Chapter IX: Part 9

I pity the man of strong reason and great sagacity of judgment, that hath traced nature in her most secret recesses; that has sounded the depths of the sea, and measured the heavens; but has spent no time in searching the deep things of God, and lets the mysteries of religion lie unregarded as obscure and useless things. He has never sounded the depth of his own misery and guilt, as he is a son of Adam: Nor is he acquainted with the way of climbing to heaven by the cross of the Son of God. Reason is a faculty of supreme excellence among the gifts of nature, and it is dreadful to think that it should ever be engaged in opposition to divine grace. How great and wretched are the men of reason, who strain the nerves of their soul to overturn the doctrine of Christ! who labour with all their intellectual powers to shake the foundations of the gospel, to diminish the authority of the scriptures, and to unsettle the hope of feeble christians!

There are others who employ the best powers of the soul in pursuing the interests of this life; they are wise in contriving to gratify their appetites, to fill their coffers, and to heap up to themselves wealth and honours; and wise to secure all these to their posterity after death: _They call their lands by their own names_, and perpetuate their memory to the latest generation, but make no provision for their own souls: they are wise to set in order their houses in the day of their health, and all things prepared for their dying hour, besides the concerns of their own eternity; these are delayed from day to day, and left at the utmost hazard; and still they think the next month, or the next year, it is time enough to prepare for heaven, when perhaps a summons is sent suddenly from on high; _Thou fool this night is thy soul required of thee_; Luke xii. 20. What confusion and fear, what hurry and distress of spirit will seize you in that hour? You that have laid out all your wisdom upon the little businesses of this life, and trifled with affairs of everlasting importance; you must go down to the chambers of death in surprize and anguish; you must leave all the fruits of your wisdom behind you, and be branded for eternal fools.

I pity those who are blest with a large memory, and would plead with you this day for the sake of your souls. The memory, it is a noble repository of the mind, it is made to receive divine truths, to be stored with the ideas of God and his grace, with the glories of Christ and heaven; it is given us to furnish and supply the heart and tongue upon all occasions, for worship, for conference, and for holy joy. What pity it is so wondrous a capacity should be crowded with vile images, with wanton scenes, with profane jests, and idle stories! Or, at best, it is filled with gold and silver, and merchandize; with lands and houses, ships and insurances; it is all inscribed with stocks, annuities, and purchases, and turned into a mere book of accounts, a trading shop, or an everlasting exchange: Night and day, the buyers and sellers are passing through this temple, which should be consecrated to God; and there is no room left for the thoughts of heaven there. Shall these busy swarms of cares and vanities for ever fill up so large a chamber of the soul? Shall impertinencies be for ever thrust into this treasury? such as will stand you in no stead, when you are dismissed from the body, but shall vanish all at once in that hour, and shall leave your spirits poor and naked; or if they follow you to the world of spirits, it will be but as so much fuel gathered for your future burning.

Think a little with yourselves, ye possessors of these rich endowments of the mind when you have been honoured here on earth, can you bear to be doomed to eternal shame and punishment in hell? Shall this wit and this reason be there employed to express your hatred against God, and to forge perpetual blasphemies against the Majesty of heaven? are you willing to be joined to the society of devils, and be engaged in their abominable work? Shall this sprightly fancy, this subtle reason, this large memory, serve for no purpose, but to aggravate your guilt, and your damnation? Shall these fine talents sharpen your misery, and give edge to the keenest reflections of conscience: conscience, that inward sting of the mind; conscience, that immortal tormentor? Yet this must be the certain portion of those who spend their life, and lie down in death, with these talents unsanctified: for the anguish and torture of sinful souls, must rise, and grow for ever, in proportion to the glory of their abused endowments.

Though, perhaps I have been tedious already under this head, yet before I part with it, I must address myself to those who are born with a sweet disposition, that seem to be cast in a softer mould than the rest of men. I love and pity those of my acquaintance who are blessed with so divine a temper; who have tenderness and good-will in their very form and aspect, and I mourn to think that any of these should perish for ever. You are the favourites of all men, and beloved by all who enjoy the pleasure of your acquaintance; do ye not long to be the favourites of God too! You seem to be made for the delight and comfort of mankind: but shall this be all your portion? Good-humour is the composition of your nature, _and the law of kindness is on your lips! when the ear hears_ you, _then it blesses you; and when the eye sees_ you, _it gives witness to you_. But is this enough to depend upon for eternal life? Perhaps you have borrowed part of the valuable qualities of that good man Job, _you have delivered the poor that cry, and the fatherless that had none to help him_; you _have caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy, and the blessing of him that was ready to perish, has come often upon you_; Job xxix. 11, 12, 13. There is so much natural goodness in your constitution, that leads you on, by a sweet instinct, to the practice of many charities: but this is not saving grace. If Jesus Christ himself were upon earth in this humbled state, he would look upon you as man, and love you; but the Holy God looks down from heaven, and beholds you as the object of his just and divine hatred, while you live in a state of vanity and sin, drunken with sensual pleasures, and at enmity with God.

This sweetness of temper, that springs from your blood, and the happy mixture of humours; or, at best, from the mere natural frame of your spirits, will never pass, upon the great tribunal, for holiness and inward religion. With all this charming appearance of virtues, these colours that look like heaven, you will be doomed to hell and perpetual misery, unless there be found in you some nobler qualities, such as love to God, mortification to this world, the knowledge and faith of Jesus Christ. If these be not the springs of your charity and love to men, you will not be secured from the condemning sentence of the Judge, nor from the company of devils in the future world.

But, oh! how will your soft and gentle natures bear the insult and rage of those malicious spirits? How will your temper, that had something so lovely in it, sustain to be banished for ever from the world of love? to be for ever excluded from all the regions of peace and concord? How will your souls endure the madness and contention, the envy and spite of wicked angels? You that delighted on earth in the works of peace, what will ye do when your tender dispositions shall be hourly ruffled by the uproar and confusion of those dark regions? and instead of the society of God and blessed spirits, ye shall be eternally vexed with the perverse tempers of your fellow sinners, the sons of darkness? O that I could speak in melting language, or in the language of effectual terror, that I might by any means awaken your souls to jealousy and timely fear! That so many natural excellencies, as God has distributed amongst you, might not be wasted in sin, abused to dishonour, and aggravate your everlasting misery.

[This sermon may be divided here.]

2. My next exhortation shall be addressed to those youths who have been trained up in all the arts of civility, and have acquired a courteous and becoming carriage. There is something lovely in such an appearance, and it commands the love even of the rude and uncivil. It so nearly resembles the sweetness of natural temper, and imitates good humour so much to the life, that it often passes upon company instead of nature, and attains many valuable ends in human society. But where both these are happily joined, how shining is that character, and universally beloved? We are pleased and charmed with your conversation, whose manners are polished, and whose language is refined from the rude and vulgar ways of speech. You know how to speak civil things, without flattery, upon all occasions; to instruct, without assuming a superior air, and to reprove without a frown, or forbidding countenance. You have learned when to speak and when to be silent, and to perform every act of life with its proper graces; and can ye be content with all this good breeding to be thrust down to hell? Is it not pity that you should be taught to pay all your honours to men, and practise none to the living God? Have you not read those duties in connexion; 1 Pet. ii. 17. _Honour all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honour the king._ And why will you divide what God has joined, and give every one their due, besides God your Maker? how dare you treat the creatures with decency and ceremony, and treat God the Creator with neglect; salute all men with their proper titles of distinction, and not learn how to address God in prayer? pay due visits to all your acquaintance, and yet scarce ever make a visit to the mercy-seat, or bow your knees before the Majesty of Heaven.

I pity those who have all the arts of complaisance in perfection, and practise civility in every form; but are very little acquainted with the forms of godliness, and never yet felt any thing of the life of religion, or the powers of the world to come. How mournful a sight is it to behold a well-accomplished gentleman, yet a vile sinner! A pretty obliging youth among men, but deaf and obstinate to all the calls of God, and the intreaties of a dying Saviour! A person of a free and ingenuous deportment, yet in chains of slavery to corruption and death! and how unspeakably sorrowful will it be at the last day, to see such as these, the gay, the affable, the fair-spoken, and the well-bred sinner, in the utmost agonies of horror and despair, mourning a lost God, a lost soul, and a lost heaven!

Let me speak once more and try to provoke you to jealousy. Shall the rugged and clownish part of mankind press forward into that kingdom which ye despise? Will ye be patient to see some of the unbred and unpolished set at the right hand of the Judge, and yourselves with shame, be divided to the left? How will ye endure to see the honours of heaven put upon those whom you have so often despised in your hearts upon earth? Can you imagine that that tribunal will be bribed with fair speeches? or that any thing will be accepted in that court, besides solid and hearty religion? Suffer this exhortation then, and then receive this advice, you that are not used to deny any thing to your friends, you that love to oblige those who ask any reasonable favour at your hands; nor let me plead this day in vain.

3. To those that have enjoyed the blessing of religious parents, and a pious education; that have been bred up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, in the knowledge and practice of the moral law, and in the outward performance of religion, according to the appointments of the gospel. Children, we love you for your fathers’ sakes: we love to look upon you, for you are the little living images of our dearest friends: we have loved to ask you the younger questions that your parents have taught you, and to see the first-fruits of their instruction and holy care; but we pity you, from our very souls, when we behold you break the bars of your education, and making haste to ruin: or when, at best, ye go on and tread the circle of outward duties; as ye are led by custom and form, with a neglect of inward christianity, and hearty godliness.

Did your parents love God above all earthly things, and will ye prefer the love of this world above all things heavenly and divine? Have ye had such shining examples of holiness brought so near you to no purpose? Do they pray for you daily? Do they daily mourn over you, and hope, and wish, and exhort you to take care of your souls? And are you resolved that their counsels, their prayers, and their tears, shall be laid out upon you in vain? Is this the return you make for all their care and compassion? They tell you daily that they can have _no greater joy than to see their children walking in the truth_, and will you cruelly disappoint their pleasures, and bring down their grey hairs with sorrow to the grave? Perhaps there are some of you, who already have parted with your parents, and their spirits are at rest; and has neither their life, nor their death, made serious and lasting impressions upon you; have they entreated you in their last dying moments, by all that is dear and sacred, to make sure of heaven? And will you abandon these entreaties, and sell your souls to the world, and to death, for a few perishing temptations? Have they laid a solemn charge upon you at their last farewell, to travel in the paths of piety, and meet them on mount Sion in the great day? and have you wandered already from this high road of holiness, and forgot the solemnity and the charge? Shall your parents dwell for ever with their God, and shall their children for ever dwell in fire prepared for the devil and his angels?

You cannot sin at so easy and so cheap a rate as others. You must break through stronger bonds, and do bolder violence to your consciences, before you can indulge iniquity, and pursue wickedness. Your temptations to sin have been less than others, and your advantages for salvation have been much greater. Our hearts bleed within us, to think of your double guilt, and your aggravated damnation: to think that you should not only be separated from your parents, and their God, for ever, but that your place of torment shall be the hottest also, amongst all your companions in misery.

What anguish and inward vexation will seize you, when ye shall reflect how nigh ye were raised in outward privileges, and how near ye were brought to heaven? and how you quitted your interest, and your hopes there, for the trifles of this life, for a base lust, or a foolish vanity: What will ye say, when ye shall see _many coming from the east, and from the west_, from families of wickedness, from the ends of the earth, and from the borders of hell, and sit down with your fathers in the kingdom of heaven; while you _the children of the kingdom, are cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth_; Mat. viii. 11, 12. I presume thus far with freedom to address you, _if by any methods I might provoke to emulation them which are of the flesh of Israel, of the kindred of the saints, and might save some of them_; Rom. xi. 14.

4. To those who have taken some pains in seeking after eternal life, and are still enquiring the way thither. Have a care of resting in the mere practice of moral duties, or in the outward profession of christianity: never content yourselves with the righteousness of the Pharisee. Were your virtues more glorious than they are, and your righteousnesses more perfect, they could never answer for your former guilt, before the throne of a just and holy God. It is only the atonement of Christ, and his all-sufficient sacrifice, which can stand you in stead there; and it is pity that a youth, of so much virtue, should fall short of heaven, and be but almost a christian. It is pity that you should have gained so large a share of knowledge, and so honourable a character of sobriety, and, after all, want _the one thing needful_, an universal change, and renovation of your hearts, by receiving the gospel. Have you proceeded thus far, and will you not go on to perfection? _Take heed that ye lose not the things that ye have wrought, but that ye receive a full reward_; 2 John 8.

It is pity you should enquire the way to heaven, and not walk in it, when it is marked out before your feet with so much plainness: It is pity you should indulge the love of this world so far, as to suffer it to forbid you the pursuit of a better; or at best, when ye receive instructions about your souls, you let the affairs of this life overwhelm and bury that good seed, and it never grows up to practice. What would you say to the folly of a man, who has a long and hazardous journey to make, to take possession of a large estate, and once a week he comes to enquire the way, and hears a fair description of all the road, perhaps he mourns his long neglect, and resolves upon the journey; but the next six days are filled up with a thousand impertinences; and when the seventh returns, he has not taken one step forward in the way?

Believe me, sirs, it is not an easy thing to be saved: laziness, and mere enquiries, will never effect your happiness, nor secure your souls from perdition; and all the pains you have already taken will be lost, if you give over the pursuit. Let me call some of you this day to remember your former labours, the prayers and tears that you have poured out in secret before God; remember your days of darkness, and your nights of terror, the groans of conscience, and the inward agonies you felt, when you were first awakened to behold your guilt and danger; remember these hours, and these sorrows; and love and pity your own souls so far, as to pursue the work, and let not your pains be lost: _Have ye suffered so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain_; Gal. iii. 4. Ye have wrestled with some sins, and have in part got the mastery over them; and shall a darling lust overcome you at last, and slay your souls with eternal death? Ye have resisted the tempter in some of his assaults and put the powers of hell to flight; will you give up yourselves at last to be led in triumph by Satan, and become his everlasting slave? Methinks you look so amiable in those victories ye have already obtained, that I would fain have you press onward through the field of battle, fulfil the warfare, and receive the crown.

The ministers of the gospel look upon you with concern and pity: We love you because you have proceeded thus far in religion; but ye shall not be the beloved of God, if ye stop here, or go back again to sin and folly. We had a hopeful prospect of you once, and said to our Lord in prayer, “Surely these shall be one day the inhabitants, and the supports of thine house; these young plants shall one day be fruitful trees in thy vineyard; they shall be pillars in thy holy temple.” But alas! there is a death upon our hopes, there is a darkness and a lethargy upon your souls: We look upon you in all these your endowments, we mourn over you with compassion, and with zeal we express our grief and our love: “Awake, ye young sinners, who have deserved our love; awake, that ye sleep not to everlasting death.”

5. To those that are rich in this world, and are furnished with the former good qualities too. I am well assured, while I address myself to this assembly, I speak to many persons of this character[22]. Ye are wealthy and condescending, like the young man in my text: ye are often uncovered, and ye pay reverence to the ministers of the gospel, as he did; ye give us honours and civilities beyond our merit or wish; ye come and ask of us the same question, “What shall we do to inherit eternal life?” And we tell you from the word of God, “Love not the world, nor the things of the world; for where the love of the world is, the love of the Father is not. If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. Mortify your affections that are upon the earth, and deny yourselves, take up your cross, and follow Christ.” Become his disciples, without reserve, in faith, and love, and universal holiness. While we propose these paths to eternal happiness, shall it be said concerning you, they went away sorrowful, having great possessions?

Your condescending and affable deportment, looks brighter by all the rich lustre of your habits; and the bigger your circumstances are, the more lovely is your humble attention to the ministers of Christ, and your readiness to hear our words is the more commendable: But will ye be hearers only, and never practice? The time is coming, and the hour makes haste upon you, when ye shall stand upon the borders of the grave, and look into that world of spirits, where all the honours and distinctions of this world are known no more. Ye shall be stripped of those vanities which ye loved above God and heaven. Think how mean and despicable a figure your souls will make amongst fallen angels, if the love of this world, and neglect of God should bring you into that dreadful company. What gay and swelling figures soever you have made on earth, you will make but a poor and wretched one in that world, if ye are found destitute of the riches of grace; and it will be a mournful inscription written on your tomb, “_This rich man died,——and he lift up his eyes in hell_;” Luke xvi. 23. _But, beloved, we hope better things of you, though we thus speak, and things that accompany salvation_; Heb. vi. 9. Thus I have finished the first general exhortation, to those who have any valuable qualities attending them, but through the love of this world are tempted to neglect heaven.

The second exhortation is addressed to those who are weaned, in some good degree, from this world, and have treasures in heaven, but are defective in those good qualities which might render them amiable upon earth. I confess I have no direct commission from my text to address you here: But I am unwilling and ashamed that a rich young man should go to hell with some more lovely appearances upon him than you have, who are in the way to heaven.

You have chosen God for your eternal portion, and your highest hope; you have chosen his Son Jesus for your only Mediator, and your way to the Father: you have chosen the worship and the ordinances of God as your dearest delight; ye are the chosen objects of the love of God, and his grace has inclined you to love him above all things. Methinks I would not have any blot cast upon so many excellencies. Be ye advised therefore to seek after that agreeable temper and conduct which may make you beloved of men too; that the wisest and best of men may chuse you for an honour to their acquaintance and company. This will render your profession more honourable, and make religion itself look more lovely in the sight of the world.

What a foul blemish it is to our christianity, when we shall hear it said, “Here is a man who professes the gospel of grace, but he does not practise the decencies that the light of nature would teach him! He tells us, that he belongs to heaven; but he has so little of humanity in his deportment, that he is hardly fit company for any upon earth.” Shall it be said of any of you, “Here is a man that pretends to the love of God, but he is morose in his disposition, rude in his behaviour, and makes a very unlovely figure amongst men? Let him fill what station he will in the church, he bears but a disagreeable character in the house, and disgraces the family or the city where he dwells. What his secret virtues or graces are, we know not, for they shine all inward; he keeps all his goodness to himself, and never suffers his light to shine out amongst his neighbours.”

Can I bear that it should be said concerning me, “He seems indeed to have something of the love of God in him, but he is so rough in his natural temper, and so uncorrected in his manners, that scarce any man loves him? He may bend his knees to God in prayer, but he has not common civility towards men. His morality and honesty appear not upon him with honour: His virtue does not seem to sit well about him, and his religion is dressed in a very unpleasing form.” Is this the way to give reputation to the gospel? Is this to _adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things_; Tit. ii. 10. When we become christians, we _put away bitterness, and wrath, and clamour, and evil-speaking, and filthiness, and scurrilous jests_; Eph. iv. 31. and v. 4. We are commanded to _speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers_; but to be _gentle, and shew meekness to all_; Tit. iii. 2. _to prefer one another in honour; to bless, and curse not; to rejoice with them that rejoice, and to weep with them that weep; to condescend to men of low estate; and, if possible, to live peaceably with all men_; Rom. xii. 14, 15, 16-18.

Are there any souls here of this unpleasing character and carriage! Did you ever read these words in your bibles? Do ye think these are the commands of Christ, or no? You profess to love him above all, but what care have you taken to obey these precepts of his? or do you think the sublime practices of faith and adoration will make those lower duties needless? Have ye found the sweetness of being at peace with God, and tasted of the pleasures of his love; and can ye disregard all the practices and pleasures of love and peace among men?

We are not required indeed to sell truth for peace, nor strict godliness for the forms of civility. There is no need that we should conform ourselves to any of the sinful practices of this world, in order to fulfil the law of love. But wheresoever the customs of the place where we dwell are consistent with the strict and holy rules of Christ, we should practise them so far, as to render ourselves agreeable to those with whom we converse, that we may shine in the world as the honours of Christ, and that unbelievers may be won by our conversation, to come and hear our gospel, to learn the same faith, and embrace the same hope: Not only the things that are true, and honest, and just, and pure, but the things that are lovely in the sight of men, and things that are of good report, must be the subjects of our meditation, our learning, and practice; Phil. iv. 8. St. Paul, that great apostle, did not think these things unworthy of his care; he enjoins them upon the primitive christians from his own example, and promises them the presence of the God of peace. These are the things which I have taught you, saith he, these ye have heard and seen in me; conform your manners to these rules, and the God of peace shall be with you; ver. 9.

Believe me, friends, the natural habit of christianity is all decency and loveliness: We put the religion of our Saviour into a disguise, and make it look unlike itself, if our temper be sour and fretful, if our carriage be coarse and rude, and our speech savour of roughness and wrath. A Jew might make a better apology, for a harsh and severe deportment, than a christian could do; he might put on a morose air with better countenance, and plead the dispensation he was under, the bondage of the law, and the terrors of mount Sinai. But we under the gospel, are free-born; Gal. iv. 26-31. and our carriage should be ingenuous in all respects. John the baptist, in his garment of hair, may be indulged in a roughness of speech; he was but a forerunner of the gospel, and can hardly be called a christian: but the followers of the Lamb should have a mild aspect, a pleasing manner, that every one who beholds us may love us too; that the Son of God, if he were here upon earth, might look upon us and love us in both his natures, with a divine and human love.

Thirdly, The last address I would make to those who are furnished with every good quality, and every divine grace, who are beloved by God and men. Such a one was our Lord Jesus Christ in the days of his flesh: He, from his very childhood, grew in wisdom, and in stature, and in favour with God and man; Luke ii. 52. He had further discoveries of divine love made to him daily: and as his acquaintance increased in his younger years, so did his friends too, till his divine commission made it necessary for him to oppose the corruptions of his country, and reform a wicked age, and thus expose himself to the anger of a nation that would not be reformed. There was something lovely in his human nature, beyond the common appearance of mankind; for his body was a temple, in which the godhead dwelt in a peculiar and transcendent manner, and his soul was intimately united to divinity. I cannot but think, that, in a literal sense, he was _fairer than the children of men_, and that there was _grace in his lips_, and a natural sweetness in his language: Psal. xlv. 2. If the Jews beheld _no comeliness in him, if his visage was marred more than the sons of men_, it was because he _was a man of_ uncommon _sorrows, and acquainted with grief_; which might cast something of heaviness or gloom upon his countenance, or wear out the features of youth too soon. But surely our Lord, in the whole composition of his nature, in the mildness of his deportment, and in all the graces of conversation, was _the chiefest of ten thousands, and altogether lovely_. How amiable are those who are made like him?

Such was John the beloved disciple; you may read the temper of his soul in his epistles: What a spirit of love breathes in every line? What compassion and tenderness to the babes in Christ? What condescending affection to the young men, and hearty good-will to the fathers, who were then his equals in age? With what obliging language does he treat the beloved Gaius, in his third letter; and with how much civility, and hearty kindness, does he address the elect lady and her children, in the second? In his younger years, indeed, he seems to have something more of fire and vehemence, for which he was surnamed _A son of thunder_; Mark iii. 17. But our Lord saw so much good temper in him, mixed with that sprightliness and zeal, that he expressed much pleasure in his company, and favoured him with peculiar honours and endearments above the rest. This is the disciple who was taken into the holy mount with James and Peter, and saw our Lord glorified before the time; this is the disciple who leaned on his bosom at the holy supper, and was indulged the utmost freedom of conversation with his Lord; John xiii. 23, 24, 25. This is the man who obtained this glorious title, _The disciple whom Jesus loved_; that is, with a distinguishing and particular love. As God, and as a Saviour, he loved them all like saints; but as man, he loved St. John like a friend; John xxi. 20. and when hanging upon the cross and just expiring, he committed his mother to his care; a most precious and convincing pledge of special friendship.

O how happy are the persons who most nearly resemble this apostle, who are thus privileged, thus divinely blessed! How infinitely are ye indebted to God your Benefactor, and your Father, who has endowed you with so many valuable accomplishments on earth, and assures you of the happiness of heaven? It is he who has made you fair, or wise; it is he who has given you ingenuity, or riches, or, perhaps, has favoured you with all these; and yet has weaned your hearts from the love of this world, and led you to the pursuit of eternal life: It is he that has cast you in so refined a mould, and given you so sweet a disposition, that has inclined you to sobriety and every virtue, has raised you to honour and esteem, has made you possessors of all that is desirable in this life, and appointed you a nobler inheritance in that which is to come. What thankfulness does every power of your natures owe to your God? that heaven looks down upon you, and loves you, and the world around you fix their eyes upon you, and love you: That God has formed you in so bright a resemblance of his own Son, his first-beloved, and has ordained you joint-heirs of heaven with him; Rom. viii. 17.

Watch hourly against the temptations of pride; remember the fallen angels, and their once exalted station; and have a care lest ye also _be puffed up, and fall into the condemnation of the devil_. Walk before God with exactest care, and in deepest humility. Let that divine veil be spread over all your honours, that as you are the fairest images of Christ, ye may be dressed like him too; for he who is the highest Son of God, is also the holiest of the sons of men; he who is personally united to the godhead, and is one with his Creator, is the humblest of every creature.

HYMN FOR SERMON VIII.
_A Hopeful Youth falling Short of Heaven._

Thus far ’tis well: You read, you pray,
You hear God’s holy word,
You hearken what your parents say,
And learn to serve the Lord.

Your friends are pleas’d to see your ways,
Your practice they approve:
Jesus himself would give you praise,
And look with eyes of love.

But if you quit the paths of truth,
To follow foolish fires,
And give a loose to giddy youth,
With all its wild desires.

If you will let your Saviour go,
To hold your riches fast;
Or hunt for empty joys below,
You’ll lose your heaven at last.

The rich young man whom Jesus lov’d
Should warn you to forbear!
His love of earthly treasures prov’d
A fatal golden snare.

See, gracious God, dear Saviour, see
How youth is prone to fall:
Teach them to part with all for thee,
And love thee more than all.

Footnote 22:

This discourse was delivered at Tunbridge-wells.

SERMON IX.
_The Hidden Life of a Christian._
COL. iii. 3.—For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
THE FIRST PART.

Death and life are two words of a solemn and important sound. They carry so much of force and moment in them, as must awaken mankind to attention; and therefore the Spirit of God often uses them as metaphors, to express things unseen and spiritual, and to describe the state both of saints and sinners: So that all who are alive on the face of the earth, in the language of scripture, are said to be dead too, but in different senses. Those who are in a state of nature, and under the power of sin, unpardoned and unsanctified, are dead in trespasses and sins; yet they live the life of brutes in the lusts of the flesh, or the life of devils in the lusts of the mind; Eph. ii. 1, 2. Those who are recovered from the fall, and brought into a state of grace by the gospel of Christ, are said to be dead also; that is, they are dead to sin; Rom. vi. 11. and they are crucified, and so dead to the world; Gal. vi. 14. The delights of sin are hateful to them, so that they allure them not to forsake their God; and the lawful enjoyments of life are so far tasteless to the saints, in comparison of the things of heaven, that they have much less influence, than once they had, to tempt them away from God, and from the practice of holiness.

It is in this sense the christian Colossians are said to be dead in my text. But they have another, a new life, and that of a different kind; such as is mentioned in this verse, and which is hid with Christ in God; and it is this hidden life shall be the chief subject of my discourse.

These latter words of the text afford two plain and easy propositions or doctrines.

I. That the life of a christian is a hidden life.—II. That it is hid with Christ in God. Let us meditate on them in order.

Doctrine I. A christian’s life is a hidden life.—Here we shall, _First_, Consider what is this life, which is said to be hidden. And, _Secondly_, In what respects it is so.

_First_, What is this life of a christian which is said to be hidden?

Not the animal life, whereby he eats, drinks, sleeps, moves and walks; this is visible enough to all about him. Not the civil life, as he stands in relation to other men in the world, whether as a son, as a father, a master, or a servant, a trader, a labourer, or an officer in the state: For all these are public, and seen of men.

But the hidden life is that whereby he is a christian indeed; his spiritual life, wherein he is devoted to God, and lives to the purposes of heaven and eternity. And this is the same life, which, in other parts of scripture, is called eternal; for the life of grace survives the grave, and is prolonged into glory. The same life of piety and inward pleasure, which begins on earth, is fulfilled in heaven; and it may be called the spiritual, or the eternal life, according to different respects; for it is the same continued life acting in different stations or places, and running through time and eternity; 1 John v. 11, 12. Eternal life is in the Son, and he that hath the Son, hath this life; it is begun in him, he is already possessed of it in some degree.

As the life of the child is the same with that of the full-grown man; as the same vital principles and powers run through the several successive stages of infancy, youth and manhood; so the divine life of a saint, begun on earth, runs through this world, through death, and the separate state of souls; it appears in full-grown perfection, in the final heaven, when the whole saint shall stand complete in glory. Thus the spiritual life of a christian is eternal life begun; and eternal life is the spiritual life made perfect.

If we would describe this life in short, it may be represented thus: It is a life of faith, holiness and peace; a life of faith, or dependance upon God for all that we want; a life of holiness, rendering back again to God, in a way of honour and service, whatsoever we receive from him in a way of mercy; and a life of peace in the comfortable sense of the favour of God, and our acceptance with him through Jesus Christ. All these begin on earth, and in this sense faith itself, as well as peace and holiness, shall abide in heaven: we shall for ever be dependants, for ever happy and for ever holy.

In a state of nature the man lived such a sinful and carnal life, that was more properly called death; but when he becomes a believer, a true christian, he is new created; 2 Cor. v. 17. hew-born; John iii. 3, raised from the dead, and quickened to a new life; Eph. ii. 1, 5. which is called being risen with Christ, in the verses before my text; Col. iii. 1. And this very spiritual life, as the effect of our symbolical resurrection with Christ, is the subject of several verses of the 6th chapter to the Romans, whence I cannot but infer the same to be designed here, _viz._ that the christian who is dead to sin, is risen with Christ, and alive to God; as Rom. vi. 11. All the life that he lived before, with all the shew and bravery of it, with all the bustle and business, the entertainments and delights of it, was but a mere dream, a fancy, the picture of life, a shadow and emptiness, and but little above the brutes that perish. Now he lives a real, a substantial, a divine life, a-kin to God and angels, and quite of a different nature from what the men of this world live.

There is this difference indeed which the scripture makes between the spiritual life and the eternal. The first chiefly respects the operations of the soul, for the life of the body is not immortal here: the second includes soul and body too, for both shall possess immortality hereafter. The first is attended with many difficulties and sorrows; the second is all ease and pleasure. The first is represented as the labour and service: the last, as the great, though unmerited, reward; Gal. vi. 8. He that soweth to the Spirit, and fulfils the duties of the spiritual life, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. The one is the life of holiness and inward peace, though mingled with many defects, and surrounded with a thousand disadvantages and trials: the other, is the same life of holiness and peace, having surmounted every difficulty, shining and exulting in full joy and glory.

_Secondly_, We come to consider, in what respect this life may be called a hidden life.

And here I shall distinguish that part of it, which is more usually called the spiritual life, and is exercised in this world, from that which is more frequently called life eternal, and belongs rather to the world to come: and then I shall make distinct inferences from the consideration of each.

Now let us consider wherein the spiritual life is said to be hidden.

I. The acts and exercises of it are secret and unknown to the public world. The saint is much engaged in the important and hidden concerns of his divine life; and his converse is with God and Christ, who dwell in the world of invisibles.

Who knows the secret transactions between God and the soul of a christian, when he first entered into covenant with God, through Christ the Mediator, and began this happy life? Who can tell the inward workings of his spirit towards Jesus Christ his Lord in the first efforts of his faith, and embraces of our Saviour? Who was acquainted with the secret sorrows of his soul, when he was first set a mourning for his past sins, and humbled himself in bitterness before God; Or who can express the surprizing delight, and secret satisfaction he felt at heart, when God communicated to him the first lively hope of forgiveness and divine salvation? O the unknown joys of such an hour which some christians have experienced, when a divine beam of light shone into their souls, and revealed Jesus Christ within them, as St. Paul speaks: when they saw his all-sufficiency of righteousness and grace, to answer their infinite necessities; and when they durst believe in him as their Saviour!

And as the beginnings of this life are hidden from the world, so the exercises and progress of it are a secret too. While the world is following after idols and vanity, the christian, in his retired chamber, breathes after his God and his Redeemer, and gives a loose to his warmest affections, in the pursuit of his Almighty Friend, and his best beloved. While the men of this world are vexing their spirits, and fretting under present disappointments, he dwells in a lonesome corner, mourning for his sins and follies. And at another time, while the children of vanity grow proud in public, and boast of their large possessions, and inheritances, he rejoices in secret, in the hope of glory, and takes divine delight in the fore-thought of his better inheritance among the saints: his conversation is in heaven; _Phil._ iii. 20.

I might run through all the exercises of the sanctified affections, and the various parts of the divine worship, and of the conduct of a saint among the children of men. With what humble fear does he entertain the mention of the name of God? With what deep self-abasement, and inward adoration? At the presence of sin how is his anger stirred? and his holy watchfulness when temptations appear? how does he labour and wrestle, fight and strive, lest he be overcome by the secret enemies of his soul? And as his bitterness of heart is unknown to the world, so _a stranger intermeddles not with his joy_; Prov. xiv. 10. He feeds on the same provision which his Lord Jesus did on earth, for it his meat and his drink to do the will of his Father which is in heaven; This is a feast to the christian, which the world knows not of; John iv. 32, 34.

II. The springs and principles of this life are hidden and unknown to the world; and therefore the world esteems many of the actions of a true christian very strange and unaccountable things, as we shall shew afterward, because they see not the springs of them.

The word of God, or the gospel, with all the hidden treasures of it, is the chief instrument, or means, whereby this divine life is wrought and supported in the soul. The true christian beholds the purity of God in the precepts; he reads grace, heaven, and glory, in the promises; he sees the words of the bible in a divine light, and feeds sweetly on the hidden blessings of scripture, deriving life, and nourishment, and joy from it; whereas the carnal world go not far beyond the letters and syllables. The gospel, which is all light and glory to a saint, is hidden to them that are lost; 2 Cor. iv. 3. This same gospel is written in the heart of a christian, and is the principle of his life there. This is immortal and incorruptible, the seed of the word abiding in the heart; the image of the eternal God, drawn out in such characters as our nature can bear: For the written word is a transcript of God’s holiness; and when it is inwrought into all the powers of a believing soul, it becomes a vital principle within him for ever. A believer is, as it were, cast in the very mould of the gospel; so the word signifies; Rom. vi. 17. This is the word hidden in the heart, that secures the saint from sin; Ps. cxix. 11.

The motives and springs that awaken a christian to keep up, and maintain this spiritual life, are things hidden from the eyes of the world; things eternal and invisible, 2 Cor. iv. 18. _While we look not at the things that are seen, that are temporal; but at the things that are unseen, and eternal_; we then count the joys or sorrows of this world, things of little importance; then we live like christians, and the life of our Lord Jesus is manifested, or copied out, in our lives; as ver. 10, 11.

The habits of grace and holiness in the hearts of believers, whence all the actions of the spiritual life proceed, are secret and hidden. Who knows how they were wrought at first? how this heavenly breath, this divine life was infused, which changed a dead sinner into a living saint? Our Saviour himself compares this work of the Spirit to the wind; John iii. 8. _We hear the sound_, we feel and see the effects of it, _but we know not whence it comes, nor whither it goes; so is every one that is born of the Spirit_. Who can describe those secret and almighty influences of the blessed Spirit on the mind and will of man, which work with such a sovereign, and yet such a gentle, and con-natural agency, that the believer himself hardly knows it, but by the gracious effects of it, and the blessed alterations wrought in his soul.

It is this glorious Agent, this Creator, this blessed Spirit, who is the uncreated principle of this life. The Spirit, as proceeding from our Lord Jesus Christ, begun this life at first in the soul: and the same glorious unseen power carries it on through all difficulties and oppositions, and will fulfil it in glory.

I must add also, that Christ himself, who is said to be our life in the verse following my text, is at present hidden from us; he dwells in the unseen world, and the heavens must receive him till the restitution of all things; Acts iii. 21. Christ Jesus is the bread from heaven; John vi. 32, 33. by which the believer is nourished; he is the hidden manna, the divine food of souls: It is upon him the christian lives daily and hourly; it is upon the blood of the Lamb, which is carried up to the mercy-seat, that the believer lives for pardon and peace with God: It is upon the righteousness of his Lord and Head, that he lives for his everlasting acceptance before the throne; it is upon the grace and strength of Christ, that he rests and depends all the day, when he is called forth to encounter the boldest temptations, to fulfil the most difficult duties, or to sustain the heaviest strokes of a painful providence. “_Surely_, saith the saint, _in the Lord alone have I righteousness and strength_; Is. xlv. 24. In the Lord my Saviour, whom the world sees not; but I see him by the eye of faith.”

I shall enlarge farther on this subject under the second doctrine.

Thus, whether we consider the spiritual acts and exercises of this christian life, or the springs and principles of it, still we shall find it has just reason to be called a secret, or a hidden life.

Before I proceed, I shall lay down these two cautions:

1st Caution. Though it is a hidden life, yet I entreat my christian friends, that they would not suffer it to be such a secret, as to be unknown to themselves. God has ordained it to be hidden, not that it might always be unknown to you, but that you might search after it with diligence; and that when you find yourselves possessed of it, you might rejoice in the evidences of your life and his love. Be not satisfied then, O ye professors of the gospel! until you have searched and found this divine life within you. What a poor life must that christian live, who goes from day to day, and from year to year, and still complains, I know not whether I am alive or no!