Chapter IX: Part 9

3. You have therefore good reason to believe, he is not only able, but _willing_ to do this, to _cleanse you from all your filthiness of flesh and spirit_, to _save you from all your uncleannesses_. This is the thing which you now long for: this is the faith which you now particularly need, namely, that the great Physician, the lover of my soul, is willing to _make me clean_. But is he willing to do this to-morrow or to-day? Let him answer for himself. _To day, if ye will hear my voice, harden not your hearts._ If you put it off till to-morrow, you _harden your hearts_: you refuse to _hear his voice_. Believe therefore that he is willing to save you _to-day_. He is willing to save you _now_. _Behold, now is the accepted time._ He now saith, _Be thou clean_! Only believe; and you also will immediately find, _all things are possible to him that believeth_.

4. Continue to believe in him _that loved_ thee, _and gave himself for_ thee, that _bore all_ thy _sins in his own body on the tree_, and he saveth thee from all condemnation, by his blood continually applied. Thus it is that we continue in a justified state. And when we go on _from faith to faith_, when we have faith to be cleansed from indwelling sin, to be saved from all our uncleannesses, we are likewise saved from all that _guilt_, that _desert_ of punishment, which we felt before. So that then we may say not only

Every moment, Lord, I _want_
The merit of thy death:

But likewise, in the full assurance of faith,

Every moment, Lord, I _have_
The merit of thy death!

For by that faith in his life, death and intercession for us, renewed from moment to moment, we are every whit clean, and there is not only now no condemnation for us, but no such desert of punishment as was before, the Lord cleansing both our hearts and lives.

5. By the same faith, we feel the power of Christ every moment resting upon us, whereby alone we are what we are, whereby we are enabled to continue in spiritual life, and without which, notwithstanding all our present holiness, we should be devils the next moment. But as long as we retain our faith in him, we _draw water out of the wells of salvation_. Leaning on our Beloved, even Christ in us the hope of glory, who dwelleth in our hearts by faith, who likewise is ever interceding for us at the right hand of God, we receive help from him to think, and speak, and act what is acceptable in his sight. Thus does he prevent them that believe in all their doings, and further them with his continual help, so that all their designs, conversations and actions, are “begun, continued and ended in him.” Thus doth he “cleanse the thoughts of their hearts, by the inspiration of his holy Spirit, that they may perfectly love him, and worthily magnify his holy name.”

6. Thus it is, that in the children of God, repentance and faith exactly answer each other. By repentance we feel the sin remaining in our hearts, and cleaving to our words and actions. By faith we receive the power of God in Christ, purifying our hearts and cleansing our hands. By repentance we are still sensible that we deserve punishment for all our tempers and words and actions. By faith we are conscious, that our Advocate with the Father is continually pleading for us, and thereby continually turning aside all condemnation and punishment from us. By repentance we have an abiding conviction, that there is no help in us. By faith we receive not only mercy, but _grace to help_ in every _time of need_. Repentance disclaims the very possibility of any other help. Faith accepts all the help we stand in need of, from him that hath all power in heaven and earth. Repentance says, Without him I can do nothing: faith says, _I can do all things through Christ strengthening me_. Through him I cannot only overcome, but expel all the enemies of my soul. Through him I can _love the Lord_ my _God, with all my heart, mind, soul and strength_: yea and _walk in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of my life_.

III. 1. From what has been said we may easily learn the mischievousness of that opinion, that we are _wholly_ sanctified when we are justified: that our hearts are then cleansed from all sin. It is true, we are then delivered (as was observed before) from the dominion of outward sin: and at the same time the power of inward sin is so broken, that we need no longer follow or be led by it. But it is by no means true, that inward sin is then totally destroyed, that the root of pride, self-will, anger, love of the world is then taken out of the heart, or that the carnal mind and the heart bent to backsliding are entirely extirpated. And to suppose the contrary is not, as some may think an innocent, harmless mistake. No: it does immense harm; it entirely blocks up the way to any farther change. For it is manifest, _they that are whole do not need a physician, but they that are sick_. If therefore we think we are quite made whole already, there is no room to seek any farther healing. On this supposition it is absurd to expect a farther deliverance from sin, whether gradual or instantaneous.

2. On the contrary, a deep conviction that we are not yet whole, that our hearts are not fully purified, that there is yet in us _a carnal mind_, which is still in its nature _enmity against God_; that a whole body of sin remains in our heart, weakened indeed, but not destroyed, shews beyond all possibility of doubt, the absolute necessity of a farther change. We allow, that at the very moment of justification, we are _born again_: in that instant we experience that inward change, from _darkness into marvellous light_; from the image of the brute and the devil, into the image of God, from the earthly, sensual, devilish mind, to the mind which was in Christ Jesus. But are we then _entirely_ changed? Are we _wholly_ transformed into the image of him that created us? Far from it: we still retain a depth of sin: and it is the consciousness of this, which constrains us to groan for a full deliverance, to him that is mighty to save. Hence it is, that those believers who are not convinced of the deep corruption of their hearts, or but slightly and as it were notionally convinced, have little concern about _entire sanctification_. They may possibly hold the opinion, that such a thing is to be, either at death, or some time, they know not when, before it. But they have no great uneasiness for the want of it, and no great hunger or thirst after it. They cannot, until they know themselves better, until they repent in the sense above described, until God unveils the inbred monster’s face, and shews them the real state of their souls. Then only, when they feel the burden, will they groan for deliverance from it. Then and not till then will they cry out, in the agony of their soul,

Break off the yoke of inbred sin
And fully set my spirit free!
I cannot rest, till pure within,
Till I am wholly lost in thee!

3. We may learn from hence, secondly, that a deep conviction of our _demerit_ after we are accepted, (which in one sense may be termed _guilt_) is absolutely necessary, in order to our seeing the true value of the atoning blood; in order to our feeling that we need this as much, after we are justified, as ever we did before. Without this conviction we cannot but account the blood of the covenant _as a common thing_, something of which we have not now any great need, seeing all our past sins are blotted out. Yea, but if both our hearts and lives are thus unclean, there is a kind of guilt which we are contracting every moment, and which of consequence would every moment expose us to fresh condemnation, but that

He ever lives above,
For us to intercede,
His all-atoning love,
His precious blood to plead.

It is this repentance and the faith intimately connected with it, which are expressed in those strong lines.

“I sin in every breath I draw,
Nor do thy will, nor keep thy law
On earth as angels do above:
But still the fountain open stands,
Washes my feet, my heart, my hands,
Till I am perfected in love.”

4. We may observe, thirdly, a deep conviction of our utter _helplessness_, of our total inability to retain any thing we have received, much more to deliver ourselves from the world of iniquity remaining both in our hearts and lives, teaches us truly to live upon Christ by faith, not only as our priest, but as our king. Hereby we are brought to “magnify him” indeed, to “give him all the glory of his grace,” to “make him a whole Christ, an entire Saviour,” and truly to “set the crown upon his head.” These excellent words, as they have frequently been used, have little or no meaning. But they are fulfilled in a strong and a deep sense, when we thus, as it were, go out of ourselves, in order to be swallowed up in him; when we sink into nothing, that he may be all in all. Then his almighty grace having abolished _every high thing which exalted itself against_ him, every temper, and thought, and word, and work is _brought to the obedience of Christ_.

LONDONDERRY,
_April 24, 1767_.

SERMON XV.[28]

THE GREAT ASSIZE:

ROM. xiv. 10.

_We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ._

1. HOW many circumstances concur, to raise the awfulness of the present solemnity? The general _concourse_ of people of every age, sex, rank and condition of life, willingly or unwillingly gathered together, not only from the neighbouring but from distant parts! _Criminals_, speedily to be brought forth, and having no way to escape: _officers_ waiting in their various posts, to execute the orders which shall be given: and the _Representative_ of our Gracious Sovereign, whom we so highly reverence, and honour. The _occasion_ likewise of this assembly, adds not a little to the solemnity of it: to hear and determine causes of every kind, some of which are of the most important nature: on which depends no less than life or death; death, that uncovers the face of eternity! It was doubtless in order to increase the serious sense of these things, and not in the minds of the vulgar only, that the wisdom of our forefathers did not disdain to appoint even several minute circumstances of this solemnity. For these also, by means of the eye or ear, may more deeply affect the heart. And when viewed in this light, trumpets, staves, apparel, are no longer trifling or insignificant, but subservient in their kind and degree to the most valuable ends of society.

2. But as awful as this solemnity is, one far more awful is at hand. For yet a little while, and _we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God._ And in that day, _every one of us shall give account of himself to God_.

3. Had all men a deep sense of this, how effectually would it secure the interests of society? For what more forcible motive can be conceived, to the practice of genuine morality? to a steddy pursuit of solid virtue? an uniform walking in justice, mercy, and truth? What could strengthen our hands in all that is good, and deter us from all evil, like a strong conviction of this, _the Judge standeth at the door_: and we are shortly to _stand before him_?

4. It may not therefore be improper, or unsuitable to the design of the present assembly, to consider,

I. The chief circumstances which will precede our standing before the judgment seat of Christ.

II. The judgment itself, and,

III. A few of the circumstances which will follow it.

I. Let us, in the first place, consider the chief circumstances which will precede our standing before the judgment seat of Christ.

And 1st, _God will shew signs in the earth beneath_:[29] particularly he will _arise to shake terribly the earth. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage. There shall be earthquakes_[30] κατὰ τόπους not in divers only, but _in all places_: not in one only, or a few, but in every part of the habitable world: even _such as were not, since men were upon the earth, so mighty earthquakes and so great_. In one of these _every island shall flee away, and the mountains will not be found_.[31] Meantime all the waters of the terraqueous globe will feel the violence of those concussions: _the sea and waves roaring_,[32] with such an agitation as had never been known before, since the hour that _the fountains of the great deep were broken up_, to destroy the earth which then _stood out of the water and in the water_. The air will be all storm and tempest, full of dark _vapours and pillars of smoak_;[33] resounding with thunder from pole to pole, and torn with ten thousand lightnings. But the commotion will not stop in the region of the air: _the powers of heaven_ also _shall be shaken.[34] There shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars_; those fixt, as well as those that move round them. _The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.[35] The stars shall withdraw their shining_,[36] yea and _fall from heaven_, being thrown out of their orbits. And then shall be heard the universal _shout_[37] from all the companies of heaven, followed by _the voice of the arch-angel_, proclaiming the approach of the Son of God and man, _and the trumpet of God_, sounding an alarm to _all that sleep in the dust of the earth_. In consequence of this all the graves shall open, and the bodies of men arise. _The sea also shall give up the dead which are therein_,[38] and every one shall rise with _his own body_: his own in substance, although so changed in its properties, as we cannot now conceive. For _this corruptible will_ then _put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality_.[39] Yea, _death and hades_, the invisible world shall _deliver up the dead that are in them_. So that all who ever lived and died since God created man, shall be raised incorruptible and immortal.

2. At the same time _the Son of man shall send forth his angels_ over all the earth, _and they shall gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other_.[40] And the Lord himself shall _come with clouds, in his own glory, and the glory of his Father, with ten thousand of his saints, even myriads of angels_, and _shall sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, and shall set the sheep_, the good, _on his right hand, and the goats_, the wicked, _upon the left_.[41] Concerning this general assembly it is, that the beloved disciple speaks thus: _I saw the dead_, all that had been dead, _small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened_ (a figurative expression, plainly referring to the manner of proceeding among men) _and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works_.[42]

II. These are the chief circumstances which are recorded in the oracles of God, as preceding the general judgment. We are secondly, to consider the judgment itself, so far as it hath pleased God to reveal it.

1. The person by whom God _will judge the world_ is his only begotten Son whose _goings forth are from everlasting, who is God over all, blessed for ever_. Unto him, being _the out-beaming of his Father’s glory, the express image of his person_,[43] the Father _hath committed all judgment, because he is the Son of man_:[44] because tho’ he was _in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, yet he emptied himself, taking upon him the form of a servant, being made in the ♦likeness of men_.[45] Yea, because _being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself_ yet farther, _becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him_, even in his human nature, and _ordained him_ as man to try the children of men, to be the _judge both of the quick and dead_; both of those who shall be found alive at his coming, and of those who were before _gathered to their fathers_.

2. The time, termed by the prophet, _the great and the terrible day_, is usually in scripture stiled _the day of the Lord_. The space from the creation of man upon the earth to the end of all things, is _the day of the sons of men_: the time that is now passing over us, is properly _our day_. When this is ended, _the day of the Lord_ will begin. But who can say, how long it will continue? _With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day._[46] And from this very expression some of the ancient fathers drew that inference, that, what is commonly called, _the day of judgment_, would be indeed a thousand years. And it seems they did not go beyond the truth: nay, probably they did not come up to it. For if we consider the number of persons who are to be judged, and of actions which are to be enquired into, it does not appear, that a thousand years will suffice for the transactions of that day. So that it may not improbably comprise several thousand years. But God shall reveal this also in its season.

3. With regard to the place where mankind will be judged, we have no explicit account in scripture. An eminent writer (but not he alone; many have been of the same opinion) supposes it will be on earth, where the works were done, according to which they shall be judged, and that God will in order thereto employ the angels of his strength,

“To smooth and lengthen out the boundless space,
And spread an area for all human race.”

But perhaps it is more agreeable to our Lord’s own account, of his _coming in the clouds_, to suppose it will be above the earth, if not “twice a planetary height.” And this supposition is not a little favoured, by what St. _Paul_ writes to the _Thessalonians_. _The dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who remain alive, shall be caught up together with them, in the clouds_,[47] to meet the Lord in the air. So that it seems most probable, the _great white throne_, will be high exalted above the earth.

4. The persons to be judged, who can count any more than the drops of rain, or the sands of the sea? I beheld, saith St. _John_, _a great multitude which no man can number_, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. How immense then must be the total multitude, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues? Of all that have sprung from the loins of _Adam_, since the world began, till time shall be no more? If we admit the common supposition, which seems no ways absurd, that the earth bears at any one time, no less than four hundred millions, of living souls, men women and children: what a congregation must all those generations make, who have succeeded each other for seven thousand years?

“Great Xerxes world in arms, proud _Cannæ’s_ host,
They all are here: and here they all are lost.
Their numbers swell to be discerned in vain;
Lost as a drop in the unbounded main.”

* Every man, every woman, every infant of days that ever breathed the vital air, will then hear the voice of the Son of God, and start into life, and appear before him. And this seems to be the natural import of that expression, _the dead, small and great_: all universally, all without exception, all of every age, sex or degree; all that ever lived and died, or underwent such a change as will be equivalent with death. For long before that day the phantom of human greatness disappears and sinks into nothing. Even in the moment of death, that vanishes away. Who is rich or great in the grave?

5. And every man shall there _give an account of his own works_, yea, a full and true account, of all that he ever did while in the body, whether it was good or evil. O what a scene will then be disclosed, in the sight of angels and men! While, not the fabled _Radamanthus_, but the Lord God Almighty, who knoweth all things in heaven and earth,

_Castigatque auditque dolos; subigitque fateri
Quæ quis apud superos, furto lætatus inani,
Distulit in seram commissa piacula mortem._

Nor will all the actions alone of every child of man, be then brought to open view, but all their words: seeing _every idle word which men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment_.[48] So that _by thy words_ as well as works, _thou shalt be justified; or by thy words thou shalt be condemned_. Will not God then bring to light every circumstance also, that accompanied every word or action, and if not altered the nature, yet lessened or increased the goodness or badness of them? And how easy is this to him, who is _about our bed and about our path, and spieth out all our ways_? We know, _the darkness is no darkness to him, but the night shineth as the day_.

6. Yea, he _will bring to light_ not _the hidden works of darkness_ only, but the very _thoughts and intents of the hearts_. And what marvel? For he _searcheth the reins, and understandeth all our thoughts. All things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Hell and destruction are before him without a covering. How much more the hearts of the children of men?_

7. And in that day shall be discovered every inward working of every human soul: every appetite, passion, inclination, affection, with the various combinations of them, with every temper and disposition that constitute the whole complex character of each individual. So shall it be clearly and infallibly seen, who was righteous, and who unrighteous; and in what degree every action, or person, or character was either good or evil.

8. _Then the king will say to them upon his right-hand, Come ye blessed of my Father. For I was hungry and ye gave me meat, thirsty and ye gave me drink, I was a stranger and ye took me in, naked and ye cloathed me._ In like manner, all the good they did upon earth, will be recited before men and angels: whatsoever they had done either _in word or deed, in the name_, or for the sake, _of the Lord Jesus_. All their good desires, intentions, thoughts, all their holy dispositions, will also be then remembered; and it will appear, that though they were unknown or forgotten among men, yet God _noted_ them _in his book_. All their sufferings likewise for the name of Jesus, and for the testimony of a good conscience will be displayed, _unto_ their _praise_ from the righteous Judge, their _honour_ before saints and angels, and the increase of that _far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory_.

9. But will their evil deeds too (since if we take in his whole life, _there is not a man on earth that liveth and sinneth not_) will these be remembered in that day, and mentioned in the great congregation? Many believe they will not, and ask, “Would not this imply, that their sufferings were not at an end, even when life ended? Seeing they would still have, sorrow, and shame and confusion of face to endure?” They ask farther, how can this be reconciled with God’s declaration by the prophet. _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; all his transactions that he hath committed, they shall not be once mentioned unto him._[49] How is it consistent with the promise which God has made, to all who accept of the gospel-covenant, _I will forgive their iniquities, and remember their sin no more_?[50] Or as the apostle expresses it, _I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more_?[51]

10. * It may be answered, it is apparently and absolutely necessary, for the full display of the glory of God, for the clear and perfect manifestation of his wisdom, justice, power and mercy toward the heirs of salvation, that all the circumstances of their life should be placed in open view, together with all their tempers, and all the desires, thoughts and intents of their hearts. Otherwise how would it appear out of what a depth of sin and misery the grace of God had delivered them? And, indeed, if the whole lives of all the children of men were not manifestly discovered, the whole amazing contexture of Divine Providence could not be manifested: nor should we yet be able in a thousand instances,

To “justify the ways of God to man.”

Unless our Lord’s words were fulfilled in their utmost sense, without any restriction or limitation, _there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, or hid that shall not be known_,[52] abundance of God’s dispensations under the sun would still appear without their reasons. And then only when God hath brought to light all the hidden things of darkness, whosoever were the actors therein, will it be seen that wise and good were all his ways: that he _saw through the thick cloud_, and governed all things by the wise _counsel of his own will_: that nothing was left to chance or the caprice of men, but God disposed all _strongly and sweetly_, and wrought all into one connected chain of justice, mercy, and truth.

11. And in the discovery of the divine perfections, the righteous will rejoice with joy unspeakable; far from feeling any painful sorrow or shame, for any of those past transgressions, which were long since blotted out as a cloud, washed away by the blood of the Lamb. It will be abundantly sufficient for them, that _all the transgressions which they had committed, shall not be once mentioned unto them_, to their disadvantage; that _their sins and transgressions and iniquities shall be remembered no more_, to their condemnation. This is the plain meaning of the promise: and this all the children of God shall find true, to their everlasting comfort.

12. After the righteous are judged, the King will turn to them upon his left hand, and they shall also be judged, every man _according to his works_. But not only their outward works will be brought into the account, but all the evil words which they have ever spoken; yea, all the evil desires, affections, tempers, which have or have had, a place in their souls, and all the evil thoughts or designs which were ever cherished in their hearts. The joyful sentence of acquital will then be pronounced upon those upon the right hand: the dreadful sentence of condemnation upon those on the left: both of which must remain fixt and unmoveable, as the throne of God.

III. 1. We may, in the third place, consider a few of the circumstances which will follow the general judgment. And the first is the execution of the sentence pronounced on the evil and on the good. _These shall go away into eternal punishment, and the righteous into life eternal._ It should be observed, it is the very same word which is used, both in the former and the latter clause: it follows, that either the punishment lasts for ever, or the reward too will come to an end. No, never, unless God could come to an end, or his mercy and truth could fail. _Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their father_, and shall _drink of those rivers of pleasure which are at God’s right hand for evermore_. But here all description falls short; all human language fails! only one who is caught up into the third heaven, can have a just conception of it. But even such an one cannot express what he hath seen: these things _it is not possible for man to utter_.

The wicked, meantime, _shall be turned into hell_, even _all the people that forget God_. They will be _punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power_. They will be _cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone_, originally _prepared for the devil and his angels_; where they will _gnaw their tongues_ for anguish and pain, they will _curse God and look upward_: there the dogs of hell, pride, malice, revenge, rage, horror, despair continually devour them. _There they have no rest, day or night, but the smoke of their torment ascendeth for ever and ever. For their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched._

2. Then the heavens will be shriveled up _as a parchment scroll, and pass away with a great noise_: they will _flee from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and there will be found no place for them_.[53] The very manner of their passing away is disclosed to us by the apostle _Peter_: _in the day of God, the heavens being on fire, shall be dissolved_.[54] * The whole beautiful fabric will be overthrown by that raging element, the connection of all its parts destroyed, and every atom torn asunder from the others. By the same _the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up_.[55] The enormous works of nature, _the everlasting hills_, mountains that have defied the rage of time, and stood unmoved so many thousand years, will sink down in fiery ruin. How much less will the works of art, though of the most durable kind, the utmost efforts of human industry, tombs, pillars, triumphal arches, castles, pyramids, be able to withstand the flaming conqueror. All, all will die, perish, vanish away, like a dream when one awaketh?

3. * It has indeed been imagined by some great and good men, that as it requires that same almighty power, to annihilate things as to create, to speak into nothing or out of nothing: so no part of, no atom in the universe, will be totally or finally destroyed. Rather, they suppose, that as the last operation of fire, which we have yet been able to observe, is to reduce into glass what by a smaller force it had reduced to ashes: so in the day God hath ordained, the whole earth, if not the material heavens also, will undergo this change, after which the fire can have no farther power over them. And they believe this is intimated by that expression in the _Revelation_ made to St. _John_, _Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like unto chrystal_.[56] We cannot now either affirm or deny this: but we shall know hereafter.

4. * If it be enquired by the scoffers, the minute philosophers, how can these things be? Whence should come such an immense quantity of fire as would consume the heavens and the whole terraqueous globe? We would beg leave, first, to remind them that this difficulty is not peculiar to the Christian system. The same opinion almost universally obtained among the _unbigoted_ Heathens. So one of those celebrated _free-thinkers_ speaks, according to the generally received sentiment;

_Esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur, affore tempus,
Quo mare, quo tellus, correptaque regia cœli
Ardeat, & mundi moles operosa laboret._

But, secondly, it is easy to answer, even from our slight and superficial acquaintance with natural things, that there are abundant magazines of fire ready prepared, and treasured up against the day of the Lord. How soon may a comet, commissioned by him, travel down from the most distant parts of the universe? And were it to fix upon the earth, in its return from the sun, when it is some thousand times hotter than a red-hot cannon-ball, who does not see what must be the immediate consequence? But, not to ascend so high as the ethereal heavens, might not the same lightnings which _give shine to the world_, if commanded by the Lord of nature, give ruin and utter destruction? Or, to go no farther than the globe itself: who knows what huge reservoirs of liquid fire are from age to age contained in the bowels of the earth? _Ætna_, _Hecla_, _Vesuvius_, and all the other vulcanoes that belch out flames and coals of fire, what are they, but so many proofs and mouths of those fiery furnaces? And at the same time so many evidences, that God hath in readiness wherewith to fulfil his word. Yea, were we to observe no more than the surface of the earth, and the things that surround us on every side, it is most certain (as a thousand experiments prove, beyond all possibility of denial) that we ourselves, our whole bodies are full of fire, as well as every thing round about us. Is it not easy, to make this ethereal fire visible even to the naked eye? And so produce thereby the very same effects on combustible matter, which are produced by culinary fire? Needs there then any more, than for God to unloose that secret chain, whereby this irresistible agent is now bound down, and lies quiescent in every particle of matter? And how soon would it tear the universal frame in pieces, and involve all in one common ruin?

5. There is one circumstance more which will follow the judgment, that deserves our serious consideration. _We look_, says the apostle, _according to his promise, for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness_.[57] The promise stands in the prophecy of _Isaiah_, _Behold I create new heavens and a new earth. And the former shall not be remembered_:[58] so great shall the glory of the latter be. These St. _John_ did behold in the visions of God. _I saw_, saith he, _a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away_.[59] And only _righteousness dwelt therein_. Accordingly he adds, _and I heard a great voice from_ the third _heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God_.[60] Of necessity therefore they will all be happy: _God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain.[61] There shall be no more curse; but they shall see his face_,[62] shall have the nearest access to, and thence the highest resemblance of him. This is the strongest expression in the language of scripture to denote the most perfect happiness. _And his name shall be on their foreheads._ They shall be openly acknowledged as God’s own property: and his glorious nature shall most visibly shine forth in them. _And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun: for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for ever and ever._

IV. It remains only, to apply the preceding considerations to all who are here before God. And are we not directly led so to do, by the present solemnity, which so naturally points us to that day, when the Lord _will judge the world in righteousness_? This therefore, by reminding us of that more awful season, may furnish many lessons of instruction. A few of these I may be permitted just to touch on. May God write them on all our hearts!

1. * And, first, _how beautiful are the feet_ of those who are sent by the wise and gracious providence of God, to execute justice on earth, to defend the injured, and punish the wrong-doer! Are they not _the ministers of God to us for good_, the grand supporters of the public tranquility, the patrons of innocence and virtue, the great security of all our temporal blessings? And does not every one of these represent not only an earthly prince, but the Judge of the earth? Him whose _name is written upon his thigh, King of kings and Lord of lords_! O that all these _sons of the right hand of the Most High_, may be holy as he is holy! Wise with the _wisdom that sitteth by his throne_, like him who is the eternal Wisdom of the Father! No respecters of persons, as he is none; but _rendering to every man according to his works_: like him inflexibly, inexorably just, though pitiful and of tender mercy: so shall they be terrible indeed to them that do evil, as _not bearing the sword in vain_. So shall the laws of our land have their full use and due honour, and the throne of our King be still _established in righteousness_.

2. * Ye truly honourable men, whom God and the king have commissioned, in a lower degree to administer justice: may not ye be compared to those ministering spirits who will attend the Judge coming in the clouds? May you, like them, burn with love to God and man! May you love righteousness and hate iniquity! May ye all minister in your several spheres (such honour hath God given you also!) to them that shall be heirs of salvation, and to the glory of your great Sovereign! May ye remain the establishers of peace, the blessing and ornaments of your country, the protectors of a guilty land, the guardian angels of all that are round about you!

3. You, whose office it is to execute what is given you in charge by him before whom you stand; how nearly are you concerned to resemble those, that stand before the face of the Son of man? Those _servants of his that do his pleasure, and hearken to the voice of his words_. Does it not highly import _you_, to be as uncorrupt as _them_? To approve yourselves the servants of God? To do justly and love mercy; to do to all as ye would they should do to you? So shall that great Judge, under whose eye you continually stand, say to you also, _Well done, good and faithful servants: enter ye into the joy of your Lord_!

4. Suffer me to add a few words to all of you who are at this day present before the Lord. Should not you bear it in your minds all the day long, that a more awful day is coming? A large assembly this! But what is it to that which every eye will then behold, the general assembly of all the children of men that ever lived on the face of the whole earth! A few will stand at the judgment seat this day, to be judged touching what shall be laid to their charge. And they are now reserved in prison, perhaps in chains, till they are brought forth to be tried and sentenced. But we shall all, I that speak and you that hear, _stand at the judgment seat of Christ_. And we are now reserved on this earth, which is not our home, in this prison of flesh and blood, perhaps many of us in chains of darkness too, till we are ordered to be brought forth. Here a man is questioned concerning one or two facts, which he is supposed to have committed. There we are to give an account of all our works, from the cradle to the grave; of all our words, of all our desires and tempers, all the thoughts and intents of our hearts: of all the use we have made of our various talents, whether of mind, body or fortune, till God said, _Give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayst be no longer steward_. In this court, it is possible some who are guilty, may escape for want of evidence. But there is no want of evidence in that court. All men with whom you had the most secret intercourse, who were privy to all your designs and actions are ready before your face. So are all the spirits of darkness, who inspired evil designs, and assisted in the execution of them. So are all the angels of God, those _eyes of the Lord, that run to and fro over all the earth_, who watched over your soul, and laboured for your good, so far as you would permit. So is your own conscience, a thousand witnesses in one, now no more capable of being either blinded or silenced, but constrained to know and to speak the naked truth, touching all your thoughts and words and actions. And is conscience as a thousand witnesses? Yea, but God is _as_ a thousand consciences! O who can stand before the face of _the great God, even our Saviour, Jesus Christ_.

See, see! He cometh! He maketh the clouds his chariots! He rideth upon the wings of the wind! A devouring fire goeth before him, and after him a flame burneth! See, he sitteth upon his throne, cloathed with light as with a garment, arrayed with majesty and honour! Behold his eyes are as a flame of fire, his voice as the sound of many waters!

How will ye escape? Will ye call to the mountains to fall on you, the rocks to cover you? Alas, the mountains themselves, the rocks, the earth, the heavens, are just ready to flee away! Can ye prevent the sentence? Wherewith? With all the substance of thy house, with thousands of gold and silver? Blind wretch! Thou camest naked from thy mother’s womb, and more naked into eternity. Hear the Lord, the Judge! _Come ye blessed of my Father! inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world._ Joyful sound! How widely different from that voice, which ♦echoes through the expanse of heaven, _Depart, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels_! And who is he, that can prevent or retard the full execution of either sentence? Vain hope! Lo, hell _is moved from beneath_, to receive those who are ripe for destruction! And the _everlasting doors lift up their heads_, that the heirs of glory may come in!

5. _What manner of persons_ then _ought we to be, in all holy conversation and godliness_? We know it cannot be long, before the Lord will descend with the _voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God_; when every one of us shall appear before him, and _give account of his own works. Wherefore, beloved_, seeing ye _look for these things_, seeing ye know, He will come and will not tarry, _be diligent that ye may be found of him, in peace, without spot and blameless_. Why should ye not? Why should one of you be found, on the left hand, at his appearing? He _willeth not that any should perish, but that all should come to_ repentance; by repentance to faith in a bleeding Lord; by faith to spotless love, to the full image of God renewed in the heart, and producing all holiness of conversation. Can you doubt of this, when you remember, the Judge of all, is likewise _the Saviour of all_? Hath he not bought you with his own blood, that ye might _not perish, but have everlasting life_? O make proof of his mercy rather than his justice! Of his love rather than the thunder of his power! _He is not far from every one of us_: and he is now come, _not to condemn, but to save the world_. He standeth in the midst! Sinner doth he not now, even now knock at the door of thy heart? O that thou mayst know, at least _in this thy day_, the things that belong unto thy peace! O that ye may now give yourselves to him who _gave himself for you_, in humble faith, in holy, active, patient love! So shall ye rejoice with exceeding joy _in his day_, when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.

SERMON XVI.

THE MEANS OF GRACE.

MALACHI iii. 7.

_Ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them._

I. 1. BUT are there any _ordinances_ now, since life and immortality were brought to light by the gospel? Are there under the Christian dispensation, any _means_ ordained of God, as the usual channels of his grace? This question could never have been proposed, in the apostolical church, unless by one who openly avowed himself to be a Heathen; the whole body of Christians being agreed, that Christ had ordained certain outward means, for conveying his grace into the souls of men. Their constant practice set this beyond all dispute; for so long as _all that believed were together, and had all things common_, (Acts ii. 44.) _they continued stedfastly in the teaching of the apostles, and in the breaking of bread and in prayers_, ver. 44.

2. But in process of time, when _the love of many waxed cold_, some began to mistake the _means_ for the _end_, and to place religion, rather in doing those outward works, than in a heart renewed after the image of God. They forgot, that _the end of_ every _commandment is love, out of a pure heart, with faith unfeigned_: the loving the Lord their God with all their heart, and their neighbour as themselves; and the being purified from pride, anger, and evil desire, by a _faith of the operation of God_. Others seemed to imagine, that though religion did not principally consist in these outward means, yet there was something in them wherewith God was well pleased, something that would still make them acceptable in his sight, though they were not exact in the weightier matters of the law, in justice, mercy, and the love of God.

3. It is evident, in those who abused them thus, they did not conduce to the end for which they were ordained. Rather, the things which should have been for their health, were to them an occasion of falling. They were so far from receiving any blessing therein, that they only drew down a curse upon their head: so far from growing more heavenly in heart and life, that they were twofold more the children of hell than before. Others clearly perceiving, that these means did not convey the grace of God to those children of the devil, began from this particular case to draw a general conclusion. “That they were not means of conveying the grace of God.”

4. Yet the number of those who _abused_ the ordinances of God, was far greater than of those who _despised_ them, till certain men arose, not only of great understanding, (sometimes joined with considerable learning) but who likewise appeared to be men of love, experimentally acquainted with true, inward religion. Some of these were burning and shining lights, persons famous in their generations, and such as had well deserved of the church of Christ, for standing in the gap against the overflowings of ungodliness.

It cannot be supposed, that these holy and venerable men, intended any more at first, than to shew that outward religion is nothing worth, without the religion of the heart: that _God is a spirit, and they who worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth_: that therefore external worship is lost labour, without a heart devoted to God: that the outward ordinances of God then profit much, when they advance inward holiness, but when they advance it not, are unprofitable and void, are lighter than vanity: yea, that when they are used, as it were, _in the place_ of this, they are an utter abomination to the Lord.

5. Yet it is not strange, if some of these, being strongly convinced, of that horrid profanation of the ordinances of God, which had spread itself over the whole church, and well nigh driven true religion out of the world; in their fervent zeal for the glory of God, and the recovery of souls from that fatal delusion, spake as if outward religion were _absolutely nothing_, as if it had _no_ place in the religion of Christ. It is not surprising at all, if they should not always have expressed themselves with sufficient caution. So that unwary hearers may believe, they condemned all outward means, as altogether unprofitable; and as not designed of God to be the ordinary channels of conveying his grace into the souls of men.

Nay, it is not impossible, some of these holy men did at length themselves fall into this opinion: in particular, those who, not by choice, but by the providence of God, were cut off from all these ordinances: perhaps wandering up and down, having no certain abiding-place, or dwelling in dens and caves of the earth. These experiencing the grace of God in themselves, though they were deprived of all outward means, might infer, that the same grace would be given to them, who of set purpose abstained from them.

6. And experience shews, how easily this notion spreads, and insinuates itself into the minds of men: especially of those who are throughly awakened out of the sleep of death, and begin to feel the weight of their sins, a burthen too heavy to be borne. These are usually impatient of their present state, and trying every way to escape from it. They are always ready to catch at any new thing, any new proposal of ease or happiness. They have probably tried most outward means, and found no ease in them: it may be, more and more of remorse and fear and sorrow and condemnation. It is easy therefore to persuade these, that it is better for them to abstain from all those means. They are already weary of striving (as it seems) in vain, of labouring in the fire: and are therefore glad of any pretence to cast aside that, wherein their soul has no pleasure; to give over the painful strife, and sink down into an indolent inactivity.

II. 1. In the following discourse, I propose to examine at large, whether there are any means of grace?

By _means of grace_ I understand, outward signs, words or actions, ordained of God, and appointed for this end, to be the _ordinary_ channels whereby he might convey to men, preventing, justifying or sanctifying grace.

I use this expression, “means of grace,” because I know none better, and because it has been generally used in the Christian church for many ages: in particular, by our own church, which directs us to bless God, both for the “_means of grace_ and hopes of glory;” and teaches us that a sacrament is “an outward sign of inward _grace_, and a _means_ whereby we receive the same.”

The chief of these means are prayer, whether in secret, or with the great congregation; searching the scriptures (which implies reading, hearing and meditating thereon) and receiving the Lord’s supper, eating bread and drinking wine in remembrance of him; and these we believe to be ordained of God, as the ordinary channels of conveying his grace to the souls of men.

2. But we allow, that the whole value of the means depends on their actual subservience to the end of religion; that consequently all these means, when separate from the end, are less than nothing and vanity; that if they do not actually conduce to the knowledge and love of God, they are not acceptable in his sight; yea, rather, they are an abomination before him; a stink in his nostrils; he is weary to bear them: above all, if they are used as a kind of _commutation_ for the religion they were designed to subserve. It is not easy to find words for the enormous folly and wickedness, of thus turning God’s arms against himself; of keeping Christianity out of the heart by those very means, which were ordained for the bringing it in.