William HuntingtonXXIX. The Best of Fathers, and His Command; The Mystic Mother, and Her Law
THE first thing that I have to treat on in this text is the character or title, which is that or a son; My son, &c. In the proverbs, says Paul, God speaks to us as to children; "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord; nor faint when thou art rebuked of him," &c. But, as there are various classes of sonship in scripture, I must distinguish this from others. Angels are called sons, being so by creation. "The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." In this sense all mankind are the sons of God. "Have we not all one father; hath not one God created us?" Israel was a son; but then it was only by national adoption, and not in the best sense. "And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn. And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn." Magistrates are called children of God; but then it appears to be in office only, as the words show. "They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are out of course. I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men and fall like one of the princes." There is another rank of sons, which obtain this character by profession only. "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh." There are sons who are pre-appointed to bear this character, and that from everlasting. "Having predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved," Eph. i. 5, 6. And it is on this account that the poor Gentiles were called sons, long before they had any real knowledge of their Father. "I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth." "And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God." But now I will come nearer home, and descend as low as the word of God will bear me out, and keep me company. And it is not in my power, according to my present light, to come any lower than Paul does in the following passage: "Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord God Almighty." Here is the same call that God gave to Abraham, Come out from among them. And here the apostles begun; as soon as a sufficient number were discipled, they were separated, and formed into congregations or churches by themselves. But then, it may be asked, What is the unclean thing that we are forbidden to touch? I answer, it is either idolatry, which then prevailed in every place, according to God's charges which he brings against Israel, calling idolatry, fornication, whoredom, and polluting themselves with idols; or else what Peter calls escaping the corruption that is in the world through lust, which is prevalent in all by nature, as all flesh hath corrupted its way. Some lust after wealth, others after honours and pleasures, others after empire, and others after the gratification of every unhallowed desire. Come out from among these people, and leave these things, and he promises to receive you. But the secret of our adoption to sonship is made manifest by our being enabled to believe in Christ; for "To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them which believe on his name." And the first appearance of this work, called receiving him, discovers itself by having the heart touched with love to his children. For he that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth me, Matt. x. 40. Sonship is to be discovered by love; for all God's children are taught of him; and one of the lessons which he teaches, the apostle says, is this, "Ye are taught of God to love one another." And love is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and discovers itself by a love to the truth, a love to the brethren, and by love to God and his ways. There are many appellations which attend this character of sons, which are intended to assist the believer in making his adoption clear. When the Spirit of God has rent the vail of ignorance, darkness, and confusion, from their heart, and illuminated their understandings, they are called the children of light. "For the children of this world are, in their generation, wiser than the children of light." It is discovered by the honesty of their hearts and by their coming to the light, and by loving the truth, and adhering to it, hating flattery, daubing, and being built up in falsehood. They are not like the hypocrites, who, as Peter says, are willingly ignorant, and love to be deceived. But God makes his people revere and embrace his word; "For he said, surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour." Sonship appears in the peace which is found and enjoyed in the ways of God. "Into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it." It appears by the reverence, awe, and fear, the believer has of God. "A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour?" "My son, keep thy father's commandment." This commandment is the word, or promise of life; and this I shall endeavour to make plain; and do you observe. "He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations: which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: when they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it, Psalm cv. 8-12. In this psalm here is, 1. A covenant; and this is called, "The word which he commanded to a thousand generations." This word is confirmed by an oath to Isaac, and to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. All which amounts to this, "Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance." Now this covenant is called the covenant of promise; and the land of Canaan is called the promised land. "For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise." In this covenant there are two things promised; 1. A blessing to all Abraham's spiritual seed. "In thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." This blessing is eternal life. "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead [for that is the god of this world,] but of the living." Now Paul says that the blessing of Abraham came on the Gentiles through faith. "So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham;" and, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." 2. In this covenant God promised the holy land to Abraham and to all his natural seed; but Abraham himself never enjoyed any inheritance in it, no not so much as to set a foot on; Abraham sought a better country; that is, an heavenly one. And this God promises to all Abraham's spiritual seed; he gives both grace and glory. Hence this covenant is called the covenant of life and peace. But then it may be asked why this covenant of promise and this word should be said to be confirmed to Jacob for a law? I answer, because it is the law of faith, which excludes boasting, and it requires the obedience of faith. And this is the word which was preached to Israel; but it did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. They entered not in because of unbelief. Furthermore, this covenant, or word, is said to be commanded to a thousand generations. God gave this word in the days of old, and great was the company of those that published it. Moses and all the prophets preached this word or promise of life. And it is plain that Christ received the same commandment; for when God set his king on his holy hill of Zion he commanded the blessing to be put there; for upon mount Zion God commanded the blessing, even life for evermore, Psalm cxxxiii. 3. And our Lord tells you that he received this commandment from the Father. "For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment what I should say, and what ! should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting." And Christ gave the same commandment to the apostles, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." And this may be further seen in Paul's epistle to the Romans. "But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith." Take the whole thus: the blessing of everlasting life was promised to Abraham and to all his spiritual seed. This promise, or word of fife, is the contents of God's covenant with Abraham; and this God commanded to be made known to all nations as a law requiring the obedience of faith. "My son, keep thy father's commandment;" for God has commanded the promise, or word of life, to be published to every creature, and he applies it to all the sons and heirs of promise. This word must be received and kept; received in the light of it, so as to understand it; in the power of it, so as to be quickened by it; in the faith of it, so as to obey it; and in the love of it, so as to embrace it and hold it fast, profess it, and abide by it. "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." This will make manifest who they are that receive and keep the word of life, and who not. Christ will come and dwell in their hearts by faith, and God the Father will come and dwell in their hearts by love; and such will find it to be what Peter did, the word of eternal life; and as it operates, grows, and preveils, freedom of soul wilt attend it. "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Let my reader take notice of this, that the character in my text is that of a son, and he that gave the commandment is a father; and therefore it is not a legal commandment to a bondservant, but an evangelical one to a son. All that are under the law are servants, and not sons; in the flesh and not in the Spirit; and the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. And by this thou wilt know whether thou art a servant or a son: if a servant, thou wilt cleave to the law, and to thine own performances, and to the citizens of this country, to letter preachers, even if thy conscience be half in hell; and thou wilt despise all that are happy in Christ Jesus; for the law worketh wrath, and that will stir up thine enmity. But if a son, and an heir of promise, thou wilt expect no comfort but what the promises afford; these will be thine only breasts; and, indeed, there is no milk in any other. Now for the mother, and her law. "Forsake not the law of thy mother." This mother doth not mean our natural parent; for all believers have not righteous mothers; many of the saints natural mothers are lawless and disobedient. Nor is Hagar the mother that is meant in my text; she was an Egyptian, and her son was born after the flesh, and persecuted him that was born after the Spirit; and his mother helped him; for which God turned them both out of doors. Beside, she was bought and sold like a slave, and her son was a wild man. Nor is the earthly Jerusalem that now is this mother; for she is in widowhood, and desolate, and sitteth on the ground, and is in bondage, and all her children. Sarah is the mother of this son in my text. "And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai, thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her; yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her," Gen. xvii. 15, 16. Hence it is that we are commanded to hearken to the Lord about this matter. "Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord; look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged; look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you; for I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him: for the Lord shall comfort Zion." Now this mother being Abraham's lawful wife by a marriage covenant, or a covenant of wedlock, and being blessed of God with the promise and blessing of everlasting life, and being a partaker also of the Holy Ghost, for she spake as the Spirit moved her when she said, "Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And God said, In all that Sarah hath said hearken to her voice: for in Isaac shall thy seed be called." So also her offspring was an heir of promise, and born after the Spirit. And Sarah gave suck to her son even in her old age; and she is called the freewoman, and her son a freeborn heir; and in all these things she was the covenant of grace in a figure. The bondwoman and the free: "These are the two covenants; the one, from mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." All which teaches us this lesson, that Sarah's freedom, Sarah's promise, Sarah's spirit, Sarah's life, Sarah's blessing, Sarah's son, and Sarah's faith, all came to her from the covenant of grace, and she received them as a free gift. "Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised." And we may observe, that the commandment of the father, and the law of this mother, come both from this covenant of grace. Faith is called the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which makes us free from the law of sin and death. And as the Holy Spirit writes the law of faith in the heart, and is called the Spirit of faith on that count, so the word of life is applied by the same. And it is a truth that the Spirit of faith, and the promise of life, both come from the same covenant; and they always come together. "As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seeds' seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever." Here is our mother, the covenant of grace, the heavenly Jerusalem; and here is the word of life and of faith which we preach; and here is the Spirit of faith, which is promised to all the seed. "My son, keep thy father's commandment; and forsake not the law of thy mother." "Bind them continually upon thine heart." We may have a full persuasion in our own mind of the truth we bear; and this Paul allows; "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." And this persuasion comes from God: "God shall persuade Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem." But the heart is not fixed till it purge the conscience. We read also of others who for a while believe; but in time of temptation fall away. This is temporary faith, which abides but for a season, and when most wanted fails. And we read of miraculous faith, which will remove mountains, but bring no charity with it. Now faith in the mind may stay it, and keep a person in firm hope and expectation, and it may abide there for some time, and yet things are not clear, nor sound, nor is the soul fully satisfied, settled, and firm; far from it. But when faith reaches the heart or conscience, by applying the atonement there, which Paul calls having the heart sprinkled' from an evil conscience, Heb. x. 22; this makes clear work, even at the very bottom. Here is pardoning grace in the heart, removing evil from the conscience. And sure I am that it is a good thing to have the heart established with grace. "Bind them continually upon thine heart." Faith is a law, and laws are binding; but faith must lay hold of love, for that is the bond that binds. Faith is a uniting power; you read of the unity of the faith. When the grace of faith takes root in the heart, and works by love there, and pleasingly assures the soul of its interest in Christ, it sweetly constrains to obedience, and powerfully engages the whole soul with God There is such a thing as a growth in faith; and a growing exceedingly in it; which is done by observing the actings and exercises of faith; by using of it, and stirring it up in constant and continual approaches to God, especially in times of trouble; in observing its workings, its successes, and the returns that are granted to the prayer of faith; in observing the liveliness of it at some times, and its deadness at others; its strongest efforts, and its apparent declensions. It grows by cherishing it and, nourishing it, by reading, hearing, conversing, and meditating; by praying for an increase of it, and that it may not fail; and in watching and guarding against those besetting sins which weaken and discourage faith. David's faith, with a good conscience, faced the Goliath of Gath, but, with a bad one, fled from Absalom his own son. To bind faith on the heart is to encourage its powerful constraints; for it bows, bends, influences, and draws the heart to cleave to Christ; it brings in fresh power from Christ, and we are kept by that mighty power through faith, and made to stand fast in him by faith. To bind the word of promise to the heart is to receive the love of the truth, and truth in the love of it, which is called binding up the testimony. Love is a strong cord; a thing loved is held fast, and cannot be forced away from love as long as love lasts. And what we love is uppermost in our thoughts, always present, much meditated on, and greatly delighted in. And the Holy Spirit leading the mind into the word, and giving us an unctuous experience of the truth, truth becomes familiar to us, and very cheering and entertaining; and it maizes the mind spiritual; and life and peace attend a spiritual mind. Satan is sadly foiled at a spiritual mind; he cannot get our attention. The corruptions of the heart are much put off, and their inclinations and requests much weakened, where truth is held fast in love, and meditated on, and delighted in, which sweetly entertains the soul with knowledge and understanding. "Bind them continually upon thy heart." "And tie them about thy neck." The believing soul that embraces the gospel, the promises and blessings of the covenant, is espoused as a chaste virgin to Christ. And it is well known that the neck is a beautiful part of the body, and especially if fair. You read of her fair neck, Hosea x. 11; and in the Song, "Thy neck is as a tower of ivory," and ivory is very white. Moreover, the neck, especially of a bride, is commonly adorned with beads, gold chains, pearls, necklaces, and sometimes with a necklace of diamonds. The doctrines, promises, and blessings, of the gospel, which are all promised to faith, together with the graces of the Holy Spirit, are our ornaments and adornings; hence you read, Thy neck is comely with chains of gold, Song i. 10. "Thou hast ravished my heart with one chain of thy neck." Some, like the Galatians, think that they are not ornamented with the gospel without going over to the law; they begin in the Spirit, but must be made perfect by the flesh; whereas the chain of harmonious truth, and the golden links of divine graces, are the only things which adorn the Lord's spouse; and with these his heart is ravished and charmed. Again: bondage, slavery, and captivity, are called the bands of the neck; and so they are to those that are under them. "Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion," Isaiah lii. 2. Now these bands were a disgrace; she was bound with these for her idolatry. But to yield the obedience of faith is to take the yoke of her Lord upon her, who is meek and lowly, and to be obedient to her heavenly husband. Again; rebellion is called a stiff neck: "Speak not with a stiff neck." Disobedience is what Christ complains of, and says to such, "Thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass," Now, humble submission and cheerful obedience is the reverse of all this. "Not, be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary," 2 Chron. xxx. 8. But again: the neck is that part which joins or unites the head to the body. Christ is the head of the church, and the church is the body of Christ. Hence some are sharply rebuked for not holding this head, from which all the body by joints and bands, having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increased with the increase of God, Col. ii. 19. The neck, therefore, is the emblem of union between Christ the head and his church. Hence a good woman is often represented without a head, having no head of her own. The head of the woman is the man; and as a good woman submits to her husband, who is the head of her, and gives up her own will to his, so an obedient believer does the will of his Father. Solomon's advice to his son is, to aim at union with the covenant Head; "Keep thy father's commandment," says he. God has in these last days spoken to us by his Son. He has commanded his Son to speak the word of life to us; and this word keeps Christ and his people together. "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." "Forsake not the law of thy mother." Faith gives Christ possession of our heart; he dwells in the heart by faith; and by faith we dwell in him. But, as love is the bond of all perfectness, and as real faith works by love, and love being called a cord, Solomon would not that love should be lacking in our faith. "We have," says John, "known and believed the love that God hath to us;" and Paul says, I am persuaded that neither life nor death shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." In the word of life God promises to love us freely, and that this love shall draw us to Christ. Faith receives the promise, and believes in the love of God, and works by it. Tie these about thy neck. These, like a neck, will hold thee and Christ together, And, by virtue of this union, Christ will adorn thee with all grace and truth, which, like the chains of a bride's neck, will charm the bridegroom, ,and be the ornaments of thy profession. "My son keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck." "When thou goest, it shall lead thee." All along we have had two things to treat of, the command of the father, and the law of the mother; but now these two are become one; not these or them, but it; when thou goest, it shall lead thee. The apostle tells us to be followers of Christ as dear children; and it is by faith we walk, and not by sight. Fortune, luck, and chance, are banished out of the government of this world by faith. The believer is led by faith to watch the hand of God in all things. He discerns the universal providence of God. And what is providence but the goodness of God displayed in providing for all his creatures? All seek their meat from God. Faith leads him to observe all the goodness of God that passes before him. "He that will observe these things, even he shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord." Moses all through the wilderness, Jacob with his staff, and the apostles without purse or scrip, were led by faith to observe this, and found their account in it, and support by it. And as faith leads us to observe these things, so, upon every kind providence that appears, faith leads the believer to acknowledge it by praises and thanksgivings, which faith leads the soul to believe will be acceptable to God through Christ; and by these things faith gives glory to God. Should God. appear to walk contrary to us, as in the three years famine for the blood of the Gibeonites, shed by Saul in the days of David; or should his hand go out against us, as in the case of Naomi; or should providence run counter to the promise, as with Isaac and Rebekah (the promise to Abraham was that his seed by Isaac should be as the stars of heaven, but behold Rebekah is barren); faith, at such seasons, leads us to inquire of the Lord, and to entreat the Lord; and when these are removed, we are led by faith to love, bless, and adore the Almighty for making crooked things straight. When any arch enemy, who lays in wait to deceive, brings or presents any new and strange things to our ears, or if it comes from a poor simple soul, who is charmed with every word, and we stand in doubt, not knowing whether right or wrong, whether to refuse or choose, we stand still, pray, watch, and wait; but as soon as a ray appears, (for he that believeth on me shall not abide in darkness,) faith leads the mind into this and that truth, which sets the whole matter aside as spurious; and where faith leads the mind follows; and thousands of snares does the saint escape by this leading; for his heart cannot embrace what faith doth not credit; for "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." When the mind of a believer is led to alter his station or situation in life, to alter his state and condition, the footsteps of providence are sought after; and if the path seems to be in deep, waters, and the Lord's footsteps are not known: faith waits for his counsel, knowing that when he putteth forth his own sheep he goeth before them; the sheep hear his voice, and follow him. Nor can he move till these things are discovered; for though things may appear plain and plausible to reason, yet he must have an inward persuasion that it is of the Lord; for we walk by faith, not by sight; we walk by the confidence of God, and not by the light of nature. So, under any temptation to sin, faith leads the saint to the eye of the Lord; and this calls up fear and conscience against him; and these withstand him, and keep him in awe: and, when the snare is broken, faith leads the soul to exult in God. The snare is broken, and we are delivered. Thus faith lead, the soul to the great deliverer, and to acknowledge the deliverance. Furthermore, there is peculiar to most believers something which crosses their will above every other cross; as sore eyes to Leah; deformity to Paul; a feeble tabernacle to Timothy; a particular sickness to Elisha; barrenness to Hannah; a thigh out of joint to Jacob; a plague all day, and a rod every morning for Asaph. Some have a persecuting wife, another a furious husband; some continual poverty; another is under a cruel oppressor; and some all their days in bondage; they can hold nothing fast but their chains, nor dare they give up their hope. There are times when faith declares to the heart, and leads such to confess with their mouth, that it is good for them to be thus afflicted, and to confess that in very faithfulness thou hast afflicted me; yea, and to plead it in their own behalf in time of trouble: "Thou hast known my soul in adversity. Yea further, such are often led to notice their fellow-professors who are not tried in this way; and they see-they are like a ship without ballast, or a rider on a fiery steed, with reins to his bridle; and, under these considerations, hug the cross, and bless their God; though at other times, when unbelief works strong, and carnal reason catches the reins of government, rebellion, murmurings, and peevishness, work so powerfully as to fill the soul with confusion. But even in the midst of thin storm faith speaks, but speaks softly, coolly, quietly, and undisturbedly, without fear, and without fright; and the soul knows it, and hears it; but enmity springs up, and carries all before it. Nevertheless the soul is obliged to come back, and attend to the voice of faith, which always leads the soul to God; and to God such a soul is obliged to go, and to confess and bewail his adherence to unbelief and to carnal reason, and his wretched rebellion as the evil effects of it: And thus faith leads him to abide by Christ and truth, and to take part with these; for, "He that is not against us," says Christ, "is on our side." Faith can reason and reason well; and she always reasons coolly. "We shall surely die," says unbelief, "because we have seen the Lord;" No, says faith, "If God meant to destroy us, he would not have shewed us such things as these." "I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent," says unbelief; "I know," says faith, "that I shall be justified: Who is he that will plead with me?" And thus also are we led by faith to view the judgments of God abroad in the earth, the providence of God over all creatures, the government of God in the world, the kind dealings of God with his children which lie within the compass of our knowledge; his judgments abroad among the nations; the evident tokens of perdition that fall upon notorious rebels, heretics, and hypocrites; the countenances and awful ends of apostates and presumptuous souls in the ministry and in profession: and the believer improves upon every one of these. And he is led also to God's kind dealings with his own family; yea, with them all, however weak, simple, or dark they may be; and generally according to the private and prejudgment of the believer; and according to his belief so it falls out. Faith leads the saint to notice strictly the dealings of God with himself, both within and without; and however counter to his wish God's dealings with him may be, yet he sees that in the most minute affairs he can discern the hand of God with him, his wisdom and goodness: sometimes in putting the laws of retaliation in force, and at other times counteracting his designs, to hide pride from his eyes; and sometimes cutting off those supplies which take him off from his dependence upon God; and, in short, every weight laid on is intended to counterpoise some aspiring thought or towering imagination, and to mortify and bring down the loftiness of men, so that God, by his Spirit, may still dwell with the humble and contrite heart; and when he is most emptied of these things, then, then has he most of his God. So it is, believer; deny it if you can. Now God declares that all things do work for good in them that love God; and there is no believer of any time standing who has not got that promise in his faith. Faith credits the word, and brings honour to herself, by leading us to see that her obedience is according to truth, and that all her leadings are in the way of truth. "My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother; bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee." "When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee." Two things I shall observe upon this head. First, treat of the characters of those whom the Lord promises to keep; or, to be more plain, what he calls them whom he makes his charge. And, First, it is called a city: "Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." Here the church is called a city, as it is the city of the great king; and glorious things have been and still are spoken of this city of God. But then, as it is called a royal city, a free city, the faithful city, and the city of the living God, they must be friends and subjects of the king who dwell within it. None but free men are men of this free city. Fellow-citizens of the saints are partakers of God's truth, and of God's spirit, and are in love and friendship with God's children; envious dogs are without, and can get no higher than the walls of it. It is called a faithful city, to show that they are believers who do belong to it; and, as God is the king of it, they must be friendly to him that dwells in it; and this may be easily known by this simple evidence, "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." This is a simple but a sound touchstone. They that' are on Christ's side against the world long to draw others, and are glad at every addition to his most righteous cause; but the hypocrite, that is a lover of himself, and a seeker of his own honour, he not only departs from Christ, his truth, his ministry, and his family, himself, but labours to prejudice and draw away all that he can; and this feeds the enmity of his heart; and it is the same food that cherisheth the serpent; for as dust shall be the serpent's meat, so the diet of this scatterer is of the same sort: "He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?" Again: "My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." All Israelites are praying souls, souls that put their trust in God, and who call upon him for help in every time of trouble; as may be seen in Jacob when he obtained this name. He was in a great strait from the report of his brother coming to meet him with four hundred men; at which he doth not flee, nor seek any help from an arm of flesh. He sends all his household over the brook, with all that he had, and wisely prepared for the worst, setting them that were least esteemed at the front of the battle and the choicest of the goods in the rear; ordering that when the front rank was cut off that the centre should flee: but if front and centre both fell, that then the rear should escape; but at the same time himself stays behind, and craves that the command of this expedition might devolve upon the Lord God of hosts; and the Captain of salvation appeared to him, and informed him that the battle was won; and that as a prince he had power both with God and man, and had preveiled, Hence, as God is the keeper of Israel, it appears that Israelites are praying souls, and that they are such as put their trust in him. Again: "In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." Now by this it appears that those whom God engages to keep night and day are called a vineyard, But there are none that bear this name now but those who come to Christ for life and salvation, and to him alone. "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." Now it is easy to tell what our mind and heart is fixed upon for salvation; and whether this salvation hath any weight upon us or not; and which weigheth heaviest on our minds, this world or our soul's salvation; and which is uppermost in our affections, the pleasures of sin, or the glory of Christ. Here I have shown my reader who they are that God promises to protect and keep. And we may well say that they are well kept whom God keepeth. But then, as God promises to keep us by his power, there must be in us a sense of our own weakness; for those who, like the prodigal, can shift for themselves do not feel their need of this keeping. God gives power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. But such as are strong in themselves the power of God is not engaged to support, but rather to pull them down: "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall." That denunciation is not against youth, but against self-confidence. It is an honour to find young folks in the ways of God, as may be seen in Samuel, Timothy, Josiah, and others; and God says, "Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them." The glory of old men, says Solomon, is the grey head, the glory of children is their fathers, and the glory of young men is their strength. "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the strong in his strength; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me." Here is the foundation of all real glory; and in this all believers may glory, whether young or old. In all this we may see that God has not engaged his power and faithfulness in behalf of unbelievers who never seek after him, nor call upon him, much less put their trust in him. It is the law of the mother that is to keep us. "When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee. For although it be God's power that keepeth the soul in safety, yet it is faith that lays hold of that power. "Let him take hold of my strength," says God, "and he shall make peace with me." The inheritance is for them "who are kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." Thus God promises to keep us by his power, and faith receives the promise and confides in this promised strength. You shall now see one who is going to bed in the exercise of faith, and hear what he says: "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety," Psalm iv. 8. It is faith that discriminates those that are God's charge, and those that are not. His family is the household of faith; and, as father and master of this household, he keeps it. "While I was with them in the world I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled." Those that believed on the Lord he kept; but he that believeth not is condemned already, and the wrath of God abideth on him; and the Lord will not preserve and keep in safety the sons of perdition. "My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest it shall keep thee." "And when thou awakest it shall talk with thee." The language of faith is in high or low strains, according to her stature, and according to the believer's attainments, and the difficulties she has to cope with; and this may be seen in David. "And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, and shew me both it and his habitation. But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him," 2 Sam. xv. 25, 26. There the voice of faith is heard dubiously, and yet with much humiliation and submission. And thus we see faith never works alone, but has her handmaids, her attendant graces with her; so that, if she cannot work by joys, which are the flames of love, she will work by humility; and she is sure to conquer work how she may. Sometimes we hear her voice with such fortitude, and in such resolute and determined strains, as if she would die on the field before she would yield so much as even to fear. "Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident." The voice of faith is heard sometimes on the hills, and sometimes in the rallies. Upon the hills: "And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong." Next she speaks in the vallies: "But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me." Sometimes faith speaks in the fire, and sometimes in the water. In the fire: "But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." Her voice is also in the waters: "Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life." Sometimes she speaks in darkness, and sometimes in the light. In darkness: "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall I shall rise; when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me. He will-bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness." Sometimes she speaks in the light: "I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation." Sometimes faith speaks from the frontiers of heaven, and sometimes from the depths of hell: "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places." Sometimes shoe speaks from the depths of hell: "Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heartiest my voice," Jonah ii. 1, 2. Now the voice of faith to the believer's conscience is high or low, strong or feeble, according to the believer's growth or stature. Faith works by love; and if faith has brought love into the heart so as to cast out all fear, then her voice is, He loved me, and gave himself for me. If well established in the faith, and built up in the Lord, she grasps things future as well as things present. "The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. All that faith can bring in she gives to the soul; all that faith claims, therefore, is ours. "And when he was come into the house the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you." Here we see that according to our faith so it is to be with us. Whatsoever Christ speak? to us by the Spirit faith reflects it to us. When faith purifies the heart, faith speaks pardon. "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." The mouth is no more than faith's echo. Faith's voice is to the heart; and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh: "I believed; therefore have I spoken." "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Here faith speaks justification to the heart, and with the mouth this is confessed. Faith's voice to those who receive and embrace Christ is that of adoption. We are the children of God by faith; and to them which believe on his name he gives power to become the sons of God. And when this power of faith is grown up, the believer will cry, Abba, Father, Purifying faith, therefore, speaks pardon; justifying faith speaks peace; joyful faith, that applies love, and works by it, speaks deliverance from all fear. "The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love." But the voice of triumphant faith is the voice of victory: "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Yea, and even feeble faith, when under sensible decays, has a voice: "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me; thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me, The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me; thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands." There is the voice of faith under many doubts, fears, and misgivings of heart: "And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid," By all which it appears that whatsoever comes out of the mouth in truth, comes from the heart; and that all the confidence which the mouth of a good man utters is the voice of faith to his heart; and this voice is to God's honour and our comfort: and whatsoever faith speaks God will ever own and honour. "My son, keep thy father's commandment and forsake not the law of thy mother. Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck, When thou goest it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest it shall talk with thee." A plain contradiction in terms. "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning," I John iii. 8. I will from these words endeavour, 1. To prove that every one that sinneth is not of the devil; and, 2. Insist upon it that every one that sinneth is of the devil. There most certainly are two families of children in this world; and both these, by the word preached, are made manifest. "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil." Now, as some are said to be of the devil, so others are said to be of God; and our Lord distinguisheth them in the following passage: "He that is of God heareth God's words: ye, therefore, hear them not, because ye are not of' God." Now these are said to be of God, not by creation only, for so are all men; "The Lord hath made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil;" but they are said to be of God, being of God's choosing, and of God's preserving, of God's reconciling, and of God's redeeming, God hath called them, justified them, sanctified them, regenerated them, and renewed them, or created them anew, and made them new creatures in Christ Jesus; and therefore these be of God. They are his household and family, his children, and his peculiar treasure. And these have all sinned; yea, and do sin; "For there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and sinneth not." Noah sinned after he came forth from the ark; and so did Moses at the waters of strife, and suffered for it, So did David, and so did Solomon by his idolatry; and Peter, among the apostles; and Paul, and all the apostles; for in many things, says James, we offend all, or we all offend in many things. And yet we cannot say that Noah and Moses, David and Solomon, Peter and others, were of the devil. They were God's children, and God's servants; and were washed from all sin in the blood of Christ, and were saved fully and everlastingly by grace through faith in the Son of God. Now with respect to these, in one sense, they sinned not; for, 1. Although they all had an old man, a body of sin, and carried a body or death about them, yet Christ becoming man's surety, taking man's nature, and appearing, in the likeness of sinful flesh, God made him to be sin for us who knew no sin. Our old man, the whole body of sins, as well as our actual transgressions, were placed to his account, and laid upon him; and they were taken from us when they were charged on him; and this was done at Christ's circumcision; for by his submission to that ordinance he was made debtor in our room. "In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." In Christ our old man received his sentence, and was executed, and died in the death of Christ, and was destroyed. "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that, henceforth we should not serve sin." At the resurrection Christ our surety, left all nailed to the cross; and God gathers us together again in him, who were scattered when the Shepherd was smitten; and we are in him complete: "Ye are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power." And in this point of light you must consider the believer when the following passages are applied to him: "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee," Song iv. 7; yea, without fault before the throne of God, Rev. xiv. 5. But then this must be understood of our being in Christ, who appears in the presence of God for us. 2. Take the believer in his regenerate state, as washed in Christ's blood, and enrobed in his righteousness, and as all glorious within by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, and as having put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt; and having put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, Eph. iv. 24; as such he sinneth not. Old things by this change passing away, and all things becoming new, he is denominated a new creature; and, as such considered, he is not a sinner, because all sinning in or by such is without the renewed mind and will, which never can be drawn to act in Satan's cause. 3. It should be remarked how the apostle presseth himself. "He that is born of God sinneth not;" and, "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning," which is expressive of continual drudgery in sin; of being the servants of sin, and nothing else; and such servants, Paul says, are free from righteousness; destitute of all righteousness, both in heart and life; and, being the servants of sin, they do nothing else but sin; and being in unbelief, and under wrath, all their thoughts and ways, words, and works, are evil, and nothing but evil; and every such servant of sin sinneth continually, and is denominated a servant of sin on that head: and this is the meaning, and the real measuring, of the apostle. But otherwise the best saint under heaven, as considered in the flesh, (for of a saint, in this sense, Paul speaks, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh)," yet the best of saints in this tabernacle do groan being burdened; sin is in them, and works in them, and often captivates them, and brings them into captivity to the law of sin Which is in their members. And here is the difference between the servants of God and the servants of Satan: one is a new creature, the other in his old state; one is in Christ, the other in Satan; one is in the Spirit, the other in the flesh; one is a servant of God, the other a servant of sin; one wars after the flesh, and the other denies its requests, and wars against it; the one sinneth continually, the other with his renewed mind and will serves God, and none else, and sinneth not at all; and so says God of all such poor, honest, and renewed servants, who love his law after the inner man: "Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity:, they walk in his ways." In all other points of light but these the best of men sin. "If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us;" and if we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar; and he that says he is perfect in the flesh, has made him a liar also; for in man, that is, in man's flesh, dwelleth no good thing; for that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and flesh and blood, being destitute of all good, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore a new birth is essential; hence truth itself asserts, that "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." No saint that is in the flesh, no just man, however holy and devout, no soul in this militant state, ever lived without offending thought, word, and deed; no, not even John himself; for he was going, no less than twice, to fall into rank idolatry, by falling down to worship an angel; but the angel, in the utmost haste, forbad him. Yea, and he often himself needed the cleansing fountain that God hath opened, and the advocate too. "And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. God himself declares that every imagination of man's heart is only evil continually. Now this evil we received not in our creation, as from God, for all his works were good; Satan infused this into man at his fall; and Christ came not to repair this, or to change this vile principle into any thing better; he doth not dress nor vamp up the old man which is corrupt; that which is born of the flesh is flesh; he came to destroy it by his death, and to impart a new nature by his Spirit; to dethrone sin by his grace, and to work it all out of the soul at our death, and out of the body at our resurrection, and to leave it upon the head of the devil and all his seed at the day of judgment, that it may reign in and over them in hell to all eternity. This is the work of Christ. But the work of the Arminians, and of the assertors of universal grace, is nothing else but varnishing, whitewashing, embalming, adorning, perfuming, and decorating the old man, which is the image of the devil in fallen man; which sets them, like the pharisees of old, further from the kingdom of God than either publicans or harlots; for they that sanctify themselves and purify themselves shall be consumed together, as well as those that roll in the mire. Now, as corrupt nature doth nothing but sin, so by grace it sustains no change, but is still evil, and present with every child of God when he would do good. And from this corrupt mass springs all evil; and which, in thought, word, look, or deed, discovers itself daily, and that in the best of men, and in every man; for "the thought of foolishness is sin;" and if the thoughts be sin, what are looks, words, and actions? No call for a high priest to bear the iniquities of our holy things if this corrupt mass was removed. But an advocate with the Father, a mediator in the presence of God for us, and our command to ask the Father in his name, and the prayers of all saints being perfumed by the incense of his oblation, show plain enough the indwelling of sin in every saint of God. 2. I come now to prove that every one that sinneth is of the devil, as are all men that are in an unregenerate state. Sin, which is the seed of the devil, is in them, and reigns in them; hence our Lord says they are of their father the devil, being, as sinners, begotten by him. They bear the likeness of him both in heart and action. They are the subjects of the devil; sin rules in their hearts; and they have their conversation in him, According to the prince Of the power of the air, the spirit that now Worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past." Now such can do nothing but sin any more than an Ethiopian can change his skin, or a leopard change his spots; for such are taken captive by him at his will, 2 Tim. ii. 26. Now, according to this account, all of us, while in a state of nature, can do nothing but sin; God is not in all our thoughts; in our-flesh dwells no good thing; and every thought of the imagination of the heart is only evil. Such an one sinneth, as the devil does, and that without intermission; and he that thus sinneth is of the devil. But again: as the saint of God never sins with t the renewed mind and will, as the apostle asserts when he says, "I would do good, and the good that I would that do I not," so he vows, that "With the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." So that the apostle makes a distinction between self and self. There is a sinful self to be denied daily by all them that follow Christ; and there is a self that is not to be denied, or mortified, or put off: "So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God." This self considers the saint a new creature and a servant of God, a new man in Christ by grace; but there is a fleshly self, that serves the law of sin. Hence it is plain that he that sinneth is of the devil, as all sinful men by nature are. And he that sinneth in every saint is of the devil also; for it is what Paul calls the flesh, or the sins of the flesh in man, communicated to us by natural birth, which he calls corruption and the old man; and it is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts. This does nothing else but sin, and is to be denied daily, and to be put off again "and again: and is also to be mortified through the Spirit. This is he that is of the devil. "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that I do not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me," Rom. vii. 15 - 17. It may be asked why sin should be called the flesh? for certainly sin is often meant by the word flesh; "That which is born of the flesh is flesh;" and again, "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh." Answer: there was no more evil in the body than there was in the soul when God made us; both were very good. And it is plain that all God's workmanship will be saved. It is the will of God that of all that the Father hath given me, says Christ, I should lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day; by which the bodies of the saints must be meant. Yea more; "The very hairs of your head," saith he, "are all numbered;" which shows how much God respects the work of his own hands. But the body, the flesh, strictly speaking, is the lowest and meanest part in man. Its origin is mean; it is of the earth: but the soul is by far the noblest part; its origin is God; it is of God; and he is the God of the spirits of all flesh, Num. vi. 22. Now it was this lower part in man that was the chief in our first parents sin. The eyes of the body saw the forbidden fruit, and the appetite craved it. It was the hand of the body that took it, and the mouth of the body that ate it; and the stomach and belly received it. And I have no doubt but the soul was awfully alarmed at all this; and even conscience, being then pure, and furnished with the law of God, which they received by inspiration, did its office; for Eve knew the forbidden tree, and God's command about it, and mentions it; which knowledge is peculiar to the soul; but the flesh gained the ascendency, and carried all before it; on which account the evil corruption in man is called the flesh. And ever since Adam fell it appears plain that whatsoever is the most strictly forbidden the flesh is the most apt to crave. Hence God complains, "All flesh hath corrupted way." And as that nature that is generated from one to another is flesh, it is said that that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and as sin in the human body works in a lascivious way, so it is called the flesh that lusteth against the Spirit; and we are exhorted to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. Again: as thoughts and conscience often bear their protest against the works of the flesh, and censure them and condemn them, these being on God's side, and against the lust of the flesh, this makes sinful flesh the more culpable and blameworthy still. These are the reasons why sin sometimes called flesh in scripture; because began here, and because this is the nature that Adam communicated to all his seed; for Adam is not the father of souls, or of spirits, but of bodies or' of the flesh: "God giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." But one soul is not generated of another; we read of fathers after the flesh, and of the Father of spirits, in one verse: "Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live;" Heb. xii. 9. We should distinguish between the body, or the flesh, as it is God's workmanship, and the corruption of the flesh, which is the evil work of that arch apostate the devil. Consider it as the work of God's hands, formed out of the earth, and it is curiously and marvellously made. And the body is now the temple of the Holy Ghost; and as such regard it: "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church." Consider it also in its depravity, as corrupted by the devil, and then in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. But all that is meant, in short, concerning the flesh is comprehended in this text, "But if ye, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." The evil lusting and cravings of sin in the body, called the deeds of it, is what is meant by flesh when it is spoken of in an evil sense. Hence I conclude that every one that sinneth is of the devil; for he that is still in a state of sin, and destitute of grace, is of the devil's lineage, and does the devil's work. And the remains of indwelling sin in every saint, which is called the old man, is of the devil also, because he opposes all that is good, and wars against God, and against the soul; and therefore is of the devil, and the devil works in him. |