warily, but also home and soundly answered. The question consists of
three particulars—First, What men have done; Second, How far men have
gone; Third, What they have received, and yet to be under the law, or
Covenant of Works, and so in a state of condemnation.
[First.] As for the first, I have spoken something in general to that
already; but for thy better understanding I shall yet speak more
particularly.
1. A man hath and may be convinced and troubled for his sins, and yet
be under this covenant, and that in a very heavy and dreadful manner,
insomuch that he find the weight of them to be intolerable and too
heavy for him to bear, as it was with Cain, “My punishment,” saith he,
“is greater than I can bear” (Gen 4:13).
2. A man living thus under a sense of his sins may repent and be sorry
for them, and yet be under this covenant, and yet be in a damned state.
And when he, Judas, saw what was done, he “repented” (Matt 27:3).
3. Men may not only be convinced, and also repent for their sins, but
they may also desire the prayers of the children of God for them too,
and yet be under this covenant and curse, “Then Pharaoh called for
Moses and Aaron, in haste, and he said, I have sinned; entreat the LORD
your God that He may take away from me this death” (Exo 10:16, 17).
4. A man may also humble himself for his offences and disobedience
against his God, and yet be under this covenant (1 Kings 21:24-19).
5. A man may make restitution unto men for the offence he hath done
unto them, and yet be under this covenant.
6. A man may do much work for God in his generation, and yet be under
this first covenant; as Jehu, who did do that which God bid him (2
Kings 9:25, 26). And yet God threateneth even Jehu, because though he
did do the thing that the Lord commanded him, yet he did it not from a
right principle; for had he, the Lord would not have said, “Yet a
little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of
Jehu” (Hosea 1:4).
7. Men may hear and fear the servants of the Lord, and reverence them
very highly; yea, and when they hear, they may not only hear, but hear
and do, and that gladly too, not one or two things, but many; mark,
many things gladly, and yet be lost, and yet be damned, “For Herod
feared John,” why? not because he had any civil power over him, but
because “he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he
heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly” (Mark 6:20). It
may be that thou thinkest that because thou hearest such and such,
therefore thou art better than thy neighbours; but know for certain
that thou mayest not only hear, but thou mayest hear and do, and that
not with a backward will, but gladly—mark, “gladly”—and yet be Herod
still, an enemy to the Lord Jesus still. Consider this, I pray you.
Second. But to the second thing, which is this, How far may such an one
go? To what may such an one attain? Whither may he arrive, and yet be
an undone man, under this covenant? [1] answer—
1. Such an one may be received into fellowship with the saints, as they
are in a visible way of walking one with another; they may walk hand in
hand together, “The Kingdom of Heaven,” that is, a visible company of
professors of Christ, is likened to ten virgins, which took their
lamps, and went forth to meet the Bridegroom, “five of them were wise,
and five were foolish” (Matt 25:1,2). These, in the first place, are
called virgins—that is, such as are clear from the pollutions of the
world; secondly, they are said to go forth—that is, from the rudiments
and traditions of men; thirdly, they do agree to take their lamps with
them—that is, to profess themselves the servants of Jesus Christ, that
wait upon Him, and for Him; and yet when He came, He found half of
them, even the virgins, that had lamps, that also went forth from the
pollutions of the world and the customs of men, to be such as lost
their precious souls (verse 12) which they should not have done, had
they been under the Covenant of Grace, and so not under the law.
2. They may attain to a great deal of honour in the said company of
professors, that which may be accounted honour, insomuch that they may
be put in trust with church affairs, and bear the bag, as Judas did. I
speak not this to shame the saints, but, being beloved, I warn them;
yet I speak this on purpose that it might, if the Lord will, knock at
the door of the souls of professors. Consider Demas!
3. They may attain to speak of the Word as ministers, and become
preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, insomuch that the people where
they dwell may even take up a proverb concerning them, saying, “Is he
among the prophets?” his gifts may be so rare, his tongue may be so
fluent, and his matter may be so fit, that he may speak with a tongue
like an angel, and speak of the hidden mysteries, yea, of them all;
mark that, and yet be nothing, and yet be none of the Lord’s anointed
ones, with the Spirit of grace savingly, but may live and die under the
curse of the law (1 Cor 13:1-4).
4. They may go yet further; they may have the gifts of the Spirit of
God, which may enable them to cast out devils, to remove the biggest
hills or mountains in the world; nay, thou mayest be so gifted as to
prophesy of things to come, the most glorious things, even the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ to reign over all His enemies, and yet be but
a Balaam, a wicked and a mad prophet (2 Peter 2:16; Num 24:16-25).
5. There may not only stand thus for awhile, for a little season, but
they may stand thus till the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with His
holy angels; ay, and not be discovered of the saints till that very
day. “Then all those virgins arose,”—the wise and the foolish; then!
when? why, when this voice was heard, “Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go
ye out to meet him” (Matt 25:1-6). And yet were out of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and yet were under the law.
6. Nay, further, they may not only continue in a profession till then,
supposing themselves to be under the grace of the Gospel, when indeed
they are under the curse of the law, but even when the Bridegroom is
come, they may still be so confident of their state to be good, that
they will even reason out the case with Christ why they are not let
into the kingdom of glory, saying, “Lord, Lord, we have eaten and drunk
in Thy presence; and Thou hast taught in our streets.” Nay, further,
“Have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out
devils?” Nay, not only thus, but, “done many,” mark, we have “done many
wonderful works.” Nay, further, they were so confident, that they
commanded, in a commanding way, saying, “Lord, open to us.” See here, I
beseech you, how far these went; they thought they had had intimate
acquaintance with Jesus Christ, they thought He could not choose but
save them; they had eat and drunk with Him, sat at the table with Him,
received power from Him, executed the same power. In Thy name have we
done thus and thus; even wrought many wonderful works (Matt 7:22; Luke
13:25,26). And yet these poor creatures were shut out of the kingdom. O
consider this, I beseech you, before it be too late, lest you say,
Lord, let us come in, when Christ saith, Thrust him out (Verse 28).
Hears you cry, “Lord open to us,” when He saith, “Depart, I know you
not”; lest though you think of having joy, you have “weeping and
gnashing of teeth.”
Third. But the third thing touched in the question was this—What may
such an one receive of God who is under the curse of the law?
1. They may receive an answer to their prayers from God at some times,
for some things as they do stand in need of. I find in Scripture that
God did hear these persons that the Apostle saith were cast out (Gen
21:17). “And God heard the voice of the lad,” even of cast-out Ishmael;
“and the angel of God called to Hagar” which was the bond-woman, and
under the law (Gal 4:30). “out of heaven, and said unto her, Fear not;
for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.” Friends, it may
be you may think, because you have your prayers answered in some
particular things, therefore you may suppose that as to your eternal
state your condition is very good. But you must know that God doth hear
the cry of a company of Ishmaelites, the sons of the bondwomen, who are
under the law as a Covenant of Works. I do not say He hears them as to
their eternal state, but He heareth them as to several straits that
they go through in this life, ay, and gives them ease and liberty from
their trouble. Here this poor wretch was almost perished for a little
water, and he cried, and God heard him, yea, He heard him out of
Heaven. Read also Psalm 107:23-29. “He gave them their desire, but He
sent leanness into their soul” (Psa 106:15). 7
But some may say, Methinks this is yet more strange that God should
hear the prayers, the cries of those that are under the law, and answer
them. Answ. I told you before, He doth not hear them as to their
eternal state, but as to their temporal state; for God as their Creator
hath a care for them, and causeth the sun to shine upon them, and the
rain to distill upon their substance (Matt 5:45). Nay, He doth give the
beasts in the field their appointed food, and doth hear the young
ravens when they cry, which are far inferior to man (Psa 147:9). I say,
therefore, that God doth hear the cries of His creatures, and doth
answer them too, though not as to their eternal state; but may damn
them nevertheless when they die for all that.
2. They may receive promises from the mouth of the Lord. There are many
that have promises made to them by the Lord in a most eminent way, and
yet, as I said before, are such as are cast out and called the children
of the bond-woman, which is the law—“And the angel of God called to
Hagar out of Heaven,” that was the bond-woman, saying, “Fear not; for
God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the
lad, and hold him in thine hand; FOR I WILL MAKE HIM,”—mark, there is
the promise,—“for I will make him,” of the son of the bond-woman, “a
great nation” (Gen 21:17,18).
3. Nay, they may go further; for they may receive another heart than
they had before, and yet be under the law. There is no man, I think,
but those that do not know what they say, that will think or say that
Saul was under the Covenant of Grace; yet after he had talked with
Samuel, and had turned his back to go from him, saith the Scripture,
“God gave him another heart” (1 Sam 10:9). Another heart, mark that,
and yet an out-cast, a rejected person (1 Sam 15:26,29). Friends, I
beseech you, let not these things offend you, but let them rather beget
in your hearts an inquiring into the truth of your condition, and be
willing to be searched to the bottom; and also, that everything which
hath not been planted by the Lord’s right hand may be rejected, and
that there may be a reaching after better things, even the things that
will not only make thy soul think thy state is good now, but that thou
mayest be able to look sin, death, Hell, the curse of the law, together
with the Judge, in the face with comfort, having such a real, sound,
effectual work of God’s grace in thy soul, that when thou hearest the
trumpet sound, seest the graves fly open, and the dead come creeping
forth out of their holes; when thou shalt see the judgment set, the
books opened, and all the world standing before the judgment-seat; I
say, that then thou mayest stand, and have that blessed sentence spoken
to thy soul, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt 25:34).
[Objection to this head.] But, you will say, for all this, We cannot
believe that we are under the law, for these reasons—As, First. Because
we have found a change in our hearts. Second. Because we do deny that
the Covenant of Works will save any. Third. Because, for our parts, we
judge ourselves far from legal principles; for we are got up into as
perfect a Gospel order, as to matter of practice and discipline in
church affairs, as any this day in England, as we judge.
[Answer to reason first.] That man’s belief that is grounded upon
anything done in him, or by him only, that man’s belief is not grounded
upon the death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and intercession of
Jesus Christ; for that man that hath indeed good ground of his eternal
salvation, his faith is settled upon that object which God is well
pleased or satisfied withal, which is that man that was born of Mary,
even her first-born Son—that is, he doth apply by faith to his soul the
virtues of His death, blood, righteousness, etc., and doth look for
satisfaction of soul nowhere else than from that, neither doth the soul
seek to give God any satisfaction as to justification any other ways;
but doth willingly and cheerfully accept of and embrace the virtues of
Christ’s death, together with the rest of His things done by Himself on
the cross as a sacrifice, and since also as a priest, advocate,
mediator, etc.; and doth so really and effectually receive the glories
of the same, that thereby—mark that—thereby he is “changed into the
same image, from glory to glory” (2 Cor 3:18). Thus in general; but yet
more particular—
1. To think that your condition is good because there is some change in
you from a loose profane life, to a more close, honest, and civil life
and conversation; I say, to think this testimony sufficient to ground
the stress of thy salvation upon is very dangerous. First, because such
a soul doth not only lay the stress of its salvation besides the man
Christ Jesus that died upon the cross; but secondly, because that his
confidence is not grounded upon the Saviour of sinners, but upon his
turning from gross sins to a more refined life,—and it may be to the
performance of some good duties—which is no Saviour; I say, this is
very dangerous; therefore read it, and the Lord help you to understand
it; for unless you lay the whole stress of the salvation of your souls
upon the merits of another man—namely, Jesus—and that by what He did do
and is adoing without you, for certain, as sure as God is in Heaven,
your souls will perish. And this must not be notionally neither, as
with an assenting of the understanding only; but it must be by the
wonderful, invisible, invincible power of the Almighty God, working in
your souls by His Spirit such a real, saving, holy faith, that can,
through the operation of the same Spirit by which it is wrought, lay
hold on and apply these most heavenly, most excellent, most meritorious
benefits of the man Christ Jesus, not only to your heads and fancies,
but to your very souls and consciences, so effectually, that you may be
able by the same faith to challenge the power, madness, malice, rage,
and destroying nature either of sin, the law, death, the devil,
together with Hell and all other evils, throwing your souls upon the
death, burial, resurrection, and intercession of that man Jesus without
(Rom 8:32-39). But,
2. Do you think that there was no change in the five foolish virgins
spoken of (Matt 25:1-3). Yes; there was such a change in those very
people, that the five wise ones could give them admittance of walking
with them in the most pure ways and institutions of the Gospel of
Christ, and yet but foolish; nay, they walked with them, or shall walk
with them, until the Lord Jesus Christ shall break down from Heaven,
and yet be but foolish virgins, and yet but under the law, and so under
the curse, as I said before.
[Second part of objection.] But, say you, We have disowned the Covenant
of Works, and turned from that also.
[Answer to reason second.] This is sooner said than done. Alas, alas!
poor souls think because they say, “Grace, grace, it is freely by
grace,” therefore they are under the Covenant of Grace. A very wide
mistake. You must understand thus much, that though you be such as can
speak of the grace of the Gospel, yet if you yourselves be not brought
under the very Covenant of Grace, you are yet, notwithstanding your
talk and profession, very far wide of a sense and of a share in the
Covenant of the Grace of God held forth in the Gospel.
The Jews were of a clearer understanding many of them than to conclude
that the law, and only the law, was the way to salvation; for they,
even they that received not the Christ of God, did expect a Saviour
should come (John 7:27,41-43). But they were men that had not the
Gospel Spirit, which alone is able to lead them to the very life,
marrow, or substance of the Gospel in right terms; and so being muddy
in their understandings, being between the thoughts of a Saviour and
the thoughts of the works of the law, thinking that they must be
accomplished for the obtaining of a Saviour, and His mercy towards
them; I say, between these they fell short of a Saviour. As many poor
souls in these days, they think they must be saved alone by the
Saviour, yet they think there is something to be done on their parts
for the obtaining of the good-will of the Saviour, as their humiliation
for sin, their turning from the same, their promises, and vows, and
resolutions to become new men, join in church-fellowship, and what not;
and thus they, bringing this along with them as a means to help them,
they fall short of eternal salvation if they are not converted; see
that Scripture (Rom 9:30-32). The Apostle saith there, that they that
sought not did obtain, when they that did seek fell short. “What shall
we say then?” saith he. “That the Gentiles which sought not after
righteousness, have attained to righteousness,” yea, “even the
righteousness which is of faith.” And what else? Why, “but Israel which
followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law
of righteousness.” How came that to pass? “Because,” saith he, “they
sought it not by faith, but as it were”—mark, he doth not say,
altogether, no, “but as it were”—that is, because as they sought, they
did a little by the bye lean upon the works of the law. And let me tell
you, that this is such a hard thing to beat men off of, that though
Paul himself did take the work in hand, he did find enough to do
touching it; how is he fain to labour in the ten first chapters of his
Epistle to the Romans, for the establishing of those that did even
profess largely in the doctrine of grace, and also in that Epistle to
the Galatians; and yet lost many, do what he could. Now, the reason why
the doctrine of grace doth so hardly down—even with professors—in
truth, effectually, it is because there is a principle naturally in man
that doth argue against the same, and that thus: Why, saith the soul, I
am a sinner, and God is righteous, holy, and just; His holy Law,
therefore, having been broken by me, I must, by all means, if ever I
look to be saved, in the first place, be sorry for my sins; secondly,
turn from the same; thirdly, follow after good duties, and practise the
good things of the law and ordinances of the Gospel, and so hope that
God for Christ’s sake may forgive all my sins; which is not the way to
God as a Father in Christ, but the way, the very way to come to God by
the Covenant of Works, or the law, which things I shall more fully
clear when I speak to the second doctrine.
Again, therefore, those that this day profess the Gospel, for the
generality of them they are such, that, notwithstanding their
profession, they are very ignorant of that glorious influence and
lustre of the same; I say, they are ignorant of the virtue and efficacy
of the glorious things of Christ held forth by and in the Gospel, which
doth argue their not being under the Covenant of Grace, but rather
under the law or old covenant (2 Cor 4:3). As, for instance, if you do
come among some professors of the Gospel, in general you shall have
them pretty busy and ripe; also able to hold you in a very large
discourse in several points of the same glorious Gospel; but if you
come to the same people and ask them concerning heart-work, or what
work the Gospel hath wrought on them, and what appearance they have had
of the sweet influences and virtues on their souls and consciences, it
may be they will give you such an answer as this—I do find by the
preaching thereof that I am changed, and turned from my sins in a good
measure, and also have learned (but only in tongue), to distinguish
between the law and the Gospel, so that for the one—that is, for the
Gospel—I can plead, and also can show the weakness and unprofitableness
of the other. And thus far, it is like they may go, which is not far
enough to prove them under the Covenant of Grace, though they may have
their tongues so largely tipped with the profession of the same (2
Peter 2:20) where he saith “For if after they have escaped the
pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ,” which was not a saving knowledge, “they are again
entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end” of that man “is worse
than the beginning” (Matt 25:1-4, etc.; Matt 7:22).
Object. But, you will say, is not this a fair declaring of the work of
grace, or doth it not discover that, without all gainsaying, we are
under the Covenant of Grace, when we are able, not only to speak of the
glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ, but also to tell, and that by
experience, that we have been changed from worse to better, from sin to
a holy life, by leaving of the same, and that by hearing of the Word
preached?
Answer 1. A man may, in the first place, be able to talk of all the
mysteries of the Gospel, and that like an angel of God, and yet be no
more in God’s account than the sounding of a drum, brass, or the
tinkling of a cymbal, which are things that, notwithstanding their
sound and great noise, are absolutely void of life and motion, and so
are accounted with God as nothing—that is, no Christians, no believers,
not under the Covenant of Grace for all that (1 Cor 13:1-4). 2. Men may
not only do this, but may also be changed in reality, for a season,
from what they formerly were, and yet be nothing at all in the Lord’s
account as to an eternal blessing. Read 2 Peter 2:20, the Scripture
which I mentioned before; for, indeed, that one Scripture is enough to
prove all that I desire to say as to this very thing; for, if you
observe, there is enfolded therein these following things—(1.) That
reprobates may attain to a knowledge of Christ. (2.) This knowledge may
be of such weight and force, that, for the present, it may make them
escape the pollutions of the world, and this by hearing the Gospel.
“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the
knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again
entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end of that man is worse
than the beginning.” [Some professors, take them at the best, they are
but like dogs, spewing out their filth for a time.] Now that they are
reprobates, dogs, or sows, read further; “But,” saith he, “it is
happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to
his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in
the mire” (Verse 22).
[Third part of objection.] The last part of the objection. But, say
you, our practices in the worship of God shall testify for us that we
are not under the law; for we have by God’s goodness attained to as
exact a way of waking in the ordinances of God, and as near the
examples of the Apostles, as ever any churches since the primitive
times, as we judge.
[Answer to reason third.] What then? Do you think that the walking in
the order of the churches of old, as to matter of outward worship, is
sufficient to clear you of your sins at the judgment-day? or, do you
think that God will be contented with a little bodily subjection to
that which shall vanish and fade like a flower, when the Lord shall
come from Heaven in flaming fire, with His mighty angels (2 Thess
1:7,8). Alas, alas, how will such professors as these are fall before
the judgment-seat of Christ! Then such a question as this, “Friend, how
camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment?” will make them be
speechless, and fall down into everlasting burnings, thousands on a
heap; for you must know that it is not then your crying, Lord, Lord,
that will stand you in stead; not your saying, We have ate and drank in
Thy presence, that will keep you from standing on the left hand of
Christ. It is the principle as well as the practice that shall be
inquired into at that day.
Quest. The principle, you will say, what do you mean by that?