_Lastly_, We shall apply the whole.
1. _First_, Let us consider what it is to live godly in CHRIST JESUS.
This supposes, that we are made the righteousness of GOD in CHRIST,
that we are born again, and are one with CHRIST by a living faith,
and a vital union, even as JESUS CHRIST and the Father are One. Unless
we are thus converted, and transformed by the renewing of our minds,
we cannot properly be said to be in CHRIST, much less to live godly in
him. To be in CHRIST merely by baptism, and an outward profession, is
not to be in Him in the strict sense of the word: no; “They that are in
CHRIST, are new creatures; old things are passed away, and all things
are become new” in their hearts. Their life is hid with CHRIST in GOD;
their souls daily feed on the invisible realities of another world.
To “live godly in CHRIST,” is to make the divine will, and not our own,
the sole principle of all our thoughts, words, and actions; so that,
“whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, we do all to the glory
of GOD.” Those who live godly in CHRIST, may not so much be said to
live, as CHRIST to live in them: He is their Alpha and Omega, their
first and last, their beginning and end. They are led by his Spirit,
as a child is led by the hand of its father; and are willing to follow
the Lamb whithersoever he leads them. They hear, know, and obey his
voice. Their affections are set on things above; their hopes are full
of immortality; their citizenship is in heaven. Being born again of GOD,
they habitually live to, and daily walk with, GOD. They are pure in
heart; and, from a principle of faith in CHRIST, are holy in all manner
of conversation and godliness.
This is to “live godly in CHRIST JESUS:” and hence we may easily learn,
why so few suffer persecution? Because, so few live godly in CHRIST
JESUS. You may live formally in CHRIST, you may attend on outward
duties; you may live morally in CHRIST, you may (as they term it) do
no one any harm, and avoid persecution: but they “that will live godly
in CHRIST JESUS, shall suffer persecution.”
2. _Secondly_, What is the meaning of the word Persecution, and how
many kinds there are of it, I come now to consider.
The word Persecution, is derived from a _Greek_ word signifying _to
pursue_, and generally implies pursuing a person for the sake of his
goodness, or GOD’s good-will to him. The
_First_ kind of it, is that of the _Heart_. We ♦have an early example
of this in that wicked one _Cain_, who, because the LORD had respect
to _Abel_ and his offering, and not to him and his offering, was very
wroth, his countenance fell, and at length he cruelly slew his envied
brother. Thus the _Pharisees_ hated and persecuted our LORD long before
they laid hold on him: and our LORD mentions being inwardly hated of
men, as one kind of Persecution his disciples were to undergo. This
heart-enmity (if I may so term it) is the root of all other kinds of
Persecution, and is, in some degree or other, to be found in the soul
of every unregenerated man; and numbers are guilty of this persecution,
who never have it in their power to persecute any other way. Nay,
numbers would actually put in practice all other degrees of persecution,
was not the name of Persecution become odious amongst mankind, and did
they not hereby run the hazard of losing their reputation. Alas! how
many at the great day, whom we know not now, will be convicted and
condemned, that all their life harboured a secret evil-will against
_Zion_! They may now screen it before men; but GOD seeth the enmity
of their hearts, and will judge them as Persecutors at the great and
terrible day of judgment. A
♦ duplicate word “have” removed
_Second_ degree of Persecution is that of the tongue; “out of the
abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.” Many, I suppose, think it
no harm to shoot out arrows, even bitter words, against the disciples
of the LORD: they scatter their firebrands, arrows and death, saying,
“Are we not in sport?” But, however they may esteem it, in GOD’s
account evil-speaking is a high degree of Persecution. Thus _Ishmael_’s
mocking _Isaac_, is termed persecuting him. “Blessed are ye (says our
LORD) when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all
manner of evil against you falsely for my name’s sake.” From whence we
may gather, that reviling, and speaking all manner of evil for CHRIST’s
sake, is a high degree of persecution. For “a good name, (says the wise
man) is better than precious ointment,” and, to many, is dearer than
life itself. It is a great breach of the sixth commandment, to slander
any one; but to speak evil of and slander the disciples of CHRIST,
merely because they are his disciples, must be highly provoking in the
sight of GOD; and such who are guilty of it (without repentance) will
find that JESUS CHRIST will call them to an account, and punish them
for all their ungodly and hard speeches in a lake of fire and brimstone.
This shall be their portion to drink. The
_Third_ and _last_ kind of Persecution, is that which expresses
itself in _actions_: as when wicked men separate the children of GOD
from their company; “Blessed are ye, (says our LORD) when they shall
separate you from their company:” or expose them to church-censures.
“They shall put you out of their synagogues;” threatening and
prohibiting them from making an open profession of his religion or
worship; or interdicting ministers for preaching his word, as the
high-priests threatened the apostles, and “forbad them any more to
speak in the name of JESUS;” and _Paul_ breathed out threatenings and
slaughters against the disciples of the LORD: or when they call them
into courts; “You shall be called before governors,” says our LORD:
or when they fine, imprison, or punish them, by confiscation of goods,
cruel scourging, and, lastly, death itself.
It would be impossible to enumerate in what various shapes persecution
has appeared. It is a many-headed monster, cruel as the grave,
insatiable as hell; and, what is worse, it ♦generally appears under the
cloak of religion. But, cruel, insatiable, and horrid as it is, they
that live godly in CHRIST JESUS, must expect to suffer and encounter
with it in all its forms.
♦ “generallly” replaced with “generally”
This is what we are to make good under our next general head.
3. _Thirdly_, Why is it that godly men must expert to suffer
persecution? And,
_First_, This appears from the whole tenor of our LORD’s doctrine. We
will begin with his divine sermon on the mount. “Blessed are they who
are persecuted for righteousness sake; for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.” So that, if our LORD spoke truth, we are not so blessed as to
have an interest in the kingdom of heaven, unless we are or have been
persecuted for righteousness sake. Nay, our LORD (it is remarkable)
employs three verses in this beatitude, and only one in each of the
others; not only to shew that it was a thing which men (as men) are
unwilling to believe, but also the necessary consequence of it upon
our being christians. This is likewise evident from all those passages,
wherein our LORD informs us, that he came upon the earth, “not to send
peace, but a sword;” and that the father-in-law should be against the
mother-in-law, and a man’s foes should be those of his own houshold.
Passages, which though confined by false prophets to the first, I am
persuaded will be verified by the experience of all true christians in
this, and every age of the church. It would be endless to recount all
the places, wherein our LORD forewarns his disciples, that they should
be called before rulers, and thrust out of synagogues, nay, that the
time would come, wherein men should think they did GOD service to kill
them. For this reason he so frequently declared, that “unless a man
forsake all that he had, and even hated life itself, he could not be
his disciple.” And therefore it is worthy our observation, that in the
remarkable passage, wherein our LORD makes such an extensive promise
to those who left all for him, he cautiously inserts persecution. “And
JESUS answered and said, Verily I say unto you, there is no man that
hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or
wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel’s, but he shall
receive an hundred-fold now in this time; houses and brethren, and
sisters and mothers, and children and lands, with persecutions; (the
word is in the plural number, including all kinds of persecution) and
in the world to come eternal life.” He that hath ears to hear, let him
hear what CHRIST says in all these passages, and then confess, that all
who will live godly in CHRIST JESUS shall suffer persecution.
As this is proved from our LORD’s doctrine, so it is no less evident
from his life. Follow him from the manger to the cross, and see whether
any persecution was like that which the Son of GOD, the LORD of glory,
underwent whilst here on earth. How was he hated by wicked men? How
often would that hatred have excited them to lay hold of him, had
it not been for fear of the people? How was he reviled, counted and
called a Blasphemer, a Wine-bibber, a Samaritan, nay, a Devil, and,
in one word, had all manner of evil spoken against him falsely? What
contradiction of sinners did he endure against himself? How did men
separate from his company, and were ashamed to walk with him openly?
insomuch that he once said to his own disciples, “Will you also
go away?” Again, How was he stoned, thrust out of the synagogues,
arraigned as a deceiver of the people, a seditious and pestilent fellow,
an enemy to _Cæsar_, and as such scourged, blind-folded, spit upon,
and at length condemned, and nailed to an accursed tree? Thus was
the Master persecuted, thus did the LORD suffer; and the servant is
not above his Master, nor the disciple above his Lord: “If they have
persecuted me, they will also persecute you,” says the blessed JESUS.
And again, “Every man that is perfect (a true christian) must be as his
Master,” or suffer as he did. For in all these things our LORD has set
us an example, that we should follow his steps: and therefore, far be
it that any, who live godly in CHRIST JESUS, should henceforward expect
to escape suffering persecution.
But farther: not only our LORD’s example, but the example of all
the saints that ever lived, evidently demonstrates the truth of the
apostle’s assertion in the text. How soon was _Abel_ made a martyr
for his religion? How was _Isaac_ mocked by the son of the bond-woman?
And what a large catalogue of suffering Old Testament saints, have we
recorded in the xith chapter of the _Hebrews_! Read the _Acts_ of the
Apostles, and see how the first christians were threatened, stoned,
imprisoned, scourged, and persecuted even unto death. Examine Church
History in after-ages, and you will find the murder of the innocents
by _Herod_, was but an earnest of the innocent blood which should be
shed for the sake of JESUS. Examine the experience of saints now living
on earth; and, if it were possible to consult the spirits of just men
made perfect, I am persuaded each would concur with the apostle in
asserting, that “all who will live godly in CHRIST JESUS, shall suffer
persecution.”
How can it be otherwise in the very nature of things? Ever since the
fall, there has been an irreconcileable enmity between the seed of the
woman and the seed of the serpent. Wicked men hate GOD, and therefore
cannot but hate those who are like him: they hate to be reformed, and
therefore must hate and persecute those, who, by a contrary behaviour,
testify of them, that their deeds are evil. Besides, pride of heart
leads men to persecute the servants of JESUS CHRIST. If they commend
them, they are afraid of being asked, Why do not you follow them? And
therefore because they dare not imitate, though they may sometimes be
even forced to approve their way, yet pride and envy make them turn
persecutors. Hence it is, that as it was formerly, so it is now, and
so will it be to the end of time; “He that is born after the flesh,
(the natural man, does and) will persecute him that is born after the
Spirit,” the regenerate man. Because christians are not of the world,
but CHRIST hath chosen them out of the world, therefore the world will
hate them. If it be objected against this doctrine, that we now live
in a christian world, and therefore must not expect such persecution
as formerly; I answer, All are not christians that are called so; and,
till the heart is changed, the enmity against GOD (which is the root
of all persecution) remains: and consequently christians, falsely so
called, will persecute as well as others. I observed therefore, in
the beginning of this discourse, that _Paul_ mentions those that had
a form of religion, as persons of whom _Timothy_ had need be chiefly
aware: for, as our LORD and his apostles were mostly persecuted by
their countrymen the _Jews_, so we must expect the like usage from the
Formalists of our own nation, the _Pharisees_, who seem to be religious.
The most horrid and barbarous persecutions have been carried on by
those who have called themselves Christians; witness the days of queen
_Mary_; and the fines, banishments and imprisonments of the children
of GOD in the last century, and the bitter, irreconcileable hatred
that appears in thousands who call themselves Christians, even in the
present days wherein we live.
Persons, who argue against persecution, are not sufficiently sensible
of the bitter enmity of the heart of every unregenerate man against
GOD. For my own part, I am so far from wondering that christians are
persecuted, that I wonder our streets do not run with the blood of the
saints: was mens power equal to their wills, such a horrid spectacle
would soon appear. But,
Persecution is necessary in respect to the godly themselves. If we have
not all manner of evil spoken of us, how can we know whether we seek
only that honour which cometh from above? If we have no persecutors,
how can our passive graces be kept in exercise? How can many christian
precepts be put into practice? How can we love, pray for, and do good
to, those who despitefully use us? How can we overcome evil with good?
In short, how can we know we love GOD better than life itself? _Paul_
was sensible of all this, and therefore so positively and peremptorily
asserts, that “all who will live godly in CHRIST JESUS, shall suffer
persecution.”
Not that I affirm, all are persecuted in a like degree. No: this would
be contrary both to scripture and experience. But though all christians
are not really called to suffer every kind of persecution, yet all
christians are liable thereto: and notwithstanding some may live in
more peaceful times of the church than others, yet all christians, in
all ages, will find by their own experience, that, whether they act
in a private or public capacity, they must, in some degree or other,
suffer persecution.
Here then I would pause, and, _lastly_, by way of application, exhort
all persons,
_First_, To stand a while and examine themselves. For, by what has been
said, you may gather one mark, whereby you may judge whether you are
christians or not. Were you ever persecuted for righteousness sake? If
not, you never yet lived godly in CHRIST our LORD. Whatever you may say
to the contrary, the inspired apostle, in the words of the text (the
truth of which, I think, I have sufficiently proved) positively asserts,
that all who will live godly in Him, shall suffer persecution. Not that
all who are persecuted are real christians; for many sometimes suffer,
and are persecuted, on other accounts than for righteousness sake.
The great question therefore is, Whether you were ever persecuted
for living godly? You may boast of your great prudence and sagacity
(and indeed these are excellent things) and glory because you have not
run such lengths, and made yourselves so singular, and liable to such
contempt, as some others have. But, alas! this is not a mark of your
being of a Christian, but of a _Laodicean_ spirit, neither hot nor
cold, and fit only to be spewed out of the mouth of GOD. That which
you call prudence, is often, only cowardice, dreadful hypocrisy, pride
of heart, which makes you dread contempt, and afraid to give up your
reputation for GOD. You are ashamed of CHRIST and his gospel; and in
all probability, was he to appear a second time upon earth, in words,
as well as works, you would deny him. Awake therefore, all ye that live
only formally in CHRIST JESUS, and no longer seek that honour which
cometh of man. I do not desire to court you, but I intreat you to live
godly, and fear not contempt for the sake of JESUS CHRIST. Beg of GOD
to give you his Holy Spirit, that you may see through, and discover
the latent hypocrisy of your hearts, and no longer deceive your own
souls. Remember you cannot reconcile two irreconcileable differences,
GOD and Mammon, the friendship of this world with the favour of GOD.
Know you not who hath told you, that “the friendship of this world is
enmity with GOD?” If therefore you are in friendship with the world,
notwithstanding all your specious pretences to piety, you are at enmity
with GOD: you are only heart-hypocrites; and, “What is the hope of
the hypocrite, when GOD shall take away his soul?” Let the words of
the text sound an alarm in your ears; O let them sink deep into your
hearts; “Yea, and all that will live godly in CHRIST JESUS, shall
suffer persecution.”
_Secondly_, From the words of the text, I would take occasion to
speak to those, who are about to lift themselves under the banner of
CHRIST’s cross. What say you? Are you resolved to live godly in CHRIST
JESUS, notwithstanding the consequence will be, that you must suffer
persecution? You are beginning to build; but have you taken our LORD’s
advice, to “sit down first and count the cost?” Have you well weighed
with yourselves that weighty declaration, “He that loveth father or
mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me;” and again, “Unless a man
forsake all that he hath he cannot be my disciple?” Perhaps some of
you have great possessions; will not you go away sorrowful, if CHRIST
should require you to sell all that you have! Others of you again
may be kinsmen, or some way related, or under obligations, to the
high-priests, or other great personages, who may be persecuting the
church of CHRIST: What say you? Will you, with _Moses_, “rather chuse
to suffer affliction with the people of GOD, than enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season?” Perhaps you may say, my friends will not
oppose me. That is more than you know: in all probability your chief
enemies will be those of your own household. If therefore they should
oppose you, are you willing naked to follow a naked CHRIST? and to
wander about in sheep-skins and goats-skins, in dens and caves of
the earth, being afflicted, destitute, tormented, rather than not be
CHRIST’s disciples? You are now all following with zeal, as _Ruth_
and _Orpah_ did _Naomi_, and may weep under the word; but are not
your tears crocodiles tears? And, when difficulties come, will you not
go back from following your LORD, as _Orpah_ departed from following
_Naomi_? Have you really the root of grace in your hearts? or, are you
only stony-ground hearers? You receive the word with joy; but, when
persecution arises because of the word, will you not be immediately
offended? Be not angry with me for putting these questions to you. I
am jealous over you, but it is with a godly jealousy: for, alas! how
many have put their hands to the plough, and afterwards have shamefully
looked back? I only deal with you, as our LORD did with the person
that said, “LORD, I will follow thee whithersoever thou wilt.” “The
foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the son
of man, (says he) hath not where to lay his head.” What say you? Are
you willing to endure hardness, and thereby approve yourselves good
soldiers of JESUS CHRIST? You now come on foot out of the towns and
villages to hear the word, and receive me as a messenger of GOD: but
will you not by and by cry out, Away with him, away with him; it is not
fit such a fellow should live upon the earth? Perhaps some of you, like
_Hazael_, may say, “Are we dogs, that we should do this?” But, alas! I
have met with many unhappy souls, who have drawn back unto perdition,
and have afterwards accounted me their enemy, for dealing faithfully
with them; though once, if it were possible, they would have plucked
out their own eyes, and have given them unto me. Sit down therefore, I
beseech you, and seriously count the cost, and ask yourselves again and
again, whether you count all things but dung and dross, and are willing
to suffer the loss of all things, so that you may win CHRIST, and
be found in him: for you may assure yourselves, the apostle hath not
spoken in vain, “All that will live godly in CHRIST JESUS, shall suffer
persecution.”
_Thirdly_, The text speaks to you that are patiently suffering for
the truth’s sake: “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; great shall be your
reward in heaven.” For to you it is given, not only to believe, but
also to suffer, and perhaps remarkably too, for the sake of JESUS! This
is a mark of your discipleship, an evidence that you do live godly in
CHRIST JESUS. Fear not, therefore, neither be dismayed. O be not weary
and faint in your minds! JESUS, your LORD, your life, cometh, and his
reward is with him. Though all men forsake you, yet will not he: no;
the Spirit of CHRIST and of glory shall rest upon you. In patience
therefore possess your souls. Sanctify the LORD GOD in your hearts. Be
in nothing terrified by your adversaries: on their part CHRIST is evil
spoken of; on your part he is glorified. Be not ashamed of your glory,
since others can glory in their shame. Think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial, wherewith you are or may be tried. The Devil rages,
knowing that he hath but a short time to reign. He or his emissaries
have no more power than what is given them from above: GOD sets them
their bounds, which they cannot pass; and the very hairs of your head
are all numbered. Fear not; no one shall set upon you to hurt you,
without your heavenly Father’s knowledge. Do your earthly friends and
parents forsake you? Are you cast out of the synagogues? The LORD shall
reveal himself to you, as to the man that was born blind? JESUS CHRIST
shall take you up. If they carry you to prison, and load you with
chains, so that the iron enter into your souls, even there shall CHRIST
send an angel from heaven to strengthen you, and enable you, with
_Paul_ and _Silas_, to “sing praises at midnight.” Are you threatened
to be thrown into a den of lions, or cast into a burning fiery furnace,
because you will not bow down and worship the beast? Fear not; the GOD,
whom you serve, is able to deliver you: or, if he should suffer the
flames to devour your bodies, they would only serve, as so many fiery
chariots, to carry your souls to GOD. Thus it was with the martyrs of
old; so that one, when he was burning, cried out, “Come, you Papists,
if you want a miracle, here, behold one! This bed of flames is to me a
bed of down.” Thus it was with almost all that suffered in former times:
for JESUS, notwithstanding he withdrew his own divinity from himself,
yet has always lifted up the light of his countenance upon the souls
of suffering saints. “Fear not therefore those that can kill the body,
and after that have no more that they can do; but fear Him only, who is
able to destroy both body and soul in hell.” Dare, dare to live godly
in CHRIST JESUS, though you suffer all manner of persecution. But,
_Fourthly_, Are there any true ministers of JESUS CHRIST here? You will
not be offended if I tell you, that the words of the text are, in an
especial manner, applicable to you. _Paul_ wrote them to _Timothy_;
and we, of all men, that live godly in CHRIST JESUS, must expect to
suffer the severest persecution. _Satan_ will endeavour to bruise our
heels, let who will escape: and it has been the general way of GOD’s
providence, in times of persecution, to permit the shepherds first to
be smitten, before the sheep are scattered. Let us not therefore shew
that we are only hirelings, who care not for the sheep; but, like the
great Shepherd and Bishop of souls, let us readily lay down our lives
for the sheep. Whilst others are boasting of their great preferments,
let us rather glory in our great afflictions and persecutions for
the sake of CHRIST. _Paul_ rejoiced that he suffered afflictions and
persecutions at _Iconium_ and _Lystra_: out of all, the LORD delivered
him; out of all, the LORD will deliver us, and cause us hereafter to
sit down with him on thrones, when he comes to judge the twelve tribes
of _Israel_.
I could proceed; but I am conscious, in this part of my discourse, I
ought more particularly to speak to myself, knowing that _Satan_ has
desired to have me, that he may sift me as wheat. Without a spirit of
prophecy, we may easily discern the signs of the times. Persecution
is even at the doors: the tabernacle of the LORD is already driven
into the wilderness: the ark of the LORD is fallen into the unhallowed
hands of uncircumcised _Philistines_. They have long since put us
out of their synagogues, and high-priests have been calling on civil
magistrates to exert their authority against the disciples of the
LORD. Men in power have been breathing out threatenings: we may easily
guess what will follow, imprisonment and slaughter. The storm has been
gathering some time; it must break shortly. Perhaps it may fall on me
first.
Brethren therefore, whether in the ministry or not, I beseech you,
“pray for me,” that I may never suffer justly, as an evil-doer, but
only for righteousness sake. O pray that I may not deny my LORD in any
wise, but that I may joyfully follow him, both to prison and to death,
if he is pleased to call me to seal his truths with my blood. Be not
ashamed of CHRIST, or of his gospel, though I should become a prisoner
of the LORD. Though I am bound, the word of GOD will not be bound:
no; an open, an effectual door is opened for preaching the everlasting
gospel, and men or devils shall never be able to prevail against
it. Only pray, that, whether it be in life or death, CHRIST may be
glorified in me: then I shall rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
And now, to whom shall I address myself next?
_Fifthly_, To those, who persecute their neighbours for living godly
in CHRIST JESUS. But, what shall I say to you? Howl and weep for the
miseries that shall come upon you: for a little while the LORD permits
you to ride over the heads of his people; but, by and by, death will
arrest you, judgment will find you, and JESUS CHRIST shall put a
question to you, which will strike you dumb, _Why persecuted you Me_?
You may plead your laws and your canons, and pretend what you do is
out of zeal for GOD; but GOD shall discover the cursed hypocrisy and
serpentine enmity of your hearts, and give you over to the tormentors.
It is well, if in this life GOD does not send some mark upon you.
He pleaded the cause of _Naboth_, when innocently condemned for
blaspheming GOD and the king; and our LORD sent forth his armies, and
destroyed the city of those who killed the prophets, and stoned them
that were sent unto them. If you have a mind therefore to fill up the
measure of your iniquities, go on, persecute and despise the disciples
of the LORD: but know, “that for all these things, GOD shall bring you
into judgment.” Nay, those you now persecute, shall be in part your
judges, and sit on the right-hand of the Majesty on high, whilst you
are dragged by infernal spirits into a lake that burneth with fire and
brimstone, and the smoke of your torment shall be ascending up for ever
and ever. Lay down therefore, ye rebels, your arms against the most
high GOD, and no longer persecute those who live godly in CHRIST JESUS.
The LORD will plead, the LORD will avenge, their cause. You may be
permitted to bruise their heels, yet in the end they shall bruise
your accursed heads. I speak not this, as though I were afraid of you;
for I know in whom I have believed: only out of pure love I warn you,
and because I know not but JESUS CHRIST may make some of you vessels
of mercy, and snatch you, even you persecutors, as fire-brands out
of the fire. JESUS CHRIST came into the world to save sinners, even
persecutors, the worst of sinners: his righteousness is sufficient for
them; his Spirit is able to purify and change their hearts. He once
converted _Saul_: may the same GOD magnify his power, in converting
all those who are causing the godly in CHRIST JESUS, as much as in them
lies, to suffer persecution! The LORD be with you all. Amen.