closely beset me, and bear me away against my will; must I be excluded
from the number of God’s children, according to that saying of St. John,
‘He that committeth sin is of the devil’?” 1 John 3:8. To this it must be
replied: If thou feelest the conflict of the Spirit against the flesh, and
art grieved that thou sometimes doest things which thou wouldst not, it is
an evidence that, amidst the infirmities which encompass thee, thy faith
and thy spirit struggle against the flesh, and are opposed to it. St. Paul
himself teaches us that this warfare has place even in godly and believing
souls, when he says, “I see another law in my members warring against the
law of my mind (that is, against the new, inward man), and bringing me
into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members” (Rom. 7:23); thus
causing him sometimes to do the things which he would not. To will, was
present with him; but to perform the good which he would, he was not
always able; inasmuch as he could not do of himself the good which he
would, while to do the evil which he would not, was always easy to him.
Hence he exclaims, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from
the body of this death?” Rom. 7:24. And to this agrees what Christ himself
says: “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matt. 26:41;
Mark 14:38.
8. As long, therefore, as this _conflict_ is felt in man, sin cannot be
said to _rule_ in him; for he who is continually fighting against sin,
resists its struggles for dominion; and sin cannot destroy the man who
opposes the attempts which it makes upon the soul.
9. It is the experience of all the saints, that they alike have sin,
according to the word of St. John: “If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves.” 1 John 1:8. It is not, however, the _indwelling_ sin
that condemns a man, but the _reigning_ sin. The sin with which we
contend, and to the commission of which we do not consent, is not imputed
to us; as St. Paul says: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit” (Rom. 8:1); that is, who do not permit the flesh to rule. But as
for those who are altogether strangers to this spiritual strife, this
combat of the flesh and Spirit, they are not born again, but are under the
_reigning_ influence of sin; they remain the servants of sin and Satan,
and are, consequently, damned; for “the law of the Spirit of life” hath
not made them “free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2), so long as
they thus suffer sin to rule over them, and to “reign in their mortal
body.”
10. All this is illustrated in Josh. 16:10. The remnant of the Canaanites
were permitted to dwell amongst the children of Israel, but not to have
dominion over them; and thus the Israel of God feel their remaining
imperfections, but do not allow them to gain the pre-eminence. To preserve
this pre-eminence is the duty of the new man in Christ, whose name is
Israel (that is, _a prince of God_) (Gen. 32:28); and who, as a _prince_,
hath power with God, and shall at last prevail.
11. This daily strife with the old man, is an encouraging evidence of the
existence of the new man; for it plainly indicates that there are two
contending principles in him who is the subject of it. The strength of the
spirit and the victory succeeding it, demonstrate the true Israelite; and
the warfare of the spirit indicates the real Christian. The land of Canaan
cannot indeed be gained without war: but when the flesh, like the
Canaanite of old, invades the territories of the spirit, it then becomes
the part of the spiritual and true Israel not to submit to such a master;
but, after true repentance and remission of sin, to collect new strength
in Christ, and by the grace of God to rise again from his fall, and
earnestly implore Jesus, our true Joshua, to vanquish for him and in him,
the spiritual Canaanite, the enemy of his soul. When this is accomplished,
the sinner is not only forgiven and restored to favor, but he is likewise
refreshed and strengthened in Christ, his great Captain in this spiritual
combat. With regard, therefore, to such as continue to feel many
infirmities in the flesh, and who cannot do the things which they would, I
exhort them to cleave to Jesus as sincere penitents, and to cover their
blemishes with his perfect obedience. It is in this order, and in this
order alone, that the imputation of Christ’s merits becomes salutary and
effectual; that is, when a man forsakes his sin, and by daily repentance
strives against it; repairs his former losses, and guards against future
temptations. But while the sinner remains a stranger to brokenness of
heart on account of transgression; while he continues to gratify the
unholy propensities of the flesh, nothing can be more absurd than for him
to suppose that the merits of Christ are imputed to him; for how can the
blood of Christ benefit him who treads it under foot? Heb. 10:29.
Chapter XVII.
The Inheritance And Possessions Of Christians Are Not Of This World; They
Should, Therefore, Regard Themselves As Strangers In It, While They Make
Use Of Earthly Things.
_We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can
carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be
therewith content._—1 TIM. 6:7, 8.
The design of the blessed God in creating temporal things, was that they
might supply man’s bodily wants; and it is right that they should be used
for such a purpose, and be received at the hands of God with gratitude,
attended with fear and trembling. In regard to those things which are not
absolutely necessary, whether gold and silver, food and raiment, etc.,
they are left to man in order to _prove_ him; so that from the manner in
which he employs these objects, it may be discovered how he stands
affected towards God, while possessed of the goods of this world: whether,
on the one hand, he will still cleave to God, and in the midst of earthly
possessions, keep his eye constantly fixed on those which are to come; or
whether, withdrawing his love from God, he will attach himself to this
fleeting world, and prefer a fading earthly paradise, to that which is
permanent and heavenly.
2. Man is therefore left to his own liberty and choice, in order that he
may be judged hereafter according to that which he has chosen here, and
thus be without excuse in that day. Agreeably to this principle, it was
the solemn declaration of Moses to the people of Israel: “I call heaven
and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life
and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and
thy seed may live.” Deut. 30:19.
3. The things of this world are then designed, not to fill us with earthly
delight and pleasures, but to be tests and trials of our fidelity. In
these trials the fall is very easy, when once we begin to withdraw from
God. The pleasures of this world are the fruits of a forbidden tree; of
which we are warned by God not to eat, lest our minds going out after them
should eventually take delight in them, after the manner of those who know
no other pleasures, but such as are derived from earthly objects. These
persons, by indulging the flesh, convert meat, drink, and apparel into
snares by which they are turned away from God.
4. It certainly is the duty of every true Christian, to esteem himself a
stranger and pilgrim in this world; and as bound to use earthly blessings,
not as means of satiating lust or gratifying wantonness, but of supplying
his absolute wants and necessities. We ought not to set our affections on
these inferior objects, but on Him alone who is able to satisfy them. To
do otherwise, is to expose ourselves to dangerous temptations, and with
Eve, to eat daily of the forbidden tree. The real Christian is not intent
upon worldly concerns, or delicious fare; for his interior eye is directed
to that bread which endureth unto eternal life. Nor is he solicitous about
fine and fashionable apparel; aspiring rather after robes of divine light,
and the raiment of glorified bodies. In short, all things that please the
natural man in this world, are, to a true Christian, only so many crosses
and temptations, allurements of sin and snares of death, that continually
exercise his virtue. Whatever man uses without the fear of God, whatever
he applies to the mere gratifying of his flesh, cannot fail to operate as
a poison to the soul, however pleasant and salutary it may appear to be to
the body. Yet, so far from laboring to know the forbidden tree of worldly
pleasures and its various fruits, man gives himself up to a careless and
thoughtless state of life, and yields to the lust of the flesh, not
considering that this lust is really _the forbidden tree_.
5. The Christian, on the other hand, uses all things in the fear of God,
and as a stranger and pilgrim on the earth; avoiding every kind of excess
in meat, drink, apparel, houses, and the other things of this life, lest,
by an improper use of them, he should offend both his Father in heaven,
and his fellow-Christians upon earth. He will not so much as gaze on the
_forbidden tree_, in order that he may not be ensnared; but with the eye
of faith, he steadfastly beholds the future felicity of the soul, and for
the sake of this felicity, refuses to yield to the cravings of corrupt
nature. What does it profit the body that in this world it swims in lusts
and pleasures, when, after a short period, it must be devoured by worms,
and stripped of all its enjoyments! “Naked,” says Job, “came I out of my
mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither.” Job 1:21. We bring into
the world a naked and infirm, a poor and indigent body; and even this is
the spoil of death; for when we pass out of this world we leave it behind
us forever.
6. Whatever we enjoy from the time of our birth to the period of our
dissolution, is all the bread of mercy and affliction, and designed to
supply the bare wants of this mortal life. At the approach of death all is
taken from us again, and we depart out of the world poorer than when we
entered it. When man enters the world, he brings with him life and a body,
and finds the necessary shelter, meat, and drink provided for him; but,
after existing a short time, he is, in a moment, bereft of all, and leaves
behind him even his body and his life. Consider then, O man! whether there
can be anything more wretched and poor, more naked and miserable, than man
when he dies, if he be not clothed with Christ’s righteousness, and
enriched in his God.
7. As, therefore, we are confessedly strangers and pilgrims here, and at
the hour of dissolution must leave behind us every earthly enjoyment, let
us, at least, cease to encumber our souls with things which we cannot
carry out of this world, and the use of which is restricted to this life
only. Is it not a species of madness to heap up riches for a frail body,
for a body which we must leave behind us, and which cannot possibly enjoy
wealth hereafter? Luke 12:20, 21. Are we ignorant that there is another
and a better world, another body and another life, and that, whatever we
may appear in the sight of men, we are in the eye of God only strangers
and sojourners on the earth? Ps. 39:12; Lev. 25:23. “Ye are,” saith the
Lord, “strangers and sojourners _with me_,” that is, “_before my eyes_,
although ye may not remember it.”
8. If, then, we are strangers and sojourners, it follows that our country
and our home must be elsewhere. This will be most evident to us, if we
compare time with eternity, the visible with the invisible world, the
earthly tabernacle with the heavenly, and things that are frail and
perishing, with those that are lasting and eternal. Such a comparison will
afford us a due insight into time and eternity, and lead us to behold with
the eye of faith, such things as remain altogether unknown to the
unthinking multitude. It is from the want of this consideration, that so
many become lax and disorderly in their manners, wallow in the mire of
earthly pleasures, and drown themselves in avarice and worldly cares. It
is from the want of this reflection, that the major part of mankind,
however keen and shrewd in the pursuits of this world, are blind and
insensible to the concerns of the immortal soul. They addict themselves so
much to this life, as to esteem it to be the most delightful, the best and
noblest of all; while the true Christian, on the contrary, accounts it an
exile, a vale of tears, a place of misery, a deep and dark prison.
9. Hence it is that those who love this world, and seek their happiness in
it, do not excel even the brute creation in wisdom or understanding; and
as they live, so they die like beasts. Ps. 49:12, 20. They are totally
blind as it respects the inward man; they do not even think of heavenly
and eternal things; they never rejoice in God, but only in the low and
sordid pleasures afforded by this world. It is in earthly things that they
seek their rest and their enjoyment; and having obtained their object
after much labor and toil, they sit quietly down and congratulate
themselves on their possessions. Wretched, miserable men! blind and
insensible to the tremendous concerns of their eternal salvation! here,
they lie contentedly in the darkness of ignorance, soon to remove hence to
that of death and damnation. Luke 1:79.
10. In order to our better acquaintance with the nature of our pilgrimage
here, we should unceasingly consider the example left us by the Redeemer,
and earnestly follow him both in his life and doctrine. He hath set us an
unerring pattern of universal holiness. He is our captain and our guide;
and to his life and manners, our lives and our manners should be
conformed. Go thou, therefore, and look unto him; unto him who, when the
greatest of all men, voluntarily chose that life in which nothing of
greatness appeared; a life of meanness, poverty, and contempt of honor,
wealth, and pleasure, the threefold deity of this world. All these things,
to which the world offers sacrifice, the Lord contemned; for he himself
said, “He had not where to lay his head.” Matt. 8:20.
11. Such, likewise, was the character of David; who, before his exaltation
to the throne, was poor and despised; and who, when created king,
accounted all his regal splendor as nothing compared with eternal life,
and the kingdom of God, to which he was called. “How amiable,” says he,
“are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth
for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the
living God.”—“A day in thy courts is better than a thousand.” Ps. 84. As
if he had said, I possess indeed a kingdom, and have people subject to my
sway; I possess kingly palaces, and the strong hold of Zion; but what are
all these in comparison of thy tabernacle, O Lord of hosts? So, too, Job
found comfort in his _Redeemer_. Job. 19:25.
12. Neither Peter, nor Paul, nor any of the apostles, sought the riches of
this life, but directed their attention to those which were laid up in
another and better world. Hence they freely espoused the despised life of
Christ, walking in his charity, lowliness, and patience; contemning the
earth, and triumphing over the world, its snares, and its allurements.
They prayed for those who cursed them; they thanked those who reproached
them; they blessed those who reviled them. 1 Cor. 4:12; Acts 5:41. When
they were persecuted, they glorified God; when scourged, they were
immovably patient, professing that “through much tribulation they must
enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22); and when slaughtered, they
prayed (with Christ their Head), “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34); “lay
not this sin to their charge.” Acts 7:60. Thus were they, on the one hand,
dead to all wrath and revenge; to bitterness, ambition, and pride; to the
love of the world, and of their own life also; while, on the other, they
lived in Christ and in his love, in his meekness and humility, his
patience and his resignation. They are, indeed, made alive in Christ by
faith, who thus live.
13. To a lover of the world, this excellent way of life is unknown; for
with regard to those who do not live in Christ, nor know that the _truth_
is in him, these are still dead in their sins; dead in wrath and hatred,
in envy and avarice, in pride and revenge; and as long as they so
continue, they are in a state of impenitence, and have not been quickened
by faith in Jesus, be their boasting what it may. But the genuine
disciples of Christ know it to be a duty to follow the steps of their
divine Master (1 Pet. 2:21), and to be conformed to his life, as the
supreme and original pattern of all virtue and goodness. In a word, the
life of Christ is their exemplar; he himself is their _book_, whence they
derive all solid and substantial learning, as it respects both life and
doctrine. Such persons declare with the apostle, “We look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the
things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are
eternal.” 2 Cor. 4:8. And with holy men of old they unite in saying, “Here
have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.” Heb. 13:14.
14. If, then, from a review of all these considerations, it evidently
appear, as it surely does, that in this world we are strangers and have no
abiding place, it follows that we were not created for the sake of earthly
things as the ultimate end of our being; but that there remain for us
another country and other dwellings, to gain which we ought not to
hesitate to sacrifice a hundred worlds, or even life itself. These are
subjects upon which the true Christian continually meditates with
pleasure; and it is his joy that here he has no continuing city, but is
created for life eternal. But how sad is the state of those who, occupied
wholly in pursuing the things of this life, lade their souls with a
crushing weight of worldly vanities, and thereby expose them to endless
perdition.
Chapter XVIII.
Showing How Greatly God Is Offended, When Man Prefers Things That Are
Temporal To Those That Are Eternal; And How Great The Evil Is, When Our
Affections Cleave To The Creature And Not To The Creator.
_And the anger of the Lord was kindled; and the fire of the Lord
burnt among them, and consumed them, etc._—NUMB. 11:1.
Many there are, in our day, who, under cover of religion, seek after
earthly and carnal things; who use more diligence to become great and
affluent by the gospel, than to be good and happy. They love “the praise
of men, more than the praise of God.” John 12:43. They choose rather to
gratify the flesh in its sinful propensities, than to bring it down into
true repentance and brokenness of spirit. But the character of the true
Christian is of an opposite kind. He is more concerned about eternal than
temporal things; he seeks the glory that endureth, more than that which
passeth away; he thirsts after heavenly and invisible riches, and not
after those that are earthly and visible. In short, he mortifies and
crucifies the flesh, in order that the spirit may live.
2. The sum of Christianity is _to follow Christ_. Hence, it should be our
chief care to imitate the example which he has left us. Our thoughts and
actions, our desires and labors, should all terminate in the attainment of
this _one thing needful_, how we may come to Christ; how be saved by, and
united with him to all eternity.
3. Never should we cease to consider that endless felicity to which we are
called; but cheerfully await the dissolution of our earthly bodies, and a
translation to that inheritance which is reserved in heaven for us.
4. By these means, which habituate the soul more and more to the presence
of God, there is begotten in man a holy thirst after eternal things; while
a desire after earthly objects, which is insatiable in its nature, is at
the same time powerfully restrained. This is taught by St. Paul in that
precious saying: “Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of
the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” Col. 3:17.
5. The _name_ of God, in which all things are to be done, is the honor,
praise, and glory of God. Ps. 48:10. To this great end of human life, all
our works should tend; for then it is that they are wrought in God (John
3:21), and will follow us into a blessed eternity. Rev. 14:13.
6. In a word, Almighty God, our chief and sovereign Good should be the
_principle_ and _end_ of all our designs, if we would not fail of eternal
salvation. Hence St. Paul says, “But thou, O man of God, flee these
things” (1 Tim. 6:11); namely, covetousness and the love of the world. He
calls the Christian, “a man of God,” because he is born of God, and lives
in God, and therefore is the son and heir of God; as, on the other hand, a
man of the world, is one who lives in conformity to the world, who “has
his portion in this life, and whose belly is filled with the hid treasure”
of the earth. Psal. 17:14. From these snares the Christian is required
carefully to flee, and to follow after righteousness, godliness, faith,
love, patience, meekness; and to lay hold on eternal life, whereunto he is
called.
7. When a man refuses to be guided by these salutary maxims, he falls of
necessity into every kind of enormous and presumptuous sin, and will at
last be punished with eternal fire. See, for an illustration, Numb. 11:1.
8. Inundations and war, famine, pestilence, and conflagrations, are, it
should be remembered, punishments inflicted by God, on account of our
preferring things temporal to things eternal; and because we are more
careful of a weak and perishing body, than we are of an imperishable,
immortal soul. All this betrays the highest ingratitude, and an open
contempt of the blessed God, deserving to be visited with punishments,
both here and hereafter. For, does not man by such conduct set aside an
almighty, eternal Being, from whom he derives both his body and his soul;
and convert an impotent creature into an idol, to which he surrenders his
love and affection? He who loves the creature more than the Creator, and
things transitory more than those which are eternal, offers surely the
highest possible affront to his Maker, and opposes the great design of the
Christian religion.
9. It is no doubt true, that all the creatures of God are good in
themselves; but when men begin to set their affections on them, and by
their irregular love to convert them, as it were, into idols, they then
become an abomination in the sight of God, and are justly ranked among the
most odious images of gold and silver.
10. What else can result from a carnal love of the world but hell and
damnation! Consider the case of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:24), and the
one in Numb. 11:1, already mentioned. These are illustrations of the
eternal fire and damnation which must follow a rejection of God.
11. The love and joy, the wealth and honors of the true Christian, are
circumscribed only by eternity itself; for, “where his _treasure_ is,
there will his _heart_ be also.” Luke 12:34. From the lust and love of the
world, on the contrary, nothing can result but eternal damnation. “The
world passeth away and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God
abideth forever” (1 John 2:17): and hence, St. John calls upon the
faithful entirely to withdraw their affections from the world; saying,
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” 1 John
2:15. These and similar considerations powerfully convince us, that God
will not permit us to fix our affections on any creature whatsoever.
12. But this will more fully appear from the following reflections:
I. Love is the very _heart_ of a man, and the noblest of all his
affections; hence, it is due to God only, as the supreme object, and
sovereign Good.
II. It is absolute folly to love temporal things, which cannot love us;
whereas the infinitely blessed God deserves to be loved alone, since from
a pure principle of love, he created us unto eternal life, and hath, to
the same purpose, redeemed and sanctified us.
III. _Like_ things are naturally loved by their _like_. Hence, God made us
after his own image, in order that we might love Him; and that, next to
himself, we might love our neighbor, created after the same image.
IV. The human soul resembles a mirror, representing every object
indifferently that is placed before it, whether it be of heaven or of
earth. Therefore turn thy soul wholly and only to God, that this image may
be fully expressed in it.
V. The patriarch Jacob, when dwelling in Mesopotamia, far removed from his
native soil, never abandoned his purpose to return, and, at length, after
twenty years’ service, demanded his wives and wages; and, cheered by the
recollection of the place of his nativity, returned thither. So should thy
soul, amidst the various engagements of this life, and the hurry of
outward employments, long without ceasing after thy heavenly fatherland.
VI. Man is made either better or worse by that which he loves. He that
loves God, partakes freely of the divine virtue and goodness that reside
in Him; but he that loves the world, is defiled with all those sins and
evils which attend it.
VII. When King Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 4:33) was too much controlled by the
love of the world, he lost the very form of a man, and degenerated into
that of a beast. So all men, blotting from their hearts the image and love
of God, are transformed, as it respects their inward man, into the nature
of brutes. For surely those who wholly surrender themselves to the love of
this world, are no better.
VIII. Lastly, that which a man has loved here, and carried about in his
heart, shall be manifested in him hereafter; and with this he shall
associate himself forever, whether it be God or the world. If the world
have been the object of his love in this life, it will never leave him
hereafter, but will prove his death and his tormentor to all eternity.
Chapter XIX.
He Who Is Most Of All Conscious Of His Misery, Is Most Of All Acceptable
To God; And His Christian Knowledge Of His Misery, Urges Him To Seek The
Grace Of God.
_To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a
contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word._—ISAIAH 66:2.
These comfortable words, our gracious and merciful God hath spoken by the
prophet, in order to cheer our hearts, when they are most oppressed with
misery and sorrow. Be not thou therefore ashamed to be bruised in spirit,
and abased in thine own eyes. Humble thyself in the dust, and deem thyself
unworthy of all grace and favor; so shalt thou be raised out of thine own
vileness, and obtain, in Christ, acceptance with Almighty God.
2. He who is still _something_ in his own estimation, is not duly humbled
and depressed in his heart; nor can he expect to be regarded by that Being
who looks upon the poor and contrite ones only. “If,” says the apostle, “a
man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth
himself” (Gal. 6:3): and the reason of this is, that God is _all in all_,
alone; and the creature must consequently become a bare and empty
_nothing_. So great and so practical is this truth, that man is not only
to believe it in his heart, but to express it in his life and conduct.
3. If ever thou designest, then, to give all the glory and honor to God,
that HE may be ALL, alone, thou must surely thyself become _nothing_ in
thine own eyes; and entertain a very low opinion of thyself, and of thy
profiting in spiritual things. For how is it possible that God should be
_all in all_, whilst thou thyself continuest to be _something_? By this
self-exaltation thou invadest the sovereignty of God, and appropriatest
that to thyself, which is his proper due and prerogative. “It was _before
the Lord_,” said David to Michal, who had reproached him, “and I will yet
be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight.” 2 Sam. 6:21,
22.
4. A man that will be _something_, is the matter out of which God is wont
to make _nothing_; but he, on the contrary, who loves to be reputed as
nothing, and who, in his own judgment, is so, is the matter out of which
the Almighty maketh _something_. He that will be wise in his own opinion,
is the matter out of which God maketh a fool; and he who is truly sensible
of his own folly and nothingness, is that of which God forms a wise and
great man. He who, before the Lord, sincerely confesses himself to be the
greatest and most miserable of sinners, is, in the sight of God, the first
and greatest of all men. He who believes himself to be the chief of
_sinners_, shall be honored by the Lord as the chief of _saints_. Matt.
23:12; Luke 1:52.
5. This is that humility which God exalts; that misery which he regards;
that _nothing_ from which he createth _something_. And as, at the
creation, the glorious frame of heaven and earth was brought forth out of
_nothing_, so must man be reduced to a deep sense of his vileness and
nothingness, if ever he be exalted to glory and to dignity.
6. Reflect upon the example of David, whose misery God beheld, and to whom
he granted the richest gifts of his grace. Consider, again, the example of
Jacob, who confessed, “I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies.”
Gen. 32:10.
7. But above all, lay to heart the example of Christ, the grand and
blameless pattern of a Christian. He was abased below the meanest of men;
was made a worm and a curse for our sake (Ps. 22:6), despised and rejected
of men. Isaiah 53:3. But the lower he sunk, the higher did he afterwards
rise, when he received a name which is above every name.
8. But who is that blessed and lowly one who is _nothing_ in his own eyes?
It is he who inwardly and in his heart esteems himself worthy of no divine
benefit, whether bodily or spiritual. For he that arrogates anything to
himself, esteems himself to be _something_; and is, therefore, the
farthest removed from divine grace and from this new creation. So
destructive is the spirit of self, that it renders even grace of no
effect, and shuts out that which contains all things in it. For if a man
judge himself worthy of anything, he then does not take all things as a
free gift from the hands of God. Whatever we are, however, is of _grace_
and not _merit_; nor can we call anything our own, except our sins, our
helplessness, and our misery. All else belongs to God.
9. A man considered in himself, that is, independently of God, by whom he
subsists, is no more than a shadow. And as the shadow of a tree constantly
conforms to the tree on which it depends, so should man conform to the
will of God from whom he has his very life and being; as the apostle says:
“In him we live, and move, and have our being.” Acts 17:28. It is true,
the fruit will sometimes appear in the shadow of the tree; yet it does not
therefore belong to the shadow, but to the tree: so all the good fruits
that may appear in thy life and conduct, are not the produce of thy own
self and thy ability, but of God alone, who is the original source whence
all good fruits proceed. And as the apple grows not from that gross
substance the wood, which is seen by the eye, but from the seminal virtue
which the tree contains, and which is made active from above; so the new
man, and the fruit he bears, spring not up from anything that is gross and
visible to the eye, but from a supernatural and invisible seed.
10. Now, man is by nature a dry tree; but God is his strength, whereby
life is renewed in him, and he himself is made fat and green in the house
of God. God is the “strength of our life” (Psal. 27:1), says the Psalmist:
and hence we “shall bring forth much fruit whilst we abide in Christ.”
John 15:5.
11. When a man is thus wretched and poor in his own eyes, and has nothing
in the world in which to trust but the pure grace of God, manifested in
Christ Jesus, then God graciously “looks upon him.” This divine regard
must be understood in a divine sense. The look or countenance of God, is
not as the countenance of men, destitute of life and virtue: but it is
accompanied with a living power and influence that supports and revives
the faint and penitent sinner. And as none but the humble and contrite are
capable of this heavenly regard; so the more fully they receive the
consolation which God grants, the less do they think themselves worthy of
it. Such a one deems himself unworthy of all blessings divine and
temporal. He says with Jacob, “I am not worthy of the least of all the
mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant:”
for behold, since thou gavest me thy Son Jesus Christ, I come with two
bands, with the blessings of grace and of glory. Gen. 32:10. And truly, if
a man should weep a sea of tears, it were by no means sufficient to
purchase or deserve the least part of heavenly comfort: the grace of God
cannot be merited by men, who deserve nothing but wrath and eternal
damnation.
12. Whoever thus acquaints himself in faith with his own misery, is truly
one of those poor and contrite men, to whom the Lord graciously looks.
Without this previous brokenness of heart, man cannot expect to enjoy this
blessed aspect of God, nor indeed that grace and kindness which is
promised to the poor in spirit only. In this weakness and poverty the
apostle glories, when he says: “If I must needs glory, I will glory of the
things which concern mine infirmities” (2 Cor. 11:30): and he adds the
reason: “that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Cor. 12:9. For so
great indeed is the mercy of God, that he will not see the work of his
hands destroyed: but the weaker the creature is in itself, the more is it
sustained by the power of an Almighty Being. For in the weakness of the
creature, the power of God is exalted, as the Lord declared unto Paul: “My
grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in
weakness.”
13. The more vile and miserable therefore a Christian is in his own
opinion, the more freely God looks upon him, to the greater manifestation
of the riches of his glory. And in bestowing this heavenly consolation, he
does not look at all on man’s merit, but barely on his want and poverty.
And this comfort can in no degree be compared with any human comfort, all
which it infinitely exceeds. In such a sense, then, God looks to the
contrite man and comforts his spirit.
14. By “the poor and contrite man,” is not to be understood, a man that is
poor in the outward sense of the word, or who is altogether destitute of
human help and relief; but _he_ is the poor man, who labors under the load
of his sins, and is grieved for them. If sin were not in the world, there
could be no misery: but now so much misery cannot befall a man, but that
he is still worthy of much more. Ps. 103:10. Far be it therefore from us
to grieve, because we have not many temporal benefits conferred upon us;
since we are not worthy even of the least of them, no, not of life itself.
Our flesh and blood may think this a hard saying; yet every penitent
sinner ought to be a severe judge in his own case, and ought not to make
the least allowance to his carnal propensities. This is the order in which
we are to obtain God’s favor and mercy.
15. And what has man now left to boast of, or what language shall he
employ when he opens his mouth? The best course he can take will be to say
simply, “Lord, I have sinned; have thou mercy upon me!” And, truly, God
himself requires no more from a man than that he humbly deplore his sin,
and in the unfeigned language of repentance pray for pardon. Whoever
neglects this, may be said to have slighted the best and most needful part
of his being, Weep not therefore, O Man! on account of thy _body_, that it
is naked and sick, pinched with hunger and cold, insulted and persecuted;
or because it is confined by bonds and a prison: but humble thyself before
the Lord, and bewail the woful condition of thy _soul_, which is
constrained to dwell in so wretched a house as thy body is, a house of sin
and death. “O wretched man,” says the apostle, “who shall deliver me from
the body of this death?” Rom. 7:24. This free and Christian acknowledgment
of thine own inward misery, this godly sorrow, this thirst after divine
grace, this faith leaning on Christ alone, open, in Christ, the door of
grace, by which God enters into thy soul. “Be zealous, therefore, and
repent. Behold, I stand,” saith the Lord, “at the door and knock; if any
man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with
him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20): which supper is nothing else than the
remission of sin, attended with heavenly comfort, with life and
blessedness. This is the door of faith (Acts 14:27), through which the
Lord, at the right time, enters into the soul; and after the day of toil
and sorrow is over, refreshes her with the light of his countenance. Then
it is, that “mercy and truth meet together; righteousness and peace kiss
each other; that truth springs out of the earth, and righteousness looks
down from heaven.” Ps. 85:10, 11. Then it is that the woman, that poor
sinner, but now a penitent, anoints the feet of her Lord, washes them with
tears, and wipes them with the hairs of her head, expressing thereby all
the marks of an unfeigned and deep humility. Luke 7:37. Then it is, that
the spiritual priest (Rev. 1:6), in the holy ornaments of faith, offers up
the true sacrifice, even a broken and lowly spirit, with the incense of
true contrition and prayer. Ps. 51:19. Then it is that the true sanctified
water of purifying (Numb. 8:7) is applied,—the tears which grief for sin
caused to flow; and now, through faith and by the power of the blood of
Christ, the spiritual Israelite is washed and cleansed.
16. And thus, O Christian! is seen how by the sense of thy own misery, and
by faith in Christ attending it, thou mayest attain the grace and favor of
God. To conclude, the more wretched and miserable any one is in his own
judgment, the more dearly he is beloved of God, and the more gracious is
the regard which the Lord will bestow upon him.
Chapter XX.
A Truly Christian Sorrow For Sin Promotes The Daily Amendment Of The Life
Of Man, Makes Him Meet For The Kingdom Of God, And Fits Him, In An
Increasing Degree, For Eternal Life.
_Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented
of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death._—2 COR. 7:10.
True Christianity consists solely in pure faith, love, and a holy life.
This holiness of life springs from true repentance, sorrow, and
self-knowledge; so that a man not only more and more feels his failings
and imperfections, but amends them also, and, in this order, partakes of
the righteousness and holiness of Christ by faith. 1 Cor. 1:30.
2. But in order to regulate the grand work of salvation with the better
order and care, thou oughtest now to walk in a submissive and filial fear
of God, guarding against all that would gratify the flesh. “All things are
lawful,” says the apostle, “but all things are not expedient” (1 Cor.
6:12); that is, “all things edify not.” 1 Cor. 10:23. As a dutiful child,
confined to the father’s house, does not so much as attempt to follow his
own humor in everything; but, unwilling to offend his parent, observes his
will and pleasure: so a true Christian and child of God will behave
himself in his Father’s house, in so careful a manner, as not to allow his
senses any unlawful liberty. He will neither do nor speak anything without
consulting first his Father in heaven, under whose eye he constantly
lives, knowing that He is everywhere present.
3. Most men live without any fear of God, freely indulging themselves in
worldly pleasures and satisfaction. They will not consider that it is far
better to have a constant fear of God fixed in the heart, than a constant
joy of the world. For as the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and
begets a serious frame of mind; so the joy of this world extinguishes all
good impressions, and banishes true wisdom out of the heart, together with
all godly fear and devotion.
4. By daily repentance and mortification of the flesh, man is daily
renewed in God’s image; for “though our outward man perish, yet the inward
man is renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16); and often, in the midst of his
sorrows, is he visited with a taste of heavenly joy and sweetness.
Whereas, the pleasure and joy of the world are always attended with
heaviness of heart, and an inward sting of a wounded conscience. If the
people were but more sensible of the melancholy effects resulting from
worldly pleasure, and particularly of that damp which it puts upon
heavenly comfort, they would certainly dread all loose and worldly
enjoyments: since thereby the grace of devotion is quenched, and the soul
diverted from those purer pleasures which the Gospel of Christ affords.
5. There are two things which prevent those who seriously consider them
from being influenced either by worldly pleasures or outward calamities.
The one is, the _eternal pain of the damned_; whoever earnestly ponders
it, will almost find it impossible to be thoroughly merry after the way of
the world. The other is, _the eternal joy of the blessed in heaven_.
Whoever has a sound apprehension of so happy a state, will never be
greatly moved with the calamities of the present life; and this arises
from the consideration of the eternity of those divine enjoyments. But so
great is the levity of our hearts, that it hinders us from any serious
reflection on so important a subject. And hence it is no wonder that we
are both without this wholesome contrition and sorrow, and ignorant of all
celestial joys and comforts.
6. It is the prerogative of a true Christian to be, on the one hand, but
sparingly, if at all, moved with earthly things, or temporal advantages;
and, on the other, to be the more deeply impressed with the joys of God,
and of life eternal. Neither is he immoderately dejected in the present
adversities that may befall him; but the loss of the soul grieves him to
his very heart, and he counts it worthy of long lamentation. As for the
perishing comfort of this life, he knows it cannot be called a loss, since
he shall receive a thousand-fold for it in the world to come. But when a
soul is once cast away, it can never be restored.
7. Blessed is the man who is affected with godly sorrow, and tastes that
celestial consolation which succeeds it. But, alas! how much of our time
do we spend in worldly joy and merriment, when we have greater reason to
bewail our own misery and that of others! There is no true liberty, no
solid delight, no substantial satisfaction, but in the fear of God, and in
a quiet, serene conscience. But this blessing can never exist without
faith, and without a holy life and conversation. This faith, attended with
godly sorrow, daily proceeds more and more to correct our faults and
imperfections. Whoever neglects this daily reform of his life and manners,
wastes the most precious part of his time, which he should employ to
secure the interest of his immortal soul. He is an adversary to the new
life; he hinders the kingdom of God in himself; and he can never be cured
of the blindness and hardness of his heart, so long as he remains in that
state.
8. It follows, therefore, that he only deserves the name of a prudent and
wise man, who carefully avoids whatever he understands to be an obstacle
to the reforming of his life, and to the improving of himself in heavenly
gifts and graces. Happy is he who not only avoids such things as are
detrimental to his body and estate, but also detests those which hinder
the soul in her spiritual progress.
9. Be therefore courageous, O Man, and endure hardness as a good soldier
of Christ! 2 Tim. 2:3. An evil habit of mind must be overcome with a good
one. It is the apostle’s exhortation: “Be not overcome of evil, but
overcome evil with good.” Rom. 12:21. The cure of thy soul is not
impossible. View, in the first place, thy own corruptions, and judge them
severely, before thou presumest to censure the faults of thy neighbor. Be
not too forward in admonishing and correcting others; but endeavor to heal
first thy evils at home, before thou enterest upon the reforming of those
that are abroad.
10. Go on, therefore, O Christian, and learn the lesson of daily
repentance, sorrow, and contrition of heart. If the world despise thee
upon that account, and decry this wholesome exercise as error and as
melancholy, be not concerned at such poor and empty reflections. Grieve
rather that thou art called indeed a Christian, but that thou hast not yet
arrived at that strictness of life and purity of manners, which the Gospel
requires. Bear the contempt of the world with Christian constancy, and
consider the singular benefit which thence accrues to the whole practice
of true religion. For, if thou be scorned by the world, then God is ready
to support thee by fresh supplies of life and comfort, according to his
own declaration: “I dwell in the high and holy place; with him also that
is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isa. 57:15.
11. It is impossible that divine and worldly joy should, at one and the
same time, reside in the heart of man; so very contrary are they to each
other, and so inconsistent in their natures, causes, and effects. The joy
of the world is begotten in prosperity; but that which is from heaven,
springs up in the midst of crosses and adversities.
12. It is true that it is against the bent of nature to rejoice in the
time of adversity, as the apostle himself seems to intimate: “As
sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having
nothing, and yet possessing all things.” 2 Cor. 6:10. But then it is no
less true, that the grace of God cleanses our nature, and qualifies it for
such spiritual exercises. And it was after this change that the apostles
rejoiced, because they were “counted worthy to suffer shame for the name
of Christ.” Acts 5:41.
13. A Christian is become by the grace of God, a new creature, and hence
the tribulations of this life are made easy to him. The apostle declared,
that he even “gloried in tribulations.” Rom. 5:3. As affliction is a
grievous burden to the old man, so it gives ease and joy to the new man in
Christ. Again, that joy which is from above, infinitely surpasses that
which is from below. Nay, the very reproach and contempt which a Christian
undergoes for the sake of Christ, is attended with a secret satisfaction:
and the reason we are so little affected with these heavenly visitations,
is on account of the joy of the world, to which we are still too much
addicted.
14. A truly humble man thinks himself worthy of all manner of sufferings,
and unworthy of any divine comfort: but the more unworthy he thinks
himself in true brokenness of spirit, the more is he visited with the
goodness of God. And the more he weeps over his sin, the more is he weaned
from worldly enjoyments; for the whole world gradually becomes to him a
burden and a bitter affliction.
15. A man that seriously views himself and his inward condition, finds
more reason to mourn than to rejoice. And when he takes a survey of the
lives of others, he will undoubtedly meet with abundance of objects worthy
of pity, or of compassion, rather than of hatred and envy. Why did Christ
weep over Jerusalem, even over that Jerusalem which persecuted and slew
him? Luke 19:41. Truly their sin and blindness was the evident cause of
it. And in this he has also left us a pattern, and with deep feeling
taught us, that nothing in the world should more powerfully melt us into
tears and compassion, than our own sins, and the impenitence and carnal
security which everywhere abound.
16. Did a man as often revolve in his mind, that he must certainly die,
and appear before the judgment-seat of God, as he thinks on the concerns
of this life, and how to provide for them, surely he would be abundantly
more serious in his conversation, more diligent in the reformation of his
life, and more fervent in all the duties of repentance. Did he moreover
call to mind the unspeakable and eternal torments of hell, succeeding, as
they do, a short enjoyment of sin; this consideration would embitter to
him the sweets of this world, and in comparison, render all the
afflictions of this life, pleasant and easy to him. But alas! the
enticements of the flesh are so strong and prevalent, and our compliances
in their favor, so forward, that we seldom yield to such serious
reflections as these.
17. Upon the whole, this should be a Christian’s daily consideration: if
his body be pampered in lust and luxury; if the flesh be humored and
gratified in its inordinate cravings; then the life of the spirit loses
its vigor, and if not seasonably supported, will pine away into death and
destruction. Whereas, if the flesh be crucified with its lusts and
desires, the spirit lives and gathers strength. One is the death of the
other. If, therefore, the spirit shall live in thee, then thy body must be
certainly made a spiritual sacrifice (Rom. 12:1), and must spiritually die
to the world, and to all conformity with it.
18. This has been the constant practice of all the saints, from the
beginning of the world until now. They have with thanksgiving eaten and
drunk the bread and cup of tears, according to that declaration of David:
“Thou feedest us with the bread of tears, and thou givest us tears to
drink in great measure.” Ps. 80:5. And in another Psalm: “My tears have
been my meat day and night.” Ps. 42:3. Again, “I have eaten ashes like
bread, and mingled my drink with weeping.” Ps. 102:9.
19. This has been the “daily bread” of all the saints to this day; yet it
has, however, been sweetened to them, _faith_ being mixed with it. This is
that godly “sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation, not to be
repented of.” 2 Cor. 7:10.
20. But as this godly sorrow is attended with life and happiness, so the
“sorrow of the world worketh death” itself. 2 Cor. 7:10. This kind of
sorrow arises from the loss of honor, of temporal goods and estates, and
other things of that nature. This sorrow has proved so fatal to many, that
they have laid violent hands on themselves, and procured their own ruin
and death by various contrivances. Of this there are not wanting many
examples in the history both of Pagans and Christians: though, indeed, the
latter ought better to understand the maxims and doctrines of Christ, who
has abundantly taught us, not to set our hearts on objects so frail and
perishing. For what is the loss of a handful of fading things, to the life
of a man, with which all the goods of this world cannot be compared?
21. Be not, therefore, cast down by the loss of temporal goods, which, by
the very laws of nature, we can enjoy but a little while: but lay the more
to heart those incorruptible riches, that are laid up in the world to
come; and do whatever thou canst to prevent the loss of _them_. Death will
strip thee at last of all worldly possessions. Here shall be an end of
pomp and greatness. This law of death is equally given to all, and the
penalty of it attaches to all alike. The greatest king is seized on the
throne, and the meanest beggar on the dunghill (1 Sam. 2:8; Ps. 113:7);
for as the body of the one is, so is also the body of the other: both
putrefy and turn alike to corruption. Nevertheless, the Lord will remove
at length the veil of the shadow of death, which is spread over all
nations, and will “swallow up death in victory” (Isa. 25:8), and “wipe
away all tears from our eyes.” Rev. 7:17; Isa. 25:8.
22. Let these and the like considerations, induce thee patiently to bear
the loss of earthly things; remembering that the whole world does not come
up to the price of one soul, for which Christ vouchsafed to die. The more
thou withdrawest thy heart from temporal goods and estates, the less will
it affect thee, when thou shalt be obliged one way or other to leave them.
Thy grief will undoubtedly be the greater, the more thy love has been
wrapped up with them. Thus does the “labor of the foolish weary every one
of them” (Eccl. 10:15); as the wise man expresseth it.
23. This is the unhappy state into which the children of this world plunge
themselves. They hoard and amass their goods with assiduous pain and
labor; they possess them with fear and anxiety of mind; and quit them at
last with grief and groans, when they can no longer enjoy them. This is
the “sorrow of this world,” which begets no less an evil than _death_
itself.
24. We read, that such as adored the beast “had no rest” (Rev. 14:11): so
they that adore the great and toilsome beast of sordid and earthly Mammon,
may be said to have no rest, day nor night. This description of men, most
wretched and most unquiet as they are, may be fitly compared to camels, or
mules. These animals, traversing rocks and hills, and carrying gold and
silver, silken garments and pearls, spices and wines, draw many attendants
with them for their better security: but at night, when they are stabled,
all their precious ornaments, their embroidered garments and vestments,
are taken from them, and they, being weary and stripped, appear to be what
indeed they are, poor and miserable beasts of burden. Nothing is now seen
upon them but the prints of their stripes, and the marks of the blows
which they received upon the road. So, in like manner, that man who in
this world shone in gold and silks, in “purple and fine linen” (Luke
16:19), when the day of his death is come, has nothing left but the prints
and scars of a wounded conscience, contracted by the abuse of such riches
as were committed to his trust.
25. Therefore, O man! learn to relinquish this world, before it
relinquishes thee. If thou break not with the world, the world will break
with thee, and leave horror and anguish behind it. He who withdraws his
soul from the world, before he quits the world with his body, can joyfully
die: since he is loosed from the ties which bound him to these inferior
objects. As the Israelites, when they were about to leave the land of
Egypt, were daily afflicted with greater burdens by Pharaoh, who designed
to destroy them, and, if possible, utterly to extirpate their progeny
(Exod. 5:9); so the infernal Pharaoh, who desires to hinder our eternal
salvation, when we are now upon the very borders of life everlasting,
still attempts to load us with more of the concerns of this life, and
thereby to obstruct our passage into a better world.
26. It is certain that we cannot carry with us the least dust of all our
earthly possessions into the kingdom of heaven. Nay, our very body must be
left behind us until the day of resurrection. If we know anything, we know
that the way leading to life is so very _strait_, as to strip the soul
entirely of anything that will hinder her passage. “Narrow is the way
which leadeth to life, and few there be that find it.” Matt. 7:14. As the
husbandman separates the wheat from the chaff, so death frees the soul
from all the chaff and dross of this world, from all riches, and
greatness, and worldly attire, which now, like the chaff, are driven away.
27. Go therefore, O man, and seriously ponder in thy mind what the apostle
declares: “Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be
repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” 2 Cor. 7:10.
Chapter XXI.
Of The True Worship Of God.
_The sons of Aaron offered strange fire before the Lord, and there
went out fire from the Lord and devoured them._—LEV. 10:1, 2.
This fire is called _strange_, because it was different from that which
continually burned upon the altar, and with which, according to the
command of God, the burnt-offerings were consumed. It is, therefore, a
type of false worship; and the sons of Aaron were destroyed with avenging
flames, because they violated the divine precept.
2. This marked displeasure of the jealous and righteous God, is in like
manner provoked by those who, from the motion of their own unregenerate
mind, and from a singular presumption of devotion or religious sanctity,
introduce a new and peculiar worship of God; which, not being enjoined by
himself, provokes his indignation, anger, and vengeance; because “God is a
consuming fire.” Deut. 4:24; Heb. 12:29.
3. In order that _we_ may not incur the wrath of the divine majesty, let
us consider wherein the true worship of God consists; for the punishment
of temporal fire, inflicted on false worship under the _Old_ Testament, is
to us a proof, that the Lord will also, under the _New_ dispensation, take
the severest vengeance on all strange worship, not only with everlasting,
but also with temporal fire, wars, desolations, and effusion of blood.
4. Now, we can learn wherein the true worship of God consists, when we
compare the Old Testament with the New. The ceremonies which the former
prescribed, referred typically to the Messiah. Devout Jews saw, as it
were, the Messiah from afar, believed on him, and, according to the
promise, obtained deliverance from sin and death through him. But our
worship, according to the _New_ Testament, does not consist in external
ceremonies; we are taught to worship God in spirit and in truth, that is,
to believe in Christ, who fulfilled the Law. Thus he redeemed us from the
curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), and made us free from all Jewish ceremonies
(Gal. 5:1); so that now, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we serve
God with a willing heart and mind (Jerem. 31:33; Rom. 8:14), and our
conscience and faith are not bound by human ordinances.
5. To true, spiritual, internal Christian worship, three things belong. 1.
The _true knowledge of God_. 2. The _knowledge of sin_, accompanied with
unfeigned repentance. And 3. The _knowledge of grace_, attended with
remission of sin.
6. The _knowledge of God_ consists in faith, which apprehends Christ, and
in him, and through him, knows God, his omnipotence, love, mercy,
righteousness, truth, wisdom; all which are God himself. For what is God?
Surely no other than pure omnipotence, pure love and mercy, pure justice,
truth, and wisdom. And the same is to be said of Christ, and of the Holy
Spirit.
7. But whatever God is, he is not to himself only, but also to _me_, by
his gracious will, made manifest in Christ Jesus. Thus _to me_ is God
omnipotent; _to me_ he is merciful; _to me_ eternal righteousness, through
faith and remission of sins. _To me_, also, he is everlasting truth and
wisdom. Thus it is, also, with Christ. He is made _to me_ eternal
omnipotence, the almighty Head, and Prince of my life, my most merciful
Saviour, everlasting love, unchangeable righteousness, truth, and wisdom;
according to the words of the apostle: “Christ is of God made unto us,
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” 1 Cor.
1:30. All of which is also true of the Holy Spirit, who is _my_ eternal
love, righteousness, truth, and wisdom.
8. This is the true knowledge of God, which consists in faith. It is not
some empty and speculative science, as people imagine; but a cheerful,
lively, and effectual reliance on God, in which I feel the rays and
influences of the divine Omnipotence really descending upon me, so that I
perceive how I am upheld and preserved by him; how “in him I live, and
move, and have my being.” Acts 17:28. I must also taste the riches of his
goodness and mercy. Is not that which the Father, Christ, and the Holy
Spirit, have done for thee, for me, and for us all, the effect of pure
love? What more perfect and complete righteousness can there be than that,
by which he rescues us from sin, hell, death, and the devil? And do not
his truth and wisdom most conspicuously appear in all that he has
accomplished for us?
9. This, therefore, is the true and substantial faith, which consists in a
living and effectual reliance on God, and not in empty words. In this
knowledge of God, or faith, we must, as becomes the children of God, make
daily advances, and abound more and more. 1 Thess. 4:1. Hence the apostle
pours out most fervent prayers, “that we may know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge.” Eph. 3:19. As if he had said, “Though it were
the sole care of our lives to learn the depth of the love of Christ, yet
would there still remain continual and never-failing matter for further
inquiry.” Neither is it to be supposed, that this knowledge consists in a
barren acquaintance with the universal love of Christ, extending itself
over the whole world; but we must also taste it in our own hearts; we must
experience the sweetness and delight, the power and vital influx of this
immense kindness displayed in the Word, and embraced by faith. Can he say
that he knows the love of Christ, who never tasted its sweetness? Hence it
is said of some that were endued with this experimental sense, that they
had “tasted of the heavenly gift, and the good word of God, and the powers
of the world to come.” Heb. 6:4. All this is effected by faith through the
Word. The same experience of the divine love is also intimated by the
“shedding abroad of the love of God in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.” Rom.
5:5. In this consist the fruit and efficacy of the Word of God. And this
only is the true knowledge of God, proceeding from experience, and founded
on a living faith. For this reason the Epistle to the Hebrews calls our
faith a _substance_, and a certain and well-grounded _evidence_. Heb.
11:1. And this knowledge of God, that arises from a living faith, is one
part of the inward and spiritual worship of God. In a word, _faith_ is a
spiritual, living, and heavenly gift; yea, the very light and power of
God.
10. When, therefore, this true knowledge of God is attained, by which God
offers himself, as it were, to be touched and tasted by the soul,
according to that Psalm, “O taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps.
34:8); it is impossible that a sincere repentance should not immediately
ensue; that is, a real renovation of the mind, and reformation of the
life. For, from a sense and knowledge of the divine Omnipotence, proceeds
_humility_; since he must necessarily submit himself unto the mighty hand
of God, who has perceived its irresistible power and energy. From the
experience of the divine mercy arises _charity_ to our neighbor; for no
man can be uncharitable who has ever been affected by a sense of the
divine compassion. Who can refuse to lend to his neighbor, that considers
that God, from pure mercy, has bestowed himself upon us? From the
long-suffering of God, proceeds great _patience_ towards our neighbor; so
that were it possible that a true Christian could be killed seven times a
day, and as many times be restored to life again, yet would he always
freely forgive his murderer, and this on account of the boundless mercy of
God conferred upon himself. From the divine justice flows the _knowledge
of sin_, as the prophet teaches us: “Righteousness belongeth unto thee, O
Lord, but unto us confusion of faces.” Dan. 9:7. “Enter not into judgment
with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.” Ps.
143:2. “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall
stand?” Ps. 130:3. From the knowledge of the truth of God, flow _fidelity_
and candor towards our neighbor; and all fraud, deceit, lying, and other
such sinister practices, are, in consequence, freely abandoned. The
sincere Christian reasons thus with himself: “God forbid that I should
deal deceitfully with my neighbor; for then I should offend the truth of
God, which is God himself; since he has dealt so faithfully with me, it
would be the blackest impiety were I to act otherwise by my neighbor.” The
consideration of the eternal divine wisdom produces the _fear of God_. For
whoever knows God to be the Searcher of hearts, viewing the most secret
recesses, must necessarily dread the eyes of the divine majesty. “He that
planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not
see?” Ps. 94:9. Therefore, “Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their
counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who
seeth us? and who knoweth us? Surely your turning of things upside down
shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that
made it, He made me not? Or shall the thing framed, say of him that framed
it, He had no understanding?” Isa. 29:15, 16; see also Jer. 23:24, and
32:19.
11. From the true _knowledge of God_, arise the _knowledge of sin_, and
consequent repentance. This repentance brings renovation of mind, and
renovation of mind is accompanied with amendment of life. And this
knowledge, together with those things that attend it, makes up the other
part of the inward worship of God; and it is that sacred fire which, by
the appointment of God, is to be used with the sacrifices, lest his wrath
should be kindled against us, and we be consumed by the fire of his
vengeance.
12. The injunction of God to the priests, not to drink wine or strong
drink when they were about to enter the tabernacle (Lev. 10:9), is an
illustration of this repentance; and in a _spiritual_ sense, it extends
itself to all Christians. For if we would enter into the tabernacle of
God, even into life everlasting, it is necessary that we should abstain
from the lusts of the world and of the flesh, and from all that tends to
bring the spirit in bondage to the body. For the love of the world, the
love of pleasure, pride, and other vices, are like palatable wine, by
which the power of the soul and spirit is clouded, and at last brought
under subjection to the flesh. Man, so subjected, is restrained from
entering into the tabernacle of God; that is, he cannot arrive at the
knowledge and the sanctuary of God; consequently he is deprived of that
discerning faculty, which distinguishes between things sacred and profane,
clean and unclean; so that he understands nothing of divine and heavenly
operations, and therefore is unfit to instruct those in sound doctrine who
are committed to his care. His understanding and thoughts are not
enlightened from above; but being overcome with the wine of worldly lust,
are eventually involved in gross darkness. This repentance, contrition,
and grief for sin, and this true faith in Christ, are followed by the
_knowledge_ of _grace_ and _remission of sin_; which, as it proceeds from
the merit of Christ only, so the benefit of this merit can be claimed by
no man without repentance. Repentance was therefore necessary, even to the
thief upon the cross, that his sin being first remitted, he might
accompany Christ into paradise. And that his repentance proceeded from a
heart affected with a holy contrition, appears from the reproof which he
gave his companion: “Dost not thou fear God? We receive the due reward of
our deeds; but this man hath done nothing amiss” (Luke 23:40), and from
the request he addressed to Christ: “Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom.” Verse 24. These are most undeniable proofs of a
contrite heart, embracing Christ and his merits by faith.
13. This gracious absolution from sin, which is apprehended in faith by a
penitent heart, supplies all those defects under which we labor: but it is
entirely the effect of the death and blood of Christ. All our offences are
as completely annulled by his abundant satisfaction, as if they had never
been committed. The merit of Christ is of that extent and power, that
David exclaims: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and
I shall be (not only as white, but even) whiter than snow.” Psal. 51:7.
14. Hence also it is, that God is said to _mention_ the sin no more when
the sinner returns to his duty. Ezek. 18:22; 33:16. For whatever is fully
and completely paid for, yea, blotted out too, must of necessity be buried
in eternal oblivion. Isa. 43:25. But conversion must go before remission,
according to the order proposed by the prophet himself: “Wash ye, make you
clean, put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do
evil. Come now and let us reason together: Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow.” Isa. 1:16. As if he had said: “Ye who
require your sins to be forgiven, according to my covenant and promise,
come forward and call me to an account. I do not indeed deny, that I
promised you remission of sins; but it was on no other terms than that you
should first repent. Where is your repentance? where is your true and
living faith? If you have these, all is well! It shall not be my fault, if
your sins (though as crimson in grain, though so deeply dyed, that neither
heaven nor earth can blot them out), be not wholly pardoned and made
whiter than snow.” Repentance, therefore, is the true confession of sin;
and if you have this in yourself, namely, sorrow for sin mixed with faith,
be assured, that Christ, by virtue of his death and blood, will entirely
forgive you your sins. This blood, as it is shed for us, so it cries to
God in heaven, and procures a full remission of sin.
15. When a man is thoroughly affected with this sense of sin, he hastens
in spirit to those cities of refuge, of which three, Bezer, Ramoth, and
Golan, were set apart on this side Jordan, by Moses, being appointed by
him, in order that he who had inadvertently killed his neighbor, might
flee unto them and be preserved. Deut. 4:41-43.
16. And, alas! O Lord, how often have we inadvertently slain our neighbor
with thoughts, words, hatred, envy, anger, revenge, and unmercifulness!
Let us, therefore, fly upon the wings of faith and repentance, to the
sanctuary of the grace of God, and to the merit and cross of Christ. No
sooner do we arrive there, but we are safe; nor will the avenger measure
to us again with that measure with which we served our neighbor. For by
those cities of refuge, Christ Jesus is signified and represented. He is
the true _Bezer_, that is, a _fenced tower_, according to that saying of
Solomon: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth
into it, and is safe.” Prov. 18:10. He also is the true _Ramoth_, which
signifies _exalted_: for Christ is the Most High (Isa. 52:13; 57:15), “And
at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and
things in earth, and things under the earth.” Phil. 2:10. Nor have we any
other _Golan_ besides him; which, as the word imports, is a _heap_ or
_multitude_, a storehouse of all manner of celestial gifts. Hence, we read
in the Psalms: “With the Lord there is mercy; and with him is plenteous
redemption.” Psal. 130:7. And in the epistle to the Romans: “The Lord is
rich unto all that call upon him.” Rom. 10:12.
17. And this is the _third_ part of inward, spiritual, and true worship,
arising from the knowledge of God. This knowledge is also the source of
repentance, as repentance is of remission of sins, and each rests on an
experimental knowledge of God, as on a proper foundation to sustain it.
18. Thus is the letter of the law of Moses changed into spirit, or into an
inward, holy, and new life; and its sacrifices are converted into
unfeigned repentance. Hereby we offer up unto God our body and soul,
together with the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. Hereby we ascribe
unto him alone, our knowledge, conversion, justification and remission of
sin, that God alone may be all in all, and his grace be worthily
acknowledged, and celebrated with thankful hearts and tongues unto all
eternity. This, then, as hath been already mentioned, is the true worship
of God, of which the prophet says: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is
good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to
love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Mic. 6:8. O when, therefore,
shall we wretched mortals become truly penitent, that we may obtain this
gracious pardon of sin? For without penitence it is impossible we should
secure unto ourselves so incomparable a mercy. For how can sin be
remitted, when there is no sense of sin, no sorrow affecting the mind, no
hunger after divine grace? And how can he grieve for sins, who utterly
refuses to abandon them, and to change his life for a better? May God, for
Christ’s sake, turn us, that so we may be truly turned! Lam. 5:21.
19. From these considerations it abundantly appears, that the true worship
of God is seated in the heart, and consists in the knowledge of God, and
in true repentance, which mortifies the flesh; and, through grace, renews
man after the divine image. In this order, man is made the holy temple of
the Lord, where, through the good Spirit of God, internal worship is
performed, in the exercise of faith, charity, hope, humility, patience,
prayer, thanksgiving, and the praise of God.
20. But though this worship has regard to God himself, and is offered to
him alone; yet far be it from us to believe, that God has any need of our
adoration or service, or that he receives any advantage from it, or any
addition to his perfection. Let us rather think, that such is the mercy of
God to miserable men, that he is willing to impart himself wholly to us
with all his benefits, to live, to operate, and to dwell in us, provided
we be but ready, by true knowledge, by faith and repentance, to entertain
him in the heart, that as in the school of the Spirit, he may teach us
true wisdom, and carry on the work which he has so happily begun.
21. For there is no work approved and accepted of God, but that of which
he himself is the author. Therefore has he commanded us to repent and to
believe, to pray and to fast; not that the benefit in any way might return
to him, but belong to us alone. For to God no man can give, and from him
no man can take away; him none can profit, and none can injure. If we be
found devout and sincere in his sight, we shall reap the advantage of it
ourselves; but if we be found false and corrupt, the evil will return upon
our own heads. But what harm, O man, canst thou do to God, if even thou
shouldst wilfully persist in impiety and a dissolute course of life?
22. God, therefore, commands that he should be served on thy account, not
on his own. He being Love itself, it pleases him that many be found in his
service, to whom he may freely impart the streams of his love, yea, even
himself too. For as a mother cannot but love the infant that reposes on
her breast, so God takes a singular pleasure in a free and unconfined
communication of his love and kindness.
Chapter XXII.
A True Christian Is Known Primarily By Love, And By A Daily Amendment Of
Life.
_The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow
like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the
Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still
bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
to shew that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no
unrighteousness in him._—PS. 92:12-15.
Not a Christian name, but a Christian life, evidences a true Christian:
let this therefore be the care of the Christian, that in him Christ may be
seen: and visibly appear unto others, in love, humility, and kindness! for
he in whom Christ does not live, cannot be a Christian. And this holy
life, having its roots within, in the spirit and heart of a man, must of
necessity proceed from this inward principle—just as the fruit proceeds
from the inherent virtue of the tree. For it is necessary that our life
should be influenced by the Spirit of Christ, and fashioned after his
example; according to that saying of the apostle: “As many as are led by
the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Rom. 8:14. “Now if any man
have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Rom. 8:9): for all life
proceeds from spirit; and as is the spirit which inwardly acts, moves, and
governs in a man, so will the man outwardly appear. Whence it is evident,
how necessary the Spirit of God is to a truly Christian life; and,
therefore, Christ has not only commanded us to pray for the Spirit, but
has also promised unto us this gift. Luke 11:13. This Spirit is the Spirit
of regeneration (Tit. 3:5), by which we are quickened in Christ, into a
new, spiritual, and heavenly life, and from the life and never-dying power
of this Spirit of God, every Christian virtue must be derived. It is then
that “the righteous man flourisheth as the palm tree, and groweth like a
cedar in Lebanon.” Ps. 92:12.
2. Hence it follows, that a man must be first internally renewed in the
spirit of his mind after the image of God; and that his inward desires and
affections must first be conformed to Christ (which the Apostle terms “the
new man created after the image of God”) (Eph. 4:24), before a suitable
life can proceed from the heart. But as soon as the heart is inwardly
renewed, the outward life proceeding from it is but a constant expression
of that vital principle which prevails within the mind. Yea, since “God
trieth the heart and the reins” (Ps. 7:9), it is reasonable that a man
should possess, in the more secret recesses of his heart, even much more
than outwardly appears in his life.
3. Though, in our inward part, we attain not unto the purity of angels, it
is but just that we should fervently sigh after it. And, indeed, God
approves the desires of our spirit when it thirsts after a further
purification: “The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, and maketh
intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Rom. 8:26.
Yea, the blood of Christ purifies us by faith (Acts 15:9), so that we are
“without spot or wrinkle” (Eph. 5:27); and in this respect we possess, not
the purity, holiness, and righteousness of any angel, but that of Christ;
yea, and Christ himself. 1 Cor. 1:30.
4. This undeserved righteousness, freely applied to us, must renew our
body, soul, and spirit, and produce a true holiness of life and manners.
And this life, though it is at first like a tender palm tree, must daily
become more and more vigorous in us, and gather strength in Christ Jesus.
And our growth in Christ will be in proportion as we advance in faith, in
virtue, and the practice of a Christian life and holiness. This is to
“flourish like a palm tree.”
5. As the palm tree, when depressed, mounts the higher, so ought a
Christian to be renewed continually in his spiritual desires and
exercises. Eph. 4:23; Col. 3:10. He is to strengthen himself every day
with fresh purposes to walk suitably to his new name, and with unwearied
endeavors to avoid the danger of being a false Christian. He is to proceed
with vigor and earnestness, as if he had but this day been initiated into
the principles of true religion. For as one that enters upon a new office
should have nothing more at heart than worthily to acquit himself in his
post; so also should we act, who are called unto Christ, “with a holy
calling.” 2 Tim. 1:9. If this holy purpose be not firmly rooted within, no
amendment of life will ensue, no vigor in piety, no increase in Christ;
yea, the very quickening Spirit of Christ must be wanting. For such a
resolution and holy firmness of doing good is the work of the Spirit of
God, and of that preventing or anticipating grace which allures, invites,
and moves all men. Happy is the man, who with his ears and heart proves
obedient to it, and hearkens to that heavenly wisdom which “utters her
voice in the streets.” Prov. 1:20. In a word, whatever a man views with
his eyes, is a manifestation of the Creator, by which he calls upon man,
and endeavors to draw him to the love of himself.
6. Whenever, therefore, we feel this heavenly call or impulse upon our
minds, we should immediately set our hand to work, and take care that a
moment so invaluable do not slip away in a light and careless manner. This
is an hour free from such obstacles as at other times closely beset us. If
this be slothfully neglected, other days and times may possibly succeed,
in which we cannot think, hear, speak, or do any good. This being foreseen
by eternal Wisdom, she everywhere lifts up her voice, and calls upon us,
lest we should neglect the opportunity which is so freely offered.
7. As a tree planted in the open air readily admits the light of the sun,
and the benign influences of heaven; so the grace of God, with other
celestial influences, shines upon thee, O man, and would revive and
nourish thee by its presence, if the affairs of this world did not hinder
thee from receiving the benefit.
8. Call to mind the shortness of the time appointed for life! Seriously
consider how many opportunities of doing good, and of reducing the
Christian virtues into practice, thou hast already neglected. One half of
thy life has possibly been consumed in sleeping, and the other in eating
and drinking, and in other natural actions; so that when thou now comest
to the grave, thou hast but just begun to enter upon a better life.
9. If thou art afraid to die in wickedness, O lead a holy life whilst thou
art in good health! If thou desirest to leave the world as a Christian,
endeavor to be a good Christian whilst thou art in it. Now, he only lives
as a Christian, who demeans himself as if he were every day to die; well
knowing that a good servant will at all times be ready at the call of his
master. And God, by death, as by his messenger, summons us all before his
tribunal.
10. “Blessed,” therefore, “is that servant, whom the Lord, when he cometh,
shall find watching. Of a truth, I say unto thee, that he will make him
ruler over all that he hath.” Luke 12:37, 44. And who is it that watches,
but he who does not suffer himself to be carried away by the world, or its
unhappy votaries? Let us, therefore, flee from both; knowing that the
manners of this corrupt age are like baneful excrescences, which consume
the vital sap of a tree, and, in a short time, cause it to wither.
Chapter XXIII.
He Who, In Christ, Desires To Grow In Grace, Is Often Compelled To
Withdraw From Worldly Society.
_How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!—My heart and my
flesh crieth out for the living God._—PS. 84:1, 2.
Thou actest wisely, if thou avoidest too frequent an intercourse with
worldly men. For as it is never better for our bodies than when they are
at home; so it is ever best with the soul, when it is at rest in its own
habitation, which is God himself; from whom it derives life and being. To
him, therefore, the soul must return again, if ever she is to enjoy rest,
and find safety.
2. It is observed of all creatures, that they nowhere thrive so well, as
where they drew their first life and origin. Thus the sea to the fishes,
the air to the birds, the earth to the plants, and God to the soul, is the
place of rest, according to the Psalmist, “The sparrow hath found a house,
and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young.” Ps.
84:2. As that man will bring trouble upon himself, who gives young people
too much liberty to go abroad; so shall he suffer much, who yields up the
reins of his tongue and thoughts, allowing them to wander through the
affairs of the world, as so many circles of vanity. Be assured, that you
will escape many faults, if you study to confine your thoughts within the
limits of your heart.
3. “Those that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the
courts of our God.” Ps. 92:13. What are these courts? They are the
internal and spiritual sabbaths of the heart; which, as Lebanon in the
desert, flourish best in a retirement of mind, and abstraction of spirit.
Labor to attain this solitude of soul, and thou shalt become fit to search
thine own heart, and to contemplate that variety of wonders and mercies
which God has bestowed upon us.
4. Nor are we to imitate those who admire subtle disputes and inventions,
who take pleasure in reading fine, pleasant, and witty productions; which,
if rightly considered, deprave, rather than improve the mind of the
reader. Whatever does not promote the repose of the heart, and the
continual renovation of the mind, should neither be heard, spoken, read,
nor even be entertained in thought, by a disciple of Jesus. True
Christians are like the trees of God, which should daily grow stronger,
and take deeper root _in Christ_. St. Paul testifies of himself, that
besides “Christ and him crucified,” he desired to know nothing. 1 Cor.
2:2. And this has been the practice of all the saints of God, who have
endeavored, to the utmost of their power, by carefully cherishing this
blessed tranquillity of heart, to approach nearer and nearer to a life
raised above the world, and to emulate those elevated minds that entirely
rest in God, as the centre of all their happiness. One of them once said:
“As often as I converse with men, I return less a man in some part or
other.” For since the dignity of human nature principally consists in the
similitude of God, and therefore God hath described man to be the image
and likeness of himself (Gen. 1:26); it follows, that the more unlike any
man is to God, the less a man he is: and the more closely he unites
himself to God, the more conformed to HIM does he become. None can,
however, turn himself to God, who does not first withdraw himself from the
world. It is the nature of every seed, to bring forth a plant of its own
kind; so if the seed of God, the Holy Spirit and Word, be in thee, thou
shalt become a “tree of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that he
may be glorified.” Isa. 61:3.
5. Nothing is more common, than that some word or other is dropped in the
conversation of men, which being idle and vain, grievously wounds and
pollutes the soul. No man, therefore, has more security and peace, than he
who keeps at home, in the house of his heart, and restrains his thoughts,
his words, and his senses, from straying beyond their bounds.
6. He that will speak well, must first learn to be silent; for to talk
much is not eloquence, but prating. He who desires to command well, must
first learn to obey; since it is impossible that he should be a good ruler
over others, who knows not how to be subject and obedient to God. He that
desires peace and serenity of mind, must set a watch over his tongue, and
maintain a good conscience; for an evil conscience is like the troubled
sea; yet shall it find rest if it return unto Christ in true repentance.
The dove which Noah sent out of the ark, not finding any place of rest,
returned to it. Gen. 8:9. This ark is Christ and the Church, having only
one door or window, which is that of repentance, through which we are to
come to Christ. And as the dove retired into the ark immediately when she
found no rest for her foot; so when thou art floating in a sea of worldly
affairs, and art in danger of suffering shipwreck, retire immediately into
thy heart to Christ; lest, being too much tossed on the floods of the
world, thy rest be broken, and the tranquillity of thy mind entirely
destroyed.
7. While thou conversest with men, and art engaged in the affairs of this
world, be careful to manage everything with fear and humility. Avoid all
self-confidence and rashness in acting. Remember that thou art as a tender
shoot tied to a prop, in order that it may grow up with the more safety:
so do thou constantly lean on the staff of humility, and the fear of God,
lest a sudden tempest should arise, and lay thee level with the ground.
Alas! how many a man is deceived when he, too unadvisedly, rushes into
worldly affairs. Persuade thyself, therefore, that it is as unsafe to
trust to the world, as to the sea. The external joy of the world, though
for a time it soothe a man in his carnal security, and promise prosperous
things, yet may soon be disturbed by an unexpected tempest, leaving
nothing behind but the sting of an evil conscience.
8. If a man would, on the one hand, seek no pleasure in what is frail or
perishing; and if, on the other, with a mind freed from secular joys and
affairs, he would give himself up to those more heavenly concerns that
become a true Christian, he would often be visited with a fervent
devotion, a profound peace, a sweet tranquillity, a serene conscience, and
other divine comforts. But, alas! we will not be persuaded of these
things; and hence it follows, that our conversion, amendment, and devotion
are, by our too free conversation with men, rather hindered than improved.
We may find within us, what we easily lose in an inconsiderate pursuit of
things without us. And as a tree nowhere prospers better than in its
natural soil; so the inward man grows nowhere more happily, than in the
inward ground of the soul, where Christ resides.
9. The conscience of man is possessed either with joy or sorrow. If the
conscience be conversant with things internal and heavenly, it will
refresh us with inward delight and comfort; but if it be polluted with an
excessive cleaving to worldly concerns, it will be of necessity attended
with inward sorrow and perplexity. 2 Cor. 7:10.
10. As often as the soul is affected with hearty remorse for sin, she
bewails herself, and sends up secret groans to the throne of mercy. This
penitential exercise is a wholesome fountain of tears, in which the soul,
night after night, cleanses and washes herself by the Spirit and by faith,
through the name of _Jesus_ (1 Cor. 6:11), that so she may be duly
prepared to enter into the inward sanctuary, and holy of holies, and there
enjoy a secret intercourse with the Lord.
11. And because the Lord is “a God that hideth himself” (Isa. 45:15), the
soul must approach him in a way remote from the noise of the world, that
she may the more freely partake of his divine communications. Hence the
Psalmist says: “I will hear what God the Lord will speak.” Ps. 85:8. And
“I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his
troubles.” Psalm 34:4, 6. “Unto thee will I pray: my voice shalt thou hear
in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee,
and will look up.” Psalm 5:2, 3. Thus the farther the soul retires from
the world, the more intimately she converses with God; just as the
patriarch Jacob conversed most familiarly with God and angels when he was
farthest removed from friends and children. Gen. 32:24-29. It cannot,
indeed, be expressed in words, how much a soul sequestered from the
friendship and fellowship of the world, is loved by God and by angels.
Chapter XXIV.
Of The Love Of God And Our Neighbor.
_Now the end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart,
and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned._—1 TIM. 1:5.
In this verse, the apostle sets before us love, the highest and noblest
virtue; and acquaints us at the same time, with four particulars
concerning it. _First_, that Love is the summary of all the commandments:
for “love,” says the apostle, “is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13:10);
in which all the precepts are comprehended, and without which, all gifts
and virtues are unprofitable and fruitless.
2. What he says in the _second_ place, namely, that Charity must arise
from a pure heart, relates to the love of _God_, which requires a heart
void of worldly love and affection, according to that saying of St. John:
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. For all
that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world
passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God
abideth forever.” 1 John 2:15-17. Whosoever, therefore, has a heart
purified from all love to the creature, so as to depend or acquiesce in no
transient good whatsoever, can cleave most intimately to God, saying with
David, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that
I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the
strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.” Psal. 73:25, 26. The love
of such a one, proceeds out of a “_pure heart_.” Of the same character
also, is that love which is attended with great delight, pleasure and joy
in God; of which we have an illustration in David: “I will love thee, O
Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my
salvation, and my high tower.” Psal. 18:1, 2.
3. The apostle, in the _third_ place, teaches us, that love must be “out
of a good conscience.” This properly concerns the love of _our neighbor_,
who is to be loved, not for the sake of interest or worldly advantage
(which would be a false love out of a bad conscience); but for the sake of
God only, and of his commandments. Nor ought we to afflict our neighbor
either by word or deed, either secretly or openly; nor on any account,
bear envy, wrath, hatred, malice or rancor against him; that so our
conscience may not accuse us when we address ourselves in prayer to God
Almighty.
4. The _fourth_ requisite of Love is, a “faith unfeigned;” so that nothing
be done that is contrary to the rule of faith, and to our Christian
profession, and that God be not denied publicly or privately, in
prosperity or adversity. This is the substance of what is contained in
that sentence of the apostle. We shall now speak more particularly, with
respect to each of the several parts.
5. In the _first_ place, then, _Love_, according to the apostle, “is the
end of the commandment;” for that love which arises from a pure faith, is
the noblest among the fruits and effects of faith; than which a man can do
nothing better or more acceptable to God. For God does not require at our
hands great and difficult enterprises, no high performances that exceed
our capacities; but he has changed the yoke of the Old Testament service,
and its many commandments and ordinances into faith and love, and has
given us for this end the Holy Ghost, who, “shedding abroad in our hearts
the love of God” (Rom. 5:5), renders everything sweet and easy, and proves
the original spring of this heavenly virtue.
6. Love, therefore, is not a hard work, a labor attended with toil and
difficulty; on the contrary, it makes everything easy to a good man. “His
commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3), that is to say, they are not
so to an enlightened Christian; for wherever the Spirit of God comes, he
creates a free, willing and ready heart in the discharge of Christian
virtues. Nor does God require of his children great skill or learning: it
is only love which he regards. If this be sincere and fervent, free from
disguise and dissimulation, God takes more pleasure and delight in it,
than in all the knowledge and wisdom, in all the art and talent that any
man upon earth, in his best works, can possibly exhibit. Wherever this
divine love is wanting, there all wisdom and knowledge, all works and
gifts, are altogether unprofitable. They are accounted vain and dead, as a
mere body without life. 1 Cor. 13:1, 2.
7. As for human learning and great abilities, they are common to heathens
as well as to Christians; and great actions are performed as well by
infidels as by believers. It is _love_ only which proves the sure test of
a sound Christian, distinguishing between the false and the true. For
wherever Charity is wanting, there can be no good thing, however it may
claim the admiration of men by its specious appearances. The reason is,
because God is not there; for “God is love, and he that dwelleth in love,
dwelleth in God, and God in him.” 1 John 4:16.
8. Love is also pleasant, not only to God who gives it, but also to man,
who exercises it: whereas, all arts and sciences, all the knowledge and
wisdom which man grasps, are not attained but with great labor and study,
with much care and application, and even at the expense of bodily health.
But this heaven-born love cheers both the body and the mind. It
invigorates the spirits, confers new strength, and wonderfully improves
and exalts the mind. Nor is it attended with any loss whatever, but on the
contrary, produces many good and noble effects in the soul. Love is itself
the reward of the lover, and virtue always carries its own recompense with
it: as, on the contrary, the vicious man is punished by his own excesses,
and vice is the constant tormentor of him that commits it.
9. Again, when the other faculties of the body and mind are faint and
wearied, love faints not. Love is never weary, never ceases. Prophecy may
pass away, tongues may cease, and sciences may be destroyed; arts may be
lost, the knowledge of mysteries may vanish; yea, faith itself at last may
fail also: but yet “love never faileth,” nor can fail: for when all that
is imperfect is happily removed, then love alone abides forever, and
attains its full perfection. 1 Cor. 13:8.
10. To render anything pleasing to Almighty God, it is necessary that it
proceed from him; since he approves of nothing but what he himself works
in us. Now, God is love; it therefore follows, that all that we do, ought
to proceed from a divine faith, in order that it may be pleasing to God;
and from pure love, that it may prove profitable to men. This love must be
_pure_, without any regard to self-honor, self-interest, and those mean
designs which sometimes intrude into a Christian’s actions. In like manner
our _prayers_ should spring from a principle of love, that they may have
the more ready admittance to the God of love. Consider, therefore, how
that man’s prayer can be acceptable to God, who is full of wrath and
rancor, hatred and malice? Were such a one to repeat the whole Psalter
every day, it would be but an abomination before the Lord. True worship
consists in spirit (John 4:23, 24), in faith, in love, not in a long
recital of words. Remember the example of Christ, who, from a merciful
heart, cried, “Father, forgive them.” Luke 33:34. A man that does not love
God, is also unwilling to pour out his heart in prayer and supplication:
but to him who is affected with a sense of divine love, the duty of prayer
is easy and delightful. A man that has a cordial love to God, readily
serves him; but he that is void of this love, does not serve him at all,
though he may submit to much toil and drudgery, and even heap one mountain
upon another.
11. Upon the whole, then, nothing is more agreeable to human nature,
nothing better and more profitable, than this divine love, which,
therefore, should be stirred up in the heart of man, and when once raised
into a flame, should be carefully preserved from being ever quenched.
12. Faith should work all things in a Christian through love; and love
should be the agent of faith, as the body is the agent of the soul. The
soul sees and hears, speaks and acts, through the body, to which she is
united; so, O man! should the love of God, springing from faith, do all
things in and through thee. Whether thou eat or drink, hear or speak,
commend or reprove, let all be done _in love_, after the example of
Christ, in whom resided nothing but pure love. If thou beholdest thy
neighbor, behold him with the eyes of a compassionate friend; if thou
hearest him, hear him with love and tenderness; and if thou speakest with
him, let thy speech be seasoned with love and Christian affection.
13. Carefully preserve the root of Christian love by faith, in order that
nothing but that which is good may grow up in thy heart, and issue thence,
as from its genuine centre. 1 Cor. 16:14. Thou shalt then be enabled to
fulfil the commandments of God; since they are all comprehended in love.
Hence, a holy man has expressed himself after this manner: “O love of God
in the Holy Ghost! thou art the highest joy of souls, and the only divine
life of men. Whosoever enjoys not thee, is dead even while he lives; and
whosoever possesses thee, never dies in the sight of God. Where thou art
not, there the life of men is a continual death; but where thou art, there
life is made a foretaste of eternal happiness.” Whence it appears that
this divine love is the sum and fulfilling of all the commandments of God.
14. We consider now, in the _second_ place, that our love to God ought to
proceed “out of a pure heart.” The heart of a man who is desirous to love
God, ought first to be cleansed from all worldly love and attachment to
the creature. It is then that God becomes the chief and sovereign Good to
the soul. She can then say, “The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance,
and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.” Ps. 16:5. “The Lord knoweth the
days of the upright,” that is, those that love him out of a disinterested
heart; “and their inheritance shall be forever.” Ps. 37:18. “Delight
thyself in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
Ps. 37:4. In a word, God is the only fountain whence all our joy ought
constantly to spring.
15. God, therefore, should be the most beloved object of our souls, and
our hearts should rest in him alone, because he is the highest good. He is
nothing else than mercy and goodness, love and kindness, clemency and
patience, truth, comfort, peace, joy, life, and happiness. All this he has
laid up in Jesus Christ. Whoever, therefore, has Christ, is thereby put
into the possession of all these heavenly virtues. And whoever loves God,
must also of necessity love God’s truth and mercy, his goodness and
kindness, and the whole train of divine virtues.
16. For, a true lover of God has a love to all that God loves, and an
aversion to all that God hates. If any man loves God, he must love truth,
mercy, and righteousness, because God is all this himself. He must also
delight in humility and meekness, since thereby he is rendered conformable
to that meekness and lowly-mindedness which resided in Jesus. On the other
hand, a true lover of God cannot but abhor all ungodliness, with all the
works of iniquity; because all manner of impiety is enmity against God,
and is the work of the devil himself. A lover of God hates a lie, because
the devil is the father of lies, and was a liar from the beginning. And
this is the reason that every one who loves lies, injustice, and other
vicious workings of nature, must needs, in that sense, be the offspring of
the devil (see John 8:44); and again, whoever loves Christ, his Lord and
Saviour, loves also the example of his pure and holy life, his humility
and meekness, his patience, and the other heavenly virtues that appeared
in his conduct. And such a one must of necessity be adopted into the
number of the children of God.
17. This love, proceeding out of a “pure heart,” must be obtained from God
by prayer and supplication. And truly, God is willing to enkindle in us
this heavenly flame through the love of Christ, if he be but earnestly
solicited, and if the heart be every day and every moment laid open to his
divine influence. If thy love should grow cold and weak at any time,
arouse thy heart, faint not, but stir up the grace of God within thee, and
be not too much discouraged at it. In the name of God arise again, set to
work, and renew the acts of thy first love. As thou art sensible of thy
coldness in love, thou mayest be assured from that circumstance, that the
eternal light of divine love is not _wholly_ extinguished, although it be
eclipsed, and at present give but little heat. Doubt not that thy Saviour
will enlighten thee again, and fire thy heart with his love; so that thou
mayest sit once more under his shadow, and rejoice in the light of his
countenance. At the same time be earnest in prayer and supplications, lest
hereafter the flame of this heavenly love should be again deadened in thy
heart. Such is love “out of a pure heart,” unmixed with love of the world.
18. Let us now consider, in the _third_ place, Love, as arising from a
“good conscience,” and as it respects our neighbor. The love of God and
the love of our neighbor are so closely united, that they can never be
separated. The true touchstone of our love to God, is the love which we
bear to our neighbor. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother,
he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how
can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from
him, That he who loveth God, love his brother also.” 1 John 4:20, 21. For
the love of God cannot dwell in a man who is filled with hatred or malice,
or divested of all bowels of love and compassion. If thou hast no pity on
thy brother, who stands in need of thy help, how canst thou love God, who
needs not anything that is thine, and has commanded thee to express thy
love towards him, by bestowing marks of it upon thy brother?
19. As faith unites to God, so love unites to our neighbor; and as a man
is made up of body and soul, so faith and love (that is, the love both of
God and of our neighbor) make up a true Christian. Thus he that “dwelleth
in love, dwelleth in God.” 1 John 4:16. And since God effectually desires
the good of all men, it follows, that he who loves in like manner is of
one heart with God; and that he who is otherwise affected is against God,
and has not the mind of the Lord, but is the enemy of God as well as of
his neighbor. He is, unquestionably, an adversary to God who is an enemy
to men.
20. It is the property of this love to bewail and compassionate the
infirmities of others. Gal. 6:1. Indeed, the failings and weaknesses of
our fellow-creatures represent to us, as in a mirror, our own
imperfections, and remind us of the various defects that encumber our
nature. Therefore, when thou seest another overtaken in a fault, consider
that thou also thyself art but a man; and learn from thy own infirmities,
to bear those of others with patience, meekness, and humility. Rom. 15:7.
21. Such especially as sin, not from, malice or determined wickedness, but
who are surprised into a fault by weakness and inadvertency; and who,
coming soon to themselves again, repent of that which they have done, and
firmly resolve to watch the more against the snares of Satan for the
future; such souls as these are surely to be pitied and assisted. He that
does otherwise, shows that he has nothing in him of the merciful and
forbearing spirit of Christ. When a man hastily condemns the faults of his
neighbor, without feeling any love or compassion, it is an evident sign
that he is altogether void of God, and of his merciful spirit. On the
contrary, a true Christian, being anointed with the spirit of Christ,
treats all men as one that has a fellow-feeling with them, and bears with
them in a sympathizing Christian love and tenderness, according to the
example of Christ, which he has left us to follow. Therefore, if any man,
upon serious search into his inward condition, finds that he has not the
love of his neighbor abiding in him, let him know, assuredly, that the
love of God remains not in his soul, and that he himself is without God.
This should strike him with horror and indignation against himself; it
should influence him the more speedily (after repenting of his sin from
the bottom of his heart) to reconcile himself to his neighbor, that, in
this order, the love of God may also return to him again. Then all his
actions, while he continues in this love and faith, are good, holy, and
divine; and this love, dwelling in his heart, will actuate him freely and
willingly to embrace all men, and with great affection and joy to do them
all manner of kindnesses; so that he will “rejoice over them to do them
good,” even as God himself. Jer. 32:41.
22. Without this love, whatever is in man, is diabolical and altogether
evil. Nor is there, indeed, any other cause why the devil can do no good,
but because he is utterly destitute of love both towards God and man.
Hence, all which he does is radically evil, and deprived of all intrinsic
goodness. In all that he sets about, he designs nothing but God’s
dishonor, and man’s destruction. He cunningly contrives ways to vent his
enmity both upon God and man; and, therefore, he seeks for such hearts as
he can fill with spite and envy, and then discharges through them his
malice and wrath. “And hereby it is manifest who are the children of God,
and the children of the devil.” 1 John 3:10.
23. _Lastly_, Love must be “out of faith unfeigned,” that is, we must love
God equally in prosperity and adversity. Whoever loves God sincerely,
accepts with joy all the dispensations of his Providence, after the
example of Christ; who, with a cheerful and ready mind, took up the cross,
which he knew that the will of his Father imposed on him. “I have,” says
he, “a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened (and in pain)
till it be accomplished!” Luke 12:50. In the same manner have all the holy
martyrs carried with joy their cross after him.
24. To those that unfeignedly love God, the cross, which Christ enjoins us
to bear, does not prove grievous or burdensome; and this for no other
reason, than because it is the _yoke of Christ_. Matt. 11:29. If the
magnet attracts the heavy iron, why should not that heavenly loadstone,
the love of God, attract the burden of our cross, and render it light and
agreeable; especially after the heart is affected with a touch of the
divine love? If the sugar sweeten such herbs as are bitter by nature, why
should not the sweetness of the love of God make that pleasant and easy,
which to the flesh is nothing but a cross and affliction? And truly it was
from the fulness of this love, that the blessed martyrs bore the most
exquisite pain with patience and joy; being transported with it to such a
degree, as to be almost insensible of their very torments.
Chapter XXV.
The Love Of Our Neighbor, More Particularly Considered.
_Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in
bondage._—2 PETER 2:19.
There is no bondage more hard and grievous, than to be under the yoke of
the passions: but of all these, none is so cruel as _hatred_, which so
weakens and depresses all the powers both of body and mind, as not to
leave to the man one free thought. On the contrary, he who lives in _love_
is _free_. He is no slave to anger, envy, covetousness, pride, lying, or
calumny; and being delivered from these by love, he suffers not himself to
be subdued by evil desires, but continues Christ’s freeman (1 Cor. 7:22)
in the liberty of the Spirit: for “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there
is liberty.” 2 Cor. 3:17. Whosoever, therefore, walks in the love of
Christ, is no longer a slave to sin, or a servant to carnal affections;
for the Spirit of God’s love has freed and purified him from carnal
concupiscence. And we see that the love of God extends over all men; of
which we not only find sufficient proofs in Scripture, but the footsteps
of his universal benignity are also everywhere displayed in nature. We are
all equally covered with the heavens, and have all the use of the sun, the
air, the earth, and the water; as well they who are of high degree, as
they who are of the meanest condition. And the very same mind that is in
God towards us, ought also to be in us towards men; God himself having set
us a pattern of universal kindness for our imitation. He regards not one
more than another, but loves all with an equal affection. With him there
is no respect of persons, of dignity, or merit; but he beholds all alike
in Christ. This is for our instruction. Now, as God acts towards us, so
ought we to act towards our neighbor. And truly, after the same manner as
we deal with man, so God will deal with us again. We need not go far to
inquire what favor we have with God Almighty. If we but enter into our own
conscience, it will impartially tell us, what mind and affection we bear
to our neighbor; and as we have done to him, so will God certainly do to
us again, and return our works into our own bosom. And in this sense it is
said of God, that “with the pure he shews himself pure; and with the
froward, shews himself froward” (Ps. 18:26); that is, if thou bearest an
evil mind to thy neighbor, God will be thine adversary also.
2. Since, therefore, God has no need of our service, he has substituted
our neighbor in his place, to receive our charity, and has commanded us to
pay it as to himself. He has made this love of our neighbor the very
_touch-stone_ by which we are to examine the sincerity of our love to God.
3. And it is for this reason that he has enjoined the love of our neighbor
with so great earnestness, requiring us to show constantly the same love
to him which God shows to us. For unless a man be fully reconciled to, and
be in perfect charity with his neighbor, he cannot have the favor or grace
of God. And although all the sins of the world are atoned for by the death
of Christ, and a full pardon obtained, yet all mankind may in some sense
be said to be in the same circumstances with the servant in the parable,
who had not wherewithal to pay; the king freely remitted him all his
debts: but when he afterwards behaved himself cruelly towards his
fellow-servant, the king revoked his pardon, and condemned the servant, on
account of the hard usage with which he treated his neighbor. Matt. 18:23,
etc. This parable Christ concludes with the remarkable expression: “So
likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts
forgive not every one his brother, their trespasses.” Verse 35. And, “With
the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again.”
Luke 6:38.
4. Hence, it plainly appears, that man was not created for himself alone,
but for his neighbor’s sake also. So strict is the commandment of loving
our neighbor, that when it is broken, the very end of our creation is
destroyed, and the love of God is immediately withdrawn from the soul.
Nothing is left but the severest justice, judging and condemning all that
are void of this charity.
5. If we duly considered these things, we should never be angry with one
another; neither would “the sun ever go down upon our wrath.” Eph. 4:26.
It is true, on the one hand, that Christ by his death on the cross has
offered a full and complete atonement for all our trespasses, and in this
respect, has remitted all our sins at once; yet is it, on the other hand,
an awful consideration, that the whole extent of the merits of Christ will
be of no avail at all to us, if we continue to hate our brother, and will
neither pardon nor love him. We shall be entirely cut off from all the
benefits that flow from the atonement.
6. Hence it appears how important the love of our neighbor must be in the
sight of God, binding us even to such a degree, that God refuses to be
loved by us, unless we love our neighbor also; so that if we fail in our
benevolence toward the latter, we fall at the same time from grace and
divine charity. And for this reason, we were created all equal and of the
same nature, that we might not despise one other; but, like children of
one common parent, live in peace and love, and endeavor to maintain a good
and serene conscience.
7. Now, whoever hates and despises his brother, hates and despises God
also, who has forbidden all such animosities in the severest terms. If
thou contemnest thy brother, God also contemns thee; which hastens thy
judgment and condemnation, and deprives thee of all interest in the merit
and redemption of Christ, by which sin is forgiven.
8. For it cannot be possible that a heart filled with wrath and
bitterness, should in any degree reap a saving fruit from the blood of
Christ, which was shed from a motive of pure love. Yea, the above parable
(Matt. 18:35) plainly convinces us, that God was less offended at the debt
of ten thousand talents, than at the barbarous cruelty of which the
servant was guilty; he can overlook the debt, but he cannot overlook the
want of love. Let us, therefore, ponder the words with which the Lord
concludes the parable: “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto
you.”
Chapter XXVI.
Wherefore Our Neighbor Is To Be Loved.
_Owe no man any thing, but to love one another; for he that loveth
another hath fulfilled the law._—ROM. 13:8.
“Wherewith shall I come before the Lord? Shall I come before him with
burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with
thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my
first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my
soul?—He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord
require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with thy God.” Micah 6:6-8.
2. By this question, and the answer to it, the prophet teaches us, wherein
the true worship of God properly consists; not in ceremonies and
sacrifices, since we are not able to give anything to God, because all is
his own already; not in offering up human sacrifices, which he does not
require at our hands, but detests and abhors, because they are injurious
to Jesus Christ, the great propitiatory oblation which God appointed to
take away the sins of the world (John 1:29): but the true worship of God
consists in pure faith, which, from the visible effect of it, the prophet
here describes, by “doing justly,” that is by the exercise of faith in
righteousness, in charity and mercy, (which is more pleasing than all
sacrifices); and in true humility and contrition, as it is said: “The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O
God, thou wilt not despise.” Ps. 51:17.
3. To this divine worship, founded within the heart, and proceeding from
faith, love, and humility, St. Paul powerfully exhorts us in Rom. 13:8-10.
His admonition contains in it both the praise of Christian love, and the
perpetual duty in which we stand engaged to our neighbor, and without
which it is impossible to serve God aright. For truly there is no other
way of serving God, except by that which he himself works in our hearts:
so that to serve God, is nothing else but to serve our neighbor, and to do
him all the offices of Christian love and humanity which we are able to
perform.
4. The apostle calls love a summary of all virtues, and the “fulfilling of
the law.” Rom. 13:10. Not that we are able by any acts of charity, to
fulfil perfectly the divine law, or that consequently we can merit eternal
life thereby; (which cannot possibly be, except our love were complete in
every respect, and arrived to a consummate perfection): but the apostle
desires to suggest thereby the wonderful excellency of this virtue, and to
incline us, at the same time, to an unfeigned love. As to our
righteousness, it is not grounded on any work of ours, but only on the
merits of Christ applied to us by faith.
5. From this righteousness of Christ, apprehended by faith, springs love
to our neighbor, together with the whole train of Christian virtues,
called by the apostle “fruits of righteousness, which are to the glory and
praise of God.” Phil. 1:11. But since the dignity of this virtue is so
very eminent, it will be proper to set forth further motives by which the
practice of it may be endeared to us.
6. The first and strongest of all motives, is that which St. John uses:
“God is love; and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in
him” (1 John 4:16). For who would not wish to be in God, and to remain in
Him; and that God should be and remain in him? And who, on the contrary,
would not abhor to be in Satan, and to have Satan dwelling in him? And yet
this is the ordinary consequence, as often as charity is repulsed, and
unnatural animosities are admitted into the heart. For as God is a lover
of men, ready to save them from eternal destruction, so the devil is a
hater of men. This is further explained by St. John: “He that loveth, is
born of God, and knoweth God.” 1 John 4:7. And again: “In this the
children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever
doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his
brother.” 1 John 3:10. Now, can there be anything more desirable than to
be ranked among the children of God, to be begotten of God, and to know
God truly and experimentally? But whoever has his heart void of this love,
and has never felt its force and energy, nor tasted its goodness and
gentleness, long suffering and patience, this man knows not God, who is
pure love. For the knowledge of God must proceed from enjoyment and
experience. And how is it possible that a man should know Christ, whilst
he is a stranger to love, and to that loving intercourse which subsists
betwixt Christ and the soul? Hence it follows, that he that is without
love, is without Christ also. But he who is earnest in the exercise of
love, shall not be left barren in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ:
“For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall
neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” 2 Pet. 1:8.
7. The second motive is found in what our Lord himself says: “By this
shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to
another.” John 13:35. Now, in order to be a disciple of Christ, it is not
enough to be a Christian in name, or by a mere verbal profession; but to
be a disciple of Christ implies much more. Such a one must believe in his
name; must love him, imitate him, live in him. He must, in a peculiar
manner, adhere to him; must feel the love of Christ infused into his soul,
and freely partake of all the gifts and benefits purchased by him. Whoever
has not this love of Christ abiding in him, is not Christ’s disciple, nor
can he pretend to have any share in his merits. For how is it possible
that Christ should know a man who has neither faith in, nor any love to
him? As a flower is known by its fragrance, and fruit by its flavor, so a
true disciple of Christ is known by his love.