and to be unconcerned about the evils of it, in a mere romantic way:
Such was the Stoical doctrine, denying health and wealth, sleep and
safety, to have any goodness in them; and professing that pain, poverty,
sickness, want, hunger, and shame, were no evils; and upon this account
they taught their disciples to be unsolicitous about the one or the
other, because they were neither good nor evil. Thus, while they change
the use of words they would make stocks and stones of us, rather than
intelligent and holy despisers of sensible things; but the christian
doctrine teaches us to contemn both the good and evil things of sense
and time, by the expectation and prospect of the invisible and eternal
world, where both the good and evil things are of infinitely greater
importance: So our Saviour preaches, Mat. vi. 19, 20. _Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal._ Pluck out a right eye, cut off
a right hand on earth, lest sparing these thy whole body be cast into
hell, where the gnawing worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched:
Mat. v. 29, 30. Mark ix. 43, &c. And the afflictions, as well as the
comforts of life, are contemned and surmounted by the spirit of a
christian, upon the same noble principles; Rom. viii. 18. He reckons
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us; and therefore he endures
the cross, and despises the shame, following the divine example of
Christ.
Other doctrines have endeavoured to raise the minds of men above the
solicitudes or cares of this life upon mean and base principles,
unworthy of human nature, denying the immortality of the soul, and the
life to come. Thus the Epicureans would raise the professors of their
religion above the fears of death, by assuring them, that after death
there was nothing; that the soul and body died together, were blended in
the dust, and were for ever lost in one grave: but, on the other hand,
the religion of Christ gives us a view of things beyond the grave,
insures a resurrection to us, brings life and immortality to light by
the gospel, by Christ Jesus, who together with the Father, is originally
possessed of eternal life, and thus leads us on to a glorious contempt
of this present world of vanity: _For our light affliction, which is but
for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things
which are not seen; for the things which are seen, are temporal; but the
things which are not seen, are eternal. For we know, that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens_; 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18.
and v. 1.
Other professions taught their followers not so much to contemn riches
and pleasures, as to exchange them for fame and glory, and public
applause; and this they looked upon as their chief good. Most of the
philosophers may be charged with this just accusation; and Cicero, that
great philosopher, in a notorious degree; but the christian both labours
and suffers reproach, because he trusts in the living God, and has the
promise of the life to come; 1 Tim. iv. 8, 10. he goes through the trial
of cruel mockings, as well as scourgings and torture, that he may obtain
a better resurrection; Heb. xi. 35, 36. He neglects his ease and his
honours together, and despises fame as well as pleasure and riches, and
all mortal desirables, when they stand in competition with his immortal
hopes.
Others have despised the grandeur and pomp of life, and thrown their
money into the sea; but instead of exalting themselves above men, they
have neglected all the necessary duties and decencies of life; they have
lived as it were, in common with their fellow animals of the earth, and
degraded themselves to the rank and level of brute-beasts; such were the
Cynic philosophers: But the christian is diligent and active in all
services to God and man, and fulfils the duties of his present state
with honour, while he lives upon the hopes of futures and invisibles.
Thus if we consider either the degree of this part of holiness, _viz._
the contempt of the world, if we consider the reasons upon which it is
founded, or how far this contempt of the world has prevailed among the
generality of christians; we shall find the gospel hath infinitely the
advantage of all other doctrines of all other religions.
To see a man raised above this world, and yet exercised in all the
duties of life; to see him live with a holy superiority to all things
below heaven, and yet fulfilling all his relative duties among men with
diligence; to see a man ready every moment to be gone from this world,
and yet content to stay here as long as his Heavenly Father pleases,
under the troubles, and burdens, and agonies of this life too; this
shews the religion to be divine, and from heaven: _he that believes, has
this witness in himself_; and where faith rises high, this witness
appears evident and glorious.
III. Another part of the holiness of eternal life, consists in a delight
in the worship and enjoyment of God. This is perfect in heaven, this is
eternal life; Rev. vii. 15. They are before the throne of God night and
day, that is, perpetually, and serve him there in his temple. Now the
christian religion attains this end in a good measure; it brings the
soul to delight in divine worship and converse with God, which no mere
human religion could ever do: For since no human religion could ever
teach an awakened sinner, how he might appear in the presence of a holy
God, with assurance and comfort, no other religion could make a soul
delight in the worship of God. We can never delight in drawing near to
God, that hath infinite vengeance in him, while we know not but he will
pour that vengeance out upon us; we fly far from him, unless we have
some good ground of hope, that he will forgive us our iniquities and
receive us into his favour. Now since there is no other doctrine that
shews us how our sins may be forgiven, or how the favour of God may be
attained; there is no other religion can allure or draw us into the
presence of God with pleasure; Heb. x. 19, 20. Let us draw near and
worship the Father, in full assurance and confidence, that he will
accept our persons and our worship, since we have such an high-priest to
introduce us with acceptance; since by his flesh and incarnation, he has
made a way for us to come into the presence of God with satisfaction and
pleasure, therefore let us draw near and worship him. The influence of
this argument has been found by christians, by every christian; for
there is not one that hath believed in Christ, but has had this witness
in himself. There is a sweet serenity and calmness of spirit belongs to
the souls of those in whom faith is lively and strong, even when they
stand before God, though he be a God of terror and vengeance to sinners:
for they know Jesus is their atonement, their introducer, their peace;
and therefore they love to draw near to him as a God reconciled, they
rejoice in him as their highest happiness.
Other professions of men, when they abandoned sensual pleasures, and the
vanities of this world, yet taught them that their happiness must flow
from themselves, and made their own virtues their heaven, without any
regard to God. These philosophers were self-sufficient, full of
themselves, and they were so far from making their rivers of pleasure to
flow from the right-hand of God, that they even denied their dependance
upon him in this respect; and they supposed their wise men to be equal
with God, deriving all their blessedness from within themselves. But
christianity leads the soul out of itself to God, as it gives a clearer
and larger knowledge of God himself, in his felicitating perfections,
than the heathens could ever attain; it assures us, that being near to
God, is our heaven, and the sight of him is our happiness, as well as
provides a new and living way of access to him, through the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ: therefore the believer rejoices in all
opportunities of drawing near to God, for it is the beginning of his
heaven, and his delight in it is an inward and powerful witness to the
truth of his religion.
IV. Zeal and activity for the service of God, is another part of heaven,
another part of eternal life, and the holiness of it. We have abundant
reason to believe that heaven is not a state of mere enjoyment, unactive
and idle; but a state of service and activity for that God whose we are,
and from whom we have received infinite favours. The angels in heaven
are swift messengers to perform the will of their God; Ps. ciii. 20, 21.
The spirits of just men made perfect are like angels. They do the will
of God as a pattern for us on earth; for we are taught to pray, that his
will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. What particular services
they are employed in of God, we know not; but that they are for ever
zealous in those services which God employs them in, we doubt not, we
cannot disbelieve. And this active zeal in the service of God, and
pursuit of his glory, is the very temper and practice of the true
christian; and that not only in some more important enterprizes, but in
the common actions of life: Whether he eat or drink, or whatsoever he
does, he makes it his rule of life, to do all to the glory of God; 1
Cor. x. 31.
Now this sublime zeal, this noble activity for the service of God and
his glory, was not found among the professors of other religions. To
glorify God, was not their aim and end; those that rose highest among
the old philosophers had not set their aim and end right: They that knew
God, glorified him not as God; Rom. i. 21. They did not make the glory
of God the great design of their actions: It was not zeal for God that
animated them to pursue virtue, but merely their own ends, their own
satisfaction or ease, or the vanity of their own minds, pride and
attempt of superiority above other men; or at best, their motives of
action were the reasonableness of virtue, and the benefit of it to
themselves and their fellow-citizens. But the glory of God is the aim of
christians, and the end of every true believer: he has some degree of
zeal for the honour of God, and therefore is active in those duties
which God proposes to him.
When we see a person regardless of all his self-interests in the world,
and at the same time pursuing the honour of an invisible God, following
hard after the glory of that God that his fleshly eyes have not seen; we
may say he has something above what mere corrupt nature leads him to, or
impresses upon him. The believer has this witness in himself, zeal and
activity for the glory of God in the world.
V. The last thing that goes to make up holiness, is a hearty love to all
men, and especially to the saints. This is a noble ingredient of eternal
life; this is a divine and heavenly temper; this is a beautiful part of
the image of God communicated to the soul of man. That God who is the
original and foundation of eternal life, is a glorious pattern of this
love; he makes his sun to rise, and his rain to fall on the just and on
the unjust, and leaves not himself without witness of his divinity, by
filling the hearts of men with food and gladness: See Mat. v. 45. Acts
xiv. 17. He shews his love to enemies and rebels, in forgiving millions
of offences, and pardoning crimes of the largest size and deepest
aggravations, and he loves his saints with peculiar tenderness. Our Lord
Jesus Christ, who also is the true God and eternal life, came down from
heaven to exemplify his divine love. It was his love to mankind that
persuaded him to put on flesh and blood, and prevailed with him to
suffer pains, agonies, and death, that his enemies might obtain
salvation and life. O glorious example of love! Now this is in some
measure wrought into the make of every true christian, and imitated in
the practice of every true believer: He is obliged, by one of the chief
rules of his religion to love his neighbour as himself: that is, to do
that to others, which he thinks just and reasonable that they should do
to him; Mat. xxii. 39. Luke vi. 31. He is bound to forgive freely those
that offend him, as he hopes for forgiveness of his offences against
God; Mat. vi. 14, 15. He rejoices in the welfare of his
fellow-creatures, without repining: He loves his enemies, does good to
them that hate him, blesses those that curse him, and prays for his
persecutors and spiteful foes; Luke vi. 27. He pities all that are
miserable, but takes a peculiar delight in his fellow-christians; (the
christians must be known by this, that they love one another.) _He does
good to all but especially to the household of faith_; Gal. vi. 10.
Other religions know nothing of so generous and diffusive a love; the
men of heathenism were _hateful, and hating one another, and spent their
lives in malice and envy_; Tit. iii. 3. They did not so much as aspire
to so divine a virtue as the love of enemies; this is the noble
singularity of our gospel. The heathen professions encouraged revenge,
and made it one ingredient of a hero: But envy and malice, wrath and
revenge, must be banished from the heart and practice of a christian, to
whom the kindness and love of God our Saviour has appeared; these vices
must stand aloof from the saint, and thus bear a testimony to the truth
and divinity of the doctrine of Christ.
I grant that every one of these instances, and all these parts of
eternal life which I have now described, are not to be found equally in
all believers; nor are they in every believer in a very eminent and
evident degree. But if we take all of them together, pardon of sin,
peace of conscience, the favour of God, and a sense of his love, a
pleasurable harmony of all our powers, an aversion to all sin, and
hatred of every iniquity, a holy contempt of this world, in the
pleasures, as well as in the pains and sorrows of it; delight in the
worship of God, and desire after his enjoyment; zeal and activity in
service for God, with a sincere aim for his glory, and a hearty love to
fellow-creatures and fellow-christians: I say, if we join all these
together, we shall find that the christian religion has a witness far
superior to all other doctrines that ever pretended to divinity. We
shall find that every believer has something of all these qualities
wrought in his heart, and it is exemplified in his life. Truly, where
none of these are found, that person cannot profess himself a christian
with any just ground of hope: Where there is not such a witness as this
to the truth of christianity, where there is not this eternal life begun
in some sensible measure and manner, that person’s profession of
christianity is but vain; and his practice and his course contradict the
words of his lips, when he pronounces himself a believer in the Son of
God.
I might here take notice, that the three that bear witness on earth to
the truth of the gospel, _viz._ the spirit, the water, and the blood,
may be expounded agreeably to the foregoing discourse. The blood may
signify the pacification of a guilty conscience by the atoning blood of
Christ. The water, may intend the sanctification and purifying of our
natures from sinful appetites and practices, as by the washing of water:
And the spirit may imply that efficacious influence which a believer
receives from the Holy Spirit, both toward the pacification of his
conscience, and the purification of his soul. All these witness to the
truth of christianity; though others are of opinion, that the Spirit in
his miraculous operations, the water, or purity of the nature and life
of Christ, and the blood, or his violent death, and the attendants on
it, are the three witnesses on earth which the apostle designs; nor can
I absolutely determine which is the right.
Before I conclude, I would lay down one caution and one reflection.
The caution is this: That though I exclude all human religions from the
honour, power, and glorious effects of christianity, as being utterly
incapable of them, yet the Jewish religion, and that of the ancient
patriarchs, which were divine, are not hereby totally excluded from this
honour, and these characters, but only in part: For there were many
souls in whom these beginnings of eternal life were wrought under those
dispensations, but not with that glory and evidence as under the
christian. And indeed Judaism was but a sort of infant christianity, a
veiled gospel. The christian religion is Judaism fulfilled, or the
gospel standing in open light. All that holiness and happiness which was
found among the Jews or patriarchs, is entirely owing to Christ and his
gospel, to the sacrifice, and the spirit, and grace of Jesus, which were
typified by the legal atonements, and blood, sprinklings and washings;
and which wrought powerfully this divine life in their souls, through
all those types, but with feebler conviction, and in a fainter light.
Besides, it should be observed here also, that since the christian
religion has received its full authority and divine establishment, the
Jewish dispensation ceases, and is no longer owned, or aided by the
Spirit of God, to produce these wonderful effects. The types and shadows
of that state have now no power to speak peace and pardon to the guilty
soul, or to purify our sinful natures, and begin eternal life in them.
These are abolished by divine appointment, and God will bear witness to
them no more. They who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh, are deceivers; 2 John 7. _He that hath not the Son of God hath
not life_; 1 John v. 12. So that the doctrine of Christ is the only
religion which we know of, that is practised in the world, that has had
the stamp of divine authority above sixteen hundred years; and as there
have been multitudes of witnesses to the truth of it, multitudes of
souls in the first, and all the succeeding ages, who have felt eternal
life wrought in them by the power of the gospel, so there is no other
religion ever since can produce and shew such divine testimony; for
there _is salvation in no other name_; Acts iv. 12.
The only reflection I shall make, is this: We may derive hence a solid
and infallible rule for self-examination, whether we are christians or
no. Have we in ourselves this divine witness of our christianity? Have
we eternal life wrought in our own hearts? Have we desired peace of
conscience and any hope of pardoning grace by trusting in the Son of
God? Have we found any satisfaction of soul in drawing near to God by
Jesus the Mediator? Do we find a sincere love to God kindled in our
souls by the hope of his special favour? Is there any thing of the
holiness or happiness of the heavenly state begun within us? Have we an
aversion to all sin in some degree answerable to what the saints and
angels have in heaven? Have we a holy contempt of this world? Have we
overcome the world as those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God,
and have put their trust in him? Do we live above it, as those that are
within sight of eternal blessedness? Are we come to mount Sion, the city
of the living God, to the innumerable company of angels, and the church
of the first-born, &c. in this respect? Do we look down upon the
tempting vanities of this life with a sacred disdain, something like
those that dwell on high in the full possession of life eternal? Is
there any similitude between our life and theirs, between our hearts and
theirs? Do we delight in the worship of God? Is his presence our joy? Is
his enjoyment the object of our desires? Are we zealous for his service?
Are our aims set for his glory? Are we active in the discharge of the
duties that he hath appointed to us, and the several provinces of
service that he has ordained us to be engaged in, in this world? Do we
do the will of our heavenly Father on earth, in some measure as it is
done in heaven? How stand our hearts affected toward our
fellow-creatures? Do we love our neighbour, by dealing with him as we
desire he should deal with us? Can we forgive enemies? Do we rejoice in
the welfare of others without envy, and take delight in the holiness and
peace of our fellow-creatures, and give the poor and mean followers of
Christ, a large share in our hearts and kindest affections? If this be
the character and temper of our spirits, and this the conduct of our
lives, then eternal life is begun in us; then we may say to our own
souls, This is the record that God hath given concerning his Son, that
there is eternal life in him; 1 John v. 11. and we are sure we build our
hopes on a solid foundation, for this life is already begun in our
hearts, and the Spirit of God, who has begun this work, will carry it
on, and make it perfect in the days of eternity. _Amen._
SERMON III.
_The Inward Witness to Christianity._
1 JOHN v. 10—He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in
himself.
THE THIRD PART.
Many and glorious are the outward testimonies that God has given to our
religion, both in the days when his Son Jesus dwelt on earth, and in the
time of the ministration of the apostles who followed their blessed
Lord. The miracles wrought, the prophecies fulfilled, and the various
glories attending the ministration of the gospel, conspire to confirm
our faith; each of them are evidences of the truth and divinity of this
doctrine; and all of them joined together, bear such a testimony as
cannot be resisted. We live now in these later days at a long distance
from those seasons wherein these miracles were wrought, and wherein God
appeared in so immediate a manner from heaven, to witness to the truth
of the gospel of his Son; but God has taken care to furnish every true
believer with a sufficient witness of christianity; we are not left void
of evidence at this day. He that believeth, hath the witness in himself.
There is an internal testimony given to the gospel of Christ in the
heart of every one that receives it in truth. There are the beginnings
of that eternal life wrought in the soul, which the Son of God bestows
on all believers; he that hath the Son hath life. The spiritual life of
a christian runs into eternity; it is the same divine temper, the same
peaceful and holy qualities of mind communicated to the believer here in
the days of grace, which shall be fulfilled and perfected in the world
of glory; and this is a blessed witness to the truth of christianity; it
proves with abundant evidence, that it is a religion sufficient to save
souls, for the salvation is begun in every man that receives it.
I shall repeat no more of the foregoing discourses, but proceed
immediately to answer the last question there proposed, _viz._ What sort
of witness this is, which true faith gives to the gospel of Christ, and
what are the remarkable properties of this testimony.
I answer, I. It is a witness that dwells more in the heart than in the
head. It is a testimony known by being felt and practised, and not by
mere reasoning; the greatest reasoners may miss of it, for it is a
testimony written in the heart; and upon this account it has some
prerogatives above all the external arguments for the truth of
christianity. This inward argument is always at hand, when a believer is
in the exercise of his graces, and acting according to his new nature
and life: It is an argument that is not lost through the weakness of the
brain, the defect of the memory, and long absence from books and study,
to which other arguments are liable; it is an argument that cannot be
forgotten, while true religion remains in the heart, for it is graven
there in lasting characters.
Those words of St. Paul to the Corinthians, in his second epistle, chap.
iii. ver. 2, 3. have a reference to our present case: _Ye are manifestly
declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with
ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but
in fleshly tables of the heart._ We have a glory in our religion, that
distinguishes it from, and advances it above the Jewish dispensation;
their law was written in tables of stone, and afterwards Moses wrote it
out at large in a book: But ye have something (says the apostle) written
in your hearts, that proves the truth of your religion, and of my divine
commission, ye who are converted by my gospel; ye Corinthians, who were
once vile as the vilest, and upon whose souls the devil, by his
temptations and by his power, had inscribed many dark characters, and
seemed to seal you over, and mark you to damnation, ye are now the
epistle of Christ, ye have those dismal characters rased out, and ye
have golden and bright ones inscribed. The image of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who is eternal life, appears fairly written on your souls: Ye
are the epistle of Christ, and eternal life is begun in you, and thus
the gospel witnesses its own truth and divinity by an internal evidence.