William HuntingtonXXIV. The Inheritance of the Wise, and the Promotion of Fools
THERE is no greater folly than to put away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near. The beginning of wisdom with us is when God brings our sins and his law, death and judgment, home to our mind and conscience, and sets them all before our eyes. "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!" These things brought home and deeply impressed on the soul, are attended with great consternation and fear; and although this fear is coupled with much bondage and slavery, yet it is attended with a desperate war against sin, and with a departing from it, and from all our companions in it. "The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding." And to this agrees the wise man; "A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil; but the fool rageth, and is confident." The next step that the wise man takes is to search the scriptures, to see if there be any ground of relief, instruction, encouragement, or hope; which he most earnestly desires, because he is deeply sensible of his need of these. "Through desire a man having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom." And as sure as the word of God becomes his study, so sure will the saints of God become his chosen and most favourite company. He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but the companion of fools shall be destroyed." All convictions that come from God by the Spirit will be complied with and yielded to by the convicted sinner; he will and must come to the light of truth, that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in Gods power, and under Gods influence. The word is a light to our feet, and a lamp to our path; and the scriptures are able to make us wise unto salvation, through faith that is in Christ Jesus, Tim. iii. 15. All soul trouble which does not drive us to the light, to the word of God, to the ministry of it, to the servants and saints of God, is sure to leave us where it finds us - both fools and blind. "Lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them?" Jer. viii. 9. By the word of God preached, read, or meditated on, is wisdom conveyed to the soul; hence the word is called the word of wisdom, 1 Cor. xii. 8; and that part of it which is called the gospel, is the wisdom of God in a mystery, 1 Cor. ii. 7. When the Spirit of God opens up, and applies the promises with power, the hungry soul relishes them, feeds and feasts sweetly upon them; no honey to the mouth so sweet as the words of life to the soul. "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart." "My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste: so shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off." The entrance of the word of wisdom gives hope, it respects the future and great reward; and the expectation founded on hope is not to be cut off from the reward promised. And it is an experience of comfort by the word that brings hope: experience worketh hope, but not the experience of bondage, fear, and wrath; these work despair. It is the entrance of comfort that brings hope." "For whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." The next most noble branch of spiritual wisdom lies in taking the gospel lamp in the hand of faith, and oil in the vessel to feed the flame. The foolish virgins which took their lamps took no oil with them. The best account of the saint's lamp is as follows: "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth," Isaiah lxii. 1. Zion and Jerusalem here are the elect of God, and the covenant of grace which God has made with Christ in their behalf. Read Heb. xii. 22, 23. There are two things in this text that go forth hand in hand; and they always come to the heart of poor sinners together: the one is righteousness; the other is salvation. A divine radiance attends the one, and a flaming fire attends the other. Righteousness goes forth as brightness, and salvation as a lamp that burneth. This, this is the wise virgins lamp. But, then, what is salvation? It is the forgiveness of sins, and the knowledge of it; as it is written, "To give knowledge of salvation unto his people, by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dayspring from; on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." The fire that attends this salvation is the love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost; for the fullest discovery and sweetest enjoyment of divine love are made known to the soul at the time of pardon and forgiveness; and this overflowing of divine love in us inflames the whole soul with love to God again: or, to speak more evangelically, the Holy Spirit filling us with Gods love through Christ, his love is reflected back again, attended with the renewed affections of the pardoned sinner. Hence it is said, Where much is forgiven, the same loveth much; and where little is forgiven, the same loveth little, Luke vii. 47. Sin is removed by faith in a Saviours blood. This heals the conscience, and brings health and cure; while love binds up the broken heart, and fills it with joy and peace. This is salvation, and the burning flame that attends it; and justification always goes with it; for the same faith that purifies the heart puts on the wedding-garment; the fatted calf and the best robe are brought forth together, Luke xv. 22,23. The prophet ascribes fire to salvation, and brightness to righteousness; and no wonder; for when God accepts us in his Son as clean, and in his righteousness as just, he reveals his dear Son in us, with all his saving benefits, and with all his fullness: and this is called the Sun of righteousness rising upon us with healing in his beams, attended with the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Pardon removes sin, and righteousness removes the curse, and all condemnation. In this work we are baptized with the Holy Ghost, and with the fire; with God the Fathers love, through Christ; for this is shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Ghost. Hence the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of burning, Isaiah iv. 4. The word of life, in the love of it, is a live coat from the altar, Isaiah vi. 6. And joy in the heart is the flame that blazes forth from this lamp, and is expressly called light: "The light of the righteous rejoiceth, but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out." This lamp of salvation will afford a blaze of joy, when all joy raised by moving the passions will be put out: a consciousness of sin, and the expectation of wrath, are sure to extinguish it. The ground and foundation of this joy in my text is, first, the forgiveness of sins. And such worshippers, once purged, shall have no more conscience of sins, Heb. x. 2. Thus "Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation." The believer puts on an everlasting righteousness. This, says the prophet, goes forth as brightness, as being the righteousness of God, and in which the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, Matt. xiii. 43. And both the atonement and the best robe are brought nigh, and applied by the Holy Spirit of God; for we are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God, 1 Cor. vi. 11. Which most holy and blessed Spirit is a comforter that abides with us for ever. Thus salvation is attended with the fire of love, and righteousness with the brightest flames of heavenly joy; as it is written, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels," Here is the wise virgin, made wise to salvation, going forth to meet her great Redeemer, who hath washed her from her sins in his own blood. She is going to meet her dearly beloved with his love shed abroad in her heart. She sets out in her wedding robe to meet her bridegroom; she goes to meet her head of influence, under the influence of his Spirit; and she rejoices in hope of an endless enjoyment of her own husband. Nor is she in any danger of her lamp going out; for she has the promise of returning to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon her head, Isaiah li. 11. And so far is she from being shut out of the marriage-chamber, that it is with gladness and rejoicing she shall be brought, and shall enter into the kings palace, Psalm xlv. 15. So much for the wisdom of the wise. Now for the glory; "The wise shall inherit glory." There is a glory already put upon the wise, and it begins with the first entrance of the Spirit of God into the heart. Under his first operations the poor sinner begins to separate himself from the world. This brings the odium of the world upon him: "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you?" 2. The light of Gods countenance, in which our secret sins appear; the light which makes manifest all things that are reproved, and which shines upon the sure word of prophecy till the day-dawn, and day-star arise in the heart; even this is no less than glory; yea, and the glory of God too. "Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee." 3. There is a wonderful display of divine glory in the creation and formation of the new man. God shining upon the soul, and giving us a discovery of his own glory in the face of Christ, reflects the image of God upon us; and under this glorious rising and shining is the new man formed, and the divine image imprinted on the soul. "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." The love that fills the soul at this time, and the unutterable joy that springs from love, has, according to Peter, a fullness of glory in it. "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory," 1 Peter i. 8. Glory, as mentioned in the scriptures in the general, means light;. "I could not see," says Paul, "for the glory of that light;" and again, "The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory;" and again, "Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of God is risen upon thee." The word, light, in scripture signifies various things. 1. It signifies the light of faith. By faith Moses saw him that is invisible. The patriarchs saw the promises afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them. And again, "He that believeth on me shall not abide in darkness, but shall have the light of life." 2. Sometimes it means love. "He that hateth his brother, is in darkness, and walketh in darkness; but he that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him." 3. It signifies enlightening the understanding to discern spiritual things. "Call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions." Again, "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." 4. It signifies joy and gladness of heart. "Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." Again, "The light of the righteous rejoiceth, but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out." 5. Wonderful deliverances, and prosperity upon it, are called light. When Haman was caught in his own trap, and God turned his violent dealings upon his own pate, it is said that the Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour, Esther viii. 16. So much for the wise man's begun glory, even in this life. We read also of a glory that is to be put upon the bodies of the saints at the resurrection of the dead; that Christ shall change our vile bodies, and shall fashion them like unto his own glorious body. We read also of a crown of glory that fadeth not away. And I believe I may, in a few words, set forth both the glory of Christ, and the glory of the saints. The glory of Christ is his church: "Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God," Isaiah lxii. 3. The crown of the saints follows: "In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people," Isaiah xxviii. 5. This is the glory of the wise, and the wise mans crown of glory; and he that can find out God unto perfection, he may describe it; as for me, I cannot. But thus much I may say, that whatever in the word of God is called a crown, may, in the highest sense, be referred to Christ Jesus. For instance: "The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness." Christ is the ancient of days, and the hair of his head like pure wool, Daniel vii. 9. "The prudent are crowned with knowledge." Christ is made of God unto us wisdom; and to know God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent, is life eternal. We read of a crown of righteousness laid up for all that love his appearing, 2 Tim. iv. 8. Jehovah-tsidkenu, Christ is the Lord our righteousness, Jer. xxiii, 6. "The crown of the wise is their riches." The Lord is the portion of our souls. We read of being crowned with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Psalm ciii. 4. Christ is love, he is kindness, and all the sure mercies of David are in him. There is such a thing as the crown of life, James i. 12. Christ is our life; and, "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory." Again: "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." But this text that follows includes and contains the substance of all the above: "In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people." This is our cap of state, our joy, the crown of our rejoicing, the glory of our head, and our eternal honour, dignity, and majesty. I come now to describe the worst creatures in all this world, except the devils; and these are, that sort of fools which are mentioned and meant in my text: for there are several sorts of fools described in the word of God; but that sort in my text is not an understrapper; he is not one of the lowest, nor one of the second class, but of the highest rank, being exalted above every other denomination or species of fools; for so says my text, "Shame shall be the promotion of fools." 1. There is a sort of fools that are mere muck-worms, who are so blinded and buried in the earth as never to spend one thought either upon God or conscience. "And he spake a parable unto them saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do; I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God." 2. There is another sort of fools which are by nature so; that is, persons of weak intellects and of shallow capacities, and, as we commonly say, soft and simple; and there are not a few of this sort among the elect of God. "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 to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are," 1 Cor. i. 26-28. Now this sort of fools are so naturally, and are called the foolish things of the world. 3. There is another sort of fools, that are not so in reality, but are nicknamed so; and their godfathers that gave them this name are not men truly wise, nor wise in the judgment of God, nor in the opinion of wise men; but they are wise in their own conceits like the Jewish scribes and pharisees of old, who became vain in their imagination and their foolish hearts were darkened. "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools," Rom. i. 21, 22. Now, though these men were fools in grain, fools in the abstract, and the very quintessence of folly, yet these became the Godfathers of men that were truly wise, and, out of their great hatred to God, call souls, that God has inspired, fools. "The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred," Hosea ix. 7. And those in the New Testament which, Christ says, saw and hated both him and his Father, gave the same title to the apostles, as Paul relates, "We are fools for Christs sake," 1 Cor. iv. 10. And these fools God undertakes to lead, protect, and guide, in his way; and takes such pains to make the road plain, that these wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein, Isaiah xxxv. 8. A fourth rank of fools are such as make a profession without possession, Neither driven to Christ by a sense of guilt and wrath, nor drawn to him by a sense of mercy and love, they seem to me to be volunteers in religion. They think it an honour to have the name of being devout Christians; or else, what could induce the foolish virgins to set out, and to set off, to meet the bridegroom, seeing they had no knowledge of him, no love to him, no sense of their need of him, nor any one promise of life from him. They had not his Spirit in them, nor one grace from his fullness, to influence them. They had no unction, no oil, no anointing from him; for they took no oil with them. These are called foolish virgins. 5. The next class of fools are such as are blinded, influenced, pushed on, and puffed up by Satan, to assume and invest themselves with the office of the ministers of Christ. And there are many of them so duped, blinded, and inflamed, with a false zeal. by the devil, as to think that God really sent them; and they often challenge the Almighty for their sovereign and their patron, as Balaam did when he said, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more." This class of fools so effectually mimicked the servants of Christ as to make many hearts glad who were the simple followers of the Lamb. Of such simple believers Paul sarcastically says, "Ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise." Wise you must be, because you gladly suffer false apostles to lead you. But the fool in my text is a more exalted character than any of these; he is ranked in the highest class, and is, in his own conceit, the wisest creature in all the celestial or terrestrial globes; for he attributes folly to both worlds, as will appear in the following account of him. We are to know this fool from all others by the appellation that is joined to his name, "Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath," Prov. xxi. 24. Proud and haughty scorner is his name; pride and wrath he at the bottom of all his hard speeches. And scorning eases the burden of his heart, and affords him some desperate, infernal, and momentary delight. These scorners are said to delight in their scorning; and, though fools, yet they hate knowledge, Prov. i. 22. This sort of fools make a mock at sin. And, in doing this, they mock at all the anger, wrath and just indignation of God. They mock at all the dreadful threatenings, sentences, and curses of a broken law; yea, they mock at all the weeds, briers, and thorns, on the earth, and at all the toil of man in rooting them up, and keeping them under. They mock at all the chains and torments of devils; at all the labour, toil, and misery, of men; at all the sufferings and agonies of the Son of God; at all the sorrows and afflictions of the saints; at the day of judgment; at the awful sentence of God; and at all the groans of the damned; for not one of these had ever been either revealed, threatened, feared, felt, borne, or endured, if sin had not entered into the world. A scorning fool is one that scoffs at all real religion, and makes a jest of the worship and worshippers of God. The very preaching of Christ, Paul says, is the power of God, and the wisdom of God; and even this the scorning fool calls the weakness of God, and the foolishness of God. Be it so, says Paul; "The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men," 1 Cor. i. 25. Thus this fool sets his mouth against the heavens, and his tongue walks through the earth. He sets his mouth against the heavens by insulting his Maker, and ridiculing his gospel, which is from above, and by despising those that are born from above; and his tongue walks through the earth by his pupils and admirers, who zealously circulate his bold and arrogant speeches. We are forbidden to offer any advice or counsel to this character: "Speak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words." No reproof nor rebuke, no judgments nor afflictions, can have any humbling or softening effects upon him, he is so completely in league with Satan, and so hardened under his influence. "Though thou shouldst bray this fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him," it is so interwoven in his soul. I come now to shew his promotion. In every class of rational creatures there are some promoted above the rest. We read of angels and archangels in heaven; and of thrones and dominions, of principalities and powers; and, even among fallen angels, we read of a king, which is Satan, and his inferiors, who are in subjection to him. And we read of Beelzebub, the prince of devils; yea, Paul says that Christ, by his death, spoiled principalities and powers upon the cross, and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. And so in bodies politic, and in all senates and civil societies, there are promotions. Hence we hear of emperors and empires; of kings and kingdoms; of princes and principalities. The house of lords hath a speaker, the house of commons the same; and all assemblies and clubs of inferior rank, even these have a chairman. Now, the fool in my text, which Solomon describes to be a fool that delights in scorning, and hates knowledge, this dignity that he is in, this promotion, is refused by all but the scorning fool, according to Jotham's parable; for, when all the corrupt trees went to anoint a king over them, every plant in the wood begged to be excused but one. "They said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. But the olive tree said, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?" All these trees seem to show some regard either to God or man, and therefore refuse promotion. But the next offer is made to the scorning fool. "Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow," Judges ix. 8-15. None in all this parable would accept of promotion but the bramble, and that is a badge of Gods curse upon the earth, and a lively type of that sort of sinners called briers and thorns, which are rejected, and are nigh unto cursing, and whose end is to be burned, Heb. vi. 8. The same choice has been put to this sort of trees since, and the choice was the same: "Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber." Among all the classes of sinners, heretics, hypocrites, impostors, mammonists, and worldlings, there am none promoted so high as the scorning fool. He is the chairman; he stands first and highest, and is at the front of all that enter the gates of death. "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the council of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." I read of no exalted chair, or seat of promotion, among sinners, but the above, which is called the seat of the scornful. And, as this chairman is sure to have many pupils, followers, and admirers, so he is sure to gain many proselytes; many of which look up to him, and wish they could imitate him in art and craft, in eloquence and fluency, in parts and abilities, in wisdom and knowledge. This person being a ringleader, and gaining much applause by mocking of God, it is but right that he should be supreme in misery, as well as supreme in wickedness. And God declares, in the very verse preceding my text, that he will deal with this sinner as he has dealt with God. "Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly. The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the promotion of fools." And as, in this world, those that despise Christ shall be lightly esteemed, so these scorners, at the day of judgment, will be despised, destroyed, and abhorred, even by their own proselytes and admirers; and they will hate him, and curse him, and torment him, to all eternity, as their worst enemy, and soul-destroyer. And God declares that he will pay him in his own coin; that is, he will laugh at his calamity, and mock when his fear cometh. His own atrocious crimes, and the heinous guilt of them; his fears, anguish, and torments; shall be his promotion in the great day, as soon as the last trumpet shall be blown. "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Shame and everlasting contempt will be the promotion of this fool. His chiefest glory has been in his own shame, and shame shall be his future promotion. |