Part 39
2. It is not confined to one sex only, or to one age. The children are called as well as the fathers, and men and women are invited to partake of this blessing together in Christ. _There is neither male nor female_, neither young nor old, neither Greek nor Jew, that have any distinction put upon them, to exclude them from this grace; _they are all one in Christ Jesus_; Gal. iii. 28. Children, have you seen the evil of your sins, and the danger of hell? Do you long for pardoning and saving grace, and are you willing that Christ should make your peace with God, that he should enable you to serve him upon earth, and prepare you for heaven? Come then, trust in this gospel, give up yourselves to Jesus Christ the Saviour in the manner I have spoken, and the salvation is yours. Nor let old sinners thrust away this mercy from them, under a pretence that they have long abused it. You are now under the joyful sound of the gospel; you sit now under the language of inviting love: Are you willing to be made new creatures before you die, and to accept of a deliverance from hell, though you are upon the very borders of it? Behold power enough in this gospel to deliver you: The blood of Christ can wash out stains of the longest continuance; The Spirit of Christ can change the skin of an old Ethiopian, and create an old inveterate transgressor into holiness. This gospel could save the thief upon the cross, and ensure paradise to him. It can rescue a dying rebel from eternal death; for it gives life and salvation to every one that believes.
3. It is not limited to one rank or condition of men in the civil life, but reaches to persons of every circumstance. The rich and the poor, the master and the servant, the prince and the peasant, must partake of salvation by the same faith in the Son of God. The barbarian and the Scythian, who seem to be born for slaves, and the Romans who are lords of the earth, _the bond and the free_, have all an equal call to receive this salvation; Col. iii. 11. Ye are all rich enough to obtain it: There is no purchase of these blessings by any other price but that of the blood of Jesus. Silver and Gold, and the treasure of kings, are all contemptible offers in so sacred a concernment as this is. The benefit is too valuable to be bought at any meaner rate: Christ, who paid for it, will bestow it freely on all. If the rich will receive it, they must come without money, and without price, and accept of the free gift of God, as humble petitioners at his footstool; and the poor _that have no money, come ye and buy_; Is. lv. 1, 2. Let the vilest, meanest creature come to this treasury of grace, and with thankfulness receive the salvation, for it is bought already. You are called only to trust in this gospel, to surrender yourselves to this Saviour, and the salvation shall be yours. Ye that are mean and low and base in this world, there are many of your brethren already joined in the fellowship of this gospel: Come, enter yourselves into the blessed fraternity. _To the poor the gospel is preached_, and the poor receive it. But there are some noble, there are some great, there are some rich, that have felt the power of it too: There is Philemon the master, and his servant Onesimus, joined in the same faith, and partakers of the same salvation; Philem. 16.
Again, 4. It is not confined to persons whose intellectual excellencies are superior to their neighbours, or who exceed others in understanding and the acquirements of the mind. St. Paul was _debtor both to the wise and the unwise_; to the learned Greek, and to the ignorant and unpolished barbarian; Rom. i. 14. He preached the gospel to all of them: For Christ had a chosen number amongst them all. If the witty, and the wise, and the learned will lay down their pride, and submit to the doctrine of Christ crucified, and not call it foolishness: If they will humble their understandings to receive the sacred mysteries of our religion, _God manifest in the flesh_, and put to death for the sins of men, and will place the concerns of their eternal welfare into the hands of him who hung bleeding upon the cross: If they are willing to _be converted and become as little children_, there is a door for them to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And as for you, whose understandings are weak and unpolished with human learning, this is a doctrine and a gospel exactly fitted for your character: It is no business of great sagacity, no ingenious matter to become a christian. Believe the truths that are plainly revealed concerning your own sin and misery, and the power of Jesus Christ to save you; bewail your own wretchedness and guilt, and entrust yourselves in the arms of his grace, that ye may be made holy and happy, and ye also shall become possessors of the same kingdom. _Father, I thank thee, Lord of heaven and earth, that though these things may be hidden from the wise and the prudent, yet thou hast revealed them to babes_; Mat. xi. 25, 26.
But I pursue the distributions of this grace yet farther:
5. No particular tempers or constitutions of men, no different qualities of soul or body, can exclude those that believe from the grace or blessings of this gospel. _Let not the strong man glory in his strength_, nor the comely figures of human nature boast themselves in their beauty. Let not the weak be overwhelmed with despair, nor the deformed or uncomely stand afar off and abandon their hopes; the same Saviour proposes the riches of his grace to all. Learn therefore to look upon all your natural advantages, and all your natural discouragements, with a negligent eye in the matter of your salvation. If you would be strong to win heaven, you must borrow all your strength from Christ and the gospel. If you would appear comely and honourable before the face of God, you must be clothed in _the robe of righteousness, and the garments of salvation_, which he has prepared; Is. lxi. 10.
Nor can any difference in the natural qualities of the soul forbid any person who believes in Christ to hope for this salvation. Those who are by nature proud or peevish, sullen or passionate, angry or revengeful, have been made partakers of this grace, as well as those who by the complexion of their animal frame, and the original temper of their minds, have had more of the natural virtues belonging to them; such as gentleness, meekness of spirit, good-humour and kindness. Those who have something in their very frame that is sly and crafty, or covetous, wanton, and intemperate, have felt the power of this gospel, as well as those that have been generous and sincere, modest, chaste, and abstemious; for the grace of the gospel, which was typified by the ark of Noah, takes in all manner of animals, clean and unclean, and saves them from the deluge of divine wrath that shall come upon an ungodly world. But there is this blessed difference, that the brutes went out of the ark with the same nature they brought in: but those who come under the protection and power of this gospel by faith, they are in some measure changed, they are refined, they are sanctified. The wolf that came in, is turning into a lamb, and the raven by degrees becomes a dove, surely, the gospel has begun to make them so, for it has begun their salvation.
I will grant indeed, that the perverse temper of blood and spirits, and the very make of the man, as to his natural and vicious qualities, is seldom entirely altered by the grace of God here on earth. There will be some sallies of animal nature, some out-breakings of the irregular fire that is pent up in the constitution; and these will too often mix themselves with our conduct, and interline our acts of virtue and duty. But the holy soul, who believes in Christ, will be humble, will mourn, will accuse and chide itself before God in secret, and will be importunate and restless in prayer for the victory. The christian will not suffer himself to be carried away willingly by the stream of vicious inclinations; for _he that is born of God sinneth not_; 1 John v. 18. and it is in vain to talk of the gospel and salvation of faith and grace, if we give up the reins to vicious nature, and bid a careless farewell to any one virtue.
But to proceed yet farther in reckoning up the various characters of men, whom the gospel makes christians by the grace of faith.
6. As no persons are excluded because of their natural constitution, so neither are any forbid the blessing of salvation because of their former ill characters in the moral life. Not the greatest of sinners are shut out from this blessing, if they repent and believe the gospel. Not the Jews who crucified the Lord of glory: Not the Gentiles or Greeks, who were slaves to superstition and idolatry, and drenched in most infamous and abominable practices; the Greeks, who gave themselves up to work uncleanness with greediness without God, and without hope in the world. One gospel has saved them all. No former follies or faults, no, not the greatest of sins against man, or against God himself, ought to shut up a humble soul under despair; for _this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came to save the chief of sinners_; 1 Tim. i. 15. And that is a word of most extensive grace which our Saviour speaks; Mat. xii. 31. _All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men._
You who have enjoyed a happy education, and had pious parents to boast of, as the Jews boasted of Abraham; you who have many shining works of sobriety and righteousness, you are called to come and trust in this gospel: But you must renounce all your pretended merit, and accept of pardoning grace, or you can never be saved. And you that have nothing that looks like a good work to glory in, sinners as bad as the worst of Gentiles, come, and believe this gospel, and surrender yourselves to Jesus the Prince and the Saviour; his blood is all-sufficient for the pardon of your sins, his righteousness is all-sufficient for your justification; and his Spirit can purify your sinful natures. _Where sin has abounded, grace has much more abounded_; Rom. v. 20. It is to the everlasting honour of _the gospel of Christ_, that it has appeared to be _the power of God to the salvation_ of multitudes of such as you: _Such were some of you_, saith the apostle to the _Corinthians_; _but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God_; 1 Cor. vi. 11.
And surely if great degrees of sin cannot exclude the penitent soul from the benefit of the gospel; then, 7. Neither shall any person be excluded because of the weak degrees of his faith; _Him that is weak in the faith, receive ye; for Christ has received him_; Rom. xiv. 1-3. Read that kind condescending promise, and believe it; Mat. xii. 20. _He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax_, nor suppress, nor despise the least, the lowest desires of grace: He will encourage the youngest and the feeblest acts of sincere repentance and true faith, though struggling under much sin and darkness, till it break out into evident and active flame. The little tender seed of grace under his heavenly influences shall bud, and blossom, and spring up into full glory.
How large and glorious is the salvation that attends faith in this gospel! How extensive is the grace of God our Saviour! How unsearchable are the riches of his mercy! _O the heights and the depths, the lengths and the breadths of the love of Christ, that pass all knowledge!_ None of the sons or daughters of Adam the sinner, are excluded from this salvation, where the gospel is preached, but those who exclude themselves by stubbornness and unbelief. Persons of every kind, every character, condition and quality, amongst men, have found this _gospel become the power of God to their salvation_, when they have fled to this refuge, and believed in this Saviour.
What improvement now shall I make of the last part of this discourse, this wide extent of salvation bestowed on all who believe? Has every single believer this salvation in some measure conferred on him, and wrought in him? Then here is a plain and evident test, whereby to try our faith, or a certain sign whereby we may judge, whether we are true believers, or no.
The gospel is the manifestation of the power of God for the salvation of every one that believes. What have you found of this salvation begun in you? What have you felt of your own guilt and wretchedness by reason of sin, and of your danger of eternal death? Have you seen the death of Christ as an effectual atonement to procure the forgiveness of an offended God? Have you beheld the power and grace of Christ sufficient to renew your sinful natures, and to form them after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness? Have you found your conscience resting upon the sacrifice of Christ, and your souls humbly expecting pardon and peace there? Are your hearts turned away from every sin? Is the temper of your mind made divine and heavenly, and suited to the business and blessedness of the upper world? This is the salvation of Christ which the gospel proposes, and bestows upon all that believe.
Upon such solemn enquiries as these, I am persuaded there is many a soul must take up this heavy complaint, “Alas! I fear I am no believer: I have sat long under the sound of the gospel, and I have heard the doctrine of Christ crucified many years to no purpose; for I have never found this gospel attended with any such powerful impressions as to begin salvation in me. I have been too thoughtless about the guilt of my sins, and about the forgiveness of them in the court of heaven. Nor have I found my sinful nature changed, nor my affections sanctified. I have very little of these spiritual desires and delights which have been before described as part of my salvation, I feel the inward workings of my soul vain and carnal still; I am not prepared for the heavenly world, and surely then I have never truly believed in Christ, nor received his gospel.”
To such complaints as these, I would propose these three several answers:
Answer I. It may be so indeed. All this complaint may be just and true; and perhaps thou art an unbeliever still, dead in trespasses and sins, and exposed every moment to the stroke of death, and to everlasting misery. This is the case of many a thousand beside thyself: Even the greatest part of those who are called christians, are yet afar off from God and from salvation, and have no just ground to suppose that they are believers in Christ. But it is of infinite concern for thee, O sinner, to busy thyself about this enquiry. There is not any one act in thy life, in which thou canst be engaged, that is of greater and more awful importance than this; for thy heaven or thy hell depends upon it.
Some sit all their days under the gospel, and hear nothing but the outward sound, always unmoved, unawakened, and unaffected; slumbering and nodding upon the borders of eternal fire; while others hear the voice of the Son of God, arise from the dead and receive a new, a divine life. Some in the same family, perhaps of thy own kindred, thy flesh and blood, or some that are upon the same seat in the public assembly, are convinced and converted, believe in Christ, and are saved; while thou remainest a hard and impenitent sinner under the voice of the same grace, and the preaching of the same salvation.
And if this be thy case, it is a dreadful one indeed. Consider, how will thy condemnation be aggravated, that thou hast heard the gospel published with so much glorious evidence in such a land, and such an age of light as this is, and yet thou abidest in the state of impenitence, and unbelief, and death. Thou hast had the blessings of heaven offered at thy door, and hast hitherto refused to receive them. Thou hast sat, as it were, on the banks of the _river of life_, and never desired to taste the _living water_. Thou hast dwelt near the shadow of the _tree of life_, but art an utter stranger to the fruit. O! with what a stupid and a careless ear hast thou heard the things of thy everlasting peace! Think of it therefore, and be horribly afraid: If the gospel be not powerful for the salvation of thy soul, it will become through thy own impenitence, a powerful means to increase thy damnation, to make thy hell hotter, and thy eternal sorrows more intolerable, _Wo to thee_, Capernaum! _Wo to thee_ Bethsaida! Wo unto you, O sinners of Great Britain, ye have been exalted to heaven in divine favours, and ye shall be thrust down to hell, if ye continue in unbelief. _It shall be more tolerable in the day of Judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah, than for you_; Mat. xi. 21.
But art thou indeed yet an unbeliever? Yet sleeping the sleep of death? It may be this is thy awakening time: It may be this is the hour when thou shalt begin to hear the voice of God in order to life. O cherish such important thoughts as these. Let them arise with thee in the morning, let them lie down at night with thee, and give thyself no rest, nor give rest to the God of heaven, nor to Jesus Christ the Saviour, till he has received thy soul into the arms of his love, forgiven thy sins, and made thee a new creature, that the gospel may not be to thy soul the savour of eternal death.
II. But perhaps the person who makes this complaint, may be some humble, melancholy christian, some sincere believer in Christ, and yet under dark and timorous apprehensions, concerning his own state. It may be, poor trembling soul, that thou hast found the preaching of the gospel to be the power of God to thy salvation, though thou art not able rightly to evidence it to thy own conscience.
Thou hast not the joy of pardon indeed, but hast thou not some glimmering hopes? Surely thou dost not abandon thyself to utter despair? Thou hast not assurance that Christ has accepted of thee; but art thou not sincerely willing to surrender thyself to him, to receive his complete salvation in the holiness as well as the happiness of it? Dost thou not long to be pardoned and accepted of God, for the sake of his death and obedience? And art thou not heartily desirous to give him all the honour of thy salvation? Thou hast not much power against sin, but dost thou not hate it with immortal hatred, and esteem it thy constant enemy? Does it not often cause thee to mourn before the Lord, because of thy captive state, and the working of in-dwelling iniquities? Perhaps thou dost not yet feel thyself to be manifestly saved from sin, but art thou not saved from the love of sin? It dwells in thy flesh, it may be, and raises tumults there, but not in thy desire and thy delight. Canst thou not say with the apostle; Rom. vii. 23, 24. _There is a law in my members warring against the law of my mind?_ But it is a daily torment to me, _O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me?_ Thou dost not love God, it may be, according to thy wish and desire; but is there any thing which thou valuest more than God and his love? Art thou not truly willing to love him above all things, to be renewed and sanctified in all the powers of thy nature, to be fitted for the business of heaven, and suited to the blessedness?
If thy heart can echo to this sort of language, and the grace of God has prevailed thus far in thee, then thy salvation is begun; the gospel has shewn its divine power upon thee, and thou art indeed to be numbered among the believers.
III. But I would conclude my discourse with a word that may have equal respect to saints or sinners. If you are concerned sincerely about your eternal welfare, but can see no comfortable evidences in yourselves of the work of faith, or the beginnings of salvation, if all within you appear to be guilt and sin, and there is much of hell and darkness in the soul, yet do not cast away all hope: Arise and come to Jesus the Saviour, behold he calleth you. This is the season of the grace of the gospel, _This is the accepted time, this is the day of salvation_. Make haste now to the city of refuge, fly now to the hope that is set before you.
The promises are held open to thee, O soul! whosoever thou art, even the promises of light and life, of grace and eternal glory. Christ Jesus invites thee by the messengers of his gospel: If there be some darkness upon thy Spirit, do not spend all thy time in laborious and fruitless enquiries whether thou hast heretofore believed in Christ, or no; but come now with an humble sense of thy guilty and sinful circumstances, and surrender thyself to his charge and care by a new act of faith, or trust, or dependance. Plead with him to accept a vile criminal overloaded with guilt and misery, and to make thee accepted with God by a righteousness which was not thy own. Beseech him to look with pity on thy unholy soul, to sanctify and renew it, to take thy hard heart into his hand, and soften it into repentance. Plead with him, and say, Lord, art not thou exalted to give repentance as well as remission? Entreat of him to subdue thy sins, to new-mould and create all the powers of thy nature in the beauties of holiness, and to prepare thee for the heavenly state. Go and complain humbly at his mercy-seat, how long thou hast sat under the ministry of his own gospel, and felt no divine power attending it. Intrust thyself now to his care, and place thyself by faith under his divine influences. _He that comes_ in this manner, _shall in no wise be cast out_, for the Lord has promised to receive him; John vi. 37. Wait on him with daily importunity, follow all the means of grace which he hath appointed, and the gospel of Christ shall appear in due time to be the power of God, even thy God, to thy salvation. _Amen._
HYMN FOR SERMON XIX. _None excluded from Hope._