Part 3

10. Sincerity therefore is necessarily implied in the being _almost a Christian_: a real design to serve God, a hearty desire to do his will: it is necessarily implied, that a man have a sincere view of pleasing God in all things: in all his conversation: in all his actions: in all he does, or leaves undone. This design, if any man be _almost a Christian_, runs through the whole tenor of his life. This is the moving principle, both in his doing good, his abstaining from evil, and his using the ordinances of God.

11. But here it will probably be enquired, is it possible that any man living, should go so far as this, and nevertheless be _only almost a Christian_? What more than this can be implied, in the being a _Christian altogether_? I answer, first, That it is possible to go thus far, and yet be but _almost a Christian_; I learn not only from the oracles of God, but also from the sure testimony of experience.

12. Brethren, great is _my boldness towards you in this behalf_. And _forgive me this wrong_, if I declare my own folly upon the house-top, for yours and the gospel’s sake. Suffer me then to speak freely of myself, even as of another man. I am content to be abased, so ye may be exalted, and to be yet more vile, for the glory of my Lord.

13. I did go thus far for many years, as many of this place can testify: using diligence to eschew all evil, and to have a conscience void of offence: redeeming the time, buying up every opportunity of doing all good to all men; constantly and carefully using all the public and all the private means of grace; endeavouring after a steddy seriousness of behaviour, at all times and in all places: and God is my record, before whom I stand, doing all this in sincerity; having a real design to serve God, a hearty desire to do his will in all things, to please him who had called me to _fight the good fight_, and to _lay hold of eternal life_. Yet my own conscience beareth me witness in the Holy Ghost, that all this time I was but _almost a Christian_.

II. If it be enquired, what more than this is implied in the being _altogether a Christian_? I answer,

I.) 1. First, The love of God. For thus saith his word, _Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength_. Such a love is this, as engrosses the whole heart, as takes up all the affections, as fills the entire capacity of the soul, and employs the utmost extent of all its faculties. He that thus loves the Lord his God, his spirit continually _rejoiceth in God his Saviour_. His _delight_ is _in the Lord, his_ Lord and his all, to whom _in every thing he giveth thanks. All_ his _desire is unto God, and to the remembrance of his name_. His heart is ever crying out, _Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee_. Indeed, what can he desire beside God? Not the world, or the things of the world. For he _is crucified to the world, and the world crucified to him_. He is crucified to the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of life. Yea, he is dead to pride of every kind: for _love is not puffed up_; but he that dwelling in love, _dwelleth in God, and God in him_, is less than nothing in his own eyes.

II.) 2. The second thing implied in the being _altogether a Christian_ is, the love of our neighbour. For thus said our Lord in the following words, _Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself_. If any man ask who is my neighbour, we reply, every man in the world; every child of his, who is _the father of the spirits of all flesh_. Nor may we in any wise except our enemies, or the enemies of God and their own souls. But every Christian loveth these also as himself, yea, _as Christ loved us_. He that would more fully understand what manner of love this is, may consider St. _Paul’s_ description of it. It is _long-suffering and kind: it envieth not: it is not rash or hasty in judging: it is not puffed up_, but maketh him that loves, the least, the servant of all. Love _doth not behave itself unseemly_, but _becometh all things to all men_. She _seeketh not her own_, but only the good of others, that they may be saved. Love _is not provoked_. It casteth out wrath, which he who hath, is wanting in love. It _thinketh no evil_. It _rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth_. It _covereth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things_.

III.) 3. There is yet one thing more that may be separately considered, tho’ it cannot actually be separate from the preceding, which is implied in the being _altogether a Christian_. And that is the ground of all, even faith. Very excellent things are spoken of this throughout the oracles of God. _Every one_, saith the beloved disciple, _that believeth, is born of God. To as many as received him, gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name._ And, _this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith_. Yea, our Lord himself declares, _He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life; and cometh not into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life_.

4. But here let no man deceive his own soul. “It is diligently to be noted, the faith which bringeth not forth repentance and love, and all good works, is not that right living faith, but a dead and devilish one. For even the devils believe, that Christ was born of a virgin, that he wrought all kinds of miracles, declaring himself very God: that for our sakes he suffered a most painful death, to redeem us from death everlasting: that he rose again the third day: that he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father, and at the end of the world, shall come again to judge both the quick and dead. These articles of our faith the devils believe, and so they believe all that is written in the Old and New Testament. And yet for all this faith, they be but devils. They remain still in their damnable estate, lacking the very true Christian faith.”[5]

5. “The right and true Christian faith is (to go on in the words of our own church) not only to believe that holy scripture, and the articles of our faith are true, but also to have a sure trust and confidence, to be saved from everlasting damnation by Christ. It is a sure trust and confidence which a man hath in God, that by the merits of Christ his sins _are_ forgiven, and he reconciled to the favour of God,――whereof doth follow a loving heart, to obey his commandments.”

6. Now whosoever has this faith, which _purifies the heart_, by the power of God, who _dwelleth therein_, from pride, anger, desire, _from all unrighteousness_, from _all filthiness of flesh and spirit_, which fills it with love stronger than death, both to God and to all mankind; love that doth the works of God, glorying to spend and to be spent for all men, and that endureth with joy, not only the reproach of Christ, the being mocked, despised, and hated of all men, but whatsoever the wisdom of God permits the malice of men or devils to inflict; whosoever has this _faith_, thus _working by love_, is not _almost only, but altogether a Christian_.

7. But who are the living witnesses of these things? I beseech you, brethren, as in the presence of that God, before whom _hell and destruction are without a covering: how much more the hearts of the children of men?_ that each of you would ask his own heart, “Am I of that number? Do I so far practise justice, mercy and truth, as even the rules of Heathen honesty require? If so, have I the very _outside_ of a Christian? The form of godliness? Do I abstain from evil, from whatsoever is forbidden in the written word of God? Do I, whatever good my hand findeth to do, do it with my might? Do I seriously use all the ordinances of God at all opportunities? And is all this done, with a sincere design and desire to please God in all things?”

8. Are not many of you conscious, that you never came thus far; that you have not been even _almost a Christian_? That you have not come up to the standard of Heathen honesty? At least, not to the form of Christian godliness? Much less hath God seen sincerity in you, a real design of pleasing him in all things. You never so much as intended, to devote all your words and works, your business, studies, diversions, to his glory. You never even designed or desired, that whatsoever you did, should be _done in the name of the Lord Jesus_, and, as such, should be _a spiritual sacrifice, acceptable to God through Christ_.

9. But supposing you had; do good designs and good desires make a Christian? By no means, unless they are brought to good effect. “Hell is paved, saith one, with good intentions.” The great question of all then still remains. Is the love of God shed abroad in your heart? Can you cry out, “My God and my all?” Do you desire nothing but him? Are you happy in God? Is he your glory, your delight, your crown of rejoicing? And is this commandment written in your heart, that he who loveth God love his brother also? Do you then love your neighbour as yourself? Do you love every man, even your enemies, even the enemies of God, as your own soul? As Christ loved you? Yea, dost thou believe that Christ loved _thee_, and gave himself for thee? Hast thou faith in his blood? Believest thou the Lamb of God hath taken away _thy_ sins, and cast them as a stone into the depth of the sea? That he hath blotted out the hand-writing that was against _thee_, taking it out of the way, nailing it to his cross? Hast _thou_ indeed ♦redemption through his blood, even the remission of _thy_ sins? And doth his Spirit bear witness with _thy_ spirit, that thou art a child of God?

10. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who now standeth in the midst of us, knoweth that if any man die without this faith and this love, good it were for him that he had never been born. Awake, then, thou that sleepest, and call upon thy God: call in the day when he may be found. Let him not rest, till he _make his goodness to pass before thee, till he proclaim unto thee the name of the Lord, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin_. Let no man persuade thee by vain words, to rest short of this prize of thy high calling. But cry unto him day and night, who, _while we were without strength, died for the ungodly_, until thou knowest in whom thou hast believed, and canst say, “My Lord and my God.” Remember, _always to pray and not to faint_, till thou also canst lift up thy hand unto heaven, and declare to him that liveth for ever and ever, “Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.”

11. May we all thus experience what it is, to be not almost only, but altogether Christians! Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus: knowing we have peace with God through Jesus Christ: rejoicing in hope of the glory of God, and having the love of God shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost given unto us!

SERMON III.[6]

EPHES. v. 14.

_Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light._

IN discoursing on these words, I shall, with the help of God,

_First_, Describe the sleepers to whom they are spoken.

_Secondly_, Enforce the exhortation, _Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead_. And,

_Thirdly_, Explain the promise made to such as do _awake_ and _arise_; _Christ shall give thee light_.

I.) 1. And first, as to the sleepers here spoken to. By sleep is signified the natural state of man: that deep sleep of the soul into which the sin of _Adam_ hath cast all who spring from his loins; that supineness, indolence, and stupidity, that insensibility of his real condition, wherein every man comes into the world, and continues till the voice of God awakes him.

2. Now _they that sleep, sleep in the night_. The state of nature is a state of utter darkness; a state wherein _darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people_. The poor unawakened sinner, how much knowledge soever he may have as to other things, has no knowledge of himself: in this respect, _he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know_. He knows not that he is a fallen spirit, whose only business in the present world, is to recover from his fall, to regain that image of God wherein he was created. He sees _no necessity_ for _the one thing needful_, even that inward universal change, that _birth from above_ (figured out by baptism) which is the beginning of that total renovation, that sanctification of spirit, soul and body, _without which no man shall see the Lord_.

* 3. Full of all diseases as he is, he fancies himself in perfect health: fast bound in misery and iron, he dreams that he is at liberty. He says, Peace, peace, while the devil, _as a strong man armed_, is in full possession of his soul. He sleeps on still, and takes his rest, tho’ hell is moved from beneath to meet him; tho’ the pit, from whence there is no return, hath opened its mouth to swallow him up: a fire is kindled around him, yet he knoweth it not; yea it burns him, yet he lays it not to heart.

4. By one who sleeps we are therefore to understand (and would to God we might all understand it!) A sinner satisfied in his sins; contented to remain in his fallen state, to live and die without the image of God: one who is ignorant both of his disease, and of the only remedy for it: one who never was warned, or never regarded the warning voice of God, _to flee from the wrath to come_: one that never yet saw he was in danger of hell-fire, or cried out in the earnestness of his soul, _What must I do to be saved?_

5. If this sleeper be not outwardly vicious, his sleep is usually the deepest of all: whether he be of the _Laodicean_ spirit, _neither cold nor hot_; but a quiet, rational, inoffensive, good-natured professor of the religion of his fathers; or whether he be zealous and orthodox, and _after the most straitest sect of our religion, live a Pharisee_; that is, according to the scriptural account, one that _justifies himself_; one that labours _to establish his own righteousness_, as the ground of his acceptance with God.

6. This is he, who _having a form of godliness, denies the power thereof_; yea, and probably reviles it, wheresoever it is found, as mere extravagance and delusion. Meanwhile, the wretched self-deceiver thanks God, that he _is not as other men are; adulterers, unjust, extortioners_: no, he doth no wrong to any man. He _fasts twice in the week_, uses all the means of grace, is constant at church and sacrament: yea, and _gives tithes of all that he has_, does all the good that he can: _touching the righteousness of the law_, he is _blameless_: he wants nothing of godliness but the power; nothing of religion, but the spirit; nothing of Christianity, but the truth and the life.

7. But know ye not, that however highly esteemed among men, _such a Christian_ as this may be, he is an abomination in the sight of God, and an heir of every woe, which the Son of God yesterday, to-day, and for ever, denounces against _Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites_? He hath _made clean the outside of the cup and the platter_, but within is full of all filthiness. _An evil disease cleaveth_ still _unto him_, so that _his inward parts are very wickedness_. Our Lord fitly compares him to a _painted sepulchre_, which _appears beautiful without_; but nevertheless is _full of dead mens bones, and of all uncleanness_. The bones indeed are no longer dry; _the sinews and flesh are come upon them, and the skin covers them above_, but _there is no breath_ in them, no Spirit of the living God. And _if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Ye are Christ’s, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you._ But if not, God knoweth that ye abide in death, even until now.

8. This is another character of the sleeper here spoken to. He abides in death, tho’ he knows it not. He is dead unto God, _dead in trespasses and sins_. For, _to be carnally minded is death_. Even as it is written, _by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin: and so death passed upon all men_, not only temporal death, but likewise spiritual and eternal. _In that day that thou eatest_ (said God to _Adam_) _Thou shalt surely die_. Not bodily (unless as he then became mortal) but spiritually: thou shalt lose the life of thy soul: thou shalt die to God; shalt be separated from him, thy essential life and happiness.

9. Thus first was dissolved the vital union of our soul with God: insomuch that _in the midst of |natural| life, we are |now| in |spiritual| death_. And herein we remain till the second _Adam_ becomes a quickening spirit to us, till he raises the dead, the dead in sin, in pleasure, riches, or honours. But before any dead soul can live, he _hears_ (hearkens to) _the voice of the Son of God_: He is made sensible of his lost estate, and receives the sentence of death in himself. He knows himself to be _dead while he liveth_, dead to God, and all the things of God: having no more power to perform the actions of a living Christian, than a dead body to perform the functions of a living man.

10. And most certain it is, that one dead in sin, has not _senses exercised to discern |spiritual| good and evil. Having eyes, he sees not, he hath ears and hears not._ He doth not _taste and see that the Lord is gracious_. He _hath not seen God at any time_, nor _heard his voice_, nor _handled the word of life_. In vain is the name of Jesus _like ointment poured forth_, and _all his garments smell of myrrh, aloes and cassia_. The soul that sleepeth in death hath no perception of any objects of this kind. His heart is _past feeling_, and understandeth none of these things.

* 11. And hence having no spiritual senses, no inlets of spiritual knowledge, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; nay, he is so far from receiving them, that whatsoever is spiritually discerned is mere foolishness unto him. He is not content with being utterly ignorant of spiritual things, but he denies the very existence of them. And spiritual sensation itself is to him, the foolishness of folly. _How_, saith he, _can these things be_? How can any man _know_, that he is alive to God? Even as you know, that your body is now alive. Faith is the life of the soul: and if ye have this life abiding in you, ye want no marks to evidence it _to yourself_, but that ἔλεγχος Πνεύματος, that divine consciousness, that _witness of_ God, which is more and greater than ten thousand human witnesses.

12. If he doth not now bear witness with thy spirit, that thou art a child of God, O that he might convince thee, thou poor unawakened sinner, by his demonstration and power, that thou art a child of the devil! O that as I prophesy, there might now be _a noise and a shaking_, and may _the bones come together, bone to his bone_. Then _come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live_! And do not ye harden your hearts, and resist the Holy Ghost, who even now is come to _convince_ you _of sin, because you believe not on the name of the only begotten Son of God_.

II.) 1. * Wherefore, _Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead_. God calleth thee now by my mouth; and bids thee know thyself, thou fallen spirit, thy true state and only concern below. _What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise! Call upon thy God, if so be thy God will think upon thee, that thou perish not._ A mighty tempest is stirred up round about thee, and thou art sinking into the depths of perdition, the gulph of God’s judgments. If thou wouldst escape them, cast thyself into them. _Judge thyself_, and thou shalt _not be judged of the Lord_.

2. Awake, awake! Stand up this moment, lest thou _drink at the Lord’s hand the cup of his fury_. Stir up thyself _to lay hold on the Lord, the Lord thy righteousness, mighty to save! Shake thyself from the dust._ At least, let the earthquake of God’s threatnings shake thee. Awake and cry out with the trembling ♦gaoler, _What must I do to be saved?_ And never rest, till thou believest on the Lord Jesus, with a faith which is his gift, by the operation of his spirit.

3. * If I speak to any one of you more than to another, it is to thee, who thinkest thyself unconcerned in this exhortation. _I have a message from God unto thee._ In his name, I _warn_ thee _to flee from the wrath to come_. Thou unholy soul, see thy picture in condemn’d _Peter_, lying in the dark dungeon, between the soldiers, bound with two chains, the keepers before the door keeping the prison. The night is far spent, the morning is at hand, when thou art to be brought forth to execution. And in these dreadful circumstances, thou art fast asleep; thou art fast asleep in the devil’s arms, on the brink of the pit, in the jaws of everlasting destruction.

4. O may _the angel of the Lord come upon thee_, and _the light shine into thy prison_! And mayst thou feel the stroke of an almighty hand, raising thee with _arise up quickly, gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals, cast thy garments about thee, and follow me_.

5. * Awake, thou everlasting spirit, out of thy dream of worldly happiness. Did not God create thee for himself? Then, thou canst not rest, till thou restest in him. Return thou wanderer. Fly back to thy ark. _This is not thy home._ Think not of building tabernacles here. Thou art but _a stranger, a sojourner upon earth_: A creature of a day, but just launching out into an unchangeable state. Make haste. Eternity is at hand. Eternity depends on this moment. An eternity of happiness, or an eternity of misery!

6. In what state is thy soul? Was God, while I am yet speaking, to require it of thee, art thou ready to meet death and judgment? Canst thou stand in his sight, _who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity_? Art thou _meet to be partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light_? Hast thou _fought a good fight and kept the faith_? Hast thou secured _the one thing needful_? Hast thou recovered the image of God, even _righteousness and true holiness_? Hast thou _put off the old man and put on the new_? Art thou _cloathed upon with Christ_?

7. Hast thou oil in thy lamp? Grace in thy heart? Dost thou _love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength_? Is _that mind in thee, which was also in Christ Jesus_? Art thou a Christian indeed? That is, a new creature? Are _old things past away, and all things become new_?

8. Art thou a _partaker of the divine nature? Knowest thou not, that Christ is in thee, except thou be reprobate?_ Knowest thou, that God _dwelleth in thee, and thou in God, by his Spirit which he hath given thee_? Knowest thou not, that _thy body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which thou hast of God_? Hast thou _the witness in thyself? The earnest of thine inheritance?_ Hast thou _received the Holy Ghost_――or dost thou start at the question, not knowing whether there be any Holy Ghost?

9. If it offends thee, be thou assured, that thou neither art a Christian, nor desirest to be one. Nay, thy very _prayer is turned into sin_; and thou hast solemnly mocked God this very day, by praying for _the inspiration of his holy spirit_, when thou didst not believe there was any such thing to be received.