SERMONIII.6EPHES.v.14.Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.IN discoursing on these words, I shall, with the help of God,First, Describe the sleepers to whom they are spoken.Secondly, Enforce the exhortation,Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead. And,Thirdly, Explain the promise made to such as doawakeandarise;Christ shall give thee light.I.) 1. And first, as to the sleepers here spoken to. By sleep is signified the natural state of man: that deep sleep of the soul into which the sin ofAdamhath cast all who spring from his loins; that supineness, indolence, and stupidity, that insensibility of his real condition, wherein every man comes into the world, and continues till the voice of God awakes him.2. Nowthey that sleep, sleep in the night. The state of nature is a state of utter darkness; a state whereindarkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people. The poor unawakened sinner, how much knowledge soever he may have as to other things, has no knowledge of himself: in this respect,he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. He knows not that he is a fallen spirit, whose only business in the present world, is to recover from his fall, to regain that image of God wherein he was created. He seesno necessityforthe one thing needful, even that inward universal change, thatbirth from above(figured out by baptism) which is the beginning of that total renovation, that sanctification of spirit, soul and body,without which no man shall see the Lord.* 3. Full of all diseases as he is, he fancies himself in perfect health: fast bound in misery and iron, he dreams that he is at liberty. He says, Peace, peace, while the devil,as a strong man armed, is in full possession of his soul. He sleeps on still, and takes his rest, tho’ hell is moved from beneath to meet him; tho’ the pit, from whence there is no return, hath opened its mouth to swallow him up: a fire is kindled around him, yet he knoweth it not; yea it burns him, yet he lays it not to heart.4. By one who sleeps we are therefore to understand (and would to God we might all understandit!) A sinner satisfied in his sins; contented to remain in his fallen state, to live and die without the image of God: one who is ignorant both of his disease, and of the only remedy for it: one who never was warned, or never regarded the warning voice of God,to flee from the wrath to come: one that never yet saw he was in danger of hell-fire, or cried out in the earnestness of his soul,What must I do to be saved?5. If this sleeper be not outwardly vicious, his sleep is usually the deepest of all: whether he be of theLaodiceanspirit,neither cold nor hot; but a quiet, rational, inoffensive, good-natured professor of the religion of his fathers; or whether he be zealous and orthodox, andafter the most straitest sect of our religion, live a Pharisee; that is, according to the scriptural account, one thatjustifies himself; one that laboursto establish his own righteousness, as the ground of his acceptance with God.6. This is he, whohaving a form of godliness, denies the power thereof; yea, and probably reviles it, wheresoever it is found, as mere extravagance and delusion. Meanwhile, the wretched self-deceiver thanks God, that heis not as other men are; adulterers, unjust, extortioners: no, he doth no wrong to any man. Hefasts twice in the week, uses all the means of grace, is constant at church and sacrament: yea, andgives tithes of all that he has, does allthe good that he can:touching the righteousness of the law, he isblameless: he wants nothing of godliness but the power; nothing of religion, but the spirit; nothing of Christianity, but the truth and the life.7. But know ye not, that however highly esteemed among men,such a Christianas this may be, he is an abomination in the sight of God, and an heir of every woe, which the Son of God yesterday, to-day, and for ever, denounces againstScribes and Pharisees, hypocrites? He hathmade clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but within is full of all filthiness.An evil disease cleavethstillunto him, so thathis inward parts are very wickedness. Our Lord fitly compares him to apainted sepulchre, whichappears beautiful without; but nevertheless isfull of dead mens bones, and of all uncleanness. The bones indeed are no longer dry;the sinews and flesh are come upon them, and the skin covers them above, butthere is no breathin them, no Spirit of the living God. Andif any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Ye are Christ’s, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.But if not, God knoweth that ye abide in death, even until now.8. This is another character of the sleeper here spoken to. He abides in death, tho’ he knows it not. He is dead unto God,dead in trespasses and sins. For,to be carnally mindedis death. Even as it is written,by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin: and so death passed upon all men, not only temporal death, but likewise spiritual and eternal.In that day that thou eatest(said God toAdam)Thou shalt surely die. Not bodily (unless as he then became mortal) but spiritually: thou shalt lose the life of thy soul: thou shalt die to God; shalt be separated from him, thy essential life and happiness.9. Thus first was dissolved the vital union of our soul with God: insomuch thatin the midst ofnaturallife, we arenowinspiritualdeath. And herein we remain till the secondAdambecomes a quickening spirit to us, till he raises the dead, the dead in sin, in pleasure, riches, or honours. But before any dead soul can live, hehears(hearkens to)the voice of the Son of God: He is made sensible of his lost estate, and receives the sentence of death in himself. He knows himself to bedead while he liveth, dead to God, and all the things of God: having no more power to perform the actions of a living Christian, than a dead body to perform the functions of a living man.10. And most certain it is, that one dead in sin, has notsenses exercised to discernspiritualgood and evil. Having eyes, he sees not, he hath ears and hears not.He doth nottaste and see that the Lord is gracious. Hehath not seen God at any time, norheard his voice, norhandledthe word of life. In vain is the name of Jesuslike ointment poured forth, andall his garments smell of myrrh, aloes and cassia. The soul that sleepeth in death hath no perception of any objects of this kind. His heart ispast feeling, and understandeth none of these things.* 11. And hence having no spiritual senses, no inlets of spiritual knowledge, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; nay, he is so far from receiving them, that whatsoever is spiritually discerned is mere foolishness unto him. He is not content with being utterly ignorant of spiritual things, but he denies the very existence of them. And spiritual sensation itself is to him, the foolishness of folly.How, saith he,can these things be? How can any manknow, that he is alive to God? Even as you know, that your body is now alive. Faith is the life of the soul: and if ye have this life abiding in you, ye want no marks to evidence itto yourself, but thatἔλεγχος Πνεύματος, that divine consciousness, thatwitness ofGod, which is more and greater than ten thousand human witnesses.12. If he doth not now bear witness with thy spirit, that thou art a child of God, O that he might convince thee, thou poor unawakened sinner, by his demonstration and power, that thou art a child of the devil! O that as I prophesy, there might now bea noise and ashaking, and maythe bones come together, bone to his bone. Thencome from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live! And do not ye harden your hearts, and resist the Holy Ghost, who even now is come toconvinceyouof sin, because you believe not on the name of the only begotten Son of God.II.) 1. * Wherefore,Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead. God calleth thee now by my mouth; and bids thee know thyself, thou fallen spirit, thy true state and only concern below.What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise! Call upon thy God, if so be thy God will think upon thee, that thou perish not.A mighty tempest is stirred up round about thee, and thou art sinking into the depths of perdition, the gulph of God’s judgments. If thou wouldst escape them, cast thyself into them.Judge thyself, and thou shaltnot be judged of the Lord.2. Awake, awake! Stand up this moment, lest thoudrink at the Lord’s hand the cup of his fury. Stir up thyselfto lay hold on the Lord, the Lord thy righteousness, mighty to save! Shake thyself from the dust.At least, let the earthquake of God’s threatnings shake thee.Awake and cry out with the tremblinggaoler,What must I do to be saved?And never rest, till thou believest on the Lord Jesus, with afaith which is his gift, by the operation of his spirit.3. * If I speak to any one of you more than to another, it is to thee, who thinkest thyself unconcerned in this exhortation.I have a message from God unto thee.In his name, Iwarntheeto flee from the wrath to come. Thou unholy soul, see thy picture in condemn’dPeter, lying in the dark dungeon, between the soldiers, bound with two chains, the keepers before the door keeping the prison. The night is far spent, the morning is at hand, when thou art to be brought forth to execution. And in these dreadful circumstances, thou art fast asleep; thou art fast asleep in the devil’s arms, on the brink of the pit, in the jaws of everlasting destruction.4. O maythe angel of the Lord come upon thee, andthe light shine into thy prison! And mayst thou feel the stroke of an almighty hand, raising thee witharise up quickly, gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals, cast thy garments about thee, and follow me.5. * Awake, thou everlasting spirit, out of thy dream of worldly happiness. Did not God create thee for himself? Then, thou canst not rest, till thou restest in him. Return thou wanderer. Fly back to thy ark.This is not thy home.Think not of building tabernacles here. Thou art buta stranger, a sojourner upon earth: A creature of a day, but just launching out intoan unchangeable state. Make haste. Eternity is at hand. Eternity depends on this moment. An eternity of happiness, or an eternity of misery!6. In what state is thy soul? Was God, while I am yet speaking, to require it of thee, art thou ready to meet death and judgment? Canst thou stand in his sight,who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity? Art thoumeet to be partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light? Hast thoufought a good fight and kept the faith? Hast thou securedthe one thing needful? Hast thou recovered the image of God, evenrighteousness and true holiness? Hast thouput off the old man and put on the new? Art thoucloathed upon with Christ?7. Hast thou oil in thy lamp? Grace in thy heart? Dost thoulove the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength? Isthat mind in thee, which was also in Christ Jesus? Art thou a Christian indeed? That is, a new creature? Areold things past away, and all things become new?8. Art thou apartaker of the divine nature? Knowest thou not, that Christ is in thee, except thou be reprobate?Knowest thou, that Goddwelleth in thee, and thou in God, by his Spirit which he hath given thee? Knowest thou not, thatthy body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which thou hast of God? Hast thouthe witness in thyself?The earnest of thine inheritance?Hast thoureceived the Holy Ghost—or dost thou start at the question, not knowing whether there be any Holy Ghost?9. If it offends thee, be thou assured, that thou neither art a Christian, nor desirest to be one. Nay, thy veryprayer is turned into sin; and thou hast solemnly mocked God this very day, by praying forthe inspiration of his holy spirit, when thou didst not believe there was any such thing to be received.10. * Yet on the authority of God’s word and our own church, I must repeat the question,Hast thou received the Holy Ghost?If thou hast not, thou art not yet a Christian: for a Christian is a man, that isanointed with the Holy Ghost, and with power. Thou art not yet made a partaker of pure religion and undefiled. Dost thou know, what religion is? That it is, a participation of the divine nature, the life of God in the soul of man:Christ formed in the heart, Christ, in thee, the hope of glory: happiness and holiness: heaven begun upon earth:a kingdom of God within thee: not meat and drink, no outward thing:but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost? An everlasting kingdom brought into thy soul, apeace of God, that passeth all understanding; ajoy unspeakable and full of glory?11. Knowest thou, thatin Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision;but faith that worketh by love; but a new creation? Seest thou the necessity of that inward change, that spiritual birth, that life from the dead? That holiness? And art thou throughly convinced, thatwithout it, no man shall see the Lord? Art thou labouring after it?Giving all diligence, to make thy calling and election sure? Working out thy salvation with fear and trembling? Agonizing to enter in at the straight gate?Art thouin earnestabout thy soul? And, canst thou tell the Searcher of hearts,Thou, O God, art the thing that I long for! Lord, thou knowest all things! Thou knowest that Iwouldlove thee!12. Thou hopest to be saved—but what reason hast thou to give of the hope that is in thee? Is it because thou hast done no harm? Or, because thou hast done much good? Or, because thou art not like other men; but wise, or learned, or honest and morally good? Esteemed of men, and of a fair reputation? Alas, all this will never bring thee to God. It is in his account lighter than vanity. Dost thouknow Jesus Christ whom he hath sent? Hath he taught thee, thatby grace we are saved through faith? And that, not of ourselves. It is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.Hast thou received the faithful saying as the whole foundation of thy hope,Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners? Hast thou learned what that meaneth,I camenot to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance? I am not sent, but to the lost sheep?Art thou (he that heareth, let him understand!) lost, dead?Damned already?—Dost thou know thy deserts? Dost thou feel thy wants? Art thoupoor in spirit?Mourningfor God and refusing to be comforted? Is the prodigalcome to himself, and well-content to be therefore thoughtbeside himself, by those who are still feeding upon the husks which he hath left? Art thou willing tolive godly in Christ Jesus? And dost thou thereforesuffer persecution? Domen say all manner of evil against thee falsely, for the Son of man’s sake?13. O, that in all these questions ye may hear the voice that wakes the dead, and feel that hammer of the word, whichbreaketh the rocks in pieces!—If ye will hear his voice to day, while it is called to day, harden not your hearts.Nowawake thou that sleepestin spiritual death, that thou sleep not in death eternal! Feel thy lost estate, andarise from the dead. Leave thine old companions in sin and death. Follow thou Jesus, andlet the dead bury their dead. Save thyself from this untoward generation. Come out from among them, and be thou separate, and touch not the unclean thing, and the Lord shall receive thee, Christ shall give thee light.III.) 1. This promise I come, lastly, to explain. And how encouraging a consideration is this, that whosoever thou art who obeyest his call, thou canst not seek his face in vain. If thou even nowawakest and arisest from the dead, he hath bound himself togive thee light. The Lord shall givetheegrace and glory; the light of his grace here, and the light of his glory, when thou receivest thecrown that fadeth not away. Thy light shallbreak forth as the morning, and thy darkness be as the noon-day.God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shallshine in thy heart; to give the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. On them that fear the Lord shall the sun of righteousness arise, with healing in his wings.Andin that day it shall be said unto thee, Arise, shine: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For Christ shall reveal himself in thee. And he is thetrue light.2. God is light, and will give himself to every awakened sinner, that waiteth for him: and thou shalt then be a temple of the living God, and Christ shalldwell in thy heart by faith: andbeing rooted and grounded in love, thou shalt be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and heighth of that love of Christ which passeth knowledge.3. Ye see your calling, brethren. We are call’d to bean habitation of God through his Spirit: and through his Spirit dwelling in us,to be saintshere, andpartakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Soexceeding greatare thepromises which are given unto us, actually given unto us who believe. For by faithwe receive, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, the sum of all the promises,that we may know the things that are freely given to us of God.4. The Spirit of Christ is that great gift of God, which at sundry times, and in divers manners he hath promised to man, and hath fully bestowed since the time that Christ was glorified. Those Promises before made to the fathers, he hath thus fulfilled:I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in mystatutes7.I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground:I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thineoffspring8.5. Ye may all be living witnesses of these things: of remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost.If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Who among you is there, that feareth the Lord, and yetwalketh on in darkness, and hath no light? I ask thee in the name of Jesus, believest thou thathis arm isnot shortned at all? That he is stillmighty to save? That he isthe same yesterday, to day, and for ever? That he hathnowpower,on earthto forgive sins?Son, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven.God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven thee. Receive this,not as the word of man; but as it is, indeed, the word of God; and thou artjustified freely through faith. Thou shalt be sanctified also through faith which is in Jesus, and shalt set to thy seal, even thine, that Godhathgiven unto useternal life, and this life is in his Son.6. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you; andsuffer ye the word of exhortation, even from one the least esteemed in the church. Your conscience beareth you witness in the Holy Ghost, that these things are so,if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. This is eternal life, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.This experimental knowledge, and this alone, is true Christianity. He is a Christian, who hath received the Spirit of Christ. He is not a Christian, who hath not received him. Neither is it possible to have received him and not know it.Forat that day9(when he cometh, saith our Lord)ye shall know, that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. This is thatSpirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neitherknoweth him. But ye know him: for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.7. The world cannot receive him, but utterly reject the promise of the Father, contradicting and blaspheming. But every spirit which confesseth not this, is not of God. Yea,this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard, that it should come into the world, and even now it is in the world. * He is antichrist whosoever denies the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, or that the indwelling Spirit of God is the common privilege of all believers, the blessing of the gospel, the unspeakable gift, the universal promise, the criterion of a real Christian.8. It nothing helps them to say, “We do not deny theassistanceof God’s Spirit; but only thisinspiration, thisreceiving the Holy Ghost, and beingsensibleof it. It is only thisfeeling of theSpirit, this beingmovedby the Spirit, orfilledwith it, which we deny to have any place in sound religion.” But inonly denying this, you deny the whole scriptures, the whole truth and promise and testimony of God.9. Our own excellent church knows nothing of this devilish distinction: but speaks plainly offeeling the Spirit ofChrist10; of beingmoved by the HolyGhost11, and knowing andfeeling there is no other name than that ofJesus12,whereby we can receive life and salvation.She teaches us all to pray for theinspiration of the HolySpirit13, yea, that we may befilled with the HolyGhost14. Nay, and every presbyter of hers, professes toreceive the Holy Ghost by the imposition of hands. Therefore to deny any of these, is in effect, to renounce the church ofEngland, as well as the whole Christian revelation.10. Butthe wisdom of Godwas alwaysfoolishness with men. No marvel then, that the great mystery of the gospel, should be now alsohid from the wise and prudent, as well as in the days of old; that it should be almost universally denied, ridiculed and exploded as mere frenzy: and that all who dare avow it still, are branded with the names of madmen and enthusiasts. This isthat falling awaywhich was to come: that general apostacy, of all orders and degrees of men, which we even now find to have overspread the earth.Run to and fro in the streets of Jerusalem, and see if ye can find a man; a man that loveth the Lord his God with all his heart, and serveth him with all his strength? How does our own land mourn (that we look no farther) under the overflowings of ungodliness? What villanies of every kind are committed day by day; yea, too often with impunity, by those who sin witha high hand, and glory in their shame? Who can reckon up the oaths, curses, profaneness, blasphemies, the lying, slandering, evil-speaking, the sabbath-breaking, gluttony, drunkenness, revenge, the whoredoms, adulteries, and various uncleanness, the frauds, injustice, oppression, extortion, which overspread our land as a flood?11. * And even among those who have kept themselves pure from these grosser abominations; how much anger and pride, how much sloth and idleness, how much softness and effeminacy, how much luxury and self-indulgence, how much covetousness and ambition, how much thirst of praise, how much love of the world, how much fear of man is to be found? Meanwhile, how little of true religion? For where is he that loveth either God or his neighbour, as he hath given us commandment? On the one hand are those, who have not so much as the form of godliness: on the other those who have the form only; there stands theopen, there thepaintedsepulchre. So that in very deed, whosoever were earnestly to behold any publick gathering together of the people, (I fear, those in our churches are not to be excepted) might easily perceive,that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees: the one having almost as little concern about religion, as if there wereno resurrection, neither angel nor spirit; andthe other making it a mere lifeless form, a dull round of external performances, without either true faith, or the love of God, or joy in the Holy Ghost.12. Would to God I could except us of this place.Brethren, my heart’s desire, and prayer to God for you is, that ye may be savedfrom this overflowing of ungodliness, and that here may its proud waves be stay’d! But is it so indeed? God knoweth, yea, and our own conscience, it is not. Ye have not kept yourselves pure. Corrupt are we also and abominable; and few are there that understand any more, few that worship God in spirit and in truth. We too area generation that set not our hearts aright, and whose Spirit cleaveth not stedfastly unto God: He hath appointed us indeed to bethe salt of the earth. But if the salt have lost its savour, it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.13. Andshall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?Yea, we know not how soon he may say to the sword,Sword, go through this land!He hath given us long space to repent. He lets us alone this year also: but he warns and awakens us by thunder. His judgments are abroad in the earth. And we have all reason to expect that heaviest of all, eventhat he should come unto us quickly, and remove ourcandlestick out of its place, except we repent and do the first works: unless we return to the principles of the reformation, the truth and simplicity of the gospel. Perhaps we are now resisting the last effort of divine grace to save us. Perhaps we have well nighfilled up the measure of our iniquities, by rejecting the counsel of God against ourselves, and calling out his messengers.14. O God,in the midst of wrath remember mercy! Be glorified in our reformation, not in our destruction. Let ushear the rod, and him that appointed it. Now thatthy judgments are abroad in the earth, let theinhabitants of the world learn righteousness.15. My brethren, it is high time for us, to awake out of sleep; before thegreat trumpet of the Lord be blown, and our land become a field of blood. O may we speedily see the things that make for our peace, before they are hid from our eyes!Turn thou us, O good Lord, and let thine anger cease from us. O Lord, look down from heaven, behold and visit this vine; and cause us to know the time of our visitation.Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name; O deliver us, and be merciful to our sins, for thy names sake. And so will we not go back from thee: O let us live, and we shall call upon thy name. Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, shew the light of thy countenance, and we shall be whole.Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.Amen.
EPHES.v.14.
Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
IN discoursing on these words, I shall, with the help of God,
First, Describe the sleepers to whom they are spoken.
Secondly, Enforce the exhortation,Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead. And,
Thirdly, Explain the promise made to such as doawakeandarise;Christ shall give thee light.
I.) 1. And first, as to the sleepers here spoken to. By sleep is signified the natural state of man: that deep sleep of the soul into which the sin ofAdamhath cast all who spring from his loins; that supineness, indolence, and stupidity, that insensibility of his real condition, wherein every man comes into the world, and continues till the voice of God awakes him.
2. Nowthey that sleep, sleep in the night. The state of nature is a state of utter darkness; a state whereindarkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people. The poor unawakened sinner, how much knowledge soever he may have as to other things, has no knowledge of himself: in this respect,he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. He knows not that he is a fallen spirit, whose only business in the present world, is to recover from his fall, to regain that image of God wherein he was created. He seesno necessityforthe one thing needful, even that inward universal change, thatbirth from above(figured out by baptism) which is the beginning of that total renovation, that sanctification of spirit, soul and body,without which no man shall see the Lord.
* 3. Full of all diseases as he is, he fancies himself in perfect health: fast bound in misery and iron, he dreams that he is at liberty. He says, Peace, peace, while the devil,as a strong man armed, is in full possession of his soul. He sleeps on still, and takes his rest, tho’ hell is moved from beneath to meet him; tho’ the pit, from whence there is no return, hath opened its mouth to swallow him up: a fire is kindled around him, yet he knoweth it not; yea it burns him, yet he lays it not to heart.
4. By one who sleeps we are therefore to understand (and would to God we might all understandit!) A sinner satisfied in his sins; contented to remain in his fallen state, to live and die without the image of God: one who is ignorant both of his disease, and of the only remedy for it: one who never was warned, or never regarded the warning voice of God,to flee from the wrath to come: one that never yet saw he was in danger of hell-fire, or cried out in the earnestness of his soul,What must I do to be saved?
5. If this sleeper be not outwardly vicious, his sleep is usually the deepest of all: whether he be of theLaodiceanspirit,neither cold nor hot; but a quiet, rational, inoffensive, good-natured professor of the religion of his fathers; or whether he be zealous and orthodox, andafter the most straitest sect of our religion, live a Pharisee; that is, according to the scriptural account, one thatjustifies himself; one that laboursto establish his own righteousness, as the ground of his acceptance with God.
6. This is he, whohaving a form of godliness, denies the power thereof; yea, and probably reviles it, wheresoever it is found, as mere extravagance and delusion. Meanwhile, the wretched self-deceiver thanks God, that heis not as other men are; adulterers, unjust, extortioners: no, he doth no wrong to any man. Hefasts twice in the week, uses all the means of grace, is constant at church and sacrament: yea, andgives tithes of all that he has, does allthe good that he can:touching the righteousness of the law, he isblameless: he wants nothing of godliness but the power; nothing of religion, but the spirit; nothing of Christianity, but the truth and the life.
7. But know ye not, that however highly esteemed among men,such a Christianas this may be, he is an abomination in the sight of God, and an heir of every woe, which the Son of God yesterday, to-day, and for ever, denounces againstScribes and Pharisees, hypocrites? He hathmade clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but within is full of all filthiness.An evil disease cleavethstillunto him, so thathis inward parts are very wickedness. Our Lord fitly compares him to apainted sepulchre, whichappears beautiful without; but nevertheless isfull of dead mens bones, and of all uncleanness. The bones indeed are no longer dry;the sinews and flesh are come upon them, and the skin covers them above, butthere is no breathin them, no Spirit of the living God. Andif any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Ye are Christ’s, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.But if not, God knoweth that ye abide in death, even until now.
8. This is another character of the sleeper here spoken to. He abides in death, tho’ he knows it not. He is dead unto God,dead in trespasses and sins. For,to be carnally mindedis death. Even as it is written,by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin: and so death passed upon all men, not only temporal death, but likewise spiritual and eternal.In that day that thou eatest(said God toAdam)Thou shalt surely die. Not bodily (unless as he then became mortal) but spiritually: thou shalt lose the life of thy soul: thou shalt die to God; shalt be separated from him, thy essential life and happiness.
9. Thus first was dissolved the vital union of our soul with God: insomuch thatin the midst ofnaturallife, we arenowinspiritualdeath. And herein we remain till the secondAdambecomes a quickening spirit to us, till he raises the dead, the dead in sin, in pleasure, riches, or honours. But before any dead soul can live, hehears(hearkens to)the voice of the Son of God: He is made sensible of his lost estate, and receives the sentence of death in himself. He knows himself to bedead while he liveth, dead to God, and all the things of God: having no more power to perform the actions of a living Christian, than a dead body to perform the functions of a living man.
10. And most certain it is, that one dead in sin, has notsenses exercised to discernspiritualgood and evil. Having eyes, he sees not, he hath ears and hears not.He doth nottaste and see that the Lord is gracious. Hehath not seen God at any time, norheard his voice, norhandledthe word of life. In vain is the name of Jesuslike ointment poured forth, andall his garments smell of myrrh, aloes and cassia. The soul that sleepeth in death hath no perception of any objects of this kind. His heart ispast feeling, and understandeth none of these things.
* 11. And hence having no spiritual senses, no inlets of spiritual knowledge, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; nay, he is so far from receiving them, that whatsoever is spiritually discerned is mere foolishness unto him. He is not content with being utterly ignorant of spiritual things, but he denies the very existence of them. And spiritual sensation itself is to him, the foolishness of folly.How, saith he,can these things be? How can any manknow, that he is alive to God? Even as you know, that your body is now alive. Faith is the life of the soul: and if ye have this life abiding in you, ye want no marks to evidence itto yourself, but thatἔλεγχος Πνεύματος, that divine consciousness, thatwitness ofGod, which is more and greater than ten thousand human witnesses.
12. If he doth not now bear witness with thy spirit, that thou art a child of God, O that he might convince thee, thou poor unawakened sinner, by his demonstration and power, that thou art a child of the devil! O that as I prophesy, there might now bea noise and ashaking, and maythe bones come together, bone to his bone. Thencome from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live! And do not ye harden your hearts, and resist the Holy Ghost, who even now is come toconvinceyouof sin, because you believe not on the name of the only begotten Son of God.
II.) 1. * Wherefore,Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead. God calleth thee now by my mouth; and bids thee know thyself, thou fallen spirit, thy true state and only concern below.What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise! Call upon thy God, if so be thy God will think upon thee, that thou perish not.A mighty tempest is stirred up round about thee, and thou art sinking into the depths of perdition, the gulph of God’s judgments. If thou wouldst escape them, cast thyself into them.Judge thyself, and thou shaltnot be judged of the Lord.
2. Awake, awake! Stand up this moment, lest thoudrink at the Lord’s hand the cup of his fury. Stir up thyselfto lay hold on the Lord, the Lord thy righteousness, mighty to save! Shake thyself from the dust.At least, let the earthquake of God’s threatnings shake thee.Awake and cry out with the tremblinggaoler,What must I do to be saved?And never rest, till thou believest on the Lord Jesus, with afaith which is his gift, by the operation of his spirit.
3. * If I speak to any one of you more than to another, it is to thee, who thinkest thyself unconcerned in this exhortation.I have a message from God unto thee.In his name, Iwarntheeto flee from the wrath to come. Thou unholy soul, see thy picture in condemn’dPeter, lying in the dark dungeon, between the soldiers, bound with two chains, the keepers before the door keeping the prison. The night is far spent, the morning is at hand, when thou art to be brought forth to execution. And in these dreadful circumstances, thou art fast asleep; thou art fast asleep in the devil’s arms, on the brink of the pit, in the jaws of everlasting destruction.
4. O maythe angel of the Lord come upon thee, andthe light shine into thy prison! And mayst thou feel the stroke of an almighty hand, raising thee witharise up quickly, gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals, cast thy garments about thee, and follow me.
5. * Awake, thou everlasting spirit, out of thy dream of worldly happiness. Did not God create thee for himself? Then, thou canst not rest, till thou restest in him. Return thou wanderer. Fly back to thy ark.This is not thy home.Think not of building tabernacles here. Thou art buta stranger, a sojourner upon earth: A creature of a day, but just launching out intoan unchangeable state. Make haste. Eternity is at hand. Eternity depends on this moment. An eternity of happiness, or an eternity of misery!
6. In what state is thy soul? Was God, while I am yet speaking, to require it of thee, art thou ready to meet death and judgment? Canst thou stand in his sight,who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity? Art thoumeet to be partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light? Hast thoufought a good fight and kept the faith? Hast thou securedthe one thing needful? Hast thou recovered the image of God, evenrighteousness and true holiness? Hast thouput off the old man and put on the new? Art thoucloathed upon with Christ?
7. Hast thou oil in thy lamp? Grace in thy heart? Dost thoulove the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength? Isthat mind in thee, which was also in Christ Jesus? Art thou a Christian indeed? That is, a new creature? Areold things past away, and all things become new?
8. Art thou apartaker of the divine nature? Knowest thou not, that Christ is in thee, except thou be reprobate?Knowest thou, that Goddwelleth in thee, and thou in God, by his Spirit which he hath given thee? Knowest thou not, thatthy body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which thou hast of God? Hast thouthe witness in thyself?The earnest of thine inheritance?Hast thoureceived the Holy Ghost—or dost thou start at the question, not knowing whether there be any Holy Ghost?
9. If it offends thee, be thou assured, that thou neither art a Christian, nor desirest to be one. Nay, thy veryprayer is turned into sin; and thou hast solemnly mocked God this very day, by praying forthe inspiration of his holy spirit, when thou didst not believe there was any such thing to be received.
10. * Yet on the authority of God’s word and our own church, I must repeat the question,Hast thou received the Holy Ghost?If thou hast not, thou art not yet a Christian: for a Christian is a man, that isanointed with the Holy Ghost, and with power. Thou art not yet made a partaker of pure religion and undefiled. Dost thou know, what religion is? That it is, a participation of the divine nature, the life of God in the soul of man:Christ formed in the heart, Christ, in thee, the hope of glory: happiness and holiness: heaven begun upon earth:a kingdom of God within thee: not meat and drink, no outward thing:but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost? An everlasting kingdom brought into thy soul, apeace of God, that passeth all understanding; ajoy unspeakable and full of glory?
11. Knowest thou, thatin Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision;but faith that worketh by love; but a new creation? Seest thou the necessity of that inward change, that spiritual birth, that life from the dead? That holiness? And art thou throughly convinced, thatwithout it, no man shall see the Lord? Art thou labouring after it?Giving all diligence, to make thy calling and election sure? Working out thy salvation with fear and trembling? Agonizing to enter in at the straight gate?Art thouin earnestabout thy soul? And, canst thou tell the Searcher of hearts,Thou, O God, art the thing that I long for! Lord, thou knowest all things! Thou knowest that Iwouldlove thee!
12. Thou hopest to be saved—but what reason hast thou to give of the hope that is in thee? Is it because thou hast done no harm? Or, because thou hast done much good? Or, because thou art not like other men; but wise, or learned, or honest and morally good? Esteemed of men, and of a fair reputation? Alas, all this will never bring thee to God. It is in his account lighter than vanity. Dost thouknow Jesus Christ whom he hath sent? Hath he taught thee, thatby grace we are saved through faith? And that, not of ourselves. It is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.Hast thou received the faithful saying as the whole foundation of thy hope,Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners? Hast thou learned what that meaneth,I camenot to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance? I am not sent, but to the lost sheep?Art thou (he that heareth, let him understand!) lost, dead?Damned already?—Dost thou know thy deserts? Dost thou feel thy wants? Art thoupoor in spirit?Mourningfor God and refusing to be comforted? Is the prodigalcome to himself, and well-content to be therefore thoughtbeside himself, by those who are still feeding upon the husks which he hath left? Art thou willing tolive godly in Christ Jesus? And dost thou thereforesuffer persecution? Domen say all manner of evil against thee falsely, for the Son of man’s sake?
13. O, that in all these questions ye may hear the voice that wakes the dead, and feel that hammer of the word, whichbreaketh the rocks in pieces!—If ye will hear his voice to day, while it is called to day, harden not your hearts.Nowawake thou that sleepestin spiritual death, that thou sleep not in death eternal! Feel thy lost estate, andarise from the dead. Leave thine old companions in sin and death. Follow thou Jesus, andlet the dead bury their dead. Save thyself from this untoward generation. Come out from among them, and be thou separate, and touch not the unclean thing, and the Lord shall receive thee, Christ shall give thee light.
III.) 1. This promise I come, lastly, to explain. And how encouraging a consideration is this, that whosoever thou art who obeyest his call, thou canst not seek his face in vain. If thou even nowawakest and arisest from the dead, he hath bound himself togive thee light. The Lord shall givetheegrace and glory; the light of his grace here, and the light of his glory, when thou receivest thecrown that fadeth not away. Thy light shallbreak forth as the morning, and thy darkness be as the noon-day.God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shallshine in thy heart; to give the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. On them that fear the Lord shall the sun of righteousness arise, with healing in his wings.Andin that day it shall be said unto thee, Arise, shine: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For Christ shall reveal himself in thee. And he is thetrue light.
2. God is light, and will give himself to every awakened sinner, that waiteth for him: and thou shalt then be a temple of the living God, and Christ shalldwell in thy heart by faith: andbeing rooted and grounded in love, thou shalt be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and heighth of that love of Christ which passeth knowledge.
3. Ye see your calling, brethren. We are call’d to bean habitation of God through his Spirit: and through his Spirit dwelling in us,to be saintshere, andpartakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Soexceeding greatare thepromises which are given unto us, actually given unto us who believe. For by faithwe receive, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, the sum of all the promises,that we may know the things that are freely given to us of God.
4. The Spirit of Christ is that great gift of God, which at sundry times, and in divers manners he hath promised to man, and hath fully bestowed since the time that Christ was glorified. Those Promises before made to the fathers, he hath thus fulfilled:I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in mystatutes7.I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground:I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thineoffspring8.
5. Ye may all be living witnesses of these things: of remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost.If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Who among you is there, that feareth the Lord, and yetwalketh on in darkness, and hath no light? I ask thee in the name of Jesus, believest thou thathis arm isnot shortned at all? That he is stillmighty to save? That he isthe same yesterday, to day, and for ever? That he hathnowpower,on earthto forgive sins?Son, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven.God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven thee. Receive this,not as the word of man; but as it is, indeed, the word of God; and thou artjustified freely through faith. Thou shalt be sanctified also through faith which is in Jesus, and shalt set to thy seal, even thine, that Godhathgiven unto useternal life, and this life is in his Son.
6. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you; andsuffer ye the word of exhortation, even from one the least esteemed in the church. Your conscience beareth you witness in the Holy Ghost, that these things are so,if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. This is eternal life, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.This experimental knowledge, and this alone, is true Christianity. He is a Christian, who hath received the Spirit of Christ. He is not a Christian, who hath not received him. Neither is it possible to have received him and not know it.Forat that day9(when he cometh, saith our Lord)ye shall know, that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. This is thatSpirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neitherknoweth him. But ye know him: for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
7. The world cannot receive him, but utterly reject the promise of the Father, contradicting and blaspheming. But every spirit which confesseth not this, is not of God. Yea,this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard, that it should come into the world, and even now it is in the world. * He is antichrist whosoever denies the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, or that the indwelling Spirit of God is the common privilege of all believers, the blessing of the gospel, the unspeakable gift, the universal promise, the criterion of a real Christian.
8. It nothing helps them to say, “We do not deny theassistanceof God’s Spirit; but only thisinspiration, thisreceiving the Holy Ghost, and beingsensibleof it. It is only thisfeeling of theSpirit, this beingmovedby the Spirit, orfilledwith it, which we deny to have any place in sound religion.” But inonly denying this, you deny the whole scriptures, the whole truth and promise and testimony of God.
9. Our own excellent church knows nothing of this devilish distinction: but speaks plainly offeeling the Spirit ofChrist10; of beingmoved by the HolyGhost11, and knowing andfeeling there is no other name than that ofJesus12,whereby we can receive life and salvation.She teaches us all to pray for theinspiration of the HolySpirit13, yea, that we may befilled with the HolyGhost14. Nay, and every presbyter of hers, professes toreceive the Holy Ghost by the imposition of hands. Therefore to deny any of these, is in effect, to renounce the church ofEngland, as well as the whole Christian revelation.
10. Butthe wisdom of Godwas alwaysfoolishness with men. No marvel then, that the great mystery of the gospel, should be now alsohid from the wise and prudent, as well as in the days of old; that it should be almost universally denied, ridiculed and exploded as mere frenzy: and that all who dare avow it still, are branded with the names of madmen and enthusiasts. This isthat falling awaywhich was to come: that general apostacy, of all orders and degrees of men, which we even now find to have overspread the earth.Run to and fro in the streets of Jerusalem, and see if ye can find a man; a man that loveth the Lord his God with all his heart, and serveth him with all his strength? How does our own land mourn (that we look no farther) under the overflowings of ungodliness? What villanies of every kind are committed day by day; yea, too often with impunity, by those who sin witha high hand, and glory in their shame? Who can reckon up the oaths, curses, profaneness, blasphemies, the lying, slandering, evil-speaking, the sabbath-breaking, gluttony, drunkenness, revenge, the whoredoms, adulteries, and various uncleanness, the frauds, injustice, oppression, extortion, which overspread our land as a flood?
11. * And even among those who have kept themselves pure from these grosser abominations; how much anger and pride, how much sloth and idleness, how much softness and effeminacy, how much luxury and self-indulgence, how much covetousness and ambition, how much thirst of praise, how much love of the world, how much fear of man is to be found? Meanwhile, how little of true religion? For where is he that loveth either God or his neighbour, as he hath given us commandment? On the one hand are those, who have not so much as the form of godliness: on the other those who have the form only; there stands theopen, there thepaintedsepulchre. So that in very deed, whosoever were earnestly to behold any publick gathering together of the people, (I fear, those in our churches are not to be excepted) might easily perceive,that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees: the one having almost as little concern about religion, as if there wereno resurrection, neither angel nor spirit; andthe other making it a mere lifeless form, a dull round of external performances, without either true faith, or the love of God, or joy in the Holy Ghost.
12. Would to God I could except us of this place.Brethren, my heart’s desire, and prayer to God for you is, that ye may be savedfrom this overflowing of ungodliness, and that here may its proud waves be stay’d! But is it so indeed? God knoweth, yea, and our own conscience, it is not. Ye have not kept yourselves pure. Corrupt are we also and abominable; and few are there that understand any more, few that worship God in spirit and in truth. We too area generation that set not our hearts aright, and whose Spirit cleaveth not stedfastly unto God: He hath appointed us indeed to bethe salt of the earth. But if the salt have lost its savour, it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
13. Andshall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?Yea, we know not how soon he may say to the sword,Sword, go through this land!He hath given us long space to repent. He lets us alone this year also: but he warns and awakens us by thunder. His judgments are abroad in the earth. And we have all reason to expect that heaviest of all, eventhat he should come unto us quickly, and remove ourcandlestick out of its place, except we repent and do the first works: unless we return to the principles of the reformation, the truth and simplicity of the gospel. Perhaps we are now resisting the last effort of divine grace to save us. Perhaps we have well nighfilled up the measure of our iniquities, by rejecting the counsel of God against ourselves, and calling out his messengers.
14. O God,in the midst of wrath remember mercy! Be glorified in our reformation, not in our destruction. Let ushear the rod, and him that appointed it. Now thatthy judgments are abroad in the earth, let theinhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
15. My brethren, it is high time for us, to awake out of sleep; before thegreat trumpet of the Lord be blown, and our land become a field of blood. O may we speedily see the things that make for our peace, before they are hid from our eyes!Turn thou us, O good Lord, and let thine anger cease from us. O Lord, look down from heaven, behold and visit this vine; and cause us to know the time of our visitation.Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name; O deliver us, and be merciful to our sins, for thy names sake. And so will we not go back from thee: O let us live, and we shall call upon thy name. Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, shew the light of thy countenance, and we shall be whole.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.Amen.