be seen in any other in-
Voi, IV. 24
186 EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST.
stance ; because the eternity that will be taken up in fulfilling those threaten-
ings on others, never will be finished. Christ manifested an infinite regard to
this truth of God in his sufferings. And, in his judging the world, he makes
the covenant of works, that contains those dreadful threatenings, his rule of
judgment ; he will see to it, that it is not infringed in the least jot or tittle ; he
will do nothing contrary to the threatenings of the law, and their complete
fulfilment. And yet in him we have many great and precious promises, prom
ises of perfect deliverance from the penalty of the law. And this is the prom
ise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. And in him are all the prom
ises of God, Yea, and Amen.
Having thus shown wherein there is an admirable conjunction of excellen
cies in Jesus Christ, I now proceed,
Secondly, To show how this admirable conjunction of excellencies appears
in Christ s acts.
I. It appears in what Christ did in taking on him our nature. In this act
his infinite condescension wonderfully appeared, that he that was God should
become man j that the Word should be made flesh, and should take on him a
nature infinitely below his original nature ! And it appears yet more remarka
bly in the low circumstances of his incarnation. He was conceived in the
womb of a poor young woman, whose poverty appeared in that, when she
came to offer sacrifices for her purification, she brought what was allowed of
in the law only in case of poverty ; as Luke ii. 24 : " According to that which
is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons."
This was allowed only in case the person was so poor that she was not able to
offer a lamb. Levit. xii. 8.
And though his infinite condescension thus appeared in the manner of his
incarnation, yet his divine dignity also appeared in it ; for though he was con
ceived in the womb of a poor virgin, yet he was there conceived by the power
of the Holy Ghost. And his divine dignity also appeared in the holiness of
his conception and birth. Though he was conceived in the womb of one of the
corrupt race of mankind, yet he was conceived and born without sin ; as the
angels said to the blessed Virgin, Luke i. 35 : " The Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee ; therefore
also that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of
His infinite condescension marvellously appeared in the manner of his birth.
He was brought forth in a stable, because there was no room for them in the
inn. The inn was taken up by others, that were looked upon as persons of
greater account. The blessed Virgin, being poor and despised, was turned or
shut out. Though she was in such necessitous circumstances, yet those that
counted themselves her betters would not give place to her ; and therefore, in
the time of her travail, she was forced to betake herself to a stable ; and when
the child was born, it was wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger;
and there Christ lay a little infant; and there he eminently appeared as a lamb.
But yet this feeble infant, that was born thus in a stable, and laid in a manger,
was born to conquer and triumph over Satan, that roaring lion. He came to
subdue the mighty powers of darkness, and make a show of them openly ; and
and so to restore peace on earth, and to manifest God s good will towards men,
and to brincr glory to God in the highest ; according as the end of his birth was
declared by the joyful songs of the glorious hosts of angels, appearing to the
shepherds at the same time that the infant lay in the manger ; whereby his
divine dignity was manifested.
EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST. 187
II. This admirable conjunction of excellencies appears in the acts and
various passages of Christ s life. Though Christ dwelt on the earth in mean out
ward circumstances, whereby his condescension and humility especially appear
ed, and his majesty was veiled ; yet his divine dignity and glory did, in many
of his acts, shine through the veil, and it illustriously appeared, that he was not
only the Son of man, but the great God.
Thus in the circumstances of his infancy, his outward meanness appeared ;
yet there was something then to show forth his divine dignity, in the wise men s
being stirred up to come from the east to give honor to him, their being led by
a miraculous star, and coming and falling down and worshipping him, and pre
senting him with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. His humility and meekness
wonderfully appeared in his subjection to his mother and reputed father when
he was a child : he therein appeared as a lamb. But his divine glory broke forth
and shone, when, at twelve years old, he disputed with the doctors in the tem
ple. In that he appeared, in some measure, as the Lion of the tribe ofJudah.
And so, after he entered on his public ministry, his marvellous humility and
meekness was manifested, in his choosing to appear in such mean outward cir
cumstances, and in being so contented in them, when he was so poor that he
had not where to lay his head, and depended on the charity of some of his follow
ers for his subsistence ; as appears by Luke viii. at the beginning ; as also in
his meek, condescending, and familiar treatment of his disciples ; in his discour
ses with them, treating them as a father his children ; yea, as friends and com
panions ; and in his patient bearing such affliction and reproach, and so many in
juries from the Scribes and Pharisees, and others : in these things he appeared as
a lamb. And yet he at the same time did many ways show forth his divine majesty
and glory, particularly in the miracles that he wrought, which were evidently
divine works, and manifested omnipotent power, and so declared him to be the
Lion of the tribe of Judah, His wonderful and miraculous works plainly
showed him to be the God of nature ; in that it appeared by them that he had all
nature in his hands, and could lay an arrest upon it, and stop, and change its
course as he pleased. In healing the sick, and opening the eyes of the blind,
and unstopping the ears of the deaf, and healing the lame; he showed that he
was the God that framed the eye, and created the ear, and was the author of
the frame of man s body. By the dead s rising at his command, it appeared
that he was the author and fountain of life, and that " God the Lord, to whom
belong the issues from death." By his walking on the sea in a storm, when
the waves were raised, he showed himself to be that God spoken of, Job ix. 8,
" That treadeth on the waves of the sea." By his stilling the storm, and calm
ing the rage of the sea, by his powerful command, saying, " Peace, be still,"
he showed himself to be he that has the command of the universe, and to be
that God that brings things to pass by the word of his power, that speaks and
it is done, that commands and it stands fast ; and he that is spoken of, Psalm
Ixv. 7, " Who stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves." And
Psalm cvii. 29, "That maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are
still." And Psalm Ixxxix. 8, 9, " Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord
like unto thee, or to thy faithfulness round about thee ? Thou rulest the raging
of the sea ; when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them." Christ, by cast
ing out devils, remarkably appeared as the Lion of the. tribe of Judah, and
showed that he was stronger than that roaring lion, that seeks whom he may
devour. He commanded them to come out, and they were forced to obey.
They were terribly afraid of him ; they fall down before him, and beseech him
not to torment them ; he forces a whole legion of them to forsake their old
138 EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST.
hold, by his powerful word ; and they could not so much as enter into the
swine without his leave. He showed the glory of his omniscience, by telling
the thoughts of men ; as we have often an account. Herein he appeared to be
that God spoken of, Amos iv. 13, " That declareth unto man what is his
thought." Thus, in the midst of his meanness and humiliation, his divine glory
appeared in his miracles : John ii. 11, " This beginning of miracles did Jesus in
Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory."
And though Christ ordinarily appeared without outward glory, and in great
obscurity, yetat a certain time he threw off the veil, and appeared in his divine
majesty, so far as it could be outwardly manifested to men in this frail state,
when he was transfigured in the mount. The Apostle Peter speaks of it, 2 Pet
i. 16, 17. Speaking there of himself, as one that was an " eye-witness of his
majesty, when he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there
came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased ; which voice that came from heaven they heard, when
they were with him in the holy mount."
And at the same time that Christ was wont to appear in such meekness,
condescension, and humility, in his familiar discourses with his disciples, appear
ing therein as the Lamb of God ; he was also wont to appear as the Lion of the
tribe ofJudah, with divine authority and majesty, in his so sharply rebuking the
Scribes and Pharisees, and other hypocrites.
III. This admirable conjunction of excellencies remarkably appears in his
offering up himself a sacrifice for sinners in his last sufferings. As this was the
greatest thing in all the work of redemption, the greatest act of Christ in that
work ; so inthis act especially does there appear that admirable conjunction of
excellencies that has been spoken of. Christ never so much appeared as a lamb,
as when he was slain : " He came like a lamb to the slaughter," Isaiah liii. 7.
Then he was offered up to God as a lamb without blemish, and without spot :
then especially did he appear to be the antitype of the lamb of the passover :
1 Cor. v. 7, " Christ our passover sacrificed for us." And yet in that act he
did in an especial manner appear as the Lion of the tribe of Judah ; yea, in this
above all other acts, in many respects, as may appear in the following things.
1. Then was Christ in the greatest degree of his humiliation, and yet by
that, above all other things, his divine glory appears. Christ s humiliation was
great, in being born in such a low condition, of a poor virgin, and in a stable:
his humiliation was great, in being subject to Joseph the carpenter, and Mary
his mother, and afterwards living in poverty, so as not to have where to lay his
head, and in suffering such manifold and bitter reproaches as he suffered, while
he went about preaching and working miracles ; but his humiliation was never
so o-reat as it was in his last sufferings, beginning with his agony in the garden,
untU he expired on the cross. Never was he subject to such ignominy as then ;
never did he suffer so much pain in his body, or so much sorrow in his soul ;
never was he in so great an exercise of his condescension, humility, meekness,
and patience, as he was in these las* sufferings ; never was his divine glory and
maiesty covered with so thick and dark a veil ; never did he so empty himself,
and make himself of no reputation, as at this time ; and yet never was his divine
glory so manifested by any act of his, as in that act of yielding himself up tr
sufferings. When the frirtt of it came to appear, and the mystery and ends of
it to be unfolded in the Issue of it, then did the glory of it appear; then did it
appear as the most glorious act of Christ that ever he exercised towards the
creature. This act of his is celebrated by the angels and hosts of heaven Witt
peculiar praises, as that which is above all others glorious, as you may see in the
EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST. 189
context, verse 9, &c. : " And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to
take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast re
deemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people,
and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall
reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round
about the throne, and the beasts, and the elders ; and the number of them was ten
thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands ; saying with a loud
voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wis
dom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing."
2. He never in any act gave so great a manifestation of love to God, and
yet never so manifested his love to those that were enemies to God, as in that
act. Christ never did any thing whereby his love to the Father was so emi
nently manifested, as in his laying down his life, under such inexpressible suffer
ings, in obedience to his command, and for the vindication of the honor of his
authority and majesty ; nor did ever any mere creature give such a testimony of
love to God as that was ; and yet this was the greatest expression of all of his
love to sinful men, that were enemies to God : Rom. v. 10, " When we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son." The greatness
of Christ s love to such appears in nothing so much as in its being dying love.
That blood of Christ that was sweat out, and fell in great drops to the ground,
in his agony was shed from love to God s enemies and his own. That shame
and spitting, that torment of body, and that exceeding sorrow, even unto death,
that he endured in his soul, was what he underwent from love to rebels against
God, to save them from hell, and to purchase for them eternal glory. Never
did Christ so eminently show his regard to God s honor, as in offering up him
self a victim to revenging justice, to vindicate God s honor : and yet in this,
above all, he manifested his love to them that dishonored Gcd, so as to bring
such guilt upon themselves, that nothing less than his blood could atone for it.
3. Christ never so eminently appeared for divine justice, and yet never suf
fered so much from divine justice, as when he offered up himself a sacrifice for
our sins. In Christ s great sufferings, did his infinite regard to the honor of
God s justice distinguishingly appear ; for it was from regard to that, that he
thus humbled himself: and yet in these sufferings, Christ was the mark of the
vindictive expressions of that very justice of God. Revenging justice then
spent all its force upon him, on the account of our guilt that was laid upon him ;
he was not spared at all ; but God spent the arrows of his vengeance upon him,
which made him sweat blood, and cry out upon the cross, and probably rent his
vitals, broke his heart, the fountain of blood, or some other internal blood ves
sels, and by the violent fermentation turned his blood to water : for the blood
and water that issued out of his side, when pierced by the spear, seems to have
been extravasated blood ; and so there might be a kind of literal fulfilment of
that in Psalm xxii. 14, " I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out
of joint; my heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels." And
this was the way and means by which Christ stood up for the honor of God s
justice, viz., by thus suffering its terrible executions. For when he had under
taken for sinners, and had substituted himself in their room, divine justice could
have its due honor no other way than by his suffering its revenges.
In this the diverse excellencies that meet in the person of Christ appeared,
viz., his infinite regard to God s justice, and such love to those that have expos
ed themselves to i, as induced him thus to yield himself a sacrifice to it.
4. Christ s holiness never so illustriously shone forth as it did in his last suf
ferings ; and yet he never was to such a degree treated as guilty. Christ s ho-
190 EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST
lines never had such a trial as it had then; and therefore never had so great a
manifestation. When it was tried in this furnace, it came forth as gold, or as
silver purified ! seven times. His holiness then above all appeared in his stead
fast pursuit of the honor of God, and his obedience to him: for hi yielding
himself unto death was transcendently the greatest act of obedience that ever
was paid to God by any one since the foundation of the world
And yet then Christ was in the greatest degree treated as a wicked person.
He was apprehended and bound as a malefactor. His accusers represented him
as a mos wicked wretch. In his sufferings before his crucifixion, he was treated
as i he had been the worst and vilest of mankind ; and then he was put to a
kind of death, that none but the worst sort of malefactors were wont to suffer
those that were most abject in their persons, and guilty of the blackest crimes!
And he suffered as though gudty from God himself, by reason of our miilt im
puted to him ; for he was made sin for us, who knew no sin; he was made
subject to wrath, as if he had been sinful himselr: he was made a curse for us
Christ never so greatly manifested his hatred of sin, as against God, as in
his dying to take away the d.shonor that sin had done to God ; and vet never
was he to such a degree subject to the terrible effects of God s hatred to sin
and wrath against it, as he was then. In this appears those diverse excelled
cies meeting in Chr.st, viz., love to God, and grace to sinners
5. He never was so dealt with as unworthy as in his last sufferings, and yet
: B chiefly on account of them that he is accounted worthy. He was therein
deal with as if he had not been worthy to live : they cry out, - Away with
him ! Away with him ! Crucify him," John xiv. 15. And they prefer Bar-
abbas before him. And he suffered from the Father, as one whose demerits
were infinite by reason of our demerits that were laid upon him. And yet it
wa S< especially by that act of his, subjecting himself to those sufferings, that he
merited, and on the account of which chiefly he was accounted worthy of his
exaltation: Philip, i, 8 9 "He humbled himself, and became obedient unto
death ; wherefore God hath highly exalted him." And we see that it is on
this account chiefly that he is extolled as worthy by saints and angels in the
context : Worthy," say they, - is the Lamb that was slain." This shows an
admirable conjunction in him of infinite dignity, and infinite condescension and
love to the infinitely unworthy.
6. Christ in his last sufferings suffered most extremely from those that he was
hen in ma greatest act of love to. He never suffered so much from his Father
(though not from any hatred to him, but from hatred to our sins), for he then for-
sook him (as Christ on the cross expresses it), or took away the comforts of his
presence; and then it pleased the Lord to bruise him, and put him to grief"
as Isaiah 1m. 10 ; yet he never gave so great a manifestation of love to God as
then as has been already observed. So Christ never suffered so much from the
hands oi men as he did then ; yet never was so high an exercise of love to men
He never was so ,11 treated by his disciples; who were so unconcerned about
his sufferings, that they would not watch with him one hour, in his agony; and
when he was apprehended, all forsook him and fled, except Peter, who denied
him with oaths and curses. And yet then he was suffering, shedding his blood,
and pounng out his soul unto death for them. Yea, he probably was then shed
ding h* blood for some of them that shed his blood : he was dying for some
that killed him ; whom he prayed for while they were crucifying him ; and
were probably afterwards brought home to Christ by Peter s preaching Com
pare Luke xii. 34, Acts ii. 23,36,37,41, and chapter iii. 17, and chapter
IV f c h VS an admirable meetin g of J^tice and grace in the redemption
EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST. 19]
7. It was in Christ s last suffering, above all, that he was delivered up to the
power of his enemies ; and yet by these, above all, he obtained victory over
his enemies. Christ never was so in his enemies hands, as in the time of his
last sufferings. They sought his life before ; but from time to time they were
restrained, and Christ escaped out of their hands; and this reason is given for
it, that his time was not yet come; but now they were suffered to work their
will upon him ; he was in a great degree delivered up to the malice and cruelty
of both wicked men and devils ; and therefore when Christ s enemies came to
apprehend him, he says to them, Luke xxii. 53, " When I was daily with you
in the temple, ye stretched forth no hand against me ; but this is your hour,
and the power of darkness."
And yet it was principally by means of those sufferings that he conquered
and overthrew his enemies. Christ never so effectually bruised Satan s head,
as when he bruised his heel. The weapon with which Christ warred against
the devil, and obtained a most complete victory and glorious triumph over him,
was the cross, the instrument and weapon with which he thought he had over
thrown Christ, and brought on him shameful destruction. Col. ii. 14, 15,
" Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances nailing it to his cross ; and
having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, tri
umphing over them in it." In his last sufferings, Christ sapped the very foun
dations of Satan s kingdom ; he conquered his enemies in their own territories,
and beat them with their own weapons ; as David cut off Goliath s head with
his own sword. The devil had, as it were, swallowed up Christ, as the whale
did Jonah ; but it was deadly poison to him ; he gave him a mortal wound in
his own bowels; he was soon sick of his morsel, and forced to vomit him up
again ; and is to this day heart-sick of what he then swallowed as his prey. In
those sufferings of Christ was laid the foundation of all that glorious victory
that he has already obtained over Satan, in the overthrow of his heathenish
kingdom in the Roman empire, and all the success the gospel has had since;
and also of all his future and still more glorious victory that is to be obtained
in all the earth. Thus Samson s riddle is most eminently fulfilled, Judges xiv.
14, " Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweet
ness." And thus the true Samson does more towards the destruction of his
enemies at his death than in his life; in yielding up himself to death, he pulls
down the temple of Dagon, and destroys many thousands of his enemies, even
while they are making themselves sport in his sufferings ; and so he whose type
was the ark, pulls down Dagon, and breaks off his head and hands in his own
temple, even while he is brought in there as Dagon s captive.
Thus Christ appeared at the same time, and in the same act, as both a lion
and a lamb. He appeared as a lamb in the hands of his cruel enemies ; as a
lamb in the paws, and between the devouring jaws, of a roaring lion ; yea, he
was a lamb actually slain by this lion ; and yet at the same time, as the Lion of
the tribe o/Judah, he conquers and triumphs over Satan, destroying his own de-
vourer ; as Samson did the lion that roared upon him, when he rent him as he
would a kid. And in nothing has Christ appeared so much as a hon, in glo
rious strength destroying his enemies, as when he was brought as a lamb to the
slaughter. In his greatest weakness he was most strong ; and when he suffered
most from his enemies, he brought the greatest confusion on his enemies.
Thus this admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies was manifest in Christ,
in his offering up himself to God in his last sufferings.
IV. It is still manifest in his acts, in his present state of exaltation in heaven
Indeed, in his exalted state, he most eminently appears in a manifestation of
192 EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST.
those excellencies, on the account of which he is compared to a lion ; but still
he appears as a lamb. Rev. xiv. 1, " And I looked, arid lo, a Lamb stood on
Mount Sion ;" as in his state of humiliation he chiefly appeared as a lamb, and
yet did not appear without manifestations of his divine majesty and power, a&
the. Lion of tke tribe of Judah. Though Christ be now at the right hand of
God, exalted as King of heaven, and Lord of the universe ; yet as he still is in
the human nature, he still excels in humility. Though the man Christ Jesus
be the highest of all creatures in heaven, yet he as much excels them all in
humility, as he doth in glory and dignity ; for none sees so much of the distance
between God and him as he does. And though he now appears in such glo
rious majesty and dominion in heaven, yet he appears as a lamb in condescend
ing, mild and sweet treatment of his saints there ; for he is a Lamb still, even
in the midst of the throne of his exaltation ; and he that is the shepherd of the
whole flock is himself a Lamb, and goes before them in heaven as such. Rev.
vii. 17, " For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and
shall lead them unto living fountains of waters ; and God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes." Though in heaven every knee bows to him, and
though the angels fall down before him, adoring him, yet he treats his saints
withinfinite condescension, mildness and endearment. And, in his acts to
wards the saints on earth, he still appears as a Lamb, manifesting exceed
ing love and tenderness, in his intercession for them, as one that has had ex
perience of affliction and temptation : he has not forgot what these things are ;
nor has he forgot how to pity those that are subject to them. And he still man*
ifests his lamb-like excellencies, in his dealings with his saints on earth, in ad
mirable forbearance, love, gentleness and compassions, instructing, supplying,
supporting and comforting them, often coming to them, and manifesting himself
to them by his Spirit, that he may sup with them, and they with him, admitting
them to sweet communion with him, enabling them with boldness and confidence
to come to him and solace their hearts in him. And in heaven Christ still ap
pears, as it were, with the marks of his wounds upon him ; and so appears as a
Lamb as it had been slain; as he was represented in vision to St. John, in the
text, when he appeared to open the book sealed with seven seals, which is part
of the glory of his exaltation.
V. And, lastly, this admirable conjunction of excellencies will be manifested
in Christ s acts at the last judgment. He then, above all other times, will ap
pear as the Lion of the tribe of Judah in infinite greatness and majesty, when he
shall come in the glory of his Father, with all the holy angels, and the earth
shall tremble before him, and the hills shall melt. This is he, spoken of Rev.
xx. 11, that shall "sit on a great white throne, before whose face the earth and
heaven shall flee away." He will then appear in the most dreadful and amaz
ing manner to the wicked : the devils tremble at the thoughts of that appear
ance ; and when it shall be, the kings and the great men, and the rich men,
and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free
man, shall hide themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and
shall cry to the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from thf
face and wrath of the Lamb. And none can declare or conceive of the amaz
ing manifestations of wrath in which he will then appear towards these ; or the
trembling and astonishment, the shrieking and gnashing of teeth, with winch
they shall stand before his judgment seat, and receive the terrible sentence ot
his wrath. ,.
And yet he will at the same time appear as a Lamb to his saints : he will
receive them as friends and brethren, treating them with infinite mildness and
EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST. 593
love : there shall be nothing in him terrible to them ; but towards them he will
clothe himself wholly with sweetness and endearment. The church shall then
be admitted to him as his bride : that shall be her wedding day : the saints
shall all be sweetly invited to come with him to inherit the kingdom, and reign
in it with him to all eternity.
APPLICATION.
I. From this doctrine we may learn one reason why Christ is called by such
a variety of names, and held forth under such a variety of representations in
Scripture. It is the better to signify and exhibit to us that variety of excellen
cies that meet together, and are conjoined in him. Many appellations are men
tioned together in one verse: Isa. ix. 6, " For unto us a Child is born, unto us
a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name
shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace." It shows a wonderful conjunction of excellencies, that
the same person should be a Son, born and given, and yet be the everlasting
Father, without a beginning or end ; that he should be a Child, and yet be he
whose name is Counsellor, and the mighty God ; and well may his name in
whom such things are conjoined, be called Wonderful.
By reason of the same wonderful conjunction, Christ is represented by a
great variety of sensible things, that are on some account excellent. Thus in
some places he is called a Sun, as Mai. iv. 2, in others a Star, Numb. xxiv. 17.
And he is especially represented by the Morning Star, as being that which ex
cels all other stars in brightness, and is the forerunner of the day, Rev. xxii. 16.
And, as in our text, he is compared to a lion in one verse, and a lamb in the
next, so sometimes he is compared to a roe, or a young hart, another creature
most diverse from a lion. So in some places he is called a rock, in others he
is compared to a pearl : in some places he is called a man of war, and the Cap
tain of our salvation, in other places he is represented as a bridegroom. In the
second chapter of Canticles, the 1st verse, he is compared to a rose and lily,
that are sweet and beautiful flowers; in the next verse but one, he is compared
to a tree, bearing sweet fruit. In Isa. liii. 2, he is called a Root out of a dry
ground ; but elsewhere, instead of that, he is called the Tree of Life, that
g-ows (not in a dry or barren ground, but) "in the midst of the paradise of
od," Rev. ii. 7.
II. Let the consideration of this wonderful meeting of diverse excellencies in
Christ induce you to accept him, and close with him as your Saviour. As all
manner of excellencies meet in him, so there are concurring in him all manner
of arguments and motives, to move you to choose him for your Saviour, and
every thing that tends to encourage poor sinners to come and put their trust in
him. His fulness and all-sufficiency as a Saviour gloriously appear in that variety
of excellencies that has been spoken of. /
Fallen man is in a state of exceeding great misery, and is helpless in it , he
is a poor weak creature, like an infant, cast out in its blood, in the day that it
is born : but Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah ; he is strong, though we
are weak ; he hath prevailed to do that for us which no creature else could do.
Fallen man is a mean, despicable creature, a contemptible worm ; but Christ
who has undertaken for us, is infinitely honorable and worthy. Fallen man is
polluted, but Christ is infinitely holy : fallen man is hateful, but Christ is infi
nitely lovely : fallen man is the object of God s indignation, but Christ is infi
nitely dear to him : we have dreadfully provoked God, but Christ has performed
that righteousness that is infinitely precious in God s eyes.
VOL. IV. 25
194 EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST.
And here is not only infinite strength and infinite worthiness, but infinite
Condescension ; and love and mercy, as great as power and dignity : if you are
a poor, distressed sinner, whose heart is ready to sink for fear that God never
will have mercy on you, you need not be afraid to go to Christ, for fear that he
is either unable or unwilling to help you : here is a strong foundation, and an
inexhaustible treasure, to answer the necessities of your poor soul ; and here is
infinite grace and gentleness to invite and embolden a poor, unworthy, fearful
soul to come to it. If Christ accepts you, you need not fear but that you will be
safe ; for he is a strong lion for your defence : and if you come, you need not
fear but that you shall be accepted ; for he is like a lamb to all that come to
him, and receives them with infinite grace and tenderness. It is true he has
awful majesty ; he is the great God, and is infinitely high above you ; but there
is this to encourage and embolden the poor sinner, that Christ is a man as well
as God ; he is a creature as well as the Creator ; and he is the most humble
and lowly in heart of any creature in heaven or earth. This may well make
the poor unworthy creature bold in coining to him. You need not hesitate
one moment ; but may run to him, and cast yourself upon him ; you will cer
tainly be graciously and meekly received by him. Though he be a lion, he
will only be a lion to your enemies, but he will be a lamb to you. It could not
have been conceived, had it not been so in the person of Christ, that there could
have been so much in any Saviour, that is inviting, and tending to encourage
sinners to trust in him. Whatever your circumstances are, you need not be
afraid to come to such a Saviour as this : be you never so wicked a creature,
here is worthiness enough : be you never so poor, and mean, and ignorant a
creature, there is no danger of being despised ; for though he be so much
greater than you, he is also immensely more humble than you. Any one of you
that is a father or mother, will not despise one of your own children that comes
to you in distress; much less danger is there of Christ despising you, if you in
your heart come to him. Here let me a little expostulate with the poor, bur
dened, distressed soul.
What are you afraid of, that you dare not venture your soul upon Christ ?
Are you afraid that he cannot save you ; that he is not strong enough to con
quer the enemies of your soul 1 But how can you desire one stronger than the
" mighty God ?" as Christ is called, Isa. ix. 6. Is there need of greater than
infinite strength ? Are you afraid that he will not be willing to stoop so low as
to take any gracious notice of you ? But then, look on him, as he stood in the
ring of soldiers, exposing his blessed face to be buffeted and spit upon by them I
Behold him bound, with his back uncovered to those that smote him ! And be
hold him hanging on the cross ! Do you think that he that had condescension
enough to stoop to these things, and that for his crucifiers, will be unwilling to ac
cept you if you come to him ? Or, are you afraid, that if he does accept you,
that God the Father will not accept him for you ? But consider, will God re
ject his own Son, in whom his infinite delight is and has been, from all eternity,
and that is so united to him, that if he should reject him, he would reject him
self?
2. What is there that you can desire should be in a Saviour, that is not in
Christ 1 Or, wherein should you desire a Saviour should be otherwise than
Christ is 1 What excellency is there wanting ? What is there that is great
or good ? What is there that is veneiable or winning 1 What is there that is
adorable or endearing ? Or, what can you think of, that would be encouraging,
that is not to be found in the person of Christ ? Would you have your Saviour
to be great and honorable, because you are not willing to be beholden to a
EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST. 195
mean person 1 And is not Christ a person honorable enough to be worthy that
you should be dependent on him ? Is he not a person high enough to be worthy to
be appointed to so honorable a work as your salvation ? Would you not only have
a Saviour that is of high degree, but would you have him, notwithstanding his
exaltation and dignity, to be made also of low degree, that he might have ex
perience of afflictions and trials, that he might learn by the things that he has
suffered, to pity them that suffer and are tempted ? And has not Christ been
made low enough for you ? And has he not suffered enough ? Would you
not only have him have experience of the afflictions you now suffer, but also of
that amazing wrath that you fear hereafter, that he may know how to pity
those that are in danger of it, and afraid of it ? This Christ has had experi
ence of, which experience gave him a greater sense of it, a thousand times, than
you have, or any man living has. Would you have your Saviour to be one
that is near to God, that so his mediation might be prevalent with him ? And
can you desire him to be nearer to God than Christ is, who is his only begotten
Son, of the same essence with the Father 1 And would you riot only have him
near to God, but also near to you, that you may have free access to him ? And
would you have him nearer to you than to be in the same nature, and not only
so, but united to you by a spiritual union, so close as to be fitly represented by
the union of the wife to the husband, of the branch to the vine, of the member
to the head ; yea, so as to be looked upon as one, and called one spirit ? For
so he will be united to you, if you accept him. Would you have a Saviour that
has given some great and extraordinary testimony of mercy and love to sinners,
by something that he has done, as well as by what he says ? And can you
think or conceive of greater things than Christ has done ? Was it not a great
thing for him, who was God, to take upon him human nature ; to be not only
God, but man thenceforward to all eternity 1 But would you look upon suffer
ing for sinners to be a yet greater testimony of love to sinners, than merely do
ing, though it be never so extraordinary a thing that he has done ? And would
you desire that a Saviour should suffer more than Christ has suffered for sinners ?
What is there wanting, or what would you add if you could, to make him more
fit to be your Saviour ?
But further, to induce you to accept of Christ as your Saviour, consider two
things particularly.
1. How much Christ appears as the Lamb of God in his invitations to you
to come to him and trust in him. With what sweet grace and kindness does he
from time to time call and invite you ; as Prov. viii. 4 : " Unto you, men, I
call, and my voice is to the sons of men." And Isa. Iv. 1 3, "Ho, every one
that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy
and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." How
graciously is he here inviting every one that thirsts, and in so repeating his in
vitation over and over, " Come ye to the waters ; come, buy and eat, yea,
come ! And in declaring the excellency of that entertainment which he invites
you to accept of, " Come, buy wine and milk ;" and in assuring you that your
poverty, and having nothing to pay for it, shall be no objection, " Come, he that
hath no money, come without money and without price !" And in the gracious
arguments and expostulations that he uses with you ! As it follows, " Where
fore do ye spend money for that which is not bread ? And your labor for
that which satisfieth not ? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which
is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." As much as to say, " It is
altogether needless for you to continue laboring and toiling for that which can
never serve your turn, seeking rest in the world, and in your own righteousness:
196 EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST.
I have made abundant provision for you, of that which is really good, and will
fully satisfy your desires, and answer your end, and stand ready to accept of
you : you need not be afraid ; if you will come to me, I will engage to see all your
wants supplied, and you made a happy creature/ As he promises in the third
verse, " Incline your ear, and come unto me : hear, and your soul shall live, and
I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David."
And so, Prov. ix. at the beginning. How gracious and sweet is the invitation
there ! " Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither ;" let you be never so poor,
ignorant, and blind a creature, you shall be welcome. And in the following
words, Christ sets forth the provision that he has made for you : " Come, eat of
my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled." You are in a poor
famishing state, and have nothing wherewith to feed your perishing soul ; you
have been seeking something, but yet remain destitute : hearken, how Christ
calls you to eat of his bread, and to drink of the wine that he hath mingled !
And how much like a lamb does Christ appear in Matt. xi. 28 30 : " Come
unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart ; and ye
shall find rest to your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
thou poor distressed soul, whoever thou art, that art afraid that you never
shall be saved, consider that this that Christ mentions is your very case, when
he calls to them that labor, and are heavy laden ! And how he repeatedly
promises you rest if you come to him ! In the 28th verse he says, " I will give
you rest." And in the 29th verse, " Ye shall find rest to your souls." This is
what you want. This is the thing you have been so long in vain seeking after.
how sweet would rest be to you, if you could but obtain it ! Come to Christ,
and you shall obtain it. And hear how Christ, to encourage you, represents
himself as a lamb ! He tells you, that he is meek and lowly in heart ; and are
you afraid to come to such a one ? And again. Rev. iii. 20, " Behold, 1 stand
at the door and knock : if any man hear rny voice, and open the door, I will
come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Christ condescends
not only to call you to him, but he comes to you ; he comes to your door, and
there knocks. He might send an officer and seize you as a rebel and vile male
factor ; but instead of that, he comes and knocks at your door, and seeks that
you would receive him into your house, as your friend and Saviour. And he not
only knocks at your door, but he stands there waiting, while you are backward
and unwillino-. " And not only so, but he makes promises what he will do for
you, if you will admit him, what privileges he will admit you to ; he will " sup
with you and you with him." And again, Rev. xxii. 16, 17, " I am the root
and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit
and the bride say, Come : and let him that heareth, say, Come : and let him
that is athirst come: and whosoever will, let him come and take of the water
of life freely." How does Christ here graciously set before you his own win
ning attractive excellency ! And how does he condescend to declare to you
notonly his own invitation, but the invitation of the Spirit and the bride, if by
any means he might encourage you to come ! And how does he invite every
one that will, that they may " take of the water of life freely," that they may
take it a free gift, however precious it be, and though it be the watei of life !
2. If you do come to Christ, he will appear as a lion, in his glorious power
and dominion, to defend you. All those excellencies of his, in which he
appears as a lion, shall be yours, and shall be employed for you in your defence,
for your safety, and to promote your glory ; he will be as a lion to fight against
your enemies : he that touches you, or offends you, will provoke his wrath, as
EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST. 197
he that stirs up a lion. Unless your enemies can conquer (his lion, they shall
not be able to destroy or hurt you ; unless they are stronger than he, they shall
not be able to hinder your happiness. Isa. xxxi. 4, " For thus hath the Lord
spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when
a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of
their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them ; so shall the Lord of hosts
come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof."
III. Let what has been said be improved to induce you to love the Lord
Jesus Christ, and choose him for your friend and portion. As there is such an
admirable meeting of diverse excellencies in Christ, so there is every thing in
him to render him worthy of your love and choice, and to win and engage it.
Whatsoever there is or can be, that is desirable to be in a friend, is in Christ,
and that to the highest degree that can be desired.
Would you choose a friend that is a person of great dignity ? It is a thing
taking with men to have those for their friends that are much above them, be
cause they look upon themselves honored by the friendship of such. Thus,
how taking would it be with an inferior maid to be the object of the dear love
of some great and excellent prince. But Christ is infinitely above you, and
above all the princes of the earth ; for he is King of kings. So honorable a
person as this offers himself to you, in the nearest and dearest friendship.
And would you choose to have a friend not only great but good ? In Christ^
infinite greatness and infinite goodness meet together, and receive lustre and
glory one from another. His greatness is rendered lovely by his goodness. The
greater any one is without goodness, so much the greater evil ; but when infi
nite goodness is joined with greatness, it renders it a glorious and adorable
greatness So, on the other hand, his infinite goodness receives lustre from his
greatness. He that is of great understanding and ability, and is withal of a
good and excellent disposition, is deservedly more esteemed than a lower and
lesser being, with the same kind inclination and good will. Indeed, goodness is
excellent in whatever subject it be found ; it is beauty and excellency itself, and
renders all excellent that are possessed of it ; and yet more excellent when joined
with greatness ; as the very same excellent qualities of gold do render the body
in which they are inherent more precious, and of greater value, when joined with
greater than when with lesser dimensions. And how glorious is the sight to
see him who is the great Creator and supreme Lord of heaven and earth, full
of condescension, and tender pity and mercy, towards the mean and unworthy !
His almighty power, and infinite majesty, and self-sufficiency, render his ex
ceeding love and grace the more surprising. And how do his condescension
and compassions endear his majesty, power and dominion, and render those at
tributes pleasant, that would otherwise be only terrible ! Would you not desire
that your friend, though great and honorable, be of such condescension and
grace, and so to have the way opened to free access to him, that his exaltation
above you might not hinder your free enjoyment of his friendship 1
And would you choose not only that the infinite greatness and majesty of
your friend should be, as it were, mollified and sweetened with condescension
and grace ; but would you also desire to have your friend in your own nature,
that he might he brought nearer to you 1 Would you choose a friend far above
you, and yet as it were upon a level with you too ? (Though it be taking with
men to have a near and dear friend of superior dignity, yet there is also an incli
nation in them to have their friend a sharer with them in circumstances.) Thus
is Christ. Though he be the great God, yet he has, as it were, brought himself
down to be upon a level with you, so as to become man as thou art, that he might
198 EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST.
not only be your Lord, but your brother, and that he might be the more fit to be a
companion for such a worm of the dust. This is one end of Christ s taking
upon him man s nature, that his people might be under advantages for a more
familiar converse with him, than the infinite distance of the divine nature would
allow of. And upon this account the church longed for Christ s incarnation :
Cant. viii. 1, " that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my
mother ! When I should find thee without, I would kiss thee, yea, I should
not be despised." One design of God in the gospel, is to bring us to make
God the object of our undivided respect, that he may engross our regard every
way, that whatever natural inclination there is in our souls, he may be the
centre of it ; that God may be all in all. But there is an inclination in the
creature, not only to the adoration of a Lord and Sovereign, but to complacence
in some one as a friend, to love and delight in some one that may be conversed
with as a companion. And virtue and holiness do not destroy or weaken this
inclination of our nature. But so hath God contrived in the affair of our re
demption, that a divine person may be the object even of this inclination of our
nature. And in order hereto, such a one is come down to us, and has taken
our nature, and is become one of us, and calls himself our friend, brother and
companion. Psalm cxxii. 8, " For my brethren and companions sake, will I
now say, Peace be within thee."
But is it not enough to invite and encourage to free access to a friend so
great and high, that he is one of infinite condescending grace, and also has
taken your own nature, and is become man ? But would you further, to em
bolden and win you, have him a man of wonderful meekness and humility ?
Why, such a one is Christ ! He is not only become man for you, but far the
meekest and most humble of all men, the greatest instance of these sweet vir
tues that ever was, or will be. And besides these, he has all other human ex
cellencies in the highest perfection. These, indeed, are no proper addition to
his divine excellencies. Christ has no more excellency in his person, since his
incarnation, than he had before ; for divine excellency is infinite, and cannot be
added to : yet his human excellencies are additional manifestations of his glory
and excellency to us, and are additional recommendations of him to our esteem
and love, who are of finite comprehension. Though his human excellencies are
but communications and reflections of his divine ; and though this light, as re
flected, falls infinitely short of the divine fountain of light in its immediate
glory ; yet the reflection shines not without its proper advantages, as presented
to our view and affection. As the glory of Christ appears in the qualifications
of his human nature, it appears to us in excellencies that are of our own kind,
that are exercised in our own way and manner, and so, in some respects, are
peculiarly fitted to invite our acquaintance and draw our affection. The glory
of Christ, as it appears in his divinity, though it be far brighter, yet doth it also
more dazzle our eyes, and exceeds the strength or comprehension of our sight :
but as it shines in the human excellencies of Christ, it is brought more to a
level with our conceptions, and suitableness to our nature and manner, yet re
taining a semblance of the same divine beauty, and a savor of the same divine
sweetness. But as both divine and human excellencies meet together in Christ,
they set off and recommend each other to us. It is what tends to endear the
divine and infinite majesty and holiness of Christ to us, that these are attributes
of a person that is in our nature, that is one of us, that is become our brother,
and is the meekest and humblest of men ; it encourages us to look upon these
divine perfections, however high and great, yet as what we have some near
concern in, and more of a right to, and liberty freely to enjoy. And on the
EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST. 199
other hand, how much more glorious and surprising do the meekness, the humi
lity, obedience and resignation, and other human excellencies of Christ appear,
when we consider that they are in so great a person, as the eternal Son of God
the Lord of heaven and earth !
By your choosing Christ for your friend and portion, you will obtain these
two infinite benefits :
1. Christ will give himself to you, with all those various excellencies thai
meet in him, to your full and everlasting enjoyment. He will ever after treat
you as his dear friend ; and you shall erelong be where he is, and shall behold
his glory, and shall dwell with him, in most free and intimate communion and
enjoyment.
When the saints get to heaven, they shall not merely see Christ, and have
to do with him as subjects and servants with a glorious and gracious Lord and
Sovereign, but Christ will entertain them as friends and brethren. This we
may learn from the manner of Christ s conversing with his disciples here on earth :
though he was their sovereign Lord, and did not refuse, but required their
supreme respect and adoration, yet he did not treat them as earthly sovereigns
are wont to do their subjects ; he did not keep them at an awful distance ; but
all along conversed with them with the most friendly familiarity, as a father
amongst a company of children, yea, as with brethren. So he did with the
twelve, and so he did with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. He told his disciples,
that he did not call them servants, but friends ; and we read of one of them that
leaned on his bosom. And doubtless he will not treat his disciples with less
freedom and endearment in heaven : he will not keep them at a greater distance
for his being in a state of exaltation ; but he will rather take them into a state
of exaltation with him. This will be the improvement Christ will make of his
own glory, to make his beloved friends partakers with him, to glorify them in
his glory, as he says to his Father, John xvii. 22, 23 : " And the glory which
thou hast given me, have I given them, that they may be one, even as we are
one ; 1 in them," &c. We are to consider, that though Christ is greatly exalted,
yet he is exalted, not as a private person for himself only, but as his people s
head ; he is exalted in their name, and upon their account, as the first fruits,
and as representing the whole harvest. He is not exalted that he may be at a
greater distance from them, but that they may be exalted with him. The ex
altation and honor of the head is not to make a greater distance between the
head and the members ; but the members have the same relation and union with
the head they had before, and are honored w r ith the head ; and instead of the
distance being greater, the union shall be nearer and more perfect. When be
lievers get to heaven, Christ will conform them to himself; as he is set down
on his Father s throne, so they shall sit down with him on his throne, and shall
in their measure be made like him.
When Christ was going to heaven, he comforted his disciples with that,
that after a while, he would come again, and take them to himself, that they
might be with him again. And we are not to suppose that when the disciples
got to heaven, they found him keeping a greater distance than he used to do.
No, doubtless, he embraced them as friends, and welcomed them to his and their
Father s house, and to his and their glory. They that had been his friends in
this world, that had been together with him here, and had together partaken of
sorrows and troubles, are now welcomed by him to rest, and to partake of
glory with him. He took them and led them into his chambers, and showed
them all his glory; as he prayed, John xvii. 24 : " Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me, be with me, that they may behold die glory which
200 EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST.
thou hast given me." And he led them to his living fountains of waters and
made them partake of his delights ; as he prays, John xvii. 13, " That my joy
may be fulfilled in themselves ;" and set them down with him at his table in
his kingdom, and made them partake with him of his dainties, according to his
promise, Luke xxii. 30, and led them into his banqueting house, and made
them to drink new wine with him in the kingdom of his heavenly Father ; as
he foretold them when he instituted the Lord s Supper, Matt. xxvi. 29.
Yea, the saints conversation with Christ in heaven shall not only be as in
timate, and their access to him as free, as of the disciples on earth, but in many
respects much more so : for in heaven, that vital union shall be perfect, which
is exceeding imperfect here. While the saints are in this world, there are
great remains of sin and darkness, to separate or disunite them from Christ,
which shall then all be removed. This is not a time for that full acquaintance,
and those glorious manifestations of love which Christ designs for his people
hereafter ; which seems to be signified by Christ s speech to Mary Magdalene,
when ready to embrace him, when she met him after his resurrection, John
xx. 17 : " Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not ; for I am not yet ascended to my
Father."
When the saints shall see Christ s glory and exaltation in heaven, it will
indeed possess their hearts with the greater admiration and adoring respect, but
will not awe them into any separation, but will serve only to heighten their sur
prise and joy, when they find Christ condescending to admit them to such intimate
access, and so freely and fully communicating himself to them.
So that if we choose Christ for our friend and portion, we shall hereafter be
so received to him, that there shall be nothing to hinder the fullest enjoyment
of him, to the satisfying the utmost cravings of our souls. We may take our
full swing at gratifying our spiritual appetite after these holy pleasures. Christ
will then say, as in Cant. v. 1, " Eat, friends, drink, yea, drink abundantly,
O beloved." And this shall be our entertainment to all eternity ! There shall
never be any end of this happiness, or any thing to interrupt our enjoyment of
it, or in the least to molest us in it !
2. By your being united to Christ, you will have a more glorious union
with, and enjoyment of God the Father, than otherwise could be. For, hereby
the saints relation to God becomes much nearer ; they are the children of God
in a higher manner than otherwise could be. For, being members of God s
own natural Son, they are in a sort partakers of his relation to the Father :
they are not only sons of God by regeneration, but by a kind of commu
nion in the sonship of the eternal Son. This seems to be intended, Gal. iv. 4,
5, 6 : " God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to re
deem them that are under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father." The church is the daughter of God, not only
as he hath begotten her by his word and Spirit, but as she is the spouse of his
eternal Son. , ,
So we, being members of the Son, are partakers in our measure ot
Father s love to the Son, and complacence in him. John xvii. 23, " I in them,
and thou in me. Thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me." And vers
" That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them." And chapte
xvi. 27 " The Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have
believed that I came out from God." So we shall, according to our capacities,
be partakers of the Son s enjoyment of God, and have his joy fulfilled in our
selves, John xvii. 13. And by this means we shall come to an immen
EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST.
201
higher, more intimate, and full enjoyment of God, than otherwise could have
been. For there is doubtless an infinite intimacy between the Father and the
Son ; which is expressed by his being in the bosom of the Father. And saints
being in him, shall, in their measure and manner, partake with him in it, and
the blessedness of it.
And thus is the affair of our redemption ordered, that thereby we are obliged
to an immensely more exalted kind of union with God, and enjoyment of him,
both the Father and the Son, than otherwise could have been. For, Christ be
ing united to the human nature, we have advantage for a more free and full
enjoyment of him, than we could have had if he had remained only in the divine
nature. So again, we being united to a divine person, as his members, can
have a more intimate union and intercourse with God the Father, who is only
in the divine nature, than otherwise could be. Christ, who is a divine person,
by taking on him our nature, descends from the infinite distance and height
above us, and is brought nigh to us ; whereby we have advantage for the full
enjoyment of him. And, on the other hand, we, by being in Christ, a divine
person, do as it were ascend up to God, through the infinite distance, and have
nereby advantage for the full enjoyment of him also.
This was the design of Christ to bring it to pass, that he, and his Father,
and his people might all be united in one. John xvii. 21, 22, 23, That they all
may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee ; that they also may be one
in us ; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which
thou hast given me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are
one ; I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one." Christ
has brought it to pass that those that the Father has given should be brought
into the household of God ; that he and his Father, and his people, should be,
as it were, one society, one family ; that the church should be as it were ad
mitted into the society of the blessed Trinity.
VOL. IV.
SERMON VIII.
THE FINAL JUDGMENT *. OR THE WORLD JUDGED RIGHTEOUSLY BY JESUS CHRIST.
ACTS xvii. 31. Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousnea*
by that man whom he hath ordained.
Introduction.
THESE words are a part of the speech which Paul made in Mars hill,, a
place of concourse of the judges and learned men of Athens. Athens was
the principal city of that part of Greece whicb was formerly a common
wealth by itself, and was the most noted place in the whole world for learning,
philosophy, and human wisdom; and it continued so for many ages; till at
length the Romans having conquered Greece, its renown from that time began
to diminish ; and Rome having borrowed learning of it, began to rival it in
science, and in the polite and civil arts. However, it was still very famous in
the days of Christ and the apostles, and was a place of concourse for wise and
learned men.*
Therefore, when Paul came thither, and began to preach concerning Jesus
Christ, a man who had lately been crucified at Jerusalem (as in the 18th verse),
the philosophers thronged about him, to hear what he had to say. The strange
ness of his doctrine excited their curiosity ; for they spent their time in endea
voring to find out new things, and valued themselves greatly upon their being the
authors of new discoveries, as we are informed in verse 21 They despised
his doctrine in their hearts, and esteemed it very ridiculous, calling the apostle
a babbler ; for the preaching of Christ crucified was to the Greeks foolishness,
1 Cor. i. 22. Yet the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, two different sects, had
a mind to hear what the babbler had to say.
Upon this Paul rises up in the midst of them, and makes a speech ; and as
he speaks to philosophers and men of learning, he speaks quite differently from
his common mode of address. There is evidently, in his discourse, a greater
depth of thought, more philosophical reasoning, and a more elevated style, than
are to be found in his ordinary discourses to common men. His speech is such
as was likely to draw the attention and gain the assent of philosophers. He
shows himself to be no babbler, but a man who could offer such reason, as
they, however they valued themselves upon their wisdom, were not able to gain
say. His practice here is agreeable to what he saith of himself, 1 Cor ix. 22,
" that he became all things to all men, that he might by all means save some."
He not only to the weak became as weak, that he might gain the weak ; but
to the wise he became as wise, that he might gain the wise.
In the first place, he reasons with them concerning their worship of idols.
He declares to them the true God, and points out how unreasonable it is to sup
pose, that he delights in such superstitious worship. He begins with this, be
cause they were most likely to hearken to it, as being so evidently agreeable to
the natural light of human reason, and also agreeable to what some of their
own poets and philosophers had said, verse 28. He begins not immediately to
tell them about Jesus Christ, his dying for sinners, and his resurrection from the
dead ; but first draws their attention with that to which they were more likely
to hearken ; and then, having thus introduced himself, he proceeds to speak
concerning Jesu 1 * Christ
THE FINAL JUDGMENT. 203
He tells them, the times of this ignorance concerning the true God, in which
they had hitherto been, God winked at ; he suffered the world to lie in heathen
ish darkness ; but now the appointed time was come, when he expected men
should everywhere repent ; " because he had appointed a day, in the which he
will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained."
As an enforcement to the duty of turning to God from their ignorance, supersti
tion, and idolatry, the apostle brings in this, that God had appointed such a
day of judgment. And as a proof of this, he brings the resurrection of Christ
from the dead.
Concerning the words of the text, we may observe,
That in them the apostle speaks of the general judgment : He will judge, the
WORLD. The time when this shall be, on the appointed day : He hath appointed
a day.Ho\v the world is to be judged : In righteousness. The man by whom
i*. is to be judged : Christ Jems whom God raised from the dead.
DOCTRINE.
There is a day coming, in which there will be a general righteous judgment
of the whole world, by Jesus Christ.
In speaking upon this subject, I shall show, that God is the Supreme Judge
of the world. That there is a time coming, when God will, in the most public
and solemn manner, judge the whole world. That the person by whom he will
judge it is Jesus Christ. That the transactions of that day will be greatly in
teresting and truly awful. That all shall be done in righteousness. And finally,
1 shall take notice of those things which shall be immediately consequent upon
the judgment.
SECTION I.
God is the Supreme Judge of the world.
1. God is so by right. He is by right the supreme and absolute ruler and
disposer of all things, both in the natural and moral world. The rational, un
derstanding part of the creation is indeed subject to a different sort of govern
ment from that to which irrational creatures are subject. God governs the sun,
moon and stars ; he governs even the motes of dust which fly in the air. Not a
hair of our heads falleth to the ground without our heavenly Father. God also
governs the brute creatures ; by his providence, he orders, according to his own
decrees, all events concerning those creatures. And rational creatures are sub
ject to the same sort of government ; all their actions, and all events relating
to them, being ordered by superior providence, according to absolute decrees;
so that no event that relates to them ever happens without the disposal of God,
according to his own decrees. The rule of this government is God s wise de
cree, and nothing else.
But rational creatures, because they are intelligent and voluntary agents,
are the subjects of another kind of government. They are so only with respect
to those of their actions, in which they are causes by counsel, or with respect to
their voluntary actions. The government of which I now speak is ^called moral
government, and consists in two things, in giving laws, and in judging.
God is, with respect to this sort of government, by right the sovereign ruler
jf the world. He is possessed of this right by reason of his infinite greatness
204 THE FINAL JUDGMENT.
and excellency, by which he merits, and is perfectly and solely fit for, the office
of supreme ruler. He that is so excellent as to be infinitely worthy of the
highest respect of the creature, hath thereby a right to that respect ; he deserves
it by a merit of condignity ; so that it is injustice to deny it to him. And he
that is perfectly wise and true, and is only so regarded, hath a right in every
thino- to be regarded, and to have his determinations attended to and obeyed.
God hath also a right to the character of supreme ruler, by reason of the
absolute dependence of every creature on him. All creatures, and rational
creatures no less than others, are wholly derived from him, and every moment
are wholly dependent upon him for being, and for all good : so that they are
properly his possession. And as, by virtue of this, he hath a right to give his
creatures whatever rules of conduct he pleases, or whatever rules are agreeable
to his own wisdom ; so the mind and will of the creature ought to be entirely
conformed to the nature and will of the Creator, and to the rules he gives, that
are expressive of it.
For the same reason, he hath a right to judge their actions and conduct, and
to fulfil the sanction of his law. He who hath an absolute and independent
right to give laws, hath evermore the same right to judge those to whom the
laws are given. It is absolutely necessary that there should be a judge of rea
sonable creatures ; and sanctions, or rewards and punishments, annexed to rules
of conduct, are necessary to the being of laws. A person may instruct another
without sanctions, but not give laws. However, these sanctions themselves are
vain are as good as none, without a judge to determine the execution of them.
As God hath a right to be judge, so he hath a right to be the supreme judge;
and none hath a right to reverse his judgment, to receive appeals from him, or
to say to him, Why judgest thou thus ?
2 God is, in fact, the supreme judge of the world. He hath power surn-
cierit to vindicate his own right. As he hath a right which cannot be disputed,
so he hath power which cannot be controlled. He is possessed of omnipotence,
wherewith to maintain his dominion over the world ; and he doth maintain his
dominion in the moral as well as the natural world. Men may refuse subjec
tion to God as a lawgiver ; they may shake off the yoke of his laws by rebel
lion yet they cannot withdraw themselves from his judgment. Although they
will not have God for their lawgiver, yet they shall have him for their judge
The strongest of creatures can do nothing to control God, or to avoid him while
acting in his judicial capacity. He is able to bring them to his judgment-seat,
and is also able to execute the sentence which he shall pronounce.
There was once a notable attempt made by opposition of power entirely to
shake off the yoke of the moral government of God, both as lawgiver, and as
iud re This attempt was made by the angels, the most mighty of creatures ;
bat they miserably tailed in it : God notwithstanding acted as their judge in
casting those proud spirits out of heaven, and binding them in chains of dark
ness unto a further judgment, and a further execution. " God is wise in heart
and mighty in strength; who hath hardened himself against him and hath
prospered ?" Job ix. 4. Wherein the enemies of God deal proudly, lie i?
above them. He ever hath acted as judge in bestowing what rewards, and in-
flictin"- what punishments, he pleased on the children of men. And s
still -lie is daily fulfilling the promises and threatemngs of the law in dis-
posin.r of the souls of the children of men, and so he evermore will act.
God acteth as judge towards the children of men more especially,
1. In man s particular judgment at death. Then the sentence is executed,
and the reward bestowed in part ; which is not done without a judgment.
THE FINAL JUDGMENT. 205
soul, when it departs from the body, appears before God to be disposed of by
him, according to his law. But by this appearing before God, to be judged at
death, we need understand no more than this, that the soul is made immediately
sensible of the presence of God, God manifesting himself immediately to the
soul, with the glory and majesty of a judge ; that the sins of the wicked, and
the righteousness of the saints, are brought by God to the view of their con
sciences, so that they know the reason of the sentence given, and their con
sciences are made to testify to the justice of it; and that thus the will of God
for the fulfilment of the law, in their reward or punishment, is made known to
them and executed. This is undoubtedly done at every man s death.
2. In the great and general judgment, when all men shall together appear
before the judgment-seat to be judged : and which judgment will be much more
solemn, and the sanctions of the law will to a further degree be fulfilled. But
this brings me to another branch of the subject.
SECTION II.
That there is a time coming when God will, in the most public and solemn
manner, judge the whole world of mankind.
The doctrine of a general judgment is not sufficiently discoverable by the
light of nature. Indeed some of the heathens had some obscure notions
concerning a future judgment. But the light of nature, or mere unassisted rea
son, was not sufficient to instruct the world of failed men in this doctrine. It
is one of the peculiar doctrines of revelation, a doctrine of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. There were indeed some hints of it in the Old Testament, as in Psal.
xcvi. 13 : " The Lord cometh to judge the world Avith righteousness, and his
people with his truth." And Eccl. xii. 14, " For God will bring every work
into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be
evil." And in some other such like passages. But this doctrine is with abun
dantly the greatest clearness revealed in the New Testament : there we have it
frequently and particularly declared and described with its circumstances.
However, although it be a doctrine of revelation, and be brought to light
by the gospel, the brightest and most glorious revelation that God hath given
to the world ; yet it is a doctrine which is entirely agreeable to reason, and of
which reason gives great confirmation. That there will be a time before the
dissolution of the world, when the inhabitants of it shall stand before God, and
give an account of their conduct ; and that God will in a public manner, by a
general and just judgment, set all things to rights respecting their moral beha
viour, is a doctrine entirely agreeable to reason ; which I shall now endeavor to
make appear. But I would premise, that what we would inquire into, is not
whether all mankind shall be judged by God ; for that is a thing that the light
of nature clearly teaches, and we have already spoken something of it : but
whether it be rational to think that there will be a public judgment of all man
kind together. This I think will appear very rational from the following con
siderations.
1. Such a judgment will be a more glorious display of God s majesty and
dominion ; it will be more glorious, because it will be more open, public, and
solemn. Although God now actually exercises the most sovereign dominion
over the earth ; although he reigns and doth all things according to his own
will, ordering all events as seemeth to himself good ; and although he is actu
ally judge in the earth, continually disposing of men s souls according to their
works ; yet he rules after a more hidden and secret manner, insomuch that it is
206 THE FINAL JUDGMENT.
common among the proud sons of men to refuse acknowledging his dominion
Wicked men question the very existence of a God, who taketh care of the
world, who ordereth the affairs of it, and judgeth in it ; and therefore they cast
off the fear of him. Many of the kings and great men of the earth do not
suitably acknowledge the God who is above them, but seem to look upon them
selves as supreme, and therefore tyrannize over mankind, as if they were in no
wise accountable for their conduct. There have been, and now are, many athe
istical persons, who acknowledge not God s moral dominion over mankind ; and
therefore they throw off the yoke of his laws and government. And how great
a part of the world is there now, and has there always been, that has not ac
knowledged that the government of the world belongs to the God of Israel, or
to the God of Christians ; but has paid homage to other imaginary deities, as
though they were their sovereign lords and supreme judges ! Over how great a
part of the word hath Satan usurped the dominion, and set up himself for God
in opposition to the true God !
Now, how agreeable to reason is it, that God, in the winding up of things,
when the present state of mankind shall come to a conclusion, should, in the
most open and public manner, manifest his dominion over the inhabitants of the
earth, by bringing them all, high and low, rich and poor, kings and subjects,
together before him to be judged with respect to all that they ever did in the
world ! That he should thus openly discover his dominion in this world, where
his authority hath been so much questioned, denied, and proudly opposed ! That
those very persons, who have thus denied and opposed the authority of God,
should be themselves, with the rest of the world, brought before the tribunal
of God ! That however God be not now visibly present upon earth, disposing
and judging in that visible manner that earthly kings do ; yet at the conclusion
of the world he should make his dominion visible to all, and with respect to all
mankind, so that every eye shall see him, and even they who have denied him
shall find, that God is supreme Lord of them, and of the whole world !
2. The end of judgment will be more fully answered by a public and gene
ral, than only by a particular and private, judgment. The end for which there
is any judgment at all is to display and glorify the righteousness of God ; which
end is more fully accomplished by calling men to an account, bringing their ac
tions to the trial, and determining their state according to them, the whole
world, both angels and men, being present to behold, than if the same things
should be done in a more private way. At the day of judgment there will be
the most glorious display of the justice of God that ever was made. Then God
will appear to be entirely righteous towards every one ; the justice of all his
moral government will on that day be at once discovered. Then all objections
will be removed ; the conscience of every man shall be satisfied ; the blasphe
mies of the ungodly will be forever put to silence, and argument will be given
for the saints and angels to praise God for ever : Rev. xix. 1, 2, " And after
these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia :
Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God : for true
and righteous are his judgments."
3. It is very agreeable to reason, tliat the irregularities which are so open
and manifest in the world, should, when the world comes to an end, be public
ly rectified by the supreme governor. The infinitely wise God, who made this
world to be a habitation for men, and placed mankind to dwell here, and halh
appointed man his end and work, must take care of the order and good govern
ment of the world, which he hath thus made. He is not regardless how things
proceed here on earth : it would be a reproach to his wisdom, and to the per-
THE FINAL JUDGMENT. 207
feet rectitude of his nature, to suppose so. This world is a world of confusion
it hath been filled with irregularity and confusion ever since the fall ; and the ir
regularities of it are not only private, relating to the actions of particular persons
but states, kingdoms, nations, churches, cities, and all societies of men in all ages
have been full of public irregularities. The affairs of the world, so far as they
are in the hands of men, are carried on in a most irregular and confused
manner.
Though justice sometimes takes place, yet how often do injustice, cruelty
and oppression prevail ! How often are the righteous condemned, and the
wicked acquitted and rewarded ! How common is it for the virtuous and pious
to be depressed, and the wicked to be advanced ! How many thousands of the
best men have suffered intolerable cruelties, merely for their virtue and piety
and in this world have had no help, no refuge to fly to ! The world is very-
much ruled by the pride, covetousness, and passions of men. Solomon takes
much notice of such like irregularities in the present state (in his book of Ec-
clesiastes), whereby he shows the vanity of the world.
Now, how reasonable is it to suppose, that God, when he shall come and
put an end to the present state of mankind, will in an open, public manner
the whole world being present, rectify all these disorders ! And that he will
bring all things to a trial by a general judgment, in order that those who have
been oppressed may be delivered ; that the righteous cause may be pleaded and
vindicated, and wickedness, which has been approved, honored, and rewarded
may receive its due disgrace and punishment ; that the proceedings of kin^s and
earthly judges may be inquired into by him, whose eyes are as a flame of fire
and that the public actions of men may be publicly examined and recompensed
according to their desert ! How agreeable is it to divine wisdom thus to order
things, and how worthy of the supreme governor of the world !
4. By a public and general judgment, God more fully accomplishes the re
ward he designs for the godly, and the punishment he designs for the wicked
One part of the reward which God intends for his saints, is the honor which he
intends to bestow upon them. He will honor them in the most public and
open manner, before the angels, before all mankind, and before them that ha
ted them. And it is most suitable that it should be so : it is suitable that those
holy, humble souls, that have been hated by wicked men, have been cruelly
treated and put to shame by them, and who have been haughtily domineered
over, should be openly acquitted, commended and crowned, before all the world.
So one part of the punishment of the ungodly will be the open shame and
disgrace which they shall suffer. Although many of them have proudly lifted
up their heads in this world, have had a very high thought of themselves and
nave obtained outward honor among men ; yet God will put them to open
shame by showing all their wickedness and moral filthiness before the whole
assembly of angels and men ; by manifesting his abhorrence of them, in placing
them upon his left hand, among devils and foul spirits ; and by turning them
away into the most loathsome, as well as most dreadful, pit of hell, to dwell
there forever. Which ends may be much more fully accomplished in a gener
al, than in a particular judgment.
SECTION m.
The world will be judged by Jesus Christ.
The person by whom God will judge the world, is Jesus Christ, God-man.
The second person in the Trinity, that same person of whom we read in our
208 THE FINAL JUDGMENT.
Bibles who was born of the Virgin Mary, lived in Galilee and Judea, and was at
last crucified without the gates of Jerusalem, will come to judge the world both
in his divine and human nature, in the same human body that was crucified,
and rose again, and ascended up into heaven: Acts i. 1 1, " This -same Jesus
that is taken up from you into heaven, shall come m like manner, as ye have
seen him go into heaven." It will be his human nature which will then be
seen by the bodily eyes of men. However, his divine nature, which is united
to the human, will then also be present : and it will be by the wisdom of that
divine nature that Christ will see and judge.
Here naturally arises an inquiry, Why is Christ appointed to judge the
world rather than the Father or the Holy Ghost 1 We cannot pretend to know
all the reasons of the divine dispensations. God is not obliged to give us an
account of them. But so much may we learn by divine revelation, as to dis
cover marvellous wisdom in what he determines and orders with respect to this
matter. We learn, . . , ,
1 That God seeth fit, that he who is in the human nature, should be the
of those who are of the human nuture : John v. 27, And hath given
uore
him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
ing there is one of the persons of the Trinity united to the human nature, God
chooses in all his transactions with mankind, to transact by him He did so of
old in his discoveries of himself to the patriarchs, in giving the law, in leading
the children of Israel through the wilderness, and m the manifestations he
made of himself in the tabernacle and temple ; when, although Christ was not
actually incarnate, yet he was so in design, it was ordained and agreed m the
covenant of redemption, that he should become incarnate. And since the in
carnation of Christ, God governs both the church and the world by Christ ,
he will also at the end judge the world by him. All men shall be judged by
God, and yet at the same time by one invested with their own nature.
God seeth fit, that those who have bodies, as all mankind will have at the
day of judgment, should see their judge with their bodily eyes and hear him
with their bodily ears. If one of the other persons of the Trinity had been ap
pointed to be the judge, there must have been some extraordinary outward ap
pearance made on purpose to be a token of the divine presence, as it was of
old before Christ was incarnate. But now there is no necessity of that : now
one of the persons of the Trinity is actually incarnate, so that God by him may
appear to bodily eyes without any miraculous visionary appearance.
2. Christ hath this honor of being the judge of the world given him, as a
suitable reward for his sufferings. This is apart of Christ s exaltation. T
exaltation of Christ is given him in reward for his humiliation and suffering*
This was stipulated in the covenant of redemption ; and we are expressly told
it was given him in reward for his sufferings, Phil. n. 8-12 : And being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obed.en unto death e> en
the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath h.ghly exalted him, and giv-
en him a name which is above every name : that at the name of Jesus every
kneelould bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and thing ; under he
earth; and that every tongue should confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, tc
gl r God s^l tet,taT he who appeared in such a low estate amongst man
kind without form or comeliness, having his divine glory vled djouW Appear
amongst men a second time, in. his own proper majesty and glory withou : a
the end that those who saw him here at the first, as a poor, frail man,
g whSe to lay his head, subject to much hardship and affliction, may see
THE FINAL JUDGMENT. 209
him the second time in power and great glory, invested with the glory and dig
nity of the absolute Lord of heaven and earth ; and that he who once taberna
cled with men, and was despised and rejected of them, may have the honor of
arraigning all men before his throne, and judging them with respect to their
eternal state ! John v. 22 24.
God seeth meet that he who was once arraigned before the judgment-seat
of men, and was there most vilely treated, being mocked, spit upon, and
condemned, and who was at last crucified, should be rewarded, by having those
very persons brought to his tribunal, that they may see him in glory, and be
confounded ; and that he may have the disposal of them for all eternity ; as
Christ said to the high priest while arraigned before him, Matt. xxvi. 64, " Here
after ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and com
ing in the clouds of heaven."
3. It is needful that Christ should be the judge of the world, in order that
he may^mw/i the work of redemption. It is the will of God, that he who is
the redeemer of the world should be a complete redeemer ; and that therefore
he should have the whole work of redemption left in his hands. Now, the re
demption of fallen man consists not merely in the impetration of redemption, by
obeying the divine law, and making atonement for sinners, or in preparing the
way for their salvation, but it consists in a great measure, and is actually ful
filled, in converting sinners to the knowledge and love of the truth, in carrying
them in the way of grace and true holiness through life, and in finally raising
their bodies to life, in glorifying them, in pronouncing the blessed sentence upon
them, in crowning them with honor and glory in the sight of men and ano-els,
and in completing and perfecting their reward. Now, it is necessary that Christ
should do this, in order to his finishing the work which he hath begun. Rais
ing the saints from the dead, judging them, and fulfilling the sentence, is part
of their salvation ; and therefore it was necessary that Christ should be appoint
ed judge of the world, in order that he might jinish his work. (John vi. 39,
40, chap. v. 25 31.) The redemption of the bodies of the saints is part of
the work of redemption ; the resurrection to life is called a redemption of theii
bodies, Rom. viii. 23.
It is the will of God, that Christ himself should have the fulfilling of that
for which he died, and for which he suffered so much. Now the end for
which he suffered and died was the complete salvation of his people : and
this shall be obtained at the last judgment, and not before. Therefore it was
necessary that Christ be appointed judge, in order that he himself might
fully accomplish the end for which he had both suffered and died. When
Christ had finished his appointed sufferings, God did, as it were, put the pur
chased inheritance into his hands, to be kept for believers, and be bestowed
upon them at the day of judgment.
4. It was proper that he who is appointed king of the church should rule
till he should have put all his enemies under his feet ; in order to which, he
must be the judge of his enemies, as well as of his people. One of the offices
of Christ, as redeemer, is that of a king ; he is appointed king of the church,
and head over all things to the church ; and in order that his kingdom be
complete, and the design of his reign be accomplished, he must conquer all his
enemies, and then he will deliver up the kingdom to the Father : 1 Cor. xv.
24, 25, "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the Father ; when he shall have put down all rule, and all author
ity and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet."
Now, when Christ shall have brought his enemies, who had denied, opposed.
VOL. IV. 27
210 THE FINAL JUDGMENT.
and rebelled against him, to his judgment-seat, and shall have passed and ex
ecuted sentence upon them, this will be a final complete victory over them, a
victory which shall put an end/ to the war. And it is proper that he who at
present reigns, and is carrying on the war against those who are of the oppo
site kingdom, should have the honor of obtaining the victory, and finishing the war.
5. It is for the abundant comfort of the saints that Christ is appointed to
be their judge. The covenant of grace, with all its circumstances, and all those
events to which it hath relation, is every way so contrived of God, as to give
strong consolation to believers : for God designed the gospel for a glorious
manifestation of his grace to them ; and therefore every thing in it is so ordered,
as to manifest the most grace and mercy.
Now, it is for the abundant consolation of the saints, that their own Re
deemer is appointed to be their judge ; that the same person who spilled his
blood for them hath the determination of their state left with him ; so that they
need not doubt but that they shall have what he was at so much cost to procure.
What matter of joy to them will it be at the last day, to lift up their eyes,
and behold the person in whom they have trusted for salvation, to whom they
have fled for refuge, upon whom they have built as their foundation for eternity,
and whose voice they have often heard, inviting them to himself for protection
and safety, coming to judge them.
6. That Christ is appointed to be the judge of the world, will be for the more
abundant conviction of the ungodly. It will be for their conviction, that they are
judged and condemned by that very person whom they have rejected, by whom
they might have been saved, who shed his blood to give them an opportunity
to be saved, who was wont to offer his righteousness to them, when they were in
their state of trial, and who many a time called and invited them to come to him,
that they might be saved. How justly will they be condemned by him whose
salvation they have rejected, whose blood they have despised, whose many calls
they have refused, and whom they have pierced by their sins !
How much will it be for their conviction, when they shall hear the sentence
of condemnation pronounced, to reflect with themselves, How often hath this
same person, who now passes sentence of condemnation upon me, called me, in
his word, and by his messengers, to accept of him, and to give myself to him !
How often hath he knocked at the door of my heart ! and had it not been for
my own folly and obstinacy, how might I have had him for ray Saviour, who is
now my incensed Judge !
SECTION IV.
Christ s coming, the resurrection, the judgment prepared, the books opened, the
sentence pronounced and executed.
1. Christ Jesus will, in a most magnificent manner, descend from heaven
with all the holy angels. The man Christ Jesus is now in the heaven of heavens,
or, as the apostle expresses it, far above all heavens, Eph. iv. 10. And there he
hath been ever since his ascension, being there enthroned in glory, in the midst
of millions of angels and blessed spirits. But when the time appointed for the
day of judgment shall have come, notice of it will be given in those happy re
gions, and Christ will descend to the earth, . attended with all those heavenly
hosts, in a most solemn, awful, and glorious manner. Christ will come with
divine majesty, he will come in the glory of the Father : Matt. xvi. 27, " For
the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels."
We can now conceive but little of the holy and awful magnificence in which
THE FINAL JUDGMENT. 211
Christ will appear, as he shall come in the clouds of heaven, or of the glory of his
retinue. How mean and despicable, in comparison with it, is the most splendid
appearance that earthly princes can make ! A glorious visible light will shine
round about him, and the earth, with all nature, will tremble at his presence.
How vast and innumerable will that host be which will appear with him ! Heav
en will be for the time deserted of its inhabitants.
\Ve may argue the glory of Christ s appearance, from his appearance at
other times. When he appeared in transfiguration, his face did shine as the
sun, and his raiment was white as the light. The apostle Peter long after spake
of this appearance in magnificent terms : 2 Pet. i. 16, 17, " We were eye-wit
nesses ot his majesty ; for he received from God the Father honor and glory,
when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory." And his ap
pearance to St. Paul, at his conversion, and to St. John, as related in Rev. i. 13,
&c., were very grand and magnificent. But we may conclude, that his appear
ance at the day of judgment will be vastly more so than either of these, as the
occasion will be so much greater. We have good reason to think, that our na
ture, in the present frail state, could not bear the appearance of the majesty in
which he will then be seen.
We may argue the glory of his appearance, from the appearances of some
of the angels to men ; as of the angel that appeared at Christ s sepulchre, after
his resurrection, Matt, xxviii. 3 : " His countenance was like lightning, and his
raiment white as snow." The angels will doubtless all of them make as glori
ous an appearance at the day of judgment, as ever any of them have made on
former occasions. How glorious, then, will be the retinue of Christ, made up of
so many thousands of such angels ! and how much more glorious will Christ, the
judge himself, appear, than those his attendants ! Doubtless their God will ap
pear immensely more glorious than they.
Christ will thus descend into our air, to such a distance from the surface of
the earth, that every one, when all shall be gathered together, shall see him :
Rev. i. 7, " Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him."
Christ will make his appearance suddenly, and to the great surprise of the
inhabitants of the earth. It is therefore compared to a cry at midnight, by
which men are wakened in a great surprise.
2. At the sound of the last trumpet, the dead shall rise, and the living shall
be changed. As soon as Christ is descended, the last trumpet shall sound, as a
notification to all mankind to appear ; at which mighty sound shall the dead be
immediately raised, and the living changed : 1 Cor. xv. 52, " For the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be chang
ed." Matt. xxiv. 31," And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a
trumpet." 1 Thess. iv. 16, " For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. J>
There will be some great and remarkable signal given for the rising of the dead,
which it seems will be sonu mighty sound, caused by the angels of God, who
shall attend on Christ.
Upon this all the dead shail rise from their graves ; all, both small and
great, who have lived upon earth since the foundation of the world ; those
who died before the flood, and those \vho were drowned in the flood, all that
have died since that time, and that shall die to the end of the world. There
will be a great moving upon the face of the earth, and in the waters, in bring
ing bone to his bone, in opening graves, and bringing together all the scattered
particles of dead bodies. The earth shall give up the dead that are in it, and
the sea shall give up the dead that are in it.
212 THE FINAL JUDGMENT.
However the parts of the bodies of many are divided and scattered ; how
ever many have been burnt, and their bodies have been turned to ashes and
smoke, and driven to the four winds ; however many have been eaten of wild
beasts, of the fowls of heaven, and the fishes of the sea ; however many have
consumed away upon the face of the earth, and great part of their bodies have
ascended in exhalations ; yet the all-wise and all-powerful God can immediately
bring every part to his part again.
Of this vast multitude some shall rise to life, and others to condemnation.
John v. 28, 29, " All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall
come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they
that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."
When the bodies are prepared, the departed souls shall again enter into
their bodies, and be reunited to them, never more to be separated. The souls of
the wicked shall be brought up out of hell, though not out of misery, and shall
very unwillingly enter into their bodies, which will be but eternal prisons to
them. Rev. xx. 13, " And death and hell delivered up the dead that were in
them." They shall lift their eyes full of the utmost amazement and horror to
see their awful Judge. And perhaps the bodies with which they shall be rais
ed will be most filthy and loathsome, thus properly corresponding to the in
ward, moral turpitude of their souls.
The souls of the righteous shall descend from heaven together with Christ
and his angels : 1 Thess. iv. 14, " Them also which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with him." They also shall be reunited to their bodies, that they may
be glorified with them. They shall receive their bodies, prepared by God to be
mansions of pleasure to all eternity. They shall be every way fitted for the
uses, the exercises, and delights of perfectly holy and glorified souls. They
shall be clothed with a superlative beauty, similar to that of Christ s glorious
body : Phil. iii. 21, " Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashion
ed like unto his glorious body." Their bodies shall rise incorruptible, no more
liable to pain or disease, and with an extraordinary vigor and vivacity, like
that of those spirits that are as a flame of fire. 1 Cor. xv. 43, 44, " It is sown
in dishonor, it is raised in glory : it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power :
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." With what joy will
the souls and bodies of the saints meet, and with what joy will they lift up their
heads out of their graves to behold the glorious sight of the appearing of Christ !
And it will be a glorious sight to see those saints arising out of their graves,
putting off their corruption, and putting on incorruption and glory.
At the same time, those that shall then be alive upon the earth shall be
changed. Their bodies shall pass through a great change, in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye : 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52, " Behold, I show you a great mystery ;
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twink
ling of an eye, at the last trump." The bodies of the wicked then living will be
changed into such hideous things, as shall be answerable to the loathsome souls
that dwell in them, and such as shall be prepared to receive and administer
eternal torments without dissolution. But the bodies of the righteous shall be
changed into the same glorious and immortal form in which those that shall be
.aised will appear.
3. They shall all be brought to appear before Christ, the godly being placed
on the right hand, the wicked on the left, Matt. xxv. 31, 32, 33. The wick
ed, however unwilling, however full of fear and horror, shall be brought or
driven before the judgment-seat. However they may try to hide themselves,
and for this purpose creep into dens and caves of the mountains, and cry to the
THE FINAL JUDGMENT. 213
mountains to fall on them, and hide them from the face of him that sitteth on
the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb ; yet there shall not one escape ;
to the judge they must come, and stand on the left hand with devils. On the
contrary, the righteous will be joyfully conducted to Jesus Christ, probably by
the angels. Their joy will, as it were, give them wings to carry them thither.
They will with ecstasies and raptures of delight meet their friend and Saviour,
come into his presence, and stand at his right hand.
Besides the one standing on the right hand and the other on the left, there
seems to be this difference between them, that when the dead in Christ shall be
raised, they will all be caught up into the air, where Christ shall be, and shall
be there at his right hand during the judgment, never more to set their feet on
this earth. Whereas the wicked shall be left standing on the earth, there to
abide the judgment. 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17, " The dead in Christ shall rise first ;
then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the
Lord."
And what a vast congregation will there be of all the men, women, and
children that shall have lived upon earth from the beginning to the end of the
world ! Rev. xx. 12, " And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before
God."
4. The next thing will be, that the books shall be opened : Rev. xx. 12,
" I saw the dead, great and small, stand before God ; and the books were open
ed." Which books seem to be these two, the book of God s remembrance,
and the book of Scripture ; the former as the evidence of their deeds which are
to be judged, the latter as the rule of judgment. The works both of the right
eous and of the wicked will be brought forth, that they may be judged accord
ing to them, and those works will be tried according to the appointed and writ
ten rule.
(1.) The works of both righteous and wicked will be rehearsed. The book
of God s remembrance will be first opened. The various works of the children
of men are, as it were, written by God in a book of remembrance. Mai. iii. 16,
" A book of remembrance was written before him." However ready ungodly
men maybe to make light of their own sins, and to forget them; yet God never
forgetteth any of them : neither doth God forget any of the good works of the
saints. If they give but a cup of cold water with a spirit of charity, God re
members it.
The evil works of the wicked shall then be brought forth to light. They
must then hear of all their profaneness, their impenitence, their obstinate unbe
lief, their abuse of ordinances, and various other sins. The various aggrava
tions of their sins will also be brought to view, as how this man sinned after
such and such warnings, that after the receipt of such and such mercies ; one
after being so and so favored with outward light, another after having been
the subject of inward conviction, excited by the immediate agency of God. Con
cerning these sins, they shall be called to account to see what answer they can
make for themselves : Matt. xii. 36, " But I say unto you, that every idle word
that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment."
Rom. xiv. 12, " So then every one of us shall give account of himself to
God."
The good works of the saints will also be brought forth as evidences of their
sincerity, and of their interest in the righteousness of Christ. As to their evil works,
they will not be brought forth against them on that day ; for the guilt of them
will not lie upon them, they being clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
214 THE FINAL JUDGMENT.
The Judge himself will have taken the guilt of their sins upon him ; thereiore
their sins will not stand against them in the book of God s remembrance. The
account of them will appear to have been cancelled before that time. The ac
count that will be found in God s book will not be of debt, but of credit. God
cancels their debts, and sets down their good works, and is pleased, as it were,
to make himself a debtor for them, by his own gracious act.
Both good and bad will be judged according to their works : Rev. xx. 12,
" And the dead were judged out of those things that were found written in the
books, according to their works;" and ver. 13, " And they were judged every
man according to their works." Though the righteous are justified by faith,
and not by their works; yet they shall be judged according to their works:
their works shall be brought forth as the evidence of their faith. Their faith
on that great day shall be tried by its fruits. If the works of any man shall
have been bad, if his life shall appear to have been unchristian, they will con
demn him, without any further inquiry. But if his works, when they shall be
examined, prove good and of the right sort, he shall surely be justified. They
will be declared as a sure evidence of his having believed in Jesus Christ, am.
of his being clothed with his righteousness.
But by works we are to understand all voluntary exercises of the faculties
of the soul ; as for instance, the words and conversation of men, as well as what
is done with their hands : Matt. xii. 37, " By thy words thou shalt be justified, and
by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Nor are we to understand only out
ward acts, or the thoughts outwardly expressed, but also the thoughts them
selves, and all the inward workings of the heart. Man judgeth according tc
the outward appearance, but God judgeth the heart : Rev. ii. 23, " I am he
that searcheth the heart and the reins, and I will give unto every one of you ac
cording to his works." Nor will only positive sins be brought into judgment,
but also omissions of duty, as is manifest by Matt. xxv. 42, &c., " For 1 was an
hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no
drink," &c.
On that day secret and hidden wickedness will be brought to light. AH the
uncleanness, injustice, and violence, of which men have been guilty in secret,
shall be manifest both to angels and men. Then it will be made to appear, how
.his and that man have indulged themselves in wicked imaginations, in lascivi
ous, covetous, malicious, or impious desires and wishes ; and how others have
harbored in their hearts enmity against God and his law ; also impenitency
and unbelief, notwithstanding all the means used with them, and motives set
before them, to induce them to repent, return, and live.
The good works of the saints also, which were done in secret, shall then be
made public, and even the pious and benevolent affections and designs of their
hearts ; so that the real and secret characters of both saints and sinners shall
then be most clearly and publicly displayed.
(2.) The book of Scripture will be opened, and the works of men will be
tried by that touchstone. Their works will be compared with the word of God.
That which God gave men for the rule of their action while in this life, shall
then be made the rule of their judgment. God hath told us beforehand, what
will be the rule of judgment. We are told in the Scriptures upon what terms
we shall be justified, and upon what terms we shall be condemned. That which
God hath given us to be our rule in our lives, he will make his own rule in
judgment.
The rule of judgment will be twofold. The primary rule of judgment will
be the law. The law ever hath stood, and ever will stand in force, as a rule
THE FINAL JU2KSMENT. 215
of judgment, for those to whom the law was given : Matt. v. 18, " For verily I
say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise
pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." The law will so far be made the rule of
judgment, that not one person at that day shall by any means be justified or
condemned, in a way inconsistent with that which is established by the law.
As to the wicked, the law will be so far the rule of judgment respecting them,
that the sentence denounced against them will be the sentence of the law. The
righteous will be so far judged by the law, that although their sentence will not
be the sentence of the law, yet it will by no means be such a sentence as
shall be inconsistent with the law, but such as it allows : for it will be by the
righteousness of the law that they shall be justified.
It will be inquired concerning every one, both righteous and wicked, whether
the law stands against him, or whether he hath a fulfilment of the law to
show. As to the righteous, they will have fulfilment to show ; they will have
it to plead, that the judge himself hath fulfilled the law for them ; that he hath
both satisfied for their sins, and fulfilled the righteousness of the law for them :
Rom. x. 4, " Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that
believeth." But as to the wicked, when it shall be found, by the book of God s
remembrance, that they have broken the law, and have no fulfilment of it to
plead, the sentence of the law shall be pronounced upon them.
A secondary rule of judgment will be the gospel, or the covenant of grace,
wherein it is said, " He that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth
not shall be damned :" Rom. ii. 16, " In the day when God shall judge
the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel." By the gospel,
or covenant of grace, eternal blessedness will be adjudged to believers.
When it shall be found that the law hinders not, and that the curse and
condemnation of the law stands not against them, the reward of eternal life
shall be given them, according to the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.
5. The sentence will be pronounced. Christ will say to the wicked on the
left hand, " Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and
his angels." How dreadful will these words of the judge be to the poor, miser
able, despairing wretches on the left hand ! How amazing will every syllable
of them be ! How will they pierce them to the soul ! These words show the
greatest wrath and abhorrence. Christ will bid them depart ; he will send
them away from his presence, will remove them forever far out of his sight, into
an everlasting separation from God, as being most loathsome, and unfit to dwell
in his presence, and enjoy communion with him.
Christ will call them cursed ; Depart, ye cursed, to whom everlasting wrath
and ruin belong ; who are by your own wickedness prepared for nothing else,
but to be firebrands of hell ; who are the fit objects and vessels of the vengeance
and fury of the Almighty. Intofre : he will not send them away merely into
a loathsome prison, the receptacle of the filth and rubbish of the universe ; but
into a furnace of fire ; that must be their dwelling-place, there they must be
tormented with the most racking pain and anguish. It is everlasting fire ; there
is eternity in the sentence, which infinitely aggravates the doom, and will make
every word of it immensely more dreadful, sinking, and amazing to the souls
that receive it. Prepared for the devil and his angels : this sets forth the
greatness and intenseness of the torments, as the preceding part of the sentence
does the duration. It shows the dreadfulness of that fire to which they shall
be condemned, that it is the same that is prepared for the devils, those fouJ
spirits and great enemies of God. Their condition will be the same as that of
the devils, in many respects ; particularly as they must burn in the fire for ever
216 THE FINAL JUDGMENT.
This sentence will doubtless be pronounced in such an awful manner as
shall be a terrible manifestation of the wrath of the judge. There will be
divine, holy, and almighty wrath manifested in the countenance and voice of
the judge ; and we know not what other manifestations of anger will accom
pany the sentence. Perhaps it will be accompanied with thunders and light-
nino-s, far more dreadful than were on mount Sinai at the giving of the law.
Correspondent to these exhibitions of divine wrath, will be the appearances of
terror and most horrible amazement in the condemned. How will all their
faces look pale ! How will death sit upon their countenances, when those words
shall be heard ! What dolorous cries, shrieks, and groans ! What trembling,
and wringing of hands, and gnashing of teeth, will there then be !
But with the most benign aspect, in the most endearing manner, and with
the sweetest expressions of love, will Christ invite his saints on his right hand
to glory ; saying, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre
pared for you from the foundation of the world." He will not bid them to go
from him, but to come with him ; to go where he goes ; to dwell where he
dwells ; to enjoy him, and to partake with him. He will call them blessed,
blessed of his Father, blessed by him whose blessing is infinitely the most de
sirable, namely, Gon. Inherit the kingdom : they are not only invited to go
with Christ, and to dwell with him, but to inherit a kingdom with him ; to sit
down with him on his throne, and to receive the honor and happiness of a
heavenly kingdom. " Prepared for you from the foundation of the world :"
this denotes the sovereign and eternal love of God, as the source of their bless
edness. He puts them in mind, that God was pleased to set his love upon
them, long before they had a being, even from eternity ; that therefore God
made heaven on purpose for them, and fitted it for their delight and happiness.
6. Immediately after this, the sentence will be executed, as we are inform
ed, Matt. xxv. 46 : " These shall go away into everlasting punishment ; but
the righteous into life eternal." When the words of the sentence shall have
once proceeded out of the mouth of the judge, then that vast and innumerable
throng of ungodly men shall go away, shall be driven away, shall be necessitat
ed to go away with devils, and shall with dismal cries and shrieks be cast into
the great furnace of fire prepared for the punishment of devils, the perpetual
thunders and lightnings of the wrath of God following them. Into this furnace
they must in both soul and body enter, never more to come out. Here they
must spend eternal ages in wrestling with the most excruciating torments, and
in crying out in the midst of the most dreadful flames, and under the most
insupportable wrath.
On the other hand, the righteous shall ascend to heaven with their glorified
bodies, in company with Christ, his angels, and all that host which descended
with him ; they shall ascend in the most joyful and triumphant manner, and
shall enter with Christ into that glorious and blessed world, which had for the
time been empty of its creature inhabitants. Christ having given his church
that perfect beauty, and crowned it with that glory, honor, and happiness, which
were stipulated in the covenant of redemption before the world was, and which
he died to procure for them ; and having made it a truly glorious church, every
way complete, will present it before the Father, without spot, or wrinkle, 01
any such thing. Thus shall the saints be instated in everlasting glory, to dwell
there with Christ, who shall feed them, and lead them to living fountains of
water, to the full enjoyment of God, and to an eternity of the most holy, glo
rious, and joyful employments.
THE FINAL JUDGMENT. 217
SECTION. V.
Jill will be done in righteousness.
Christ will give to every man his due, according to a most righteous rule.
Those who shall be condemned, will be most justly condemned ; will be con
demned to that punishment which they shall most justly deserve ; and the jus
tice of God in condemning them will be made most evident. Now the justice
of God in punishing wicked men, and especially in the degree of their punish
ment, is often blasphemously called in question. But it will be made clear and
apparent to all ; their own consciences will tell them that the sentence is just,
and all cavils will be put to silence.
So those that shall be justified, shall be most justly adjudged to eternal life.
Although they also were great sinners, and deserved eternal death ; yet it \vill
not be against justice or the law to justify them ; they will be in Christ. But
the acquitting of them will be but giving the reward merited by Christ s right
eousness : Rom. iii. 26, " That God may be just, and the justifier of him that
believeth in Jesus."
Christ will judge the world in righteousness, particularly as he will give to
every one a due proportion either of reward or punishment, according to the
various characters of those who shall be judged. The punishment shall be duly
proportioned to the number and aggravations of the sins of the wicked ; and
the rewards of the righteous shall be duly proportioned to the number of their
holy acts and affections, and also to the degree of virtue implied in them. I
would observe further,
1. That Christ cannot fail of being just in judging, through mistake. He
cannot take some to be sincere and godly, who are not so, nor others to be hypo
crites, who are really sincere. His eyes are as a flame of fire, and he search-
eth the hearts and trieth the reins of the children of men. He can never err in
determining what is justice in particular cases, as human judges often do. Nor
can he be blinded by prejudices, as human judges are very liable to be : Deut.
x. 17, " He regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward." It is impossible he
should be deceived by the excuses, and false colors, and pleas of the wicked, as
human judges very commonly are. It is equally impossible that he should err, in
assigning to every one his proper proportion of reward or punishment, according
to his wickedness or good w^orks. His knowledge being infinite, will effectually
guard him against all these, and other such errors.
2. He cannot fail of judging righteously through an unrighteous disposition ;
for he is infinitely just and holy in his nature : Deut : xxxii. 4, " He is the rock,
his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth, and with
out iniquity, just and right Is he." It is not possible that an infinitely powerful,
self-sufficient being should be under any temptation to injustice. Nor is it pos
sible that an infinitely wise being, who knoweth all things, should not choose
justice. For he who perfectly knows all things, perfectly knows how much
more amiable justice is than injustice ; and therefore must choose it.
SECTION. VI.
Those things which will immediately follow the day of judgment.
1. After the sentence shall have been pronounced, and the saints shall have
ascended with Christ into glory, this world will be dissolved by fire : the con
flagration will immediately succeed the judgment. When an end shall have
VOL. IV. 28
218 THE FINAL JUDGMENT.
been put to the present state of mankind, this world, which was the place of
their habitation during that state, will be destroyed, there being no further ust
for it. This earth, which had been the stage upon which so many scenes had
been acted, upon which there had been so many great and famous kingdoms
and large cities ; where there had been so many wars, so much trade and busi
ness carried on for so many ages ; shall then be destroyed. These continents,
these islands, these seas and rivers, these mountains and valleys, shall be seen
no more at all : all shall be destroyed by devouring flames. This we are plainly
tauo-ht in the word of God, 2 Pet. in. 7: " But the heavens and the earth
which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the
clay of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men." Ver. 10, " But the day of
the Lord will come as a thief in the night ; in which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the
earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up." Ver. 12, " Look
ing for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat."
Both the misery of the wicked and the happiness of the saints will be in
creased, beyond what shall be before the judgment. The misery of the wicked
will be increased, as they will be tormented not only in their souls, but also in
their bodies, which will be prepared both to receive and administer torment to
their souls. There will doubtless then be the like connection between soul and
body, as there is now ; and therefore the pains and torments of the one will af
fect the other. And why may we not suppose that their torments will be in
creased as well as those of the devils ? Concerning them we are informed
(Jam. ii. 19,) that they believe there is one God, and tremble in the belief; ex-
pectino- no doubt that he will inflict upon them, in due time, more severe tor
ments than even those which they now suffer. We are also informed that they
are bound " in chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment ; and unto the
judgment of the great day" (2 Pet. ii. 4, and Jude 6) j which implies that
their full punishment is not yet executed upon them, but that they are now re
served as prisoners in hell, to receive their just recompense on the day of judg
ment. Hence it was that they thought Christ was come to torment them be
fore the time, Matt. viii. 29. Thus the punishment neither of wicked men nor
devils will be complete before the final judgment.
No more will the happiness of the saints be complete before that time.
Therefore we are in the New Testament so often encouraged with promises of
the resurrection of the dead, and of the day when Christ shall come the second
time. These things are spoken of as the great objects of the expectation and
hope of Christians. A state of separation of soul and body is to men an unna
tural state. Therefore when the bodies of the saints shall be raised from the
dead and their souls shall be again united to them, as their state will be more
natural, so doubtless it will be more happy. Their bodies will be glorious
bodies, and prepared to administer as much to their happiness, as the bodies of
the wicked will be to administer to their misery.
We may with good reason suppose the accession of happiness to the souls
of the saints will be great, since the occasion is represented as the marriage of
the church, and the Lamb : Rev. xix. 7, "The marriage of the Lamb is come,
and his wife hath made herself ready." Their joy will then be increased, be
cause they will have new arguments of joy. The body of Christ will then be
perfect, the church will be complete; all the parts of it will have come into
existence, which will not be the case before the end of the world ; no parts of
it will be under sin or affliction : all the members of it will be in a perfect
THE FINAL JUDGMENT. 219
sta r ; and they shall all be together by themselves, none being mixed with
ungodly men. Then the church will be as a bride adorned for her husband, and
therefore she will exceedingly rejoice.
Then also the Mediator will have fully accomplished his work. He will
then have destroyed, and will triumph over, all his enemies. Then Christ will
have fully obtained his reward, and fully accomplished the design which was in
his heart from all eternity. For these reasons Christ himself will greatly re
joice, and his members must needs proportionably rejoice with him. Then God
will have obtained the end of all the great works which he hath been doing
from the beginning of the world. All the designs of God will be unfolded in
their events ; then his marvellous contrivance in his hidden, intricate, and inex
plicable works will appear, the ends being obtained. Then the works of God
being perfected, the divine glory will more abundantly appear. These things
will cause a great accession of happiness to the saints, who shall behold them.
Then God will have fully glorified himself, his Son, and his elect ; then he will
see that all is very good, and will entirely rejoice in his own works. At the
same time the saints also, viewing the works of God brought thus to perfec
tion, will rejoice in the view, and receive from it a large accession of happiness.
Then God will make more abundant manifestations of his glory, and of the
glory of his Son ; then he will more plentifully pour out his Spirit, and make
answerable additions to the glory of the saints, and by means of all these will
so increase the happiness of the saints, as shall be suitable to the commence
ment of the ultimate and most perfect state of things, and to such a joyful oc
casion, the completion of all things. In this glory and happiness will the saints
remain forever and ever.
SECTION. VII.
The uses to which this doctrine is applicable.
I. The first use proper to be made of this doctrine is of instruction. Hence
many of the mysteries of Divine Providence may be unfolded. There are many
things in the dealings of God towards the children of men, which appear very
mysterious, if we view them without having an eye to this last judgment, which
yet, if we consider this judgment, have no difficulty in them. As,
1. That God suffers the wicked to live and prosper in the world. The infi
nitely holy and wise Creator and Governor of the world must necessarily hate
wickedness j yet we see many wicked men spreading themselves as a green
bay-tree ; they live with impunity; things seem to go well with them, and the
world smiles upon them. Many who have not been fit to live, who have held
God and religion in the greatest contempt, who have been open enemies to all
that is good, who by their wickedness have been the pests of mankind ; many
cruel tyrants, whose barbarities have been such as would even fill one with
horror to hear or read of them ; yet have lived in great wealth and outward
glory, have reigned over great and mighty kingdoms and empires, and have
been honored as a sort of earthly gods.
Now, it is very mysterious, that the holy and righteous Governor of the
world, whose eye beholds all the children of men, should suffer it so to be,
unless we look forward to the day of judgment ; and then the mystery is un
ravelled. For although God for the present keeps silence, and seems to let
them alone ; yet then he will give suitable manifestations of his displeasure
against their wickedness ; they shall then receive condign punishment. The
saints under the Old Testament were much stumbled at these dispensations of
220 THE FINAL JUDGMENT.
Providence, as you may see in Job ch. xxi., and Psal. Ixxiii., and Jer ch. xi
The difficulty to them was so great, because then a future state and a day oi
judgment we re not revealed with that clearness with which they are now.
2. God sometimes suffers some of the best of men to be in great affliction,
poverty, and persecution. The wicked rule, while they are subject ; the wicked
are the head, and they are the tail ; the wicked domineer, while they serve, and are
oppressed, yea are trampled under their feet, as the mire of the streets. These
things are very common, yet they seem to imply great confusion. When the
wicked are exalted to power and authority, and the godly are oppressed by them,
things are quite out of joint : Prov. xx. 26, " A righteous man falling down
before the wicked, is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring." Sometimes
one wicked man makes many hundreds, yea thousands, of precious saints a
sacrifice to his lust and cruelty, or to his enmity against virtue and the truth, and
puts them to death for no other reason but that for which they are especially to
be esteemed and commended.
Now, if we look no further than the present state, these things appear
strange and unaccountable. But we ought not to confine our views within such
narrow limits. When God shall have put an end to the present state, these
things shall all be brought to rights. Though God suffers things to be so for
the present, yet they shall not proceed in this course always ; comparatively
speaking, the present state of things is but for a moment. When all shall be
settled and fixed by a divine judgment, the righteous shall be exalted, honored,
and rewarded, and the wicked shall be depressed and put under their feet.
However the wicked now prevail against the righteous, yet the righteous shall
at last have the ascendant, shall come off conquerors, and shall see the just ven
geance of God executed upon those who now hate and persecute them.
3. It is another mystery of Providence, that God suffers so much public in
justice to take place in the world. There are not only private wrongs, which
in this state pass unsettled, but many public wrongs, wrongs done by men act
ing in a public character, and wrongs which affect nations, kingdoms, and other
public bodies of men. Many suffer by men in public offices, from whom there
is no refuge, from whose decisions there is no appeal. Now it seems a mystery
that these things are tolerated, when he that is rightfully the Supreme Judge
and Governor of the world is perfectly just ; but at the final judgment all these
wrongs shall be adjusted, as well as those of a more private nature.
II. Our second nse of this subject shall be to apply it to the awakening of
sinners. You that have not the fear of God before your eyes, that are not
afraid to sin against him, consider seriously what you have heard concerning the
day of judgment. Although these things be now future and unseen, yet they
are real and certain. If you now be left to yourselves, if God keep silence,
and judgment be not speedily executed, it is not because God is regardless how
you live, and how you behave yourselves. Now indeed God is invisible to you,
and his wrath is invisible ; but at the day of judgment, you yourselves shall see
him with your bodily eyes : you shall not then be able to keep out of his sight,
or to avoid seeing him : Rev. i. 7, " Behold he cometh with clouds ; and
every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him : and all kindreds
of the earth shall wail because of him." You shall see him coming in the
clouds of heaven ; your ears shall hear the last trumpet, that dreadful sound,
the voice of the archangel ; your eyes shall see your judge sitting on the throne,
they shall see those manifestations of wrath which there will be in his counte
nance ; your ears shall hear him pronounce the sentence.
Seriously consider, if you live in the ways of sin, and appear at that day
THE FINAL JUDGMENT. 221
with the guilt of it upon you, how you will be able to endure the sight or
the hearing of these things, and whether horror and amazement will not be
likely to seize you, when you shall see the judge descending, and hear the
trump of God. What account will you be able to give, when it shall be inquir
ed of you, why you led such a sinful, wicked life ? What will you be able to
say for yourselves, when it shall be asked, why you neglected such and such
particular duties, as the duty of secret prayer, for instance ; or why you have
habitually practised such and such particular sins or lusts ? Although you be
so careless of your conduct and manner of life, make so light of sin, and pro
ceed in it so freely, with little or no dread or remorse ; yet you must give an
account of every sin that you commit, of every idle word that you speak, and of
every sinful thought of your hearts. Every time you deviate from the rules of
justice, of temperance, or of charity; every time you indulge any lust, whether
secretly or openly, you must give an account of it : it will never be forgotten,
it stands written in that book which will be opened on that day.
Consider the rule you will be judged by. It is the perfect rule of the di
vine law, which is exceeding strict, and exceeding broad. And how will you
ever be able to answer the demands of this law ? Consider also,
1. That the judge will be your supreme judge. You will have no oppor
tunity to appeal from his decision. This is often the case in this world ; when
we are dissatisfied with the decisions of a judge, we often may appeal to a
higher, a more knowing, or a more just judicatory. But no such appeal can be
made from our Divine Judge ; no such indulgence will be allowed : or if it
were allowed, there is no superior judge to whom the appeal should be made.
By his decision, therefore, you must abide.
2. The judge will be omnipotent. Were he a mere man, like yourselves,
however he might judge and determine, you might resist, and by the help of
others, if not by your own strength, prevent or elude the execution of the judg
ment. But the judge being omnipotent, this is utterly impossible. In vain is
all resistance, either by yourselves, or by whatever help you can obtain:
" Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished," Prov. xi. 21.
As well might you " set the briers and thorns in battle against God," Isa.
xxvii. 4.
3. The judge will be inexorable. Human judges may be prevailed upon to
reverse their sentence, or at least to remit something of its severity. But in
vain will be all your entreaties, all your cries and tears to this effect, with the
great Judge of the world. Now indeed he inclines his ear, and is ready to hear
the prayers, cries, and entreaties of all mankind ; but then the day of grace will
be past, and the door of mercy be shut : then although ye spread forth your
hands, yet the judge will hide his eyes from you ; yea, though ye make many
prayers, he will not hear, Isa. i. 15. Then the judge will deal in fury : his eye
shall not spare, neither will he have pity : and though ye cry in his ears with a
loud voice, yet will he not hear you, Ezek. viii. 18. And you will find no
place of repentance in God, though you seek it carefully with tears.
4. The judge at that day will not mix mercy with justice. The time for
mercy to be shown to sinners will then be past. Christ will then appear in
another character than that of the merciful Saviour. Having laid aside the in
viting attributes of grace and mercy, he will clothe himself with justice and
vengeance. He will not only, in general, exact of sinners the demands of the
.aw, but he will exact the whole, without any abatement; he will exact the
very uttermost farthing, Matt. v. 26. Then Christ will come to fulfil that in Rev.
xiv. 10, " The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is
222 THE FINAL JUDGMENT.
poured out without mixture, into the cup of his indignation." The punishment
threatened to ungodly men is without any pity ; see Ezek. v. 11: " Neither shall
mine eye spare ; neither will I have any pity." Here all judges have a mixture
of mercy ; but the wrath of God will be poured out upon the wicked without
mixture, and vengeance will have its full weight.
III. I shall apply myself, thirdly, to several different characters of men.
1. To those who live in secret wickedness. Let such consider, that for all
these things God will bring them into judgment. Secrecy is your temptation.
Promising yourselves this, you practise many things, you indulge many lusts,
under the cover of darkness, and in secret corners, which you would be asham
ed to do in the light of the sun, and before the world. But this temptation is
entirely groundless. All your secret abominations are even now perfectly
known to God, and will also hereafter be made known both to angels and men :
Luke xii. 2, 3, " For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed ; neither
hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in dark
ness, shall be heard in the light : and that which ye have spoken in the ear in
closets, shall be proclaimed upon the house-tops."
Before human judges are brought only those things which are known ; but
before this judge shall be brought the most " hidden things of darkness, and
even the counsels of the heart," 1 Cor. iv. 5. All your secret uncleanness, all
your secret fraud and injustice, all your lascivious desires, wishes, and designs,
all your inward covetousness, which is idolatry, all your malicious, envious, and
revengeful thoughts and purposes, whether brought forth into practice or not,
shall then be made manifest, and you shall be judged according to them. Of
these things, however secret, there will be need of no other evidence than the
testimony of God and of your own corfsciences.
2. To such as are not just and upright in their dealings with their fellow
men. Consider, that all your dealings with men must be tried, must be brought
forth into judgment, and there compared with the rules of the word of God.
All your actions must be judged according to those things which are found writ
ten in the book of the word of God. If your ways of dealing with men shall
not agree with those rules of righteousness, they will be condemned. Now, the
word of God directs us to practise entire justice : "That which is altogether just
shalt thou follow," Deut. xvi. 20, and to do to others as we would they should
do to us. But how many are there, whose dealings with their fellow-men, if
strictly tried by these rules, would not stand the test !
God hath in his word forbidden all deceit and fraud in our dealings one
with another, Lev. xi. 13. He hath * forbidden us to oppress one another, Lev.
xxv. 14. But how frequent are practices contrary to those rules, and which will
not bear to be tried by them ! How common are fraud and trickishness in trade !
How will men endeavor to lead on those with whom they trade in the dark, that
so they may make their advantage ! Yea, lying in trading is too common a thing
amonor us. How common are such things as that mentioned, Prov. xx. 14," It is
nought, it is nought, saith the buyer ; but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth."
Many men will take the advantage of another s ignorance to advance their
own gain, to his wrong ; yea, they seem not to scruple such practices. Beside
downright lying, men have many ways of blinding and deceiving one another
in trade, which are by no means right in the sight of God, and will appear to
be very unjust, when they shall be tried by the rule of God s word at the day
of judo-ment. And how common a thing is oppression or extortion, in taking
any advantage that men can by any means obtain, to get the utmost possible
of their neighbor for what they have to dispose of, a^d their neighbor needs i
THE FINAL JUDGMENT. 23
Let such consider that there is a God in heaven, who beholds them, and
sees how they conduct themselves in their daily traffick with one another ; and
that he will try their works another day. Justice shall assuredly take place at
last. The righteous Governor of the world will not suffer injustice without
control ; he will control and rectify it, by returning the injury upon the head
of the injurer : Matt. vii. 2, " With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured
to you again."
3. To those who plead for the lawfulness of practices generally condemned
by God s people. You who do this, consider that your practices must be tried
at the day of judgment. Consider, whether or no they are likely to be approv
ed by the most holy Judge at that day : Prov. v. 21, "The ways of man are
before the eyes of the Lord; and he pondereth all his goings." However, by
your carnal reasonings, you may deceive your own hearts, yet you will not be
able to deceive the judge, he will not hearken to your excuses, but will try
your ways by the rule ; he will know whether they be straight or crooked.
When you plead for these and those liberties which you take, let it be con
sidered, whether they be likely to be allowed of by the judge at the last great
day. Will they bear to be tried by his eyes, which are purer than to behold
evil, and cannot look on iniquity 1
4. To those who are wont to excuse their wickedness. Will the excuses
which you make for yourselves be accepted at the day of judgment ? If you
excuse yourselves to your own consciences, by saying, that you were under such
and such temptations which you could not withstand ; that corrupt nature pre
vailed, and you could not overcome it ; that it would have been so and so to
your damage, if you had done otherwise ; that if you had done such a duty,
you would have brought yourselves into difficulty, would have incurred the dis
pleasure of such and such friends, or would have been despised and laughed at j
or if ycu say, you did no more than it was the common custom to do, no more
than many godly men have done, no more than certain persons of good reputa
tion now practise, that if you had done otherwise, you would have been singular ;
if these be your excuses for the sins you commit, or for the duties which you
neglect, let me ask you, will they appear sufficient when they shall be examin
ed at the day of judgment ?
5. To those who live in impenitence and unbelief. There are some persons
who live in no open vice, and perhaps conscientiously avoid secret immorality,
who yet live in impenitence and unbelief. They are indeed called upon to re
pent and believe the gospel, to forsake their evil ways and thoughts, and to re
turn to God, that he may have mercy on them ; to come unto Christ, laboring,
and heavy-laden with sin, that they may obtain rest of him j and are assured,
that if they believe, they shall be saved; and that if ibey believe not, they shall
be damned ; and all the most powerful motives are set before them, to induce
them to comply with these exhortations, especially those drawn from the eter
nal world ; yet they persist in sin, they remain impenitent and unhumbled :
they will not come unto Christ, that they may have life.
Now such men shall be brought into judgment for their conduct, as well as
more gross sinners. Nor will they be any more able to stand in the judgment
than the other. They resist the most powerful means of grace ; go on in sin
against the clear light of the gospel j refuse to hearken to the kindest calls and
invitations ; reject the most amiable Saviour, the judge himself; and despise the
free offers of eternal life, glory and felicity. And how will they be able to an
swer for these things at the tribunal of Christ ?
IV. If there be a day of judgment appointed, then let all be very strict in
224 THE FINAL JUDGMENT.
trying their own sincerity. God on that day will discover the secrets of all
hearts. The judgment of that day will be like a fire, which burns up whatso
ever is not true gold ; wood, hay, stubble, and dross, shall be all consumed by
the scorching fire of that day. The judge will be like a refiner s fire, and ful
ler s soap, which will cleanse away all filthiness, however it may be colored
over : Mai. iii. 2, " Who may abide the day of his coming 1 And who shall
stand when he appeareth ? For he is like a refiner s fire, and like fuller s soap;"
and chap. iv. 1, " For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and
all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble, and the day that
cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts."
There are multitudes of men that wear the guise of saints, appear like saints,
and their state, both in their own eyes and in the eyes of their neighbors, is
good. They have sheep s clothing. But no disguise can hide them from the
eyes of the judge of the world. His eyes are as a flame of fire : they search
the hearts and try the reins of the children of men. He will see whether they
be sound at heart ; he will see from what principles they have acted. A fair
show will in no degree deceive him, as it doth men in the present state. It
will signify nothing to say, " Lord, we have eaten and drunk in thy presence ;
and in thy name have we cast out devils, and in thy name have done many
wonderful works." It will signify nothing to pretend to a great deal of comfort
and joy, and to the experience of great religious affections, and to your having
done many things in religion and morality, unless you have some greater evi
dences of sincerity.
Wherefore let every one take heed that he be not deceived concerning him
self ; and that he depend not on that which will not bear examination at the
day of judgment. Be not contented with this, that you have the judgment of
men, the judgment of godly men, or that of ministers, in your favor. Consider
that they arenot to be your judges at last. Take occasion frequently to com
pare your hearts with the word of God ; that is the rule by which you are to
be finally tried and judged. And try yourselves by your works, by which also
you must be tried at last. Inquire whether you lead holy, Christian lives,
whether you perform universal and unconditional obedience to all God s com
mands, and whether you do it from a truly gracious respect to God.
Also frequently beg of God, the judge, that he would search you, try you
now, and discover you to yourselves, that you may see if you be insincere in
religion ; and that he would lead you in the way everlasting. Beg of God,
that if you be not upon a good foundation, he would unsettle you, and fix you
upon the sure foundation. The example of the Psalmist in this is worthy of
imitation : Psal. xxvi. 1,2, " Judge me, Lord, examine me, and prove me;
try my reins and mine heart ," and Psal. cxxxix. 23, 24, " Search me, God,
and know my heart : try me, and know my thoughts. And see if there be any
wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." God will search us
hereafter, and discover what we are, both to ourselves and to all the world; let
us pray that he would search us, and discover our hearts to us now. We have
need of divine help in this matter ; for the heart is deceitful above all things.
V. If God hath appointed a day to judge the world, let us judge and con
demn ourselves for our sins. This we must do, if we would not be judged and
condemned for them on that day. If we would escape condemnation, we must
see that we justly may be condemned ; we must be so sensible of our yileness
and guilt, as to see that we deserve all that condemnation and punishment
which are threatened ; and that we are in the hands of God, who is the sove
reign disposer of us, and will do with us as seemeth to himself good. Let us
HE FINAL JUDGMENT. 225
therefore often reflect on our sins, confess them before God, condemn and
abhor ourselves, be truly humbled, and repent in dust and ashes.
VI. If these things be so, let us by no means be forward to judge others.
Some are forward to judge others, to judge their hearts, both in general and
upon particular occasions, to determine as to the principles, motives, and ends of
their actions. But this is to assume the province of God, and to set up our
selves as lords and judges. Rom. xiv. 4, " Who art thou, that thou judgest
another man s servant ?" Jam. iv. 1 1, " Speak not evil one of another, brethren.
He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of
the law, and judgeth the law." To be thus disposed to judge and act censori
ously towards others, is the way to be judged and condemned ourselves. Matt,
vii. 1. 2, " Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge,
ye shall be judged : and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to
you again."
VII. This doctrine affords matter of great consolation to the godly. This
day of judgment, which is so terrible to ungodly men, affords no ground of
terror to you, but abundant ground of joy and satisfaction. For though you
now meet with more affliction and trouble than most wicked men, yet on that
day you shall be delivered from all afflictions, and from all trouble. If you be
unjustly treated by wicked men, and abused by them, what a comfort is it to the
injured, that they may appeal to God, who judgeth righteously ! The Psalmist
used often to comfort himself with this.
Upon these accounts the saints have reason to love the appearing of Jesus
Christ. 2 Tim. iv. 8, " Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of right
eousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day : and
not to me only, but to all those that love his appearing." This is to the saints
a blessed hope. Tit. ii. 13, " Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious
appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ. This day may well
be the object of their eager desire, and when they hear of Christ s coming to
judgment they may well say, " Even so come, Lord Jesus," Rev. xxii. 20. It
will be the most glorious day that ever the saints saw ; it will be so both to
those who shall die, and whose souls shall go to heaven, and to those who shall
then be found alive on earth : it will be the wedding-day of the church. Sure
ly then in the consideration of the approach of this day, there is ground of great
consolation to the saints.
VOL. IV
SERMON IX.
THE JUSTICE OF GOD IN THE DAMNATION OF SINNERS
ROMANS ni. 19. That every mouth may b stopped.
THE main subject of the doctrinal part of this epistle, is the free grace- of
God in the salvation of men by Christ Jesus; especially as it appears in the
doctrine of justification by faith alone. And the more clearly to evince this
doctrine, and show the reason of it, the apostle, in the first place, establishes
that point, that no flesh living can be justified by the deeds of the law. And to
prove it, he is very large and particular in showing, that all mankind, not only
Gentiles but Jews, are under sin, and so under the condemnation of the
law ; which is what he insists upon from the beginning of the epistle to this
place. He first begins with the Gentiles ; and in the first chapter shows that
they are under sin, by setting forth the exceeding corruptions and horrid wick
edness that overspread the Gentile world : and then through the second chap
ter, and the former part of this third chapter, to the text and following verse,
he shows the same of the Jews, that they are also in the same circumstances
with the Gentiles in this regard. They had a high thought of themselves, be
cause they were God s covenant people, and circumcised, and the children of
Abraham. They despised the Gentiles as polluted, condemned, and accursed ;
but looked on themselves, on account of their external privileges, and ceremo
nial and moral righteousness, as a pure and holy people, and the children of
God, as the apostle observes in the second chapter. It was therefore strange
doctrine to them, that they also were unclean and guilty in God s sight, and
under the condemnation and curse of the law. The apostle does therefore, on
account of their strong prejudices against such doctrine, the more particularly
insist upon it, and shows that they are no better than the Gentiles ; and as in the
9th verse of this chapter, " What then ? Are we better than they ? No, in
no wise ; for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all
under sin." And to convince them of it, he then produces certain passages out
of their own law, or the Old Testament (whose authority they pretend a great
regard to), from the 9th verse to the verse wherein is our text. And it may be
observed, that the apostle, first, cites certain passages to prove that mankind
are all corrupt, in the 10th, 1 1th, and 12th verses : " As it is written, There is
none righteous, no, not one : there is none that understandeth, there is none that
seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together be
come unprofitable, there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Secondly, the
passages he cites next, are to prove, that not only all are corrupt, but each one
wholly corrupt, as it were all over unclean, from the crown of his head to the
soles of his feet ; and therefore several particular parts of the body are men
tioned, as the throat, the tongue, the lips, the mouth, the feet : verses 13, 14,
15, " Their throat is an open sepulchre ; with their tongues they have used de
ceit ; the poison of asps is under their lips ; whose mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness : their feet are swift to shed blood." And, thirdly, he quotes other
passages to show, that each one is not only all over corrupt, but corrupt to a
desperate degree, in the 16th, 17th, and 18th verses ; in which the exceeding
degree of their corruption is shown, both by affirming and denying : by affir-
DAMNATION OF SINNERS. 227
matively expressing the most pernicious nature and tendency of their wicked
ness, in the 16th verse : " Destruction and misery are in their ways." And
then by denying all good or godliness of them, in the 17th and 18th verses,
" And the way of peace have they not known : there is no fear of God before
their eyes." And then, lest the Jews should think these passages of their law
do not concern them, and that only the Gentiles are intended in them, the apos
tle shows, in the verse of the text, not only, that they are not exempt, but that
they especially must be understood : " Now we know that whatsoever things
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law." By those that are
under the law is meant the Jews ; and the Gentiles by those that are without
law; as appears by the 12th verse of the preceding chapter. There is a spe
cial reason to understand the law, as speaking to and of them, to whom it was
immediately given. And therefore the Jews would be unreasonable in exempt
ing themselves. And if we examine the places of the Old Testament whence
these passages are taken, we shall see plainly that special respect is had to the
wickedness of the people of that nation, in every one of them. So that the law
shuts all up in universal and desperate wickedness, that every mouth may be
stopped ; the mouths of the Jews, as well as of the Gentiles, notwithstanding
all those privileges by which they were distinguished from the Gentiles.
The things that the law says, are sufficient to stop the mouths of all man
kind, in two respects :
1. To stop them from boasting of their righteousness, as the Jews were wont
to do ; as the apostle observes in the 23d verse of the preceding chapter.
That the apostle has respect to stopping their mouths in this respect, appears
by the 27th verse of the context, " Where is boasting then ? It is excluded."
The law stops our mouths from making any plea for life, or the favor of God,
or any positive good, from our own righteousness.
2. To stop them from making any excuse for ourselves, or objection against
the execution of the sentence of the law, or the infliction of the punishment that
it threatens. That it is intended, appears by the words immediately following,
" That all the world may become guilty before God." That is, that they may
appear to be guilty, and stand convicted before God, and justly liable to the
condemnation of his law, as guilty of death, according to the Jewish way of
speaking.
And thus the apostle proves, that no flesh can be justified in God s sight by
the deeds of the law ; as he draws the conclusion in the following verse ; and
so prepares the way for the establishing of the great doctrine of justification by
faith alone, which he proceeds to do in the next verse to that, and in the follow
ing part of the chapter, and of the epistle.
DOCTRINE.
It is just with God eternally to cast off and destroy sinners.
For this is the punishment which the law condemns to ; which the things
that the law says, may well stop every mouth from all manner of objection
against.
The truth of this doctrine may appear by the joint consideration of two
things, viz., man s sinfulness, and God s sovereignty.
I. It appears from the consideration of man s sinfulness. And that whether
we consider the infinitely evil nature of all sin, or how much sin men are
guilty of.
1 If we consider the infinite evil and hemousness of sin in genera}, it is not
228 JUSTICE OF GOD IN THE
unjust in God to inflict what punishment is deserved ; because the very notion
of deserving punishment is, that it may be justly inflicted : a deserved punish
ment and a just punishment are the same thing. To say that one deserves such
a punishment, and yet to say that he does not justly deserve it, is a contradic
tion ; and if he justly deserves it, then it may be justly inflicted.
Every crime or fault deserves a greater or less punishment, in proportion as
the crime itself is greater or less. If any fault deserves punishment, then so
much the greater the fault, so much the greater is the punishment deserved.
The faulty nature of any thing is the formal ground and reason of its desert of
punishment ; and therefore the more any thing hath of this nature, the more
punishment it deserves. And therefore the terribleness of the degree of punish
ment, let it be never so terrible, is no argument against the justice of it, if the
proportion does but hold between the heinousness of the crime and the dreadful-
ness of the punishment ; so that if there be any such thing as a fault infinitely
heinous, it will follow that it is just to inflict a punishment for it that is infinitely
dreadful.
A crime is more or less heinous, according as we are under greater or less
obligations to the contrary. This is self-evident ; because it is herein that the
criminalness or faultiness of any thing consists, that it is contrary to what we
are obliged or bound to, or what ought to be in us. So the faultiness of one
being s hating another, is in proportion to his obligation to love him. The
crime of one being s despising and casting contempt on another, is proportiona-
bly more or less heinous, as he was under greater or less obligations to honor
him. The fault of disobeying another, is greater or less, as any one is under
greater or less obligations to obey him. And therefore if there be any being that
we are under infinite obligations to love, and honor and obey, the contrary to
wards him must be infinitely faulty.
Our obligations to love, honor, and obey any being, is in proportion to his
loveliness, honorableness, and authority ; for that is the very meaning of the
words. When we say any one is very lovely, it is the same as to say, that he
is one very much to be loved : or if we say such a one is more honorable than
another, the meaning of the words is, that he is one that we are more obliged
to honor. If we say any one has great authority over us, it is the same as to
say, that he has great right to our subjection and obedience.
But God is a being infinitely lovely, because he hath infinite excellency and
beauty. To have infinite excellency and beauty, is the same thing as to have
infinite loveliness. He is a Being of infinite greatness, majesty, and glory ; and
therefore is infinitely honorable. He is infinitely exalted above the greatest
potentates of the earth, and highest angels in heaven ; and therefore is infinitely
more honorable than they. His authority over us is infinite ; and the ground
of his right to our obedience is infinitely strong : for he is infinitely worthy to
be obeyed in himself, and we have an absolute, universal, and infinite depend
ence upon him.
So that sin against God, being a violation of infinite obligations, must be a
crime infinitely heinous, and so deserving of infinite punishment. Nothing is
more agreeable to the common sense of mankind, than that sins committed
against any one, must be heinous proportionably to the dignity of the being of
fended and abused ; as it is also agreeable to the word of God : 1 Sam. ii. 25,
" If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him ;" (i. e., shall judge
him, and inflict a finite punishment, such as finite judges can inflict ;) " but if a
man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him ?" This was the aggrava
tion of sin that made Joseph afraid of it : Gen. xxxix. 9, " How shall I coin
DAMNATION OF SINNERS. 229
rnit this great wickedness^ and sin against God ?" This was the aggravation
of David s sin, in comparison of which he esteemed all others as nothing, be
cause they were infinitely exceeded by it. Psalm li. 4, " Against thee, thee only
have I sinned." The eternity of the punishment of ungodly men renders it in
finite ; and it renders it no more than infinite, and therefore no more than propor
tionable to the heinousness of what they are guilty.
If there be any evil or faultiness in sin against God, there is certainly infi
nite evil : for if it be any fault at all, it has an infinite aggravation, viz., that it
is against an infinite object. If it be ever so small upon other accounts, yet if
it be any thing, it has one infinite dimension ; and so is an infinite evil. Which
may be illustrated by this : if we suppose a thing lo have infinite length, but
no breadth and thickness, but to be only a mere mathematical line, it is nothing ;
but if it have any breadth and thickness at all, though never so small, yet if it
have but one infinite dimension, viz., that of length, the quantity of it is infi
nite ; it exceeds the quantity of any thing, however broad, thick and long,
wherein these dimensions are all finite.
So that the objections that are made against the infinite punishment of sin,
from the necessity, or rather previous certainty of the futurition of sin, arising
from the decree of God, or unavoidable original corruption of nature, if they
argue any thing, do not argue against the infiniteness of the degree of the faulti
ness of sin directly, and no otherwise than they argue against any faultiness at
all : for if this necessity or certainty leaves any evil at all in sin, that fault must
be infinite by reason of the infinite object.
But every such objector as would argue from hence, that there is no fault at
all in sin, confutes himself, and shows his own insincerity in his objection. For
at the same time that he objects, that men s acts are necessary, from God s de
crees, and original sin, and that this kind of necessity is inconsistent with faulti
ness in the act, his own practice shows that he does not believe what he objects
to be true : otherwise why does he at all blame men ? Or why are such per
sons at all displeased with men, for abusive, injurious, and ungrateful acts to
wards them 1 Whatever they pretend, by this they show that indeed they do
believe that there is no necessity in men s acts, from divine decrees, or corrup
tion of nature, that is inconsistent with blame. And if their objection be this,
that this prevkms certainty is by God s own ordering, and that where God orders
an antecedent certainty of acts, he transfers all the fault from the actor on him
self ; their practice shows, that at the same time they do not believe this, but
fully believe the contrary : for when they are abused by men, they are dis
pleased with men, and not with God only.
The light of nature teaches all mankind, that when an injury is voluntary)
it is faulty, without any manner of consideration of what there might be previ
ously to determine the futurition of that evil act of the will. And it really
teaches this as much to those that object and cavil most as to others ; as their
universal practice shows. By which it appears, that such objections are insin
cere and perverse. Men will mention others corrupt nature in their own case,
or when they are injured, as a thing that aggravates their crime, and that wherein
their faultiness partly consists. How common is it for persons, when they
look on themselves greatly injured by another, to inveigh against him, and ag
gravate his baseness, by saying, " He is a man of a most perverse spirit : he is
naturally of a selfish, niggardly, or proud and haughty temper : he is one of a
base and vile disposition." And yet men s natural, corrupt dispositions are
mentioned as an excuse for them, with respect to their sins against God, and as
if they rendered them blameless.
230 JUSTICE OF GOD IN THE
2. That it is just with God eternally to cast off wicked men may more
abundantly appear, if we consider how much sin they are guilty of. From
what has been already said, it appears, that if men were guilty of sin but in
one particular, that is sufficient ground of their eternal rejection and condem
nation : if they are sinners, that is enough : merely this might be sufficient to
keep them from ever lifting up their heads, and cause them to smite on their
breasts, with the publican that cried " God be merciful to me a sinner." But
sinful men are not only thus, but they are full of sin ; full of principles of sin,
and full of acts of sin : their guilt is like great mountains, heaped one upon
another, till the pile is grown up to heaven. They are totally corrupt, in every
part, in all their faculties, and all the principles of their nature, their under
standings, and wills; and in all their dispositions and affections, their heads,
their hearts, are totally depraved ; all the members of their bodies are only
instruments of sin ; and all their senses, seeing, hearing, tasting, &c., are only
inlets and outlets of sin, channels of corruption. There is nothing but sin, no
good at all. Rom. vii. 18, " In me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing."
There is all manner of wickedness. There are the seeds of the greatest and
blackest crimes. There are principles of all sorts of wickedness against men ;
and there is all wickedness against God. There is pride ; there is enmity;
there is contempt ; there is quarrelling ; there is atheism ; there is blasphemy.
There are these things in exceeding strength ; the heaft is under the power of
them, is sold under sin, and is a perfect slave to it. There is hardheartedness,
hardness greater than that of a rock, or an adamant stone. There is obstinacy
and perverseness, incorrigibleness and inflexibleness of sin, that will not be
ovejcome by threatenings or promises, by awakenings or encouragements, by-
judgments or mercies, neither by that which is terrifying, nor that which is
winning : the very blood of God will not win the heart of a wicked man.
And there is actual wickedness without number or measure. There are
breaches of every command, in thought, word, and deed ; a life full of sin ;
days and nights filled up with sin ; mercies abused, and frowns despised ; mercy
and justice, and all the divine perfections, trampled on ; and the honor of each
person in the Trinity trod in the dirt. Now if one sinful word or thought has
so much evil in it, as to deserve eternal destruction, how do they deserve to be
eternally cast of? and destroyed, that are guilty of so much sin !
II. If with man s sinfulness, we consider God s sovereignty, it may serve
further to clear God s justice in the eternal rejection and condemnation of sin
ners, from men s cavils and objections. I shall not now pretend to determine
precisely, what things are, and what things are not, proper acts and exercises
of God s holy sovereignty ; but only, that God s sovereignty extends to the
following things.
1. That such is God s sovereign power and right, that he is originally under
no obligation to keep men from sinning ; but may in his providence permit and
leave them to sin. He was not obliged to keep either angels or men from fall
ing. It is unreasonable to suppose, that God should be obliged, if he makes a
reasonable creature capable of knowing his will, and receiving a law from him,
and being subject to his moral government, at the same time to make it im
possible for him to sin, or break his law. For if God be obliged to this, it de
stroys all use of any commands, laws, promises or threatenings, and the very
notion of any moral government of God over those reasonable creatures. For
to what purpose would it be, for God to give such and such laws, and declare
his holy will to a creature, and annex promises and threatenings to move him
to his duty, and make him careful to perform it, if the creature at the same
DAMNATION OF SINNERS. 231
time has this to think of, that God is obliged to make it impossible for him to
break his laws ? How can God s threatenings move to care or watchfulness,
when, at the same time, God is obliged to render it impossible that he should
be exposed to the threatenings ? Or, to what purpose is it for God to give a
law at all ? For, according to this supposition, it is God, and not the creature,
that is under the law. It is the lawgiver s care, and not the subject s, to see
that his law is obeyed ; and this care is what the lawgiver is absolutely obliged
to. If God be obliged never to permit a creature to fall, there is an end of all
divine laws, or government, or authority of God over the creature ; there can
be no manner of use of these things.
God may permit sin, though the being of sin will certainly ensue on that
permission : and so, by permission, he may dispose and order the event. If
there were any such thing as chance, or mere contingence, and the very notion
of it did not carry a gross absurdity (as might easily be shown that it does), it
would have been very unfit, that God should have left it to mere chance,
whether man should fall or no. For, chance, if there should be any such thing,
is undesigning and blind. And certainly it is more fit that an event of so great
importance, and that is attended with such an infinite train of great consequen
ces, should be disposed and ordered by infinite wisdom, than that it should be
left to blind chance.
If it be said, that God need not have interposed to render it impossible for
man to sin, and yet not leave it to mere contingence or blind chance neither ;
but might have left it with man s free will, to determine whether to sin or no;
I answer, if God did leave it to man s free will, without any sort of disposal,
or ordering in the case, whence it should be previously certain how that free
will should determine, then still that first determination of the will must be
merely contingent or by chance. It could not have any antecedent act of the
will to determine it ; for I speak now of the very first act or motion of the will,
respecting the affair that may be looked upon as the prime ground and highest
source of the event. To suppose this to be determined by a foregoing act is a
contradiction. God s disposing this determination of the will by his permission,
does not at all infringe the liberty of the creature : it is in no respect any
more inconsistent with liberty, than mere chance or contingence. For if the
determination of the will be from blind, undesigning chance, it is no more from
the agent himself, or from the will itself, than if we suppose, in the case, a wise,
divine disposal by permission.
2. It was fit that it should be at the ordering of the divine wisdom and
good pleasure, whether every particular man should stand for himself, or
whether the first father of mankind should be appointed as the moral and fede
ral head and representative of the rest. If God has not liberty in this matter to
determine either of these two as he pleases, it must be because determining that
the first father of men should represent the rest, and not that every one should
stand for himself, is injurious to mankind. For if it be not injurious to mankind,
how is it unjust ? But it is not injurious to mankind ; for there is nothing in
the nature of the case itself, that makes it better for mankind that each man
should stand for himself, than that all should be represented by their common
father ; as the least reflection or consideration will convince any one. And if
there be nothing in the nature of the thing that makes the former better for
mankind than the latter, then it will follow, that mankind are not hurt in God s
choosing and appointing the latter, rather than the former ; or, which is the
same thing, that it is not injurious to mankind.
3. When men are fallen, and become sinful, God by his sovereignty has a
232 JUSTICE OF GOD IN THE
right to determine about their redemption as he pleases. He has a right to
determine whether he will redeem any or no. He might, if he had pleased, have
left all to perish, or might have redeemed all. Or, he may redeem some, and leave
others ; and if he doth so, he may take whom he pleases, and leave whom he pleases.
To suppose that all have forfeited his favor, and deserved to perish, and to sup
pose that he may not leave any one individual of them to perish, implies a con
tradiction ; because it supposes that such a one has a claim to God s favor,
and is not justly liable to perish ; which is contrary to the supposition.
It is meet that God should order all these things according to his own plea
sure. By reason of his greatness and glory, by which he is infinitely above
all, he is worthy to be sovereign, and that his pleasure should in all things take
place : he is worthy that he should make himself his end, and that he should
make nothing but his own wisdom his rule in pursuing that end, without asking
leave or counsel of any, and without giving any account of any of his matters.
It is fit that he that is absolutely perfect, and infinitely wise, and the fountain
of all wisdom, should determine every thing by his own will, even things of
the greatest importance, such as the eternal salvation or damnation of sinners.
It is meet that he should be thus sovereign, because he is the first being, the
eternal being, whence all other beings are. He is the Creator of all things ;
and all are absolutely and universally dependent on him ; and therefore it is
meet that he should act as the sovereign possessor of heaven and earth
APPLICATION.
In the improvement of this doctrine, I would first direct myself to sinners
that are afraid of damnation, in a use of conviction. This may be matter of
conviction to you, that it would be just and righteous with God eternally to re
ject and destroy you. This is what you are in danger of: you that are a Christ-
Jess sinner are a poor condemned creature : God s wrath still abides upon you ;
and the sentence of condemnation lies upon you : you are in God s hands, and
it is uncertain what he will do with you. You are afraid what will become of
you : you are afraid that it will be your portion to suffer eternal burnings ; and
your fears are not without grounds ; you have reason to tremble every moment.
But let you be never so much afraid of it, let eternal damnation be never so
dreadful, yet it is just : God may nevertheless do it, and be righteous, and holy,
and glorious in it. Though eternal damnation be what you cannot bear,
and how much soever your heart shrinks at the thoughts of it, yet God s justice
may be glorious in it. The dreadfulness of the thing on your part, and the
greatness of your dread of it, do not render it the less righteous on God s part.
If you think otherwise, it is a sign that you do not see yourself, that you are
not sensible what sin is, nor how much of it you have been guilty of.
Therefore for your conviction, be directed,
First, To look over your past life : inquire at the mouth of conscience, and
hear what that has to testify concerning it. Consider what you are, what light
you have had, and what means you have lived under ; and yet how have you be
haved yourself! What have those many days and nights, that you have lived,
been filled up with 1 How have those years, that have rolled over your heads,
one after another, been spent ? What has the sun shone upon you for, from day
to day, while you have improved his light to serve Satan by it ? What has
God kept your breath in your nostrils for, and given you meat and drink, from
day to day for, that you have spent that life and strength that have been sup
ported by them, in opposing God and rebellion against him ?
DAMNATION OF SINNERS. 233
How many sorts of wickedness have you been guilty of! How manifold
have been the" abominations of your life! What profancness and contempt of
God has been exercised by you ! How little regard have you had to the Scrip
tures, to the word preached, to Sabbaths, and sacraments ! How profanely
have you talked, many of you about those things that are holy ! After what
manner have many of you kept God s holy day, not regarding the holiness of
the time, not caring what you thought of in it ! Yea, you have not only spent
the time in worldly, vain, and unprofitable thoughts, but in immoral thoughts ;
pleasing yourself with the reflection of past acts of wickedness, and in contriv
ing new acts. Have not you spent much holy time in gratifying your lusts in
your imaginations; yea, not only holy time, but the very time of God s pub
lic worship, when you have appeared in God s more immediate presence ! How
have you not only not attended to the worship, but have in the mean time been
feasting your lusts, and wallowing yourself in abominable uncleanness ! How
many Sabbaths have you spent, one after another, in a most wretched manner !
Some of you not only in worldly and wicked thoughts, but also a very wicked
outward behavior ! When you on Sabbath days have got along with your
wicked companions, how has holy time been treated among you ! \\ hat kind
of conversation has there been ! Yea, how have some of you, by a very inde
cent carriage, openly dishonored and cast contempt on the sacred services of
God s house, and holy day ! And what you have done some of you alone, what
wicked practices there have been in secret, even in holy time, God and your
own consciences know.
And how have you behaved yourself in the time of family prayer ! And
what a trade have many of you made of absenting yourselves from the worship
of the families you belong to, for the sake of vain company ! And how have
you continued in the neglect of secret prayer ! Wherein wilfully living in a
known sin, going abreast against as plain a command as any in the Bible !
Have you not been one that has cast off fear, and restrained prayer before God 1
What wicked carriage have some of you been guilty of towards your pa
rents ! How far have you been from paying that honor to them that God
has required ! Have you not even harbored ill will and malice towards them ?
And when they have displeased you, have wished evil to them 1 Yea, and
shown your vile spirit in your behavior ? And it is well if you have not mock
ed them behind their backs ; and like the cursed Ham and Canaan, derided
your parents nakedness instead of covering it, and hiding your eyes from it.
Have not some of you often disobeyed your parents, yea, and refused to be sub
ject to them 1 It is a wonder of mercy and forbearance, that that has not be
fore now been accomplished on you, Prov. xxxi. 17, " The eye that mocketh
at his father, and refuseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall
pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it."
What revenge and malice have you been guilty of towards your neighbors !
How have you indulged this spirit of the devil, hating others, and wishing evil
to them, rejoicing when evil befel them, and grieving at others prosperity, and
lived in such a way for a long time ! Have not some of you allowed a pas
sionate, furious spirit, and behaved yourselves in anger, more like wild beasts
than like Christians ?
W 7 hat covetousness has been in many of you ! Such has been your inordi
nate love of the world, and care about the things of it, that it has taken up your
heart; you have minded the world more than your eternal salvation. For the
vanities of the world you have neglected reading, praying and meditation : for
the things of the world, you have broken the Sabbath : for the world you have
VOL? IV. 30
234 JUSTICE OF GOD IN THE
spent a great deal of your time in quarrelling : for the world you have envied
and hated your neighbor: for the world you have cast God, and Christ, and
heaven, behind your back : for the world you have sold your own soul : you
have, as it were, drowned your soul in worldly cares and desires : you have been
a mere earthworm, that is never in its element but when grovelling and buried
in the earth.
How much of a spirit of pride has appeared in you, which is in a peculiar
manner the spirit and condemnation of the devil ! How have some of you
vaunted yourselves in your apparel ! Others in their riches ! Others in their
knowledge and abilities ! How has it galled you to see others above you !
How much has it gone against the grain for you to give others their due honor !
And how have you shown your pride by setting up your wills, and in opposing
others, and stirring up and promoting division, and a party spirit in public affairs !
How sensual have you been ! Are there not some here that have debased
themselves below the dignity of human nature, by wallowing in sensual
filthiness, as swine in the mire, or as filthy vermin feeding with delight on rot
ten carrion ? What intemperance have some of you been guilty of ! How
much of your precious time have you spent at the tavern, and in drinking com
panies, when you ought to have been at home seeking God and your salvation
in your families and closets !
And what abominable lasciviousness have some of you been guilty of !
How have you indulged yourself from day to day, and from night to night, in
all manner of unclean imaginations ! Has not your soul been filled with them,
till it has become a hold of foul spirits, and a cage of every unclean and hate
ful bird ? What foul-mouthed persons have some of you been, often in lewd
and lascivious talk and unclean songs, wherein were things not fit to be spoken !
And such company, where such conversation has been carried on, has been
your delight. And what unclean acts and practices have you defiled yourself
with ! God and your consciences know what abominable lasciviousness you
have practised in things not fit to be named, when you have been alone ; when
you ought to have been reading or meditating, or on your knees before God in
secret prayer. And how have you corrupted others, as well as polluted your
selves ! What vile uncleanness have you practised in company ! What abom
inations have you been guilty of in the dark ! Such as the apostle doubtless
had respect to in Eph. v. 12, " For it is a shame even to speak of those
things that are done of them in secret." Some of you have corrupted others,
and done what in you lay to undo their souls (if you have not actually done
it) ; and by your vile practices and examples have made room for Satan, and
invited his presence, and established his interest, in the town where you have
lived.
What lying have some of you been guilty of, especially in childhood ! And
have not your heart and lips often disagreed since you came to riper years ?
What fraud, and deceit, arid unfaithfulness, have many of you practised in your
dealings with your neighbors that your own heart is conscious to, if you have
not been noted for it by others !
And how have some of you behaved yourselves in your family relations!
How have you neglected your children s souls ! And not only so, but have
corrupted their minds by your bad examples ; and instead of training them up
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, have rather brought them up in the
devil s service !
How have some of you attended that sacred ordinance of the Lord s sup
per without any manner of serious preparation, and in a careless, slighty frame
DAMNATION OF SINNERS. 235
ol spirit, and chiefly to comply with custom ! Have you not ventured to put (lit
sacred symbols of the body and blood of Christ into your mouth, while at the
same time you lived in ways of known sins, and intended no other than still to
go on in the same wicked practices ? And, it may be, have sat at the Lord s
table with rancor in your heart against some of your brethren you have sat
there with. You have come even to that holy feast of love among God s chil
dren, with the leaven of malice and envy in your heart ; and so have eat and
drank judgment to yourself.
What stupidity and sottishness has attended your course of wickedness;
which has appeared in your obstinacy under awakening dispensations of God s
word and providence ! And how have some of you backslidden after you have
set out in religion, and quenched God s Spirit after he had been striving with
you ! And what unsteadiness, and slothfulness, and great misimprovment of
God s strivings with you, have you been chargeable with, that have long
been subjects of them !
Now, can you think when you have thus behaved yourself, that God is
obliged to show you mercy ? Are you not, after all this, ashamed to talk of
its bein<y hard with God to cast you off? Does it become one that has lived
such a life, to open his mouth to excuse himself, or object against God s justice
in his condemnation, or to complain of it as hard in God riot to give him convert
ing and pardoning grace, and make him his child, and bestow on him eternal
life ! Or to talk of his duties and great pains in religion, and such like things,
as if such performances were worthy to be accepted, and to draw God s heart to
such a creature ! If this has been your manner, does it not show how little you
have considered yourself, and how little a sense you have had of your own sin-
fulness ?
Secondly, Be directed to consider, if God should eternally reject and destroy
you, what an agreeableness and exact mutual answer ableness there would be
between God s so dealing with you, and your spirit and behavior. There
would not only be an equality, but a similitude. God declares, that his dealings
with men shall be suitable to their disposition and practice. Psalm xviii. 25, 26,
" With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful ; with an upright man, thou
wilt show thyself upright ; with the pure, thou wilt wilt show thyself pure ; and
with the froward, thou wilt show thyself froward." How much soever you dread
damnation, and are affrighted and concerned at the thoughts of it ; yet if God
should indeed eternally damn you, you would but be met with in your own way ;
you would be dealt with exactly according to your own dealing : God would but
measure to you in the same measure in which you mete. Surely it is but fair
that you should be made to buy in the same measure in which you sell.
Here I would particularly show, 1. That if God should eternally destroy you,
it would be agreeable to your treatment of God. 2. That it would be agreeable
to your treatment of Jesus Christ. 3. That it would be agreeable to your be
havior towards your neighbors. 4. That it would be according to your own
foolish behavior towards yourself.
I. If God should forever cast you off, it would be exactly agreeable to your
treatment of him. That you may be sensible of this, consider,
1. You never have exercised the least degree of love to God ; and there
fore it would be agreeable to your treatment of him if he should never express
any love to you. When God converts and saves a sinner, it is a wonderful and
unspeakable manifestation of divine love. When a poor lost soul is brought
home to Christ, and has all his sins forgiven him, and is made a child of God,
*t will take up a whole eternity to express and declare the greatness of that love.
236 JUSTICE OF GOD IN THE
And why should God be obliged to express such wonderful love to you, who
never exercised the least degree of love to him in all your life ? You never
have loved God, who is infinitely glorious and lovely ; and why then is God
under obligation to love you, who are all over deformed and loathsome as a
filthy worm, or rather a hateful viper ? You have no benevolence in your heart
towards God ; you never rejoiced in God s happiness; if he had been miserable,
and that had been possible, you would have liked it as well as if he were hap
py ; you would not have cared how miserable he was, nor mourned for it, any
more than you now do for the devil s being miserable : and why then should
God be looked upon as obliged to take so much care for your happiness, as to
do such great things for it, as he doth for those that are saved ? Or why should
God be called hard, in case he should not be careful to save you from misery 1
You care not what becomes of God s glory ; you are not distressed how much
soever his honor seems to suffer in the world : and why should God care any
more for your welfare 1 Has it not been so, that if you could but promote your
private interest, and gratify your own lusts, you cared not how much the glory
of God suffered 1 And why may not God advance his own glory in the ruin
of your welfare, not caring how much your interest suffers by it ? You never
so much as stirred one step, sincerely making the glory of God your end, or
acting from real respect to him : and why then is it hard if God do not such
great things for you, as the changing your nature, raising you from spiritual
death to life, conquering the powers of darkness for you, translating you out of
the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son, delivering you from
eternal misery, and bestowing eternal glory upon you 1 You do not use to be
willing to deny yourself for God ; you never cared to put yourself out of your
way for Christ : whenever any thing cross or difficult came in your way, that
the glory of God was concerned in, it has been your manner to shun it, and ex
cuse yourself from it : you did not care to hurt yourself for Christ, that you did
not see worthy of it : and why then must it be looked upon as such a hard and
cruel thing, if Christ has not been pleased to spill his blood and be tormented
to death for such a sinner ?
2. You have slighted and made light of God ; and why then may not God
justly slight you ? When sinners are sensible in some measure of their misery,
they are ready to think it hard that God will not take more notice of them ; that
he will see them in such a lamentable distressed condition, beholding their bur
dens and tears, and seem to slight it, and manifest no pity to them. Their souls
they think are precious : it would be a dreadful thing if (hey should perish, and
burn in hell forever. They do not see through it, that God should make so
li^ht of their salvation. But then, ought they not to consider, that as their souls
are precious, so is God s honor precious ? The honor of the infinite God, the
great King of heaven and earth, is a thing of as great importance ( and surely
may justly be so esteemed by God), as the happiness of you, a poor little worm.
But yet you have slighted that honor of God, and valued it no more than the dirt
under your feet. You have been told that such and such things were contrary
to the will of a holy God, and against his honor ; but you cared not for that.
God called upon you, and exhorted you to be more tender of his honor; but you
went on without regarding him. Thus have you slighted God ! And yet, is
it hard that God should slight you ? Are you more honorable than God, that
he must be obliged to make much of you, how light soever you make of him
and his glory ?
And you have not only slighted God in time past, but you slight him still.
You indeed now make a oretence and show of honoring him in your prayers, and
DAMNATION OF SINNERS. 237
attendance on other external duties, and by a sober countenance, and seeming
devoutness in your words and behavior ; but it is all mere dissembling. That
downcast look and seeming reverence, is not from any honor you have to God
in your heart, though you would have it go so, and would have God take it so.
You that have not believed in Christ, have not the least jot of honor to God ;
that show of it is merely forced and what you are driven to by fear, like those
mentioned in Psalm Ixvi. 3, " Through the greatness of thy power shall thine
enemies submit themselves to thee." in the original it is, " shall lie unto thee ; :
that is, yield feigned submission, and dissemble respect and honor to thee.
There is a rod held over you that makes you seem to pay such respect to God.
This religion and devotion, even the very appearance of it, would soon be gone,
and all vanish away, if that were removed. Sometimes it may be you weep in
your prayers, and in your hearing sermons, arid hope God will take notice of it,
and take it for some honor ; but he sees it to be all hypocrisy. You weep for
yourself ; you are afraid of hell ; and do you think that that is worthy that God
should take much notice of you, because you can cry when you are in danger
of being damned ; when at the same time you indeed care nothing for God s
honor 1
Seeing you thus disregard so great a God, is it a heinous thing for God to
slight you, a little wretched, despicable creature ; a worm, a mere nothing, and
less than nothing ; a vile insect, that has risen up in contempt against the Ma
jesty of heaven and earth ?
3. Why should God be looked upon as obliged to bestow salvation on you,
when you have been so ungrateful for the mercies he has bestowed upon you
already ? God has tried you with a great deal of kindness, and he never has
sincerely been thanked by you for any of it. God has watched over you and
preserved you, and provided for you, and followed you with mercy all your
days ; and yet you have continued sinning against him. He has given you food
and raiment, but you have improved both in the service of sin. He has pre
served you while you slept ; but when you arose, it was to return to the old trade
of sinning. God, notwithstanding this ingratitude, has still continued his mer
cy j but his kindness has never won your heart, or brought you to a more grate
ful behavior towards him. It may be you have received many remarkable
mercies, recoveries from sickness, or preservations of your life, when at one time
and another exposed by accidents, when, if you had died, you would have gone
directly to hell : but you never had any true thankfulness for any of these mer
cies. God has kept you out of hell, and continued your day of grace, and the
offers of salvation, this so long a time ; and that, it may be, while you did not
regard your own salvation so much as to go in secret and ask God for it : and
now God has greatly added to his mercy to you, by giving you the strivings of
his Spirit, whereby you have a most precious opportunity for your salvation in
your hands. But what thanks has God received for it 1 What kind of returns
have you made for all this kindness 1 As God has multiplied mercies, so have
you multiplied provocations.
And yet now are you ready to quarrel for mercy, and to find fault with God,
not only that he does not bestow more mercy, but to contend with him, because
he does not bestow infinite mercy upon you, heaven with all it contains, and
even himself, for your eternal portion. What ideas have you of yourself, that
you think God is obliged to do so much for you, though you treat him so un
gratefully for his kindness that you have been followed with all the days of
your life ?
4. You have voluntarily chosen to be with Satan in his enmity and oppo-
238 JUSTICE OF GOD IN THE
sition to God ; how justly therefore might you be with him in his punishment !
You did not choose to be on God s side, but rather chose to side with the
devil, and have obstinately continued in it, against God s often repeated calls
and counsels. You have chosen rather to hearken to Salan than to God, and
would be with him in his work : you have given yourself up to him, to be sub
ject to his power and government, in opposition to God. How justly therefore
may God also give you up to him, and leave you in his power, to accomplish
your ruin ! Seeing you have yielded yourself to his will, to do as he would
have you, surely God may leave you in his hands to execute his will upon you.
If men will be with God s enemy, and on his side, why is God obliged to re
deem them out of his hands, when they have done his work ? Doubtless you
would be glad to serve the devil, and be God s enemy while you live, and then
to have God your friend, and to deliver you from the devil, when you come to
die. But will God be unjust if he deals otherwise by you ? No surely ! It will
be altogether and perfectly just, that you should have your portion with him
with whom you have chosen your work ; and that you should be in his posses
sion to whose dominion you have yielded yourself; and if you cry to God for
deliverance, he may most justly give you that answer, Judges x. 14, " Go to the
gods which ye have chosen."
5. Consider how often you have refused to hear God s calls to you, and
how just it would therefore be, if he should refuse to hear you when you call
upon him. You are ready, it may be, to complain that you have often prayed,
and earnestly begged of God to show you mercy, and yet have no answer of
prayer : one says, I have been constant in prayer for so many years, and God
has not heard me. Another says, I have done what I can ; I have prayed as
earnestly as I am able ; I do not see how I can do more ; and it will seem lurd
if after all I am denied. But do you consider how often God has called, { nd
you have denied him ? God has called earnestly and for a long time ; he has
called, and called again in his word, and in his providence, and you have re
fused. You was not uneasy for fear you should not show regard enough to his
calls. You let him call as loud, and as long as he would ; for your part, you
had no leisure to attend to what he said ; you had other business to mind ; you
had these and those lusts to gratify and please, and worldly lusts to attend; you
could not afford to stand considering of what God had to say to you. When the
ministers of Christ that he sent on that errand, have stood and pleaded with
you, in his name, Sabbath after Sabbath, and have even spent their strength in
it, how little was you moved by it ! It did not alter you, but you went on still
as you used to do ; when you went away, you returned again to your sins, to
your lasciviousness, to your vain mirth, to your covetousness, to your intemper
ance, and that has been the language of your heart and practice, Exod. v. 2,
" Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice ?" Was it no crime for you
to refuse to hear when God called ? And yet is it now very hard that God
does not hear your earnest calls, and that though your calling on God be not
from any respect to him, but merely from self-love 1 The devil would beg as
earnestly as you, if he had any hope to get salvation by it, and a thousand times
as earnestly and yet be as much of a devil as he is now. Are your calk more
worthy to be heard than God s ? Or is God more obliged to regard what you
say to him, than you to regard his commands, counsels and invitations to you ?
What can have more justice in it than that in Prov. i. 24, &c., " Because I have
called, and ye have refused, I stretched out my hand, and no man regarded ;
but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear coraeth ; when
DAMNATION OF SINNERS. 239
your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind
when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me
but I will not answer ; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me "
6. Have you not taken encouragement to sin against God, on that very pre
sumption, that God would show you mercy when you sought it ? And may
not God justly refuse you that mercy that you have so presumed upon ? That
has been what you have flattered yourself with, and that which has made you
bold to disobey God, viz., that though you did so, yet God would show you
mercy when you cried earnestly to him for it. How righteous therefore would it
be m God to disappoint such a wicked presumption ! It was upon that verv
hope that you dared to affront the Majesty of heaven so dreadfully as you have
done; and can you now be so sottish as to think that God is obKffed not
frustrate that hope ?
When a sinner takes encouragement to neglect that secret prayer that God
has commanded, and to gratify his lusts, and to live a carnal and vain life and
thwart God, and run upon him, and contemn him to his face, thinkinff with
himself, I do so, God would not damn me; he is a merciful God and there
fore when I seek his mercy he will bestow it upon me ;" must God be accounted
hard because he will not do according to such a sinner s presumption ? Cannot
he be excused from showing such a sinner mercy when he is pleased to seek it
without incurring the charge of being unjust ? If this be the case, God has no
liberty to vindicate his own honor and majesty ; but must lay himself open to
all manner of affronts, and yield himself up to the abuses of vile men and let
them disobey, despise and dishonor him, as much as they will ; and w hen they
have done, his mercy and pardoning grace must not be in his own power and
at his own disposal, but he must be obliged to dispense it at their call he must
take these bold and vile contenders of his majesty, when it suits them to ask
it, and must forgive all their sins, and not only so, but must adopt them into
his family, and make them his children, and bestow eternal glory upon them
What mean, low and strange thoughts have such men of God, as think thus of
him
Consider that you have injured God the more, and have been the worse
enemy to him, for his being a merciful God. So have you treated that attribute
of God s mercy ! How just is it therefore that you never should have any
benefit or that attribute ! J
There is something peculiarly heinous in sinning against the mercy of God
more than other attributes. There is such base and horrid ingratitude, in beW
the worse to God, because he is a being of infinite goodness and grace, that
it above all things renders wickedness vile and detestable. This oulht to win
us, and engage us to serve God better; but instead of that, to sin against him
the more, has something inexpressibly bad in it, and does in a peculiar manner
enhance guilt and incense wrath, as seems to be intimated in Rom ii. 4 5
Or desp.sest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and lono-.suffer-
mg : not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance^? But
after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against
the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God "
The greater the mercy of God is, the more should you be engaged to love
him, and live to his glory. But it has been contrariwise with you the con
sideration of the mercies of God being so exceeding great, is the thing where
with you have encouraged yourself in sin. You have heard that the mercy of
God was without bounds, that it was sufficient to pardon the greatest sinner and
you have upon that very account ventured to be ;t very great sinner Though it
240 JUSTICE OF GOD IN THE
W as very offensive to God, though you heard that God infinitely hated sin and
That luch practices as you went on in were exceeding contrary to his nature,
vvil and gC, yet they did not make you uneasy ; .you heard that he was a
v y Terc 8 ifulGod, and had grace enough to pardon you and so cared not how
offensTve your sins were to him. How long have some of you gone on in sin
ndTha great sins have some of you been guilty of, on that presumption!
Youro n conscience can give testimony to it, that this has made you refuse
God s caUs and has made you regardless of his repeated commands. Now
bow righteous would it be if God should swear in his wrath, that you should
never be the better for his being infinitely merciful !
You" ingratitude has been the greater, that you have not only abused the
attribute of God s mercy, taking encouragement from it to continue in sin, but
vou have thus abused this mercy, under that very notion of its being exercised
towards yo Tin a supposition that God would exercise infinite mercy to you in
Scuar which consideration should have especially endeared God to you
Cha" taken encouragement to sin the more, from that considerahon tha
Christ came into the world and died to save sinners What thanks has Chr si
adfomwfor enduring such a tormenting death for his enemies?
bow Sv might it be so, that God should refuse that you should ever be the
tetTer J fo UsSn s laying clown his life ! It was because of these things that
Jou put off seeking salvation : you would take the pleasure of sm stiinonger
hardening yourself with that, that mercy was infinite, and it would no be too
bte if you sought it afterwards. Now, how justly may God disappoint you m
this and order it so that it shall be too late !
* 7 How have some of you risen up against God, and m the frame of your
minds opposed him in his sovereign dispensations ! And how justly upon that
Account might God oppose you, and set himself against you ! You never yet
would Ibmit to God V never could willingly comply with it that God should
^e dominion over the world, and that he should govern it for his own glory
clordh" to his own wisdom. You, a poor worm, a potsherd a broken piece
earthen vessel, have dared to find fault and quarrel with God. Isa. xlv.
9 << Wo to him that strives with his Maker. Let the potsherd stnve with the
potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth ,it , W hat
.., 1 But vet you have ventured to do it. Rom. ix. 20, Who
rt thou O man, that .gainst God V But yet you have thought you
was Wg enough ; you have taken upon you to call God to an account, why he
,o tt
eTu Visit because you are so much better, and so much greater
God that it is a crime for God to make that oppos.t.on against you that
do aea ns him f Do you think you ought to appropriate the liberty of
WrtS toyourself as being your prerogative, so that you may be an
tU sinner Kas towards hira.
DAMNATION OF SINNERS 241
enemy to God, but God must by no means be an enemy to you, but must be
looked upon under obligation nevertheless to help you, and save you by his
blood, and bestow his best blessings upon you ?
Consider how in the frame of your mind you have thwarted God in those
very exercises of mercy towards others that you are seeking for yourself. God s
exercising his infinite grace towards your neighbors, has put you into an ill
frame, and it may be, set you into a mere tumult of mind : how justly therefore
may God refuse ever to exercise that mercy towards you ! Have you not thus
opposed God s showing mercy to others, even at the very time when you pre
tended to be earnest with God for pity and help for yourself ? Yea, and while
you was endeavoring to get something wherewith to recommend yourself to
God ! And will you look to God still with a challenge of mercy, and contend
with him for it notwithstanding ? Can you, who have such a heart, and have
thus behaved yourself, come to God for any other than mere sovereign mercy ?
II. If you should be forever cast off by God, it would be agreeable to your
treatment of Jesus Christ. It would have been just with God if he had cast
you off forever, without ever making you the offer of a Saviour. But God hath
not done that, but has provided a Saviour for sinners, and offered him to you,
even his own Son Jesus Christ, who is the only Saviour of men : all that be
not forever cast off are saved by him : God offers men salvation through him,
and has promised us, that if we come to him, we shall not be cast off. But
you have treated, and still treat this Saviour after such a manner, that if you
should be eternally cast off by God, it would be most agreeable to your behavior
towards him ; which appears by this, viz.
That you reject Christ, and will not have him for your Saviour.
If God offers you a Saviour from deserved punishment, and you will not re
ceive him, then surely it is just that you should go without a Saviour. Or is
God obliged, because you do not like this Saviour, to provide you another ?
If, when he has given an infinitely honorable and glorious person, even his only
begotten Son, to be a sacrifice for sin, in the fire of his wrath, and so provided
salvation, and this Saviour is offered to you, you be not suited in him, and re
fuse to accept him, is God therefore unjust if he does not save you ? Is he
obliged to save you in a way of your own choosing, because you do not like
the way of his choosing ? Or will you charge Christ with injustice because he
does not become your Saviour, when at the same time you will not have him
when he offers himself to you, and beseeches you to accept of him as a Saviour?
I am sensible that by this time many persons are ready to open their mouths
in objection against this. If all should speak what they now think, we should
hear murmuring all over the meeting-house, and one and another would say, " I
cannot see how this can be, that I be not willing that Christ should be my
Saviour, when I would give all the world that he was my Saviour. How is it
possible that I should not be willing to have Christ for my Saviour, when this
is what I am seeking after, and praying for, and striving for, as for my life ?"
Here therefore 1 would endeavor to convince you, that you are under a gross
mistake in this matter. And, 1st, I would endeavor to show the weakness of
the grounds of your mistake. And 2dly, to demonstrate to you, that you have
rejected, and do wilfully reject Jesus Christ.
1. That you may see the weakness of the grounds of your mistake, consider,
1st. There is a great deal of difference between a willingness not to be
damned, and a being willing to receive Christ for your Saviour. You have the
former; there is no doubt to be made of that : nobody supposes that you love
misery so well as to choose an eternity of it ; and so doubtless you are willine
VOL. IV 31
242 JUSTICE OF GOD IN THE
to be saved from eternal misery. But that is a very different thing from being
willing to come to Christ : persons very commonly mistake the one for the
other, but they are quite two things. You may love the deliverance, but hate
the deliverer. You tell of a willingness ; but consider what is the object of
that willingness: it does not respect Christ; the way of salvation by him is not
at all the object of it ; but it is wholly terminated on your escape from misery.
The inclination of your will goes no further than self, it never reaches Christ
You are willing not to be miserable ; tha 4 is, you love yourself, and there your
will and choice terminate. And it is but a vain pretence and delusion to say
or think, that you are willing to accept of Christ.
2d. There is certainly a great deal of difference between a forced compli
ance and a free willingness. Force and freedom cannot consist together.
Now that willingness that you tell of, whereby you think you are willing to
have Christ for a Saviour, is merely a forced thing. Your heart does not
go out after Christ, of itself, but you are forced and driven to seek an in
terest in him. Christ has no share at all in your heart ; there is no manner of
closincr of the heart with him. This forced compliance is not what Christ seeks
of you he seeks a free and willing acceptance : Psalm ex. 3, " Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power." He seeks not that you should re
ceive him against your will, but with a free will. He seeks entertainment in
your heart and choice. And,
If you refuse thus to receive Christ, how just is it that Christ should refuse
to receive you ! How reasonable are Christ s terms, who offers to save all those
that willingly, or with a good will, accept of him for their Saviour ! Who can
rationally expect that Christ should force himself upon any man to be his Sav
iour ? Or what can be looked for more reasonable, than that all that would be
saved by Christ, should heartily and freely entertain him 1 And surely it would
be very dishonorable for Christ to offer himself upon lower terms.
But I would now proceed,
2. To show that it is really so, that you are not willing to have Chris
a Saviour. To convince you of it, consider,
1st How impossible it is that you should be willing to accept ot (
Saviour from the desert of a punishment that you are not sensible you have deserved.
If YOU are truly willing to accept of Christ as a Saviour, it must be as a sacrifice to
make atonement for your guilt : Christ came into the world on this errand, to offer
himself as an atonement, to answer for our desert of punishment. But how is
it possible that you should be willing to accept of Christ as an atonement for
that guilt that you be not sensible that you have ? How can you be willing to
have Christ for a Saviour from a desert of hell if you be not sensible that you
have a desert of hell 1 If you have not really deserved everlasting burnings
in hell then the very offer of an atonement for such a desert is an imposition
upon you. If you have no such guilt upon you, then the very offer of a satisfac
tion for that guilt is an injury, because it implies in it a charge of guilt that you
are free from Now, therefore, it is impossible that a man that is not convinced
of his cruilt can be willing to accept of an offer; because he cannot be willing
to accept the charge thaUhe offer implies : that he looks upon as injurious. A
man that is not convinced that he has deserved so dreadful a punishment can
not willingly submit to be charged with it ; if he think he is willing it is but a
mere forced, feigned business ; because in his heart he looks upon himse f great
ly injured ; and therefore he cannot freely accept of Christ, under that notion
of a Saviour from that guilt, and from the desert of such a punishment ; for such
an acceptance is an implicit owning that he does deserve such a punishment.
DAMNATION OF SINNERS. 243
I do not say, but that men may be willing to be saved from an undeserved
punishment ; they may rather not suffer it than suffer it : but a man cannot be
willing to accept one at God s hands, under the notion of a Saviour from a
punishment deserved from him that he thinks he has not deserved ; it is impos
sible that any one should freely allow a Saviour under that notion. Such a
one cannot like the way of salvation by Christ ; for if he thinks he has not
deserved hell, then he will think that freedom from hell is a debt; and therefore
cannot willingly and heartily receive it as a free gift. If a king should condemn
a man to some exceeding tormenting death, which the condemned person
thought himself not deserving of, but looked upon the sentence unjust and cruel,
and the king, when the time of execution drew nigh, should offer him his par
don, under the notion of a very great act of grace and clemency, the condemn
ed person never could willingly and heartily allow it under that notion, because
he judged himself unjustly condemned.
Now by this it is evident that you are not willing to accept of Christ as your
Saviour ; because you never yet had such a sense of your ow r n sinfulness, and
such a conviction of your great guilt in God s sight, as to be indeed convinced
that you lay justly condemned to the punishment of hell. You never was convinced
that you had forfeited all favor, and was in God s hands, and at his sovereign
and arbitrary disposal, to be either destroyed or saved, just as he pleased. You
never yet was convinced of the sovereignty of God. Hence are there so many
objections arising against the justice of your punishment from original sin, and
from God s decrees, from mercy shown to others, and the like.
2d. That you be not sincerely willing to accept of Christ as your Saviour,
appears by this, that you never have been convinced that he is sufficient for the
work of your salvation. You never had a sight or sense of any such excellency
or worthiness in Christ, as should give such great value to his blood and his
mediation with God, as that it was sufficient to be accepted for such exceeding
guilty creatures, and those that have so provoked God, and exposed themselves
to such amazing wrath. A saying it is so, and a customary yielding and
allowing it to be as others say, is a very different thing from being really con
vinced of it, and a being made sensible of it in your own heart. The sufficiency
of Christ depends upon, or rather consists in his excellency. It is because he is
so excellent a person that his blood is of sufficient value to atone for sin, and it
is hence that his obedience is so worthy in God s sight ; it is also hence that his
intercession is so prevalent; and therefore those that never had any spiritual
sight or sense of Christ s excellency, cannot be sensible of his sufficiency.
And that sinners be not convinced that Christ is sufficient for the work he
has undertaken, appears most manifestly when they are under great convic
tions of their sin, and danger of God s wrath. Though it may be before they
thought they could allow Christ to be sufficient (for it is easy to allow any one
to be sufficient for our defence at a time when we see no danger), yet when
they come to be sensible of their guilt and God s wrath, what discouraging
thoughts do they entertain ! How are they ready to draw towards despair, as
if there were no hope or help for such wicked creatures as they ! The reason
is, they have no apprehension or sense of any other way that God s majesty can
be vindicated, but only in their misery. To tell them of the blood of Christ
signifies nothing, it does not relieve their sinking, despairing hearts. This makes
it most evident that they are not convinced that Christ is sufficient to be their
Mediator.
And as long as they are unconvinced of this, it is impossible that they should
be willing to accept of him as their Mediator and Saviour. A man in distress-
244 JUSTICE OF GOD IN THE
ing fear will not willingly betake himself to a fort that he judges not sufficient
to defend him from the enemy. A man will not willingly venture out into the
ocean in a ship that he suspects is leaky, and will sink before he gets through
his voyage.
3d. It is evident that you are not willing to have Christ for your Saviour,
because you have so mean an opinion of him, that you durst not trust his faith
fulness. One that undertakes to be the Saviour of souls had need be faithful ;
for if he fails in such a trust, how great is the loss ! But you are not convinced
of Christ s faithfulness ; as is evident, because at such times as when you are
in a considerable measure sensible of your guilt and God s anger, you cannot
be convinced that Christ is willing to accept of you, or that he stands ready to
receive you if you should come to him, though Christ so much invites you to
come to him, and has so fully declared that he will not reject you, if you do
?ome ; as particularly, John vi. 37, " Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise
cast out." Now, there is no man can be heartily willing to trust his eternal
welfare in the hands of an unfaithful person, or one whose faithfulness he
suspects.
4th. You are not willing to be saved in that way by Christ, as is evident,
because you are not willing that your own goodness should be set at nought.
In the way of salvation by Christ, men s own goodness is wholly set at nought ;
there is no account at all made of it. Now you cannot be willing to be saved
in a way wherein your own goodness is set at nought, as is evident by that, that
you make much of it yourself. You make much of your prayers and pains in
religion, and are often thinking of them ; how considerable do they appear to
you, when you look back upon them ! And how much are some of you in think
ing how much more you have done than some others, and in expecting some
respect or regard that God should manifest to what you do ! Now, if you
make so much of what you do yourself, it is impossible that you should be free
ly willing that God should make nothing of it. As we may see in other things ;
if a man is proud of a great estate, or if he values himself much upon his hon
orable office, or his great abilities, it is impossible that he should like it, and
heartily approve of it, that others should make light of these things and despise
them.
Seeing therefore that it is so evident that you refuse to accept of Christ as
your Saviour, why is Christ to be blamed that he does not save you 1 Christ
has offered himself to you to be your Saviour in time past, and he continues of
fering himself still, and you continue to reject him, and yet complain that he
does not save you. So strangely unreasonable, and inconsistent with them
selves, are gospel sinners !
But I expect that there are many of you that in your hearts still object ;
your mouths be not stopped. Such an objection as this, is probably now in the
hearts of many here present.
Object. If it be so, that I am not willing to have Christ for my Saviour, yet
I cannot make myself willing.
But I would give an answer to this objection by laying down two things,
that must be acknowledged to be exceeding evident.
1. It is no excuse, that you cannot receive Christ of yourself, unless you
would if you could. This is so evident of itself, that it scarce needs any proof
Certainly if persons would not if they could, it is just the same thing as to thr
blame that lies upon them, whether they can or cannot. If you were willing,
and then found that you could not, your being unable would alter the case, and
might be some excuse ; because then the defect would not be in your will, but
DAMNATION OF SINNERS. 245
only in your ability : but as long as you will not, it is no matter what the abi
lity is, whether you have ability or no ability.
If you be not willing to accept of Christ, it will follow that you have no
sincere willingness to be willing ; because the will always necessarily approves
of, and rests in its own acts. To suppose the contrary would be to suppose a
contradiction ; it would be to suppose that a man s will is contrary to itself,
or that he wills contrary to what he himself wills. So that as you are not
willing to come to Christ, and can: ot make yourself willing, so you have no
sincere desire to be willing ; and therefore may most justly perish without a
Saviour. There is no excuse at all for you j for say what you will about your
inability, the seat of your blame lies in your perverse will, that is an enemy to
the Saviour. It is in vain for you to tell of your want of power, as long as
your will is found defective. If a man should hate you, and devour you, and
exalt himself and smite you in the face, and tell you that he did it voluntarily,
and because he had a mind to, but only should tell you at the same time, that
he hated you so much, that he could not help choosing and willing so to do,
would you take it the more patiently for that ? Would not your indignation
be rather stirred up the more ?
2. If you would be willing if you could, that is no excuse, unless your un
willingness to be willing be sincere. That which is hypocritical, and does not
come from the heart, but is merely forced, ought wholly to be set aside, as
worthy of no consideration ; and that because common sense teaches, that that
which is not hearty but hypocritical is indeed nothing, being only a show of
what is not ; but that which is good for nothing, ought to go for nothing.
But if you set aside all that is not free, and call nothing a willingness, but a
free hearty willingness, then see how the case stands, and whether or no you
have not lost all your excuse for standing out against the calls of the gospel.
You say you would make yourself willing to accept if you could ; but it is
not from any good principle that you are willing for that; it is not from any
free inclination or true respect to Christ, or any love to your duty, or any spirit
of obedience, or from the influence of any manner of real respect, or tendency
in your heart, towards any thing that is good, or from any other principle than
such as is in the hearts of devils, and would make them have the same sort of
willingness in the same circumstances. It is therefore evident, that there can
be no goodness in that woulding to be willing to come to Christ : and that,
which has no goodness cannot be an excuse for any badness. If there be no
good in it, then it signifies nothing, and weighs nothing, when put into the
scales to counterbalance that which is bad.
Sinners therefore spend their time in foolish arguing and objecting, making
much of that which is good for nothing, making those excuses that be not
worth offering. It is in vain to keep making objections : you stand justly con
demned : the blame lies all at your door : thrust it off from you as often as you
will, it will return upon you : sew fig leaves as you will, your nakedness will
appear: you continue wilfully and wickedly rejecting Jesus Christ, and will not
have him for your Saviour, and therefore it is sottish madness in you to charge
Christ with injustice that he does not save you.
Here is the sin of unbelief ! Thus the guilt of that great sin lies upon you ! If
you never had thus treated a Saviour, you might most justly have been damned to
all eternity : it would but be exactly agreeable to your treatment of God. But
besides this, when God, notwithstanding, has offered you his own dear Son, to
save you from this endless misery you had deserved, and not only so, but to
make you happy eternally in the" enjoyment of himself, you refused him, and
246 JUSTICE OF GOD IN THE
would not have him for your Saviour, and still refuse to comply with the offers
of the gospel ; what can render any person more inexcusable ? If you should
now perish forever, what can you have to say?
Hereby the justice of God in your destruction appears in two respects.
1. It is more abundantly manifest that it is just that you should be destroyed.
Justice never appears so conspicuous as it does after refused and abused mercy.
Justice in damnation appears abundantly the more clear and bright, after a wil
ful rejection of offered salvation. What can an offended prince do more than
freely offer pardon to a condemned malefactor ? And if he refuses to accept
of it, will any one say that his execution is unjust ?
2. God s justice will appear in your greater destruction. Besides the guilt
that you would have had if a Saviour never had been offered, you bring that
great additional guilt upon you, of most ungratefully refusing offered deliverance
What more base and vile treatment of God can there be, than for you, wheb
justly condemned to eternal misery, and ready to be executed, and God gra
ciously semis his own Son, who comes and knocks at your door with a pardon
in his hand, and not only a pardon, but a deed of eternal glory ; I say, what
can be worse, than for you, out of dislike and enmity against God and his Son,
to refuse to accept those benefits at his hands 1 How justly may the anger oi
God be greatly incensed and increased by it ! When a sinner thus ungratefully
rejects mercy, his last error is worse than the first ; this is more heinous than
all his former rebellion, and may justly bring down more fearful wrath upon
him.
The heinousness of this sin of rejecting a Saviour especially appears in two
things.
1. The greatness of the benefits offered j which appears in the greatness of
the deliverance, which is from inexpressible degrees of corruption and wicked
ness of heart and life, the least degree of which is infinitely evil ; and from
misery that is everlasting ; and in the greatness and glory of the inheritance
purchased and offered, Heb. ii. 3 : " How shall we escape, if we neglect so
great salvation?"
2. The wonderfulness of the way in which these benefits are procured and
offered. That God should lay help on his own Son, when our case was so de
plorable that help could be had in no mere creature ; and that he should under
take for us, and should come into the world, and take upon him our nature, and
should not only appear in a low state of life, but should die such a death, and
endure such torments and contempt for sinners while enemies, how wonderful is
it ! And what tongue or pen can set forth the greatness of the ingratitude,
baseness and perverseness that there is in it, when a perishing sinner that is in
the most extreme necessity of salvation, rejects it, after it is procured in such a
way as this ! That so glorious a person should be thus treated, and that when
he comes on so gracious an errand ! That he should stand so long offering
himself, and calling, and inviting, as he has done to many of you, and all to no
purpose, but all the while be set at nought ! Surely you might justly be cast
into hell without one more offer of a Saviour ! Yea, and thrust down into the
lowest helf ! Herein you have exceeded the very devils ; for they never reject
ed the offers of such glorious mercy ; no, nor of any mercy at all. ^This will
be the distinguishing condemnation of gospel sinners : John iii. 18, " He that
believeth not, is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God."
That outward smoothness of your carriage towards Christ, that appearance
of respect to him in your looks, your speeches and gestures, do not argue but
DAMNATION OF SINNERS. 247
that you set him at nought in your heart. There may be much of these out
ward shows of respect, and yet you be like Judas, that betrayed the Son of man
with a kiss ; and like those mockers that bowed the knee before him, and at the
same time spit in his face.
III. If God should forever cast you off and destroy you, it would be agree
able to your treatment of others ; it would be no other than what would be
exactly answerable to your behavior towards your fellow creatures, that have
the same human nature, and are naturally in the same circumstances with you,
and that you ought to love as yourself. And that appears especially in two
things.
1. You have many of you been opposite in your spirit to the salvation of
others. There are several ways that natural men manliest a spirit of opposition
against the salvation of other souls. It sometimes appears by a fear that their
companions, acquaintance, and equals, will obtain mercy, and so become un
speakably happier than they. It is sometimes manifested by an uneasiness at the
news of others having hopefully obtained. It appears when persons envy others
for it, and dislike them the more, and disrelish their talk, and avoid their com
pany, and cannot bear to hear their religious discourse, and especially to receive
warnings and counsels from them. And it oftentimes appears by their back
wardness to entertain charitable thoughts of them, and their being difficultly
brought to believe that it is really so, "that they have obtained mercy, and a for
wardness to listen to any thing that seems to contradict it. The devil hated to
own Job s sincerity, Job i. 7, &c., and chap. ii. verses 3, 4, 5. There appears
very often much of this spirit of the devil in natural men. Sometimes they
are ready to make a ridicule of others pretended godliness : they speak of the
ground of others hopes, as the enemies of the Jews did of the wall that they
built : Neh. iv. 3, " Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, That
which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall." There
are many that join with Sanballat and Tobiah, and are of the same spirit with
them. There always was, and always will be, an enmity between the seed
of the serpent and the seed of the woman. It appeared in Cam, who hated
his brother, because he was more acceptable to God than himself; and it ap
pears still in these times, and in this place. There are many that are like the elder
brother, who could not bear it that the prodigal, when he returned, should be
received with such joy and good entertainment, and was put into a fret by it
both against his brother that had returned, and his father that made him so
welcome, Luke xv.
Thus have many of you been opposite to the salvation of others, that stand
in as great necessity of it as you. You have been against their being delivered
from everlasting misery, that can bear it no better than you ; not because their
salvation would do you any hurt, or their damnation help you, any otherwise
than as it would gratify that vile spirit that is so much like the spirit of the
devil, who, because he is miserable himself, is unwilling that others should be
happy. How just therefore is it that God should be opposite to your salva
tion 1
If you have so little love or mercy in you as to begrudge your neighbor s
salvation, whom you have no cause to hate, but the law of God and nature re
quires you to love ; why is God bound to exercise such infinite love and mercy
to you, as to save you at the price of his own blood, that he is no way bound
to love, but that have deserved his hatred a thousand and a thousand times ?
You are not willin"" tint others should be converted, that have behaved them
selves injuriously towards you ; and yet, will you count, it hard if God does not
248 JUSTICE OF GOD IN THE
bestow converting grace upon you that have deserved ten thousand times as ill
of God, as any of your neighbors have of you 1 You are opposite to God s
showing mercy to these, and those that you think have been vicious persons,
and are very unworthy of such mercy. Is others unworthiness a just reason why
God should not bestow mercy on them ? And yet will God be hard, if, not
withstanding all your unworthiness, and the abominableness of your spirit and
practice in his sight, he does not show you mercy ? You would Ivive God bestow
liberally on you, and upbraid not ; but yet, when he shows mercy to others, you
are ready to upbraid as soon as you hear of it ; you immediately are thinking
with yourself how ill they have behaved themselves ; and it may be your mouths
on this occasion are open, enumerating and aggravating the sins they have been
guilty of. You would have God bury all your faults, and wholly blot out all
your transgressions ; but yet if he bestows mercy on others, it may be you will
take that occasion to rake up all their old faults that you can think of. You do
not much reflect on and condemn yourself for your baseness and unjust spirit
towards others, in your opposition to their salvation ; you do not quarrel with
yourself, and condemn yourself for this; but yet you, to your heart, will quar
rel with God, and condemn him, and fret at his dispensations, because you think
he seems opposite to showing mercy to you. One would think that the consid
eration of these things should forever stop your mouth.
2. Consider how you have promoted others damnation. Many of you, by
the bad examples you have set, by corrupting the minds of others, by your sin
ful conversation, by leading them into sin, or strengthening them in sin, and by
the mischief that you have done in human society other ways, that might be
mentioned, have been guilty of those things that have tended to others damna
tion. You have heretofore appeared on the side of sin and Satan, and have be
haved yourself so as much to strengthen their interest, and have been many
ways accessory to others sins, have hardened others hearts, and thereby have
done what has tended to the ruin of their souls.
And without doubt there are those here present that have been in a great
measure the means of others damnation. Though it is true that it is determin
ed of God whom he will save, and whom not, from all eternity, yet one man
may really be a means of others damnation as well as salvation. Christ charges
the Scribes and Pharisees with with this, Matt, xxiii. 13 : " Ye shut up the
kingdom of heaven against men ; for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer
ye them that are entering, to go in." We have no reason to think that this
congregation has none in it that are cursed from day to day by poor souls thai
are roaring out in hell, whose damnation they have been a means of, or have
greatly contributed to.
There are many that contribute to their own children s damnation, by ne
glecting their education, and setting them bad examples, and bringing them up
in sinful ways : they take some care of their bodies, but take but little care of
their poor souls ; they provide for them bread to eat, but deny them the bread
of life, that their famishing souls stand in need of. And are there no such
parents here that have thus treated their children ? If their children be not
gone to hell, it is not because they have not done what has tended to their de
struction. Seeing therefore you have had no more regard to others salvation,
and have promoted their damnation, how justly might God leave you to perish
yourself !
IV. If God should eternally cast you off, it would but be agreeable to your
own behavior towards yourself: and that in two respects :
1. In being so careless of your own salvation. You have refused to take
DAMNATION OF SINNERS. 249
care for your salvation, as God has counselled and commanded you from time
to time ; and why may not God neglect it, now you seek it of him ? Is God
obliged to be more careful of your happiness, than you are, either of your own
happiness or his glory ? Is God bound to take that care for you, out of love to
you, that you will not take for yourself, either from love to yourself, or regard
to his authority 1 How long, and how greatly, have you neglected the welfare
of your precious soul, refusing to take pains and deny yourself, or put yourself
a little out of your way for your salvation, while God has been calling upon
you ! Neither your duty to God, nor love to your own soul, were enough to
induce you to do little things for your own eternal welfare ; and yet do you
now expect that God should do great things, putting forth almighty power, and
exercising infinite mercy for it ? You was urged to take care for your salva
tion, and not to put it off: you was told that that was the best time, before you
grew older, and that it might be, if you would put it off, God would not hear
you afterwards ; but yet you would not hearken ; you would run the venture of
it. Now how justly might God order it so, that it should be too late, leaving
you to seek in vain ! You was told, that you would repent of it if you delay
ed ; but you would not hear : how justly therefore may God give you cause to
repent of it, by refusing to show you mercy now ! If God sees you going on
in ways contrary to his commands and his glory, and requires you to forsake
them, and tells you that they are ways that tend to the destruction of your own
soul, and therefore counsels you to avoid them, and you refuse ; how just would
it be if God should be provoked by it, henceforward to be as careless of the
good of your souls as you are yourself!
2. You have not only neglected your salvation, but you have wilfully taken
direct courses to undo yourself. You have gone on in those ways and practices
that have directly tended to your damnation, and have been perverse and obsti
nate in it. You cannot plead ignorance ; you had all the light set before you
that you could desire : God told you that you was undoing yourself ; but yet
you would do it : he told you that the path you was going in led to destruction,
and counselled you to avoid it ; but you would not hearken: how justly there
fore may God leave you to be undone ! You have obstinately persisted to
travel in the way that leads to hell for a long time, contrary to God s continual
counsels and commands, till it may be at length you are almost to your journey s
end, and are come near to hell s gate, and so begin to be sensible of your dan
ger and misery ; and now account it unjust and hard if God will not deliver
you ! You have destroyed yourself, and destroyed yourself wilfully, contrary
to God s repeated counsels, yea, and destroyed yourself in fighting against God :
now therefore, why do you blame any but yourself if you are destroyed ? If
you will undo yourself in opposing God, and while God opposes you by his
calls and counsels, and, it may be too, by the convictions of his Spirit, what
can you object against it, if God now leaves you to be undone ? You would
have your own way, and did not like that God should oppose you in it, and
your way was to ruin your own soul : how just therefore is it if now, at length,
God ceases to oppose you, and falls in with you, and lets your soul be ruined ;
and as you would destroy yourself, so should put to his hand to destroy you too !
The ways you went on in, had a natural tendency to your misery : if you would
drink poison in opposition to God, and in contempt of him and his advice,
whom can you blame but yourself if you are poisoned, and so perish ? If you
would run into the fire against all restraints both of God s mercy and authority,
you must even blame yourself if you are burnt.
Thus I have proposed some things to your consideration, which, if you are
Voi. IV. 32 J
250 JUSTICE OF GOD IN THE
not exceeding blind, senseless, and perverse, will stop your mouth, and convince
you that you stand justly condemned before God, and that he would in no wise
deal hardly with you, but altogether justly, in denying you any mercy, and in
refusing to hear your prayers, let you pray never so earnestly, and never so
often, and continue in it never so long ; and that God may utterly disregard
your tears and moans, your heavy heart, your earnest desires, and great endeav
ors ; and that he may cast you into eternal destruction, without any regard to
your welfare, denying you converting grace, and giving you over to Satan, and
at last cast you into the lake that burns with h re and brimstone, to be there to
eternity, having no rest day nor night, forever glorifying his justice upon you,
in the presence of the holy angels and the presence of the Lamb.
Object. But here many may still object (for I am sensible it is a hard
thing to stop sinners mouths), " God shows mercy to others that have done
these things as well as I, yea, that have done a great deal worse than I."
Jins. 1. That does not prove that God is any way bound to show mercy to
you, or them either. If God does bestow it on others, he does not bestow it
on them because he is bound to bestow it : he might if he had pleased, with
glorious justice, have denied it them. If God bestows it on some, that does not
prove that he is bound to bestow it on any ; and if he is bound to bestow it on
none, then he is not bound to bestow it on you. God is in debt to none ; and
if he gives to some that he is not in debt to, because it is his pleasure, that does
not bring him into debt to others. It alters not the case as to you at all, whe
ther others have it or have it not : you do not deserve damnation the less, than
if mercy never had been bestowed on any at all. Matt. xx. 15, " Is thine eye
evil, because I am good ?"
2. If this objection be good, then the exercise of God s mercy is not in his
own right, and his grace is not his own to give. That which God may not
dispose of as he pleases, is not his own ; for that which is one s own, is at his
own disposal ; but if it be not God s own, then he is not capable of making a
gift or present of it to any one ; it is impossible to give a debt.
What is it that you would make of God ? Must the great God be tied up
to that, that he must not use his own pleasure in bestowing his own gifts, but if
he bestows them on one, must be looked upon obliged to bestow them on ano
ther ? Is not God worthy to have the same right, with respect to the gifts of
his grace, that a man has to his money or goods 1 Is it because God is not so
great, and should be more in subjection than man, that this cannot be allowed
him ? If any of you see cause to show kindness to a neighbor, do all the rest
of your neighbors come to you, and tell you, that you owe them so much as you
have given to such a man ? But this is the way that you deal with God, as
though God were not worthy to have as absolute a property in his goods, as
you have in yours.
At this rate God cannot make a present of any thing ; he has nothing of his
own to bestow : if he has a mind to show peculiar favor to some, or to lay some
particular persons under peculiar obligations to him, he cannot do it ; because
he has no special gift, that his creatures stand in great need of, and that would
tend greatly to their happiness, at his own disposal. If this be the case, why
do you pray to God to bestow saving grace upon you ? If God does not fairly
deny it to you, because he bestows it on others, then it is not worth your while
to pray for it, but you may go and tell him that he has bestowed it on these
and those, as bad or worse than you, and so demand it of him as a debt. And
at this rate persons never need to thank God for salvation, when it is bestowed ;
for what occasion is there to thank God for that which was not at his own disposal,
DAMNATION OF SINNERS. 25]
and that he could not fairly have denied. The thing at bottom is, that men
have low thoughts of God, and high thoughts of themselves ; and therefore it is
that they look upon God as having so little right, and they so much. Matt. xx.
15, " Is it not lawful for me to do what I \vill with mine own ?"
3. God may justly show greater respect to others than to you, for you have
shown greater respect to others than to God. You have shown greater respect
to men than to God. You have rather chosen to offend God than offend men.
God only shows a greater respect to others, that are by nature your equals,
than to you ; but you have shown a greater respect to those that are infinitely
inferior to God than to him. You have shown a greater regard to wicked men
than to God ; you have honored them more, loved them better, and adhered to
them rather than to him. Yea, you have honored the devil, in many respects,
more than God : you have chosen his will and his interest, rather than God s
will, and his glory : you have chosen a little worldly pelf, rather than God : you
have set more by a vile lust than by him : you have chosen these things, and
rejected God : you have set your hearts on these things, and cast God behind
your back : and where is the injustice if God is pleased to show greater respect
to others than to you, or if he chooses others and rejects you ? You have shown
great respect to vile and worthless things, and no respect to God s glory ; and
why may not God set his love on others, and have no respect to your happiness \
You have shown great respect to others and not to God, that you are laid under
infinite obligations to respect above all ; and why may not God show respect
to others, and not to you, that never have laid him under the least obligation ?
And will you not be ashamed, notwithstanding all these things, still to open
your mouth, to object and cavil about the decrees of God, and other things that
you cannot fully understand ? Let the decrees of God be what they will, that
alters not the case as to your liberty, any more than if God had only foreknown.
And why is God to blame for decreeing things ? How unbecoming an infi
nitely wise Being would it have been to have made a world, and let things
run at random, without disposing events, or foreordering how they should come
to pass ? And what is that to you, how God has foreordered things, as long as
your constant experience teaches you, that that does not hinder your liberty, or
your doing what you choose to do ? This you know, and your daily practice
and behavior amongst men declares that you are fully sensible of it, with res
pect to yourself and others : and still to object, because there are some things in
God s dispensations above your understanding, is exceeding unreasonable. Your
own conscience charges you with great guilt, and with those things that have
been mentioned, let the secret things of God be what they will. Your con
science charges you with those vile dispositions, and that base behavior towards
God, that you would at any time most highly resent in your neighbor towards
you, and that not a whit the less for any concern those secret counsels and
mysterious dispensations of God may have in the matter. It is in vain for you
to exalt yourself against an infinitely great, and holy, and just God. If you
! continue in it, it will be to your eternal shame and confusion, when hereafter you
! shall see at whose door all the blame of your misery lies.
I will finish what I have to say to natural men in the application of this
doctrine with a caution not to improve the doctrine to discouragement. For
though it would be righteous in God forever to cast you off, and destroy you,
yet it will also be just in God to save you, in and through Christ, who has made
complete satisfaction for all sin. Rom. iii. 25, 26, " Whom God hath set forth
to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God ; to declare,
252 JUSTICE OF GOD IN THE
I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of
him which believeth in Jesus." Yea, God may, through this Mediator, not only
justly, but honorably show you mercy. The blood of Christ is so precious,
that it is fully sufficient to pay that debt that you have contracted, and per
fectly to vindicate the divine Majesty from all that dishonor that has been cast
upon it, by those many great sins of yours, that have been mentioned. It was
as oreat, and indeed a much greater thing, for Christ to die, than it would have
bee n for you and all mankind to have burnt in hell to all eternity. Of such
dignity and excellency is Christ in the eyes of God, that, seeing he has suffered
so much for poor sinners, God is willing to be at peace with them, however vile
and unworthy they have been, and on how many accounts soever the punish
ment would be just. So that you need not be at all discouraged from seeking
mercy, for there is enough in Christ.
Indeed it would not become the glory of God s majesty to show mercy to
you that have been so sinful and vile a creature, for any thing that you have
done, for such worthless and despicable things as your prayers, and other religious
performances ; it would be very dishonorable and unworthy of God so to do, and
it is in vain to expect it : he will show mercy only on Christ s account, and that,
according to his sovereign pleasure, on whom he pleases, when he pleases,
and in what manner he pleases. You cannot bring him under the obligation
by your works ; do what you will, he will not look on himself obliged. But
if it be his pleasure, he can honorably show mercy through Christ to any sin
ner of you all, not one in this congregation excepted.
Therefore here is encouragement for you still to seek and wait, notwith
standing all your wickedness ; agreeably to Samuel s speech to the children of
Israel, when they were terrified with the thunder and rain that God sent, and
their guilt stared them in the face : 1 Sam. xii. 20, " Fear not ; ye have done
all this wickedness ; yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the
Lord with all your hearts."
I would conclude this discourse by improving the doctrine, in the second
place, very briefly to put the godly in mind of the wonderfulness of the grace
of God towards them. For such were some of you. The case was just so with
you as you have heard ; you had such a wicked heart, you lived such a wickec 1
life, and it would have been most just with God forever to have cast you off : bu*
he has had mercy upon you ; he hath made his glorious grace appear in youi
everlasting salvation. You have behaved yourself so as you have heard to
wards God : you had no love to God ; but yet he has exercised unspeakable
love to you : you have contemned God, and set light by him ; but so great a
value has God s grace set on you and your happiness, that you have been re
deemed at the price of the blood of his own Son : you chose to be with Satan
in his service ; but yet God hath made you a joint heir with Christ of his glory.
You was ungrateful for past mercies ; but yet God not only continued those
mercies, but bestowed unspeakably greater mercies upon you : you jefused to
hear when God called ; but yet God heard you when you called : you abused
the infmiteness of God s mercy to encourage yourself in sin against God ; but
yet God has manifested the infiniteness of that mercy, in the exercises of it towardf
you : you have rejected Christ, and set him at nought ; and yet he is become
your Saviour : you have neglected your own salvation ; but God has not ne
glected it : you have destroyed yourself; but yet in God has been your help
God has magnified his free grace towards you, and not to others ; because he
has chosen you, and it hath pleased him to set his love upon you.
! what cause is here for praise ! What obligations are upo
upon you to bless
DAMNATION OF SINNERS.
253
the Lord, who hath dealt bountifully with you, and to magnify his holy name !
What cause to praise him in humility, to walk humbly before God ; and to be
conformed to that in Ezek. xvi. 63, " That thou mayest remember and be con
founded, and never open thy mouth any more, because of thy shame, when I
am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God !"
You should never open your mouth in boasting, or self-justification : you should
lie the lower before God for his mercy to you. But you have reason, the more
abundantly for your past sins, to open your mouth in God s praises, that they
may be continually in your mouth, both here and to all eternity, for his rich,
unspeakable, and sovereign mercy to you, whereby he, and he alone, hath
made YOU to differ from others.
SERMON X
THE FUTURE PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED UNAVOIDABLE AND INTOLERABLE.
EZEKIEL, xxii. 14. *Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong in tne days that I shall deal
with thee ? 1 the Lord have spoken it, and will do it.
IN the former part of this chapter, we have a dreadful catalogue of the sins
of Jerusalem ; as you may see from the first to the thirteenth verse. In the
thirteenth, which is the verse preceding the text, God manifests his great dis
pleasure and fearful wrath against them for those their iniquities : " Behold, I
have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy
blood which hatli been in the midst of thee." The expression of God s smiting
his hand, signifies the greatness of his anger, and his preparing himself, as it
were, to execute wrath answerable to their heinous crimes. It is an allusion to
what we sometimes see in men when they are surprised, by seeing or hearing
of some horrid offence, or most intolerable injury, which very much stirs their
spirits, and animates them with high resentment ; on such an occasion they will
rise up in wrath and smite their hands together, as an expression of the heat of
their indignation, and full resolution to be avenged on those who have commit
ted the injury, as in chap. xxi. 17 : " I will also smite mine hands together, and
I will cause my fury to rest ; I the Lord have said it."
Then, in the text, the punishment of that people is represented.
1. The nature of their punishment is more generally represented in that
therein God will undertake to deal with them : God here threatens to deal with
the sinners in Jerusalem. The prophets could do nothing with them. God
had sent them one after another ; but those sinners were too strong for them,
and beat one, and killed another. Therefore now God himself undertakes to
deal with them.
2. Their punishment is more particularly represented in three things, viz,
the intolerableness, the remedilessness, and the unavoidableness of it.
(1.) The intolerableness of it : Can thine heart endure ?
(2.) The remedilessness, or the impossibility of their doing any thing for
their own relief: Can thine hands be strong?
(3.) The unavoidableness of it : / the Lord have spoken it, and will do it.
DOCTRINE.
Since God hath undertaken to deal with impenitent sinners, they shall nei
ther shun the threatened misery, nor deliver themselves out of it, nor can they
bear it.
In handling this doctrine, I shall, 1. Show what is implied in God s under
taking to deal with impenitent sinners. 2. That therefore they cannot avoid
punishment. 3. That they cannot in any measure deliver themselves from it,
or do any thing for their own relief under it. 4. That they cannot bear it. 5.
I shall answer an inquiry ; and then proceed to the use.
I. I shall show what is implied in God s undertaking to deal with impeni
tent sinners. Others are not able to deal with them. They baffle all the means
used with them by those that are appointed to teach and to rule over them.
They will not yield to parents, or to the counsels, warnings, or reproofs of minis-
PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 255
ters : they prove obstinate and stiff-hearted. Therefore God undertakes to deal
with them. This implies the following things :
1. That God will reckon with them, and take of them satisfaction to his
justice. In this world God puts forth his authority to command them ; and to
require subjection to him. In his commands he is very positive, strictly requir
ing of them the performance of such and such duties, and as positively forbiddin^
such and such things which were contrary to their duty. But they have no re
gard to these commands. God continues commanding, and they continue re
belling. They make nothing of God s authority. God threatens, but they
despise his threatening.- They make nothing of dishonoring God; they care
not how much their behavior is to the dishonor of God. He offers them mercy,
if they will repent and return ; but they despise his mercy as well as his wrath.
God calleth, but they refuse. Thus they are continually plunging themselves
deeper and deeper in debt, and at the same time imagine they shafl escape the
payment of the debt, and design entirely to rob God of his due.
But God hath undertaken to right himself. He will reckon with them ;
he hath undertaken to see that the debts due to him are paid. All their sins
are written in his book ; not one of them is forgotten, and every one must be
paid. If God be wise enough, and strong enough, he will have full satisfaction :
he will exact the very uttermost farthing. He undertakes it as his part, as what
belongs to him, to see himself righted, wherein he hath been wronged. Deut.
xxxii. 35," To mebelongeth vengeance." Chap. vii. 10," He will not be slack
to him that hateth him; he will repay him to his face."
2. He hath undertaken to vindicate the honor of his Majesty. His Majesty
they despise. They hear that he is a great God ; but they despise his great
ness ; they look upon him worthy of contempt, and treat him accordingly.
They hear of him by the name of a great King ; but his authority they regard
not, and sometimes trample upon it for years together.
But God hath not left the honor of his Majesty wholly to their care.
Though they now trample it in the dust, yet that is no sign that it will finally be
lost. If God had left it wholly in their hands, it would indeed be lost. But
God doth not leave his honor and his glory to his enemies ; it is too precious in
his eyes to be so neglected. He hath reserved the care of it to himself: he will
see to it that his own injured Majesty is vindicated. If the honor of God, upon
which sinners trample, finally lie in the dust, then it will be because he is not
strong enough to vindicate himself. He hath sworn that great oath in Numb,
xiv. 21, " As truly as 1 live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the
Lord."
Sinners despise his Son, and trample him under their feet. But he will see
if he cannot make the glory of his Son appear, with respect to them ; that all
the earth may know how evil a thing it is to despise the Son of God God in
tends that all men and angels, all heaven and all earth, shall see whether he be
sufficient to magnify himself upon sinners who now despise him. He intends that
the issue of things with respect to them shall be open, that all men may see it.
3. He hath undertaken to subdue impenitent sinners. Their hearts while
in this world are very unsubdued. They lift up their heads and conduct them
selves very proudly and contemptuously, and often sin with a high hand.
part from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways."
Some, who cover their sin with specious show, who put on a face of reli-
256 PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED.
, and a demure countenance and behavior, yet have this spirit secretly reign
ing in their breasts. Notwithstanding all their fair show, and good external
carriage, they despise God in their hearts, and have the weapons of war about
them, though they are secret enemies, and carry their swords under their skirts.
They have most proud, stubborn, and rebellious hearts, which are ready to rise
in opposition, to contend with him, and to find fault with his dispensations Their
hearts are full of pride, enmity, stubbornness, and blasphemy, which work in
them many ways, while they sit under the preaching of the word, and while the
spirit of God is striving with them: and they always continue to oppose and
resist God as long as they live in the world ; they never lay down the weapons
of their rebellion.
But God hath undertaken to deal with them and to subdue them ; and those
proud and stubborn hearts, which will not yield to the power of God s word,
shall be broken by the power of his hand. If they will not be willing subjects
to the golden sceptre, and will not yield to the attractives of his love, they shall
be subject to the force of the iron rod, whether they will or no.
Them that proudly set up their own righteousness, and their own wills
against God, God hath undertaken to bring down ; and without doubt it will
be done. He hath undertaken to make those who are now regardless of God,
regard him. They shall know that he is Jehovah. Now they will not own
that he is the Lord; but they shall know it. Isa. xxvi. 11, "Lord, when thine
hand is lifted up, they will not see : but they shall see."
Now wicked men not only hate God, but they slight him ; they are not
afraid of him. But he will subdue their contempt. When he shall come to
take them in hand, they will hate him still ; but they will not slight him ; they
will not make light of his power as they now do ; they will see and feel too
much of the infinity of his power to slight it. They are now wont to slight his
wrath ; but then they will slight it no more, they will be infinitely far irom it,
they will find by sufficient experience that his wrath is not to be slighted : they
will learn this to their cost, and they never will forget it.
4. God hath undertaken to rectify their judgments. Now they will not be
convinced of those things which God tells them in his word. Ministers take
much pains to convince them, but all is in vain. Therefore God will undertake
to convince them, and he will do it effectually. Now they will not be con
vinced of the truth of divine things. They have indeed convincing arguments
set before them ; they hear and see enough to convince them ; yet so prone are
they to unbelief and atheism, that divine things never seem to them to be real.
But God will hereafter make them seem real.
Now they are always doubting of the truth of the Scriptures, questioning
whether they be the word of God, and whether the threatenings of Scripture be
true. But God hath undertaken to convince them that those threatenings are
true, and he will make them to know that they are true, so that they will never
doubt any more forever. They will be convinced by dear experience. Now
they are always questioning whether there be any such place as hell. They
hear much about it, but it always seems to them like a dream. But God will
make it seem otherwise than a dream. Now they are often told of the vanity
of the world ; but we may as well preach to the beasts, to persuade them of
the vanity of earthly things. But God will undertake to convince them of this ;
he will hereafter give them a thorough conviction of it, so that they shall have
a strong sense of the vanity of all these things.
Now ministers often tell sinners of the great importance of an interest in
Christ, and that that is the one thing needful They are also jtold the folly of de-
PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 267
laying the care of their souls, and how much it concerns them to improve their
opportunity. But the instructions of ministers do not convince them, therefore
God will undertake to convince them.
Impenitent sinners, while in this world, hear how dreadful hell is. But they
will not believe that it is so dreadful as ministers represent. They cannot think
that they shall to all eternity suffer such exquisite and horrible torments. But
they shall be taught and convinced to purpose, that the representations ministers
give of those torments, agreeable to the word of God, are no bugbears; and
that the wrath of God is indeed as dreadful as they declare. Since God hath
undertaken to deal with sinners, and to rectify their judgments in these matters
he will do it thoroughly ; for his work is perfect ; when he undertakes to do
things, he doth not do them by halves ; therefore before he shall have done
with sinners, he will convince them effectually, so that they shall never be in
danger of relapsing into their former errors any more. He will convince them
of their folly and stupidity in entertaining such notions as they now entertain.
Thus God hath undertaken to deal *vith obstinate unbelievers. They carry
things on in great confusion ; but we need not be dismayed at it; let us wait,
and we shall see that God will rectify things. Sinners will not always con
tinue to rebel and despise with impunity. The honor of God will in due time
be vindicated ; and they shall be subdued and convicted, and shall give an ac
count. There is no sin, not so much as an idle word that they shall speak, but
they must give an account of it, Matt. xii. 36. And their sins must be fully bal-
anced, and recompensed, and satisfaction obtained. Because judgment against
their evil works is not speedily executed, their hearts are fully set in them to do
evil. Yet God is a righteous judge ; he will see that judgment is executed in
due time.
I come now,
II. To show, that therefore impenitent sinners shall not avoid their due pun
ishment. God hath undertaken to inflict it ; he hath engaged to do it ; he takes
it as his work, as what properly belongs to him, and we may expect it of him.
If he hath sworn by his life, that he will do it ; and if he hath power sufficient j if
he is the living God, doubtless we shall see it clone. And that God hath declared
that he will punish impenitent sinners, is manifest from many Scriptures ; as Deut.
xxxii. 41, " I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that
hate me." Deut. vii. 10, " He will not be slack to him that hateth him : he will
repay him to his face." Exod. xxxiv.-7, "That will by no means clear the
guilty." Nahum i. 3, " The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and
will not at all acquit the wicked."
God saith in the text, " I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it ;" which
leaves no room to doubt of the actual fulfilment of the threatening in its utmost
extent. Some wicked men have flattered themselves, that although God hath
threatened very dreadful things to wicked men for their sins, yet in his heart he
never intends to fulfil his threatenings, but only to terrify them, and make them
afraid, while they live. But would the infinitely holy God, who is not a man that
he should lie, and who speaketh no vain words, utter himself in this manner : I the
Lord have spoken it, and will doit ; I have not only threatened, but 1 u-ill also fulfil
my threatenings ; when at the same time these words did not agree with his
heart, but he secretly knew that though he had spoken, yet he intended not
to do it ? Who is he that dares to entertain such horrid blasphemy in his heart ?
No ; let no impenitent sinner flatter himself so vainly and foolishly. If it
were indeed only a man, a being of like impotency and mutability with them-
splves, who had undertaken to deal with them ; they might perhaps with some
VOL. IV 33
258 PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED.
reason flatter themselves, that they should find some means to avoid the threat
ened punishment. But since an omniscient, omnipotent, immutable God hath
undertaken, vain are all such hopes.
There is no hope that possibly they may steal away to heaven, though
they die unconverted. There is no hope that they can deceive God by any
false show of repentance and faith, and so be taken to heaven through mistake ;
for the eyes of God are as a flame of fire ; they perfectly see through every
man ; the inmost closet of the heart is all open to him.
There is no hope of escaping the threatened punishment by sinking into noth-
ino- at death, like brute creatures. Indeed, many wicked men upon their death
beds wish for this. If it were so, death would be nothing to them in compari
son with what it now is. But all such wishes are vain.
There is no hope of their escaping without notice, when they leave the body.
There is no hope that God, by reason of the multiplicity of affairs which he
hath to mind, will happen to overlook them, and not take notice of them, when
they come to die ; and so that their souls will slip away privately, and hide
themselves in some secret corner, and so escape divine vengeance.
There is no hope that they shall be missed in a crowd at the day of judg
ment, and that they can have opportunity to hide themselves in some cave or
den of the mountains, or in any secret hole of the earth ; and that while so
doing, they will not be minded, by reason of the many things which will be the
objects of attention on that day. Neither is there any hope that they will be
able to crowd themselves in among the multitude of the saints at the right hand
of the Judge, and so go to heaven undiscovered. Nor is there any hope that
God will alter his mind, or that he will repent of what he hath said ; for he is
not 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 ? When did God ever under
take to do any thing and fail 1
I come now,
III. To show that as impenitent sinners cannot shun the threatened punish
ment ; so neither can they do any thing to deliver themselves from it, or to re
lieve themselves under it. This is implied in those words of the text, Can
thine hands be strong ? It is with our hands that we make and accomplish
things for ourselves. But the wicked in hell will have no strength of hand to
accomplish any thing at all for themselves, or to bring to pass any deliver
ance, or any degree of relief.
1. They will not be able in that conflict to overcome their enemy, and so to
deliver themselves. God, who will then undertake to deal with them, and will
gird himself with might to execute wrath, will be their enemy, and will act the
part of an enemy with a witness ; and they will have no strength to oppose
him. Those who live negligent of their souls under the light of the gospel, act
as if they supposed that they should be able hereafter to make their part good
with God. 1 Cor. x. 22, " Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy ? Are we
stronger than he ?" But they will have no power, no might to resist that om
nipotence, which will be engaged against them.
2. They will have no strength in their hands to do any thing to appease
God, or in the least to abate the fierceness of his wrath. They will not be able
to offer any satisfaction : they will not be able to procure God s pity. Though
they cry, God will not hear them. They will find no price to offer to God, in
order to purchase any favor, or to pay any part of their debt.
3. They will not be able to find any to befriend them, and intercede with
God for them. They had the offer of a mediator often made them in thii
PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 259
world ; but they will have no offers of such a nature in hell. None will be
friend them. They will have no friend in HELL ; all there will be their enemies.
They will have no friend in heaven : none of the saints or angels will befriend
them ; or if they should, it would be to no purpose. There will be no creature
that will have any power to deliver them, nor will any ever pity them.
4. Nor will they ever be able to make their escape. They will find no
means to break prison and flee. In hell they will be reserved in chains of dark
ness forever and ever. Malefactors have often found means to break prison,
and escape the hand of civil justice. But none ever escaped out of the prison of
hell, which is God s prison. It is a strong prison : it is beyond any finite power,
or the united strength of all wicked men and devils, to unlock, or break open
the door of that prison. Christ hath the key of hell ; " he shuts and no man
opens."
5. Nor will they ever be able to find any thing to relieve them in hell.
They will never find any resting place there; any place of respite ; any secret
corner, which will be cooler than the rest, where they may have a little respite,
a small abatement of the extremity of their torment. They never will be able
to find any cooling stream or fountain, in any part of that world of torment ;
no, nor so much as a drop of water to cool their tongues. They will find
no company to give them any comfort, or to do them the least good. They
will find no place, where they can remain, and rest, and take breath for one
minute : for they will be tormented with fire and brimstone ; and will have no
rest day nor night forever and ever.
Thus impenitent sinners will be able neither to shun the punishment threat
ened, nor to deliver themselves from it, nor to find any relief under it.
I come now,
IV. To show, that neither will they be able to bear it. Neither will their
hands be strong to deliver themselves from it, nor will their hearts be able to
endure it. It is common with men, when they meet with calamities in this
world, in the first place to endeavor to shun them. But if they find, that they
cannot shun them, then after they are come, they endeavor to deliver themselves
from them as soon as they can ; or at least, to order things so, as to deliver
themselves in some degree. But if they find that they can by no means deliver
themselves, and see that the case is so that they must bear them ; then they set
themselves to bear them : they fortify their spirits, and take up a resolution, that
they will support themselves "under them as well as they can. They clothe
themselves with all the resolution and courage they are masters of, to keep their
spirits from sinking under their calamities.
But it will be utterly in vain for impenitent sinners to think to do thus with
respect to the torments of hell. They will not be able to endure them, or at
all to support themselves under them : the torment will be immensely beyond
their strength. What will it signify for a worm, which is about to be pressed
under the weight of some great rock, to be let fall with its whole weight upon
it, to collect its strength, to set itself to hear up the weight of the rock, and to
preserve itself from being crushed by it? Much more in vain will it be for a
poor damned soul, to endeavor to support itself under the weight of the wrath
of Almighty God. What is the strength of man, who is but a worm, to sup
port himself against the power of Jehovah, and against the fierceness of his
wrath ? What is man s strength, when set to bear up against the exertions ot
infinite power ? Matt. xxi. 44, " Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be
broken ; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."
When sinners hear of hell torments, they sometimes think with themselves ;
260 PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED.
Well, if it shall come to that, that I must go to hell, I will hear it as well as 1
can : as if by clothing themselves with resolution and firmness of mind, they
would be able to support themselves in some measure ; when, ilas ! they will
have no resolution, no courage at all. However they shall have prepared
themselves, and collected their strength ; yet as soon as they shall begin to feel
that wrath, their hearts will melt and be as water. However before they
may seem to harden their hearts, in order to prepare themselves to bear, yet the
first moment they feel it, their hearts will become like wax before the furnace.
Their courage and resolution will be all gone in an instant ; it will vanish away
like a shadow in the twinkling of an eye. The stoutest and most sturdy will
have no more courage than the feeblest infant : let a man be an infant, or a
giant, it will be all one. They will not be able to keep alive any courage, any
strength, any comfort, any hope at all.
I come now as was proposed,
V. To answer an inquiry which may naturally be raised concerning these
things.
INQUIRY. Some may be ready to say, If this be the case, if impenitent
sinners can neither shun future punishment, nor deliver themselves from it, nor
bear it ; then what will become of them ?
ANSWER. They will wholly sink down into eternal death. There will be
that sinking of heart, of which we now cannot conceive. We see how it is
with the body when in extreme pain. The nature of the body will support
itself for a considerable time under very great pain, so as to keep from wholly
sinking. There will be great struggles, lamentable groans and panting, and it
may be convulsions. These are the strugglings of nature to support itself under
the extremity of the pain. There is, as it were, a great lothness in nature to
yield to it ; it cannot bear wholly to sink.
But yet sometimes pain of body is so very extreme and exquisite, that the
nature of the body cannot support itself under it ; however loth it may be to
sink, yet it cannot bear the pain ; there are a few struggles, and throes, and
pantings, and it may be a shriek or two, and then nature yields to the violence
of the torments, sinks down, and the body dies. This is the death of the body
So it will be with the soul in hell ; it will have no strength or power to deliver
itself ; and its torment and horror will be so great, so mighty, so vastly dispro-
portioned to its strength, that having no strength in the least to support itself,
although it be infinitely contrary to the nature and inclination of the soul utter
ly to sink ; yet it will sink, it will utterly and totally sink, without the least
degree of remaining comfort, or strength, or courage, or hope. And though it
will never be annihilated, its being and perception will never be abolished ;
yet such will be the infinite depth of gloominess that it will sink into, that it
will be in a state of death, eternal death.
The nature of man desires happiness ; it is the nature of the soul to crave
and thirst after well-being ; and if it be under misery, it eagerly pants after re
lief; and the greater the misery is, the more eagerly doth it struggle for help.
But if all relief be withholden, all strength overborne, all support utterly
gone ; then it sinks into the darkness of death.
We can conceive but little of the matter ; we cannot conceive what that
sinking of the soul in such a case is. But to help your conception, imagine
yourself to be cast into a fiery oven, all of a glowing heat, or into the midst of
a glowing brick-kiln, or of a great furnace, where your pain would be as much
greater than that occasioned by accidentally touching a coal of fire, as the heat
is greater. Imagine also that your body were to lie there for a quarter of an
PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 261
hour, full of fire, as full within and without as a bright coal of fire, all the while
full of quick sense ; what horror would you feel at the entrance of such a fur
nace ! And how long would that quarter of an hour seem to you ! If it were
to be measured by a glass, how long would the glass seem to be running ! And
after you had endured it for one minute, how overbearing would it be to you to
think that you had it to endure the other fourteen !
But what would be the effect on your soul, if you knew you must lie
there enduring that torment to the full for twenty-four hours ! And how much
greater would be the effect, if you knew you must endure it for a whole year;
and how vastly greater still, if you knew you must endure it for a thousand
years! then, how would your heart sink, if you thought, if you knew, that
you must bear it forever and ever ! That there would be no end ! That after
millions of millions of ages, your torment would be no nearer to an end, than
ever it was ; and that you never, never should be delivered !
But your torment in hell will be immensely greater than this illustration re
presents. How then will the heart of a poor creature sink under it ! How
utterly inexpressible and inconceivable must the sinking of the soul be in such
a case !
This is the death threatened in the law. This is dying in the highest sense
of the word. This is to die sensibly ; to die and know it ; to be sensible of the
gloom of death. This is to be undone ; this is worthy of the name of destruc
tion. This sinking of the soul under an infinite weight, which it cannot bear,
is the gloom of hell. We read in Scripture of the blackness of darkness ; this
is it, this is the very thing. We read in Scripture of sinners being lost, and of
their losing their souls: this is the thing intended; this is to lose the soul:
they that are the subjects of this are utterly lost.
APPLICATION.
This subject may be applied in a use of awakening to impenitent sinners.
What hath been said under this doctrine is for thee, impenitent sinner,
poor wretch, who art in the same miserable state in which thou earnest into the
world, excepting that thou art loaded with vastly greater guilt by thine actual
sins. These dreadful things which thou hast heard are for thee, who art yet
unconverted, and still remainest an alien and stranger, without Christ and with
out God in the world. They are for thee, who to this day remainest an enemy
to God, and a child of the devil, even in this remarkable season, when others
both here and elsewhere, far and near, are flocking to Christ ; for thee who
nearest the noise, the fame of these things, but knowest nothing of the power
of godliness in thine own heart.
Whoever thou art, whether young or old, little or great, if thou art in a
Christless, unconverted state, this is the wrath, this is the death to which thou art
condemned. This is the wrath that abideth on thee ; this is the hell over which
thou hangest, and into which thou art ready to drop every day and every night.
If thou shalt remain blind, and hard, and dead in sin a little longer, this des
truction will come upon thee : God hath spoken and he will do it. It is vain
for thee to flatter thyself with hopes that thou shalt avoid it, or to say in thine
heart, perhaps it will not be ; perhaps it will not be just so ; perhaps things
have been represented worse than they are. If thou wilt not be convinced by
the word preached to thee by men in the name of God, God himself will under
take to convince thee, Ezek. xiv. 4, 7, 8.
Doth it seem to thee not real that thou shalt suffer such a dreadful destruc-
262 PUMSHMEiNT OF THE WICKED.
tion, because it seems to thee that them dost not deserve it ? And because thou
dost not see any thing so horrid in thyself, as to answer such a dreadful punish
ment ? Why is it that thy wickedness (loth not seem bad enough to deserve
this punishment ? The reason is, that thou lovest thy wickedness ; thy wick
edness seems good to thee ; it appears lovely to thee ; thou dost not see any
hatefulness in it, or to be sure, any such hatefulness as to answer such misery.
But know, thou stupid, blind, hardened wretch, that God doth not see, as
thou seest with thy polluted eyes: thy sins in his sight are infinitely abomina
ble. Thou knowest that thou hast a thousand and a thousand times made light
of the Majesty of God. And why should not that Majesty, which thou hast
thus despised, be manifested in the greatness of thy punishment ? Thou hast
often heard what a great and dreadful God Jehovah is; but thou hast made so
light of it, that thou hast not been afraid of him, thou hast not been afraid to
sin against him, nor to go on day after day, by thy sins, to provoke him to
wrath, nor to cast his commands under foot, and trample on them. Now
why may not God, in the greatness of thy destruction, justly vindicate and
manifest the greatness of that Majesty, which thou hast despised ?
Thou hast despised the mighty power of God ; thou hast not been afraid of
it Now why is it not fit that God should show the greatness of his power in
thy ruin 1 What king is there who will not show his authority in the punish
ment of those subjects that despise it ! And who will not vindicate his royal
majesty in executing vengeance on those that rise in rebellion ? And art thou
such a fool as to think that the great King of heaven and earth, before whom
all other kings are so many grasshoppers, will not vindicate his kingly Majesty
on such contemptuous rebels as thou art 1 Thou art very much mistaken if thou
thinkest so. If thou be regardless of God s Majesty, be it known to thee, God
is not regardless of his own Majesty ; he taketh care of the honor of it, and
he will vindicate it.
Think it not strange that God should deal so severely with thee, or that the
wrath which thou shaft suffer should be so great. For as great as it is, it is no
greater lhan that love of God which thou hast despised. The love of God, and his
grace, condescension, and pity to sinners in sending his Son into the world to die for
them, is every whit as great and wonderful as this inexpressible wrath. This
mercy hath been held forth to thee, and described in its wonderful greatness
hundreds of times, and as often hath it been offered to thee; but thou wouldst
not accept Christ ; thou wouldst not have this great love of God ; thou despisedst
God s dying love ; thou trampledst the benefits of it under foot. Now why shouldst
thou not have wrath as great as that love and mercy which thou despisest and
rejectest ? Doth it seem incredible to thee, that God should so harden his heart
against a poor sinner, as so to destroy him, and to bear him down with
infinite power and merciless wrath 1 And is this a greater thing than it is for
thee to harden thy heart, as thou hast done, against infinite mercy, and against
the dying love of God ?
Doth it seem to thee incredible, that God should be so utterly regardless of
the sinner s welfare, as so to sink him into an infinite abyss of misery 1 Is this
shocking to thee ? And is it not at all shocking to thee, that thou shouldst be
so utterly regardless as thou hast been of the honor and glory of the infinite
God?
It arises from thy foolish stupidity and senselessness, and is because thou
hast a heart of stone, that thou art so senseless of thine own wickedness as
*.c think thou hast not deserved such a punishment, and that it is to thee in
credible that it will be inflicted upon thee. But if, when all is said and done
PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 263
thou be not convinced, wait but a little while, and thou wilt be convinced :
God will undertake to do the work which ministers cannot do. Though judg
ment against thine evil works be not yet executed, and God now let thee alone,
yet he will soon come upon thee with his great power, and then thou shalt
know what God is, and what thou art.
Flatter not thyself, that if these things shall prove true, and the worst shall
come, thou wilt set thyself to bear it as well as thou canst. What will it signify
to set thyself to bear, and to collect thy strength to support thyself, when thou
shalt fall into the hands of that omnipotent King, Jehovah 1 He that made thee,
can make his sword approach unto thee. His sword is not the sword of man, nor
\s his wrath the wrath of man. If it were, possibly stoutness might be maintained
under it. But it is the fierceness of the wrath of the great God, who is able
to baffle and dissipate all thy strength in a moment. He can fill thy poor soul
with an ocean of wrath, a deluge of fire and brimstone ; or he can make it
ten thousand times fuller of torment than ever an oven was full of fire ; and at
the same time, can fill it with despair of ever seeing any end to its torment, or
any rest from its misery : and then where will be thy strength ? What will
become of thy courage then? What will signify thine attempts to bear?
What art thou in the hands of the great God, who made heaven and earth
by speaking a word ? What art thou, when dealt with by that strength, which
manages all this vast universe, holds the globe of the earth, directs all the mo
tions of the heavenly bodies from age to age, and, when the fixed time shall come,
will shake all to pieces ? There are other wicked beings a thousand times
stronger than thou : there are the great leviathans, strong and proud spirits, of
a gigantic stoutness and hardiness. But how little are they in the hands of the
great God ! They are less than weak infants ; they are nothing, and less than
nothing in the hands of an angry God, as will appear at the day of judgment
Their hearts will be broken ; they will sink ; they will have no strength nor
courage left ; they will be as weak as water ; their souls will sink down into
an infinite gloom, an abyss of death and despair. Then what will become of
thee, a poor worm, when thou shalt fall into the hands of that God, when he
shall come to show his wrath, and make his power known on thee ?
If the strength of all the wicked men on earth, and of all the devils in hell,
were united in one, and thou wert possessed of it all ; and if the courage, great
ness, and stoutness of all their hearts were united in thy single heart, thou
wouldst be nothing in the hands of Jehovah. If it were all collected, and thou
shouldst set thyself to bear as well as thou couldst, all would sink under his
great wrath in an instant, and would be utterly abolished : thine hands would
drop down at once and thine heart would melt as wax. The great mountains,
the firm rocks, cannot stand before the power of God; as fast as they stand,
they are tossed hither and thither, and skip like lambs, when God appears in
his anger. He can tear the earth in pieces in a moment ; yea, he can shatter
the whole universe, and dash it to pieces at one blow. How then will thine
hands be strong, or thine heart endure ?
Thou canst not stand before a lion of the forest ; an angry wild beast, if
stirred up, will easily tear such a one as thou art in pieces. Yea, not only so,
but thou art crushed before the moth. A very little thing, a little worm or
spider, or some such insect, is able to kill thee. What then canst thou do in
the hands of God ? It is vain to set the briers and thorns in battle array
against glowing flames ; the points of thorns, though sharp, do nothing to with
stand the fire.
Some ot you have seen buildings on fire ; imagine therefore with yourselves,
264 PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED.
what a poor hand you would make at fighting wifh the flames, if you were in
the midst of so great and fierce a fire. You have often seen a spider, or some
other noisome insect, when thrown into the midst of a fierce fire, and have ob
served how immediately it yields to the force of the flames. There is no long
struggle, no fighting against the fire, no strength exerted to oppose the heat, or
to fly from it; but it immediately stretches forth itself and yields; and the fire
takes possession of it. and at once it becomes full of fire, and is burned into a
bright coal. Here is a little image of what you will be the subjects of in hell,
except you repent and fly to Christ. However you may think that you will
fortify yourselves, and bear as well as you can ; the first moment you shall be
cast into hell, all your strength will sink and be utterly abolished. To en
courage yourselves, that you will set yourselves to bear hell torments as well as
you can, is just as if a worm, that is about to be thrown into a glowing furnace,
should swell and fortify itself, and prepare itself to fight the flames.
What can you do with lightnings ? What doth it signify to fight with
them ? What an absurd figure would a poor weak man make, who, in a
thunder-storm, should expect a flash of lightning on his head or his breast, and
should go forth sword in hand to oppose it ; when a stream of brimstone would,
in an instant, drink up all his spirits and his life, and melt his sword!
Consider these things, all you enemies of God, and rejecters of Christ,
whether you be old men or women, Christless heads of families, or young peo
ple and wicked children. Be assured, that if you do not hearken and repent,
God intends to show his wrath, and make his power known upon you. He
intends to magnify himself exceedingly in sinking you down in hell. He in
tends to show his great majesty at the day of judgment, before a vast assembly,
in your misery ; before a greater assembly many thousandfold than ever yet ap
peared on earth ; before a vast assembly of saints, and a vast assembly of wick
ed men, a vast assembly of holy angels, and before all the crew of devils. God
will before all these get himself honor in your destruction ; you shall be torment
ed in the presence of them all. Then all will see that God is a great God in
deed ; then all will see how dreadful a thing it is to sin against such a God, and to
reject such a Saviour, such love and grace, as you have rejected and despised.
All will be filled with awe at the great sight, arid all the saints and angels will
look upon you, and adore that majesty, and that mighty power, and that holi
ness and justice of God, which shall appear in your ineffable destruction and
misery.
It is probable that here are some, who hear me this day, who at. this very
moment are unawakened, and are in a great degree careless about their souls.
I fear there are some among us who are most fearfully hardened : their hearts
are harder than the very rocks. It is easier to make impressions upon an ada
mant than upon their hearts. I suppose some of you have heard all that I have
said with ease and quietness : it appears to you as great big sounding words,
but doth not reach your hearts. You have heard such things many times : you
are old soldiers, and have been too much used to the roaring of heaven s cannon,
to be frighted at it. It will therefore probably be in vain for me to say any
thing further to you ; I will only put you in mind that erelong God will deal
with you. I cannot deal with you, you despise what I say ; I have no power
to make you sensible of your danger and misery, and of the dreadfulness of the
wrath of God. The attempts of men in this way have often proved vain.
However, God hath undertaken to deal with such men as you are. It is
his manner commonly first to let men try their utmost strength : particularly
to let ministers try, that thus he may show ministers their own weakness and
PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED.
266
impotency ; and when they have done what they can, and all fails, then God
takes the matter into his own hands. So it seems by your obstinacy, as if God
intended to undertake to deal with you. He will undertake to subdue you ; he
will see if he cannot cure you of your senselessness and regardlessness of his
threatenings. And you will be convinced ; you will be subdued effectually ;
your hearts will be broken with a witness ; your strength will be utterly
broken, your courage and hope will sink. God will surely break those who
will not bow. God, having girded himself with his power and wrath, hath
heretofore undertaken to deal with many hard, stubborn, senseless, obstinate
hearts ; and he never failed, he always did his work thoroughly.
It will not be long before you will be wonderfully changed. You who now
hear of hell and the wrath of the great God, and sit here in these seats so easy
and quiet, and go away so careless ; by and by will shake, and tremble, and
cry out, and shriek, and gnash your teeth, and will be thoroughly convinced of
the vast weight and importance of these great things, which you now despise.
You will not then need to hear sermons in order to make you sensible ; you will
be at a sufficient distance from slighting that wrath and power of God, of
which you now hear with so much quietness and indifference.
34
SERMON XI.
THE ETERNITY OF HELL TORMENTS.
MATTHEW xxv. 46- These shall go away into everlasting punishment.
IN this chapter we have the most particular description of the day of judg
ment, of any that we have in the whole Bible. Christ here declares, that when
he shall hereafter sit on the throne of his glory, the righteous and the wicked
shall be set before him, and separated one from the other, as a shepherd divi-
deth his sheep from the goats. Then we have an account how both will be
judged according to their works ; how the good works of the one and the evil
works of the other will be rehearsed, and how the sentence shall be pronounced
accordingly. We are told what the sentence will be on each, and then in the
verse of the text, we have an account of the execution of the sentence on both
the righteous and the wicked. In the words of the text is the account of the
execution of the sentence on the wicked or the ungodly : concerning which, it
is to my purpose to observe two things.
1. The duration of the punishment on which they are here said to enter : it
is called everlasting punishment.
2. The time of their entrance on this everlasting punishment ; viz., after
the day of judgment, at the end of the world, when all these things that are of
a temporary continuance shall have come to an end, and even those of them
that are most lasting, the frame of the*world itself; the earth, which is said to
abide forever ; the ancient mountains and everlasting hills ; the sun, moon and
stars. When the heavens shall have waxed old like a garment, and as a ves
ture shall be changed, then shall be the time when the wicked shall enter on
their punishment.
DOCTRINE. The misery of the wicked in hell will be absolutely eternal.
There are two diverse opinions that I mean to oppose in this doctrine. One
is, that the eternal death that wicked men are threatened with in Scripture, sig
nifies no more than eternal annihilation ; that men will be the subjects of eter
nal death, as they will be slain, and their life finally and forever be extinguish
ed by God s anger ; that God will punish their wickedness by eternally abol
ishing their being, and so that they shall suffer eternal death in this sense, that
they shall be eternally dead, and never more come to life.
The other opinion which I mean to oppose, is, that though the punishment
of the wicked shall consist in sensible misery, yet it shall not be absolutely eter
nal ; but only of a very long continuance.
Therefore to establish the doctrine in opposition to these different opinions,
I shall undertake to show,
I. That it is not contrary to the divine perfections to inflict on wicked
men a punishment that is absolutely eternal.
II. That the eternal death which God threatens, is not annihilation, but an
abiding sensible punishment or misery.
III. That this misery will not only continue for a very long time, but will
be absolutely without end.
IV. That various good ends will be obtained by the eternal punishment of
tli wicked.
I. I am to show that it is not contrary to the divine perfections to inflict on
nicked men a punishment that is absolutely eternal.
ETERNITY OF HELL TORMENTS. 267
This is the sum of the objections usually made against this doctrine, that it
is inconsistent with the justice, and especially with the mercy of God. And
some say, if it be strictly just, yet how can we suppose that a merciful God can
bear eternally to torment his creatures ?
1. Then I shall briefly show, that it is not inconsistent with the justice of
God to inflict an eternal punishment. To evince this, I shall use only one ar
gument, viz., that sin is heinous enough to deserve such a punishment, and such
a punishment is no more than proportionable to the evil or dement of sin. If
the evil of sin be infinite, as the punishment is, then it is manifest that the pun
ishment is no more than proportionable to the sin punished, and is no more than
sin deserves. And if the obligation to love, honor, and obey God be infinite,
then sin, which is the violation of this obligation, is a violation of infinite obli
gation, and so is an infinite evil. Again, if God be infinitely worthy of love,
honor, and obedience, then our obligation to love, and honor, and obey him is
infinitely great. So that God being infinitely glorious, or infinitely worthy of
our love, honor, and obedience ; our obligation to love, honor, and obey him,
and so to avoid all sin, is infinitely great. Again, our obligation to love, honor,
and obey God being infinitely great, sin is the violation of infinite obligation,
and so is an infinite evil. Once more, sin being an infinite evil deserves an in-
finite punishment, an infinite punishment is no more than it deserves : therefore
such punishment is just ; which was the thing to be proved. There is no
evading the force of this reasoning, but by denying that God, the sovereign of
the universe, is infinitely glorious ; which I presume none of my hearers will
adventure to do.
2. I am to show, that it is not inconsistent with the mercy of God, to inflict
an eternal punishment on wicked men. It is an unreasonable and unscriptural
notion of the mercy of God, that he is merciful in such a sense that he cannot
bear that penal justice should be executed. This is to conceive of the mercy of
God as a passion to which his nature is so subject that God is liable to be
moved, and affected, and overcome by seeing a creature in misery, so that he
cannot bear to see justice executed ; which is a most unworthy and absurd notion
of the mercy of God, and would, if true, argue great weakness. It would be
a great defect, and not a perfection, in the Sovereign and Supreme Judge of
the world, to be merciful in such a sense that he could not bear to have penal
justice executed. It is a very unscriptural notion of the mercy of God. The
Scriptures everywhere represent the mercy of God as free and sovereign, and
not that the exercises of it are necessary, so that God cannot bear justice should
take place. The Scriptures abundantly speak of it as the glory of the divine
attribute of mercy, that it is free and sovereign in its exercises ; and not that it
is so, that God cannot help but deliver sinners from misery. This is a mean
and most unworthy idea of the divine mercy.
It is most absurd also as it is contrary to plain fact. For if there be any mear.-
ing in the objection, this is is supposed in it, that all misery of the creature, wheth
er just or unjust, is in itself contrary to the nature of God. For if his misery be
of such a nature that a very great degree of misery, though just, is contrary to his
nature ; then it is only to add to the mercy, and then a less degree of misery is
contrary to his nature ; again to add further to it, and a still less degree of mis
ery is contrary to his nature. And so, the mercy of God being infinite, all mis
ery must be contrary to his nature ; which we see to be contrary to fact ; for we
see that God in his providence, doth indeed inflict very great calamities on man
kind even in this life.
However strong such kind of objections against the eternal miseiy of the
ETERNITY OF HELL TORMENTS.
wicked, may seem to the carnal, senseless hearts of men, as though it were
against God s justice and mercy ; yet their seeming strength, and its seeming
to be incredible that God should give over any of his creatures to such a dreadful
calamity, as eternal, helpless misery and torment, altogether arises from a want
of a sense of the infinite evil, odiousness and provocation that there is in sin.
Hence it seems to us not suitable that any poor creature should be the subject
of such misery, because we have no sense of any thing abominable and provoking
in any creature answerable to it. If we had, then this infinite calamity would
not seem unsuitable. For one thing would but appear answerable and pro
portionable to another, and so the mind would rest in it as fit and suitable, and
no more than what is proper to be ordered by the just, holy and good Governor
of the world.
That this is so we may be convinced by this consideration, viz., that when we
hear or read, as sometimes we do, of very horrid things committed by some men,
as for instance, some horrid instance of cruelty, it may be to some poor inno
cent child, or some holy martyr ; when we read or hear how such and such
persons delighted themselves in torturing them with lingering torments ; what
terrible distress the poor innocent creatures were in under their hands for many
days together ; and their cruel persecutors, having no regard to their shrieks
and cries, only sported themselves with their misery, and would not vouchsafe
even to put an end to their lives : I say, when we hear or read of such things,
we have a sense of the evil of them, and they make a deep impression on our
minds. Hence it seems just, and not only so, but every way fit and suitable,
that God should inflict a very 
