1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Obedience
‘Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the
people of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy
God, and do his commandments.’ Deut 27: 9, 10.
What is the duty which God requireth of man?
Obedience to his revealed will.
It is not enough to hear God’s voice, but we must obey. Obedience
is a part of the honour we owe to God. ‘If then I be a Father, where is my honour?’
Mal 1: 6. Obedience carries in it the life-blood of religion. ‘Obey the voice of
the Lord God,’ and do his commandments. Obedience without knowledge is blind, and
knowledge without obedience is lame. Rachel was fair to look upon, but, being barren,
said, ‘Give me children, or I die;’ so, if knowledge does not bring forth the child
of obedience, it will die. ‘To obey is better than sacrifice.’ 1 Sam 15: 22. Saul
thought it was enough for him to offer sacrifices, though he disobeyed God’s command;
but ‘to obey is better than sacrifice.’ God disclaims sacrifice, if obedience be
wanting. ‘I spake not unto your fathers concerning burnt offerings, but this thing
commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice.’ Jer 7: 22. Not but that God did enjoin
those religious rites of worship; but the meaning is that he looked chiefly for
obedience — without which, sacrifice was but devout folly. The end why God has given
us his laws, is obedience. ‘Ye shall do my judgements, and keep mine ordinances.’
Lev 18: 4. Why does a king publish an edict, but that it may be observed?
What is the rule of obedience?
The written word. That is proper obedience which the word requires;
our obedience must correspond with the word, as the copy with the original. To seem
to be zealous, if it be not according to the word, is not obedience, but will-worship.
Popish traditions which have no footing in the word, are abominable; and God will
say, Quis quaesivit haec? ‘Who has required this at your hand?’ Isa 1: 12. The apostle
condemns the worshipping of angels, which had a show of humility. Col 2: 18. The
Jews might say they were loath to be so bold as to go to God in their own persons;
they would be more humble, and prostrate themselves before the angels, and desire
them to present their petitions to God; but this show of humility was hateful to
God, because there was no word to warrant it.
What are the ingredients in our obedience that make it acceptable?
(1) It must be cum animi prolubio, free and cheerful, or it is
penance, not sacrifice. ‘If ye be willing and obedient.’ Isa 1: 19. Though we serve
God with weakness, it may be with willingness. You love to see your servants go
cheerfully about their work. Under the law, God will have a free-will offering.
Deut 16: 10. Hypocrites obey God grudgingly, and against their will; facere bonum,
but not velle [they do good but not willingly]. Cain brought his sacrifice, but
not his heart. It is a true rule, Quicquid cor non facit, non fit; what the heart
does not do, is not done. Willingness is the soul of obedience. God sometimes accepts
of willingness without the work, but never of the work without willingness. Cheerfulness
shows that there is love in the duty; and love is to our services what the sun is
to fruit; it mellows and ripens them, and makes them come off with a better relish.
(2) Obedience must be devout and fervent. ‘Fervent in spirit,’
&c. Rom 12: 11. Quae ebullit prae ardore. As water that boils over; so the heart
must boil over with hot affections in the service of God. The glorious angels, who,
for burning in fervour and devotion, are called seraphims, are chosen by God to
serve him in heaven. The snail under the law was unclean, because a dull, slothful
creature. Obedience without fervency, is like a sacrifice without fire. Why should
not our obedience be lively and fervent? God deserves the flower and strength of
our affections. Domitian would not have his statue carved in wood or iron, but made
of gold. Lively affections make golden services. It is fervency that makes obedience
acceptable. Elijah was fervent in spirit, and his prayer opened and shut heaven;
and again he prayed, and fire fell on his enemies. 2 Kings 1: 10. Elijah’s prayer
fetched fire from heaven, because, being fervent, it carried fire up to heaven;
quicquid decorum ex fide proficiscitur. Augustine.
(3) Obedience must be extensive, it must reach to all God’s commands.
‘Then shall I not be ashamed (or, as it is in the Hebrew, lo Ehosh, blush), when
I have respect unto all thy commandments.’ Psa 119: 6. Quicquid propter Deum fit
aequaliter fit [All God’s requirements demand equal effort]. There is a stamp of
divine authority upon all God’s commands, and if I obey one precept because God
commands, I must obey all. True obedience runs through all duties of religion, as
the blood through all the veins, or the sun through all the signs of the zodiac.
A good Christian makes gospel piety and moral equity kiss each other. Herein some
discover their hypocrisy: they will obey God in some things which are more facile,
and may raise their repute; but other things they leave undone. ‘One thing thou
lackest,’ unum deest. Mark 10: 21. Herod would hear John Baptist, but not leave
his incest. Some will pray, but not give alms, others will give alms, but not pray.
‘Ye pay tithe of mint and anise, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law,
judgement, mercy and faith.’ Matt 23: 23. The badger has one foot shorter than the
other; so these are shorter in some duties than in others. God likes not such partial
servants, who will do some part of the work he sets them about, and leave the other
undone.
(4) Obedience must be sincere. We must aim at the glory of God
in it. Finis specificat actionem; in religion the end is all. The end of our obedience
must not be to stop the mouth of conscience, or to gain applause or preferment;
but that we may grow more like God, and bring more glory to him. ‘Do all to the
glory of God.’ 1 Cor 10: 31. That which has spoiled many glorious actions, and made
them lose their reward, is, that men’s aims have been wrong. The Pharisees gave
alms, but blew a trumpet that they might have the glory of men. Matt 6: 2. Alms
should shine, but not blaze. Jehu did well in destroying the Baal-worshippers, and
God commended him for it; but, because his aims were not good (for he aimed at settling
himself in the kingdom), God looked upon it as no better than murder. ‘I will avenge
the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu.’ Hos 1: 4. O let us look to our ends
in obedience; it is possible the action may be right, and not the heart. 2 Chron
25: 2. Amaziah did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a
perfect heart. Two things are chiefly to be eyed in obedience, the principle and
the end. Though a child of God shoots short in his obedience, he takes a right aim.
(5) Obedience must be in and through Christ. ‘He has made us accepted
in the beloved.’ Eph 1: 6. Not our obedience, but Christ’s merits procure acceptance.
In every part of worship we must present Christ to God in the arms of our faith.
Unless we serve God thus, in hope and confidence of Christ’s merits, we rather provoke
him than please him. As, when king Uzziah would offer incense without a priest,
God was angry with him, and struck him with leprosy (2 Chron 26: 20); So, when we
do not come to God in and through Christ, we offer up incense to him without a priest,
and what can we expect but severe rebukes?
(6) Obedience must be constant. ‘Blessed [is] he that does righteousness
at all times.’ Psa 106: 3. True obedience is not like a high colour in a fit, but
it is a right complexion. It is like the fire on the altar, which was always kept
burning. Lev 6: 13. Hypocrites’ obedience is but for a season; it is like plastering
work, which is soon washed off; but true obedience is constant. Though we meet with
affliction, we must go on in our obedience. ‘The righteous shall hold on his way.’
Job 17: 9. We have vowed constancy; we have vowed to renounce the pomps and vanities
of the world, and to fight under Christ’s banner to death. When a servant has entered
into covenant with his master, and the indentures are sealed, he cannot go back,
he must serve out his time; so there are indentures drawn in baptism, and in the
Lord’s Supper the indentures are renewed and scaled on our part, that we will be
faithful and constant in our obedience; therefore we must imitate Christ, who became
obedient unto death. Phil 2: 8. The crown is set upon the head of perseverance.
‘He that keepeth my works unto the end, I will give him the morning star.’ Rev 2:
26, 28.
Use one. This condemns those who live in contradiction to the
text, and have cast off the yoke of obedience. ‘As for the word that thou hast spoken
unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee.’ Jer 44: 16. God
bids men pray in their family, but they live in the total neglect of it; he bids
them sanctify the Sabbath, but they follow their pleasures on that day; he bids
them abstain from the appearance of sin, but they do not abstain from the act; they
live in the act of revenge, and in the act of uncleanness. This is a high contempt
of God; it is rebellion, and rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.
Whence is it that men do not obey God? They know their duty, but
do it not.
(1) The not obeying God is for want of faith. Quis credidit? ‘Who
has believed our report?’ Isa 53: 1: Did men believe sin were so bitter, that hell
followed at the heels of it, would they go on in sin? Did they believe there was
such a reward for the righteous, that godliness was gain, would they not pursue
it; but they are atheists, not fully brought into the belief of these things; hence
it is that they obey not. Satan’s master-piece, his draw-net by which he drags millions
to hell, is to keep them in infidelity; he knows, if he can but keep them from believing
the truth, he is sure to keep them from obeying it.
(2) The not obeying God is for want of self-denial. God commands
one thing, and men’s lusts command another; and they will rather die than deny their
lusts. If lust cannot be denied, God cannot be obeyed.
Use two. Obey God’s voice. This is the beauty of a Christian.
What are the great arguments or incentives to obedience?
(1) Obedience makes us precious to God, his favourites. ‘If ye
will obey my voice, ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people;’ you
shall be my portion, my jewels, the apple of mine eye. Exod 19: 5. ‘I will give
kingdoms for your ransom.’ Isa 43: 3.
(2) There is nothing lost by obedience. To obey God’s will is
the wav to have our will. [1] Would we have a blessing in our estates? Let us obey.
God. ‘If thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord, to do all his commandments,
blessed shalt thou be in the field: blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.’
Deut 28: 1, 3, 5. To obey is the best way to thrive in your estates. [21 Would we
have a blessing in our souls? Let us obey God. Obey, and I will be your God.’ Jer
7: 23. My Spirit shall be your guide, sanctifier, and comforter. Christ ‘became
the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.’ Heb 5: 9. While we
please God, we please ourselves; while we give him the duty, he gives us the dowry.
We are apt to say, as Amaziah, ‘What shall we do for the hundred talents?’ 2 Chron
25: 9. You lose nothing by obeying. The obedient son has the inheritance settled
on him. Obey, and you shall have a kingdom. ‘It is your Father’s good pleasure to
give you the kingdom.’ Luke 12: 32.
(3) What a sin is disobedience! [1] It is an irrational sin. We
are not able to stand it out in defiance against God. ‘Are we stronger than he?’
Will the sinner go to measure arms with God? 1 Cor 10: 22. He is the Father Almighty,
who can command legions. If we have no strength to resist him, it is irrational
to disobey him. It is irrational, as it is against all law and equity. We have our
daily subsistence from him; in him we live and move. Is it not just that as we live
by him, we should live to him? that as he gives us our allowance, so we should give
him our allegiance?
[2] It is a destructive sin. ‘The Lord Jesus shall be revealed
from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that
obey not the gospel.’ 2 Thess 1: 7, 8. He who refuses to obey God’s will in commanding,
shall be sure to obey his will in punishing. While the sinner thinks to slip the
knot of obedience, he twists the cord of his own damnation, and he perishes without
excuse. ‘The servant which knew his lord’s will, neither did according to his will,
shall be beaten with many stripes.’ Luke 12: 47. God will say, ‘Why did you not
obey? you knew how to do good, but did not; therefore your blood is upon your own
head.’
What means shall we use that we may obey?
(1) Serious consideration. Consider, God’s commands are not grievous:
he commands nothing unreasonable. 1 John 5: 3. It is easier to obey the commands
of God than sin. The commands of sin are burdensome — let a man be under the power
of any lust, how he tires himself! what hazards he runs, even to endangering his
health and soul, that he may satisfy his lusts! What tedious journeys did Antiochus
Epiphanies take in persecuting the Jews! ‘They weary themselves to commit iniquity;’
and are not God’s commands more easy to obey? Chrysostom says, virtue is easier
than vice; temperance is less burdensome than drunkenness. Some have gone with less
pains to heaven, than others to hell.
God commands nothing but what is beneficial. ‘And now, Israel,
what does the Lord require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, and to keep his
statutes, which I command thee this day, for thy good?’ Deut 10: 12, 13. To obey
God, is not so much our duty as our privilege; his commands carry meat in the mouth
of them. He bids us repent; and why? That our sins may be blotted out. Acts 3: 19.
He commands us to believe: and why? That we may be saved. Acts 16: 31. There is
love in every command: as if a king should bid one of his subjects dig in a gold
mine, and then take the gold to himself.
(2) Earnest supplication. Implore the help of the Spirit to carry
you on in obedience. God’s Spirit makes obedience easy and delightful. If the loadstone
draw the iron, it is not hard for it to move; so if God’s Spirit quicken and draw
the heart, it is not hard to obey. When a gale of the Spirit blows, we go full sail
in obedience. Turn his promise into a prayer. ‘I will put my Spirit within you,
and cause you to walk in my statutes.’ Ezek 36: 27. The promise encourages us, the
Spirit enables us to obey.
1.2 Love
The rule of obedience being the moral law, comprehended in the
Ten Commandments, the next question is:
What is the sum of the Ten Commandments?
The sum of the Ten Commandments is, to love the Lord our God with
all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind,
and our neighbour as ourselves.
‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy might.’ Deut 6: 5. The duty called for is love, yea,
the strength of love, ‘with all thy heart.’ God will lose none of our love. Love
is the soul of religion, and that which constitutes a real Christian. Love is the
queen of graces; it shines and sparkles in God’s eye, as the precious stones on
the breastplate of Aaron.
What is love?
It is a holy fire kindled in the affections, whereby a Christian
is carried out strongly after God as the supreme good.
What is the antecedent of love to God?
The antecedent of love is knowledge. The Spirit shines upon the
understanding, and discovers the beauties of wisdom, holiness, and mercy in God;
and these are the loadstone to entice and draw out love to God; Ignoti nulla cupido:
such as know not God cannot love him; if the sun be set in the understanding, there
must needs be night in the affections.
Wherein does the formal nature of love consist?
The nature of love consists in delighting in an object. Complacentia
amantis in amato. [The lover’s delight in his beloved] Aquinas. This is loving God,
to take delight in him. ‘Delight thyself also in the Lord’ (Psa 37: 4), as a bride
delights herself in her jewels. Grace changes a Christian’s aims and delights.
How must our love to God be qualified?
(1) If it be a sincere love, we love God with all our heart. ‘Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.’ God will have the whole heart.
We must not divide our love between him and sin. The true mother would not have
the child divided, nor will God have the heart divided; it must be the whole heart.
(2) We must love God propter se, for himself, for his own intrinsic
excellencies. We must love him for his loveliness. Meretricius est amor plus annulum
quam sponsum amare: ‘It is a harlot’s love to love the portion more than the person.’
Hypocrites love God because he gives them corn and wine: we must love God for himself;
for those shining perfections which are in him. Gold is loved for itself.
(3) We must love God with all our might, in the Hebrew text, our
vehemency; we must love God, quod posse, as much as we are able. Christians should
be like seraphim, burning in holy love. We can never love God so much as he deserves.
The angels in heaven cannot love God so much as he deserves.
(4) Love to God must be active in its sphere. Love is an industrious
affection; it sets the head studying for God, hands working, feet running in the
ways of his commandments. It is called the labour of love. 1 Thess 1: 3. Mary Magdalene
loved Christ, and poured her ointments on him. We think we never do enough for the
person whom we love.
(5) Love to God must be superlative. God is the essence of beauty,
a whole paradise of delight; and he must have a priority in our love. Our love to
God must be above all things besides, as the oil swims above the water. We must
love God above estate and relations. Great is the love to relations. There is a
story in the French Academy, of a daughter, who, when her father was condemned to
die by hunger, gave him suck with her own breasts. But our love to God must be above
father and mother. Matt 10: 37. We may give the creature the milk of our love, but
God must have the cream. The spouse keeps the juice of her pomegranates for Christ.
Cant 8: 2.
(6) Our love to God must be constant, like the fire which the
Vestal virgins kept in Rome, which did not go out. Love must be like the motion
of the pulse, which beats as long as there is life. ‘Many waters cannot quench love,’
not the waters of persecution. Cant 8: 7. ‘Rooted in love.’ Eph 3: 17. A branch
withers that does not grow on a root; so love, that it may not die, must be well
rooted.
What are the visible signs of our love to God?
If we love God, our desire will be after him. ‘The desire of our
soul is to thy name.’ Isa 26: 8. He who loves God, breathes after communion with
him. ‘My soul thirsteth for the living God.’ Psa 42: 2. Persons in love desire to
be often conferring together. He who loves God, desires to be much in his presence;
he loves the ordinances: they are the glass where the glory of God is resplendent;
in the ordinances we meet with him whom our souls love; we have God’s smiles and
whispers, and some foretastes of heaven. Such as have no desire after ordinances,
have no love to God.
The second visible sign is, that he who loves God cannot find
contentment in any thing without him. Give a hypocrite who pretends to love God
corn and wine, and he can be content without God; but a soul fired with love to
God, cannot be without him. Lovers faint away if they have not a sight of the object
loved. A gracious soul can do without health, but cannot do without God, who is
the health of his countenance. Psa 43: 5. If God should say to a soul that entirely
loves him, ‘Take thy ease, swim in pleasure, solace thyself in the delights of the
world; but thou shalt not enjoy my presence:’ this would not content it. Nay, if
God should say, ‘I will let thee be taken up to heaven, but I will retire into another
room, and thou shalt not see my face;’ it would not content the soul. It is hell
to be without God. The philosopher says there can be no gold without the influence
of the sun; certainly there can be no golden joy in the soul without God’s sweet
presence and influence.
The third visible sign is that he who loves God, hates that which
would separate between him and God, and that is sin. Sin makes God hide his face;
it is like an incendiary, which parts chief friends; therefore, the keenness of
a Christian’s hatred is set against it. ‘I hate every false way.’ Psa 119: 128.
Antipathies can never be reconciled; one cannot love health but he must hate poison;
so we cannot love God but we must hate sin, which would destroy our communion with
him.
The fourth visible sign is sympathy. Friends that love, grieve
for the evils which befall each other. Homer, describing Agamemnon’s grief, when
he was forced to sacrifice his daughter, brings in all his friends weeping with
him, and accompanying him to the sacrifice, in mourning. Lovers grieve together.
If we have true love in our heart to God, we cannot but grieve for those things
which grieve him; we shall lay to heart his dishonours; the luxury, drunkenness,
contempt of God and religion. ‘Rivers of waters run down mine eyes,’ &c. Psa 119:
136. Some speak of the sins of others, and laugh at them; but they surely have no
love to God who can laugh at that which grieves his Spirit! Does he love his father
who can laugh to hear him reproached?
The fifth visible sign is, that he who loves God, labours to render
him lovely to others. He not only admires God, but speaks in his praises, that he
may allure and draw others to be in love with him. She that is in love will commend
her lover. The lovesick spouse extols Christ, she makes a panegyrical oration of
his worth, that she might persuade others to be in love with him. ‘His head is as
the most fine gold.’ Cant 5: 11. True love to God cannot be silent, it will be eloquent
in setting forth his renown. There is no better sign of loving God than to make
him appear lovely, and to draw proselytes to him.
The sixth visible sign is, that he who loves God, weeps bitterly
for his absence. Mary comes weeping, ‘They have taken away my Lord.’ John 20: 13.
One cries, ‘My health is gone!’ another, ‘My estate is gone!’ but he who is a lover
of God, cries out, ‘My God is gone! I cannot enjoy him whom I love.’ What can all
worldly comforts do, when once God is absent? It is like a funeral banquet, where
there is much meat, but no cheer. ‘I went mourning without the sun.’ Job 30: 28.
If Rachel mourned greatly for the loss of her children, what vail or pencil can
shadow out the sorrow of that Christian who has lost God’s sweet presence? Such
a soul pours forth floods of tears; and while it is lamenting, seems to say thus
to God, ‘Lord, thou art in heaven, hearing the melodious songs and triumph of angels;
but I sit here in the valley of tears, weeping because thou art gone. Oh, when wilt
thou come to me, and revive me with the light of thy countenance! Or, Lord, if thou
wilt not come to me, let me come to thee, where I shall have a perpetual smile of
thy face in heaven and shall never more complain, ‘My beloved has withdrawn himself.’”
The seventh visible sign is, that he who loves God is willing
to do and suffer for him. He subscribes to God’s commands, he submits to his will.
He subscribes to his commands. If God bids him mortify sin, love his enemies, be
crucified to the world, he obeys. It is a vain thing for a man to say he loves God,
and slight his commands. He submits to his will. If God would have him suffer for
him, he does not dispute, but obeys. ‘Love endureth all things.’ 1 Cor 13: 7. Love
made Christ suffer for us, and love will make us suffer for him. It is true that
every Christian is not a martyr but he has a spirit of martyrdom in him; he has
a disposition of mind to suffer, if God call him to it. ‘I am ready to be offered.’
2 Tim 4: 6. Not only the sufferings were ready for Paul, but he was ready for the
sufferings. Origin chose rather to live despised in Alexandria, than with Plotinus
to deny the faith, and be great in the prince’s favour. Rev 12: 11. Many say they
love God, but will not suffer the loss of anything for him. If Christ should have
said to us, ‘I love you well, you are dear to me, but I cannot suffer for you, I
cannot lay down my life for you,’ we should have questioned his love very much;
and may not the Lord question ours, when we pretend love to him, but will endure
nothing for his sake?
Use one. What shall we say to those who have not a drachm of love
in their hearts to God? They have their life from him, yet do not love him. He spreads
their table every day, yet they do not love him. Sinners dread God as a judge, but
do not love him as a father. All the strength in the angels cannot make the heart
love God; judgements will not do it; omnipotent grace only can make a stony heart
melt in love. How sad is it to be void of love to God. When the body is cold, and
has no heat, it is a sign of death; so he is spiritually dead who has no heat of
love in his heart to God. Shall such live with God that do not love him? Will God
lay an enemy in his bosom? They shall be bound in chains of darkness who will not
be drawn with cords of love.
Use two. Let us be persuaded to love God with all our heart and
might. O let us take our love off from other things, and place it upon God. Love
is the heart of religion, the fat of the offering; it is the grace which Christ
inquires most after. ‘Simon lovest thou me?’ John 21: 15. Love makes all our services
acceptable, it is the musk that perfumes them. It is not so much duty, as love to
duty, God delights in; therefore serving and loving God are put together. Isa 56:
6. It is better to love him than to serve him; obedience without love, is like wine
without the spirit. O then, be persuaded to love God with all your heart and might.
(1) It is nothing but your love that God desires. The Lord might
have demanded your children to be offered in sacrifice; he might have bid you cut
and lance yourselves, or lie in hell awhile; but he only desires your love, he would
only have this flower. Is it a hard request, to love God? Was ever any debt easier
paid than this? Is it any labour for the wife to love her husband? Love is delightful.
Non potest amor esse, et dulcis non esse [Love must by definition be sweet]. Bernard.
What is there in our love that God should desire it? Why should a king desire the
love of a woman that is in debt and diseased? God does not need our love. There
are angels enough in heaven to adore and love him. What is God the better for our
love? It adds not the least cubit to his essential blessedness. He does not need
our love, and yet he seeks it. Why does he desire us to give him our heart? Prov
23: 26. Not that he needs our heart, but that he may make it better.
(2) Great will be our advantage if we love God. He does not court
our love that we should lose by it. ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, the things
which God has prepared for them that love him.’ 1 Cor 2: 9. If you will love him,
you shall have such a reward as exceeds your faith. He will betroth you to himself
in the dearest love. ‘I will betroth thee unto me for ever, in loving kindness and
in mercies.’ Hos 2: 19. ‘The Lord thy God will rest in his love, he will joy over
thee with singing.’ Zeph 3: 17. If you love God, he will interest you in all his
riches and dignities, he will give you heaven and earth for your dowry, he will
set a crown on your head. Vespasian the emperor gave a great reward to a woman who
came to him, and professed she loved him; but God gives a crown of life to them
that love him. James 1: 12.
(3) Love is the only grace that shall live with us in heaven.
In heaven we shall need no repentance, because we shall have no sin; no faith, because
we shall see God face to face; but love to God shall abide for ever. ‘Love never
faileth.’ 1 Cor 13: 8. How should we nourish this grace which shall outlive all
the graces, and run parallel with eternity!
(4) Our love to God is a sign of his love to us. ‘We love him
because he first loved us.’ 1 John 4: 19. By nature we have no love to God; we have
hearts of stone. Ezek 36: 26. And how can any love be in hearts of stone? Our loving
him is from his loving us. If the glass burn, it is because the sun has shone on
it; so if our hearts burn in love, it is a sign the Sun of Righteousness has shone
upon us.
What shall we do in order to love God aright?
(1) Wait on the preaching of the word. As faith comes by hearing,
so does love. The word sets forth God in his incomparable excellencies; it deciphers
and pencils him out in all his glory, and a sight of his beauty inflames love.
(2) Beg of God that he will give you a heart to love him. When
king Solomon asked wisdom of God, it pleased the Lord. 1 Kings 3: 10. So, when thou
criest to God, Lord give me a heart to love thee, it is my grief I can love thee
no more; surely this prayer will please the Lord, and he will pour out his Spirit
upon thee. His golden oil will make the lamp of thy love burn bright.
(3) You who have love to God, keep it flaming upon the altar of
your heart. Love, like fire, is ever ready to go out. ‘Thou hast left thy first
love.’ Rev 2: 4. Through neglect of duty, or too much love of the world, our love
to God will cool. O preserve your love to him. As you would be careful to preserve
the natural heat in your body, so be careful to preserve the heat of love to God
in your soul. Love is like oil to the wheels, it quickens us in God’s service. When
you find love abate and cool, use all means to quicken it. When the fire is going
out, you throw on fuel; so when the flame of love is going out, make use of the
ordinances as sacred fuel to keep the fire of your love burning.
1.3 The Preface to the Commandments
‘And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God,’
&c. Exod 20: 1, 2.
What is the preface to the Ten Commandments?
The preface to the Ten Commandments is, ‘I am the Lord thy God.’
The preface to the preface is, ‘God spake all these words, saying,’
&c. This is like the sounding of a trumpet before a solemn proclamation. Other parts
of the Bible are said to be uttered by the mouth of the holy prophets (Luke 1: 70),
but here God spake in his own person.
How are we to understand that, God spake, since he has no bodily
parts or organs of speech?
God made some intelligible sound, or fanned a voice in the air,
which, to the Jews was as though God himself was speaking to them. Observe:
(1) The lawgiver. ‘God spake.’ There are two things requisite
in a lawgiver. [1] Wisdom. Laws are founded upon reason; and he must be wise that
makes laws. God, in this respect, is most fit to be a lawgiver: ‘he is wise in heart.’
Job 9: 4. He has a monopoly of wisdom. ‘The only wise God.’ 1 Tim 1: 17. Therefore
he is the fittest to enact and constitute laws. [2] Authority. If a subject makes
laws, however wise they may be, they want the stamp of authority. God has the supreme
power in his hand: he gives being to all; and he who gives men their lives, has
most right to give them their laws.
(2) The law itself. ‘All these words.’ That is, all the words
of the moral law, which is usually styled the decalogue, or ten commandments. It
is called the moral law because it is the rule of life and manners. The Scripture,
as Chrysostom says, is a garden, and the moral law is the chief flower in it: it
is a banquet, and the moral law is the chief dish in it.
The moral law is perfect. ‘The law of the Lord is perfect.’ Psa
19: 7. It is an exact model and platform of religion; it is the standard of truth,
the judge of controversies, the pole-star to direct us to heaven. ‘The commandment
is a lamp.’ Prov 6: 23. Though the moral law be not a Christ to justify us, it is
a rule to instruct us.
The moral law is unalterable; it remains still in force. Though
the ceremonial and judicial laws are abrogated, the moral law delivered by God’s
own mouth is of perpetual use in the church. It was written in tables of stone,
to show its perpetuity.
The moral law is very illustrious and full of glory. God put glory
upon it in the manner of its promulgation. [1] The people, before the moral law
was delivered, were to wash their clothes, whereby, as by a type, God required the
sanctifying of their ears and hearts to receive the law. Exod 19: 10. [2] There
were bounds set that none might touch the mount, which was to produce in the people
reverence to the law. Exod 19: 12. [3] God wrote the law with his own finger, which
was such an honour put upon the moral law, as we read of no other such writing.
Exod 31: 18. God by some mighty operation, made the law legible in letters, as if
it had been written with his own finger. [4] God’s putting the law in the ark to
be kept was another signal mark of honour put upon it. The ark was the cabinet in
which He put the ten commandments, as ten jewels. [5] At the delivery of the moral
law, many angels were in attendance. Deut 33: 2. A parliament of angels was called,
and God himself was the speaker.
Use one. Here we may notice God’s goodness, who has not left us
without a law. He often sets down the giving his commandments as a demonstration
of his love. ‘He has not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgements they
have not known them.’ Psa 147: 20. ‘Thou gavest them true laws, good statutes and
commandments.’ Neh 9: 13. What a strange creature would man be if he had no law
to direct him! There would be no living in the world; we should have none born but
Ishmaels — every man’s hand would be against his neighbour. Man would grow wild
if he had not affliction to tame him, and the moral law to guide him. The law of
God is a hedge to keep us within the bounds of sobriety and piety.
Use two. If God spake all these words of the moral law, then it
condemns: (1) The Marcionites and Manichees, who speak lightly, yea, blasphemously,
of the moral law; who say it is below a Christian, it is carnal; which the apostle
confutes, when he says, ‘The law is spiritual, but I am carnal.’ Rom 7: 14. (2)
The Antinomians, who will not admit the moral law to be a rule to a believer. We
say not that he is under the curse of the law, but the commands. We say not the
moral law is a Christ, but it is a star to lead to Christ. We say not that it saves,
but sanctifies. They who cast God’s law behind their backs, God will cast their
prayers behind his back. They who will not have the law to rule them, shall have
the law to judge them. (3) The Papists, who, as if God’s law were imperfect, and
when he spake all these words he did not speak enough, add to it their canons and
traditions. This is to tax God’s wisdom, as if he knew not how to make his own law.
This surely is a high provocation. ‘If any man shall add to these things, God shall
add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.’ Rev 22: 18. As it is a
great evil to add anything to a man’s sealed will, so much more to add anything
to the law which God himself spake, and wrote with his own fingers.
Use three. If God spake all the words of the moral law, several
duties are enjoined upon us: (1) If God spake all these words, then we must hear
all these words. The words which God speaks are too precious to be lost. As we would
have God hear all our words when we pray, so we must hear all his words when he
speaks. We must not be as the deaf adder, which stoppeth her ears: he that stops
his ears when God cries, shall cry himself, and not be heard.
(2) If God spake all these words, then we must attend to them
with reverence. Every word of the moral law is an oracle from heaven. God himself
is the preacher, which calls for reverence. If a judge gives a charge upon the bench,
all attend with reverence. In the moral law God himself gives a charge, ‘God spake
all these words;’ with what veneration, therefore, should we attend! Moses put off
his shoes from his feet, in token of reverence, when God was about to speak to him.
Exod 3: 5, 6.
(3)If God spake all these words of the moral law, then we must
remember them. Surely all God speaks is worth remembering; those words are weighty
which concern salvation. ‘It is not a vain thing for you, because it is your life.’
Deut 32: 47. Our memory should be like the chest in the ark where the law was kept.
God’s oracles are ornaments, and shall we forget them? ‘Can a maid forget her ornaments?’
Jer 2: 32.
(4) If God spake all these words, then believe them. See the name
of God written upon every commandment. The heathens, in order to gain credit to
their laws, reported that they were inspired by the gods at Rome. The moral law
fetches its pedigree from heaven. Ipse dixit. God spake all these words. Shall we
not give credit to the God of heaven? How would the angel confirm the women in the
resurrection of Christ? ‘Lo (said he), I have told you.’ Matt 28: 7. I speak in
the word of an angel. Much more should the moral law be believed, when it comes
to us in the word of God. ‘God spake all these words.’ Unbelief enervates the virtue
of God’s word, and makes it prove abortive. ‘The word did not profit, not being
mixed with faith.’ Heb 4: 2. Eve gave more credit to the devil when he spake than
she did to God.
(5) If God spake all these words, then love the commandments.
‘Oh, how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.’ Psa 119: 97. ‘Consider
how I love thy precepts.’ Psa 119: 159. The moral law is the copy of God’s will,
our spiritual directory; it shows us what sins to avoid, what duties to pursue.
The ten commandments are a chain of pearls to adorn us, they are our treasury to
enrich us; they are more precious than lands of spices, or rocks of diamonds. ‘The
law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.’ Psa 119:
72. The law of God has truth and goodness in it. Neh 9: 13. Truth, for God spake
it; and goodness, for there is nothing the commandment enjoins, but it is for our
good. O then, let this command our love.
(6) If God spake all these words, then teach your children the
law of God. ‘These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart,
and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children.’ Deut 6: 6, 7. He who is
godly, is both a diamond and a loadstone: a diamond for the sparkling of his grace,
and a loadstone for his attractive virtue in drawing others to the love of God’s
precepts. Vir bonus magis aliis prodest quam sibi [A good man benefits others more
than himself]. You that are parents, discharge your duty. Though you cannot impart
grace to your children, yet you may impart knowledge. Let your children know the
commandments of God. ‘Ye shall teach them your children.’ Deut 11: 19. You are careful
to leave your children a portion: leave the oracles of heaven with them; instruct
them in the law of God. If God spake all these words, you may well speak them over
again to your children.
(7) If God spake all these words, the moral law must be obeyed.
If a king speaks, his word commands allegiance; much more, when God speaks, must
his words be obeyed. Some will obey partially, obey some commandments, not others;
like a slough, which, when it comes to a stiff piece of earth, makes a baulk; but
God, who spake all the words of the moral law, will have all obeyed. He will not
dispense with the breach of one law. Princes, indeed, for special reasons, sometimes
dispense with penal statutes, and will not enforce the severity of the law; but
God, who spake all these words, binds men with a subpoena to yield obedience to
every law.
This condemns the church of Rome, which, instead of obeying the
whole moral law, blots out one commandment, and dispenses with others. They leave
the second commandment out of their catechism, because it makes against images;
and to fill up the number of ten, they divide the tenth commandment into two. Thus,
they incur that dreadful condemnation: ‘If any man shall take away from the words
of this book, God shall take away his part out of the book of life.’ Rev 22: 19.
As they blot out one commandment, and cut the knot which they cannot untie, so they
dispense with other commandments. They dispense with the sixth commandment, making
murder meritorious in case of propagating the Catholic cause. They dispense with
the seventh commandment, wherein God forbids adultery; for the Pope dispenses with
the sin of uncleanness, yea, incest, by paying fines and sums of money into his
coffer. No wonder the Pope takes men off their loyalty to kings and princes, when
he teaches them disloyalty to God. Some of the Papists say expressly in their writings,
that the Pope has power to dispense with the laws of God, and can give men license
to break the commandments of the Old and New Testament. That such a religion should
ever again get foot in England, the Lord in mercy prevent! If God spake all the
commandments, then we must obey all; he who breaks the hedge of the commandments,
a serpent shall bite him.
But what man can obey all God’s commandments?
To obey the law in a legal sense — to do all the law requires
— no man can. Sin has cut the lock of original righteousness, where our strength
lay; but, in a true gospel-sense, we may so obey the moral law as to find acceptance.
This gospel obedience consists in a real endeavour to observe the whole moral law.
‘I have done thy commandments’ (Psa 119: 166); not, I have done all I should do,
but I have done all I am able to do; and wherein my obedience comes short, I look
up to the perfect righteousness and obedience of Christ, and hope for pardon through
his blood. This is to obey the moral law evangelically; which, though it be not
to satisfaction, yet it is to acceptation.
We come now to the preface itself, which consists of three parts:
I. I am the Lord thy God’; II. ‘which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt’;
III. ‘out of the house of bondage’.
I. I am the Lord thy God. Here we have a description of God; (1)
By his essential greatness, ‘I am the Lord;’ (2) By his relative goodness, ‘Thy
God.’
[1] By his essential greatness, ‘I am the Lord:’ or, as it is
in the Hebrew, JEHOVAH. By this great name God sets forth his majesty. Sanctius
habitum fuit, says Buxtorf. The name of Jehovah was had in more reverence among
the Jews than any other name of God. It signifies God’s self-sufficiency, eternity,
independence, and immutability. Mal. 3: 6.
Use one. If God be Jehovah, the fountain of being, who can do
what he will, let us fear him. ‘That thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful
name, Jehovah.’ Deut 28: 58.
Use two. If God be Jehovah, the supreme Lord, the blasphemous
Papists are condemned who speak after this manner: ‘Our Lord God the Pope.’ Is it
a wonder the Pope lifts his triple crown above the heads of kings and emperors,
when he usurps God’s title, ‘showing himself that he is God’? 2 Thess 2: 4. He seeks
to make himself Lord of heaven, for he will canonise saints there; Lord of earth,
for with his keys he binds and looses whom he pleases; Lord of hell, for he frees
men out of purgatory. God will pull down these plumes of pride; he will consume
this man of sin ‘with the breath of his mouth, and the brightness of his coming.’
2 Thess 2: 8.
[2] God is described by his relative goodness; ‘thy God.’ Had
he called himself Jehovah only, it might have terrified us, and made us flee from
him; but when he says, ‘thy God,’ it allures and draws us to him. This, though a
preface to the law, is pure gospel. The word Eloeha, ‘thy God,’ is so sweet, that
we can never suck all the honey out of it. ‘I am thy God,’ not only by creation,
but by election. This word, ‘thy God,’ though it was spoken to Israel, is a charter
which belongs to all the saints. For the further explanation, here are three questions.
How comes God to be our God?
Through Jesus Christ. Christ is a middle person in the Trinity.
He is Emmanuel, ‘God with us.’ He brings two different parties together: makes our
nature lovely to God, and God’s nature lovely to us; by his death, causes friendship,
yea, union; and brings us within the verge of the covenant, and thus God becomes
our God.
What is implied by God being our God?
It is comprehensive of all good things. God is our strong tower;
our fountain of living water; our salvation. More particularly, being our God implies
the sweetest relations.
(1) The relation of a father. ‘I will be a Father unto you;’ 2
Cor 6: 18. A father is full of tender care for his child. Upon whom does he settle
the inheritance but his child? God being our God, will be a father to us; a ‘Father
of mercies,’ 2 Cor 1: 3; ‘The everlasting Father.’
Isa 9: 6. If God be our God,
we have a Father in heaven that never dies.
(2) It imports the relation of a husband. ‘Thy Maker is thine
husband.’ Isa 54: 5. If God be our husband, he esteems us precious to him, as the
apple of his eye. Zech 2: 8. He imparts his secrets to us. Psa 25: 14. He bestows
a kingdom upon us for our dowry. Luke 12: 32.
How may we know that by covenant union, God is our God?
(1) By having his grace planted in us. Kings’ children are known
by their costly jewels. It is not having common gifts which shows we belong to God;
many have the gifts of God without God; but it is grace that gives us a true genuine
title to God. In particular, faith is vinculum unionis, the grace of union, by which
we may spell out our interest in God. Faith does not, as the mariner, cast its anchor
downwards, but upwards; it trusts in the mercy and blood of God, and trusting in
God, engages him to be our God. Other graces make us like God, faith makes us one
with him.
(2) We may know God is our God by having the earnest of his Spirit
in our hearts. 2 Cor 1: 22. God often gives the purse to the wicked, but the Spirit
only to such as he intends to make his heirs. Have we had the consecration of the
Spirit? If we have not had the sealing work of the Spirit, have we had the healing
work? ‘Ye have an unction from the Holy One.’ 1 John 2: 20. The Spirit, where it
is, stamps the impress of its own holiness upon the heart; it embroiders and bespangles
the soul, and makes it all glorious within. Have we had the attraction of the Spirit?
‘Draw me, we will run after thee.’ Cant 1: 4. Has the Spirit, by its magnetic virtue,
drawn our hearts to God? Can we say, ‘O thou whom my soul loveth?’ Cant 1: 7. Is
God our paradise of delight? our Segullah, or chief treasure! Are our hearts so
chained to God that no other object can enchant us, or draw us away from him? Have
we had the elevation of the Spirit? Has it raised our hearts above the world? ‘The
Spirit lifted me up.’ Ezek 3: 14. Has the Spirit made us, superna anhelare, seek
the things above where Christ is? Though our flesh is on earth, is our heart in
heaven? Though we live here, trade we above? Has the Spirit thus lifted us up? By
this we may know that God is our God. Where God gives his Spirit for an earnest,
there he gives himself for a portion.
(3) We may know God is our God, if he has given us the hearts
of children. Have we obediential hearts? Psa 27: 8. Do we subscribe to God’s commands
when his commands cross our will? A true saint is like the flower of the sun, which
opens and shuts with the sun: he opens to God, and shuts to sin. If we have the
hearts of children, God is our Father.
(4) We may know God is ours, and we have an interest in him, by
standing up for his interest. We shall appear in his cause and vindicate his truth,
wherein his glory is so much concerned. Athanasius was the bulwark of truth; he
stood up for it, when most of the world were Asians. In former times the nobles
of Polonia, when the gospel was read, laid their hands upon their swords, signifying
that they were ready to defend the faith, and hazard their lives for the gospel.
There is no better sign of having an interest in God than standing up for his interest.
(5) We may know God is ours, and we have an interest in him, by
his having an interest in us. ‘My beloved is mine, and I am his.’ Cant 2: 16. When
God says to the soul, ‘Thou art mine;’ the soul answers, ‘Lord, I am thine; all
I have is at thy service; my head shall be thine to study for thee; my tongue shall
be thine to praise thee.’ If God be our God by way of donation, we are his by way
of dedication; we live to him, and are more his than we are our own. Thus we may
come to know that God is our God.
Use one. Above all things, let us get this great charter confirmed,
that God is our God. Deity is not comfortable without propriety. Let us labour to
get sound evidences that God is our God. We cannot call health, liberty, estate,
ours; but let us be able to call God ours, and say as the church, ‘God, even our
own God, shall bless us.’ Psa 67: 6. Let every soul labour to pronounce this Shibboleth,
‘My God.’ That we may endeavour to have God for our God, consider the misery of
such as have not God for their God, in how sad a condition are they, when the hour
of distress comes! This was Saul’s case when he said ‘I am sore distressed; for
the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me.’ 1 Sam 28: 15.
A wicked man in time of trouble, is like a vessel tossed on the sea without an anchor,
which strikes on rocks or sands. A sinner who has not God to be his God, may make
a shift while health and estate last, but when these crutches on which he leaned
are broken, his heart must sink. It is with him as it was with the old world when
the flood came. The waters at first came to the valleys, but then the people would
get to the hills and mountains; but when the waters came to the mountains, then
there might be some trees on the high hills, and they would climb up to them; ay,
but the waters rose above the tops of the trees; and then their hearts failed them,
and all hopes of being saved were gone. So it is with a man that has not God to
be his God. If one comfort be taken away, he has another; if he lose a child, he
has an estate; but when the waters rise higher, death comes and takes away all,
and he has nothing to help himself with, no God to go to, he must needs die in despair.
How great a privilege it is to have God for our God! ‘Happy is that people whose
God is the Lord.’ Psa 144: 15. Beatitudo hominis est Deus [Man’s happiness is God
himself]. Augustine. That you may see the privilege of this charter: —
(1) If God be our God, then though we may feel the stroke of evil,
yet not the sting. He must needs be happy who is in such a condition, that nothing
can hurt him. If he lose his name, it is written in the book of life; if he lose
his liberty, his conscience is free; if he lose his estate, he is possessed of the
pearl of price; if he meets with storms, he knows where to put in for harbour; God
is his God, and heaven is his heaven.
(2) If God be our God, our soul is safe. The soul is the jewel,
it is a blossom of eternity. ‘I was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body;’
in the Chaldee, it is ‘in the midst of my sheath.’ Dan 7: 15. The body is but the
sheath; the soul is the princely part of man, which sways the sceptre of reason;
it is a celestial spark, as Damascene calls it. If God be our God, the soul is safe,
as in a garrison. Death can do no more hurt to a virtuous heaven-born soul, than
David did to Saul, when he cut off the skirt of his garment. The soul is safe, being
hid in the promises; hid in the wounds of Christ; hid in God’s decree. The soul
is the pearl, and heaven is the cabinet where God will lock it up safe.
(3) If God be our God, then all that is in God is ours. The Lord
says to a saint in covenant, as the king of Israel to the king of Syria, ‘I am thine,
and all that I have.’ 1 Kings 20: 4. So saith God, ‘I am thine:’ how happy is he
who not only inherits the gift of God, but inherits God himself! All that I have
shall be thine; my wisdom shall be thine to teach thee; my power shall be thine
to support thee; my mercy shall be thine to save thee. God is an infinite ocean
of blessedness, and there is enough in him to fill us: as if a thousand vessels
were thrown into the sea, there is enough in the sea to fill them.
(4) If God be our God, he will entirely love us. Property is the
ground of love. God may give men kingdoms, and not love them; but he cannot be our
God, and not love us. He calls his covenanted saints, Jediduth Naphshi, ‘The dearly
beloved of my soul.’ Jer 12: 7. He rejoiceth over them with joy, and rests in his
love. Zeph 3: 17. They are his refined silver (Zech 13: 9); his
jewels (Mal 3: 17);
his royal diadem (Isa 62: 3). He gives them the cream and flower of his love. He
not only opens his hand and fills them, but opens his heart and fills them. Psa
145: 16.
(5) If God be our God, he will do more for us than all the world
besides can. What is that? [1] He will give us peace in trouble. When there is a
storm without, he will make music within. The world can create trouble in peace,
but God can create peace in trouble. He will send the Comforter, who, as a dove,
brings an olive-branch of peace in his mouth. John 14: 16. [2] God will give us
a crown of immortality. The world can give a crown of gold, but that crown has thorns
in it and death in it; but God will give you a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
1 Pet. 5: 4. The garland made of the flowers of paradise never withers.
(6) If God be our God, he will bear with many infirmities. He
may respite sinners awhile, but long forbearance is no acquittance; he will throw
them to hell for their sins; but if he be our God, he will not for every failing
destroy us; he bears with his spouse as with the weaker vessel. He may chastise.
Psa 89: 32. He may use the rod and the pruning-knife, but not the bloody axe. ‘He
has not beheld iniquity in Jacob.’ Numb 23: 21. He will not see sin in his people
so as to destroy them, but their sins so as to pity them. He sees them as a physician
a disease in his patient, to heal him. ‘I have seen his ways, and will heal him.’
Isa 57: 18. Every failing does not break the marriage-bond asunder. The disciples
had great failings, they all forsook Christ and fled; but this did not break off
their interest in God; therefore, says Christ, at his ascension, ‘Tell my disciples,
I go to my God and to their God.’
(7) If God be once our God, he is so for ever. ‘This God is our
God for ever and ever.’ Psa 48: 14. Whatever worldly comforts we have, they are
but for a season, and we must part with all. Heb 11: 25. As Paul’s friends accompanied
him to the ship, and there left him (Acts 20: 38), so all our earthly comforts will
but go with us to the grave, and there leave us. You cannot say you have health,
and shall have it for ever; you have a child, and shall have it for ever; but if
God be your God, you shall have him for ever. ‘This God is our God for ever and
ever.’ If God be our God, he will be a God to us as long as he is a God. ‘Ye have
taken away my gods,’ said Micah. Judges 18: 14. But it cannot be said to a believer,
that his God is taken away; He may lose all things else, but cannot lose his God.
God is ours from everlasting in election, and to everlasting in glory.
(8) If God be our God, we shall enjoy all our godly relations
with him in heaven. The great felicity on earth is to enjoy relations. A father
sees his own picture in a child; and a wife sees herself in her husband. We plant
the flower of love among our relations, and the loss of them is like the pulling
off a limb from the body. But if God be ours, with the enjoyment of God we shall
enjoy all our pious relations in glory. The gracious child shall see his godly father,
the virtuous wife shall see her religious husband in Christ’s arms; and then there
will be a dearer love to relations than there ever was before, though in a far different
manner; then relations shall meet and never part. ‘And so shall we be ever with
the Lord.’
Use two. To such as can realise this covenant union we have several
exhortations.
(1) If God be our God, let us improve our interest in him, let
us cast all our burdens upon him: the burden of our fears, our wants and our sins.
‘Cast thy burden upon the Lord.’ Psa 55: 22. Wicked men who are a burden to God
have no right to cast their burden upon him; but such as have God for their God
are called upon to cast their burden on him. Where should the child ease all its
cares but in the bosom of its parent? ‘Let all thy wants lie upon me.’ Judges 19:
20. So God seems to say to his children, ‘Let all your wants lie upon me.’ Christian,
what troubles thee? Thou hast a God to pardon thy sins and to supply thy wants;
therefore roll your burden on him. ‘Casting all your care upon him.’ 1 Pet 5: 7.
Why are Christians so disquieted in their minds? They are taking care when they
should be casting care.
(2) If God be our God, let us learn to be contented, though we
have the less of other things. Contentment is a rare jewel, it is the cure of care.
If we have God to be our God, well may we be contented. ‘I know whom I have believed.’
2 Tim 1: 12. There was Paul’s interest in God. ‘As having nothing, and yet possessing
all things.’ 2 Cor 6: 10. Here was his content. That such who have covenant-union
with God may be filled with contentment of spirit, consider what a rich blessing
God is to the soul.
He is bonum sufficiens, a sufficient good. He who has God has
enough. If a man be thirsty, bring him to a spring, and he is satisfied; in God
there is enough to fill the heaven-born soul. He gives ‘grace and glory.’ Psa 84:
11. There is in God not only a sufficiency, but a redundancy; he is not only full
as a vessel, but as a spring. Other things can no more fill the soul than a mariner’s
breath can fill the sails of a ship; but in God there is a cornucopia, an infinite
fulness; he has enough to fill the angels, therefore enough to fill us. The heart
is a triangle, which only the Trinity can fill.
God is bonum sanctificans, a sanctifying good. He sanctifies all
our comforts and turn them into blessings. Health is blessed, estate is blessed.
He gives with the venison a blessing. ‘I will abundantly bless her provision.’ Psa
132: 15. He gives us the life we have, tanquam arrhabo, as an earnest of more. He
gives the little meal in the barrel as an earnest of the royal feast in paradise.
He sanctifies all our crosses. They shall not be destructive punishments, but medicines;
they shall corrode and eat out the venom of sin; they shall polish and refine our
grace. The more the diamond is cut, the more it sparkles. When God stretches the
strings of his viol, it is to make the music better.
God is bonum selectum, a choice good. All things, sub sole, are
but bona scabelli, as Augustine says, the blessings of the footstool, but to have
God himself to be ours, is the blessing of the throne. Abraham gave gifts to the
sons of the concubines, but he settled the inheritance upon Isaac. ‘Abraham gave
all that he had to Isaac.’ Gen 25: 5. God may send away the men of the world with
gifts, a little gold and silver; but in giving us himself, he gives us the very
essence, his grace, his love, his kingdom: here is the crowning blessing.
God is bonum summum, the chief good. In the chief good there must
be delectability; it must have something that is delicious and sweet: and where
can we suck those pure essential comforts, which ravish us with delight, but in
God? In Deo quadam dulcedine delectatur anima, immo rapitur [In God’s character
there is a certain sweetness which fascinates or rather enraptures the soul]. ‘At
thy right hand there are pleasures.’ Psa 16: 11: In the chief good there must be
transcendence, it must have a surpassing excellence. Thus God is infinitely better
than all other things. It is below the Deity to compare other things with it. Who
would weigh a feather against a mountain of gold? God is fons et origo, the spring
of all entities, and the cause is more noble than the effect. It is God that bespangles
the creation, that puts light into the sun, that fills the veins of the earth with
silver. Creatures do but maintain life, God gives life. He infinitely outshines
all sublunary glory. He is better than the soul, than angels, and than heaven. In
the chief good, there must be not only fulness, but variety. Where variety is wanting
we are apt to nauseate. To feed only on honey would breed loathing; but in God is
all variety of fulness. Col 1: 19. He is a universal good, commensurate to all our
wants. He is bonum in quo omnia bona [the good in which is every good], a son, a
portion, a horn of salvation. He is called the ‘God of all comfort.’ 2 Cor 1: 3.
There is a complication of all beauties and delights in him. Health has not the
comfort of beauty, nor beauty of riches, nor riches of wisdom; but God is the God
of all comfort. In the chief good there must be eternity. God is a treasure that
can neither be drawn low, nor drawn dry. Though the angels are continually spending
what is his, he can never be spent; he abides for ever. Eternity is a flower of
his crown. Now, if God be our God, there is enough to let full contentment into
our souls. What need we of torchlight, if we have the sun? What if God deny the
flower, if he has given us the jewel? How should a Christian’s heart rest on this
rock! If we say God is our God, and we are not content, we have cause to question
our interest in him.
(3) If we can clear up this covenant-union, that God is our God,
let it cheer and revive us in all conditions. To be content with God is not enough,
but to be cheerful. What greater cordial can you have than union with Deity? When
Jesus Christ was ready to ascend, he could not leave a richer consolation with his
disciples than this, ‘I ascend to my God and to your God.’ John 20: 17. Who should
rejoice, if not they who have an infinite, all-sufficient, eternal God to be their
portion, who are as rich as heaven can make them? What though I want health? I have
God who is the health of my countenance, and my God. Psa 42: 11. What though I am
low in the world? If I have not the earth, I have him that made it. The philosopher
comforted himself by saying, ‘Though I have no music or vine-trees, yet here are
the household gods with me;’ so, though we have not the vine or fig-tree, yet we
have God with us. I cannot be poor, says Bernard, as long as God is rich; for his
riches are mine. O let the saints rejoice in this covenant-union! To say God is
ours, is more than to say heaven is ours, for heaven would not be heaven without
him. All the stars cannot make day without the sun; all the angels, those morning
stars, cannot make heaven without Christ the Sun of Righteousness. And as to have
God for our God, is matter of rejoicing in life, so especially it will be at death.
Let a Christian think thus, I am going to my God. A child is glad when he is going
home to his father. It was Christ’s comfort when he was leaving the world, ‘I ascend
to my God.’ John 20: 17. And this is a believer’s deathbed cordial, ‘I am going
to my God; I shall change my place, but not my kindred; I go to my God and my Father.’
(4) If God be our God, let us break forth into praise. ‘Thou art
my God, and I will praise thee.’ Psa 118: 28. Oh, infinite, astonishing mercy, that
God should take dust and ashes into so near a bond of love as to be our God! As
Micah said, ‘What have I more?’ Judges 18: 24. So, what has God more? What richer
jewel has he to bestow upon us than himself? What has he more? That God should put
off most of the world with riches and honour, that he should pass over himself to
us by a deed of gift, to be our God, and by virtue of this settle a kingdom upon
us! O let us praise him with the best instrument, the heart; and let this instrument
be screwed up to the highest pitch. Let us praise him with our whole heart. See
how David rises by degrees. ‘Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, and shout for joy.’
Psa 32: 11. Be glad, there is thankfulness; rejoice, there is cheerfulness; shout,
there is triumph. Praise is called incense, because it is a sweet sacrifice. Let
the saints be choristers in God’s praises. The deepest springs yield the sweetest
water; the more deeply sensible we are of God’s covenant-love to us, the sweeter
praises we should yield. We should begin here to eternise God’s name, and do that
work on earth which we shall be always doing in heaven. ‘While I live will I praise
the Lord.’ Psa 146: 2.
(5) Let us carry ourselves as those who have God to be our God;
that is, walk so that others may see there is something of God in us. Live homily.
What have we to do with sin, which if it does not break, will weaken our interest?
‘What have I to do any more with idols?’ Hos 14: 8. So would a Christian say, ‘God
is my God; what have I to do any more with sin, with lust, pride, malice! Bid me
commit sin! As well bid me drink poison. Shall I forfeit my interest in God? Let
me rather die than willingly offend him who is the crown of my joy, the God of my
salvation.’
II. Which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt. Egypt and
the house of bondage are the same; only they are represented to us under different
expressions. The first expression is, ‘Which have brought thee out of the land of
Egypt.’
Why does the Lord mention the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt?
(1) Because of the strangeness of the deliverance. God delivered
his people Israel by strange signs and wonders, by sending plague after plague upon
Pharaoh, blasting the fruits of the earth, and killing all the first-born in Egypt.
Exod 12: 29. When Israel marched out of Egypt, God made the waters of the sea to
part, and become a wall to his people, while they went on dry ground; and he made
the same sea a causeway to Israel, and a grave to Pharaoh and his chariots. Well
might the Lord make mention of this strange deliverance. He wrought miracle upon
miracle for the deliverance of that people.
(2) God mentions Israel’s deliverance out of Egypt because of
the greatness of the deliverance. He delivered Israel from the pollutions of Egypt.
Egypt was a bad air to live in, it was infected with idolatry; the Egyptians were
gross idolaters; they were guilty of that which the apostle speaks of in Rom 1:
23. ‘They changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to
corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.’ The
Egyptians, instead of the true God, worshipped corruptible man; they deified their
king Apis, forbidding all, under pain of death, to say that he was a man. They worshipped
birds, as the hawk. They worshipped beasts, as the ox. They made the image of a
beast to be their god. They worshipped creeping things, as the crocodile, and the
Indian mouse. God mentions it therefore as a signal favour to Israel, that he brought
them out of such an idolatrous country. ‘I brought thee out of the land of Egypt.’
The thing I would note is, that it is no small blessing to be
delivered from places of idolatry. God speaks of it no less than ten times in the
Old Testament, ‘I brought you out of the land of Egypt;’ an idolatrous place. Had
there been no iron furnace in Egypt, yet so many altars being there, and false gods,
it was a great privilege to Israel to be delivered out of Egypt. Joshua reckons
it among the chief and most memorable mercies of God to Abraham, that he brought
him out of Ur of the Chaldees, where Abraham’s ancestors served strange gods. Josh
24: 2, 3. It is well for the plant that is set in a bad soil, to be transplanted
to a better, where it may grow and flourish; so it is a mercy when any who are planted
among idolaters, are removed and transplanted into Zion, where the silver drops
of God’s word make them grow in holiness.
Wherein does it appear to be so great a blessing to be delivered
from places of idolatry?
(1) It is a great mercy, because our nature is prone to idolatry.
Israel began to be defiled with the idols of Egypt. Ezek 22: 3. Dry wood is not
more prone to take fire than our nature is to idolatry. The Jews made cakes to the
queen of heaven, that is, to the moon. Jer 7: 15.
Why is it that we are prone to idolatry?
Because we are led much by visible objects, and love to have our
senses pleased. Men naturally fancy a god that they may see; though it be such a
god that cannot see them, yet they would see it. The true God is invisible; which
makes the idolater worship something that he can see.
(2) It is a mercy to be delivered from idolatrous places, because
of the greatness of the sin of idolatry, which is giving that glory to an image
which is due to God. All divine worship God appropriates to himself; it is a flower
of his crown. The fat of the sacrifice is claimed by him. Lev 3: 3. Divine worship
is the fat of the sacrifice, which he reserves for himself. The idolater devotes
this worship to an idol, which the Lord will by no means endure. ‘My glory will
I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.’ Isa 42: 8. Idolatry
is spiritual adultery. ‘With their idols have they committed adultery.’ Ezek 23:
37. To worship any other than God, is to break wedlock, and makes the Lord disclaim
his interest in a people. ‘Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife.’
Hos 2: 2. ‘Thy people have corrupted themselves;’ no more my people, but thy people.
Exod 32: 7. God calls idolatry, blasphemy. ‘In this your fathers have blasphemed
me.’ Idolatry is devil worship. Ezek 20: 27, 31. ‘They sacrificed unto devils, not
to God; to new gods.’ Deut 32: 17. These new gods were old devils. ‘And they shall
no more offer their sacrifices unto devils.’ Lev 17: 7. The Hebrew word La-sairim,
is the hairy ones, because the devils were hairy, and appeared in the forms of satyrs
and goats. How dreadful a sin is idolatry; and what a signal mercy is it to be snatched
out of an idolatrous place, as Lot was snatched by the angels out of Sodom!
(3) It is a mercy to be delivered out of idolatrous places, because
idolatry is such a silly and irrational religion. I may say, as Jer 8: 9: ‘What
wisdom is in them?’ Is it not folly to refuse the best, and choose the worst? The
trees in the field of Jotham’s parable, despised the vine-tree, which cheers both
God and man, and the olive which is full of fatness, and the fig-tree which is full
of sweetness, and chose the bramble to reign over them — which was a foolish choice.
Judg 9. So it is for us to refuse the living God, who has power to save us, and
to make choice of an idol, that has eyes and sees not, feet but walks not. Psa 115:
6, 7. What a prodigy of madness is this? Therefore to be delivered from committing
such folly is a mercy.
(4) It is a mercy to be delivered from idolatrous places, because
of the sad judgements inflicted upon idolaters. This is a sin which enrages God,
and makes the fury come up in his face. Ezek 38: 18. Search through the whole book
of God, and you shall find no sin he has followed with more plagues than idolatry.
‘Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god.’ Psa 16: 4. ‘They
moved him to jealousy with their graven images.’ Psa 78: 58. ‘When God heard this
he was wrath, and greatly abhorred Israel; so that he forsook the tabernacle of
Shiloh.’ Verses 59, 60. Shiloh was a city belonging to the tribe of Ephraim, where
God set his name. Jer 7: 12. But, for their idolatry, God forsook the place, gave
his people up to the sword, caused his priests to be slain, and his ark to be carried
away captive, never more to be returned. How severe was God against Israel for worshipping
the golden calf! Exod 32: 27. The Jews say, that in every misery that befalls them,
there is uncia aurei vituli, ‘an ounce of the golden calf in it.’ ‘Come out of her,
my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues.’ Rev. 18: 4. Idolatry, lived in, cuts men off from heaven. 1 Cor 6: 9.
So then it is no small mercy to be delivered out of idolatrous places.
Use one. See the goodness of God to our nation, in bringing us
out of mystic Egypt, delivering us from popery, which is Romish idolatry, and causing
the light of his truth to break forth gloriously among us. In former times, and
more lately in the Marian days, England was overspread with idolatry. It worshipped
God after a false manner; and it is idolatry, not only to worship a false god, but
the true God in a false manner. Such was our case formerly; we had purgatory, indulgences,
the idolatrous mass, the Scriptures locked up in an unknown tongue, invocation of
saints and angels, and image-worship. Images are teachers of lies. Hab 2: 18. Wherein
do they teach lies? They represent God, who cannot be seen, in a bodily shape. ‘Ye
saw no similitude, only ye heard a voice.’ Deut 4: 12. Quod invisibile est, pingi
non potest. Ambrose. God cannot be pictured by any finger; not the soul even, being
a spirit, much less God. ‘To whom then will ye liken God?’ Isa 40: 18. The Papists
say they worship God by the image; which is a great absurdity, for if it be absurd
to fall down to the picture of a king when the king himself is present, much more
to bow down to the image of God when God himself is present. Jer 23: 24. What is
the popish religion but a bundle of ridiculous ceremonies? Their wax, flowers, pyres,
agnus Dei, cream and oil, beads, crucifixes; what are these but Satan’s policy,
to dress up a carnal worship, fitted to carnal minds? Oh! what cause have we to
bless God for delivering us from popery! It was a mercy to be delivered from the
Spanish invasion, and the powder treason; but it is a far greater to be delivered
from the popish religion, which would have made God give us a bill of divorce.
Use two. If it be a great blessing to be delivered from the Egypt
of popish idolatry, it shows the sin and folly of those who, being brought out of
Egypt, are willing to return to it again. The apostle says, ‘Flee from idolatry.’
1 Cor 10: 14. But these rather flee to idolatry; and are herein like the people
of Israel, who, notwithstanding all the idolatry and tyranny of Egypt, longed to
go back to Egypt. ‘Let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt.’ Numb 14:
4. But how shall they go back into Egypt? How shall they have food in the wilderness?
Will God rain down man any more upon such rebels? How will they get over the Red
Sea? Will God divide the water again by miracle, for such as leave his service,
and go into idolatrous Egypt? Yet they say, ‘Let us make a captain.’ And are there
not such spirits among us, who say, ‘Let us make a captain and go back to the Romish
Egypt again’? If we do, what shall we get by it? I am afraid the leeks and onions
of Egypt will make us sick. Do we ever suppose that, if we drink in the cup of fornication,
we shall drink in the cup of salvation? Oh! that any should so forfeit their reason,
as to enslave themselves to the see of Rome; that they should be willing to hold
a candle to a mass-priest, and bow down to a strange God! Let us not say we will
make a captain, but rather say as Ephraim, ‘What have I to do any more with idols?’
Hos 14: 8.
Use three. If it be a mercy to be brought out of Egypt, it is
not desirable or safe to plant one’s self in an idolatrous place, where it may be
a capital crime to be seen with a Bible in our hands. Some, for secular gain, thrust
themselves among idolaters, and think there is no danger to live where Satan’s seat
is. They pray God would not lead them into temptation, but led themselves. They
are in great danger of being polluted. It is hard to be as the fish, which keeps
fresh in salt waters. A man cannot dwell among blackamoors, but he will be discoloured.
You will sooner be corrupted by idolaters, than they will be converted by you. Joseph
got no good by living in an idolatrous court; he did not teach Pharaoh to pray,
but Pharaoh taught him to swear. They ‘were mingled among the heathen, and served
their idols.’ Psalm 106: 35, 36. I fear it has been the undoing of many; that they
have seated themselves amongst idolaters, for advancing their trade, and at last
have not only traded with them in their commodities, but in their religion.
Use four. It is a mercy to be brought out of the land of Egypt,
a defiled place, and where sin reigns. It reproaches such parents as show little
love for the souls of their children, whether it be in putting them out to service,
or matching them. In putting them out to service, their care is chiefly for their
bodies, that they may be provided for, and they care not what becomes of their souls.
Their souls are in Egypt, in houses where there is drinking, swearing, Sabbath-breaking,
and where God’s name is every day dishonoured. In matching their children, they
look only at money. ‘Be ye not unequally yoked.’ 2 Cor 6: 14. If their children
be equally yoked for estate, they care not whether they be unequally yoked for religion.
Let such parents think how precious the soul of their child is; that it is immortal,
and capable of communion with God and angels. Will you let a soul be lost by placing
it in a bad family? If you had a horse you loved, you would not put him in a stable
with other horses that were sick and diseased; and do you not love your child better
than your horse? God has intrusted you with the souls of your children; you have
a charge of souls. God says, as 1 Kings 20: 39: ‘Keep this man: if he be missing,
then shall thy life be for his life.’ So says God, if the soul of thy child miscarry
by thy negligence, his blood will I require at thy hand. Think of this, all ye parents;
take heed of placing your children in Egypt, in a wicked family; do not put them
in the devil’s mouth. Seek for them a sober, religious family, such as Joshua’s.
‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ Josh 14: 15. Such a family as
Cranmer’s, which was palaestra pietatis, a nursery of piety, a Bethel, of which
it may be said, ‘The church which is in his house.’ Col. 4: 15.
Use five. Let us pray that God would keep our English nation from
the defilements of Egypt, that it may not be again overspread with superstition
and idolatry. Oh, sad religion! not only to have our estates, our bodies enslaved,
but our consciences. Pray that the true Protestant religion may still nourish among
us, that the sun of the gospel may still shine in our horizon. The gospel lifts
a people up to heaven, it is columna et corona regni, ‘the crown and glory of the
kingdom’; if this be removed, Ichabod, the glory is departed. The top of the beech
tree being cut off, the whole body of the tree withers apace; so the gospel is the
top of all our blessings; if this top be cut, the whole body politic will soon wither.
O pray that the Lord will continue the visible tokens of his presence among us,
his ordinances, that England may be called, Jehovah-shammah, ‘The Lord is there.’
Ezek 48: 35. Pray that righteousness and peace may kiss each other, that so glory
may dwell in our land.
III. Out of the house of bondage. Egypt and the house of bondage
are the same, only they are expressed under a different notion. By Egypt is meant
a place of idolatry and superstition; by the house of bondage is meant a place of
affliction. Israel, while in Egypt, were under great tyranny; they had cruel task-masters
set over them, who put them to hard labour, and set them to make bricks, yet allowed
them no straw; therefore, Egypt is called, in Deut 4: 20, the iron furnace, and
here the house of bondage. From this expression, ‘I brought thee out of the house
of bondage,’ two things are to be noted; God’s children may sometimes be under sore
afflictions. ‘In the house of bondage.’ But God will, in due time, bring them out
of their afflicted state. ‘I brought thee out of the house of bondage.’
God’s children may sometimes be under sore afflictions, in domo
servitutis, in the house of bondage. God’s people have no writ of ease granted them,
no charter of exemption from trouble in this life. While the wicked are kept in
sugar, the godly are often kept in brine. And, indeed, how could God’s power be
seen in bringing them out of trouble, if he did not sometimes bring them into it?
or how should God wipe away the tears from their eyes in heaven, if on earth they
shed none? Doubtless, God sees there is need that his children should be sometimes
in the house of bondage. ‘If need be, ye are in heaviness.’ 1 Peter 1: 6. The body
sometimes needs a bitter portion more than a sweet one.
Why does God let his people be in the house of bondage or in an
afflicted state?
He does it, (1) For probation or trial. ‘Who led thee through
that terrible wilderness, that he might humble thee and prove thee.’ Deut 8: 15,
16. Affliction is the touch-stone of sincerity. ‘Thou O God, hast proved us; thou
hast tried us as silver; thou laidst affliction upon our loins.’ Psa 66: 10, 11.
Hypocrites may embrace the true religion in prosperity, and court this queen while
she has a jewel hung at her ear; but he is a good Christian who will keep close
to God in a time of suffering. ‘All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten
thee.’ Psa 44: 17. To love God in heaven, is no wonder; but to love him when he
chastises us, discovers sincerity. (2) For purgation; to purge our corruption. Ardet
palea, purgatur aurum. ‘And this is all the fruit, to take away his sin.’ Isa 28:
9. The eye, though a tender part, yet when sore, we put sharp powders and waters
into it to eat out the pearl; so though the people of God are dear to him, yet,
when corruption begins to grow in them, he will apply the sharp powder of affliction,
to eat out the pearl in the eye. Affliction is God’s flail to thresh off our husks;
it is a means God uses to purge out sloth, luxury, pride, and love of the world.
God’s furnace is in Zion. Isa 31: 5. This is not to consume, but to refine. What
if we have more affliction, if by this means we have less sin!
(3) For augmentation; to increase the graces of the Spirit. Grace
thrives most in the iron furnace. Sharp frosts nourish the corn; so sharp afflictions
nourish grace. Grace in the saints is often as fire hid in the embers, affliction
is the bellows to blow it up into a flame. The Lord makes the house of bondage a
friend to grace. Then faith and patience act their part. The darkness of the night
cannot hinder the brightness of a star; so, the more the diamond is cut the more
it sparkles; and the more God afflicts us, the more our graces cast a sparkling
lustre.
(4) For preparation; to fit and prepare the saints for glory.
2 Cor 4: 17. The stones which are cut out for a building, are first hewn and squared.
The godly are called ‘living stones.’ 1 Pet 2: 5. God first hews and polishes them
by affliction, that they may be fit for the heavenly building. The house of bondage
prepares for the house not made with hands. 2 Cor 5: 1: The vessels of mercy are
seasoned with affliction, and then the wine of glory is poured in.
How do the afflictions of the godly differ from the afflictions
of the wicked?
(1) They are but castigations, but those on the wicked are punishments.
The one come from a father, the other from a judge.
(2) Afflictions on the godly are fruits of covenant-mercy. 2 Sam
7: 17. Afflictions on the wicked are effects of God’s wrath. ‘He has much wrath
with his sickness.’ Eccl 5: 17. Afflictions on the wicked are the pledge and earnest
of hell; they are like the pinioning of a malefactor, which presages his execution.
(3) Afflictions on the godly make them better, but afflictions
on the wicked make them worse. The godly pray more; Psa 130: 1: The wicked blaspheme
more. ‘Men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God.’ Rev 16:
9. Afflictions on the wicked make them more impenitent; every plague upon Egypt
increased the plague of hardness in Pharaoh’s heart. To what a prodigy of wickedness
do some persons come after great sickness. Affliction on the godly is like bruising
spices, which are most sweet and fragrant: affliction on the wicked is like pounding
weeds with a pestle, which makes them more unsavoury.
Use one. (1) We are not to wonder to see Israel in the house of
bondage. 1 Pet 4: 12. The holiness of the saints will not excuse them from sufferings.
Christ was the holy one of God, yet he was in the iron furnace. His spouse is a
lily among thorns. Cant 2: 2. Though his sheep have the ear-mark of election upon
them, yet they may have their wool fleeced off. The godly have some good in them,
therefore the devil afflicts them; and some evil in them, therefore God afflicts
them. While there are two seeds in the world, expect to be under the black rod.
The gospel tells us of reigning, but first of suffering. 2 Tim 2: 12.
(2) Affliction is not always the sign of God’s anger. Israel,
the apple of God’s eye, a peculiar treasure to him above all people, were in the
house of bondage. Exod 19: 5. We are apt to judge and censure those who are in an
afflicted state. When the barbarians saw the viper on Paul’s hand, they said, ‘No
doubt this man is a murderer.’ Acts 28: 4. So, when we see the viper of affliction
fasten upon the godly, we are apt to censure them, and say, these are greater sinners
than others, and God hates them; but this rash censuring is for want of wisdom.
Were not Israel in the house of bondage? Was not Jeremiah in the dungeon, and Paul
a night and day in the deep? God’s afflicting is so far from evidencing hatred,
that his not afflicting does. ‘I will not punish your daughters when they commit
whoredom.’ Hos 4: 14. Deus maxime irascitur cum non irascitur. Bernard. God punishes
most when he does not punish; his hand is heaviest when it seems to be lightest.
The judge will not burn him in the hand whom he intends to execute.
(3) If God’s own Israel may be in the house of bondage, then afflictions
do not of themselves demonstrate a man miserable. Indeed, sin unrepented of, makes
one miserable; but the cross does not. If God has a design in afflicting his children
to make them happy, they are not miserable; but God’s afflicting them is to make
them happy, therefore they are not miserable. ‘Happy is the man whom God correcteth.’
Job 5: 17. The world counts them happy who can keep out of affliction; but the Scripture
calls them happy who are afflicted.
How are they happy?
Because they are more holy. Heb 12: 10. Because they are more
in God’s favour. Prov 3: 12. The goldsmith loves his gold when in the furnace. Because
they have more of God’s sweet presence. Psa 91: 15. They cannot be unhappy who have
God’s powerful presence in supporting, and his gracious presence in sanctifying,
their affliction. Because the more affliction they have, the more degrees of glory
they shall have; the lower they have been in the iron furnace, the higher they shall
sit upon to throne of glory; the heavier their crosses, the heavier shall be their
crown. So then, if afflictions make a Christian happy, they cannot call him miserable.
(4) See the merciful providence of God to his children. Though
they may be in the house of bondage, and smart by affliction, yet they shall not
be hurt by affliction. What hurt does the fan to the corn? it only separates the
chaff from it; or the lance to the body? it only lets out the abscess. The house
of bondage does that which sometimes ordinances will not; it humbles and reforms.
‘If they be holden in cords of affliction, he openeth their ear to discipline, and
commandeth that they return from iniquity.’ Job 36: 8, 10. Oh! what a merciful providence
is it that, though God bruise his people, yet, while he is bruising them, he is
doing them good! It is as if one should throw a bag of money at another, which bruises
him a little, but yet it enriches him. Affliction enriches the soul and yields the
sweet fruits of righteousness. Heb. 12: 11.
(5) If Israel be in the house of bondage, if the Lord deals so
with his own children, then how severely will he deal with the wicked! If he be
so severe with those he loves, how severe will he be with those he hates! ‘If they
do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?’ Luke 13: 31. If
they that pray and mourn for sin be so severely dealt with, what will become of
those that swear and break the Sabbath, and are unclean! If Israel be in the iron
furnace, the wicked shall lie in the fiery furnace of hell. It should be the saddest
news to wicked men, to hear that the people of God are afflicted. Let them think
how dreadful the case of sinners will be. ‘Judgement must begin at the house of
God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the
gospel?’ 1 Pet 4: 17. If God thresh his wheat, he will burn the chaff. If the godly
suffer castigation, the wicked shall suffer condemnation. If he mingle his people’s
cup with wormwood he will mingle the wicked’s cup with fire and brimstone.
Use two. If Israel be in the house of bondage,
(1) Do not entertain too hard thoughts of affliction. Christians
are apt to look upon the cross and the iron furnace as frightful things, and do
what they can to shun them. Nay, sometimes, to avoid affliction, they run themselves
into sin. But do not think too hardly of affliction; do not look upon it as through
the multiplying-glass of fear. The house of bondage is not hell. Consider that affliction
comes from a wise God, who prescribes whatever befalls us. Persecutions are like
apothecaries: they give us the physic which God the physician prescribes. Affliction
has its light side, as well as its dark one. God can sweeten our afflictions, and
candy our wormwood. As our sufferings abound, so does also our consolation. 2 Cor
1: 5. Argerius dated his letters from the pleasant garden of the Leonine prison.
God sometimes so revives his children in trouble, that they had rather bear their
afflictions than want their comforts. Why then should Christians entertain such
hard thoughts of afflictions? Do not look at its grim face, but at the message it
brings, which is to enrich us with both grace and comfort.
(2) If Israel be sometimes in the house of bondage, in an afflicted
state, think beforehand of affliction. Say not as Job (29: 18), ‘I shall die in
my nest.’ In the house of mirth think of the house of bondage. You that are now
Naomi, may be Mara. Ruth 1:20. How quickly may the scene turn, and the hyperbole
of joy end in a catastrophe! All outward things are given to change. The forethoughts
of affliction would make us sober and moderate in the use of lawful delight; it
would cure a surfeit. Christ at a feast mentions his burial; a good antidote against
a surfeit. The forethought of affliction would make us prepare for it; it would
take us off the world; it would put us upon search of our evidences.
We should see what oil we have in our lamps, what grace we can
find, that we may be able to stand in the evil day. That soldier is imprudent who
has his sword to whet when he is just going to fight. He who forecasts sufferings,
will have the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit ready, that he may not
be surprised.
(3) If afflictions come, let us labour to conduct ourselves wisely
as Christians, that we may adorn our sufferings: that is, let us endure with patience.
‘Take, my brethren, the prophets for an example of suffering affliction and patience.’
James 5: 10. Satan labours to take advantage of us in affliction, by making us either
faint or murmur; he blows the coals of passion and discontent, and then warms himself
at the fire. Patience adorns sufferings. A Christian should say as Jesus Christ
did, ‘Lord, not my will but thy will be done.’ It is a sign the affliction is sanctified
when the heart is brought to a sweet submissive frame. God will then remove the
affliction: he will take us out of the iron furnace.
We may consider these words, ‘Which brought thee out of the house
of bondage,’ either, [1] Literally; or [2] Spiritually and Mystically. In the letter,
‘I brought thee out of the house of bondage;’ that is, I delivered you out of the
misery and servitude you sustained in Egypt, where you were in the iron furnace.
Spiritually and mystically, by which ‘I brought thee out of the house of bondage,’
is a type of our deliverance by Christ from sin and hell.
[1] Literally, ‘I brought thee out of the house of bondage,’ out
of great misery and slavery in the iron furnace. The thing I note here is that,
though God brings his people sometimes into trouble, yet he will bring them out
again. Israel was in the house of bondage, but at last was brought out.
We shall endeavour to show: 1. That God does deliver out of trouble.
2. In what manner. 3. At what seasons. 4. Why he delivers. 5. How the deliverances
of the godly and wicked out of trouble differ.
God does deliver his children out of troubles. ‘Our fathers trusted
in thee; they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.’ Psa 22: 4. ‘And I was delivered
out of the mouth of the lion,’ namely, from Nero. 2 Tim 4: 17. ‘Thou laidst affliction
upon our loins, but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.’ Psa 66: 11, 12.
‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.’ Psa 30: 5. God brought
Daniel out of the lions’ den, Zion out of Babylon. In his due time he gives an issue
out of trouble. Psa 68: 20. The tree which in the winter seems dead, revives in
the spring. Post nubila Phoebus [The sun emerges after the storms]. Affliction may
leap on us as the viper did on Paul, but at last it shall be shaken off. It is called
a cup of affliction. Isa 51: 17. The wicked drink a sea of wrath, the godly drink
only a cup of affliction, and God will say shortly, ‘Let this cup pass away.’ God
will give his people a gaol-delivery.
In what manner does God deliver his people out of trouble?
He does it like a God, in wisdom. (1) He does it sometimes suddenly.
As the angel was caused to fly swiftly (Dan 9: 21), so God sometimes makes a deliverance
fly swiftly, and on a sudden turns the shadow of death into the light of the morning.
As he gives us mercies above what we can think (Eph 3: 20), so sometimes before
we can think of them. ‘When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were
like them that dream;’ it came suddenly upon us as a dream. Psa 126: 1. Joseph could
not have thought of such a sudden alteration, to be the same day freed out of prison,
and made the chief ruler in the kingdom. Mercy sometimes does not stick long in
the birth, but comes forth on a sudden. (2) God sometimes delivers his people strangely.
Thus the whale which swallowed up Jonah was the means of bringing him safe to land.
He sometimes delivers his people in the very way which they think will destroy.
In bringing Israel out of Egypt, he stirred up the heart of the Egyptians to hate
them (Psa 105: 25), and that was the means of their deliverance. He brought Paul
to shore by a contrary wind, and upon the broken pieces of the ship. Acts 27: 44.
When are the times and seasons that God usually delivers his people
out of the bondage of affliction?
(1) When they are in the greatest extremity. Though Jonah was
in the belly of hell, he says, ‘Thou hast brought up my life from corruption.’ Jonah
2: 6. When there is but a hair’s breadth between the godly and death, God ushers
in deliverance. When the ship was almost covered with waves Christ awoke and rebuked
the wind. When Isaac was upon the altar, and the knife about to be put to his throat,
the angel comes and says, ‘Lay not thy hand upon the child.’ When Peter began to
sink, Christ took him by the hand. Cum duplicantur lateres, venit Moses: ‘when the
tale of brick was doubled, then Moses the temporal saviour comes. When the people
of God are in the greatest danger the morning star of deliverance appears. When
the patient is ready to faint the cordial is given.
(2) The second season is, when affliction has done its work upon
them; when it has effected that which God sent it for. As, [1] When it has humbled
them. ‘Remembering my affliction, the wormwood and gall, my soul is humbled in me.’
Lam 3: 19, 20. Then God’s corrosive has eaten out the proud flesh. [2] When it has
tamed their impatience. Before, they were proud and impatient, like froward children
that struggle with their parents; but when their cursed hearts are tamed, they say,
‘I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him’ (Micah
7: 9); and as Eli, ‘It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good:’ ‘Let him
hedge me with thorns, if he will plant me with grace.’ 1 Sam 3: 18.
(3) When they are partakers of more holiness, and are more full
of heavenly-mindedness. Heb 12: 10. When the sharp frost of affliction has brought
forth the spring-flowers of grace, the cross is sanctified, and God will bring them
out of the house of bondage. Luctus in laetitiam vertetur, cineres in corollas [Sorrow
will turn to joy, ashes to garlands]. When the metal is refined it is taken out
of the furnace. When affliction has healed us, God takes off the smarting plaister.
Why does God bring his people out of the house of bondage?
Hereby he makes way for his own glory. His glory is dearer to
him than anything besides; it is a crown jewel. By raising his people he raises
the trophies of his own honour; he glorifies his own attributes; his power, truth,
and goodness are triumphant.
(1) His power. If God did not sometimes bring his people into
trouble, how could his power be seen in bringing them out? He brought Israel out
of the house of bondage, with miracle upon miracle; he saved them with an outstretched
arm. ‘What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest?’ &c. Psa 114: 5. Of Israel’s
march out of Egypt it is said, when the sea fled, and the waters were parted each
from other. Here was the power of God set forth. ‘Is there any thing too hard for
me?’ Jer 32: 27. God loves to help when things seem past hope. He creates deliverance.
Psa 124: 8. He brought Isaac out of a dead womb, and the Messiah out of a virgin’s
womb. oh! how does his power shine forth when he overcomes seeming impossibilities,
and works a cure when things look desperate!
(2) His truth. God has made promises to his people, when they
are under great pressures, to deliver them; and his truth is engaged in his promise.
‘Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee.’ Psa 50: 15. ‘He shall
deliver thee in six troubles, yea in seven.’ Job 5: 19. How is the Scripture bespangled
with these promises as the firmament is with stars! Either God will deliver them
from death, or by death; he will make a way of escape. 1 Cor 10: 13. When promises
are verified, God’s truth is magnified.
(3) His goodness. God is full of compassion to such as are in
misery. The Hebrew word, Racham, for mercy, signifies bowels. God has ‘sounding
of bowels.’ Isa 63: 15. And this sympathy stirs up God to deliver. ‘In his love
and pity he redeemed them.’ Isa 63: 9. This makes way for the triumph of his goodness.
He is tender-hearted, he will not over afflict; he cuts asunder the bars of iron,
he breaks the yoke of the oppressor. Thus all his attributes ride in triumph in
saving his people out of trouble.
How do the deliverance of the godly and tricked out of trouble
differ?
(1) The deliverances of the godly are preservations; of the wicked
reservations. ‘The Lord knows how to deliver the godly, and to reserve the unjust
to be punished.’ 2 Pet 2: 9. A sinner may be delivered from dangerous sickness,
and out of prison; but all this is but a reservation for some greater evil.
(2) God delivers the wicked, or rather spares them in anger. Deliverances
to the wicked are not given as pledges of his love, but symptoms of displeasure;
as quails were given to Israel in anger. But deliverances of the godly are in love.
‘He delivered me because he delighted in me’. 2 Sam 22: 20. ‘Thou hast in love to
my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption;’ or, as in the Hebrew, Chashiaqta
Naphshi. Isa 38: 17. Thou hast loved me from the pit of corruption. A wicked man
may say, ‘Lord, thou hast delivered me out of the pit of corruption;’ but a godly
man may say, ‘Lord, thou hast loved me out of the pit of corruption.’ It is one
thing to have God’s power deliver us, and another thing to have his love deliver
us. ‘O,’ said Hezekiah, ‘Thou hast in love to my soul, delivered me from the pit
of corruption.’
How may it be known that a deliverance comes in love?
(1) When it makes our heart boil over in love to God. ‘I love
the Lord because he has heard my voice.’ Psa 116: 1. It is one thing to love our
mercies, another thing to love the Lord. Deliverance is in love when it causes love.
(2) Deliverance is in love when we have hearts to improve it for
God’s glory. The wicked, instead of improving their deliverance for God’s glory,
increase their corruption; they grow worse, as the metal when taken out of the fire
grows harder; but our deliverance is in love when we improve it for God’s glory.
God raises us out of a low condition, and we lift him up in our praises, and honour
him with our substance. Prov 3: 9. He recovers us from sickness, and we spend ourselves
in his service. Mercy is not as the sun to the fire, to dull it and put it out,
but as oil to the wheel, to make it move faster.
(3) Deliverance comes in love when it makes us more exemplary
in holiness; and our lives are walking Bibles. A thousand praises and doxologies
do not honour God so much as the mortifying of one lust. ‘Upon mount Zion there
shall be deliverance and holiness,’ Obadiah 17. When these two go together, deliverance
and holiness; when, being made monuments of mercy, we are patterns of piety; then
a deliverance comes in love, and we may say as Hezekiah, ‘Thou hast in love to my
soul delivered it from the pit of corruption.’
Use one. If God brings his people out of bondage, let none despond
in trouble. Say not ‘I shall sink under this burden;’ or as David, ‘I shall one
day perish by the hand of Saul.’ God can make the text good, personally and nationally,
to bring his people out of the house of bondage. When he sees a fit season, he will
put forth his arm and save them; and he can do it with ease. ‘Lord, it is nothing
with thee to help.’ 2 Chron 14: 11. He that can turn tides, can turn the times;
he that raised Lazarus when he was dead, can raise thee when thou art sick. ‘I looked,
and there was none to help, therefore mine own arm brought salvation.’ Isa 63: 5.
Do not despond; believe in God’s power: faith sets God to work to deliver us.
Use two. Labour, if you are in trouble, to be fitted for deliverance.
Many would have deliverance, but are not fitted for it.
When are we fitted for deliverance?
When, by our afflictions, we are conformed to Christ; when we
have learned obedience. ‘He learned obedience by the things which he suffered;’
that is, he learned sweet submission to his Father’s will. Heb 5: 8. ‘Not my will,
but thine, be done.’ Luke 22: 42. When we have thus learned obedience by our sufferings,
we are willing to do what God would have us do, and be what God would have us be.
We are conformed to Christ, and are fitted for deliverance.
Use three. If God has brought you at any time out of the house
of bondage, out of great and eminent troubles, be much in praise. Deliverance calls
for praise. ‘Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; to the
end that my glory may sing praise to thee.’ Psa 30: 11, 12. My glory, that is, my
tongue, which is the instrument of glorifying thee. The saints are temples of the
Holy Ghost. 1 Cor 3: 16. Where should God’s praises be sounded but in his temple?
Beneficium postulat officium [Gratitude should follow a favour]. The deepest springs
yield the sweetest water; and hearts deeply sensible of God’s deliverances yield
the sweetest praises. Moses tells Pharaoh, when he was going out of Egypt, ‘We will
go with our flocks and our herds.’ Exod 10: 9. Why so? Because he might have sacrifices
of thanksgiving ready to offer to God for their deliverance. To have a thankful
heart for deliverance is a greater blessing than the deliverance itself. One of
the lepers, ‘when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice
glorified God.’ Luke 17: 15. The leper’s thankful heart was a greater blessing than
to be healed of his leprosy. Have any of you been brought out of the house of bondage
— out of prison, sickness, or any death-threatening danger? Do not forget to be
thankful. Be not graves, but temples. That you may be the more thankful, observe
every emphasis and circumstance in your deliverance; such as to be brought out of
trouble when you were in articulo mortis [at the brink of death], when there was
but a hair’s breadth between you and death; or, to be brought out of affliction,
without sin, you did not purchase your deliverance by the ensnaring of your consciences;
or, to be brought out of trouble upon the wings of prayer; or, that those who were
the occasions of bringing you into trouble, should be the instruments of bringing
you out. These circumstances, being well weighed, heighten a deliverance, and should
heighten our thankfulness. The cutting of a stone may be of more value than the
stone itself; and the circumstancing of a deliverance may be greater than the deliverance
itself.
But how shall we praise God in a right manner for deliverance?
(1) Be holy persons. In the sacrifice of thanksgiving, whosoever
did eat thereof with his uncleanness upon him, was to be cut off (Lev 7: 20), to
typify how unpleasing their praises and thank-offerings are who live in sin.
(2) Praise God with humble hearts, acknowledge how unworthy you
were of deliverance. God’s mercies are not debts, but legacies; and that you should
have them by legacy should make you humble. ‘The elders fell upon their faces (an
expression of humility) and worshipped God. Rev 11: 16.
(3) Praise God for deliverances cordially. ‘I will praise the
Lord with my whole heart.’ Psa 111: 1. In religion there is no music but in concert,
when heart and tongue join.
(4) Praise God for deliverances constantly. ‘While I live will
I praise the Lord.’ Psa 146: 2. Some will be thankful while the memory of a deliverance
is fresh, and then leave off. The Carthaginians used, at first, to send the tenth
of their yearly revenue to Hercules; but by degrees they grew weary, and left off
sending; but we must be constant in our Eucharistic sacrifice, or thank-offering.
The motion of our praise must be like the motion of our pulse, which beats as long
as life lasts. ‘I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.’ Psa 146:
2.
[2] THESE words are to be understood mystically and spiritually.
By Israel’s deliverance from the house of bondage, is typified their spiritual deliverance
from sin, Satan, and hell.
(1) From sin. The house of bondage was a type of Israel’s deliverance
from sin. Sin is the true bondage, it enslaves the soul. Nihil durius servitute.
Cicero. ‘Of all conditions, servitude is the worst.’ ‘I was held before conversion,’
says Augustine, ‘not with an iron chain, but with the obstinacy of mine own will.’
Sin is the enslaver; it is called a law, because it has a binding power over a man
(Rom 7: 23); it is said to reign, because it exercises a tyrannical power (Rom 6:
12); and men are said to be the servants of sin, because they are so enslaved by
it. Rom 6: 17. Thus sin is the house of bondage. Israel was not so enslaved in the
iron furnace as the sinner is by sin. They are worse slaves and vassals who are
under the power of sin, than they are who are under the power of earthly tyrants.
Other slaves have tyrants ruling over their bodies only; but the
sinner has his soul tyrannised over. That princely thing, the soul, which sways
the sceptre of reason, and was once crowned with perfect knowledge and holiness,
now goes on foot; it is enslaved, and made a lackey to every base lust.
Other slaves have some pity shown them: the tyrant gives them
meat, and lets them have hours for their rest; but sin is a merciless tyrant, it
will let men have no rest. Judas had no rest until he had betrayed Christ, and after
that he had less rest than before. How does a man wear himself out in the service
of sin, waste his body, break his sleep, distract his mind! A wicked man is every
day doing sin’s drudgery-work.
Other slaves have servile work; but it is lawful. It is lawful
to work in the galley, and tug at the oar; but all the laws and commands of sin
are unlawful. Sin says to one man, defraud; to another, be unchaste; to another
take revenge; to another, take a false oath. Thus all sin’s commands are unlawful;
we cannot obey sin’s law, but by breaking God’s law.
Other slaves are forced against their will. Israel groaned under
slavery (Exod 2: 23); but sinners are content to be under the command of sin; they
are willing to be slaves; they love their chains; they will not take their freedom;
they ‘glory in their shame.’ Phil 3: 19. They wear their sins, not as their fetters,
but their ornaments; they rejoice in iniquity. Jer 11: 15.
Other slaves are brought to correction, but sin’s slaves are without
repentance, and are brought to condemnation. Other slaves lie in the iron furnace:
sin’s slaves lie in the fiery furnace. What freedom of will has a sinner to his
own confusion, when he can do nothing but what sin will have him? He is enslaved.
Thus sinners are in the house of bondage; but God takes his elect out of the house
of bondage, he beats off the chains and fetters of sin; he rescues them from their
slavery; he makes them free, by bringing them into ‘the glorious liberty of the
children of God.’ Rom 8: 21. The law of love now rules, not the law of sin. Though
the life of sin be prolonged, yet not the dominion; as those beasts in Daniel had
their lives prolonged for a season, but their dominion was taken away. Dan 7: 12.
The saints are made spiritual kings, to rule and conquer their corruptions, to ‘bind
these kings in chains.’ It is matter of the highest praise and thanksgiving, to
be taken out of the house of bondage, to be freed from enslaving hosts, and made
kings to reign in glory for ever.
(2) The bringing Israel out of the house of bondage, was a type
of the deliverance from Satan. Men naturally are in the house of bondage, they are
enslaved to Satan. Satan is called the prince of this world (John 14: 30); and the
god of this world (2 Cor 4: 4); because he has power to command and enslave them.
Though he shall one day be a close prisoner in chains, yet now he insults and tyrannises
over the souls of men. Sinners are under his rule, he exercises over them a jurisdiction
such as Caesar did over the senate. He fills men’s heads with error, and their hearts
with malice. ‘Why has Satan filled thine heart?’ Act 5: 3. A sinner’s heart is the
devil’s mansion house. ‘I will return into mine house.’ Matt. 12: 44. And sure that
must needs be a house of bondage, which is the devil’s mansion-house. Satan is a
complete tyrant. He rules men’s minds, he blinds them with ignorance. ‘The god of
this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not.’ 2 Cor 4: 4. He rules
their memories. They remember that which is evil, and forget that which is good.
Their memories are like a strainer, that lets go all the pure liquor, and retains
only the dregs. He rules their wills. Though he cannot force the will, he draws
it. ‘The lusts of your father you will do.’ John 8: 44. He has got your hearts,
and him you will obey. His strong temptations draw men to evil more than all the
promises of God can draw them to good. This is the state of every man by nature;
he is in the house of bondage; the devil has him in his power. A sinner grinds in
the devil’s mill; he is at the command of Satan, as the ass is at the command of
the driver. No wonder to see men oppress and persecute; as slaves they must do what
the god of this world will have them. How could those swine but run, when the devil
entered into them? Matt 8: 32. When the devil tempted Ananias to tell a lie, he
could not but speak what Satan had put in his heart. Acts 5: 3. When the devil entered
into Judas, and bade him betray Christ, he would do it, though he hanged himself.
It is a sad and dismal case, to be in the house of bondage, under the power and
tyranny of Satan. When David would curse the enemies of God, how did he pray against
them? That Satan might be at their right hand. Psa 109: 6. He knew he could then
lead them into any snare. If the sinner has Satan at his right hand, let him take
heed that he be not at God’s left hand. Is it not a case to be bewailed, to see
men taken captive by Satan at his will? 2 Tim 2: 26. He leads sinners as slaves
before him in triumph; he wholly possesses them. If people should see their beasts
bewitched and possessed of the devil, they would be much troubled; and yet, though
their souls are possessed by Satan, they are not sensible of it. What can be worse
than for men to be in the house of bondage, and to have the devil hurry them on
in their lusts to perdition? Sinners are willingly enslaved to Satan; they love
their gaoler; are content to sit quietly under Satan’s jurisdiction; they choose
this bramble to rule over them, though after a while, fire will come out of the
bramble to devour them. Judges 9: 15. What an infinite mercy is it when God brings
poor souls out of this house of bondage, when he gives them a gaol-delivery from
the prince of darkness! JESUS CHRIST redeems captives, he ransoms sinners by price,
and rescues them by force. As David took a lamb out of the lion’s mouth (1 Sam 17:
35), so Christ rescues souls out of the mouth of the roaring lion. Oh, what a mercy
is it to be brought out of the house of bondage, from captives to the prince of
the power of the air, to be made subjects of the Prince of Peace! This is done by
the preaching of the Word. ‘To turn them from the power of Satan unto God.’ Acts
26: 18.
(3) The bringing of Israel out of the house of bondage was a type
of their being delivered from hell. Hell is domus servitutis, a house of bondage;
a house built on purpose for sinners to lie in.
There is such a house of bondage where the damned lie. ‘The wicked
shall be turned into hell.’ Psa 9: 17. ‘How can ye escape the damnation of hell?’
Matt 23: 33. If any one should ask where this house of bondage is, where is the
place of hell? I wish he may never know experimentally. ‘Let us not so much,’ says
Chrysostom, ‘labour to know where hell is, as how to escape it.’ Yet to satisfy
curiosity, it may be observed that hell is locus subterraneus, some place beneath.
‘Hell beneath.’ Prov 15: 24. Hesiod says, ‘Hell is as far under the earth, as heaven
is above it.’ The devils besought Christ ‘that he would not command them to go out
into the deep.’ Luke 8: 31. Hell is in the deep.
Why must there be this house of bondage? Why a hell? Because there
must be a place for the execution of divine justice. Earthly monarchs have their
prison for malefactors, and shall not God have his? Sinners are criminals, they
have offended God; and it would not consist with his holiness and justice, to have
his laws infringed, and not inflict penalties.
The dreadfulness of the place. Could you but hear the groans and
shrieks of the damned for one hour, it would confirm you in the truth, that hell
is a house of bondage. Hell is the emphasis of misery. Besides the poena damni,
‘the punishment of loss,’ which is the exclusion of the soul from the gloried sight
of God, which divines think the worst part of hell, there will be poena sensus,’
the punishment of sense.’ If, when God’s wrath is kindled but a little, and a spark
of it flies into a man’s conscience in this life, it is so terrible (as in the case
of Spira), what will hell itself be?
In hell there will be a plurality of torments, ‘Bonds and chains.’
2 Pet 2: 4. There will be the worm. Mark 9: 48; This is the worm of conscience.
There will be the lake of fire. Rev 20: 15. Other fire is but painted to this.
This house of hell is haunted with devils. Matt 25: 41. Anselm
says, ‘I had rather endure all torments, than see the devil with bodily eyes.’ Such
as go to hell must not only be forced to behold the devil, but must be shut up with
this lion in his den; they must keep the devil company. He is full of spite against
mankind; a red dragon that will spit fire in men’s faces.
The torments of hell abide for ever. ‘The smoke of their torment
ascendeth up for ever and ever.’ Rev 14: 2: Time cannot finish it, tears cannot
quench it. Mark 9: 44. The wicked are salamanders, who live always in the fire of
hell, and are not consumed. After they have lain millions of years in hell, their
punishment is as far from ending, as it was at the beginning. If all the earth and
sea were sand, and every thousandth year a bird should come, and take away one grain,
it would be a long time before that vast heap would be removed; yet, if after all
that time the damned might come out of hell, there would be some hope; but this
word EVER breaks the heart.
How does it seem to comport with God’s justice to punish a sin
committed in a moment, with eternal torment?
Because there is an eternity of sin in man’s nature. Because sin
is crimen laesae majestatis, ‘committed against an infinite majesty,’ and therefore
the sin itself is infinite, and proportionally the punishment must be infinite.
Because a finite creature cannot bear infinite wrath, he must be eternally satisfying
what he can never satisfy. If hell be such a house of bondage, what infinite cause
have they to bless God who are delivered from it! Jesus ‘delivered us from the wrath
to come.’ 1 Thess 1: 10. Jesus Christ suffered the torments of hell in his soul,
that believers should not suffer them. If we are thankful, when we are ransomed
out of prison, or delivered from fire, oh, how should we bless God to be preserved
from the wrath to come! It may cause more thankfulness in us, seeing the most part
go into the house of bondage, even to hell. To be of the number of those few that
are delivered from it, is matter of infinite thankfulness. Most, I say, go to that
house of bondage when they die; most go to hell. ‘Broad is the way that leadeth
to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.’ Matt 7: 13. The greatest
part of the world lies in wickedness. 1 John 5: 19. Divide the world, says Brerewood,
into thirty-one parts, nineteen parts of it are possessed by Jews and Turks, and
seven parts by heathens; so that there are but five parts of Christians, and among
these Christians so many seduced Papists on the one hand, and so many formal Protestants
on the other, that we may conclude the major part of the world goes to hell. Scripture
compares the wicked to briers. Isa 10: 17. There are but few lilies in your fields,
but in every hedge thorns and briers. It compares them to ‘the mire in the streets.’
Isa 10: 6. Few jewels or precious stones are in the street, but you cannot go a
step without meeting with mire. The wicked are as common as the dirt in the street.
Look at the generality of people. How many drunkards are there for one that is sober!
How many adulterers for one that is chaste! How many hypocrites for one that is
sincere! The devil has the harvest, and God a few gleanings only. Oh, then, such
as are delivered from the house of bondage, in hell, have infinite cause to admire
and bless God. How should the vessels of mercy run over with thankfulness! When
most others are carried prisoners to hell, they are delivered from the wrath to
come.
How shall I know I am delivered from hell?
(1) Those whom Christ saves from hell he saves from sin. ‘He shall
save his people from their sins.’ Matt 1: 21. Has God delivered you from the power
of corruption, from pride, malice, and lust? If he has delivered you from the hell
of sin, he has delivered you from the hell of torment.
(2) If you have got an interest in Christ, and are prizing, trusting,
and loving him, you are delivered from hell and damnation. ‘No condemnation to them
that are in Christ Jesus.’ Rom 8:1. If you are in Christ, he has put the garment
of his righteousness over you, and hell-fire can never singe it. Pliny observes,
nothing will so soon quench fire as salt and blood: the salt tears of repentance
and the blood of Christ will quench the fire of hell, so that it shall never kindle
upon you.
1.4 The Right Understanding of the Law
‘Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.’ Exod 20: 3.
Before I come to the commandments, I shall answer questions, and
lay down rules respecting the moral law.
What is the difference between the moral laud and the gospel?
(1) The law requires that we worship God as our Creator; the gospel,
that we worship him in and through Christ. God in Christ is propitious; out of him
we may see God’s power, justice, and holiness: in him we see his mercy displayed.
(2) The moral law requires obedience, but gives no strength (as
Pharaoh required brick, but gave no straw), but the gospel gives strength; it bestows
faith on the elect; it sweetens the law; it makes us serve God with delight.
Of what use is the moral law to us?
It is a glass to show us our sins, that, seeing our pollution
and misery, we may be forced to flee to Christ to satisfy for former guilt, and
to save from future wrath. ‘The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ.
Gal 3: 24.
But is the moral law still in force to believers; is it not abolished
to them?
In some sense it is abolished to believers. (1) In respect of
justification. They are not justified by their obedience to the moral law. Believers
are to make great use of the moral law, but they must trust only to Christ’s righteousness
for justification; as Noah’s dove made use of her wings to fly, but trusted to the
ark for safety. If the moral law could justify, what need was there of Christ’s
dying? (2) The moral law is abolished to believers, in respect of its curse. They
are freed from its curse and condemnatory power. ‘Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us.’ Gal 3: 13.
How was Christ made a curse for us?
Considered as the Son of God, he was not made a curse, but as
our pledge and surety, he was made a curse for us. Heb 7: 22. This curse was not
upon his Godhead, but upon his manhood. It was the wrath of God lying upon him;
and thus he took away from believers the curse of the law, by being made a curse
for them. But though the moral law be thus far abolished, it remains as a perpetual
rule to believers. Though it be not their Saviour, it is their guide. Though it
be not foedus, a covenant of life; yet it is norma, a rule of life. Every Christian
is bound to conform to it; and to write, as exactly as he can, after this copy.
‘Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid.’ Rom 3: 31. Though a Christian
is not under the condemning power of the law, yet he is under its commanding power.
To love God, to reverence and obey him, is a law which always binds and will bind
in heaven. This I urge against the Antinomians, who say the moral law is abrogated
to believers; which, as it contradicts Scripture, so it is a key to open the door
to all licentiousness. They who will not have the law to rule them, shall never
have the gospel to save them.
Having answered these questions, I shall in the next place, lay
down some general rules for the right understanding of the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments.
These may serve to give us some light into the sense and meaning of the commandments.
Rule I. The commands and prohibitions of the moral law reach the
heart. (1) The commands of the moral law reach the heart. The commandments require
not only outward actions, but inward affections; they require not only the outward
act of obedience, but the inward affection of love. ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thine heart.’ Deut 6: 5.
(2) The threats and prohibitions of the moral law reach the heart.
The law of God forbids not only the act of sin, but the desire and inclination;
not only does it forbid adultery, but lusting (Matt 5: 28): not only stealing, but
coveting (Rom 7: 7). Lex humana ligat manum, lex divina comprimit animam ‘Man’s
law binds the hands only, God’s law binds the heart.’
Rule 2. In the commandments there is a synecdoche, more is intended
than is spoken. (1) Where any duty is commanded, the contrary sin is forbidden.
When we are commanded to keep the Sabbath-day holy, we are forbidden to break the
Sabbath. When we are commanded to live in a calling, ‘Six days shalt thou labour,’
we are forbidden to live idly, and out of a calling.
(2) Where any sin is forbidden, the contrary duty is commanded.
When we are forbidden to take God’s name in vain, the contrary duty, that we should
reverence his name, is commanded. ‘That thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful
name, the Lord Thy God.’ Deut 28: 58. Where we are forbidden to wrong our neighbour,
there the contrary duty, that we should do him all the good we can, by vindicating
his name and supplying his wants, is included.
Rule 3. Where any sin is forbidden in the commandment, the occasion
of it is also forbidden. Where murder is forbidden, envy and rash anger are forbidden,
which may occasion it. Where adultery is forbidden, all that may lead to it is forbidden,
as wanton glances of the eye, or coming into the company of a harlot. ‘Come not
nigh the door of her house.’ Prov 5: 8. He who would be free from the plague, must
not come near the infected house. Under the law the Nazarite was forbidden to drink
wine; nor might he eat grapes of which the wine was made.
Rule 4. In relato subintelligitur correlatum. Where one relation
is named in the commandment, there another relation is included. Where the child
is named, the father is included. Where the duty of children to parents is mentioned,
the duty of parents to children is also included. Where the child is commanded to
honour the parent, it is implied that the parent is also commanded to instruct,
to love, and to provide for the child.
Rule 5. Where greater sins are forbidden, lesser sins are also
forbidden. Though no sin in its own nature is little, yet one may be comparatively
less than another. Where idolatry is forbidden, superstition is forbidden, or bringing
any innovation into God’s worship, which he has not appointed. As the sons of Aaron
were forbidden to worship an idol, so to sacrifice to God with strange fire. Lev
10: 1. Mixture in sacred things, is like a dash in wine, which though it gives a
colour, yet does but debase and adulterate it. It is highly provoking to God to
bring any superstitious ceremony into his worship which he has not prescribed; it
is to tax God’s wisdom, as if he were not wise enough to appoint the manner how
he will be served.
Rule 6. The law of God is entire. Lex est copulativa [The law
is all connected]. The first and second tables are knit together; piety to God,
and equity to our neighbour. These two tables which God has joined together, must
not be put asunder. Try a moral man by the duties of the first table, piety to God,
and there you will find him negligent; try a hypocrite by the duties of the second
table, equity to his neighbour, and there you will find him tardy. If he who is
strict in the second table neglects the first, or he who is zealous in the first,
neglects the second, his heart is not right with God. The Pharisees were the highest
pretenders to keeping the first table with zeal and holiness; but Christ detects
their hypocrisy: ‘Ye have omitted judgement, mercy and faith.’ Matt 23: 23. They
were bad in the second table; they omitted judgement, or being just in their dealings;
mercy in relieving the poor; and faith, or faithfulness in their promises and contracts
with men. God wrote both the tables, and our obedience must set a seal to both.
Rule 7. God’s law forbids not only the acting of sin in our own
persons, but being accessory to, or having any hand in, the sins of others.
How and in what sense may we be said to partake of, and have a
hand in the sins of others?
(1) By decreeing unrighteous decrees, and imposing on others that
which is unlawful. Jeroboam made the people of Israel to sin; he was accessory to
their idolatry by setting up golden calves. Though David did not in his own person
kill Uriah, yet because he wrote a letter to Joab, to set Uriah in the forefront
of the battle, and it was done by his command, he was accessory to Uriah’s death,
and the murder of him was laid by the prophet to his charge. ‘Thou hast killed Uriah
the Hittite with the sword.’ 2 Sam 12: 9.
(2) We become accessory to the sins of others by not hindering
them when it is in our power. Qui non prohibit cum potest, jubet [The failure to
prevent something, when it lies within your power, amounts to ordering it]. If a
master of a family see his servant break the Sabbath, or hear him swear, and does
not use the power he has to suppress him, he becomes accessory to his sin. Eli,
for not punishing his sons when they made the offering of the Lord to be abhorred,
made himself guilty. 1 Sam 3: 13, 14. He that suffers an offender to pass unpunished,
makes himself an offender.
(3) By counselling, abetting, or provoking others to sin. Ahithophel
made himself guilty of the fact by giving counsel to Absalom to go in and defile
his father’s concubines. 2 Sam 16: 21. He who shall tempt or solicit another to
be drunk, though he himself be sober, yet being the occasion of another’s sin, he
is accessory to it. ‘Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest
thy bottle to him.’ Hab 2: 15.
(4) By consenting to another’s sin. Saul did not cast one stone
at Stephen, yet the Scripture says, ‘Saul was consenting unto his death.’ Acts 8:
1. Thus he had a hand in it. If several combined to murder a man, and should tell
another of their intent, and he should give his consent to it, he would be guilty;
for though his hand was not in the murder, his heart was in it; though he did not
act it, yet he approved it, and so it became his sin.
(5) By example. Vivitur exemplis [We live by example]. Examples
are powerful and cogent. Setting a bad example occasions another to sin, and so
a person becomes accessory. If the father swears, and the child by his example,
learns to swear, the father is accessory to the child’s sin; he taught him by his
example. As there are hereditary diseases, so there are hereditary sins.
Rule 8. The last rule about the commandments is, that though we
cannot, by our own strength, fulfil all these commandments, yet doing quod posse,
what we are able, the Lord has provided encouragement for us. There is a threefold
encouragement.
(1) That though we have not ability to obey any one command, yet
God has in the new covenant, promised to work that in us which he requires. ‘I will
cause you to walk in my statutes.’ Ezek 36: 27. God commands us to love him. Ah,
how weak is our love! It is like the herb that is yet only in the first degree;
but God has promised to circumcise our hearts, that we may love him. Deut 30: 6.
He that commands us, will enable us. God commands us to turn from sin, but alas!
we have not power to turn; therefore he has promised to turn us, to put his Spirit
within us, and to turn the heart of stone into flesh. Ezek 36: 26. There is nothing
in the command, but the same is in the promise. Therefore, Christian, be not discouraged,
though thou hast no strength of thy own, God will give thee strength. The iron has
no power to move, but when drawn by the loadstone it can move. ‘Thou hast wrought
all our works in us.’ Isa 26: 12.
(2) Though we cannot exactly fulfil the moral law, yet God for
Christ’s sake will mitigate the rigour of the law, and accept of something less
than he requires. God in the law requires exact obedience, yet will accept of sincere
obedience; he will abate something of the degree, if there be truth in the inward
parts. He will see the faith, and pass by the failing. The gospel remits the severity
of the moral law.
(3) Wherein our personal obedience comes short, God will be pleased
to accept us in our Surety. ‘He has made us accepted in the Beloved.’ Eph 1: 6.
Though our obedience be imperfect, yet, through Christ our Surety, God looks upon
it as perfect. That very service which God’s law might condemn, his mercy is pleased
to crown, by virtue of the blood of our Mediator. Having given you these rules about
the commandments, I shall come next to the commandments themselves.
2. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
2.1 The First Commandment
‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’ Exod 20: 3.
Why is the commandment in the second person singular, Thou? Why
does not God say, You shall have no other gods?
Because the commandment concerns every one, and God would have
each one take it as spoken to him by name. Though we are forward to take privileges
to ourselves, yet we are apt to shift off duties from ourselves to others; therefore
the commandment is in the second person, Thou and Thou, that every one may know
that it is spoken to him, as it were, by name. We come now to the commandment, ‘Thou
shalt have no other gods before me.’ This may well lead the van, and be set in the
front of all the commandments, because it is the foundation of all true religion.
The sum of this commandment is, that we should sanctify God in our hearts, and give
him a precedence above all created beings. There are two branches of this commandment:
1. That we must have one God. 2. That we must have but one. Or thus, 1. That we
must have God for our God. 2. That we must have no other.
1. That we must have God for our God. It is manifest that we must
have a God, and ‘who is God save the Lord?’ 2 Sam 22: 32. The Lord Jehovah (one
God in three persons) is the true, living, eternal God; and him we must have for
our God.
[1] To have God to be a God to us, is to acknowledge him for a
God. The gods of the heathen are idols. Psa 96: 5. And ‘we know that an idol is
nothing’ (1 Cor 8: 4); that is, it has nothing of Deity in it. If we cry, ‘Help,
O Idol,’ an idol cannot help; the idols themselves were carried into captivity,
so that an idol is nothing. Isa 46: 2. Vanity is ascribed to it, we do not therefore
acknowledge it to be a god. Jer 14: 22. But we have this God to be a God to us,
when, ex animo [from the heart], we acknowledge him to be God. All the people fell
on their faces and said, ‘The Lord he is the God! the Lord he is the God!’ 1 Kings
18: 39. Yea, we acknowledge him to be the only God. ‘O Lord God of Israel, which
dwellest between the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone.’ 2 Kings 19: 15.
Deity is a jewel that belongs only to his crown. Further, we acknowledge there is
no God like him. ‘And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord; and he said, Lord
God of Israel, there is no God like thee.’ 1 Kings 8: 22, 23. ‘For who in the heaven
can be compared unto the Lord? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto
the Lord?’ Psa 89: 6. In the Chaldee it is, ‘Who among the angels?’ None can do
as God; he brought the world out of nothing; ‘And hangeth the earth upon nothing.’
Job 26: 7. It makes God to be a God to us, when we are persuaded in our hearts,
and confess with our tongues, and subscribe with our hands, that he is the only
true God, and that there is none comparable to him.
[2] To have God to be a God to us is to choose him. ‘Choose you
this day whom ye will serve: but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord:’
that is, we will choose the Lord to be our God. Josh 24: 15. It is one thing for
the judgement to approve of God, and another for the will to choose him. Religion
is not a matter of chance, but choice.
Before choosing God for our God, there must be knowledge. We must
know him before we can choose him. Before any one choose the person he will marry,
he must have some knowledge of that person; so we must know God before we can choose
him for our God. ‘Know thou the God of thy father.’ 1 Chron 28: 9. We must know
God in his attributes, as glorious in holiness, rich in mercy, and faithful in promises.
We must know him in his Son. As the face is represented in a glass, so in Christ,
as in a transparent glass, we see God’s beauty and love shine forth. This knowledge
must go before choosing God. Lactantius said, all the learning of the philosophers
was without a head, because it wanted the knowledge of God. This choosing is an
act of mature deliberation. The Christian having viewed the superlative excellences
in God, and being stricken with a holy admiration of his perfections, singles him
out from all other objects to set his heart upon, and says as Jacob, ‘The Lord shall
be my God.’ Gen 28: 21. He that chooses God, devotes himself to God. ‘Thy servant
who is devoted to thy fear.’ Psa 119: 38. As the vessels of the sanctuary were consecrated
and set apart from common to holy uses, so he who has chosen God to be his God,
has dedicated himself to God, and will no more be devoted to profane uses.
[3] To have God to be a God to us, is to enter into solemn covenant
with him, that he shall be our God. After choice the marriage-covenant follows.
As God makes a covenant with us, ‘I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
even the sure mercies of David’ (Isa 55: 3); so we make a covenant with him, ‘They
entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers.’ 2 Chron 15: 12.
‘One shall say, I am the Lord’s: and another shall subscribe with his hand unto
the Lord;’ like soldiers that subscribe their names in the muster roll. Isa 44:
5. This covenant, ‘That God shall be our God,’ we have often renewed in the Lord’s
Supper; which, like a seal to a bond, binds us fast to God, and so keeps us that
we do not depart from him.
[4] To have God to be a God to us, is to give him adoration: which
consists in reverencing him: ‘God is to be had in reverence of all them that are
about him.’ Psa 89: 7. The seraphim, who stood about God’s throne, covered their
faces (Isa 6), and Elijah wrapped himself in a mantle when the Lord passed by, in
token of reverence. This reverence shows the high esteem we have of God’s sacred
majesty. Adoration consists in bowing to him, or worshipping him. ‘Worship the Lord
in the beauty of holiness.’ Psa 29: 2. ‘They bowed their heads, and worshipped the
Lord with their faces to the ground.’ Neh 8: 6. Divine worship is the peculiar honour
belonging to the Godhead; which God is jealous of, and will have no creature share
in. ‘My glory will I not give to another.’ Isa 42: 8. Magistrates may have a civil
respect or veneration, but God only should have a religious adoration.
[5] To have God to be a God to us, is to fear him. ‘That thou
mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, The Lord thy God.’ Deut 28: 58. This
fearing God is (1) To have him always in our eye, ‘I have set the Lord always before
me.’ Psa 16: 8. ‘Mine eyes are ever towards the Lord.’ Psa 25: 15. He who fears
God imagines that whatever he is doing, God looks on, and as a judge, weighs all
his actions. (2) To fear God is to have such a holy awe of God upon our hearts,
that we dare not sin. ‘Stand in awe and sin not.’ Psa 4: 4. The wicked sin and fear
not; the godly fear and sin not. ‘How then can I do this great wickedness and sin
against God?’ Gen 39: 9. Bid me sin, and you bid me drink poison. It is a saying
of Anselm, ‘If hell were on one side, and sin on the other, I would rather leap
into hell, than willingly sin against my God.’ He who fears God will not sin, though
it be ever so secret. ‘Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block
before the blind, but shalt fear thy God.’ Lev 19: 14. Suppose you should curse
a deaf man, he could not hear you; or you were to lay a block in a blind man’s way,
and cause him to fall, he could not see you do it; but the fear of God will make
you forsake sins which can neither be heard nor seen by men. The fear of God destroys
the fear of man. The three children feared God, therefore they feared not the king’s
wrath. Dan 3: 16. The greater noise drowns the less; the noise of thunder drowns
the noise of a river; so, when the fear of God is supreme in the soul, it drowns
all other carnal fear. It makes God to be God to us when we have a holy filial fear
of him.
[6] To have God to be a God to us, is to trust in him. ‘Mine eyes
are unto thee, O God the Lord: in thee is my trust.’ Psa 141: 8. ‘The God of my
rock, in him will I trust.’ 2 Sam 22: 3. There is none in whom we can trust but
God. All creatures are a refuge of lies; they are like the Egyptian reed, too weak
to support us, but strong enough to wound us. 2 Kings 18: 21. Omnis motus fit super
immobili [The immovable is undisturbed by any commotion]. God only is a sufficient
foundation to build our trust upon. When we trust him, we make him a God to us;
when we do not trust him, we make him an idol. Trusting in God is to rely on his
power as a Creator, and on his love as a Father. Trusting in God is to commit our
chief treasure, our soul, to him. ‘Into thy hands I commit my spirit.’ Psa 31: 5.
As the orphan trusts his estate with his guardian, so we trust our souls with God.
Then he becomes a God to us.
But how shall we know that we trust in God aright? If we trust
in God aright, we shall trust him at one time as well as another. ‘Trust in him
at all times.’ Psa 62: 8. Can we trust him in our straits? When the fig-tree does
not flourish, when our earthly crutches are broken, can we lean upon God’s promise?
When the pipes are cut off that used to bring us comfort, can we live upon God,
in whom are all our fresh springs? When we have no bread to eat but the bread of
carefulness (Ezek 12: 19), when we have no water to drink but tears, as in Psa 80:
5: ‘Thou givest them tears to drink in great measure;’ can we then trust in God’s
providence to supply us? A good Christian believes, that if God feeds the ravens,
he will feed his children, he lives upon God’s all-sufficiency, not only for grace,
but for food. He believes if God gives him heaven, he will give daily bread; he
trusts his bond: ‘Verily thou shalt be fed.’ Psa 37: 3. Can we trust God in our
fears? When adversaries grow high can we display the banner of faith? ‘What time
I am afraid, I will trust in thee.’ Psa 56: 3. Faith cures the trembling in heart;
it gets above fear, as oil swims above the water. To trust in God, makes him to
be a God to us.
[7] To have God to be a God to us, is to love him. In the godly
fear and love kiss each other.
[8] To have him to be a God to us, is to obey him. Upon this I
shall speak more at large in the second commandment.
Why must use cleave to the Lord as our God?
(1) Because of its equity. It is but just that we should cleave
to him from whom we receive our being. Who can have a better right to us than he
that gives us our breath? For ‘it is he that made us, and not we ourselves.’ Psa
100: 3. It is unjust, yea, ungrateful, to give away our love or worship to any but
God.
(2) Because of its utility. If we cleave to the Lord as our God,
then he will bless us: ‘God, even our own God, shall bless us.’ Psa 67: 6. He will
bless us in our estate. ‘Blessed shall be the fruit of thy ground: blessed shall
be thy basket and thy store.’ Deut 28: 4, 5. We shall not only have our sacks full
of corn, but money in the mouth of the sack. He will bless us with peace. ‘The Lord
will bless his people with peace.’ Psa 29: 11. With outward peace, which is the
nurse of plenty. ‘He maketh peace in thy borders.’ Psa 147: 14. With inward peace,
a smiling conscience, which is sweeter than the dropping of honey. God will turn
all evils to our good. Rom 8: 28. He will make a treacle of poison. Joseph’s imprisonment
was a means for his advancement. Gen 50: 20. Out of the bitterest drug he will distil
his glory and our salvation. In short, he will be our guide to death, our comfort
in death, and our reward after death. The utility of it, therefore, may make us
cleave to the Lord as our God. ‘Happy is that people whose God is the Lord.’ Psa
144: 15.
(3) Because of its necessity. If God be not our God, he will curse
our blessings; and God’s curse blasts wherever it comes. Mal 2: 2. If God be not
our God, we have none to help us in misery. Will he help his enemies? Will he assist
those who disclaim him? If we do not make God to be our God, he will make himself
to be our judge; and if he condemns, there is no appealing to a higher court. There
is a necessity, therefore, for having God for our God, unless we intend to be eternally
espoused to misery.
Use one. If we must have the Lord Jehovah for our one God, it
condemns the Atheists who have no God. ‘The fool has said in his heart, There is
no God.’ Psa 14: 1. There is no God he believes in, or worships. Such Atheists were
Diagoras and Theodorus. When Seneca reproved Nero for his impieties, Nero said,
‘Dost thou think I believe there is any God, when I do such things?’ The duke of
Silesia was so infatuated, that he affirmed, Neque inferos, neque superos esse;
that there was neither God nor devil. We may see God in the works of his fingers.
The creation is a great volume in which we may read a Godhead, and he must needs
put out his own eyes that denies a God. Aristotle, though a heathen, not only acknowledged
God, when he cried out, ‘Thou Being of beings, have mercy on me,’ but he thought
he that did not confess a Deity was not worthy to live. They who will not believe
a God, shall feel him. ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God.’ Heb 10: 31.
Use two. Christians are condemned who profess to own God for their
God and yet do not live as if he were their God. (1) They do not believe in him
as a God. When they look upon their sins, they are apt to say, Can God pardon? When
they look upon their wants, they say, Can God provide, can he prepare a table in
the wilderness? (2) They do not love him as a God. They do not give him the cream
of their love, but are prone to love other things more than God; they say they love
God, but will part with nothing for him. (3) They do not worship him as God. They
do not give him that reverence, nor pray with that devotion, as if they were praying
to a God. How dead are their hearts! If not dead in sin, they are dead to duty.
They pray as to a god that has eyes and sees not, ears and hears not. In hearing
the Word, how much distraction, and what regardless hearts have many! They are thinking
of their shops and drugs. Would a king take it well at our hands, if, when speaking
to us, we should be playing with a feather? When God is speaking to us in his Word,
and our hearts are taken up with thoughts about the world, is not this playing with
a feather? Oh, how should this humble most of us, that we do not make God to be
a God to us! We do not believe in him, love him, worship him as God. Many heathens
have worshipped their false gods with more seriousness and devotion than some Christians
do the true God. O let us chide ourselves; did I say chide? Let us abhor ourselves
for our deadness and formality in religion; how we have professed God, and yet have
not worshipped him as God.
II. That we must have no other god. ‘Thou shalt have no other
gods before me.
What is meant by the words, Before me?
It means before my face; in conspectu meo, in my sight. ‘Cursed
be the man that maketh any graven image, and putteth it in a secret place.’ Deut
27: 15. Some would not bow to the idol in the sight of others, but they would secretly
bow to it; but though this was out of man’s sight, it was not out of God’s sight.
‘Cursed, therefore,’ says God, ‘be he that puts the image in a secret place.’ ‘Thou
shalt have no other gods.’ 1. There is really no other god. 2. We must have no other.
[1] There is really no other god. The Valentinians held there
were two gods; the Polytheists, that there were many; the Persian worshipped the
sun; the Egyptians, the ox and elephant; the Grecians, Jupiter; but there is no
other than the true God. ‘Know, therefore, this day, and consider it in thy heart,
that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath; there is none
else.’ Deut 4: 39. For, (1) There is but one First Cause, that has its being of
itself, and on which all other beings depend. As in the heavens the Primum Mobile
moves all the other orbs, so God is the Great Mover, he gives life and motion to
everything that exists.
(2) There is but one Omnipotent Power. If there be two omnipotent,
we must always suppose a contest between the two: that which one would do, the other,
being equal, would oppose; and so all things would be brought into confusion. If
a ship should have two pilots of equal power, one would be ever crossing the other;
when one would sail the other would cast anchor; there would be confusion, and the
ship would perish. The order and harmony in the world, the constant and uniform
government of all things, is a clear argument that there is but one Omnipotent,
one God that rules all. ‘I am the first, and I am the last, and beside me there
is no God.’ Isa 44: 6.
[2] We must have no other god. ‘Thou shalt have no other gods
before me.’ This commandment forbids: (1) Serving a false god, and not the true
God. ‘Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me
forth.’ Jer 2: 27. (2) Joining a false god with a true. ‘They feared the Lord, and
served their own gods.’ 2 Kings 17: 33. These are forbidden in the commandment;
we must adhere to the true God, and no other. ‘God is a jealous God,’ and he will
endure no rival. A wife cannot lawfully have two husbands at once; nor may we have
two gods. Thou shalt worship no other god, for the Lord is a jealous God.’ Exod.
34: 14. ‘Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god.’ Psa 16:
4. The Lord interprets it a ‘forsaking of him’ to espouse any other god. ‘They forsook
the Lord, and followed other gods.’ Judges 2: 12. God would not have his people
so much as make mention of idol gods. ‘Make no mention of the name of other gods,
neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.’ Exod 23: 13. ‘God looks upon it as breaking
the marriage-covenant, to go after other gods. Therefore, when Israel committed
idolatry with the golden calf, God disclaimed his interest in them. ‘Thy people
have corrupted themselves.’ Exod 32: 7. Before, God called Israel his people; but
when they went after other gods, ‘Now,’ saith the Lord to Moses, ‘they are no more
my people but thy people.’ ‘Plead with your mother, plead; for she is not my wife.’
Hos 2: 2. She does not keep faith with me, she has stained herself with idols, therefore
I will divorce her, ‘she is not my wife.’ To go after other gods, is what God cannot
bear; it makes the fury rise up in his face. ‘If thy brother, or thy son, or the
wife of thy bosom or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly,
saying, Let us go and serve other gods, thou shalt not consent unto him, neither
shall thine eye pity him; but thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first
upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.’ Deut 13:
6, 8, 9.
What is it to have other gods besides the true God? I fear upon
search, we have more idolaters among us than we are aware of.
(1) To trust in any thing more than God, is to make it a god.
If we trust in our riches, we make riches our god. We may take comfort, but not
put confidence in them. It is a foolish thing to trust in them. They are deceitful
riches, and it is foolish to trust to that which will deceive us. Matt 13: 22. They
have no solid consistency, they are like landscapes or golden dreams, which leave
the soul empty when it awakes or comes to itself. They are not what they promise;
they promise to satisfy our desires, and they increase them; they promise to stay
with us, and they take wings. They are hurtful. ‘Riches kept for the owners thereof
to their hurt.’ Eccl 5: 13. It is foolish to trust to that which will hurt one.
Who would take hold of the edge of a razor to help him? They are often fuel for
pride and lust. Ezek 28: 5. Jer 5: 7. It is folly to trust in our riches; but how
many do, and make money their god! ‘The rich man’s wealth is his strong city.’ Prov
10: 15. He makes the wedge of gold his hope. Job 31: 24. God made man of the dust
of the earth, and man makes a god of the dust of the earth. Money is his creator,
redeemer, comforter: his creator, for if he has money, he thinks he is made; his
redeemer, for if he be in danger, he trusts to his money to redeem him; his comforter,
for if he be sad, money is the golden harp to drive away the evil spirit. Thus by
trusting to money, we make it a god.
If we trust in the arm of flesh, we make it a god. ‘Cursed be
the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm.’ Jer 17: 5. The Syrians
trusted in their army, which was so numerous that it filled the country; but this
arm of flesh withered. 1 Kings 20: 27, 29. What we make our trust, God makes our
shame. The sheep run to the hedges for shelter, and they lose their wool; so we
have run to second causes to help us, and have lost much of our golden fleece; they
have not only been reeds to fail us, but thorns to prick us. We have broken our
parliament-crutches, by leaning too hard upon them.
If we trust in our wisdom, we make it a god. ‘Let not the wise
man glory in his wisdom.’ Jer 9: 23. Glorying is the height of confidence. Many
a man makes an idol of his wit and parts; he deifies himself, but how often does
God take the wise in their own craftiness! Job 5: 13. Ahithophel had a great wit,
his counsel was as the oracle of God; but his wit brought him to the halter. 2 Sam
17: 23.
If we trust in our civility, we make it a god. Many trust to this,
that none can charge them with gross sin. Civility is but nature refined and cultivated;
a man may be washed, and not changed; his life may be civil, and yet there may be
some reigning sin in his heart. The Pharisee could say, ‘I am no adulterer’ (Luke
18: 11); but he could not say, ‘I am not proud.’ To trust to civility, is to trust
to a spider’s web.
If we trust to our duties to save us, we make them a god. ‘Our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags;’ they are fly-blown with sin. Isa 64: 6. Put
gold in the fire, and much dross comes out: so our most golden duties are mixed
with infirmity. We are apt either to neglect duty, or idolise it. Use duty, but
do not trust to it; for then you make it a god. Trust not to your praying and hearing;
they are means of salvation, but they are not saviours. If you make duties bladders
to trust to, you may sink with them to hell.
If we trust in our grace, we make a god of it. Grace is but a
creature; if we trust to it we make it an idol. Grace is imperfect, and we must
not trust to that which is imperfect to save us. ‘I have walked in my integrity:
I have trusted also in the Lord.’ Psa 26: 1: David walked in his integrity; but
did not trust in his integrity. ‘I have trusted in the Lord.’ If we trust in our
graces, we make a Christ of them. They are good graces, but bad Christs.
(2) To love any thing more than God, is to make it a god. If we
love our estate more than God, we make it a god. The young man in the gospel loved
his gold better than his Saviour; the world lay nearer his heart than Christ. Matt
19: 22. Fulgens hoc aurum praestringit oculos [This gold with its glitter blinds
the eyes]. Varius. The covetous man is called an idolater. Eph 5: 5. Why so? Because
he loves his estate more than God, and so makes it his god. Though he does not bow
down to an idol, if he worships the graven image in his coins, he is an idolater.
That which has most of the heart, we make a god of.
If we love our pleasure more than God, we make a god of it. ‘Lovers
of pleasures more than lovers of God.’ 2 Tim 3: 4. Many let loose the reins, and
give themselves up to all manner of sensual delights; they idolise pleasure. ‘They
take the timbrel, and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. They spend
their days in mirth.’ Job 21: 12, 13, (mg). I have read of a place in Africa, where
the people spend all their time in dancing and making merry; and have not we many
who make a god of pleasure, who spend their time in going to plays and visiting
ball-rooms, as if God had made them like the leviathan, to play in the water? Psa
104: 26. In the country of Sardinia there is a herb like balm, that if any one eats
too much of it, he will die laughing: such a herb is pleasure, if any one feeds
immoderately on it, he will go laughing to hell. Let such as make a god of pleasure
read but these two Scriptures. ‘The heart of fools is in the house of mirth.’ Eccl
7: 4. ‘How much she has lived deliciously, so much torment give her.’ Rev 18: 7.
Sugar laid in a damp place turns to water; so all the sugared joys and pleasures
of sinners will turn to the water of tears at last.
If we love our belly more than God, we make a god of it. ‘Whose
god is their belly.’ Phil 3: 19. Clemens Alexandrinus writes of a fish that had
its heart in its belly; an emblem of epicures, whose heart is in their belly; they
seek sacrificare lari, their belly is their god, and to this god they pour drink
offerings. The Lord allows what is fitting for the recruiting of nature. ‘I will
send grass, that thou mayest eat and be full.’ Deut 11: 15. But to mind nothing
but the indulging of the appetite, is idolatry. ‘Whose god is their belly.’ What
pity is it, that the soul, that princely part, which sways the sceptre of reason
and is akin to angels, should be enslaved to the brutish part!
If we love a child more than God, we make a god of it. How many
are guilty in this kind? They think of their children, and delight more in them
than in God; they grieve more for the loss of their first-born, than for the loss
of their first love. This is to make an idol of a child, and to set it in God’s
room. Thus God is often provoked to take away our children. If we love the jewel
more than him that gave it, God will take away the jewel, that our love may return
to him again.
Use one. It reproves such as have other gods, and so renounce
the true God. (1) Such as set up idols. ‘According to the number of thy cities are
thy gods, O Judah.’ Jer 2: 28. ‘Their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the
field.’ Hos 12: 11. (2) Such as seek to familiar spirits. This is a sin condemned
by the law of God. ‘There shall not be found among you a consulted with familiar
spirits.’ Deut 18: 11. Ordinarily, if people have lost any of their goods, they
send to wizards and soothsayers, to know how they may come by them again. What is
this but to make a god of the devil, by consulting with him, and putting their trust
in him? What! because you have lost your goods will you lose your souls too? 2 Kings
1: 6. Is it not because you think there is not a God in heaven, that you ask counsel
of the devil? If any be guilty, be humbled.
Use two. It sounds a retreat in our ears. Let it call us off from
idolising any creature, and lead us to renounce other gods, and cleave to the true
God and his service. If we go away from God, we know not where to mend ourselves.
(1) It is honourable to serve the true God. Servire Deo est regnare
[To serve God is to reign]. It is more honour to serve God, than to have kings serve
us. (2) Serving the true God is delightful. ‘I will make them joyful in my house
of prayer.’ Isa 56: 7. God often displays the banner of his love in an ordinance,
and pours the oil of gladness into the heart. All God’s ways are pleasantness, his
paths are strewed with roses. Prov 3: 17. (3) Serving the true God is beneficial.
Men have great gain here, the hidden manna, inward peace, and a great reward to
come. They that serve God shall have a kingdom when they die, and shall wear a crown
made of the flowers of paradise. Luke 12: 32; 1 Pet 5: 4. To serve the true God
is our true interest. God has twisted his glory and our salvation together. He bids
us believe; and why? That we may be saved. Therefore, renouncing all others, let
us cleave to the true God. (4) You have covenanted to serve the true JEHOVAH, renouncing
all others. When one has entered into covenant with his master, and the indentures
are drawn and sealed, he cannot go back, but must serve out his time. We have covenanted
in baptism, to take the Lord for our God, renouncing all others; and renewed this
covenant in the Lord’s Supper, and shall we not keep our solemn vow and covenant?
We cannot go away from God without the highest perjury. ‘If any man draw back [as
a soldier that steals away from his colours] my soul shall have no pleasure in him.’
Heb 10: 38. ‘I will pour vials of wrath on him, and make mine arrows drunk with
blood.’ (5) None ever had cause to repent of cleaving to God and his service. Some
have repented that they had made a god of the world. Cardinal Wolsey said, ‘Oh,
if I had served my God as I have served my king, he would never have left me thus!’
None ever complained of serving God: it was their comfort and their crown on their
death-bed.
2.2 The Second Commandment
‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness
of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is
in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve
them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and
shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.’ Exod
20: 4-6.
I. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
In the first commandment worshipping a false god is forbidden;
in this, worshipping the true God in a false manner.
‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.’ This forbids
not making an image for civil use. ‘Whose is this image and superscription? They
say unto him, It is Caesar’s.’ Matt 22: 20, 21. But the commandment forbids setting
up an image for religious use or worship.
‘Nor the likeness of any thing,’ &c. All ideas, portraitures,
shapes, images of God, whether by effigies or pictures, are here forbidden. ‘Take
heed lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make the similitude of any figure.’ Deut 4:
15, 16. God is to be adored in the heart, not painted to the eye.
‘Thou shalt not bow down to them.’ The intent of making images
and pictures is to worship them. No sooner was Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image set
up, but all the people fell down and worshipped it. Dan 3: 7. God forbids such prostrating
ourselves before an idol. The thing prohibited in this commandment is image-worship.
To set up an image to represent God, is debasing him. If any one should make images
of snakes or spiders, saying he did it to represent his prince, would not the prince
take it in disdain? What greater disparagement to the infinite God than to represent
him by that which is unite; the living God, by that which is without life; and the
Maker of all by a thing which is made?
[1] To make a true image of God is impossible. God is a spiritual
essence and, being a Spirit, he is invisible. John 4: 24. ‘Ye saw no manner of similitude
on the day that the Lord spake with you out of the midst of the fire.’ Deut 4: 15.
How can any paint the Deity? Can they make an image of that which they never saw?
Quod invisibile est, pingi non potest [There is no depicting the invisible]. Ambrose.
‘Ye saw no similitude.’ It is impossible to make a picture of the soul, or to paint
the angels, because they are of a spiritual nature; much less can we paint God by
an image, who is an infinite, untreated Spirit.
[2] To worship God by an image, is both absurd and unlawful.
(1) It is absurd and irrational; for, ‘the workman is better than
the work,’ ‘He who has builded the house has more honour than the house.’ Heb 3:
3. If the workman be better than the work, and none bow to the workman, how absurd,
then, is it to bow to the work of his hands! Is it not an absurd thing to bow down
to the king’s picture, when the king himself is present? It is more so to bow down
to an image of God, when God himself is everywhere present.
(2) It is unlawful to worship God by an image; for it is against
the homily of the church, which runs thus: ‘The images of God, our Saviour, the
Virgin Mary, are of all others the most dangerous; therefore the greatest care ought
to be had that they stand not in temples and churches.’ So that image-worship is
contrary to our own homilies, and affronts the authority of the Church of England.
Image-worship is expressly against the letter of Scripture. ‘Ye shall make no graven
image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone to bow down unto it.’ Lev 26:
1. ‘Neither shalt thou set up any image; which the Lord thy God hateth.’ Deut 16:
22. ‘Confounded be all they that serve graven images.’ Psa 97: 7. Do we think to
please God by doing that which is contrary to his mind, and that which he has expressly
forbidden?
[3] Image worship is against the practice of the saints of old.
Josiah, that renowned king, destroyed the groves and images. 2 Kings 23: 6, 24.
Constantine abrogated the images set up in temples. The Christians destroyed images
at Baste, Zurich, and Bohemia. When the Roman emperors would have thrust images
upon them, they chose rather to die than deflower their virgin profession by idolatry;
they refused to admit any painter or carver into their society, because they would
not have any carved state or image of God. When Seraphion bowed to an idol, the
Christians excommunicated him, and delivered him up to Satan.
Use one. The Church of Rome is reproved and condemned, which,
from the Alpha of its religion to the Omega, is wholly idolatrous. Romanists make
images of God the Father, painting him in their church windows as an old man; and
an image of Christ on the crucifix; and, because it is against the letter of this
commandment, they sacrilegiously blot it out of their catechism, and divide the
tenth commandment into two. Image worship must needs be very impious and blasphemous,
because it is giving the religious worship to the creature which is due to God only.
It is vain for Papists to say, they give God the worship of the heart, and the image
only the worship of the body; for the worship of the body is due to God, as well
as the worship of the heart; and to give an outward veneration to an image is to
give the adoration to a creature which belongs to God only. ‘My glory will I not
give to another.’ Isa 42: 8.
The Papists say they do not worship the image, but only use it
as a medium through which to worship God. Ne imagini quidem Christi in quantum est
lignum sculptum, ulla debetur reverentia [Not even to a statue of Christ is any
reverence owed, since it is only a piece of carved wood]. Aquinas.
(1) Where has God bidden them worship him by an effigy or image?
‘Who has required this at your hands?’ Isa 1: 12. The Papists cannot say so much
as the devil, Scriptum est: It is written.
(2) The heathen may bring the same argument for their gross idolatry,
as the Papists do for their image-worship. What heathen has been so simple as to
think gold or silver, or the figure of an ox or elephant, was God? These were emblems
and hieroglyphics only to represent him. They worshipped an invisible God by such
visible things. To worship God by an image, God takes as done to the image itself.
But, say the Papists, images are laymen’s books, and they are
good to put them in mind of God. One of the Popish Councils affirmed, that we might
learn more by an image than by long study of the Scriptures.
‘What profiteth the graven image, the molten image, and a teacher
of lies.’ Hab 2: 18. Is an image a layman’s book? Then see what lessons this book
teaches. It teaches lies; it represents God in a visible shape, who is invisible.
For Papists to say they make use of an image to put them in mind of God, is as if
a woman should say she keeps company with another man to put her in mind of her
husband.
But did not Moses make the image of a brazen serpent? Why, then,
may not images be set tip?
That was done by God’s special command. ‘Make thee a brazen serpent.’
Numb 21: 8. There was also a special use in it, both literal and spiritual. What!
does the setting up of the image of the brazen serpent justify the setting up images
in churches? What! because Moses made an image by God’s appointment, may we set
up an image of our own devising? Because Moses made an image to heal them that were
stung, is it lawful to set up images in churches to sting them that are whole? Nay,
that very brazen serpent which God himself commanded to be set up, when Israel looked
upon it with too much reverence, and began to burn incense to it, Hezekiah defaced,
and called it Nehushtan, mere brass; and God commended him for so doing. 2 Kings
18: 4.
But is not God represented as having hands, and eyes, and cars?
Why nay we not, then, make an image to represent him, and help our devotion?
Though God is pleased to stoop to our weak capacities, and set
himself out in Scripture by eyes, to signify his omniscience, and hands to signify
his power, yet it is absurd, from such metaphors and figurative expressions, to
bring an argument for images and pictures; for, by that rule, God may be pictured
by the sun and the element of fire, and by a rock; for he is set forth by these
metaphors in Scripture; and, sure, the Papists themselves would not like to have
such images made of God.
If it be not lawful to make the image of God the Father, yet may
we not make an image of Christ, who took upon him the nature of man?
No! Epiphanies, seeing an image of Christ hanging in a church,
brake it in pieces. It is Christ’s Godhead, united to his manhood, that makes him
to be Christ; therefore to picture his manhood, when we cannot picture his Godhead,
is a sin, because we make him to be but half Christ — we separate what God has joined,
we leave out that which is the chief thing which makes him to be Christ.
But how shall we conceive of God aright, if we may not make any
image or resemblance of him?
We must conceive of God spiritually. (1) In his attributes — his
holiness, justice, goodness — which are the beams by which his divine nature shines
forth. (2) We must conceive of him as he is in Christ. Christ is the ‘Image of the
invisible God’ as in the wax we see the print of the seal. Col 1: 15. Set the eyes
of your faith on Christ-God-man. ‘He that has seen me, has seen the Father.’ John
14: 9.
Use two. Take heed of the idolatry of image-worship. Our nature
is prone to this sin as dry wood to take fire; and, indeed, what need of so many
words in the commandment: ‘Thou shalt not make any graven image, or the likeness
of anything in heaven, earth, water,’ sun, moon, stars, male, female, fish; ‘Thou
shalt not bow down to them.’ I say, what need of so many words, but to show how
subject we are to this sin of false worship? It concerns us, therefore, to resist
this sin. Where the tide is apt to run with greater force, there we had need to
make the banks higher and stronger. The plague of idolatry is very infectious. ‘They
were mingled among the heathen, and served their idols.’ Psa 106: 35, 36. It is
my advice to you, to avoid all occasions of this sin.
(1) Come not into the company of idolatrous Papists. Dare not
to live under the same roof with them, or you run into the devil’s mouth. John the
divine would not be in the house where Cerinthus the heretic was.
(2) Go not into their chapels to see their crucifixes, or hear
mass. As looking on a harlot draws to adultery, so looking on the popish gilded
picture may draw to idolatry. Some go to see their idol-worship. A vagrant who has
nothing to lose, cares not to go among thieves; so such as have no goodness in them,
care not to what idolatrous places they come or to what temptations they expose
themselves; but you who have a treasure of good principles about you, take heed
the popish priests do not rob you of them, and defile you with their images.
(3) Dare not join in marriage with image-worshippers. Though Solomon
was a man of wisdom, his idolatrous wives drew his heart away from God. The people
of Israel entered into an oath and curse, that they would not give their daughters
in marriage to idolaters. Neh 10: 30. For a Protestant and Papist to marry, is to
be unequally yoked (2 Cor 6: 14); and there is more danger that the Papist will
corrupt the Protestant, shall hope that the Protestant will convert the Papist.
Mingle wine and vinegar, the vinegar will sooner sour the wine, than the wine will
sweeten the vinegar.
(4) Avoid superstition, which is a bridge that leads over to Rome.
Superstition is bringing any ceremony, fancy, or innovation into God’s worship,
which he never appointed. It is provoking God, because it reflects much upon his
honour, as if he were not wise enough to appoint the manner of his own worship.
He hates all strange fire to be offered in his temple. Lev 10: 1. A ceremony may
in time lead to a crucifix. They who contend for the cross in baptism, why not have
the oil, salt, and cream as well, the one being as ancient as the other? They who
are for altar-worship, and will bow to the east, may in time bow to the Host. Take
heed of all occasions of idolatry, for idolatry is devil-worship. Psalm 106: 37.
If you search through the whole Bible, there is not one sin that God has more followed
with plagues than idolatry. The Jews have a saying, that in every evil that befalls
them, there is uncia aurei vituli, an ounce of the golden calf in it. Hell is a
place for idolaters. ‘For without are idolaters.’ Rev 22: 15. Senesius calls the
devil a rejoicer at idols, because the image-worshippers help to fill hell.
Use three. That you may be preserved from idolatry and image-worship.
(1) Get good principles, that you may be able to oppose the gainsayer. Whence does
the popish religion get ground? Not from the goodness of their cause, but from the
ignorance of their people. (2) Get love to God. The wife that loves her husband
is safe from the adulterer; and the soul that loves Christ is safe from the idolater.
(3) Pray that God will keep you. Though it is true, there is nothing in an image
to tempt (for if we pray to an image, it cannot hear, and if we pray to God by an
image, he will not hear), yet we know not our own hearts, or how soon we may be
drawn to vanity, if God leaves us. Therefore pray that you be not enticed by false
worship, or receive the mark of the beast in your right hand or forehead. Pray,
‘Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.’ Psa 119: 117. Lord, let me neither mistake
my way for want of light, nor leave the true way for want of courage. (4) Let us
bless God who has given us the knowledge of his truth, that we have tasted the honey
of his word, and our eyes are enlightened. Let us bless him that he has shown us
the pattern of his house, the right mode of worship; that he has discovered to us
the forgery and blasphemy of the Romish religion. Let us pray that God will preserve
pure ordinances and powerful preaching among us. Idolatry came in at first by the
want of good preaching. The people began to have golden images when they had wooden
priests.
II. I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. The first reason why
Israel must not worship graven images is, because the Lord is a jealous God. ‘The
Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.’ Exod 34: 14. Jealousy is taken,
[1] In a good sense, as God is jealous for his people. [2] In a bad sense, as he
is jealous of his people.
[1] In a good sense; as God is jealous for his people. ‘Thus saith
the Lord, I am jealous for Jerusalem, and for Zion, with a great jealousy.’ Zech
1: 14. God has a dear affection for his people, they are his Hephzibah, or delight.
Isa 62: 4. They are the apple of his eye, Zech 2: 8, to express how dear they are
to him, and how tender he is of them, Nihil carius pupilla oculi [Nothing is dearer
than the apple of the eye]. Drusius. They are his spouse, adorned with jewels of
grace; they lie near his heart. He is jealous for his spouse, therefore he will
be avenged on those who wrong her. ‘The Lord shall stir up jealousy like a man of
war; he shall roar, he shall prevail against his enemies.’ Isa 42: 13. What is done
to the saints, God takes as done to himself (2 Kings 19: 22); and the Lord will
undo all that afflict Zion. ‘I will undo all that afflict thee.’ Zeph 3: 19.
[2] Jealousy is taken in a bad sense, in which God is jealous
of his people. It is so taken in this commandment, ‘I the Lord thy God am a jealous
God.’ I am jealous lest you should go after false gods, or worship the true God
in a false manner; lest you defile your virgin-profession by images. God will have
his spouse to keep close to him, and not go after other lovers. ‘Thou shalt not
be for another man’ Hos 3: 3. He cannot bear a rival. Our conjugal love, a love
joined with adoration and worship, must be given to God only.
Use one. Let us give God no just cause to be jealous. A good wife
will be so discreet and chaste, as to give her husband no just occasion of jealousy.
Let us avoid all sin, especially this of idolatry, or image-worship. It is heinous,
after we have entered into a marriage covenant with God, to prostitute ourselves
to an image. Idolatry is spiritual adultery, and God is a jealous God, he will avenge
it. Image-worship makes God abhor a people. ‘They moved him to jealousy with their
graven images. When God heard this, he was wrath, and greatly abhorred Israel.’
Psa 78: 58, 59. ‘Jealousy is the rage of a man.’ Prov 6: 34. Image-worship enrages
God; it makes God divorce a people. ‘Plead with your mother, plead; for she is not
my wife.’ Hos 2: 2. ‘Jealousy is cruel as the grave.’ Cant 8: 6. As the grave devours
men’s bodies, so God will devour image-worshippers.
Use two. If God be a jealous God, let it be remembered by those
whose friends are popish idolaters, and who are hated by their friends, because
they are of a different religion, and perhaps their maintenance cut off from them.
Oh, remember, God is a jealous God; better move your parents to hatred, than move
God to jealousy! Their anger cannot do you so much hurt as God’s. If they will not
provide for you, God will. ‘When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord
will take me up.’ Psa 27: 10.
III. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto
the third and fourth generation. Here is the second reason against image-worship.
There is a twofold visiting. There is God’s visiting in mercy. ‘God will surely
visit you:’ that is, he will bring you into the land of Canaan, the type of heaven.
Gen 50: 25. Thus God has visited us with the sunbeams of his favour; he has made
us swim in a sea of mercy. This is a happy visitation. There is God’s visiting in
anger. ‘Shall I not visit for these things?’ that is, God’s visiting with the rod.
Jer 5: 9. ‘What will ye do in the day of visitation?’ that is, in the day when God
shall visit with his judgements. Isa 10: 3. Thus God’s visiting is taken in this
commandment, ‘visiting iniquity,’ that is, punishing iniquity. Observe here three
things.
[1] That sin makes God visit. ‘Visiting iniquity.’ Sin is the
cause why God visits with sickness, poverty, &c. ‘If they keep not my commandments,
then will I visit their transgressions with the rod.’ Psa 89: 31, 32. Sin twists
the cords which pinch us; it creates all our troubles, is the gall in our cup, and
the gravel in our bread. Sin is the Trojan horse, the Phaeton that sets all on fire;
it is the womb of our sorrows, and the grave of our comfort. God visits for sin.
[2] One special sin for which God’s visits, is idolatry and image-worship.
‘Visiting the iniquity of the fathers.’ Most of his envenomed arrows have been shot
among idolaters. ‘Go now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name
at the first, and see what I did to it.’ Jer 7: 12. For Israel’s idolatry he suffered
their army to be routed, their priests slain, the ark taken captive, of the returns
of which to Shiloh we never read any more. Jerusalem was the most famous metropolis
of the world; there was the temple. ‘Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the
Lord.’ Psa 122: 4. But for the high places and images, that city was besieged and
taken by the Chaldean forces. 2 Kings 25: 4. When images were set up in Constantinople,
the chief seat of the Eastern empire, a city which in the eye of the world was impregnable,
it was taken by the Turks, and many cruelly massacred. The Turks in their triumphs
at that time reproached the idolatrous Christians, caused an image or crucifix to
be carried through the streets in contempt, and threw dirt upon it, crying, ‘This
is the god of the Christians.’ Here was God’s visitation for their idolatry. God
has set special marks of his wrath upon idolaters. At a place called Epoletium,
there perished by an earthquake 350 persons, while they were offering sacrifice
to idols. Idolatry brought misery upon the Eastern churches, and removed the golden
candlesticks of Asia. For this iniquity God visits.
[3] Idolatrous persons are enemies not to their own souls only,
but to their children. ‘Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon their children.’
As an idolatrous father entails his land of inheritance, so he entails God’s anger
and curse upon his children. A jealous husband, finding his wife has stained her
fidelity, may justly cast her off and her children too, because they are none of
his. If the father be a traitor to his prince, no wonder if all the children suffer.
God may visit the iniquity of image-worshippers upon their children.
But is it not said, ‘Every man shall die for his own sin; the
son shall not bear the iniquity of the father?’ 2 Chron 25: 4, Ezek 18: 20. How
then does God say, he ‘will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children?’
Though the son be not damned, yet he may be severely punished
for his father’s sin. ‘God layeth up his iniquity for his children’ (Job 21: 19);
that is, God lays up the punishment of his iniquity for his children — the child
smarts for the father’s sin. Jeroboam thought to have established the kingdom by
idolatrous worship, but it brought ruin upon him, and all his posterity. 1 Kings
14: 10. Ahab’s idolatry wronged his posterity, which lost the kingdom, and were
all beheaded. ‘They took the king’s sons, and slew seventy persons.’ 2 Kings 10:
7. Here God visited the iniquity of the father upon the children. As a son catches
an hereditary disease from his father, the stone or gout, so he catches misery from
him: his father’s sin ruins him.
Use one. How sad is it to be the child of an idolater! It had
been sad to have been one of Gehazi’s children, who had leprosy entailed upon them.
‘The leprosy of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and unto thy seed for ever.’ 2 Kings
5: 27. So it is sad to be a child of an idolater, or image-worshipper; for his seed
are exposed to heavy judgements in this life. ‘God visits the iniquity of the fathers
upon their children.’ Methinks I hear God speak, as in Isa 14: 21, ‘Prepare slaughter
for his children, for the iniquity of their fathers.’
Use two. What a privilege it is to be the children of good parents.
The parents are in covenant with God, and God lays up mercy for their posterity.
‘The just man walketh in his integrity, his children are blessed after him.’ Prov
20: 7. A religious parent does not procure wrath, but helps to keep off wrath from
his child; he seasons his child with religious principles, he prays down a blessing
on it; he is a loadstone to draw his child to Christ by good counsel and example.
Oh, what a privilege is it to be born of godly, religious parents! Augustine says
that his mother Monica travailed with greater care and pains for his new birth,
than for his natural. Wicked idolaters entail misery on their posterity; God ‘visits
the iniquity of the fathers upon their children;’ but religious parents procure
a blessing upon their children; God reserves mercy for their posterity.
IV. Of them that hate me. Another reason against image-worship
is, that it is hating God. The Papists, who worship God by an image, hate God. Image-worship
is a pretended love to God, but God interprets it as hating him. Quae diligit alienum
odit sponsum, ‘she that loves another man, hates her own husband.’ An image-lover
is a God hater. Idolaters are said to go a whoring from God. Exod 34: 15. How can
they love God? I shall show that image-worshippers hate God, whatever love they
pretend.
[1] They who go contrary to his express will hate him. He says,
you shall not set up any statue, image, nor picture, to represent me; these things
I hate. ‘Neither shalt thou set up any image; which the Lord thy God hateth.’ Deut
16: 22. Yet the idolater sets up images, and worships them. This God looks upon
as hating him. How does the child love his father that does all it can to cross
him?
[2] They who turned Jephthah out of doors hated him, therefore
they laboured to shut him out of his father’s house. Judges 11: 7. The idolater
shuts the truth out of doors; he blots out the second commandment; he makes an image
of the invisible God; he brings a lie into God’s worship; which are clear proofs
that he hates God.
[3] Though idolaters love the false image of God in a picture,
they hate his true image in a believer. They pretend to honour Christ in a crucifix,
and yet persecute him in his members. Such hate God.
Use one. This confutes those who plead for image-worshippers.
They are very devout people; they adore images; they set up the crucifix; kiss it;
light candles to it; therefore they love God. Nay, but who shall be judge of their
love? God says they hate him, and give religious adoration to a creature. They hate
God, and God hates them; and they shall never live with God whom he hates; he will
never lay such vipers in his bosom. Heaven is kept as paradise, with a flaming sword,
that they shall not enter in. He ‘repayeth them that hate him to their face.’ Deut.
7: 10. He will shoot all his deadly arrows among idolaters. All the plagues and
curses in the book of God shall befall the idolater. The Lord repays him that hates
him to his face.
Use two. Let it exhort all to flee from Romish idolatry. Let us
not be among God-haters. ‘Little children, keep yourselves from idols.’ 1 John 5:
21. As you would keep your bodies from adultery, keep your souls from idolatry.
Take heed of images, they are images of jealousy to provoke God to anger; they are
damnable. You may perish by false devotions as much as by real scandal; by image-worship,
as by drunkenness and whoredom. A man may die by poison as much as a pistol. We
may go to hell by drinking poison in the Romish cup of fornication, as much as by
being pistoled with gross and scandalous sins. To conclude, ‘God is a jealous God,’
who will admit of no co-rival; He will ‘visit the iniquities of the fathers upon
their children;’ he will entail a plague upon the posterity of idolaters. He interprets
idolaters to be such as hate him. He that is an image-lover is a God-hater. Therefore
keep yourself pure from Romish idolatry; if you love your souls, keep yourselves
from idols.
V. Showing mercy unto thousands.
Another argument against image-worship, is that God is merciful
to those who do not provoke him with their images, and will entail mercy upon their
posterity. ‘Shewing mercy unto thousands.’
The golden sceptre of God’s mercy is here displayed, ‘shewing
mercy to thousands.’ The heathen thought they praised Jupiter enough when they called
him good and great. Both excellencies of majesty and mercy meet in God. Mercy is
an innate propensity in God to do good to distressed sinners. God showing mercy,
makes his Godhead appear full of glory. When Moses said to God, ‘I beseech thee,
show me thy glory;’ ‘I will,’ said God, ‘show mercy.’ Exod 33: 19. His mercy is
his glory. Mercy is the name by which he will be known. ‘The Lord passed by, and
proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious.’ Exod 34: 6. Mercy proceeds
primarily, and originally from God. He is called the ‘Father of mercies’ (2 Cor
1: 3), because he begets all the mercies which are in the creature. Our mercies
compared with his are scarcely so much as a drop to the ocean.
What are the properties of God’s mercy?
(1) It is free and spontaneous. To set up merit is to destroy
mercy. Nothing can deserve mercy or force it; we cannot deserve it nor force it,
because of our enmity. We may force God to punish us, but not to love us. ‘I will
love them freely.’ Hos 14: 4. Every link in the golden chain of salvation is wrought
and interwoven with free grace. Election is free. ‘He has chosen us in him according
to the good pleasure of his will.’ Eph 1: 4. Justification is free. ‘Being justified
freely by his grace.’ Rom 3: 24. Say not I am unworthy; for mercy is free. If God
should show mercy only to such as deserve it, he must show mercy to none.
(2) The mercy which God shows is powerful. How powerful is that
mercy which softens a heart of stone! Mercy changed Mary Magdalen’s heart, out of
whom seven devils were cast: she who was an inflexible adamant was made a weeping
penitent. God’s mercy works sweetly, yet irresistibly; it allures, yet conquers.
The law may terrify, but mercy mollifies. Of what sovereign power and efficacy is
that mercy which subdues the pride and enmity of the heart, and beats off those
chains of sin in which the soul is held.
(3) The mercy which God shows is superabundant. ‘Abundant in goodness
and truth, keeping mercy for thousands.’ Exod 34: 6. God visits iniquity ‘to the
third and fourth generation’ only, but he shows mercy to a thousand generations.
Exod 20: 5, 6. The Lord has treasures of mercy in store, and therefore is said to
be ‘plenteous in mercy’ (Psa 86: 5), and ‘rich in mercy’ (Eph 2: 4). The vial of
God’s wrath drops only, but the fountain of his mercy runs. The sun is not so full
of light as God is of love.
God has mercy of all dimensions. He has depth of mercy, it reaches
as low as sinners; and height of mercy, it reaches above the clouds.
God has mercies for all seasons; mercies for the night, he gives
sleep; nay, sometimes he gives a song in the night. Psa 42: 8. He has also mercies
for the morning. His compassions ‘are new every morning.’ Lam 3: 23.
God has mercies for all sorts. Mercies for the poor: ‘He raiseth
up the poor out of the dust.’ 1 Sam 2: 8. Mercies for the prisoner: he ‘despiseth
not his prisoners.’ Psa 69: 33. Mercies for the dejected: ‘In a little wrath I hid
my face from thee but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee.’ Isa
54: 8. He has old mercies: ‘Thy mercies have been ever of old.’ Psa 25: 6. New mercies:
‘He has put a new song in my mouth.’ Psa 40: 3. Every time we draw our breath we
suck in mercy. God has mercies under heaven, and those we taste; and mercies in
heaven, and those we hope for. Thus his mercies are superabundant.
(4) The mercy of God is abiding. ‘The mercy of the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting.’ Psa 103: 17. God’s anger to his children lasts but
a while (Psa 103: 9), but his mercy lasts for ever. His mercy is not like the widow’s
oil, which ran awhile, and then ceased (2 Kings 4: 6), but overflowing and everflowing.
As his mercy is without bounds, so is it without end. ‘His mercy endureth for ever.’
Psa 136. God never cuts off the entail of mercy from the elect.
In how many ways is God said to show mercy?
(1) We are all living monuments of his mercy. He shows mercy to
us in daily supplying us. He supplies us with health. Health is the sauce which
makes life sweeter. How would they prize this mercy who are chained to a sick-bed!
God supplies us with provisions. ‘God which fed me all my life long.’ Gen 48: 15.
Mercy spreads our tables, and carves for us every bit of bread we cat; we never
drink but in the golden cup of mercy.
(2) God shows mercy in lengthening out our gospel-liberties. 1
Cor 16: 9. There are many adversaries; many would stop the waters of the sanctuary
that that they should not run. We enjoy the sweet seasons of grace, we hear joyful
sounds, we see the goings of God in his sanctuary, we enjoy Sabbath after Sabbath;
the manna of the word falls about our tents, when in other parts of the land there
is no manna. God shows mercy to us in continuing our forfeited privileges.
(3) He shows mercy in preventing many evils from invading us.
‘Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me.’ Psa 3: 3. God has restrained the wrath of men,
and been a screen between us and danger; when the destroying angel has been abroad,
and shed his deadly arrow of pestilence, he has kept off the arrow that it has not
come near us.
(4) He shows mercy in delivering us. ‘And I was delivered out
of the mouth of the lion’ (viz., Nero). 2 Tim 4: 17. He has restored us from the
grave. May we not write the writing of Hezekiah, ‘when he had been sick, and was
recovered of his sickness?’ Isa 38: 9. When we thought the sun of our life was setting
God has made it return to its former brightness.
(S) He shows mercy in restraining us from sin. Lusts within are
worse than lions without. The greatest sign of God’s anger is to give men up to
their sins. ‘So I gave them up to their own hearts’ lust.’ Psa 81: 12. While they
sin themselves to hell, God has laid the bridle of restraining grace upon us. As
he said to Abimelech, ‘I withheld thee from sinning against me.’ Gen 20: 6. So he
has withheld us from those sins which might have made us a prey to Satan, and a
terror to ourselves.
(6) God shows mercy in guiding and directing us. Is it not a mercy
for one that is out of the way to have a guide? [1] There is a providential guidance.
God guides our affairs for us; chalks out the way he would have us to walk in. He
resolves our doubts, unties our knots, and appoints the bounds of our habitation.
Acts 17: 26. [2] A spiritual guidance. ‘Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel.’ Psa
73: 24. As Israel had a pillar of fire to go before them, so God guides us with
the oracles of his word, and the conduct of his Spirit. He guides our heads to keep
us from error; and he guides our feet to keep us from scandal. Oh, what mercy is
it to have God to be our guide and pilot! ‘For thy name’s sake, lead me and guide
me.’ Psa 31: 3.
(7) God shows mercy in correcting us. He is angry in love; he
smites that he may save. His rod is not a rod of iron to break us, but a fatherly
rod to humble us. ‘He, for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.’
Heb 12: l0. Either he will mortify some corruption, or exercise some grace. Is there
not mercy in this? Every cross, to a child of God, is like Paul’s cross wind, which,
though it broke the ship, it brought Paul to shore upon the broken pieces. Acts
27: 44.
(8) God shows mercy in pardoning us, ‘Who is a God like unto thee,
that pardoneth iniquity?’ Mic 7: 18. It is mercy to feed us, rich mercy to pardon
us. This mercy is spun out of the bowels of the free grace, and is enough to make
a sick man well. ‘The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick; the people that dwell
therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.’ Isa 33: 24. Pardon of sin is a mercy
of the first magnitude. God seals the sinner’s pardon with a kiss. This made David
put on his best clothes, and anoint himself. His child was newly dead, and God had
told him the sword should not depart from his house, yet he anoints himself. The
reason was that God had sent him pardon by the prophet Nathan. ‘The Lord has put
away thy sin.’ 2 Sam 12: 13. Pardon is the only fit remedy for a troubled conscience.
What can give ease to a wounded spirit but pardoning mercy? Offer him the honours
and pleasure of the world. It is as if flowers and music were brought to one that
is condemned.
How may I know that my sins are pardoned?
Where God removes the guilt, he breaks the power of sin. ‘He will
have compassion: he will subdue our iniquities.’ Mic 7: 19. With pardoning love
God gives subduing grace.
(9) God shows his mercy in sanctifying us. ‘I am the Lord which
sanctify you.’ Lev 20: 8. This is the partaking of the divine nature. 2 Pet 1: 4.
God’s Spirit is a spirit of consecration; though it sanctify us but in part, yet
it is in every part. 1 Thess 5: 23. It is such a mercy that God cannot give it in
anger. If we are sanctified, we are elected. ‘God has chosen you to salvation through
sanctification.’ 2 Thess 2: 13. This prepares for happiness, as the seed prepares
for harvest. When the virgins had been anointed and perfumed, they were to stand
before the king (Esth 2: 12); SO, when we have had the anointing of God, we shall
stand before the King of heaven.
(10) God shows mercy in hearing our prayers. ‘Have mercy upon
me, and hear my prayer.’ Psa 4: 1. Is it not a favour, when a man puts up a petition
to the king, to have it granted? So when we pray for pardon, adoption, and the sense
of God’s love, it is a signal mercy to have a gracious answer. God may delay an
answer, and yet not deny. You do not throw a musician money at once, because you
love to hear his music. God loves the music of prayer, but does not always let us
hear from him at once; but in due season gives an answer of peace. ‘Blessed be God,
which has not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.’ Psa 66: 20. If God
does not turn away our prayer, he does not turn away his mercy.
(11) God shows mercy in saving us. ‘According to his mercy he
saved us.’ Titus 3: 5. This is the top-stone of mercy, and it is laid in heaven.
Here mercy displays itself in all its orient colours. Mercy is mercy indeed, when
God perfectly refines us from all the lees and dregs of corruption; when our bodies
are made like Christ’s glorious body, and our souls like the angels. Saving mercy
is crowning mercy. It is not merely to be freed from hell, but enthroned in a kingdom.
In this life we desire God, rather than enjoy him; but what rich mercy will it be
to be fully possessed of him, to see his smiling face, and to lay us in his bosom!
This will fill us with ‘joy unspeakable and full of glory.’ 1 Peter 1: 8. ‘I shall
be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.’ Psa 17: 15.
Use one. Let us not despair. What an encouragement we have here
to serve God. He shows mercy to thousands. Who would not be willing to serve a prince
who is given to mercy and clemency? God is represented with a rainbow round about
him, as an emblem of his mercy. Rev 4: 3. Acts of severity are forced from God;
judgement is his strange work. Isa 28: 21. The disciples, who are not said to wonder
at the other miracles of Christ, did wonder when the fig-tree was cursed and withered,
because it was not his manner to put forth acts of severity. God is said to delight
in mercy. Mic 7: 18. Justice is God’s left hand: mercy is his right hand. He uses
his right hand most; he is more used to mercy than to justice. Pronior est Deus
ad parcendum quam ad puniendum [God is more inclined to mercy than to punishment].
God is said to be slow to anger (Psa 103: 8), but ready to forgive. Psa 86: 5. This
may encourage us to serve him. What argument will prevail, if mercy will not? Were
God all justice, it might frighten us from him, but his mercy is a loadstone to
draw us to him.
Use two. Hope in God’s mercies. ‘The Lord taketh pleasure in them
that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.’ Psa 147: 11. He counts it his glory
to scatter pardons among men.
But I have been a great sinner and sure there is no mercy for
me!
Not if thou goest on in sin, and art so resolved; but, if thou
wilt break off thy sins, the golden sceptre of mercy shall be held forth to thee.
‘Let the wicked forsake his way, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have
mercy upon him.’ Isa 55: 7. Christ’s blood is ‘a fountain opened for sin and for
uncleanness.’ Zech 13: 1. Mercy more overflows in God, than sin in us. His mercy
can drown great sins, as the sea covers great rocks. Some of the Jews who had their
hands imbrued in Christ’s blood, were saved by that blood. God loves to magnify
his goodness, to display the trophies of free grace, and to set up his mercy in
spite of sin. Therefore, hope in his mercy.
Use three. Labour to know that God’s mercy is for you. He is ‘the
God of my mercy.’ Psa. 59: 17. A man who was being drowned, seeing a rainbow, said,
‘What am I the better, though God will not drown the world, if I am drowned?’ So,
what are we the better, though God is merciful, if we perish? Let us labour to know
God’s special mercy is for us.
How shall we know it belongs to us?
(1) If we put a high value and estimate upon it. He will not throw
away his mercy on them that slight it. We prize health, but we prize adopting mercy
more. This is the diamond ring; it outshines all other comforts.
(2) If we fear God, if we have a reverend awe upon us, if we tremble
at sin, and flee from it, as Moses did from his rod turned into a serpent. ‘His
mercy is on them that fear him.’ Luke 1: 50.
(3) If we take sanctuary in God’s mercy, we trust in it as a man
saved by catching hold of a cable. God’s mercy to us is a cable let down from heaven.
By taking fast hold of this by faith, we are saved. ‘I trust in the mercy of God
for ever.’ Psa 52: 8. As a man trusts his life and goods in a garrison, so we trust
our souls in God’s mercy.
How shall we get a share in God’s special mercy?
(1) If we would have mercy, it must be through Christ. Out of
Christ no mercy is to be had. We read in the old law, that none might come unto
the holy of holies, where the mercy-seat stood, but the high-priest: to signify
that we have nothing to do with mercy but through Christ our High-priest; that the
high-priest might not come near the mercy-seat without blood, to show that we have
no right to mercy, but through the expiatory sacrifice of Christ’s blood, Lev 16:
14; that the high-priest might not, upon pain of death, come near the mercy-seat
without incense, Lev 16: 13, to show that there is no mercy from God without the
incense of Christ’s intercession. If we would have mercy, we must get a part in
Christ. Mercy swims to us through Christ’s blood.
(2) If we would have mercy, we must pray for it. ‘Show us thy
mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.’ Psa 85: 7. ‘Turn thee unto me, and have
mercy upon me.’ Psa 25: 16. Lord, put me not off with common mercy; give me not
only mercy to feed and clothe me, but mercy to pardon me; not only sparing mercy,
but saving mercy. Lord, give me the cream of thy mercies; let me have mercy and
loving kindness. ‘Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies.’ Psa
103: 4. Be earnest suitors for mercy; let your wants quicken your importunity. We
pray most fervently when we pray most feelingly.
VI. Of them that love me.
God’s mercy is for them that love him. Love is a grace that shines
and sparkles in his eye, as the precious stone upon Aaron’s breastplate. Love is
a holy expansion or enlargement of soul, by which it is carried with delight after
God, as the chief good. Aquinas defines love — Complacentia amantis in amato; a
complacent delight in God, as our treasure. Love is the soul of religion; it is
a momentous grace. If we had knowledge as the angels, or faith of miracles, yet
without love it would profit nothing. 1 Cor 13: 2. Love is ‘the first and great
commandment.’ Matt. 22: 38. It is so, because, if it be wanting, there can be no
religion in the heart; there can be no faith, for faith works by love. Gal 5: 6.
All else is but pageantry, or a devout compliment. It meliorates and sweetens all
the duties of religion, it makes them savoury meat, without which God cares not
to taste them. It is the first and great commandment, in respect of the excellence
of this grace. Love is the queen of graces; it outshines all others, as the sun
the lesser planets. In some respects it is more excellent than faith; though in
one sense faith is more excellent, virtute unionis, as it unites us to Christ. It
puts upon us the embroidered robe of Christ’s righteousness, which is brighter than
any the angels wear. In another sense it is more excellent, respectu durationis,
in respect of the continuance of it: it is the most durable grace; as faith and
hope will shortly cease, but love will remain. When all other graces, like Rachel,
shall die in travail, love shall revive. The other graces are in the nature of a
lease, for the term of life only; but love is a freehold that continues for ever.
Thus love carries away the garland from all other graces, it is the most long-lived
grace, it is a bud of eternity. This grace alone will accompany us in heaven.
How must our love to God be characterised?
(1) Love to God must be pure and genuine. He must be loved chiefly
for himself; which the schoolmen call amor amicitiae. We must love God, not only
for his benefits, but for those intrinsic excellencies with which he is crowned.
We must love God not only for the good which flows from him, but for the good which
is in him. True love is not mercenary, he who is deeply in love with God, needs
not be hired with rewards, he cannot but love God for the beauty of his holiness;
though it is not unlawful to look for benefits. Moses had an eye to the recompense
of reward (Heb 11: 26); but we must not love God for his benefits only, for then
it is not love of God, but self-love.
(2) Love to God must be with all the heart. ‘Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart.’ Mark 12: 30. We must not love God a little, give
him a drop or two of our love; but the main stream must flow to him. The mind must
think of God, the will choose him, the affections pant after him. The true mother
would not have the child divided, nor will God have the heart divided. We must love
him with our whole heart. Though we may love the creature, yet it must be a subordinate
love. Love to God must be highest, as oil swims above the water.
(3) Love to God must be flaming. To love coldly is the same as
not to love. The spouse is said to be amore perculsa, ‘sick of love.’ Cant 2: 5.
The seraphim are so called from their burning love. Love turns saints into seraphim;
it makes them burn in holy love to God. Many waters cannot quench this love.
How may we know whether we love God?
(1) He who loves God desires his presence. Lovers cannot be long
asunder, they soon have their fainting fits, for want of a sight of the object of
their love. A soul deeply in love with God desires the enjoyment of him in his ordinances,
in word, prayer, and sacraments. David was ready to faint away and die when he had
not a sight of God. ‘My soul fainteth for God.’ Psa 84: 2. Such as care not for
ordinances, but say, When will the Sabbath be over? plainly discover want of love
to God.
(2) He who loves God, does not love sin. ‘Ye that love the Lord,
hate evil.’ Psa 97: 10. The love of God, and the love of sin, can no more mix together
than iron and clay. Every sin loved, strikes at the being of God; but he who loves
God, has an antipathy against sin. He who would part two lovers is a hateful person.
God and the believing soul are two lovers; sin parts between them, therefore the
soul is implacably set against it. By this try your love to God. How could Delilah
say she loved Samson, when she entertained correspondence with the Philistine, who
were his mortal enemies? How can he say he loves God who loves sin, which is God’s
enemy?
(3) He who loves God is not much in love with anything else. His
love is very cool to worldly things. His love to God moves swiftly, as the sun in
the firmament; to the world it moves slowly, as the sun on the dial. The love of
the world eats out the heart of religion; it chokes good affections, as earth puts
out the fire. The world was a dead thing to Paul. ‘The world is crucified unto me
and I to the world.’ Gal 6: 14. In Paul we may see both the picture and pattern
of a mortified man. He that loves God, uses the world but chooses God. The world
is his pension, but God is his portion. Psa 119: 57. The world engages him, but
God delights and satisfies him. He says as David, ‘God my exceeding joy,’ the gladness
or cream of my joy. Psa 43: 4.
(4) He who loves God cannot live without him. Things we love we
cannot be without. A man can do without music or flowers, but not food; so a soul
deeply in love with God looks upon himself as undone without him. ‘Hide not thy
face from me, lest I be like them that go down into the pit.’ Psa 143: 7. He says
as Job, ‘I went mourning without the sun;’ chap. 30: 28. I have starlight, I want
the Sun of Righteousness; I enjoy not the sweet presence of my God. Is God our chief
good, and we cannot live without him? Alas! how do they show they have no love to
God who can do well enough without him! Let them have but corn and oil, and you
shall never hear them complain of the want of God.
(5) He who loves God will be at any pains to get him. What pains
the merchant takes, what hazards he runs, to have a rich return from the Indies!
Extremos currit mercator ad Indos [The merchant races to the farthest Indies]. Jacob
loved Rachel, and he could endure the heat by day, and the frost by night, that
he might enjoy her. A soul that loves God will take any pains for the fruition of
him. ‘My soul followeth hard after thee.’ Psa 63: 8. Love is pondus animae [the
pendulum of the soul]. Augustine. It is as the weight which sets the clock going.
It is much in prayer, weeping, fasting; it strives as in agony, that he may obtain
him whom his soul loves. Plutarch reports of the Gauls, an ancient people of France,
that after they had tasted the sweet wine of Italy, they never rested till they
had arrived at that country. He who is in love with God, never rests till he has
a part in him. ‘I will seek him whom my soul loveth.’ Cant 3: 2. How can they say
they love God, who are not industrious in the use of means to obtain him? ‘A slothful
man hideth his hand in his bosom.’ Prov 19: 24. He is not in agony, but lethargy.
If Christ and salvation would drop as a ripe fig into his mouth, he would be content
to have them; but he is loath to put himself to too much trouble. Does he love his
friend, who will not undertake a journey to see him?
(6) He who loves God, prefers him before estate and life. [1]
Before estate. ‘For whom I have suffered the loss of all things.’ Phil 3: 8. Who
that loves a rich jewel would not part with a flower for it? Galeacius, marquis
of Vico, parted with a fair estate to enjoy God in his pure ordinances. When a Jesuit
persuaded him to return to his popish religion in Italy, promising him a large sum
of money, he said, ‘Let their money perish with them who esteem all the gold in
the world worth one day’s communion with Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit.’ [2]
Before life. ‘They loved not their lives unto the death.’ Rev 12: 2: Love to God
carries the soul above the love of life and the fear of death.
(7) He who loves God loves his favourites, the saints. 1 John
5: 1. Idem est motus animi in imaginem et rem [The mind reacts to the likeness of
an object just as it does to the object itself]. To love a man for his grace, and
the more we see of God in him, the more we love him, is an infallible sign of love
to God. The wicked pretend to love God, but hate and persecute his image. Does he
love his prince who abuses his statue, or tears his picture? They seem indeed to
show great reverence to saints departed; they have great reverence for St. Paul,
and St. Stephen, and St. Luke; they canonise dead saints, but persecute living saints;
and do they love God? Can it be imagined that he loves God who hates his children
because they are like him? If Christ were alive again, he would not escape a second
persecution.
(8) If we love God we cannot but be fearful of dishonouring him,
as the more a child loves his father the more he is afraid to displease him, and
we weep and mourn when we have offended him. ‘Peter went out and wept bitterly.’
Matt 26: 75. Peter might well think that Christ dearly loved him when he took him
up to the mount where he was transfigured, and showed him the glory of heaven in
a vision. That he should deny Christ after he had received such signal tokens of
his love, broke his heart with grief ‘He wept bitterly.’ Are our eyes dropping tears
of grief for sin against God? It is a blessed evidence of our love to God; and such
shall find mercy. ‘He shows mercy to thousands of them that love him.
Use. Let us be lovers of God. We love our food, and shall we not
love him that gives it? All the joy we hope for in heaven is in God; and shall not
he who shall be our joy then, be our love now? It is a saying of Augustine, Annon
poena satis magna est non amare te? ‘Is it not punishment enough, Lord, not to love
thee?’ And again, Animam meam in odio haberem. ‘I would hate my own soul if I did
not find it loving God.’
What are the incentives to provoke and inflame our love to God?
(1) God’s benefits bestowed on us. If a prince bestows continual
favours on a subject, and that subject has any ingenuity, he cannot but love his
prince. God is constantly heaping benefits upon us, ‘filling our hearts with food
and gladness.’ Acts 14: 17. As streams of water out of the rock followed Israel
whithersoever they went, so God’s blessings follow us every day. We swim in a sea
of mercy. That heart is hard that is not prevailed with by all God’s blessings to
love him. Magnes amoris amor [Love attracts love]. Kindness works even on a brute:
the ox knows his owner.
(2) Love to God would make duties of religion facile and pleasant.
I confess that to him who has no love to God, religion must needs be a burden; and
I wonder not to hear him say, ‘What a weariness is it to serve the Lord!’ It is
like rowing against the tide. But love oils the wheels, it makes duty a pleasure.
Why are the angels so swift and winged in God’s service, but because they love him?
Jacob thought seven years but little for the love he bare to Rachel. Love is never
weary. He who loves money is not weary of telling it: and he who loves God is not
weary of serving him.
(3) It is advantageous. There is nothing lost by love to God.
‘Eye has not seen, &c., the things which God has prepared for them that love him.’
1 Cor 2: 9. Such glorious rewards are laid up for them that love God, that as Augustine
says, ‘they not only transcend our reason, but faith itself is not able to comprehend
them.’ A crown is the highest ensign of worldly glory; but God has promised a ‘crown
of life to them that love him,’ and a never-fading crown. James 1: 12. 1 Pet 5:
4.
(4) By loving God we know that he loves us. ‘We love him because
he first loved us.’ 1 John 5: 19. If ice melts, it is because the sun has shone
upon it; so if the frozen heart melts in love, it is because the Sun of Righteousness
has shone upon it.
What means should be used to excite our love to God?
(1) Labour to know God aright. The schoolmen say truly, Bonum
non amatur quod non cognoscitur; ‘we cannot love that which we do not know.’ God
is the most eligible good; all excellencies which lie scattered in the creature
are united in him; he is Optimus maximus. Wisdom, beauty, riches, love, all concentrate
in him. How fair was that tulip which had the colours of all tulips in it! All perfections
and sweetnesses are eminently in God. Did we know God more, and by the eye of faith
see his orient beauty, our hearts would be fired with love to him.
(2) Make the Scriptures familiar to you. Augustine says that before
his conversion he took no pleasure in Scripture, but afterwards it was his chief
delight. The book of God discovers God to us, in his holiness, wisdom, veracity,
and truth; it represents him as rich in mercy, and encircled with promises. Augustine
calls the Scripture a golden epistle, or love-letter, sent from God to us. By reading
this love-letter we become more enamoured with God; as by reading lascivious books,
comedies, romances, &c., lust is excited.
(3) Meditate much upon God, and this will promote love to him.
‘While I was musing, the fire burned.’ Psa 39: 3. Meditation is as bellows to the
affections. Meditate on God’s love in the gift of Christ. ‘God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten Son,’ &c. John 3: 16. That God should give Christ
to us, and not to angels that fell, that the Sun of Righteousness should shine in
our horizon, that he is revealed to us, and not to others; what wonderful love is
this! ‘Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?’ Prov 6: 28. Who can
meditate on God’s love, who can tread on these hot coals, and his heart not burn
in love? Beg a heart to love God. The affection of love is natural, but not the
grace of love. Gal 5: 22. This fire of love is kindled from heaven; beg that it
may burn upon the altar of your heart. Surely the request is pleasing to God, and
he will not deny such a prayer as ‘Lord, give me a heart to love thee.’
VII. And keep my commandments.
Love and obedience, like two sisters, must go hand and hand. ‘If
ye love me, keep my commandments.’ John 14: 15. Probatio delectionis est exhibitio
operis [We show our love by performing the work]. The son that loves his father
will obey him. Obedience pleases God. ‘To obey is better than sacrifice.’ 1 Sam
15: 22. In sacrifice, a dead beast only is offered; in obedience, a living soul;
in sacrifice, only a part of the fruit is offered; in obedience, fruit and tree
and all; man offers himself up to God. ‘Keep my commandments.’ It is not said, God
shows mercy to thousands that know his commandments, but that keep them. Knowing
his commandments, without keeping them, does not entitle any to mercy. The commandment
is not only a rule of knowledge, but of duty. God gives us his commandments, not
only as a landscape to look upon, but as his will and testament, which we are to
perform. A good Christian, like the sun, not only sends forth light, but makes a
circuit round the world. He has not only the light of knowledge; but moves in a
sphere of obedience.
[1] We should keep the commandments from faith. Our obedience
ought, profluere a fide ‘to spring from faith.’ It is called, therefore, ‘the obedience
of faith.’ Rom 16: 26. Abel, by faith, offered up a better sacrifice than Cain.
Heb 11: 4. Faith is a vital principle, without which all our services are opera
mortua, dead works. Heb 6: 1. It meliorates and sweetens obedience, and makes it
come off with a better relish.
But why must faith be mixed with obedience to the commandments?
Because faith eyes Christ in every duty, in whom both the person
and offering are accepted. The high-priest under the law laid his hand upon the
head of the slain beast, which pointed to the Messiah. Exod 29: 10. So faith in
every duty lays its hand upon the head of Christ. His blood expiates their guilt,
and the sweet odour of his intercession perfumes our works of obedience. ‘He has
made us accepted in the beloved.’ Eph 1: 6.
[2] Keeping the commandments must be uniform. We must make conscience
of one commandment as well as of another. ‘Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have
respect unto all thy commandments.’ Psa 119: 6. Every commandment has jus divinum,
the same stamp of divine authority upon it; and if I obey one precept because God
commands, by the same reason I must obey all. Some obey the commands of the first
table, but are careless of the duties of the second: some of the second and not
of the first. Physicians have a rule that when the body sweats in one part, and
is cold in another, it is a sign of a distemper; so when men seem zealous in some
duties of religion, but are cold and frozen in others, it is a sign of hypocrisy.
We must have respect to all God’s commandments.
But who can keep all his commandments?
There is a fulfilling God’s commands, and a keeping of them. Though
we cannot fulfil all, yet we may be said to keep them in an evangelical sense. We
may facere, though not perficere [build, though not complete]. We keep the commandments
evangelically: (1) When we make conscience of every command, when, though we come
short in every duty, we dare not neglect any. (2) When our desire is to keep every
commandment. ‘O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!’ Psa 119: 5. What
we want in strength we make up in will. (3) When we grieve that we can do no better;
weep when we fail; prefer bills of complaint against ourselves; and judge ourselves
for our failings. Rom 7: 24. (4) When we endeavour to obey every commandment, elicere
conatum. ‘I press toward the mark.’ Phil 3: 14. We strive as in agony; and, if it
lay in our power, we would fully comport with every commandment. (5) When, falling
short, and unable to come up to the full latitude of the law, we look to Christ’s
blood to sprinkle our imperfect obedience, and, with the grains of his merits cast
into the scales, to make it pass current. This, in an evangelical sense, is to keep
all the commandments; and though it be not to satisfaction, yet it is to acceptation.
[3] Keeping God’s commandments must be voluntary. ‘If ye be willing
and obedient.’ Isa 1: 19. God required a free-will offering. Deut 16: 10. David
will run the way of God’s commandments, that is freely and cheerfully. Psa 119:
32. Lawyers have a rule that adverbs are better than adjectives; that it is not
the bonum, but the bene; not the doing much, but the doing well. A musician is not
commended for playing long, but for playing well. Obeying God willingly is accepted.
Virtus nolentium nulla est [Righteous deeds done unwillingly are worthless]. The
Lord hates that which is forced; which is paying a tax rather than an offering.
Cain served God grudgingly; he brought his sacrifice, not his heart. To obey God’s
commandments unwillingly, is like the devils who came out of the men possessed,
at Christ’s command, but with reluctance, and against their will. Matt 8: 29. Obedientia
praest and adest non timore poenae, sed amore Dei [Obedience is the chief thing,
and this not through fear of punishment, but for love of God]. God duties must not
be pressed nor beaten out of us, as the waters came from the rock, when Moses smote
it with his rod, but must drop freely from us as myrrh from the tree, or honey from
the comb. If a willing mind be wanting, the flower is wanting to perfume our obedience,
and to make it a sweet-smelling savour to God.
That we may keep God’s commandments willingly, let these things
be well weighed: (1) Our willingness is more esteemed than our service. David counsels
Solomon not only to serve God, but with a willing mind. 1 Chron 28: 9. The will
makes sin to be worse, and duty to be better. To obey willingly shows we do it with
love; and this crowns all our services.
(2) There is that in the law-giver which may make us willing to
obey the commandments, which is God’s indulgence to us. [1] God does not require
the summum jus as absolutely necessary to salvation; he expects not perfect obedience,
he requires sincerity only. Do but act from a principle of love, and aim at honouring
God in your obedience, and it is accepted. [2] In the gospel a surety is admitted.
The law would not favour us so far; but now God so indulges us, that what we cannot
do of ourselves we may do by proxy. Jesus Christ is ‘a Surety of a better testament.’
Heb 7: 22. We fall short in everything, but God looks upon us in our Surety; and
Christ having fulfilled all righteousness, it is as if we had fulfilled the law
in our own persons. [3] God gives strength to do what he requires. The law called
for obedience, but though it required brick, it gave no straw; but in the gospel,
God, with his commands, gives power. ‘Make ye a new heart.’ Ezek 18: 31. Alas! it
is above our strength, we may as well make a new world. ‘A new heart also will I
give you.’ Ezek 36: 26. God commands us to cleanse ourselves. ‘Wash you, make you
clean.’ Isa 1: 16. But ‘who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?’ Job 14:
4. Therefore the precept is turned into a promise. ‘From all your filthiness will
I cleanse you.’ Ezek 36: 25. When the child cannot go, the nurse takes it by the
hand. ‘I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms.’ Hos 11: 3.
(3) There is that in God’s commandments which may make us willing.
They are not burdensome.
[1] A Christian, so far as he is regenerate, consents to God’s
commands. ‘I consent to the law that it is good.’ Rom 7: 16. What is done with consent
is no burden. If a virgin gives her consent, the match goes on cheerfully; if a
subject consents to his prince’s laws because he sees the equity and reasonableness
of them they are not irksome. A regenerate person in his judgement approves, and
in his will consents, to God’s commandments and therefore they are not burdensome.
[2] God’s commandments are sweetened with joy and peace. Cicero
questions whether that can properly be called a burden which is carried with delight
and pleasure. Utrum onus appellatur quod laetitia fertur [Is a task performed with
joy rightly so called]? If a man carries a bag of money that has been given him,
it is heavy, but the delight takes off the burden. When God gives inward joy, it
makes the commandments delightful. ‘I will make them joyful in my house of prayer.’
Isa 56: 7. Joy is like oil to the wheels, which makes a Christian run in the way
of God’s commandments, so that it is not burdensome.
[3] God’s commandments are advantageous. They are preventive of
evil; a curb-bit to check us from sin. What mischiefs should we not run into if
we had not afflictions to humble us, and the commandments to restrain us! God’s
commandments keep us within bounds, as the yoke keeps the beast from straggling.
We should be thankful to God for precepts. Had he not set his commandments as a
hedge or bar in our way, we might have run to hell and never stopped. There is nothing
in the commandments but what is for our good. ‘To keep the commandments of the Lord,
and his statutes, which I command thee for thy good.’ Deut 10: 13. God commands
us to read his word; and what hurt is in this? He bespangles the word with promises;
as if a father should bid his son read his last will and testament, wherein he makes
over a fair estate to him. He bids us pray and tells us if we ‘ask, it shall be
given.’ Matt 7: 7. Ask power against sin, ask salvation, and it shall be given.
If you had a friend who should say, ‘Come when you will to me, I will supply you
with money,’ would you think it a trouble to visit that friend often? God commands
us to fear him. ‘But fear thy God.’ Lev 25: 43. There is honey in the mouth of this
command. ‘His mercy is on them that fear him.’ Luke 1: 50. God commands us to believe,
and why so? ‘Believe, and thou shalt be saved.’ Acts 16: 31. Salvation is the crown
set upon the head of faith. Good reason then have we to obey God’s commands willingly,
since they are for our good, and are not so much our duty as our privilege.
[4] God’s commandments are ornamental. Omnia quae praestari jubet
Deus, non onerant nos sed ornant. Salvianus. ‘God’s commandments do not burden us,
but adorn us.’ It is an honour to be employed in a king’s service; and much more
to be employed in his ‘by whom kings reign.’ To walk in God’s commandments proves
us to be wise. ‘Behold, I have taught you statutes: keep, therefore, and do them;
for this your wisdom.’ Deut 4: 5, 6. To be wise is a great honour. We may say of
every commandment of God, as Prov 4: 9: It ‘shall give to thy head an ornament of
grace.’
[5] The commands of God are infinitely better than the commands
of sin, which are intolerable. Let a man be under the command of any lust, and how
he tires himself! What hazards he runs to endangering his health and soul, that
he may satisfy his lust! ‘They weary themselves to commit iniquity.’ Jer 9: 5. And
are not God’s commandments more equal, facile, pleasant, than the commands of sin?
Chrysostom says true, ‘To act virtue is easier than to act vice.’ Temperance is
less troublesome than drunkenness; meekness is less troublesome than passion and
envy. There is more difficulty in the contrivance and pursuit of a wicked design
than in obeying the commands of God. Hence a sinner is said to travail with iniquity.
Psa 7: 14. A woman while she is in travail is in pain — to show what pain and trouble
a wicked man has in bringing forth sin. Many have gone with more pains to hell,
than others have to heaven. This may make us obey the commandments willingly.
[6] Willingness in obedience makes us resemble the angels. The
cherubim, types representing the angels, are described with wings displayed, to
show how ready the angels are to serve God. God no sooner speaks the word, but they
are ambitious to obey. How are they ravished with joy while praising God! In heaven
we shall be as the angels, and by our willingness to obey God’s commands, we should
be like them here. We pray that God’s will may be done by us on earth as it is in
heaven; and is it not done willingly there? It is also done constantly. ‘Blessed
is he who does righteousness at all times.’ Psa 106: 3. Our obedience to the command
must be as the fire of the altar, which never went out. Lev 6: 13. It must be as
the motion of the pulse, always beating. The wind blows off the fruit; but the fruits
of our obedience must not be blown off by any wind of persecution. ‘I have chosen
you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.’
John 15: 16.
Use. They are reproved who live in a wilful breach of God’s commandments,
in malice, uncleanness, intemperance; and walk antipodes to the commandments. To
live in a wilful breach of the commandment is:
(1) Against reason. Are we able to stand out against God? ‘Do
we provoke the Lord, are we stronger than he?’ 1 Cor 10: 22. Can we measure arms
with God? Can impotence stand against omnipotence? A sinner acts against reason.
(2) It is against equity. We have our being from God; and is it
not just that we should obey him who gives us our being? We have all our subsistence
from him; and is it not fitting, that as he gives us our allowance, we should give
him our allegiance? If a general gives his soldiers pay, he expects them to march
at his command; so for us to live in violation of the divine commands, is manifestly
unjust.
(3) It is against nature. Every creature in its kind obeys God’s
law. [1] Animate creatures obey him. God spake to the fish, and it set Jonah ashore.
Jonah 2: 10. [2] Inanimate creatures. The wind and the sea obey him. Mark 4: 41,
The very stones, if God give them a commission, will cry out against the sins of
men. ‘The stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall
answer it.’ Hab 2: 11. None disobey God but wicked men and devils; and can we find
no better companions?
(4) It is against kindness. How many mercies have we to allure
us to obey! We have miracles of mercy; the apostle therefore joins these two together,
disobedient and unthankful, which dyes sin with a crimson colour. 2 Tim 3: 2. As
the sin is great, for it is a contempt of God, a hanging out of the flag of defiance
against him, and rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, so the punishment will be
great. It cuts off from mercy. God’s mercy is for them that keep his commandments,
but there is no mercy for them that live in a wilful breach of them. All God’s judgements
set themselves in battle array against the disobedient: temporal judgements and
eternal. Lev 26: 15, 16. Christ comes in flames of fire, to take vengeance on them
that obey not God. 2 Thess 1: 8. God has iron chains to hold those who break the
golden chain of his commands; chains of darkness by which the devils are held ever.
Jude 6. God has time enough, as long as eternity, to reckon with all the wilful
breakers of his commandments.
How shall we keep God’s commandments?
Pray for the Spirit of God. We cannot do it in our strength. The
Spirit must work in us both to will and to do. Phil 2: 13. When the loadstone draws,
the iron moves; so, when God’s Spirit draws, we run in the way of his commandments.
2.3 The Third Commandment
‘Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: For
the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.’ Exod 20: 7.
This commandment has two parts: 1. A negative expressed, that
we must not take God’s name in vain; that is, cast any reflections and dishonour
on his name. 2. An affirmative implied. That we should take care to reverence and
honour his name. Of this latter I shall speak more fully, under the first petition
in the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Hallowed be thy name.’ I shall now speak of the negative
expressed in this commandment, or the prohibition, ‘Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain.’ The tongue is an unruly member. All the parts and
organs of the body are defiled with sin, as every branch of wormwood is bitter;
‘but the tongue is full of deadly poison.’ James 3: 8. There is no one member of
the body breaks forth more in God’s dishonour than the tongue. We have this commandment,
therefore, as a bridle for the tongue, to bind it to its good behaviour. This prohibition
is backed with a strong reason, ‘For the Lord will not hold him guiltless;’ that
is he will not hold him innocent. Men of place and eminence deem it disgraceful
to have their names abused and inflict heavy penalties on the offenders. ‘The Lord
will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain;’ but looks upon him as
a criminal, and will severely punish him. The thing here insisted on is, that great
care must be had, that the holy and reverend name of God be not profaned by us,
or taken in vain. We take God’s name in vain:
[1] When we speak slightly and irreverently of his name. ‘That
thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, The Lord thy God.’ Deut 28: 58.
David speaks of God with reverence. ‘The mighty God, even the Lord.’ Psa 50: 1.
‘That men may know, that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the Most High over
all the earth. Psa 83: 18. The disciples, when speaking of Jesus, hallowed his name.
‘Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all
the people.’ Luke 24: 19. When we mention the names of kings, we give them some
title of honour, as ‘excellent majesty;’ so should we speak of God with the sacred
reverence that is due to the infinite majesty of heaven. When we speak slightly
of God or his works, he interprets it as a contempt, and taking his name in vain.
[2] When we profess God’s name, but do not live answerably to
it, we take it in vain. ‘They profess that they know God, but in works they deny
him.’ Titus 1: 16. When men’s tongues and lives are contrary to one another, when,
under a mask of profession, they lie and cozen, and are unclean, they make use of
God’s name to abuse him, and take it in vain. Simulata sanctitas duplex iniquitas
[Pretended holiness is merely double wickedness]. ‘The name of God is blasphemed
among the Gentiles through you.’ Rom 2: 24. When the heathen saw the Jews, who professed
to be God’s people, to be scandalous, it made them speak evil of God, and hate the
true religion for their sakes.
[3] When we use God’s name in idle discourse. He is not to be
spoken of but with a holy awe upon our hearts. To bring his name in at every turn,
when we are not thinking of him, to say, ‘O God!’ or, ‘O Christ!’ or, ‘As God shall
save my soul’ — is to take God’s name in vain. How many are guilty here! Though
they have God in their mouths, they have the devil in their hearts. It is a wonder
that fire does not come out from the Lord to consume them, as it did Nadab and Abihu.
Lev 10: 2.
[4] When we worship him with our lips, but not with our hearts.
God calls for the heart, ‘My son, give me thy heart.’ Prov 23: 26. The heart is
the chief thing in religion; it draws the will and affections after it, as the Primum
Mobile draw the other orbs along with it. The heart is the incense that perfumes
our holy things; is the altar that sanctifies the offering. When we seem to worship
God, but withdraw our heart from him, we take his name in vain. ‘This people draw
near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their
heart far from me.’ Isa 29: 13.
(1) Hypocrites take God’s name in vain: their religion is a lie;
they seem to honour God, but they do not love him; their hearts go after their lusts.
‘They set their heart on their iniquity.’ Hos 4: 8. Their eyes are lifted up to
heaven, but their hearts are rooted in the earth. Ezek 33: 31. These are devils
in Samuel’s mantle. (2) Superstitious persons take God’s name in vain. They bring
him a few ceremonies which he never appointed, bow at Christ’s name and cringe to
the altar, but hate and persecute God’s image.
[5] When we pray to him, but do not believe in him. Faith is a
grace that greatly honours God. Abraham ‘was strong in faith, giving glory to God.’
Rom 4: 20. But when we pray to God, but do not mix faith with our prayer, we take
his name in vain. ‘I may pray,’ says a Christian, ‘but I shall be never the better.’
I question whether God ever hears or answers such. It is to dishonour God and take
his name in vain; it makes him either an idol, that has ears and hears not; or a
liar, who promises mercy to the penitent, but will not make good his word. ‘He that
believeth not God has made him a liar.’ 1 John 5: 10. When the apostle says (Rom
10: 14): ‘How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?’ the meaning
is, How shall they call on God aright, and not believe in him? But how many do call
on him who do not believe on him! They ask for pardon, but unbelief whispers their
sins are too great to be forgiven. Thus to pray and not believe, is to take God’s
name in vain, and highly dishonours God, as if he were not such a God as the word
represents him. ‘Plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon him.’ Psa 86: 5.
[6] When in any way we profane and abuse his word. The word of
God is profaned, in general, when profane men meddle with it. It is unseemly and
unbecoming a wicked man to talk of sacred things, of God’s providence, and the decrees
of God and heaven. It was very distasteful to Christ to hear the devil quote Scripture,
‘It is written.’ To hear a wicked man who wallows in sin talk of God and religion
is offensive; it is taking God’s name in vain. When the word of God is in a drunkard’s
mouth, it is like a pearl hung upon a swine. Under the law, the lips of the leper
were to be covered. Lev 13: 45. The lips of a profane, drunken minister ought to
be covered; he is unfit to speak God’s word, because he takes his name in vain.
More particularly they profane God’s word, and take his name in
vain: (1) That speak scornfully of his word. ‘Where is the promise of his coming?
For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning
of the creation.’ 2 Pet 3: 4. As if they had said, the preachers make much ado about
the day of judgement, when all must be called to account for their works; but where
is the appearing of that day? We see things keep their course, and continue as they
were since the creation. Thus they speak scornfully of Scripture, and take God’s
name in vain. If sentence be not speedily executed, men scorn and deride; but, ‘Judgements
are prepared for scorners.’ Prov 19: 29.
(2) That speak jestingly. Such are they who sport and play with
Scripture. This is playing with fire. Some cannot be merry unless they make bold
with God; they make the Scripture a harp to drive away the spirit of sadness. Eusebius
relates of one who made a jest of Scripture, and God struck him with frenzy. To
play with Scripture shows a very profane heart. Some will rather lose their souls
than lose their jests. These are guilty of taking God’s name in vain. Tremble at
it. Such as mock at Scripture, God will mock at their calamity. Prov 1: 26.
(3) That bring Scripture to countenance any sin. The word, which
was written for the suppression of sin, is brought by some for the defence of sin.
For instance, if we tell a covetous man of his sin that covetousness is idolatry,
he will say, ‘Has not God bid me live in a calling? Has he not said, “Six days shalt
thou labour;” and “he who provides not for his family is worse than an infidel”?’
Thus he endeavours to support his covetousness by Scripture. Now, it is true that
God has bid us take pains in our calling, but not to hurt our neighbour; he has
bid us provide for a family, but not by oppression. ‘Ye shall not oppress one another.’
Lev 25: 25. He has bid us look after a livelihood, but not to the neglect of the
soul: he has bid us lay up treasure in heaven (Matt 6: 20); but he has commanded
us to lay out, as well as lay up; to sow seeds of charity on the backs and bellies
of the poor, which is neglected by such. To bring Scripture therefore to uphold
us in sin, is a high profanation of Scripture, and taking God’s name in vain. Again,
if we tell a man of his inordinate passions — that he may be drunk with rash anger
as well as wine — he will bring Scripture to justify it by saying, ‘Does not the
word say, “Be ye angry and sin not”?’ Eph 4: 26. True, anger is good when mixed
with holy zeal. Anger is without sin when it is against sin: but to sin in anger,
to speak unadvisedly with the lips, is to have the tongue set on fire of hell. To
bring Scripture to defend any sin is to profane it, and to take God’s name in vain.
(4) That adulterate the word, and wrest it in a wrong sense. Such
are heretics, who put their own gloss upon Scripture, and make it speak that which
the Holy Ghost never meant. As, for instance, when they expound those texts literally,
which were meant figuratively. Thus the Pharisees, because God said in the law,
‘Thou shalt bind them (the commandments) for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall
be as frontlets between thine eyes’ (Deut 6: 8), took it in a literal sense, got
two scrolls of parchment, wherein they wrote the two tables, putting one on their
left arms and binding the other to their eyebrows; and thus wrested that Scripture,
and took God’s name in vain. It was intended to be understood spiritually, of meditating
on God’s law, and putting it in practice. The Papists expound the words, ‘This is
my body,’ literally, of the very body of Christ; as though, when Christ gave the
bread, he had two bodies, one in the bread, and the other out of the bread, whereas
he meant it figuratively as a sign of his body. Again, when those Scriptures are
expounded figuratively and allegorically which the Holy Ghost meant literally. For
example, Christ said to Peter, ‘Launch out into the deep, and make a draught,’ Luke
5: 4. This text was spoken in a plain, literal sense of launching out the ship,
but the Papists take it in a mystic and allegorical sense. ‘It proves,’ say they,
‘that the Pope, who is Peter’s successor, shall launch forth, and catch the ecclesiastical
and political power over the western parts of the world;’ but I think the Papists
have launched out too far beyond the meaning of the text. When men strain their
wits to wrest the word to such a sense as pleases them, they profane God’s word,
and take his name in vain.
[7] When we swear by God’s name. Many seldom mention God’s name
but in oaths, for which sin the land mourns. ‘Swear not at all,’ that is, rashly
and sinfully, so as to take God’s name in vain. Matt 5: 34. Not but in some cases
it is lawful to take an oath before a magistrate. ‘Thou shalt fear the Lord thy
God and serve him, and swear by his name.’ Deut 6: 13. ‘An oath for confirmation
is the end of all strife.’ Heb 6: 16. When Christ says, ‘Swear not at all;’ he forbids
such swearing as takes God’s name in vain. There is a threefold swearing forbidden:
(1) Vain swearing, as when men in their ordinary discourse, let
fly oaths. Some excuse their swearing. It is a coarse wool that will take no dye,
and a bad sin indeed that has no excuse.
Excuse 1. I swear little trifling oaths; as Faith, or, By the
mass. The devil has two false glasses, which he sets before men’s eyes; the one
is a little glass, in which the sin appears so small that it can hardly be seen,
which the devil sets before men’s eyes when they are going to commit sin; the other
is a great magnifying glass, wherein sin appears so big that it cannot be forgiven,
which the devil sets before men’s eyes when they have sinned. Thou that sayest,
sin is small, when God shall open the eye of thy conscience, thou wilt see it to
be great, and be ready to despair. Thou sayest, they are but small oaths; but Christ
forbids vain oaths. ‘Swear not at all.’ If God will reckon with us for idle words,
will not idle oaths be put in the account?
Excuse 2. I swear to the truth. See how this harlot-sin would
paint itself with an excuse. Though it be true, yet, if it be a rash oath, it is
sinful. Besides, he that swears commonly, must sometimes swear to more than is true.
Where much water runs, some gravel or mud will pass along with it; so, where there
is much swearing, some lies will run along with it.
Excuse 3. I shall not be believed unless I seal up my words with
an oath. A man that is honest will be believed without an oath; his bare word carries
authority with it, and is as good as letters testimonial. Again, the more a man
swears, the less others will believe him. Juris credit minus [Less trust is placed
in his oaths. Thou art a swearer. Another thinks an oath weighs very light with
him, and he cares not what he swears to, so that the more he swears the less others
believe him. He will trust thy bond, but not thy oath.
Excuse 4. It is a custom of swearing I have got, and I hope God
will forgive me. Though among men custom has influence, and is pleadable in law,
yet it is not so in the case of sin; here custom is no plea. Thou hast got a habit
of swearing, and canst not leave it off, is this an excuse? Is a thing well done
because it is commonly done? This is so far from being an excuse that it is an aggravation
of sin. As if one that had been accused of killing a man, should plead with the
judge to spare him because it was his custom to murder. Would not this be an aggravation
of the offence? So it is here. Therefore, all excuses for this sin of vain-swearing
are taken away. Dare not to live in this sin, for it is taking God’s name in vain.
(2) Vile swearing, horrid, prodigious oaths not to be named. Swearers,
like mad dogs, fly in the face of heaven; and when they are angered, spue out their
blasphemous venom on God’s sacred majesty. Some in gaming, when things go cross
and the dice runs against them, run against God in oaths and curses. Tell them of
their sin, seek to bring home these asses from going astray, and it is but pouring
oil on the flame; they will swear the more. Augustine says, ‘They do no less sin
who blaspheme Christ now in heaven, than the Jews did who crucified him on earth.’
Swearers profane Christ’s blood, and tear his name. A woman told her husband, that
of her three sons, one of them only was his: the father dying, desired the executors
to find out which was the true natural son, and bequeath all his estate to him.
The father being dead, the executors set up his corpse against a tree and delivered
to every one of these three sons a bow and arrows, telling them, that he who could
shoot nearest the father’s heart should have the whole of the estate. Two sons shot
as near as they could to his heart, but the third felt nature so to work in him,
that he refused to shoot; whereupon the executors judged him to be the true son,
and gave him all the estate. Such as are the true children of God, fear to shoot
at him; but such as are bastards, and not sons, care not though they shoot at him
in heaven with their oaths and curses. That which makes swearing yet more heinous,
is, that when men have resolved upon any wicked action, they bind themselves with
an oath to do it. Such were they who bound themselves with an oath and curse to
kill Paul. Acts 23: 12. To commit sin is bad enough; but to swear to commit sin,
is a high profanation of God’s name, and as it were, calls God to approve our sin.
(3) Forswearing, which is a heaven-daring sin. ‘Ye shall not swear
by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane my name.’ Lev 19: 12. Perjury is
calling God to witness to a lie. It is said of Philip of Macedon, he would swear
and unswear, as might stand best with his interest. ‘Thou shalt swear, The Lord
liveth, in truth, in judgement, and in righteousness.’ Jer 4: 2. In righteousness,
therefore, it must not be an unlawful oath. In judgement therefore it must not be
a rash oath. In truth, therefore, it must not be a false oath. Among the Scythians,
if a man did forswear himself, he was to have his head stricken off; because, if
perjury were allowed, there would be no living in a commonwealth; it would take
away all faith and truth from among men. The perjurer is in as bad a case as the
witch; for, by a false oath, he binds his soul fast to the devil. In forswearing,
or taking a false oath in a court, there are many sins linked together; plurima
peccata in uno [many sins in one]; for, besides taking God’s name in vain, the perjurer
is a thief; by his false oath he robs the innocent of his right; he is a perverter
of justice; he not only sins himself, but occasions the jury to give a false verdict,
and the judge to pass an unrighteous sentence. Surely God’s judgements will find
him out. When God’s flying-roll, or curse, goes over the face of the earth, into
whose house does it enter? ‘Into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name;
and it shall consume the timber and stones thereof.’ Zech 5: 4. Beza relates of
a perjurer, that he had no sooner taken a false oath, than he was immediately struck
with apoplexy, never spake more, and died. Oh, tremble at such horrid impiety!
[8] When we prefix God’s name to any wicked action. Mentioning
God in connection with a wicked design, is taking his name in vain. ‘I pray,’ said
Absalom, ‘let me pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the Lord, in Hebron.’ 2 Sam
15: 7. This pretence of paying his vow made to God, was only to cover his treason.
‘As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet ye shall say, Absalom reigneth;’ chap.
15: 10. When any wicked action is baptised with the name of religion, it is taking
God’s name in vain. Herein the Pope is highly guilty, when he sends out his bulls
of excommunication, or curses against the Christian; he begins with, In nomine Dei
‘in the name of God.’ What a provoking sin is this! It is to do the devil’s work,
and put God’s name to it.
[9] When we use our tongues any way to the dishonour of God’s
name. As when we use railing, or curse in our passions; especially when we wish
a curse upon ourselves if a thing be not so, when we know it to be false. I have
read of one who wished his body might rot, if that which he said was not true; and
soon after his body rotted, and he became a loathsome spectacle.
[10] When we make rash and unlawful vows. It is a good vow when
a man binds himself to do that which the word binds him to; as, if he be sick, he
vows if God restore him, he will live a more holy life. ‘I will pay thee my vows
which my lips have uttered when I was in trouble.’ Psa 66: 13, 14. But Voveri non
debet quod Deo displicet; ‘such a vow should not be made as is displeasing to God;’
as to vow voluntary poverty, as friars; or to vow to live in nunneries. Jephthah’s
vow was rash and unlawful; he vowed to the Lord to sacrifice that to him which he
met with next, and it was his daughter. Judges 11: 31. He did ill to make the vow,
and worse to keep it; he became guilty of the breach of the third and sixth commandments.
[11] When we speak evil of God. ‘The people spake against God.’
Numb 21: 5.
How do we speak against God?
When we murmur at his providences, as if he had dealt hardly with
us. Murmuring accuses God’s justice. ‘Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?’
Gen 18: 25. Murmuring springs from a bitter root, it comes from pride and discontent;
it reproaches God and thus takes his name in vain. It is a sin that God cannot bear.
‘How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me?’ Numb.
14: 27.
[12] When we falsify our promise; as when we say, if God spare
our life we will do a certain thing, and never intend it. Our promise should be
sacred and inviolable; but, if we make a promise, and mention God’s name in it,
but never intend to keep it, it is a double sin; it is telling a lie, and taking
God’s name in vain.
Use. Take heed of taking God’s name in vain in any of these ways.
Remember the combination and threatening in the text, ‘The Lord will not hold him
guiltless.’ Here is a meiosis; less is said, and more intended. ‘He will not hold
him guiltless;’ that is, he will be severely avenged on such a one. ‘The Lord will
not hold him guiltless.’ Here the Lord speaks after the manner of a judge, who holds
the court assize. The judge here, is God himself; the accusers, Satan, and a man’s
own conscience; the charge is, ‘Taking God’s name in vain;’ the accused is found
guilty, and condemned: ‘The Lord will not hold him guiltless.’ Methinks these words,
‘The Lord will not hold him guiltless,’ should put a lock upon our lips, and make
us afraid of speaking anything that may bring dishonour upon God, or may be taking
his name in vain. It may be that men may hold such guiltless, when they curse, swear,
speak irreverently of God, may let them alone, and not punish them. If one takes
away another’s good name, he shall be sure to be punished; but if he takes away
God’s good name, where is he that punishes him? He that robs another of his goods
shall be put to death, but he that robs God of his glory, by oaths and curses, is
spared; but God himself will take the matter into his own hand, and he will punish
him who takes his name in vain.
(1) Sometimes God punishes swearing and blasphemy in this life.
In the county of Samurtia, when there arose a great tempest of thunder and lightning,
a soldier burst forth into swearing; but the tempest tore up a great tree by the
root, which fell upon him, and crushed him to pieces. German history tells of a
youth, who was given to swearing, and inventing new oaths; the Lord sent a cancer
into his mouth, which ate out his tongue and from which he died. If a man blasphemed
God, the Lord caused him to be stoned to death. ‘The Israelitish woman’s son blasphemed
the name of the Lord, and cursed. And Moses spake to the children of Israel, that
they should bring forth him that had cursed, and stone him with stones.’ Lev. 24:
11, 23. Olympias, an Arian bishop, reproached and blasphemed the sacred Trinity;
whereupon he was suddenly struck with three flashes of lighting, which burned him
to death. Felix, an officer of Julia, seeing the holy vessels which were used in
the sacrament, said, in scorn of Christ, ‘See what precious vessels the Son of Mary
is served withal.’ Soon after, he was taken with vomiting of blood from his blasphemous
mouth, of which he died.
(2) If God should not execute judgement on the profaners of his
name in this life, their doom is to come. He will not remit their guilt, but deliver
them to Satan the gaoler, to torment them for ever. If God justify a man, who shall
condemn him? But if God condemn him, who shall justify him? If God lay a man in
prison, where shall he get bail? God will take his full blow at the sinner in hell.
‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’ Heb 10: 31.
2.4 The Fourth Commandment
‘Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou
labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy
God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy
manservant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within
thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that
in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day
and hallowed it. Exod 20: 8-11.
This commandment was engraven in stone by God’s own finger, and
it will be our comfort to have it engraven in our hearts.
The Sabbath-day is set apart for God’s solemn worship; it is his
own enclosure, and must not be alienated to common uses. As a preface to this commandment,
he has put a memento to it, ‘Remember to keep the Sabbath day holy.’ This word,
‘remember,’ shows that we are apt to forget Sabbath holiness; therefore we need
a memorandum to put us in mind of sanctifying the day.
I. There is in these words a solemn command. ‘Remember the Sabbath-day
to keep it holy.’
[1] The matter of it. The sanctifying the Sabbath, which Sabbath
sanctification consists in two things, in resting from our own works, and in a conscientious
discharge of our religious duty.
[2] The persons to whom the command of sanctifying the Sabbath
is given. Either superiors, and they are, more private, as parents and masters;
or more public, as magistrates; or inferiors, as natives, children, and servants,
‘Thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maidservant;’ or foreigners,
‘thy stranger that is within thy gates.’
II. The arguments to obey this commandment of keeping holy the
Sabbath are,
[1] From the rationality of it. ‘Six days shalt thou labour and
do all thy work;’ as if God had said, I am not a hard master, I do not grudge thee
time to look after thy calling, and to get an estate. I have given thee six days,
to do all thy work in, and have taken but one day for myself. I might have reserved
six days for myself, and allowed thee but one; but I have given thee six days for
the works of thy calling, and have taken but one day for my own service. It is just
and rational, therefore, that thou shouldest set this day in a special manner apart
for my worship.
[2] The second argument for sanctifying the Sabbath, is taken
from the justice of it. ‘The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God;’ as
if God had said, The Sabbath-day is my due, I challenge a special right in it, and
no other has any claim to it. He who robs me of this day, and puts it to common
uses, is a sacrilegious person, he steals from the crown of heaven, and I will in
nowise hold him guiltless.
[3] The third argument for sanctifying the Sabbath, is taken from
God’s own observance of it. He ‘rested the seventh day;’ as if the Lord should say,
Will you not follow me as a pattern? Having finished all my works of creation, I
rested the seventh day; so having done all your secular work on the six days, you
should now cease from the labour of your calling, and dedicate the seventh day to
me, as a day of holy rest.
[4] The fourth argument for Sabbath-sanctification, is taken ab
utili, from the benefit which redounds from a religious observation of the Sabbath.
‘The Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it.’ God not only appointed the seventh
day, but he blessed it. It is not only a day of honour to God, but a day of blessing
to us; it is not only a day wherein we give God worship, but a day wherein he gives
us grace. On this day a blessing drops down from heaven. God himself is not benefited
by it, we cannot add one cubit to his essential glory; but we ourselves are benefited.
This day, religiously observed, entails a blessing upon our souls, our estate, and
our posterity. Not keeping it, brings a curse. Jer 17: 27. God curses a man’s blessings.
Mal 2: 2. The bread which he eats is poisoned with a curse; so the conscientious
observation of the Sabbath, brings all manner of blessings with it. These are the
arguments to induce Sabbath-sanctification.
The thing I would have you now observe is, that the commandment
of keeping the Sabbath was not abrogated with the ceremonial law, but is purely
moral, and the observation of it is to be continued to the end of the world. Where
can it be shown that God has given us a discharge from keeping one day in seven?
Why has God appointed a Sabbath?
(1) With respect to himself. It is requisite that God should reserve
one day in seven for his own immediate service, that thereby he might be acknowledged
to be the great Plenipotentiary, or sovereign Lord, who has power over us both to
command worship, and appoint the time when he will be worshipped.
(2) With respect to us. The Sabbath-day is for our interest; it
promotes holiness in us. The business of week-days makes us forgetful of God and
our souls: the Sabbath brings him back to our remembrance. When the falling dust
of the world has clogged the wheels of our affections, that they can scarce move
towards God, the Sabbath comes, and oils the wheels of our affections, and they
move swiftly on. God has appointed the Sabbath for this end. On this day the thoughts
rise to heaven, the tongue speaks of God, and is as the pen of a ready writer, the
eyes drop tears, and the soul burns in love. The heart, which all the week was frozen,
on the Sabbath melts with the word. The Sabbath is a friend to religion; it files
off the rust of our graces; it is a spiritual jubilee, wherein the soul is set to
converse with its Maker.
I should next show you the modes, or manner, how we should keep
the Sabbath day holy; but before I come to that, we have a great question to consider.
How comes it to pass that we do not keep the seventh-day Sabbath
as it was in the primitive institution, but have changed it to another day?
The old seventh-day Sabbath, which was the Jewish Sabbath, is
abrogated, and in the room of it the first day of the week, which is the Christian
Sabbath, succeeds. The morality or substance of the fourth commandment does not
lie in keeping the seventh day precisely, but keeping one day in seven is what God
has appointed.
But how comes the first day in the week to be substituted in the
room of the seventh day?
Not by ecclesiastic authority. ‘The church,’ says Mr Perkins,
‘has no power to ordain a Sabbath.’
(1) The change of the Sabbath from the last day of the week to
the first was by Christ’s own appointment. He is ‘Lord of the Sabbath.’ Mark 2:
28. And who shall appoint a day but he who is Lord of it? He made this day. ‘This
is the day which the Lord has made.’ Psa 118: 24. Arnobius and most expositors understand
it of the Christian Sabbath, which is called the ‘Lord’s-day.’ Rev 1: 10. As it
is called the ‘Lord’s Supper,’ because of the Lord’s instituting the bread and wine
and setting it apart from a common to a special and sacred use; so it is called
the Lord’s-day, because of the Lord’s instituting it, and setting it apart from
common days, to his special worship and service. Christ rose on the first day of
the week, out of the grave, and appeared twice on that day to his disciples, John
20: 19, 26, which was to intimate to them, as Augustine and Athanasius say, that
he transferred the Jewish Sabbath to the Lord’s day.
(2) The keeping of the first day was the practice of the apostles.
‘Upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread,
Paul preached unto them.’ Acts 20: 7; 1 Cor 16: 2. Here was both preaching and breaking
of bread on this day. Augustine and Innocentius, and Isidore, make the keeping of
our gospel Sabbath to be of apostolic sanction, and affirm, that by virtue of the
apostles’ practice, this day is to be set apart for divine worship. What the apostles
did, they did by divine authority; for they were inspired by the Holy Ghost.
(3) The primitive church had the Lord’s-day, which we now celebrate,
in high estimation. It was a great badge of their religion to observe this day.
Ignatius, the most ancient father, who lived in the time of John the apostle, has
these words, ‘Let every one that loveth Christ keep holy the first day of the week,
the Lord’s-day.’ This day has been observed by the church of Christ above sixteen
hundred years, as the learned Bucer notes. Thus you see how the seventh-day Sabbath
came to be changed to the first-day Sabbath.
The grand reason for changing the Jewish Sabbath to the Lord’s-day
is that it puts us in mind of the ‘Mystery of our redemption by Christ.’ The reason
why God instituted the old Sabbath was to be a memorial of the creation; but he
has now brought the first day of the week in its room in memory of a more glorious
work than creation, which is redemption. Great was the work of creation, but greater
was the work of redemption. As it was said, ‘The glory of this latter house shall
be greater than of the former.’ Hag 2: 9. So the glory of the redemption was greater
than the glory of the creation. Great wisdom was seen in making us, but more miraculous
wisdom in saving us. Great power was seen in bringing us out of nothing, but greater
power in helping us when we were worse than nothing. It cost more to redeem than
to create us. In creation it was but speaking a word (Psa 148: 5); in redeeming
there was shedding of blood. 1 Pet 1: 19. Creation was the work of God’s fingers,
Psa 8: 3, redemption was the work of his arm. Luke 1: 51. In creation, God gave
us ourselves; in the redemption, he gave us himself. By creation, we have life in
Adam; by redemption, we have life in Christ. Col 3: 3. By creation, we had a right
to an earthly paradise: by redemption, we have a title to a heavenly kingdom. Christ
might well change the seventh day of the week into the first, as it puts us in mind
of our redemption, which is a more glorious work than creation.
Use one. The use I shall make of this is, that we should have
the Christian Sabbath, we now celebrate, in high veneration. The Jews called the
Sabbath, ‘The desire of days, and the queen of days.’ This day we must call a ‘delight,
the holy of the Lord, honourable.’ Isa 58: 13. Metal that has the king’s stamp upon
it is honourable, and of great value. God has set his royal stamp upon the Sabbath;
it is the Sabbath of the Lord, and this makes it honourable. We should look upon
this day as the best day in the week. What the phoenix is among birds, what the
sun is among planets the Lord’s-day is among other days. ‘This is the day which
the Lord has made.’ Psa 118: 24. God has made all the days, but he has blessed this.
As Jacob got the blessing from his brother, so the Sabbath got the blessing from
all other days in the week. It is a day in which we converse in a special manner
with God. The Jews called the Sabbath ‘a day of light;’ so on this day the Sun of
Righteousness shines upon the soul. The Sabbath is the market-day of the soul, the
cream of time. It is the day of Christ’s rising from the grave, and the Holy Ghost’s
descending upon the earth. It is perfumed with the sweet odour of prayer, which
goes up to heaven as incense. On this day the manna falls, that is angels’ food.
This is the soul’s festival-day, on which the graces act their part: the other days
of the week are most employed about earth, this day about heaven; then you gather
straw, now pearl. Now Christ takes the soul up into the mount, and gives it transfiguring
sights of glory. Now he leads his spouse into the wine-cellar, and displays the
banner of his love. Now he gives her his spiced wine, and the juice of the pomegranate.
Cant 2: 4, 8: 2. The Lord usually reveals himself more to the soul on this day.
The apostle John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s-day. Rev 1: 10. He was carried
up on this day in divine raptures towards heaven. This day a Christian is in the
altitudes; he walks with God, and takes as it were a turn with him in heaven. 1
John 1: 3. On this day holy affections are quickened; the stock of grace is improved;
corruptions are weakened; and Satan falls like lightning before the majesty of the
word. Christ wrought most of his miracles upon the Sabbath; so he does still: dead
souls are raised and hearts of stone are made flesh. How highly should we esteem
and reverence this day! It is more precious than rubies. God has anointed it with
the oil of gladness above its fellows. On the Sabbath we are doing angels’ work,
our tongues are tuned to God’s praises. The Sabbath on earth is a shadow and type
of the glorious rest and eternal Sabbath we hope for in heaven, when God shall be
the temple, and the Lamb shall be the light of it. Rev 21: 22, 23.
Use two. ‘SIX days shalt thou labour.’ God would not have any
live out of a calling: religion gives no warrant for idleness. It is a duty to labour
six days, as well as keep holy rest on the seventh day. ‘We hear that there are
some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all. Now, them that are such,
we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus, that with quietness they work, and eat
their own bread.’ 2 Thess 3: 11. A Christian must not only mind heaven, but his
calling. While the pilot has his eye to the star, he has his hand to the helm. Without
labour the pillars of a commonwealth will dissolve, and the earth, like the sluggard’s
field, will be overrun with briers. Prov 24: 31. Adam in innocence, though monarch
of the world, must not be idle, but must dress and till the ground. Gen 2: 15. Piety
does not exclude industry. Standing water putrifies. Inanimate creatures are in
motion. The sun goes its circuit, the fountain runs, and the fire sparkles. Animate
creatures work. Solomon sends us to the ant and pismire to learn labour. Prov 6:
6; 30: 25. The bee is the emblem of industry; some of the bees trim the honey, others
work the wax, others frame the comb, others lie sentinel at the door of the hive
to keep out the drone. And shall not man much more innate himself to labour? That
law in paradise was never repeated. ‘In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.’
Gen 3: 19. Such professors are to be disliked who talk of living by faith, but live
out of a calling; they are like the lilies which ‘toil not, neither do they spin.’
Matt 6: 28. It is a speech of holy and learned Mr Perkins, ‘Let a man be endowed
with excellent gifts, and hear the word with reverence, and receive the sacrament,
yet if he practice not the duties of his calling, all is but hypocrisy.’ What is
an idle person good for? What benefit is a ship that lies always on the shore? or
armour that hangs up and rusts? To live out of a calling exposes a person to temptation.
Melanchthon calls idleness the Devil’s bath, because he bathes himself with delight
in an idle soul. We do not sow seed in ground when it lies fallow; but Satan sows
most of his seed of temptation in such persons as lie fallow, and are out of a calling.
Idleness is the nurse of vice. Seneca, an old heathen, could say, Nullus mihi per
otium dies exit; ‘No day passes me without some labour.’ An idle person stands for
a cipher in the world, and God writes down no ciphers in the book of life. We read
in Scripture of eating the ‘bread of idleness,’ and drinking the ‘wine of violence.’
Prov 31: 27; 4: 17. It is as much a sin to eat ‘the bread of idleness,’ as to ‘drink
the wine of violence.’ An idle person can give no account of his time. Time is a
talent to trade with, both in our particular and general callings. The slothful
person ‘hides his talent in the earth;’ he does no good; his time is not lived,
but lost. An idle person lives unprofitably, he cumbers the ground. God calls the
slothful servant ‘wicked.’ ‘Thou wicked and slothful servant.’ Matt 25: 26. Draco,
whose laws were written in blood, deprived those of their life who would not work
for their living. In Hetruria they caused such persons to be banished. Idle persons
live in the breach of the commandment, ‘Six days shalt thou labour.’ Let them take
heed they be not banished from heaven. A man may as well go to hell for not working
in his calling, as for not believing.
Having spoken of the reasons of sanctifying the Sabbath I come
now to
III. The manner of sanctifying the Sabbath.
[1] Negatively. We must do no work in it. This is the commandment.
‘In it thou shall do no manner of work.’ God has set apart this day for himself;
therefore we are not to use it in common, by doing any civil work. As when Abraham
went to sacrifice he left his servants and the ass at the bottom of the hill; so,
when we are to worship God on this day, we must leave all worldly business behind,
leave the ass at the bottom of the hill. Gen 22: 5. As Joseph, when he would speak
with his brethren, thrust out the Egyptians, so, when we would converse with God
on this day, we must thrust out all earthly employments. The Lord’s day is a day
of holy rest. All secular work must be forborne and suspended, as it is a profanation
of the day. ‘In those days saw I in Judah some treading winepresses on the Sabbath,
and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes and figs, and all
manner of burdens which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath-day; and I testified
against them. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, “What
evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Sabbath-day?’ ” Neh 13: 15, 17. It
is sacrilege to rob for civil work the time which God has set apart for his worship.
He that devotes any time of the Sabbath to worldly business, is a worse thief than
he who robs on the highway; for the one does but rob man, but the other robs God.
The Lord forbade mamma to be gathered on the Sabbath. Exod 16: 26. One might think
it would have been allowed, as manna was the ‘staff of their life,’ and the time
when it fell was between five and six in the morning, so that they might have gathered
it betimes, and all the rest of the Sabbath might have been employed in God’s worship;
and besides, they needed not to have taken any great journey for it, for it was
but stepping out of their doors, and it fell about their tents: and yet they might
not gather it on the Sabbath; and for purposing only to do it, God was very angry.
‘There went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found
none. And the Lord said, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?’
Exod 16: 27, 28. Surely anointing Christ when he was dead was a commendable work;
but, though Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, had prepared sweet ointments
to anoint the dead body of Christ, they went not to the sepulchre to embalm him
till the Sabbath was past. ‘They rested the Sabbath-day, according to the commandment.’
Luke 23: 56. The hand cannot be busied on the Lord’s-day but the heart will be defiled.
The very heathen, by the light of nature, would not do any secular work in the time
which they had set apart for the worship of their false gods. Clemens Alexandrinus
reports of one of the emperors of Rome, who, on the day of set worship for his gods,
put aside warlike affairs and spent the time in devotion. To do servile work on
the Sabbath shows an irreligious heart, and greatly offends God. To do secular work
on this day is to follow the devil’s slough; it is to debase the soul. God made
this day on purpose to raise the heart to heaven, to converse with him, to do angels’
work; and to be employed in earthly work is to degrade the soul of its honour. God
will not have his day entrenched upon, or defiled in the least thing. The man that
gathered sticks on the Sabbath he commanded to be stoned. Numb. 15: 35. It would
seem a small thing to pick up a few sticks to make a fire; but God would not have
this day violated in the smallest matters. Nay, the work which had reference to
a religious use might not be done on the Sabbath, as the hewing of stones for the
building of the sanctuary. Bezaleel, who was to cut the stones, and carve the timber
out for the sanctuary, must forbear to do it on the Sabbath. Exod 31: 15. A temple
is a place of God’s worship, but it was a sin to build a temple on the Lord’s-day.
This is keeping the Sabbath-day holy negatively, in doing no servile work.
Works of necessity and charity however may be done on this day.
In these cases God will have mercy and not sacrifice. (1) It is lawful to take the
necessary supplies of nature. Food is to the body as oil to the lamp. (2) It is
lawful to do works of mercy, as helping a neighbour when either life or estate are
in danger. Herein the Jews were too nice and precise, who would not suffer works
of charity to be done on the Sabbath. If a man was sick, they thought they might
not on this day use means for his recovery. Christ charges them with being angry
because he had wrought a cure on the Sabbath. John 7: 23. If a house were on fire,
the Jews thought they might not bring water to quench it; if a vessel leaked on
this day, they thought they might not stop it. They were ‘righteous overmuch;’ it
was seeming zeal, but wanted discretion to guide it. Except in these two cases,
of necessity and charity, all secular work is to be suspended and laid aside on
the Lord’s-day. ‘In it thou shalt do no manner of work.’ This arraigns and condemns
many among us who too much foul their fingers with work on that day; some in dressing
great feasts, others in opening their shop-doors, and selling meat on the Sabbath.
The mariner will not put to sea but on the Sabbath, and so runs full sail into the
violation of this command. Others work on this day privately, put up their shop-windows,
and follow their trade within doors; but though they think to hide their sin under
a canopy, God sees it. ‘Whither shall I flee from thy presence?’ ‘The darkness hideth
not from thee.’ Psa 139: 7, 12. Such profane the day, and God will have an action
of trespass against them.
[2] Positively. We keep the Sabbath-day holy, by ‘consecrating
and dedicating’ this day to the ‘service of the high God.’ It is good to rest on
the Sabbath-day from the works of our calling; but if we rest from labour and do
no more, the ox and the ass keep the Sabbath as well as we; for they rest from labour.
We must dedicate the day to God; we must not only ‘keep a Sabbath,’ but ‘sanctify’
a Sabbath. Sabbath-sanctification consists in two things: (1) Solemn preparation
for it. If a prince were to come to your house, what preparation would you make
for his entertainment! You would sweep the house, wash the floor, adorn the room
with the richest tapestry and hangings, that there might be something suitable to
the state and dignity of so great a person. On the blessed Sabbath, God intends
to have sweet communion with you; he seems to say to you, as Christ to Zacchaeus,
‘Make haste and come down, for this day I must abide at thy house.’ Luke 19: 5.
Now, what preparation should you make for entertaining this King of glory? When
Saturday evening approaches, sound a retreat; call your minds off from the world
and summon your thoughts together, to think of the great work of the approaching
day. Purge out all unclean affections, which may indispose you for the work of the
Sabbath. Evening preparation will be like the tuning of an instrument, it will fit
the heart better for the duties of the ensuing Sabbath.
(2) The sacred observation of it. Rejoice at the approach of the
day, as a day wherein we have a prize for our souls, and may enjoy much of God’s
presence. John 8: 56. ‘Abraham rejoiced to see my day.’ So, when we see the light
of a Sabbath shine, we should rejoice, and ‘call the Sabbath a delight:’ this is
the queen of days, which God has crowned with a blessing. Isa 58: 13. As there was
one day in the week on which God rained manna twice as much as upon any other day,
so he rains down the manna of heavenly blessings twice as much on the Sabbath as
on any other. This is the day wherein Christ carries the soul into the house of
wine, and displays the banner of love over it; now the dew of the Spirit falls on
the soul, whereby it is revived and comforted. How many may write the Lord’s day,
the day of their new birth! This day of rest is a pledge and earnest of the eternal
rest in heaven. Shall we not then rejoice at its approach? The day on which the
Sun of Righteousness shines should be a day of gladness.
Get up betides on the Sabbath morning. Christ rose early on this
day, before the sun was up. John 20: 1. Did he rise early to save us, and shall
not we rise early to worship and glorify him? ‘Early will I seek thee.’ Psa 63:
1. Can we be up betimes on other days? The husband man is early at his slough, the
traveller rises early to go his journey, and shall not we, who on this day are travelling
to heaven? Certainly, if we loved God as we should, we should rise on this day betimes,
that we may meet with him whom our souls love. Such as sit up late at work on the
night before, are so buried in sleep, that they will hardly be up betides on a Sabbath
morning.
IV. Having dressed your bodies, you must dress your souls for
hearing the word. As the people of Israel were to wash themselves before the law
was delivered to them, so we must wash and cleanse our souls; and that is done by
reading, meditation, and prayer. Exod 19: 10.
[1] By reading the word. The word is a great means to sanctify
the heart, and bring it into a Sabbath-frame. ‘Sanctify them through thy truth,’
&c. John 17: 17. Read not the word carelessly, but with seriousness and affection;
as the oracle of heaven, the well of salvation, the book of life. David, for its
preciousness, esteemed it above gold; and for its sweetness, above honey. Psa 19:
10. By reading the word aright, our hearts, when dull, are quickened; when hard,
are mollified; when cold and frozen are inflamed; and we can say as the disciples,
‘Did not our heart burn within us?’ Some step out of their bed to hearing. The reason
why many get no more good on a Sabbath by the word preached, is because they did
not breakfast with God in the morning by reading his word.
[2] Meditation. Get upon the mount of meditation, and there converse
with God. Meditation is the soul’s retiring within itself, that, by a serious and
solemn thinking upon God, the heart may be raised up to divine affections. It is
a work fit for the morning of a Sabbath. Meditate on four things.
(1) On the works of creation. This is expressed in the commandment.
“The Lord made heaven and earth, the sea,’ &c. The creation is a looking glass,
in which we see the wisdom and power of God gloriously represented. God produced
this fair structure of the world without any pre-existent matter, and with a word.
‘By the word of the Lord were the heavens made.’ Psa 33: 6. The disciples wondered
that Christ could, with a word, calm the sea, but it was far more astounding with
a word to make the sea. Matt 8: 26. On the Sabbath let us meditate on the infiniteness
of the Creator. Look up to the firmament and see God’s wonders in the deep.’ Psa
107: 24. Look into the earth, where we may behold the nature of minerals, the power
of the loadstone, the virtue of herbs, and the beauty of flowers. By meditating
on these works of creation, so curiously embroidered, we shall learn to admire God
and praise him. ‘O Lord, how manifold are thy works, in wisdom hast thou made them
all.’ Psa 104: 24. By meditating on the works of creation, we shall learn to confide
in God. He who can create, can provide; he that could make us when we were nothing,
can raise us when we are low. ‘Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven
and earth.’ Psa 124: 8.
(2) Meditate on God’s holiness. ‘Holy and reverend is his name.’
Psa 111: 9. ‘Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil.’ Hab 1: 13. God is essentially,
originally, and efficiently holy. A11 the holiness in men and angels is but a crystal
stream that runs from this glorious fountain. God loves holiness because it is his
own image. A king cannot but love to see his own effigies stamped on coin. God counts
holiness his glory, and the most sparkling jewel of his crown. ‘Glorious unholiness.’
Exod 15: 2: Here is meditation fit for the first entrance upon a Sabbath. The contemplation
of this would work in us such a frame of heart as is suitable to a holy God; it
would make us reverence his name and hallow his day. While musing; upon the holiness
of God’s nature, we shall begin to be transformed into his likeness.
(3) Meditate on Christ’s love in redeeming us. Rev 1: 5. Redemption
exceeds creation; the one is a monument of God’s power, the other of his love. Here
is fit work for a Sabbath. Oh, the infinite stupendous love of Christ in raising
poor lapsed creatures from a state of guilt and damnation! That Christ who was God
should die! that this glorious Sun of Righteousness should be in an eclipse! We
can never admire enough this love, no, not in heaven. That Christ should die for
sinners! not sinful angels, but sinful men. That such clods of earth and sin should
be made bright stars of glory! Oh, the amazing love of Christ! This was Illustre amoris
Christi mnemosynum. Brugensis. That Christ should not only die for sinners, but
die as a sinner! ‘He has made him to be sin for us’ 2 Cor 5: 21. He who was among
the glorious persons of the Trinity, ‘was numbered with the transgressors.’ Isa
53: 12. Not that he had sin, but he was like a sinner, having our sins imputed to
him. Sin did not live in him, but it was laid upon him. Here was an hyperbole of
love enough to strike us with astonishment. That Christ should redeem us, when he
could not expect to gain anything, or to be advantaged at all by us! Men will not
lay out their money upon purchase unless it will turn to their profit; but what
benefit could Christ expect in purchasing and redeeming us? We were in such a condition
that we could neither deserve nor recompense Christ’s love. We could not deserve
it; for we were in our blood. Ezek 16: 6. We had no spiritual beauty to tempt him.
Nay, we were not only in our blood, but we were in arms against him. ‘When we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son;’ Rom 5: 10. When he
was shedding his blood, we were spitting out poison. As we could not deserve, so
neither could we recompense it. After he had died for us, we could not so much as
love him, till he made us love him. We could give him nothing in lieu of his love.
‘Who has first given to him?’ Rom 11: 35. We were fallen into poverty. If we have
any beauty, it is from him, ‘It was perfect through my comeliness which I had put
upon thee.’ Ezek 16: 14. If we bring forth any good fruit, it is not of our own
growth, it comes from him, the true vine. ‘From me is thy fruit found.’ Hos 14:
8. It was nothing but pure love for Christ to lay out his blood to redeem such as
he could not expect to be really bettered by. That Christ should die so willingly!
‘I lay down my life.’ John 10: 17. The Jews could not have taken it away if he had
not laid it down. He could have called to his Father for legions of angels to be
his life-guard; but what need for even that, when his own Godhead could have defended
himself from all assaults? He laid down his life. The Jews did not so much thirst
for his death, as he thirsted for our redemption. ‘I have a baptism to be baptised
with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished?’ Luke 12: 50. He called his
sufferings a baptism; he was to be baptised and sprinkled with his own blood; and
he thought the time long before he suffered. To show Christ’s willingness to die,
his sufferings are called an offering. ‘Through the offering of the body of Jesus.’
Heb 10: 10. His death was a free-will offering. That Christ should not grudge nor
think much of all his sufferings! Though he was scourged and crucified, he was well
contented with what he had done, and, if it were needful, he would do it again.
‘He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.’ Isa 53: 11. As
the mother who has had hard labour, does not repent of her pangs when she sees a
child brought forth, but is well contented; so Christ, though he had hard travail
upon the cross, does not think much of it; he is not troubled, but thinks his sweat
and blood well bestowed, because he sees the man-child of redemption brought forth
into the world. That Christ should make redemption effectual to some, and not to
others! Here is surprising love. Though there is sufficiency in his merits to save
all, yet some only partake of their saving virtue; all do not believe. ‘There are
some of you that believe not.’ John 6: 64. Christ does not pray for all. John 17:
9. Some refuse him. This is ‘the stone which the builders refused.’ Psa 118: 22.
Others deride him. Luke 16: 14. Others throw off his yoke. ‘We will not have this
man to reign over us.’ Luke 19: 14. SO that all have not the benefit of salvation
by him. Herein appears the distinguishing love of Christ, that the virtue of his
death should reach some, and not others. ‘Not many wise men after the flesh, not
many mighty, not many noble are called.’ 1 Cor 1: 26. That Christ should pass by
many of birth and parts, and that the lot of free grace should fall upon thee; that
he should sprinkle his blood upon thee; ‘Oh, the depth of the love of Christ!’ That
Christ should love us with such a transcendent love! The apostle calls it ‘Love
which passeth knowledge.’ Eph 3: 19. That he should love us more than the angels.
He loves them as his friends, but believers as his spouse. He loves them with such
a kind of love as God the Father bears to him. ‘As the Father has loved me, so have
I loved you.’ John 15: 9. Oh, what an hyperbole of love does Christ show in redeeming
us! That Christ’s love in our redemption should be everlasting! ‘Having loved his
own, he loved them unto the end.’ John 13: 1. As Christ’s love is matchless, so
it is endless. The flower of his love is sweet; and that which makes it sweeter
is that it never dies. His love is eternized. Jer 31: 3. He will never divorce his
elect spouse. The failings of his people cannot quite take off his love; they may
eclipse it, but not wholly remove it; their failings may make Christ angry with
them, but not hate them. Every failing does not break the marriagebond. Christ’s
love is not like the saint’s love. They sometimes have strong affections towards
him, at other times the fit is off, and they find little or no love stirring in
them; but it is not so with Christ’s love to them, it is a love of eternity. When
the sunshine of Christ’s electing love is once risen upon the soul, it never finally
sets. Death may take away our life from us, but not Christ’s love. Behold here a
rare subject for meditation on a Sabbath morning. The meditation of Christ’s wonderful
love in redeeming us would work in us a Sabbath-frame of heart.
It would melt us in tears for our spiritual unkindness, that we
should sin against so sweet a Saviour; that we should be no more affected with his
love, but requite evil for good; that like the Athenians, who, notwithstanding all
the good service Aristides had done them, banished him out of their city, we should
banish him from our temple; that we should grieve him with our pride, rash anger,
unfruitfulness, animosities, and strange factions. Have we none to abuse but our
friend? Have we nothing to kick against but the bowels of our Saviour? Did not Christ
suffer enough upon the cross, but we must needs make him suffer more? Do we give
him more ‘gall and vinegar to drink?’ Oh, if anything can dissolve the heart in
sorrow, and melt the eyes to tears, it is unkindness offered to Christ. When Peter
thought of Christ’s love to him, how he had made him an apostle, and revealed his
bosom-secrets to him, and taken him to the mount of transfiguration, and yet that
he should deny him; it broke his heart with sorrow; ‘he went out and wept bitterly.’
Matt 26: 75. What a blessed thing is it to have the eyes dropping tears on a Sabbath!
and nothing would sooner fetch tears than to meditate on Christ’s love to us, and
our unkindness to him.
Meditating on a Lord’s-day morning on Christ’s love, would kindle
love in our hearts to him. How can we look on his bleeding and dying for us and
our hearts not be warmed with love to him? Love is the soul of religion, the purest
affection. It is not rivers of oil, but sparks of love that Christ values. And sure,
as David said, ‘While I was musing the fire burned’ (Psa 39: 3), so, while we are
musing of Christ’s love in redeeming us, the fire of our love will burn towards
him; and then the Christian is in a blessed Sabbath-frame, when, like a seraphim,
he is burning in love to Christ.
(4) On a Sabbath morning meditate on the glory of heaven. Heaven
is the extract and essence of happiness. It is called a kingdom. Matt 25: 34. A
kingdom for its riches and magnificence. It is set forth by precious stones, and
gates of pearl. Rev 21: 19, 21. There is all that is truly glorious; transparent
light, perfect love, unstained honour, unmixed joy; and that which crowns the joy
of the celestial paradise is eternity. Suppose earthly kingdoms were more glorious
than they are, their foundations of gold, their walls of pearl, their windows of
sapphire, yet they are corruptible; but the kingdom of heaven is eternal; those
rivers of pleasure run ‘for evermore.’ Psa 16: 11. That wherein the essence of glory
consists, and makes heaven to be heaven, is the immediate sight and fruition of
the blessed God. ‘I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.’ Psa 17:
15. Oh, think of the Jerusalem above!
This is proper for a Sabbath. The meditation of heaven would raise
our hearts above the world. oh, how would earthly things disappear and shrink into
nothing, if our minds were mounted above visible things, and we had a prospect of
glory! How would the meditation of heaven make us heavenly in our Sabbath exercises!
It would quicken affection, would add wings to devotion, and cause us to be ‘in
the Spirit on the Lord’s-day.’ Rev 1: 10. How vigorously does he serve God who has
a crown of glory always in his eye!
[3] We dress our souls on a Sabbath-morning by prayer; ‘When thou
prayest, enter into thy closet,’ &c. Matt 6: 6. Prayer sanctifies a Sabbath.
(1) The things we should pray for in the morning of the Sabbath.
Let us beg a blessing upon the word which is to be preached; that it may be a savour
of life to us; that by it our minds may be more illuminated, our corruptions more
weakened, and our stock of grace more increased. Let us pray that God’s special
presence may be with us, that our hearts may burn within us while God speaks, that
we may receive the word into meek and humble hearts, and that we may submit to it,
and bring forth fruits. James 1: 21. Nor should we only pray for ourselves, but
for others.
Pray for him who dispenses the word; that his tongue may be touched
with a coal from God’s altar; that God would warm his heart who is to help to warm
others. Your prayers may be a means to quicken the minister. Some complain they
find no benefit by the word preached; perhaps they did not pray for their minister
as they should. Prayer is like the whetting and sharpening of an instrument, which
makes it cut better. Pray with and for your family. Yea, pray for all the congregations
that meet on this day in the fear of the Lord; that the dew of the Spirit may fall
with the manna of the word; that some souls may be converted, and others strengthened;
that gospel ordinances may be continued, and have no restraint put upon them. These
are the things we should pray for. The tree of mercy will not drop its fruit, useless
it be shaken by the hand of prayer.
(2) The manner of our prayer. It is not enough to say a prayer;
to pray in a dull, cold manner, which asks God to deny; but we must pray with reverence,
humility, fervency, and hope in God’s mercy. Luke 22: 44. Christ prayed more earnestly.
That we may pray with more fervency, we must pray with a sense of our wants. He
who is pinched with wants, will be earnest in craving alms. He prays most fervently
who prays most feelingly. This is to sanctify the morning of a Sabbath; and it is
a good preparation for the word preached. When the ground is broken up by the slough,
it is fit to receive the seed; when the heart has been broken by prayer, it is fit
to receive the seed of the preached word.
V. Having thus dressed your souls on a morning, for the further
sanctification of the Sabbath, address yourself to the hearing of the preached word.
When you sit down in your seat, lift up your eyes to heaven for
a blessing upon the word to be dispensed; for you must know that the word preached
does not work as physic, by its own inherent virtue, but by a virtue from heaven,
and the co-operation of the Holy Ghost. Therefore put up a short ejaculatory prayer
for a blessing upon the word, that it may be made effectual to you.
The word being begun to be preached, hear it with reverence and
holy attention. ‘A certain woman, named Lydia, attended unto the things which were
spoken of Paul.’ Acts 16: 14. Constantine, the emperor, was noted for his reverent
attention to the word. Christ taught daily in the temple: and ‘all the people were
very attentive to hear him.’ Luke 19: 48. In the Greek, ‘they hung upon his lip.’
Could we tell men of a rich purchase, they would diligently attend; and should they
not much more, when the gospel of grace is preached unto them? That we may sanctify
and hallow the Sabbath by attentive hearing, beware of these two things in hearing:
distraction and drowsiness.
[1] Distraction. ‘That ye may attend open the Lord without distraction.’
1 Cor 7: 35. It is said of Bernard, that when he came to the church-door, he would
say, ‘Stay here all my earthly thoughts.’ So should we say to ourselves, when we
are at the door of God’s house, ‘Stay here all my worldly cares and wandering cogitations;
I am now going to hear what the Lord will say to me.’ Distraction hinders devotion.
The mind is tossed with vain thoughts, and diverted from the business in hand. It
is hard to make a quicksilver heart fix. Jerome complains of himself, ‘Sometimes
when I am about God’s service, per porticus diambulo, I am walking in the galleries,
and sometimes casting up accounts.’ How often in hearing the word, the thoughts
dance up and down; and, when the eye is upon the minister, the mind is upon other
things. Distracted hearing is far from sanctifying the Sabbath. It is very sinful
to give way to vain thoughts at this time; because, when we are hearing the word,
we are in God’s special presence. To do any treasonable action in the king’s presence
is high great impudence. ‘Yea, in my house have I found their wickedness.’ Jer 23:
11. So the Lord may say, ‘In my house, while they are hearing my word, I have found
wickedness; they have wanton eyes, and their soul is set on vanity.’
Whence do these roving and distracting thoughts in hearing come?
(1) Partly from Satan. The devil is sure to be present in our
assemblies. If he cannot hinder us from hearing, he will hinder us in hearing. ‘When
the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, Satan came also among
them.’ Job 1: 6. The devil sets vain objects before the fancy to cause a diversion.
His great design is to render the word fruitless. As when one is writing, another
jogs him that he cannot write even, so when we are hearing, the devil will be jogging
us with a temptation, that we should not attend to the word preached. ‘He shewed
me Joshua the high-priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing
at his right hand to resist him.’ Zech 3: 1.
(2) These wandering thoughts in hearing come partly from ourselves.
We must not lay all the blame upon Satan.
They come from the eye. A wandering eye causes wandering thoughts.
As a thief may come into the house at a window, so vain thoughts may be at the eye.
As we are bid to keep our feet when we enter into the house of God (Eccl 5: 1),
so we had need make a covenant with our eyes, that we be not distracted by beholding
other objects. Job 31: 1.
Wandering thoughts in hearing rise out of the heart. These sparks
come out of our own furnace. Vain thoughts are the mud which the heart, as from
a troubled sea, casts up. ‘For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil
thoughts.’ Mark 7: 21. As the foulness of the stomach sends up fumes into the head,
so the corruption of the heart sends up evil thoughts into the mind.
Distracted thoughts in hearing proceed from an evil habit. We
inure ourselves to vain thoughts at other times, and therefore we cannot hinder
them on a Sabbath. Habit is a second nature. ‘Can the Ethiopian change his skin,
or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil?’
Jer 13: 23. He that is used to bad company, knows not how to leave it; so such as
have vain thoughts to keep them company all the week, know not how to get rid of
them on the Sabbath. Let me show you how evil these vain distracting thoughts in
hearing are: —
[1] To have the heart distracted in hearing, is a disrespect to
God’s omniscience. God is an all-seeing Spirit; and thoughts speak louder in his
ears than words do in ours. ‘He declareth unto man what is his thought.’ Amos 4:
13. To make no conscience of wandering thoughts in hearing, is an affront to God’s
omniscience, as if he knew not our heart, or did not hear the language of our thoughts.
[2] To give way to wandering thoughts in hearing is hypocrisy.
We pretend to hear what God says, and our minds are quite upon another thing. We
present God with our bodies, but do not give him our hearts. Hos 7: 11. This hypocrisy
God complains of. ‘This people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips
do honour me, but have removed their hearts far from me.’ Isa 29: 13. This is to
prevaricate and deal falsely with God.
[3] Vain thoughts in hearing discover much want of love to God.
Did we love him we should listen to his words as oracles, and write them upon the
table of our heart. Prov 3: 3. When a friend whom we love speaks to us, and gives
us advice, we attend with seriousness, and suck in every word. Giving our thoughts
leave to ramble in holy duties, shows a great defect in our love to God.
[4] Vain impertinent thoughts in hearing defile an ordinance.
They are as dead flies in the box of ointment. When a string of a lute is out of
tune, it spoils the music; so distraction of thought puts the mind out of tune,
and makes our services sound harsh and unpleasant. Wandering thoughts poison a duty,
and turn it into sin. ‘Let his prayer become sin.’ Psa 109: 7. What can be worse
than to have a man’s praying and hearing of the word become sin? Would it not be
sad, if the meat we eat should increase bad humours? How much more when hearing
the word, which is the food of the soul, is turned into sin!
[5] Vain thoughts in hearing offend God. If the king were speaking
to one of his subjects, and he should not give heed to what the king says, but be
thinking on another business, or playing with a feather, would not the king be provoked?
So, when we are in God’s presence, and he is speaking to us in his word, and we
mind not much what he says, but our hearts go after covetousness, will it not offend
God to be thus slighted? Ezek 33: 31. He has pronounced a curse upon such. ‘Cursed
be the deceiver, which has in his flock a male, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a
corrupt thing.’ Mal 1: 14. To have strong lively affections is to have a male in
the flock; but to hear the word with distraction, is to give God duties fly-blown
with vain thoughts, and to offer to the Lord a corrupt thing, which brings a curse.
‘Cursed be the deceiver.’
[6] Vain thoughts in hearing, when allowed and not resisted, make
way for hardening the heart. A stone in the heart is worse than in the kidneys.
Distracted thoughts in hearing do not better the heart, but harden it. Vain thoughts
take away the holy awe of God which should be upon the heart; they make conscience
less tender, and hinder the efficacy the word should have upon the heart.
[7] Vain and distracting thoughts rob us of the comfort of an
ordinance. A gracious soul often meets with God in the sanctuary, and can say, ‘I
found him whom my soul loveth.’ Cant 3: 4. He is like Jonathan, who, when he had
tasted the honey on the rod, had his eyes enlightened. But vain thoughts hinder
the comfort of an ordinance, as a black cloud hides the warm comfortable beams of
the sun. Will God speak peace to us when our minds are wandering and our thoughts
are travelling to the ends of the earth? Prov 17: 24. If ever you would hear the
word with attention, do as Abraham when he drove away the fowls from the sacrifice.
Gen 15: 2. When you find these excursions and sinful wanderings in hearing, labour
to drive away the fowls; get rid of these vain thoughts; they are vagrants, and
must not be entertained.
How shall we get rid of these vagabond thoughts?
(1) Pray and watch against them. (2) Let the sense of God’s omniscient
eye overawe your hearts. The servant will not sport in his master’s presence. (3)
Labour for a holy frame of heart. Were the heart more spiritual, the mind would
be less feathery. (4) Bring more love to the word. We fix our minds upon that which
we love. He that loves his pleasures and recreations, fixes his mind upon them,
and can follow them without distraction. Were our love more set upon the preached
word, our minds would be more fixed upon it; and surely there is enough to make
us love the word preached; for it is the word of life, the inlet to knowledge, the
antidote against sin, the quickener of all holy affections. It is the true manna,
which has all sorts of sweet tastes in it; the pool of Bethesda, in which the rivers
of life spring forth to heal the broken in heart; and a sovereign elixir or cordial
to revive the sorrowful spirit. Get love to the word preached, and you will not
be so distracted in hearing. What the heart delights in, the thoughts dwell upon.
[2] Take heed of drowsiness in hearing. Drowsiness shows much
irreverence. How lively are many when they are about the world, but in the worship
of God how drowsy, as if the devil had given them opium to make them sleep! A drowsy
feeling here is very sinful. Are you not in prayer asking pardon of sin? Will the
prisoner fall asleep when he is begging pardon? In the preaching of the word, is
not the bread of life broken to you? and will a man fall asleep over his food? Which
is worse, to stay from a sermon, or sleep at a sermon? While you slept, perhaps
the truth was delivered which might have converted your souls. Besides, sleeping
is very offensive in a holy assembly; it not only grieves the Spirit of God, but
makes the hearts of the righteous sad. Ezek 13: 22. It troubles them to see any
show such contempt of God and his worship; to see them busy in the shop, but drowsy
in the temple. Therefore, as Christ said, ‘Could ye not watch one hour?’ so, can
ye not wake one hour? Matt 26: 40. I deny not but a child of God may sometimes,
through weakness and indisposition of body, drop asleep at a sermon, but not voluntarily
or ordinarily. The sun may be in an eclipse, but not often. If sleeping be customary
and allowed, it is a very bad sign, and a profanation of the ordinance. A good remedy
against drowsiness is to use a spare diet upon the Sabbath. Such as indulge their
appetite too much on a Sabbath, are fitter to sleep on a couch than pray in the
temple. That you may throw off distracting thoughts and drowsiness on the Lord’s-day,
and may hear the word with reverend attention, consider —
(1) It is God that speaks to us in his word; therefore the preaching
of the word is called the ‘breath of his lips.’ Isa 11: 4. Christ is said now to
speak to us ‘from heaven,’ as a king speaks in his ambassador. Heb 12: 25. Ministers
are but pipes and organs, it is the Spirit of the living God that breathes in them.
When we come to the word, we should think within ourselves, God is speaking in this
preacher. The Thessalonians heard the word Paul preached, as if God himself had
spoken unto them. ‘When ye received the word of God, which ye heard of us, ye received
it not as the word of men, but (as it is in truth) the word of God.’ 1 Thess 2:
13. When Samuel knew it was the Lord that spake to him, he lent his ear. 1 Sam 3:
10. If we do not regard God when he speaks to us, he will not regard us when we
pray to him.
(2) Consider how serious and weighty the matters delivered to
us are. Moses said, ‘I call heaven and earth to record this day, that I have set
before you life and death.’ Deut 30: 19. Can men be regardless of the word, or drowsy
when the weighty matters of eternity are set before them? We preach faith, and holiness
of life, and the day of judgement and eternal retribution. Here life and death are
set before you; and does not all this call for serious attention? If a letter were
read to one of special business, wherein his life and estate were concerned, would
he not be very serious in listening to it? In the preaching of the word your salvation
is concerned; and if ever you would attend, it should be now. ‘It is not a vain
thing for you; because it is your life.’ Deut 32: 47.
(3) To give way to vain thoughts and drowsiness in hearing, gratifies
Satan. He knows that not to mind a duty, is all one in religion as not to do it.
‘What the heart does not do, is not done.’ Therefore Christ says of some, ‘Hearing,
they hear not.’ Matt 13: 13. How could that be? Because, though the word sounded
in their ear, yet they minded not what was said to them, their thoughts were upon
other things; therefore, it was all as one as if they did not hear. Does it not
please Satan to see men come to the word, and as good stay away? They are haunted
with vain thoughts; they are taken off from the duty while they are in it; their
body is in the assembly, their heart in their shop. ‘Hearing, they hear not.’
(4) Each Sabbath may be the last we shall ever keep; we may go
from the place of hearing to the place of judging; and shall not we give reverend
attention to the word? Did we think when we come into God’s house ‘Perhaps this
will be the last time that ever God will counsel us about our souls, and before
another sermon death’s alarm will sound in our ears; with what attention and devotion
should we feel, and our affections would be all on fire in hearing!
(5) You must give an account for every sermon you hear. Redde
rationem: ‘Give an account of thy stewardship.’ Luke 16: 2. So will God say, ‘Give
an account of thy hearing. Hast thou been affected with the word? Hast thou profited
by it?’ How can we give a good account, if we have been distracted in hearing, and
have not taken notice of what has been said to us? The judge to whom we must give
an account is God. Were we to give account to man, we might falsify accounts; but
we must give an account to God. Nec donis corrumpitur, nec blanditiis fallitur.
Bernard. ‘He is so just a God that he cannot be bribed, and so wise that he cannot
be deceived.’ Therefore, having to give an account to such an impartial Judge, how
should we observe every word preached, remembering the account! Let all this make
us shake off distraction and drowsiness in hearing, and have our ears chained to
the word.
VI. IN order to hear the word aright, let the following things
be attended to: —
[1] Lay aside those dispositions which may render the preached
word ineffectual. As,
(1) Curiosity. Some go to hear the word preached, not so much
to get grace, as to enrich themselves with notions: having ‘itching ears.’ 2 Tim
4: 3. Augustine confesses that, before his conversion, he went to hear Ambrose for
his eloquence rather than for the spirituality of the matter. ‘Thou art unto them
as a very lovely song of one that has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an
instrument.’ Ezek 33: 32. Many go to the word to feast their ears only; they like
the melody of the voice, the mellifluous sweetness of the expression, and the novelty
of the opinions. Acts 17: 21. This is to love the garnishing of the dish more than
the food; it is to desire to be pleased rather than edified. Like a woman that paints
her face, but neglects her health — they paint and adorn themselves with curious
speculations, but neglect their soul’s health. This hearing neither sanctifies the
heart nor the Sabbath.
(2) Lay aside prejudice. Prejudice is sometimes against the truths
preached. The Sadducees were prejudiced against the doctrine of the resurrection.
Luke 20: 27. Sometimes prejudice is against the person preaching. ‘There is one
Micaiah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him.’ 1 Kings 22: 8. This
hinders the power of the word. If a patient has an ill opinion of his physician,
he will not take any of his medicines, however good they may be. Prejudice in the
mind is like an obstruction in the stomach, which hinders the nutritive virtue of
the meat. It poisons the word, and causes it to lose its efficacy.
(3) Lay aside covetousness. Covetousness is not only getting worlds
gain unjustly, but loving it inordinately. This is a great hindrance to the preached
word. The seed which fell among thorns was choked, Matt 13: 22; a fit emblem of
the word when preached to a covetous hearer. The covetous man is thinking on the
world when he is hearing; his heart is in his shop. ‘They sit before thee as my
people, and they hear thy words, but their heart goes after their covetousness.’
Ezek 33: 31. A covetous hearer derides the word. ‘The Pharisees, who were covetous,
heard all these things, and they derided him.’ Luke 16: 14.
(4) Lay aside partiality. Partiality in hearing is, when we like
to hear some truths preached, but not all. We love to hear of heaven, but not of
self-denial; of reigning with Christ, but not of suffering with him; of the more
facile duties of religion, but not those which are more knotty and difficult; as
mortification, laying the axe to the root, and hewing down our beloved sin. ‘Speak
smooth things’ (Isa 30: 10), such as may not grate upon the conscience. Many like
to hear of the love of Christ, but not of loving their enemies; they like the comforts
of the word, but not its reproofs. Herod heard John the Baptist gladly; he liked
many truths, but not when he spake against his incest.
(5) Lay aside censoriousness. Some, instead of judging themselves
for sin, sit as judges upon the preacher; his sermon had either too much gall in
it, or it was too long. They would sooner censure a sermon than practice it. God
will judge the judger. Matt 7: 1.
(6) Lay aside disobedience. ‘All day long I have stretched forth
my hands unto a disobedient people.’ Rom 10: 21. It is said of the Jews that God
stretched out his hands in the preaching of the word, but they rejected Christ.
Let there be none among you that wilfully refuse the counsels of the word. It is
sad to have an adder’s ear and an adamant heart. Zech 7: 11, 12. If, when God speaks
to us in his word, we are deaf, when we speak to him in prayer, he will be dumb.
[2] If you would hear the word aright, have good ends in hearing.
‘Come to the word to be made better.’ Some have no other end in hearing but because
it is in fashion, or to gain repute, or stop the mouth of conscience; but come to
the word to be made more holy. There is a great difference between one who goes
to a garden for flowers to wear in her bosom, and another that goes for flowers
to make syrups and medicines. We should go to the word for medicine to cure us;
as Naaman the Syrian went to Jordan to be healed of his leprosy. ‘Desire the sincere
milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.’ 1 Pet 2: 2. Go to the word to be changed
into its similitude. As the seal leaves its print upon the wax, so labour that the
word preached may leave the print of its own holiness upon your heart.
Labour that the ‘word’ may have such a virtue in you, as the water
of jealousy, to kill and make fruitful; that it may kill your sins, and make your
souls fruitful in grace. Numb 5: 27.
[3] If you would hear the word aright, go to it with delight.
The word preached is a feast of fat things. With what delight do men go to a feast!
The word preached anoints the blind eye; mollifies the rocky heart; it beats off
our fetters, and turns us from the ‘power of Satan unto God.’ Acts 26: 18. The word
is the seed of regeneration, and the engine of salvation. James 1: 18. Hear the
word with delight and complacency. ‘Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and
thy word was the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.’ Jer 15: 16. ‘How sweet are thy
words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth.’ Psa 119: 103. Love the
word that comes most home to the conscience; bless God when your corruptions have
been met with, when the sword of the Spirit has divided between you and your sins.
Who cares for the physic which will not work?
[4] If you would hear the word aright, mix it with faith. Believe
the truth of the word preached, that it is the word by which you must be judged.
Not only give credence to the word preached, but apply it to your own souls. Faith
digests the word, and turns it into spiritual nourishment. Many hear the word, but
it may be said of them, as in Psa 106: 24 ‘They believed not his word.’ As Melanchthon
once said to some Italians ‘Ye Italians worship God in the bread, when ye do not
believe him to be in heaven;’ so, many hear God’s words, but do not believe that
God is; they question the truth of his oracles. If we do not mix faith with the
word, it is like leaving out the chief ingredient in a medicine, which makes it
ineffectual. Unbelief hardens men’s hearts against the word. ‘Divers were hardened,
and believed not.’ Acts 19: 9. Men hear many truths delivered concerning the preciousness
of Christ, the beauty of holiness, and the felicity of a glorified estate; but,
if through unbelief and atheism, they question these truths, we may as well speak
to stones and pillars of the church as to them. That word which is not believed,
can never be practised. Ubi male creditur, ibi nec bene vivitur [When belief is
unstable, conduct also wavers]. Jerome. Unbelief makes the word preached of no effect.
‘The word preached did not profit, not being mixed with faith in them that heard
it.’ Heb 4: 2. The word to an unbeliever is like a cordial put into a dead man’s
mouth, which loses all its virtue. If there be any unbelievers in our congregations,
what shall ministers say of them to God at the last day? Lord, we have preached
to the people thou sentest us to, we have showed them our commission, we have declared
unto them thy whole counsel, but they have not believed a word we spake. We told
them what would be the fruit of sin, but they would not heed. They would drink their
sugared draught, though there was death in the cup. Lord, we are free from their
blood. God forbid that ministers should ever have to make this report to him of
their people. But this they will be forced to do if their hearers live and die in
unbelief. Would you sanctify a Sabbath by hearing the word aright? Hear it with
faith. The apostle puts the two together, ‘belief and salvation.’ ‘We are of them
that believe to the saving of the soul.’ Heb 10: 39.
[5] If you would hear the word aright, hear it with meek spirits.
James 1: 21. Receive the word in mansuetudine, ‘with meekness’. Meekness is a submissive
frame of heart to the word. Contrary to this meekness is fierceness of spirit, when
men rise up in rage against the word; as if the patient should be angry with the
physician when he gives him a medicine to purge out his bad humours. ‘When they
heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and gnashed on him [Stephen] with
their teeth.’ Acts 7: 54. ‘Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison
house.’ 2 Chron 16: 10. Pride and guilt make men fret at the word. What made Asa
enraged but pride? He was a king, and thought he was too good to be told of his
sin. What made Cain angry when God said to him, ‘Where is Abel, thy brother?’ He
replied, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ What made him so touchy but guilt? He had imbrued
his hands in his brother’s blood. If you would hear the word aright, lay aside your
passions. ‘Receive the word with meekness;’ get humble hearts to submit to the truths
delivered. God takes the meek person for his scholar. ‘The meek will he teach his
way.’ Psa 25: 9. Meekness makes the word preached to be an ‘ingrafted word.’ James
1: 21. A good scion grafted in a bad stock changes the nature of it, and makes it
bear good and generous fruit; so, when the word preached is grafted into men’s hearts,
it sanctifies them and makes them bring forth the sweet fruits of righteousness.
By meekness it becomes an ingrafted word.
[6] If you would hear the word aright, be not only attentive,
but retentive. Lay it up in your memories and hearts. The seed ‘on the good ground
are they, which, having heard the word, keep it.’ Luke 8: 15. The Greek word for
‘to keep,’ signifies to hold the word fast, that it does not run from us. If the
seed be not kept in the ground, but is presently washed away, it is sown to little
purpose; so if the word preached be not kept in your memories and hearts, it is
preached in vain. Many persons have memories like leaky vessels. If the word goes
out as fast as it comes in, how can it profit? If a treasure be put in a chest and
the chest be not locked, it may easily be taken out; so a bad memory is a chest
without a lock, out of which the devil can easily take all the treasure. ‘Then comes
the devil and taketh away the word out of their hearts.’ Luke 8: 12. Labour to keep
in memory the truths you hear. The things we esteem are not easily forgotten. ‘Can
a maid forget her ornaments or a bride her attire?’ Jer 2: 32. Did we prize the
word more, we should not forget it so soon. If meat does not stay in the stomach,
but rises up as fast as we eat it, it cannot nourish; so, if the word stays not
in the memory, but is presently gone, it can do the soul but little good.
[7] If you would hear aright, practice what you hear. Practice
is the life of all. ‘Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have
right to the tree of life.’ Rev 22: 14. Hearing only will be no plea at the day
of judgement — merely to say, ‘Lord, I have heard many sermons.’ God will say, ‘What
fruits of obedience have ye brought forth?’ The word preached is not only to inform
you but reform you; not only to mend your sight, but to mend your pace in the way
to heaven. A good hearer opens and shuts to God as the heliotrope to the sun.
(1) If you do not hear the word to practice it, you lose all your
labour. How many a weary step have you taken, your body has been crowded, and your
spirit faint, if you are not bettered by hearing! If you are as proud, as vain,
and as earthly as ever, all your hearing is lost. You would be loath to trade in
vain, and why not to hear sermons in vain? ‘Why then labour I in vain?’ Job 9: 29.
Put this question to your own soul: Why labour I in vain? Why do I take all these
pains to hear, and yet have not grace to practice it? I am as bad as ever! Why then
do I labour in vain?
(2) If you hear the word, and are not bettered by it, you are
like the salamander, no hotter in the fire; and your hearing will increase your
condemnation. ‘That servant which knew his lord’s will, neither did according to
his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.’ Luke 12: 47. We pity such as know
not where to hear; it will be worse with such as care not how they hear. To graceless
disobedient hearers, every sermon will be a faggot to heat hell. It is sad to go
loaded to hell with ordinances. Oh, beg the Spirit to make the word preached effectual!
Ministers can but speak to the ear, the Spirit speaks to the heart. ‘While Peter
spake, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.’ Acts 10: 44.
[8] Having heard the word in a holy and spiritual manner, for
the further sanctification of the Sabbath, confer with the word. We are forbidden
on this day to speak our own words, but we must speak of God’s word. Isa 58: 13.
Speak of the sermons as you sit together; which is one part of sanctifying the Sabbath.
Good discourse brings holy truths into our memories, and fastens them upon our hearts.
‘Then they that feared the Lord, spake often one to another.’ Mal 3: 16. There is
great power and efficacy in good discourse. ‘How forcible are right words!’ Job
6: 25. By holy conference on a Sabbath, one Christian helps to warm another when
he is frozen, and to strengthen another when he is weak. Latimer confessed he was
much furthered in religion by having conference with Mr. Bilney the martyr. ‘My
tongue shall speak of thy word.’ Psa 119: 172. One reason why preaching the word
on a Sabbath does no more good is because there is so little good conference. Few
speak of the word they have heard, as if sermons were such secrets that they must
not be spoken of again, or as if it were a shame to speak of that which will save
us.
[9] Close the Sabbath evening with repetition, reading, singing
Psalms, and prayer. Ask that God would bless the word you have heard. Could we but
thus spend a Sabbath, we might be ‘in the Spirit on the Lord’s-day,’ our souls would
be nourished and comforted; and the Sabbaths we now keep, would be earnests of the
everlasting Sabbaths which we shall celebrate in heaven.
Use one. See here the Christian’s duty, ‘to keep the Sabbath-day
holy.’
(1) The whole Sabbath is to be dedicated to God. It is not said,
Keep a part of the Sabbath holy, but the whole day must be religiously observed.
If God has given us six days, and taken but one to himself, shall we grudge him
any part of that day? It were sacrilege. The Jews kept a whole day to the Lord;
and we are not to abridge or curtail the Sabbath, as Augustine says, more than the
Jews did. The very heathen, by the light of nature, set apart a whole day in honour
of false gods; and Scaevola, a high-priest of theirs, affirms that the wilful transgression
of that day could have no expiation or pardon. If any one robs any part of the Christian
Sabbath for servile work or recreation, Scaevola, the high priest of the heathenish
gods, shall rise up in judgement to condemn him. Let those who say, that to keep
a whole Sabbath is too Judaical, show where God has made any abatement of the time
of worship; where he has said, you shall keep but a part of the Sabbath; and if
they cannot show that, it robs God of his due. That a whole day be designed and
set apart for his special worship, is a perpetual statute, while the church remains
upon the earth, as Peter Martyr says. Of this opinion also were Theodore, Augustine,
Irenaeus, and the chief of the fathers.
(2) As the whole Sabbath is to be dedicated to God, so it must
be kept holy. You have seen the manner of sanctifying the Lord’s-day by reading,
meditation, prayer, hearing the word, and by singing of psalms to make melody to
the Lord. Now, besides what I have said upon keeping this day holy, let me make
a short comment or paraphrase on that Scripture. ‘If thou turn away thy foot from
the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight,
the holy of the Lord, honourable: and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways,
nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words.’ Isa 58: 13. Here
is a description of rightly sanctifying a Sabbath.
‘If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath.’ This may be understood
either literally or spiritually. Literally, that is, if thou withdrawest thy foot
from taking long walks or journeys on the Sabbath-day. So the Jewish doctors expound
it. Or, spiritually, if thou turn away thy affections (the feet of thy soul) from
inclining to any worldly business.
‘From doing thy pleasure on my holy day.’ That is, thou must not
do that which may please the carnal part, as in sports and pastimes. This is to
do the devil’s work on God’s day.
‘And call the Sabbath a delight.’ Call it a delight, that is,
esteem it so. Though the Sabbath be not a day for carnal pleasure, yet holy pleasure
is not forbidden. The soul must take pleasure in the duties of a Sabbath. The saints
of old counted the Sabbath a delight: the Jews called the Sabbath dies lucis, a
day of light. The Lord’s day, on which the Sun of Righteousness shines, is both
a day of light and delight. This is the day of sweet intercourse between God and
the soul. On this day a Christian makes his sallies out to heaven; his soul is lifted
above the earth; and can this be without delight? The higher the bird flies, the
sweeter it sings. On the Sabbath the soul fixes its love on God; and where love
is, there is delight. On this day the believer’s heart is melted, quickened, and
enlarged in holy duties; and how can all this be, and not a secret delight go along
with it? On a Sabbath a gracious soul can say, ‘I sat down under his shadow with
great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.’ Cant 2: 3. How can a spiritual
heart choose but call the Sabbath a delight? Is it not delightful to a queen to
be putting on her wedding robes in which she shall meet the king her bridegroom?
When we are about Sabbath exercises, we are dressing ourselves, and putting on our
wedding robes in which we are to meet our heavenly bridegroom the Lord Jesus; and
is not this delightful? On the Sabbath God makes a feast of fat things; he feasts
the ear with his word, and the heart with his grace. Well then may we call the Sabbath
a delight. To find this holy delight, is to ‘be in the Spirit on the Lord’s-day.’
‘The holy of the Lord, honourable.’ In the Hebrew, it is glorious.
To call the Sabbath honourable, is not to be understood so much of an outward honour
given to it, by wearing richer apparel, or having better diet on this day, as the
Jewish doctors corruptly gloss. This is the chief honour that some give to this
day; but by calling the Sabbath honourable, is meant that honour of the heart which
we give to the day, reverencing it, and esteeming it as the queen of days. We are
to count the Sabbath honourable, because God has honoured it. All the persons in
the Trinity have honoured it. God the Father blessed it, God the Son rose upon it,
God the Holy Ghost descended on it. Acts 2: 1: This day is to be honoured by all
good Christians, and had in high veneration. It is a day of renown, on which a golden
sceptre of mercy is held forth. The Christian Sabbath is the very crepusculum and
dawning of the heavenly Sabbath. It is honourable, because on this day ‘God comes
down to us and visits us.’ To have the King of heaven present in a special manner
in our assemblies, makes the Sabbath-day honourable. Besides, the work done on this
day makes it honourable. The six days are filled up with servile work, which makes
them lose much of their glory; but on this day sacred work is done. The soul is
employed wholly about the worship of God; it is praying, hearing, meditating; it
is doing angels’ work, praising, and blessing God. Again, the day is honourable
by virtue of a divine institution. Silver is of itself valuable; but when the royal
stamp is put upon it, it is honourable; so God has put a sacred stamp upon this
day, the stamp of divine authority, and the stamp of divine benediction. This makes
it honourable; and this is sanctifying the Sabbath, to call it a delight, and honourable.
‘Not doing thine own ways.’ That is, thou shalt not defile the
day by doing any servile work.
‘Nor finding thine own pleasure.’ That is, not gratifying the
fleshly part by walks, visits, or pastimes.
‘Nor speaking thine own Words.’ That is, words heterogeneous and
unsuitable for a Sabbath; vain, impertinent words; discourses of worldly affairs.
Use two. If the Sabbath-day is to be kept holy, they are reproved
who, instead of sanctifying the Sabbath, profane it. They take the time which should
be dedicated wholly to God, and spend it in the service of the devil and their lusts.
The Lord has set apart this day for his own worship, and they make it common. He
has set a hedge about this commandment, saying, ‘Remember;’ and they break this
hedge; but he who breaks this hedge, a serpent shall bite him. Eccl 10: 8. The Sabbath
day in England lies bleeding; and oh! that our parliament would pour some balm into
the wounds which it has received! How is this day profaned, by sitting idle at home,
by selling meat, by vain discourse, by sinful visits, by walking in the fields,
and by sports! The people of Israel might not gather manna on the Sabbath, and may
we use sports and dancings on this day? Truly it should be matter of grief to us
to see so much Sabbath-profanation. When one of Darius’s eunuchs saw Alexander setting
his feet on a rich table of Darius’s, he wept. Alexander asked him why he wept?
He said it was to see the table which his master so highly esteemed now made a footstool.
So may we weep to see the Sabbath-day, which God highly esteems, and has honoured
and blessed, made a footstool, and trampled upon by the feet of sinners. To profane
the Sabbath is a great sin; it is a wilful contempt of God; it is not only casting
his law behind our back, but trampling it under foot. He says, ‘Keep the Sabbath
holy;’ but men pollute it. This is to despise God, to hang out the flag of defiance,
to throw down the gauntlet, and challenge God himself. Now, how can God endure to
be thus saucily confronted by proud dust? Surely he will not suffer this high impudence
to go unpunished. God’s curse will come upon the Sabbath-breaker; and it will blast
where it comes. The law of the land lets Sabbath-breakers alone, but God will not.
No sooner did Christ curse the fig-tree, but it withered. God will take the matter
into his own hand; he will see after the punishing of Sabbath violation. And how
does he punish it?
(1) With spiritual plagues. He gives up Sabbath profaners to hardness
of heart, and a scared conscience. Spiritual judgements are sorest. ‘So I gave them
up unto their own hearts’ lust.’ Psa 81: 12. A sear in the conscience is a brand-mark
of reprobation.
(2) God punishes this sin by giving men up to commit other sins.
To revenge the breaking of his Sabbath, he suffers them to break open houses, and
so come to be punished by the magistrate. How many such confessions have we heard
from thieves going to be executed! They never regarded the Sabbath, and God suffered
them to commit those sins for which they are to die.
(3) God punishes Sabbath-breaking by sudden visible judgements
on men for this sin. He punishes them in their estates and in their persons. While
a certain man was carrying corn into his barn on the Lord’s-day, both house and
corn were consumed with fire from heaven. In Wiltshire there was a dancing match
appointed upon the Lord’s-day; and while one of the company was dancing, he suddenly
fell down dead. The ‘Theatre of God’s Judgements’ relates of one, who used every
Lord’s-day to hunt in sermon-time, who had a child by his wife with a head like
a dog, and it cried like a hound. His sin was monstrous, and it was punished with
a monstrous birth. The Lord threatened the Jews, that if they would not hallow the
Sabbath-day, he would kindle a fire in their gates. Jer 17: 27. The dreadful fire
which broke out in London began on the Sabbath-day; as if God would tell us from
heaven he was then punishing us for our Sabbath profanation. Nor does he punish
it only in this life with death, but hereafter with damnation. Let such as break
God’s Sabbath see if they can break those chains of darkness in which they and the
devils shall be held.
Use three. It exhorts us to Sabbath holiness.
Make conscience of keeping this day holy. The other commandments
have an affirmative in them only, or a negative; this fourth commandment has both
an affirmative in it and a negative. ‘Thou shalt keep the Sabbath day holy,’ and,
‘thou shalt not do any manner of work in it,’ shows how carefully God would have
us observe this day. Not only must you keep this day yourselves, but have a care
that all under your charge keep it; ‘Thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy
man-servant, and thy maidservant;’ that is, thou who art a superior, a parent or
a master, thou must have a care that not only thou thyself, but those who are under
thy trust and tuition, sanctify the day. Those masters of families are to blame
who are careful that their servants serve them, but have no care that they serve
God; who care not though their servants should serve the devil, so long as their
bodies do them service. That which Paul says to Timothy, Serva depositum, ‘That
good thing, which was committed unto thee, keep,’ is of large meaning. 1 Tim 1:
11. Not only have a care of thy own soul, but have a care of the souls thou art
entrusted with. See that they who are under thy charge sanctify the Sabbath. God’s
law provided, that if a man met with an ox or an ass going astray, he should bring
him back again; much more, when thou sees the soul of thy child or servant going
astray from God, and breaking his Sabbath, thou shouldest bring him back again to
a religious observation of this day.
That I may press you to Sabbath-sanctification, consider what
great blessings God has promised to the strict observers of this day. Isa 58: 14.
(1) A promise of joy. ‘Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.’ Delighting
in God is both a duty and a reward. In this text it is a reward, ‘Then shalt thou
delight thyself in the Lord;’ as if God had said, If thou keep the Sabbath conscientiously,
I will give thee that which will fill thee with delight; if thou keep the Sabbath
willingly, I will make thee keep it joyfully. I will give thee those enlargements
in duty, and that inward comfort, which shall abundantly satisfy thee; thy soul
shall overflow with such a stream of joy, that thou shalt say, ‘Lord, in keeping
thy Sabbath there is great reward. (2) Of honour. And ‘I will cause thee to ride
upon the high places of the earth.’ That is, I will advance thee to honour, ascendere
faciam; so Munster interprets it. Some, by the high places of the earth, understand
Judea; so Grotius. I will bring thee into the land of Judea, which is situated higher
than the other countries adjacent. (3) Of earth and heaven. ‘And I will feed thee
with the heritage of Jacob;’ that is, I will feed thee with all the delicious things
of Canaan, and afterwards I will translate thee to heaven, whereof Canaan was but
a type. Another promise is, ‘Blessed is the man that does this, that keepeth the
Sabbath from polluting it.’ Isa 56: 2. ‘Blessed is the man;’ in the Hebrew it is,
‘blessednesses.’ To him that keeps the Sabbath holy, here is blessedness upon blessedness
belonging to him; he shall be blessed with the upper and nether springs; he shall
be blessed in his name, estate, soul, progeny. Who would not keep the Sabbath from
polluting it that shall have so many blessings entailed upon him and his posterity
after him? Again, a conscientious keeping of the Sabbath seasons the heart for God’s
service all the week after. Christian the more holy thou art on a Sabbath, the more
holy thou wilt be on the week following.
2.5 The Fifth Commandment
‘Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon
the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.’ Exod 20: 12.
Having done with the first table, I am next to speak of the duties
of the second table. The commandments may be likened to Jacob’s ladder: the first
table respects God, and is the top of the ladder that reaches to heaven; the second
respects superiors and inferiors, and is the foot of the ladder that rests on the
earth. By the first table, we walk religiously towards God; by the second, we walk
religiously towards man. He cannot be good in the first table that is bad in the
second. ‘Honour thy father and thy mother.’ In this we have a command, ‘honour thy
father and thy mother;’ and, second, a reason for it, ‘That thy days may be long
in the land.’ The command will chiefly be considered here, ‘Honour thy father.’
I. Father is of different kinds; as the political, the ancient,
the spiritual, the domestic, and the natural.
[1] The political father, the magistrate. He is the father of
his country; he is to be an encourager of virtue, a punisher of vice, and a father
to the widow and orphan. Such a father was Job. ‘I was a father to the poor, and
the cause which I knew not, I searched out.’ Job 29: 16. As magistrates are fathers,
so especially the king, who is the head of magistrates, is a political father; he
is placed as the sun among the lesser stars. The Scripture calls kings, ‘fathers.’
‘Kings shall be thy nursing fathers.’ Isa 49: 23. They are to train up their subjects
in piety, by good edicts and examples; and nurse them up in peace and plenty. Such
nursing fathers were David, Hezekiah, Josiah, Constantine, and Theodosius. It is
well for a people to have such nursing fathers, whose breasts milk comfort to their
children. These fathers are to be honoured, for —
(1) Their place deserves honour. God has set these political fathers
to preserve order and harmony in a nation, and to prevent those state convulsions
which otherwise might ensue. When ‘there was no king in Israel, every man did that
which was right in his own eyes.’ Judges 17: 6. It is a wonder that locusts have
no king, yet they go forth by bands.
(2) God has promoted kings, that they may promote justice. As
they have a sword in their hand, to signify their power; so they have a sceptre,
an emblem of justice. It is said of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, that he allotted
one hour of the day to hear the complaints of those who were oppressed. Kings place
judges as cherubim about the throne, for distribution of justice. These political
fathers are to be honoured. ‘Honour the king.’ 1 Pet 2: 17. This honour is to be
shown by a civil respect to their persons, and a cheerful submission to their laws;
so far as they agree and run parallel with God’s law. Kings are to be prayed for,
which is a part of the honour we give them. ‘I exhort that supplications, prayers,
intercessions, be made for kings, that we may lead a quiet, peaceable life, in all
godliness and honesty.’ 1 Tim 2: 1. We are to pray for kings, that God would honour
them to be blessings; that under them we may enjoy the gospel of peace, and the
peace of the gospel. How happy was the reign of Numa Pompilius, when swords were
beaten into ploughshares, and bees made hives of the soldiers’ helmets!
[2] There is the grave ancient father, who is venerable for old
age; whose grey hairs are resembled to the white flowers of the almond-tree. Eccl
12: 5. There are fathers for seniority, on whose wrinkled brows, and in the furrows
of whose cheeks is pictured the map of old age. These fathers are to be honoured.
‘Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man. Lev
19: 32. Especially those are to be honoured who are fathers not only for their seniority,
but for their piety; whose souls are flourishing when their bodies are decaying.
It is a blessed sight to see springs of grace in the autumn of old age; to see men
stooping towards the grave, yet going up the hill of God; to see them lose their
colour, yet keep their savour. They whose silver hairs are crowned with righteousness,
are worthy of double honour; they are to be honoured, not only as pieces of antiquity,
but as patterns of virtue. If you see an old man fearing God, whose grace shines
brightest when the sun of his life is setting, O honour him as a father, by reverencing
and imitating him.
[3] There are spiritual fathers, as pastors and ministers. These
are instruments of the new birth. ‘Though ye have ten thousand instructors, yet
have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.’
1 Cor 4: 15. The spiritual fathers are to be honoured in respect of their office.
Whatever their persons are, their office is honourable; they are the messengers
of the Lord of Hosts. Mal 2: 7. They represent no less than God himself. ‘Now then
we are ambassadors for Christ.’ 2 Cor 5: 20. Jesus Christ was of this calling; he
had his mission and sanction from heaven, and this crowns the ministerial calling
with honour. John 8: 18.
These spiritual fathers are to be honoured ‘for their work’s sake.’
They come, like the dove, with an olive branch in the mouth; they preach glad tidings
of peace; their work is ‘to save souls.’ Other callings have only to do with men’s
bodies or estates, but the minister’s calling is employed about the souls of men.
Their work is to redeem spiritual captives, and turn men ‘from the power of Satan
unto God.’ Acts 26: 18. Their work is ‘to enlighten them who sit in the region of
darkness,’ and make them ‘shine as stars in the kingdom of heaven.’ These spiritual
fathers are to be ‘honoured for their work’s sake;’ and this honour is to be shown
three ways: —
(1) By giving them respect. ‘Know them which labour among you
and are over you in the Lord, and esteem them very highly in love for their work’s
sake.’ 1 Thess 5: 12, 13. I confess the scandalous lives of some ministers have
been a great reproach, and have made the ‘offering of the Lord to be abhorred’ in
some places of the land. The leper in the law was to have his lip covered; so such
as are angels by office, but lepers in their lives, ought to have their lips covered,
and to be silenced. But though some deserve ‘no honour’, yet such as are faithful,
and make it their work to bring souls to Christ, are to be reverenced as spiritual
fathers. Obadiah honoured the prophet Elijah. 1 Kings 18: 7. Why did God reckon
the tribe of Levi for the first-born, Num 3: 13; why did he appoint that the prince
should ask counsel of God by the priest, Num 27: 21; why did the Lord show, by that
miracle of Aaron’s rod flourishing, that he had chosen the tribe of ‘Levi to minister
before him,’ Num 17; why does Christ call his apostles ‘the lights of the world’;
why does he say to all his ministers, ‘Lo, I am with you to the end of the world;’
but because he would have these spiritual fathers reverenced? In ancient times the
Egyptians chose their kings out of their priests. They are far from showing this
respect and honour to their spiritual fathers who have slight thoughts of such as
have the charge of the sanctuary, and do minister before the Lord. ‘Know them,’
says the apostle, ‘which labour among you.’ Many can be content to know their ministers
in their infirmities, and are glad when they have anything against them, but do
not know them in the apostle’s sense, so as to give them ‘double honour.’ Surely,
were it not for the ministry, you would not be a vineyard but a desert. Were it
not for the ministry, you would be destitute of the two seals of the covenant, baptism
and the Lord’s Supper; you would be infidels; ‘for faith comes by hearing; and how
shall they hear without a preacher?’ Rom 10: 14.
(2) Honour these spiritual fathers, by becoming advocates for
them, and wiping off those slanders and calumnies which are unjustly cast upon them.
1 Tim 5: 19. Constantine was a great honourer of the ministry; he vindicated them;
he would not read the envious accusations brought against them, but burnt them.
Do the ministers open their mouths to God for you in prayer, and will not you open
your mouths in their behalf? Surely, if they labour to preserve you from hell, you
should preserve them from slander; if they labour to save your souls, you ought
to save their credit.
(3) Honour them by conforming to their doctrine. The greatest
honour you can put upon your spiritual fathers, is to believe and obey their doctrine.
He is an honourer of the ministry who is not only a hearer, but a follower of the
word. As disobedience reproaches the ministry, so obedience honours it. The apostle
calls the Thessalonians his crown. ‘What is our crown of rejoicing? are not ye?’
1 Thess 2: 19. A thriving people are a minister’s crown. When there is a metamorphosis,
a change wrought; when people come to the word proud, but go away humble; when they
come earthly, but they go away heavenly; when they come, as Naaman to Jordan, lepers,
but they go away healed; then the ministry is honoured. ‘Need we, as some others,
epistles of commendation?’ 2 Cor 3: 1. Though other ministers might need letters
of commendation, yet Paul needed none; for, when men heard of the obedience wrought
in these Corinthians by Paul’s preaching, it would be a sufficient certificate that
God had blessed his labours. The Corinthians were a sufficient honour to him; they
were his letters-testimonial. You cannot honour your spiritual fathers more, than
by thriving under their ministry, and living upon the sermons which they preach.
[4] There is the domestic father, that is, the master. He is paterfamilias,
‘the father of the family’; therefore Naaman’s servants called their master, father.
2 Kings 5: 13. The centurion calls his servant, son. Matt 8: 6. (Greek.) The servant
is to honour his master, as the father of the family. Though the master be not so
qualified as he should be, yet the servant must not neglect his duty, but show some
kind of honour to him.
(1) In obeying his master in licitis et honestis, ‘in things that
are lawful and honest.’ ‘Servants, be subject to your masters; not only to the good
and gentle, but also to the froward.’ 1 Pet 2: 18. God has nowhere given a charter
of exemption to free you from your duty. You cannot disobey your earthly master
but you disobey your master in heaven. Think not that birth, or high parts, no,
nor even grace, will exempt you from obedience to your master. To obey him is an
ordinance of God; and an apostle says, ‘They that resist the ordinance, shall receive
to themselves damnation.’ Rom 13: 2.
(2) The servant’s honouring his master, is seen in being diligent
in his service. Apelles painted a servant with his hands full of tools, as an emblem
of diligence. The loitering servant is a kind of thief, who, though he does not
steal his master’s goods, steals the time which he should have employed in his master’s
service. The slothful servant is called a ‘wicked servant.’ Matt 25: 26.
(3) The servant is to honour his master by being faithful. ‘Who
then is a faithful and wise servant?’ Matt 24: 45. Faithfulness is the chief thing
in a servant. Faithfulness in a servant is seen in six things: [1] In tenaciousness;
in concealing the secrets the master has intrusted you with. If those secrets are
not sins, you ought not to betray them. What is whispered in your ear you are not
to publish on the house-top. Servants who do this are spies. Who would keep a glass
that is cracked? Who would keep a servant that has a crack in his brain, and cannot
keep a secret? [2] Faithfulness in a servant is seen in designing the master’s advantage.
A faithful servant esteems his master’s goods as his own. Such a servant had Abraham;
who, when his master sent him to transact business for him, was as careful about
it, as if it had been his own. ‘O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee send
me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham.’ Gen 24: 12. Doubtless
Abraham’s servant was as glad he had got a wife for his master’s son, as if he had
got a wife for himself. [3] Faithfulness in a servant is seen in standing up for
the honour of his master. When he hears him spoken against, he vindicates him. As
the master is careful of the servant’s body, so the servant should be careful of
the master’s name. When the master is unjustly reproached the servant cannot be
excused if he be possessed with a dumb devil. [4] Faithfulness is, when a servant
is true to his word. He dares not tell a lie, but will speak the truth, though it
be against himself. A lie doubles the sin. ‘He that telleth lies, shall not tarry
in my sight.’ Psa 101: 7. A liar is near akin to the devil. John 8: 44. And who
would let any of the devil’s kindred live with him? The lie that Gehazi told his
master Elisha, entailed leprosy on Gehazi and his seed for ever. 2 Kings 5: 27.
In a faithful servant, the tongue is the true index of the heart. [5] Faithfulness
is, when a servant is against impropriation. He dares not convert his master’s goods
to his own use. ‘Not purloining.’ Tit 2: 10. What a servant filches from his master,
is damnable gain. He who enriches himself by stealing from his master, stuffs his
pillow with thorns, on which his head will lie very uneasy when he comes to die.
[6] Faithfulness consists in preserving the master’s person, if unjustly in danger.
Banister betrayed his master the Duke of Buckingham, in King Richard the Third’s
reign; and the judgements of God fell upon the traitorous servant. His eldest son
became mad; his daughter, of a singular beauty, was suddenly struck with leprosy;
his younger son was drowned, and he himself was arraigned, and would have been executed,
had he not been saved by his clergy. That servant who is not true to his master,
will never be true to God or his own soul.
(4) The servant is to honour his master, by serving him, as with
love, so with silence, that is, without repining, and without replying. ‘Exhort
servants to be obedient unto their own masters, not answering again.’ Tit 2: 9.
In the Greek, ‘not giving cross answers.’ Some servants who are slow at work, are
quick at speech; and instead of being sorry for a fault, provoke by unbecoming language.
Were the heart more humble, the tongue would be more silent. The apostle’s words
are, ‘not answering again.’ To those servants who honour their masters, or family-fathers,
by submission, diligence, faithfulness, love, and humble silence, great encouragement
is given. ‘Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not
with eye-service, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance,
for ye serve the Lord Christ.’ Col 3: 22, 24. In serving your masters, you serve
Christ, and he will not let you lose your labour; ye shall receive the ‘reward of
the inheritance.’ From serving on earth, you shall be taken up to reign in heaven,
and shall sit with Christ upon his throne. Rev 3: 21.
Having shown how servants are to honour their masters, I shall
next show how masters are to conduct themselves towards their servants, so as to
be honoured by them.
In general, masters must remember that they have a master in heaven,
who will call them to account. ‘Knowing that your Master also is in heaven.’ Eph
6: 9. More particularly: —
(1) Masters must take care to provide for their servants. As they
appoint them work, so they must give them their meat in due season. Luke 17: 7.
They should see that the food be wholesome and sufficient. It is most unworthy of
some governors of families, to lay out so much upon their own back, as to pinch
their servants’ bellies.
(2) Masters should encourage their servants in their work, by
commending them when they do well. Though a master is to tell a servant of his faults,
yet he is not always to beat on one string, but sometimes to take notice of that
which is praiseworthy. This makes a servant more cheerful in his work, and gains
the master the love from his servant.
(3) Masters must not overburden their servants, but proportion
their work to their strength. They must not lay too much load on their servants,
to make them faint under it. Christianity teaches compassion.
(4) Masters must seek the spiritual good of their servants. They
must be seraphim to kindle their love to religion; they must be monitors to put
them in mind of their souls; they must bring them to the pool of the sanctuary,
to wait till the angel stir the waters. John 5: 4. They must seek God for them,
that their servants may be his servants; and must allow them time convenient for
secret devotion. Some are cruel to the souls of their servants; they expect them
to do the work about the house, but abridge them of the time they should employ
in working out their salvation.
(5) Masters should be mild and gentle in their behaviour towards
servants. ‘Forbearing threatening.’ Eph. 6: 9. ‘Thou shalt not rule over him with
rigour, but shalt fear thy God.’ Lev 25: 43. It requires wisdom in a master to know
how to keep up his authority, and yet avoid austerity. We have a good copy to write
after our Master in heaven, who is ‘slow to anger, and of great mercy.’ Psa 145:
8. Some masters are so harsh and implacable that they are enough to spoil a good
servant.
(6) Be very exact and punctual in the agreements you make with
your servants. Do not prevaricate; keep not back any of their wages; nor deal deceitfully
with them, as Laban did with Jacob, changing his wages. Gen 31: 7. Falseness in
promise is as bad as false weights.
(7) Be careful of your servants, not only in health, but in sickness.
If they have become sick while in your service, use what means you can for their
recovery; and be not like the Amalekite, who forsook his servant when he was sick;
but be as the good centurion, who kept his sick servant, and sought to Christ for
a cure. 1 Sam 30: 13; Matt 8: 6. If you have a beast that falls sick, you will not
turn it off, but have it looked to, and pay for its cure; and will you be kinder
to your horses than to your servants? Thus should masters carry themselves prudently
and piously, that they may gain honour from their servants, and may give up their
accounts to God with joy.
[S] The natural father, the father of the flesh. Heb 12: 9. Honour
thy natural father. This is so necessary a duty, that Philo the Jew placed the fifth
commandment in the first table, as though we had not performed our whole duty to
God till we had paid this debt of honour to our natural parents. Children are the
vineyard of the parent’s planting, and honour done to the parent is some of the
fruit of the vineyard.
II. Children are to show honour to their parents,
{I] By a reverential esteem of their persons. They must ‘give
them a civil veneration.’ Therefore, when the apostle speaks of fathers of our bodies,
he speaks also of ‘giving them reverence.’ Heb 12: 9. This veneration or reverence
must be shown: —
(1) Inwardly, by fear mixed with love. ‘Ye shall fear every man
his mother and his father.’ Lev 19: 3. In the commandment the father is named first,
but here the mother is first named. Partly to put honour upon the mother, because,
by reason of many weaknesses incident to her sex, she is apt to be more slighted
by children. And partly because the mother endures more for the child.
(2) Reverence must be shown to parents outwardly, both in word
and gesture.
In word: and that either in speaking to parents, or speaking of
them. In speaking of parents, children must speak respectfully. ‘Ask on, my mother,’
said king Solomon to his mother Bathsheba. 1 Kings 2: 20. In speaking of parents,
children must speak honourably. They ought to speak well of them, if they deserve
well. ‘Her children arise up, and call her blessed’ (Prov 31: 28); and, in case
a parent betrays weakness and indiscretion, the child should make the best of it,
and, by wise apologies, cover his parent’s nakedness.
In gesture. Children are to show reverence to their parents by
submissive behaviour, by uncovering the head, and bending the knee. Joseph, though
a great prince, and his father had grown poor, bowed to him, and behaved himself
as humbly as if his father had been the prince, and he the poor man. Gen 46: 29.
King Solomon, when his mother came to him, ‘rose off his throne, and bowed himself
unto her.’ 1 Kings 2: 19. Among the Lacedemonians, if a child had carried himself
arrogantly or saucily to his father, it was lawful for the father to appoint whom
he would to be his heir. Oh, how many children are far from thus giving reverence
to their parents! They despise their parents; they carry themselves with such pride
and neglect towards them, that they are a shame to religion, and bring their parents’
grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. ‘Cursed be he that setteth light by his father
or his mother.’ Deut 27: 16. If all that set light by their parents are cursed,
how many children in our age are under a curse! If such as are disrespectful to
parents live to have children, their own children will be thorns in their sides,
and God will make them read their sins in their punishment.
[2] The second way of showing honour to parents is by careful
obedience. ‘Children, obey your parents in all things.’ Col 3: 20. Our Lord Christ
herein set a pattern to children. He was subject to his parents. Luke 2: 51. He
to whom angels were subject was subject to his parents. This obedience to parents
is shown three ways: —
(1) In hearkening to their counsel, ‘Hear the instruction of thy
father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.’ Prov 1: 8. Parents are, as it were,
in the room of God; if they would teach you the fear of the Lord, you must listen
to their words as oracles, and not be as the deaf adder to stop your ears. Eli’s
sons hearkened not to the voice of their father, but were called ‘sons of Belial.’
1 Sam 2: 12, 25. And as children must hearken to the counsel of their parents in
spiritual matters, so in affairs which relate to this life as in the choice of a
calling, and in case of entering into marriage. Jacob would not dispose of himself
in marriage, though he was forty years old, without the advice and consent of his
parents. Gen 28: 1, 2. Children are, as it were, the parents’ proper goods and possession,
and it is great injustice in a child to give herself away without the parents’ leave.
If parents should indeed counsel a child to match with one that is irreligious or
Popish, I think the case is plain, and many of the learned are of opinion that here
the child may have a negative voice, and is not obliged to be ruled by the parent.
Children are to ‘marry in the Lord;’ not, therefore, with persons irreligious, for
that is not to marry in the Lord. 1 Cor 7: 39.
(2) Obedience to parents is shown in complying with their commands.
A child should be the parents’ echo; when the father speaks, the child should echo
back obedience. The Rechabites were forbidden by their father to drink wine; and
they obeyed him, and were commended for it. Jer 35: 14. Children must obey their
parents in all things. Col 3: 20. In things against the grain, to which they have
most reluctance, they must obey their parents. Esau would obey his father, when
he commanded him to fetch him venison, because it is probable he took pleasure in
hunting; but refused to obey him in a matter of greater concernment, in the choice
of a wife. But though children must obey their parents ‘in all things,’ yet restringitur
ad licita et honesta; ‘it is with the limitation of things just and honest.’ ‘Obey
in the Lord,’ that is, so far as the commands of parents agree with God’s commands.
Eph 6: 1. If they command against God, they lose their right of being obeyed, and
in this case we must unchild ourselves.
[3] Honour is to be shown to parents in relieving their wants.
Joseph cherished his father in his old age. Gen 47: 12. It is but paying a just
debt. Parents brought up children when they were young, and children ought to nourish
their parents when they are old. The young storks, by an instinct of nature, bring
meat to the old ones when, by reason of age, they are not able to fly. Pliny calls
it Lex pelargica [a law of the storks]. The memory of Aeneas was honoured for carrying
his aged father out of Troy when it was on fire. I have read of a daughter, whose
father being condemned to be starved to death, who gave him in his prison suck with
her own breasts; which, being known to the governors, procured his freedom. Such
children, or monsters shall I say, are to blame who are ashamed of their parents
when they are old and fallen into decay; and when they ask for bread give them a
stone. When houses are shut up, we say the plague is there; when children’s hearts
are shut up against their parents, the plague is there. Our blessed Saviour took
great care for his mother. When on the cross, he charged his disciple John to take
her home to him as his mother, and see that she wanted nothing. John 19: 26, 27.
III. The reasons why children should honour their parents are: —
[1] It is a solemn command of God, ‘Honour thy father,’ &c. As
God’s word is the rule, so his will must be the reason of our obedience.
[2] They deserve honour in respect of the great love and affection
which they bear to their children; and the evidence of that love both in their care
and cost. Their care in bringing up their children is a sign their hearts are full
of love to them. Parents often take more care of their children than for themselves.
They take care of them when they are tender, lest, like wall fruit, they should
be nipped in the bud. As children grow older, the care of parents grows greater.
They are afraid of their children falling when young, and of worse than falls when
they are older. Their love is evidenced by their cost. 2 Cor 12: 14. They lay up
and they lay out for their children; and are not like the raven or ostrich, which
are cruel to their young. Job 39: 16. Parents sometimes impoverish themselves to
enrich their children. Children never can equal a parent’s love, for parents are
the instruments of life to their children, and children cannot be so to their parents.
[3] To honour parents is well pleasing to the Lord. Col 3: 20.
As it is joyful to parents, so it is pleasing to the Lord. Children! is it not your
duty to please God? In honouring and obeying your parents, you please God as well
as when you repent and believe. And that you may see how well it pleases God, he
bestows a reward upon it. ‘That thy days may be long in the land which the Lord
thy God giveth thee.’ Jacob would not let the angel go till he had blessed him;
and God would not part with this commandment till he had blessed it. Paul calls
this the first commandment with promise. Eph 6: 2. The second commandment has a
general promise to mercy; but this is the first commandment that has a particular
promise made to it. Long life is mentioned as a blessing. ‘Thou shalt see thy children’s
children.’ Psa 128: 6. It was a great favour of God to Moses that, though he was
a hundred and twenty years old, he needed no spectacles: ‘His eye was not dim, nor
his natural force abated.’ Deut 34: 7. God threatened it as a curse to Eli, that
there should not be an old man in his family. 1 Sam 2: 31. Since the flood, life
is much abbreviated and cut short: to some the womb is their tomb; others exchange
their cradle for their grave; others die in the flower of their age; death serves
its warrant every day upon one or other. Now, when death lies in ambush continually
for us, if God satisfies us with long life, saying (as in Psa 91: 16), ‘With long
life will I satisfy him;’ it is to be esteemed a blessing. It is a blessing when
God gives a long time to repent, and a long time to do service, and a long time
to enjoy the comforts of relations. Upon whom is this blessing of long life entailed,
but obedient children? ‘Honour thy father, that thy days may be long.’ Nothing sooner
shortens life than disobedience to parents. Absalom was a disobedient son, who sought
to deprive his father of his life and crown; and he did not live out half his days.
The mule he rode upon, being weary of such a burden, left him hanging in the oak
betwixt heaven and earth, so as not fit to tread upon the one, or to enter into
the other. Obedience to parents spins out the life. Nor does obedience to parents
lengthen life only, but sweetens it. To live long, and not to have a foot of land,
is a misery; but obedience to parents settles land of inheritance upon the child.
‘Hast thou but one blessing, O my father,’ said Esau. Behold, God has more blessings
for an obedient child than one; not only shall he have a long life, but a fruitful
land: and not only shall he have land, but land given in love, ‘the land which the
Lord thy God giveth thee.’ Thou shalt have thy land not only with God’s leave, but
with his love. All these are powerful arguments to make children honour and obey
their parents.
Use one. If we are to honour our fathers on earth, much more our
Father in heaven. ‘If then I be a father, where is mine honour?’ Mal 1: 6. A father
is but the instrument of conveying life, but God is the original cause of our being.
‘For it is he that has made us, and not we ourselves.’ Psa 100: 3. Honour and adoration
is a pearl which belongs to the crown of heaven only.
(1) We show honour to our heavenly Father by obeying him. Thus
Christ honoured his Father. ‘I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but
the will of him that sent me.’ John 6: 38. This he calls honouring God. ‘I do always
those things which please him.’ ‘I honour my Father.’ John 8: 29, 49. The wise men
not only bowed the knee to Christ, but presented him with ‘gold and myrrh.’ Matt
2: 11. So we must not only bow the knee, give God adoration, but bring him presents,
give him golden obedience.
(2) We show honour to our heavenly Father by advocating his cause,
and standing up for his truth in an adulterous generation. That son honours his
father who stands up in his defence, and vindicates him when he is calumniated and
reproached. Do they honour God who are ashamed of him? ‘Many believed on him, but
did not confess him.’ John 12: 42. They are bastard-sons who are ashamed to own
their heavenly Father. Such as are born of God, are steeled with courage for his
truth; they are like the rock, which no waves can break; like the adamant, which
no sword can cut. Basil was a champion for truth in the time of the emperor Valens;
and Athanasius, when the world was Arian, appeared for God.
(3) We show honour to our heavenly Father by ascribing the honour
of all we do to him. ‘I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the
grace of God which was with me.’ 1 Cor 15: l0. If a Christian has any assistance
in duty, any strength against corruption, he rears up a pillar and writes upon it,
‘Hitherto has the Lord helped me.’ As when Joab had fought against Rabbah, and had
like to have taken it, sent for king David, that he might carry away the honour
of the victory; so when a child of God has any conquest over Satan, he give all
the honour to God. 2 Sam 12: 27, 28. Hypocrites, whose lamp is fed with the oil
of vain glory, while they do any eminent service to God, seek to honour themselves;
and so their very serving him is dishonouring him.
(4) We show honour to our heavenly Father by celebrating his praise.
‘Let my mouth be filled with thy praise, and with thy honour all the day.’ Psa 71:
8. ‘Blessing and honour and glory and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne.’
Rev 5: 13. Blessing God is honouring God. It lifts him up in the eyes of others,
and spreads his fame and renown in the world. In this manner the angels, the choristers
of heaven, are now honouring God; they trumpet forth his praise. In prayer, we act
like saints, in praise like angels.
(5) We show honour to our heavenly Father, by suffering dishonour,
yea, death for his sake. Paul did bear in his body the ‘marks of the Lord Jesus.’
Gal 6: 17. As they were the marks of honour to him, so they were trophies of honour
to the gospel. The honour which comes to God, is not by bringing the outward pomp
and glory to him, which we do to kings; but it comes in another way, by the suffering
of his people, by which they let the world see what a good God they serve, and how
they love him, and will fight under his banner to the death.
God is ‘worthy of honour.’ ‘Thou art clothed with honour and majesty.’
Psa 104: 1: What are all his attributes but glorious beams shining from this sun?
He deserves more honour than men or angels can give him. ‘I will call on the Lord
who is worthy to be praised.’ 2 Sam 22: 4. He is worthy of honour. We often confer
honour upon those that do not deserve it. To many noble persons, who are sordid
and vicious, we give titles of honour: they do not deserve honour; but God is worthy
of honour. ‘Blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and
praise.’ Neh 9: 5. He is above all the acclamations and triumphs of the archangels.
O then, let every true child of God honour his heavenly Father! Though the wicked
dishonour him by their flagitous lives, let not his own children dishonour him.
Sins in them are worse than in others. A fault in a stranger is not so much taken
notice of as in a child. A spot in black cloth is not so much observed, but a spot
in scarlet attracts every one’s eye; so a sin in the wicked is not so much wondered
at, it is a spot in black; but a sin in a child of God is a spot in scarlet, which
is more visible, and brings odium and dishonour upon the gospel. The sins of God’s
own children go nearer to his heart. ‘When the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because
of the provoking of his sons and of his daughters.’ Deut 32: 19. O forbear doing
anything that may reflect dishonour upon God. Will you disgrace your heavenly Father?
Let not God complain of the provocations of his sons and daughters; let him not
cry out, ‘I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against
me.’ Isa 1: 2.
Use two. Does God command us to honour father and mother? Then
let children put this great duty in practice; be living commentaries upon this commandment.
Honour and reverence your parents; not only obey their commands, but submit to their
rebukes. You cannot honour your Father in heaven unless you honour your earthly
parents. To deny obedience to parents, entails God’s judgements upon children. ‘The
eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of
the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagle shall eat it.’ Prov 30: 17. Eli’s
two disobedient sons were slain. 1 Sam 4: 2: God made a law that the ‘rebellious
son should be stoned;’ the same death the blasphemer had. Lev 24: 14. ‘If a man
have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father,
or the voice of his mother; then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him,
and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and all the men of his city shall
stone him with stones, that he die.’ Deut 21: 18, 19, 21. A father having once complained,
‘Never had a father a worse son than I have;’ ‘Yes,’ said the son, ‘my grandfather
had.’ This was a prodigy of impudence hardly to be paralleled. Manlius, when grown
old and poor, had a son very rich, of whom he desired some food, but the son denied
him relief, yea, disowned him from being his father, and sent him away with reproachful
language. The poor old father let fall tears in grief. But God, to revenge the disobedience,
struck the unnatural son with madness, of which he could never be cured. Disobedient
children stand in a place where all God’s arrows fly.
Use three. Let parents so act that they may gain honour from their
children.
How should parents so act towards their children as to be honoured
and reverenced by them?
(1) Be careful to bring them up in the fear and nurture of the
Lord. ‘Bring them up in the admonition of the Lord.’ Eph 6: 4. You conveyed the
plague of sin to them, therefore endeavour to get them healed and sanctified. Augustine
says that his mother, Monica, travailed more for his spiritual birth than his natural.
Timothy’s mother instructed him from a child. 2 Tim 3: 15. She not only gave him
her breast-milk, but ‘the sincere milk of the word.’ Season your children with good
principles betides, that they may, with Obadiah, fear the Lord from their youth.
1 Kings 18: 12. When parents instruct not their children, they seldom prove blessings.
God often punishes the carelessness of parents with undutifulness in their children.
It is not enough that in baptism your child is dedicated to God, but it must be
educated for him. Children are young plants which you must be continually watering
with good instruction. ‘Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is
old, he will not depart from it.’ Prov 22: 6. The more your children fear God, the
more they will honour you.
(2) If you would have your children honour you, keep up parental
authority: be kind, but do not spoil them. If you let them get too much ahead, they
will condemn you instead of honouring you. The rod of discipline must not be withheld.
‘Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell.’ Prov 23: 14.
A child indulged and humoured in wickedness, will be a thorn in the parent’s eye.
David spoiled Adonijah. ‘His father had not displeased him at any time, in saying,
Why hast thou done so?’ 1 Kings 1: 6, 7, 9. Afterwards he became a grief of heart
to his father, and was false to the crown. Keep up your authority, and you keep
up your honour.
(3) Provide for your children what is fitting, both in their minority
and when they come to maturity. ‘The children ought not to lay up for the parents,
but the parents for the children.’ 2 Cor 12: 14. They are your own flesh and, as
the apostle says, ‘No man ever yet hated his own flesh.’ Eph 5: 29. The parents’
bountifulness will cause dutifulness in the child. If you pour water into a pump,
the pump will send water again out freely; so, if parents pour in something of their
estate to their children, children worthy of the name will pour out obedience again
to their parents.
(4) When your children are grown up, put them to some lawful calling,
wherein they may serve their generation. It is good to consult the natural genius
and inclination of a child, for forced callings do as ill, sometimes, as forced
matches. To let a child be out of a calling, is to expose him to temptation. Melanchthon
says, Odium balneum diaboli [Idleness is the devil’s pleasure resort]. A child out
of a calling is like fallow ground; and what can you expect should grow up but weeds
of disobedience.
(5) Act lovingly to your children. In all your counsels and commands
let them read love. Love will command honour; and how can a parent but love the
child who is his living picture, nay, part of himself. The child is the father in
the second edition.
(6) Act prudently towards your children. It is a great point of
prudence in a parent not to provoke his children to wrath. ‘Fathers, provoke not
your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.’ Col 3: 21.
How may a parent provoke his children to wrath?
(1) By giving them opprobrious terms. ‘Thou son of the perverse
rebellious woman,’ said Saul to his son Jonathan. 1 Sam 20: 30. Some parents use
imprecations and curses to their children, which provoke them to wrath. Would you
have God bless your children, and do you curse them?
(2) Parents provoke children to wrath when they strike them without
a cause, or when the correction exceeds the fault. This is to be a tyrant rather
than a father. Saul cast a javelin at his son to smite him, and his son was provoked
to anger. ‘So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger.’ 1 Sam 20: 33, 34.
In filium pater obtinet non tyrannicum imperium, set basilicum [A father exercises
a kingly power over his son, not that of a tyrant]. Davenant.
(3) When parents deny their children what is absolutely needful.
Some have thus provoked their children: they have stinted them, and kept them so
short, that they have forced them upon indirect courses, and made them put forth
their hands to iniquity.
(4) When parents act partially towards their children, showing
more kindness to one than to another. Though a parent may have a greater love to
one child, yet discretion should lead him not to show more love to one than to another.
Jacob showed more love to Joseph than to all his other children, which provoked
the envy of his brethren. ‘Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, and
when his brethren saw that, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.’
Gen 37: 3, 4.
(5) When a parent does anything which is sordid and unworthy,
which casts disgrace upon himself and his family, as to defraud or take a false
oath, it provokes the child to wrath. As the child should honour his father, so
the father should not dishonour the child.
(6) When parents lay commands upon their children which they cannot
perform without wronging their consciences. Saul commanded his son Jonathan to bring
David to him. ‘Fetch him to me, for he shall surely die.’ 1 Sam 20: 31. Jonathan
could not do this with a good conscience; but was provoked to anger. ‘Jonathan arose
from the table in fierce anger.’ 1 Sam 20: 34. The reason why parents should show
their prudence in not provoking their children to wrath, is this: ‘Lest they be
discouraged.’ Col 3: 21. This word ‘discouraged’ implies three things. Grief. The
parent’s provoking the child, the child so takes it to heart, that it causes premature
death. Despondency. The parents’ austerity dispirits the child, and makes it unfit
for service; like members of the body stupefied, which are unfit for work. Contumacy
and refractoriness. The child being provoked by the cruel and unnatural carriage
of the parent, grows desperate, and often studies to irritate and vex his parents;
which, though it be evil in the child, yet the parent is accessory to it, as being
the occasion of it.
(7) If you would have honour from your children, pray much for
them. Not only lay up a portion for them, but lay up a stock of prayer for them.
Monica prayed much for her son Augustine; and it was said, it was impossible that
a son of so many prayers and tears should perish. Pray that your children may be
preserved from the contagion of the times; pray that as your children bear your
images in their faces, they may bear God’s image in their hearts; pray that they
may be instruments and vessels of glory. One fruit of prayer may be, that the child
will honour a praying parent.
(8) Encourage that which you see good and commendable in your
children. Virtus laudata crescit [Goodness increases when praised]. Commending that
which is good in your children makes them more in love with virtuous actions; and
is like the watering of plants, which makes them grow more. Some parents discourage
the good they see in their children, and so nip virtue in the bud, and help to damn
their children’s souls. They have their children’s curses.
(9) If you would have honour from your children, set them a good
example. It makes children despise parents, when the parents live in contradiction
to their own precepts; when they bid their children be sober, and yet they themselves
get drunk; or bid their children fear God, and are themselves loose in their lives.
Oh if you would have your children honour you, teach them by a holy example. A father
is a looking-glass, which the child often dresses himself by; let the glass be clear
and not spotted. Parents should observe great decorum in their whole conduct, lest
they give occasion to their children to say to them, as Plato’s servant, ‘My master
has made a book against rash anger, but he himself is passionate;’ or, as a son
once said to his father, ‘If I have done evil, I have learned it of you.’
2.6 The Sixth Commandment
‘Thou shalt not kill.’ Exod 20: 13.
In this commandment is a sin forbidden, which is murder, ‘Thou
shalt not kill,’ and a duty implied, which is, to preserve our own life, and the
life of others.
The sin forbidden is murder: ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ Here two things
are to be understood, the not injuring another, nor ourselves.
I. The not injuring another.
[1] We must not injure another in his name. ‘A good name is a
precious balsam.’ It is a great cruelty to murder a man in his name. We injure others
in their name, when we calumniate and slander them. David complains, ‘They laid
to my charge things that I knew not.’ Psa 35: 11. The primitive Christians were
traduced for incest, and killing their children, as Tertullian says, Dicimur infanaticidii
incestus rei [They charge us with infanticide and label us incestuous]. This is
to behead others in their good name; it is an irreparable injury. No physician can
heal the wounds of the tongue.
[2] We must not injure another in his body. Life is the most precious
thing; and God has set this commandment as a fence about it, to preserve it. He
made a statute which has never to this day been repealed. ‘Whose sheddeth man’s
blood, by man shall his blood be shed.’ Gen 9: 6. In the old law, if a man killed
another unawares, he might take sanctuary; but if he killed him willingly, though
he fled to the sanctuary, the holiness of the place would not defend him. ‘If a
man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile, thou shalt take
him from mine altar, that he may die.’ Exod 21: 14. In the commandment, ‘Thou shalt
do no murder,’ all sins are forbidden which lead to it, and are the occasions of
it: As,
(1) Unadvised anger. Anger boils in the veins, and often produces
murder. ‘In their anger they slew a man.’ Gen 49: 6.
(2) Envy. Satan envied our first parents the robe of innocence,
and the glory of paradise, and could not rest till he had procured their death.
Joseph’s brethren, because his father loved him, and gave him a ‘coat of divers
colours,’ envied him, and took counsel to slay him. Gen 37: 20. Envy and murder
are near akin, therefore the apostle puts them together. ‘Envyings, murders.’ Gal
5: 21. Envy is a sin which breaks both tables at once; it begins in discontent against
God, and ends in injury against man, as we see in Cain. Gen 4: 6, 8. Envious Cain
was first discontented with God, by which he broke the first table; and then fell
out with his brother and slew him, and thus broke the second table. Anger is sometimes
’soon over,’ like fire kindled in straw, which is quickly out; but envy is deep
rooted, and will not quench its thirst without blood. ‘Who is able to stand before
envy?’ Prov 27: 4.
(3) Hatred. The Pharisees hated Christ because he excelled them
in gifts, and had more honour among the people than they. They never left him till
they had nailed him to the cross, and taken away his life. Hatred is a vermin which
lives upon blood. ‘Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood
of the children of Israel.’ Ezek 35: 5. Haman hated Mordecai because he would not
bow to him, and presently sought revenge, by getting a bloody warrant sealed for
the destruction of the whole race and seed of the Jews. Esth 3: 9. Hatred is ever
cruel. All these sins are forbidden in this commandment.
How many ways is murder committed?
We may be said to murder another twelve ways. (1) With the hand;
as Joab killed Abner and Amass. ‘He smote him in the fifth rib, and shed out his
bowels.’ 2 Sam 20: 10. (2) With the mind. Malice is mental murder. ‘Whosoever hates
his brother is a murderer.’ 1 John 3: 15. To malign another, and wish evil against
him in the heart, is murdering him. (3) With the tongue, by speaking to the prejudice
of another, and causing him to be put to death. Thus the Jews killed the Lord of
life, when they inveighed against him, and accused him falsely to Pilate. John 18:
30. (4) With the pen. Thus David killed Uriah by writing to Joab to ‘set Uriah in
the forefront of the battle.’ 2 Sam 11:15. Though the Ammonites’ sword cut off Uriah,
yet David’s pen was the cause of his death; and therefore the Lord tells David by
the prophet Nathan, ‘Thou hast killed Uriah.’ 2 Sam 12: 9. (5) By plotting another’s
death. Thus, though Jezebel did not lay her own hands upon Naboth, yet because she
contrived his death, and caused two false witnesses to swear against him, and bring
him within the compass of treason, she was the murderer. 1 Kings 21: 9, 10. (6)
By putting poison into cups. Thus the wife of Commodes the emperor killed her husband
by poisoning the wine which he drank. So, many kill little children by medicines
that cause their death. (7) By witchcraft and sorcery — which were forbidden under
the law. ‘There shall not be found among you an enchanter, or a witch, or a consulter
with familiar spirits.’ Deut 18: 10, 11. (8) By having an intention to kill another;
as Herod, under a pretence of worshipping Christ, would have killed him. Matt 2:
8, 13. So, when Saul made David go against the Philistines, he designed that the
Philistine should have killed him. ‘Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but
let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.’ 1 Sam 18: 17. Here was intentional
murder, and it was in God’s account as bad as actual murder. (g) By consenting to
another’s death; as Saul to the death of Stephen. ‘I also was standing by and consenting
unto his death.’ Acts 22: 20. He that gives consent is accessory to the murder.
(10) By not hindering the death of another when in our power. Pilate knew Christ
was innocent. ‘I find no fault in him,’ he said, but did not hinder his death; therefore
he was guilty. Washing his hands in water could not wash away the guilt of Christ’s
blood. (11) By unmercifullness. By taking away that which is necessary for the support
of life; as to take away the tools or utensils by which a man gets his living. ‘No
man shall take the upper or the nether millstone to pledge, for he taketh a man’s
life.’ Deut 24: 6. Or by not helping him when he is ready to perish. You may be
the death of another, as well by not relieving him, as by offering him violence.
If thou dost not feed him that is starving, thou killest him. How many are thus
guilty of the breach of this commandment! (12) By not executing the law upon capital
offenders. A felon having committed six murders, the judge may be said to be guilty
of five of them, because he did not execute the felon for his first offence.
What are the aggravations of this sin of murder?
(1) To shed the blood of another ceaselessly; as to kill another
in a humour or frolic. A bee will not sting unless provoked, but many when not provoked,
will take away the life of another. This makes the sin of blood more bloody. The
less provocation to a sin the greater sin.
(2) To shed the blood of another contrary to promise. Thus, after
the princes of Israel had sworn to the Gibeonites that they should live, Saul slew
them. Josh 9: 15. 2 Sam 21: 1. Here were two sins bound together, perjury and murder.
(3) To take away the life of any public person enhances the murder,
and makes it greater, as to kill a judge upon the bench, because he represents the
king’s person. To murder a person whose office is sacred, and comes on the King
of heaven’s embassage; the murdering of whom may be the murdering of many. Herod
added this sin above all, that he shut up John the Baptist in prison, much more
to behead him in prison. Luke 3: 20. To stain one’s hands with royal blood. David’s
heart smote him because he did but cut off the lap of king Saul’s garment. 1 Sam
24: 5. How would David’s heart have smitten him if he had cut off Saul’s head?
(4) To shed the blood of a near relation aggravates the murder,
and dyes it of a deeper crimson. For a son to kill his father is horrid. Parricides
are monsters in nature. Qui occidit patrem, plurima committit peccata in uno. Cicero.
‘He who takes away his father’s life, commits many sins in one;’ he is not guilty
of murder only, but of disobedience, ingratitude, and diabolical cruelty. ‘He who
striketh his father or mother, shall be surely put to death.’ Exod 21: 15. Then
how many deaths is he worthy of that destroys his father or mother! Such a monster
was Nero, who caused his mother, Agrippina, to be slain.
(5) To shed the blood of any righteous person aggravates the sin.
Hereby justice is perverted. Such a person being innocent, is unworthy of death.
A saint being a public blessing, lies in the breach to turn away wrath; so that
to destroy him is to pull down the pillars of a nation. He is precious to God. Psa
116: 15. He is a member of Christ’s body; therefore what injury is offered to him
is done to God himself. Acts 9: 4.
Though, however, this commandment forbids private persons to shed
the blood of another, unless in their own defence, yet, such as are in office must
punish public offenders, even with death. To kill an offender is not murder, but
justice. A private person sins if he draws the sword; a public person sins if he
puts up the sword. A magistrate ought not to let the sword of justice rust in the
scabbard. As he should not let the sword be too sharp by severity, so neither should
the edge of it be blunted by too much levity.
Neither does this commandment prohibit a just war. When men’s
sins grow ripe, and long plenty has bred surfeit, God says, ‘Sword, go through the
land.’ Ezek 14: 17. He encouraged the war between the tribes of Israel and Benjamin.
When the iniquity of the Amorites was full, he sent Israel to war against them.
Judges 11: 21.
Use one. It should be for a lamentation that this land is defiled
with blood. Numb 35: 33. How common is this sin in this boasting age! England’s
sins are written in letters of blood. Some make no more of killing men than sheep.
‘In thy skirts is found the blood of the poor innocents.’ Jer 2: 34. Junius reads
it, in alis; and so in Hebrew, ‘in thy wings’ is found the blood of innocents. It
alludes to the birds of prey, which stain their wings with the blood of other birds.
May not the Lord justly take up a controversy with the inhabitants of the land,
because ‘blood toucheth blood’? Hos 4: 2. There are wholesale murders. And that
which should increase our lamentation is, that not only man’s blood is shed among
us, but Christ’s blood. Profane flagitious sinners are said to ‘crucify the son
of God afresh.’ Heb 6: 6. (1) They swear by his blood, and so, as it were, make
his wounds bleed afresh. (2) They crucify Christ in his members. ‘Why persecutes
thou me?’ Acts 9: 4. The foot being trodden on, the head cries out. (3) If it lay
in their power, were Christ alive on earth, they would nail him again to the cross.
Thus men crucify Christ afresh; and, if man’s blood so cries, how loud will Christ’s
blood cry against sinners?
Use two. Beware of having your hands imbrued in the blood of others.
But such a one has wronged me by defamation, or otherwise; and
if I spill his blood, I shall but revenge my own quarrel!
If he has done you wrong, the law is open; but take heed of shedding
blood. What! Because he has wronged you, will you therefore wrong God? Is it not
doing wrong to God to take his work out of his hand? He has said ‘Vengeance is mine;
I will repay.’ Rom 12: 19. You would undertake to revenge yourself; would be plaintiff,
and judge, and executioner, in yourself. This is a great wrong done to God, and
he will not hold you guiltless.
To deter all from having their hands defiled with blood, consider
what a sin murder is. It is (1) A God-affronting sin. It is a breach of his command,
and trampling upon his royal edict. It is a wrong offered to God’s image. ‘In the
image of God made he man.’ Gen 9: 6. It is tearing God’s picture, and breaking in
pieces the King of heaven’s broad seal. Man is the temple of God. ‘Know ye not that
your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost?’ 1 Cor 6: 19. The man-slayer destroys
God’s temple; and will God endure to be thus confronted by proud dust?
(2) It is a crying sin. Clamitat in coelum vox sanguinis [The
voice of blood cries to Heaven]. There are three sins in Scripture which are said
to cry. Oppression. Psa 12: 5. Sodomy. Gen 18: 21. Bloodshed. This cries so loud,
that it drowns all the other cries. ‘The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto
me from the ground.’ Gen 4: 10. Abel’s blood had as many tongues as drops, to cry
aloud for vengeance. This sin of blood lay heavy on David’s conscience; though he
had sinned by adultery, yet, what he cried out for most was, this crimson sin of
blood. ‘Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God.’ Psa 51: 14. Though the Lord visits
for every sin, yet he will in a special manner make ‘inquisition for blood.’ Psa
9: 12. If a beast killed a man it was to be stoned, and its flesh was not to be
eaten. Exod 21: 28. If God would have a beast stoned that killed a man, which had
not the use of reason to restrain it, much more will he be incensed against those
who, against both reason and conscience, take away the life of a man.
(3) Murder is a diabolical sin. It makes a man the devil’s first
born, for he was a murderer from the beginning. John 8: 44. By saying to our first
parents, ‘Ye shall not die,’ he brought death into the world.
(4) It is a cursed sin. If there be a curse for him that smites
his neighbour secretly, he is doubly cursed that kills him. Deut 27: 24. The first
man that was born was a murderer. ‘And now art thou cursed from the earth.’ Gen
4: 11. He was an excommunicated person, banished from the place of God’s public
worship. God set a mark upon bloody Cain. Gen 4: 15. Some think that mark was horror
of mind, which, above all sins, accompanies the sin of blood. Others think it was
a continual shaking and trembling in his flesh. He carried a curse along with him.
(5) It is a wrath-procuring sin. 2 Kings 24: 4.
It procures temporal judgements. Phocas, to get the empire, put
to death all the sons of Mauritius the emperor, and then slew the emperor himself;
but he was pursued by Priscus, his son-in-law, who cut off his ears and feet, and
then killed him. Charles IX, who caused the massacre of so many Christians at Paris,
died from blood issuing out of several parts of his body. Albania killed a man and
made of his skull a cup to drink in. His own wife, soon afterwards, caused him to
be murdered in his bed. Vengeance as a bloodhound pursues the murderer. ‘Bloody
men shall not live out half their days.’ Psa 55: 23. It brings eternal judgements.
It binds men over to hell. The Papists make nothing of massacres, because theirs
is a bloody religion; they give a dispensation for murder, if it be to propagate
the Catholic cause. If a cardinal puts his red hat upon the head of a murderer going
to execution, he saves him from death. Let all impenitent murderers read their doom
in Rev 21: 8: ‘Murderers shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire
and brimstone, which is the second death.’ We read of ‘fire mingled with blood.’
Rev 8: 7. Such as have their hands full of blood must undergo the wrath of God.
Here is fire mingled with blood, and this fire is inextinguishable. Mark 9: 44.
Time will not finish it, tears will not quench it.
[3] We must not injure another in his soul. This is the greatest
murder of all, because there is more of God’s image in the soul than in the body.
Though the soul cannot be annihilated, it is said to be murdered when it is deprived
of its happiness, and is for ever in torment. How many are soul murderers!
(1) Such as corrupt others by bad example. The world is led by
example; especially by the examples of great ones, which are very pernicious. We
are apt to do as we see others before us, especially those above us. Such as are
placed in high power, are like the pillar of cloud; where that went, Israel went.
When great ones move, others will follow them, though it be to hell. Evil magistrates,
like the tail of the dragon, draw the ‘third part of the stars after them.’
(2) Such as entice others to sin. The harlot by curling her hair,
rolling her eyes, laying open her breasts, does what in her lies to be both a tempter
and a murderer. Such a one was Messalina, wife to Claudius the emperor. ‘I discerned
a young man, and there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot; so she caught
him and kissed him.’ Prov 7: 10, 13. Better are the reproofs of a friend, than the
kisses of a harlot.
(3) Ministers are murderers, who either starve, or poison, or
infect souls. [1] That starve souls. ‘Feed the flock of God which is among you.’
1 Pet 5: 2. These feed themselves and starve the flock; either through non-residing,
they do not preach, or through insufficiency, they cannot. There are many in the
ministry so ignorant that they had need to be taught the ‘first principles of the
oracles of God.’ Heb 5: 12. Was he fit to be a preacher in Israel, think ye, who
being asked something concerning the decalogue, answered he never saw any such book?
[2] That poison souls. Such are heterodox ministers, who poison people with error.
The basilisk poisons herbs and flowers by breathing on them; so the breath of heretical
ministers poisons souls. The Socinian, who would rob Christ of his Godhead; the
Armenian, who by advancing the power of the will, would take off the crown from
the head of free-grace; the Antinomian, who denies the use of the moral law to a
believer, as if it were antiquated and out of date — poison men’s souls. Error is
as damnable as vice. ‘There shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall
bring in damnable heresies, denying the Lord that bought them.’ 2 Pet 2: 1. [3]
That infect souls by their scandalous lives. ‘Let the priests which come near to
the Lord sanctify themselves.’ Exod 19: 22. Ministers who by their places are nearer
to God, should be holier than others. The higher the elements are, the purer they
are; air is purer than water; fire is purer than air. The higher men are in office,
the holier they should be. John the Baptist was a shining lamp. But there are many
who infect their people with their bad life; they preach one thing, and live another.
Qui Curios simulant et bacchanalia vivunt [They make a show of goodness, but live
a life of riot]. Like Eli’s sons, they are in white linen, but have scarlet sins.
Some say, that Prester John, the lord of Africa, caused to be carried before him
a golden cup full of dirt; a fit emblem of such ministers as have a golden office,
but are dirty and polluted in their lives. They are murderers, and the blood of
souls will cry against them at the last day.
(4) Such as destroy others by getting them into bad company, and
so make them proselytes to the devil. Vitia in proximum quamque transiliunt [Our
vices leap on to the man next to us]. Seneca. A man cannot live in the Ethiopian
climate but he will be discoloured with the sun, nor can he be in bad company but
he will partake of their evil. One drunkard makes another; as the prophet speaks
in another sense. ‘I set before them pots full of wine, and cups, and said unto
them, Drink ye wine;’ so the wicked set pots of wine before others, and made them
drink till reason be stupefied, and lust inflamed. Jer 35: 5. Such are guilty of
the breach of this commandment. How sad will it be with those who have not only
their own sins, but the blood of others to answer for! So much for the first thing
forbidden in the commandment, the injuring of others.
II. THE second thing forbidden in this commandment is, injuring
ourselves. ‘Thou shalt not kill:’ thou shalt do no hurt to thyself.
Thou shalt not hurt thy own body. One may be guilty of self-murder,
either 1. Indirectly or occasionally. Or, 2. Directly and absolutely.
[1] Indirectly and occasionally; as
(1) When a man thrusts himself into danger which he might prevent.
If a company of archers were shooting, and one should put himself in the place where
the arrows fly, so that an arrow kills him, he is accessory to his own death. In
the law, God would have the leper shut up, to keep others from being infected. Lev
13: 4. If any should be so presumptuous as to go to a leper, and get the plague
of leprosy, he might thank himself for his own death. (2) A person may be guilty
of his own death, in some sense, by neglecting the use of means for preserving life.
If sick, and he uses no remedy; if he has received a wound, and will not apply a
cure, he hastens his own death. God commanded Hezekiah to lay a ‘lump of figs upon
the boil.’ Isa 38: 21. If he had not done so, he would have been the cause of his
own death. (3) By immoderate grief. ‘The sorrow of the world worketh death.’ 2 Cor
7: 10. When God takes away a dear relation, and any one is swallowed up with sorrow,
he endangers his life. How many weep themselves into their graves! Queen Mary grieved
so excessively for the loss of Calais, that it broke her heart. (4) By intemperance
or excess in diet. Surfeiting shortens life. Plures periere crapula, quam gladio
[More perish by drink than by the sword]. Many dig their grave with their teeth.
Too much oil chokes the lamp. The cup kills more than the cannon. Excessive drinking
causes untimely death.
{2] One may be guilty of self-murder, directly and absolutely.
(1) By envy. Envy is tristitia de bonis alienis, ‘a secret repining
at the welfare of another.’ Invidus alterius rebus macrescit opimis. ‘An envious
man is more sorry at another’s prosperity, than at his own adversity.’ He never
laughs but when another weeps. Envy is a self-murder, a fretting canker. Cyprian
calls it vulnus occultum, ‘a secret wound;’ it hurts a man’s self most. Envy corrodes
the heart, dries up the blood, rots the bones. Envy is ‘the rottenness of the bones.’
Prov 14: 30. It is to the body what the moth is to the cloth, that eats it and makes
its beauty consume. Envy drinks its own venom. The viper, which leaped on Paul’s
hand, thought to have hurt Paul, but fell into the fire itself. Acts 28: 3. So,
while the envious man thinks to hurt another, he destroys himself.
(2) By laying violent hands on himself, and thus he commits felo
de se; as Saul fell upon his own sword and killed himself. It is the most unnatural
and barbarous kind of murder for a man to butcher himself and imbrue his hands in
his own blood. A man’s self is most near to him, therefore this sin of self-murder
breaks both the law of God, and the bonds of nature. The Lord has placed the soul
in the body, as in a prison; and it is a sin to break open this prison till God
opens the door. Self-murderers are worse than the brute-creatures, which will tear
and gore open one another, but not destroy themselves. Self-murder is occasioned
usually by discontent, and a sullen melancholy. The bird that beats itself in the
cage, and is ready to kill itself, is a true emblem of a discontented spirit.
Whence comes this discontent?
This discontent arises — (1) From pride. A man who swells with
a high opinion of himself, and thinks he deserves better than others, when any great
calamity befalls him, is discontented, and in a sudden passion will make away with
himself. Ahithophel had high thoughts of himself, his words were esteemed oracles,
and he could not bear to have his wise counsel rejected. ‘He put his household in
order, and hanged himself.’ 2 Sam 17: 23. (2) From poverty. Poverty is a sore temptation.
‘Give me not poverty.’ Prov 30: 8. Many have brought themselves to poverty by their
sin; and when a great estate is boiled away to nothing, they are discontented, and
think it better to die quickly, than languish in misery, and the devil soon helps
them to dispatch themselves. (3) From covetousness. Avarice is a dry drunkenness,
a horse-leech that is never satisfied. The covetous man is like behemoth. ‘Behold
he drinketh up a river,’ and yet his thirst is not allayed. Job 40: 33. The covetous
miser hoards up corn; and if he hears the price of corn begins to fall, he is troubled,
and there is no cure for his discontent but a halter. (4) From horror of mind. A
man has sinned a great sin, has swallowed down some pills of temptation the devil
has given him, and these pills begin to work in his conscience, and the horror becomes
so great, that he chooses strangling. Judas having betrayed innocent blood, was
in such an agony of conscience, that he hanged himself; as if, to avoid the stinging
of a gnat, any one should endure the bite of a serpent. I can see no ground of hope
for such as make away with themselves; for they die in the very act of sin, and
cannot have time to repent.
Hurting our own souls is forbidden in the command, ‘Thou shalt
not kill.’ Many who are free from other murders, are guilty here. They murder their
own souls. They wilfully damn themselves, and throw themselves into hell.
Who are they that murder their own souls?
(1) They wilfully murder their souls who have no sense of God,
or the world to come, and are past feeling. Eph 4: 19. Tell them of God’s holiness
and justice, and they are not at all affected. ‘They made their hearts as an adamant
stone.’ Zech 7: 12, ‘The adamant,’ says Pliny, ‘is insuperable, the hammer cannot
conquer it.’ Sinners have adamantine hearts. When the prophet spake to the altar
of stone, it rent asunder, but sinner’s hearts are so hardened in sin (1 Kings 13:
5), nothing will work upon them, neither ordinances nor judgements. They do not
believe in a God; they laugh at hell. Thus they murder their own souls, and throw
themselves into hell as fast as they can.
(2) They wilfully murder their own souls who resign themselves
to their lusts, let what will come of it. The soul cries out in you, I am killing
myself; I am murdering myself. They ‘have given themselves over to work all uncleanness
with greediness.’ Eph 4: 19. Let ministers speak to them about their sins, let conscience
speak, let affliction speak, they will have their lusts, even though they go to
hell for them. Do not these murder their own souls? As Agrippina, mother of Nero,
said, occidat modo imperet, let my son kill me, so he may reign; so many say in
their hearts, let our sins damn us, so that they but please us. Herod will have
his incestuous lusts, though it costs him his soul; and for a drop of pleasure men
will drink a sea of wrath. Do not these massacre and damn their own souls?
(3) They murder their souls who avoid all means of saving them.
They will go to plays, to drunken meetings, but will not set their foot in God’s
house, or come near the sound of the gospel-trumpet; as if one that is diseased
should shun the bath for fear of being healed. These are self murderers as much
as one who has the means of cure offered him, but chooses rather to die.
(4) They voluntarily murder their souls who take false prejudices
against religion; as if it were so strict and severe that they must live a melancholy
life, like hermits and anchorites, and drown all their joys in tears. It is a slander
which the devil casts upon religion, for there is no true joy but in believing.
Rom 15: 1, 3. No honey is so sweet as that which drops from a promise. Some men
foolishly take up a prejudice against religion; they are resolved never to go to
heaven, rather than go through the strait gate. I may say of prejudice, as Paul
to Elymas, ‘O prejudice, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness,’
how many souls hast thou damned? Acts 13: 10.
(5) They wilfully murder their own souls who will neither be good
themselves, nor suffer others to be so. ‘Ye neither go [into the kingdom of heaven]
yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.’ Matt 23: 13. Such
are they who persecute others for their religion. Drunken meetings may escape punishments
from them, but if men meet to serve God, all severity will be used. They are resolved
to shipwreck others, though they themselves are cast away in the storm. Oh! take
heed of murdering your own souls. No creature but man willingly kills itself.
III. THE positive duty implied in the command is, that we should
do all the good we can to ourselves and others.
[1] In reference to others. We should endeavour to preserve the
lives and souls of others. [2] In reference to ourselves. We should preserve our
own life and soul.
[1] In reference to others. We are to preserve the life of others.
We should comfort them in their sorrows, relieve them in their wants, and like the
good Samaritan, pour wine and oil into their wounds. ‘I was a father to the poor.’
Job 29: 16. ‘The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me.’ Ver 13.
It is a great means of preserving the life of another to relieve him when he is
ready to perish. When there was a great dearth in Rome, Pompey provided corn for
its relief; and when the mariners were afraid to sail thither in a tempest, he said,
‘It is not necessary that we should live, but it is necessary that Rome be relieved.’
Grace makes the heart tender, it causes sympathy and charity. As it melts the heart
in contrition towards God, so in compassion towards others. ‘He has dispersed, he
has given to the poor.’ Psa 29: 9. This commandment implies that we should be so
far from ruining others, that we should do all we can to preserve the lives of others.
When you see the picture of death drawn in their faces, administer to their necessities;
be temporal saviours to then; draw them out of the waters of affliction with a silver
cord of charity. That I may persuade you to this, let me lay before you some arguments: —
(1) Works of charity evidence grace. As Faith. ‘I will show thee
my faith by my works.’ James 2: 18. Works are faith’s letters of credence. We judge
of the health of the body by the pulse where the blood stirs and operates; so Christian,
judge of the health of thy faith by the pulse of charity. The word of God is the
rule of faith, and good works are the witnesses of faith. It evidences also Love.
Love loves mercy; it is a noble bountiful grace. Mary loved Christ, and how liberal
was her love! She bestowed on Christ her tears, kisses, and costly ointments. Love,
like a full vessel, will have vent; it vents itself in acts of liberality.
(2) To communicate to the necessities of others is not left to
our choice, but is an incumbent duty. ‘Charge them that are rich in this world that
they do good; that they be rich in good works.’ 1 Tim 6: 17, 18. This is not only
a counsel, but a charge. If God should lay a charge upon the inanimate creatures,
they would obey; if he should charge the rocks, they would send forth water; if
he should charge the clouds, they would melt into showers; if he should charge the
stones, they would become bread. And shall we be harder than the stones, not to
obey God when he charges us to ‘be rich in good works?’
(3) God supplies our wants, and shall not we supply the wants
of others? ‘We could not live without mercy.’ God makes every creature helpful to
us: the sun to enrich us with its golden beams; the earth to yield us its increase,
veins of gold, crops of corn, and store of flowers. God opens the treasury of his
mercy; he feeds us every day out of the alms-basket of his providence. ‘Thou openest
thy hand, and satisfies the desire of every living thing.’ Psa 145: 16. Does God
supply our wants, and shall we not minister to the wants of others? Shall we be
as a sponge to suck in mercy, and not as breasts to milk it out to others?
(4) Herein we resemble God, to be doing good to others. It is
our excellence to be like God. ‘Godliness is Godlikeness.’ When are we more like
him than in acts of bounty and munificence? ‘Thou art good, and does good.’ Psa
119: 68. ‘Thou art good,’ there is his essential goodness; and ‘doest good,’ there
is his communicative goodness. The more helpful we are to others, the more like
we are to God. We cannot be like God in omniscience, or in working miracles; but
we may be like him in doing works of mercy.
(5) God remembers all our deeds of charity, and takes them kindly
at our hands. ‘God is not unrighteous to forget your labour of love which ye have
shewed towards his name, in that you have ministered to the saints.’ Heb 6: 10.
The chief butler may forget Joseph’s kindness, but the Lord will not forget any
kindness we show to his people. ‘I was an hungred and ye gave me meat; thirsty,
and ye gave me drink.’ Matt 25: 35. Christ takes the kindness done to his saints
as done to himself. God has a bottle for your tears, and a book to write down your
alms. ‘A book of remembrance was written before him.’ Mal 3: 16. Tamerlane had a
register to write down all the names and good services of his soldiers; so God has
a book of remembrance to write down all your charitable works; and at the day of
judgement there shall be an open and honourable mention made of them in the presence
of the angels.
(6) Hardheartedness to others in misery reproaches the gospel.
When men’s hearts are like pieces of rock, or as the scales of the leviathan, ‘shut
up as with a close seal,’ you may as well extract oil out of flint, as the golden
oil of charity out of them. Job 41: 15. They unchristianize themselves. Unmercifullness
is the sin of the heathen. ‘Unmerciful.’ Rom 1: 31. It eclipses the glory of the
gospel. Does the gospel teach uncharitableness? Does it not bid us ‘draw out thy
soul to the hungry’? Isa 58: 10. ‘These things I will that thou affirm, that they
which have believed in God, might be careful to maintain good works.’ Tit 3: 8.
While you relieve not such as are in want, you walk in opposition to the gospel;
you cause it to be evil spoken of, and lay it open to the lash and censure of others.
(7) There is nothing lost by relieving the necessitous. The Shunammite
woman was kind to the prophet, she welcomed him to her house, and she received kindness
from him another way; he restored her dead child to life. 2 Kings 4: 35. Such as
are helpful to others, shall ‘find grace to help in time of need.’ Such as pour
out the golden oil of compassion to others, shall have the golden oil of salvation
by God poured out to them; for ‘a cup of cold water’ they shall have ‘rivers of
pleasure.’ God will make it up some way or other in this life. ‘The liberal soul
shall be made fat.’ Prov 11: 25. It shall be as the loaves in breaking multiplied;
or, as the widow’s oil, increased in pouring out. 1 Kings 17: 16. An estate may
be imparted without being impaired.
(8) To do good to others in necessity keeps up the credit of religion.
Works of mercy adorn the gospel, as the fruit adorns the tree. When ‘one light so
shines that others see our good works,’ it glorifies God, crowns religion, and silences
the lips of gainsayers. Basil says nothing rendered the true religion more famous
in the primitive times, and made more proselytes to it, than the bounty and charity
of Christians.
(9) The evil that accrues by not preserving the lives of others,
and helping them in their necessities. God often sends a secret moth into their
estate. ‘There is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.’
Prov 11: 24. ‘Whose stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry
himself, but shall not be heard.’ Prov 21: 13. ‘He shall have judgement without
mercy, that has shewed no mercy.’ James 2: 13. Dives denied Lazarus a crumb of bread,
and Dives was denied a drop of water. ‘Depart from me, ye cursed; for I was an hungred,
and ye gave me no meat.’ Matt 15: 41. Christ says not, ‘Ye took away my meat;’ but
‘Ye gave me no meat;’ ye did not feed my members, therefore ‘depart from me.’ By
all this, be ready to distribute to the necessities of others. This is included
in the commandment, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ Not only thou shalt not destroy another’s
life, but thou shalt preserve it by ministering to his necessities.
It is implied that we should endeavour to preserve the souls of
others: counsel them about their souls; set life and death before them; help them
to heaven. In the law, if one met his neighbour’s ox or ass going astray, he must
bring him back again. Exod 23: 4. Much more, if we see our neighbour’s soul going
astray, we should use all means to bring him back to God by repentance.
[2] In reference to ourselves. The commandment, ‘Thou shalt not
kill,’ requires that we should preserve our own life and soul. It is engraven upon
every creature that he should preserve his own natural life. We must be so far from
self-murder, that we must do all we can to preserve natural life. We must use all
means of diet, exercise, and lawful recreation, which, like oil, preserves the lamp
of life from going out. Some have been tempted by Satan to believe they are such
sinners that they do not deserve a bit of bread, and so they have been ready to
starve themselves. This is contrary to the commandment, ‘Thou shalt do no murder,’
which implies that we are to use all proper means for the preservation of life.
‘Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake.’ 1 Tim 5:
23. Timothy was not, by drinking too much water, to overcool his stomach, and weaken
nature, but to use means for self-preservation — to drink ‘a little wine,’ &c.
This commandment requires that we should also endeavour to preserve
our own souls. Omnia si perdas animam servare memento [Though you lose all else,
remember to save your soul]. It is engraven upon every creature, as with the point
of a diamond, to look to its own preservation. If the life of the body must be preserved,
much more the life of the soul. If he who does not provide for his own house is
worse than an infidel, much more he who does not provide for his own soul. 1 Tim
5: 8. A main thing implied in the commandment is a special care for preserving our
souls. The soul is a jewel, a diamond set in a ring of clay; Christ puts the soul
in balance with the world, and it outweighs all. Matt 16: 26. The soul is a glass.
in which some rays of divine glory shine; it has in it some faint idea and resemblance
of a Deity; it is a celestial spark lighted by the breath of God. The body was made
of the dust, but the soul is of a more noble origin. God breathed into man a living
soul. Gen 2: 7.
(1) The soul is excellent in its nature. It is a spiritual being,
‘it is a kind of angelical thing.’ The mind sparkles with knowledge, the will is
crowned with liberty, and all the affections are as stars shining in their orb.
The soul being spiritual, it is of quick operation. How quick are the motions of
a spark! How swift the wing of a cherubim! So quick and agile is the motion of the
soul! What is quicker than thought? How many miles can the soul travel in an instant!
The soul, being spiritual, moves upwards, it contemplates God and glory. ‘Whom have
I in heaven but thee?’ Psa 73: 25. The motion of the soul is upward; but sin has
put a wrong bias upon it, and made it move downward. The soul, being spiritual,
has a self-moving power; it can subsist and move when the body is dead, as the mariner
can subsist when the ship is broken. The soul, being spiritual, is immortal (Scaliger),
aeternitatis gemma, ‘a bud of eternity.’
(2) As the soul is excellent in its nature, so in its capacities.
It is capable of grace, it is fit to be an associate and companion of angels. It
is capable of communion with God, of being Christ’s spouse. ‘I have espoused you
to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.’ 2 Cor 11: 2.
It is capable of being crowned with glory for ever. Oh! then, carrying such precious
souls about you, created with the breath of God, redeemed with the blood of God,
what endeavours should you use for the saving of these souls! Let not the devil
have your souls. Heliogabalus fed his lions with pheasants: the devil is called
a roaring lion: feed him not with your souls. Besides the excellence of the soul,
which may make you labour to get it saved, consider how sad it will be not to have
the soul saved; it is such a loss as there is none like it; because in losing the
soul, you lose many things with it. A merchant in losing his ship, loses many things
with it: he loses money, jewels, spices, &c.; so he that loses his soul, loses Christ
and the company of angels in heaven. It is an infinite loss — an irreparable loss;
it can never be made up again. ‘Two eyes and one soul.’ Chrysostom. Oh! what care
should be taken of the immortal soul! I would request but this of you, that you
take as much care for the saving of your souls as you do for getting an estate.
Nay, do but take as much care for saving your souls as the devil does for destroying
them. Oh! how industrious is Satan to damn souls! How does he play the serpent in
his subtle laying of snares to catch souls! How does he shoot the fiery darts! He
is never idle; he is a busy bishop in his diocese; he ‘walketh about seeking whom
he may devour.’ 1 Pet 5: 8. Now, is it not a reasonable request to take as much
care for saving your souls as the devil does for destroying them?
How can we have our souls saved?
By having them sanctified. Only the ‘pure in heart shall see God.’
Get your souls inlaid and enamelled with holiness. 1 Pet 1: 16. It is not enough
that ‘we cease to do evil;’ which is all the evidence some have to show, and lose
heaven by short shooting; but we must be inwardly sanctified. Not only the ‘unclean
spirit’ must go out, but we must be filled with the Holy Ghost. Eph 5: 19. This
holiness must needs be, if you consider God is to dwell with you here, and you are
to dwell with him hereafter.
God is to dwell with you here. He takes up the soul for his own
lodging. ‘That Christ may dwell in your hearts.’ Eph 3: 17. Therefore the soul must
be consecrated. A king’s palace must be kept clean, especially his presence chamber.
The body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. 1 Cor 6: 19. The soul is the sanctum sanctorum;
how holy should it be!
You are to dwell with God. Heaven is a holy place. ‘An inheritance
undefiled.’ 1 Pet 1: 4. And how can you dwell with God till you are sanctified?
We do not put wine into a musty vessel; and God will not put the new wine of glory
into a sinful heart. Oh, then, as you love your souls, and would have them saved
eternally, endeavour after holiness! By this means you will have a fitness for the
kingdom of heaven, and your souls will be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
2.7 The Seventh Commandment
‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ Exod 20: 14.
God is a pure, holy spirit, and has an infinite antipathy against
all uncleanness. In this commandment he has entered his caution against it; non
moechaberis, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ The sum of this commandment is, The
preservations of corporal purity. We must take heed of running on the rock of uncleanness,
and so making shipwreck of our chastity. In this commandment there is something
tacitly implied, and something expressly forbidden.
1. The thing implied is that the ordinance of marriage should
be observed. ‘Let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own
husband.’ 1 Cor 7: 2. ‘Marriage is honourable and the bed undefiled.’ Heb 13: 4.
God instituted marriage in paradise; he brought the woman to the man. Gen 2: 22.
He gave them to each other in marriage. Jesus Christ honoured marriage with his
presence. John 2: 2. The first miracle he wrought was at a marriage, when he turned
the ‘water into wine.’ Marriage is a type and resemblance of the mystical union
between Christ and his church. Eph 5: 32.
In marriage there are general and special duties. The general
duty of the husband is to rule. ‘The husband is the head of the wife.’ Eph 5: 23.
The head is the seat of rule and judgement; but he must rule with discretion. He
is head, therefore must not rule without reason. The general duty on the wife’s
part is submission. ‘Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the
Lord.’ Eph 5: 22. It is observable that the Holy Ghost passed by Sarah’s failings,
not mentioning her unbelief; but he takes notice of that which was good in her,
as her reverence and obedience to her husband. ‘Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him
lord.’ 1 Pet 3: 6.
The special duties belonging to marriage, are love and fidelity.
Love is the marriage of the affections. Eph 5: 25. There is, as it were, but one
heart in two bodies. Love lines the yoke and makes it easy; it perfumes the marriage
relation; and without it there is not conjugium but conjurgium [not harmony but
constant wrangling]. Like two poisons in one stomach, one is ever sick of the other.
In marriage there is mutual promise of living together faithfully according to God’s
holy ordinance. Among the Romans, on the day of marriage, the woman presented to
her husband fire and water: signifying that as fire refines, and water cleanses,
she would live with her husband in chastity and sincerity.
II. The thing forbidden in the commandment is infecting ourselves
with bodily pollution and uncleanness. ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ The fountain
of this sin is lust. Since the fall, holy love has degenerated to lust. Lust is
the fever of the soul. There is a twofold adultery.
[1] Mental. ‘Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her has
committed adultery with her already in his heart.’ Matt 5: 28. As a man may die
of an inward bleeding, so he may be damned for the inward boilings of lust, if it
be not mortified.
{2] Corporal; as when sin has conceived, and brought forth in
the act. This is expressly forbidden under a sub poena. ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’
This commandment is set as a hedge to keep out uncleanness; and they that break
this hedge a serpent shall bite them. Job calls adultery a ‘heinous crime.’ Job
31: 2: Every failing is not a crime; and every crime is not a heinous crime; but
adultery is flagitium, ‘a heinous crime.’ The Lord calls it villany. ‘They have
committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours’
wives.’ Jer 29: 23.
Wherein appears the greatness of this sin?
(1) It is a breach of the marriage-oath. When persons come together
in a matrimonial way, they bind themselves by covenant to each other, in the presence
of God, to be true and faithful in the conjugal relation. Unchastity falsifies this
solemn oath; and herein adultery is worse than fornication, because it is a breach
of the conjugal bond.
(2) The greatness of the sin lies in this: that it is a great
dishonour done to God. God says, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ The adulterer
sets his will above God’s law, tramples upon his command, affronts him to his face;
as if a subject should tear his prince’s proclamation. The adulterer is highly injurious
to all the Persons in the Trinity. To God the Father. Sinner, God has given thee
thy life, and thou dost waste the lamp of life, the flower of thine age in lewdness.
He has bestowed on thee many mercies, health, and estate, and thou spendest all
on harlots. Did God give thee wages to serve the devil? It is injurious to God the
Son, in two ways. As he has purchased thee with his blood. ‘Ye are bought with a
price.’ 1 Cor 6: 20. Now he who is bought is not his own; it is a sin for him to
go to another, without consent, from Christ, who has bought him with a price. As
by virtue of baptism thou art a Christian, and professes that Christ is thy head,
and thou art a member of Christ; therefore, what an injury is it to Christ, to ‘take
the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot’? 1 Cor 6: 15. It is
injurious to God the Holy Ghost; for the body is his temple. ‘Know ye not that your
body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you?’ 1 Cor 6: 19. And how great
a sin is it to defile his temple!
(3) The sin of adultery lies in this: that it is committed with
mature deliberation. There is contriving the sin in the mind, then consent in the
will, and then the sin is put forth into act. To sin against the light of nature,
and to sin deliberately, is like the dye to the wool, it gives sin a tincture, and
dyes it of a crimson colour.
(4) That which makes adultery so sinful is, that it is needless.
God has provided a remedy to prevent it. ‘To avoid fornication, let every man have
his own wife.’ 1 Cor 7: 2. Therefore, after this remedy prescribed, to be guilty
of fornication or adultery, is inexcusable; it is like a rich thief, that steals
when he has no need. This increases the sin.
Use one. The church of Rome is here condemned, which allows the
sin of fortification and adultery. It suffers not its priests to marry, but they
may have their courtesans. The worst kind of uncleanness, incest with the nearest
of kin, is dispensed with for money. It was once said of Rome, Urbs est jam tota
lupanar, Rome was become a common stew. And no wonder, when the Pope, for a sum
of money, could give a license and patent to commit uncleanness; and, if the patent
were not enough, he would give them a pardon. Many of the Papists judge fornication
to be venial. God condemns the very lusting. Matt 5: 28. If God condemns the thought,
how dare they allow the fact of fornication? You see what a cage of unclean birds
the church of Rome is. They call themselves the Holy Catholic Church; but how can
they be holy who are so steeped and parboiled in fornication, incest, sodomy, and
all manner of uncleanness?
Use two. It is a matter for lamentation to see this commandment
so slighted and violated among us. Adultery is the reigning sin of the times. ‘They
are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker.’ Hos 7: 4. The time of King
Henry VIII was called the golden age, but this may be called the unclean age, wherein
whore-hunting is common. ‘In thy filthiness is lewdness.’ Ezek 24: 13. Luther tells
us of one who said, ‘If he might but satisfy his lust, and be carried from one whore-house
to another, he would desire no other heaven’; and who afterwards breathed out his
soul betwixt two notorious strumpets. This is to love forbidden fruit, to love to
drink of stolen waters. ‘Son of man, dig in the wall; and when I had digged, behold
a door; and he said, Go in and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.’
Ezek 8: 8, 9. Could we, as the prophet, dig in the walls of many houses, what vile
abominations should we see there! In some chambers we might see fornication; dig
further, and we may see adultery; dig further, and we may see incest, &c. And may
not the Lord go from his sanctuary? ‘Sees thou the great abominations that the house
of Israel committeth, that I should go far off from my sanctuary?’ Ezek 8: 6. God
might remove his gospel, and then we might write Ichabod on this nation, ‘The glory
is departed.’ Let us mourn for what we cannot reform.
Use three. For exhortation, to keep ourselves from the sin of
adultery. ‘Let every man have his own wife,’ says Paul, not his concubine, nor his
courtesan. 1 Cor 7: 2. That I may deter you from adultery, let me show you the great
evil of it.
(1) It is a thievish sin. It is the highest sort of theft. The
adulterer steals from his neighbour that which is more than his goods and estate;
he steals away his wife from him, who is flesh of his flesh.
(2) Adultery debases a person; it makes him resemble the beasts;
therefore the adulterer is described like a horse neighing. ‘Every one neighed after
his neighbour’s wife.’ Jer 5: 8. Nay, it is worse than brutish; for some creatures
that are void of reason, yet by the instinct of nature, observe some decorum and
chastity. The turtle dove is a chaste creature, and keeps to its mate; and the stork,
wherever he flies, comes into no nest but his own. Naturalists write that if a stork,
leaving his own mate, joins with any other, all the rest of the storks fall upon
it, and pull its feathers from it. Adultery is worse than brutish, it degrades a
person of his honour.
(3) Adultery pollutes. The devil is called an unclean spirit.
Luke 11: 24. The adulterer is the devil’s first-born; he is unclean; he is a moving
quagmire; he is all over ulcerated with sin; his eyes sparkle with lust; his mouth
foams out filth; his heart burns like mount Etna, in unclean desires; and he is
so filthy, that if he die in this sin, all the flames of hell will never purge away
his uncleanness. And, as for the adulteress, who can paint her black enough? The
Scriptures calls her a deep ditch. Prov 23: 27. She is a common drain; whereas a
believer’s body is a living temple, and his soul a little heaven, be spangled with
the graces, as so many stars. The body of a harlot is a walking dung hill, and her
soul a lesser hell.
(4) Adultery is destructive to the body. ‘And thou mourn at the
last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed.’ Prov 5: 11. It brings into a consumption.
Uncleanness turns the body into a hospital, it wastes the radical moisture, rots
the skull, and eats the beauty of the face. As the flame wastes the candle, so the
fire of lust consumes the bones. The adulterer hastens his own death. ‘Till a dart
strike through his liver.’ Prov 7: 23. The Romans had their funerals at the gate
of Venus’s temple, to signify that lust brings death. Venus is lust.
(5.) Adultery is a drain upon the purse; it wastes not the body
only, but the estate. ‘By means of a whorish woman, a man is brought to a piece
of bread.’ Prov 6: 26. Whores are the devil’s horse-leeches, sponges that suck in
money. The prodigal son spent his portion when he fell among harlots. Luke 15: 30.
The concubine of King Edward III, when he was dying, got all she could from him,
and even plucked the rings off his fingers, and so left him. He that lives in luxury,
dies in beggary.
(6) Adultery destroys reputation. ‘Whoso committeth adultery with
a woman, a wound and dishonour shall he get, and his reproach shall not be wiped
away.’ Prov 6: 32, 33. Some, when they get wounds, get honour. The soldier’s wounds
are full of honour; the martyr’s wounds for Christ are full of honour; but the adulterer
gets wounds, but no honour to his name. ‘His reproach shall not be wiped away.’
Wounds of reputation no physician can heal. When the adulterer dies, his shame lives.
When his body rots underground, his name rots above ground. His base-born children
are living monuments of his shame.
(7) This sin impairs the mind; it steals away the understanding;
it stupefies the heart. ‘Whoredom and wine take away the heart.’ Hos 4: 11. It cats
out all heart for good. Solomon besotted himself with women, and they enticed him
to idolatry.
(8) This sin incurs temporal judgements. The Mosaic law made adultery
death. ‘The adulterer and adulteress shall surely be put to death;’ and the usual
death was stoning. Lev 20: 10; Deut 22: 24. The Salons commanded persons taken in
this sin to be burnt. The Romans caused their heads to be stricken off. Like a scorpion,
this sin carries a sting in its tail. The adultery of Paris and Helen was the death
of both, and the ruin of Troy. ‘Jealousy is the rage of a man.’ Prov 6: 34. The
adulterer is often killed in the act of his sin. Adultery cost Otho the emperor,
and Pope Sixtus IV their lives. Laeta venire Venus, tristis abire solet [Lust’s
practice is to make a joyful entrance, but she leaves in misery]. I have read of
two citizens in London, in 1583, who, having defiled themselves with adultery on
the Lord’s-day, were immediately struck dead with fire from heaven. If all who are
now guilty of this sin were to be punished in this manner, it would rain fire again,
as on Sodom.
(9) Adultery, without repentance, damns the soul. ‘Neither fornicators,
nor adulterers, nor effeminate, shall enter into the kingdom of God.’ 1 Cor 6: 9.
The fire of lust brings to the fire of hell. ‘Whoremongers and adulterers God will
judge.’ Heb 13: 4. Though men may neglect to judge them, yet God will judge them.
But will not God judge all other sinners? Yes. Why then does the apostle say, ‘Whoremongers
and adulterers God will judge’? The meaning is, he will judge them assuredly; they
shall not escape the hand of justice; and he will punish them severely. ‘The Lord
knoweth how to reserve the unjust to the day of judgement to be punished, but chiefly
them that walk in the lust of uncleanness.’ 2 Pet 2: 9, 10. The harlot’s breast
keeps from Abraham’s bosom. Momentaneum est quod delectat, auternum quod cruciat
[The delight lasts a moment, the torment an eternity]. Who for a cup of pleasure
would drink a sea of wrath? ‘Her guests are in the depths of hell.’ Prov 9: 18.
A wise traveller, though many pleasant dishes are set before him at the inn, forbears
to taste, because of the reckoning. We are all travellers to Jerusalem above; and
when many baits of temptation are set before us, we should refrain, and think of
the reckoning which will be brought in at death. With what stomach could Dionysius
eat his dainties, when he imagined there was a naked sword hung over his head as
he sat at meat? While the adulterer feeds on strange flesh, the sword of God’s justice
hangs over his head. Causinus speaks of a tree growing in Spain, that is of a sweet
smell, and pleasant to the taste, but the juice of it is poisonous. This is an emblem
of a harlot; who is perfumed with powders, and fair to look on, but poisonous and
damnable to the soul. ‘She has cast down many wounded, yea, many strong men have
been slain by her.’ Prov 7: 26.
(10) The adulterer not only wrongs his own soul, but does what
in him lies to destroy the soul of another, and so kills two at once. He is worse
than the thief; for, suppose a thief robs a man, yea, takes away his life, the man’s
soul may be happy; he may go to heaven as well as if he had died in his bed. But
he who commits adultery, endangers the soul of another, and deprives her of salvation
so far as in him lies. Now, what a fearful thing is it to be an instrument to draw
another to hell!
(11) The adulterer is abhorred of God. ‘The mouth of strange women
is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein.’ Prov 22: 14.
What can be worse than to be abhorred of God? God may be angry with his own children;
but for God to abhor a man, is the highest degree of hatred.
How does the Lord show his abhorrence of the adulterer?
In giving him up to a reprobate mind, and a seared conscience.
Rom 1: 28. He is then in such a condition that he cannot repent. He is abhorred
of God. He stands upon the threshold of hell; and when death gives him a push, he
tumbles in. All this should sound a retreat in our ears, and call us off from the
pursuit of so damnable a sin as uncleanness. Hear what the Scriptures say: ‘Come
not nigh the door of her house.’ Prov 5: 8. ‘Her house is the way to hell.’ Prov
7: 27.
(12) Adultery sows discord. It destroys peace and love, the two
best flowers that grow in a family. It sets husband against wife, and wife against
husband; and so causes the ‘joints of the same body to smite one against another.’
This division in a family works confusion; for ‘A house divided against a house
falleth.’ Luke 11: 17. Omne divisibile est corruptibile.
Use four. I shall give some directions, by way of antidote, to
keep from the infection of this sin.
(1) Come not into the company of a whorish woman; avoid her house,
as a seaman does a rock. ‘Come not nigh the door of her house.’ Prov 5: 8. He who
would not have the plague, must not come near infected houses; every whore-house
has the plague in it. Not to beware of the occasion of sin, and yet pray, ‘Lead
us not into temptation,’ is, as if one should put his finger into the candle, and
yet pray that it may not be burnt.
(2) Look to your eyes. Much sin comes in by the eye. ‘Having eyes
full of adultery.’ 2 Pet 2: 14. The eye tempts the fancy, and the fancy works upon
the heart. A wanton amorous eye may usher in sin. Eve first saw the tree of knowledge,
and then she took. Gen 3: 6. First she looked and then she loved. The eye often
sets the heart on fire; therefore Job laid a law upon his eyes. ‘I made a covenant
with my eyes, why then should I think upon a maid?’ Job 31: 1. Democritus the philosopher
plucked out his eyes, because he would not be tempted with vain objects; the Scripture
does not bid us do this, but to set a watch before our eyes.
(3) Look to your lips. Take heed of any unseemly word that may
enkindle unclean thoughts in yourselves or others. ‘Evil communications corrupt
good manners.’ 1 Cor 15: 33. Impure discourse is the bellows to blow up the fire
of lust. Much evil is conveyed to the heart by the tongue. ‘Set a watch, O Lord,
before my mouth.’ Psa 141: 3.
(4) Look in a special manner to your heart. ‘Keep thy heart with
all diligence.’ Prov 4: 23. Every one has a tempter in his own bosom. ‘Out of the
heart proceed evil thoughts.’ Matt 15: 19. Thinking of sin makes way for the act
of sin. Suppress the first risings of sin in your heart. As the serpent, when danger
is near, keeps his head, so keep your heart, which is the spring from whence all
lustful motions proceed.
(5) Look to your attire. We read of the attire of a harlot. Prov
7: 10. A wanton dress is a provocation to lust. Cuttings and braidings of the hair,
a painted face, naked breasts, are allurements to vanity. Where the sign is hung
out, people will go in and taste the liquor. Jerome says, they who by their lascivious
attire endeavour to draw others to lust, though no evil follows, are tempters, and
shall be punished, because they offered the poison to others, though they would
not drink.
(6) Take heed of evil company. Serpunt vitia et in proximum quemque
transiliunt [Vices spread abroad and spring on to any standing by]. Seneca. Sin
is a very catching disease; one tempts another to sin, and hardens him in it. There
are three cords that draw men to adultery: the inclination of the heart, the persuasion
of evil company, and the embraces of the harlot; and this threefold cord is not
easily broken. ‘A fire was kindled in their company.’ Psa 106: 18. The fire of lust
is kindled in bad company.
(7) Beware of going to plays. A play-house is often a preface
to a whorehouse. Ludi praebent semina nequitiae [Plays furnish the seeds of wickedness].
We are bid to avoid all appearance of evil: and are not plays the appearance of
evil? Such sights are there that are not fit to be beheld with chaste eyes. Both
Fathers and Councils have shown their dislike to going to plays. A learned divine
observes, that many have on their death-beds confessed, with tears, that the pollution
of their bodies has been occasioned by going to plays.
(8) Take heed of mixed dancing. Instrumenta luxuriae tripudia
[Dances are instruments of wantonness]. From dancing, people come to dalliance with
another, and from dalliance to uncleanness. ‘There is,’ says Calvin, ‘for the most
part, some unchaste behaviour in dancing.’ Dances draw the heart to folly by wanton
gestures, by unchaste touches, and by lustful looks. Chrysostom inveighed against
mixed dancing in his time. ‘We read,’ he says, ‘of a marriage feast, and of virgins
going before with lamps, but of dancing there we read not.’ Matt 25: 7. Many have
been ensnared by dancing; as the duke of Normandy, and others. Saltatio adadulteras
non ad pudicas pertinet [Dancing is the province not of the chaste woman, but of
the adulteress]. Ambrose. Chrysostom says, where dancing is, there the devil is.
I speak chiefly of mixed dancing. We read of dances in Scripture, but they were
sober and modest. Exod 15: 20. They were not mixed dances, but pious and religious,
being usually accompanied with singing praises to God.
(9) Take heed of lascivious books, and pictures that provoke to
lust. As the reading of the Scripture stirs up love to God, so reading bad books
stirs up the mind to wickedness. I could name one who published a book to the world
full of effeminate, amorous, and wanton expressions, who, before he died, was much
troubled for it, and burned the book which made so many burn in lust. To lascivious
books I may add lascivious pictures, which bewitch the eye, and are incendiaries
to lust. They secretly convey poison to the heart. Qui aspicit innocens aspectu
fit nocens. Popish pictures are not more prone to stir up idolatry than unclean
pictures are to stir up to concupiscence.
(10) Take heed of excess in diet. When gluttony and drunkenness
lead the van, chambering and wantonness bring up the rear. Vinum fomentum libidinis;
‘any wine inflames lust;’ and fulness of bread is made the cause of Sodom’s uncleanness.
Ezek 16: 49. The rankest weeds grow out of the fattest soil. Uncleanness proceeds
from excess. ‘When I had fed them to the full, every one neighed after his neighbour’s
wife.’ Jer 5: 8. Get the ‘golden bridle of temperance.’ God allows recruits of nature,
and what may fit us the better for his service; but beware of surfeit. Excess in
the creature clouds the mind, chokes good affections, and provokes lust. Paul did
‘keep under his body.’ 1 Cor 9: 27. The flesh pampered is apt to rebel. Corpus impinguatum
recalcitrat.
(11) Take heed of idleness. When a man is out of a calling, he
is ready to receive any temptation. We do not sow seed in fallow-ground; but the
devil sows most seed of temptation in such as lie fallow. Idleness is the cause
of sodomy and uncleanness. Ezek 16: 49. When David was idle on the top of his house,
he espied Bathsheba, and took her to him. 2 Sam 11: 4. Jerome gave his friend counsel
to be always well employed in God’s vineyard, that when the devil came, he might
have no leisure to listen to temptation.
(12) To avoid fornication and adultery, let every man have a chaste,
entire love to his own wife. Ezekiel’s wife was the desire of his eyes. Chap 24:
16. When Solomon had dissuaded from strange women, he prescribed a remedy against
it. ‘Rejoice with the wife of thy youth.’ Prov 5: 18. It is not having a wife, but
loving a wife, that makes a man live chastely. He who loves his wife, whom Solomon
calls his fountain, will not go abroad to drink of muddy, poisoned waters. Pure
conjugal love is a gift of God, and comes from heaven; but, like the vestal fire,
it must be cherished, that it go not out. He who loves not his wife, is the likeliest
person to embrace the bosom of a stranger.
(13) Labour to get the fear of God into your hearts. ‘By the fear
of the Lord men depart from evil.’ Prov 16: 6. As the embankment keeps out the water,
so the fear of the Lord keeps out uncleanness. Such as want the fear of God, want
the bridle that should check them from sin. How did Joseph keep from his mistress’s
temptation? The fear of God pulled him back. ‘How can I do this great wickedness,
and sin against God?’ Gen. 39: 9. Bernard calls holy fear, janitor animae, ‘the
door-keeper of the soul.’ As a nobleman’s porter stands at the door, and keeps out
vagrants, so the fear of God stands and keeps out all sinful temptations from entering.
(14) Take delight in the word of God. ‘How sweet are thy words
unto my taste.’ Psa 119: 103. Chrysostom compares God’s word to a garden. If we
walk in this garden, and suck sweetness from the flowers of the promises, we shall
never care to pluck the ‘forbidden fruit.’ Sint castae deliciae meae scripturae
[Let the Scriptures be my pure pleasure]. Augustine. The reason why persons seek
after unchaste, sinful pleasures, is because they have no better. Caesar riding
through a city, and seeing the women play with dogs and parrots, said, ‘Sure they
have no children.’ So they that sport with harlots have no better pleasures. He
that has once tasted Christ in a promise, is ravished with delight; and how would
he scorn a motion to sin! Job said, the word was his ‘appointed food.’ Job 23: 12.
No wonder then he made a ‘covenant with his eyes.’
(15) If you would abstain from adultery, use serious consideration.
Consider, [1] God sees thee in the act of sin. He sees all thy curtain wickedness.
He is totus oculus, ‘all eye.’ The clouds are no canopy, the night is no curtain
to hide thee from God’s eye. Thou canst not sin, but thy Judge looks on. ‘I have
seen thy adulteries and thy neighings.’ Jer 13: 27. ‘They have committed adultery
with their neighbours’ wives; even I know, and am a witness, saith the Lord.’ Jer
29: 23. [2] Few that are entangled in the sin of adultery, recover from the snare.
‘None that go to her return again.’ Prov 2: 19. This made some of the ancients conclude
that adultery was an unpardonable sin; but it is not so. David repented. Mary Magdalene
was a weeping penitent; upon her amorous eyes that sparkled with lose, she sought
to be revenged, by washing Christ’s feet with her tears. Some, therefore have recovered
from the snare. ‘None that go to her return,’ that is, ‘very few;’ it is rare to
hear of any who are enchanted and bewitched with this sin of adultery, that recover
from it. Her ‘heart is snares and nets, and her hands are bands.’ Eccl 7: 26. Her
‘heart is snares,’ that is, she is subtle to deceive those who come to her; and
‘her hands are bands,’ that is her embraces are powerful to hold and entangle her
lovers. Plutarch said of the Persian kings, ‘They were captives to their concubines,’
they were so inflamed, that they had no power to leave their company. This consideration
should make all fearful of this sin. Soft pleasures harden the heart. [3] Consider
what Scripture says, which may ponere obicem, ‘lay a bar in the way’ to this sin.
‘I will be a swift witness against the adulterers.’ Mal 3: 5. It is good when God
is a witness ‘for us’, when he witnesses to our sincerity, as he did to Job’s; but
it is sad to have God a ‘witness against us.’ ‘I,’ says God, ‘will be a witness
against the adulterer.’ And who shall disprove his witness? He is both witness and
judge. ‘Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.’ Heb 13: 4. [4] Consider the
sad farewell the sin of adultery leaves. It leaves a hell in the conscience. ‘The
lips of a strange woman drop as a honeycomb, but her end is bitter as wormwood.’
Prov 5: 4. The goddess Diana was so artificially drawn, that she seemed to smile
upon those that came into her temple, but frown on those that went out. So the harlot
smiles on her lovers as they come to her, but at last come the frown and the sting.
‘Till a dart strike through his liver.’ Prov 7: 23. ‘Her end is bitter.’ When a
man has been virtuous, the labour is gone, but the comfort remains; but when he
has been vicious and unclean, the pleasure is gone, but the sting remains. Delectat
in momentum, cruciat in aeternum [He gains momentary pleasure and then eternal torment].
Jerome. When the senses have been feasted with unchaste pleasures, the soul is left
to pay the reckoning. Stolen waters are sweet; but, as poison, though sweet in the
mouth, it torments the bowels. Sin always ends in a tragedy. Memorable is that which
Fincelius reports of a priest in Flanders, who enticed a maid to uncleanness. She
objected how vile a sin it was, he told her that by authority from the Pope he could
commit any sin; so at last he drew her to his wicked purpose. But when they had
been together a while, in came the devil, and took away the harlot from the priest’s
side, and, notwithstanding all her crying out, carried her away. If the devil should
come and carry away all that are guilty of bodily uncleanness in this nation, I
fear more would be carried away than would be left behind.
(16) Pray against this sin. Luther gave a lady this advice, that
when any lust began to rise in her heart, she should go to prayer. Prayer is the
best armour of proof; it quenches the wild fire of lust. If prayer will ‘cast out
the devil,’ why may it not cast out those lusts that come from the devil?
Use five. If the body must be kept pure from defilement, much
more the ‘soul of a Christian must be kept pure.’ The meaning of the commandment
is not only that we should not stain our bodies with adultery, but that we should
keep our souls pure. To have a chaste body, but an unclean soul, is like a fair
face with bad lungs; or a gilt chimney-piece, that is all soot within. ‘Be ye holy,
for I am holy.’ 1 Pet 1: 16. The soul cannot be lovely to God till it has Christ’s
image stamped upon it, which consists in righteousness and true holiness. Eph 4:
24. The soul must especially be kept pure, because it is the chief place of God’s
residence. Eph 3: 17. A king’s palace must be kept clean, especially his presence-chamber.
If the body is the temple, the soul is the ‘Holy of holies,’ and must be consecrated.
We must not only keep our bodies from carnal pollution, but our souls from envy
and malice.
How shall we know our souls are pure?
(1) If our souls are pure, we flee from the appearance of evil.
1 Thess 5: 22. We shall not do that which looks like sin. When Joseph’s mistress
courted and tempted him, he ‘left his garment in her hand, and fled.’ Gen 39: 12
He was suspicious to be near her. Polycarp would not be seen in company with Marcion
the heretic, because it would not be good report.
(2) If our souls are pure, the light of purity will shine forth.
Aaron had ‘Holiness to the Lord’ written upon his golden plate. Where there is sanctity
in the soul, there ‘Holiness to the Lord’ is engraven upon the life. We are adorned
with patience, humility, good works, and shine as ‘Lights in the world.’ Phil 2:
15. Carry Christ’s picture in your conversation. 1 John 2: 6. O let us labour for
this soul purity! Without it there is no seeing God. Heb 12: 14. ‘What communion
has light with darkness?’ 2 Cor 6: 14. To keep the soul pure, have recourse to the
blood of Christ: which is the ‘fountain open for sin and uncleanness.’ Zech 13:
1. A soul steeped in the briny tears of repentance, and bathed in the blood of Christ,
is made pure. Pray much for a pureness of soul. ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God.’
Psa 51: 10. Some pray for children, others for riches; but pray thou for soul purity.
Say, ‘Lord, though my body is kept pure, yet my soul is defiled, I pollute all I
touch. O purge me with hyssop, let Christ’s blood sprinkle me, let the Holy Ghost
come upon me and anoint me. O make me evangelically pure, that I may be translated
to heaven, and placed among the cherubim, where I shall be as holy as thou wouldst
have me to be, and as happy as I can desire to be.’
2.8 The Eighth Commandment
‘Thou shalt not steal.’ Exod 20: 15.
AS the holiness of God sets him against uncleanness, in the command
‘Thou shalt not commit adultery;’ so the justice of God sets him against rapine
and robbery, in the command, ‘Thou shalt not steal.’ The thing forbidden in this
commandment, is meddling with another man’s property. The civil lawyers define furtum,
stealth or theft to be ‘the laying hands unjustly on that which is another’s;’ the
invading another’s right.
I. The causes of theft.
[1] The internal causes are, (1) Unbelief. A man has a high distrust
of God’s providence. ‘Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?’ Psa 78: 19. Can
God spread a table for me? says the unbeliever. No, he cannot. Therefore he is resolved
he will spread a table for himself, but it shall be at other men’s cost, and both
first and second course shall be served in with stolen goods. (2) Covetousness.
The Greek word for covetousness signifies ‘an immoderate desire of getting;’ which
is the root of theft. A man covets more than his own, and this itch of covetousness
makes him scratch what he can from another. Achan’s covetous humour made him steal
the wedge of gold, a wedge which cleaved asunder his soul from God. Joshua 7: 21.
[2] The external cause of theft is Satan’s solicitation. Judas
was a thief. John 12: 6. How came he to be a thief? ‘Satan entered into him’. John
13: 27. The devil is the great master-thief, he robbed us of our coat of innocence,
and he persuades men to take up his trade; he tells men how bravely they shall live
by thieving, and how they may catch an estate. As Eve listened to the serpent’s
voice, so do they. As birds of prey, they live upon spoil and plunder.
II. The kinds of theft.
[1] There is stealing from God. They are thieves who rob God of
any part of his day. ‘Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.’ Not a part of the
day only, but the whole day must be dedicated to God. And, lest any should forget
this, the Lord has prefixed a memento, ‘remember.’ Therefore, after morning sacrifice,
to spend the other part of the Sabbath in vanity and pleasure, is spiritual theft.
It robs God of his due, and the very heathen will rise up in judgement against such
Christians; for the heathen, as Macrobius notes, observed a whole day to their false
gods.
[2] There is stealing from others. A stealing away souls, as heretics,
by robbing men of the truth, rob them of their souls. Stealing money and goods.
There is
(1) The highway thief, who takes a purse, contrary to the letter
of the commandment. ‘Thou shalt not rob thy neighbour.’ Lev 19: 13. ‘Do not steal.’
Mark 10: 19. This is not the violence which takes the ‘kingdom of heaven by force.’
Matt 11: 12.
(2) The house-thief, who purloins and filches out of his master’s
cash, or steals his wares and drugs. The apostle says, ‘Some have entertained angels
unawares’ (Heb 13: 2), but many masters have entertained thieves in their houses
unawares. The house-thief is a hypocrite as well as a thief; for he has demure looks,
and pretends to be helping his master, when he only helps himself.
(3) The thief that shrouds himself under law, as the unjust attorney
or lawyer, who prevaricates and deals falsely with his client. This is to steal
from the client. By deceit and prevarication, the lawyer robs the client of his
land, and may be the means of ruining his family, and is no better than a thief
in God’s account.
(4) The church-thief or pluralist, who holds several benefices,
but seldom or never preaches to the people. He gets the golden fleece, but lets
the flock starve. ‘Woe be to the shepherds of Israel.’ Ezek 34: 2. They ‘fed themselves,
and fed not my flock;’ ver. 8. These ministers will be indicted for thieves at God’s
bar.
(5) The shop-thief, who steals in selling. He who uses false weights
and measures steals from others what is their due. ‘Making the ephah small.’ Amos
8: 5. The ephah was a measure the Jews used in selling. Some made the ephah small,
and gave scant measure, which was plainly stealing. ‘The balances of deceit are
in his hand.’ Hos 12: 7. By making their weights lighter, men make their accounts
heavier. He steals in selling who puts excessive prices on his commodities. He takes
thrice as much for an article as it cost him, or as it is worth. To overreach others
in selling, is to steal money from them. ‘Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour,
neither rob him.’ Lev 19: 13. To defraud him is to rob him; to overreach others
in selling is a cunning way of stealing, and is against both law and gospel. It
is against the law of God. ‘If thou sell ought to thy neighbour, ye shall not oppress
one another.’ Lev 25: 14. It is against the gospel. ‘That no man go beyond, and
defraud his brother.’ 1 Thess 4: 6.
(6) The usurer, who takes by extortion from others. He seems to
help another by letting him have money in his necessity, but gets him into bonds,
and sucks out his very blood and marrow. I read of a woman whom Satan had bound
(Luke 13: 16), and truly he is almost in as bad a condition whom the usurer has
bound. The usurer is a robber. A usurer once asked a prodigal when he would leave
off spending? The prodigal replied, ‘I will leave off spending what is my own, when
thou leanest off stealing from others.’ Zacchaeus was an extortioner who, after
his conversion, made restitution. Luke 19: 8. He thought all he got by extortion
was theft.
(7) The trustee, who has the orphan’s estate committed to him,
is deputed to be his guardian, and manages his estate for him; if he curtails the
estate, and gets a fleece out of it for himself, and wrongs the orphan, he is a
thief. This is worse than taking a purse by violence, because he betrays his trust,
which is the highest piece of treachery and injustice.
(8) The borrower, who borrows money from others, with an intention
never to pay them again. ‘The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again.’ Psa 37: 21.
What is it but thievery to take money and goods from others, and not restore them
again. The prophet Elisha bade the widow sell her oil, and pay her debts, and then
live upon the rest. 2 Kings 4: 7.
(9) The last sort of theft is, the receiver of stolen goods. The
receiver, if he be not the principal, yet is accessory to the theft, and the law
makes him guilty. The thief steals the money, and the receiver holds the sack to
put it in. The root would die if it were not watered, and thieving would cease if
it were not encouraged by the receiver. I am apt to think that he who does not scruple
to take stolen goods into his house, would as little scruple to have stolen them.
What are the aggravations of this sin?
(1) To steal when there is no need; to be a rich thief.
(2) To steal sacrilegiously; to devour things set apart to holy
uses. ‘It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy.’ Prov 20: 25.
Such an one was Dionysius, who robbed the temple, and took away the silver vessels.
(3) To commit the sin of theft against checks of conscience, and
examples of God’s justice; which, like the dye to the wool, dyes the sin of a crimson
colour.
(4) To rob the widow and orphan. ‘Ye shall not afflict the widow
or fatherless.’ Peccatum clamans [This sin shrieks aloud]. ‘If they cry unto me,
I will surely hear them.’ Exod 22: 23.
(5) To rob the poor. How angry was David that the rich man should
take away the poor man’s lamb! ‘As the Lord lives, he shall surely die.’ 2 Sam 12:
5. What is inclosing of commons but robbing the poor!
[3] There is a stealing from a man’s self. A man may be a thief
to himself.
How so?
(1) By niggardliness. The niggard is a thief; he steals from himself
in not allowing himself what is needful. He thinks that lost which is bestowed upon
himself; he robs himself of necessaries. ‘A man to whom God has given riches, yet
God giveth him not power to eat thereof’ Eccl 6: 2. He gluts his chest and starves
his belly; he is like the ass that is loaded with gold, but feeds upon thistles;
he robs himself of what God allows him. This is to be punished with riches; to have
an estate and want a heart to take the comfort of it.
(2) A man may rob himself by foolishly wasting his estate. The
prodigal lavishes gold out of the bag; he is like Crates, the philosopher, who threw
his gold into the sea. The prodigal boils a great estate to nothing. He is a thief
to himself who spends away that estate which might conduce to the comfort of life.
(3) He is a thief to himself, by idleness, when he misspends his
time. He who spends his hours in pleasure and vanity robs himself of that precious
time which God has given him to work out salvation in. Time is a rich commodity,
because on well spending present time a happy eternity depends. He that spends his
time idly and vainly, is a thief to himself; he robs himself of golden seasons,
and by consequence, of salvation.
(4) A man may be a thief to himself by suretiship. ‘Be not thou
one of them that are sureties for debts.’ Prov 22: 26. The creditor comes upon the
surety for debt, and so, by paying another’s debt, he is a thief to himself. Let
not any man say he would have been counted unkind if he had not entered into a bond
for his friend. Better thy friend should count thee unkind than all men count thee
unwise. Lend another what you can spare; nay, give him if he needs, but never be
a surety. It is no wisdom for a man so to help another as to undo himself. It is
to rob himself and his family.
Use one. For confutation of the doctrine of community, that all
things are common, and one man has a right to another’s estate. This is confuted
by Scripture. ‘When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, thou shalt
not move a sickle unto thy neighbour’s corn.’ Deut 23: 25. Property must be respected;
God has set this eighth commandment as a hedge about a man’s estate, and this hedge
cannot be broken without sin. If all things be common, there can be no theft, and
so this commandment would be in vain.
Use two. For reproof of such as live by stealing. Instead of living
by faith, they live by their shifts. The apostle exhorts that ‘every man eat his
own bread.’ 2 Thess 3: 12. The thief does not eat his own bread, but another’s.
If there be any who are guilty of this sin, let them labour to recover out of the
snare of the devil, by repentance, and let them show their repentance by restitution.
Non remittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum. Augustine. ‘Without restitution,
no remission.’ ‘If I have taken away any thing from any man by false accusation,
I restore him fourfold.’ Luke 19: 8. Ill-gotten things may be restored by one’s
own hand, or by proxy. Better a thousand times restore goods unlawfully gotten,
than stuff your pillow with thorns, and have guilt trouble your conscience upon
a death-bed.
Use three. For exhortation to all to take heed of the sin of thieving;
which is against the light of nature. Some may endeavour to excuse this sin. It
is a coarse wool that will take no dye, and a bad sin that has no excuse.
I am (says one) grown low in the world, and trading is bad, and
I have no other way to a livelihood.
(1) This shows great distrust in God, as if he could not provide
for thee without thy sin. (2) It shows sin to be at a great height, that, because
a man is grown low in the world, therefore he will Acheronta movere [knock at Hell’s
door], go to the devil for a livelihood. Abraham would not have it said, that ‘the
king of Sodom had made him rich.’ Gen 14: 22. O let it never be said, that the devil
has made thee rich! (3) Thou oughtest not to undertake any action upon which thou
canst not pray for a blessing; but thou canst not pray for a blessing upon stolen
goods. Therefore take heed of this sin; lucrum in arca, damnum in conscientia [you
gain materially, but your conscience suffers loss]. Augustine. Take heed of getting
the world with the loss of heaven.
Use four. To dissuade all from this horrid sin, consider — (1)
Thieves are the caterpillars of the earth, enemies to civil society. (2) God hates
them. In the law, the cormorant was unclean, because a thievish, devouring creature,
a bird of prey; by which God showed his hatred of this sin. Lev 11: 17. (3) The
thief is a terror to himself, he is always in fear. ‘There were they in great fear,’
is true of the thief. Psa 53: 5. Guilt breeds fear: if he hears but the shaking
of a tree, his heart shakes. It is said of Catiline, he was afraid of every noise.
If a briar does but take hold of a thief’s garment, he is afraid it is the officer
to apprehend him; and fear has torment in it. 1 John 4: 18. (4) The judgements that
follow this sin. Achan the thief was stoned to death. Josh 7: 25. ‘What sees thou?
And I answered, A flying roll. . . . This is the curse that goes forth over the face
of the whole earth; I will bring it forth, saith the Lord, and it shall enter into
the house of the thief’ Zech 5: 2, 3, 4. Fabius, a Roman censor, condemned his own
son to die for theft. Thieves die with ignominy, the ladder is their preferment:
and there is a worse thing than death; for while they rob others of money, they
rob themselves of salvation.
What is to be done to avoid stealing?
(1) Live in a calling. ‘Let him that stole steal no more, but
rather let him labour, working with his hands.’ Eph 4: 28, &c. The devil hires such
as stand idle, and puts them to the pilfering trade. An idle person tempts the devil
to tempt him.
(2) Be content with the estate that God has given you. ‘Be content
with such things as ye have.’ Heb 13: 5. Theft is the daughter of avarice. Study
contentment. Believe that condition best which God has carved out to you. He can
bless the little meal in the barrel. We shall not need these things long: we shall
carry nothing out of the world with us but our winding sheet. If we have but enough
to bear out our charges to heaven, it is sufficient.
2.9 The Ninth Commandment
‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.’ Exod
20: 16.
THE tongue which at first was made to be an organ of God’s praise,
is now become an instrument of unrighteousness. This commandment binds the tongue
to its good behaviour. God has set two natural fences to keep in the tongue, the
teeth and lips; and this commandment is a third fence set about it, that it should
not break forth into evil. It has a prohibitory and a mandatory part: the first
is set down in plain words, the other is clearly implied.
I. The prohibitory part of the commandment, or, what it forbids
in general. It forbids anything which may tend to the disparagement or prejudice
of our neighbour. More particularly, two things are forbidden in this commandment.
[1] Slandering our neighbour. This is a sin against the ninth
commandment. The scorpion carries his poison in his tail, the slanderer carries
his poison in his tongue. Slandering ‘is to report things of others unjustly.’ They
laid to my charge things that I knew not.’ Psa 35: 11. It is usual to bring in a
Christian beheaded of his good name. They raised for a slander of Paul, that he
preached ‘Men might do evil that good might come of it.’ ‘We be slanderously reported;
and some affirm that we say, “Let us do evil, that good may come”.’ Rom 3: 8. Eminence
is commonly blasted by slander. Holiness itself is no shield from slander. The lamb’s
innocence will not preserve it from the wolf. Christ, the most innocent upon earth,
was reported to be a friend of sinners. John the Baptist was a man of a holy and
austere life, and yet they said of him, ‘He has a devil.’ Matt 11: 18. The Scripture
calls slandering, smiting with the tongue. ‘Come, and let us smite him with the
tongue.’ Jer 18: 18. You may smite another and never touch him. Majora sunt linguae
vulnera quam gladii [The tongue inflicts greater wounds than the sword]. Augustine.
The wounds of the tongue no physician can heal; and to pretend friendship to a man,
and slander him, is most odious. Jerome says: ‘The Arian faction made a show of
kindness; they kissed my hands, but slandered me, and sought my life.’ As it is
a sin against this commandment to raise a false report of another, so it is to receive
a false report before we have examined it. ‘Lord, who shall dwell in thy holy hill?’
Psa 15: 1. Quis ad coelum? ‘He that backbiteth not, nor taketh up a reproach against
his neighbour;’ ver. 3. We must not only not raise a false report, but not take
it up. He that raises a slander, carries the devil in his tongue; and he that receives
it, carries the devil in his car. [2] The second thing forbidden in this commandment
is false witness. Here three sins are condemned: (1) Speaking. (2) Witnessing. (3)
Swearing that which is false, contra proximum [against your neighbour].
(1) Speaking that which is false. ‘Lying lips are abomination
to the Lord.’ Prov 12: 22. To lie is to speak that which one knows to be an untruth.
There is nothing more contrary to God than a lie. The Holy Ghost is called the ‘Spirit
of Truth.’ 1 John 4: 6. Lying is a sin that does not go alone; it ushers in other
sins. Absalom told his father a lie, when he said that he was going to pay his vow
at Hebron, and this was a preface to his treason. 2 Sam 15: 7. Where there is a
lie in the tongue, the devil is in the heart. ‘Why has Satan filled thine heart
to lie?’ Acts 5: 3. Lying is a sin that unfits men for civil society. How can you
converse or bargain with a man when you cannot trust a word he says? This sin highly
provokes God. Ananias and Sapphire were struck dead for telling a lie. Acts 5: 5.
The furnace of hell is heated for liars. ‘Without are sorcerers, and whosoever loveth
and maketh a lie.’ Rev 22: 15. O abhor this sin! Quicquid dixeris jura tum putes
[Consider your every word an oath]. Jerome. When thou speakest, let thy word be
as authentic as thy oath. Imitate God, who is the pattern of truth. Pythagoras being
asked what made men like God, answered, cum vera loquuntur, ‘when they speak the
truth.’ The character of a man that shall go to heaven, is that ‘He speaketh the
truth in his heart.’ Psa 15: 2.
(2) That which is condemned in the commandment is, witnessing
that which is false. ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness.’ There is a twofold bearing
false witness: 1. There is bearing false witness for another. 2. Bearing false witness
against another.
Bearing false witness for another; as when we give our testimony
for a person who is criminal and guilty, and we justify him as if he were innocent.
‘Which justify the wicked for reward.’ Isa 5: 23. He that seeks to make a wicked
man just, makes himself unjust.
It is bearing false witness against another, when we accuse him
in open court falsely. This is to imitate the devil, who is the ‘accuser of the
brethren.’ Though the devil is no adulterer, yet he is a false witness. Solomon
says, ‘A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour, is a maul and a sword.’
Prov 25: 18. In his face he is hardened like a hammer: he cannot blush, he cares
not what lie he witnesses to; and he is a sword: his tongue is a sword to wound
the person he witnesses against in his goods or life. ‘There came in two men, children
of Belial, and witnessed against Naboth, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the
king:’ and their witness took away his life. 1 Kings 21: 13. The queen of Persia
being sick, the magicians accused two godly virgins of having by charms procured
the queen’s sickness; whereupon she caused those virgins to be sawn asunder. A false
witness perverts the place of judicature; he corrupts the judge by making him pronounce
a wrong sentence, and causes the innocent to suffer. Vengeance will find out the
false witness. ‘A false witness shall not be unpunished.’ Prov 19: 5. ‘If the witness
be a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother; then shall ye
do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother;’ if, for instance,
he had thought to have taken away his life, his own life shall go for it. Deut 19:
18, 19.
(3) That which is condemned in the commandment is, swearing to
what is false; as when men take a false oath, and by that take away the life of
another. ‘Love no false oath.’ Zech 8: 17. ‘What seest thou? I said, a flying roll,’
chap. 5: 2. ‘This is the curse that goes forth, and it shall enter, saith the Lord,
into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name; and it shall consume it,
with the timber and stones thereof;’ ver 3, 4. The Scythians made a law that when
a man bound together a lie with an oath, he was to lose his head; because these
sins took away all truth and faith from among men. The devil has taken great possession
of those who dare swear to a lie.
Use one. For reproof. (1) The church of Rome is reproved, which
dispenses with a lie, or a false oath, if it promotes the Catholic cause. It approves
of an officious lie; and holds some sins to be lawful. It may as well hold some
lies to be lawful. God has no need of our lie. It is not lawful to tell a lie, propter
Dei gloriam [for the glory of God], if we were sure to bring glory to God by it,
as Augustine speaks.
(2) They are reproved who make no conscience of slandering others.
‘Thou fittest and slenderest thine own mother’s son.’ Psa 50: 20. ‘Report, say they,
and we will report.’ Jer 20: 10. ‘This city (i.e. Jerusalem) is a rebellious city,
and hurtful to kings and provinces.’ Ezra 4: 15. Paul was slandered as a mover of
sedition, and the head of a faction. Acts 24: 5. The same word signifies both a
slanderer and a devil. 1 Tim 3: 11. ‘Not slanderers;’ in the Greek, ‘not devils.’
Some think it is no great matter, to misrepresent and slander others; but it is
to act the part of a devil. Clipping a man’s credit, to make it weigh lighter, is
worse than clipping coin. The slanderer wounds three at once: he wounds him that
is slandered; he wounds him to whom he reports the slander, by causing uncharitable
thoughts to arise up in his mind against the party slandered; and he wounds his
own soul, by reporting of another what is false. This is a great sin; and I wish
I could say it is not common. You may kill a man in his name as well as in his person.
Some are loath to take away their neighbour’s goods — conscience would fly in their
face; but better take away their corn out of their field, their wares out of their
shop, than take away their good name. This is a sin for which no reparation can
be made; a blot in a man’s name, being like a blot on white paper, which will never
be got out. Surely God will visit for this sin. If idle words shall be accounted
for, shall not unjust slanders? The Lord will make inquisition one day, as well
for names as for blood. Oh therefore take heed of this sin! Was it not a sin under
the law to defame a virgin? Deut 22: 19. And is it not a greater sin to defame a
saint, who is a member of Christ? The heathen, by the light of nature, abhorred
the sin of slandering. Diogenes used to say, ‘Of all wild beasts, a slanderer is
the worst.’ Antonius made a law, that, if a person could not prove the crime he
reported another to be guilty of, he should be put to death.
(3) They are reproved who are so wicked as to bear false witness
against others. These are monsters in nature, unfit to live in a civil society.
Eusebius relates of one Narcissus, a man famous for piety, who was accused by two
false witnesses of unchastity. To prove their accusations, they endeavoured to confirm
it with oaths and curses. One said, ‘If I speak not true, I pray God I may perish
by fire:’ the other said, ‘If I speak not true, I wish I may be deprived of my sight.’
It pleased God that the first witness who forswore himself should be burned in the
flames, his house being set on fire: the other being troubled in conscience, confessed
his perjury, and continued to weep so long that he wept himself blind. Jezebel,
who suborned two false witnesses against Naboth, was thrown down from a window and
‘the dogs licked her blood.’ 2 Kings 9: 33. Oh, tremble at this sin! A perjured
person is the devil’s excrement. He is cursed in his name, and seared in his conscience.
Hell gapes for such a windfall.
Use two. For exhortation. (1) Let all take heed of breaking this
commandment, by lying, slandering, and bearing false witness. To avoid these sins
get the fear of God. Why does David say, ‘The fear of the Lord is clean’? Psa 19:
9. Because it cleanses the heart from malice, and the tongue from slander. ‘The
fear of the Lord is clean:’ it is to the soul as lightning to the air, which cleanses
it. Get love to your neighbour. Lev 19: 18. If we love a friend, we shall not speak
or attest anything to his prejudice. Men’s minds are cankered with envy and hatred;
hence come slandering and false witnessing. Love is a lovely grace; love ‘thinketh
no evil.’ 1 Cor 13: 5. It puts the best interpretation upon another’s words. Love
is a well-wisher, and it is rare to speak ill of him we wish well to. Love is that
which cements Christians together; it is the healer of division, and the hinderer
of slander.
(2) Let those whose lot it is to meet with slanderers and false
accusers — [1] Labour to make a sanctified use of it. When Shimei railed on David,
David made a sanctified use of it. ‘The Lord has said unto him, Curse David.’ 2
Sam 16: 10. So, if you are slandered, or falsely accused, make a good use of it.
See if you have no sin unrepented of, for which God may suffer you to be calumniated
and reproached. See if you have not at any time wronged others in their name, and
said that of them which you cannot prove; then lay your hand on your mouth, and
confess the Lord is righteous to let you fall under the scourge of the tongue. [2]
If you are slandered, or falsely accused, but know your own innocence, be not too
much troubled; let your rejoicing be the witness of your conscience. Murus aheneus
esto nil conscire sibi [Let this be a bulwark, to know oneself guiltless]. A good
conscience is a wall of brass, that will be able to stand against a false witness.
As no flattery can heal a bad conscience, so no slander can hurt a good one. God
will clear up the names of his people. ‘He shall bring forth thy righteousness as
the light.’ Psa 37: 6. As he will wipe away tears from the eyes, so will he wipe
off reproaches from the name. Believers shall come forth out of all their slanders
and reproaches, as ‘the wings of a dove, covered with silver, and her feathers with
yellow gold.’
(3) Be very thankful to God, if he has preserved you from slander
and false witness. Job calls it ‘the scourge of the tongue;’ chap 5: 21. As a rod
scourges the back, so the slanderer’s tongue scourges the name. It is a great mercy
to be kept from the scourge of a tongue; a mercy that God stops malignant mouths
from bearing false witness. What mischief might not a lying report or a false oath
do! One destroys the name, the other the life. It is the Lord who muzzles the mouths
of the wicked, and keeps those dogs, that snarl at us, from flying upon us. ‘Thou
shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion, from the strife of tongues.’ Psa 31: 20.
There is, I suppose, an allusion to kings, who being resolved to protect their favourites
against the accusation of men, take them into their bed-chamber, or bosom, where
none may touch them. So God has a pavilion, or secret hiding-place for his favourites,
where he preserves their credit and reputation untouched; he keeps them from the
’strife of tongues.’ We ought to acknowledge this to be a great mercy before God.
II. The mandatory part of the commandment implied is that we stand
up for others and vindicate them when they are injured by lying lips. This is the
sense of the commandment, not only that we should not slander falsely or accuse
others; but that we should witness for them, and stand up in their defence, when
we know them to be traduced. A man may wrong another as well by silence as by slander,
when he knows him to be wrongfully accused, yet does not speak in his behalf. If
others cast false aspersions on any, we should wipe them off. When the apostles
were filled with the wine of the Spirit, and were charged with drunkenness, Peter
openly maintained their innocence. ‘These are not drunken, as ye suppose.’ Acts
2: 15. Jonathan knowing David to be a worthy man, and all those things Saul said
of him to be slanders, vindicated him. ‘David has not sinned against thee; his works
have been to thee-ward very good. Wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent
blood, to slay David without a cause?’ 1 Sam 19: 4, 5. When the primitive Christians
were falsely accused for incest, and killing their children, Tertullian wrote a
famous apology in their vindication. This is to act the part both of a friend and
of a Christian, to be an advocate for another, when he is wronged in his good name.
2.10The Tenth Commandment
‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet
thy neighbour’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor
his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.’ Exod 20: 17.
THIS commandment forbids covetousness in general, ‘Thou shalt
not covet;’ and in particular, ‘Thy neighbour’s house, thy neighbour’s wife, &c.
I. It forbids covetousness in general. ‘Thou shalt not covet.’
It is lawful to use the world, yea, and to desire so much of it as may keep us from
the temptation of poverty: ‘Give me not poverty, lest I steal, and take the name
of my God in vain’ (Prov 30: 8, 9); and as may enable us to honour God with works
of mercy. ‘Honour the Lord with thy substance.’ Prov 3: 9. But all the danger is,
when the world gets into the heart. Water is useful for the sailing of the ship:
all the danger is when the water gets into the ship; so the fear is, when the world
gets into the heart. ‘Thou shalt not covet.’
What is it to covet?
There are two words in the Greek which set forth the nature of
covetousness. Pleonexia, which signifies an ‘insatiable desire of getting the world.’
Covetousness is a dry dropsy. Augustine defines covetousness Plus velle quam sat
est; ‘to desire more than enough;’ to aim at a great estate; to be like the daughter
of the horse-leech, crying, ‘Give, give.’ Prov 30: 15. Or like behemoth, ‘He trusteth
that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.’ Job 40: 23. The other word is Philarguria,
which signifies an ‘inordinate love of the world.’ The world is the idol: it is
so loved, that a man will not part with it for any good use. He may be said to be
covetous not only who gets the world unrighteously, but who loves it inordinately.
[1] For a more full answer to the question, ‘What is it to covet?’
I shall show in six particulars, when a man may be said to be given to covetousness:
—
(1) When his thoughts are wholly taken up with the world. A good
man’s thoughts are in heaven; he is thinking of Christ’s love and eternal recompense.
‘When I awake I am still with thee,’ that is, in divine contemplation. Psa 139:
18. A covetous man’s thoughts are in the world; his mind is wholly taken up with
it; he can think of nothing but his shop or farm. The fancy is a mint-house, and
most of the thoughts in a covetous man’s mint are worldly. He is always plotting
and projecting about the things of this life; like a virgin whose thoughts all centre
upon her suitor.
(2) A man may be said to be given to covetousness, when he takes
more pains for getting earth than for getting heaven. He will turn every stone,
break his sleep, take many a weary step for the world; but will take no pains for
Christ or heaven. After the Gauls, who were an ancient people of France, had tasted
the sweet wine of the Italian grape, they inquired after the country, and never
rested till they had arrived at it; so a covetous man, having had a relish of the
world, pursues after it, and never ceases till he has got it; but he neglects the
things of eternity. He would be content if salvation were to drop into his mouth,
as a ripe fig into the mouth of the eater (Nahum 3: 12); but he is loath to put
himself to too much sweat or trouble to obtain Christ or salvation. He hunts for
the world, he wishes only for heaven.
(3) A man may be said to be given to covetousness, when all his
discourse is about the world. ‘He that is of the earth, speaketh of the earth.’
John 3: 31. It is a sign of godliness to be speaking of heaven, to have the tongue
turned to the language of Canaan. ‘The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious;’
he speaks as if he had been already in heaven. Eccl. 10: 12. So it is a sign of
a man given to covetousness to speak always of secular things, of his wares and
drugs. A covetous man’s breath, like a dying man’s, smells strong of the earth.
As it was said to Peter, ‘Thy speech bewrayeth thee;’ so a covetous man’s speech
betrayeth him. Matt 26: 73. He is like the fish in the gospel, which had a piece
of money in its mouth. Matt 17: 27. Verba sunt speculum mentis. Bernard. ‘The words
are the looking-glass of the heart,’ they show what is within. Ex abundantia cordis
[From the abundance of the heart].
(4) A man is given to covetousness when he so sets his heart upon
worldly things, that for the love of them, he will part with heavenly; for the ‘wedge
of gold,’ he will part with the ‘pearl of price.’ When Christ said to the young
man in the gospel, ‘Sell all, and come and follow me;’ abiit tristis, ‘he went away
sorrowful.’ Matt 19: 22. He would rather part with Christ than with all his earthly
possessions. Cardinal Bourbon said, he would forego his part in paradise, if he
might keep his cardinalship in Paris. When it comes to the critical point that men
must either relinquish their estate or Christ, and they will rather part with Christ
and a good conscience than with their estate, it is a clear case that they are possessed
with the demon of covetousness.
(5) A man is given to covetousness when he overloads himself with
worldly business. He has many irons in the fire; he is in this sense a pluralist;
he takes so much business upon him, that he cannot find time to serve God; he has
scarce time to eat his meat, but no time to pray. When a man overcharges himself
with the world, and as Martha, cumbers himself about many things, that he cannot
have time for his soul, he is under the power of covetousness.
(6) He is given to covetousness whose heart is so set upon the
world, that, to get it, he cares not what unlawful means he uses. He will have the
world per fas et nefas [by fair means or foul]; he will wrong and defraud, and raise
his estate upon the ruins of another. ‘The balances of deceit are in his hand, he
loveth to oppress. . . . Ephraim said, ‘Yet I am become rich.’ Hos 12: 7, 8. Pope Sylvester
II sold his soul to the devil for a popedom.
Use. ‘Take heed and beware of covetousness.’ Luke 12: 15. It is
a direct breach of the tenth commandment. It is a moral vice, it infects and pollutes
the whole soul.
(1) It is a subtle sin, a sin that many cannot so well discern
in themselves; as some have the scurvy, but do not know it. This sin can dress itself
in the attire of virtue. It is called the ‘cloak of covetousness.’ 1 Thess 2: 5. It
is a sin that wears a cloak, it cloaks itself under the name of frugality and good
husbandry. It has many pleas and excuses for itself; more than any other sin: as
providing for one’s family. The more subtle the sin is, the less discernible it
is.
(2) Covetousness is a dangerous sin, as it checks all that is
good. It is an enemy to grace; it damps good affections, as the earth puts out the
fire. The hedgehog, in the fable, came to the cony-burrows, in stormy weather, and
desired harbour; but when once he had got entertainment, he set up his prickles,
and never ceased till he had thrust the poor conies out of their burrows; so covetousness,
by fair pretences, winds itself into the heart; but as soon as you have let it in,
it will never leave till it has choked all good beginnings, and thrust all religion
out of your hearts. ‘Covetousness hinders the efficacy of the word preached.’ In
the parable, the thorns, which Christ expounded to be the care of this life, choked
the good seed. Matt 13: 22. Many sermons lie dead and buried in earthly hearts.
We preach to men to get their hearts in heaven; but where covetousness is predominant,
it chains them to earth, and makes them like the woman which Satan had bowed together,
that she could not lift up herself. Luke 13: 11. You may as well bid an elephant
fly in the air, as a covetous man live by faith. We preach to men to give freely
to Christ’s poor; but covetousness makes them like the man in the gospel, who had
‘a withered hand.’ Mark 3: 1. They have a withered hand, and cannot stretch it out
to the poor. It is impossible to be earthly-minded and charitably-minded. Covetousness
obstructs the efficacy of the word, and makes it prove abortive. They whose hearts
are rooted in the earth, will be so far from profiting by the word, that they will
be ready rather to deride it. The Pharisees, who were covetous, ‘derided him.’ Luke
16: 14.
(3) Covetousness is a mother sin, a radical vice. ‘The love of
money is the root of all evil.’ 1 Tim 6: 10. Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, auri
sacra fames! [O accursed lust for gold! what crimes do you not urge upon the human
heart!] Virgil. He who has an earthly itch, a greedy desire of getting the world,
has in him the root of all sin. Covetousness is a mother sin. I shall make it appear
that covetousness is a breach of all the ten commandments. It breaks the first commandment;
‘Thou shalt have no other gods but one.’ The covetous man has more gods than one;
Mammon is his god. He has a god of gold, therefore he is called an idolater. Col
3: 5. Covetousness breaks the second commandment: ‘Thou shalt not make any graven
image, thou shalt not bow thyself to them.’ A covetous man bows down, though not
to the graven image in the church, yet to the graven image in his coin. Covetousness
is a breach of the third commandment; ‘Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord
thy God in vain.’ Absalom’s design was to get his father’s crown, which was covetousness;
but he talked of paying his ‘vow to God,’ which was to take God’s name in vain.
Covetousness is a breach of the fourth commandment; ‘Remember the Sabbath-day to
keep it holy.’ A covetous man does not keep the Sabbath holy; he will ride to fairs
on a Sabbath; instead of reading in the Bible, he will cast up his accounts. Covetousness
is a breach of the fifth commandment; ‘Honour thy father and thy mother.’ A covetous
person does not honour his father, if he does not feed him with money. Nay; he will
get his father to make over his estate to him in his lifetime, so that the father
may be at his son’s command. Covetousness is a breach of the sixth commandment;
‘Thou shalt not kill.’ Covetous Ahab killed Naboth to get his vineyard. 1 Kings
21: 13. How many have swum to the crown in blood? Covetousness is a breach of the
seventh commandment, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ It causes uncleanness; you
read of the ‘hire of a whore.’ Deut 23: 18. An adulteress for money sets both conscience
and chastity to sale. Covetousness is a breach of the eighth commandment ‘Thou shalt
not steal.’ It is the root of theft: covetous Achan stole the wedge of gold. Thieves
and covetous are put together. 1 Cor 6: 10. Covetousness is a breach of the ninth
commandment; ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness.’ What makes the perjurer take a
false oath but covetousness? He hopes for a reward. It is plainly a breach of the
last commandment; ‘Thou shalt not covet.’ The mammonist covets his neighbour’s house
and goods, and endeavours to get them into his own hands. Thus you see how vile
a sin covetousness is; it is a mother sin; it is a plain breach of every one of
the ten commandments.
(4) Covetousness is a sin dishonourable to religion. For men to
say their hopes are above, while their hearts are below; to profess to be above
the stars, while they ‘lick the dust’ of the serpent; to be born of God, while they
are buried in the earth; how dishonourable is this to religion! The lapwing, which
wears a little coronet on its head, and yet feeds on dung, is an emblem of such
as profess to be crowned kings and priests unto God, and yet feed immoderately on
terrene dunghill comforts. ‘And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them
not.’ Jer 45: 5. What, thou Baruch, who art ennobled by the new birth, and art illustrious
by thy office, a Levite, dost thou seek earthly things, and seek them now? When
the ship is sinking, art thou trimming thy cabin? O do not so degrade thyself, nor
blot thy escutcheon! Seekest thou great things? seek them not. The higher grace
is, the less earthly should Christians be; as the higher the sun is, the shorter
is the shadow.
(5) Covetousness exposes us to God’s abhorrence, ‘The covetous,
whom the Lord abhorreth.’ Psa 10: 3. A king abhors to see his statue abused, so
God abhors to see man, made in his image, having the heart of a beast. Who would
live in such a sin as makes him abhorred of God? Whom God abhors he curses, and
his curse blasts wherever it comes.
(6) Covetousness precipitates men to ruin, and shuts them out
of heaven. ‘This ye know, that no covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance
in the kingdom of Christ and of God.’ Eph 5: 5. What could a covetous man do in
heaven? God can no more converse with him than a king can converse with a swine.
‘They that will be rich fall into a snare, and many hurtful lusts, which drown men
in perdition.’ 1 Tim 6: 9. A covetous man is like a bee that gets into a barrel
of honey, and there drowns itself. As a ferry man takes in so many passengers to
increase his fare, that he sinks his boat; so a covetous man takes in so much gold
to increase his estate, that he drowns himself in perdition. I have read of some
inhabitants near Athens, who, living in a very dry and barren island, took much
pains to draw a river to the island to water it and make it fruitful; but when they
had opened the passages, and brought the river to it, the water broke in with such
force, that it drowned the land, and all the people in it. This is an emblem of
a covetous man, who labours to draw riches to him, and at last they come in such
abundance, that they drown him in perdition. How many, to build up an estate, pull
down their souls! Oh, then, flee from covetousness! I shall next prescribe some
remedies against covetousness.
[2] I AM, in the next place, to solve the question, What is the
cure for this covetousness?’
(1) Faith. ‘This is the victory that overcometh the world, even
our faith.’ 1 John 5: 4. The root of covetousness is distrust of God’s providence.
Faith believes that God will provide; that he who feeds the birds will feed his
children; that he who clothes the lilies will clothe his lambs; and thus faith overcomes
the world. Faith is the cure of care. It not only purifies the heart, but satisfies
it; it makes God our portion, and in him we have enough. ‘The lord is the portion
of mine inheritance, the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have
a goodly heritage.’ Psa 16: 5, 6. Faith, by a divine chemistry, extracts comfort
out of God. A little with God is sweet. Thus faith is a remedy against covetousness;
it overcomes, not only the fear of the world, but the love of the world.
(2) The second remedy is, judicious considerations. As what poor
things these things below are that we should covet them! They are far below the
worth of the soul, which carries in it an idea and resemblance of God. The world
is but the workmanship of God, the soul is his image. We covet that which will not
satisfy us. ‘He that loveth silver, shall not be satisfied with silver.’ Eccl 5:
10. Solomon had put all the creatures in a retort, and distilled out their essence,
and behold, ‘All was vanity.’ Eccl 2: 11. Covetousness is a dry dropsy — the more
a man has the more he thirsts. Quo plus sunt potae, plus sitiuntur aquae [The more
water is drunk, the more is craved]. Ovid. Worldly things cannot remove trouble
of mind. When King Saul was perplexed in conscience, his crown jewels could not
comfort him. 1 Sam 28: 15. The things of the world can no more ease a troubled spirit
than a gold cap can cure the headache. The things of the world cannot continue with
you. The creature has a little honey in its mouth, but it has wings to fly away.
These things either go from us, or we from them. What poor things are they to covet!
The second consideration is the frame and texture of the body.
God has made the face look upward towards heaven. Os homini sublime dedit, coelumque
tueri jussit [He gave man an uplifted face, with the order to gaze up to Heaven].
Ovid. Anatomists observe, that whereas other creatures have but four muscles to
their eyes, man has a fifth muscle, by which he is able to look up to heaven; and
as for the heart, it is made narrow and contracted downwards, but wide and broad
upwards. As the frame and texture of the body teaches us to look to things above,
so especially the soul is planted in the body, as a divine spark, to ascend upwards.
Can it be imagined that God gave us intellectual and immortal souls to covet earthly
things only? What wise man would fish for gudgeons with golden hooks? Did God give
us glorious souls only to fish for the world? Sure our souls are made for a higher
end; to aspire after the enjoyment of God in glory.
The third consideration is the examples of those who have been
condemners and despisers of the world. The primitive Christians, as Clemens Alexandrinus
observes, were sequestered from the world, and were wholly taken up in converse
with God; they lived in the world above the world; like the birds of paradise, who
soar above in the air, and seldom or never touch the earth with their feet. Luther
says that he was never tempted to the sin of covetousness. Though the saints of
old lived in the world they traded in heaven. ‘Our conversation is in heaven.’ Phil
3: 20. The Greek word signifies our commerce, or traffic, or citizenship, is in
heaven. ‘Enoch walked with God.’ Gen 5: 24. His affections were sublimated, and
took a turn in heaven every day. The righteous are compared to a palm-tree. Psa
92: 12. Philo observes, that whereas all other trees have their sap in their root,
the sap of the palm-tree is towards the top; and thus is an emblem of saints, whose
hearts are in heaven, where their treasure is.
(3) The third remedy for covetousness is to covet spiritual things
more. Covet grace, for it is the best blessing, it is the seed of God. 1 John 3:
9. Covet heaven, which is the region of happiness — the most pleasant clime. If
we covet heaven more, we shall covet earth less. To those who stand on the top of
the Alps, the great cities of Campania seem but as small villages; so if our hearts
were more fixed upon the Jerusalem above, all worldly things would disappear, would
diminish, and be as nothing in our eyes. We read of an angel coming down from heaven,
and setting his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the earth. Rev 10: 2.
Had we been in heaven, and viewed its superlative glory, how should we, with holy
scorn, trample with one foot upon the earth and with the other foot upon the sea!
O covet after heavenly things! There is the tree of life, the mountains of spices,
the rivers of pleasure, the honeycomb of God’s love dropping, the delights of angels,
and the flower of joyfully ripe and blown. There is the pure air to breathe in;
no fogs or vapours of sin arise to infect that air, but the Sun of Righteousness
enlightens the whole horizon continually with his glorious beams. O let your thoughts
and delights be always taken up with the city of pearls, the paradise of God! It
is reported of Lazarus that, after he was raised from the grave, he was never seen
to smile or take delight in the world. Were our hearts raised by the power of the
Holy Ghost up to heaven we should not be much taken with earthly things.
(4) The fourth remedy is to pray for a heavenly mind. Lord, let
the loadstone of thy Spirit draw my heart upward. Lord, dig the earth out of my
heart; teach me how to possess the world, and not love it; how to hold it in my
hand, and not let it get into my heart.
II. Having spoken of the command in general, I proceed to speak
of it more particularly. ‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt
not covet thy neighbour’s wife,’ &c. Observe the holiness and perfection of the
law that forbids the motus primo primi, the first motions and risings of sin in
the heart. ‘Thou shalt not covet.’ The laws of men take hold of actions, but the
law of God goes further, it forbids not only actions, but desires. ‘Thou shalt not
covet thy neighbour’s house.’ It is not said, ‘Thou shalt not take away his house;’
but ‘Thou shalt not covet it.’ These lusts and desires after the forbidden fruit
are sinful. The law has said, ‘Thou shalt not covet.’ Rom 7: 7. Though the tree
bears no bad fruit, it may be faulty at the root; so though a man does not commit
any gross sin, he cannot say his heart is pure. There may be faultiness at the root:
there may be sinful covetings and lustings in the soul.
Use. Let us be humbled for the sin of our nature, the risings
of evil thoughts coveting that which we ought not. Our nature is a seed-plot of
iniquity; like charcoal that is ever sparkling, the sparks of pride, envy, covetousness,
arise in the mind. How should this humble us! If there be not sinful acting, there
are sinful covetings. Let us pray for mortifying grace, which like the water of
jealousy, may make the thigh of sin to rot.
Why is the house here put before the wife? In Deuteronomy the
wife is put first. ‘Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt
thou covet thy neighbour’s house.’ Deut 5: 21.
In Deuteronomy the wife is set down first, in respect of her value.
She (if a good wife) is of far greater value and estimate than the house. ‘Her price
is far above rubies.’ Prov 31: 10. She is the furniture of the house and this furniture
is more worth than the house. When Alexander had overcome King Darius in battle,
Darius seemed not to be much dismayed, but when he heard his wife was taken prisoner,
his eyes, like spouts gushed forth water, for he valued his wife more than his life.
But in Exodus the house is put before the wife, because the house is first in order,
the house is erected before the wife can live in it; the nest is built before the
bird is in it; the wife is first esteemed, but the house must be first provided.
[1] Then, ‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house.’ How depraved
is man since the fall! He knows not how to keep within bounds, but covets more than
his own. Ahab, one would think, had enough: he was a king; and we should suppose
his crown-revenues would have contented him; but he was coveting more. Naboth’s
vineyard was in his eye, and stood near the smoke of his chimney, and he could not
be quiet till he had it in possession. Were there not so much coveting, there would
not be so much bribing. One man takes away another’s house from him. It is only
the prisoner who lives in such a tenement that he may be sure none will seek to
take it from him.
[2] ‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife.’ This is a bridle
to check the inordinate and brutish lusts. It was the devil that sowed another man’s
ground. Matt 13: 25. But how is the hedge of this commandment trodden down in our
times! There are many who do more than covet their neighbours’ wives! they take
them. ‘Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife; and all the people shall
say, Amen.’ Deut 27: 20. If it were to be proclaimed, ‘Cursed be he that lieth with
his neighbour’s wife,’ and all that were guilty should say, ‘Amen,’ how many would
curse themselves!
[3] ‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s man-servant, nor his
maidservant.’ Servants, when faithful, are a treasure. What a true and trusty servant
had Abraham! He was his right hand. How prudent and faithful he was in the matter
entrusted with him, of getting a wife for his master’s son! Gen 24: 9. It would
surely have grieved Abraham if any one had enticed away his servant from him. But
this sin of coveting servants is common. If one has a good servant, others will
be laying snares for him, and endeavour to draw him away from his master. This is
a sin against the tenth commandment. To steal away another’s servant by enticement,
is no better than direct thieving.
[4] ‘Nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.’
Were there no coveting ox and ass, there would not be so much stealing. First men
break the tenth commandment by coveting, and then the eighth commandment by stealing.
It was an excellent appeal that Samuel made to the people when he said, ‘Witness
against me before the Lord, whose ox have I taken, or whose ass, or whom have I
defrauded?’ 1 Sam 12: 3. It was a brave speech of Paul, when he said, ‘I have coveted
no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel.’ Acts 20: 33.
What means should we use to keep us from coveting that which is
our neighbour’s?
The best remedy is contentment. If we are content with our own,
we shall not covet that which is another’s. Paul could say, ‘I have coveted no man’s
gold or silver.’ Whence was this? It was from contentment. ‘I have learned, in whatsoever
state I am, therewith to be content.’ Phil 4: 11. Content says, as Jacob did, ‘I
have enough. ‘Gen 33: 11. I have a promise of heaven, and have sufficient to bear
my charges thither; I have enough. He who has enough, will not covet that which
is another’s. Be content: and the best way to be contented, is, (1) Believe that
condition to be best which God by his providence carves out to you. If he had seen
fit for us to have more, we should have had it. Perhaps we could not manage a great
estate; it is hard to carry a full cup without spilling, and a full estate without
sinning. Great estates may be snares. A boat may be overturned by having too much
sail. The believing that estate to be best which God appoints us, makes us content;
and being contented, we shall not covet that which is another’s. (2) The way to
be content with such things as we have, and not to covet another’s, is to consider
the less we have, the less account we shall have to give at the last day. Every
person is a steward, and must be accountable to God. They who have great estates
have the greater reckoning. God will say, What good have you done with your estates?
Have you honoured me with your substance? Where are the poor you have fed and clothed?
If you cannot give a good account, it will be sad. It should make us contented with
a less portion, to consider, the less riches, the less reckoning. This is the way
to have contentment. There is no better antidote against coveting that which is
another’s than being content with that which is our own.
4. THE WAY OF SALVATION
4.1 Faith
What does God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and
curse due to us for our sin?
Faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent
use of all the outward means, whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of
redemption.
I begin with the first, faith in Jesus Christ. ‘Whom God has set
forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood.’ Rom 3: 25. The great privilege
in the text is, to have Christ for a propitiation; which is not only to free us
from God’s wrath, but to ingratiate us into his love and favour. The means of having
Christ to be our propitiation is, ‘Faith in his blood.’ There is a twofold faith,
Fides quae creditur [the faith which is believed], which is ‘the doctrine of faith;’
and Fides qua creditur [the faith by which we believe], which is ‘the grace of faith.’
The act of justifying faith lies in recumbency; we rest on Christ alone for salvation.
As a man that is ready to drown catches hold on the bough of a tree, so a poor trembling
sinner, seeing himself ready to perish, catches hold by faith on Christ the tree
of life, and is saved. The work of faith is by the Holy Spirit; therefore faith
is called the ‘fruit of the Spirit.’ Gal 5: 22. Faith does not grow in nature, it
is an outlandish plant, a fruit of the Spirit. This grace of faith is sanctissimum
humani pectoris bonum [the most hallowed possession of the human heart]; of all
others, the most precious rich faith, and most holy faith, and faith of God’s elect:
hence it is called ‘precious faith.’ 2 Pet 1: 1. As gold is most precious among
metals, so is faith among the graces. Faith is the queen of the graces; it is the
condition of the gospel. ‘Thy faith has saved thee,’ not thy tears. Luke 7: 50.
Faith is the ‘vital artery of the soul’ that animates it. ‘The just shall live by
his faith.’ Hab 2: 4. Though unbelievers breathe, they want life. Faith, as Clemens
Alexandrinus calls it, is a mother grace; it excites and invigorates all the graces;
not a grace stirs till faith sets it to work. Faith sets repentance to work; it
is like fire to the still; it sets hope to work. First we believe the promise, then
we hope for it. If faith did not feed the lamp of hope with oil, it would soon die.
It sets love to work. ‘Faith which worketh by love.’ Gal 5: 6. Who can believe in
the infinite merits of Christ, and his heart not ascend in a fiery chariot of love?
It is a catholicon, or remedy against all troubles; a sheet anchor cast into the
sea of God’s mercy to keep us from sinking in despair. Other graces have done worthily;
thou, O faith, excellest them all. In heaven love will be the chief grace; but while
we are here love must give place to faith. Love takes possession of glory, but faith
gives a title to it. Love is the crowning grace in heaven, but faith is the conquering
grace upon earth. ‘This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.’
1 John 5: 4. Faith carries away the garland from all the other graces. Other graces
help to sanctify us, but faith only has the honour to justify us. ‘Being justified
by faith.’ Rom 5: 1.
How comes faith to be so precious?
Not that it is a more holy quality, or has more worthiness than
other graces, but respectu objecti [with respect to its object], ‘as it lays hold
on Christ the blessed object,’ and fetches in his fulness. John 9: 36. Faith in
itself considered, is but manus mendica, ‘the beggar’s hand;’ but as this hand receives
the rich alms of Christ’s merits, so it is precious, and challenges a superiority
over the rest of the graces.
Use one. Of all sins, beware of the rock of unbelief ‘Take heed
lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief’ Heb 3: 12. Men think, as
long as they are not drunkards or swearers, it is no great matter to be unbelievers.
This is the gospel sin, it dyes your other sins in grain.
(1) Unbelief is a Christ-reproaching sin. It disparages Christ’s
infinite merit as if it could not save; it makes the wound of sin to be broader
than the plaister of Christ’s blood. This is a high contempt offered to Christ,
and is a deeper spear than that which the Jews thrust into his side.
(2) Unbelief is an ungrateful sin. Ingratus vitandus est ut dirum
selus, tellus ipsa foedius nihil creat [The ungrateful man is to be avoided like
a fearful crime; the world herself produces nothing more shameful]. Ingratitude
is a prodigy of wickedness; and unbelief is being ungrateful for the richest mercy.
Suppose a king, to redeem a captive, should part with his crown of gold, and when
he had done this should say to the redeemed man, ‘All I desire of thee in lieu of
my kindness, is to believe that I love thee.’ If he should say ‘No, I do not believe
any such thing, or that thou carest at all for me;’ I appeal to you whether this
would not be odious ingratitude? So is the case here. God has sent his Son to shed
his blood; he requires us only to believe in him, that he is able and willing to
save us. No, says unbelief, his blood was not shed for me, I cannot persuade myself
that Christ has any purpose of love to me. Is not this horrid ingratitude? This
enhances a sin, and makes it of a crimson colour.
(3) Unbelief is a leading sin. It is the breeder of sin. Qualitas
malae vitae initium summit ab infidelitate [A life of wickedness has unbelief as
its point of origin]. Unbelief is a root sin, and the devil labours to water this
root, that the branches may be fruitful. It breeds hardness of heart; therefore
they are put together. Mark 16: 14. Christ upbraids them with their unbelief and
hardness of heart. Unbelief breeds the stone of the heart. He who believes not in
Christ, is not affected with his sufferings, he melts not in tears of love. Unbelief
freezes the heart; first it defiles and then hardens. Unbelief breeds profaneness.
An unbeliever will stick at no sin, neither at false weights, nor false oaths. He
will swallow down treason. Judas was first an unbeliever, and then a traitor. John
6: 64. He who has no faith in his heart, will have no fear of God before his eyes.
(4) Unbelief is a wrath procuring sin. It is inimica salutis [an
enemy of salvation]. Bernard. John 3: 18. Jam condemnatus est [he is already condemned],
dying so, he is as sure to be condemned as if he were so already. ‘He that believeth
not on the Son of God, the wrath of God abideth on him.’ John 3: 36. He who believes
not in the blood of the Lamb, must feel the wrath of the Lamb. The Gentiles that
believe not in Christ will be damned as well as the Jews who blaspheme him. And
if unbelief be so fearful and damnable a sin, shall we not be afraid to live in
it?
Use two. Above all graces set faith to work on Christ. ‘That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish.’ John 3: 15. ‘Above all, taking the shield of
faith.’ Eph 6: 16. Say as queen Esther, ‘I will go in unto the king: and if I perish,
I perish.’ She had nothing to encourage her; she ventured against law, yet the golden
sceptre was held forth to her. We have promises to encourage our faith. ‘Him that
comes unto me, I will in no wise cast out.’ John 6: 37. Let us then advance faith
by a holy recumbency on Christ’s merits. Christ’s blood will not justify without
believing; they are both put together in the text, ‘Faith in his blood.’ The blood
of God, without faith in Christ, will not save. Christ’s sufferings are the plaister
to heal a sin-sick soul, but this plaister must be applied by faith. It is not money
in a rich man’s hand, though offered to us, that will enrich us, unless we receive
it. So Christ’s virtues or benefits will do us no good unless we receive them by
the hand of faith. Above all graces set faith on work. It is a faith most acceptable
to God upon many accounts.
(1) Because it is a God-exalting grace. It glorifies God. Abraham
‘was strong in faith, giving glory to God.’ Rom 4: 20. To believe that there is
more mercy in God and merit in Christ than sin in us, and that Christ has answered
all the demands of the law, and that his blood has fully satisfied for us, is in
a high degree to honour God. Faith in the Mediator brings more glory to God than
martyrdom, or the most heroic act of obedience.
(2) Faith in Christ is acceptable to God because it is a self-denying
grace; it makes a man go out of himself, renounce all self-righteousness, and wholly
rely on Christ for justification. It is very humble, it confesses its own indigence,
and lives wholly upon Christ. As the bee sucks sweetness from the flower, so faith
sucks all its strength and comfort from Christ.
(3) Faith is a grace acceptable to God, because by faith we present
a righteousness to him which best pleases him; we bring the righteousness of Christ
into court, which is called the righteousness of God. 2 Cor 5: 21. To bring Christ’s
righteousness, is to bring Benjamin with us. A believer may say, Lord, it is not
the righteousness of Adam, or of the angels, but of Christ who is God-Man, that
I bring before thee. The Lord cannot but smell a sweet savour in Christ’s righteousness.
Use three. Let us try our faith. There is something that looks
like faith, and is not. Pliny says there is a Cyprian stone which is in colour like
a diamond, but it is not of the right kind; so there is a spurious faith in the
world. Some plants have the same leaf with others, but the herbalist can distinguish
them by the root and taste; so something may look like true faith, but it may be
distinguished several ways: —
(1) True faith is grounded upon knowledge. Knowledge carries the
torch before faith. There is a knowledge of Christ’s orient excellencies. Phil 3:
8. He is made up of all love and beauty. True faith is a judicious intelligent grace,
it knows whom it believes, and why it believes. Faith is seated as well in the understanding
as in the will. It has an eye to see Christ, as well as a wing to fly to him. Such
therefore as are veiled in ignorance, or have only an implicit faith to believe
as the church believes, have no true and genuine faith.
(2) Faith lives in a broken heart. ‘The father cried out with
tears, Lord, I believe.’ Mark 9: 24. True faith is always in a heart bruised for
sin. They, therefore, whose hearts were never touched for sin, have no faith. If
a physician should tell us there was a herb that would help us against all infections,
but it always grows in a watery place; if we should see a herb like it in colour,
leaf, smell, blossom, but growing upon a rock, we should conclude that it was the
wrong herb. So saving faith always grows in a heart humbled for sin, in a weeping
eye and a tearful conscience. If, therefore, there be a show of faith, but it grows
upon the rock of a hard impenitent heart, it is not the true faith.
(3) True faith is at first nothing but an embryo, it is minute
and small; it is full of doubts, temptations, fears; it begins in weakness. It is
like the smoking flax. Matt 12: 20. It smokes with desires, but does not flame with
comfort; it is at first so small, that it is scarce discernible. They who, at the
first dash, have a strong persuasion that Christ is theirs, who leap out of sin
into assurance, have a false and spurious faith, The faith which comes to its full
stature on its birth-day is a monster. The seed that sprung up suddenly withered.
Matt 13: 5, 6.
(4) Faith is a refining grace, it consecrates and purifies. Moral
virtue may wash the outside, but faith washes the inside. ‘Purifying their hearts
by faith.’ Acts 15: 9. Faith makes the heart a temple with this inscription, ‘Holiness
to the Lord.’ They whose hearts have legions of lust in them, were never acquainted
with the true faith. For one to say he has faith, and yet live in sin, is, as if
one should say he was in health when his vitals are perished. Faith is a virgin
grace, it is joined with sanctity. ‘Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.’
1 Tim 3: 9. The jewel of faith is always put in the cabinet of a pure conscience.
The woman that touched Christ by faith, fetched a healing and cleansing virtue from
him.
(5) True faith is obediential. ‘The obedience of faith.’ Rom 16:
26. Faith melts our will into the will of God. If God commands duty, though cross
to flesh and blood, faith obeys. ‘By faith Abraham obeyed.’ Heb 11: 8. It not only
believes the promise, but obeys the command. It is not having a speculative knowledge
that will evidence you to be believers. The devil has knowledge; but that which
makes him a devil is that he has no obedience.
(6) True faith is increasing. ‘From faith to faith,’ i.e. from
one degree of faith to another. Rom 1: 17. Faith does not lie in the heart, as a
stone in the earth, but as seed that grows. Joseph of Arimathaea was a disciple
of Christ, but was afraid to confess him; afterwards he went boldly to Pilate and
begged the body of Jesus. John 19: 38. A Christian’s increase in faith is known
two ways: —
By steadfastness. He is a pillar in the temple of God, ‘Rooted
and built up in him; and established in the faith.’ Col 2: 7. Unbelievers are sceptics
in religion; they are unsettled; they question every truth; but when faith is on
the increasing hand, it does stabilire animum [strengthen the spirit], it corroborates
a Christian. He is able to prove his principles; he holds no more than he will die
for; as that martyr woman said, ‘I cannot dispute for Christ, but I can burn for
him.’ An increasing faith is not like a ship in the midst of the sea, that fluctuates,
and is tossed upon the waves; but like a ship at anchor, which is firm and steadfast.
A Christian’s increase in faith is known by his strength. He can
do that now which he could not do before. When one is man-grown, he can do that
which he was not able to do when he was a child; he can carry a heavier burden:
so a growing Christian can bear crosses with more patience.
But I fear I have no faith, it is so weak!
If you have faith, though but in its infancy, be not discouraged.
For, (1) A little faith is faith, as a spark of fire is fire. (2) A weak faith may
lay hold on a strong Christ; as a weak hand can tie the knot in marriage as well
as a strong one. She, in the gospel, who but touched Christ, fetched virtue from
him. (3) The promises are not made to strong faith, but to true. The promise does
not say, he who has a giant faith, who can believe God’s love through a frown, who
can rejoice in affliction, who can work wonders, remove mountains, stop the mouth
of lions, shall be saved, but whosoever believes, be his faith never so small. A
reed is but weak, especially when it is bruised; yet a promise is made to it. ‘A
bruised reed shall he not break.’ Matt 12: 20. (4) A weak faith may be fruitful.
Weakest things multiply most. The vine is a weak plant, but it is fruitful. The
thief on the cross, who was newly converted, was but weak in grace; but how many
precious clusters grew upon that tender plant! He chided his fellow-thief. ‘Dost
thou not fear God?’ Luke 23: 40. He judged himself, ‘We indeed suffer justly.’ He
believed in Christ, when he said, ‘Lord.’ He made a heavenly prayer, ‘Remember me
when thou comest into thy kingdom.’ Weak Christians may have strong affections.
How strong is the first love, which is after the first planting of faith! (5) The
weakest believer is a member of Christ as well as the strongest; and the weakest
member of the body mystic shall not perish. Christ will cut off rotten members,
but not weak members. Therefore, Christian, be not discouraged. God, who would have
us receive them that are weak in faith, will not himself refuse them. Rom 14: 1.
4.2 Repentance
‘Then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.’
Acts 11: 18.
Repentance seems to be a bitter pill to take, but it is to purge
out the bad humour of sin. By some Antinomian spirits it is cried down as a legal
doctrine; but Christ himself preached it. ‘From that time Jesus began to preach,
and to say, Repent,’ &c. Matt 4: 17. In his last farewell, when he was ascending
to heaven, he commanded that ‘Repentance should be preached in his name.’ Luke 24:
47. Repentance is a pure gospel grace. The covenant of works would not admit of
repentance; it cursed all that could not perform perfect and personal obedience.
Gal 3: 10. Repentance comes in by the gospel; it is the fruit of Christ’s purchase
that repenting sinners shall be saved. It is wrought by the ministry of the gospel,
while it sets before our eyes Christ crucified. It is not arbitrary, but necessary;
there is no being saved without it. ‘Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.’
Luke 13: 3. We may be thankful to God that he has left us this plank after shipwreck.
I. I shall show first the counterfeits of repentance.
[1] Natural softness and tenderness of spirit. Some have a tender
affection, arising from their constitution, whereby they are apt to weep and relent
when they see any object of pity. These are not repenting tears: for many weep to
see another’s misery, who cannot weep at their own sin.
[2] Legal terrors. A man who has lived in a course of sin, at
last is made sensible; he sees hell ready to devour him, and is filled with anguish
and horror; but after a while the tempest of conscience is blown over, and he is
quiet. He then concludes he is a true penitent, because he has felt some bitterness
in sin, but this is not repentance. Judas had some trouble of mind. If anguish and
trouble were sufficient for repentance, then the damned would be most penitent,
for they are most in anguish of mind. There may be trouble of mind where there is
no grieving for the offence against God.
[3] A slight superficial sorrow. When God’s hand lies heavy upon
a man, as when he is sick or lame, he may vent a sigh or tear, and say, ‘Lord, have
mercy;’ yet this is not true repentance. Ahab did more than all this. ‘He rent his
clothes, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.’ 1 Kings 21: 27. His
clothes were rent, but not his heart. The eye may be watery, and the heart flinty.
An apricot may be soft without, but it has a hard stone within.
[4] God motions rising in the heart. Every good motion is not
repentance. Some think if they have motions in their hearts to break off their sins,
and become religious, it is repentance. As the devil may stir up bad motions in
the godly, so the Spirit of God may stir up good motions in the wicked. Herod had
many good thoughts and inclinations stirred up in him by John Baptist’s preaching,
yet he did not truly repent, for he still lived in incest.
[5] Vows and resolutions. What vows and solemn protestations do
some make in their sickness, that if God should recover them they will be new men,
but afterwards they are as bad as ever! ‘Thou saidst, I will not transgress;’ here
was a resolution: but for all this, she ran after her idols. ‘Under every green
tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.’ Jer 2: 20.
[6] Leaving off some gross sin. (1) A man may leave off some sins,
and keep others. Herod reformed many things that were amiss, but kept his Herodias.
(2) An old sin may be left to entertain a new one. A man may leave off riot and
prodigality, and turn covetous; which is merely to exchange one sin for another.
These are the counterfeits of repentance. Now, if you find that
yours is a counterfeit repentance, and you have not repented aright, mend what you
have done amiss. As in the body, if a bone be set wrong, the surgeon has no way
but to break it again, and set it aright; so you must do by repentance; if you have
not repented aright, you must have your heart broken again in a godly manner, and
be more deeply afflicted for sin than ever.
II. This brings me to show wherein repentance consists. It consists
in two things: humiliation and transformation.
[1] Humiliation. ‘If their uncircumcised hearts be humbled.’ Lev
26: 41. There is, as the schoolmen say, a twofold humiliation, or breaking of the
heart. (1) Attrition; as when a rock is broken in pieces. This is done by the law,
which is a hammer to break the heart. (2) Contrition; as when ice is melted into
water. This is done by the gospel, which is as a fire to ‘melt the heart.’ Jer 23:
9. The sense of abused kindness causes contrition.
[2] Transformation, or change. ‘Be ye transformed by the renewing
of your mind.’ Rom 12: 2. Repentance works a change in the whole man. As when wine
is put into a glass of water, it runs into every part of the water, and changes
its colour and taste; so true repentance does not rest in one part, but diffuses
and spreads itself into every part.
(1) Repentance causes a change in the mind. Before, a man liked
sin well, and said in defence of it, as Jonah, ‘I do well to be angry;’ chap 4:
9; or I did well to swear, and break the Sabbath. When he becomes penitent, his
judgement is changed, he looks upon sin as the greatest evil. The Greek word for
repentance signifies after-wisdom; when, having seen how deformed and damnable a
thing sin is, we change our mind. Paul, before conversion, verily thought he ought
to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus (Acts 26: 9); but, when he became
a penitent, he was of another mind. ‘I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.’ Phil 3: 8. Repentance causes a change of judgement.
(2) Repentance causes a change in the affections, which move under
the will as the commander-in-chief. It metamorphoses the affections. It turns rejoicing
in sin into sorrowing for sin; it turns boldness in sin into holy shame; it turns
the love of sin into hatred. As Ammon hated Tamar more than ever he loved her (2
Sam 13: 15), so the true penitent hates sin more than ever he loved it. ‘I hate
every false way.’ Psa 119: 104.
(3) Repentance works a change in the life. Though repentance begins
at the heart, it does rest there, but goes into the life. It begins at the heart.
‘O Jerusalem, wash thy heart.’ Jer 4: 14. If the spring be corrupt, no pure stream
can run from it. But though repentance begins at the heart, it does not rest there,
but changes the life. What a change did repentance make in Paul! It changed a persecutor
into a preacher. What a change did it make in the jailer! Acts 16: 33. He took Paul
and Silas, and washed their stripes, and set meat before them. What a change did
it make in Mary Magdalene! She who before kissed her lovers with wanton embraces,
now kisses Christ’s feet; she that used to curl her hair, and dress it with costly
jewels, now makes it a towel to wipe Christ’s feet; her eyes that used to sparkle
with lust, and with impure glances to entice her lovers, now become fountains of
tears to wash her Saviour’s feet; her tongue that used to speak vainly and loosely,
now is an instrument set in tune to praise God. This change of life has two things
in it: —
[1] The terminus a quo, a breaking off sin. ‘Break off thy sins
by righteousness.’ Dan 4: 27. This breaking off sin must have three qualifications.
(1) It must be universal, a breaking off all sin. One disease may kill as well as
more. One sin lived in, may damn as well as more. The real penitent breaks off secret,
gainful, habitual sins; he takes the sacrificing knife of mortification, and runs
it through the heart of his dearest lusts. (2) Breaking off sin must be sincere;
it must not be out of fear, but upon spiritual grounds; as from antipathy and disgust,
and a principle of love to God. If sin had not such evil effects, a true penitent
would forsake it out of love to God. The best way to separate things that are frozen,
is by fire. When sin and the heart are frozen together, the best way to separate
them is by the fire of love. Shall I sin against a gracious Father, and abuse that
love which pardons me? (3) The breaking off sin must be perpetual, so as never to
have to do with sin any more. ‘What have I to do any more with idols?’ Hos 14: 8.
Repentance is a spiritual divorce, which must be till death.
[2] Change of life has in it terminus ad quem, a returning unto
the Lord. It is called ‘Repentance towards God.’ Acts 20: 21. It is not enough,
when we repent, to leave old sins; but we must engage in God’s service; as when
the wind leaves the west, it turns into a contrary corner. The repenting prodigal
not only left his harlots, but arose and went to his father. Luke 15: 18. In true
repentance the heart points directly to God, as the needle to the north pole.
Use. Let us all set upon this great work of repentance; let us
repent sincerely and speedily: let us repent of all our sins, our pride, rash anger,
and unbelief. ‘Without repentance, no remission.’ It is not consistent with the
holiness of God’s nature to pardon a sinner while he is in the act of rebellion.
O meet God, not with weapons, but tears in your eyes. To stir you up to a melting
penitent frame: —
(1) Consider what there is in sin, that you should continue in
the practice of it. It is the ‘accursed thing.’ Josh 7: 11. It is the spirits of
mischief distilled. It defiles the soul’s glory; it is like a stain to beauty. It
is compared to a plague-sore. 1 Kings 8: 38. Nothing so changes one’s glory into
shame as sin. Without repentance sin tends to final damnation. Peccatum transit
actu, manet reatu [The moment of sin passes, the guilt remains]. Sin at first shows
its colour in the glass, but afterwards it bites like a serpent. Those locusts in
Rev 9: 7, are an emblem of sin: ‘On their heads were crowns like gold, and they
had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions, and there
were stings in their tails.’ Sin unrepented of ends in a tragedy. It has the devil
for its father, shame for its companion, and death for its wages. Rom 6: 23. What
is there in sin then, that men should continue in it? Say not it is sweet. Who would
desire the pleasure which kills?
(2) Repentance is very pleasing to God. No sacrifice like a broken
heart. ‘A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.’ Psa 51: 17.
Augustine caused this sentence to be written over his bed when he was sick. When
the widow brought empty vessels to Elisha, the oil was poured into them. 2 Kings
4: 6. Bring God the broken vessel of a contrite heart, and he will pour in the oil
of mercy. Repenting tears are the joy of God and of angels. Luke 15: 7. Doves delight
to be about the waters; and surely God’s Spirit, who once descended in the likeness
of a dove, takes great delight in the waters of repentance. Mary stood at Jesus’
feet weeping. Luke 7: 38. She brought two things to Christ, tears and ointment;
but her tears were more precious to Christ than her ointment.
(3) Repentance ushers in pardon. Therefore they are joined together.
‘Repentance and remission.’ Luke 24: 47. Pardon of sin is the richest blessing;
it is enough to make a sick man well. ‘The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick;
the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.’ Isa 33: 24. Pardon
settles upon us the richer charter of the promises. Pardoning mercy is the sauce
that makes all other mercies relish the sweeter; it sweetens our health, riches,
and honour. David had a crown of pure gold set upon his head. Psa 21: 3. That which
David most blessed God for, was not that God had set a crown of gold upon his head,
but that he had set a crown of mercy upon his head. ‘Who crowneth thee with mercies.’
Psa 103: 4. What was this crown of mercy? You may see in ver 3: ‘Who forgiveth all
thine iniquities.’ David more rejoiced that he was crowned with forgiveness than
that he wore a crown of pure gold. Now, what is it that makes way for pardon of
sin but repentance? When David’s soul was humbled and broken, the prophet Nathan
brought him good news. ‘The Lord has put away thy sin.’ 2 Sam 12: 13.
But my sins are so great, that if I should repent, God would not
pardon them!
God will not go from his promise. ‘Return, thou backsliding Israel,
saith the Lord, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you, for I am merciful.’
Jer 3: 12. If thy sins are as rocks, yet upon thy repentance, the sea of God’s mercy
can drown them. ‘Wash you, make you clean.’ Isa 1: 16. Wash in the lever of repentance.
‘Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;’ ver 18. Manasseh was a crimson sinner; but when
he humbled himself greatly, the golden sceptre of mercy was held forth. When his
head was a fountain to weep for sin, Christ’s side was a fountain to wash away sin.
It is not the greatness of sin, but impenitence, that destroys. The Jews, who had
a hand in crucifying Christ, upon their repentance found the blood they had shed
was a sovereign balm to heal them. When the prodigal came home to his father, he
had the robe and the ring put upon him, and his ‘father kissed him.’ Luke 15: 20,
22. If you break off your sins, God will become a friend to you; all that is in
God shall be yours; his power shall be yours, to help you; his wisdom shall be yours,
to counsel you; his Spirit shall be yours, to sanctify you; his promises shall be
yours, to comfort you; his angels shall be yours, to guard you; his mercy shall
be yours, to save you.
(4) There is much sweetness in repenting tears. The soul is never
more enlarged and inwardly delighted than when it can melt kindly for sin. Weeping
days are festival days. The Hebrew word to repent, nicham, signifies consolari,
‘to take comfort.’ ‘Your sorrow shall be turned into joy.’ John 16: 20. Christ turns
the water of tears into wine. David, who was the great mourner in Israel, was the
sweet singer. And the joy which a true penitent finds, is a pre-libation and foretaste
of the joy of paradise. The wicked man’s joy turns to sadness: the penitent’s sadness
turns to joy. Though repentance seems at first to be thorny and bitter, yet of this
thorn a Christian gathers grapes. All which considerations may open a vein of godly
sorrow in our souls, that we may both weep for sin, and turn from it. If ever God
restores comfort, it is to his mourners. Isa 57: 18. When we have wept, let us look
up to Christ’s blood for pardon. Say, as that holy man, lava, Domine, lacrimas meas:
‘Lord, wash my tears in thy blood.’ We drop sin with our tears, and need Christ’s
blood to wash them. This repentance must be not for a few days only, like the mourning
for a friend, which is soon over, but it must be the work of our lives; the issue
of godly sorrow must not be stopped till death. After sin is pardoned, we must repent.
We run afresh upon the score, ‘we sin daily, therefore must repent daily.’ Some
shed a few tears for sin; and when, like the widow’s oil, they have run awhile,
they cease. Many, if the plaister of repentance begin to smart a little, pluck it
off; whereas the plaister of repentance must still lie on, and not be plucked off
till death, when, as all other tears, so these of godly sorrow shall be wiped away.
What shall we do to obtain a penitential frame of heart?
Seek to God for it. It is his promise to give a ‘heart of flesh’
(Ezek 36:26); and to pour on us a spirit of mourning. Zech 12: 10. Beg God’s ‘Holy
Spirit.’ ‘He causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.’ Psa 147: 18. When the
wind of God’s Spirit blows upon us, then the waters of repentant tears will flow
from us.
4.3 The Word
The third way to escape the wrath and curse of God, and obtain
the benefit of redemption by Christ, is the diligent use of ordinances, in particular,
‘the word, sacraments, and prayer.’
I begin with the best of these ordinances.
The ‘word . . . which effectually worketh in you that believe.’ 1
Thess 2:13.
What is meant by the word’s working effectually?
The word of God is said to work effectually when it has the good
effect upon us for which it was appointed by God; when it works powerful illumination
and thorough reformation. ‘To open their eyes, and turn them from the power of Satan
unto God.’ Acts 26: 18. The opening of their eyes denotes illumination; and turning
them from Satan to God denotes reformation.
How is the word to be read and heard that it may become effectual
to salvation.
This question consists of two branches.
How may the word be read effectually?
That we may so read the word that it may conduce effectually to
our salvation,
(1) Let us have a reverend esteem of every part of canonical Scripture.
‘More to be desired are they than gold.’ Psa 19: 10. Value the book of God above
all other books. It is a golden epistle, indited by the Holy Ghost, and sent us
from heaven. More particularly to raise our esteem, the Scripture is a spiritual
glass, to dress our souls by. It shows us more than we can see by the light of natural
conscience. This may discover gross sins; but the glass of the word shows us heart-sins,
vain thoughts, unbelief, &c. It not only shows us our spots, but washes them away.
The Scripture is a magazine out of which we may fetch spiritual artillery to fight
against Satan. When our Saviour was tempted by the devil, he fetched armour and
weapons from Scripture; ‘it is written.’ Matt 4: 4, 7. The holy Scripture is a panacea,
or universal medicine for the soul; it gives a recipe to cure deadness of heart,
Psa 119: 50; pride, 1 Pet 5: 5; and infidelity, John 3: 36. It is a physic garden
where we may gather a herb or antidote to expel the poison of sin. The leaves of
Scripture, like the leaves of the tree of life, are for the ‘healing of the nations.’
Rev 22: 2. Should not this cause a reverential esteem of the word?
(2) If we would have the written word effectual to our souls,
let us peruse it with ‘intenseness of mind.’ ‘Search the Scriptures.’ John 5: 39.
The Greek word, ereunate, signifies to search as for a ‘vein of silver.’ The Bereans
’searched the Scriptures daily.’ Acts 17: 11. The word anakrinontes signifies to
make a curious and critical search. Apollo was mighty in the Scriptures. Acts 18:
24. Some gallop over a chapter in haste and get no good by it. If we would have
the word effectual and saving, we must mind and observe every passage of Scripture.
That we may be diligent in the perusal of Scripture, consider that the word written
is norma cultus [the only standard of conduct], the rule and platform by which we
are to square our lives. It contains in it all things needful to salvation; what
duties we are to do, and what sins we are to avoid. Psa 19: 7. God gave Moses a
pattern how he would have the tabernacle made; and he was to go exactly according
to the pattern. Exod 25: 9. The word is the pattern God has given us in writing,
for modelling our lives. How careful, therefore, should we be in pursuing and looking
over this pattern!
As the written word is our pattern, so it will be our judge. ‘The
word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him at the last day.’ John 12: 48.
We read of the opening of the books. Rev 20: 12. One book which God will open is
the book of the Scripture, and will judge men out of it. He will say, ‘Have you
lived according to the rule of this word?’ The word has a double work — to teach,
and to judge.
(3) If we would have the written word effectual, we must bring
faith to the reading of it; believe it to be the word of the eternal Jehovah. It
comes with authority, and shows its commission from heaven. ‘Thus saith the Lord.’
It is of divine inspiration. 2 Tim 3: 16. The oracles of Scripture must be surer
to us than a voice from heaven. 2 Pet 1: 18, 19. Unbelief enervates the virtue of
Scripture, and renders it ineffectual. First men question the truth of the Scripture,
and then fall away from it.
(4) If we would have the written word effectual to salvation,
we must delight in it as our spiritual cordial. ‘Thy words were found, and I did
eat them, and thy word was the joy and rejoicing of my heart.’ Jer 15: 16. All true
solid comfort is fetched out of the word. The word, as Chrysostom says, is a spiritual
garden, and the promises are the fragrant flowers or spices in this garden. How
should we delight to walk among these beds of spices! Is it not a comfort, in all
dubious perplexed cases, to have a counsellor to advise us? ‘Thy testimonies are
my counsellors.’ Psa 119: 24, is it not a comfort to find our evidences for heaven?
And where should we find them but in the word? 1 Thess 1: 4, 5. The word written
is a sovereign elixir, or comfort, in an hour of distress. ‘This is my comfort in
my affliction, for thy word has quickened me.’ Psa 119: 50. It can turn all our
‘water into wine.’ How should we take a great complacence and delight in the word!
They only who come to the word with delight, go from it with success.
(5) If we would have the Scripture effectual and saving, we must
be sure, when we have read the word, to hide it in our hearts. ‘Thy word have I
hid in my heart.’ Psa 119: 11. The word, locked up in the heart, is a preservative
against sin. Why did David hide the word in his heart? ‘That I might not sin against
thee.’ As one would carry an antidote about him when he comes near a place infected,
so David carried the word in his heart as a sacred antidote to preserve him from
the infection of sin. When the sap is hid in the root, it makes the branches fruitful;
when the seed is hid in the ground, the corn springs up; so, when the word is hid
in the heart, it brings forth good fruit.
(6) If we would have the written word effectual, let us labour
not only to have the light of it in our heads, but its power in our hearts. Let
us endeavour to have it copied out, and written a second time in our hearts. ‘The
law of his God is in his heart.’ Psa 37: 31. The word says, ‘Be clothed with humility.’
1 Pet 5: 5. Let us be low and humble in our own eyes. The word calls for sanctity.
Let us labour to partake of the divine nature, and to have something conceived in
us which is of the Holy Ghost. 2 Pet 1: 4. When the word is thus copied out into
our hearts, and we are changed into its similitude, it is made effectual to us,
and becomes a savour of life.
(7) When we read the holy Scriptures let us look up to God for
a blessing. Let us beg the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, that we may see the
‘deep things of God.’ Eph 1: 17, 1 Cor 2: 10. Pray God that the same Spirit that
wrote the Scripture would enable us to understand it. Pray that God would give us
the ‘savour of his knowledge,’ that we may relish a sweetness in the word we read.
2 Cor 2: 14. David tasted it as ‘sweeter than the honeycomb.’ Psa 19: 10. Let us
pray that God would not only give us his word as a rule of holiness, but his grace
as a principle of holiness
How may we hear the word that it may be effectual and saving to
our souls?
(1) Give great attention to the word preached. Let nothing pass
without taking special notice of it. ‘All the people were very attentive to hear
him.’ Luke 19: 48. They hung upon his lips. ‘Lydia, a seller of purple, which worshipped
God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which
were spoken of Paul.’ Acts 16: 14. Give attention to the word, as to a matter of
life and death. For this purpose have a care to banish vain impertinent thoughts,
which will distract yell, and take you off from the work in hand. These fowls will
be coming to the sacrifice, therefore we must drive them away. Gen 15: 2. An archer
may take a right aim; but if one stand at his elbow, and jog him when he is going
to shoot, he will not hit the mark. Christians may have good aims in hearing; but
take heed of impertinent thoughts which will jog and hinder you in God’s service.
Banish dullness. The devil gives many hearers a sleepy sop, so that they cannot
keep their eyes open at a sermon. They eat so much on the Lord’s-day that they are
more fit for the pillow and couch than the temple. Frequent and customary sleeping
at a sermon shows high contempt and irreverence of the ordinance. It gives a bad
example to others; it makes your sincerity to be called in question; it is the devil’s
seedtime. ‘While men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares.’ Matt 13: 25 O shake
off drowsiness, as Paul shook off the viper! Be serious and attentive in hearing
the word. ‘For it is not a vain thing for you, it is your life.’ Deut 32: 47. When
people do not mind what God speaks to them in his word, God as little minds what
they say to him in prayer.
(2) If you would have the word preached effectual, come with a
holy appetite to the word. 1 Pet 2: 2. The thirsting soul is the thriving soul.
In nature one may have an appetite and no digestion; but it is not so in religion.
Where there is a great appetite for the word, there is for the most part good digestion.
Come with hungering of soul after the word, and desire it, that it may not only
please you but profit you. Look not at the garnishing of the dish more than at the
meat — at eloquence and rhetoric more than solid matter. It argues both a wanton
palate and surfeited stomach to feed on salads and dainties rather than on wholesome
food.
(3) If you would have the preaching of the word effectual, come
to it with tenderness upon your heart. ‘Because thy heart was tender.’ 1 Chron 22:
5. If we preach to hard hearts, it is like shooting against a brazen wall, the word
does not enter. It is like setting a gold seal upon marble, which takes no impression.
O come to the word preached with a melting frame of heart! It is the melting wax
that receives the stamp of the seal; so, when the heart is in a melting frame, it
will better receive the stamp of the preached word. When Paul’s heart was melted
and broken for sin, he cried, ‘Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?’ Acts 9: 6. Come
not hither with hard hearts. Who can expect a crop when the seed is grown UPON stony
ground?
(4) If you would have the word effectual, receive it with meekness.
‘Receive with meekness the ingrafted word.’ James 1: 21. Meekness is a submissive
frame of heart to the word — a willingness to hear the counsels and reproofs of
the word. Contrary to this meekness is fierceness of spirit, whereby men are ready
to rise up in rage against the sword. Proud men, and guilty, cannot endure to hear
of their faults. Proud Herod put John in prison. Mark 6: 17. The guilty Jews, being
told of their crucifying Christ, stoned Stephen. Acts 7: 59. To tell men of sin,
is to hold a glass to one that is deformed, who cannot endure to see his own face.
Contrary to meekness is stubbornness of heart, whereby men are resolved to hold
fast their sins, let the word say what it will. ‘We will burn incense unto the queen
of heaven.’ Jer 44: 17. O take heed of this! If you would have the word preached
effectually, lay aside fierceness and stubbornness, receive the word with meekness.
By meekness the word preached comes to be ingrafted. As a good scion that is grafted
in a bad stock changes the nature of the fruit and makes it taste sweet, so, when
the word is ingrafted into the soul, it sanctifies it, and makes it bring forth
the sweet fruit of righteousness.
(5) Mingle the word preached with faith. ‘The word preached did
not profit them, not being mixed with faith.’ Heb 4: 2. If you leave out the chief
ingredient in a medicine, it hinders the operation; do not leave out the ingredient
of faith. Believe the word, and so believe it as to apply it. When you hear Christ
preached, apply him to yourselves. This is to put on the Lord Jesus. Rom 13: 14.
When you hear a promise spoken, apply it. This is to suck the flower of the promise,
and turn it to honey.
(6) Be not only attentive in hearing, but retentive after hearing.
‘We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest
at any time we should let them slip;’ lest we should let them run out as water out
of a sieve. Heb 2: 1. If the ground retain not the seed sown into it, there can
be no good crop. Some have memories like leaking vessels: the sermons they hear
are presently gone, and there is no good done. If meat does not stay and digest
in the stomach, it will not nourish. Satan labours to steal the word out of the
mind. ‘When they have heard, Satan comes immediately, and taketh away the word that
was sown.’ Mark 4: 15. Our memories should be like the chest of the ark, where the
law was put.
(7) Reduce your hearing to practice. Live on the sermons you hear.
‘I have done thy commandments.’ Psa 119: 166. Rachel was not content that she was
beautiful, but her desire was to be fruitful. What is a knowing head without a fruitful
heart? ‘Filled with the fruits of righteousness.’ Phil 1: 11. It is obedience that
crowns hearing. That hearing will never save the soul which does not reform the
life.
(8) Beg of God that he will accompany his word with his presence
and blessing. The Spirit must make all effectual. Ministers may prescribe physic,
but it is God’s Spirit must make it work. ‘He has his pulpit in heaven that converts
souls.’ Augustine. ‘While Peter yet spake, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which
heard.’ Acts 10: 44. It is said, the alchemist can draw oil out of iron. God’s Spirit
can produce grace in the most obdurate heart.
(9) If you would have the word work effectually to your salvation,
make it familiar to you. Discourse of what you have heard when you come home. ‘My
tongue shall speak of thy word.’ Psa 119: 172. One reason why some people get no
more good by what they hear, is that they never speak to one another of what they
have heard; as if sermons were such secrets that they must not be spoken of again;
or as if it were a shame to speak of matters of salvation. ‘They that feared the
Lord spake often one to another... and a book of remembrance was written.’ Mal 3:
16.
Use one. Take heed, as you love your souls, that the word become
not ineffectual to you. There are some to whom the word preached is ineffectual.
(1) Such as censure the word; who, instead of judging themselves, judge the word.
(2) Such as live in contradiction to the word. Isa 30: 9. (3) Such as are more hardened
by the word. ‘They made their hearts as an adamant stone.’ Zech 7: 12. And when
men harden their hearts wilfully, God hardens them judicially. ‘Make their ears
heavy.’ Isa 6: 10. The word to these is ineffectual. Would it not be sad, if a man’s
meat did not nourish him; nay, if it should turn to poison? O take heed that the
word preached be not ineffectual and to no purpose!
Use two. Consider three things: —
(1) If the word preached does us no good, there is no other way
by which we can be saved. This is God’s institution, and the main engine he uses
to convert souls. ‘If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
persuaded though one rose from the dead.’ Luke 16: 31. If an angel should come to
you out of heaven, and preach of the excellency of the glorified estate, and the
joys of heaven, and that in the most pathetic manner — if the word preached does
not persuade, neither would you be wrought upon by such an oration from heaven.
If a damned spirit should come from hell, and preach to you in flames, and tell
you what a place hell is, and roar out the torments of the damned, it might make
you tremble, but it would not convert, if the preaching of the word will not do
it.
(2) To come to the word, and not be savingly wrought upon, is
that which the devil is pleased with. He cares not though you hear frequently, if
it be not effectually; he is not an enemy to hearing, but profiting. Though the
minister holds out the breasts of the ordinances to you, he cares not as long as
you do not suck the sincere milk of the word. The devil cares not how many sermon-pills
you take, so long as they do not work upon your conscience.
(3) If the word preached be not effectual to men’s conversion,
it will be effectual to their condemnation. The word will be effectual one way or
other; if it does not make your hearts better, it will make your chains heavier.
We pity those who have not the word preached, but it will be worse with those who
are not sanctified by it. Dreadful is their case who go loaded with sermons to hell.
But I will conclude with the apostle, I am ‘persuaded better things of you, and
things that accompany salvation.’ Heb 6: 9.
4.4 Baptism
‘Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them,’ &c. Matt
28: 19.
I. The way whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemptions,
is, in the use of the sacraments.
What are the sacraments in general?
They are visible signs of invisible grace.
Is not the word of God sufficient to salvation? What need then
is there of sacraments?
We must not be wise above what is written. It is God’s will that
his church should have sacraments; and it is God’s goodness thus to condescend to
weak capacities. ‘Except ye see signs, ye will not believe.’ John 4: 48. To strengthen
our faith, God confirms the covenant of grace, not only by promises but by sacramental
signs.
What are the sacraments of the New Testament?
Two: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Are there no more? The Papists tell us of five more, viz., confirmation,
penance, matrimony, orders, and the extreme unction.
(1) There were but two sacraments under the law, therefore there
are no more now. 1 Cor 10: 2, 3, 4.
(2) These two sacraments are sufficient; the one signifying our
entrance into Christ, and the other, our growth and perseverance in him.
II. The first sacrament is baptism. ‘Go ye, therefore, and teach
all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost; teaching them,’ &c. ‘Go, teach all nations;’ the Greek word is ‘Make
disciples of all nations.’ If it be asked, how should we make them disciples? It
follows, ‘Baptising them and teaching them.’ In a heathen nation, first teach, and
then baptise them; but in a Christian church, first baptise, and then teach them.
What is baptism?
In general, it is a matriculation, or visible admission of children
into the congregation of Christ’s flock. More particularly, ‘Baptism is a sacrament,
wherein the washing or sprinkling with water, in the name of the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, does signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the
benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord’s.’
What is meant by the parent when he presents his child to be baptised?
The parent, in presenting the child to be baptised, (1) Makes
a public acknowledgement of original sin; that the soul of his child is polluted,
therefore needs washing from sin by Christ’s blood and Spirit; both which washings
are signified by the sprinkling of water in baptism. (2) The parent by bringing
his child to be baptised, solemnly devotes it to the Lord, and enrols it in God’s
family; and truly it is a great satisfaction to a religious parent to have given
up his child to the Lord in baptism. How can a parent look with comfort on that
child who was never dedicated to God?
What is the benefit of baptism?
The party baptised has, (1) An entrance into the visible body
of the church. (2) He has a right sealed to the ordinances, which is a privilege
full of glory. Rom 9: 4. (3) The child baptised is under a more special providential
care of Christ, who appoints the tutelage of angels to be the infant’s life-guard.
Is this all the benefit?
No! To such as belong to the election, baptism is a ‘seal of the
righteousness of faith,’ a laver of regeneration, and a badge of adoption. Rom 4:
11.
How does it appear that children have a right to baptism?
Children are parties in the covenant of grace. The covenant was
made with them. ‘I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed
after thee, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed
after thee.’ Gen 17: 7. ‘The promise is to you and to your children.’ Acts 2: 39.
The covenant of grace may be considered either, (1) More strictly, as an absolute
promise to give saving grace; and so none but the elect are in covenant with God.
Or, (2) More largely, as a covenant containing in it many outward glorious privileges,
in which respects the children of believers do belong to the covenant of grace.
The promise is to you and to your seed. The infant seed of believers may as well
lay a claim to the covenant of grace as their parents; and having a right to the
covenant, they cannot justly be denied baptism, which is its seal. It is certain
the children of believers were once visibly in covenant with God, and received the
seal of their admission into the church; where now do we find this covenant interest,
or church membership of infants, repealed or made void? Certainly Jesus Christ did
not come to put believers and their children into a worse condition than they were
in before. If the children of believers should not be baptised, they are in worse
condition now than they were in before Christ’s coming.
[1] Objections. The Scripture is silent herein and does not mention
infant baptism.
Though the word infant baptism is not in Scripture, yet the thing
is. Mention is not made in Scripture of woman’s receiving the sacrament; but who
doubts but the command, ‘Take, eat, this is my body,’ concerns them? Does not their
faith need strengthening as well as others? So the word Trinity is not to be found
in Scripture, but there is that which is equivalent to it. ‘There are Three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these Three
are one.’ 1 John 5: 7. So, though the word infant baptism is not mentioned in Scripture,
the practice of baptising infants may be drawn from Scripture by undeniable consequence.
How is that proved?
The Scripture mentions whole families baptised; as the household
of Lydia, Crispus, and the jailer. ‘He was baptised, he and all his.’ Acts 16: 33.
Wherein we must rationally imagine there were some little children. If it be said,
there is no mention here made of children; I answer, neither are servants named;
and yet it cannot be supposed but that, in so great a family, there were some servants.
But infants are not capable of the end of baptism; for baptism
signifies the washing away of sin by the blood of Christ. Infants cannot understand
this; therefore what benefit can baptism be to them?
Neither could the child that was to be circumcised understand
circumcision; yet the ordinance of circumcision was not to be omitted or deferred.
Though an infant understand not the meaning of baptism it may partake of the blessing
of baptism. The little children that Christ took in his arms, understood not Christ’s
meaning, but they had Christ’s blessing. ‘He put his hands upon them and blessed
them.’ Mark 10: 16.
But what benefit can the child have of baptism if it understand
not the nature of baptism?
It may have a right to the promise sealed up, which it shall have
an actual interest in when it comes to have faith. A legacy may be of use to the
child in the cradle; though it now understand not the legacy, yet when it is grown
up to years, it is fully possessed of it. But it may be further objected: —
The party to be baptised is to be engaged to God; but how can
the child enter into such an engagement?
The parents can engage for it, which God is pleased to accept
as equivalent to the child’s personal engagement.
If baptism comes in the room of circumcisions, and the males only
were circumcised, what warrant is there for baptising females? Gen 17: 10.
Females were included, and were virtually circumcised in the males.
What is done to the head is done to the body; the man being the head of the woman.
1 Cor 11: 3. What was done to the male sex was interpretatively done to the female.
[2] Having answered these objections, I come now to prove by argument,
infant baptism.
(1) If children during their infancy are capable of grace, they
are capable of baptism; but children in their infancy are capable of grace, therefore
they are capable of baptism. I prove the minor, that they are capable of grace,
thus: if children in their infancy may be saved, then they are capable of grace;
but children in their infancy may be saved; which is thus proved: that if the kingdom
of heaven belongs to them, they may be saved; but the kingdom of heaven may belong
to them, as it is clear from, ‘Of such is the kingdom of God’ (Mark 10: 14); who
then can forbid that the seal of baptism should be applied to them?
(2) If infants may be among the number of God’s servants, there
is no reason why they should be shut out of God’s family; but infants may be in
the number of God’s servants, because God calls them his servants. ‘He shall depart
from thee, and his children with him, for they are my servants.’ Lev 25: 41. Therefore
children in their infancy, being God’s servants, why should they not have baptism,
which is the tessera, the mark or seal which God sets upon his servants?
(3) ‘But now are they (your children) holy.’ 1 Cor 7: 14. Children
are not called holy, as if they were free from original sin; but in the judgement
of charity they are to be esteemed holy, and true members of the church of God,
because their parents are believers. Hence that excellent divine, Mr Hildersam,
says, ‘that the children of the faithful as soon as they are born, have a covenant
holiness, and so a right and title to baptism, which is the token of the covenant.’
(4) From the opinion of the fathers and the practice of the church.
The ancient fathers were strong asserters of infant baptism, as Irenaeus, Basil,
Lactantius, Cyprian, and Augustine. It was the practice of the Greek church to baptise
her infants. Erasmus says that infant baptism has been used in the church of God
for above fourteen hundred years. And Augustine, in his book against Pelagius, affirms
that it has been the custom of the church in all ages to baptise infants. Yea, it
was an apostolic practice. Paul affirms that he baptised the whole house of Stephanus.
1 Cor 1: 16.
Having seen Scripture arguments for infant baptism, let us consider
whether the practice of those who delay the baptising of children till riper years,
be warrantable. For my part, I cannot gather it from Scripture. Though we read of
adult persons, and grown up to years of discretion, in the apostles’ times, being
baptised, yet they were such as were converted from heathenish idolatry to the true
orthodox faith; but that in a Christian church the children of believers should
be kept unbaptised for several years, I know neither precept nor example for it
in Scripture, but it is wholly apocryphal. The baptising of persons, grown up to
maturity, we may argue against ab effectu, from the ill consequence of it. They
dip the persons they baptise over head and ears in cold water, and naked; which,
as it is indecent, so it is dangerous, and has often been the occasion of chronic
disease, yea, and of death itself; and so is a plain breach of the sixth commandment.
How far God has given up many persons, who are for deferring baptism, to other vile
opinions and vicious practices, is evident, if we consult history; especially if
we read the doings of the Anabaptists in Germany.
Use one. See the riches of God’s goodness, who will not only be
the God of believers, but takes their seed into covenant with them. ‘I will establish
my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, to be a God unto thee
and to thy seed.’ Gen 17: 7. A father counts it a great privilege, not only to have
his own name, but his child’s name put in a will.
Use two. Those parents are to be blamed who forbid little children
to be brought to Christ; and withhold from them this ordinance. By denying their
infants baptism, they exclude them from membership in the visible church, so that
their infants are sucking pagans. Such as deny their children baptism, make God’s
institutions under the law more full of kindness and grace to children than they
are under the gospel; which, how strange a paradox it is, I leave you to judge.
Use three. For exhortation. (1) Let us who are baptised, labour
to find the blessed fruits of it in our own souls; not only to have the signs of
the covenant, but the grace of the covenant. Many glory in their baptism. The Jews
gloried in their circumcision, because of their royal privileges; to them belonged
the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants. Rom 9: 4. But many of them were
a shame and reproach to their circumcision. ‘For the name of God is blasphemed among
the Gentiles through you.’ Rom 2: 24. The scandalous Jews, though circumcised, were,
in God’s account, as heathens. ‘Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians to me?
saith the Lord.’ Amos 9: 7. Alas! what is it to have the name of Christ, and want
his image? What is baptism of water without the baptism of the Spirit? Many baptised
Christians are no better than heathens. O let us labour to find the fruits of baptism,
that Christ is formed in us (Gal 4: 19); that our nature is changed; that we are
made holy and heavenly. This is to be baptised into Jesus. Rom 6: 3. Such as live
unsuitable to their baptism, may go with baptismal-water on their faces, and sacramental
bread in their mouths, to hell.
(2) Let us labour to make a right use of our baptism. Let us use
it as a shield against temptations. Satan, I have given up myself to God by a sacred
vow in baptism; I am not my own, I am Christ’s; therefore I cannot yield to thy
temptations, for I should break my oath of allegiance which I made to God in baptism.
Luther tells us of a pious woman, who, when the devil tempted her to sin, answered,
Satan, baptizata sum, ‘I am baptised;’ and so beat back the tempter.
Let us use it as a spur to holiness. By remembering our baptism,
let us be stirred up to make good our baptismal engagements; renouncing the world,
flesh, and devil, let us devote ourselves to God and his service. To be baptised
into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, implies a solemn dedication of
ourselves to the service of all the Three Persons in the Trinity. It is not enough
that our parents dedicate us to God in baptism, but we must dedicate ourselves to
him; this is called living to the Lord. Rom 14: 8. Our life should be spent in worshipping
God, in loving God, in exalting God; we should walk as becomes the gospel. Phil
1: 27. We should shine as stars in the world, and live as earthly angels.
Let us use it as an argument to courage. We should be ready to
confess that Holy Trinity, into whose name we were baptised. With the conversion
of the heart must go the confession of the tongue. ‘Whosoever shall confess me before
men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God.’ Luke 12: 8.
Peter openly confessed Christ crucified. Acts 4: 10. Cyprian, a man of a brave spirit,
was like a rock, whom no waves could shake; like an adamant, whom no sword could
cut. He confessed Christ before the pro-consul, and suffered himself to be proscribed;
yea, chose death rather than betray the truths of Christ. He that dare not confess
the Holy Trinity, shames his baptism, and God will be ashamed to own him at the
day of judgement.
Use four. See the fearfulness of the sin of apostasy! It is renouncing
our baptism. It is damnable perjury to go away from God after a solemn vow. ‘Demas
has forsaken me.’ 2 Tim 4: 10. He turned renegado, and afterwards became a priest
in an idol-temple, says Dorotheus. Julia the apostate, Gregory Nazianzen observes,
bathed himself in the blood of beasts offered in sacrifice to heathen gods; and
so, as much as in him lay, washed off his former baptism. The case of such as fall
away after baptism is dreadful. ‘If any man draw back.’ Heb 10: 38. The Greek word
to draw back, alludes to a soldier that steals away from his colours; so, if any
man steal away from Christ, and run over to the devil’s side, ‘my soul shall have
no pleasure in him;’ that is, I will be severely avenged on him; I will make my
arrows drunk with his blood. If all the plagues in the Bible can make that man miserable,
he shall be so.
4.5 The Lord’s Supper
‘And as they did eat, Jesus took bread,’ &c. Mark 14: 22.
Having spoken to the sacrament of baptism, I come now to the sacrament
of the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is the most spiritual and sweetest ordinance
that ever was instituted. Here we have to do more immediately with the person of
Christ. In prayer, we draw nigh to God; in the sacrament, we become one with him.
In prayer, we look up to Christ; in the sacrament, by faith, we touch him. In the
word preached, we hear Christ’s voice; in the sacrament, we feed on him.
What names and titles in Scripture are given to the sacrament?
It is called, Mensa Domini, ‘The Lord’s table.’ 1 Cor 10: 21.
The Papists call it an altar, not a table. The reason is, because they turn the
sacrament into a sacrifice, and pretend to offer up Christ corporally in the mass.
It being the Lord’s table, shows with what reverence and solemn devotion we should
approach these holy mysteries. The Lord takes notice of the frame of our hearts
when we come to his table. ‘The king came in to see the guests.’ Matt 22: 11. We
dress ourselves when we come to the table of some great monarch; so, when we are
going to the table of the Lord, we should dress ourselves by holy meditation and
heart consideration. Many think it is enough to come to the sacrament, but mind
not whether they come in ‘due order.’ 1 Chron 15: 13. Perhaps they had scarce a
serious thought before where they were going: all their dressing was by the glass,
not by the Bible. Chrysostom calls it, ‘The dreadful table of the Lord:’ and so
it is to such as come unworthily. The sacrament is called Coena Domini, the Lord’s
supper — to import, it is a spiritual feast. 1 Cor 11: 20. It is a royal feast.
God is in this cheer: Christ, in both natures, God and man, is the matter of this
supper. It is called a ‘communion.’ ‘The bread which we break, is it not the communion
of the body of Christ?’ 1 Cor 10: 16. The sacrament being called a communion, shows:
—
(1) That this ordinance is for believers only, because none else
can have communion with Christ in these holy mysteries. Communio fundatur in unione
[Communion is based upon union]. Faith only gives us union with Christ, and by virtue
of this we have communion with him in his body and blood. None but the spouse communicates
with her husband; a stranger may drink of his cup, but she only has his heart, and
communicates with him in a conjugal manner; so strangers may drink of the cup, but
believers only drink of Christ’s blood, and have communion with him.
(2) The sacrament being a communion, shows that it is symbolum
amoris [a symbol of love], a bond of that unity and charity which should be among
Christians. ‘We being many are one body.’ 1 Cor 10: 17. As many grains make one
bread, so many Christians are one body. A sacrament is a love-feast. The primitive
Christians, as Justin Martyr notes, had their holy salutations at the blessed supper,
in token of that dearness of affection which they had to each other. It is a communion,
therefore — there must be love and union. The Israelites did eat the Passover with
bitter herbs; so must we eat the sacrament with bitter herbs of repentance, but
not with bitter hearts of wrath and malice. The hearts of the communicants should
be knit together with the bond of love. ‘Thou braggest of thy faith’ says Augustine,
‘but show me thy faith by thy love to the saints.’ For, as in the sun, light and
heat are inseparable, so faith and love are twisted together inseparably. Where
there are divisions, the Lord’s supper is not properly a communion but a disunion.
What is the Lord’s supper?
It is a visible sermon, wherein Christ crucified is set before
us; or, it is a sacrament of the New Testament, wherein by receiving the holy elements
of bread and wine, our communion with Christ is signified and sealed up to us; or
it is a sacrament divinely instituted, wherein by giving and receiving bread and
wine, Christ’s death is showed forth, and the worthy receivers by faith are made
partakers of his body and blood, and all the benefits flowing from thence.
For further explaining the nature of the Lord’s supper, I shall
refer to its institution.
‘Jesus took bread.’ Here is the master of the feast, or the institutor
of the sacrament. The Lord Jesus took bread. He only is fit to institute a sacrament
who is able to give virtue and blessing to it.
‘He took bread.’ His taking the bread was one part of his consecration
of the elements, and setting them apart for a holy use. As Christ consecrated the
elements, so we must labour to have our hearts consecrated before we receive these
holy mysteries in the Lord’s supper. How unseemly is it to see any come to these
holy elements, having hearts leavened with pride, covetousness, or envy? These,
with Judas, receive the devil in the sop, and are no better than crucifiers of the
Lord of glory.
‘And blessed it.’ This is another part of the consecration of
the element. Christ blessed it. He blesseth and it shall be blessed. He looked up
to heaven for a benediction upon this newly-founded ordinance.
‘And brake it.’ The bread broken, and the wine poured out, signify
to us the agony and ignominy of Christ’s sufferings, the rending of Christ’s body
on the cross, and the effusion of blood which was distilled from his blessed side.
‘And gave it to them.’ Christ’s giving the bread, denotes giving
himself and all his benefits to us freely. Though he was sold, yet he was given.
Judas sold Christ, but Christ gave himself to us.
‘He gave it to them;’ that is, to the disciples. This is children’s
bread. Christ does not cast these pearls before swine. Whether Judas was present
at the supper is controverted. I incline to think he was not, for Christ said to
the disciples, ‘This is my blood, which is shed for you.’ Luke 22: 20. He knew his
blood was never shed effectually and intentionally for Judas. In eating the passover,
he gave Judas a sop, which was a bit of unleavened bread dipped in a sauce made
with bitter herbs; Judas having received the sop, went out immediately. John 13:
30. Suppose Judas was there, he received the elements, but not the blessing.
‘Take, eat.’ This expression of eating denotes four things; (1)
The near mystic union between Christ and his saints. As the meat which is eaten
incorporates with the body, and becomes one with it, so, by eating Christ’s flesh,
and drinking his blood spiritually, we partake of his merits and graces, and are
mystically ‘one with them.’ ‘I in them.’ John 17: 23. (2) ‘Take, eat.’ Eating shows
the infinite delight the believing soul has in Christ. Eating is grateful and pleasing
to the palate; so feeding on Christ by a lively faith is delicious. Nullus animae
suavior cibus [The soul knows no sweeter food]. Lactantius. No such sweet feeding
as on Christ crucified. This is a ‘feast of fat things, and wines on the lees well
refined.’ (3) ‘Take, eat.’ Eating denotes nourishment. As meat is delicious to the
palate, so it is nourishing to the body; so eating Christ’s flesh and drinking his
blood, is nutritive to the soul. The new creature is nourished at the table of the
Lord to everlasting life. ‘Whose eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, has eternal
life.’ John 6: 54. (4) ‘Take, eat,’ shows the wisdom of God, who restores us by
the same means by which we fell. We fell by taking and eating the forbidden fruit,
and we are recovering again by taking and eating Christ’s flesh. We died by eating
the tree of knowledge, and we live by eating the tree of life.
‘This is my body.’ These words, Hoc est corpus meum, have been
much controverted between us and the Papists. ‘This is my body;’ that is, by a metonymy;
it is a sign and figure of my body. The Papists hold transsubstantiation — that
the bread, after consecration, is turned into the very substance of Christ’s body.
We say, we receive Christ’s body spiritually; they say, they receive Christ’s body
carnally; which is contrary to Scripture. Scripture affirms, that the heavens must
receive Christ’s body ‘until the times of the restitution of all things.’ Acts 3:
21. Christ’s body cannot be at the same time in heaven and in the host. Aquinas
says, ‘It is not possible by any miracle, that a body should be locally in two places
at once.’ Besides, it is absurd to imagine that the bread in the sacrament should
be turned into Christ’s flesh, and that his body which was hung before, should be
made again of bread. So that, ‘This is my body,’ is, as if Christ had said, ‘This
is a sign and representation of my body.’
‘And he took the cup.’ The cup is put by a metonymy of the subject
for the adjunct, for the wine in the cup. It signifies the blood of Christ shed
for our sins. The taking of the cup denotes the redundancy of merit in Christ, and
the fulness of our redemption by him. He not only took the bread, but the cup.
‘And when he had given thanks.’ Christ gave thanks that God had
given these elements of bread and wine to be signs and seals of man’s redemption
by Christ. Christ’s giving thanks shows his philanthropy, or love to mankind, who
did so rejoice and bless God that lost man was now in a way of recovery, and that
he should be raised higher in Christ than ever he was in innocence.
‘He gave the cup to them.’ Why then dare any withhold the cup?
This is to pollute and curtail the ordinance, and alter it from its primitive institution.
Christ and his apostles administered the sacrament in both kinds, the bread and
the cup. 1 Cor 11: 24, 25. The cup was received in the ancient church for the space
of 1400 years, as is confessed by two Popish councils. Christ says expressly, ‘Drink
ye all of this.’ He does not say, ‘Eat ye all of this;’ but ‘Drink ye all;’ as foreseeing
the sacrilegious impiety of the church of Rome, in keeping back the cup from the
people. The Popish council of Constance speaks plainly but impudently, ‘That although
Christ instituted and administered the sacrament in both kinds, the bread and the
wine, yet the authority of the holy canons, and the customs of the mother church,
think good to deny the cup to the laity.’ Thus, as the Popish priests make Christ
but half a Saviour, so they administer to the people but half a sacrament. The sacrament
is Christ’s last will and testament ‘This is my blood of the New Testament.’ Now,
to alter or take away any thing from a man’s will and testament, is great impiety.
What is it to alter and mangle Christ’s last will and testament? Sure it is a high
affront to Christ.
What are the ends of the Lord’s supper?
(1) It is an ordinance appointed to confirm our faith. ‘Except
ye see signs ye will not believe.’ John 4: 48. Christ sets the elements before us,
that by these signs our faith may be strengthened. As faith comes by hearing, so
it is confirmed by seeing Christ crucified. The sacrament is not only a sign to
represent Christ, but a seal to confirm our interest in him.
But the Spirit confirms faith, therefore not the sacrament.
This is not good logic. The Spirit confirms faith, therefore not
the sacrament, is, as if one should say, ‘God feeds our bodies, therefore bread
does not feed us;’ whereas, God feeds us by bread, so the Spirit confirms our faith
by the use of the sacrament.
(2) The end of the sacrament is to keep up the ‘memory of Christ’s
death.’ ‘This do ye in remembrance of me.’ 1 Cor 11: 25. If a friend gives us a
ring at his death, we wear it to keep up the memory of our friend; much more ought
we to keep the memorial of Christ’s death in the sacrament. His death lays a foundation
for all the magnificent blessings which we receive from him. The covenant of grace
was agreed on in heaven, but sealed upon the cross. Christ has sealed all the articles
of peace in his blood. Remission of sin flows from Christ’s death. ‘This is my blood
of the New Testament, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins.’ Matt 26:
28. Consecration, or making us holy, is the fruit of Christ’s death. ‘How much more
shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience?’ Heb 9: 14. Christ’s intercession
is made available to us by virtue of his death. He could not have been admitted
an advocate if he had not been first a sacrifice. Our entering into heaven is the
fruit of his blood. Heb 10: 19. He could not have prepared mansions for us, if he
had not first purchased them by his death: so that we have great cause to commemorate
his death in the sacrament.
In what manner are we to remember the Lord’s death in the sacrament?
It is not only an historical remembrance of Christ’s death and
passion. Judas remembered his death and betrayed him; and Pilate remembered his
death and crucified him: but our remembering his death in the sacrament must be,
[1] A mournful remembrance. We should not be able to look on Christ crucified with
dry eyes. ‘They shall look on him whom they have pierced, and mourn over him.’ Zech
12: 10. O Christian, when thou lookest on Christ in the sacrament, remember how
often thou hast crucified him! The Jews did it but once, thou often. Every oath
is a nail with which thou piercest his hands; every unjust sinful action is a spear
with which thou woundest his heart. Oh, remember Christ with sorrow, to think thou
shouldst make his wounds bleed afresh! [2] It must be a joyful remembrance. ‘Abraham
rejoiced to see my day.’ John 8: 56. When a Christian sees a sacrament-day approaching,
he should rejoice. This ordinance of the supper is an earnest of heaven; it is the
glass in which we see him whom our souls love, it is the chariot by which we are
carried up to Christ. When Jacob saw the wagons and the chariots which were to carry
him to his son Joseph, his spirit revived. Gen 45: 27. God has appointed the sacrament
on purpose to cheer and revive a sad heart. When we look on our sins we have cause
to mourn; but when we see Christ’s blood shed for our sins we rejoice. In the sacrament
our wants are supplied, our strength is renewed; there we meet with Christ, and
does not this call for joy? A woman that has been long debarred from the society
of her husband is glad of his presence. At the sacrament the believing spouse meets
with Christ; he saith to her, ‘All I have is thine; my love is thine, to pity thee;
my mercy is thine, to save thee.’ How can we think in the sacrament on Christ’s
blood shed, and not rejoice? Sanguis Christi clavis paradisi; ‘Christ’s blood is
the key which opens heaven,’ else we had been all shut out.
(3) The end of the sacrament is to work in us an endeared love
to Christ. When Christ bleeds for us, well may we say, ‘Behold how he loved us!’
Who can see Christ die and not be ‘sick of love?’ That is a heart of stone which
Christ’s love will not melt.
(4) The end of the sacrament is the mortifying of corruption.
To see Christ crucified for us is a means to crucify sin in us. His death, like
the water of jealousy, makes the thigh of sin to rot. Numb 5: 27. How can a wife
endure to see the spear which killed her husband? How can we endure those sins which
made Christ veil his glory and lose his blood? When the people of Rome saw Caesar’s
bloody robe, they were incensed against them that slew him. Sin has rent the white
robe of Christ’s flesh and dyed it of a crimson colour. The thoughts of this should
make us seek to be avenged on our sins.
(5) Another end is the augmentation and increase of all the graces,
hope, zeal, and patience. The word preached begets grace, the Lord’s supper nourishes
it. The body by feeding increases strength, so the soul by feeding on Christ sacramentally.
Cum defecerit virtus mea calicem salutarem accipiam. Bernard. ‘When my spiritual
strength begins to fail, I know a remedy,’ says Bernard, ‘I will go to the table
of the Lord; there will I drink and recover my decayed strength.’ There is a difference
between dead stones and living plants. The wicked, who are stones, receive no spiritual
increase; but the godly, who are plants of righteousness, being watered with Christ’s
blood, grow more fruitful in grace.
Why are we to receive this holy supper?
(1) Because it is an incumbent duty. ‘Take, eat.’ And observe,
it is a command of love. If Christ had commanded us some great matter, would we
not have done it? ‘If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou
not have done it?’ 2 Kings 5: 13. If Christ had enjoined us to have given him thousands
of rams, or to have parted with the fruit of our bodies, would we not have done
it? Much more when he only says, ‘Take,’ and ‘Eat.’ Let my broken body feed you,
let my blood poured out save you. ‘Take,’ and ‘Eat.’ This is a command of love,
and shall we not readily obey?
(2) We are to celebrate the Lord’s supper, because it is provoking
Christ to stay away. ‘Wisdom has furnished her table.’ Prov 9: 2. So Christ has
furnished his table, set bread and wine (representing his body and blood) before
his guests, and when they wilfully turn their backs upon the ordinance, he looks
upon it as slighting his love, and it makes the fury rise up in his face. ‘For I
say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.’
Luke 14: 24. I will shut them out of my kingdom, I will provide them a black banquet,
where weeping shall be the first course, and gnashing of teeth the second.
Should the Lord’s supper be often administered?
Yes. ‘As often as ye eat this bread.’ 1 Cor 11: 26. The ordinance
is not to be celebrated once in a year, or once only in our lives, but often. A
Christian’s own necessities may make him come often hither. His corruptions are
strong, therefore he had need come often hither for an antidote to expel the poison
of sin. His graces are weak. Grace is like a lamp, which if it be not often fed
with oil is apt to go out. Rev 3: 2. How then do they sin against God who come but
very seldom to this ordinance! Can they thrive who for a long time forbear their
food? Others there are who wholly forbear, which is a great contempt offered to
Christ’s ordinance. They tacitly say, Let Christ keep his feast to himself. What
a cross-grained piece is a man! He will eat when he should not, and he will not
eat when he should. When God says, ‘Eat not of this forbidden fruit;’ then he will
be sure to eat: when God says, ‘Eat of this bread, and drink of this cup;’ then
he refuses to eat.
Are all to come promiscuously to this holy ordinance?
No; for that were to make the Lord’s table an ordinary. Christ
forbids to ‘cast pearls before swine.’ Matt 7: 6. The sacramental bread is children’s
bread, and it is not to be cast to the profane. As, at the giving of the law God
set bounds about the mount that none might touch it, so God’s table should be guarded,
that the profane should not come near. Exod 19: 12. In primitive times, after sermon
was done, and the Lord’s supper was about to be celebrated, an officer stood up
and cried, ‘Holy things for holy men;’ and then several of the congregation departed.
‘I would have my hand cut off,’ says Chrysostom, ‘rather than I would give Christ’s
body and blood to the profane.’ The wicked do not eat Christ’s flesh, but tear it;
they do not drink his blood, but spill it. These holy mysteries in the sacraments
are tremenda hysteria, mysteries that the soul is to tremble at. Sinners defile
the holy things of God, they poison the sacramental cup. We read that the wicked
are to be set at Christ’s feet, not at his table. Psa 110: 1.
That we may receive the supper of the Lord worthily, and that
it may become efficacious: —
I. We must solemnly prepare ourselves before we come. We must
not rush upon the ordinance rudely and irreverently, but come in due order. There
was a great deal of preparation for the passover, and the sacrament comes in the
room of it. 2 Chron 30: 18, 19. This solemn preparation for the ordinance consists:
—
[1] In examining ourselves. [2] In dressing our souls before we
come, which is by washing in the water of repentance and by exciting the habit of
grace into exercise. [3] In begging a blessing upon the ordinance.
[1] Solemn preparation for the sacrament consists in self-examination.
‘But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat.’ 1 Cor 11: 28. It is not only
a counsel, but a charge: ‘Let him examine himself. ‘ As if a king should say, ‘Let
it be enacted.’ These elements in the supper having been consecrated by Jesus Christ
to a high mystery, represent his body and blood; therefore there must be preparation;
and if preparation, there must be first self-examination. Let us be serious in examining
ourselves, as our salvation depends upon it. We are curious in examining other things;
we will not take gold till we examine it by the touchstone; we will not take land
before we examine the title; and shall we not be as exact and curious in examining
the state of our souls?
What is required for this self-examination?
There must be a solemn retirement of the soul. We must set ourselves
apart, and retire for some time from all secular employment, that we may be more
serious in the work. There is no casting up accounts in a crowd; nor can we examine
ourselves when we are in a crowd of worldly business. We read, that a man who was
in a journey might not come to the Passover, because his mind was full of secular
cares, and his thoughts were taken up about his journey. Num 9: 13. When we are
upon self-examining work, we had not need to be in a hurry, or have any distracting
thoughts, but to retire and lock ourselves up in our closets, that we may be more
intent upon the work.
What is self-examination?
It is the setting up a court of conscience and keeping a register
there that by a strict scrutiny a man may see how matters stand between Got and
his soul. It is a spiritual inquisition, a heart-anatomy, whereby a man takes his
heart in pieces, as a watch, and sees what is defective therein. It is a dialogue
with one’s self ‘I commune with my own heart.’ Psa 77: 6. David called himself to
account, and put interrogatories to his own heart. Self-examination is a critical
enquiry or search. As the woman in the parable lighted a candle and searched for
her lost groat, so conscience is the candle of the Lord. Luke 15: 8. Search with
this candle what thou can’t find wrought by the Spirit in thee.
What is the rule by which we are to examine ourselves?
The rule or measure by which we must examine ourselves is the
Holy Scripture. We must not make fancy, or the good opinion which others have of
us, a rule to judge of ourselves. As the goldsmith brings his gold to the touchstone,
so we must bring our hearts to a Scripture touchstone. ‘To the law and to the testimony.’
Isa 8: 20. What says the word? Are we divorced from sin? Are we renewed by the Spirit?
Let the word decide whether we are fit communicants or not. We judge of colours
by the sun, so we must judge of the state of our souls by the sunlight of Scripture.
What are the principal reasons for self-examination before we
approach the Lord’s supper?
(1) It is a duty imposed: ‘Let him examine himself.’ The passover
was not to be eaten raw. Exod 12: 9. To come to such an ordinance slightly, without
examination, is to come in an undue manner, and is like eating the passover raw.
(2) We must examine ourselves before we come, because it is not
only a duty imposed, but opposed. There is nothing to which the heart is naturally
more averse than self-examination. We may know that duty to be good which the heart
opposes. But why does the heart so oppose it? Because it crosses the tide of corrupt
nature, and is contrary to flesh and blood. The heart is guilty; and does a guilty
person love to be examined? The heart opposes it; therefore the rather set upon
it; for that duty is good which the heart opposes.
(3) Because self-examination is a needful work. Without it, a
man can never tell how it is with him, whether he has grace or not; and this must
needs be very uncomfortable. He knows not, if he should die presently what will
become of him, to what coast he shall sail, whether to hell or heaven; as Socrates
said, ‘I am about to die, and the gods know whether I shall be happy or miserable.’
How needful, therefore, is self-examination; that a man by search may know the true
state of his soul, and how it will go with him to eternity!
Self-examination is needful, with respect to the excellence of
the sacrament. Let him eat de illo pane, ‘of that bread,’ that excellent bread,
that consecrated bread, that bread which is not only the bread of the Lord, but
the bread the Lord. 1 Cor 11: 28. Let him drink de illo poculo, ‘of that cup;’ that
precious cup, which is perfumed and spiced with Christ’s love; that cup which holds
the blood of God sacramentally. Cleopatra put a jewel in a cup which contained the
price of a kingdom: this sacred cup we are to drink of, enriched with the blood
of God, is above the price of a kingdom; it is more worth than heaven. Therefore,
coming to such a royal feast, having a whole Christ, both his divine and human nature
to feed on, how should we examine ourselves beforehand, that we may be fit guests
for such a magnificent banquet!
Self-examination is needful, because God will examine us. That
was a sad question, ‘Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment?’
Matt 22: 12. Men are loath to ask themselves the question, ‘O my soul! art thou
a fit guest for the Lord’s table?’ Are there not some sins thou hast to bewail?
Are there not some evidences for heaven that thou hast to get?’ Now, when persons
will not ask themselves the question, then God will bring the question to them,
How came you in hither to my table, not prepared? How came you in hither, with an
unbelieving or profane heart? Such a question will cause a heart-trembling. God
will examine a man, as the chief captain would Paul, with scourging. Acts 22: 24.
It is true that the best saint, if God should weigh him in the balance, would be
found wanting: but, when a Christian has made an impartial search, and has laboured
to deal uprightly between God and his own soul, Christ’s merits will cast in some
grains of allowance into the scales.
Self-examination is needful, because of secret corruption in the
heart, which will not be found out without searching. There are in the heart plangendae
tenebrae, Augustine, ‘hidden pollutions.’ It is with a Christian, as with Joseph’s
brethren, who, when the steward accused them of having the cup, were ready to swear
they had it not; but upon search it was found in one of their sacks. Little does
a Christian think what pride, atheism, uncleanness is in his heart till he searches
it. If there be therefore such hidden wickedness, like a spring running under ground,
we had need examine ourselves, that finding out our secret sin, we may be humbled
and repent. Hidden sins, if not searched out, defile the soul. If corn lie long
in the chaff, the chaff defiles the corn; so sins long hidden defile our duties.
Needful therefore it is, before we come to the holy supper, to search out these
hidden sins, as Israel searched for leaven before they came to the passover.
Self-examination is needful, because without it we may easily
have a cheat put upon us. ‘The heart is deceitful above all things.’ Jer 17: 9.
Many a man’s heart will tell him he is fit for the Lord’s table. As when Christ
asked the sons of Zebedee, ‘Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of?’
Matt 20: 22. Can ye drink such a bloody cup of suffering? ‘They say unto him, We
are able.’ So the heart will suggest to a man, he is fit to drink of the sacramental
cup, he has on the wedding-garment. Grande profundum est homo. Augustine. ‘The heart
is a grand impostor.’ As a cheating tradesmen will put one off with bad wares, so
the heart will put a man off with seeming grace, instead of saving. A tear or two
shed is repentance, a few lazy desires are faith, just as blue and red flowers growing
among corn, look like good flowers, but are beautiful weeds only. The foolish virgins’
vessels looked as if they had oil in them, but they had none. Therefore, to prevent
a cheat, that we may not take false grace instead of true, we had need make a thorough
search of our hearts before we come to the Lord’s table.
Self-examination is needful, because of the false fears which
the godly are apt to nourish in their hearts, which make them go sad to the sacrament.
As they who have no grace, for want of examining, presume, so they who have grace,
for want of examining, are ready to despair. Many of God’s children look upon themselves
through the black spectacles of fear. They fear Christ is not formed in them, they
fear they have no right to the promise; and these fears in the heart cause tears
in the eye; whereas, would they but search and examine, they might find they had
grace. Are not their hearts humbled for sin? What is this but the bruised reed?
Do not they weep after the Lord? What are these tears but seeds of faith? Do they
not thirst after Christ in an ordinance? What is this but the new creature crying
for the breast? Here are, you see, seeds of grace; and, would Christians examine
their hearts, they might see there is something of God in them, and so their false
fears would be prevented, and they might approach with comfort to the holy mysteries
in the Eucharist.
Self-examination is needful with respect to the danger of coming
unworthily without it. He ‘shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.’ 1
Cor 11: 27. Par facit quasi Christum trucidaret [It is as if he were butchering
Christ]. Grotius. God reckons with him as with a crucifier of the Lord Jesus. He
does not drink Christ’s blood, but sheds it; and so brings that curse upon him,
as when the Jews said, ‘His blood be upon us and our children.’ Than the virtue
of Christ’s blood, nothing is more comfortable; than the guilt of it, nothing is
more formidable.
(4) We must examine ourselves before the sacrament, on account
of the difficulty of the work. Difficulty raises a noble spirit. Self-examination
is difficult, because it is an inward work, it lies with the heart. External acts
of devotion are easy; to lift up the eye, to bow the knee, to read over a few prayers,
is as easy as for the Papists to tell over a few beads; but to examine a man’s self,
to take the heart in pieces, to make a Scripture-trial of our fitness for the Lord’s
supper, is not easy. Reflexive acts are hardest. The eye cannot see itself but by
a glass; so we must have the glass of the word and conscience to see our own hearts.
It is easy to spy the faults of others; but it is hard to find out our owns. Self-examination
is difficult, with regard to self-love. As ignorance blinds, so self-love flatters.
What Solomon says of love, ‘Love covereth all sins,’ is most true of self-love.
Prov 10: 12. A man looking upon himself in the flattering glass of self-love, his
virtues appear greater than they are, and his sins less. Self-love makes a man rather
excuse himself, than examine himself; self-love makes one think the best of himself;
and he who has a good opinion of himself, does not suspect himself; and not suspecting
himself, he is not forward to examine himself. The work, therefore, of self-examination
being so difficult, requires the more impartiality and industry. Difficulty should
be a spur to diligence.
(5) We must examine ourselves before we come, because of the benefit
of self-examination. The benefit is great whatever way it terminates. If, upon examination,
we find that we have no grace in truth, the mistake is discovered, and the danger
prevented; if we find that we have grace, we may take the comfort of it. He who,
upon search, finds that he has the minimum quod sit, the least degree of grace,
he is like one that has found his box of evidences; he is a happy man; he is a fit
guest at the Lord’s table; he is heir to all the promises; he is as sure to go to
heaven as if he were in heaven already.
What must we examine?
(1) Our sins. Search if any dead fly spoils sweet ointment. When
we come to the sacrament, as the Jews did before the passover, we should search
for leaven, and having found it we should burn it. Let us search for the leaven
of pride. This sours our holy things. Will a humble Christ be received into a proud
heart? Pride keeps Christ out. Intus existens prohibet alienum [Its presence within
blocks the entrance of any other]. To a proud man Christ’s blood has no virtue;
it is like a cordial put into a dead man’s mouth, which loses its virtue. Let us
search for the leaven of pride, and cast it away. Let us search for the leaven of
avarice. The Lord’s supper is a spiritual mystery, to represent Christ’s body and
blood; what should an earthly heart do here? The earth puts out the fire; so earthliness
quencheth the fire of holy love. The earth is elementum gravissimum [the heaviest
of the elements], it cannot ascend. A soul belimed with earth cannot ascend to heavenly
cogitations. ‘Covetousness, which is idolatry.’ Col 3: 5. Will Christ come into
the heart where there is an idol? Search for this leaven before you come to this
ordinance. How can an earthly heart converse with that God which is a spirit? Can
a clod of earth kiss the sun? Search for the leaven of hypocrisy. ‘Beware ye of
the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.’ Luke 12: 1. Aquinas describes
it as simulatio virtutis: hypocrisy is ‘the counterfeiting of virtue.’ The hypocrite
is a living pageant, he only makes a show of religion; he gives God his knee, but
no heart; and God gives him bread and wine in the sacrament, but no Christ. Oh,
let us search for this leaven of hypocrisy and burn it!
(2) We must examine our graces. I shall instance one only — our
knowledge.
We are to examine whether we have knowledge, or we cannot give
God a reasonable service. Rom 12: 1. Knowledge is a necessary requisite in a communicant;
without it there can be no fitness for the sacrament. A person cannot be fit to
come to the Lord’s table who has no goodness; but without knowledge the mind is
not good. Prov 19: 2. Some say they have good hearts, though they want knowledge;
as if one should say, his eye is good, but it wants sight. Under the law, when the
plague of leprosy was in a man’s head, the priest was to pronounce him unclean.
The ignorant person has the plague in his head, he is unclean; ignorance is the
womb of lust. 1 Pet 1: 14. Therefore it is requisite, before we come, to examine
what knowledge we have in the main fundamentals of religion. Let it not be said
of us, that ‘unto this day the vail is upon their heart.’ 2 Cor 3: 15. In this intelligent
age, we cannot but have some insight into the mysteries of the gospel. I rather
fear, we are like Rachel, who was fair and well-sighted, but barren: therefore,
Let us examine whether our knowledge be rightly qualified. Is
it influential. Does our knowledge warm our heart? Claritas intellectu parit ardorem
in effectu [Clearness in the understanding breeds zeal in the doing]. Saving knowledge
not only directs but quickens; it is the light of life. John 8: 12. Is our knowledge
practical? We hear much; do we love the truths we know? That is the right knowledge
which not only adorns the mind, but reforms the life.
[2] This solemn preparation for the sacrament consists in dressing
our souls before we come. This soul-dress is in two things:
(1) Washing in the lever of repenting tears. To come to this ordinance
with the guilt of any sin unrepented of makes way for further hardening of the heart,
and gives Satan fuller possession of it. ‘They shall look on me whom they have pierced,
and they shall mourn for him.’ Zech 12: 10. The cloud of sorrow must drop into tears.
We must grieve as for the pollution, so for the unkindness in every sin which is
against Christ’s love who died for us. When Peter thought of Christ’s love in calling
him out of his unregeneracy to make him an apostle, and to carry him up to the mount
of transfiguration, where he saw the glory of heaven in a vision, and then of his
denying Christ, it broke his heart: ‘he wept bitterly.’ Matt 26: 75. To think, before
we come to a sacrament, of sins against the bowel-mercies of God the Father, the
bleeding wounds of God the Son, the blessed inspirations of God the Holy Ghost,
is enough to fill our eyes with tears, and put us into a holy agony of grief and
compunction. We must be distressed for sin, be divorced from it. Before the serpent
drinks it casts up its poison; in this we must be wise as serpents. Before we drink
of the sacramental cup we must cast up the poison of sin by repentance. Ille vere
plangit commissa, qui non committit plangenda. Augustine. ‘He truly bewails the
sins he has committed who does not commit the sins he has bewailed.’
(2) The soul-dress is the exciting and stirring up the habit of
grace into a lively exercise. ‘I put thee in remembrance, that thou stir up the
gift of God which is in thee,’ that is, the gifts and graces of the Spirit. 2 Tim
1: 6. The Greek word to stir up, signifies to blow up grace into a flame. Grace
is often like fire in the embers, which needs blowing up. It is possible that even
a good man may not come so well disposed to this ordinance, because he has not before
taken pains with his heart to come in due order, to stir up grace into vigorous
exercise; and though he does not eat and drink damnation, yet he does not receive
consolation in the sacrament.
[3] A solemn preparation for the sacrament consists in begging
a blessing upon the ordinance. The efficacy of the sacrament depends upon the co-operation
of the Spirit, and a word of blessing. In the institution, Christ blessed the elements:
‘Jesus took bread and blessed it.’ The sacrament will do us good no farther than
it is blessed to us. We ought, before we come, to pray for a blessing, that it may
not only be a sign to represent, but a seal to conform, and an instrument to convey
Christ and all his benefits to us. We are to pray that this great ordinance may
be poison to our sins, and food to our graces. As with Jonathan, when he tasted
the honeycomb, ‘and his eyes were enlightened;’ so by receiving this holy Eucharist,
our eyes may be enlightened to ‘discern the Lord’s body.’ 1 Sam 14: 27. Thus should
we implore a blessing upon the ordinance before we come. The sacrament is like a
tree hung full of fruit, but none of this fruit will fall unless shaken by the hand
of prayer.
II. That the sacrament may be effectual to us, there must be a
right participation of it, which consists in four things.
[1] When we draw nigh to God’s table in a humble sense of our
unworthiness. We do not deserve one crumb of the bread of life; we are poor indigent
creatures, who have lost our glory, and are like a vessel that is shipwrecked; we
smite on our breasts, as the publican, ‘God be merciful to us sinners.’ This is
partaking of the ordinance aright. It is part of our worthiness to see our unworthiness.
[2] We rightly partake when at the Lord’s table we are filled
with breathing of soul and inflamed desires after Christ, which nothing can quench
but his blood. ‘Blessed are they which thirst.’ Matt 5: 6. They are blessed not
only when they are filled, but while they are thirsting.
[3] A right participation of the supper is, when we receive it
in faith. Without faith we get no good. What is said of the word preached, it ‘did
not profit them, not being mixed with faith,’ is true of the sacrament. Heb 4: 2.
Christ turned stones into bread: unbelief turns the bread into stones, that do not
nourish. We partake aright when we come in faith. Faith has a twofold act, an adhering,
and an applying. By the first we go over to Christ, by the second we bring Christ
over to us. Gal 2: 20. This is the grace we must set to work. Acts 10: 43. Philo
calls it, fides oculata [the eye of faith]: it is the eagle-eye that discerns the
Lord’s body; it causes a virtual contact, it touches Christ. Christ said to Mary,
‘Touch me not,’ &c. John 20: 17. She was not to touch him with the hands of her
body; but he says to us, ‘Touch me,’ touch me with the hand of your faith. Faith
makes Christ present to the soul. The believer has a real presence in the sacrament.
The body of the sun is in the firmament, but the light of the sun is in the eye.
Christ’s essence is in heaven, but he is in a believer’s heart by his light and
influence. ‘That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.’ Eph 3: 17. Faith is
the palate which tastes Christ. 1 Pet 2: 3. It causes the bread of life to nourish.
Crede et manducasti [Believe and thou hast fed]. Augustine. Faith makes us one with
Christ. Eph 1: 23. Other graces make us like Christ, faith makes us members of Christ.
[4] We partake aright of the sacrament when we receive it in love.
(1) Love to Christ. Who can see Christ pierced with a crown of
thorns, sweating in his agony, bleeding on the cross, but his heart must needs be
endeared in love to him? How can we but love him who has given his life a ransom
for us? Love is the spiced wine and juice of the pomegranate which we must give
to Christ. Cant 8: 2. Our love to this superior and blessed Jesus must exceed our
love to other things; as the oil runs above the water. Though we cannot, with Mary,
bring our body ointment to anoint his body, we do more than this, whence bring him
our love, which is sweeter to him than all ointments and perfumes.
(2) Love to the saints. This is a love-feast. Though we must eat
it with the bitter herbs of repentance, yet not with the bitter herbs of malice.
Were it not sad if all the meat we eat should turn to bad humours? He who comes
in malice to the Lord’s table turns all he eats to his hurt. ‘He eateth and drinketh
damnation to himself.’ 1 Cor 11: 29. ‘Come in love.’ It is with love as with fire
which you keep all the day upon the hearth, but upon special occasions make larger.
We must have love to all; but to the saints, who are our fellow-members here, we
must draw out the fire of our love larger; and must show the largeness of our affections
to them, by prizing their persons, by choosing their company, by doing all offices
of love to them, by counselling them in their doubts, comforting them in their fears,
and supplying them in their wants. Thus one Christian may be an Ebenezer to another,
and as an angel of God to him. The sacrament cannot be effectual to him who does
not receive it in love. If a man drinks poison and then takes a cordial, the cordial
will do him little good, so he who has the poison of malice in his soul, the cordial
of Christ’s blood will do him no good; come therefore in love and charity.
Use one. From the whole doctrine of this sacrament learn how precious
should a sacrament be to us. It is a sealed deed to make over the blessings of the
new covenant to us. A small piece of wax put to a parchment is made the instrument
to confirm a rich conveyance or lordship to another; so these elements in the sacrament
of bread and wine, though in themselves of no great value, yet being consecrated
to be seals to confirm the covenant of grace to us, are of more value than all the
riches of the Indies.
Use two. The sacrament being such a holy mystery, let us come
to it with holy hearts. There is no receiving a crucified Christ but into a consecrated
heart. Christ in his conception lay in a pure virgin’s womb, and, at his death,
his body was wrapped in clean linen, and put into a new virgin tomb, never yet defiled.
If Christ would not lie in an unclean grave, surely he will not be received into
an unclean heart. ‘Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.’ Isa 52: 11. If
they who carried the vessels of the Lord were to be holy, they who are to be the
vessels of the Lord, and are to hold Christ’s blood and body, ought to be holy.
Use three. Christ’s body and blood in the sacrament are a most
sovereign elixir or comfort to a distressed soul. Having poured out his blood, God’s
justice is fully satisfied. There is in the death of Christ enough to answer all
doubts. What if sin is the poison, the flesh of Christ is an antidote against it!
What if sin be red as scarlet, is not Christ’s blood of a deeper colour, and can
wash away sin? If Satan strikes us with his darts of temptation, here is a precious
balm out of Christ’s wounds to heal us. Isa 53: 5. What though we feed upon the
bread of affliction, so long as in the sacrament we feed upon the bread of life?
Christ received aright sacramentally, is a universal medicine for healing, and a
universal cordial for cheering our distressed souls.
4.6 Prayer
‘But I give myself unto prayer.’ Psa 109: 4.
I shall not here expatiate upon prayer, as it will be considered
more fully in the Lord’s prayer. It is one thing to pray, and another thing to be
given to prayer: he who prays frequently, is said to be given to prayer; as he who
often distributes alms, is said to be given to charity. Prayer is a glorious ordinance,
it is the soul’s trading with heaven. God comes down to us by his Spirit, and we
go up to him by prayer.
What is prayer?
It is an offering up of our desires to God for things agreeable
to his will, in the name of Christ.
‘Prayer is offering up our desires;’ and therefore called making
known our requests. Phil 4: 6. In prayer we come as humble petitioners, begging
to have our suit granted. It is ‘offering up our desires to God.’ Prayer is not
to be made to any but God. The Papists pray to saints and angels, who know not our
grievances. ‘Abraham be ignorant of us.’ Isa 63: 16. All angel-worship is forbidden.
Col 2: 18, 19. We must not pray to any but whom we may believe in. ‘How shall they
call on him in whom they have not believed?’ Rom 10: 14. We cannot believe in an
angel, therefore we must not pray to him.
Why must prayer be made to God only?
(1) Because he only hears prayer. ‘Oh thou that hearest prayer.’
Psa 65: 2. Hereby God is known to be the true God, in that he hears prayer. ‘Hear
me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God.’ 1 Kings
18: 37.
(2) Because God only can help. We may look to second causes, and
cry, as the woman did, ‘Help, my lord, O king.’ And he said, ‘If the Lord do not
help thee, whence shall I help thee?’ 2 Kings 6: 26, 27. If we are in outward distress,
God must send from heaven and save; if we are in inward agonies, he only can pour
in the oil of joy; therefore prayer is to be made to him only.
We are to pray ‘for things agreeable to his will.’ When we pray
for outward things, for riches or children, perhaps God sees these things not to
be good for us; and our prayers should comport with his will. We may pray absolutely
for grace; ‘For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.’ 1 Thess 4: 3.
There must be no strange incense offered. Exod 30: 9. When we pray for things which
are not agreeable to God’s will, it is offering strange incense.
We are to pray ‘in the name of Christ.’ To pray in the name of
Christ, is not only to mention Christ’s name in prayer, but to pray in the hope
and confidence of his merits. ‘Samuel took a sucking lamb and offered it,’ &c. 1
Sam 7: 9. We must carry the lamb Christ in the arms of our faith, and so shall we
prevail in prayer. When Uzziah would offer incense without a priest, God was angry,
and struck him with leprosy. 2 Chron 26: 16. When we do not pray in Christ’s name,
in the hope of his mediation, we offer up incense without a priest; and what can
we expect but to meet with rebukes, and to have God answer us by terrible things?
What are the several parts of prayer?
(1) There is the confessors part, which is the acknowledgement
of sin. (2) The supplicatory part, when we either deprecate and pray against some
evil, or request the obtaining of some good. (3) The congratulatory part, when we
give thanks for mercies received, which is the most excellent part of prayer. In
petition, we act like men; in giving thanks, we act like angels.
What are the several sorts of prayer?
(1) There is mental prayer, in the mind. 1 Sam 1: 13. (2) Vocal.
Psa 77: 1. (3) Ejaculatory, which is a sudden and short elevation of the heart to
God. ‘So I prayed to the God of heaven.’ Neh 2: 4. (4) Inspired prayer, when we
pray for those things which God puts into our heart. The Spirit helps us with sighs
and groans. Rom 8: 26. Both the expressions of the tongue, and the impressions of
the heart, so far as they are right, are from the Spirit. (5) Prescribed prayer.
Our Saviour has set us a pattern of prayer. God prescribed a set form of blessing
for the priests. Numb 6: 23. (6) Public prayer, when we pray in the audience of
others. Prayer is more powerful when many join and unite their forces. Vis unita
fortior [A united force is stronger]. Matt 18: 19. (7) Private prayer; when we pray
by ourselves. ‘Enter into thy closet.’ Matt 6: 6.
That prayer is most likely to prevail with God which is rightly
qualified. That is a good medicine which has the right ingredients; and that prayer
is good, and most likely to prevail with God, which has these seven ingredients
in it: —
[1] It must be mixed with faith. ‘But let him ask in faith.’ James
1: 6. Believe that God hears, and will in due time grant, believe his love and truth;
believe that he is love, and therefore will not deny you; believe that he is truth,
and therefore will not deny himself. Faith sets prayer to work. Faith is to prayer
what the feather is to the arrow; it feathers the arrow of prayer, and makes it
fly swifter, and pierce the throne of grace. The prayer that is faithless is fruitless.
[2] It must be a melting prayer. ‘The sacrifices of God are a
broken spirit.’ Psa 51: 17. The incense was to be beaten to typify the breaking
of the heart in prayer. Oh! says a Christian, I cannot pray with such gifts and
elocution as others; as Moses said, ‘I am not eloquent;’ but can’t thou weep? Does
thy heart melt in prayer? Weeping prayer prevails. Tears drop as pearls from the
eye. Jacob wept and made supplication; and ‘had power over the angel.’ Hosea 12:
4.
[3] Prayer must be fired with zeal and fervency. ‘Effectual fervent
prayer availeth much.’ James 5: 16. Cold prayer, like cold suitors, never speed.
Prayer without fervency, is like a sacrifice without a fire. Prayer is called a
‘pouring out of the soul,’ to signify vehemence. 1 Sam 1: 15. Formality starves
prayer. Prayer is compared to incense. ‘Let my prayer be set forth as incense.’
Psa 141: 2. Hot coals were to be put to the incense, to make it odoriferous and
fragrant; so fervency of affection is like coals to the incense; it makes prayer
ascend as a sweet perfume. Christ prayed with strong cries. Heb 5: 7. Clamor iste
penetrat nubes [Such a cry pierces the clouds]. Luther. Fervent prayer, like a powder
engine set against heaven’s gates, makes them fly open. To cause holy fervour and
ardour of soul in prayer, consider, (1) Prayer without fervency is no prayer; it
is speaking, not praying. Lifeless prayer is no more prayer than the picture of
a man is a man. One may say as Pharaoh, ‘I have dreamed a dream.’ Gen 41: 15. It
is dreaming, not praying. Life and fervency baptise a duty, and give it a name.
(2) Consider in what need we stand of those things which we ask in prayer. We come
to ask the favour of God; and if we have not his love all we enjoy is cursed to
us. We pray that our souls may be washed in Christ’s blood; if he wash us not we
have no part in him. John 13: 8. When will we be in earnest, if not when we are
praying for the life of our souls? (3) It is only fervent prayer that has the promise
of mercy affixed to it. ‘Ye shall find me, when ye shall search for me with all
your heart.’ Jer 29: 13. It is dead praying without a promise; and the promise is
made only to ardency. The a tiles among the Romans, had their doors always standing
open, that all who had petitions might have free access to them; so God’s heart
is ever open to fervent prayer.
[4] Prayer must be sincere. Sincerity is the silver thread which
must run through the whole duties of religion. Sincerity in prayer is when we have
gracious holy ends; when our prayer is not so much for temporal mercies as for spiritual.
We send out prayer as our merchant ship, that we may have large returns of spiritual
blessings. Our aim in it is, that our hearts may be more holy, that we may have
more communion with God and that we may increase our stock of grace. The prayer
which wants a good aim, wants a good issue.
[5] The prayer that will prevail with God must have a fixedness
of mind. ‘My heart is fixed, O God.’ Psa 57: 7. Since the fall the mind is like
quicksilver, which will not fix; it has principium motus, but non quietus [a principle
of restlessness, not of peace]. The thoughts will be roving and dancing up and down
in prayer, just as if a man who is travelling to a certain place should run out
of the road, and wander he knows not whither. In prayer we are travelling to the
throne of grace, but how often do we, by vain cogitations, turn out of the road!
This is rather wandering than praying.
How shall we cure these vain impertinent thoughts, which distract
us in prayer, and, we fear, hinder its acceptance?
(1) Be very apprehensive in prayer of the infiniteness of God’s
majesty and purity. His eye is upon us in prayer, and we may say as David, ‘Thou
tellest my wanderings.’ Psa 56: 8. The thoughts of this would make us hoc agere,
mind the duty we are about. If a man were to deliver a petition to an earthly prince,
would he at the same time be playing with a feather? Set yourselves, when you pray,
as in God’s presence. Could you but look through the keyhole of heaven, and see
how devout and intent the angels are in their worshipping God, surely you would
be ready to blush at your vain thoughts and vile impertinences in prayer.
(2) If you would keep your mind fixed in prayer, keep your eye
fixed. ‘Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.’ Psa
123: 1. Much vanity comes in at the eye. When the eye wanders in prayer, the heart
wanders. To think to keep the heart fixed in prayer, and yet let the eye gaze, is
as if one should think to keep his house safe, and yet let the windows be open.
(3) If you would have your thoughts fixed in prayer, get more
love to God. Love is a great fixer of the thoughts. He who is in love cannot keep
his thoughts off the object. He who loves the world has his thoughts upon the world.
Did we love God more, our minds would be more intent upon him in prayer. Were there
more delight in duty, there would be less distraction.
(4) Implore the help of God’s Spirit to fix your minds, and make
them intent and serious in prayer. The ship without a pilot rather floats than sails.
That our thoughts do not float up and down in prayer, we need the blessed Spirit
to be our pilot to steer us. Only God’s Spirit can bound the thoughts. A shaking
hand may as well write a line steadily, as we can keep our hearts fixed in prayer
without the Spirit of God.
(5) Make holy thoughts familiar to you in your ordinary course
of life. David was often musing on God. ‘When I am awake, I am still with thee.’
Psa 139: 18. He who gives himself liberty to have vain thoughts out of prayer, will
scarcely have other thoughts in prayer.
(6) If you would keep your mind fixed on God, watch your hearts,
not only after prayer, but in prayer. The heart will be apt to give you the slip,
and have a thousand vagaries in prayer. We read of angels ascending and descending
on Jacob’s ladder; so in prayer you shall find your hearts ascending to heaven,
and in a moment descending upon earthly objects. O Christians, watch your hearts
in prayer. What a shame is it to think, that when we are speaking to God our hearts
should be in the fields, or in our counting-houses, or one way or other, running
upon the devil’s errand!
(7) Labour for larger degrees of grace. The more ballast the ship
has the better it sails; so the more the heart is ballasted with grace, the steadier
it will sail to heaven in prayer.
[6] Prayer that is likely to prevail with God must be argumentative.
God loves to have us plead with him, and use arguments in prayer. See how many arguments
Jacob used in prayer. ‘Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother.’ Gen
32: 11. The arguments he used are from God’s command ‘Thou saidst to me, Return
to thy country;’ ver 9; as if he had said, I did not take this journey of my own
head, but by thy direction; therefore thou canst not but in honour protect me. And
he uses another argument. ‘Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good;’ ver 12. Lord,
wilt thou go back from thy own promise? Thus he was argumentative in prayer; and
he got not only a new blessing, but a new name. ‘Thy name shall be called no more
Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God, and hast prevailed;’
ver 28. God loves to be overcome with strength of argument. Thus, when we come to
God in prayer for grace, let us be argumentative. Lord, thou callest thyself the
God of all grace; and whither should we go with our vessel, but to the fountain?
Lord, thy grace may be imparted, yet not impaired. Has not Christ purchased grace
for poor indigent creatures? Every drachm of grace costs a drop of blood. Shall
Christ die to purchase grace for us, and shall not we have the fruit of his purchase?
Lord, it is thy delight to milk out the breast of mercy and grace, and wilt thou
abridge thyself of thy own delight? Thou hast promised to give thy Spirit to implant
grace; can truth lie? can faithfulness deceive? God loves thus to be overcome with
arguments in prayer.
[7] Prayer that would prevail with God, must be joined with reformation.
‘If thou stretch out thy hands toward him; if iniquity be in thy hand, put it far
away.’ Job 11: 13, 14. Sin, lived in, makes the heart hard, and God’s ear deaf.
It is foolish to pray against sin, and then sin against prayer. ‘If I regard iniquity
in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.’ Psa 66: 18. The loadstone loses its virtue
when bespread with garlic; so does prayer when polluted with sin. The incense of
prayer must be offered upon the altar of a holy heart.
Thus you see what is the prayer which is most likely to prevail
with God.
Use one. It reproves (1) Such as pray not at all. It is made the
note of a reprobate, that he calls not upon God. Psa 14: 4. Does he think to have
an alms who never asks it? Do they think to have mercy from Cod who never seek it?
Then God would befriend them more than he did his own Son. Christ offered up prayers
with strong cries. Heb 5: 7. None of God’s children are born dumb. Gal 4: 6.
(2) It reproves such as have left off prayer, which is a sign
that they never felt the fruit and comfort of it. He that leaves off prayer leaves
off to fear God. ‘Thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.’ Job
15: 4. A man that has left off prayer, is fit for any wickedness. When Saul had
given over inquiring after God he went to the witch of Endor.
Use two. Be persons given to prayer. ‘I give myself,’ says David,
‘to prayer.’ Pray for pardon and purity. Prayer is the golden key that opens heaven.
The tree of the promise will not drop its fruit unless shaken by the hand of prayer.
All the benefits of Christ’s redemption are handed over to us by prayer.
I have prayed a long time for mercy, and have no answer. ‘I am
weary of crying.’ Ps 69: 3.
(1) God may hear us when we do not hear from him; as soon as prayer
is made, God hears it, though he does not presently answer. A friend may receive
our letter, though he does not presently send us an answer. (2) God may delay prayer,
yet he will not deny it.
Why does God delay an answer to prayer?
(1) Because he loves to hear the voice of prayer. ‘The prayer
of the upright is his delight.’ Prov 15: 8. You let the musician play a great while
ere you throw him down money, because you love to hear his music. Cant 2: 14.
(2) God may delay prayer when he will not deny it, that he may
humble us. He has spoken to us long in his word to leave our sins, but we would
not hear him; therefore he lets us speak to him in prayer and seems not to hear
us.
(3) He may delay to answer prayer when he will not deny it, because
he sees we are not yet fit for the mercy we ask. Perhaps we pray for deliverance
when we are not fit for it; our scum is not yet boiled away. We would have God swift
to deliver, and we are slow to repent.
(4) God may delay to answer prayer, that the mercy we pray for
may be more prized, and may be sweeter when it comes. The longer the merchant’s
ships stay abroad, the more he rejoices when they come home laden with spices and
jewels; therefore be not discouraged, but follow God with prayer. Though God delays,
he will not deny. Prayer vincit invincibilem [conquers the invincible], it overcomes
the Omnipotent. Hos 12: 4. The Syrians tied their god Hercules fast with a golden
chain, that he should not remove. The Lord was held by Moses’ prayer as with a golden
chain. ‘Let me alone;’ why, what did Moses? he only prayed. Exod 32: 10. Prayer
ushers in mercy. Be thy case never so sad, if thou canst but pray thou needest not
fear. Psa 10: 17. Therefore give thyself to prayer.