more comfortable sense than this. "Things present, and things to come,"
generally denote, in Scripture, the visible and the invisible world; and
though they are equally present, yet, with respect to our common
apprehensions, the latter must be called future, because it cannot be
unveiled to our senses, till we have laid aside these garments of sin.
The believer, however, by virtue of his Heavenly Nature, united by Faith
to his REDEEMER, stands in the heavenly world at the same time that he
is in this. Its light, and life, and air, its powers, and virtues, and
glories, are opening themselves, though invisibly, in his heart. Hence
it is, that the Apostle speaks of "tasting the powers of the world to
come," even in this present state and that not metaphorically, but as
really and physically as our outward bodies may be said to taste the
powers of this present world. O, what an high and glorious privilege
does this appear, when considered in this point of light! An Heavenly
Man within us, standing upon heavenly ground, breathing the heavenly
air, and rising, by its animating influences, far above that sink of
evil and corruption, in which the earthly nature still remains a
prisoner; and with heavenly fortitude and resignation, supporting the
painful union, till his true parent and deliverer rescues him from his
captivity, and admits him into the liberty of kindred spirits in glory.
Well, therefore, might the Apostle, at the close of this enumeration,
again repeat his general assertion, "All things are yours."--But he
repeats it, not only with a view of impressing the truth more powerfully
upon the hearts of Christians, but also to let them know, that their
privileges are in the most effectual manner secured to them; that their
title is indisputable, their inheritance unfading and eternal--"And ye
are CHRIST'S," says he.
Think not, that your title to this inheritance is founded upon any thing
in yourselves, considered separately and distinctly in your own natures;
no, "Ye are by nature dead in trespasses and sins--The wages of sin is
death." No other inheritance, but destruction and misery, can you derive
from your fallen nature. This inheritance, therefore, which is "Eternal
Life," is solely the gift of GOD, through JESUS CHRIST. "Ye are
CHRIST'S," therefore, not only as being originally created by him in his
own image, which image ye lost by sin; but ye are now his by REDEMPTION,
which is in truth a second creation; for he hath planted his own seed in
your fallen nature. By this, he is become your Father, your Spiritual
Regenerator, your Creator anew in Righteousness and true
Holiness.--Thus, by turning your will to this SAVIOUR, the heavenly seed
springs forth, under his mild and genial influence, into a beautiful
plant, partaking of all the virtues, powers, odours, and colours of its
Eternal Parent, uniting, rejoicing, and living for ever in the same
Heavenly Glory.
Nay, that your faith, and hope, and love, may rest upon an eternal
ground, and that your title may appear to you still more firm, and your
inheritance still more certain and glorious; I must tell you, that as
"Ye are CHRIST'S, so CHRIST is GOD'S."--Here rests the glorious climax,
rising by a fair and beautiful gradation, till its last step is fixed to
the throne of the Highest!
The essential powers virtues and excellencies of the Invisible and
Supernatural GOD, manifest themselves in his eternal and only-begotten
Son JESUS CHRIST, GOD of GOD, GOD-MAN, uniting himself to human nature,
redeeming, glorifying, and exalting it, with himself, to the throne of
the Eternal Father; from thence they are communicated, in copious
streams of light and love, to the whole race whom he has condescended to
redeem; awakening, illuminating, sanctifying, restoring, and investing
them with the same kind of powers and excellencies, which he possesses
himself in an infinite degree, and thus accomplishing what he before had
prayed to his Heavenly Father might be accomplished--"That they all may
be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee; that they also may be
one in us--that they may be ONE, even as we are ONE--I in them, and thou
in me, that they may be made perfect in ONE."
Thus you have seen, my brethren, the nature, extent, and excellency of
the great Christian privileges here enumerated, together with the
eternal and immoveable foundation on which they are built. Need I,
therefore, now call upon you to put in your claim to this vast
inheritance? Alas! I fear there is too much occasion for the most solemn
calls.--So various are the pursuits of the sons of men, and so foreign
to their real happiness; so mistaken are they in their conceptions of
good, so blind to real evil, so easily deluded by specious appearances,
and led astray by so many false lights; so prone to obey the dictates of
a corrupt nature, and so averse to every thing that is spiritual and
heavenly; that the weightiest Truths of the Gospel, the most animating
promises, the most glorious privileges there recounted, seem to have but
very little influence upon their hearts. O why, my brethren, why will ye
"spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that
which satisfieth not?" why, with deluded Esau, "will you sell your
birth-right for a mess of pottage," an heavenly for an earthly
inheritance? When "all things are yours," why will you take up with the
scanty provisions which a poor perishing nature can give? An immortal
soul, redeemed by the blood of the Son of GOD, spending its strength,
exerting its faculties in the pursuit of such fleeting momentary
enjoyments as this world can afford, is a spectacle at which Angels
might weep.--O that every thoughtless sinner might be induced to weep
for himself, to mourn his wretched, forlorn condition; and, from a deep
conviction of the insufficiency of all earthly possessions to make him
happy, that he might be led to seek that "peace of GOD which passeth all
understanding! that inheritance immortal, incorruptible, and undefiled,
which fadeth not away!"
DISCOURSE XIV.
Christ, known or unknown, the Universal Saviour.
St. JOHN, CHAP. xiv. Part of VER. 9.
"HAVE I BEEN SO LONG TIME WITH YOU, AND YET HAST THOU NOT KNOWN ME,
PHILIP?"
"Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe," said our BLESSED
LORD to those earthly-minded Israelites, who were ever looking for some
external display of supernatural power, as the only means of conviction
in matters of religion. This fatal mistake hath prevailed too much in
the world; and still maintains its ground, even among those, whose views
are more spiritual, and who have been taught to look upon religion as an
internal operation, the work of GOD'S SPIRIT upon their souls. They do
not, indeed, seek for an outward sign, as the Jews of old did; they see
the impropriety of this under a spiritual dispensation: their delusion,
however, though perhaps more refined, is equally dangerous. They cannot
conceive that the Divine Power and Presence can be manifested to the
human soul, in any other way; than by extraordinary impressions,
visions, or extasies. Thus, whilst they are looking out for the
appearance of their GOD in a whirl-wind, a fire, or an earthquake, their
attention is wholly withdrawn from that "Still Small Voice," in which he
usually addresses himself to the hearts of his creatures.
Such was the sad delusion under which poor Philip seems to have
laboured. "Lord, shew us the Father, said he, and it sufficeth us." Give
us some visible sign, some sensible demonstration of the Father's power
and presence with thee. Let him rend the heavens and come down; and if
thou art indeed his Son, let him own and honour thee as such, by placing
himself near to thy sacred person, and breaking forth in a flood of
glory upon our outward senses. Poor mistaken disciple! Little didst thou
think of the dreadful consequences which might have attended the
granting of thy request. It might have over-whelmed thy weak nature, but
could never have wrought any salutary conviction in thy soul: thy
outward senses could not have sustained the shock, and thy mind would
have continued as dark as ever, notwithstanding the heavenly effulgence
that surrounded thee.
Ignorant, weak, and deluded, as Philip seems to have been, his BLESSED
MASTER bore with his infirmities, and answered him with all that
sweetness and gentleness, that usually accompanied even his censures and
reproofs--"Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not
known me, Philip? He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father. How sayest
thou then, shew us the Father?"
Not one of all those excellencies and perfections, which constitute the
Divine Nature, but thou mightest have beheld manifested in me. The
healing of the sick, the raising of the dead, making the deaf to hear,
the blind to see, and the dumb to speak, instructing the ignorant, and
preaching the gospel to the poor, all these are the surest marks and
evidences that can possibly be given of the immediate presence of the
Divinity within me. He, therefore, who hath seen me thus manifesting the
Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of my Heavenly Father, in these works of
wonder, tenderness, and love to his children, "hath seen the Father;"
inasmuch, as in the present state of things, there is no other way in
which GOD can manifest himself to you his fallen creatures, but by
awakening your attention to every act and sensibility of goodness, which
you may discover either in yourselves or others. And as all these divine
communications are imparted from the Father through me; so in my
miracles life and conversation, had you yielded a proper attention, you
might have seen "the Brightness of the Father's Glory, and the Express
Image of his Person." "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast
thou not known me, Philip?"
From this particular conversation of our LORD with his disciple, as well
as from the whole tenor of the Gospel, arises this grand and fundamental
truth: that our real knowledge of CHRIST depends upon an attention of
the mind to those Tempers, Qualities, Dispositions and Actions, which he
manifested in his life here upon earth, and which are recorded in
Scripture for our instruction, accompanied with a surrender of our will
and affections to those inward calls, motions, and sensibilities of
Goodness, by which he reveals himself with all his heavenly tempers in
our hearts. CHRIST, therefore, makes himself known to us in these two
principal ways, in his Word, and in our Hearts.
His Word, or what is known by the name of the Holy Scripture, is only
the outward testimony--the rule or standard providentially transmitted
to us, by which we are to judge of the reality of his Presence in our
Hearts. It tells us of a CHRIST, who lived, and suffered, and died in
our human nature, in order to teach us how to live, and suffer, and die.
It assures us, that our everlasting salvation depends upon our knowledge
of this CHRIST; that this knowledge can only be attained by seeking him
earnestly; that the place where he chuses to be found, where he loves to
reside, is in the human heart;" that "his kingdom is within us;" that he
is "the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world;" that
he is the "hope of glory," in every son and daughter of fallen Adam.
The Scriptures likewise testify of the manner of his appearance and
residence within us--that he manifests himself as a destroyer of that
evil work, which the Devil has wrought in our nature; first convincing
us of sin, of the darkness and misery of our fallen life, and then
pointing out to us the paths of righteousness; opening and unfolding all
those sweet and lovely qualities, of which himself is the great Fountain
Spirit, and which he distributes to every man according to his capacity
and desire of receiving them.
To know CHRIST, therefore, is carefully to cultivate those holy and
heavenly tempers and dispositions, which he manifested in his outward
life here upon earth, and which he now continues to manifest in the
breasts of all those who diligently seek after him. To know CHRIST, is
to know and feel the power of "love, joy; peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." Wherever these
Graces take up their residence, there is the Temple of JESUS. These are
the ministring servants that wait at his altar: and the sacrifices which
they there present and offer, are all the earthly and diabolical
passions with which human nature is polluted and oppressed,--pride,
envy, covetousness, jealousy, lust, wrath, bitterness of spirit, and all
the rest of the infernal legion. Love, Love Divine, is the vestal fire
which there burns pure and perpetual; which cleanses, refines,
sublimates, and glorifies every thing that comes within its reach.
In this sense, CHRIST has been a long time, indeed, among the sons of
men, though they may not have known him: He has been long "come to his
own," though his own have not universally received him. Where is the
man, who hath not, in innumerable instances, felt the powerful
suggestions of vice; and, in innumerable instances, been inwardly warned
against them, and pressed to the exercise of virtue?
Speak, thou unthinking, careless mortal! Hast thou never felt thyself
swoln with pride, or burning with envy? Hast thou never coveted, been
jealous, angry, revengeful, bitter, and implacable? Hast thou never
found thyself bound to this world, by such strong and numerous ties,
that the parting from it would be like tearing away thy very
heart-strings? Amidst all that storm and confusion, into which this
restless croud of evil passions has frequently thrown thee, hast thou
never once felt a monitor within, that would have let thee know, if thou
hadst attended to his voice, that all this uproar was from an evil
principle, and that thou wert injuring thy soul by submitting to its
power?
Hast thou never been led to admire and revere the amiable graces of
Meekness, Humility, Love, and Peace, in the life of thy neighbour; and
secretly to wish, that these plants of Heaven would spring up in thy own
barren soil? Hast thou not frequently envied the happy frame and
circumstances of some, whom thou hast seen devout and pious in their
conduct towards GOD, and affectionate, mild, and gentle, in their
behaviour towards their brethren? And hast thou not, in such a
situation, been constrained to sigh out some such wish as this: O that I
could feel, and live, and act, as these men seem to do! Would to GOD
that this evil nature of mine, with all its horrid lusts and passions,
was wholly subdued, eradicated, or changed!
Let me tell thee, then, poor mortal! that all these senses,
sensibilities, and secret desires, are from CHRIST, and that this is the
way he takes to invite thee to his friendship and communion. He is in
thine heart, waiting there with all the condescension, tenderness, and
compassion of a most indulgent father, to deliver thee from thy sins,
and shew himself to thy soul in reconciliation and peace. He hath been
waiting there ever since thou wert born, seeking to make himself known
to thee, sometimes by the frowns of conscience, sometimes by its
approving smiles, sometimes by the endearing intercourse of Christian
friendship and love, and sometimes by the sweet emotions of his own
Charity, kindled within thee, at the sight of an object in distress;
sometimes by providential deliverances from imminent dangers, sometimes
by providential visits of health and prosperity. Whence is it then, O
sinner, that, though thy SAVIOUR hath been so long time "with thee, yet
hast thou not known him?" Whence is it, though he has made thee such
frequent offers of his Love, thou hast still slighted or rejected them?
Various are the obstacles and impediments which prevent us from coming
to a true and saving knowledge of CHRIST. In some persons, the
unrestrained sovereignty and dominion of fallen nature, leads them
captive at its will, makes them deaf to the voice of conscience, and
blind to every ray of light that seeks to illuminate the dark region of
their heart. They know not CHRIST, because they have not the least
desire to be acquainted with him.
In others, the grand and principal impediment to the knowledge of
CHRIST, is their absolute dependence upon an external decency of
conduct, to which they have given the name of morality. If they
cultivate those seeming virtues, which are the faint images or shadows
of the True Graces of the Gospel, it is solely from a selfish principle,
a desire of being noticed and respected by the world: they have no view,
in any thing they undertake, to that real inward change of heart and
temper, in which alone the Knowledge of CHRIST consists. Such persons,
being unacquainted with the intrinsic evil and corruption of their own
nature, cannot have the least desire to be delivered from it; and, till
they are providentially awakened to a sense of this, they cannot find
themselves disposed to enquire after a Saviour, in and through whom
alone these evils and corruptions are to be healed or removed.
Others again there are, who are kept from this saving knowledge of
CHRIST, by an attachment to external forms, modes, and opinions of
religion; who, provided they are found faithful in the observance and
belief of these, excuse themselves from the cultivation of those inward
and heavenly graces and virtues, which alone constitute the life and
power of religion. Such persons frequently fall into the grossest
inconsistencies. They can be angry, in the defence of meekness; proud,
whilst they are discoursing on humility; and can speak of all the
sublime truths of religion, and sometimes of its vital influences on the
heart, with the utmost elegance and pathos of sentiment and expression,
and yet remain totally insensible of their efficacy respecting
themselves. Such persons know not CHRIST, because they do not seek him
in the only way in which he can be found, viz. in a conformity to his
Heavenly Character.
The last impediment which I shall mention, that excludes many serious
minds from the knowledge of CHRIST'S personal power and presence with
them, is that under which poor Philip laboured; even an expectation of
some unusual display of supernatural agency, to produce their conviction
and conversion.--He, indeed, looked for an external sign; they are
anxious for something internal and spiritual; but the nature of the
desire is the same in both, and is equally delusive and dangerous. Such
persons, solicitous for nothing but an assurance of the forgiveness of
GOD, expect to have it communicated by some vision, ecstasy, or sudden
illumination.
Far be it from me to call in question the reality of such
manifestations, which good men in all ages have experienced. But at the
same time I must confess, that I cannot look upon them as essential to
Salvation. CHRIST JESUS reveals himself to sinners in various methods,
and by various means: but the end of all these means and methods is the
same, even to produce his own Image of Righteousness and true Holiness
in their hearts. Let us hear his own blessed words: "Come unto me, all
ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest"--Ye that
labour under the evils of fallen life, seduced by its temptations,
enslaved by its passions, and heavy-laden with its accumulated guilt and
woe, come to me, deeply sensible of your deplorable condition, and
earnestly desiring deliverance, and I will give you rest! From the same
Oracle of Truth, we learn too, wherein this rest, deliverance, or
forgiveness must consist--"Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls." Meekness and lowliness of
heart, therefore, is the true rest which CHRIST gives; for, wherever
these are, there is Faith, there is Hope, there is Heaven-born Charity.
Tell me, ye favoured souls! who have been "called out of darkness into
the marvellous light of GOD;" who have experienced his "Peace, that
passeth all understanding;" who have received the sweetest tokens of his
Forgiving Grace; tell me, wherein did this marvellous Light, this Peace,
this token of Forgiving Grace consist? what kind of sensibility was
awakened in you at that happy season?--Was it not a sensibility of Love
intense, and Meekness unutterable? a Love, that would have clasped
universal nature in its charitable embrace; a Meekness, that would have
forgiven the grossest injuries and insults, and condescended to the
meanest offices of tenderness and kindness to your brethren?
This, then, is the Knowledge of JESUS CHRIST: in this Gentle Element he
delights to move! Let but your souls be attempered to these Divine
Sensations, and CHRIST is yours! Seek not for any sudden and
extraordinary impulses or ecstasies, but "learn to be meek and lowly in
heart!" Ask for Divine Grace to subdue your corrupt and boisterous
passions!--Be weary of, and groan under, the burden of your evil
nature!--Fly from pride, envy, covetousness, and wrath; and cherish the
opposite tempers of meekness, humility, resignation, and love!--Wander
not after an imaginary forgiveness: but know assuredly, that there is no
other way, in which the All-atoning Blood of the HOLY JESUS can be
applied for the pardon of sin, but by inwardly cleansing, redeeming, and
purifying your corrupt natures, from every bestial as well as diabolical
impurity.
It is in this process alone, that you can know, and be known by your
SAVIOUR: and unless you enter upon this, and seek in good earnest to be
intimately acquainted with him, thus revealing himself in your hearts;
he will one day have good reason to say to you, as he did to his
disciple in the text, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet have
you not known me?"
DISCOURSE XV.
Human Life a Pilgrimage.
PSALM xxxix. Part of VER. 12.
"FOR I AM A STRANGER WITH THEE, AND A SOJOURNER, AS ALL MY FATHERS
WERE."
In every age of the world, and among people of every nation and language
under heaven, (if we may credit the testimony of history and experience)
there have been found many virtuous, thoughtful, and enquiring minds;
who, from an attentive observation of the moral as well as physical
disorders incident to the present system of things, from a personal
experience of the unavoidable miseries consequent thereupon, and from a
secret irresistible desire and longing after some superior but unknown
state of being, have been led to form these most philosophical and pious
conclusions:
That their present mode of existence could not possibly be as that for
which they were originally intended by a being of Infinite Wisdom,
Goodness, and Love; that the intelligent and immortal spirit within
them, could not have been created merely to animate a dark terrestrial
body, and to be subject to the clamorous demands of animal nature; that
the fair signatures of beauty, order, and love, which they still saw,
and felt, and admired, within and without them, could not have been
originally impressed by the Divine Fiat upon that mixture of darkness,
deformity and confusion, in which they now appear; that the primeval
harmony and lustre of the creation must, by some means or other, have
been marred and spoiled; and that, for these reasons, they could not but
consider themselves as the fallen inhabitants of a fallen world.
That these strange disorders must have proceeded solely from the
depravity of some created intelligences, they concluded, not only from
their own conceptions of the spotless purity and goodness of the Divine
Nature, but from their own observation and experience of the innumerable
evils that were produced in themselves and others, when ever their wills
and affections deviated from the strait paths of virtue, and wandered in
the mazes of vice. And yet they saw--and yet they felt--that so numerous
and powerful were the temptations and suggestions on the side of vice,
that nought but the kind interposition of their good and powerful
CREATOR, nought but the super-natural illumination and direction of his
BLESSED SPIRIT, could rescue them from the dominion of their passions,
open their understanding to the sight of TRUTH, and incline their will
to the pursuit and practice of GOODNESS. This affectionate intercourse
with their CREATOR, they considered as the only source of their virtue
and happiness in this life, as the only earnest of their future and
final felicity in the next. Hence they regarded themselves as strangers
and exiles in a foreign land, and looked upon death as the season of
their deliverance, of their return to their native country, and re-union
with their Father and kindred spirits in glory.
Many traces of this sublime philosophy do we meet with in the lives and
writings of the virtuous heathen. For, however they may differ from us
in their modes of conception and expression, a discerning mind will soon
discover, that their feelings were congenial with our own; and that they
wanted but the aids of external revelation to enable them to "speak what
they knew, and testify what they saw," in the same language which we are
instructed to use.