This awful declaration rests upon the veracity and power of God, and upon the nature of that work of the Spirit, “which makes usmeetto be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” Col. i. 12.
1. Unconverted sinners can not enter the kingdom of heaven, because the God of truth hath declared theyshall not. His word is more than ten thousand barriers in the way. And his veracity is so engaged to defend and fulfil every threatening, as well as every promise, that sinners might as well expect that God should change his nature, as change his word. Therefore if he hath said “the wicked shall be cast into hell;” Psal. ix. 17;—“he that believeth not shall be damned;” Mark, xvi. 16;—and that, “neither fornicators, nor isolators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God;”1 Cor. vi. 9, 10; we may be fully persuaded, that Jehovah will as certainly fulfil these most tremendous threatenings, as if we saw the accomplishment of them, this instant, with our eyes. Heaven and earth shall pass away; but one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the scriptures, until all be fulfilled. If Satan suggest “you shall not surely die,” remember “he was a liar from the beginning;” and that the fatal consequence of crediting that original falsity, was a confirmation of this unalterable truth, “that the wages of sin is death,” and that “what a man soweth that shall he also reap.”
2. When God makes a promise or denounceth a threatening, hispoweras well as his faithfulness is exerted equally to the accomplishment of the one and the other. No intervention of second causes shall stay his hand, or obstruct, or even retard his designs; because himself the greatFirst Causemakes them all subservient to his sovereign will. So that he must fulfil every promise to his people, because his ability is equal to his veracity, and both spring from his eternal willingness to do so. And he will execute every denunciation of his wrath, because he can. Could the potsherds of the earth contend successfully with their Maker, they might then entertain some distant hope at least of evading his threatenings, and eluding hiswrath: but, before they can expect to accomplish either, they must first cope with Omnipotence, and take heaven itself by storm: for, sooner shall the great Jehovah be dethroned, and his dominion in the heavens be subverted, than sinners unconverted be suffered to dwell there. The hand of God himself shall shut the gates of the celestial city against them; and all the power of the Lord God Almighty shall be exerted, together with his truth and justice, to keep them out, for ever. In vain shall the sons of Belial attempt to enter; in vain shall they knock, and importunately cry, saying, “Open unto us.” Their exclusion will be announced and confirmed by those cutting words of the Judge, “Depart from me, for I know you not.”
3. But the admission of unchanged sinners to the kingdom of God is an utter impossibility, because they want that conformity of heart to the exercise of heaven, which is necessary to make them willing to stay there, even if they were admitted. And it was upon this ground, that our Lord told Nicodemus, that “except a man be born again, he could not see the kingdom of God.” John, iii. 3. By regeneration, the aversion of the heart to spiritual exercises is taken away, and a delight in them substituted in its stead. But in a carnalmind this aversion is deeply rooted. And could a sinner, under the influence of it, be suffered to enter the kingdom of heaven, all the bliss of paradise would be no heaven to him. Carrying with him an indisposedness of heart to the employ of heaven, and having his eyes previously blinded by carnal lusts, he would not see any beauty in the palace of the great King, or enjoy any satisfaction in the beatific presence of the King himself. Having been accustomed on earth to frequent the company of the dissolute and the gay, he would feel awkward and unhappy in the society of saints and angels. All the harps of heaven would communicate no melody to his ears; and the exercise of praise and adoration would appear, as it did on earth, an intolerable burden. He would derive no enjoyment even from that river of the water of life, that floweth in a pure and perennial stream of happiness from the throne of God, and of the Lamb: for, having left the world with his heart full of carnal delights, the recollected pleasures of the sensuality and dissipation below, would crowd in upon his mind to mar all the felicity of heaven, and to make him prefer a Mahometan paradise to the exalted fruition of the blessed God, and all the refined pleasures which they taste, who contemplate his perfections, and bask in the beams of his love.
Besides the want of a disposition to the employ of heaven, there is in the hearts of the unregenerate a positive enmity against God, and the laws of his kingdom, which makes them rebels and enemies. And it cannot be supposed that such could find a place in that harmonious society, where perfect love to God is the bond of eternal concord and happiness among the inhabitants of the New Jerusalem. As soon might the devil and his angels expect to be translated to glory, as sinners, with hearts fraught with enmity against God, hope for a place in his kingdom. Rev. xxii. 11, 15.
From what has been said, it is evident,
1. That, as conversion is the work of God, to prescribe “rules” for the sinner’s own accomplishment of it, as some legal authors have done, is palpably as absurd as to furnish a man with a set of rules for making a world. For the old and the new creation have one and the same agent; and he is the Almighty Creator of the universe. Isa. xlv. 17, 18.
2. That conversion doth not consist in those things, which the blindness of some, the pride of others, and the pharisaical zeal of not a few, would substitute in its stead. For instance; baptism is not conversion. It is only the outward sign of it. And, to mistake the sign for the thing itself, is as absurd as to make a shadowequal to the substance. The thing signified in baptism is, “a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness:” and this is conversion. But how many content themselves with having partaken of the outward ordinance, who do not understand the significancy of the institution, and know nothing of the blessings symbolically represented in it! “He is not a Jew, who is one outwardly,” (nor is he a Christian who is one no farther); “but he is a Jew,” (and a Christian,) “who is one inwardly: and circumcision,” (or baptism) “is that ofthe heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Rom. ii. 28, 29.—Neither does the great change consist in a transient effect on the passions. These may often be mechanically wrought upon, and violent emotions excited in them, without the least concomitant influence from the Spirit of God. One man may be affected under a sermon, and another weep at a tragedy, and both be in the same predicament as to their state of heart towards God. When the passions are moved, because the affections are engaged, and the understanding enlightened in the subject, then the work is produced, not by the pathos of eloquence, or the violent mechanism of bawling and unmeaning vociferation, but by the finger of God. A change of the latter kindwill be permanent and abiding. But conversions, such as spring from a transient gust of passion, will always evaporate, “like the morning cloud or the early dew, that passeth away.” Hos. vi. 4.—It would be equally absurd and dangerous to place true religion in an outward and partial reformation, often accompanied with a shew of zeal, which, at the bottom, is nothing but emptiness and ostentation. When a man all of a sudden cuts off some superfluities of naughtiness in dress and outward indulgence; when he prunes off some excrescences, while the root of corruption remains untouched; when to-day he acts the part of a novice, and to-morrow, like a fungus that shoots up in a night, he raises his head as a Reformer, without wisdom or materials for beginning or conducting a reformation; in such cases, the conversion is often from bad to worse; it is as if a harmless statue should be transformed into a venomous reptile; or folly, stealing the venerable garb of truth, should commence tyrant, and like Solomon’s madman, with the hand of outrageous zeal, scatter about arrows, fire-brands, and death. Prov. xxvi. 19. From such conversions, and such converts as these, may the Lord at all times defend and save his church!—To change a denomination, or to adhere to that in which one may happen to have beenborn and educated, is not conversion. A man may turn protestant, then turn calvinist, then turn arminian, then turn methodist, then turn quaker or quietist, (an usual transition,) then turn dissenter, and last of all turn churchman, and yet, through all these revolutions, which have been more than once exemplified in a single character, he may not once have thought seriously of turningCHRISTIAN—a name infinitely more honorable than all the empty titles that men assume to themselves to distract the minds of their brethren, and to rear their own consequence, often, upon the ruins of peace and union. Some are, no doubt, very sincere, and highly to be commended, for changing a denomination, when the interests of truth and the prosperity of their souls, or the dictates of conscience, are the objects in view. But there is not a greater delusion under the heavens, than for a man to infer the safety of his state, merely from an idea of the purity of the communion to which accident or bigotry may have induced him to join himself. To turn to a party, and to turn to God, are as different as light and darkness.—As for those, who plead for their continuance in the old beaten track of formality, because, as they say, “they will not change their religion,” a discourse upon the nature of true conversion is intended to convincesuch, thatthey have, in fact,no religion to change. And as for those, under the influence of a more refined delusion, who place religion in the espousal of orthodox opinions, which have no renovating influence on their hearts and lives, and often take a false refuge in doctrines, of which, alas! they never experienced the power; it is necessary to tell these, and their partners in self-deception, that religion is principallyA TEMPER; and that to be really changed, is to have “the mind that was in Christ Jesus,” to be governed by that love, which St. Paul describes in 1 Cor. xiii.; and to be influenced by the humble temper of a little child. Without this, party is an insignificant badge, doctrines but chaff, zeal but wild-fire, and conversion but a name.
To conclude. Whatever denomination we adhere to, or whatever principles we espouse, let us remember, that, without the power of vital godliness, such badges of distinction must appear to him, who searcheth the heart, only as a “sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” And as I have labored to urge this as a leading sentiment through the whole discourse, every candid hearer must see, that the ambition of my heart, like that of every disinterested servant of the Lord Jesus Christ,is, to be instrumental, not in turning you to a particular name or favorite persuasion, but in converting you to God. Whether, then, you have erected your hopes, and built your system on the broad but rotten base of infidelity; whether you have commenced a free liver in consequence of being a free thinker—for they are characters closely allied—or, with some right notions in your head, betray a heart immersed in the world and dead in sin; whether you are dissipated with the gay, dissolute with the abandoned, or formal with the self-righteous; whatever accidental superiority, by birth, education, or fortune, you may possess above others; or howsoever applauded you may be for decency of manners or regularity of outward devotion; yet, in whatever light, either infidelity, libertinism, formality, or morality, can place a character, the unalterable truth of the text stands to cut off the fallacious pretensions of each. Conversion implies infinitely more than any moralist upon earth can attain to: and it differs as much from mere orthodoxy, as the genial and vivid light of the sun doth from the faint beams of the pale orb, that borrows light, but derives no heat, from his luminous body. As for formality in religion, it is not even theshadow of that, of which it claims the essence. And as for the profane and the licentious,continuingsuch, the text stands as a barrier against the impiety of their principles, and the presumptuousness of their hope. For, except they, and the characters already alluded to, be converted, and become as little children, they cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.
THE RIGHT KNOWLEDGE OF DOCTRINE THE FRUIT OF OBEDIENCE.
“If any man will do his will,he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God.” John, vii. 17.
“If any man will do his will,he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God.” John, vii. 17.
Themalevolent and unremitted opposition, which the truths of revelation have met with from infidels in all ages, hath made it necessary to urge every argument, derived from the external and internal evidences of Christianity, in order to demonstrate that its origin is from God. This business of demonstrating would have been altogether superfluous, were the heart of man naturally accessible to truth and righteousness. But it is deplorably sunk in prejudices against both, in consequence of an apostacy from the Fountain of Wisdom. Hence, men quarrel withrevelation, because they have first rebelled against the divine Author of it. An innate aversion to the genius of true Christianity is generally productive of controversies about the proofs of its divine authenticity. Corruption in the heart of an infidel prompts him to wish that some of the doctrines of the gospel may not be true; because they hurt his pride, or propose a bridle to his lusts. And what men earnestly wish, they at last bring themselves obstinately to believe. From this unhappy mixture of credulity and obstinacy in an infidel spring all his objections to the dictates of reason, and the evidences of sacred truth. But the cause of Christianity is supported on all sides by pillars of such strength, that the efforts of its adversaries to overturn the fabric, only serve to shew its firmness, and to expose their weakness. Its plan originated in the mind of Jehovah, and its foundation rests on eternal truth. The same wisdom that arranged the universe modelled the gospel system; and the creation of the world and the revelation of truth in the Bible have but one and the same Almighty Agent. This will appear, if we consider, as proposed, the several arguments, that evince
1. The divine origin of the doctrines of the gospel. But these are so numerous, and would require such a compass of reasoning to discussthem fully, that I must content myself with only giving you the outlines of them. The principal of these, as far as the external evidences of Christianity are concerned, arepropheciesandmiracles. When events have been predicted thousands of years before they happen, the correspondence between the fact and the prophecy must be the effect of divine interposition. Yet such a correspondence, the most punctual, even in the minutiæ of time and circumstances, is visible from the very face of scripture prophecy. Miracles are justly considered as an additional evidence of the divine origin of any doctrine, and of the divine mission of him who preaches it. And having been performed before a number of credible witnesses, under circumstances of public notoriety, with marks of preternatural operation, and with a tendency the most beneficial to mankind, they become so many indubitable vouchers to the cause of truth. Much accessional strength to this sacred cause might be derived from a consideration of the character of the first preachers of the gospel; who went forth to spread its truths, under the expectation, not of ease and honor, but of contempt, and poverty, and death itself; and, without any aid, save what they derived from the presence and blessing of the Lord, amidst universal opposition, erected thestandard of truth in divers countries, and planted truth in the most distant regions of darkness and error.
But the internal excellences of the doctrine are among the other proofs of its divine original. Here you meet with none of the monstrous absurdities of paganism or superstition, that have often made virtues of the most abominable passions, and deified vice itself, by consecrating temples to lust and cruelty; or that have dethroned both reason and religion, and established the most egregious fooleries, as maxims of truth, and modes of worship. Here every virtue is rescued from the false glosses that had been imposed upon it by the craft, or ignorance, or wickedness of men; and every moral precept is placed in its true light of purity and extensive obligation; shewing, that what is so pure in its tendency must have for its author the Holy One of Israel.
What other system, but that of the gospel, produces such a harmony between the divine perfections! Here, notwithstanding the opposite claims of mercy and truth, justice and peace, each is respectively honored, yet all mutually harmonize. They meet at the cross of Jesus, and, from his great propitiatory satisfaction, derive a power to unite with perfect concordin the salvation of sinners. While Jesus bleeds, justice is satisfied, truth is fulfilled, mercy erects her throne, and peace extends an olive branch to a guilty world.
Where is the system that carries such marks of divinity, as the gospel does? even from the suitableness of its provision to the peculiar necessities of lost sinners? If any are oppressed with fears, or burdened with a load of guilt; here they are pointed to the fountain of a crucified Saviour’s blood, which is of infinite efficacy to heal the broken hearted, and make the foulest clean. If the world is a scene of misery and sin; here life and immortality are brought to light, and the horrors of death changed into the portals of bliss. The king of terrors appears bereft of his sting, and he that had the power of death, that is the devil, receives his deadly bruise. The weak and ignorant, the poor and wretched, are invited to the feast, where all is of God’s providing; and all is offered without money and without price. Happy they who obey the invitation, and taste of the rich provision! Their own experience is then the best comment on the truth of the text. They have an internal evidence of the truth of the doctrine, because they have felt the power of it: which leads me to consider,
2. Wherein consisteth the privilege of knowing that the gospel is of God.
As the gospel is a system calculated equally to illuminate the understanding and to renovate the heart; the blessedness of knowing that it is from God, must be in proportion to the greatness of the privileges which it communicates. And these are, a deliverance from perplexing doubt and endless speculation—a discernment of the way of truth—and such an established persuasion respecting the believer’s personal interest in the Lord Jesus Christ, as quickens his affections, and engages both heart and life in devotedness to the Lord his God.
I. As the fall of man hath plunged his intellectual faculties in great darkness; in the investigation of truth and the contemplation of spiritual objects, he thinks and judges as absurdly as a man born blind would do, in an attempt to expatiate on the nature and distinctions of colors. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Cor. ii. 14. And as long as this veil of natural obscurity covers his understanding, the very same reason, which, on natural and scientific subjects, exerts itself with such vigor and success, leaves him the subjectof doubt and uncertainty on the great concerns of eternity—the humiliating and unhappy situation of every man by nature, from the grossly ignorant up to the acute and learned blasphemer. What a blessing to be extricated from all this scepticism and the darkness which occasions it! To have the mind no longer distracted with doubts and disquietude on what it is concerned to know! This is the privilege of him who knows the gospel to be of God. He is no longer tossed about with every wind of doctrine, or agitated by the clashing opinions of men, who are often more earnest to oppose one another than to investigate truth. The spirit of God hath rent the veil of darkness, and dissipated the mists that rendered his path doubtful and perplexed. Retiring from the din of controversy, and the niceties of the schools, he hath seated himself down at the feet of Jesus, to learn, as an humble pupil, the truth from his mouth. There he listens to that word, which, while it drops refreshing as the dew on the tender herb, pours on his mind a divine light, that puts an end to former cavils at the authority of revelation, and to former doubts about the doctrines contained in it.
2. A discernment of the way of truth and salvation is one essential branch of that knowledge,recommended in the text. “He that is spiritual judgeth (διακρινει discerneth) all things.” 1 Cor. ii. 15.
This branch of knowledge is essentially necessary to constitute the being of faith, and the comforts of a Christian. It is by “the knowledge of Christ that he justifies many.” Isa. liii. 11. But that knowledge implies the manifestative light and apprehensive power of faith, by which an interior eye is opened in the soul to behold the glory of Christ, and to cleave to his righteousness for justification. Hence, St. Paul was so anxious to “know Christ,” that he “counted all things loss for the excellency of that knowledge.”[287]Phil. iii. 8. 2 Cor. iii. 18.
And could we suppose a Christian destitute of that light necessary to discern the way of salvation, we must suppose him to be the subject of very painful disquietude. Because, when conviction of sin hath taught a man the knowledge of himself, and made him weary and heavy laden with the burden of his guilt, a discernment of the way of salvation must be imparted, in order to buoy up the mind, and to support it under a load, which would otherwise be insupportable. Therefore the Holy Spiritoperates as a Divine Agent, and the gospel as a powerful instrument, in manifesting the glorious sufficiency of Jesus Christ to the sinner, and in drawing out his soul in hope and dependance upon him. And to shew that a supernatural illumination is requisite to this end, an inspired apostle compares the power that effects it to that which commanded the light to shine out of darkness at the creation. 2 Cor. iv. 6. So that, if men pretend to any saving knowledge, and yet appear to be ignorant altogether of the gospel salvation, if their knowledge does not centre in him, and, by the Spirit’s teaching, lead to him, in whom God’s people have their all; it is evident, that the light in them is darkness. 1 Cor. xii. 3. John, xvii. 3.
3. The privilege of knowing that the gospel is of God, implies such an established persuasion of the believer’s personal interest in Christ, as quickens his affections, humbles his heart, and engages body and soul in the consecration of all their faculties to the honor and service of God.
This, it must be acknowledged, is not immediately the privilege of many, who nevertheless know the things that belong to their peace. Nor is it, in numerous instances, vouchsafed, until, after a long series of various trials, by which the soul is greatly exercised, but acquiresdeep and genuine experience. Some valuable Christians, who know the gospel savingly, and adorn it greatly, are so bowed down with a discouraging view of themselves, that unbelief robs them of that comfort, which they are warranted to take from the promises, made to those, who come to Christ by faith; and it is a considerable time, often, before they arrive at any well-grounded evidence of their title to heaven; though the inheritance is secure to them, and their title to it as valid, as the purchase of Christ and the immutability of the covenant could make it. It is, however, their privilege to overcome their doubts, to have a clear view of their interest in the Son of God, to rejoice in hope of future glory, and to know that, “when the earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved, they have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” 2 Cor. v. 1. These invaluable blessings are called by the Apostle, “the riches of the full assurance πληροφορια of understanding;” Col. ii. 2; and are the result of that establishment in the knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God, which “fathers in Christ” enjoy, when they become rooted and grounded in the truth as it is in Jesus. Let not the weak and self-diffident, then, be discouraged. He who maketh “the path of the just to resemble the shining lightthat shineth more and more unto the perfect day,” Prov. iv. 8, will, in his own time, dispel the clouds that hang over their minds, and make the day-star arise in their hearts with assurance and consolation. “Then shall they know, if they follow on to know, the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto them as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.” Hos. vi. 3.
If any think that this established persuasion, or appropriating knowledge of Christ, is apt to beget pride and presumption in the heart; let it be remembered, that the objection, plausible as it may appear at first view, is entirely overthrown by this single consideration, that the kind of knowledge, which the gospel conveys to the heart, is always clothed with humility, and productive of holiness. Did it imply a fond opinion of a man’s superior claim to the divine favor above his fellow-sinners, in consequence of supposed superior merit; or, did it allow of indulged self-confidence of heart, and licentiousness of manners; then, indeed, the assurance I plead for, would be presumption of the most pernicious and the most dangerous sort, and the knowledge it springs from would be worse than the most profound ignorance. But this is far from being the case. Self-knowledge attends every step of the believer’s progress inthe knowledge of Christ; and an abiding sense of his dependance upon the Redeemer for every thing, must of course check the risings of vanity, and keep him, where a sinner ought to be, in the vale of self-abasement. In that humble frame, he sees himself nothing; and while he reviews the unspeakable obligations, which the undeserved grace of God hath laid him under, and reflects upon the innumerable benefits, which Jesus hath bought for him with his precious blood; his heart overflows with gratitude to the kind Donor of his mercies; and the language of it is, “What shall I render unto the Lord?” Words are weak and inexpressive to speak the sentiments of his mind, either when he views himself, or contemplates the unsearchable riches of Christ. And the predominant desire of his soul is to grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of Christ. His advancement herein keeping pace with the knowledge of himself, a poor dependant sinner all his life; from hence flows a desire, and, through grace, a determination, to evidence the humility and gratitude of his heart, by giving the glory of his salvation wholly to Jesus, and by dedicating himself in righteousness and true holiness to the honor and service of his divineLordandMaster.
And it will appear, upon calm consideration, that the knowledge, which the text recommends,and the fruits which always attend it, are perfectly correspondent with the genius of the gospel, and the end for which it has been sent to the children of men. Its great design is to abase the sinner, exalt the Saviour, and promote holiness. And the kind of knowledge I wish to inculcate, is specifically of that nature; by which all possible honor is given to Christ, and the heart penetrated with an habitual conviction of the necessity of glorifying him in body and spirit, which are his. How can he be elated, who knows that he has nothing to glory in but the cross of Christ? How can he be presumptuous, whose assurance rests upon the promise and him that made it? Or can he possibly want motives to obedience, or a principle of gratitude, whose eyes are opened to behold the salvation that rescued him from sin and hell, and whose heart is filled with love to the gracious Author of salvation? No. If the enemies of truth are disposed to seek for objections against our experience and our principles, let them find some more plausible than that of a charge, which might with great ease and greater justice be retorted upon themselves. A proud presumptuous spirit, inflated with vanity, filled with speculation, puffed up with self-conceit, and void of humility, we disclaim, because we think it the very bane of all religion. And theamiable idea, which a Christian would wish to give of religion, is that of a man, who, the more he knows, the more he sinks into self-abnegation; whose head is filled with light, and his heart with love; and who would rather feel a little genuine poverty of spirit and contrition of heart, than possess the most shining endowments. And, that this apology for the principles and temper of a true Christian is a just one, will still farther be made evident, if we consider,
III. What is necessary to the attainment of that knowledge which the text promiseth.
If the general plan of redemption, or the several constituent parts of that plan, be accurately surveyed, it will appear throughout to have been a very leading design of its great Author to pour contempt on those things, which are highly esteemed among men; and to adopt a procedure in all his dispensations directly subversive of those principles, which are most commonly received. Had he acted in conformity to the maxims and pretensions of the world, men of wisdom, of prowess, and of nobility, should have been his sole favorites. But that the very reverse is the case, is evident from St. Paul’s testimony in 1 Cor. i. 26; who asserts, that “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and weakthings of the world, to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, yea and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence.”
In no respect does this truth appear to be more remarkably verified, than in the kind of pre-requisite, which infinite wisdom hath thought proper to fix upon as necessary to the attainment of divine knowledge; which is, not what human policy would have recommended, profound learning, an acquaintance with sciences, languages, or philosophy; but a willingness εαν τις λελη to do the will of God; a temper of mind that is humble and docile, and that has been brought into subjection to the will of God, as revealed in the scriptures. What that will is, the following considerations will determine: 1. That it is the will of the Father, that the objects of salvation should honor the Son by looking to him as their propitiation. For, the work, will, and commandment of God, is, that we should believe in Christ to that end. 1 John, iii. 23. 2. That they should be set apart for the glory of God, by the dedication of soul and body to his service. “This is the will of God, even your sanctification.” 1 Thes. iv. 3. 3. That they should renounce conformity to the world, and all friendshipwith those who inordinately love the things that are in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. Rom. xii. 2. 1 John, ii. 15, 16. 4. They should take up the cross, and tread in the footsteps of the blessed Jesus; following his illustrious example in doing and suffering the will of heaven with patience and resignation; in a crucifixion to the world, and an ambition for the honor and favor that cometh from God. This is called “doing the will of God from the heart,” Ephes. vi. 6, and is opposed to the doing of it, partially, insincerely, or by constraint.
As true Christianity is of practical tendency,doingthe will of God is contra-distinguished from a mere knowledge of it. “Not every one that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of the Father.” Mat. vii. 12. For, though a man cannotdothe divine will, without having previouslyknownit; yet a knowledge of it is often entirely destitute of any sincere inclination to perform it.; and in every such case, “he that knoweth his Master’s will and doth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.” Luke, xii. 47. So that, while, the word of God abounds with severe reproofs and awful denunciations against those, who are under the power of that selfdeception, which makes them content with being hearers of the word, and not doers of it, and leaves them satisfied with some head-knowledge, though accompanied with carnality and hypocrisy of heart; the same sacred word gives all imaginable encouragement even to those, who arewillingto conform to the will of God, though between their wishes and their practice there should be a considerable disparity, and the weakness of their faith should throw many impediments in their way. “The Lord will not despise the day of small things. He will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax. To that man will he look, that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at his word.” Zech. iv. 10. Isa. xlii. 3. Isa. lxvi. 2. These, and promises of similar import, confirm the truth of the text, and embolden every true follower of Christ to look for a fulfilment of them in his experience; while with child-like simplicity of heart, and an earnest desire to be taught of God, he diligently useth the means of instruction, and waits for that blessing, requisite to render them effectual. Such persons the Lord will take by the hand, and guide into the way of truth, and peace. He will open to them the mysteries of his kingdom; and unfold the riches of his grace. The secret of the Lord is with them; and he will shew them his covenant.He will manifest himself to them, as he doth not to the world; and shine upon their ways with a progressive and cheering light. They shall become conversant in the deep things of God, and acknowledge those very doctrines to be of divine original, which at first they trembled to receive. They shall see their consistency, and know them to be of God, from their effects; since the doctrines of distinguishing, efficacious, and victorious grace, and these alone, have a tendency to make the heart humble, holy, and happy, and to keep it so; to support the believer in an hour of temptation, and to help him to trust in the everlasting covenant when he walketh in darkness and hath no light. And, when multitudes of the presumptuous and self-confident, who soar on the wings of a towering profession, shall faint and grow weary, and utterly fall into error and sin; they shall hold on their way, and wax stronger and stronger, they shall mount up on wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Fed by the sincere milk of the word, their souls shall grow and thrive; and experiencing the preciousness of the promises, they shall anticipate with joy their fulfilment in glory. Safe in the everlasting arms of Divine protection, they shall be kept from every fatal snare. And happy in theguidance of the Holy Spirit, they shall enjoy the influence of that Divine Comforter, until all the clouds of sin and error being passed away, a flood of divine light and ineffable glory shall break in upon their souls, and they shall sin, sorrow, and complain no more for ever.
Having shewn, that the doctrine of the gospel is of divine original—from the prophecies and miracles that attest its divinity—from the purity of its system, equally remote from the monstrous absurdities of paganism and superstition—from the harmony it produces between the divine attributes—from its utility and suitableness to the condition of fallen man; having considered the privilege of knowing that this doctrine is of God; and having shewn what is necessary to the attainment of that knowledge, I shall conclude with observing,
In the first place, that a rejection of the gospel argues a want of that temper necessary to investigate truth; and that pride, or an attachment to some beloved lust, is at the bottom, whereby the judgment is corrupted and the heart depraved. Hence be assured, that evangelical truth and moral righteousness are inseparably connected; and that ignorance of, or opposition to, the truth, is the road direct to every immoral and dangerous path.
Secondly, since a willingness to do the will of God is the pre-requisite towards attaining the knowledge recommended in the text; let us confine ourselves to this simple criterion of heavenly wisdom and of a gracious heart, and not look for marks of it in the parade of learning and pomp of profession, among those, who, upon these superficial grounds alone, boast of superior knowledge.
Thirdly; since to know the gospel, is the privilege of a renewed mind; and to practise its precepts, the result of a divine power; how should we importune the Father of lights to give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of his Son; without which, we must grope in the dark and fall into error! Mat. xi. 27.
Lastly; encouraged by the salutary promise in the text, let the timid and unestablished plead it in faith before the throne of grace. God is faithful to fulfil what he hath spoken; and the experience of his people hath borne testimony to his veracity and his compassion in all ages. Plead the promise in the all-meritorious name of Jesus, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. Urge the covenant engagements of the Father to him, whereby he hath promised that all his children shall be taught of God. Expect no favor upon your own account;but look for every thing from him, in whom all fulness dwelleth, and in whom the Father is well pleased. Let not some difficulties, or a little suspense, discourage you. Continue instant in prayer. Wait in faith, in hope, in patience. And the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory byChrist Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you! To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever! Amen.
BELSHAZZAR’S DOOM; OR, SINNERS, WHETHER PRINCELY,PATRICIAN, OR PLEBEIAN, WEIGHED IN THEBALANCE, AND FOUND WANTING.
“TEKEL,Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting.”Dan. v. 27.
“TEKEL,Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting.”Dan. v. 27.
Thehistory, to which the words of the text refer, is extremely memorable. During the captivity of the Jews, a variety of singular events concurred to prove that the sins, which brought desolation upon their country, and subjected them, for a period of seventy years, to the Babylonish yoke, had not, nevertheless, wholly alienated the affections of Jehovah from them, or dissolved that covenant relation which he had originally adopted towards them, as the “God of Abraham,” and that any act of indignity perpetrated against an afflicted people, orany insult cast upon the service of their temple, would be recognized as the highest affront to the Majesty of Heaven, and not be suffered to pass with impunity, though the perpetrators were the princes and potentates of the earth.
Of this, Belshazzar is a remarkable instance. He was grandson to Nebuchadnezzar, and had an opportunity of seeing, in the divine dispensations towards his royal ancestor, how hateful pride is, even in royalty itself; how instantly God can blast the most blooming dignity of the brightest crown, and reduce him that wears it to a condition level with the beasts that perish; how quickly, when the divine decree goeth forth, a haughty rational can be converted into a brute, and a Nebuchadnezzar, in all the pomp of majesty upon his throne, be driven from human converse, and become a fit associate only for oxen that graze the field, and are wet with the dew of heaven; and how much, therefore, the prosperity of kings, and the stability of their thrones, depend upon acknowledging, that “theMost Highruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will—that all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; that he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?—that hisworks are truth, and his ways judgment; and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.” Dan. iv. 25, 35, 37.
But this instruction, though conveyed through a dispensation, calculated to write it upon his heart as indelibly as with a pen of iron, or the point of a diamond, seems to have been all lost on Belshazzar. In a depraved and debauched mind, the most striking memorials of divine interposition are soon buried in oblivion; and all the impressions, which the most tremendous judgments of God generally make in such a case, only resemble characters made in the sand, which the first flux of the tide totally obliterates. Belshazzar had undoubtedly often heard the memorable history of his royal grandfather, and could not avoid seeing in it the great outlines of that divine system of truth, which inculcates the evil of sin, and recommends the fear of the Lord as the supreme wisdom. The very sight of those fields, where Nebuchadnezzar once roamed, or of the animals with which he herded, when deposed from his throne, and deprived of his understanding, must have brought to his recollection the singular event, that so strongly marked God’s displeasure at all sin; especially that kind of it, which lifts up the heart with atheistic pride, and prompts arrogant worms of the earth to affect independence ofHim, “in whom they live, and move, and have their being.” But Belshazzar, like libertines in all ages, buried the remembrance of these things in his cups, and company; or sought relief from any disquieting apprehensions, in the fulsome flattery of the civil and ecclesiastical sycophants, that herded round his throne, and constituted his levee. Thus soothed into a false security by court adulation or pulpit-daubing, he became a beast in sensuality, and indulged in every sordid gratification, that could make him hateful to God, and contemptible to man; in which we may suppose him to have been immersed the more deeply, for want of some faithful monitor near his person, to tell him the truth, like honest Micaiah, without dread of royal resentment. There was one man in Belshazzar’s kingdom, who was especially qualified for this important office; but he had not the opportunity, being a Jew, and a captive, till a singular event brought him out of his obscurity, and displayed the superiority of his wisdom above all the pretenders to it in Belshazzar’s court.
Upon a particular day, Belshazzar made a feast, to which were invited “a thousand of his lords.” Dan. v. 1. Being a lewd polygamist, like all the heathen princes of the East, “his wives and his concubines” formed a part of his guests; for, to an abandoned prince a palacehath no beauty unless it be a receptacle for prostitutes; the whole apparatus of a court appears incomplete without a seraglio; and in the esteem of the drunken king of Babylon, or the grand Turk with Mahomed’s Koran in his hand, there are no blessings comparable with the blessings of polygamy.—Belshazzar, thus environed with his concubines and his lords, pushes about his intoxicating goblet, and poured out libations, or toasted the memory of their “gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.” Verse 4. Proper deities, it must be acknowledged, to preside insuchassemblies, in which the songs of the drunkard, and the conversation of the lascivious, render the scene perfectly worthy of all that indecency and excess, which idolatry ever promoted among its votaries. The king of Babylon, not content with blending idolatry and voluptuousness together, at his luxurious feast, where lords and whores unite to strengthen him in his wickedness, adds sacrilege to his other sins. “He commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines,might drink therein.” Verse 2. Thus this impious prince insulted the God of heaven by sacrilegiously profaning those vessels that hadbeen consecrated to the service of his temple; as if his wine would be doubly sweet, when drank out of God’s sacred chalice, or the vessels of his holy sanctuary were only fit to be prostituted to the purposes of riot and excess. In the desecration of these vessels, the temple-worship was profaned, a captive people insulted, and an atrocious act of indignity committed against the Holy One of Israel.
While Belshazzar was thus employed in filling the vessels of the temple with intoxicating liquor, God was filling for him the phials of his indignation. He bent his bow and made it ready; and the moment was approaching in which the barbed arrow of swift destruction was to be directed by an unerring hand against Belshazzar and his kingdom. A most awful presage of this event is given, when least expected. In the midst of the entertainment, while the king and his guests are absorbed in pleasure; behold! a strange phenomenon arrests the solemn attention of the gay circle, and suddenly damps all their mirth. Every face turns pale, and every heart is filled with a horrible dread. Their festivity and carousings are changed into confusion and despair. The sumptuous entertainment entertains no longer; and the wine, sparkling in the glass, or mantling in the goblet, can yield no antidote againstthe chilling fears that seize the hearts of the disturbed guests. The mirth and gaiety of this festive assembly are changed into silence, solemnity, and distraction. But what occasioned so instantaneous a perturbation? Was it the appearance of some angry cherub, like him whom God appointed as the flaming guardian of the tree of life? or, was it the discovery of some instrument of death suspended from the ceiling over the king’s head, like that sword, which hanging by a hair over Damocles, the base flatterer of a Sicilian tyrant, disturbed his peace in the midst of a banquet? No; it was nothing more than “the fingers of a man’s hand, writing over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace,” verse 5, “and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.” He saw, and trembled. But what ailed thee, O Belshazzar! that thy peace should be broken at the sight of an object, that carried nothing hostile in its outward appearance? Ah! it is not the first time that a sinner has been made to tremble at hand-writing, when the hand of God appears to hold the pen. Belshazzar’s conscience instantly commented upon the mysterious characters. The hand of God wrote his doom, and his own guilty fears anticipated it. “His countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loinswere loosed, and his knees smote one against another.” Verse 6. To what an abject and pusillanimous condition, a consciousness of guilt, and a dread of punishment, reduce often the most stout hearted! Nay, “the wicked fleeth, when no man pursueth, while the righteous is bold as a lion.” Prov. xxiii. 1.
Belshazzar, distracted and amazed, cries aloud to bring in the astrologers and soothsayers. A considerable reward is offered to those, who should read and interpret the writing. They try, but in vain. The queen advises to consult Daniel. He is brought before the king. The honest Hebrew tells him of his pride, idolatry, and sacrilege. He reads the writing, and gives the interpretation; which was, that “God had numbered his kingdom and finished it; that he was weighed in the balances and found wanting; and that his kingdom was divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” Verse 26–28. The interval between the writing of this awful prediction, and the accomplishment of it, was very short. For “in that night” was Belshazzar surprised by an army headed by Cyrus, “and slain,” and the kingdom of the Chaldeans transferred by conquest to that of the Medes and Persians. Thus judgments tread close upon the heels of guilt, and are sometimes as swift in their progress, as they are sure in their arrival;the commission of sin, and the infliction of punishment, happening, not seldom, at the same instant.
Let us now, first, make some practical observations on the history referred to in the text; and, secondly, accommodate the images in it to the purpose of forming a scrutiny into the hearts and lives, the principles and pretensions, of sinners.
I. 1. The profanation of things sacred is highly affrontive to the Divine Majesty; incurs great guilt, and exposes to danger in proportion; because God himself is virtually dishonored in the abuse or contempt of what relates to his service. The men of Bethshemesh only look into the ark, and Uzzah only touches it, and God instantly punishes the presumption of the one, and the profane curiosity of the other, with judicial chastisement. And it is not so much the act as the intention of the agent, that God regards in such a case. Under circumstances of peculiar necessity, David “eats the shewbread, which it was not lawful for any to eat but the priests.” And yet this infringement of a positive ceremony passes with impunity, because God considered the nature of the case, and saw the purity of David’s intention. But when the king of Babylon sent for the vessels of the temple, it was evident, that he meantstudiously to affront the God of the Jews, and to make the people and their religion objects of malicious triumph, and “cruet mockery.” By thus blending the cup of the Lord with the cup of devils, Belshazzar filled up the measure of his iniquity, and provoked Jehovah to make his punishment as conspicuous as his impiety was public. As sacrilege is a sin of very comprehensive application, let us beware how we rob the Most High of the honor due to histruths, hisordinances, hisname, and his ownday. And particularly, let us see to it, that we profane not that sacred institution, which is commemorative of the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ; when we reflect, what judgments this species of profanation brought upon the Corinthian Church. And, as public feasts are too often scenes of voluptuousness and intoxication, where the sons of riot sometimes amuse themselves with ridiculing religion and its advocates; and instead of partaking ofsuchmirth, which is perhaps made up of the obscene jest, or the horrid oaths and imprecations, of the indecent and profane; let us fly from the place, as from the very confines of hell. And, be assured, that “only fools make a mock at sin;” and that, though God in general is patient, though provoked every day, yet he sometimes strikes offenders dead upon thespot, and calls them to his bar, just as the lie or the blasphemy was issuing from their mouth.[311]
2. Sensuality and security in sin, are the certain presages of impending ruin. When the wicked say in their hearts, “Tush, God careth not;” or the worldling counting his riches, and wrapping himself in false tranquillity, breaks out into that sordid soliloquy, “Soul take thine ease, thou hast much goods laid up in store; eat, drink, and be merry;” then the storm is at the blackest, and the angry cloud ready to burst. Transgressors take occasion to sin, because “vengeance against an evil act is not speedily executed;” and the people of the world often draw flattering inferences respecting one another from outward prosperity or inward gaiety; measuring their interest in the divine favor by the extent of their rent-roll; or, the degree of their happiness, by the height of their levity.But, alas! they consider not that the ox is fattened to the slaughter, and that “the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.” The world, like a true Delilah, makes a soft lap for her votaries to sleep on; but it is only to render them a more easy prey to the enemies that lie in wait, and consign them over to drudgery more servile than that of Sampson deprived of his sight, shorn of his locks, and grinding in a mill at Gaza. Besides, it is not considered, that God’s judgments, though long protracted, are sure; and are the more tremendous, for being delayed. They are often conducted, and operate, like the mine, which is sprung in the dark, and which never discovers its subterranean progress, until it involves all around it in darkness, uproar, and ruin. A sensualist is never nearer the verge of destruction than when he speaks peace to himself; and a “foolish virgin,” assuming the appearance of happiness, while a life of perpetual thoughtlessness and dissipation destroys time, and unfits for death and judgment, is only like the moth that is at last consumed in the flame that attracted it.
3. See how easily the carnal repose of the wicked may be disturbed, in the height of their voluptuousness and festivity! This may be effected at any time by a variety of incidents or instruments. God need only drop a slight sensationof wrath upon the conscience; suffer that faithful vicegerent to assume the office of severe remonstrance; or let loose Satan with his train of accusations upon the sinner, and immediately all is tumult and disquietude within. For, “when he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only?” Job, xxxiv. 29. Let God but give a reverse of fortune, and touch that mountain of prosperity on which the proud and opulent elevate their hopes so high; and down fall all their imaginary peace and bliss in a moment. How low they build, who build beneath the skies! when the fabric and the builders of it may be crushed together before the moth.
O ye dissipated and profane, consider, before it be too late, that he, who surprised the king of Babylon at his feast, and called him, unprepared, from his cups to a tribunal; will one day come suddenly as the thief in the night, and put an end to your mirth, by the summons of the archangel’s voice, and the trump of God.
I might here call your attention to the singular contrivances of divine wisdom displayed, in the case of Daniel, with a view to exalt debased and injured excellence; or, consider, how incumbent it is upon Christ’s ministers, whencalled upon, to do it, in imitation of the illustrious Hebrew, with faithfulness and impartiality, even before kings. But waving any enlargement upon these points, I shall proceed to state, as the last practical observation upon the history before us,
4. How unsafe and fallacious it is, to infer any man’s happiness or infelicity, merely from outward appearances, be they ever so specious, or afflicted.
Behold Belshazzar upon his throne! Contemplate the magnificence of his palace, and the extent of his empire. He looks around upon Babylon, the superb residence of his court, and calling “the glory of the Chaldees excellency” his own, thinks himself the happiest and most august monarch of the East. Thousands do him homage, and tens of thousands bow at his footstool. The earth and seas are ransacked to supply his table with delicacies; and he needs only ask, to have every luxury that the most unbounded appetite could desire. Multitudes live upon his smile, and princes triumph in the honor of being in the train of his dependants. His word is a law, and confers dignities or death at pleasure. And the grand emulation among courtiers, domestics, and subjects, is, who shall be first in obedience to the tyrant’s edicts.—Such is Belshazzaron his throne. But could we only have followed him to his secret retirements, or looked into his breast, we should have seen all this semblance of splendor and felicity tarnished by some corroding care, that banished repose even from his bed of down; or some vicious passion, that preyed continually upon his heart. A dreadful rival in power, a sullen contemner of his false dignity, like another Mordecai, refusing to bow to impious Haman, or a single disappointment in the pursuit of dominion and conquest, were sufficient to make his diadem tremble on his brow, and to plant such sharp thorns in the crown that adorned it, that a man upon the rack could not be more miserable than the haughty monarch of Babylon seated on his imperial throne. Who, therefore, would not have preferred the situation of a peasant in his cottage, or that of the poorest captive Jew within the walls of Babylon, before the grandeur of a palace, in which wretchedness and sin took up their abode?
But, follow Belshazzar to his banquet. See him seated at the head of his convivial assembly. The sumptuous feast is prepared; and his lords sit down to share in the entertainment. The charms of beauty, and the harmony of music, are called in, to heighten the repast. Every face shines with mirth, and every heartoverflows with joy. The richest juice of the vine contributes, in abundance, to the festivity of the scene. And, to the heart of an epicure, or in the eye of a bacchanalian, there never was a more pleasing object than Belshazzar, at the head of his lords and concubines, laughing at religion, toasting his favorite gods, drinking destruction (as it is probable he did) to the poor captive Jews, and getting drunk out of the hallowed cups that once adorned their temple. But, should any really think this jovial assembly a happy one, let them remember thetext, and thehandthat wrote it. Look from the festive board to thelettered wall. What is written there? Then turn to Belshazzar. See, he looks aghast, and trembles! Whither is his mirth fled? Why are his lords astonished? What will his riches and the glory of his kingdom do for him now? See him falling under the sword of a victorious adversary; and, after death, falling into the hands of the living God; and then say, who would have been in his case, for his crown and empire? or, for a thousand worlds?
From hence it is manifest, that, in order to judge aright of happiness, we must look deeper than the surface, and farther than the passing moment. The completest misery is, often, permitted to assume a smiling countenance; andit is only the event of things that is to throw light on the mysteries that veil present dispensations. A fallacious outside deceives and deludes the world in general. And were our judgment to be guided by the opinions, or our practice modelled by the lives of many, we should conclude, that the rich man “clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring sumptuously every day,” had the best pretensions to happiness, and Lazarus at his gate, full of sores, was misery itself; till we heard, that the one was translated to Abraham’s bosom, and that the other was lifting up his eyes in the torments of hell. With a view, therefore, to detect the fallacy and danger of such conclusions, and to brush the vermilion from the cheek of painted misery or gilded error, I go on, as proposed, to
II. Accommodate the images in our text to the purpose of forming a scrutiny into the hearts and lives, the principles and pretensions, of sinners of various complexions.
The principal image in the text is taken from a custom, which hath prevailed amongst all nations, of regulating commercial intercourse, by the test of the balance, or of determining the value or deficiency of any commodity, by certain standard weights. In allusion to this mode, the adjustment of which formed a part of that sacred code of juridical ceremonies,which God gave to the Jewish legislator; the king of Babylon is represented as put into the balance. His kingdom, and the glory thereof, his crown and sceptre, his wealth, dominion, and titles, are put in with him. These would be thought objects of prodigious appreciation in the eyes of the world, and would weigh immensely heavy in the false balance of human estimation; as they probably did, in the opinion of Belshazzar and his abandoned court. But it is not a human hand that holds the balance, or the eye of a superficial mortal that is to watch its preponderation. No; the beam is suspended from God’s hand, and the balance is to be regulated byOne, in whose sight “a false balance is an abomination.” Prov. xi. 1. Belshazzar is weighed by Him, who can neither err nor be deceived. And the result of the scrutiny is, that he is found wanting. His moral character is defective, weighs nothing. The glory of anempirecannot make up for what is wanting in theman. In God’s account, an act of truth or mercy outweighs a kingdom; and, without holiness, earthly dignities are as the small dust of the balance, and all sublunary excellence lighter than vanity itself. Belshazzar’s whole empire is no counter-balance against Belshazzar’s iniquities. And, while a court or pulpit-flatterer pronounces bliss and glory in theking, Godmakes no other account of his royalty, than to damn it in thesinnerwith the greater emphasis.
Let us borrow the striking imagery in the text, and apply it to ourselves. Let each individual fancy himself represented, as a mortal and a sinner, in the person of the king of Babylon, before his doom was fixed, and his life hung in suspense. Let him suppose himself,—his principles and pretensions,—his heart and life,—put into the balance. The scriptures of the Old and New Testament, in perfect coincidence with each other, are the two sacred even-balancedscales, by which his whole self is to be weighed. As the decalogue is the great standard of moral rectitude, and the gospel is the test of evangelical principles; I hope it will not be any straining of the metaphor, to consider thetwo tables of the law, and therequisitions of the gospel, as the justweights, by which the pretensions of the pharisee and the soaring professor are to be examined; since we are commanded to bring every thing to the test of “the law and the testimony.” This is the more requisite, because theessential truthof God is thebeam, from whence the two scales of scripture are suspended, and by which they are made to connect in perfect harmony. Let us consider the hand of infinitejusticeas holdingthe balance, weighing its contents, and determining the value. And let every sinner under heaven fancy himself thus subjected to the examination of the Most High God, and his state to be determined by his just and unalterable judgment; while the fate of his never-dying soul is to be fixed for ever by the issue. It is in vain to attempt either to supersede or elude this scrutiny. For, it is carrying on, every moment, though by an invisible process; death is now hovering round the head of every one of us, and only waits for the divine commission to take out of the scale what God hath weighed in it, and to turn over the sinner to that tribunal, which retributive justice shall one day erect.
In detecting the fallacious hopes and specious principles by which mankind are deceived and destroyed, it is necessary that we weigh in the balance of the sanctuary, allhuman righteousness, all thepossessions of earth, and all thepleasures of sense. These are the three principal sources, from whence men, in general, are labouring to derive happiness. And if I can only convince them that every one of these springs is dry, and that happiness floweth in a pure and perennial stream from a different fountain; much may be done towards bringing them to the enjoyment of what they have hitherto pursued,with fruitless search, in objects calculated rather to ensure misery, than procure happiness.
1. When it is proposed to put to the test all human righteousness, I mean by that term, every kind and degree of moral obedience, which a sinner in his natural state can perform, and upon which he builds his hopes of heaven. As the scriptures positively declare, that “there is none righteous, no, not one;” it is plain, at first view, that the termshuman righteousnessare intended to describe only what is so called, not what really exists. For, since that degree of moral rectitude, which implies perfection of obedience to the law of God, is no longer the claim of fallen sinners; the word righteousness is used, as the language of the self-justiciary, not as the concession of truth. So that, when I adopt these terms, I do it, in order to prove, that the language of many, on theological subjects, is as improper as their pretensions are ill-founded.
Now, that you may be convinced that all human righteousness, as a ground of acceptance before God, is absolutely ideal, and forms no part whatever of that moving cause, which prompted Jehovah to confer upon us the blessings of his kingdom, please to recollect that it is written, “Notby works of righteousnesswhich we had done, but according to hismercyhe saved us.” Tit. iii. 5. Mercy presupposes guilt and wretchedness. And to say that sinners, who possess no previous works of righteousness, but require to be dealt with as objects of divine compassion, are notwithstanding righteous, and must be saved by the merit of their works, is one of the grossest solecisms in divinity, that the church of Rome itself could ever have established in her erroneous creed. Besides, when revelation points us to the Mediator of the new covenant, as to one who sustains the office of aSaviour, how can any man, that pays the least deference to divine authority, suppose, without violating the dictates of even common sense, that he can save himself, and at the same time give the glory of salvation to the Lord Jesus Christ? Upon the plan of the erroneous hypothesis I am combating, the truth of man’s depravity must be denied, and the glorious redemption of the Son of God altogether vacated. So that, before a sinner can arrogantly plead his own righteousness, as the meritorious cause of his salvation, he must first reason himself out of common sense, and, in the face of allowed truths and indisputable facts, endeavour to demonstrate that he is not a sinner, nor Christ a Saviour.
But, let us examine the bold pretensions of human righteousness by the moral law. This is the standard of equity and the touchstone of truth. Before it gives the denomination ofrighteousto any act, or ofrighteousnessto any agent, the law requires perfect, pure, universal, and uninterrupted obedience. A single failure even in thought, makes a man virtually a transgressor of the whole law, and brings him instantly under its curse. For, “if a man keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James, ii. 10. The law requires too, that not merely some, but all its precepts should be observed not only in the letter, but also in the spirit of them; and not only for a certain space of the life of man, but also from the commencement to the close, with every moment inclusive. For, it is written again, “Cursed is every one thatcontinuethnot inallthings written in the book of the law to do them.” Gal. iii. 10. The Apostle Paul contemplating the sanctions of the moral law, and its requirement of universal and incessant conformity, when compared with the corruption of human nature, and the utmost efforts of all human works, draws this inference from the humiliating comparison, “If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Knowing that a man is not justified by theworks of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ; for, by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Gal. ii. 16, 21.
Let every person, now, who fondly supposes his soul is safe, because he is outwardly moral, or that his works will merit heaven, put all the very best performances he can glean up in the balance of truth. Put your works of charity, of benevolence, of devotion, your sincerity, your prayers, and your alms, in one scale. In order to render it as heavy as possible, you are welcome to throw in every thought, word, and action, by which you suppose you have honored God, benefited your neighbour, or profited yourself. Now, only lay in the opposite scale, the two tables of God’s righteous law, inscribed with its holy sanctions, rigorous precepts, and extensive requirements. While we are watching the turn of the beam, give me leave to ask, Have you kept thewholelaw? Did you ever violate it in a single point? Has there been any interruption in your obedience? Has your heart beenalwayspure from every sinful thought, and your life from every immoral act? The law requires this, without admitting the smallest abatement in its demands. Now view the balance. See how it preponderates on the side of the law. Your scale, containing all your works, flies up, andkicks the beam. Your righteousness, compared with that of the law, is only as a bubble to the globe. God writesTekel, where you have writtenMerit. Thou art weighed in the balance and art found wanting. You may perhaps urge, “All these things have I kept from my youth up.” So the young formalist in the gospel thought, to whom Christ said, “Onething thoulackest.” But as you cannot produce perfection of obedience, all your charity, formality, morality, will avail nothing. You want a justifying righteousness, but you have it not in yourself, nor can you get it from the law. As a “ministration of death,” 2 Cor. iii. 7, it condemns you and denounceth a curse; while justice, like the angel armed with a flaming sword, stands ready to inflict the merited blow, should you pertinaciously dare to touch the tree of life with the hand of merit.
But, should you ask, what is to be done, while the balance is suspended in the hand of impartial justice? I answer, Cry for mercy, as an offender, and look toJesusas a completeSaviour. But take care of blending his merit with your own, or of making a convenience of his righteousness to supply the defects of yours. This would be to aggrandize yourself at the expense of his honor. You must not presume to put Christ’s excellency in the balance with yourworks, in order to give them the required weight. No. You must, with a self-renouncing hand, first take out all your own works, leaving not one behind in the scale, and then with the hand of faith put in Christ’s work. This will weigh heavy. His atoning blood and perfect obedience will counterbalance the requisitions of law and justice; will give your conscience peace; save you from hell; and introduce you without spot into the presence of the Holy One of Israel. Thus the apostle of the Gentiles was enabled to act, after he saw the ruin of his nature, and the spirituality of the moral law. His own words are a perfect comment on the truth I have just now endeavoured to establish. “Yea doubtless,” says he, “and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung (σκυβαλα offal) that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” Phil. iii. 8, 9.