Spirit too: They receive the promises and directions of the gospel,
through the influences of this Spirit. They derive light, holiness and
comfort from every part of the book of God; that is, from the law and
the prophets, the histories and the epistles, and from all the
ordinances of the sanctuary: He teaches them to borrow some food and
delight from Moses and David, as well as from Peter and John. He leads
them through the sweet fields of gospel grace, and directs them to
gather many a flower there for their refreshment, and to feed on the
fruit of the tree of life for their support. He shews them how to profit
by the ministry of a Paul, and to learn the deep mysteries of Christ: He
impresses on their souls the warm and pathetic words of an Apollos, and
fires their hearts thereby with zeal and love: He teaches his younger
disciples over again the first lessons of grace, which a Cephas had just
taught them. Thus Paul and Apollos, and Cephas are theirs.
He instructs them how to converse with things invisible and future by
faith, and to make use of the unseen and distant glories of eternity,
for their present comfort and joy. “It is the God of hope, who by his
Spirit fills them with all peace and joy in believing:” Rom. xv. 13. And
I might add also, that the Holy Spirit is given them, and dwells in them
as an earnest of their inheritance of all things, 2 Cor. v. 6. till the
redemption of this purchased possession, that is, till it shall be
redeemed, and freed from all the present incumbrances of sin and Satan;
Eph. i. 13, 14. Then in a happy hour shall this purchased possession be
disclosed in the fairest light, and proclaimed to be the property of the
saints.
To sum up all in a few words, a christian’s interest in all things is
well founded, and well confirmed. They are his by the original purpose
of God the Father, when he created all things; it was his design that
his chosen people should receive benefit from them. They are his by the
appointment of divine providence, that all things shall work together
for his good. They are his; for Christ the Son of God has purchased a
dominion over all things, that he may manage them for the service of his
redeemed ones. They are his, because the Spirit teaches him to derive
some advantage from all things by faith and holy meditation. God has
given himself to the saints as their portion for ever: He has given his
own Son for them as a ransom from death; he has given his Spirit to
them, as the principle of their life: And in this view, we may rise in
the language of faith, and say in the words of the blessed apostle, “How
shall he not herewith freely give us all things;” Rom. viii. 32.
Thus having made it appear in what sense all things are yours, and upon
what foundations this glorious privilege is built, I proceed in the
Last place, to consider what use may be made of this discourse.
First Use.—It affords a word of mourning and terror to obstinate and
impenitent sinners. Are all things made beneficial to the saints? Think
with yourselves then what you lose, because you are not of that number.
If you live and die in this sinful state, you have a comfortable
interest in nothing: Nothing works for your real benefit. Your abuse of
all things that you have any thing to do with, takes away the true
pleasure and enjoyment of what you possess, and turns them into a curse
to you instead of a blessing. _Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or
this world, or life or death, or things present, or things to come_,
nothing is yours: _for ye are not Christ’s_. And ye shall reap no final
and lasting advantage from any thing, if you persist in a sinful and
impenitent state; for ye are without God in the world, without Christ,
and without hope.
Do you sit under the ministry of Paul, who spreads the glorious light of
the gospel around you? But the God of this world hath blinded your
minds, that this divine light should not reach them: Even the preaching
of Paul is a savour of death unto you, if you live and die without the
faith and love of Christ. Do you hear the zealous and pathetic language
of Apollos? But your heart perhaps grows the harder under it: You resist
the affectionate entreaties of the gospel, from the lips of that
eloquent preacher. And even Apollos, whose soul is wont to melt with
compassion for perishing sinners, shall rise up in judgment against you.
And as for the plain and condescending ministry of Cephas, you despise
the man and his sermons together; therefore you can get no benefit by
them. Neither Paul, nor Apollos, nor Cephas is yours.
Well, if spiritual things are not yours, you hope, however, that you
have a property in things temporal: If the blessings of the church do
not belong to you, yet you claim a good share in this world, and the
blessings of it: You feed deliciously, you are dressed in gay colours
and gold, and you have wealth laid up in store for many years to come.
Poor vain creatures! What is all your treasure? What is your property in
it? A sorry property in lands, and a large estate, when not a clod of
the earth, nor a penny of the money shall turn to your real and lasting
benefit! I grant that you possess some of the good things of this world
indeed. But your riches and plenty are not real and proper blessings,
while you are afar from Christ, and strangers to him: Your own unbelief
and impenitence, and rebellion against God, turn all the comforts of the
world into curses: It is only the grace of Christ can take off the
curse, and sanctify this world into a blessing.
Life is not yours; it is not for your final advantage, while you waste
it in vanity and sinful amusements: A long life spent in this manner,
shall but add to your guilt, and aggravate your condemnation. Death is
not a benefit, but a dreadful hour to you, for it delivers you over to
the full power of Satan that cruel tormentor, and opens the scene of
your everlasting sorrows.
Things present are not blessings to you, while you resolve to continue
in this sinful state. You abuse the day-light, and waste it in trifles
or in crimes; or at best you spend it in an eager pursuit of the things
of the world, with the neglect of God. The night is given to recruit
nature for new services, but you seize the shadows of the evening to
make a screen for your secret iniquities, and hide your sins behind the
curtains of midnight.
You feed on the fruits of the earth, and other rich provisions of divine
bounty; but perhaps you make them instruments of shameful intemperance:
Or at best you lay out the strength of them in empty follies, or in low
earthly designs, without a thought of God or heaven. The morning and the
evening wait upon you in long successions, but you are heaping up
iniquities from morning to evening. You walk daily in the paths of
death, and the suns-beams do but light you onward to everlasting
darkness. You are nourished by your food for the day of slaughter. Daily
and hourly you abuse the goodness of God, and even these abused
blessings of his goodness shall call for greater degrees of vengeance at
his awful judgment seat. Thus neither the light of the sun, nor the
fruits of the earth, neither day nor night, are yours; for you abuse
them to sinful purposes, and they yield you no real profit.
And if things present are not yours, if ye have no solid and lasting
benefit by them, much less can you pretend to claim any comfortable
share in the things that are to come. There is a heaven of happiness
provided for the saints, but you are utterly unprepared to fulfil the
business of it, or to taste the blessedness. There is no room nor place
there for you. There is nothing glorious and delightful among all the
promises of God, or all the joyful scenes of the world to come, that you
can claim any title to, nor have you any interest in them. When hell
shall open its mouth indeed, to receive millions of the damned,
according to the final sentence of the Judge, there you will find a
place and room provided for you; but it is an uneasy and dreadful one.
Hell is yours, the vengeance of God is yours, endless misery is yours;
you have been treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath; and you can
claim nothing but this painful portion, this dismal and everlasting
inheritance.
And can you be content with such a portion as this is, while the saints
are inheritors of all that is holy and happy, both in this world and the
next? O may your busy thoughts be awakened betimes, and make you ever
restless and uneasy in your present wretched estate! Return to the Lord
in humble mourning for all your past iniquities: Return to God speedily,
from whom you have wickedly departed: Loath yourselves because of your
abominations, and abandon every idol: _Say to him, my Father, in the
spirit of faith and penitence, and he will put you among the children,
and give you a goodly heritage_; Jer. iii. 19.
Seek acquaintance with Jesus the Son of God, the Saviour, the Lord and
Heir of all things; commit your souls to his hands, resign yourselves
entirely to his grace, that he may change your unholy natures by his
Spirit, that he may cleanse away your guilt by the blood of his
atonement, that he may give you an interest in his own riches; then the
covenant of his love shall sanctify to you all the enjoyments of earth
and time, and make you possessors of all the good things in heaven and
eternity.
Second Use.—This doctrine discovers to us the glory of the new covenant.
A blessed covenant indeed that has given so rich a treasure to creatures
so unworthy! We are sinners, and deserve nothing, yet when we believe in
the Son of God, the gospel gives us in our measure the inheritance and
possession of all things.
Adam was made Lord of this lower world; this earth and the creatures
that dwell on it were put into his hands, all things below were given
him for his use, his support, and his delight. Thus mankind considered
in the first Adam, in his innocent estate, were lords of all. But _by
one man sin entered into the world_; Rom. v. 12. and by that sin, Adam
has forfeited his sovereignty and dominion, with all his large
possession of the creatures, both for himself and for us. When the
sentence came forth from the mouth of God, _Cursed be the ground for thy
sake_; Gen. iii. 17. the curse fell on all this lower world, and did, as
it were, make a seizure of the creatures out of the hands of Adam the
great sinner. They are no more his in that sanctified manner for his
real and final benefit, as they were before: They now become instruments
of temptation and sin, pain, and sorrow and misery. But the covenant of
grace restores all back again to us in and by the second Adam, who is
the Lord of the new world, and under this character, is possessor of all
things: And a sanctified use of all things is given to us again, in and
by Christ Jesus. O glorious covenant, that can take away the curse from
creatures, and make them become a blessing to the saints!
But there is a further glory in it still; for our possession of all
things in the second Adam, is far more secure than it was in the first.
This rich and extensive treasure is put into the hands of Christ our
Mediator, our Head, and our Surety for us, that we may not abuse our
possession by sin to our own ruin; and that we may not forfeit our
inheritance the second time, and so lose it for ever.
Third Use.—This doctrine yields sweet consolation to a poor afflicted
saint, who is taught to make a right improvement of it. The gospel
should teach a christian in these circumstances, such divine language as
this: “Am I poor and despised by the great and rich in this world? yet I
trust I am made a child of God by his renewing grace, and the promise
gives me a right to all things. God my Father has engaged that all
things shall work together for my good. He has made me a joint-heir with
his best-beloved Son Jesus, and has given me a fair and large
inheritance. I shall be possessor of every comfort among the creatures
that is necessary to my supreme interest, and my final happiness, and
God himself is my eternal portion.
“What if I cannot read my name and my title to lands and houses, to
green fields and palaces, in large conveyances and writings under the
seal of men? but I can read my name as a christian in the covenant of
grace, under the seal of God, and the blood of his Son, and there I find
that all things are mine. While I survey the gardens of a rich sinner,
every herb and flower there gives me more sweetness than he can find in
them all: For I can converse with God my Maker, and my Father, in every
herb, and every flower. While I walk amongst the trees of my neighbour’s
fields, they yield me their refreshing shade, and compose my thoughts to
divine meditation. I can lift up my eyes to the stately building where
my neighbour dwells, and raise my thoughts thence to the mansions of
glory: Then I rejoice to think how much my inheritance and my mansion
there exceeds the most magnificent structure on earth. Thus his fields,
and his gardens, and his stately dwelling, afford a divine light to me,
which perhaps the earthly possessor of them knows nothing of: And though
I have almost nothing that I can call my own on earth, yet, in this
sense, _I possess all things_. My God hath given me so much of the good
things of this world, as he saw needful and proper for my real interest:
and surely if I might have had all things within my immediate reach, and
under my sovereignty, I would not lay hold of more of them (if I were
truly wise) than would promote my welfare.
“Do I sit at the footstool of the rich in the house of God; or am I but
a door-keeper in the sanctuary, yet I can there hear Paul declare the
sublime mysteries of the gospel, and while he reveals the wonders of
God’s eternal love, my heart within me believes, and adores, and
rejoices. Apollos entertains me with most affectionate discourses of the
grace of Christ and his glory: my faith rises high, my love is kindled
to him whom my eyes have not seen; I believe in him, I love him, and my
joy grows almost unspeakable. I remember the former instructions of
Cephas, who taught me the first principles of this divine religion; and
I take pleasure in those sacred foundations. Blessed be God, they are
unshaken, and my faith and hope, which were begun under his ministry,
stand for ever firm. Paul, and Apollos, and Cephas are mine.
“It has pleased my heavenly Father indeed, to lay many sorrows upon me
in this wilderness; but I have learned to think and speak like a
christian, and say, Though I appear _as dying, yet behold I live_;
though I am _chastised_, yet I am _not killed_: Every stroke of his rod
is given by the hand of his love. His rod, like the rod of Aaron,
blossoms with divine blessings, and brings forth holy fruit. These
wounds that I feel let out the blood of pride, and cure the distempers
of my soul. Thus the very sufferings of nature, and the sorrows of life
are mine; I have learned to reckon my afflictions among my blessings;
they work for my profit. Whether peace or pain, are all mine. Besides, I
solace myself in the midst of my poverty and distress with this sweet
meditation, that the less I enjoy of temporal comforts, and the delights
of this world, if I improve my sufferings and sorrows well, there is the
more joy and glory laid up for me in the world to come. _My light
afflictions which are but for a moment, are working for me a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory_; 2 Cor. iv. 17. Is my life on
earth stretched out to a tiresome age? Heaven will be much the sweeter,
and after many toils, I shall have the stronger relish of an eternal
rest. Or does death make haste toward me in younger years, and bring my
body quickly down to the dust? My soul then is but dismissed the sooner
to the building on high that is prepared for me; for whether life or
death, all are mine.”
“When I cast my eyes around, and survey the present frame of things, the
sun in his daily circuit, and the moon and stars in their nightly
courses, my faith assures me they are all employed in rolling the months
and hours away, that stand between me and immortal happiness: And when
the morning of the resurrection dawns upon the earth, the gospel tells
me, that I have a share in all the rising glories of that day. Should
the heavens and the earth be shortly set on fire, if I have but my faith
awake within me, I shall have no fear nor surprize; I myself, and all my
best interests are out of the reach of these flames; my treasures are of
an unperishing kind. The period of all things here below shall but usher
in my brightest hours, and begin the years of my eternal pleasure; for
the book of God assures me, that things present and things to come are
mine. Make haste then, all ye remaining revolutions of nature; and days,
and months, and ages make haste: Time cannot fly too fast for me, who
have such an eternity in view. My Lord hath told me in his word, surely
I come quickly, and my heart echoes to that voice of my beloved, Amen,
even so come Lord Jesus.”
Fourth Use.—This doctrine requires the believer to be found in the
constant exercise of faith, that so he may be able always to survey his
inheritance, and take solid delight in it. Otherwise, when he sustains
loss in temporal things, and sickness and trouble attend him in the
flesh, he will be ready to judge by the mere principles of sense, and to
think his comforts all gone, and that he has nothing left. It is faith
alone can teach a believer to rejoice in this treasure given him by the
covenant of grace, when the world has taken almost all sensible comforts
from him. The natural man with an eye of sense looks on things just as
the eye of a brute-animal beholds them, and sees nothing more than
according to the common impressions they make on flesh and blood: But
the eye of faith is aided by the divine glass of the covenant, which as
a microscope discovers many beauties where the natural eye unassisted,
can see nothing but roughness and deformity.
It is nothing but faith fixing its eyes on sanctified losses and
crosses, sanctified pains, and sickness, and distresses, that can enable
us to reckon these among our treasures. It is nothing but the spirit of
faith that can instruct us to think ourselves rich, because we are heirs
of the kingdom, while we are poor and destitute in this lower world;
James ii. 5. It is the spirit of faith that taught the Apostle Paul to
triumph under all his infirmities, in such language as this; _As dying
and behold we live; as sorrowful, and yet always rejoicing; as poor, and
yet making many rich; as having nothing_, and _yet possessing all
things_; 2 Cor. vi. 9, 10. And if we have the same spirit of faith we
may believe and speak the same language.
Fifth Use.—This doctrine forbids all murmuring at the hand of God,
though his dispensations may have something painful and severe in them.
He has given us all things indeed, by the promise of the gospel, but he
has not put this treasure into our own hands, lest we should abuse and
forfeit it; but he has put it into the hands of Christ for us; and it is
Christ our Lord who distributes out such parcels and portions of our
estate to us daily, as his perfect wisdom sees most proper to promote
our real interest.
The christian under sickness, perhaps will say, Is not life and health
writ down in the inventory of my inheritance? Yes, but sickness and
death are written down there too, and thy Saviour knows that sickness is
better for thee at this season than health. Do not murmur at his hand,
for God the Father has intrusted him to manage and govern all his own
vast dominions; and canst not thou entrust him to manage thy estate, to
dispose of thy concerns, and to allot thy daily portion to thee?
The saint surrounded with distress and poverty, or naked, and hungry
will say, Is not food and raiment, and peace specified in the articles
of the covenant, and numbered among my treasures? Yes, but poverty, and
hunger, and cold, and nakedness are there also: And thy heavenly Father
sees it best to withhold peace and plenty from thee at present, or to
give thee thy food and raiment but in a scanty measure, to mortify thy
flesh, to humble thy pride, to wean thee from the creatures, to teach
thee immediate dependence on himself, and to fit thee for a departure to
the heavenly world.
When thou art deprived therefore of one earthly comfort after another,
and the remaining good things of this life seem to be leaving thee, have
a care of murmuring against thy God. Dare not take up the words of Jacob
and say, “Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and will ye take Benjamin
also? Surely all these things are against me;” Gen. xlii. 36. But Jacob
was made to know, by sweet experience, that all these things wrought for
his real advantage, and were made the means of preserving himself and
his family too in a day of spreading famine and desolation.
Sixth Use.—This doctrine forbids all contention and envy at our
fellow-creatures, as well as repining against God.
Is my brother healthy and strong, while I am sick and feeble and
languishing? Does my brother possess more of the good things of this
life than I do? It is because our common Father sees it proper to keep
me shorter, and to withhold so full an allowance from me. I have an
interest in the same large inheritance: I am a child of the same family;
and therefore all things are mine as well as his: But I have committed
it entirely to the wisdom and goodness of our heavenly Father, to put
into my hands what part he pleases of my large inheritance. He is
wisest, and will distribute the several portions that he sees fittest
for his children, and for this reason I cannot envy my brother. It is
the same kind and faithful hand that weighs and measures out my grains
and scruples, and little handfuls of earthly blessings, that gives my
brother his loads and his full barns.
Has the ministry of Paul been blessed to me, and not that of Apollos?
Have the labours of Apollos been more blessed to my fellow-christian, or
the plain and familiar instructions of Cephas? Well, I will never make
any parties in the church upon this account: for all the ministers of
the gospel are appointed for our edification; and I will rejoice in them
all, and bless God for the service they do the family of Christ. If my
portion of spiritual food be distributed to me by the hands of Paul, it
is our common Father that conveys the same sacred food to another, by
the hands of Cephas or Apollos; and the world shall never hear me say,
“I am of Paul, in opposition to Apollos or Peter; though I must confess,
God has blessed his ministrations most eminently to my soul.”
Seventh Use.—Has God given all things to the saints by the covenant of
grace, surely then they should return all things back again to him, in a
way of gratitude, duty and service. Has he promised to make every thing
which we have to do with, concur to promote our best interest, and our
final happiness? Let us then apply ourselves with zeal and diligence, to
make every thing within our reach subserve his divine interests, and the
glory of his kingdom.
Has my gracious God withheld nothing from me, but together with his own
Son given me all things, why then should I withhold any thing from him?
Why should I not devote my heart, my head, my hands, my whole self, and
all things that are within my power, to the honour of his name? Does God
bestow life or health or riches upon such a worthless creature as I am?
Let holiness to the Lord be written upon them all. And if my
fellow-creatures are poor, needy, cold, and starving, let me chearfully
minister to them of my substance, which the great Lord of heaven and
earth has so richly bestowed on me. My God honours me indeed, when he
makes me the dispenser of his blessings among his creatures, and
especially among his saints. I lose nothing by this benevolence, but am
rather enriched by this very distribution. I become rich in good works,
and rich in divine promises: “He that gives to the poor lendeth to the
Lord, and he will repay him.” Alms are as money laid out to the best
interest, and are a growing treasure.
But should I hope for no new beneficial return of all my kindness to
men, the very benefits received of God my Father constrain me to this
bounty. Has he given all things to a poor worthless creature, and shall
I give nothing to the poor, or the unworthy? Shall I not rather imitate
the profuse bounty of my God, who commands _his sun to shine, and his
rain to descend both on the evil and the good_. It is a divine
excellence to love and to distribute as God does.
The name of Jesus my Saviour has yet a further power to oblige me to use
all my earthly possessions for his honour. Has Christ Jesus purchased
this large and fair inheritance for me with his blood, has he given me
much on earth, and the hopes of greater treasures in heaven, then I will
be my own no longer, but give my whole self up to him, with all my
powers and talents, and possessions! They are thine, blessed Saviour,
they are thine for ever. It is the solemn and deliberate wish of my
heart, that I may never possess or enjoy any thing from which Christ has
no revenue of glory. O that his grace may enable me to employ things
present for this holy purpose! And when I arrive at the actual
possession of things to come, they shall be improved in an unknown but a
nobler manner, for the everlasting glory of my God, my Father, and my
Saviour.