Part 35

But there will be heresies arising sometimes in the church. Tares will grow up sometimes in the field that is ever so well cultivated, and sown with corn: And what unknown reasons there may be in the counsels and providence of God in permitting heresies to arise for the farther trial of his own people, is too high and hard a point for us to determine. The apostle saith; 1 Cor. xi. 19. _There must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest_: If such a thing as this is, shall be abused by men of corrupt minds, to turn them quite away from the gospel of Christ, and to support their own infidelity, they must answer for it at the great day to Christ their Judge.

Thus I have done with the third charge or accusation brought against the gospel, and removed the scandal and shame that some men have thrown upon it, because there are such sects, and parties, and divided opinions among the professors of it.

IV. Another occasion of scandal which infidels charge upon the gospel of Christ, is this, “That some who have long professed it have forsaken it; and one should be ashamed to embrace such a faith as this is, for it has been tried, and found to be vain and groundless, even by those who have known it long, and searched it through and through, and therefore at last they have abandoned and cast it off.”

But in answer to this, give me leave to say, first, that the chief and most common reason why persons who have professed christianity cast it off, is not because they found any just reason of blame either in its principles or rules; but because they think it too strict for them, and it curbs their vicious appetites more than they like.

I will allow, that perhaps there may be some persons who have abandoned the christian religion from a wantonness of fancy, from a licentiousness of thought, from a pride of reasoning, and who make it their glory to have thrown off the bonds of their education, and to have obtained the honour of free-thinkers, or from a presuming conceit that they must comprehend every thing in their religion, and will believe nothing that hath mysteries in it. Such vain principles as these may have influenced some minds, and given them up to apostacy: But, I fear, far the greatest part of those who forsake the gospel, have been tempted to it by the power of their lusts, which the gospel would restrain: and some of these persons upon their death-beds have confessed it too.

This is also sufficiently visible in the world, that when men have long professed this gospel and forsaken it, they seldom grow more pious, more sober, more honest or good than before; but, on the contrary, they generally have indulged vicious excesses, and neglected all piety, and this is rather a ground of glory to the gospel than a just reason of shame.

If these persons had generally grown more holy, if they had feared God more afterwards than ever they did before, if they had more aimed at the glory of God, and loved him better, when they forsook Christ and his gospel, then we might have some reason to suspect this gospel was false, and a mere mistake or imposture. But when these persons grow more unjust than before, love their neighbour less, are become more sensual, more selfish, disregard God more than they did before; I repeat it again, this is rather a ground of glory to the gospel of Christ, than of shame. Demas _hath forsaken us_, saith Paul, because he _loved this present world_; 2 Tim. iv. 10. A covetous Demas is no good argument why St. Paul should forsake Christ, or be ashamed of the gospel. And the apostle has shewn that those who have _made shipwreck of their faith_, have parted with _a good conscience_ too, and lost their virtue; 1 Tim. i. 19, 20.

But there is another answer which the apostle John gives to this objection in his first epistle, chap. ii. ver. 19. _They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us._ They might make a profession of the gospel, and perhaps give a real assent to the truths and doctrines of it by the convincing influence of miracles and human reason, or perhaps they became christians merely by the force of education, because they were taught this religion from their childhood, and professed it without thought; but they never had such a powerful belief of this gospel of Christ, as to change their hearts, to renew their natures, to form their souls after the image of Christ into real holiness; and therefore like the hearers that are compared to stony ground, the seed did not sink deep into their hearts, though they might _receive the word at first with joy, but having not root in themselves; they endure but for a while, and when any temptation arises, they are offended_, and depart from the faith which they once professed; Mat. xiii. 20, 21. Thus it appears, that the gospel of Christ is never the worse in itself, nor does it deserve the less esteem in the world, notwithstanding such apostates as these, no more than seed-corn should be pronounced nought, because it does not bring forth a harvest in every soil.

I have now finished the third general head of discourse which I proposed, and have shewn, whatsoever occasions of shame might be supposed to arise either from the doctrines of the gospel, or the professors of it, are unjustly charged as blemishes on the gospel; and I have given particular answers to both sorts of cavils, and defeated the accusations.

One word of advice to christians shall conclude the present discourse; and that is this:—

Since the gospel of Christ gives no just occasions of shame, you that are professors of it should take heed that you do nothing to cast shame on this gospel. Do not mingle the christian faith with doubtful notions of your own. Do not defile your christian conversation with sinful practices. Do not make the lesser circumstances and appendages of your religion the matter of loud contest, and a party strife; for all these things expose the gospel to shame, and may justly put its professors to the blush, in the face of the world, when they are guilty of these practices.

Let me insist a little upon each of these.

1. Do not mingle the christian faith with doubtful notions and fancies of your own. The articles of our christianity, and the necessary truths of the gospel, are divine and glorious: Take heed you do not bring in your peculiar sentiments and favourite opinions, which have no sufficient evidence from the word of God, and join them in the same dignity with the articles of your faith; and much less should you dare to impose them upon the consciences of your fellow-christians. The gospel itself will suffer by it, and sink in the esteem of the world, when the divine doctrines of it are mingled with our weaknesses, and debased by the addition of our doubtful sentiments.

2. Defile not your christian conversation with sinful practices. Indulge not a conformity to this present evil world in any of the corrupt and unlawful customs and courses of it. Mingle not your practice of the lovely duties which this gospel enjoins, with lying, and slandering, and railing; do not interline your lives with religion and sin, with devotion and shameful lusts. It is a gospel that forbids all iniquity, it requires that you mortify sin and _cleanse yourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit_, and that you go on to _perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord_; 2 Cor. vii. 1. The very design and end of it in God’s eternal counsels and contrivance, is, _that you might be holy, and without blame before him in love_; Eph. i. 4. If you pursue this advice, then shall others, who behold you, confess that there is something divine in christianity, when you thus adorn the doctrine of God your Saviour. Thus you give the gospel its due honour by believing all it reveals, by worshipping according to the methods of its appointment, and by that purity of conversation which it enjoins.

3. Make not the lesser circumstances and appendages of your religion the matter of loud contest, and a party-strife. We are called to _contend earnestly for the_ great and necessary doctrines of _faith_, which were once delivered to the saints: But we are commanded also to receive those that are weak in the faith, without involving them _in doubtful disputations_ about matters of less moment. Give no occasion to the infidel to blaspheme the gospel by your factions and quarrels, and the rage of a bitter and unsanctified zeal. Oh that the time were come, when _the wolf and lamb shall lie down together, and there shall be nothing to hurt or destroy in all the holy mountain_! But surely, it is very hard if the lambs themselves, who belong to the flock of Christ, cannot live without hurting and destroying one another; that christians cannot live without exposing their divine and heavenly religion to the blasphemies of sinful men. Happy were the christian world, if we could all behave ourselves so as never to give occasion to the adversary to reproach the professors of the christian faith, nor throw shame and dishonour upon the gospel of Christ! May the blessed Spirit of God teach us this lesson effectually, and let it be copied out in our lives daily, till we arrive at the regions of perfect holiness and love! _Amen._

SERMON XVII. _A Rational Defence of the Gospel: Or, Courage in Professing Christianity._ ROM. i. 16.——I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. THE THIRD PART.

Though the passion of shame has something in it that sinks our nature, and enfeebles our spirits, yet it is a very becoming passion, where sin is the object of it; and indeed it was wisely ordained by our Creator to be a guardian to those small remains of natural virtue that abide in us since the fall. We find the first young sinners clothed with shame in the garden of Eden at the presence of God. But the growing corruption of our natures, the subtilty of Satan, and the temptations of this world have joined together to take this piece of artillery out of the hands of virtue, and make use of it in their attacks upon religion and goodness. We ought to be ashamed indeed of nothing but our sin, our folly, and our wretchedness; but we have been too ready to be ashamed, even of the grace of God, and the methods of our recovery from folly, wretchedness, and sin. The gospel itself, _the glorious gospel_, has been made a matter of reproach among men, and its professors have been sometimes tempted to be ashamed of it.

The blessed apostle in my text had gained a victory over this temptation, for he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Whatsoever there might be contained in the doctrines of this gospel, or whatsoever might be found among the professors of it, from which infidels or unbelievers might take occasion to throw shame and scandal upon it; yet I have shewn in the two foregoing discourses, that all this is unjustly charged on the gospel, and have given particular answers to both sorts of cavils.

I go on now to the last proposal, which is to explain the force of the apostle’s argument against shame in professing and preaching this gospel, and to make it appear, that the words of my text contain a general and most extensive guard, or defence, against all possible occasions of shame in the profession of christianity; and that is, that _the gospel of Christ is the power of God for the salvation of all that believe_.

Now this is an argument which you, who believe in Christ, may all assume to yourselves as well as the apostle: You cannot preach this gospel so well as he, nor explain the reasons of your faith to others, and establish it upon so solid and unshaken foundations of argument, as Paul could do; but every christian, that has embraced the faith, and felt the power of this gospel for his own salvation, may give this reason for the profession of it, and may support his courage in opposition to all the sharpest temptations of mockery and reproach.

When the apostle says, it is the power of God, we must suppose him to understand, it is a most powerful means, or effectual instrument that God uses, to save souls, and it is attended with divine power for that end.

It is more powerful than the light of nature; for we have no just reason to believe, that the mere light of nature, without some helps of divine revelation, or some unwritten traditions of it, ever saved any souls at all; and if there have been any of the sinners of the heathen nations made partakers of grace, I think it is otherwise to be accounted for than merely by the poor remains of the light of nature.

It is more powerful than any religion that men or angels could invent, and more powerful too, than any religion that God himself ever invented, or revealed, and proposed to men before the gospel of Christ. His revelations to the patriarchs were but few; they were made here and there to a house or two, or to a family; they were particular favours that he bestowed upon persons called out of idolatry, nor had they a very long, nor spreading, nor lasting influence, except in the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, where they were frequently renewed.

It is more powerful than all the revelations of grace, which God made by Moses to the children of Israel, and intermingled with the Jewish law: for these discoveries reached but to one single nation, and wrought but feebly toward the conversion of sinful souls to God and holiness, in comparison of what the gospel of Christ has done.

Besides, let it be considered, that all the power which all the former discoveries of grace to the patriarchs, or to the Jews, had to save souls, was derived from the gospel of Christ, which is contained in them in lower measures, and in a more obscure manner. Therefore since the gospel of Christ now stands forth in open light, and in full glory, it is most eminently powerful to convert sinners, to bring this apostate world back again to God, and to save millions of souls.

I. It is the most powerful means of salvation, considered in itself, and in its own nature and influence.—II. It is the most powerful means, as it is accompanied with the influences of the Holy Spirit.

The first of these maybe called a moral persuasive influence; the last is supernatural and sovereign. Let us meditate on each of these distinctly.

I. It is the most powerful means, if we consider the gospel in itself, and its own nature. Not that the mere word of the gospel, reaching the ears of men, is sufficient to change the heart, and to save the soul without divine influences: For it is said to be the power of God to salvation; that is, it is that doctrine whereby God exerts his divine power to save sinful man. But still it must be granted, that the doctrine itself in its own nature has a very great and evident tendency to this glorious end, as it is the noblest, the richest, and the brightest discovery of grace that ever was made to man.

If we consider it in its own nature, it has the greatest moral power, or persuasive influence toward the salvation of perishing sinners. This is easily proved by explaining what this salvation means.

Salvation includes in it a freedom from the guilt and punishment of sin, together with a right and title to heaven; it implies also a freedom from the power of sin, and thereby a preparation for heaven, and a final possession of it. Under each of these considerations it will appear with great evidence, that _the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is the power of God to salvation_.

1. It is the most powerful means to set sinners free from the guilt and punishment of sin, and to relieve a distressed conscience under the sense of divine anger: It gives the most effectual security to a believer against the terrors of hell and eternal death; for it not only declares, that there is forgiveness with God, but it shews us the foundation upon which this forgiveness stands, namely, the satisfaction made to the offended justice of God by the death and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, his Son. Suppose it were possible for a philosopher, or wise man, to prove that God would forgive the sins of the penitent, yet there is nothing but the gospel that can set the conscience at such joyful ease from the terror of guilt, and release the soul from the chains wherewith it was held: “For now, says the believer, I not only hear it proved by divine testimony, that there is pardon of sin to be obtained from God, but I see how God may do it with honour: I behold the atonement that is made by Christ Jesus, his own Son: The atonement is equal to the offence: He can justify me, though I am a sinner, upon the account of this perfect righteousness, and he can do it with glory to all his terrible perfections; therefore I may venture my assent to this doctrine, and I may rest my soul upon it.”

2. The gospel is a powerful means also to raise undeserving sinners to a hope of heaven and eternal life. It shews us what heaven is, by the discoveries of one that has been there, even the Son of God himself. _Life and immortality are brought to light by this gospel_, which lay hid under much darkness before; 2 Tim. i. 10. It teaches us also, how the happiness of heaven is procured for us, even by the obedience and blood of the Son of God; and therefore, some think, heaven is called _the purchased possession_ in Eph. i. 14. It assures us, that this blessed state of the enjoyment of God in unchangeable peace, and in the company of blessed spirits, waits for every believer, when he is dislodged from this flesh, and when the habitation of the body is no longer fit to retain the spirit: And it reveals also the final heaven of the saints, when the body shall be raised into immortality. “Without this gospel, says the soul, I could have no just ground to hope for heaven; for all my best righteousnesses are imperfect, my fairest acts of holiness have many defects in them; but I behold the perfect righteousness of my Saviour that has procured it. A life of holiness without defect, and a most submissive obedience to a painful and shameful death, has been the price and purchase of it.”

3. This gospel is a most powerful means to subdue sin in the soul, to mortify corrupt nature, to inspire us with virtue, to wean our hearts from vice, sensuality, and trifles, and from all the insufficient pretences to blessedness that the world can flatter us with. The gospel of Christ, both in his own personal ministry of it, and in the writings of his apostles, sets before us the most divine scheme of morality, piety and virtue, that ever the world knew. The sacred dictates of probity and goodness towards men, as well as the venerable rules of piety toward God, which are scattered up and down in an imperfect and obscure manner among the philosophers, and shine like a star here and there in the midnight darkness of heathenism; these are all collected and refined in the gospel of Christ, and fill the christian world with a pure and universal light like the sun unclouded in a meridian sky: We know our duty infinitely better from the instructions of Christ and St. Paul, than all the Platos, and the Plutarchs, all the Zenos and the Antonines of Greece and Rome, could ever teach us.

The most divine rules of the gospel are attended also with the noblest motives to love virtue, and to hate all vice; for never was the evil of sin so displayed to the eyes and senses of men, as by the cross and gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Never did sin appear so hateful, so abominable, so justly the object of divine and human hatred, as when it appeared pressing the soul of the holy One of God into agonies and sharp anguish. A believer, who has seen the evil of sin as revealed in this gospel, will hate it, and will be led powerfully to a conquest over it.

Besides, the terrors of hell are revealed to us among the doctrines of christianity, as the just punishment of sin, and that in such a manner as no other religion pretends to: For, as the doors of heaven are opened by our Lord Jesus Christ, both by his ministry on earth, and by his ascent into heaven, and by the farther discoveries which his apostles have made of the future unseen happy world, so the doors of hell are opened too. Our Lord Jesus himself preached hell and terrors to sinners with a sacred vehemence, and set everlasting fire in a clearer and more dreadful light than ever had been done by all the philosophers in the world. The soul of every saint has been in some measure a witness of this truth, when it lay under the work of divine conviction.

And not only the horrid nature and evil of sin, and the dreadful consequences of it, are powerful motives to make us stand afar off, and fear it: but “The sweet and constraining influence of the love of Christ does most effectually incline me, saith the believer, to hate every sin, and to follow after universal holiness: Shall I build up again the things which my Saviour died to destroy? This would be to make him suffer agonies in vain, and run counter to all the designs of his bleeding love, and the voluntary sacrifice of his soul?”