testimonies to the great truths mentioned above. For whatsoever
scattered rays of knowledge or of goodness are found here and there
gleaming through the shades of paganism;--whatsoever the thrice-great
Hermes delivered as oracles from his sacred tripos;--whatsoever
Pythagoras, Socrates, Epictetus, Zoroaster, or Confucius, have laboured
to inculcate upon the hearts of their disciples--all this, and
infinitely more, without any corrupt or superstitious mixture, do we
find expressly revealed, with all the marks of Divine Authority, in the
Holy Scriptures--all this, and infinitely more, do we find beautifully
exemplified in those lives and sayings of patriarchs, prophets, and
apostles, which are recorded for our instruction and imitation in the
Old Testament as well as in the New.
These venerable teachers and patterns of Truth and Virtue, do all, with
one voice, express their deep sensibility of the evils and miseries of
their present state of existence, and their ardent aspirations after
another and a better state. They all, with one voice, acknowledge the
vanity and insufficiency of every sublunary enjoyment, and the
indispensable necessity of "setting the affections on things above, not
on things on the earth." They all, with one voice, pronounce their state
in this world to be that of strangers and exiles; and consider their
temporary pilgrimage here, as only intended to purify and prepare them
for a state of eternal peace and happiness hereafter. In a word, they
all, with one voice, declare, that there is no other method, by which
they can be redeemed from the evils of their present life, and qualified
for the blessings of a future, but by a perpetual communion with the
great FATHER OF THEIR SPIRITS, kept up on his part by kind and liberal
effusions of his own essential goodness; and on theirs, by an
affectionate and ardent inclination of their wills and desires towards
him, and a grateful reception, and faithful improvement of his loving
communications.
Under the Old Testament, this blessed intercourse was understood and
felt by patriarchs and prophets, through the outward means of
sacrifices, types, and various ceremonies and ordinances; all predictive
and expressive of a certain Redeeming Process, which, "in the fulness of
time," was to be accomplished for human nature, in the person of a
suffering and triumphant MESSIAH. Under the New Testament, it broke
forth, with meridian lustre, in the incarnation and nativity, life and
conversation, sufferings, death, resurrection and ascension of the
BLESSED JESUS; in whose sacred person the divine and human natures were
most happily united, to the end, that as the SON OF MAN and the SON OF
GOD, he might communicate to every Son of Man, that should receive his
testimony, and believe in his Name, the power of becoming a SON OF GOD,
John i. 12.
His life and conversation upon earth must, therefore, be the true and
only standard, by which ours is to be regulated. As he lived, so should
we live also; and consider this world in the same point of view, and
treat it in the same manner, that he did.
So far, indeed, as the worthies of the Old Testament have lived or
spoken according to the spirit of his Gospel, so far, without doubt, we
are bound to follow their example: and a very little acquaintance with
Scripture will be sufficient to inform us, that "they did all eat of the
same spiritual meat, and did all drink of the same spiritual drink," and
had all entered upon the same Redeeming Process, with those, who have
since lived under the Light of the Gospel, and have known and found this
meat and drink to be no other than those spiritual emanations of Truth
and Love, which we all receive, or may receive, from CHRIST OUR COMMON
SAVIOUR.
When David, therefore, confessed, that he was "a stranger and a
sojourner with GOD, as all his fathers were," what was this, but an
express declaration, that, though he was encircled with a diadem, and
clad in the robes of royalty; though he had his residence in the
metropolis of Judea, and exercised an absolute sovereignty over the
whole realm; he considered himself, nevertheless, as a stranger in a
strange land, far distant from his native country, surrounded by a
multitude of enemies, who were perpetually upon the watch to take
advantage of any little mistake he might commit, perpetually in arms
against him, and determined, if they possibly could, to rob him at once
of his kingdom and his peace? What was it, but an humble acknowledgment
of his own spiritually helpless and indigent condition? and at the same
time an affectionate intimation of his secret hope, that, as his
forefathers had been in the same circumstances he was now in, and had
experienced the kind interposition of Heaven for their relief and
comfort, GOD would be graciously pleased to continue to him the same
loving-kindness, accompany support and protect him through his painful
sojourn, and conduct him safe to those blessed abodes, which he had
prepared for the reception of every true spiritual Israelite? "For I am
a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were."
Upon this view of things, and under the influence of these principles,
he composed the pathetic psalm, from whence my text is taken; which
exhibits to us a lively representation of the vanity and shortness of
human life, the difficulties that attend our pilgrimage through this
world, the prudence and circumspection which the pilgrim must observe,
the enemies he must expect to encounter on the way, and the confidence
he must repose in the strength of a superior and Almighty arm, in order
to secure to himself Success and Victory.
The truth of this representation we find abundantly confirmed by the
whole tenor of Scripture. The grand apostate seraph is there called "the
prince of this world, the prince of the power of the air;" from which,
and other expressions of the like import, we may justly conclude, that
he was once in possession of this very system which we inhabit--it was
the sphere of glory, in which he moved, whilst his lustre yet remained
unfaded. Envious, jealous of its new inhabitants, he is perpetually
"walking about, seeking whom he may devour." He avails himself of that
earthly nature which we inherit from our fallen ancestor, insinuates
himself through its foul channels into our inmost hearts, seduces us
from the paths of innocence and virtue, and, unless timely rescued by a
Superior Power, will hurry us headlong into the depths of his own dark
and fiery kingdom.
On the other hand, the GOD of LIGHT and LOVE, who reigns supreme in his
own KINGDOM of LIGHT and LOVE, is most affectionately anxious for our
preservation. For this gracious purpose, he causes his light to shine
forth in the midst of our darkness; discovers to us the secret hostile
intentions of our malicious enemy; calls upon us to fly from his
infernal wiles; and invites us to walk with himself in his own
delightful element, with sweet assurances of peace and consolation here,
and glory, honour, and immortality hereafter.
Ill fares the man, whose mistaken heart too easily opens to the false
friendship of his flattering foe--he walks upon enchanted ground--there
is no reality in the surrounding scene--every object is visionary--the
flowers have no real fragrance, the fruits no real flavour or
nourishment.--He plucks and eats, but still remains unsatisfied--he
plucks and eats again--he discovers the delusion, and yet the delusion
pleases him.--The wily enchanter leads him at one time into the gardens
of pleasure--at another, conducts him to the pompous edifice of
ambition--at another, opens upon his ravished sight the splendid
treasures, which Mammon offers to his foolish votaries.--With this
pretended friend and guardian he walks the tiresome round, pleased and
transported with every new prospect, but loathing the objects as soon as
possessed. In the mean while, the calls of a superior nature are totally
disregarded, and the soul is suffered to famish within the pampered
body.
Not so the wise and virtuous candidate for sublimer joys. His breast is
no sooner penetrated by a ray of that Universal Light, "which lighteth
every man that cometh into the world," than it opens, with chearfulness
and gratitude, to receive more and more of the salutary effulgence. He
finds within himself a source of sensibilities, which correspond to a
world of objects far more real and sublime, than aught that meets his
outward senses in this shadowy scene. He finds, he feels the presence of
a true friend and guardian, whose unlimited power can controul the open
or secret attacks of his false friend and seducer; whose wisdom can
furnish him with every kind of knowledge that is necessary to his real
felicity; and whose ineffable love is perpetually feeding and refreshing
the angel that is within him, with such fruits and flowers as are of
celestial growth, and suited to its celestial frame. With this GUARDIAN
GOD, he walks the wilds of nature, unappalled, regardless alike of the
smiles and frowns of his spiritual adversaries. He considers himself as
a stranger and sojourner in this vale of misery; and under the conduct
of Unerring Wisdom, and Almighty Love, pursues his painful pleasing
journey to a better country, even an heavenly one.
But this is not all. Care, prudence, circumspection, and confidence in
GOD, are not only indispensably necessary to secure to us a safe and
happy pilgrimage through life; but they are likewise the best, the only
preparatives for an happy and comfortable death.
As strangers and sojourners, we ought to live under a constant
expectation of being called home to our native country. This expectation
will be either pleasing or painful, according as we are more or less
prepared for the awful summons. The summons we cannot dispense with: the
time in which it may be pronounced, is altogether uncertain.
Some of us, within a very few years, and some, perhaps, within a very
few days, may behold the curtain drop, and shut out every scene of
temporal nature from our view. With respect to us, "the heavens and the
earth will then pass away with a mighty noise; the sun will be darkened,
and the moon turned into blood; the stars will fall from heaven, and the
powers of heaven will be shaken." Death, judgment, heaven, or hell, will
then be realized to our disembodied spirits. "He that is holy will be
holy still, and he that is filthy will be filthy still." The dissolution
of this outward body will close the season of Divine Grace; the hopes or
the fears, the happiness or the misery of man will be determined by his
expiring breath; and his GOD will be manifested to him, either in the
mild majesty of his Love, or in the consuming fire of his Wrath.
What adds to the solemnity of this dread moment, is the frequent
suddenness of its approach. The king of terrors often knocks at the
door, when the master of the house is by no means prepared for the awful
visit. Nay, he frequently passes by the habitations of age, infirmity,
and distress, and thunders forth his tremendous summons in the ears of
the young, the gay, and the robust. Neither superior fortune, nor
superior station, can protract the fleeting date of life. The monarch
tumbles from his throne; and, after the momentary honours of a pompous
funeral, makes his bed in the dust, and lies there as poor and
undistinguished as the late tenant of the homely cottage. Even piety and
virtue cannot screen their votaries from death's unerring shaft; but he
is sometimes permitted to snatch away the most amiable patterns of both,
in order to awaken the attention, or chastise the carelessness, of their
friends and neighbours.
Happy would it be for mankind, if these frequent indiscriminate strokes
did but produce a more general and serious attention to "the things that
belong to their peace:" and happy for you, my dear brethren, if the
solemn truths that have now been delivered, are permitted to have a due
weight and influence on your lives and practice!
Examine yourselves, then, by these principles. Look well into the
present state of your souls. Be these important reflections continually
present to your minds--that you are but "strangers and sojourners upon
earth;" that every object, that attracts and engages your desires and
affections here, must very shortly be removed from you for ever; that it
is folly and madness to take up your rest in such poor perishable
things, as the present world affords, inasmuch as death must soon put an
end to their shadowy forms, and translate you to a world, where all is
real--all is eternal.
Do not deceive yourselves. A gay and thoughtless life is no suitable
preparation for death. The heart must be gradually estranged from the
vanities of time, before it can turn its desires towards the riches of
eternity. You have heard of the difficulties you may expect to meet
with, of the enemies you will have to encounter, on your way to heaven.
Up then, and be doing. No time is to be lost. Every moment is precious:
"it carries Heaven on its wing." The victory is secure, if you will but
arm yourselves for the conflict. Your Heavenly FATHER is perpetually
drawing and inviting you to enter the lists, and contend for the prize.
His Eternal SON hath promised to be with you, and in you. And the
blessed SPIRIT, proceeding from both, will inspire you with all that
celestial strength and ardour, which alone can render you "more than
conquerors." Thus are you furnished, from the armoury of heaven, with a
divine panoply, which, upon trial, you will find impenetrable to "all
the fiery darts of the wicked."
"Fear not, then, thou worm, Jacob! Be not dismayed, for thy God is with
thee!" Blessed encouragement, this! What though you are strangers and
sojourners upon earth, yet remember for your consolation, that you are
strangers and sojourners with GOD--"For I am a stranger and sojourner
WITH THEE."
O MY brethren! what ineffable peace and satisfaction would spring up in
your hearts, could you once realize to yourselves, could you once feel,
the perpetual presence of an OMNIPOTENT GOD, travelling with you on the
journey of life, supplying all your wants, supporting you under all your
difficulties and distresses, and, with the affectionate fondness of a
father, minutely entering into all your real interests and concerns! To
know, that you are his offspring, fallen indeed, but redeemed by his
BLESSED SON: that his love for you is so ardent, that "whoso toucheth
you his children, toucheth the apple of his eye; that in all your
afflictions he is afflicted, and that the angel of his presence saves
and delivers you; that he will never leave you comfortless, but will be
with you always, even to the end of the world!" These are such sweet and
delightful assurances, as you could never have collected from the vain
reasonings of worldly philosophy, or the vain confidence, which many
pretend to derive from mere unassisted human virtue.
Upon this ground you may rest secure; and, in the strength of an
Almighty arm, bid defiance to the open assaults, or secret stratagems of
the enemies of your peace. Whilst the SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS continues to
impart his chearing beams, and fountains of living water spring up on
every side to refresh the weary pilgrim, you may pursue your journey
through the VALLEY OF BACA, with peace and confidence; you may "lift up
your heads with joy, as the Ransomed of the LORD;" and "proceed from
strength to strength, till you appear before the GOD OF GODS in SION."
DISCOURSE XVI.
The true Knowledge of God internal and practical.
JOB, CHAP. xlii. VER. 5, 6.
"I HAVE HEARD OF THEE BY THE HEARING OF THE EAR; BUT NOW HATH MINE
EYE SEEN THEE: THEREFORE I ABHOR MYSELF, AND REPENT IN DUST AND
ASHES."
We can scarcely open any part of the Scriptures, but we meet with the
following great and leading truths of Religion: viz. that the LOVE OF
GOD is universal; that his "GRACE, which bringeth Salvation, hath
appeared unto all men;" that he hath given a "manifestation of his
Spirit to every man, to profit withal;" that "GOD so loved the world,
that he hath given his ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON, that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting Life:" that he is "the True
Light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world;" that GOD
"wills not the death of a sinner, but rather that he would be converted
and live;" that his call has been, and now is to "every man," every
where, "to repent;" and that every man may partake of this Universal
Love, may be saved by this "Grace which hath appeared," may profit by
the manifestation which GOD hath given him.
To these great and leading truths we are continually called and exhorted
to attend; and that there is a possibility of attending and yielding to
them, is implied in the very nature and spirit of the declarations
themselves. For, certainly, all is in vain--the call to all in vain, the
appearance of Grace to all in vain, the gift and manifestation of the
Spirit to every one in vain, and the shining of the Light in vain, if
fallen man is not put into a capacity of obeying it, and walking
therein.
"Man's destruction is of himself"--If his distempered nature is not
healed, if his soul continues unredeemed, it is not because there is no
"Balm in Gilead;" it is not because "the arm of the LORD is shortened,
that it cannot save," or the fountain of LOVE so exhausted, that its
streams have ceased to flow--but because men will not avail themselves
of the healing Balm; because they refuse to be gathered by that
compassionate Arm, that is continually stretched forth to save; because
they will not open their souls to receive the Waters of Life. Their eyes
are so blinded by the false glare of earthly beauty, that they cannot
see the surpassing excellency of the Divine Glory--their ears are so
deaf, that they have no delight in hearing or obeying the Divine
Voice--they are content to walk on in the broad way, and suffer the
enemy of their souls to take them captive at his pleasure. Thus entered
sin at the beginning--thus it continueth, increaseth, and prevaileth.
No man, in his present deplorable state, can open that eye which was
blinded by sin; nor unstop that ear which was sealed by his apostasy
from his Maker; nor save or deliver himself from the bondage of
corruption. Herein, therefore, is the UNIVERSAL LOVE OF GOD made
manifest, that "he hath laid help upon one that is Mighty, who is able
to save to the uttermost those that come to him;" that he hath appointed
and prepared a "Seed that can bruise the serpent's head;" that he hath
caused his Light to shine in the Hearts of all men; and hath called all
men every where to repent--Now if man still continues to shut his eyes,
and harden his heart, and refuse to be reconciled, "his destruction is
of himself, and GOD will be just when he judgeth."
But here the grand question may be asked--How doth GOD manifest himself
to his creatures? There is no Revelation in these days--no spiritual
visions now.--no such Sight of GOD, as Abraham, Moses, the Prophets, and
the Primitive Christians were favoured with--GOD forbid!--for surely
where there is no vision, no sight or sense of heavenly things, there is
the Lost State indeed!--where there is no Revelation, there can be no
True Knowledge of GOD-for what saith the Scripture--"None knoweth the
Father but the Son, and he to whom the SON will reveal him?"
Ever since the vail was spread over the human heart, there never was any
other way in any age, nor can there be in this age, of coming to the
true Knowledge of GOD, but by Revelation; that is, by taking off the
vail, and removing the covering that hides the Face of GOD from
man.--Men "have sought out many inventions," and devised many ways and
means of coming to the knowledge of the Deity; moral and even
mathematical demonstrations of his existence, have been attempted; but
all in vain. As such inventions and devices have increased, sorrow and
perplexity have increased also: and even if they have succeeded so far,
as to satisfy the natural understanding, what is it, at best, but a kind
of historical knowledge, a strong conceit or imagination of something
concerning GOD, without any thing like a sensibility of his Presence, or
an intuitive self-evident conviction of his nature and attributes?--Far
different this from the knowledge which Job experienced, and which every
real Christian may express in his language: "I have heard of thee by the
hearing of the ear; but now hath mine eye seen thee: therefore I abhor
myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
It is not improbable, but Job might have amused himself, like some of
our modern philosophizing Christians, with fine-spun theories and
speculations upon the nature and attributes of the DIVINITY; and whilst
the tide of temporal prosperity continued to flow in upon him, whilst
"he washed his steps in butter, and the rock poured out for him rivers
of oil," whilst his health continued unimpaired, and his domestic bliss
uninterrupted, such empty researches might have been sufficient to
entertain his imagination; and such an outward knowledge of the MOST
HIGH, might satisfy a soul, that was yet insensible of any spiritual or
temporal wants or distresses. But let the hand of GOD fall heavy upon
him; let his body be visited with pain and sickness, and his soul
wounded with grief and disappointment; let him be stripped of all his
worldly affluence, and deprived of all his domestic comforts; and he
will soon find, that the wants of nature, when deeply felt, are not to
be supplied by reasoning and speculation; that an outward hearsay
knowledge of GOD is of no avail; that it cannot administer the least
relief either to the body or the mind; that it cannot sooth or mitigate
one bodily pain, or send one ray of light into the dark and comfortless
regions of the soul.
Go to the chambers of sickness, visit the melancholy retreats of
indigence and woe! produce there your strong reasonings--strive, with
learned labour, to open and convince the understandings of your
suffering brethren--enumerate to them all the outward evidences, that
you can collect, of the great truths of religion--give them proof upon
proof, demonstration upon demonstration--talk to them of the Nature and
Attributes of GOD, and the immortality of their souls--tell them what
the SON OF GOD hath done and suffered for sinners; what are the means of
reconciliation, and what the sure grounds of an happy death--give them
all that they can receive "by the hearing of the ear"--and what have you
done, and what have they gained?--Why you have done just as much as an
unskilful physician would do, who entertained his patient with a learned
dissertation upon the virtues and excellencies of a certain medicine,
which he had somewhere read or heard of, as admirably adapted to the
disorder, but which he had never seen with his eyes, and of the nature
of which he knew nothing by his own experience. Thus it is with this
outward knowledge of GOD: the poor soul is left to feed upon words or
ideas, and to seek comfort, in vain, in empty speculations.
Fruitless, indeed, are such attempts as these! Till the soul is shaken
to her very center, till the stone is removed from the door of the
sepulchre, that GOD who "makes darkness his secret place," can never be
seen. The eye must be turned inwardly, to view what is passing in the
inmost soul, to discover what its wants and necessities are, as well as
what will supply them, and yield it peace, and yield it happiness, from
an inexhaustible source. It must feel its own darkness, before it can
seek to have it enlightened--The same Light that breaks in upon it like
the dawn of day, gives it the first sensibility of distress, as well as
the first sensibility of consolation "now hath mine eye seen thee,
therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes"--I now feel the
misery of nature without GOD--I feel nothing but darkness, and want, and
hunger, and thirst! But in this darkness, under this want, in this
hunger and thirst, the soul must wait, without reasoning, without
repining, in stillness, in silence, till the invisible GOD shines into
the darkness, and till the darkness comprehends and eagerly imbibes the
Light, and he, in whom is no darkness at all, manifesteth his Presence
by a self-evident sensibility.