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24 September, 2021

GLIMPSES OF THE TRUTH AS IT IS IN JESUS by Octavius Winslow



"The Coming of the Lord in its Relation to Nominal Christianity"

"Our lamps have gone out." Matthew 25:8

It is a distinguishing feature of the word of God that it is a record of stupendous and authenticated facts- a revelation of great and glorious events, a large portion of which yet remains to be fulfilled, but which will as certainly be accomplished as that God, whose Spirit in the prophets predicted them, is true. To the contemplation of one of these great transactions- the first in point of importance, and the greatest in point of grandeur- the attention of the reader will in this chapter be directed. The coming of the Lord in glory and majesty, is the event of unfulfilled prophecy- the central point of hope to the Christian Church, and will be the signal of terrible judgments upon nominal Christendom, and the unbelieving world. Surely it becomes a question with each individual, of the most serious moment, "What part will be assigned to me in the great transaction? What will be my position, and shall I be able to stand when he appears?"

The reader will at once perceive that it is our present design to view this subject in its practical bearing upon character, and more particularly in its solemn relation to a false profession of Christ. No statement in God's word can possibly be clearer than that which describes the Lord as finding, when he comes, a portion of the professing church in a state of actual unpreparedness for the event. They are not surprised in a state of infidelity, or of atheism, or of open and gross ungodliness, "eating and drinking with the drunken," but in the assumed character of professing Christians, mingling with the true church of God, and dreaming- alas! it is but a dream! -of an actual participation in the grace that is to be brought unto the saints at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Our Lord thus portrays their character and describes their state at his appearing- "And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone (or, are going) out." Let us, in attempting a spiritual and a practical improvement of these solemn and searching words, direct our attention, first, to the great event to which they refer; and then, to an analysis of the character which they describe.

THE EVENT is none other than the SECOND COMING OF THE LORD. We are left to no speculation or surmise as to the certainty of this event. Not more clearly was the doctrine of the first advent one of express revelation and distinct announcement, than is the doctrine of the second advent. It is a doctrine of Scripture, and therefore to be studied and believed. And never will the standard of spirituality in the Christian church rise to its proper elevation, nor her serried ranks present so formidable a front to her foes, until she has been brought as fully to receive, and as joyfully to hail, the one advent as she has fully received and joyfully hailed the other. The truth is, the discussions which have agitated and divided the Christian church as to the mode of his coming, have; tended, we fear, to avert the eye of the church from the fact of the Lord's coming. And thus, the "blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the great God our Savior," which should have been a truth uniting, strengthening, and sanctifying the "one body," has been lost sight of amid the strife of party and the conflict of opinion. But we will endeavor to present to the believer's eye a scriptural glimpse of this great truth- a truth, than which, none can be more earth-detaching and heaven-attracting to a believing mind.

We have already gone at some length into the Scripture testimony to the doctrine of the second coming; but as it is possible that these pages may meet the eye of some who have not given to this line of argument any lengthened attention, we will arrange a few Scripture proofs under their proper heads, a candid and prayerful examination of which must lead to the conviction of the great truth which they so clearly substantiate. The reader is requested, at his leisure, to turn to the passages in his Bible.

1. The doctrine of the second coming of the Lord was fully believed and ardently anticipated both by the Old and New Testament saints.

2. Christ will come in the clouds of heaven.

3. His coming will be sudden and unexpected.

4. The gathering together of the saints to meet the Lord.

5. The trial of the Christian Church previously to the coming of the Lord.

6. The sealing of the saints in anticipation of this time of trial.

7. The saints will reign with Christ.

8. The iniquity of the earth will be full at the coming of the Lord. (See an analogy to this truth in the destruction of the wicked in the time of Noah. And subsequently of the Amorites. And then of the Jews.)

9. The gathering together of the Jews, their restoration to their own land, their conversion, and the judgment of God upon their enemies.

10. The coming of the Messiah, the signal of vengeance upon his enemies.

11. The doctrine of the second coming of our Lord, a holy influential truth.

A motive to godly sorrow.

To holiness of life and divine conformity.

To the mortification of sin in believers.

To spirituality of mind.

To patience and long-suffering.

To moderation and sobriety.

Against censorious judgment.

To ministerial fidelity and diligence.

To growth in grace and holiness.

To the study of prophecy.

From this line of Scripture testimony, to the truth of the doctrine of our Lord's second appearing, let us proceed to take a rapid glance at some of its more interesting and prominent CHARACTERISTICS. The first point that strikes us is, the long interval which transpires previously to the accomplishment of the event. But in this we see an illustration of the wisdom and mercy which have ever been so conspicuous in the Divine government. Immediately after the apostle had announced the truth of the Lord's coming, he found it necessary to guard the individuals to whom he had written against the idea of the Lord's immediate appearing- an error into which they had evidently fallen- and which, in a second letter, he thus corrects: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus, and by our gathering together unto him, that you do not be soon shaken in mind, nor be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." Thus it clearly appears that, so far from the doctrine of the Lord's coming being a strange and a novel idea to the early church, it was not only an article of their belief, but it was the theme of their joy, and the cherished object of their anticipation. The apostle, however, found it necessary to check this ardent feeling of the early Christians, by reminding them, that certain great events must transpire, preparatory to the coming of the Lord. He then proceeds to specify two in particular- a season of great spiritual declension, and the temporary ascendancy of the papal power. "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day will not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."

And is there nothing, we earnestly ask, in the events which are now transpiring, identical with these two remarkable premonitions of the advent of the Son of God? Are there not a sad waning of spirituality, a declension of vital godliness, of heart-felt religion? And are there not also a painful defection from the doctrines of grace, and a revival of Popery in a form the most specious and seductive, and therefore the more alarming? Let the reader make himself intelligently acquainted with the history of his own times, read, compare, and judge, and be found prepared for the final issue.

We may regard the delay attendant upon the second coming, in yet another and an interesting point of view, namely, as illustrating the dispensation of mercy under which we live. As in the antediluvian world, "the patience of God waited in the days of Noah," thus affording to the impenitent space for repentance before the Lord came in the terror of his judgment; so, as it regards the coming of the Son of Man, -the interval between the prediction and its accomplishment, is an interval of mercy to the ungodly and impenitent world. The patience of the Lord now waits. God has ever shown himself slow in the execution of judgment, but quick in the exercise of mercy. His wrath has been wont to linger, as if reluctant to break forth; but his goodness has ever gone before us, as if by anticipation, meeting and providing for our need. The coming of the Lord, while it will consummate the blessed hope of the Church, will, to an ungodly, infidel world, be the fearful signal of overwhelming judgments. Hence the delay. Mercy stays the uplifted arm of vengeance, and cries, "Forbear!" The Lord "waits to be gracious." "I gave her space for repentance."

The divine banner is extended, an armistice is proclaimed, proposals of peace are made, a plan of reconciliation is announced- rebel sinners are urged to ground their arms, and to submit to the government of God. Yet, see how the scoffers requite this merciful delay! "There will come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." But Christ will come, and "Who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appears!" Not those who Christian walk in the counsel of the ungodly, and stand in the way of sinners, and sit in the seat of the scornful. They 'shall be like the chaff which the wind drives away; the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.'

But in what character, with especial relation to his Church, will our Lord appear? It will be twofold. He will come, first, as a triumphant King. As a victorious King, he is now enthroned in glory. "You have ascended on high; you have led captivity captive." He returned back to heaven as a conqueror over sin, hell, and death. Never did a Roman victor return from the battlefield bearing such spoil, nor amid such glory and acclamation, as that with which Jesus returned to his kingdom. The Captain of our salvation had gotten himself the victory over every foe of his Church. He met and battled, single-handed and alone, the combined hosts of his enemies, and hers. And although he fell in the conflict, he yet won the battle. He conquered by submitting to conquest; he overcame in being overcome. He slew death in being slain by death.

Do you want a confirmation to your belief in the essential Deity of your coming Lord? Behold it, beloved. Where will you turn to the record of a battle so strange, between combatants so opposite, and attended by results so wondrous? That, in the greatest weakness, our Lord should demonstrate his greatest strength; that, by a decided defeat, he should prove the victor; and that, in succumbing to the power and dominion of death, he should be the death of death! Oh! how truly divine does he appear! Believer in Jesus! the King, whose banner waves over you, has fought and won all your battles. One with him, every believer is victorious. Treading in his Lord's footsteps, he overcomes, even as he overcame. It is impossible but that the weakest believer must obtain the victory in the severe conflict which he is waging with the foe. He may at times be foiled, embarrassed, and overcome, but he will ultimately triumph. The battle may go against us, but not the war. Faith realizing its union with the Lord, obtains the victory. And never does the believer go forth to face the enemy in the name of Jesus, but with the disciples he may exclaim, "Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through your name." Come, you faint and exhausted warriors! and refresh your spirits and renew your strength with this precious truth- your Captain is victorious! He who lives for you upon the throne- he who dwells in you by his Spirit, is he who rose to glory with your every foe chained in defeat and humiliation to his chariot, "carrying captivity captive."

Do you still hesitate to believe so great a truth? Hark how his angelic escort heralded his approach to glory! "Lift up your heads, O you gates, even lift them up, you everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle." "Hark, ten thousand harps and voices

Sound the note of praise above!

Jesus reigns, and heaven rejoices

Jesus reigns the God of love;

See, he fills yon azure throne!

Jesus rules the world alone."

"King of glory, reign forever!

Yours an everlasting crown

Nothing from your love shall sever

Those whom you have made your own;

Happy objects of your grace,

Destined to behold your face."

"Savior, hasten your appearing;

Bring, O bring the glorious day!

When, the awful summons hearing,

Heaven and earth shall pass away,

Then with golden harps we'll sing,

Glory to Our REIGNING KING."



But our Lord, although a victorious, is not a triumphant King. Nor will he be, until he comes the second time to receive his kingdom, and to reign in undisputed and universal supremacy in the bosom of a gathered church, and over a subdued and renovated world. He will then appear "more than a conqueror " -even TRIUMPHANT. He is represented as having, "after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth waiting until his enemies be made his footstool." What are we to gather from this statement? Much that is deeply and gloriously significant. It describes the Redeemer in the interval between the victory and the triumph- the victory which signalized his past humiliation, and the triumph which will aggrandize his coming glory. It defines his position of repose, and his attitude of expectation. It is impossible not to perceive, in these remarkable words, a reference to another and a final conflict- the issue of that conflict being the crowning act of his glory.

Are his enemies yet his footstool? Are all things yet subdued under him? Is the world subdued? Is sin subdued? Is Antichrist subdued? Are the powers of darkness subdued? Is death subdued? No! But they shall be. At what time? When Christ "shall appear the second time without sin," or a sin-offering, and therefore no more as a Priest who is to die; "unto salvation" -and therefore as a King who is to reign. "Then comes the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For he must reign, until he has put all enemies under his feet." Then, then will our Lord appear as a TRIUMPHANT KING to your eye.

Picture the scene! Every foe now falls before him. Death, the last enemy, is destroyed. All his enemies are "consumed with the word of his mouth" -the universal diffusion of his gospel, "and with the brightness of his coming" -the kingly power of his advent. All Antichrists retire- their imposture exposed, and their pretensions confounded- and CHRIST remains in triumph. All earthly kingdoms are dissolved- their dominion destroyed, and their glory passed away- and the kingdom of Messiah fills the world. All principalities and powers lay down their sovereignty at his feet, and Immanuel triumphantly reigns, having on his vesture and on his thigh a name written- "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

"He shall reign from pole to pole,

With illimitable sway;

He shall reign, when, like a scroll,

Yonder heavens have passed away.

Man's last enemy shall fall,

Hallelujah, Christ in God,

God in Christ, is all in all."

But our Lord will appear in another character- one particularly endearing to his Church. He will come as her BRIDEGROOM. "Behold, the Bridegroom comes!" Jesus sustains no relation to his Church more expressive than this. From all eternity he betrothed her to himself, and forever. He asked her at the hands of her Father, and the Father gave her to him. He entered into a covenant that she should be his. The conditions of that covenant were great, but not too great for his love to undertake. They were, that he should assume her nature, discharge her legal obligations, endure her punishment, repair her ruin, and bring her to glory. He undertook all, and he accomplished all- because he loved her. The love of Jesus to his Church is the love of the most tender husband. It is single, constant, affectionate, matchless, wonderful. He sympathizes with her, nourishes her, provides for her, clothes her, watches over, and indulges her with the most intimate and endearing communion.

"Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word; that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." Reader, do you know what this union with Jesus is? Apart from its experience, pride not yourself upon any other union. The dearest, choicest ties of human affection are but as brittle glass. They are easily broken, and soon destroyed. No union, but that which is with Jesus, and in Jesus, extends beyond the grave. He must share in every tie of creature love, if it be holy and permanent. Think not that the union of holy hearts is dissolved by death. O no! -death does not sever, death unites the sanctified. The bonds of the holy are beyond his ruthless power to break. The love which the image of Jesus, reflected in his people, inspires, is as deathless as the love of Jesus himself. It is as immortal as their own redeemed, transformed, and glorified nature. And in reference to a more divine and elevated sentiment than that to which the poet refers, we apply his beautiful words,

"They sin who tell us love can die

With life all other passions fly,

All others are but vanity;

But love is indestructible.

Its holy flame forever burns;

From heaven it came, to heaven returns."

But the Lord Jesus will come in the clouds of heaven, and this will be the occasion of his public espousal of his Church. Her present union to him is secret and unknown, invisible to the world, and often concealed to herself. But he will appear, openly and visibly, to take her to himself; and before his Father and the holy angels, he will solemnize her eternal union. O what a time of splendor and of rejoicing will that be! Arrayed in his nuptial robes, Jesus will descend to make her his own; and she, ''prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, will go forth to meet him." Then will be heard the song of angels, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him; for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready." Yes! "blessed are they who are called unto the marriage-supper of the Lamb." May the writer and the reader, through grace, sit down together there!

But there will be those whom the coming of the Lord will surprise in a state of TOTAL UNPREPAREDNESS. Our allusion now is to NOMINAL PROFESSORS of Christ. To such the words of our Lord's parable unquestionably refer. That the "five foolish virgins" were professors of the Gospel, cannot admit of a doubt. They, too, like the true disciples of Jesus, had their lamps. But they were lamps merely, and nothing more. When the Bridegroom came, they were found empty, without one particle of oil, and the despairing cry was- "Our lamps are going out!" But let us, with all solemnity, portray the character.

In attempting to describe the case of a mere professor of the Gospel, we will commence with his religious creed. Herein, we fear, lies his deepest self-deception. He is, perhaps, a profound theologian, is well schooled in the 'five points' of divinity, is an acute reasoner, a skillful debater, and an able and vigilant defender of the outposts of Christianity. He can subscribe fully to the Thirty-nine Articles, to the Westminster Confession, and to the general truths of revelation. He has no doubt of the divinity of the Bible, his creed is well balanced, and his general views of truth would be considered evangelical and orthodox. And yet, thus far may he proceed in the deepest self-deception. With all this "form of knowledge," this lodgment of the truth in the understanding, this subscription of the intellect to the doctrines of revelation, he is an utter stranger to that heart-transformation, that inward illumination of the Holy Spirit, without which the soul is spiritually dead, the heart is unrenewed and unholy, and the whole moral man is unfit for the kingdom of heaven. In short, we have here the case of one who, while his judgment assents to the truth, his heart entirely rejects it. The Gospel is to him a thing of intellectual subscription, and not of heart experience. Not a single truth of the Bible has become an element of life and holiness in his soul.

The word, in its letter, is an instrument of light; but not, in its spirit, is it an instrument of quickening. With such deep-meaning declarations as these, he is experimentally unacquainted- "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." "Your word has quickened me." "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever." "Of his own will begat he us, with the word of truth." "Sanctify them through your truth." Thus far will the religion of intellect extend. The grand point at which this religion rests short, is REGENERATION, a word mighty in its import, although entirely excluded from the theological vocabulary of the man of mere intellectual subscription to Divine truth. Yet, what a mighty doctrine is this! There it stands in the Bible, and it cannot be erased. We tell the man proud of his orthodoxy, and boasting of his well-poised creed- we tell the man of sound philosophy, and of high intellectual attainments, that though he had the gift of prophecy, and understood all mysteries and all knowledge, yet without the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit, and supreme love to God, the light within him is darkness, and that darkness is the certain prelude to the "blackness of darkness" of despair. "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

Shall we describe him in his general conduct? This, perhaps, is exemplary and commendable. As a member of a Christian church, holding, it may be, an office of distinction and responsibility, as a parent, as a master, as a citizen, men admire and commend him. He is a zealous partizan, is the man of societies, of committees, and of meetings. His name may be found high upon the subscription list, and appended to generous donations. He is a religious patriot. He will devote his talents, his time, and his wealth, to the erection of public sanctuaries, or to the propagation of the Gospel, or in promoting various benevolent and popular enterprises. In the more retired walks of domestic life, the same species of religion may be seen. He will bend his knee in family worship, catechize his children, instruct his domestics, and seek to inculcate and exemplify that which is lovely and of good report.

But follow this Christian professor into the world. Is it evident that the great separation has taken place? Is he there a witness for God? Ah, no! He can mingle with the world, and be of the world, and be as the world, and yet not misplace a single fold of the silken robe with which his religion invests him. He talks of its innocent recreations as sources of high and justifiable enjoyment. He can devour the contents of a novel, or contemplate the transactions of a play, with the same interest with which he bends over the pages of inspiration. The dizzy mazes of the dance, and the voluptuous music of the oratorio, and the delirious excitement of the cup, are sources of enjoyment greater and more frequent than the hallowed engagements of the sanctuary. This is the man of mere religious profession. Have I exaggerated the picture? Ah, no! I have drawn from life. That there are innumerable cases of false profession, not so glaring, or so strongly marked, or so easy of detection and of analysis as this, I readily admit. Instances, many of an external putting on of Christ, and of a very zealous engagement in his service, and of apparent consistency of walk, of much acquaintance with Scripture, and fluency of religious phraseology, in which, nevertheless, the great separation of the man from his own righteousness has never taken place; the conviction of sin, never felt; brokenness of heart, never experienced; faith in Jesus, never exercised; the pardoning love of God, never realized; the preciousness and graciousness of the Lord, never tasted.

Even this may, by some, be thought too strong a picture of self-deception. Not stronger than that which Jesus himself drew- "Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many shall say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and in your name have cast out devils, and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, you that work iniquity." These are searching, solemn words! Who can read them with composure, without fixing his eye of faith upon the cross of Jesus, exclaiming, as he looks, "Sinners, of whom I am chief?" Who has not, at times, been overwhelmed with the self-agonizing thought, "What, if I should be found at last to have possessed nothing but the empty lamp of a Christian profession?" Happy are they whom the searching inquiry may lead more entirely from themselves, to look to Christ, to rest in Christ, to walk in Christ- in the truth of Christ, in the love of Christ, and in the spirit of Christ!

But the dim and flickering light which a mere informed judgment, or which an external profession gives, sooner or later is extinguished. A season of prosperity often proves fatal to a profession of godliness. Divine Providence smiles, riches increase, and with them the temptations and the snares, the luxury, indulgence, and worldly show, which are inseparable from the accumulation of unsanctified and unconsecrated wealth. And what are the results? In most, cases, the entire relinquishment of the outward garb of a religious costume. Found to be in the way of the full indulgence of the carnal mind, it is laid aside altogether; and thus freed from all the restraints which consistency imposed, the heart at once plunges deep into the world it all the while secretly loved, sighed for, and worshiped. Oh! what a severe, but true, test of religious principle is this! How soon it detects the spurious and the false! How soon does the verdure wither away! "The cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." "The prosperity of fools shall destroy them."

But if a professing man passes through this trial, and still retains his integrity- still walks closely and humbly with God- still adheres to the lowly cross- bearing path of Jesus- is still found as diligent in waiting upon God in public and private means of grace- is still as meek, lowly, and kind, increasing in devotedness, liberality, and love, with the increase of God's providential goodness around him, such a man has the "root of the matter in him;" and "he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper." His prosperity has not destroyed him.

A time of adversity is often equally as fatal to a profession of religion, founded upon no true Christian principle. If, in the smooth path, we are apt to slide, in the rough path we may stumble. Periods of great revolution in the history of the Christian Church, when God tries the principles, the conscience, the love, and the faith of his people, are testing-periods. What numbers make shipwreck then of their high profession! And when God enters the pleasant garden of a man's domestic blessings, and blows upon the lovely blossom, or blights the fair flower, or severs the pleasant bough, or scatters the hard-earned wealth of years, or wastes the body's vigor, or frustrates the fond scheme, how does an unrenewed man deport himself? Is his carriage humble, submissive, childlike? Does stern Christian principle now exhibit itself, in beautiful contrast with the trial that has called it forth? Does Divine grace, like the aromatic flower, now appear the sweeter and the lovelier for its being crushed? No, does not every feeling of the heart rise in maddened rebellion against God and against his government? Ah, yes! how accurately does Christ describe his case!- "he has not root in himself, but endures for a while; for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by he is offended."

It is impossible to blind the eyes to the truth, that a time of trial, such as the Christian Church has never yet experienced, is fast approaching. Our Lord foretells it. "There shall be great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." Daniel's "horn" is yet to "make war with the saints, and prevail against them until the Ancient of Days come, and judgment is given to the saints of the Most High."

To this period of trial, just previously to the Lord's second coming, the same prophet again refers in language similar to Christ's. "At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as there never was since there was a nation even to that same time." Then will the Lord bring the principles of his people to the touchstone of truth. Then will he sift professors as corn is sifted, and the storm will scatter the chaff of mere profession, while not a grain of the true wheat shall fall to the ground. The trial thus so clearly predicted, and so evidently approaching, will be, not so much a trial of separate branches of the Christian Church, as it will be a trial of the whole body. It will be a battle for the great essential truths of the gospel, held in common by all, and in which general and severe conflict, all the minor and indifferent things that have so long divided and dismembered the church of Christ, will be lost sight of and forgotten, merged in one great common cause, against one great common foe. This period of trial, while it thus will drive the sheep of the one fold more closely together- now alas! so widely separated and scattered- will be pre-eminently distinguished for its development of truth. The occasion for its investigation will be peculiarly favorable. It will be a conflict for the truth. "What is truth, what is the whole truth?" will be the inquiry of every lip. Christians will be placed in a better position, and be surrounded by more favorable circumstances, for its study.

Truth has never so clearly and powerfully developed itself- its nature and its energies- as in periods of trial and of suffering. What may be said of the growth of the believer in a personal knowledge of the truth, will, with equal propriety, apply to the advancement of truth in the world. The time of trial makes the truth more precious to the heart, and clear to the mind. The affections entwine more closely around it then, and the judgment more distinctly perceives its meaning and its bearings. What believer has not learned more of his Bible in a season of affliction than he had ever learned before? "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn your statutes." Then let the dark cloud lower, and the tempest that will shake the Church of Christ to its center, come, it will but develop the nature, and accelerate the advancement of the pure truth as it is in Jesus. Men of different views, driven beneath the same shelter by the common storm, finding themselves bending before the same mercy-seat, and addressing their petitions to the same Father, deriving their consolation from the same source, and realizing their oneness in the same Lord, all the mists of prejudice and the congealings of coldness now melted away, they will read, and examine, and compare together; and the happy result will be a clearer unfolding of the mind of the Spirit in the word, and a more perfect harmony of judgment and of affection in those who are one in the heart and mind of God. Then will the truth, the divine, precious truth as it is in Jesus, spread, replenishing this sorrowful earth with gladness, and girding this dark globe as with a zone of heavenly light.

There are two periods of awful solemnity, which will be found utterly to extinguish the mere lamp of a Christian profession. Will you follow me, reader, to the dying bed of a false professor? It is an awful place! It is an affecting spectacle! No hope of glory sheds its brightness around his pillow. There is no anchor within the veil, to which the soul now clings in its wrenchings from the body. No Divine voice whispers, in cheering, soothing accents, "Fear not, for I am with you." No light is thrown in upon the dark valley as its gate opens, and the spirit enters. Coldness is on his brow, earth recedes, eternity nears, the vaulted damps ascend and thicken around the parting spirit, and the last wail of despair breaks from the quivering lip, "My lamp is gone out!"

Withdrawing from this affecting scene, let us in retirement read and ponder, with an earnestness and self-examination which we have never done before, the appropriate warning of Jesus, "Not every one that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name; and in your name have cast out devils; and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you- depart from me, you that work iniquity. Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it."

And so will it be when the Son of Man comes. This great event will fix unchangeably the destiny of each individual of the human race. It will break like the loud artillery of heaven upon a slumbering church, and a careless world. It will find the true saints with "oil in their vessels with their lamps," though in an unwatchful state. It will come upon the nominal professor, grasping firmly his lamp of profession, but utterly destitute of the oil of grace, and in a state of as little expectation of, as preparedness for, the advent of the Lord. And it will overtake and surprise the ungodly world as the flood did in the days of Noah, and the fire in the days of Lot- "they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and until the same day that Lot went out of Sodom." "Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed."

The true saints will arouse from their slumber- the spirit of slothfulness and lethargy into which they had fallen- and, trimming their lamps by a fresh exercise of faith in Jesus, will go forth as the "children of the light," to welcome their approaching Lord. False professors, too, startled by the cry which breaks upon the awful stillness of midnight-  solemn as the archangel's trumpet- will eagerly feel for their lamps- their evidences of acceptance based upon an outward profession of the gospel, when lo! to their surprise and consternation, they find themselves destitute of one drop of oil with which to feed the flickering, waning flame, and they exclaim in despair, "Our lamps are going out!" And now the intellectual light goes out, and the moral light goes out, and the professing light goes out, and the official light goes out; and while they have fled to human sources to procure the grace they needed- their backs being thus then turned upon Christ, the "Bridegroom comes; and those who are ready go in with him to the marriage, and the door is shut."

They return with what they suppose the needed evidences, but now they learn- O that they should have learned it too late! -that to have had a mere professing name to live- to have outwardly put on Christ by baptism -to have united externally with the church of God- to have partaken of the Lord's Supper- to have promoted his truth, and to have furthered his cause- to have preached his Gospel, and even to have won converts to the faith, will avail nothing- alone and apart from union to Jesus by the Spirit, obtaining admittance to the marriage supper of the Lamb. "Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not." In view of such a catastrophe, O how poor, contemptible, and insignificant, appears everything, however splendid in intellect, beautiful in morals, or costly in sacrifice, except the humble consciousness of having Christ in the heart the hope of glory!

But, there are those, whose lamps of Christian profession will not go out when the Lord appears. They are his own chosen, redeemed, and called people. Their light, by reason of manifold infirmities, may often have burned but dimly through life; but there is vital religion in the soul- the golden, precious oil of grace, flowing from Jesus into their hearts. And this can never be extinguished. Many were the hostile influences against which their weak grace had to contend; many were the trials of their feeble faith, but the light never quite went out. The waves of sorrow threatened to extinguish it; the floods of inbred evil threatened to extinguish it; the cold blasts of adversity threatened to extinguish it; and the stumbling of the walk, and the inconstancy of the heart, and the declension of the soul, often, for a while, weakened and obscured it; but there it is, living, burning, and brightening, as inextinguishable and as deathless as the source from where it came.

The grace of God in the heart is as imperishable, and the life of God in the soul is as immortal, as God himself. That light of knowledge enkindled in the mind, and of love glowing in the heart, and of holiness shining in the life, will burn in the upper temple in increasing effulgence and glory through eternity. The divine light of Christian grace, which holy grief for sin has enkindled, which love to God has enkindled, which the indwelling of the Holy Spirit has enkindled, will outlive and outshine the sun in the firmament of heaven. That sun shall be extinguished, those stars shall fall, and that moon shall be turned into blood, but the feeblest spark of grace in the soul shall live forever. The Lord watches his own work with sleepless vigilance. When the vessel is exhausted, he stands by and replenishes it; when the light burns dimly, he is near to revive it; when the cold winds blow rudely, and the rough waves swell high, he is riding upon those winds, and walking upon those waves, to protect this the spark of his own kindling. The light that is in you, is light flowing from Jesus, the "Fountain of light." And can an infinite fountain be exhausted? When the Sun is extinguished, then all the lesser lights, deriving their faint effulgence from him, will be extinguished too- but not until then. Who is it that has often fanned the smoking flax? Even He who will never quench the faintest spark of living light in the soul. "You will light my candle." And if the Lord lights it, what power can put it out? Is not his love the sunshine of your soul? Is he not he himself your morning star? Is it not in his light that you see light, even the "light of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ?" then, "Arise and shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you!"

Of this holy and encouraging subject- the imperishable nature of true grace- let us take yet another view. And let it be remembered by the reader, that I am now referring especially to the weakest degree of grace ever found in a gracious soul- that grace cannot die. The divine life of a believer, from its very necessity, is deathless. The life of Adam was never so secure, even when he lifted his noble brow in spotlessness to God. The new life is more secure in a state of imperfection, than his was in a state of innocence. He stood in his own righteousness, upheld by his own power, and yet he fell. But we are more secure, because we stand in the righteousness, and are kept by the power, of God. His life was hidden in himself; our life is hidden in Christ, and is as secure in Christ, as Christ's is in God. It is truly remarked by Charnock, that "Adam had no reserve of nature to supply nature upon any defect;" but out of Christ's fulness we receive grace upon grace.

How much more ready are we to complain against this small measure of grace, than to praise God for the weakest grace, and to thank Him for an inexhaustible source, on which we may at all times fall back! The believer ever has a reserve of grace. His resources may often be exhausted, but he has a stock in Christ's hand, and which, for the wisest end, is kept solely in Christ's hands, upon which he is privileged at any moment to draw. Well is it that that supply of grace is not all in our hands, else it would soon be wasted; and well is it that it is not in angels' hands, else they would soon be weary with our continual coming. But the covenant was made with Christ, he being the Mediator as well as the Surety; and in him it pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell. Thus, in his hands the Father has intrusted the keeping of his weakest child, even your soul, beloved, though you are the weakest of the weak. An infant as much belongs to the family as the most matured member. Its place in the parent's heart is as strong, and its claim upon its share of the inheritance is as valid. So is it with the feeblest child of God.

And most faithfully does our Lord Jesus discharge his office. Is the church a garden? Jesus goes early to the vineyard, to see "whether the tender grapes appear, and the pomegranates bud." Is it a flock? Jesus "feeds his flock like a shepherd; he gathers the lambs with his arm, and carries them in his bosom." Can any imagery more affectingly set forth the tenderness of Christ towards weak grace- the weak lamb carried, not on the shoulders, not in the arms, but in the bosom of the Shepherd? Yes, there is one image, the most expressive and tender in the universe of imagery a mother's love for her infant. Does God compare His love to this? Hearken to His words "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet will I not forget you."

O that you would, in the simplicity of faith, press this precious truth to your trembling, doubting, fearful heart! Nothing does the Holy Spirit seem to take such pains in comforting and strengthening, as real grace in its greatest weakness. Would he indulge our weak faith and our limited measure of grace? O no! But while he would have us sue for the highest degrees, he would yet watch over the lowest degree of grace in the soul. Remember, too, that the weakest grace has a throne of grace to supply it, and the God of grace to delight in it, and the Mediator of grace to influence it, and the Spirit of grace to brood upon it.

Though our grace be weak, yet the grace of all these is sufficient to preserve us. The weakest grace in Christ's hand shall stand, when the strongest nature without his guard shall fail. It is not our hold of Christ that so much preserves us, as Christ's hold of us; though the faith we hang by be a weak thread, yet Christ has a strong hand. Had you the grace of a glorified saint, you could not maintain it without his help; and that is sufficient to conduct through the greatest storms into the safe harbor. The 'preserved in Christ,' is the happy title of those who are "sanctified by God the Father."

But while I speak thus, it is in my heart, beloved, to urge you to aim after more than the glimmering light; in other words, to seek larger degrees of grace. Let your standard be the loftiest, and your aim the highest. Place no limit to that which God has not limited. Never cease expecting, until He ceases giving. If you are satisfied with your present measure of grace, a worse sign you could not have. To be content with being stationary in the divine life, places you in a doubtful position. It is an essential property of grace that it grows; it is the immortal seed of God, and must, from its very nature, germinate. If your faith does not increase, your doubts will increase; and if your grace does not strengthen, your fears will strengthen. Fill the measure with pure wheat, as one has said, and there will be no room for chaff. Aim after elevated principles if you desire elevated practice. Low principles inevitably lead to low practice. Watch against that which tends to impair the vigor of your grace. Watch against your most besetting sins- your greatest infirmities- your strongest temptations. Beware of your own heart- beware of self-confidence- beware of creature idolatry- beware of the world. Beware, too, of any neglect of the means of grace.

Nothing will more tend to keep your grace at a low ebb than this. God has appointed His channels of conveyance. They are the ministry of the word, and the reading of the word, prayer and praise, meditation, ordinances, and Christian communion. Beware that you do not despise any one of them. A neglected sanctuary- a forsaken throne of grace- an unread Bible- will soon bring leanness into your soul. The priests under the law were to bring fresh fuel to the altar, morning and evening, for the nourishment of the holy fire. "The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out." It is thus God keeps alive the holy fire on the altar of our hearts in the use of His own appointed means. He has as much ordained the means of grace, as He has promised the grace of the means. You will invariably find, that grace languishes with duty. If, we are listless in duty, we shall soon become lifeless in duty. Therefore let us thirst after God, as the hunted deer pants for the water-brook. Especially draw largely by faith on Jesus. He is the great Reservoir from where all the conduits are supplied. All means of grace are just what Jesus makes them.

Behold, then, the coming of the Lord in its solemn relation to a nominal profession of Christianity. In a land where the institutions and the ordinances of religion are so strictly and so properly observed; where religious training from infancy, and the habit of an early connection with the visible church, and the consequent observance of the Lord's Supper is expected and enjoined, are such marked characteristics, would it be overstepping the bounds of propriety and delicacy, if, in view of this solemn event, we press upon the professing reader the importance of close self-examination, and of trial by the word of God touching the GREAT CHANGE, apart from which, the most splendid Christian profession will but resemble the purple robes and the fine linen with which Dives moved, in grandeur and in state, to the torments of the lost.

Professors of religion! Church communicants! office-bearers! -have you the root of the matter in you? Have you Christ in you? Are you temples of the Holy Spirit? Are you walking humbly with God? Are you born from above? Rest not short of the great change- the heavenly, the divine birth. Place no reliance upon your external relation to the church of God. Do not be deceived by a false semblance of conversion. You may go far, as we have shown, in a Christian profession, and even may live to see the Lord come in the air, and yet have not one drop of oil in your vessel with your lamp.

Have you sometimes trembled under the powerful exhibition of the truth so did Felix, and yet he never truly repented. Have you heard the Gospel gladly, and under its momentary influence, have done many things? so did Herod, and yet he kept Herodias, and beheaded John! Do you show much apparent zeal for the Lord? so did Jehu, but it was zeal for himself! Are you the associate and the companion of good and holy men? so was Demas, and yet he loved this present evil world! Have you been united to the church upon a profession of faith and by baptism? so was Simon Magus, and yet he was in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity! Do you desire to die the death of the righteous? so did Balaam, and yet he died as the fool dies!

O look well to your religion! Take nothing for granted. Think less of polishing your "lamp," than of having a large supply of oil, that when the Lord sends or comes, you may not be found in darkness, not knowing where you go! Without converting grace in your heart, your church relation is but the union of a dead branch to a living stem; and your partaking of the Lord's Supper, an "eating and drinking of the Lord's body and blood, (as symbolically represented therein,) unworthily." Receive in love these faithful admonitions, penned by one whose only hope, as the chief of sinners, is in the finished work of Immanuel, and let them take you to prayer- to the word- to Christ.

"The coming of the Lord draws near." If the apostle, in his day, could thus exhort the saints, how much stronger reason have we for believing that "the Lord is at hand!"  Every movement in the providential government of God, indicates the near approach of great events. The signs of the times are significant and portentous. The abounding profession of Christianity- the advancement of human science- the increase of the papal power- the spirit of despotism, of infidelity, and of superstition, these three master principles- at this moment expanding through Europe, and struggling each with the others, and all with the gospel, for supremacy- and the extraordinary movements now going forward in reference to the return of the Jews- are heralding the approaching chariot of the King of kings. The Church of God will yet pass through severe trials- "many shall be purified,' and made white, and tried;" nevertheless Jesus lives, and Jesus shall REIGN, and the church shall REIGN with Jesus.

Let the thought of his coming be an influential theme of meditation and joy, of hope and action. The present is the suffering state of the Church. It is through much tribulation that she is to enter the kingdom prepared for her by her coming Lord. But, amid the sorrows of the pilgrimage, the perils of the desert, the conflicts of the field, the blasphemies, the taunts, and the persecutions of the world, the pangs of disease, and the wastings of decay, we will have our "citizenship in heaven, from where also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." He, "whom not having seen, we love," will soon appear, and then he will chase away every sorrow, and dry up every tear, and annihilate every corruption, and perfect us in the beauties of holiness. Then there will be no more rising of inward corruption, no more exposure to temptation, no more solicitations of evil, and no more wounding of the bosom upon which we recline. The heart will be perfected in love; and the mind, developing its faculties, enlarging its knowledge, and yielding up itself to those intellectual revelations, to that everlasting sunlight of the soul," which all will enjoy who love, and long for, Christ's appearing- will merge itself in the light and glory and holiness of the Eternal Mind.

O that the reign of Christ may be first by his grace in our hearts, then we may indeed expect to reign with him in glory! The cross below, is the only path to the throne above. The crucifixion now, the glory then. The sword in our hearts here, the crown upon our heads hereafter. Precious Jesus! hasten your coming! We love you, we serve you, we long for you, we look for you. Come, and perfect us in your likeness!

"Oh! loved, but not enough- though dearer far,

Than self and its most loved enjoyments are

None duly loves you, but who, nobly free

From sensual objects, finds his all in Thee."

"Glorious Almighty, First, and without end,

When will You melt the mountains and descend?

When will You shoot abroad your conquering rays,

And teach these atoms you have formed, your praise?"

"My reason, all my faculties unite

To make your glory their supreme delight;

Forbid it, Fountain of my brightest days,

That I should rob you, and usurp your praise!"

"My soul! rest happy in your low estate,

Nor hope, nor wish to be esteemed or great;

To take the impression of the will divine,

Be that your glory and those riches Thine!"

"Confess him righteous in his just decrees,

Love what he loves, and let his pleasure please;

Die daily- from the touch of sin recede;

Then you have crowned Him, and he reigns indeed!"

M. Guion


23 September, 2021

A DIVINE AND SUPERNATURAL LIGHT, IMMEDIATELY IMPARTED TO THE SOUL BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, SHOWN TO BE BOTH A SCRIPTURAL AND RATIONAL DOCTRINE. - JONATHAN EDWARDS

 


Matt. xvi. 17.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

CHRIST addresses these words to Peter upon occasion of his professing his faith in him as the Son of God. Our Lord was inquiring of his disciples, whom men said that he was; not that he needed to be informed, but only to introduce and give occasion to what follows. They answer, that some said he was John the Baptist, and some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. When they had thus given an account whom others said that he was, Christ asks them, whom they said that he was? Simon Peter, whom we find always zealous and forward, was the first to answer: he readily replied to the question, Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.

Upon this occasion, Christ says as he does to him and of him in the text: in which we may observe,

1. That Peter is pronounced blessed on this account.—Blessed art thou—“Thou art a happy man, that thou art not ignorant of this, that I am Christ, the Son of the living God. Thou art distinguishingly happy. Others are blinded, and have dark and deluded apprehensions, as you have now given an account, some thinking that I am Elias, and some that I am Jeremias, and some one thing, and some another; but none of them thinking right, all of them misled. Happy art thou, that art so distinguished as to know the truth in this matter.”

2. The evidence of this his happiness declared; viz. that God, and he only, had revealed it to him. This is an evidence of his being blessed,

First, as it shows how peculiarly favored he was of God above others: q. d. “How highly favored art thou, that others, wise and great men, the scribes, Pharisees, and Rulers, and the nation in general, are left in darkness, to follow their own misguided apprehensions; and that thou shouldst be singled out, as it were, by name, that my heavenly Father should thus set his love on thee, Simon Bar-jona. This argues thee blessed, that thou shouldst thus be the object of God’s distinguishing love.”

Secondly, it evidences his blessedness also, as it intimates that this knowledge is above any that flesh and blood can reveal. “This is such knowledge as only my Father which is in heaven can give: it is too high and excellent to be communicated by such means as other knowledge is. Thou art blessed, that thou knowest what God alone can teach thee.” 

The original of this knowledge is here declared, both negatively and positively. Positively, as God is here declared the author of it. Negatively, as it is declared, that flesh and blood had not revealed it. God is the author of all knowledge and understanding whatsoever. He is the author of all moral prudence, and of the skill that men have in their secular business. Thus it is said of all in Israel that were wise-hearted, and skilled in embroidering, that God had filled them with the spirit of wisdom. Exod. xxviii. 3.

God is the author of such knowledge; yet so that flesh and blood reveals it. Mortal men are capable of imparting the knowledge of human arts and sciences, and skill in temporal affairs. God is the author of such knowledge by those means: flesh and blood is employed as the mediate or second cause of it: he conveys it by the power and influence of natural means. But this spiritual knowledge spoken of in the text, is what God is the author of, and none else: he reveals it, and flesh and blood reveals it not. He imparts this knowledge immediately, not making use of any intermediate natural causes, as he does in other knowledge.

What had passed in the preceding discourse naturally occasioned Christ to observe this; because the disciples had been telling how others did not know him, but were generally mistaken about him, divided and confounded in their opinions of him: but Peter had declared his assured faith, that he was the Son of God. Now it was natural to observe, how it was not flesh and blood that had revealed it to him, but God; for if this knowledge were dependent on natural causes or means, how came it to pass that they, a company of poor fishermen, illiterate men, and persons of low education, attained to the knowledge of the truth; while the scribes and Pharisees, men of vastly higher advantages, and greater knowledge and sagacity in other matters, remained in ignorance? This could be owing only to the gracious distinguishing influence and revelation of the Spirit of God. Hence, what I would make the subject of my present discourse from these words, is this

 

DOCTRINE

That there is such a thing as a spiritual and divine light, immediately imparted to the soul by God, of a different nature from any that is obtained by natural means.—And on this subject I would,

I. Show what this divine light is.

II. How it is given immediately by God, and not obtained by natural means.

III. Show the truth of the doctrine.

And then conclude with a brief improvement.

 

I. would show what this spiritual and divine light is. And in order to it, would show,

First, in a few things what it is not. And here, 

1. Those convictions that natural men may have of their sin and misery, is not this spiritual and divine light. Men in a natural condition may have convictions of the guilt that lies upon them, and of the anger of God, and their danger of divine vengeance. Such convictions are from the light of truth. That some sinners have a greater conviction of their guilt and misery than others, is because some have more light, or more of an apprehension of truth, than others. And this light and conviction may be from the Spirit of God; the Spirit convinces men of sin: but yet nature is much more concerned in it than in the communication of that spiritual and divine light that is spoken of in the doctrine; it is from the Spirit of God only as assisting natural principles, and not as infusing any new principles. Common grace differs from special, in that it influences only by assisting of nature; and not by imparting grace, or bestowing any thing above nature. The light that is obtained is wholly natural, or of no superior kind to what mere nature attains to, though more of that kind be obtained than would be obtained if men were left wholly to themselves: or in other words, common grace only assists the faculties of the soul to do that more fully which they do by nature, as natural conscience or reason will by mere nature make a man sensible of guilt, and will accuse and condemn him when he has done amiss. Conscience is a principle natural to men; and the work that it doth naturally, or of itself, is to give an apprehension of right and wrong, and to suggest to the mind the relation that there is between right and wrong and a retribution. The Spirit of God, in those convictions which unregenerate men sometimes have, assists conscience to do this work in a further degree than it would do if they were left to themselves. He helps it against those things that tend to stupify it, and obstruct its exercise. But in the renewing and sanctifying work of the Holy Ghost, those things are wrought in the soul that are above nature, and of which there is nothing of the like kind in the soul by nature; and they are caused to exist in the soul habitually, and according to such a stated constitution or law that lays such a foundation for exercises in a continued course as is called a principle of nature. Not only are remaining principles assisted to do their work more freely and fully, but those principles are restored that were utterly destroyed by the fall; and the mind thenceforward habitually exerts those acts that the dominion of sin had made it as wholly destitute of as a dead body is of vital acts.

The Spirit of God acts in a very different manner in the one case, from what he doth in the other. He may indeed act upon the mind of a natural man, but he acts in the mind of a saint as an indwelling vital principle. He acts upon the mind of an unregenerate person as an extrinsic occasional agent; for in acting upon them, he doth not unite himself to them; for notwithstanding all his influences that they may possess, they are still sensual, having not the Spirit. Jude 19. But he unites himself with the mind of a saint, takes him for his temple, actuates and influences him as a new supernatural principle of life and action. There is this difference, that the Spirit of God, in acting in the soul of a godly man, exerts and communicates himself there in his own proper nature. Holiness is the proper nature of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit operates in the minds of the godly, by uniting himself to them, and living in them, exerting his own nature in the exercise of their faculties. The Spirit of God may act upon a creature, and yet not in acting communicate himself. The Spirit of God may act upon inanimate creatures; as, the Spirit moved upon the face of the waters, in the beginning of creation; so the Spirit of God may act upon the minds of men many ways, and communicate himself no more than when he acts upon an inanimate creature. For instance, he may excite thoughts in them, may assist their natural reason and understanding, or may assist other natural principles, and this without any union with the soul, but may act, as it were, upon an external object. But as he acts in his holy influences and spiritual operations, he acts in a way of peculiar communication of himself; so that the subject is thence denominated spiritual.

2. This spiritual and divine light does not consist in any impression made upon the imagination. It is no impression upon the mind, as though one saw anything with the bodily eyes. It is no imagination or idea of an outward light or glory, or any beauty of form or countenance, or a visible luster or brightness of any object. The imagination may be strongly impressed with such things; but this is not spiritual light. Indeed when the mind has a lively discovery of spiritual things, and is greatly affected by the power of divine light, it may, and probably very commonly doth, much affect the imagination; so that impressions of an outward beauty or brightness may accompany those spiritual discoveries. But spiritual light is not that impression upon the imagination, but an exceedingly different thing. Natural men may have lively impressions on their imaginations; and we cannot determine but that the devil, who transforms himself into an angel of light, may cause imaginations of an outward beauty, or visible glory, and of sounds and speeches, and other such things; but these are things of a vastly inferior nature to spiritual light.

3. This spiritual light is not the suggesting of any new truths or propositions not contained in the word of God. This suggesting of new truths or doctrines to the mind, independent of any antecedent revelation of those propositions, either in word or writing, is inspiration; such as the prophets and apostles had, and such as some enthusiasts pretend to. But this spiritual light that I am speaking of, is quite a different thing than inspiration. It reveals no new doctrine, it suggests no new proposition to the mind, it teaches no new thing of God, or Christ, or another world, not taught in the Bible, but only gives a due apprehension of those things that are taught in the word of God.

4. It is not every affecting view that men have of religious things that is this spiritual and divine light. Men by mere principles of nature are capable of being affected with things that have a special relation to religion as well as other things. A person by mere nature, for instance, may be liable to be affected with the story of Jesus Christ, and the sufferings he underwent, as well as by any other tragic story. He may be the more affected with it from the interest he conceives mankind to have in it. Yea, he may be affected with it without believing it; as well as a man may be affected with what he reads in a romance, or sees acted in a stage-play. He may be affected with a lively and eloquent description of many pleasant things that attend the state of the blessed in heaven, as well as his imagination be entertained by romantic description of the pleasantness of fairy land, or the like. And a common belief of the truth of such things, from education or otherwise, may help forward their affection. We read in Scripture of many that were greatly affected with things of a religious nature, who yet are there represented as wholly graceless, and many of them very ill men. A person therefore may have affecting views of the things of religion, and yet be very destitute of spiritual light. Flesh and blood may be the author of this: one man may give another an affecting view of divine things with but common assistance; but God alone can give a spiritual discovery of them.

But I proceed to show,

Secondly, positively what this spiritual and divine light is.

And it may be thus described: A true sense of the divine excellency of the things revealed in the word of God, and a conviction of the truth and reality of them thence arising. This spiritual light primarily consists in the former of these, viz. a real sense and apprehension of the divine excellency of things revealed in the word of God. A spiritual and saving conviction of the truth and reality of these things, arises from such a sight of their divine excellency and glory; so that this conviction of their truth is an effect and natural consequence of this sight of their divine glory. There is therefore in the spiritual light,

1. A true sense of the divine and superlative excellency of the things of religion; a real sense of the excellency of God and Jesus Christ, and of the work of redemption, and the ways and works of God revealed in the gospel. There is a divine and superlative glory in these things; an excellency that is of a vastly higher kind, and more sublime nature, than in other things; a glory greatly distinguishing them from all that is earthly and temporal. He that is spiritually enlightened truly apprehends and sees it, or has a sense of it. He does not merely rationally believe that God is glorious, but he has a sense of the gloriousness of God in his heart. There is not only a rational belief that God is holy, and that holiness is a good thing, but there is a sense of the loveliness of God’s holiness. There is not only a speculatively judging that God is gracious, but a sense how amiable God is on account of the beauty of this divine attribute.

There is a twofold knowledge of good of which God has mad the mind of man capable. The first, that which is merely notional; as when a person only speculatively judges that any thing is, which, by the agreement of mankind, is called good or excellent, viz. that which is most to general advantage, and between which and a reward there is a suitableness,—and the like. And the other thing is, that which consists in the sense of the heart; as when the heart is sensible of pleasure and delight in the presence of the idea of it. In the former is exercised merely the speculative faculty, or the understanding, in distinction from the will or the disposition of the soul. In the latter, the will, or inclination, or heart are mainly concerned.

Thus there is a difference between having an opinion, that God is holy and gracious, and having a sense of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace. There is a difference between having a rational judgment that honey is sweet, and having a sense of its sweetness. A man may have the former that knows not how honey tastes; but a man cannot have the latter unless he has an idea of the taste of honey in his mind. So there is a difference between believing that a person is beautiful, and having a sense of his beauty. The former may be obtained by hearsay, but the latter only by seeing the countenance. When the heart is sensible of the beauty and amiableness of a thing, it necessarily feels pleasure in the apprehension. It is implied in a person’s being heartily sensible of the loveliness of a thing, that the idea of it is pleasant to his soul; which is a far different thing from having a rational opinion that it is excellent.

2. There arises from this sense of the divine excellency of things contained in the word of God, a conviction of the truth and reality of them; and that either indirectly or directly.

First, indirectly, and that two ways.

1. As the prejudices of the heart, against the truth of divine things, are hereby removed; so that the mind becomes susceptive of the due force of rational arguments for their truth. The mind of man is naturally full of prejudices against divine truth. It is full of enmity against the doctrines of the gospel; which is a disadvantage to those arguments that prove their truth, and causes them to lose their force upon the mind. But when a person has discovered to him the divine excellency of Christian doctrines, this destroys the enmity, removes those prejudices, sanctifies the reason, and causes it to lie open to the force of arguments for their truth.

Hence was the different effect that Christ’s miracles had to convince the disciples, from what they had to convince the scribes and Pharisees. Not that they had a stronger reason, or had their reason more improved; but their reason was sanctified, and those blinding prejudices, that the scribes and Pharisees were under, were removed by the sense they had of the excellency of Christ, and his doctrine.

2. It not only removes the hindrances of reason, but positively helps reason. It makes even the speculative notions more likely. It engages the attention of the mind, with more fixedness and intenseness to that kind of objects; which causes it to have a clearer view of them, and enables it more clearly to see their mutual relations, and occasions it to take more notice of them. The ideas themselves that otherwise are dim and obscure, are by this means impressed with the greater strength, and have a light cast upon them; so that the mind can better judge of them. As he that beholds objects on the face of the earth, when the light of the sun is cast upon them, is under greater advantage to discern them in their true forms and natural relations, than he that sees them in a dim twilight.

 The mind being sensible of the excellency of divine objects, dwells upon them with delight; and the powers of the soul are more awakened and enlivened to employ themselves in the contemplation of them, and exert themselves more fully and much more to purpose. The beauty of the objects draws on the faculties, and draws forth their exercises; so that reason itself is under far greater advantages for its proper and free exercises, and to attain its proper end, free of the darkness and delusion.—But,

Secondly, a true sense of the divine excellency of the things of God’s word doth more directly and immediately convince us of their truth; and that because the excellency of these things is so superlative. There is a beauty in them so divine and God-like, that it greatly and evidently distinguishes them from things merely human, or that of which men are the inventors and authors; a glory so high and great, that when clearly seen, commands assent to their divine reality. When there is an actual and lively discovery of this beauty and excellency, it will not allow of any such thought as that it is the fruit of men’s invention. This is a kind of intuitive and immediate evidence. They believe the doctrines of God’s word to be divine, because they see a divine, and transcendent, and most evidently distinguishing glory in them; such a glory as, if clearly seen, does not leave room to doubt of their being of God, and not of men.

Such a conviction of the truths of religion as this, arising from a sense of their divine excellency, is included in saving faith. And this original of it, is that by which it is most essentially distinguished from that common assent, of which unregenerate men are capable.

II. I proceed now to the second thing proposed, viz. to show how this light is immediately given by God, and not obtained by natural means . And here,

1. It is not intended that the natural faculties are not used in it. They are the subject of this light; and in such a manner, that they are not merely passive, but active in it. God, in letting in this light into the soul, deals with man according to his nature, and makes use of his rational faculties. But yet this light is not the less immediately from God for that; the faculties are made use of as the subject, and not as the cause. As the use we make of our eyes in beholding various objects, when the sun arises, is not the cause of the light that discovers those objects to us.

2. It is not intended that outward means have no concern in this affair. It is not in this affair, as in inspiration, where new truths are suggested: for by this light is given only a due apprehension of the same truths that are revealed in the word of God; and therefore it is not given without the word. The gospel is employed in this affair. This light is the “light of the glorious gospel of Christ,” 2 Cor. iv. 4. The gospel is as a glass, by which this light is conveyed to us. 1 Cor. xiii. 12. “Now we see through a glass.”—But,

3. When it is said that this light is given immediately by God, and not obtained by natural means, hereby is intended, that it is given by God without making use of any means that operate by their own power or natural force. God makes use of means; but it is not as mediate causes to produce this effect. There are not truly any second causes of it; but it is produced by God immediately. The word of God is no proper cause of this effect; but is made use of only to convey to the mind the subject-matter of this saving instruction: and this indeed it doth convey to us by natural force or influence. It conveys to our minds these doctrines; it is the cause of a notion of them in our heads, but not of the sense of their divine excellency in our hearts. Indeed a person cannot have spiritual light without the word. But that does not argue, that the word properly causes that light. The mind cannot see the excellency of any doctrine, unless that doctrine be first in the mind; but seeing the excellency of the doctrine may be immediately from the Spirit of God; though the conveying of the doctrine or proposition itself may be by the word. So that the notions which are the subject-matter of this light, are conveyed to the mind by the word of God; but that due sense of the heart, wherein this light formally consists, is immediately by the Spirit of God. As for instance, the notion that there is a Christ, and that Christ is holy and gracious, is conveyed to the mind by the word of God; but the sense of the excellency of Christ by reason of that holiness and grace, is nevertheless immediately the work of the Holy Spirit.—I come now,

III. To show the truth of the doctrine; that is, to show that there is such a thing as that spiritual light that has been described, thus immediately let into the mind by God. And here I would show briefly, that this doctrine is both scriptural and rational.

First, it is scriptural. My text is not only full to the purpose, but it is a doctrine with which the Scripture abounds. We are there abundantly taught, that the saints differ from the ungodly in this, that they have the knowledge of God, and a sight of God, and of Jesus Christ. I shall mention but few texts out of many: 1 John iii. 6. “Whosoever sinneth, hath not seen him, nor known him.” 3 John 11. “He that doth good, is of God: but he that doth evil, hath not seen God.” John xiv. 19. “The world seeth me no more; but ye see me.” John xvii. 3.. “And this is eternal life, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” This knowledge, or sight of God and Christ, cannot be a mere speculative knowledge; because it is spoken of as that wherein they differ from the ungodly. And b, these scriptures it must not only be a different knowledge in degree and circumstances, and different in its effects; but it must be entirely different in nature and kind.

And this light and knowledge is always spoken of as immediately given of God; Matt. xi. 25-27. “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, oh Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” Here this effect is ascribed exclusively to the arbitrary operation and gift of God bestowing this knowledge on whom he will, and distinguishing those with it who have the least natural advantage or means for knowledge, even babes, when it is denied to the wise and prudent. And imparting this knowledge is here appropriated to the Son of God, as his sole prerogative. And again, 2 Cor. iv. 6. “For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ.” This plainly shows, that there is a discovery of the divine superlative glory and excellency of God and Christ, peculiar to the saints; and also, that it is as immediately from God, as light from the sun: and that it is the immediate effect of his power and will. For it is compared to God’s creating the light by his powerful word in the beginning of the creation; and is said to be by the Spirit of the Lord, in the 18th verse of the preceding chapter. God is spoken of as giving the knowledge of Christ in conversion, as of what before was hidden and unseen, Gal. i. 15, 16. “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me.”—The Scripture also speaks plainly of such a knowledge of the word of God, as has been described, as the immediate gift of God; Ps. cxix. 18. “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” What could the psalmist mean, when he begged of God to open his eyes? Was he ever blind? Might he not have resort to the law and see every word and sentence in it when he pleased? And what could he mean by those wondrous things? Were they the wonderful stories of the creation, the deluge, and Israel’s passing through the Red sea, and the like? Were not his eyes open to read these strange things when he would? Doubtless by wondrous things in God’s law, he had respect to those distinguishing and wonderful excellencies, and marvelous manifestations of the divine perfections and glory, contained in the commands and doctrines of the word, and those works and counsels of God that were there revealed. So the Scripture speaks of a knowledge of God’s dispensation and covenant of mercy and way of grace towards his people, as peculiar to the saints, and given only by God, Ps. xxv. 14. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.”

And that a true and saving belief of the truth of religion is that which arises from such a discovery, is also what the Scripture teaches. As John vi. 40. “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one who seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life,” where it is plain that a true faith is what arises from a spiritual sight of Christ. And, John xvii. 6, 7, 8. “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world.—Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou has given me, are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from the, and they have believed that thou didst send me,” where Christ’s manifesting God’s name to the disciples, or giving them the knowledge of God, was that whereby they knew that Christ’s doctrine was of God, and that Christ himself proceeded from him, and was sent by him. Again, John xii. 44, 45, 46. “Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me, seeth him that sent me. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me, should not abide in darkness.” There believing in Christ, and spiritually seeing him, are parallel.

 

Christ condemns the Jews, that they did not know that he was the Messiah, and that his doctrine was true, from an inward distinguishing taste and relish of what was divine, in Luke xii. 56, 57. He having there blamed the Jews, that though they could discern the face of the sky and of the earth, and signs of the weather, that they could not discern those times—or as it is expressed in Matthew, the signs of those times—adds, “yea, and why even of your own selves, judge ye not what is right?” i.e. without extrinsic signs. Why have ye not that sense of true excellency, whereby ye may distinguish that which is holy and divine? Why have ye not that savour of the things of God, by which you may see the distinguishing glory, and evident divinity, of me and my doctrine?

The apostle Peter mentions it as what gave him and his companions good and well-grounded assurance of the truth of the gospel, that they had seen the divine glory of Christ.—2 Pet. i. 16. “For we have now followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty.” The apostle has respect to that visible glory of Christ which they saw in his transfiguration: that glory was so divine, having such an ineffable appearance and semblance of divine holiness, majesty, and grace, that it evidently denoted him to be a divine person. But if a sight of Christ’s outward glory might give a rational assurance of his divinity, why may not an apprehension of his spiritual glory do so too? Doubtless Christ’s spiritual glory is in itself as distinguishing, and as plainly shows his divinity, as his outward glory,—nay, a great deal more: for his spiritual glory of his transfiguration showed him to be divine, only as it was a remarkable image or representation of that spiritual glory. Doubtless, therefore, he that has had a clear sight of the spiritual glory of Christ, may say, I have not followed cunningly devised fables, but have been an eye-witness of his majesty, upon as good grounds as the apostle, when he had respect to the outward glory of Christ that he had seen. But this brings me to what was proposed next, viz. to show that,



Secondly, this doctrine is rational.

1. It is rational to suppose, that there is really such an excellency in divine things—so transcendent and exceedingly different from what is in other things—that, if it were seen, would most evidently distinguish them. We cannot rationally doubt but that things divine, which appertain to the Supreme Being, are vastly different from things that are human; that there is a high, glorious, and God-like excellency in them, that does most remarkably difference them from the things that are of men; insomuch that if the difference were but seen, it would have a convincing, satisfying influence upon any one, that they are divine. What reason can be offered against it? Unless we would argue, that God is not remarkably distinguished in glory from men.

If Christ should now appear to any one as he did on the mount at his transfiguration; or if he should appear to the world in his heavenly glory, as he will do at the day of judgment; without doubt, his glory and majesty would be such as would satisfy every one, that he was a divine person, and that religion was true: and it would be a most reasonable and well-grounded conviction too. And why may there not be that stamp of divinity, or divine glory, on the word of God, on the scheme and doctrine of the gospel, that may be in like matter distinguishing and as rationally convincing, provided it be but seen? It is rational to suppose, that when God speaks to the world, there should be something in his word vastly different from men’s word. Supposing that God never had spoken to the world, but we had notice that he was about to reveal himself from heaven, and speak to us immediately himself, or that he should give us a book of his own inditing; after what manner should we expect that he would speak? Would it not be rational to suppose, that his speech would be exceeding different from men’s speech, that there should be such an excellency and sublimity in his word, such a stamp of wisdom, holiness, majesty, and other divine perfections, that the word of men, yea of the wisest of men, should appear mean and base in comparison of it? Doubtless it would be thought rational to expect this, and unreasonable to think otherwise. When a wise man speaks in the exercise of his wisdom, there is something in every thing he says, that is very distinguishable from the talk of a little child. So, without doubt, and much more, is the speech of God to be distinguished from that of the wisest of men; agreeable to Jer. xxiii. 28, 29. God having there been reproving the false prophets that prophesied in his name, and pretended that what they spake was his word, when indeed it was their own word, says, “The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully: ‘what is the chaff to the wheat?’ saith the Lord. ‘Is not my word like as a fire?’ saith the Lord: and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces.”

2. If there be such a distinguishing excellency in divine things; it is rational to suppose that there may be such a thing as seeing it. What should hinder but that it may be seen? It is no argument, that there is no such distinguishing excellency, or that it cannot be seen, because some do not see it, though they may be discerning men in temporal matters. It is not rational to suppose, if there be any such excellency in divine things, that wicked men should see it. Is it rational to suppose, that those whose minds are full of spiritual pollution, and under the power of filthy lusts, should have any relish or sense of divine beauty or excellency; or that their minds should be susceptive of that light that is in its own nature so pure and heavenly? It need not seem at all strange, that sin should so blind the mind, seeing that men’s particular natural tempers and dispositions will so much blind them in secular matters; as when men’s natural temper is melancholy, jealous, fearful, proud, or the like.

3. It is rational to suppose, that this knowledge should be given immediately by God, and not be obtained by natural means. Upon what account should it seem unreasonable, that there should be any immediate communication between God and the creature? It is strange that men should make any matter of difficulty of it. Why should not he that made all things, still have something immediately to do with the things that he has made? Where lies the great difficulty, if we own the being of a God, and that he created all things out of nothing, of allowing some immediate influence of God on the creation still? And if it be reasonable to suppose it with respect to any part of the creation, it is especially so with respect to reasonable intelligent creatures; who are next to God in the gradation of the different orders of beings, and whose business is most immediately with God; and reason teaches that man was made to serve and glorify his Creator. And if it be rational to suppose that God immediately communicates himself to man in any affair, it is in this. It is rational to suppose that God would reserve that knowledge and wisdom, which is of such a divine and excellent nature, to be bestowed immediately by himself; and that it should not be left in the power of second causes. Spiritual wisdom and grace is the highest and most excellent gift that ever God bestows on any creature: in this the highest excellency and perfection of a rational creature consists. It is also immensely the most important of all divine gifts: it is that wherein man’s happiness consists, and on which his everlasting welfare depends. How rational is it to suppose that God, however he has left lower gifts to second causes, and in some sort in their power, yet should reserve this most excellent, divine, and important of all divine communications, in his own hands, to be bestowed immediately by himself, as a thing to great for second causes to be concerned in? It is rational to suppose, that this blessing should be immediately from God, for there is no gift or benefit that is in itself so nearly related to the divine nature. Nothing which the creature receives is so much a participation of the Deity: it is a kind of emanation of God’s beauty, and is related to God as the light is to the sun. It is therefore congruous and fit, that when it is given of God, it should be immediately from himself, and by himself, according to his own sovereign will.

It is rational to suppose, that it should be beyond man’s power to obtain this light by the mere strength of natural reason; for it is not a thing that belongs to reason, to see the beauty and loveliness of spiritual things; it is not a speculative thing, but depends on the sense of the heart. Reason indeed is necessary in order to it, as it is by reason only that we are become the subjects of the means of it;  which means I have already shown to be necessary in order to it, though they have no proper causal influence in the affair. It is by reason that we become possessed of a notion of those doctrines that are the subject-matter of this divine light, or knowledge; and reason may many ways be indirectly and remotely an advantage to it. Reason has also to do in the acts that are immediately consequent on this discovery: for seeing the truth of religion from hence, is by reason; though it be but by one step, and the inference be immediate. So reason has to do in that accepting of and trusting in Christ, that is consequent on it. But if we take reason strictly—not for the faculty of mental perception in general, but for ratiocination, or a power of inferring by arguments—the perceiving of spiritual beauty and excellency no more belongs to reason, that it belongs to the sense of feeling to perceive colors, or to the power of seeing to perceive the sweetness of food. It is out of reason’s province to perceive the beauty or loveliness of any thing: such a perception does not belong to that faculty. Reason’s work is to perceive truth and not excellency. It is not ratiocination that gives men the perception of the beauty and amiableness of a countenance, though it may be many ways indirectly an advantage to it; yet it is no more reason that immediately perceives it, than it is reason that perceives the sweetness of honey: it depends on the sense of the heart.—Reason may determine that a countenance is beautiful to others, it may determine that honey is sweet to others; but it will never give me a perception of its sweetness.

I will conclude with a very brief improvement of what has been said.

 First, this doctrine may lead us to reflect on the goodness of God, that has so ordered it, that a saving evidence of the truth of the gospel is such, as it is attainable by persons of mean capacities and advantages, as well as those that are of the greatest parts and learning. If the evidence of the gospel depended only on history, and such reasonings as learned men only are capable of, it would be above the reach of far the greatest part of mankind. But persons with an ordinary degree of knowledge are capable, without a long and subtle train of reasoning, to see the divine excellency of the things of religion: they are capable of being taught by the Spirit of God, as well as learned men. The evidence that is this way obtained, is vastly better and more satisfying, than all that can be obtained by the arguings of those that are most learned, and greatest masters of reason. And babes are as capable of knowing these things, as the wise and prudent; and they are often hid from these when they are revealed to those. 1 Cor. i. 26, 27. “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world.”

Secondly, this doctrine may well put us upon examining ourselves, whether we have ever had this divine light let into our souls. If there be such a thing, doubtless it is of great importance whether we have thus been taught by the Spirit of God; whether the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, hath shined unto us, giving us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ; whether we have seen the Son, and believed on him, or have that faith of gospel-doctrines which arises from a spiritual sight of Christ.

Thirdly, all may hence be exhorted, earnestly to seek this spiritual light. To influence and move to it, the following things may be considered.

1. This is the most excellent and divine wisdom that any creature is capable of. It is more excellent than any human learning.; it is far more excellent than all the knowledge of the greatest philosophers or statesmen. Yea, the least glimpse of the glory of God in the face of Christ doth more exalt and ennoble the soul, than all the knowledge of those that have the greatest speculative understanding in divinity without grace. This knowledge has the most noble object that can be, viz. the divine glory and excellency of God and Christ. The knowledge of these objects is that wherein consists the most excellent knowledge of the angels, yea, of God himself.

2. This knowledge is that which is above all others sweet and joyful. Men have a great deal of pleasure in human knowledge, in studies of natural things; but this is nothing to that joy which arises from this divine light shining into the soul. This light gives a view of those things that are immensely the most exquisitely beautiful, and capable of delighting the eye of the understanding. This spiritual light is the dawning of the light of glory in the heart. There is nothing so powerful as this to support persons in affliction, and to give the mind peace and brightness in this stormy and dark world.

3. This light is such as effectually influences the inclination, and changes the nature of the soul. In assimilates our nature to the divine nature, and changes the soul into an image of the same glory that is beheld. 2 Cor. iii. 18. “But we all with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” This knowledge will wean from the world, and raise the inclination to heavenly things. It will turn the heart to God as the fountain of good, and to choose him for the only portion. This light, and this only, will bring the soul to a saving close with Christ. It conforms the heart to the gospel, mortifies its enmity and opposition against the scheme of salvation therein revealed: it causes the heart to embrace the joyful tidings, and entirely to adhere to, and acquiesce in the revelation of Christ as our Savior: it causes the whole soul to accord and symphonize with it, admitting it with entire credit and respect, cleaving to it with full inclination and affection; and it effectually disposes the soul to give up itself entirely to Christ.

4. This light, and this only, has its fruit in an universal holiness of life. No merely notional or speculative understanding of the doctrines of religion will ever bring to this. But this light, as it reaches the bottom of the heart, and changes the nature, so it will effectually dispose to an universal obedience. It shows God as worthy to be obeyed and served. It draws forth the heart in a sincere love to God, which is the only principle of a true, gracious, and universal obedience; and it convinces of the reality of those glorious rewards that God has promised to them that obey him.

28    Preached at Northampton, and published at the desire of some of the hearers, in the year 1734.

29    In the preceding statement and the following explanation, our author might have rendered the subject of “divine light immediately imparted to the soul” more perspicuous, by a fuller use of that analogy which the scripture holds forth, between the common theory of vision and the doctrine he defends. Let the remarks which follow be candidly considered. 1. In the sacred scriptures, God is represented as “the Father of lights,” and Christ as “the Sun of righteousness.” Yea, it is asserted, that “God is LIGHT,” and that he “shines into the heart.” These and similar expressions, with which the Old and New Testament abound, show that there is a strong analogy between the light of the natural world, and something spiritual that is expressed by the same term. 2. As the light of day proceeds from the natural sun, and shines into the eye; so the spiritual or supernatural light proceeds from God, and shines into the heart, or mind. Thus the analogy holds, not only as to the things intended—in their sources, and their emanations—but also as to the organs of reception. 3. The existence of light in the eye depends neither on the perception of it, nor on any external object. Our perception of illuminated objects is the effect of light’s existence in the organ of vision. Without light both in the eye, and on the object to be seen, there can be no perception of that object. In like manner, the existence of that light which emanates from God, and shines into the mind, is there (that is, in the mind) prior to, and independent of the knowledge of objects to be known by it.—Therefore, 4. Knowledge can be called “light,” only in a secondary sense, both naturally and spiritually; that is, by a metonymy, because it is the effect of light. We know a visible object, because we see it; and we see it, because light shines both on the object, and into the eye. It is by divine light shining into the mind that we have a spiritual knowledge of God, of Christ, or of any other object; in other words, a holy emanation or influence from God, called light, is the cause why any person or thing is known in a spiritual manner. 5. When any identify this divine light, these rays of the Sun of righteousness, with knowledge, however spiritual and excellent, because the latter is metonymically called “light,” they are chargeable with identifying cause and effect, and therefore of confounding things which essentially differ. For spiritual light, in the primary and proper sense, emanates immediately from God, as rays from the sun; but this cannot be said of knowledge, because the perception of an object, which is our act, must intervene. Knowledge presupposes the primary light, and is also dependent on the objective truths perceived. All knowledge, whether natural or spiritual, stands essentially related to objects known; so that without those objects it can have no existence. The knowledge of objects to be seen, therefore, is the effect of two causes concurring, the object itself and light; whereas the “divine light which is immediately imparted to the soul,” has but one cause, even the sovereign will of God. 6. Coroll. The theological notion which makes all spiritual light in man to consist in knowledge, and which is become too fashionable in the present day, is contrary to Scripture, and to rational analogy.—W.




22 September, 2021

Sermon XIII. A fast sermon:— Christian duty under the hidings of God’s face.- January 1, 1676.

 


LET'S TAKE A BREAK FROM THE NICENE POSTS

The end of our meeting here this day is to bemoan, if God would help us, the withdrawing of God from among us, and to beg his returning unto us. It is not about any particular or any small occasion; but it is about the greatest concern of the glory of God and our own souls that we can ever be engaged or concerned in this world. Whether our spirits are suited and prepared to meet the Lord in such a work or no, we may do well to consider. Something I shall offer, if God bring it to mind, that may be of use unto us on the present occasion, from Isa. viii. 17, —

“And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.”

You may remember that my way is, upon these occasions, to speak some plain words unto you, that are not only of your special but of your present concern. I shall not, therefore, open the context here, but only tell you (which you will see by reading the chapter at any time) it was a time of great sin, of great darkness, of great danger; and yet there was a promise of Christ, that kept life in the church in the midst of all.

For the opening of the words, I would inquire into these four or five things:— 1. Whom it is that God hideth his face from; 2. What it is for God to hide his face; 3. How we may know when God hideth his face; 4. What are the reasons why God hideth his face; 5. How we may distinguish between God’s hiding his face and God’s departing; and, lastly, What is our duty in such a state and case, when God doth hide his face: “I will wait upon the Lord, who hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.”

I shall speak very plainly, and I fear somewhat briefer than I intended, by reason of my infirmities, unto these things.

First, Whom is it that the Lord hideth his face from? It is from “the house of Jacob.” God never hideth his face from the world, because his face never shines upon them. The face of God’s providence alters towards the world. It is sometimes filled with more frowns and anger than at other times, and he works great alterations accordingly; but the face of God’s grace, that neither shines upon nor can be said to be hid from the world.

God hides his face from “the house of Jacob.” And two things are considerable herein:— 1. That it is the true church of God that is intended; 2. That it is the church of God in some special state and condition that is intended, that is “Jacob.”

1. It is the true church of God that is intended. Jacob is he that received the promises, with whom God made a covenant, to whom God engaged his truth: Mic. vii. 20, “Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.” Jacob being he that God had entered into covenant withal, took into covenant with himself, “the house of Jacob” are those, that are in covenant with God.

2. There is a twofold circumstance of the church comprised in this term, “Jacob:” — (1.) That it is in a low, poor, afflicted condition. So was Jacob all his days He was a man of sorrow, a man of affliction, a man of temptation. “Few and evil were the days of his pilgrimage.” And the church is nowhere called “Jacob” but with reference unto its low estate: Isa. xli. 14, “Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel,” saith he. When the church is as a contemptible worm, when there are but few that belong unto it, then it is called “Jacob.” The church in a low, tempted, oppressed, sorrowful and mean condition, is “the house of Jacob.” (2.) It is in a wrestling condition. This was the character of Jacob above all the patriarchs, — he was the great wrestler with God; and he got nothing but by wrestling through great difficulties. You all know so that know the story of Jacob from first to last. So that the church is called “the house of Jacob when it is in a wrestling condition, contending with God and man for the blessing. And many repulses he had, and came off lame at last, with the unjointing of his bones.

Brethren, you see who it is that in here intended, — the true church of God, in a low, weak, distressed condition; and there are some at least among them eminently wrestling with God and eminently wrestling with men for the great blessing of Jesus Christ and the gospel. Pray take notice that God can, and sometimes doth, hide himself from the church in this state and condition. Now, a man would think, now if ever is the time for God to shine upon the house of Jacob. But there may be such things found in the church, when it is in a low, wrestling condition, that God is compelled to hide his face from them.

Thus we have stated the subject. I desire to know whether it falls upon us or no? whether we are this “house of Jacob,” whose condition is low, that, through infinite, free grace, God hath taken into covenant with himself? I do not speak absolutely in reference to ourselves, but to our brethren in the world, whose condition is low, distressed, tempted, oppressed. And yet there are remaining those that wrestle with God. If this be so, then the subject is rightly stated, and we are concerned in the text.

Secondly, Our second inquiry is, What it is for God to “hide his face”? To know that, we must inquire what it is for the face of God to shine upon any. You may observe that the shining of God’s face upon any is, in Scripture, comprehensive of all mercies and of all blessings whatsoever. I will mention but one place, Num. vi. 24–26, the blessing of God when he put his name upon the people: “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” Grace, preservation, and peace, they are the sum of all we receive from God in this world. And how cloth this come? “The Lord cause his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace: the Lord cause his face to shine and bless thee.” In a word, there the shining of God’s face is, where the grace and favour of God in Christ Jesus evidences and communicates itself to the church and the souls of men. The grace and favour of God evidencing and communicating itself unto the souls of men is the shining of God’s face and the lifting up of God’s countenance.

And there are four things that do always accompany the shining of God’s face upon any people or upon any person. The peculiar way of the communication and evidence of the grace and favour; which is the shining of his face, hath these four effects:—



1. It gives them light and guidance. “In thy light,” saith the psalmist, Ps. xxxvi. 9, “we shall see light,” — in the light of God’s countenance. When the face of God shines upon men, they are not at a loss to find their way. It is as the sun unto our natural occasions. Let a man be in his way, let him know it never so well, while the sun shines upon him, how pleasantly doth he travel! Though he be in the same way, if the sun go down and darkness come, what a loss is the man at! I know not what you have done, but I know what some others have done; — they have found sometimes pleasantness, plainness, satisfaction, in the same ways that afterwards they have been ready to stumble in, and could scarce find how to take one step before another. The sun was gone down! While God’s face shines upon us, we shall not be at a loss nor in the dark about any of our ways.

2. Where God’s face shines there is the communication of spiritual strength; for, as I told you, this face of God is his grace and favour, which is the fountain of all our spiritual life, of all spiritual strength, of all spiritual vigour. I need not stay to prove these things, which you know are acknowledged. All our spiritual life is from the fountain of God’s grace and favour; and the shining of the face of God is the actual communication, of spiritual strength from that grace and favour. Whenever God’s face shines, — and let us please ourselves with any other apprehension, — We shall have spiritual life, strength, vigour, quickening, as to all duties, as to all occasions, as to all trials and sufferings, whatsoever, we are called unto.

3. The shining of God’s face is, in a peculiar manner, the cause of spiritual joy and refreshment; for by the shining of God’s countenance he doth give in pledges unto our hearts that he is our reconciled God and Father. Spiritual joy is a most peculiar effect and an infallible evidence of the shining of God’s face. Wherever it is, there God’s face shines; and where it is not, there God hides his face.

4. And lastly, Deliverance from trouble is an effect of the shining of God’s face: “Cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.” Such is the prayer of the psalmist.

These four effects do constantly accompany the lifting up of God’s countenance, and the shining of his face upon us Wherefore the hiding of God’s face must respect these effects, — light and guidance, spiritual strength, joy, and deliverance.

1. The hiding of God’s face respects light and guidance: Hos. v. 6, “They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him.” Why? “He hath withdrawn himself from them.” God hath hid himself. For God to hide himself, and for God to hide his face, are the same: Isa. xlv. 15, “Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself.” And when God withdraws and hides himself, men cannot find their way. They went with their flocks and with their herds to find the way to God, — with their church-assemblies, with all their concerns, — and could not find the way to God. When God hides his face, we shall be left under darkness as unto our churches, ways, and walking.

Pray, brethren, let us now inquire whether it is so with us or no. Consider these few things in the fear of the Lord:—

(1.) Do you see the beauty and the glory of the ways of God? Do you see the glorious goings of God in the sanctuary, as may be you have seen them? Do you see a desirableness and a beauty in the ways of God’s worship in the church? Or, are these things grown unto you a very common thing? You are in a good way; hut is not the sun gone down? You are in the same path as formerly; but are your hearts so delighted, so refreshed? Do we really see a beauty and a glory in the ways and worship of the house of God? I am afraid we can scarce say so. And if it be so, it is through the want of the light of God’s countenance. We are in the same way still, but darkness is round about us; we see not the beauty and glory of the ways and worship of God. Our very walking, our very actings, the very course we most of us take in the ways of the church, do manifest the hiding of God’s face, — that God hath so far withdrawn the light of his countenance from us that we do not see a glory in the same way that once we saw before.

(2.) Are we not at a great loss as unto the ways themselves, and in the least difficulty we cannot find our way, but we are bewildered? Every trivial exception, that hath been answered a hundred times, will turn us out of the way, and keep us from the discharge of our duty, and from what God calls us unto. God hideth his face and leaves us much in the dark. When we would go about our duty, we do not find our way. All things have not been plain and clear.

(3.) Are we not in the dark as to the way of love, — the life, the soul, the cement of church-communion, — without which the best of us, as unto any church-order, are but as “sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal”? Whatever sweet or pleasant noise we make by our way or walk, without the exercise of love, we are as “sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.” Is there not darkness come upon all professors herein? Is there that love among professors in general that either hath been or ought to be? Is there that love among churches, one church to another? They are scarce concerned in one another. I did little think ever to have lived to see the day wherein the churches of Christ should have so little concern in one another as they have. There is not that love among ourselves which there ought to be. Do not the paths of love mourn because none walk in them? Doth joy arise in our hearts and pleasantness in our countenances when we behold the faces one of another? 

Why, then, do some complain that none visit, none confirm, none help, none relieve, none seek after their spiritual or outward condition? Who among us seeks to make himself an example of love? Is there a duty wherein men may exercise and show their gifts and parts? — there is a pretty readiness for it. Is there any thing wherein men may act severity of spirit? — they will be prepared for that. Who among us endeavours, in meekness, in condescension, in self-denial, in being little in his own eyes, to make himself an example of love? And all our church order and relation is a thing of no value without it. One person who is filled with love, which is a charitable grace, it will make him have low thoughts of himself, condescend greatly to others, forego temptation to provocations, and let go all these things. And who among us endeavours to make himself an example hereof? One such person would bring more honour and glory to Christ, and make a more glorious representation of him in the world, than a thousand of us do at this kind of rate of walking. The ways of God are the same, the worship of God the same, the saints of God the same also, — a company of poor tempted sinners: but we have not the same light, we have not the same guidance, we have not the same love; we live upon gifts, and not upon grace. God doth hide his face from us in this thing.

2. When God hides his face, there will be a decay as to spiritual strength, as to the flourishing and vigour of grace. I have spoken so much and so often to you upon this head, in this place, in our inquiry wherefore the Lord doth harden the hearts of his people from his fear, and in conference among ourselves, that I shall say no more 520to it, to manifest that we have this evidence of God’s hiding his face, that there is a decay of spiritual strength as to the flourishing of grace among us. And truly, brethren, I am verily persuaded that if God do not give us an understanding of it by his word, he will give us an understanding of it by his sword, by his judgments, that will follow us till we are consumed.

3. When God hides his face, there will be a decay of spiritual joys. Spiritual joys are the immediate effect of the shining of God’s countenance, the most proper pledge of it unto our hearts. And how is it with us, brethren? Pray remember my design, which is to speak familiarly unto you, and so bear with my manner of speaking at this time. How is it with us, brethren, as to this matter of spiritual joy? It is a thing that was purchased by the blood of Christ. It is more worth than all this world, and it is that without which we shall never greatly honour God, in this world or when we go out of it.

I cannot toll how to judge any of your hearts, nor what stock you have of this spiritual joy, but I will give you two or three outward signs, and one or two inward trials, whereby we may know whether there be not a decay among us in spiritual joy; and (which is the worst part of the story) we are content that so it should be.

(1.) This is certain, that carnal joys and spiritual joys are inconsistent; that where carnal joy is predominant, let men pretend what they will, and speak with the tongue of men and angels, there is no spiritual joy. By carnal joy I understand the prevalent satisfaction of the minds of men in present enjoyments, whether in relations, or in outward state and condition, or in the succeeding of their affairs. Where there is a predominant satisfaction in these things, there is no spiritual joy. “Many say, Who will show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.” These things are absolutely opposed. The gladness of heart arising from the shining of God’s countenance is absolutely opposed unto that good which men find in the increase of their corn, and wine, and oil. A predominancy of carnal joy in present satisfaction as to things here below is inconsistent with spiritual joy.

(2.) Earthly cares prevailing are inconsistent with heavenly joys. God hath brought many of us into that state and condition that it may be we will say we are free upon that account: ‘We have nothing here to rejoice in; we are poor; we are low, disconsolate, afflicted.’ Well, then, but have we not, on the other side, earthly cares and desires prevalent in us? We are not rich, but we would be rich; we are not healthy, but we would be healthy and strong; we have not provision for our lusts, but we would have it. Where there is this frame of spirit there is no spiritual joy.

21 September, 2021

NICENE AND POST-NICENE FATHERS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH—SECOND SERIES—The Theology of St. Hilary of Poitiers. Part 23

 


When he is enunciating revealed truths, or arguing onward from them to conclusions towards which they point, he has the company of the Creeds, or at least they indicate the way he must go. But in explaining the connection between doctrine and doctrine he is left to his own guidance. It is as though a traveller, not content to acquaint himself with the highroads, should make his way over hedge and ditch from one of them to another; he will not always hit upon the best and straightest course. But at least Hilary’s conclusions, though sometimes erroneous, were reached by honest and reverent reasoning, and neither ancient nor modern theology can afford to reproach him. The tendency of the former, especially offer the rise of Nestorius, was to exaggerate some of his errors; and the latter has failed to develope and enforce some of his highest teaching.

This is, indeed, worthy of all admiration. On the moral side of Christianity we see him insisting upon the voluntary character of Christ’s work; upon His acts of will, which are a satisfaction to God and an appeal to us. On the intellectual side we find the Unity in Trinity so luminously declared that Bishop French of Lahore, one of the greatest of missionaries, had the works of Hilary constantly in his hands, and contemplated a translation of the De Trinitate into Arabic for the benefit of Mohammedans. This was not because Hilary’s explanation of our Lord’s sufferings might seem to commend the Gospel to their prejudices; such a concession would have been repugnant to French’s whole mode of thought. It was because in the central argument on behalf of the Godhead of Christ, where he had least scope for originality of thought, Hilary has never suffered himself to become a mere mechanical compiler. The light which he has cast upon his subject, though clear, is never hard; and the doctrine which, because it was attractive to himself, he has made attractive to his readers, is that of the unity of God, the very doctrine which is of supreme importance in Mohammedan eyes.

But, above all, it is Hilary’s doctrine concerning the Incarnation as the eternal purpose of God for the union of the creature with the Creator, that must excite our interest and awaken our thoughts. He renders it, on the one hand, impossible to rate too highly the dignity of man, created to share the nature and the life of God; impossible, on the other hand, to estimate highly enough the condescension of Christ in assuming humanity. It is by His humiliation that we are saved; by the fact that the nature of man was taken by his Maker, not by the fact that Christ, being man, remained sinless. For sin began against God’s will and after His counsel was formed; it might deflect the march of His purpose towards fulfilment, but could no more impede its consummation than it could cause its inception. The true salvation of man is not that which rescues him, when corrupt, from sin and its consequences, but that which raises him, corruptible, because free, even though he had not become corrupt, into the safety of union with the nature of God. 

Human life, though pure from actual sin, would have been aimless and hopeless without the Incarnation. And the human body would have had no glory, for its glory is that Christ has taken it, worn it awhile in its imperfect state, laid it aside and finally resumed it in its perfection. All this He must have done, in accordance with God’s purpose, even though the Fall had never occurred. Hence the Incarnation and the Resurrection are the facts of paramount interest; the death of Christ, corresponding as it does to the hypothetical laying aside of the unglorified flesh, loses something of its usual prominence in Christian thought. It is represented as being primarily for Christ the moment of transition, for the Christian the act which enables him to profit by the Incarnation; but it is the Incarnation itself whereby, in Hilary’s words, we are saved into the nature and the name of God. But though we may feel that this great truth is not stated in its full impressiveness, we must allow that the thought which has taken the foremost place is no mere academic speculation. And, after all, sin and the Atonement are copiously treated in his writings, though they do not control his exposition of the Incarnation. 



Yet even in this there are large spaces of his argument where these considerations have a place, though only to give local colour, so to speak, and a sense of reality to the description of a purpose formed and a work done for man because he is man, not because he is fallen. But if Hilary has somewhat erred in placing the Cross in the background, he is not in error in magnifying the scope of the reconciliation which includes it as in a wider horizon. Man has in Christ the nature of God; the infinite Mind is intelligible to the finite. The Creeds are no dry statement of facts which do not touch our life; the truths they contain are the revelation of God’s self to us. Not for the pleasure of weaving theories, but in the interests of practical piety, Hilary has fused belief and conduct into the unity of that knowledge which Isaiah foresaw and St. John possessed; the knowledge which is not a means towards life, but life itself.