Chapter XIV: Part 14

When GOD first made man, and had breathed into him the breath of life, he gave him dominion over the works of his hands; and every herb bearing seed, and every tree, in which was the fruit of a tree yielding seed, to him was given for meat: but when _Adam_ had tasted the forbidden fruit, which was the only restraint laid upon him, he forfeited this privilege, and had no right, after he had disobeyed his Creator, to the use of any one of the creatures.

But, blessed be GOD, this charter, as well as all other privileges, is restored to us by the death of the second _Adam_, our LORD and Master JESUS CHRIST. Of every beast of the field, every fish of the sea, and whatsoever flieth in the air, or moveth on the face of the earth, that is fit for food, “we may freely eat,” without scruple take and eat; but then, with this limitation, that we use them moderately. For GOD, by the death of JESUS, has given no man license to be intemperate; but, on the contrary, has laid us under the strongest obligations to live soberly, as well as godly, in this present world.

But the drunkard, despising the goodness and bounty of GOD, in restoring to us what we had so justly forfeited, turns his grace into wantonness; and as though the creature was not of itself enough subject to vanity, by being cursed for our sake, he abuses it still more, by making it administer to his lusts; and turns that wine which was intended to make glad his heart, into a deadly poison.

But thinkest thou, O drunkard, whosoever thou art, thou shalt escape the righteous judgment of GOD? No, the time will shortly come that thou must be no longer steward, and then the Sovereign LORD of all the earth will reckon with thee for thus wasting his goods. Alas! wilt thou then wrest scripture any longer to thy own damnation? And because JESUS CHRIST turned water into wine at the marriage-feast, to supply the wants of his indigent host, say, that it is therefore meet to make merry, and be drunken. No, thou shalt be silent before him; and know, that though thou hast encouraged thyself in drunkenness by such-like arguments, yet for all these things GOD will bring thee into judgment. But,

_Secondly_, What makes drunkenness more exceedingly sinful, is,
that a man, by falling into it, sinneth against his own body.

When the apostle would dissuade the _Corinthians_ from fornication, he urges this as an argument, “Flee fornication, brethren; for he that committeth fornication, sinneth against his own body.” And may not I as justly cry out, Flee drunkenness, my brethren, since he that committeth that crime, sinneth against his own body? For, from whence come so many diseases and distempers in your bodies? Come they not from hence, even from your intemperance in drinking? Who hath pains in the head? Who hath rottenness in the bones? Who hath redness of eyes? He that tarries long at the wine, he that rises early to seek new wine. How many walking skeletons have you seen, whose bodies were once exceeding fair to look upon, fat and well-favoured; but, by this sin of drinking, how has their beauty departed from them, and how have they been permitted to walk to and fro upon the earth, as though GOD intended to set them up, as he did _Lot_’s wife, for monuments of his justice, that others might learn not to get drunk? Nay, I appeal to yourselves: are not many, for this cause, even now sickly among you? And have not many of your companions, whom you once saw so flourishing, like green bay trees, been brought by it with sorrow to their graves?

We might, perhaps, think ourselves hardly dealt with by GOD, was he to send us, as he did the royal Psalmist, to choose one plague out of three, whereby we should be destroyed. But had the Almighty decreed to cut off man from the face of the earth, and to shorten his days, he could not well send a more effectual plague, than to permit men, as they pleased, to over-charge themselves with drunkenness; for though it be a slow, yet it is a certain poison. And if the sword has slain its thousands, drunkenness has slain its ten thousands.

And will not this alarm you, O ye transgressors? Will not this persuade you to spare yourselves, and to do your bodies no harm? What, have you lost the first principles of human nature, the fundamental law of self-preservation? You seem to have a great fondness for your bodies; why, otherwise, to gratify the inordinate appetites, do you drink to excess? But surely, if you truly loved them, you would not thus destroy them; and was there no other argument to be urged against drunkenness, the consideration that it will destroy those lives you are so fond of, one would imagine, should be sufficient.

I know, indeed, that it is a common answer, which drunkards make to those, who, out of love, would pull them as firebrands out of the fire, we are no body’s enemy but our own. But this, instead of being an excuse for, is an aggravation of their guilt: for (not to mention that the drunkenness of one man has cloathed many a family with rags, and that it is scarce possible for a person to be drunk, without tempting his neighbour also) not to mention these, and many other ill consequences, which would prove such an excuse to be entirely false: yet what is dearer to a man than himself? And if he himself be lost, what would all the whole world avail him? But how wilt thou stand, O man, before the judgment-seat of CHRIST, and make such an excuse, when thou shalt be arraigned before him as a self-murderer? Will it then be sufficient, thinkest thou, to say, I was no man’s enemy but my own? No; GOD will then tell thee, that thou oughtest to have glorified him with thy spirit, and with thy body, which were his; and since thou hast, by intemperance, destroyed thy body, he will destroy both thy body and soul in hell. But,

_Thirdly_, What renders drunkenness more inexcusable, is, that
it robs a man of his reason.

Reason is the glory of a man; the chief thing whereby GOD has made us to differ from the brute creation. And our modern unbelievers have exalted it to such a high degree, as even to set it in opposition to revelation, and so deny the LORD that bought them. But though, in doing this, they greatly err, and whilst they profess themselves wise, become real fools; yet we must acknowledge, that reason is the candle of the LORD, and whosoever puts it out, shall bear his punishment, whosoever he be.

But yet, this the drunkard does. _Nebuchadnezzar_’s curse he makes his choice, his reason departeth from him; and then what is he better than a brute?

The very heathen kings were so sensible of this, that, in order to deter their young princes from drinking, they used to make their slaves get drunk, and be exposed before them. And didst thou but see thine own picture, O drunkard, when, after having drowned thy reason, thou staggerest to and fro, like one of the fools in _Israel_, and seest thy very companions making songs upon thee, surely thou wouldst not return to thy vomit again, but abhor thyself in dust and ashes!

When _David_, in a holy ecstacy, was dancing before the ark, _Michal_, _Saul_’s daughter, despised him in her heart; and when he came home, she said, “How glorious was the king of _Israel_ to-day, who uncovered himself to-day in the eyes of the hand-maids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelesly uncovereth himself.” But may not every one that meets a drunkard, more justly say, How glorious does he, that was made a little lower than the angels, look to-day, when, unmindful of his dignity, he has by drinking robbed himself of his reason, and reduced himself to a level with the beasts that perish.

But what if GOD, in the midst of one of these drunken fits, should arrest thee by death, and say unto thee, “Thou fool, this moment shall thy soul be required of thee.” O! how wouldst thou appear in those filthy garments before that GOD, in whose sight the heavens are not clean. And how knowest thou, O man, but this may be thy lot? Hast thou not known many summoned at such an unguarded hour? and what assurance hast thou, that thou shalt not be the next? Because GOD has forborn thee so long, thinkest thou he will forbear always? No, this is rather a sign that he will come at an hour thou lookest not for him; and since his goodness and long-suffering has not led thee to repentance, he will cut thee down, and not permit thee to cumber the ground any longer. Consider this then, all ye that count it a pleasure to turn yourselves into brutes, lest GOD pluck you away by a sudden death, and there be none to deliver you.

_Fourthly_, There is a farther aggravation of this crime, that
it is an inlet to, and forerunner of many other sins; for it
seldom comes alone.

We may say of drunkenness, as _Solomon_ does of strife, that it is like the letting out of water; for we know not what will be the end thereof. Its name is _Legion_; behold a troop of sins cometh after it. And, for my own part, when I see a drunkard, with the holy Prophet, when he looked in _Hazael_’s face, I can hardly forbear weeping, to consider how many vices he may fall into, ere he comes to himself again.

What horrid incest did righteous _Lot_ commit with his own daughters, when they had made him drunk? And, I doubt not, but there are many amongst you, who have committed such crimes when you have deprived yourselves of your reason by drinking, that were you to hear of them, your heart, like _Nabal_’s, after he was told how he had abused _David_ when he was drunk, would die within you. And, had any one told you, when you were sober, that you would have been guilty of such crimes, you would have cried out, with _Hazael_ before-mentioned, “Are thy servants so many dogs, that they should do thus?”

But no marvel that drunkards commit such crimes; for drunkenness drives the Holy Spirit from them; they become mere machines for the devil to work up to what he pleases; he enters into them, as he entered into the herd of swine; and no wonder if they then commit all uncleanness, and any other crime, with greediness. But this leads me to a

_Fifth_ consideration, which highly aggravates the sin of
drunkenness, it separates the Holy Spirit from us.

It is to be hoped, that no one here present need be informed, that before we can be assured we are christians indeed, we must receive the Holy Ghost, must be born again from above, and have the Spirit of GOD witnessing with our spirits, that we are the sons of GOD. This, this alone is true christianity; and without the cohabitation of this blessed Spirit in our hearts, our righteousness does not exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, and we shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of GOD.

But now, drunkards do in effect bid this blessed Spirit to depart from them: for what has he to do with such filthy swine? They have no lot or share in the Spirit of the Son of _David_. They have chased him out of their hearts, by defiling his temple; I mean their bodies. And he can no more hold communion with them, than light can have communion with darkness, or CHRIST have concord with _Belial_.

The apostle, therefore, in the words of the text, exhorts the _Ephesians_, “not to be drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but to be filled with the Spirit;” thereby implying, that drunkenness and the Spirit of GOD could never dwell in the same heart. And in another epistle, he bids them to avoid unprofitable conversation, as a thing which grieved the Holy Spirit: whereby alone they could be sealed to the day of redemption. And if unprofitable conversation grieves the Holy Spirit, at what an infinite distance must drunkenness drive him from the hearts of men?

O that you were wise! that you would consider what a dreadful thing it is to have the Spirit of the living GOD depart from you! for, assure yourselves, if you live without him, you will live without GOD in the world. You are in the same miserable forlorn condition as _Saul_ was, when an evil spirit of the LORD came upon him; and you are only so many vessels of wrath fitted for destruction. But this brings me to a

_Sixth_ reason against the sin of drunkenness; it absolutely
unfits a man for the enjoyment of GOD in heaven, and exposes
him to his eternal wrath.

To see and enjoy GOD, and to be like the blessed angels; always beholding the face of our heavenly Father, in the glories of his kingdom, is such an unspeakable happiness, that even wicked men, though they will not live the life of the righteous, cannot but wish their future state to be like his.

But think you, O ye drunkards, that you shall ever be partakers of this inheritance with the saints in light? Do you flatter yourselves, that you, who have made them often the subject of your drunken songs, shall now be exalted to sing with them the heavenly songs of _Sion_? No, as by drunkenness you have made your hearts cages of unclean birds, with impure and unclean spirits must you dwell.

A burning _Tophet_, kindled by GOD’s wrath, is prepared for your reception, where you must suffer the vengeance of eternal fire, and in vain cry out for a drop of water to cool your tongues. Indeed you shall drink, but it shall be a cup of GOD’s fury: for in the hand of the LORD there will be a cup of fury, it will be full mixed; and as for the dregs thereof, all the drunkards of the land shall suck them out.

But perhaps you may not believe this report. These words may be looked upon by you as idle tales, and I may seem to you as _Lot_ did to his sons-in-law, when he came to warn them to get up out of _Sodom_, “as one that mocketh.” But if you believe not me, believe eternal truth itself, which has positively declared, that no drunkard shall ever enter into his kingdom.

And I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that as surely as the LORD rained fire and brimstone, as soon as _Lot_ went out of _Sodom_, so surely will GOD cast you into a lake of fire and brimstone, when he shall come to take vengeance on them that know not GOD, and have not obeyed the gospel of our LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Behold then I have told you before; remember, that you this day were informed what the end of drunkenness would be. And I summon you, in the name of that GOD whom I serve, to meet me at the judgment-seat of CHRIST, that you may acquit both my Master and me; and confess, with your own mouths, that your damnation was of yourselves, and that we are free from the blood of you all.

But, LORD, has no one believed our report? Wilt thou suffer so many words to be spoken in vain, if it be yet in vain? No, methinks I see some pricked to the heart, and ready to cry out, in the language of _David_ to _Abigail_, “Blessed be the LORD GOD of _Israel_, which sent thee this day to speak unto us.” For surely, unless he had sent thee, this sin of drunkenness had been our ruin: but now, since we find whither it will lead us, we are resolved to drink no liquor to excess while the world stands, lest we should be tormented in the flames of hell.

But alas! how shall we be delivered from the power of this sin? Can the _Ethiopian_ change his skin, or the leopard his spots? So hard, almost, will it be for you who have been accustomed to be intemperate, to learn to live sober.

But do not despair; for what is impossible with man, is possible with GOD. Of whom then should you seek for succour, but of him your LORD? Who, though for this sin of drunkenness, he might justly turn away his face from you; yet observe,

_First_, If you pour out your hearts before him in _daily prayer_, and ask assistance from above, it may be GOD will endue you with power from on high, and make you more than conquerors through JESUS CHRIST. Had you kept up communion with him in prayer, you would not so long, by drunkenness, have had communion with devils. But, like the Prodigal, you have desired to be your own masters; you have lived without prayer, depended on your own strength; and now see, alas! on what a broken reed you have leaned. How soon have you made yourselves like the beasts that have no understanding? But turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways. Come to him with the repenting Prodigal, saying, “Father we have sinned;” we beseech thee, let not this sin of drunkenness have any longer dominion over us. Lay hold on CHRIST by faith, and lo! it shall happen to you even as you will. A

_Second_ means I would recommend to you, in order to get the better of drunkenness, is to _avoid evil company_: For it is the evil communication of wicked men, that has drawn many thousands into this sin, and so corrupted their good manners.

But you may say, If I leave my companions, I must expect contempt: for they will certainly despise me for being singular. And thinkest thou, O man, ever to enter in at the strait gate by a true conversion, without being had in derision of them that are round about thee? No; though thou mayst be despised, and not go to heaven, yet thou canst not go to heaven without being despised: “For the friendship of the world is enmity with GOD.” And they that are born after the flesh, will persecute those that are born after the Spirit. Let not, therefore, a servile fear of being despised by a man that shall die, hinder thy turning unto the living GOD. For what is a little contempt? It is but a vapour which vanisheth away, and cometh not again. Better be derided by a few companions here, than be made ashamed before men and angels hereafter. Better be the song of a few drunkards on earth, than dwell with them, where they will be eternally reproaching and cursing each other in hell. Yet a little while, and they themselves shall praise thy doings; and shall say, We, fools, counted his leaving us to be folly, and his end to be without honour: but now is he numbered among the sons ♦of GOD, and his lot among the saints!

♦ duplicate word “of” removed

But I hasten to lay down a

_Third_ means for those who would overcome the sin of drunkenness, to enter upon a life of _strict self-denial_ and mortification: for this kind of sin goeth not forth but by prayer and fasting. It is true, this may seem a difficult task; but then, we must thank ourselves for it; for had we begun sooner, our work would have been the easier. And even now, if you will but strive, the yoke of mortification will grow lighter and lighter every day.

And now, by way of conclusion, I cannot but exhort all persons, high and low, rich and poor, to practise a strict self-denial in eating and drinking. For though “the kingdom of GOD consists not in meats and drinks,” yet an abstemious use of GOD’s good creatures, greatly promotes the spiritual life. And perhaps there are more destroyed by living in a regular sensuality, than even by the very sin I have now been warning you of. I know indeed, that many, who are only almost christians, and who seek, but do not strive to enter into the kingdom of GOD, urge a text of scripture to justify their indulgence, saying, that “it is not what entereth into the man defileth the man.” And so we grant, when taken moderately; but then they should consider, that it is possible, nay, it is proved by daily experience, that a person may eat and drink so much as not to hurt his body, and yet do infinite prejudice to his soul: for self-indulgence lulls the soul into a spiritual slumber, as well as direct intemperance; and though the latter may expose us to more contempt among men, yet the former, if continued in, will as certainly shut us out from the presence of GOD. St. _Paul_ knew this full well; and therefore, though he was the spiritual father of thousands, and was near upon finishing his course, yet he says, it was his daily practice to “keep his body under, and bring it into subjection, lest after he had preached to others, he himself should be a cast-away,” or disapproved of, or do something that might make him an offence or stumbling-block to any of GOD’s children: for of his own, and all other saints final perseverance, he makes no doubt, as is evident from many of his epistles; and the word Ἀδοκιμος bears this sense, 2 _Corinthians_ xiii. 5. and sundry other places. But why urge I the apostle’s example, to excite you to a strict temperance in eating and drinking? Rather let me exhort you only to put in practice the latter part of the text, to labour to “be filled with the Spirit of GOD,” and then you will no longer search the scriptures to find arguments for self-indulgence; but you will deal sincerely with yourselves, and eat and drink no more at any time, than what is consistent with the strictest precepts of the gospel. O beg of GOD, that you may see, how you are fallen in _Adam_, and the necessity of being renewed, ere you can be happy, by the Spirit of JESUS CHRIST! Let us beseech him to enlighten us to see the treachery of our corrupt hearts, and how pure and holy these bodies ought to be, that they ought to be living temples of the Holy Ghost, and then we shall shew ourselves men. And being made temples of the Holy Ghost, by his dwelling in our bodies here, though after death, worms may destroy them, yet shall they be raised by the same Spirit at the general resurrection of the last day, to be fashioned like unto CHRIST’s glorious body hereafter.

Which GOD of his infinite mercy grant, &c.

SERMON LIII.

The Power of CHRIST’s Resurrection.

PHILIPPIANS iii. 10.

_That I may know Him, and the Power of his Resurrection._

THE apostle, in the verses before the text, had been cautioning the _Philippians_ to “beware of the concision,” _Judaizing teachers_, who endeavoured to subvert them from the simplicity of the gospel, by telling them, they still ought to be subject to circumcision, and all the other ordinances of _Moses_. And that they might not think he spoke out of prejudice, and condemned their tenets, because he himself was a stranger to the _Jewish_ dispensation, he acquaints them, that if any other man thought he had whereof he might trust in the flesh, or seek to be justified by the outward privileges of the _Jews_, he had more: For he was “circumcised the eighth day; of the stock of _Israel_ (not a proselyte, but a native _Israelite_); of the tribe of _Benjamin_ (the tribe which adhered to _Judah_ when the others revolted); an _Hebrew_ of the _Hebrews_ (a _Jew_ both on the father’s and mother’s side); and as touching the law, a _Pharisee_,” the strictest sect amongst all _Israel_. To shew that he was no _Gallio_ in religion, through his great, though misguided zeal, he had persecuted the church of CHRIST; and “as touching the righteousness of the law (as far as the _Pharisees_ exposition of it went, he was) blameless,” and had kept it from his youth. But, when it pleased GOD, who separated him from his mother’s womb, to reveal his Son in him, “What things were gain to me,” (he says) those privileges I boasted myself in, and fought to be justified by, “I counted loss for CHRIST.” And that they might not think he repented that he had done so, he tells them, he was now more confirmed than ever in his judgment. For, says he, “yea doubtless (the expression in the original rises with a holy triumph) and I do count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of CHRIST JESUS my LORD.” And that they might not object that he said, and did not, he acquaints them, he had given proofs of the sincerity of these professions, because for the sake of them, he had suffered the loss of all his worldly things, and still was willing to do more; for, “I count them but dung (no more than offals thrown out to dogs) so that I may win, (or have a saving interest in) CHRIST, and be found in him (as the manslayer in the city of refuge) not having my own righteousness which is of the law, (not depending on having _Abraham_ for my father, or on any works of righteousness which I have done, either to atone or serve as a balance for my evil deeds) but that which is through the faith of CHRIST, the righteousness which is of GOD by faith,” a righteousness of GOD’s appointing, and which will be imputed to me, if I believe in CHRIST, “that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection;” that I may have an experimental knowledge of the efficacy of his resurrection, by feeling the influences of his blessed Spirit on my soul. In which words two things are implied.

_First_, That JESUS CHRIST did rise from the dead.

_Secondly_, That it highly concerns us to know the power of his
rising again.

Accordingly, in the following discourse I shall endeavour to shew,

_First_, That CHRIST is risen indeed from the dead; and that it
was necessary for him so to do; and,

_Secondly_, That it highly concerns us to know and experience
the power of his resurrection.

_First_, CHRIST is indeed risen.

That JESUS should rise from the dead was absolutely necessary;

1. _First_, On his own account. He had often appealed to this as the last and most convincing proof he would give them that he was the true Messiah, “There shall no other sign be given you, than the sign of the prophet _Jonas_.” And again, “Destroy this temple of my body, and in three days I will build it up.” Which words his enemies remembered, and urged it as an argument, to induce _Pilate_ to grant them a watch, to prevent his being stolen out of the grave. “We know that deceiver said, whilst he was yet alive, after three days I will rise again.” So that had he not risen again, they might have justly said, we know that this man was an impostor.

2. _Secondly_, It was necessary on our account. (says the apostle) for our justification;” or that the debt we owed to GOD for our sins, might be fully satisfied and discharged.

It had pleased the Father (for ever adored be his infinite love and free grace) to wound his only Son for our transgressions, and to arrest and confine him in the prison of the grave, as our surety for the guilt we had contracted by setting at nought his commandments. Now had CHRIST continued always in the grave, we could have had no more assurance that our sins were satisfied for, than any common debtor can have of his creditor’s being satisfied, whilst his surety is kept confined. But he being released from the power of death, we are thereby assured, that with his sacrifice GOD was well pleased, that our atonement was finished on the cross, and that he hath made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the world.

3. _Thirdly_, It was necessary that our LORD JESUS should rise again from the dead, to assure us of the certainty of the resurrection of our own bodies.

The doctrine of the resurrection of the body was entirely exploded and set at nought among the _Gentiles_, as appears from the _Athenians_ mocking at, and calling St. _Paul_ “a babbler and a setter forth of strange doctrines,” when he preached to them JESUS, and the resurrection. And though it was believed by most of the _Jews_, as is evident from many passages of scripture, yet not by all; the whole sect of the Sadducees denied it. But the resurrection of JESUS CHRIST put it out of dispute. For as he acted as our representative, if he our head be risen, then must we also, who are his members, rise with him. And as in the first _Adam_ we all died, even so in him our second _Adam_ we must all, in this sense, be made alive.

As it was necessary, upon these accounts, that our blessed LORD should rise from the dead; so it is plain beyond contradiction, that he did. Never was any matter of fact better attested; never were more precautions made use of to prevent a cheat. He was buried in a sepulchre, hewn out of a rock, so that it could not be said that any digged under, and conveyed him away. It was a sepulchre also wherein never man before was laid; so that if any body did rise from thence, it must be the body of JESUS of _Nazareth_. Besides, the sepulchre was sealed; a great stone rolled over the mouth of it; and a band of soldiers (consisting not of friends, but of his professed enemies) was set to guard it. And as for his disciples coming by night and stealing him away, it was altogether improbable: For it was not long since, that they had all forsaken him, and they were the most backward in believing his resurrection. And supposing it was true, that they came whilst the soldiers slept; yet the soldiers must be cast into a deep sleep indeed, that the rolling away so great a stone did not awake some of them.

And our blessed LORD’s afterwards appearing at sundry times, and in divers manners, to his disciples, as when they were assembled together, when they were walking to _Emmaus_, when they were fishing; nay, and condescending to shew them his hands and feet, and his appearing to above five hundred brethren at once, put the truth of his resurrection out of all dispute.

Indeed, there is one objection that may be made against what has been said, that the books wherein these facts are recorded were written by his disciples.

And who more proper persons than those who were eye-witnesses of what they related, and eat and drank with him after his resurrection? “But they were illiterate and ignorant men.” Yet as good witnesses of a plain matter of fact, as the most learned masters in _Israel_. Nay, this rendered them more proper witnesses. For being plain men, they were therefore less to be suspected of telling or making a lye, particularly, since they laid down their lives for a testimony of the truth of it. We read indeed of _Jacob_’s telling a lie, though he was a plain man, in order to get his father’s blessing. But it was never heard since the world began, that any man, much less a whole set of men, died martyrs, for the sake of an untruth, when they themselves were to reap no advantage from it.

No, this single circumstance proves them to be _Israelites_ indeed, in whom was no guile. And the wonderful success GOD gave to their ministry afterwards, when three thousand were converted by one sermon; and twelve poor fishermen, in a very short time enabled to be more than conquerors over all the opposition men or devils could make, was as plain a demonstration, that CHRIST was risen, according to their gospel, as that a divine power, at the sound of a few ram’s horns, caused the walls of _Jericho_ to fall down.

But what need we any farther witnesses? Believe you the resurrection of our blessed LORD? I know that you believe it, as your gathering together on this first day of the week in the courts of the LORD’s house abundantly testifies.

What concerns us most to be assured of, and which is the

_Second_ thing I was to speak to, is, Whether we have experimentally known the power of his resurrection; that is, Whether or not we have received the Holy Ghost, and by his powerful operations on our hearts have been raised from the death of sin, to a life of righteousness and true holiness.

It was this, the great apostle was chiefly desirous to know. The resurrection of CHRIST’s body he was satisfied would avail him nothing, unless he experienced the power of it in raising his dead soul.

For another, and that a chief end of our blessed LORD’s rising from the dead, was to enter heaven as our representative, and to send down the Holy Ghost to apply that redemption he had finished on the cross, to our hearts, by working an entire change in them.

Without this, CHRIST would have died in vain. For it would have done us no service to have had his outward righteousness imputed to us, unless we had an inward inherent righteousness wrought in us. Because, being altogether conceived and born in sin, and consequently unfit to hold communion with an infinitely pure and holy GOD, we cannot possibly be made meet to see or enjoy him, till a thorough renovation has passed upon our hearts.

Without this, we leave out the Holy Ghost in the great work of our redemption. But as we were made by the joint concurrence and consultation of the blessed trinity; and as we were baptized in their name, so must all of them concur in our salvation: As the Father made, and the Son redeemed, so must the Holy Ghost sanctify and seal us, or otherwise we have believed in vain.

This then is what the apostle means by the “Power of CHRIST’s resurrection,” and this is what we are as much concerned experimentally to know, as that He rose at all.

Without this, though we may be moralists, though we may be civilized, good-natured people, yet we are no christians. For he is not a true christian, who is only one outwardly; nor have we therefore a right, because we daily profess to believe that CHRIST rose again the third day from the dead. But he is a true christian who is one inwardly; and then only can we be stiled true believers, when we not only profess to believe, but have felt the power of our blessed LORD’s rising from the dead, by being quickened and raised by his Spirit, when dead in trespasses and sins, to a thorough newness both of heart and life.

The devils themselves cannot but believe the doctrine of the resurrection, and tremble; but yet they continue devils, because the benefits of this resurrection have not been applied to them, nor have they received a renovating power from it, to change and put off their diabolical nature. And so, unless we not only profess to know, but also feel that CHRIST is risen indeed, by being born again from above, we shall be as far from the kingdom of GOD as they: our faith will be as ineffectual as the faith of devils.

Nothing has done more harm to the christian world, nothing has rendered the cross of CHRIST of less effect, than a vain supposition, that religion is something without us. Whereas we should consider, that every thing that CHRIST did outwardly, must be done over again in our souls; or otherwise, the believing there was such a divine person once on earth, who triumphed over hell and the grave, will profit us no more, than believing there was once such a person as _Alexander_, who conquered the world.

As CHRIST was born of the Virgin’s womb, so must he be spiritually formed in our hearts. As he died for sin, so must we die to sin. And as he rose again from the dead, so must we also rise to a divine life.

None but those who have followed him in this regeneration, or new-birth, shall sit on thrones as approvers of his sentence, when he shall come in terrible majesty to judge the twelve tribes of _Israel_.

It is true, as for the outward work of our redemption, it was a transient act, and was certainly finished on the cross, but the application of that redemption to our hearts, is a work that will continue always, even unto the end of the world.

So long as there is an elect man breathing on the earth, who is naturally engendred of the offspring of the first _Adam_, so long must the quickning spirit, which was purchased by the resurrection of the second _Adam_, that LORD from heaven, be breathing upon his soul.

For though we may exist by CHRIST, yet we cannot be said to exist in him, till we are united to him by one spirit, and enter into a new state of things, as certainly as he entered into a new state of things, after that he rose from the dead.

We may throng and crowd round about CHRIST, and call him “Lord, Lord,” when we come to worship before his footstool; but we have not effectually touched him, till by a lively faith in his resurrection, we perceive a divine virtue coming out of him, to renew and purify our souls.

How greatly then do they err who rest in a bare historical faith of our Saviour’s resurrection, and look only for external proofs to evidence it? Whereas were we the most learned disputers of this world, and could speak of the certainty of this fact with the tongue of men and angels, yet without this inward testimony of it in our hearts, though we might convince others, yet we should never be saved by it ourselves.

For we are but dead men, we are like so many carcases wrapt up in grave cloaths, till that same JESUS who called _Lazarus_ from his tomb, and at whose own resurrection many that slept arose, doth raise us also by his quickening Spirit from our natural death, in which we have so long lain, to a holy and heavenly life.

We might think ourselves happy, if we had seen the Holy JESUS after He was risen from the dead, and our hands had handled that LORD of life. But more happy are they who have not seen him, and yet having felt the power of his resurrection, therefore believe in him. For many saw our divine master, who were not saved by him; but whosoever has thus felt the power of his resurrection, has the earnest of his inheritance in his heart, he has passed from death to life, and shall never fall into final condemnation.

I am very sensible that this is foolishness to the natural man, as were many such like truths to our LORD’s own disciples, when only weak in faith, before he rose again. But when these natural men, like them, have fully felt the power of his resurrection, they will then own that this doctrine is from GOD, and say with the _Samaritans_, “Now we believe not because of thy saying,” for we ourselves have experienced it in our hearts.

And O that all unbelievers, all letter-learned masters of _Israel_, who now look upon the doctrine of the power of CHRIST’s resurrection, or our new birth, as an idle tale, and condemn the preachers of it as enthusiasts and madmen, did but thus feel the power of it in their souls, they would no longer ask, how this thing could be? But they would be convinced of it, as much as _Thomas_ was, when he saw the LORD’s CHRIST; and like him, when JESUS bid him reach out his hands and thrust them into his side, in a holy confusion they would cry out, “My LORD and my GOD!”

But how shall an unbeliever, how shall the formal christian come thus to “know CHRIST, and the power of his resurrection?” GOD, who cannot lye, has told us, “I am the resurrection and the life, whosoever liveth and believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” Again, says the apostle, “By faith we are saved, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of GOD.”

This, this is the way, walk in it. Believe, and you shall live in CHRIST, and CHRIST in you; you shall be one with CHRIST, and CHRIST one with you. But without this, your outward goodness and professions will avail you nothing.

But then, by this faith we are not to understand a dead speculative faith, a faith in the head; but a living principle wrought in the heart by the powerful operations of the Holy Ghost, a faith that will enable us to overcome the world, and forsake all in affection for JESUS CHRIST. For thus speaks our ♦blessed Master, “Unless a man forsake all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”

♦ “blesser” replaced with “blessed”

And so the apostle, in the words immediately following the text, says, “being made conformable to his death;” thereby implying, that we cannot know the power of CHRIST’s resurrection, unless we are made conformable to him in his death.

If we can reconcile light and darkness, heaven and hell, then we may hope to know the power of CHRIST’s resurrection without dying to ourselves and the world. But till we can do this, we might as well expect that CHRIST will have concord with _Belial_.

For there is such a contrariety between the spirit of this world, and the Spirit of JESUS CHRIST, that he who will be at friendship with the one, must be at enmity with the other: “We cannot serve GOD and mammon.”

This may, indeed, seem a hard saying; and many, with the young man in the gospel, may be tempted to go away sorrowful: But wherefore should this offend them? For what is all that is in the world, the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, but vanity and vexation of spirit?

GOD is love; and therefore, could our own wills, or the world, have made us happy, he never would have sent his own dear Son JESUS CHRIST to die and rise again, to deliver us from the power of them. But because they only torment, and cannot satisfy, therefore GOD bids us to renounce them.

Had any one persuaded profane _Esau_ not to lose so glorious a privilege, merely for the sake of gratifying a present corrupt inclination, when he saw him about to sell his birth-right for a little red pottage, would not one think that man to have been _Esau_’s friend? And just thus stands the case between GOD and us. By the death and resurrection of JESUS CHRIST, we are new-born to an heavenly inheritance amongst all them which are sanctified; but our own corrupt wills, would tempt us to sell this glorious birth-right for the vanities of the world, which, like _Esau_’s red pottage, may please us for a while, but will soon be taken away from us. GOD knows this, and therefore rather bids us renounce them for a season, than for the short enjoyment of them lose the privilege of that glorious birth-right, to which, by knowing the power of the resurrection of JESUS CHRIST, we are entitled.

O the depth of the riches and excellency of christianity! Well might the great St. _Paul_ count all things but dung and dross for the excellency of the knowledge of it. Well might he desire so ardently to know JESUS, and the power of his resurrection. For even on this side eternity it raises us above the world, and makes us to sit in heavenly places in CHRIST JESUS.

Well might that glorious company of worthies, recorded in the Holy scriptures, supported with a deep sense of their heavenly calling, despise the pleasures and profits of this life, and wander about in sheep-skins, and goat-skins, in dens and caves of the earth, being destitute, afflicted, tormented.

And O that we were all like minded! that we felt the power of CHRIST’s resurrection as they did! How should we then “count all things as dung and dross for the excellency of the knowledge of CHRIST JESUS our LORD!” How should we then recover our primitive dignity, trample the earth under our feet, and with our souls be continually gasping after GOD?

And what hinders but we may be thus minded? Is JESUS CHRIST, our great High Priest, altered from what he was? No, “he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.” And though he is exalted to the right-hand of GOD, yet he is not ashamed to call us brethren. The power of his resurrection is as great now as formerly, and the Holy Spirit, which was assured to us by his resurrection, as ready and able to quicken us who are dead in trespasses and sins, as any saint that ever lived. Let us but cry, and that instantly, to Him that is mighty and able to save; let us, in sincerity and truth, without secretly keeping back the least part, renounce ourselves and the world; then we shall be christians indeed. And though the world may call us out, and separate from our company, yet JESUS CHRIST will walk with, and abide in us. And at the general resurrection of the last day, when the voice of the archangel and trump of GOD shall bid the sea and the graves to give up their dead, and all nations shall appear before him, then will he confess us before his Father and the holy angels, and we shall receive that invitation which he shall then pronounce to all who love and fear him, “Come, ye blessed children of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world.”

Grant this, O Father, for thy dear Son’s sake, JESUS CHRIST our
LORD; to whom, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, &c.

SERMON LIV.

Intercession every Christian’s Duty.

1 THESSALONIANS v. 25.

_Brethren, pray for us._

IF we enquire, why there is so little love to be found amongst christians, why the very characteristic, by which every one should know that we are disciples of the holy JESUS, is almost banished out of the christian world, we shall find it, in a great measure, owing to a neglect or superficial performance of that excellent part of prayer, _intercession_, or imploring the divine grace and mercy in behalf of others.

Some forget this duty of praying for others, because they seldom remember to pray for themselves: and even those who are constant in praying to their Father who is in heaven, are often so selfish in their addresses to the throne of grace, that they do not enlarge their petitions for the welfare of their fellow christians as they ought; and thereby fall short of attaining that christian charity, that unfeigned love to their brethren, which their sacred profession obliges them to aspire after, and without which, though they should bestow all their goods to feed the poor, and even give their bodies to be burned, yet it would profit them nothing.

Since these things are so, I shall from the words of the text (though originally intended to be more confined) endeavour to shew,

I. _First_, That it is every christian’s duty to pray for others,
as well as for himself.

II. _Secondly_, Shew, whom we ought to pray for, and in what
manner we should do it. And,

III. _Thirdly_, I shall offer some motives to excite all
christians to abound in this great duty of intercession.

I. _First_, I shall endeavour to shew, That it is every christian’s duty to pray for others, as well as for himself.

Now _prayer_ is a duty founded on natural religion; the very heathens never neglected it, though many christian heathens amongst us do: and it is so essential to christianity, that you might as reasonably expect to find a living man without breath, as a true christian without the spirit of prayer and supplication. Thus, no sooner was St. _Paul_ converted, but “behold he prayeth,” saith the LORD Almighty. And thus will it be with every child of GOD, as soon as he becomes such: prayer being truly called, The natural cry of the newborn soul.

For in the heart of every true believer there is a heavenly tendency, a divine attraction, which as sensibly draws him to converse with GOD, as the load-stone attracts the needle.

A deep sense of their own weakness, and of CHRIST’s fulness; a strong conviction of their natural corruption, and of the necessity of renewing grace; will not let them rest from crying day and night to their Almighty Redeemer, that the divine image, which they lost in _Adam_, may through his all-powerful mediation, and the sanctifying operations of his blessed spirit, be begun, carried on, and fully perfected both in their souls and bodies.

Thus earnest, thus importunate, are all sincere christians in praying for themselves: but then, not having so lively, lasting, and deep a sense of the wants of their christian brethren, they are for the most part too remiss and defective in their prayers for them. Whereas, was the love of GOD shed abroad in our hearts, and did we love our neighbour in that manner, in which the Son of GOD our Saviour loved us, and according to his command and example, we could not but be as importunate for their spiritual and temporal welfare, as for our own; and as earnestly desire and endeavour that others should share in the benefits of the death and passion of JESUS CHRIST, as we ourselves.

Let not any one think, that this is an uncommon degree of charity; an high pitch of perfection, to which not every one can attain: for, if we are all commanded to “love our neighbour (that is every man) even as ourselves,” nay to “lay down our lives for the brethren;” then, it is the duty of all to pray for their neighbours as much as for themselves, and by all possible acts and expressions of love and affection towards them, at all times, to shew their readiness even to lay down their lives for them, if ever it should please GOD to call them to it.

Our blessed Saviour, as “he hath set us an example, that we should follow his steps” in every thing else, so hath he more especially in this: for in that divine, that perfect and inimitable prayer (recorded in the xviith of St. _John_) which he put up just before his passion, we find but few petitions for his own, though many for his disciples welfare: and in that perfect form which he has been pleased to prescribe us, we are taught to say, not _My_, but “_Our_ Father,” thereby to put us in mind, that, whenever we approach the throne of grace, we ought to pray not for ourselves alone, but for all our brethren in CHRIST.

Intercession then is certainly a duty incumbent upon all christians.

II. Whom we are to intercede for, and how this duty is to be performed, comes next to be considered.

1. And first, our intercession must be _universal_. “I will, (says the apostle) that prayers, supplications and intercessions be made for all men.” For as GOD’s mercy is over all his works, as JESUS CHRIST died to redeem a people out of all nations and languages; so we should pray, that “all men may come to the knowledge of the truth, and be saved.” Many precious promises are made in holy writ, that the gospel shall be published through the whole world, that “the earth shall be covered with the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea:” and therefore it is our duty not to confine our petitions to our own nation; but to pray that all those nations, who now sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, may have the glorious gospel shine out upon them, as well as upon us. But you need not that any man should teach you this, since ye yourselves are taught of GOD, and of JESUS CHRIST himself, to pray, that his kingdom may come; part of the meaning of which petition is, that “GOD’s ways may be known upon earth, and his saving health among all nations.”