Chapter IV: Part 4

They who have been much conversant with scenes of sickness or of sorrow, cannot fail to have observed the truth of these remarks, to have been struck with the vast difference in the behaviour of men, in proportion as they have imbibed the true spirit and principle of the gospel. Some we have seen dismayed, disturbed, and restless; with nothing in their countenance, but vexation or anguish; others, cheerfully bearing up under the evils which have befallen them; and, by their expressions of joyful resignation, delighting and comforting the friends, who were shedding over them the tears of sympathy; the power of the word of God, the “joy of the Holy Ghost” has been visible in their very features. Those persons, who have beheld such an example, have been favoured with an instructive lesson, which they should “grave on the tablet of their heart;” a lesson teaching them, faithfully and forcibly, where to look for aid in the reverses and afflictions of life.

Yet, in order to lead us more effectually to cultivate, and to reap the benefit of, this heavenly frame of mind, let us now consider the bearing of the apostolic charge in the text, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.” Here we may discover powerful reasons intimated, why we should bring ourselves into a state of entire submission to the divine will, and rest satisfied and resigned under every dispensation. The hand of God is mighty: He is the sovereign Lord of all; has an absolute right to dispose of His creatures, according to His good pleasure; and is alone able both to know and to do, what their several necessities require. They, therefore, who profess themselves His people, are bound, by that very profession, unreservedly to submit to His sovereign disposal: “Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, what makest thou? O Lord, Thou art our Father, we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand.” {158} He who created, He who redeemed us, He to whom alone we can look for sanctification and life, should and will maintain the dominion over us: He that gave us our being, must be able, and cannot be unwilling, to “give us all things needful both for our souls and bodies.” We understand not how He formed us from the dust of the earth; so neither can we understand the methods of His providence; but, as “the life is more than meat,” so may we trust His goodness and His power, to preserve, in the best and wisest manner, the being of those, who seek His protection and submit to His government. A wise son yields to an affectionate father, even in points where he cannot comprehend the entire wisdom of his discipline and correction; yields, not only because experience has taught him the benefit of subjection, but also for the sake of obedience to a father, who is entrusted with the guidance of him, and has a right to be obeyed; much more should we, the adopted children of the Most High, bow with meekness and reverence before an Almighty and heavenly Father, though we altogether comprehend not the purpose of the trials, which He bringeth upon us: they are chastisements of mercy, of whatever kind they be, and moreover are ordained by Him, who has the entire undisputed right of dominion over us.

Another consideration here suggested is, that all resistance is vain; “the mighty hand of God” is uncontrollable. Utterly weak and fruitless were all the assembled powers of the universe, combined against His wall: what can a frail creature do, child of the dust, akin to the worm? If God strikes, who shall stay or avoid the blow? Whatever visitation He is pleased to send, to a family or to an individual—of sickness, of calamity, of death—there is no keeping it out of the dwelling; it may be softened by resignation, it may be removed, and even blessed, by prayer; but we cannot hinder the accomplishment of God’s will. In the language of the pious Hannah, “The Lord killeth and maketh alive; He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up—He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and He hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of His saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.” {161a}

Yes truly; the afflicting hand of God is mighty in operation, both to the wicked and the good; the former are constrained to feel, though they will not heartily or practically acknowledge, that there is no dependence to be placed on the schemes or exertions of man; no trusting, that “to-morrow will be as this day and much more abundant.” {161b} When “riches shall have made themselves wings and have flown away;” {161c} when the favourite or the friend have been cut off; when the bodily frame is under the influence of alarming disease; then the sinner, if he be not spiritually humbled, will, at least be made sensible, that there is a power which can lay him low; the conviction is forced on his mind, though he may refuse to act upon it; his conscience is smitten, though he will not obey its emotions; it assures him of the vanity of human devices, of human dependencies and strength, though it fail to incline him to his God.

How blessedly different the effect of the mighty hand of God upon the sincere Christian! Even the heaviest affliction, the most untoward or adverse occurrence, produces, when he comes to reflect, a salutary influence on his mind and heart. Perceiving that it is the natural tendency of a smooth uninterrupted course, to make him rest satisfied with earthly enjoyments, and draw aside his attention from the sublimer delights and the more substantial interest of heavenly things, he acknowledges, not only with acquiescence, but with gratitude, the severer dispensations of providence; he knows, that his faith must be tried and his patience made perfect; it is the very object for which he is placed in this transitory state of existence; he therefore implores his gracious Father, to sanctify to him the crosses and disappointments below, and make them minister to the completion of his happiness above; whatever they are, they are less than his transgressions deserve; whatever they are, they are “of God’s sending,” to lead him to reflection and repentance; and very efficacious are they for the fulfilment of this merciful purpose; perhaps the only means by which he could have been preserved from falling, amidst the snares and temptations that surround him. The Christian is ready to confess, and many we have heard with thankfulness confessing, that of all the mercies received from the hands of God, the most distinguished, because the most effectual for his salvation, are the vicissitudes and troubles of life: how many a sincere believer, by the discomfiture of his earthly prospects, has been led to fix his heart more intently and stedfastly, upon the unchangeable felicity of heaven; how many, at the death of a friend, have sought more earnestly and experienced more abundantly, “the power of the spirit of consolation;” and have thereby been led to transfer their affections to that blessed world, where christian friends shall meet, and never separate again. How many, by the infirmities of the body, have been admonished and persuaded to make a better provision for the health and well-being of the soul! The hand of God has been mightily laid upon them, to rescue them from the tyranny of sin and Satan, to place them in the enjoyment of “the perfect law of liberty,” manifested in the gospel; to save their souls alive.

Let us not regard the various calamities that befal us, of whatever nature they may be, as the mere result of human design or contingency; for whether they be occasioned by our own imprudence and neglect, or by the instrumentality of an evil world, they are permitted and ordained by a wise and merciful God, to draw us nearer to Himself; to teach us the utter insufficiency of all earthly interests and possessions; and to raise our thoughts to the glory of an eternal kingdom. And if we receive them in a christian spirit, they will never fail to answer their high and holy purpose. Let us therefore watch and pray, that we may duly consider every calamitous day as a sacred opportunity, as a season of grace, as the rod of our Almighty Father to chastise us from sin: let it call us to deep meditation and contrition, to serious examination of heart; for it is only by the religious and spiritual observance of such seasons, that we can ever hope to derive from them improvement and comfort.

Remark and remember the language of the text, “Humble _yourselves_ under the mighty hand of God;” it is not enough that we be humbled, in a worldly sense, by the stroke of misfortune; that is a consequence, which may of necessity ensue: the loss of possession may drive us into needy solitude; the loss of health destroy our energy and activity; the loss of reputation bring us to shame; the loss of friends oblige us to mourn, from the very feelings of nature; but all this while, there may be no humility of heart, no self-abasement, no voluntary humiliation under “any of the dispensations of heaven:” the “hand of God hath touched us;” but we may not, nevertheless, be vitally touched ourselves, with a proper sense of the trials, which He has called us to endure: we must fall low before His footstool; we must bend our knees in humble fervent prayer; we must implore the aid of His Holy Spirit, to open our understandings, that we may perceive the graciousness of His dealings with us; and to enlarge our hearts, that we may take the full benefit of His “loving correction;” we must unfeignedly and fully confess, on our own part, that unworthiness and iniquity, which excited God’s displeasure, and required His afflicting visitation; and that mercy, on God’s part, which seeketh to reclaim us from error; to “purge our conscience from dead works;” to make us more alive to the “things which belong unto our peace;” to lead us from the vanities of time to the momentous realities of eternity.

If we thus improve the sorrowful events that await us, we shall find a happy deliverance from them all; and it is the only possible means, by which we can be happily delivered: this the text implies; “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, _that He may exalt you_;” that you may thus be rendered meet to partake of His mercy; that He may visit and comfort you in your low estate; and make it instrumental to your spiritual exaltation. If you murmur or complain, or do but naturally mourn; if you manifest only the frettings of a worldly disposition and temper, your case thereby becomes still more grievous and intolerable; the heart is vexed by its vain and rebellious strivings; “the sorrow of the world worketh misery and death.” You are thus preventing the benediction of heaven from descending upon you; you are closing up the avenues, through which the grace of God may find its way into the heart; you are neglecting that remedy, by which alone the stricken soul can be healed, by which your trouble may be converted into a blessing. Embrace the proffered means; humble yourself beneath the burden, with “a godly sorrow,” for the sin that has brought it; bend yourself beneath the storm of heaven, and the Sun of righteousness will soon shine forth, and cheer you with His brightest beam; “the God of consolation,” your Redeemer, your unchangeable friend, “the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever,” will turn your darkness into light; your “weeping will endure but for a night, and joy will come in the morning.” {168}

Or, if it be not literally so; if deliverance come not so speedily as you desire or expect, it will assuredly come in God’s “due time;” He may wait, to try the strength of your patience and your faith; may seem for a season, as though He heareth not your prayer; but rest assured, He does hear, and the answer is preparing: the wise and benevolent author of four blessings knows best when to bestow them; depend upon His mercy, and trust Him for the time: the delay will be nothing, as compared with the comfort when it arrives: the very delay will minister to the fulness of your joy: you will perceive the truth of the divine character, as drawn by the pencil of the prophet; you may apply the prophetic description to yourself; “For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.” {169}

God will exalt every humble and faithful servant, in due time, even in this world; not perhaps to earthly greatness and honour; but, what is infinitely more important, to the height of His own blessed favour; to the delight of a peaceful reconciliation with Himself; to the happiness of an approving conscience; to a “hope full of immortality:” and, after death, He will crown that hope with a glorious consummation; will exalt that servant to the skies; far beyond the reach of change, of trouble, or of fear. The Christian, like the Captain of his Salvation, “will be made perfect through sufferings;” like Him, when the combat is over, will receive the crown of glory, and sit down for ever at the right hand of his Father and his God.

He will then more fully see and admire the gracious dealings of his merciful God and Saviour; will see, what reason he had to be thankful for the chastisements of heaven; how they have trained and prepared his soul for the happiness of the blest; how wonderfully they have ministered to the fulness of his joy. Bear then patiently; bear, I ought to say, thankfully, what the Lord layeth upon thee; it is His hand that “worketh all in all,” His hand of might and mercy. Thou canst not always trace His designs and operations; if thou couldst, where would be the exercise of thy faith? But if thou wilt believe and trust Him, if thou wilt bow and submit, He will thus exalt thee in due time, when thou art ready, when thy trial is completed, when thy appointed work is done. This is the seed-time; sow, and thou shalt see it spring up; labour, and wait for the harvest; “they that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” {171}

SERMON X. THOU ART THE MAN.

2 SAM. xii. 7.

_And Nathan said to David_, _Thou art the man_.

THE parable, of which these words are a part, is admired, even for its elegance and simplicity, by every one who is capable of appreciating its merit. It serves also to illustrate, in the clearest manner, the advantage of this mode of instruction; which is intended, in the first place, by a lively representation of the productions of nature, or the incidents of common life, to convey an adequate notion of a truth or doctrine in easy and familiar terms; and to leave a more striking impression of it upon the memory and the heart. The parable has a further advantage: the instruction it affords is not at once unfolded to the mind; the attention and the feelings are first awakened, by the relation of some interesting occurrence, apparently unconnected with the object in view; by which means, an assent is gained over to the side of truth, before the understanding has had time to be prejudiced, by the workings of self-love, or the disinclination to religious admonition.

Such was precisely the case with the parable before us. Had Nathan addressed to David a direct and formal expostulation, it is probable that the king would have considered his interference as intrusive and impertinent; would have either driven him from his presence, or have been prepared, by some plausible excuse, to cast a veil over the hideousness of his crimes. But the royal offender, though he could readily palliate his own atrocity, could not bear to hear of cruelty in another. When it was reported to him, that there were two men in a city, the one rich and the other poor; that the rich man, when there came a traveller unto him, spared to take of the abundance of his own flock, and of his own herd, and took from the poor man a little ewe lamb, which was all he had in the world; took it from him under the most affecting circumstances; “for he had bought and nourished it up, and it grew up together with him and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.” When the king heard all this, his feelings were violently excited, “his anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, as the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die.” {174} This was the moment for making the application: and judge of David’s shame and confusion of face, on finding that all his pity, and all his anger, and all his condemnation, had in truth been directed against himself: “Thou art the man.” He could not help perceiving, that great as was the cruelty, which he had been reprobating in the case laid before him, he had been guilty of still greater himself: though he had the whole kingdom for the exercise of his legitimate choice, he would rather deprive an humble servant of the only object of his conjugal affection, deprive him, by becoming, in the first instance, accessary to his murder.

We may here observe, how terrible is the infatuation of sin. It might have been thought that David, if he had not immediately perceived the full intention of the prophet in laying this parable before him, would at least, from an instantaneous recollection of his own notorious guilt, have treated, with some degree of lenity or forbearance, the barbarity of which Nathan appeared to be complaining; that he would not so soon have denounced against a delinquent, so much less heinous than himself, the utmost severity of punishment. But, as if his own conscience were clear, he immediately exclaimed against the imagined offender, as a wretch unfit to live; he does not appear to have been awakened to a sense of his own crimes, till he heard the overwhelming application, “Thou art the man.”

Such is generally the fascination of sin; it darkens the understanding, and deadens the conscience, and renders men insensible to their real condition. It is the great object of the enemy of our souls, an object in which he too often fatally succeeds, to make us blind, not only to the heinousness and danger, but also to the very existence of guilt: so that, however acute we may be in perceiving the transgressions of others, and however severe in reprobating and condemning them, we are, in very frequent instances, utterly regardless of our own. Many, it is to be feared, there are, who persist in a course of sin day after day, and year after year, without once feeling any lively or serious compunction; while they have frequently, in that time, been reproachfully animadverting upon the mote which they have detected in their brother’s eye.

Perhaps of all the temporal consequences of sin, the operation of this evil habit is one of the most calamitous; for it not only prevents us from a repentance of the past, but serves as an encouragement to our reckless perseverance in sin; it destroys the very principle of vital religion; removing entirely from our hearts the love and fear of God; and filling us with “envy, hatred, and malice and all uncharitableness.” Let David’s infatuation be a warning to us, let it induce us to take diligent heed, lest we be irreclaimably “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin;” lest the conscience be at length so entirely seared, as to become callous to the very perception of iniquity; as to make us “call evil good, and good evil; to put darkness for light, and light for darkness; to put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.” {177}

Before, however, we further proceed to the practical inferences which may be drawn from this subject, it may be proper to notice some irreverent and reproachful remarks, which have been made on the flagrant crimes of a person so distinguished as David. Is it possible, some have urged, that such guilt, and such hardihood in guilt, could have been found in the “man after God’s own heart?” {178} But this honourable appellation, be it observed, was given to David, not on account of his moral or spiritual purity, but on account of the excellence of his character as a king; he was so named in opposition to Saul, who had acted in wilful disobedience to the divine commands, and therefore, in the administration of his government, was not a man after God’s own heart; that is, he did not (as David did, in this particular,) perform God’s will.

Again, it has been said, could an inspired person possibly fall into such a complication of evil? Miraculous inspiration, we answer, was not given to the sacred pen-men, as a certain preservative from the corruption of sin, but to enable them to reveal the will of God; to guard them, in this respect, from error; and to “guide them into all truth:” their carnal appetites and passions were not supernaturally overruled; they still had their choice between good and evil; though revealing to mankind the holy law of God, they might themselves neglect the duties which it injoined: many instances are recorded of the abuse of spiritual gifts, many examples of their consisting with unholiness and transgression. The very chief of the apostles intimates to us the personal care and watchfulness and labour which were necessary, “lest, having preached to others, he himself should be a castaway.” {179}

Not but that David’s guilt was most deplorably inconsistent with his high character and office, and was a dishonour to religion itself; I am only shewing, that it was not incompatible with the appellation which he had received, and the high and holy functions which he was called to discharge. And be it remembered, to David’s honour, that though his sin was aggravated, his confession of it was full and unreserved; that he most humbly and religiously submitted to the penal retribution of his offended God; that his repentance was bitter and sincere: it was “a repentance indeed never afterwards repented of:” continually was his harp attuned to the bewailing of his own depravity; continually was he descending from the lofty strains of thanksgiving and joy, and pouring forth in the abasement of his soul, the doleful notes of mourning and lamentation.

And, in truth, there was abundant cause; for the crimes of David afford one of the most melancholy instances of the violation of conscience, of a departure from the service of the Most High. Let it fill us with humility and fear. If so eminent a servant of God could fall into such abominations, how deeply concerned, how “instant in prayer,” how vigilant and careful should we be, lest our feet be betrayed into evil! We see to what criminal and dangerous excess human nature may be led, if we fail to cherish the grace of God; and are abandoned to the government of our own corrupt desires, and the tyranny of our spiritual adversary. To the lukewarm and the wavering I need scarcely say, that without greater seriousness and circumspection, they will assuredly be overthrown: but let me also admonish the faithful Christian; him, who appears to be safely pursuing the even tenour of his way; who may be led, by the regular and habitual discharge of religious duties, into a state of presumptuous confidence and slumbering security; him I would admonish, from the instance of David, “that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;” {181a} that it may, when most implicitly trusted, most dangerously betray; let David teach “him that thinketh he standeth to take heed lest he fall.” {181b}

Some perverse and worldly-minded persons have made a very different use of the lamentable case before us; it has encouraged them in wilful transgression; it has served them as a “cloak for their sin.” Surely, say they, if David could so flagrantly transgress, how can we be expected to preserve our integrity? If he was accepted of God, indulgence would readily be extended to the comparatively trifling offences of inferior servants. True; we cannot be perfect; we may hope for pardon; but we are not, on that account, to sin presumptuously; not to offend, because God is merciful: this did not David. Whoever deliberately sins from the hope of God’s mercy, is taking the surest was to deprive himself of that mercy. There is frequently great error in the notion of trifling offences: no offence is trifling in the sight of an infinitely holy God: much less any wilful offence. The magnitude of a fault chiefly depends upon the circumstances under which it is committed; much more readily could we urge an excuse for him, who is heedlessly or suddenly borne away by impetuous passion and carnal desire, than for him, who presumes deliberately to trample upon the law of God, because another has been forgiven. Shall we thus abuse the mercies of redeeming love? “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” {183} Would we find the favour that David did, we must seek it, like him, in the true spirit of penitence and devotion; we must “confess our wickedness, and be sorry for our sin:” we must hate the works and workers of iniquity: we must imitate David, not in his crimes, but in his repentance and reformation.

Let us learn another lesson from the history before us; let it teach us the importance of being always disposed and ready to receive spiritual counsel; of being in the habit of applying to ourselves every opportunity of improvement, with which we may be blessed. Too many, like David, are extremely backward to receive an intimation of their own errors, and to avail themselves of the benefit of reproof. They are sufficiently quick-sighted in discovering the applicability of reproach, to their neighbour; without even suspecting that it may suit their own case and condition. How many have acknowledged the propriety and force of admonitions and rebuke, which they have heard in the house of God, without ever taking them home to their own breasts; and this undoubtedly is one cause, why the voice of public instruction produces, in general, so little effect upon the characters and conduct of men. While they are pleased to imagine, that the representations and censures of the preacher are suited to others rather than to themselves, no wonder that they retain their neglectful, sinful, unprincipled habits, in defiance of every remonstrance, and every warning. Instead of torturing their ingenuity, to discover to what particular persons in the congregation a discourse may be most fitly and beneficially applied, let them rather be anxious to inquire, how far it may be accommodated to their own case; and to all those, who presume to make a further inquiry, who are looking around for the delinquencies of their neighbour, we would say, restrain thy wandering eye, and look within, “Thou art the man.”

A readiness to take advantage of religious instruction, is one of the surest evidences of a christian spirit, and one of the greatest blessings that a Christian can enjoy. It manifests a christian spirit, inasmuch as it shews an humble sense of our own failings and imperfections, and an anxious desire to recover from them all; to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” {185} It is one of the greatest blessings to the Christian, because there is seldom a day, seldom an hour that passes, from which he may not derive some spiritual benefit. While the reckless and self-conceited, who dwell with complacency upon their state and character, perceive not any counsel adapted to their wants, the humble-minded are gathering edification from every thing around them; from all they hear and all they see: doubtless, it must be so; for how can they, who think themselves whole, discover the need of a physician, how can they apply a remedy?

Suffer me to entreat you, in conclusion, that whenever you are seriously impressed with a conviction of evil, or the neglect of any christian duty, you will carry home the impression, to have its full effect upon the heart. For want of this care and this habit, many a salutary lesson, that strikes for the moment, is afterwards thrown away, unheeded and forgotten: and thus the very means of grace, which are ordained to recover us from sin, and enable us to “work out our salvation,” become the instruments of confirming us in error and guilt. The mind, which is continually accustomed to receive and to neglect religious instruction, may be thereby brought into a heedless and torpid state, from which it is well nigh impossible to be roused. Not that any thing “is impossible with God:” but I appeal to experience, and ask, whether it is not a notorious matter of fact, that many amongst us have for years uniformly persevered, in the same neglect of christian duties, the same worldly principles, the same evil courses, the same habits of intemperance and licentiousness and profaneness; and it will not be denied, that they have, in these years, frequently heard the voice of expostulation, and perceived the justice, the force, and the importance of it. Then why are they still unreclaimed?—because they have never followed up the conviction of “Thou art the man.”

God grant, that this admonition may have its full effect upon us; that we may go and meditate, and pray; pray daily for the blessing of an humble and a teachable heart; pray for God’s grace, to correct all our sinful follies, and supply all our deficiencies. Probably, my brethren, we have been “leaning too little upon the hope of this heavenly grace;” we have been relying upon our own perception of right and wrong, our own choice and decision, our own feeble resolutions; if so, no wonder that we have failed, in our work of repentance and spiritual change. “Turn Thou us unto Thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned:” {188} here lies our hope and our strength, in the renewing influence of the Spirit of God. As we do desire, so let us fervently pray, that we may, in our course of penitence, imitate the example of the royal psalmist, and let contrition “have its perfect work;” that we may, here below, with heart and soul, join in the pious and repentant strains of David’s harp, and thus may be admitted to sing to other harps hereafter, in the chorus of the Redeemed above.

SERMON XI. THE WAY OF THE LORD EQUAL.

EZEK. xviii. 25.

_Ye say_, _the way of the Lord is not equal_. _Hear now_, _O house
of Israel_; _is not my way equal_? _are not your ways unequal_?

THE main purport of this chapter was, to obviate some objections which had been groundlessly entertained against the dealings of God with His people. They were at that time suffering in a state of captivity; and the calamities attendant upon it had been threatened long before, as a punishment for the sins of their ancestors. The Jews, therefore, assuming that this was the only cause of divine vengeance; imagining, in the blindness and pride of their hearts, that there were no delinquencies of their own to deserve such retribution, presumed to charge the Almighty with injustice, for this visitation of His wrath.

The prophet, in the opening of the chapter, thus remonstrates with them: “What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel?” (concerning the evils with which it is afflicted,) that ye say, in the language of accusation and reproach, “the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge?”—thereby meaning, that the present generation are unjustly punished for the transgressions of their forefathers. “As I live, saith the Lord, ye shall not have occasion to use this proverb any more in Israel.” I will make so visible a discrimination between the righteous and the wicked, between those who tread in the steps of their wicked progenitors, and those who take warning by their examples, that you shall not have any further occasion to use this proverb amongst you.

The Jews, in this as in many other instances, misunderstood and perverted the dispensations of the Most High. God had declared, that He would “visit the sins of the fathers upon the children,” and that He “would shew mercy unto thousands of those that loved Him;” from which they inferred, that worldly calamities, in the one case, and prosperity in the other, constituted the sole recompence, which they were severally to expect: they supposed, that when a nation was punished, on account of the general depravity, no respect was had to the different merits of individuals, of which that nation consisted; and that, when a people were prospered and exalted, as the reward of righteousness, they were all, of necessity, the objects of divine favour. Whereas, these temporal rewards and punishments formed but a part of the dispensation, under which they were placed. God had far other means in store, to bless the faithful and to afflict the transgressor. Under every visitation, His unerring eye could discern between the evil and the good; the one, however prosperous in a worldly point of view, He could mortify and humble; and the other, in whatever evil they might be involved, He could favour and bless.

But there was still another consideration, to which the Jews, though they practically disregarded it, were specially directed; a consideration, which might have taught them, how the seeming irregularities, of which they complained, would be completely rectified; it was that of a final judgment, of a world to come. Their prophet Isaiah expressly says of the transgressors, that “their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched.” {192a} And Daniel more particularly intimates the awful difference between the conditions of the righteous and the wicked in a future state; “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake: some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” {192b} But the Israelites “had eyes and saw not, ears and heard not;” {193a} they listened only the temporal promises of God, and excluded from their minds the prospect of a final retribution, of a kingdom to come. The prophet awakens them to this consideration in the 4th verse, “Behold, saith the Lord, all souls are Mine:” as they are all equally My creatures, so My dealings with them shall be without prejudice or partiality; “The soul that sinneth, it shall die:” this denunciation could not possibly be understood of temporal death; for that, they knew, must pass equally upon all: it must relate to a final execution of judgment, to future misery and destruction. The Jews were familiar with this form of speech and this application of it: of wisdom it is said, “They that hate me, love _death_.” {193b} “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of _death_.” {193c} A similar mode of speech, we may observe, frequently occurs in the New Testament also; in which we continually find expressions and figures borrowed from the Old: “If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye, through the spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” {194a} And, in the book of Revelation, mention is made of the _second death_; {194b} a term which was in use among the Jews themselves, though not found in their inspired writings. And in the same sense, we shall perceive, the figure is repeatedly employed in the chapter before us.

The prophet therefore vindicates the justice and equity of God on two substantial grounds: he directs his murmuring and rebellious people to consider, that they were visited with calamity for their own transgressions, as well as for those of their forefathers; and he refers them to the future and final judgment of the Almighty, in which the prosperity of the wicked and the sufferings of the righteous alike terminate; in which both shall receive their just and everlasting recompence. “The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, saith the Lord God, and not that he should return from his ways and live?” {195}

The passages last mentioned may introduce to our notice two considerations, most distinctly and forcibly stated in the latter part of this chapter, in both of which we are very deeply and peculiarly interested; they are these; that if the wicked repent of their evil ways and turn heartily to God, they shall be forgiven and received into His favour; but that if the righteous fall away, they shall be condemned and perish: on the one hand, there is ample encouragement to the sinner to return; on the other, an awful admonition, to the righteous, of the necessity of perseverance unto the end. How gracious the instruction in either point of view! If it were not for the heavenly assurance of the offer of pardon to all, without partiality or exception, many a flagrant transgressor, when brought to a sense of his sin and shame—his conscience pierced with the remembrance of so manifold offences against a just and holy God, his soul over-burdened with the load of guilt—might sit down disconsolate and despairing in the shadow of death: and if it were not for a warning voice, bidding them, as they hope for salvation, to persevere, the righteous, when assailed by temptation, might at length be induced to yield, under a presumption, that their former obedience, that the good deeds they had already performed, would turn the balance in their favour, and procure for them acceptance at the tribunal of God, though they were ultimately found in the way of evil. Into this error the Jews had actually fallen; and do, as it is affirmed, continue unto this day; and others might “follow their pernicious ways.”

Each of the important doctrines, which we are now considering, is declared by the prophet in the most explicit and unequivocal terms. “If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all My statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done, he shall live.” {197} None of his former transgressions shall exclude him from the privileges and blessings of God’s people; he shall be freely and fully received, without reproach, into a gracious covenant with his God. This condition of acceptance manifestly implies a vital belief in the sovereignty and mercy of God; for without this, none would be encouraged to turn unto Him with the hope of forgiveness and favour: “He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” {198a} “The just shall live by his faith;” {198b} and the duties which the prophet prescribed to his people, as the means of saving their souls alive, were evidently regarded by him as the fruit of that faith. Thus, therefore, they were left without excuse; no longer able to say, “that the way of the Lord was not equal;” for so far from having decreed to involve them all in the same indiscriminate punishment, He was willing, nay desirous, of admitting into His favour even the most disobedient and abandoned amongst them. Although in a state of miserable bondage, He would either “break their bonds asunder,” and provide them with a place of refuge; or He would make their bodily afflictions minister to the well-being of their souls. If the light of His countenance shone upon them, happy was their lot in the darkest hour of suffering and privation: and if they did not live to enjoy a restoration to the privileges of their own land, still might they rejoice, in the prospect of being restored to their forfeited inheritance in the mansions of eternal peace. Would they but forsake the idols, after which they were gone astray, and turn to “love the Lord their God with all their heart and soul and strength,” “ceasing to do evil, and learning to do well,” though “their sins were as scarlet, they should be as white as snow; though they were red like crimson, they should be as wool.” {199} Surely none but the obstinate and rebellious, none but the hardest and most ungrateful heart, could complain of the dealings of God. Wonderful indeed was the patience which had borne with them so long; adorable the mercy which was still held out for the encouragement and return of a backsliding people.

Under the gospel dispensation, the same gracious doctrine is yet more fully revealed. “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” {200a} “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from _all_ unrighteousness.” {200b} “The Lord is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that _all_ should come to repentance.” {200c} Texts indeed there are without number of the same merciful import; and numerous also are the examples, recorded in Holy writ, in which the Saviour vouchsafed His loving kindness and favour to the weary and heavy-laden sinner; “seeking and saving those that were lost;” and thus affording us the most ample assurance of the truth of His own gracious promise, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” {200d} Are there any amongst us, my brethren, who have not yet made their peace with God; any, whom Satan hath hitherto held fast in “the gall of bitterness, and the bond of iniquity;” who feel the wretchedness of their condition here, and are alarmed at the expectation of what may come hereafter? May “the goodness of God lead them to repentance!” However deep and dangerous the wounds which sin has made in their hearts, there is “balm in Gilead,” if they will earnestly seek it, and apply it to their souls: their offended Lord is still “waiting to be gracious;” and though they have been prodigally wasting his bounty in riotous living, yet if they be at length pierced to the heart by the misery to which it has brought them, and be truly desirous of returning to their peaceful home, and be ready, with all humility and contrition, to acknowledge their unworthiness, and to seek again the divine favour, from which they have been so unhappily estranged, then they will be received even with welcome; if but one sinner return, there “will be joy in heaven;” and the family of the blest will hail his reception; and his wanderings shall be mentioned no more. “Awake thou that sleepest and rise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” {202}

But let not this gracious offer of mercy be abused; let it not act as an encouragement to a continuance in sin, under a notion that transgressions, however multiplied and aggravated, may be, at any future day, repented and forgiven. The grace of repentance, like every other good gift, cometh from God; and the proffered mercy, which is long and obstinately rejected, may be, and often is, withdrawn. If we will not hear, while the Almighty now speaks; if we will not answer, while He is now calling, “the ear may become heavy that it cannot hear,” and we may be left to perish in our sins. One word more; think of the many sudden departures; you are not without awakening and awful examples; your eye may be closed in death, while it is turned away from your God; or if you should be permitted to experience a few days’ alarm, God alone knows what effect it may produce upon the heart. Seek Him “in health and wealth;” the work is of amazing magnitude and everlasting importance; it demands all your vigour, all the unclouded faculties of your soul.

And let those who have embraced the blessed gospel, in sincerity and truth, who are believing in the name of Jesus for salvation, and “are fruitful in every good word and work,” ever bear in mind the absolute necessity of persevering in the good and holy cause. For of what service can it be, to begin the race with animation, and to pursue it, for a season, with ever so great activity, if they loiter before the end, and relinquish their exertions “for the prize of their high calling?” “When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned; in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.” Here also we must allow, that “the way of God is equal.” {204} For surely it argues the most depraved and abandoned state of mind and heart, to depart from our God and our Redeemer, after having been once convinced of the truth and the blessedness of His holy religion; having “tasted how gracious the Lord is,” having experienced the guidance and comfort and support of his all-powerful spirit, having had our “hopes full of immortality,” having enjoyed a foretaste of the happiness of heaven, after all to fall away, and prefer to these exalted objects, the miserable pleasures, the base indulgencies, the perishable possessions of earth! A change so disastrous must reduce the understanding and heart into the worst condition of which they are capable. It is the evil spirit, which had been once cast out, returning to his abode, with seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and dwelling there, as in a settled home, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. {205a} The Apostle represents the matter to us in this light: for so difficult is it for a person, in such a state, to be worked upon by any consideration, that he describes it, in his strong language, as an actual impossibility: “it is impossible, (he says) for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance;” {205b} and then he adds the reason, “seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame;” they maintain the horrid principles and character of those who “crucified the Lord of glory;” they deliberately renounce his friendship, and become “enemies to the cross of Christ;” they cast a shameful reproach upon Him, infinitely greater than it is possible for those enemies to do, who were never admitted into the privilege and happiness of His favour. Fain would we hope, that this is a case of rare occurrence; but it is possible, or why should the prophet and Apostle have represented it? “Therefore, let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall;” {206a} “let him give all diligence to make his calling and election sure.” {206b} “The just shall live by his faith: but if _that man_, (however faithful and just he has been) draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him;” {206c} this is the proper translation of the passage. God Almighty of His infinite mercy grant, that the words which follow this text, addressed by the Apostle to the faithful disciples of old, may be realized by all of us here; “we, (says he,) are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Pray to God without ceasing for grace to persevere: His Holy Spirit, if sought and cherished and used, will enable us to be faithful and to overcome, will “make us more than conquerors, through Him that loved us.” {207a}

In conclusion then, I ask, “is not the way of the Lord equal?” And of those, who presume to arraign it, are not the ways unequal? Equal and merciful do all the ways of God appear, whenever they can be traced; equal and merciful they are, whether they can be traced or not. “O man, who art thou that repliest against God?” {207b} “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” {207c} Humble thyself, and accept His proffered mercy: Hear His words; “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” {207d} Salvation is all that the sinner can desire; and surely he can repose, without doubt or distrust upon the all-wise, all-merciful, omnipotent God. Understanding and experiencing, in so many instances, the divine wisdom and mercy, we can have no difficulty in believing, that God “doeth all things well.” “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” {208a} Most unreasonable, most ungrateful would it be to question or complain. No true believer does so: he is thoroughly convinced of the truth of God’s word, and the equity of God’s dealings and dispensations. This is his concern, this the great purpose resting in his soul, to be reconciled to God in His own appointed way; to be made an inheritor of His eternal kingdom. He knows, and it is enough for him to know, that “the grace of God, which bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men;” {208b} he believes, and he acts upon the belief, that “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin;” {208c} he seeks to “wash and be clean,” and faithfully waits for the promised blessing: “Verily there is a reward for the righteous; verily He is a God that judgeth the earth.”{208d}

SERMON XII. THE NEW MAN.

EPH. iv. 24.

_That ye put on the new man_, _which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness_.

IN treating of these words, it shall be my first object to explain their real nature and import. St. Paul has been describing, in this chapter, the character of the unregenerate Gentiles, who “walked in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” And this description applies, with almost equal force and truth, to a considerable portion of those who have “named the name of Christ:” though they acknowledge with their lips the truth and obligation of the christian religion, they still “walk in the vanity of their minds.” As to any saving view of the truth, “the understanding is _yet_ darkened:” and though their ignorance be removed, with respect to a revelation of the divine will, they are as far as ever from “the life of God;” though the mind is enlightened with the knowledge of the fact, the blindness of the heart remains.