there are many who by the force of education, or by the force of
argument, yield their assent to the doctrine, and believe it to be true,
yet it is a cold, feeble, languid assent; it begins and ends in the
head, and never reaches the heart; it does not awaken them thoroughly,
nor make them long after the pardon and the grace promised: They seem to
sit still contented with the forms of their catechism, and a general
belief of the christian religion, so far as they know it; but are under
no painful solicitude, or concern of soul, about the forgiveness of
their sins, the sanctification of their natures, their interest in the
favour of God and eternal happiness; and therefore they proceed no
farther, they never heartily apply themselves to Jesus Christ the only
Saviour, and they fall short of the blessing. The devils believe as much
as they do, but are in a state of damnation still.
Again, consider that a full assurance of our own interest in the favour
of God through Jesus Christ, is the highest degree of attainment on
earth; but it is not necessary to the being of christianity, nor doth it
belong to every christian. It is true indeed, that every one ought to
seek after it by the frequent exercise of faith and love, and every
grace, thus brightening the evidences of his saving interest in the
blessings of the gospel daily; and where assurance is obtained upon
solid grounds, holiness and joy will rise by swift degrees, and the soul
will make glorious advances towards the heavenly state and complete
salvation: But some christians scarce ever arrive at this attainment all
their days.
Since therefore a mere assent to the gospel in general is not sufficient
for salvation, and a full assurance of our own interest is not
necessary, it follows, that an affiance or trust in Christ as a Saviour
is the most essential and important act of faith. This is that sacred
and appointed duty of a convinced soul, whereby it is made partaker of
the blessings of salvation according to the gospel, if it be practised
in the way which I have just before described.
II. Take notice here of the difference between the law and the gospel,
between the covenant of works, and the covenant of grace. The one gives
us life upon our working, the other saves us from death, and gives us a
right to heaven upon our believing, therefore one is called _the law of
works_, and the other _the law of faith_; Rom. iii. 27,
It is proper here to observe, that the scripture sometimes speaks of two
covenants; the old and the new: and means chiefly the œconomy or
dispensation of the Jews under Moses, and the œconomy of Christ, or the
dispensation of the gospel since the Messiah came. But by the two
covenants I now speak of, I would be understood to mean the law or
constitution of innocency, and the constitution of grace.
By the constitution, or law of innocency, man was to have obtained
eternal life before his fall; and as this law or covenant was given to
Adam as the head and representative of all mankind, so every son and
daughter of Adam continues under it till they accept of the covenant of
grace, or the offers of the gospel, either in the darker or brighter
discoveries of it: And therefore all mankind, Jews and Gentiles, are
laid under condemnation by it in the writings of St. Paul, in the second
and third chapters to the Romans. By this law of works, _every mouth is
stopped, and the whole world is become guilty before God_; Rom. iii. 19.
Though the nations of the Jews and christians, and perhaps the greatest
part of the heathen world, have had some revelations of the gospel or
covenant of grace, and have been under the outward offers of it; yet
Jews, heathens, and national christians, are all under the sentence of
the covenant of the law of works, till they enter into the covenant of
grace by repentance and faith in the mercy of God.
But the covenant of grace, or the gospel is a new constitution, which
God hath ordained for the relief of poor fallen miserable man, condemned
and perishing under the curse of the law of works. It is a constitution
of grace, whereby alone fallen sinners can obtain salvation.
The law of works demands universal obedience to all the commands of God,
obedience perfect and persevering; for this is the language of it; _the
man that doth them shall live in them_; Rom. x. 5. and it curses every
sinner without hope or remedy; _cursed is every one that continueth not
in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them_; Gal.
iii. 10, 12. But the voice of the gospel, the righteousness of faith, or
the way of justification by Christ, speaketh on this wise, _With the
heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is
made unto salvation; for the just shall live by faith_; Rom. x. 10. Gal.
iii. 11. The one proclaims eternal life to all that perfectly obey, the
other publishes salvation to all that believe, though their obedience be
very imperfect.
I grant indeed, that the apostle cites these descriptions of the law of
works out of the books of Moses, and therefore some persons would
suppose him only to mean the particular law given to the Jews at mount
Sinai, and not the general covenant of works made with Adam, and with
all mankind in him.
But to this I give these two answers:
1. The laws of works, which the apostle speaks of in the epistle to the
Romans, particularly in the second and third chapters, cannot signify
merely the Jewish law; for it is such a law as includes all the heathen
world, as appears plain; Rom. ii. 14, 15. and by which the heathens as
well as the Jews were condemned, and could never be justified; Rom. iii.
20. _By the deeds of the law shall no flesh he justified in his sight,
for by the law is the knowledge of sin_; therefore this must be a law
that extended to all mankind, since it stops every mouth, and proclaims
the whole world guilty before God.
2. The law given to the Jews, or the covenant of Sinai, so far as it is
purely political, was indeed a covenant of works; and their continuance
in, or rejection out of the land of Canaan, depended upon their own
works, their obedience or disobedience to this law, as it is often
expressed in the writings of Moses: And upon this account it is used
sometimes by the apostles as a very proper emblem or representative of
the covenant of works made with our first father Adam, who was to have
enjoyed or forfeited some earthly or heavenly paradise, according to his
obedience or disobedience. It is plain then, that though St. Paul may
cite the law of Moses to shew the nature of a law of works in general,
yet it does not follow that he means only the law or covenant of Sinai;
and it is as plain, by his including the Gentiles under it, that he does
not mean the law of Sinai, but the original law or covenant of works
made with all mankind in Adam their father and their head, and of which
the law of Sinai was a proper emblem or figure.
All laws of works therefore are insufficient for the salvation of sinful
man, and his restoration to God’s favour and image, and eternal life.
The law of Sinai was a law of works, promising an earthly Canaan to the
obedient Jews. The law of innocency in Eden was a law of works,
promising life and immortality to obedient mankind. But they have been
both wretchedly broken; man was turned out of paradise, and the Jews out
of Canaan, because of disobedience. But now the gospel whereby the Jews
or Gentiles are to be saved, or to obtain eternal life, requires faith
in the mercy and promises of God in and through Jesus Christ; and by
this means it saves us, though our obedience be far short of perfection:
This was the way whereby the Jews themselves were saved under the Old
Testament: for the _gospel was preached to them as well as unto us_;
Heb. iv. 2. though it was in darker hints, and types and figures. And in
this way were Abraham and David justified as the apostle teaches; Rom.
iv. 3, 4, 5, 6.
Though the Jews’ enjoyment of the land of Canaan depended on their good
works and obedience to the law of Moses, yet their hope and enjoyment of
heaven depended on their faith or trust in the mercy of God, which was
to be farther revealed in the days of the Messiah. And it is the same
gospel by which we are to obtain salvation, since Christ is come in the
flesh; but with this difference, that we are now more expressly required
to make Jesus Christ the object of our faith, and we have a thousand
clearer discoveries of his righteousness and grace than ever the Jews
were favoured with.
Happy mankind! though fallen and ruined in Adam, yet recovered and
raised to righteousness, grace, and glory by Jesus Christ. How dreadful
is that law which pronounces a curse and death upon every transgressor!
_Tribulation and wrath, indignation and anguish upon every soul that
doth evil, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile_; Rom. ii. 9. But
how sweet and reviving is the grace of that gospel, which becomes the
power of God to the salvation of every one that believeth, to the Jew
first, and also to the Greek!
The great and blessed God saw the frailty of his creature man, how ready
he was to ruin himself under a law of works; therefore he appointed his
recovery by the law of faith. And _what the law could not do, in that it
was weak through the infirmity of flesh, that he has sent his own Son
Jesus Christ in the likeness of sinful flesh_, to do for us, to fulfil
all the demands of the law, both in the penalty and the precept, _to
finish transgression, to made an end of sin_, by his own sufferings,
_and to bring in an everlasting righteousness, that whosoever believes
on him shall be saved_. Blessed God! How kind and condescending are thy
ways to the children of men! How full of compassion to rebels, who had
destroyed themselves! How gentle are the methods of thy recovering
mercy! If we will but confess our sins, mourn over our own follies,
return to the Lord our God by humble repentance, and put our trust in an
almighty Saviour, there is peace and pardon, there is grace, and life,
and glory provided for us, and laid up in the hands of Jesus Christ our
Lord.
III. Though the gospel offers us salvation by faith and not by works,
yet it effectually secures the practice of holiness since holiness is a
part of that salvation. We are saved from sin as well as from hell by
this gospel; and we must have our souls prepared for heaven, as well as
brought to the possession of it. He that pretends to trust in Christ,
for a deliverance from hell and has no desire to be made holy, he has no
desire after such a salvation as Christ proposes in his gospel, nor is
he like to attain it.
We must be sensible then of the corruption of our natures, the
perverseness of our wills, the vanity of our minds, the earthliness of
our affections, our inability to do that which is good for time to come,
as well as our guilt, condemnation and misery, because of our
transgressions past: We must desire that a thorough work of repentance
may be wrought in our hearts, that the power and reign of sin may be
broken there, and that we may become new creatures as well as desire to
escape the wrath of God, and hell, and eternal death, if ever we would
be partakers of that salvation which the gospel proposes. Christ will
not divide one part of his salvation from the other: And in vain do we
presume to trust in him for happiness, if we are not willing to be made
holy too.
How false and unreasonable are all the reproaches that are cast upon the
doctrine of salvation by faith, as though it tended to promote looseness
of life, and to indulge iniquity; when that very salvation includes in
it a freedom from the power of sin, and a delight in all that is holy?
This is the very character of Christ our Saviour, and the reason of _his
name Jesus_, that _he should save his people from their sins_; Mat. i.
21. If we are _delivered by Christ_, it is _from this present wicked
world_; Gal. i. 4. If we are _redeemed_, it is _from all iniquity, that
we might be a peculiar people purified to himself, zealous of good
works_; Tit. ii. 14.
IV. Though the gospel is such a glorious doctrine of grace, that there
is no reason to be ashamed of it, yet since it saves us by faith, and
not by works, there is no reason for us to boast when we are saved. We
may _glory_ indeed _in the cross of Christ_ and make our boast in the
Redeemer all the day long; but the gospel for ever cuts off all ground
of boasting in ourselves. Here the justice and mercy of God shine forth
gloriously; here the righteousness of God is declared, sinners find
remission or pardon, _God is just_, and _a justifier of him who
believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law?
Of works? Nay, but by the law of Faith_; Rom. iii. 25, 26, 27. _By grace
ye are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift
of God; not of works, lest any man should boast_; Eph. ii. 8, 9.
The gospel concurs with the law in this respect, that it shews us our
own guilt and vileness, our ruin and our impotence to restore ourselves,
and therefore it has put all our help upon another. God has _laid our
help upon one that is mighty to save_; Ps. lxxxix. 19, and he has
ordained that the way whereby we should derive this salvation, is by
renouncing all dependance upon self, and trusting in Christ and grace
for all that we enjoy and hope for. This is the business of faith; this
is the very nature of that Christian virtue, to disclaim all
self-sufficiency, and receive all from mere mercy; and therefore it is
appointed to be the means of our justification under the gospel;
therefore it is said so often in scripture, that we are _justified by
faith_, that divine grace may have all the glory; Rom. iv. 16. Therefore
it is of faith, that it might be of grace. We are ignorant and foolish,
and must derive wisdom from Christ: We are guilty, and must receive
righteousness from him: We are unholy, he is the spring of our
sanctification: We are captives and slaves to sin and Satan, and we must
have redemption from him: _He is made of God to us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, that no flesh might glory
in his presence_, but _he that glories, must glory in the Lord_; 1 Cor.
i. 29, 30.
Man, innocent man, had power and righteousness, and life put into his
own hands; but the first Adam grew vain in his self-sufficiency, and he
foolishly sinned, and lost it all: Therefore God, in order to our
recovery, would put power, and righteousness, and life into the hands of
another, even his own Son, the second Adam, that we might go out of
ourselves, and seek it all from another hand. Now faith, or trust, is
the proper act of the soul, to express our own emptiness, and our
dependance on another for all.
This is the language of faith, “Lord, I am a sinful and guilty creature;
I have no righteousness, no merit, to recommend me to thy favour; I have
no power to change my unholy nature, and rectify the criminal disorders
of my soul; I am unable to subdue the sins that dwell in me, or practise
the required duties of holiness; I deserve condemnation and death, and I
am by nature walking in the way to hell: helpless and hopeless for ever
in myself, but in thy rich grace is all my hope: I rejoice in the
discoveries of thy mercy; I come at the call of thy gospel, upon the
bended knees of my soul I accept of the proposals of thy grace; I give
up myself to thy power and mercy, as it is revealed in Jesus Christ, thy
Son, that I may be saved from sin and hell. To me belongs nothing but
shame and confusion of face; I renounce for ever all self-sufficiency,
and if ever I am saved, thy grace shall have all the glory.” Now when a
poor humbled sinner is brought thus far, and receives the salvation of
God in this lowly posture of soul, the great God has obtained a good
part of his designs in the gospel upon him; self is humbled, grace is
glorified, and the sinner is saved by faith.
V. Heaven is made up of believers. The whole number of the saved were
once sinners, and obtained salvation by faith.
The holy angels indeed never sinned, and yet whether their confirmed
state of holiness and glory is not secured to them by trust or
dependance on Christ, may be a reasonable enquiry; for _all things in
heaven and earth are_ said to be _gathered together, and reconciled in
him_; Eph. i. 10. Col. i. 20. But this we are sure of, that not one of
all the race of Adam hath been restored to the love of God, or raised to
heaven, by their own works but all by faith. It is sovereign and
glorious grace that has saved them all, and that by the gospel too, in
the various editions of it, from the promise in Eden, till the full
discovery of grace at the day of pentecost after the ascension of
Christ.
O it is a pleasing entertainment of soul to send our thoughts forward to
the last great day, or to send them upward to the courts of heaven and
glory, and to hear how the millions of redeemed sinners shout and sing
to the honour of divine grace! How all that happy world of believers
assist the melody, and dwell upon the delightful sound. “_Not unto us, O
God our Father, not unto us, but to thine own name_”, and to thy mercy
be all our honours paid though the ages of eternity. We were a race of
guilty and perishing rebels, who had sinned against thy majesty, and
ruined our own souls: We lay upon the borders of death and hell without
help, and without hope: We could do nothing to procure thy love, nor
merit any thing by the best of our works: But thou hast called us to
believe thy gospel, to trust in thy grace, and to lay down the arms of
our rebellion, and to receive the blessings of salvation by faith: We
have nothing to boast of, for we are mere receivers: Thou hast put forth
thine almighty arm, and hast made thy gospel the instrument of thy power
to save us; and while we feel and taste the complete salvation, thy
power and thy mercy shall have all the praise.
Not unto us, O Lord Jesus our Saviour, not unto us is any honour due;
but to thy condescending love; to thy compassion and death shall our
honours be paid, and our acknowledgments made for help. We saw ourselves
helpless, and were directed to thee for ever: We trusted in thee, and
thou hast saved us: it is thy sufferings that have procured our pardon;
it is by faith in thy blood we find an atonement; it is through thy
righteousness that we are justified and accepted of God, and made
partakers of these heavenly glories that shine all around us. All our
sacred comforts, our excellencies, and our joys are thine. Pride is
hidden from our eyes for ever, and boasting is banished from all our
tongues: It is thou hast fulfilled the law: it is thou hast suffered the
curse; it is thou hast purchased, and promised, and bestowed the
blessing. We believed thy word, we received thy grace, and behold, we,
dying sinners, are raised to life, and advanced to glory. There is not a
soul of us but delights to join in these sublime anthems of worship;
_Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and
wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing: Blessing, and
honour, and glory, and power be to him that sits upon the throne, and to
the Lamb for ever_. Amen.
HYMN FOR SERMON XVIII.
_Faith the Way to Salvation._
Not by the laws of innocence
Can Adam’s sons arrive at heaven;
New works can give us no pretence
To have our ancient sins forgiven.
Not the best deeds that we have done,
Can make a wounded conscience whole;
Faith is the grace, and faith alone,
That flies to Christ, and saves the soul.
Lord, I believe thy heavenly word,
Fain would I have my soul renew’d;
I mourn for sin, and trust the Lord,
To have it pardon’d and subdu’d.
O may thy grace its power display,
Let guilt and death no longer reign;
Save me in thine appointed way,
Nor let my humble faith be vain.
SERMON XIX.
_None Excluded from Hope._
ROM. i. 16.—The Gospel of Christ,—it is the power of God unto salvation
to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
We have seen the gospel of Christ vindicated in the former discourses on
this text, and the glorious doctrines of it guarded against the various
reproaches of an unbelieving world: We have heard what a powerful
instrument it is in the hand of God for the salvation of perishing
sinners. We have been taught the way to partake of this salvation, and
that is by believing; and we have learned what influence our faith has
in this sacred concernment. I proceed now to the last thing which I
proposed, and that is to shew the wide extent of this blessing of the
gospel; for it brings _salvation to every one that believes, to the Jew
first, and also to the Greek_.
Where the word Greek is used in opposition to the Barbarian, as it is in
the fourteenth verse before my text, it signifies the learned part of
mankind, as distinguished from those that are unlearned; the Greeks
being the most famous among the nations for wisdom, knowledge, or
learning in that day: But when this same word stands in opposition to
the Jew, as it does here in my text, then it includes all the heathen
world, so that when the apostle says, the gospel brings salvation both
to the Jew and the Greek, he shews the extent of this benefit to all
mankind that hear and receive it.
It may be worth our while to spend a few hints upon the order in which
the apostle represents the communication of this blessing, _viz._ to the
Jew first, and then to the Greek or Gentile.
When he describes, in the second chapter of this epistle, the terms or
conditions of the covenant of works, he sets mankind in the same order;
he pronounces _indignation and wrath upon every soul that doth evil, of
the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; but glory, honour and peace to
every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile_.
So when he declares the blessings of the covenant of grace or the
gospel, he brings the salvation first upon the Jews, and then upon the
Gentile nations: And one reason of it may be this, that the Jews having
been favoured with an earlier and more express discovery of the nature
and will of God than the heathens, they seem to stand fairest for the
participation of divine blessings and that, even by the law of works, if
life and righteousness could have been obtained by it, as well as by the
covenant of grace, or law of faith. But if they abuse their knowledge,
and their sacred advantages, to the neglect of God and godliness, faith
and works, they justly fall under a more severe condemnation every way,
because their guilt is greater.
But there may be some special reasons given why God thought it proper,
in the course of his providence, to send the notice of this salvation by
Jesus Christ among the Jews, before he sent it to the Gentile world.
I. The Jews were the chosen people of God, the sons and daughters of
Abraham, his friend, the first favourites of heaven, considered as a
family and a nation: and as he first preached to them the purity and
perfection of his law, whence they might discover their own sin and
misery, so he published his gospel of grace by Jesus Christ first among
them, and sent his Son with the messages of peace and forgiveness first
to their nation. The great God thought it becoming his equity to publish
his abounding mercy first toward them, amongst whom he first published
his law, to shew them their guilt and misery through the abounding of
sin: “By the law is the knowledge of sin; and where sin has abounded,
grace has much more abounded;” Rom. iii. and v.
II. The Jews had this same gospel preached to them many ages before in
types and emblems, in sacred ceremonies and dark prophecies. Now it was
fit, that the types and prophecies should be explained and the grace
contained therein revealed first to them; for hereby the gospel obtained
a great confirmation, and established its own truth, when it appeared in
all the parts of it so exactly answerable to the ancient figures, and to
the predictions of many hundred years. It was fit that the Messiah
should appear among them first, where his character add picture had been
drawn for many ages before, that so he might be known and distinguished
whensoever he should visit the world. It was fit that his doctrine
should be first published in plain language, where it had been long
written and spoken in metaphors. Thus the gospel went forth first from
Jerusalem, that it might be preached and proclaimed with more glorious
evidence among the rest of the nations.