Part 70
Or is the character of Cephas, as an instructor of the young, and a condescending preacher to babes? He has this talent given him for your sakes too, to feed you while you were babes in Christ, with the sincere milk of the word, to set before you the first principles of the oracles of God, and assist you to imbibe the rudiments of christianity, before you were fit to receive the more exalted doctrines, and be fed with stronger meat. Thus not only Paul and Apollos, but Cephas is yours. All the officers in the church, both ordinary and extraordinary, are appointed for your sakes. It is for you that Christ ascended on high, and gave gifts to men. Read and believe it; Eph. iv. 11, 12. “And he gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
And as the gifts and graces of the ministers of the gospel are designed for the benefit of the church, so the outward circumstances that attend them, their sorrows, and their joys are ordained for the advantage of christians: And St. Paul rejoices in it; 2 Cor. i. 3, 4, 6. “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God;—And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which appears to be effectual, when ye endure the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation,” that is, we preach more effectually from our own experience.
Thus whatsoever be the characters, or the talents, or the circumstances of life that attend your ministers, they are ordained of God for some valuable purposes to you.
II. This world is yours. Not only the ministers of the gospel but the world, and the things of it are yours. It is for your sakes, O believers, that the world stands! For when sin entered into it by Adam the first man, there was a curse spread over it; and perhaps immediate destruction had attended it, but for the sake of the children of God, who were appointed to be born in successive ages, amongst the posterity of Adam, among the children of men. It is for the sake of the elect, who were given to Christ before the world was, that this earth and these lower heavens are continued in being. This earth abides as a stage of
## action, proper for a state of trial for the saints, and when the last
saint is born, and his state of trial is finished, the world and the works of it shall be burned up together.
It is for you, O christians, that these heavens, or, shall I say, this globe of earth rolls round in its daily and yearly courses, and the sun and the moon send out their brighter or paler beams, to light you onward in your way to glory. The morning breaks for you to give you day-light, that you may work for God: And the evening spreads its long thick shadows over the nations, to determine a time for your repose and refreshment. The darkness and the light are yours, during your continuance in the flesh. When all your work here is done, these lower “heavens shall be folded up like an old garment, as a vesture shall they be changed;” they shall flee away and be no more.
Survey the trees and the fields, how they bring forth food for you. The beasts of the earth grow and are nourished for your conveniency; they were born and live, and die for your support and nourishment. The winds blow to purge the air for you, and to keep it wholesome, while God has appointed you to breathe in it. The fountains bubble, and the rivers flow to quench your thirst. Flax and wool are ordained for your covering, and the silk-worm is set to his shining task, that some of your garments may be soft and easy: _The beasts of the earth are at peace with you, and you are in league with the stones of the field_; Job v. 23. O happy and glorious state of the children of God!
Christ, in his providential management of all things in this world, has a chief regard to his own people. The wicked of the earth who dwell among the saints, come in for a share of the common good things of life, chiefly as they are instruments of the providence of Christ, for some known or unknown benefit to his church.
I might tell you also, that if you are christians indeed, then though your ungodly neighbours may have a rightful civil property in many good things of the world, yet you have a better and sweeter interest in the earthly blessings which you possess. You can taste the love of a Father in them, and the kindness of a reconciled God. They are common benefits to the world, but they are made as it were special blessings to you. They are put into your hand by a better covenant: They are sanctified to your use: The world itself becomes a means to raise your heads towards God. And whereas wealth, and honours, and the plenteous enjoyments of life, become a temptation and a snare to the wicked; and, through the corruption of their natures, divide their souls from God and heaven, the same things are made happy instruments in the hand of the Mediator, to furnish you out for eminent service, and to help you onward to a better world.
III. Life and death are yours. Life, with all the comfortable attendants of it; or even with all its difficulties and vexations, it is still designed for your advantage: And death, as terrible as it is in itself, shall appear to be a benefit to you. But I insist no longer on this head at present, because I design it to be the subject of following discourses.
IV. Things present, whether visible or invisible, and things to come, are all yours.
1. Visible things present are yours. I have shewed you in part already, how the wheels of nature are rolling for you. This lower creation stands and moves for your sakes, for your relief and support, while you are travelling to heaven. The present posture of things in this world, the daily scenes of life are continued or changed and still over-ruled by divine providence for your good. Kingdoms, and laws, and governments, are established among men for your safety: If the world were without all government, and all things run into confusion, the saints, with all their earthly comforts, would become the plunder and property of the wicked continually. The princes of the earth, and the political constitutions of nations, are designed to be a screen and defence to the people of God, who dwell among them: For _if these foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do_; Ps. xi. 3. _The wicked would bend their bow, and make ready their arrow upon the string_; and they would not only in private, but publicly _shoot at the upright in heart_; verse 2. There would be neither life nor safety for a christian. Yet, on the other hand, when Christ, in the course of his providence, brings confusion on states and kingdoms, and when he suffers the wicked of the earth, like wild beasts of the wilderness, to spoil, devour and destroy, it is usually designed by his wisdom, as a season of proper trial for his own people, and that country becomes a scene of their glorious sufferings. Christ, who is the head over all things, sets up and pulls down tyrants or good princes, as may best serve the counsels of his Father’s mercy, and his own kind designs for his chosen and redeemed people.
And as the whole world of nature, and the present affairs of nations are managed by Christ, for the good of the church; so the world of grace, and the affairs of his sanctuary, and his kingdoms on earth, are all ordained for the benefit of the saints. Christians, why did he separate you from the world, and call you out of the wilderness, and make you a chosen nation, and a peculiar people? Was it not for your advantage? Why did he write his word? Why did he ordain ministers and holy institutions? Was it not for your edification? Were not the seals of the covenant given to assist your faith, by the aid of your senses, and by this means to inflame your love, and exalt your joy? Are not the precepts of the word written to direct you in the way of duty? Are not the threatenings pronounced to awaken your fear, and guard you from sin and folly? And are not all the promises of the gospel given to comfort your souls, to support your spirits, and give a sweet taste of glory before-hand.
Whatsoever temporal circumstances attend you in this present life, whether they are painful or pleasant, they are all the appointments of your heavenly Father for your real interest. Are you at peace in the midst of plenty, and does every thing around you smile upon you? It is that your hearts may be raised to thankfulness, and your lips tuned to praise. Do you labour under pain or sickness? It is to wean you from flesh and blood, to put you in mind, that this tabernacle is falling, to awaken your hearts to insure a better habitation on high. Do you want food or raiment? It is to make you remember that you are in the wilderness, and to call your meditations upward to your Father’s house, where there is bread enough, and to spare. Are you scorned and reviled by the basest of men? Are you persecuted or imprisoned and treated with rudeness or cruelty? It is to try and prove your suffering graces, that your faith, courage, and patience may shine as gold that has passed through the furnace; are you called to seal the truth and testimony of Jesus with your blood? It is to prepare you for the crowns of glory that are laid up for martyrs.
This thought leads me onward in the survey of this rich inventory of a christian, and carries my thoughts into the invisible regions, and into far distant futurities.
2. Not things present only in this visible world, but things invisible in other worlds are also yours, and were appointed for your benefit. These are numbered by the apostle among the riches and possessions of the saints. Is there a heaven built on high, with many palaces of light in it? They were built and furnished for your reception. It is, “the inheritance of the saints in light;” Col. i. 12. Are there mansions of unknown glory, well prepared by our Lord Jesus Christ, since his ascent to heaven? He assures us in his last words, that they are prepared for you; John xiv. 2, 3. _In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you; I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there ye may be also._ Each of these mansions stands waiting for those saints, for whom they are provided; and they are all adorned with rich magnificent furniture, in the perfect beauty of holiness.
The angels, in their shining orders, are ordained to be your attendants: Those holy inhabitants of the upper blessed world, _encamp round about those that fear the Lord_; Ps. xxxiv. 7. and are appointed as guards to his children, by their heavenly Father. _Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation_; Heb i. 14. They wait upon your dying beds, and convey your souls to the bosom of Abraham; Luke xvi. 22. Happy souls, who have so illustrious a guard, so secure a convoy to the far distant and unknown regions of light and joy.
The very hell that is provided to punish impenitent sinners, though we cannot say it was built for you, christians; yet it has been of glorious and terrible service, to awaken your souls out of a natural and guilty state. When the Spirit of God in the ministry of his word has opened the mouth of hell, and brought the flashes of that furnace into your face; it has awakened your consciences in time past, and driven you to seek refuge in the arms of Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. Thus hell itself is constrained to pay a tribute towards the salvation of the saints.
And the devils themselves who dwell there, with all their fiery temptations, have been but as underworkers for our final good; they are as slaves to Christ, the great Refiner, who designed to purify your souls by those very methods of temptation, which those evil spirits made use of on purpose to destroy you. Thus the ministers of divine wrath to sinners are become instruments of your benefit. _When Satan has desired to winnow you as wheat, Christ has prayed for you, that your faith fail not_: Luke xxii. 31, 32. and he has care that by this winnowing you might be purified, that nothing might fly away but the empty chaff: that you might appear in the sight of Christ as purer corn. Now if hell, and the wicked inhabitants of it, may be constrained to serve your interest, and to promote your happiness, surely there is nothing in all the creation, but may turn to your advantage. O divine privilege, when the creatures that are under the deserved curse of God, are thus made to subserve your blessedness!
3. But not only present invisibles, but even all future unseen things are yours too. The morning of the resurrection is appointed for your glory; and the great trumpet is put into the hands of the arch-angel, to awaken your sleeping dust into immortality. Jesus the Lord himself shall descend from heaven to call you from the grave: And _though ye were dead, ye shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and live_; John v. 35. The great day of judgment, and all the solemnities of it, are ordained for your honour, to publish your victories over sin and Satan, before the face of the whole creation, to pronounce you openly acquitted and justified before men and angels, to proclaim you the sons and daughters of the Most High God, and determine your state to everlasting blessedness.
Are there crowns of infinite value laid up in heaven? Are there rewards of glory there, immense rewards, and of endless duration? It is to crown your labours, your conflicts, your christian race; it is to reward your sufferings, your patience, and your conquest: And the day of glory is stretched out to all everlasting, that your happiness may know no end. _Thus things present, and things to come are all yours_; and there is nothing in time or eternity, which can come within the reach or notice, but in some of these senses shall subserve your interest, and turn to your advantage. This is the genuine sense, and this the true limitation of these words, _all things are yours_.
The second thing proposed in this discourse, was to prove that notwithstanding the limited sense of these words, yet the true christian has a richer treasure in them, than all the worldly wealth of the sinner. And without multiplying particulars the proof of it will sufficiently appear in these four things:
I. The treasure of the meanest saint is vastly more large and extensive, than that of the richest sinner. Let the wicked man point to his heaps of money, and run over the names of his farms and manors, and call himself the lord and master of them all; it is but a narrow and poor survey, that a few pieces of shining earth can give us; or the fields that lie within the prospect of a mile or two, when compared with this vast and universal treasure, _all things are yours_! It is true, christians, that you have not the civil property and power over the earth, or the heavens; but you receive a divine advantage from all things, and that is more than the sinner can say concerning any one thing that he possesses in the way of civil property.
II. This treasure of the saints is more secure, and more durable than any thing that a sinner enjoys; therefore the apostle calls the wealth of this world, _uncertain riches, that cannot be trusted in_; 1 Tim. vi. 17. _Riches make to themselves wings, and fly away as an eagle towards heaven_; Prov. xxiii. 5. and leave the owner poor and destitute: Many a wealthy man who flourished yesterday, in abundance of ease and plenty, may be stripped of all to-morrow, and want the common supports of nature. What possessions soever are built upon the foundations of civil property, may be taken away from the saint or the sinner, by robbing and plunder, by cheating and knavery, by inundations of water, or the rage of fire, or by the invasion of a foreign enemy, but the beneficial interest that a christian has in all things is preserved to him by the covenant of grace. He may be stripped of all earthly possessions, but the loss of his temporal estate shall turn to his real benefit, as well as the possession of it. Losses and crosses, as well as plenty and peace, are numbered among the items of his inventory, and make up his treasure; so that though the outward scenes of things on earth are perpetually changing, his real and everlasting treasure is the same; for all things that appear in nature, that occur in present providence, or shall arise in future ages, shall work for his advantage: He may lose money or lands as well as a sinner; but that very loss shall turn to his gain.
This sort of treasure he cannot be dispossessed of by death itself for when he quits his visible interest in all things in this lower world, he enters into a new world of spirits, which he has never seen: and yet all things in that world are his too: All things in those unknown regions, where the departing spirit goes, are made over to the saint, by the same covenant as the things of this world; they shall all administer some divine profit to him, and be a part of his happiness in the world to come.
III. This treasure of a christian is ever growing, at least in the possession; for the occurrences of every day make some addition to it; whereas the wealth of sinners is impaired with using. The largest earthly estate may be wasted: Money decreases daily by procuring the supports of life; but a christian’s treasure still improves. He lives upon it every day, and yet it grows still.
The providences of God here on earth, present us daily with some new affairs, new occurrences: Whether they be pleasant or painful, still the spiritual man finds his interest in them; and when he reviews his account in the evening, if his heart has been in a proper frame, he may write himself gainer. He has possessed and enjoyed the very crosses and sorrows of his former days: He has treasured up a store of divine experiences, in the midst of plenty and want, health and sickness: New scenes of life arise, new appearances of things; he is still like the bee, ready to suck honey from every flower that blows: He gathers his food and his riches from weeds that are unsavoury, as well as from the blossoms of perfume: If he is by this means adding daily to the number and strength of his graces and virtues, he is, as it were, treasuring up a good foundation for time to come, and, shall I be bold to say, adding beauties and ornaments to his robes of glory, and lustre to his heavenly crown.
IV. This large inheritance of a christian is all sanctified, which is more than can be said of any part of a sinner’s estate. The riches of this world may be abused to luxury and debauchery, to iniquity and sore vexations. They may be abused to profaneness and impiety, to dishonour God, and corrupt the conversation of men, and to ruin their souls for ever: But this large and extensive treasure of a christian, is designed for his real happiness, as well as for the honour of his God; whatsoever he has to do with in the world, he uses it to the glory of his God, to the honour of his Saviour, to the benefit of his fellow-creatures, and to his own sublimest advantage. And concerning this sacred treasure, it may be said, that it is the property, or in the possession of a christian, no farther than it is sanctified to him, or than he receives it with a sanctified mind. _To the pure all things are pure_; Tit. i. 15. for _every thing is sanctified by the word of God and prayer_; 1 Tim. iv. 5. The exercise of piety among the saints puts a sort of consecration upon all creatures, so far as they use or enjoy them.
Thus it is made sufficiently evident, that the treasure of a saint vastly exceeds all the richest possessions of a sinner. I cannot enter now upon the third branch of my design, which was to shew, how a christian comes to be made heir and possesser of all things. Let us therefore shut up the present discourse with this one reflection:
Reflection.—“How unreasonable is it for a christian to forsake his profession, or his practice, for any thing which this world can tempt him with? For his treasures and enjoyments already are greater than any thing he can hope for in the ways of sin.
“What a powerful motive may be drawn hence, to persevere in faith and holiness? Christians, _all things are yours_; every thing you converse with shall turn to your benefit; _this world, and the other, things present and things to come, life and death are yours_.