Part 11

4. But this ignorance never so strongly glares, as in those who are term’d, _men of learning_. If a natural man be one of these, he can talk at large of his rational faculties: of the freedom of his will, and the absolute necessity of such freedom, in order to constitute man a moral agent. He reads and argues, and proves to a demonstration, that every man may do as he will; may dispose his own heart to evil or good, as it seems best in his own eyes. Thus the God of this world spreads a double veil of blindness over his heart, lest by any means _the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine_ upon it.

5. From the same ignorance of himself and God there may sometimes arise in the natural man a kind of _joy_, in congratulating himself, upon his own wisdom and goodness. And what the world calls joy, he may often possess. He may have pleasure in various kinds; either in gratifying the desires of the flesh, or the desire of the eye, or the pride of life: particularly if he has large possessions; if he enjoy an affluent fortune. Then he may _cloath_ himself _in purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day_. And _so long as_ he thus _doth well unto himself, men will_ doubtless _speak good of_ him. They will say, he is a happy man: for indeed this is the sum of worldly happiness: to dress, and visit, and talk, and eat, and drink, and rise up to play.

6. It is not surprizing, if one in such circumstances as these, dozed with the opiates of flattery and sin, should imagine; among his other waking dreams, that he walks in great _liberty_. How easily may he persuade himself, that he is at liberty from all _vulgar errors_, and from the _prejudice_ of education, judging exactly right, and keeping clear of all extremes. “I am free (may he say) from all the _enthusiasm_ of weak and narrow souls: from _superstition_, the disease of fools and cowards, always righteous over much; and from _bigotry_, continually incident to those who have not a free and generous way of thinking.” And too sure it is, that he is altogether free, from the _wisdom which cometh from above_, from holiness, from the religion of the heart, from the whole mind which was in Christ.

7. For all this time, he is the servant of sin. He commits sin, more or less, day by day. Yet he is not troubled: He “is in no bondage;” (as some speak) he feels no condemnation. He contents himself, (even tho’ he should profess to believe that the Christian revelation is of God) with, “Man is frail. We are all weak. Every man has his infirmity.” Perhaps he quotes scripture: “Why, does not _Solomon_ say, ‘The righteous man falls into sin seven times a day?’ And doubtless, they are all hypocrites or enthusiasts who pretend to be better than their neighbours.” If at any time a serious thought fix upon him, he stifles it as soon as possible, with, “Why should I fear, since God is merciful, and Christ died for sinners?” Thus he remains a willing servant of sin, content with the bondage of corruption; inwardly and outwardly unholy, and satisfied therewith; not only not conquering sin, but not striving to conquer, particularly that sin, which doth so easily beset him.

8. Such is the state of every _natural man_; whether he be a gross, scandalous transgressor, or a more reputable and decent sinner, having the form, tho’ not the power of godliness. But how can such an one be _convinced of sin_? How is he brought to _repent_? To be _under the law_? To receive the _spirit of bondage unto fear_? This is the point which is next to be consider’d.

II. 1. By some awful providence, or by his word applied with the demonstration of his Spirit, God touches the heart of him that lay asleep in darkness and in the shadow of death. He is terribly shaken out of his sleep, and awakes into a consciousness of his danger. Perhaps in a moment, perhaps by degrees, the eyes of his understanding are opened, and now first (the veil being in part removed) discern the real state he is in. Horrid light breaks in upon his soul; such light, as may be conceived to gleam from the bottomless pit, from the lowest deep, from a lake of fire, burning with brimstone. He at last sees the loving, the merciful God, is also _a consuming fire_; that he is a just God and a terrible, rendering to every man according to his works, entering into judgment with the ungodly for every idle word, yea, and for the imaginations of the heart. He now clearly perceives, that the great and holy God is _of purer eyes than to behold iniquity_: that he is an avenger of every one who rebelleth against him, and repayeth the wicked to his face; and that _it is a fearful thing, to fall into the hands of the living God_.

♦3. The inward, spiritual meaning of the law of God now begins to glare upon him. He perceives the _commandment is exceeding broad_, and _there is nothing hid from the light thereof_. He is convinced, that every part of it relates not barely to outward sin or obedience, but to what passes in the secret recesses of the soul, which no eye but God’s can penetrate. If he now hears, _Thou shalt not kill_, God speaks in thunder, _He that hateth his brother is a murtherer_. He that saith unto his brother, _Thou fool, is obnoxious to hell-fire_. If the law say, _Thou shalt not commit adultery_, the voice of the Lord sounds in his ears, _He that looketh on a woman, to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart_. And thus in every point, he feels the word of God _quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword_. It pierces even _to the dividing asunder of_ his _soul and spirit_, his _joints and marrow_. And so much the more, because he is conscious to _himself_ of having neglected so great salvation; of having _trodden under foot the Son of God_, who would have saved him from his sins, and _counted the blood of the covenant an unholy_, a common, unsanctifying _thing_.

4. And as he knows _all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do_, so he sees himself, naked, stript of all the fig-leaves which he had sewed together, of all his poor pretences to religion or virtue, and his wretched excuses for sinning against God. He now sees himself, like the ancient sacrifices, τετραχηλισμένον, cleft in sunder, as it were, from the neck downward, so that all within him stands confest. His heart is bare, and he sees it is all sin, _deceitful above all things, desperately wicked_; that it is altogether corrupt and abominable, more than it is possible for tongue to express: that there dwelleth therein no good thing, but unrighteousness and ungodliness only; every motion thereof, every temper and thought, being only evil continually.

5. And he not only sees, but feels in himself, by an emotion of soul which he cannot describe, that for the sins of his heart, were his life without blame, (which yet it is not, and cannot be: seeing _an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit_) he deserves to be cast into _the fire that never shall be quenched_. He feels, that the _wages_, the just reward _of sin_, of his sin above all, _is death_; even the second death, the death which dieth not, the destruction of body and soul in hell.

6. * Here ends his pleasing dream, his delusive rest, his false peace, his vain security. His joy now vanishes as a cloud: pleasures, once loved delight no more. They pall upon the taste; he loaths the nauseous sweet; he is weary to bear them. The shadows of happiness flee away, and sink into oblivion. So that he is stript of all, and wanders to and fro, seeking rest, but finding none.

7. The fumes of those opiates being now dispelled, he feels the anguish of a wounded spirit. He finds that sin let loose upon the soul (whether it be pride, anger, or evil desire, whether self-will, malice, envy, revenge, or any other) is perfect misery. He feels sorrow of heart for the blessings he has lost, and the curse which is come upon him; remorse for having thus destroyed himself, and despised his own mercies; fear, from a lively sense of the wrath of God, and of the consequences of his wrath; of the punishment which he has justly deserved, and which he sees hanging over his head; fear of death, as being to him the gate of hell, the entrance of death eternal; fear of the devil, the executioner of the wrath and righteous vengeance of God; fear of men, who if they were able to kill his body, would thereby plunge both body and soul into hell; fear, sometimes arising to such a height, that the poor, sinful, guilty soul, is terrified with every thing, with nothing, with shades, with a leaf shaken of the wind. Yea sometimes it may even border upon distraction, making a man _drunken, tho’ not with wine_, suspending the exercise of the memory, of the understanding, of all the natural faculties. Sometimes it may approach to the very brink of despair: so that he who trembles at the name of death, may yet be ready to plunge into it every moment, to _chuse strangling rather than life_. Well may such a man _roar_, like him of old, _for the very disquietness of_ his _heart_. Well may he cry out, _The spirit of a man may sustain his infirmities; but a wounded spirit who can bear_?

8. Now he truly desires to break loose from sin, and begins to struggle with it. But tho’ he strive with all his might, he cannot conquer; sin is mightier than he. He would fain escape; but he is so fast in prison, that he cannot get forth. He resolves against sin, but yet sins on: he sees the snare, and abhors, and runs into it. So much does his boasted reason avail! Only to inhance his guilt, and increase his misery. Such is the freedom of his will! Free only to evil; free to _drink in iniquity like water_; to wander farther and farther from the living God, and do more _despight to the Spirit of grace_!

9. The more he strives, wishes, labours to be free, the more does he feel his chains, the grievous chains of sin, wherewith Satan binds and _leads him captive at his will_: his servant he is, tho’ he repine ever so much; tho’ he rebel, he cannot prevail. He is still in bondage and fear, by reason of sin: generally, of some outward sin to which he is peculiarly disposed, either by nature, custom or outward circumstances; but always, of some inward sin, some evil temper or unholy affection. And the more he frets against it, the more it prevails; he may bite, but cannot break his chain. Thus he toils without end, repenting and sinning, and repenting and sinning again, till at length the poor sinful, helpless wretch is even at his wit’s end, and can barely groan, _O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death_?

10. * This whole struggle of one who is _under the law_, under the _spirit of fear and bondage_, is beautifully described by the apostle in the foregoing chapter, speaking in the person of an awaken’d man. _I_ (saith he) _was alive without the law once_, ver. 9. I had much life, wisdom, strength and virtue; so I thought: _but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died_. When the commandment, in its spiritual meaning, came to my heart, with the power of God, my inbred sin was stirred up, fretted, inflamed, and all my virtue died away. _And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me_, ver. 10, 11. It came upon me unawares, slew all my hopes, and plainly shewed, in the midst of life I was in death. _Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just and good_, ver. 12. I no longer lay the blame on this, but on the corruption of my own heart. I acknowledge that _the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin_, ver. 14. I now see both the spiritual nature of the law, and my own carnal, devilish heart; _sold under sin_, totally inslaved: (like slaves bought with money, who were absolutely at their master’s disposal.) _For that which I do, I allow not; for what I would, I do not; but what I hate, that I do_, ver. 15. Such is the bondage under which I groan; such the tyranny of my hard master. _To will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would, I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do_, ver. 18, 19. _I find a law_, an inward constraining power, _that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in_ (or consent to) _the law of God, after the inward man_: (ver. 21, 22.) In my mind: (so the apostle explains himself in the words that immediately follow: and so ὁ ἔσω ἄνθρωπος, _the inward man_, is understood in all other Greek writers.) _But I see another law in my members_, another constraining power, _warring against the law of my mind_, or inward man, _and bringing me into captivity to the law_, or power, _of sin_, ver. 23, dragging me as it were at my conqueror’s chariot-wheels, into the very thing which my soul abhors. _O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death!_ ver. 24. Who shall deliver me from this helpless, dying life: from this bondage of sin and misery! Till this is done, I _myself_ (or rather, _that I_, αὐτὸς ἐγὼ, _that man_ I am now personating) _with the mind_, or inward man, _serve the law of God_; my mind, my conscience is on God’s side: _but with the flesh_; with my body, _the law of sin_, ver. 25, being hurried away by a force I cannot resist.

11. How lively a portraiture is this of one _under the law_! One who feels the burthen he cannot shake off; who pants after liberty, power and love, but is in fear and bondage still! Until the time that God answers the wretched man, crying out, _Who shall deliver me_, from this bondage of sin, from this body of death? _The grace of God, through Jesus Christ thy Lord._

III. 1. Then it is, that this miserable bondage ends, and he is no more _under the law, but under grace_. This state we are, Thirdly, to consider, the state of one who has found _grace_ or favour, in the sight of God, even the Father, and who has the _grace_, or power of the Holy Ghost, reigning in his heart: who has received, in the language of the apostle, _the Spirit of adoption, whereby_ he now _cries, Abba, Father_!

2. _He cried unto the Lord in his trouble, and_ God _delivers him out of his distress_. His eyes are opened in quite another manner than before, even to see a loving, gracious God. While he is calling, _I beseech thee shew me thy glory_, he hears a voice in his inmost soul, _I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord: I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will shew mercy to whom I will shew mercy_. And it is not long before _the Lord descends in the cloud, and proclaims the name of the Lord_. Then he sees, (but not with eyes of flesh and blood) _The Lord, the Lord God: merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth: keeping mercy for thousands, and forgiving iniquities and transgression and sin_.

3. Heavenly, healing light now breaks in upon his soul. He _looks on him whom he had pierced_, and _God who out of darkness commanded light to shine, shineth in_ his _heart_. He _sees the light of the_ glorious love _of God, in the face of Jesus Christ_. He hath a divine _evidence of things not seen_ by sense, even of _the deep things of God_; more particularly of the love of God, of his pardoning love to him that believes in Jesus. Overpowered with the sight, his whole soul cries out, _My Lord, and my God_! For he sees all his iniquities laid on him, who _bare them in his own body on the tree_; he beholds the Lamb of God taking away his sins. How clearly now does he discern, that _God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself! Making him sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God through him!_ And that he himself is reconciled to God, by that blood of the covenant!

4. Here end both the guilt and power of sin. He can now say, _I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh_, even in this mortal body, _I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me_. Here end remorse and sorrow of heart, and the anguish of a wounded spirit. _God turneth his heaviness into joy_. He _made sore_, and now _his hands bind up_. Here ends also that bondage unto fear; for _his heart standeth fast, believing in the Lord_. He cannot fear any longer the wrath of God; for he knows it is now turned away from him, and looks upon him no more as an angry judge, but as a loving father. He cannot fear the devil, knowing he has _no power, except it be given him from above_. He fears not hell, being an heir of the kingdom of heaven; consequently, he has no fear of death; by reason whereof he was in time past, for so many years _subject to bondage_. Rather, knowing that _if the earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved_, he _hath a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens: He groaneth earnestly, desiring to be cloathed upon with that house which is from heaven_. He groans to shake off this house of earth, that _mortality_ may be _swallowed up of life_: knowing that _God hath wrought him for the self same thing; who hath also given him the earnest of his Spirit_.

5. And _where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty_; liberty not only from guilt and fear, but from sin, from that heaviest of all yokes, that basest of all bondage. His labour is not now in vain. The snare is broken and he is delivered. He not only strives, but likewise prevails; he not only fights, but conquers also. _Henceforth he doth not serve sin_ (chap. vi. ver. 6, _&c._) _He is dead unto sin and alive unto God. Sin doth not_ now _reign_, even _in his mortal body_, nor doth he _obey it in the desires thereof_. He does not _yield his members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but as instruments of righteousness unto God_. For _being now made free from sin, he is become the servant of righteousness_.

6. Thus _having peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, rejoicing in hope of the glory of God_, and having power over all sin, over every evil desire, and temper, and word, and work, he is a living witness of the _glorious liberty of the sons of God_: all of whom, being partakers of _like precious faith_, bear record with one voice, _We have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father_!

7. It is this spirit which continually _worketh in them, both to will and to do of his good pleasure_. It is he that sheds the love of God abroad in their hearts, and the love of all mankind; thereby purifying their hearts from the love of the world, from the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. It is by him they are delivered from anger and pride, from all vile and inordinate affections. In consequence, they are delivered from evil words and works, from all unholiness of conversation: doing no evil to any child of man, and being zealous of all good works.

8. * To sum up all. The _natural_ man neither fears nor loves God; one _under the law_, fears; one _under grace_, loves him. The first, has no light in the things of God, but walks in utter darkness; the second sees the painful light of hell; the third, the joyous light of heaven. He that sleeps in death, has a false peace. He that is awakened has no peace at all. He that believes has true peace, the peace of God filling and ruling his heart. The heathen, baptized or unbaptized, hath a fancied liberty, which is indeed licentiousness: the _Jew_ (or one under the _Jewish_ dispensation) is in heavy, grievous bondage: the Christian enjoys the true glorious liberty of the sons of God. An unawakened child of the devil, sins willingly: One that is awakened sins unwillingly: a child of God _sinneth not_, but _keepeth himself, and the wicked one toucheth him not_. To conclude; the natural man neither conquers nor fights; the man under the law fights with sin, but cannot conquer: the man under grace fights and conquers, yea is _more than ♦conqueror, through him that loveth him_.

IV. 1. From this plain account of the three-fold state of man, the _natural_, the _legal_, and the _evangelical_, it appears, that it is not sufficient, to divide mankind, into sincere, and insincere. A man may be sincere in any of these states; not only when he has the _Spirit of adoption_, but while he has the _spirit of bondage unto fear_. Yea, while he has neither this fear, nor love. For undoubtedly there may be sincere Heathens, as well as sincere _Jews_ or Christians. This circumstance then, does by no means prove, that a man is in a state of acceptance with God.

_Examine yourselves_ therefore, not only whether ye are sincere, _but whether ye be in the faith_. Examine narrowly; for it imports you much. What is the ruling principle in your soul? Is it the love of God? Is it the fear of God? Or is it neither one nor the other? Is it not rather the love of the world? The love of pleasure? or gain, of ease, or reputation? If so, you are not come so far as a _Jew_. You are but a _Heathen_ still. Have you heaven in your heart? Have you the Spirit of adoption, ever crying, _Abba, Father_? Or do you cry unto God, as _out of the belly of hell_, overwhelmed with sorrow and fear? Or are you a stranger to this whole affair, and cannot imagine what I mean? Heathen, pull off the mask. Thou hast never put on Christ. Stand barefaced. Look up to heaven. And own before him that liveth for ever and ever, thou hast no part either among the sons or servants of God.

Whosoever thou art, dost thou commit sin, or dost thou not? If thou dost, is it willingly or unwillingly? In either case God hath told thee whose thou art, _He that committeth sin is of the devil_. If thou committest it willingly, thou art his faithful servant. He will not fail to reward thy labour. If unwillingly, still thou art his servant. God deliver thee out of his hands!

Art thou daily fighting against all sin? And daily more than conqueror? I acknowledge thee for a child of God. O stand fast in thy glorious liberty. Art thou fighting, but not conquering; striving for the mastery, but not able to attain? Then thou art not yet a believer in Christ; but follow on, and thou shalt know the Lord. Art thou not fighting at all, but leading an easy, indolent fashionable life? O how hast thou dared to name the name of Christ? Only to make it a reproach among the Heathen? Awake thou sleeper! Call upon thy God: before the deep swallow thee up.

2. Perhaps one reason why so many think of themselves more highly than they ought to think, why they do not discern what state they are in, is, because these several states of soul, are often mingled together, and in some measure meet, in one and the same person. Thus experience shews, that the legal state, or state of fear, is frequently mixt with the natural. For few men are so fast asleep in sin, but they are sometimes, more or less awakened. As the Spirit of God does not _wait for the call of man_, so at some times he _will_ be heard. He puts them in fear, so that for a season, at least, the Heathen _know themselves to be but men_. They feel the burthen of sin, and earnestly desire to flee from the wrath to come. But not long. They seldom suffer the arrows of conviction to go deep into their souls; but quickly stifle the grace of God, and return to their wallowing in the mire.