THE WORLD'S GREAT SERMONS, VOLUME II (of 10)
HOOKER TO SOUTH
COMPILED BY GRENVILLE KLEISER
Formerly of Yale Divinity School Faculty; Author of "How to Speak in
Public," Etc.
With Assistance from Many of the Foremost Living Preachers and Other
Theologians
INTRODUCTION BY LEWIS O. BRASTOW, D.D.
Professor Emeritus of Practical Theology in Yale University
IN TEN VOLUMES
HOOKER
THE ACTIVITY OF FAITH; OR, ABRAHAM'S IMITATORS
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Thomas Hooker, graduate and fellow of Cambridge, England, and
practically founder of Connecticut, was born in 1586. He was dedicated
to the ministry, and began his activities in 1620 by taking a small
parish in Surrey. He did not, however, attract much notice for his
powerful advocacy of reformed doctrine, until 1629, when he was cited
to appear before Laud, the Bishop of London, whose threats induced him
to leave England for Holland, whence he sailed with John Cotton, in
1633, for New England, and settled in Newtown, now Cambridge, Mass.
Chiefly in consequence of disagreements between his own and Cotton's
congregation he, with a large following, migrated in 1636 to the
Connecticut Valley, where the little band made their center at
Hartford. Hooker was the inspirer if not the author of the Fundamental
Laws and was of wide political as well as religious influence in
organizing "The United Colonies of New England" in 1643--the first
effort after federal government made on this continent. He was an
active preacher and prolific writer up to his death in 1647.
HOOKER
1586-1647
THE ACTIVITY OF FAITH; OR, ABRAHAM'S IMITATORS
_And the father of circumcision to them who are not of circumcision
only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father
Abraham, which he had, being yet uncircumcized_.--Romans iv., 12.
I proceed now to show who those are, that may, and do indeed, receive
benefit as Abraham did. The text saith, "They that walk in the steps
of that faith of Abraham:" that man that not only enjoyeth the
privileges of the Church, but yieldeth the obedience of faith,
according to the Word of God revealed, and walketh in obedience,
_that_ man alone shall be blest with faithful Abraham.
Two points may be here raised, but I shall hardly handle them both;
therefore I will pass over the first only with a touch, and that lieth
closely couched in the text.
That faith causeth fruitfulness in the hearts and lives of those in
whom it is.
Mark what I say: a faithful man is a fruitful man; faith enableth
a man to be doing. Ask the question, by what power was it whereby
Abraham was enabled to yield obedience to the Lord? The text answereth
you, "They that walk in the footsteps" not of Abraham, but "in the
footsteps of the faith of Abraham." A man would have thought the text
should have run thus: They that walk in the footsteps of Abraham. That
is true, too, but the apostle had another end; therefore he saith,
"They that walk in the footsteps of the faith of Abraham," implying
that it was the grace of faith that God bestowed on Abraham, that
quickened and enabled him to perform every duty that God required of
him, and called him to the performance of. So that I say, the question
being, whence came it that Abraham was so fruitful a Christian, what
enabled him to do and to suffer what he did? surely it was faith that
was the cause that produced such effects, that helped him to perform
such actions. The point then you see is evident, faith it is that
causeth fruit.
Hence it is, that of almost all the actions that a Christian hath to
do, faith is still said to be the worker. If a man pray as he should,
it is "the prayer of faith." If a man obey as he should, it is the
obedience of faith. If a man war in the Church militant, it is "the
fight of faith." If a man live as a Christian and holy man, he "liveth
by faith." Nay, shall I say yet more, if he died as he ought, "he
dieth by faith." "These all died in faith." What is that? The power
of faith that directed and ordered them in the cause of their death,
furnished them with grounds and principles of assurance of the love of
God, made them carry themselves patiently in death. I can say no
more, but with the apostle, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the
faith." Why doth not the apostle say, Examine whether faith be in you,
but "whether ye be in the faith"? His meaning is, that as a man is
said to be in drink, or to be in love, or to be in passion, that is,
under the command of drink, or love, or passion; so the whole man must
be under the command of faith (as you shall see more afterward). If he
prays, faith must indite his prayer; if he obey, faith must work; if
he live, it is faith that must quicken him; and if he die, it is faith
that must order him in death. And wheresoever faith is, it will do
wonders in the soul of that man where it is; it can not be idle; it
will have footsteps, it sets the whole man on work; it moveth feet,
and hands, and eyes, and all parts of the body. Mark how the apostle
disputeth: "We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is
written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken, we also believe, and
therefore speak." The faith of the apostle, which he had in his heart,
set his tongue agoing. If a man have faith within, it will break forth
at his mouth. This shall suffice for the proof of the point; I thought
to have prest it further, but if I should, I see the time would
prevent me.
The use, therefore, in a word, is this: if this be so, then it falleth
foul, and is a heavy bill of indictment against many that live in the
bosom of the Church. Go thy ways home, and read but this text, and
consider seriously but this one thing in it: That whosoever is the son
of Abraham, hath faith, and whosoever hath faith is a walker, is a
marker; by the footsteps of faith you may see where faith hath been.
Will not this, then, I say, fall marvelous heavy upon many souls that
live in the bosom of the Church, who are confident, and put it out of
all question, that they are true believers, and make no doubt but what
they have faith? But look to it, wheresoever faith is, it is fruitful.
If thou art fruitless, say what thou wilt, thou hast no faith at all.
Alas, these idle drones, these idle Christians, the Church is too full
of them; Men are continually hearing, and yet remain fruitless and
unprofitable; whereas if there were more faith in the world, we should
have more work done in the world; faith would set feet, and hands, and
eyes, and all on work. Men go under the name of professors, but alas!
they are but pictures; they stir not a whit; mark, where you found
them in the beginning of the year, there you shall find them in
the end of the year, as profane, as worldly, as loose in their
conversations, as formal in duty as ever. And is this faith? Oh! faith
would work other matters, and provoke a soul to other passages than
these.
But you will say, may not a man have faith, and not that fruit you
speak of? May not a man have a good heart to Godward, altho he can not
find that ability in matter of fruitfulness?
My brethren, be not deceived; such an opinion is a mere delusion of
Satan; wherever faith is it bringeth Christ into the soul; mark that,
"Whosoever believeth, Christ dwelleth in his heart by faith. And if
Christ be in you," saith the apostle, "the body is dead, because of
sin, but the spirit is life, because of righteousness." If Christ be
in you, that is, whosoever believeth in the Lord Jesus, Christ dwells
in such a man by faith; now if Christ be in the soul, the body can not
be dead; but a man is alive, and quick, and active to holy duties,
ready, and willing, and cheerful in the performance of whatsoever God
requireth. Christ is not a dear Savior, nor the Spirit a dead Spirit:
the second Adam is made a quickening spirit. And wherever the Spirit
is, it works effects suitable to itself. The Spirit is a spirit of
purity, a spirit of zeal, and where it is it maketh pure and zealous.
When a man will say he hath faith, and in the mean time can be content
to be idle and unfruitful in the work of the Lord, can be content
to be a dead Christian, let him know that his case is marvelously
fearful: for if faith were in him indeed it would appear; ye can not
keep your good hearts to yourselves; wherever fire is it will burn,
and wherever faith is it can not be kept secret. The heart will be
enlarged, the soul quickened, and there will be a change in the whole
life and conversation, if ever faith takes place in a man. I will say
no more of this, but proceed to the second point arising out of the
affirmative part.
You will say, what fruit is it then? Or how shall a man know what
is the true fruit of faith, indeed, whereby he may discern his own
estate? I answer, the text will tell you: "He that walketh in the
footsteps of that faith of Abraham." By footsteps are meant the works
the actions, the holy endeavors of Abraham; and where those footsteps
are there is the faith of Abraham. So that the point of instruction
hence is thus much (which indeed is the main drift of the apostle).
That, Every faithful man may, yea doth, imitate the actions of
faithful Abraham.
Mark what I say; I say again, this is to be the son of Abraham, not
because we are begotten of him by natural generation, for so the Jews
are the sons of Abraham; but Abraham is our father because he is the
pattern, for the proceeding of our faith. "Thy father was an Amorite,"
saith the Scripture: that is, thou followest the steps of the
Amorites in thy conversation. So is Abraham called the "father of the
faithful," because he is the copy of their course, whom they must
follow in those services that God calleth for. So the point is clear,
every faithful man may, yea doth, and must imitate the actions of
faithful Abraham. It is Christ's own plea, and He presseth it as an
undeniable truth upon the hearts of the Scribes and Pharisees, that
bragged very highly of their privileges and prerogatives, and said,
"Abraham is our father." "No (saith Christ), if ye were Abraham's
children ye would do the works of Abraham." To be like Abraham in
constitution, to be one of his blood, is not that which makes a man a
son of Abraham, but to be like him in holiness of affection, to have
a heart framed and a life disposed answerably to his. The apostle in
like manner presseth this point when he would provoke the Hebrews,
to whom he wrote, to follow the examples of the saints: "Whose faith
(says he) follow, considering the end of their conversation." So the
apostle Peter presseth the example of Sarah upon all good women:
"Whose daughter ye are (saith he) as long: as ye do well."
For the opening of the point, and that ye may more clearly understand
it, a question here would be resolved, what were "the footsteps of
the faith of Abraham"? which way went he? This is a question, I say,
worthy the scanning, and therefore (leaving the further confirmation
of the point, as already evident enough) I will come to it that you
may know what to settle your hearts upon.
I answer, therefore, there are six footsteps of the faith of Abraham,
which are the main things wherein every faithful man must do as
Abraham did, in the work of faith--I mean in his ordinary course; for
if there be any thing extraordinary no man is bound to imitate him
therein; but in the works of faith, I say, which belongeth to all men,
every man must imitate Abraham in these six steps, and then he is
in the next door to happiness, the very next neighbor, as I say, to
heaven.
The first advance which Abraham made in the ways of grace and
happiness, you shall observe to be a yielding to the call of God. Mark
what God said to Abraham: "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy
kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show
thee; and Abraham departed," saith the text, "as the Lord had spoken
unto him." Even when he was an idolater, he is content to lay aside
all and let the command of God bear the sway; neither friends, nor
kindred, nor gods can keep him back, but he presently stoopeth to the
call of God. So it is, my brethren, with every faithful man. This is
his first step: he is content to be under the rule and power of God's
command. Let the Lord call for him, require any service of him, his
soul presently yieldeth, and is content to be framed and fashioned to
God's call, and returneth an obedient answer thereto; he is content
to come out of his sins, and out of himself, and to receive the
impressions of the Spirit. This is that which God requireth, not only
of Abraham, but of all believers: "Whosoever will be my disciple,"
saith Christ, "must forsake father, and mother, and children, and
houses, and lands"; yea, and he must "deny himself, and take up his
cross and follow me." This is the first step in Christianity, to lay
down our own honors, to trample upon our own respects, to submit our
necks to the block, as it were, and whatever God commands, to be
content that His good pleasure should take place with us.
Then Abraham, as doth every faithful soul, set forward, in this wise:
He showed that whenever faith cometh powerfully into the heart, the
soul is not content barely to yield to the command of God, but it
breatheth after His mercy, longeth for His grace, prizeth Christ and
salvation above all things in the world, is satisfied and contented
with nothing but with the Lord Christ, and altho it partake of many
things below, and enjoy abundance of outward comforts, yet it is not
quieted till it rest and pitch itself upon the Lord, and find and feel
that evidence and assurance of His love, which He hath promised unto
and will bestow on those who love Him. As for all things here below,
he hath but a slight, and mean, and base esteem of them. This you
shall see apparent in Abraham. "Fear not, Abraham (saith God), I am
thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." What could a man desire
more? One would think that the Lord makes a, promise here large enough
to Abraham, "I will be thy buckler, and exceeding great reward." Is
not Abraham contented with this? No; mark how he pleadeth with God:
"Lord God (saith he), what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless?"
His eye is upon the promise that God had made to him of a son, of whom
the Savior of the world should come. "O Lord, what wilt thou give me?"
as if he had said, What wilt Thou do for me? alas! nothing will do my
soul good unless I have a son, and in him a Savior. What will become
of me so long as I go childless, and so Saviorless, as I may so speak?
You see how Abraham's mouth was out of taste with all other things,
how he could relish nothing, enjoy nothing in comparison of the
promise, tho he had otherwise what he would, or could desire. Thus
must it be with every faithful man. That soul never had, nor never
shall have Christ, that doth not prize Him above all things in the
world.
The next step of Abraham's faith was this, he casteth himself and
flingeth his soul, as I may say, upon the all-sufficient power and
mercy of God for the attainment of what he desireth; he rolleth and
tumbleth himself, as it were, upon the all-sufficiency of God. This
you shall find in Rom. iv. 18, where the apostle, speaks of Abraham,
who "against hope, believed in hope"; that is, when there was no hope
in the world, yet he believed in God, even above hope, and so made it
possible. It was an object of his hope, that it might be in regard of
God, howsoever there was no possibility in regard of man. So the text
saith, "he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a
hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb, but was
strong in faith." He cast himself wholly upon the precious promise and
mercy of God.
But he took another step in true justifying faith. He proved to us the
believer is informed touching the excellency of the Lord Jesus,
and that fulness that is to be had in Him, tho he can not find the
sweetness of His mercy, tho he can not or dare not apprehend and
apply it to himself, tho he find nothing in himself, yet he is still
resolved to rest upon the Lord, and to stay himself on the God of his
salvation, and to wait for His mercy till he find Him gracious to his
poor soul. Excellent and famous is the example of the woman of Canaan.
When Christ, as it were, beat her off, and took up arms against her,
was not pleased to reveal Himself graciously to her for the present,
"I am not sent (saith He) but to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel; and it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast
it to the dogs"; mark how she replied, "Truth, Lord, I confess
all that; yet notwithstanding, the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall
from their master's table." Oh, the excellency, and strength, and
work of her faith! She comes to Christ for mercy, He repelleth her,
reproacheth her, tells her she is a dog; she confesseth her baseness,
is not discouraged for all that, but still resteth upon the goodness
and mercy of Christ, and is mightily resolved to have mercy whatsoever
befalleth her. Truth, Lord, I confess I am as bad as Thou canst term
me, yet I confess, too, that there is no comfort but from Thee, and
tho I am a dog, yet I would have crumbs. Still she laboreth to catch
after mercy, and to lean and to bear herself upon the favor of Christ
for the bestowing thereof upon her. So it must be with every faithful
Christian in this particular; he must roll himself upon the power, and
faithfulness, and truth of God, and wait for His mercy (I will join
them both together for brevity's sake, tho the latter be a fourth step
and degree of faith); I say he must not only depend upon God, but he
must wait upon the Holy One of Israel.
But a further step of Abraham's faith appeared in this: he counted
nothing too dear for the Lord; he was content to break through all
impediments, to pass through all difficulties, whatsoever God would
have, He had of him. This is the next step that Abraham went; and this
you shall find when God put him upon trial. The text saith there "that
God did tempt Abraham," did try what He would do for Him, and He bade
him, "Go, take thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and
slay him"; and straight Abraham went and laid his son upon an altar,
and took a knife, to cut the throat of his son--so that Abraham did
not spare his son Isaac, he did not spare for any cost, he did not
dodge with God in this case; if God would have anything, He should
have it, whatsoever it were, tho it were his own life, for no question
Isaac was dearer to him than his own life. And this was not his case
alone, but the faithful people of God have ever walked the same
course. The apostle Paul was of the same spirit; "I know not (saith
he) the things that shall befall me, save that the Holy Ghost
witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me:
but none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto
myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry
which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the
grace of God." O blest spirit! here is the work of faith. Alas! when
we come to part with anything for the cause of God, how hardly comes
it from us! "But I (saith he) pass not, no, nor is my life dear unto
me." Here, I say, is the work of faith, indeed, when a man is content
to do anything for God, and to say if imprisonment, loss of estate,
liberty, life, come, I pass not, it moveth me nothing, so I may finish
my course with comfort. Hence it was that the saints of God in those
primitive times "took joyfully the spoiling of their goods." Methinks
I see the saints there reaching after Christ with the arms of faith,
and how, when anything lay in their way, they were content to lose
all, to part with all, to have Christ. Therefore saith Saint Paul, "I
am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the
name of the Lord Jesus." Mark, rather than he would leave his Savior,
he would leave his life, and tho men would have hindered him, yet was
resolved to have Christ, howsoever, tho he lost his life for Him. Oh,
let me have my Savior, and take my life!
The last step of all is this: when the soul is thus resolved not to
dodge with God, but to part with anything for Him, then in the last
place there followeth a readiness of heart to address man's self to
the performance of whatsoever duty God requireth at his hands; I say
this is the last step, when, without consulting with flesh and blood,
without hammering upon it, as it were, without awkwardness of heart,
there followeth a readiness to obey God; the soul is at hand. When
Abraham was called, "Behold (saith he) here I am." And so Samuel,
"Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth," and so Ananias. "Behold, I am
here, Lord." The faithful soul is not to seek, as an evil servant that
is gone a roving after his companions, that is out of the way when his
master would use him, but is like a trusty servant that waiteth upon
his master, and is ever at hand to do His pleasure. So you shall see
it was with Abraham, when the Lord commanded him to go out of his
country, "he obeyed, and went out, not knowing whither he went"; he
went cheerfully and readily, tho he knew not whither; as who would
say, if the Lord calls, I will not question, if He command I will
perform, whatever it be. So it must be with every faithful soul--we
must blind the eye of carnal reason, resolve to obey, tho heaven and
earth seem to meet together in a contradiction, care not what man or
what devil saith in this case, but what God will have done, do it;
this is the courage and obedience of faith. See how Saint Paul, in the
place before named, flung his ancient friends from him, when they came
to cross him in the work of his ministry. They all came about him, and
because they thought they should see his face no more, they besought
him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, "What, mean ye to
weep, and to break my heart?" as who should say, It is a grief and a
vexation to my soul, that ye would burden me, that I can not go with
readiness to perform the service that God requireth at my hands. The
like Christian courage was in Luther when his friends dissuaded him to
go to Worms: "If all the tiles in 'Worms' were so many devils (said he)
yet would I go thither in the name of my Lord Jesus." This is the last
step.
Now gather up a little what I have delivered. He that is resolved to
stoop to the call of God; to prize the promises, and breathe after
them; to rest upon the Lord, and to wait His time for bestowing mercy
upon him; to break through all impediments and difficulties, and to
count nothing too dear for God; to be content to perform ready and
cheerful obedience; he that walketh thus, and treadeth in these steps,
peace be upon him; heaven is hard by; he is as sure of salvation as
the angels are; it is as certain as the Lord liveth that he shall be
saved with faithful Abraham, for he walketh in the steps of Abraham,
and therefore he is sure to be where he is. The case, you see, is
clear, and the point evident, that every faithful man may, and must,
imitate faithful Abraham.
It may be here imagined, that we draw men up to too high a pitch; and
certainly, if this be the sense of the words, and the meaning of the
Holy Ghost in this place, what will become of many that live in the
bosom of the Church? Will you therefore see the point confirmed by
reason? The ground of this doctrine stands thus: every faithful man
hath the same faith, for nature and for work, that Abraham had;
therefore, look what nature his faith was of, and what power it had;
of the same nature and power every true believer's faith is. Briefly
thus: the promises of God are the ground upon which all true faith
resteth; the Spirit of God it is that worketh this faith in all
believers; the power of the Spirit is that that putteth forth itself
in the hearts and lives of all the faithful; gather these together:
if all true believers have the same promises for the ground of their
faith; have one and the same spirit to work it; have' one and the same
power to draw out the abilities of faith, then certainly they can not
but have the very self-same actions, having the very self-same ground
of their actions.
Every particular believer (as the apostle Peter saith) "hath obtained
the like precious faith." Mark, that there is a great deal of copper
faith in the world--much counterfeit believing; but the saints do
all partake of "the like precious faith." As when a man hath but a
sixpence in silver, or a crown in gold, those small pieces, for the
nature, are as good as the greatest of the same metal; so it is with
the faith of God's elect. And look as it is in grafting; if there be
many scions of the same kind grafted into one stock, they all partake
alike of the virtue of the stock; just so it is here. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the stock, as it were, into which all the faithful are
grafted by the spirit of God and faith; therefore, whatsoever fruit
one beareth, another beareth also: howsoever, there may be degrees of
works, yet they are of the same nature. As a little apple is the same
in taste with a great one of the same tree, even so every faithful man
hath the same holiness of heart and life, because he hath the same
principle of holiness. The fruit indeed that one Christian bringeth
may be but poor and small in comparison with others, yet it is the
same in kind; the course of his life is not with so much power and
fulness of grace, it may be, as another's, yet there is the same true
grace, and the same practise, in the kind of it, for truth, however in
degree it differ.
Let us now come to see what benefit we may make to ourselves of this
point, thus proved and confirmed; and, certainly, the use of this
doctrine is of great consequence. In the first place, it is a just
ground of examination. For if it be true (as can not be denied, the
reasons being so strong, and arguments so plain) that every son of
Abraham followeth the steps of Abraham, then here you may clearly
perceive who it is that hath saving faith indeed, who they be that are
true saints and the sons of Abraham. By the light of this truth, by
the rule of this doctrine, if you would square your courses, and look
into your conversations, you can not but discern whether you have
faith or no. That man whose faith showeth itself and putteth itself
forth in its several conditions, agreeably to, the faith of Abraham,
that man that followeth the footsteps of the faith of Abraham, let him
be esteemed a faithful man, let him be reckoned for a true believer.
You that are gentlemen and tradesmen, I appeal to your souls whether
the Lord and His cause is not the loser this way? Doth not prayer pay
for it? Doth not the Word pay for it? Are not the ordinances always
losers when anything of your own cometh in competition? Is it not
evident, then, that you are not under the command of the Word? How do
you tremble at the wrath and threatenings of a mortal man? and yet,
when you hear the Lord thunder judgments out of His Word, who is
humbled? When He calls for fasting, and weeping, and mourning, who
regards it? Abraham, my brethren, did not thus: these were none of his
steps; no, no: he went a hundred miles off this course. The Lord no
sooner said to him, "Forsake thy country and thy kindred, and thy
father's house," but he forsook all, neither friend nor father
prevailed to detain him from obedience, but he stooped willingly to
God's command.
There are a sort that come short of being the sons of Abraham, and
they are the close-hearted hypocrites. These are a generation that are
of a more refined kind than the last, but howsoever they carry the
matter very covertly, yea, and are exceeding cunning; yet the truth
will make them known. Many a hypocrite may come thus far, to be
content to part with anything, and outwardly to suffer for the cause
of God, to part with divers pleasures and lusts, and to perform many
holy services. But here is the difference between Abraham and these
men: Abraham forsook his goods and all, but your close-hearted
hypocrites have always some god or other that they do homage to--their
ease, or their wealth, or some secret lust, something or other they
have set up as an idol within them--and so long as they may have and
enjoy that, they will part with anything else. But thou must know
that, if thou be one of Abraham's children, thou must come away from
thy gods--the god of pride, of self-love, of vainglory--and leave
worshiping of these, and be content to be alone by God and His truth.
This shall suffice for the first use; I can not proceed further in the
pressing thereof, because I would shut up all with the time.
The second use is a word of instruction, and it shall be but a word or
two; that if all the saints of God must walk in the same way of life
and salvation that Abraham did, then there is no byway to bring a man
to happiness. Look, what way Abraham went, you must go; there are no
more ways: the same course that he took must be a copy for you to
follow, a rule, as it were, for you to square your whole conversation
by. There is no way but one to come to life and happiness. I speak it
the rather to dash that idle device of many carnal men, that think the
Lord hath a new invention to bring them to life, and that they need
not go the ordinary way, but God hath made a shorter cut for them.
Great men and gentlemen think God will spare them. What, must they be
humbled, and fast, and pray! That is for poor men, and mean men. Their
places and estates will not suffer it; therefore surely God hath
given a dispensation to them. And the poor men, they think it is for
gentlemen that have more leisure and time: alas! they live by their
labor, and they must take pains for what they have, and therefore they
can not do what is required. But be not deceived; if there be any way
beside that which Abraham went, then will I deny myself. But the case
is clear, the Lord saith it, the Word saith it; the same way, the same
footsteps that Abraham took, we must take, if ever we will come where
Abraham is.
You must not balk in this kind, whoever you are; God respecteth no
man's person. If you would arrive at the same haven, you must sail
through the same sea. You must walk the same way of grace, if you
would come to the same kingdom of glory. It is a conceit that
harboreth in the hearts of many men, nay, of most men in general,
especially your great wise men and your great rich men, that have
better places and estates in the world than ordinary. What, think
they, may not a man be saved without all this ado? What needs all
this? Is there not another way besides this? Surely, my brethren, you
must teach our Savior Christ and the apostle Paul another way. I am
sure they never knew another; and he that dreameth of another way must
be content to go beside. There is no such matter as the devil would
persuade you; it is but his delusion to keep you under infidelity, and
so shut you up to destruction under false and vain conceits. The truth
is, here is the way, and the only way, and you must walk here if ever
you come to life and happiness. Therefore, be not deceived, suffer not
your eyes to be blinded; but know, what Abraham did, you must do the
same, if not in action, yet in affection. If God say, forsake all,
thou must do it, at least in affection. Thou must still wait upon His
power and providence; yield obedience to Him in all things; be content
to submit thyself to His will. This is the way you must walk in, if
you ever come to heaven.
The last use shall be a use of comfort to all the saints and people of
God, whose consciences can witness that they have labored to walk in
the uprightness of their heart as Abraham did. I have two or three
words to speak to these.
Be persuaded out of the Word of God, that your course is good, and go
on with comfort, and the God of heaven be with you; and be sure of it,
that you that walk with Abraham shall be at rest with Abraham; and it
shall never repent you of all the pains that you have taken. Haply it
may seem painful and tedious to you; yet, what Abigail said to David,
let me say to you: "Oh," saith she, "let not my lord do this: when the
Lord shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he
hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over
Israel, this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offense of heart, that
thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged
himself." My brethren, let me say to you, you will find trouble and
inconveniences and hard measure at the hands of the wicked in this
world. Many Nabals and Cains will set themselves against you; but go
on, and bear it patiently. Know it is a troublesome way, but a true
way; it is grievous but yet good; and the end will be happy. It will
never repent you, when the Lord hath performed all the good that He
hath spoken concerning you.
Oh! to see a man drawing his breath low and short, after he hath
spent many hours and days in prayer to the Lord, grappling with his
corruptions, and striving to pull down his base lusts, after he hath
waited upon the Lord in a constant course of obedience. Take but such
a man, and ask him, now his conscience is opened, whether the ways
of holiness and sincerity be not irksome to him, whether he be not
grieved with himself for undergoing so much needless trouble (as the
world thinks it); and his soul will then clear this matter. It is true
he hath a tedious course of it, but now his death will be blest. He
hath striven for a crown, and now beholds a crown. Now he is beyond
the waves. All the contempts, and imprisonments, and outrages
of wicked men are now too short to reach him. He is so far from
repenting, that he rejoiceth and triumpheth in reflecting back upon
all the pains, and care, and labor of love, whereby he hath loved the
Lord Jesus, in submitting his heart unto Him.
Take me another man, that hath lived here in pomp and jollity,
hath had many livings, great preferments, much honor, abundance of
pleasure, yet hath been ever careless of God and of His Word, profane
in his course, loose in his conversation, and ask him upon his
deathbed, how it standeth with him. Oh! woe the time, that ever he
spent it as he hath done. Now the soul begins to hate the man, and
the very sight of him that hath been, the instrument with it in the
committing of sin. Now nothing but gall and wormwood remaineth. Now
the sweetness of the adulterer's lust is gone, and nothing but the
sting of conscience remaineth. Now the covetous man must part with
his goods, and the gall of asps must stick behind. Now the soul sinks
within, and the heart is overwhelmed with sorrow. Take but these two
men, I say, and judge by their ends, whether it will ever repent you
that you have done well, that you have walked in the steps of the
faith of Abraham.
My brethren, howsoever you have had many miseries, yet the Lord hath
many mercies for you. God dealeth with His servants, as a father doth
with his son, after he hath sent him on a journey to do some business;
and the weather falleth foul, and the way proveth dangerous, and many
a storm, and great difficulties are to be gone through. Oh, how the
heart of that father pitieth his son! How doth he resolve to requite
him, if he ever live to come home again! What preparation doth he make
to entertain, and welcome him; and how doth he study to do good unto
him! My brethren, so it is here; I beseech you, think of it, you that
are the saints and people of God. You must find in your way many
troubles and griefs (and we ought to find them), but be not
discouraged. The more misery, the greater mercy. God the Father seeth
His servants: and if they suffer and endure for a good conscience, as
His eye seeth them, so His soul pitieth them. His heart bleeds within
Him for them; that is, He hath a tender compassion of them, and He
saith within Himself, Well, I will requite them if ever they come into
My kingdom; all their patience, and care, and conscience in walking My
ways, I will requite; and they shall receive a double reward from Me,
even a crown of eternal glory. Think of these things that are not
seen; they are eternal. The things that are seen are temporal, and
they will deceive us. Let our hearts be carried after the other, and
rest in them forever!
JEREMY TAYLOR
CHRIST'S ADVENT TO JUDGMENT
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Jeremy Taylor, born in Cambridge, England, in 1613, was the son of a
barber. By his talents he obtained an entrance into Caius College,
where his exceptional progress obtained for him admission to the
ministry in his twenty-first year, two years before the canonical age.
He was appointed in succession fellow of All Souls, Oxford, through
the influence of Laud, chaplain to the King, and rector of Uppingham.
During the Commonwealth he was expelled from his living and opened a
school in Wales, employing his seclusion in writing his memorable work
"The Liberty of Prophesying."
At the Restoration, Charles II raised him to the bishopric of Down and
Connor (1660), in which post he remained until his death in 1667. His
"_Ductor Dubitantium_," dedicated to Charles II, is a work of subtilty
and ingenuity; his "Holy Living" and "Holy Dying" (1652), are unique
monuments of learning and devotion. His sermons form, however, his
most brilliant and most voluminous productions, and fully establish
his claims to the first place among the learned, witty, fanciful,
ornate and devotional prose writers of his time.
JEREMY TAYLOR
1613-1667
CHRIST'S ADVENT TO JUDGMENT
_For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every
one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath
done, whether it be good or bad_.--II Cor., v., 10.
If we consider the person of the Judge, we first perceive that He is
interested in the injury of the crimes He is to sentence: "They shall
look on Him whom they have pierced." It was for thy sins that the
Judge did suffer such unspeakable pains as were enough to reconcile
all the world to God; the sum and spirit of which pains could not be
better understood than by the consequence of His own words, "My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" meaning, that He felt such
horrible, pure, unmingled sorrows, that, altho His human nature was
personally united to the Godhead, yet at that instant he felt no
comfortable emanations by sensible perception from the Divinity, but
He was so drenched in sorrow that the Godhead seemed to have forsaken
Him. Beyond this, nothing can be added: but then, that thou hast for
thy own particular made all this sin in vain and ineffective, that
Christ thy Lord and Judge should be tormented for nothing, that thou
wouldst not accept felicity and pardon when he purchased them at so
dear a price, must needs be an infinite condemnation to such persons.
How shalt thou look upon Him that fainted and died for love of thee,
and thou didst scorn His miraculous mercies? How shall we dare to
behold that holy face that brought salvation to us, and we turned away
and fell in love with death, and kissed deformity and sins? And yet in
the beholding that face consists much of the glories of eternity. All
the pains and passions, the sorrows and the groans, the humility and
poverty, the labors and watchings, the prayers and the sermons, the
miracles and the prophecies, the whip and the nails, the death and the
burial, the shame and the smart, the cross and the grave of Jesus,
shall be laid upon thy score, if thou hast refused the mercies and
design of all their holy ends and purposes. And if we remember what a
calamity that was which broke the Jewish nation in pieces, when Christ
came to judge them for their murdering Him who was their King and the
Prince of Life, and consider that this was but a dark image of the
terrors of the day of judgment, we may then apprehend that there is
some strange unspeakable evil that attends them that are guilty of
this death, and of so much evil to their Lord. Now it is certain if
thou wilt not be saved by His death, you are guilty of His death; if
thou wilt not suffer Him to have thee, thou art guilty of destroying
Him; and then let it be considered what is to be expected from that
Judge before whom you stand as His murderer and betrayer. But this is
but half of this consideration.
Christ may be crucified again, and upon a new account, put to an open
shame. For after that Christ has done all this by the direct actions
of His priestly office, of sacrificing himself for us, He hath also
done very many things for us which are also the fruits of His first
love and prosecutions of our redemption. I will not instance the
strange arts of mercy that our Lord uses to bring us to live holy
lives; but I consider, that things are so ordered, and so great
a value set upon our souls since they are the images of God, and
redeemed by the blood of the Holy Lamb, that the salvation of our
souls is reckoned as a part of Christ's reward, a part of the
glorification of His humanity. Every sinner that repents causes joy to
Christ, and the joy is so great that it runs over and wets the fair
brows and beauteous looks of cherubim and seraphim, and all the angels
have a part of that banquet; then it is that our blest Lord feels the
fruits of His holy death; the acceptation of His holy sacrifice, the
graciousness of His person, the return of His prayers. For all that
Christ did or suffered, and all that He now does as a priest in
heaven, is to glorify His Father by bringing souls to God. For this it
was that He was born and died, that He descended from heaven to earth,
from life to death, from the cross to the grave; this was the purpose
of His resurrection and ascension, of the end and design of all the
miracles and graces of God manifested to all the world by Him; and now
what man is so vile, such a malicious fool, that will refuse to bring
joy to his Lord by doing himself the greatest good in the world? They
who refuse to do this, are said to crucify the Lord of Life again,
and put him to an open shame--that is, they, as much as in them lies,
bring Christ from His glorious joys to the labors of His life and the
shame of His death; they advance His enemies, and refuse to advance
the kingdom of their Lord; they put themselves in that state in which
they were when Christ came to die for them; and now that He is in a
state that He may rejoice over them (for He hath done all His share
towards it), every wicked man takes his head from the blessing, and
rather chooses that the devils should rejoice in his destruction,
than that his Lord should triumph in his felicity. And now upon the
supposition of these premises, we may imagine that it will be an
infinite amazement to meet that Lord to be our Judge whose person we
have murdered, whose honor we have disparaged, whose purposes we have
destroyed, whose joys we have lessened, whose passion we have made
ineffectual, and whose love we have trampled under our profane and
impious feet.
But there is yet a third part of this consideration. As it will be
inquired at the day of judgment concerning the dishonors to the person
of Christ, so also concerning the profession and institution of
Christ, and concerning His poor members; for by these also we make sad
reflections upon our Lord. Every man that lives wickedly disgraces
the religion and institution of Jesus, he discourages strangers from
entering into it, he weakens the hands of them that are in already,
and makes that the adversaries speak reproachfully of the name of
Christ; but altho it is certain our Lord and Judge will deeply resent
all these things, yet there is one thing which He takes more tenderly,
and that is, the uncharitableness of men towards His poor. It shall
then be upbraided to them by the Judge, that Himself was hungry
and they refused to give meat to Him that gave them His body and
heart-blood to feed them and quench their thirst; that they denied a
robe to cover His nakedness, and yet He would have clothed their souls
with the robe of His righteousness, lest their souls should be found
naked on the day of the Lord's visitation; and all this unkindness is
nothing but that evil men were uncharitable to their brethren, they
would not feed the hungry, nor give drink to the thirsty nor clothe
the naked, nor relieve their brothers' needs, nor forgive their
follies, nor cover their shame, nor turn their eyes from delighting in
their affronts and evil accidents; this is it which our Lord will take
so tenderly, that His brethren for whom He died, who sucked the paps
of His mother, that fed on His body and are nourished with His blood,
whom He hath lodged in His heart and entertains in His bosom, the
partners of His spirit and co-heirs of His inheritance, that these
should be denied relief and suffered to go away ashamed, and unpitied;
this our blest Lord will take so ill, that all those who are guilty of
this unkindness, have no reason to expect the favor of the Court.
To this if we add the almightiness of the Judge, His infinite wisdom
and knowledge of all causes, and all persons, and all circumstances,
that He is infinitely just, inflexibly angry, and impartial in His
sentence, there can be nothing added either to the greatness or the
requisites of a terrible and an almighty Judge. For who can resist Him
who is almighty? Who can evade His scrutiny that knows all things?
Who can hope for pity of Him that is inflexible? Who can think to be
exempted when the Judge is righteous and impartial? But in all these
annexes of the Great Judge, that which I shall now remark, is that
indeed which hath terror in it, and that is, the severity of our Lord.
For then is the day of vengeance and recompenses, and no mercy at
all shall be showed, but to them that are the sons of mercy; for the
other, their portion is such as can be expected from these premises.
If we remember the instances of God's severity in this life, in the
days of mercy and repentance, in those days when judgment waits upon
mercy, and receives laws by the rules and measures of pardon, and that
for all the rare streams of loving; kindness issuing out of paradise
and refreshing all our fields with a moisture more fruitful than the
floods of Nilus, still there are mingled some storms and violences,
some fearful instances of the divine justice, we may more readily
expect it will be worse, infinitely worse, at that day, when judgment
shall ride in triumph, and mercy shall be the accuser of the wicked.
But so we read, and are commanded to remember, because they are
written for our example, that God destroyed at once five cities of the
plain, and all the country, and Sodom and her sisters are set forth
for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Fearful it
was when God destroyed at once twenty-three thousand for fornication,
and an exterminating angel in one night killed one hundred and
eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians, and the first-born of all the
families of Egypt, and for the sin of David in numbering the people,
three score and ten thousand of the people died, and God sent ten
tribes into captivity and eternal oblivion and indistinction from a
common people for their idolatry. Did not God strike Korah and his
company with fire from heaven? and the earth opened and swallowed up
the congregation of Abiram? And is not evil come upon all the world
for one sin of Adam? Did not the anger of God break the nation of
the Jews all in pieces with judgments so great, that no nation ever
suffered the like, because none ever sinned so? And at once it was
done, that God in anger destroyed all the world, and eight persons
only escaped the angry baptism of water, and yet this world is the
time of mercy; God hath opened here His magazines, and sent His Holy
Son as the great channel and fountain of it, too: here He delights in
mercy, and in judgment loves to remember it, and it triumphs over all
His works, and God contrives instruments and accidents, chances and
designs, occasions and opportunities for mercy. If, therefore, now the
anger of God makes such terrible eruptions upon the wicked people that
delight in sin, how great may we suppose that anger to be, how severe
that judgment, how terrible that vengeance, how intolerable those
inflictions which God reserves for the full effusion of indignation on
the great day of vengeance!