Adam, implanted in his heart as a spark of Heavenly flame, hidden under
the flesh and blood of fallen nature, is revived, quickened, and
enlightened. The Heavenly Birth soon perceives and owns its parent--the
outward knowledge gives way to the inward manifestation--and GOD, and
Heaven, and Goodness, and Grace, are seen and known, and felt by their
own incontestible workings in the human Heart. Hence, the fruits of the
SPIRIT, the fruits of Heaven, begin to bud and blossom: "love, joy,
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness," are felt
and practised; and the soul lives and breathes in the Heavenly world,
even whilst she inherits this frail tenement of clay.
And now, my brethren, is not such a Knowledge of GOD worth possessing? A
Knowledge, that unites you to him; makes you One Heart and Spirit with
him; gives the highest relish to all the joys, and the firmest support
under all the evils of life; which will stand by you, when every outward
comfort fails, when relations, friends, wealth, power, and all that
earth is able to supply, can no longer yield you the least support or
satisfaction.
Some of the great obstacles and impediments to the attainment of this
Knowledge, I shall enumerate in my next discourse.
DISCOURSE XVII.
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 REPENNT IN DUST AND
ASHES."
In a former discourse from these words, I explained to you the
difference between that Knowledge of GOD which is obtained by "the
hearing of the ear," and that which arises in the human heart, from a
spiritual sensibility of his Presence and Power within us. I observed,
that the former was, at best, but a kind of historical knowledge, or,
perhaps, nothing more than a strong conceit or imagination of something
concerning GOD; far different from that intuitive, self-evident, saving
Knowledge of him, which Job speaks of in the text, and which every truly
pious foul cannot but feel. I endeavoured, likewise, to point out the
Rise and Progress of this Knowledge, as well as the blessed Fruits or
Effects of which it is certainly productive. I then concluded with
asking you, whether such a Knowledge of GOD as I had been describing,
was not worth your possessing? A knowledge, that would unite you to him,
make you One Spirit, One Will, One Nature, with your heavenly
Father--that would give the highest relish to all the joys, and support
you under all the evils of life; that will stand by you, when every
outward comfort fails, when friends, and relations, and wealth, and
power, and all that earth is able to supply, can no longer yield you the
least support or satisfaction.
Convinced, as I think you must needs be, of the infinite value of such a
possession as this, I would now ask you, what it is that keeps you from
desiring and seeking to obtain it. Your answer, if you knew yourselves,
would be, that you did not at present feel the want of it.--This state
of insensibility, therefore, to "the things that belong to your peace,"
must arise from certain obstacles and impediments, which, agreeable to
my promise, I now proceed to enumerate.
We are told, that the famous Selden, on his death-bed, sent for
archbishop Usher, and, in the course of a most serious and affecting
conversation, assured him, that he had accurately surveyed almost every
part of literature and science, that was held in the highest esteem by
the sons of men; that he had a study filled with the most valuable books
and manuscripts in the world; and yet, that, at that time, he could not
recollect one single passage out of any volume in this large collection,
upon which he could rest his soul, or from which he could derive one ray
of consolation, except some that he had met with in the Holy Scriptures;
and that the most remarkable passage that then made the deepest
impression upon his mind, was this: "For the GRACE OF GOD that bringeth
Salvation, hath appeared unto all men, teaching us, that denying
ungodliness, and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and
godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the
glorious appearance of the great GOD, and our Saviour JESUS CHRIST."
"The GRACE OF GOD," indeed, "hath appeared unto all men." One of the
principal impediments to their sight of this Grace, is what poor Selden
complained of, viz. a looking for it in the writings of human reason,
and expecting to find it by the same learned labour with which we
investigate some mathematical or logical truth. Selden, with all his
learning, therefore, was obliged to seek for a True Knowledge of GOD, in
the volume of his own heart; and, agreeable to the direction of an
outward revelation, to look for the appearance of that Grace which it
promised, in a place, which his genius had not yet explored, and which
could never have been revealed to his outward eye. He had, no doubt,
"heard of GOD by the hearing of the ear," and could have accurately
demonstrated his existence and attributes--but, till that blessed
moment, "his eye had never seen him."
Thus, all those fine literary accomplishments, which feed the pride of
the scholar, (though, when properly applied, they have their uses, and
great uses too) must, nevertheless, be sacrificed, when they prove, as
they frequently do, very great impodiments to a spiritual knowledge of
GOD. The most towering genius upon earth, can never gain admittance into
the Kingdom of Heaven, till he condescends to the simplicity of a child,
and with faith and humility opens his heart to his Heavenly Father for
that true wisdom, which can only come by immediate revelation from him.
But the "wisdom of this world," or "science falsely so called," is not
the only impediment to our spiritual sight of GOD. There are many, who,
under a specious pretence of making a proper and honourable provision
for their families, involve themselves so deeply in business, as it is
called, that they will not allow themselves a single moment to attend to
the concerns of another world. And were we to enquire the reason of this
strange conduct, they might very properly make us the same answer, which
the Duke of Alva made to King Henry IV. upon another occasion: Did you
observe, my Lord Duke, said the Monarch, the great eclipse of the sun,
that lately happened?--No, may it please your Majesty, replied the
Duke--I have so much business to do on earth, that I have no leisure to
look up to heaven. In truth, my brethren, your mere men of business, and
a trading city like ours abounds with temptations to this kind of life;
I say, your mere men of business, either forget, in the hurry of
affairs, that their souls are immortal, and ought therefore to be fed
and attended to at least as much as their bodies; or else, to quiet
their consciences, they reason themselves into a belief that their souls
may die with their bodies, and therefore all thought or concern about
religious matters, is useless, and will only interrupt their worldly
pursuits.
Success in trade introduces wealth, and, with it, its never-failing
attendant, luxury. From this fatal source proceed a thousand impediments
to a religious life, that are more readily felt than enumerated. Hence
an amazing increase of expence, with an increasing taste for high
living, sumptuous apparel, and splendid entertainments. By an immoderate
attention to these, the minds of men are gradually weaned from those
good impressions, which they have received in their earlier years, from
sober, frugal, and industrious parents.--The peasant treads close upon
the heels of the courtier; and such is the reigning fondness for what is
called fashionable life, that people of the most affluent circumstances,
and who move in the highest sphere, are scarcely to be distinguished
from those of the most scanty fortunes; and even indigence itself puts
in its claim for a share of the outward glitter.--And it were well, if
the evil proceeded no further than this.
But if things should come to such a pass, that Religion itself, nay,
even the very appearances of it, should be deemed unfashionable; if
people should be afraid to come to the house of GOD, lest they should
have their taste called in question, lest they should be suspected by
their gay and worldly friends, of entertaining one serious thought about
another world, about GOD and their own souls; if the Sabbath, instead of
being wholly dedicated to, and spent in the service of, that GOD by whom
it was instituted, should be either lolled away in indolence, or spent
in posting of books, settling of accounts at home, or devoted to
entertainments and parties of pleasure abroad; if such should be the
consequences of an immoderate pursuit of business, and an inordinate
fondness for a fashionable life, would you not conclude, that these were
surely the greatest and most dangerous impediments to a true and saving
knowledge of GOD? If these evils have not appeared in such a degree, as
I have described them, I think, at least, they are not far from it; and
I begin to fear, that the time is approaching, when many amongst us will
be so far from "seeing GOD," as Job expresses it, "with their eyes,"
that they will not even "hear of him by the hearing of the ear." For
believe me, my brethren, we cannot know GOD, we cannot even desire to
know him, whilst our whole hearts and minds are engaged in the things of
the world, whilst we turn, with all the eagerness of desire, to the
senseless pageantry and pleasures of a vain and trifling age.
Shall I spare myself the pain of telling, what ought not to be an
offence to you to hear?--or will you give me leave to point out to you,
in plainer terms, what I apprehend to be your principal impediments to
such a view of the Divine Majesty, as would lead you to "abhor
yourselves, and repent in dust and ashes."
It cannot be denied, that luxury, extravagance, and dissipation of every
kind, have, within these few years, made a most rapid progress amongst
us.--Your ministers have long, perhaps too long, been silent upon these
subjects.--But though preventive medicines are sometimes given with
success, yet the symptoms of a disorder, as they appear in its process,
are what must principally direct the application. What they have now to
say, comes to you with this corroborating circumstance in its support,
that we speak not from what we have apprehended might be, but from what
we have seen hath actually come to pass.
We have observed, with real heart-felt concern, a general proneness to
pleasure, and a general indifference to the very forms of religion.--Our
discourses, though without particular applications, have been adapted,
as far as we were able to judge, to the circumstances of the people whom
we addressed.--We have not, however, been unconcerned spectators of your
conduct. We have observed, with what eagerness many of you have crouded
to scenes of amusement and dissipation, and what backwardness you have
shewn in attending the publick worship of GOD. Even the man of business
could devote many hours in the week, to the calls of worldly pleasure,
whilst he refused to give one to the calls of GOD upon his own Sabbath.
Matters are, indeed, too serious to be passed by in silence. We are your
ministers, we are your servants; we should not be faithful to you, nor
to ourselves, were we to neglect giving you the alarm, when we saw, or
even apprehended, that you were in imminent danger. The enemy hath
already entered your houses--he hath entered your hearts! Under the
specious disguise and appellation of innocent amusements, he is secretly
drawing off your hearts from GOD, and carrying you away captive at his
will--Use not, I beseech you, the word innocent, in vindicating your
pleasures--Nothing can be innocent, let it be ever so seemingly
trifling, that wholly engrosses the mind, and takes it off from
attending to the great concerns of Salvation. Amusements, though they
may be innocent at first, become more or less criminal, as they have a
greater or less tendency to wean the heart from GOD. Upon this maxim, I
leave it to your own experience to determine, what particular kind of
amusements has had the greatest tendency to effect this in you.
Far be it from me, to declaim, with an affected pharisaical severity,
against innocent recreations of any kind. But, Gracious GOD! can a
Christian complain of want of amusements, that has a family round him;
that has a dear child, or children, to educate; that has brothers, or
sisters, or relations, or friends; with whom he can live in a most sweet
and delightful intercourse of endearing offices? What a strange
perversion of nature, sense, and reason, to take delight in going
abroad, to have our affections excited by imaginary objects and romantic
representations, when we have so many real ones at home, in the course
of every day, and in the way of our duty, to call forth and promote
their best and highest exercise? I do not descend to particulars--let
these few hints suffice.--I have delivered them in love--in love, I
hope, they will be received.
Permit me, however, once more to repeat--that it is this immoderate
fondness for pleasure and dissipation, that keeps you from feeling the
real wants of your nature, and, consequently, from applying to the true
and only Source, from whence they can be fully satisfied. But this
deception cannot last long; false happiness has no sure foundation; it
must, therefore, totter and fall at last. You will not always be as gay,
as healthy, and as prosperous, as you are now.--The vigour of the best
constitution cannot long preserve you from sickness, and from
death.--Neither the abundance of wealth, nor the increase of power, nor
the support of popularity, can long protect you from disappointment and
distress. You may think as lightly as you please of religious duties
now; but, depend upon it, the hour is at hand, when every little neglect
of them, every little preference you have given to the solicitations of
pleasure, will wound you to the very heart. You will then be convinced
of the danger of trifling with that immortal spirit that is within you;
and deeply regret, that you have been so far from having "seen GOD,"
spiritually manifested in your hearts, that you have scarcely "heard of
him by the hearing of the ear."
I cannot dismiss you, without one observation more. Hypocrisy, and a
pharisaical righteousness, are as great, and perhaps greater impediments
to the true Knowledge of GOD, than any of those I have already
mentioned. The root is deeper, the evil more difficult to be eradicated.
Should any of you, therefore, have been solacing yourselves with the
view of your own fancied virtues, and thanking GOD, that you have not,
like others, been running after this or the other new and fashionable
amusement, but have kept yourselves strictly within the pale of outward
duties; I beseech you not to be too liberal of your censures, nor too
forward in prying into the conduct of your neighbours; but to look at
home with a jealous and watchful eye, to examine your own hearts, and
see, that whilst ye are "paying tithe of mint, and annise, and cummin,"
ye do not "neglect the weightier matters of the law, mercy, justice,
forbearance, and charity." Whilst ye have "heard of GOD by the hearing
of the ear," your eyes, perhaps, may not yet have seen him; whilst you
are abhorring and standing aloof from your brethren, as if ye were
holier than they, ye do not "abhor yourselves, and repent in dust and
ashes." Remember, that a censorious spirit, and a disposition to think
and speak evil of others, is as foreign to the Spirit of Christianity,
as any other evil temper or disposition can be.
To conclude: A true Christian will lament the general decline of
Religion, and wish and pray for better times, without being angry, or
shewing any marks of unkindness to his brethren. Yea, so far from
keeping himself at a distance, he will mingle, as occasion or duty
calls, with men of every class. He will be religious without severity,
and chearful without dissipation; he will instruct without seeming to
dictate, and reprove with such mildness, that his very censures shall be
received as the highest tokens of his love.
In this sweet Spirit of the Gospel of JESUS, Heaven grant that we may
mutually receive and impart such truths, as "belong to our peace," both
here and hereafter!
DISCOURSE XVIII.
On the Nativity of Christ.
St. LUKE, CHAP. ii. from VER. 6 to 20.
"AND SO IT WAS, THAT WHILE THEY WERE THERE, THE DAYS WERE
ACCOMPLISHED, THAT SHE SHOULD BE DELIVERED," &c.
In the first chapter of his Gospel, the Evangelist has given a
particular account of the conception and birth of John the Baptist, the
Salutation of the BLESSED VIRGIN, and her miraculous conception of the
HOLY JESUS. According to a regular series of historical facts, this
second chapter opens with a like circumstantial narrative of the
nativity of our BLESSED REDEEMER.
An edict is issued by Augustus Cæsar, enjoining all the subjects of the
Roman empire to repair to their several cities, in order to have their
names enrolled for a general taxation. In obedience to this imperial
decree, Joseph, the espoused husband of Mary, is obliged to leave
Nazareth, the place of his residence, and take a journey to Bethlehem
the city of David, to be enrolled there, because he was of the house and
lineage of David. Mary, his espoused wife, though "great with child,"
accompanies him. A most remarkable interposition of Divine Providence
appears in the whole transaction. The prophets had foretold, that the
MESSIAH should be born at Bethlehem, and that he should descend from the
family of David. The Roman emperor's decree was rendered subservient to
the accomplishment of these prophecies. Mary was thereby brought to
Bethlehem, and delivered of the MESSIAH, and her descent from the royal
line of David was publickly recognized.
Ver. 6. "And so it was, that while they were there, the days were
accomplished, that she should be delivered."
Ver. 7. "And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in
swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room
for them in the inn."
A plain but affecting narrative! The apartments of the inn, we may
suppose, were occupied by more honourable guests. The Virgin Mother was
content to retire to a stable, and to lie down among brutes. Hapless
Mary! we are ready to exclaim--is it thus, that the promises of the
Angel are to be accomplished? Is this to be "highly favoured?" And are
these the blessings, by which thou art to be distinguished from the rest
of thy sex? Must thy spotless Babe, at the very instant of his birth,
enter upon his Labour of Love? and must the stable at Bethlehem be the
first scene of that awful drama, which was afterwards closed on the
trembling top of Calvary?
But in what manner was the appearance of this illustrious Babe made
known to the world? Should not the princes and great ones of the earth
have had proper intelligence of his arrival, that they might have
hastened from their several kingdoms and provinces, thrown themselves at
his feet, paid him the homage due to his exalted character, and obliged
all their subjects to do the same? No--."GOD'S thoughts are not as man's
thoughts, neither are his ways as man's ways." The same reason for which
he thought proper to send his Angel to the humble Mary, induced him now
to give the first notice of his SON'S birth to a few simple shepherds.
Ver. 8. "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the
field, keeping watch over their flock by night."
Ver. 9. "And lo, the Angel of the LORD came upon them, and the Glory of
the LORD shone round about them, and they were sore afraid."
The pastoral life was once thought to be the happiest and most innocent
life upon earth. Far from the noise of cities, and the hurry of the busy
world, free from its anxieties, and ignorant of many of its vices, they
enjoyed the full tranquillity of the rural scene. As their flocks were
their only care, they had abundant leisure for meditation and prayer. As
they had no schemes of interest or ambition to accomplish, they were
plain, unprejudiced, and undesigning men. A few of these shepherds were
in the fields, bordering upon Bethlehem, watching by turns their sheep
the whole night, as was the custom of the country; when their senses
were suddenly struck with a great and unusual glare of light, in the
midst of which appeared an Angel of GOD, bright and glorious. They were
confounded with the excessive splendor. They trembled, and were sore
afraid. But the Angel, with all the sweetness and chearfulness of Heaven
in his countenance, thus comfortably addressed them:
Ver. 10. "Fear not: for, behold! I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people."
Ver. 11. "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,
which is CHRIST the LORD."
Be not afraid! I am come, not to terrify you, but to bring you great and
joyous tidings, in which not yourselves only, but the whole nation of
the Jews, yea, all the inhabitants of the world, are deeply interested!
For he, of whom all the prophets prophesied, and whom all the people of
Israel have, according to the promise of GOD, long and ardently
expected, even the MESSIAH, the Saviour and Deliverer, is this night
born in Bethlehem, the city of David.
Ver. 12. "And this shall be a sign unto you--" a sign, by which you
shall know him, the moment you enter into his presence--"ye shall find
the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."
Scarce had the Angel delivered his message, when a whole choir of his
celestial brethren burst forth with additional splendors from the
midnight sky, and saluted the shepherds' ears with a birth-day anthem.
Ver. 13. "And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the
heavenly host, praising GOD, and saying:" Ver. 14. "Glory to GOD in the
highest; and on earth peace, good-will towards men!"
No expressions of joy could have been more admirably adapted than these,
to so glorious an occasion: for the glory of the Divine Majesty was most
eminently displayed in that gracious message of peace and
reconciliation, of Love and Good-Will, which was here published to the
world. If those pure and perfect Intelligences could thus testify their
transport upon an event, in which an inferior order of beings were more
immediately concerned; surely, that order are continually bound to
render the highest and most grateful returns of praise, acknowledgment,
and love!
For us men, and for our Salvation, a GOD becomes incarnate. The ETERNAL
WORD clothes himself in clay. He assumes our nature in its most helpless
state; and is born, like one of us, a naked, weak, and wailing Babe.
Thus began the mighty process of Redeeming Love! To rescue us from the
misery of a fallen life; to restore the Divine Image to our souls; to
regain, for us, that state of rectitude, of union and communion with
GOD, which we had lost in Adam; and completely to repair the ruins of
nature were the benevolent purposes, which the GOD of LOVE determined to
accomplish by sending into the world his only-begotten SON. Well,
therefore, might the inhabitants of Heaven, at the prospect of such
ineffable goodness and condescension, break forth, enraptured, into
these sublime and joyous strains: "Glory to GOD in the highest; and on
earth Peace, Good-Will towards men!"
Ver. 15. "And it came to pass, as the Angels were gone away from them
into Heaven, the shepherds said one to another: Let us now go, even unto
Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the LORD hath
made known unto us."
They did not stay to "confer with flesh and blood;" to reason, and
doubt, and hesitate, whether this might not be a delusion; but, in the
true simplicity of faith, improved the heavenly warning, and hastened to
Bethlehem, in full assurance of meeting with every thing conformable to
the notice they had received.
Ver. 16. "And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the
Babe lying in a manger."